Food Chain Chronicles: Cataclysm and Nightmares

A Thin Veil

          Tension squeezed at the hostile congregation, whooping and shouting ringing through the air. An enclosing ring of enraged onlookers was only restrained by their undying respect for the warrior in the center facing his adversaries. The man was tall and built like a mountain, dark flesh rife with scars glistened under the blazing sun. Soft, hazel eyes stood out amongst his hard facial features, and long black dreadlocks cascaded over his shoulders. He was known as J'Kunal. Before him was a pathetic lump of a human being with short, matted hair and a build very similar to his own whom put up a pitiful fight, and with a less than honorable approach to battle. A poison-tipped dagger lay besides the kneeling man, the blade shattered to pieces by J'Kunal's powerful steel gauntlets, the weapons encasing his hands and riding up to his elbows. Unimpressed eyes fell to the dead men surrounding the pleading worm. Their blood flooded the engravings on his gauntlets.

          "Stand coward." J'Kunal's voice bellowed, his rumbling tone shushing the villagers surrounding them. The man shakily obliged, his knees trembling as he got to his feet.

          His voice peeped out, "Ple-,"

          "Silence." J'Kunal signaled towards the broken dagger with a pointing of his hand, "Grab your weapon. Stand your ground and face me."

Tear-glistened eyes fell to the blade, "It's brok-,"

          "Even a broken blade can pierce the human body." Taking lumbering steps towards the other, the other tried to scurry away, but the crowd pushed him back into the fray, cursing and screaming. Calmly, the mountainous man knelt down to pick up the fragmented blade. A small shard of metal jutted from the hilt. Still useful. With the speed defiant of his size, he snatched the man's wrist and forced him to wield it before shoving him away to reset the battlefield.

          "I spotted you before I even noticed your friends, child." J'Kunal stated, raising his fists and taking a fighting stance, "You no longer have the cover of the crowd to hide yourself. Now..." He pounded his bare chest with his knuckles, "Come at me like a warrior."

          The man hesitated, his legs trembling and his approach fidgeting with a loose, sweaty grip on his weapon. He was psyching himself up; trying to convince himself that he could walk away from this encounter with at least one of his limbs intact.

          And then he lunged forward, thrusting his blade out in one sloppy motion. A spark flashed when J'Kunal parried the strike with his left hand, then a harsh cracking emanated when he drove his right fist into the fool's mouth, the man's head snapping loose on his neck, and his body spiraling away into the crowd, who wildly stumbled away from the flying corpse. They erupted in a thunderous, hearty uproar. Standing straight up, J'Kunal stared on as the crowd picked up not on the body of the cowardly man, but the rest of his squad, and began to carry the corpses down a hill, the flood of villagers flowing around the triumphant warrior. The people trickled away until only two remained­­­­—children watching on as he defended their home, Vaheeda, against invaders. He stared at them for a minute, and they stared back. The boy, who was staring wide-eyed at the large man, was of a dark complexion as well, as was most of the residence of their home. Large brown eyes bulged from his head, his face chubby and his black hair cut short. Beside him stood a girl, skinny and tall with a long braid reaching nearly to the back of her thighs. Azure eyes stood out amongst her features, unnatural jewels planted on an oval head.

They shouldn't have been here.

          J'Kunal was quiet, the man never once breaking his gaze on the two. Releasing a heavy sigh, he turned his back to the children and began to walk down the path, raising a hand and signaling for them to follow.