Disgusting...that was the only thought that came to his mind as he saw the dead men laying on the sands. Freshly dead, and their horses as well.. Not disgust for the death of course, oh no. Disgust that they had tried to stop his great work. He stepped carefully around the corpses, he looked to the horizon for any more signs that he might be interrupted. That was something he could not have. His masters had been calling to him, instructing him, for far to long now. The device had been reconstructed finally. He lowered the hood from his cloak, his beard was long and grey, and his head was decorated with thin whisps of hair sporadically placed and a bare scalp. His black cloak dragged the ground now as he took a few more steps forward and squatted down. He placed what looked like a simple stone cube on the sand in front of him. His joints creaked as he stood up straight again. A smile came over his face and he took a deep breath before he began.
Kataroe had been making his way to Essyrn, he had hoped that the environment there might be a little more to his liking. He hoped that maybe he could manage to find some work there. He had been directed there during his time on the planes. The sunlight didn't agree with his fair skin, he had to keep himself covered in a black cloak while he was roaming about during daylight hours. He kept a hood over his head to shade his face and his eyes. He had been staying in one of the small settlements he had thankfully stumbled across. He had heard rumors that drew him from his current path though. Rumors of a man traveling by himself through the desert. An old man who stank of dark magic and was found talking to himself, or to some unseen presence. Apparently he had frequently repeated 'my master'. The rumors also stated that he had been assembling some artefact that was going to set something free. Of course said rumors also stated that everyone who encountered the old man died. If there were no survivors then how could the rumors have started though? He had shrugged off the rumors at first.
The man had begun chanting, words spewing out faster and faster. The words began to lose their semblance to human language and began changing into something the man did not appear to have the anatomy for. The sky was turning black, the air was buzzing with energy. Everything was going according to plan. He raised his hands before him, sparks arcing between his fingertips. His voice grew louder and louder and then he stopped. Thunder rolled and lightning danced in the churning clouds above. Then there was a sound that came from in front of the man, but it's source wasn't visible. It sounded like banging, something pounding on a heavy wooden door. We are here...we are close...use it!The old man smiled and crouched down again to the stone block, remaining on his knees this time. He picked it up in is wrinkled hands and turned the top of it slowly. A rune lit up on each side of the cube, all glowing bright blue.
Kataroe had listened to the rumors for a few days, still laughing them off as simple superstition. That was until the night he was getting ready to leave, to make for the next settlement bringing him closer to his goal of making it to the desert city. He saw a figure walking slowly through the sands. He was hunched, a long beard blowing in the wind. Kataroe took a moment and opened up his sight. That's when he decided that maybe their was something to the rumors. His aura was black, a toxic shade of green, and it left a trail much like that of a snail. He shut his sight down just before the man turned toward him. He was indeed old. He was to far away to make out fine details, despite that Kataroe was certain that he smiled at him before continuing on. Kataroe chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment and decided he needed to follow him. Maybe he did have some sort of master's he was serving, maybe he did have some sort of interesting device. It sounded very much like if he had said device that he didn't need to have it and such a device might be something that he could use or sell. He looked up to see where the man was headed but he was gone now. He started stuffing food into his pack and filling his waterskins.
The man made a few more twists and turns of the glowing cube and it sort of opened. The middle seemed to retract in while the corners pushed out. Then a button rose from one of the sides. The man held the cube out and pushed it. A beam of light shot forward 20 or so feet before stopping and spreading out into a line. The smell of ionizing air filled the area quickly, and a high pitched humming sound started to grow louder and louder. The the light and noise suddenly stopped and the cube returned to it's normal state rather abruptly. "No! I assembled it correctly, I know I did!" The man's attention was on the cube but for a moment when suddenly a giant gash opened up before him. Hot dry air blew past his face, there was fire and the sounds of screams spewing forth, and the vile smell of decay and excrement. From this gash a humanoid form stepped forward calmly. His boots were brought to a high polish, his pants were creased, and he wore a simple black coat. He walked forward to the man who was bowing to him now, his face pressed into the sand, groveling. "I'm impressed, you actually managed to pull it off." He pushed a hand through his black hair and took in a big breath. "You could have found a place that felt a little less like home though." He reached down and took the cube from the old man slipping it into his pocket. "Now stand for your reward." The seemingly much younger man motioned for the other to stand.
"M-m-master. I apologize for the inhospitable conditions here." He kept his head bowed as he stood. "No-no reward is necessary, knowing that I served you well is enough." The younger man nodded and frowned a little before his lips snapped into a smile, showing off a set of exceptionally white teeth.
"I see...Well you have my thanks." His hand shot forward, his fingers piercing the old man's belly. He hooked them into the muscle fibers and started to pull. "And my gratitude"
"Gah! You...forsake me?" The man groaned. There was an unpleasant popping sound, coupled with the sound of wet meat hitting the ground as muscle fibers broke and intestines and blood hit the ground. The man shook his bloody hand before wiping it off on the old man's robe as he fell to the ground.
"I am." He said simply and began to walk away. He turned toward the gash and whistled. Fire and shadows spewed forth and scattered for a moment before being replaced again with the hot air and screams. He smiled and then continued to walk away, the tear now slowly beginning to close.
Kataroe had been tracking the trail through the dunes but he never managed to catch up. If he'd had anywhere to go other than that previous settlement he probably would have turned around but until he started running low on supplies he wasn't going to do that. If that old man had managed it he could too. He stopped for a moment, the air was charged. He didn't need to fire up his sight to know that something was going on. He broke from his trot into a run now. He topped a dune in enough time to watch the scar open in the air. That was a familiar sight, a portal had opened up. There was a pause before the hot air and screams reach him. He backed down the dune some and watched. He couldn't make out what happened after the portal had closed, only that several things had escaped. He made his way over the dune in time to see a figure laying on the ground and another one walking away, quickly disappearing into the dunes. He took some time and pulled an orange from his pack that he peeled as he walked down the dune. He finished the orange before he got to the bottom. He stepped around the horsemen and the old man, that's when he was grabbed by the ankle. He quickly jerked his leg away and turned, drawing his sword in one fluid motion.
"He's free...he killed me, I freed them and he killed me." He coughed, blood spilling out over his chin. As his body went limp. Kataroe sheathed his blade and leaned down, shaking the man by the shoulder. He shook his head. That wasn't any help at all. He fired up his sight again and looked in the direction the other man had began walking. He had certainly left a trail as well, but it vanished before it even got out of sight, fire hanging in the air.