The Road to Treshir
Comments
We were a week out of the San-Gheri Oasis heading towards the fabled dome city of Treshir when a great beast attacked the caravan. The horror rose up out of the sand in front of us, its giant segmented body rippling, causing tremors which sent some of the men sprawling to the ground. Noxious fluid oozed from the creature’s chitinous legs, popping and hissing as it ate into the sand. Two serpent heads twisted to face me. There was a sudden intake of breath, and I instinctively dove towards the mammoth creature just as it spewed a gout of black, toxic liquid not five feet away from where I was standing.
Three of my companions weren’t as quick. The poor bastards lay there in the blackened sand, writhing in pain as the acrid fluid ate into their flesh. I plunged my blade deep through the chitinous segmented body of the beast and more of that fluid sprayed out, covering my arms and much of my face. Unimaginable pain flooded my senses and I dropped to the sand, unconscious.
I don’t know how long I was out. Dark dreams plagued my fevered sleep. When I awoke, I was in a tent. A Shodonai maiden sat nearby on a bed of brightly colored pillows, smoking pitwah extract; a gummy substance widely used by apothecaries and shamans. The substance was rumored to clear the mind and body of impurities and aid in healing.
“How long have I been here,” I asked, slowly sitting up to look at the woman. Raven-black hair hung in braids around the woman’s shoulders. Her face - as was the case with all Shodonai - was lined with intricate tattoos framing pale blue shards which grew mysteriously out of her body.
“Five days you have slept in the camp of Targul Mâhr, war chief of the weeping crone sept. Our healers have repaired the damage you sustained from the battle with the Mazruk. You should be grateful, greenlander, that our patrols were able to drive off the beast, else you would be feeding her spawn..”
