The Ro-mantis Ruins

[A Nony Mouse]

Ardinne barked at the pair when they emerged from the cave, thankful they were alright. Bending down the scratch the otter behind her ears, Travis whispered that she could leave until he called her again. Rubbing her head against his leg affectionately, she turned and ambled off through the fruit-bearing trees of the orchard.

“We may need her later,” Travis mentioned to Kially, “But for now there’s no sense in putting her in harm’s way.” He stared at the trunk of a nearby tree, the events of the battle finally sinking in. One mantis had nearly been the end of them both. He couldn’t imagine what encounters awaited them in the manor itself. He shivered at the thought and had to summon his courage before turning to his traveling companion.

The ground sloped up gently in the distance and Travis pointed in that direction. “I’d bet the manor is this way. Ready?”

[Kially Gaith]

Shook up by the whole event, Kially found that he was not as eager as moments before had held, instead, he now found himself contemplating just exactly what he was doing. Nothing quite like a large slice up your back to make you reconsider your position. Still, all the same, Kially was not one to back down, an instrument of determination permanently set within his blood and mindset.

With an eased and slower step, Kially moved towards that of the manor, gazing over the large build that loomed in the distance. Outside, the sun continued to shine with golden rays of purity that did not bode well for the cut on his back, the added warmth giving an air of discomfort to his shot and damaged nerve endings, tingling with light pain.

The sky told nothing of what awaited the pair, white masses of fluff floating regardless of what happened below them, Kially stopped moving towards the large building, giving a few seconds to that of the breath taking blue beyond.

[A Nony Mouse]

The pair ascended the hill, spotting the manor as soon as it rose from behind the low crest. Travis grimaced as he saw that the ivy running up its stone walls was dead in most places and that blood left smears on the flagstone near every entrance. These mantises are out of control, the evidence of their destruction was clear and the traveler bemoaned their situation.

As they approached the empty manor, Travis pulled his dehlar short sword free from its place at his belt. Gripping the handle tightly in his hand, the adventurer motioned for Kially to follow him toward a side door. The blood trail here was lighter than at any other of the entrances and Travis assumed that was because the mantises used it less. The farther they could get in without an altercation the better.

“They’ll be bigger,” the red-haired warrior whispered to his diminutive companion. The child nodded, Travis’ statement had been fairly obvious; the closer they got to the source, the larger and more ferocious the beasts would become.

Travis cautiously pushed open the wooden door, the same stench of rotting death greeted his nostrils as in the cave. Holding his last breath of fresh air, the warrior plunged into the manor. Sunlight filtered in through the mostly broken windows, illuminating the vacant hallways and casting eerie shadows.

“Hear any of them coming?” he asked without turning, hoping the boy was following behind.

[Kially Gaith]

Kially ached and limped behind, the small child was already sore from a single one of these almighty beasts, his confidence was rather ruined for the time being and although he continued behind Travis, his eyes darting round his whereabouts rapidly showed that he was wary and nervous at the possibility a further mantis could attack out of nowhere.

“Nuh uh…” Not one, not a single over sized bug could he see, but that really meant nothing and it didn’t help that Travis himself obscured a good part of his vision in front of him, denying him a better gaze into that or the destroyed manor.

It took a while, but the scent of death once again found Kially, causing him to shiver on the spot, turning up his nose like a disgusted kitten. His clothes were dirty, his body sore and his will broken, this was not going to be an easy time. Slowly, he’d edge himself towards the door, he didn’t fear death itself, that meant nothing to him, but he was sure as hell that he’d rather not have his little frame torn limb from limb by the blades of the mantises.

[A Nony Mouse]

They found the staircase leading to the upper halls and begin the ascent. The wide spiral stairs twisted off into the darkness of the forsaken manor and Travis saw that the pictures along the wall had been slashed to shreds. There was still no sign of current activity from the mantises and the silence unnerved the warrior.

“Where are they all?” he wondered in a whisper. Behind him he heard the soft footfalls of Kially as the child began climbing the steps. This was no place for such a young adventurer; Travis regretted bringing the boy along. Just finish things here and get out, he reminded himself.

His foot fell through the air, farther than his previous steps, and soon the redhead found himself tumbling into empty space. A shout escaped his lips and echoed off the nearby wall to rebound across the room. He flailed his arms, grasping the banister as his body twisted to the side. The stairs splintered at the edge of a large hole, effectively sealing off the upper hallways from exploration. Travis hung into the gaping maw of the missing steps; one arm wedged between the spindles of the banister the only thing keeping him alive.

“Kially!” he called into the darkness. He hoped that the boy hadn’t wandered off. He could barely move his arm and soon the blood rushing from the fingers would make holding on that much more difficult. Time was of the essence; there was no telling how far the drop was. Honestly, he didn’t want to find out.

[Kially Gaith]

Treading carefully, Kially had been gazing more into the building than he had focussed on climbing the stairs, thus stopping four steps behind Travis to stare at the oak floor boards below them, sitting carefully onto a step as his eyes looked into the silent dark.

And then, it happened, an almightly crack signified Travis’ sudden misfortune. Kially stood to his feet rapidly, startled, losing his composure and balance in the dark ambience, stumbling a little, falling forwards towards Travis. Grabbing out wildly and without aim, Kially found both arms wrapped around a section of banister, of which the rotted wood quickly crumbled, snapping and falling inwards into the stair case, creating a felled sideways ladder of sorts.

“Ah!” Kially hadn’t been all that vocal and rarely was unless speaking in his own tongue, but this surprise was enough to etch out a gasp of fear as his footing was lost and he lay in a little bundle on the floor, his knee pressed solidly into wood which splinter even at his light weight form, embedding several slivers of wood into his young supple knees, causing a second cry to come out from him, this one being of pain. “Argh! Sunnuvaaaa -!!!”

A tiny amount of blood pooled about the fabric of his pants where the spliter had embedded into his knee, about 2 inches long by a centimetre wide, making him as helpless and as useless as Travis was.

[A Nony Mouse]

Fate used Travis’ young companion well; causing him to create a way for the red-haired warrior to save himself. Ever so carefully, the adventurer grasped the decaying spindles in the section of banister that Kially had knocked over and hauled himself back onto the stairs. When the weight of his body was not resting over the hole in the staircase, he collapsed. Chest heaving, he rolled over and addressed the boy, “We should probably be more careful.”

Despite the near-death experience he had just endured, Travis had to chuckle. Kially’s dumb luck had saved his life. Coincidence? Travis wasn’t sure. “Well, there’s no going up this,” he told the younger traveler. “Do you think we should look for another way up? Or should we look for the basement?”

If the small boy had a preference, that’s where they would head next. The sooner they found the source of the giant mantises, the sooner they could return to the safety of their daily lives. How badly he missed his already.

[Kially Gaith]

Kially currently only had one preference, and that was NOT being in pain and with a large rotten wood splinter stuck in the ball of his knee, that wasn’t happening any time soon, Kially remained sat, not even paying attention to the circumstances that set out before him, instead, tugging slowly at the piece of wood, wincing when it only caused the pain to throb even worse.

“It hurts!” Was his decision, which was neither up nor down but eyes direct just to the place that needed attention first and that was to the dark spot located about his knee, his body quivering violently as adrenaline coursed its’ way through the boys body to ease him and try to numb the pain, to no avail other than making the boy nauseous, dizzy and somewhat sick to the stomach.

The wood was hard and solid beneath the boys buttocks, finding the lad in a great deal of discomfort adding much to the pain of his knee, though his dizziness and sickness also happened to nullify any other feelings other than what had now become a warm tingling about his knee that turned into a stabbing throb if he even attempted to move his right knee.

The stairs were truly beyond repair and had already claimed two victims, Gaia only knows how many more it had in the past.

[A Nony Mouse]

When the boy didn’t really answer, Travis sat up to see what was the matter. A large splinter had pierced the boy’s flesh, looking for all the world like a wooden dagger protruding from his knee. “I can take care of that,” the red-haired traveler stated. Digging in a pouch at his belt, he unearthed a few leaves and a small needle. Rubbing the leaves on the thin metal tip, he laced the needle with their juices before turning his attention to Kially’s knee.

The crushed leaves went around the site of the splinter, their mild toxins quickly absorbed into his bloodstream to take his mind off the pain. “What do you think that picture is?” Travis asked, indicating a mainly intact portrait on the wall. He hoped Kially would be momentarily distracted so that he could yank the splinter.

He took a deep breath and then plunged the needle along the length of the splinter. The juices from the leaves would dull the pain around the wound, letting Travis do what he needed. “On the count of three,” he told his partner. “One, two…” At the end of ‘two’ he tugged mightily one the protruding end of the splinter. Blood flowed freely from the wound, but Travis quickly covered it with a small poultice. The needle slid easily out and then he was done.

“Right as rain,” he smiled as he tossed the used supplies into the hole he had almost fallen in. “Can you put weight on it?” He hoped that the chestnut haired boy was alright; carrying his weight would slow Travis down immensely. While he waited for his companion’s answer, he realized that his first aid supplies were dangerously low. We need to stop getting hurt, he commented. Then with a sigh, he muttered, “If only it were that easy.”