《Transference: A Bringers Tale》Prologue
Advertisement
he air stank of iron and sulfur as corpses slowly moved from dead to decaying on a hot Monday morning. The people of a village that traded wool and produced ale were no longer of the living. They sat, lay or hung on the ground, at the trees, by the river or in their homes with cuts, slashes and wounds that came from swords or other sharp objects that could cause such.
Supported by his double serpent cane, Radulf knelt beside a man who seemed to be a farmer. He laid his big pack down and searched its contents. He found a palm-sized needle, a foot-long saw and a knife with a flat blade. With his bare hands, he tore the man's tunic apart and pressed the skin on the upper chest area. Using his good eye, he punctured a hole in the middle of the collar bone. His knife incised from the hole down to the hip line. He then made parallel cuts from around the top of the chest and at the waist. Propping with his blade, he lifted the skins apart and folded them on each side, opening the cadaver.
Out of thin air, a tiny olive colored hand reached from the back of his shoulder and pulled itself up. The hand belonged to a foot-tall beast with the head and twirling horns of a goat. It hoisted itself up rightly on his shoulder revealing a man's torso, balancing with its donkey hooves and legs.
"Are you done yet? I am famished." His stomach growled.
"Patience is a virtue," Radulf reminded.
"That is true if I were a man, but I'm not," he yawned. "So no virtue. I want my food."
Ignoring the beast, he began sawing the rib cage of the dead. When it had been cleared, he sorted the good organs from the bad. He put them in a jar that had a light brown liquid reeking of garlic and rotting cabbage.
Advertisement
He packed the blades back and sealed the jar. "This is done. You can have it, Bapholin." After pushing himself up with his cane, he then moved to the next body.
The beast jumped to the dead's face and opened its wide jaws. White tendrils of smoke escaped the nostrils, ears, mouth and eyes of the dead and entered the man-goat's famished insides. When it finished, it burped, satisfied.
"Where's the next..." It snapped its mouth shut and growled.
"Problem?" demanded Radulf.
With no words of explanation, it galloped ahead on all fours, eyes straight, focus forward.
"Bapholin where are you--blasted," he shouted. He hurriedly pulled himself up with his cane and followed after the tiny goat.
From corner to corner, the beast traversed over the dead, winding past market stalls, barrels, wagons and more. It traveled past the church, the school and the town hall, stopping at a small inn.
Out of breath, Radulf caught up with the beast now growling at the front door. "What was that useless running for?" he exclaimed.
"There's someone inside." Bapholin was at the door like a guard dog.
"Impossible. The wards are all complete," he reasoned. "Neither the boatman nor the Cloak can enter. If this is one of your antics, I swear--"
"When I say someone is inside, someone is inside," it roared.
Ready with his cane, Radulf gently pushed the front door open and stepped in.
Pinned by three arrows on the wall, a man hung lifelessly with a blank face. Beside him, another man, maybe his brother by semblance of face, was lying on the table with a cut right on his side. But neither moved nor showed any signs of living.
"I...do not understand." Bapholin started sniffing the room.
Advertisement
"Everyone's dead. You owe me for that exhaustive run." Radulf made his way to the corner, hovering over a plump woman with hollow brown eyes. She lay on a straw pallet with a blanket wrapped around her body.
"I know it's here," growled the beast. "I can't be wrong. We know the difference."
"Right. I suppose you do," he aired. "Maybe you sensed a tree or a flower. There's life in that, isn't there?"
"You dare mock me human?" Its voice rose.
He laid a hand on the pale skin of the woman underneath the sheets. Her icy temperature competed with his own. "Oh no. I don't dare that at all." His nose sniffed nothing of the ferric smell of blood around her, or the process of decay.
It checked on the dead. "Life was here. It was here," it defended.
Laying down his rod aside, Radulf stretched the left eyelid to better see the whiteness of her eye. He then opened her mouth and inspected its insides. When that didn't satisfy him, he took the blanket off and began pressing his hand all over the body. Grumbles of frustration clouded his mind. He ripped the dead's worn out dress, displaying a fully naked carcass.
Bapholin smelled the dead woman next. "What are you on about?" it asked.
He caressed every square inch of it. "This woman is dead, yet there are no signs of wounds, bruises, or stabs anywhere. It's odd," he explained.
"Perhaps she died of illness."
"I presumed as well. But her body left no sign of fever or disease. Also, I cannot sense her soul. Others you have not devoured, I do, just not hers."
A whiff of something caught the beast. It checked the woman's head, then moved to her breast and her belly. It's small, bushy tail wagged.
"What? Do you suddenly want to do it with the dead? Didn't figure you for that type."
"No. You disgusting old fart," barked the goat. "She's with child."
Radulf's one brow rose above the strap of his eye patch. "Yes I had assumed so, considering her breasts and heftiness," he described.
"The child is alive," it announced.
His face went blank; his posture, rigid. The next moment he had found his flat blade and was cutting through the mother's fat. His movements were careful and more precise unlike what he had done with the dead before.
"You are delivering it?" Bapholin's shoulders sagged.
"What do you suggest?"
"Kill it. Feed me its soul." Its tail wagged again.
"You can have all the dead here," he urged. "But this living creature. This beautiful creature will live. He or she will grow, and you will never eat him."
Its eyes dilated and snickered. "It's finally dying. His soul is leaving. And...it is a he."
He had removed the flesh and skin enough to view the baby's head. "No. No. He will not die." He continued the delivery as his mouth chanted a spell, and the dead seemed to rouse from their sleep.
Bapholin's eyes grew dark as it shook its head. "Crazy old man." It stood on all fours, galloped away from the ongoing labor and move outside to continue with his feast.
Advertisement
HIgh King
Come and read the tale of Desmond Murphy, as he recounts the story of how he went from a 25 year old office worker nobody, to the High King of Hell. Follow along as he is thrust against his will from his boring day to day office life into one of gods, magic and mystery. Stuck in a plot between Heaven and Hell, Desmond is forced to forge new relationships with demons and other unlikely mythological creatures while he struggles to understand the rules of this new world revealed to him. Will he survive Heaven’s angels that pursue his bloody end?
8 185A Collision of Two Worlds : Prologue
Please be advised...This story isn’t intended for young or sensitive readers. Readers who are on the lookout for trigger warnings are advised to give this novel a pass. DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental. A collision cntypEinor of two worlds is a portrayal of normal day to day society, itiaIendt outlining the mundane atmosphere of what we qcenSeeu consider everyday life. However, what-if tSe everything we were lead to believe was a lie? The rtmePeara countless wars, disputes and power struggles between countries and governments are part of something much bigger... Something more sinister.... COTW (acronym) explores the possibility of an underground organization tasked with what they regard as morally cleansing and correcting the world from countless vices and forces of evil.
8 148Deified
They say the universe began when The Seven awoke. They, seven humans from Earth have been transported from their homes to a completely new world, a blank canvas of a universe for them to fill with their newfound omnipotence. But they soon find they are not free to do as they wished. A being claiming to be the god of their world told them they must build a fantasy world for their entertainment. Thus, these new gods must cooperate (mostly), plan and construct a new world, becoming the cosmogonic myth of their own creation. "Fantasy Landscape - slolsss" by Douglas Tofoli is marked with CC PDM 1.0
8 148The Encrypted Data of Kaiden Cypher [A Cyberpunk Dystopian Thriller]
Book 1: Artificial Death Kaiden Cypher, a recently retired Mercenary finally gains a job as an EXiCON within BLED (Bridge City Law Enforcement Department). Cypher begrudgingly accepts a case despite it not being under his purview as an EXiCON (External Investigative Constable). However, as trouble brews within Industrial District, it forces the Commissioner to enact Protocol B5-10. A protocol that forces all active EXiCONs to take on special duties as the main police force deals with threats within the city. The real challenge comes, when the case cypher accepts turns into a double murder, something he knows the Commissioner would like the keep a lid on before the city erupts with the news of a serial killer. Death usually comes in two, and so does cloning. Book 2: Translucent Requisition After being fired as an EXiCON, Cypher never thought he'd have to return to the life of a mercenary. To ensure his wife and daughter wouldn't want or need anything. He takes on a Body Guard detail for one of Bridge City's Elite, The Romacellin Family. The detail was simple, ensure the Romacellin Family's safety during an Auction. Trouble brews as one of the guests from the auction disappear, forcing Kaiden into action. As Kaiden tries to retrieve the guest he quickly finds out that these kidnappers mean business, and spilling blood is nothing but an afterthought. Sometimes, requisition is the only answer. Book 3: Indignated Efflux Cypher returns from the Waste, battered, bruised and elated as the debt he'd accrued from Mr Black is about to be paid. Cypher checks in with his wife and daughter, only to see his biggest fear become a reality. Akatani has found them, but luckily for Cypher, Akatani needs him to retrieve an item for him. As Akatani uses Cypher's family as leverage, Cypher must first discover who found out about his family and fed their locale to Akatani before he can make a move against him...or be forced to watch them die in front of him. Unresolved conflicts usually end through Indignated Efflux. Updates: Every Monday to Friday!The word count for each split chapter will range between 1400 - 2500 words! Also: Please note, that I'm from Barbados and we use United Kingdom English.They will be more 'S' than they are 'Z' for certain words and vice versa. If you like Ghost in the Shell, Metal Gear Solid and Westworld, this is the series for you!
8 54A Path to Crown
A young man, who lived a horrible life, died, killed by the man he once admired. But life didn't forsake him and granted him a second chance on life.Plagued by his past, living with low self-esteem, can he succeed like this? Will he change to fight his inner demons, or will he fall at their hands?--------------------------------------------------Every Journey will begin with a single step into the unknown. We walk our path to reveal the darkness covering our Journey.At the end of our path, we will see a crown, the crown we created with our own hands. We shall crown ourself as Kings. Now is the time to decide if it will be a shabby crown full of regrets, or a glorious one! Choose, how will your's be?We can be proud we have walked our path in a way we desired.There shall be no fear of death, only the fear of the regrets we have at the end of our path.
8 260Zodiac Signs
Do you want to know what your Zodiac Sign reveals about yourself? Your answers will be revealed in this book of Zodiac Signs.Interesting facts, squads, and more...So what's your sign?1Dhnlzl23Copyright©2016All Rights Reserved(All credits to Facebook and Google)
8 91