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Part 7: Heroic Sacrifice
Chapters 27, 28, 29, 30, 31
The orc ranger consults with the orc who spoke up and then turns and says, “We got trouble. I’m not too familiar with caves, I prefer forests myself”, he gives a nervous laugh. “According to Poj, here” motioning to the first orc, “we got some kind of creatures here that are real nasty. He won’t go into specifics, but I don’t really want to find out. Since we’re doing the introducing, my name is Je’ Gelana. Call me Je.”
The orcs are muttering amongst themselves. Some are making forays to the edges of the inferno to retrieve burning brands of wood.
The old man is muttering to himself, “Where is that ring of reality…” All the while tapping a rather impressive-looking gold handled rod with a green gem on his leg.
As the orcs prepare to leave, Gwydeon staggers with Mordred over to the priest, “Hey priest can you heal my buddy over here? At least so he can walk on his own.”
The man with two swords says, “Zraxin is the only name that I have ever known. I, like brother Je, prefer forests to these dark, damp caverns. If the monsters are as fierce as Poj says, then we will need to help each other if any of us are to survive.”
The drunk human goes over to help Gwydeon with Mordred, “There ain’t nothing wrong with caves. When I was a boy, we had some caves near our village. Used to play in them all the time, ‘course we didn’t have no nasties living in ‘em.”
The ogre gently removes the little man from the very relieved Magnus and moves a little further down the tunnel.
Magnus, now relived of his burden moves over to Mordred and Gwydeon and says, “Stay alert friends, for any trouble from the orcs or otherwise…” whispers something to them before looking around and spotting the old man. He then moves over to him.
The old man however has his attention fixed on the single orc mage, who is shuffling though his things looking for something.
The human leader says, “Lets get out of here quick. The orcs and fighters form a circle and put the injured and magi in the center. Priest! We will need you just behind the front lines. I’ll take point.” As he starts to move forward, something catches his eye and he bends down and picks up Latok’s war hammer.
The ogres’ eyes open wide as he sees it.
One of the orcs protests to Je and they argue for a moment before Je apparently ends it.
The orc ranger speaks up, “If you can raise the mighty hammer so easily, you must be a chosen of the Elemental Lords. The hammer is yours to use by right. I am sure it will serve you much better than the sword. It served mighty Latok, right up until the end.”
The human leader looks at the hammer then looks at his friend who nods.
He shrugs his shoulders and puts the sword away. With the hammer before him, he moves toward the front lines.
Magnus reaches the old man and engages him in a whispered conversation.
Zraxin grabs a makeshift torch from the wreckage and says, “Come, we must leave soon; the smoke is growing thicker.”
A loud crash is heard from behind as another part of the building collapses upon itself and the flames shoot out in all directions.
Gwydeon turns to Je and says, “So there is no way out, but the caves and there are monsters. We don’t have many fighters left. Line up three of your best men. The ogre and the two rangers are going to join them. Since there is only one way and nasty creatures we better fight together. Is that ok Je?”
Je listens and nods, “I will be one of the three. It will be good to fight alongside my brothers. Speaking of which, where is the one called…”
At that moment further down the tunnel a scream is heard. Everyone freezes for a moment, before charging down the tunnel. Turning a corner, they see a huge cavern, with multiple exits. The problem is the multiple exits are on the other side of the chasm. Across the chasm extends a bridge. And in front of that bridge, is the ranger with the axe and sword, Rek, battling a strange creature. Its body is shaped like a giant snake except that it has three heads. From the looks of things Rek is getting the bad end of the fight.
Poj starts cursing.
The creature rears up and spreads its heads out. It attacks, each head coming from a different direction. Rek slashes at one head with the axe and spears a second head with the sword. The sword passes straight thought the head coming out the other side. The third head slams into him, and its teeth lock onto his side.
“Can we risk using ranged weapons against the monster without hitting the ranger?” Magnus asks.
In answer to that question, Burk raises his wand and a green streak shoots out slamming into the creatures’ side. Another immediately follows it.
Mordred whispers to Gwydeon for a moment. He turns to the rest of the group and says, “I am currently not able to fight. I will watch the back.”
Zraxin and Je run forward to attack, but halfway there, Je suddenly changes direction and slams into Zraxin sending him sprawling in another direction. A moment later the spot where he would have been turns black as it is bathed in fire. The flame came from another creature on the other side of the chasm.
Similar to the first creature, but this one has three major differences. It is slightly redder than the first, this one has legs and it is larger with five heads.
A breeze blows by the old man who says, “What in the...” as he looks around.
Zraxin and Je scramble to their feet and slash at the first creature from the side and the rear. The creature roars in pain at these new attacks. It moves a little backward releasing Rek. With a slap of its tail it sends Je rolling on the ground. Zraxin dodges as one of the heads takes a swipe at him and misses. Rek charges the body, slamming into it. The impact knocks the creature back a little bit more. Where it finds it has run out of room and falls backward over the chasm.
The other creatures’ heads bend down as it follows the descent of the first creature. After a long minute, it looks up at the group and in a smooth motion, launches itself across the chasm to the other side. Zraxin, Je and Rek run to get clear of the creature. Once it lands, the creature heads straight for Rek. Two heads attack him as the other three turn toward the rest of the group and simultaneously breath fire at the rest of the group.
The party scatters, as the flames bathe the area, luckily no one is injured. Poj, the human leader and the ogre get up and charge the beast. But they quickly reverse direction as one of the heads again breathes fire at them.
Rek slashes at the two heads, nearly severing one. The second head slams into him, sending him sprawling. His axe leaves his grasp and bounces over the edge of the chasm.
His tunic blood splattered and his wounds freely bleeding, Rek gets up with his sword slashing wildly trying to keep the one of the heads off of him. Zraxin appears near the monsters tail driving his swords deep into the body of the creature. This causes the creature to turn swiftly, its tail knocking him down. One of the heads screams as a dagger wedges itself in its mouth. Je follows up with a slash at the same head. The creature moves a few steps to the side, nearly trampling Zraxin again. Rek reaches out and hamstrings one of the creatures’ legs. The creature falls to that side and starts to roll over. Rek barely gets out of the way. As Je moves over and picks Zraxin, up. Rek charges the creature again. With his sword extended, he plunges it straight into the body. The creature rears up on its legs dragging Rek forward. Two of the heads breath fire, nearly toasting Zraxin and Je. The third remaining head roars as its injured legs gives out. A loud rumbling sound is heard and part of the creature disappears over the cliff. The three remaining heads attack Rek. One knocks his sword from his hand. The third head however, bites down on his left leg and he is dragged over the side of the cliff with the creature. The creatures’ roars are heard for a long time.
Magnus rushes forward to the edge of the chasm as the creatures’ roars stop, abruptly. He leans over and peers into the chasm for a while. Occasionally dropping a stone into the chasm.
Burk pulls out a strange orange bottle and after wrestling with the cap a moment he drinks a sip and replaces the bottle. Immediately his outline starts to blur and he changes into a sort of flying monster. The monster runs to the edge of the chasm and leaps in disappearing shortly.
The human leader looks around and says, “I think maybe we should take a break here and rest. Too many of us are injured and if we come across any more creatures none of us are likely to survive. We can retreat into the tunnel and post watches on the mouth, in case there are more of them.”
Poj listens to the human before turning to his companions and talking quietly with them.
Zraxin and Je return to the main group each supporting each other.
The ogre moves over and checks over the little man.
The priest moves though the group helping those injured back into the tunnel.
Magnus returns to the party with a grave look upon his face.
“Wizard”, says Poj, “is the bottom of the chasm far?” Magnus nods.
The old man beckons to Magnus, “Come here, we must talk and it seems now we have time.”
As Magnus returns from the edge of the chasm he says, “I believe that we should rest here and wait for Burk’s return. It would do no good to start leaving people behind, this group is becoming smaller much too quickly for my tastes.” Seeing the old man beckoning to him, Magnus joins him.
The calm priest also seems in favor of staying, “We can rest here for a while to regain our strength and then move on a little so nothing that has been attracted to the fighting decides to check us out. After that we can find a good camp to rest and heal our wounds a little more.” With a confident smile he goes around checking for more wounds.
The ogre picks up the little man and the group follows the human leader back to the edge of the tunnel. Magnus and the old man converse in the corner for a while. The orc mage sits down and opens a book. A pair of orcs nearby the mage, notice the open book and scurry to the other side of the tunnel.
The ogre sets the little man on the floor and moves back to the tunnel exit. Leaning on his staff he stares outward in silent vigil.
The human leader and his friend with the drunk human sit together behind the ogre, nursing their wounds.
The human leader looks around and says, “Well, my name is Pendran.” Motioning to the other human, “This here is Dayal. We are the last of our group, Tempest Chargers, perhaps you have heard of us?” He looks around hopeful before dropping his head once more, “We came to town, after a nasty encounter with a group of renegade ogre’s. Since everyone is telling their story, I’d thought I’d would tell ours.”
A noise is heard outside, like the flapping of wings. All heads turn toward the entrance where they behold the ogre still in a relaxed pose. Past him is the flying creature that had descended into the chasm. The creature lands before the ogre and slowly it changes form back to the familiar form of the cook. He reports, “I looked around and found the bodies of the creatures, but I couldn’t locate the body of Rek. It is pretty far down and he wasn’t on the cliff anywhere, so I don’t think he survived.
The drunk grunts and says, “Join us Burk, we are just having a little rest and getting to know each other better. My name is Voruth.” He is interrupted by as the orcs all start to laugh. Voruth smiles and says, “Yes, it is funny. My name means ‘drinks too much’ in orcish. Anyway, I left my sleepy little village to sample the fine drinks of the world. I met my deceased companion along the last road. Pity, I didn’t even ask his name. But he knew a lot about battle tactics, we were just discussing the effectiveness of dual timing when the attack occurred. Ah well, to live another day is to sample another fine wine.” He stops and looks around his belt and retrieves a small pouch. He opens the stopper and takes a sip before quickly closing it up and replacing it.
With a push from Je, Poj moves forward. “Me Poj. Brave. Strong. Deadly. All you need know. No funny deals.” With that he turns and moves back to his friends.
Je moves over near Zraxin and says, “Well I am a little more familiar with your kind than most of my race and a little more open. I take it, Burk...is that your name? You didn’t find the brave ranger?” Burk shakes his head sadly.
Je sighs, “The loss of a brother is keenly felt, no matter what his race. As the wizard has said, any loss to our group makes me nervous, considering we must depend upon each other to survive this cave system. They told me that the other exits are not far away, but if we have to fight creatures like that, then we are really in trouble. We must decide how long do we wish to stay here. At least an hour.” He gestures toward the absorbed orc mage. “Unless you wish to interrupt him; and that *I* have no intention of doing,” he smiles, “I *like* living.”
Poj moves back over toward the center of the tunnel, “Poj send scouts out across bridge to search for danger.” He points toward the entrance where three orcs are cautiously heading toward the bridge. It looks like the third is actually pushing the first two toward it. “If any trouble they run back. If no trouble they return soon too.”
The priest looks up from his labors and says, “I am Sivad, a servant of Gaea. I have been looking for signs of my family. I have an aunt and uncle to the west somewhere.”
Magnus and the old man stop talking for a moment and Magnus gestures for Burk and the silent mage to join them.
It seems to be a time for telling stories as Gwydeon pipes up and smiling says, “Well, you all know my name. I am in search of the murderers of my parents. I lived in a town west of Meadows End. I was training to become a fighter, and to be apt in the art of magic. My parents were killed viciously and my house destroyed. With some help from my friends I brought some equipment and set out to avenge my poor parents.” He sniffs sadly.
A loud rumbling is heard coming from the tunnel, from back the way they came in. Poj and two orcs immediately run to see what the source is. Minutes later they return, with Poj cursing steadily. He goes over to Je and they speak for a moment before Poj stomps back to his brethren and sits glaring at the wall.
After hearing his story, Magnus also gestures for Gwydeon to join them.
Je turns to the group and says, “Someone has used a powerful spell. The room we were fighting is now crushed. He says the stone looks as if it rose from the ground and smashed into the roof. Looks like my superiors want you dead badly and they don’t mind sacrificing us to do so. Besides being human, elven and ogre, what have you done to incite such hatred? Such extremes aren’t normally employed.”
Dayal looks over at the gathering of mages and says, “I think we are going to be here a while. When they start pulling out the spellbooks, I’m not going anywhere near them. We had a spell caster with us, powerful one too. He was reading his spell book when a really weird creature attacked us. Anyway, the creature nailed him with its first hit. We managed to back the creature away before he killed him. After a few minutes the creature slowed down quite a bit, seemed really sluggish. Toral yelled for us to get away. And he let loose on this monster, like there was no tomorrow. The blasts blinded and deafened me. When I regained my senses and picked myself up off of the ground. There wasn’t anything left of the creature except a smoking hole in the ground. Too-bad he didn’t use that spell in the end...” He stares at the ground.
As Gwydeon joins Magnus and the old man, Magnus says to him, “Tell me, what you told them.”
The old man chuckles and says, “I am becoming a storyteller, like the rest of us. Okay, the gist of it is that when I was young I got into some trouble with a really tough orc named Tokha, when I mean tough, I mean slaughtering an ogre village and not breaking a sweat tough. After several years we had a showdown and I won. I reanimated his body as a zombie and sent it back to his towns’ temple (which was the source of my problems). Basically, the orcs have declared war on me. Latok is Tokha’s son, one of three children to be exact. He was nothing compared to his father. If he was we would be dead, end of story. Anyway, what I propose is a sharing of spells. I get the feeling, we will need a good diversity of spells and mine, I admit are rather single minded spells. Seeing as how we seem to be settling in for a much needed rest... now would a good time to do so.” With that he slides his hand in his robe and pulls out a voluminous book that seems much too large to have been hidden on his person like that. Out of hidden pockets he produces two quill pens and a pot of ink. Moving over to a flat stone he gently sets them down and looks around. “Now who will be first?”
As the old man sets up, Magnus also sets his things down and pulls out his book. “Here is a spell that I found useful last time I was underground.”
As he sets his book up where all can see it, Gwydeon surroundings slowly dim, until the only thing he sees is the rune on the page. The intricate swirls, the arcs and dips, the thinning and thickening of the ink as it makes a curve. As he follows the rune a pattern begins to form in his mind. It begins to make some kind of sense. As he mentally steps back from the rune, he see in it the shape of a spider and the shape of a man. At first the image is confusing, then suddenly it become crystal clear. The rune imparts the climbing ability of the spider to the man!
“Ah, yes, that will do nicely!” Someone says.
As the spell becomes clear to him, he scramble around in his pack looking for something to write with. He becomes aware of others doing the same.
There are cries of dismay as two of the mages realize they have nothing to write with. Their dismay turns to relief as Magnus hands the silent mage his ink and pen and the old man hands his extra set over to the cook.
Gwydeon concentrates completely on the rune in front of him. Trying to reproduce its intricate curves and patterns. When he is done he sits up and relaxes checking over his work.
“That is a very interesting spell, Magnus.” The old man says, “I have one that perhaps may help some of you in battle.” Flipping to the front of his book it takes him a few moments to locate the appropriate page. Try this one it is fairly simple. Mind you, watch the interaction of the major spirit and mind flows as well as the double spinner. Turning around to see a group of nearly blank faces. He looks around and says, “Is Magnus the only one who understood me?” When most of them nod he says, “This is what happens when they let you magelings go learn this stuff without a decent apprenticeship. All right, before we go through this let me explain about flows. They have been referred to as stings or streams, but their proper name is flows. The major types of flows you will come across are: Solid, Gas, Liquid, Light, Dark, Spirit, Mind, and Time. You’ll often hear the Light flow referred to as an positive flow, Dark is also known as a negative flow. Spirit, Mind and Time are sometimes referred to as the energy flows. Solid, Gas, and Liquid are also referred to as Elemental flows. There are many other minor flows, but we will not worry about those. Each and every rune you create, speak, write or otherwise use has some combination of these flows. Almost all spells have some Spirit, Light or Dark in them. In the spell Magnus gave to us, you could feel the Dark flows and Solid flows as you trace through the rune. I know you all saw the Spirit flow which was key to understanding what the spell does. Otherwise you would know how to copy the spell, but you wouldn’t know what it did, you probably wouldn’t even be able to use it.”
He looks around to see that he has their complete attention, “Now in the spell I am giving to you the major flows are Spirit and Mind. They are here and here.” He points to the two long sloping lines that dominate the rune. “The tough part will be when they interact with the double spinner, this allows the spell to, at least in this case, link together more than one target...”
As he points out the major points of the spell, Magnus surroundings slowly dim, until the only thing he sees is the rune on the page. The two dominant lines the arcs and the central patterns in the ink as it traces the rune. As he follows the rune a picture begins to form in his mind. It begins to make some kind of sense. As he mentally steps back from the rune, he gets an image of two people standing opposite each other. As he watches something seems to happen to one of them. There seems to be a faded link between the two. It’s hard to make out. The entire picture is starting to fade! He struggles to keep it in his mind and the picture comes back clearer than before. Now he senses the link between the mind and the body of the two people. One has the dominant link. It suddenly becomes clear what the spell does. The spell allows one to have limited control over another. Magnus feel joyful, as he finally understands what that strange pattern means.
Turning the page in your spell book Magnus quickly starts to trace down the new rune. He concentrates completely on the rune in front of him. Trying to reproduce its intricate curves and patterns.
As the mages finish scribing spells in their books, Burk looking slightly depressed says, “I apologize for the shoddy hospitality of my father’s inn. If we ever get home, drinks are on the house. I thank you both for your gifts of spell. Although I fear I am unable to comprehend the complex magics of the enchantment involved in your spell. I am specialized in the field of invocation, and these fields are much too different to mix. Here is a spell of illusion you may find useful.” He places his spell book on the display rock where all can see.
“Judging from out little lesson here I would say that the major flows in this spell are Mind and Light and perhaps some Spirit. Using this spell you can create an illusion of anything that you have personally seen or experienced. It covers a rather large area and you can change anything within range of the spell to be anything you want it to be. Of course it requires intense concentration to maintain the spell leaving you vulnerable to others. You can of course use the spell to create monsters, but if anyone attacks the illusion. It immediately disappears. You could create something that could kill an opponent quickly, but it would not really be dead, just sleeping. If you say, made the illusion of a wall collapsing on an enemy. The creature would just fall asleep. At least, usually it works. It of course suffers from the universal problem of illusions in that they just don’t affect some creatures.”
As the mages examine the spell, Burk turns to the others, “I suggest we set watch for the night. I will participate if necessary, but of course, mages are most effective on a full nights rest.” He sits back and enjoys the music.
After a moment the old man starts scribbling quickly. The others are still examining the book.
As the silent mage examines the spell, he easily spot the Mind flow which seems to dominate the rune. But the other flows seem to defy understanding, always flitting out of reach just as he beginss to understand them. He starts over vainly in search of the Spirit flow and come up against a mental blank wall. He closes his eyes in frustration and realizes that he has a tremendous headache just trying to follow the curves of the rune. Knowing this familiar feeling, he gives the job up as hopeless and lowers his quill in frustration and despair thinking perhaps it is time for a break. It is then that he notices the music playing in the background.
The old man looks at Burk and says, “I think I will take you up on that offer, but first I may have a score or two to settle before I try relaxing again.”
Seeing that the magi are ready to take a break, Je says, “You relax, wait until the search party returns as well as the other two scouts”, his face clouds over for a moment. Then he says, “We may need your strength in the near future.” With that he gets up and walks over to Poj. The two walk to the back of the tunnel and hold a whispered conversation.
The ogre returns from the entrance and says, “I have seen no sign of the other two scouts sent out, nor have I heard any strange sounds. I begin to worry if perhaps something is amiss. If what I heard is correct, the one scout that has returned found a dead end. In that case we have to take one of the two tunnels that remain. And if that is so, then we maybe walking into danger of some kind.”
As the ogre sits down and enjoys the music, Voruth finishes up his song, “I guess that means I’m on duty now.” And gets up and walks to the tunnel entrance to stand guard.
As Voruth stops playing the lute, the orc drummer and cymbalist continue on with a slightly different tune. After a minute or so a quite whistling is heard. The ogre, who is joined by two more orcs are holding their hands over their mouths making whistling sounds. The ogre making a deep slow whistle, which is countered by the two orcs much higher and faster whistles. While not as clear and nice as the lute, they add much to the atmosphere.
After listening to the music for a while, Magnus reopens his book and begins to draw the runes from the book onto a scroll. The old man stares off into a trance, while the others sit and relax enjoying the music.
Poj and Je return from the rear of the cavern. “We are beginning to worry about the scouts we sent before. Poj will take two others and search the rightmost tunnel first. If he has not returned by the time we are ready to go, we are to take the middle tunnel and hope for the best. I suggest now we try and get some sleep and wait for the priest’s party to return.”
Poj picks one of the two orcs whistling and as well as a fairly small orc. After a moment of arguing, the three set out. Poj and the whistling orc are both heavily armored, each carrying a pair of swords and a spear, borrowed from their companions, strapped to their backs. The third orc has draped himself in black cloth and as the other two head out with torches. The third hangs back just at the edge of the torch light, like a half-seen ghost.
As they leave Je says, “This place give me the chills, I hate caves! Why couldn’t they do this in the middle of the forest or something? There are plenty of remote places they could have done this in.” He sighs and lays down, “Zet ‘kanyr will take the next watch. May Gaea have mercy on our souls.”
Shortly after they vanish down the third tunnel, the scout party returns from the middle tunnel. Voruth cries out, “Welcome back, did you find anything?”
“We found plenty! Plenty of bones, rotted leather and an overwhelming stench. Other than that, just a few trinkets and some spare change.”
As the party enters the tunnel they look around and see that nearly everyone is stretched out for sleeping. The scout orc looks around the cave then heads towards Je. After a whispered conversation, the two go to look at the sack they brought back.
“You might as well get some rest for the night”, Voruth offers, “That orc Poj and two others got worried about some trouble and took the right fork. If they aren’t back by the time we are ready to go, then we take the middle road.”
With that everyone finds a place to lay down, the sack is placed between the orc mage and the old man who are still reading from their spell books.
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