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Back to Empire on the HPe3000
... and ...
They had passed the firepit, Ursoth had quickened his pace finding
scant morsels not rendered tasteless by a covering of wood shavings, and
was making a beeline for the large western doors that sat opposite the
kitchen. He well remembered the larder and the many treats hand fed to him
by his master. His paws were ringed with sawdust, as was his muzzle, and
he gave a great sneeze, then stopped and sat. With both forepaws he wiped
away the shavings from around his ticklish nose then gave a wide yawn. His
jaws closed with a snap and he dropped back to all fours. As he did so an
errnt breeze trailed a beckoning finger of a scent before him. He rose,
then stood high on his hind legs, his front paws dangling half-bent at his
chest, his nose twitching as it sought the elusive spoor carried by the
current of air.
At first it played a game of there then not, Ursoth's head weaved
a pattern back and forth as he tried to catch it, only to lose it many
times. The wind, flowing across the hill and over the roof and down
thrugh the hall, shifted, and the scent came once again. This time
Ursoth caught it sure, and followed its course back toward the dimly
lit entrance of the Great Hall. He breathed it in, drawing a deep lungful,
and it set his fur to rise. A growl began, sonorous and low, then erupted
in a harsh plangent roar. He smelled the scent of man and he voiced his
displeasure.
* * *
Nosnra started at the sound. He had been lost in a fragment of his
past, distracted once again. Ursoth cried out afresh and began a stiff
legged march toward the long entranceway. "Ursoth!" Nosnra called out a
command, it stopped the bear in its tracks but its eyes still sought out
the origin of the scent and its nose pointed compass-like down the hall.
"What is it boy?" Nosnra called to his pet, "what do you see?"
Ursoth replied with a growl, but he obeyed and moved no further.
Nosnra, his wandering thoughts recalled and his memorys shut back into
the past, stepped forward, pushing aside a long bench that, lying askew,
blocked his way. It screeched with the sound of wood on wood leaving a
fresh gouge among the old, a criss cross pattern etched into the floor.
Down the hall some form in motion disengaged itself from the
shadows. A Hill Giant it appeared. Nosnra squinted but could not
clearly discern his features, the dark still hid him partially from
view. "Who's there." he demanded.
The figure raised a spectral arm and waved a greeting then turned
and slowly began to walk back the way it had come.
"Hold!" Nosnra shouted at the retreating figure. It heeded him
not, only quickened its pace, though it did not yet run.
The feeling of unease assailed him in a wave, this was no kindred,
but an apparition of some sort. As the thought entered his mind, the
figure wavered in form, became translucent with a small shadowy outline
as its base, the larger shape projected outward. Then it solidified and
was once again the retiring back belonging to one his own kind.
Nosnra raced in pursuit, upending a long table whose edge punched
paifully into his hip and then splintering a bench beneath him as the
stunning blow knocked him from his feet. Ursoth galloped behind, torn
momentarily between his masters command and the desire to be at his side.
His desire was greater than his obedience. The bear harkened to the call
of oyalty within him, no command would hold him, he would set tooth and
claw against his masters foe.
* * *