A Brief Respite

With hand of ebony, with blade of bone; Despaired Imogen as she got knocked back by a giant Eyelor. Hard as she tried, desperate as she pleaded; it would not die... boredom was slowly rotting away at Imogen's soul.

With monstrous growths one could barely call limbs, the creature sliced through hundreds of bookcases at once. Splinters of wood, and leather flew rampant across the grand library; it was almost as if it was raining.

This creature of flesh, and water had no apparent face; but even the most dense of adventures could tell it was mocking her. Grinning in some sort of demented happiness with each successful hit, it seeemed to feed off that feeling; basking in it's unholy pleasure.

But this gorging of unorthodox methods, would lead to its downfall; for its meaty claws of human flesh got lodged into the very floorboards of the library. It cried out as the very flesh of its primitive limbs was shredded by wood, and splintered whilst it attempted to tear them out.

Imogen could only smile as she sawed off its left limb, almost grinning before getting knocked away by the torn; and mangled other limb of the creature. Its shriek was not a pretty thing, and Imogen was stunned in place; the desperate plea clawing at her eardrums.

But the paralysis was short lived, and Imogen's will was adamant. She would not put up with this horrendous, soul crushing; heart mushing boredom any longer.

So with speed any tick would envy, Imogen dashed up the Eyelor's makeshift arm; dodging the lasers of its underlings from below. And when her trek was finally over, she jumped upon the creature's eye, stabbing it in succession; for that is all it is.

After a final screech, after a final stab, a last plea shifted to the stars; and the forlorn creature was no more. Its body, one so tormented, fell upon ground; never to reunite with the family it had been wrest from.

It didn't know how it had gotten here... in this library of screams, and torment, but after the fall of the cursed one; it was sent out to finish the job he could not. The corruption had gotten to its mind, made it feel ways it shouldn't, created oh so much regret; but now it's free to fall into the liberating grasp of the aether... ready to contribute to someone new.

"Finally, the fricking eyeball is dead; that fight was boring as all hell." Sighed Imogen as she crawled out from under the fallen Eyelor before wiping some flesh off her face.

"I've got blood all over me... not that I really mind, but now I'll have to clean off my halberd; why the hell did I agree to that." Griped Imogen while looking down at the blood stained Execratus, and sighing even more.

"I don't even know how to clean a halberd, or any weapon at all for that fact; nor do I have much to clean it with... what have I gotten myself into." Grumbled Imogen as she pulled a semi ruined book off the ground.

"Well, this could work I guess, I doubt it'll work very well; but it works..." Suspired Imogen while opening the book, and tearing out any soot filled pages.

"I feel like I'm going to insult both literature, and blades of all types from doing this... for some reason; that fits me all too well." Chuckled Imogen as she cleaned Execratus upon a ruined library floor, next to thousands of dead Eyelings; with a charred book.

~~~

"When do you think Imogen is coming back, she's been gone a day at least; I don't know if I'll be able to wait much longer." Muttered Clarence while looking down at the radiant blob that can only be called Eiden, for a part of Eiden The First God Queen, no matter how small; will always be named as such.

"If she doesn't come back before dusk, I'll have to leave her here; though perhaps I can come back later with greater provisions." Contemplated Clarence as he pulled out a knife from his sheath, and began to carve an old weathered stick he found tumbling across the desert.

"I feel kind of weird... pretty much talking to myself, and all, but I feel strangely comforted around you Eiden; whatever you may be." Smiled Clarence while patting the minuscule shard of Eiden upon the head.

Soon Clarence grew bored of simple wood carving, the stick wasn't making it easy for him, being extremely old; and tough. Just as he thought the craving process was getting somewhat easier, he chopped the stick in half; for the inside had rotted with age.

"Darn it, what a waste of time; my skills must have gotten rusty after being dragged all over the place without a chance to focus on my hobbies." Cursed Clarence as he watched the stick blow away in the desert wind, rolling over a distant sand dune; before landing just out of sight.

"My life hasn't been normal since I met Imogen, the apparently not so innocent girl locked away in a prison cell with so many broken bones; I almost regret using that healing potion on her... they are extremely rare after all." Reminisced Imogen while shedding his heavy overcoat to better stand the desert's brutal heat.

"But of course I truly can't, for I'm not like that, I hope to one day purge this land of evil; to liberate all those mistreated souls of their alms... if only Imogen thought the same way." Frowned Clarence as he looked up at the sky to see clouds forming, they looked full, and heavy; seemingly ready to burst.

"That reminds me... that fight from before, with Augustine wasn't it; he said some things that still truly puzzle me." Mumbled Clarence.

He watched as the tears of gods slowly began to drip down upon the thirsty sand below.

"Like what did he mean by me carrying a shard of Eiden... was he referring to you?" Inquired Clarence as he sat still for a bit before realizing how stupid he must look.

"Never mind, I'm obviously going insane; my mind crumbles as the world rumbles... hey that rhymed!" Exclaimed Clarence while gladly accepting the rain water, bringing out a special beast hide cloth to clean his sword properly; and doing well to clean out his scabbard with the rain water.

"It's a good thing I didn't take any armor with me, that'd be a real hassle to clean; I still have nightmares from when I had to clean about fifty armor sets to perfection within two days." Laughed Clarence as sheathed his sword, and started on cleaning his overcoat.

"Anyways, back to what we were 'discussing' before... I still have no idea why my sword turned all glowy for the fight with Augustine; or who this other Eiden is." Pointed out Clarence while taking out his knife, and cleaning that too; just to do something as he waited.

"Hello... fellow human, I've come in search of someone, but all traces of her have somehow vanished somewhere around here." Scowled a cloaked individual as he quietly walked up to Clarence, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Back up!" "If you move even an inch, you won't leave here in one piece!" Threatened Clarence while rolling away, and drawing his sword.

"But how am I to 'back up' if I can't move an inch, it seems your words are muddled... but of course I mean no harm." Claimed the hooded figure as he held his hands up, and walked closer to Clarence.

"Stop moving!" "I swear to Denair that if you take another step, you'll walk out of here without a head!" Screamed Clarence while getting up, and pointing his blade at the hooded creature.

"You really ought to put that thing down... you could hurt yourself, we wouldn't want that now would we?" Grinned the shadow veiled vagrant as he grabbed onto Clarence's blade, and walked closer.

"Let go of my sword you demon... what even are you, how could one be so strong!" Despaired Clarence while desperately trying to pull his blade out of the vagabond's iron grip.

"You humans are all the same, just talk, talk; and more talk... you should've killed me when you had the chance." Cackled the hidden itinerant as he pulled out a dagger with his other hand, and held it to Clarence's neck.

"Now you're going to tell me exactly where Imogen is, or I'll slit your lying gullet; and feed your bleeding corpse to the sand worms!" Snickered the errant creature while ripping Clarence's sword from his hands, and dropping it upon the soon to be bloodied sand below.

~~~

"What is the news of the party we sent out to The Wyrm Tribes Elora, do they bear good tidings?" Questioned the queen as she looked down off her balcony, and upon the common folk as she usually does.

"We haven't heard any news from them, in fact my queen... the situation must be worse than we thought." Grimaced Elora while standing next to the queen, and trying not to sigh.

"A whole armament of soldiers, what could possibly cause such destruction; does Pyen Tyra have something up their sleeve that we know naught about?" Lowered the queen as she turned to look at Elora.

"It would have to be something more... whole troops of trained soldiers don't just vanish like that, it's awfully suspicious to say the least." Answered Elora while joining the queen in staring sorrowfully out at the guards, and townsfolk alike.