Crawly Crypt Collection 1/crawlyvol1.bin/magazine/scriba/scriba12/data.bin/JADEGAME.DOC

Text File | 1992-08-23 | 11KB | 187 lines

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üJadeGamesInternational,partII
ÇbyGardEggesbøAbrahamsen

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!"
   Jeamund'sscreamawakenedeverysleepinganimalandhumaninthe
entirevalley.Itwasascreamthatshatteredeveryhopeofpeaceas
easilyaselephantssqueezestrawberriesbywalkingonthem.Itwasthe
signofdanger,thesignofnastiness.Itwastimetoevacuateordie.
   Dropsofbloodrangentlydownhisswordandendedupinapoolonthe
ground.Agrowingpoolofred,thickliquidwithasweetsmell.Thesong
fromthefliesgatheringrounditcouldbesensed,buthedidn'tcare.He
didn'tcarefornothingnomore.
   Aquickturntoseeifanyonewassmiling,butnoonedared,asdeath
wouldbecertain.Justthesoundofthewindblowinginthewoodscould
beinterpretedasalaugh.Asilent,yetnoticeablelaugh,laughingat
thedarkfigurethatletthebloodflowdownfromhissword.Laughing
withanoticeablesilence.Itchokedhim.
   Heliftedhisswordandslowlyputitbackinhisbelt.Thebodyat
hisfeetwasdead,now.Justanotherinnocentogrethathadtosufferfor
Jeamund'ssuddenoutburstofangerandagony,sopainfulhehadtokill.
Justicewasgone,theworldwasgone,hisfriendsweregone.Fornow,he
couldonlytrustinagreypixelinthetoprightcornerofhiseye.
   "O'greatPixelinthetoprightcornerofmyeye,"hebeggedashe
gotdownonhisknees."Mustyo'greynesscovermeentireeyeandletthe
worldbecomegreyasyo',notredlikethebloodIjustshed,notgreen
liketheuglygrassontheground,butgrey...likeyo'!"
   Hegotuponhisfeetagain,lookedaround.Silence.Justtheodddrop
fallingdownfromthesky,blessinghisnosewithwetnessandstarvation.
Thefeelingofhungergrewinhisstomachandwassupportedbyhislungs.
Heneededfood.Heneededwater.Heneededlove.
   "Mustthegreypixelsuffocateya',andyo'disksbefilledwith
viruses!Mustthegreypixelspreadonyo'harddiskandruineverybyte
ofvaluabledata!Iherebydeclarewar,mista'!"
   War?Howcouldhefightagainstaninvisibleenemy.Hehadalready
lost,orhadhealreadywon?Therewasnowayhecouldknowanythingfor
sure,otherthanthefactthathewasstillalive,yethungry.
   ThebodyonthegroundsufferedapowerfulblowasJeamundtookastep
forward.Hedidn'tquitelikethethoughtofeatinghisenemies,butthis
timehehadto.Therewasnootherway.
   Backonhisknees,hestartedcuttingthemeatwithahandyknife.
Stilloverwhelmedbythefeelingofhunger,hewasthankingthegrey
pixelforthefood,nomatterhowuglyitlooked,nomatterthelackof
tablesandwater.Hewouldcertainlynotleaveasinglebitofmeat
behindthathecouldthankthegreypixelfor.
   Despiteofthehorribleoriginoftheogre,Jeamundhadtoadmitthat
themeatdidn'ttastetoobadly.Hecouldsurviveonitifhehadto.The
extratouchofpepperandsaltwouldcertainlymakeitworthtrying.
Still,hehadnotimetotryitoutnow.Perhapslater.

Afterthemostdeliciousmeal,helickedthebloodoffhishandsand
lookedaroundforaclueofwhattodonext.Hehaddonethefood.Buthe
wasstillyearningforwaterandlove.
   Hisearssensedthesoundofwaterrushingby,buthiseyesdisagreed.
Thetreeswerehidingsomething.Theground.Theearth.Still,hecould
hearit.Nearby.Thesoundofwater.

   "O'greatPixelinthetoprightcornerofmeeye,
   IthanktheeforthefoodwithoutwhichIwoulddie.
   ButanotherwishIbringtothee,
   ariverfullofwaterformyeyestosee."
Ç
Theworldturnedblue.Bluelikethesky,likethenormal3.5inches
disk,likethecolourofwaterindeepsea.Blue.Wet.Jeamundwasinthe
middleofit.Hecouldbarelybreathe,butdrankasmuchwaterhecould
possiblyget.
   Afterawhile,hedecidedthatitwouldn'tbeastupidideatoswim
towardsthesurface.Thelungswerepushing,heneededair.Hisdesire
forwaterhadgoneasquicklyasithadcome.Butstilltherewasathird
desirehehadnotcalmeddown,anditwasurgent.

   "O'greyPixelinthetoprightcornerofmeeye,
   IthanktheeforthefoodwhichwithoutI'ddie.
   O'greyPixelinthetoprightcornerofmeeye,
   you'vegivenmethewaterthatrunsmeby.
   ButathirddesireisyetforwhichIask,
   lovefromafemale,isittoolargeatask?"

Theworldfadedawayintogreyness,andonlyahollowvoicecouldbe
heardasitdeafenedhisearswiththeanswersforallofhisdreams.
"ìYES!ÇItistoomuchforevenaPixeltodo!!!"Everythingwentblack.
Onlythefaintsmellofbloodkepthissensestogetherandlethimthink
ofwhateverhewished,buthadtobewithout.
   "Isheokay,youthink?"Thevoiceofafemale.Itwasfar,faraway,
andtheonlythinghecouldhear.Itrepeated.Overandoveragain.
Nothingelsematteredtohiminthedarknessthatsurroundedhim.Inthe
thicksilence,hecouldonlythinkofthisfemale'svoice.
   Quiteafewhours,no,dayspassedbybeforehewokeup,butto
Jeamund,itfeltlikejustafewseconds.Thetasteofogremeatwas
stillinhismouth,andsowasthesoundofthewater,butthesmellwas
new,unidentifiable.Theodourmadehimopenhiseyes.
   Theroomwassmallbutcomfy.Inonecorner,asmallfirewas
radiatingheatandfilledtheareawithapleasingtemperature.Hejust
laythere,feelingthethinfingersrunningthroughhishair.Thefingers
ofafemale.Hecouldseeherinthecornerofhisrighteye,justbehind
thegreypixel.Shewasbeautifulwithlong,blondehair.
   "WhereamI?"hewhispered.
   Thefemalebentoverhimandlookedhiminhiseyes."Sssshhhh,"she
whispered."You'reingoodhands,now,"
   Jeamundputhishandonherhandandsmiled."Yes,Icanfeelthat,"
Notquiteunexpectedly,sheblushed,pulledherhandbackandturned
away.
   "You'reintheMaster'scastle,"shesaidwithatouchofsadnessin
hervoice."I'mtheMaster'sservant.Ifoundyouinthegutteroutside.
You'vebeenawayforafewdays,butitseemsyouwillbefine."
   "I'mJeamund,"Jeamundsaid."Andyou?Whoareyou,savingmylife?"
   "ThenameisSheila,"sherepliedsoftly,blushingoncemore."Butyou
mustnotthinkofme.Soon,youwillbefightingagainsttheotherjaders
forthehandoftheprincess."
   "But..."Jeamundbegan,butwasinterruptedbyaknockonthedoor.
Sheilahurriedtoopen,andtwomendressedingreyentered.Theywere
heavilyarmouredandtheeyesofprofessionalkillers.Thesmellof
recentlyspilledbloodswamswiftlythroughtheairbutcouldbarelybe
noticed.Oneofthemwereabittallerthantheotherandworeamustage,
whiletheotheronehadnohairatallonhishead.Thebaldonespoke.
   "WehavebeenorderedbyHisRoyalJadeness,Eddie,toprepareyoufor
theJadeGames.Asyouhavealreadyawoken,youhavetherightforalast
mealbeforewebeginthetests.Ifyoufailanyofthethreetests,your
lifewillbeterminatedbyremovingyourheadfromtherestofyourbody,
usingasharpaxe.Ifyou,ontheotherside,survivethetests,youwill
automaticallybetransferredtotheJadeGames."
Ç
Jeamundchewedabitonthepieceofmeatthatwasstuckbetweenhistwo
frontteeth.Hissuccesswouldbeanaccident,ashehadnoidea
whatsoeverwhatitallwasaboutotherthanhislifebeingatstake.
Still,hetriedtorelax.Hedidn'twanttoloosewithoutafight.
   Theroomhadbeenproperlysealed,andtherewasnovisualwayout.He
lethisfingersrunovertheslimywallsthatwerecoveredwithagreen
andstickymass.Withtheexceptionofafewhumpshereandthere,the
wallwassmooth.Therewasnowaytogetapropergriponanything.He
justhadtowaitforsomethingtohappen.Andwhilehewaswaiting,he
couldjustaswelltrytogetsomerest.
   Helaydownonthefloor,lethisthoughtsrunwild.Hisimpressions
hadbeensomany,lately.Foodlikehehadnevertastedbefore.Andit
wasgood,yetlittleknownasfood.Water,enoughtodrownin.Sheila.
   Hersmilehadbeensonice,andshehadbeensonicetohim,howcould
heeverforgether?Thefingersthathadrunsogentlythroughhishair.
Caring.Nobattlecouldgivehimsuchafeeling.Nofoodcouldmakehim
feelsowell.Norivercoulddrownhisthirst.ButSheilacould.And
still,hewouldbefightingfortheprincess?Hedidn'twantto,but
couldn'taffordtoloosehislife.Notnow.
   Hiseyesranfromonecorneroftheroomtotheother.Searching.As
ifheexpectedtofindsomethinginteresting.Perhapsthekeytoasecret
exitorahintofwherethedooractuallycouldbe.Butno.Thewalls
wentstraightdowntothefloor,whichinturnwasasflatasitcould
be,interruptedonlybytheoddringthatwasattachedtoitatoneend
oftheroom.
   Heclosedhiseyes,triedtothinkofsomethingpositive.Sheila.If
ithadn'tbeenforthatfactthathewasamale,he'dhaveher,now.But
ifhehadn'tbeenamale,hewouldneverwanther.Hesighed.Thisway
he'dneverhaveher.
   Somethingcrepttohiseyeandtouchedit.Heknockeditawayquickly
withhishand.Bugs.Itirritatedhim.Onsomepartsofthefloor,there
weremassiveamountsofbugs.Justbugs,bugsandmorebugs.Thewhole
lotofthebugsandnothingbutthewholelotofthebugs.Theywere
clearlycomingoutofalittleholeinthefloor.
   Hegotup.Lookedatit.Theringwasattachedtoonlyoneofthe
bricksinthefloor.Ifitwaslooseenough,he'dtheoreticallybeable
topullthestoneout,inwhichcasechanceswerethatahiddenexit
wouldberevealed.
   "Howsmooth,"hethoughtandstartedpullingthering.Itwasabit
hardinthebeginning,butsoonitletgo,andthebrickinwhichitwas
fastenedpoppedoutofitsspot.Beneath,abigblackholewasfilling
thespace...

éMaybetobecontinued.Butwhileyouwaitforthenextepisode,here's
howtoprepareogremeat...Ç

üOgremeatÇasdonebyJeamund

Youneed:3-4kgogremeat
2teaspoonsofsalt
               3teaspoonsofsugar
               5largespoonsofblackpepper
               2-3friedsnakes
1/2bat
2rats
Youdo:Frythesnakes,boiltherats.Theogremeatissupposed
toberaw.Now,putthehalfbatontheBBQwhileyoucut
theogremeatinsmallpieces.Whenthisisdone,mix
everythinginapotandletitcooldowninanearbyriver
Çforawhile.Eatitwithyourhands.