《Behemoth - HIATUS》Chapter 3 - The Humans
Advertisement
As he walked back to the clearing with the bodies, he began to notice some other sensations that he had missed earlier. The temperature had increased since he first emerged from the pyramid and he was starting to feel marginally uncomfortable with a few beads of sweat forming on his brow. His clothes had also started clinging to him and a foul odour was wafting up to his nostrils.
His clothes. Distracted by his unexpected height and size, he hadn't paid attention to his clothes earlier. Now, as he looked down, he saw that his torso was covered by what seemed to be a dirty, bloody rag with two holes from which his arms emerged. He was also wearing what could have once been trousers but they too were ragged and bloody.
As he broke into the clearing, he thought that he should just remove his shift as it wasn't serving any purpose in the heat and the odour was in fact a hindrance. Upon removing the offending garment, he felt a slight shyness which seemed to come from an unknown recess of his mind and was irrational as there was not a soul around. He decided to leave his trousers for when he did finally someone.
He stopped walking when he reached the pile of bodies. Since emerging from the flotsam of viscera, he had consciously avoided looking in it its direction for fear of the old panic rising again. But now, he felt sure enough and curious enough to try and see if he could jog his memories by taking in the macabre sight.
The first thing he noticed was that all the bodies seemed to be of 'normal' height that is to say, almost half his height. It struck him that the pyramid was actually stacked quite high as the top of it, where he had emerged from, was above his eye line.
Advertisement
Whoever these poor souls were had been brutally cut down. The lower levels of bodies had been decapitated and in some cases intestines and limbs were thrown about. In the upper layers, the bodies were whole but from the visages of the dead it was clear that they had not died pleasant deaths. The bodies were mostly naked from waist up although a few of them seemed to be wearing a sort of leathery chemise. From the few patches of skin that were not covered by grime or blood or gore, it seemed that at least a few of the dead had the same greyish brown skin colour as he did. There did not seem to be any weapons near the pyramid so it was likely that the dead had not been soldiers. Although, he mused, it was possible that the killers had simply carted off the weapons of the fallen for re-use.
His observation on some of the bodies' skin colour had sparked off another line of thinking - when he had seen his own hands and legs he had been surprised by the size but not by the colour. So, it stood to reason, that his skin colour was at least something that his memory-deprived brain recognised as his. He promised himself that even though he couldn't remember anything, he would try to keep an open mind about everything he saw from now on and observe how his brain responded to the stimuli. Maybe, through those observations he could piece together his history.
After a while, a breeze blowing into him brought with it the full force of the smell of rotting flesh and he had to turn away sharply to control his stomach. This act brought on another wave of hunger and nausea...the hunger was more urgent this time. With the rising temperature and passing time, he realised that he would need food and water soon or risk losing all his energy.
Advertisement
He took a final look around the clearing in case he had missed any tool that would be useful, but there didn't seem to be anything worthwhile. He now had a choice of direction in which to walk. The clearing extended in two opposite directions but it was difficult to determine much more than that. One path however, did seem to be sloping slightly downhill while the other was uphill. He figured that he had a better chance of finding habitation in the plains and so decided to walk downhill. His choice was in no small part also affected by his fast-depleting lack of energy.
The path was fairly straight, rocky and long. At no point did the scenery change perceptibly except that once in a while he would hear a bird or a monkey or some creature screeching in the forest to his sides and then all would be quiet again. The temperature had risen considerably and the sun was no overhead. Its rays were beating down on his head and he was sweating profusely. He knew he was in a bad shape because the edges of his vision had started blurring and he could feel that his body temperature had risen to uncomfortable levels. He needed water, rest and food...urgently.
After what felt like hours, there was finally a change in the path. The gradient in front of him suddenly steepened downwards. He came to a stop and looked around. The forest to his side had also suddenly dipped and that allowed him to peek over the tops of trees due to his height. What he saw to his right was a relatively flat land till the horizon with a lot of forested area but more importantly what looked like farmland and houses and a river! On his left side the flat land seemed to slope upwards gradually and then rapidly until it was crested by massive mountains. The tops of these mountains were covered with clouds although some seemed to be snow-capped.
He almost stumbled down the sloping path in his rush to reach the river. After slipping and sliding his way to the bottom of the gradient he turned right and sprinted in the direction of the river, all his previous exhaustion forgotten. The water of the river had looked impossibly blue and inviting.
Finally, he saw the river in front of him. It was a wide, but gently moving thing making a noticeable gurgling sound. He abandoned caution and leapt into it. The impossibly cool water was the best relief from the heat that had been pervasive earlier. He felt his exhaustion slide off as he floated and swam. He realised later that he didn't need to swim - standing upright, his chest upwards was above the water.
After he had cooled down, slaked his thirst and cleaned himself to the best of his abilities, he waded to the riverbank and sat down with his long legs still half submerged in the water. He closed his eyes and felt the stress and tension of his cruel awakening ease away as the sun warmed his wet body.
All of a sudden he heard loud, shocked voices behind him. Heart thudding, he opened his eyes, whipped around and leapt to his feet. He found himself towering over three 'humans' whose eyes were wide and were making noises of shock, excitement and fear as they took in the sight of the giant before him.
He raised both his hands in a concilliatory way and said, "Hello...I mean you no harm..."
Advertisement
- In Serial57 Chapters
The Abandoned Sorcerer
Orion Zakari is an Ice Sorcerer, the last of his lineage. He's got no clue where he is or how he got there, but he knows one thing for certain: he is being hunted. His home and family are gone: razed and massacred. He will be next when the hunters find him. But if he can put enough pieces together, maybe he won’t have to follow his family down to eternal damnation. Maybe he can avenge them. And maybe, just maybe, he’s got a destiny waiting past that. Monsters and men, merchants and mages, hunters and the hunted. This is the story of the abandoned Sorcerer. What is the Pledge? Release schedule: Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 16:00 UTC. I created the cover using Adobe Illustrator.
8 164 - In Serial65 Chapters
Royal Guard (Complete)
I was an ordinary worker ant of the Kingdom, one of the millions populating a spread of land ten kilometers long. I had an ordinary life: I dug, I ate, and I slept; and a dream that was shared by all workers who wanted to live a life of adventure. I was on the last day of my mandatory community service, a day from becoming one of the harvesters --the crown jewel of our society-- when fate played its sick joke on me. I broke my mandible, lost my dream, and was almost forced into slavery as a result. That’s when she came into my life, a princess. She had no wings on her back, but the wings inside her were wider than the fairies that roamed the sky. She took me under her wing and populated my life with adventures and mysteries unreserved for a mere harvester. Life was good until we found termites sneaking into our territory. That’s when the adventures ended. She was mocked for calling the termites a threat. However, she remained determined to protect her kingdom, and I, to protect her. No matter the difficulties I remained by her side. Because we were a pair: a princess and her Royal Guard.
8 171 - In Serial14 Chapters
Chronicles of Soma: Rise of a King
When I woke up, I was dragged into a grassland. Uwaaaaa! Where is this place? Why am I here? Where is my comfy bed? This is my tale, a tale of man's struggle to rise, in a new world with endless possibilities, and with an AI as a companion.
8 108 - In Serial7 Chapters
Deals & Destiny
(A/N)I discovered that I can post fanfictions on this site so I decided to post the Familiar of Zero fanfic I made. Walking home from a friends house after watching the FoZ anime, our hero suddenly finds himself in a familiar summoning situation... only something interferes and he gets a few new advantages. Now, follow along as he breaks the show, builds a harem, and builds an empire all the while doing humorous, badass, and other Gary Stu stuff. Contains elements from both the anime and manga. Also yes, the MC is a bit OP, but it's okay because it's funny.
8 106 - In Serial39 Chapters
Hush | on hold
"Your name?"When I stayed silent, he repeated himself. "Your name?""Jeyri." I let out quietly."And last name?""Rae...""Jeyri Rae..." He crouched down next to me and moved the hair from in front of my face, "I dislike when things get difficult, I end up doing things I'd much rather not do. Do you want to know what happened to the last person who made things difficult for me, hmm?" He asked, leaning into me. Is he talking about me calling the cops? He pressed his gun against my head and frowned, "You get it don't you?"I nodded quickly. "Good... And if you tell anyone what you saw today, I'll know." He pressed his finger against my lips and smiled, "So hush."
8 101 - In Serial15 Chapters
Hard Luck Hermit
With his mother buried and his cultist family members out to ruin his life, getting abducted by alien slavers is actually an improvement for Corey Vash.A quick and chaotic escape attempt only succeeds thanks to an unintentional rescue from the impressively skilled and infrequently sober bounty hunters aboard the Hard Luck Hermit. With no clue about how to survive in space and nothing to return to on Earth, Corey joins the crew in their efforts to make a quick buck, try new drinks, and figure out who the hell keeps trying to kill them.Updates Wednesdays
8 185

