Lamordian Summer

Fiction about Ravenloft or Gothic Earth
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Rock of the Fraternity
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
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Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 1:16 pm

Lamordian Summer

Post by Rock of the Fraternity »

Ludendorf lay, silent and dark, under the chill rains of spring. Nothing moved in its streets, not even a stray dog nor scavenging rats. The hand of winter was still strong on the land, and the driving rain had enough cold strength to suck the life out of unprotected flesh.

The town's belltower, a wonderful creation of science, tolled the hour of midnight without any need for human hands. Gears whirred and ground their way with mechanical precision, and the bells tolled once... twice... thrice... and on with perfect regularity.

Then something impacted with the belltower with enough force to rend stone and wood as if they were stale bread. The bells went flying and crashed into the Black Boar Inn's second floor, obliterating most of it and incidentally crushing the life out of the guests who had been trying to sleep despite the rattling of Lamordian rain against their window shutters and the roof.

While screams rose from the Inn, the something stirred in the wreckage of the tower. It rose to clawed feet, wobbling as if it were drunk. A slender hand reached down and seized a gear from among the rubble. Then the creature beat great, black wings and rose up into the rain, screeching its pain when the icy rain beat down on the wounds it had just suffered.

"Fool!" the something shrieked at the one who had sent it crashing against the inoffensive building. "Fool!" It swung its arm and sent the gear spinning away as if it were a child's throwing disc.

Down on the ground, a man wrapped in thick layers of black wool barely managed to dodge the projectile, which rolled on past him, gouging a deep furrow in those cobblestones it did not simply send flying. The man did not turn to see the gear finally come to a halt, half buried in the llivery stable in which he had been hiding earlier tonight. He did not turn at the agonized screams of the horses whose bodies had been mangled by the spinning,saw-edged lump of steel that had come spinning out of the night.

"I abjure you!" he shouted, one hand raised to keep the rain out of his face -- particularly out of his mouth, so that he might speak the right words. "I abjure you and I command you, leave this place!" His other hand held up a small object, a talisman of crystal and gold that glowed with a faint, pearly light.

Above the ruined belltower, the something threw up its hands to shield its eyes from that glow, and it shrieked again. But this time, the shrieks trailed off into laughter. "Fool, I name you!" it called down to the man in black wool. "Fool I name you again! I will leave, hunter, oh yes, I shall! But you do not direct where I go to!"

Quick as a flash, the something tipped its right wing up, and it flew off in the direction of the Sea of Sorrows.

"No!" the man cried out, waving his talisman at the fleeing monster. "I command you, stop! I command you-!"

Light flooded the square as the Black Boar Inn's doors were thrown wide. The hunter could hear the people inside crying out for a doctor, for the constables, for anyone who could make sense of what had just happened. Any moment now, they would come running out and someone would be sure to notice the talisman.

For a moment, he hesitated. He could still run into the livery stable, take a horse and gallop down to the shore...

Instead, he tucked the glowing talisman away inside his thick clothes and hid in the shadows. The Lamordians were well-acquainted with firearms, and a man on horseback fleeing the scene of sudden devastation made for an enticing target. He had to survive to be able to continue the hunt.
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