The journey of Parzival - The Dream (Chapter II, part II)

[Zilmrud]

The journey of Parzival
Chapter II, part II
The dream
Previous Chapter: Chapter II, Part I - Desert Daylight

The sun was setting and the sky was orange fading to purple. Z and his fellows walked with their heads bent along a small path with parts of desert and parts bushes and trees. The heat was still intense and they were all tired after a long day in the sun. 

It was time to find a place to camp for the night. Z saw what appeared to be abandoned buildings inside a large grove of trees and shrubs some distance from the road. Maybe an abandoned farm or similar. It was very dense shrubbery and many shady trees.

 "- We should set up a camp soon. We all have to rest. There is an old farm over there. Maybe we can find shelter and maybe an old well or something. At least it’s a bit from the path." Z said

 "- That sounds like a good idea. My legs ache" said Hooves

They left the path and went into the bushes. The buildings were very overgrown with trees and shrubs. It was certainly a long time since they were abandoned.

 "- There is a glade here with the remains of a campfire. Here we should be able to set up camp. The bushes should give us good protection from passers-by." Hammer said.

"- Hooves and I will go and see if we can find something in the abandoned houses. Then we look for firewood." Left-Eye said

They set up camp and the sun went down fast. They ate a small meal and lay down to sleep. Left-eye took the first watch for the night. It had been a long warm day and they all soon fell asleep

Z heard a whispering voice and opened his eyes. He didn't quite understand what the voice had said, so he looked around. 
He was standing in a lush forest with a bow in his hands. It felt like a summer dawn. Beside Z a man stood, he had horns just as Hooves. And behind Z there were two men, one heavily armed knight with a dragon on his breastplate and an archer with a hood and mask over his head. They were all dressed in dark green clothes.

It all felt a bit weird and Z felt a bit fuzzy in the head. He noticed that he was no longer a man, just a small boy. He also felt a big pressure inside and a tingling adrenaline sensation in the body.

The man beside in whispered again and it was the same voice:

"- My lord, you have to focus! Relax your shoulders and aim. Concentrate on the animal and try to hear it. Feel it's heartbeat."

Z aimed at the deer by the water. It hadn't noticed it yet. It was drinking water and having a look around. It looked peaceful.
The sounds of the forest got more zoomed out and he could hear his heartbeats pounding in the ears. But it felt strange. Was it his or the deers heartbeat he heard? He could almost see the pulse in the deer's body that was in the same rhythm as the sound in his ears.

"- When you have it in sight, take a deep breath. Feel the animal's heartbeat so you can aim directly at his heart. You must hit the heart directly so that the animal doesn't suffer."

Z felt the animal now. He could hear what the deer heard and feel the wind in its horns. Z felt that the deer was at peace with nature and that it wasn't stressed at all. He took a deep breath and aimed straight at the heart of the dear. He was just about to let go of the bow string when he heard a strange voice in his head.

"- Kraaah! Walker must wake! Hurry!"

Z blinked and tried not to lose his focus. And when he looked up at the deer again he saw a strange colourful bird in his sight. What was this? So strange...

"- Wake! Bad man come! The bird said to him

Z sat straight up and looked around. He was in the camp with the others again. Was it a dream? Or what was that? Was it a memory? His head was blurred.

"- Hurry! Wake up!" Z heard in his head again. And now he recognized the voice from the crow. He was sitting in the palmtree above waving his wings in the air.

Then he heard whispering voices from the bushes:

"- It's them. Take them all out before they wake. But don't hurt the one with the necklace. Tie him up. We have to bring him back to the boss"

Z started to wake the others and tell them to get up and get their weapons. But only a few of them had the time to get up before the attack began.

 

Five dark figures came out of the bush. Each had a black shield with an eye on it and various weapons in full swing. Z, Hammer and Pointy were first on their feet and could meet the attackers.

Z had a sword he had received from Tabib in Mophet. He used it to parry a blow from one of the attackers. Hammer drew his sword and Pointy drew her knife and bow. Together they managed to ward off the first attack. Meanwhile, Left-Eye, Hooves and Right-Eye woke up and managed to get their weapons.

A wild battle broke out in the clearing and pretty soon they discovered that the attackers were better equipped and much faster than them and they quickly ended up in an inferior position.

One of the attackers knocked the sword out of Z's hand and he lost his balance and fell backwards. When the attacker jumped on Z and was about to stab the sword in his stomach, Z panicked and felt the time almost slow down. Before the attacker hit Z with the sword, Z felt a strong force accumulate in his chest. He pushed his hands forward while instinctively shouting something loud that he himself did not understand. The words just flowed out of him. The attacker stopped in the air and was then quickly pushed backwards by a pressure wave that came out of Z's hands. The attacker flew back into the bushes. Z quickly got to his feet and stood amazed as he felt a force gather in his body and the time slowed down. He felt a tingeling feeling in his legs as he drew power from the. He felt a strong connection to the ground and all the surrounding trees and plants, almost as if they were an extension of their own senses. The attacker came out of the bush for a new attack. In Z's mind a word came up as written by a golden pen. He held out his hands to the opponent and uttered the words. Immediately he felt how meandering roots rose from the ground and meandered around the opponent. He felt as if he was grabbing the opponent himself. He lifted the opponent into the air while squeezing him with the roots until the opponent was slowly suffocated.

Hooves fought with one of the attackers with his long staff. And like Z, he felt a force build up in him the more he felt that the striker was superior in speed and tactics. And when the attacker managed to get past Hoove's defense and chop against his head, Hooves put out his hand against the attacker. At the same time, flames of fire flowed out of his fingertips and quickly embraced the attacker. The man screamed in pain when he was burned to death.

While Z and Hooves fought with their newfound abilities, the rest of the crew managed to overpower the attackers and kill them all but one.

 

The battle was over as soon as it started. Everyone stood tired and breathless in the clearing. Hammer had captured the last survivor and stood with his sword against his throat. The others hurried to his side.

"- Who are you and why did you attack us?" Hammer shouted at the man.

The man turned a little and laughed with the sword to his throat.

"- Answer me!" Shouted Hammer

Pointy came forward and put his hand on Hammer's shoulder and asked him to calm down a bit.

"- It is best that you answer him, otherwise he will cut you apart like a pig," Left-Eye hissed with a wicked grin.

 "- You will never get anything out of me or anyone in my brotherhood" the man laughed. Before anyone reacted, his hand slid inside the sleeve of his tunic and pulled out a small narrow dagger with a blackened blade. He quickly pushed it into his own throat while having a grin on his lips.

Hammer tried to stop him but it was too late. The man quickly began to gargle and his eyes turned inward and his whites of eyes were visible. A couple of strong tremors went through his body, but then he became stiff as a stick.

They all backed away from the body in disgust.

 "- Who can do that to himself?" Said Pointy in disgust.

"- I would say, only a true fanatic," Right-Eye said resignedly.

"- Quick now, we have to gather our things quickly and get out of here before more come," Z said.

They quickly gathered their things and moved silently away in the thickets.
 

Next part...

Edited February 22, 2022 by Zilmrud

[NOD]

Great and exciting story!  The photos are well taken and fit perfectly. A good selection of minifigures and characters. The special effects are well presented. Beautifully constructed landscape and buildings. I like the many different plants and trees.

[Zilmrud]

5 hours ago, NOD said:

Great and exciting story!  The photos are well taken and fit perfectly. A good selection of minifigures and characters. The special effects are well presented. Beautifully constructed landscape and buildings. I like the many different plants and trees.

Thanks. Feel free to go back in the story to the begining. Every part has a link to previous part in the begining and a link to next part in the end. You will se some red treads trough the story that will link it togehter.

I like to build the lush parts if the deserts 😀👍

[Kai NRG]

You have such a great eye for desert vegetation, fantastic use of lime green here!  Great job on the ruins too and I enjoyed the more cinematic photos you took for your story!

[Zilmrud]

56 minutes ago, Kai NRG said:

You have such a great eye for desert vegetation, fantastic use of lime green here!  Great job on the ruins too and I enjoyed the more cinematic photos you took for your story!

Thanks. I like lime when it's fresh vegetation. Like new vegetation after a flood/rain. Perfekt for desert. But also the first spring vegetation.

The ruins is two buildings from an old MOC in the story. I've trashed them a bit for this MOC

It's hard to get the correct level of photos. Fighting scenes would look better in stop-motion 

 

[jtooker]

Awesome MOC and great story.  Having the images next to the narration was very helpful in following the characters.

The size of the scene and variety of vegetation is impressive.

[Zilmrud]

On 5/19/2022 at 7:48 PM, jtooker said:

Awesome MOC and great story.  Having the images next to the narration was very helpful in following the characters.

The size of the scene and variety of vegetation is impressive.

Thanks. It's a bit of extra job but it's woth it. You don't have to know the story and characters to follow the dialog 

[LordDan]

Great desert vegetation and ruins! I'm not usually a big fan of reading through longer stories like this, but the close up pictures of action and the profiles for dialogue really help!