Ecency: Mortis
Greetings all.
What a week. It couldn't possibly have been longer! I hope you are all well. Here is the continuation of Mortis Custos from Part 36 written by @zakludick earlier in the week.
Seems we have some new companions, What will they bring to the story?
“Wait!” screamed Magna.
Adiran paused, he wanted to yell at the girl, but then he saw the tears running down her cheeks.
“My armour, please. It is all I have left of my dad.” She begged.
Mortis fell back toward the camp, but the hulking figure of Gorox held a hand up. He seemed to be struggling with some internal battle before he asked the purple-robed priest, “Noxus, do you have any magic left?”
“Barely.” Muttered the mage.
Gorox turned to Mortis with a sneer. “You are an unholy abomination.”
He then looked to the rest of the unlikely group before snorting and grinning, “But I have never seen a ‘child of the forest’, a damsel, a mage, and a harpy work together with one such as yourself.”
He nodded to the mage and said, “Carry what equipment is left in their camp.”
“If I do that then…”
“I’ll carry you if you run out of power.”
Behind them, where the crystals were just starting to jut from the ground a rumbling started to happen again. The mage rolled her eyes and muttered a spell and waved her last remaining arm. The equipment lifted and slowly came toward her. The armoured woman didn’t look impressed and stared daggers at the hulking man.
“Do you have a different suggestion Kern?” he demanded.
She opened her mouth to give her opinion, but Adiran roared, “We are leaving now!”
His head ached, but he muttered a spell under his breath, and a sigil appeared behind them.
“That will only buy us a day.” Said Helga.
“It is all I have strength for.” He muttered as they continued to run.
By the time the new group could get some rest, the sun was starting to breach the horizon, and they were all exhausted. As soon as Adiran deemed it safe, he allowed Helga to sit down on a rock to catch her breath. He then turned to the three newest members and uttered one word, “Come!”
Noxus, who had to be carried by Gorox the last hour, was placed on her feet before she lowered what gear she had brought with her. Then together with the hulking warrior and Kern, the three followed Adiran as he left the remaining group to recover.
Magna struggled to release the fists full of white fur she had clung to. For the last hour, she had been fighting to remain conscious and she was failing. As her eyes started to droop, she felt hands untangle her fingers from Derric’s fur.
Careful. She isn’t well.
She knew it was Mortis who then lifted her from the wolf before laying her on a bedroll.
She needs to eat.
“Most of our supplies are gone, and…”
A loud squawk of surprise escaped Helga’s mouth when Mortis lifted his helm before he started preparing camp. However, Helga had lived far longer than what should have been her natural lifespan, and she knew she would keep living if she watched rather than stating the obvious. Once the revenant had made a fire, he dragged Magna closer to the fire and removed one of the gauntlets from his hand. He then laid it on her head; the girl barely moved.
“She is badly injured.” Said Helga.
“The Gallopod caught her with a tentacle and threw her against the crystals. There is only so much I can do with what power I have left.”
Derric whined and came to lie next to Magna.
Magna.
“She has lost too much blood, and the injury in her neck…wait, did you…” Helga reeled at the realisation.
“My abilities come from blood, yes. She is God-touched, I knew she would be pure. It was the only way. I could feel I was losing myself the longer I was without blood.” Mortis’ mummified face showed no emotions, “I cannot heal, but I can return some of the magic which was once inside of her. It is all I can do. I lost control. I shouldn’t have lost control.”
We would have died if you hadn’t.
Derric lay as tightly to Magna as he could without smothering her.
Take my blood. Help her!
“I couldn’t remove all the crystals within your scapula, Derric.” The knight shook his head. “I can’t risk swallowing them without knowing what they are. I barely have control as a sentient undead as it is.”
The wolf whined once more and lay his chin on the now sleeping Magna. Helga, now having rested enough, came to squat next to the sleeping child. Her flushed cheeks showed the fever, which the harpy knew would claim her life if they didn’t find a healer soon.
“Well,” she started. “The first thing you need to do is apply some fresh bandages. Let’s scour the packs of our new companions. Maybe they will have something to help us.”
“Drag her armour closer. She finds comfort in it being near.” Said the knight softly as his shrivelled hand started stroking the sleeping girl’s head.
“Why was she without it?”
Too heavy, too tired.
Derric’s eyes were starting to close too. He was exhausted.
“Once I came back to my senses, and the Gallopod lay dead, I treated these two as well as I could. I had Derric stand watch over Magna while I went in search of her armour. Once I had all the pieces, we moved away from the crystals until I felt we would be safe. She was so pale, barely breathing. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Removed his armour, wrapped her in a bedroll and just held her. Like a baby.
“You may have to ask Adiran to help with this later, or she may not recover. She didn’t just lose a lot of blood, but she has broken bones, cuts, and bruises. She needs to rest.”
“I never wanted this.” Spat Mortis. “I was resting comfortably and now I am here.”
“Look buddy, this world has been topsy turvy for a while. Just be glad you kept your sentience. Now release her and help me go through what equipment we do have.”
“What were you three thinking!” roared Adiran as he stared down the three young humans.
The three remained silent but did give each other sideways glances.
“You lost your fourth! You should have returned. Why are you still in this realm?”
“Our exit closed.” Said Gorox.
“There was a ripple as if a door had been slammed open and then closed.” Confirmed Noxus.
“When we returned to where we had entered, the doorway was gone.” Added Kern.
That was when Adiran realised the reason they couldn’t leave was that the doorway had been destroyed when he and his group had run through it in desperation. He swore under his breath and pinched his nose bridge before saying, “That would me my companions’ and I’s error.”
“Are we stuck here?” demanded Noxus.
“It would seem so for the time being.” Muttered Adiran.
For a second, I want all of you picturing an adult yelling at a kid for doing something then realising they were the one who made the mistake. That look on their face is what Adiran has on his face right now.
I hope you enjoyed the update. More on Monday/Tuesday by Zak.
Here is an explanation of Chain Stories and here is the current Chainstory Library
Mortis Custos Parts
| by @lex-zaiya | by @zakludick |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | Part 2 |
| Part 3 | Part 4 |
| Part 5 | Part 6 |
| Part 7 | Part 8 |
| Part 9 | Part 10 |
| Part 11 | Part 12 |
| Part 13 | Part 14 |
| Part 15 | Part 16 |
| Part 17 | Part 18 |
| Part 19 | Part 20 |
| Part 21 | Part 22 |
| Part 23 | Part 24 |
| Part 25 | Part 26 |
| Part 27 | Part 28 |
| Part 29 | Part 30 |
| Part 31 | Part 32 |
| Part 33 | Part 34 |
| Part 35 | Part 36 |
| Part 37 - You are Here | Part 38 - Coming Soon |
The Reader List
If you would like to be tagged in every episode of Mortis Custos, leave us a comment and get added in, miss nothing!
Right now I will add people who have been keeping an eye on this series:
@weone, @merenludick, @clairemobey, @therneau, @blitzzzz, @pravesho, @joetunex, @captainquack22, @irisworld, @braaiboy, @sketchygamerguy, @fuego-oscuro, @felt.buzz, @dibblers.dabs, @beeber, @brittandjosie, @tamacvet, @thinkrdotexe, @alonicus, @joetunex, @stdd, @uop, @luizeba, @cryptoniusrex, @agreste, @itzchemaya