Dry Canyon and Dry Blood

By Breaeden Swordwind

Nel stepped calmly out of the mine and into the canyon's whose walls seemed to have tans and sunburns resulting from their extensive exposure to the harsh sun. They had managed to retrieve the necessary copper for the Thunder Arrow and now they would be ready for the Glyphian attack. As Fayt and Cliff fell in behind her, she started to make her way down the pass that the cart with Tynaeve and Farleen should have gone. Once, the copper arrived and the scientist had replaced the iron on the Thunder Arrow with copper it she would feel a whole lot better. Airyglyph would be forced to admit defeat after this battle and Black Bird's prophesy about a lengthened war would be proven wrong. Aquaria would be able to find peace, again. She would be able to use the tedium of peace as a way to determine what she needed and what she wanted out of her service to Aquaria. It was all very confusing.

"Hey what's the wagon still doing here?" Cliff said from over her shoulder. Nel looked up and noticed that the wagon was, indeed, sitting idly in the middle of the pass. She became worried and broke in to a run. When she rounded a bend in the path her worst fears were confirmed. The creature was waiting for her. It smiled from behind its black-and-white hair, mocking her. Farleen groaned at its feet in pain and callously it kicked her to shut her up. The creature known as Albel Nox.

It had two Black Brigade soldiers with it, though Nel knew that all that really mattered was that the sub-human was there. The two soldiers could be cows for how relevant they were to the situation at hand, mere training dummies to the beast's raging dragon. Nel yelled at it, "Albel, what are you doing her?"

It spoke easily, its voice turned the air into a sea of sarcasm "Oh, I'm sorry. You see I mistook your maggots here for being competent in a fight. It's really all a…misunderstanding."

"Get out of our way Nox!" Nel yelled back at it though not actually expecting it to move. It was more of a pointless demonstration of her own loathing for the creature.

It merely laughed, " Come now, fool, surely we can talk this out with a sword right through you?" Suddenly, it turned deadly serious. "I am not here to fool around, maggot. I am not here by any orders. I am here to kill you for your dishonoring me so many years ago and I will make sure that you blood is well used in watering this parched ground."

That was its reason for coming here? It traveled all this way, ambushed her subordinates, and killed probably hundreds of monsters, all for the chance to kill her as restitution for her saving its life from suicide? What manner of beast was this creature? Its cold dead hand rested on the hilt of its sword.

She had never really looked at that claw but right now it was strangely fascinating. It was made of hard, icy steel and it was at the same time both wickedly malevolent and unabashedly plain. Underneath the steel was a thick cloth that kept the eye from seeing any fleshy bit of the arm. She knew the stories, that Albel had most of its arm burned to the bone. She wondered if there was any flesh left hidden beneath the cloth and steel. She wondered that only thing beneath the surface was the lifeless bone, the shadow of the power and vitality that had once existed there. If there was tissue left it could obviously not be regrown to its former extent, but could it be cleaned and be made softer and less course. It was dubious though, behind the all the steel, behind the cloths, behind the wicked exterior, and behind the claw was nothing but a burn out corpse. A piece of flesh that had been burnt into some detestable mockery of the human form. That claw was so morbidly enthralling, almost akin to the childish fascination with poking dead bodies with sticks.

Nel, along with Fayt and Cliff, readied herself to receive the monster's charge. Albel unsheathed its sword into its right hand and let its claw arm dangle in front of it. Suddenly it zigzagged forward and the battle began.

Nel, was correct in assuming that the two Black Brigade soldier would be pointless. They were easily dispatched and soon it was Albel against the three of them. Three-on-one should have been good odds but Albel fought like a demon possessed and for every small wound it received it returned the favor two fold. Nel was terrified that its katana would find a happy home between her breasts and, at the same time, taking immense pleasure from the sickening joy of battle. At one point Albel's claw tore through the side of her waist and four slices in both cloth and flesh. Her adrenaline was pumping to strong though for her to feel more then the slights annoyance. Albel also managed to severely injure both Fayt and Cliff to the point that they could not keep fighting. By that time though Albel had taken many wounds. Its thigh had a strong cut through it, its chest was bleeding and its bruises outnumbered the rocks that made the ground they fought on. Still, though it managed to keep her back for almost a full half hour before she was able to sneak a cut onto its sword arm. The blade left its hand and it fell to the ground.

It panted for a few second's and then began to speak in a haggard voice, "Go on kill me. Do what you should have done years ago and kill me. Maggots don't deserve life and I am king of the maggots." Nel raised her knife up to drive it into the back of its hunched neck. But she could not do it. Queen Romeria was whispering in her mind that he was an enemy and must be killed and conscience was agreeing with her. The rest of her though could not accept that this was the right, that this was just. She could not bring her self to kill something so pathetic.

The creature beneath her was not human and had not been for years. It was something less, a creature that had let itself be bent by pain, be broken by torment, and reshaped into a beast. Killing it would be a mercy.

She sheathed he daggers and took a step away. It howled at her back as she got Cliff and Fayt ready to go. Cliff made a snide comment to it about whether it wanted to be beaten up again and it responded, "Gladly. I wish nothing more then to be killed. No one shall give their mercy to me, I shall not accept it." Fayt as well decided to mock the creature's fake pride and quoted something that the Wicked One had said sometime ago about trouncing weaklings. It didn't seemed bother by the insult and only Nel knew why. It had no arrogance to harm, it already believed it was a failure and merely pretended to be something great and prideful.

She looked back at him and was disgusted by what she saw. Its face was twisted by the rage that boiled through it, rage against being once again spared from a death it felt that it deserved. It was the most disturbing thing she ever saw and all she could feel was pity. She knew that it would not desire the pity but she felt it all the same. She began to wonder what could have possibly happened to this beast that it would sink to such a low level of existence. She herself had felt the pain of loss, of losing a father to war but she had never even considered throwing her humanity away in order to stoke the fires of her own despair. Albel just could not deal with whatever problems it had, it was weak. Albel was just one of its maggots that could not survive without the desire to kill her. It had suffered no worse then she had! It had leaned upon its nation to support it just as much as she had leaned on hers. If anyone should be a broken shell of a human it should be her but she had will, something Albel did not. It faked itself, it was a construct of the baser parts of the human subconscious. The pity she felt for it evaporated. She liked watching it wreath in the torment it created by not being able to deal with it. Staring back into the creature's eyes she spoke to the beast, "You are weak".

The beast let out a despairing howl that fell on deaf ears.


No not from her anyone but her anyone anyone anyone I can take the taunts the slander the pathetic maggots pretending their some mighty gods but no no no I can't take her saying that not some mercy loving wench who saves the lives a suicidal maniacs and enemies! She gave mercy therefore she is weak how could I let my self Im a maggot a maggot. What am I whining about? I already knew that! Couldn't it have been that blond oaf that knocked me out or the blue haired pansy but not her no no no no no no no not her please please not her I can't take her she she she she. I'm the one who is supposed to get revenge on her not be ravaged by her! But I'm weak weak but she shouldn't say that. How dare such a maggot call me weak, someone with out the wisdom to kill me? Does she deem that I am not a threat? Is that it? It must be but I'll kill her kill her then she'll have to see! See what? What am I trying to prove? Albel clutched his head with his living hand as he kneeled on the ground. Why does it matter if I prove that she shouldn't have saved me? Why?... I don't want to be a maggot anymore I don't want to! Of course! Why didn't I see this before? If I can can…prove to her that I'm not…no what should I do? Do I kill her and elimating a weakling from the word? Or do I prove my might make her realize that I am more powerful and there by…moot her saving my life? No what is this concept its on the tip of my mind dammit why could I not have been born a philosopher! If she realizes my strength then at the vary least she has to take back that weak statement then what? Does that make her wish she had let me die and what does that do? Does she forgive me and I gain some insipid redemption? No! But what if she not weak what if that? I don't know I don't know…I need to know some things about her first…individual strength, determination, intellect and such facets of strength, then I shall surpass her so completely that…that's it! I understand now! If I become stronger then the person who saved my life I will have proven my right to continue to live, I will be able to prove that while I have been a maggot, I'm not anymore then finally finally…He began to laugh, the laugh tinged with sarcasm and malevolence reverberated a thousand times again and again through the dry dusty canyon. It almost began to sound like the world had gone insane and was laughing with him. But he knew that wasn't right. The world hadn't gone insane. The world had always been insane.

A loud boom could be heard behind him. The ground shook under the force of the impact and gust of wind tore at his back. He sighed, I thought I would have more time to recover and get the hell out of here before he arrived. "If it isn't the great and might Albel Nox." The sniveling Schwiemer said as he approached, "How has he been laid low by a few… "maggots"?"

Albel was not in the mood for this crap, "Cut it Schwiemer, just arrest me for treason and lets get this over with, I'm sure Vox doesn't want to be kept waiting."

Schwiemer, being both on to underestimate Albel and very cocky about taking Albel by surprise, was taken aback by this but recovered and began to read a scroll that he had brought with him, " Albel Nox you are hereby arrested for treason. You have twice let a party of threats to Airyglyph escape you with out proper effort being put into preventing their escape. You have disobeyed orders to remain stationed at Kirlsa until your unit has recuperated its losses. You have…" The list went on and on, naming his various war crimes and atrocities, most of which had actually been commited by Vox.


Please review, even if its a flame, please please please etc etc... another paragraph where i have fun deastroy all the rules I learn about paragraph organization in school. TAKE THAT MRS. TURNER!