the Mantis
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 21867
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Hours had passed. Four, to be precise. Wincerind's prize possession, a
time-keeping mechanism with intricate Hespanish clockwork, at least gave
him the assurance that time was actually moving in this windless
expanse of waste. The golem tracks had been easy to follow, but the trek they took him on hadn't been. He still had plenty of food, but his water supply was running low. He knew he could manage to trudge along a few more hours, but he'd seen no hint of water on his entire journey. No flora or fauna, no clouds, no sun, there were absolutely no landmarks to relive the monotony. He came to a spot where the golems seemed to have briefly stopped before they had continued on. He did a thorough search of the ground in the area but found no clues.He had finished the last of his water, and was about to resume his hopeless journey, when something caught his eye. On the not-too- distant horizon he could make out what looked like a glimmering, silver puddle. It almost resembled water, and Wincerind's spirits were lifted in the vain hope of quenching his thirst. He ran toward his new found beacon of inspiration with renewed vigor. Oddly, the puddle seemed to be approaching him just as fast! He would stop moving his legs for a moment and the puddle would seem to stop as well, but as soon as he would begin moving forward again...the puddle would appear to do the same. Was it an illusion? Wincerend had thought himself a master of such things...but usually he was in control. Everything about this place was unnerving...With unlikely speed, Wincerind reached the puddle and examined it more closely. It was...beautiful! It had an amazingly reflective, silvery color. He could look at the mirror image of himself on it's metallic surface with pristine clarity! It was liquid, to be sure, but it resembled mercury, and this dashed any hopes of finding water that Wincerind had naively held on to. With bent knee, Wincerind scooped his hands into the puddle and gathered up a small amount of the strange substance. As he withdrew his arms he was amazed by the sheer weight of the liquid. It was very cool, but not cold, and seemed to pulsate with some hidden energy.He gave a horrified gasp. The liquid in his hands began to take form! Before he knew what had happened, a silver preying mantis was in his hands, it's bulbous eyes peering at him with an eerie, alien intelligence. It cast it's flexible head this way and that, grinding it's mandibles together to the effect of omitting a high pitched ring that sent ripples through the larger puddle at Wincerind's feet. It's graceful movements terrified the man and he flung it to the ground. To his astonishment, it made a smooth landing and rejoined the puddle. Fearing the worst, he began to back away.Next thing he knew there was a 20- foot monstrosity of a mantis towering above him. Caught in it's hypnotic gaze, Wincerind ceased all movement. He cringed as he felt the psychic powers the mantis seemingly possessed begin to probe his mind... You will come with me,the words that formed in Wincerind's mind were not his own. You are inferior, and represent no threat. You will be taken to the Archetype.Paralyzed with fear, Wincerind was helpless as the mantis took the form of a silver sphere and, moving effortlessly through the air, enveloped him.
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Ib
11/8/2002 1:17:32 PM
Extending Enabled
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