A tale from Crossroads

The air tasted like despair,fear and Bacon.

Things with no name skittered and crawled about.

The night Clung to the sides of walls like a Lover.

Somewhere a dog barked, somewhere a Woman Screamed, somewhere something ancient stirred.

In other words it was a normal morning in CROSROADS.

Crossroads, if the World had a center, then this was the Town farthest from it. It was a town of last chances and lost souls. The final stop before the WASTELAND.

No one came to CROSRAODES because they wanted to, they came because they had no where else to go. Some came to prove them selves, some to escape them selves. Some came to hide, others to seek, and some came because they had herd the call of the Lost god demanding they come east. East, always east. They came to this place, some stayed, some kept going, many died.

It was the way of things.

She had come to CROSROADES because no place else would have her, the body of an Eight year old, the mind of a genius and the soul of, well that’s the thing isn’t it. If MELODY DRAC had a soul it was not wholly hers, she shared part of it with the Thing. She had not been born, more like made. An instrument to bring about the Apocalypse, destined for great and horrible things. Yet when the time came, the elder chaos that had molded her changed it's mine.

Basically immortal, forever trapped in the body of an eight Year old Girl. She had wandered the world, her moment of destiny long past and thus, she found her self just another inhabitant of Crossroads. No longer special, just there to spend the rest of her time on this world doing.....

“Anything, just give me something to do! Mallik.”

“What do you think I have for you to do Little God?”

“I don't know, just anything. It's been so dull around hear lately and you always seem to have a bit of trouble that needs doing.”

The burly blacksmith took a moment to glance at the Small Child standing in his Shack of a Shop. On the Surface she appeared to just be an Eight year old girl with Black Pigtails, pale skin in a cute dress. It was only when you looked in her Black Eyes that you saw a glimmer of the terror she almost was.

“I don't what you expect of me, I am just a Blacksmith.”

She stamped her foot.

“Your no more Blacksmith then I am a School Girl. I'm Bored!”

“Your always Bored Little god, we had this talk a week ago.”

“Yes and you gave me something to do”

“If you mean the matter with the Hanged man and the Missing River pearls, I only suggested you might look in the hut of Ol' Mama Grim.”

“Yes, see and that was exciting. I had to fight a Naga, it had huge teeth Bit a hole in me the Size of a human fist. Bleed for hours.”

“You seem fine to me.”

“I heal fast and bore quickly, I cant help it. Its how I was made. Come On Mallik, I know you have something. It's so bloody hot this season and no one wants to play with me.”

“Maybe they do not like the way you Play?”

“That was One time and the Goblins got the Green fire out, eventually”

“It burnt for Three days.”
“I said eventually Look, ill sweep up the shavings that’s how bored I am.”

She moved towards the Broom hanging from his wall, knowing full well that the Burly Blacksmith could not stand any one cleaning his Shop but him.

“Fine, fine. I did hear one thing.”

She almost quivered with anticipation, and to say the Blacksmith did not take some degree of pleasure in his ability to manipulate her would be a lie.

“You know Qwelip, the Ogre guide?”

“Of course I do.”

“He's late coming back from his last run.”

“How late?”

“Day, maybe to. Istavan is going to be angry.”

There are those who still believe that beyond the Waste was a Ancient land of great beauty and even greater Wealth .Year after Year a handful of Brave and often foolish Adventures would come to Crossroads seeking a way to reach that land so as to claim there share of its fabled Wonder.
Qwelip the Ogre was one of the few beings who “Claimed “ to know the way to this fabled land and would offer his Strength and Skill as Guide and Guard to any One willing to pay his Price. He had never failed to return from his Voyages, the same could not always be said about those he traveled with.

A few weeks Ago, Istavan had trusted Qwelip with a mission in to the Waste, what it was no one had dared to ask. There were several reason why this was Interesting to Melody Drac, first off anything powerful enough in the Waste to slow down or even-God's forbid-kill an Ogre was a threat not to be taken lightly, but far worse then that was if Qwelip was late, then Istavan would be mad. Istavan being mad was never a good thing, most if not all the Inhabitants of Crossroads avoided the Old Lich Istavan if they could out of Fear and respect. It was Istavan's power that often kept the City safe from the things in the Wasteland.

“So, if I could find out what happened to Qwelip, then Istavan would be in my debt?”

“I never said such a thing, simply told you what I herd.”

Melody Drac flashed a smile and went running off, the blacksmith went back to his work happy in the knowledge that he had once again manged to manipulate the her.

Melody began her quest at the Home of Qwelip in an attempt to search for Clues to where the Ogre had gone and what the mission had been.

Home is not quite the right word for it, it was more like it was a Large box made out of Iron, Spikes and the Skulls of slain enemies The Iron Hut of Qwelip One of the few buildings in Crossroads Melody had yet to sneak in to, so she took double joy in ransacking the Home, and if a few of the Ogres possessions fell in to her Pockets? Well it was his fault for not guarding them better.

Ten Minutes latter, she surveyed the devastation she had caused to the interior of the iron hut and stamped her foot in frustration.

“Nothing, not a darn clue.”

She was down but not out, she knew that the Ogre always got his provisions for his Journey from Rodger, one of the Towns resident Traders.

Slamming the door behind her she walked to the Shop, as she did she sniffed the air. It smelled the way it always did, of Misery and Death.

Sometimes she missed the Tropical Breezes and Sunlight of the place she had been “born”. Sadly she could never return to that place, they still had not forgiven her for the “Green Fire Incident.”

Rodger was a Muleskinner by Trade. He was one of the only places to acquire Beasts of Burden this far north and somehow always had a healthy stock of Donkeys and Mules on hand. Like all of the other Buildings in Crossroads his Stable was a cobbled together structure made out of whatever materials the builders could find at the time. The stench of hay and Animals assaulted her nose as she stepped under the awning to speak to Rodger.

Rodger was a thin, dark skinned human with long stringy hair and beard. Rumor had it that his reasons for coming to Crossroads had something to do with an unhappy marriage ? It did not pay to ask people there past's in this Forsaken place and Melody frankly did not care.

“Qwelip is missing, I need to find him! Where did he go?”

“Hello to you to, you strange Little girl. Tell me, how is it you always have the same dress on and it is never dirty?”

“I don't ask you your secrets, you don't ask mine! The Ogre, where did he go?”

“Why would I know?”

“Qwelip always got his supply’s and Donkeys from you before he set out, so you must have an idea?”

“Well I assume he went the same way he always goes. Taking the old Spice road north to the Pale temple , then east to Volsak and across the Mountains”

“He's never been late before, he should have been back two days ago? You must have some idea what was different this time?”

The thin man rubbed his beard and thought

“Well come to think of it,he did take an extra donkey and two coils of Rope instead of one. “

“And?”

“Oh, and Three pairs of Slave Chains, Weird thing to ask for.”

“No, I can think of a lot of reasons to ask for Slave chains. Holding someone against there will being Number one.”

“Well that’s all I know, try the old Spice road. If there are signs of him anywhere, it would be there”

“I'll give it a look. Thanks.”

“Will you be wanting a Mule then, traveling Supply’s, food?”

“Nope.”

“It takes 2 days to get to the Pale Temple, three if the Fog is in. You just a Little whip of a thing! You will need supply’s”

A look of anger came across her face.

“No, no I wont.”

She turned and walked out.

As it turned out, despite looking like a Child, Melody was not in any way shape or forum a Human child. Her Aberrant origins granted her many strange Blessings, such as not needing to eat or drink. She could consume food and had quite a fondness for Limes, but she did not need to. Also she hardly ever slept, she could go days with out needing to rest. Walking from Crossroads to the Pale Temple was no more a burden to her then walking down the Block was.

The wasteland was the home of a multitude of Beasts both Fantastic and Horrid, any one foolish enough to travel this Nightmare realm would do so With good Armor and a sharp Blade.

Melody Drac took nothing with her but for the cloths on her back, a lantern for when it got dark, SA few bits of food in a basket and a Knife. Many a Savage eye watched her as she walked down the Old Spice Road but none chose to attack the child. Perhaps the sensed the Dark malevolence that lived within her?

The Old Spice Road was nothing but a few cobblestones lain into the Harsh Desert Sand, perhaps once they stretched across this place like a Shining path leading to the fabled Exotic Ports far to the North, who knew. Now they were just another strange sight in the Wasteland.

Harsh winds and biting sand waged a war with the small frame of the child as she trudged across the land, driven by her restless boredom she kept going where a wiser soul might seek shelter.

Eventually as the Afternoon became dusk, Melody had to admit it might be good to did in and wait out the wind. It's not like she was expected anywhere.

Seeking shelter she left the road and found the Shelton of what might have been a Dwelling of some type, 2 Bare stone walls and the remains of a roof were enough for her. She hunkered down in the Safety of the Corner, threw a hood over her head and waited.

As night fell and the Wind showed no sign of Stopping, she lit her lantern. Took a Lime out of her basket and began to snack on the Sour Fruit. It reminded her of Home, that strange island where she had been born. The Fated Chosen on to bring about the end of all things. She had been a princes then, worship by those who would see the end of all things. Madness was her plaything, then when the appointed time came and went and the realization that her Creator, apparently had Changed it's mind.

There was Little use for a Avatar when the God fails to show and her followers quickly fled, seeking new evils to worship.

Alone, she wandered the Streets of that town, wallowing in all it had to offer. She loved the Ocean and the salty air, the firelight, the laughter. The Boats, gods how she loved the Boats. She was alone and alive, the child of Chaos surrounded by Infinite Chaotic Possibility

Then she had to go get involved with the Goblins and the Whole Green fire thing.

She missed the Ocean, but somehow she had found a new home in Crossroads, the place where you go when you have no place else to go. She had found employment of a sort, letting her eternal curiosity and boredom drive her to one strange Adventure after another. It was a purpose of sorts. Perhaps someday, maybe in a Decade or Two she would find her way Back to that island but for now.

So lost she was in her Memories of her past, she did not hear the thing till it wandered in to the flickering of her lamp.

It appeared to be a Child, smaller then her. Nothing but Rags hanging off its thin forum, but its Evil toothless Grim and foul smell told her it was no child.

“Ghoul! Get they gone. You will find no sustenance here this night!”

The Undead child thing just moved towards her, drooling with hunger. It was fast and stronger then it's small frame should be and the stench was foul enough to render a normal human week with nausea.

Melody Drac, was of course no ordinary Human.

In a split second she was on one end of the Ruin, the Ghoul the other. Then in a Blink of an eye, she was behind the Undead Abomination, holding it's decapitated head.

Dark Goo dripped off her Knife, the corpse fell and she tossed the Head in to the Night.

She flicked her knife clean and walked over to the remains. Kicking them with her feet.

“Hum, these rags look familiar?”I know I have seen that blue before?”

She spoke to no one but herself and the wind, but sometimes it was ok to think out loud yes?

The rest of the Night passed uneventfully and She huddled in her corner and fell into what passed for Sleep for her, random images flashed before her minds eye. Sometime during her “rest” a small Hell Hound came in to the ruin seeking shelter and sustenance, she paid the Dog Like thing no mind as it devoured the corpse of the Undead Child.

Dim light woke her and she stretched, devoured a Hard boiled egg from her basket and began her Quest anew. Perhaps sensing a free meal and a fellow lost soul, the Hell Hound bounced along behind her. To anyone seeing this, the Image of 8 Year old Girl and her Puppy walking along in the Wasteland might seem ridicules.

What was known of the Pale Temple was part rumor , part tall tale and part history. The Bone White Ruin now acted as a land mark to those walking the Waste, and story’s of Treasure still locked away inside its Shape occasionally led to an Tomb Robber to explore it.

The Story goes that it was Once a True Holly place, a bastion of Light and Hope where mighty Paladins and Knights camped before taking there Holly Quest into the Waste to battle the Evil there.

Perhaps that was true, if so it was long ago. Now it was just another haunted ruin in the Waste.

Melody and her new companion arrived at the Pale Temple around 10 AM. She stood on a Dune watching it while the Hell Hound playfully chased Scorpions. She saw no signs of habitation?

“Hum?”

Strangely enough she had yet to visit the Pale Temple so she was enjoying the new Sights and Smells of the ruins. Her Black Eyes scanned the area, but still she saw no signs of any one passing this way.

An Ogre would leave a trail, they were just to large not to. Even One as familiar with the Waste as her Quarry,. There should be some sign, smoke, the smell of cooked meat. Anything?

There was nothing.

She steeped into the Shadow of the Pale Temple and the Smell hit her like a hammer!

Its Foulness, its wrongness assaulted her and she felt dizzy for a second, it was a sensation she had not felt in quite a while. She did not like it.

“Ghouls, a lot of them!”

Her lantern exposed the interior of the Pale Temple. Ghouls, at least a dozen. Perhaps more? Most of them, Children. It would seem that whenever evil was afoot, Children were always the first to Suffer.

She noticed in the Flickering light of the lantern, that at least Four of the Ghouls wore Slave Chains. She did not have to take long to figure out where they came from.

“Oh Qwelip what have you done?”

She had no more time for idle speculation, the Ghouls sensing a Fresh Meal fell upon her. Within Seconds she was bombarded by Clawed fingers and sharp teeth. Tearing at her clothing, her hair, her flesh. Pain was no stranger to her, and she had always counted on her ability to recover quickly from any wound. One or even two opponents she could deal with, but a dozen ?

The ripping, the tearing, the screaming. It was to much, even for he, Blackness took her finally after One of the Ghouls ripped off her arm.

She came to in darkness, the stench was that of a slaughterhouse. Pain still wreaked her body and fear, something she was a stranger to. She was used to causing fear, but feeling it. Did she in fact, fear for her life? Was there some spark of Humanity in her after all?

The slab she lay on was cold, the room was dark. Not that she needed light, as she expected she was bound to the top of a Sarcophagus. Ghouls moved about her field of Vision.

She herd the rattling of Slave Chains and the unmistakable sound of a Blade being drawn across a Sharpening Stone. A Dry chuckling echoed about the pale tomb.

Most of the damage the Ghouls had caused had already begun to heal, the missing arm might take a bit though. She marshaled what strength she had and waited for her “host” to appear.

She did not wait long.

In Life Qwelip the Ogre had stood Eight foot tall and was at least Three Hundred pounds of Mussel and Gristle, in death? He was a gaunt figure, with folds of flesh hanging off of him like Melted wax. His hair had grown long and Stringy, his nails had become Claws and his teeth, already designed to fit the mouth of an Apex Predator were now even more so, but it was the Stench that came off the Ogre that convinced Melody that the Ogre she had Known back at crossroads was no more.

“Oh pretty, pretty girl. You came looking for Qwelip but Qwelip found you instead.”

The voice was coarse and Sing Song, not at all like the Brutish Ogre

“Your not Qwelip, I don't know what you are but your no Ogre?”

“No Ogre, do I not were this shape well. Am I not tall, am I not Strong, am I not Scary!”

His foul face was suddenly inches from hers and the stench was so powerful that for the First time in her life she had to vomit.

With she did in a very unladylike like fashion over the Side of her Prison.

“What are you, not a Ghoul? Some type of Ghoul King?”

“Very good Girl. I was just a empty spirit trapped in this Pale temple. A memory of what once was, until this body. This Ogre came by. Oh I had seen him before, he had passed by this place many time. Then for some reason he entered the Pale temple, searching for something? He came in to my domain and I claimed him as my Own!”

“Once his Spirit was drained from this Fleshy vessel, it was easy for me to take it's place! The body of an Ogre and the spirit of a WARGHOUL!”

“What do you want from me, and these children? Where did you find them all?”

“Here, there. Your pathetic Little Crossroads is not the Only oasis of life in this Barren Wasteland, did you not know that?”

“Er , no I did not?”

“Humph! Well then you have been lied to by the Lords of Crossroads, because I assure you there are plenty of other tasty Fleshy bodies out ether!”

“News to me! You haven’t answered me. Why children? What do you want?”

“Children are easy to corrupt and there souls are the most powerful! I will raise my Army of Ghouls and March on the Citizens of Crossroads, White Palm, Socket and the other Bastions of Life and feast!”

“As for you, your diffient? You should be Dead, yet hear you lay. Asking questions, barley scratched after my Servants attacked you! How is this so Little girl?”

Melody took a breath, trying not to gag on the stench. She looked about her prison, the huddled bodies of the Children. Ripped away from there Families and turned in to this Foul conglomeration of Flesh and Death. Something deep in her stirred, some aspect of the Child she might have been had Fate not chosen her Dark Destiny. Some Spark of Empathy perhaps, she did not know? All she knew was she felt sadness for them. She felt a Longing for her Island Birthplace that she may never see again. She felt for all the individuals she had met at Crossroads, not friends because no one in that place had friends, but still they were something to her. Most of all she felt Disgust and Anger for this thing, this Warghoul.

What was she?

Perhaps it was time to show him, time to remind them all as to what in fact she was.

“You want to know what I am? You mean you don't know?”

“Tell me so that I may enjoy your suffering even more!”

“My name is Melody Drac, I am the last of the Drac family line. Heir to the Fortune of Xavier Gordon. I am the only Survivor of the fall of the Ivory Throne, the Sinking of Richter. Now I am just a runaway living in Crossroads, but before all that. I am something else. Want to know what?”

“Stop your prattling Girl, my Hordes hunger! How is it you lie there healing when you should be Dieing?”

“That’s easy. I am the Great Green Fire!”

They still talk about the Great Green Fire back on that Island, how it Burnt for Three days! They still talk about it, those who survived the Burning of Richter. The Great Green Fire, her “Birth right”. Deep in her, in the part of her that was not Human. That part of her that had been forged to be the instrument of the undoing of the World, the Green fire Awoke!

It moved like something alive!. It gave off no heat but everything it touched burnt. It clung to things like Glue and anything it burnt turned into small green ash! It could be shaken off like droplets of oil, but any where even a spark fell burnt. Burnt in the way nothing ever forged should burn, it was the power of the Thing that had First called to her at the moment of her Birth, crafted her to be the instrument of its wrath and then left her behind when it Changed its mind.

Melody Drac was the Goddess of Green Fire and around her the Pale Temple burnt. The Warghoul, it's Minions and 150 years of History screamed out as everything her gaze fell upon became nothing but Green Ash.

Those who saw it would talk about it, but in a few days it became just another tale of the Waste

Melody awoke to the sound of Water and the Smell of Mold and Ash. She opened her eyes to see that she had fallen through the Floor of the Temple and into a small Cavern by a slow moving Underground Stream. Perhaps the Water source for the Temples Wells?

Around her danced small Green motes of light that looked like Fire Fly’s. Patches of Yellow Mold clung to the walls of the Cavern and seemed to pulsate at her presence?

She smiled.

In all things a Balance her Mentor had told her after she had let the Fire lose that first time. A simple thing like Yellow Mold, it fed of Heat, the greater the heat the more it spread. It was one of the few things her Power could not touch and while the Fire brought Death to so many, to this small thing it brought life.

In all things a balance?

She ran her hand along the mold and giggled as it responded to her.

Then she frowned as she beheld her damaged and nude forum.

“Every time, every damned time!”

It took an Hour for her Arm to finish regrowing and all her wounds to heal, but only a few seconds for her to create a new Dress for herself out of the Green Energy. Over the Years She had found many other uses for her Green Fire besides just destruction.

It took her another half an Hour to follow the Stream to a Well and climb out. She sat in the Shadow of the Well House as the last of her Fire burnt the remains of the Pale Temple and it's secrets away.

She felt bad for the Children, for Qwelip. She felt a pang of Hunger, a hint of excitement but mostly...

“Bored now!”

She stood up and started Walking, the Warghoul had mentioned other places where people lived in the Waste besides Crossroads? An oasis he called them! A bastion of life!

She had no reason to go back to Crossroads, the idea of informing them that Qwelip was dead, sort of at her hands did not fill her with Joy. Perhaps she would seek out these other places, or perhaps she would follow the Spice Road and see if the tales of the great Trade Ports to the North were true.

It had been a long time since she had seen the Ocean after all.

She picked at Random direction, smiled as the Hell Hound pup appeared over the Rim of the ruins and then she started Walking.

She had a sudden craving for Toast.

PERSONA

Melody Drac- The Goddess of Green Fire, the last living member of the Drac family. She was "born" to bring about the end of the world, but when the time came the Ancient evil that had created her-Changed its mind.

 

Mallik- Manipulative Blacksmith

Mama Grim- Alchemist

The Hanged Man-A ghost

Qwelip- Ogre guide

Istavan- The master of Crossroads

Rodger-trader, stable owner and muleskinner.

Warghoul, Evil spirits that can possess the living and create Ghouls

Ghouls-Flesh eating Undead.