Hatching #3
Hersean’vha and Flaming Mayhem's clutch
Notice: This story may be gorey and appalling. These are evil creatures. Faint of heart/stomach beware.
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Though Hersean’s eggs had been still and almost cold on the Arena sands for far too long, an abrupt flood of candidates seemed to put life back into them. As the numbers grew, the eggs grew hard and noone doubted that they would indeed hatch.
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It didn’t take Leilani long to notice the wee snake that was hanging around Arx Atra Mons in unusual-for-snakes places. With a quick and snakelike movement of her own, she scooped up the green and yellow fellow, who reflexively curled his length around her arm.
Filthy Biped! A Snake hissed at her.
Leilani laughed. “That’s no way to make friends.” She said, reaching to stroke his wedge head.
Put me down, or I’ll bite you. A Snake hissed again.
”Go ahead.” Leilani said with a grin. “Won’t bother me any. Now why’s a cute guy like you hanging around a place like this?”
A Snake was confused. She wasn’t afraid of snakes? “Stupid Hooman.” A Snake hissed, twisting in her grasp to try to escape her.
”Yes, humans are stupid.” Leilani agreed as her brother L’rec slithered into the room in his Naga form.
”He’s much to young -- and too small -- for you, dear sister.” The half-man half-snake laughed, his voice colored with a snakelike hiss.
”How many of our cousins stick around here, with ravenous Beasts eating everything in sight?” Leilani responded to him, then looked back at A Snake. “You didn’t answer... why are you hanging around here?”
I’m going to bond a Beast. A Snake hissed.
”You? A Candidate?” L’rec said, slipping closer. “They’ll be bigger than you from the moment they hatch, you know.”
I’m going to bond a Beast. A Snake said firmly.
”Conviction. I like that.” Leilani laughed, and set the wee snake around her neck.
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A few hours later, a joyous roar echoed through the Fortress, and beasts everywhere began herding candidates to the Arena. Leilani and her serpentine bond Pythaix delivered A Snake, and others -- Turguin, Syngularity and Teiya -- delivered themselves, the foremost after roasting the small Beast that tried to grab him by assuming his Bluefire elementation. Gazzie brought Agate, at his request. Not that he’d need to borrow winged transport after this.
The smallest eggs -- the Basic level Beasts -- shattered like a precision demolition, sending scores of serpentine forms out onto the sands, none of them more than four feet long. Some turned immediately on their neighbors, and others, sensing the danger the larger, rapidly rocking eggs presented, slithered for their lives. A few made straight for the smallest candidate -- A Snake. The first to arrive was not out to be friendly, and A Snake was soon locked in a kill-or-be-killed circle. Other beasts tried to get in on the A Snake feast, but their companions turned on them -- a slime-mud diamondback and a striped black began tearing their siblings apart. A winged serpent -- a number 3 -- coiled her tail around A Snake and pulled him free from the other, who soon became fodder for his siblings. After a moment, only carcasses and the two defenders remained. The winged female put A Snake down and landed beside him. I am Aethelind. The diamondback is Ophion, and...
Many of the beasts went for Blood Wolfe -- or rather, for his puppy companion, which angered Wolfe to no end. Soon there was a pile of corpses in a half circle around them, and their siblings began to devour them rather than continue the attack on Wolfe and the pup. With the beasts occupied, Wolfe picked up Tracey and moved away from the carnage.
The second wave of beasts broke their shells and fell upon the basics, eating them quickly. A wingless three-header tackled the oil who emerged beside him, and soon they were both coated in the black grit of the arena floor, disguising their markings completely. It surprised a few of the spectators when the ‘smaller’ beast -- for the oil was a #9 -- emerged victorious. He dragged the carcass to a defensible spot and began killing and adding to his horde.
One of the smaller beasts of the Greater set dove into the pile of bodies where Wolfe had been and ate with an undiscerning hunger like a starving wolf. Then, raising his bloody heads, he looked around and then charged towards Wolfe, who leapt in front of Tracey and growled, his hackles raised. The wingless beast slid to a stop, and looked intently at Wolfe with all four of his eyes. I am Dolph! He announced into Wolfe’s mind, and relaxing a bit, Wolfe noticed that the ash-blood beast was marked in a classic lupine way, the blood color standing in for the expected snowy underbelly and legs.
Across the Arena, Teiya laughed in a beautiful and cruel way as a blood dragon with poison points raced around killing and eating beasts in her vicinity.
The third wave burst forth, and amongst them were two beasts with similar markings; a spiral that started on their chests and worked it’s way back. One was ash and smog, and the other poison and black. The other difference between them was the direction of the spiral. The smoggy one’s spiral was clockwise, and the black’s was counterclockwise. It was a little difficult to watch them both move towards the candidates, as their markings had a mezmorizing effect. Calyx laughed as they came to him, delighted.
”You should eat, my friends.” He said to them, and Trissth and Siristh turned upon their siblings and feasted. Up in the gallery, Mai cringed. Not one Beast, but two bloodthirsty viscious things. At least they were ‘only’ duowings.
The only #15 that broke shell didn’t turn on his lesser siblings, but instead tackled larger eggs, broke them open and slaughtered the inhabitants before they had a chance to react. Someone howled that the poison-smog-ash was doing it wrong, but one of the candidates just couldn’t see (or didn’t care) what was wrong with the beast’s actions. Indeed, Arneot had not yet come to Zeramar, but there was already a strong bond between them.
The fourth wave, the Imperial level Beasts, burst forth and turned hungrily upon the Soldiers and Greaters. The slaughter continued until one of them, a bloody ash, turned towards the candidates with death on his mind. It was all beautiful, until his chosen elf-meal suddenly and unexpectedly became a demon. Aihkien howled with laughter as he effortlessly stopped the beast’s charge. “I like you, Vezarin...”
Then you shall be my bond. the duowinged Beast said, coming to stand beside Aihkien, who retained his demon-form much longer than he should have been able to, since the strong energy of the Beast was linked irreversibly with his.
Another Imperial, one marked in poison and and smog and slime as though her hide was patchwork, having sated her birth-hunger for the moment, tackled the blood who’d so amused Teiya, and held it until it submitted to her. Only then did she (with the conquered Greater) go to her chosen. Teiya. It almost tickled when the Beasts bonded to her. I am Majella’tya, and Niosh’zja... Her use of the title was clearly an insult ...has consented to bear you when my magnificence would spoil the game. Teiya laughed.
One of the most precisely marked hatchlings destroyed his siblings, feasting upon them, until his eyes - or at least two of them - landed upon Estiako. Something about him drew the ash-black to him, and as he neared, the Sound God crowed delightedly as the oil and blood markings on the 19’s two-toned hide resolved into the shapes of soundwaves. My name is Gjallar. The beast said, and Estiako laughed again, as if the name were familiar to him, and a great joke.. “Excellent.” he said. “Excellent.”
One of the beauties from Bekirol’s harem who’d been unceremoniously dumped on the sands when the hatching began was faced with a blood Imperial -- three heads, three tails and one set of wings -- who bore bold stripes of oil and poison. “Her name is...” Dana began, and the eyes of the Cyrnan demon fell upon the beast, who died instantly; bloodlessly. Dana recoiled as if she’d been struck. “You killed her!” She raged at the spiky demon.
Morcanat retorted. “She wasn’t worthy of you!” He was being uncommonly possessive of the girl who tended him -- the only one who’d ever survived waking him.
”I hate you!” Dana screamed, and ran from the Arena, into the narrow twisting corridors where the demon could not follow.
Other Beasts immediately set upon the body, and with an angry roar, the Hathydra Vesad Na’carrah leapt towards the body, scattering the smaller beasts and sheltering the fallen one below his body, fending off any new attacks.
An oil beast with slimy points stopped just out of Vesad’s reach. She’s dead. Let them eat her. He said.
”N... N.. NO!” Vesad roared at the small hatchling. “Sh--She w-will N--n--NOT be D--De-----Desss....” Vesad roared angrily in the dead female’s defence and anger at his own stuttering.
Desecrated. The beast finished. Then I will help you. I am Mihaly.
Having Mihaly’s mind bonded to his was a curious sensation, but Vesad did not let it sway him from his vigil.
The fifth wave of beasts fell upon the previous waves, with the exception of one, a large three-headed blood with coal and black bands on one of her necks and on her legs and tails. She was most like her mother, markings-wise, not that her siblings were any less wonderful and fearful to behold. She walked directly to a candidate whose clothing mimiced her colors -- or was it the other way around? At any rate, Calebrindra stood facing the Majestic Beast, and for a few long moments, nothing happened. Then the Beast moved to Cale’s right hand and stayed beside her. Her name was Zenan.
One of the other Beasts from the fifth wave was a black beast marked with red, as if he were a doberman. Suddenly he was lifted from the arena by some unseen force and encapsulated in a crate marked with magic runes that would keep the Beast in a state of suspended animation until the crate was opened, and some words: “Phoenix; Ranch of Doom. Happy Birthday!” Then the crate vanished; presumably teleported to the Ranch where it was addressed. Whoever opened the crate would find a confused beast, still ravenous with his birth hunger. His name, when he finally told it to someone, would be Nasir.
The last of the eggs broke in a spectacular fashion, and from that chaos came the Chaos beasts -- there were only three of them, but that was more than enough. The first to seek a bond, ignoring her birth hunger in order to secure her choice, was split half and half -- her left side was smoggy blue and the right was the silver-black of coal beasts. She approached the pseudo Znorlian, and regarded her solemnly. A smaller beast broke the tableau, attempting to eat Syngularity before the Chaos could bond her, but the two-toned queen lashed out and broke it’s back. I am Azikota. The Chaos said simply as the bond was formed between them. “I am honored, Azikota’kha” Syngularity said, most pleased at the size and power of her newest ally.
Eight black heads on two Beasts regarded the arena. They were the largest Beasts hatched thusfar at Arx Atra Mons -- 29’s.
Finally, the one with the Oily-gold wingsails stepped forward, and found himself greeted by the sand-encrusted oil, who presented his cache of corpses for the Beast’s pleasure. As the Chaos turned to accept this gift, his markings became clear to the spectators and the yet unbonded. Two oil-gold slashes on his flank made his choice inevitable in the eyes of everyone. Agate whooped to the sky, and an unseen viewer, “You like me! You like me!” His joy made him look like he’d gone mad, but Fa and those around her in the gallery felt the joyous contagion.
Near Fa, a bluerider from either Cy Dragonstake or Ryslen grinned from where she lounged against the rail. “Duh?” She laughed quietly. Some would recognise the rider as being Bekirol’s “honored guest” who knew things she shouldn’t know -- much like an author who hadn’t finished writing the story yet.
Agate ran across the sands to embrace his Chaos Beast, who called himself Ezekiela. The smaller beast brushed against Agate, clearing the sand from his flank, revealing the same equals-sign markings in shining black. I’m Ahiezer. He said to Agate, who was the proud bond of not one but two shining Beasts.
All the while, beasts had been attacking Turguin, as they were drawn by his destructive power. The wounds the beasts inflicted were healing rapidly, and the pile of bodies grew. With each death, the Diety’s power was fed. The final Beast to approach the element-shifting HunterCat child of Dark Shadow was huge. His heads shone blackly, but it faded to a roiling blood red in his paws and tails. Around his eyes were red triangular markings, much like Turguin himself sported. He was glorious.
I am Ziddim. The Beast purred, and in the Gallery Dark grinned. Nobody had seen her arrive, but nevertheless she was there.
All of the beasts who were going to bond had now bonded, and as the three Chaos Beasts feasted upon their siblings, the spectators filed out, all of them going to enjoy the lavish feast that Venita, Bekirol’s beautiful wife, had arranged for their guests and the newly bonded.
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A Snake’s Slime-Mud #1 Ophion (M) A Snake’s Black-Blood-Oil #1 Ormand (M) A Snake’s Ash-Coal #3 Aethlind (F) Second Wave:
Third Wave
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Fifth Wave
Final Wave
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last update: 11-10-2006