Alyssa shook he head. "She's your problem, Guantano. I'm going back to sleep. See you at sunrise."
With that, she crawled back to her cot and went to sleep, dagger in hand.
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Alyssa shook he head. "She's your problem, Guantano. I'm going back to sleep. See you at sunrise."
With that, she crawled back to her cot and went to sleep, dagger in hand.
[OOC - Consider the first elements of the post before Alyssa speaks to take place before DE's post]
Shaking his head, Guantano decided to save Alyssa the trouble. "I would suppose that in the state we found her, as well as her inclination against for the normal way of doing things, that she does not have a horse. I wonder even, whether she can ride."
Continuing with a half-smile, Guantano whispered back to Alyssa, "In any case, I seem to have a knack for picking up damsels in distress." Glancing side-ways at the girl, Guantano said, "She is small of stature anyway, and I am fairly experienced with inexperienced passengers." Alyssa merely shrugged, and replied. "She's your problem, Guantano. I'm going back to sleep. See you at sunrise." Heading back to her roll, yawning, Alyssa did not notice Guantano's normally composed features contorting as he stood there silently for a moment, his smile disappearing before he muttered, "indeed she is," walking back to the pile of leaves that he had designated as his bed spot.
Inwardly, Guantano grappled with a feeling that he had not faced in a long time, abandonment. Damn that girl, why did she have to come by now, and damn Alyssa too, for suggesting to leave her, who would have been ripped apart in a heartbeat had his intentions been violent, to face what was surely an encroaching demonic horde who had probably finished their fun in Lassara. The barman was a decent father, but he had three real sons who came soon after, to whom most of his attention was devoted to, lest they grow jealous of their adopted brother. His father had left him, and so had his mother, even if she hadn't meant to. Grinding his teeth, Guantano silently resolved to himself, that he would not abandon Meghghan right now. He would get her to Leon, and he would make sure that someone watched over her, yes, he knew just the person.
As tiredness set in once more, Guantano took one last glance at the young girl, who currently bumbled around, innocently and happily oblivious to the dire state of affairs in the kingdom, and he walked over, and told her in a serious voice, "Stay here, don't go wandering off elsewhere. Make yourself comfortable," he gestured to a soft patch under a tree. "We'll be here until morning anyway." And with that, Guantano walked back to his pile of leaves, set his gear under the pile, easily within reach, settling himself down, the pile rustling and shifting under his weight. Sighing, Guantano stared into the night sky. He thought this chapter had been long buried and past. Stilling the flurry of memories in his mind by force of will, Guantano finally drifted into the stillness of sleep, his expression gradually relaxing and becoming peaceful.
Glungurd considered Alain's words carefully. As miserable as he had been all this time, and as badly as he wanted to return to his home, there was suddenly something indescribable that made him hesitate. He had finally been given a real choice, and no longer felt like he would be running from anyone. It was no longer a choice between being captive or fugitive. He could choose to depart and be free, or stay a become a guardian. This made all the difference in the world to Glungurd. He did not understand the importance of the princess, but protecting the helpless was a concept he was quite familiar with, and a role he had kept for 9 years now.
For several moments, the rational part of the Odglok's mind clashed with the rash and illogical feelings that were now appearing. Ultimately, it was the side which made him a good shepherd that won the struggle. When faced with a pack of dangerous predators, or caught between two raiding parties, when the only rational thing to do is run or hide, Glungurd had always stayed and defended his flock. And why? Were they more valuable than his life? Certainly not. Glungurd could not answer why, but he knew that somehow it would be better to stay and die for them than to retreat and leave them to be killed or captured. And that was how he felt now.
So after a long hesitation, which almost sapped Alain's patience, Glungurd finally spoke. "I'll follow you and protect the woman," said Glungurd, grinning for reasons he did not know. He stood up, flexing his disproportionally large shoulders in an effort to add to his stature, and added, "I can fight." This boast was, of course, somewhat exaggerated, considering Alain's expectations for a soldier. But Glungurd felt confident that when the opportunity came to prove his worth, he would impress the company.
"Alright Glungurd", Alain stood up and smiled, "I'm glad to have you with us." This was the truth, although the captain obviously didn't go into all the details he really was glad to have the Odglok around. He walked towards the door and before he exited he added: "Get ready, we're leaving in a short while. I have to get going to prepare a few things."
With that the captain left the hut and went to look for Drax, not knowing that someone else had already found him.
The princess had been up for a while now and was helping where she could. Since she did not know too much about weapons that meant mostly the filling of skins with water and the preparation of provisions. She had exchanged her royal ceremonial garment for travellers clothes and her clothing gave the impression of a wandering merchant or bard now rather than a princess. Still she emanated a beauty and elegance that was hardly concealed by her new appearance and that must have also been Drax' first impression when she entered his hut, right after he had gotten up and made himself ready to leave.
"Good Morning", she smiled as she spoke, "I hope your night was as good, too."
He just nodded, surprised to have the princess visit him and at a loss of words for now.
Amalia couldn't hide the hint of amusement in her tone when she continued: "Drax, right? My captain will probably be here shortly to tell you your options and he will most certainly ask you if you want to leave or come with us. Now, I know you must feel intimidated with all these soldiers around and you might feel like you cannot be of any use to us but that's not true. I feel a strength and power in you that has yet to arise and I think by coming with us you will both profit from the journey and be of great help to us... To me..." Again she smiled and right when she finished, Alain entered the small hut.
He was surprised too, to find the princess here, nonetheless he saluted: "Your Majesty, I didn't expect..."
"I know", she laughed, openly now, "don't worry, my captain, I was only trying to help. I was just asking the young man what you would have asked him anyway. So", she looked back at Drax, "are you coming with us?"
A choice between staying with 20 heavily armed men or striking out for himself? The choice seems obvious, but Drax did hesitate - if he had really done the things he suspected he has done, he really should not be around the Princess, nor indeed anyone for that matter. Cowardice however won out over his guilty conscience; if something did happen, he was sure that the guards could stop him and-
They will kill you.
The very thought of death terrified Drax, but it at least it added another reason for him to stay with the group - after all, if he ventured out on his own, who knows what kind of harm he could do without anyone to stop him?
By the Spirits, that didn't even sound convincing to himself.
"I'll follow you, Your Majesty. Safety in numbers right?" Drax replied, masking his thoughts with what he imagined an off-hand comment would sound like.
The Knight and the Squire left the camp with haste, only pausing to recieve Essa from a rather cranky guard with bandages on his hands, he had flinched when Thomas pulled it out of the leather bag. As promised two horses were waiting for the duo, a pair of coursers, fast but strong enough to bear the knight in armour. Thomas helped Gilford mount the largest horse and strapped thier supplies to the other as not to overload the first.
They had procured a tent and some bedrolls from the guards the night before and a jittery man had helped identify thier rather handsome inventory of potions; two cure light wounds potions, one cure moderate wounds, three cure critical wounds, three lesser restoration potions, and something called "sanctuary", the man had said "pour it on yourself if in battle and it should help". He didn't say how but Thomas had taken to keeping it in his own pocket instead of the bag with the others.
Mounting his courser Thomas looked to the sky, the castle that had lingered ominously over lassara the day before had moved south and was now alot smaller hanging almost unmoving over the path they had to take.
"Think we can catch up, Gil?"
The knight took several seconds to reply.
"It doesn't matter what I think, we're still going."
He dug his heels into the horse and it launched into a canter. Thomas turned to the closest guard.
"Tell your leader; if you see my father and that castle hasnt crashed into the sea by then tell him not to go to Tar Cantun. Please."
And with that he coaxed his horse into a gallop and chased after the Knight.
"Quite the opposite, young man," the captain replied, "we will ride with few people." He turned to face the princess. "Your Majesty, I have reports of the army marching south towards Leon, under consular banners. We will not be able to reach the town before them. If you really want to go that route secrecy is our best bet and fewer numbers will accomplish that more easily. We will only take two of our guardsman and we will ride under disguise."
The princess nodded and then replied. "Well in this case you should stop calling me 'Your Majesty' captain. Call me Liana. I always liked the name Liana."
Alain wondered how the princess could keep her spirits up so much given the current situation but he was glad about it. "You are right, Liana it is then."
They all left the hut and met the others outside. Alain had chosen two of the royal guard, his best and most experienced fighters, to accompany them, Florin and Damon. He left Lieutenant Gerard in charge of the rest of the men and they should wait and if necessary hold this outpost. So the princesses escort consisted of three royal guardsmen, riding in chainmail and mercenary's garments to disguise themselves, an actual mercenary or rather bandit, an inexperienced mage and an Odglok.
Before they could go Alain remembered that he had promised to explain their situation to Rufus and so he did, before mounting his horse. He told the mercenary what he knew about Owyn Boreale and Vayne, that they didn't know who the others coming with Vayne were and that their mission was to protect the princess while trying to find out how to fight this enemy. With a sigh Alain mounted his horse and explained to everybody: "We ride in secrecy. From this moment on this," he pointed at the princess, "is Liana, our cleric. We will disguise as a group of mercenaries should anyone ask."
They all nodded, only Glungurd seemed to be a little confused as to what to do. Everyone else had mounted their horses but it was obvious the Odglok had never rode a hore before. After a few moments the princess waved him over and said. "You ride with me. You can keep me safe, yes?"
Raina lazily opened her eyes and ears to the familiar sights and sounds of nature emerging from slumber; the morning sun's warm glow shimmered upon her fur, while the gentle serenading of the local avian population heralded the aistar's awakening. The majestic creature stretched her forepaws out, raking her claws into the soft ground as she arched her back and emitted an unmistakable yawn; the hunters had only bedded down a few hours previously, having made their way through Ayal Royad Hyo's expansive woodlands for several hours during the night until Tawariell's ailment forced them to make camp.
The aistar turned her sapphire-hued gaze towards Tah, who was wide awake, resting against an aged oak tree, head resting firmly in her hands as though she had been weeping; Raina needed no encouragement, wandering over to her companion and nuzzling against her. Tah gently sighed, moving her hands from her face and embracing the aistar; the veridian-haired girl's magic was still taking it's toll even now, with Tah's limited unconsciousness through the night marred with visions of death and destruction.
The elf's thoughts wandered to the girl herself, one of the feys according to the abomination, and she found herself struggling to remember anything about her, apart from the fact that the sinister magic that ravaged Tawariell had seemingly taken it's toll on the fey's physical wellbeing too, the creature forced to sleep in order to recover her strength. Despite the fey's responsibility in Tah's predicament, the elf couldn't help but feel sorry for the little one, though she suspected this was due to her appearance more than anything.
Instead, Tah thought about the others present in the forest's depths; the lich Morangul, an abominable amalgam of everything that her kin stood against, yet he showed a willingness to help the fey with her wounds and offer advice to the others; the male elf, apparantly named Kyran, a master of the forest and her fauna, a curious sort who didn't seem to show hostility towards the lich as she had; the azure-skinned human, with his peculiar manner of speech and naivete, provided Tawariell with the greatest food for thought, his kind nature towards her contradicting everything that she thought she knew about humans and their ilk.
Tawariell had little belief in the concept of fate or destiny, yet somehow it felt as though their peculiar meeting was meant to happen, but that couldn't really be the case... could it? Frustrated with her thoughts and sighing once more, Tah climbed to her feet and gathered her belongings, before leading Raina out of the clearing.
Frijyk was up early, a few minutes before the sunrise, as was habitual for him. The chilly morning air did not bother him in the slightest. He began cleaning up the remains of the campfire he had started the night before and the dinner that had gone with it. The wizard and the fey had eaten a surprisingly small amount, even less than Frijyk had expected. At this rate, he'd be able to sustain them with salted meat and cheese for another three of four days before he would have to hunt or forage- though he supposed it might make his meals rather bland.
Both Morangul and their fey friend appeared to be sleeping still, but the wizard certainly did not sleep in a position he would find to be comfortable. He was a strange old man, but Frijyk could tell he was very powerful and very wise... And very old. An ally like that, Frijyk believed to be invaluable. Perhaps he could teach Frijyk to widen his own rather sparse library of magical spells.
The fey... Frijyk did not know what to think of her. They had had precious little interaction. She seemed if anything to have an aura of innocence about her.
Frijyk's mind drifted to the two elves he had met, who had left before supper. Out of all the people he had encountered so far, Frijyk seemed to share a similar view of the world with them. Kyran, the kind and yet formidable master of the forest; the mysterious, beautiful hunter and her majestic beast companion; he regretted that he had to part ways with them.
And then Frijyk began thinking about what he would do next. Where would he go? That was one subject he had not had the chance to discuss with Morangul last night. Before, he had been traveling arbitrarily to the south. He did not know where his new companions wanted to go, but he did not feel like returning to the cesspit called Leon- not to mention the fact that Vayne's demons and the mysterious flying mountain were in that direction. But on the other hand, Frijyk also felt he had much to learn from Morangul... he didn't want to split up so soon.
After cleaning up the campfire, he wondered silently when his companions were finally going to wake up... he didn't want to resort to wondering noisily.
"Yes," Glungurd replied awkwardly, as he hasten over to Liana's horse. He stopped at the steed's side and puzzled over how he was going to get himself atop this animal. After a moment, Liana chuckled and dismounted. She then demonstrated how to properly climb onto the horse. Glungurd mimicked her as best he could, finding that his inferior height was severely disadvantageous for such a task. But he made it on his first attempt and sat behind the princess, feeling simultaneously proud and embarrassed. Odglok civilization had realized no uses for horses, being unsuitably shaped for riding them, and having developed little above-ground industry that they could be utilized in. One of the guards tied a rope onto the horse that had been intended for Glungurd so that they could take it with them, in case they needed an extra in the future.
As the riders began to take off, Liana warned Glungurd, "You may need to hold onto me." After saying this, she almost cringed at the thought of the Odglok's beefy hands grasping her waist. And indeed, Glungurd's grip was a bit too firm for her liking, as he did not realize the relative fragility of human teenage women. "Well, at least he's strong," she thought, hoping she would be thankful whenever they met their next danger. The Odglok's mind was more focused on not falling off his horse. And so the motley crew rode off toward Leon.
Kyran picked himself up from the wooden, leafy floor of what he called his home. He'd intended only to take a brief respite before setting out to find the elven woman, but the encounter with the lich and fay had drained his energy more than he realized. So it was that Kyran peeled his eyelids open to sparse bits of sunlight peering in sideways from the horizon. Cursing to himself, Kyran stashed his short sword into his belt and picked the staff he'd carved for himself about six years ago. Its wood was a touch nicked, but overall was still quite smooth. The bottom had been shaved down to a point, while the top was kept broad, though the corners cut to make it dome-shaped. Kyran gave his bungalow a second glance before taking off. He knew he'd have to keep a blazing pace to catch the woman, but hopefully that wouldn't be a problem. Kyran gripped the first, nearest branch, hugging it as he willed the branch to stretch down near ground level. With a creaking, it twisted down until Kyran was within arm's reach of the grass. With a snap, the tree jerked itself back with a vengeance, and Kyran let go as the branch neared its apex in an arc, launching himself through the canopy. As he vaulted downward, Kyran scrambled himself to determine his landing point. "Aha!" He gripped the target limb and it whipped downward. Kyran felt himself graze the turf below, just before the tree twisted around to launch Kyran once more. 'Not the safest,' Kyran grinned to himself. 'But definitely faster. And a lot more fun. Now, time to catch up.'
Frijyk was preparing breakfast when he suddenly heard light footsteps behind him. He turned around to see a strand of viridian hair quickly duck behind a tree, with a small face shyly putting from behind cover.
Frijyk couldn't help throwing a glance towards the girl's horns and green hair, and saw in shock as the horns vanished and the green hair change to brown before his eyes. It looked, to Frijyk's minds, what the elf woman would have looked like if she was young.
"Umm..." she said. "I... Err... Brought some mushrooms..." she came out from behind the tree, holding a giant bundle of mushroom in her arms. Many of them, even Frijyk could tell to be poisonous.
"Sorry," Frijyk said. "But we can't eat those. Those are poisonous." The girl's face fell immediately. "But..."
"Don't worry, I already made breakfast. Do you..." The Fey's face brightened considerably. "Sure!"
Frijyk handed her a hard piece of bread, which she looked at curiously for a couple of seconds before biting into it. "What about Mr. Bones?" she suddenly asked.
Frijyk glanced at the old wizard, still sleeping in the uncomfortable position. "You mean Morangul?"
"Yes. He's a skellington, you know. Doesn't have a bit of flesh on him. He needs to eat more... It's not healthy."
Frijyk glanced once more at the wizard. He was kind of in the thin side, admittedly. But he seemed to be perfectly fine otherwise. "...maybe he just discovered that eating less can actually extend his own life time?" he wondered out loud.
"But that's stupid," the girl replied. Frijyk shrugged. "My name is Frijyk, by the way," he offered. "What is yours?"
"Alaria," the girl replied.
"By the way..." Frijyk said. "isn't it dangerous for a girl like you to be travelling alone? I mean, how old are you?"
"96," Alaria replied. Frijyk chuckled. Alaria made a face. "I met a spidew out in the forest, by the way."
"...?"
"...it said it was looking for the man who killed its babies. Pierced their brains with a sword."
"Umm..." Frijyk said. "Where did you encounter the... Spidew?"
"Oh, around here," Alaria said. "I promised to help her find whoever did that though. She told me that she's going to join me here soon. Also told me where to find the mushrooms."
Frijyk glanced down at the pile of mushrooms. By the saints there were even death caps in there. "Wasn't she a nice spidew?"
"Ha...ha..." said Frijyk.
The sun was only just breaking the horizon, but already Alyssa was up. Guantano looked at her, tired, as she was saddling her courser. "Are the two of you coming, turtledoves, or are you going to leave a Lady like me all alone for the road?"
The acid was back in her voice, Guantano heard. She had warmed up - a little bit - since they had plundered the wagon, but the appearance of the strange girl seemed to have put her right back in her baleful mood. "Whether you're coming or not, I'm leaving in a minute. There's someone on our heels."
Guantano stirred. "There's what?"
Alyssa pointed the horizon in the north. With this kind of distance, the smoke from a single cookfire would have been hard to see, but the coloumns rising in the distance were numerous as flies on a carcass. "It's an army," Guantano muttered. "You really do know how to state the obvious. Are you coming or not?" Her words were like hot pokers, but at least they woke him up.
Now shaken out of his groggy reverie, Guantano lifted the girl up onto his courser, grunting as she proved to be heavier than she looked, before hoisting himself up onto the jet black beast. His sack hanging loosely on the saddle, he kicked his horse into motion, following Alyssa, who had already impatiently started on a moderate pace. Grabbing the coarse reins, Guantano took great care to ensure that Meghghan did not tip and fall off, the girl still in her 'normal' blank demeanor, steadying her by leaning forward as he rode, the horses kicking up a small trail of dust as they rode down the crude road towards Leon.
Settling into the rhythm of the horses gallop, Guantano gazed forward towards the chestnut-brown haired rider, her hair flowing as she rode, pondering upon Alyssa's recent change in attitude. Could it have been related to the nightmares last night? Recalling her screaming and pained expression, coupled with crying, Guantano was certain that the happenings of the past night had shook her somewhat. A reminder of a painful and traumatic event in the past was definitely something that affected a person, and Guantano completely understood.
She rode silently, her beautiful green eyes burning with a fire even as they fixated themselves onto the path yet to have been tread. She was still young to have endured so much, Guantano thought, time would heal this wound, and age will bury it deep, though sometimes never deep enough. But what if that was not what was troubling Alyssa? Was it because he stubbornly wanted to bring Meghghan along? Sighing, Guantano turned his thoughts to his even younger pillion rider. They definitely could not bring her around everywhere, it would suffice to leave her in Leon with the man he could trust watching over her, and besides, he wanted Alyssa to... what did he want her to do? His mind darting back to the mutual pleasure at the playful banter between them the other day, Guantano swiftly came to the realization.
He wanted her to talk to him again.
----------------------------------
It must have been at least a good three hours since they had broken camp, and Guantano looked down at his charge, who still lolled around as the courser moved, by all appearances still lost to the world. Unable to do anything for her, he turned his attention to someone else whom he could. Concerned by Alyssa's stubbornness, Guantano once again ventured forth an attempt to inquire about her well-being. "Alyssa, its been at least three hours since we started riding, at least drink some water if you aren't going to stop and have a bite." Dismissing his attempt without even looking at him, Alyssa brusquely stated, "I'm fine."
Sensing that further attempts would be met with stronger refusals, Guantano kept silent.
----------------------------------
As the sun approached its apex in the sky, Guantano raised his hand to shade his eyes, squinting as he looked across the horizon. In the distance, he could roughly make out walls, Leon. Raising his voice slightly to address Alyssa, who was now further in front, he said, "Strange, the gates are shut. Lets hope there's no trouble." A quiet nod of the head followed his statement. Eventually, they arrived to within a bowshot of the stone walls when a guard clad in the livery of the town guard signaled for the party to halt, before addressing them.
"Stop or we'll shoot!" As if on cue, five bowmen ran up onto the walls, wielding shortbows which would still be deadly accurate at this range, and nocked arrows, ready to fly loose upon orders. Grinding to a halt, Guantano looked warily at the bowmen, his muscles tensing as he held onto Meghghan, ready to throw her off the horse with him if need be. "Looks like the welcome party has changed since I've last passed by," he muttered.
Alyssa looked up at the walls, still in her saddle even as she had stopped her courser.
"Who is your Captain? I am the Lady Alyssa Fangstrike and these-" she looked at the odd couple on the horse behind her, "are my retainers. You will let us into the city, we bring tidings from Lassara."
The guard seemed doubting, perhaps because Alyssa was clad more as a soldier than a Lady. Nevertheless, he shouted down. "Wait there!", and disappeared from their sight.
A minute or so later, the gate opened slightly, allowing a Captain of the guard to ride out, four guards on foot after him. The gate closed behind them as they came closer, and the guards held their helbards at the ready. "What is a Lady doing on the road in this garb," the Captain asked, "and with these companions?"
Alyssa could sense that Guantano was about to speak, but she cut in first.
"I am running for my life, good sir, and I saw fit to spare my pair of personal retainers. The Capital has fallen to a host of demons."
The Captain nodded. "Aye, so we have heard. Hence why we take these precautions." He waved towards the gatehouse, where the bowmen were still visible, though they had lowered their bows.
"I am afraid I will need more than your word before I can trust you, Milady," the Captain said, dutifully.
"Very well, we are also looking for a learned and respected man in this city. He may vouch for us, Guantano knows him." Only then did she seem to lend Guantano any attention. "What was his name again, Guantano?"
As Frijyk processed the information the Fey had just passed on to him, he realized he would probably be in danger again very shortly. The giant spiders he had fought with Kyran the day before were babies? And now the angry mother, no doubt twice or three times as large, was searching for their killer! And Alaria had so kindly "invited" her to this clearing. Frijyk looked at Alaria with an indescribable expression on his face, somewhere between wonder and aggravation. Then he scanned the forest around the clearing, trying to figure out from which direction this giant spider would be arriving. Eventually his gaze turned back to the Fey.
"Listen. I am-not sure how well the great-spiders get along with the Fey, but I-know for a fact that they do-not like humans. Unless they are for dinner."
Frijyk grasped one of his throwing hatchets and held it in his hand. He couldn't use the rapier just yet; he hadn't had a chance to clean the baby spider blood off of it. Perhaps there was a chance he could avoid a conflict. Can spiders smell blood? In that case, it might not even matter. Almost frantic, he couldn't shake the feeling he was forgetting something... then he remembered. Frijyk ran over to the old wizard, still apparently sleeping, and tried to stir him awake.
"Morangul! Wake-up! I think we could-be in trouble."
He looked back over to where the Fey was standing, and called out to her.
"When did you-say that spider was-going to get here again?"
"Don't worry, I heard the whole conversation," Morangul replied, getting up from his meditation.
The lich looked down at Fryjik's rapier, "And they can smell blood."
With a quick spell, Morangul removed the blood from the rapier, giving it a shiny new look.
"Oooooh.....shiny," Said the Fey, watching the light reflect of the clean sword.
"Okay then, we might be able to avoid a fight, but if not, it shouldn't be that
hard to kill." Morangul continued, "A few bolts of lightning should do it, and you can always make sure
its dead with your sword."
"What? No! You can't kill her!"
Both Morangul and Frijyk looked at the Fey with disbelief.
"And why, Little Devil, can't we?"
"Well this just keeps getting better and better!" exclaimed the knight.
The squire gave him a dirty look "We got a good ship that can get us there in time, what are you complaining about."
"A blockade runner is not what I call a good ship and I cant say I am particularly partial to the crew."
They had made good time to Birun, a rather large port town with its own shipyard, at the cost of the horses health, by the end the two corsers were close to ruined and one was unlikely to go beyond a trot for afew days. Regardless, they were here the day was almost over and they had closed to the point where the castle was looming almost over head. Now they were on the pier along with several sailors lugging boxes of potion bottles onto a square mast Brig, The Silver Maiden.
"Stop whining, your not the one almost out of pocket, now shut up and help me with this crate."
They had found a ship able to sail to Tar cantun before the castle but it had cost somewhat, Thomas's fingers were now berift of rings and they had to sell the horses. It should be understood that the crew and ship had come cheap, finding enough restorative potions to maintain a weather mage's wind control spell for hours on end? That had bitten into their stipend quite a bit, they had used up Thomas' allowance to pay for the town's entire supply and an alchemist willing to brew in-transit. Thomas was considering asking Gilford to hold off the crew while he throttled the alchemist if he didn't deliver, the mage too.
"I have a right mind to clip you around the ear."
"Simmer down gil, think of something happy, like the splashing of the water or a formation of geese, like that one."
A formation of about twelve birds was flying towards Birun from the north, they seemed to have dispensed the V formation for a ragged H.
"...Uh, Gil, do geese usually have arms?"
"..."
"I'll take that as a no. CAPTAIN! WE'VE GOTTA LEAVE, NOW!"
A scuffy head popped over the side of the ship. "What the hell are you shouting about?!"
"Captain, you see those birds?"
"Those geese? Yeah I see them. What's your point?"
"Well those 'geese' just burned through the Capital city, I think it might be a good idea to get out of here before they get here."
"What those things? You've got to be fu-"
The Captain's curse was cut short as an Unholy Roar filled the air sending the nearby seagulls into a frenzy.
"...LADS GET ABOARD QUICK!"
As soon as the ship's crew realized what was coming their way they were running around in a frenzy, shouting and trying to get the boat ready to leave, while suddenly through all the noise they could hear... laughter? A shrill laughter was coming from the approaching formation and sent a chill down the sailors' spine. About twenty demons were now spreading their formation to swarm the ship from both sides, some of them beginning to take out the sails, one was setting fire to the aft deck, using a torch that was set up there. Though the crew fought back where they could they were no soldiers and stood little chance against these beasts and soon the deck was filled with dying men while others were barely holding up against the crazed attackers.
One of the demons was still flying circles above the ship, seemingly carrying someone but suddenly it let go and a figure was falling towards the ship, actually right towards the captain. The greenish blue skin of the smaller demon was shining red from the fire beneath him as his body was diving towards the captain, face first, his sword pointing forward and still he was maniacally laughing! The captain had the presence of mind to grab a lance from a nearby arms stand and took a defensive position against the approaching creature but the demon, still laughing, just before hitting the spearpoint, vanished into thin air and a moment later the captain's face turned into a pained expression as the bloody tip of a blade was emerging from his chest. Retreating his sword Enego appeared behind the captain's lifeless body, now dropping to the deck and the demon gave one last maniacal chuckle before hissing towards Thomas: "Where? Where isss the princessss?" Thomas quickly looked for Gilford but he could see the knight engaged in a fight with two of the larger demons so he would obviously not be of great help against this fast approaching enemy.
***
Alain and his group were driving the horses hard all morning in hope of cutting the the army on it's approach of Leon, reaching the city before them. The shores of Lake Birun quickly vanished from sight behind them and Glungurd learned his first horse-riding lessons the hard way as he had to work hard not to fall off the galloping horse. The countryside was flying by as their were making their way towards the road that would lead them to Leon.
Reaching the major fork that connected the roads towards Leon, Birun and Lassara the captaing gave a sign for the group to halt and the horses, sweating from the exhausting ride all morning, stopped as Alain scanned the area. A few moments later a man in simple farmer's apparel emerged from behind some bushes and approached the group while Alain dismounted and walked towards him. They met just out of hearing distance and a few minutes later the captain returned while the man started down the road towards Birun.
"Who is that and what was that about?" the princess inquired and Alain smiled before mounting his horse again.
He then replied: "I have issued the orders yesterday, right before we left the capital. The royal guard is going into hiding, this was one of my officers and he was watching the road for us." He sighed and looked towards Leon for a moment, before turning his horse. "We have lost the race with the army. It has passed the fork about an hour ago so there's no need to ruin the horses. We should carry on slowly. I don't want to run into the army. Leon will fall and in fact I hope the town surrenders quickly so there's as little damage done as possible. I'm guessing most of the army won't stay there but continue south so we'll just have to hope that we can enter the town after that and still talk to your old instructor, your Maj... Liana." With that he turned his horse and the group settled into a walk, not wanting to tire the horses, now that it wasn't necessary anymore.
While they hadn't talked all morning, seeing as they had to concentrate on riding at a very fast pace, the princess now turned her head and looked at the Odglok who seemed at least a little frightened by the speed they had been taking to all morning. Gliggling, the princess asked: "So, Glungurd, how did you like your first hours of riding a horse?"
After a short while Alain left the lead to Florin and let his horse fall behind until he was riding next to Indrax. After a few minutes of silence the captain decided to address the matter directly while they were far enough behind so no one else could hear them talk. "Drax, I don't think you've been completely honest with me. You've told me that you've been suspected to be the murderer of Lord Carus only because you found him but there's something troubling you. We're going to Leon now and we should know if there's more to this story than what you have already told me."
"She's in the hold, Please dont kill us!"
Enego burst out laughing, "HEHEHEHEHE, Run little cowardsss and maybe you'll live to sssee another dawn!" and with a crack he vanished.
The scene was pandemonium, the ship had been disabled, the main mast had lost all its sheets and the foremast was smashed, the Bridge was ablaze and sailors were scrambling from the lower decks. Some of demons had landed onto the main deck and were attacking anything that moved, the rest were hovering overhead or pearched on the remaoning masts like gruesome mockerys of crows. Several of the loading dockmen had jumped overboard and some had ran down the dock into the city, the sailors on the other hand had fared better and had started fighting off the demon's with hatchets, swords, crossbows, longbows and the odd harpoon.
Thomas paused to pour the sanctuary potion over his head before runing across the burning ship's deck to Gilford who was having trouble with a particually ticked off demon that was grappling with him for control of Gilford's Greatsword, its friend had been knocked overboard and was now floating face down. Taking advantage of the demon's distraction Thomas circled behind the beast, "Gilford get away!". Obeying Gilford let go of the sword and stumbled back, Thomas drew Essa and plunged the holy sword into the demon's back. It screamed and started to flail, electricity coursed through its body as it spasimed and little bolts jumped between it's claws. Thomas wrenched his sword free and the demon collapsed onto a luckless sailor and lay twitching. Gilford walked over, pulled his sword from the demon's claws and with a flourish decapitated the beast.
Thomas grinned at the knight "They dont seem so tough."
Gilford shrugged "Well if they're not so tough maybe you can kill them before this ship burns completely"
"I think that problem's being solved for us."
Gilford turned to look at where Thomas staring and saw the Weather Wizard they had hired an hour ago standing on the for-castle, one arm outsretched with a staff in hand the other pouring a potion over his head. One of the potion crates was lying open at his feet.
"How do you like this you imp pansys!" The wizard cried and with that a great black cloud appeared over the entire dock pouring rain and lighting onto the ship, putting out the fires quickly and frying some of the demons.
"Wahey! I havent felt this good in years!" cried the wizard "Taste Bugsby's Crushing hand you spineless squits!"
Thomas turned to Gilford, "He seems to have things under control."
"Money well spent?"
A demon swooped down from the sky and made to strafe at thomas but was stopped an inch from taking his head off by a great celestial hand that proceeded to squash the demon into literal paste.
"Oh yes. Pity about the ship."
"What happened to that man with the winged helmet you were fighting?"
"I'm not sure I think he might be below deck searching through the crates."
As if on cue Enego appeared on deck with a Crack.
"Oh, there he is."
Should Drax tell the Captain more? Could he tell more yet emerge with his head still intact?
I doubt that.
What was the truth anyway? Did he really murder his liege? If he did, surely he would have remembered it, yet all he could recall was him walking calmly into the armoury and seeing the slain lord on the floor.
The truth is in front of your eyes, yet you still cannot see it.
Then again, he does have a Voice in his head; who knows what it could do?
Self-preservation however came to the fore again – he hasn’t told me anyone of his secret before and it had worked out reasonably well for him (relatively speaking). The one time it had been revealed forcibly had led to the immolation of a dozen brigands, a fate he does not wish upon the noble Captain nor the lovely Princess.
“No, Alain. What I said before is correct – I had only… stumbled upon Lord Carus’ body. Anyway, can you even imagine me duelling a trained noble and besting him?” Drax smiled nervously.
Stumbled? Is this how Surfacers describe the murder of a noble?
One of these days, he will find a way to get rid of the Voice.
The captain's eyes narrowed while he listened to the boy's answer and he waited for a while before he spoke again.
"Listen, I know you're not telling me everything. What you're hiding might not concern the death of your liege but you certainly aren't absolutely honest with me. Now, I understand that you may have reservations but honestly the list of people I have to keep under close watch is growing longer..." He sighed, though still smiling: "You don't hve to be afraid of us, you know?"
***
Enego was circling Thomas now, like a wild cat, ready for the jump as he suddenly whistled and two of the demons perched atop the main mast dove down to attack Gilford while Enego flexed his thigh muscles and jumped at the squire. His sword was following a crescent, coming at Thomas from his left side when suddenly it hit... nothing... The strike stopped in mid air and the demon was caught off guard for a moment, though still mindful enough to quickly teleport back a few meters. "Now.. where isss she?"
Thomas looked around for one of the potion boxes , spotting one to the left he tensed to run.
"Have you tried the captain's cabin?"
A look of irritation passed over Enego's face, or what little could be seen of it, and with a Crack he dissapeared for a second time. Realising that the dark invader would not be as inclined to search this time Thomas bolted for the box, dived upon it, wrenched open the lid and extracted one of the bottles just in time for an enraged Enego to return with his signature crack. With barely a second before Enego had realised Thomas had moved the lid was off and potion was streaming down Thomas' face. He felt quite odd, like all the aches and pains had gone and he felt so fresh that he might as well have woken up afew minutes ago from a restful sleep. No wonder the elderly wizard was so energetic, heck he was practically vibrating.
Thomas jumped up, flexed the hand holding Essa and lunged at Enego. Surprised at the boy's new turn of speed, Enego swung at the approaching youth with a horizontal swing, but Thomas with his newfound agility, simply rolled under the blade's arc and upon regaining his footing swiped off one of enego's hands. With another crack Enego vanished to appear on the other side of the deck, cradling his newfound stump which, to the horror of the surrviving sailors, within seconds had started to sprout new fingers.
"I don't suppose I could persude you to search the bilge?"
"But she's a nice spidew!" said Alaria. "She even let me ride around on her back. Oh look!"
She rushed towards a rustling bush. Morangul swore and ordered her to get away from the bush, but it was too late. Red eyes glinted from the bushes and from it leapt out...
A giant 2 feet long red spider. Alaria hugged the giant arachnid and shielded from Morangul. "See, isn't it cute?" Alaria said.
"No," Morangul replied. "Now drop the spider."
"Why?" Alaria said. Frijyk sighed. "Was that the mother?"
"No," Alaria said. "She's right behind you."
Frijyk whirled around just in time to see a giant silhouette disappear into the dark forest. Hissing noises suddenly enveloped the entire forest. "Oh," she said. "She says that she knows who killed her babies now."
Frijyk gulped.
"She says that he was an elven Druid!" Frijyk let out a sigh of relief. "and... Oh dear, Frijyk!"
"Alright, that's it," Morangul said. "Where is it?"
"Umm..." Frijyk said. Red eyes were appearing everywhere around them now.
"Don't worry," Alaria said. "She said that she would forgive the blue-skinned man if he did something for her."
"What is it?" Frijyk hurriedly asked.
"Rescue more of her babies! She says that some men in Leon took them away to harvest their silk. She wants them back."
At the suggestion that he was subservient to Alyssa, Guantano rolled his eyes, but did nothing obvious to avoid blowing their cover.
Maintaining the facade, he adopted his pseudo-subservient tone again, the words rolling off his tongue with expertly concealed sarcasm. "Milady, I last encountered the man under a half-score years ago, but his most peculiar appearance and mannerisms struck my mind. His name is Gunther, and for the week that I was here, daily he wore his speckled blue robes with a star in the center, a flat green cap drooping over his forehead, yellow boots which he claimed helped him to think, and holding his red oak walking stick which he used to randomly prod any passer-by at odd intervals before asking them a riddle, before walking off deep in thought." Chuckling, he continued, "Definitely if he's still around most would know him lady."
Alyssa turned to the guards with a polite attitude, not letting her annoyance shine through. "So, yes, the esteemed elder, Scholar Gunther the prodding Sphinx. I am sure you know him, or can find him, Captain."
The rider nodded and sent one of his men running back to the gate, disappearing within to find the old man Guantano had described. They waited for quite a while unless an old, but healthy man was escorted out of the gate towards them. He was leaning on a red oak stave, and was wearing lemon-yellow boots. Guantano nodded as the man approached, slowly, "Yep, that's him alright."
When the old man finally got to their little group, the Captain had lost most of his patience. "Master Gunther, do you know this man?", he gestured towards Guantano.
The elder prodded the captain with his stave. "Does one really know anybody, Captain?"
The Captain shook his head. "You know what I mean! What can you tell me of this man?"
The old sage narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to one side. "Ah! If it isn't Guantano..."
((OOC: DiY, you decide what the old man tells about you, then :beam:))
Growing a new hand seemed to be an incredibly amusing thing in the Void or at least for someone like Enego as the demon had reverted to his manicacal laughter as he was watching his new fingers forming out of the bloody stump on his left arm. Once the process was finished he flexed his claws as if testing their functionability before returning his gaze to Thomas, eyes narrowing in on his target.
"You could persssuade me to search your brain once I have dislodged your head from your shouldersss" the creature hissed and closed the distance between the two of them with incredible speed and not underestimating his opponent any more. The strange blade was coming down hard and fast from different angles and for a few strikes all Thomas could do was to defend himseld against the fierce attack, more than once being saved by the spell of his sanctuary potion. All of a sudden Enego jumped the ship's reling and used it to lift himself above Thomas, striking down while jumpin over the squire's left side and then vanished in mid air again, reappearing on the nobleman's other side where he finished his blow before Thomas could turn around completely, the cursed blade cutting his arm, leaving not much more than a scratch, hurting but not dangerous in and of itself.
The demon licked the blood off his blade. "Lassst Chance. Where isss she?"
As the iron gate finally creaked open to admit them, Guantano paused for a moment, startled by the appearance of Leon. Gone was the day when he and the lads had stopped by in a vibrant city with plenty of hustle and bustle, exuding an aura of excitement. Swinging off the horse, his brown leather boots landing with a soft thud on the paved road, Guantano saw a Leon where the fountain and the market place was quiet, where people anxiously glanced towards the gates to see who had just arrived, stall areas lay empty, most of them packed up.
"So, what brings you to Leon Guantano? Gunther asked, his stick jabbing Guantano's side. As you can see, our impending guests has created quite the change in the city." He mentioned with a slightly gloomy look on his eyes. Yet just as quickly had that sad look materialized it was swiftly replaced by a cheeky grin and a twinkle in the wizened man's eyes. "Have you come to challenge me to a rematch Guantano? I'd wager I can still outdo you." Laughing, Guantano replied, "I wish old man, I wish." His tone growing serious as he finally broached the subject, Guantano stopped and turned around, pointing towards something in the sky very far away, slightly bigger than a copper piece. "We're here to ask you about that." Resuming his walking, and glancing quickly at Meghghan to make sure that she followed, Guantano tugged lightly on the courser's reins. "And the army too I'd imagine." Sighing, Gunther continued, leaning on his stick even as he did so. "Well Guantano, that's a question I've been wondering about too," said Gunther, "let me take you back to my study. Harkin should be preparing the mid-day meal and I've just bought a fresh casket of honey-ale from a merchant who was desperately trying to clear stock before he left Leon, our favorite!" Clearing his throat, Gunther asked, "and just who is 'we' anyway? You haven't introduced me to your lady friends." With a speed uncharacteristic of the wizened man, he shifted to Alyssa's side and with his free hand, he held her right hand and asked with a toothless grin. "To whom do I owe this pleasure?"
"Try the brig, WIZARD! I COULD USE A LITTLE HELP HERE!"
The mage looked down from his position without pausing his casting, "Ooh is that their leader? Well I've got something special in mind for that little trollop! Bugsby's Crushing hand!"
A giant celestial hand appeared behind Enego and grasped him bodily in an iron grip asnd started to squeeze but before it could kill him Enego vanished again with a crack, appearing in front of thomas and proceeding to trade blows with the youth.
The wizard's brow creased. "Teleportation eh? I think I something for that." He pointed his staff at the fighting two and took aim. "Dimentional Anchor!" A green bolt lept from the staff towards Enego who took it in the gut. Confused, Enego slashed towards his left and attemted to teleport mid swing.
Crack
...
Crack
....
Crack, Crack
......
Crack, Crack, Crack
Nothing, with each crack Enego stayed exactly where he was, getting progressivly more and more annoyed.
"Meddlesssome mage!" Enego whistled again and two more demons swooped down at the mage, diverting his attention.
Grinning Thomas, siezing the initiative, lunged again and stabbed Enego in the left thigh grabbing and holding Enego's sword arm in place with his free hand. Enego cried with pain but Thomas kept going, switching his grip to reverse he dragged Essa through the leg, slicing through before coming free and embedding the sword into Enego's other leg. Ignoring the pain and the electricity coursing through his body Enego puilled his free arm back and punched Thomas straight in the forehead sending him sprawling before falling on his back himself clutching at his cut up thighs.
Alyssa smiled courteously at the old man. "I am Lady Alyssa Fangstrike, Sir. I, too, am very interested in... Whatever is happening, which is why I am keeping company with Guantano here," she padded Guantano's shoulder, "whom I now see spoke truly when he said that he knew a wise man who could tell us more. I am glad to find you in good health, Sir." She let the man's hand drop and gestured towards Meghghan. "This woman calls herself Meghghan. She is... hard to talk to, but we picked her up on our way here nonetheless. Guantano seems to have a weak point when it comes to women in danger."
She laughed with the old man. Guantano found himself staring at her, dumbstruck for a moment. So she does know how to be courteous when it's needed, he thought.
Whatever the reason, he was glad as long as Lady Fangstrike kept her venom to herself...