//------------------------------// // Chapter 34: Nergal // Story: Fire and Steel // by shirotora //------------------------------// "Wh-who are you?," Smolder demanded as two of the bug horse things chained her to a stone slab. "You aren't Garble. What did you do to my brother?" The monster laughed. "Oh, don't worry. Technically speaking, he's still alive." "Sir," one of the weird pony things said as it walked in. "It's allies are still approaching. They will arrive in three days at the pace they're moving." Smolder huffed. "You better let me go. If you don't, Ember and Luke are going to rip you all apart." The monster laughed again. "Oh, we will be quite finished with you by the time they arrive." The creature looked to the not-pony and ordered, "Delay them, if you can, regardless. Better safe than sorry." "What are you going to do to me?" Smolder asked, trying to keep her fear in check. The monster looked to her with a sickly sweet smile and said, "Why, it isn't what I'm going to do to you, but what I'm going to do for you. You will be remembered throughout history as one of the few of your kind that ever contributed anything of worth to the world." The monster turned to another of those strange pony things. "Ah, good morning, my lord. Come to witness the beginnings of your greatness?" The pony thing looked up at him and sneered. "Just ensuring my investment will be bearing the fruit I was promised." "Of course," the monster said with a grin. "Though, I will need one of yours to ensure it remains healthy. It needs to survive the process." "My daughter will care for it," the not-pony said. "Prepare your part and we'll have it ready by this afternoon." As they left, what they said sank in. Whatever they were going to do to her was going to happen that day, and the others were still three days away. "N-no," she told herself. "They'll be here soon. They'll save me." We pushed ourselves to our limit. We couldn't let ourselves slow, even for a moment. Smolder was in danger and every second mattered. We didn't even stop when we ate. We just ate as we walked. Eventually, I had to force both of us to stop for a rest by a stream. "Why are we stopping?" Ember demanded. "We don't have time for this!" "We're tired. We've been slowing down for hours," I explained. "An hour rest now and we'll be moving at full speed again. We'll get there faster by resting now. Also, tomorrow, we should save our cloaks until the afternoon. That way we can push ourselves before and then rest in the air while the cloaks do the work and then push ourselves again before stopping for the night." Ember growled. "Fine." I didn't like it, either, but now that I wasn't panicking and I was thinking clearly I saw how foolish we had been. We would have made better time if I had thought about it. We drank from the stream and filled our skins before eating some of our dried rations. We were eating more of those than we should have, but we didn't have time to hunt. I was just going to have to keep an eye open for game and take it quickly. As we got to our feet and gathered up the skins and ration pack, I felt a tingle shoot up my spine. I shoved Ember away and leaped back as a green bolt of magic tore past us. I focused on my aura sense, trying to locate our attacker. "Alright, who's got a death wish?" Ember snarled. From a space that I felt nothing, a bolt of magic suddenly came into existence and flew toward Ember. I barely had time to fire off an aura sphere to intercept the bolt. They impacted not even two feet from Ember, the blast pushing her back a couple feet. "Where the heck is it?" Ember asked as I rushed to her side. "I don't know," I admitted. "I can't sense it." "What do you-" she was interrupted by the need to duck another magic blast. I returned fire with an explosive aura sphere. The ball hit a tree and detonated in a large blast that uprooted a half dozen trees. "What do you mean you can't sense it?" Ember asked. "I mean, I can't sense it. It's not giving off aura," I clarified.  "But I thought everything gives off aura," Ember said. We dodged another bolt and Ember fired a fireball back.  "Everything has aura, sure, but this thing must be able to hide it, somehow," I deduced. We stood back to back, watching for the faintest hint of our attacker. A shimmer of green caught my attention and I fired a small aura sphere before our attacker could finish his own, forcing it to abandon the attack and leap away, but by then it was too late. Ember loosed a swarm of little purple magic darts. The darts homed in on our attacker, no matter how quick he tried to dodge. They slammed into its side, sending it crashing into a tree. In the blink of an eye, I slammed my own paw into it, pinning it to the tree. The creature was something I actually recognized. The smooth, black, chitin carapace, the solid blue eyes, and the turquoise shell. "What is a changeling doing attacking us?" I demanded. "I-I was ordered to," it replied. "By who?" Ember growled. Before we could get an answer, another bolt of magic flew right in between us and erupted in a blinding light. Ember and I recoiled, trying to shield our eyes. "Son of a diamond dog!" Ember yelled. I felt something slam into my side, knocking me down and causing me to drop our captive. By the time my sight returned, both our captive and whatever freed it were gone. Smolder laid there with only her thoughts for quite some time. She wasn't sure how long it had been, but she was sure whatever they were going to do to her was going to happen soon. Sure enough, the buzz of insect-like wings announced the arrival of one of her captors. The creature paused as it entered, wilting under Smolder's glare. It was smaller than the others. Not a whole lot, but enough that Smolder could safely assume it was rather young. That fact, alone, made Smolder relax her ire toward it a little, but it did not disappear. "What do you want?" Smolder snapped. The little pony thing came closer, enough that Smolder could see what was in the one of the bowls she carried. The sight of the meat and gems made her mouth water and her stomach grumble. It looked like a veritable feast. It was certainly far more and far better than she expected to be fed. "I-I'm here to feed you," the creature said, her voice soft and sweet, almost innocent. "I'm sorry we have to do this, but mister Nergal promised you'd be free to go as soon as you helped him." "And how am I supposed to help him?" Smolder asked. "Um... I don't know," the creature said. "But he said you have to keep your strength up or you might not survive. So, please, eat." Smolder eyed the amethyst that floated to her face. She tried to think of what kind of trick they could be pulling, but couldn't think of anything. They already had her chained to a rock. Why would they need to trick her? So, she opened her mouth and accepted the food. As she chewed, she studied the creature before her. It looked the same as the others, but it sure didn't act the same. "So, what's your name, anyway?" Smolder asked. "For that matter, what are you?" "Oh, I'm sorry," the creature said. "My name is Occelus. We're changelings." "And what about that 'mister Nergal guy?" Smolder asked as she chewed another mouthful of rubies. Occelus paled. "He's a monster." Smolder gave Occelus a curious look. "If he's a monster, why are you serving him?" "We aren't serving him. It's an alliance of necessity," Occelus said as she hovered a piece of meat to the dragon. "Our queen is getting ready to do something very bad. Something so bad, it could lead to the destruction of my entire species. Mister Nergal is going to help us stop her." Smolder bared her teeth. "You think that guy wearing my brother's body is going to help you? Why?" "Because he needs our help," Occelus replied. "With what?" Smolder asked.  "You will see when the time comes," came the deep voice of the monster as he stepped into the room. "Wh-what?" Smolder asked, the creature's return bringing her fear back with it. Nergal smiled a smile that was far too sweet. "You see, I suffer a terrible curse. It is a curse that you will help cure me of. "I would have taken that pretty little blue one, had the dog not intervened and sent me down a chasm. So blame them for your predicament. If the dog had just let me take her, you and your brother would be safe and sound." The monster placed a claw on Smolder's belly as he leaned in and sniffed her. "Hm... almost ready." "R-ready for what?" Smolder said, reluctantly, a feeling of revulsion sending shivers throughout her body. Nergal clicked his tongue derisively. "Telling would ruin the surprise." The changeling in charge walked in, giving a barely veiled look of disgust to either Smolder or Nergal, she couldn't tell. Both of them, most likely. "Occelus," the changeling in charge said as he stepped in. "Go help Pupae in the garden." "Y-yes, father," Occelus said as she hung her head and left, shooting Smolder an apologetic look. "Aww, you made a friend," Nergal mocked. "That's good. It will ensure she will take good care of you for the next couple days." Nergal turned away and walked over to another stone slab and laid down. As he did, the changeling in charge shackled him down. "Good. Now, I'm trusting you to keep that dragon and her pet at bay," Nergal reminded. "Of course," the changeling said. "He will not interfere." Nergal grinned. "Oh, I left you a little present in my chambers that should be of some assistance. Use it well." With that, Nergal looked up and opened his mouth as wide as he could. With what sounded like a wailing scream, a black cloud billowed out of his mouth like some fell factory. The air grew thick and sour, as if spoiling by the mere presence of such vileness. Garble's body fell limp as the last of the cloud left him. As for the cloud, itself, a pair of eyes, somehow glowing black, peered from the depths. They looked down at Smolder, and she felt as if her very soul was being suffocated. It surged forward. Smolder tried to scream, but that only made it easier for it to flood into her mouth and down her throat. Smolder felt the filth worm through her body before everything faded into unconsciousness.