Tarian was standing upon the mostly constructed walls, staring out into the slowly building mass of creatures. There were a few types of monsters swirling about each other in that swarm, but the bulk was what the population had taken to calling Ogres. In fact, it was the constant harrying of the colonists by those Ogres that had prompted the building of the walls as rapidly as possible.
“Tarian, is it me or is that mass still growing?” Keldon asked once he was standing next to Tarian.
Tarian stood atop the partially constructed walls as his gaze swept across the writhing mass of monsters. As he surveyed a source of his nightmares, he rubbed his brow when he recognized the tallest among them. The colonists had debated names for the hulking brutes with misshapen and grotesque features, but ‘Ogres’ had stuck. Truthfully, they were the reason the colony was constructing a more permanent defense.
Keldon climbed the stairs and clapped his friend’s back. “Tell me I’m not imagining that their numbers are growing.”
“I wish it was your imagination, Kel.” Tarian rubbed his eyes as he turned to face his friend. “Even if it’s not growing, it appears to be every time I look.”
“It could be worse,” Keldon said, tapping the wall with his foot. “Fortunately, we’ve already built this much of our defenses.”
“It’s fortunate we’ve managed this much,” Tarian said, bouncing his fist against the surface. “Though based on everything we saw before entering the atmosphere, we shouldn’t have required it.”
Keldon licked his lips as he stared over at the writhing monsters. After several moments, he clapped Tarian’s back. “It’s still bothering you, isn’t it?”
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