Chapter 17, in which the
Adventurers reach their goal, and fight some Dark Stars
Vodok
The two
dwarves where blinded by the blue flash of light and when they looked back they
saw nothing of importance. Vodivir shrugged and headed back towards the village
and Vodok stayed where he was for a second, he too shrugged, and started to
follow Vodivir to the village.
Vehementi
Dominus
Back in the
Village, Vehementi had hired out a room in the Inn where he lay there thinking
"...what's going on? That's the 9th time that's happened...those
"dreams" that are so familiar...yet so distant...what if it happens
to me in battle and I'm unconscious whilst the enemy kills me? After we find
the library and get back to Thais, I'm leaving for sanctuary, where I grew up,
maybe the Eldar knows something, I haven't fully explored Tibia yet either,
maybe the place I died will tell me something about these
"dreams".... who knows? Maybe there's something about it in the great
library, after this I'm going to consult the Eldar about these dreams."
Red Un
Red Un also
returned to the Inn to get himself a room. He put his hand in his pocket to see
how much gold he had left.
"Uh oh..."
Well, thought Red Un, sleeping out in the snow wasn't so bad when you thought
about it...
Vehementi
Dominus
Vehementi
looked out the window to see Red sitting out there, he realised that he must've
run out of gold, he opened the window. "HEY RED!" Red Un looked up,
Vehementi chucked 40Gp down. "THIS SHOULD GET YOU A ROOM AND A COUPPLE'A
DRINKS!" He closed the window and sat back down.
Red Un
Hmm... it
would be enough for that, thought Red Un if 'twasn't for the huge amounts of
beer that Vodok, Vodivir and the dwarf had consumed during the drinking
contest. That would amount to quite a lot of gold.
He decided to keep the coins for later, and put them grinningly into his
backpack. Then he got back to trying to sleep...
Vodok
The short
dwarf reached town and entered the inn. He saw Red Un lying on the ground but
he didn’t care. "'Un room 'un night 'un bed nothin' else." the
short dwarf said to the person running the inn. "50 gp." the
bartender answered. "WHAT??? Ill give yeh twen'y."
"Forty-five."
"twen'y-five"
"I said forty-five."
"But I 'aid twen'y five!! Thir'y-five, last offer."
"WHO EVER GETS THIS DWARF OUT GET A FREE BEER AT THE BAR!!" the
bartender yelled over the whole inn. Three humans and Vodivir came running at
the short dwarf at top speed. The short dwarf prepared the energy wave spell
then he thought that it wouldn’t be too smart to energy wave the whole inn.
Instead he prepared another spell. Four pairs of arms steadily grasped the
short dwarf and suddenly he turned appearance to a dragon lord. "YEH
'UMANS CAN STOP A DWARF! BU' NO' A DRAGON LORD!!" the dragon lord
yelled. Almost everyone ran out screaming. Except for a group of people staring
amused at the scene. "Fools." one of them muttered. The dragon
lord jumped out of a window. But the wings and the head smashed right through
the wall without making a single mark. The short dwarf walked over to Red Un
and suddenly turned back into a dwarf. "Good ol' creature
illusion..." the short dwarf chuckled.
Red Un
Red Un grinned.
"Ah, Vodok. You'll be
sleeping in the snow too?"
Braldril
Then suddenly
out of the cold rainy night, Braldril, Knight of Venore, burst into the tavern,
with an arrow in his back.
"Please...Help..."
Red Un
Aiyare, who
had been sitting at the bar with a glass of wine (which he hadn't touched at
all) swung around.
"Great Crunor!"
He ran over to the injured man and put a gentle hand on the arrow. Then, the
hand became stern and he suddenly pulled it out with one swift pull.
"Hmm..."
He took out a small herb from a pouch in his belt, crushed it into powder in
his hand and poured it over the wound. It began to heal, slowly. Aiyare
grinned.
"Now then, Knight, how did you get into this situation?"
Vodok
"Yeah.
I’m sleeping out 'ere. Bu' no' of me own free will..." the short dwarf answered Red Un. He
walked to a close by dead tree. "Exori Mort." the short dwarf
muttered. A big branch fell down from the dead tree. "Exori Mort" he
muttered again, his time directing the force to a bunch of dead small twigs.
All of them fell off. The short dwarf dragged all the lumber to where he was
planning to sleep, beside Red Un. "Adevo Mas Flam." he
muttered with a blank rune in his hand. He shot it close to himself and Red Un
and the snow there melted away a little. So did the fire bomb. The short dwarf
shot another shot after the first shot was gone and his shot melted down the
snow to the grass. He threw on the small twigs on the fire. "'Elp me
with this 'un." he said and grabbed one side of the big branch.
Red Un
"Heh,
I never really like magic that much, but I guess it can be useful sometimes"
said Red Un as he grabbed the other end of the branch and threw it on the fire.
Vodok
The short
dwarf was going to go to sleep when he felt how hungry he was. He decided to go
to the water to start fishing a little. The short dwarf walked up from what he
called his "Bed" which only was a lump of snow and walked towards the
water that wasn’t very far away. He started fishing. "HI!" a
voice suddenly said behind the short dwarf. The short dwarf was so shocked he
dropped his fishing rod in the water. "OI!" he yelled. He
quickly picked up a nearby fish and fished up the fishing rod. The short dwarf
could hear the figure behind him laughing uncontrollably. The short dwarf
looked behind him to see Vodivir, again. "Get outta me way an' ge' off
o' this island." the short dwarf said trying to fight back the urge of
attacking Vodivir. Vodivir just laughed. "I think I choose not
to..." Vodivir said and started to walk away. The short dwarf continued
fishing and half an hour later he went back with only three fishes. He took a
nearby stick and his knife, made a point on it and roasted the fish.
Red Un
The smell
of roasted fish calmed Red Un down, and he went back to sleep...
He was once again standing there, on the stairs, with the dead girl and the
robed men that smiled evilly at him.
"I only wanted...knowledge..."
"Fool!" the robed men screamed, and suddenly the ground gave way
under Red Uns feet and he tumbled down, down...
As he kept tumbling, P'Faard appeared, laughing manically, and then he saw the
faces of the dwarves, and the humans, and everyone else...all dead! All dead!
And it never ended, and he tumbled, and he wanted to scream, but he couldn't,
and the faces screamed at him and he just wanted to scream out...
"NOOO!"
He woke up in the snow, and looked up at the sky. The new day was coming. Vodok
was snoring loudly. Red Un tried to gather his thoughts and fight off the
dream-shadows.
"Oi, wake up Vodok, it's time to get to the ship."
Vodok
The short
dwarf grunted and continued to sleep. He was half awake a minute later and he
fully woke up when he heard someone crunching on a roasted fish. The short
dwarf sprang up. "HEY!!" He yelled and saw Vodivir eating the
fishes Vodok had roasted for himself. Vodok quickly drew the half eaten fish
from Vodivir. Vodok started gutting the bits Vodivir hadn’t gutted. Vodok threw
the guts in the face of Vodivir. The guts came right on Vodivirs helmet. "Why
you little..." Vodivir said outraged. He looked for something to throw
but all he found was snow around him. In pure desperation Vodivir tried to
throw the snow at Vodok. It went pretty good. Vodok got angry to and he to took
some snow. He quickly formed it to a ball and threw the ball of snow on
Vodivir. Soon a violent snowball fight had started. Vodivir ran up to Red Un
with his shield up to protect him from the snow. "I saw you coming with
a boat. I need to get off of this mountain. Ill follow you on the boat and if
you get me a free ride Ill give you a favour." Vodivir said.
Red Un
"Well,
any enemies of Vodok are my friends. Now stop this silly snowball fight and
let's get goin'!"
Meanwhile, Aiyare inspected the ship.
"Hmm...pretty good repairs for being done by humans. I think it'll take us
to Vega and back again, if the weather is fine..."
Vehementi
Dominus
Just as Red
un said this, Vehementi came out the cargo hold.
"HEY, RED, VODOK, G'MORNIN'" he shouted then ran over to them.
"Sleep well? I've been helping fix the ship all night...y'know, not being
able to sleep at all and stuff thought I might lend a hand."
Red Un
"Aye,
I must say you've done some pretty good work. Aiyare, are we ready to set
sail?"
Aiyare looked up at the sky. There was not a cloud in sight, which was pretty
unusual around these parts.
"The weather looks as good as it can get. As soon as everyone are aboard,
we can get moving, Mr. Half-dwarf."
Vodok
"Good.
I really must get off this island." Vodivir said. "Psst, yeh can'' be
sirious 'bout givin' Vodivir a free trip?" Vodok whispered to Red Un
while Vodivir was already on the ship making himself comfortable.
Red Un
"I'm
dead serious. You two better get along, or else..."
Red Un thought for himself a little.
"...or else we'll be in a heap 'o trouble..."
Vodok
Vodok went
onto the ship. "PREPARE FOR TAKE OFF!!" someone yelled and the
crew prepared the ship. Meanwhile Vodivir was trying to get friends with
everyone on the ship to make them dislike Vodok even more.
Red Un
...Though
it would be hard work to get Red Un to dislike Vodok even more than he already
did.
"Hmm, where are the other people?"
Vodok
The short
dwarf walked below deck to look for something to eat. He opened a barrel and
found some bread. He looked in another barrel and found some roasted ham. He
put the ham on the bread and started to eat. He sat on the stairs while eating
and suddenly the bread was no long in his hands. "Good idea." Vodivir
said behind him and chewed the bread and ham. "Gimme me food!" the
short dwarf yelled. Vodivir laughed. He pushed Vodok down the steps. Vodok drew
a heavy magic missile. "You wouldnt..." Vodivir said. Vodok
fired. But not at Vodivir. He shot at one of the steps, the one Vodivir was
standing on. Vodivir tumbled down the steps and Vodok quickly drew his bread
and ham to him. Vodivir got up. He was about to draw him dragon hammer but he
didn’t draw it at the thought of the crew if they found Vodok lying on the
floor. They would probably not care but Vodivir didn’t know about that. "That
thing..." Vodivir muttered. "Tastes as bad as desert sand and
the hat of a witch that hasnt been washed for over thrity moon rises." Vodivir
said. "Fine. Ill call i' sandwitch. But for before I blasted 'at step
ta' 'ieces yeh liked it." Vodok said coolly and walked up to the deck,
carefully avoiding the step he had blasted into several small pieces.
Red Un
Red Un was
still looking at the city.
"Hmmh...I'm gettin' a bit worried. Where could they be?"
Vodok
The short
dwarf stood on the deck of the boat and could already see land pretty close.
Kalistra
Suddenly
the cabin door bangs open and a slight brunette woman walks onto the deck.
"Heya boys, I'm joining y'all on the trip to Vega. Have some business
there, and this seems to be the only seaworthy ship at Senja. So the captain
agreed to take me with him... Even if it was at an extortive price..."
She gives everyone on deck staring at her in surprise a saucy grin.
"By the way, my name's Kalistra."
Red Un
Red Un raised
an eyebrow and looked at the newcomer.
"Well, whaddya expect with elves..." he muttered.
"Hey Mr. Half-dwarf!" yelled Aiyare.
"Yeah, Mr. Elf?"
"It doesn't seem like your friends are going to come along. Should we set
sail?"
"Let's just wait a little while longer..."
Vodok
Vodok sat
himself on a barrel ignoring the snow he had got down his armour and in his
face since he didn’t want to give Vodivir the joy of him knowing he actually
got Vodok extremely annoyed. Vodivir did exactly the same thing under beneath
the deck and he made sure no one was looking. They things Vodok did wasnt
that bad... he thought. He silently opened the barrel with bread and took
out a piece. He started looking for the barrel with ham. He saw a barrel with
the word "Ham" on and he tried to open it. But it didn’t work. Since
Vodivir was in a bad and aggressive mood after the snowball fight he drew his
dragon hammer and smashed open the lid. He took out a ham. This ham is good.
But cheese is better. Hmm... Maybe... He smashed open a lid on a barrel
containing cheese without even trying to open the barrel which he easily could
have done. He took a slice of cheese with his knife and put it on his sand
witch. A cherry would also be good with this... He thought. And some
meat too if I slice it like the cheese. And more bread on top of the other
stuff. He thought. Soon he was merrily destroying all the barrels around
him and food was rolling all over the place he danced around and happily put
all the food on the bread. After he had made five sand witches he walked up
onto the deck leaving the mess behind him. He started to eat. "Hullo."
the short dwarf said to the new come elf...
Vehementi
Dominus
"Hey
dwarf! You gonna pay for that food and clean that up? We needed that food for
the journey, well, not so much me, but everyone else does, now you've gone and
eaten half of it" Vehementi said with a hidden aggression and reached for
his NightBlade "I spent hours and hours last night whilst you were all
asleep fixing this ship up, and I didn't do it so you could wreck it before we
even depart. Get down there, clean up that mess and when you've finished head
down to the market to buy more of what you ate."
Kalistra
Kalistra
looked bemusedly from the dwarf to the vampire and back to the dwarf.
"Hiya cuties. I'm afraid we haven't been introduced yet. I'm Kalistra, a
very successful assassin. The best human one actually, last time I
counted." She winks at them. "But you don't have to be afraid I'll
try anything on you guys, I only do contracts. And I haven't taken up any of
the offers that were made on you. I thought the little dwarf was too
cute."
Then the pretty and not assassin looking assassin ignores the incredulous
stares and eyes the 5 sandwiches Vodivir had made.
"You got any wine to go with that?"
Vehementi
Dominus
"I
won't worry, because you may be the best assassin, but you still couldn't kill
me, I can run faster than you, I'm more agile than you I can leap higher and
further than anyone else, and I can go invisible during a heavy fog, not to
mention heal most of my wounds with a sip of blood... I'd find you no different
from an orc."
Kalistra
The small
assassin pouts at Vehementi...
"Spoil sport. I realise you don't have any proper hot blood in your veins,
but I do feel rather offended by the fact that you'd compare me to an orc. I'm
sure my skin isn't green, rather, it’s an olive colour. I have a small nose,
without warts, my breasts are not misshapen, in fact most people consider them
quite pleasing, and I have very pretty eyes!"
Then she giggles. "But if that's what you'd like to think. Anyway, I'm
sure I said I was the best *human* assassin. And by the way, those people were
mostly after Red Un, not you. The contract they offered was originally on him.
Any people travelling with him were only a bonus."
Abruptly Kalsitra turns around and yells: "Oi Red, when is the rest of
your company going to turn up? They're taking a rather long nap, aren't they?
What say you we break open some more casks and have a drink? I'm sure there's
some decent wine here... Or perhaps some beer?"
Vehementi
Dominus
"If
you want to kill Red, you'll have to get through me and the rest of the crew,
and I can tell you, you won't get past one of us, so if I were you, I'd forget
any damn contracts, else you'll find your blood in one of these bottles...and
yeah, I'd kill you in half the time I'd kill an orc..."
Vehementi turned away and headed to his cabin.
Vodok
Vodok went
completely red when Kalistra said he was cute. He turned away and tried to
think of something to say or do. Vodivir didn’t care about picking up the stuff
so he sat himself on a barrel as far away from Vodok as possible.
Red Un
Red Un
sighed.
"I guess we'll have to be goin' now. But first, I gotta notify the rest of
the people, in case they show up. Assassin, vampire, don't get into any fight
or anything, let's just say that you are both pretty impressive as far as
people goes."
He walked of the ship, took out a piece of paper and scribbled down:
"We havve set sail. Get to Vega by yerself iff ye are still
interrestedd."
Then he got back to the ship.
"Mr. Elf! Set sail!"
"Okay, Mr. Half-dwarf!"
And so, the ship moved out of the Senja harbour, with Vega as its goal.
Vodok
The short
dwarf had somehow got into trouble with a member of the crew on the ship the
moment the ship left. "My this 'oat go' ta 'ave a bad crew..." the
short dwarf said loudly. Too loudly. "If you dont like the way we run
the ship, do it yourself." he said. "Oh shut up will
you." the short dwarf said. This way of speaking was normal for the
short dwarf since he was raised in Kazordoon... The member of the crew drew a
knife. Not intending to attack but just to warn the short dwarf. Vodivir saw
what was happening and he quickly sprang to action. "He said he hated
every member on the ship! Called you lot fat, he did." Vodivir lied
quickly. "What?? I din't do nuffink wrong!" the short dwarf
yelled. The crewmember seemed to believe Vodivir rather than Vodok and a whole
crowd was coming to watch. The crewmember slowly advanced forward to the short
dwarf. Vodok put down his shield slowly too. When he was about half a foot from
the deck with the shield he suddenly dropped it. His hand sprang to his
backpack with runes. Suddenly the rest of the crew drew knifes to. "I
'fink we can solve 'is peacefully..." the short dwarf said and turned
his hand from the fire bombs he was about to take to one of his ultimate
healing runes. He held it in front of him in his hand. The crew stopped
advancing and the short dwarf started to speak. "I draw 'is rune in...
Ummm... Sign o' peace...? Yeah. Sign of peace. Le' 'e damagae on 'is ship be
healed." he said and carefully placed the ultimate healing in his
backpack. The crew glared at him and returned to work. I’m happy I watch the
king of Thais' speech to the Emperor... the short dwarf thought to himself
since he took the speech from him. Vodivir cursed since the short dwarf was
unharmed and started chewing his sandwiches.
Vehementi
Dominus
Vehementi sat
in the cargo hold, where he had snuck on board the ship in the first place
thinking to himself
"maybe I was a bit harsh on that assassin... but then someone who kills
for money and not for good doesn't deserve my respect, after all, I've fought
hundreds of demons, trained to my optimum countless times to save Tibia and
Sanctuary... but why do I do it? What do I have to gain? Respect from Tibians?
Hell no, them? Respect a vampire? All they see is a walking, bloodsucking
demon, I didn't choose to be what I am, oh well, maybe after we get to the
great library things'll change... I'm hungry."
Vehementi stood up and walked back onto the deck and then into the ship's
kitchen, where he stored all 150 bottles of blood in the ship's larder, he
opened it and took a few swigs of the red fluid.
Red Un
Red Un
grinned at Vodok.
"Oi Vodok, don't get into trouble with the elven crew, 'cause even tough I
don't like elves as much as any dwarves, I know when the odds are against
me."
It was really getting cold now, and Aiyare took out his elven cape. It was made
out of thin fibres, but kept the cold away anyways. Red Un also noticed the
cold, and sniffed.
"Oh no...I think I'm gonna...a...a...ACHOOO!"
He sniffed and sighed.
"Great, I've caught a cold AGAIN!"
Kalistra
When the
short dwarf got into trouble again, Kalistra was hesitant about jumping in.
Although she felt protective of the adorable little dwarf, she wasn't anybody's
babysitter! By the time she was done hesitating, Vodok had solved the problem
himself. What had she expected? He wasn't entirely helpless...
The assassin climbed down the ladder toward the hold of the ship. She thought
she'd seen a few casks of wine lying around. Searching through the many crates
and barrels of beer and food, she finally found 3 casks of excellent wine made
in the Femur Hills.
"Ah, that's perfect!"
Lugging one of the casks through the hold and up the steps towards the galley,
Kalistra wondered if the others would accept her concoction. She knew it
shouldn't bother her after all these centuries, but it did. Especially the
vampire's dismissive demeanour pricked at her heart. Why should she care if
people judged her by her profession? She was far more than a hired tool to be
wielded at will by any who cared to pay her price. But she couldn't expect
others see through to her heart. The assassin had decided long ago it never
paid to lock your heart in ice and become untouchable, because it made a person
brittle. But it was hard to stay caring throughout a long and lonely life. It hadn't
always been that way...
She thought back to her sister with her laughing eyes and beautiful smile. Her
sister would never have become bitter. She would have enjoyed life to the
fullest, just as she always had.
Kalsitra wished yet again that it was her the followers of the dark god had
chosen instead of her sister. All that was left for her now was to seek her
revenge. For Casseira, and for herself. All those that had taken her sister
away from her had to pay. It was the reason she had become an assassin.
She poured half the cask of wine in the cauldron usually reserved for the stew.
Then added several herbs and spices and powders from her pouch, careful not to
get any of her poisons mixed into the brew. After the brew had stewed long
enough the assassin tasted some of it herself, and after judging it adequate,
filled up a tray of cups with her brew. As she picked up the tray to walk
outside, she was startled by the vampire sitting in a dark corner sipping
quietly at some blood, watching her.
She thrust out a cup at the vampire.
"Here you better drink some too. A vampire with a cold is a terrifying
thing to behold."
And she walked up on deck to mete out her medicinal spiced wine.
Red Un
"Aah,
something hot to drink" said Red Un and sniffed again. He took out the mug
he always carried just in case someone would offer him a drink and filled it up
with the warm brew. He took a sip.
"Hmmh...not bad, not bad at all..." he said and emptied the mug in
one swoop. He blinked a little.
"Hey, where'd the cold go?"
He looked at his now empty mug.
"Oh wowie! Where'd ya learn this recipe, Kalistra?"
Vodok
The short
dwarf was offered a drink and a dwarf would never say no to something that
could make him drunk. He took out a flask from his backpack that had a few
drops of beer left. He drank those drops and poured some of the wine into the
flask. He took a sip... The short dwarf felt the extreme warmth coming up to
his body and he quickly drank half of the bottle. "Wow... Betta' than
the Kazordoons Flaming Dragon..." he said out loud. He carefully
placed the bottle in his backpack because he knew that on the Ice Islands he
could use something really warm and tasty. Vodok was hungry now so he went
under deck. He wasn’t going to make another sandwich. That would take to much
time. He took up a cheese that lay on the floor and the sneaked up behind
Vodivir who was happily chewing his sandwich. Vodok quickly threw the cheese as
hard as he could just beside the boat. "My oh my that must be a really
big fish. To bad I don’t have my fishing rod close to me." Vodok said
in a very high and clear voice so Vodivir couldn’t avoid hearing it. "Well
I do! To bad for you!" Vodivir said. He attached a hook to the fishing
line and threw down his rod with a tiny bit of his sandwich on the hook. The
hook pierced the cheese... "I got 'im allready!!" he yelled.
But he didn’t notice Vodoks hand had just taken away his last sandwich. "This
is a big 'un..." he muttered. "There appears to be a cheese on
my hook." Vodivir said.
Red Un
Red Un
rolled his eyes.
"Those two can never stop quarrelling. Hope they stop when we arrive to
Vega. I sense trouble brewing there..."
Vehementi
Dominus
"Thank
you assassin, however, I have no cold as disease is very rare in vampires"
he downed the rest of the bottle of blood and filled it up with wine, then he
took a sip "this is good stuff, where do you get your herbs? I thought the
ones in Sanctuary were the best, I am clearly mistaken."
Kalistra
A curious
feeling suffused the assassin. It started tingling at the tips of her toes,
then spread up to her fingers and to her face and the very ends of her hairs.
Then her cheeks flushed bright pink. Nobody seemed to see just how flustered
their compliments had made her.
Kalistra turned to the vampire.
"It’s true that sanctuary herbs are one of the most potent. However, it’s
the way the plants are harvested that makes the difference. Whether they give
permission for you to use them, or whether you use them without a
by-your-leave. It’s all about forced or voluntary help." She winked,
"Plus there was some essence of Witchblood added. You can only find it on
the King's Isle, or anywhere else where royal blood lies buried. It’s a herb
that can either cure or kill anyone. It also prevents some diseases, such as
the flue."
Then the assassin walked over to Red Un's side. "I learned the recipe from
my mother, a long time ago. Can I have a private word with you?"
At his wary nod she continued. "Why does the Dark Star hunt you? What do
you seek that the Dark Star has put such a high price on your head?"
Red Un
"Well..."
muttered Red Un. "It seems like they want to stop my discovery of the
Library of Legends, where all the knowledge of the past, the now and the future
is stored. But since I've been lucky enough to get out of all their traps, I
guess the price of me head has 'come rather high..."
Then he grinned.
"But then again, any dwarf (or half-dwarf) would be happy to know that
he's worth somethin', so to speak."
Kalistra
The
assassin looks at Red Un thoughtfully.
"ALL knowledge of the past you say? Well, that's certainly interesting! If
you need any extra help, I'd like to come with you. There is a thing or two I'd
like to look up in the Library."
Kalistra's thoughts turned inwards, towards Casseira. Perhaps...
Then she turned her attention back to the half dwarf. She grinned widely.
"Well sure! Of course you're worth something. The last offer they tendered
me was over 3 million black pearls. The only price that has ever exceeded that
is the price they had on my head. But that was a while ago... You should be
proud." Kalistra winked.
Red Un
Red Un
beamed with pride.
"Heh, 3 million black pearls eh? That's somethin' to tell the dwarves back
home."
It had started to snow now, and the sun was starting to set. Aiyare peered at
the horizon.
"Hmm...it does not seem like the ferry is at port. Strange..." he
said.
Vodok
Without
anyone appearing to notice Vodivir had heard what Red Un said. All knowledge
of the past... I can find out a bit more detailed who killed my father... I
only have a name at the moment. He thought. Uh oh... Every single thing
I’ve done must be written there. Vodivir thought.
Vodok had ALSO heard and a bit afterwards he walked up behind the assassin. "Ummm...
Is there any price on me 'ead to, or 'ust Red Un's?" the short dwarf
said and blushed.
Someone suddenly threw something on the short dwarfs head. It didn’t hurt. But
still. No one could hit him in the head without being punished. He looked at
the deck and saw what he least expected: A cheese. Someone had chucked a cheese
on Vodok's head. He saw Vodivir who seemed busy laughing his head off. Vodok
shaped a sphere with a bunch of snow and threw is in the gap of Vodivirs helmet.
The snow didn’t pack very well which was bad for Vodivir since it quickly
spread out inside his armour and on his head. Vodivir quickly took off his
helmet witch proved to be a mistake. Vodok had been prepared for that so
another volley of snow came and hit Vodivir on the face. "This means
war..." He said...
Red Un
Red Un
sighed.
"Will you two stop already? We're almost there, so you better get your
weapons ready..."
Vodok
Vodok
stopped with a snowball in his hand and Vodivir had ducked under his shield. "Weapons?
Is there gonna be any fightin' then?" Vodivir asked from under his
shield. Vodok dropped his snowball and Vodivir came up from under his shield.
Vodivir went under the deck and start taking out the snow under his armour.
Vodok tightened his scarf. He took a bite from the cold sandwich and soon
enough he was stuffing the food in his mouth. But it was hard work chewing down
a frozen sandwich with snow on. Especially when the sandwich was so large. It
had: Orange pieces, bread, melon pieces, lots of cheese, strawberries, bread,
ham, sliced meat, fried egg, egg shells, Vodivir had also poured beer on top of
the sandwich, and lots of more things. Still thinking about Red Un saying to
have weapons ready Vodok drew one of the poisoned daggers he had in his
backpack that had pierced through his armour and almost killed the short dwarf
in his left leather boot. He got the idea from a stranger in Kazordoon. He took
his clothes under his armour and put over the dagger so it was almost invisible
for everyone that passed by. He also took a sudden death rune inside his
clothes under his armour and could reach it any second. He had got this idea
too from the paranoid stranger who had walked through Kazordoon once. He stood
against the mast and waited until the boat came to Vega.
Kalistra
Kalistra
smiled at Vodok and stepped up beside him. Then she ruffled his hair, which
caused him to indignantly put on his helm. The assassin loosened her sword in
its sheath and tied up her hair with a leather string.
"Ready."
Red Un
As the ship
stopped next to the ferry, Red Un gripped his sword. Then he saw that the
ferryman had been killed.
"Thought as much..."
Then he saw a bunch of people. That had black robes. One of them stepped
forward.
"This is your last chance, Redwick Undersoor! Turn back now or meet the
ten best swordsmen of the Dark Star!"
Red Un grinned as he jumped overboard, onto the snow.
"Y'mean except for the one I killed in the desert?" he said and drew
his blade. The ten robed men advanced.
"There's no Chelestrans to help you this time, half-dwarf..."
Kalistra
Kalistra grinned. It was always such a pleasure to kill someone belonging to the Dark
Star.
The assassin leaped over the side of the boat, landing next to Red Un.
"Look who wants to play," she purred happily, looking at the ten
robed men as if they were a bowl of cream.
Then she said, suddenly turning towards Red Un anxiously: "You don't mind
sharing them, do you? Please can I join in? Pleeeeease?"
There was a pleading yet slightly maniacal look in the assassin's eyes.
Vodok
Vodivir
jumped off the boat. "You may be the best swordsmen of the Dark Star,
but have you met the greatest hammer man of Kazordoon?" Vodivir said
dramatically. Vodok quickly jumped down. "They ain't. And they won''
'cause they'll be 'ead before 'ey get tar Kazordoon..." Vodok said. He
drew one fire bomb and one sudden death. Vodok decided not to stall it so he
shot the fire bomb at them since they for some odd reason were standing in a
row. But the fire spell was useless since they all dived into the snow and they
were out within a few seconds. The other three quickly ran forward. Vodivir
slowly backed away and two figures kept on running at him. One of them grinned.
At the last second Vodivir dived forward and struck a blow on the grinning mans
head. The helmet seemed to be very good. He stumbled backward. The other robed
figure started trying to poke with his sword in attempt to find an opening in
Vodivirs armour. This person seemed to go more for the light swords that didn’t
weigh too much. The other figure was still stumbling around on the other hand
had a giant sword. Vodok was quick to shoot his sudden death rune on the
stumbling figure. He swiftly ran past the battle and started dealing heavy and
clumsy blows. They didn’t give much effect. Vodok quickly drew and explosion
rune and fired. The figure was tossed away several feet. Then the three figures
Vodok had fire bombed decided to save the other robed figure...
Red Un
"Don't
get over-confident, assassin. These are no ordinary Dark Star-members..."
One of the robed men swung his blade with amazing speed towards Red Un. The
half-dwarf jumped away quickly, but the blade still made a deep cut in his
armour.
"Right, I'll get ya for that!" he yelled and swung his sword in a
deadly arc. The robed man parried it easily, and the two started a dangerous
duel across the snow. Red Un was always a little slow, but always managed to
duck away at the last minute. The robed man, however, was almost impossible to
hit...
Vodok
The short
dwarf decided it was time to run since he had three extremely skilled sword
fighters after him. Two with a giant sword and one with a long and light sword.
The short dwarf kicked the stumbling robed figure on his legs and he stumbled
onto a pool of ice. He slipped and his damaged helmet broke with a violent
crack. The figure was up again but weaker. "Oi! Vodivir! Some 'elp
'ere?" the short dwarf yelled. Vodivir thought. Trouble for Vodok
and dishonour for me... Honour for me and no trouble for Vodok... he
thought. Since a lot of people thought a lot of Vodivir he ran forward with his
hammer high in the air.
Red Un
Red Un
desperately parried another swing from the robed man. He was too fast, just too
fast...
THUCK!
The robed man looked down and saw an arrow in sticking out of his chest. He
stopped and pulled it out.
"Elven..."
Then he fell together, dead. Red Un looked around and saw that Aiyare was
standing in the crow's nest atop of the ship's tallest mast, with a longbow in
his hand.
"The next one is yours, Mr. Half-dwarf!"
"Thank you, Mr. Elf!" Red Un yelled back and charged at another robed
man, who was obviously not as fast as the first one, but with muscles to
compensate for it.
Kalistra
Seeing as
everyone was joining into the fray without a by-your-leave, except for the
vampire who seemed to be taking a nap, Kalistra decided to join in as well.
There seemed to be three black robes with little to do, and she decided they
were for her. She slipped out her pair of poisoned throwing daggers and palmed
them, testing their weight. Satisfied she turned towards one of the black robes
that started towards her.
"Are you going to-?" The swordsman's words were sliced from his
throat by the dagger now protruding from under his chin. Blood spouted as he
coughed and bumbled backward, sliding onto the snow, which rapidly soaked red.
His two companions' eyes narrowed and they rushed towards the assassin.
Kalistra's eyes narrowed in concentration. The swordsmen spun their swords
skilfully, but managed to get into each other's way, because they were used to
solitary battles. As their attention wavered momentarily, the assassin whipped
out her sword and batted away the sword of the left guy and ducked coming up
again under his guard. Then she kneed him in the groin. As the swordsman
collapsed in a heap, she threw her other dagger underhanded at the other Dark
Star member, who reacted quickly and blocked it with his forearm that was
protected by a metal brace.
Backing up a step, the assassin took stock. The swordsman immediately lunged
towards her, and she barely parried his sword in time.
Red Un
Red Un
easily parried the clumsy (but very strong) blows of the robed man he was
fighting. His own swings made deep cuts in his opponent, but the Dark Star
member kept fighting.
Then, suddenly, he backed away. So did the other (surviving) robed men. All of
them looked as if they were listening for something. Then they quickly mad a
circle and joined hands. A powerful shield of magic erupted around them, and
when Red Un had had shaken of the surprise and tried to attack them, his sword
simply bounced of the field. Then he heard that the robed men were mumbling.
And that something was materialising in the ring. Something demon-shaped.
"Oh no..." said Red Un and backed away.
"I suggest you get any magic ya have 'round ready, 'cause we're gonna need
it soon."
Vodok
"Oh
no yeh dont!!" the
short dwarf yelled. The figure that lay wounded on the ice had some how hovered
up to the ring and he was holding hands with the rest. The short dwarf quickly
drew a heavy magic missile. He shot at on the figures. They seemed to have some
sort of anti magic shield. "Oh kaay..." the short dwarf said. "'Is
'ould be a nice time te quickly run onta' tha ship and get outta 'ere..." the
short dwarf muttered to Red Un.
Red Un
"NO!
Not when we are this close to the Library!" said Red Un.
The magical shield shimmered, and disappeared. In the middle of it, inside the
circle of robed men, stood...
"P'Faardh! The Demon of the Scrolls!"
"YES, PUNY MORTALS! MY TIME FOR REVENGE HAS COME! AND THERE ARE NO DWARVEN
MAGICIANS TO HELP YOU THIS TIME!"
Red Un looked over at Vodok.
"Vodok! Do you remember the spell that the Emperor used against P'Faardh?
Use it!"
Vodok
"What???
Yeh cant expect me te' do it all alone!" the short dwarf muttered to Red Un so the demon
wouldn’t hear. The demon threw a fireball high into the air. "TIME TO
SPILL SOME BLOOD!" he yelled. "I really wish we finished 'im
off instead o' 'is... Ill try 'at spell if you 'elp me. Keep 'em figures away
from me while I'll do it 'cause 'ey'll like a clean swing at me neck. And
provide me with energy when I need it. A'ight?" the short dwarf said.
With no time to lose he started working the spell after he had shot a great
fireball and the bunch of them just for fun.
Red Un
"Righto..."
said Red Un and looked at the rapidly approaching robed men and the towering
demon.
"Erm, Kalistra? I could use some help with this..."
Aiyare took aim at another Black Star-member and fired another arrow. However,
his target merely stood still and swung his sword. The arrow changed its path
and flew back towards Aiyare, who didn't have time to duck. The arrow hit him
in the shoulder, and he stumbled out of the crows' nest and fell down onto the
deck far below.
Kalistra
Kalistra
was pretty surprised when all the robed men started summoning the demon, and
the guy she had killed rose up from the dead. Even the Black Star member
groaning over his crotch stood up to join the circle. Although she supposed
that after a few centuries they were bound to learn some new tricks. She
thought the demon P'Faard was quite impressive.
"Erm, Kalistra? I could use some help with this..."
Quickly the assassin bend down and swept up another sword. She really wanted to
see that library. Vodok started chanting an ancient sounding spell that seemed
to slow down the demon somewhat.
"Are ya sure this is gonna work?" she yelled at Red Un as she jumped
in front of Vodok and next to Red Un. She saw how an arrow flying towards a
Black Star member changed its path and flew right back at the shooter, whom she
thought was Aiyare.
"Maybe we need some more magic..." Kalistra crossed her two swords in
front of her, briefly making a shallow cut in her wrists. Chanting a quick
sequence under her breath and concentrating, black flames started running up
her sword and down her arms, generating from the cuts on her wrists and the
blood on her sword. Black flames started pouring out of the blood that had
dripped onto the snow as well, joining the other flames to envelop the two
dwarves and the girl.
"Right, we should be protected a little while now, so do your thing
please."
Vodok
The short
dwarf didn’t reply. He was coming to the trickier bits now. The short dwarf was
still chanting. At one moment he almost lost control over the demon. But he
regained the control quickly. "A'ight. We take one side each of Vodok
and he ought to be safer.” Vodivir said as he moved towards the south ready
for battle. A member of the Dark Star who seemed to go for light and easy
weapons jumped over the fire. He thought everyone was still at the north side
so he was hoping for a clean swing at Vodok's neck. Vodivir blocked the blow
with his hammer. The robed figure went down to the feet but Vodivir had seen
how they fight. He jumped over the blade as he prepared a blow towards the
helmet of his opponent but to his big surprise the blow was blocked. "My
oh my you really and fast...” Vodivir muttered. Still in the same awkward
position Vodivir kicked hardly with his steel boots on the legs of the figure
who stumble backwards, rather than forward when Vodivir would easily kill him.
But he wasn’t used to fighting in a ring of fire so he stumbled through the
fire instead.
Red Un
P'Faard
laughed evilly.
"LITTLE WOMAN, DO YOU REALLY THINK YOUR SIMPLE SORCERY CAN STOP ME?"
He breathed in, and then blew out a sparkling, blue wind that put out the fire.
The robed men had surrounded the party, and now came charging, with weapons
raised. Red Un grinned.
"Bad move..."
The large, muscular warrior that he had fought before came at him, sword raised
high. Red Un thrust out his sword, straight forward. Before the robed man could
stop, he had run straight into the sword.
"There goes another one" said Red Un and pulled out his sword.
Kalistra
As Vodivir
fell through the flames, he found they didn't burn him, but shielded him
instead, pushing him upright once more.
Then the demon blew out the magical flames with his breath, laughing.
Kalistra laughed right back at the demon.
"You have forgotten so much over the centuries, P'Faard. Don't you
remember me? Blood magic is an ancient form of magic, nearly forgotten. There
is power in blood."
Kalistra concentrated on her blood, and the black flames blew up again,
trapping the four dwarves and the assassin in a protective ring of black
flames... Together with the Dark Star swordsmen.
The demon P'Faard threw red flames against Kalistra's black ones, but her
barrier held. Sweat beaded on her brow at the effort. The Dark Star members she
had battled earlier charged at her, seeing her weakness. Quickly she uncrossed
her two blades and stepped lightning quick to the left, forcing all three foes
to suddenly redirect their swords. Kalistra slammed her left blade against the
back of the man she had already killed. Her sword cut easily through the
vertebrae, but then lodged into the ribs. Abandoning the blade, she almost
ripped a muscle to wrench up her right arm, just in time to block the sword thrust
from the Dark Star member she had kicked earlier. The dead man with the slit
throat and the sword sticking out of his back collapsed on the snow,
shuddering. Kalistra concentrated on her other two foes.
Vodok
P'Faard had
shaken off the spell and didn’t dare do anything to destructive. The men who
had summoned him would also banish him if they died. P'Faard's existence on the
island was depending on the Dark Star members. Since Vodok wouldn’t do anything
good by just sitting in the middle of the flames and doing nothing he drew a
fire bomb rune. He fired in front of one of the Dark Star members who was now
trapped between the black fire and the fire bomb. He didn’t dare move which
make it a good time to kill him. He drew a sudden death rune and fired at the
figure. He stood firm knowing death would await him if he backed into the black
flames. He ran through the fire bomb instead.
Vodivir bounced back inside the "arena" which the Dark Star members
couldn’t be prepared for. Neither was Vodivir. But he came to his senses before
the Black Star member. He drew his hammer and crushed the armour of the member.
The member turned around as quickly as his crushed ribs could allow. They
weren’t broken but extremely crushed. He drew his giant sword. Vodok took the opportunity
to stand up. He silently drew the poison dagger from his boots. "I dont
have much honor." Vodok said loud and clearly. The member spun around
again. "But I do have some..." Vodok said and thrust the
dagger between the ribs in the member's ribs and into the heart. "Witch
stops me from stabbing you in the back." he said cooly and drew out
the blood stained dagger.
Red Un
"Vodok?
What the heck are ya doin'? Isn't the spell working?"
Red Un swung his sword at one of the remaining seven robed men. The Black
Star-member ducked, and his hood fell of, revealing...
"YOU!"
"Yes, Redwick Undersoor, it is me. And this time you won't escape with
forbidden knowledge..."
Two other black stars gathered around Red Un. But the one with his face
revealed held up a hand.
"No, this one is mine!"
"As you wish, master..."
Red Un didn't hesitate to strike with his sword again, but the Master was even
faster than the one before, and made a jump high into the air. That wasn't as
strange as the fact that he remained in the air. And that his hands started to
shimmer...
Vodok
"Well...
Its workin' ok I guess... Bu' its pointless. P'faard can'' shoot nothin' at us
since that'll 'urt the other people. So I migh' s'well kill some'un." the short dwarf said ignoring the
fact that someone seemed to be flying high up in the air.
Red Un
Red Un
looked at the hovering Master.
"What are you doing? Come down 'ere and fight!"
But the Master just smiled evilly. His hands glowed even stronger now.
"That it would have come to this, half-dwarf. I must make sure that you
never reach the library, if it so takes my last energy away. I will destroy
this island, and all that is on it!"
Red Un swung his sword at the Master, but it bounced of some sort of magical
field. Meanwhile, P'Faard looked angrily at the master.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, POWERFUL MORTAL? I WILL NOT ALLOW SUCH A
THING!"
His eyes glowed and sent out two deadly arcs of energy. But they merely bounced
of the master.
"Now now, P'Faard, don't you remember our motto? The Ends Always Justifies
The Means!"
Kalistra
Kalistra
panted with the effort of maintaining her protective blood circle against
P'Faard's attacks and the two Dark Star assassins.
Suddenly one of the Dark Star members flew up into the air to her left. Distracted,
Kalistra let the enemy on her right through her guard, and a fiery pain
blossomed as his sword flicked out and scraped her ribs.
"Bloody hell," she muttered. Then P'Faard relaxed his fire attack
upon her shield and sent out two arcs of energy that hit the Black Robe... But
bounced of!
"I'm confused!" the assassin wailed out loudly to Red Un. Then she
decided to ignore it and concentrate on killing her share of black robes. She
did hate receiving scars.
Kicking out at the foe on her left, she followed with a flurry of parries,
turning so that her back faced the man high in the air. The two Dark Star
members, surprised by her renewed attack, backed away. Kalistra smiled. It was
already too late for them. The Dark Star assassin faltered as his heel caught
in a snowdrift. Kalistra took advantage by stabbing the man's swordhand,
causing him to cry out and drop his sword, which she caught before it could
fall to the ground. Armed with two swords, she barely batted away the dagger
that came flying towards her, thrown by the disarmed man. She quickly
dispatched him by swinging both her blades from different directions towards
his neck, decapitating him in one stroke. The second Darj Star member backed
away, unsure of himself. Then he thought, it’s only a young girl... And
advanced with his sword raised. Contemptuously Kalistra parried his strokes
with both blades, then knocked away his blade with one sword, and rammed the
other sword through his left eye. Twitching, he joined his other fellows on the
blood-drenched snow.
This having taken only a few minutes, Kalsitra turned towards Red Un to see
what was happening.
Vodok
The short
dwarf ran up to the twitching figure and finished him off with his fire sword.
He ducked from an attack he knew was coming and he pressed against the dead
body causing the short dwarf to fly backwards and clashed against the black
robed man. The robed figure fell backwards meeting with Vodivir who took the
opportunity to bash his with his war hammer. The figure flew forward and fell
face down into the snow. When the short dwarf stood up again there came a
mighty blow on his sword. He managed to save his own life but the sword flew
away, melting the snow where it landed. But then another blow came. The short
dwarf blocked with his shield that he hadn’t really got on to his arm yet so
the shield flew away. The short dwarf drew the rune he had put under his armour
and fired and the heavily built man who seemed to go for heavy blows rather
than jabbing people. The unarmed short dwarf became a nice target for all the
robed figures. "Get that unarmed one!" one of the men
commanded. They all advanced on the short dwarf. The short dwarf was ready
though. Suddenly one of the men with a broken helmet smashed down to the
ground. It was the same man the short dwarf and Vodivir had beaten up earlier.
A huge, bloodstained hammer was where the head used to be. Vodivir sliced his
neck just to be sure. Vodok on the other hand was busy dodging blades. One of
the blades had made a cut in the short dwarf's face. And it was now bleeding
freely. The heavy built man was coming up to the short dwarf to give the
finishing blow. The short dwarf bowed in self defence. The man wasn’t prepared
for that but it didn’t stop him. He came up to the bowing short dwarf. With
only two small holes in his helmet as a weak spot the short dwarf flew up in
the air and pelted a bunch of snow in the mans eyes. He quickly took the mans
sword since he had dropped it. "This is for the scar you gave
me..." the short dwarf yelled and gave a clumsy blow on the mans
helmet. "This is for the deaths you caused!" the short dwarf
yelled and gave another clumsy blow this time at the armour. "AND THIS
IS FOR KAZORDOON!!" he yelled and recalled all the memories of what he
knew about two-handed swords. Aim towards the foot... Turn the blow upwards
when the target jumps back... he thought as the target jumped back. Aim
for the crack between the helmet and the neck... the short dwarf thought as
he sliced the head clean off with his own sword. "Just as if the
commander was beside me showing me what to..." And just then the short
dwarf got a heavy blow on his helmet and he fell down to the ground.
Kalistra
Kalistra
watched as Vodok hacked in on the man she had run through the eye and smiled.
Perhaps it was best to make sure they stayed dead this time. She decided to let
the two dwarves have some fun and kill their share.
She watched proudly as the dwarf geomancer Vodok made an excellent sword form
against one of the Black Star members, decapitating him. Suddenly she saw
another black robe rise up behind Vodok. She yelled a warning at him, but it
was too late. As Vodok fell too the ground, Kalsitra cursed and threw the sword
she had taken from the black robes so it flew end over end. She muttered a
quick incantation. It plunged straight towards the man's heart. Such was the
force of the blood spell that the sword punched straight through the Dark Star
member's armour and buried itself in his heart. Coughing blood, the man
collapsed before he could harm Vodok further.
Quickly she ran to Vodok's still form and stood over him. All of the black
robes were dead now, apart from the man floating in the air.
"Vodivir, can you hack off the heads of all the bodies? That way they
should stay dead."
Quickly she bent down and took off Vodok's helmet. He had a big lump starting
to form on top of his head, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. Kalistra reached
into one of her pockets and withdrew a small vial filled with a greenish
liquid. She opened the stopper carefully and waved it under Vodok's nose.
Red Un
Red Un
looked up at the grinning Master.
"All of your little helpers are dead!"
"Good, they sacrificed themselves for our cause. And now, I shall
too!"
The Master was barely visible in his bubble of energy now. The whole island
started trembling.
"Farewell, seekers of forbidden knowledge!"
Then, Red Un suddenly looked over at Vodok.
"Vodok! Gimmie a firebomb or something, fast!"
Vodok
The short
dwarf sniffed on the small bottle. He coughed several times. "Vodok!
Gimmie a fire bomb or something, fast!" he heard. Red Un seemed
desperate so the short dwarf hurried to get a fire bomb. "'Ere yeh
go." he said and threw the fire bomb to Red Un.
Vodivir was quickly chopping the heads of the members of the Black Star.
Kalistra
Since the
demon P'Faard seemed to be temporarily on their side, Kalistra let the
protective black flames subside a little, so the demon could get at the
floating black robe better.
Red Un
Red Un
caught the rune, ran under the Master and fired it straight upwards. The
magical bubble, with the Master inside, flew upwards, upwards...
Before the Master could react, he was out in space, and saw all of Tibia one
last time. Then he exploded.
The light of the explosion lit up the whole Ice Island area. After a while, a
shape was seen in the sky, and soon the robed remains of the Master crashed
into the snow. He coughed angrily as Red Un approached the burned crater.
"Damn you...half-dwarf...you won't get away with this. We'll get you...one
day...your life will end soon..."
Red Un grinned.
"Just as yours."
Then he went back to the others.
"Right, let's find that Library...."
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