Altered Creatures: Outraged

Outraged

Santorray's Privations

A.G. Wedgeworth

Anthony G. Wedgeworth

Copyright © 2017 by Anthony G. Wedgeworth

Written by A.G. Wedgeworth

Front Cover Artwork by Jamie Noble Frier

Illustrations by Steve Ott

Editing by Deborah Murrell

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Altered Creatures

Epic Fantasy Adventures

Historical Date 2.0149.0207

Series: Santorray's Privations

Book 5, Revision 2.0

Outraged

www.AlteredCreatures.com

Contents

MAP

CAST

Prologue

1.Govi Glade

2.Del’Unday Refugees

3.The Great Hall

4.Goothr’s Hut

5.Scout’s Honor

6.Returned

7.Improvising

8.Making Changes

9.The Proper Weapons

10.Del’Unday Leader Trials

11.Rations

12.Hunting and Gathering

13.Scouting

14.Testing Each Other

15.Trials

16.Learning the Unexpected

17.Too Late

18.Aftermath

19.Prisoners of Irluk

20.Altering of Creatures

21.No Way Out

22.E’rudite Temple

23.Waiting for an Answer

24.Wyrlyn’s Plan

25.Schullis’ Dilemma

26.The Long Walk

27.A Mission of Their Own

28.Alone in Enemy Territory

29.Nearly Home

30.The Unthinkable Search

31.Returning Home

32.Govi Glade Battle

33.Returning to the Future

34.The Continuing Battle

More Stories...

Prologue

Timeless

Deep in the forest at the base of a snowcapped mountain range, an open glade had suffered from the ravages of war between the E’rudites and the Alchemists. Years of spells and the manipulation of physics had been unleashed into this wide swath of land coated with grass, various patches of bushes and trees, and unusual outcroppings of boulders.

Translucent spheres of energy floated in the glade like room-sized bath bubbles, slowly bouncing and glancing off one another as they passed through trees and rocks and eventually into the ground.

The spheres were the remnants of powerful magic gone astray during the ancient battles. Within these orbs, some provided a view of the glade from another time, while others lingered about like a captured spell waiting to be activated. Still others had deeper, darker secrets within thick, dark vapors.

Deformities were caused by the war and the remaining spheres. The most noticeable was the floating globes’ ability to change the time of the field months and years prior to or after the current date. As each sphere sailed along, it erased whatever was there and replaced it with what existed at a different time in history, based on what time that specific sphere was caught in.

Trees were warped, some with branches a decade older than the rest due to where a sphere had brushed by them. Snow rested upon branches on half of a tree after a sphere engulfed that section before moving on. Twisted and bent by the orbs, few things looked natural.

Rock outcroppings were cut away by the spheres, only to be replaced with a layer of tree bark or a frozen snowdrift. Patches of green grass would suddenly turn brown and dead as a sphere rose out of the ground. Dead became alive, the living became warped, and the warped became dead in a never-ending cycle.

This unnatural changing landscape was known as the Govi Glade.

Chapter one

Govi Glade

Santorray stood around eight feet tall. The blothrud’s massive red human torso supported a thick dragon-like neck and head as he stood upon powerful, hairy wolf legs. Thick bone spikes naturally grew out of his shoulder blades, down his spine and on the back of his elbows. He was a living war machine.

Searching for the book of magic, Vesik, Santorray led his little Num friend, Thorik, through the Govi Glade. Standing nearly twice the height of Thorik, the blothrud stomped through the grassland. Stop! I sense a new trembling… different than the spheres we have evaded so far. His thick skin stretched even tighter than normal over his bony muzzle, exposing his gums and a rack of sharp teeth.

Standing still, the giant blothrud and little Num carefully watched all sides for danger. And danger is what they found. Santorray’s senses were correct; this was not a rogue time-shifting sphere which they had become familiar with.

Lifting out of the ground just outside of the glade, a red glowing mass of liquid rock began to form arms, legs, and long teeth. The creature stood between Santorray and Thorik and their sleeping companions back at camp just outside the glade. Fire escaped from cracks on the creature’s motionless body while its outer surface cooled to a crusty black. The demon, Bakalor, had once again sent his son to kill them.

Grub? Thorik’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened. He stood speechless for a moment. But…Rummon killed him.

Santorray stepped in front of Thorik to protect him. However, in doing so, Grub could tell exactly where the blothrud was. Without eyes, the lesser demon used the vibrations in the ground to determine his enemies’ locations.

Opening his gaping mouth, which spanned his stomach, intense flames rolled out of Grub as he faced Santorray. Then, without hesitation, he charged at the two travelers in the glade.

Run! Thorik swiveled around and followed his own advice.

Split up, Santorray said. He can’t follow us both.

Grub ran halfway before folding up his arms and legs and rolling after them. The massive heat pouring out of the lesser demon scorched a path in the earth as he increased his speed.

Thorik veered off to the left and Santorray to the right. Spheres increased their speed from the energy of all three being within the glade perimeter. Lighting struck inside some, while others were completely black. Nearly a third of them had the sun shining within their barrier’s grasp.

Looking back to see which one of them Grub was chasing, Thorik had mixed feelings about finding the molten mass rolling behind him.

Banking to the left and then tumbling to the right, Thorik used every trick he knew to lose his chaser. Unfortunately, the small gains he made were quickly lost when he ran straight.

Get him near a sphere! Santorray followed from behind, carrying a large branch he had pulled from one of the deformed trees.

Thorik turned and dodged a near fatal attack from Grub. Why? he yelled to his friend.

Get as close as you can, and I’ll knock him into it.

It may not have been a good plan, but at least it was a plan. Thorik knew he couldn’t keep running forever. Seeing a cluster of spheres all rising up near each other, he figured it would increase the odds of Santorray being able to knock Grub into one of them as they ran nearby.

Darting off in a new direction, Thorik added a few feet between himself and the lesser demon as they both raced toward the spheres with the blothrud following behind with his bulky wooden weapon. By the time they reached the cluster of spheres, Grub was on Thorik’s heels, and the creature’s heat began to burn the Num’s back.

Struggling to catch up to them, Santorray leaped forward with all his might and swung at the lesser demon while still flying in the air.

He smacked the fiery mass with the end of the thick branch, causing the wood to immediately ignite into a huge torch, and sending Grub rolling into one of the winter spheres with an ice storm coating everything in sight.

Crashing to the ground, Santorray almost impaled himself with the other side of the tree limb.

Thorik skidded to a halt and then ran back to his large friend. You did it!

Not so fast. We’re not safe yet. Santorray peered up to witness a few more spheres emerge on their other side. They were now surrounded by them. They were trapped.

A flash from within one of the darker spheres caught Thorik’s eyes. He looked inside of it to witness a battle of magic. The spheres are moving faster. We’ll have to make a quick escape once an opening presents itself.

No time! Santorray yelled as Grub launched himself back out of the sphere he had rolled into. His crusted over mass flung through the air, striking and igniting the branch that Santorray quickly pulled up in order to block the attack. The thick wood had prevented Grub from touching the blothrud, but the impact knocked him backward.

Santorray’s fall pushed both he and Thorik into the sphere the Num had been looking at. They fell backward in time and into the actual events which had carved the glade into a place of danger. They were now in the middle of the Alchemist and E’rudite War, and the night air was electrified with magic.

Grub followed after them into the glade of the past.

Seeing him arrive, Santorray rolled to his feet and swung his flaming club, knocking the glowing mass out of the glade toward one of the two battling sides. In doing so, his branch exploded into a thousand splinters. His weapon was destroyed.

We need to get back out of this sphere before it closes, Thorik yelled over the pounding noise of the battle. The only noticeable sight of their passageway, from their side of the sphere, was a slight hue change to what appeared to be the inside of an arched piece of glass, a section of glass which was getting smaller by the moment. The location of the sphere was unnoticeable for anyone not specifically looking for it.

Racing back toward their exit home, a battered old man appeared before them, blocking their way. Death to all those who refuse to believe! he yelled before clapping his hands tightly together, breaking a vial of blue liquid. Waves of energy sprung forth from his single clap, knocking Santorray high in the air and into the front lines of the battle.

There wasn’t time for Thorik to run all the way over to his friend and back as the sphere continued to close.

Thorik! Run! Santorray shouted as he became engaged in the battle. Don’t wait for me!

Thorik tried to determine exactly how far the blothrud had been thrown, but all he could see were the bodies his companion was tossing up in the air as he attempted to make his way back.

A Num? laughed the battered old man at Thorik. I’ll melt you down where you stand. As the man raised his bracelet-filled arms to perform a spell, he caused Thorik’s feet to become stuck to the ground, preventing him from escaping.

Thorik could see the sphere as it continued to close. He attempted to jump, but his feet had taken root to the ground, causing him to fall forward. In doing so, he felt a ball of extreme heat roll past his back.

Grub had returned. His flying attack on Thorik had missed, causing the lesser demon to shoot over his back and hit the old man by mistake, instantly killing him instead of Thorik.

The spell holding Thorik’s feet to the ground was immediately released, due to the spell caster’s death. Freedom to reach his exit was available again. However, Grub now stood in the way of the sphere as he breathed a furnace of heat toward him.

Off with you! came a voice from the side. It was followed by Grub’s body being crushed in midair. Squeezing tighter and tighter, the lesser demon shrunk from the building pressure until a bright flash of light blazed outward, leaving nothing but a large diamond floating where he once was.

Grabbing the diamond, the man who had turned Grub into the gem handed it to Thorik.

Thorik looked up to see his mentor whom he had missed for a very long time. Ambrosius!

Thorik, get out of here! You don’t belong here.

The sphere is nearly closed. Thorik pointed to the small section of floating color distortions hovering in the air. And Santorray is out in this battle. I can’t leave him.

Get back to where you came from before you make things worse. I’ll take care of your friend.

Thorik took a step toward the sphere and then turned back to his dearly missed mentor. I have so much to ask you. He hesitated as to his next action. Come with me!

Go! The E’rudite held out his hand, forcing Thorik into the air and back into what remained of the sphere before it closed up.

Meanwhile, Santorray tossed another person out of his way as he watched Thorik disappear from the glade. The little man was now thousands of years in the future; far beyond his lifespan. His mission to protect Thorik had failed.

Being shoved about within the chaos of battle, Santorray had no idea who was friend or foe. Humans and a host of various creatures fought within the grassy clearing without identifying colors or clear lines of battle. Initially it appeared he was in the middle of a mob where everyone was fighting.

His knowledge of these historical times was limited, and he was unsure who to support. Instead, he simply fought anyone that attacked him first. Spells were cast, weapons were swung, and brute strength was utilized in the surrounding pandemonium. Humans monopolized this battle, although various Del’Unday species were in the mix, including a few blothruds. There were also some new, large Altered Creatures he had never seen before. Some were gigantic.

Within minutes he knew the weapon-ready Humans sought to behead him or remove any limb they could. More barbarians than warriors, these Humans swung their weapons with crazed thrusts and slashes. Clearly no refined training was needed for this army, and Santorray’s eight-foot frame and proven battle skills made quick work of all who strayed near him.

Working with the Humans was an assortment of Altered Creatures which appeared to be laboratory experiments gone wrong. They were all different, made up from parts of nearly every animal and insect Santorray had ever seen. They too had few fighting skills but were still extremely dangerous if not adequately defended against.

Opposing the warriors and the creatures were the various Del’Unday species, such as his own blothruds as well as wolvians and brandercats to name a few. To his surprise, many Fesh’Unday fought alongside the Del’Unday, such as bears, wolves, rams, mountain lions, and so on. It was something he had never seen before.

Standing behind the Del’Unday and Fesh’Unday, a group of cloaked Humans used mystical powers to do their bidding. Santorray had seen this type of energy utilized before. These were E’rudites, and he knew better than to stray in the path of their focus.

Likewise on the far side, a group of Humans stood behind their more savage brothers and Altered Creatures as they conjured and enchanted their weapons of destruction. Items were crushed or tossed, words were chanted, and spells were cast from the edge of the forest into the glade and against their enemy, which included Santorray.

A fiery ball flew over the barbarians, spinning off liquid fire onto the battlefield as the blaze hurled toward the back of one of the other blothruds. Santorray rushed over and swatted the fiery ball back into the crowd, catching a half dozen of them on fire.

The female blothrud he had just saved twirled around just in time to see him save her life and nodded in appreciation before she was back into the thick of her own fight.

Liquid fire continued to drip from Santorray’s arm as he glared at the spell caster that had sent the projectile. The burning pain he felt was nothing compared to what the caster was about to receive.

Leaning forward, Santorray leaped and raced through the battlefield toward the Alchemist, knocking back anyone in his path, regardless the side of the battle they fought on. Some were tossed, others were pushed, and a few were trampled on his way. None slowed his momentum. In fact, he increased his speed the closer he was to his target.

Fellow spell casters nearby frantically cast their own spells of lightning bolts, a wave of flying needles, and even a blast of freezing fog. Despite their haste, all spells landed directly on target, causing new, horrific pains to the blothrud as he was electrocuted, punctured, and frozen all at the same time.

However, as the spell casters began to grin from their success, Santorray busted out of the fog with more anger and determination than ever. Electrical snaps continued to race across his body, and frozen flesh cracked and fell from his torso and face, which was covered by hundreds of needles. He was now twice as horrific-looking as he was prior to the attack.

Grabbing the first spell caster, Santorray tossed him hard into a nearby tree trunk before snatching up the other two and slapping them against oncoming attackers.

Spell components flew from pockets and purses. Wands and staffs snapped into thousands of pieces, and scrolls were shredded into unusable records. Santorray flailed limp bodies around until he finished his damage, causing the rest of their warriors to back off.

Dropping them to the ground, Santorray let out a massive roar, signaling his victory and that others should retreat unless they wanted more of the same.

A momentary quiet followed as he breathed heavily and scanned the battlefield. A few electrical shocks still ran across his chest, knocking off loose frozen skin as he waited for his enemies to flee. Instead, he received a fierce wail that was so loud he had to cover his own ears.

Trees fell as a massive creature plowed its way out of the forest toward Santorray. Standing twice the height and weighing tenfold that of the blothrud, the beast was covered in scales. Its head was recessed into its upper chest, causing its shoulders to be the highest points on its body. Its massive, broad body required four legs for support and stability. Two large, heavy, gauntlet-like fists looked like spiked balls swinging from muscular arms. It was a beast that the mighty warrior had never seen before.

Preparing for the beast’s attack, Santorray held his ground as the beast’s scales shifted in color, causing it to nearly disappear. Holding firm for the attack, Santorray was struck in the head by an unseen reach of the beast’s arm. After being knocked into the forest, Santorray fell to the earth unconscious.

Chapter two

Del’Unday Refugees

Drums sounded in the distance as painful moans and screams could be heard outside a mud and grass shelter where the unconscious blothrud lay. Light from a central fire inside the hut flickered against the walls which angled up to a peak in the center with enough of an opening at the top to allow the smoke from the fire to escape.

Santorray tossed his head back and forth, dreaming of the battle in the glade. His muscles flexed across his body while replaying the events as he mumbled and growled. Memories of the spraying liquid fire and freezing fog angered him more, but it was the stabbing pain of the needles that shocked him awake.

Snapping his eyes open, he saw a female blothrud leaning over him with one hand holding his muzzle shut while her other pulled out the needles still embedded in the skin of his face and neck. He immediately pulled his head away.

She instantly pulled his snout right back where she needed it in order to complete her task. Stay still, she ordered. Her voice was without emotion, as though she had dealt with this situation dozens of times. Let’s get this over with. I have others to tend to. Her grip on the end of his nose was firm enough to prevent him from pulling away again.

Female blothruds had strong wolf-like legs, muscular human torsos, and dragon-like heads just like the males. However, their muzzles were thinner, they had breasts for feeding their young, and their wolf legs were coated with extremely soft hair for cradling their infants at night. They wore leather skins and often metal jewelry, much like their male counterparts. Even with the feminine attributes, it was obvious that she could hold her own in a brawl.

Santorray’s eyes glared at her for a moment before realizing she was not a threat, in spite of the pain she was bestowing upon him with each needle she plucked out. Glancing at his surroundings, he assessed that they were alone, he was not in chains, and it was night. He then twitched and attempted to pull his head away as he felt the tug of another needle.

Grow some spikes, she said with casual sarcasm. We have children that handle this better than you.

With lightning-fast reflexes, he grabbed her arms and pulled her hands away from his face. Spinning about, he then kicked one of his legs up and over her, landing straddled upon her with her wrists pinned to the ground near the fire. Where am I?

Sighing, it was clear she was not impressed. You’re in the Del’Unday village of Fawr’lawrn. More specifically, you’re in my home, which is temporary until I can ask Goothr to take you in. And to be perfectly accurate, you’re currently mounted upon the individual who saved your life from one nasty beast.

Why would you take such foolish actions to save me during a battle?

I’m starting to ask that of myself as we speak, she sarcastically responded. I saved you because you saved me from the liquid fireball that nearly ended my existence.

He grumbled a bit as his memories slowly came into focus. The last thing I recall was a massive beast erupting from the woods. Eyeing the female, he questioned her words. And you attacked and defeated him?

No, he and his two bigger brothers were in my way. He made a run for it once I taught the others a lesson.

Santorray’s eyes widened with amazement. "How