The Beast hunters followed the twins far into the red lands, they glided through thick forests and muddy rock cliffs in a timeless daze. It was as if their feet never touched the bloody surfaces they passed over. Soon they arrived at a cliff overlooking an immense black capital. The citadel was coastal, built on a large flat cape within a heart shaped gulf. The bay was peppered with ships the color of black and mahogany. A sea mist rolled over the winding dark streets of the citadel, and gothic rooftops cut through the fog like the tips of ornate spears. Plumes of smoke rose from chimneys and glowing storehouses. Towers, houses, slums, and all manner of grand buildings were enclosed within six layers, each wall more than fifteen feet thick. Still, despite its vast design, the city seemed grim and empty, as if it were an illusion of true life.
In the center of it all, five towers jutted out into the sky. Four of the towers rose half the height of a central beam, stretching high above them all, and touching the clouds. Between the towers, walkways stretched out and interconnected them, thick like the cobwebs of an ancient spider giant. The prime tower ended in a flat rooftop, and above that, Oggin could see an impossibly tall figure standing above it all, watching them.
The figure on the tower had long black hair that fluttered like slivers of night in the morning. The slender giant was draped in a long flowing gown the same colors of the twin suns. Its cloth glinted and shimmered like fire. It shined rays into Oggin's eyes even from that distance, and he looked away. The figure stared over its vast kingdom, casting its silent command over all things the red sky touched.
"Welcome to Petalwane, seat of the greatest ruling sorcerer in all of Dargoul: The Wizard in White Steel, The King of Sorcerers, The Reaper of Red, Breaker of Gods, Barthyx Wilt." The male twin said. "You will not meet him today. You will relinquish our requested goods, transport and all, and make yourselves scarce in the lands of Scarlet."
Gile fell to a knee and bent his head, Ogg followed suit in silence. "You will have no quarrel from us, great one, but if it so please you, milord, we have but a single request before we part." Gile rasped in a clarity Ogg had never heard before.
The man narrowed his eyes. "I shall hear your request, tradesman." He said with a hint of vexation in his tone.
Gile nodded and continued, "The journey has been long and difficult, my companion and I are haggard. We beg thee, point us in the direction of your nearest inn, Allow us to retrieve our possessions from the coach and we shall rest our weary bones but a single night and be off by the morning." He said evenly.
And you haven't paid us the rest of our crowns. Oggin wanted to say, but he held his tongue.
The man gave them a half smile, "Yes, right, go and retrieve your things." The hunters scrambled onto the coach and threw down their bulging sacks. The man cleared his throat politely. "Dear sister, would you be so kind as to guide them to a place where they might find rest and comfort?" The woman did not reply or give reaction, she simply nodded. "Good." The man stared at Oggin as if he could read his mind. "Worry not boy, I'll have the compensation for your services arranged for you on the 'morrow. Farewell beast hunters, I'm loath to await our next meeting," He said as he sauntered down the hill to the gates of the sprawling castle-town. The horses clopped in his shadow, close at his heels. They heard the intense squeals of the nullified men echo throughout the scarlet land, and for the first time, they began to beg. That was when Oggin remembered that he had forgotten to feed them. It had been longer than five days, but how many days truly, he could not be sure.
"They sound happy," Gile said with a dark grin, "I'm sure they'll be treated quite well, I know we will be."
Oggin looked over at him frowning. "We've just committed a horrible sin, Gile," He said aloud, "Think about what we've just done—"
A sudden and powerful gust came and blew him forwards. It was as if the full force of their journey struck him all at once, and he fully would have tumbled over and off the cliff if Gile had not caught him.
"Careful son, won't do you no good embarrassing' yerself in front of the lady." Gile said, propping him back up.
The lady sat on a clean stump of a freshly felled tree. Her beautiful bright red hair fluttered across her delicate features, and her golden eyes stared unblinking and intense, trained on a single point beyond the two of them. When Oggin followed her gaze, he saw that the giant above the tower had disappeared. All that remained of him was the glint of his fluttering cloak.
"Follow me." The red haired woman sang coldly, gracefully sliding down the cliff face and into the thick scarlet forest.
Gile turned after her. "C'mon then, it's time we were paid." Oggin hesitated, and followed behind.
"Pardon my asking milady," Gile said politely, stumbling through the brush, "What royal fool would bring such a vibrant flower as yourself to a land gloom-stricken as this? A lady as beautiful as you deserves a castle in the heavens themselves!"
The woman did not answer, her response was the quiet flutter of her hair and the whistle of the leaves in the wind. She eyed the dark wood ahead, walking rigid and refined, each step a calculated movement. She stopped abruptly and Gile almost tripped over her, Oggin slogged up from behind.
A bead of sweat slivered down Gile's brow, and he cleared his throat. "Apologies if i've said something to offend milady of— er— fire—"
She turned and her golden eyes stared down at him filled with scorn. She pointed further beyond into the darkness of the forest. She regarded the beast hunters coldly. "You will find all you need there." she said.
Gile squinted at a squat structure in the gloom, "Not all I need, my lady—" Gile began to say, turning towards the woman, but she was already gone.
The old hunter scratched his head and stared at Ogg, "Where did she go?" Gile asked.
Oggin's face looked dreadful and confused, but he shrugged it off and pointed to the black capital looming in the distance. "She probably went back."
Gile looked out across the darkness with his hands on his hips. "Damn. Thought she'd at least give me her name," He turned to the structure in the dark and shuffled through the forest. "Let's hope they have strong drinks, maybe we can finally use these seven thousand crowns. What say you, Ogg? Are you thirsty?"
Oggin smiled strangely, and nodded readily, "Yes you're right—I feel parched." he said, and fell into pace beside the older man.
* * *
Gile and Oggin raised two more sloshing cups in the air, "To freedom!" They shouted in drunken unison, clinking the cups, "To our luck!" Gile shouted on his own. They tilted the cups back, and drank greedily, red mead dribbled down their chins.
Gile belched "Look where I've brought us Ogg!" He gestured to the unimpressive room around him, "An old inn and a belly full of mead!" he laughed aloud, "What better place could you imagine for us? Bring us more drinks!" He roared, and pounded the mug on the table.
The inn was as run down inside as it was out, and they were the only guests. It seemed more like a makeshift barracks than an inn. The entrance opened up into a cramped main hall, and a dull-minded woman stood behind the counter. She smiled and her teeth were yellow and stinking like piss. She filled their cups.
"Have all the drinks you'd like, as long as you can supply the crowns." The woman spat. She was thin and wiry beneath her dirty cook-gown, with hair the color of burnt straw. Blue veins coursed beneath her thin skin, and her eyes were dark and sunken.
Gile eyed her haughtily and grinned handsomely. "Would you have a drink with us tonight ma'am? I'll pay the house double for every drink you order." He hoisted a bag of jangling coins and spilled them out. Seven thousand crowns, each and every one a golden king, and no denomination lower.
The woman's eyes went huge and she laughed raspily. "How could I turn an offer like that down? Especially with folk as fine as yourselves. Pour me a double!" she shouted, the hunters cheered and Oggin poured. She downed them both at the same time, and poured them all another round.
* * *
It was late into the night, and the time of their revelry had long past. They sat staring into the crackling fire pit, smoking a sour smelling blood leaf from a long pipe. The woman had introduced herself as 'Toldred' and she sat there ghastly and terrifying on her ancient seat of animal hide. She brought the pipe to her mouth and inhaled deeply, handing the pipe to Gile before she exhaled the swirling smoke like white swipes of paint on a dark canvas. Gile too took a prolonged breath, and sunk down in his chair as the smoke billowed from his nostrils. He offered the pipe to Oggin, but he waved it away.
Oggin's dark eyes glowed dimly with the fire. "The man and the woman who led us here, do you know who they are?" he asked the woman.
Toldred chuckled darkly, warmed by drink and hearth. "Aye but it is not for you to learn, for it is only the dead and the dying that know them by name."
Gile coughed, "Then count us among the souls of hell, my lady," he said as he exhaled a thick cloud of smoke through his beard. "Eternal suffering is but a garden of thorned roses in your company."
The thin woman giggled like a chittering rat. "Oh you do know how to charm a lady, sir Gile." She shook her head. "But to speak of the Wilts to outsiders would be to betray the secrets of our lord himself, and that would be treason. Punishable by extreme torture and eventually death." She shuddered at the thought.
The hunters both stared at the woman. Gile placed a hand on Oggin's shoulder and bent low into a murmur. "You misunderstand Toldred, as of this morning, my son and I have joined you in your service to our lord. We are to be his royal retainers, to capture the null men and return to him. As written in the letters of our sworn doctrine, penned by our mutual lord himself, and paid in seven thousand crowns, gold kings all." He gestured to the bag of money.
The woman's brows peaked, "You've entered into an open contract with the King of Sorcerers?"
Gile's eyes twinkled. "The very same. But as you know, our lords are sworn to secrecy, and in our novelty they have forgotten to inform us of the vital details needed to complete our king's mighty task."
The withered woman looked horrified, "No! The wills and wants of the Wilted is of the utmost importance!" she babbled.
Oggin watched quietly as Gile gave the pipe back to her, "So now you know our plight. Would you allow us dutiful servants to fail the Wilted?" The black smoke was pouring from Gile's mouth now, and it slipped into her breath undetected as she inhaled another lungful.
Toldred stood to her feet swaying, smoke filling the room's ceilings. "Never! Never shall the Wilted fail! Brothers, I shall lay my heart and soul bare to you tonight, and together we shall appease our lords! What knowledge do you require?"
Gile smiled politely, clearing his throat as his true mask slipped back on. "Tell us all you know about them Wilts."
Toldred nodded glumly and sighed heavily, as if she were passing a great burden upon their shoulders. "The Wilts are a cursed family of warlocks and witches, the origins of their sorceries trace back to the very first men and women that walked upon our world, and the history of their power is written within Dargoul itself." She patted the table, she pointed to the bricks, the firepit, the door, the ceiling, and the sky, all were red. "All the things that take this color of scarlet, will forever be marked by the hands of the Wilted. Long ago those of their blood were great conquerors, rising up and throttling the world like overgrown weeds in a budding garden. This time of unfettered chaos came to be known as 'The Age of Havok'. Truly the dominion of their family had been vast, and knew no bounds. But like all great nations, it was their own pride that brought upon their downfall. In their infinite knowledge of Magick, the elder Wilts unleashed an ungovernable power, one beyond the control of any sorcerer, no matter the height of their strength." she whispered as if the Wilts could hear. "A crucible of death took place, and in the land of scarlet where they ruled, the lives of the innocent were offered up. In exchange for their sacrifice, it was he that returned to the world. The true father of all magic, the eternal enemy, the ruler of Bedlam, Noctifernos. He rose from his burning capital and killed each and every hand of the Wilted. All but our lord Barthyx Wilt, and his twin children: Xanni and Xirve— Those same children who guided you today. They, along with their father, struck down Noctifernos, and ushered in a new age of magic." She said with dreamy eyes.
Gile raised a thin brow, the black smoke hadn't stopped billowing from his mouth. "If our lords are so powerful, how come we haven't known about him before now?"
Oggin nodded in agreement. "Right, I haven't heard of the 'Wilts' before we—"
Toldred stared at him intently, and he shifted nervously. "Before we were sworn to their royal service."
The rotten woman sighed. "The battle with Noctifernos left our lord incapacitated, but through the endless prayers of the smallfolk, and the tender care of his children, he has been able to persevere, and rule the land from atop his great citadel: The capital of Scarlet, Petalwane. We have not seen our lord in many long years, but it is said that his vitality returns gradually with each passing day," bitter tears fell from Toldred's eyes. "I can only hope that my body grants me the strength long enough to witness his return."
The three went quiet, ruminating silently on the words that had been said. The silence broke when Gile yawned and cleared his throat. "Apologies, lady Toldred, but it seems that I have reached the limit of my fortitude. My son and I must retire to our rooms in preparation for our journey home in the morning," He pulled out two handfuls of golden kings from his bag of crowns, and poured them on the table. "The payment for our night, as promised. I thank you for your kind patronage." he said kindly.
The woman was in a confused state, but she nodded and said "Yes, it seems I have grown weary as well," She got up from her chair and walked behind the counter. "I pray that your dreams are pleasant, good hunters, and that our lord visits you in the night, as he does with us all." She entered into a door on the back wall and shut it behind her, leaving the hunters to stand in silence by the dwindling fire.
* * *
Oggin woke the next morning to the world shaking and screaming around him, his head burned with a searing headache. He bent over the side of his rumbling bed and retched, slimy red chunks spilled out across the floor and wriggled like little snakes. He looked out across the room and saw that Gile's bed was empty. He wiped his mouth and stumbled out of his own bed, pulling up his breeches and slipping his worn leather jerkin over his shoulders. He threw his pack on the floor, and rifled through it. He pulled an ugly shortsword from its scabbard, spun, and threw the door open into the main hall. Ogg heard a bloodcurdling scream and Gile's angry voice barking from beyond the front door. He gripped his shortsword tightly and burst out into the bright scarlet forest.
The first thing he saw was the red haired woman that had guided them the day before. Her hair was wild and luminous, and a fiery aura played about her silhouette. In her ornate gauntlets, she gripped her sharpened serrated blades, and they were soaked in fresh blood. At her feet, was the crumpled decapitated corpse of Toldred the bar maid. She sheathed one of her weapons, and bent down, seizing the woman's loose head by her thin mottled hair, and lifting it up into the red sky.
Gile was on his knees and holding his smashed bloodied face in his hands, "You fuckin basterds killed er'!" he gargled. He was staring at black heeled boots, worn by the other guide they had met the day before. He held a little parasade to shade himself from the red haze of the suns. The man sighed heavily and gave Gile a fierce kick in the stomach. He doubled over and groaned, vomitting red chunks.
"Gile?!" Oggin cried out, gritting his teeth and turning his attention to his mentor. He was bare from the waist up. Oggin glared at the ink haired man, "you're gonna pay for that!" he said, and raised his empty right hand at him. Silver, hooked chains launched from Ogg's fingertips and began to wrap around the man.
The chains spun tightly around him, but the man looked unimpressed. Before they could finish constricting him, he flexed his arms and the chains shattered into pieces. "Oh please," he scoffed, "Xanni, sieze this rabble."
The female twin tossed aside Toldred's head and had her fingers wrapped around Oggin's throat before he could even blink. He was huge for his age, and had never once met any man nor woman that could carry him, but she did so effortlessly. With a single arm she held him up in the air and Oggin's feet dangled. He lashed out with the shortsword in his hand, but in a quick streak of the woman's red blade, the sword spun off into the dirt, along with a pair of Oggin's severed fingers still wrapped around the handle. He held up his mutilated left hand and screamed. His index and middle fingers had been cut clean in half at an angle,
and the tip of his ring finger dangled on a thin string of flesh.
Gile lifted his head off the floor and coughed, black smoke shot out from his mouth, "Let em' go bitch!" he roared, but his efforts were fruitless. The male twin bent down casually and seized Gile by the throat. He squeezed tightly, stopping the smoke pouring from Gile's bowels. The male twin smiled coldly, and strolled up beside his sister. Side by side, the twins held both the hunters in the air by the neck, a mirror image of suffering captives.
"We didn't come to kill you, we have need of your extended service. Do as we say and our wealthy lord father will continue to reward you handsomely." The male twin said.
Oggin was breathing heavily, his thick hands were clutched around the lady Xanni's lean wrists, and ropes of blood spurted from his sliced fingers. "You killed her!" He rasped his red eyes glaring at Xanni.
"Yes we did." The male twin said matter of factly, "she told you our secrets. This will not do. Every subject in the Land of Scarlet is bound by their silent oath to our lord. She broke this oath, even knowing what would come."
"But why? If you know what she told us, then you also must know that she wasn't at fault. We told her that we were your allies! And this morning, you have come to tell us that our lie was true. You killed her for nothing!" Oggin said through gritted teeth.
Xanni squeezed harder and Ogg gasped, "Silence. Do not question the law of our lord father," She said with a poisonous glare. "We should kill them Xirve, there's no point in training stupid dogs."
Xirve, the male twin, shook his head. "No. Father himself laid claim on their lives," He cleared his throat. "Now for your reward!" He said, whistling loudly, and the forest floor thundered. Two reptilian agathions, scaled giants with heavy horns, lumbered out of the trees. Behind them, they pulled along a huge stagecoach constructed using black iron and thick slabs of red wood. The pair of monsters strolled about effortlessly, as if it were a pebble strapped to their backs.
Xirve cleared his throat "Take these blessed gifts from our lord. An enchanted iron stagecoach to nullify the magic of men, and two all powerful agathion servants, behold the might of the minosaurs." As if on cue, the minosaurs roared in unison. The minosaurs were strange looking creatures, They were close to twelve feet tall, heavily scaled like a reptilian, and their massive horns connected in huge loops above their heads. They had two tiny beady eyes and a slit mouth that seemed to wrap around their skull. No ears of any sort could be found on them, In fact, it was clear that they could not hear anything at all. They were deaf, mute creatures, and yet they were the most feared beasts amongst all the agathion races. Their physical prowess was incredibly intimidating, and despite their evolutionary handicaps, they had found some other way to hunt and kill.
Xirve grinned and clapped his hands, "Well done! I taught them that just earlier you know? They are quite powerful creatures, naturally built to endure any chaos their masters might encounter, and very quick witted too." He looked over at Xanni who raised a blood soaked eyebrow at him.
Xirve cleared his throat and pointed at Gile. "You will go to your human settlement, and acquire nine sorcerers of great magical power. Then, you will return here and deliver them to us."
"We ain't doin nothin." Gile spat, his arms clawing Xirve's firm hand. "I ain't takin' no more lordly offers."
Xanni hissed, "You know not who you refuse, the will of a god knows no limits."
Gile flashed them a bloody smile, "Well I ain't no god fearing man, and yer lord is a lot less than that."
Xanni and Xirve glanced at each other, a sinister smile spread across their faces in an eerie unison. "So be it." Xirve said.
"I will enjoy watching father tear you apart," Xanni chimed in with a wicked grin.
Oggin gripped Xanni's hand at his throat and cried out desperately "W-wait!"
Gile's eyes squinted and he stared at Oggin. All looked at him.
"W-what does your lord offer us?" Ogg sputtered.
Gile's face soured, "You fuckin cowa—"
"SHUT UP!" Ogg shouted.
Xirve smiled. "Our lord father has offered five hundred thousand crowns, enough golden kings to fill two holds of this iron stagecoach—"
"We'll do it!" Ogg said nodding frantically "Let us go and we are your men! We'll bring back the nine sorcerers. I give you my word!"
Xanni looked at him. "He's lying to ensure their escape. Let's dispose of them, brother and capture the rest of the sorcerers ourselves, my hands ache for the thrill of battle."
Xirve eyed Oggin curiously. "Why should we believe you? You're just a boy. There is no value in the words of the unwise."
"Then it is not my word that you must heed. It's your lord father's, he asked for us himself! You cannot disobey him!" Ogg reasoned.
Ogg stared into Xirve's shimmering golden eyes, "I'll swear my fealty to him, make whatever contract I need, I'll sell my goddamn soul if he asks for it. Just let us live. Let us serve the Wilts!"
Xirve's face was unreadable and he was quiet for a moment. "Sister—" he said "Let us release them. I find this one. . . promising."
Xanni's beautiful face was full of rage, "We only need one of them. I don't like this one's eyes." She nodded at Gile, and drew one of her serrated blades.
"No!" Shouted Ogg. "His powers are essential in order to capture the sorcerers! Just let us go and by the time we get back he'll be kneeling at your feet!"
Xirve dropped Gile on the floor and put his left hand on Xanni's shoulder, "He's right sister, they are of more use to us and our father alive. Let them do as we have commanded and return."
Xanni scowled. "Fine." She dropped Oggin, who grasped his bloody hand moaning in pain. She drew close to Gile. "Fix the way you look at me, or I'll pluck out those murky eyes of yours and eat them."
The twins spun around, their capes and coats fluttering behind him. Xirve cleared his throat. "You will find your owed gold in the hold of the iron carriage. We shall be anticipating your return. And if you should not, know that we will find you wherever you may be, and next time, there will be no mercy." Xirve walked off into the trees, Xanni was in close sync behind him, and they disappeared together.
* * *
The pair of hunters had spent the rest of that morning's light burying the body of the lady innkeep. They flattened the red ground without any sign to mark her grave, and gave her a silent farewell. Afterwards, they gathered their things, hoisted themselves up onto their new iron carriage, and set off back to the Scarred Valleys in grim silence.
Soon they left the Land of Scarlet behind, rolling past the agathion hamlet they had been driven out of a few nights before. Gile had wanted to charge in with their newfound might, and pay those beastmen back for the patronage they had shown them before. Oggin, charged with a newfound confidence, firmly refused Gile's plan. Instead, they gave the village a wide berth and avoided it completely.
The village had seen the men ride by at a distance, Oggin was sure of this, but he hoped that the beastmen would let them pass without consequence. Later that evening, as they rested far off in the darkness of the wild grass, they found themselves amongst many unwelcome visitors in the night. As they camped, nestled in the forests between two great hills, a band of armed beastmen came running out from the heights. The hunters barely escaped with their lives, saved only by the villagers' sudden hesitation, when faced with the blind rage of the minosaurs traveling with them. The hunters escaped south, deeper into the heart of Agathia. They traveled for a week and a half, lasting on the few meagre supplies they had salvaged in their escape from the beastmen and whatever sustenance the wild gave them.
They swept across the fields and wilds, careful not to stop too long to rest. Until one day Gile spotted a trail of smoke rising up into the sky. In their desperation, they changed their course, and rode towards it. They came across a ransacked settlement in the far distance. The smoking ruins were archaic, with half destroyed towers, built alongside scraggled wooden huts, hastily made and abandoned just as fast. The village had been built in the ruins of a great capital, in some desperate hope of restoring a power long fallen. But now the voices of these brave settlers had joined the ghostly screams of those that ruled before them.
There were agathion bodies everywhere. Women, children, young, old, all there in various stages of decomposition. Strewn about across the ruined towers and huts like burnt play dolls. Gile scowled and spit at their corpses as they passed, and Oggin gazed at them stone faced and quiet. They traveled to the center of the ruins, where there was a huge walled property, overflowing with some unnaturally lively plantlife. The high wooden gate had been smashed in, and the garden behind it swallowed the entire courtyard in a tangled green mass. It had been left untouched by whatever force had done all this.
Atop the mass of green leaves, Oggin saw the roofing of a large building built at the very center of the fauna. They left the minosaurs in front of the smashed gates, shielding their noses from the sweet smell of rot, and wading through the small jungle.
When they approached the longhouse, they saw that it was near completely burnt to cinders. The ceiling had fallen through, and everything was still smoldering and hot. On the floor of the huge ruined structure, is where they saw the remains of the men. Their bodies had been all heaped up in giant piles and set ablaze in twisted bonfires. They were still smoking, and though some edges of the blooming garden had burned, Oggin saw little buds sprouting anew amongst the black soot. Within the sleeping green husks, Oggin could see little red flowers beginning to sprout. They grew out in the direction of the mounds of smoking corpses, and swayed in the wind like wriggling green fingers with scarlet painted nails. They were wrapping around the feet of the dead. Oggin groaned and ran off into the forest, dry-heaving.
Gile crept closer to the mounds, squatting down and studying the bodies closely. "What did I tell you about these agathions Ogg? They're all fuckin' monsters," He spat into the ashes, "Look how the kin of the false gods die. If it weren't fer how bad they smell, this would all bring a tear to my eye."
Oggin stomped back into the dead-house breathing heavily. "You heartless fuckin bastard," He shouted, and pointed a trembling finger at Gile. "These were families! They were mothers, fathers, and children! What hatred can you possibly have for corpses?"
Gile crossed his arms and shook his head. "Yer still not gettin it Ogg, the only good agathions are dead ones. Nothin' that they do will be a boon to us. They're just animals in all but name. The fact that we share even a semblance of our blood with them is humanity's greatest shame."
Oggin grit his teeth, "Why do you keep insulting them like that? You speak as if one of them has not stood by your side for nearly fifteen years now!"
Gile's eyes narrowed and he glared at Ogg, "There are exceptions for every field of squandered crop, that doesn't make the crop good. Besides, you've always preferred your human side over your tainted agathion blood."
Ogg seemed to well up with a great rage then, but before he could explode, his body slumped in defeat and he fell to his knees. "So you hate half of me then, Gile?" he said bitterly, "Do you believe me tainted by my agathion blood?"
Gile pursed his lips, unsure of what to say for a moment. "Yes I do. Yer human side wouldn't be causing you to act out like this. Yer getting too comfortable around these parts. You are a human, not an animal, boy. Stop this shameful display of weakness." he said.
Oggin looked up at him with tears in his eyes, slowly standing to his feet. "All the things I know about being a human came from you old man," Oggin raised his good hand at Gile, his eyes suddenly growing huge and wild, "and I have never felt more like an animal."
"What are ya doin boy?!" Gile said warily, his hand shot to the dagger on his belt.
Oggin stared straight through him as if Gile wasn't even there "Stay back beast!" He roared, and silver hooked chains launched from his fingers at Gile.
Gile dove to the side, he slipped the dagger from his belt and sent it whistling through the air at Ogg. He hit the floor, and the silver chains flew over him tangling up the huge agathion mongrel that had been sneaking up behind him. Oggin's chains wrapped around it and yanked it to the ground. It struggled on the floor howling and clawing angrily.
"W-What?" Gile said aloud. He looked over at Oggin, who was clutching the dagger protruding from his right pectoral. Ogg fell to a knee, and blood was quickly staining his leathers.
Suddenly, a smaller beast sprang out from behind the mounds near Oggin, roaring and bounding on all fours like a savage. He shouted in surprise, but brought his mutilated hand up just before its small claws could reach him. Chains shot out from all around and the small beast stumbled and fell hard on its face as thick silver whirled around his ankles.
Gile snapped back from his shock, "Y-You fuckin basterds!" he bellowed, and yanked his shortsword from its rusted scabbard. "I'll kill both of you!" He raised it above his head and plunged it downwards at the larger mongrel.
"No!" Oggin grunted painfully, yanking the mongrel closer to him, so that Gile's blade struck nothing but hot ash. Gile looked up confused. "No more death! No more killing!" Ogg was trembling furiously, and the blood was spurting from his chest wound now.
"What madness has taken over you boy? They just tried to kill us!" Gile shouted.
"You just tried to kill me! It's always you!" Ogg shouted back angrily.
Gile grit his teeth and opened his mouth to yell, but closed it again warily and looked away for a moment. He sighed and turned back to Oggin. "What should I do Ogg?" he said with a wavering voice.
"Just use your black breath and put them to sleep, then we'll bring them back to Footfallen with us—" Suddenly, he doubled over in pain and his magic chains wavered. The little beast wriggled free, and with a swift swipe of his claws and a screech of rage, he split Oggin's face in two. He screamed as the little beast ferociously swiped away pieces of him.
"Oggin!" shouted Gile, as he stumbled over to them. The chains of the larger one were loosening too, and it strained against its heavy constraints. "Get off em' agathion scum!" He roared, as black smoke shot from his mouth and invaded the agathion's nostrils. Immediately the two beasts leapt back and stood still, awaiting Gile's next command.
Oggin sat up and was breathing hard and bleeding heavily, he glared at Gile dangerously. "Now put them to sleep, and we'll drag 'em back to the coach." Gile eyed the beasts, gripping his short sword tight in his fist.
"It's the least you owe, Gile," Oggin said, clutching his chest "Do it now, and treat my fucking wounds."
Gile looked distraught, he looked back and forth between the beasts and Ogg. He shut his eyes tightly and took in a deep breath. Then told the pair to fall asleep.
***
On the road again, this time with their destination set straight back to the Scarred Valleys, Oggin and Gile rode in a long tense silence. Gile looked over at Ogg, whose entire upper body had been wrapped up in bloodied bandages.
Gile cleared his throat, "What do you plan on doin with the pair o' beasties when we get back?"
"I don't know." Ogg said in a reserved and curt tone. "Same thing you did with me most likely."
Gile frowned. "Ain't no chance. They're definitely ain't livin with us, they'll kill you the first time they get a chance."
Oggin shrugged. "We'd deserve it." He said.
Gile opened his mouth to say something else, but he faltered. And went quiet again, thinking twice about what he should say next. "Look son, no matter how much you want 'em to be kind, they won't be. We just took 'em from their homes, you think they'll just start rolling over for us?"
"We just saved them from that hell. They'll come around once they realize that." Oggin snapped.
"And if they don't?" Gile asked.
"Then I guess we'll have to die trying to convince them." Oggin replied. "I don't want to do anymore of these horrible things we've been doing. Killing them won't do anything but make us more terrible, so we'll figure out a different way."
Gile sighed and looked away, "I have a better idea for you Ogg," he said in a gentler tone, "We can sell 'em off to the Moruluks, they're always looking for new agathion recruits. That way we can make a little bit of coin to get you fixed up right. How about that?"
Ogg stared straight ahead at the vast wilderness. Plains, grasses, mountains, rivers, and great forests littered the Agathion landscape all around them, and as the suns lowered in the sky a peace overtook him. This land calmed him in a way he had never felt before. He didn't quite know if he liked those feelings. Oggin took in a breath of the fresh clean air and looked over at Gile. His face was full of guilt and shame, and Oggin's own expression softened. "Yes, that sounds like a fine plan Gile." He said awkwardly.
Gile nodded slowly, and gave Ogg a light tap on the shoulder. "Alright then son," he said. The minosaurs bellowed queerly, and the iron stagecoach rolled on through the fields.