Deciever, Story But Not Related to TES Options

[Tulustan]

Last few weeks I have had ideas for stories rolling around in my brain muscle, so here is me trying to share one of them. Critiques are welcome!

Chapter 1

It had been roughly five years since I had gone north to the port city of Tanon in search of wealth. I had heard many things about the city, especially how easy it was to find a job on the wharf, which being of the prespant class left me very few choices in work. Slowly I had worked my way up the labor ladder on the wharfs and had become the manager of wharf four. It was still hard work especially getting the newer members to unload cargo quick enough and safe enough as to not hurt themselves or the cargo.

This year however I had begun to take a liking to one of the new dockhands. His name was Marcus and he had been working on the wharfs for only a few months. However, he had the brains to listen to my advice and not get himself seriously hurt or killed yet, and also no complaints had been filed against him (all extremely rare for new dockhands).

All in all life was going pretty good. I looked at the machine in the corner that told me what hour of the day it was… very nice almost time to go home. I decided to go down and arrange some festivities for the night.

As I walked onto the wharf the familiar feel of the treated wood groaned under my feet as the ocean tried to lazily dislodge it from the earth that it had been built into. Not much had changed about wharf four in the five years I had worked on it. A few broken planks here and there and that one time the crane had broken and almost clove the wharf in half, but it was still the same thing with a few scars and the blood of the men who worked it.

As I reached about halfway across the wharf I spied Marcus unloading a medium sized grey crate by himself. “Hey there!” I yelled to him.

“Whoa, if it isn’t the grand ol boss here to the rescue.” He yelled back. “Gonna actually contribute to this little shindig for once instead of sittin on your boat all day watchin us do all the work?”

“Hey! It takes a lot of strength writing those reports for all the crates you’ve dropped!” I replied not having to yell with the distance closed to within a few feet.

“Ah dang, you know I don’t drop any crates. But please feel free to keep sitting there while I do real work!”

I let out a little chuckle at that and began to help him lift a couple of the heavier crates off of the ship. I mean hell it’s a great way to keep in shape and I owed him after the drunken stupor I managed to drink myself into the night before.

Even though I had not totally recovered from that previous night I asked him “After were done off loading this ship wanna go to the Musty Sailor and grab some of the new import from Mumbril. I hear they added some extra zing to their new batch of ale!”

“Are you joking with me? After last night you wanna go drinking again? I mean cmon you just about killed yourself in that pile of puke you conjoured up! But yeah I guess, hopefully this time you’ll be walking me home though… Yeah I just realized the likelihood of that statement, ya drunky.”

“Hardy har har, see ya there. I gotta go take care of a few administrational things first.” under my breath, but loud enough to hear me I muttered “like getting you fired”.

“oh, you bag of dicks” he responded then said “later, don’t get too drunk before I get there to drag your boat home” he finished.

At that I walked back to my office at the end of the wharf and began to get all the reports ready to hand in the next day to the “dock master”. By the time I had finished my paperwork it was dark out and the candle lit room cast shadows of all the odd bobbles I had collected over the time I had lived in Tanon.

As I left my office the familiar smell of saltwater assailed my nostrils. Usually I just ignored it automatically but for some reason it was intensely strong. I kept walking back to my house. The whole way there the pungent aroma of the saltwater assaulted my senses.

I approached the shortcut to my house. It went behind the butchers shop and a few tall apartment buildings. Most of the city was built out of solid stone, one of the few in the kingdom. It was a key hub for commerce and with an abundance of quarries and a limited supply of farmland the city had built vertically.

As I reached my house, an apartment complex grafted onto the side of the southern wall, I noticed that most of the blankets over the windows of each apartment were down. I found this to be very odd because it was still early in the night and still fairly warm outside.

I got into my room and began changing into clothes I did not care overly much about (didn’t want to have to worry about puking on myself and buying a new shirt). I took care to put my dagger back on however, never know when you can use one in a enclosed area full of men whose heads may be a teeny bit infected with alcohol.

I left my house on the same route I had come in and when I got to the back ally I thought that I noticed someone following me. I ignored it, this being one of the safer cities in the kingdom thanks to all of the wealth it had acquired.

About halfway through the ally I heard someone full out sprinting in behind me. Quickly I turned around and began to pull my dagger. However, as the blade almost cleared the phantom behind me tackled me to the ground. He reached for something in his lavender robe, quickly I thrust my leg upward and into his growing getting enough force to somersault him over me.

I looked back to notice that he had somewhat recovered and had drawn a sword. Quickly I rolled to my feet and pulled my dagger. He came swift and fast with a lunge for my chest. I barely got the parry in time to stop the blade from gutting me. Again he tried to inflict damage on my innards using the same thrust. However this time I was more prepared and managed to parry the thrust easily. I noticed that he either must not have been expecting such a strong parry or was very inexperienced at using a sword because the parry had left his middle right open.

I took the advantage. I jumped on him with all of my might and knocked him to the ground. Right when we hit the ground I pummeled him once in the face with the butt of my dagger and kicked his sword away.

“Why are you attacking me!” I yelled into his face. The sound I got back was that of a mad animal trying all it could to break free. The thing was it wasn’t me he was trying to break free of. It was like something inside the man wanted out, or control of the body. I repeated my inquiry.

His face turned savagely red but it looked like something was winning over and he managed to mutter through gritted teeth “Heh help me”.

I had no idea how to help this man or even if he needed helping maybe this was just a ploy to break free from my hold. I began to ask in what way I could assist him when all of a sudden I heard a zinging sort of noise from my left ear, there was a wet smacking sound. The attacker had stopped moving altogether underneath me and a warm fluid had begun to puddle near my left knee where I was holding his arm down. That is when I noticed a small dagger handle jutting out of the side of my attackers’ neck.

This post has been edited by Tulustan: Dec 7 2010, 05:11 AM

[Tulustan]

‘DING DONG’ a bell boomed out from town square. Marcus jumped strait out of bed a cold sweat on his face. His short blonde hair glistened in the morning sun. “Up and at up boys, we’ve got ourselves some Aceluns to kill today!”

Putting the pillow over his face Marcus said “Jus five more minutes mom.” Which conjured a much-needed laugh from the other men in the room.

The covers flew off and the Sergeant picked him off the mattress. “You kill me thirty Aceluns today and you get tomorrow off. Hell you do that you get the rest of the war off!”

Knowing that killing thirty men was easier than arguing with the sergeant Marcus got out of bed and began to dress for another day of war. Going down to the armory he found that some armor had been added into his cubbyhole. Pulling it out he recognized where the militia had gotten the ‘new’ armor. It was the leftovers from the leading contingent of Aceluns.

Pulling the leather straps tight against his body he muttered “Sorry bud, but better me than you”. The equipment didn’t fit perfectly. The original owner was a bit taller and bulkier but the hardened leather would protect him much better than what he had been wearing.

Leaving the compound Marcus noticed the pungent odor of death. The day was already getting warm and the humidity wasn’t helping in the least. He headed towards the triage camp to check on Rat. “Hey there big gu-“ He started to say as he pulled the door open to Rat’s room finding no one inside. “Wha?” He said to himself. There was no way Rat could be out and about after all the hits he had taken yesterday.

The doctor came around the corner and saw Marcus standing in the doorway. “I see that you came back. I had no clue you took such a fancy to me?”

Marcus turned around and stated flatly “Oh well I guess you didn’t know this but I like my wine aged.”
“You do have a quick mouth don’t ya boy.” A smirk emerged on the wrinkled mans old face. “You’re lookin for your pall Rataghuw?”

“He didn’t uh-“

“Croak? Oh no no no, he heard the bell and simply got up. Headed towards the armory.”

Marcus looked surprised and angry. “You didn’t stop him!?”

“Yeah what’s an old fart like me gonna do against that monster? Look kid, I’ve been in the army longer than you’ve been alive. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that you don’t go try an stop someone that’s much bigger and stronger than you from killing your enemy. It’s just counter productive.”

“Thanks for that wisdom doc, once again such an enlightened conversation.” With that Marcus went towards his assigned area.

As he walked up the street the stench got worse and worse. The bodies of those that had not burned smelled terrible and were leaking fluids onto the ground making a viscous sludge.

Marcus saw a blonde head with tight curly hair bobbing on the far side of the barricade.“Holy compassion Rat! Look what ya did to this honoured user!”

“That bugger made POP when he hit!”

Marcus moved around the structure and saw what Curley and Rat were discussing. When Rat had saved Marcus the previous day the big man had smashed one Acelun into the barricade. They were simply looking at his remains. There was really very little to see, the man had become a splatter on the wall, his chest caved in and ribs breaking through flesh. A small amount of blood and other bodily fluids had continued to drip from his openings.

Marcus shook his head. “You sure your up to fighting Rat?”

The big man made his way towards Marcus with a surprising amount of grace. “Yeah, course I am. I think… I think I love war!”

“Well that seems enthusiastic enough.” Marcus made his way back to the defenders side of the barricade. “You guys think we can hold them for another day?”

Red piped in “Yeah, if what Curley and Bigs saw last night turns out to be tru-“ he had miss-stepped and fell on a corpse. “compassion! This is nasty!” He said wiping away some fluid from his face.

Rat and Marcus began to laugh at the mans misfortune. “Heh but in all seriousness what did ya see last night?”

The familiar baritone of Bigs came from behind. “The Acelun ships headed south. Dunno how far but I’d say that our navy is hurtin um somewhere.”

Marcus began to ponder that. “Why would they leave without full control of the city? They have no guarantee of victory.”

“Maybe it’s a trap for our- phyuk.” Red started as he blew some liquid out of his mouth. “For our ships?”

“No, it’s too easy to spot ships in this weather. Our ships could outmaneuver them bringing in supplies and reinforcements.”

“We don’t even know if we have any ships or a country left. We’ve been cut out of the big picture for too long. For all we know the war is over and we’ve already lost.”

Rat interjected with some of his wisdom “Yeh an we can keep fightin these bastards till we’ve got ourselves a country!”

“Really? Do you understand what reality is? Because if you do you should really make an attempt at returning to it.” Marcus said.

“Hey destiny ain’t fair. Mine will be that o’a hero not a dead soldier. Not you or a whole army’s gonna get in my way to make that hap-“

“THEY’RE COMIN!” Curley yelled.

The Acelun troops began pouring into the city. They began to form up inside of the gate where bodies had been cleared. Suddenly a horn made a call from somewhere outside of the city and the Acelun army marched forward. Within minutes the first elements had begun to reach the dead bodies. The look of disgust was apparent from the defenders even from that distance. The Tamultan archers let loose. A pitiful patter of arrows headed towards the horde moving up. A few were hit and joined their comrades on the cobbled streets.

The men kept marching towards the defenses. “Disciplined bastards these.” Bigs said as he readied the spear he had pilfered the previous day.

Rat grunted something about them being only half a man.

The leading elements were about a block out when they began sprinting towards the defenders.
“Brace yourself!” Red said.

Marcus looked quickly at Red, gave him a ‘well no duh’ look, and focused on the incoming enemies.
The first attackers were within feet when Bigs lunged forward with the spear skewering two of them the force knocking him on his butt. Marcus, Red, and Curley jumped in trying to keep the invaders away from Bigs. Marcus couldn’t keep track of all the weapons moving and a few had slipped through his defenses smacking against his body. None of the blows did any serious damage, the armor he had on was of high quality.

“Now!” Bigs said. Immediately the squad pulled back. The enemies were momentarily stunned at such a quick withdrawal. It was their death. Rat jumped down from the barricade swinging. The first of which took out three men. Bigs immediately jumped back into the fray doing precision stabs around Rat.

Marcus started running forward and yelled “PUSH!” and the militia did exactly that pushing the Aceluns back. Suddenly they were in full retreat pulling back to the gate.

Red bobbed out of a knot of militiamen on the far side of the street “We did it! We pushed them back!”
“I can’t believe that worked.” Marcus said disbelief spread across his face.

Rat looked around frantically “Not enough of em.”

Marcus looked at Rat questioningly. Really he wasn’t satisfied with a win? He had to kill even more?

Bigs piped in “No, Rat your right there’s not enough of them. Less than half our number was in that attack.”
Red had found his way back to the squad. “Ya kiddin me? We killed um! Chickens!”

“They aren’t pullin out of the city though.” Curley said. “They are just regrouping.”

A man came running from the west side of the city, where the docks were. “THEIR BEHIND US!”