edonil Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Author's Note: Hey everyone, first off, thanks for reading. So that everyone knows, this is a sequel to my short story Redemption and a Pocket Watch...Bloodforged will make more sense, especially in the beginning, if you've read that first. Secondly, there's actually going to be two pieces to Bloodforged, the primary story and a series of Journal Entries from the character Varful (Thanks to Sholto for the inspiration for that). The Journal Entries will be in PDF form and added as attachments to each posting of the story. For at least this first entry, I'd recommend reading the story first, afterwards the entries and the primary story diverge in their timelines. Any comments or criticisms (especially for the journal entries, entirely new approach to writing for me there) would be most welcome. Hope you all enjoy this next chapter of things! The solution was in the blood. Varful wasn't sure how, wasn't even sure why, but he knew it was true. Even among the Neverborn, nephilim blood was something unusual. It set apart their line, and bound them all to Lilith and Nekima. That chain needed to be severed, Varful thought. And the solution was in the blood. The nephilim rapped his clawed fingers on the wooden surface, thoughtfully, ignoring the sound of struggling behind him. It was a simple pleasure, the feel of his claws rebounding off the wood. He reveled in it after being denied the physical world for so long. His attempt to bargain with a Tyrant had failed. Not the exchange itself, but he had been betrayed by his sisters all those years ago. Now that he was back, he despaired at how far his race had fallen from their rightful place. But, he swore, that was going to change. Varful picked up a small curved blade from the table. A scalpel, humans called it. "I was once a shaman, you know," he said, directing his voice to the other occupant of the room. "Years ago, long before you were around, if I had to guess. Magic was the answer to our dying race, I was sure of it. Of course, I discovered over time that it wasn't enough. Not for anything long term. So now...it's time to try something different. The humans call it science." "What do you want?" the blood shaman said, his voice shaking. "Answers," Varful replied after a moment of thought. His red eyes gleamed in the light as he turned to his captive. "About what? Why don't you just ask questions?" Varful laughed. "Unfortunately for you, you can't tell me the answers I want. But I'll discover them nonetheless." The light shone off the scalpel blade as he walked to the table. -------- "Morning Doc," a cheerful voice called. Phelan turned from preparing herbs and smiled. "Hey Jana, how are you?" The young child grinned up at him, a few teeth missing. "I lost a tooth," she informed him, pointing at her mouth. "I see that!" He knelt down next to her. "You look so much older now. Does it hurt?" "Nope! Not right now. Mama sent me over to see if her...med...meda..." the girl's face scrunched with effort at the unfamiliar word. "Medicine!" she finally said triumphantly. "To see if her medicine was done." "I'm just finishing it up. How's her back this morning?" "Still hurting, but not as bad. She was able to get up and make breakfast today." "That's good! Just give me a moment, and I'll have it for you." He turned back to the counter, and finished mixing the herbs. Grabbing a piece of paper, he swiftly wrote down the instructions for the medicine. "Here you go!" "Thanks, Doc!" Jana said, taking the small package. She handed him a few pieces of Guild scrip, and hugged his leg briefly, then ran out the door. "Bye!" Phelan laughed and waved. "Bye, Jana!" He shook his head, and walked back into the greenhouse to check on his plants. The sound of a bell stopped him. He spun on his heels, staring outside, and the bell rang again. "Well, that can't be good," he said quietly. He ran to a long safe built into the wall, and swiftly opened it. It was a few moments to pull out the equipment stored there, and only a little longer to get it ready. A custom hunting rifle with a scope, a rapier, a leather trenchcoat, and a wide brimmed hat. Months later, he still missed his preferred weapons that he had used over the years. But a lone man in the outskirts of Malifaux with a preference for knives who was recently from Malifaux City itself would attract too much attention. Phelan stepped outside his shop, and ran towards the wall around the village. Along the way, he saw other militia heading in the same direction. "Murphy," he called out to one. "Doc," the former Guild member replied. "Glad t'see you and Cadhla out here on the wall with us. Any idea what's going on?" "Narry a clue. I'm just hoping for something human this time around. Give me raiders any day of the week rather than walking corpses or the Neverborn." "Aye, ain't that the truth," the soldier replied. "Well, we'll be findin' out once we get there, won't we?" The echo of gunfire filled the air, spurring the two men on faster. They ran to the wall and found other militias opening fire, ducking every once in a while from a return shot. Well, Phelan thought, that narrowed it down. Neverborn didn't use guns, and the walking dead weren't any good with them. Phelan tucked in next to the wall, and lined up his rifle, Cadhla, named for his dead wife. Through the scope, he couldn't see anything but trees. And yet...there! He pulled the trigger, and Cadhla kicked against his shoulder with a roar. He watched the body hit the ground, taking a moment to try to figure out who the attackers were. A bullet sending shards of wood into the air next to his head disabused him of that idea rapidly. "Ack!" He ducked down to reload, and looked down the line. "Anyone figured out who they are yet?" A flurry of curses at his stupidity was the response. The kindest one was from Murphy, who was rapidly slipping back into his native tongue- "Jesus, Mary and Joseph ya daft idiot, do ya really think any of us are payin' that much attention? Jus' shut up and shoot!" "Touchy, touchy," Phelan muttered. He shifted his position a little and aimed his second shot. This time, he caught a gleam of sunlight off a goggle and froze his crosshairs in that area. After a few seconds, the head came fully into view, and he pulled the trigger. “Another one down,” he said as he reloaded. Coming up for a third time, Phelan saw nothing. He panned his sight around, waiting patiently, listening to the ever decreasing amount of gunfire noise. “Alright, so apparently they’re gone,” he said. “Whatever gave you that idea?” a feminine voice said behind him. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “The sarcasm isn’t really appreciated, Sabine.” “Too bad. And yes, they’re gone. Shall we go see if we can find some clues?” Phelan braced his mechanical hand on the wall, the gears whirring with some effort, as he stood up. “Let’s go.” -------- “Well…this is unusual,” Sabine said with a frown. She brushed a strand of blond hair away from her eyes, and knelt down to brush her hand over the indented grass. “Why would they remove the bodies?” Phelan wondered, continuing to search for a corpse. “It’s not like we only wounded all the ones we hit. What kind of bandit worries about leaving behind evidence?” “Could it be the Guild?” one of the younger members of the militia asked. “Seems like they’d want to keep people from asking questions about something like this.” “Maybe,” Phelan replied. “I’m not sure, though. Wanting to attack a town I could see, but why wouldn’t they just show up with a Peacekeeper? It’s not like we’d be able to stop some heavy hardware like that.” “I don’t know,” Sabine finally said. “But I do know that I don’t like it.” -------- It took several hours for the process to be finished. Draining a body of blood in a way that won't kill a person is a delicate process. Varful stepped away from what was left of the other nephilim, his arms covered in drying blood. After an hour or so of begging, pleading and screaming, he had finally cut out the other shaman's tongue. What was left of the victim was breathing raggedly on the table. Varful picked up a vial filled with blood, and smiled. The solution was indeed in the blood.Day One.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sholto Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 I think I will take a look at Redemption And A Pocket Watch, now. I quite enjoyed that Some good scene setting, and I like teasing mysteries. I also like the idea of doing the journal as a PDF, nice one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Good start. Did Sabine quit the Guild then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted September 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 @Sholto- Thanks! I'm glad you like the journal idea, it came to me about halfway through writing the first piece with Varful. @Steamhammer- Yes she did, and I feel silly now because I don't think I ever specifically mentioned it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Not a big deal as obviously stuff has happened in between the two stories. We don't need to know everything straight away. I'm probably just being too impatient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted September 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Not a big deal as obviously stuff has happened in between the two stories. We don't need to know everything straight away. I'm probably just being too impatient. I...I think that's a first...someone being impatient to know something about what I'm writing... :confusedpuppet It's a weird feeling...not that I'm complaining, gives me incentive to finish the project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hakoMike Posted September 8, 2011 Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Nicely done. I think leaving out the "Sabine quits the Guild" part added to the story, since her presence (after having read RaaPW) makes that implication and sets us up for later elucidation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted September 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2011 Nicely done. I think leaving out the "Sabine quits the Guild" part added to the story, since her presence (after having read RaaPW) makes that implication and sets us up for later elucidation. Congratulations my friend...you made me go look up a word to double check its meaning. I haven't run into 'elucidation' in years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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