Prelude

This is a piece from a larger work I am messing around with. I am taking a tip from Indiana Jones in this piece.

The Sun shone distant and cold, little more than a star in the sky. Four men trudged slowly across the gray and lifeless dirt that stretched on as far as one could see. Three of the men were wrapped up in wool from head to toe, the fourth stood with his bare face exposed to the blasts of icy wind

The bare faced man gazed over the monotonous terrain and somehow picked a course, pointing and shouting orders. The men spread out lying down in the dirt. The fourth stood in the middle of them and activating a device on his wrists, he put his palms together. He slid his hands in opposite directions and a sheet of liquid poured from palm to palm slowly hardening into crystal. He spread his hands about four feet apart then stopped. He flicked the excess from the now formed crystal blade.

Another gust of wind rushed over the men, shards of ice cut the bare faced man’s face. He didn’t move up to cover it, though warmth was rushing out as steam from the small cut.
Before him out of nothingness rose a formless black shadow, towering as tall as three men.
“Voidshaped!” yelled one of the men lying in the dirt.

The formless shadow slowly grew fluctuating arms and legs. The edges of its form ebbed back and force like the tides. It turned to the man who had shouted. The bare faced man stepped forward and sliced at the creature’s new formed leg. The thing let out a wordless cry and near soundless cry, little more than the hissing of air, and swung one of its malformed limbs at the bare-faced man. He rolled backwards to avoid the blow.

“Now!”

The other three leaped up from the ground throwing nets, the cross sections of -which were coated with the same crystal of the bare-faced man’s sword. They landed on their mark and the creature shrank as it looked as though it was curling up under the nets.

The bare-faced man rushed forward stabbing again. The three others pulled ropes to tighten the nets against the creature’s thrashing. A few more stabs and the creature’s thrashing weakened. The battle was nearly won.

One of the three lines that held the ropes went limp. The three men looked to the man who should have been holding the third line. They saw a smaller shadowy shape. The shape rushed the bare-faced man. The bare-faced man raised his sword and sliced at the onrushing shadow, but it warped away from the blade and struck the bare-faced man off his feet. He landed on his back hard.

The two other men strained against the larger creatures renewed thrashing. The ropes ripped out of their hands and the creature tossed the nets aside. One of the two acted quickly pulling a knife of alloyed crystal and leaped into the shadowy mass, stabbing. The shadow enveloped him as he entered.

The bare-faced man held his blade point up as the smaller creature pummeled down on top of him. He caught its side and shoved it off. He stabbed downward as he rolled on top of it, pinning it to the ground. It thrashed and vanished. He stood up pulling his blade from the dirt and looked towards the thrashing mass. The man who had entered cut his way through. The gap the man created slowly closed behind him and he fell to the ground. The creature writhed, its created limbs twisting and entangling. After moments of agony it lost its form, a shadow again it flitted away. The bare faced man and the only other man left standing converged on the man who had clawed his way through the creature. He lay face down in the dirt his clothing torn from head to toe. Where it not for the collection of cuts and gouges covering his body he would still soon freeze. There was no sign of the fourth.

“Daniel, give him your cloak,” said the bare faced man.

Daniel still shaking from the fight stammered, “but… I’ll freeze.”

The bare faced man scowled and “Without your cloak you might freeze. Without your cloak Isaac will freeze. Do as I say we aren’t leaving him behind.”

Daniel removed the outer most covering of his body and wrapped wounded Isaac in it. He looked up to the bare faced man and said, “But where are we taking him, back to the Gate?”

The bare faced man shook his head. “You will, I can’t, I have to go after that thing.”

“But, you can’t take it alone…” Daniel began, but the bare faced man cut him off.

“You were no help this time, what makes you think you can help me now.” The bare faced man brushed some of the frozen blood from his face. “No the only use you are is to ferry brave Isaac back to the gate, maybe he will fight again if you move quickly.”

Daniel bowed his head, and lifted Isaac up. Isaac feebly held onto Daniel. “Can you walk Isaac?”

Isaac nodded slowly.

“I’ll get him to safety Solomon.” Daniel said to the bare faced man.

Solomon pointed to Isaac’s knife. “Take it. We don’t know if the Voidshaped is headed for the gate. Onus help us if it is.”

“I won’t fail you again Solomon,” said Daniel.