Lein
Lein
'Allow me to explain myself.' You say to the wizard, preparing to
dodge out of the way if he should become angry.
'There needs be no explanation!' The wizard says, glaring first
at you and then at Shila. 'Go from this town!'
'We will not leave,' you say, with more bravado than you actually
have, 'until we have discovered what has happened here.'
The wizard says nothing for a few moments, then he points to you.
'Then I have no choice!' he bellows. He begins chanting something,
and you tense yourself, preparing to move quickly. Before you can
react, however, streams of fire are shooting from his hands, engulfing
both you and Shila in hot fury.
A split second later, the fire stops, and you stand where you were,
completely unharmed. Shila is standing next to you, holding her hands
up before her and whispering something under her breath. You feel
a wave of relief as you realize that Shila's magic has overcome
that of the wizard.
The wizard's expression deepens. 'You dare use magic against me!'
he says, With a flick of his wrist, he says something unintelligable.
With a muffled scream, Shila falls to her knees, holding her head.
Your sword is already out of its sheath, and you have closed the
distance between yourself and the wizard in no time at all. Before
the tall man can react, you bring your sword crashing into his chest,
colliding with the chainmail that the mage is wearing underneath
his robes. The wizard goes down in a flurry of limbs, yelling in surprise.
'Enough!' Another voice sounds from the shadows, freezing you in
position. The wizard that you knocked over scrambles away
desperately. The source of the second voice makes itself apparent
as another man, this one cloaked much more heavily than the
wizard had been, walks from out of the concealing shadows. He moves
to Shila first, helping her up. Shila glances toward you confusedly
before thanking the newcomer.
'Darwin!' the wizard says. 'I'm sorry, I tried to stop them.'
The newcomer looks over to the wizard. 'That is all right Ryan - I
do not think that these two are in danger.' He turns to you.
'My name is Darwin, and this is my assistant Ryan. We have been
attempting, for quite a time, to keep people out of this town.' he explains.
'Your assistant just tried to kill us.' you say, moving over to Shila while
managing not to turn your back on either Ryan or Darwin. Shila leans
on you for support, apparently still disoriented from whatever the
wizard had done to her. 'What's happened here?'
Darwin appears to think for a moment. 'You are not the usual travellers
through here, I can tell already.' He looks at Shila. 'She is a cleric,
is she not?' You look at Shila, who nods toward Darwin. 'Of what
order?'
'She is from the Eleein order' you answer for Shila.
Darwin pauses a moment. 'Then there is something that you should
know.' He turns to Shila.
'I wish to warn you of the Onyx. You no doubt know of it already,
but I do not think that your order knows the extent that it has reemerged.'
At your surprised look, Darwin continues. 'Yes, the Onyx has returned
to this world. It had never actually left, you see. The clerics of
your order, long ago, had driven the Priest of the Onyx back to
his tower. There he destroyed himself, but he did not destroy
the Onyx within him. That was impossible for him, or any of the clerics,
for that matter, to do. It was attempted, many times, but it always
failed. In the end, the spirit essense of the Onyx was sealed within
the tower for all time, and none have disturbed it... until recently.
A man named Sean Tanner has reopened the tower, and was
taken with the Onyx as were his travelling companions - his brother
and his wife to be. Since then, the Onyx has used him to extend
its reach to everything west of the High Barrier.' He looks gravely
at the two of you. Shila looks on with horror at the story. You just
try to accept all of this. You have one question though....
'How do you know all of this?' you ask, not really wanting to know
the answer.
The man turns to you. 'My name is Darwin Tanner - I was one of the
ones present when it happened. The Onyx is within me.'
Shila's Eyes go wide
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