User blog:HoundTheDestroyer93/The Desert Queen And The Mercenary: Chapter 1

Desert Queen And The Mercenary: Chapter 1

The winds blew hard across the dunes of the Desert region as Marcus Jaghund, a lifelong sell sword, is traveling to a possible job opportunity. Marcus was a bronze skinned man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He had a muscular build, standing at around six feet tall with black hair and sky blue eyes. Marcus wears a long black leather armored coat with a chainmail shirt beneath it. He also wore black leather pants, boots and every button, buckle and zipper are made of the same silver. Slung across his back was a large greatsword that was forged using steel and silver. The handle to this mighty sword was wrapped in black leather with a cross guard made of the same material as the blade. Marcus road a massive female black stallion he called “Mitternacht”.

Marcus stopped his horse as he peaked a dune. He pulled away his makeshift mask that covered the lower half of his face, protecting him from the kicked up sand, and scans the sun scorched sea before him. His blue eyes look to the horizon as he pulls out a map, then they shift to the map. It is a weathered one that has seen many adventures and expeditions, the map littered with marks Marcus himself made to signify locations and points of interest. After a few minutes of reviewing his map he tucks it away in a pouch on his saddle, he gives the horse a spur and they continue on.

Hours pass as the sun begins to fade below the horizon, the haze in the distance disappearing as the temperature drops with each passing minute. The Desert Region is well known for it’s blistering days and bone chilling nights, Marcus knew he would need to hunker down for night and make a fire soon, but he was holding out for something, a camp site. So he quickened his horse’s pace as he searches for a suitable place to camp, and with a little patience he finds it. It’s a small collection of ruins, that at one point was most likely a home. This was the best place to rest for the night, the ruin’s walls will serve as a nice barrier from any wild Mamono out hunting for a man. Marcus ties off his horse on a wooden post that is planted in the sand outside the doorway to the ruins. He steps through the open doorway, the spurs of his boots cling with each step upon the wooden floor. Piles of sand scattered about the place, formed from years of harsh sandstorms blowing sand in the ruined building.

Marcus looks around the cabinets for anything remotely useful and finds a tin container. It is no bigger than an average sized can, easily fitting in Marcus’ hands. It was ornamented with markings Marcus can only assume are Desert Region in nature. He pops the lid of the container and is pleased to find it’s full of matches. With a smirk he places it upon the wooden table in the center of the room and turns over the flipped chair, then takes a seat. For a moment he sits there, examining the old home, the knick knacks left behind. “What caused the previous owner to abandon this place”, he thought. He eventually stood up and got to work building a fire in the clay oven. Taking a chair from the corner of the room, Marcus smashes it to use the wood for the fire. He tosses the broken pieces into the oven and sets tinder underneath it. Marcus pulls a match from the tin and lifts his left leg, then strikes the match on the soul of his boot. He holds the match to the tinder and watches as a flame begins to take hold, until the tinder catches completely.

As fire grows in the oven, Marcus heads outside to his horse and collects a few items of interest from his saddle bags. First he grabs his map, next an unlit candle, a cigar, then a bottle of rum and lastly a small burlap bag. He takes all these items into the ruined home and sits back down at the table. Unfolding the map on the table, Marcus takes a pull from bottle, the rum inside is almost as black as Marcus’ hair. “Ahhhhhh”, Marcus groans as he savors the taste and powerful potency of the dark liquor. Marcus then opens the small bag by undoing the string tied around the top, and pulls out a piece of beef jerky, then bites it and tears a piece off with his teeth. While he chews the dried meat, Marcus strikes another match and lites the candle he grabbed. Placing the candle upon the table and taking another swig from the bottle of rum, next he grabs his cigar and bites off the end, before placing it in his mouth. He takes the candle and holds it to the end of the cigar, rolling it slowly with his freehand while he inhales. The tip glows bright and Marcus exhales the smoke. It was a great bellow of scented gray smoke, the air in the room now full of the smell of seasoned tobacco.

Marcus again takes a moment to enjoy this moment of respite, savoring the cigar and the rum. He took in the crackling of the fire in the clay oven and admired the silence outside.

“A person could get lost out here. The quiet, the isolation.... beats life jammed into the middle of a metropolis.” Marcus thinks out loud. He then focuses his attention to his map, recounting his travels sense he last looked at it. Plotting, calculating the amount of ground he covered throughout the day.

“I have to be close to this place by now. Four days ride west of the city of Jadid.” Marcus then looks into the jerky bag. “Just enough for tomorrow. I better find this place soon or I’m in deep shit.” Marcus takes one more sip from the bottle of rum, then a big pull from his cigar. He props his feet up on the table, his spurs cling with the dropping of his feet. There Marcus loses himself in the tranquility of it all. The cigar, the drink, the quiet. All this takes him and before long, his eyes grow heavy and he falls asleep.

The morning sun peaks through the windows of the ruined home and shines on Marcus’ face, causing him to stir. He groans as he stretches his limbs, clears his throat and then spits on the floor of the old home. The mercenary gets up and looks out of the window, scanning the sea of sand as he thinks. Marcus looks down at the floor for a moment and then back outside. He moves back to the table to collect his items. Map, bottle, candle, beef jerky and the tin container of matches. Marcus spends the next couple of minutes saddling up, feeding and watering his horse, before climbing into the saddle and kicking his spurs gently into the horse’s side. Moving toward his goal Marcus keeps his eyes on the horizon for a large triangle shaped temple. The rising sun adding slashes of orange and pink on the dark blue sky, as if cutting away the darkness. Marcus rode casually as the cold began to fade with the suns rising. It wasn’t long before Marcus could feel a growing vibration beneath him and his horse. He swivels around in his saddle, his eyes looking all around for the source, only to see no clear signs of the cause. Rapidly the vibrations intensify and Marcus’ eyes grow wide as he puts two-and-two together.

He spurs his horse hard, “YEEAH” he roars over the growing sound of churning sand, the horse rears back and bolts like the wind. Just then a Sandworm, largest Marcus has ever seen, erupts from the sand like a force of nature. The Worm rises high into the air showing almost her full and powerful tunneling body. A hard tan outer shell that blended perfectly with the dunes all around, large black mandibles up at the top of her gaping maw, but at the very top was a squishy pink, yet voluptuous beauty. She was miraculously attractive, her full lower figure melded into the the squishy pink gums that lined the interior of her maw. But unlike most other Sandworms, Marcus noticed a particular feature she has that sets her apart, she had four sticky looking tentacles that stuck out as she opened her maw. Marcus surmised the tentacles were used to rope in a victim.

He quickly spurs his horse again and rides hard toward his destination and away from the Sandworm. The Sandworm leans over, closing her maw, her beautiful pink body closing retracting into the maw, and dives back into the sand. Marcus runs his horse as quickly as he can go over the loose sand. He looks over his shoulder and his adrenaline skyrocketed as he could see the Sandworm beneath the surface barreling toward him, the sand flying and shifting as the Sandworm is quickly gaining on him. The Sandworm then bursts from the ground into the air, hurdling at Marcus. He quickly jerks his horse right, the Sandworm misses and dives back into the sand. Marcus spurs his horse again, keeping her speed up and the Sandworm maintains her pursuit with matching speed. Then Marcus sees it, straight ahead, the Desert temple he’s traveled so far for. He spurs his horse again and rides straight at the temple. The Sandworm again pops out of the ground and hurdles through the air at Marcus, this time he pulls his horse left, and Sandworm misses once more, plunging back into the sand.

Closer and closer he rode hard to the temple, noticing that the temple had pillars that surround it like a perimeter. Marcus looks behind him and the Sandworm is nearly upon him until he crosses the pillar perimeter. He slows his horse before he hits the temple wall and turns her around as he watches confused by the Sandworm. His tunneling pursuer had stopped and turned around, the Sandworm was tunneling away slowly as if given up. He then looks to the temple, a magnificent wonder of engineering, a pyramid that seems to reach the sky. There are two pillars, one on each side of the archway. Each pillar is adorned with glyphs Marcus could not read, at the top are firebowls with a roaring fire in each bowl. He dismounts his horse, looking around as he brushes the sand of himself. Marcus slowly walks up to the doorway, he notices no knob, no parting, just one solid slab of stone. Looking to his right he sees a peculiar rope hanging from the archway over the stone slab. Curiosity took him as he pulled the rope, and then he heard a bell on the other side of the stone slab. He pulled the rope again and pressed his ear to the slab, again he heard the bell from the other side. Marcus pulls his head back as the slab suddenly moves, the dust shooken off from the movement of the weathered stone. It rises slowly as Marcus steps back.

The stone slab rises fully and to Marcus’ surprise an Anubis steps forward from the opening. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, her hair black like Marcus’ coat, her eyes a distinct shade orange, her height five feet. She had a cute small nose, immaculate caramel colored skin and plush lips. Her breasts were a b-size, her abs toned and firm. She wore thin white silk over her sensitive areas that didn’t do much to hide her sensitive areas from the eyes others, making it very distracting for Marcus to present himself properly. But what Marcus noticed most was her lack of expression, a cold unimpressed stare as if she was watching paint dry. She looked up at Marcus and he looked down at her, and in the most monotone voice, she speaks-

“Yes?” She stops.

“Um, hi. My name is Marcus Jag-“

“What is your business here?” She interrupts the mercenary before her.

“I’m answering the contract I found posted on a job board in Jadid. The poster is looking for a guide, with good pay-“

“This way.” The Anubis again cuts off Marcus, immediately she turns around and begins walking. She makes a gesture with her paw and two Sphinx rushed out and grabbed the reigns of Marcus’ horse. Marcus whipped around and was ready to shoo the Sphinx away until the Anubis spoke up.

“They will take your horse to our stables on the other side of the structure. Follow, quickly. My mistress will want to speak to you as soon as possible.” The Anubis does not wait for Marcus, forcing the mercenary to catch up.

The inside of the Pyramid was interesting to say the least. Walls of endless glyphs and torches with golden handles. They travelled down a long hallway until they entered a giant room in the center of the pyramid, a giant room like an audience hall. Pillars reaching to the ceiling, several feet width. Ahead of Marcus is a long walkway with a rectangular shallow pools on each side of the walkway. In the pools are Mamono soaking in the water, Sphinx and Mummies, engaging in provocative activities. As Marcus keeps walking he sees ahead of him the most regal of all sights.

A Pharaoh in her throne, sipping fine wine with her legs crossed as she pets a purring Sphinx that rests her head upon the Pharaoh’s lap.

“Finally, a man....” She smirks. “Come forward.” She gestures. Marcus follows the Pharaoh’s instruction and steps forward.

“I assume you are here to inquire of the contract? Tell me your name, Sir.” The Pharaoh smiles before sipping her wine. She was voluptuous, her caramel colored and perfect. Her hair black and long, down pass her knees. The Pharaoh’s breast could barely be contained by the thin white silk clothing she wore. Her thighs thick, her eyes an entrancing crimson color. Everything about her was ravishing, she was an enchantress unlike any Marcus has ever seen. It would be fair to say Marcus was awestruck, but he quickly gained himself and spoke.

“I’m Marcus Jaghund.”

“Marcus Jaghund? Such a strong man, for such a strong looking man....” she leaned forward, her breast looked ready to slip out of their covering. Her eyes were full of hunger and excitement.

“Marcus, my name is Samia. I am the one looking for a guide. Let us discuss the particulars over a nice meal, but first.... You need to be stripped and cleaned.” Samia gestures to her subordinates.

Mamono servants scramble to Marcus’ side each one begins to remove an article of his clothing. Marcus at first is hesitant, not because of the crowd, for he has been to the Demon Realm spas before where nudity isn’t uncommon, but he was hesitant to be stripped of his weapons amongst strangers.

“What if I say no.” He barks.

“Then you leave, and I wait for another. But you would be quite displeased to do so as this reward I offer is more than your weight in gold....” Samia goes back to petting the Sphinx at her side.

Marcus stopped resisting, planted his sword into the ground and Mamono returned to their duties. One by one they stripped a piece from him. His coat, his chainmail, his boots, his belt, his pants and then his underwear. Marcus couldn’t help but gulp. The eyes of every Mamono, forty maybe fifty in the room, stared upon him as he stood as naked as the day he was born. He could see the lust in their eyes as they all scanned his muscular body and collection of scars. He could sense the tension and the desire in all of them, the lack of male company has starved them immensely. But their loyalty to their mistress keep them from acting on their impulses.

“Mmmmmm, into the bath, please.” Samia gestures her hand to the water.

Marcus quickly dives into the water to cover his lower half. And just as soon as he hits the water, Mamono attack him with brushes and soaps. Washing his body of the dirt he accumulated on the road. After ten agonizing minutes of the most frantic bath of his life, a Mummy shambles up to the bath with a towel and a fresh set of clothes. Marcus leaps from the bath and covers himself with the towel, before grabbing his clothes. He then runs off behind a pillar and dries himself off before dawning his new clothing, a fresh black tunic and pants. He steps out from behind the pillar and looks at Samia who takes another sip of her wine.

“Shall we?” Samia gestures Marcus to follow her. Marcus did just that, but one thing now ran through his mind- “What had he gotten himself into?”

Marcus followed behind the Pharaoh who lead him out of her audience hall and down a set of stairs into the labyrinth of rooms. The emotionless Anubis followed behind Marcus, she carried a staff with a large golden ring as a headpiece to it, then there was three smaller rings looped around the inside of the larger ring on each side of where the staff connected to the headpiece. They entered into a dining hall, the room was decorated with fine rugs, exotic potted plants, gold torches for light. The and chairs where made of dark wood, polished and refined with exquisite detail. Upon the table was a bountiful selection of fruits, vegetables and a large roasted pig at the center of the table. Marcus did not wait to be seated, he plopped into the first open chair he saw and began dishing out his supper. But before Marcus could take a bite of an apple he grabbed- “WHACK!” The Anubis brings the staff down on Marcus’ head and drops the apple immediately to grab the assaulted area.

“What the fuck was that for?!” He yells at the Anubis, who sits there completely unfazed.

“You did not wait for my lady’s permission to seat yourself, or eat. I have hit people harder for less offenses....” The answers flatly.

“Well thanks for the warning.” Marcus scoffs while rubbing the top of his head.

“Fucufufufu.” Samia giggles. “You must forgive Zeiba, Sir Jaghund. She is strong enforcer of etiquette. Please, you may help yourself to the food.” The Pharaoh gestures to the table.

“Right.” Marcus looks over his shoulder at Zeiba as he reaches for another apple, cautious of another attack. With apple in hand Marcus bites into it.

“Now then, tell me about yourself Marcus. Where do you hail from?” Samia grabs herself a bushel of grapes.

“I come from Zahmeria.” Marcus says with a mouth full of food. “It’s a-“ Again Marcus is cut off with a whack to the head from Zeiba.

“Do not talk with your mouth full in front of my lady.” Zeiba warns.

“Jumpin fuckin Wererabbits! Damn.” Marcus again rubs his head. “It’s a small citystate far to the north, beyond the frozen mountains of the mainland.”

“Ah, must be a callus land to settle.” Samia says before popping a grape in her mouth.

“Yeah. Snow ten months out of the year. At least the cold keeps the idiots out.” Marcus takes another bite of his apple. Samia meanwhile laughs at Marcus’ comment.

“We’re a small place but every fighter in Zahmeria is worth forty swordsmen in the low lands. Our number one export is silver. Zahmeria is littered with silver mines, and thanks to our residential Dwarves working those mines, Zahmeria is quite a rich place.” Marcus again takes a bite of the apple.

“I imagine so. Mines overflowing with silver has to create a strong economy. How about your career choice? How long have you been selling your skill for coin, and carrying that monstrous blade I saw on your back?” Samia pops yet another grape in her mouth. She leans back in her seat and crosses her leg.

“I’ve been a mercenary as long as I can remember. My adoptive father was a lifetime merc, taught me everything I know. As for that big old bastard blade. I’ve always been a strong guy, so I chose a blade that was heavy in weight and high in intimidation factor. Most opponents I face tend to run the moment they see the damn thing.” Marcus sets down the apple on his plate and pulls the roasted pork platter toward himself. Like an unrefined brute he rips a large chunk of meat from the platter with his bare hands, and like an ever constant force of nature Marcus is again smacked over the head by Zeiba.

“Oiva WHAT IN THE HELLS?!” He rises out of his seat and gets up in Zeiba’s face. He growls like a dog as he bears his unusually long and sharp canine teeth.

“WHAT, NOOOOOW.” He growls in a gruff tone.

“Use utensils....” Zeiba says flatly. Her eyes glazed with boredom.

Marcus clenched his fist, ready to break something. Instead he sits down and breaths deep, counting to ten in his head. With a large exhale he rubs his head and mumbles to himself.

“Are you a well traveled man?” Samia chimes in, drawing Marcus’ attention.

“I’ve been damn near everywhere. Why?” He says rubbing his head.

“A bit rough around the edges. But you will do just fine. Congratulations mercenary, you are hired.” Samia raises her goblet of wine for a toast.

“Hired for what?” Marcus looks at her, still rubbing his head.

“As my guide on my vacation.....” The Pharaoh then, takes a sip of her wine.

Chapter End....