Crimson

Chapter Four

Gasping, Pligal felt watched. His scales tingling, his people keenly aware of malevolent gazes. However, this proved different, neither malevolent nor benevolent. Unable to pinpoint the sensation, Pligal acknowledged this as the second night where he felt this presence.

Fortuitous for him, this day, a day of worship, where legionnaires were mandated to talk to the Seeress, the physical manifestation of their gods, the one linked to the heavens, an aged soul who spoke the truth of the sky beings his people worshipped. Shifting his head slightly out of the hole, looking around, noticing his peers remained in the death trance in their own holes, their standard equipment, their practice staff lying next to them.

The most punishable laws of the Legion that a trainee or "Rot" must have their staff near them at all times. Those who forsake this regulation became punished quickly and severely.

Turning to the Hall of Gloom's opening, a mere flap, he noticed the growing light outside. The Light god nearly crested the Terra god. Planning inwardly, Pligal glanced around to see or hear others moving about. Positioning himself carefully, he planned to be one of the first to discuss his concerns with Priestess Corain.

This creature, so old, some saying she was more than one hundred cycles, her legend continued to grow. Despite her apparent age, her powers remained vivid, her perception abilities moving the Baron to many political victories. Unfortunately for her, she remanded to the services of the Warrior's Legion. Too keen on his past indiscretions, Corain presence made her threatening to him.

Placing her here in the hopes she would be taken and slaughtered during an invasion. His enemies suspected she was the key to his success. So much so, that assassination squads deployed to her location. Each failed horribly, much to the Baron's chagrin.

Pligal as well as his fellow legionnaires, not privy to this information, thought as his people did, that she was placed here for the Legion's success. Providing him with the answers he sought, she worked to develop those who came to her freely accepting themselves and their follies So sure of it, Pligal remained loyal to Priestess Corain, the Seeress of the legionnaires.

The Hall of Gloom, a large tent structure seated in the outskirts of the tribal village, its fabric was not fabric at all but the skin of a tulac, a large beast with rigged talons. This massive creature, golden in hue, blended with the terrain of the land. Many of his people, the Ak-Wo, fought to fell each of these wretched beasts.

The consistency of his skin, gritty, sand-like, while the danger lay with its mouth. Protruding a black, dagger-like tongue at its prey. Unfortunately for the Ak-Wo, they were on the menu, as it easily pierced their scales with its sharp tongue. Quickly subduing them with its poison, paralyzing their bodies as they flickered with bio-light, helplessly taken in, devoured quickly. So far as they could determine, each tulac seemed to not have any eyes. Discovering its prey through scent or hearing, each hunt discovered new things about the tulac, yet more questions about this vicious creature arose.

This tent, made of three of their hides, took a battalion of warriors to murder this family before skinning them. The rest of the body thrown into the acrid sea as waste. Neither edible nor usable for anything other than trophies, many Ak-Wo stripped teeth or talons to demonstrate their strength.

Most of the halls in the tribe utilized the hides of these creatures while pieces of the corpses served one unintended purpose, keeping the other tulac in the area away. Mounds of rotting monstrosities surrounded the tribe, pieces of the whole structure, bits of bone, a skull fragment, all of these leaving an impeccable stench in the area.

Grabbing his practice staff, placing it tight to his side, tucked to his shoulder, he moved out of his hole. Ducking under the flap of the Hall of Gloom, Pligal searched for the priestess' living accommodation. Refusing to dwell in a hall, her abode crafted of rock, expressed her abhorrent feelings towards the killing of the tulac. Rock-cut and placed on top of one another precisely created an upside-down cone. The rock surface, smooth, near a polished gleam, refracted light through its multicolored particles sparkling the Light God's power. Intentionally placed in the center of the camp, it was easy to spot.