Endless darkened sands stretched around the Vishashi and John, it almost seemed like the dark itself was trying to strangle out what little light they had. John looked at Arnimos, he had fallen unconscious after the use of his Dichotomies. Moving through Night with only 2 lanterns was dangerous enough, doing it with an unconscious man in tow was an even worse idea. He glanced back at the Vishashi.
"What are we going to do now?" John said.
"We must find a safe place to hole up for until the sun comes back," The Vishashi said.
"Then let's hope we find it before any of Night's creatures find us," John said.
They continued trudging through the desert, John swore he could see faint movement in the dark just beyond the light of their lanterns. He wanted to reach for his revolvers but he both didn't have them and he was carrying Arnimos, it would be impossible to fight in this state. As they crested another dune they caught sight of lights in the dark, they saw a small collection of buildings surrounded by a wall with a few lanterns. Safety, perhaps. John didn't trust it, he looked back at the Vishashi. The Vishashi shot him a look, they had to try it.
The descended the dune and approached the gate, it was ajar with parts of it splintered and bashed open. John looked back at the Vishashi again, he held a grim expression.
"It may be dangerous but we must," The Vishashi said. "Let me take the lead, I'll use my Dichotomy if things get messy,"
John nodded and let the Vishashi pass in front of him, the Vishashi held their hand up ready to strike as small amounts of sand began to swirl. Neither of them had any DE stored up due to the Fearstone so they'd have to produce some if they wanted to use their Dichotomies.
As they passed through the gate and arrived in the courtyard they got a better look at the buildings. There were 5 of them and a well at the center, two on the right looked like storehouses, one in the middle looked like the main residence and the 2 on the left seemed like a small workshop and a guest building. The whole compound was deathly quiet and the lanterns around it flickered.
"Let's start on the left then make our way around," John said. "Then we'll see if we can find something to block the gate,"
"Agreed," The Vishashi said.
The Vishashi and John stepped first towards the guest house and pushed open the door. It was a small 3 room building that looked like no one had been inside it for weeks. There was a bedroom with a large bed that dominated most of the space, a common area with tables and chairs laid out and a tucked away kitchen with pots and pans set out for cooking but they were completely empty. A thin layer of sand covered the entire house as they moved through. The Vishashi stopped at a rug in the common room and crouched down to get a better look.
"What ya seein'?" John said.
"This is Sandwalker craftsmanship," The Vishashi said. "This might be some form of trade post,"
"Didn't see any flags though," John said. "So it's not one of the Empire's,"
"Indeed," The Vishashi said. "We'll need to check the main residence to be sure,"
"Let's go through that workshop first," John said. "Pick up something that can be used as a weapon there,"
The Vishashi nodded and the three left the guest house. They took a short walk and entered the workshop. It was a compact single room building, it had various tables and tools laid about and looked to mainly be for maintenance rather than building things. Around it were various tools like shovels and the like but, importantly to them, they saw a single sword. The Vishashi picked it up and examined it.
"Sandwalker craftsmanship," The Vishashi said. "Strange, most Imal do not sell their work to outsiders,"
"Does that really matter right now?" John said. "Do you know how to use it?"
"I was Kalach before I became Vishashi," The Vishashi said. "I know the basics,"
"Better than nothing," John said.
John glanced around the workshop, it seemed undamaged and safe.
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"I think I'll leave Arnimos here while we clear out the compound," John said. "That good with you?"
"I do not wish to leave him alone," The Vishashi said. "But i fear we must,"
John placed Arnimos carefully on the ground and picked up a shovel that was hanging on the wall.
"We'll come back and grab him once it's safe," John said, then glanced at Arnimos. "You did good, we'll get you the best bed in the house,"
"Let's go quickly," The Vishashi said. "We have no time to waste,"
John nodded and the 2 headed towards the main residence. It was a large 2 story building with fine crafted double doors at the entrance that were sitting open, they glanced at each other before slowly stepping in. They entered a large living room that was in shambles, chairs and tables were overturned and a large couch at the center had gashes across it. Most importantly though was the blood which stained the floor, it was still a bright red. Fresh.
"Looks like we got something here with us," John said.
"Let's hope its left by now," The Vishashi said.
As they spoke they then heard a faint crunching sound, they both turned towards the sound and it appeared to be coming from upstairs. The Vishashi stepped forward but John put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's find out what room it's in," John said. "Then you hit it form below with your sand,"
"That is... A good idea," The Vishashi said.
They slowly and silently crept through the ground floor of the house, checking bathrooms, the kitchen, the dining room and a pantry until they found themselves in another common room with the faint sound crunching seeming to come from the room directly above them. They slowly moved around to figure out the exact location then John stood off to one side while the Vishashi stood opposite. The Vishashi closed his eyes and focused, and sand began to swirl around him. He furrowed his brow focusing more as multiple blades of sand formed, John focused his mind inwards and prodded his Dichotomy forcing it to lash at him and produce energy. As one last blade of sand formed, the Vishashi put out his hand and they shot forward, the volley of them sliced upwards through the floor towards whatever was making the noise.
A horrid screech resounded at the blades sliced through the stone and the part of the floor the creature was standing on gave way. Something horrible thudded into the ground between the two, it was no larger than a dog with a body made of hundreds of writhing tendrils that dripped inky black. Its form was covered in cuts that seemed to close themselves but also slightly shrunk the creature. It had a deer's head with holes for eyes that seemed to endless leak black mist-like tears.
John stepped forward and swung the shovel while the Vishashi raised a hand and sand began to coalesce. Tendrils unwound from the creature's body and whipped out. 2 cut across John's chest and 4 struck the Vishashi in the arms and legs. John coughed up a small amount of blood and brought the shovel down, it made a dull thud and slightly sunk into the creature. It was a Fear Manifested Creature, conventional weapons wouldn't do much. They could kill it, if they had a lot more men with them.
The Vishashi fell to one knee as the creature whipped another tendril at him, he raised a hand just in time to take the blow. His hand soared off, if he hadn't blocked it it would have been his head. His Dichotomies flared to life with the injury, he could survive more than this but too much damage in his current state and he couldn't use any of his Skills. The Vishashi blasted the gathered sand at the creature, it wasn't as effective at cutting as the blade but it still did damage.
John saw as the creature was pelted by a blast of sand, he took this chance. He dropped the shovel and focused the DE he had gathered into his body. In an instant it felt light, faster, stronger. He raised a foot then stomped down, it slammed the creature into the ground. He then brought back his hand but a tendril unwound and shot out, he tried to bring his arm down but nothing listened. As he looked over he saw his arm on the floor a few feet away.
The Vishashi saw as John's arm soared off and raised his remaining hand, this was too much for them without any Fear-Made Weapons or much DE to work with. He'd have to end this immediately. He focused inwards and wrapped his mind's eye around his Taniberas Dichotomy as energy began to pour into it, he'd need his Taniberas Ultimate. 'Ultimate' The Vishashi thought, 'Lord Of The Sands.'
John jumped back as the creature took his arm off then he looked over at the Vishashi, his eyes were a deep purple and he could see sand pouring out from his body. He felt he needed to move. John dove to the side and grabbed his severed arm, once he had some DE he could reattach it. Just as he landed the Vishashi exploded with energy and the sand around him began to float. A moment later a torrent of sand shot at high-pressure eviscerated the creature and blasted through the wall of the house behind it. John closed his eyes as sand whipped around the room until it all seemed to stop upon which he opened one eye.
He saw the Vishashi lying against the wall catching his breath as his flesh began to knit itself back together. John put his severed arm up to the stump and poured DE into it, for a moment the stump and his disconnected arm turned to water before they merged back together. John stumbled over to the Vishashi.
"Good work there," John said, extending a hand to him. "That was a real damn nightmare of an enemy,"
"Agreed," The Vishashi said as he took John's hand. "I say we stay in the guest house tonight,"
"Sounds like a good plan," John said.
John pulled him up and braced him as he nearly stumbled, the two made their way out of the house and towards the workshop. They grabbed Arnimos and brought him along as they went to the guest house and got set up. Hopefully the coming days would be less action-packed, Lord Author knows they need it.
