//------------------------------// // Bargains // Story: Deer Me: Adwanee Sands // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// Stelimus, Copper, and Effervescence were released from Zelmar's grasp suddenly, causing a sickening bout of disorientation. The cause of this sudden event was Hora thrusting yis staff into the skull of yis Zaoris. Ye was calm and collected doing so, but anger still leaked through yis much to Hora's dismay. Oriyis staggered backwards, its feet slamming erratically through the waving hills of sand. "Betrayal? A fear of the golden crowns be they open or closed," Zelmar spoke casually. "God-Kings of the reindeer!" Hora bellowed. "I will aid you in overthrowing this monster. It is no longer the zaoris that we anyubinites followed and went to for guidance." Several gitz-gitz-guak erupted from the sand, body-slamming into the giant and making it fall over. Hora pulled out yis staff and used the creature's chest as a "Ambush from a vortex. The phobia of any stick holder." "Kill it and free my people!" He faced the gigantic insects and pointed at them with his staff. "If we can overthrow this monster and banish it from this world, then I will acknowledge your plight. Your chosen lands will be returned and the pointless wars between our people will finally cease!" The insects looked at each other briefly and chittered energetically. The four god-kings were released from the abomination's grasp and relaxed themselves. Yolumay, however, did not accept that she had to stay behind and escaped the plants protecting her, something Effervescence didn't like. Despite her protests, Yolumay slid down large cacti roots and used them to launch herself and her weapon at Zelmar, intent on stabbing it herself. "Is insanity not the attempt of repetition without accepting the outcomes?" Zelmar asked her. It ducked its deformed head and took a swing at the deer who somehow dodged by straightening herself out and jamming her spear into the former zaoris' arm. It tried to shake her off, but was unsuccessful. Instead, the black gunk on its arm started engulfing and swallowing the deer princess. Yet, just as she felt life fade away from her, something cold scraped across her torso: An icicle. More specifically, one shot from the spiral antlers of Tyveda like a canon. "Nice aim," Gfefner commented. "Just because we've been dead for so long doesn't mean I've forgotten the simple pleasures brought to me in life." The stag stomped a hoof into the sand, freezing it in place. With effort, he dragged his hoof difficultly along the surface as though pulling something heavy, then threw his leg to the left. Massive spikes of frozen dust pierced Zelmar multiple times across the body it inhabited, raising it up in the air, but it wasn't enough. Zelmar laughed off the attempt to kill it. Bits and pieces of its body detached and remained on the spikes as though they had been rotting for weeks and were naught by flimsy, wet paper. Anglacite charged into the creature with his side, intent on freezing then shattering it, but the ice would not take. Worse still: The gitz-gitz-guak, despite managing to cripple the creature onto its knees several times, were not capable of keeping it down, and often would found themselves smacked down by an open palm. "The bees flock around the hive in panic. No honey yet is made. For what do they buzz?" From its left shoulder came a swarm of black dots serving as dangerous insects to attack both living and dead. The sheer size and tough carapace of the insect giants prevented them from being fully harmed, but the swarm was large and numerous, leaving Stelimus baffled as Copper held him up. "What is this?" Stelimus whispered under his breath. The funnel of sand around them started growing higher and higher. Wider and stronger. More violent and destructive and flaying stone into dust. Hora, however, was growing tired of this. Ye lowered yimself and spun around to create a golden circle imbued with anyubinite magic to protect yim from Zelmar's 'bees'. The anyubinite sat down and let the staff float on its own. "I Speak not to one, but all our gods of death to protect their followers. We have worked diligently to serve your purpose, and without us, you will fade into obscurity. This thing will take the souls which are rightfully yours. What will you do; Let the followers die and fade into obscurity, or rightfully take control of the souls that belong to you?" "What's he doing?" Copper whispered to Stelimus. "I'm...I'm not sure. He's summoning their gods?" "You think they'll answer?" "Don't be si--" A loud screech echoed in tandem with the head of Hora's staff glowing black and expanding. The sky started breaking as though it were just a brittle egg shell, and dozens of black entities appeared in the tumultuous chaos of white and black behind it. "You are not welcome here, outsider," one of the gods shouted. "Return to the world you came from!" Zelmar continued smiling. "Even the king comes to kiss the hand. Is he not too important for such displays?" The figures raised weapons and prepared to fight alongside the god-kings and insect giants, but Zelmar wasn't capable of such spreading without an equal measure of power. "Even you can't do anything against them, Zelmar," Hora shouted. "To make a vase, it needs heating and melting, and then it can be broken easily." "What?" The creature's body expanded to insane heights, punching into the gods of death that pushed against the fabrics of reality to face this one through its avatar. Dozens against one should have a very obvious outcome, and yet. Two black figures arose from the sands with lance and axe in hand, but Zelmar intercepted their attempted surprise attacks. One saw a large hand shaped like a clamp with four fingers -two on each side-, and grabbed it. The interception was followed by a scythe hooking around the neck of the entity and thrusting it downwards. Another was bashed in the head by a massive warhammer, but it fought back against the god of fear rather than let itself be knocked around like some toy. "Impossible..." Hora gasped. "It's pushing back multiple gods at the same time on its own?!" Anglacite shouted. "Looks like it'll take a bit more elbow grease to get rid of this thing," Gfefner said with a twitch of the head. Stelimus growled at the prospects, then pushed himself away from Copper. "What are you doing?!" she shouted. The mare attempted to move back to him, but it was impossible to get to him quickly with her wounds and the violent sands. Yolumay and Effervescence threw everything they could as they fought, with the god-queen letting loose mass volleys of spores like smoke screens to let her niece get closer for an attack. Anglacite and Tyveda were both summoning blocks of ice for the gitz-gitz-guak to throw at the monster while Gfefner attempted to shred Zelmar with gusts of sharp, freezing wind more than capable of altering the sky to a pale, frozen blue. Betwixt all this was Stelimus limping towards the creature somehow fighting off dozens of gods on its own and still finding time to analyze everything. Once it noticed Stelimus, its head slid down the body to meet with the deer king at eye-level. "The familiar soul comes for fighting?" "I want you to stop this." "Words don't end a war without being dipped in a full container of blood beforehand." "I want you to love." "Wants aren't desires." Stelimus sighed in annoyance. "What's he doing?!" Anglacite growled. "You can't stay here forever. You'll destroy everything!" Zelmar's 'head' tilted. "You'll kill everyone! Why do you think we've been fighting you for so long?!" Stelimus looked around. "Look at what you're doing! The people you made when you weren't trying to destroy everything." "It made nothing. It destroys nothing. All is you, and all will strengthen regardless of location." It pondered momentarily, accentuating this by masticating loudly. "Departure will not be derooted. A bargain?" Stelimus felt something clench his throat. "What kind of 'bargain'?" Long, spindly hands and arms came out around the head and flexed their fingers before their owner resumed its speech. "What is he doing?" Copper wondered aloud. "Is he talking to it? I hope he doesn't get..." Copper gulped loudly. In an instant, Zelmar's body retracted and returned to it. It shook Stelimus' 'hand' via Gregary's soul and arose once more to speak in a loud tone: "The bargain is accepted, but fear never leaves forever." The sands calmed and quieted, and the gods -both in the sand and looking through the sky- slowly faded out of existence. All that was life was Zelmar 'evaporating' from Oriyis' body and letting yim drop next to Hora. "Stelimus, what did you do?" Anglacite asked with a concerned tone. "Tell me." The stag refused to look at him, and the former god-king facehoofed and shook his head in disappointment. "I can't believe you would actually try to bargain with that...that thing." Stelimus scoffed. "It's not like you were any better. In fact, I 'vaaaaaaaguely' recall you being controlled by it," the deer king reminisced sarcastically. Tyveda snorted for laughter. "Looks like he took your 'sass', Anglacite," she said. She wrapped a leg around Anglacite and smiled. "So you made a bargain with Zelmar?" she asked Stelimus. "Yes." Gfefner walked up to join the reunion. "I hope the impact upon you is minimal," he started. "You are the only thing that Zelmar has ever truly listened to. Even the anyubinites haven't had such luxury. Speaking of." Effervescence was currently exploding in anger and directing it at Oriyis and Hora. Thanks to this brief moment of respite, Stelimus noticed some things: "The city hasn't been completely destroyed. I even see anyubinites crawling out of the homes. Everything was just buried in sand, it seems. Whatever Zelmar was trying to do, it wasn't intent on killing anyone." He rubbed his chin pensively. "I still need an explanation from both Oriyis and the three."