A Slayer's Tales

Fiends of the Desert

The golden grains were thrown about as if they were nothing. Pushed from where they lay to a new home. It didn't change the overall look of the vast desert but it was annoying to those who wandered through.

    Nicholas sheltered his eyes with his hand as he followed his guide to the throne room of Queen Ysmay of Idovia. He'd been requested, or at least a Slayer had been requested, by the Queen. He just happened to be the first one sent out by the guild. He let out a small cough as he entered the throne room, clearing his lungs of the sand they'd collected on the short walk in. "Nicholas Northman," the Queen spoke and Nicholas' attention was instantly on her, "I've heard things about you. King Brom of Welthereon says you saved his life. That's quite an impressive feat." Nicholas gave a subtle nod of appreciation as the Queen appraised his heroics. "Well, Your Grace, I was just doing my duty. Slayers protect those who cannot protect themselves, and are not being protected by others."

    "Quite a specific group that you protect then. Perhaps I have misunderstood your role?" The Queen stood up and walked towards Nicholas, "You will protect me, won't you, Slayer?" Nicholas nodded, but remained silent. "Good. Well, I do need it. As well as my guards are doing, I lose at least one every night to those blasted daemons. I don't know how they made it down here, but they have." Nicholas' eyes followed Ysmay as she circled him and then headed back to her luxurious golden throne. "Daemons aren't particularly known for their travelling, Your Grace, are you certain that they're your pests?"

    "Well, I don't remember hearing about any other monster that eats men alive, so yes." She snapped back at his simple question. Nicholas remained quiet, he was thinking.

    Yes, he thought. There have been cases of daemons eating men, women and - unfortunately - children but they were very rare. Perhaps the Queen has a special kind of monster plaguing her lands...

    Nicholas gave the Queen a nod, expressing his willingness to complete the quest, then left the room. As he entered back into the sandstorm, he covered his eyes again. He found his way back to his trusty steed and brought it to a local stable, where he knew it wouldn't be terribly affected by the great gusts of sand being thrown around mercilessly. He gave it a quick pet, before bidding it farewell and heading back out into the storm.

    The storm slowly died down as the warm rays of the sun vanished and the darkness of the night engulfed Idovia. Nicholas stood guard, with two other men, on the city walls. He stared out into the vast nothingness of the night and watched for any activity. He couldn't see much as the torch, he had a hold of, only glowed so bright. As he watched the still desert in the dark, a voice caught his attention, "There it is! I see it!" Nicholas turned his head sharply to where the guard was pointing. He wasn't wrong, there was something moving. He watched it for another moment, trying to figure out what it was, when, to either side of it, two more creatures rose from the sand. "There's more!" The guard cried out. Nicholas looked on, in utter shock. He hadn't the faintest idea about what these sand-crawling creatures were. "Ready your weapons, men." He commanded the guards. Their bows raised up, and their arrows were drawn back. Nicholas held his torch in front of the arrows and their arrowheads lit ablaze. "Hold..." He watched the creatures carefully. When dealing with something new, a Slayer is taught to observe and act smart rather than just attack as most guards, soldiers and knights do. Once they were in range, Nicholas signalled for the guards to let loose their arrows. The burning bolts whistled through the cool air and caught their intended targets perfectly. The creatures dropped to their knees as they were set alight, and burnt alive. "Good job, men." Nicholas appraised the guards. Then his eyes were turned back to beyond the city walls. Tens more of the sandcrawlers rose from the sand and made their way to the city walls. "Great." Nicholas removed his sword from its scabbard and readied himself for combat. "You're not seriously going to try and fight them in close quarters, are you?" The guard to his left asked. Nicholas took a few steps back, "We don't have much of a choice." As the words left his mouth, one of the crawlers poked its head up, over the wall. The guards fell back in surprise, and joined Nicholas in standing a few steps from the edge. "Ready yourselves..." Nicholas took a deep breath, and focused on the fight that was about to happen, "here they come."