“For a
hunter you have very little patience?”
“I am
sorry but you caught me off guard.”
“Yes, yes,
I guess I did.” Then he paused again. Heather waited this time realizing
anything she said would just get it off track again.
“The
danger is to the House of Havlock. The Lady and her
daughter are in great danger. The House of Havlock
still holds great power and influence. An evil force desires this power. You
must protect them from that evil force until you can destroy it.”
“What evil
do you speak of?”
“The
House of Boucher.” At hearing that name, a chill ran
down Heather’s spine. The Boucher’s were a father and two daughters who had
made deals with almost every demon and devil in the lower planes. They had done
this by causing the death of uncountable numbers of men, women, and children
during the Hundred Year War. Heather said,
“They died
during the Hundred Year War, at the hand of the White Circle?”
“That is
not completely true. They were banished to a different time and space where it
was thought they could not do any more harm. Their magic was stronger then
believed and fuelled by their need for revenge they
have found a way back. There is no longer a White Circle to fight them and if
they are allowed to gain strength, they will be unstoppable. You who have the
power of nature in you are the Havelock's only hope.”
“But I am
not even fully trained my master died.”
She
had not thought of Dubug in years, but now all the
good and the bad memories came flooding back. He had been killed by a ghost
saving her from her own ignorance. The Treeant said,
“Dubug was a good man. He was even wilder then you in his
younger days, you see I was his master.”
“He use to mention his teacher but he never told me you were a Treeant? I always wondered about the name though, So you are Rummble Root?”
“Yes. Now
you have to go to Shadizar and protect the Lady and
her daughter of the House of Havlock.”
“Wait you
have not told me how I am to defeat three of the most powerful sorcerers this
world has ever seen.”
“That is
because I do not know, but only you can do it.” He paused for a moment then
said, “Watch who you trust, but you will need allies in this. I see a white
Dragon helping you but I know there are not any left, so I do not know what it
means.”
He
then started to move away from her, she moved to follow him but a wall of trees
moved in front of her. She tried to get around them, but by the time she did Rummble Root was gone. Heather did not know what to think,
but if there was danger to the house of Havlock she
was obligated to help. It was because of that house that she was a Ranger. They
had created the Rangers during the Hundred Year War to protect the forests from
the forces of the Boucher's. They had wanted to
destroy the forest to cut back the power of the White Circle. The White Circle
was a group of natural wizards that had got their power from the wilderness.
She
quickly made her way back to her village in the northern wilderness area. She
found her old neighbour and asked him to keep an eye
on her house as she had to go to Shadizar. He said,
“Now you be careful there, that is one of the most dangerous place
around.” She smiled at his concern and gave him a little kiss on the cheek.
Then walking into her house she said,
“How much
more dangerous can it be then the wilds of the wilderness around here?” She
quickly packed up and started on her trip. Riding through the forests of the
north it would take her a couple of days before she even got to a road. Then it
would be a couple more days before she got to Shadizar.
She was making good time and so decided to spend a night at an inn; it would be
good not to have to sleep on the ground again.
She
pulled into the inn and a groom came running out to take her horse. Taking her
saddlebags she walked into the common room. A large fat man with an apron wrapped
around his middle came walking up to her. He said,
“My lady
can I help you?”
“Yes I
would like a room for the night. Oh and I will have dinner now.” He showed her
to a table and she sat down and asked for a mug of beer. The innkeeper walked
away and she had time to look around the common room. The place was clean but
not well maintained the rafters were all covered with black soot from the
candles and lamps that they used at night. The other people in the room were Two tables with some obvious lumberjacks at them. These were
people she knew well and felt comfortable with them. There were two other
tables in the place and both did not really seem to fit in with the place. The
first had six men at it. They were load and looked like they had been drinking heavily.
They could have been either bandits or men at arms but all the weapons they had
on them said they were fighting men of some kind. These were men who had no
consideration for life or death. Heather did not trust them.
The
last table was the most interesting of all; Heather had never seen anyone like
the man sitting there. He was a plain looking man with a good tan that said he
spent a good deal of time out of doors. His blond hair was bleached from the
sun and he had a well-trimmed moustache. This together
with the way the man easily smiled put Heather at easy about him. She could not
help but snicker inside at his outlandish dress. He had on silk pants and shirt
of a dark green colour with a bright yellow sash
around his middle. His head was covered with a bright yellow turban that had a
large green jewel set in the front of it. Showing his obvious wealth was
dangerous but even with the six fighting men at the next table he seem as calm
as if he were sitting in his own home. He looked like a foolish fop but that
was disguise. She could see by the movement of his eyes he knew everything that
was going on in the room including Heather checking him out. He smiled at her
and bowed his head slightly.
At
this point her beer showed up and she took a big swig to get rid of the dust
from the road. The beer was good so she followed the firs swig with another.
She had downed half of the pint when one of the bandits as she had decided they
were walked up to her table. He said,
“What is a
little girl like you doing out so late all by your self?” Heather was a small
girl and her natural rosy red cheeks made her look younger then she really was.
She did not want to talk to this person, so she looked him right in the eyes
for a second. Then said,
“Father
said it would be alright if I came home late tonight,” in her most sarcastic
voice. The bandit looked at her and she could see she had made him mad, and
embraced him in front of the others. She heard the others laughing and jeering
him in the background. She knew this was not a good seen, he would have to do
something to save face. She did not wait long as he took a back handed swing at
her. She pushed her chair back and he missed, but worst her heather he fell
flat on his face, knocking over her table. This caused his friends to laugh
even more. Heather said,
“Now you
owe me a beer!” The man stood back up and rushed at Heather. She had been
trained in both weapons and unarmed combat, so she took up a defensive
position. As the bandit blindly rushed at her she brought her foot up in a
perfect kick to the side of the mans head. He hit the
floor and heather took a second to see what his friends were doing.
She
saw the fop standing in front of them with a sword in his hands that looked to
be made of light. He was keeping the others out of the fight. She then looked
back to the man on the floor. He was getting up and had pulled a dagger. She
pulled her own and showed the man she knew how to use it, hoping he would back
away. He moved in to attack her but his moves were sloppy from all the beer he
had drank. Heather did not want to kill him so she just kept herself alive,
while looking for an opening. Eventually she found it and hit him on the back
of the neck where she knew he would be knocked out cold. He fell to the floor
like a discarded rag doll. She turned to face the others that the fop had been
keeping at bay. She said,
“Take your
friend and get out of here, but first.” She reached down and grabbed the man’s
purse. Taking out some coins she said,
“For
the damages and for my beer.” Then
through the empty purse back on the man’s body.
The
fop returned to his seat, as did all the rest of the tavern patrons. She moved
her table back and sat down as her dinner was delivered. Heather said to the
innkeeper,
“The man
in the fine clothes, I would like to buy him a drink.”
“He is
drinking my finest wine my lady, it is a silver a
glass.”
“That is a
little more then I can afford. Well can you ask him if he would join me?” The
innkeeper walked to the table and talked to the fop. The fop nodded and rose
from his table walking over to Heather’s.
She
said,
“Thank you
Sir, it could Have gotten very ugly if it had been six
against one.”
“Yes that
is what I thought you deserved a fair fight.”
“I wanted
to buy you a drink for helping me, but your tastes seem to be out of my
budget.” He smiled at her honesty and said,
“I enjoy a
good beer just as much as a good bottle of wine. So how about this you buy us a
couple of beers and then I will get us a bottle of wine.” She smiled and it
lights up her whole face. The fop then said,
“My name
is Percy De’Aablo and I am on my way to Shadizar.”
“My
goodness I am also going to Shadizar,” she paused for
a second as what Rummble Root had told her flashed
through her head, for some reason she felt she could trust this man. Then she
continued,
“My name
is Heather, and I am a Huntress. Well really I am a Ranger.”
“Really I
have never met a Ranger I would imagine it is a lonely life. Living in the
forests all the time not see many people.”
“It has
its times, but mostly I like the solitude.”
Heather
ate her meal while Percy told her stories about Shadizar
and other things. When she was finished she asked,
“Are you a
bard?” Laughing he said,
“No I have
just been around a lot, but I do love music and stories so I guess you could
say I am an unofficial Bard.” They talked for a couple of more hours and by the
end of it had decided to travel together. Percy had suggested it because he
figured those bandits would be looking for her on the road. He told her they
had been waiting for someone maybe even her. At this
heather got quite serious and said,
“Are you
sure they were waiting for someone?”
“Oh yes
quite sure. I over heard them talking about it, but I figured they had been out
in the sun to long. They had said something about working for the Boucher’s and
everyone knows they were killed at the end of the Hundred Year
War.” Percy laughed then he noticed that Heather was not only
not laughing but was all of a sudden scared to death. He said,
“They were
kidding, were they not?”
Heather
shook her head no. Then she started to tell Percy about what had happened to
her. Percy listened to her story then said,
“I know
Lady Havlock, she is a friend of mine. Those men were after you, so for
some reason the Boucher's are afraid of you. I know
Rangers have magical powers but I did not know they are that strong that the
most powerful sorceresses to ever live would fear you.”
“Maybe a
fully trained Ranger, but my training was never completed. I can do a few
things magical, but nothing I think they would fear.” Percy looked at her and
could see the fear in her eyes, at that moment Percy felt very protective of
her. He quickly changed the subject by asking,
“Are you
married?” She looked at him and there was now mischief in her eyes and a big
smile light up those rosy cheeks again. At that point they said their good
nights and headed up to their separate rooms.
In
the morning they started on their way to Shadizar.
They pushed hard over the next couple of days and made it a day early. Percy
had already talked Heather into staying at his house. Percy got her settled in
and introduced her to Chekhov his man servant and security man. Chekhov was not
a normal servant he was also a Lotus Ninja of the first order. His father
Master Chan had taught Percy the ways of the Ninja also. Then Percy said,
“We must
get your gown for tonight.” There was confusion on her face so Percy said,
“I have
been invited to a very fancy party this evening.”
“We do not
have time for parties?”
“This one
we do, the Lady Havlock will be there.” Heather
smiled and left the house with Percy.
They
walked to a woman’s clothing store that he had used in the past. Entering a
woman walked over and said,
“Sir De’Aablo, it is so good to see you again.”
“Madame
Nicole, I am so glad you are in. I need a gown for my friend here, and I need
it for tonight’s party.”
“Oh, Sir De’Aablo that is very little time, I do not no if it can be.” Percy smiled at her and said,
“I know it
will be expensive so let’s get on with it.” The two women moved into the back
room. Percy knew from past experience it would take awhile so he headed to a jeweller's that he knew close by. He knew he would need
something for the outfit but Heather would want something simple. He picked out
a delicate silver belt with a jewelled dagger on it.
The dagger was even functional which made Percy a little happier. He got back
to the dress shop just as they were coming out of the back. Heather had on an
emerald green dress of satin. It was her, very simple with no bows or frills on
it. It just had two thin straps holding it up on her delicate but muscular
shoulders. It clung to her figure down to her hips then it hung straight down
to the floor. There were two slits up either leg to just above the knee.
“It is marvellous Madame but it needs something.” Pulling out the
belt of delicate silver links, he handed it to her. Heather held it as if it
was going to fall apart but quickly put it on. Percy looked at her and said,
“That is
not quite it?” Then he handed her the dagger in it scabbard. She hocked it onto
the belt and the green jewel in the hilt just set the whole thing off
perfectly. Percy thought, ‘she will be the Belle of the Ball.’
Heather
changed back into her own clothes and they went for lunch. Percy
took her to his favourite wine shop, The Saucy Goose.
The owner of the wine shop was Jack an old friend of his. Jack
was also one of the few people who knew about Percy’s alter ego, the Greyman. The Greyman was Shadizar’s most notorious thief and that was quite the
trick in a city that was called the city of thieves. They had a fabulous lunch
of roasted rabbit stuffed with spiced greens. Then they went back to Percy’s
house to get ready for the party. Chekhov had arranged for a coach to pick them
up. It drove them up to the door and heather was amazed at the sight of the
house. It was a large three-story house all made of stone. The light shone out
of the windows on all three floors and light up the whole area. Right over the
door was a fantastic mural done in stained glass and it bathed the arriving
guest in a kaleidoscope of colours. It was a house fit
for a king, which the Watkins were if money was power.
He was said to be the wealthiest man in Shadizar.
The
two of them walked in and heads turned at the beautiful image that Heather
presented. She was a mysterious beauty on the arm of Shadizar’s
most eligible bachelor. Heather looked around and could not believe all the
beautiful things in the house it was what she imagined a castle would be like.
The people all in their finest clothes made the image compete, they looked like
the royal court. Percy took her and introduced her to there host and hostess.
He said,
“Lord and
Lady Watkins may I introduce the Lady Muskrat.” Heather looked at him as if to
say what are you doing? She quickly recovered and was most charming and
mysterious about herself. She kept this up all throughout evening. They worked
their way through the crowd all the while Percy was looking for Lady Havlock.
Finally
he found her in the crowd and pointed her out for Heather. She was surprised to
find the Lady was so young. The Lady Havlock appeared
to only be in her last twenties. Heather thought, ‘this woman could probably
take care of herself.’ She looked in excellent shape, with sandy blond shoulder
length hair and a dark tan. Heather liked her at once, thinking, 'this is a
woman who spends a great deal of time outside.' Percy and Heather moved through
the crowd to the Lady. Lady Havlock smiled as she saw
Percy and Heather walking towards her. She said,
“Percy, I
wondered when you were going to bring the talk of the party over so I could
meet her?”
“Well if
you were not totally surrounded by young men trying to get your attention, I
might have found you sooner. Now that I have found you, Lady Havlock may I introduce Heather The
Huntress.” Heather started to curtsy, but the Lady Havlock
grabbed her hand and said,
“That is
not necessary. We do not stand on formalities here. I am glad to meet you
Heather, by any chance are you a Ranger?”
“Yes I am
my Lady.”
“No, no
call me Denise, that Lady stuff is from days gone by.”
“I am
deeply honoured, after all it was your family who created the Rangers
during the War with the Bouchers. It is to pay that
debt that I have come here.” Denise looked at her as if to say how.
“My Lady
do you know of a creature called Rummble Root?” A
look of shock crossed her face.
“How do
you know about him? He is the guardian of the house of Havlock.”
“Rummble Root sent me hear to
protect you.”
At
that moment, they heard a scream from the middle of the room. The three of them
turned around to see what was happening. They turned to see two women standing
in the middle of the room. They were both looking around obviously looking for
someone or a group of people. The first had a thin athletic build and long
blond hair down to her behind. She was dressed in a black dress that was cut
down to her waist in the front and the back. It was also embroidered in silver
thread, some kind of mystical symbols. The other woman was far curvier in her
physical appearance and was dressed in red. The material of the dress almost
looked as if it were made of flames. She had only one symbol on the dress; it
was an ancient symbol for fire. She had brown hair with fire highlights to it,
not just in colour but it actually looked like there
was fire in her hair.
Neither
Heather nor Percy had ever seen the Boucher daughters but they some how knew
these two women were them. Percy said,
“You deal
with the fire witch and I will get the other one.” At that moment, the two
women both saw Denise. The looks on their face said, ‘they were not here to say
hi.’ They moved towards Denise pushing everyone out of their way. Heather cast
a spell at the fire witch, and a cloud formed over her
head. It then started to pour rain down on her, as soon as the water started to
hit the fire witch there was a loud sizzle as if the water was being poured on
a fire. The sound of the sizzle was quickly drowned out as a scream came from
the ruby red lips of the fire witch. Percy could not help but look the sound of
the scream drew has attention but the sight of her soaking wet kept it. The
fire dress was like a second skin and it seemed to becoming more and more
transparent. This almost cast Percy his life as the second sister was coming
towards him with a glowing black sword in his hand. She took a swing at him and
Percy just got his own sword in his hand in time to block her attack.
Heather
could not see what Percy was doing, but after she cast the rain spell, she cast
a spell to lower the temperature around Suzanne the fire witch. Heather’s idea
was to try and encase Suzanne in ice; it seemed to be
working. The ice was forming and getting thicker by the second. It took only
about a minute and she was covered with almost a foot of ice. Heather
discontinued the spell and moved in to see what was happening to Suzanne. From
what she saw the fire witch was totally incapacitated and out of the fight.
Heather turned to see what Percy was doing.
He
was in a fencing duel to the death with the other sister, Jeniffer
Boucher. They both had swords that appeared to be made of black or white
energy. Percy’s sword, so bright and white that Heather could hardly look at
it. While the black sword of the Boucher sister was so black that, it seemed to
absorb the light from around her. When the two swords met, it looked as though
the fabric of both time and space was distorted somehow. Heather could feel the
power of the two different magic's at work. There was
a smell of ozone in the air as well as the tingle of electricity. Heather could
not believe how anyone could control such powers.
That
thought fled her mind as she was knocked to the ground by an explosion from
behind her. She was being pummelled by chunks of ice.
She turned just in time to defend herself from an attack from a staff. She
saved her own life but was knocked to the ground and unconscious. Suzanne then
turned on Percy but he was prepared for her attack. She shoot
flames out of her hand at Percy while yelling to her sister,
“This is
not what we were prepared for. Let’s get out of here while we still can.” Percy
saw the flames coming towards him and parried it with his sword and sent it
back at the Fire Witch. Suzanne got the full brunt of her own spell back on her
self. She was fortunate that the spell's damage was from fire,
she could absorb most of it, but still took some damage. Suzanne called out to
her sister again,
“I have to
get out of here, this is not what I was prepared to
deal with.” Then she disappeared in a ball of flames.
Jeniffer saw her
sister disappear, but she did not want to forfeit this fight to a normal human.
He had incredible powers but they could not compete with her powers. She went
on the offence and pushed Percy back. Before he got into
trouble though he made his move. Instead of blocking her attack with his
sword he made it disappear and ducked under her attack. This caused Jeniffer to over extend herself. She was out of position
and Percy rematerialized his sword and struck up into her stomach.
When
the white sword slide into Jeniffer’s stomach there
were two screams. The first was Jeniffer
in pain and agony. Her scream was that of a creature in such pain, Percy almost
felt sorry for what he had done to her. The second scream came from Percy’s
White sword of energy as it winked out of existence. Then all of a sudden Jeniffer was gone and Percy fell to his knees. It had never
taken so much energy and concentration to maintain his sword before.
Heather
and Denise both moved quickly to him. Denise found he had a slash across his
chest from the black sword. It was not deep and should normally have healed
quickly, but she could see it was quickly becoming infected. Denise laid her
hands onto Percy’s chest and he started to glow. After a moment or two the
glowing stopped and both Percy and Heather could see that, the slash was gone
as well as the infection. Denise said,
“You
should be all right now. You were lucky the fight did not last much longer or I
might not have been able to counter the poison.”
Percy
felt better and rose to his feet. He said,
“I thought
this was a party where is my drink?” A servant quickly brought him a glass of
wine and Percy said,
“A
toast to our host for a most entertaining show.”
The rest of the guests laughed and the party started up again. People did not
want to think about evil like the Boucher’s and would ignore it if given half a
chance to. When the party was back on track and everyone seemed to be having
fun and the incident was a past memory. The three of them moved out on to the
balcony.
Percy
said,
“We were
very lucky that time. The next time they will be ready for our resistance and
it will be a great deal more difficult.” Denise said,
“Why are
they after me? I am not a threat to them.” Heather said,
“Your
family fowled up their plans the last time. Maybe they are after revenge? On
the other hand, it could just be some nature ability that your family possesses
that they are afraid of. Who can say?” Denise thought for a couple of minutes
then said,
“This
pendant is suppose to protect my family and it has
been passed down since that time in history. Do you think it could have
anything to do with it?”
Heather
moved to her and looked at the pendant. She held it between her hands and could
feel the power in it. Denise said,
“It gives
me that healing power you saw earlier. However, that is all I know about it. If
you could tell me anymore I would be grateful.” Heather looked at her she knew
of the pendant, but believed it had been destroyed in the 100-Year War.
“It is a
lot more then you think it is. It is the amulet of the last Great Druid, and it
is said to posses his sprit. What that means to you is that you have all the
powers of one of the most powerful natural sorcerers this world has ever seen.”
Denise looked at her and said,
“There has
not been a Great Druid since the war with the Bouchers.”
“Yes, I
know,” said Heather, “May I try it?” Denise nodded and Heather took the pendant
from around her neck. Holding it between her hands, she concentrated on a spell
that she knew she could not cast.
Denise
and Percy were both mesmerized as the chariot appeared before their eyes. It
looked to be made of gold all except for its wheels they looked like they were
made of flames. Heather opened her eyes and said,
“Oh may
the old gods forgive me! I did not believe I could do it.” Percy said,
“What is
it? How does it move?”
“It is the
Chariot of the gods. The person who created it controls it. They think of where
they wont to go and it takes them there.”
“Should we
try it out?” said Denise. They looked at each other then moved slowly to the
chariot. Heather got in and waited for everyone else to get in also. Then she
thought of Percy's house. The chariot started to move and quickly built up
speed. In no time, it was going much faster then any horse or coach could have
taken them. They were at Percy’s house in half the time of a normal trip. Once
there they decided to get out and not chance being taken to some place, they
may not be able to get back from. Percy said,
“This
could come in handy I wish I could do that.” As soon as they had gotten out and
were moving away the chariot disappeared.
Walking
into Percy’s house, they found Chehkov waiting for
them. He said,
“Did you
have a good night?” Percy just laughed and said,
“Well if
you think fighting an ancient evil in the middle of a party, fun, then I guess
we had a great time. Can you bring us some wine out to the court yard?” Chehkov nodded and Percy lead the two lades out to the
courtyard and sat them down. The two lades looked around and saw the incredible
garden surrounding them. The smell of the flowers was intoxicating. Denise
said,
“The
garden is much improved since I was last here.” Percy looked around and the
pride on his face showed. He said,
“I would
like to take credit for it but it is all Chehkov’s
doing. He is the one with a green thumb.” Heather said,
“I could
be very happy if I had a garden like this to look after for the rest of my
life.” Denise looked at her and said,
“After all
this is over if you want we will create one on my estate just out side of
town.” The two women looked at each other and Percy could see that something
was passing between them. At this point Chehkov came
back out and the two women started to bombard him with questions about the
garden. He was very proud of it and tried to answer them all. Percy served out
the wine to everyone and let them talk about the garden.
He
was thinking about what had happened at Lord Watkins estate. To his reasoning
the younger, Lady Havlock was safe for now, it looked like the Boucher’s were after the amulet. If
they had something of such power, they would be almost unstoppable. In order to
make sure that did not happen Percy decided that Denise should stay at his
house until they got this all straightened out. The two women had finished with
Chehkov and the garden so Percy asked,
“Chehkov could you get rooms ready for the two ladies I
think they will be both staying with us for awhile.” Chehkov
got up and escorted the two women to their room and everyone got some sleep.
The
next morning Percy woke early, Chehkov was already up
and so Percy told him,
“Keep an
eye on them, they are both in grave danger.” Then he dawned the costume of his alter ego, the Grayman.
The Grayman was Shadizar’s
most notorious thief. Now he was going to go and get some information. He had
dealt with the beggar’s guild on more then one occasion. They were always
trying to find out who he was, but so far, they had failed. This time he
figured he would just go and see the King of the beggars in his court. Knowing
where guildhall or royal court as the king called it was. He made his way to
the sewers near the edge of town. When he was within sight of the entrance he
put on his mask and walked right into the royal court. He was not confronted
until he got into the court area. Then a man walked out from niche in the wall.
He had the look of a guard and said,
“What do
you want?”
“I have
come to buy information and will only deal with the Beggar King.”
“Are you
who I think you are?”
“Yes, I am
the Grayman.”
The
guard seemed mildly disturbed by that and Percy smiled. He then moved through a
door in the back of the chamber. He was only gone a moment when he came back
leading a large fat man. The fat man was dressed in the most mismatched set of
clothes Percy had ever seen. Not only that they were covered in food stains of
every kind. The guard said,
“All rise
for the Beggar King.” Since Percy was the only one in the room and was, already
standing it seemed a little ridiculous. The Beggar King then waved him off and
he looked at Percy and said in a voice filled with resentment,
“What can
I do for you this time?”
“You make
it sound like you are never compensated for the information I get.”
“Yes, but
I could usually make more money if the people you asked about did not always
end up dead.”
“Maybe you
will get lucky this time and they will kill me.” The fat King laughed and said,
“I could
only be so lucky. Now what is it you need to know?”
“Where are
the Boucher’s?”
“They are
dead and I will give you that one for free.”
“For the
King of information you are very poorly informed. I will give you this one
free. The two daughters appeared at Lord and Lady Watkin’s
party last night.” Percy paused to let what he said sink in, then he continued,
“if it had not been for Percy De Aablo
and a young lady who was with him the Lady Havlock
would now be dead.”
The
Beggar King was silent for a few moments then bellowed out a name that he did
not quite catch. A small man came scurrying in and through him self on the
floor at the feet of the Beggar King. The Beggar King said,
“What is
this about the Watkin’s party?” the little man was
shaken and said,
“There was
a disturbance my King but we do not know by who or for
what reason.”
“Well I
do,” bellowed the Beggar King, “Now go and find out all you can about it.” The
little man did not rise but crawled out of the room. The Beggar King then
turned to the Grayman and said,
“I will
know all there is to know by noon. Come back and I will give you all the
information for free.”
The
Grayman walked out and turned himself invisible so he
could not be followed. He made his way to a stash of clothing and changed into
his foppish ego. Then he quickly made his way home to make sure the ladies were
safe. Getting there, he found them out in the courtyard. Heather was teaching
Denise how to use the amulet to its fullest potential. As he walked into the
courtyard, all the plants around him started to grow and wrap themselves around
him. In a matter of seconds he could not move. Percy yells,
“Hay, I am
one of the good guys.” Denise and Heather spin around, both started to laugh
but the look on Percy’s face makes them reconsider. Denise then closes her eyes
and concentrates on braking the spell. When the plants
had returned to normal Denise said,
“I am
sorry I forgot I had that spell still active. Though it was a
good test.” Heather said,
“Where
have you been?” He tells him about his visit to the Beggar Kings minus the Grayman stuff.
Percy
says,
“I have
been thinking, the Boucher’s must be very weak, or we could not have beaten
them last night. We should go on the offence and attack them. We must hunt them
down and destroy them or the world is doomed.” Heather and Denise both looked
at him like he was mad. Then Heather said,
“How in
the world can we ever beat them?” Percy looked at her and said,
“We did
once we just did not finish it off.” The look on their faces expressed their
reluctance to face down two of the most powerful witches the world had ever
seen. In the end, though he could see they knew it had to be done.
“Ok,” said
Denise. By the time, they had decided it was almost time for Percy to meet with
the Beggar King. The two women wanted to go with him, but Percy said that there
time would be better used teaching Denise more about the amulet. They eventually
went back to their studies and he left.
Percy
makes his way back to his stash of clothes and changes into the Grayman again. The city is alive with people now so after
he changes he turns himself invisible and walks to the Beggar Kings courtroom.
Once there he yells out,
“Oh King
of the Beggars may I have an audience?” He then drops a small glass vile and
when it brakes a cloud of grey
smoke appears. Then dropping the invisibility spell, he is standing in the
middle of all the guards. The guards quickly surround him. He laughs and says,
“I have an
appointment.” The Beggar King walks out of his apartment and waves his guards
off and says,
“Go I can
not afford to replace you all at once.”
He
then looks at the Grayman as if sizing him up, after
a second he shrugs.
“I have good and bad news, the good is the father is definitely
dead. A demon ate him while he was in exile. The bad news is the daughters are
back, but I only have a ruff idea of where they might be. It seems there have
been some mysterious disappearances down by the old Dejardi
mansion. The Dejardi family was allies of the
Boucher’s in 100-Year War. When it was over, they were all killed. The house
was never touched as it was considered haunted. My best guess is if the
Boucher’s are in Shadizar they are there. Now we are
even, but if you run across any more information, please come to me first.”
The
Grayman just turned and walked out, and just as he
went through the door, he turned himself invisible again. Making his way back
to his clothes he got changed and went home. Getting there, he found the two
women in the courtyard working on spells. He told them all he had found out.
Denise said,
“I should
have known, the Dejardi were the Boucher’s main
enforces. I had forgotten they were from Shadizar.”
Percy said,
“I think
we should go and scout the place out. Then we can plan out our next step.” The
two of them got ready to go on their mission. Percy found Chehkov
and told him about the Boucher’s and the Dejardi’s.
He said,
“If we do
not come back or you do not hear from me, get as many people as quickly as
possible and attack the Dejardi mansion.” Chehkov smiled and said,
“It is not
your time yet, but I will have everything in place just
encase.”
The
three of them started on their way. They were all very quite and Percy could
tell they were very much afraid. As they got with in sight of the Dejardi Mansion, an uneasiness
fell over the air. It was a huge monstrosity up on top of a hill, at the
outskirts of the city. They could not find a good spot to look the house over
and finally decided to just walk in. Moving up to the house, Percy noticed, the
closer they got the colder the air felt. Getting to the front door, they got
their first indication that someone was using the house. The door was made of
wood and it had been made to look old and as if it would fall apart at any
time, but it was solid and very sturdy. Percy pushed on the door but found it
would not budge. Denise touched the door and a white light radiated out from
her hand and eventually covered the whole door. At the same time the door
slowly swung open. Percy looked at her and said,
“Neat
trick, it would have taken me the rest of my life to get that door open.”
“Well
let’s go see if anyone is home.”
They
moved through the door with Percy and Heather in the lead. They walked into a
poorly light entrance hall. The large number of stuffed heads on the wall added
to the dark and gloomy feel of the place. There were both nature and magical
creatures and to Percy they looked almost to life like. The walls and floors
also seemed to be made of a black wood that added to the illusion of gloom.
There were doors leading off to the left and right and a large staircase in
front of them. Percy looked at the two woman as if to
say, now where? Heather pointed to the door on the right and said,
“Start at
the bottom and work your way up.” They moved to the door and found it slid off
into the wall. Percy grabbed one door and pushed on it. It noiselessly moved
into the wall but the group was blinded. After a second their eyes adjusted and
they could see there was a large window in front of them with the setting sun
shining in at them. They could then make out that they were looking into a
library. All the walls except for the window and where the door was were
covered with bookshelves and there were two chairs for reading in by a
fireplace. There was also a large writing desk directly in front of the
windows. They moved in and started to look around, the two women moved to one
side while Percy went to the other. The women started to look at the books
while Percy went to the desk. After a second Heather said,
“These
books all seemed to be about dealing with demons.” Denise said,
“These
about undead, oh no this one tells you how to become
an undead. The Dejardi were
obviously looking into ways to live forever. What a scary thought if they had
of had time to carry out their plans.”
“Maybe
they did? Don’t forget this place is said to be haunted,” said Percy. They both
looked at Percy thinking, ‘thanks as if they did not have enough on their minds
as it was.’
Percy
said,
“Ok there
is nothing there, lets move on,” but just as they were about to leave he
noticed something. The bookcase did not look quite right. He said,
“Wait, I
think their maybe something behind that bookcase.” They all moved to the
bookcase and started to look it over. Denise eventually found a small knot in
the wood that moved. She pushed it and the bookcase moved away from the wall.
Looking in Heather said,
“There are
two sets of stars, one up and one down.” Heather turns to the others and Denise
says,
“Start at
the bottom and work up.”
Heather
makes a couple of torches from the drapes and a couple of pokers from the
fireplace. They light them up and head down into the blackness below. The
walls, ceiling, and stairs all seemed to have been carved out of the
surrounding black rock. The black rock seems to absorb what little light their
torches are giving off. After descending about twenty feet, they come to the
bottom and a door. Heather opened it and walked in. She lets out a small gasp
at seeing the room and its contents. The other two follow her and find there
are in a torture chamber. There were people in all sorts of devices designed to
cause pain of all kinds. The people were not in very good condition and the
occasional moan was heard in the room. Percy moved to free an old man, but the
man stopped him. He said,
“I must
tell you first.” Percy looked at him and said,
“Tell me,
tell me what? Who are you?”
“My name
is Diamond of the White Circle.”
“That can
not be true you should have died a long time ago.”
“You are
right I should have, but these devices have kept us all alive. That is not
important you must know the dangers you are about to face. The Boucher’s have
animated the Dejardi’s as Vampires. They could be in
this room right now listening to us.”
“Well when
we get you free you can help us to defeat them.”
“That will
not be possible, as soon as you free us we will age and even as powerful as we
were we can not deal with aging that much so fast, we will all die.”
“How can
we defeat three Vampires and the two Bouchers, it is
not possible?”
“You have
the amulet it will deal with the Vampires, they do not
know that so they will be careless. Hold the amulet up in from of them it will
let out a bright light that will stun the Vampires then your white sword will
remove there heads. Your white sword can also destroy Jeniffer
the controller of the negative energies. Heather and Denise with the amulet
should be able to deal with the fire witch Suzanne.”
“You make
it sound so easy?”
“No it
will not and if you falter even a little you could all parish,
not just your body but your soul. You Percy will also lose your body to Brackus and another evil will be released onto the world.”
Percy looked into the old mans eyes for a second and saw that even after all
the years of torture he had gone through he felt sorry for Percy. The old man
then said,
“It is time, release us so we can go to our much deserved rest.”
They
stared to free them and almost at once they all aged a thousand years. Their
bodies went from what looked to be normal one second, through the stages of
death and decay to end up as little piles of dust on the floor. After a couple
of minutes, they were all gone and the three of them stood there in the chill
of the basement. Percy thought how unimaginable it must have been. To have been
tortured for a thousand years, by some of the most evil people the world had
ever seen. They looked around the room but found nothing but devices for
causing pain. They started to leave but Percy heard something.
He spun
around only to find himself face to face with one of the Dejardi
Vampires. The undead creature in front of him said,
“Good,
fresh blood and more bodies for are army of the dead.” Percy smiled at the
Vampire, which made the creature falter in its approach. This gave Percy a
chance to materialize his sword. The Vampire laughed and said,
“Your puny
sword will not hurt me, I am all ready dead.” He moved towards Percy again.
Percy rushed his attack and only caused a gash across its arm. The Vampire’s
eyes widened with fear as he also howled in pain. The blade of positive energy
was a weapon that the Vampire knew nothing about. It was capable of not only
hurting it but also killing it.
Heather
was just about to turn around and see what was happening, when she noticed a
mist rolling down the stairs. Most people knew that Vampires could transform
themselves into a mist or fog. Heather was no exception; she cast a spell that
would cause a small but very intense whirlwind. She then moved it into the
mist. The mist seemed to separate and be dispelled. Heather could not be sure
what had happened to the Vampire or even if there had been one there. She then took a second to see how Percy was
doing.
Percy’s
Vampire had just gotten mad at his failed attack with his white sword. He moved
at Percy but Percy kept him at bay with his sword. Denise had moved up beside
him as he had been fighting and now got the amulet ready. When the Vampire
moved in to attack, she caused the amulet to give off its sunburst. The Vampire
then fell to its knees. Denise then moved in and put the amulet on its
forehead. There was a blinding flash and it looked up into Percy’s eyes. The
Vampire changed, its white skin went back to flesh colour,
and its eyes went from blood red to blue. He could see that it had returned to
normal life. He kicked in so that it would be bent over as if it were praying
at that moment Percy swung his sword and took the head of the Ex-Vampire. The
head rolled across the floor and the body fell limp, spewing blood everywhere.
Percy
stepped back out of the forming puddle of blood. He turned to Heather and said,
“Anything
coming?”
“I don’t
think so.” Percy went to investigate the door the Vampire had come through. It
was a one way door that he could not open, but if that was the case, he was
going to make sure no one could open it. He then wedged a piece of wood into
the door so it could not be opened again. He turned back to the two women and
found Heather watching the stairs. Denise was staring at the dead Vampire
corpse. Percy walked to her and said,
“Lady Havlock are you alright?” She
looked into Percy’s eyes and he saw a tear run down her cheek. Then she said,
“We had to
bring him back to life in order to kill him, it seems so unfair!” Percy looked
at her and the sympathy that he felt for her showed in his voice. He said,
“That was
at one time Vincent Dejardi. He was responsible for
the killing of about ten thousand men, women or children during the 100-Year
War. I do not feel any sympathy for him.” She looked at him and said,
“You are
cold.”
“No I am
just thinking of all the satisfaction all those souls he killed are now resting
comfortably. After all we are up against the most evil people who ever lived on
this planet and they did all that evil all in the name of getting personal
power. Denise nodded that she understood that, but it still hurt her. She
turned and walked away, following Heather up the stairs.
They
made their way back up to the landing and Heather asked,
“Up or do
we go back into the house?” Denise said,
“Up,” she
paused not knowing why she had said it. “I don’t know why but I think we should
go up.” Heather looked at Percy and he said,
“I never
argue with woman’s intuition, so lets go up.”
Heather
started up the stairs, they seemed to be made of the
same black stone and absorbed the light from their torches again. After about fifteen feet up Heather stopped. She turned to
the others and said,
“I see a
door and there is a weird red light coming from it. Stay here and let me go
take a look.” She then moved up the stairs on her hands and knees. She could
not believe what see saw as she looked in the door. There in the middle of the
room was a large circular fire pit. The pit had a roaring fire in it and
Heather could not be sure but see thought she saw eyes and mouths in it. They
all seemed to be made of fire, but that was not the weird part. In the middle
of the fire, floating on the flames was Suzanne the Fire Witch. Heather had
trouble believing what she was seeing, but pulled herself away.
She
moved back down the stairs. Getting to Denise and Percy she said,
“You wont believe what I just saw. The fire Witch seems to be
sleeping in a roaring fire in the middle of the room.”
“Was their
anything else in the room?”
“I don’t
know it was hard to tell the roaring fire made everywhere else so dark. There
could have been an army in those shadows.” No one really wanted to make the
decision that might send them all to his or her deaths. They looked at each
other hoping someone else would take command. After a second Percy said,
“Heather,
you and Denise attack the fire witch and I will guard your backs.” Heather and
Denise looked at each other, and then they both nodded as neither had a better
idea.
Getting
to the top of the stairs, they walked into the room. It was as quiet as a tome
the fire did not even give off its normal crackling noises. Percy was trying to
look every way at the same time. Heather and Denise moved to the fire pit and
figured out that the best way to hurt the fire witch was to put out the fire in
the pit. Heather looked into the pit and was shocked at what she saw. There was
no bottom to the pit and the flames seem to be coming from somewhere bellow.
Heather said,
“I will
try to put out the fire while you deal with the witch herself. Ok!” Denise
said,
“I think
we should do that the other way around, you know how to fight.” Heather nodded
yes then said,
“Ready,
attack!” Both of them at once cast a
spell. Denise cast a spell that would create water. The spell would create
gallons upon gallons of water where she wanted it. She set her spell up so that
all the water would fall into the pit. The water was created at the same time
as Heather cast her spell at Suzanne the Fire Witch. Heather’s spell was a
frost spell that did its damage by cooling an object down.
The
frost spell hit Suzanne and she let out a scream that could have frozen their
blood. At the same time the water fell down into the pit as it fell the flames
around Suzanne seemed to die down. Suzanne rose from the fire pit and moved
towards the two women. Heather stepped in front of her and drew her sword.
Denise was creating another wall of water to drop into the pit as Suzanne cast
her spell. It created a wall of fire around the fire pit. It was between her
and the two women but she walked right through it to get at Heather. Denise let
her spell go but changed its location She dropped it half on Suzanne and half
on the wall of fire around the pit. Suzanne was knocked to the floor under the
weight of all that water falling on her and the firewall was almost gone.
Heather moved in. She attacked with her sword, which Suzanne parried at the
last moment with a sword of flame, that she now had in
her hand. The two of them exchanged blows at a furious pace, with each just
blocking the others at the last moment.
Denise
on the other hand made her second attack on the flames in the fire pit. She
created another pool of water over the pit and let it fall to where ever it
ended. She did this three more time before she saw any decrease in the flames
at the pits level. She also felt something moving up the tunnel of the fire
pit. She moved to look, but not in her worst nightmare had she ever seen
anything like what was moving up the pit. It looked to be made of flames and
its head seemed to be covered with black horns. At seeing her looking down it
opened its mouth and smiled. It seemed to have two rows of black teeth all
sharp enough to rip her to shreds. Denise knew she had to do some thing quick.
She grabbed the amulet in both hands and concentrated with all her mental
strength. She was sweating as she felt the first rumble of the ground. The
tremors built up more and more as she focused all her strength into it. With in
a few minutes the pit fiend as she thought of it had stopped climbing and
looked as if it was having trouble holding on to the sides of the pit. Denise
gave the spell one last burst of energy to shake it lose and knock it back from
where it had come. The effort caused her to fall to her knees, which was a
blessing as the pit fiend fell a blast of flame came up the tunnel.
During the fight between Heather and Suzanne Percy had
been looking for Jeniffer the other sister.
The area behind the fire pit was blacker then the darkest night sky and Percy
wondered about that. He moved to where he could get a better look but could
still not see anything. At the last moment, he saw a flash of black out of the
corner of his eye. He turned and blocked with his sword just as Jeniffer attacked. She had swung to take his head off and
if he had been a second slower she would have done just that. The two of them
exchanged blows and each time the two swords met Percy felt his soul trying to
be ripped from his body. He did not know how much longer he could keep up the
battle with Jeniffer. She seemed to be getting
stronger while he seemed to be getting weaker. Percy was getting desperate, he
knew she would ware him down sooner then later and that would be it. In his
mind, he called on Krynn the last of the white
dragons. Percy at one time in the past had an alliance with her. He hoped she
would help him now, if not he would be dead in a matter of minutes. An image of
Krynn floated into his head and she said,
“You are
in big trouble, she is now a creature of the negative
plane. She can draw on power that you can not even imagine.”
“Oh
great, how do I beat something so powerful?”
“Good old
human heart.” Krynn then disappeared from his mind.
Percy felt stronger and went on the attack.
In
the mean time, Denise had destroyed the fire pit and with it, the fire had gone
out. Heather had not seen what Denise or Percy was up to, but she did notice
that after the earthquake Suzanne was much slower. When that had happened,
Heather went on the attack. She slowly forced Suzanne back against what had
been the fire pit. Heather did not know if she could kill Suzanne but she knew
if she fell down the pit that would probably kill her. Heather then went on the
attack swinging wildly in order to force her back even more. Heather’s plan was
to force Suzanne onto the rubble of the pit and cause
her to fall in. Suzanne was backing up more and more but when she got to the rubble instead of falling in, she started to float over it.
Denise saw this from her knees beside the rubble of
the fire pit. She grabbed the amulet in both and worked on dispelling what ever
Suzanne was doing. She was drained from dealing with the pit fiend but saw it
as their only chance. Denise saw a small faltering in Suzanne’s floating and
worked even harder. Then all of a sudden the stain was over, and she saw
Suzanne fall into the pit. She screamed curses at the two women until they
could no longer hear her.
Percy
and Jeniffer had both taken a second to look to see
what had happened. Percy turned back to the fight with a smile on his face
while Jeniffer returned madder then before. She went
on the attack and forced Percy to retreat. Percy had to use all his skill not
to be sliced up by the black sword. The other two had not recovered enough to
help Percy so he was on his own. The battle was furious and Percy was losing
until he thought, ‘I am not going out at the hands of a witch from the negative
plane.’ He went off the defensive and started on the attack again. He slowly
forced her back knowing this was his last chance. He made a desperate move
knowing that if it failed he would be at her mercy. He also knew that she had
no mercy so if he failed he would be dead. In Percy’s mind, the whole thing
went in slow motion. He caused his sword to wink out of existence for a second,
which caused Jeniffer to over extend herself. This
left Percy with a clear attack up into her heart.
Percy
took it without thinking what would happen. The reaction was like nothing he
had ever experienced before in his life. The positive energy sword entering a
negative energy field of her body reacted violently. Percy stood there for a
split second and thought every molecule in his body was going to split apart.
Then the explosion happened and he was thrown across the room and into the
wall. He blacked out for who knows how long, but when he came to Denise and
Heather were standing over him.
He
looked up and said,
“What
happened?” Heather looked at him and said,
“Your
sword pierced her body and there was a explosion. You
flew across the room and hit the wall, we thought you were dead.”
“I feel
like I have been hit by a giant and left for dead.” Heather and Denise both
smiled and Denise said,
“You look
like it.”
“Thanks,”
said Percy. They then all helped each other up and out of the Dejardi mansion.
They
went back to the Havlock estate were Denise offered
them a glass of wine. Percy said,
“After all
that I would think I would get more then a glass of wine.” She smiled and gave
him a kiss on the cheek. They were sitting there when all of a sudden and
little voice yelled out,
“Mommy,”
then a small bundle of energy came running into the room and jumped into Denise’s
lap. Denise picked her up in her arms and said,
“Why are
you not asleep?”
“I was
waiting for you.” Denise then introduced Heather to Jessie. Jessie said,
“Hello,”
then noticed Percy. She said,
“Percy
have you came to play?”
“Not now
honey, but maybe when you wake up tomorrow we can play.” Denise then picked her
up and took her up to bed. Coming back into the room she picked up the wine
decanter and poured them all another drink. She said,
“That is
the only reason I could have done what I did to night.”
The End
