Previously in the Chaos Chronicles:
'Fuck, fuck, fuck' he kept cursing in his head as he kept dodging, weaving, diving and rolling for his life. Sweat trickled down his head and his breath hitched as he got scraped by the legs of this beast a few times.'Why the fuck do the gods hate me?'
, he cursed one last time as he was backed against a tree with a leg with a sharp metallic sheen running through his torso and through the tree behind him. The Snerk opened its beast 3 eyes and chattered its jaws teeth, opening its maws to rip into the flesh of Elrond.
Elrond faced the consequences of his uncaring attitude toward his dangerous task and in a lethal forest no less.
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While bleeding and feeling the strength in his body slowly fading Elrond feels a warmth somewhere, in his right pocket.'The thing that madman gave me!', scrambling with what little strength he had left to muster he reached into his pocket dragging out an object.
A little ornate pocket watch ridden by time and rust that had five arrows on the face, three of which were the regular ones. It told the hours, minutes and seconds. The other two pointed at different things. A red around pointing an engraving saying "active".The blue arrow pointed at an engraving saying "cool-down", which had a box that was black and said "none".
Initially, he clicked on the top of the pocket watch's case feeling nothing happened he lost the little hope he had, slumping as he crumbled into a limp corpse form. The spider had begun feasting on the corpse munching and leaving the bones behind. It then made its way away from Elrond's former campsite.
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A few hours later bones could be seen glowing in a green and purple hue as they rejoin and formed a skeleton with little embers in the hollow sockets where eyes once resided.'I'm alive?'Elrond who was once dead thought. Quietness followed then shouting, "Wait why can't I feel shit?!" he exclaimed but not too loudly.
Still lingering with thought and confusion Elrond had grasped that he had become a lesser undead known as a skeleton."You know this is one tale I wish I could tell my future kids, well not that I can have them anymore" he mumbled dejectedly at his situation.
After a while, Elrond looks around his former campsite noticing its wrecked display. The pelts of the bedroll and sleeping bag were torn and strewn apart in different areas around the small parameter of his once short period of a former campsite.
Gathering what had been left he was left with his pants and leather boots, a frown shirt and a "tunic" which was more like the stops of cloth a Cupid would wear. His ornate dagger and the pocket watch which now had changed in appearance.
Long gone was the old rustic look of the watch, now it took on the appearance of a skeletal curved jaw which was closed with its sharp teeth interlocking. It was a metallic black material and the opening once opened looked different too. The inside bore a gory look appearance as it was the insides of a person, with a pulsing look of flesh and bulging veins. The face of the watch itself was like a mouth with the numbers being the amount of teeth now and the arrows being fingers that seemed torn from each other and fused into the flesh of the watch.
The two special arrows were located in a new area, the top of the inside of the watch. Having veins that spelt out active and cool-down.The word active was full and did not pulsate, whereas the words cool-down did and underneath a glow said four days, twenty-three hours and twenty-one minutes (4d,23hr,21mins).
'Is this related to my resurrection' Elrond thought, glazing back at the pocket watch after he had shut it. Journeying to a nearby cave to look for shelter away from potential travellers Elrond had made temporary shelter in what appeared to be ruins of an old outpost.
It was made of weathered cobbled brick walls and had cobwebs strewn about here and there, along with a torn flag at the highest point on top of a tower and its fence. The colour was too faded to make out and the coat of arms were none Elrond could make out.
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'I'll have to figure out how a Skelton gets stringers because I've lost all my damn muscles. At least my body can move correctly albeit weaker' I thought to myself. Making my way around I looked for anything useful but alas nothing. Near the end of my search, I heard a faint rustling of ripples.
Following the trail of noise, I found a river stream running near the back but along with something that would've made my blood if I still had any, run cold. A few Kirokla, an insectoid race similar to the goblins in size but instead of being very rude they are extremely territorial. Boasting high numbers due to their ability to reproduce, which makes up for their short life spans and strength. However their strength of numbers is no joke, what seems to be a small group of them is at least ten.
'Their exoskeletons can be useful for paste for and being leatherworks and creating them', making up my mind I trailed them learning about their activities. While doing so I keep my distance trying to not get too close. Learning they are just gathering herbs as they are herbivores and their shells get stronger from the mana ingested via plants I make a plan.
I wait until they are split into groups of two and then I will try to kill them stealthily, as they would've killed me if they knew I encroached onto their territory. Mustering my courage and trying to keep a steady mind. I ambush them once they've split off and distanced themselves from the other groups quite a length.
Using my arm as a club I swing trying to bludgeon one to death. The shockwaves of my attack, coupled with the ambush allowed me to kill one. The tremor of his heart subsided along with his spasaming. The other was about to lunge at me but I turned on the heel of my foot dodging and making the Kirokla stumble and fall. Unprepared for my quick lunge at his, he falls prey to my club of an arm again.
Lugging the body I take some parts of the exoskeleton using my ornate knife to get some of their paste which is akin to their blood and marrow, I fill my drawstring bag with. I use the paste to add parts of their exoskeleton to vulnerable parts near the joints and to fill in the little cracks in my arm bone which formed.
'Kirokla are savages and often act as cannibals sometimes and fight when disputes occur to settle things amongst themselves, which is why I took think risk in the first place', was the reasoning I planned this. Resources are hard to come by in this forest, especially for an undead like me who wouldn't be welcome in the north at all or any other continent. Framing the bodies to look as if they killed one another, making one look like the victor who started to enjoy his meal of a former ally who lay next to him. Now they'll think that one of them died and the victor started to fear but succumbed to his fatal wounds.
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Leaving the area I made my way back to the outpost ruins and went up to the tower using its old questionably safe ladder. Closing the creaky trapdoor quietly behind me, still cautious of the unknown dangers looming in this place. I lay in the thought of the Kirokla 'They have more in their homes and treasury' I pause and continue my thought 'But it'd be a risk since I don't know their numbers'.Pondering I lay in rest and wake up but something different flesh has started to grow between my bones since I last saw alas I can't feel pain still. After pinching and doing other things to test out if I'm "alive again"."Here I thought a miracle occurred" I mumbled disdainfully "But it is wonderful that I'm not fully dead" I mumbled again. My mumbling is interpreted by the hatch trapdoor opening with a pair of pointed ears popping up.
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Elrond steadied himself for who was to come up, but what he saw left him eased but still cautious. An imp now staring into the eye sockets of Elrond."Tsk just a fuckin Skelton, thought it found more Kirokla to hunt n eat" he said annoyed at his lost potential prey.
"Hey there" Elrond spoke, suddenly closing the door comically the imp screamed, his cry of fear echoing through the cave. Slowly peeking in the hatch open the imp spoke "I have a weapon and I ain't afraid to use it on ya" he said trying to be intimidating.
Elrond glad that he was not already attacking him spoke slowly "I hear you want to hunt Kirokla" Pausing he continued."Luckily I'm ready to help imp friend". Being called a friend the imp paused then beamed "Ya mean it? When ya say friend?" He said joyfully."
"Names Grush and I'm happy to help my first- my friend" the imp spat out excitedly fumbling with parts of his words. Elrond beckoned to the area next to him, patting it with his exoskeleton-covered bone hand" Sit and let us talk my friend Grush" he said politely.
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A/N By Warden
I hope you enjoyed it and would love inputs and choices on behalf of you the people of HighVeil.
What will happen next to Elrond and Grush the shy imp hmm?
Power stones would be a warm welcome!