Chapter Twenty-Two: The Night Terror
Twilight and I slept in until it was almost midday, and we came downstairs to find everyone else pottering about here and there, doing their own thing. Applejack was outside with Alex, learning more about his trucks, Rainbow Dash was taking a nap in her chair, and the others were in the living room, listening intently to Josh as he told stories of his work, and some of the worst disaster zones he had been to while providing relief aid.
“Well, look who’s finally up!” Rarity sang upon spotting us.
Yawning, I gave everyone a groggy wave, while Twilight grumbled that she needed coffee. Alex was just coming indoors with Applejack and overheard the mare, in which he offered to brew a pot for us both.
“That would be lush, cheers.” I said with a friendly smile.
Dipping his head, he zipped into the kitchen and I hopped onto the sofa, at which point Twilight asked if we could play some more Dark Souls, which I was more than happy to do. I fired up the Xbox and we sat on the couch together, and once Alex had brought us our coffee and some late breakfast, we both perked up and had a very enjoyable start to the latter half of the day.
“So, I’ve just had a thought.” Josh hummed.
“Do tell?” I replied.
“The next piece of the Orb, it’s out somewhere in the Pacific, on an island right?”
“Yeah?”
“How exactly are you going to get to it?”
Still focusing on the game, I summed up to Josh that he was going to drop us all off at a dock somewhere on the West Coast. From there, we would find a boat, and just as we reached America from Morocco, we would sail our way to the island.
“And hopefully not come across any gun-toting pirates this time.” Twilight grumbled, rubbing at her lightly scarred shoulder.
“Hopefully not, no.” I tutted, exhaling heavily from my nose.
Casting my mind back, I shuddered at that haunting moment, when Rainbow Dash had informed me that Twilight had been hit; she was very lucky not to have been killed that day…
“Shame you guys can’t just fly there or something.” Alex tutted, bringing me back to the present.
“That would be faster.” Rarity agreed with a huff of amusement.
“Well don’t look at me.” Dashie chuckled, stretching, “I’ve already done my fair share of carrying your butts across the ocean for hours.”
Chuckling, Alex stated that he was thinking more along the lines of an aeroplane, which was when I hummed thoughtfully.
“You know, I think I recall Rommel being able to fly a plane.”
“Really?” said Twi, tilting her head.
Nodding, I explained that I quite distinctly remember Mel once claiming to know how to fly planes, and that he had spent years learning how. This was when Alex came up with an absolutely revolutionary idea.
“Tell you what, let’s say this guy can fly a plane…” he started, “What if I bought you guys a seaplane or something? I could get it stored at an airfield near the West Coast, and pay to have it stocked up with extra fuel. Then once you get down there, you can just hop aboard and Rommel can fly you wherever you need to go!”
Everyone started nodding and murmuring in agreement, all very keen on the idea, myself included. With a thoughtful grunt, I passed the Xbox controller to Twilight, who continued to play Dark Souls in my stead. Meanwhile, I took Alex’s laptop and logged into Skype, deciding to get in touch with Mel as quickly as possible to confirm whether he was actually capable of flying or not.
Hey Mel, how goes prepping for the mission?
I pressed enter to send, and it didn’t take long for him to reply.
Going good, my boss was sad to see me quit, and has offered me my position if I ever decide to come back, so that’s good. I’ll be on the road in like a day or two.
After congratulating him on having a job to return to, I decided to get to the point.
That’s bloody fantastic mate, happy for you!
So, a new potential prospect has come up… Our next stop is an island out in the Pacific, and Alex is possibly going to get us a seaplane to get there quicker, but we need a pilot.
I can’t remember if I’m imagining this or not, but aren’t you able to fly a plane?
Correct me if I’m wrong.
After a good five minutes, we received our answer.
You remember correctly!
I can fly all sorts of planes, seaplanes included.
Might be a little rusty, granted, but I can for sure fly one.
If you need a pilot, I’m your guy.
“We have ourselves a pilot!” I hollered loudly.
Everyone responded with hoots of celebration, and Alex clapped his hands together.
“Right then, guess I have a few phone calls to make!”
Pouring himself a glass of whiskey, Dashie’s father excitedly went off to his study, where he proceeded to research how to acquire a seaplane, and all the other errands and tasks which would need orchestrating. I thanked Mel for confirming so quickly that he was up for the job, and closed the laptop upon receiving his simple reply of “no problem”.
“This is so exciting, we get to fly again!” Twilight squeaked.
I chuckled, and pointed out that this time around, everyone would get to look out of the windows and actually enjoy the flight, instead of being shut inside the cargo hold for the whole time.
“What about the pressure spell we needed last time?” Rarity pointed out.
I plonked myself back next to Twilight and explained how seaplanes didn’t go as high as airliners, so pressurised cabins and such weren’t necessary. Everyone hummed in understanding, and I took the controller back from Twilight after she died to a tough enemy in the game. We took to taking turns after every death, which ended up being a lot of fun, and we continued playing for a good few hours.
Eventually, we decided to let the others watch regular television, at which point Alex emerged from his study to inquire as to when I planned to visit his old house to investigate the missing persons case.
“I’ll head out when it starts getting dark.” I told him, “How goes it with the plane?”
“It’s going good.” he replied merrily, “I’ve been on the phone to some specialist, who’s been walking me through all the best models and stuff, along with airstrips on the West Coast that’ll be willing to hold a private plane. I’m disguising things as a scientific expedition of sorts, so if anyone asks, you and Rommel are ambitious explorers with a wealthy benefactor.”
Giving him a thumbs up, I praised the clever façade.
“I still need to tie everything together.” he continued, “But by the sounds of things, this is totally doable!”
The thought of comfortably flying across the sea together had all the girls rife with excitement. I was excited too; for as much as Alex’s hospitality was a much-needed break from the mission, I couldn’t wait to get back into the action.
A couple more hours passed, and as the sky began to darken, I chowed down on an early supper, before gearing up for my voluntary detective work.
“Think you’ll actually find anything?” asked Twilight as I came back downstairs.
Shrugging, I told her that I highly doubted it, but if there was something I could do to put Alex’s mind at ease, I’d happily investigate. Both Josh and Alex offered to drive me closer to the address, but I declined, insisting honestly that I could do with a nice long walk. They both shrugged and dipped their heads in understanding.
“It’s only two hours away on foot, and the Titans' Champion really ought to get his steps in.” I joked, stretching.
The others laughed, and I added that I also didn’t want to get too accustomed to being driven around everywhere, as I wouldn’t have that luxury upon reaching the West Coast. Alex hummed in understanding, and I knelt down to put my shoes on. Twilight asked if I would be wearing my collar, clearly wanting to check in with me while I was gone. Wanting to have my thoughts to myself for a little while, I shook my head.
“I’ll take one of Josh’s extra phones and give you a buzz if anything happens.”
“Okay fine, but can you at least take your sword?”
Lifting my shirt and giving her a sly look, I revealed Vitra ‘Aku’s handle, already slotted into the void sheathe and clipped to my belt. Rolling her eyes with a smirk, Twilight tutted.
“Aww, did da dumb-dumb hooman fink of somefing before da smarty-pony-pants did?” I teased, cupping my hands together and putting on a deep toddler-talk voice.
“Ugh, shut up!” she giggled, playfully shoving me, “I’m just worried about you.”
“I’m going to be fine, quit your worrying.” I said, ruffling her mane.
“Ooh, I have an idea! What if you took my bag?” Fluttershy suggested, “That way, for Twilight’s peace of mind, you’ll have a hiding place for emergencies. And, if you find anything important, you can bring it back to show us!”
“That’s a great idea!” Dashie exclaimed, giving Flutters a hefty pat on the shoulder.
The yellow pegasus raised her chin and beamed with pride, ruffling her wings with delight; we all agreed that it was a superb idea, and she zipped off to retrieve it. Shuffling with annoyance and blinking rapidly, Twilight muttered that she was about to propose the idea herself. Turning to face her, I puckered my lips and put on the deep toddler-voice once more.
“Aww, did da shy widdle pegasus come up with da smarty-bookie-pony’s plan first?”
“Uugghh!”
After giving me a much firmer shove, Twilight strutted up to me and pressed herself against my body, looking up to face me and blowing a big raspberry, to which everyone laughed. I responded by blowing at her face as hard as possible; she flattened her ears and backed away from me, pretending to cough and gag.
“Stinky breath!” she spluttered.
“Stinky face!” I retorted childishly.
“Stinky, uh…” she trailed off, trying to think of something witty.
Clearing her throat loudly, Rarity interrupted our playful spat and insisted that I should be going. Nodding with a grin, I caught Fluttershy’s bag as she gently tossed it to me, and I slung it over my shoulder, putting my arms through the straps. Josh then passed me one of his phones, to which I opened Google Maps and put in the address of Alex’s old house. Heading to the front door, I gave the girls each a little hug and bid them farewell.
“Hey, thanks for doing this for me.” said Alex, “I really do appreciate it.”
“Of course mate.” I replied, “I’ll see you all shortly.”
I made my way onto the front deck and down the steps, before taking myself on a lovely little evening stroll…
Taking my time, I slowly trekked along the long rural road, which went on for miles, literally. Along the way, I pondered to myself about how far I had come, and how vastly I had changed as a human being. I was very much not the awkward fat kid in Ifield anymore, hopelessly trying to find a direction in life, with the plan to inevitably take my own life when things didn’t shape up. My confidence was at an all-time high, and where I would once cower in fear at high-intensity situations, I now thrived in them, knowing how to take charge and manage not only myself, but others as well.
Never had I liked social situations, I could barely handle a lengthy conversation with my own dad back in the day; my solitude was my safe place, where I was happy to dwell at all given times. The only exceptions were my online friends and a handful of schoolmates, like my old pals Harry, Scott, Bruce, and George.
But here I was, not even a full year into my new life, and I genuinely revelled in a good chinwag; I actually looked forward to a verbal exchange. It was obvious that I owed it to the girls, for they had allowed me to emerge from my shell and genuinely enjoy the art of conversation.
As for the elephant in the room, I was now truly at peace with being a killer. Everything that happened in Brazil and Portugal had certainly given me the capability to take human life with ease, but there had still been an inner turmoil that dwelled within, secretly gnawing away at me. I used to think about the lives of everyone I had cut down; what their names might have been, who their parents were, what flow of circumstances had brought them to someday die by my hand, and what lives they would be living now, had I not parted them from their mortal coils. I used to feel like there could have been another way, that if I had done things differently, then maybe, just maybe, I could have spared them all.
The toughest part of the mental battle had been when I had entered my own brainscape with Twilight and Hawnu Rey’eng, to bring an end to Nah’Lek’s shade. I had awoken inside a malformed version of the mansion in Portugal, where I was confronted with all the people I had killed thus far, their faces still as fresh as when I had last seen them. After that harrowing encounter, I had dissociated from the concept of killing for a good while, pushing away all and any emotion I felt about the subject. But upon acquiring the Titans’ Sword, I was forced to connect with it again, when I was ordained to kill my ally-turned-friend, Stardust Moonshimmer, in ritual combat. When I emerged victorious from that battle, and pushed Vitra ‘Aku into his trachea, I crossed a threshold with my place as a taker of life. As I watched the light leave my friend’s eyes, it dawned on me that life, treasured as it ought to be, was also as fleeting as the wind. Nobody was to live forever, even the very Titans had been consumed by one of their own, living on only in falsehood, as a looped memory within their holy blade; if even gods had their time to die, then so did people. Life was a stage, and men were props upon it. They were nothing more than conscious mounds of meat and blood, with a bit of bone to keep it all standing, and if their choices in life led them to pose hindrance or harm to myself or those I cared for, then at no one’s fault but their own, would they find themselves at my mercy, with which I had every right to deny.
This wasn’t to say that I enjoyed killing, not anymore. In truth, I had once felt a rush, a sense of euphoria as I manually outlived another human soul. I was like a teenager with sex on the brain, as though nothing else in life could possibly be better than that sweet adrenaline-fuelled finish. As I had once said to Rainbow Dash, taking another life had felt like winning. But I was over that now, at last on the other side of a long and arduous mental tug-of-war. My mind was finally clear, and I could see everything from a broader, wiser perspective. I no longer craved that animalistic drive to ‘win’, but I also no longer feared it…
Nearing Alex’s old house, I put my inner thoughts to bed. I turned into the dirt road that led up to the property and got my head in the game. Thankfully the moon was out, allowing me to see quite clearly as I approached.
“Huh, so this is where Dashie grew up.” I mumbled to myself as the house came into view.
Seeing the place, even under the concerning circumstances, was mind-boggling for me. To think, Rainbow Dash literally grew up in this house, and flew around in the fields, and wandered the expansive woodland just behind the building.
Wanting to be thorough in my search, I decided to check the mailbox, where I found plenty of correspondence addressed to the missing residents, but nothing for Alex. If the fan-mail had been sent, it surely would have been here by now, meaning that it had either been taken, or that it didn’t exist in the first place. Looking to the front door, I noticed that it was slightly ajar, which had me immediately on-guard. I put my hand on Vitra ‘Aku’s handle and slowly made my advance. Listening carefully, I heard nothing but the wind, lightly whistling through the trees behind the house. After a good twenty-odd seconds, I gradually opened the door and slipped inside, making sure to return it back to its original position, just in case.
The first thing I noticed was the sheer state of the place. There was dirt tracked all around the entryway, with belongings and debris scattered all over the floor, it was like a bloody hurricane had been to visit. The next thing I noticed was the smell; wrinkling my nose, I picked up the thick scent of mildew and black mould, along with rotting food. I went into the kitchen to find the fridge was unpowered and wide open, with decomposing fruits and vegetables inside. The back door which faced the woodland beyond, was wide open, where a great deal of loose cobwebs could be seen; they drifted to and fro in the languid nighttime breeze, as though they were reaching out for something to cling onto. On the countertop by the stove, there was a large raw chicken, half-eaten and now spoiled, accounting for a great deal of the repugnant stench in the air.
“What the fuck happened here?” I muttered.
Continuing to snoop around, I made my way up to the bedroom, gritting my teeth anxiously as the stairs creaked loudly. Both bedrooms were just as messy and ransacked as the downstairs was, it was like someone had gone from room to room, savagely pulling everything apart. Had they done this out of mindless bedlam? Or were they looking for something, or someone?
Had they been looking for Alex?
Making my way back downstairs and into another room, I picked up a far worse smell, and it wasn’t coming from the kitchen; it smelled like bile and human waste. I reluctantly followed my nose and found a door which led down into the basement, and upon opening it, the smell quadrupled in strength. Putting the back of my hand to my mouth, it took every fibre of my being not to wretch. Edging down the narrow stairwell, I picked up the sound of buzzing flies, and upon reaching the bottom, it grew too dark to properly see. I withdrew Vitra ‘Aku for a light source, and quickly spotted what was causing the smell. My eyes practically bulged out of their damn sockets, and I was left briefly petrified by the sight before me, unable to even breathe.
Bound in rope and suspended from the back wall, were two people, of whom I could only presume were the missing homeowners. Their wet lifeless bodies glistened in the low light, and as I grew closer, I realised that they had been completely stripped down.
Not of clothing, but of skin…
“What… the… fuck?” I murmured.
The flayed couple had presumably been dead for days, with the stink of rot being so strong that I could barely think straight. My eyes glossed over, and my stomach began performing somersaults. Gagging a handful of times, I held my blade up to the bodies to get a better look at them, shaking my head in disbelief. Their faces were frozen in place, contorted with terror and anguish, their final moments had most assuredly been more unbearable than anything I could have possibly conjured up.
Looking down at their bloodstained and mangled skin, piled on the floor, I shuddered. It legitimately terrified me to imagine what inhuman thoughts dwelled within the person capable of doing this, what reveries of chronic and sustained cruelty. Not even Inigo and his cartel were this sinister, nor was Hoyt and his Privateers. No, whoever did this was a truly sick-minded and exceptionally dangerous individual.
Studying the bodies further, my attention was drawn to the rope which bound them to the wall. It was incredibly thin, yet evidently strong enough to suspend a corpse without stretching or breaking. I touched it lightly with my finger and thumb to find that it was incredibly sticky, as though it had been doused in clear tar, and it dawned on me that this wasn’t rope.
It was web…
The pieces came together, and every hair on my body stood on end, and hundreds of icy needles prickled along my spine. Aside from my quivering jaw, I became as rigid as the faces of the victims before me, their perpetual terror, rippling through my very soul. Swaying slightly, I realised that I needed to get out of here, right now. Tightening my grip on Vitra ‘Aku, I turned around and practically fell up the stairs, which was when I heard the rumble of a car engine. Darting into the living room, I looked out the window and spotted a vehicle outside with its headlights on; the engine was then cut and the doors opened.
{Bag, the bag!} I thought rapidly. {Get in the fucking bag!}
Sheathing my blade, I took Fluttershy’s saddlebag off and rushed to the far end of the room, taking no time at all to place it on a cluttered waist-high cabinet and clamber inside. I then stuck my arm out to squash the bag down, rendering myself almost completely undetectable. The front door was pushed open, and three men entered. Their boots thudded around from room to room, before they gathered in the living room, which was when one of them spoke. His voice was raspy, more than raspy, the man sounded like he had smoked ten packs a day for the past sixty years.
“I don’t see why we all had to come here. You’re seriously telling me that with all that damn power, he can’t just send us a fucking memo?”
“Hey, if you want to complain, be my guest.” another spoke, “But personally, I’d rather not end up like the old prunes downstairs.”
That was when the third joined in.
“Shut it, the both of you. Look, none of us want to be here, so let’s just find out what it wants, and then we can all be on our way.”
All three men had unnaturally deep raspy voices, but for as unsettling as they sounded, none of them compared to the fourth voice, as it rippled through the room.
“What I want... is closer than it has ever been.”
Stifling a gasp, I looked out through a thin gap in the bag, where I spotted the men facing the kitchen door, bowing their heads in reverence toward the owner of the voice, of whom I knew all too well. With a multitude of heavy clacks, the inky bewhiskered limbs came into sight, with the chitinous shell faintly glinting in the moonlight. And then at last, in all his bone-chilling eminence, Nah’Lek the Defiler revealed himself.
Tears formed in my eyes and my hands began to tremble at the sight of him; seeing his shade in a brainscape had been one thing, but to witness him here in the flesh, in the waking world? To put it simply, I had been thankful not to have had a full bladder, for I had lost all control of that.
“We’ve been trying our best to find him.” one of the men began, “We keep making new accounts online to message him, but he just won’t take the bai-euuh!”
Without warning, he was seized by the throat and lifted into the air, where he began frantically kicking out and wheezing loudly. The other two men watched silently as their compatriot was strangulated, before being released just milliseconds from the point of blacking out. Coughing and spluttering, he scrambled away from the looming monstrosity, cowering in fear.
“We’ll search harder.” one of the others spoke, refusing to look up.
Not responding, The Defiler strode past them and towards my hiding place, where he looked out of the living room window and clicked his mandibles loudly.
“I am relocating.” he began, “There have been whisperings that he may dwell in the adjacent town, Durand. I’m taking my orcs there, where I shall acquire some more competent thralls.”
{Orcs? He’s travelling with orcs?}
Continuing to quiver uncontrollably, I lay there in the bag with my mouth loosely agape, my heart practically in my throat, thudding like it had never thudded before. I was breathing so fast that my lungs were practically vibrating.
“And what of us? Are we to keep searching for Alex?” the second man spoke.
{So they were looking for him…} I thought, gulping.
“You are.” Nah’Lek confirmed, “You have a week to bring me something worth my attention, before I return to claim back the gift that has been bestowed upon you, in addition to your worthless lives.”
Coughing, the first man rubbed at his throat, and asked how they were supposed to contact him if he was relocating. Nah’Lek drew the staff from his back and there was a bright green flash; it was Fel magic. I then watched as he slipped a shiny black stone into the man’s hand.
“What is this?” he quizzed.
“A rune.”
Walking past the man and conjuring another two stones for the others, Nah’Lek explained that he could sense magic, permitting that it was potent enough.
“It is how I know they are close.” he elaborated, “The unicorn, Rarity, has been casting spells, weak ones. For many days, I have sensed them growing closer. She need only cast a more prominent one, and then I will have them.”
Placing his staff upon his back, Nah’Lek explained that forcibly breaking apart their runes would release a strong magical burst, of which he would detect, and then arrive swiftly to their location.
“Should you break your rune, and have nothing for me…” The Defiler began, before trailing off.
“The folks downstairs, I get it.” the third man huffed.
“Be sure that you do.”
It was then that a text came through on Josh’s phone, causing it to vibrate in my back pocket. Nah’Lek’s head twitched, and he ordered his enslaved lackeys to be silent; I cupped my mouth to mask my shaky breath, and I clamped my eyes shut in terror. The Defiler remained perfectly motionless for a good few seconds, before he spoke at last, and his choice of words filled me with dread.
“We are not… alone.”
Slowly moving my hand to Vitra ‘Aku, I prepared myself; not that I would pose much of a threat to the demigod, but if I was going to die, it would be with sword in hand. Nah’Lek ordered one of the men to investigate the kitchen, who obeyed without hesitation. For an abysmally uncomfortable moment, there was silence, before the man could be heard screaming out in panic.
“Oh shit! Bear! Bear!”
There was an almighty crash, and the man came running back into the living room, with an enormous black bear charging after him; it must have come from the woodland behind the house, drawn to the potent smells in the kitchen. Slinking across the room in the blink of an eye, Nah’Lek unsheathed his blades and skewered the animal in two places, lifting it into the air. Then with his powerful mandibles, he tore out half of the poor creature’s throat, bringing an end to the sudden and unexpected encounter.
“Holy shit!” the first man wheezed, still clutching at his neck.
After removing his blades from the body and sheathing them at his sides, Nah’Lek seized the bear by its head, skewering one of its eyes in the process. Scooping it up like it weighed nothing at all, he coiled inward and began rotating the animal with his legs, encasing it in a cocoon of webbing.
“This will conciliate my company for a time, the orcs’ demand for meat never yields.”
Coldly announcing his departure, Nah’Lek reached for his staff once again and pressed the lower end into the wall, muttering some sort of incantation. Within seconds, a large shadowy portal manifested, and from my hiding place, I was just able to witness the two hulking figures on the other side, sitting on a log by a campfire; their skin, green as grass. Nah'Lek then clambered through, dragging the webbed carcass behind him. Without looking back, he reminded his three servants of what little time they had.
“Seven days.”
The portal closed, and all three men emitted great sighs of relief. I too, released a sigh, blinking away the tears in my eyes. Slumping against the wall and sliding down to a sitting position, the strangled man began to weep to himself. The other two remained standing, with one of them pacing around the room anxiously.
“How the hell are we supposed to find this guy in one week?”
“We’ll go from door to door if we have to.” another replied.
“Every door in Owosso? Within a week, yeah?”
“If that’s what it takes man!”
{I can’t let them get away.} I thought to myself, {I have to kill them, here and now.}
Continuing to pace around, the third man suggested running away as far as possible, to which the second one scoffed loudly.
“Did you miss the part where it can open portals to wherever the fuck it wants? There’s no running from this, we just need to do what it tells us to do! That way, we might actually get our goddamn lives back!”
“I just want to see my kids!” whimpered the first man.
Why? Why did he have to say that? Exhaling slowly and clenching my jaw, I forced myself to commit, knowing that Nah’Lek wouldn’t spare these men anyway; never would that monster be so merciful. With the real danger out of the way, I stealthily reached out of the bag and removed the clutter above me, before clambering out while no one was looking.
“I just can’t believe a bear came in like that.” the third man murmured.
“Well I’m glad it did, otherwise I think Nah’Lek might have caught on to me.” I said dryly, making my presence known.
“Huh? Who the fuck are yo-”
Before he could finish, I thrust Vitra ‘Aku into his throat and slid the blade sideways, severing his spine and killing him immediately. Not giving the others a chance to react, I darted towards them and dispatched the second man, slicing downwards to open him up from shoulder to belly-button. The last one scrambled to his feet, and I held the blade out to rest at his throat. Realising that this was a fight he couldn’t win, he lowered his arms and looked at me with desperation, and in the faint blue glow of my sword, I came to understand why their voices sounded so unnaturally raspy.
The man’s frightened eyes shimmered with an emerald green hue, and his skin was as grey and colourless as a pile of soot. His fingernails and teeth had grown out into unevenly warped, pointy dark prongs, and his clothes were stretched and torn, no longer able to fit his forcibly enlarged frame. These poor men had been infected with the Fel, warping their very flesh, making them more demon than man.
“I’m so sorry.” I sighed.
“Are you… going to stop him? That… thing?” he croaked, tears rolling down his ashen face.
“Yes, I am.”
“Good… That’s good…”
Closing his eyes, the man fell to his knees and allowed me to strike him down, swiftly and painlessly separating head from body. His soul, tarnished with Fel, drifted from his neck and into the sword, where it was immediately purified, now ready to either heal me, or become a part of me; one way or another, these men were no more.
At some point, the authorities would come here and find the bodies, and the last thing they needed was to accidentally summon the living incarnation of death. Rummaging through their pockets, I took the runestones Nah’Lek had given them and slipped all three into Fluttershy’s bag, before sealing the compartment and putting it on my back. I emerged from the front door and dizzily stumbled away from the house. The adrenaline quickly began to subside, with intense shock taking its place, and after just several steps, I keeled over and proceeded to be violently sick. Shivering profusely, I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other, and made the long walk back to Alex’s house.
By the time I eventually made it back, I had thrown up at least three more times. My vision was blurred and my teeth were chattering, to the point of nearly cracking against one another. The door was already unlocked, and I stepped into the entryway.
“Did I just hear the door?” Alex’s voice came from the living room.
“Ooh, I think Callum’s back!” Rarity sang.
I stepped into the lounge, and everyone’s faces rapidly turned to a unanimous expression of absolute dread upon seeing the state of me. They rushed over, gasping loudly and demanding to know what happened.
“Talk to us man!” Alex insisted, “What happened? What did you see?”
“Is that… Is that blood on you?” Josh gasped.
“Oh goodness, he’s been sick!” Rarity cried out, “Someone get him some water! Sit him down!”
Alex rushed to the kitchen, and the others escorted me to the armchair beside Dashie’s, where I slumped down into an exanimate heap, staring out into space. Fluttershy grabbed some tissues and wiped at my mouth, and the others frantically tried to figure out how else to be helpful.
“He looks like he’s seen a ghost!” shouted Dashie.
“Has he been drugged or something?” said Josh.
Applejack nudged me gently, and lowered her head in an attempt to garner eye-contact from me.
“Babe, can you tell us what happened?”
I looked straight through her and continued to stare out into nothingness; I felt as dead as the bodies in that house. Rife with confusion and panic, everyone took turns in trying to prompt a response from me.
Everyone but Twilight.
“No…” she breathed, taking a step back from me.
“What is it Twi?” said AJ.
Looking at me intensely and shaking her head, Twilight continued backing away from me, repeating the word ‘no’ over and over again, louder each time. She began to hyperventilate, descending into a full-blown panic attack, until she was in a state even worse than mine, glaring at me with wild unblinking eyes and shrieking at me at the top of her lungs.
“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!”
I slowly raised my head to look at the mare with a vacant expression, and as my friend bellowed at me with such hysteria, I thought back to the bodies in the basement. The looks on their faces, the anguish, the torment, the unparalleled agony; Twilight had the exact same expression.
The utter despair set in, and my face began to scrunch up as I started sobbing uncontrollably, and it finally dawned on the others as to what was happening here, at last they understood…
Nah’Lek was here.
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
922 users online
1,202,995 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well shit...
11737719
Shit indeed... 😐
whitch isn't false,.... well.. not totally in any regards,
also.... you call this toddler speak, but it isn't that fucking far from how the Orks from Warhammer 40.000 speak. XDD
kinda... :/
well at least you guys had a chance to sit down and relax for a bit.
I'm glad I hadn't found this again until recently, would've been it's own torture to wait for each chapter. Peach to read! It's so nice to know that even all these years later the care you put into your work still holds up.
11744002
Thank you, I really appreciate that. If anything, the years have made me care even more, as this story has been with me for so long now, 44% of my life to be exact. 😮
I'm not sure if you've seen my blog posts or author's note on Rising Storm, but I've even gone back and begun rewriting the first story to make this series tenfold better. The original TTO was terribly cringe to read at times, I genuinely can't fathom how you all got through it. 😅
I'm 25 chapters into the rewrite now, and it's a totally different read, with new scenes, overhauled dialogue, added lore, and a complete rework of Twilight's corruption, as that was everyone's biggest issue back in the day.
I'm aware it takes a long time for me to get these chapters out, my life isn't a calm one and I rarely get the time to really commit to a good writing session. Ironically, I'm actually quite a fast writer, but to make sure each chapter is as good as the last, I comb through it multiple times and make many changes, along with having three different proofreaders to check it over.
11744538
The blog post is what alerted me about the third volume! My house had burnt down a few years back, and I lost a lot of saved tabs. I plan to read the rewrites when they publish. Can't wait!
11745302
Oh goodness, I'm so sorry to hear about your home! 😱
I sincerely hope you didn't lose much of value...
I'll be sure to let you know when the first rewrite is fully complete. I'm updating/replacing the original chapters as I go, so it's already available to read (up to CH25) on the original "The Titans' Orb" story. 🙂
11745367
Unfortunately, yes. I had lost a lot. Most of it wasn't recoverable, but luckily we had decent insurance at the time. The biggest losses came from crispy hard drives and ashen documents.
However it's been many a year since, and I'm doing well for myself.
I'll make sure to read v.1 again, but I'll probably wait until the whole of the volume is done though.
11745720
I'm genuinely sorry to hear that, my heart goes out to you and yours.
Glad to hear you're doing well now though.
As for v1, that's fine, I'll ping you a message when it's finished.
also, for the Seaplane, can it be like The Sea Duck from Talespin? a Conwing L-16, or maybe a Civic PBY-5 Catalina?
11754955
I'll certainly keep those visages in mind, but I try to base my story in reality as closely as possible, so I'd like to ensure I use a model of seaplane that would realistically be existing and publicly accessible in the year of mid-2016.
11754961
that's fucking AWESOME dod, and yes i do believe i know of that Triangle, it's the one that looks like it loops in on itself when there's really a small dip missing, right?
11754964
Alex could have some contacts you know, 😉 also, with Nah-freak in the waking world, Alex has no choice then to join them, :P also, the longest time a PBY has been airbrone without stop is 32 hours.
11755234
Yeah that's the one! Here's an image of it...
th.bing.com/th?id=ODL.976d22fb5c41042f5289372c493b4986&w=298&h=270&c=10&rs=1&qlt=99&o=6&pid=13.1
As for the PBY plane, I'll certainly keep it in mind.
11755507
yea, that nonsensical thing, and nice, :P