Gulgul roared in pain, what had been at first seemed like a small stomach problem had rapidly grown in intensity and danger. Cauaria wrapped her arms around the creature’s thick neck, attempting to soothe him, similar to how a mother may try to alleviate the pain of a small child. Yet it this did very little to inhibit the growing bellowing, at first the changes were minor, but rapidly evolved into physical changes, causing those surrounding the two to take their distance and draw their weapons.
Gulgul’s physique morphed, his frame becoming much more muscular, his body doubling in size. At this point even Cauaria had to take a step back, her arms no longer capable of encircling his neck, and his head becoming too heavy for her legs to cushion. Streaks of inky darkness painted strange random patterns across his fiery red coat, while his eyes glowed with a dark purple flame. Strangest of all was the fur along his spine, it hardened, becoming something more akin to prickling quills, becoming another set of natural armor on top of the muscles and fur.
The most important change, more so than the physical one’s was the psychological one. Gulgul who had always been playful and cowardly was filled with rage, its eyes burned with a thirst for violence and death. Yet at times also softened with sadness and despair, as if too sides warred amongst one another. Vexariz attempted to approach his daughter, aiming to place himself between the transformed Gulgul and Cauaria. The moment he did so, it was as if a switch had been flipped, and the now truly monstrous bear lashed out, smashing his paw into the chieftain’s axe, and flinging him and the weapon across the deck and into the opposite railing.
Luckily the expertly crafted battle axe had been made with excellent materials, parts of which consisted of a Gralg bones and were able to absorb the impact. The mountain of a man was not uninjured, he was clearly disoriented, and the blow had caught him off guard, resulting in him eating most of the power without being able to deflect any of it. This left him in his current state, gazing at the oncoming monster, barely able to keep steady while those around struggled to react. However, the killing blow would never come, Cauaria had interjected, halting the beast in its tracks.
The woman made no attempt to reach for her weapons, urging everyone in the vicinity to lower theirs under pain of death. No one would harm her child so long as she had a say, yet even still her knees shook as she stood mere inches from the gaping maw that could easily swallow her in a bite or two. Cauaria stared into the beasts’ eyes, their eyes locking together in a test of wills, the young woman urging the kind Gulgul she raised to retake control. Responding to that silent urging the bear huffed, releasing a low-pitched growl, threatening the woman, his claws easily piercing the thick wood beneath their feet. Yet the beast made no move, it did not rush any of the others, it did not threaten the woman before it, it did not even roar in anger, just a very slight agitated growl.
Gulgul shook his head from left to right, the color of its eyes changing, shifting in response. Then something happened that was completely unexpected, the air between the two, beast and woman began to shift. The air twisting in response to the small maelstrom of energies between the two, with a sudden crack light shot out at both individuals, leashing the two together. Cauaria screamed out in pain, her armor sizzling as the energies burned themselves onto her chest, while the same occurred with the mighty bear. Vexaiz and the others tried to reach the two, only for an invisible force to violently repel them away.
The men and women surrounding the two were forced to watch powerlessly as the unknown phenomena did its work. Vexariz yelling in rage, his hands bleeding as the nails dug deep into his flesh, each swing of his mighty axe harmlessly deflected from the invisible barrier. He watched as his daughter’s voice grew hoarse from the screams, her flesh seared by the intense magical energies. Like her beloved bear she showed some physical changes other than the pattern seared into her chest, in the form of black flame tattoos etched across her skin. Streaks of black colored her long flaming red locks, as well as a red glow in her right eye.
Once the transformation was done, the girl and the bear both collapsed, their unconscious forms mirroring one another. Vexariz was the first to rush over to his daughter, cradling her wounded form in his meaty arms. Others rushed over as well, some unsheathing their weapons and ready to strike down the unmoving Gulgul, only to be commanded by the chieftain to stay their hands.
“We cannot know what has happened between the two, until the Scholar has a chance to inspect the site no one is to harm that creature. Even if it has been changed, it is still my daughter’s precious pet, no harm is to come to him!” The Balearii and Temrenosian soldiers immediately stepped back, understanding that the man in front was one whose orders you did not simply ignore.
Vexariz ran his hand through his unconscious daughter’s hair, running his hand down her cheek praying that she would be okay. The girl was the only reminder of his beloved wife, her loss would be a toll to great for the chieftain to bare. “He said you had no power, that the ritual was a failure… Was the scholar wrong? If so, why now? What changed? I can’t lose you my dear little Firestarter, please don’t leave me too…” Vexariz cradled his daughter, his body bending over to protect as much of her as he could, his tears dripping onto her charred skin. All the while praying desperately for his daughter to stay with him.
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Brothers Spurius and Paulus heard could hear the ongoing commotion coming from the other end of the ship, briefly glancing in the direction of the massive red furred beast. Yet they had little time to pay attention to others, both they and their opponent had been weakened considerably in the drawn-out fight. Both their spears and shields had crumbled to pieces, the energy contained within the inscriptions eventually burning right through the metal and almost taking off Paulus’s arm in the process.
They had their swords which they were both more skillful with, but even as the creature was injured from earlier, without the inscribed weapons, they found that inflicting wounds became much more difficult. Wounds would regenerate faster than either brother could inflict, it was only the fact that internal wounds were persistent and appeared difficult even for the monster before them to heal quickly.
The brothers found their swords did little to inhibit their enemy, each strike barely able to carve away the outer layer of bark-like skin. All the while their blades becoming more damaged, degraded over the course of the battle, the sounds of combat surrounding them growing more distant, and weaker as things reached their conclusion. Even still none were able to come and assist the two, but how much help would a simple soldier really be, their death able to buy a few seconds, but unlikely to cut any deeper through the monster’s natural defenses.
Spurius and Paulus prepared to dodge as they noticed the opponent take a step forward, followed by another, expecting its whip like tendrils to lash out at any moment. However, there was a change, instead of moving forward the creature stepped back, taking a purely defensive position, but before either brother could understand why, their attention was grabbed by the thunderclap to their rear. A blast had erupted around the central section of the enemy flagship, dust and wooden shrapnel rained down, the base of the central mast tilting slightly in the aftermath.
It was in this window of opportunity, seeing both its enemies distracted that the catenarii opposing them rushed forward. Spurius was in the direct path and would have been impaled through the heart if not for his brother’s quick thinking and actions, pushing the younger brother from the path but becoming impaled himself. Thick lances of hardened wood impacting two points, the first which would have struck his neck was blocked, both Paulus’s swords coming up in time to defend against the strike. However, even if the lance was deflected, the power behind it shattered both swords, causing the broken metal shards to fly directly into his face, tearing the skin, blinding his eyes, and leaving large shards embedded within.
Paulus screamed in pain, blood dripping down his face from the numerous wounds, but even that was cut short as the second lance pierced his stomach, ripping open a massive hole before erupting from his back. Paulus coughed up a mouthful of blood, that and the crimson liquid leaking from all his wounds were greedily lapped up by the monster which held his broken frame like a shield between itself and his brother. “Stay back! Think… carefully… I’m finished… you must survive… return home… reclaim what was ours… kill me… Do it!” Through gritted teeth and immense pain Paulus spoke his piece, urging his brother on, the energy from his body depleted as he struggled to breathe propped up on the lance of his enemy.
“No!” Spurius tried to move forward, tried to answer his brother’s will, but he could not bring himself to attack which would result in his brother’s death. The truth was that it was clear the young man was on death’s door, that there was no chance for survival, but the human mind hopes desperately for the things it cannot have. Believes in things even though the facts of the matter state differently, even still they will hesitate to act and even risk themselves for that belief, that hope.
Luckily for him fate did answer this time, in the form of a two-foot bolt slamming into the creatures left arm. The lance shaped arm hit around the elbow, with the projectile not only penetrating the thick fleshy armor, but also sinking deep into its side, pinning the left arm to its side. With one arm incapacitated the creature had lost half its strength, the offensive and defensive weapons it had relied on had been sealed, in addition to its speed and response times noticeably sluggish after the earlier blast.
“Kill it now!” The rugged voice Sabina broke through the silence, awakening Spurius from his stupor and urging him onward. In the distance he could see the young woman, her hand was red as was the weapon in her hand. The crossbow was propped up on the railing overlooking the deck, its string still reverberating from the force of the projectile it had just released.
Spurius sensing that this would be his only chance to possibly save his brother rushed forward, and as he entered his opponents’ outstretched arms, he whipped both his blades in a downward overhead slash. Not only did he have the benefit of his momentum, but his blades also lit up with bronze light, allowing him to separate the creatures right arm which still held his brother aloft. However, the attack was not done, as his brother’s body fell to the ground, Spurius pivoted, avoiding the limbs which dove from above before impaling the creature’s heart with one sword, while the second flew upwards and separated its head from its body.
“Spurius jump to the side!” He heard Sabina’s warning before he could comprehend what it meant; his reaction was however instinctual. Avoiding the killing blow by jumping and rolling away to his right, allowing him plenty of room to maneuver and prepare another strike. Yet what he witnessed stopped him cold in his tracks, his eyes focused on the figure standing over his downed opponent.
It was his brother Paulus, in his hands was a mass of darkness, and from his stomach wound bloomed a putrid smelling flower.
So, here is an early chapter release for all of you. I will be on the road tomorrow and probably will not be able to release anything. Thus today I will release this chapter and a chapter of my Alpha-7 series.
Also I will be changing up my Patron tiers next month, there will only be 2 tiers, $3 and $5/ month. Both will offer the same rewards, so there is no difference, just whatever you want to support. I'm honestly tired of having to sift through tiers and just want to keep it simple. It will be 5 chapters ahead of the normal release schedule, if you were wondering.
That is all, enjoy your day.
Alpha-7: Book 1 Foundations
