Cursed
Yoshi
Chapter 52 = Feathers in the wind
Disclaimer: Although all
characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos,
etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.
Manny was almost shaking in his boots. It had
become quite clear to him over the course of the day that what he had seen was
only the beginning of Darkmark’s new powers, and the prospect of watching
greater destruction take place did not fill him with enthusiasm. Having watched
Darkmark coldly and cruelly dispatch a small band of bandits hiding in the
trees, ripping open wounds from a distance with his powers, killing without so
much as a flicker of remorse or a twitch of guilt, Manny felt sure that he was
out of place, walking with such a brutal murderer.
He
didn’t want to let his guard down by sleeping, but he was tired and the
prospect of escaping to a dream world was enticing. Both he and Darkmark were
crouched around a fire that the latter had lit, gathering a few branches together
before starting a small fire with a tap of his finger on the wood. The light
clearly defined something Manny had not seen earlier; burned into Darkmark’s
left arm was a pentagram, much like the ones that appeared around Darkmark’s
hands whenever he used his psionic powers.
Desperate
to break the silence, he gestured towards it and queried, “What’s that?” in a
voice that betrayed his inner feelings somewhat. Darkmark looked at it for a
moment before turning back to Manny and replying, “It’s just a mark… branded on
my skin by the Lord of Darkness…”
Manny’s
hand immediately went to his sword hilt. “You have turned evil!”
Darkmark
chuckled. “No, not evil… you have not seen evil yet. I still have good
intentions, such as the elimination of that vampire human… but I merely look up
to Klashkna now, as my guide and master.”
Sweating,
Manny slowly drew his sword from its sheath. “You still follow the darkness.
You’re not Marcus any more! You’re not my friend! You’re just a manifestation
of evil!”
“Do
you intend to fight me?” Darkmark asked, glancing casually down to Manny’s
shortsword. “How valiant of you, but it will get you nowhere except for the
underworld…”
He
drew the octagram from his saddlebags, holding it out in front of him. The gold
was glowing slightly now that all the gems were in place, and the image of the
fire flickered and danced in all of the cut gemstones. “I am a saviour, and I
have a duty to do. Any who stand in my way shall be eliminated, as you have
seen before. If you want to stop me, you are not only betraying your religion,
but the entire Yoshian race. Does that sound appealing to you? Do you think
you’ll still get into the afterlife?”
Manny
swallowed heavily, but did not put away his weapon. Instead, he lay down on his
side and rested his sword beside him, keeping his hand on the handle. He
remained there, watching Darkmark intently, until he slipped away and fell
asleep.
Sira
sighed and ran her hand over the inscription once more, wishing that the plaque
didn’t have to bear the name that it did.
Visali Lestan, died 3rd of Eira, CD 2156.
He
had looked so sad when she had buried him, with his back broken and blood
around his mouth. She had felt terrible emotional pain as she had filled the
grave back up, in front of all the others gathered for his funeral, and though
she had wanted to stop, she knew it was part of tradition in a Yoshian funeral
for the closest person to the deceased to bury them…
She
didn’t know who had buried Dave, as she had been to distressed to attend his
funeral, and now she had her hands full with the little baby orphan, too.
Tamaroro, she knew, was not her responsibility, but he had grown attached to
her and had looked to her for comfort after witnessing and recalling what had
happened to the others.
That assassin will pay, I shall
make sure of it… some day…
She
shook her head and stood back up, muttering a prayer under her breath. She had
been allowed time off of her course to grieve, but she wanted to go back to
take her minds off of all that she had lost. She was on her own, now, living
with her flatmate a few streets away from Visali’s old place, already up for
grabs to anyone who wanted it.
She
walked back over to her flatmate, a yellow Yoshi by the name of Samintha, and
took Tamaroro back from her, cradling the little infant in her arms. He
distracted her from her pains, and made her smile with his affections, and she
didn’t want to part with him despite many offers of a place for him to live.
They began to walk away from the graveyard behind the church, thanking the dark
grey Yoshian clergyman for letting them see the grave.
Attempting
to strike up a conversation, Samintha asked, “Did you hear about the incident
in the city centre yesterday?”
Sira
shook her head. “No, I didn’t…”
“They
say that someone managed to single-handedly destroy an entire prison! Then, the
same person raided a store and stole a bunch of stuff, killing loads of people,
and took out one of the foot exits at the northern gate!”
“Really?”
Sira asked with mild interest. Normally, she would care, but she didn’t have
the strength just now.
Samintha
nodded. “There were a few survivors… Yoshies, mostly, with just a few minor
injuries. No humans lived… they say that it was a brown Yoshi, travelling with
a blue one. He must’ve been powerful… the whole prison was demolished, and they
found a whole slew of bodies in the courtyard, mostly human, but there was a
feral Yoshi there too, a red one!”
“Wait
a moment… a red feral? Shiala…”
Sira dipped her head a little as she kept walking. Why… why am I being plagued by death? It’s not fair, I never did anything wrong…
It
wasn’t very hard for Tsi-Lau to find out where Marcus had gone; such was the
destruction by the northern end of town that sections of buildings were still
being cleared away and bodies were still laid bare for identification, almost
all human. Just a little bit beyond that, a section of the city wall had been
blasted out, leaving a large gap that was slowly being repaired as quickly as
possible.
Although
none of these things dented Tsi-Lau’s determination in any way, she sensed that
she would have to rely on her most advanced assassin training, a little of
which she had received personally from her sensei before she left. She had a
sense of foreboding about this, but ignored it and pressed on, taking the path
that avoided the dense forest under the reasoning that Marcus would want to
take the straightest and most open road to the next city along; Sansata city.
“We
should reach Sansata by tomorrow morning.” Darkmark told Manny in a low voice
as they set out again, while dawn broke overhead. “Once there, we will have to
look around for enough silver to forge a sword out of. Preferably without a
fight that will attract attention before it is wanted, but if it has to be
done…”
Manny
remained silent. He dearly wanted to run in the opposite direction and head
back for Corvan, but the assassins were probably on full alert looking for him
and Darkmark. Even if he did manage to track down Sira and Tamaroro, he wasn’t
sure what he would do next, and was worried what Darkmark might do if left to
his own devices, or what he might do to Manny if he tried to abandon him.
Darkmark
was being quiet, too, but for a different reason; after falling asleep, he was
greeted with a vision from Klashkna similar to the ones he had had with the
other deities…
* * *
“My servant…” Klashkna hissed.
Darkmark felt the words come to his mouth without any conscious thought towards them. “My master.”
“I see you are continuing on your previous path towards Sansata city; are you intent on slaying that vampire human?”
“Yes, master. I have a personal bone to pick with him… unless you wish me to take a different path…”
“No, please, continue. He has started to undermine my authority… I told him not to send that anthro assassin after you, but still he did. He needs to learn what happens to those who disobey me.”
“He is one of yours?” Darkmark asked, slightly angry.
“Yes, but not for much longer. He will make a fine first target for you to practice your psionics on. After that, I have something for you, but first you must finish this test to prove your worth…”
“As you wish, master.”
* * *
Darkmark
clenched his fists as he walked, taking long strides forward. This did not go
unnoticed by Manny, who took some relief from the fact that, though he denied
it, Darkmark still had memories of what had happened to him as Marcus.
Perhaps, some day, I can bring back my old friend…
To
be continued…