Shoe
Shopping
Hm.
The wall around the city outskirts isn't all that impressive, but I can just about make out the shape of humanoids patrolling the wall-walk behind the battlements. They could be Sheeda or zombies; at this distance I can't really tell. From the outlines it looks like their weapons are bows and spears, but that doesn't mean that there aren't more sophisticated ranged weapons up there as well.
We
could blitz it, but smashing through it or jumping over it would attract attention. Unless we killed
everyone, but that would draw even more attention just a little later. From behind a coral outcrop Artemis and I watch what looks like a minor gate into the city, just in case there are travellers we could bushwhack or a clue we could gather about the structure of this civilisation. Are there other cities? Do they trade with one another? Are there other peoples around such that we could claim to be from elsewhere on this world?
At the moment the universe is not obliging us.
"I could bridge up onto those walls."
"With a
bright, rainbow-
coloured bridge." I nod my head to the side. "They
might appreciate the lightshow so much that they agree not to report us, but I don't want to count on it."
"Can your Mother Box make hush tubes?"
"No." Hm. "I could
throw you over. If I got enough height the watchers on the walls wouldn't see you-."
"I could throw
you."
I turn my head her way and raise my left eyebrow.
"
Could you?"
"Maybe you wouldn't go
all the way over…"
I shake my head. "Let's make our way around-."
The gate opens from within. A couple of the people on the top of the wall look down over the inner edge, then go back to their patrol. Artemis and I lean into our cover as… A figure shrouded in robes walks out. They have a… Pole arm? No, a staff, with a ghostly glowing symbol floating just above the uppermost end. Doesn't look like any glyph I recognise. The entryway opens a little wider and… More of the zombie children follow the figure, marching in neat ranks just behind them.
"What are they?"
"Don't… Know."
Four columns of six, neatly marching and staring ahead of them. Not glancing left or right. Tame? Or-. No, the symbol, almost certainly. Control authorisation for a larger spell, whatever's animating them.
The zombherd turns away to our right, but is definitely heading away from the walls. It won't be particularly difficult for us to arrange an ambush…
"I don't suppose that you brought a New God communicator."
"No. You?"
I shake my head. Could use God-speech, but I don't know how good Artemis is with it and there
are ways to detect it that don't require the detector to be a New God.
"You sneak better than me."
She nods.
"I'll take the lead. You follow."
I nod and she moves laterally relative to the wall, her movements mirroring those of the zombherd while maintaining distance.
A True, True Friend-.
I put my right hand over my mouth as I nearly start singing.
Confound These Ponies.
I follow Artemis slowly, using the vague 'ping' from my God-senses rather than sight. Can't see much in the murk, though I imagine that the zombherd's staff makes tracking them easier for Artemis. And makes a mess of her night vision, but she's been trained in this since early childhood. Instead of paying too much attention to her, I turn my eyes in the direction of the city, both the walls and higher up where I've seen the shadows of flying creatures pass between me and the lights. If they're Sheeda soldiers mounted on flies they are actually a threat worth paying attention to, lightly equipped as we are. Nothing heading our way
just yet, as far as I can see…
I give her… I've never been good at estimating time. Or weight, actually. But she's gotten a decent distance away from me and I assume that the zombherd is further. Carefully making sure to keep myself as concealed from the city as I can I walk carefully down the opposite side of the slope and walk slowly through the murk in her direction. Interesting that between the coral and the… Stuff which appears to grow on its surface there's basically no loose material. Also… Not much wind. That implies… Some sort of windbreak? There would always be patches of ground that would be hotter than others, so differences in air pressure and so air movement. Could the..? Energy draining effect be taking energy from the
air? But I'm breathing just fine, so…
I don't know.
Another 'ping' from Artemis as she moves further away, faster than I'm moving as I follow her. I suppose we
could send messages like this. Have one party move closer or further in patterns like Morse code. Which she almost certainly knows but which I don't.
I'm a twentieth century man fighting with a huge sword. I shouldn't be surprised about out-of-date skills suddenly becoming relevant again.
A faint.. tremor shakes the ground and has me looking about me for a source. I don't see anything of note and Artemis doesn't appear to be running, so… I don't know. An earthquake wouldn't be a surprise. The Earth's interior should still be at least somewhat dynamic in the future, and while I haven't seen anything man-made that would have made such an impact it
could have been an impact from a catapult or.. something along those lines.
Another tremor, this one carrying on for a little while. Okay, my nightmare scenario is a giant charging out of the mists but this shaking doesn't feel right for giant footsteps. I accelerate from a slow walk to a slow stride, still keeping up my awareness of my surroundings
while also feeling as strongly as I can for Artemis.
The land begins to descend somewhat, and the surface is… Uneven. Like cracks formed and have partially… Scabbed over. The size of my feet means that I don't have to worry about turning my ankles, but it's the first interesting geological feature I've seen since getting here. Perhaps earthquakes…
Are common in this area? Not like we've been here for long enough to know.
I come to the edge of a-.
Oh my.
I'm standing on the edge of a crater. Off to my right I can see Artemis sneaking down into the basin, presumably to get closer to the zombherd. In the centre of the basin, surrounded by piles of displaced rock and earth is a giant… Millipede? Worm? Spider? It's long, thin, and has legs in all directions, though the 'thin' is relative. Its multi-jawed mouth is as least as tall as I am, and I can get a sense of scale because the zombherd is standing just in front of it with… Her staff raised and a different sigil glowing from the head. The creature's eyes are transfixed, and it completely ignores the zombie children as they gnaw at its sides. Is this a… Hunting party? Lure the thing to the surface and then hypnotise it while the children feed? But how are they controlling the children? Are they just locked on to a food source now that they've started eating?
The zombherd steps back and the creature follows, more of its vast body pulling itself out of the ground. That must be the source of the tremors, though obviously if one such creature exists there may well be others. Other than the staff there's no source of light down there so with the zombherd, creature and children all focusing on things Artemis is making good time. In fact, she's-.
She slips in behind the zombherd, presses a coral arrow to their throat and says.. something. The zombherd twitches but the sigil doesn't move. There's no change I can see for a moment, then Artemis pulls the zombherd's hood back and…
Female Sheeda. At least now we know
roughly when we are.
Artemis looks around and then makes a beckoning gesture towards me. I nod, draw my daiklave, and with a wary eye on the beast begin my approach.
Not unless you somehow got Danner Formula'd while we weren't looking.
