Dunstan caught himself on one knee, and when he looked up, he saw multiple pillars shooting out of the ground. Each was as broad as a school bus, and when they stopped moving, Dunstan realized that they had heads.
Gigantic worms, they appeared to be. Their hulking bodies bristled with visible electricity, and their beady eyes looked straight at him and Reza.
Noticeably, however, they were not attacking. They just remained there, motionless and staring.
Then a voice rang out. “Aha! I knew you would survive! Good job, Dunstan!”
Dunstan squinted as he noticed a figure standing atop the centermost worm. He couldn’t place the voice, but it sounded familiar. He found a full breath of air and called out, “Who are you?!”
“Why, it’s me! It’s your grandpa!” The figure waved a hand, and the worm beneath him knelt down low enough for Dunstan to get a good look.
And Dunstan could hardly believe his eyes. He hadn’t seen that wrinkled face since he was a child, but it hadn’t changed a bit. As little sense as it made to him, there was no doubt about it. This was certainly Damian Rofal before him. His grandfather.
Damian laughed. “Feromas thought my plan would get you killed for sure, but ha! Shows what he knows!”
Dunstan finally found the words. “Grandpa, why are you here?!”
“For you, obviously! I’ve come to get you, my boy! Everyone else was easy to find, but it took months to track you down. You shouldn’t run away from home, you know. Not that I’m complaining. How often do you get to blow up a field marshal’s plane, eh?”
“That was YOUR doing?!”
“Well, yes and no. Abolish might’ve been under the impression that certain precious artifacts were onboard. But anyway! The important thing is that we’re together now! Oh, and is this your reaper? Ah, no, but there are two with you. Which one do you belong to? Regardless, it is lovely to meet them both! I hope they’re nice!”
Dunstan had so many questions that he just reached for the first one he could hold onto. “What the hell are these giant worms?!”
“Oh, don’t worry about them! They’re my buddies! Don’t pet them, though. I know they look nice and squishy, but they’ll zap you.”
‘Mind hurrying this along?’ said Feromas. ‘We’re still in danger, you know.’
“Ah, right. Let’s get out of here, shall we? I’d rather not have to fight that Gargoyle you were with!”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. IT'S DAMIEN! THE MAD OLD MAN WHO MADE A CASTLE OF TEETH AND WHO IS FRIENDS WITH THE TOOTH FAIRY! YAY I LOVE THIS GUY!
ReplyDeleteWell, that might explain how he could completely destroy Moss's body, if he could have integrated with the air to squish them and then grabbed the matter and moved it away. It would be kind of funny if he has the same power as Sanko, especially since they're opposites in so many ways. Or are those just some kind of Undercrust fauna that grew massive without natural shock-proof predators or anyone to explain the Cube-Square law to them? I couldn't really tell from the description if they were made of flesh or stone.
ReplyDeleteI guess whatever they are, they can be soul-strengthened.
Oh dear, I think I just figured out what they are: mutators. I would say that it explains why Damien describes them as "buddies" rather than "pets", but then again he's entertainingly bonkers, and anyway I sometimes call my pets "buddies" and they can't even be trained to eat people. I guess that either way, that electricity is probably soul-empowered which explains the "moving, alive soul net" weirdness.
:^)
ReplyDeleteYay, I've wanted to seen Damian again since, like, forever!
ReplyDeleteAnd, not for the first time, Damien leaves me wondering just how much of Geoffrey's signature style was actually down to his being an Abomination...
ReplyDeleteYes! Sort-of called it with the "Famous Abolish Member". I've seen a previous theory of Damien is Dozer, although the "rather not fight Sanko" line makes me doubt he is, if he was even abolish at all.
ReplyDeleteThen again perhaps he could take her, he just doesn't want to reveal his living form to the world again?
Also "everyone else was easy to find" implies he's gathering people... Considering his family's ties to a reaper lineage, I wonder if he's building towards some sort of super reaper/abomination plan...
Damn Frost and his incredible plot for keeping me in permanent suspense.
It is his family he's gathering.
ReplyDeleteI think they're living creatures because from what we've seen so far interigation users BECOME the earth or whatever they fuse with, and he's riding it. It's very possible that their electricity is natural as well, because think about how Zeff sees his reaper now, the dragon like thing that breaths ice. Supposedly myth, but his reaper says it's possible they were real. So maybe these worms are either rumored like that, or something native to this region and not a myth, it certainly wouldn't be the strangest thing in the series for there to be a non sentient 'animal' that had some kind of elemental advantage.
ReplyDeleteYup. The problem is, that line between "family" and "experiment" he doesn't seem to realise is there. :P
ReplyDeleteA single mutator is possable but multiple choosing the same final appearance and power seems unlikely. I am thinking of the "worms" as fingers on a hand.
ReplyDeleteThe alternative is that he has for a long time soul strengthend creatures so they grew massive rather than their normal small size which would also account for them adapting to the extra power they have and developing their electric based defence/offences.
Also they have eyes. Further lowering the likelyhood of interigation.
ReplyDeleteWith a bit more thought, I'm leaning towards some kind of natural animal, likely native to the Undercrust. My guess is that they are naturally big and scary and have electric fields, but that they were modified with integration to give greater strength and durability and to make the natural current into a soulnet.
ReplyDeleteDozer seems too straightlaced to be someone like Damien. He might be Morgunov, although killing what would be his own disciples casts doubt on that idea. I mean, it does say in so many words that Morgunov is brilliant but insane, and he knows classified Abolish techniques, although then again so does Parson and I'm pretty sure he does have the Vanguard's best interests at heart even if he is sort of betraying them.
ReplyDeleteHe killed Ozmere to keep Abolish from learning that he's alive. They know Morgunov is alive, else they would have chosen a new emperor. I also no longer think he's the Salesman of Death, since the Vanguard also thinks he's dead and Lawrence though of the Salesman as a real, present threat.
ReplyDeleteSeems unlikely, but could it be what geoffrey's minions were supposed to evedntually become? Just spitballin.
ReplyDeleteHey, there's a thought. I was thinking "how is he controlling those? We know he's a servant, not an aberration," but now I remember that he owns the bones of an aberration with Domination, and that servants can use aberration items. I still think these are natural fauna, though.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that they are natural, but modified with integration to make them tough and make their (probably) natural electric fields project a soulnet.
ReplyDeleteEven if he is probably evil, it hard not to want more from the guy with the "magic trick" that involves rabbits, hats and a machete.
ReplyDelete