Post by Gamemaster on Jun 2, 2006 11:05:16 GMT -7
Silk was the last of his ill-fated band of adventurers to survive. He knew that now, knew far more than he cared to remember. Mesmerized he'd been able to do no more than watch helplessly as one by one his companions where embraced by the foul smelling serpent-thing.
His mind was clearing now, and with it came the quite natural desire to flee. And a quite natural desire to vomit as he recalled the serpent's tongue flicking against his unresisting self as if savoring a soon to ripen fruit.
A mouth opening, impossibly wide, bone snapping like branches...
Hands on knees and heaving violently, Silk struggled to remain calm. After a moment he gained control. Gasping he looked outside his cell. There, scattered about were his group's belongings, worthless perhaps to his captors, but of particular interest to Silk. Faint starlight through a gaping hole in the roof and the narrow windows that lined the far wall provided the room's only illumination.
--
Keesha awoke but didn't move or open her eyes. She'd lived too long on the streets to not trust her instincts. Everything was wrong. Rapidly she assessed her situation: she lay on cold stone rather than her bed; sickly-sweet, the smell of ripening death replaced the comforting scent of jasmine and spices she'd noted before laying down to sleep; rather than the soothing tinkle of water from the fountain outside her bedroom window, something large and fleshy scraped across sand and stone.
Keesha's hands where tied tightly behind her back, but this she hardly noticed. As if of their own accord, her hands were working the knots loose. Whoever had brought her to this place... if they thought they could keep her for long, they where mistaken.
She hazarded a thin look. Darkness. But she wasn't alone.
"Hetzz zalz zeer spoedigzz mijn meester zijn," hissed Keesha's unseen companion.
In some chamber nearby, something stirred.
Keesha and Silk, each unaware of the other, heard the unmistakable sound of heavy doors swinging open nearby. Then a deep, unnerving voice called out: "I have granted your master's wish, even now as he awakens in his crypt, she awaits outside. Her servants have her bathed and ready for his eternal embrace."
"uzz benz niez laat!" The thing in the darkess with Keesha hissed. Keesha heard it leaving and slipped her hands from the rough rope. Blindly she felt around. The darkness was complete... she cast a spell.
The darkness still held her in its heavy embrace but her eyes where suddenly able to take in her surroundings in stark black and white. She almost wished she remained ignorant.
She sat on the edge of a darkly stained altar. Around her where strewn cruelly crushed bones, wrapped in dry, white stringy bands. An image of the pellets of owl excrement flashed in her mind and she shuttered. She was in a large tomb. Statues lined the walls - obscene half-serpent half-human figures that stared malevolently with glittering, faceted eyes. Up a sloping stone walkway, a large serpent slid away, winding amongst the debris.
There was a sudden terrible trembling from deep within the earth. Silk paused momentarily his effort to reach through the bars of the cell to his nearby cloak. The roof rained fragments of debris on him. He stretched a bit farther and his cloak was in hand. He pulled out his lock picks.
Keesha picked herself up and hurriedly looked for an exit. Besides the sloping passage, a foreboding archway opposite the altar was the only other exit. Beyond the archway, surrounded by what could only be called "a king's ransom" was an open sarcophagus. The figure climbing out of it was enough to send Keesha quietly following after the serpent.
"And thus my cursed service is complete! Fate willing, may your master rot another 1000 years, never knowing the pleasure he craves!" a voice boomed.
--
Keesha darted up some stairs not far from the tomb entrance where the serpent stood. She heard it hiss in Zakharan: "Bring her to me..."
As she dashed up the stairs, she felt a flash of hope. There where people out there!
Silk heard footfalls approaching rapidly. He'd already hastily gathered up his belongings and secured a rope to the cell door and was just about to make good his escape. He had no desire to be dangling from a rope when someone came in- he readied his scimitar. Besides, it was possibly one of his companions... it wasn't, but it was a woman. A woman who's beauty was apparent, even in the starlight.
Together, wordlessly, they slipped down the rope and hastened to join the fleeing caravan outside.
His mind was clearing now, and with it came the quite natural desire to flee. And a quite natural desire to vomit as he recalled the serpent's tongue flicking against his unresisting self as if savoring a soon to ripen fruit.
A mouth opening, impossibly wide, bone snapping like branches...
Hands on knees and heaving violently, Silk struggled to remain calm. After a moment he gained control. Gasping he looked outside his cell. There, scattered about were his group's belongings, worthless perhaps to his captors, but of particular interest to Silk. Faint starlight through a gaping hole in the roof and the narrow windows that lined the far wall provided the room's only illumination.
--
Keesha awoke but didn't move or open her eyes. She'd lived too long on the streets to not trust her instincts. Everything was wrong. Rapidly she assessed her situation: she lay on cold stone rather than her bed; sickly-sweet, the smell of ripening death replaced the comforting scent of jasmine and spices she'd noted before laying down to sleep; rather than the soothing tinkle of water from the fountain outside her bedroom window, something large and fleshy scraped across sand and stone.
Keesha's hands where tied tightly behind her back, but this she hardly noticed. As if of their own accord, her hands were working the knots loose. Whoever had brought her to this place... if they thought they could keep her for long, they where mistaken.
She hazarded a thin look. Darkness. But she wasn't alone.
"Hetzz zalz zeer spoedigzz mijn meester zijn," hissed Keesha's unseen companion.
In some chamber nearby, something stirred.
Keesha and Silk, each unaware of the other, heard the unmistakable sound of heavy doors swinging open nearby. Then a deep, unnerving voice called out: "I have granted your master's wish, even now as he awakens in his crypt, she awaits outside. Her servants have her bathed and ready for his eternal embrace."
"uzz benz niez laat!" The thing in the darkess with Keesha hissed. Keesha heard it leaving and slipped her hands from the rough rope. Blindly she felt around. The darkness was complete... she cast a spell.
The darkness still held her in its heavy embrace but her eyes where suddenly able to take in her surroundings in stark black and white. She almost wished she remained ignorant.
She sat on the edge of a darkly stained altar. Around her where strewn cruelly crushed bones, wrapped in dry, white stringy bands. An image of the pellets of owl excrement flashed in her mind and she shuttered. She was in a large tomb. Statues lined the walls - obscene half-serpent half-human figures that stared malevolently with glittering, faceted eyes. Up a sloping stone walkway, a large serpent slid away, winding amongst the debris.
There was a sudden terrible trembling from deep within the earth. Silk paused momentarily his effort to reach through the bars of the cell to his nearby cloak. The roof rained fragments of debris on him. He stretched a bit farther and his cloak was in hand. He pulled out his lock picks.
Keesha picked herself up and hurriedly looked for an exit. Besides the sloping passage, a foreboding archway opposite the altar was the only other exit. Beyond the archway, surrounded by what could only be called "a king's ransom" was an open sarcophagus. The figure climbing out of it was enough to send Keesha quietly following after the serpent.
"And thus my cursed service is complete! Fate willing, may your master rot another 1000 years, never knowing the pleasure he craves!" a voice boomed.
--
Keesha darted up some stairs not far from the tomb entrance where the serpent stood. She heard it hiss in Zakharan: "Bring her to me..."
As she dashed up the stairs, she felt a flash of hope. There where people out there!
Silk heard footfalls approaching rapidly. He'd already hastily gathered up his belongings and secured a rope to the cell door and was just about to make good his escape. He had no desire to be dangling from a rope when someone came in- he readied his scimitar. Besides, it was possibly one of his companions... it wasn't, but it was a woman. A woman who's beauty was apparent, even in the starlight.
Together, wordlessly, they slipped down the rope and hastened to join the fleeing caravan outside.