Deserma Introductions

by - barragehpms
It was a standoff, he realized, with neither side willing to give way.

Those worshipers of Dersema could not go near him, for fear of the large collection of TNT piled a top their offerings, which was connected the the lever that lied next to him. He could not leave his spot from the pile, for if he did so he lost the threat of the bomb going off, and his foes would tear him to pieces. With no real choice, both sides had to wait.

A hour passed. He ate his first supply of bread. There was no worry of running out. At least four more loaves lied in his pack, set away for emergencies. The followers, however, had not moved. They still stood there, staring.

The second hour passed, and the second loaf was eaten.

The third hour passed, and another loaf of bread was gone.

And yet all this time, those followers of Dersema refused to move. He had thought that they were asleep at first, or in a trance, and began to make a run for it, away from the shrine. However, as soon as he stepped off of the pile, one of the men twitched, scaring him back to his post. The clock heralded the arrival of the fourth hour, and another loaf was eaten.

The fifth hour sent him into a panic, and he tried to extend his meal out to the period of two hours. It worked, but sadly the worshipers still stood there, standing still as statues. His meal was gone at the ring of the sixth hour.

The seventh hour passed. His stomach rumbled. He cursed himself for not bringing more food.

The eighth hour passed. His stomach growled. He called out to one of the worshipers of the sun, maybe they could have a compromise. But the look that he got sent him back to silence.

The ninth hour passed. His stomach roared. His mind began to recall every feast he had been to, every meal he had eaten. It drove his stomach insane, but he could not stop himself.

And all the while, the worshipers waited.

His mind grew desperate. "Escape," it yelled "Escape!" Why had he been stationary for so long, when his foes were surely asleep. Why had he stopped his plan to leave this accursed temple when only one of the guards had twitched? Why didn't he just run out right now, and escape into the darkness?

He leaped from his stance, over his wall of TNT, and found himself crashing into another wall. But this was a wall of sandstone, and now he was sure he was turning mad as worshipers seemed to spring out of the arrows that the had fired once he had moved. But that was no worry, they were probably after their treasure, and that gave him a few seconds to escape.

But he was wrong. The worshipers turned around him, surrounding him. He tried to break out of the ring, but every time he did so light would flash into his eyes, and he would stumble around and find himself back to where he started.

One of the mages uttered a short phrase, and pain wracked down upon his body. He felt it in his bones, and would have screamed if is lungs had not felt as if hot sand was trickling down it. His body writhed in it's suffering, and he dropped to his knees. All hope had left him, and soon had all life.