| from the
Zone
by Allan Maki
Turbine Entertainment Software
Hibdin Velos was a stout man. Since his arrival
on Dereth his fondness for sweets had garnered him jowls and a round belly.
His hair was black and unwashed for many months. His eyes, a deep brown,
were set behind a low brow and weighted by countless sleepless nights. Those
who knew him in his early days on Dereth would no longer recognize him.
All his friends had long moved away from
Lytelthorpe, leaving him to speak with anyone kind enough to share a pint or
offer up a confection. It was not often that anyone visited him as his
stench drove most away. This day, however, brought a unique visitor, with an
even more unique proposal.
A handful of pyreals scattered onto the
table, rousing him from an ale-induced dream. His vision swam under the
influence of the brew; images blurred and distorted before him.
“Whadaya want. . .?” he slurred and wiped a
line of drool away with an unsteady hand. His head lolled from side to side
as he tried to focus on his visitor. The tavern was silent and empty of any
other forms.
“You have lost your hope. I am here to
offer it anew.” The voice was calming, sure and in a sense, regal.
“. . . hope. . . that's a word without
meaning. . . chum. . .” he gurgled.
“I will give you hope.”
“Bah!” he coughed, spattering the table with
phlegm. “There's nothing on this damn world but suffering.”
“I know too much of that. Take my hand and I
will make all well.”
Weeping, he reached toward the image and fell
into blackness.
__________
Six months prior he had been a mess, nothing more than a human husk wasting
his life away at the bottom of a fermented bottle. Now he had purpose, and
drive. His master was a good man, brutal but good. If you performed your
duties you were rewarded, fail in them and you suffered so that you never
forgot that failure.
Hibdin had never failed his master and he was
not about to now. He looked at his companion Blaylock, a scrawny man also of
Aluvian descent, and shook his head. Blaylock was a quivering mass of badly
constructed bones. At the moment his eyes were wide as saucers, like those
of a rabbit about to be skinned alive.
He had been found alone in the wilderness,
starving and half mad. The master had freed him as well, placing him in
Hibdin's charge. They were on a mission this day, important enough to
entrust Hibdin to the cause.
The master wanted Mattekar specimens. He
wanted variety, not only those that roamed in the northlands of Marae
Lassel. He wanted the lowliest and the greatest alike. He had dispatched the
two men into the wilderness to garner the specimens.
They were armed as always in light armor with
their weapons of choice. Additionally they carried with them restraining
fields forged from the energy of portal space, a gift from the master.
They arrived in Mayoi and made their way into
the mountains beneath the cover of the twin moons. They took pains to avoid
other creatures that made the mountains their home, and scoured the valley
and surrounding mountains for signs of Mattekar.
Nothing.
Blaylock shivered in the brisk mountain wind.
Something was dreadfully wrong and the smaller man was acutely aware of it.
His teeth chattered, grating on Hibdin's nerves.
“Stop it, Blaylock,” Hibdin snapped. The
trail of air from his lungs floated upward like a beautiful ribbon,
disappearing into a dark crevice above. His foul smell breath smelled like
day-old fish stew and molded bread. “If there are any Mattekar here, you're
sure to alert them. . . you simpering wad. The mast--”
A sharp expulsion of warm air flowed over him
like a waterfall, breaking his concentration. Blaylock's eyes grew wider as
they reflected the face of the horned beast with heavy white fur. In an
instant Hibdin was tumbling away from the Mattekar, avoiding its gnashing
jaws. Blaylock was not so lucky.
Its teeth sunk into his shoulder and clamped
tightly, crumpling a lung and splintering a bone within his arm. His scream,
cut short, was replaced by a heavy wheeze-gurgle, as blood filled his
punctured lung. Red blood stained the white snow.
Blaylock pulled his mace free and dropped the
flame-coated head against the creature's skull. With a growling yelp it
turned to face him, and Blaylock collapsed to the snow-covered ledge. Hibdin
twisted aside the great beast's gore and freed his shield. Blaylock freed an
orb and sputtered a healing phrase, mending twisted bone and ruined flesh.
He breathed deeply as a torrent of Hibdin's blows rained into the beast. It
reeled and stumbled.
“Throw the field!” he bellowed as he slammed
his shield into the Mattekar's front flank and leveled another blow against
its head. Blaylock fumbled with the device and nearly triggered it on
himself. “Hurry, you sod!” Another gore from the Mattekar slid along his
shield.
“Got it!” Blaylock shrieked as the little box
began to pulse with violet light. Hearing this, Hibdin fell flat to the
ground. Blaylock launched the cube at the beast and hit his mark. A warble
in space, accompanied by a hum and heartbeat, pulled the Great Mattekar
within. Blaylock and Hibdin breathed heavy.
“One down.” Hibdin chuckled and patted his
companion on the shoulder.
Blaylock managed a meek smile.
__________
On the desert plains the two watched as a White and Snowy Mattekar collapsed
due to exhaustion in the sweltering sun. Far removed from their native
mountain perches, these were captured without much difficulty.
So, too, were the Dire and Dread Mattekar in
the mountains south of Qalaba'r. Hibdin and Blaylock enjoyed the benefit of
surprise. They prepared well and enchanted the beasts with spells of
vulnerability to weaken them. Again the devices hummed to life and swallowed
the creatures, trapping them inside.
They traveled north through the city of Newic
and glowered briefly at the man standing near the crater. He burst into
tears and the men felt compelled to issue orders to him. He whimpered and
acquiesced with a simple, “I will obey.”
They turned east and avoided contact with
other Isparians that were about, careful not to draw attention. The master
had ordered them to be silent and so they were. A small house poured warm
smoke into the winter air by the portal northward. Here the men prepared for
the last task set before them. Once it was complete, they would return to
the master and give him what he desired.
Through the mountainous shortcut and over the
top peaks of the northern range they traveled and found the solitary, shaggy
beast. It stood as tall as the both of them together and was the length of
two cows. The Canescent on Marae Lassel was a large caste but this one, the
Hoary, was enormous. The caste had been thought extinct, hunted for their
thick hides some two years before. But the master was wise and knew where
this one remained.
Blaylock whimpered at the sight of the
behemoth.
“Quiet, you fool! You'll make us known.”
Hibdin hissed through clenched teeth.
“I can't, Hibdin, I can't.” Blaylock moaned
and fell to his knees.
“You must and you will, I'll not be forced to
face the master's wrath because of your incompetence. I am Hibdin Velos and
the master trusts me above all others.” He lifted the smaller man up by his
shoulders. “He wishes to test these creatures and we will not fail him. They
are just beasts. . . nothing more.”
“They are something more, or will be should
we give them over to the master. . .” Blaylock sputtered, his tears frozen
on his cheeks.
“Simpering, nothing!” He struck Blaylock hard
with the back of his hand. “How dare you question the master? He who brought
you from the darkness.”
“Hibdin, look at it. . . it's so big, so
strong.” A welt swelled beneath his eye, tear welled. “What will he make
them?”
“We are here under orders, and will not fail
the master. I will not question what he orders, nor will you or I will send
you back to him. Now quiet your tears and prepare a creature for capture.”
Blaylock crumbled, his will broken by
Hibdin's forceful words and ominous presence. He summoned forth magic to
weaken the beast as Hibdin slipped free his flaming mace and shield that
pulsed with soft magic. He engaged to deter the beast's movement. Blaylock
activated the cube and prepared his throw.
Hibdin slipped on the snow and screamed as
his knee twisted sideways. The Hoary shredded his armor and tore a chunk of
flesh from his back. Blaylock gasped and dropped the device onto his foot.
The air churned with the hum of portal space and the sound of a singular
heartbeat. Blaylock was gone.
The beast reared and slammed its horns into
the reeling Hibdin. Horns puncture flesh and drove through him. Hibdin
screamed in agony and called for aid. His bellow was met by silence. He
struggled away, pulling at the snow to drag him away from the beast. The hum
returned, growing more violent as the seconds passed. The beast turned
toward the noise, distracted by the growing hum.
A violet glow formed where Blaylock once
stood, a rift torn in fabric of portal space. Sharp sounds like the snapping
of bones or pockets of water boiling out in a fire came from within the
swirl. The beast remained distracted long enough for Hibdin to quaff elixirs
to mend his wounds. He activated his own device and tossed it at the beast.
The device struck the beast and swallowed it
whole, but the heartbeat pop was overpowered by the growing sound of the
portal. Essence from another world thrusting through the gaping maw of the
swirl flooded over Hibdin and washed him in an arctic chill. His eyes
slammed shut and he lowered his head to keep his footing.
As quickly as it had poured through the space
between worlds it was gone; Hibdin was left alone again in silence. All
about him, Mattekars the size of small houses stood bewildered.
He collected the soft pulsing device and
tossed it into his pack. He scampered over the edge of the mountain and
watched from a distance as the newly arrived Hoary Mattekars shook off the
effects of their sudden transport. In the snow in the center of the small
herd a singular pulsing orb remained.
“Sorry, Blaylock,” he muttered. Hibdin had
never failed his master. He sheathed his weapon and secured his packs, and
returned home.
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