Divided We Fall, a Skink's Quest, Part Five of Five
Divided We Fall, Part Five: Journey’s End
The Skinks looked about the surreal landscape. The outlay of the hills and pits seemed to make no sense. There was ugly sparse plants. Thorny, fungus-looking plants, To the east (west? north?) the foliage became thicker. Many of the plants swayed without any wind, looking more menacing than the worst carnivorous plants Lustria has to offer and as vile as the worst most Skaven blighted wastelands. To their opposite side the scrubby plants gradually disappeared leaving a barren desert filled with sharp spikes and warping landscapes bathed in ominous red light and raked with lightning and fire.
Zatkai put the crown on his head to read the thoughts of his Stegadon companion easier. It wouldn’t have shrunk from Slann-sized to Skink-sized if he wasn’t supposed to use it right?
“Skarish, have any escaped the Chaos Realms before?”
Slann manage to find their way back nearly half the time.
“And the lesser Children of the Old Ones?”
Oxyotl of Pahaux made it back.
“And?”
That’s it.
“How did he get out.”
I don’t know
“Preylot, did you hear how Oxyotl escaped the Chaos realms”
“No, he did not share his tale, and the SSSlann were unwilling to probe his mind lest the taint of Chaos dwelled in his thoughtsss.”
“How do the Daemons get to us then?” Hyrok asked.
They cross over in areas saturated with magic when they invade the material realm
Zat-kai relayed the telepathic answer from Skarish.
“Let’s find an invasion party and follow it out.” Belrikt said
“What are the odds the invasion party will be going to Lustria?” Veklay asked.
“I’d rather figure out how to get back home from human or elven lands then dwell here a second longer than necessary” Zat-kai stated.
Very well, I will look for a Daemon army for our salvation….what a terrible thing to say.
“Stay in this border area Skarish, I don’t fancy our chances facing the storms or that jungle of vile fungi” Tal-Lat suggested.
They rode on Skarish’s back for about an hour before Zat-kai got over the weirdness of his surroundings and began to examine Skarish clinically as a beast caste Skink would examine a regular Stegadon.
“Skarish you are burned. We should stop to treat your wounds”
It’s not as bad as it looks, we need to keep moving, if we stay too long in one place the Daemons will find us.
They rode in silence for another twenty minutes when a score of small bird-like Daemons flew overhead. Zat-kai heard their primitive thoughts in his head.
Intruders! Masters reward lucky Furies who find intruders!
“Shoot them down!”
Each blowpipe dart carried enough of the Coatl’s blessing to strike down a Fury with a single hit. Unfortunately even crack shots can’t easily hit fast moving flying targets at long range. Over half the Furies made it back into the strange forest safely.
Skarish increased to an all-out sprint in an attempt to outdistance their inevitable pursuers. Half an hour later Skarish and his passengers found themselves running towards Daemons waiting for them. At least four dozen grotesque soldiers, roughly the size of Saurus Warriors. The largest and best armed Daemon spoke.
“The Slann are kind to send such gifts to us! We cannot be bought with lovely gifts. You should tell your masters that this will buy them no avail."
The plaguebearers laughed sycophantically making a sick gurgling sound. Zat-kai sensed the Herald’s bravado telepathically, but there was something else too….fear. Daemons were not used to earthly beings in their realm, especially not in numbers. They only knew about Lizardmen from hearsay, so were unsure what their capabilities were. Zat-kai decided to use this to his advantage.
“You can tell the Slann yourself. They are coming shortly! They are tired of your incursions and are taking the fight to you. We are just the scouting party. Why else do you think we’d take a dinosaur this small? To the attack brothers! If we don’t strike now our kin will leave us no Daemons to kill!”
The Plague bearers panicked and scattered. The Herald tried to rally his brethren but few stood their ground. Skarish flattened the Herald personally making a sickening SPLOOSH under his massive flat feet. Blessed darts struck down over a dozen Daemons while Nal was slicing two in half foolish enough to move within his reach of his massive axe.
“If we are lucky they will all be that dumb!” Belrikt exclaimed happily.
“They won’t be. We bought some time, I need to try to treat Skarish, he was wounded by some of the Daemons on top of the burns he got from our arrival.” Hyrok said gravely.
No! It won’t work. I can’t maintain this much longer. When my spell wears off, I will be a Skink with Stegadon-sized wounds. No less than I deserve for getting you all into this. You better dismount. You will attract less attention on foot anyway. Zat-kai, tell the others I am sorry.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. You saved all of us many times over…we will help you…we…”
Skarish the Stegadon slumped to the ground in pain.
“We better dismount.”
There were no dry eyes as Nal and the Skinks watched the wounded Stegadon shrink into a small dark green Skink, bloodied, burned and oozing with infections.
“Old Ones have mercy on your bravest servant and take him into your presence.”
Hyrok drizzled the Deralethi venom on his corpse. Three drops was sufficient to cleanse the foulness away but could not restore the dead.
“Nal, put him in your pack. No one will be left behind here if we can help it.”
* * * * * * *
Some time later, minutes? Hours? Weeks? The Skinks continued to wander.
“I hear something coming from the foressst.” Preylot hissed.
Soon an excited gurgling bark was audible to all the Skinks.
Yay! New friends to play with us! Yay!
Zat-kai was reminded of juvenile warm blooded beasts. He had worked with enough jaguar cubs who drew blood on him with their playful nips. The two creatures partially quadruped, partially slug-like were roughly the size of Kroxigors if Kroxigor did not walk upright. Many times bigger than playful jaguar cubs, they moved surprisingly fast for something so large and misshapen. The stunted plants withered and died at the monsters’ passing. The Skinks didn’t need an order to shoot.
Belrikt hit one dead on with a fireball but it seemed to have no effect at all. The wounds where the darts struck glowed with faint white light. One of the Beasts of Nurgle slumped to the ground and began melting into a pile of sickly brownish green goo. The other one kept moving forward.
New friends bite hard, I bite harder, show playmates who is best!
Even Nal recoiled from the monster with the Skinks though Veklay leapt forward towards the revolting beast.
“Die monster!”
He sliced large pieces off the twisted beast, but got bitten by its triangular mouth before the beast lay still.
“Sotek caste claims victory…” Veklay proudly but weakly claimed before slumping to the ground.
The creature got up and roared unexpectedly and lunged for Veklay. Nal stepped across quickly and smashed the beast into a slimy spot in the ground. Hyrok dripped Deralethi venom onto Veklay’s wounds which sizzled but nevertheless expelled the sickly ichor.
“You should live, but we should have Nal carry you for a while you recover”
“I’m perfectly capable of handling this! I suffered through worse.”
“No you haven’t!”
The bright red crested Skink scowled, but acquiesced under Zat-kai’s and Hyrok’s stern glares.
* * * * * * *
Another indeterminate amount of time later, a new threat emerged. This time from the desert rather than the forest. Roughly a dozen red streaks came towards him. Zat-kai probed their minds and found nothing other than a single-mnded desire to kill the source of an offending scent, mortal lizards. The creatures reminded him of a cross between a Salamander, Razordon, and an oversized Huagordon (small dinosaurs the beast caste used as blood hounds).
These beasts were a little thicker skinned than the last batch, and they were very fast. The fireball Belrikt launched dissipated inches away from them, their strange collars glowing. Less than half of the flesh hounds were struck down by darts or javelins before they were upon the Skink party.
The Skinks managed to blunt the fury of the hounds with their swords and shields, but about half the survivors of the shooting onslaught decided the Kroxigor was the most worthy prey. Veklay jumped down from Nal’s shoulders as the mighty Kroxigor was dragged down to the ground. Nal lost hold of his giant axe but did not stop clawing and biting his attackers. Veklay drew off some of the hound's attention but couldn't save the Kroxigor. Nal crushed two of the beasts' heads barehanded just before another beast ripped his throat out. Veklay decapitated the offender’s head before collapsing from the combination of wounds from the Flesh Hounds and the Beasts of Nurgle before.
Hyrok tried fruitlessly to bind Veklay’s wounds before he bled to death. The oldest Skink turned to his companions, his face ashen with despair.
“They are just going to take us out one by one aren’t they?”
“I read their minds. We seem to be very easy to find. Our scent stands out to Daemons like mallisaurus musk after a fresh rain.” Zat-kai explained.
“Then we hide our scent. We need to smear these things’ blood on us. We’ll also need to go a little bit into the forest for cover. I’ll take point, hopefully the amulet will help me survive a misstep.” Tal-Lat said.
“We aren’t strong enough take bodies with us anymore without Nal carrying them for ussss.” Preylot added sadly.
Belrikt removed the packs and gear from their two fallen allies, the Skinks divided up the supplies as best they could. The Skinks didn’t hunger or thirst as much as one would expect but their supplies were still running low. They used some Deralethi venom to purify some water from a stagnant pond they found in the border area, but they hadn’t resorted to eating local flora and fauna yet. Zat-kai sensed Tal-Lat was briefly considering eating Nal, but he was too ashamed to suggest eating a Kroxigor. He’d prefer to go hungry. Zat-kai was inclined to agree. Then his reverie was interrupted as Belrikt shot the corpses with a fireball.
“I don’t want the Daemons to do anything with their bodies” he said coldly and sadly.
“Wait!” Zat-kai said.
He cut off both Nal’s and Veklay’s heads.
“We’ll take their heads with us, the Daemons here prize skulls above all else. You are right though, this is the best we can do for our friends. Belrikt, take the Fangs of Sotek, you are the best hand-to-hand fighter we have left.”
Zat-kai knew this was for the best. He knew this would thwart what the Daemons were hoping to do, but he was privately unnerved on how easy this action was for him to perform. He did not like how easily he understood what the Daemons wanted, it made him feel unclean.
Two more fireballs later, the bodies of their companions were little more than ashes. The Skinks scattered their powdered bones sadly after purifying them with a few drops of Deralethi venom. They continued on their way, still not sure of where they were going. They just hoped that if they traveled far enough they’d find a way out. On the plus side, the few Daemons they saw were no longer heading towards them so the blood must have hidden their scent successfully or perhaps it was the overpowering stench of so many of Nurgle’s favored plants hiding them. That was little comfort given how the blood burned their skink uncomfortably like a bad sunburn.
The edges of Nurgle’s Garden conformed to enough norms of forests in the material world that Tal-Lat’s experiences and honed instincts let him avoid most dangers. The plants that were developing rudimentary sentience were harder for Tal-Lat to avoid but Zat-kai was able to steer the group to safety by reading their proto-minds. Of the few things Zat-kai and Tal-Lat couldn’t avoid, some of them were stopped by Tal-Lat’s amulet, the rest were fixed with Hyrok’s bag of blessed Deralethi venom. Zat-kai sensed that Hyrok was worried about running out of the disinfectant. Thanks to Hyrok’s carefully measured tiny doses, they still had half the blessed venom left but they had no idea how long they would be in the Chaos Realm.
After another indeterminate amount of time came a most unexpected new threat. Eons ago, Tzeentch had given Nurgle a gift for his garden in return for services once rendered. This gift was known as the Tree of Living Nightmares. The original Tree was in the center of his garden but Nurgle had cross bred it with many of his lesser plants. One of these lesser trees shot Preylot in the face with a cloud of spores. He began changing into bright glowing colors that shifted rapidly into entrancing patterns. He began twitching as foul whispers filled his mind. Then he began thrashing about hitting himself with his diminutive fists while screaming
“NOOOO!!! I’m going to die! I’m going to die! They can see me!”
“Who?” Belrikt asked.
“Everyone!”
Preylot ran off screaming louder than any thought a Chameleon Skink was capable of and bolted off. The other Skinks looked bewildered.
“I got this.” Tal-Lat said and tore after him…he was not hard to find. Tal-Lat bashed him on the top of the head with his fist. He then carried the small Chamleon Skink back slung over his shoulder and hauled him back moaning.
“Was that necessary?” Hyrok asked.
“I didn’t hear anyone else with any better ideas. Let’s see if you can get him to swallow a drop of the Deralethi venom and see if that helps.”
After pouring a few drops of the purifying venom into his mouth. His color changed to a dull grey. Then Hyrok woke him up with the pungent order of some rot flower nectar. He jerked awake and moaned.
“I…can’t hide anymore. I’m too weak to contribute if I can’t hide. I shouldn’t have been on this quest. If I could shoot like a real Chameleon Skink, Nal and Veklay would be alive….I’m dead weight to the team.”
After a stream of relentless encouragement from the others Preylot agreed to keep going, but he walked closer to the other Skinks than he usually did. Periodically he’d issue a dry sob. He began blending with the landscape again, but it was far less effective than normal. Every color he changed into had a gray tint, so he was barely more concealed than the other Skinks. Zat-kai was glad he had gained greater ability with the Crown of the Brother’s Bridge, so he could now filter out Preylot’s self deprecating thoughts. The voices in his head were gone but the memories remained. Preylot gradually improved over time but he was still skittish, even by Skink standards. Zat-kai did not hold this against him considering where they all were, a little skittishness was to be expected. After some time he whispered something other than how much despair he felt.
“I hear several creatures coming, we should hide now.”
The Skinks took up hiding places in a cluster of trees that they were fairly sure wouldn’t harm them and watched silently as hundreds of plaguebearers marched past.
“If they aren’t here for us, they are likely an invasion party. We need to follow them. Good work spotting them before the rest of us. I’m glad you are with us, Preylot” Zat-kai said.
“We’re all glad you’re with us, cousin,” added Belrikt.
Preylot seemed to gain some measure of his confidence back. He picked out most of their hiding places as they leap-frogged from one hiding place to another shadowing the slow moving unit of disease ridden soldiers from a distance. Zat-kai tried to read the minds of the soldiers.
“They are planning to make war on the First, if we can find their exit point we can go home and help defend our people at the same time!”
The party stopped when the marching Nurgle soldiers headed out into the open ground of Khorne’s desert territory.
“I can hear them awaysss away. We’ll have to keep them at a much greater distance now to not be ssseen.”
The Skinks grew nervous as they saw the soldiers they were follow met up with still more Daemons. They were forming an army. More eyes to spot them and more ears to hear them. The army swelled to over a thousand. The one silver lining is that the storms and natural hazards of this section of the wasteland seemed to be attracted to the masses of Daemons, so the Skinks didn’t have to fight the land itself like they did in Nurgle’s Garden.
Once there were no more new units to join the army, the Skinks saw the army in the distance slowly shrinking. They had reached an exit into the material plane. It must have been a small exit, so the army had to bottle neck. While waiting for their turn to go through, some of the giant putrid flies launched in the sky and began patrolling to burn off pent up energy of their excited riders. A short while later a small piece of the army (about a hundred soldiers) broke off and headed towards the Skinks.
“Mahrlect! They spotted us.”
The Skinks scrambled and tried to find a place with spikes and pits and the like to force the enemy to bottle neck but they couldn’t do much better than stake out a spot about ten Daemons wide, not a very good position. Zat-kai reached out telepathically with the Crown to figure out what they were facing. There were about fifty of the basic Plaguebearers and about fifty of the Bloodletters each lead by a Herald. It dawned on Zat-kai that the entire army bore allegiance to Khorne or Nurgle. They sent an equally sized contingent because neither side wanting to let the other monopolize the joy of early lizard killing. A cluster of the tiny Nurglings followed the two groups of soldiers at a safe distance watching and giggling. Once within shouting distance, the Herald of Khorne began to speak. Daemons seem awfully chatty when in their home territory. I suppose in the material plane they have language barriers with mortals, so they don’t get a lot of opportunity to play with their food in that manner.
“I would like to thank you reptiles. My master, Locklirist of the Hated Lash, was having trouble finding allies to help him fight your people until you started tearing up Nurgle’s Garden. Now we have the aid of the mighty Korshalork of the Putrid Waves on our side to devastate your jungles. As reward for your aid, your skulls shall have a place of honor in Locklirist’s personal collection.”
“For every one leaf of Mother Nurgle’s plants you disturbed in his Garden, we will infect a hundred of your trees and slay a hundred of you lowly Skinks!”
It was nauseating just listening to the gurgle each time a Nurgle Daemon spoke. He also sensed that beneath their friendly façade, the two Heralds did not enjoy working together. Belrikt aimed the Amulet of Chotec’s wrath but Zat-kai quietly whispered for him to hold his fire.
“I can see why you are happy to have Nurgle troops with you. The Nurgle troops gave us a lot more trouble. I’d say the hounds we fought were about as problematic as one of the fungus plants. You are very lucky to have Nurgle aiding you since you would have serious trouble getting any skulls without their help.”
“Well, That IS true.” the Nurgle Herald blushed a sickly shade of green with false modesty.
“You disgusting sack of puss! I’ll show you who is stronger!”
The two heralds began fighting each other. A heartbeat later their soldiers also began fighting each other. The fighting mass still headed in the gradual direction of the Skinks, but they were far more interested in fighting each other than the Skinks. The few who realized who their true enemies were and broke away all faced a hail of darts and javelins once they closed into range.
“Concentrate your fireballs on the sickly ones, brother. The red ones are magic resistant, we’ll stick to poison on them.”
Preylot nervous shaking had stopped, and his desire for vengeance at his violation drove him to a cold fury. Every dart he fired hit a Daemon squarely in the forehead or chest. Whatever wasn’t stopped by the Daemon’s innate protective power instantly slew them. The blessed Deralethi venom caused the plaguebearers heads to pop like giant slimy postules, or the Bloodletters head’s to catch on fire. The few Daemons that survived the hail of missile fire and reached the Skinks were quickly dispatched by Belrikt wielding the Fangs of Sotek.
“Another skull for Khorne!”
The Herald roared proudly having just decapitated his Nurgle counterpart, then turned towards the Skinks. His left side had a wound that was slowing him down with a virulent infection. Tal-Lat threw a javelin with all his might that struck the Daemon warrior’s chest. He slumped to the ground wounded but bellowing his defiance. The Nurglings began giggling very loudly then yelling in pain and ecstasy as they melted into a large amorphous puddle.
The dozen or so remaining Daemons stopped fighting and backed away nervously from the bulging puddle. Figuring that whatever scared Daemons like this could not possibly be good, Belrikt attempted to launch a fireball at the undulating mass only to have harmless smoke billow out of the amulet. The mass formed a rough face which grew more defined and began sprouting a torso and head already larger than the combined mass of the various Nurglings that once stood there. Apparently, the Law of Conservation of Mass is one of the many natural laws that do not apply in the Chaos Realms.
Half again as tall as a Kroxigor Ancient and twice as wide, Korshalork of the Putrid Waves looked down on all present.
“You have been very naughty fighting amongst yourselves at our moment of triumph. I do not like that I had to be pulled off from the real battle to deal with this annoyance…not one bit.”
“Mighty one! It was your treacherous Herald, I tried to explain our common mission to him, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“Your kind have never been good at lying Khorne-ling.”
The Unclean One waved his hand and a sticky mist shot out and caused the Khorne Herald’s wounds to burst forth slimy putrescence which burned him like acid until he melted into a pile of curdling blood. Then the remaining Bloodletters all found themselves covered in growing tumors which burst open and then burned them likewise. The Plaguebearers cringed under the Plague Lord's gaze.
“I hold you just as accountable. Go. Attend to the main battle, I will come up with a suitable punishment for all of you later.”
The Nurgle soldiers ran away as fast they could towards the main army. They were going to try their absolute best to make sure they died at the hands of an enemy later rather than have to face their master’s wrath. Korshalork turned to the Skinks.
“You have caused me much distress and slain two of my most beloved pets. Fortunately for you, I am both merciful and generous. I give you my greatest gift, a sickness never experienced by a reptile before!”
He exhaled a cloud of mist towards the Skinks. Zat-kai frantically sent a telepathic message to his kin.
Skarish once told me that you don’t have to be a wizard to stop a spell, everyone concentrate your will on dispersing the mist!
The mist slowed down very slightly but would not be deterred. Hyrok dunked his hand into the pouch of Deralethi venom and flung several droplets into the sickly mist mostly dispersing it. Unfortunately he breathed a small portion of the vile vapors. His forehead began to grow very hot. Fevers are not an ailment cold blooded beings normally have to deal with, but Hyrok didn’t feel as impaired as he thought he would.
“You dare refuse my gift!?! I hate healers. I was hoping to spare you the humiliation of being defeated in personal combat, but now I must eat you. Once I digest your medicinal knowlege I will create new ailments which will resist your every remedy. The jungles of your people will face plagues the likes of which will make the Skaven’s best efforts look like the sniffles!”
The bulky Daemon charged surprisingly fast. The darts and javelins that struck him seemed as little more than mosquito bites. Hyrok broke away from the other Skinks and charged straight for the Unclean One.
“We have to stay as one unit!” Zat-kai yelled.
Hyrok stabbed at the Daemon who blocked his sword with his own meaty hand. The Sword went in up to the hilt but this didn’t seem to bother the Daemon lord in the slightest. He wrenched a hand away disarming the Skink chief. Then he lifted Hyrok up by the scruff of his neck and began moving him towards his gross distended maw.
“Now, I eat you annoying healer!”
“Eat this!”
Hyrok opened his bladder full of blessed venom that heals and poured its entire contents down the Daemon's throat.
“NOOO! Nurgle help your favorite son! Purge me of this foul substance. I—”
His words turned into an inarticulate scream as his midsection began glowing with white light. The blessed purification of the Coatl was completely incompatible with the putrescence of an Unclean One. He glowed brighter and brighter until he was painful to look upon. Korshalork and Hyrok were both vaporized instantly leaving a steaming crater in the ground.
The remaining four Skinks stood in stunned silence broken by Zat-kai.
“We have to get through the doorway. Most of the Daemon army is already through and we don’t know how long it will stay open.”
They saw the opening, a sliver of natural sunlight breaking the reddish haze of the present portion of the Chaos Realm. The Skinks all walked through one after the other.
Despite all they had suffered through, the Skinks were glad to be back in the jungle. There wasn’t a Daemon in sight but there was a clear path showing the way they went. The Khorne Daemons sliced through all the foliage they saw and the Nurgle Daemons left a trail of defoliation.
“What do we do now?” Preylot asked.
“We follow the army, we have a duty to defend all of Lustria from these creatures.” Belrikt said.
“No brother, they are many and we are four. We will pray for the souls of our fallen kin, then we will continue our original quest to get the Crown of the Brother’s Bridge to the Slann as the Old Ones intended.” Zat-kai answered.
“Perhapsss we can follow them at a distance, it’d be good to know where the Daemonsss are.” Preylot whispered.
“If we move parallel to their path we can use the jungle as cover while tracking the Daemons, at least until I figure out where in Lustria we are.” Tal-Lat said.
“Agreed.” Zat-kai said, removing the Crown and placing it in his pouch.
The Skinks did the best improvised funerary rite they could lacking a presiding priest and having no bodies at all. After this, the party began trekking through the jungle. Tal-Lat seemed agitated.
“I don’t recognize this purple flower and it’s everywhere here.”
“Is the flower going to eat us?” Belrikt asked.
“Of course not.” Tal-Lat answered.
“Then why is it a problem?”
“It means I have no idea where in Lustria we are. I thought I’ve seen it all.”
“It’s a big jungle, you aren’t that old, so you can’t possibly have covered everything.”
“I know it’s just—there look at that!”
“It’s just a common jungle squirrel, Tal-Lat” Zat-kai said patiently.
“But it had gray spots! Have you ever seen a squirrel with gray spots before.”
“No, but unlike you, I accept that I can’t possibly have seen everything there is to see in Lustria. I’m not bothered by a squirrel with spots.” Belrikt said.
“There’s another one! And another! What if this is some sort of second Chaos realm!”
The group stopped walking.
“You need to calm down; it’s just flowers and squirrels….” Zat-kai said.
“Yeah, you didn’t breathe in any of those tree spores did you?” Belrikt asked.
“Not funny” Preylot hissed.
“This isn’t Lustria!” Tal-Lat declared.
“A few cosmetic differences doesn’t matter. If it looks like a Salamander and burns like a Salamander…”
The shadow of some Terradons with riders passed overhead, it was following the Daemons’ trail. Zat-kai spoke again.
“Good, I don’t have a problem chasing the Daemon army if the First are already engaging it. We can help them fight and they can tell us where we are. I bet we are somewhere south of Itza, that’s one of the places you say you’ve never been, right, Tal-Lat?”
As the four Skinks ran across the Daemon’s trail of destruction, they saw two of the giant flies crashed on the ground. One was still twitching so they stabbed it several times to be safe. Zat-kai paused in confusion.
“These Daemons are full of arrows….”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Belrikt asked.
“We have one bow in the armory at home and they only kept that one around because it’s magical. I don’t know anyone who trained on it.”
“Perhaps the Prodigals are aiding us.”
“How often does that happen?”
“Maybe we are down south, I hear the Culchan Skinks sometimes use bows. I suppose the extra range would come in handy when fighting in open plains.”
“Does this look like the open plains to you?”
They followed the trail some more until they heard signs of battle. They saw a massive lightning bolt strike ahead of them. A good sign that at least one Skink priest was nearby. They eventually saw several Cold One riders ripping through a unit of Bloodletters. The Skinks ran to join their brethren. By the time they arrived the battle seemed to have become a mop up situation as the First Children of the Old Ones were finishing off the last of the Daemons. Before undertaking this quest, Zat-kai would have been upset at missing the action, now he just felt relieved he didn’t have to fight any more. Something was a bit odd though. The cavalry seemed to be ridden by the smallest, scrawniest Sauri he had ever seen. They were Skinks riding them!
Eight Horned One Riders veered off towards the four questing Skinks. Eight Horned Ones! Klodorex had two Horned Ones, and they were considered lucky. The thought of any city having enough Trained Horned Ones to field a unit of them was almost absurd. Itza probably had that many Horned One riders but to use them all at the same time seemed odd. More Skinks and a small number of Saurus began heading their way. Their scale coloration was unlike any Zat-kai had seen before.
“Identify thyselves strangers!” said the largest Skink rider.
“I am Zat-kai, this is Belrikt, Tal-Lat and Preylot. We are on a quest for the Slann of the Temple City of Klodorex.”
“I know of no city entitled Klodorex.”
“Bevare, look at the colors of their scales. Zey are colored strangely and the tongue of these strangers iz quite strange.”
Our tongue is strange?
“Perhaps zey are shapechanging Daemons sent to cause us woe…”
Preylot lost his temper and started yelling.
“You think we are Daemons? We’ve killed more of the ancient foesss than you could imagine!”
“Exzactly! Whoever heard of a Hidden One raising his voice?”
“Enough” came the voice of a purple Skink.
The funny talking Skinks all stood silent. The purple Skink was bedecked as a priest and was clearly respected as one of high rank. Zat-kai had never seen a Skink with purple scales or a purple crest that wasn’t a priest, but he couldn’t be sure. Before today, he had never seen a solid yellow Saurus before and all the Sauri here were yellow.
“You must speak to Slann Lord Trawlikshen. He will determine the truth of zese strangers. Follow,” the mystery priest said imperiously.
The four Skinks followed the priest and his delegation for some distance. A block of Saurus Warriors guarded one flank while a large Skink/Kroxigor cohort guarded the other. Is Itza THIS suspicious of Klodorex now?
As they entered the city, the faster elements of the army began joining them. There were several units of Horned One Riders. Also there were several Ripperdactlyls which became surprising when they found out how small the Temple City they were going to was. Far too small to be Itza.
The party was brought before the Slann Trawlikhen and told to tell their story. After which Zat-kai placed the Crown of the Brother’s Bridge at the Slann’s feet. After a long pause the Slann gave a fairly lengthy answer. Zat-kai couldn’t speak the Slann language but was pretty sure the word “Skink” came up several times. The Skink Priest relayed the Slann’s message.
“The four of thee have unknowingly traveled across the World Pond. Lord Trawlikshen is pleased to know the First on the other landmass are still strong. Thy quest proves thee are truly favored of the Old Ones. Ve do not have the means to return thee home. Belrikt, Tal-Lat, and Preylot, ve hope you vill come to consider this place to be thy home.”
“What about Zat-kai?” Belrikt asked.
“Zat-kai has repetitively probed the minds of Daemons. He must be destroyed lest he carry their foul taint here.”
“No!” said Belrikt, Tal-Lat and Preylot as one.
“It’s okay” Zat-kai said to the stunned silence of his friends.
After a pause he spoke again.
“I am terrified by how well I understood the Daemons. I accept your judgment, Lord Trawlikshen.”
He bowed low and the Slann spoke once more which the Skink priest relayed.
“Thee are truly favored of the Old Ones, but sadly that provides trifle protection. Fare thee well.”
The Slann lifted his hand and Zat-kai was incinerated to ash by a beam of white light. Belrikt thought he saw the shape of a Coatl rise from the smoke, but he figured he probably imagined it. He couldn’t see clearly through the tears in his eyes.
“His willing sacrifice has probably cleansed the Crown of the taint of Chaos, but we will cleanse it in the temples to be sure.”
The three Lustrian Skinks glared at the Slann through tearful eyes in a way none had dared to before, then were dismissed.
* * * * * * *
In Lustria, Chameleon Skinks looked to their legendary forebear Oxyotl for inspiration. Though Preylot told the First of Southlands about cunning Oxyotl, Preylot became the standard to which the Southlands Chameleon Skinks aspired to be. His cunning, patience, courage, and marksmanship were second to none. Unlike most Chameleon Skinks, he did not stand aloof from the other Skinks providing contributions as he saw fit, but he planned and collaborated with them. Under his leadership, the Chameleon Skinks and common Skinks coordinated their war efforts carefully. All across the Southlands Chameleon Skinks followed his example. He lived long and became a legend in his own lifetime remembered for generations afterwards.
Preylot remained stern and aloof in his mannerisms. The whispers from the Tree of Living Nightmares were long gone, but he would never forget the words that were said. Rather than bask in the admiration he received from the other Chameleon Skinks, he was always focused on his next mission. His admirers believed this was due to his dedication to the Old Ones. In truth, he simply that he always felt that his accomplishments were not enough since he failed to save so many of his friends.
Tal-Lat passed the knowledge of generations of Lustrian hunters to the beast caste Skinks of the Southlands. He was quickly able to learn the lore of the Southlands hunters and became the preeminent wilderness expert on that continent. He visited every Temple City on the continent great and small. Everywhere he went, the scribes eager to record his wisdom and experience. Tal-Lat understood the jungles of the Southlands very well, but he never stayed long in one place for long since no place he walked felt like home.
Under Tal-Lat’s guidance beast caste Skinks around the continent began cultivating a wide variety of creatures they hadn’t even considered raising before, thus leading to the beast pens and farm sections of all the Southlands cities being expanded. He was particularly adamant that every city cultivate Deralethi spiders. If Tal-Lat had one eccentricity for the other First to overlook, it was the fact that Tal-Lat was obsessive about seeking out the Coatl. Every free moment he had was spent searching for them until the day he died.
Belrikt’s strength, ferocity and cunning quickly let him make a name for himself. Given how few Sauri the Southlands had, it was easier for a Skink Chief to command respect and prestige. He added ridership to his great list of skills, being equally at ease on a Ripperdactlyl, Terradon, Horned One or Stegadon.
He became the youngest Skink chief ever to serve as general. Multiple temple cities would call on his expertise and he led many armies of the Southlands cities to victories over the Khemrians, Skaven and many others. Originally known as Belrikt the Outlander, the other Skink chiefs began calling him Belrikt the Pious due to the fact that he spent most of his free time in various temples of the Old Ones to make offerings. Unbeknownst to other chiefs, the prayers and offerings were all bent towards a single purpose: to beseech the Old Ones to protect the souls of his fallen friends. Despite decades as a celebrated general, Belrikt refused to ever give a report directly to a Slann, instead operating through the Skink Priests.
All of the three Lustrian outlanders generally avoided the Slann, so they never found out the true impact their quest. They did not know that back home, the names of all ten questers were enshrined along with the names of Klodroex’s greatest heroes. They did not know that across the World Pond in Lustria, many Slann were attempting to curry Klodorex’s favor.
A year after their arrival, Tralikshen deemed the Crown of the Brother’s Bridge sufficiently cleansed to use. As he grasped the Crown, the thin ring expanded to the size of head. He placed the Crown on his head and ascended to the highest temple in the city, reaching out telepathically for Lord Merestar of Klodorex.
Greetings brother, it has been too long since we talked.
It has been too long indeed.
Though we cannot meet physically, we can once again speak. It is time our two continents act as one body to fulfill the Will of the Old Ones.
Yes, there is much for us to do
