Greetings all
Apologies for the late update. I have been quite ill this week, and today is the first day staring at a computer screen hasn't made me want to rip my head from my shoulders.
It's a bit of a longer update as I really wanted to write a specific part in. I hope all of you enjoy the update!
Adrian ran with his shield ready. He knew if he reached his sister, she would attack wildly, without care for her life, and he needed to shield her from whatever came. Adiran looked down at his younger self, with a look of determination etched on his face, and he wondered if he would have turned out this way if the gods hadn’t played around with his time. He rid himself of those thoughts as another scream echoed from the kitchen. This scream wasn’t the same as the scream they had heard earlier. This was a scream of triumph, not terror.
What is going on?
Magna was the first to reach the kitchen with her sword drawn. She was unaware of the flames that lightly danced along its edges. She was furious that something had dared to enter her land without consulting her. She only had a handful of seconds to read the room before her uncle barrelled passed her.
On the ground was the still spasming walking corpse, while a ghoul sat upon its chest with a grin on its face as it yelled its triumph. In the corner was a scullery maid who looked more terrified of the ghoul than the twitching undead. Magna was just able to make out the ribbon around the ghoul’s neck as Sebastian leapt into the room with a snarl.
“Grave eater!” he roared as he threw himself at the unsuspecting creature.
Daisy, who had been coming and going from the castle as she pleased since the Titan incident, wasn’t used to having people attack her on sight anymore. Magna had insisted that the castle guard leave her be, as she was only collecting food for those who dwelled within the forest, under the princess’s request. Daisy, while scaring a few people now and again, had never once harmed anyone, but Sebastian didn’t know that.
Magna had never known Daisy to fear anything, but as Sebastian’s giant sword screamed from its scabbard, the princess saw true fear in the ghoul’s eyes. Fury erupted within Magna. How dare her uncle pull a blade on someone in her home. He knew nothing of the people here but thought himself entitled enough to attack who he pleased.
Before Mortis could even reach her, she threw herself at her uncle. Managing to deviate his course just enough so that the tip of his blade scraped along Daisy’s neck, instead of taking her head.
Terrified, the ghoul howled and bolted, causing another scream by the maid, as Sebastian crashed against a table. Daisy leapt through the window and bolted to the forest where she knew she would be safe.
“How dare you?” spat Sebastian as he slowly got up from where he had fallen.
“No! How DARE you!” screamed Magna as she brought her blade before her.
“You would dare to raise a weapon against me? I am your uncle and King of…”
“You are nothing but an animal!” she screamed at him as she launched herself at him.
Sebastian would have been amused at the little spitfire if he wasn’t suddenly swamped with the fury that usually lay dormant in his blood. Against his will, he felt the tell-tale signs of the beast within winning. His ability to control it was gone, and only the hunger remained. He felt his sword slip from his hand as the nails on his hands elongated and thickened. His teeth seemed to grow too large for his mouth, and he was forced to allow his jaw to hang slack. The only reason he didn’t completely turn was because his armour trapped his full size within it.
Magna knew no fear as fury filled her being. She didn’t care if the thing before her was her uncle. He had tried to kill her friend, and she wouldn’t stand for it. He looked more wolf-like now, and thick lines of slaver ran down his face as he leapt at her. She felt the pain before she saw him slash at her. She lashed out with her blade and felt weight against it before a satisfying scream echoed, and her uncle backed off. She didn’t dare look down where the pain radiated from, she needed to keep her eye on the creature in front of her.
The beast circled, partially on two legs, partially on four, waiting for an opening. While the blade wasn’t made of stinging silver, its wielder knew how to use it. It snarled at her as it stalked around to where the window that the ghoul had escaped through was. It thought of going after the creature, but there was fresh blood in the air, and the hunger was driving it mad. It leapt at the sword wielder once more.
Adrian arrived just in time to have the shield deflect most of the blow, but he didn’t have the strength to withstand it all. He slammed against his sister, and they both flew into the wall behind them.
Seeing a weakness, the beast was preparing for another leap, this time to kill the one bleeding, but then another sword flashed before its face. Then there was heat, a lot of heat, magical heat. Two more had arrived, one of which stank of death and the other magic. He was cornered. Instincts told him to flee, but he didn’t know where he was. A growl escaped his throat as he looked from one surprised face to another. The hunger called to him once more, and he knew he needed to feed, regardless of the cost.
Magna pushed her brother off of her in time to see the thing that used to be her uncle launch himself at her. She couldn’t reach her weapon in time and with her brother partially pinning her, she couldn’t roll away from the imminent attack. She had no choice but to call upon the flames that dwelled within her soul, despite her uncle telling her to never do that. She had to, or she and her brother were going to die.
The creature that Sebastian had become leapt at the twin as Magna started to bring flames to her hands, but both were interrupted as a white blur leapt through the window and tackled the hungry beast to the ground. A large white wolf with blue eyes and purple claws pinned Sebastian under its claws as it growled menacingly, its open jaws poised to crush the windpipe of the beast below it.
“Stop!”
Everyone froze as Stephan entered the room. The spirit surveyed the image before him and recoiled when he saw the embodiment of his people’s hunger under the paws of the forest prince. The beast was seething but was somehow holding back from tearing the creature above it to pieces. Stephan was amazed that anything of Sebastian was still able to hold the hunger back. The more the spirit looked over the creature, the more he realised how long the human had been trying to bind the creature to his will, but Stephan knew it was a losing battle. The human would be consumed in the end, but until it happened, he was fighting.
“Bring a pig or cow.” Said Stephan. “It must be alive.”
Are you insane? This thing will…
“Prince, keep him pinned. The rest of you listen. Get a living animal, it must be large and leave it in the room, and then leave.” Stephan then looked at Derric and said, “As soon as the room is cleared you can step off of him. If he goes for you, kill him. If he goes for the animal, let him. Clear?”
Mortis seemed to want to yell something, but Stephan only held a hand up and said once more, “Bring some livestock.”
And the ball is back in @zakludick's court. Have fun.
Here is an explanation of Chain Stories and here is the current Chainstory Library
Mortis Custos
Sanguifex
| by @zakludick | by @lex-zaiya |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | Part 2 |
| Part 3 | Part 4 |
| Part 5 | Part 6 |
| Part 7 | Part 8 |
| Part 9 | Part 10 |
| Part 11 | Part 12 |
| Part 13 | Part 14 – You are Here |
| Part 15 – Coming Soon | Part 16 – Coming Soon |
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