[p]If Aerbax were capable of a smile, as the meatlings understood it, it would be grim and taut, much like the smile that was permanently etched on his mask. He floated around his latest creation, another failure. The jaw of this Mosswart now lay exposed, deformed and clattering against the exposed bone of the upper palate as the Mosswart struggled for breath. Aerbax resigned himself to the fact that each failure was another step closer to success.
[p]
As he studied the creation, he was uncertain where the experiment had gone wrong. He trusted Puppet to be able to discern the moment in which the subject had been overexposed to the energy source and had begun to twist beyond the defined parameters. The Mosswart let out a deep, guttural burble that sounded like nothing ever heard on Dereth before. Then the jaws clattered shut again, bone grinding on bone.
[p]
Puppet cocked its head to one side as it listened to the inaudible commands Aerbax issued. Puppet nodded once it understood. Aerbax turned back to the Mosswart, his creation, his child, and rested the edge of his cloak atop the creature's lacerated and oozing brow. Aerbax forced a thought through the Mosswart's pain-ridden mind: "Soon my child, soon it will all be over."
[p]
He wheeled from the slab and floated through a nearby door.
[p]
*****
[p]
"No Ketnan, no center court... They call this Arwic!?" Lienne chortled as she polished the inside of a silver goblet. "I'll tell you what I think. Once these accursed walls were up, they ought to have moved us all out of town and sealed this place forever. Everything happens for a reason, you know, and we should never have tried to rebuild here. I'm only staying 'cause I trust that Strathelar knows what she's doing." She spit onto the rag and went back to polishing the goblet.
[p]
Her lone patron groaned in disgust as he watched the action.
[p]
"The ale kills whatever germs I may pass, you doddering fool. Besides, there are darker things at work in this town than I could possibly pass along." She harrumphed and turned her back on the drunkard, continuing to shine the goblet.
[p]
Her patron clapped his stein on the bar and tossed a few pyreals onto the countertop. He walked to the door and opened it wide.
[p]
He paused in the doorway and turned back to Lienne. "You know what you need, Lienne? You need to walk outside and see how beautiful the snow looks draped over the walls and the outlying area. You need a breath of fresh air." She turned to look at him with a scowl on her face. Shaking his head, the man pushed his way out of the tavern, into the shadows of the looming buildings of Arwic.
[p]
She did not breathe until the crisp winter air that blew through the door had passed over her and the feeling of warmth from the hearth returned. "There's something wicked here... Something not quite dead," she mumbled to herself.
[p]
As she placed the goblet on a hanging rack, the wind whistled the cracks in the wooden walls in a cacophony that almost sounded like the suffering of a great beast.
[p]
*****
[p]
It was a thing of legend. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Yet the sharp crack of Earnbil's jaw striking a rock as he fell was enough to tell him that this was no dream. As he tried to scramble back to his feet, he looked behind him. The trees he had just passed were now shaking violently, the low rumble of the shaking ground increasing in intensity and volume. He spat blood as he finally steadied himself and continued his panicked flight.
[p]
The Direlands were dangerous, but nothing like this had ever been seen before. Where had it come from; where had they all come from? About him he heard the shouts of his compatriots as they screamed in horror, fear, panic, or a mindless combination of all three. Clouds shrouded the sun as he saw Matthius try to escape into portalspace, only to fall dead on the ground, a heavy crossbow bolt lodged in his chest.
[p]
A roar tore through the valley and loose rock and snow shook from the tops of the mountains, knocking Earnbil off his feet again. As he desperately clambered to his feet, he chanced one more look behind him. The Tumeroks picking at Matthius' body slunk away into the cover of some nearby brush. Soon after, the trees parted and a tremor shook the ground. It shook Earnbil to his very bones.
[p]
"It can't be, it's impossible," he whimpered. "None have ever seen such since-"
[p]
His words ceased as his body crumpled beneath the weight of a tremendous force.