Chapter Text
ENTER SCENE:
EXT. DARKMOOR FOREST - TWILIGHT
Frost is in the air. The ground is frozen. CORDYLL approaches from the hazy
distance. His arms are tight around him. He shakes and clutches at the animal
furs over his shoulders. The cold is unbearable and the ground cracks with each
step. The desolation catches the sound and echoes it far.
CORDYLL passes by the frozen bodies of darklings spiked to trees. He eyes them
warily, wondering if some fool had removed a spike and allowed one of them to
regenerate. He couldn't take one in his current state if it were lying in wait.
The DEFILER'S influence is strong and the cold is bone splintering.
He stumbles and falls to one knee. On that knee he looks ahead and then spies
sanctuary in the distance. The weathered stones and prominent spire are cast
against the dying sun. He struggles on.
INT. TEMPLE OF THE VILES - DILAPIDATED NAVE - NIGHT
The heavy door groans open. There is a fire at the end of the antechamber.
CORDYLL marches towards it. A YOUNG KNIGHT is standing in the aisle. CORDYLL
pushes him out of the way. He strikes a bench and stumbles. His face twists to
shock and indignation. The YOUNG KNIGHT draws his blade with a tuneful hiss.
CORDYLL
Put it away! Put it away! Are you so young and stupid that you would throw
away your life for pride?
The YOUNG KNIGHT hesitates. CORDYLL collapses by the fire and reaches into it.
He flexes his fingers, but feels no heat. He considers a prayer to THE SHAPER,
but knows even his master is helpless against these forces.
YOUNG KNIGHT
(Raising his blade)
The flame does not burn you.
CORDYLL
Did you not hear me? Put it away!
(Brief pause)
It is a curse... some force from beyond this world. I am no phantom, so
stand down young one, or you'll find my steel bites worse than the cold.
The YOUNG KNIGHT slowly sheathes his blade. He keeps a wary distance from the
older knight. He then sits down on a disused pew and watches.
YOUNG KNIGHT
Who are you?
CORDYLL
Cordyll Yhendoren.
YOUNG KNIGHT
(Shaking his head)
Nothing but bandits and mercenaries travel these roads. The gods will smite
you for taking the name of a great hero if you're not careful.
CORDYLL
(Laughing)
I will take my chances.
The fire finally starts to warm him up. The unnatural cold slowly retreats from
his bones as he stares into its crackling depth. He throws on another log and
rubs his hands.
CORDYLL
So which one are you?
YOUNG KNIGHT
Excuse me?
CORDYLL (CONT'D)
Bandit or mercenary.
The YOUNG KNIGHT scowls. He walks across the room, leans against a lichen
covered pillar, then folds his arms.
YOUNG KNIGHT
I'm a knight. Headed to Listany to join in the campaigns.
CORDYLL
A country that can't even bury its darklings can still find the time for
their wars... I'd turn back if I were you. This is not the time for war.
CORDYLL rubs his shoulders and finally quells the tremors. The YOUNG KNIGHT
stares at him, measuring him up and down. His frown shows the result of the
scales in his head. Suddenly there's a knocking noise.
(O.S) FEMININE VOICE
Is there anybody in there...? Please open the door...
The YOUNG KNIGHT unfolds his arms. He glances from CORDYLL to the door. CORDYLL
continues to stare into the stone hearth.
(O.S) FEMININE VOICE
Please... It's too heavy for me...
The YOUNG KNIGHT walks to do the door.
CORDYLL
Don't.
The YOUNG KNIGHT pauses, looks at CORDYLL, and then continues on his way toward
the large double doors of the temple.
CORDYLL
The rituals have been interrupted. There's outsiders around. There's things
that shouldn't be here. So do not let them in.
YOUNG KNIGHT
What is this nonsense? Why should I trust---
(O.S) FEMININE VOICE
Please...! I can hear someone inside...! It's so cold...
CORDYLL stands and rests his hand on the pommel of his brutally thick blade. He
approaches the YOUNG KNIGHT slowly and stares down at him.
CORDYLL
Bandits and mercenaries, right...?
(Unsheathes his blade and points it at the door.)
What does that make her?
The YOUNG KNIGHT swallows and nods. The door shakes with the loud pounding. The
woman wails and the pounding gets louder. The YOUNG KNIGHT steps backwards as
the pounding frees dust from the stones. A high pitched clicking noise comes
from nowhere and fills the air.
YOUNG KNIGHT
What is that...?
CORDYLL
It is their language.
The pounding stops and CORDYLL sits on one of the pews. He enjoys the heat
soaking into him as a congealing silence settles around them. Then the heat
grows. He looks at the hearth. It grows and grows. He wipes his brow and
breathes. The YOUNG KNIGHT loosens his armor. Smoke appears. CORDYLL stands.
CORDYLL
They're trying to burn us out!
The temple fills with smoke. Flame licks through the old boards. The YOUNG
KNIGHT panics. He coughs and runs for the double doors,
YOUNG KNIGHT
We've got to get out of here!
CORDYLL
Don't!
The YOUNG KNIGHT throws open the door and is yanked into the darkness. He
screams. CORDYLL shuts his eyes as he hears a sickening crunch. CORDYLL rushes
to close the doors. The fire grows. He covers his mouth and coughs.
CORDYLL
Damn you, Thalric! If only you were here!
The heat is sweltering. Cordyll falls to the floor and grits his teeth. He
wonders whether he would prefer to burn to death or be torn apart by the
DEFILER'S creatures. Flames are roaring all around. Burning beams crash to the
ground and the air saturated with smoke.
The great doors collapse inwards. The WITCH floats inside. She is wreathed in
flame like a wicker man. Her grotesque limbs of chitin reach out for CORDYLL.
The WITCH drops the freshly bloodied meat in front of him. She titters as
CORDYLL gasps for air.
(V.O) THE SHAPER
Cordyll... You are strong...
He pounds the ground and swings through the WITCH. The WITCH vanishes in smoke
and he barrels towards the doors. The door seems to stretch away from him. The
heat... It follows him. He runs. Cordyll runs... The heat... They don't get any
closer.
It's...
It's hot.
Cordyll
He runs.
He
The doors
Please
It... It... The doors, he passes the doors. The heat starts to fade away as the
temple of the viles burns down behind him. CORDYLL gasps for air and glares into
the darkness. The burning temple projects a ring of orange light.
EXT. BLACKMOOR FOREST - NIGHT
CORDYLL readies his weapon.
CORDYLL
Come on then! Greater fiends than you have already fallen where you stand!
Come on...!
Blackish chitin emerges from the absolute night. The chitokyn lunges at him. He
swings, cleaves it in two. More come. CORDYLL spins, He kills them. He kills
them. He kills them. He kills them.
He kills them. More come. They swarm. They chitter. Their bodies clatter
together. Their nightmare limbs reach out like a tide from the dark. Black eyes
stare lifeless. He flows from form to form. He slices them down. The dead
chitokyns pile up at his feet, but there's more.
CORDYLL
Is that the best you've got?! Is that the strength of your Defiler?!
He kills them. Two leap onto his back. They bite his neck. He rips one off and
stomps on its head. He flings the other at the mad horde. His brutal square
blade is soaked in their cursed blood. CORDYLL cries out and forces his way
through the ring of killing.
CORDYLL runs into the night. They grab for his heels. He kicks them away and
slashes as they surge. He's faster. He gets away. He runs, and runs. The trees
streak by, but the sound of their chittering has died into the night. CORDYLL
stops to catch his breath.
CORDYLL (...?)
Put it away! Put it away! Are you so young and stupid that you would throw
away your life for pride?
Freezes, looking all throughout the black woods. The trees choke out what little
light there is from the stars. The blackness stares back with thousandfold eyes.
CORDYLL (...?)
Bandit or mercenary.
CORDYLL
(Growling)
Demon...! I'll cut you down like the others!
NYRIA (...?)
Be careful, Ryen. Cordyll can handle himself, but it's you I'm worried
about. Are you certain you don't wish to go with Kael?
CORDYLL
I'll kill you...!
THALRIC (...?)
Just a quick excursion. We'll figure out---
CORDYLL'S grip tightens.
CORDYLL (CONT'D)
You profane my brother's voice...! I'll rip your tongue from your fucking
throat, demon! I'll make you choke on your own blood!
* * *
I tapped my teasing finger on the side of the console. The 'tonk-tonk-tonk' sound it made was a fine distraction. It made sense. It was cause and effect. When I tap the console, it makes a sound. It was nice to understand something. It was the first thing that felt like it made sense in days.
"Stop that!"
I turned slightly to regard the whift. I would've kept going, but they'd already startled me out of the rhythm and I didn't have the spite to start up again.
"Have you finished that list of candidate systems for the admiral?"
"No." The whift responded, "There are too many systems. It is impossible."
"I gave you the reference data..." I wiped my eye wearily, "All you need to do is cross reference the concentrations in its bones with the elemental surveys for all the nearby systems..."
The whift did not move, didn't even flick an antennae. It was like trying to read a brick wall.
"Please... This is for the admiral."
"Admiral Nestiri is not my saratan."
Well, I was officially out of ideas. I feel like I of all people should've seen this coming, but here we were.
"In that case, I need a fresh tissue sample from the howler. You could gather that for me if you'd prefer."
"Why."
"...Because I need it?"
"We already have its blood."
"This is different. I need older tissues, preferably cells with slow turnovers such as cardiac or cerebral cells. Ideally we'd use post-mitotic cells, but it's such a new species I wouldn't know where to find them. I want to see if there's a discrepancy between the older and newer cells to rule out any modification."
The whift stared at me. My attention drifted to the howler. He was asleep right now, and the way that he was curled up on the floor was almost adorable.
"How do you expect me to get this sample."
"Oh, we've got a special tool for that. It's called a stratalyzer. It's this really thin needle that---"
The whift waved its arms awkwardly, but angrily, "HOW do you expect ME to get this sample?"
"...You'll insert it into the bone in its leg and twist the handle. I can't be sure, but if it's like other similarly structured organisms, the skeletal muscles will be---"
The whift turned and stomped away.
"Hey!" I called out, "I'm still your saratan, so get back here!"
He or she stopped, but for once I had no problem reading their inner resentment. They paused, and once again spoke, "How do you EXPECT me to get this sample."
I paused thoughtfully, "...You'll need to subdue it first."
"I will not."
"Well, why not?" I threw up my arms, "You got it in there in the first place, didn't you? Just use that white ooze again!"
"It. Would. Avoid. It." Every word was measured as if they were explaining it to a child, "The suspension gel would run out of internal power before the creature did. It is not used for capture. It is used for restraining."
I grumbled. I wish I knew enough about his biology to use sedatives, but there's no way to ensure that it wouldn't just metabolize into some deadly toxin and kill him. I flicked my antennae.
"Well it's a bit violent, but could you use the collar and sticks again?"
"I will not." The whift looked down through the glass, "I will do it if you allow me to kill it first."
"Absolutely not!" I shouted, "This is important! I'm telling you, as your saratan, that you need to perform this biopsy!"
The whift twisted their palps and lurched. I jumped to avoid the black tarry substance that landed between my legs. I stared at them in disbelief as they fluttered their flanges and stalked away. The other whifts were watching.
There were many things lost on me, but I knew full well what that meant. I had to hawk that stuff into the sink sometimes. I just stood there staring at the heap of nanthe as it oozed into the floor. It was supposed to smell, but I couldn't even sense that much. I found it grimly humorous. I couldn't even take their complete denial of my person the way that they wanted me to.
"I'll do it myself then, if you're too much of a coward!"
I wish I knew the emanations to accuse cowardice, but even attempting would've made me seem even dumber than I already did.
"You." I pointed at another whift, "Come with me." She stared at me and made no effort to move, "Don't worry you won't need to do anything /dangerous/ I just need another set of hands."
She stood up slowly. Out of the three, she was the most likely to actually listen to my instructions. I rummaged through my things and found my stratalyzer in no time.
"Let's go."
I felt a growing sense of tension as we descended the stairs. It felt like quite a height, but I had to remind myself that it was only a little taller then my specimen. The whift followed me quietly. On the ground floor it was a quick walk to the massive door at the end of the sterile hall.
"I just want you to watch the door and close it if I've got to run." I swiped my card over the reader and waved my access pattern through the holoscreener.
"You're going in there?"
I imagine it would've sounded more aghast if I possessed olfactors, "It's asleep right now, and the procedure isn't that invasive. I've handled worse," I lied, "I just want you here in case anything goes wrong."
The whift stared, which I was forced to take as affirmation. Things like agreement or disagreement were so ubiquitous that they were handled almost exclusively through emanations.
I gripped the handle of the sturdy metal door and felt the latch click. The whift's antennae twitched nervously. I pulled it open with all my strength and handed it to the whift. She stared at me and then I stepped inside.
I was well familiar with the enormous room. I'd been starting at it for days, but this was a totally new perspective. From the bottom looking up, it left me feeling exposed. I think there was something instinctual about it. Inside of me was some ancient Fyrix screaming that there's nowhere to hide in this vast space. It didn't help that the largest land based predator was in the middle.
I glanced back at the door to confirm my escape route and then stalked towards the creature. He was curled up on his side. His long brown mane was spilled all over the floor. I watched his back rise and fall as his chest filled with great volumes of air, and as I drew closer I heard him breathing in ways I'd never heard from the other side of the glass.
The inhalation was a slow hiss and the exhalation was the sound of wind all on its own. I wasn't going in unprepared. I'd played sounds to see how sensitive its sleep was. I'd even sent in the scent of the Fyrix to ensure that it didn't rouse him either. I've done crazy things like this before, so why was it so hard to complete the last few steps.
I squeezed my stratalyzer and felt its reassuring weight. Staring at him from far away doesn't really prepare you for just how big the howler was. In fact, if I saw what I was seeing now, I probably wouldn't have stepped in here, but...
I saw the whift watching from the door. I stalked quietly to his legs. It stirred. I froze. I perched on one leg, staring nervously, but eventually the even breaths resumed. I'd never felt so relieved. Now, where was the best place to secure some skeletal muscle... The bone seemed awfully exposed on the foreleg. I took two careful steps, kneeled, and then stuck the stratalyzer into it. The howler kicked out. It missed me. I twisted the handle and yanked it out before sprinting for the exit. Gone were the pleasant breaths and its place where groans and popping sinews.
The door seemed so far away. The whift was standing there staring past me right at the howler. It was standing now. I ran, reached out for the door, and then the whift shut it in my face.
"Are you serious---?!"
I was so outraged that I'd forgotten everything for a moment, but then it all came back to me.
I turned slowly and walked backwards. It was staring at me. Stars above it was massive. It was staring right at me. It wasn't even babbling. My back hit the door. Okay, I've been in similar situations. It's been fed. It shouldn't be hungry. If I just make it clear that I'm not a threat it should leave me alone.
It crossed the whole distance I'd had to run in three strides. I must've smelled a mess. My organs were spewing out everything on instinct. Some kind of moribund cocktail to warn the ancient Fyrix that what's about to kill me might try to kill them as well.
I didn't want to die...! What was I thinking, coming in here like this...? Just because I wanted to show up that stupid whift...
"Y-you know, I was the only one on your side...!" I spoke to it despite myself. It towered over me and draped me in its long shadow.
It stared at me. I stared at it.
What was it waiting for...? It opened its mouth. The sight of its maw made me flinch, but it only babbled. Its eyes screwed around as if waiting for something, and then it babbled again. Its eyes screwed a different way, then more of that bestial babbling. I'd never been more terrified in my entire life, but then it suddenly kneeled in front of me.
"O-okay, stay there...!"
"Sss-krah--chay tcht-hhrg-aare...!"
My blood froze at the nightmarish mockery. It was a higher register than I'd ever heard from its mouth, remarkably close to mine. I suddenly recalled the admiral's theory that they mimicked the speech of intelligents to hunt them.
It stared at me, its head tilting and its piercing eyes staring straight into me. I didn't move, didn't make any motion that could set it off. It showed its teeth and my back climbed the wall in a flash of panic. I was face to face with it now. I could feel the moisture of its breath condensing on my exoskeleton.
I'm not sure why, but my back slid back down the wall. Maybe it was exhaustion, maybe it was acceptance, but I just couldn't summon the will anymore. It reached out and snatched me by the arm. Well, this was it. I suppose it's a fitting way to go for a xenobiologist, but it was strangely... gentle... more curious.
And then he let out an antennae-snapping screech. He let go of my arm and went rigid, clutching at his neck, then going rigid again as it spasmed. I heard the clicking of electricity and felt myself yanked backwards. The top of the door streaked across my vision as I landed on my back. I heard the door slam.
There were two whifts there. One had the remote to the electric collar in his hand. I rubbed where the howler had grabbed me idly as they stared at me. I was still shaken up, but I didn't like how they were looking at me, and so I stood.
"Your stupidity is an embarrassment to all Fyrix."
It was the Fyrix who'd efflugated at me. At least, I was pretty sure.
"I would've been fine if she hadn't slammed the door in my face!" I pointed at the whift beside him, "I know you don't like me, but trying to get me killed is a bit much, don't you think?"
They only flicked their antennae, "I would ask for viraas, but I do not want it from someone like you." They declared, and then walked away. The other whift followed quickly behind him.
Thinking back on it, she was the one who'd jumped at just the sight of the howler when we first started. Shit... she'd been terrified. I probably would've been able to tell if I could... I clenched my hands and felt something in them. I looked down and realized I was still carrying the stratalyzer.
Well, at least this wasn't a total disaster. I rubbed my arm again, remembering the strangely squishy sensation of his fingers against my exoskeleton.