<< prev The Journal of Kylerian par`Vallenti pg. 5

It began as a nightmare journey for young Kylerian, following a map he had filched from an abandoned desk in Firiona Vie. While he had the security of Selo's songs to run swifter than a speeding wolf, he was untrained in survival in the wilderness. Through forest and valley, wood and mountain, Kylerian ran. Fell beasts often assailed him but he fled them with all the power his legs could muster. The saber and blade he wore stayed sheathed and unused as he tumbled down hills and struggled up rocky slopes. His provisions thinned and he began to experiment with eating local roots and berries. The water from the streams was clean and fresh, at least, and as the days passed he grew stronger instead of weaker thanks to the hardy work and plentiful food. Furthermore, for weeks he travelled and saw not a soul. There were animals in plenty of many sizes and shapes unknown to him but soon he named them and became familiar with this new land.

Thought of songs paled in comparison to the reality of his adventure. Everywhere there was a new sight to see. Even the wind through the grasses of the plains played a different melody than the ones of home. He wandered the trackless lands - ever mindful of danger but at peace with it and himself. At the dawning he would play on Skyla to welcome it, at dusk he would sing a calming song before sinking into sleep. So he lived for a month and a day far from hearth and home among nature's bounty.

There finally came a day when a different sound entered the music of his travels. He heard and then smelled a large body of water and found a cliff which spilled into it. He followed it east, thinking that it was a massive lake like the one near Firiona Vie. His mission was remembered and, while he did not regret his time of peace, he thought he would like to finally meet the people of this land... to perhaps undo the damage done by the murderers and merchants.

The bountiful forests thinned until the water led him to a vast plain of dried and cracked mud. It extended as far as the eye could see and throughout it was littered with bleached white bones of gigantic beasts. So it was that Kylerian found the Field of Bone... and its name was quite appropriately. It offered no cover and seemed to be infested with scorpions and bettles with skull-shaped patterns on their shells. He pulled out Mina, his horn, and began to play a song which would cloud his form from the sight of the living. This mudflat would certainly be treacherous but all tales cannot be made of forests and rainfall.

A trail of dust followed his passing as he sped across the flats. Dried mud crubled to powder under his booted feet and covered his leathers with a fine layer of dust. The terrain was unchanging for quite some time until, on the horizon, he spotted a dark protrusion against the darkening sky. As his eyes were fixed upon it, growing as he neared, a bony hand thrust up from its rest and grabbed his ankle.

Kylerian tripped, falling flat onto his face and Mina skid from his grip. A shower of dark powder erupted from where his moored foot was trapped in a grip of death. A pair of tall skeletons, manlike but with oddly shaped skulls and wickedly pointed teeth, had risen from their slumber in the ground to assail him. Momentary panic froze him as he shuddered in terror. Tales had prepared him for the possibility but seeing the animated bones in truth was horrible to behold. Unearthly laughter emanated from their hollow skulls and propelled Kylerian's hands to his nearly-forgotten weapons. A quick swipe with his Saber separated the hand which held him from its brittle arm. His short stabbing Blade deflected another which was outstretched with clawed fingers to rake his exposed face. The laughter echoed unrelenting but to combat it, Kylerian's voice welled up from his chest in a defiant anthem of arms which went well with his furious stabs and slashes.

Ribs shattered and bones broke as Kylerian struggled valiantly against his undead opponents. They hungered for his warmth and his blood, like all undead do, but could not be slain by a pierced heart or a slashed hamstring. They clawed and whipped at him with their bony tails, cutting through his leather clothes as easily as a hot knife through butter. However, at the end, a mighty bellow and sweeping blow reduced the two skeletons to disconnected piles at his feet. They still struggled to assail him but were crushed with final stomps from his boots. So ended Kylerian's first real battle against foes who would slay him, and he was heartened by its outcome. He gathered up Mina, sheathed his blades and continued his journey to the distant tower.

<< prev Page 5