The Eye of The Storm

Chapter 32

The Mountain-Crawler picked up the dagger, examining its engraved hilt between his fingers. The skin of these beasts was stained grey from the metallic residue that rubbed off the rocks. This particular Mountain- Crawler was a towering beast, and unlike his counterparts bore strange red markings on his skin, designating him as their leader.

"You see Etrus," spoke the second-in-command unnecessarily, "That is most definitely a Human dagger. Our kind uses no weapons of the sort, they are positively ancient. Most definitely a Human dagger I say, most definitely."

"Would you shut up already?" spat Etrus, who had deduced this fact much earlier. Mountain-Crawlers did not use weapons with a hilt. Their blades were crescent shaped and sharpened using the bones of the filthy Humans.

He glanced at his second-in-command, Giod, with disgust. For a Mountain-Crawler, Giod was unusually short, hovering just below his large masters shoulders. The Mountain-Crawlers wore pieces of thin cloth tied around their feet with collected string, and chain metal vests. Giod appeared to be drowning in his. Not only that but the species had large pointed ears that drooped sideways. On Giod they were uncannily so, making him look foolish instead of menacing.

He could have slit the imbeciles throat right there, but his interest in these humans placated his temper. They hadn't had the pleasure of having human visitors in many years, and he would be sure to give them 'a warm welcome'. In addition, Giod was one of the only members of his crew that could actually speak in full sentences. The rest were just blood-thirsty animals who obeyed his every command blindly.

Instead of releasing his anger on Giod, he took the dagger and launched it backwards into the army of his soldiers. The blade sliced directly through the forehead of one of the troops, who went cross-eyed before hitting the ground with a thump. Etrus rolled his eyes, as though he had expected that none of his soldiers would have had the reflexes to actually catch the object.

He turned to his fellow Mountain-Crawlers. "Search the Mountains!" He bellowed. "No one rests until the Human's are found!" Then, he shoved Giod aside and muttered to himself, "And when they are, I shall gorge myself on their meat."

The head of the pale creature that had incapacitated Thaumas, Aella and Thoren, watched these proceedings with its long thin hands pressed tightly across its mouth. Its abnormally round red eyes darted two and fro with panic, like a confused swarm of flies. As Etrus's pack of Mountain-Crawlers descended upon the mountain, the creature slid further back into the cavern. The Mountain-Crawlers, though hostile, were not known for their intelligence and they stomped ignorantly by the opening to the cavern which hid the humans that they were searching for.

The creature turned towards the humans and observed them suspiciously. The two caverns that he had stored the humans in were connected, and so he was able to drag the girls body to where he had placed the two male bodies. It had already emptied the pockets of all three of the humans, who were still unconscious. The girl, who the creature had overheard the Fat One call 'Aella', began to wake, her eyelids fluttering in a confused manner.

When Aella awoke she saw the most hideous looking creature inches from her face. She was so startled that she nearly screamed, but the bony pale hand was pressed against her mouth the moment she started to do so.  The creature released its hand from her face, and made a shushing noise. By instinct she obeyed, and observed this strange creature's behaviour. At once she realized that it appeared anxious, and kept turning its head towards the opening of the cavern, as though expecting someone or rather something , to come through it.

The shadows dissolved as her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness and took in the grandeur of the cavern. It was lined with a smooth obsidian black rock, and was ovoid in shape. A dim light accentuated the dangling stalactites that weeped water. The constant dripping noise was mollifying, like the sound of an old oak grandfather clock ticking the hours away. Parts of the ground formed pillar structures that merged with the ceiling of the cave, creating the impression of the cavern being divided into several chambers. She inhaled and was bewildered to discover that it lacked the musty smell she had been expecting.