52nd Ymiden, 718
Slowly stirring, Varlum woke up, his body cold as he found himself in the corner of the dark, festering cave. Old food sat round the group of hunters, one of which were asleep to recover from their injuries, while the last three were awake. Light came from the campfire, but hardly any of it provided warmth, and even the light was barely significant. Every corner of the cave crept with darkness, filled with the fears of every person, old and young. Should one stare too long, perhaps they would see exactly what they feared.
But Varlum wasn't afraid of the dark, nor was he afraid of the three hunters before him. Two men, smaller than most human men tended to be, and a slightly taller woman. They could use weapons, but in a fight against him two had already gone down. But his size wasn't the main advantage he had, nor was his snapping jaw or raw muscle. No, the advantage he had is that they wanted him alive. If they had truly wanted to they could have killed him, but they didn't. That meant he was worth something to them. While that thought ran through his head, a man turned over and looked at him, noticing his eyes staring back.
"He's awake. How are those injuries doing, big guy?" the man taunted, Varlum now noticing the bandages that were covering him. Pain surged through him, but none of the wounds were too deep that it could do lasting damage. That didn't, however, mean he wasn't suffering. Varlum let out a low growl through his chained mouth, his eyes fixed on the man in front of him, never once looking away. Even with his mouth shut fangs were displayed to everyone in the room, all of which were now looking at him. But his cold stare remained in one place, one one man.
"I think he likes you" the boss woman teased, gaining another low growl from Varlum as his eyes pierced through her ally. After a few more trills, the man Varlum was staring at stood up and walked close to the Ithecal, his pride burning inside of him. Although the hunter wouldn't say it, the Ithecal intimidated him - and that angered him. In front of his new boss, of all people, the man refused to let himself be intimidated by a man in chains, giant or not.
As he came close, Varlum made his move, using his leg to push himself forward and slam his body in to the man, knocking him to the floor as he did. Not stopping, the Ithecal charged forward at the woman ahead of him. As she quickly dove to the floor out of the way, Varlum saw it - his axe. Without his arms to stop himself Varlum overshot his footing, his torso slamming in to the wall. But as the adrenaline surged through him, Varlum didn't feel it.
Raising his hands above his head, Varlum slammed his arms down on to the blade of the axe as his knees held it up. Behind him, the sound of the hunters grabbing weapon could be heard. As his hands raised again, a sword left its sheath just a few meters behind him. With a heavy slam, the center of the chain broke, a chunk of the axe also pinging off to the side. Quickly sliding the chains off his mouth, Varlum turned around, Varlum looked straight to the woman leading this attack. She died first.
As she ran at him, unarmed, she made an attempt to grab him. Sudden instincts took over as the monstrous Ithecal as his jaw slammed shut around the hunters arm, and immediately started thrashing. Within seconds his intense jaw power had ripped through her arm, the womans body slamming in to the floor as her limb dropped to the other side of the cave. With vicious, cold eyes Varlum started at the other attacker with a low growl, his glare piercing through them. Yet they made no retreat.
With a longsword in their hand, the attacker swung for Varlum, missing by an inch as the Ithecal thrust back. Quickly, he threw down his sword as his friend came close, the two jumping on the Ithecal. With a loud cry of anger, Varlum pushed himself up as the two tried to hold him down, snapping at one of their heads and missing narrowly. As the struggle commenced, a dagger cut in to the Ithecal lightly, filling him with pure rage. With all his force, Varlum managed to push off, before wrapping both of his hands around the other and throwing him a few feet across the cave, face first in the stone and dirt.
Before the other could get up, Varlum rolled over to be on top of him, putting his hands on the mans throat and pressing down with all his force. Within trills the man was unconscious, giving Varlum time to let go and looking over to the two injured on the other side of the room. One of them was awake now, looking at Varlum with wide-eyed terror as the nine foot monster stood himself up, wiping blood from his mouth and face. with a vicious snarl leaving his mouth, the man walked closer, before stopping and towering over the female hunter. "Wake up your friend, take your shit, and leave. If I ever see your face here again, I'll rip your throat out."
With a quick nod from the woman. Varlum took a step away, watching her as she grabbed some gold and a weapon, before taking her friend and going. With a sigh the Ithecal leaned back against the wall, feeling himself start to lose his footing. Despite the wound being patched up, the damage to his back was causing intense pain, and something was wrong with it. Perhaps there was more to that injury than Varlum had initially considered. With a slow stumble, he walked towards the exit to the cave, before collapsing and blacking out.
Five breaks passed before the man finally awoke, glancing up to a faint sound by the cave mouth. With panic the Ithecal grabbed for his axe, but it wasn't at his side, it was left by the wall he had been leaning on. As he tried to stand, the two hunters that he had let live came back into the cave with one other person at their side - an Ithecal. Through his haze it was hard to see, but the weapon gave it away - bone. A sharp, long blade made entirely of bone - possibly better quality than Varlum's. If that wasn't enough, the axe on her back and the daggers on her side were also made of bone, and the animal skull as a helmet was the real set piece.
"This is him, he killed everyone!" the woman exclaimed, looking to the almost nine foot tall Ithecal. A small smirk spread across her face as she looked down at Varlum, while the humans on either side of her glanced up with a level of fear for her sadistic glee. But that sadism was not intended for Varlum.
"So everyone but you two died on this mission? Nobody else is alive or on the way, just us three here?" she muttered, her voice higher pitched with a raspy tone to it. One of the men nodded, causing a small chuckle to leave the Ithecals mouth as she looked down at Varlum, who struggled to raise his head enough to look back. At the sound of her laugh, both hunters glanced to her concerned. "Perfect. That should give us plenty of time to get acquainted, Varlum. Wouldn't you say?"
Before either of the hunters could say anything, the Ithecal grabbed swung a bone sword and sliced the chest open of the female hunter, the sword lodged deep in to her rib cage. As the scream left her mouth one powerful bite wrapped around her skull, shattering it in seconds. Quickly, the last hunter turned to run, a glance going back to him from the standing Ithecal as she let go of the body in her mouth. "Let him run. He'll be dead by sunset anyway."
Kneeling down in front of Varlum, the new Ithecal put down her bone sword and offered a hand to Varlum. "Stand, we can get you something to drink. I assure you that yours wont be poisoned" she admitted, speaking in the common tongue. Slowly, Varlum took her hand and got up, using her shoulder to lean on and do so. It wasn't often Varlum met someone that was as close to his size, due to his insane height. But this woman was almost as tall as him, and potentially even stronger. Living with Ithecal often meant you saw a Thiussum bite, but never one that powerful.
"I know you, you're the one always outside my forge. Why are you here?" Varlum muttered through the pain, the corners of his eyes filling with darkness as the burning fire in him slowly faded. This wasn't a normal passing out, or a normal pain either, and Varlum knew it. "My chest, when they cut me...I can't see straight.""
Before he could hit the floor from his collapse, the female ithecal grabbed him and stopped his fall. "My name is Evianna, and I am here to protect you. I've been tasked with escorting you to Rharne so someone can meet you. But first, let's get you healed up a bit. It's a long road ahead."
Slowly stirring, Varlum woke up, his body cold as he found himself in the corner of the dark, festering cave. Old food sat round the group of hunters, one of which were asleep to recover from their injuries, while the last three were awake. Light came from the campfire, but hardly any of it provided warmth, and even the light was barely significant. Every corner of the cave crept with darkness, filled with the fears of every person, old and young. Should one stare too long, perhaps they would see exactly what they feared.
But Varlum wasn't afraid of the dark, nor was he afraid of the three hunters before him. Two men, smaller than most human men tended to be, and a slightly taller woman. They could use weapons, but in a fight against him two had already gone down. But his size wasn't the main advantage he had, nor was his snapping jaw or raw muscle. No, the advantage he had is that they wanted him alive. If they had truly wanted to they could have killed him, but they didn't. That meant he was worth something to them. While that thought ran through his head, a man turned over and looked at him, noticing his eyes staring back.
"He's awake. How are those injuries doing, big guy?" the man taunted, Varlum now noticing the bandages that were covering him. Pain surged through him, but none of the wounds were too deep that it could do lasting damage. That didn't, however, mean he wasn't suffering. Varlum let out a low growl through his chained mouth, his eyes fixed on the man in front of him, never once looking away. Even with his mouth shut fangs were displayed to everyone in the room, all of which were now looking at him. But his cold stare remained in one place, one one man.
"I think he likes you" the boss woman teased, gaining another low growl from Varlum as his eyes pierced through her ally. After a few more trills, the man Varlum was staring at stood up and walked close to the Ithecal, his pride burning inside of him. Although the hunter wouldn't say it, the Ithecal intimidated him - and that angered him. In front of his new boss, of all people, the man refused to let himself be intimidated by a man in chains, giant or not.
As he came close, Varlum made his move, using his leg to push himself forward and slam his body in to the man, knocking him to the floor as he did. Not stopping, the Ithecal charged forward at the woman ahead of him. As she quickly dove to the floor out of the way, Varlum saw it - his axe. Without his arms to stop himself Varlum overshot his footing, his torso slamming in to the wall. But as the adrenaline surged through him, Varlum didn't feel it.
Raising his hands above his head, Varlum slammed his arms down on to the blade of the axe as his knees held it up. Behind him, the sound of the hunters grabbing weapon could be heard. As his hands raised again, a sword left its sheath just a few meters behind him. With a heavy slam, the center of the chain broke, a chunk of the axe also pinging off to the side. Quickly sliding the chains off his mouth, Varlum turned around, Varlum looked straight to the woman leading this attack. She died first.
As she ran at him, unarmed, she made an attempt to grab him. Sudden instincts took over as the monstrous Ithecal as his jaw slammed shut around the hunters arm, and immediately started thrashing. Within seconds his intense jaw power had ripped through her arm, the womans body slamming in to the floor as her limb dropped to the other side of the cave. With vicious, cold eyes Varlum started at the other attacker with a low growl, his glare piercing through them. Yet they made no retreat.
With a longsword in their hand, the attacker swung for Varlum, missing by an inch as the Ithecal thrust back. Quickly, he threw down his sword as his friend came close, the two jumping on the Ithecal. With a loud cry of anger, Varlum pushed himself up as the two tried to hold him down, snapping at one of their heads and missing narrowly. As the struggle commenced, a dagger cut in to the Ithecal lightly, filling him with pure rage. With all his force, Varlum managed to push off, before wrapping both of his hands around the other and throwing him a few feet across the cave, face first in the stone and dirt.
Before the other could get up, Varlum rolled over to be on top of him, putting his hands on the mans throat and pressing down with all his force. Within trills the man was unconscious, giving Varlum time to let go and looking over to the two injured on the other side of the room. One of them was awake now, looking at Varlum with wide-eyed terror as the nine foot monster stood himself up, wiping blood from his mouth and face. with a vicious snarl leaving his mouth, the man walked closer, before stopping and towering over the female hunter. "Wake up your friend, take your shit, and leave. If I ever see your face here again, I'll rip your throat out."
With a quick nod from the woman. Varlum took a step away, watching her as she grabbed some gold and a weapon, before taking her friend and going. With a sigh the Ithecal leaned back against the wall, feeling himself start to lose his footing. Despite the wound being patched up, the damage to his back was causing intense pain, and something was wrong with it. Perhaps there was more to that injury than Varlum had initially considered. With a slow stumble, he walked towards the exit to the cave, before collapsing and blacking out.
Five breaks passed before the man finally awoke, glancing up to a faint sound by the cave mouth. With panic the Ithecal grabbed for his axe, but it wasn't at his side, it was left by the wall he had been leaning on. As he tried to stand, the two hunters that he had let live came back into the cave with one other person at their side - an Ithecal. Through his haze it was hard to see, but the weapon gave it away - bone. A sharp, long blade made entirely of bone - possibly better quality than Varlum's. If that wasn't enough, the axe on her back and the daggers on her side were also made of bone, and the animal skull as a helmet was the real set piece.
"This is him, he killed everyone!" the woman exclaimed, looking to the almost nine foot tall Ithecal. A small smirk spread across her face as she looked down at Varlum, while the humans on either side of her glanced up with a level of fear for her sadistic glee. But that sadism was not intended for Varlum.
"So everyone but you two died on this mission? Nobody else is alive or on the way, just us three here?" she muttered, her voice higher pitched with a raspy tone to it. One of the men nodded, causing a small chuckle to leave the Ithecals mouth as she looked down at Varlum, who struggled to raise his head enough to look back. At the sound of her laugh, both hunters glanced to her concerned. "Perfect. That should give us plenty of time to get acquainted, Varlum. Wouldn't you say?"
Before either of the hunters could say anything, the Ithecal grabbed swung a bone sword and sliced the chest open of the female hunter, the sword lodged deep in to her rib cage. As the scream left her mouth one powerful bite wrapped around her skull, shattering it in seconds. Quickly, the last hunter turned to run, a glance going back to him from the standing Ithecal as she let go of the body in her mouth. "Let him run. He'll be dead by sunset anyway."
Kneeling down in front of Varlum, the new Ithecal put down her bone sword and offered a hand to Varlum. "Stand, we can get you something to drink. I assure you that yours wont be poisoned" she admitted, speaking in the common tongue. Slowly, Varlum took her hand and got up, using her shoulder to lean on and do so. It wasn't often Varlum met someone that was as close to his size, due to his insane height. But this woman was almost as tall as him, and potentially even stronger. Living with Ithecal often meant you saw a Thiussum bite, but never one that powerful.
"I know you, you're the one always outside my forge. Why are you here?" Varlum muttered through the pain, the corners of his eyes filling with darkness as the burning fire in him slowly faded. This wasn't a normal passing out, or a normal pain either, and Varlum knew it. "My chest, when they cut me...I can't see straight.""
Before he could hit the floor from his collapse, the female ithecal grabbed him and stopped his fall. "My name is Evianna, and I am here to protect you. I've been tasked with escorting you to Rharne so someone can meet you. But first, let's get you healed up a bit. It's a long road ahead."
