Post by imperium3 on Aug 3, 2009 9:40:28 GMT
This is a short story I wrote about 4/5 years ago, "loosely" based on section 289 onwards of Shadow on the Sand. Enjoy!
HARPON HIMSELF
‘Look upon your doom, Long Woof! For I am more powerful than your puny little mind can possibly imagine. I rule over the three shades of Doggo-Choccis! The power to rule, to destroy, and to conquer all life is within my grasp. Behold my power!’
This said, Barklord Harpon cackled with manic frenzy; evidently the moment he’d been waiting for had arrived. He hauled a magnificent mammoth bone from behind his massive black throne, and hurled it at the tiny C’nine Lord.
Yet Long Woof was quicker! Acting without hesitation, he jumped forward, spun in midleap, and snatched the bone out of the air, landing on all fours and swiftly devouring the weapon.
Hardly had he finished off the last splinters when the evil Barklord gave a mighty howl. From his mouth, hundreds of hairless, diminutive canines emerged, charging at Long Woof with hellish ferocity. Jaws dripping saliva, overlarge eyes bulging they attacked, thousands of the little mouths snarling and squealing for blood.
But the C’nine Lord was more than a match for mere Clipped Spawn. His mighty paws smashed left and right, and with each stroke many of them were sent yowling across the chamber. Nevertheless, for each twenty that Long Woof obliterated, forty more took their place. Many jaws sank into his fur, and soon he was bleeding all over.
Exerting his willpower, he blasted aside a heap of Clipped Spawn and rolled back, rearing up on two legs with a human sized crossbow in his paws and an insane grin on his jowls.
From every orifice of the cavern more Clipped Spawn hurtled, joining up with more and more of their fellows and scaling the masses of corpses in a huge, overwhelming, unstoppable tide, still coming in their thousands, mouths oozing pure white spittle and bare, hairless skin pressed together, glowing red eyes dreaming of blood and carnage, barely metres away…
Long Woof wrenched the lever.
The Spawnlings screeched to a halt barely inches from the C’nine Lord, knowing in their bloodthirsty eyes that it was too late, but thrust on by their comrades and trampled underfoot as the massive iron bolts tore their way into the swarm and took out rank after rank of the demonic horrors. Some tried to flee, but were merely crushed by the endless wave of screaming monsters behind them.
It took several minutes before the carnage stopped.
As the last of the Spawn was nailed to the opposite wall, Harpon reeled as if struck, screeching with pain and fury. Eyes bulging from their sockets, he attempted to stand, frantically raking his claws at the stone floor, but the strength was not in him.
The evil genius was not broken yet! Incandescent with rage, he drew back his arms.
‘Got any more tricks, Long Woof? Mwahahaha!’
‘Never!’ cried the C’nine Lord absent-mindedly, thinking hard. His crossbow was good, but it would be quicker to count every grain of sand in Vlossagonkia than reload it.
‘Then learn this!’ screeched the murderous Barklord as lightning smashed into Long Woof, making him writhe in agony. ‘Death! MWAHAHAHA!’
He stopped for a moment to think up another quip, but this was a fatal mistake. Long Woof pulled out the Stammerscourge, the bane of Barklords everywhere, and charged.
The Barklord may have been a coward, but he was no coward. Swiftly he grasped a deadly weapon: his whip, Franakhfurtar. It was cunningly wrought from a string of foul, black sausages, and could slay a dog in a single strike. With carefully exaggerated malice, he advanced towards his foe.
TO BE CONTINUED…
HARPON HIMSELF
‘Look upon your doom, Long Woof! For I am more powerful than your puny little mind can possibly imagine. I rule over the three shades of Doggo-Choccis! The power to rule, to destroy, and to conquer all life is within my grasp. Behold my power!’
This said, Barklord Harpon cackled with manic frenzy; evidently the moment he’d been waiting for had arrived. He hauled a magnificent mammoth bone from behind his massive black throne, and hurled it at the tiny C’nine Lord.
Yet Long Woof was quicker! Acting without hesitation, he jumped forward, spun in midleap, and snatched the bone out of the air, landing on all fours and swiftly devouring the weapon.
Hardly had he finished off the last splinters when the evil Barklord gave a mighty howl. From his mouth, hundreds of hairless, diminutive canines emerged, charging at Long Woof with hellish ferocity. Jaws dripping saliva, overlarge eyes bulging they attacked, thousands of the little mouths snarling and squealing for blood.
But the C’nine Lord was more than a match for mere Clipped Spawn. His mighty paws smashed left and right, and with each stroke many of them were sent yowling across the chamber. Nevertheless, for each twenty that Long Woof obliterated, forty more took their place. Many jaws sank into his fur, and soon he was bleeding all over.
Exerting his willpower, he blasted aside a heap of Clipped Spawn and rolled back, rearing up on two legs with a human sized crossbow in his paws and an insane grin on his jowls.
From every orifice of the cavern more Clipped Spawn hurtled, joining up with more and more of their fellows and scaling the masses of corpses in a huge, overwhelming, unstoppable tide, still coming in their thousands, mouths oozing pure white spittle and bare, hairless skin pressed together, glowing red eyes dreaming of blood and carnage, barely metres away…
Long Woof wrenched the lever.
The Spawnlings screeched to a halt barely inches from the C’nine Lord, knowing in their bloodthirsty eyes that it was too late, but thrust on by their comrades and trampled underfoot as the massive iron bolts tore their way into the swarm and took out rank after rank of the demonic horrors. Some tried to flee, but were merely crushed by the endless wave of screaming monsters behind them.
It took several minutes before the carnage stopped.
As the last of the Spawn was nailed to the opposite wall, Harpon reeled as if struck, screeching with pain and fury. Eyes bulging from their sockets, he attempted to stand, frantically raking his claws at the stone floor, but the strength was not in him.
The evil genius was not broken yet! Incandescent with rage, he drew back his arms.
‘Got any more tricks, Long Woof? Mwahahaha!’
‘Never!’ cried the C’nine Lord absent-mindedly, thinking hard. His crossbow was good, but it would be quicker to count every grain of sand in Vlossagonkia than reload it.
‘Then learn this!’ screeched the murderous Barklord as lightning smashed into Long Woof, making him writhe in agony. ‘Death! MWAHAHAHA!’
He stopped for a moment to think up another quip, but this was a fatal mistake. Long Woof pulled out the Stammerscourge, the bane of Barklords everywhere, and charged.
The Barklord may have been a coward, but he was no coward. Swiftly he grasped a deadly weapon: his whip, Franakhfurtar. It was cunningly wrought from a string of foul, black sausages, and could slay a dog in a single strike. With carefully exaggerated malice, he advanced towards his foe.
TO BE CONTINUED…
He made an attempt to write a version (with slightly edited plot and a few tangents) of the whole of Shadow in the Sand. Unfortunately after 9 chapters and about 26,000 words, he lost focus slightly and went on to write something else (a complete novel, as it happens). 