HamsterOfWrath

Field of Blades
***

A long time after the battle for Ellomyr, two unlikely travelling companions find themselves in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy on the outskirts of civilisation in the Steadfast.

***

The skimmer whisked across the plain, leaving a fine spray of drit and sand in its wake as it continued on its journey in near silence. The skimmer was comprised of a boxy chassis with six spindly legs projecting from its bulk, each terminating in a flat glowing disk of white energy that hovered a few inches off the ground, which could rapidly adjust to the terrain it crossed though the resulting motion could sometimes prove a little disconcerting to its passengers.

Nai hung on to the frame of the skimmer, her cloak stored away as the wind whipping across the vehicles chassis made it impractical, if not downright dangerous to wear. The armoured jacket, rough spun trousers and solid boots she wore were all coloured in the same green, black and brown camouflage which matched her new complexion neatly. A misfiring cypher had resulted in her once amber skin becoming mottled with green patches. Far from seeing it as a disadvantage, she had capitalised on the mutation to enhance her already formidable stealth skills. One addition to her outfit was a pair of goggles, enabling her to stand clear of the vehicles wind-shield and feel the passing elements ruffle her short black hair.

By contrast, the hooded and cloaked figure at the helm of the vehicle was hunkered down as far as he could get, his pale arms thrust deeply into the skimmers control matrix, his forearms penetrated bloodlessly with the tubes and cables that emanated from the vehicles innards.

Nai shifted her weight as the skimmer crested a gentle hill, waited until the vehicle had levelled out, then nimbly darted over the skimmers angular chassis and into the co-pilots seat, behind the wind-shield and out of the slipstream. “I’ve never been this far north,” she said without preamble.

Sakir ignored her. The arrangement they had was one of convenience. She had wanted to go north, he had transportation and happened to be heading the same way. Nai thought they had developed something of a working relationship at least, but the nanos sudden dismissal of her seemed out of place. Nai peered under Sakir’s hood. His face was bleached white and noseless, with a large grey orb that served as his only eye sunken into a wrinkled forehead. His ears were two neat holes either side of his head. The thin slit that comprised his mouth glistened at one corner. Was he drooling?

“Sakir,” Nai said more stridently, rapping a gloved hand sharply against the vehicles hull. There was still no response. Quickly running out of patience, Nai took her right hand and fashioned it into a flat blade, ramming stiffened fingers into Sakirs left armpit, enough to hurt but not disable.

Sakir let out a startled squawk and convulsed, his left arm clamping down against his chest, sending the skimmer turning wildly to the left. Nai had already braced herself, while Sakir shifted in his seat, banging his right elbow against the skimmers right side. “Calavals teeth, woman! What was that for?” The vehicle slowed to a halt, the tubes embedded in Sakirs forearms withdrawing as he removed them from the skimmers interface. He rubbed absently at the spot where Nai had jabbed him.

The jack glared at him. “You were asleep. Or daydreaming. I couldn’t really tell.”

Having recovered from the initial shock, Sakir wiped the saliva from his mouth with the sleeve of his robe. “What? I was perfectly fine. We are heading north, as agreed.” The nano looked around, his thin mouth suddenly turning down at the corners. “Oh dear.”

Nai jabbed a gloved finger at the near cloudless sky. “Unless the sun is in the wrong place, we haven’t been travelling north for quite some time.” the jack stood, returning to the rear of the skimmer where her equipment was stored, opening the storage locker and checking on her belongings.

“I heard a cry for help. Or perhaps it was music. Or an echo. Or…it is hard to explain. I must sound like a lunatic.” Sakir said, apologetically, wringing his hands together underneath his robes sleeves.

“Can you still hear it?” Nai asked, slamming the lockers lid shut, satisfied her valuables had survived the trip thus far.

“Yes. It is stronger now. It must be nearby.” Sakir stared out into the horizon, his head cocked to one side. “Perhaps we should turn around?” His voice betrayed the fact he didn’t want to do anything of the sort.

Nai looked around the near featureless plains and shrugged. “We packed enough supplies for four people into this thing. It’s not as if we’re going to starve. Besides, I’m curious. Either we’ll find something of note or prove you’re crazy once and for all. But either way I’m driving.”

***

Nai gritted her teeth as she pushed her arms into the skimmers control interface, wincing as the feeling of coldness entered her veins as the tubes wormed their way into her arms. She felt herself become part of the skimmers whole, the vehicles engine now a warmth in her chest, rapidly cooling as they had been stationary for some time. The skimmer lurched into motion under her control, slowly at first, then faster as she familiarised herself with the vehicles behaviour.
Sakirs presence was distant, but he gently tapped either her left or right forearm with his long pale fingers, correcting their course to follow whatever was calling to him in the distance.

A few hours later a group of structures loomed over the horizon, casting long shadows as the sun was now descending from the sky. Nai sent a mental command, recoiling from the skimmers touch, the vehicle still slowing as she pulled her arms free. “Civilisation at last,” she said with some relief, rubbing her forearms.

Sakir stood up in the footwell of the passenger side seat and peered into the distance. “What do you see? My eyesight is…somewhat reduced over longer distances.”

“It’s a miracle we didn’t hit anything while you were in your little trance. It looks like an outpost. Maybe a small farm,” Nai said.

“I am certain it is coming from there.” Sakir sighed. “Though in truth am not looking forward to explaining to the populace at large that no, I am not here to eat your children, nor I did not choose to look like this, please stop running away and certainly do not scream for the guard. Again.”

Nai chuckled despite herself. “Between your looks and my amazing charm I’m amazed we’ve gotten this far. It looks deserted anyway.” Nai went to the rear of the skimmer, opening a compartment and retrieving her new bow from its resting place. The riser and limbs were a dull burnished metal while the bowstring was a barely visible silvery thread in the setting sun. “Just in case,” she said offhandedly, before jumping down onto the dusty ground below. Sakir noted that Nai bore neither quiver nor arrows, but decided against enquiring further.

The nano made to disembark, then as an afterthought he ejected the skimmers ignition helix and pocketed it, rendering the vehicle all but useless to any potential thieves. Sakir then swarmed down the side of the skimmer, his bare hands and feet adhering to the metallic surface, swiftly joining the jack on the ground. The voice in his head was insistent now, but he had difficulty discerning individual words. With each step towards the distant cluster of buildings it became clearer and more strident.

***

A battered synth fence denoted the boundary of a nearby field, though it looked like something had smashed its way through the middle, leaving the remainder of the structure on the verge of collapse. It was what lay beyond this ramshackle border that caught their attention. The field was full of tall plants, but instead of the natural green or brown hues they were expecting, the entire crop glinted sharply in the sun.

Nai was the first to approach, stepping over the broken fence. A sudden breeze stopped her in her tracks as the plants waved back and forth in the wind. As they brushed against each other they let out a gentle metallic peal of sound. “What are they growing here?” she mused aloud.

“I have no idea. Perhaps it is some form of art,” Sakir said distractedly, moving up behind her, keeping his eye out for any signs of life. To him the very air seemed alive with noise and sound, fragmented images overlaying themselves onto his normal field of vision.

Nai reached out a gloved hand and touched one of the leaves of a nearby plant. She recoiled as the edge of a leaf sliced through her glove and the flesh of her hand. “Its razor sharp,” she said through gritted teeth, watching as the blood she had left on the edge of the leaf was slowly absorbed into the plant, colouring the leaf a faint red. She backed away slowly, looking at the plants with renewed respect. She bumped into Sakir, who barely seemed to notice. The nanos expression was always hard to read, but Nai believed his attention was very much elsewhere at that moment.

“I think something terrible happened here,” Sakir whispered, his head cocked to one side once more as though listening intently to something in the distance. Other than the chimes of the plants, Nai couldn’t hear anything. “I can still hear the people who used to live in this place. I thought it was a cry for help but now I feel like it is more of a warning.”

Although the nanos abilities were somewhat beyond Nai’s understanding, a chill went up her spine at the thought of Sakir somehow communing with the spirits of the dead. The jack shivered, returning her attention to the field of blades before her. “Then maybe we should listen to them and leave.” She turned back to the nano, but he was no longer standing behind her. Nai looked around quickly, seeing the edge of Sakir’s cloak disappear behind a nearby building. “Sakir! You sun addled cragworm! What in all of the Steadfast are you doing?” The jack took off at a run. Her instincts were screaming at her to stick to she shadows, take the situation slowly, gain the advantage if there was one to be had. But if she did, she might lose Sakir’s trail. “This is why I hunt alone,” she grumbled under her breath.

Nai rounded the corner of an outhouse, catching sight of the nano, cloak trailing as he ran. Sakir was making his way to a strange tan building a short distance away. Cursing his speed and silence, Nai increased her own pace, only to find the ground underneath her suddenly become uneven, her boots cracking against what she thought was loose stone. She glanced down and skidded to a sudden stop. What she had taken for rocks or loose scree were pale grey fingers, interlaced across the ground. The crunching noise had been the breaking of brittle bones. Yellow fluid that smelt like spoiled milk seeped from the smashed digits underfoot. “I hate this place. I hate this place and everything in it,” Nai gasped, attempting to fight her rising gorge. Despite her revulsion, she started to wonder what had happened to this small piece of civilisation.

Sakir had stopped at the threshold to the large tan building and was staring up at it in rapt fascination, rocking back and forth on his heels. Nai gritted her teeth, crunching her way through the sea of fingers underfoot until they gave way to a pale marble substance that, while still being wildly out of place, was far more pleasant to walk on. She reached Sakir’s side, spinning him around and slapping him squarely across the face. “You idiot. We have no idea what’s out here and you take off like a war moth with its tail on fire.”

The orb set into Sakirs forehead changed from a dark grey to light then back again, his equivalent of a blink. “Do not be preposterous. War moths do not have tails. Also that hurt.”

“It was meant to,” Nai fired back. “What are you doing?”

Sakir paused for a moment. “I could see them, just for a moment. Like the pages of a book being turned too quickly. I think they took refuge here.”

“You’re not making any blasted sense.” Nai turned her attention to the building in front of them. “I don’t see a door.” She reached out with a gloved hand to touch the buildings tan wall. She bit back a scream as the entire structure convulsed. Up close she could see a network of veins running through the wall. The whole structure was flesh, or something that seemed very much like it. Now she was closer the smell of spoiled meat was rife. She glanced at Sakir. “This place is cursed. We should never have come here.”

“I am starting to agree. But we have a more immediate concern.” Sakir pointed over Nais shoulder.

The jack spun on her heels and found herself both disgusted and distantly fascinated for the third time that day. The creature scuttled towards them on a thousand pairs of insect like legs. A rough hewn chunk of crystal comprised its torso with a sheaf of tentacles sprouting from its right side. Atop the crystal formation was something that looked like brown moulded clay where the barest hint of some humanoid features could be seen, though what passed for its eyes, mouth, ears and nose never stayed in one location for long. An acrid smell of burnt cinnamon rankled Nai’s nostrils as it darted forwards.

Nai quickly raised her bow in her left hand, though Sakir couldn’t guess as to where she was currently keeping her arrows. The bow was metallic, glinting with a dull sheen, simple and unadorned. The bowstring was hard to see in the fading daylight, as fine as gossamer thread. As Nai pulled back on it, an azure shaft of glowing energy appeared between the splayed middle and forefinger of her right hand, resting neatly in a groove cut in the weapons riser, near where she grasped it with her left. The air around her suddenly smelled of ozone, like the onset of a storm. She loosed the silver string and the bolt of energy flew soundlessly at her target, impacting the seething brown morass that comprised its head. It exploded wetly into ragged chunks, sending a spray of bright green fluid into the air. The creature didn’t seem to be unduly concerned with the loss and it continued towards her.

“That usually works,” Nai cursed under her breath. “Sakir!” The jack took a few careful steps back, before another bolt of energy sprang into life from the bow she held.

The nano had raised his arms reflexively, though didn’t seem willing to act. “Perhaps we can save them. Maybe there is a chance,” Sakir said.

Nai cursed Sakir’s hesitation. “There’s no coming back from that!” She loosed a bolt at the creatures many legs, causing it to stumble as several dozen were blasted off. The remaining legs continued to drag its bulk across the ground, though its speed was greatly decreased. “I was on the wall at Ellomyr. I’ve seen what you can do. We need that now.”

Sakirs thin lips rasped together in frustration. “Very well.” He raised both of his pale hands, fingers splayed outwards as he concentrated. Patches of what passed for the abominations skin began to glow with a faint green tinge which quickly grew into a bright light, before flaking away into black ash, leaving several deep wounds. A trickle of perspiration made its way down Sakirs features. “I believe I have made several weakpoints,” he gasped. “Though it is surprisingly resilient.”

Nai needed no further encouragement, sending several more bolts of energy hammering into the gaps in the creatures crystal midsection, which expended themselves in a blast of energy, sending cracks spiderwebbing across its torso. “Fall, damn you,” the jack growled.

The creature dragged itself forward pathetically for a few more steps, before it seemed to sag in on itself, toppling over onto the hard ground underfoot. It shattered into several large fragments, the sheaf of tentacles and insect legs spasming for a moment before it lay still.

Sakir drew a breath and focused his entropic powers on the body of the creature causing it to burn in a bright, albeit brief, pyre of green flames before it was reduced to greasy black ash that quickly blew away on the wind.

Nai spat on the ground, making a warding gesture with her free hand. “We are leaving. Now.”

Sakir swayed on the spot, exhausted, then jabbed a finger defiantly at the fleshy structure nearby. “Not until we have some answers.”

***

Nai held her breath as she drew a short blade from her belt, carving a doorway into the fleshy wall of the building, the rubbery flesh weeping a viscous grey substance as it tumbled to the ground. The smell of rotten meat gripped at her throat and belly when she finally did breathe, causing her to gag. She ignited a bolt on her bow but didn’t fire it, rendering the inside of the structure in a pale blue light as she crept her way inside. Sakir followed closely behind.

Inside the construct it was grassy underfoot. In the feeble light of the arrow strung on Nai’s bow the walls of the structure seemed to move and flicker. The jack looked closer, recoiling as she saw what appeared to be a face embedded in the wall, twisted into a grimace of pain. Hands and fingers stretched out from the fleshy morass but were otherwise still. “I need a compelling reason not to burn this place to the ground, Sakir.” Her words seemed to dissipate almost as soon as she gave voice to them, swallowed up by the structures walls.

“I believe I may have found one,” Sakir said as he stepped past Nai. A yellow crystal sat in a tripod mounting, which glowed faintly as he approached. Motes of light swirled out from its structure as he drew near. He traced the air with his pale fingers in a display Nai had trouble following and the motes of light seemed to dance to his command. They coalesced into an image, which startled them both by suddenly bursting into a display of light and sound.

An old woman stood before them, clad in a simple tunic and trousers, grasping a crystal staff that glowed the same yellow as the device they had discovered. “My name is Eldar Maciani. If you are seeing this message it is highly probable that we are all dead, or worse. I’m recording this in the hope that what we’ve learned here might save those who come after us.” A flash of light burst from behind her, rendering her in silhouette for a moment. The Elder leaned heavily on her staff. “Our cyphers seem to be holding it back for now, but I fear that won’t last. We used to think it was a tall tale to scare children, but we know differently now. Let me tell you of the Iron Wind.”

***

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