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About Blood 56: Dues where Payment is Demanded


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#1 Guest_Rand Al'Tor_*

Posted 03 January 2009 - 03:11 AM

56: Dues Where Payment Is Demanded

It was raining blood again.

That didn't bother Talek. On the contrary, the tangy smell in the air made his mind sharp, concentrating on nothing but the sword in his hand and his body ready for action. He was standing in the middle of a forest road, looking at the horizon. They'd be here soon, and he was waiting for them. All was as it should be.

The caravan was greater than he remembered, with more guards. Looked like hundreds, but he didn't pay it too much mind. The more, the merrier.

When the caravan saw him, they stopped, grabbing their bows and crossbows, the elven woman he had killed that night yelling orders. Talek smiled, took another deep breath of blood-filled air and charged.

The trees raced past him and the guards came closer fast, but despite that Talek could see every single drop of blood fall down. He heard the twang of bowstrings and saw the bolts and arrows come at him. Compared to his speed, they moved at a leisurely pace. Without too much problems, he struck the ones aimed at him out of the air, not breaking pace.

And then he was among them and his sword struck. His blade sliced through three men, who screamed and exploded in a fountain of blood, leaving nothing behind except more ichor. The guards grabbed their weapons and tried to fight him with their mêlée weapons, quickly surrounding him. But their weapons moved as if the air was thick as tar, while Talek's blade flashed around, striking down several men with each blow.

The blood didn't fall to the ground anymore, it danced around him, reminding him of playful dogs, each swipe of his sword adding more. In the end, he struck down the elf, laughing as the blood suddenly moved faster, then all convened just in front of him.

And he was suddenly looking up at his own face. He stepped back in surprise, then saw it was a statue. It looked as if it was made of dark-red glass, but the smell was still blood.. It depicted him, larger than life, in full armour, a sword in hand and a vicious grin on his face.

When he had recovered, Talek grinned, running a hand through his hair, feeling his hair getting smeared with blood. "Looking good there!" He chuckled.

"Such pride undeserved, great conqueror, when your whole being is borrowed." The voice seemed to come out of nowhere.

Talek had his sword ready in an instant. "You again! Show yourself, miserable bastard!"

Mocking laughter filled the air. Talek bared his teeth.

"I don't know what or who you are, but you're gonna pay for screwing with my head, dead man!"

The voice answered. "Credit where credit is due, and dues where payment is demanded."

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Talek's angry question echoed through the forest.

"You were made as you are, and you can also be broken." There was a sound behind him. Talek turned around to see a dagger bury itself in the statue's back, making a slight crack. Talek screamed as he fell on one knee, pain erupting in his back where the dagger had struck the statue.

"Where am I?" The voice asked, as Talek struggled to stay on one knee, rather than fall. "I am wherever you are. And I am stronger than you."

"This is just a dream! Nothing more. I'll find you in the flesh and TEAR YOU APART!" Talek snarled. He looked at the statue. From where the dagger had struck, a golden-yellowish glow was spreading through the statue.

"Hm, you're mine all right. Yes, just a dream, sure." A chuckle. "Say, what would happen if you die in a dream?"

Talek grit his teeth as he fell his stomach turn and his head spin. The pain kept coming in brilliant waves, drowning out thought, and beneath that he felt the murderous thirst growing, overwhelming other feelings.. His muscles felt shaking and useless. But rage and pride screamed just as loud. He stood. And took a step towards the statue. And another one.

"You still think you have the strength to resist me then?" He asked. "Let's see it then. Show me what you're worth."

"Shut... up... Just shut... up!" He brought out. The bone dagger was at eye level. He raised his arm, the left hand eagerly reaching for the hilt, almost as if it wanted to. His palm touched it lightly, the feeling alone eased the pain.

And then a memory surfaced. About reaching for that dagger. He withdrew his hand, it seemed to resist slightly. "Tricks... you... bastard..."

"It seems so..." the voice sounded. "but what will you do then, hm? By accepting what you are or being consumed by it, you'll be mine. And nobody will come save you THIS time." The yellow infection spread, the pain intensified, and thinking became nearly impossible.

"Go... to... hell...." Was all Talek could utter. with that he raised his sword, burying it in the statue, just under the knife wound. His vision blurred with agony. Then he cut, causing the dagger, with part of the statue, to fall out of the statue. Blood poured out freely. Talek collapsed as the unbridled murderous fog retreated. The pain was still excruciating, but was quickly overwhelmed by the darkness coming in. He did hear the voice again though, disapproving but still confident.

"You will learn."

...

Talek woke up with the smell of blood in his nostrils, pain in his back and an angry scream on his lips. He was answered with the moans and complaints of several badly hung-over bandits. The tent was dark, some light coming in from the door, as well as the sound of the forest.

"Aaagh... someone kill the screaming slave quickly... too early in the morning for punishment!" Edwin was laying not too far off, hiding his eyes from the scarce light under rough covers.

"Ugh... damn it... stupid dreams..." Talek said, still feeling the pain in his back. He raised his hand to rub his eyes, then stopped.

His left hand was dripping with blood, that was normal. He hadn't wrapped it yesterday. However, the nails weren't normal. He had been cutting them short daily lately. Now, they were an inch and a half long, and ended in sharp points.

Suddenly the entrance to the tent was opened wide, to the dismay of many, Edwin loudest among them. Viconia and Xzar rushed in.

"Daddy tried to eat him again!" The necromancer screamed. "He's tearing bits and pieces of him! Like a rabbit chewing from the inside!" His screams didn't improve the state of most of the revellers of the night before. Montaron came, his leathers under his arm.

"Quit yer screamin' necromancer! This isn't... wow..." He stopped as he looked at Talek.

Viconia quickly rushed forward, grabbing the groggy Talek's shoulder, pulling him forward and feeling his back. "Just a scar." she said. "Another dream?"

Talek nodded. "Yeah, what're you looking... at..." He looked back. His bed was now covered in blood, as if he had bled from a wound in his back.

Montaron scowled. "Let's talk outside."

...

Kivan looked down on the bandit camp, sitting in a tree. It hadn't taken long to return to the place of the ambush. He had found her body there, the neck broken. He had put it back in position, only to see someone had cut out the eyes, as well as several other parts. The rest of the night had been a blur.

He had found this tree, and waited, bow at the ready. He'd be ready when the killer showed his face. That was all that mattered. Not the weariness, not the hunger, not the feel of his own tunic, still dirty with his own dried blood.

Then the man showed, together with others, a drow among them. Maybe he'd have time for a second shot. But he had to be patient. He might only get one chance at his revenge.

...

The group, including a VERY chagrined Edwin gathered somewhere at the edge of the camp. "So I cut out the part with the dagger. Hurt like a bitch, but I felt better." Talek was trying to cut the claws off with his hunting knife, making slow progress, having to almost saw them off.

"Gettin' freakier and freakier." Montaron said, looking at the nails. "Should learn more about this." He looked at Xzar.

"I just need to know one thing. Where do I find the guy doing this, and when can we kill him?" Talek growled, finally getting the first claw off.

"You can't." Xzar said, quickly grabbing the nail. "But I wouldn't worry about the nails. Those kind of things are to be expected. Just... keep yourself from getting eaten!" The necromancer said. After the initial shock, the wizard seemed positively beaming, especially after hearing Talek had managed to reject the voice without the help of Shar.

"We'll see who will eat who." He said. "I stood up to the piece of crap once, I'll take the cowardly little shit on any day now."

"Right. Anyone asks questions, ye've just got a wizard that placed a curse on ye for killin' his wife or somethin'. That should satisfy nosy people." Montaron seemed somewhat worried about the whole thing, and more in favour of avoiding the subject.

Viconia looked at Talek ardently removing the claws with a raised eyebrow. "So afraid of what you become?"

"Nope." Talek said, putting away the dagger and using the Sharran blade Varscona, to the drow's shock. The claws were soon removed. "They just don't look good. Hey, it's Raiken."

"Hey, Bloodhound." The blond man said, carrying something underneath his arm. "Heard about your problems. You doin' okay?"

Talek raised a bloodstained left hand. "I'll be fine. Just the nails and some blood. Gonna take more than that to take me down."

"Glad to hear it, heard you guys might become full Talons. Anyway, came to show you a little something." He held up the object he brought, a chainmail. "Remember how you told us how that elven guard refused to go down? Well, we took off her mail and guess what? Authentic, no fooling elven chain mail. These babies can take quite the abuse."

Montaron whistled; "Elven chain? Nice! Don't see them too often."

Xzar gave it a suspicious look. "Careful. I heard elves can SENSE the death of the other elf on the chain. They'd hunt you, track you down, maybe even kill you just for wearing the dead elf's clothes."

Viconia gave a smirk. "That doesn't make much of a difference to me, now does it?" She extended a hand. "Give it to me."

...

Kivan fought to keep his bow steady, part of him wishing to kill the drow rather than the fighter. "You'll get the second arrow, drow bitch." He said hoarsely. Then, he released the string.

...

"Hey, lemme have a look first, I killed h..."

Talek reached and snagged the chainmail from Raiken's hand, holding it to the midday sun to look at it. No sooner had he done that or an arrow slammed into the chains with a tinkling sound, narrowly piercing it and leaving a shallow wound on Talek's face.

Montaron jumped away. "What in the nine Hells...?"

Raiken reached for his blade. "It came from the forest. EVERYONE, ON YOUR GUARD, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" All over the camp, Black Talons and bandits reached for weapons, a good deal of them looking in the direction of the Chill camp. The hobgoblins also grabbed their weapons.

Talek dropped the chain and drew his sword. "I'm on the bastard!" He sprinted towards the forest as fast as his armour allowed him too, followed by Montaron,Viconia and Raiken mages looked for cover. A second arrow was fired, hitting Talek's armour but getting deflected harmlessly.

Kivan cursed harshly, dropped his bow and grabbed his shortspear, jumping for the cover of the underbrush, vanishing from sight.

Talek and the others came running. Montaron looked around warily. "Damn these trees. Could be everywhere!"

Talek sniffed, twice, then smiled; "He smells of old blood." Another sniff, he waslked a bit further. "I think it's elven. And he is..." Varscona cut through a brush. A hoarse cry of pain followed. "here." Talek grinned as his red-tainted sword was raised.

Kivan was laying on his back. The swordstrike had caught him by surprise, and cut open his right arm. Before he could try to sell his life dearly he had Talek's boot on his chest and various swords aimed at him.

"Wow... So that's why you're called Bloodhound." Raiken said with a grin.

Talek chuckled. "It's the elven guy that got away. Good to see you back." He raised the sword for a coup de grace. "Leaving people to die is sloppy."

"Whow, hold on a moment!" Raiken held Talek's arm. "That's the one Deralon stabbed in the back? Wait a bit, we got to see how he found us and if he led others here. I'm warning Tenhammer."

Viconia had kept an eye on Kivan as the elf looked up at Talek with helpless hatred. "You all go already. I'll keep an eye on him."

Montaron frowned. "Why on earth would ye... oh, I get it..." He gave Kivan a mockingly sympathetic look. "Should have stayed away, pointy ear... seems you're gonna get to pay for whatever your breed of elves did to her."

Raiken grinned, and quikly produced and end of rope to tie the man's arms and feet. "Let her get him warmed up a bit. Tenhammer may have Sorf take over in a few minutes."

Talek looked disappointed but sheathed his sword. "Right, but I get to finish him off afterwards, right?"

Montaron rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure, now come on. Let's give these two their privacy, eh?

Viconia grinned as the three men leaving, then focused her attention on the elf.

"Do what you want, you disgusting, vile piece of drow filth!" He hissed "I'll see you rot in hell!"

Viconia smiled. "Such vicious language. Though a nice invitation." She came down to straddle the elf, itting on his thighs. "perhaps you're hoping that our reputation for perversity is correct. I assure you... it is."

The elf gave a look of distaste. "I'd rather bed a troll than that I'd touch you!"

Viconia's smile grew even wider. "Ah, shush darthir . You're making me nostalgic." She bend forward, her face closer to the captive elf. "Too bad we don't have much time. It's been a long time since I had one of your kind at my mercy." One of her hands slid underneath his leather armour by the neck. She sung a prayer. Kivan shuddered then looked surprised when the wound in his arm healed. He didn't say anything though, just glared.

"No thank you?" Viconia said with false sweetness. She almost touched his lips with hers, forcing his head to remain in position. Then she pressed her lips on his. Kivan made muffled sounds until Viconia withdrew, both of their lips bloody. Viconia licked hers as Kivan gagged.

"Don't be so prudish, elf. After all, it's not like you're bonded to anyone anymore, is it?" She said.

The gagging stopped, Kivan froze to look at her with increased rage.

"Ow.... I'm sorry. Did I hit a painful spot? Don't worry, she lives on... mostly as spell components. Did you find her body? Our necromancer said elven body-parts are hard to find. He was very sad to hear you escaped."

"Shevarash..." Kivan prayed, looking past the elf up at the sky. "Though I fail, may her murderer, this drow and all with them meet the end they deserve!"

"Ah, I know that name. Lots of prayers to that god made during sacrifices back in the old days. And you know what. They never helped." She stroked his cheek. "I might help you."

"I don't want any help from the Spider Queen!"

Viconia's smile suddenly froze, eyes darting left and right. "Don't mention her! You think I would be here if I served her? No... I serve Shar, Mistress of Loss."

"One dark goddess or the other!" Kivan spat.

Viconia smiled. "She is dark indeed, darthir but she comforts those that lost everything. People like you and me." She smiled, a more earnest looking smile. "I too lost the only person I cared for. Perhaps that is why I shall give you a gift, in Shar's name." She held her lip close to his ear and whispered. "The killer of your lover? He loves to fight, and can ill resist challenges. You challenge him, maybe you'll have one last chance before dying."

She suddenly rose, looking down as steps came closer. "Think on it, darthir . Whatever happens, your time is running out. In less than an hour, your eyes and other parts will be next to hers in the necromancer's pouch. You want to kill this one, you'll need all the help you can get. And Shar is old and powerful, and has already helped you, through me. The god you swear by? I haven't seen him do much."

Kivan glowered at her. "One day you'll see just what he can do, drow!"

Seconds later the others came to get Kivan. Montaron looked surprised. "I'd expected ye'd have gotten creative on him, Sharran."

Viconia just grinned.




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