Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, my phone is especially acting up, and DD is being his regular awesome self, so here's something different - a new story, eh?
Kaleen did not just walk; he marched. Every step was
a heavy thud against the sun-baked dirt of the hilly country, a rhythmic
stomping that sent dust motes dancing around his boots. He ignored the rolling
beauty of the boulders and the hardy shrubs that clung to the slopes. His mind
was a storm of irritation, focused entirely on the path ahead—or rather, the
lack of one.
He was passing a jagged fissure in the hillside, a
dark mouth of a cave that smelled of cool earth and old stone. He did not
glance at it. He did not care what lived in the shadows.
A sharp, melodic whistle pierced the air.
Kaleen stopped. He turned slowly, his brow furrowed
in a deep scowl. Standing at the cave’s entrance was a woman. She was striking,
leaning against the stone with a beckoning finger and a knowing smirk.
Kaleen did not move toward her. He did a double take,
blinking as if trying to clear his vision, and then barked, "Did you see
anyone else passing by here? Another woman? Looking rather like me? As Tall as
I am? Trailing a scent of betrayal and bad decisions, perhaps?"
The woman’s smirk faltered. She blinked, her head
tilting in genuine confusion. This was not the usual reaction to her lure. She
gave a slow, bewildered shake of her head.
"Great," Kaleen grumbled.
"Helpful."
He turned on his heel and began to stomp away again.
Whiz—CRACK.
A rock the size of a fist shattered against a
boulder inches from his head. Kaleen spun around, his hand instinctively
dropping to the heavy belt at his waist.
The woman stood there, her arm still extended from
the throw. She looked remarkably sheepish, her expression a mix of "I
can’t believe I just did that" and "don't you dare leave." She
gestured vaguely, almost desperately, toward the darkness of the cave.
Kaleen sighed, a sound like a leaking bellows.
"Do you need help or something?"
She did not speak, but her eyes held a frantic sort
of pull. Grumbling under his breath about his own misplaced sense of duty, Kaleen
trudged toward the cave and stepped inside.
The interior was vast, an amphitheater of shadows
that stretched far beyond what the exterior suggested. Kaleen turned to ask
what the problem was, but the woman was already gone.
In her place, a nightmare uncoiled.
From the waist down, she was a thick, muscular coil
of emerald and obsidian scales. She hissed, her jaw unhinging to reveal long,
curved fangs dripping with venom. She lunged, her movements a blur of predatory
grace.
Kaleen did not scream. He did not even draw a
weapon. He simply reached out and caught her by the shoulders.
The hybrid thrashed, her tail whipping against the
cave floor, but Kaleen stood like a mountain. His arms were locked, keeping her
snapping jaws exactly three feet from his face. He looked profoundly bored.
"Are you done?" he asked.
She hissed again, snapping her fangs at the air. Kaleen
rolled his eyes and gave her a firm, two-handed shove. He stepped back,
centered his weight, and took a deep, shuddering breath.
The air in the cave suddenly felt heavy. A low,
grinding sound—the sound of shifting chitin—echoed through the chamber.
The snake-woman froze. Her slit-pupiled eyes widened
as the man before her vanished, replaced in a heartbeat by a hulking shadow. A
giant scorpion, easily twice her size, stood over her. Its carapace was the
color of dried blood, and its massive stinger hummed with a lethal, iridescent
glow.
The hybrid did not fight. She turned and scrambled
for the nearest wall, her fingers digging into the cracks as she tried to scale
the vertical stone.
She felt a weight beneath her. Kaleen—human once
more—was grunting as he shoved her upward by her scaled backside, helping her
reach a high ledge.
"Get up there then, if you're so scared,"
he muttered.
She perched on the ledge, looking down at him with a
mix of fury and intense embarrassment.
"I'll ask one more time," Kaleen said,
dusting off his hands. "Did you see anyone else?"
"No!" she snapped her voice high and
sharp.
Kaleen nodded, satisfied in a grim sort of way. He
turned to leave.
"Wait!" she hissed, her hand darting out
to grab his tunic. "Did you... did you understand me? When I called to
you?"
"Yes," Kaleen said, looking over his
shoulder. "Why shouldn't I?"
"Because I whistle," she whispered, her
eyes searching his. "People can understand. They just... come."
Kaleen groaned. "Is this some sort of
woman-logic thing?"
"No," she said, her voice dropping an
octave. "It’s part of my curse."
Kaleen went still. "Gods? Or some other
magic?"
"...Gods," she admitted.
"Right. Figures. For my former companion and me
it was 'some other magic.' A botched ritual, a temple collapsing... the usual
mess. Well, anyhow—"
"Can you help me?" she interrupted. The
aggression was gone, replaced by a small, fragile voice. "Can you break
it?"
Kaleen looked at the exit, then back at her.
"You tried to kill me."
"It’s my nature," she pleaded, her tail
twitching nervously. "Besides... we are similar. Both monsters."
Kaleen’s expression darkened. "My former
companion said something similar. Right before she abandoned me to deal with
the fallout."
"Please?"
Kaleen closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his
nose. "Fine. Let's go, before the giant tortoise arrives."
The snake-woman paused, her head tilting. "Say
what?"
He led her out of the cave and up to the crest of
the highest hill. From there, the world opened up. He pointed to a jagged
silhouette of ruins on the horizon—the place where his life had gone sideways.
Then, he pointed down into the valley.
Moving with a slow, terrifying inevitability was a
tortoise. It was the size of a small manor house, its shell covered in jagged
moss-covered ridges. Its eyes were fixed on the hillside, and it looked—even
from this distance—utterly, cosmically pissed off.
"It’s tracking us," Kaleen explained.
"Don't ask why. It's just very, very angry."
The woman looked at the beast, then at the distant
horizon where her own salvation supposedly lay. She explained the location of
the shrine she needed to reach, but her shoulders slumped. "I can't get
there in time. I am too slow. On the open ground... I'm slower than that
turtle."
Kaleen looked at the giant tortoise, then at the
snake-woman. He let out a long, weary sigh.
"Get moving," he said, gesturing toward
the path. "I'll help you. But we have to move before that overgrown pebble
catches our scent."
Therefore, the scorpion and the serpent began their
trek across the dirt, two cursed souls walking away from one monster and toward
another.
So, what are your opinions? Please share!
