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Chapter 61
This big city in the jungle was a bit like that other city with the bad dog demon and the many angry people in it.
Quiet hated both of them.
The big city was very old and very run down, its stone buildings sometimes completely disappearing among the trees. Those that did not, were mostly occupied by smaller animals who seemed angrier than usual, but still would listen to Quiet, and lots and lots of bad mean men. There weren't as many people as in real cities, so their moving around only slightly filled Quiet with happiness and energy. Even that was snuffed out by the bad aura he felt coming from the center of the city. It was the same aura which radiated from the men who took Teeriel, and which made Inarius so very skerred of them. He was so skerred he fell very silent in Quiet, the child could not ask for his help. Worrldston was also no help, he had never had to rescue anyone before, and he also did not like Teeriel very much.
So Quiet was all alone against an army of bad men.
The little angel held onto doll Leendonn as he stumbled and snuck among the many trees and bushes. At the edge of the jungle there were many many bushes, and the child quickly realized it was because they could get more light here, the trees did not block all of it out. The bushes provided good hiding places so he was very grateful for them. At first he had to cross a wide river to be able to follow the bad men, but thankfully there had been big and flat lizards in the water who had kindly helped him across, acting like scaly boats for him. Quiet had made sure to thank them for their help and he even made sure they were very healthy before saying goodbye to them. He'd healed some wounds and regrew some teeth and the flat lizards seemed very happy. They had offered to eat the bad men living on the strange wooden-legged platforms that were stuck in the river. Quiet had kindly declined the offer, he felt Teeriel was not in any of those stone buildings standing on those platforms.
Since then the child had been trying to skirt around the very big city that seemed to go on endlessly. The stone buildings started out rather small but they were noticeably growing bigger, and they housed men who were often arguing and fighting over something, or were planning on something bad like ambushing travelers or stealing. Quiet could hear them surprisingly clearly even from far away and he needed some time to realize why that was:
Another being, one of the gods maybe, was in the air and it was carrying to voices of the people to him with the wind.
- Go away! You will get hurt like your friends Zaim and B'rua were! – Quiet tried to shoo the silent god away, but it was very stubborn and kept up its work.
The little angel could do little except snoop further in the forest. The animals here left him alone thankfully, he only had to worry about the bad men in the city. That was more than enough, though. Quiet was very afraid, he couldn't make out Teeriel among everyone else, and the bad aura was also very skerry. All this made his senses jumbly, and it was very hard to keep his hold on his magic. The words the air god had him hear were very evil and Quiet was skerred what those bad men would do to him if they found him. Still, he forged on, towards the still distant center of the city. Nobody else could help Teeriel now, but him.
Quiet stopped when the wind carried a certain voice to him:
- Put him in the Durance.
- So close to the—?!
- I said put him in there, you fool! Look at him, he cannot do anything! The aura there will start corrupting him for us, if not break him entirely altogether.
- And what about that angel you are hunting?
- Oh don't worry your pretty head about it. He will come right to us.
Quiet froze to his spot. The bad woman Johhana knew he was coming to try and save Teeriel. How?! Did she know how Quiet would try it?! He didn't even know that yet! The fear returned with backup and Quiet crawled under a bush with a whimper. Johhana already knew what he would do, there was nothing he could do! They were going to kill him or hurt him, and he didn't want to go back to the mirror room, he didn't! The bush rustled and flattened against the ground, trying to hide the crying child completely.
- A surge of fire and jungle! That is what he shall do! – spoke up a new voice suddenly, carried by the wind.
Quiet raised his head with a sob as he listened. He knew that voice, but had trouble placing it.
- I didn't ask you, Myriam – Johhana grumbled.
- But that is what he shall do! I see it! Fire and jungle!
Oh, the very very fat lady from way back then! The one who talked to Leendonn about a lot of confusing things, somehow knew Quiet was hiding in his backpack, and she even threw a heavy fat book at his papa for some reason. What was she doing here?
- I know you see it, I can see your premonitions. Now shut up! – Johhana barked angrily. – Just watch. Inarius is going to attack the most obvious and flashiest way possible at the gates. He cannot help himself.
Quiet stared before himself as he listened to the conversation.
So it was the very very fat lady who saw what Quiet would do. He looked around. There was indeed very much jungle around him, but he couldn't see any fire outside of the big city. The child wiped his tears away and tried to think.
Johhana said "obvious attack". Quiet couldn't really attack, he did not even know how to fight very well, despite what Leendonn and Kyla had taught him. Inarius was very silent in him, too, and he was the only one who could fight very well.
But… what if Quiet did not attack? What if he was sneaky? Like Leendonn, or Uthomael, or even that mean stoopid pale man who constantly hid away because he was mean and stoopid. Quiet was small and he could move fast, he knew. He could sneak around much better than he could fight. If he sensed the bad men moving, he could avoid them easier, too.
Quiet climbed out from under the bush and gently set doll Leendonn down. He began carefully sensing the city, while simultaneously asked the ground before him to take up the miniature shape of it. He had seen Teeriel use maps before, maps could be useful. As Quiet sensed more and more buildings and walls and towers and underground corridors, the soil next to him too shifted and grew. Very carefully, the child mapped out the parts around the center of the city. There were a lot of roads, but also a lot of bigger-smaller houses and fences and stuff he could hide behind. The center of the city was a bit harder to sense because of the evil aura there, but Quiet could still kind of "see" the big wall around the center, as well as the very big building in the middle that had an opening in it that led deep down… perhaps where they kept Teeriel. This is where most of the bad men, and also Johhana were too. Unfortunately, inside the walls the buildings weren't as numerous, and there was a lot of open space, and Quiet wouldn't be able to hide that well there. If he could distract the bad men inside, like the stoopid pale man did on the ship when he called the dead ugly monsters against the soldiers…
Rustling leaves knocked Quiet out of his thinking and he looked around a bit surprised, pulling doll Leendonn closer to himself. New and very strange people were suddenly around him in silence, looking expectantly at him and the mini city he built from earth. They were very big and apparently made out of tree and leaves, and they had bright green eyes. Some of them had big thorns growing out of their arms, but none of them looked angry or evil.
-… Uhm, hi? – Quiet blinked up at the new crowd.
Some of the tree-things blinked back at him, or raised their hands as if waving but nobody said anything.
- You came to help me?
A collective nod.
They are Thorned Hulks, Worrldston offered helpfully. Protectors of the jungle. I created them.
Oh.
Quiet uncertainly turned back to the small city center map. A distraction would help a lot, yes, but he did not want anyone to get hurt, only the bad men. He did not want to send the Hulks in!
- Uhmm… Can-can you make the plants grow? – he then asked the crowd.
Another nod.
That might be helpful. Maybe they could send in the plants, so they themselves wouldn't get hurt. Quiet then could focus more on being sneaky as well. He leaned over the small city replica. He didn't know how clever these evil men were, how much he could trick them. But if they get attacked, they will have to turn their attention to that and defend themselves, no? Especially if the plants attack from more than one place. Quiet thought about asking the Hulks to attack the city outside of the walls as well, so he could just run across that part. But then the evil men and Johhana wouldn't be surprised then and that would be very bad indeed.
Maybe Inarius was getting less skerd now and he was helping, but Quiet instinctively knew he had to keep the big plant attack until he was inside the walls.
He looked up at the night sky and realized with alarm that the moon was already dipping toward the ground. He couldn't do it in daylight, he had to hurry!
- Uhm, okay, okay! – he quickly waved at the Hulks to come closer. – Thank you for helping! Here's what we are going to do!
He began pointing at four big gates in the walls of the city center. He knew he couldn't use those to go inside, but the plants could.
- So I will sneak across the city, avoiding the bad men – Quiet explained to the silent Hulks. – When I get to the big wall, I will, uhm… give a signal. Then you send in big and angry plants to attack everyone in there! Do not go in there, just send the plants.
The crowd nodded.
- I will sneak into the big building and go underground to find my friend. You will have to attack and distract the bad men until we make it out of there, okay?
Another nod.
- There is one very dangerous lady among them – Quiet told them anxiously. – She is very strong and very evil and very very skerry. Be careful with her, she has already hurt two of my friends not long ago!
The wind shoo-ed around them in agreement.
- You go and hide! – Quiet snapped at the air god. – She will sense you and hurt you! I don't want that.
The wind died down finally and Quiet could only hope it listened to him.
- Okay, so… – the child uncertainly turned to the big city. – I will… I will go now.
He tied doll Leendonn to his back with some vines. He didn't feel sure about himself, and he didn't feel brave at all. But he had to try and save Teeriel.
oooOOOooo
Tyrael came to in the dark… partially at least.
He dimly registered lying on damp cold stone and smelling blood. Whether it was his own or not, he couldn't tell even if he wanted to.
Instead of alarm bells going off in his head, Tyrael felt numb to all this. Perhaps the darkness, barely disturbed by a few measly torches high above, tricked his eyes, but all he could see was Eirena's horrified expression before himself. He killed her. He could have run away but instead he turned around and killed her. He completely lost control over himself, and in that moment he had just wanted to see the world burning for all the treachery and backstabbing it held within it each and every day. He lashed out and killed his friend whom he had fully trusted not that long ago. A young woman who barely started living and yet has done so much already for Sanctuary.
Tyrael just wanted to die as he turned away from the horrible visage to his left.
The Archangel of Justice had ended up on the very same road as so many before him. Izual, Balzael, Malthael, Zoltun Kulle, Johanna, all these people and more… Tyrael hated them for their treachery, but he hated himself even more that he was now one among them. He wasn't Justice, he wasn't an angel or a human, and he damn sure wasn't a hero either, not anymore.
Perhaps it was for the best that his road would end in this dark nameless place, far away from everyone else, especially Sophie. She would hate him for what he had done. He knew he deserved that well, yet the mere thought of it filled him with fear, unable to face the thought fully.
He was such a damned coward.
This world of Sanctuary seemed to be an excellent breeding ground for cowards and traitors, it could even twist the Archangel of Justice and the Archangel of Wisdom. Tyrael was at least glad he could not sully one of its few pure denizens in any way.
Tyrael tried to turn on his back but a sharp stab of pain rewarded him in the back of his neck. For a second his dark thoughts were washed away, and he hissed under his breath, shivering in his bonds. The agony restarted his instincts finally, he felt an oppressive pungent power in the air around him, and he knew all too well to whom it belonged to. He had to get out of here, he knew. He deserved to die for his crime, but Tyrael knew far too well that if he stayed here, his fate will be far worse than any death. Worse yet, he would end up causing even more harm to the world.
To this world that was full of treachery…
Tyrael tried to shook his head, but the pain stopped him. He needed to keep these thoughts at bay. He may have fallen terribly from grace, but there were still heroes out there. Captain Haile, his Horadrim, Lyndon, King Torion, Sophie, Uthomael and Carala… He held onto their memories as best as he could, while he tried to test his bonds. Calling El'druin to him was out of the question, Tyrael couldn't tell if he was still worthy of the sword. He did not know if he could even escape, as he felt the rough ropes around his wrists and ankles, his arms tied behind his back. But if he had a sliver of honor left in him, he had to at least try.
Or maybe he could find something in this place to kill himself with, just to make sure.
Before Tyrael could give it more thought, the entire chamber began to shake violently. Walls creaked, dust fell, floors cracked and from its depths eerie red-orange light began seeping through.
oooOOOooo
The black cat jumped the nosy thief with a loud meow and began mauling his legs. The bad man cried out and swiped at the cat with his dagger but the animal was too agile and easily dodged the attack. From under a ragged-covered stool, Quiet nodded in gratitude to the brave cat, then quickly seized the opportunity to sneak away from the bad man who almost heard him and discovered him.
The child swooped across the narrow alleyway and threw himself behind a broken statue thing. After a moment of thought, Quiet grabbed onto the jagged stones and with some difficulty hauled himself up to the flat roof of the broken house. He needed a moment to catch his breath and shake his hurting arms. Uthomael made it look so easy, why was climbing this difficult?!
- No fair – Quiet grumbled under his breath as he took a moment to gather himself.
He flattened against the roof and crawled to its edge to look around. He sensed the positions of the many bad men in the big city, but he couldn't tell what they were doing exactly or where they were looking so he needed to see them as well.
This part of the big city had canals surrounding it, filled with water. There were also pools among the buildings, but Quiet had no idea why. The bad men did not seem to use them for anything, especially not for bathing, so they seemed pointless. Some of the houses had roofs made out of dried plants, which was strange, others were of stone. There were larger open spaces, but thankfully a lot of narrow streets as well, Quiet had been targeting these as he drew ever closer to the big city walls in the distance. Because it was night, most bad people were inside the houses, which was good. Unfortunately, not everyone was in there: some bad men were talking in hushed tones around some corners, some were sharpening weapons outside, and there was a big group in a nearby plaza, sharing golden coins among themselves. Torches and oil lamps hung from the buildings, but thankfully there were many dark small alleys and shadows Quiet could still use. Unfortunately, he could not jump as far as Teeriel or Uthomael could, so he couldn't just stay on the roofs indefinitely. But so far, he had been rather successful in his sneaking, and he knew his papa would be proud of him. The only person who heard him so far was that one thief back there, and thankfully a cat immediately ran to his rescue from among the ruins. Quiet checked with the cat, just to make sure, and was relieved to find him unharmed and already out of danger.
He returned his attention to the problem at hand, then made a decision. He hopped off of the stone roof, barely making any sound, and he quickly scuttled into a hole in the next wall. Nobody was inside this building, mostly because the roots of a very big tree was weaving across the floor and walls. Quiet needed to skirt around the big plaza with the men sharing the gold. His senses quickly picked up two pairs of boots walking in this direction and he swooped across the pungent smelly house and out through another hole. A moment later two men walked in the door, talking about their latest hauls. Quiet spared one last glance back through the hole before he turned forward.
And promptly let out a terrified shriek.
A horrible bad creature stared at him with fangs and big bulgy eyes and vines hanging from its face—
- Eh? – one of the men heard him and began walking out of the house.
Quiet covered his mouth, still locking eyes with the skerry statue.
- It's just a bird! – the other man called after his companion, doing something inside the house.
- Nah, it was something else.
The bad man turned the corner, and stared at the statue carved out of the side of a nearby fence. He looked around. In front of him, just on the other side of the short stone wall, a terrified Quiet pressed himself against it. If the man takes just a few steps forward, he was going to notice him. Quiet tried to think through the fear, but it was very difficult.
Suddenly a very colorful bird landed on a nearby fence pillar and looked at the bad man. Then it let out a strange call that mimicked pretty well the yelp Quiet had accidentally let slip. The bad man stared at the bird, which repeated the cry, then grumbled under his nose about "stupid birds" and turned around to go back inside.
Quiet let out a shaky breath, nodding to the bird. The bird nodded back and flew away without another sound.
Maybe Quiet wasn't all that good in this sneaking, he thought as he chanced to move forward, after checking where the other men were. His papa taught him, why was he so bad at it?! The child grumbled in a low voice, very annoyed with himself. He almost did not notice the man standing between two houses and almost jumped in front of him. Thankfully, he stopped himself a moment too soon and waited until the man turned around, before continuing on. This made him even angrier at himself.
At least he was halfway done with skirting around the big plaza. Quiet climbed up onto another roof to catch his breath and check things out. He peeked down at the large circle of men. One was standing in the middle among many smaller-bigger sacks containing coins, and he was giving it out to the others, while keeping some of it, well, a lot of it for himself. The people were arguing, pointing at each accusingly whenever they got less than their neighbor.
- Bullsheet! – one shouted at the man in the middle. – I recognize that bag, I tore it out of the hands of that wench I killed by the wagons! I had to cut down her kids too to get it!
- You are talking about another sack, you moron! – the middle man dismissed him angrily as he placed the bag by his own feet.
Quiet stared at the crowd with anger and disgust. They reminded him so much of that band of bad men, who had found Quiet and Leendonn in the forest, after Leendonn puffed away from the ship and slept for long because of it. Quiet remembered them well, the bad feeling they left in him, and while he no longer felt happy about the surge of energy he felt when he killed them all, he still did not fully regret doing it. They had been mistakes, ugly and evil, just like these people were. The world should have been a better place, but stoopid evil men like these ruined it! It made him so angry.
Quiet spared one last glance at a brazier next to the middle man, and briefly thought about asking the embers to blow up and incinerate everyone in that plaza. But then he shook his head and continued his sneaking. He needed to find Teeriel and fast, before the sun came up. He swooped across the shadows, closer and closer to the big walls. He tried to push down his anger so he didn't do stoopid mistakes, but every bad men he saw or sensed made him more annoyed. Why were there bad men? Why were there so many of them?! It was not fair! Quiet suddenly found himself at the base of the big wall as he stewed in these angry thoughts. He was hiding behind a big stone that fell off of the top of the wall, but nobody was around to notice him anyway. He realized he still had no idea what the signal would be that would tell the Thorned Hulks to start sending in the big plants.
- Stoopid! – he murmured to himself.
He thought about the brazier in the plaza.
Then he thought about the bad stone garden next to the town Teeriel had called Bramvelll.
Quiet knelt down and placed his palms on the wet ground, reaching deep into it, deeper than ever before. He let his anger and frustration with all these terrible men run wild as he searched for his goal. Johhana and the fat lady said they saw fire.
Well then.
The earth shook and rumbled and blew up. Liquid fire burst forth from countless cracks, it bubbled and sprayed like water only denser and much, much hotter. One giant fire tower roared towards the sky right at one of the gates of the city center. Red-orange fire and stones rained down onto all of the city, the ground was spewing the liquid everywhere, along with thick and ugly-smelling smoke. The very big city caught fire in minutes, everywhere bad men ran and shouted and got killed by the fire or the collapsing buildings. The earth shook from time to time. Soon the trees and bushes also joined and began attacking the city center and everyone who was around it with vines and roots.
Quiet looked at all this and found it good.
That is, until a big flaming rock landed right next to him. The child got launched into the wall with a scream, painfully smacking into the stones. Doll Leendonn only slightly cushioned his collision. He skidded down, pure shock freezing him to his place. Finally he realized what he had done.
Quiet panicked.
He shrieked at the ground to lift him up and a tall pillar took him to the top of the crumbling wall. Beyond it the city center was in flames. Rivers and lakes of liquid fire bubbled in many places, the big buildings were bombarded by flaming rocks the big pillar of fire was flinging everywhere. Robed, masked men ran around, shouting orders. Roots and plants snaked around the liquid fire to destroy houses and strangle people. Quiet flung himself off of the wall, demanding the stones to form a ramp for him to skid down on. He tore across the plaza shaking from earthquakes. He ran past bad men who shouted after him but were quickly attacked by plants. Quiet did not dare to look, he was so very skerred, he had to find Teeriel, they had to leave!
- SHOW YOURSELF, INARIUS! – Johhana screamed in the distance, fighting with the plants.
Quiet zig-zagged among the chaos, the explosions and crashes almost deafening him. Flaming rocks and stone blocks fell too close to him, he was so skerred, he did not want to do this! He saw a very old man with gems orbiting him, using the stones as projectiles to cut through the attacking roots. Before he could spot the running Quiet, a big burning pillar fell down between them, forcing the old man to jump away.
Quiet ran and ran and ran, he couldn't breathe from the smoke but he still ran, towards the tallest building. Just before the entrance he froze and turned to his left. Next to the building the only human who wasn't running or shouting or dying sat on a stool under a purple tent. The fat lady called Myriam stared at Quiet with strange murky eyes. Still, she smiled even as fire rained around her.
- So you did hear my prediction – she said to Quiet. – Good job.
No, it isn't good! Quiet wanted to scream but only a choked sob escaped from his throat as he finally threw himself into the building and down some very long stairs. In the darkness, it all became a blur but Quiet could finally sense Teeriel deep down. He kept running, down stairs, through corridors and rooms, jumping over pillars and stones.
- TEERIEL! – he screamed into the dark as he finally got to the last chamber.
It was very bright and hot in here, liquid fire was bubbling inside from the floor and walls. A strangely shaped pool in the middle was filled with the stuff already. In the far end, Quiet could finally spot his friend: Teeriel was lying on a pedestal, tied up. He couldn't move much but he looked very skerred.
- Quiet? – the big man stared at him.
The little angel ordered the fire to part before him as he ran there. He tried to drag Teeriel upright but the man let out a painful yelp and fell back onto his side.
- Sorry! – Quiet sobbed.
What was wrong, what was wrong?! Pain meant—pain meant injury, yes! Quiet looked at Teeriel and saw the ugly bloody wound on the back of his head. Trying to focus through the panic he put his palm on it and tried to heal it. It took a couple of tries, the frequent shaking of the chamber threw him off constantly, but he did it in the end. He asked the ropes to get off and jump into the liquid fire, and finally he could pull Teeriel into a sitting position.
- Did you do this?! – Teeriel looked around the room, just as skerred as Quiet.
- Ye-yes, I'm so-o-orry! – Quiet cried, his tears mixing with the smoke in the air stinging his eyes.
He was so skerred, he did not know how to stop this, he did not know why he did it even! Teeriel tried to say something but he burst out in loud coughing. He too was crying, and tried to cover his mouth and nose with his cloak. Quiet realized with dread that Teeriel couldn't breathe well here. He tried to shoo the smoke away but it had nowhere to go underground, the room was getting hotter and hotter and he felt dizzy and skerd and tired and they had to leave and he did not know how to leave—!
They needed help!
- Create, Worrldston suddenly spoke up in him.
Quiet screamed at the liquid fire to stay back. It formed a very wide ring around them, its waves surrounding them like a wall. Still it stayed in place. Quiet closed his eyes and tried to think, his breathing heavy and rapid. They needed help, something to get out of here! It had to be fast, it had to carry the two of them, it had to be brave to face the bad men up there, it had to fly.
It had to be alive.
Quiet thought of the colorful brave bird that helped him in the city, and the even braver snake that helped him get better after the fight with the big demon, at the cost of its life. Quiet thrusted his arms out, calling upon matter to hear and obey. Small things, smaller than anything he had ever sensed or used before heard him and moved. With the help of Worrldston, Quiet began weaving a pattern of them, a tapestry of waves and spirals and cells and blood and muscle and bones and scales and feathers—
Everything shifted around them in a small shockwave. Quiet opened his eyes and gazed alongside with the skerred Teeriel upon the new life that just entered the scene.
A giant snake of emerald green shiny scales and beautiful colorful feathers and many many wings filled the chamber now, coiling around them. The ceiling opened up, allowing in a glimpse of the pinkish dawn sky. The feathered snake's head glistened by the light of fire, its amber eyes reflecting the flames. It opened its many many wings and let out a triumphant sonorous call, welcoming the world.
Quiet let his arms fall as he smiled up at his new creation.
The giant snake bent down to its master, one intelligent slit eye kept on him.
- Quiet, you— – Teeriel gasped behind him, unable to say more.
- Climb – Quiet told him weakly, sudden exhaustion flooding him.
The big man needed a moment to gather himself, but he quickly snatched up Quiet into his arms and hauled themselves onto the snake, just behind its head. Quiet sat in front of him, both of them holding onto the bright feathers. He slipped doll Leendonn into his lap and hugged him with one arm.
The snake let out a sharp shriek and with a single beat from its many wings it was off, flying through the opening in the ceiling like an arrow. Out in the open, destruction greeted them from every direction. The big city was gone, swallowed up by angry plants and liquid fire. Below them, some people were still trying to run and fight the roots, but so many of them were dead. Quiet saw the purple tent by the big building, still untouched. He saw the very old man with the gemstones, standing on top of some stairs, away from the fire and fighting off vines alongside a big burly man in armor. He saw Johhana destroying entire legions of plants with a single swing. Quiet almost fell off of the snake's back, he was so tired, but Teeriel kept him in place.
Johhana looked up at the flying snake and let out a terrible inhuman roar of rage. She swung her skerry chainy-weapon in a wide arc, taking a shot at them.
- SWERVE! – Teeriel shouted at the snake, desperately yanking on its feathers.
Just as their mount took a sharp turn, a very bright ray of light swept among trees and buildings and fire, and hit Johhana square in the face. She cried out and missed the shot by meters. The rising sun was shooting beams, blinding the still alive bad men and stopping them from throwing spears, arrows or magic.
- Ytar, God of Sun and Fire! At your service, Allfather, it is my honor! – shouted the sun.
- Oh… hi. Thank you – Quiet waved tiredly at it, crashing into Teeriel's lap.
It is nice to have so many friends, he thought dimly before falling asleep.
- Indeed, Worrldston agreed.
The majestic feathered snake swept across the sky towards the southeastern jungle. Below them, the wretched remnants of the once divine city of Kurast burnt and collapsed in a surge of fire and jungle, ending the legacy of hate it had created.
This chapter's ending is brought to you by Michael Bay, cupcakes.
Seriously tho, I hope my writing skills are at least somewhat above the level of his movies. I hope.
Seriously seriously tho, We are back from a brief hiatus, and a needed break! Thank you all for your patience and your kindness! Although July's currently looking hellish at my workplace, I still will do my best to reinstate the monthly update schedule you all deserve!
Even better news, an illustration regarding this chapter will go up on my DeviantArt page and Tumblr blog, possibly once this hellish week is done! Keep an eye out for that if you wish to see the newly born species in its full glory!
Lore & Trivia Corner
- Kurast: formerly the capital of Kehjistan before it all went to hell, almost literally, and home of the Vatican-like religious state of Travincal, the original center of the Zakarum faith. Kurast has the bragging rights for "possibly the largest city level" in all of the Diablo franchise, spanning across seven different locations from the Docks to Travincal (not counting the Durance of Hate after all that). By now you all know my exact sentiments regarding Diablo 2. However, I must say that Kurast is… actually a pretty okay location! I mean, as far as color palette goes, the bastard is the exact same damn thing as Act I, only the putrid browns were switched to greys, but. BUT! The city itself is pretty neat. It has an actual somewhat believable architecture, an actual united art style, and even the enemies seem to fit in design and function into the jungle setting. Mephisto was also far less of a bitch to face than Duriel (ironic), so there's that.
- Thorned Hulks: a type of enemy from Diablo 2's Act III, ancient protectors of the jungle who were corrupted by Mephisto's aura. It is said, however, that they are very intelligent, and that they knew they had been corrupted, so I believe they have good chances of healing in the 20+ years since then. A Thorned Hulk has also (possibly) appeared in the first Sin War book, Birthright, where he randomly sought out Uldyssian and knelt before him. Don't ask me why that even happened or what came of it. That trilogy has some… interesting scenes like this one. A peculiar writing style, to be sure.
- Yes, I really enjoy the Assassin's Creed series. Yes, this fanfiction was mostly written with AC II soundtrack going in the back. How did you guys know? I can especially recommend the "Chariot Chase" track as BG music for the final portion of the chapter.
- Winged snakes appear in many mythologies, like the Amphiptere from Europe, or the Egyptian fire-breathing Uraeus, but of course this particular new species was modelled after the most famous of them all, the Feathered Serpent. Called Quetzalcoatl by the Aztecs and Kukulkan by the Mayans, it has always been a prominent deity in their beliefs. Figured it would be a thematically fitting creature for this chapter.
