Paradox - Chapter 3
#4 of Paradox
"Move! Move! Move!" shouted Vaskier from a large boulder. Hopping from boulder to boulder, Zeidak found a wolf finding his way through the boulder maze. Jumping down on the unsuspecting wolf, Zeidak dug his dagger into it's lower neck, severing it's spine. Jerking his dagger back from the limp corpse, he quickly ducked as a battleaxe nearly hit its target but instead bounced off a boulder. While his opponent was recoiling from the strike, Zeidak took advantage of his openness and jabbed his hooked sword next to his adversary's leg, then pulling it as the hook dug into the back of it's knee. His adversary coming down, he brought his dagger up into the jaw of his enemy, staring into the dead eyes of a lioness. Removing his dagger from the corpse, Zeidak heard the faint order of "Fire!" from the other side of the battlefield. Shouting the orders of "Get into the boulders, arrows!" he noticed that Vaskier was still on top of them, making his way to the carnage. "Vaskier, get down!" "You cower behind the rocks," yelled Vaskier. "I'm going to finish this --" being cut off by an arrow hitting him square in the throat. Grabbing the shaft of the arrow, he was struck four times in the chest, twice on the left leg, three times on his left shoulder and once on his right. After ripping out the arrow from his neck, he was able to summon up a roar before an arrow struck him in his mouth, bringing down the giant. "Vaskier!!" yelled Zeidak, ready to rush to his fallen comrade, though the volley of arrows stopped him. Once the volley subsided, and Vaskier's corpse was full of arrows, Zeidak began to rush to him. However, before he took a step, he heard the sound of claw scratching rock and looked up to see a spiked mace coming down on his head. "No!" shouted Zeidak as he jolted up from his cot, sliding his hidden dagger up to Kahn's throat. "S-- Sir?" asked Kahn, half scared for his life. Breathing heavily and sweaty, Zeidak looked around his tent, wondering what just happened. Realizing it was a nightmare, he looked at the intruding lizard. "What in blazing hell are you doing here?" "I was walking by your tent Sir and I heard you say something, I think it was Vaskier. I thought it was odd that you were even still in bed, so I looked in and you were tossing in your cot. Are you alright Sir?" said Kahn. "I'm fine... Back to your post Kahn." "Yes Sir," saluted Kahn. Watching his soldier leave the tent, he wiped the sweat from his face and thought of what just transpired. Shaking it off, he got himself dressed and then stretched, getting ready for his morning run. Leaving the tent, he nodded to Krinauk who was assembling his scouting party. Walking to the beginning of the trail he laid out, he passed Lockwood watching over Vaskier beginning his task of creating a fighting pit. Starting his four mile jog, he tried to forget the possible happening dream he had. * * * Watching his general begin his routine run, Lockwood left Vaskier to his work and began his morning inspection of the camp. Passing the barracks, he noticed a strange smell emanating from one of them, like something was dead. Walking in, he saw a two snakes and a lizard crowded around a tied up female Fox, with a dead one at their feet. Pushing them out of the way, Lockwood grasped the small fox's head with this hand and squeezed, ignoring the muffled screams until her skull cracked. Looking at the soldiers, he said "No prisoners until the pit is complete. Now either eat them or burn them, that one smells. I find any more live prisoners and you'll be the ones I find first. Is that clear?" "Yes Sir!" said the synchronized soldiers. Walking out of the camp, he made his way to the mess hall, licking the hand he used to crush the fox's skull. Looking over the feasting soldiers, he came up to the alligator cook and asked "Any problems?" "No Sir, just a few hungover soldiers that lost a few sparring matches last night. Need anything yourself Sir? I got either animal or enemy if you want something specific, or maybe a fresh heart if your snackish?" "No, I'm fine. Keep up the good work, I'd like at least one mess hall that a brawl hasn't started in." responded Lockwood. "Yes Sir," saluted the cook. Making his way to the command tent, he walked over to Krinauk when he saw him creating his scouting party. "How goes it?" asked Lockwood "Sir," saluted Krinauk. "I'm almost finished with assembling the scouting parties for the quarry spying you want me to partake in. Mostly snakes and lizards, finest scouts we have. When do you plan to have us off for the quarry Sir?" "Sundown," responded Lockwood. "So that by the time you get there, it will be dark. Remember to make sure that everyone has a set of those blindfolds, we don't want them to see the reflection in your scout's eyes. Hit ‘em if they complain, the blindfolds are specialized to allow vision on one side as if it wasn't even there." "Yes Sir," responded Krinauk. "Anything else Sir?" "No, just make sure that you don't screw this up. If one of them sees any of you we can kiss this scouting mission goodbye and we'll have to go in there without knowing what we're up against." said Lockwood. "Yes Sir!" saluted Krinauk. Continuing his walk back to his command tent, he forgot about his interrogator. Not seeing her around the camp, he shrugged off the thought of where she went as he entered his tent. * * *
Stopping at his secret hot spring in the forest, Zeidak removed the large leaves he used to cover it. Removing his attire, he stepped into the water, sinking in down to his shoulders. Enjoying the relaxation, he dunked his head, staying under for a few moments. Before returning to the surface, he noticed a figure above the water and grabbed for his dagger that he placed behind him. Standing up out of the water he readied his dagger at the figure, only to find Kolana leaning on a tree. "Nice," giggled Kolana, smiling. Looking down, Zeidak quickly sat back into the pool of water. "The hell are you doing here?" demanded Zeidak. "Oh don't act as if you aren't glad to see me," said Kolana, winking as she began to take off her jacket and boots. "What are you doing?" asked Zeidak, trying not to look at the rest of her. "You aren't the only one who could use a bath now and then," said Kolana, slipping off her pants to reveal her thong. Then, taking off her shirt to -- "Dejan..." said Elementius. "Err.. Yes, milord?" asked Dejan, only to see Elementius staring at him with half closed eyes. "You may skip the details for now, I'm not putting something that needs my attention on hold to hear you go on about what a male and female can do when they're alone." said Elementius. "Yes milord, my apologies. She... joined Zeidak for a bath." said Dejan. "Good enough, skip until they're finished please." sighed Elementius. "Yes milord," said Dejan. ****************** After getting dressed, the two of them began the two mile run back to camp as it began to rain, though the water was colder then usual. Before they reached the camp they were already soaked and could see their breath, freezing from the ice rain. Looking over at Kolana, Zeidak couldn't help but begin to laugh. Wondering what his problem was, Kolana looked down to find what was so funny. Smiling she slapped him. "Perv," she giggled. Upon returning to camp, they noticed that Lockwood was standing in the middle of the camp, as if waiting for something, Krinauk and Vaskier standing next to him. Noticing his return, Krinauk beckoned Zeidak over to stand with them, Kolana finding a place in the crowd. After a few moments of waiting, the rain in front of Lockwood began to take form, creating a body. When the body was formed, it began to freeze over, creating a statue of ice. Once it was fully frozen, it began to crack from all over, starting from the head, hands and feet, trailing to the torso. When cracks met in the center of the body, the statue exploded with a wave of force, sending the ice shards everywhere, though the small size of them simply bounced off of the crowd's scaled hides. Standing in front of Lockwood, where the statue once stood, was Taeo. "Lockwood," said Taeo. "Taeo," responded Lockwood. "What do you want?" "I came to propose a trade of land. I'm sure you're still after that quarry I have, and you have a certain piece of the forest that I happen to require," said Taeo. "You mean that little patch of grass that your men can't seem to get a few feet inside?" responded Lockwood, seeing a flicker of anger in Taeo's eyes. "No, I think I'll keep it. Now get your hide out of here, before I add it to my tent." Looking up to the sky, Taeo smiled. "This is your last chance to accept my offer Lockwood. You know what I can do with a drop of water, and there's plenty to go around." After saying that, three drops of water stopped in front of him. Turning into ice, and then expanding to the size and likeness of himself, leaving three identical clones in their place. Growling and looking at their adversaries, the clones circled Taeo. "That's it?" asked Lockwood, chuckling. "You're going to attempt to threaten me with your clones again? You forget, my friend, that each of your clones has a shadow that's always close by." Saying this, arms thrust out of the ground into the chest of each of the clone, looking similar to Lockwood's arm. After a moment, the clones shattered, and the arms withdrew into the shadowy depths they came from. "And don't forget," pointing up to the sky. "Your little rain cloud has blotted out the nearby star, so there's plenty of shadows." Glaring at him, Taeo said "Fine, have it your way. But know this, you wont take another lush planet like this one, perfect for my people. I wont let you turn it into another wasteland for your cold blooded monsters." "Flattery will get you nowhere, now get out of my camp." responded Lockwood. "See you on the battlefield," Taeo mumbled, sinking into a puddle hardly an inch deep. With his departure, the storm lifted and the clouds dispersed, revealing the star once more. "What now, Sir?" asked Krinauk. "Now, you better have one hell of a good scout team. He probably amped up the defense around that quarry by now." responded Lockwood. "Yes Sir," saluted Krinauk, beginning to clear the crowed that formed around Taeo. "Zeidak, Kolana," shouted Lockwood. Rushing in front of Lockwood, the two of them saluted their general. "Yes Sir!" they both said. "Get your packs and return to my tent, you'll be leaving in a few moments," said Lockwood. After another "Yes Sir," the both of them ran off to their tents for their packs that they had previously packed. Upon returning to Lockwood's tent, they found him standing outside with a phial of strange liquid in his hand. "Now then," began Lockwood. "your mission is to find the report that was lost. I don't care if you do or don't find the messenger, I just need that report. There will be enemies in your location, so be on your guard. If you can, capture one for information, primarily the reason that Kolana is taking part in this. Speaking of torture," handing Kolana the phial. "that phial contains a special acid that eats away skin. So if you have a stubborn one, you'll know where to use this," winking at Kolana. "Now then, the last seen location of the scout was four miles west of here, into the forest. Should your resources run low, there is a camp two miles farther west of your location. Any questions?" Both of them shaking their heads no, "Well then what the hell are you doing standing here? Move!" shouted Lockwood, watching them run west into the forest. "Krinauk," Lockwood shouted. Rushing to the caller of his name, he saluted Lockwood and asked "Yes Sir?" "Two hours, get your scouts ready." "Yes Sir!" responded Krinauk, going off to fulfill his order. Looking around as to find out where Vaskier went, Lockwood began to grind his teeth when he saw him leaning on a tree talking with a female. Walking over, he grabbed the back of Vaskier's head and slammed it into the tree and rubbed it into the bark. After releasing some of his anger, he pulled Vaskier's head back and asked him "That pit isn't going to dig itself. Now unless you want to dig it with your mouth, I suggest you stop flirting with all the damn women in camp and get the hell back to work!" yelled Lockwood. Throwing Vaskier on the ground, he looked at the girl his general was flirting with. "Get back to whatever the hell you were doing before I sow both of your lips shut." he growled, watching her scurry off to the barracks. Returning to his general who was getting up off the ground, he grabbed Vaskier's shoulder and lifted him up on his feet. "Your doing this for the exact reason of flirting, and here you go do it again before you were finished with the pit. If I see you flirting with one more bloody female in this camp before that pit is finished, and you wont have a reason to flirt with em. Am I clear?" said Lockwood. "Yes Sir." said Vaskier, spitting out a globule of blood. "Good," he said, releasing his grip. "Now back to that pit, two hours and your done for the day." Confused with not having to work until midnight with no meal, Vaskier nodded to Lockwood and made his way to the partially dug arena pit. Finished with his generals, Lockwood began his trek to his tent to go over information about the quarry to review to Krinauk's scouts.