03-12-2016, 08:49 PM
My face is blank. “Interesting,” I lie. I find her misplaced compassion wholly bizarre. The only thing wretched creatures like this understand is pain and death. To remove that … where was the fun?
“What are you doing out here?” I enquire with a finger. “Don’t suppose Roland dispatched you, too?”
“No,” she says in that strong but strangely echoed tone, etched with the accent of a faraway land. “We passed through The Town with No Name on our way through the desert, but we are simply purging those who wrack the wastes.”
I shrug. “Sounds good. I mean, if you’re all done here, there’s no point me wasting my time.” Then, just as I’m about to turn away, I remember something and click my fingers. “Say, how long have you been here?”
Her face is invisible beneath that overwrought helmet, but I can sense she is judging me. “Who knows. We have passed through many verses. We are on a pilgrimage as much as a mission of cleansing. What is your name?”
“Enel,” I say, waving away the errant question. “When you were travelling, did you encounter any link or leads to finding … the one they call Omni?”
“…. We did not.”
“Ksss.” Worth a try. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it then.”
What a waste of time. I whistle for Crispy the Dragon.
* * * * *
Back in town, I slam my palm down on Roland’s desk.
“Factory’s dead.”
He raises an eyebrow. “That was quick.”
“I’m made of lightning. Now can I get my reward, or do I have to demonstrate?”
He shoots me a look of disgust that I wouldn’t have tolerated from anyone else. “What you’re looking for is in the middle of the Dunes. It’s called the Dark Tower.”
“The Dark Tower… And what do I do when I get there?”
A shimmer of something crosses Roland’s eyes. He better not be hiding anything from me. “You’ll find out.”
I growl. “That’s it? I went all the way out is the wastelands and destroyed a factory so you could tell me I need to go find a tower? How about some directions?”
“I’m not done,” he says. “Out there in the wastes, there’s monsters worse than anything you’ve ever seen. One of them is named Jhen Mohran.”
He stands up. “Old Jhen has been part of the desert as long as we’ve been here, we think. He’s like a force of nature. And you can’t kill him. Not with your bare hands.”
I grimace. “Why not?”
Roland laughs. “Because he’s the size of a small town and he’ll eat you alive if you get close to him. No, you need a crew. Something that’ll let you take down the beast. Even then it’s no guarantee.”
I think upon his words. With my old powers, perhaps, but …
And then I think back to the crew who’d been destroying the factory. They seemed to have it together. Maybe I could come worse them into doing my bidding for me? Hell knows, this ‘Jhen Mohran’was as big a blight as anything if Roland was to be believed.
“And that’s it?” I say.
“And that’s it,” he says. “Unless you feel like doing so more jobs for me.”
I slide him a supercilious grin before I exit out the door.
“What are you doing out here?” I enquire with a finger. “Don’t suppose Roland dispatched you, too?”
“No,” she says in that strong but strangely echoed tone, etched with the accent of a faraway land. “We passed through The Town with No Name on our way through the desert, but we are simply purging those who wrack the wastes.”
I shrug. “Sounds good. I mean, if you’re all done here, there’s no point me wasting my time.” Then, just as I’m about to turn away, I remember something and click my fingers. “Say, how long have you been here?”
Her face is invisible beneath that overwrought helmet, but I can sense she is judging me. “Who knows. We have passed through many verses. We are on a pilgrimage as much as a mission of cleansing. What is your name?”
“Enel,” I say, waving away the errant question. “When you were travelling, did you encounter any link or leads to finding … the one they call Omni?”
“…. We did not.”
“Ksss.” Worth a try. “Well, I’ll let you get back to it then.”
What a waste of time. I whistle for Crispy the Dragon.
* * * * *
Back in town, I slam my palm down on Roland’s desk.
“Factory’s dead.”
He raises an eyebrow. “That was quick.”
“I’m made of lightning. Now can I get my reward, or do I have to demonstrate?”
He shoots me a look of disgust that I wouldn’t have tolerated from anyone else. “What you’re looking for is in the middle of the Dunes. It’s called the Dark Tower.”
“The Dark Tower… And what do I do when I get there?”
A shimmer of something crosses Roland’s eyes. He better not be hiding anything from me. “You’ll find out.”
I growl. “That’s it? I went all the way out is the wastelands and destroyed a factory so you could tell me I need to go find a tower? How about some directions?”
“I’m not done,” he says. “Out there in the wastes, there’s monsters worse than anything you’ve ever seen. One of them is named Jhen Mohran.”
He stands up. “Old Jhen has been part of the desert as long as we’ve been here, we think. He’s like a force of nature. And you can’t kill him. Not with your bare hands.”
I grimace. “Why not?”
Roland laughs. “Because he’s the size of a small town and he’ll eat you alive if you get close to him. No, you need a crew. Something that’ll let you take down the beast. Even then it’s no guarantee.”
I think upon his words. With my old powers, perhaps, but …
And then I think back to the crew who’d been destroying the factory. They seemed to have it together. Maybe I could come worse them into doing my bidding for me? Hell knows, this ‘Jhen Mohran’was as big a blight as anything if Roland was to be believed.
“And that’s it?” I say.
“And that’s it,” he says. “Unless you feel like doing so more jobs for me.”
I slide him a supercilious grin before I exit out the door.