NBB - A sphere's tale - Prologue

** authors note **

This is the start of the short story I said would come. Expect a chapter a week at first, anywhere between 1400 and 2200 words.

** -- **

In the middle of a vast stretch of dusty wasteland, a stream of small white skeletons poured out of a crevice in the ground. Silent and quiet only the clicking of their bones against each other made any sound.

"Run, and this time don't stop!' A scream tore through the silence, and a taller skeletal figure rushed away. Two others stood behind him, a heavy-set zombie that stared dumbly at the horde of smaller skeletons and another larger skeleton. The zombie turned and followed the one who had screamed while the skeleton looked at the area behind the incoming attackers. It took a single step forward, then shook its skull, and turned to follow the other. The smaller skeletons chased after them.

A few minutes later, peace and quiet returned to the area as the last of the skeletons disappeared off into the distance.

As the dust settled, some fell atop a transparent and gleaming sphere that lay at the spot the skeleton had looked at. The hours passed by and more dust accumulated on the smooth surface when a soft rumbling caused the wasteland floor to vibrate and the dust to slide off.

From the direction that the skeletons had run off in, a large shadowy thing became visible. Ahead of it ran a small group of the small skeletons, making a beeline for the crevice. The massive figure behind them was a Wyrm, massive and with scratched and dented white plates covering everything but its tentacle-lined mouth. Two long and nimble tongues were lashing out, trying to catch the skeletons.

The skeletons were slower than the Wyrm, and before they could reach the safety of crevice, the slowest was snatched by one of the long tongues and drawn inside the gaping maw. The second tongue lashed out, striking the ground between three of the skeletons with such force they were flung aside. Scrambling back up, they ran away, now heading towards where the sphere lay, silently gleaming.

One of the skeletons noticed it, and it changed course slightly, running towards it. It suddenly seemed uncaring for the Wyrm that was chasing its brethren. The skeleton came to a sliding halt beside the sphere and grappled it, barely managed to lift it. It staggered forward, heading to the Acrevice that was still hundreds of meters away. The Wyrm was ahead of it now, gobbling up more and more of the skeletons.

The first of the skeletons reached the crevice and leaped inside, the Wyrm only meters behind. Even if it had wanted to, the Wyrm had no chance to turn, and its upper body slid over the crevice opening, quickly angling down. It slammed into the opposite wall, slid down, and a second later disappeared into the darkness.

A loud slam came from the bowels of the earth, and a cloud of dust and debris shot out of the fissure in the ground. Moments later, the lone skeleton reached the edge. It looked down, then at the sphere, and finally stepped forward, holding the sphere close as it plummeted down.

As it fell, the skeleton began turning over and over, finally slamming atop the unmoving Wyrm. A loud crack sounded as its left arm and shoulderblade splintered into pieces. The sphere slipped from its single-armed hold and rolled away. The skeleton scrambled after it, ignoring the bits and pieces of its arm as they fell to the ground. The sphere rolled along the Wyrm, bounced on a coiled part of the tail before striking the stone wall near the Wyrm's head.

The skeleton didn't stop to look but rushed towards it, climbing and clambering across the Wyrm. When it reached the now slightly dented and marred sphere, it tried to grab hold of it with its single remaining arm, dropping it a few times in the process. When it finally managed to pin the sphere against its bony chest, something moved behind it.

The tendrils around the gaping maw of the Wyrm shuddered, then surged forward and grabbed the skeleton and the Wyrm.  Amidst loud cracking of bone, the skeleton and the sphere were dragged inside the Wyrm's maw, disappearing into the darkness at the back of its throat.

The Wyrm began writhing and wiggling, its rigid body attempting to find a way out. Finally, some of the rock gave out, and it finally fell and rolled sideways in the narrow crevice. Lying with its head pointed towards the darkness and its sides almost touching the irregular crevice walls, the Wyrm seemed stunned for a while.

After what could be minutes or days, it finally moved forward, slowly disappearing into the darkness of the crevice. Behind it lay a dozen crushed and broken skeletons, their bones scattered across the floor.