Asherons Call: November Teaser (Part Two) is Up!

On Bended Knee, Part Two
posted on 04-Nov-2004
Olcris wiped a closed fist across his bloodied lip and leveled his gaze at his assailant. The smaller creature looked ravaged by some feral desire, yet it spoke clearly and demanded nothing more than a gem to the school at Knorr. Olcris' eyes darted to the sickle strapped to the thing's waist and saw that it was caked with dried Lugian and Tumerok blood. He reached into the pouch at his side.

"Here, take it. There's nothing there for you, though, little one." Olcris sputtered the words through splintered teeth then tossed a portal gem to the feet of the little fiend.

"I will find the pale one and rip out his innards," the little fiend responded as it reached down to the gem. Olcris grimaced as he shifted his weight, and he realized that the savage blows from the little cretin were far worse than he suspected. "The false gods will be punished."

Olcris smiled at the thought. This little creature was looking for Asheron; it had to be. There were none on Auberean that came close to the power of the gods. Nuhmudira was powerful, he knew that; she was his teacher. But even she knew she was no god. Asheron, however, he was arrogant and demanding and treated all the transplanted races on Auberean as lesser beings. He lived as though he were a god. He should be punished. Olcris watched as the little thing before him activated the gem. The Lugian smiled and said, "Good journey, little one."

*****

Torgluuk arrived on an arid island reeking of death. The air coaxed moisture from his flesh and he felt weak. A burst of spores exploded from his flesh but quickly died in the air to a host of other spores that floated like bloated maggots in a tepid pool of water. Before him stood a gate and a giant construct of shimmering ice. He approached and withdrew his blade. The construct bade him stop, but the blood within Torgluuk's body pumped hard as he grew ever closer to his goal. Though his body was dying so far removed from the swamp, his resolve was strong and he launched an assault at the glittering device.

His sickle slid off the side of the glittering man. The creature slammed a massive hand into the Burun's stomach, doubling him over in breathless agony. Then a voice called to him, in his own language.

"A moth ate a word. To me it seemed a piteous thing when I learned the wonder a moth had swallowed, in darkness stolen..."

A riddle, a riddle thought Torgluuk. "A book, it is a book the moth ate," Torgluuk called in his language. He felt his body washed in magic and transported to another courtyard. The same dry air hung above him and he felt weaker still.

Before him there stood another shimmering man of ice. He approached and listened to the crystal being. He answered the riddle and repeated the transportation once more, and then once again, arriving in a hall washed in a glowing violet light. Above his head energy crackled free of some device that had once served as some sort of container. Several benches lined the area and another being, crafted of the same crystal, stood before him.

"Greetings entity Torgluuk, categorized as Burun Ruuk. Your arrival has been foreseen by Lord Asheron. I am to assist in restoring your health and then I am to bring you to Lord Asheron so he may discuss why you are here," Arikas stated as it approached Torgluuk.

Torgluuk croaked and reached for his sickle but his body, crippled by this new dry air so far from the swamp, forsook him. He collapsed in a heap in the courtyard of the Academy at Knorr.

*****

A single point of light grew behind the figure. At first, the figure was nothing more than a black line; then, as consciousness returned and his vision began to clear, Torgluuk saw the deep blue eyes and wizened, bearded face of Asheron Realaidain.

Asheron's hair was tied back with a simple leather strap. His long slender fingers rubbed a soft wet cloth over Torgluuk's brow. "Thought we'd lost you there, little Torgluuk," Asheron spoke in Roulean. "I'm sorry, I've tried to master your tongue but it is beyond my capacity to enact many of the syllables that you are able to create. I'm afraid that my physical form limits my linguistics more than yours does." He smiled genuinely as Torgluuk stared up at him.

"I see only light about you," Torgluuk croaked in Roulean.

Asheron nodded, "I have been told that more oft than I have wished, Torgluuk. There are some who once called me Lightbringer. There are those that gave their lives to curse me with this... nearly endless life. A blessing and a curse that you and I share I think, yes Torgluuk?"

It was true. Torgluuk and his brother Morgluuk were long-lived. They should have been dead generations prior to their arrival on this world. Torgluuk remembered that he was here to kill this man. He was a pale one, one of the beings that had come to his world so long ago. But he had no hate for this man. Torgluuk saw only the blessing of the eye within him. After the moment of reflection, Torgluuk nodded once.

Asheron helped Torgluuk to a sitting position. As he sat up, Torgluuk realized that he was partially submerged in a tepid pool of swamp water. Nearby, a gilded iron cage held a fully grown bomutur wasp. Torgluuk realized he was hungry.

"How do you feel?" Asheron asked.

"Weak, the air here..." Torgluuk replied. Asheron walked to the cage and waved his hand. A small well of mana appeared in the center of his palm and the wasp fell to the bottom of the cage, sleeping.

"The air is dry like this over the majority of my world. You'll learn more about it in time." Asheron reached into the cage and took the wasp out, offering it to Torgluuk.

Torgluuk devoured the wasp quickly, feeling much better once the food filled his belly. Three days had passed since he had left Niarltah and Muldaveus bloody, battered and dying in their citadel. His anger had been so great that he left to find this pale one, a man whom he now saw and whom he did not recognize as a pale one. There were similarities; they shared the long fingers and sharply pointed ears. He carried himself much in the same way, but he was different in temperament, different in the way the he moved about the room and in the way he treated Torgluuk. Torgluuk looked beside the tub of filth in which he rested and saw that his sickle had been cleaned and placed on a low table beside him. Torgluuk looked at the man who was walking to a high table and chair across the room.

On the table, a setting of fruits and meats sat unmolested; beside them a single candle illuminated a stack of books. Asheron looked at Torgluuk and spoke again.

"You are here to kill me. I do not blame you for your ire, Torgluuk, nor can I make excuses for those that walked these lands before me. I am alone in this world, more alone than any may ever realize. But, I see that you have come from another world, like all those that now dwell on Ireth Lassel. All drawn through portals of my creation, all save you and your kind." Asheron paused and Torgluuk, feeling strength return, began to climb from the tub. "We are outside the realm of prophecy, and prophecy is all I have had to live by for all my years on this world. I -"

"Prophecy?" Torgluuk interrupted. "Yes, I am familiar with prophecy. Intimate with prophecy, I knew I was to come to this world. I knew that I would walk here. I knew that this would transpire, as I have been told about all of this... but is it prophecy?" Torgluuk shook his head. "Three races, three races shall I walk amongst... and one figure alone..."

Asheron chuckled. "I am a man, long-lived, unique, and alone. Torgluuk, I wish to listen to your stories and share my own with you. Is that acceptable?"

Torgluuk nodded. He had found the light for all worlds. He had been blinded by the quest for vengeance. He had forgotten Tkowerk's words. Now, in this place he recalled them clearly.

I have seen one other, whose image is unclear. But its purpose is very clear: to be the Eye for all worlds. The Eye of the Sleeping One, the sun, the Light.