Edward Larel's Blog - Posts Tagged "pisken"
Children of Destiny: The Highborn King Preview
Spoilers and easter eggs abound in this final preview from The Highborn King. Next week, the release date for Children of Destiny!
When the group finally found the large, robust doors at the end of a large, open ballroom, it was Pisken who spoke first, “This may sound crazy, but I don’t like open spaces when it would make more sense to have a smaller area for potential invaders to come in through
. Something is wrong here.”
A low growl confirmed the halfling’s suspicions, and the capitalist backed up in front of Rich and the others. From the far corners of the hall, two creatures, seemingly torn from nightmares unimaginable, stepped into view.
One of the beasts looked as though it was once a giant trapdoor spider, but thousands of tiny, human eyes sat where multifaceted lenses should. The eyes all moved independently of the others, making it look like the creature was constantly shifting its gaze around the room. Where another beast might have smaller legs for pulling prey into its maw, this thing had a pair of human arms, complete with hands that wove back and forth, weaving shadow into magic.
The other monster was almost elegant compared to its counterpart, which made it scarier to behold. The wretch was shaped like a large, hairless cat, though it had six legs and was the ugly green and purple color of a fresh bruise. Its face had clearly been elven at one point, but the flesh was stretched so thin over the creature’s flat skull it looked like it could tear off at any moment. In spite of eyes pulled into slits, the thing stared right at the group and growled again.
Navara drew her swords and nodded to the end of the room, “They’re syn.”
The capitalist pointed at the abominations, “I’ve seen those before. They’re the queen’s pets, Drin and Urden.”
If the queen kept them as pets, Rich was sure they would be a challenge to handle, “Navara, take Lina back around the corner while we keep them apart.”
The fey nodded and ushered the priestess away from the grisly scene. When they were gone, Rich turned back to Pisken and pointed at the spider, “I’ll take this one.”
“Wonderful,” the halfling mumbled as he drew his own dagger and stepped around one of the pillars on the side of the room. The elf-beast that he called Urden quickly followed.
Rich looked back to where his foe had been, but the beast was gone. Thinking quickly, the half-orc looked up in time to see Drin fall from the ceiling toward him. Before it landed, the spider’s humanoid arms used its magic to pull darkness from the surrounding area and shape it into a noxious vapor around Rich. Choking, the warrior almost fell when his opponent landed on him, but managed to roll the thing onto its back and stab his dagger into its thorax.
An ear-piercing screech emitted from the spider’s mouth and echoed across the room. Grabbing at his skull, Rich rolled off of it and stood back up with his dagger at the ready. A quick glance to his left showed that the half-orc wasn’t the only one having trouble.
Pisken was pinned down by Urden’s hind and middle legs and was flailing back and forth to avoid being slammed by the monster’s forelegs. The smallkin had done some serious damage to his target while he had the advantage of surprise, but the former elf must have caught onto his tricks and captured the man where he was now.
Rich was about to run to the halfling’s aid, but Navara returned from the back of the room and forced the cat to back away with a flourish of her swords. The walker between worlds stepped over Pisken and backed the beast into the corner.
A clicking sound next to him told Rich that his enemy had finally righted itself, and the half-orc swung his blade in a wide arc down through several of the spider’s eyes. Wounded, Drin reared back and cast a burst of flame at him with its human appendages. Rich stepped into the ball of fire and used the opportunity to slash both limbs. While the syn backpedalled, the warrior followed it and continued to stab at the perverse being while inside its reach.
When he delivered a killing blow, the entire room shifted into a collapsing tower surrounded by dragons of all shapes, colors, and sizes and Rich was seeing the world through Drin’s eyes. On the roof with him was another half-orc wielding a large double-axe, an elven druid with her pet tiger, and a handful of others; all fighting or lying on the ground, dead. There was a tugging sensation, and Drin was pulled into a vortex he created before his plan could succeed.
Cracking his neck, the half-orc stood back up and lumbered over to Navara and Pisken as he let the spider’s final memories dissipate. The pair was standing, transfixed over the fallen creature they had faced. As one, they clutched at their stomachs and fell over.
Rich waited for the vision to fade before helping his friends stand, “Are you okay?”
Pisken checked his midsection, “So that’s what it’s like to experience the death of a syn. It isn’t as impacting as the stories make it when you’re already dead.”
“I guess not,” the warrior agreed and paused to listen to something from beyond the doors at the end of the room. “They’re inside. Let’s go see what we can do to help them.”
When the group finally found the large, robust doors at the end of a large, open ballroom, it was Pisken who spoke first, “This may sound crazy, but I don’t like open spaces when it would make more sense to have a smaller area for potential invaders to come in through
. Something is wrong here.”
A low growl confirmed the halfling’s suspicions, and the capitalist backed up in front of Rich and the others. From the far corners of the hall, two creatures, seemingly torn from nightmares unimaginable, stepped into view.
One of the beasts looked as though it was once a giant trapdoor spider, but thousands of tiny, human eyes sat where multifaceted lenses should. The eyes all moved independently of the others, making it look like the creature was constantly shifting its gaze around the room. Where another beast might have smaller legs for pulling prey into its maw, this thing had a pair of human arms, complete with hands that wove back and forth, weaving shadow into magic.
The other monster was almost elegant compared to its counterpart, which made it scarier to behold. The wretch was shaped like a large, hairless cat, though it had six legs and was the ugly green and purple color of a fresh bruise. Its face had clearly been elven at one point, but the flesh was stretched so thin over the creature’s flat skull it looked like it could tear off at any moment. In spite of eyes pulled into slits, the thing stared right at the group and growled again.
Navara drew her swords and nodded to the end of the room, “They’re syn.”
The capitalist pointed at the abominations, “I’ve seen those before. They’re the queen’s pets, Drin and Urden.”
If the queen kept them as pets, Rich was sure they would be a challenge to handle, “Navara, take Lina back around the corner while we keep them apart.”
The fey nodded and ushered the priestess away from the grisly scene. When they were gone, Rich turned back to Pisken and pointed at the spider, “I’ll take this one.”
“Wonderful,” the halfling mumbled as he drew his own dagger and stepped around one of the pillars on the side of the room. The elf-beast that he called Urden quickly followed.
Rich looked back to where his foe had been, but the beast was gone. Thinking quickly, the half-orc looked up in time to see Drin fall from the ceiling toward him. Before it landed, the spider’s humanoid arms used its magic to pull darkness from the surrounding area and shape it into a noxious vapor around Rich. Choking, the warrior almost fell when his opponent landed on him, but managed to roll the thing onto its back and stab his dagger into its thorax.
An ear-piercing screech emitted from the spider’s mouth and echoed across the room. Grabbing at his skull, Rich rolled off of it and stood back up with his dagger at the ready. A quick glance to his left showed that the half-orc wasn’t the only one having trouble.
Pisken was pinned down by Urden’s hind and middle legs and was flailing back and forth to avoid being slammed by the monster’s forelegs. The smallkin had done some serious damage to his target while he had the advantage of surprise, but the former elf must have caught onto his tricks and captured the man where he was now.
Rich was about to run to the halfling’s aid, but Navara returned from the back of the room and forced the cat to back away with a flourish of her swords. The walker between worlds stepped over Pisken and backed the beast into the corner.
A clicking sound next to him told Rich that his enemy had finally righted itself, and the half-orc swung his blade in a wide arc down through several of the spider’s eyes. Wounded, Drin reared back and cast a burst of flame at him with its human appendages. Rich stepped into the ball of fire and used the opportunity to slash both limbs. While the syn backpedalled, the warrior followed it and continued to stab at the perverse being while inside its reach.
When he delivered a killing blow, the entire room shifted into a collapsing tower surrounded by dragons of all shapes, colors, and sizes and Rich was seeing the world through Drin’s eyes. On the roof with him was another half-orc wielding a large double-axe, an elven druid with her pet tiger, and a handful of others; all fighting or lying on the ground, dead. There was a tugging sensation, and Drin was pulled into a vortex he created before his plan could succeed.
Cracking his neck, the half-orc stood back up and lumbered over to Navara and Pisken as he let the spider’s final memories dissipate. The pair was standing, transfixed over the fallen creature they had faced. As one, they clutched at their stomachs and fell over.
Rich waited for the vision to fade before helping his friends stand, “Are you okay?”
Pisken checked his midsection, “So that’s what it’s like to experience the death of a syn. It isn’t as impacting as the stories make it when you’re already dead.”
“I guess not,” the warrior agreed and paused to listen to something from beyond the doors at the end of the room. “They’re inside. Let’s go see what we can do to help them.”
