City of IF

[LordoftheNight]

Chapter Sixteen: The Yellow Auclid Root

“Very well,” she decided; the urgency of her quest beginning to press upon her. “You are welcome to join me. My companion - my guide - has been injured, and I search for a rare flower with near mystic healing properties. We must hurry though, for the flower blooms solely at midnight.” Enthral nodded at sincerely at her words

“It is a worthy quest. Many people – less honourable than yourself – would have simply abandoned an injured companion. I shall accompany you in your task, and afterwards.” Ulliana clicked her tongue at Arteu, before sliding astride her mount. She held out one hand for Enthral, who slid on behind her.

Night was falling swiftly as they neared their destination, Mortios already high in the sky. The red light cast an eerie glow over the forest, illuminating their path. In the distance, the first slivers of Heptro could be seen through the peaks of Phaosneth. As the pair galloped onwards, they glimpsed flashes of movement – creatures scurrying through the undergrowth alongside them. Wolves could be heard in the distance, howling up at the luminous scarlet orb.

Without warning, the roughly beaten forest path opened outwards into a moonlit clearing. The trees ringing the clearing were dead and dry, skeletal branches hanging menacingly inwards, almost as if reaching towards the centre of the clearing. Towards the rocky outcrop that sprang from its heart.

“This is a place of evil,” Enthral declared. “A place of Death. And yet, it is sacred to them. The Vaulkir will not want us here. The beasts,” he explained, seeing her look of confusion. “They are coming.”

The Sic’lian slipped from the horse, staring around at the circle of trees. Unconcerned with his superstitions, Ulliana calmly urged the steed forwards, towards the rocky outcrop. The feline glanced up at the sky, gazing at the twin moons growing ever closer.

“Not long now,” she started, “It’ll blossom in less than half an hour. Until then, there’s nothing we can do but wait.” Dismounting, she led Arteu to the outcrop, leaving the reins amidst the rocks. The Rakshasa’s prediction was correct – even as the pair watched they could see the night growing visibly brighter, as Heptro rose into the sky.

Somewhere in the distance, wolves howled, the shill noise piercing through the silent night. Their calls were echoed throughout the forest, along with other, along with other, deeper, cries. The beast-herds were on the move. Ulliana knelt by the rock, and cradled her hands around the rapidly blooming flower that was sprouting from its core.

After just a few minutes, the plant was fully grown, yellow blossoms gleaming in the moonlight. Ulliana plucked it from the ground, and held up before her.

“So, this is it. This is the Auclid Root,” she began. “Such a little thing, for all its supposed power. Still, let’s get out before any of the beast-herds come back.” A moment of silence followed, broken only by a brief snort from Arteu. Puzzled at Enthral’s failure to reply she turned around, and saw for herself exactly what he was staring at.

The Sic-lian’s prediction had been correct – the beasts had indeed been coming. Though still amongst the trees, Ulliana’s eyes were sharp enough to pick up the flurry of movement hidden in the shadows, the savage warriors appearing reluctant to move into the unnatural light. Their cloven hooves moved nigh-on silently over the undergrowth, enabling the creatures to catch them unawares.

Evidently sensing both warriors were now aware of their presence, the shuffling ceased. A trio of figures moved to the forefront, and then emerged out into the clearing. One of them she recognised – the leader of the previous ambush – who gave a twisted snarl at the shocked expression across her face. He brandished his twin scimitars provokingly at her, but fell silent at one of the other’s growled order. His parents were as varied from each other as they were from him.

One of the beasts was evidently old – wizened and warped flesh, while the once black hairs had long before started to turn grey. This one rested his weight upon a gnarled wooden staff – a branch torn from a black oak, and carved with crude symbols. The old beast, and the scimitar wielder flanked the central creature, who was evidently the true leader of the herd.

Standing at over thirty hands, he was more Minotaur than beastman. The fur covering his body was a pure, pearly white, though he showed none of the weakness of the grey-haired beast. The creature wore a suit of bronzed chain mail, and had mere slits for eyes. Across his shoulder he bore a great axe – its head wider than Arteu’s body – and yet he carried it seemingly without effort. Unusually, his head sprouted no horns, which would traditionally have marked him as an outcast, but the other two deferred to him, and allowed him to walk before them.

The trio stopped over twenty paces from the outcrop, and glared at Ulliana. The albino spat once upon the ground, then began to speak in the beast tongue – a series of grunts and snarls, none of which neither Enthral nor Ulliana could begin to translate.

“Lord Kharnre the Head-Taker – ruler of the Brastentol Forest – brooks no intruders in his reign,” spoke the wizened beast, evidently having been brought along as a translator. “The manlings must die for invading – though you could have been spared,” it continued, now staring directly at Ulliana. “Not only have you trespassed, not only have you killed warriors of Kuranth herd, but you have now transgressed upon sacred soil. There can be no survival man-beast!”

It was with something similar to shock, that the feline realised they sensed an almost kinship with her. Had she not interfered with the caravan, they would likely have left her alone, therefore allowing her to get the flower and leave before being noticed. They saw her as being one of them – nothing more than a beast.

“The Sky-Gods have spoken – after the summit ends, your blood shall be spilt upon the Rok , as an offering. Make peace with the Gods, before suffering your fate.”

[LordoftheNight]

Woo - I finally got around to finishing this chapter, which has been dragging its heels for months. I hope you enjoy it. It's very short, partially because I was distracted by the shiny TV while trying to write it, and partially because I thought this could make a good decision point.

In case you haven't worked it out, Ulliana and Enthral are in quite a little pickle. They're heavily outnumbered, and surronded, and fighting on what's sacred terriotory to the beasties. They don't have anywhere near an accurate assessment of the beastmen numbers, all they can see is that it's lots. It's also possible the beastmen have various shamens along with them, or other monsters such as Minataurs and wolves.

There's not much chance of them escaping, and even less of them being able to defeat their opponents.

I'm looking for suggestions on just what to do, how to do it, and how to hopefully survive. Of course, it might not be possible to get out of this one unless you make cunning suggestions (and I roll luckily) so this could be a tragic tale.

Have fun.

Oh, and go add this story to your favourites, because that's a friendly thing to do.

[Mastermind]

Tell them a lie about world conquest, exterminating the manlings and how the caravan was extremely vital to your plan. :D

[Chinaren]

Finally!

I must admit, I was thinking 'trees'. Not because they could possibly climb them to escape or anything, but simply because I like trees. However, that bloody big axe would likely make short work of any trunk.

About the only way is talk their way out I think. Is there something the beasties want? Some terminally suicidal quest they won't do, and she can promise to carry out for them in return for their release?

It's a tough one and no mistake. :?

[Shady Stoat]

Nice chapter oh Lordly one! And nasty situation!

One minor point. I loved your description of the clearing, wonderfully evocative...

Lordofthenight wrote: Without warning, the roughly beaten forest path opened outwards into a moonlit clearing. The trees ringing the clearing were dead and dry, skeletal branches hanging menacingly inwards, almost as if reaching towards the centre of the clearing. Towards the rocky outcrop that sprang from its heart.

...but it could possibly do with a reduced number of 'clearing's in it. Maybe "The surrounding trees" instead of "The trees ringing the clearing"?

Now let's get to the tricky part.

Heavily outnumbered, on sacred ground, no way of getting external help...

The first solution that occurs is to turn and run her new companion through, spilling the blood of Enthral over the sacred rock and using some sort of line of "Well, I thought it would be easier to lure her to the sacred place as a personal gift to the sky-gods from their most loyal servant." It might just scrape a sparing of her own life, even though she killed a couple of the beast-men in the caravan raid before.

However, from what I've seen of the story so far, it wouldn't be in character (mightily convenient though it would be!), so I won't put that forward as a formal suggestion.

One desperate chance is to put her trust in this magic sword of hers. She hasn't seen any of its powers yet, but if she's the rightful wielder, then a near-death experience might cause it to protect her.

Whip out the sword and strike the sacred rock as hard as she can. At this point, if nothing happens, she has nothing to lose. If the power of the sword is pitted against the power of the evil gods, then it's possible some magical effect would arise, putting her in a position to at least bargain further, if not to demoralise her enemies completely.

Ok, so it's desperate, but so's her situation!

If I think of anything else I'll be back.

[Mastermind]

Quote: “The manlings must die for invading – though you could have been spared,” it continued, now staring directly at Ulliana. “Not only have you trespassed, not only have you killed warriors of Kuranth herd, but you have now transgressed upon sacred soil. There can be no survival man-beast!”

Quote: It was with something similar to shock, that the feline realised they sensed an almost kinship with her.

Seems like the beastmen view Ulliana as an equal, maybe she can challenge Kharnre of leadership of the beastmen, if such a thing would be allowed by their tradition. Not too good odds, but better than fighting all of them.

[Guest]

I think it's better to fool them or to talk to them. Say that you would never return and that five more flowers will grow... I know sounds nuts, but it's worth a try. Or tell them that you are an equal in beast territory and so is humans. work it out. :) Fighting bad option now. since your out numbered. And the wolves might aswell created a freaky scene, but they didn't show up, so there is no saying that their hidden somewhere or that it is only the wind playing tricks. Then again I think your chappies is really good Lordly, even if i'm a newb i still manage to read real quick and see what is missing in a story. But hey i can't talk my own stories has fifty roads, glad china showed up. :D

[Kalanna Rai]

I say fight like you're ready to die...maybe if they see your resolve they will realize your worth as warriors. If not, well something will happen I'm sure...Maybe the vengeful spirits perhaps?

[Smudger]

Read it Lordy :D . Well, what to do? :-o , call on her mount, and ride for the trees!! Would rather face beastmen than a minotaur wouldn't she?

[juggernaut]

i think that Ulliana and her companion should make a break for it. as long as the horde doesnt have wolves she should be able to out pace the beastmen to the egde of their territory. even if there are wolves Ulliana could make it far enough to deal with the wolves before the beastmen can intercept, or maybe her companion can fire the bow from horseback in an attempt to slow any possible pursuers.

[dinranwen]

A pickle if their ever was one.

*smiles* Finally caught up on this one Lordy. Great work.

How to get them out of this situation I don't know, but fighting seems like a ridiuclous idea as well as sucidal.

Personally, out of all the suggestions here, stricking the magical sword to the sacrficial stone, offering to do something to make up for it...like a near impossible quest, or fighting the lead male for demion sound like the best options.

Although these options certainly don't like they posses an all too bright ending, and they certainly are desperate...what other choice do you have?

[LordoftheNight]

Poll is up. I expect I'll let it run for about a week.

[Lilith]

I say try and talk her way out of it. I want to see how smart she is... heh heh!

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[LordoftheNight]

Hey all. Couple of things to tell you. Firstly I've written most of the chapter - this is the good news. What happens in it might not be of course, but then you've no-one to blame for that but yourselves (and the dice).

Secondly is the bad news. My laptop - which I do all my writing on - has stopped working. The recharged completely fails to register when it's connected to the wall, which means that not only can I not finish the story, I also can't transfer it to my main computer.

Hopefully I'll be able to get it fixed/find a solution soon, but I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up afterall.

[Chinaren]

You should be able to take your laptop HD out and attach it to your main one, though it usually needs a little adapter. You can borrow mine if you want, but you will have to come and pick it up. ;)

[dragon_fire372]

Caught up and enjoyed it, too. Also voted, but it was moot anyway. Looking forward to the next chapter, whenever it shall come.

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