Earlier chapters:
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
---
Delirium.
And madness.
He was Jack Saturn, the ringmaster of world renown circus Cruor et Caedis.
He was... nothing. At least that's what his father would have said before. Not so much any longer. Not even when Jack saw him in his dreams or ghastly apparitions of troubling nature while awake. Constant high pitched shriek from the inanimate Siamese head of his brother had ceased to be a terrible reminder of nightmarish past. Rather it was an acknowledgement of triumph over their father.
Recent experiences had brought the crew's ability to greatly surpass any artistic merit his father had ever been able to make Cruor et Caedis achieve. The circus didn't perform their numbers any more, nor establish their carnival wherever they arrived. They lived art. They breathed art. They ate art. Hell, they even shat art. And when it came down to it, even their death was art.
And the world followed.
Something had been set loose upon the world in the sinister area that had been surging with strange power that had attracted many... gifted individuals to the same place at the same time. And now the dead were walking upon the earth in their current state of decay, creatures that were neither beast nor human had awakened and were traversing the same broken streets of the once great city as Cruor et Caedis was. Even time and space were on the verge of collapse, as not all doors were guaranteed to lead to next chamber.
Madness.
And delirium.
And Jack knew very well how to navigate insanity.
If they had been humans once, this was no longer the case. They were Cruor et Caedis. When they became stranded in the frozen city, they needed to consume the flesh of the undead to keep themselves nourished. At first that had not been a very healthy thing to do. They also ate their fallen; this way no member of Cruor et Caedis would truly leave the crew. They were a continuous unity. Jack had needed to bolster the mental resilience of the circus so often with powers from beyond the mortal realm that others had grown nearly as great attunement to sinister presence in their mind and in their body as Jack had cultivated during his time as the ringmaster.
Getting possessed and re-possessed over and over again with or without willingness had left their souls leaking. This caused many kinds of unexpected and unnatural side effects. The acrobat twin brothers could no longer tell which one was which. Occasionally other members would find themselves looking through wrong pair of eyes. All thoughts were not their own. Sometimes they were coming from the person closest to them, if they were coming from any person at all. After cannibalizing their own dead, memories and thoughts of the deceased could briefly enter the attention of participants of the banquet. During their sleep, their identities and personalities were drifting through one physical vessel to another.
A true unison emerged from the shattering of the mind, a crack in the soul. How beautiful was that?
All of this, in turn, lead to a bodily unification. Though demonic powers were knitting wounds unnaturally fast, many of their brethren had received mortal wounds on stage. Somehow they had survived as long as they weren't too far from their kin. It was marvelous. And it was painful. To test the limits of their coherency, Jack had ordered himself to be flayed alive. That might be a terrific new circus freak number in the future - a man without a skin.
Resulting pain had been tolerable. Everyone else had tolerated and felt it as well. This had happened yesterday.
In this brief moment of respite Jack was smiling masochistically. Or maybe it was sadistic. Nobody would be able to tell.
And he didn't stop smiling until he encountered his brother and his other head, Ís. For Ís was smiling sadistically. Or maybe masochistically. Jack was not able to tell.
And Ís spoke: "Darling"
And Jack attacked Ís. That voice was no longer part of his life. He had killed that voice once, and would do so again if need be.
Showing posts with label background. Show all posts
Showing posts with label background. Show all posts
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Monday, February 29, 2016
Cruor et Caedis Chapter VIII
Earlier chapters:
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
---
"Bravo! Bravo!" Jack applauded when the acrobat brothers showed him what they had been able to teach to the dogs in their improvised kennel. Sure, it was nothing when compared to their earlier animal whisperer, but considering the circumstances, Jack was proud of their accomplishments. The dogs had been left slightly more aggressive than what Jack had been used to, but this didn't bother him. He liked a little bit of ferociousness and passion in his crew. And dogs were part of his crew now. And the bear.
Bear had appeared some time ago, scavenging on the outskirts of their inn. Once Jack knew of the beast, he ordered everyone to catch the bear and shackle it. It was to become their new dancing bear. It was not a cub any more, so it would be quite a challenge. But challenge wasn't something Jack was afraid of. Once caught, the bear was put to rigorous training. The bear and the dogs were often trained together at the same time, which had a toll on their supply of wild dogs.
Sometimes the bear would become enraged and attacked the dogs, and any member of the circus that was too close. Mighty blows tossed dogs around like rubber chickens. This gave Jack an amazing idea. As the bear looked like it had a tendency of throwing living things, perhaps it could be taught to juggle the dogs?
That proved to be a mistake in the end. They had too few dogs available. But perhaps in time it would work out, somehow... When they would make it big on the stage, once more...
"Have they drugged the bear?" Ennu asked from behind of Jack.
"I don't know. Maybe. Whatever they did, it looks like it's balancing quite well on the barrel. Or perhaps it is afraid of the flames around the barrel?" Jack was wondering aloud, not directing his word exactly at Ennu.
"Reminds me of the old times. Not exactly the same... but I feel warm inside."
Jack turned to face Ennu, and said: "Oh, I know what you mean! Every circus needs animals. They're as important as everybody else, if not even more so. In circus they are ascending from their animal state to higher beings. That's more than any of us has done." Except, of course, when Jack's summonings became permanent.
"I think we should expand our repertoire of animals" Jack continued.
"Oh? What do you have in mind, mister? Please keep in mind the capabilities of our current trainers..."
"Yes, yes... I don't think they can handle anything more. And once we get back to the civilization, we need to recruit some real animal trainers. Meanwhile I don't think we can find elephants or parrots here. It's too cold. But I remember a funny little flea circus that played some tunes in a music box. There should be all kinds of insects everywhere. I might take responsibility of transcending them personally to perform wonders beyond human comprehension."
Ennu didn't say anything.
"I know, it isn't very grandiose... but I miss the real show. This is all just practice here while we wait... I'm growing slightly bored."
"It's yours to decide what to do. Yourself, and us as a whole. We could leave."
"No! I haven't found my ring yet. And I don't think the southern lands have settled yet, the uproar was nothing like we've seen before. We need to stay."
"As you wish, but others are also missing the stage."
"I know! I know!"
"Also, this morning an outrider entered this inn. Apparently some patrolling king's men are approaching the inn with the intent of holding up the law of the land and chasing off brigands. Surely we are not brigands, but I'm not entirely sure how the law feels about our circus, at least right now."
"Is that so. Sounds like a perfect time for a little tour. Nothing too fancy, not yet. Perhaps we should go and take our meagre menagerie with us. Just to see if they react well to people they don't know yet. And if they remember any of the new tricks they've been taught when they are in unfamiliar surroundings. Yes, I like this idea. We'll go tonight."
"As you wish."
---
"Ennu, please tell me. Do the good folk there, who have crashed with their cart, look like they'd enjoy a show while they're waiting for repairs?" Jack asked politely. He was genuinely interested.
"Hmm. Perhaps. Should we send someone to ask?"
"Oh, why bother. Let's surprise them! I'm sure they will love it! I think I might even début my flea circus..."
"An armed group seems to be closing in from the west. Are they coming to rescue the cart?"
Jack started to cackle maniacally: "But why would they need rescuing? It's only a show, you know! I already began. See that man in robes? I ordered my flea circus to entertain him a little!"
"Jack... they look like giant spiders. And I think they're trying to eat him."
Jack smiled and said with an unearthly voice: "Yes. The show is on." He raised his hand and saw thick streaks of blue liquid running up and down his flesh almost as if it was alive. Where the streaks had travelled, Jack vanished from sight. Eyes wide from surprise told Ennu that this had not been a part of their show tonight.
"Jack has gone missing" Ennu whispered. Oh, great. The bear had forgotten absolutely everything it had been taught, and was already attacking the supposed caravan retinue. Chances for a peaceful retreat had vanished as surely as Jack had done.
"Jack has gone missing! Our master is missing!" Ennu started shouting and running around, trying to gather everyone together. There was fighting in the distance there where the broken cart laid. Perhaps the approaching armed men were actually just filthy, plain robbers only? And now they thought Cruor et Caedis was coming to help the cart haulers? The fools!
"I don't know. We should go. Everyone retreat! Shoot the bear with sleep dart or something. We can't handle this without Jack" was the message Ennu wanted to tell, but there was no proof everyone got it the right way. Eventually Ennu just decided to take a run, orderly retreat wasn't one of their strengths. During escape, Ennu noticed Adon just standing idly. In fact, Adon had his eyes closed. The other... face... thing? had her eyes open, and they were looking sternly to the distance. Ennu poked Adon multiple times and tried to make him understand to run away. Eventually Adon opened his eyes, and Ennu took running off running again. Perhaps they followed. Or maybe not.
---
Few hours later almost everyone had found themselves together hiding in one of the ruined manors of that particular district where they happened to be. Curious thing, that instinct of theirs. Truly the bond between members of Cruor et Caedis was deeper than that of a close family. Nobody had really ever gotten lost from others during any of their many, many escapes and retreats. Come to think of it, none had ever really been able to escape Cruor et Caedis, either.
But here they were. Their dancing bear had been sedated and brought in the coffinmobile (that's what Jack called his sarcophagus with wheels). A few of their dogs had either died, or weren't here yet. First possibility was more likely by now. And here they were. Injured, bleeding, clobbered and insane. And... without Jack.
Adon had fallen asleep, but the other face was still looking somewhere that was beyond the sight of anyone else. The face refused to look anywhere else. If Adon was turned around by force, the face would turn back right away.
Soon they would need to get going. As there might be a connection between Jack's location and Adon's other face's direction, remains of Cruor et Caedis let it guide them. It only lead deeper into the ruins of Frostgrave. Their medical supplies were exhausted, but there was no reason to go back without Jack. There was hardly any reason to live without Jack.
After travelling for a day or so a snowstorm had started hampering their advance. The reasonable thing to do would have been to start falling back to their inn - visibility had been hampered so that it would be next to impossible to spot Jack, even if they reached his general whereabouts.
Then they came across an eerie opening, where the air itself was rippling with unknown power. Adon's other face seemed to pay special attention to this place, so Ennu ordered a more thorough searching. Soon it became clear that they were not alone.
"Curses. We must retreat. There are so many of them. Clearly we haven't been the only ones who've been drawn to this place! We will never find Jack this way" Ennu was lamenting, even if nobody was listening.
"Well, you don't really even need to", said a familiar voice nearby.
"Jack! Everyone, Jack is back! Jack is right here!" Ennu tried to inform their camp.
"Be quiet. Here lies a great power. Do not disturb it. I will capture it and harness it. See that stonework? Some sort of pillars, but they're not supporting anything. I don't know what will happen, but it will happen soon", Jack said and put his index finger in front of his lips with a soft "shh."
"Jack! Where were you? And have you... my apologies if I'm being too inquisitive, but have you found your ring? Can we leave Frostgrave?"
"Oh, this" Jack snorted scornfully and raised his hand in front of him for a better view of his own fingers. "This is trash. I thought it was the ring that would make a ringmaster, but this thing must be a crude joke. It is not my ring, but I will keep it as it has some minor... powers. Where I was if of no concern. It was freak accident, I believe. A vial had shattered in my pocket. It somehow... placed me. Somewhere. Somewhere where I could see this place and it's power. It should not happen again, I assure you, my loyal minion."
Ennu was about to say something, but suddenly Jack look alerted.
"Now! It starts now! Everyone, let's get moving! Kill everyone in sight, this wonderful secret shall be mine alone!" Jack ordered. Then he muttered to himself: "A glimpse... I can almost see it... the veil is so thin. Tear it down..."
Truly something was happening in here. Mighty beings out of this world were moving in the maximum reach of their vicinity. The living dead were walking towards the opening lead by a dark figure. A demonic entity was approaching the area from another direction along with its diabolic master. An invisible, terrifying presence could also be felt closing in.
Jack was fixated in observing the pillars when their group was attacked from within the snowstorm. It would be a fight unlike any before. Jack didn't care, but their group was injured, undernourished and exhausted.
"Jack. This is not natural. And we are outnumbered. We can't do this. Please, reconsider!" Ennu begged.
"Hah! For sure it is not natural! This is the most important event we have ever witnessed. We won't fall back, you coward. And look, they're fighting among themselves. There are more sides than two here today."
Ennu shook head, but submitted.
Until a green explosion of energy filled the clearing, and ghastly creatures rose from beneath the banks of snow and piles of rubble. It was pure hell on earth.
For a moment Ennu was sure that this was the end of them all. Cruor et Caedis would be no more. Everyone would die here today.
- - -
Next chapter.
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
---
"Bravo! Bravo!" Jack applauded when the acrobat brothers showed him what they had been able to teach to the dogs in their improvised kennel. Sure, it was nothing when compared to their earlier animal whisperer, but considering the circumstances, Jack was proud of their accomplishments. The dogs had been left slightly more aggressive than what Jack had been used to, but this didn't bother him. He liked a little bit of ferociousness and passion in his crew. And dogs were part of his crew now. And the bear.
Bear had appeared some time ago, scavenging on the outskirts of their inn. Once Jack knew of the beast, he ordered everyone to catch the bear and shackle it. It was to become their new dancing bear. It was not a cub any more, so it would be quite a challenge. But challenge wasn't something Jack was afraid of. Once caught, the bear was put to rigorous training. The bear and the dogs were often trained together at the same time, which had a toll on their supply of wild dogs.
Sometimes the bear would become enraged and attacked the dogs, and any member of the circus that was too close. Mighty blows tossed dogs around like rubber chickens. This gave Jack an amazing idea. As the bear looked like it had a tendency of throwing living things, perhaps it could be taught to juggle the dogs?
That proved to be a mistake in the end. They had too few dogs available. But perhaps in time it would work out, somehow... When they would make it big on the stage, once more...
"Have they drugged the bear?" Ennu asked from behind of Jack.
"I don't know. Maybe. Whatever they did, it looks like it's balancing quite well on the barrel. Or perhaps it is afraid of the flames around the barrel?" Jack was wondering aloud, not directing his word exactly at Ennu.
"Reminds me of the old times. Not exactly the same... but I feel warm inside."
Jack turned to face Ennu, and said: "Oh, I know what you mean! Every circus needs animals. They're as important as everybody else, if not even more so. In circus they are ascending from their animal state to higher beings. That's more than any of us has done." Except, of course, when Jack's summonings became permanent.
"I think we should expand our repertoire of animals" Jack continued.
"Oh? What do you have in mind, mister? Please keep in mind the capabilities of our current trainers..."
"Yes, yes... I don't think they can handle anything more. And once we get back to the civilization, we need to recruit some real animal trainers. Meanwhile I don't think we can find elephants or parrots here. It's too cold. But I remember a funny little flea circus that played some tunes in a music box. There should be all kinds of insects everywhere. I might take responsibility of transcending them personally to perform wonders beyond human comprehension."
Ennu didn't say anything.
"I know, it isn't very grandiose... but I miss the real show. This is all just practice here while we wait... I'm growing slightly bored."
"It's yours to decide what to do. Yourself, and us as a whole. We could leave."
"No! I haven't found my ring yet. And I don't think the southern lands have settled yet, the uproar was nothing like we've seen before. We need to stay."
"As you wish, but others are also missing the stage."
"I know! I know!"
"Also, this morning an outrider entered this inn. Apparently some patrolling king's men are approaching the inn with the intent of holding up the law of the land and chasing off brigands. Surely we are not brigands, but I'm not entirely sure how the law feels about our circus, at least right now."
"Is that so. Sounds like a perfect time for a little tour. Nothing too fancy, not yet. Perhaps we should go and take our meagre menagerie with us. Just to see if they react well to people they don't know yet. And if they remember any of the new tricks they've been taught when they are in unfamiliar surroundings. Yes, I like this idea. We'll go tonight."
"As you wish."
---
"Ennu, please tell me. Do the good folk there, who have crashed with their cart, look like they'd enjoy a show while they're waiting for repairs?" Jack asked politely. He was genuinely interested.
"Hmm. Perhaps. Should we send someone to ask?"
"Oh, why bother. Let's surprise them! I'm sure they will love it! I think I might even début my flea circus..."
"An armed group seems to be closing in from the west. Are they coming to rescue the cart?"
Jack started to cackle maniacally: "But why would they need rescuing? It's only a show, you know! I already began. See that man in robes? I ordered my flea circus to entertain him a little!"
"Jack... they look like giant spiders. And I think they're trying to eat him."
Jack smiled and said with an unearthly voice: "Yes. The show is on." He raised his hand and saw thick streaks of blue liquid running up and down his flesh almost as if it was alive. Where the streaks had travelled, Jack vanished from sight. Eyes wide from surprise told Ennu that this had not been a part of their show tonight.
"Jack has gone missing" Ennu whispered. Oh, great. The bear had forgotten absolutely everything it had been taught, and was already attacking the supposed caravan retinue. Chances for a peaceful retreat had vanished as surely as Jack had done.
"Jack has gone missing! Our master is missing!" Ennu started shouting and running around, trying to gather everyone together. There was fighting in the distance there where the broken cart laid. Perhaps the approaching armed men were actually just filthy, plain robbers only? And now they thought Cruor et Caedis was coming to help the cart haulers? The fools!
"I don't know. We should go. Everyone retreat! Shoot the bear with sleep dart or something. We can't handle this without Jack" was the message Ennu wanted to tell, but there was no proof everyone got it the right way. Eventually Ennu just decided to take a run, orderly retreat wasn't one of their strengths. During escape, Ennu noticed Adon just standing idly. In fact, Adon had his eyes closed. The other... face... thing? had her eyes open, and they were looking sternly to the distance. Ennu poked Adon multiple times and tried to make him understand to run away. Eventually Adon opened his eyes, and Ennu took running off running again. Perhaps they followed. Or maybe not.
---
Few hours later almost everyone had found themselves together hiding in one of the ruined manors of that particular district where they happened to be. Curious thing, that instinct of theirs. Truly the bond between members of Cruor et Caedis was deeper than that of a close family. Nobody had really ever gotten lost from others during any of their many, many escapes and retreats. Come to think of it, none had ever really been able to escape Cruor et Caedis, either.
But here they were. Their dancing bear had been sedated and brought in the coffinmobile (that's what Jack called his sarcophagus with wheels). A few of their dogs had either died, or weren't here yet. First possibility was more likely by now. And here they were. Injured, bleeding, clobbered and insane. And... without Jack.
Adon had fallen asleep, but the other face was still looking somewhere that was beyond the sight of anyone else. The face refused to look anywhere else. If Adon was turned around by force, the face would turn back right away.
Soon they would need to get going. As there might be a connection between Jack's location and Adon's other face's direction, remains of Cruor et Caedis let it guide them. It only lead deeper into the ruins of Frostgrave. Their medical supplies were exhausted, but there was no reason to go back without Jack. There was hardly any reason to live without Jack.
After travelling for a day or so a snowstorm had started hampering their advance. The reasonable thing to do would have been to start falling back to their inn - visibility had been hampered so that it would be next to impossible to spot Jack, even if they reached his general whereabouts.
Then they came across an eerie opening, where the air itself was rippling with unknown power. Adon's other face seemed to pay special attention to this place, so Ennu ordered a more thorough searching. Soon it became clear that they were not alone.
"Curses. We must retreat. There are so many of them. Clearly we haven't been the only ones who've been drawn to this place! We will never find Jack this way" Ennu was lamenting, even if nobody was listening.
"Well, you don't really even need to", said a familiar voice nearby.
"Jack! Everyone, Jack is back! Jack is right here!" Ennu tried to inform their camp.
"Be quiet. Here lies a great power. Do not disturb it. I will capture it and harness it. See that stonework? Some sort of pillars, but they're not supporting anything. I don't know what will happen, but it will happen soon", Jack said and put his index finger in front of his lips with a soft "shh."
"Jack! Where were you? And have you... my apologies if I'm being too inquisitive, but have you found your ring? Can we leave Frostgrave?"
"Oh, this" Jack snorted scornfully and raised his hand in front of him for a better view of his own fingers. "This is trash. I thought it was the ring that would make a ringmaster, but this thing must be a crude joke. It is not my ring, but I will keep it as it has some minor... powers. Where I was if of no concern. It was freak accident, I believe. A vial had shattered in my pocket. It somehow... placed me. Somewhere. Somewhere where I could see this place and it's power. It should not happen again, I assure you, my loyal minion."
Ennu was about to say something, but suddenly Jack look alerted.
"Now! It starts now! Everyone, let's get moving! Kill everyone in sight, this wonderful secret shall be mine alone!" Jack ordered. Then he muttered to himself: "A glimpse... I can almost see it... the veil is so thin. Tear it down..."
Truly something was happening in here. Mighty beings out of this world were moving in the maximum reach of their vicinity. The living dead were walking towards the opening lead by a dark figure. A demonic entity was approaching the area from another direction along with its diabolic master. An invisible, terrifying presence could also be felt closing in.
Jack was fixated in observing the pillars when their group was attacked from within the snowstorm. It would be a fight unlike any before. Jack didn't care, but their group was injured, undernourished and exhausted.
"Jack. This is not natural. And we are outnumbered. We can't do this. Please, reconsider!" Ennu begged.
"Hah! For sure it is not natural! This is the most important event we have ever witnessed. We won't fall back, you coward. And look, they're fighting among themselves. There are more sides than two here today."
Ennu shook head, but submitted.
Until a green explosion of energy filled the clearing, and ghastly creatures rose from beneath the banks of snow and piles of rubble. It was pure hell on earth.
For a moment Ennu was sure that this was the end of them all. Cruor et Caedis would be no more. Everyone would die here today.
- - -
Next chapter.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Cruor et Caedis Chapter VII
Earlier chapters:
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
- - -
"Mister Jack... are you, well, reading?"
Jack quickly tried to hide the tome somewhere, but since he was reading in his coffin bed, there wasn't all that much space available. "Kind of" he muttered.
"Surely not for the plot?" Ennu enquired in an innocent tone.
"It is very good indeed."
"The plot?"
"Yes. It tells about a ringmaster who lashes out at his far too nosy subordinates."
"Oh?"
"The one in pink clothes has arms and legs torn from the body and made into a hula hoop. What's left is cut in four pieces, and the dancing bear juggles with them, all the while she runs the hula hoop."
Laughter came a little too late, and was a little too nervous. But perhaps Jack would've needed to use some other way to express his point - the aforementioned number had really been performed on two separate occasions during Cruor et Caedis' lengthy existence. First time had been when Jack was about four years of age. How curious that Jack remembered Ennu being around that time, too - all big and adult and such. It had been at least forty years.
The one turned into a hula hoop was one of the circus freaks that were on display. A troll-looking fellow with a very large nose, in fact. Jack didn't remember how the freak had displeased his father. Though it was possible that it had been a prototype of a new stage number, but it had gone horribly wrong. Who knows.
Second time had been at least fifteen years later, when one of the elderly servants had complained to Jack how much better his father had been at running a circus.
Despite having strong distaste for the written word, Jack had eventually taken a look at one of the many thick grimoires the circus had found during their search. This had happened mostly because one of them failed to catch fire even when Jack had aided the burning process by calling a demonic fire from the underworld. He had never seen such writing and it was difficult to decipher. It felt like the writing was embedding itself inside of Jack's skull, symbol by symbol, rather than him consciously studying the text.
Jack wasn't alarmed, though. He had fair amount of experience about various otherworldly powers invading people's body or psyche, and sometimes both. This was nothing like it. The actual intent and practical purpose of the arcane writing was a mystery, but the more he read more keenly he was able to sense magic auras inside inanimate objects. They were calling to him.
Fortunately they were calling to him in a discreet, silent manner. He didn't need any additional voices inside of his head. After he had been overusing his mystical powers in stressful and life threatening situations, his mind felt like a sieve. Demons and other spiritual entities were visiting him constantly. Sometimes they were talking, sometimes he only felt an oppressive and menacing presence. And then there was Ís. Her monotonous high pitched scream had slowly changed. Sometimes it was louder, sometimes it was slightly more quiet. Earlier the sound could not have been produced by human throat, but now it resembled a non-stop "e" or "i".
But all of this was of no importance while he was inside his metal coffin. It had been fitted with wheels to allow for transportation to Frostgrave and back to the "Roadside Inn Welcome".
Inside of it all was quiet... all except for the dogs.
On their spare time Rophy and Mesant, the acrobat brothers, had lured a pack of wild dogs into a trap. Originally they probably wanted a more robust meal, but then someone got this great idea about a new lineage of circus dogs. There was now a sort of animal shelter in the lower story of the inn, and the dogs were barking and whining a lot. The brothers had brutal, yet inefficient training methods. The fools were wasting their time, and Jack almost felt sorry that they had eaten their animal trainer. But there had already been some merit in this whole damnable affair - a tormented physical shell was always easier for darker powers to inhabit. As proven by the recent killing on that frozen river.
Come to think of it... they really could use a new dancing bear.
"Where are we heading, mister?" the question woke up Jack from his thoughts.
"Nowhere!" Jack snapped.
"Nowhere? But earlier you said..."
"Yes! I sense a place that's nowhere, and there is nothing there. We're going there."
"Well, alright, sir... but can you be a little more specific about, for example, our direction?"
"We're going there where there is a whole lot of nothing. Nothing at all."
- - -
Jack felt drawn to the majestic tower. He had known there was nothing in here, and he was right! All the nothing was inside that tower. He didn't know how he knew this, but it was probably indigestion, or maybe the weird texts he had been kind of reading.
"Wonderful. So beautiful. Cruor et Caedis, let me represent you... our new home" Jack was speaking to his performers. Everyone else only gave a blank stare to the tower, well, except for Ennu (whose eyes were behind a mask, maybe Ennu was also staring the building, hard to tell) and Berethra, the vocalist. She was rolling her eyes.
"Of course it is only a temporary home. Our true home is on the stage. But we need to find my ring. And this will be our base of operations" Jack continued to explain.
There was some movement in the vicinity. Someone pointed in that direction, but Jack didn't notice. Someone gently tapped Jack on the shoulder, so he noticed the pointy finger.
"WHAT?" Jack shout, enraged.
"Someone is already living in here? They got no right! Dirty hobos! Burn them, burn them all! And their filthy beards, too! Wait, don't burn those. I want to do that. Otherwise, don't spare any of them. Cleanse this place."
Soon violence started all over the outskirts of the tower. Figures were not homeless people, though. They were spellcasters very capable of defending themselves from Jack's wild and unpredictable power. But Jack had already made up his mind, and refused to see them as anything else.
One by one his fellow actors were struck down or shot with crossbow bolts. Groldo, the mighty strongman, was knocked unconscious right before Jack's very own eyes when a powerful enemy wizard appeared out of thin air.
"Groldo you fool! He didn't even hit you that hard. Rise up. Damn you! Okay, then. Let's kill that urchin!" Jack said and dragged the sharpshooter of Cruor Caedis, who was able to shoot an apple from the head of a person one hundred yards away, while blindfolded and Berethra, the vocalist who could shatter glass with her voice alone, and attacked the newly appeared foe. They managed to put him down, but Jack failed to recognise the magic in foe's weaponry. Jack got a nasty slash to his belly. It was probably lethal in the long run, but for now it only lit demonic fire in Jack's eyes. His sisters in arms had also been badly injured, and it was probably due to sheer luck that all of them didn't meet their fate there and then.
"Curses! Why won't they just leave? They're nothing! They're even less nothing than this tower! Our new home, our destiny..." Jack was rambling, when a ghostly apparition rose from the corpse of their recently slain enemy.
"You again? Go away! Why won't you go away? To hell with you, to hell with everyone!" Jack yelled in frenzy, and punched the ghost with a sword he had found from Frostgrave. The sword gleamed in hues of red and blue, and somehow it looked like the ghost froze in place and shattered into dust. Again, Jack didn't even notice the danger he was in.
Bleeding he ran closer to the entrance of the tower, and was shouting: "You imbeciles! Die! Run! I'm coming to get you! Come to daddy! I'm going to show the only thing you're good for! Ahhahhraarghaahhah, yes, just like that, you waste of flesh! Yes, cry more! Grahhahhgrlahaahh."
Jack's incoherent outburst was interrupted by his eyes flaring up and literally giving off tendrils of flame - which also appeared from his ears, mouth and nostrils. The wound he had suffered in earlier fight was burning, too.
- - -
Next thing Jack knew was him standing inside the tower of nothing. Everything was silent. Battle was still raging outside of the tower, but he could hear nothing. Ís was as silent as when Jack was lying in his coffin. His mind was also empty from dissonant voices and whispers from beyond. Then panic struck him. His genius was also silent. He knew none of the fabulous tricks that had made his circus such a success. Maniacally he looked back and forth from the entrance to his dying circus. He scratched his belly, and was surprised to find an itching burn mark there.
This was a silence he could not bear. Afraid, he took flight from the tower.
Outside he stumbled upon Ennu.
"Mister! Oh, this is a blessing! We thought we lost you. Many of us has fallen... almost everyone... Brother of yours has escaped and everyone is injured, maybe dying, I know not! But your wish has been fulfilled, the enemy is retreating! 'Twas a a high cost indeed, but we are victorious! The tower is ours!" Ennu was crying and sobbing hysterically.
"Oh, this tower? Ah, yes. I exchanged my thoughts. We're not staying. Let's leave this place."
Next chapter.
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
- - -
"Mister Jack... are you, well, reading?"
Jack quickly tried to hide the tome somewhere, but since he was reading in his coffin bed, there wasn't all that much space available. "Kind of" he muttered.
"Surely not for the plot?" Ennu enquired in an innocent tone.
"It is very good indeed."
"The plot?"
"Yes. It tells about a ringmaster who lashes out at his far too nosy subordinates."
"Oh?"
"The one in pink clothes has arms and legs torn from the body and made into a hula hoop. What's left is cut in four pieces, and the dancing bear juggles with them, all the while she runs the hula hoop."
Laughter came a little too late, and was a little too nervous. But perhaps Jack would've needed to use some other way to express his point - the aforementioned number had really been performed on two separate occasions during Cruor et Caedis' lengthy existence. First time had been when Jack was about four years of age. How curious that Jack remembered Ennu being around that time, too - all big and adult and such. It had been at least forty years.
The one turned into a hula hoop was one of the circus freaks that were on display. A troll-looking fellow with a very large nose, in fact. Jack didn't remember how the freak had displeased his father. Though it was possible that it had been a prototype of a new stage number, but it had gone horribly wrong. Who knows.
Second time had been at least fifteen years later, when one of the elderly servants had complained to Jack how much better his father had been at running a circus.
Despite having strong distaste for the written word, Jack had eventually taken a look at one of the many thick grimoires the circus had found during their search. This had happened mostly because one of them failed to catch fire even when Jack had aided the burning process by calling a demonic fire from the underworld. He had never seen such writing and it was difficult to decipher. It felt like the writing was embedding itself inside of Jack's skull, symbol by symbol, rather than him consciously studying the text.
Jack wasn't alarmed, though. He had fair amount of experience about various otherworldly powers invading people's body or psyche, and sometimes both. This was nothing like it. The actual intent and practical purpose of the arcane writing was a mystery, but the more he read more keenly he was able to sense magic auras inside inanimate objects. They were calling to him.
Fortunately they were calling to him in a discreet, silent manner. He didn't need any additional voices inside of his head. After he had been overusing his mystical powers in stressful and life threatening situations, his mind felt like a sieve. Demons and other spiritual entities were visiting him constantly. Sometimes they were talking, sometimes he only felt an oppressive and menacing presence. And then there was Ís. Her monotonous high pitched scream had slowly changed. Sometimes it was louder, sometimes it was slightly more quiet. Earlier the sound could not have been produced by human throat, but now it resembled a non-stop "e" or "i".
But all of this was of no importance while he was inside his metal coffin. It had been fitted with wheels to allow for transportation to Frostgrave and back to the "Roadside Inn Welcome".
Inside of it all was quiet... all except for the dogs.
On their spare time Rophy and Mesant, the acrobat brothers, had lured a pack of wild dogs into a trap. Originally they probably wanted a more robust meal, but then someone got this great idea about a new lineage of circus dogs. There was now a sort of animal shelter in the lower story of the inn, and the dogs were barking and whining a lot. The brothers had brutal, yet inefficient training methods. The fools were wasting their time, and Jack almost felt sorry that they had eaten their animal trainer. But there had already been some merit in this whole damnable affair - a tormented physical shell was always easier for darker powers to inhabit. As proven by the recent killing on that frozen river.
Come to think of it... they really could use a new dancing bear.
"Where are we heading, mister?" the question woke up Jack from his thoughts.
"Nowhere!" Jack snapped.
"Nowhere? But earlier you said..."
"Yes! I sense a place that's nowhere, and there is nothing there. We're going there."
"Well, alright, sir... but can you be a little more specific about, for example, our direction?"
"We're going there where there is a whole lot of nothing. Nothing at all."
- - -
Jack felt drawn to the majestic tower. He had known there was nothing in here, and he was right! All the nothing was inside that tower. He didn't know how he knew this, but it was probably indigestion, or maybe the weird texts he had been kind of reading.
"Wonderful. So beautiful. Cruor et Caedis, let me represent you... our new home" Jack was speaking to his performers. Everyone else only gave a blank stare to the tower, well, except for Ennu (whose eyes were behind a mask, maybe Ennu was also staring the building, hard to tell) and Berethra, the vocalist. She was rolling her eyes.
"Of course it is only a temporary home. Our true home is on the stage. But we need to find my ring. And this will be our base of operations" Jack continued to explain.
There was some movement in the vicinity. Someone pointed in that direction, but Jack didn't notice. Someone gently tapped Jack on the shoulder, so he noticed the pointy finger.
"WHAT?" Jack shout, enraged.
"Someone is already living in here? They got no right! Dirty hobos! Burn them, burn them all! And their filthy beards, too! Wait, don't burn those. I want to do that. Otherwise, don't spare any of them. Cleanse this place."
Soon violence started all over the outskirts of the tower. Figures were not homeless people, though. They were spellcasters very capable of defending themselves from Jack's wild and unpredictable power. But Jack had already made up his mind, and refused to see them as anything else.
One by one his fellow actors were struck down or shot with crossbow bolts. Groldo, the mighty strongman, was knocked unconscious right before Jack's very own eyes when a powerful enemy wizard appeared out of thin air.
"Groldo you fool! He didn't even hit you that hard. Rise up. Damn you! Okay, then. Let's kill that urchin!" Jack said and dragged the sharpshooter of Cruor Caedis, who was able to shoot an apple from the head of a person one hundred yards away, while blindfolded and Berethra, the vocalist who could shatter glass with her voice alone, and attacked the newly appeared foe. They managed to put him down, but Jack failed to recognise the magic in foe's weaponry. Jack got a nasty slash to his belly. It was probably lethal in the long run, but for now it only lit demonic fire in Jack's eyes. His sisters in arms had also been badly injured, and it was probably due to sheer luck that all of them didn't meet their fate there and then.
"Curses! Why won't they just leave? They're nothing! They're even less nothing than this tower! Our new home, our destiny..." Jack was rambling, when a ghostly apparition rose from the corpse of their recently slain enemy.
"You again? Go away! Why won't you go away? To hell with you, to hell with everyone!" Jack yelled in frenzy, and punched the ghost with a sword he had found from Frostgrave. The sword gleamed in hues of red and blue, and somehow it looked like the ghost froze in place and shattered into dust. Again, Jack didn't even notice the danger he was in.
Bleeding he ran closer to the entrance of the tower, and was shouting: "You imbeciles! Die! Run! I'm coming to get you! Come to daddy! I'm going to show the only thing you're good for! Ahhahhraarghaahhah, yes, just like that, you waste of flesh! Yes, cry more! Grahhahhgrlahaahh."
Jack's incoherent outburst was interrupted by his eyes flaring up and literally giving off tendrils of flame - which also appeared from his ears, mouth and nostrils. The wound he had suffered in earlier fight was burning, too.
- - -
Next thing Jack knew was him standing inside the tower of nothing. Everything was silent. Battle was still raging outside of the tower, but he could hear nothing. Ís was as silent as when Jack was lying in his coffin. His mind was also empty from dissonant voices and whispers from beyond. Then panic struck him. His genius was also silent. He knew none of the fabulous tricks that had made his circus such a success. Maniacally he looked back and forth from the entrance to his dying circus. He scratched his belly, and was surprised to find an itching burn mark there.
This was a silence he could not bear. Afraid, he took flight from the tower.
Outside he stumbled upon Ennu.
"Mister! Oh, this is a blessing! We thought we lost you. Many of us has fallen... almost everyone... Brother of yours has escaped and everyone is injured, maybe dying, I know not! But your wish has been fulfilled, the enemy is retreating! 'Twas a a high cost indeed, but we are victorious! The tower is ours!" Ennu was crying and sobbing hysterically.
"Oh, this tower? Ah, yes. I exchanged my thoughts. We're not staying. Let's leave this place."
Next chapter.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Cruor et Caedis Chapter VI
Earlier chapters:
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
---
"Books! Books! All these books are useless. And they won't even burn! What was this city about, anyway? Was it one big library or something? What did the people eat? Letters? Were they fighting with pens and building houses with ink? There is nothing in Frostgrave. We're out!"
"I do not think you should judge so hastily. The books contain more than you should think of. Mayhaps you could study just one of the volumes? And you have found artefacts of power, no reason to deny that. You have even found a respite from this... affliction of yours."
"No! I have sacrificed everything. I sacrificed everything, and I gained nothing from it! Frostgrave... bah. I'll drown the city in sea of flames, and what's left I will burn with rain!"
"What a spectacle that would be, I must agree. But such a grand show requires a bewildered crowd."
"Yes! A crowd! There are people there, I know! We have ran into them many times now. We will capture them, we will shackle them and we will offer them a show they shall never forget right in the middle of this stupid city and its false riches!"
"If that is your wish, mister, then we will proceed. But we don't have enough food to feed Groldo. I hope you consider how Groldo can be when hungry."
Ennu was right. Still Jack felt strangely attracted to the city, despite his expression of frustration. Being overly dramatic was, so to say, an illness that came with the profession. Something was happening. The dimming of light felt like it was in direct relation to the mysterious power he felt coursing throughout the city. Jack could sense these sort of things.
Circus had been camping on the outskirts of the Frostgrave area. They didn't have too many supplies left as Ennu had commented, so they'd have to pay a visit to the inn soon enough. If not for anything else, they'd have to do it because of Groldo. Cruor et Caedis couldn't afford to lose any additional clowns. But time wasn't right, not just yet. The atmosphere was exciting... almost thrilling. There was no clear reason for that, but it felt just like it had felt in his childhood when a new set of performances were about to get revealed to the audience. You'd have to be crazy to miss the chance to watch how things would act out... That moment was one of the few happy memories Jack harboured until this very day. The moment didn't usually last very long, as the crowd started to slowly realise the somewhat more... experimental nature of many of the numbers. So it goes.
Now it looked like Jack wasn't the only one who sensed the surge of magical power. Various travellers had started gathering on the scene.
"Alright! We have our crowd!" Jack told nearby members.
"Dim the lights! Take positions! We're going to offer this rabble our greatest show right here, right now" Jack was raising his volume as he spoke. "Ladies and gentlemen... welcome to Cruor et Caedis! Tonight's show is called Total Eclipse of the Heart... we hope you enjoy what you shall see!"
The "rabble" was groups of multiple rival wizards, but this tiny detail escaped Jack's attention. He was no longer present. Deep inside his own mind he was re-living some smashing success of a show. In that show there had been a debut of a new stage number: the Human Torch.
The fire had been supposed to be magical in nature, then, and wouldn't burn the performer. Thirteen year old Jack disliked such illusion and tried to manipulate the performer's clothes with flammable oils. He had been stopped, though...
But tonight there would be no-one to stop him.
Next chapter.
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
---
"Books! Books! All these books are useless. And they won't even burn! What was this city about, anyway? Was it one big library or something? What did the people eat? Letters? Were they fighting with pens and building houses with ink? There is nothing in Frostgrave. We're out!"
"I do not think you should judge so hastily. The books contain more than you should think of. Mayhaps you could study just one of the volumes? And you have found artefacts of power, no reason to deny that. You have even found a respite from this... affliction of yours."
"No! I have sacrificed everything. I sacrificed everything, and I gained nothing from it! Frostgrave... bah. I'll drown the city in sea of flames, and what's left I will burn with rain!"
"What a spectacle that would be, I must agree. But such a grand show requires a bewildered crowd."
"Yes! A crowd! There are people there, I know! We have ran into them many times now. We will capture them, we will shackle them and we will offer them a show they shall never forget right in the middle of this stupid city and its false riches!"
"If that is your wish, mister, then we will proceed. But we don't have enough food to feed Groldo. I hope you consider how Groldo can be when hungry."
Ennu was right. Still Jack felt strangely attracted to the city, despite his expression of frustration. Being overly dramatic was, so to say, an illness that came with the profession. Something was happening. The dimming of light felt like it was in direct relation to the mysterious power he felt coursing throughout the city. Jack could sense these sort of things.
Circus had been camping on the outskirts of the Frostgrave area. They didn't have too many supplies left as Ennu had commented, so they'd have to pay a visit to the inn soon enough. If not for anything else, they'd have to do it because of Groldo. Cruor et Caedis couldn't afford to lose any additional clowns. But time wasn't right, not just yet. The atmosphere was exciting... almost thrilling. There was no clear reason for that, but it felt just like it had felt in his childhood when a new set of performances were about to get revealed to the audience. You'd have to be crazy to miss the chance to watch how things would act out... That moment was one of the few happy memories Jack harboured until this very day. The moment didn't usually last very long, as the crowd started to slowly realise the somewhat more... experimental nature of many of the numbers. So it goes.
Now it looked like Jack wasn't the only one who sensed the surge of magical power. Various travellers had started gathering on the scene.
"Alright! We have our crowd!" Jack told nearby members.
"Dim the lights! Take positions! We're going to offer this rabble our greatest show right here, right now" Jack was raising his volume as he spoke. "Ladies and gentlemen... welcome to Cruor et Caedis! Tonight's show is called Total Eclipse of the Heart... we hope you enjoy what you shall see!"
The "rabble" was groups of multiple rival wizards, but this tiny detail escaped Jack's attention. He was no longer present. Deep inside his own mind he was re-living some smashing success of a show. In that show there had been a debut of a new stage number: the Human Torch.
The fire had been supposed to be magical in nature, then, and wouldn't burn the performer. Thirteen year old Jack disliked such illusion and tried to manipulate the performer's clothes with flammable oils. He had been stopped, though...
But tonight there would be no-one to stop him.
Next chapter.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Cruor et Caedis chapter V
Earlier chapters:
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
- - - -
The inn was a roadside inn relatively close to Frostgrave. It's name was "Roadside Inn Welcome", which told everything there is to know about the imagination of the innkeeper.
Regardless their ragged band of performers had shambled there after a recent encounter in Frostgrave.
Their poor looks made the innkeeper suspicious... or perhaps it was the tainted, demonic aura that by now emanated from every member of Cruor et Caedis? Were the two even separable?
In the end innkeeper let Cruor et Caedis stay for free. It had taken a little bit of... convincing. Not in the way Jack had anticipated, though. First he let Groldo, the world's strongest man, express his dissatisfaction after a hard day... week... few months of fighting the wilderness, law, monsters and eating old friends. Now Jack owed a new, well... half of the inn for the innkeeper. Somehow the innkeeper did not appear frightened at all - in fact looked like he'd put up a fight at any given moment.
But then Adon and Ís had entered hall that was still fairly intact. They had somehow managed to cast the enchantment of unbearable beauty upon themselves. The innkeeper was transfixed. He could not get his eyes away from the sight. Equal measures of terror and awe were painted all over his face, plain for everyone to see. And also a slight hint of... lust.
So they got a permanent, free attachment for their remainder of world renown circus. At a half-broken inn in middle of nowhere close to the very edge of known world. Had they really sunken that deep? Where was their class, their dignity?
You have betrayed the legacy. You're useless. Worthless. One day I will gut you and read the future of Cruor et Caedis for the world to know - crap, nothing but crap. Crap with small bits of undigested morsels of world renown artists. You're nothing. You're...
"Have you never wanted to slice through that throat?"
Ennu froze in place and the sudden stop of movement caused a nasty cut to appear on Jack's throat. Jack did not flinch. This was their personal tradition; a solace and a small escape from hectic circus life. Not the slicing of Jack's throat, no. Rather this beard shaving ritual.
"Mister... why do you ask? Have you gone insane?"
"I've ruined this circus. This is no art we're doing here. What am I without an audience? What are we? Fighting for survival against the dead and the scribes. Pathetic." Jack spat on the floor and Ennu had to dodge the projectile. Floor started to slowly hiss and dissolve beneath the saliva.
"Mister is only testing us. Do no talk such sad things. It does not suit you, my dear... boss. Lead us to new glory if that is your wish. Do not talk of death. At least your own death. I have no other desire than to see these crumbs of beard fall off."
"Really?"
"Truly."
"I hit you and made your mask fall off."
Another sudden cut appeared on Jack's face. Ennu said: "Now look at what you made me do!" and Jack could hear the strain in the voice.
"It won't happen again. You're the only one I trust. It was a terrible thing for me to do." Jack said awkwardly and hesitantly. Apologies didn't come naturally from him - unless they were part of the show.
There was a silence, followed by nearly whispered: "Mister is only testing us."
"You're right. We can all use this as inspiration. And I still haven't found my ring. We're going back for more."
It took a few days to re-supply their party, take care of the wounds (both physical and psychological... and magical) and to fit the strange sarcophagus they had found with wheels, so that Jack could be dragged to places without going insane and violent over Ís. Jack had trusted the navigation of the expedition to Ennu, who had some sort of mysterious relation to this place.
But the journeys felt rather long inside the metal box. Jack had a lot of time to think. He wasn't actually claustrophobic, no. He wasn't even that afraid of being buried alive. All of this had happened many times already during his training. Yet... he was terrified. Why was he terrified? Perhaps being terrified was his way of life. The only thing you could trust in this world was sheer, absolute horror. Dread is all there is. Fright is all there was. And terror is everything there ever will be.
This metal sarcophagus reminded him of things. Bad things. Like being buried inside a box with his father and a volunteer from the audience. Jack didn't know what the trick had been, but he knew he was the one who suffered. His father had lousy numbers. He had been a selfish and terrible man. Though now that Jack was thinking about it... there had been that one good performance where the volunteer would be sawed in half, the steaming guts exposed to the crowd and then being melded back together with some aides from beyond. Why did they ever remove than number from their repertoire? Was it because of that one time when aides refused to graft the flesh and instead possessed the two halves, and started doing acrobatic tricks? Jack had thought it had been genius.
The sarcophagus came to a halt. The lid was raised. Before the silhouette took the shape of Ennu, Jack couldn't help but feel the primordial fear that his father was reaching for him.
"We're at the temple" Ennu said. "Somebody lives here now I think."
"What?" Jack shouted and sprang up from the coffin-turned-into-a-carriage. He could hear the shriek coming from Ís right away.
"I don't care. I... I don't care. If they come our way, kill them. I can't stand that noise any more than I have to" Jack ordered.
"What noise, mister? The hum coming from the sacred pillars?" Ennu enquired but received no answer. Jack no longer paid attention to the conversation. His eyes were fixed on a strange and exotic figure in the distance. A figure that Jack could sense wielded a power not unlike his own. Was he a rival? An ally? An usurper? A teacher?
Jack left the rest of Cruor et Caedis to their own devices and started to pay close attention to every move of that stranger. Jack summoned some unclean spirits to inhabit Groldo and Wanny the Juggler just to see how the stranger would react. But the stranger did not react. He closed in and neared a pillar that was giving off an aura of great power. He touched the pillar, but Jack could not fathom why.
Since the stranger was not openly aggressive, though everybody else was fighting, Jack felt interested. He might actually invite this individual to Cruor et Caedis, if he could only talk to him... He started imagining the great wonders they could do together. A new rise for the circus. A show unlike any other. Until now, the only person Jack had ever felt such a connection had been...
Suddenly all Jack could see standing next to the pillar of power was his father.
The things they had done together. A great anger arose in him. A hatred unlike any other.
Calling forth all pyrotechnical prowess he had at his disposal, he blasted his father dead with a ball of fire.
Next chapter
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
- - - -
The inn was a roadside inn relatively close to Frostgrave. It's name was "Roadside Inn Welcome", which told everything there is to know about the imagination of the innkeeper.
Regardless their ragged band of performers had shambled there after a recent encounter in Frostgrave.
Their poor looks made the innkeeper suspicious... or perhaps it was the tainted, demonic aura that by now emanated from every member of Cruor et Caedis? Were the two even separable?
In the end innkeeper let Cruor et Caedis stay for free. It had taken a little bit of... convincing. Not in the way Jack had anticipated, though. First he let Groldo, the world's strongest man, express his dissatisfaction after a hard day... week... few months of fighting the wilderness, law, monsters and eating old friends. Now Jack owed a new, well... half of the inn for the innkeeper. Somehow the innkeeper did not appear frightened at all - in fact looked like he'd put up a fight at any given moment.
But then Adon and Ís had entered hall that was still fairly intact. They had somehow managed to cast the enchantment of unbearable beauty upon themselves. The innkeeper was transfixed. He could not get his eyes away from the sight. Equal measures of terror and awe were painted all over his face, plain for everyone to see. And also a slight hint of... lust.
So they got a permanent, free attachment for their remainder of world renown circus. At a half-broken inn in middle of nowhere close to the very edge of known world. Had they really sunken that deep? Where was their class, their dignity?
You have betrayed the legacy. You're useless. Worthless. One day I will gut you and read the future of Cruor et Caedis for the world to know - crap, nothing but crap. Crap with small bits of undigested morsels of world renown artists. You're nothing. You're...
"Have you never wanted to slice through that throat?"
Ennu froze in place and the sudden stop of movement caused a nasty cut to appear on Jack's throat. Jack did not flinch. This was their personal tradition; a solace and a small escape from hectic circus life. Not the slicing of Jack's throat, no. Rather this beard shaving ritual.
"Mister... why do you ask? Have you gone insane?"
"I've ruined this circus. This is no art we're doing here. What am I without an audience? What are we? Fighting for survival against the dead and the scribes. Pathetic." Jack spat on the floor and Ennu had to dodge the projectile. Floor started to slowly hiss and dissolve beneath the saliva.
"Mister is only testing us. Do no talk such sad things. It does not suit you, my dear... boss. Lead us to new glory if that is your wish. Do not talk of death. At least your own death. I have no other desire than to see these crumbs of beard fall off."
"Really?"
"Truly."
"I hit you and made your mask fall off."
Another sudden cut appeared on Jack's face. Ennu said: "Now look at what you made me do!" and Jack could hear the strain in the voice.
"It won't happen again. You're the only one I trust. It was a terrible thing for me to do." Jack said awkwardly and hesitantly. Apologies didn't come naturally from him - unless they were part of the show.
There was a silence, followed by nearly whispered: "Mister is only testing us."
"You're right. We can all use this as inspiration. And I still haven't found my ring. We're going back for more."
It took a few days to re-supply their party, take care of the wounds (both physical and psychological... and magical) and to fit the strange sarcophagus they had found with wheels, so that Jack could be dragged to places without going insane and violent over Ís. Jack had trusted the navigation of the expedition to Ennu, who had some sort of mysterious relation to this place.
But the journeys felt rather long inside the metal box. Jack had a lot of time to think. He wasn't actually claustrophobic, no. He wasn't even that afraid of being buried alive. All of this had happened many times already during his training. Yet... he was terrified. Why was he terrified? Perhaps being terrified was his way of life. The only thing you could trust in this world was sheer, absolute horror. Dread is all there is. Fright is all there was. And terror is everything there ever will be.
This metal sarcophagus reminded him of things. Bad things. Like being buried inside a box with his father and a volunteer from the audience. Jack didn't know what the trick had been, but he knew he was the one who suffered. His father had lousy numbers. He had been a selfish and terrible man. Though now that Jack was thinking about it... there had been that one good performance where the volunteer would be sawed in half, the steaming guts exposed to the crowd and then being melded back together with some aides from beyond. Why did they ever remove than number from their repertoire? Was it because of that one time when aides refused to graft the flesh and instead possessed the two halves, and started doing acrobatic tricks? Jack had thought it had been genius.
The sarcophagus came to a halt. The lid was raised. Before the silhouette took the shape of Ennu, Jack couldn't help but feel the primordial fear that his father was reaching for him.
"We're at the temple" Ennu said. "Somebody lives here now I think."
"What?" Jack shouted and sprang up from the coffin-turned-into-a-carriage. He could hear the shriek coming from Ís right away.
"I don't care. I... I don't care. If they come our way, kill them. I can't stand that noise any more than I have to" Jack ordered.
"What noise, mister? The hum coming from the sacred pillars?" Ennu enquired but received no answer. Jack no longer paid attention to the conversation. His eyes were fixed on a strange and exotic figure in the distance. A figure that Jack could sense wielded a power not unlike his own. Was he a rival? An ally? An usurper? A teacher?
Jack left the rest of Cruor et Caedis to their own devices and started to pay close attention to every move of that stranger. Jack summoned some unclean spirits to inhabit Groldo and Wanny the Juggler just to see how the stranger would react. But the stranger did not react. He closed in and neared a pillar that was giving off an aura of great power. He touched the pillar, but Jack could not fathom why.
Since the stranger was not openly aggressive, though everybody else was fighting, Jack felt interested. He might actually invite this individual to Cruor et Caedis, if he could only talk to him... He started imagining the great wonders they could do together. A new rise for the circus. A show unlike any other. Until now, the only person Jack had ever felt such a connection had been...
Suddenly all Jack could see standing next to the pillar of power was his father.
The things they had done together. A great anger arose in him. A hatred unlike any other.
Calling forth all pyrotechnical prowess he had at his disposal, he blasted his father dead with a ball of fire.
Next chapter
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Cruor et Caedis chapter IV
Earlier chapters:
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
- - -
Chapter IV
Jack was thinking about his father. He had to, since his father was looking down to him from the big, yellow and green sky that had small purple spirals here and there. His father smiled. He smiled in that one certain way Jack knew all too well. Jack tried to hide, but he knew it would be futile. He called for great billows of fog to appear in front of him, to screen him.
There were scary, shadowy creatures moving around him. Sometimes he thought he knew them. That one looked like his strongman, but something was wrong with him. He was talking to Jack, tried to warn him of something, but Jack could not make any sense out of the echoing blabber he heard.
"QUIET!" he shouted. "Quiet quiet quiet quiet quiet QUIET!"
Leering, unfamiliar faces appeared in the fog and they were repeating "quiet" mockingly. Strongman and a dog were fighting them, it looked like. But Ís was not quiet. This was perhaps sixth day with no sleep.
He wanted to sit down, so he sat. All of this was not so different from his youth, the days in the glass tub. His father had deemed Jack old enough to perform in the main show. He was supposed to become a mermaid. Jack was being kept in the glass tub for many days. There were some fishes for him to eat if he only could catch them. Eventually he could. In the end he was even able to catch fish with his bare hands in pitch black darkness, and could feel which creatures he touched were fish and which were... something else. Something more sinister, that were inhabiting the physical vessel of a fish.
Finally there were nothing else left than the possessed fish. There was nothing else to eat. So he ate the possessed fish. And became a mermaid. And suddenly he could see...
... he could see the great fists of his father raining down from the sky. His wrathful bellow almost drowned the monotonous shriek of Ís. Celestial father was apparently trying to hit Adon and Ís, he was not after Jack! ... yet. That part would come next. And indeed, he could already see fingers of his father, single digits only, flying towards him from the ruins. They were sharp and cruel, like arrows from a bow.
Jack was alone. All alone.
So he left. Jumped off a cliff, and he fell, he fell for a long time. He smiled. There at the bottom was a coffin. He knew he would hit the coffin, and get some sleep at last. He hit the coffin, and Ís was silent.
-
When Jack opened his eyes, he was dizzy and couldn't see anything. He was tightly confined somewhere... it was some sort of a metal box. Box, and not a crawlspace. But the box was in motion, so Jack assumed he had not been buried alive. He knocked on what he thought was the lid. Motion stopped and the lid was being lifted.
Grim face of the strongman and the mask of Ennu were looking at him.
"Jack! You're awake! How do you feel?" Ennu asked.
"Silly you. I feel fine. Can somebody explain why I am this... what this box is, anyway?" Jack said as he arose from his confinement. But just as he was stepping out of the box, the shriek of Ís pierced his skull, and Jack fell back to the box.
"I... uh, I think I'll be here for a while. Now, explain."
"Well, mister... you haven't been alright for a while. You were quite out of you mind. Sleep had escaped beyond your reach. For a week or so. We tried to follow your orders as best as we could, but, forgive me for saying this, but they were rather insensible. We were going to escape the city when we encountered some resistance. We could not fight them, for your condition was our primary concern. In the middle of the fight we found this curious artefact and thought it best to keep it with us. You were following it with great interest, and once we were sure we were not being pursued, we began to inspect it. When we opened the lid, you climbed there before we could even remove the desiccated corpse. I'm afraid your cloak might be a little filthy, for we could not move you."
"Oh. Oh. I'll get to that later. I just don't feel like getting up just yet."
"You've been sleeping for over two full days, sire. You could not give us orders, so we left Frostgrave."
"Good, good. Find an inn or something. We need some supplies anyway. Wake me when we're there."
Next chapter.
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
- - -
Chapter IV
Jack was thinking about his father. He had to, since his father was looking down to him from the big, yellow and green sky that had small purple spirals here and there. His father smiled. He smiled in that one certain way Jack knew all too well. Jack tried to hide, but he knew it would be futile. He called for great billows of fog to appear in front of him, to screen him.
There were scary, shadowy creatures moving around him. Sometimes he thought he knew them. That one looked like his strongman, but something was wrong with him. He was talking to Jack, tried to warn him of something, but Jack could not make any sense out of the echoing blabber he heard.
"QUIET!" he shouted. "Quiet quiet quiet quiet quiet QUIET!"
Leering, unfamiliar faces appeared in the fog and they were repeating "quiet" mockingly. Strongman and a dog were fighting them, it looked like. But Ís was not quiet. This was perhaps sixth day with no sleep.
He wanted to sit down, so he sat. All of this was not so different from his youth, the days in the glass tub. His father had deemed Jack old enough to perform in the main show. He was supposed to become a mermaid. Jack was being kept in the glass tub for many days. There were some fishes for him to eat if he only could catch them. Eventually he could. In the end he was even able to catch fish with his bare hands in pitch black darkness, and could feel which creatures he touched were fish and which were... something else. Something more sinister, that were inhabiting the physical vessel of a fish.
Finally there were nothing else left than the possessed fish. There was nothing else to eat. So he ate the possessed fish. And became a mermaid. And suddenly he could see...
... he could see the great fists of his father raining down from the sky. His wrathful bellow almost drowned the monotonous shriek of Ís. Celestial father was apparently trying to hit Adon and Ís, he was not after Jack! ... yet. That part would come next. And indeed, he could already see fingers of his father, single digits only, flying towards him from the ruins. They were sharp and cruel, like arrows from a bow.
Jack was alone. All alone.
So he left. Jumped off a cliff, and he fell, he fell for a long time. He smiled. There at the bottom was a coffin. He knew he would hit the coffin, and get some sleep at last. He hit the coffin, and Ís was silent.
-
When Jack opened his eyes, he was dizzy and couldn't see anything. He was tightly confined somewhere... it was some sort of a metal box. Box, and not a crawlspace. But the box was in motion, so Jack assumed he had not been buried alive. He knocked on what he thought was the lid. Motion stopped and the lid was being lifted.
Grim face of the strongman and the mask of Ennu were looking at him.
"Jack! You're awake! How do you feel?" Ennu asked.
"Silly you. I feel fine. Can somebody explain why I am this... what this box is, anyway?" Jack said as he arose from his confinement. But just as he was stepping out of the box, the shriek of Ís pierced his skull, and Jack fell back to the box.
"I... uh, I think I'll be here for a while. Now, explain."
"Well, mister... you haven't been alright for a while. You were quite out of you mind. Sleep had escaped beyond your reach. For a week or so. We tried to follow your orders as best as we could, but, forgive me for saying this, but they were rather insensible. We were going to escape the city when we encountered some resistance. We could not fight them, for your condition was our primary concern. In the middle of the fight we found this curious artefact and thought it best to keep it with us. You were following it with great interest, and once we were sure we were not being pursued, we began to inspect it. When we opened the lid, you climbed there before we could even remove the desiccated corpse. I'm afraid your cloak might be a little filthy, for we could not move you."
"Oh. Oh. I'll get to that later. I just don't feel like getting up just yet."
"You've been sleeping for over two full days, sire. You could not give us orders, so we left Frostgrave."
"Good, good. Find an inn or something. We need some supplies anyway. Wake me when we're there."
Next chapter.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Cruor et Caedis Chapter III
Earlier chapters:
Chapter I
Chapter II
- - - -
Chapter III
Ís was shrieking. Ís was still shrieking. Nothing Jack had done helped in that matter.
Other didn't seem to bother about it too much, but Jack had the impression they didn't hear the shriek continuously. Late at night Jack stuffed Ís' mouth with a filthy rag, but that didn't help. Voice was so loud he couldn't sleep.
The next night Jack tried to sleep as far from Adon and Ís as possible, and eventually there was almost one kilometre between the two. And that didn't help.
Three full days without sleep and Jack could take no more. He raided their medicine supplies where there still was almost a full bottle of pure alcohol for cleansing of wounds. He drank it, and ate everything else. Even bandages. He started screaming himself, tried to make enough noise to drown Ís' voice. Finally he started to summon little... aides from another dimensions, and called for demons to inhabit any poor soul from his circus who happened to cross his path. He set fires and caused explosion. And finally, he collapsed.
But even that didn't help. Jack saw drunken dreams, or actually only one dream that lasted all through the lack of his consciousness. In that dream Ís was still shrieking.
Once he sobered up, he rose with murder in his eyes. He stormed to Adon and started beating Ís. Repeatedly, without mercy. "Nnnuh... Nnnnuhh", Adon was crying and shaking his head. Jack did not stop hitting. No, he would not stop it until there was silence. But he could not stop, for the voice pierced his skull. Insane, he suddenly saw his own face to appear where Ís' head should have been. That only doubled his rage.
He did not stop out of his own volition. His own face changed to that of his father. His beautiful father. His beautiful, perfect father that he had murdered. Now Jack stopped and fell to the ground and cried in foetal position. His father would not stop shrieking.
Somebody shook him gently. Jack opened his eyes, but could not see through his tears. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Don't you know me, it's Ennu. Are you alright, sire?"
"Your name is Ennu?" Jack sobbed. He didn't recall he had ever heard the name of this genderless person who wore pink even though they had known each other for years.
"Yes, Jack" Ennu said with alert, yet empathetic voice.
"Ennu, I... I cannot concentrate. I can't focus. I can't think, not until that horrible noise is gone..."
"... I understand. But you need to raise up. We need you. We have a matter in our hands of most troubling degree."
"What, what is it?" Jack said while he tried to raise his failing body and mind. Ís was still shrieking.
Ís was still shrieking, and Jack couldn't believe his eyes.
Ís was still shrieking, and now this.
Out of all places in the whole wide world... A competing circus. Rivals. And what a miserable circus it was.
First, they got no style. Second, they were ugly.
"Who are they? Some amateurs I see. Their stage hand look more like some savage militia!" Jack spoke, recovering from his mental breakdown with each word. Savage militia had driven off Cruor et Caedis many times from different towns where people were not quite ready for Jack's rather... exquisite show.
"I'm unsure... look there. They don't look like beginners to me. And they have a wolf" Ennu said.
"A wolf? What kind of circus they think they are? Sorry, I must laugh this off" Jack said and pretended to laugh. The laugh had just a little bit too high pitch.
"Anyway. You mean those in dark robes? And is their hunchback... dead? Ugh. They're a disgrace. What kind of a circus would save off their audience? We need to teach them a lesson."
"They seem to be searching for something. They're not performing here. Remember the houses you ordered us to investigate? In my judgement looks possible they after the treasures we found, sire."
"What? My ring! They're going to steal my ring! They must be stopped! Hide my treasure somewhere and kill everyone!"
Then Jack saw the zombie gracefully flying through the air after necromancer had cast a spell upon it.
"Oh... they do have some tricks up their sleeve after all. I must learn that one. The dead. Flying through the air instead of being buried in the ground. So beautiful."
Chapter IV
Chapter I
Chapter II
- - - -
Chapter III
Ís was shrieking. Ís was still shrieking. Nothing Jack had done helped in that matter.
Other didn't seem to bother about it too much, but Jack had the impression they didn't hear the shriek continuously. Late at night Jack stuffed Ís' mouth with a filthy rag, but that didn't help. Voice was so loud he couldn't sleep.
The next night Jack tried to sleep as far from Adon and Ís as possible, and eventually there was almost one kilometre between the two. And that didn't help.
Three full days without sleep and Jack could take no more. He raided their medicine supplies where there still was almost a full bottle of pure alcohol for cleansing of wounds. He drank it, and ate everything else. Even bandages. He started screaming himself, tried to make enough noise to drown Ís' voice. Finally he started to summon little... aides from another dimensions, and called for demons to inhabit any poor soul from his circus who happened to cross his path. He set fires and caused explosion. And finally, he collapsed.
But even that didn't help. Jack saw drunken dreams, or actually only one dream that lasted all through the lack of his consciousness. In that dream Ís was still shrieking.
Once he sobered up, he rose with murder in his eyes. He stormed to Adon and started beating Ís. Repeatedly, without mercy. "Nnnuh... Nnnnuhh", Adon was crying and shaking his head. Jack did not stop hitting. No, he would not stop it until there was silence. But he could not stop, for the voice pierced his skull. Insane, he suddenly saw his own face to appear where Ís' head should have been. That only doubled his rage.
He did not stop out of his own volition. His own face changed to that of his father. His beautiful father. His beautiful, perfect father that he had murdered. Now Jack stopped and fell to the ground and cried in foetal position. His father would not stop shrieking.
Somebody shook him gently. Jack opened his eyes, but could not see through his tears. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Don't you know me, it's Ennu. Are you alright, sire?"
"Your name is Ennu?" Jack sobbed. He didn't recall he had ever heard the name of this genderless person who wore pink even though they had known each other for years.
"Yes, Jack" Ennu said with alert, yet empathetic voice.
"Ennu, I... I cannot concentrate. I can't focus. I can't think, not until that horrible noise is gone..."
"... I understand. But you need to raise up. We need you. We have a matter in our hands of most troubling degree."
"What, what is it?" Jack said while he tried to raise his failing body and mind. Ís was still shrieking.
Ís was still shrieking, and Jack couldn't believe his eyes.
Ís was still shrieking, and now this.
Out of all places in the whole wide world... A competing circus. Rivals. And what a miserable circus it was.
First, they got no style. Second, they were ugly.
"Who are they? Some amateurs I see. Their stage hand look more like some savage militia!" Jack spoke, recovering from his mental breakdown with each word. Savage militia had driven off Cruor et Caedis many times from different towns where people were not quite ready for Jack's rather... exquisite show.
"I'm unsure... look there. They don't look like beginners to me. And they have a wolf" Ennu said.
"A wolf? What kind of circus they think they are? Sorry, I must laugh this off" Jack said and pretended to laugh. The laugh had just a little bit too high pitch.
"Anyway. You mean those in dark robes? And is their hunchback... dead? Ugh. They're a disgrace. What kind of a circus would save off their audience? We need to teach them a lesson."
"They seem to be searching for something. They're not performing here. Remember the houses you ordered us to investigate? In my judgement looks possible they after the treasures we found, sire."
"What? My ring! They're going to steal my ring! They must be stopped! Hide my treasure somewhere and kill everyone!"
Then Jack saw the zombie gracefully flying through the air after necromancer had cast a spell upon it.
"Oh... they do have some tricks up their sleeve after all. I must learn that one. The dead. Flying through the air instead of being buried in the ground. So beautiful."
Chapter IV
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Cruor et Caedis - Chapter II
Tomorrow marks the beginning of a Frostgrave campaign. That calls for second chapter of the story of our beloved, if slightly deranged ringmaster Jack.
Follow this link for earlier chapters.
- - - - - -
Chapter II:
There was nothing poetic about it.
Their father had always wanted a daughter. Would a daughter have made father more... well... stable? Would Adon and he have received less beatings and... other things?
Probably not. Definitely not.
But there was no daughter, there was no mother. Jack didn't even know what a mother meant until he was eleven. None of Jack's fathers' girls had stayed around long enough for anybody to suggest she should be called a mother. Though that's not the issue here. The issue is, or was? ... no, still is that he wanted a daughter. Since birth Adon had been horribly disfigured and hideous, so he had probably been twice the disappointment and had to suffer the violence that would have been lethal to just about anybody else other than Adon. Now... Jack was the girly one of the brothers, at least much more so than Adon.
So father would use cruel hits of his fists as tools to shape Adon into a daughter.
But there was nothing poetic about it. No, because that's what happened literally.
A hunchback Adon had been through all of his life. But a siamese not. When Adon was seven the abnormal hump on his shoulder started to show some facial features. Sinister energies that flowed through their lineage had caught the underlying psychological tones behind this inhumane domestic violence. The hatred and disappointment in the will that dominated the laws of nature caused those knuckles to beat a physical manifestation of their father's wishes out of Adon. Every time a hit landed in Adon's face the hump resembled a human face a little more. Father was literally beating a daughter out of Jack's brother.
Father was oblivious to this. Weirder things had happened in the circus during his reign, so he wouldn't try to solve the cause of this what appeared to be human budding. But Jack knew. Or if not, at least he understood.
In Jack's mind the name of the new "face" that would later become a fully fleshed out head, was Ís. That's the name father had wanted for his daughter.
Ís never spoke. Not that Adon technically spoke either, but the second head never made voice or showed any signs of sentience. If the head suffered an injury, Adon would sob. Never Ís.
Until now. Ís was shrieking, though the sound was devoid of any emotion. Eyes were staring, though they were not looking anywhere in particular. Jack sighed and rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand. How to shut her face for good?
Journey to this region called Frostgrave had been long and arduous. But he was not a leader that gave up any goals he would set. His crew would not abandon him either, no matter what would happen. To be honest, some performers were probably brainwashed and otherwise insane to all intents and purposes. After all it was rather... taxing to the mind to be used as a repository for demonic beings beyond mortal realm during feats of exceptional performance in the world renown circus Cruor et Caedis.
But then again. You have to suffer for your art. Everybody has to. Though to what extent?
Only a handful of performers were still alive. It had not been a clever idea to start travelling just before winter arrived. Especially without much rations or anything of value to exchange for food and supplies if they happened to cross any city or village where they had not been outlawed yet... which was unlikely.
Once magnificent zoo had been reduced to just few mangy dogs. Elephant had had to be eaten first. Dymbô was going to starve anyway.
Then went the lions.
Then the dancing bear, Yogy, had killed one of the white mares in its hunger while the animal trainer had been riding the horse. Both had died. Yogy was put down and all three made for a fine feast to raise declining morale of the troupe. Though at the start the effect on morale seemed to be quite the opposite. Jack didn't understand why. As far as he knew, animal trainer had not been a well liked person.
So, one by one repertoire of highly trained and skillful animals was sacrificed to keep the rest going forwards. Mules and horses were top priority to keep alive, though. Once there was nothing else left...
Then circus midgets went missing one by one. Jack wasn't particularly proud of that. Many of the midgets had felt like his own children to him. Devouring your own children is something no parent should ever have to experience. Though on the other hand... Jack Saturn was quite catchy stage name. Perhaps it had happened for a reason.
If anybody refused to eat, Jack called a demon to possess him or her, and ordered the demon to devour allotted meal. Jack was not very proud of that either. It was terribly cost-inefficient. That particularly furry fellow had made for quite a fine blanket, though.
But finally! Finally they were here! They may be insane, they may be undernourished, they may be bloodthirsty soulless lunatics with a taste for human flesh, but finally they were here, at Frostgrave!
"Well done ladies and gentlemen! Now, let's make this worth the trouble!" Jack had boasted.
And then Ís had suddenly started screaming, and despite having seen such horrors already, everybody was terrified.
Damn it. How to make her shut her mouth?
Chapter III
Follow this link for earlier chapters.
- - - - - -
Chapter II:
There was nothing poetic about it.
Their father had always wanted a daughter. Would a daughter have made father more... well... stable? Would Adon and he have received less beatings and... other things?
Probably not. Definitely not.
But there was no daughter, there was no mother. Jack didn't even know what a mother meant until he was eleven. None of Jack's fathers' girls had stayed around long enough for anybody to suggest she should be called a mother. Though that's not the issue here. The issue is, or was? ... no, still is that he wanted a daughter. Since birth Adon had been horribly disfigured and hideous, so he had probably been twice the disappointment and had to suffer the violence that would have been lethal to just about anybody else other than Adon. Now... Jack was the girly one of the brothers, at least much more so than Adon.
So father would use cruel hits of his fists as tools to shape Adon into a daughter.
But there was nothing poetic about it. No, because that's what happened literally.
A hunchback Adon had been through all of his life. But a siamese not. When Adon was seven the abnormal hump on his shoulder started to show some facial features. Sinister energies that flowed through their lineage had caught the underlying psychological tones behind this inhumane domestic violence. The hatred and disappointment in the will that dominated the laws of nature caused those knuckles to beat a physical manifestation of their father's wishes out of Adon. Every time a hit landed in Adon's face the hump resembled a human face a little more. Father was literally beating a daughter out of Jack's brother.
Father was oblivious to this. Weirder things had happened in the circus during his reign, so he wouldn't try to solve the cause of this what appeared to be human budding. But Jack knew. Or if not, at least he understood.
In Jack's mind the name of the new "face" that would later become a fully fleshed out head, was Ís. That's the name father had wanted for his daughter.
Ís never spoke. Not that Adon technically spoke either, but the second head never made voice or showed any signs of sentience. If the head suffered an injury, Adon would sob. Never Ís.
Until now. Ís was shrieking, though the sound was devoid of any emotion. Eyes were staring, though they were not looking anywhere in particular. Jack sighed and rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his hand. How to shut her face for good?
Journey to this region called Frostgrave had been long and arduous. But he was not a leader that gave up any goals he would set. His crew would not abandon him either, no matter what would happen. To be honest, some performers were probably brainwashed and otherwise insane to all intents and purposes. After all it was rather... taxing to the mind to be used as a repository for demonic beings beyond mortal realm during feats of exceptional performance in the world renown circus Cruor et Caedis.
But then again. You have to suffer for your art. Everybody has to. Though to what extent?
Only a handful of performers were still alive. It had not been a clever idea to start travelling just before winter arrived. Especially without much rations or anything of value to exchange for food and supplies if they happened to cross any city or village where they had not been outlawed yet... which was unlikely.
Once magnificent zoo had been reduced to just few mangy dogs. Elephant had had to be eaten first. Dymbô was going to starve anyway.
Then went the lions.
Then the dancing bear, Yogy, had killed one of the white mares in its hunger while the animal trainer had been riding the horse. Both had died. Yogy was put down and all three made for a fine feast to raise declining morale of the troupe. Though at the start the effect on morale seemed to be quite the opposite. Jack didn't understand why. As far as he knew, animal trainer had not been a well liked person.
So, one by one repertoire of highly trained and skillful animals was sacrificed to keep the rest going forwards. Mules and horses were top priority to keep alive, though. Once there was nothing else left...
Then circus midgets went missing one by one. Jack wasn't particularly proud of that. Many of the midgets had felt like his own children to him. Devouring your own children is something no parent should ever have to experience. Though on the other hand... Jack Saturn was quite catchy stage name. Perhaps it had happened for a reason.
If anybody refused to eat, Jack called a demon to possess him or her, and ordered the demon to devour allotted meal. Jack was not very proud of that either. It was terribly cost-inefficient. That particularly furry fellow had made for quite a fine blanket, though.
But finally! Finally they were here! They may be insane, they may be undernourished, they may be bloodthirsty soulless lunatics with a taste for human flesh, but finally they were here, at Frostgrave!
"Well done ladies and gentlemen! Now, let's make this worth the trouble!" Jack had boasted.
And then Ís had suddenly started screaming, and despite having seen such horrors already, everybody was terrified.
Damn it. How to make her shut her mouth?
Chapter III
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Cruor et caedis
Prologue
"So repulsive!" Jack thought to himself. Or maybe he thought aloud. He wouldn't know.
"You hideous piece of turd, I hope you rot in hell and die painfully. I hate you. You filthy animal." Jack continued thinking himself, or maybe aloud. Adon raised his head and met Jack's fiery gaze. Did it hear me?
Jack was building up steam. "Your bloated corpse makes me want to vomit. Mere sight of you makes me close my eyes in disgust. Give me one good reason I won't smash your ugly skull this instant and finally start enjoying my life? Well? SPEAK!"
Adon gave only a blank stare, but one might see tears building up in the corner of his eyes. "Nn-nnnuh" was all Adon could say. It was all Adon would ever say. He took one step forward, and blocked Jack's view to the mirror. There was a moment of silence.
Jack sighed. "I know. You're my brother. I wouldn't do that to you. Now get lost." Truthfully, family ties didn't matter much for Jack. Many times he had contemplated if he would finally get rid of that abhorrent half-wit. But he was Jack's brother. And they were the last two remaining in the great lineage of the leaders of world famous circus, "Cruor et caedis", which, so Jack thought, meant something about sunset. Yes, they were the last now, that Jack had killed his father.
Jack might not admit it to himself, but he both envied and pitied Adon. Their father had brutally beaten Adon. Jack had heard the screams and eventually even the hits once screams fell silent. And for this Jack envied Adon. Because once his intoxicated had finished with Adon, Jack would face a fate far worse Adon ever did... and as Adon was usually beaten to a pulp, he'd never hear Jack's screams.
When jack was seventeen and had already learned most of the tricks of his trade, a mysterious fortune teller had approached the circus in need for a job. Intoxicated, again, his father spat on the face of the fortune teller and said only way for fortune teller to work for Cruor et caedis was for the fortune teller to pay him, and not the other way around. Insulted, the fortune teller left in a huff. Jack had seen this from a distance, and also saw that fortune teller accidentally dropped a scroll that emanated great power.
Before anybody saw, Jack snatched the scroll and studied it carefully. It was an arcane spell, called "Spell Eater". That day everything would change.
Except that father beat Adon, as usual.
Except that right after mauling Adon unconscious, father would enter his side of the coach, as usual.
But here Jack was reciting the scroll, and the enchantment of unbearable beauty that had been cast upon father shattered to pieces. That unearthly beauty no longer stood between defending himself and submitting to father's will. And now father lay on the floor with a dagger thrust through his throat into his brain. Jack felt a surge of power, victory, and accomplishment. Now he would become the ringmaster of Cruor et caedis. Youngest ever, though he had heard stories what kind of monster his grandfather had been, and how father had been forced to kill him...
Next day Adon realised what had happened. Adon cried for three days in a row. And for this... for this Jack pitied Adon.
Hated more than pitied, but then again... Jack could not deny the fact that Adon was able to breathe fire - even without a lit torch. Sometimes even without a torch at all.
It runs in the family.
Chapter I:
"What do you mean? Last night's show was a success. Every limb of that stupid clown had been turned into a separate imp! Even in a small town like this the people can't be such uneducated savages that they do not know how much effort that takes! It was only a minor accident that the torso was not turned invisible in time..." Jack was shouting.
"Ah yes, you see... I'm entirely certain the gasp that was heard throughout the audience was not one of horror, but one of wonder. Yet the mob is waving torches and pitchforks outside. It's merely my humble guess, but Bonzo has raised their ire. When you masterfully called a demon to enter Bonzo's body and soul for astonishing performance on stage, after the show the demon apparently refused to return to the abyss. Somehow Bonzo escaped straitjacket and slaughtered twelve cows, four sheep and one of the horses from post carriage before a local axe found an entry through Bonzo's skull" said a masked performer, whose gender Jack did not know even after all these years. Either, none or both seemed all to be an equal possibility. Masked performer was Jack's second-hand in running the circus.
"I see. Will Bonzo be back?" Jack inquired with a voice which's tenderness surprised even himself. That demon he had called to Bonzo had been a very powerful one indeed.
"I'm afraid we'll not be able to bring back his corpse, for the mob burned all of his remains... twice. That's the only reason why it's taken so long for them to close in on our camp. We should react."
"A pity. How many are there?"
"Fifty eight, one of whom is within the womb. "
"All of them armed, you say?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Let me take care of this" Jack said. Did he only imagine that the eyes rolled within the mask?
Jack climbed upon a stagecoach closest to the entrance, where a formidable number of angry peasants had formed. One thing daddy had taught him well - the usefulness of a beauty enchantment in situations like this. Especially in situations like this. He shouted: "Why are you so upset, good folk? There is nothing to anger over for, unless it's about the dullness of your ordinary lives! Ah, I see! That must be it! Well, you've come to the right place. Tonight Cruor et caedis shall make an exceptional performance just for you! What's the price, you ask? There is no price for you tonight, good folk! The show is going to be free!"
If that didn't work, nothing would. Jack smiled and assured himself that the fools would fall for that bait. People just can't resist free...
THUD.
A burning arrow had hit the stagecoach, and fire quickly spread to a cloth that was hanging on a rope between to stagecoaches.
Oh my. The peasants must be rather furious indeed if they could so easily see through his illusion. Or was their frenzied urge to kill stronger imperative than his enhanced beauty? Those dirty ruffians!
THONK.
Was that... an axe? Oh, they are already stabbing Squeaky the Clown with spears and pitchforks. Well... got to admit. That name was very fitting, after all.
Jack raised his top hat and took a few step dance manoeuvres while holding his baton. He muttered a few arcane words that enabled him to jump distances that were physically impossible and jumped over the burning camp.
He trusted his crew. They know what to do when something like this happens. It's not like it's the first time this has happened...
---
"I AM THE RINGMASTER!" Jack was bellowing to the remainder of his troupe.
"They are not allowed to do this! They're just swine who cannot understand art! I cannot tolerate it! I will not tolerate it! I'll take Cruor et caedis to somewhere they appreciate real art!"
The masked circus person was closest to Jack and spoke softly: "Alas... our magnificent circus has been denied from entering most of the larger cities in this region by a threat of killing on sight. Our coffers are empty. We lost our bears and elephants. The white horse had to be slaughtered for food yesterday. My dearest friend, and my boss... I loathe to suggest this, but we need to renew our program!"
Jack hit the masked person with the back of his hand, enraged. The mask fell off, and still Jack didn't know the gender of this person.
"I AM THE RINGMASTER!" he shouted from the bottom of his lungs.
There was a dramatic silence when masked person picked mask and fastened it back in place.
Jack felt ashamed, but hid it perfectly as he calmed down and said: "I am the ringmaster. Yet... I do not have a ring. Tell me, where were you from again?" Jack addressed the words to the masked person.
It took a long time before answer came, and there was a new kind of coldness in the soft voice of the masked person: "I am from the place they now call Frostgrave."
"I remember you mentioning it, yes. Now tell me... do you think I might find myself a ring from there? A ring of great power, of wealth and of influence? A ring that is truly worthy of me? If I shall find such a ring there, we will renew our program."
Even colder, the masked person replied: "Yes. That is exactly what you shall find from Frostgrave."
- - -
Continue to chapter II
"So repulsive!" Jack thought to himself. Or maybe he thought aloud. He wouldn't know.
"You hideous piece of turd, I hope you rot in hell and die painfully. I hate you. You filthy animal." Jack continued thinking himself, or maybe aloud. Adon raised his head and met Jack's fiery gaze. Did it hear me?
Jack was building up steam. "Your bloated corpse makes me want to vomit. Mere sight of you makes me close my eyes in disgust. Give me one good reason I won't smash your ugly skull this instant and finally start enjoying my life? Well? SPEAK!"
Adon gave only a blank stare, but one might see tears building up in the corner of his eyes. "Nn-nnnuh" was all Adon could say. It was all Adon would ever say. He took one step forward, and blocked Jack's view to the mirror. There was a moment of silence.
Jack sighed. "I know. You're my brother. I wouldn't do that to you. Now get lost." Truthfully, family ties didn't matter much for Jack. Many times he had contemplated if he would finally get rid of that abhorrent half-wit. But he was Jack's brother. And they were the last two remaining in the great lineage of the leaders of world famous circus, "Cruor et caedis", which, so Jack thought, meant something about sunset. Yes, they were the last now, that Jack had killed his father.
Jack might not admit it to himself, but he both envied and pitied Adon. Their father had brutally beaten Adon. Jack had heard the screams and eventually even the hits once screams fell silent. And for this Jack envied Adon. Because once his intoxicated had finished with Adon, Jack would face a fate far worse Adon ever did... and as Adon was usually beaten to a pulp, he'd never hear Jack's screams.
When jack was seventeen and had already learned most of the tricks of his trade, a mysterious fortune teller had approached the circus in need for a job. Intoxicated, again, his father spat on the face of the fortune teller and said only way for fortune teller to work for Cruor et caedis was for the fortune teller to pay him, and not the other way around. Insulted, the fortune teller left in a huff. Jack had seen this from a distance, and also saw that fortune teller accidentally dropped a scroll that emanated great power.
Before anybody saw, Jack snatched the scroll and studied it carefully. It was an arcane spell, called "Spell Eater". That day everything would change.
Except that father beat Adon, as usual.
Except that right after mauling Adon unconscious, father would enter his side of the coach, as usual.
But here Jack was reciting the scroll, and the enchantment of unbearable beauty that had been cast upon father shattered to pieces. That unearthly beauty no longer stood between defending himself and submitting to father's will. And now father lay on the floor with a dagger thrust through his throat into his brain. Jack felt a surge of power, victory, and accomplishment. Now he would become the ringmaster of Cruor et caedis. Youngest ever, though he had heard stories what kind of monster his grandfather had been, and how father had been forced to kill him...
Next day Adon realised what had happened. Adon cried for three days in a row. And for this... for this Jack pitied Adon.
Hated more than pitied, but then again... Jack could not deny the fact that Adon was able to breathe fire - even without a lit torch. Sometimes even without a torch at all.
It runs in the family.
Chapter I:
"What do you mean? Last night's show was a success. Every limb of that stupid clown had been turned into a separate imp! Even in a small town like this the people can't be such uneducated savages that they do not know how much effort that takes! It was only a minor accident that the torso was not turned invisible in time..." Jack was shouting.
"Ah yes, you see... I'm entirely certain the gasp that was heard throughout the audience was not one of horror, but one of wonder. Yet the mob is waving torches and pitchforks outside. It's merely my humble guess, but Bonzo has raised their ire. When you masterfully called a demon to enter Bonzo's body and soul for astonishing performance on stage, after the show the demon apparently refused to return to the abyss. Somehow Bonzo escaped straitjacket and slaughtered twelve cows, four sheep and one of the horses from post carriage before a local axe found an entry through Bonzo's skull" said a masked performer, whose gender Jack did not know even after all these years. Either, none or both seemed all to be an equal possibility. Masked performer was Jack's second-hand in running the circus.
"I see. Will Bonzo be back?" Jack inquired with a voice which's tenderness surprised even himself. That demon he had called to Bonzo had been a very powerful one indeed.
"I'm afraid we'll not be able to bring back his corpse, for the mob burned all of his remains... twice. That's the only reason why it's taken so long for them to close in on our camp. We should react."
"A pity. How many are there?"
"Fifty eight, one of whom is within the womb. "
"All of them armed, you say?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Let me take care of this" Jack said. Did he only imagine that the eyes rolled within the mask?
Jack climbed upon a stagecoach closest to the entrance, where a formidable number of angry peasants had formed. One thing daddy had taught him well - the usefulness of a beauty enchantment in situations like this. Especially in situations like this. He shouted: "Why are you so upset, good folk? There is nothing to anger over for, unless it's about the dullness of your ordinary lives! Ah, I see! That must be it! Well, you've come to the right place. Tonight Cruor et caedis shall make an exceptional performance just for you! What's the price, you ask? There is no price for you tonight, good folk! The show is going to be free!"
If that didn't work, nothing would. Jack smiled and assured himself that the fools would fall for that bait. People just can't resist free...
THUD.
A burning arrow had hit the stagecoach, and fire quickly spread to a cloth that was hanging on a rope between to stagecoaches.
Oh my. The peasants must be rather furious indeed if they could so easily see through his illusion. Or was their frenzied urge to kill stronger imperative than his enhanced beauty? Those dirty ruffians!
THONK.
Was that... an axe? Oh, they are already stabbing Squeaky the Clown with spears and pitchforks. Well... got to admit. That name was very fitting, after all.
Jack raised his top hat and took a few step dance manoeuvres while holding his baton. He muttered a few arcane words that enabled him to jump distances that were physically impossible and jumped over the burning camp.
He trusted his crew. They know what to do when something like this happens. It's not like it's the first time this has happened...
---
"I AM THE RINGMASTER!" Jack was bellowing to the remainder of his troupe.
"They are not allowed to do this! They're just swine who cannot understand art! I cannot tolerate it! I will not tolerate it! I'll take Cruor et caedis to somewhere they appreciate real art!"
The masked circus person was closest to Jack and spoke softly: "Alas... our magnificent circus has been denied from entering most of the larger cities in this region by a threat of killing on sight. Our coffers are empty. We lost our bears and elephants. The white horse had to be slaughtered for food yesterday. My dearest friend, and my boss... I loathe to suggest this, but we need to renew our program!"
Jack hit the masked person with the back of his hand, enraged. The mask fell off, and still Jack didn't know the gender of this person.
"I AM THE RINGMASTER!" he shouted from the bottom of his lungs.
There was a dramatic silence when masked person picked mask and fastened it back in place.
Jack felt ashamed, but hid it perfectly as he calmed down and said: "I am the ringmaster. Yet... I do not have a ring. Tell me, where were you from again?" Jack addressed the words to the masked person.
It took a long time before answer came, and there was a new kind of coldness in the soft voice of the masked person: "I am from the place they now call Frostgrave."
"I remember you mentioning it, yes. Now tell me... do you think I might find myself a ring from there? A ring of great power, of wealth and of influence? A ring that is truly worthy of me? If I shall find such a ring there, we will renew our program."
Even colder, the masked person replied: "Yes. That is exactly what you shall find from Frostgrave."
- - -
Continue to chapter II
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