Forgotten

XX: How Does He Do It?

Trenton

Unsure of what is taking place, Trenton rises from where he was sitting as the fire smothers. Gloom overtakes his vision, and the cool atmosphere of the desert takes its toll upon the moment of the snuffing of the fireplace. Right to the bone the howl has the young Man’s body convulse in terror. 

It was very faint, but Trenton had seen Linnet and Baldrek give quick glances to one another—every time, it was not long after an echoing yowl. Something the two had shared in connection the Banner Bearer notices effortlessly, and the link was not from a very joyful experience at that. The same look he can hardly make out in the dark upon Colonel Linnet’s countenance: Absolute terror.

Staring off in the direction of the noise, Trenton can only assume the reaction he can have upon such an encounter. If the creature is as fearsome and terrifying as Baldrek and Linnet make it out to be, then truthfully the three of them will be in a peril that might mean one or more of them are unable to escape tonight. 

And then he sees it. The hunched figure’s massive snout snorting and smelling the air about it, forsaking eyesight in the night for its remarkable sense of smell, it may seem. Its core form shapes into an enormous hybrid between that of a humanoid and a Wulf. Massive talons curve in malformed motions, and a void-black fur coloration gives the appearance of near camouflage with its surroundings. Deformed snout holds interlocking and misshapen rows of teeth. Its breath low and heavy, somewhat comparable to that of a Human who ran out of breath, after sprinting for what can seem to be endless miles and manages to maintain his stamina. And the eyes … piercing and dreadful with no way to break away from its hardened, morbid crimson, vicious glare. The most bestial of features that sets the monster apart besides its unnatural eyes is its immense, powerful set of limbs—both in its hind legs and its four arms…or what can be assumed to be arms. Two of these misshapen upper limbs located in its torso are much smaller than the other two, though the curves and structure are just as grotesque as the rest of its body. From Trenton’s mind, he can depict the image of an animal’s blood seeping from its snout and claws. The creature seemed Human enough in nature and structure, but too bestial and savage to be termed Human at all.

Trenton has seen some “odd” appearances from his flashbacks, and a number of odd humanoids across the battlefield, but never to the degree that is seen here. Almost at the sight of it, the young Arbiter loses feeling and strength in his legs, trembling in utter fear and shaking under the little power needed to keep up his body frame.

The Banner Bearer turns to his companions, looking for something to do or anything to suggest help in the current situation. He sees Baldrek continuing to lean on the tree as if this were a leisurely practice run; is he gone mad?! Shaking his head in dismay, Trenton sees Linnet grab hold of two short swords near the extinguished fire, silently signaling for him to catch one of them. Trenton nods quickly in agreement, seeing as he has nothing on him for protection, and catches the firm hilt with his shaking hands. 

Feeling the ground next to him shift, Trenton whirls around brandishing weapon in hand to find the putrid stench of a Wari-Wulf’s breath a few meters from his face. Nearly jumping at the sight of it, he falls on his back and almost loses his already shaken grip of his precious weapon. In his nearly helpless position, the creature pounces with all its weight on the young Man. In clenched fists, the smaller arms smash into his ribs, audibly snapping a number of them upon the fall. The larger two of the arms delay to claw at his heart. The breaking ensues further on his weakened ribs, and with both little time and strength to react, Trenton heaves his short sword to parry the blow. It manages to deflect, though at the cost of the weapon getting caught into the skin of the hideous hands to be later tossed aside. His breathing is weak and suppressed the longer the creature stays on top of him. Sand flies into his eyes as his entire body slowly sinks into the unstable ground below. Trenton attempts to let loose a scream of pain, but only to find a harsh gasp of air. The terror-filled crimson eye slits the fiend possesses are growing in ferocity; they only swell with more intensity into a swimming pool of blood falling into a faint crack that seems to lead to a never-ending abyssal gateway to the Nine Hells themselves. Even glancing into its raging eyes sends Trenton into a trance, and he can only wait until his chest collapses or it finishes him off once and for all.

Without warning, the mass off his chest is relieved. Gasping for air, Trenton lost sight of anything happening in the past few seconds, but clearly something with great force brought the beast off his body fairly quickly. Taking his cloth shirt to rub the grit and sand out of his eyes, he observes a slim figure in the darkness—only to find it is Linnet herself—leaping, twirling, and evading the Wari-Wulf’s attacks. The long auburn ponytail has now disappeared as her hair flies across her face in all directions, though not seeming to hinder the Colonel in any way. With every miss, it appears that the Wari-Wulf is only more enraged. 

A sudden aching runs across Trenton’s entire torso, the pressure from cracked ribs taking its toll when he attempts to sit up—and when that does not work, rolls onto his side. Trenton can only watch in awe as the Colonel’s nimble grace overwhelms the young Man’s thoughts. Before he can even begin to comprehend what he is seeing, Trenton witnesses the Dwarf Thane leap from above, after jumping off the tree’s branches, onto the fiend’s malformed back. 

Roaring with fury, the Wari-Wulf works to shake the little Dwarf off, tossing and turning and heaving and snapping and contorting its entire body. Baldrek looks as if he is struggling to maintain a grip, and takes a hand to reach for one of his handaxes. From out of nowhere, Trenton can see the Dwarf be tossed as that of a Halfling child over the fiend’s head and into the gloom of night. A slight thump in the dirt and muffled yelp is all that could be heard after the fall.

Crying out in pain from a silent jab into the Demon’s side, the Wari-Wulf takes one of his massive arms and swings to take hold of the Colonel—with a smaller grabbing hold of the weapon to slowly pull it out of the side. Bending backwards to duck and using the momentum to pull the weapon out of its side, Linnet takes her leg to swing herself under its immense body. Trenton’s jaw drops, as he watches he can only see amazement in the work she has done to train and hone her skill in battle, ever since he had first met her at the academy. Another fiendish shriek the Wari-Wulf cries out from another blow from the same side; a glint shines through the dark from the sword digging deeper into the same wound. Some meshed form of blood sluggishly trickles from the region of the sword wound. It is not long after this blood starts to show less and less in degree falling onto the ground, until eventually there is none falling at all. Even in the thick darkness, Trenton can perceive Linnet cursing under her breath realizing the fact that has been observed by himself as well.

This does not bode well for any of them, as some weapon imbued with magical properties, or the possession of magic itself, would be needed to even touch this fiend; as of now, all we are doing is making it more furious. And here Trenton is lying on the ground as his companions are getting themselves killed to protect him. Something needs to be done on his part to help them.

‘At this point,’ Trenton deliberates, ‘nothing we have in our possession of material weapons can even touch the Demon’s hide. We are simply throwing ourselves at the Demon’s mercy—if that can even be defined as such. Yet … the peculiar orb that I had found before … in Baldrek’s pack! He did say the object had a bit of a history behind it; whether it was dark or otherwise has yet to be determined when I hear of it. As of now, there’s little else we have that can will help us at this point, and as we are running out of options and time…’

He turns to the pack located a few feet from where he lies, perched half-open on the trunk’s base near where Baldrek previously was standing. Still able to hear every sound of the struggle taking place between the Wari-Wulf and Linnet, Trenton can only convulse at the thought of her being hurt, killed … or worse. In prone positioning, Trenton very slowly makes his way to the pack, knowing whatever this object holds just may be the only hope of saving them this night. Every movement tears into his torso, with any cracked rib being pushed deeper and deeper into the other end of his body. Withholding any efforts to cry out in pain, the Banner Bearer presses on, inch by inch edging closer to his objective.

And he hears it: A shriek of agony. But it is not originating from himself; though he would have thought it would have come from him. No, it had a feminine tone quality. Trenton looks over to see the Wari-Wulf’s massive talons impaled within Linnet’s stomach. The ends of the talons slightly protrude through her back straight through her leather armor. Her sword slides from her grip, landing with a soft thump on the sands below. Her legs now no longer touch the ground, as the fiend’s enormous arms hold up her body in the air. With a soft snarl even heard from where Trenton was located, the Wari-Wulf flings Linnet in his direction, rolling another few yards before coming to a rest and her head aims to the luminescent full moon. Her countenance still shows her last moments of pure agony as her stare blankly gazes into the sky above. Trenton cannot believe what he witnessed; one of his closest friends has been killed—or brought to near death—and he was helpless to do anything … anything.

The newfound motivation has him make haste faster than he ever could have without it. The physical pain is but a fraction of the true psychological misery he is suffering, and the ache from his chest is now nothing but a dull sensation as he presses forward. Sooner than he anticipated, Trenton reaches the pack. Hurriedly rummaging through, he easily finds the spherical wrapped piece of linen cloth. Even before working to unwrap it, the object thrums with a soft violet shade. Throwing the cloth aside, Trenton gazes into the translucent orb. Mist clouds its insides entirely, and tinges of red flash throughout. A mysterious beauty…

The ground below Trenton heaves as he now knows the Demon is nearly on top of him once more. To the side of his vision, blood of his loved companion can be seen flowing off the hooked talons. Thoughts flood through his mind as Trenton clenches onto the orb’s smooth form.

‘Please, Gods, save me; this abomination is a disgrace to your work; save Linnet, she is one of the closest I have to learning who I am again! ; find Baldrek, ensure that he is not lost to the desert’s grasp; save this desert from the presence of a Demon as such, for no benefit is gained in its existence as it only ensues chaos! ; help me! ; find some way to destroy this fiend once and for all.’

And as if in response to his prayers, the orb burns brighter in purple hue. From some unseen area beneath the object, the entrapped mists spray forth and stream towards the Wari-Wulf. Something bellows an indecipherable phrase. It is faint, yet evident that something spoke in a sinister manner. Trenton clenches his eyes shut, pressing his grip on the orb tighter and tighter as more of the unknown force increments in degree. Like that of a dense haze before a seasonal rain drought, the orb’s supernatural vapor edges towards the Wari-Wulf. The fiend cocks its head in confusion, unsure of what newfound force it is witnessing. Sniffing the air about it, the Demon brings some of the orb’s gaseous material into its snout. It chokes a bit from not expecting such a violent reaction.

Without remorse, Trenton Melorn gives in as a wave of fury washes over his mind, opening his eyes in the process to express the true amount of anger expressed in those same eyes. The orb’s entire form gives way and collapses into grinded dust under his strength. Upon shattering, he is thrown onto his back as a result of the significant energy blowing the Banner Bearer off his feet. What he witnesses happen to the fiend cannot even be properly described by terms of mortals in these Lands.

One by one, each strand of fur pricks off the hide—first in strands, then in clumps, then in handfuls. The horrific talons chip; fangs snap and break; the arms—each arm contorts itself in painful positions, positions that are not normal for how an arm should look like—; even the fiend’s hide itself seems to react in response, simmering and festering on its surface the longer it stays standing; the very structure of the once powerful legs collapse and wither away. No, not just the legs, for its entire body is gradually withering away—all of it! Every opening that is possible for the violet mists to go in fully manifest and consume the Wari-Wulf. Before long, nothing is left of the Wari-Wulf’s existence.

Without warning, a gust of renewing air provides Trenton a newfound source to breathe from. Inhaling deeply, he realizes his chest no longer sears in pain every time he takes a breath, nor are any of his ribs broken or cracked. Truly, Trenton’s mind races to think how this could have happened.

His mind clicks, reconnecting to the immediate fear for his companions. Gently easing himself to his feet Trenton recognizes his near effortless ability to stand, quicker than he ever had on any brisk autumn morning. He pushes that thought aside while searching for his friends. Before long, he stumbles upon a body, motionless. Trenton kneels down to pick up a feminine figure, her vibrant auburn hair tangled and strewn across her face. Her skin that once held the color of a young woman in her prime now pale and weakened. Blood continues to seep to the ground below, at a sluggish rate as most of the liquid has by now drained out of her system. Her eyes … through the tangle of woven hair were still open and filled with fear … and agony … to the moment of her demise.

Bringing her head close to his, Trenton weeps. And he continues to weep for the loss of someone who truly had been closer to him than even his own parents or truest love. In both of those cases, however, he had lost connection to the relationships, never to see either again in his life for different circumstances. He did not care for either at the moment, for here and now was most important to center his attention on—the only thing to care about is being here for his childhood friend.

He found it a bit humorous; the fact that she and him could have been together at one point, he had never thought of it. The flash of memory only came to him just now. There was one point nearing the peak of their graduation he believed she had a crush on him, but quickly dismissed it then. He truly saw her as a close friend, nothing more. He never said anything on the matter, and luckily she never did either, and it was only after graduation did Linnet truly return the favor to be a close friend. Understandably, it was hard for her to express her emotions as she was quite shy when he first met her. Sweet, but still timid. He assumes the sweetness was the first step to him making the first move of becoming friends. That moment itself is a funny story, as she—

His reminiscence is interrupted in an instant, while he continues to gaze into her ever-opened eyes, those same eyes flood with vivacity, as if it were something that Trenton himself had done to shake her from the catatonic state. Her chest jerks with a shuddering breath. She continues to cough up a few drops of bile. Panting heavily, she blinks several times and comes to recognize her surroundings. 

“Am—a—am I?—”

“No,” Trenton replies assuredly, “you are very much alive, I can promise you. Though the how of it…” he looks down to the puncture wounds in her stomach, which have all but disappeared, which leaves four huge gaping holes through her blood-smothered shirt, “remains to be seen and believed. You certainly looked quite dead, or in some kind of a morbid trance. How do you feel?”

Linnet looks over her body, seeing the paltry condition her clothing is in with the amount of tears and blood splotched across. “You know, I just think I might live with myself. Though I could go for a good cleaning now.” Her attention diverts as she looks past Trenton. “Where … is the Wari-Wulf? You are alive, which makes me assume you either killed it or somehow drove it off—and either would be an achievement in and of itself.”

Trenton turns around where the Wari-Wulf’s body originally lied. There is a faint object lying in the sand in the same general area. Trenton gently sets Linnet’s head down, and rises to observe the object. The closer he got, the more that the object seemed to glint in the moonlight. 

A medallion of some sort. Picking it up, wiping the grit away from the surface and grooves, Trenton eyes was looks to be something very familiar. This medallion is a medallion of memorial—from the Academy!

“Give me that!” 

Linnet appears behind him without warning, somehow able to rise and walk with great alacrity. Trenton had no idea she was in that well of a condition to walk on her own so soon. Then again, how was he supposed to anyways? How does any of this make any sense? None of this makes any damn bit of sense! 

Trenton yelps, “Eek-gaht! Do not come up to someone and panic them like that after an experience we all have recently shared. How in the Hells are you even able to walk again?”

Linnet very rapidly dismisses the recent query. “That can wait for the Battle Clerics at Karnock. Where is Baldrek? Did you find him?”

Trenton’s heart drops at the moment of hearing those words, “No, he had been thrown away into the darkness; he could be anywhere from wherever the Wari-Wulf threw him. If he is alive, that could mean he is who in the Gods’ name knows where in this nightmare of a desert!”

“Well then stop sitting around, you twit!” Linnet snaps, coming across a bit of a cross between harsh and playful. The Colonel jams the medallion into her pocket as she turns in the direction opposite of the fireplace and begins pacing. Trenton follows close behind, desperate to find their trusted and close Dwarven friend of significant importance.

From above, the moonlight in full begins to fade as clouds take shape in the tranquil sky.