SWNOVELS Chapter 6: The Creatures of the Nameless City
Clarence fell in behind Surtur as he descended into the unholy ruin from their position on the crumbled wall. As they descended into the ruins, Clarence noted the wind was slacking noticeably. The sandstorm cloud in the distance they saw from the wall had dissipated, revealing the shattered crumbling ruins of a colossal palace or temple barely peeking out of what appeared to be a cliff face strangely devoid of sand. The ruins of this structure protruded from what appeared to be the largest dune he’d ever seen, which rose four hundred feet in height. Crumbled blocks of deep black stone lay scattered over the main part of the dune with only a ninety-foot wide cliff being free of the sands. It reminded Clarence of an unholy alien version of Petra, but far larger and infinitely more alien in nature. It emanated a mysterious unspeakable aura of extreme antiquity and evil, much more so than all the other ruined structures he noticed all around him. He instinctively knew the cyclopean palace or temple was the source of the dark dread he sensed. He didn’t wish to go there, knowing instinctively gruesome alien death lay within those moldering walls. Yet to his dismay, he quickly realized Surtur was making a beeline towards the crumbling titan edifice, which added to his concern. Remembering Surtur’s savage warning about controlling his thoughts, Clarence shadowed him closely while trying to keep his fears and thoughts in check and keeping an eye on the massive ruins around them that made him feel like flea next to a titanosaur.
Surtur threaded his way through the ruins as if he’d walked the place before, knowing exactly where he was going. After ten minutes of treading softly through the ruins, which continued to moan and howl softly like a roaring demon in the distance, Clarence noted the alien writing, symbols, and iconography covered every visible stone even though the erosion of sands, winds, and strangely water had obliterated most of it. Only the ghostly echoes of the writing remained on the stone exposed to the winds. However, in sheltered places, the writing, symbols, and pictorial images remained pristine and eerie, carved into the sandblasted black stone that baffled Clarence in its origins. He’d seen every known type of stone in his travels around the world, from sandstone, to the various andesitic granites, diorite, slate, schist, even the dark basalts of varying types. The stone of the ruins around him mystified him for it was a rock he’d never seen before.
Out of curiosity, Clarence pulled out his basic magnetic compass and saw the needle spinning wildly like a gyroscope, going one way, then changing direction instantly before spinning like a top. Once again, a deep icy chill chased down his spine. Snapping the compass cover shut and pocketing the instrument, he looked around again as Surtur picked up his pace...the sensation of being watched from the shadows filling his mind. Deep shadows seemed to flit like ghosts throughout the ruined structures around them. They became more numerous and substantial as the palace began to loom large in front of them with some of the shadows starting to take a ghostly bipedal reptilian form. This began to shake his resolve, making him ponder the true reason for him being there. He knew something wasn’t right with the whole situation. The idea Surtur had something nefarious planned for him seeped into his consciousness...a thought he could not block or control. A feeling that he was following Surtur to his death swept him. He paled at the hideous thought.
However, that thought vanished when Clarence actually saw a hideous shadowy bipedal reptilian with a toothy horned crocodilian head on a veloci-raptor like body with long muscular arms and legs armed with formidable claws seemingly clad in some strange dark metallic armor he could not identify did he realize his truly precarious position. The ghostly peril to his life suddenly became very tangible when he saw the shadowy reptilian form lurking physically in the shadows. Stifling a gasp of horror at the sight, he urgently scanned the ruins around him as they came within two hundred yards of the ruined palace, seeing ten more of the foul shadowy creatures observing him and Surtur with increasing agitation...their cold reptilian eyes blazing with intense hate and anger. With the sighting of the other creatures, Clarence immediately recalled what Alhazred wrote of the creatures of the Nameless City, realizing what he spotted were indeed the nameless spawn of the Nameless City. This caused him to close the distance between him and Surtur, whispering, “Boss, we have company of a hostile sort.”
Without turning to Clarence, Surtur replied darkly, “I know. They’ve been shadowing us for the last ten minutes. I’m surprised you didn’t see them before now. You should have been more observant and kept your thoughts and emotions in check. Your inability to control them drew them to us like a magnet, you pestilent son of a bitch.”
“Are you sure we should keep going?” Clarence asked bluntly, ignoring Surtur’s savage rebuke because of his attention on the creatures. “They obviously don’t like the fact we’re here. Maybe we should fall back until they’re gone.”
Surtur suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned, and grabbed Clarence by the throat, lifting him completely off the ground...his black eyes shining with the same hellfire fury he saw in the Land Rover. Clarence felt a searing heat from Surtur’s hand as he strangled him. With a scowl, Surtur growled with fury, “You dare ask me such a thing when we’re within sight of the Abyss Gate? I should roast your human carcass right here for even suggesting such a thing! I’m not going to let any human germ interfere with my Great Game again, not even you. Now if you so much as open your mouth again, I will tear that pestilent tongue out of your head and feed it to the guardians shadowing us. We’re going into the palace and into the temple of the Abyss Gate! Only there will we be safe from the Rising. Only there can I gain the power and knowledge I need to win my game with Beowulf. He will not thwart me again as he did at Drakonia! Do I make myself clear?” With that, he threw Clarence bodily like a rag doll fifty feet up against a broken off pillar thirty feet tall and twenty feet across. He crashed awkwardly against the ruin, knocking the wind from him. At the same time, his left leg snapped audibly and a crunching sound came from his right arm and ribs. Fiery pain filled Clarence’s body from the snapped bones. However, only a wheezing gasping moan escaped his lips as he landed in a heap at the base of the pillar...his vision blurry and spinning from a moderate concussion delivered when his head slammed against the pillar.
Seeing Clarence’s now poor physical condition from his awkward crash against the pillar, Surtur sneered venomously, saying, “I warned you, but now you will serve my purpose in this way. While the guardians feast on you, I will go uninhibited to the Abyss Gate and my destiny. Goodbye forever my foolish apprentice; just be glad that you will die at the physical claws and teeth of the guardians, and not die at the hands of the Kandarian Shambler you so foolishly wanted to know about. Give my regards to oblivion when you get there.” With that, Surtur turned and walked away, laughing maniacally in alien intonations that froze Clarence’s blood, despite his wounded and stunned state.
As soon as Surtur was out of sight, the shadowy creatures Clarence saw descended en mass on him as he struggled to sit up, leaning weakly against the pillar that had been his bane. By time his vision stabilized, he saw twelve of the ten-foot tall guardian creatures encircling him. They were truly hideous reptilian beasts with a malevolent gleam of intelligence, drool dripping from their horned crocodilian heads and toothy maws with their massive clawed hands curled ready to dismember any trespasser. As they came within ten feet of him, the creatures suddenly stopped as he heard a deep ominous crocodilian rumble from above him. Barely being able to look up, he saw one of the creatures standing atop the fallen pillar he leaned against, looking down directly at him with great disdain, anger, and hate. It roared and the others fell back making a twenty-foot perimeter as the beast jumped down, landing right in front of Clarence, sending sand splattering from the impact. It turned around with a swish of its massive tail and approached menacingly, leaning in close to examine Clarence as its large scythe-like toe claws clicked menacingly against the sand.
Numbed terror and panic filled Clarence’s features as he realized his was going to die right there. In a last desperate act, he put on a brave face, crossed himself with the finger of his unbroken arm, and then drew the Elder Sign shakily on his chest with the same finger. Once he did that, he wheezed weakly, “Go on. I’m...ready. Do it. There’s no way...I can stop...you. Just make it quick.” Closing his eyes, he waited for the final blow like a lamb before the butcher.
However, the killing strike never came. He felt the creature’s foul breath on his face and chest, which burned from his broken ribs. He then felt its taloned fingers probing his limbs and torso without tearing into his flesh. When the talons touched a damaged area, Clarence moaned in agony. The touch of the scaly reptilian skin made Clarence’s skin crawl. After a few moments, he sensed the creature had pulled back, but remained nearby because he could hear its raspy breath, along with the breathing of the other creatures around him. The creature then spoke in an alien reptilian tongue he didn’t understand with a tone of authority. He didn’t answer. It waited, and then reached out, touching his neck as if feeling for a pulse. When Clarence felt the creature’s fingers lift without ripping his throat out, he opened his eyes, seeing the creature on its haunches four feet away, looking him in the eye. “Sssso you ssstill live, human,” it hissed in a hideous thick reptilian tone that sent chills down Clarence’s spine. “What are you doing here, and why did the infernal dark Lord of Crematoria attack you?”
Clarence stared in utter astonishment that the creature could speak in English. When he finally found his tongue, he wheezed haltingly, “I never wanted...to come here. My master, Surtur insisted I come, and now...I know why. I was...merely a piece of...meat to distract you while he...goes for...what he calls...the Abyss Gate. I regret...having ever met...that fiend, for that’s...what he is...a demon. I saw his...true form as we approached...the city at dawn. He means to do...something terrible at the Gate. I...know it. If you’re here...to protect the entrance to your...world, you’d best warn your...people that he’s coming. He’ll...kill you all...if given a chance. I...know it.”
A vicious snarl rumbled from the creature as it barked an order to those around it in a language Clarence didn’t understand. Ten of the creatures instantly took off into the ruins, disappearing in moments. Only three remained, including the one squatting in front of him. It turned back to Clarence as he wheezed heavily with blood now oozing from his mouth and nose. “We thank you for the warning, human,” it hissed softly. “We shall prepare a proper reception for the infernal dark Lord of Crematoria. He will get neither our secrets nor our people. However, we cannot permit any human to know of us, even though you know our ways and have invoked the sacred Elder Signs for protection. We cannot permit our secrets to be known by your kind. I hope you understand.”
Clarence coughed up blood and said with a gurgle, “It’s...all right. I’m dying anyway, and know it. There’s...no way for...me to escape...with my injuries. But...I’m glad to...have learned...your kind aren’t...necessarily evil like Surtur. I just...ask one thing...before you...kill me.”
“What’s that, my brave human,” the creature asked with growing respect for Clarence’s bravery in the face of certain doom.
“Your name...if you have one,” Clarence gurgled weakly. “I’d...like to know...the name of...my executioner; please.”
“I am called Sebek,” the creature answered sympathetically. “And you are...?”
“Clarence,” Clarence wheezed softly, feeling death approaching swiftly. Yet strangely he didn’t fear it nor the creature named Sebek. Offering the hand on his unbroken arm with great difficulty, he whispered in agonizing pain, “I’m glad...to have met...you, Sebek...my friend.”
This statement truly surprised Sebek for no human had ever called him or any of his people their friend. In fact, no human before Clarence had ever seen Sebek’s kind as anything but monsters to be destroyed on sight. Now he saw at least one human who saw him and his people as reasoning rational beings capable of friendship. Seeing Clarence’s gesture, Sebek grasped his hand in friendship, grieved that he had to end Clarence’s existence for the good of his kind. Looking Clarence in his eye as he held his hand, Sebek could see death looming over the human. “It was my honor, young human,” he replied softly. “Die well, my friend. May your soul find its way to the lands of your ancestors; are you ready?”
Clarence nodded weakly as his eyes darkened whispering hoarsely, “Do it.”
Sebek nodded solemnly and drew back his clawed hand, pointing its talons directly at Clarence’s heart. However, before he could strike, the light went out of Clarence’s eyes and he slumped limp as his last breath appeared to hiss between his lips and his hand slipped from Sebek’s grip. Seeing this, Sebek checked Clarence’s pulse, finding none he could detect. With a sigh, he closed Clarence’s eyes, saying, “May your journey to your ancestors be swift and without delay, young human.”
“Is the human dead?” one of Sebek’s companions asked coldly in its reptilian tongue.
“Yes,” Sebek answered grimly, “He is; killed by the infernal dark Lord of Crematoria to distract us from protecting the Gate. I have no love for humans, but I admire this human’s strength and goodness. He didn’t fear us and managed to warn us of the infernal dark Lord’s plot to reach the Gate. He died a warrior’s death, which I respect. He deserves more than to be picked by clean by the vultures and his bones ground into dust by the sandstorms. Let’s give him the sendoff a warrior of his caliber deserves. Pick him up and take him to the Hall of the Dead where he may be prepared for his final journey.”
“You speak heresy, commander,” another of Sebek’s companions countered darkly, “Only our people are allowed to rest in the Hall of the Dead. You know the law. To do what you suggest is blasphemy that will bring down the wrath of the Ancient Ones on us. You shouldn’t even consider it.”
“Not so, Kronar,” Sebek hissed, standing up and challenging the creature who had confronted him. “What I propose is no desecration and you know it. I too know the law, and know there’s a place within the Hall of the Dead set aside for those not of our kind who have gained our respect by doing us a righteous turn. This human did that by warning us of the infernal dark Lord’s reasons for intruding here. The human will not touch our most sacred sanctuary, but be prepared in the place of honor for those not of our kin. Suggest again that I’m committing blasphemy, and I will end you myself. Do I make myself clear, Kronar?”
“Yes, commander,” Kronar replied fearfully, cowering before Sebek as he loomed tall over him. “I was just reminding you of our traditions. After all, the Elders take our security, traditions, and secrets very seriously.”
“So noted,” Sebek hissed coldly, “Now pick up the human and come. We will temporarily store him in the place of honor before we join our fellow guardians to stop the infernal dark Lord. Come on.” He pointed at Clarence with authority and Kronar begrudgingly picked him up.
“I feel soiled by even touching this pestilent human,” Kronar spat with hate and disgust. “I’ll have to go through the cleansing ritual for a week after handling this vile carcass.”
Sebek scowled at the remark and was about to smash his taloned fist into Kronar’s face when a blinding flash of light appeared in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. After a few moments, the blindness lifted and they saw a large luminous being twelve feet tall that resembled one of them, though it was translucent and shimmering like a phantom. It shown with an unearthly brilliance as fear filled their hearts, causing them to retreat.
“By the Ancient Ones,” Kronar hissed in great fear, “What’s a djinn doing here?”
“Quiet, fool,” Sebek growled fearfully, “Don’t antagonize the djinn. We do not know what it wants.”
The luminous apparition lifted its clawed hand and said, “Fear not; I come with a message from the throne of the Great Creator. Do not take this human to the Hall of the Dead for he is not dead. The Creator still has work for him to do.” Pointing to a ruined edifice that still had a partial roof, the apparition ordered, “Leave him in the shadow of yon structure and quickly return to the Gate. You must seal and bar it so the infernal dark Lord cannot enter your domain and harvest your lives and souls for his Great Game. Go quickly now.”
“This sounds serious,” Sebek’s other companion commented with worry. “I think we should take the djinn’s advice. They only appear when something terrible is about to happen.”
“Agreed,” Sebek concurred, “But what about the human? I saw him die, and you say he’s not dead? He has no vitals that I could detect.”
“The human is deeply comatose from his invoking of the Elder Signs for protection,” the apparition stated, “His vitals still operate, but not on a level that you can detect. Do not fear for him, for the Creator will see to it that he fulfills his purpose before taking his last great journey. Now go, quickly. The infernal dark Lord is about to enter the palace. Take the shortcut and enter the secret entrance to the catacombs. Get there and join with your fellow guardians before he reaches them. It will take all of you to seal the Gate. Go before it’s too late.” With that, the apparition faded away like a cloud blown away in the wind.
After the shock of the encounter wore off, Sebek ordered, “Come on. Let’s deposit the human in the shelter the djinn pointed to and get moving. We must reach the Temple before the infernal Dark Lord does.” With that, all three of them deposited Clarence under cover in the shelter. Sebek leaned over and again checked Clarence’s vitals. He leaned close and listened to Clarence’s chest while feeling for his pulse. After a full minute, he detected a faint pulse followed by a very shallow hissing of breath between Clarence’s lips. Sebek’s eyes grew wide and swore, saying, “By the Ancient Ones, the djinn spoke truly. The human still lives, though barely. I sincerely hope the Great Creator sends someone to his aid. It would be a travesty for him to perish of thirst and hunger now.”
“Come on, commander,” Kronar hissed urgently, “You heard the djinn. We dare not defy the djinn in this. The human’s fate now belongs to them, but we need to get moving and secure the Gate.”
“Right, Kronar,” Sebek replied, standing up and looking down on the comatose Clarence in the shade of the shelter. “Farewell, young human called Clarence. May the Great Creator and your gods show you their favor and bring you to safety.” With that, Sebek led his companions out of the shelter, breaking into a full run heading towards the secret entrance with the speed of a cheetah.
Clarence stirred slightly as the fire of his life seemed to rekindle slowly. Unknown to him, a massive war angel in golden armor with the Elder Sign emblazoned on his breastplate knelt down beside him with a hand on his head while a squad of other angels stood guard with their weapons ready. “Don’t worry, Clarence,” the war angel, who was obviously the leader of the angelic squad whispered in his ear, “You’re not dead yet and help is coming. Just hold on. You will not die in this desolation”
Clarence’s vitals continue to strengthen and stabilize as the angel whispered to him. “I hope the Lord sends us help quickly,” one of the war angels said to the leader angel tending to Clarence. “We’re completely exposed here, commander. We’re deep in enemy territory.”
“They will come for him,” the commander answered, “Trust the Lord. He broke Surtur’s plan by getting him to attack Clarence before they reached the Gate. Without Clarence as an appropriate sacrifice, he will not be able to penetrate the Abyss Gate where the Crocodilian Vendo of Vendikar resides. Without their life energy and knowledge, Surtur will not be able to interfere seriously with Beowulf’s mission in Amacia. Now keep your eyes open. Dan should be about to search for Clarence here if Gabriel managed to get the message to him. Our boy Clarence here is going to be a key player in this fight.”
“Yes sir,” the war angel answered, keeping his eagle eyes open to danger from the surrounding ruins.