Chapter 18, in which the Adventurers fight some angry ghosts, and has to change objective

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi's skin started to boil from the intense light, the vampirism in him was still there and a natural light that strong was too powerful for the elf in him to counter, he fell to the floor with his skin blistering and black blood seeping out of his blisters, he lay there dying and in desperate need of blood.

Vodok
The short dwarf ran onto the ship with his cut in his face still bleeding. He saw the vampire twitching on the floor. Some blood from the short dwarfs face splashed on the face of the vampire when the short dwarf bent over him. "Ummm... Are yeh allright?" the short dwarf asked as more blood splashed the vampires face.

Red Un
Red Un looked at Vodok running to the ship.

"Oh right, Aiyare!"

He also ran onto the ship, and found Aiyare lying on the deck.

"It seems that I have many broken bones, Mr. Half-Dwarf...But I've had worse...I've...had..."

He fainted. Red Un looked around desperately.

"Healer! He needs a healer!"

Vehementi Dominus
As the blood dripped on Vehementi's face the blisters started to reverse. Eventually he had enough energy to stand.

"Thanks dwarf, I haven't had dwarf blood in a long time."

Verhementi picked up and sheathed his NightBlade.

"I've been thinking... should we find the library? ..I mean, it'll contain things that the living aren't meant to know, it could cause chaos."

Vodok
"It allso contains all o' the infm'tion. What'll 'appen, 'ow it'll 'appen, when it will happen. With 'is infomation we'd be able to live longer than we've ever dreamed of! We'll know wha' battles brings us disshonor and death and witch gives us glory!" the short dwarf said. Most of all I'll know how to avenge my mother's death. The short dwarf thought. "'Elp me stop 'is bleedin' now will yeh?" the short dwarf asked the vampire.

Vehementi Dominus
"Gladly Vodok."

Vehementi reached into his bag and pulled out a metal stick, he lit a fire and stuck the metal rod in till it was glowing red, then he sealed up Vodok's gash across his face with the metal stick.

"Better?"

Red Un
"Hey vampire! Ya think that staff will work on the elf too? If we don't hurry, he'll be a goner..."

Kalistra
Kalistra ran quickly over to Aiyare. Seeing the arrow stuck in his shoulder, she said: "We have to get the arrow out, then staunch the flow of blood. If Vehementi uses his stick to cauterize the wound, then I'll set the bones."

The assassin took out one of her daggers and drew it across her forearm, creating a steady trickle of blood. She held her arm so that the flow of blood dripped onto the arrow wound. Black flames started to gently lick around the wound and the assassin's cut arm. Slowly the cut on her arm disappeared, closed by the black flames that diminished slowly around both wounds.

"The energy that has entered his body will help set his bones. Now stand ready to pull the arrow out Red Un, and get that rod ready vampire. On my count: one, two... three!"

Vehementi Dominus
The arrow head refused to move without ripping Aiyare's shoulder out.

"Damnit, they use barbed arrows, push it through the other side, cut the head off, then pull the stick back out."

Vodok
Vodivir who never lost a chance to make himself more popular threw himself forward with a dagger in his hand and quickly cut off the arrow head.
Red Un
Red Un pulled out the rest of the arrow and looked at it.

"Hmm...nope, luckily it ain't poisoned..."

Kalistra
"Vampire! Powers that be, get that wound sealed! We're losing him."

Not waiting for Vehementi to react, the assassin bend over the still form of the captain and put her hands on his stomach.

"Hmmm, internal bleeding, broken hip, fractured shinbone, broken ankle..."

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi was licking the blood off of the arrow head, when the rest of the ships crew looked at him angrily.

"...heh.... sorry."

Vehementi heated up the rod again and cauterised the wound.

"anyone know any curative majick? I only stopped external bleeding, chances are, he'll die without majick...just pointing out the obvious."

Red Un
Aiyare opened his eyes.

"I have a herb...in my pouch..."

Red Un quickly grabbed the pouch at Aiyares' belt and took out a small, dry herb.

"Now...I have to eat it..."

Red Un put the herb in Aiyares mouth. He swallowed. There was a green, shimmering light, and then he coughed heavily.

"Pheew! It tastes bad, but it does good..."

Then he got on his feet, slowly.

"I'm alright, but I'll have to stay here and rest a little. You can go on without me."

Vehementi Dominus
"Nuhuh, if one of us has to rest, all of us do, we'll wait till you're ready to go before we set off again, but it's up to Red whether we do or not."

Vehementi walked over to a dead frozen tree and leant against it.

Red Un
"I can't wait to find the Library when we're this close!" said Red Un and took out the key he had found in the desert so long ago. He looked longingly at it.

Kalistra
"I dunno Red Un. Everyone wants to find the library. However, maybe a short rest would help everyone recover enough to be able to face new challenges. Or is that library entirely unprotected? Besides, the Brotherhood of the Black Star should be knocked out for a while. Did you see that guy fly? Eheh."

Then she groaned and clutched her ribs. "Vehementi? Would you be a darling and close this wound for me as well? It won't stop bleeding..."

Vodok
The short dwarf went up onto the deck and sat himself on a barrel close by. He took out his fishing rod and started fishing. Vodivir came by and said something VERY unexpected. "I... I cant believe I'm saying this... I..." Vodivir muttered. "I liked you're work with that sword." Vodivir said and turned away. "Yeah?? Well 'e same ter you!!" the short dwarf replied. Then he recalled the memory of what Vodivir had said. The short dwarf almost fell off the boat in shock. This was it. He could say something nice back to Vodivir, and they could be friends, he could also come with a snappy reply and keep as they were going. The short dwarf sat silently for a second. "Uhmmm... Good fightin'..." he muttered so low that Vodivir could barely hear it. "To tell the truth, I didnt think you were any good at all. Stick's and stone's, I'll break yer bones, but words cant really kill yeh! Thats what my ol' dad used to say. So when I heard you were using spells, in other words, using words, I assumed you couldnt fight!" Vodivir said. "My dad used to say that too.” Vodok replied. "You dont think... We cant be... We cant possibly be RELATED!" Vodivir replied. The short dwarf sighed. He had suspected it a long time, if you look for details they were pretty much the same. "Me mum was tall, 'ated wine, an' loved beer. She di'nt like the elves alot. She used heavy clubs to fight with. Me dad di'nt like magic." the short dwarf started. "Oh gods... Same with me mum... My mum ended by getting murdered by some unknown human. My dad used axes. He was in the great battle of Elven Bane, one of the few surviving dwarf, the only surviving dwarf!" Vodivir said. "My dad was the only surviving dwarf to!! 'At means... We're... We're brothers!" the short dwarf yelled. "Seeing the woman that was murdered was my, umm... you're... no, OUR mother, you must have thought's of avenging her...?" Vodivir asked. "I'd see 'at man dead at all costs..." the short dwarf muttered. "Good. Well. Now I've gotta go grab something to eat." Vodivir said slightly confused since the last minute he had become a friend with his former worst enemy, and discovered they were brothers.

Red Un
Red Un rolled his eyes at the two now-friendly dwarves.

"Well, if they had discovered that a little earlier, it had saved us a lot of trouble. Oh well..."

He turned to Aiyare.

"I guess the party has spoken. We'll rest here until tomorrow. Where's the sleepin' quarters?"

Aiyare looked around.

"We-ell...there is one bed...for me, that is. I usually let my passengers sleep in the cargo hold. I think there's some madrasses there that I do not think have decomposed too much..."

Vehementi Dominus
"I need not a bed, I don't sleep, I'll stay and guard you all."

Vehementi took a swig of blood.

"Hmmmmmm, swamp troll blood, poisonous to humans, but I like it."

Vodok
The short dwarf caught a fish and he dragged it down to the cargo hold. He quickly took a madrass before anyone else, and fell asleep with the fish beside him.

Red Un
Red Un went below deck and got a madrass.

Well, he thought, I've slept on worse things in me days. And this doesn't smell near as bad as me anyway.

He rolled it up on the cargo floor and tried to sleep a bit...

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi pulled out a pipe, filled it with pipeweed, he didn't know how to light it, being a fighter, he didn't know much majick and thus couldn't keep a flame going for long enough to light the pipe, he kept trying though, and after half an hour of practicing he managed to grasp how to channel the energy to make a small flame, big enough to light his pipe, he was impressed with this, although not a very big flame, no bigger than the two fingers he held it on, it was the best he could do, he stuck the flame in the pipe and then extinguished it, then sat down in the snow and smoked the pipeweed.

Vodok
The short dwarf had rolled onto the fish and was now sleeping on the fish that wasn’t much smaller than the dwarf himself, since dwarfs are short, and short dwarves shorter...

Vodivir was standing on deck watching the moon. He decided to sort out his backpack. It didn’t contain anything special, unless you count his scrolls and books. A fish suddenly tugged on his fishing line. Vodivir dropped the scroll and grabbed the fishing rod. He managed to pull up the rod but the fish had managed to get off the hook. He turned back to the scroll. It was gone. Vodivir yelled several oaths and suddenly started running around the whole ship, looking for the scroll. The short dwarf woke up on the sound of the oaths. He quickly rolled off the fish and he went up to the deck with a sword in one hand and a rune in the other, ready to fight. He saw no one. Until Vodivir came. "You yelled 'at? Why?" the short dwarf said. "I lost a scroll..." Vodivir said slowly in the voice as if he was saying that the world was going to be destroyed. "You yelled that 'cause o' some paper with ink on??" the short dwarf asked. "Yeah, the ink telling me the reason I'm trying to get to the libary. A few words describing the killer of my mother." Vodivir said. "Oh. You're mum's dead. 'Ang on a secon'! You're mum's my mum!! THAT SCROLL CONTAINED THE INFOMATION I'VE B'IN SEARCHINI' FOR IN 20 YEARS?!" the short dwarf yelled. "Not all of it... Only abit. I was gonna tell you in the morning... But I remember a bit of it... Said this: He’s a human got dark got heavy sword got a black star on his arm dark robe he's... Then there was no more. When I returned home I saw the body and I searched the whole house, without even knowing why. Found it in drawer. When I came with this boat, and saw the black stars tatooed on the arms of the men... I knew I was coming closer. When I heard of the Libiary, it would give me infoation where this man was." Vodivir said. "'E only reason I came with these people was ter kill that man you desscribed!!" the short dwarf yelled. "Im tired now, Im goin' ter sleep again..." the short dwarf continued and walked down into the cargo hold.

Kalistra
Kalistra walked towards the main mast and sat down, leaning her back against it. She took out her sword and the 3 daggers she had found on the battlefield while they were cleaning up the bodies, and started to hone them. She had debated bringing another sword and strapping them both on her back, but that always seemed to bring her bad luck, so she had refrained from doing so.

As Kalistra honed her blades, she watched Vodivir drop his scroll and try to draw in a fish. The assassin narrowed her eyes when she saw a shadow form near the dwarf, seemingly a natural one caused by the gently rocking ship and the moon. Then it lifted, and the scroll had disappeared as well. As the commotion started and Vodok came running up on deck, the assassin sighed. So that's what they're looking for... She smiled at the irony of the two ex-archenemies being brothers. She put away her blades and closed her eyes. Soon enough, all their questions would be answered...

Vodok
Vodok went down into the cargo hold and fell asleep at once. Vodivir on the other hand started rewriting the scroll, or at least the bits he remembered.

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi had just finished the pipweeed when he heard something, he stood up and drew his NightBlade, although he could see in the dark, he was unsure as to what the noise was.

Kalistra
Kalistra's eyes snapped open as she heard a whisper of steel as a blade was unsheathed. Quietly she stood up and padded towards the noise, two daggers appearing in her hands as if by magic. Then she smelled the pipeweed smoke and realised it must be Vehementi that had drawn his sword. Trusting his instincts she soundlessly walked up to him and whispered:

"What do you see?"

Dargon The Mastermind
The man walked, following the trail. For two days now on Vega, he had been searching for a polar bear (he had heard one lived around here) and he wanted to prove to his family that he could kill a large bear. However, while walking along the shore, following tracks, he saw a large flash in the sky and lots of yelling and explosions. Wondering what was up, he ran over (though it took a long while for he was quite far away from the spot). When he finally reached it he saw what had been a huge battle, the victors had apparently left. "But what were they fighting against?" As he looked around, he noticed the ship, he quietly climbed aboard, and said a quick hello before dodging a sword "Hey watch it! I didn't do nothin' wrong!" he cried out as he was lifted into the ship by a man…


Kalistra
Kalistra tensed when she felt Vehementi move like lightning. Her eyesight was far less impressive than his, so she awaited his word on what to do.

"Hey watch it! I didn't do nothin' wrong!" a man said.

The man had actually dodged the vampire's Nightblade! Kalistra was impressed. Luckily Vehementi had been quick enough to haul the man in by the scruff. So she waited to see why someone was sneaking on board in the middle of the night...

Vodok
The short dwarf stopped in the middle of the way down. He also heard the voice. Vodivir had his war hammer up in a matter of seconds. He slowly walked to the cause of the sound. He saw a figure being pulled on the boat. The short dwarf had arrived to. No one knew what was happening. "Utevo Gran Lux." the short dwarf muttered. A huge light arose around the dwarf, for a second everyone was blind. But they got used to the light very quickly. "Who are you??" Vodivir asked quickly.

Dargon The Mastermind
"Names Dargon. I'm a villager from Senja. Came here to prove to my family that I could survive alone in the wilderness." He swallowed nervously, seeing as how the three all carried weapons, and he’d be no match, even with all his magic skills. He was thoroughly trained in magic arts, being trained by an assortment of different wizards. After being trusted to stand up, there was a light coming from the dwarf. "Not that strong though..." thought Dargon as he said aloud "Amrasi Nogifo," and as they all tensed their weapons, a large light came that seemed to be coming from every wooden object on the ship. After seeing no present danger they all did nothing, but stood there with their weapons ready. Soon one of them spoke...

Vodok
"Bet I could'a done that jus' as good..." the short dwarf muttered. "Well, you seem like you wont do any harm, so you can tag allong, at least thats what I say..." Vodivir said and looked at the rest. "The names Vodivir by the way, I'm a dwarven guard of Kazordoon. Vodok here, is my brother, the first dwarven geomancer." Vodivir presented himself and Vodok proudly, now he understood the power of magic. "Yeh can probaly come with us, bu' yeh might 'ave te pay the trip to where ever were goin', since Ayaire ain't gonna let you come on for free..." the short dwarf said to Dargon, used to the greedy dwarves.

Red Un
Aiyare came out on the deck.

"What is all this ruckus about? I am trying to sleep..."

Then he noticed the newcomer, and the fact that the whole ship was glowing.

"Great gods of nature! Get that light away, before we attract any sea monsters!"

Red Un was still sleeping below deck. And he was dreaming...

It was the darkness again, and he was falling. But this time, it suddenly...stopped! He stood on something...and there was someone there...

"So, half-dwarf, it seems like you have defeated us...for now."

Red Un looked around, and saw a robed man. It was the Master.

"What're YOU doin' in my dream?"

"It's just a little revenge I'll have. I am quite skilled in the arts of dream-magic, so when I died, I quickly put my soul in your head. You'll meet me every time you go to sleep, and there I shall haunt you..."

Red Un grinned.

"Oh well, doesn't seem to be a big deal. I've gotten pretty used to nightmares by now. And when I find the library, there'll probably be a cure there."

The Master laughed evilly.

"Oh, is that what you think, half-dwarf? Is that what you think..."

The Red Un started falling again. But before anything more happened, he was awakened by the voices above deck...

Kalistra
"Well sugar, can't say it was very smart to come creeping up on the ship. It could get you hurt ya know. Anyway, my name's Kalistra, and I promise we won't say anything to your family, if we ever meet them, about you almost getting skewered on Vehementi's Nightblade."

Kalistra looked Dargon over. "Say, are you a druid?"

Dargon The Mastermind
"Amrasi Nogifo Sacri," Dargon spoke the counterspell, listening to Aiyares warning. "Nice to meet you Vodivir, and Vodok," he said and as he turned to the woman replied, "I am a Druid you may say. I was trained mostly by a powerful, wise and respected Druid. Though I was also trained by Sorcerers, just for the basic offensives." Dargon smiled and turned to the man who hauled him up, "Nice to meet you Vehemeni," he said with a slight grin, recalling the incident that took place just minutes ago.

Red Un
Red Un climbed up onto the deck.

"Huh? Who's the newcomer?"

Aiyare explained what had happened.

"Ah, welcome aboard then, Dargon. We're out on a little quest for the Library of Legends, tough it'll probably be over soon...well, tomorrow at least. Now I suggest we all get some sleep."

Vehementi Dominus
"You too, however, I saw you way before you realised, it wasn't you that I heard out there, that's why I didn't react and grab you earlier, I was searching for what did make that sound..." He gazed out into the frozen darkness "I'll remain outside on watch, don't sleep too heavily" he walked off the boat and sat down on a patch of snow just outside.

Vodok
"No we en't. We e'nt gonna sleep no where 'till you tell me where we're goin' and the point of going to Senaja." the short dwarf said grimly as he held back the half dwarf. "Yeah... Why'd we go to Senja, and where are we going now?" Vodivir said, following Vodok's lead.

Dargon The Mastermind
"I'll stay up with you, Vehementi," Dargon said as he took a long staff and cast the same spell as before, yet it seem more concentrated and made only the stick glow. The staff was also very warm and Dargon laid it on the ground, where it began to slowly melt the snow around it. The pole was set in front of Vehementi, though it was longer than his crouch and Dargon sat near the other end. Vehementi so far didn't show an objection, he just kept staring out into the island, not even noticing the staff or Dargon. The others went back inside the ship, or some just stood outside. Dargon waved to the dwarves as they went inside, for he was very fond of dwarves, having spent a year in Kazordoon. He sighed and asked Vehementi what he usually did for a living.

Vehementi Dominus
"I don't need to earn a living, with gold, all you buy is food and shelter, that's all you need. I don't need food and I get shelter from the Elder dark elf in Sanctuary as long as I protect him and the other dark elves, what about yourself? Oh, and put that light out, I can see fine without it and it'll show anything that might want to attack where we are."

He reached down to his belt and took a sip of blood from one of the bottles.

"Want a bit?"

Dargon The Great
"Sure," Dargon took the bottle and took a small mouthful. He made a face, but swallowed it. He passed the bottle back. "About the light, it’s only shown bright from anyone standing 10 feet near it. So it’s fine, as for my living. I protect the villagers from wolves and such, as is why I am being continually sent out to train." Dargon smiled and took out a piece of bread from a small pouch hanging at the right side of his belt. He broke off a piece and handed some to Vehementi.

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi took the bread and ate it.
"Hmmmm, nice, tastes... elven?"

Dargon The Mastermind
"I made it," Dargon laughed as Vehementi pulled his head up, looking slightly startled, "I learnt it from the elves. Part of my training. In case there was minimal ingredients left in the village, I was shown how to cook with as few ingredients as possible, but leaving them very healthy and rather tasty I must say," Dargon then said a spell, "Mrogi Plavashi," This time nothing seemed to happen, but Dargon looked happy. They sat in silence for a while until...

Kalistra
Kalistra smiled at the two dwarves and stood between them, resting her arms on their shoulders. "Calm down guys. We're in Senja coz this is where the entrance to the Great Library is." She ruffled the hair of the two brothers. "I'm sure Red Un will explain everything in the morning. Now lets get some sleep and leave the watch to Vehementi, seeing as he doesn't need sleep. We've had a tiring day." She hugged both dwarves to her ample chest, let them go, then walked over to the vampire.

"What do you think it was vampire? If it’s not friendly, why hasn't it attacked-"

Before she could finish her sentence a bloodcurdling roar shattered the night.

"Bloody hell, aren't we ever going to get any sleep tonight?!?" Kalistra yelled. "Dargon, you live here, do you know what that is?"

Vodok
The short dwarf went as red as a strawberry. Then he heard the roar. He swiftly drew two random runes as Vodivir drew his war hammer. "Umm... Maybe we can sail to the other side of the island to avoid this monster...?" Vodivir asked.

Vehementi Dominus
"Hmmm, I don't know, maybe it's just a scout? If it is, chances are it'll call up an army of some kind, if so, we'd better get moving if we want to avoid unnecessary battle?"

Dargon The Mastermind
"O yup, sure I know what that is," Dargon started laughing as the others stared at him, "These creatures are not exactly evil, but more like an evil magnet. Wherever these guys go, the Iretion, some nasty enemy or two are bound to follow." Dargon stood and picked up the glowing staff, "Amrasi Nogifo Sacri." As he said that the staff went out. "Pirifu Nanari," Dargon started chanting that and the others noticed a disturbance in the snow, suddenly, the snow in a 5 foot radius just... disappeared. Dargon then, still chanting, took some seeds out of his pouch and slowly, planted them in the ground. Up grew small trees, and with these trees, Dargon uprooted one, and the bark shed off, leaving a sword that was seemingly hidden inside the bark. The other trees, all looking slightly different then the one that held the sword, uprooted themselves and walked to each of the members there and then as their bark peeled away, they left glimmering swords, "The strongest offensive spell I know. Once you pick your sword up, it will only obey to you and it will never abandon you. Instead just repeat Pirifu Nanari Sacri and it goes away." Indeed, it did. "To bring it back, chant the words Porofo Nonoro." The glimmering sword came back. Dargon waited to see what they would do, from the roar of the Iretion it was still a good 10-20 minutes away.

Red Un
Red Un was still happily asleep. The Master seemed to have gone somewhere else in his brain for his moment, so his dreams were quite peaceful (as far as half-dwarven dreams goes, that is). Not even the blood-curling roar woke him.

However, it did awake Aiyare. He once again opened the door and ran out on the deck.

"In the name of Crunor, what does an elf have to do to get some sleep on this island?!"

Then he noticed that the others were armed and looking into the darkness. Without a word, Aiyare went back into his room and reappeared some seconds later with his trusty bow.

"So, what are we fighting?"

Kalistra
"Wow, I've heard of these!" Kalistra exclaimed, as she pounced on the sword that had come to her. "I thought the lore on how to create these had been lost centuries ago! They're supposed to have a soul of their own and no one can use them for what they know to be evil."

The assassin tested the balance of her blade in a smooth sequence, and found it to be perfect. "Magnificent!" she breathed, looking in wonder at the sword. Hers was different from Dargon's sword. Instead of a silver, shining sheen, hers looked slightly tarnished. Yet it's edge glittered with a deadly light.

Kalistra turned towards Dargon and bowed, hand over her heart. "This is a fine gift you have given, druid. I will have to find a way to repay you." She looked around to see what the reaction of the others would be, wondering whether Vehementi would be willing to substitute his trusty Nightblade. She did not have any particular attachment to the sword she carried at her side. Her true sword she had given up centuries ago...

Dargon The Great
"Yes, well my master-," He noticed the elf, "NO ELF YE MUST RUN! INTO THE SHIP!" Dargon nearly screamed. Aiyare looked confused, "These 'monsters' are really only known to ferociously hate Elves, elves are helpless against their anger to them. YOU WILL BE KILLED AND ALL YOUR BLOOD WILL FALL ONTO THE SNOW, there is no escaping them once they have spotted ye Elf! Run! Into the ship! Hurry!" Dargon then started pushing Aiyare back into the ships cabin.

Vodok
Vodivir still held his war hammer. "The sword may be great, but I cant use 'em so I'll take my war hammmer..." Vodivir muttered to himself. Another roar. Now there was another high screech. "I reckon 'e might be callin' to 'imself stuff now... If I en't misstaken... Tha' was a banshee..." The short dwarf said to everyone. "Where the heck is Red Un, by the way?" Vodivir said and hurried down only to see him sleeping. He brutally waked him up by pushing him off the things he was sleeping on and then shaking him around.

Kalistra
"A banshee you say Vodok? Haha, I think banshees are evil enough to be attracted to the Iretion. It’s said banshees are women that have been scorned by men they loved. They became so embittered that they turned into banshees. They detest men and they want to turn females into banshees like themselves. Their screams are said to paralyze everyone." The assassin thought about this a second. "Maybe we should plug up our ears just in case there is some truth in the myth. I wouldn't like to be turned into a banshee... Can you imagine what all that screeching would do to your throat?" The assassin disappeared down into the hold to get some candles to use the wax to plug up everyone's ears. She walked past Dargon, who was frantically stuffing Aiyare into a closet, and grabbed some candles. She looked in on Vodok, who was still shaking an awake, and very annoyed, half dwarf. She used the kitchen stove to warm up the wax so that it was malleable, then proceeded to give a piece to everyone. When she came to the vampire, she said:
"Maybe you should stuff your ears as well. You never know what the screams will do to you right? Or have you fought banshees before?"

The horrible roars and screeches were sounding closer now. In about ten minutes the fell creatures would be here. Kalistra plugged up her ears with wax and the screams receded to a dim noise...

Red Un
Aiyare pushed Dargon aside.

"All right, all right, I get your point. I'll lock the door and try to shoot at whatever is coming at us from the window slits."

Meanwhile, Red Un was brutally awaked from the first good dream he had for months. He saw who had awakened him.

"Vodivir. Why am I not surprised?"

He got up from the (so-called) bed.

"I'm up. What's goin' on?"

Vodok
"A big something and a lot of Banshees are attacking us." Vodivir said, totally ignoring the fact that Red Un most likely didn’t understand a thing. He took a bit of wax and stuffed in his ears. He took a quill and a scroll and stuffed in his boots, he would probably have to communicate without taking the wax out of his ears. Vodok also took some wax and carelessly stuffed in his ear. "C'mere yeh bunch o' screaming... Things!!" the short dwarf yelled while putting runes and daggers all over the place inside his armours, boots, legs and helmet. He also had a poisoned dagger by his hand at his shield.

Dargon The Great
"No, Aiyare not even an elven arrow can be seen. Whatever the elves did to the Iretions it was so painful that anything elven automatically triggers this enormous anger that drives the Iretion to attack anything in sight." He turned to everyone. "Do not kill the Iretion! I will deal with him. Iretion are harmless, just evil things follow them, it is said that it is because of their enormous anger to elves that drives evil to follow it. Since Iretions nearly never reproduce when grieving, if we kill that one it is unlikely that the population will ever increase again for 45 years, and…" Dargon looked serious, "their life span is only 30 years, so if we kill one, we kill hundreds." Another scream from the Banshees was heard. The Banshees were nearly upon them.

Vehementi Dominus
"Pirifu Nanari Sacri, sorry, but I'd never use any weapon other than my NightBlade..."

He unsheathed the almost parallel blade with Vehemeti on his dark dragon killing orcs etched on it.

"I'll be fine, I hear sounds at different pitches to humans, dwarves and elves, her screeching should have no effect."

He swung the blade round and it started to glow black.

Vodok
The short dwarf still held his fire sword and Vodivir still held his war hammer. They had waited a while now. The Banshee's were extremely fast. One was already in sight. Vodivir was first to jump out and he quickly hit a blow at her head. But the Banshee was too fast. It hit back with its claw like hands tearing up a big hole in Vodivirs armour. Vodivir kicked against the banshee and the kick connected so the Banshee started screaming. The short dwarf saw the opportunity. His target was totally still and weakened. He fired a sudden death.

Red Un
Aiyare went away from the window.

"It must have been the Dark elves. No other elf would ever want to hurt a living creature like that..."

Meanwhile, Red Un saw the approaching banshees.

"Hrmm, good thing my ears have become so dirty during this trip that I barely hear anything anymore..."

He swung his sword at the approaching ghostly figures. One of them was hit by the blade and was sliced in two. However, that only meant one opponent turning into two...

Vehementi Dominus
The screaming seemed to have no effect on Vehementi's undead ears, he ducked to avoid a spinning ball of flame fired at him by a banshee, he looked at it, gritted his fangs and charged with the NightBlade down by his side ready to swing.

Vodok
Not only Banshee's were coming. In the distance Vodivir could see some demon skeletons, skeletons and ghouls. But he couldn’t think about those. The Banshee started hitting faster than ever. Vodivir was jumping and ducking knowing that one hit would be enough to kill him. Vodok could only stand and watch. "AAAAAIIIIIIEEE!!!" the short dwarf screeched, higher than the Banshees. He got Vodivir's attention just as planned. He threw one of the poisoned daggers to Vodivir. He threw down his war hammer ducking for one last blow. Vodivir threw himself up with the dagger in front of him slitting the Banshees neck. It fell down. Vodok shot a fire bomb on the ice that melted away. Vodivir threw in the Banshee in the hole. A demon skeleton came up to Vodivir. He slowly tricked it up to the bridge connecting the boat with the island of Senja. Suddenly he stuck out a short leg and pushed the demon skeletons against his leg. The demon skeleton fell down onto the ice with his skull first. The skull got a huge crack and the demon skeleton lay extremely wounded on the ice. Not able to move. Vodivir shoved the demon skeleton against the hole in the ice.

Kalistra
Kalistra was standing face to face with one of the banshees. As she saw the madness in the creature's eyes, she felt herself spinning away, almost feeling the banshee's pain. Even though she could not hear the creature's screams, she felt herself drawn into its gaze. A whispering started inside her head, seemingly getting louder the longer the fell creature and the assassin gazed at each other. Mesmerized, the assassin took a step towards the banshee...

Dargon The Great
Dargon, after slicing off the head of a demon skeleton, noticed Kalistra walking, in a trance, towards a banshee. Remember some lore about hypnotism on Banshees, Dargon takes out a bright white rune and throws it between the two. There’s a bright flash and Kalistra snaps out of her trance. She slices the head off the Banshee as it roared with anger at having its plan foiled.

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi threw the NightBlade at the banshee and pinned it to the side of the boat, he walked up to it, put his face about three inches away from the banshee's face, he snarled and stared the bansee in the eye.

"See? You don't like it when you can't hypnotise an elf do you? Didn't think so, I can feel the anger radiating off of you, and with one swift movement..."

He pulled the NightBlade out and severed it's head.

"...I can end all your emotions."

Red Un
Red Un had moved on to slicing up some ghouls. As he pulled out his sword from one of them, he yelled over the din of battle "Dargon! You said ya would take care of that thingy that got these thingies here! I suggest ya do it now!"

Vodok
"Get that cursed thing away from here! I can’t smash all of these things!" Vodivir yelled as he smashed a skeletons skull to pieces with his war hammer. Vodivir got extremely busy blocking the hits from different types of undead creatures. "GET THE 'ECK AWAY FROM ME BROTHER!!" Vodok yelled as he stormed down to the bridge where Vodivir was fighting. A row of undead were standing waiting to get close to Vodivir to attack him. The short dwarf stood about one meter away from Vodivir diagonally. "EXEVO MORT HUR!" the short dwarf yelled concentrating all his power towards the energy wave. It was very well placed. It just missed Vodivir and hit all the undead monsters around him and several more in front of him. Vodivir held his hammer high in the air and let it fall down towards to skull of a Banshee. The skull caved in. Suddenly a Banshee got Vodivir from behind. They were extremely fast and the short dwarf barely saw it. Vodivir rolled around and they were lying on the floor struggling. Vodok didn’t dare do anything. He could hit Vodivir instead of the banshee. The banshee stared tearing huge gaps in Vodivirs armour and Vodivir had his war hammer in his hand was trying to hit the banshee. But he was lying on his back and it was extremely hard. Sudden Vodivir rolled over. Now the banshee was underneath him. He couldn’t get a clean swing at the banshee though. He took the handle of the war hammer and pressed against the neck of the banshee. More undead were coming. The short dwarf had to act quickly. He threw himself forward and stuck the fire sword in the banshee's neck. It died on the spot.

Dargon The Mastermind
"That’s what I've been trying to do!!" Dargon yelled over the screams of the Banshees. As he hacked through the mass of undead, he finally found it. It was standing there, eating a carrot, oblivious to the destruction around him. It had a small head, showing scars of torture from past ancestries. It had long black hair, and was just a little larger than a child. Its skin was a light grey, and its right foot looked slightly large then the left. "Hey!" Dargon called out, the Iretion took no noticed, its mutated face showing happiness as it chomped on the carrot. Dargon took a piece of bread and showed it to the Iretion. The Iretion lumbered over and Dargon led it away from the battle, and as soon as they were far enough Dargon gave it the bread and the Iretion lumbered out to the darkness. Dargon turned back to the battle (since the evil was not going to follow the Iretion until it had killed these people) took out a herb and three seeds. This time, instead of casting a spell for snow to disappear, he made a foot deep hole into the snow (it was rather deep where he was) and buried the seeds, then after covering them up about halfway, he planted the herb and finished filling up the hole he had made. He then said "Farinicor," and three plants shot out of the ground, looking like huge version of the herb he just planted. These plants then uprooted themselves! They began to knock all the ghouls out of the way, but left the demon skeletons and Banshees alone. These trees had long green leaves, which turned out very strong. When finally the demon skeletons had enough sense that they wouldn't be attacked, they surrounded the trees and sliced off the leaves and roots (this was very easy for them since they were much stronger than these trees). They then turned back to Dargon, who raised his sword and charged, once again, into the fight.

Kalistra
After slicing off the banshee's head, Kalistra collapsed on the floor, shaking. She couldn't seem to get the sinister whispers out of her head. Suddenly the sword in her head started shining, becoming brighter and brighter. Slowly the horrible whispers started to recede. Gratefully she hefted the sword and stood up. Its glow slowly started to dim. Thinking to help the others, she looked around in the fray for her friends. She owed Dargon an even greater favour now. Looking for him, to see if she could repay him for his help, she saw that the trees he had called up were being destroyed. Rushing towards Dargon, she decapitated a demon skeleton that was about to hit the druid from behind.

"Thanks for the help back there, druid. If not for you I would probably be screeching my head of by now."

Back to back they continued to battle the horde of undead.

Dargon The Great
"Well, we're even now." Dargon said as he saw the decapitated demon skeleton. He sighed, "Those plants died an honourable death rather then rot in the ground at least." He dodged a skeleton’s groping hands and then hacked them off with his sword. He then sliced the spine from the neck.

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi sheathed the Nightblade and leaped towards a demon skeleton, he grabbed hold of its spine and pulled it out, then jumped off it's chest and hit another one with his feet who was sent flying into a tree and was smashed as Vehementi leaped off his ribs, he then drew the NightBlade in mid air and smashed another demon skeleton as he landed.

Vodok
Vodivir jumped into a group of ghouls. He swung around his war hammer hitting a ghoul in the head breaking his neck. The short dwarf on the other hand was facing one banshee. Suddenly a banshee larger and stronger appeared. The other banshee went forward. "Direct my hatred!" she shrieked to her master. The banshee queen ignored the banshee and approached the short dwarf. The short dwarf started moving very slowly. So did the banshee. After a short while suddenly the short dwarf jumped out from his slowness with his fire sword directed against the chest of the banshee. But the banshee was quicker. She went to the side and hit against the dwarfs head. The helmet saved him. Once again my helmet saves me... the short dwarf thought. Vodivir was bashing around the ghouls and he saw Vodok in trouble. He suddenly swung a large swing against the ghouls sending them flying. He kicked one and quickly came to the short dwarfs aid. He started swing around his hammer. In the dark night the short dwarf and the banshee were eye to eye. "Utevo gran lux." And the banshee was blinded for a second. But a second was enough for the short dwarf and Vodivir to attack the banshee... "We need some backup here!" Vodivir yelled.

Dargon The Mastermind
Dargon heard Vodivirs cry for help. "C'mon!" He called to Kalistra and together they hacked through the skeletons (the banshees were gathering around Vodok and Vodivir, leaving the skeletons easily destroyed) and Dargon threw flash-runes everywhere, trying to blind the banshees so they would stop crowding around Vodok and Vodivir. It worked, kinda, the banshees, once clear from their temporary blindness, started going after Dargon and Kalistra. They then had to hack their way over to Vodok and Vodivir, which was taking little time fortunately.

Red Un
Red Un sliced another ghoul and looked over at the banshee queen.

If I can get her, he thought, the other creatures will probably go back to...wherever they came from...

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi saw Red looking at the queen, but too occupied to take care of it, he leaped away from the current target and ran towards Red.

"You get the queen, I'll finish..." he swung and severed the arm of a banshee, then stabbed it in the gut "...as much as I can here."

Kalistra
As Kalistra and Dargon hacked their way through the sea of undead, the assassin also saw the Banshee Queen. At the same moment the Queen also saw Kalistra. As their eyes met, screams and whispers started in the assassin's head, much stronger than before. The whispers started to be more tangible, until the assassin could almost hear the words.

"Sissster..." a thousand voices seemed to hiss. "Sissster... Why do you fight usss... Sissster..."

Kalistra shook her head. No! Not again... Not taking her eyes off the Queen, she changed direction and started fighting her way towards the banshee. She ignored Dargon's shout of consternation. The Queen was hers.

"Sissster..."
"How soon you forget..."
"Sissster..."
"Remember..."
"Remeber the hurt..."
"Remember the anguisssh..."
"Remember the hatred..."
"The rage, the pain... Remember..."

Her face bared in a rictus of a smile, she tried to resist the whispers, but felt her thoughts becoming blacker, felt the anguish and the hatred sweep through her once again. The sword gifted by Dargon glittered a menacing black in sympathy. Screaming in rage, she hacked in upon the undead with a savagery that made the army back up slightly, leaving a relatively clear path towards the Banshee Queen.

"I never forgot..." the assassin whispered to the Queen, somehow knowing she would be heard.


Red Un
Red Un saw Kalistra clear up a path among the banshees, so he charged directly at the queen.

"Kalistra! If we get the queen, the other undeads will probably retreat!"

He swung his blade at the terrifying monstrosity, but when he looked down, all he had cut trough was a big bit of her hair. As it hit the ground, it shimmered out of existence...

Dargon The Mastermind
Dargon, seeing Kalistra, in a fit of rage, annihilate any banshee in her path, he remembered his sword, which was starting to glow a dangerous black. "O no o no no." Dargon thought, "If that blackness becomes too dark, that means she will have been overcome by evil!" Dargon yelled, "Snap out of it Kalistra! Y'don't wanna have an evil mind now d'ya?!" He swung his sword high in the air, bringing it down upon a banshee. He had to get to her.

Vodok
Vodok heard that. And he wasn’t going to let the only person who thought he was "cute" get overcome by evil. He drew a great fire ball rune and shot all over the place.

Red Un
The Queen reeled from the attacks that were coming from all over the place. Actually, she reeled right into Red Uns sword...

...but don't think a banshee queen is killed that easily! Red Un made a huge wound in her back, which started to spew out dark, shadow-like smoke. Red Un was temporarily blinded by it...

Dargon The Mastermind
Dargon chopped the neck off the last Banshee around him which left just the Queen and about 5 followers tailing behind it. Red Un hit it, sending large amounts of gas coming from is body and blinding Red Un. The other Banshees attacked Red Un furiously and he was forced against the wall of the ship. Dargon was too far away to help. He also noticed Vodivir was doing very well against the last few he was facing, and Vodok was firing fire runes everywhere. "WATCH IT!!!!!" Dargon yelled over the screech of the Queen as a fire rune came dangerously close to him. Vodok calmed down, seeing he had killed most of the Banshees there and Dargon ran over to him. "Let us blast this accursed thing out of existence!" Dargon said as he handed Vodok some brown runes and Dargon waited for Vodok to answer.

Vodok
"Ummm..." the short dwarf said not knowing anything about the rune. "A'ight." He then said and quickly fired the rune at the Banshee queen. He quickly started running as fast as he could, witch wasn’t very fast towards Kalistra. When he finally reached her she was in some sort of trance and the sword she held was almost black. The short dwarf held his own sword with two hands. With all his force he hit away the sword she was holding, or he tried at least. Before he could see if it worked he turned against the banshees around him. "No 'un... I say NO 'UN! Messes with su'mmone that thinks I'm cute!" the short dwarf yelled. He swung around his sword over his head as he charged against a banshee. The banshee would probably have laughed if she wasn’t undead and tormented and had forgot the way of laughing... The banshee was holding out a claw and the short dwarf ducked pasted it. He slit a small hole in he body of the banshee. Black blood was coming out of the wound. "Exori Mort" the short dwarf said clearly. Then he took his sword and stabbed the same place and the banshee fell dead. A clawed hand fell from behind on the short dwarfs shoulder. It pierced the armour and came to the shoulder itself which now was bleeding freely with the shoulder bone nearly broken. The short dwarf slowly turned around with the banshee's looking triumphant. "Exura Vita." the short dwarf muttered slowly and he felt slightly better. His shoulder wasn’t bleeding anymore and the pain had been reduced for a short moment so he could hopefully kill all the undead before the pain returned. "Exori Vis. Exori Vis. Exori Vis. Exori Vis." the short dwarf muttered. During that time he had also thrown down his sword and drawn some runes he now shot at the banshees. "Please... 'Elp me... I'll die 'ere..." the short dwarf said to Kalistra.

Dargon The Mastermind
The brown runes that Dargon and Vodok threw the Queen caught, but what she didn't know... The brown runes exploded. They weren't big explosions, but they succeeded on setting the dead flesh afire. The Banshee screams in anger.

Red Un
Red Un swung out at the creatures surrounding him, cutting off all their heads in one swoop. Then he turned to see the Queen burning and screaming.

"Well, that's a sight ya don't see every day..."

He charged at her and put his sword right through her...

Kalistra
Kalistra's sword was knocked away by Vodok. However, it flew right back into her hands. Still, his tactic had succeeded in refocusing her attention somewhat. Not in time to save Vodok from the banshee claws ripping through his armour, she turned to him and black flames flew from her sword, wrapping themselves protectively around the short dwarf. Nothing was going to hurt him.

Smiling cruelly, the assassin advanced once again upon the banshee Queen, who had burst into flames. Red Un's sword cut straight through the dread creature, but it didn't seem to have much effect. When Kalistra reached the tormented Queen, she looked straight into its eyes. Standing face to face with insanity, she felt herself being drawn into its mad gaze once again. Smiling slightly, the assassin stepped forward and embraced the fell creature, who was not entirely of this world, which is why ordinary weapons could not touch it.

The others watched in horror how the Queen's ragged cloak folded over Kalistra, seeming to swallow the small woman. The wind blew back the cloak again, but there was no sign of the assassin. They ran to her aid, convinced they were already too late...

Kalistra felt her essence being drawn into the banshee Queen, felt the banshee's rage and anguish flow around and through her, joining with her own. She felt as if she were standing in a great hall, surrounded by the black rage and the anguish. Before her stood a magnificent Dark throne, upon which rested a beautiful woman with pale skin, red lips, long black hair and a voluptuous figure. Her eyes, however, were wells of darkness and despair and her body was cloaked in darkness. The assassin walked towards the throne, unafraid. As she stood before the throne, she curtsied deeply and the Queen spoke:

"Ah, sister. You have remembered... You have come here to join us in our revenge. You are welcomed."

Kalistra
The Queen stood up from her throne and descended the steps leading from the throne to the floor. Smiling, she lifted her hand towards Kalistra's cheek.

"Come, let us share our blood. You will then join us on our hunt."

Kalistra leaned slowly forward towards the long black nail of the Queen, turning hear head at the last moment, so that the nail gouged a furrow along her neck. Blood welled up from the cut. She then leaned towards the Queen and made a cut along the Queen's neck with her own nail. Bringing her lips towards the creature, she brushed them along the cut, tasting the rich blood of the banshee as it burned its way over her tongue and down her throat. The Queen's anguished emotions and memories washed over her, the killing, the rapes, the emotional games that were played and the day the Queen breathed her final living breath, yet did not pass over to the next world, stopped by her intense hatred of the man that had hurt her. Vaguely she sensed the Queen's bonded banshees, her sisters. Kalistra knew that when the ceremony was completed, she would repeat it with the other banshees, becoming one. She realised the banshees were bonded to their Queen, and could not die until the Queen was vanquished.

Turning her head up so the Queen had full access to her throat, she closed her eyes. The Queen bent over and tasted her blood in return. "Your blood is strong, strong enough to become a Queen! And the pain! Sister, how can you stand it?" the Queen gasped.

Kalistra smiled sadly, feeling the bond between them form. "Ah sister, do you really wish to know how I can stand it? For you have forgotten something as well." The assassin caressed the cut she had made on the Queen's throat.

"It is called Forgiveness. It is called Love. It is called Friendship. It is called Life." As she spoke, bright black flames blew up from her cut and streamed into the banshee, vanishing inside it. The Queen screamed in agony as the assassins mind swept through her and showed her the truth of her past, then she collapsed onto the floor. As she raised her head, tears flowed from her eyes, which seemed merely anguished, no longer mad. Kalistra bend down and took the woman into her arms.

"I... I forgive him..." the Queen stilled, and her eyes slowly closed.

Smiling through her tears, the assassin kissed the woman on her lips, she who was finally at peace after so long. "Rest well, sister. Be at peace." Kalistra raised her head, feeling the banshees bonded to the Queen fade as well.

"Now I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!"

Mentally stepping out of the dark hall, the assassin reappeared on the battle scene, next to the collapsed banshee Queen, who looked like a normal beautiful woman now. To Kalistra's friends, it had seemed as if only a few seconds had passed, and they barely were able to refrain from hacking in upon her with blades and runes.

Shukirogen
Suddenly Red Un was struck by some strange dream that just seemed to fill his whole mind.

It was a big dark tunnel with a strong light at the end of it. The dream seemed to zoom in to the light. When it was all the way there it made a quick turn right down. A new tunnel appeared. The dream now went faster and faster but all quiet until it suddenly stopped at an instance.
Before him was Shukirogens face. Shukirogen said with a voice that seemed not only tired but also really thirsty and in great pain both psycic pain and physical pain:

"Foldaaaaa, foooldaaaa...foooldaa…”

The dream zoomed out again just a little bit. He could see 2 dark figures at the floor, one was an orc lying at the floor shaking with big open wounds all over his back. One was a human sitting against the wall.
It was Baphomey and Shukirogen.
”Foldaaaaa...” said the voice again, then started coughing.
The dream suddenly zoomed out again backwards through the tunnel. But now it wasn’t quiet anymore, tortured screams came from the darkness together with laughs from a thousand small demons. A voice that seemed to come from everywhere at the same time yelled.

”Red Un I’m are waiting for you, meanwhile I will make sure your friends stay will be filled with more torture and pain then your simple dwarf mind can ever understand. MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The dream was over and Red Un got his mind back for himself. He opened his eyes. And looked around himself. He was back again. What had happened?
His face had turned white and he was all sweaty.

Vehementi Dominus
Vehementi sniffed the corpse of the Queen.

"Hmmmm, Human... interesting."

He noticed a wound on her neck and licked some blood off.

"Definitely human, strange, do banshees normally turn human after death? None of the others did."

Then he noticed another bite mark on Kalistra's neck.

"How'd you get that, assassin?"


Dargon The Mastermind
Dargon, seeing the Queen Banshee fall, now a human corpse, stood in wonder. He was far off but he hurriedly ran over, he noticed Red Un looking very pale and asked what was the matter...

Vodok
A banshee shrieked as the queen fell dead to the ground. One that was killing the short dwarf was especially angry. "DIIIIIIIIIE DWARF!!" she shrieked and started clawing all over the place. Vodivir saw Vodok is huge trouble. "GET THE HECK AWAY FROM KAZORDOONS FIRST GEOMANCER!!" Vodivir yelled and he pushed down a ghoul, ran over it careful to stamp on its face and he ran to the banshees beating up Vodok. The short dwarf was in a bad state bleeding all over the place. The mad banshee didn’t notice Vodivir though he was yelling and swinging his hammer all over the place. Even when his hammer was high over his head she didn’t stop attack Vodok. The hammer fell and crushed the banshees skull like a mallet crushing an egg. The banshee was dead before she hit the ground. "Wanna end up like her? Then c'mere!" he said to the banshees. Two banshees ran away shrieking curses. Three came forward to Vodivir preparing for a violent fight. They all threw themselves at the short dwarf. They were all lying in a big bunch. Vodivir didn’t dare to anything in fear of hitting his brother. The short dwarf was lying under in the bunch of creatures and claws were flying all over the place. The short dwarf slowly reached for an energy bomb. He hesitated a moment. He fired the energy bomb, hitting all the banshees and himself. The banshee's shrieked and ran out. The short dwarf on the other hand lay there a short moment and slowly rolled out. "Exura... Exura Vita..." he muttered. He was alive, but only just. He took a deep breath and pretended he was dead. Vodivir thought he was dead. "You... You... You... Just bring your ugly face slightly closer to my hammer... And Ill crush it like an apple!" he yelled out. He jumped out on the banshees violently swinging his war hammer. The banshees fell one after one. They all fell down dead. The short dwarf jumped up. "Thanks." he said. Suddenly a banshee jumped at him. His backpacks, his weapon and his shield flew away. The short dwarf was hitting the banshee with his fists, the banshee was trying to rip the short dwarfs eyes out. The short dwarf had some deep cuts in his cheeks and the banshees teeth were lying here and there. Vodivir didn’t dare do anything, in fear of hitting his brother again. The short dwarf rolled over. He punched the banshee several times. The banshee hit the short dwarf with her claws. She’ll win this close combat... Unless... The short dwarf thought. He took his beard and he tied it around the banshees neck. He drew it even tighter. The banshee that wasn’t prepared that the short dwarf would attempt to strangle the banshee with his beard didn’t have time to react. After half a minute the banshee was dead, she had fallen to the short dwarfs... beard.

Red Un
Red Un shook his head, trying to get the images of Shukirogen out of his head. He looked around and saw that the undead were retreating. It was all over now. Just go for the library, he told himself. Just go there, and it will all be over. And yet...

He took out the key from his backpack. It was still as shiny and new as the time he had found it in the desert. How long had it been? Ages, it seemed. But soon, it would be over. Soon...

Then he put it back.

No, it wouldn't be over soon, he thought. I'll be damned, but Shukirogen is in trouble, and I'm gonna help him. He turned around to face the party, bloody and battered, tired and dirty (especially in the dwarves' case, of course).

"Lisn' up. We've gotta go an' do somethin' before we check out the 'ol library. Shukirogen just...uhm...called me, and he seems to be in a pretty bad situation. So, all aboard the ship, we're goin' to Folda!"