he ron ist

Part Two: The Fist Closes

Leaving their steeds at the stables Trimus and the others sprinted for the shelter of the house. The large sky platform was at least thirty paces on each side and some ten feet thick. A glazed dome on the forward facing corner and two ballistas mounted on each wing were the only features to break up the object's black outline. One the ballistas fired and a large bolt crashed into the turf in front of the house. Gouts of grass and mud splattered into Trimus and the others slowing them momentarily. Trimus paused briefly to cast a spell of invisibility on himself before continuing towards the house. He fumbled for the key and as the door opened a trio of magic missiles struck Jodotha, Cain and Ako as they spilled through the doorway. Cain slammed the door and called for Colloran. The paladin raced down the stairs several at a time and with Ako's aid healed the badly wounded rogue. Meanwhile Trimus had quaffed a potion of speed to allow him to prepare the Phoenix in double quick time.
"Do you want me to come along?" asked the Paladin.
"No stay here, it may be that they will come for Rintrah or the house while we are gone." Replied Ako.

Back to the north of the city Darkhawk was still engaged with the last dragon and its rider. Once more he managed to land astride the mechanical dragon. This time he managed to run the pilot through with his sword. The pilot slumped forward in the saddle and the dragon started to dive towards the ground. Darkhawk reached forward and tried to throw the pilot over the side, but the dead man was still strapped in some kind of harness. Darkhawk sliced at the leather and cut the pilot free, tossing the man over the side. The dragon was still diving forward at a shallow angle but Darkhawk realised he had only a few moments before he would have to bale out. Shifting himself into the saddle he looked for some kind of controls, perhaps similar to those he had seen Trimus and Ako use to fly the Phoenix. To his horror he soon worked out that the harness he had cut up was the control mechanism. He tried to pull and tug on the remnants of the leather straps but this only made the craft's dive steeper. Deciding that there was nothing more to do Darkhawk leapt off of the dragon and watched it crash into the lake not far from Lakeside House. He then turned his attention to the large platform that was hovering over the house.

At that moment the Phoenix appeared a hundred paces in front of the platform. A fireball from the skyship exploded on the glass dome at the front of the platform, shattering some of the glass panes and seeming to injure the pilot inside. As the Phoenix swooped over the top of the black platform, armoured figures could be seen running about on top. Each had a silver fist design on their black armour. Some were running to extinguish fires from the Phoenix's attack others to man the ballistas. As Ako turned the Phoenix around for a second pass one of the ballistas fired a grappling hook attached to a thick rope. The hook sailed over the Phoenix and snagged on a wing as the rope was wound in.
"We're snagged!" cursed Ako as he struggled to shake the hook loose. Jodotha went to the door but Cain stopped him.
"You will fall, we are not steady enough for you to go wing-walking again."
"I have to try." Replied the rogue but a shudder rocked the skyship at that moment almost throwing to his knees. "Perhaps not."
"That was a second hook, they're reeling us in like a fish." Shouted Ako from the cabin. "Looks like a welcoming party has just arrived." He nodded towards a pair of dark robed figures standing near an opening in the centre of the platform. "Here comes Darkhawk!"

Darkhawk flew down onto the blistered and buckled nose of the platform. Through the shattered glass panes he could see a smoke blackened man at a wheel much like that on a ship. The man grimaced and called something over his shoulder. Darkhawk toyed with the idea of smashing more of the glass panes but they were much too small for him to get in. At that moment the platform shook and a wave of heat washed over him. Looking back he saw a cloud of greasy black smoke boil up from the centre of the platform. Darkhawk raised his eyes to see a defiant Trimus standing in the doorway of the Phoenix as it was dragged down towards the platform.

Trimus had recognised the two figures in robes as mages and before they could cast a spell he had flung the door of the Phoenix open and launched a fireball at them. Both were killed instantly by the fiery blast.
"It's no good." He called back to the others. Those hooks are in deep, we will have to land and hope we can gain control of the platform before we can get them free.
As the skyship landed awkwardly on the platform Trimus plucked the control wand from the panel and wrapped it carefully before stashing it in his pack. Outside several dark armoured figures began to emerge from the hatch at the platform's centre. Cain, Jodotha and Ako jumped out and moved to engage the fighters and were soon joined by Darkhawk, while Trimus moved quietly around the skyship, hoping to come up behind the attacking fighters.

The fight was long and hard. The armoured fighters were tough and well equipped and were a match for the four companions, Jodotha wishing they had taken up Colloran's offer of aid. The companions superior skill and fitness eventually began to drive the foe back when Trimus acted. Casting a spell he polymorphed himself into a griffin and attacked the rearmost fighter. His claws and beak made short work of the fighter and fear struck at the hearts of the other fighters.
"Who the hell are you!" shouted a fighter wearing finer armour than the others, "I'll deal with this, the rest of you press forward!" The fighter drew a sword and started to attack Trimus. Trimus fought bravely, watching with one eye as his friends cut down the other fighters.
"Just a little longer." He thought, as he vainly tried to avoid the slashing cuts dealt by his attacker. "Just a little longer then they will come to my aid." His griffin form had claws and beak to deal damage to the fighter but the sword of his foe was longer. Trimus was also unused to the bulk of fighting hand to hand. Just as Darkhawk killed the penultimate fighter, Trimus' assailant forced his sword deep into Trimus' breast and everything went dark.

Trimus awoke, sore but alive and looked up at Ako's concerned face.
"This is becoming a habit." Muttered the mage as he dragged himself to his feet. His robe was slashed and stained with blood, some of which was not his own. His arms and legs felt strange as if they were not his own. He had enjoyed the power that had come with the griffin form, something he wanted to try again soon, but next time he would use his wings and fly before his wounds became too great.
"What happened." He asked.
"The last few went below. We are flying north above the Highgate River. The fireballs have done some damage to the controls but not enough to stop it. We were waiting for you to come around before we followed the guards below."
"You should stay up here and free the Phoenix in case we need to flee quickly." Suggested Darkhawk protectively, "The rest of us will finish them off and take the platform back to Akesoli. "
Trimus nodded weakly and walked over to the Phoenix and started to ease the grappling hooks from the skyship's wings.

Darkhawk and Jodotha looked down the hatch and deduced that four passages ran off at right angles from a small square room below the hatch. A metal ladder led up from the floor to the hatch. Cain and Ako searched the bodies of the fighters and the mages. Most was either damaged beyond recognition or of little use. Jodotha took a dagger and a potion bottle, both of which he handed to Trimus for safekeeping. The rogue than led the way down the ladder. Doors led off from each of the corridors but only one had a door at the far end.
"That will be the control room." Suggested Ako pointing towards the forward end of the ship.
"Then that is the way to go." Agreed Darkhawk.
At that moment three soldiers including the one that had been attacking Trimus emerged from a door in that corridor. Two more emerged from doors on the port side passage, another pair from aft and a single fighter from the starboard passage.
"Looks like we have you surrounded." Sneered the leader.
"So?" Taunted Darkhawk, "You still have to take us."
The soldiers charged down the corridors as the companions took up defensive stances. Jodotha loosed a crossbow bolt that winged one of the soldiers but still they charged on. Just as the captain and those with him got close to the junction a mass of sticky strands filled the corridor trapping him and his followers.
"Gotcha!" exclaimed Trimus who was hanging one armed from the ladder like a pirate from a ship's rigging. The captain and his fellow soldiers struggled vainly against the threads until Jodotha ran the two lower ranking soldiers through. Trimus cast a trio of magic missiles into the leader causing him to jerk around like some sort of crazed puppet. Trimus then through a dagger at the leader but the blade got stuck in the web. He shrugged and switched his ring of protection for his ring of telekinesis. He concentrated and the dragger started to move towards the captain's eyes.
"Call your men off." Ordered Jodotha but the captain didn't reply. The other soldiers closed in but were fought back by Darkhawk, Cain and Ako.
"Don't bother then." Said Jodotha, "We'll just kill them." As if to emphasise his point Jodotha shot one of the guards as he bent over to pick up a dropped weapon.
"What are your terms?" spat the captain.
"Who are you working for?"
"The Order of the Iron Fist."
"Who? What do you want?"
"We have our own purposes." Retorted the captain with a sneer.
"Which are?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
"Shame you couldn't be more co-operative." Muttered Trimus and guided the dagger into the captains chest. Darkhawk lit a torch and burnt the web away leaving the passage clear of all but the trio of bodies. Jodotha searched the body finding a nicely crafted sword with a ruby pommel, a silver and sapphire belt a pouch of gold and a pair of daggers, which he passed to Trimus.

Jodotha, Ako and Darkhawk moved forward to the metal door at the far end of the corridor. Darkhawk tried to open it found it was locked.
"Damn. There goes the element of surprise." He cursed as Jodotha knelt to pick the lock. Darkhawk tried the door again, it seemed to give a little bit then stick.
"Someone's holding it shut." Spat Darkhawk. "Ako, give it a shove."
The cleric waved the others back and shoulder charged the door. The door opened fractionally and there was a groan from behind. Jodotha moved next to the door and waved Ako on again. This time as the door opened the rogue jammed a spike under the door so the occupants couldn't shut it again. A final charge from Ako caused the door to swing open and the sound of breaking bones suggested that one of the occupants be trapped behind the heavy metal door. The other occupant struck Jodotha as he struggled to get off his knees and the rogue scuttled back to let Ako step into the room. The cleric swung his weapon killing the soldier instantly. The other soldier had however crawled out from behind the door and was maniacally smashing the crystal globes and silver rods on the control panel. The ship started to veer and dive alarmingly. Trimus back in the corridor fell to his knees as the craft bucked and yawed from side to side.

From above Trimus and Cain could hear the sound of scraping as the Phoenix slid about on the metal deck of the platform. The mage and the mystic looked at each other and ran for the ladder. Trimus reached the top of the ladder just in time to see the Phoenix tumble off the side of the platform and into space.
"Nooooooooooo!" he shouted and ran to the edge but he could see no sign of the skyship.
All around flashed snow capped peaks, which somehow the platform managed to miss. Darkhawk and the others emerged from the belly of the ship carrying the captain's sword.
"It's going to crash, there is only one way out, and that is down." Said Darkhawk. "I can carry you down, but we will have to be quick this ship is going to hit a mountain any moment."

So Darkhawk picked up each of the companions in turn and carried them to about twenty feet above the snow and dropped them. Just after he picked Cain off of the platform the craft veered to port and crashed into a mountain peak. The fighter carried the mystic to where he dropped Ako and dusted himself down.
"Now what are we to do?" He asked. "We don't know where we are and we have no way of getting back home."
"Not only that but where are Trimus and Jodotha?" asked Ako.
"I dropped them off back there, somewhere." Replied Darkhawk vaguely.

Meanwhile Trimus dug himself out of the snowdrift and looked around. Where was he? Where was everyone else? He shivered as he remembered Cain's dream, the one the mystic said had brought them together.

"I had a dream, a premonition, a foretelling, whatever you wish to call it last night." He said at last. "An icy wind blowing across a snowy landscape, flat not mountainous. Two people are scrabbling in the snow, you Trimus and you Darkhawk.
They stop and look up at a distant glint in the sky. Darkhawk, you said 'Its here.' Before continuing with your digging. A heavily cloaked figure, I'm not sure who this was, approached hunched up against the wind and said 'Hurry. They are coming.'
Who 'they' were or what the glint in the sky was I have no idea. These visions just come unbidden into my head. I have learnt to trust them, after all one brought us together, did it not?"

Was the dark speck in the sky the platform or the Phoenix? Are 'They' the Iron Fist? Who are they and what do they want? He clapped his hands together and realised that these thoughts would have to wait until he had found shelter and warmth otherwise they would all count for nothing.

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