Blackstone - The Temple of Trials

The Factory

We marched up to the gates of the Grimm Fortress with Dark Sky who shambled along in holographic chains that were projected from our Razor Phones. As we approached the gates, I felt for my etheric knife and checked to see how the Wend was doing. It seemed to be doing all right. After all it had just fed only a few hours ago, so it seemed to be fine, which was all right by me because I wasn't looking forward to absorbing any more Grimm. I remembered how sick I got after the battle on the ocean when I absorbed the Grimm Lancers. Who knew how many Grimm we were facing. I checked to see how Yin was doing. She seemed to be holding it together, but I could tell she was deeply unsettled by going into the fortress. I didn't blame her. The fortress radiated the most unpleasant aura. I could tell it was a place of suffering and death.

At the gates was a guardhouse. Two evil looking human beings dressed like soldiers with wicked looking pikes stood by the gates.

"Halt, in the name of his Royal Majesty," one of the soldiers commanded in a gruff voice.

David gave a curt salute. "We've got another ape to be processed into his Majesty's work force. This one tried to escape into the Middle World. Stupid Brute thought he was going to find help."

The guards laughed. "All right, take him to the workshop. These apes are good for only one thing and that's their painting."

The guards gestured at the gate and they opened up with a loud creaky noise. We marched through, parading Dark Sky before us, who walked with his head down in total humiliation. David really got into the act and prodded Dark Sky forward when he stumbled. I didn't like what we were doing, but I had no choice. Cocky bad guys were my favorite Wend Food and this whole fortress reeked of arrogance and superiority. I couldn't wait to cut loose and have some fun. There were times when being a Keeper of the Wend really sucked, but there were also times when it was the best job on Earth. This was one of those times. I couldn't wait to face the Grimm Lord and put a stop to this whole obscene act.

We marched up to a squat ugly building that looked like a warehouse in the center of the fortress. The building was heavily guarded and even felt like it was a place of suffering. This was obviously the workshop.

A couple of guards took one look at us. One sneered at the sight of Dark Sky while the other one spat a stream of dark tobacco juice on the ground.

"We've got another worker here," David said, "Where do you want us to take him?"

"In there and hurry up. We lost two of the damn apes already. Dumb brutes keep asking for water. I guess they're too dumb to know when to quit," tobacco spitter said while the other guard uttered a brusk evil laugh.

I struggled not to show any emotion, but it was hard. I remember reading about the African Slave Trade(this was obviously what the Grimm were modeling their little show after) and this was a page right out of one of the worst periods in human history. I checked out Yin to see if she was doing all right. She stood next to me without saying anything. I was proud of her. If I was having trouble holding it together in this evil place then I couldn't imagine what a gifted Psionic like Yin was feeling.

The guards opened the doors of the warehouse and we marched Dark Sky inside.

Inside, I struggled not to gasp in shock. I automatically reached out for Yin's hand and grasped it tight. Even, David paused in stunned silence, numb at the depravity and evil that was on full display in front of us.

The warehouse was a scene straight out of the lower circles of hell: Dante crossed with Dickens with a generous dash of Henry Ford thrown in on the top. Scores of Yeti were shackled to shoddy wooden benches. In front of them was a conveyor belt that wound through the massive warehouse and on the conveyor belt were hideous, disgusting, translucent eggs that pulsed and throbbed with a life of their own. The eggs looked horrific, a cross between reptilian and insectile shapes. All the while, the captive Yeti numbly painted elaborate designs on them. I noticed that every design was a different creature that looked like it would be a child's worst nightmare: winged bats with huge dripping fangs, giant mutant cockroaches that glowed in the dark, hairy spiders with huge ruby eyes. The whole assembly line was monitored by guards that stood on catwalks and looked down on the line without any trace of emotion. Most of them smoked cigarettes and the whole air was foul and rancid with blue smoke. Right in front of us, one of the guards yawned and scratched his crotch.