#ulthane darksiders

The Makers pride themselves on strength, both emotionally and physically. If you're having a problem, you can pound your emotions out into a piece of scrap metal. Never tell others what you're going through. If a Maker asks for your help in something if you are not an immediate family member is a great sign of trust and respect.

The Makers have a village mentality. They are all a tightly knit community that regard each other as family. Despite being so standoffish with outsiders, Makers desire and long to be with their family and community. Being separated is a great strain on their mentality.

Makers are definitely a show- not tell- kind of people. If you were dating one, you would almost confuse their gestures of affection as just being kind and thoughtful. They will be your handyman or make you things all the time. You mention something is broken? It will be fixed by the end of the day. They are proud though so they will make it obvious they fixed it but “not because they like you or anything…” but because it was necessary. (even if it really wasn’t.)

If you had a family of makers as your neighbors you would probably hate them! As artists and creators, Makers often follow their inspiration when it calls. At any time of day. Your sleep schedule will be ruined by the sounds of their backyard forge lighting up and the sounds of pounding metal. But on the bright side, they are basically a neighborhood watch/vigilante force. They won't interact with you unless it's to tell you about a robber that was trying to break into your house that they apprehended only moments before. 

Despite being proud, most if not all of them will consult either Elder Eideard or Muria. Depending on the area the particular individual was struggling with. The great chieftain does not get that much opportunity to guide as he did in his youth since the Makers population dropped after their war on the dragons. Still, his people seek out his guidance regarding important decisions such as marriage (as dictated by tradition.) Muria guides the makers spiritually of course, so they more than likely seek her out for injuries or strange dreams. Some in the past have even asked to have her read their fortune through the Tree of Life.

Makers can get along with others when duty calls, but they would much rather be left to their own devices; completely separate from the troubles of other worlds. They do not even want to tangle themselves with the council as they seem more than content to throw their weight around, no matter who gets hurt. 

On that topic of throwing their supernatural weight around, that opinion goes for the Nephilim. They do not care for how the Nephilim left nothing but death and destruction in their wake.

When they are not making weapons of mass destruction, saving worlds, or just generally not trying to fix the mistakes of others, Makers do delight in the occasional festival. Things like the Summer and Winter soltices. These celebrations are where meeting a Maker is best for you. They are more likely to be welcoming of newcomers. These celebrations are to bring joy to their existence. Nights filled with drinking, wrestling, dancing and singing all night long.

Makers average to be around 12 feet tall (around 3.6 meters for people using metric) 

Horror. That’s the best way Mallory could describe what had happened, horrible creatures l could’ve only come from hell had ruined the world. Mallory didn’t know why or how it happened, one moment she had been with her father on vacation and the next… meteors began crashing down, smashing into buildings, cars, people. But the meteors weren’t chunks of rock, but instead monsters that only a cruel god would’ve made up as a joke. This was all just a sick, sick joke…

She shuddered, silently walking along a thick wooden root. How long had it been? 2 months or so? She hated thinking about it, she had been asleep when everything crumbled. Her mom had been the first to vanish, then her sister, then her father…she hadn’t seen another human in a while. She shook her head slowly, as if trying to shake off the memory. The ruined city was oddly quiet, she had just arrived a few days earlier, finding that the roots of an insanely large tree had worked their way through the city buildings, tearing through steel and concrete, it reminded her of a dandelion that had grown in a crack in the concrete outside her old house.

The roots made for great travel ways as well, especially after she learned that those larger monsters stayed near the ground.

In one hand, Mallory clutched a rock, the other held a rifle in a vice grip. It had been her father’s rifle, but even without ammo she made sure it was of some use, she used it more as a blunt weapon. She felt exhausted, her eyelids felt heavy, and she felt hungry, her hands shaky as she slowly lowered herself from one of the roots onto the ground, shuffling to what she assumed was a store, it was only a block down the road. She had only caught glimpses of it, afraid to get near it due to the fact she’d have to get off her safe path, but desperation was a great motivator.

It’s fine. Cmon you can do it…you’ve made it this far...

She needed food and water. Simple enough, maybe that’d help her to not feel so damn miserable. She needed a new pair of boots too, she needed a new shirt and pants, a nice shower and a toothbrush, a new life would be nice while she was at it. What didn’t she need? She had learned to recognize that she didn’t feel suicidal because she felt like there wasn’t anything left, she just wanted a new life. 2 months of being alone does that to a kid, 2 months of running and hiding, avoiding whatever monsters had sprung up.

Mallory had never been a religious person, she had gone to church maybe twice a year, for Christmas and Easter and nothing beyond that, but now she was convinced this whole “End Of The World As We Know It” had to have been caused by something divine, something she hadn’t been taught about. Her eyes darted nervously around as she tried to find a store, maybe they’d have canned food or water or something that wasn’t rotten or barely edible. Her stomach was twisting in pain and fear, cold sweat running down her neck. She hated this, she felt like she was playing some sorta sick game.

She saw a gas station not far up ahead, and she nearly collapsed from relief, FINALLY!! Something that looked safe, familiar, it put her at ease. Memories of her mother taking her into gas stations when she was little came back to her, on Fridays her mom would get her an ice cream if she had done well that week. The thought of ice cream made her chest feel heavy. There was no more icecream was there? Just disappointing, ugly, hunch-back hell spawn that wanted her dead.

She had only gotten maybe 2 blocks towards the gas station, nearing it when she heard something, feeling her heart jump and race as she whipped around, her eyes widening and her mouth going dry as she saw what had made that sound.

One of those things. She didn’t know what they were called and she didn’t want to know anyways. It was massive, bigger then some of the other monsters she had seen, with claws and horrible boney protrusions on it’s face and hands. It stood on two legs, chains wrapped around its neck and clawed hands, she had only seen one of them before, it had been one of those sick things that she watched tear a car in half, and fling people into the concrete, reducing anything it got it’s hands on to pulp… it was looking right at her like she had personally killed its mother and firstborn.

And it ran at her. The horrible looking monster letting out a screech that dislodged Mallory from being frozen stiff. She let out her own scream, hurling the rock at it as her hand instinctively swung forward, the rock making solid contact with the creature’s head, and she turned, her voice dry and ragged as she ran, no way in hell she was winning a fight with that thing.

She dashed into the building, quickly slamming the glass door shut and running deeper into the building, listening to glass smash and shatter as it followed in. Mallory quickly ducked behind a aisle shelf, closing her watery eyes tight; then a loud crack sound filled the air.

That…was new. It sounded like something heavy had smashed into whatever the hell that thing was. She heard a roar of pain, and she turned her head to look, peeking out from her hiding spot—just in time to see that monster get slammed into a wall, slumping down as a corpse.

Whatever just killed that thing must be able to kill her too.

If she hadn’t died of illness or sickness or being murdered by some demon, she thought she would’ve died of fright right then and there. She didn’t want to deal with an even larger monster, that’d be an issue. That was something she had learned with these monsters, there was always a bigger fish.

“…I saw someone comin’ here, where are ye?”

A voice. Whatever just killed that thing was..speaking. Whatever this thing was, it was sentient. Or maybe it was some sick mimicry being used to lure her out. Mallory could feel her hands shaking harder, and she didn’t move as the thing that was speaking slowly walked into the building- god. It was massive, it looked like an oddly proportioned man, easily 4-5 times her size, and it looked human in a sense. Too human. Too familiar. This had to be a trick, some sick fucking joke. She saw what had killed the thing that had chased her, a hammer that looked to be made of steel, with an symbol etched in yellow on its side.

He was ducked down to avoid his head hitting the ceiling, moving slowly as he checked behind the counter, nudging aside the corpse, before turning to her direction. Mallory quickly ducked behind the shelves again, shaking and trying to not drop her gun. There was no way she was outrunning that thing OR fighting it, not after watching it kill THAT thing. She was sitting down, listening to the sound of him moving. God, she felt like she was gonna throw up, she hated this.

What was she gonna do now even, wait till he found her? No. No. NO. She had gotten THIS far; she couldn’t give up and die now. She slowly stood, listening to any sounds near her. He was moving, his head swiveling to look around, and once she was sure he wasn’t looking, she moved quickly, ducking behind another shelf, trying to make her way to the door, feeling her heart pounding. Get to the door GET TO THE DOOR GET TO TH-

“Wait wait wait, don’t ye dare- “

He had seen her. He had seen her. And Mallory had the most natural reaction to it.

She whipped around, aiming her gun right at him, trying to grip the gun harder as if hoping the pressure would stop her shaking. Silence filled the rusty gas station…and he looked at her like SHE was the danger, raising his hands up as if SHE were the threat here! Not him, the… giant whatever the fuck with a massive hammer. He was speaking, but the pounding in her head and the ringing in her ears silenced most of it, like everything was under water. Her eyes were wide, and her joints locked in place, staying deathly still as she looked at him.

She found herself unable to move, like everything was going frighteningly slow. She had heard of this before in horror movies, she always thought the characters were so stupid for freezing up, for not running. But here, now, she couldn’t move. Everything felt heavy and sluggish, and she became frighteningly unaware of her environment. She suddenly felt the deep instinctual urge to run, like she was a cornered animal. She was now the stupid horror movie protagonist.

She darted for the door, stumbling and not acknowledging the broken glass she was stepping on, and she felt something grip her entire arm, from her wrist to her shoulder. This big bastard was faster than she thought, he had managed to grab ahold of her arm in only a few fingers. Mallory let out another scream, trying to pull away, and her voice came out shaky and dry sounding, breaking. “GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY GET AWAY I DON’T WANT TO DIE GET AWAY GET-“

She didn’t notice the look of horror that went on the giant’s face as she screamed those words at him, and she kept trying to pull away, her free arm banging against his fingers, he was speaking again but none of it really registered to her at first, then words begin to form.

“That thing ain’t gonna do nothin t’ me ya know..” His tone was…almost quiet, with a hint of annoyance, as if he were trying to avoid frightening her further. Mallory tried to pull away when his free hand grabbed her gun, and it was easily pried from her shaky, clammy hand. “N-NO!! NO GIVE IT BACK IT’S MY DAD’S-“ She tried to thrash and push him away again, and his hand tense up instinctively with her movement, his thumb and forefinger pushing against different parts of her arm.

A sudden shot of white pain raced up her arm, and a scream came from her, something she hadn’t ever heard from herself. Not when she broke her leg as a toddler, not when she had burned herself when she was 7. This sound was new, it almost scared her even more…but her trying to pull away made the nerves in her arm feel like they had set on fire, and she felt her entire body go rigid and cold when she felt her feet leave the safety of the ground. Her scream stopped abruptly, her lungs heaving and pressing against the hand around her torso as she breathed, her entire body shaking as her head slowly turned to look at him.

This was how she was gonna die wasn’t it? She had no fight left to give, only shaky hands and gasping breaths, all she had left was her life, and that was about to be taken away, so she began to focus on what she felt.

She was exhausted, and it was bone deep, and now she was pretty confident her arm had just been broken by his fingers alone. She hadn’t had food to eat in at least 2 days, and the water she last drank was bitter and tasted of regret, and all of it came crashing down at once, not even her adrenaline could help the sudden heaviness her brain felt, like fog filling up her skull. Her vision pulsed with stars, her vision being swallowed up by pitch black.

Mallory actually didn’t really mind being hauled around, even if the hands holding her were as big as she was, but now she felt all…antsy. She slumped down, making some sort of half-assed attempt at folding her arms before giving up at the dull pain that throbbed when she moved her right arm, opting to stare at the sky, staring at the heavy clouds overhead…or was that smoke? Dust? She didn’t know, the damn place probably needed rain anyways. Now that she was thinking about it, it hadn’t rained since the whole “World Ending” thing happened.

…how did that big ass tree even grow then? I remember hearing once that trees take FOREVER to grow, and I know damn well that thing wasn’t there before everything happened.

She exhaled slowly through her nose, mentally hyping herself to even try to ask him how the tree got there in the first place, starting a countdown in her head that she hesitated on. “…Ulthane?” “Yes lass?” Cmon now. Ask. Ask before the silence goes on for too long.

“How’d the tree grow so fast? Well, I mean, how’d it get there in the first place?” Mallory found herself stumbling a little over her words, and before she could try to correct herself, Ulthane hummed deep, watching his steps carefully as he walked along one of the tree’s massive roots. “Used m’ magic lass, drained me quite a lot…you can tell I don’t quite have an affinity for plant work, put too much magic in th’ saplin and now I gotta eat n’ drink n’ sleep.”

Mallory whipped around to look at him wide eyed, feeling so completely baffled that he implied that he usually DIDN’T do any of those rather important things. “…You- You don’t usually do any of that???” “No? Used to when I was young though, all makers gotta eat until they’re about Vawula’s age-“ Ulthane made a vague motion to Vawula, who was having her own conversation with Jones. “-but up till then a maker’s magic ain’t strong enough to keep a kid alive without a bit of extra help from eating n sleepin and the sort.”

Mallory blinked hard at him, before turning away, staring forward. That…made sense. But she hadn’t seen him eat yet…she hadn’t seen him eat any of the canned peaches either. He certainly seemed to have the teeth for it though, sharp tusks that looked like two sets of sharper, larger canine teeth on his lower jaw. She only caught glimpses of them when he spoke, but when he had yelled at her earlier that morning…that was scary.

I mean…he’s gotta have those for a reason, right?

“…do you bite things to kill them?” Ulthane turned to look at her, his thick brows tightening into a look of…amusement? No, he didn’t look happy, he looked confused. “…do I what now?” Mallory opened and closed her mouth like a fish for a moment, struggling to make a word form. “I mean, you gotta have those teeth for a reason, right? I don’t know how it works from where you come from but animals with sharp teeth here usually bite things to kill them.”

Ulthane gave her a nice, good stare, his blue-sclera eyes looking at her like she was a rock he couldn’t quite remember the name of, before his lips twitched into a smirk, then he huffed a laugh, turning to look ahead again. “No, not particularly, I have m’ hammer to do that for me. Not bite things but-…ya get it, no I don’t bite things to kill em. I hit them very hard.” He gave her a gentle but hesitant prod to her left side as if to get his point across, his voice carrying a tone like how one would explain why the sky was blue.

Mallory felt herself tense at the prod, a reaction that Ulthane must’ve noticed by how he pulled his hand away, the fingers of the hand she was being held in twitching a bit to hold her a little better. She huffed, slumping down a bit more, her back and head resting against his chest. The next few minutes were silent as the two makers walked along the roots, before Ulthane stopped, turning to Vawula. “…ye mentioned a hoard yeah?” Vawula gave a nod, looking up and trying to find the sun through the clouds, before pointing to the right. “Out west, Atmeas should still be there. Said he’d help keep em away from tha’ center of the city.”

Mallory grimaced a bit at the reminder that there was a whole hoard of dead people...so there were zombies now. Great. Fucking fun. “Jones, do ya know where you spotted them humans at? Two of em you said?” Jones, who had been somewhat perched on Vawula’s shoulder, made a vague motion with his hand towards some of the more intact buildings of the city. “Yeah, I can’t remember the exact buildin’ but it’s one of the few that doesn’t have a tree root through it.”

Ulthane grumbled, now quite a growl but more of a tired rumble that Mallory felt right against her back and head, and she tensed a bit, that unnerving self-awareness of how small she was coming back to her. She felt herself growing more aware of her current position, how his chest rising and falling moved her a bit with his breathing, how his hand stayed level as he walked along the branch.

At least he’s warm…God I’m tired.

She found her mind wandering as Ulthane and Jones’ talking faded into background sound, staring up at the sky like it had the answers she needed, the answers she wanted to why the world had decided to end. What month was it? What class would she be in now had she been at school?

“-there. That’s it right there, that’s where I scared em off into last night.”

Mallory turned from craning her neck to stare up, shifting to look to her left, and Jones’ was right; it was one of the few buildings that didn’t have a lovely plant accessory that ripped through it. It looked like an office building, and she narrowed her eyes, trying to read a faded logo that was still stuck onto the building like a dirty sticker, the once shiny windows now faded and dusty.

“Well just how’d you scare em Jones?” Vawula asked rather dryly as she let Jones drop from his perching spot, dropping onto the broken concrete. “…maybe I approached them too fast?” Mallory looked up at Ulthane, trying to read his expression to this new information, but he was staring straight at the building like it was something bad he found in the back of the fridge, his ears flicking and turning like how a cat’s ears would when it was trying to find something.

“…m’kay.” Ulthane murmured, his voice lowering to a quieter tone. Mallory felt his hand shift beneath her, gingerly setting her down onto the concrete. She felt her legs tremble for a moment as her boots planted onto the broken ground, but she quickly steeled herself, sucking in a sharp breath, staring at the broken glass doors. The four of them stood there quietly for moment, and Mallory broke the silence, tapping her foot quickly. “…are these guys adults or kids? You mentioned em being brothers.” “Yeah, they’re grown, a fair bit bigger than you are.”

Mallory, rationally, logically knew that his comment wasn’t a jab at her height, but she shot him a stare none the less, scratching the back of her head as she thought. “…Okay, adults are more reasonable but also more dangerous logically, a grown man can hit much harder than what I can-“ She paused, glancing at Ulthane before turning back. “-Me n’ Jones can go in first? I doubt they’re gonna attack us, and I think we’ll be a more reassuring sight then...well…”

Mallory turned, and with her good arm she made a vague motion to the two makers, waving her arm up and down to try and get the point across. Jones gave a short laugh, shaking his head and staring his way towards the doors. Ulthane made a sound, a grunt of either amusement or mild exasperation, while Vawula huffed a laugh. “I’ll be right here, let’s do this quickly.” Ulthane muttered, his ears still twitching about as he looked up at the building walls, his lips tightening into a thin line. Jones walked to the doors, pushing the rusted turn-door open and waiting for her to walk through, following her behind when she entered.

Mallory felt her face scrunch up at the strong smell of mold and mildew, the air feeling damp and uncomfortably cold. “…Hello?” Her voice felt a bit strained as she looked around the empty building lobby, walking forward and staring down at the ground, trying to avoid the shards of broken glass that littered the floor like leaf litter in a forest.

Jones followed with an unnerving silence, and Mallory kicked a rock, letting it slide across the floor to hit a knocked over desk, the sound ringing in the stale environment. Mallory looked around, not noticing any hiding spots that she could see, only old furniture, the occasionally mystery stain on the tiled floor, and…some weird growths along the floors and walls. She swallowed hard, and she lowers her voice, turning a bit to Jones, her face still a bit wrinkled up from the smell of mildew. “…They might be on the second floor…or this is just the wrong b- “ “Hello?”

Mallory froze, turning to look around for the sound, and she managed to find a source; a young man, maybe mid 20’s wearing a baseball cap and holding what looked to be a whole stop sign, metal rod and all, partially behind a staircase that led to the second floor. Mallory blinked hard, and she managed to grin, her expression still a little scrunched. “Hey- Hey! How you doing-“ “We’re doin’ just fine.”

That must’ve been the second one Jones had mentioned, his tone almost angry sounding as he emerged like a ghost behind him. He looked a fair bit older than the Cap-Man, grumpy with a thick beard and eyes that looked at her with mild disdain. Mallory felt herself stutter, but she quickly pulled herself together, sucking in a sharp breath. He looked between her and Jones for a moment, before taking a few steps forward, and she saw he was holding what looked to be a metal pipe in one hand.

“You sound like you were lookin for us in particular, hmm?” He narrowed his eyes, pausing once he was about 2 yards away from Mallory and Jones. Mallory looked at Jones, then back at the man, trying to come up with some decent unsuspicious excuse for the words she spoke, but Jones jumped in before she could speak. “We’ve just been tryin to regroup with other survivors and spotted you two a few days ago. Been lookin for you since.”

This response seemed to at least soothe a bit of the old man’s grumpiness, as he huffed, crossing his arms. “…neither of you two look familiar. Your names?” Jones pointed to Mallory, giving a quick response. “Mallory, n Jones.” He pointed himself when he said his name, raising his eyebrows up, his eyes narrowing a bit. “You’re awful closed off aintcha? Cmon now, let us hear your names. Fair exchange.”

He narrowed his eyes, giving Jones a good look over, before expression tightens. The Cap-Man was the one to speak, mimicking how Jones had said their names; “Matthew-“ He pointed to the old man, then pointing at himself. “-Andrew.” Jones gave a slow nod, folding his arms. Mallory, meanwhile, stood still as she watched, and when she opened her mouth to speak, Matt put his hand up, his expression shifting into one of almost anger.

“I don’t wanna hear useless shit. You’re about to tell me what the fuck those things that were with you outside are. Are you here to lure us out? Are you two even human? Is this some sick joke?”

Mallory felt her good hand clench, annoyance bubbling into anger that she couldn’t quite stomp down all the way. Why was this guy so…mean? Why was he acting like this??? Mallory knew that he must just be suspicious, he’s probably just trying to protect himself and Andrew, but God damn he could be a LITTLE nicer about it huh?

“We’re human, yes. Those things outside aren’t here to kill you either, they’re both fine.”

“How would YOU know that they’re fine??” Matthew shot back, while Andrew glanced between them and the door. Mallory sucked in a slow breath, her annoyance growing.

 “I’ve been stuck with em for the past 2…Almost 3 days, I think they’re fine-“

“You sound hesitant about that,” Andrew muttered, now looking back at her.

“Well yeah I am but they didn’t hurt me or- well one of them did break my arm but I don’t know fully if they’re- “

"Who's side are you on here?! Are you trying to get us killed?!"

“NO! NO IM NOT! If you could shut up and listen for a minute- “

This cluster-fuck of words came to a halt as a metal screech rang in all their ears, and the four turned to look at the source. There was Ulthane, crouched down and looking at them through a broken door he pushed open. Mallory watched the two’s reaction, Andy froze up while Matthew took one step forward, gripping his metal pipe with a vice-grip that Mallory wasn’t even sure Ulthane would be able to pry open. Speaking of, Ulthane had at least crouched down to appear smaller, but his blank stare certainly didn’t help. “…hello there.”

God NO ULTHANE FUCK you’re fucking it up GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mallory tried to speak, her mouth agape as she stuttered out a few words. “don’t-don’t panic-“ She was rather rudely yanked back by one of the two men, a quick scuffle of feet as she was dragged away, her legs barely managing to keep herself upright. Jones meanwhile looked disgruntled, throwing his arms in the air with an audible sound of frustration. “If he wanted you dead he would’ve killed you 20 minutes ago! Think with me real quick-” “HELL no I’m not getting near that fucking thing, it used a kid to try and lure us out-“

Mallory tried to yank her arm out of Andy’s grip, but it simply hardened, with Matthew in front of him, holding his metal pipe and pointing at Ulthane as if it were a sword. She let out a loud groan of annoyance, trying to get her arm out of his grip again. “Jones is right, if he wanted us dead- if he had wanted ME dead, he would’ve let me die a while ago, hell he gave me canned peaches. Do you want canned peaches? We have more canned peaches- “

“Say canned peaches one more time and I’ll whack ya upside the head.”  

This came from Matthew, who turned to look at her with the angriest expression she had seen since that morning. “Aren’t you just a jolly fellow-“ “Are you stupid, kid?” Mallory felt herself mentally stumbling, and she gave another pull to try and get Andy to let go. “Well- sure yeah I am a little stupid.” Mallory muttered, backing up away from the two. Ulthane looked…mildly annoyed. “…if I wanted ye dead I would’ve killed ya 2 weeks ago. And no, I aint human but lemme tell you this, there’s something here that ain’t gonna be as proper as I am if ya don’t hurry up and get out of this building.”

Matthew clenched his jaw, staring at the old maker, not daring to look away, and he started to slowly back away, keeping Andrew behind him. Mallory stood still, eyes wide in the dim environment as she watched them, before Matthew suddenly turned, taking his eyes off the maker as he dashed up the stairs, pulling Andrew along with him, which in turn dragged Mallory along. Andrew’s grip faltered when Matthew grabbed his other arm, letting her get free, albeit at the price of her boot catching on one of the steps, and she fell with a hard thump, managing to catch herself on her good arm before she could further ruin her broken one. “owugh..” “Hey-HEY!” Jones followed quickly as Mallory pulled herself up, a dull throb now echoing through her jaw.

“Let’s not be rash now! If you’re any smarter than you come across as then you’ll believe the maker when he says there’s something here he doesn’t like!” “That’s what you call em now? Maker?? Seem like they’re makin a lot of problems-“

Man, this fucking sucks. I’m never doing this shit again I swear to God-

Mallory had just gotten to the second floor, following the three before the building gave a subtle shake, it sounded like footsteps, but…they weren’t inside. Through the dusted, grimed windows, Mallory could vaguely make out the silhouette of Ulthane- ah. He had climbed- HE CAN CLIMB???

Theres- Theres almost NOTHING for him to hang onto out there??? How the hell is he doing that???

Mallory’s train of thought was cut off as he broke the glass rather quickly, hand shooting out at an unnerving speed that nothing his size should have. Matthew scrambled back, but Andrew wasn’t fast enough. Ulthane grabbed the back of his shirt, and with very little effort pulled him back, pulling the poor boy out through the window. Mallory could hear him yelling something, then a loud CLAAANG that followed; Andrew had hit Ulthane right on the head with that stop sign. Matthew was quick to recover from this shock of having his companion pulled away, and he lunged forward for the window as Ulthane started to climb down.

Jones was faster though, managing to get a grip on the man before he could jump out the window. “I said don’t be rash.” “GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME-“ Matthew barked, managing to free himself for a moment before Jones grabbed both of his arms, yanking them behind his back. Matt looked increasingly  distraught, Mallory almost felt a little bad as Jones pulled him towards the window Ulthane had just broke, dragging the thrashing man along like he was some feral cat. “I done TOLD YOU TO-“ “Shut your mouth n stay still-“ Jones muttered, his patience a little thin now.

Vawula climbed up a bit slower than what Ulthane did (Mallory was still recovering mentally from that horrific realization), and pulled Matt from Jones’ grip, seemingly unaware just how pissed Matt looked. “Thank ya Jones-“ “That’s his name!? THAT’S HIS- WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU JONES-“ “Bye.” Jones huffed, waving a bit as Vawula climbed down.

That…that was fast…

Jones and Mallory stood there in silence for a good few moments, before Mallory exhaled slowly, swallowing hard as her frustration slowly simmered away in the now near quiet- save for the mild arguing outside from the two makers and two humans. Jones gave a short, dry chuckle, moving back towards the stairwell. Mallory was secretly grateful she had passed out after being grabbed in that gas station…she had felt warm and at ease for a bit, for the first time in weeks. But with what Matt and Andy sound like outside…she could imagine herself acting similarly if she had managed to stay conscious.

“…we should tell Ulthane to knock em out, that’s what he did to me when he got ahold of me, although I don’t think he really meant to do that.” Mallory muttered after a string of foul words rang through the air, likely from Matt. Jones gave a short laugh as she started her way back to the staircase, the events of the day slowly catching up to her and exhaustion starting to cling to the back of her mind. “…I’m gonna be regrounded when I get back, hopefully Ulthane’s forgotten about-“

She froze when she looked down the dim staircase, only to be met with two eyes staring right back.

Mallory could feel her blood running cold, her face draining of color as she locked eyes with it. Its face was like some weird fucked up flower, a skull-like face in the center with sharp teeth and red eyes, arms like a preying mantis and its lower body made up of what looked like the bottom of a tree made of meat. Was...was that thing from the weird growths on the walls...?

“…Jones.” “Hm?” “There's something here-“ It stared at her, seemingly deciding she was the next meal it would have, and it lunged, clawing up the stairs with a hiss. Mallory was barely quick enough to avoid getting shanked by one of it’s arms, and it caught ahold of the wall that was only about 2 yards in front of the staircase entrance, knocking the crumbling brick to the ground.

Mallory felt her body move on it’s own accord, her legs feeling like lead as she stumbled backwards. It was big, not as big as Ulthane but easily thrice her size. It looked between her and Jones, going as still as a statue as it stared, realizing that there was more then one opponent. It give another insect-like sound, a soft clicking as it seemed to think, before it fully turned to Mallory, moving to jump at her.

Jones was just as fast. He pulled a revolver from his belt, taking aim and firing off a few shots. The thing hissed at him, sweeping some of the rubble it had pulled down in between him and it, blocking him any good access to Mallory. She watched in mild horror, before dashing up the stairwell, hearing Jones yell. “ULTHANE! VAWULA! There’s a mimic and its-“

The rest of his sentence was cut off by another hideous insect-like hiss as it pulled down more of the wall, blocking off full access to the stairwell. Mallory was already up two flights of stairs, the soft scuttling making her skin crawl as it continued following near her. It hadn’t struck her yet, to Mallory’s horror. …this thing’s smarter than it looks. It’s doing something, it blocked off Jones.

Mallory felt the building shake, the loud, quaking sounds that couldn’t have come from the mimic reverberating throughout the stairwell. She managed to get herself to the third floor, shaking from adrenaline as she dashed forward, stumbling towards the nearest window. This floor looked to be a proper workspace, desks and computers lining the walls with cubical-like walls between some.

Ulthane, meanwhile, had scaled the building, pulling himself along the wall as quickly as he could without further damaging the building. He knew he wasn’t light weight, he knew one wrong move could bring this whole thing down atop him and the others. He could probably survive it, but no human could survive having tons of brick and metal collapse on top of them.

Mallory looked around, darting between the desks as she tried to make her way to one of the windows, hoping to be able to get to a window Ulthane would break. She didn't even hear as the mimic quickly cut her off, forcing her away from the window with a snarl. She stumbled back, bumping into one of the many desk chairs strewn about the room, her hand slamming into the desk to catch herself, and she grimaced when whatever dried liquid on the desk she touched flaked off onto her palms.

She didn't give herself much time to be disgusted, once again weaving through the various cubicles, trying to ignore the clacking of its movement. What IS it doing??? It hasn't even hit me yet, it's just chasing me around, it can move faster than this right?

Then it hit her. It was trying to tire her out.

She looked around rather frantically, continuing to hear the building tremble, and the occasional yell from Jones as he tried to move the rubble that the mimic had tossed down, blocking off the stairway.

What’d Coach say about breathing- breathe deep. Deep. Get as much oxygen in your blood as you can. You need to slow this thing down, think….

Mallory grabbed a rusted stapler off one of the desks, before taking aim at it’s head when it turned around the corner of a cubicle, and she didn’t give herself much more time to think before throwing it hard. It smashed against it’s skull-like face with a gut-wrenching sound, it let out a screech of pain as it seemed to crumble a bit, making a sound almost like gasping for air.  

She looked around, before trying to get to another window before it could recover, before it could cut her off again. She pushed past office chairs, barely managing to keep herself from tripping as she got to the filmy window, her breathing no longer deep and slow and precise like she had tried to do seconds earlier. She heard a hiss, whipping around and bumping into a desk chair, causing her to stumble and fall down backwards. It was right there, staring at her and staying deathly still. She couldn’t hear any breathing from it, one of it’s claws digging into a computer screen with slow cracking filling the air.

…call for someone! While you’re near a window!

“ULTHANE!! JONES- VAWULA!! ANYONE-!!!”

She whipped towards the window, banging her good fist against it rapidly in hopes that she could potentially break it, or at least get someone to hear her. But she made the mistake of turning her back to it. She didn’t even hear it as it moved across the floor, before a searing hot white pain spread across her upper back, like a hot, dull knife cutting through her skin. Mallory let out a scream, her fist going slack as she nearly collapsed. Not more than a second later though, the thing behind her screeched in what sounded like pain.

Through watery eyes, she turned to look, gasping for air as she felt something warm run down her side and bleed through her shirt. It was on the floor now, writhing in pain, that horrible gasping sound coming back, before it slowly went silent and still. Who…who did that? Theres no one here, and I certainly didn’t do that… Mallory could barely make out what looked to be a slash across it’s back, deep and seeping dark blood onto the nearly white tile. She felt a rapid thmp thmp thmp that subtly shook the walls as this was happening, and she looked at the grimy window behind her, breathing heavily and her eyes watering. She managed to get herself to move before the window’s glass shattered, not breaking into a million pieces, but falling limply onto the floor in a cragged sheet. And there was Ulthane, the sight of the maker feeling almost relieving.

“Ye okay lass-?” Mallory gave a weak shake of her head, no doubt looking like proper shit after nearly being mauled. “I…hhh…fuck, hold on…where’s Jones-“ Mallory turned her back to the window, only managing to make a few shaky steps towards the stairwell before Ulthane’s hand wrapped around her torso, picking her up almost like a cat. “…Youre not doin anythin’ for a while. It nicked you ‘cross the back-“ he muttered, his voice now carrying a tone of concern even Mallory could pick up in her state. “…where’s Jones at?” “the 2nd floor- stairwell got blocked off by…what’d he call it….mimic.” She could feel the adrenaline wearing off, her brain now suddenly VERY aware of every little scrape, every cut and especially the slice across her back. Ulthane shifted her a bit, holding her closer as he made his way back down. Vawula was waiting, holding a human under each arm. Andrew looked to have given up, while Matt was FAR from being done regarding trying to get away. Ulthane looked up to see Jones climbing down from the second floor, using the same window he had broken prior as an exit point, before landing on the ground with a huff.

Ulthane, now able to use both hands, was looking over Mallory, checking her injury. “She got nicked?” “…worse it seems, bleedin’ quite a bit..” Ulthane muttered, shifting her so she could at least be a little comfortable, shifting her so she was laying on her left side, across his hand and arm. Mallory felt God awful, the past 2 months of barely surviving seemingly catching up to her. “…Im fine-“ “Shut it.” Ulthane growled this in response, his voice was…not softer, no, that was too gentle of a word. He didn’t sound so grumpy.

Vawula moved over, looking at the injury with him, and this was enough to get Matt to go still, no doubt also getting a glimpse of it.

Mallory wanted nothing more than to curl up and fall asleep, or at least just be away from staring eyes. Ulthane’s frown softened a bit, and with his free hand he lifted up his cowl from his shoulders, exposing what looked to be a fraction of armor, a strip of chainmail and linked pieces of metal connecting his shoulder plates. He shook out his cowl, a bit of dust seeping into the air as he did . Mallory didnt (and couldn’t really) do much as he tucked it in around her like a blanket of some sorts.

She didn’t mind being manhandled if she were gonna be honest to herself, but man did she feel pathetic, being carried around like she was made of glass. “no no no I’m bleeding, ill get blood on it.” Mallory protested rather weakly, which only earned her a huff from Ulthane, pulling his hammer from his back and gripping it tight in his other hand, beginning to walk along with Vawula and Jones following behind.

“…what’re the names of the two Vawula’s carryin?” “uhh….Matthew and Andrew. Matt’s the one with grey hair.” Ulthane nodded, exhaling a deep sigh. “..sorry ‘bout makin you handle two of em at once lass.” “Dontcha worry, one of em- Andrew, yeah, I think he’s given up. The other one is…angry.” “Damn right I am…”

It was only that night did Mallory try and escape. She couldn’t sleep, and it was eerily quiet, the only light coming from the stones in the back...why were they glowing anyways? It was a pale blue glow, shining from delicate carvings in the rock. Mallory sat up, sitting in the near dark for a while. She could hear breathing from across the room. She could see the vague shape of Atmeas sleeping in a sitting position, but she didn’t know where the other two were.

She slowly stood up, lifting her hand up to cover her yawn as she shuffled to the exit, her entire body feeling like lead. It was cold outside, the air biting at her face and hands as she walked into what was like a platform, made of the same wood as the interior. Her eyes fell onto a light blue glow that came from above, and she craned her neck to look up, tilting her head so her hair was out of her eyes. Mallory felt such a sense of…awe wash over her, her breathing catching in her throat and the cold vanishing for just a mere second as she stared up. This tree was huge. It looked like multiple trees had formed into one, sections of wood twisting into each other and spreading out again at the top, a light blue glow coming from within it and shining through the leaves, just bright enough that it illuminated her for a bit whilst not being blinding.

She stood like this for a while, staring at it as the cold continued to bite at her face and neck, jumping a bit when she heard a scuffle against the wood. To her left, Ulthane was sitting down, his hammer resting on his legs, and she almost ran back inside had she not noticed his breathing. It was deep, slow, like he was…asleep. His eyes were shut, his shoulders moving slowly as he slept, and she noticed how his ears kept flicking, as if he were subconsciously waiting for something to happen. …was he waiting for something back to happen? He was probably sleeping there to guard the tree. He seemed to be in a shallow sleep; she couldn’t see his eyes moving under his eyelids at all. The idea of escape came back to her, and for the first time, she seemed hesitant with that whole matter, and a mental game of tennis in her head between her two options began. On one hand, she had been fed and given a place to sleep. On the other…her dad. Her mom. Her sister. They were probably still out there. No. No there was no “probably”, they HAD to still be out there, right??? Afterall, she had managed to survive this long, so could her family. Mallory felt her gut twist into a knot as she tried to reason with herself, she needed to find them. She glanced at Ulthane again, keeping her eyes on him as she slowly began to back away, inching closer to what looked to be stairs, her legs shaking as she tried to keep her steps quiet, making sure she didn’t awaken the sleeping maker. This was fine, she could do this…right? As soon as she was confident that he wouldn’t see her if he woke up, she ran. Mallory nearly stumbled over herself a few times, struggling to see in the pitch dark as she ran along one of the main wooden roots. I should’ve waited until it was daytime- but then I’d have no chance of getting out of that tree.

Mallory hadn’t convinced herself that those three giants hadn’t been evil, that it hadn’t been some sick ploy or trick. She was safe now. Safe from being stuck in a corner she couldn’t escape. She kept running until it felt like the cold air burned her lungs, gasping for breath as she slowed down, breathing heavy as it felt like everything she had done had just crashed down. The burning feeling in her chest didn’t bother her much, the vague memory of playing baseball coming back to her as she gasped in greedy breaths, managing to pull a home run and running into the arms of her friends. A sudden hollow feeling filled her chest…her friends. Her family. Her coach, her teachers, her…all. All of it had crumbled to ash in one day. She could feel her eyes watering, but she quickly reached up and rubbed her eyes, taking in a shaky breath. No time for crying. She had to figure out what to do, and her voice came out in a shaky, broken whisper, one that scared herself a bit. “…my gun.” And here came another sickening hollow feeling, she had left her father’s gun back at the tree. But she didn’t dare even try to go back to get it, she wasn’t going to risk not having the chance to escape again. She felt guilty. Guilty, cold, tired, and sick. She felt like she was going to throw up, her stomach twisting and churning as she slipped off one of the roots and onto the concrete, the eerie silence of it all felt too loud, too overwhelming, and it was now that she noticed that the sun was beginning to come up, orange tones washing over the dull, scraggly landscape of the ruined city. Mallory’s face felt numb by the time the sun had risen enough for her to properly see again. She was just trying to get as far away as she could away from the tree before anyone could notice she was gone; she was already making a mental list of everything she would need. She needed a new weapon, maybe she could get some rebar or a blunt weapon of the sorts, she needed food and water, and she needed a safe place to rest for that night. …where were the monsters? She hadn’t heard a scuffle, a roar, a scream or anything; nothing to show that she wasn’t alone. Mallory found herself slowing to a stop as she slowly looked around, spinning in a full circle as she tried to find anything that showed she wasn’t alone. Usually monsters would be crawling about, small ones that usually left her alone or didn’t notice her presence, or the big ones that hissed and wanted her gutted alive, this wasn’t…normal. She continued walking, her vision blurry and watering as she kept going. She hadn’t slept much at all last night, her exhaustion slowly creeping back as she traversed the broken sidewalk, yawning into her hand again as she shuffled along.  Her exhaustion was quickly erased and replaced with fear as something that felt like cold metal gripped her good arm, a metal-plated hand quickly clamping over her mouth as she was dragged into a building from behind. She immediately began to thrash; any screams or yells of fear were muffled as her heels scrapped against the broken concrete in an attempt to stop whatever kidnapping this was.

“Shush don’t scream. Hey. Don’t scream. Don’t scream. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Those were the words Mallory heard immediately after being dragged into ruined office building’s lobby, being sat down and turned to face whoever was speaking. He looked to be a human…albeit he was too big to be a normal one, something of that sort, he had a white mask with two yellow eyes that seemed eerily similar to that of a hawk’s, with a scarf around his neck. “…you gonna scream if I let go?” Mallory stared at him, her mind racing as she tried to decipher if she should be reacting like this was a life-or-death situation. She stared at him for a long moment, his hand still clamped over her mouth, and she shook her head frantically. “Mkay. Good.” He slowly removed his hand from her face, and Mallory sat deathly still for what was probably only a few seconds before she scrambled to get up, her attempt to get away being faulted by having the back of her jacket grabbed, and she was yanked back.

“You suck at escaping. I’d let you try again but I need to talk to you.” “What could you possibly want from me??!”

As a result of Mallory’s response, he seemed to roll his eyes, huffing a sigh. “Listen. I’m here to help you, well not you specifically but I’m trying to help you race out, and a little birdy told me that a maker named Ulthane was tryin to find em. Are you with him?”

…well, she HAD been, but…what if she just said no?

“…well, I was with him, I just escaped the tree- ““well now why would you do that?” “I gotta find my family, they gotta be alive still, I mean I’ve lasted a while” He sorta just…stared at her for a moment, before making a sound that she was 90 percent sure was a laugh of some sorts. “I’ll give it to you; you’re a hopeful one. Listen, it’s a damn miracle you’re still alive, and I’d like to help keep your race alive. So, if you go back to the tree, I’ll come with you. What if your family turns up there and you’re gone off looking for them, hm?”

Mallory pictured it in her head, another deep sense of dread hitting her. What IF they showed up and she wasn’t there?? What if she killed herself trying to look for them when they would’ve shown up inevitably??? Mallory grimaces a bit, narrowing her eyes at the stranger. “…don’t use em against me like that” “You humans are an awful stubborn lot; it’s the only way to get you guys to listen most of the time.” He slapped his knees before standing up, pulling her up with her good arm. “I need your help real quick though…I need to blend in with you guys. How many are you at the tree?” Mallory’s mind was still recovering from being yanked up, but she stuttered out a response. “I-I’m the only one, they were talkin’ about me bein the only one Ulthane didn’t find…dead.” The freaky-mask man exhaled what sounded like a sigh, and he nodded. “M’kay, that can work. Now, I do have a human appearance, but I need some help to know if it could get me in that tree.” Mallory looked him up and down, before nodding slowly, her eyebrows furrowing together. Sure…sure this was fine. He hadn’t killed her yet, and he seemed friendly enough. But what if this was ANOTHER sick game?? No, it couldn’t be…he could’ve killed her on the spot, hell he could’ve killed her from a mile away considering the guns he had on his waist. “…well let’s see it then?” She watched in mild horror as his body shifted, it looked like his body was folding into itself like some sick hell-born origami, her eyes couldn’t keep up until what stood before her was…a human man, his beard thick and a bit unkempt, his eyes still carrying that hawk-like look. He was dressed in what looked like a trench coat, a hood over his head and with jeans and boots, but it was a little too…clean looking. “…too clean looking, you gotta dirty it up a bit more, I mean look at my clothes-” Mallory gestured to herself, now noticing how…sad she looked. She herself was wearing a trench coat, but it was worn and torn at the edges, stained with dirt and blood and God knows what else. Her jeans weren’t much better, the spots around her ankles and knees were wearing down and stained with dirt, and the one time she had gotten REALLY injured was a cut across her jean leg, stained with red, she had done a shoddy job of patching it back up fully.  The stranger must’ve seen how her expression fell, and he let out a laugh. “Yeah, you’re not the most appealin’ looking yourself, but I get your point.” He said this as he crouched down, gathering the dust-like stuff on the ground and rubbing it across his torso, glancing back up at her. “How long have you been outta the tree?” “I left this morning, maybe…an hour ago? I donno, it was still dark out when I left.” She found herself a bit more at ease now that he looked like a human, she hadn’t talked to a human in months. Mallory watched him look around, and he started to head to the “exit” (a hole in the wall), and she followed, nearly stumbling over herself as she followed him outside. “If its been an hour, no doubt Ulthane already knows. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was tearing through the damn city tryin to find you.” Mallory followed him, glancing down at her makeshift cast, and she exhaled a sigh. “That sounds...rather frightening, there’s three of those…giants at the tree, Ulthane… Uhh…Atmeas, and Vawula.”  

“Those ‘Giants’ are Makers.” ...and that was the only response she was gonna get?? What the hell is a “Maker”? Apparently, that’s what those three were. She was gonna ask him what that meant, but her thoughts froze (along with her entire body) when a thunderous voice hit her, loud and very jarring from behind the two of them. “MALLORY!!” She watched as the stranger turned to look, but she herself kept still, deathly still, it felt like her soul had left her body. No doubt that was Ulthane, that was the loudest he had heard him be, and that was the first time he said her actual name instead of ‘lass’ or something of the sort, hearing the loud, earth-shaking approach of a runnning maker.  “oh god I’m done for- “

Mallory’s final prayers were abruptly cut off as his fingers quickly closed around her torso, gripping her with just enough force to be uncomfortable as she was quickly yanked up, her stomach flipping from the sudden movement, her arm pinned to her side as she was turned to face him.

She felt her entire body lock up, her heart nearly stopping when she saw Ulthane’s expression. His eyes were full of some sort of anger she couldn’t quit put her finger on, his eyebrows furrowed into a pissed-off expression, his teeth bared. This was the first time she had noticed how…scary his teeth looked.

“ARE YOU TRYIN’ TA KILL YOURSELF LASS?! WHY IN HELL DID YA LEAVE THE TREE??"

Mallory flinched back, scared to look away from him as she tried to shrink under his furious look, almost as if she were trying to hide in his hands.

“IF YOU HAD GOTTEN YERSELF KILLED, WHY I WOULD’VE- “

He seemed to trail off, his eyes locking onto hers for a moment, and she watched in real time as his angry expression seemed to slowly melt, his angry eyes softening a bit and his furrowed eyebrows slowly grew less tense. Mallory squirmed a bit in his grip, his hands slowly loosening, but not letting go. One of his hands did slip away though, rubbing his eyes as he inhaled real slow.

In a rather pathetic attempt to get his attention off of her, she tried to free one of her arms, almost immediately shutting up when she stuttered, but she pushed on. “I-I-I…. I found someone else, another human-?” Ulthane let his hand fall from his face as he turned to look at…she didn’t actually know his name, and he spoke in a much, much more tired-sounding tone.

“What’s yer name lad?”

“Jones.”