The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

[40] Beast

Sabec’s wagon sped down the dirt road. The night seemed calm for the slaughter that was sure to come. He wished Tanisha would have made it to the wagon before he was given the signal by his mate to leave. She would have fetched a high price, being the discarded daughter of a noble family. Bjorn was the real trophy, though, and he was happy to have such a prize. All that was left for his mate was to kill Tanisha and break the familiar bond between the two. 

The open grassland was quickly swallowed by dark forest. The light of a lantern off the path waved back and forth, signaling the gnoll to stop. The horses whinied their relief when Sabec brought his cart to a halt. He smiled as several familiar faces walked out of the shadows. A pack of gnoll males, all of them dressed in fine merchant robes, cheering a job well done.

Sabec turned his wagon off the main road, following the cheering group to a campsite hidden in the brush. Six other identical wagons and several carriages and carts lined a small clearing. The campsite was large and no space went unused. There were stolen goods, empty cages for captives, and large tents for long term inhabitation. An older gnoll jumped up onto Sabec’s box seat.

“You did well, Sabec. Now show Deit the hydra,” the older gnoll said. “We must place the collar on it before it wakes up.” He raised a thick iron collar covered in runes into the air so everyone could see. “Then we drink to the return of Losi's mate and to a good hunt, yes?”

Everyone howled and cheered. Once the wendigo were dead they would have a rakshasa slave, not to mention many goods and riches from the caravan and the refugees. If Losi didn’t kill them all they would even have wendigo slaves of decent quality to sell or use. Bjorn was first, his unconsciousness had made him easy to capture but should he wake the collar would seal any magic. 

Sabec stood up and led the older man inside. “You are right, but be careful of its jaws. It is venomous, hmm?”

“Ruz, Mekorr and Irot, help Sabec carry him out once the collar is placed.” Sabec yelled so they could hear him.

Three gnolls walked around to the back of the wagon and lowered the tailgate. They climbed in as the old gnoll and Sabec walked around the unconscious Bjorn. Sabec grabbed Bjorn’s middle head by the antlers and lifted it up to expose his neck.

“Does it matter which head, Deit?” Sabec asked.

The older gnoll whispered a spell, and the inscriptions on the collar began to glow with a soft light. It then clicked and popped open. The other gnolls all piled around them to get a good look at the unusual three-headed creature.

“No,” Deit said with a smile as he placed the collar on Bjorn. “It is done. Now let us take it and celebrate.”

Bjorn’s eyes shot open as soon as the collar was placed on him. His heads came to life and snapped at everyone close to him. Sabec threw Bjorn back just in time to keep himself and Deit from being bit. Bjorn’s middle head immediately started spewing out black maya. All he felt was anger, his mind lost to instinct and corrupted by the energy of the Infernal Planes. 

Error: Skill Not Found
Maya Cost: ???
The energies of the Infernal Planes escape from your mouth uncontrollably. An entity from the Higher Planes has connected directly to you.

“Bjorn, Bjorn you're finally awake,” Failsafe said in Bjorn’s head to no response. “Hey, can you hear me?”

Bjorn was not home. The infernal energies had uncontested control of his body and reason while his magic core was sealed by the collar. Scales once again started shedding as he continued to grow larger. Each of his heads locked on the gnolls around him as he bared his teeth. The hydra was far more threatening now thanks to his increasing size.

Sabec took an uneasy step forward. “Bjorn, it is Sabec, do you not remember? Sabec will take you to Tanisha, yes?” 

Bjorn’s right and left heads began to breathe in the maya that poured from the middle like a fountain.

Error: Skill Not Found
Maya Cost: ???
Supplement your breath attacks with the power of the Infernal Planes. Breathe in the maya and let it fuel you. An entity from the Higher Planes has connected directly to you.

“He can’t use magic, yes? Sabec question. 

“We need to get out of here now,” Deit responded as the group ran out of the wagon.

A black flame erupted from Bjorn’s left head; it was crackling with infernal power as it concentrated into a plume that incinerated the back end of  the wagon. Fire continued out like a wave, crashing into the forest and much of their camp. Remains of the wagon were covered in flames too tall to see if Bjorn had survived. 

Deit and one other gnoll were caught in the flame as Sabec pushed them out of his way to escape. The black flames quickly spread light; an oxymoron to its dark appearance. The flame’s unusual properties washed everything in monochrome as the black fire continued to spread uncontrolled. Magic fire wouldn’t normally spread like this, but this wasn’t magic, this was something far darker.

Deit and the other gnoll managed to pull themselves from the fire, only to start throwing up blood moments later. Their skin rotted and boiled even after the fire on them was extinguished. In seconds Deit was dead and the other gnoll was no better off.  

Error: Skill Not Found
Maya Cost: ???
The maya courses through your every muscle. Enchant your claws with the venom infused with the breath of the Infernal Planes.

Bjorn jumped from the shadowy fire and tackled an unsuspecting gnoll, who was too distracted by his injured friend and dead comrade to evade. Bjorn’s heads bit the man over and over, delivering lethal doses of venom. Meanwhile, his claws were enchanted with an infernal variant of his poison scratch. It wasn’t needed, but in his mindless state all he wanted was to kill; efficiency be damned.

“Everyone! Get your weapons!” Sabec screamed.

Bjorn’s left head released a gas that expanded rapidly; Sabec and the two other surviving gnolls had to run to escape the radius. One gnoll tripped and was enveloped in the ominous gas. His screams told of an agonizing but short death as they were silenced by the sound of crunching and the tearing of flesh. Bjorn had gotten to him before the gas could do its job. 

Sabec looked over the camp from the edges of the gas. Everyone was dead, and the camp was almost entirely on fire or covered in the gas. There was no way to get to their weapons; the only option was to flee and hope they were faster than the beast they unleashed. Sabec saw one of Bjorn’s heads lift up over the gas; its mouth still exhaling thick maya as it locked eyes with him.

Sabec and the other gnoll turned and ran in complete terror. There was nothing they could do, and if they stayed they would die. Sabec split off from his pack mate, outrunning him and going in a different direction to make himself a less appealing target for the beastly familiar.

“Bjorn, buddy, listen to me,” Failsafe said in Bjorn’s mind. “You got to get a hold of yourself. I think we are killing Sabec’s family here, man. I don’t think we should be doing that because he is a good guy, remember?”

Bjorn only continued to rip and tear at the dead gnoll beneath him. His left and right heads continued to breathe in the maya that poured endlessly from the middle head. It only seemed to fuel his growth and his anger. Bjorn suddenly fell off the corpse and writhed on the ground in pain as he rapidly grew in size again.

“Bjorn, if you don’t stop, this is going to kill us.” Failsafe pleaded this time. “Your magic core can’t take the strain. I’m having to force your body to mature with Infernal Plane energies. I have no idea what this is going to do to us. Bjorn, stop for the love of the Higher Planes.”

After ten minutes the scales reformed. Bjorn got back up, now as large as one of the horses that pulled Sabec’s wagons. As his left and right heads tasted the air for more prey, he turned and ran. His motion started off rough as he got used to his new size and weight. Instinct took over, and his berserker rage refused to let him quit as he chased down the first of his prey. 

In moments a gnoll in blue garb came into view. He turned around at the last second and attempted to put his hand up in self-defense. He clawed Bjorn and even managed to prevent the hydra’s first strike from landing. However, he failed to stop the second and third heads from biting into him with ease. Bjorn tore the gnoll to pieces, his venom not having a chance to act before his prey was little more than gore and bone.

There was only one gnoll left now. Sabec was much faster than the other. Bjorn readied himself for the chase when he felt Tanisha's distress through their bond. She was in danger, and instinct mixed with the familiar contract told him he had to go and protect her. He had to kill her enemies; he needed to rip and tear. He turned in the direction the bond led him and started running.

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