Kaizaell Songe
Member
Word Count: 1171
The time seemed to drag on, each heartbeat drumming in Kaizaells’ ears as he watched the forest closely. Caniir had chosen to watch the nearby grasses, her feathers seeming to ruffle upwards in a warning sign as she became hyper focused on that area while he watched the great open spaces he could see around the great trees of the forest.
The young laicar heard a jingling noise as the Sapper pulled more tools from his pouch at his waist, but continued to monitor their surroundings. A low humming noise came from the man as he operated on the Bristleboar that had approached them. Despite this, the man operated quickly on the beast and after only a few minutes, ones that felt like hours to the pair keeping watch, he called them over.
“Tell me what you two see,” the old man said, waving towards the corpse in front of them.
Caniir stepped forwards, still keeping an ear out for any strange movements nearby while Kaizaell moved closer as well. He had his rifle in his hands, the strap loosed from around his shoulder so it could easily be brought up and fired at the shortest of notices. Briefly studying the body the young man could tell a few things after a few moments. Sure, in the Southern Wastes there weren’t that many big beasties that roamed, but the few that thrived in that harsh environment always left signs of their passing which the communities that made their homes there heeded well.
As the young man got a good look at the creature up close now he noticed metallic clasps the old Sapper had set up to keep the wounds open. The heart, no longer beating, made the blood flowing from the body a slow trickling affair and the plants nearby were quickly getting stained a crimson color. Oddly enough, mixed in with the red was a strange purplish liquid that seemed to match some of the gore he now saw on the beasts’ tusks and in its mouth.
“Looks like it was torn apart,” the hazel eyed laicar said in a hushed tone. “Not killed with a weapon, but maybe with fangs or claws?”
“Good,” the older man said with a smile. “Anything else?”
“There's’ some kind of meat in its mouth,” the emerald enlil said, having used her knives to pry open the boar’s mouth. A chunk of rancid smelling grey meat fell from its mouth. “These things are obviously omnivores, and... Hey!”
The young girl reached into the creatures’ mouth and pulled out a torn piece of fabric that was well known to both of them. It was one of the Ranger patches the scouts wore, though badly grinded from the beast's flat teeth.
“Well, shit,” the Sniper said with a grimace as he took the trophy from his younger partners’ hand. “Looks like we know what happened to the Scout teams.”
“Could be,” the older man said, tsking slightly as he kicked at the rotting meat that had come from the boar's mouth. “Though they haven’t been gone long enough for that kind of decomposition.”
“And what’s with this purple shit?” Kai muttered, looking closer at the creature and its wounds. The liquid, whatever it was, seemed to roil and move independent of the blood's flow, like it was trying to stay within the creature. It shined, like some kind of mercurial liquid, and looked entirely too unnatural. “Is there something here that uses poisons?”
“Not that we know of,” the older man said with a sigh, though he wiped his hands off in a cloth and tossed the rag like he didn’t trust it. “We’ve been posted here for six years now, though you two wouldn’t know it, and we’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Damn,” the young man growled. He wanted to know why an army had been stationed out here for that long, but knew the old man wouldn’t answer him. He’d only been here for two short years and the training for the military had taken about a year to complete, including his Ranger training. “So, if we’re assuming poison, which I’m guessing we are, what kind of wild animal that’s out here uses poison?”
“That I truly don’t know,” the older man said, pulling out an empty vial and trying to extract some of the purple liquid. “But I certainly intend to find out.”
The young man watched as the Sapper attempted to take a sample, seeing something strange in the actions of the liquid as it seemed to shrink away from the vial for a few moments, supposedly attempting to sink further into the Boar itself, before he was able to safely get some in the glass container without getting any on himself.
A snapping noise caused the trio to look up, jerking to attention as they turned and faced towards the trees nearby. They saw some sort of shambling form wander forwards, dressed in a tattered military uniform. The man, a velen scout with pale gold and silver scales that had gone out, seemed to be heavily wounded and was groaning loudly.
Caniir and the old man tensed for a moment before realizing who it was and lowering their guard, but something about this seemed odd to Kaizaell as he stayed in a ready position, some instinct screaming a warning to him.
The man, stumbling forwards, made his way towards Caniir, who quickly ran towards the Scout and reached to him, as if to steady the lost soldier.
An unearthly howling scream came from the wounded velen before his jaw distended monstrously and he lunged forwards and bit deeply into the young enlil’s shoulder. The Sniper heard a sharp intake of breath from the girl before she started to scream back, bringing her knives up to stab at her attacker mindlessly.
At that moment, Kaizaell hesitated even with his instincts screaming. The howl had shook him to his core, bringing back memories of his father flashing before his eyes as his body moved on autopilot. He brought up the rifle, scoped for a moment before pulling the trigger, the bullet taking a mere moment to travel between him and his little enlil friend. A moment that was one too late. The creature bit into Caniir just as the bullet went smoothly through his head, smashing through his skull and splattering purplish gore out of the back of his head.
The pair of them crumpled in a heap, the larger velen landing on top of the smaller girl and pinning her in place as she tried to wrestle it off of her without letting go of her knives and leaving herself completely defenseless.
The young soldier ran forwards, hearing the older man say something vaguely off in the distance of his distracted mind.
“Caniir!” Kaizaell yelled as he ran forwards, trying to lift the heavy body off of his friend.
A chill ran through his spine as he heard the howl echoed throughout the forest, other voices joining the monstrous chorus.
The time seemed to drag on, each heartbeat drumming in Kaizaells’ ears as he watched the forest closely. Caniir had chosen to watch the nearby grasses, her feathers seeming to ruffle upwards in a warning sign as she became hyper focused on that area while he watched the great open spaces he could see around the great trees of the forest.
The young laicar heard a jingling noise as the Sapper pulled more tools from his pouch at his waist, but continued to monitor their surroundings. A low humming noise came from the man as he operated on the Bristleboar that had approached them. Despite this, the man operated quickly on the beast and after only a few minutes, ones that felt like hours to the pair keeping watch, he called them over.
“Tell me what you two see,” the old man said, waving towards the corpse in front of them.
Caniir stepped forwards, still keeping an ear out for any strange movements nearby while Kaizaell moved closer as well. He had his rifle in his hands, the strap loosed from around his shoulder so it could easily be brought up and fired at the shortest of notices. Briefly studying the body the young man could tell a few things after a few moments. Sure, in the Southern Wastes there weren’t that many big beasties that roamed, but the few that thrived in that harsh environment always left signs of their passing which the communities that made their homes there heeded well.
As the young man got a good look at the creature up close now he noticed metallic clasps the old Sapper had set up to keep the wounds open. The heart, no longer beating, made the blood flowing from the body a slow trickling affair and the plants nearby were quickly getting stained a crimson color. Oddly enough, mixed in with the red was a strange purplish liquid that seemed to match some of the gore he now saw on the beasts’ tusks and in its mouth.
“Looks like it was torn apart,” the hazel eyed laicar said in a hushed tone. “Not killed with a weapon, but maybe with fangs or claws?”
“Good,” the older man said with a smile. “Anything else?”
“There's’ some kind of meat in its mouth,” the emerald enlil said, having used her knives to pry open the boar’s mouth. A chunk of rancid smelling grey meat fell from its mouth. “These things are obviously omnivores, and... Hey!”
The young girl reached into the creatures’ mouth and pulled out a torn piece of fabric that was well known to both of them. It was one of the Ranger patches the scouts wore, though badly grinded from the beast's flat teeth.
“Well, shit,” the Sniper said with a grimace as he took the trophy from his younger partners’ hand. “Looks like we know what happened to the Scout teams.”
“Could be,” the older man said, tsking slightly as he kicked at the rotting meat that had come from the boar's mouth. “Though they haven’t been gone long enough for that kind of decomposition.”
“And what’s with this purple shit?” Kai muttered, looking closer at the creature and its wounds. The liquid, whatever it was, seemed to roil and move independent of the blood's flow, like it was trying to stay within the creature. It shined, like some kind of mercurial liquid, and looked entirely too unnatural. “Is there something here that uses poisons?”
“Not that we know of,” the older man said with a sigh, though he wiped his hands off in a cloth and tossed the rag like he didn’t trust it. “We’ve been posted here for six years now, though you two wouldn’t know it, and we’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Damn,” the young man growled. He wanted to know why an army had been stationed out here for that long, but knew the old man wouldn’t answer him. He’d only been here for two short years and the training for the military had taken about a year to complete, including his Ranger training. “So, if we’re assuming poison, which I’m guessing we are, what kind of wild animal that’s out here uses poison?”
“That I truly don’t know,” the older man said, pulling out an empty vial and trying to extract some of the purple liquid. “But I certainly intend to find out.”
The young man watched as the Sapper attempted to take a sample, seeing something strange in the actions of the liquid as it seemed to shrink away from the vial for a few moments, supposedly attempting to sink further into the Boar itself, before he was able to safely get some in the glass container without getting any on himself.
A snapping noise caused the trio to look up, jerking to attention as they turned and faced towards the trees nearby. They saw some sort of shambling form wander forwards, dressed in a tattered military uniform. The man, a velen scout with pale gold and silver scales that had gone out, seemed to be heavily wounded and was groaning loudly.
Caniir and the old man tensed for a moment before realizing who it was and lowering their guard, but something about this seemed odd to Kaizaell as he stayed in a ready position, some instinct screaming a warning to him.
The man, stumbling forwards, made his way towards Caniir, who quickly ran towards the Scout and reached to him, as if to steady the lost soldier.
An unearthly howling scream came from the wounded velen before his jaw distended monstrously and he lunged forwards and bit deeply into the young enlil’s shoulder. The Sniper heard a sharp intake of breath from the girl before she started to scream back, bringing her knives up to stab at her attacker mindlessly.
At that moment, Kaizaell hesitated even with his instincts screaming. The howl had shook him to his core, bringing back memories of his father flashing before his eyes as his body moved on autopilot. He brought up the rifle, scoped for a moment before pulling the trigger, the bullet taking a mere moment to travel between him and his little enlil friend. A moment that was one too late. The creature bit into Caniir just as the bullet went smoothly through his head, smashing through his skull and splattering purplish gore out of the back of his head.
The pair of them crumpled in a heap, the larger velen landing on top of the smaller girl and pinning her in place as she tried to wrestle it off of her without letting go of her knives and leaving herself completely defenseless.
The young soldier ran forwards, hearing the older man say something vaguely off in the distance of his distracted mind.
“Caniir!” Kaizaell yelled as he ran forwards, trying to lift the heavy body off of his friend.
A chill ran through his spine as he heard the howl echoed throughout the forest, other voices joining the monstrous chorus.