The cobblestone streets are splatter painted with blood, colored black in the dark night, ash falls from an arson fire in the distance. Nergui tends to a few orphans, comforting them in the inn, shielding them from the chaos outside. He brought them here, to test a gut feeling that he's had since his first hunt with Moran.
Moran had left hours before, to "reap", as he'd put it. Nergui knew that meant he was killing those that now share a similar mindset to himself. He doesn't dwell on his masters extracurricular activities, instead he focuses on the children in front of him. They are so scared, and malnourished, Nergui knows that if he doesn't get them help, a few will die of dehydration soon. There are more that he needs to collect, he knows there are. Somewhere out there are more innocents taking their last breath due to no one being there to care for them, and it tears him up inside. He needs to protect them, but he also needs to be here to protect these ones from Moran if he shows up.
The children can no longer cry, he's on borrowed time with them. It can't wait, he needs to get water. Nergui prays that he's right about Moran, that Moran won't harm the children.
'He has held no interest in innocents before, please may that not be a fluke.'
Nergui comforts the children one more time, promising as they plead for him to stay that he will return.
No one is on the streets anymore, everyone is to frightened to leave their homes. Pyres litter the town, where young women and men were burned for their perceived transgressions. Witches, whores, and those attracted to same sex. If it was perceived as evil, it had to burned out. It serves Moran as well, those not corrupt were taken care of, although he didn't always let them burn, occasionally the priest or even congregation at one event, would slip up and burn themselves to death. How his eyes would shine in the oily fire as another human lost it's life.
But, that's not all it is, Nergui is now unsure if Moran even wants to kill, could it be that death is an addiction to him? His former trainer had never told him what it was like to be a dragon, he had never even known that they were one in the first place! What tangled webs these immortal creatures weave. Moran kills only the evil, something his old trainer had done as well. Except Moran does it to maintain his beliefs, she did it because of her beliefs. When would harboring so much corruption turn her against those they desperately try to protect? No one is perfect.
Nergui pushes in a door, the stench of rotten flesh fills his nose. He walks past a front room filled with corpses of loved ones, dressed in clean well tailored clothes. If it weren't for their ashen skin, one might assume they all lounged in living room, enjoying each other's company in silence. There's rotten food in the kitchen, a last meal. They had collectively decided to die together, instead of facing how the world had turned so ugly outside. He checks for any gourds of water, but every container has been emptied.
He ranges out further from the town center, hoping the houses further out may have what he needs. The next house Nergui checks is hollow, only it's outside husk remains. With what was once the walls and interior laying hazardously on the ground. Bedding and clothes torn and formed into an empty nest. Nergui can't find water, or the possible creature in the one room house. Disappointed he resumes his search.
Every step he takes put the children he left behind at risk. Although no monsters had entered the inn since Moran started hunting them. They know the scent of approaching death. Moran still hunts them in human form, it makes catching/killing them easier when all they see is a human. Nergui eases his way in through a broken window, with the door sealed shut from the inside, surely something must have survived.
To his dismay, only a segment of a thin child's leg is in the room he enters. The empty sockets of a man sits on a countertop, it's face twisted into surprise. From the smell permeating throughout the room, there are more corpses somewhere. In the ice box, sections of meat were prepared, sliced carefully but moldering. This house is same as the ones before. He has already spent so much time on this expedition, how much more will he waste searching!
He breaks into the next house, only a chain latch on the front door. This house was expensive looking, the once extravagant garden is yellowed and covered in weeds, but there are still hints to the beauty it once held. It's quiet inside, the bottom floor is one large slab of marble, the traveler can smell old blood. After being enslaved by Moran, his senses have become sharper. Before all he'd notice is the smell of blood. Now he can distinguish that it has been laying somewhere for, at the very least, a fort night. The empty hall leads to empty rooms, he follows it to the basement stares. He goes there first, in search of any perserved food. It's empty for the most part, except for a bit of dried jerky and a bag of dried fruit. Someone had left the house in a hurry, grabbing things that were easy to carry. The jerky without a container, and the bag of dried fruit without a pull string. Whoever it was hadn't understood how important each and every bit of food would become.
Nergui was prepared for this likelihood, unlike the townsfolk, his pants carry pockets. Which he had emptied for his exodus into the streets of the town. He longs for his sword, after the incident with Moran, it has been absent from his side. Knowing he can't die now, but the children still can, he caresses the opening to his sword hilt. At some time in the future, he will aquire another sword. He returns to the main floor, looking for a kitchen. All the rooms on the main level are, oddly, bedrooms. Not even a living room or dinning room. When he gets to the second floor, he seas why. It is dedicated to lavish bedding, stacks of plush pillows everywhere and gossamer sheets hanging from the ceiling. This is a house for entertaining. He'd heard rumors of rich people in the west entertaining each other with such rooms. Then this was not a house at all. He will find no water here.
The traveler stomps angrily out of the fith house he's check, fresh blood from a changling, soaks his hands and pants. It had been such a small thing, but every bit as vile as the creatures he'd fought before coming to this accursed place. Today he wishes he'd never gone after his first changling, that he'd accepted his family's death and moved on with his life. So much heart ache would have been avoided! Now he is trapped to continue living, he knows not for how many more centuries. Trapped with a demon he'd sworn to slay. He throws the kitchen knife in hand to the ground, thrown with enough force that it peirces the soil easily, in to the hilt. Blood is displaced from the blade and pools around the hilt, until seeping into the ground.
Nergui is entering an area with occupied houses, he can hear the frightened whispers of families who notice him. Their fear of him makes him upset. There's so much that he's done for the town, but because he isn't afraid to walk freely, they assume that he's something unnatural. He doesn't feel any different from who he had been... before. If anything, he feels better, he doesn't get hungry anymore, his senses are sharper, he's bother and stronger. All these new developments he's used any way he can to help, their fear is another frustrating obstacle he knows he needs to get through to have a chance to help. The orphans he had found were different, they were more trusting. Nergui knows without a doubt that he would gladly give his life for the children, if it meant they would have a chance at a better life, and that is only if he could. Can he die? Nergui has no idea.
He finally finds water in the next house, as well as 2 more mouths to take care of. Nergui has the small boy hold onto the water source, and leads his older brother by holding his had. With the children, the return trip is more tricky, the creatures can smell their fear, they are drawn to it. They had been safe where they were, their walls insulating their fear from being carried out on the wind to waiting predators. He needs to hurry, but the older brother is so tired. From his gaunt appearance, to his younger brother's rosie cheeks, Nergui knows he has been taking better care of his toddler brother than himself. The older boy pants from the exertion, his eyes dull from exhaustion, but he doesn't complain. Nergui feels a sense of pride for the lad, but can't help but feel he was foolish. If he were to die, who would have taken care of his little brother? By not making his own health a priority, he would have left this toddler to fend for itself.
There is a snuffing sound, Nergui stops before passing in front of an opening between two buildings. He can hear a creature traveling on the otherside. Nergui peers around the corner, going slowing to avoid drawing attention. The creatures skin was smooth, but saggy, a nose shaped like that of a pigs protrudes from it's face. It's eyes droop low, in a way that Nergui surmises that it's eyesight is poor and limited to a view on either side of it's head. The limbs were a little too long, it's body gaunt, with it's twitching nose to the ground searching for a scent. Nergui knows pigs are opertunity eaters, there is a good chance that the human wasn't a cannible. That they had only been very, very hungry, when their body answered their unspoken plea to be fed.
Not everyone that turns is because they are something awful, sometimes it can be because their body could no longer contain their desire. Morphing into a form that would better suit it. The forms are usually a reflection as well. It turns it's nose up, putting it's front cloven hands up on a wall, it snuffs at the air. With a disappointed snort, it drops down from the wall and carries on it's aimless wandering. Nergui waits only until it passes far enough that buildings would block it's view of them.
Nergui is thankful for the fires now, the wind was pulling their scent away from the creature. He still has difficulty believing it, Moran had turned so many people into those things. Nergui doesn't know how he'd done it, but he knows it is his fault. He can feel Moran's magic, thick in the air. Even now it whispers, indistinct to Nergui. One good thing from being enslaved by Moran, he is now impervious to any magic Moran puts out, unless it is specific to him. To hurt Nergui, would be to hurt himself. The road goes both ways, so entangled are they.
It's strange how a town, so normal only a couple months ago, could be devastated to this. The center of town is now nearly empty, the townsfolk had attempted an exodus last week. Nergui thought Moran would be angry when he found out, but noticed no change in his mood. Only when the caravans had tried to leave the gateway did Nergui understand, and the peoples greatest fear was realized. The town was cursed, and there is no escape. Instead of remaining in their homes, families congregated on the outskirts of town.
"Human's are not stupid," Nergui thinks, "They felt the source of evil was strongest in the center of town."
He had to give it to Moran, all the shops, the inns, the entertainment, the meager government of the town, are all centralized. If a human ever wanted anything, they had to face the stronger temptations of the main square. Children were the answer for more callus family members. Send them, they are pure and loved by the goddess of life. She would protect them, but they did not understand that above all else, she enjoys the struggle. Of the goddesses, she demands proof that you love her before she'd lift a finger to help. Nergui still remembers her eyes, looking at him coldly when he'd begged her to return his family to him. But she had not been there for him.
The older brother falters, Nergui lifts him as he does, so his feet stay underneath him. He looks aweful,
"We are almost there." Nergui assures the boy, "Stay with me."
His eyes are listless, but his face is tilted toward Nergui's voice and he nods in acknowledgement. If he can get him to the Inn, then what? How can he help this boy? Nergui runs through different treatments in his head, all them insufficient for a child so malnourished.
"It will be enough." He assures himself, "It has to be."
Making the boy climb the steps to his room is to cruel to Nergui, he hands him his younger brother. The boy takes him gingerly, and Nergui sweeps him off his feet, taking the stairs with concentration. Falling would be death to the precious innocents in his arms. He feels a sense a pride as he enters his room, in a swift motion, his heart sinks.
Moran leans casually on a bed post, regailing the terrified children with mild distaste. His arms are covered in blood, some had dribbled from his mouth at one point as well. Most of the blood is fresh, caked over blackened dried build-up from previous hunts.
"What's all this?" Moran gestures to the children.
Nergui clears his throat, readying his reply.
"They need someone to take care of them" He answers boldly.
Nergui places the boy on his feet, forgetting that the boy still holds his younger brother. The child grunts, but clutches his baby brother to himself resolutely.
"You thought that someone should be you?!" Moran is incredulous, he laughs loudly without feeling. "And you brought more?"
Moran smiles, Nergui sees confusion in his eyes but doesn't hope that it's a conformation of his conjecture.
"I don't understand why you would bother, what is so great about them?" Moran approaches the children, "What makes you special?"
His voice is sickly sweet, the air hums with the increase of his magic, the children remain silent.
"Curious." Moran murmurs, fascinated.
"Did you need something?" Nergui rushes.
"You want to know if I need something?" Moran reaches a hand to a child's face, wondering if it's as soft as it looks.
"Please, Moran, leave them be!" Nergui pleads.
Placing the boy down on his feet, ready to restrain Moran, or to at least try. Moran's hand hovers, if he caresses the child, Nergui will have a fit. He sighs and straightens up, the last thing he needs is Nergui being non-negotiable.
"I need you to leave, now." Moran sighs.
Nergui blinks,
"Why?"
"Because I told you!" Moran lashes, then takes in a calming breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I'm "reaping" the town, tonight. I need to go back home."
"Home?" Nergui wonders. "He's leaving?"
Nergui waits for any sense of joy or even relief, but feels nothing. Moran is going to leave. Why does he feel nothing?
"I'm not taking you with me." Moran continues, "So you need to leave, before this happens, to avoid suspicion at the next town you visit."
Moran is being considerate, does this mean he will spare the children?
"I will," Nergui pauses, "If you let me take the children with me."
"Take the children with you?"
His tone is menacing, but Nergui forges on, putting his faith in that Moran may not be what he's claims to be.
Nergui tries to sound soothing, his voice is barely a whisper,
"They are pure, they will mess with your conviction."
Moran scoffs,
"They have not had enough life to have formed strong enough opinions to dissuade me."
"Where is this coming from?" Moran scratches his chin some more, confused. "They are the easiest souls to aquire, tell me, why don't I go around murdering pregnant women hm?"
Nergui stampers,
"I d-dont know?"
"Hm? Two for the price of one?"
This question sounds like a trap, a trap Nergui is willing to spring, where is Moran going with this?
"Because it's wrong?"
Moran shakes his head in disbelief,
"Because it's wrong?" He paces, his hands moving with his words, "We've spent the last 2 months together, and you think I won't do it because it's wrong?"
"Are you an idiot?" Moran's voice is scathing, but his eyes are teasing.
"Then tell me why." Nergui states.
Moran's eyebrows shoot up,
"Tell you? Really?"
Moran looks at at children, "Do you believe the nerve of this man?"
One of the children bobs her head up, her head shorn to avoid lice,
"I'm hungry." She whimpers.
Moran's jaw clenched, he doesn't know what to do when faced with pure innocence.
"Why bring these fragile creatures? Should I kill this one to spare it from hunger?"
"What other reason is there?" Nergui questions.
Moran had forgotten the conversation, but he remembers after a few seconds of thought.
"They aren't worth the trouble." His thoughts are still elsewhere, Moran tries to find his point again. "When it comes to young things, even before birth, their souls are watered down."
Moran turns from the kids to look Nergui dead in the eye and smirks,
"They aren't worth the trouble." He repeats.
"Because the souls are weaker?" Nergui fills with horror, what had he brought the children into?
The Traveler keeps his face from showing his turmoil, he know Moran can feel it, but it would scare the children unnecessarily if he gave in. Even if that is Moran's reasoning for not killing young humans, Nergui is going to try testing his hypothesis.
"If they aren't worth it, let the children live."
Moran blinks in surprise,
"What?" He he turns it over in his mind, "Fine, you may keep these children, since they are already here."
"Moran, please, let all the children of this town go, let me take them all out of here." Nergui clarified.
"All?" Moran hisses angrily, "All of them?"
He storms up to the traveler, towering over him, a part of Nergui wonders when he had gotten so tall, until he realizes he'd fallen to his knees.
"You must have gone insane little human." Moran's voice changed, distorted. "What more will you ask from me?"
The dragon isn't yelling, but the room shakes with his emotion, so powerful has his hold become on the town. The room's temperature is increasing as well, Moran's veins glow through his skin.
"Speak." He orders.
With utmost sincerity, and conviction for what he believes in, Nergui replies,
"My only desire, is for you to spare the children." His body does not betray him, he had done exactly what Moran had asked him to do.
He had told him all that he would ask of him as he spoke. As though the sun had set in the room, the temperature decreased, the room stilled and Moran's veins cooled.
"Do you know these children?" He whispers, his eyes riveted on Nergui's face.
Nergui shakes his head, following Moran's command again.
His continued obedience softens Moran further,
"Then why do you care?" Moran tilts his head subconsciously, very confused.
"Who else would care, if I didn't?" Nergui answers his question with a question, "Their parent's are corrupt, or dead. And it's not their fault."
A sharp feeling stabs into Nergui, his words had hit a nerve. But what he'd said wasn't personal to him, but this emotional pain feels very personal. Nergui falls to the ground, his hands outstretched.
"What was that?" He hadn't expected that pain, did it come from Moran?
Moran hisses disaprovingly,
"Get a hold of yourself." And turns his back on the traveler and covers his eyes with his hand. "It was only in your imagination."
Feelings he thought he had abandoned a long time ago have been pulled to the surface. Once more he regrets enslaving Nergui, but it isn't curiosity that punishes him now. Self-loathing burns in himself, he wants to believe Nergui is to blame for putting it there. But if he knows better, he knows whose condemning eyes had branded him as a thing to endure and who else believed that the only point to his existence was to give her power. There is no need for these feelings, he tries to shake them off, but the guilt lingers. It's his fault these kids suffer...like... he can't bring himself to the comparison. To do that is to admit that he has a flaw, and he is so close to his goal to give in to such things.
"Keep them if you want to." Moran's voice is strained, "But you need still leave now."
Nergui watched Moran's spiral, and is amazed that he's granting his request.
"Thank you." Nergui's gratitude is palpable, both in his countenance and in the respect in his voice.
The older brother collapses, giving in to the weight of his baby brother, Nergui turns and catches the boys before they can hit the ground. Nergui removes the younger brother, and sets him aside. He feels for the boys carotid pulse, even though he can hear that it's slowing. Moran watches, torn between doing nothing, or something. The Traveler tries to wake the boy, his panic rising.
"Even just one is so important?" Moran muses.
Although he doesn't quite understand, he Saunders over to the two humans, the children shuffle around his movements, all of them terrified of him since his outburst.
"Let me see." Moran puts a hand on Nergui, letting him know to move out of the way.
Nergui musunderstands Moran's motives,
"No! If he dies, let him do it on his own!" Nergui's voice trembles.
He tears the child's shirt open to begin chest compressions. Moran sighs, he's trying to do Nergui a favor, if he spent more time with humans, would they all be like this?
"Move." Moran orders.
Nergui doesn't fight the order, he chooses to follow it so he will be able to comply in a gentler manner.
Moran's nails grow into claws, he lances one on his fingers with another, letting a small drop of blood form. Nergui is nervous, he can't get closer, he can feel invisible threads holding him in place. Moran tips his hand, letting the droplet drip from the claw on the finger he'd laced, onto the boy's chest.
With the blood coated claw, starting from the drop of blood on the boy's chest, Moran carves in symbols, spiraling out from the initial spot. He had never tried doing his secret technique on a living subject and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't excited to see what the end result would be. Moran chants softly as he slices, he let's his blood flow from the wound in his finger, filling every new crevasse he creates. When he finishes his work, he waves his hand over the runes, the boy's skin heals immediately with it, forming perfectlyarticulated scars. With his work complete, Moran steps back from the child, examining the complicated spell and searching for flaws. Once satisfied, he releases his hold on Nergui, who rushes back to the child. He doesn't know all of the words now scarred into the boys flesh, but none of them look harmful.
"What did you do?"
Moran waves a hand dismissively,
"A little of this, a bit of that." And sits down on the bed, "The child will live."
"I need to know the specifics-" Nergui tacks on a, "Please." Remembering how Moran reacts to being told to do things.
Moran lays down on the bed, his feet planted on the ground and sighs.
"It's more difficult for him to starve to death," he thinks, he's not entirely sure if the spell will work, "And what ever doesn't kill him, will only make him stronger."
"Can you do that?" Nergui, looks at Moran on the bed. "It sounds, impossible, even for you."
"I don't know." He answers truthfully, "But you will get to see if it works or not."
Almost as if on que, the boys eyes open,
"I'm hungry." He whimpers.
"Is that the only thing children know how to say?" Moran grumbles.
Nergui ignores him and pulls some dried fruit to give to the kid, who eats it gratefully. After the first bite, he lurches up, searching the room until he finds his younger brother and offers him the rest of the fruit in his hand.
"He is to young to eat that." Nergui lies.
The boy's face falls a little, until he notices the other kids looking at him hungrily.
"Are they?" His eyes, full of trust plead with Nergui.
He sighs, this child is going to be difficult to care for until he can get him healthy.
"No, go on ahead."
Moran listens to the exchange, his curiosity piqued. There are more humans like the Traveler? He'd never considered this possibility. Maybe this whole planet is full of them, a planet of fools. Moran chuckles to himself, but stops. If they are fools for helping each other, what does that make him? He frowns and gets up from the bed.
"Can they leave?" He folds his arms.
The boy hadn't noticed Moran was still in the room, he had been just as afraid of him as the other children, he shrinks away from him in fear when he speaks. Nergui places a comforting hand on his shoulder,
"I think we can." He gives the shoulder a gentle squeeze.
The other children are still preoccupied with the dried fruit and meat. They had watched Moran save the boy they thought was dead and are no longer terrified of him. Afraid, yes, but his presence didn't make them want to run away in terror anymore. Moran takes notice of the change in the room, it doesn't smell so strongly of fear anymore. He can't guess at the reason for the change, so he shrugs it off.
"Then do it, I have other plans to accomplish today." He turns from them, choosing not to watch them leave, and mentally hits himself for letting anything Nergui says affect him. But he is a man of his word, he reaches out to all the minds in the town. Still tens of thousands cower in their homes, along with the hundreds of creatures roaming the streets. He takes deep breaths, preparing for the mental strain of the task Nergui had asked of him.
Nergui is oblivious of how nervous Moran is, and quickly collects the children. He heards them out of the Tavern and into the street, the older boy picks up a little girl that started to fall behind. They walk as quickly as the weakest of them can travel, and as they walk, they are joined by more children. The kids approach them with dazed expressions and start with confusion once they encounter the group. And as they show, the other kids encourage them to follow, holding their hands and giving them whatever pieces of food they still hold. Nergui can feel Moran's influence all around them, bringing the children and forcing them to give in to the pleas of the kids already in his group.
He is in awe of this massive display of power, Moran must have consumed a ridiculous amount of souls. Nergui feels that there is no pit dark or deep enough to punish Moran properly for his infractions against humanity, but is still incredibly grateful he's choosing to help him. Help him what? Save the children that he himself had put in harms way? There are too many facets of hypocrisy to examine right now, Nergui sets himself to the task at hand.
A screeching sound makes them stop in their tracks, the pig creature stands in between them and the front gate. It's tongue extends from it's mouth, barbs lining the sides, it's belly is distended from having eaten something recently. The creatures sides heave, it's nose twitching in excitement at the overwhelming smell of meat in front of it. Nergui steps in front of the children, ready to defend them.
"Stay back." He sprays his hands out, and gently pushes the kids to his side behind himself.
The pig like creature chortles, it's nose waving in the air, it's tongue lashing side to side. Nergui lifts his hands, to protect his face, angry once again that he doesn't have his sword. It zig-zags towards them, bobbing it's head and taking in Nergui's threat level. As it nears Nergui, there's a sudden rush of magic, the ground splits open and flames shoot up. The creature catches on fire instantly, it screams in response and rushes away. The fire seems to hold onto the creature, as though it itself is living.
"You may feel about me however you like, I will keep true to my word." Moran speaks directly into Nergui's head.
Nergui will never get used to that, he can feel the strain Moran's experiencing through his mental voice. He can feel so much more from it than he ever could from having a spoken conversation with him. With the path forward cleared, Nergui ushers the kids forward. The children hesitate at the gate archway, they knew what had happened to those who had tried to leave.
A humming rattles the gate, it pulls apart into the air, the stones that had been it's make up float suspended. Nergui steps through the shattered doorway, after confirming that it's now safe, he gestures to the children to follow. They stare at him in fear, the older boy gathers himself first, and strides through with mock confidence. Once the children witnessed both of them exiting safely, they trickle out as well. Nergui watches them attentively. Once through, the doorway reforms. There are about 26 kids in total, 27 if you include the older boy.
So few, so few kids had survived losing their parents to death and madness. Sorrow fills Nergui, so much life has been lost here. He leads the kids into the trees, towards Moran's cave. It won't be much, but it is shelter, and he needs a place to plan for the future of these kids. As they crest a hill, a shrill noise that builds in to an earth shaking roar splits the night air. Everyone in the group stops to look back, the town is in flames, and out of the smoke, the see a dragon flying over the town
It alights on the town cathedral and let's out another ear piercing shriek, letting a cascade of flame drench the insides of the cathedral. Nergui can hear them now, he had been so preoccupied that he hadn't heard the screams. Screams of humans so twisted with pain, that their howls rent the night air, filling him with horror. The dragons screeches change in pitch, lowering, and turning distorted. With it sides heaving, it laughs. The sound is undeniable, it's head surveys the destruction, and laughs.
Nergui feels the hysteria, he purses his lips to keep himself from bursting out laughing. His whole body feels light, and he shakes with pleasure. He bites his tongue, fighting off the overwhelming joy. It isn't coming from him, he knows it isn't coming from him, but he forces himself to feel guilt. Is this why he did it? Nergui is disgusted with himself and Moran. Is this why he kills?
YOU ARE READING
Inside the Fire
General FictionAn ancient evil reborn, the answers he seeks to faded memories may unknowingly awaken old (genocidal) habits.
