Clare's Quest Episode 5: Journeyacation

Episode 5: Hunticated or Hunteracation?

- Ten hours earlier -

Tamlin and Mays had discovered very quickly that Anthony's version of "Parcheesi" had nothing to do with the typical game. Firstly the humans were the game pieces for their players whilest Anthony, who was too large for the board, had a wooden carving of a naga to represent himself. The object of the game was to roll the dice, then move one's "piece" along a certain number of spaces on the board. The goal was to reach the middle space and claim victory. The problem was not all the tiles were inactive....some had consequences for stepping on them that ranged from a simple "go back one space" to whiping the player out and taking them out of the game and many, many more inbetween. They were just about to start playing when suddenly Anthony sat up and looked very alert. "What is it?" Asked Tam following his eyes to the door, which had been locked and barred for the night. "I....thought I heard something. Something familiar like-" Then he flinched as the a knocking did come upon the door nearly knocking the game board over. "Wah!" Mays exclaimed holding onto Anthony's wooden naga for support before she or Tam couldreprimand him he slithered over to the door, grabbed his bow and knocked a arrow in between it's strings so fast it looked as if he had moved in one big fluid "S" motion as he aimed the arrow at the door, probably just about where he figured their intruder's heart may be. In deadly calm voice he asked. "Who is it?"

At first no reply came. Then another five seconds passed and then finaly a voice did sound in the night. It sounded a little strained and meek. "Anthony? Um...It's me Kharl and I ah...sorta can't find my alternate entrance...Yeah so could you let me in?" The voice of Kharl and chilotaur pleaded. Anthony sighed and put away the bow and arrow before slithering towards the door and unbolting it. Kharl I thought you could see in the dark so why couldn't you find a-" Anthony stopped in mid sentice staring at Kharl's mid section which was, to say the least, a bit distended. "-Ah. I see you found something to eat. Good catch?" Asked Anthony to which Kharl nodded.

"It was quite a good catch. I think I'm getting the hang of fishing." Said Kharl smiling his eyes pulsating a gentle sky blue as he slowly made his way past Anthony and the door. Once he was inside the lodge and Anthony had re-bolted the locks Tam walked back to her spot on the board and asked Kharl: "Fishing? Chilotuars fish?" She inquired. Kharl nodded and curled up into a large pile and lay his head on his centipede half before continuing. "Well I do, I'm not sure about others of my kind butI happen to find fishing is a very pleasent experience!" He said grinning with his mouth full of sharp teeth. He did have to admit privately however the first time a mermaid had taught him to "fish" he was most upset. Being pulled underwater when you're purely a ground dwelling creature can have that effect, but the lack of oxygen was worse than a bummer. Still being revived mouth to mouth by a Mermaid was a nice consolation prize. After reliving that moment a bit Kharl noticed the board. His eye brow, the one not covered by a curtain of lifeless hair, rose a degree. "Playing Parcheesi, girls?" Tam nodded and explained it was Anthony's idea and Kharl nodded.

"I used to play back when Mica and Laurence lived with us permanently." He said running a sharp nailed finger over the board gently. "They were good players." Mays looked at Kharl quistively. "Who are Mica and Laurence?" Kharl's eyes widened. He hadn't realized he mentioned that aloud. Ah well better they hear it now than later. "You guys know how Anthony saved Clare? Well she ain't the first. He makes a sort of habit of saving people. Thinks he's a hero in old naga folk song I guess. Anywho Mica and Laurance were two of the first people he saved...But one day she found out she was with child. So Anthony took them to Negav and well... That was that."

"What do you mean 'that was that'?? What happened to them??" Asked Tam. Kharl looked at her a moment with a pensive gaze. "Well we don't really know. See we can't enter Negav, despite being protectors of humans and pretty well known in some circles, we would still be shot at cause of our size. Heck I hear non-humans of smaller sizes have a hard time in Negav even if they aren't predatory." Said Kharl sadly.

Tam thought about that. Aphra, Tam's good friend who also happened to be a human sized naga, had said something similar once. That she used to live in Motamo Docks working as a warehouse guard till she had met the Thrill Seekers and earned the rank of Captain. Tam hadn't realized non-humans had such a hard time in Negav. She wondered if it was like that in other places too. She also wondered why anybody would cut off contact with Anthony and Kharl after they had done so much them. "Sounds like you need to hire a investigator or tell the Negav Police..." Tam suddenly smiled. "I have freinds who live in Negav! I'm sure they'd love to help find out what happed to Laurence and Mica." Said Tam cheerfully.

Kharl sat there dumbfounded a moment before suddenly his eyes changed to a lime green and his attena curled around and he took Tam into a quick, but surprisingly gentle embrace to his chest. "Oh thank you, Tam! That'd be most appreciated!" He said holding her for a few moments before he felt her hug, or at least try to, him back. Eventually Kharl put Tam back on the board when Anthony spoke up.

"You would really help look for people you've never met?" He asked the green ahired adventuress. Tam turned to him and nodded smiling widely. "Yep! You did after all, right?" Anthony's eye widened when he realized she was right and then he smiled widely. It was nice to see somebody wanting to return a favor to him, and without him even asking! Most didn't even thank him till he took them to Negav or a small settlement nearby. For Tam to do this really made his heart sing with joy. "Sooo Kharl want to get in on the game?" Asked Anthony with a smirk. Kharl's eyes went orange with alarm and surprise then slowly faded to a grey like a stone wall. "Heh heh. Well it has been a while so why not?"

With that the humans and predators played their game for till nearly morning. Kharl managed to beat Tam to the finish line by getting a combination with good throws and saving all his bonus abilities till he got near the finish line. All in all they had a good time and were all asleep, Tam and Mays slept in Anthony's coils whereas Kharl was about to go to bed when suddenly he was nearly hit by a speeding Clare who shot out of the guest room like a Stormseeker who'd just hit a small pound. "Waah!" He said flopping onto his face. :Nnng...." He groaned.  Clare zipped back over to him.

"Gosh! I'm really sorricated, Kharl! I got a little too excitacated there. He he! But I got newsications!!" She said picking him up by the shoulders and shaking him." After his eyeballs had stopped rolling around he asked: "What newsicat- Ah news is that?" Clare smiled widely, almost mainacly and told him she had found her "questacation". Kharl wanted to ask what she meant when suddenly she turned to sleepy eye'd Anthony and dropped him zipping over there not even noticing his second groan and muttering. He was beginning to see why nagas had a dual reputation for being ditzy and dangerous.

"Anthony!" She said zooming up nearly to his face causing him to slither back a minute. "Wah! C-Clare? What's up- Ack!" He said as she hugged him to her chest causing him to nearly faint, both from the volume of breast covering his face and from the fact ...well it was IN his FACE. He fought hard to control his nose bleed then was released by Clare who backed up and he noticed had a manic grin on her face. "I found my questication!" She said waving her arms around wildly and doing a mock dance. Tam and Mays eventually stired and the green haired girl asked: "What's going on...?" Sleepily. The next moment she too was treated to a chest squeezing that made Anthony wince and wonder if he'd see a green smear on Clare's chest to match the highlights in her bangs. Fortunately Tam was alright if a little bit more ruffled looking.

"Clare, what's up??" Asked Tam looking up worriedly. Clare, still with her manic grin intact, began to explain to everyone what had happened in her dream and how Mobius had told her of a Naga Princess who was trapped in a tower and about the picture that looked almost exactly like her. "...And more than that, when I was youngacated, just after I hatchacated my sister told me our momma had disapearamated." Finished Clare prompting Tam to speak up.

"It sounds like a fantasy!" Said Tam. Mays nodded." Tam's right, Clare, it sounds too good to-" She was interrupted by Tam stand up and throw her hands into the air and shout: "-to pass up!!" Mays winced and looked at her so called senior officer in a dumbfounded way. "Wha?? But you said it sounded like Fantasy!" Protested Mays. Tam, turned to her with a manic grin that more than rivaled Clare's earlier one and then some. "Yeah! And I loooove fantasy!! It's always so more epic than regular life!!" She said prompting Mays to look disrepair. "Bu-but! We need to get back to base! Captain Aphra will have our heads as it is for not coming back with the wounded." She said hopping Tam could be reasoned with. It was not to be. "Well I'm sure Kharl can take you back to base if you want. I'll write down the instructions for him, but I'm going with Clare to find her maybe-momma!" Mays hung her head in defeat. There was no arguing with Tam when she was like this. Sometimes Mays wondered why Commander Wallace put up with her. Then she remember that Tam had a knack for finding treasure and getting the mission completed...despite her strange behavior she may have made Captain by now if she would just follow the rules and regs. Seeing no other way out of this she sighed. "Okay. You win, Tam, I'll go back and report you're alive to Captain Aurelian, if Kharl doesn't mind shuttling me there, but please don't get eaten!" Pleaded Mays knowing she'd somehow be held responsible if Tam did get herself killed. Tam smiled widely and nodded, but Mays knew she was still dreaming of being a hero on a great quest. Kharl spoke up at this moment.

His eyes turned to a sad dull blue color. "Um...Nobody asked me if I wanted to go, but I guess that's okay..." He said looking away. "I'm sorta used to being underestimated." He said looking a little crest fallen. Mays felt for him. "Look you don't have to take me home if you want to go with them...I...I could always f-follow Clare and Tam...." She said reluctantly as if saying it somehow made it etched int he stone of the universes master design. Kharl's attena perked up at that thought, but then went back to their semi-droopy state as his eyes shifted to a somber hue of green. "No I need to get you back to safety. I can't just force you into an adventure just cause I never get asked to go anywhere." He said nodding as if to convince himself as well. Anthony looked at Kharl and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look buddy I know you want to go, but what about your nocturnal problem? How your skin get's irritated by sunlight and your eyes get all watery?"

Kharl's eyes went scarlet with anger. It was true. He did had trouble with sunlight. It was why he spent most of his time under the log rather than outside it while the sun was up. "Yeah I know...Why was I born a Chilotaur instead of a naga?" He asked the sky his eyes gradually fading back to that somber green. "Well I guess at least I can help Mays and that's something, right?" He asked the group. Mays smiled and nodded.

"It's certainly something to me." She said happily. "So we'll leave tonight near sunset, but when do you plan on leaving, Clare?" Clare looked confused by the question. "Well right now ofcourse!" She said causing Anthony to nearly faint before he turned on her with hands on his lack-of-hips.

"What do you mean?! You can't go to the Great Rocky Feilds without at least preparing some kind of emergency supplies! I mean especially since you don't eat humans and haven't had too much experience hunting the local fauna." He said crossing his arms quite surprised by her lack of understanding of how dangerous Felarya was. He decided right then and there he couldn't let her just wonder off into the jungle with nobody but Tam for guidance. "I suppose I'll have to skip breakfast and go gather some things if I'm comming with you." He said finally causing Tam to look shocked then to jitter with excitment. "Awesome! We're like a real adventuring party on a great quest! This will be so epic!" She said looking very happy. Clare had to agree.

Hours later  near the later part of the morning Anthony had just finished checking their supplies and was satisfied they had enough. He had packed a ton of various things he said they'd need. One thing were the tanker-truck sized water skins attached to Clare's leather belt as well as food pack that he carried on his back and Clare also had a similar, but slightly smaller one on hers he also insisted she carry a small bow-like his for personal defense and had spent an hour, and two quivers, that morning teaching her how to use it with mixed success. Clare could knock and fire arrows wth stunnign speed...Just not with any real accuracy, but Anthony figured they'd likely not get into trouble till they left the Chidoaki Forest so it was well enough. He had also lent Clare a special carrying pouch with netting woven into it like a windscreen so Tam could enjoy the ride as well without attracting too much of a fuss with the local predators. Anthony paused a moment and remembered Laurence had helped him make that so Mica and he could ride along and explore the jungle with Anthony. After a moments reflect he noticed the sun, just the one yellow one today, had changed position. It was time to get moving."Okay, let's get a move on. I want to make the Ascarlin Mountains by two days if we can. We'll be taking a safe path I know across the Motamo so we shouldn't see too much action. He heard Tam whine from the pouch where she was peeking out. He smiled. 'Just like old times' He thought and then the two nagas set off bidding Kharl and Mays a farewell as they watched fromt eh safety of the Log Lodge's doorway. Kharl cast a glance upward at the sun and cursed it for denying him his one great adventure beffore turning to watch Anthony and Clare leave the little clearing and disappear into the hungry jungle. Almost like they were swallowed up. Kharl shuddered at the irony of that dark thought.

Clare,Anthony and Tam's story will be continued in: "Huntacated or Hunteracation?" Stay tuned for a special Kharl adventure!  The first of many hopefully!

- Felarya Special Filler 1: They Only Come Out At Night -

(Note: This isn't cannon to Clare's adventures. It's just about Kharl and Mays so it's not necessary you read it...Oh and it WILL have vore. ^_^; Unlike the last chapter.)

It was night in Felarya. Lime green Moonlight from the moons, three tonight, provided a beautiful breath taking and also a life taking sight for Some. In some of Felarya's mythologies the three moons were often a sign of the goddess of the hunt,Calvabrina, in the predator trinity. For good reason too. The more moons the more light with which nocturnal predators could use to hunt with. One of those nocturnal predators was Kharl a Chilotaur, half human half centipede. He was about 90 feet tall, with dapple brown and light grey paterned chitinous armored plates on his lower half, which was close to about 130 feet long. His human half was pale skinned, mostly from staying out of the sun a lot, with shoulder length faded brown lifeless hair that hung partially over one of his two yellow eyes with orange irises that sometimes changed color. On top of his head, along with his two curly grey on brown attena sat a human huddled in his hair.

She was nearly as a dull looking as her traveling companion. Mays Alda was a short woman, around five feet tall with short brown hair, dark brown eyes and coffee tanned skin and wore a leather jacket with many pockets for various medical tools, both magical and high tech, as well as tan shorts and a gun belt and a ammo belt that held a spare clip or two as well has her trusty knife. Mays sighed. Her clothes were more original than her body or personality most people didn't even know either existed she often thought, but despite this? She had a amazing job! She was a medic. Something most resisdents would see as redundant in Felarya, a land where even rubbing dirt in an injured area could heal your wounds. Though that wonderful soil couldn't heal infection or remove a parasite from your blood stream. In fact it wasn't an instant healing effect like most believed. It often took hours to heal major injury whereas her salvaged Vishimital scanner could not only diagnose the problem, but could sugest several quick ways repair the injury with minimal surgery that took minutes. Not that many had a chance to get hurt themselves much more than a stab or gun shot wound, injuries Mays could treat in seconds with her Lazer Scapel and even her basic gear in her small backpack. Really the worst threat to your health in Felarya was usually the predators, wild animals and flora which would attempt to grab, devour and digest you. Sometimes not quite in that smooth an order. Mays shuddered. To avoid that fate was why she was currently hiding in the lifeless lockes of Kharl periodically peering out into the night and worrying about the quietness.

"Is it always so quiet at night?" She asked the Chilotaur in a breathless, worried whisper. He took a moment to respond. "Not usually" He said in a low voice. He had a slightly less masculine voice than you would expect from something with that large of and pointy teeth, but mostly all of Kharl's scary traits were inherited from his mom and pop, both of whom lived in the far away Bulvon Wood. They had tried to get him to learn their way of hunting, but after a chance encounter with a young treasure hunting elf he had made a fatal mistake. He had actually gotten to know his prey and decided he could never eat another talking being. He had hopped his parents would understand. They hadn't. They thrown poor Kharl out of their warren and had declared him dead to them. That had hurt...but he was resolute in the idea he would never try to eat another elf, human or neko like he had nearly done to the skin tight suit wearing one with such lovely white blonde hair. Kharl paused. He had heard something a little ways ahead and listened. His traveling companion picked up on his mood and was instantly worried.

The human shifted in his hair and looked around "What's the matter? Something nearby?" He shook his head and then just as he opened his mouth to speak realized he nearly had dislodged Mays with his careless actions, the only thing keeping her from a long fall to the thickly forested ground was her quick reflexes and grabbing hold of one of Kharl's attena. 'Man you had to be careful around humans.' He chided himself mentally for forgetting she was there, after he had "just" spoke to her moments ago, and retrieved Mays offering her a hand to step in. "It's not a predator, just a local dimensional disurbance. They happen every now and then...Been allot this year." He commented watching a green spark of light shoot out from the trees. "Great...as if we needed to draw any attention to this area." He muttered mostly to himself, but as he replaced Mays on his head she nodded. Just then both heard the jungle begin to wake up to it's midnight feeding habits. Kharl began to sweat. He knew some of the local night time predators of the Chidokai, but not all them. He seriously hopped he'd not have to bargain with them for Mays life. As he contemplated these thoughts a group of adventurers did sneak through the darkness nearby oblivious to them and most everything else around them.

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They were a large group of bandits, well that's what Felarya's many residents called them, but they referred to themselves as "Liberators of Material Burdens". In their eyes they were doing a service to the fine denizens of Felarya. The group in question had done allot of "liberating" this night from a campsite that had been raided by a giant predator. Although what kind was up for debate. Literally.

"I'm tellin' ya! It was Crisis." Said one badnit with a an eye patch, seemed allot of bandits lost their eyes in this line of work strangely, to a bandit who had a scar across her cheek, another surprisingly common injury in their line of work. She growled at him and narrowed her eyes and spat back: "Crisis don't got feet! I saw the foot print myself!" She said her german shepard-like ears standing up. Inu's couldn't hide their emotions very well because of little things like that. Her lips curled back and a winced knowing they were about to perpetuate another a bandit-cliche' not even realizing how stupid it was to fight among themselves. I was right they got into a shouting match each taking out their daggers. Who was I? Well I was the most inconspicuous member of the group. I was dressed in a simple loose shirt that didn't quite fit me, a bit too tight around my slender frame and allowed my midriff to be exposed. I was a elf, considered a delicacy in Felarya, and especially one with ashen skin, red eyes and white hair. I wore loose pants with no visable weapon. No one would have suspected the silver manacle on my right arm with it's beat up dark stone was my weapon. These fools preferred large Oversword, V0M Hot Riffles and those gastly loud machine guns that the people of Terra used. Horrid noise it hurt my ears don't you know? Not to dissimilar to this racket. I liftd my head up and looked at the two morons and said very quietly in a voice that most said was quite venomous: "Shut up." They turned to look at me and turned their weapons away from one another.

"What the hells do you mean shut up, Slim Jim?!" Asked the Inu in a louder voice that made my ears twitch. The others of our group stopped to watch. These animals enjoyed a good spectacle, after such an easy day it'd be a real treat to watch some stupid snot nosed pretty boy elf get his pointy ears boxed in. I sighed.

"My name is not Jim nor am I slime. Alorn Eglaerin, remember? It means Bane Of The Dark Forest in my native tongue." I explained in that voice that seemed to set others on edge. I was told it was lecturing and filled with arrogance. I often wondered if that was true? It mattered very little. I could have said anything to set this one off. This was proven when she lunged forward swinging her large sharp dagger at me. Inwardly I sighed. 'Not again.' I thought watching the blade come at me slowly then calculating the counter blow that would deal the least amount of damage I brought my wrist up and my manacle blocked the blow without any effort as if it was made of teh fabled Dwarvish Steel from my home world, which was said to be able to break even dragon fangs. I smirked and applied the least bit of pressure to my foot and arm and turned my body watching her fly past me with shocked and out raged look on her face. "So sorry." I said in that voice that couldn't help but make even a apology sound vile. She got up and looked at me with hatred.

"Elven Bastard! You'll pay for that!" she said getting ready to charge again. I tensed. Not because of what she said but because my ears sensed several dozen-or more feet trying to be very quiet in the stillness of this night. He elf make a quick decision. He didn't "need" these people. He had only joined them some few days earier when he had been instructed to by ...her... But they could prove usefull as pawn till he found the suitable "Ley Lines" his partner had described. He held up both hands to the Inu. "Several large creatures approach, I suggest you follow me if you want to live. Without waiting for a reply he make a gesture and suddenly the dull black stone radiated darkness mana and projected it into a tetragram with a fine lazer-like blast. It hung there a moment then then turned into a swirling vortex the settled onto the ground as it did the ground seemed to disolve like liquid become mist a hole that lead under ground. Without hesitation he leaped into it and the dumbfounded Inu stared it exactly ten seconds as well as the rrest of the dumbfounded bandits save one younger one who dived in as well as it was about to when suddenly it close. It then snapped shut leaving the regular ground to stare back at them hard.

She shrieked at where the portal had been and tore at the ground. She froze and stopped. Then she heard the noise now.The approach of many dozens of feet going "tick, tick,tickity tick,tickity,tick,tick" steadily towards her. "B-bloody elf!! I knew he was trouble. Take up defensive positions!!" She ordered knowing that shouting didn't mater if a predator was about to set upon themby hearing her voice. They were too small and under equipped to fight one off. Her best chance was to leave everyone else to do that and she was just about to do that as she heard something come through the tree's and heard a fellow shriek like a woman then stop. Unable to help her curiosity she turned around and saw what had made him stop. It was a Chilotaur, but it didn't look quite as fearsome as she had heard. Even less when human popped out of it's lifeless hair and looked down at it's orange-and yellow eyes and asked: "What are we stopping for, Kharl?" As a reply Kharl pointed and then the human looked. "Oh! Humans? Out here in the jungle at night?" She asked wondering aloud. "What are they doing?"

The Inu relaxed and decided to take try her paw at conning the simple looking chiltaur and woman. Friendly preds tended to be dumber on the whole than the man eating ones she thought. "'Ello there, tall and good looking~" She said in her deepest throatiest voice. To her amazement the large predator blushed. Kharl smiled revealing his pointy teeth. She tried not to wince at how eat one was larger than herself and pressed one. "We're in need of a lift, can you halp out a bit?" She asked him making sure to bat her eyes.

Kharl put his hand to his cheek and couldn't stop smiling. 'S-She called me cute! Nobody's ever done that before." He thought. "Um I suppose I can. Me and Mays are going to her base after all-Owww!" He exclaimed as she one again pulled on his attena. What was wrong with that girl?! He brought her down to where he could look at her face to face. His eyes were angry red almost cartoonish which caused her to flinch and him frown. "What do you want, Mays?" He asked the human. She hugged her chest and looked him hard.

"Why are you offering some strangers we don't even know a lift?" She asked him in serious tone. He raised his one visible eyebrow. "Uh it's my buisiness whom I do and do not pick up. They're humanoids! Don't you have any sympathy?" He asked her and she shook her head. "It's not that I don't have any sympathy for humanoids like me...but they're not like me, Kharl. Have you noticed all the camping supplies they're carrying?" Kharl raised an eyebrow.

"Well ofcourse I noticed. They're obviously camp...ers..." He said thinking on it. Actually they couldn't be. From what he knew of campers was they didn't tend to dress in leather armor with spikes, carry claymores and didn't usually have so many eye patches and scars. He narrowed his eyes and turned to the rag tag bunch. "You're really not campers are you? You're theives!" He said pointing his finger accusingly at the group his eyes turning a menacing shade of red that caused them all to take a step back. Well nearly all the inu woman remained where she was and snorted.

"Hey now!" She said angrily. "We're not 'thieves'. We're 'Liberators of Unwanted and Unused Possessions.'" She said rather proudly her chest swelling up and her putting her hands on her hips she was about to say something else when suddenly a tentacle reached out of the darkness and shot at her, she barely had time to get down and let it grab the dumbfounded looking bandit girl with the most scars out all the humans as she watched the human lifted up and tossed into the darkness screaming beffore a loud chomp, some smacking and other gross sounds then suddenly it got worse. The creature merged from the shadows, well sorta it's main body was shrouded in a cloak of pure darkness that even light from the three moons did not penetrate, but other parts of it looked more solid and horrofic. It had five tentacles, some claws sticking out of spots they shouldn't have been, oe visable mouth and two and half legs. Upon seeing this Kharl's jaw dropped. He'd seen something like this before, a long time ago and really had tried hard to forget it....It was a called a Walking Nightmare.

Mays gasped in horror and many followed her as they saw the thing's mouth, in it's mid section, open briefly to spit out a pair of boots. Then the thing seemed to "look' at the group even thought it had no eyes. What it lacked in ocular ability it made up for in decibels. "ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR!!!" it said, or more accurately, screamed in a earth shattering voice then charged forward at the bandits. Kharl made a split second decession."Hang on, Mays!" He said a moment before she suddenly found herself thrown into the air and then as she fell she caught a breif glimpse of Kharl's teeth, his tongue then blackness. He ate her! Well partially anyway. "Gyaaaah! Let me out, Kharl!!" She screamed from inside his maw. Kharl shook his head then used his many legs to skitter into the path of the Walking Nightmare.

"Nosh so fash, sir urmsolt!" (Not so fast, sir arms-a-lot!) Said the Chilotaur blocking the way of the smaller creature. The bandits were quite stunned to see this chilotaur protecting them, but didn't share the same sentiment and turned to flee. Kharl shruged. 'No honor among theives.' He thought as the Walking Nightmare suddenly tried to scratch at his face and the skinnier predator dodged it effortlessly as Anthony had show him how to one day while sparing he then took his fist and tried to smack the middle section of the creature and was rewarded with a hit!...That only made the creature recoil beffore it brought more tentacles to bear on him. He blocked one with one hand then ducked under another and swung his head forward head butting the last one, which didn't work out so well since it had no bones and only recoiled far enough to come back and smack him hard enough in the face to send his head back to nearly touch his centipede half. "Gulp! Oww! Stupid monster-" He stopped as he sat back up, going even paler than usual, as his eyes flashed red and yellow simultaneously. "Oh no! I ate Mays!!" He said panicking and looking at his less now less taunt stomach. "I gotta barf her up beffore-" He didn't get to complete that sentence as one tentacle with a half formed hand smashed into his chin then another hit him across with a right hook and then two more whiped him hard in the chest till he almost passed out. He spat out some green blood. "Guh...You bastard! You won't distract me! First I'll take you down then I'm going to puke Mays up!" He knew he had to hurry cause she was wriggling around like crazy and a sickeningly pleasent feeling was coming from his gut. He narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. 'I could try to force her into my Chilotaur stomach...But that'd only delay this fight for a few more hours and that thing has more arms than I do! I can't defend against that. I need a miracle...The he spoted it. Salvophytia! That'd at least prolong her stay in his body as a food and buy him a few hours and in his second stomach it'd already take her a extra hour or two to digest normally. Without hesitating he ducked under three tentacles and opened his mouth biting the plant and eating the whole thing. 'Hope she likes mint.' He thought as he truned around and struck a fighting pose. "Okay let's do this you bastard! Haaaah!!" He said running at it at full Chilotaur speed.

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Inside Kharl's stomach Mays was less than happy. She wasn't happy in his mouth, but at least there she had only just been salavated on and occasionally tossed about as he tried to speak around her. Here...She shudded. It was his stomach! The chilotuar boy had swallowed her and now, for whatever reason, hadn't puked her back up!...Not that that was a pleasent image either she thought as suddenly she saw a tiny bit of light at the top. "Eh? What the heck is that?" She said trying to stand up and as she did suddenly a pile of chewed, minty smelling plant matter landed on her. "AAAAaaaaaagh! KHRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!" She screamed as loud as she could. "Get me OUT OF HERE!! I'm so not your lunch!!" She said trying to get up but suddenly she felt flesh close around her and heard a loud groan. 'Oh no!' She thought in horror thinking perhaps Kharl had a fast matabolism and she'd just been moved up for digestion. She wasn't too relieved when suddenly the walls got tighter and she felt her feet, then legs, hips and finally her upper half as well as a huge portion of the mint smelling plant were pushed through to a much larger cavern that smelled like fungus. "Eeeeeeaaah!-Oppf! Ow! My tush..." She said rubing her buttocks then stood up and found it was easier than in the first area. She wondered why then she remembered something. Some Taurs had another stomach they could store food in when the first was full or..."Or if he wanted to prolong digestion as long as possible!" She said gasping. Kharl hadn't been trying to kill her. He was trying to save her!...Albeit in a unorthadox way. Suddenly the whole stomach vibrated, then again then again. "He's fighting that thing and he didn't want it to get me, so that's why he swallowed me." Mays adjusted her fogged up glasses and cleaned them a little. "He's smarter than he looks...But I just hope he can win." The thought of him getting knocked out with her still in here was...too much to bear. A loud groan seemed to punctuate her grim thoughts.

---

Meanwhile on the outside Kharl stood bleeding from the mouth, nose and with one eye swollen shut and the other blazing red but flickering back to orange, a low weak orange. Kharl was tiring. He hadn't even fought this hard against the burly Anthony and not taken a rest break. He panted and shook his head as the creature "looked" back at him. To his credit he had managed to bite off one arm and spit it back at the creature, knock out some of it's teeth and almost broke all the fingers on it's mutant handed tentacle. The hand was twitching, from anger or pain Kharl knew not. What he did know without a doubt is he couldn't fight much longer. He could feel his body telling him to go to sleep and digest Mays. He shook his head. "Never! I'll never be a monster again...Not like you." He said to the  Walking Nightmare "Always devouring the weak to become stronger like some kind of virus! I won't destroy anymore lives!! Do you hear me?!!" He shouted to it. In reply it shouted and charged. He grimaced as some of the bruises on his body flared up. He waited till it got close then ducked low and blocked all the blows to his face then he rolled his body up and tried to trip the monster up and was surprised when it fell over in tangle of arms and a few legs.

"Ha! How do you like that?!" Said Kharl triumphantly. "Bet you can't even-" Suddenly it stood up on the working tentacles and came at him with body-spin-counter-move so fast it left a breif after image. Kharl blocked as many blows as he could but soon the creature got in blow after blow after blow...His eye was trying to shut his chest burned....after blow, after blow.......his head got cliped, but it was light...though he couldn't hear out that ear now and it sounded like somebody was talking....after blow, after blow....he was falling but he could have sworn he saw something. A dark shadow above like some kind of spirit coming to his aid. 'Yeah right like dark spirits do tha-" Suddenly his world was a bright, loud, ear rending sound. He almost felt he could see the sound it was so loud. Fortunately it may have put him deaf but it also woke him up he put up his hands to counter the thing and was stunned to see a bat winged harpy swoop down and strike the now paralyze  creature silently. Well silently to Kharl. The harpy lept above several counter strikes, each one almost slowed down or too clumsily fast and then watched and heard as she opened her mouth and the horrid sound was once again his world. It surged forth and struck the creature like a pyshical blow sending it flying back into a small tree and impaling it. Outside of Kharl's silent world it let out a death shreik only slightly less loud than the harpy's super sonic screech. It then finally stopped moving and began to dissolve leaving only the tentacle Kharl had bitten off earlier. He watched as the bat winged harpy turned around. She was bare chested and had perky bosoms that were paler than her dark coffee wings which stretched out to be half as long as Kharl's whole centipede half and had light blue membranes. Her head was mass of frizzy ginger hair. Her eyes were big round and ulterly green, even the sclera of her eyes were a lighter green. On her nose sat a huge pair of...glasses? Kharl had seen predators with glasses once or twice and certainly heard of some who constructed them but usualy, as far as he knew, the actual glass plates weren't black. It looked kinda neat he had to admit. The bare chested predator took a few hops towards him and leaned in looking at him then winced marring her pretty features. Sometimes latter Kharl realized she was speaking and could hear her a little bit better.

The Banshee repeated: "Hey you okay, skinny?" She asked in a slightly rough tone. Kharl nodded and felt exhaustion calling his name. "I...I'm good...I just...need to puke." Said Kharl tiredly and then surprised her by reaching his mouth and pulling on his uvula. What he did next was what came naturally  when one pulls on one's uvula and so I shall not describe it. Needless to say it freaked out the young Banshee named Heather who squinted her eyes shut.

"Gluck! Must you do that here, dead hair?!" She asked in dismay. After she heard somebody gasping for air and cursing she opened them again and saw Kharl pull something out of the mess. A human girl, kinda like hers! Well hers had pointy ears and tended to use her as a personal jetbike substitute but she was a female, lean and as terrible a dresser as Erinel. The Banshee walked carefully around the mess with her wings draw around her like a cape. "Who's that worm?" She asked him wondering why he had spit up such an obviously easy prey. Kharl looked at her weakly.

"F-freind....Th-th....thank you for ...saving me and Mays....My name's Kharl what's yours?" He said and beffore she could answer fell over face first with the girl on his head scrabling for purchase. When Mays felt the horrendous terrmors die down she looked and saw Kharl was bleeding from many wounds.

"K-Kharl?!" She asked the unconcious chilotaur noting he was still losing blood and didn't seem to be breathing right. She would have imedietly applied medical attention if he had been her size or her his, but as it was she couldn't do a thing. Then she spotted the strange looking bat girl watching her and Kharl one her coffee colored ears tilted at an angle. "You!" She said pointing at the banshee which despite Mays size made her jump. The bnashee scolded herself and adressed the human."What do you want night crawler?" asked the harpy wincing as Kharl hadn't had time to clean her up much. Mays stood up and put her hands on her hips. " Look whowever you are-"

"-Heather." She said interupting Mays. The smaller woman nodded she didn't seem to care. It irrated Heather as she believed names were very important.  Whatever. Look here, Heather, Kharl needs medical attention!  Stat! he can't wait!!" She said urgently. Heather wasn't used to being adressed in this way but the ugency in the little woman's tone told her she should put her arogance aside a moment and listen. "Alright I'll do my best, night crawler, but I'm no doctor." She said and Mays nodded then began to give out a series of orders the first beign Kharl should be rolled over and they should bind his wounds with whatever could be found and to check his ribs for fractures and s dozen other things she did her best to keep up with and comply. Many hours later while they were waiting they had exchanged names and personal stories and the harpy had sugested, after Mays had yawned many times, that she'd take first watch, but Mays insisted she wasn't tired,fearing to be too trusting of a predator, even one that had saved Kharl's life. Though she stayed fairly close in case the night was disturbed by another horror. Fortunetly that night most of the horrors were feasting on the foolhardy bandits who had blundered off without thinking and thus the horrid nigth had passed without incident.

Many hours later as Mays was about to doze off the sun rose and suddenly Kharl's eyes shot open and he groaned."Gyah...Unngh...Lig...lig!!" He said incomprehensably in pain. Heather and Mays ran over. "What is it Kharl? Are you in pain??" Asked Mays woriedly. Kharl hid his eyes and kept trying to form sensable words. " Lig....lig!! ...AAAH The brightness....It hurts ...my ...seeing orbs...and my skin....!!" He said clawing at the sun light. Mays slaped herself. Ofcourse! Kharl had said he had condition where he couldn't be exposed to sunlight because it hurt his eyes and skin. Mays didn't know what do to he couldn't be moved and- Suddenly the Banshee extended clawed foot to Kharl's eye's placing something over them that looked like...Mays gasped. They were! They were a giant pair of sunglasses! Kharl imdietly relaxed as her shadow fell over him and his eyes had now stoped burning. Heather smiled. "Nocturnal predators don't like the light. I know I am one, night crawler." She said wincing and turning to look at Kharl solemly. Mays breathed a sigh of relief. For the moment it seemed Kharl would be okay and he'd live long enough for her to thank him.

---

Many miles away in the forsaken ruins of Ur Sagol a portal of purple light swirled and roared to life. From it lept an dakr skined elf and a human wearing a cowl and little else. The elf turned and soundless closed the portal with a gesture. It had seemed cruel to do, leaving those fools to die, but he had to preserve himself. Well at least he had saved one. He turned and looked at the be-cowled human with a tall frame. It was hard to tell what it's sex was, but that matered little to Aleron. Pawns were useful no mater what gender. "So it seems at least one was smart enough to take my offer and flee. What is your name, smart human?" The human stood there a while then looked at the mancle on his wrist. It then spoke in raspy voice that sounded like air escaping a tomb. "Vertalis Kander" It said. Aleron's eyebrows raised. "Really? So you're supposed to become...? Intriguing!" The elf saw the creature still stared at his manacle. "Like this do you?" When the figure nodded Alorn reached up and took the manacle off and offered to to the figure."Here take it, Vertalis, it is a gift for  being brave enough to jump into the portal with a half mad elf from another world! Ha ha! Take it!" He said offering it again to the flat chested humanoid who reached up and took it. Like magic it became inky blackness and surged up the humanoid's arm till it wound around the wrist and gleamed evily. The gem was no longer scratched and looked freshy cut and metal was softer more delicate and polished. Alorn smiled. He had found who he need to. the figure looked at the mancle with interest. "How does it work?" Came the raspy voice again. Alorn's smile was wide.

"How about we do a trade? Be my apprentice and I'll tell you how to have your revenge." the figure's eyes widened. "How do you know that is what I seek?" Alorn chucked. "...My kind of elf can see into the soul of a person through their eyes." He said lying through his teeth quite expertly. "I can tell you want magic, but have never had it beffore and that you also wish to use it to destroy the one's who killed your poor beggar father. Am I right?" He knew he was but delighted in seeing the reaction of the human as it's-no she. Despite the masculine name Alorn could see her hips were in the wrong place for a man when she stood certain ways now. Yes defiently a woman. "Am I right, girl? Don't bother trying to decieve me. I'm one of the few people who knows about your hidden...gifts." He said forwning at her. "And how to use them to acheive what you want. The question is...how badly do you want it?" She stood there for a long time beffore she finally fell to the ground and bowed. "Teach me, Master Elf' Alorn waited a moment before he spoke in a voice that held a hiden glee. "Master Alorn Eglaerin, my dear Vertalis- No that name simply won't do! Not for one of what you'll become! From now on I'll call you...Shadowblade. Lord Shadowblade! Yes that's pefrect. Arise, my Lord Shadowblade! It is time for your first leason." He said laughing in his mind. Everything was falling into place smoother than the last go around.