Fragment: Nocturnal Wanderings

I awoke near dusk, the pale crescent moon hanging above the mountaintop, surrounded by a sea of twinkling stars. Warm wind from Summer's golden heat was still trembling across my bare skin, blowing in from over the rolling, grassy plains next to which I had camped, just under the shelter of the tall ancient trees. Already the crickets were chirruping, though the sky was still a greyish-blue, deepening slowly to some darker shade. I curled slowly out of the position I had been sleeping in, the last whispering tendrils of a dream slowly unravelling from my mind as I settled to a sitting position.

I had walked for a day and a night solid over the grassy expanse dotted with erratic boulders strewn about the landscape as if thrown by giants. My only companions had been my shadow, and my thoughts. Upon reaching the edge of the wood I had decided to camp. Figuring myself alone, I had undressed, removing the weeks grimy travel clothes from my body, and spread naked and pale upon the soft grasses under the deep jade boughs of those old trees. It had been morning when I had drifted off to sleep, the sun shining in dusty rays through the canopy and mottling across the underbrush of ferns and bushes and mushrooms that covered ground and the trunks of those dark trees and wildly gnarled roots that twisted all over the earth. I had not seen any large wildlife since I set off across the plain.

I sat for a long time watching the stars and moon over the distant mountain whose base I had left some four days previous. Stars ringed the crescent moon, and spread like jewelled fire across the sky over the plain and forest whose shelter under which I sat. Bats were flitting about, catching bugs, occasionally I would see a glimpse of one of their small shadows, darting in wild ways above. The air smelled of greenness and loam, of living things and mid-spring. The mountain across the plain was dark in the starlight, a towering giant of stone capped with snow.

A fire was alight at the fortress halfway up its slope, no larger than the mote of a firefly to my eyes, but I knew it to be a great bonfire. They were signalling for aid from the Skywalkers, and burning the plague-riddled dead this night, as they had for the last two nights previous. Luckily I had avoided the place, for fear of the dark things that are said to dwell in the deep caverns beneath it, and thus escaped certain death at the hands of the Red Tide.

It was said that the Red Tide was a creation of the Nightmare Lord, Darujistab, to punish those that would not respect his power. A curse upon those that would insult him. Its purpose was spread fear, chaos, and dissent. Its first symptoms were a yellowish, spotty rash somewhat resembling razor burn, fading to a fiery orange, then turning to a dark bloody red that covered all the body of the one afflicted. At that point, violent, raging madness would settle in as fever and wracking pains began. Two days after that the victim would be dead, a burned-looking husk, the last stage of the plague blackening their skin to a dark bruise.

Yes, I was very lucky indeed to not enter a place where such a disease was rampant. Though I knew it would never harm me, I have no desire to witness such acts as can be performed by a crazed and frightened populous. Even those unafflicted with the sickness are prone to wild behaviour in attempts to ward it off, or appease the great spirits to withdraw the illness. I have heard horror stories of sick families being bricked up in their homes, of children being burned and orgies of blood and pain to dark spirits. I had no want to witness such savagery and barbarism at all. I have already seen enough in my time wandering, and would doubtless see more some other time.

I contemplated my luck as I sat there, still naked under the great trees, my pack and clothes nearby on the grass, and came to realise that I was being watched from somewhere nearby. I quickly gathered my things and retreated further into the forest, though the feeling still persisted. I scanned the branches above me, as well as the undergrowth and everywhere in between, however my vision was useless after a distance of about thirty feet in the unlit darkness. I shivered with the ominous implications of the feeling, and gathered from my things my staff, and stowed my clothing swiftly, for it would not be well to be caught in the middle of donning the garments.

As I began to continue on my way into the woods, I mused that if I were indeed being watched (and in this I am seldom wrong), that if the observer were anything of a human variety, especially the male human variety, that they may be impressed to see a beautiful naked female of pale skin and silver hair, wandering alone in the woods. Almost assuredly they would be tempted, however attempting to forcefully follow through with such temptations would prove more than a little painful for them. Then again, if whoever was observing me were not of human descent, then I may appear simply as naked, wandering meat... or fuel for some far darker purpose, though of such I could hardly fathom after what I had already been through to this point.

I quickened my stride with the last thought, and soon the feeling grew, and I knew that indeed I was being observed in my nocturnal travels. I gripped my staff firmly, feeling the wood beneath my hand warm and stir to my touch. My vision widened slightly, and I became aware of certain... figures.. moving quite silently in the darkness around me. With the staff's magical enhancement to my senses, I could hear them as well as see them, my senses now extending around me quite far with my focus.

Nenguua. Crawlers of the darkened woods. Deadly bane to travellers and creatures once partially human. Horrid creatures that feed on the flesh of the still living, revelling especially in the fear and pain that sentient beings give off during such feeding. At least as pale as I was, of waxy skin bordering on rubbery, bulbous humanoid heads possessing of a pair of beady black eyes, a snub nose, long, nearly elfin ears, and a large mouth filled with sharp, jagged teeth. They did not have proper legs, but more half walked and half crawled on four pairs of long arms ending in almost human hands save for the inch long yellow claws tipping each digit. A snakelike tail ended the creature, making it perhaps six feet from tail to snout.

They were advancing slowly on my position, seeming to build some courage in numbers. I sensed that I was surrounded by them on all sides, and that they were slowly closing a circle around me. What a fool I had been to wander further into the forest! I now grasped my staff in both hands, preparing to make a stand. I could hear their clawed hands moving over the ground, see the darkness glinting in their eyes, and sense the hissing of breath between their teeth as they scuttled towards me, tightening the ring to the point where I had perhaps ten feet on either side of me that was not inhabited by a nenguu. They clung to trees and branches, crawling above and around me, circling as sharks.

But they were not approaching further, as if they were scared to do so. They hissed to each other and gazed upon my flesh hungrily, clicking their claws together, their tails swishing, ears twitching. One lunged in my direction with a hissing roar, and was immediately thrown backwards into the midst of the pack, shrieking as if on fire. The others patted the ground and bobbed their heads, sniffing the air and looking about, uncertain.

I had not moved a muscle. It was not of my doing. I sensed a new presence nearby, something far worse than a pack of nenguua. My skin crawled at the realization that I recognized the feeling of the presence, and knew what it was.

The dark figure floated down from the treetops, landing softly nearby, its entire mass a void of solid darkness. Tendrils of it coiled about it, twisting and writhing in a sickening fashion as it stood for a long moment, its softly glowing yellow eyes surveying the scene. One of the tendrils stroked against my bare ankle with a touch reminiscent of the most chill and frightening winters, and I twitched at its touch, shifting my foot away from its grasp.

One of the nenguua lunched at the dark thing, shrieking madly. The thing reached out a long limb and the pale beast screeched in pain, twisting and writhing in agony before disappearing entirely. At this, the rest of the pack fled, retreating into the darkness from whence they came, their movements loud, hurried crashes through underbrush and treetops, leaving me alone with it.

Somehow, I was not comforted. Especially when it turned those yellow eyes on me. I prepared to run, but in a flash it had me entwined within its frozen coils, against which I struggled in vain. I sensed it crawling over my mind for a moment, a prickly sensation somewhat like pins and needles from a waking limb. Its name blossomed in my mind: Ahntelkasoratphelsz. Accompanying the knowledge of its name was an image of falling rain, dark caverns, and the trunks of great trees. The knowledge also came to me that it knew who I was, as well.

I twitched in its grasp, afraid, my staff falling from my hands to the loam. A tendril of darkness traced down my spine, and further knowledge appeared in my mind: I would have safe passage through this woods, that a sixteen minute walk north from our current position would place me on a path that led to a town humans had called Kansche, which would be reached in two days easy travel, that there would be an inn with a hot bath and a warm meal. That I was expected within a week at Kessaneir Tower, and that if I did not wish to be forcefully gathered, I would willingly appear. The location of the tower appeared also, as well as precise directions, the knowledge rooting itself well in my head.

With that, the creature released me, so suddenly that I fell to the ground before it, a numbing sensation crawling across my skin in a most unpleasant fashion. When I was able to move again, the dark thing was gone, and I was once more alone. It was very cold comfort.

I had been summoned by a Nightmare to one of their dark towers, and it was never a good thing to be so. I donned my dirty travel clothes, picked up my staff, and headed north.