From alt.pub.dragons-inn Fri Aug 11 10:47:22 1995 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:8619 Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Path: netcom.com!csus.edu!csusac!zimmer!nic-nac.CSU.net!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!news.msfc.nasa.gov!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.sprintlink.net!uunet!in2.uu.net!psinntp!psinntp!psinntp!psinntp!bbnews!eanews1!unislc.slc.unisys.com!stv From: stv@unislc.slc.unisys.com (Steve Spencer) Subject: [Jester and Kierian] Trouble in the wings X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL0] Message-ID: <1995Aug10.164747.17563@unislc.slc.unisys.com> Organization: Unisys Corporation SLC Date: Thu, 10 Aug 1995 16:47:47 GMT Lines: 155 The East wind drove madly onward, its crisp, stinging caress searing through anything in its path. Old men buttonned jackets, and rosey cheeked children ran indoors to hudle in a warm blanket by their crackling fire. But high above this sleepy little town, far past they eyes of men, or even the stretch of their imaginations, the wind drove on as well. But here the wind was more fierce, a terror of the skies. At such heights it was no longer the winds task to drive seeds from their pods, and spread them gently across the land, no, here it was the job of the East wind to plague those who had offended the gods of the air. At these unfathomable heights was a seemingly alien world of hte skies, where frightened, weeping souls fled before the constant lash of the relentless East wind, wave upon wave of their fleshless coutenences hurled and prodded forth at a dizzying pace that was to be their fate for all of eternity. But now and then one of these souls would falter, unable to continue the constant, fearsome pace of the mighty winds. Now of course it is unconceivable that the surging East wind would stop with its onward flight and turn back for such a waif, no of course not. That's where HE came in. ***************************************************************************** Thelbrin lurched forward hungrily through the crisp evening air, his eyes scanning side to side with the patience of his kind. He was sure he had heard someone stumble, and it was very rare indeed that he was mistaken. Then he saw what he was after; just a slight bit of movement out of the corner of his eye, but a movement that wasn't quite right. Thelbrin bore down on his quarry with a speed and strength born of hell, a precise, somehow fearsomely beautiful perfection of a true hunter in the role he was designed for. It was over before the poor soul really even knew that Thelbrin was upon him. Massive almost hippopotomi-like jowels snapped shut feircely, with the lower, razor sharp tusks lodging like massive meathooks deep into the back of the now half eaten prey, and all the while the long, curved talons that adorned the demon's hands rent and tore mercilously at the already lifeless lump. And then something truely strange happened. Somewhere, through the skies, something called his name, "Thelbrin," he had never heard the name before, but somehow he knew it was his, and it drew at him in a way he couldn't quite understand. "Thelbrin, I call you. Son of the winds, spawn of the storm, dreaded demon of the East wind, I call you, and I bind you to my bidding." Without knowing quite why, Thelbrin listened to the voice almost hypnotically, something in its words dancing through his mind and confirming that what it said was right and true. "There is one who has escaped the realm of the skies, Thelbrin. Such is not tolerated here. Noone would know that better than you. So I call upon you now, and bind you to the earth for a time to destroy this man. You will know when you find him, he has the look, and the smell of one who has seen the winds. Go now and find him. His name is Jester." ***************************************************************************** Thelbrin looked around himself slowly, taking a few moments to orient himself in these new sorroundings. Thin, scar-like trees sprouted from the rank soil, and a soft, pitiful breeze gently touseled their leaves. He scowled in disgust; such heartless breezes, and such frail, tiny little trees would have been swallowed up in an instant in the skies where the true winds dwelt. That there was actually a place where such weak, petite things could thrive shocked and revolted him. But his disgust passed quickly from him as a different pang gnawed at him, and this one he knew well; this was the cold, deep moaning in him, the moaning that meant he needed sustinence, but more than that it meant that he was going to get to kill something, which in its own way filled him with more excitement than the thought of quelling his hunger. "You're a damned fool Eorik," Howled a brawny, middle aged man as he hurled a dented, dirty helmet into the tall grass. His horse shied a bit from the rustle it made as it plowed through the still stalks. "That was smart," replied Eorik sarcastically, but half-heartedly, not even bothering to lift his eyes from the dusty road as their horses plodded along. " Did you have some sort of a reason to throw away a perfectly good helmet, or was it just for the sheer joy of dismounting to go and fetch it again?" "You miss the whole point," the first man emplored the much younger Eorik in frustration, his greasy, battle calloused hands tearing at the air feircly, "We needed the money! We could've swallowed our pride for a few lousy weeks. It'd sure as hell be better than swallowing this *shit*!" Eorik just shook his head slowly as his companion punctuated his statements by throwing is dried out peice of jerky to the winding trail. Eorik responded none too enthusiastically, his will to be drawn back into an arguement that had been rehashed twenty times in the last three days was obviously running low, " It's like I told you Threlg, we are a couple of the finest warriors in this area. We don't work for coppers. It sets a bad presedent. And besides, I think that..." But Eorik stopped in mid sentence, his eyes finally rising from the lazy trail, and darting through the thick grass. The horses stepped from side to side, and their ears twitched nervously. Now words needed to be spoken between the two, they had been together long enough now to know full well how to handle trailside bandits or wandering trouble of the two or four legged variety. Threlg eyed his friend knowingly as they both lossened their broad bladed swords from dark leather sheaths, but the conversation continued calmly, with no hint of concern in their voices. "Still," Threlg agreed sadly, "I wish they would have at least let us leave with a few sacks of grain, or some bread or cheese, or... hell... I don't know, with *something*!" Threlg slid slowly from his mount, and eyed the tall, thick grass tentatively as the cool afternoon breeze sent caressing waves throughout it. Then he looked back at Eorik, who was still on horseback, and shook his head, followed by a motion similar to that of someone drawing back a bow. Eorik nodded in agreement, and silently resheathed his sword. *************************************************************************** Food. There was no question about it. Thelbrin's broad, heavily joweled maw began to salivate thickly, thrickling in lustful anticipation down the from of his massive frame. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he did know somehow that there was food somewhere up ahead. Oh yes, very close now. Thelbrin really wasn't sure what he had hold of, at the speeds that he often descended on his prey it could be had to tell sometimes. But whatever it was rewarded him with the hot rush of fresh blood as his tusks cleaved through its brittle bones, and flimsy metal protective plates, encasing the entirety of its chest within his crushing mouth before it even knew it had been hit. Appendages of some sort, and what might have been dull, staring eyes were severed from the beast as thelbrin devoured its midsection with his single, lightning fast clamp of his jaws, but he had no time to worry about extra parts right now, there were more here yet to kill. As thelbrin turned swift to engage the second of his opponents he took pause for a brief instant, he hadn't expected it to be quite so large. But then he mentally admonished himself for his pause; he was Thelbrin -- It was not-- therefore it would die. His opponent stood nearly as high as his own chin, but due to its odd, four legged posture, he guessed that it might possibly be of nearly equal to his mass. He moved quickly, as he knew he had to, since due to his pause after devouring the first of his victims, this massive being had nearly had enough time to time two complete steps away from him already. ***************************************************************************** Eorik started violently, as something cut through the previously almost still grass like a bolt of lightning. Whatever it was moved far too fast for him to have seen it coming, it appeared more as if the huge cut through the grass was just suddenly "there" than as if something had actually made it as it had approached. But as remnanats of Threlg's ravaged body showered him and his horse, and his eyes caught but a glimpse of a towering, apelike beast that had sent both horses bolting for their lives, in that brief moment he was intensely aware that something was indeed amoung them. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Steve Spencer, Jack of Moons, Thief of hearts, Paladin of Ovaltine. SLC, UT. stv@unislc.slc.unisys.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++