PM to join A Soul Shattering Screech (Prophet et al)

[Karyk]

Summer 60, 517 AV Karyk and the caravan trudged through the sticky heat of the forests, inching along slowly. Tempers were high, and had been since Syliras. The caravan was at best, forty percent of its original size when they left Zeltiva. They lost a few to wolves, yukmen, and other dangers along the way. But Syliras... That's where everything truly went bad. It forced them into a choice, a terrible choice. Where else to go? Over half the caravan, and most of the scouts left with Fildred, making their way to Riverfall. Several others wanted to head north, to remain in the Sylira region, and make way for a city known as Ravok. Merchants spoke highly of it. And Karyk... Karyk knew that it would be a struggle for the Ravok bound group, especially as the small of the two caravans, with fewer scouts. He joined them, to give them what help he could. A few others joined him, his sister and her kids, Oleander and Hortense, Kesh and Tollivant. There were several others, and even a few new faces, leaving Syliras with them. But there was one seat that remained empty, and would always be that way. Karyk glanced over at his passenger seat, Sharay sitting there with the reins as usual. But the space next to her, that had been briefly claimed by another at empty. Salara had left for Riverfall. She'd made her choice. And Karyk had supported her to go that way. And he wished he hadn't. Karyk looked back over his shoulder, seeing the much smaller line of carts, wagons, and beasts of burden. His sister was in the next cart back, with her two youngest. The twins were in his own carriage, probably napping. All of the wagons and carts were crowded, not enough to go around. There was no road this side of Syliras, and it had crippled more than a handful of the rides. Rations were dwindling, no one seemed to know any exact route to Ravok, nor how long it would be. Karyk had began splitting up portions of his own supplies among his sister's kids, preferring a bit of his own hunger to hearing theirs. The caravan broke through the tree line and Karyk raised an arm up to block the blinding light. There was a large clearing in the forest, a simple rolling stretch of grass, seemingly tucked in for no apparent reason. One of the very few remaining scouts rode up to him, "Ay Karyk, I think this be the pasture one of them merchants mentioned. Means we're close, couple days at most." Karyk nodded, his face weary and heavy with the struggles of this journey. "Anythin' else of note?" The boy shrugged, "Not really. The usual. Well, mostly. It's weird, we've not seen big game of any kind lately. Just small things. Maybe that's a good sign, that we're close or somethin'." Karyk called out to Bob and Susan, and the two oxen lumbered forward. The small caravan fully left the trees, and began to cross the grassy expanse, thankful to not be fighting the roots and brushes of constant forest. Karyk watched the boy trot out ahead of them, leading the group, as a light breeze passed through them all. A wind that only carried fresh air, but no sounds. No insects, no birds, nothing.

[Oleander Soleran]

Oleander

Oleander thought back to the day they had reached Syliras, and how finished he had felt. Now, an eternity later, the memory of that feeling was a soft sprinkle of rain compared to the storm of hunger in his stomach, pain in every single one of the blisters that made his shoes too warm and his feet too large and the tugging of lice in his hair, picked up somewhere along the road.

Hortense was hardly faring better. If she had complained about pebbles under her blankets when they had left Zeltiva, she was now happy if she found a dress with only a handful of holes and a last remnant of colour for the day. They both had suffered. They both had been forced to lower their standards.

There was barely a gleam of hope in their eyes when the first oxen broke through the edge of the forest. Oleander was walking, leading Eloise with a rope attached to her bridle. Two days ago, she had taken an unfortunate step and twisted her ankle. The mule had roared in pain, and the leg above the hoove had thickened. She could still be persuaded to walk, and Oleander hoped that she would survive, but he did not dare to take the risk of burdening her with his own weight afterwards.

Weary and worn, he stumbled into the open. A meadow, stretching as far and wide as his eyes could see, greeted him. On any other day, he might have been delighted, looking what plants he could find, which ones he knew and recognized, and which he’d never seen before. He might have collected or drawn them, asked others about them, maybe chosen one or two to add to a soup or keep for their fragrance. As it was, he paid the plants little mind, although he tried not to step on anything that bloomed as he trudged after Karyk’s caravan ever so slowly.

Hortense sat in the back of Karyk’s cart, visibly tiring of this other set of twins, younger and much more agile than herself and Oleander had been. She wondered whether they had given their parents as much grief when they were children as Becker and Decker did. One of the little devils was unpacking one of her chests on the floor of the carriage, throwing various pieces of heirloom around, digging deeper in hopes of finding something more interesting than hair pins and a faded cloak. The other busied himself plucking a loose nail from the carriage wall and attempting to drive it into different places subsequently. Different places included Hortense’s dress. She had stopped trying to scold him at this point. After various episodes of “Becker- or is it Decker”, giggles from both twins and “hey, that was not me”s, she had given up on trying to tell them apart or teach them manners. Once they arrived in Ravok, she would leave it to their mother to entertain the kids. The only reason she was putting up with them now was her unwillingness to walk, or so she told herself. A different part of her had started liking Karyk’s various nephews and nieces, but she was not ready to admit it. If she did, she was fairly certain that people would start using her as a childminder and occupational therapy for their raucous offspring.

[Karyk]

Bob and Susan continued to low softly as they continued across the meadow. Karyk could see what few scouts they had left on the edges of the tree line, never venturing too far anymore, it was simply too dangerous. They'd lost too many. Karyk kept the oxen on course with calls of "Here, here." The wind was soft, blowing a calming breeze through many of them. The far side of the meadow was still far away, and once more Karyk looked back over his greatly diminished caravan. He could see his sister and nieces in the next cart back, a few other carts and carriages, even Oleander pulling that poor, injured donkey at the rear. Eyes falling on his sister and matching hers, she gave him a determined smile, the sort that told him that this was almost done and they could relax, stop traveling for a while. SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Karyk's blood ran cold and he clasped his hands over is ears as the scream resounded over the land. Bob and Susan stopped, lowing and barooing in warning and fear. Scouts immediately began running or riding toward the caravan, and everyone began casting their toward the tree lines. They knew it had to be a monster or something, but they didn't see it. Karyk didn't like being in the open like this. "Hyah, hyah!" It took them several moments, but eventually the pair of oxen moved forward, at a quicker pace. Several of the scouts reached the caravan, weapons ready, eyes still searching as panic swept through the people. No one had any idea what caused that noise. One scout was running toward them from the east side of the meadow, a young man with hay hair and a charming smile. SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! It was closer and louder this time, "HYAH HYAH!" he yelled in reply, stirring them up faster. He didn't stop to think that a member of their group, Oleander with his stubborn mount, was far too slowed. A shout rang out, "What the petch is that?!" Karyk looked back, seeing one of the scouts pointing eastward. Eyes following the point, Karyk saw it; a dark shape flying over the trees, straight toward them. It was massive, and it was fast, right above the tree tops. It shot out over the meadow and swooped down toward the running scout. He was still two arrow shots from the caravan, and kept looking over his shoulder at the bird. Coming to a stop, he turned, trying to draw his shortsword, but the bird was far too fast. The massive yellow-white claws slashed through the man's torso, flinging his guts several feet from the corpse as it fell to the ground. The bird swooped upward away from the caravan. SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Sharay huddled against him, hugging him tight, the twins holding each other in the back. Karyk looked back as Bob and Susan continued to pick up speed. Natya was gripping the side of her cart, face stricken white, as the caravan as a whole began to speed up. "It's coming back again!" The few scouts with bows attempted to ready them against the giant bird. It swooped low again with another ear piercing screech, throwing a disemboweled scout from his horse, as arrows missed wide, far too slow for it. One bounced off of the bony plate atop its head. Once more it swooped upward, banking to come back for another attack. SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Oleander Soleran]

Oleander

A screech pierced the downtrodden silence, majestic and frightening. Oleander froze in his tracks and ducked instinctively. The thinned out ranks of the forward scouts broke through the underbrush and poured into the clearing. A second screech resounded, and all hell broke loose.

He saw the shadow of a giant bird and heard screams. From his rear position, it was hard to tell what exactly was happening, but judging from the ruckus and the way the caravan spread and broke into a run, he guessed that it must be gruesome.

Perhaps the fact that he was so far away from the bulk of the caravan was his saving grace. It could have been anyone, really, he was certain the creature did not care whom it killed first. It made sense that it would strike where the humans rode and walked most closely, where they had no space to evade or flee or otherwise escape the creature’s wrath. Or maybe it was a coincidence: Had it wanted to, it could have singled out Oleander. Maybe it was safer to be part of the crowd and pray that your neighbour would be the next target, not yourself.

Part of him hoped that the creature only hunted to feed, that it would carry off its victim and leave the rest of them in peace. An awful sacrifice, but one that promised safety.

That hope was shattered when the beast returned, screeching for the third time. The sound rang in Oleander’s ears and it did not quite stop ringing, even when the plated bird dove back down to disembowel the next scout. He got a better view this time: The beast was grey like the grainy darkness one saw upon closing their eyes. A crude exoskeleton covered only its head, but it did not seem to feel restricted. A coordinated attack targeting a feather-covered area might have had a chance of succeeding, but what little men they had left had no leader to really them. Some attempted to shoot their arrows at the bird, but they glanced off its head uselessly or did not hit their target at all, the archers’ accuracy crumbling under the crushing panic.

The beast gutted its second victim and beat its wings to remain airborne, then it circled above their heads to repeat the pattern. Frozen with dread, Oleander realized that the caravan had rushed too far ahead, that he could not keep up even if he tried.

The kriital noticed, too.

It would have been the end of him, had Eloise’s fear not outweighed her pain precious moments before the bird’s claws scraped through empty air where Oleander’s chest had been. The mule galloped forward with a roar, faster than she had ever run before. Oleander was dragged along by the reigns wrapped around his wrists. He stumbled and fell, but the mule dragged him on as if she did not notice she was still attached to her owner. He leaned into the reigns as strongly as he could, slowing her enough get a footing, to run along. With a prayer and an apology, he stopped her altogether and swung himself onto her back. Eloise did not even low out her pain, with her joints warmed and all instincts tuned on survival, she carried him after the others even as the enraged screech of the beast rang out behind them. With its massive body, it took some time to regain balance and launch the next attack, time Oleander needed to reach the others.

[Karyk]

Karyk could already feel a stitch forming in his ribs as he spurred on Bob and Susan. His feet thudded loudly as he kept up his 'Hyahs', as they came closer to the tree line. Sharay was screaming loudly and the twins clutching at her. Karyk looked back to see the carriage was swaying heavily over every bump it hit, and he knew he couldn't go faster, or they'd wreck. Hortense and the twins were in the back, probably bouncing around far too much for their liking or health. Karyk couldn't see Oleander at the back of the caravan, but he did see that damned demon bird dive over that general area. A pit dropped heavy into his stomach, and Karyk hoped his friend still lived. There had already been far too many losses on this caravan. Karyk no longer spurred his oxen on faster, constantly checking back on his carriage. He saw the few scouts that had horses left break away from the caravan. There were only three of them, most of the horses had been taken for those going to Riverfall. The scouts shot out perpendicular from the caravan, in what seemed to be an attempt to lure the bird away from the main group. It was a suicide mission. As Karyk drew closer to the tree line, he realized there was a problem. The scouts normally picked out the entrances into the tree lines, ensuring they were wide enough and safe for travel for the carriages and wagons. Karyk had to choose now, while literally on the run, huffing and puffing, trying to not clutch at his side, taking in deep, wheezing gulps through his mouth. His eyes scanned the tree line, seeing what seemed like three potential choices. But to his untrained eyes, all three looked equally promising, so Karyk picked the closest one. "Gee! Gee!" To steer them to the right, to line up with the entryway. As they got closer and close, "Ho! Ho! Ho!" to slow them down. But it seemed they were too scared, and didn't. Karyk kept shouting it as they burst through the trees onto a dirt path barely wide enough for the carriage. In the narrow trees, they started to slow, but it wasn't enough. Barely into the treeline, the carriage hit a large root with its right wheel. Karyk heard the thud, and turned, feeling his world slow. The carriage was hopped up a good foot and careening to the left. The shipwright watched as Sharay was dumped off the side, Karyk already racing toward her, no longer feeling that stitch up his side. Thankfully the child had balled up tightly. Throwing himself bodily, Karyk felt her crashing into his torso, driving what little air remained from his chest, and shoving him backwards. He wrapped his arms up tight about whatever parts of her he could, never really having a good hold of the twelve year old, but just there to cushion the fall. He was tossed backwards into a particularly woody bush, painfully as the sticks, scraped, stabbed, and slashed as he stumbled through it. He rolled once, and she was thrown from him into the dirt next to him as his body came to a painful stop. Karyk thought he heard shouts, voices he didn't recognize, as he tried to pull himself upright. He was still dazed from the impact, until he heard Sharay crying. That spurred him up, and he scrambled around until he'd found the little redhead, clutching at her arm and crying in pain. He quickly looked her over, not finding any blood. "Stay 'ere! Don' move!" Karyk stood up fully, ignoring the pains in his body, as he now could see that the carriage was on its side, a cloud of dust billowing up around it. Bob and Susan were lowing loudly, still attached but unable to make the carriage move, or just not trying that hard. Karyk ran up to it, and threw his torso up over onto the side, pushing up and swinging a leg over as he now laid on top of it. He ripped open the door, busting the simple wood latch lock, and looked inside, aided by a particularly lucky beam of Syna's light. Gear was thrown about, and the twins were crying as they laid atop Hortense. "Don' move!" Karyk lowered himself down inside, unstable on an overturned chest. He grabbed each of the crying boys and placed them up through the door way on the side of the tipped carriage. "Stay there!" Hortense seemed dazed, but alive. "I'm gonna get ya outta 'ere lass. Migh' 'urt a bi'." Karyk crouched down next to the woman, and slipped his arms under her shoulders and hips, and heaved her up into his chest. Thankfully, the carriage was narrow, as Karyk hiked her up higher, his arms shaking a bit under her weight as he set her up on the side of the carriage with the twins. Karyk then jumped, getting some of his torso over the side, and strained to pull himself up and over. He knelt over the boys, checking them over as quickly as he could. They seemed banged up, but nothing looked broken or bleeding. He then turned to Hortense, lightly slapping her face in her daze, "'ortense, I need ya to wake up. Please." Then he heard a loud crash and a scream from where he'd entered the tree line. He looked up in time to see his sister's carriage not quite make it through the narrow entrance. The wagon hit a large root hard, and was vaulted several feet into the air, flipping as it separated from the scared mules. They continued running up the path past Karyk's wreckage, as the wagon crashed down, dust and splinters flying everywhere. "NO!" Karyk felt his world slow and grow silent as he ran up the path to the wreckage. The driver had been thrown into the trees, but Karyk didn't care. The shipwright practically threw himself onto the splintered boards, and began tearing at them, throwing them into the brush around him, "Nat! Nat I'm comin'!" Once several of the smaller pieces were thrown away, he shoved at one of the walls that managed to stay together, heaving with his whole body, and tossing it backwards. He continued to scrambled in the wood until finally, he found her. Her neck was bent at an unnatural angle, and there was a bulge sticking out from it. "Nat?" He touched at the bulge gently, and it felt hard, like a bone. He felt cold as he pulled more of the wood away, uncovering the rest of her body, seeing Anola and Laury clutched protectively against their mother's chest. And there was no movement, no sound from them. In a whisper, "No no no no no." Karyk reached out, trying to feel for life, breaths, sounds, anything. And found none. He scooped the three of them up into his chest, knowing they were gone. He held them tight as he sobbed, kneeling on that shattered wagon. He heard steps and saw Sharay standing there, staring, her face empty of all emotion. "Go, go to ya brothers... don' let 'em see... not like this." She moved, mechanically, slowly toward the other carriage, as Karyk let out a loud wail. He had no idea what happened to the rest of the caravan, or with that damnable bird, this was all he knew now. NoteGonna ask Prophet to enter here