The Uncorrupted
First submission. This was actually a background for a DnD character that I was coming up with, but I went a bit overboard and decided to post it here. The idea was using the Heroes of Horro book with the optional Taint rules. Looking primarily for constructive critisism to improve my writing skills :)
And yes, I use the word "it" a lot in refering to the undead creature. This is because Erik only knows its undead, but doesnt know what type or anything.
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The fires burned around Erik, the intense heat shriveling the hair on his head and burning his face. He could hear screams, but they sounded distant from inside his shell-shocked brain. The telltale creaks of a building collapsing upon itself could be heard, much closer than they should be...
His eyes shot open and his head immediately felt as if it would explode. Erik curled up into a tight ball, clutching his temples, wishing for the pain to stop. Again, the loud cracking of wood giving way brought pierced the fog of his mind. A flaming timber fell a mere 3 feet away from him, showering him in sparks, searing his flesh and burning his clothes. It was collapsing around him. Why did he care? Everyone was dead. He would soon die. It would all be over, never to be experienced again as he left for the afterlife.
But no, he couldn't do that. His survival instinct roared into the forefront of his brain, overpowering any sense of despair he felt. The fear of death and the unknown was too great for him to simply accept lying down. No, he wouldn't die like that. With a groan, he attempted to push himself up onto his shaky legs. A new pain invaded his senses, this one from his left arm. Broken. He rolled over and sat up, using his right arm to hoist himself onto his unsteady feet. Clutching his useless arm to his chest, his vision swimming, Erik staggered toward the source of darkness in front of him. Darkness meant no fire. An exit to this inferno, to the outside. Erik's right foot lurched forward, followed by his left, then his right again. One step at a time, he approached the makeshift doorway, the timbers and beams crashing down around him with each ungainly step. Finally, the structure had taken too much damage. There was but one warning, a scream of wood twisting and tearing. This was enough. With what energy he had left, Erik sprint-limped away from the wreckage and burst forth into the darkness as the roof caved in, shooting embers and ash high into the air. The fire redoubled on itself, burning even more intensely with its new fuel source. A few more tortured steps was all that Erik could take before he collapsed onto the soft grass around his ruined home.
He lay there for some time, simply staring at the other points of light in the darkness, all burning fiercely, all a place he knew. The sound of the roaring fires could be heard even from here. But there were no more screams. Was this a good thing? Maybe others had escaped. The thought comforted him momentarily, before he felt a cold presence upon his seared flesh.
The grass curled and withered, the temperature dropped significantly. Sound itself seemed to quiet for fear of the presence that had finally made itself known. A pair of rotting, skeletal feet entered his vision. A voice spoke out, hollow, unearthly, and wholly evil.
"What's this? A survivor? And here I thought I had seen everything." The foot placed itself on Erik's side. Pain, like that of frostbite radiated through his midsection as it none to gently pushed him onto his back. Groaning, Erik closed his eyes, not wishing to see what was before him. "Its flesh does not rot in my presence? Most... perplexing. How lucky you are little human. Every other parasite in this insignificant speck of dirt withered away, much as the plants do. But you. No, something is different about you. Is the protection divine? No, nothing like..." It must have noticed Erik's closed eyes, for it suddenly roared in anger, chilling his very soul. "You will LOOK AT ME AS I SPEAK!" Its hand reached down to Erik's face and pried open his eye lids. The pain was unbearable from the cruel touch of the abomination. Before he blacked out, Erik saw it. The eyes of evil. Black flame, somehow emitting light, burned in the eye sockets of human skull. Half of the flesh from its face still clung to the bone, revealing muscle no longer needed to the undead creature. Wisps of wiry hair protruded from the top of its head, which was covered by a blood red hood. Somehow, it seemed to be smiling, if a skull could smile. But it was the eyes that burned into Erik's very soul, seemingly searching for something, something in the very core of Erik's being. The eyes stayed with him, even as his sight faded into unconsciousness.
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"The human shows a... resistance to my powers. I have never seen such a thing before. It could be... problematic if I encounter it in the future. I must find a way to bypass this protection."
Awareness slowly returned to Erik's mind. He heard the words through the fog, but he couldn't understand what they meant. Struggling, as if swimming through sand, he fought his way to the surface of his consciousness. Finally breaking free, a low moan escaped his lips as his eyes opened. The first thing that he was aware of was his body was in no pain. Nothing at all. Not even the backache that he had complained of for the last week. The second was not nearly as comforting. Perversion, thick in the air, surrounded him, overwhelmed him. It was the same presence he had encountered before losing consciousness. Panicking, Erik attempted to get up, only to find that his arms and legs were restrained in some way. He attempted to turn his head, only to become aware of a leather strap on both his neck and forehead keeping it in place. The undead thing noticed its subjects movement and turned its full attention to it.
"Awake are we? Good. It is notoriously hard to keep track of an unresponsive subject. The screams are an added bonus." It stepped toward Erik, its visage embodying the nightmares that Erik had ever had. In its hand, there was a long and filthy knife. Dried blood caked its surface and something black that Erik couldn't identify dripped slowly from its tip. Another step. Erik began to hyperventilate, adrenaline pumping through his body as his mind screamed Run! RUN! But of course, strapped down a he was, Erik could not move an inch.
The undead abomination hoisted the knife into the air and spoke in a sadistic voice. "Experiment Number One. Subject shows resistance to my powers. I shall attempted to find a way around this in any way possible. First Method: Blood to blood contact with undead ichor." Upon hearing this, Erik began screaming bloody murder, struggling mightily against his bonds, but to no avail.
"Begin experiment"
The knife slide across Erik's inner arm, cutting a deep gash. The black ichor dripped into the wound and into his blood, setting Erik's whole body afire. First the wound, then the arm, his chest, his other arm, until his entire body felt as if he was burning in the Nine Hells themselves. Erik's muscles seized up, his vocal cords giving out from the intensity of the screams that came forth. Still, air escaped his throat, the silent howl of pain shown clearly through his eyes. He could not understand nor hear it, but again the voice of evil spoke.
"Subject is in obvious extreme pain. Time from blood contact: Approximately three and a half minutes. No signs of corruption evident. A longer wait is required to make an educated guess as to this method. If subject still shows resistance, move to Experiment Two." At the mention of this, he laughed, a sound void of all emotion except cruelty and mad joy. How fun it would be to break this mortal...
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Days. Weeks. Months. It all meshed into one long string of pain. The undead had no need of rest, and thus their test subjects obtained none. Each day a new experiment, each day a new pain. He wanted to die, for the pain to end. Oh how he wished to simply give in to whatever it was the thing wanted. How he wished for that day... But it would not come. Something within him kept his soul and body from being infected with its taint. Even broken as he was now, he was still whole, everything as it was intended to be. It seemed as if he could not die. Not with the foul magic of his tormentor keeping his life chained to his body. It was not finished with him. Who knew if it would ever be finished with him. Perhaps it was his fate to spend an eternity in pain for some offense to the Gods. Perhaps there were no Gods to help him. The strength of mortals paled in comparison to the undead creature. Erik was doomed for all eternity to his life of torture.
The sound of footsteps reached his bleeding ears. The creature and... there was something else. A growl? What was that? It did not matter... he just wanted an end...
"Final Experiment. Subject has shone resistance to taint that I have never dreamed possible. My only conclusion is that it is within his very make up. His soul and body in a strange harmony, providing the ultimate protection from all the power I wield. Procedure: Attempt to fuse subjects body with corrupted specimen. Results will be completely unknown. Death is a possibility."
Death... oh, how sweet the word sounded. The end to all his pain...
There was a slight clicking sound of chains being fastened, followed by the scream that only a large cat could make. Erik's eyes turned toward the source of the sound, finally seeing what had been refered to as the 'corrupted specimen'.
It was large cat alright. If he didn't know better he would say... oh whats the word... a tiger! Yes, that is what it was. But it was as no big cat that Erik had ever seen. The fur was black, the black that is not just the absence of light and color, but the kind that seems to absorb all the light around it, darkening the room by being there. Blood red stripes ran across its body in jagged motions, breaking the solid black of its body. It was twisted, misshapen. Its proportions were off, its fangs protruded painfully from its maw. Another roar escaped its throat, the same unearthly quality in it as with the abomination that had caused Erik so much pain. Its legs had been chained together, keeping it on the floor and preventing its escape. Another chain was attached to it, this one around its neck. It led... to the cursed creature. Another collar was attached to the other end, this one open. It approached Erik, the fires that replaced its eyes burning intensely. It snapped the cold metal around Erik's neck and locked it tight. Why was it so loose? It was probable that it could slip over Erik's head with how big it was...
Turning away, it grabbed a part of the chain that was suspended between the two individuals.
"Commencing experiment."
A chant started. Slow at first, and quiet, but rising in pitch and intensity. Sparks flew from its hands, the links that it held turning a dull red with heat. With a final climactic word, electricity sprang forth from the abomination. The chain conducted the lightning into both Erik's and the tiger's bodies.
His back arched, his mouth opened in a scream he could no longer utter. Muscles tightened to their breaking point as the lightning raced through his body, burning his insides and boiling his blood. What little hair he had left caught aflame as his eyes rolled wildly. Blood leaked from his nose as his more delicate capilaries burst, followed by his vision going red. The inhuman scream of the cat drowned out all else as it experienced a similar fate. While the two writhed in agony, the undead creature once again began to chant, pulling forth its twisted magic and directing it at both of his experiments.
Erik felt his body twisting, cracking, snapping. New sensations appeared in random places, separate from the pain of the electricution. His skin prickled intensely first, almost like pins and needles, but a thousand fold worse. Next, his head exploded in pain as his skull fractured, the healed, then fractured again. His teeth pushed forward from his jaw, the closer proximity causing electrical currents to jump between his lower and upper teeth. Something pushed forward from Erik's fingers and pierced his palms. All the bones in his body shifted, expanding, shrinking, in some cases breaking into multiple new bones. At the exact moment that the tigers screams silenced, his own voice was found again, this time different. Instead of the scream of a man in pain, a booming roar came forth from his chest, its intensity hurting his ears. His spine twisted and grew, the tip bursting forth from his lower back as it lengthened. Veins, then muscle, then flesh formed around the bone as it continued to grow. Through it all, the unearthly laughter of his tormentor could be heard.
The variety of new sensations and the intense pain finally took its toll. Erik's mind shut down completely. He did not fall unconscious as much as he simply registered nothing any more. Minutes passed until the flow of lightning finally stopped. Looking upon its creation, it yelled in disgust.
"Experiment failed. Although the fusing of the two subjects was achieved, the original subject still shows its original resistance to my power. Its flesh does not burn, nor fall off, nor does it slowly rot away from the bone."
Infuriated, it unstrapped the newly created thing from its bonds and roughly tossed it upon the floor. Turning it upon its stomach, the abomination whispered a few more arcane words. Flames appeared and took shape in the air, forming a single word: 'Animal'. The hovered for a moment before settling onto its shoulder, burning fur and searing flesh. Raising its hand, it intended to strike down the unresponsive creature and rid it from the world. Never one to miss the opportunity to inflict pain though, a new though crossed its mind. Perhaps leave the man alive? If he survived, he would find not a single place of rest. Everyone would view him as a monster, a twisted creature that meant only to hurt and kill, as the original animal would. Yes. Maybe he would be driven to kill himself, or strike out upon those who rejected them. Such an action would cause untold suffering to both he and his victim. That is what it would do. Leave it. If he lived, there could be delightful repercussions.
Standing, the burning eyes took one last look at its creation. It had not found out why he had been so resistant to its power, but the process had been enjoyable to the utmost. Laughing, it left, simply walking away from the compound that it had used to carry out its torturous experiments.
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A day passed. And another. And another. Finally, Erik stirred. At first, it was just a small twitch, a sign of life. Gradually, over the course of several hours, his mind resurfaced from the depths of insanity, its only safe haven from what it had been put through. Unsure of what was going on, Erik lay still for yet another hour, taking stock of his body. Everything ached, but nothing felt broken or gone. It all felt like it worked, although everything was... unfamiliar. Strange. Foreign. It didn't matter though. He was alive. And for the first time in a long time, the sense of taint was nearly gone. It lingered, for the presence of such a creature was not easily erased, but it was obvious that it was no longer near. Erik breathed a sigh of relief. The pain was over. The torture, the experiments. It was all over.
He turned his head, looking out in front of him. His throat was sore, parched, and no doubt damaged beyond all hope of repair from his screams. Erik needed water, and he needed it soon. Gingerly, he lifted himself up, again noting his luck of having nothing broken. Pain, yes, but still functional. His one track mind completely ignored the obvious changes to his body as he stumbled, one step after another. He did not know where he was going, but he felt that what he needed was soon within reach.
And it was. After a few hundred feet, his ears picked up the sound of water flowing. He could smell it. Fresh water. Again ignoring the oddities in his senses, he quickened his pace, eager to drink deeply of whatever brook he could find.
Another step forward, and another. Louder and louder the water became, until he finally spotted it. Too large to be called a stream, but by no means a river, the water flowed briskly by the banks. It was only a few feet deep and clear as the air. Elated and exhausted, Erik simply let himself fall into the life giving water. It was cold, very cold as a matter of fact, but it felt like nothing he had ever experienced before. Lowering his mouth, he greedily drunk down as much as he could handle. His first need taken care of, Erik decided it would be a good idea to wash the grime, sweat and blood that had no doubt accumulated on his body from him. He reached down, intent upon scrubbing the dirt from his skin.
He froze. He blinked. Wha-...what had happened to his hand?!?!? It was... bigger, yes, but that was the least of his problem. A fine coating of black and red hairs coated the back of his hands. Erik's eyes followed the hair up his arms, find it only growing in thicker as he went up. His eyes snapped to his other arm. It was the same. A dark coating of black and red... fur, he had to call it, had grown upon his arm. Completely aware and panicked, he finally noticed his nose was wrong. He could see it, much bigger then before. He brought a hand up to his face to feel it. His face had pushed out. It was... almost like a muzzle! What was going on?!?! Moving upstream to an area that had not become clouded, he found a small, still pool of water to the side. Looking upon his reflection, he yelled in anguish, sorrow filling his soul as he saw what he had become.
In place of his head was the head of an animal, a tiger. His ears had traveled up to the side of his head and had become pointy. A felines muzzle grew from his face, complete with long, sensitive whiskers. Opening his mouth, he saw not the molars, canines and incisors of a human, but the fangs of a predator. His entire body was coated in a thick, black fur. Stripes, the color of blood, were streaked across his body. Peering through the water, he could see that his feet had grown much larger and had taken on a digitigrade-like appearance. His toes ended in short, stubby claws. One more feature decided to reveal itself with a mind of its own. A long, thick tail protruded from the end of his spine, periodically twitching as any felines does.
Erik fell to his knees, in complete shock. He wasn't even human any more. He was... a freak. A freak of nature. Not even of nature, for it could not produce something like he had become. The words he had heard finally made sense. Erik had been fused with the corrupted feline, becoming a blend of the two, true to neither of the beings. A monster.
On his knees, he sat there for several more minutes before standing and bolting into the forest, heading deeper and deeper, away from all who might see him and what he had become...