For the Sake of a Soul: XXIV
Thursday, May 29, 2003 (05:12:07)

Posted by TerishD

Challenge Worth Thought

Terdeskollit was again being displeased with the travelers. He thought that the situation was perfect. The group had put themselves into a good mood before stepping through the rift onto his world. The sky was growing dark on the world of Derstannon, but the sky and air were black around the adventurers on the other side of the rift. There were no signs of active animal life on the world of the sleeping gods, but on this world even the complete darkness sent signals that predators were active. The change in situation should have caused strong outbursts of unfairness as the group became concerned for their health. That did not happen.

And so begins the final march towards the objective.


Challenge Worth Thought

Terdeskollit was again being displeased with the travelers. He thought that the situation was perfect. The group had put themselves into a good mood before stepping through the rift onto his world. The sky was growing dark on the world of Derstannon, but the sky and air were black around the adventurers on the other side of the rift. There were no signs of active animal life on the world of the sleeping gods, but on this world even the complete darkness sent signals that predators were active. The change in situation should have caused strong outbursts of unfairness as the group became concerned for their health. That did not happen.

The deity found himself ridiculed in a fashion. The travelers actually suspected some type of deception from him. To have met such an extremely trying situation upon their first steps onto his world caused the group to calmly set their focus on the difficulties. Strangely, Terdeskollit did not get angry at their noble stance in the face of an unjust situation. The God simply slumped into a dismal mood of bored indifference as he watched events play out.

The horses stopped moving in the complete darkness, so the riders dismounted. Using their voices they worked at bringing the animals together. There was no doubt that other creatures also heard their sounds, but the travelers understood that together they had the only chance of survival.

Straekin fought the first monster. Medalpha was to one side of her, but complained about not wanting to harm anyone. The men understood that too many voices would not help the princess, so stayed quiet as Straekin assured the girl that she was the one bumping her so to direct her blades straight forward in a certain direction. It was a less anxious voice that spoke after the girl realized that the monster upon her elder was actually sliced by one of her thrusts.

"Empress Straekin, can I call you Aunt Straekin? You are committed to Uncle Terish. The two of you might not be married, but I would like to call you Aunt Straekin all the same."

"I would be honored, Medalpha. I am not your empress, nor do I rule upon your world. So aunt would be a more appropriate title for you to use with me. It would also help explain certain sleeping arrangements with me and Terish when we should visit your land."

Straekin did not have any nieces. She had an older brother, but he was not that much older than she, and had not married by the time of the war. It was her brother that consoled her upon the loss of her first husband, and the two consoled each other when their parents had been killed in a blast during the war. After so many centuries, her brother still was a good friend. He did not exactly understand her relationship with Terish, but accepted that what was stated in the media was not the complete truth. He trusted his sister that managed to rule his world to also have a firm grip on her own life. Straekin considered that he would approve of Medalpha.

Tujorn found himself being directed by Dathol in the same manner as the princess. The holy man did not speak much, nor did he put much strength into his words. The satyr would have been insulted if someone had thought he needed as much instruction however. A few simple suggestions were enough to get his mind on the right track. It was enough reinforcement that his thrusts actually met resistance at times, and that the voice of Dathol never sounded out with extreme pain.

Terish and Ferrigote really were uncertain how they ended up side by side. They would have felt better amid the others where their fighting skills would help benefit the weaker members. It did not help their mood when both of their swords clanged inside an opponent. The bearded muscular fighter did not like moving in complete darkness, but that did not mean that he would not consider the strategy.

"Kid, how about you going left while I circle right?"

"Sure, I am certain that there are more Gaunts to the left. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Damn straight, and while you are considering my health, figure out what these things are around our feet. I might get hurt if I slip."

There was a short discussion about the footing. It had been mentioned that there had been large piles of completely dead organic matter when Terish and Straekin previously came to this world. None were certain about what it was around their feet, but with the large monsters that thrived in the dark being such a powerful threat there was little concern about a minor instability in where they stepped.

The type of flooring became a great concern with the group as they realized what Terish and Ferrigote were doing. The two heroes moved in the darkness at a distance from their companions circling them and killing any monster that they became aware of. The two kept up a banter in order that they could tell where they were in relation to their own position. The other members of the group interjected their own comments to supply their own audible signal of location.

Thaunya thought that the two men were crazy to move about in the complete darkness fighting the gaunts. She was very uncertain how the creatures of darkness looked, but there was a smell about them as if from a hairy hide. The gaunts seemed to move in a humanoid style, and it did help to consider a large human to imagine where to strike once an arm or leg was encountered. The dark haired lady could conceive of Ferrigote attacking effectively without any concept of the number or physique of his opponents, because his large sword could simply be swung in wide arcs with its magicked blade dissecting whatever it encountered. Terish was a more stylish opponent however, and Thaunya did not understand how he could know to dodge and weave without visual clues. It was even stranger for the raven haired lady to hear Terish be the more confident speaker.

"Stop moving, Gote! That is all for the moment."

"What happened? Did Terdeskollit get bored again?"

"I believe that we just killed all that were in the immediate area. Stay alert, because there could be …"

Straekin interrupted to say, "Gaunts don't exist in the light, Terish. Why don't we just carry a light?"

Terish did not make a sound of agreement, but the empress also did not hear any command not to produce a light. The darkness was too complete for Straekin to consider a normal source of illumination. She worked a magic spell to bring forth arcane visual radiation.

A short scream issued from Medalpha as her eyes focused on the information of the nearby terrain. Hearing a few soft curses from the others in the party, Terish dispelled Straekin's mystic light. What had been disturbing their steps were the bodies of numerous small auskranids. As the light illuminated the area, the spider-like creatures began to awaken.

The young princess spoke to help calm herself as well as get an appraisal of their situation. "Uncle Terish, how can we survive? Gaunts by night and auskranids by day."

The youthful appearing hero was moving to Celatia as he calmly answered, "We just do survive. Sometimes life does not give you elaborate options. Ferrigote's golden lady is in need of rescuing, and standing still won't get us to her. We can hope that the water is peaceful."

Thaunya could tell that the youthful appearing hero was gathering the horses, so asked, "How do we move in the darkness, Terish?"

"I know so little about the geography of this world, I doubt visual clues would help me. I told you that I would feel more confident moving through the omniverse. Well, I am simply going to follow certain interdimensional signals that I can sense. If I were on that world over there," Thaunya could not tell where Terish was pointing, "then I would go in that direction. Thus, we are heading in that direction."

Straekin felt a need to state, "Dirchein could be on the other side of the world."

Terish's voice did not sound hopeful. "Terdeskollit said that he would feed us and provide grass for the horses. Of course, we will probably walk right by it in this darkness."

Terdeskollit's voice sounded in the midst of the group, and did not come from the vocal chords of Phillip. "I am not a liar. You will need to fear the large auskranids, as they are predators. The smaller creatures however exist to clean up the world They will not bother anything that lives."

Simply because he was a God and not scared of anything, Terdeskollit went ahead and said more. "I believe that I know why I destroyed your people, Terish, they were too pragmatic. I am thinking of creating a more simplier race of creatures. Ones that enjoy killing, eating, and celebrating more."

It was Ferrigote that responded, "What is wrong with what you have, Terdeskollit? Put party hats on the spider creatures and they should please you plenty."

The deity ignored the statement, but continued his own line of conversation. "What do you do for fun, Terish?"

"I spend time with friends. I have developed a good reputation, Terdeskollit. There are places where I can relax."

"You fight well, Terish. Why don't you enjoy it?"

"I have been fighting all my life, Terdeskollit. I guess that I just got bored with it." Terish was moving Celatia and some animals through the darkness, and felt that a conversation would help make the distance less strenuous. "You know what identified me to Lady Dozzrine? It was a book. She was instructed by Desiree to set a book in one of the front rooms of her house. Of course the Dozzrines set out a large tome too big for anyone to actually steal, but it was also so large that it gained the curiosity of a young mind. I had actually puzzled out a number of symbols by scanning the text whenever I delivered bread to the Dozzrines. It was Kerwin Dozzrine, the oldest child, that noticed me sounding out certain groups of symbols and told his mother. It was Lady Dozzrine that always worked to spend time with me after that, but Kerwin was never an enemy."

"You enjoy reading, Terish?"

"Yes, Terdeskollit, I enjoy reading."

"But the story of this golden lady did not make you want her?"

"I have a lady, Terdeskollit. I am very happy with Straekin. Gote has had a number of wives however, but has yet to find one that he was exceptionally happy with. I wish him well with Dirchein."

"The golden lady is unable to bear children. The magic of her construction was not divine."

It was uncertain to who the deity had spoken, but Ferrigote answered all the same. "I know not her thoughts on the subject, but I have had a number of children. Terish is the one that has no heirs, Terdeskollit. If you feel a need to bless Dirchein, so be it, but I know that Straekin would appreciate the gift."

The empress felt embarrassed, but also felt alone in the darkness so did not speak any acknowledgement of Ferrigote's words. The blackness of the night made all feel slightly disjointed, so conversations did not last. All that happened was a constant movement of feet.

The story does continue. The next chapter is titled, "The Need for Defiance."