Eberron Book One Stories
Page 11
Fatherly Figure
"Silence" called out the eldest sister. The other's voices immediately ceased. They stared at their sister in awe and anticipation. The eldest never spoke unless it was important, and it was only important when she had seen something.
The youngest impatiently waited, clentching and uncletching her hand around her latest victim's skull, an abyssal ogre with unique horns. The middle sister merely looked upon her sister, changing her form so that she would be ready to react approproately.
"He is here!" the eldest hissed in the grand chamber they called a throne room. The dead stone tree which was the center piece of the room swayed under an imagined wind. The candle in the skulls that lined the cave walls flickered, then changed color, black.
"Hello my children." the voice spoke from non existant shadows. "How long it has been since i have layed eyes upon my precious three."
"Father?" the youngest spoke. Her voice held both fear and a hint of hopefullness, her father was fierce and she longed for a true battle to test herself against.
"No!" cried out the eldest, the other two saw the her eyes had become pure orbs of white, she was deep in a trance. "You are no longer our father, while still being our progenitor. Great Shadow, free from ancient grasp, but still sealed!"
"Welcome Master" the middle one finally spoke. Her voice was filled with sour honey and carried both the weight of respect and threat. "What reason brings you to our midst?"
"Clever girls, I was right to make sure your father bred, you three make grand servants."
"We serve no one!" the youngest bristled, she had no tact, she bludegoned her way to all solutions.
"Silence!" the voice filled the air and snuffed out all three sister's voices. "You serve me! It is me you owe your existence! It is me who commands your grand army! It is by my will alone that the armies don't unite and snuff out your pathetic lives!"
"We serve you Rajah of Shadows." the eldest spoke, the sisters looked at her, surprised she had kept her voice.
"Good" the Rajah spoke and emerged. Whatever the sisters had expected, what they saw was far from it. "They are merely wounds, do not consider they weaken me in any form." He looked upon the eldest with his one good eye, "Who else walks amongst the mortal again?"
"Your sister, the Majarajah of Blood has stirred, but barely a fragment escaped. The Deciever stirs more and more, but is no closer to freedom. The Dark Mother's children seek to awaken her, but the great beasts keep her sealed well. All the others have not stirred since their imprisonment."
The Rajah knew that the eldest would be right. "Good, then it is time we begin, I will need a new vessel."
"Yes, Father." the three responded.
"And we must hurry, the fires awaken as well."
Crystal Nightmares
The being screamed as it took over yet another host. This body was special, and it always caused the creature pain, but the innate power it possessed coupled with it's own powers made it for a very useful toy to use.
It looked around, taking in it's surroundings. The toys had their own lives they lived, normal ordinary lives. Something was wrong, this was not where it left her. She should be home, or in the fields or whatever it is these flesh bound wakeful do. No, this place was dank, dark, and most certainly not ordinary.
The being pushed it's gift of vision on it's toy and looked around again. It cursed, the host was in a prison.
"I'm sure by now you realise this isn't where you are suppossed to be," a metallic voice came from just beyond it's vision. It spoke using the woman's voice, "This was a mistake, whoever you are, I am not someone to be trifled with."
There was a metallic laugh, as the voice spoke louder, "You have no power against me." The being cringed, the voice was laced with power, but something more dangerous that, it spoke it's name in thoughtspeech.
"How do you know me!?" the being commanded, for the first time, it was unsure of its survival.
"I know you because I was the one who called you. Did you not think it odd that you decided to take this body now, when so many others we available, or even closer to yoru prey?"
The being narrowed the woman's eyes, a human gesture of anger and fustration. It never considered why it suddenly wanted to take this form so much. She was special, only for use on top priority missions, which as far as it knew, this was not.
"Oh but it is a priority, your superiors have sent me to make sure you get the job done." the metallic voice said with a hint of, what the being assumed, was arrogance.
"I don't answer to you wakeful!" the being lashed out with it's and the woman's mind, "We are the Darkness that consumes. We are the nightmares of the ages and we shall destroy you!" The being froze as it felt the other's mind. For the first time, since seeing the great devouring darkness, the being felt terrible, unrelenting fear.
"We are not afraid of your darkness." the thoughtspeech was endless, deep and cavernous, countless minds speaking as one. "We are not to be trifled with. You are but a tool of your master. We are it's right hand. It is we who shall wield you, choose how you shall best be used, and we who shall decide if in the end, you be resharpened, or discarded."
The being relented, it had met something it never expected to meet in the waking world, and it was completely at it's mercy. "What are your orders?"
The metallic voice spoke again, "I know where you quarry is headed, we shall attack her there. You may have failed at the train, but I am here to make sure you capture her this time!."
"What of the priests, their magic may be too much for this body as well!"
"Worry not of the priests, they are not the biggest threat around her. No, there is another whom we must make sure we deal with. The Darkness wants them both."
The being nodded, as it looked upon the face of its new master, in shock.
The metallic voice laughed, "Let the hunt begin."
