Believe (whole story this time)
BELIEVE
PROLOGUE
Report,
By morning, everything was normal as always. But, not expected, the egg started to hatch. By the first smallest crack in the shell, Ezial, Lyw and I was ready to take notes, pictures and start judging its mental and physical health. Guess how surprised we became when we saw that it wasn’t a slig we’ve just created… It was a mudokon subspecies; called a Crucifician by those who knows a bit about biology and the mudokon history. I’ve read an interesting book about Crucificians once. I’m happy it’s healthy, it was the least we could expect. We’re now ready to receive your word about this… complication…
Sincerely,
Dr. Claybrain
Hlir looked up from the paper the vykker scientist just had given him. His slig helper quickly pulled it away and tried his best not to laugh (he read from the paper too).
“Are you serious?” Hlir asked Claybrain. The vykker Claybrain nervously scratched one of his arms before he replied.
“Er, well, you zee, boz, we had some… Problemz with the inztrumentz in that minute and…”
“NO MORE EXCUSES!” Hlir yelled so both Claybrain and the helper slig jumped a little.
“I haven’t been wasting my precious moolah on this project so you can make the wrong species!”
Claybrain shook his head.
“But, bozz, now that we’re on it, can’t you let uz continue with the zame project? One of my collegez will make the zlig you want, I zwear!”
Hlir seemed to think real hard about what Claybrain just had said. After a while he nodded.
“Alright! You and your friends may continue on your little projects, but don’t think your getting extra paid.”
“No, zir. We wont.”
Claybrain turned around and tried to get out, but Hlir stopped him with three sentences.
“You get six years! Got it? Six years, then my fellow sligs will take over your hard work…”
“He... Yez zir…” Claybrain said and closed the door when he was outside.
“Well?” Lyw asked when Claybrain entered the laboratory. Claybrain shook his head. “Nope…”
//Darn…\\ a voice (which belonged to Ezial) in his head said.
“I agree… But I have some good news!”
“What?” Lyw asked eagerly.
“If we keep him, we raise him. We still get paid for our regular work.”
//Er, guys, don’t count me in, I’m an intern, they’ve got stuff to do you know…\\ Ezial said, hurrying away.
“And I’ve still got to make other things. Inventions don’t invent themselves.” Claybrain said and got back to studying the records of the eggs hatching moment.
“It’s bad to waste such much work…” Lyw said and took the child up in her arms. “After all, I can understand him. No one wanted me either, did they?”
Claybrain turned around, sighing in a desperate tone.
“No scientist wants to create a mudokon. You were just lucky no one ‘got rid’ of you…”
“Yeah…” Lyw thoughtfully said and watched the child move around in her arms. A small mudokon child with brown eyes, dark green skin, two clawed (and pretty useless) arms on
his back and no feather yet.
“I think I’ll call you… Rhan. Yeah. Treespirit…”
CHAPTER 1
The silence laid like a cloak over the halls. Just the steps of the guards were heard. A guard stopped in front of a door and looked around. It was a broad text on the door, ´Chamber 8`. The guard made an attempt to open the door and found that it was locked. He picked out a small box from a special socket in his pants, took out from it a couple of needlelike pieces of iron. He started a try to open the lock with them. Some steps from feet that didn’t belong to slig guards scared the guard away. A mudokon in a gray suit came stumbling down the same hall. He stopped outside the door and looked at it. After a couple of minutes with staring on the door he smiled and tried to open it.
“But for the lofve of…” he mumbled and started to kick the door. “Open up! I warn you, dammit!” he screamed while doing it. He stopped when he heard that someone struggled with the lock. He saw the slig face of Quarter in the door. Quarter stared on him.
“Hello, Ace. High as a house, I presume?”
“I… ‘hick’ I… Of coursche I am… It’s no work tomorrow…”
“No… Of course not… Wanna get in and sleep it off?”
Ace nodded.
“Fine…” Quarter nodded and opened the door. Ace stumbled in.
“Haya! The king isch back on hisch throne onche more…” he said and barely made it to his bed before he fell asleep on it. Quarter shook his head, locked to door and went back to his own bed. He saw that Jekketh bent down.
“He’s… drunk again?” he asked Quarter.
Quarter nodded.
“Oh.” He said as if it wasn’t a big surprise. He went back to bed and didn’t care about what Quarter had to say. Quarter went back to his own bed, laid down and stared up in the bottom of the bed over him. It reminded him of the thing that happened to him long ago, that horrible thing the unidentifiable creature had done to him. He raised his hand to his face and let his finger run down along the scar on it. The flashbacks returned, of the screams and the sounds of the claws ripping flesh apart.
The sound of an alarm clock woke him up of his thoughts. His arm shot out and crashed down on the “Snooze” button. Énial mumbled something in sleep above him. The word “nicer” was involved. Quarter smiled to himself, took his hand away from the “snooze” button and looked at it. It was just half past 3. He turned over in his bed and tried to forget about the memories that just had awoken in his mind. He closed his eyes and in the very next second, sleep had overpowered him.
CHAPTER 2
Ace groaned.
“My head hurts…” he complained.
“It’s really not like a surprise, right?” Jekketh asked and kept poking Ace. “You still have to get up, ya know. Work don’t do itself.”
“Eh? What are we gonna do then?” Ace asked and slowly sat up in his bed.
“Just… train. Yeah, we’re gonna train today. I’ve heard they’re gonna send us out on this mega-mission. Something big is comin, I’ll wager. Something… ugly.”
Jekketh left Ace to his complaining and walked out of the door. Rhan sat in the bed above Ace.
“Don’t believe him. It’s no mega-mission, rather just a simple complication. We’re gonna sort it out.”
Ace groaned and didn’t care to reply. Rhan jumped down. Énial looked at Rhan as if she asked if he was serious.
“All things those morons send us out on is rather deadly. Don’t expect anything else now.” She said, finished making her bed and walked out of the door. Ace groaned again.
“Oh, shut up…” Rhan said as he dragged him out.
Jekketh finished his push-ups, stood up and stretched himself.
“Ha ha!” he laughed. “I beat the record! 150!”
Rhan gave him a look.
“That’s your own record …22… the almighty …23… serious record is around …24… 400.”
“He was on steroids.”
“It’s still …25… a record.”
“Hm.” Jekketh mumbled and gave up his recent thoughts of beating the record. “Just 25? I thought it was 50 a moment ago.”
Rhan made another push-up.
“I’ve …27… restarted.”
“Ah. Where do we get info about the mission?”
“I …28… dunno. Ask someone …29… with knowledge …30…”
“Ok.” Jekketh said, shrugged and walked over to the hall. A guard leant against the wall. At the sight of Jekketh he hurried away. Jekketh looked after him. Another guard came down.
“Do you know anything about ‘The big event’?”
“Yeah… But just a little… As far as I have heard, those elum butts in the so-called council or whatever ‘s about to send some poor bastards into their death. Investigate somethin. Yeah, right… They’ll never get back alive… Thankie to Odd I’m not comin…”
“Oookkk, so when do we find out about when we’re going?”
“You’re one of ‘em?! Wow… Well, they’ll tell ya. Nice knowing ya…”
He kept going down the hall. Jekketh stood as frozen and thought of what the slig had said.
He couldn’t wait to go.
CHAPTER 3
A slig entered Hlir’s office. Hlir was old and barely had some lounges left, but he was still capable to give some decent orders to his workers. The slig put a paper on his desk. Hlir’s help slig quickly grabbed it and put it up so he could read it. Hlir studied the paper for a while.
“Is it really so many?” he asked the slig. The slig nodded.
“Yep. It’s a entire group of freaks there…” he said and laughed. “Wonder how many that’ll miss em…”
“Let’s hope it’s not gonna be too many, I can’t afford to loose anything.”
“Except?”
“Yeah. Except.”
The slig looked puzzled for a while, then shrugged and waited for orders.
“Tell them about the orders. They’re leaving tomorrow night.”
“In the middle of the night? Is that really necessary?” the slig asked. Hlir looked a bit annoyed.
“Yes. It is.”
The slig shrugged again and left the office.
“Really?!” both Rhan and Jekketh said on the same time. They were the only ones left in the training room. The slig nodded.
“Yep. Quite important too, if ye ask me… Ye better tell the rest of your group, I might just forget about it…”
Jekketh exchanged a surprised look with Rhan.
“Hey man… this is big!”
Rhan laughed and went away to tell the others.
“You can’t be serious!”
“Why? Something’s wrong…”
“We’re gonna do what?! That’s impossible!”
“I have a headache…”
“Man! People are gonna be all over us when we get back…”
That was some of the phrases heard in the ‘free time room’ when Rhan and Jekketh told them about what was about to happen. Only Quarter sat still on a chair and studied the group’s different reactions of the news. Rhan and Jekketh were busy answering questions. There were a lot of voices shouting and arguing around the two tables and they received many looks from other people in the room. When the buzz had laid down a bit, Quarter suddenly said some words.
“Who said we were supposed to get back?”
Everyone stared at him.
“Aw, come on, Quarter! Stop being so…so…”
“Pessimistic?”
“Yeah!”
“I’m not pessimistic. I’m realistic.”
No one said anything for a while.
“But anyway… I guess that we can’t say no. After all, Hlir is a mad son of a…”
His arguing became a mumble. No one said anything. They just looked at each other.
They knew that he was right.
CHAPTER 4
The sound of all the trains that left the station was extremely loud and drowned all the other sounds. It tuned down after a while, and people could finally hear what the others were saying or shouting. Rhan, Jekketh and the others from their group were sitting down a bit away from the workers in the train station. Elum was humming a song, Jekketh tapped on the bench, and Jozil stared up in the roof… None of all of them seemed too entertained by three hours of waiting.
“What was the number of the train again?” Jozil asked.
“55…” Elum replied while catching breath.
“When was is coming again?”
“It’s around 15 minutes left…”
That was just about all they said. Frosty snoozed. His arm twitched now and then. Zero looked at him. It was like that for two minutes. Then Zero punched him in the chest. Frosty made a gurgling sound and stared at Zero.
“What was that good for?” he asked, rubbing his chest.
“Good for me. You’re annoying…”
“Me?! Annoying?! You should just…” his words drowned in the whistle of a pipe. The train 55 had just arrived. The group of special trained soldiers got up, took their bags and made way to the train. Jekketh turned around in the end of the line and gave his favorite place to be a loving look. Then he also took a place in the train. A slig stood in there, waiting for them to sit down.
“Alright then, ladies and gentlemen!” he shouted. Everyone turned his or her head to him.
“I am the one that will lead you now! We’re going to investigate an abandoned base a couple of days away. This train will take us half the way, the rest we’ll have to walk. Our mission is to see what or who made the employees leave the base, if there is a who that is responsible we’ll take him home and we’re to take back a disc in there. That disc contains info about what conclusions their research led to, and what we should do to use those conclusions.”
He paused and looked around.
“Is that clear?”
“SIR, YES SIR!” the group shouted. The slig left the room and let the soldiers do whatever they wished to. Rhan took up a small book and a pencil and started to write.
/Day 6
Month 4
Today our group started the mission. We’re on a train, heading for nowhere. I’ve found out about what our mission really is, and I don’t like what I’ve heard. We’re apparently supposed to take back a disc with info. But, I can’t help it, Quarter’s words still rings in my ears. Why can’t that pessimist leave his damn thoughts to himself?! He said that we’re probably not supposed to come back alive. What if that’s the way it is? I don’t feel like dying, I’ve already decided to die on a rainy day when I’m 45 years old! Hmm… That makes me think… Damn it, I can’t even think anymore. Oh well, away to death… Goodbye dear journal, goodbye!\
He smiled to himself and put the book back in his pack.
CHAPTER 5
“OOW!” Jekketh shouted as he smashed the hammer against his hand again.
“I can’t take this shit anymore! You raise the tent, if you’re so good, and I’ll sit over there and laugh at YOU!”
He sat down on a rock and stared angrily on the guys laughing at him.
“Aw, leave it guys. It’s getting dark any moment.” Elum said and let the hammer fall down on the stick once more.
“I hope you’re afraid of it!” Jekketh said as he walked over to Rhan the guard.
“How’s it going?” he asked, breaking his concentration.
“Well. I’m still alive, am I not? And I’m the best darn guard you’ve ever had!” he answered, laughed and loaded the gun before going back to staring out in the little he could see. Jekketh went back to the others. The slig commander sat by the fire and warmed his hands. Jekketh sat down a bit away.
“So…” he started. “Are you gonna be with us in that place?”
“Yeah.”
“Will we survive?”
“Depends on you guys. You die if you don’t keep your eyes open. I’ll survive. Since this birdie has tricked a lot of scrabs in the years.”
“Er…”
“Leave it kid. I’m gonna get you up early tomorrow so you better get to bed.”
“But…”
“Are you stupid or just plain dumb? Go to your tent and sleep!”
Jekketh got up and walked away.
“And you don’t dare to snooze!” he shouted after him.
Rhan’s eyelids were becoming really heavy. He stood on the same spot, desperately trying to keep awake. Nothing had happened during the night and Rhan was bored as well. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Someone laid his hand on his shoulder. With a gasp he quickly turned around and pointed the gun at the person there. Énial stood there with her arms raised.
“Wouh!” she hissed. “Rhan, damn it, you scared me!”
Rhan lowered the gun.
“What are you doing up? You should get back to bed, now!”
“I can see that you’re tired. I can take the guarding instead.”
“Um… I don’t really know…” he started.
“I’m not gonna kill you all. I had a opportunity back a few months ago, did I do it?”
Rhan thought for a moment.
“Fine.” He said and gave her the gun.
He didn’t have so much against going to bed.
CHAPTER 6
No one likes dreams. They’re always confusing and misleading. Rhan turned in his bed, mumbling in sleep. Before his eyes was a chain of strange pictures showing.
Rhan was all alone on a field of the flowery kind. He looked around, searched for other people. But no one was there. The dream that began so nice was with every second turning into a nightmare. Rhan got a strange feeling in his stomach and turned around. There, a bit away, stood a mudokon dressed in a clothing that symbolized a shaman in the colors black and red and another one, dressed in a white top and green loincloth. The shaman stared at him with his dark eyes. He looked as he was judging him for something. The other one looked at him with amazement in her eyes.
“Hello! Could you tell me where I am?” Rhan shouted and started to walk against them. No one of them took their eyes away from him, but they changed expression. They looked worried. Rhan kept walking. Suddenly he bumped into a wall. It was like a wall of glass that kept him away from safety. He felt really cold. Something dark sneaked upon him. He started hitting the glass, desperate to get to the mudokons on the other side. The female reached her hand out and started walking against him. The shaman grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Rhan got more afraid by the second, panicked he kept hitting the wall. The female twisted herself out of the shaman’s grip and started running at Rhan. Rhan felt warmer as she approached. He realized she would run right into the wall and tried to warn her. Either she couldn’t hear or didn’t care. Rhan backed away from the wall. The female ran right trough it and on to him. He welcomed her with an embrace. The shaman on the other side stared at them. He turned around and ran away. Rhan looked down on the female. She looked up. Rhan took the chance and lowered his face down against her…
“Rhan!” Jozil said and shook his shoulder. He looked up.
“What?” he mumbled.
“We’re just about to make some breakfast. Wanna get some?”
He smiled at Rhan.
“You interrupted my dreams, bastard…” Rhan mumbled and turned around.
Jozil ignored the last and turned him back again.
“We have coffee!”
Rhan got down and thought for a while.
“I’m not gonna be able to get back to sleep again anyway…” he said and got up to get breakfast.
CHAPTER 7
The party of special trained soldiers cut their way through bushes, trees and wines. They breathed quickly, killed biting and bloodsucking bugs, listened to the sounds of the wilderness and was really exhausted already. The wilderness reminded them more of a jungle than a normal forest. They couldn’t believe someone would be stupid enough to put a science base right here. The commander held up his hand and ordered halt. He looked around.
“Fine place to rest. We’ll rest here for an hour!”
Jekketh sat down and angrily scratched a place where a bug had bitten him. He looked around. Others where chatting, drinking water, smoking or just relaxing. But everyone was sitting or lying down. The commander was smoking a long pipe, staring thoughtfully out in space. Jekketh walked over to him.
“What is your name anyway?” he asked. The commander looked up.
“None of your business…” he replied and knocked the tobacco out of the pipe.
“But really, tell me. Why would I be controlled by a slig I don’t know?”
“Because it’s your orders.”
“Should I guess my way to your name?”
He didn’t reply. Jekketh thought he never were going to reply and looked on Ace. Ace was discussing something with Zero. He suddenly jumped a little, smacked his hand against his neck and muttered something.
“Yeah.” The commander mumbled. “Guess.”
Jekketh sat silent for a while, thinking.
“Noro?”
“No.”
“Ykkel?”
“No.”
“Is it…”
“Look kid. I don’t know what your problem is, just go torment someone else! My name is Elix, happy?!” the commander growled, got up and walked away, still muttering. Jekketh stared after him.
“Man…” he said and shook his head.
/Day 8
Month 4
So. I survived two days. I have just three things to say. I HATE bugs, I HATE the forest and I HATE the new commander. Why am I here anyway?! I should have become a guard instead, not a soldier! Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! Oh well, when I’m aged, I’m gonna be the only one that’s able to lift the wheelchair over my head… Hehehe… What am I doing? I’m joking with myself in a journal! That belongs to me! Oh my Odd… I’m mad already! Just shoot me!\
CHAPTER 8
The high abandoned base appeared in their sight after a few days of marsh. It wasn’t a very welcome sight. The party seemed a bit angrier at the appearance of the base. Elix, on the other hand, seemed a bit relieved. Like if this was something he’s been longing for.
“Ok, buddies! Set up camp, tomorrow we’ll go into the place and whack some butts… If there are some…”
They all started setting up the tents (all except Jekketh, who still was mad at the guys who’d laughed at him the last time.), but stopped when something extremely weird appeared. Up on the very roof of the base, flickered a light. Like of a giant fire.
“What the hell?!” some people said when they stopped the work and looked up. Rhan and Jekketh looked at each other. They knew. It meant big trouble. Something came crushing through the bushes, screaming:
“YES YES YES! FREEDOM! FREEDOM!”
The screamer suddenly halted and looked around, realizing he was surrounded by various races, all carrying very big or very many guns.
“Oh, **** it…” he mumbled. They saw it was a vykker holding a large bag that was open in various places. Inside it they caught a glimpse of metal. Elum walked forward to him. The vykker stared at him.
“Wha’? Have I done somethin?”
“Oh, not at all.” Said Elum, smiling. “We’re just gonna ask a few, no, a lot of questions, and then keep you as a hostage. We like pain, you see…”
The vykker stood as paralyzed for a while and then his face broke into a grin.
“Oh, yeah? Well, it can’t be worse than what I just left. My real name is an embarrassment, but you guys can all call me Needle. I’m a…” he paused. “…Er… A vykker… scientist.”
“Oh, yeah?” Elix said and lowered his gun. Everyone else did as well, and started to wonder where Needle actually came from.
“Where did you come from?” Elix said and started the questioning. Needle carefully laid down the bag on the ground. He looked up and pointed at the building.
“From there! I’ve been hiding in there for a freaking week! Do you know how hard it is to be this much overweight, have three stupid legs, have bad eyes, run half the time, not being able to sleep, jump over massive holes, being this close to death at least twice a minute and on the same time protect my babies?!! No, I suspected that you didn’t…”
Needle crossed his arms and looked pissed. Elix didn’t seem to care…
“What’s in there? Nothing? A animal? Murderer? Killing viruses?”
Needle glanced at him.
“All I know is that it is a she. She usually sits and has fun with the speakers, so I suspect it’s a murderer and not a animal.”
“Has fun?”
“You know, screaming, hissing, growling, hurling curses or just plain breathing. I think she’s got a little cuckoo in her brainy…” he said and pointed his finger at his head. Elix was silent for a while, thinking.
“Do you know how to navigate in there?”
“Pfft, no problemos!” Needle said, nodding. “Mesa been working there for 8 years! Imagine! I know quite much…”
“Would you have anything against going in again.”
“Oh no, not at all. I think it’s a pleasure to face death. Oh yeah. I have an idea. Why don’t we go pick some flowers and give them to other people for them to put on our unmarked graves? OF COURSE I have something against going in again!”
“Then you’ll draw us a map.”
“Fine. If you help me back to normal people, I’ll help ya.”
People went back to their small chores.
CHAPTER 9
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen. I’m only gonna say this ONE time so you jarheads better listen up!” Elix shouted. The people in the row pointed their attention to him.
“We’re mainly gonna get in there and take the disc with ‘Beautiful’ on it out.”
Apparently he noticed the confused faces on the troops and added:
“’Beautiful’ is the nickname of the info on it. Anyway, Needle has informed me that the one in there that made the scientists run away is not an ordinary thing. So keep your eyes open and if you see it try not to kill it. Only do so if you’re in mortal peril. We’re just about to take it back to the base, where it will be executed.”
Some in the row snickered. Elix paused for a while and looked on the abandoned base before them.
“And if anyone gets trouble, like being seriously hurt, return here immediately and Needle will take care of you. I’ll be with you in there, so you guys better protect me well!”
He smiled a bit. No one else did. The smile faded.
“So let’s go!”
They headed for the base.
Warren stormed into Hlir’s office. Hlir looked up from the papers on the desk, got a surprised look on his face and coughed.
“What in the name of Oddworld do you think you’re doing?! Storm into my office like this?!” he yelled afterwards. Warren stopped right before Hlir’s desk. He quickly smashed his hand against the wood.
“What the hell you think you’re doing, ya ****ing idiot?!! Sending my guys into that place?! Some important people will find out, and when they will they’ll be coming for you!”
Hlir smiled in a evil way. He leaned over the desk.
“But, Warren my little puppet. You’re dead! Since when did people start listening to dead people?”
“Oh, they will now!”
“Wow… Really?” Hlir said in a teasing voice and sat back in the chair. “Look, Warren. It’s nothing you can do. I’ve got the mightiest glukkons and overall leaders in this part of Mudos that’ll help me out when I need it. And you’re through. You might just start a new life with a new identity, but then the highest position you’ll have is a floorwaxer in the ‘mysterious disappearance’ room. Face it, Warren, and give up.”
Warren stood quiet for a while.
“So, my little wrecked puppet, wouldn’t you get out of here now?” Hlir said. Warren pulled out a gun of his suit. Hlir got a even more surprised look on his face than before and his helper slig screamed high and ran away. Warren pointed the gun at Hlir’s head.
“Last warning. Cancel the investigation order or the payment wont be of so much value.”
“Why?” Hlir asked and gulped.
Warren leaned over the desk.
“I know your plans.” He said threatening. “I know them all. Rhan and Jekketh are two of my best friends. And that entire group are my best friends. I wont let you have them so easily. Cancel the order NOW!” he said and pressed the gun at his head.
“Hand me that little phone.” Hlir said with a shaking voice. Warren took the small back box, pressed the orange button and held it out right before Hlir’s face.
“Is anyone there?” Hlir said with as calm voice as he could. It came some sparking sounds.
“I hear ya, boss.” A voice replied.
“Cancel the mission with the name ‘Beautiful abandoned slog’.”
“Gotcha, boss.”
More sparking sounds came. Warren took the box back, pressed the button again, put it away but he didn’t take the gun away.
“What are doing, Warren?! I’VE DONE EVERYTHING YOU TOLD ME!” Hlir screamed, panicked.
“Just something for safety…” Warren said and was just about to shoot. Someone opened the door. Warren’s movements froze for a second and then he pulled the trigger. He realized that he couldn’t move it.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A cold voice said from the doorway. The gun was pulled out of Warren hands. I fell to the floor and through it. Warren stared at the place where the gun should have been. Something took a tight grip around his neck. His hands flew up but couldn’t find anything else that his throat. A robed mudokon appeared in his sight, he seemed to hold something between his fingers and his thumb. Warren knew it was him. The robed mudokon and Hlir watched Warren die before him. The mudokon let go.
“Aah, thanks so much.” Hlir said, relieved. “It was your voice that replied me there, wasn’t it?”
The mudokon looked at him and a exact copy of the voice of the box was heard.
“I hear ya, boss.”
They laughed for a while. The mudokon poked Warren’s body with his foot, having a sandal on it.
“I’ve kept my part of the deal. The soldiers is off to the base.” Hlir said.
“Ah, yes.” The mudokon said and threw some moolah on Hlir’s desk. “As we agreed about. 5000 moolah.”
Hlir stared at the moolah.
“Thank you, dear friend.”
“Although…” the mudokon said and looked oh Hlir. “I’m not one that keeps promises.”
10 minutes later he was on his way out of the office. Still possessing the moolah. Hlir’s body was behind the desk. No one found him until the robed mudokon was far away from there.
CHAPTER 10
Needle whistled as he put up the equipment in the tent he’d been provided with. He started up the instruments and laid out scalpels, needles of different sizes, some string for stitching up wounds, and some other special surgery tools. He took up some mechanical things out of his bag and laid them on the table as well. He studied them with a smile.
“My little babies…” he purred and patted one of them. He heard steps from the bushes and looked at that direction. A heavily armed slig appeared. Needle was just to ask where it hurt when he saw that it wasn’t one of the team.
“Where are they?!” the slig asked. Needle nervously pointed at the abandoned base and the slig hurried past him. Needle sighed in relief.
“I can’t believe I’m supposed to be afraid of my life out here as well…” he mumbled and went back to placing out tools.
The pack of soldiers stood in a large room filled with boxes and sacks and went through the instructions.
“This must be a storage room of some sort. What’s in these sacks anyway?” Rhan said, and poked one of the sacks. His finger hit something soft.
“Who knows, leave it…” Elix said before starting to shout out the orders.
Rhan, Ézial, Elix, Jekketh, Quarter and a BBS named Behemoth was in the same small team investigating the storage room and labs. They went through the storage room, searching every corner and small place they could find. Rhan and Jekketh got a bit separated from the others and got a bit nervous. Two small soldiers against a monster. Probably with quite a bad case of hunger and bad mood as well. They started to whisper to each other, all they could do to keep each other calm. Jekketh took a quick look at his heat sensor and the list of glowing buttons which showed lifesigns of partymembers. He felt the blood run away to his face as he understood what he saw.
“Rhan?”
“Hm?”
“How many is investigating the storage room right now?”
“With us counted, 6.”
Jekketh felt the room gently start spinning around him. He was close to fainting but Rhan shook some life into him.
“What is it, Jekketh? What’s wrong?”
Jekketh gave Rhan the heat sensor. Rhan understood directly. It was 7 dots on the screen. The seventh dot wasn’t so long away. They heard clicking sounds. Rhan took a quick look on the lifesign-detector. All dots were green. The clicking sounds grew stronger. Rhan quickly loaded the gun.
“Jekketh, give the others a warning, it’s closing in.”
The clicking sound ended. Rhan took a deep breath.
“Stay here.”
Before Jekketh got a chance to protest against his decide he walked away. He checked the heat sensor. The seventh dot was 6 meters away. Right behind the boxes. Rhan quickly jumped out of his hiding place and held up the gun. He gasped when he understood what he saw. Probably a result of the vykker’s projects, a rather large being. It looked like a slig, moving like a mudokon. It was grayish-blue to the color, had really large claws at its hands and had large red eyes. The eyes reflected the light, and glowed in a ghostly way though the storage was lit up. It had ripped a sack completely apart and was consuming the things inside it. Rhan stared. That meat was over 2 years old and probably very rotten. The creature looked at him. Its eyes seemed to grow when it fixed at him. It screamed a high, frightening scream and jumped up on the boxes, disappearing out of sight.
Rhan could barely breath.
CHAPTER 11
“Around 3 meters tall?” Elix asked, sounding rather doubting.
“Yeah! It was huge! And it was eating some meat out of that sack!” Rhan yelled and pointed at the torn apart sack. Behemoth took it up and looked at it. He dropped it after a while, looking disgusted.
“What a horrible stench! Thing smells!” he said, walking away from it.
“Precisely! The beast must smell even more!”
“Mhm. Well, then we better find her and kill her, claiming that it were attacking us.” Behemoth said, grinned and patted his gun. “I’ve got plenty for it.”
“Sure.” Ézial and Quarter said on the same time.
“Kill… Rather easy right? I mean, it’s just a giant killing machine with all kinds of stuff that…”Quarter began but was interrupted by a beeping sound.
“Stupid technology…” he mumbled and took up the lifesign-detector. He stared at it for a while.
“****!” he shouted and stamped in the floor. Ézial took the detector away from him and looked at it. On the screen, over the blue text saying Elum was a red text saying DEAD. They looked at it for around two seconds before DEAD appeared over Ace’s text as well. The small lamps beside their names were now glowing red instead of green.
“No…” Rhan mumbled. They stopped their little conversation and ran away towards the place they thought the others would be. Two more beeps was heard before they reached the place they were. It was a rather awful sight they saw. Bodyparts were quite much all over the place. All they could see on them was if they were mudokon or slig.
“I don’t feel so good…” Jekketh started.
“Quarter. Is there any things on the heat sensor?”
“No.”
“Nothing except us.”
“No, nothing.”
Behemoth made a strange sound.
“Where are their heads?”
There was a few minutes silence.
“That isn’t a animal. This isn’t animal behavior. Something’s wrong.”
“Of course something is wro…” Rhan began when something bumped down beside them on the boxes. The blood that after a while ran down the side of the boxes was enough for them to know what it was.
“Let’s just get out of here!” Jekketh screamed. Silently but quick they made their way to the elevator. After a few floors it stopped and opened the doors against the labs.
CHAPTER 12
The labs were empty. It was a smell of various chemicals in the hall and some other strange smells. The remaining group were standing there, right outside the elevator, and gathering their thoughts.
“Should we… take a silent moment for our friends?” Jozil said after a while. No one replied. But no one actually understood that Jozil just had interrupted the silent moment.
“Well…” Elix started. “Somewhere around here, there must be some sort of information…”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet?! No one of you?!” Quarter suddenly snapped, which was unusual for his silent and patient nature.
“Huh?”
“No, I thought so. I thought that it would be best to shut up and let you figure it out by your own, but apparently I was as stupid as you! If someone at the base knew that the creature was this dangerous, and someone probably did, they would have sent more people! Damn it, we’re not even as many as a minor school class!”
“Quarter…”
“Something has happened! We are not wanted back at the base! You got it?! NOT WANTED…”
Ézial sighed.
“Quarter… What choice do we have by now then?”
He didn’t reply for a while.
“Then let’s just do the best of the situation and keep fighting.”
“Precisely… Let’s split up.” Elix said and loaded the gun with a challenging look on his face.
Ézial and Jozil searched through a place with important documents in big piles, crashed computers on every desk, some pictures and a prison like chamber in a corner. They were tense and a bit jumpy when they searched through the room. The sounds from the heat sensor calmed them a bit, when it secured them.
“I wonder if there is any info about that in here.”
“Hmm… Maybe, it’s possible…”
Ézial peeked into the chamber.
“It looks like something’s been living in here.” She said and opened the door. “It smells kinda strange. Why is so damn dark everywhere? It’s so… UGH!” she screamed when something big pulled her in.
“Ézial!”
The door slammed and Jozil tried to open it.
“Ézial! Are you alright?!” Jozil shouted and looked into the chamber. It took a while before he saw her face. She was extremely pale.
“Ézial?”
He saw that she cried.
“It’s… it’s right behind me, Jozil…” she said.
“Well, then shoot it, damn it!”
“Please. Jozil… open the door…”
“I’ve tried! Ézial! Try! Kill it!”
She stood there for a while, the tears was the only thing on her that moved. She suddenly turned around and emptied the guns shots into the chamber. After a while she ran to the door and started to hit and kick it.
“NO! JOZIL! OPEN THE DOOR!!”
“I’m trying!”
She took a deep breath and seemed to calm down.
“Damn it…” she said and smiled a joyless smile. “Well, I’m gonna die. Wont ya give me a smile?”
“Ézial, no, we’re simply gonna to…”
“I just want you to know that, the time two years ago, when you were drunk and tried to kiss me, and I hit you? I’m sorry and I have always loved you since then…”
“Ézial…”
She let her fingers run down the glass in the door and disappeared into the darkness. Jozil stood there for a while, keeping his fingers on the glass, forming his lips to her name all the time. Then his head started to work again.
“Ézial? Éz… no… NO!”
He started to cry and fell down to his knees.
CHAPTER 13
“Halt! Who’s there?!” Elix shouted. He sighed in relief the moment he saw Jozil’s face, but the relief ended when he saw the strange look on his face.
“What is it?”
Jozil gave him a dark look.
“Éz. The bitch took her.” He growled.
“Oh…”
“Oh? Oh?! Is that all you can say?! OH?!”
“Jozil, calm down a bit would ye…”
“Shut up!”
He walked away, angrily. Elix looked after him.
“I’m sorry for the loss, but so many else has been killed by her. I really don’t think you should dig yourself down into that kind of sorrow… And if you must, then try not to take out your anger on us.”
“You’re right…” he said and chuckled. “I’ll save it for the little bitch…”
The mood became kind of tense. Jekketh wished someone could start a fight and clear out the air, but no one seemed to notice. Jekketh was on the hint of starting it himself when the elevator made the sound it did when it started and stopped.
“Everyone take cover and prepare for attack!” Elix commanded and they hid in the doorways. No one said anything. The elevator made the same sound and the doors opened up.
“Don’t shoot!”
The voice belonged to a slig. Male. With a mask. Pure slig and no experiment.
“Throw out your weapons to me and come out with your hands where I can see them!” Elix shouted.
A few moments of silence.
“You’ve gotta be joking!”
“I mean it!”
They heard a sigh. Two small guns accompanied by a rather big one was thrown out in the corridor. The slig came out with his hands over his head. Jekketh stared at him, surprised.
It’s the guard! The one that ran away! He thought to himself, afraid of saying it out loud.
“My name is Nelkan, and I’m here to help you.” The slig said.
CHAPTER 14
Nelkan looked around himself, obviously a bit nervous. Elix looked as surprised as Jekketh did.
“Nelkan?! And why are you here?!”
“To help you out of here! There’s a native camp a bit away from here. It’s not gonna be there for long.”
Elix stared at him.
“Are you serious? You may not have noticed, but we’re sligs. They don’t accept sligs.”
“C’mon, Elix! Be reasonable! You wont survive this, the thing is too strong and the Magog cartel are seeing you as dead already. Your identities have been erased by them. Elix, you have a choice. Either follow me to the natives or stay here. Dead, that is.”
They looked at each other. Suddenly, Elix shouted a lot of words. If they would be explained, you could say that a priest of any religion would probably not be able to sleep for weeks, since the words certainly wasn’t nice. He got up, ran to Nelkan and, to every ones surprise, he punched him. Nelkan made a strange sound when his face made contact with Elix’ fist.
“You bastard!” he shouted, rubbing his face tentacles. One of Elix smaller guns was suddenly pointed towards Nelkan’s head.
“I think you’re crazy, and needs to be put down.” He said. Everyone was sure that he wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Quarter got up, placed himself beside Elix and stared at him.
“What?!”
“Are you sure that you can breath in the right way? I’ve heard that your brain don’t feel good if you don’t get enough air.”
“I hope you know that you’re trying to be tough to a superior!”
“Superior my ass! You’ve done nothing right in all of this little trip for joy! Why are you so damn concerned to stay here?!”
Elix didn’t reply. He put the gun down. Nelkan got up.
“So Elix, will you follow?”
Elix didn’t reply.
“Will… anyone follow?”
Everyone except Elix immediately put a hand up in the air.
“Elix? Do you want to be left here all alone?”
“Hmm…” he mumbled. “It might just… Uhm, yeah. I’ll follow you.”
CHAPTER 15
“So, how were you planning to get us outta here?” Quarter asked, frequently looking on the heat sensor.
“There’s a old track for trains on the side of the building that you didn’t see. I thought that you educated soldiers probably could count the rest out.”
“Quarter, put that down.” Jozil mumbled. “It’ll beep.”
Quarter stared at it, as if he expected a shriek, and put it down.
“So,” Jekketh said, “How are we gonna get to the train track and what are we gonna do when we get there?”
“Slide.”
For a moment, there was only the sounds of steps that was heard. Someone coughed.
“Slide..?”
“Yep. Slide down the tracks. Using your… uhm… guns…”
“Oh.”
It became quiet again.
“Something smells.”
“Hmm…” someone said. The torches lit up different places in the room.
“Oh.”
“Meat.”
“Shut up.”
They kept walking.
“Elix… Are you around?”
Elix grunted.
“Did I hear a beep?”
“No.”
They were quite nervous about walking in the dark, rotten meat smelling room. And simply to make the mood complete they guessed that all the tools in here had not been taken care of. There was a cracking sound.
“What the…” someone said. Something came crashing down from the roof.
“JUMP!”
With a loud crash the big machine crashed into the floor. A sickening smell spread out.
“Ew…”
“Is everyone alright?”
There was some various groans and mumbles.
“Eh… I don’t know really… I have a strange feeling in… in… My… Oh…” someone said.
“What? What is it?”
People started to find each other.
“My hand… It’s… under… under this… uhm… thing…”
“Oh, dammit… Who’s hand?!”
“Rhan’s…” Jekketh replied. “Damn, Rhan, you’re really pale…”
Rhan shouted a few not so beautiful words.
“So, what am I supposed to do?”
“Wait…”
There was a strange sound, and Rhan felt someone wire clothing around his wrist.
“Have you…. Have… Is…” he tried to say.
“Yeah. Now shut up. We’ll get out of here…”
They kept on.
CHAPTER 16
/Day… 10 or 11 I think
Month 4
I’m leaning against a wall. We’re getting a little rest. I find it frustrating to write with just one hand. We’re all a bit worried, but the constant sounds from the heat sensors is more that enough to keep us sure of our temporary safety. I miss my hand. Elix is getting more and more anxious, irritated and angry. I don’t blame him, it would take a storm big enough to crush Oddworld to clear out this air. Although… I have this strange feeling that all of this is Elix’s fault. I’m getting a bit Quarter, am I not? He-he… Oh, dammit, I think I’m gonna die of blood loss if I can’t get to Needle soon… Ugh… I’m getting a little woozy… I think I’ll have to sit down… I’ll miss all of this… Ah, no, I can’t cry alone… Where’s my pillow? Note to self: You’re dying, so try to be serious, idiot…\
“Should we move on?” Nelkan said, looking around himself. People got up and simply waited for him to guide the way.
“Eh…” Nelkan said, looking around again. “I’m not… Hey, Elix, do you still have the map?”
“Yeah…” Elix grumbled.
“Great, hand it over.”
Two minutes.
“Alright… It seems like we’re supposed to go left now, and after that… Oh, wait, upside down… Ah, right, left, stairs, left, another stair, door… Yeah, now I know… Alright, let’s just go then…”
“Right, up here’s the stairs to the roof. I don’t really know if the tracks will hold your weight. I hope it will. I’ve not been here for a long time…” Nelkan said and tried to open the door. He bumped into it with a surprised look.
“Great! They leave it all in a horrible shape, but they lock the escape route…” he said, took out his set of small ironpicks, and started is try to unlock the door. A beeping sound cut through the excited silence.
“Where is it?! Where is it?!” Someone cried.
Two seconds of checking the sensor.
“Right…”
Quarter made a gurgling sound when the thing swiped him off his feet and lifted him. His screams were suddenly cut off. A metallic sound was heard, and then a howl.
“Move it!” Behemoth grunted and simply used his gun and strength to open the door in the less kind way.
“Out!”
Everyone was almost blinded by the sunlight, but quickly started to look around for the train tracks.
“Nelkan, where is…” Jekketh started but stopped when he saw that the door was closed. And locked.
“We’ll find it on our own! It can’t be that hard…”
The door suddenly became an object that was used with extreme violence. The howl was heard again.
“Split up!”
People ran in different ways, frequently looking for the tracks. Jozil shouted something. It took a while for them to understand that he’d found them. They ran to the edge of the roof. A ladder reached down to the small platform above the tracks. Rhan sighed and looked on his remaining arm.
“Alright, let’s just go then…”
When half of the remaining team had climbed down, the door decided to take a easy way of quitting. It was torn away from the doorway.
“ARGH!”
“HURRY UP!”
Many started to panic, and those who had climbed down saw the horrible sight of some trying to jump down to the tracks. The last guy climbed down. A few steps, then he was pulled up again. Jekketh thought of his passing life, thought that it was boring and a second later, he found himself hanging from a gun, sliding down a train track. He held on for dear life, crying all kinds of things. A bit forward, he started to enjoy the view. A small lake, trees, grass… His brain seemed to have stopped thinking or ask about his point of view of what to do and not to do. Jekketh suddenly held nothing. He screamed, heard the wind whistle around his ears and had a strange feeling in his stomach. Ground closed up. Jekketh closed his eyes and wondered why he didn’t choose to help his aunt with the feeding of paramites anyway…
CHAPTER 17
Apparently, the ground did have nothing against Jekketh passing by. He felt his feet hit something hard, and then a cold feeling that spread out in his body. The world spinned gently around him. He couldn’t breath. He was sort of like rising, towards the ground of anything that was above him…
Jekketh mumbled something.
“Yeah! So do I!” a happy voice replied.
“Huh?”
He opened his eyes, and found the headache reminding of a small demon that trashed his head.
“Ugh… Where am I? Am I not dead?”
“No. Thanks to my superior intelligence and your friends radio, you’re not. I’m afraid I couldn’t save the big bro, his pants pulled him down… I’m sorry. You didn’t make it, huh?”
Jekketh was ready to burst in tears.
“But…” he sobbed. “We were gonna make it… We were gonna live, happily ever after… We were gonna be heroes… Are you sure I’m not dead? I could have been drinking milk together with Odd by now, but…”
His eyes started to accept the light, and to his mixed emotions big crash, he saw the ugly face of Needle. And a tent.
“Where’s Rhan?”
“He did it?”
“He’s not here?”
“No…”
Silence.
“Oh…”
Sharp light. A scream. Rhan’s voice. He laid down and didn’t move. His remaining arm was in a painful position, and the blood ran down his shoulder. He was gonna scream again, but he was to tired. He would like to sleep. But… He saw a silhouette of a mudokon. He smiled.
“Ao’liré Fryeñe… Putr’en kargeh, narna?” the mudokon said and put him in another kind of position.
“Caol… Neme Chi´rain jailon…” the mudokon whispered, got up and shouted:
“Kanhaere ierna!”
Rhan found the words calming, and fell asleep again to the sounds of running feet.
CHAPTER 18
He stared down in a floor. He had no feeling left in his left shoulder. Someone beside him hummed something, while stitching up one of his wounds. Rhan’s head was full of thoughts. Why did they go? What happened to the others? Where’s Elix and Nelkan? Why did the Magog Cartel want them dead? He sighed.
“Could you please tell me where I am?” he said. The mudokon looked at him.
“Tr’ole yans…”
“No, no, not that language… Can you speak my language?”
The mudokon was silent for a while.
“Sligspeak? It was a while since I heard that…”
Rhan was silent.
“I have many questions for you. Who are you, for an example.”
“Could you answer my questions first?”
“Hmm?”
“Where am I?”
“This is our camp. We will be here for two more months, simply because we came here too late to get back before the storms. Now, who are you?”
“My name is Rhan. I’m afraid that’s all I’m left now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t go back to the cartel… Everyone else is dead, I have no identity left. I’m no one but Rhan now. Little Rhan who’s parents were nothing but a little blood in glass tubes… And you are?”
“Kalessin. I’m the third daughter of the healer back home.”
“Hi, Kalessin.”
Rhan had a strange feeling that something in that sentence wasn’t right.
“Daughter?!”
“Yes. I know females aren’t that usual where you come from, but here we are. The races are still developing, and I wonder who’s more developed than the other. You, because you don’t have so many females, or we, because we do…”
“So, you don’t have a queen?”
“Oh, we used to. But she died a while ago. She didn’t make a new queen, so what could we do? We simply live on, doing what we can. No, Rhan, lay still. I’ll be done soon…”
No one said anything for a while.
“What happened to your hand?”
“It got crushed.”
“Ouch.”
“No, not really. I didn’t feel that much.”
She cut off the string and put the tools away.
“So, you’ve been into that building?”
“Yeah.”
“Didn’t work, right?”
“No.”
A small thought passed trough his head, although slowly and afraid of being pushed off the edge.
“Is Jekketh here?”
“Jekketh?”
“My friend. He’s alive, I know that. He slid down before me and Behemoth. Could you look for him?”
“I’ll send out some scouts, if he’s still alive. Try to get some sleep now, Rhan.”
Rhan had nothing against that.
CHAPTER 19
Needle looked on the bushes. He could swear that he saw them move just a couple of minutes ago. Jekketh was laying on the bed, groaning. Apparently, the painkiller was wearing off. A bird sang. Needle was starting to like the wildlife. The only thing he missed now, was that wonderful powder-soup he used to get. Needle was famished. The singing bird flew away, screaming. Needle didn’t care. He didn’t notice the click-sounds and the small movements in the surrounding either.
Jekketh awoke again with a mumble and a curse. He looked up in the painted face of a mudokon. He wasn’t even surprised. He thought that this was the effects of 5 painkillers.
“Hi.” He said.
“Are you Jekketh?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Is that vykker keeping you as a hostage of some sort?”
“No. Needle’s nice, and he’s keeping me stuffed with those wonderful painkillers… Sweet little demons, they are… Why do you wonder?”
“Rhan sent word, that he wishes to see you again.”
“Rhan?”
“Yes.”
Jekketh didn’t say anything for a while.
“Is he dead?”
“No. He’s been well taken care of.”
“Ah, he’s insane! Yes, this is a disturbing world indeed…”
“Oh, whatever…”
The mudokon turned around and whistled. To Needle’s great surprise and horror, 4 painted mudokons with big spears jumped out of the bushes. He ran back to take cover behind Jekketh, but found another mudokon and a groaning Jekketh.
“You monster!” Needle yelled. “You’ve tortured him! Look at him, he’s dying!”
“We’re here to take you to our camp, that’s all.”
“Yeah, our camp, riiiiiiight….” Needle started and looked at the mud.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing…”
“Yeah, just let’s go, ugly…”
The mudokons led them away, and they only returned because Needle forgot his bag with ‘babies’.
/Day… someone after the last time, it’s dark…
Month 4
I can’t believe it. I’ve been really close to death, and still I have my journal and pen left. I couldn’t sleep, I was plagued by nightmares. I feel so… sad and lonely… Jekketh is here, but he’s got a real hangover or something, so I’m gonna wait until tomorrow before I talk to him. Needle has taken a look on my arm and says that he knows exactly what to do. I don’t know, but I’m worried. That laughing he did is not good. Kalessin seems rather nice, but I haven’t seen her for a while. I wonder where she is. She reminds me of someone, If I just could remember… Ah well, better forget it… What IS this feeling?!\
CHAPTER 20
“Rhan?”
He replied with a mumble.
“I’ve brought some fruit. I didn’t know what you wanted to have, but you have to be hungry.”
Rhan got up and leaned on his elbow.
“Actually, I don’t know if I can eat at all…”
He sat up. Kalessin smiled at him.
“Then I’ll feed you. You’ve got to get something.”
“I feel so strange…”
“Might have got something to do with what the vykker did.”
Rhan got another strange feeling. Not strange, rather… worried.
“What has he done?!”
“Haven’t you looked? Your arm…”
“Quiet!” Rhan almost yelled in a sharp voice. She jumped a little. Rhan continued in a softer voice.
“Tell me, before I look, will I like what I see?”
“Probably not…”
Rhan slowly raised his arm, hesitated for a while, and looked. On the place where his hand should have been, was a mechanic one. Rhan was quiet for a while.
“Rhan…?”
“One of his ‘babies’… He didn’t even ask…”
“Rhan, he’s done you a big favor.”
“I’ll strangle him with my new and shiny hand!” he snapped. Kalessin smiled at him again.
“Don’t you want some fruit anyway?”
Rhan took a look on the plate. His head filled up by pictures and he felt a strong disgust.
“I don’t think so…”
His stomach thought otherwise, and growled at him.
“You’ll need it.” Kalessin said, smiling, put the plate in his hands and walked out again. Rhan thought for a while, put slowly started to eat one of the fruits when he feared that his stomach was going to attack him.
The guard outside camp enjoyed the sunlight and on the same time kept look. He was bored. Nothing except the strangers had happened for a long time. He heard a breaking sound and looked into the forest. He saw someone walking against him, dressed in a black long coat and hood, holding a long carved staff.
“Hello there. Beautiful day, isn’t it? That looks a bit warm…” the guard said, smiling at him.
“Hello to you.” The wanderer replied. His voice was cold and sounded strange. “I can assure you, this is not warm. It’s a protection.”
“Ah.”
The guard felt a chill pass down his spine.
“Let me trough, perhaps?”
“No, I’m afraid I can’t. You’ll have to introduce yourself first. Take off the hood, show me if you have any weapons and tell me about your business here.”
The wanderer took his hood off, and the guard saw a rather old mudokon with tattoos on his forehead. And cold eyes. Cold, blue eyes.
“My name is none of your business, but what I’m here to do…” he smiled. “…I’m here to collect something. And meet some… friends.”
“And weapons?”
“Only my staff.”
“Eer…”
“Do I look like a threat?”
The guard didn’t reply. He was afraid.
“Oh, ok. You wont let me pass? Then I’ll just go…”
The guard sighed of relief in his mind.
“…right through.” The mudokon said and put his fingers on the guards head. The guard made a gurgling sound and fell to the ground, paralyzed.
“I’ve not been here…” the mudokon said, put his hood back on and walked into the camp, uninvited.
CHAPTER 21
/People tells me it’s day 16
Month 4
Alright… most of the time, I’ve just been laying here, thinking. I’m starting to get really bored… Mostly… Well, I’ve started to think again. Who am I? Did the ones I’m created of have identity? What was the reason? Who were they? I wish I had someone here who was with me during my childhood, neither Jekketh nor Kalessin was and they’re the only ones I want or can talk to. When I think of it, all of those who knew me as a child are back home. I can’t go there. It isn’t even home. They’re probably gone anyway.
Ah, well… Kalessin guided me and Jekketh around their camp. Apparently, they’re here to train the young warriors and gather spices and flowers for salves and potions. I saw some young guys play in a big tree. It reminds me… Not even when I was really small, I ever got to play anything. No childhood, no past, nothing except my training. Tee-hee… Gah! I wont cry!
Anyway, I’ve got something to put my mind on this evening. A big festival, I think. Will probably be fun. I hope…\
Rhan and Jekketh sat under a tree, looking at the young guards that prepared for the festival the same evening. They was coming over the things that just had happened, and was starting their hard work. To try to be happy again.
“So.” Said Jekketh. “What will you do now?”
Rhan shrugged.
“I guess I have to do something… Be a farmer, guard, shaman or perhaps one of those with the funny purple hat… What about you?”
“Well, all I can do is to fight and clean, so perhaps… well, who knows…”
A little silence. They didn’t have much to talk about.
“Hey, Rhan…” Jekketh said, smiling in a rather diabolic way. “That girl, Kalessin, seems to be rather… interested of you…”
“Well, I guess tha… Hey! How would you know?!”
His face suddenly went red.
“Er… I mean, I j-just… well, you know, right? Or maybe no… er…”
“Apparently not half as interested in you as you in her.”
Rhan didn’t say anything. He figured. Was Jekketh right? And if he were, what was he supposed to do now?
“Oh, hello, I’ve been looking for you!” Kalessin said, and waved to them a bit away from them. They waved back and Rhan mumbled to Jekketh:
“You’ll not live to see tomorrow if you say anything!”
“Alright…” Jekketh replied, with a rather unsettling sweet voice.
Rhan looked back on Kalessin, and a thought crossed his mind.
That clothing… Green and white… My dream! She’s that one from my dream! Does the shaman exist as well?
His mind went pale. What was this supposed to mean?
CHAPTER 22
The feast was a nice one. Rhan and Jekketh could not remember the last time they had that fun without any kind of alcohol. The warriors were laughing and joking everywhere, and the table that had been full of food and people around it a while ago was now empty except for a few that had a joke-fight about the last tasty fruits. And some birds that more than happily would snatch all they could eat. The musicians had a good time playing this evening. People were having fun, no one cared about any kinds of troubles this night.
No one saw the loner outside the light of the fires either. He was leaning against the wall, looking. He knew exactly what he was looking for and, oddly, the one he was looking for knew it. He smiled. Soon the moment would come. The moment when he would prove that he wasn’t anyone to play with. He was dangerous, and intended to show it.
Very dangerous.
Jekketh was discussing something loudly with a young warrior. Rhan was standing beside him, giving him words and listening to comment. Sometimes he laughed or made a comment himself. They were both surprised that a native mudokon had such a impressive stock of swearing. Some of the ones that listened laughed or said “ooh” when they stood there, yelling and swearing at each other to prove that they were right. Rhan was just about to ask what they were discussing when someone grabbed his arm. It was Kalessin. She looked calm, but her eyes showed a worry.
“Come.” She said and lead him away. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
She led them away so they could barely hear Jekketh and the warrior yell at each other.
“What is it?” Rhan asked, doing his best to get rid of that big ball in his stomach.
“I was planning to tell you before this, but I was worried that you would find me childish and stupid.” She said, so low it was almost a mumble. “But…I…”
She went silent. Rhan had this feeling he should say something.
“I wont think you’re stupid. Or anything like that. Go ahead and tell me.”
“Well, before you came I had a strange dream. I thought it was just a dream until they found you. I dreamt of you.”
Rhan was on the hint to tell of his dream, but didn’t.
“I’m afraid that something’s after you. Something that wishes to hurt you in a way. I try to relax, but it’s hard. Even in the dream, I felt its cold. Please, be careful. You can get protection here, but not from that.”
Rhan nodded. He couldn’t take his eyes away from her. She looked so protective and vulnerable. His stomach twisted itself into something unrecognizable. He wanted to… do… something he didn’t know how to do.
“I know it sounds crazy…” she said.
A dark and dusty corner of his mind whispered to him what to do. He was on the hint to try and kiss her before she pointed to the others and said:
“It’s time for the warriors! Come, I think you’ll like it!”
She walked away. Rhan stood there and tried to understand what had happened.
“Come then.”
He followed her. His legs, his entire body felt so soft. And fragile.
CHAPTER 23
The warriors had fixed a temporary scene. There they showed their skills for each other by ‘fighting’. Sort of, like a wrestle. The main reason with it was to make your opponent fall. But it wasn’t over until the opponent had hit his hand in the ground three times. Even if the hits weren’t voluntary, the game was over when it happened. One of the warriors that time, a not too young, rather muscular warrior seemed to be the best one there. The last one hit the ground three times. The other applauded. The warrior had a strange kind of challenge.
“I have beat you all, but I must say that I’m pleased to know that we have so good warriors here, but I’m tired to choose opponent. I’ll fight the one that challenges me!”
The warriors were tired, Kalessin wouldn’t have a chance, Rhan and Jekketh were wounded and not in a special mood for a fight, even if it wasn’t for real. The silence spread out.
The loner outside the light smiled to himself. A call of that kind was just the thing he’d waited for. He slowly made his way towards the scene.
Rhan looked at him. He looked at Rhan. Even if it was for only a second, Rhan knew that was meant for him. The warrior would more than likely love to hear Rhan’s hands hit the ground. Rhan almost accepted the challenge, but resisted it.
“I’ll challenge you, young one.” A voice said. Everyone looked at him. A old tattooed mudokon stood there. With a dark long cloak, hooded and holding a staff.
“No, no, no!” The warrior said. “I can’t fight you!”
“Oh please. You said that you would fight anyone who challenged you. And I do.”
No one said anything.
“Ok. Put all that away and I’ll fight you.” He smiled. “I’ll be nice.”
A young mudokon took the cloak and the staff. Rhan had to bit his lip not to scream, like Kalessin. The shaman. Red and black. That evil. The warrior gasped.
“You’re a shaman! An old shaman too! I can’t fight you!”
“Don’t think for me, my friend. I can fight you, and if you can’t beat an old man, well…” he grinned. “That wouldn’t be good, would it?”
He stepped out on the scene. The warrior shrugged and began his old way. Grab the wrists and sweep the opponent off his feet. Surprisingly, the shaman avoided him every time and seemed always to know what his next movement would be. Suddenly, the shaman stepped back and pinched his arm right under the elbow. The warrior screamed in surprise, not in pain. He lost the feeling in his hand. He couldn’t move it. That’s it. The shaman was going down. But the plan couldn’t be made trough. A pinch in his neck and suddenly the main parts of his body was not able to move.
“All I require,” the shaman hissed. “is three hits.”
His arm started to function again. He hit the ground. Surprised applauds, but nevertheless they were meant for him. He’d proven what he wanted to.
CHAPTER 24
Rhan was on his way to his bed. His head was cloudy and he walked as in a trance.
“Rhan!”
He looked around. Kalessin.
“That was what I warned you for! The evil!”
“I know. He was in my dream as well.” He replied. He was surprised that he didn’t care too much.
“You’ve dreamt of him too?!”
“Yes. He ran from us.”
“Us?”
“Yep. You and me. On a field.”
“Doing? Something like this perhaps?” she said and kissed him on the cheek. He looked at her and she kissed him again.
“Goodnight , Rhan.” she said, smiled and slowly walked away. Rhan wanted to scream, laugh, express the raging storm of confused feelings. Or do it again. Or something else.
“Are you Rhan?”
Rhan turned around and saw the shaman. His raging feeling simply said bye and flew away.
“Yes. That’s me. Quite a show back there.”
“Oh, thank you. It was easy. Young ones simply isn’t patient enough.”
“So, who are you anyway?”
“My name?”
“Yeah.”
“My name is Tzekhel. I’m here to give you a rather interesting offer.”
“Oh?”
“I am to journey to the south, yet I need some people to guard and protect a old one like me. Interested?”
“Nope, sorry, those days are over.”
“I’ll pay you.”
“With?”
He smiled.
“Whatever you wish. Not moolah or anything in that way, I swear.”
“Any kind of killing involved?”
“Might happen.”
“Hmm…”
“Your friend too. Both of you. I want you to know that it’s important that you follow.”
“I better ask him…”
He smiled again.
“Already done. He seemed rather anxious to go. Just a trip. Two weeks. Four if you count with the return. Eight if we go by foot.”
Rhan didn’t reply for a while.
“Ok, sure.”
Tzekhel held his hand out. Rhan shook it and a chilling cold spread through him.
CHAPTER 25
Night. Four elums is tied to a tree right outside the camp. Tzekhel was sitting on one of them and the packing was on one of the others. He was dressed just like always and his staff were tied on his back. He was waiting for the others. Smiling, thinking about how nice it would be. He hadn’t been doing this for so many years…
Rhan sat on his bed, reading the latest pages in his journal. He was trying to clear out this giant mess of loose strings. He took up his pen and started to write again.
/Still day or night 16
Month 4
Tzekhel is waiting right outside the camp. He said we had lots of time left, but that he preferred to leave before sunrise. I hope this wont take too long. Ahem… Oh, it was nothing… Better bring this stupid book along with me, in case I get hungry…\
He put the book into his pack. He was just about to leave when he bumped into someone. Tzekhel.
“Ah, Rhan. I was just about to come get you. We’re waiting for you.”
“I thought you said we had long time.”
“I thought you listened. I want to leave before sunrise. I don’t want the whole damn population waving us off. We don’t have much time left.”
“Yeah, yeah… I’m coming.”
He followed him out. The elums grunted loudly. Rhan stopped and stared at them. What was they supposed to do? He saw Jekketh, standing there looking rather panicked.
“Have you heard, Rhan?!” he complained. “We’re supposed to ride them! Ride! Those things that smells like an entire ashtray of an glukkon that likes to smoke strange things!”
Rhan smiled.
“That which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger…”
“Hey! This kills me! Ok? Hey, strange guy! I refuse to get up on one of these!”
Tzekhel smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“Too bad. Just get up, Jekketh. Oh, and my name is Tzekhel.”
After complainants, accidents, screams and pain, they were all up and going. Kalessin was looking after them from her door. In her hand she held a blue ring. The other one, was in Rhan’s pack.
CHAPTER 26
Rhan was laying in his sleeping bag, staring out in the darkness. Jekketh and Tzekhel was talking lowly a bit away. They’d been travelling for 2 weeks. Tzekhel said it was tomorrow left and then the return. He was really bored. He tried to sleep. It didn’t work. He made an attempt to get his book and found another thing. A blue ring. It was an inscription in it. ‘Yours forever’
“So, what have you two been through? “ Tzekhel asked.
“Well, it’s still a bit sad to talk about, but our group was to investigate a abandoned base. Well, apparently the main reason with us going there was for us to die. Strange, huh?”
“No one knows what suits the cartel for the moment, right?”
“What about you? Where are you coming from? Tell me your story.”
Tzekhel didn’t say anything for a long while.
“I come from a desert village. I was the medicine man, healer and shaman there. Until I… realized that something was terribly wrong. A evil slig was there and threatened our chieftain. After a while, a pack of his sligs attacked us. I took the chieftains daughter with me and barely made it to run. She unfortunately died during the travel to cooler places and water. A scrab impaled her. I came here. I found that this place was close to a friend of mines home. And that’s where we’re going. Although…” he thought for a while. “…I was not allowed to go there for a while. I did something I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do. I wont tell you what…”
“I’m sorry about your home.”
“Ah, it’s alright. They didn’t listen to my warnings.”
“What are we going to do in your friends home?”
“Pick something up.”
“Oh…”
They were quiet for a while. Tzekhel stared into the sky.
“What about your friends? Do you have any family? Girlfriend? Mate? Children?”
“What?!” He growled.
“Eh… Well, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
Tzekhel stared at him.
“I had a mate, but I… lost her.”
“Sorry to hear that…”
“But…” he said. His eyes were oddly dark. “..I’ll get her again…”
Jekketh got a strange feeling.
“Well… We better rest now, right? Good night.” Tzekhel said, smiled and walked back to his sleeping bag.
CHAPTER 27
“Ah.” Tzekhel said. He stood before a giant closed door. On it was a diamond seal.
“This is my friends home. Well, it used to be, anyway… Be careful. No one has been in here for 500 years!”
“I thought you said that you were here just a while ago!” Jekketh said, surprised.
“Did I mention that I actually entered this place, smart guy?”
He turned around and looked on the seal.
“This will take a little concentration…” he said, raised his staff over his head and screamed something while smashing the staff against the seal. With a strange sound, the staff hit the seal, slipped off and Tzekhel fell down.
“Hmm…” he said from the ground, thinking of how to get in. “I guess they has… changed some things while I was away…”
He got up, stared at the seal and hissed words. Nothing happened for a while.
“Well?” Rhan said. Tzekhel growled at him and opened the door.
“Well.” He said and walked in. Jekketh and Rhan followed. The elums outside grunted.
Tzekhel seemed to enjoy being inside the dusty tomb. He gave Rhan and Jekketh a torch each and kept walking into the hall. They came out in a giant room filled with doors and hieroglyphs. Tzekhel walked to one of them and looked on the stone above it.
“I warn you, don’t enter a door unless I say it’s alright, and… Oh, oh, oh!”
He laughed.
“Naren! I thought no one would sink so low and place your tomb in here! Foolish boy, thinking you could outrun death…”
He kept on to the next door. Jekketh took Rhan’s arm and said:
“Tzekhel? Is it alright if we enter that tomb?”
“Hmm? Naren’s? Yeah, sure, go ahead… Hmm… Who..?” he mumbled, completely concentrated on reading the stone. Jekketh pulled him into the tomb.
“You know, right?”
“What?”
“Tzekhel is evil! We can’t stay here! And even if he isn’t evil, he’s hiding something! We have to do something!”
“Sure, Jekketh, but what?”
Jekketh saw the blue ring on his finger.
“I… really don’t know but…”
“NO!!”
They were interrupted by a scream. They ran back and saw a open door in a tomb. They ran in and saw Tzekhel leaning on a sarcophagus, crying.
“What is it?” Rhan said, carefully.
“She’s… she’s…” Tzekhel mumbled and suddenly hit the sarcophagus.
“It’s not fair!” he cried. “She was supposed to do as I said! She’s not supposed to be dead!”
He calmed down, took a deep breath, took up his staff and stabbed the sarcophagus right under the top. He turned around and pointed at them.
“You two are strong! Open it!”
Slowly, Rhan and Jekketh pushed the stone on it away and backed from it when a cloud of dust flew up. Tzekhel was quickly there, looking down.
“Ah..” he said with a pleased voice. “It’s still there…”
He turned to them and said:
“I don’t need you two then.”
The world blew up and disappeared in a thousand pieces.
CHAPTER 28
Jekketh opened his eyes. He was still inside the tomb. Rhan and Tzekhel was gone. Beside him was a small pool of blood. He wondered how long he’d been sleeping and remembered what happened. The first thought that moved in his mind was that he needed to get back. Or at least out. Then it was how he’d done it. And then where Rhan was. He slowly turned around and was surprised to find that he didn’t feel any pain. Just the floor. He got up and looked around. On the ground was a blue ring. He picked it up and ran away out.
Tzekhel looked from the amulet to Rhan. He saw nothing certain about Rhan. He was just a mudokon, wasn’t he? Rhan was tied on one of the elums. He looked wildly around himself. Tzekhel smiled, leaned to him and said:
“I guess you want to know who I really am now, right?”
Rhan didn’t reply.
“Oh, anyway… My real name is indeed Tzekhel, and I’m a sorcerer from an ancient time. The time before Oddworld actually. But, my ‘superiors’ found me being out of control and banished me to this cursed land. Since then, I’ve been trying to find the right things to get back and kick their arses… This…” he held up the amulet. “Is but one thing!”
“Then what do you need?”
“Oh.. Why would I tell you?”
“Because of my honest smile and nice manner?”
Tzekhel laughed.
“Ok, tell me one thing, Tzekhel. Why me? What’s with me?”
“Nothing. I wanted the cartel to get you killed. You were smarter than I thought. That Hlir guy is dead, he was easy to dispose of, your old commander is as well, Elix was my magical creation and you…” he chuckled. “You will of course be my next victim.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m sick of playing this game by the rules. I care nothing of ruling this world, neither of it’s destruction. All I want to do is to get back home. Four more things. And…” he looked on Rhan. “…four different kinds of blood.”
“Blood?!”
“Yes… A sacrifice to the gate keeper. That’s all he requires to let me trough.”
“Where are we going, Tzekhel?”
“To the place I know my old friend will be going.”
To the same place that Jekketh was now riding to with a gods speed. To the same place someone was resting nearby. To the same place a young female mudokon was waiting.
The natives camp.
CHAPTER 29
Jekketh hurried forward towards the camp and ignored the elums tired groaning. He knew it wasn’t much time left.
Tzekhel smiled.
“And now, ladies and gentlemen, comes the sacrifice.”
“Why here?”
“Because here no one can stop me. Your girlfriend still thinks that we’re away, Jekketh is trapped inside of the tombs and you’re tied to an elum. There’s so many chances that someone will come and save you, but I will not talk anymore.” He said and pulled out a long knife of his coat. “This will be the last thing you feel!”
Something flew past his head.
“Darn!” a voice yelled. Tzekhel turned around. Rhan took the chance and bit the elum. It howled and started to run. Tzekhel stared at the guard that had thrown the spear. The guard fell to the ground , dead. The elums howl surprised him, he didn’t expect it’s escape. He turned around and was just about to begin a spell to cast on Rhan, when a image appeared in his mind. He grinned, turned around and threw the knife against him. Jekketh didn’t have time to react. He stood there, confused, with a knife in his chest, pushed down to the handle.
Tzekhel put the hood on and walked way into the darkness…
Kalessin backed away from Jekketh and disappeared out of the door. The knife had been removed, but it’s poison was enough to kill half a horde of scrabs. He didn’t even have time to say a last word. Rhan sat beside his bed, looking at his pale face. In his hand was a blue ring. He didn’t take his eyes away from him. He couldn’t believe that his childhood friend was gone. He sighed.
“Well…” he said and patted his shoulder. “You really was good on this running part. Thanks for reaching us in time.”
He walked out, doing his best not to cry too loudly. A slig with a golden mask stood outside.
“Rhan?”
Rhan looked at him.
“Go to hell. I don’t want to talk to anyone.”
The slig was quiet.
“Because all I’ve done lately has been wrong! My best friend is dead because of me and I’ve just found out that I am someone that a maniac was practically born to kill! I don’t want to have anything to do with anyone!”
“Rhan, my name is Gold. I barely knew Tzekhel but I can say that we have to do something against him, or else so many others may loose friends and family.”
Rhan didn’t reply for a while.
“Where did he go then?”
“To the south…”
Rhan shrugged.
“Ok, I’ll follow.”
He looked around.
“It’s getting dark, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I guess we’re not going anywhere before tomorrow.”
“Good. See ya then.” Rhan said and walked away. But he didn’t go to his usual bed. He walked away to Kalessin’s place. She stood there, tying up spices in the roof. He stood there, looking at here for a while. Her eyes fell on him.
“Rhan?” she said, surprised. “I’m sorry about Jekketh.”
“So am I…” he said. She could hear on his voice that he was more than just sad. He showed her the blue ring.
“Look what I’ve kept.” He said. She smiled and sat down on the bed.
“I thought that I should do something. I mean… What if…”
She didn’t say anything else. Rhan sat down beside her.
He embraced her.
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WHEN GAMING GETS ODD...