Ancient Domains Of Mystery, forum overview / Stories / ADOM RP 2: Edited Version
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Iridia Registered user YASD Last page view: 3749 days, 12 hours, 28 minutes and 19 seconds ago. |
Another edited version, which will hopefully be good for any new characters to read, since this will have no OOC interruptions. No one post on this thread, please :) ADOM RP 2 As the sun rose over the Drakalor Mountain Chain, a robed figure slowly entered the canyon that connects it to the outside world. Below him, the lights of a town twinkled brightly, and the sound of music and singing floated up to the wanderer. He paused for a moment, surveying the canyon ahead of him, and then began descending into it. Before he had taken even a dozen steps into the canyon, another figure stepped out, blocking his path. The newcomer looked at the cloaked figure, dipping his hat, making a slight bow, and saying apologetically "Sorry for givin' yer a start. I always tended to do that. Was born to roam the wilderness." The former scrutinized the man. He was wearing leather armor and a pair of metal-shod boots. A hat sat rather awkwardly on his head. Muscles bulged under this huge man's armor, and he was carrying a huge sword, which he held with both his hands. Chuckling slightly at the man's motley appearance, the stranger pushed back the hood of his robe, revealing unusual features. While he had the golden hair and pointed ears of a high elf, his face more closely resembled a human's. "Well met!" he grinned. "My name is Meridon. What, may I ask, is yours?" As he spoke, he produced a quarterstaff, on which he leaned casually. Now that the man could take more time to examine him, Meridon's robes appeared to have a greenish tinge to them. The warrior gave a slight smile. "Pleased to meet you, Meridon. I'm Konan, the best warrior of my tribe. I'm out to prove I am the fiercest warrior that ever walked Ancardia. My tribe's honor is at stake." He paused significantly. "I also came to help rid the world of Chaos." His eyes narrowed "Headed to Terinyo?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "We can travel together. You can tell me about yourself on the way." Again Meridon chuckled. "Depends. If the town below us is Terinyo, then yes; if not, then most likely the answer is no." He waved his hand at Konan's massive sword. "Put that away, I'm not your enemy. Or at least lower it. If you truly wanted to fight me it would do you little good." From his grin, Konan could tell that this strange half-elf was only joking, and that he wasn't looking to fight. Just as well, thought Konan; that puny staff was no match for his sword. _________________________________________________________ Her golden eyes stared at the two travelers as the wind gently caressed her long hair. She held a longbow in her hand and as she cautiously followed the strangers with her gaze. It surely was an odd sight: muscular, grim-looking barbarian followed by somewhat strange-looking human. Even though she had traveled for many weeks alone now, and would have enjoyed company, she didn't even think about coming out of the bushes. She kept her eyes on those fellows and remained hidden. "Maybe I should follow them into the town," she thought to herself. _________________________________________________________ "So, Konan," Meridon commented, jogging slightly to catch up with the large human. "Where are you from, anyway?" Konan opened his mouth to answer, but then froze mid-stride. Meridon followed his gaze and watched as a wildcat stalked into the path. Silently, Konan slipped behind a rock, waiting for the cat to come within striking range. After a moment of confusion, Meridon realized that Konan believed the cat a threat. Laughing aloud, he waved a hand at Konan and walked towards the cat. As he first approached, the cat growled, but then it picked its ears up, and within moments, Meridon was scratching the cat behind the ears while the cat purred loudly. Then it leapt atop a rock, looked back at the strange man who had spoken to it, and then ran off into the night. Meridon grinned at Konan "Come on, a big guy like you isn't afraid of a harmless cat." Konan, however, looked grim and growled, "I'd be more careful if I were you, Meridon. Them cats are dangerous. Haven't you heard? They say killing a cat is bad for your karma. Cats are a bad sign." Meridon laughed it away. "Come on, that cat was friendly. Don't believe every rumor you hear, Konan." Konan just grunted. Meridon, wanting to change the subject, looked more serious now. "We better get a move on-this place is dangerous at night. Is that town Terinyo?" asked Meridon, pointing at a bright light at the end of the pass. Konan had regained his good nature and cuffed Meridon on the back (almost knocking him over). "Let's go, then. I'm feeing summat tired after my long journey. Ye must be tired too?" Before long, the two neared the town. The sounds of rejoicing flowed to them from the town, and they could see many people out dancing, drinking, and having a good time. Exchanging confused glances, Meridon and Konan watched for a few moments before moving towards the eastern entrance to the town. "Who goes there?" a voice came out of the darkness. Immediately, Konan had his sword raised and ready to strike; Meridon paged through a spellbook. A man emerged from the darkness. He had two blades strapped to his belt, and his face was obscured by a large helm. When he saw the two, one with elven features, he laughed. "Don't worry; I'm not going to kill you. At least not without a reason." The two slowly lowered their weapons when they noticed he was not making any threatening moves. The strange man laughed again. "Good." With that he removed his helm. Konan brought his sword up again and emitted a guttural growl when he saw the face beneath the helm; Meridon also brought his staff to bear. The stark white hair and totally black face of the dark elf looked back at them, grinning. "Don't worry," he said again. "My name is Cameron. And no, I'm not going to enslave you, much to Lo'loth's chagrin." He grinned broadly. "So, what's all the rejoicing about, Cameron?" inquired Meridon. "Sounds like everyone's having fun." "Haven't you heard?" said Cameron, smiling widely. Konan looked puzzled "Haven't we 'eard what?" Cormen laughed heartily "It's over. No more Chaos. We closed the Chaos gate--Ancardia is safe!" Both Meridon and Konan stared at him in utter disbelief. Meridon was the first to break the silence. "What? You mean we came all this way for nothing?" Cameron noticed the disheartened looks on their faces and said, "Look, there are still a lot of Chaos creatures left in the chain. Someone has to finish them off." Meridon sighed. "Well, there's bound to be some monster somewhere who's gonna try and reunite them all..." He looked at the sky, which was beginning to cloud over. "Let's get to the town. I'm sorry, what did you say the name was?" "Terinyo. Quaint little town; I think you'll like it." Cameron turned and led them back towards the town. "My friends and I managed to hack our way down to the Chaos Gate and shut it... A few of us are still here. The others... those who survived and didn't stay here... are in the town, leading the celebrations." _________________________________________________________ Iridia dropped her packful of mithril ore to the ground to rest for a moment, leaning against the wall of Terinyo's only shop. "So," she thought, "my quest has finally begun. I've always been told I'd end up following my father's footsteps, but not quite like this..." Her world had changed not long after she had come of age and ended her apprenticeship in her father's mine. For many months now there had been rumors of a return of Chaos, but they had, until then, been only rumors, until one day a Chaos warlord attacked the small underground village that had been her home. Her father finally managed to slay it, but not until it had killed her older brother and several villagers. Iridia had wanted to accompany her father when he went to avenge his son, but he had adamantly refused, saying that she and her twin brother should stay and work the mines. Her father had never come back, and her brother had been killed by yet another attack by Chaos creatures when the village was taken. Iridia had managed to escape only because she had been working the mines when it all happened… She hadn't been there when her brother had died, fighting Chaos… Next time, she vowed, I will not be such a coward. She would stay the night in Terinyo, then set out. Sleep wasn't likely, however, what with the villagers all drinking and partying at all hours. Ten of them had taken to drunkenly trying to hoist a drunken troll named Amanda onto their shoulders, with the intent of carrying her about the town. And she had to keep a wary eye out; there was a gnomish thief wandering around, drunkenly stealing from even more drunk villagers. She couldn't see the gnome as it was; he was probably sneaking about, sliding gear out of the pockets of farmers. No, there he was; from what it looked like, he was successfully (and drunkenly) flirting with a young woman. There was a disturbance off on the fringe of the village. Iridia sighed; the dark elf was back. Now there would be another center for the partying. It looked like he wasn't alone, though. Behind him, looking rather uncomfortable at having to follow a dark elf…and with good reason, considering the reputation of the dark elven race...Ah, well. Things didn't look good for sleep that night. She wished Frank had stayed. Munxip, the shopkeeper, had told her that while the powerful elven wizard stayed in Terinyo, he had often summoned up spectacular shows at night, launching advanced fireballs up into the darkened sky, even producing some which changed color. Once he had experimentally tried a spell he and another elf had been working on, an "Advanced Lightning Ball". According to Yaggaz (not a very good source of information, considering that he was always drunk -- which meant he was drunk off his feet at the moment), it had been "spectabuofublas". As long as she was still up, she supposed she could greet the newcomers. Perhaps they were going in the same direction as she. _________________________________________________________ Meridon spotted her first; what he noted most about her was that she wasn't as drunk as the rest of the town. The dwarf certainly looked out of place in the midst of the happy rabble celebrating the defeat of Chaos. "Hey. I'm Konan. Why aren't you celebrating?" asked the barbarian. "I'm Iridia, and there's nothing to celebrate," said the dwarf. "My village celebrated too, when Chaos was defeated. Now there's no one left to celebrate anything. I'm the only one left." "What do you mean?" demanded Meridon. "Chaos is back. Those people--" she gestured towards the drunken celebrants of assorted races,"--won't know it for a while, but it's back. We managed to drive off their first attack, but the second one devastated our village. I'm going to try to avenge my family." "So, it isn't over," Cormen said. "No. It never was." "And," said a voice, "it never will be." A wizened old man stepped out of the shadows. He looked like he'd been through a lot; he wore the insignia of a village elder. Meridon leaned on his staff, slightly confused. "But how can Chaos be back? You said it yourself, Cormen. The gate is shut. Where is it coming from?" "I'm not sure. Frank, before leaving, expressed concern about the cave to the southeast. The Chaos energy there was strong enough there to turn Yriggs, our carpenter, into a sort of Chaos being, until he was saved by a healer that made his residence in the cave. Recently parties of hobgoblins have been wandering about the forests near here. The groups seem to be coming out of that cave. That might be a good place to start looking for Chaos - if that is, indeed, what you seek. And while you are down there, you may be able to save the life of an innocent, for to the best of our knowledge, Jharod, the healer, is still in there." Konan shrugged. "I'm up for a quest. Hobgoblins are pretty nasty little buggers. How 'bout you three?" Iridia hefted her axe. "Unless something else comes up, lets go." "And you two? Meridon?" "Sure. Who knows what sort of animals live down in that cave that might be being tortured by those creatures?" Cormen, however, shook his head. "I'm really sorry. Much as I would like to help you slaughter a tribe of these things, I received a message calling my back to my home nation. They are under attack by a combined army of trolls, orcs, and ogres; my lord wants me to aid in the defense." "Well then," sighed Meridon, "I guess it's just us three. Shall we?" “Forgetting someone, are we now?" said a loud voice. "You're not going without me!!! I love killing and eating hobgoblins. I can't believe you didn't hear or see me... thought the great Iridia would notice me but she didn't... what a disappointment. Shall we be going?” "I noticed," said Iridia defensively. "I just didn't mention it." "Uh-huh. Sure. So, I'm coming with you?" demanded the voice. Its owner stepped into the torchlight. It was an orc. Iridia held her axe at ready, expecting an attack. "Who are you, and what do you want?" she said. "I am Fire, a master alchemist." The orc opened his pack to show an array of potions. He lifted a gray, muddy-looking bottle out. "This will heal severe wounds in an instant. This," he said, showing a bright red liquid, "will make its drinker invisible for three hours." A clear liquid-- "will blind an enemy instantly." The alchemist closed his pack. "What I want is to come with you. It's simple: You need my skills, and I need your protection. I come with you, you won't regret it." The companions looked at each other, silently conferring on the decision. Meridon, then Konan, nodded to Iridia, who turned to Fire. "Meet Meridon and Konan. We plan to camp in the wilderness tonight. You ready to leave?" "Any time you are." _________________________________________________________ The party left the relatively secure village and spent the first half of the night journeying through the woodlands between them and the cave. "I've heard there be outlaws in these woods," Konan commented. "We’d best be on the alert." "Outlaws may be the least of our problems. From what the elder said, those hobgoblins might attack during the night." Meridon paused, leaning heavily on his staff. "Let's rest for the night. I, for one, haven't slept well in days, and need the rest." With a sigh, Iridia dropped her pack. "I agree. But what with hobgoblins and outlaws, not to mention the local wildlife out there, we should set watches throughout the night." She looked pointedly at the orcish alchemist. "Fire, considering that you're an orc and orcs are nocturnal, you should take first watch." They reached outside to the welcoming dusk. "If you ever find a stomafillia herb, a potion of carrot juice, or a crystal of knowledge, tell me, and I mean it," Fire told them before they turned in. As they made camp, Fire stood watch over the vast wilderness called Ancardia. The first watch of the night passed uneventfully while the stars slid silently over the deceptively peaceful Ancardian hillsides. The moon set, and darkness covered the land. Fire stretched, preparing to wake one of the others to take the next watch. He turned towards his companions; then abruptly spun back to face the hillsides again. Had he seen anything? No, he hadn't... a firefly, perhaps... He could not see what was behind the hills that blocked his view--a line of torches, headed towards Terinyo... Fire shrugged and turned to wake up his replacement. He probably hadn't seen anything, after all. Still...best to make sure... Fire took out a potion; he looked at it, took it, and drank, waiting for the results. Suddenly Meridon felt himself shaken awake." Meridon." Nothing. "Meridon!" Still no answer. "MERIDON!!!" Still nothing. "Oh, The-One-Who-Kills, he's out like a damn log!" Suddenly, Fire saw black. He'd drunk his potion of blindness by accident! He let out a piercing scream that awoke the others. Meridon was first to reach Fire. "What's wrong?" Meridon said. "I lost my eyesight by drinking a potion of blindness by accident. I can't read as well as elves. Please, get me a sparkling potion from my sack." The group looked at each other, trying to hide their laughter. Meridon looked through the sack and found it. The bottle had some strange bumps on it. “Is this it?" he said, handing it to Fire. “No! that's a deafening potion!" Fire said. They looked at him in puzzlement. “The bumps are my way of knowing my potions in case this ever happened," Fire explained. "Um, Fire, does that stuff wear off?" Iridia asked the alchemist. "Yeah. It takes a couple of hours, but it does. I oughta be able to see by morning." The alchemist had obviously made this mistake before, the dwarf thought to herself. "What did you mean to drink, anyway?" "A farsight potion. Thought I saw something. Don't think it was much, now. Bear, maybe." "Ah," Meridon remarked, "If it was, I'd know how to deal with it. I'll take the next watch, just in case." The rest of the night passed without event, though Fire's companions could have slept better if the orc had not made it a habit to snore so loudly. As dawn streaked the sky, the alchemist opened his eyes. "Ah, that's better," he remarked. "I can see again. Hey, you lazy lumps." He prodded the nearest sleepy bundle with a toe. "Get up." The group broke camp and readied themselves to travel again. By noon, they had reached the mountains to the west. As they reached the crest of the last hill, Konan pointed out a jagged hole in the mountainsides. "The healer's cave," he said. "Ha, ye can smell the hobgoblins from here!" As they approached the cave, the rest of the group could smell it too, a foul odor of filth and decay. Konan readied his sword and lead them into the dank underground tunnels. _________________________________________________________ As Konan reached the cave, a wild boar came out. It was as huge as the Great Karmic Worm itself! Giant boars were famed for their strength and ferocity; Iridia knew that unless one of her friends had resources she didn't know about, they were all doomed. "Any ideas, anyone? What do we do now?" she hissed to the others. Gratefully, Iridia saw the boar had yet to notice them. Konan lifted his sword high in the air ready to hit the boar but someone restrained him from behind. He looked behind him to see Meridon gesturing him to stand down. "You can't kill that with your sword, Konan. Don't be a fool. Besides, its just a baby boar." Konan felt insulted "What d'ya mean, I can't handle that? What are you going to do, anyway-sing to it?" Meridon smiled, brushing off Konan's sarcasm. "Watch and learn," he said. Konan's jaw dropped when he saw Meridon stride right up to the boar. As Meridon came nearer, he noticed the source of the animal’s agitation-Its tusks were bloodied, and several spears were embedded in its tough hide. It caught sight of Meridon, but didn't charge; it simply snorted softly and sniffed at him. After a few sniffs, Meridon patted it on the nose and set about removing the weapons in its side. He didn't get the chance to remove any, however, as three hobgoblins came screaming from the cave, waving various implements of injury and screaming vile obscenities. The boar was startled, and, already injured, charged off into the hills away from the cave and its angry inhabitants. Now that the boar had fled, the hobgoblins turned their attention to Meridon. One of the goblins stared at Meridon spitefully and raised his weapon menacingly, shrieking. But before he took another step, the hobgoblin heard a horribly loud war cry. The startled goblin whirled around to see the most fearsome sight he had ever seen. Thundering through the bushes were three fearsome figures. A large human, a dwarf and an orc were charging straight for him. Without a second's thought, the three goblins dashed back into the cave. "Did ya see 'em run!" guffawed Konan. He seemed to have enjoyed the sight. Fire looked pleased with himself too. Meridon, however, was silent. Iridia looked around examining the cave entrance. "We best get going. That poor healer isn't going to get out of there without our help." Konan was all ready. "Lets go then, my sword's achin' fer blood." Iridia led the way with Konan and Meridon right behind her; Fire brought up the rear. The stairs were so narrow that they could only move in single file. So, without further ado, the group descended into the smelly little dungeon. Iridia grunted in annoyance. Three passages branched off from the cave's entrance, giving no clue as to which way the hobgoblins had gone. "They'll be reporting to their superiors now. Whatever's down there is going to know we're coming," Meridon noted. "And we don't know which way they went." "I don't think we should split up," Iridia said, "I think we're better off watching each other's backs." The others agreed, and the party continued down one of the three passages. An even more disgusting odor than before met their nostrils as they entered a large chamber. The floor was covered with dirty straw, on which decomposing scraps that might have been cloth, lay. The room was deserted except for various small animals that infested the straw; Konan made short work of two abnormally large rats that sprang to attack the party. Fire grabbed the corpses and stuffed them into his pack. Food for later, the orc thought to himself. "They must live here," Iridia said, turning away in disgust. "Ugh." Further down the passage was another chamber. On its walls were hooks on which weapons could be stored. Except for some particularly rusted and broken blades, the hooks were empty. The fires of a forge at one end of the room had burned down to embers. The room was as deserted as the last had been. "I have a bad feeling about this," Meridon commented. "You and me both," Iridia agreed. "They've obviously been here, but where are they now?" A sudden pattering of feet behind them and a sharp increase in the intensity of the stench told them exactly where the hobgoblins were. At least a score of them were behind the four adventurers. One of them was mounted on a huge wolf and carrying a scimitar in one hand and a small shield in the other. Except for this equipment, he was naked. He appeared to be the leader of the group. His mount paced forwards a couple of yards, and he shouted something in a rough tongue. Restlessly his command shifted forwards slightly. Konan moved in front of Meridon and Fire, as did Iridia. The fact that neither of the two magic-users was particularly adept at physical combat made this a good move. All four of them brought out their weapons, and Meridon began chanting something in an arcane language. The goblins let out a war cry and charged, screaming. Konan and Iridia easily fended off the initial attack. The second attack, however, was much stronger. Konan swung his sword at the irritating little creatures. Blow after blow landed on the goblins. The goblins were no match for Konan and Iridia; the two were trained fighters. However, Konan was tiring and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Irida was having the same problem. "There's too many of them," screamed Konan. Irida recoiled in horror as she noticed another horde of goblins rushing to help the leader. "Watch out!" she screamed as she saw the leader and a few of the goblins charge straight for Konan. The big warrior was outnumbered. But before anyone could move, a bolt of fire zipped across the room heading straight for the chief. Konan's jaw dropped as he noticed that all that was left of the new onrush of goblins was a pile of ash. Iridia turned around to see Meridon smiling "Just thought I'd even the odds." The rest of the goblins still looked ready to fight. Konan and Iridia were too tired. Konan turned to Meridon. "We could use some more of that magic now." "Sorry, Konan--I need more time." Fire, who had been quiet for some time, spoke up. "Let me handle this." He threw a potion right at the goblins feet. The potion exploded, spurting a green liquid all over the goblins. The rest of the party watched in amazement as the remaining goblins dissolved right before their eyes. Meridon looked at Fire "Ingenious. Acid potions." "Well, so much for the goblins. Let's go look for the healer. We can't waste more time." Realizing the urgency of their quest, they started walking at a pace that was, considering the warriors' fatigue, grueling. The orc looked behind them, then stopped. "Wait! wait," Fire said, digging through the rags that passed for one of the dead hobgoblin's clothing. "Ah, I knew I saw something," he said, holding up an orange potion and a sharp, though crudely made, knife. Fire ran to join the group. "This'll come in useful, you'll see," he said confidently. "Carrot juice. One of the ingredients in my best recipes." Though formerly inclined to doubt Fire, his companions had seen the effects of Fire's acidic explosion and knew enough not to comment that carrot juice seemed a strange ingredient for alchemical experiments. "Ye'll be lookin' fer the lower levels," Konan said. "Knowin' them, if they've captured the healer, they'll have put 'im someplace hard to get at." "I'm afraid you may be right," Meridon replied. "Ah, here we are." Ahead, a dark stairway plunged down into the depths of the caves. Iridia took a torch from her backpack. "Always keep these for emergencies," she said, using some flints to strike a spark and set it alight. The light splashed onto the stairway, illuminating it; and the adventurers climbed down the stairs and into the room below. Here the smell of hobgoblins was even stronger than it had been in the levels above; unidentifiable debris littered the passageways and provided hiding places for numerous rats, lizards, and insects. They kept themselves at high alert, fending off attacks from vermin and the occasional goblin. The caves still seemed strangely deserted, despite the score of goblins that had attacked the party earlier. As they turned a corner, they could see that the end of what had seemed yet another dark passageway opened into a lighted room. They could hear coarse goblin laughter. Meridon was the most light-footed of the group. "I'll check it out. Wait here," he said. Stealthily, he made his way down the corridor and peeked into the room. Half a dozen large, burly goblins lounged around the room. One was poking with his foot at what seemed to be a bundle of rags; another lashed out at the bundle with a spiked club. As he looked more closely at the object of the goblins' derision, Meridon stifled a gasp. It was an old man, dressed in white robes that were now tattered and blood-stained. His hands and feet were bound with thick ropes. Though his face was bruised, his face wore a courageous look and his blue eyes flashed angrily at the ruthless goblins. Meridon backed away quickly and reported to the others. "I've found the healer," he said. "There are about six of them guarding him. He doesn't look too good." "Think we can take them?" Iridia asked. "Maybe," Meridon said. "But we have to do something, or Jharod will die." Fire took an obsidian-black potion out of his sack. "If this blinded me, then it'll blind them," chuckled Fire. He added some cooked rat's tail, cooked roach and something fluffy to the potion. It turned into... water? “What, by all the gods, do you think you're gonna do with water?" Iridia hissed at him. “May look like water, but that's an enhanced potion of blindness. Breathe in the mist, and ye be blind for a week unless ye has a potion of farsight, which I always have," Fire said, smiling. "Meridon, if ye be kind, do you have a spell that makes us immune to breathing it?" Fire asked. Meridon looked doubtful but after all, he was a wizard. "I'll see what I can, do," was the answer. He rummaged through his pack a bit, but all he was able to produce was a ironbound tome which had "LIGHTNING BOLT" scribbled on the front cover. "Sorry... My order didn't know the incantations to many spells." "All right," Iridia said. "No problem. The way I see it, if we don't want to get ourselves blinded for a week, we'll have to go in there, get the healer, and get out. Someone will have to stay behind with that potion, throw it at those big guys back there, then drink the farsight potion and follow us back." "I would stay," said Meridon, "but my spells will come in handy if the operation turns to a fight." "If it does turn into a fight, it will doubtless be a melee. And unless you want to fry us with that lightning bolt of yours, you won't be able to use your spells." Iridia pondered what to do. "Doubtless it'll turn messy, considering the sharp eye those guys are keeping on that healer. It might be best if you did stay behind, Meridon." "If it's going to turn messy, at least I can soften them up a bit first." Meridon leaned determinedly on his staff; he wouldn't take no for an answer. He was going. "You'll need all the melee fighters you can get. Iridia and Konan should go as well. Besides, I know how to use my potions best. I'll stay behind." With that Fire took a potion out of his sack, examined the label, and took a sip. "Anyone else want some dwarven ale before we do this?" "Not now, but thank you, friend," said Iridia. "We'll save it to celebrate our victory." Konan grinned. "Well, what are we waiting for, then?" he demanded. "Nothing! Ah...wait," Meridon replied. Touching each of their foreheads in turn, he intoned a short charm over each of them. "A blessing," he said. "For luck." While Fire chose a convenient doorway from which to ambush the goblins, the two fighters headed down the long hall, followed by Meridon. A burst of goblin laughter caused them to quicken their silent pace. Soon they stood at the doorway where Meridon had first seen the healer. Meridon mumbled a spell. From his hand whooshed a bolt of pure lightning, hissing and crackling as it bounced around the room. One of the healer's tormentors doubled over as the bolt hit him square in the stomach, but he wasn't going to be disabled for long. Iridia and Konan took two goblins each, parrying blows, watching for the smallest slip in their opponents' defenses. One of the goblin leaders would have proved a hard opponent to either of the warriors; but fighting two at a time taxed every resource they had. The wounds were unavoidable; but they gave as good as they got. Both struck a goblin each, damaging and slowing the brutes. Meridon headed straight for the healer. "I'm a friend," he said quickly. "I've come to help." Thrusting his arms under the old man's shoulders and knees, he picked the healer up and carried him towards the door. Iridia and Konan began retreating, following Meridon out the door, but not before Konan's plank-sized sword found the neck of one of the goblins. Konan roared in triumph as the muscular goblin thudded to the ground. The two fighters backed down the hall, drawing the goblins into their trap. When Meridon had carried the healer to the staircase, Iridia, pretending fear, shouted, "Run! They'll kill us!" Both Meridon and Iridia ran towards the stairs, leaving the goblins behind. Intent on their apparently fleeing quarry, the goblins didn't see the alchemist waiting in the shadows with his latest creation. With a cry, Fire hurled his potion into the midst of the ruthless trio. It exploded into a white, seemingly harmless mist--but Fire's vision was already dimming, fragmenting into silver sparks and slivers; and he knew the goblins would be losing their sight as well. Quickly, he plunged his hand into his pack, feeling the bumps on the potions, and grabbing one of them. He drank. Konan and Iridia had reached the stairs, where Meridon and Jharod waited. Konan took Jharod's thin frame from Meridon's arms; it seemed the old man had finally allowed himself the relief of unconsciousness. A multitude of war cries jerked their attention towards the hallway. Fire's farsight potion pieced the slivered bits of his vision back together. The goblins stumbled through the hall, aimlessly waving swords and axes in his general direction, then trying to find their way back to the room they had been lured out of. Fire grinned at the sight. "Not so tough now," he thought. He stepped back into the doorway as one of the goblins blunderingly swiped a sword at him. Something under his foot gave way, and Fire heard a squealing sound. Suddenly, the doorway he had used for cover became the entrance to a room as a hidden door burst open! Fire whirled around just in time to see at least two dozen goblins headed straight for him, armed and angry. He backed into the hallway, placing himself between his companions and the goblins, grasped his staff, and took a potion out of his bag. Almost immediately, they were upon him. Fire threw the potion into the crowd, listening to the satisfying thunderclap that caused three of them to stagger. How many more potions did he have? He brandished his staff, braining the first goblin and deflecting the blow of a second. The goblins came on faster now; Fire was finding it harder and harder to parry their blows. Though his potions took their toll on the goblins, he was running out of them; and now, the goblins were getting through his defenses. He was going to lose. He was going to... Suddenly he felt someone beside him; a dwarven axe whirled, taking the arm off a goblin that had been just about to connect with his neck. Iridia was beside him, still wounded from the fight with the goblins but wielding her axe with deadly precision. "Ha, now we'll get 'em!" Fire shouted. Across the hall from the first door, the stone wall suddenly cracked, and a door appeared where there had been none before. It opened, and more goblins, at least as many as the first group, raged into the hall to do battle. Iridia was wounded, and Fire was not an expert fighter; it was apparent they could not hope to win--or to last much longer, for that matter. Iridia glanced back towards the stairs where Konan and Meridon were preparing to join the battle. "No!" she called to them. "Go! Take the healer! You too," she said to Fire. "I'm staying!" the orc said, his staff smashing down on yet another goblin. Piles of the creatures were building up at their feet. Iridia could sense he wouldn't back down. Fire took the last potion from his pack, hesitating slightly. The dwarven ale... He threw it at the nearest goblin, which stumbled. Iridia finished it off. "Leave! Now!" Iridia yelled. "We'll catch up with you later!" "No choice," said Konan. "Jharod's depending on us." He started up the stairs. Meridon took a last look at his two friends, then followed Konan. They kept up a fast pace as they retraced their steps into the dungeon. Neither said anything. Meridon heard it first: A grunting sound, accompanied by the heavy clack of hooves on stone. Motioning Konan to stop where he was, Meridon moved cautiously forward, peering into the dark. A full-grown giant boar exploded into Meridon's vision. The boar's tusks were tinged red; its mouth foamed, and its eyes showed a single-minded rage. It didn't seem to recognize Meridon's green-tinged robe as that of a druid--and it was coming straight for them! "Wait," hissed Meridon. "When it comes close, dodge it. They can't turn quickly." The enormous animal bore down on them. At the last second, Meridon and Konan flattened themselves against the wall. The boar sped on, completely oblivious to their presence. "Didn't attack us," said Konan. "Why? Could see it wanted blood, that one." "Oh, she was hostile all right," said Meridon. "She just wasn't hostile towards us." The Boar, oblivious to the encounter with Konan and Meridon, charged forward to where two heroes fought against overwhelming odds. “Can't fight no more..." gasped Fire. He slumped to the ground with exhaustion. Iridia couldn't hold on, either. There must have been at least a score of goblins in front of her, and just as behind her. She parried a last time before the dull point of a goblins axe wounded her. All she could hear was Fire's gasping breath… and the pounding footsteps of a full-grown boar. "We are going to die now," thought Iridia. She was too tired to feel at all sad or angry. Maybe someone else would defeat Chaos... and at least the healer would probably be safe... Jagged goblin screams pierced the air. Iridia forced her eyes open; the boar was tossing the foul creatures like so many rags. The last of the goblins between them and the boar was ripped in two by the boar's tusks; Iridia closed her eyes again, and felt the floor tremble as the huge boar rushed past her... past her? Fire had raised himself on one elbow. "Iridia!" he gasped. "Do you see that? It completely ignored us!" "I see it," Iridia said. "Come on!" Fire said, struggling to stand. "I'm not sticking around to find out if it's interested in us once it's done with the goblins!" Iridia summoned strength she hadn't known existed. In a moment, she stood next to Fire, bracing herself against the wall. Painfully, they made their way back towards the stairs, stepping over dead goblins. One more step... one more step... one more... The pair made their way up the staircase, supporting each other. They came to the top. There, both Iridia and Fire crumpled to the floor once again, too tired to go on. The next thing Iridia heard was the catlike tread of a half-elf; a shadow bent over her. "Dead?" Meridon murmured. Iridia tried to speak. "No! Ah, thank the gods..." A hand touched the dwarf's forehead; energy surged over her body; her wounds hurt much less now, and as her eyes focused on Meridon's face, she sat up. "Come on, now," Meridon said, touching Fire as well. "We have to get out of here." Both felt well enough to walk now; they followed Meridon towards the next set of stairs. In a side chamber near what had once been the goblins' armory, Konan stood on guard over a recovering healer, now sitting on a blanket, taken from someone's pack, which covered the filthy straw. Jharod inspected Fire and Iridia. "Ah, Meridon, I see I taught you well," he said. "But then, it does not take much to teach a light healing spell to someone with much natural talent, as you have." The old man looked better than he had and was almost visibly recovering. "Now then," said Jharod presently, raising himself to stand, "I feel we are ready to get out of this accursed place. Thank you, all of you, for helping me." "No problem," said Konan. "Nobody hates them Chaos critters more than me and my friends." "Ugh, yeah, you've got that right," said Fire. "If I ever see another goblin again...!" No, I would not want to be a goblin around Fire, thought Iridia, remembering the many goblins Fire had managed to slaughter before they had both fallen. It was not long before the group struggled out of the cave entrance, almost surprised that bright sunlight and the fresh, clean air still existed. In the healthy outside air, rather than the foul air of the dungeon, their wounds quickly healed with the help of Meridon's newly acquired healing spell. Jharod soon looked as though he were half his age. The party turned their steps toward Terinyo. _________________________________________________________ They hadn't gone far before they saw the smoke. A long black trail of it was stretched across the sky, rising somewhere from the northeast. Tension pervaded the air, as they considered what it was. "What a pity," said Meridon. "I hope the animals got out of that part of the forest soon enough." "Perhaps the village is just holding a larger festival." Iridia was the most optimistic of them. "They have every right, what with the Gate being shut and all." Konan shook his shaggy head. "That much smoke? They would need a fire the size of the whole village to produce a trail that big." He thought a second. "I've been on a couple raids; often times a town that was freshly razed--" Jharod interupted him. "No! That's impossible. Guth'Alak is an excellent druid, and Tywatt Pare is a stalwart man. Nothing short of an army could raze that town." They continued on nervously. As they came closer to the edge of the forest the tension grew until it was almost unbearable. Suddenly, Konan froze. And not an instant too soon; an arrow whizzed by and buried itself in the dirt. Had he taken another step, it would have impaled him. The companions drew their weapons. Konan directed them to form a circle with the still-weak healer in the middle, while several dozen hobgoblins swarmed screaming down from the nearby hills, wielding a mismatched assortment of weaponry, ranging from clubs to spears to even a couple of scythes. Five of them stood at the top of the ridges with bows, and standing nearby was a rather large looking hobgoblin, mounted on a rather large looking wolf. The hobgoblins hit the defenders like a tidal wave, startling them with the sheer fury of their attack. Konan was in his element, sword swinging with deadly accuracy; Fire and Iridia put their newly learned skills to use, fighting better than ever before. Meridon paged through a spellbook, preparing to cast a lightning bolt. One goblin fell, then another. Slowly, the party gained ground. Meridon cried out in pain as an arrow pierced his arm. Cracking the shaft in two, he threw the protruding end of the arrow away, then raised a hand, chanting. Raw power gathered at the druid's fingertips; then it exploded outwards, felling two goblins in its path. Iridia grabbed a cracked wooden shield from one of the fallen goblins. "Konan! Arrows!" As if to punctuate her warning, an arrow flew towards them and imbedded itself in the shield. "Keep your head down!" The big warrior understood. No matter how well they fought here, they were still vulnerable to the archers in the hills. The hills would give the goblins the advantage of a longer missile range, while forcing the party to advance, if they did advance, uphill. If they didn't take out the archers, the party would be picked off, one by one. "We'll have to charge them!" Konan yelled back at Iridia, dodging yet another arrow. "This can't go on!" Meridon heard them. Chanting, he gathered a mighty bolt of lightning in his hand and hurled it into the vile creatures, scattering them about. When Konan and Iridia didn't react the way he expected, he shouted angrily. "What are you waiting for?! Charge the damn archers!!" He began summoning another charge, but before he could finish the spell an arrow hit him. Grunting, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Konan paused, looked from Meridon to Iridia, then back again. He gripped his sword tightly and said, "Stay here. I'll take care of the archers." He began running towards the archers. "And keep your shield up!" he shouted. An arrow zipped past Konan's head; another carved a bloody gash in his forearm. He held his broad blade in front of him; it offered some protection from the arrows. Now the archers were concentrating completely on the berserk warrior charging them. Many arrows whistled past Konan; he barely felt the stabbing pains of the two arrows which found their marks. He kept advancing. "It doessn't sstop! It doessn't fall!" an archer squealed. Two of the smaller goblins broke and ran in panic. The rest hesitated, arrows on strings, before loosing another volley at the oncoming warrior. Konan saw there were at least twelve of them. Good. An even fight. The first swing of his sword crumpled two of the goblins' puny bows; the second relieved two more of their heads. A goblin managed to loose an arrow. At this range, it couldn't miss, and didn't; it embedded itself deeply in Konan's leg. Another arrow was deflected by Konan's armor. A third swing of Konan's sword, and two more goblins met their fates. After that, Konan finished the rest of the archers easily. Goblin archers, Konan thought to himself, were cowards. Always trying to kill something from a distance, without risk to their own hides. Konan turned around. In the valley, Iridia and Fire had just engaged the first unit of goblins. They fought back-to-back, their new skills put to good use against the oncoming goblins. But there were many goblins, and there were only three of them; besides, Konan didn't like the look of the hobgoblins' leader. Soon, Iridia and Fire would be surrounded. Ignoring the pain of the arrow wounds, Konan ran towards his comrades. Jharod's body ached from the beating the hobgoblins had given him; and now, he was in the middle of a battle, too weak even to defend himself. Meridon lay beside him, bleeding--maybe dying. With an effort, the healer rose to his knees, then tore a strip from his now-ragged garments. He pressed it over Meridon's wounds. The bleeding slowed. Around them, the goblins closed in on Iridia and Fire. If he had been well, Jharod knew, he could have cured Meridon completely. As it was, Jharod's energies were barely enough to keep his own body alive. Only enough for one person, Jharod thought sadly... I'm too weak to help anyone... Jharod's eyes lost some of their weariness as he considered: Enough for...one? Jharod was a healer; he knew what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, the healer summoned the last of his magical powers. He placed his hands on the prone form of his rescuer. One arrow, then the other, flickered blue and disappeared. The wounds closed. As Jharod's vision dimmed, he could just barely see Meridon's graying skin flush with healthy color. ____________________________________________________ As his vision returned, Meridon saw Jharod collapse next to him. At first he was too weak to realize the significance of it, and he just lay there. Then he understood. Quickly he was up on his knees, bending over the healer… but it was already too late. There was nothing Meridon could do; Jharod was dead. Meridon was abruptly made aware of what was going on around him when Iridia stumbled into him and collapsed. Swearing, Meridon stood. These beasts had killed Jharod. They had killed an innocent healer! And now they were trying to kill his friends, too! Why? Simply because they were... Arcane words began pouring out of Meridon's mouth. Angrily he struck out, mustering reserves of power he had previously not known he had to hurl blasts of lightning into the hobgoblins, and to smash them aside with his staff. One fell. Then another. Then more, and more, until they lay dead on all sides of him. But even these reserves of power had their limit. Soon Meridon was feeling weak. Jharod was dead; Iridia had fallen and wasn't moving. Konan had arrived, and he and Fire had relieved another score of grungy humanoids of their existence, but the hobgoblins just kept coming. A chance blow felled Fire, knocking him senseless. Meridon could not fight any longer, and so kneeled to rest. Konan was forced to battle alone against the remainder of the hobgoblins. Their ranks were finally thinning, fortunately. Only about a dozen hobgoblins, plus their presumed leader on his wolf, remained. Konan was completely berserk, and didn't even notice that his own blood was quickly mingling with that of the slain hobgoblins. Even so, it was obvious that he was weakening. No longer was he roaring as he fought; he was concentrating completely, grimly, on his task. Finally he slew the last one. Even as it fell, so did Konan. He had been fighting the bloody battle for nearly an hour, and was exhausted. Meridon felt relieved, and forced himself to relax. He felt as though he was forgetting something... something vitally important... _________________________________________________________ Meridon heard a growl. Suddenly he knew what he was forgetting. He jerked his head up to see the mounted wolf bearing down rapidly on the downed Konan, with a broadsword drawn, ready to separate his head from his shoulders. Meridon opened his mouth to cry out a warning, but no sound came out. He fought to regain his feet, but his legs collapsed beneath him. Futilely, he looked up, staring at the wolf and goblin that were about to slay another innocent person. The wolf yelped. An arrow appeared in it's side, and it stumbled. Another embedded itself in it's skull, and the wolf fell heavily to the ground. A third blossomed from the chest of the hobgoblin, who screamed in horror and dropped the sword to clutch at the arrow, even as the falling wolf pitched him into the dirt. The fall pushed the arrow completely through the creature, which rolled about in agony for a few seconds before lying still. Once the shock had worn off, Meridon looked about the surrounding hills for their mysterious savior. His eyes were beginning to lose their focus, but he managed to make out an elven figure standing on the top of a nearby hill, holding a longbow. Just before Meridon collapsed into darkness, he saw the figure disappear down the hill in the opposite direction. Then Meridon surrendered into a deep sleep born of exhaustion. _________________________________________________________ Fire awoke with a headache big enough for five orcs. There were fallen bodies all around him. Jharod was dead, and the rest of his companions weren't in good shape, either. Konan had suffered deep wounds. Fire checked his pack for healing potions, but he had nothing but a bottle of carrot juice that had been of no use in the battle. Then the alchemist's eyes fell on the leader of the goblin pack. On a thin chain around the goblin's neck was a small green crystal. Could it be? Fire hurried toward his slain enemy and broke the chain from its neck. It was true--the goblin must not have known the gem was a crystal of knowledge. One more ingredient... "Meridon? Meridon, wake up!" Fire demanded. The druid's eyelids felt like lead, but he forced them open anyway. "Do you have any stomafillia?" Fire asked. "You're hungry?" Meridon mumbled incredulously. "No, I'm... oh, just give it to me," Fire said. Meridon lifted himself on one elbow and reached into his pack with the other hand, bringing out a rather wilted-looking herb with thick, round green leaves. Not stopping to see what Fire did with it, Meridon collapsed again. The alchemist knelt in the long grass, carefully mixing the three ingredients. At last, there was a burst of steam and a sound like a small thunderclap, and Fire held a cooling light-green potion. Fire hated to wake him again, but... "Meridon? You've got to wake up!" Meridon groaned, unwilling to drag his eyelids open again. Finally, Fire forgot about asking permission and just poured a thin stream of the potion between the druid's parted lips. "Meridon? The others need you!" Fire demanded. Suddenly, it didn't seem too hard for Meridon to open his eyes and sit up. "What did you just give me?" Fire smiled. "And a good morning to you too, druid. That was a potion of vigor. You'll heal faster, and your magic will return faster. But it only works for a while, and they need your healing spell. Now." Meridon raised himself to his knees and turned to Konan. The big warrior had more wounds than intact skin. Iridia didn't look too good, either. Placing both his hands on Konan's forehead, Meridon softly chanted the short healing spell Jharod had taught him. It took repeated uses before Konan jerked awake and pushed himself to stand, wielding his sword. "Where are they?" Konan demanded. "They're gonna be sorry they ever fooled with Konan!" "Calm down!" Meridon shouted. "They're dead! We won!" Konan lowered his sword, the berserk fire in his eyes dying down. "Oh. Sorry." Embarassed, Konan turned to the task of prying his fingers loose from the handle of his big sword. Meridon turned to Iridia. The potion Fire had given him was certainly working; all those healing spells would have exhausted him to the point of unconsciousness without it. It wasn't long before Iridia sat up, rubbing her forehead. The potion was wearing off now, but Meridon's work was not quite done. "Fire. Come here," he called. Fire turned away from looting one of the goblins' corpses. "What?" Meridon placed his hands on Fire's head, chanting a last healing spell. The orc's headache disappeared, and he noticed a nasty cut in one shoulder as it closed. "Thanks," he said. A slightly weary Meridon looked over his companions. They looked much better. The battle-weary group stood around the body of the healer they had come to rescue. "A good man," said Meridon. Konan nodded in agreement. Kneeling down, he lifted the body in his arms and stood. "Let's go to Terinyo." "Wait," said Fire. He turned to the leader of the hobgoblin pack and pried the scimitar out of the dead creature's hand. Unlike the rusted weapons most of the other goblins had been using, the scimitar's curved edge shone brightly in the midday sun. Fire also took the leader's shield, giving it to Meridon. "They'll have a hard time hitting you with those filthy arrows of theirs now," he said. Iridia took the shield and examined it closely, rubbing one finger against the gleaming metal. "That's not just iron," she said. "It's not even mithril. I'd say adamantium, at least--a legendary metal. And dwarven workmanship, too." She returned the shield to Meridon. "Take good care of it, Meridon. It'll serve you well." Fire picked out two more shields for Iridia and himself--wooden shields, and nothing like Meridon's--and then, the party turned their faces towards Terinyo. It wasn't long before they stood on the hill overlooking Terinyo. A haze of smoke kept the sun from touching the city; the buildings were smoldering, the stone walls collapsed by the fire's heat. "Can anyone still be alive down there?" Meridon wondered. "Be a lucky thing if they are," Konan said. "I oughta know. Seen this before." So have I, thought Iridia. But she didn't say it. They began walking downhill, towards the city that now looked very different from the jubilant Terinyo they had first seen. As they slowly entered the town, they noticed that burning buildings were not the only things left of the town. The bodies of many of the former inhabitants -- farmers, women, and children alike -- lay all about. Inside one of the buildings, they found the nude corpses of many of the town's young women. In another was something that looked suspiciously like a half-eaten dog. But humans were not the only beings to have died. Many dead hobgoblins lay about, especially at the entrance to the main structure in the town, and near the pond. Munxip lay in front of his sore with dozens of dead hobgoblins nearby. Inside the building they found the bodies of Tywat Pare, Guth'Alak, and the village elder. Here, it appeared, they had made a last stand. All three had been hacked and torn to pieces; the village elder's head lay several feet from his body. It was obvious that none of them could possibly be alive. Meridon gagged. "How could anyone do this?" "They are evil. They had little to lose, and loot, as well as lunch, to gain." Iridia sighed. "We won't find any survivors in here. Let's go." As they left the building, Konan thought of something. "Wait. Where was that troll when this was going on?" As if in response, they heard a groaning coming from behind the building. There they found Amanda, lying in a pool of her own blood, and surrounded by half an army of slain hobgoblins. She was covered with wounds, her massive club was shattered, dozens of arrows punctured her body, and her leg was twisted at an odd angle. A huge gash had sheared her right arm to the bone from shoulder to elbow. But somehow, despite all her wounds, she was still alive. "Amanda!" gasped Meridon, dropping to his knees next to her. He placed a hand on her forehead and intoned the words of the healing spell Jharod had taught him. For a brief moment, the troll seemed to look a little better, but then the effect of the spell dissipated. Amanda forced her eyes open. "Don't waste your power on me," she said. "It would take stronger spells than you've got to heal me." Slowly, Meridon withdrew his hand. The other three stood a few feet away, silently watching the scene. "Who did this?" demanded Meridon, taking a blanket from his pack and placing it under the troll's head. "Who ordered these goblins to come here?" "I don't know," Amanda told him. "We thought the Gate was closed... we thought it was all over..." Meridon began bandaging the worst wounds; if he could not save Amanda's life, at least he could make her more comfortable. Fire began pulling away some of the hobgoblins that had fallen across the troll's legs; Iridia hurried to her side, wiping dirt and sweat from the troll’s face with a torn strip of blanket. Amanda's eyes drifted shut again. "The others... all gone home," she whispered. "The goblins... they didn't know I decided to stay here. There were too many of them... would've killed me, but then you..." Amanda was quiet again; for a few minutes, the only sounds that could be heard were the crackling of the last of the fires and the troll's labored breathing. A soft chuckle escaped Amanda's lips. "He knew," she said. "We told the Minstrel we closed the gate... laughed at us, he did..." Another chuckle. "He was right, you know... not over..." "The Minstrel?" Iridia said. "He knew that Chaos was back?" Amanda opened her eyes once again. "Probably did. Knows more than you give him credit for, he does." She paused. "Won't tell you... probably... never tells anyone much... riddles..." Amanda's eyes closed again and she relaxed into a fitful sleep, chest rising and falling in an uneven, painful rhythm. The group stayed there, motionless, for nearly an hour, until Amanda finally lost her struggle and stopped breathing. When the companions looked at each other, they saw that both Iridia's and Meridon's faces were wet with tears. It took them all that afternoon to drag what unburnt wood they could find to the center of Terinyo. On top of the pyre they placed the bodies of the townspeople, Amanda's in their midst. Amanda was where she would have wanted to be--among the only people who had ever accepted her. Iridia was fumbling with her flints. "Let me," Meridon said. Iridia looked up, then stood a little way back. Meridon said a few arcane words, and a lightning bolt formed on his fingertips. He released it, and it flew into the pyre, igniting the wood. The flames grew, reaching up into the sunset sky, as the group stood watching. Iridia grasped her axe, holding it aloft. "By Morodwyn herself, I swear Terinyo will be avenged." Her voice was low, filled with determination. "Aye, that it will," Konan replied; he was holding his sword more tightly than he usually did. Fire said nothing, but he also had a hand on his weapon. "We go to see this Minstrel she spoke of, then," Meridon said. "The Minstrel. Yes. I know where he lives," Iridia said. "Though it's doubtful he'll tell us anything but riddles." After equipping themselves with rations and other supplies from the dead goblins, they dragged the bodies out of Terinyo and into the wilderness. That night, they camped in the shelter of the partially collapsed wall of the town elder's home; the next morning, they began their journey. _________________________________________________________ It was raining.... not a gushing downpour, but a steady drizzle that seemed like it would last a year. Dense clouds blocked out the sun, and the travelers were soon soaked to the skin. In the forest west of Terinyo, nothing seemed to stir. They met no one that day; it seemed that even the raiding goblins and prowling wolves had kept to their respective dens, out of the rain. At sunset they camped at the edge of the trees; it was still raining, so they decided not to build a fire and ate their food cold. An hour before dawn, Fire stood watch, huddled into a cloak, hood up, waiting for sunrise; his eyes were well-adjusted to the dark, in addition to their orcish keenness. Could it be?... perhaps... About fifty yards to the north, Fire had seen something--a dark form, emerging from the trees... then, it was gone. Fire woke up the others in a matter of seconds; they hadn't been sleeping very deeply anyway, thanks to the rain. "You're sure you saw something?" demanded Iridia. "I'm sure. Absolutely. It was right over there, and it was headed this way," Fire said, pointing in the direction he'd seen the figure. They decided to search for whatever Fire had seen, but despite all their efforts, they found nothing. "I've the strangest feeling, as though someone is looking over my shoulder," Meridon commented. "So do I," Iridia agreed. "Probably nothing. Still, we'd do best to keep a good watch." The sun was beginning to rise again, promising another wet, dreary day. They broke camp and began trudging west again. It was noon before they reached the Great River. They still hadn't been able to shake the feeling that someone, or something, was following them, and maybe that was part of the reason that the River looked so foreboding that day. The steady rainfall had done its job, and the river heaved muddy water against its crumbling banks, threatening to flood the plain. "How do we cross?" Meridon wondered. They were saved the task of finding a crossing, at least for some time, when Iridia cried out, raising her shield just in time to deflect a fiery missile. "What!" exclaimed Meridon, just as a second spell--frost, this time--bounced off his own shield. "Show yourself!" Konan demanded. Another missile streaked through the air, catching Fire full in the chest and knocking him over. He struggled to stand again. By now, everyone had shields raised and weapons out, prepared for a fight. There was just one problem: They couldn't see their attacker. For a few seconds, they stood still, watching for the next spell. None of them knew which direction to be facing, as each of the spells had come from a different direction: one from the forest, another from further down the bank, and the third from the direction of the river. Meridon looked around cautiously. The forest was dense and dark, and he could see nothing from within. Across the river was what looked like a swamp. And down the river was more trees and more water. Suddenly they heard a strange hissing, coming from all directions at once. At the sound, they all lifted their shields and weapons. The hissing continued. Suddenly Konan spat. "Lizardmen. Bah. This will be easy." As if in response, three more spells flew at them, followed by seven or eight spears. Konan dove out of the path of an icy blast, and Iridia managed to get her shield between herself and a beam of energy, but Fire wasn't so lucky. A firebolt caught his shoulder and splashed onto his staff, which immediately caught the flame. The spears were poorly aimed, but even so, one struck Konan's leg as he was on the ground, pinning him. Immediately following these two waves, twenty or more lizardmen swarmed out of the forest from all sides, while another ten leapt out of the swamp and into the river. Leading them out of the forest were five lizardmen atop huge lizards. Every one of them held a spear. Right behind the lizardmen were three holding staves carved from swampwood. Konan struggled to rise again, while Fire dropped his staff tried to put out the fire on his shoulder. Iridia moved to stand over Konan, axe ready. And then they were on top of them. The first mounted lizardman plowed into Fire, knocking him over, and then charged toward Meridon. Meridon quickly chanted out a bolt of lightning and hurled it at him. It caught his mount a glancing blow, but enough to cause it to rear up and throw it's rider. The bolt continued through several lizards, killing them, before fading out. Iridia, meanwhile, met the charge by slamming her axe into the chest of a lizard rider, and then laying into the swarms behind. Fire managed to rise again, but his staff was burned to ash, so he was left with his fists. He threw one lizardman onto the spear of one of its friends, then smashed the skull of another and took its spear. Konan was still pinned, and bleeding profusely. The three shamans were moving around, trying to get a clear shot at one of the companions through the fray. Finally, one of them fired a magic missile, which plowed through four lizardmen before knocking Meridon to his knees. By now the entire force on the far bank, including the shaman, were in the river. In less than a minute, they would be across, and the companions would be completely surrounded. Meridon, still on his knees, looked about anxiously for some way to stop them. Fire had fought a path to Konan and Iridia, and, together with Iridia, was keeping the lizardmen off Konan and Meridon. Two more lizard riders lay dead, but the one Meridon had dismounted had regained his lizard; ten mangled lizardmen lay about the bank, but the remainder were still fighting. Meridon looked to the river. The lizardmen were almost to the bank. Suddenly, he knew what to do. Chanting, he summoned a massive bolt and hurled it into the water. At first, it seemed as though the water had simply absorbed the lightning bolt; but suddenly, its power flashed across the surface of the water. There were stunned whimpers, and the lizard-men were jerking and twitching in the water, which quickly swept them downstream in the flood current. One of them, having almost gained the near bank, now lay motionless in the shallows. For a short moment, everything was quiet as the lizard-men on the near bank witnessed the defeat of their comrades. Then, led by the remaining lizard rider, they renewed their attack. Twenty lizard-men; four adventurers; and the river at their backs. Even odds. "Good thinking, Meridon," Iridia shouted, hacking an arm off a charging lizard-man. Fire was using his spear like a quarterstaff; and the lizard-men were discovering that the fact that one end was sharp didn't go to their advantage. Konan had grasped the spear which pierced his leg and, grunting in pain, was trying to break the shaft. "Hold still, Konan!" Iridia shouted. "Fire! Cover me!" Her axe arced towards the shaft of the spear and cut through it as though it were made of paper. Konan pulled strongly on what was left of the spear, and it came out. As Iridia turned back to help the beleaguered Fire, Meridon stopped the bleeding and chanted out a healing spell. Konan was a warrior; and he was angry. It wasn't long before his big sword was whirling and the tide of battle turned. The lizard-men weren't feeling quite as optimistic about the outcome of the battle now. Finally, the last mounted lizardman hissed a command to his remaining comrades. The last six lizardmen broke off their attack and melted into the woods, hissing as they went. As quickly as they had come, they were gone. Panting, the odd group collapsed, one by one, onto the ground. Fire, who certainly wasn't made for fighting on that kind of scale (and was nocturnal besides), quickly fell into a deep sleep. Iridia simply sat on a stone, and Konan rested his head on a corpse and looked at the sky. Meridon moved amongst them, caring for their wounds. It wasn't long before the rest of the party followed Fire's example. Iridia managed to stay awake to set a watch for a short time, but it was difficult. The battle had been almost mind-numbing. Her body wanted sleep, she had cuts and bruises over half her body again, and the ground looked very soft here by the shore... besides, that elf over there with the bow could keep watch... She shook her head. Staring, she decided she wasn't dreaming. There *was* an elf standing by the party. Iridia tried to make a grab for her axe, but her body didn't respond the way she expected, and she fell over instead. The elf chuckled at her softly. "Don't worry, friend. I won't harm you. Sleep. You deserve it." With that she turned away and set about stringing her bow. Wearily, Iridia tried to object, but all that came out was a yawn. She decided it would be best to follow the elf's advice. Her last thought before sleep overtook her was of the rumored wisdom of the elves... Meridon woke to find he was lying in what could only be called a mud puddle. He propped himself up on one hand, mud squelching between his fingers, and squinted into the sun, which was now directly overhead. "Fire? Konan? Where are you?" A low groan answered from a few yards away. "Meridon? That you?" Konan wanted to know. "Yeah." Meridon pushed himself to his feet. The sun had come out; and the wet ground was steaming. Iridia and Fire were still lying on muddy ground, asleep. Meridon headed for the river, washing mud and blood off his robes as best he could; Konan followed him. Iridia and Fire soon woke as well, both of them completely muddied and covered in lizard-man blood, and headed for the river. "You're limping, Konan," Meridon said. "Let me look at that spear wound. It's not every day a man gets a spear put through his leg." "You'd be surprised," said Konan, but he sat and let Meridon tend the wound. It was swollen and the skin around it was hot; Meridon's healing spell did some good but wouldn't completely heal it. In the end, Meridon just bandaged the wound and let it go at that. Fire was trying out a swampwood staff gleaned from one of the fallen lizardmen; it made satisfying whistling sounds as he whirled it through the air. "Hey, Iridia, how're we supposed to cross the river?" he shouted. "I don't know," said Iridia helplessly. "So far as I know, no one's ever been able to bridge the Great River. When I came to Terinyo, I came by way of the swamps. I have no idea how to cross." "Cave dwellers," snorted Konan. "Can ye even swim?" "Uhm..." said Fire and Iridia simultaneously. Konan sighed. "Just what I thought." Meridon looked about. "Well, however we're going to cross, we can't stay here much longer. Those lizards are bound to return, and this time with more than that." Konan bared his teeth fiercely. "Let them come. I'll crush them myself!" He slashed savagely at the air with his great sword. "Iridia," said Meridon, "you said before you crossed by way of the swamps. Where are they?" She gestured downriver. "Down that way. The river branches, and a swamp begins there. The river is swallowed by it. It's a difficult crossing, not to mention dangerous, but it may be our only option. I know little else about this area. There may be a ford further up the river." Fire nodded. "I say we go upriver. I certainly don't want to go through the swamps. I heard some terrible stories in Terinyo about people who have traveled that way, and encountered horrible beasts, more Chaos than anything else. One man was the last survivor of a trading party that braved them... He fled from the onslaught of Chaos beasts, after watching them butcher his companions, and became lost. Days later, while he rested, his dead companions came out of the darkness and would have killed him had he not run north, and found the river." It was a horrible tale; none of them said anything for a long moment. Meridon finally broke the silence. "North, then. Come, we had best be gone." Die Gedanken sind Frei [Edited 1 time, last edit on 5/20/2003 at 06:07 (GMT -5) by Iridia] |
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Iridia Registered user YASD Last page view: 3749 days, 12 hours, 28 minutes and 19 seconds ago. |
The sun quickly dried their damp clothes as they traveled northward along the banks of the river. To their left, the forest gave way to grassland, while to their right, the river, though still swollen with floodwaters, gradually narrowed. At last, with the sun now low in the sky, Meridon stopped them. "The river's been getting wider just now," he said. "I'd say the river drains out of a lake not much farther north. If we want to cross, this is the best it's going to get." "How shallow exactly is that?" Iridia wanted to know. "About neck deep... well, on me, anyway," Meridon said. Iridia flashed a dangerous glance at him, and Meridon decided not to mention that Iridia was barely half as tall as he. "I've a rope with me," Iridia said. "If we can't bridge it, then maybe at least we can string a rope across. I don't like the looks of that current." "All right. Let's do it," said Meridon. Konan offered to go first, and Iridia brought out the rope and tied it tightly to a scruffy tree on the riverbank. "Fire, can I borrow your staff?" Konan asked. He secured an oilskin blanket around his pack, and, taking one end of the rope, he waded into the river. As the river became chest-deep, Konan's progress slowed. He jabbed the quarterstaff into the river's bottom and braced himself against it at each step, struggling against the current. They held their breaths, waiting, until the water became shallower and Konan splashed out of the river onto the far bank, securing the rope there. Fire went next and had little trouble. Though the fastest current in the middle of the river swept him off his feet more than once, he kept his grip on the rope and made it across. As Iridia waded into the river, the shock of the cold water prevented her from breathing for a few seconds. Then she grasped the rope, plunging into the water. It wasn't long before Iridia's feet lost contact with the river bottom, and she felt herself being dragged downriver by the current. It was all she could do to keep her head above water and haul herself, hand-over-hand, along the rope. Suddenly she felt a painful stab on her leg. She twisted her head around (getting a mouthful of water for her efforts) only to see a gigantic turtle, its jaws clamped on her leg, pulling her downwards. She couldn't reach the axe slung across her back without letting go of the rope; but if she didn't get rid of the turtle- Iridia decided to chance it; she took one hand from the rope and reached for her axe with the other-and it was at that moment that the turtle decided to tug especially hard. Her grip on the rope was loosened, and suddenly everything was confusion. Water was everywhere, she didn't know where up or down was; and now there must have been more than one gigantic turtle-she felt bites on her arms now too, and attempts to bite through her mail coat. Iridia struggled, trying to get loose, reach her axe, and get a breath of air: Time was running out. _________________________________________________________ Konan watched as Iridia began struggling across the river, ready to help if she got into trouble. He knew Iridia was strong-she was a dwarf, after all-but her height was a major disadvantage in this situation. When she stopped in the middle, Konan immediately knew something was wrong. He unslung his great sword and began moving towards the waters edge; when she dropped off the rope, he dropped the sword and dove into the water. The current was strong. Konan knew he would have a difficult struggle trying to catch up with Iridia, but he tried his best. He could hear Meridon and Fire shouting on shore, but he couldn't make out what they were saying over the roar of the river. Slowly he began gaining on Iridia, who was bobbing just under the water. Konan knew he didn't have much time. Suddenly he realized why Iridia wasn't floating, besides the weight of her mail. He could just make out the shape of a giant turtle clinging to her leg. She was still awake, he knew, because she was struggling. He could even see her axe swinging at the turtle under the water, but with no effect, seemingly. He swam harder. He was almost there. Ten feet. Seven. Five. Three... And then Konan had her. His hand closed around her left arm, at the same time she swung down hard on the turtle. A spurt of blood accompanied the blow, and the turtle let go. Konan pulled Iridia's head above the water. She gasped, coughed up water, and then collapsed, unconscious. Konan began swimming towards the eastern shore. A few minutes later, Konan was pulling Iridia's limp body out of the water. He leaned her up against a tree. "Meridon!" he shouted. "Meridon, get over here quick! Iridia needs help!" He then went to work examining her for injuries. The turtle had torn though her chain mail in several places, and Iridia was bleeding. "Meridon, where are you?!" Konan suddenly realized he hadn't gotten a response. "Fire? Can you hear me?" he called, standing. Nothing. "Meridon? Fire? Where are you? This isn't funny." Silence. Something had happened. He looked around him, and saw nothing but trees and the river. The forest was quiet. Too quiet. Konan took another long look across the river; Fire and Meridon were nowhere to be seen. Finally he turned back to Iridia; picking the dwarf up by her middle, he smacked her on the back with a big hand. It took only one repetition of the procedure before Iridia was gasping, coughing and sputtering indignantly to be put down. Konan obliged; the dwarf still had a death-grip on her axe and, at the moment, Iridia was still so disoriented that he wanted to be well out of her reach. Iridia sat down hard on the ground, spitting out more water and trying to get her breath. Konan was well-used to the sounds of nature. Having lived in the outdoors all his life, he had always known the language of nature even better than he spoke the language of his own tribe. Because of this, it was Konan who was the first to notice the way the rustle of the trees behind them was a little out of place; how the grass to their right swayed the wrong way--opposite to the wind--and how a small flock of birds to their right suddenly took to the air. Konan was immediately on guard; seconds later, his alertness paid off when, hearing a telltale rustle in the trees to his left, he sidestepped an arrow which would otherwise have hit his chest. If she couldn't have heard their attackers coming, Iridia could recognize the hiss of an arrow well enough. Her shield immediately came up and she stood. They scanned the tree line, waiting for their attackers to reveal themselves. They didn't have long to wait. Slim green shapes materialized out of the trees and grass; a flight of arrows flew out of the trees; a firebolt came from somewhere to their right. Konan estimated there were about a dozen fighters, half a dozen archers, and at least one shaman. It was going to be a tough fight. Iridia got her axe off her belt only moments before the first fighter tackled her shield. She lashed out, and felt a satisfying smack as her axe bit through its body, crushing its ribs into its heart. The next one fell back as she shattered its face with the rim of her shied, but soon she was swamped with attackers. Konan, meanwhile, was having a difficult time defending himself. He was used to having the big grip of a greatsword in his hands, but he'd left that behind when he'd leapt into the water after Iridia. Realizing a weapon would be useful, he grabbed the spear of the nearest warrior with one hand and dealt it a mighty blow with the other, destroying it's life, as well as it's face. This done, he began using the whole spear--haft, head, and his fists--to knock a path to the nearest tree, leaving two more lizardmen dead and three wounded. He then hurled the spear through the fray, impaling two archers, and tore off the biggest branch he could find, which he used as a massive club--to great effect. He was soon tossing archers left and right. Three went down, and the last one fled. At the same time, though Iridia was hacking apart lizardmen, she was still being forced back. She prayed Konan could see her predicament; she was face-to-face with six of them, and she was already wounded… Iridia realized she needed to take the offensive. She was preparing herself, readying herself for her last charge, when she suddenly heard a great roar, and the lizards parted, two of them going down. For an instant, she thought Konan had come to her rescue, until she saw the lizards burning. She barely had time to lift her shield before the fire bolt slammed into it, tossing her backwards. When she recovered, she realized the glare from the red flames was coming from her shield. She dropped it immediately, then thought better of it and grabbed an edge and hurled it into the group still-stunned lizardmen. Another went down. Frantically, the three surviving fighters and the shaman fled into the forest after the last archer, closely pursued by Konan. Iridia paused a moment, then followed, coming to the conclusion that the fleeing lizards might lead them to Fire and Meridon. _________________________________________________________ While Konan and Iridia gave chase to the fleeing lizardmen, another battle was being fought nearby... The young human male muttered in the arcane tongue, and a bolt of brilliant blue energy crackled forth from his fingertips, striking the nearest of two lizardman, one a warrior and the other some kind of magic user. The spear-carrier hissed in pain and clutched at its flash-frozen chest, falling to the ground. The other creature waved its claws in a mystical pattern in the air, and a bolt of concentrated magic leapt from its talons. The black-robed mage narrowly dodged the magic missile, and managed to land on the ground next to the fallen lizardman warrior. Gasping for breath, the young man reached out and laid a hand on the corpse, channeling dark energies into the lifeless, inert tissues. The corpse began to spasm and jerk, and small cracks appeared in the creature's scaly hide. Purplish light bled through the cracks as the dead lizardman spasmed more violently. The cracks grew wider, and the flesh of the creature cracked and crumbled, flaking off into gray powder around the body. In the space of a few seconds, only the skeleton of the lizardman remained. It rose to its feet, still brandishing the wickedly barbed spear. The lizardman shaman frantically began weaving another spell in the air as the undead monstrosity shambled forward. Another magic missile streaked from the shaman's claws and struck the undead squarely in the rib cage. The undead did not falter, though pieces of bone chipped off and fell on the ground around it. It swung its spear, cutting a gash in the shaman's left side. The necromancer rose, brandishing his quarterstaff, and swung with full force. The skull mounted atop the quarterstaff smashed into the shaman's face, crushing its own skull. The vile creature went down in a twitching heap. The skeleton stood unmoving while the young man searched the shaman's body, finding a small crystal vial containing a sparkling fluid, as well as a large, leather-bound tome. He tucked both of these into his backpack, then rose, considering what next to do. His thoughts were interrupted, however, by four more lizardman warriors, one of them an archer carrying a bow, and another a shaman who crashed through the trees several yards ahead. They were followed by a large human male brandishing a massive tree branch and a dwarven female a small distance behind, clutching an axe. They all headed away from him, apparently not noticing his presence. He decided to follow them, having no better plan at present. He took off at a run, ordering his undead slave to follow... _________________________________________________________ Meridon pushed through the bushes. "Ma! Pa! Where are you?!" he cried. He stumbled as a root caught his foot, and fell. Scrambling, he stood and started running again. Something was chasing him, and he didn't know what it was. Pain started to grip him, and he ran faster. But try as he might, the searing pain only grew greater, until he thought he could no longer take it... ...and then a bright light filled his closed eyes. Heat brushed his face as he woke up, but his head still hurt. He groaned and tried to wave the light away, but found his hands bound. Confused, he opened his eyes, and saw a torch held half a foot from his face. He jerked back from the licking flames, and regretted it immediately as the back of his already sore head bashed the pole he was tied to. A slithery, snake-like voice hissed something, and the flames moved away to his right, where Fire was bound similarly. As his vision adjusted (and Fire awoke in a painful way similar to his own) he saw that a lizardman was holding the torch. The lizardman was shying away from the flames himself, as though distrustful of them. As soon as Fire was satisfactorily awake, he hurried to a bucket of water and quenched the torch, plunging the chamber into a dim half-light, and hurried away. Fire groaned beside Meridon. "Ohh, my head..." "You-" Meridon croaked, then cleared his parched throat. "You all right?" A pause. "Yeah, I think so. You?" Meridon assessed himself, gently moving everything. "Nothing's broken. My head hurts, but other than that I'm fine. What happened?" Another pause, as Fire marshaled his scattered thoughts. "I'm not sure. I do remember... You and I were running along the river after Konan and Iridia, when suddenly I heard you shout. Lizardmen had attacked you, but before I could help, I heard a rustle and felt something hitting the back of my head. After that I draw a blank..." Meridon put his burning head back gently against the cool stone. Dimly he could make out the outline of a door on the other side of the room. There must have been a short corridor beyond, because he could see firelight shining on a wall. Slowly the light grew brighter, and he realized someone was coming. Two figures entered the room. One, carrying a torch at a good distance, was a very nervous lizardman who found a sconce on the wall and placed the torch in it, then retreated to the doorway. The other person stayed in the shadows of the room, and Meridon couldn't get a good view of them, but the shape suggested a large lizardman. The two conversed in hisses for a few moments, and then the larger figure turned to the prisoners. "Sso, you are the prissionerss that have caussed me sso much frusstration," he hissed. "Tell me, what brought you into my territory?" Fire raised his head. "Well, we were going to visit the Mad Minstral, but then we ran into you." "And why, exactly, iss it sso vital that you speak with the Minstral? Granted he knowss much of Chaoss, but the Gate iss now shut." Meridon gave a soft chuckle. "Do you think Chaos is gone? Hah! No wonder the Drakelings deny any relation to the Lizardmen." There was a tense pause. Suddenly, and with a violent movement, the larger figure gestured the smaller away, then turned back to Meridon. "No. I do not believe Chaoss is gone. If it were, I would be all but powerlesss. Ass for the relation... we do know that we are related, but most of uss would rather not be related to our lessser coussinss. You should know that... Meridon Half-elf." Meridon started. He hadn't given his name, and the light was inadequate to tell the difference between a half-elf and a full-elf. Then it came to him. But... "Javas? But you’re... dead!" A chuckle. "Yess. I was dead." He stepped into the light. Not a lizardman at all, but a drakeling. A horribly scarred drakeling, but a drakeling nonetheless. "I have you to thank for that... but none other than Andor Drakon himself to thank for my life - and my power..." _________________________________________________________ "Quickly, quickly!" hissed the reptilian shaman. "We mussst reach the tree!! Sssstop them, at all cosssstsss!!" The archer spun, swallowing his fear, and nocked an arrow to his bow, while two of the three warriors also turned, hefting their spears, to meet the charging Konan. The barbarian shouted incoherently, caught up in the rage of battle, as he met the two lizardmen. He barely felt their spear-thrusts as he brought the massive club down atop one of the snake-like skulls, caving the lizardman's head in. The second warrior got in one more slash with its spear before Konan’s club shattered its jaw, sending blood and sharp teeth flying in several directions. The archer, meanwhile, drew a bead on the charging Iridia and fired, putting a wickedly barbed arrow in the dwarf's left side. Iridia ground her teeth with the pain but charged onward, hurling her axe with all her considerable strength as the archer nocked a second arrow. The whirling axe thunked squarely into the archer's chest, and it fell, its last breath rattling from its lungs as they filled with blood. Iridia snapped the arrow's shaft away and yanked her axe from the corpse, and then continued the chase as Konan took off after the two remaining lizardmen. _________________________________________________________ Meanwhile, the necromancer had decided, while following the two adventurers, to aid them in catching their fleeing quarry, hoping that they could at least direct him to the village of Terinyo, where his much-loved older brother lived. The mage cut ahead through the trees, the lizardman skeleton following on his heels. Hearing footfalls approach his hidden location, the necromancer pulled from his backpack a slender ash wand, with the image of a spider carved into it. As the shaman and the last warrior ran by, the mage activated the wand, firing a large, sticky cobweb that managed to snare the shaman, pinning it to the forest floor. The warrior dodged the webs and threw its spear at the necromancer. The mage ducked, but the lizardman skeleton behind him was not so fortunate; the spear hit its skull squarely, knocking it off the undead creature’s body, which collapsed into a heap of bleached bone. The necromancer again fired the wand of webbing, and managed to ensnare the warrior along with its master. The young man nodded calmly, wand still pointed at the two lizardman, as Konan and Iridia came onto the scene. "Greetings," the necromancer spoke. "I am called Vexander, and was also set upon by these vile beasts." He kicked the shaman, which grunted in pain. "I saw your quandary, and decided to lend my services. Who be you, and what wrong have these creatures done to you, that you chase them like things possessed through the forest?".... Iridia opened her mouth to answer, but Konan beat her to it. "I be Konan," he said. "The dwarf is Iridia. We had two friends who was captured by the lizards." "Then we have the same enemy," said the robed man. "You would permit me to join your company?" A lizardman had managed to tear apart the sticky strands of webbing that held it; Vexander's wand spewed forth more sticky strands. The creature fell back to the ground, grunting as it tried to free itself. Konan looked at Vexander. Something was not quite right... where had the young man befriended-enslaved--a skeleton? Unless he was... Iridia voiced his concerns. "What is your profession? What form of magic do you practice?" Vexander chuckled. "I thought you would have guessed. Very well; I am a necromancer. I raise the dead to do my will." Iridia shuddered. Images of what might happen filled her head. Necromancers owed allegiance to the gods of Chaos. This one might change sides in a pinch, stabbing them in the back. Yet another ally could be useful, particularly considering that they didn't know what to expect in their search for Meridon and Fire. She looked to Konan; his instincts usually seemed to be right. And apparently, Konan trusted this stranger. "Very well; you may come with us. Do you know where we might search for our friends?" Vexander gave a barely perceptible smile. "No," he said, "but they might." He indicated the ensnared lizardmen, both of whom had ceased to struggle and lay awaiting judgment. Vexander knelt down next to the lizardman shaman, who glared back at him balefully with one yellow eye. "Now, friend, we can do this one of two ways", spoke the necromancer. "Either you can tell these angry and heavily armed strangers where their friends are, or I can question your spirit after I rip it from your tortured body with my necromancy." This was a bluff, of course; Vexander was quite sure that he did not yet possess that kind of power. The shaman seemed to sense this as well, ignoring the death mage's question. The lizardman warrior, however, began quaking and shivering as soon as Vexander spoke the word necromancy. "They'ssss in sssome caves, under a big tree!!!" the warrior said, ignoring the hissed threats and warnings coming from the shaman. "The tree issss bigger than all the otherssss around it. That way!" The lizardman indicated as much as possible with a jerk of his head. Iridia came forward next. "What do you lizardmen want with our friends?" The vile creature shrugged under the webs. We'ssss got no clue. We'ssss only do as we'ssss told." Konan had remained silent during this exchange, but now he also stepped forward. "How many lizards are at the tree?" he asked. This time, it was the shaman who spoke, with a sneer and a laugh. "Many of ussss, human sssslime, many. You'll never make it out alive, much lesss with your friendssss." Konan's face contorted with rage, and he took another step forward, hefting his club, and would have dashed the shaman's grey matter all over the forest floor had not Iridia stepped in front of him. "Please, Konan, there's no need to kill this garbage; we'll see plenty of that soon enough, and these will likely be taken care of by forest predators anyway." After a few tense moments, Konan nodded, still staring murder at the shaman before backing down. "Come, then", Iridia said. "Let's head to this tree and rescue our friends." Beside Meridon, Fire stirred. "Would someone like to explain what's going on here?" His comment went unnoticed by Meridon, much less by Javas. Slowly, Javas stalked forward, towards the two prisoners. He thrust his face into Meridon’s; Meridon glared back at him. "You see, Meridon? This is what you did to me." He pointed one scaly finger towards the mess of his face. "This scar here. And this one. And this one here too." His hand suddenly grasped Meridon's face. "You will pay dearly for each and every scar you gave me." Fire stirred again. "And... where do I come into all of this?" Javas looked at him blankly for a moment. "You are an orc, yes?" Fire nodded. "Hmm... I hear orcs are tasty, when cooked right. My servants will dine well." Meridon shook Javas' hand off his face. "Let him be," he said. "He has nothing to do with this. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." A sharp movement left Meridon gasping for breath. "Silence! He is my prisoner, as are you. I shall do with you--and him--as I please!" He paused, then stepped back. "I will leave you two to yourselves." He stepped towards the door, then turned back. "I wouldn't suggest trying anything to get free. The bonds are very resilient, and I have a lot of servants. I doubt two prisoners still struggling with their manacles would do well against fifty spear-carrying reptiles." With that, he left. Konan, Vexander and Iridia soon came upon the tree they were looking for: It was huge, at least as twice as big around as the surrounding trees. The tree's foliage was a dead gray color, and sap oozed from its cracked, peeling bark like blood from a raw wound. At least six lizardmen warriors patrolled around its base, carrying spears and wickedly barbed metal shields, as well as three of the magic-wielding shamans. From their hiding place in a thicket of young saplings, Konan growled. "They’ve even hurt the trees," the barbarian muttered. His grip tightened on his club. "They'll pay." To Konan's left, Vexander nodded. "Yes, but the trees will be the least of our worries if we charge in without a plan and are merely cut down. It will be difficult to find the entrance without some sort of distraction." The necromancer turned toward Iridia, who was studying the tree and the guards. "Well?" The dwarf hesitated for a few moments before answering. "Maybe your...talent...could prove useful here. You saw how afraid that warrior was when you mentioned necromancy. Perhaps at least some of these lizardmen will share that fear, giving us an edge." The death mage nodded, turning to Konan. "You will have to cover me, so that I can get close enough to one of the corpses." Konan hefted his club. "As long as I can bash some lizard skulls." Iridia continued: "Then, while you two provide this distraction, I will do my best to locate the entrance to the caves. It can't be much harder than locating an old mine shaft, after all." Konan nodded, and without further preamble charged from the thicket with a blood-curdling war cry, Vexander close behind, offensive spells selected and ready in his mind. Iridia angled off from the group, around the side of the tree, and began quickly searching, as the sounds of battle began in earnest... Iridia didn't have to search for long before her sense of smell gave her a lead. She pushed her way through a clump of bushes and came out in a small clearing, which was completely filled with debris of all kinds. Looking closely at it, Iridia could see among the garbage discarded bones, charred from the fire. It took Iridia only a few seconds to identify the sickening origin of the bones: They hadn't belonged to animals. The dwarf averted her eyes from the garbage pile and made her way around it, looking for the entrance that had to be somewhere near. She found it only a few paces away from the edges of the pile, a door made of rotten swamp-wood and set into the forest floor. As Iridia was debating whether or not to look inside, the door popped open and a lizard-man female came out, carrying a bucketful of kitchen waste. Seeing Iridia, she dropped her bucket, hissed, and drew a throwing dagger from her belt. Iridia was a fraction of a second quicker: Her axe hurtled through the air and struck the lizard squarely in the chest. Gurgling, the lizard fell backward onto the door. Rotten swamp-wood gave under her weight, collapsing the door inwards. Iridia quickly ran towards the door and grabbed the lizard's belt with one hand and her axe with the other. Throwing the lizard off the door and onto the pile of garbage, she cleared away the splintered wood. Had anyone heard the door shatter? They had. Coming up the stairs were two lizardmen with no more than dirty rags for clothing. They saw Iridia, hissed, and attacked, one holding a long, bloody carving knife and the other a dagger. Iridia backed out of the passage; the two lizardmen obligingly followed her out. Good. Though she would have to face them both at the same time out in the open, Iridia could not have used her axe very well in the narrow stairway. Iridia wasted no time in attacking the lizardmen. Though there were two of them, they weren't warriors. While she relieved one of his head, the one with the dagger managed a shallow cut across her forearm. He lost his hand for it, and, seconds later, his head. Taking his dagger and the first lizard's weapon, Iridia threw him and his companion onto the garbage pile. She would have to go in now. The battle had not been silent; she had to exterminate any ear-witnesses before they raised the alarm. A sudden roar behind her caused Iridia's instincts to spin her around, cleaving the axe through the air where seconds before a lizardman's head had been before it was smashed by Konan's tree branch. He grinned at her. "Found the entrance yet?" She nodded, and the two raced down the stairs. "Where's Vexander?" she called as they ran. "Killing off those lizards, along with some help from a few dead ones." He flashed her a strange look. "He told me to come help you, after he got a few of those critters moving again." He shuddered. They didn't have time for any more conversation, however. The stairway ended in a large room, filled with more reptilian creatures than Iridia had ever seen in one place before in her life. There were at least 60 lizardmen, ten of which carried swampwood staves, and half again as many giant lizards, cave lizards, and other lizards - Iridia even spotted one in the back that had shimmering scales she immediately recognized as those of a karmic lizard, creatures she had only heard of in legends. There was no time to back out now. With a roar, Konan rushed into the room, swinging his club left and right. The lizards, caught mostly off guard, went flying at first, but quickly regained their composure and attacked the two heroes in full force. Spears and daggers darted in at them. Lizards threw themselves on them, trying to drag them to the grounds, and an occasional spell shot through the crowd. Iridia managed to dodge the first icy blast, but the second sent her arm into a cold numbness, while Konan took two beams of magical energy full in the chest. Iridia quickly realized they had no hope against the small army of reptilian creatures they were facing. If they had Meridon and Fire around, maybe... Her head snapped up. Meridon and Fire! That's why we came down here in the first place! In between slashes with her axe, she scanned the room. There were three exits: one leading to a staircase, the way they had come, a second, large one, and a small tunnel, little more than a hole in the wall. No doubt that was where the prisoners were being held. This didn't look like a terribly complex cave system, so the large tunnel was probably a storage area of some sort. She began hacking a path to the smaller tunnel. A bright flash lit the room from behind, and a roaring ball of hellish red flames sailed into the crowd of lizardmen from the direction of the staircase. A thunderous explosion shook the room as the fireball exploded, sending many charred lizardman bodies flying in various directions. Konan was nearer the blast, but his excellent reflexes allowed him to fall to the floor in time as the wave of fire swept overhead. Iridia was not caught in the blast radius, but felt the great heat at her back. Both turned to spare a look at the stairway: Vexander crouched there, supporting himself with his skull staff as blood ran from his nose and ears. Also coming down the stairs to join the fray were the animated corpses of the nine lizardman guards, now with rough, grayish skin stretched tight over horribly visible bones. The eyes of the lizardman ghuls burned with an intense hatred and hunger as they waded into battle, paralyzing enemies and stopping sometimes to take large bites out of fallen warriors or shamans. Konan's stomach churned at the sight of the abominations, but he turned away from the ghuls to take stock of the situation: The magical fire had decimated perhaps twelve of the lizardmen, while his club had accounted for at least that many, plus several of the lesser lizards. Though ten dead lizardmen and several slain giant and cave lizards lay strewn about her, Iridia was still being attacked from all sides by more of the beasts, with one arm hanging limply at her side. The necromancer's ghuls were fighting another group, and the enemies' sheer numbers were slowly whittling the undead away. Half-stumbling from the magical blasts he had received, the barbarian ran to help Iridia as she carved her way through the enemy to the smaller tunnel. Unseen behind him in the chaos of the larger battle, the karmic lizard stalked closer, scales shimmering in myriad beautiful colors as it closed in on its prey... Meridon pushed through the bushes. "Ma! Pa! Where are you?!" he cried. He stumbled as a root caught his foot, and fell. Scrambling, he stood and started running again. Something was chasing him, and he didn't know what it was. Suddenly he broke into a clearing. "Ma! Pa!" he cried. There they were, lying in the grass. Javas was standing over them. He looked up sharply when Meridon broke in, then shouted "Get down!" and chanted a short spell. Meridon barely had time to dive to the ground before the firey blast tore over his head. Behind him he heard a grunt, and then a thud as whatever it was that was chasing him fell to the earth. "Meridon!" Javas said. "Meridon! Wake up!" With a groan, Meridon pried his eyes open. Fire was practically yelling at him. "Meridon! Wake up, damnit!" "What is it, what do you want?" Meridon muttered, shaking off sleep. Then he heard it. From outside their cell, he heard the din of battle. A thundering explosion caused dust to trickle down from the ceiling. "What's going on?" he asked. "I don't know," said Fire, "but whatever it is, it's an opportunity. Ahh!" he grunted, then brought his wrists around and rubbed them where the rope had cut into them. He moved behind the pillar Meridon was tied to, and began to work his bonds. Soon, Meridon was rubbing his wrists as well. Meridon took one last look around the room. "I hope I never see this place again," he muttered. "Come on. Lets get out of here!" The two of them took off through the doorway. The sight that met them at the end of the hallway made them pause momentarily. Iridia and Konan were backed into a corner, menaced by a shimmering karmic lizard. Konan had apparently struck it, for he was suffering from some horrible luck. Wherever he put his club, something seemed to get in the way. Iridia, however, was hacking away at the lizardmen around her, avoiding the lizard like the plague. By the stairs, a stranger was cornered by three ghuls -- no wait, the ghuls were fighting for him! Meridon put it out of his mind; an enemy of these reptiles was a friend of his at this point. He and Fire had only a few moments to sum this up before the nearest lizardman noticed them. It let out a hissing cry, but Fire's fist silenced it quickly. Fire's Orcish instincts kicked in, and he leapt into the nearest reptilian group, fists flailing. Soon he had recovered a shaman's swampwood staff, and was dealing even more damage than ever. Fire’s voice called Meridon’s name over the din, and a staff soared over the heads of the lizards. Meridon caught it and brained a lizardman that was about to skewer him, then chanted out a lightning bolt that turned seven more into twitching bodies on the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, Iridia saw Meridon and Fire emerge from the tunnel. It was high time they gathered up the former captives and beat a hasty retreat to the exit. She couldn't evade that karmic lizard forever, and more than once she had had to duck a stray blow from Konan, who seemed to be suddenly unable to swing his club properly. The karmic lizard had a broken forelimb for its trouble, but even with that it could still finish both of them off. Meridon and Fire seemed to be making their way towards her. Good; she could use the help. Iridia redoubled her efforts against the lizards. The one she was fighting at the moment was bigger and more skilled than usual. She went for his legs; the lizard jumped over the axe and went for her heart with his spear, an attack she barely blocked. They both made several more attempts to land a blow, none successful; finally, Iridia managed to slip past the spear point and decapitate the lizard. Two more came to take his place; Iridia stole a glance at Konan just in time to see the big warrior's club land a glancing downward blow on the shoulder of a lizardman and head straight towards her. She tried to duck, but she wasn't fast enough; the club connected solidly with her skull. Iridia felt the blow, and at first thought she was unhurt; but suddenly, everything seemed distant and the room spun, then turned black. Meridon swung his staff, cracking a lizardman on the back of the head and sending it tumbling to the ground, while Fire moved through a knot of three warriors like a whirling dervish, sending lizardman fangs flying from cracked jaws and lizardman blood spattering onto his face. The druid cursed as he saw Iridia go down to Konan's wild swing. "Help me get to her!" he shouted to the orc, who nodded and began clearing a path through the enemy towards their fallen friend. The karmic lizard snarled in hunger and pain, whirling to meet the new threat. Deadly jaws snapped at Fire, but the beast's broken forelimb hindered its accuracy. Fire dodged left, then right, twirling his own staff to keep the creature at bay. Konan, meanwhile, had dropped his club, afraid to risk harming Meridon and Fire with another badly-aimed swipe. Only one lizardman now faced him, a large, burly-chested specimen that thumped its scaled chest in challenge and dove at him. The barbarian managed to leap to the side, then turned and charged the beast. The lizardman was not as nimble as Konan, and the two fell to the floor, Konan's fists pummeling the lizardman while the creature's biting jaws came closer to sinking into the human's jugular. Meridon felled his last two opponents with another stroke of lightning, then knelt next to the unconscious Iridia. Blood oozed from an ugly wound on the side of her head. The druid placed his hands gently over the wound and closed his eyes, matching his own breath to Iridia's. Pale, green light began to issue from his hands, and a soft breeze blew through the room, faintly carrying the scent of wildflowers and spring rainstorms. The dwarf's wound closed as it was touched by the divine magic, and her eyes fluttered open. Meanwhile, the karmic lizard's tough scales were protecting it from Fire's staff blows. The beast lunged, caught the weapon in its jaws, and proceeded to bite the hardy swampwood staff neatly in two. Fire frantically rummaged through his pack for a potion, or at least a rock, as the beast advanced...and then fell dead at his feet. Vexander reached down with a shaking hand and pulled a small dagger, with an animal skull as the pommel, free from the beast's neck. Konan and the burly lizardman rolled about the floor. Each had the other in a death grip, but it was the barbarian that finally prevailed, grabbing the lizardman's neck from behind and repeatedly ramming its head to the floor until it stopped twitching. He heaved himself off the ground as Meridon helped Iridia to her feet. The five adventurers looked at each other for a moment. "I suggest", Meridon stated, "that we save the introductions and explanations until we are out of this gods-forsaken lizard hole..." "That won't be happening ssoon, Meridon." Meridon whirled. Javas stood at the end of the cavern, apparently alone. His scarred face was contorted into something like a smirk, and he held a thick, gold-plated wand. Something moved about in the gloom behind him. Konan took a step towards him. "An' what are you gonna do, you scaly-skinned reptile?! I just mashed a good pile of your brothers, an' you think you're gonna stop me?" He let out a loud laugh. "I don't think I'll even bother." He began walking towards the stairs. Javas hissed. "You underesstimate me, human." He aimed his wand at the stairwell, and hissed a command. A beam shot out of the end--a beam that seemed to absorb the light and heat out of the room as it traveled, leaving an absence of energy in it's wake. It slammed into the stone near the stairs. Suddenly there was a silent roar, and Meridon felt as though a titan had swept him aside. All five companions were thrown against the wall opposite the stairwell. When they recovered their senses a few seconds later, the stairwell was gone. A mass of rubble was in its place. Konan had been stunned when he hit against the unyielding stone of the wall, and was out cold on the ground near Iridia, who had fallen unconscious again. Javas had vanished, but the feeling of movement from the corridor was still there. The room was almost completely dark; a single torch lying on the ground was the only source of light. Fire immediately ran to the remains of the stairwell and began trying to dig a path through the rubble. His attempt was futile, however; soon a new heap of rubble fell and erased any progress he had made. Meridon, meanwhile, was warily moving about the room. He had taken up the torch, and was keeping an eye on the large corridor. Vexander was moving about the corpses of the lizardmen, attempting to raise some. Most, however, had been too mutilated by the trampling reptilian feet to be raised; however, three stood again, shaking off the shackles of death to serve their new master. There was a sound from the corridor. Swish-thump... swish-thump... Something was in there, and Meridon could bet it wasn't too happy. He noticed Fire, desperately trying to mix a few potions before they most likely had to engage whatever it was in battle. When Meridon saw it, he gasped. It was a turtle--but it was about as far removed from a normal turtle as the karmic lizard had been from a six-inch garden lizard. This beast was the size of a small dragon, its shell midnight-black. It radiated some sort of energy that cloaked it in darkness and confusion. Meridon couldn't make out its shape--it was as though the animal lurked permanently in the edges of his vision, even though Meridon was looking directly at it. All this, Meridon had to note in a few moments, for despite its bulk, the creature moved very quickly. And, most frightening of all, the connection Meridon felt with all animal life was absent in this creature. Somehow, Meridon sensed, the animal wasn't completely of this world... With a shout, Vexander ordered his three slaves forward, leading them with a frosty blast. Meridon began to chant a lightning bolt of his own--but was forced to break his concentration to avoid the ice bolt as it ricocheted off the turtle's shell. From the ground, he watched as the turtle ripped a ghul in half without any apparent effort. Another ghul managed to dart under the turtle to claw at its underside, but it didn't last long; the turtle simply sat on it. Suddenly Meridon saw something. There, under those hides, he thought he saw... yes! He scrambled over and yanked the skins aside, revealing a fair pile of items - potions, spears, swords, armor, even a wand. He also spotted his book of lightning bolt. He grabbed the wand, his book, and rushed across the room to Vexander. As he ran, he fumbled with the wand, finally activating it, and fired it towards the turtle. Please, be something powerful! he thought. As if to mock him, the wand sputtered, and then spat out a reddish beam of raw energy. The missile was low, but when it struck the ground, it bounced up, striking the bottom of the turtle and reflecting downwards again. It repeated this several times before finally dissipating. Hissing in fury, the turtle tossed the last ghul aside and began thundering towards Meridon. It's underside looked singed by the energy beam, but it didn't look seriously injured at all. All it looked now was mad, and very dangerous. Meridon backed away from the turtle as quickly as he could, staying out of range of those dangerous jaws. In the corner of the room, Fire had finally finished a new batch of three potions. They weren't his best work, but the situation didn't exactly match the peaceful environment Fire preferred. Fire had only had enough pepper petal for one potion, so the other two were quite a bit weaker. Still, they would have to do. Fire could see the turtle had Meridon at a disadvantage. Quickly, he selected the strongest potion and threw it, hoping to distract the turtle. The results were better than Fire had anticipated, for the potion lodged between the turtle's shell and its body before it shattered and exploded. The concussion--Fire felt it even from where he was standing--caused Meridon to stagger back, nearly losing his balance. Fire heard the turtle roar in pain. The haze cleared, and they could see the turtle had been wounded. A chunk of its shell had been torn off; black ooze seeped from the place where it had been, and there seemed to be something wrong with a front leg. Still, the turtle was far from completely disabled, and now turned its attention to Fire, who grabbed the second of three potions. Taking careful aim, Fire threw the potion. His aim was slightly off this time, however; the potion glanced off the turtle's face and shattered on the ground. Fortunately, it was close enough that the fumes did affect the turtle, which suddenly stumbled and seemed to lose its sense of direction. Vexander didn't wait to see what would happen next. He fired a blast of cold at the turtle, aiming for the hole in the turtle's shell. Luck or the gods must have been with him, because the blast not only struck home in the flesh, but dug very deep, freezing the whole way. The turtle roared in pain, and began making its way slowly toward Vexander. However, it was distracted again by a second pain: Meridon's lightning bolt slamming home inside its open mouth. The turtle's head exploded. Fire almost put his last potion away, but, incredibly, the monster was still alive, and angrier than ever. Its lower jaw was gone, and its wounds gushed black blood wherever Vexander's ice bolts hadn't frozen its flesh solid; and though the snapping mouth was no longer a danger, the turtle still had razor-sharp claws. Fire threw the third potion. He missed. The turtle came staggering towards him at surprising speed. Critically injured, it had evidently decided--or Javas had ordered it--to fight to the death rather than running from its attackers. Fire was weaponless now, and no great expert when it came to unarmed combat, so he waited until the turtle was almost upon him, then dodged quickly to the right. The turtle's momentum carried it past him, and it bashed its head against the wall. A bubbly roar escaped the turtle's damaged mouth as it turned to chase Fire once again. The orc, looking back at the turtle, didn't see the trampled lizard-man corpse in his way. He tripped and fell face-first onto the filthy ground. The turtle's claws came for him; Fire rolled away, but not quite fast enough to escape several deep scratches across his back. As he scrambled to escape a second swipe of the turtle's claws, Fire found himself face-to-face with the cave wall. Nowhere to go now. The next swipe would kill him-- The next sound Fire heard was the most welcome sound of his life--the combined Zipp-crack of a lightning bolt, and the crackling hiss of a blast of wizard's ice. Both bolts hit home. The turtle, now headless, twitched spasmodically as Fire scrambled away and stood. The Chaos creature took a long time to die. By the time it was over, the ground was covered with black, foul-smelling blood. Meridon wasted no time in rushing to help Iridia and Konan, who were thankfully still alive, though Meridon didn't have the power, after all those lightning bolts, to heal them completely. In a minute, both were conscious, though still weak and more than a bit annoyed to have missed the battle. Though the turtle had been defeated, the adventurers were still in quite a bit of trouble. They were blocked into the cave, nearly weaponless, and badly wounded. Meridon knew, and the others suspected, that they couldn't hope to take on Javas. If the drakeling came back, they were as good as dead. Iridia, Konan, Meridon, and Vexander started clearing away the rubble that blocked the passage, while Fire searched the room for much-needed equipment. As she worked to unblock the entrance, Iridia felt a familiar sensation towards the side of the tunnel. Jamming her fingers into a crack in the wall, she pulled strongly and a piece of the wall came out, releasing more rubble. Konan cursed at her. "What do you think you're doing?!" he demanded. "We're tryin' to dig ourselves out, not get ourselves buried alive!" Iridia paid no attention, pulling away loose rubble until she uncovered a niche in the wall, which had until then been encased in solid rock. The niche was filled with thousands of gold pieces. "There," said Iridia with an air of satisfaction. Her eyes glittering, she started scooping gold into her pack. Konan, who knew enough not to get between a dwarf and gold, went back to his digging. Finished, Iridia went to join him. It wasn't long before they decided that that effort was futile. The digging went on forever; every few minutes, someone would knock loose the wrong rock and a wash of new rubble would erase any progress they had made. After a while, Meridon and Vexander stopped and took a rest, while Fire continued to loot the bodies. It wasn't long before Konan stopped as well. He was made for hacking and slaying, not digging through rubble. Fire came over as well, having found the ingredients for some potions, and began mixing them. A few minutes passed in silence, except for the sound of Iridia moving stones twice the size of her head. Vexander drew out a leather-bound tome and began paging through it. Meridon glanced at the carcass of the giant turtle. Was it real? Was Javas truly alive? Or had some wizard cast an illusion over him? He was jerked from his thoughts as Iridia sat down heavily beside him. "We're never getting out that way," she declared. Nobody spoke for a few moments. Then she looked around. "Anyone have some food? I'm awfully hungry. I haven't eaten all day." The thought of food stirred Fire into action. He paused, about to drop an herb into a potion, and tore the arm off of the lizardman he was sitting on, and offered it to Iridia. When she balked, he shrugged and took a bite. "You asked for food. They don't taste too bad, actually." He offered it to her again, and this time she cautiously took it, still grimacing. Finally she took a small bite, which she forced down with a face. She took a few more bites before handing the arm back to Fire, who was carefully watching his mixture cool. He absently took the arm, then suddenly grabbed the potion, leapt up, and hurled the mixture away from him. As luck would have it, it landed in the turtle's corpse, which muffled the ensuing explosion but still spewed black ooze about the room. Vexander looked up from his studies at the explosion, and saw Fire standing over a lizardman corpse holding its arm. He cried out in alarm. "What are you doing?! Don't destroy the corpses! I need them!" Iridia looked at him disgustedly. "What for? More of your evil 'experiments?'" "Excuse me?" Vexander frowned. "What are you--oh. You mean my animations." "Your abominations, more like!" Iridia growled. "You tell Fire not to damage the corpses, and then you go and turn them into undead... beasts! I'd rather eat half the corpses in this room than watch you bring them back to life." Vexander shook his head. "You are naive. Those 'abominations' are valuable allies. What do you think covered your reckless charge down here in the first place? What helped you survive the fight? What--" "--got smashed almost instantly by that turtle?" Iridia interupted, indicating the hulking carcass. "What is the mainstay of the legions of Chaos?! If you're going to raise those bodies, I'm going to hack them down again, and take you out with them!" She reached for her axe. Vexander had enough power for just one more spell. A few cryptic words, and a frost bolt zipped towards Iridia, who tried to duck it, only to realize it wasn't aimed at her. Instead, the bolt had passed her and hit her axe. Instantly, the weapon was encased in a block of solid ice. "What do you think you'll accomplish by trying to kill me, dwarf?" demanded Vexander. "Evil like yours must be destroyed," Iridia growled, staring at the axe. "Without my so-called 'evil', you and your companions would be dead," said Vexander calmly. Iridia gave a wordless cry of rage and charged Vexander, fists flailing; the necromancer prepared to defend. Iridia easily had the upper hand, having dented her share of ale-filled heads in tavern brawls. Out of the corner of her eye, Iridia noticed Fire ineffectually trying to stop the fight. She ignored him. Though Vexander tried to block her furious punches, Iridia lost no time in landing a fist on the necromancer's ribs, hitting a deep cut inflicted by a lizard-man dagger and re-opening it. Blood stained Vexander's robes as he staggered backwards. Iridia made a final rush and pinned him to the floor, drawing back a fist to hit the dazed man again. But then the dwarf, noticing Vexander's injury, hesitated. "Iridia," Vexander said quietly. The dwarf growled. "I, too, fight Chaos." Iridia growled again, but her fist shook slightly. "You say my talents are evil," Vexander said. "But now you have seen true Chaos, at least a part of it. There are things much worse than that in Ancardia. Chaos is the true evil." The bloodstain was slowly spreading on Vexander's robe; the necromancer appeared not to notice the injury. Iridia's fist was shaking noticeably now. "How do I know you will not betray us?" she demanded. "Chaos threatens us all," Vexander said. "Chaos is my enemy as well as yours. I simply fight in my own way, as you fight in yours." Iridia remembered exactly what Vexander's way of fighting Chaos was, and her fist tightened and drew back again. Vexander closed his eyes; the loss of blood had begun to weaken him considerably. "All right, dwarf," he said. "Kill me, if it is your wish. But one day, you will need me and I will not be there to help. You and your company may be Ancardia's last hope. If you fail... if we fail..." Vexander's voice trailed off into unconsciousness. Iridia lowered her hand. What Vexander had said rang true; and, besides, she could not honorably kill a helpless creature, even a necromancer. She stumbled backwards, hardly noticing as Meridon pushed her aside and pressed a bandage over Vexander's wound. The necromancer was right, Iridia thought, gazing at the corpse of the corrupted turtle. Reluctantly, she admitted it to herself: There were worse things than necromancy. Vexander was standing, shakily; Meridon, almost as weak due to the healing spell he had cast on the necromancer, stood by his side. Iridia thrust out a hand towards Vexander, who grasped and shook it. They regarded each other silently--a look shared between allies, if not quite friends. A chuckle from the other side of the room interrupted them. Javas stood there, a mocking smile on his face. "Too bad," he said. "I thought you might be doing me the favor of killing each other. Ah, well. I suppose I shall have to do it myself now." The smile widened into a predatory grin, twisted around Javas's many scars. The adventurers immediately forgot any quarrels they might have had with each other and wearily organized for battle. Meridon stood out in front of the group. He motioned for the others to wait. "Javas!" he called. "There's no need for this. Before... when you were..." He faltered, then drove on. "You always were sensible. You seemed to care. What happened to that?" He took a step forward. The expression on Javas' face had changed; it was indecipherable now. "What happened to the Javas that saved me from the dire wolf?" He took another step. Javas began working his mouth. "What happened to the--" Javas suddenly shouted something, and thrust his hand forward. Meridon heard a hiss and saw a shadow speed toward him, and then felt an explosion of pain. He flew backwards and slammed into the wall, then collapsed, moaning and writhing in agony as something dark moved over him. Konan let out an enraged roar, and charged forward. Javas laughed, and waved his hand; Konan, too, collapsed, clutching his leg, where the still-healing wound inflicted by the river had suddenly become a mass of corruption. The other three heroes were less eager to move toward the twisted Drakeling. Javas simply laughed again, then drew a broadsword shrouded in an evil aura. "Not so eager to fight me now, are you? Well, no matter. I'll kill you whether you struggle or not." His face twisted again as he stepped forward. He hadn't taken five steps before he cried out suddenly. He looked down at the arrow that had suddenly blossomed from his thigh. A second zipped out of the darkness, narrowly missing him as he leaned backwards to avoid it. No longer surprised, he was able to slam the third aside with his sword, but then an ice bolt slid past him, inches from his face. He spat a curse as he ducked another arrow. "Damn you!" he growled. I'll deal with you later! Chaos will prevail, no matter how you try!" With that he waved his hand in an arcane gesture, and a fifth arrow passed through the greasy smoke that was left where he stood. Iridia, not questioning the source of the arrows, immediately moved toward Meridon, to offer assistance. Fire, also, was only interested in reviving Konan. Vexander, however, looked around the cave. "Who are you?" he shouted. "Show yourself!" A shape flitted through a sliver of light that managed to filter its way through the cracks into the cave. Vexander caught only a glimpse of unmistakably elven ears and hair, and the wood of a longbow, and then the shape was gone. A feminine voice spoke in the darkness. "I am a friend. You will find a passage out of this cave through the large tunnel." A pause, then a clink of glass on stone. "Take these." There was another pause, then the shuffle of a boot as the elf left. Fire lost no time in hurrying towards the potions the elf had dropped on the floor, though he picked them up and handled them with care until he was sure they were not trapped or otherwise dangerous. A few quick tests identified them as healing potions--good, strong ones too. Fire, shouting the good news to the companions, hurried towards Iridia. The dwarf was desperately trying her limited knowledge of first aid on Konan. The barbarian lay on the ground, face flushed with fever, shivering violently. Meridon was crumpled in a heap against the wall; the dark mist had dissipated, and the druid was unconscious but still breathing. Fire ran headlong into Vexander's outstretched palm, which he immediately tried to push aside. "Stop!" commanded Vexander. "Who is that archer?" "The potions are safe," said Fire. "She said she was a friend. We don't know any more. Let me go, or--" "Those potions may not be safe, and that elf may not be a friend," said Vexander quickly. "You may know alchemy, but you don't know enough to be able to tell if this Javas has tampered with them." Fire pointed to Konan, who seemed to be struggling just to breathe. "We haven't got a choice," the orc said. "Let me pass. Now." Vexander dropped his hand, muttering to himself; Fire dropped to his knees next to Konan, uncorking a potion. The big warrior nearly bit the neck off the glass bottle before Fire managed to pour the liquid between his lips, but the potion worked almost immediately. Konan's face lost some of its sickly color, and he opened his eyes and sat up, staring confusedly at the spot where Javas had been standing. Fire threw a pointed look at Vexander as a repeat of the procedure on Meridon returned the half-elf to full health--better health, in fact, than any of the others, who still had numerous wounds from the battle with the lizardmen. Meridon immediately started for the spellbook he'd dropped when Javas attacked him. Snatching it from the ground, he remembered the pile of confiscated weaponry among which he had found the spellbook. Meridon started towards the pile; Fire, after chipping Iridia's axe from the half-melted ice and tossing it to her, followed. It wasn't long before they had plucked their equipment from the pile and begun examining the rest of the items, undoubtedly loot taken from other, less lucky, prisoners of the lizardmen. None of them paid much attention when a crack began spreading across the ceiling from the portion of the wall that Javas had destroyed…none of them, that is, except Iridia. The dwarf needed only one glance at the ceiling to determine the obvious danger. Well, at least it was obvious to a dwarf, Iridia thought to herself. The others were completely oblivious. "We have to get out of here!" Iridia hissed to Konan. "The cave's going to collapse!" "What?!" "Trust me! I know the underground!" Iridia said. Konan didn't question further; he and Vexander immediately made for the tunnel. Iridia went to tell Fire and Meridon about the danger. Meridon immediately headed for the tunnel; Fire stopped to quickly scoop the pile of weapons into his pack before Iridia pulled him away. Before they had crossed half the room, the ceiling was criscrossed by many cracks; before they had crossed three-quarters of it, the floor was shaking; and just as they entered the tunnel, the ceiling collapsed, sending tons of rubble down into the room, burying the dead lizardmen in a mass grave, and blocking them into the passage they had just entered. They were suddenly plunged into darkness as boulders and dust cascaded into the tunnel. They felt their way in the dark until Iridia lit a torch that revealed they were all alive and unhurt, though Konan was shaking with fever again. The torchlight glanced off the walls as they made their way down the tunnel. "If that elf was lying to us about this being the way out," thought Vexander to himself, "we're doomed." But, of course, they had no other way out. They didn't stand around for much longer. Soon they were on the move, following the tunnel, thankful they had yet to encounter a side tunnel to confuse them. After a while, they noticed the humidity rising steadily, and before long, water began dripping from the ceiling. The corridor didn't narrow at all. Vexander began to wonder what they possibly used this path for, then remembered the turtle and shuddered. Maybe he was better off not knowing. They followed the damp, winding tunnel for about half an hour before Iridia noticed a light up ahead. "Look!" she cried. They rushed as a group toward the sun, Fire helping the weak and limping Konan. Then they were free. The tunnel walls fell away abruptly. It was dusk, but in the failing light they could just make out that they were surrounded by a treacherous swamp. Behind them a large rock stood, partly hiding the damp entrance to the cave. The group climbed atop the rock, found the flattest, driest spot, and built a small fire with what brush they could find lying about. They huddled about it, and Meridon moved to Konan and began doing his best to treat his wounded leg. They made little conversation. Fire left for a short while, and returned with several dead lizards and some half-ripe fruit--the best he could find in the swamp. He passed the fruit around and propped the lizards above the fire; they ate in silence. Meridon finished his work on Konan, and sat staring into the flames for a while. The eyes of the entire group were focused on him. He barely noticed. He felt their unspoken questions; or perhaps, he simply felt the need to speak about his past. "I was young," he began. "My parents... they were hounded out of my father’s town by the townsfolk, because he had taken a human to bride. They had nowhere to turn. Her own town had burned in an orc raid, and she had been the sole survivor, and a prisoner at that, rescued by my father and his kin when the orcs passed through elven territory. “The three of us--me just a babe--we wandered through the forest, living off the land, for neigh on a month before we found... him." He paused. It went unspoken who "he" was. Meridon poked the fire with a stick, then continued. "He took us in. He was kind to us, seemed to understand. He claimed to be an old war veteran, and showed us a few scars and some old equipment he had. He lent us a room, fed us, and took only labor in return. He had a vast estate, and few to help him work it. "Then something happened. A peddler came, and sold us a book--a black book. I was very young, but I knew something was wrong by the way my parents talked about it. They were worried. Javas assured them all was well, and that he would be careful. But still, my parents were worried. "He began to change. Slowly, at first. My parents became more and more apprehensive as the changes became more apparent. I was still too young to notice, but I did notice that Javas’s attention began to shift onto me. He gave me presents. He spoke to me often, asked me questions. He even taught me how to read. He showed me books, many books. Taught me a few simple spells. Many things. I thought he was just being nice. "My parents saw otherwise, however. They disapproved. At first, they did nothing but talk. I heard them argue sometimes, as I pretended to sleep, or heard them plan. I started to become afraid. "Then, one day, he took me to his study. He sent my parents off, and took me to his study. He told me he was going to show me something special. And he did. He gave me the black book, and told me to read it. And I did. I read page after page, and each page seemed more intriguing than the last, telling me to turn just one more page... "Finally, he took the book away and hid it. He took me back to my room and left again, telling me not to tell anyone about the book. When my parents came back, however, I told them about it. They immediately began arguing, and sent me to bed while they talked. I lay there for hours, turning what I had read over in my head, listening to them talk, and pretending to sleep. "In the morning, my parents woke me early. We stole out of the house with nothing but the clothes on our backs, and though I didn't understand, I obeyed. I understood only that something had happened, and that the book had had something to do with it. "We hadn't gone very far when suddenly there was a roar. My father told me to run, and I did. I ran. I heard screams and shouts behind me, but I ran. Soon I felt something chasing me, and terror gripped me. I ran. The thing chasing me turned me this way and that, always seeming to be right behind me. Finally I burst into a clearing, and saw my parents lying on the ground. He was standing over them. He heard me, and yelled at me to get down. I dove for the ground and heard him shout something, then heard a thud behind me. "I figured it was safe, and I wanted to talk to my parents, try to get some answers. So I crawled to them." He paused, and poked the fire again. "They were dead." he said finally. "The grass around them was stained red with their blood." He paused again, gathering his courage. "Javas lied to me then," he said, finally saying the name. "He told me the beast had killed them. He told me he had arrived too late, and that I was lucky he had been there when he had. He took me back to his estate, and let me be for a while. I was thoroughly traumatized by what I had seen. It was a long time before I discovered the truth." He looked up. Vexander noticed a sheen of wetness in Meridon’s eyes, but under that was a fire of anger brighter by far than the fire in front of them. "My parents were not killed by any beast. I didn't know the difference then, but those wounds were caused by a broadsword, not claws or teeth. That beast had been summoned by him to keep me away until he could deal with me, then to bring me back. He meant to corrupt me-to turn me into another slave of chaos, as the tract had done to him. He very nearly did, too. Had I not discovered the truth, and through one of his own devices, the gate might never have been closed. The world would likely have been overrun by now; you would all be moving about doing the will of Chaos, if you still had form at all and hadn’t yet become an amorphous blob of entropy. "But I discovered his deception. I was corrupted badly, but I learned of his deception and killed him for it. I murdered him in his own study. I blasted him with his own wand, and hacked at his body with his own sword. I burned him. I dragged him about his estate. Then I threw him in the river, lit fire to his home, and left." He stood. "Now he is returned, and I vow by the names of Istaria and of Ayssia, I shall slay him again. He will die, and not return, if I must sacrifice my own life to do it!" For Iridia, Meridon's tale carried a haunting sense of familiarity. Both she and Meridon, it seemed, had lost families to Chaos, though Iridia still had reason to hope her father was alive, fighting Chaos somewhere in the deep mines below the dwarven city. The dwarf looked up from her axe, which was now sharpened and clean of lizard-man gore. "I suppose you'll want me along?" Iridia said. Meridon opened his mouth to reply, but Iridia cut him off. "No, you don't get rid of me that easy. I'm coming, no matter what you do!" She ran a stubby thumb along the blade of her axe and smiled grimly. "My axe wants blood, and lizard-man's is as good as any!" "What you are proposing to do is pure folly." Their heads swiveled to regard Vexander, who had been quietly listening until then. Iridia opened her mouth to reply, but now it was the necromancer's turn to interrupt. "Javas is more powerful than you could ever imagine," he said. "He could kill you with a thought, even if you had the advantage of surprise. Which, I assure you, is an advantage he will never grant." "What do you know of Javas?" Meridon demanded. "Of the drakeling? Nothing," said Vexander. "Of Chaos? Too much, perhaps." "We may not defeat him, but we mean to try," said Meridon. "If you have any information that would be useful, I suggest you tell us what you know." Vexander sighed, knowing that turning Meridon away from his quest was next to impossible. "Javas has great power," he repeated, "but his power comes from Chaos. As it gains power, so does he; if Chaos is defeated, he will be no more than an ordinary mage--knowledgeable, certainly, but no more powerful than any mortal." "How do you know?" Meridon asked, cutting off Iridia's inevitable comment regarding Vexander's own chaotic leanings. "I do not know," admitted Vexander, "but I have heard of the black tome you mentioned. Its power comes from Chaos. And you, Meridon, defeated Javas when the gate was first closed, did you not?" Meridon nodded cautiously, thinking over what Vexander had said as the necromancer wrapped himself in his cloak and prepared to sleep. Fire and Konan were asleep, probably out of sheer exhaustion. Fire emitted his usual loud snores, but Konan's arrhythmic breathing troubled Meridon. Healing spells seemed to do very little good, but Meridon applied one anyway, hoping for the best. "How is he?" asked Iridia. "We'll have to get Konan to an altar, and soon," said Meridon, meeting Iridia's questioning gaze. "Fighting with that karmic lizard probably placed a curse on him. The gods are the only way I know of to get rid of it. It's making the sickness worse." "I know about an altar near here," said Iridia, "in the dwarven village where I used to live. But the village was overrun by Chaos creatures, and if they're still there, we may be in trouble." "We had best discuss it in the morning," said Meridon, "but it may be our last resort." Meridon offered to take the first watch, but he ended up staying awake the whole night, watching over Konan and thinking. It was midnight when the clouds pulled away and the stars shone down on the mists of the swamp--a hauntingly beautiful scene. Though Meridon kept a close watch on the swamp, no undead bothered them that night; it was as if the gods themselves had decided the party had had enough fighting for one day. The sun rose, prompting them to push back dew-drenched blankets and break camp. "I mean to continue to Terinyo today, to see my brother," Vexander announced as they donned their packs, "so, if you are not headed that direction, I will have to take my leave." None of them said anything for at least half a minute; then they all started talking at once. "I won’t turn back." "I'm tired of traveling; we should find a good place to rest." "Terinyo's gone." "We have to keep moving!" "Wait as second here!" interrupted Vexander. He took a moment to digest everything that had been said. Then, "Gone?" "Yes," said Konan gravely "we found it razed some time ago. Hobgoblins." "So my brother...?" "Dead, most likely." Vexander was silent. Meridon looked to the northwest. "I am not going back to that burned hulk. We have no means to, anyway, unless we go through the Great Marsh. I mean to track Javas until he or I are dead. The Minstrel may have information I need." Iridia agreed. "Chaos must be stopped, and the Minstrel is our only real clue to where we can find it." Vexander looked at them. "Was... was my brother buried well?" "As best as we had time," said Fire. "We built a mass pyre for everyone we found dead in Terinyo." He stretched. "There's nothing for you there. We should continue to the Minstrel’s hut and rest. Even you," he interrupted before Meridon could even open his mouth. "You've been exerting yourself a lot lately." There was another pause. After a time Vexander made up his mind. "I do wish to accompany you; however I must return to Terinyo. My brother bore an item of much sentimental value to me. I wish to retrieve it." Konan shook his big head. "If it had any aesthetic value, or any use, the hobgoblins may have taken it. But if you wish to return, I will not stop you." Vexander looked at him for a moment, contemplating, before saying anything else. "The item should still be there; the hobgoblins would not likely have found it. But traveling the Great Marsh alone is treacherous." He left the question unspoken. "I will go with you," said Konan. Vexander gave him a slight smile of appreciation. Meridon sighed. "Very well," he said. "We will be waiting at the Minstrel’s home for you to return. Do not take too long, or we might leave without you!" They parted company, and though Meridon didn't like the pale cast of Konan's skin, the barbarian assured him that he was well on the mend. Meridon wasn't so sure, but since he knew Konan to be tougher than anyone he'd ever met, he wasn't overly worried. Konan and Vexander headed south for the swamps, while Meridon, Iridia, and Fire headed northwest to visit the Mad Minstrel. As Meridon's group traveled further from the river, the ground grew firmer and the swampy mud slowly gave way to grassy plains, with a shadow of woodlands approaching them on the northern horizon. As they exited the swamp, the mist dissipated and the sun tinted the sky a soft blue. They passed the time in idle chatter; eventually, Meridon asked, "Say, Fire, where does an orc learn alchemy?" Fire laughed. "Now, that's a story for you," he said. "I wasn't more than five when I first discovered what could be done with herbs, gems, different liquids..." he said. "My first memories are of living with a group of orcish barbarians, fifty or sixty of them. Not quite enough to take on a village," he said hastily, casting a sidewise glance at Iridia. "The strongest orcs were always fighting each other for leadership. I remember I thought them quite stupid, which, of course, they were." Meridon chuckled to himself at that; Fire had always had a rather high opinion of himself, though Meridon didn't blame him--most orcs were pretty stupid! "So I kept out of the way most of the time," Fire continued. "Didn't take me too long to get tired of the constant fighting, and the shaman was always getting in my way because I didn't participate in nearly so many rituals to The One Who Rages as he'd have liked. Tried to kill me a couple of times. Annoying creature." Fire's exasperated expression belied the fear he'd felt during the shaman's attempts on his life. "To pass the time, I tried to remove the rust from a spear I'd stolen from one of the weaker warriors," the orc continued. What Fire didn't mention, but which was evident enough to Meridon, who knew a little about orcs, was that the alchemist had obviously been in danger and needed a good weapon. It wasn't unusual for an orcish youngster to be killed by an annoyed elder, and orcs wouldn't have appreciated an upstart youth with more intelligence than they themselves possessed. "So, one day while I was trying to mend the spear, I tried mixing some orcish spirits with some burb roots," said Fire. "It didn't work, and I was frustrated, so I threw it at a lizard which happened to be sunning itself on a rock nearby. Imagine my surprise when it exploded and stunned the lizard!" Fire laughed, recalling that first exhilerating realization that he had a special talent the rest of his clan did not possess. "I dined well that night," he remarked. "And of course I eventually managed to create a mixture that removed the rust quite nicely. But, by then, I'd found out the spear wasn't my best weapon!" It didn't take long, Fire told his friends, before he'd become one of the best hunters in his tribe. The first potion had only stunned a lizard, but soon, Fire's concoctions were strong enough to stop a grown boar in its tracks, while the other orcs rushed in to stab it to death with spears. "I guess it had to happen," Fire said with a sigh, "but the others got jealous of me. The shaman, especially, thought I was a threat to his power, so one day he announced that The One Who Rages had determined he wanted me for a sacrifice. I didn't agree," laughed Fire. "So I left. And good riddance!" Iridia couldn't help laughing at the cocky orc's tale. Still, despite Fire's casual attitude, it was obvious the alchemist had managed to slip out of more than one tight situation during his short life. She was about to reply when Meridon stopped and turned back the way they'd come. A figure in black robes was running towards them, and Meridon's keen eyes quickly identified it as Vexander. Where was Konan? Iridia thought, and a few seconds later, hand on axe, demanded the same of an obviously exhausted Vexander. "I had to leave him," gasped the necromancer. "It's the fever. It's come back. Meridon, hurry!" The half-elf didn't question Vexander any further, and soon Meridon was following their own trail back to the swamps, running more swiftly than the dwarf, orc, or exhausted human could hope to keep up with. Iridia still had a hand on her axe, and she and Fire needed only an exchanged glance to inform the orc that she suspected treachery. Nevertheless, she followed Fire and Vexander back through the plains and into the swamp--If Vexander had killed Konan, Meridon would need Iridia's help. Her misgivings were, thankfully, unfounded. As they plunged through the marshy ground, they saw Meridon bending over Konan, who was wrapped in blankets. The half-elf's calm chant belied the tension that seemed to hang in the air, for as they came closer, it became obvious that Konan was struggling for his very life. Iridia's eyes were so focused on Konan that she didn't at first notice that a second figure also knelt next to the fallen warrior... a slender elven female.... --- Die Gedanken sind Frei... Die Gedanken sind Frei |
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