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 Post by Garvey on 04/30/2004 at 13:56:45
His skin was as pale as a corpse and his hair was as pitch black as a moonless night. Nobody saw him as he was led through the crowd and seated at the table. He said nothing and nothing was said to him. He was a ghost brought back from the realms of the dead for one night. This was the price for defiance. He was a reminder to those who would bring chaos to the golden city. I saw him though. He was all I could see. Everyone else passed him by. While they ignored him, people did see me. Some pointed when they thought I was not looking and others whispered, thinking I could not hear. I always heard. "Monster" some whisper. "Demon" say others. They call me a disgrace and most wondered how they could allow me to attend such a celebration. I let their whispers pass over me. All I could see was the monster in front of me, the ghost. A servant came to refill the goblet in my hand, but discovering it untouched, she quickly moved on. My peace was again interrupted and the smell of the sea and the taverns come up behind me. "Hello uncle." I said dryly. "Don't let me interrupt your quest to kill him with your deadly gaze." I could positively hear the smirk on his face, though he stood behind me. "What do you want Caine?" The ghost emptied his glass, his lips red from the wine. "This is a party boy. Live it up a little. You should after what I heard from Julian." I was granted a temporary relief from his questioning as some lady passed by distracting him for a minute as he engaged her in some witty banter. The ghost's glass was filled and again he drank. "He's a little pissed about you crossing into his territory on your hunt." Julian lost no love me for me. I knew he just waited for the day when he could again cross my path deep in Arden with no witnesses to hamper him. "The forest belong to no man. I follow my prey wherever it goes. Those are my orders." I replied. The ghost was looking towards the other end of the hall where Princess Florimel was surrounded by a large crowd, some of them looked familiar. Diplomats probably. "I didn't think Arden was along your usual route." Caine continued. "They move through shadows now. We followed them for several days, and finally caught up with them in Garnath valley. Two of them escaped and we had to follow them deeper into Arden. They weren't normal raiders, they were different. No faces and I don't know what their skin was. The scent was even stranger as well. Two of my pack fell during the chase, though they will recover quickly." I neglected to mention my own injuries. I'd spent an hour right before the party washing off the last of the blood. Reports had come in that something was attacking merchants and travelers along several major roads. They weren't raiders looking to capture goods though. Those attacked had been torn apart as though by some foul beast and none of the goods had been touched. My pack and I had been ordered to track the attackers down and eliminate them. It had taken two days to find their scent, but then it was easy to follow. They were unnatural and their scent did not blend into the land at all. It was like following big red signs posted through the land. There had been nine of them, featureless with obsidian skin that did not reflect light. They were swift, with clawed feet and hands that tore at the ground as they ran. We followed them until moon rise and then we fell upon them, springing from the brush. They made no sound when we tore at them, but I heard them scream. Their flesh was bitter and I cut the head from each of our fallen foes. They cut at us but we did not slow. We chased the two that escaped deep into the forest and when we caught them, I tried to save one for questioning, but again I heard its silent cry as it cut deep inside of me. We were forced to bring it down. "What are they?" I asked. "I can't say for now. Perhaps you'll get my report later on." I spun to confront him, but he was already walking off toward the head of the table. He must not know what those creatures are. They would tell me if they knew. As long as this things crawled out of the Shadows, they would still need us. I turned back to watch and saw the empty black holes staring back at me. For a moment I swear he could see me, and was mocking me somehow. I could see the power in him, I could see the beast that had murdered my people, the great demon who created such carnage and destroyed our home. He had not been broken. I saw it in him. The power and the wrath. And then it was gone, and he was just a ghost again, drinking too much wine, just a forgotten shadow of a man. We all sat then and the trumpets blared and the King entered. We stood, raised our glasses high. "To Eric the First, King of Amber! Long live the king!" came the toast and we drank. Father did not say a word to me all night, business as always consumed his time. He did catch eye of me later and gave a stern nod and a smile of approval. When later I looked upon the ghost barely able to stand from drink and food, he truly did look like a ghost of a man compared to his brother. I almost felt pity for him until I remembered that moment's look and the ghost's soulless eyes. I watched as he lifted his glass in some silent toast that only he knew and then he drank again. |
