Man but it was fun to write this. And all my work's out of the way.
The City Graveyard
Tamunshin looked around himself quickly, bowing his head in shame. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Serving this monstrosity was sapping his willpower but he had to see it through, he had to. He looked at the crypt sitting squat in the middle of the graveyard. Very gothic. He hated gothic.
This one? he inquired.
“Yes,” came the reply. “this is the place.”
He sighed and trudged into the darkness.
On the top of the mausoleum sat Bromrek. He watched Tamunshin enter the crypt. Grasping his axe in one hand for security, he grimaced. This was very wrong. He looked down at his axe. It was a special axe. It had been forged in the fires of Baharadholum, the ancient dwarven forgeworks, famous for being a) named in untranslatable old tongue, having been built during the now lost adamantinum age of the dwarves and b) for having apparently disappeared off the face of the earth some centuries ago. The axe was a silvery grey, having been forged by his great, great, great grandfather from dragon blood, steel and a small amount of precious adamantine.
“Are we going in then lad?”
Oh, and it could talk to him. Telepathically. According to it, this was not rare. Apparently Limul Thak had some annoying dead elf residing in his skull and Tamunshin was… That was the problem. He was sharing a telepathic bond between another entity but the axe had no idea what it was. All it knew was that whatever it was, it was evil and extremely powerful. It was extremely likely that Tamunshin was in servitude to this creature. You didn’t have to be a rocket engineer, though those were merely a legend, to figure it out.
No, He replied. I think that would be an extremely unsafe idea, don’t you?
“Unsafe? Lad, I know ye be young, but I’m an axe. I’m used to unsafe situations. But whatever ye feel is best.
“I’m not young,” muttered Bromrek, deciding against telepathy.
“What?”
“I’m not young. I’m eighty seven.”
“Oh? And I’m turning one thousand, two hundred and forty next July. Ye be young lad. But I’ll respect ye decision, not least because yer the one that’s holding me, not the other way around. But I think ye’d be well advised to keep an eye on him.”
“Yes…” said Bromrek.
The Crypt
Tamunshin progressed through the crypt, moving through the alcoves and made his way down to the catacombs. As he walked, he remembered. The patrol, the cavern the…
What’s this then? Hello little dwarf. You should know better than tobe poking around where you don’t belong!
He moved along a row of coffins stacked into the wall. No, no, no, no…
Your friends are dead you know. All dead. I killed them, yes I did. But it was painful. I’m no longer the god I should be. And that’s where you come in…
No, no, no… Hey, what’s that?
Are you wondering why you’re still alive? Luck. I picked you at random. I killed your friend though. It was fun. It was tasty. And best of all, I have you. All I need is to brand you.
Tamunshin shook his head. It had hurt. It still did, late at night. Ah, this looked promising…
Oh, did that hurt? Good. Now you’re mine. And you will do what I ask. I need to take this world and make it my own. I’m not strong enough to manifest, but I’m strong enough to force you to help me. And you will help me. And don’t think of running away. I have other minions.
Tamunshin looked up and down at the little alcove that contained the better than average sarcophagus.
Now, in a few years, bad things will happen. I can’t have you running around before then, so I’ll just keep you hear. Don’t worry, you won’t be bored. It’ll hurt to much for you to get bored. I need to be sure that you earn the sword. Minion…
Tamunshin winced and put his hand up to his face. He felt his eyes. It had hurt. Five goddamn years. And the promise of worse, should he fail. Even death wasn’t a respite. He knew that.
“Is this the place? I cannot see a thing. Blasted holy incense.”
“Yes,” muttered Tamunshin, trying to suppress a grin. He took pleasure in the small victories. And this was a small victory. But it was worth it. He reread the inscription.
Here lies Brandon StoneBastion.
In the battle of the plains, he led his battalion to victory against the horde.
In the siege of the dancing flowers, he destroyed several siege weapons, saving the city.
In the battle of the frozen forest, his tactics destroyed enemy skirmishers.
These are but a portion of the battles he fought in.
In each of his battles, he wore a dress over his armor.
He shall be enshrined here forever.
Not forever. thought Tamunshin. He took out the gem.
“Now,” he said. The gem flared.
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Topic: To venture north, into Hell: Othtar Noloc, world at war (Read 106709 times)