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Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest news on Alpha Two.
Check out general Announcements here to see the latest news on Ashes of Creation & Intrepid Studios.
To get the quickest updates regarding Alpha Two, connect your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
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To the rear of the fighters, Sam raises his staff and draws on power from within, then casts the spell Lifeline over all of his friends. The energy washes over them, as each one engages in battle with more attackers. He watches as one enemy hit’s the ground, only to be replaced by two more. The numbers of attackers look to be overwhelming, but his friends do their best to stay on top of the battle.
“ We are going to die here, I just know it. “, says Rowen now casting the spell arch lighting.
The spell does its job, as it thins out the line of attackers for a short while, only to have even more press in to replace the others. Sam watches as Komeel takes down a few more, his skill with bladed weapons has always impressed him, and he finds himself almost lost in the moment of watching his motion. But now isn’t the time to watch such things, now he must stay focused on the one job he has, he must keep everyone alive, even for a few more seconds of life. His attention is drawn over to Richard, who in turn curse as his swords are broken, then he is knocked to the ground hard. The attacker moves in to finish him, as Sam casts the spell soul paralysis, now freezing the enemy in place. Richard looks back over his shoulder towards Sam with a smile, then draws forth his new broad sword, Witherbane the Worldbreaker, it seems to sing in his hands now. Sam watches as Richard regains his footing, and cuts clean through the one attacker that sent him to the floor, then he presses on to cut through two more, as the blade he holds looks to be not striking its targets. But after Richard swings the blade past the creatures, their bodies stop, then two parts fall to the ground. Mostly arms, then a few heads, even a tousle or two. The weapon he holds has a power of its own, one that Richard has embraced deeply now.
Another healing spell washes over Sarah now, while she wastes little time cutting deep into exposed areas the armor hasn’t covered up. Now again into the shadows she moves, quick as a cat, she finds more targets to take down while dodging between falling bodies. This pace can’t keep up, it’s like an unending wave of monsters, and her stamina is getting low. Just a few more twists and turns of her blades and a few more attackers fall to the ground lifeless. A blade crosses her body, just edging the leather armor on her side, as it quickly gets her attention, and she tosses a smoke ball to escape the next blow. She is lucky the strike missed her, but now the attacker rushes forward to go after Sam. His attention is on healing the others, and Rowen has his focus on supporting the fighters. She knows there isn’t time to react, so with her best speed, she moves in a shadowy blur, and takes the hit by crossing her blades to deflect the blow from Sam. The force of it sends her sliding across the flood, and she strikes the far wall hard. But call in blind luck or something else, a hidden door slide opens into the ceiling next to her, and through it, she sees a way to escape this fight. She whistles to the others, who in turn slowly fall back to where she is, while they are still engaged in a bloody fight of their lives. More bodies drop to the ground, while Sarah looks into the area past the door, but that triggers it to start to close up again.
“ You guys better hurry, this door is closing up fast! “, yells Sarah from a half-opened doorway.
Rowen now casts an area spell of tentacles, to root the closer attackers in place, giving the others an opening to retreat quickly back to the new doorway. One by one they enter, until finally Richard who was taking up the rear guard, slides under the few feet of clearing before the door closes with a thud.
The new hallway they are in looks long and damp, as Rowen casts a new light spell, but it looks to be safe enough to travel down. The party takes a small break to get gain themselves a bit, after fighting what was like an army in a small space. Henry watches as Richard kisses his blade, then he puts it away. But he feels there are new dangers ahead of them, and he questions Richard a bit.
“ Why are you putting your blade away? I saw what It can do, better to keep it out. “
Richard can only force a smile on his face, knowing that power he was holding was still a little wild in his hands, as he puts it away now taking out one more long sword with a small shield.
“ Aye lad, that sword be a great weapon to use, but I had a hard time controlling it a bit. At times when I was attacking the others, it wanted me to attack you too. “, says Richard with a concerned look now.
“ What do you mean it wanted you to attack us? It’s a weapon to use used, not something that controls you. “, says Komeel as he cleans his blades.
“ I know my friend, but this sword has a strange power on it, one that with every cut, every drop of blood, it grew in power. So much so it was leading me on to take more lives, and I had to fight really hard to keep it from striking back towards you two. Right now it’s too dangerous to keep out, just keep away from me, when we have to fight again. I feel this sword needs the blood and looks for it when there is much of it being spilled. “, says Richard now taking out a bit of jerky to eat.
Henry can only wonder about that blade, but he has his own dragon’s blade, one given to him by Sarah. She found it for him back in the old mines, and it has its own special powers. When a match with his shield, he doesn’t take the full force of attacks, and when striking out, he feels he is dealing double the power in return.
“ Everyone, we will rest here a bit, regain some strength, then move on down the hall. But stay alert, we are not out of danger yet. “, says Komeel with concern.
Henry takes a seat on the cold ground for a moment, and he is joined by Sarah, who now gives him a bit of salted pork. She smiles at him, then rests her head on his shoulder for a bit, as he puts an arm around her to keep her close.
“ Was it a mistake coming here, Henry? I know you want the ring of your neck, so you can be free. But we haven’t gone too deep into this place, and look at how badly we are beaten up.
“ We are not beaten yet Sarah, and we will face whatever dangers together. As long as we keep each other safe, we will beat whatever is to come. “, says Henry now kissing her forehead
The group can only heal up and rest a bit longer, then Komeel stands with a few handclaps, as the others join him and gather their items. Sarah moves to take the lead, with Henry close behind her, and she leads them down the long hallway, with only the light given off by Rowen’s spell to light the way.
to be continued...
maybe. hehe
One scout lights a few torches, as bodies now can be seen everywhere in this opening, and she moves to have the fresh ones checked carefully. Ease enters her mind a little as answers are all the same, it’s not the group they are following. A clicking sound gets her attention now, as her men move into a defenses circle around her. The clicking comes from different directions in this huge area, hidden by the shadows along the walls. The team pulls arrows as they draw out their bows, and she takes up her own bow to take aim above her head. With a few more clicking sounds, everyone has taken up a target, and with one word from Ryfon, arrows are sent singing into the shadows. Shortly after, the sounds of squeals echo out, and heavy thumps hitting the ground all around them. The group hit their targets, as they send a second wave of arrows, then the third wave. Each shot into the dark gives the same result as more heavy bodies far to the floor dead. One of the bodies rolls into the light, and Ryfon carefully moves from the circle to have a look with sword drawn. He can see it’s a large spider, about the size of an average man, and he turns to look over to Ebrae.
“ It a large cave spider, we need to be on guard in this place, they can overwhelm us if we are not careful. This one looks to be a big one, I would hate to have this one sucking on my blood. “
“ Oh please that’s just a baby, I want its mother. “, say Ebrae now looking to the ceiling.
The louder sounds of click still can be heard from above, as Ebrae now fires off three arrows with a skill flame line into the darkness of the ceiling. An even loader squeal echoes out as the sounds of small explosions ring out from above. She gives the order to scatter, seeing a huge spider body falling from above, but it’s not dead yet. It strikes down on the ground hard, as she jumps away from the impact zone, and the spider flips over to see what forced it from its home. Ryfon steps forward with a few of his men from behind Ebrae, but she puts a hand to his chest and looks at him with glowing yellow eyes.
“ No, this is my kill! “
She drops her bow, and takes out two Elvin long swords, then rushes off in a blur before Ryfon can stop her. He watches as one leg after another is cut away from the huge spider’s body, and with its final cries, it dies as Ebrae stands atop it now sinking her blades into the brain of the beast. A fountain of green blood shoots up, and some of it lands on her, which only makes her smile wide from the life she just took.
Upon her return to Ryfon’s side, he returns her bow with a concerned look.
“ I know you’re very skilled at what you do, but you’re taking too many risks. What if that creature was able to corner you? We wouldn’t be able to save you in time, and…..”
“ And you would have to return home with my dead body, and explain to my sister why you let me take that risk in the first place. “, says Ebrae now cutting him off as she continues.
“ We need to find Henry, and stop him from finishing his task. I know what my sister promised him, but he doesn’t understand what he is coming for. We must stop him at all costs. Without killing him of course.“
“ But why not kill his group and be over with it? I don’t understand why we track them from the shadows, it would be easier to just end their lives. “, says Ryfon with a puzzled look.
“ I have my reasons Ryfon, don’t question me again. We stop them without killing them do you understand?“
She now moves ahead of her men, spider blood still dripping off her body, and stands before three large openings. The airflow from the center opening is mild, she orders a scout to check it out, while looking to check the area going to the left. She sees six sets of footprints going that way, then the sounds more clicking comes from the right tunnel. It’s not as loud as what was heard in the main area, but still of some concern. She orders the right opening sealed off, and her men quickly follow her orders.
“ Do you want us to follow them milady? “, asks Ryfon while holding the hilt of his sword.
Ebrae looks at the path once more, her extra sense of night sight shows a slippery path not too far into that tunnel, someone else of lesser vision would miss that basic slope trap.
Her scout returns from the center tunnel, and reports of two paths. One goes back outside, and the other leads into a darker area. In that area, it looks to be over lower sections, and the smell of rotting flesh is in the air. She pauses a moment, as the airflow begins to pick up, and with one order she sends her men into the center tunnel. The wind picks up as she enters the tunnel, the sounds of the dragon call roaring loudly in the opening. With it her dragon tattoo and eyes glow brightly, the call sings to her heart, even though this dragon has been dead a very long time. So she takes a deep breath of her own, and sing with the call, giving off a small roar of her own. Her men don’t stop to see what she is doing, they know never to question anything she does, as they press on into the darkness of the dragon’s cave.
To be continued…
“ That was a close one lad, you better let Sarah take the lead going forward, no telling how many more traps are in here. “, says Richard now poking the floor in front of him using his sword as a new trap triggers.
This time spikes shoot up from the ground, and just as quickly as they appeared, they quickly return to the first position under the ground. Richard gives Sarah a crossed look now and questions her.
“ You sure you can spot these traps? “
“ Yes, so you’re going to have to trust me now. “, says Sarah with a smile.
Now with Sarah taking the lead, the group follows her step for step, not moving out of the path she is taking them on. They pass countless rooms now, in each is skeletons chained to the walls, and at their feet, a small alter with runes carved into them. Rowen wants to stop to take a closer look at this find, with his training in the art of reading runes he has, curiosity pulls at him to go take a closer look. But Komeel discourages him after pointing out a visible trap in the ceiling above the room, and Rowen swallows hard just looking at the points of a spike trap just waiting to land on a foolish soul.
Sarah also points out more traps of different types around the area to everyone, while safely setting off a few, and marking off the others with bones she picks up along the way. So carefully and slowly they all press on, making sure to follow her instructions to the letter.
She stops everyone in their tracks now, as a new trap is set to cross the floor in front of them. This one looks to send out vapor into the air, and it’s one she can’t see how to disarm. The floor tiles look to be a perfect match up, and it doesn’t show where to step safely. She might be able to make it out, but after looking back at the others, one of them is sure to trigger this poisonous trap. Then an idea strikes her as she looks back at the others.
“ Sam, can you cast an area cleansing spell? “
“ Yes, I believe so. Why do you ask? “, says Sam now coming closer to her.
“ Cast one just in front of me, and extend it to the end of the hall. Can you do that? “, asks Sarah.
Sam gives a nod, as he raises his staff, and extends it out just in front of him. She tells him to make sure he doesn’t miss not one crack or hole when he cast it. She watches as he closes his eyes, and after muttering a few words, a wave of his spell moves thought the after, as the sounds of hissing can be heard, but as the gasses enter the air in front of them, it is quickly disbursed and made harmless.
Sarah now carefully moves forward, testing the cold ground with a few taps of her foot as she moves forward, not taking any chance of missing a new trap. Passing a few unlucky souls, whose bodies have long since turned to bones over the years. She has no plans of joining them, as a new trap is a trigger under her left foot. Without thinking and moving with reflexes, she bends backward, as two axes swing out to cut her in half. One just misses taking her head off, and with a quick push up to flip her back, the second one swings out to just miss cutting her arms off. The others want to rush forward to help, but she waves them back while taking in a deep breath of air.
Now looking ahead, she focuses her eyes a bit, then pauses with a few slow breaths. The air is clam now, she lets the stillness of it wrap around her body, now listening to the smallest sounds. The heartbeats of her friends behind her ring out in the silent hall, as she now reaches down to pick up a few small stones. Henry wants to know what Sarah is doing, but she quiets him with a rising of her right hand. She turns to give him a concerned look, with a single finger pressed to her lips.
Returning her attention down the hall, she tosses the two stones, both bounce off the walls then the floor. She listens to a bit for a change in the sounds, then she hears a different pitch along the wall to the right. Now with a small dagger in hand, she sends it flying through the air striking a hidden wall switch, now opening the ground up next to it, then the ceiling drops a large stone block into the opening. If anyone fell in that trap, that would have been the end on them, as the stone block now fills the hole to replace the missing floor piece. She tosses a second dagger, bouncing it off the far wall, then it lands on a floor switch, sending two sets of spiked walls quickly crashing into each other. She looks back at the group, and signals for them it’s clear to move on.
“ How do you know it’s clear, shouldn’t we test the ground a bit more? “, asks Richard in a nervous voice.
“ It’s clear now, just trust me. “, says Sarah with a smile in return.
Henry trusting her, takes up the lead with her at his side, as the other quickly follows behind, he knows she is good at what she does, and if she said it was safe, you can bet your life on those words.
The group slowly enters what looks to be the final room of this vast dungeon, as it is lined with six stone statues of Dwarf Lords, each of them holds a shield at their side, and a forging hammer that’s extended out by their right arms. It looks as if they are giving a salute of honor, one given to those who would be called king.
Rowen cast a new light spell so they can see more of the room, giving the statues a more visible look, now showing off golden details and finely minted works. The details of each statue look to have been done by a master metal worker. Names of each are written on the base of each, Rowen doesn’t know a few of them, but one catches his eye, the name of Jamil Boulderhorn, a name he has back in his home town during his studies. It was said he lead his people to safety in the time of the Apocalypse. It was a dark time for this world, one not spoken about much nowadays.
Richard and Komeel move closer to take a better look at them, and both agree the statues are far too large to try to take away, as just one would give them more wealth than five lifetimes that they could ever spend.
Now looking past the statues to the far end is a set of huge granite doors, and it’s lined with runes in the dwarfing tongue. The group moves closer to inspect it, and they can see the runes in more detail. Rowen moves in closer with Sam, as they begin to translate the runes on the door. They can see a set of Runes to the bottom set up as keys, and what looks like instructions at the top. So they work with each other to figure out what order is needed to open the doors.
Richard, on the other hand, looks behind him and gives Komeel the same look he is giving him in return. They know each other's expressions, and this one says they are being watched from the shadows.
“ Hurry up and get that door open, I don’t like being out in the open like this. “, says Richard, now taking his board sword out.
It sings in his hand, knowing that blood with soon be spilled this day, and to his side, Komeel stands ready to meet whatever comes from the shadows.
Rowen and Sam rush to figure out the runes, when Rowen sees the pattern to use and begins to touch them in the order they called for. As he hit’s the last key, the doors swing open with a hiss.
“ Come on everyone, we have a quest to finishes. “, says Henry now stepping into the darkroom.
He is followed by Sarah, Rowen, and Sam, But Komeel and Richard stand ready to meet whatever is coming from behind, as the sounds of many feet can be heard rushing up from where they came from. The doors begin to swing close again, as the pair retreat into the darkness of the room, and with a thud, the doors close uptight.
To be continued……
I will be dropping 1 or 2 more parts tonight, this will bring this chapter to an end.
If you want more let me know here.
Also, I will be officially started my book this week, it will be a fantasy type. I was going to do a sci-fi one, but after doing these few chapters I changed my mind.
I will keep you up to date on how the bo0k is coming, as it stands right now, The prologue and 1st two chapters or done in my head, now to put it down in writing. lol
So stay tuned if you're looking for more to this current story. Thx for your support everyone that is still reading.
Did you read the last part I posted, meaning the story? Looks like you missed it lol.
Its seems I've missed the last two. I sware the bookmark feature never works
Ah, I was wondering. Normally you click like if you read the part.
yeah I normally get told when you post here but it glitches sometimes
The group moves slowly down old cracked stone steps, a count of twenty-five Komeel takes in his mind, as they all reach the bottom of the room.
To both sides of the hall, next, there are three rolls and two-foot-tall oblong blocks covered with black stone slabs, Rowen moves closer to get a better look at them, as he can now see there are runes carved into the tops. Maybe the names of the person in each one he thinks, or something else, but he is sure there are remains of bodies inside each one.
A count now taken by Komeel comes out to be about fifteen on one side and fifteen on the other, with still the other two rows behind them. All resting under the watchful eyes of giant elfish warriors, that hold long spears in one hand, all pointed up to the unseen ceiling. Komeel takes note these statues only have body coverings showing off muscled tops and legs, as you can mainly see these were carved for artistic proposes, and to show honor to the fallen dead that lay here.
The group makes their way past the oblong blocks until they reach the feet of the giant statue of a dwarf, a statue who wears golden heavy armor and holds a giant ax with runic writing on the lining on the blade.
“ Why do dwarfs always do things on a grand scale? It’s like they are confiscating for something. What do you think Komeel?“, says Richard with a slight laugh.
“ I think we need to keep moving and ponder that question another day my friend. “
He gives his friend a friendly pad of the shoulder, as the other press on under statue’s huge legs.
Sarah, now being able to resist the moment, looks up as she passes under the legs of the giant, but to her surprise, she sees something off about it. She now looks to Henry with a puzzled and worried look, as he gives her a concerned look in return.
“ What’s wrong? “, asks Henry now moving closer to her, so the others can’t hear.
“ Statues normally don’t have cracks in the joins of the legs right? “, replies Sarah now looking back at the statue.
“ What do you mean Sarah? Cracks can be just worn and tare of the years of it standing there. “, says Henry with a smile.
She looks once more at it, as her gut tells her something is off about that statue, but there it stands unmoving and locked into the position it was placed in so many years ago.
“ Oh it’s nothing Henry, let's keep up. “, says Sarah rushing up the others.
After a few more long steps in the great hall, they come to the end, and before they sit six more oblong blocks, these are topped off with white marble stone, and on top of them are runes carved deep into them. Sam, the healer of the group, and someone well versed in reading runes like Rowen, walks over to inspect the writings.
He turns to the group and waves Rowen over to him.
“ Look, this is Jamil Boulderhorn, remember the statues out in the hall outside, these must be the resting areas for those dwarf lords. This one reads, here lays Jamil Boulderhorn an honored friend and savior of the people of Khal Buldohr. “
“ Yes, I see what you mean, so the stories about him are true it turns out. I have much to report back to the schoolmasters when we get back home. “, says Rowen now taking out paper and a bit of charcoal.
With Sam’s help, they begin to make etchings of the runes on the bits of paper. At least it was something to be shown, as he now takes a copy of the house symbol.
“ We don’t have much time for this, we need to find what we came in here for, and find a way out. “, says Komeel with concern.
“ You’re right, you and Sarah look for a way out, there is one more tomb I need to checkout, I will not touch anything until you tell me you have a way out of this place. With all those traps we faced, I don’t see why it would end here. “, says Henry now taking out the instructions given to him.
Komeel nods to him then move off with Sarah to look for a way out of the area. Richard, in turn, walks over Henry, as he reviews the writing set in animal skin. It speaks of a switch to move, then to stand back. Henry looks around the six tombs, but Richard calls his attention to a level that is set into the wall on the far left. They recheck the area, to make sure no mistakes will be made, as it turns out this is the only switch to be seen. But he dare not touch it, not until he knows they have a fast way out of the tomb.
After a long wait, Komeel comes back with Sarah, and they tell them all they found a way out of the tombs. So Henry places a hand on the lever and looks to the others as they nod to him. Then with a steady pull, he pulls it down, as the sounds of things clicking and movement can be felt of things sliding underfoot. The ground begins to feel warm all around them, and Komeel waves everyone to head to the exit he found. But Henry stops them, as steps begin to raise out of the ground behind the six oblong stone tombs, and at the top of the final step a golden tomb lifts up for all to see. There is a picture drawn on his instructions, that matches the one set on top of the steps before them, and Richard and Henry slowly walk up the steps to the golden tomb.
“ The ground is getting hotter you two, whatever you came in here for taking it, and we need to leave now! “, yells Komeel.
Henry can only look at Richard now with slight concern, but what is it they need to get, then he remembers there was the last part of the instructions on the skin. He reads it as part of the tomb opens, and something is slowly lifting out into the light. Henry reads what to do next, as the instructions are very clear as it reads, “. The item for item, you must do, or face the judgment of the king you will bring. “
Henry sees an old treasure box lift out into the opening, and looks around for something to put in place of it. A large stone comes into view, and he picks it up to use in place of the large treasure box, but as he stands he sees Richard already holding the treasure in his hands, and the plate quickly recoils back into the tomb. Henry tries to put the stone in place, but it’s too late as the opening has closed uptight.
“ What have you done? Didn’t I say wait until I was sure there wasn’t a trap? “
“ Well, I didn’t see a bloody trap, and it was right there to be had. So, I took it! “, says Richard with a frown.
“ You might have killed us all Richard, we need to get out of here now! “, says Henry now rushes down the steps followed by Richard.
The hall shacks underfoot a few times, as rocks and large stones fall from above. The group falls to the ground from the shaking, but all quickly regain their footing and follow Komeel to the door leading out of the tomb. Henry looks back to see all the oblong tombs are sinking into the ground, and the archways have large stones lowering over them all, and in the distance, he swears the giant Dwarf statue moved.
Komeel yells to the others to quicken their pace, as the way out he found now has a stone lowering over it. He found some old weapons on the ground, to try and brace the stone up, as Sam and Rowen make it through, but they break up the pressure of the weight. The stone is halfway down now, as Sarah makes it under, and she turns back to see Henry leading Richard, who is trying to keep up with the treasure box in his hands.
Henry makes it to the doorway, as it’s about a quarter of the way down. Richard seeing he has little time toss the treasure and it slides under the door, as he launches himself to slide on the ground. Henry and Komeel both grab hold of his arms to pull him through, as the stone closes down hard just missing his feet by inches.
“ You crazy old fool, why didn’t you just drop the box? “, says Henry now patting his friend on the shoulder.
“ Well we came all this way for it, I figured we will not leave without it. “, says Richard with a laugh.
But the ground under their feet shakes, as the group waste no more words., as Sarah calls everyone to follow her. Komeel might have found the door out tomb, but she found the way back outside.
The others follow her, but Henry stops Richard to take the treasure from him, after all, it was his responsibility to bring it back. He takes out some old rope he keeps in his pack, then quickly ties it to both handles, and loops it over his left shoulder, so it’s hanging off his right side. This way it frees up his hands and if there was a fight to be had, he would be ready for it.
He doesn’t really feel the weight of the box, after all the training, the heavy armor he wears, this box wasn’t much of a problem to carry around. As he rushes forth to catch the others, from above the sounds of stones sliding down can be heard, as the yellow heated metal begins to pours from above. Henry looks over his shoulder to see the rivers of hot metal rushing up from behind, as more of it pours from above. With each step, he takes more of spillways open, and more hot metal pours from the new openings. He sees his friends standing and waving to him to hurry up, as a new doorway opens to the left of him. Inside he can see a huge forging area, but he doesn’t waste time looking for details, as he feels the heat of the hot metal is only feet behind him now. But with the opening of the new doorway, it buys the group time to escape the deathtrap, with Henry finally making it to the far end with them.
Komeel can see there is a large metal door to slide down over the current opening they are standing in, but the gears are rusted, and it makes for a very hard time to move. With Richard’s help, they try to force the door down, as the more hot metal now comes toward them. Henry seeing his friends struggling to close the door, waves them off, then pushes it up a little, freeing a few of the gears up, then he drags it down with one hand to close the door uptight. Richard and Komeel can only look at Henry in awe, as he goes up winding stairs to the back of the group.
Up and up they all go now, now hearing the slight sounds of something heavy walking not far away, as the stair vibrate more and more with each step that is heard. The group doesn’t stop to ponder what it can be, but in the back on Henry’s mind, he feels he knows what it is.
They continue to quickly follow Henry up the winding stairs, until finally, they all reach a blocked archway, with only a crack of fresh air blowing in from the side. Before another word is spoken, as Rowen can see it in everyone’s faces, he moves forward to begin casting a spell. He waves everyone back, as he breaks apart all the heavy large rocks, and they move towards him for a second, then with a huge wave, the opening is cleared. He turns to looks at everyone with a smile but is met with a frown from Richard.
“ I suppose you what a big thank you? Just get out of my way mage, always showing off, good for nothing types……”
“ Good job Rowen, don’t mind him, he is always like that. “, says Komeel with a smile.
“ Well, why doesn’t he like mages? After all, I am a friend am I not? “, asks Rowen with concern.
“ Of course you’re a friend, Richard is just not a fan of casters is all. Don’t take it personal. “, says Henry now walking with Rowen out of the dungeon.
The group makes it back outside, and with a few good deep breaths of air, they all rush back to the drop-off area. It’s a faster trip this time around, as the opening of the dungeon is quickly seen. For a moment Henry sees movement from the mouth of the cave, but when he turns to face it, nothing can be seen. So he thinks no more on it, as he continues onward.
The ground in the area begins to shake a bit, as they waste little time rushing back to where they started, as they finally see the horn for the return travel back out of the valley. Richard seeing it quickly takes hold, and gives it the longest and loudest blow he does. The horn’s sounding like a bear in heat now echoes through the valley and up and out to the tops. He repeats it two more times as instructed, and with the last blow, he returns the horn to the holder.
“ Now we wait, and I hope it’s not too long. I still have a bad feeling down here. “, says Richard now taking out his board sword to hold at the ready.
“ I know what you mean, I still would like to know who was rush up behind us to in the dungeon. “, says Komeel.
“ Never mind who was in the dungeon with us, I have concerns on the stone Dwarf. I swear I saw it move when we were rush out. “, says Henry now taking out his sword and shield.
“ What do you mean it moved? “, asks Rowen now looking back the way they came.
“ I don’t know, whatever trap we triggered, that statue might have been part of it. “, says Henry now gripping his sword hard.
He turns to Richard, who in turn looks around the area for trouble, then expresses his view of their current situation.
“ I don’t care what comes next, nothing going to sneak up on me. Why my senses are sharp as a hawk, I darn another to just try to get past me. “
With those last words uttered, the group now find themselves surrounded by Elvin rangers, Everyone with their bows armed and aimed at the group. Henry can’t understand how they were able to sneak up on them so quickly, or where they came from. Then it hits him, the movement he seems from the corner of his eye, it was them hiding in the mouth of the cave. Just waiting until they had their guard dropped just a little. Now he finds himself under the careful watchful eyes of an elite band of Elvin warriors.
The group move into a defense stands, if a fight was going to happen, then the lesser protected of the group need to be guarded, they still have their healer and mage, and it one thing that would keep an attack from happening right away, but with so my attackers standing by, why didn’t they just kill them without make themselves known. After all, they had the upper hand and could have easily taken down his group.
His question is answered soon, as he sees a blonde-haired elf woman wearing a two-piece green leather armor, who he can see is Ebrae. She pushes past her men, as the group of six stands ready to fight, and she looks at Henry with a big smile.
“ Hello Henry, it’s so good to see you again. I am glad you made it out of that dungeon in one piece, it warms my heath to know my training played a role in your success. “
“ Don’t play me the fool Ebrae, what is it you want here? “, asks Henry now watching her closely.
“ Ah yes, straight to the point. I like that. You have something my sister wants, and well, I can’t let you leave here with it. So, be a good little warrior, and put what you found on the ground, and I will let you all leave here in one piece. “, says Ebrae as moves her fingers along the hilt of her swords by her side.
“ No deal! We did all the work, and you can’t just walk in here and make a demand like that. We will be keeping that box, after all, we did all the work! “, exclaims Richard who moves in front of Henry now.
Ryfon takes steps to take on Richard from behind her, but she puts up a hand to hold him back, then she returns her attention to Henry.
“ Come on Henry, I know what she promised you, I can help you more. Don’t let your hot-headed friend think for you, make the right choice here. Just give up the treasure you found, and I will let you go. “, says Ebrae with a smile.
“ And the slave collar, will you free me of it? “, asks Henry now looking her in the eyes.
“ Of course Henry, we will help to free you from that bond with my sister, just drop what you found, and walk away. “, says Ebrae now watching him closely.
“ She is lying Henry, don’t believe her, let's just take it back as you promised. It’s clear she wants what we found for herself, and is trying to undercut her own sister for it. “, says Sarah moving to Henry’s side.
She frowns at her, then raises her right hand, and her men move up into better positions to attack the group.
“ Fine you want to do it the hard way, then we shall dance. At the ready men, on my mark……”
Ebrae’s words are cut off as the ground begins to buckle and shake, as a mound of earth lifts up into the air. All who stand in the area are knocked to the ground, Henry and his group fall to the right of the huge mound, and Ebrae with her men are to the left of it. They all watch as a huge stone hand pushes up out of the ground, followed by a very large ax. The size of which could smash any small home with one blow. Shortly after the head of a huge stone dwarf pushes out of the ground, and the stone giant pulls itself out of the ground to stand tall in the valley. It turns to look at Henry, who holds the treasure box from the tomb, and it takes steps toward him to reclaim what was stolen.
Richard turns to Rowen with a wild look in his eyes and grabs him around his collar.
“ Don’t just stand there looking at this thing wide-eyed, hit it with a few spells before it crushes us into dust! “, exclaim Richard giving him a few shakes.
“ I will….I …will try.”, says Rowen in a nervous tone.
He stands forward with his hand extended and his book in the other. Pages flip wildly as he mutters a few words, as he turns to look at Sam, who has moved to his side. Rowen quickly cast the spell implosion, sending a fireball into the heart of the stone giant, striking golden armor with a huge explosion. The giant is knocked off balance a bit, as Sam moves to cast the spell called banish, causing the giant to vanish, then it reappears in the heart of Ebrae’s men.
Before another word can be spoken by the group, a squeal is heard from above, as a group of griffins flies down to land led by a redhead lady. She calls to the group, as they all rush to get on the mounts, and with beats of their mighty wings, they are all airborne. Henry holding on tight looks back to see Ebrae and her men in heavy combat with the stone giant. He can see they are having a hard time with it, but then again is hard to kill, she always found a way to win the day. Better that she deals with a stone giant vs. fighting him when he didn’t want to fight her. His focus now turns to what is to come next, and how fast he can be free of the collar around his neck.
To be continued…..
There is a knock at his door, and without looking he tells them to enter. He knows it’s the owner personally seeing to his comfort, as he hears the sounds of a few feet shuffle into the road, with the muttering of a few whispers, then the sound of heavy things being set up on the floor behind him, and small items being placed on top of something wooden.
“ I have seen too your order personally, I hope you enjoy your meal. Will that be all milord?“, says a voice behind Sarod.
He doesn’t turn to look at the person behind him, keeping his eyes on the road into town, as he just waves them off with a few motions of his right hand. The sounds of shuffling feet now can be heard leaving the room, as the door is closed very softly, as the smell of turkey is now strong in the air. He turns slightly to see a table full of food, one being the roasted turkey, and a slight smile crosses his wide mouth. The owner set up a table for him and on it a feast of some of the very best foods available to the town. He looks over the table with a slight gaze, now taking his eyes off the road, and sees it’s just as he figured, there wasn’t much to his liking. But the owner does his best for his guests, and Sarod was his very best paying guest to date.
He takes a few deep sniffs of the air, and the turkey is still the only thing that keeps his attention. Moving to the table now, and putting his pipe on the window seal, he takes up a seat to get a better look at what was set out to please him.
There are large slices of different cheeses, some he can see right away are blue and sharp, then there was the hard bead next to them, along with some overripe fruits. A small barrel of ale was set on the far side of the table, with a pint-size mug next to it. But this wasn’t what he came to see, as he turns his attention to the full roasted turkey, with steam still rising off the skin of the meat. He wastes little time and grabs up one of the legs to takes a huge bite of the meal. The flavor of it pleases him deeply, now savoring the taste of roasted meat, chewing the flesh and letting it slide down his throat. Oh, the joys of this taste please him deeply, as he takes the rest of the meat from the bone pulling it off with his teeth, now tossing a bone to the side on the floor.
A little time passes, and Sarod having finished off half of the turkey, looks up to see six adventurers entering the town from the main gates. A smile crosses his face, as he pours a little ale into his mug. Now taking a deep drink, he reaches out his left hand. A staff quickly moves from its resting place and goes to meet his hand. He slams down his mug, then taps on the floor a couple of times, then standing to regain get his pipe.
The door to his room slowly opens, as not one sound of footsteps was heard, but there stands a hooded cloaked figure, with head bowed low, and he only says three words to them.
“ They are here.”
With that, the hooded figure quickly leaves, as they have their instructions to do what is needed next. Sarod only watches them get closer, as he turns his attention back to his meal for the night.
After her battle with the stone giant, Ebrae rides hard with what men survived the encounter, pushing her swift claw as fast as it can run. She knows those who are left in her group took a very bad beating to bring down that giant, but she can‘t stop now. She needs to stop Henry from finishing what he was sent to do. Faster and faster they press on, as a swift claw drops from behind her than another. Pulling up to stop for a bit, she sees all the mounts are spent, even her own in taking in deep breaths now. Even some of her men don’t look up to the task of continuing on, so she quickly dismounts and looks to her lead officer.
“ Ryfon, what men can continue on with me, quickly get them ready, the others who are badly wounded let them tend to the mounts. We will press on foot from here, so be quick about it! “
Yes, milady, it will be as you say, but I ask. What are we looking to gain on this trip, why are we hunting your friend? “, says Ryfon with a slightly puzzled look.
Ebrae takes out a small coin, on it is the face of a dragon, and as she handles the coin her eyes begin to glow slightly as she rubs it between her fingers.
“ What is it milady? “
“ This is what some call a horde coin, or as others call them, a monster coin. It grants the user the ability to transform into the creature that is pressed into the face of the coin, and you will have their powers for a short while. I learned of these coins from my father and was told if I ever came across one, to tell the family mages of it, so they could bind it in a secure place and hide it from the world. These coins are very dangerous in the wrong hands. I fear Henry has found a secret stash of them, the number of which I do not know. But we need to stop them from leaving that town or I fear many towns will be doomed to fall from the user of them. “, says Ebrae as scales form on her neck.
The scales fade away as she returns to coin to a pocket on her armor, and she takes up her bow and quiver, as eight of her men form up behind her.
“ But milady you have one of these dangerous coins, am I correct, isn’t there a risk of you losing control of yourself with it? “, asks Ryfon with concern.
The glow from her eyes fade, and a smile crosses her face. Then without answering him, she turns and rushes off down the road toward town, with a few of her men close behind. Ryfon can only follow, as he now has troubling thoughts about the woman he calls friend.
Henry told the others to wait for him by the stables and to get ready to leave the town upon his return. Now walking with Sarah, who refused to leave his side, they walk with the small chest in hand to give to Sarod. Whispers float over the air, but he doesn’t care what they say about him, or what words are said of him by the townsfolk. He has done his job, and he will see to its end. The quest is over, and now is the time to be free of his slavering, he just hopes Sarod keeps his word.
Sarah steps in front of Henry now, with a blade pulled, and her left-hand press on his chest to stop him. She has her eyes locked on a hood figurer, who just appeared in front of them from the small crowds of people walking by. Her hand now slides down to her second blade, as Henry now moves to pull his sword. Now wasn’t the time to lose their prize, and he wasn’t going to let this stranger take it from them. But before he can react, the figure motions for them to follow, as it speaks to them.
“ Sarod will see you now, this way. “
The pair look at each other, and without speaking they agree, this can be a trap. So with their guard up they slowly follow the figure down the street, until it lends to an old Inn named the copper cat. The figure enters, and they slowly enter the doors of the place. There are stairs leading up to the left, and they watch the figure go that way, leading them away from the tavern part of the inn. Henry can see there are people in the space, but they don’t look up and pay him any mind as they go about their own business of the day.
After a short while, they are lead to a doorway, and before anyone can say a word, the door opens. Inside Shrod sits behind an empty table facing the door, with a pipe in hand, puffing and blowing small whiffs of smoke.
“ Do you have what I sent you for, boy? “
Henry takes a couple of steps into the room but is stopped by the figure from coming in any further. Henry takes this as Sarod doesn’t want anyone to get closer to him unless he tells them they can. So he takes up the chest he had on his side and holds it out so they can see it.
With the wave of the hand, the figure is motioned to take the chest from Henry, and the person brings it over to the table and places it down very carefully. Shrod wastes little time and he opens the chest, as eyes glimmer from what he sees inside. He smiles wide, now placing a hand inside, and the sound of coins can be heard clicking against each other. Then he looks to the hooded figure, and they move to pick up a large chest. The hooded figure moves to Sarah’s side now and opens the lid to show off six full large coin bags. She looks at Henry who in turn snaps a look over toward the old Orc.
“ You have what you requested, now how about our deal? Free me from this collar! “
He gives Henry a big smile at his words, as he closes the lid to the old chest, then he blows a few puffs of smoke from his pipe then speaks.
“ You heard the boy, free him from his contract. “
Henry then hears a voice in his mind speak.
“ I free you from your bond with me.”
Then a little tickle around his neck, followed by the feeling of something running off, then it drifts slowly off into the air. He puts a hand to feel around, and there is nothing there. Sarah smiles as she saw the ring leave his body, and she takes the chest of coins with excitement.
“ Let's get out of here Henry, we finished our job. “
As they turn to leave, Shrod speakers up.
“ You did a good job boy. I have an offer if you want it. One that pays ten times what you made today. My employer is looking for someone with your talent and will pay you good to work for him. What do you say? You interested? “, says Shrod now blowing out a large puff of smoke.
Henry looks to Sarah, who in turn just gives him the look it's his call. He looks back at the old Orc, as he glairs back at him.
“ Sure, what’s the job? “
The old Orc motions to the hooded figure, who in turn take out a rolled-up old map with a piece of paper tied to it. The figure hands the map to Henry, and before he can say a word, he is motioned out of the room, with the final words given to him.
“ Everything you need is in the letter, just follow the map. Good Day to you. “
With those words, the door is closed on them, and they stand in the hallway.
“ Come on Sarah, let us go find the others. We have a new job to do. “
She stops him for a second, then pulls him to the side. She takes out a single golden coin and shows it to him. It has the face of a dragon on it, and he gives her a deeply concerned frown of a look in return.
“ Is this one of the coins from his chest? “
“ It is, you should have it, after all, we been through in that dungeon. Just one coin will not matter. “, says Sarah now pressing the coin into his hand.
She gives him a deep kiss to calm him down a bit, but He knows this isn’t right, and turns from her to return the coin. Sarah stops him, point out the map in his hand.
“ Look, lover, if you take that coin back now, he might take back that new job he gave you. Trust me, he will not miss that one coin from the others. “, says Sarah with a big smile.
Henry can only sigh, knowing they do need the money and puts the coin in a pocket in his travel bag. So he turns to leave, they waste little time, with payment in hand and a new map to follow.
A little time later, Ebrae stands by the gates into town, with her men fanned out to stop anyone from leaving that she points out. Word was sent to get more men from her home town, but it will take time for them to get here, and the others down the road are too badly hurt to be of help. The few men that stand with her will have to do. Ahead of her come six adventurers, lead by Henry, who in turn gives her a dirty look in return. He and his friends try to ride out of town, but she motions for her men to stand in the way.
Richard not liking what he is seeing, starts to move ahead of the group with his hand on his blade, but Henry motions him back. He gives him the look of he will handle this, and rides up to meet Ebrae, as some of the others voice some concern.
Now moving to just in front of the main gates, he dismounts his horse and walks over to the group of elves, who in turn pull their swords out to point at Henry. But Ebrae waves them back as she walks over to meet him with a smile. Now standing face to face, she looks him in the eyes and talks to him.
“ That wasn’t a very nice thing to do, back of the canyon, and here I thought we were friends. “
“ Yes, so did I, but do friends hunt down other friends in life? You left us very little choice after all. “, says Henry now gripping the hilt of his sword a bit.
“ So you finished your quest, and handed over the chest to the crazed Orc? I am a little disappointed in you Henry. I wouldn’t have done you any harm if you only handed over what I wanted. Now, you have made things a little more complicated. “
Ebrae turns to look at Ryfon, as he gets ready to move at her orders, then she looks back at Henry, who is now on edge as she continues to smile wide at him.
“ I did what I had too. be free from your sister.”, says Henry now studying her movements.
He can see she is no longer after him, as she motions her men to back off from the gate, then she moves closer to whisper into his ear.
“ I know what you have, and I warn you, it will control you if you let it. So take care, dear Henry, until we meet again. “, say Ebrae as she pats the pocket where he places his dragon's coin.
She moves to stand with Ryfon, as Henry turns to mount his horse. His friends ride up to join him, as he leads then away from town. He looks back to see Ebrae walking with a few of her men into town, leaving a couple to watch the gates, as they make their way to the one building he just left. But for a very small moment, she looks back at him, as she gives him a wave goodbye with a kiss in the wind.
End of chapter 2
Thank you very much. It brings me great joy to know someone likes my writings. So, did you want a chapter 3? lol
If you want to keep writing then I will keep reading
I always want to keep writing, I am just worried you're the only one reading it all. haha
Awesome stuff man.
Have a great day !
Ulf
I am working on chapter 3 btw, I hope you're still liking it.