The Orb

Chapter 7

The Black Orb Master

A blanket of darkness completely obscured any discernable movements from those given the onerous duty of watching the island known to be the enemy's stronghold. Any who approached the island were swept up in the black fog that completely surrounded the shoreline before even attempting to breach the blackness that enveloped the island. Any craft that strayed off course was never seen again.

The military had set up several outposts along the mountain range that separated the Citadel from the ocean for the sole purpose of raising the alarm hopefully giving the residents of the Citadel and the surrounding settlements time to seek shelter from any impending threat from Zardel. Those assigned the task to watch swore that they could hear cries of pain and misery coming from the island every day even though they were over a thousand miles away. Each watch lasted for only a week, any longer those assigned risked being driven insane by the evil auras' that exuded from the black mist that concealed the island.

The island from past knowledge was mainly comprised of one large towering mountain situated at the northern end; its steep slopes flowed into the ocean from all directions except to the south. There the mountain slope became a valley of gently rolling hills creating an oasis in the wide ocean. There was a large crescent shaped cove that the very southern tip where waves gently rolled up onto a sandy beach, but that was all before Zardel took up residence obliterating the peaceful sanctuary.

The bay had been used by many of the military in the past as a survival training site where soldiers, acolytes, recon specialists and snipers were left to fend for themselves individually or as a group for weeks at a time.

Since Zardel's occupation the island has become a waste land only fit for the dead. Countless souls had been ripped from their homes and delivered into Zardel's care where he experimented on them turning them into monsters that would do his bidding without question or reason.

Beneath the island's surface a maze of tunnels, chambers and caverns had been carved out, in order to create the strong hold that the Black Orb Master had envisaged. The mountain was nicknamed Hell's Domain, due to the aura of misery and hopelessness that were carried on the waves away from its black shores.

The obliterated oasis on the easterly slope of the mountain was home to most of Zardel's minions. They comprised of three camps the Cremen, the Karle's and the Wild Men. The three groups were kept separate by huge fiery pillars since each species detested the other venomously turning on each other whenever possible and only coming together when they had to fight.

Cremen are creatures born from Zardel's evil experiments over 3 centuries ago. Capturing children from the farm settlements he fused the DNA from his pet Dralcon with their own human DNA as he sought the perfect soldier to carry out his wishes without question. The result was a humanoid with all the blood lust of a Dralcon, with their molten blood, their almost impenetrable scaled skin and also their nesting instincts. These nightmares whose sole purpose was to wreak havoc, create panic, and are completely loyal only to Zardel and take their instruction from Berex whose blood was used to create them. After nearly a century Zardel successfully created mating pairs and as in the wild like the Dralcon's the female laid the eggs then afterwards the males carried them in pouches in their bellies until the shell harden enough where it was then placed in a nest. Both parents spilled their blood over each egg constantly for 6 months infusing all the knowledge inherited through their DNA so when the hatchling finally emerge it knew everything their parents did and their bond of loyalty to Zardel is firmly in place.

The Karle's' unlike the Cremen were creatures that emerged from the ruins of the old world hidden for over a millennium residing in the darkened barren depths of the planet. Their ancestors were those who had sought refuge from the sickness and disease that spread unchecked when technology had suddenly ended, plunging the planet into chaos. However they were mistaken in their decision as in the dark caverns they sought sanctuary they instead fell fowl to the mistakes of the past. Long forgotten stores of contaminants polluted their water source and the very earth they used to grow their food weakened their immune systems, which then changed their bodies over generations. The end result was a creature called the Carle, so named after the cry they made when soaring the skies at night. Their creation came from the dormant code in human blood left over from Pre-Historic times when before the human race evolved.