Matt’s Tale Vol. II
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: Matt's Tale Vol. II
Author: Madd Matt
Quickly returning over the old bridge, the young woman crossed the road, scampered down the embankment and swiftly entered the dense forest.
She walked a meandering path back to what she knew as home, gathering fresh roots and mosses as she traveled. Those who had raised her taught her that the fresher her reagents, the greater the effect they would have. Stooping in a patch of nightshade, she was startled by a clicking and ticking coming from a bramble up ahead. Lowering herself closer to the ground, she peered through the underbrush to discover a large, bizarre insect tearing at a rotten log with its large scythe-like appendages.
The beast would shread the wood, then pick through it to separate out the bluish fungus that grew in the moldering pith. After the fungus was sifted out, it was briefly mouthed, as if to test for quality, then stored away in the folds of the giant's rigid, black skin that shone like highly polished shadow armour. In the distance, she could see another of the curiosities ripping at a small bush as if it had commited some great wrong to the creature. The closer insect paused from its toil to gently pull and clean its long antennae with its intimidating front claws.
The sight of such a delicate task by such an ungainly brute made her giggle, which was a sound that was misplaced in these deep woods and to the great insect. The monster raised up and looked in her direction, moving its head from side to side to aid in detecting any motion in the brush. The mage snorted and scurried through the leaves on hands and knees, pushed through the brambles up a berm and tumbled down the other side of the incline, coming to rest at a line of houses that she recognized.
Darting between the buildings, taking time to hide and look back, the girl come to a line of quaint houses. Dashing past the gleaming marble home, she noisily clomped up the steps of the neighboring log cabin. She hastily waved to the vendors next door who responded with their usual vulgarities. Smiling, she returned an improper gesture, unlatched the door to the cabin, rushed inside and slammed the door behind her.
"M'lord? M'lord!" she called out. Maxim, heir to the House of Spur, hunched over a small writing desk. A thin thread of blue smoke snaked from a pipe nestled in the side of his mouth, fragrancing the room with the odor of damp tabacco and cherries.
"Virginia, must you always slam the door? Tull worked most of yesterday repairing your last damage." Without moving he continued, "These scrolls you have brought me from the Lost Lands contain a great deal of knowledge. I have been reading them most of the morn and have yet to absorb it all." Turning slightly to face her, he was taken aback by her disheveled clothes and the mud and scratches on her face. Sighing, he groaned, "Where and what have you been up to this time? Wrestling with orcs again?"
"Big bugs!" she pipped, bouncing on the balls of her feet "Big black bugs!" Maxim stood slowly, wondering if the creaking he heard was the aged furniture that had been under him, or his own bones. He walked towards Virginia, leaned foward and sniffed at her face for the hint of liquor, only to recoil from the stench of her well garliced breath.
"I've not been a'drinking, m'lord. There are truly grand insects about in my woods!" she huffed.
Pondering, Maxim replied, "Yes, of course. I should not be surprised in this curse'd land. We drive the Juka out only to have them replaced by abominations. I swear we should have taken task against the Meer rather than the Juka. At the least, the Juka are not clumsy magicians." He lifted a heavy pack from the floor and slung it to his sholder. "Very well then. I will look into this.
I have business to tend to in Trammel. You, on the other hand, have another order of scrolls to inscribe," his reminder bringing a frown to Virginia's face. "After I have consulted with my salespeople, I will take in a hunt and see what is about. My prized Troy has not been out for a run as of late, the outing will be good for his heart. Open one of your gates to the stable for me, as you know how the use of runes effects me."
Virginia walked in a slow circle. Soon a faint mist began to follow her steps. Whispering, she tighten the circuit she paced, the trailing mist thickened and then suddenly yawned into a cleft of time and space. Maxim paused before entering the gate. "I shall return in a few days. Once your work is complete, you may investigate your odd findings. Please, for once, take great care." He stepped into the portal and was gone, a spiral of mist left where there had been a man.
Virginia sat at the desk that Maxim had recently vacated and relunctantly took up her scribe's pen. Stretching foward, she swung open the shutters of the nearby window. Straining her eyes, she looked deep into the treeline. If she held her breath still, should could make out the clicking and ticking she heard before, and if she gazed long enough, she believed she could see the glint of sunlight off of what seemed so much like highly polished shadow armour.
The smooth, hand-rubbed Yew wood made nary a creak as it flexed under the increasing tension. The braided gut cord twisted and stretched taut as frayed strips of leather woven into the strand fluttered in the morning breeze. Arrow nock, angled bowstring and gloved fingers moved in unison and came to rest on the exact same location on the archer's cheek that they had set so many thousands of times before. Shoulder and arm joints locked into position, muscles tightened and ceased their stressed twitching, a last breathe was slowly exhaled, the mental image of target and arrow as one became clear; for a brief, fleeting moment all things were calm and there arose a feeling of perfect peace.
The arrow leaping from the bow suprised Maxim of Spur, as it should when his release was flawless. The absence of conscious effort and the minimum of physical movement would insure a straight and true flight. The arrow planed upwards slightly, then settled into a gradual trajectory as it coursed down range and struck the great insect in the midsection with a hollow thud.
The wounded solen bolted a full three meters straight up and landed, stumbling, on its four hind legs. The creature took a few clumsy steps forward and clawed at the air with its front legs as if to defend against some unseen attacker. "The arrow has lodged well in the vitals," he thought to himself. Maxim quickly nocked, drew and loosed three more arrows, striking the huge ant in the same area as the first bolt. The mortally injured solen staggered ahead, suddered and collapsed into the underbrush. Spur cautiously rode up to the kill, noticing that the fluid that spilled from the carcass sizzled as it ate into the forest floor.
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