Matthias,
one of the three hairy brothers that ran the Lone Wolf Inn, had an early
breakfast ready for the four guests of the Tower. Simon waited for the small group to come down decked out in
what looked like a military uniform. He
stood at attention waiting for them. Aldarys,
Spike, and Sonya rose early, while the dwarf came down a little after them.
After they ate, Matthias gave them each a small ration of dried meats,
fruits, and cheese. As they made
last minute preparations Mac came down from the rooms upstairs.
“Would you be going somewhere?”
Mac asked as he entered the room.
He
lazily picked at the food that the other four had left uneaten.
They gave him no heed. Simon
looked hard at Mac, and Mac regarded him lightly in his uniform.
"What are ye doin’ here?”
He
asked Mac testily.
“I thought that I’d tag along and see how a monarchy is restored.”
Mac quipped.
“This is serious, a task for people of action and not for the likes of
a clown such as you…” Simon lit into Mac.
“You cut me to the quick. I
have been known to be very useful in a sticky situation.
Besides, only four people answered the ‘mystic summons,’ they could
use a fifth.”
Simon stared hard at Mac, a dangerous look that had undertones of hate
and murder.
“In the end, it should be their choice…” Mac continued, seemingly
unaffected by Simon’s baleful glare.
Simon looked at the other four, the choice out of his hands.
“He must take care of himself.”
Aldarys said, hefting his pack onto his back.
“He will stay out of my way.”
Spike
said, sliding her broadsword into its scabbard.
“He will not drink.”
Sonya
said as she packed her food into her pack.
“He can come,” the dwarf said, “Let’s go, the day is wasting.”
They started out as the first rays of sunlight brushed the morning sky.
Matthias led them by foot, promising that their mounts would be well
cared for in their stables. He led
them east from the crossroads and told them a little of the history of the last
Dintmoor king.
“We was in the guard, the royal prince’s guard, charged with
protecting the royal heir. A man
came to court, a soothsayer named Maktar. He
came with a plan to mine precious stones from a vein that he claimed to discover
under the castle. The King Cecil
agreed and the digging began. I’m
not sure what all happened after that, we were always with young Darius.
I just know that a few months after the digging began the enemy
compromised the palace from the tunnels beneath us. Dark elves killed the King, and his counselor, Bryn Mawr, had
all but disappeared. The drow
killed all the royals exceptin’ for the young prince, Darius. We stayed with Darius and helped him escape into the
woods that surrounded the keep.
He wasn’t himself, though. He
seemed lost to his grief, and he disappeared on us on that first night.
"A curse came over the land shortly after that night. The royal palace sank into the ground and weird creatures invaded the land. What had been a safe place to teach a lad to hunt and fish became a twisted and decaying tangle. Me, Matthias, and Andrew have made many forays into the forest these long years passed to search for the young prince. We saw little success. I promise ye that just reaching the old walls of the keep’ll dangerous work. In the days of the Dintmoor kings one of the roads leading to the castle had an enchantment placed on it. We never made it deep enough to see if the enchantment still held.”
They traveled from there in silence. A ridge of red rock rose to the north of them, cutting off their view of the north. Finally, about mid-morning, they came to a break in the ridge. Matthias stopped and directed them from there.
“Ye
follow this road. It will branch
off three times. The first branch
will take ye east on the ridge. Crag
cats up there: very dangerous. The
second branch used to have the enchantment to protect travelers into the castle. Of course we brothers never made it into the third branch…I
can’t tell ye what ye might find there. We
will wait for word from ye at the Inn. Good
luck. Please take this bit of
healing potion. It is powerful
stuff, and the last I have. It has
saved me life many a time.” He
handed Tragg the vial of liquid and sent them on their way.
They
thanked him and started north into the dark forest.
The sun had not yet reached its zenith as they stepped on the road, but
they lost much of the benefits of its light as the canopy of the forest closed
in on them. The state of the road rapidly deteriorated, as no one had
traveled the road for two decades. Soon,
they had a mere trail to follow, and were forced to walk single file.
They traveled for some time before they reached a branch in the trail.
The new trail led to the east, and its condition was as bad if not worse
than the trail that they currently traveled.
“He
said that this trail led to the ridge?” Aldarys
asked the group as they stopped to consider the new road.
“He
said that it had crag cats: ‘very dangerous.’”
Mac said in a mocking tone. “I
believe that he and his brothers have been in the kitchen too long, myself. They have forgotten how to handle themselves in a tough
situation.”
“Still,
he said that this led to a ridge, and that another one has an enchantment…”
Sonya started.
“We
can use the ridge to get above these blasted trees!”
Mac argued. “We will be
able to look down on the keep and see what we are dealing with.
Besides, we have no guarantee of an enchantment.
He said that it ‘might’ still be in place.”
“I
would rather be out of these trees and have some solid rock under my feet.
I vote for Mac’s idea.” Tragg
piped into the conversation.
“Vote?
What vote? This is no
democracy, dwarf. We have a job to
do and we should at least attempt to follow the advice that Simon gave us.” Spike towered over the dwarf in an effort to overpower his
opinion.
“My
dear, tall, blonde, beauty of course we will follow his advice.”
Mac turned his patronizing tone on the Amazon.
“But need we walk into a situation without knowing what to expect?
Let is use the ridge as high ground at least and get a view of the old
keep.”
“I
have to agree with him, though it causes no small amount of distaste to say
so.” Aldarys said to the group.
“We have no guarantees of a safe route, so we should try the high
ground. Can we all agree to
that?”
“I
would find it easier to agree if it were not his idea.”
Sonya said, indicating Mac. “Still,
it has a ring of some logic. What
do you think, Spike?”
“I
agreed to see you safely home, whither-so-ever our path would lead.
Let us just get a move on while we still have some light.”
They
took their course east, hoping to climb the ridge and see what lie ahead of
them. The trail grew wider as the
grass beneath their feet grew more sparse.
The trees, too, fell away from the trail, letting in the sun’s rays.
The dirt beneath their feet grew harder, until no grass grew at all on
the stony road. The sun moved well
on past the noon mark when they heard a crashing coming from the trees to the
north of them. It took them little
time to realize that the cause of the crashing moved in their general direction.
They stopped walking and faced the tree line; ready to take on whatever
it was that came towards them.
Moments
later a large humanoid crashed through. Its
facial features were smashed as if someone had beaten it about the head with a
hammer. It stood a little taller than Spike, and she stood head and
shoulders above everyone else in the group.
“Ogre!”
Sonya shouted as she moved in to attack with her scimitar.
The
ogre slapped her attack aside while Spike hit from the opposite side as the
druid’s attack. Aldarys cast a
spell of an arrow composed of energy that shot from his extended hand, and Tragg
smashed down on the ogre’s knee with his hammer.
Not to be outdone, Mac entered the fray with a few brilliant arcs and
twirls of his short swords. The dazzle confused the ogre while Sonya came back to the
fight, cutting off its left hand.
The
ogre screamed either in rage or in pain…but either way it delivered a hard
swat with his remaining hand to the druid.
Sonya flew off of her feet with the force of the hit, but she quickly got
her feet back under her. Spike took the opportunity to attack the ogre’s exposed and
unprotected flank, sinking her broadsword with two hands into its side.
The strike took the fight out of the ogre, and he fell to the ground and
bled out. They all backed up and
let it pass its death throws before retrieving Spike’s sword and inspecting
the body further.
“It
was young, an adolescent I would say.” Sonya
said as they looked at it. “The
first time he struck me, though a glancing blow, was much worse than the
second.”
“Look
at these.” Mac said as he threw
the dismembered hand down next to the corpse.
“I suspect that there is more to these gauntlets than meets the eye.
They have arcane markings…and I do not think that I have ever heard of
an ogre wearing gauntlets of strength.”
“He
was no ogre, though he looked the part.”
Aldarys said, studying the creatures face.
“He was a man at one point in time, probably twisted in body and mind
by these gauntlets. Look at the
tatters of clothing about his waist, they look much like the old uniform that
Simon wore this morning.” He
pointed out the dark blue remnants of woolen pants.
“I
say we keep the gauntlets so that they don’t curse some other poor fool.”
Tragg said.
“A
chivalrous thing to do, good priest,” Mac said to Tragg.
“Still, I am not sure how many people will just ‘come along’ on
this particular road. An
enterprising old mage has a shop in town that sells useful magical trinkets,
maybe he will take these in trade for something not so volatile.”
With
that, Tragg recovered the gauntlets and put them in his own pack.
They looked at the road ahead that was starting to rise up to the ridge. Once it hit the ridge the trail itself was lost.
Only large boulders and precarious rockslides marked the way up the
ridge.
“I
knew we should have gone to the ‘enchanted’ path.”
Mac said. “This is quite
literally impassable. Whose idea
was it anyway to come down this trial?”
The
others stared at him coldly, his humor lost on them.
“We
lost precious hours to a tavern fool’s plan.”
Spike scowled. “Let us go the way that we should have gone all along, and
be quick with it.”
The
others agreed with both her plan and her attitude as they all quickly moved
along the trail back to the point where it joined the main trail.
Once they reached that point they moved north again, and eventually
followed the trail as it made a long curve to the west.
They reached a second turn off that traveled north right as the sun was
setting. This turn off was no mere
trail, but a road that stretched into the dark forest.
“This
road shows no sign of wear.” Tragg
said as he stooped to inspect it.
“The
trees grow right up to it, but the branches to not cross the road.”
Sonya observed.
“Looks
like magic to me!” Mac said jubilantly. “How
weak can those idiot innkeepers be? We
were not even challenged on our way here.”
“Maybe
someone has let us in this far. Maybe
we are supposed to reach the keep.” Aldarys
theorized.
“Let
us not draw any dark conclusions yet.” Spike
said to them both. “Let us keep
our eyes open, and travel as far as we can while the light is upon us.”
They
moved onto the path and started down at a quick yet cautious rate.
At one point Mac turned to look behind them and stopped the group. The path that was so clearly marked before them did not exist
behind them.
“I
am beginning to think that your theory holds merit, elf.”
Mac said to Aldarys.
“Thank
you…and by the way I am only half elf.”
Aldarys said to Mac.
They
all stared at him for a long and uncomfortable moment, not knowing what to do
with this new bit of information that he gave them for no apparent reason.
Finally they gave a collective shrug and turned back up the trail.
“No,
really.” Aldarys said as they all
walked away from him, “I am human on my father’s side…”
Not
really understanding their strange attitude towards his dubious lineage, Aldarys
dropped the subject and moved jogged up the road to catch up with the group.
They traveled on as far as they dared as the light failed them.
Eventually they stopped to make camp.
They decided that the safest place to camp was on the road itself; it did
not appear as if it had seen much traffic, or would likely see traffic in the
night.
They
lit a small fire for warmth, as the winter months were nearly upon them.
Each one of them opened the pack of food that Simon had granted them, and
they sat and dined on cheese, bread, and smoked beef.
They prepared to sleep for the night and decided that it would be best to
set watch for the night, even though they chose to camp on the enchanted road.
The
first hours of the night passed uneventfully as Aldarys, Tragg and Mac kept
their watches. In the early hours,
Spike had an uneasy feeling about something watching from the forest, but
nothing manifested itself. She passed the watch to Sonya who sat up in the hours right
before the sun began to brighten the sky. While
she watched she had an erie feeling as if she were not the only one watching in
the night. 
She
peered about between the trees, and eventually she saw two yellow eyes watching
her in the darkness.
She never took her eyes off of those that watched her, and as the sun
came up they disappeared into the dark forest.
She kept these things to herself as the others awoke and prepared for the
day.
Traveling
along an enchanted path proved to have its benefits.
The party of adventurers traveled almost with an air of ease and
carelessness as they made quick time and distance through the morning hours.
Even as the sun climbed to its noontime peak they marveled at how easy
the travel had become since they hit the enchanted road.
By
early afternoon the landscape around them took a turn for the dreary.
The trees thinned out and went from thick and scary to thin and
half-dead. The ground grew soft but
not quite muddy. The deterioration
continued until the landscape had converted into a bog with a road cutting
through it. Now more than ever they
kept the path until it ended at the walls of the keep.
At
one time vines had overgrown the walls of the keep, but on their approach they
could see that the vines had all died with the rest of the countryside.
The walls themselves still stood solid, and a lone gargoyle stood out off
of one of the ramparts as if it were the last sentinel to days gone by.
The five adventurers approached the walls carefully as their path had
diminished at this point. They came to the gates of the keep, gates that had been
knocked off of their hinges. Warily
they moved to enter.
A
screech pierced the air, interrupting their approach.
The sound of rock cracking above them caused them to look above them.
They saw the gargoyle, once set in stone, had broken free from its perch
to dive down on them.
They
spread out to break up the target that they had given it, and it swooped past
them to wheel around for another sortie. As
it flew past the second time, Spike hit it hard with her broadsword, knocking it
off of its flight, but knocking her back against the keep in the process.
The gargoyle landed hard on the ground and instantly turned on the
Amazon. Spike managed to roll aside
on its first lunge. Before it could
lunge a second time, Sonya hit its wing hard, knocking off a large enough
section to keep it from taking flight again.
The
gargoyle turned its attack to Sonya, bull rushing the druid.
It knocked her down and trampled her, leaving her lying on the ground,
not moving. At the sight of their
druid friend being mauled by the gargoyle, the rest of the group dove into the
combat. Tragg brought his hammer
down hard on the gargoyle, cracking its stony hide.
Spike and Mac leapt on its back, and started pounding down in it with
their swords. Aldarys let loose one
of his magic missiles that ended the gargoyle’s struggle, reducing it to a
pile of rubble. Spike jumped out of
the broken pieces of gargoyle and ran to Sonya.
“She
is not breathing!” She yelled to the others after putting her head to
Sonya’s chest. “Her heart has
stopped.”
Tragg
came over to the fallen druid and looked her over.
“She’s
gone, lass. A pity too.”
He said after making his own check.
They
stood for a moment over Sonya’s body on the verge of weeping.
“The
potion.” Tragg said suddenly.
“Let me see what he gave us. He
said that it was a powerful potion, maybe it will be as powerful as we need it
to be.”
He
pulled out the vial of potion that Simon had given them before they left.
He unstopped the vial and sniffed it, and then he looked at it through
the sunlight.
“This
just might do the trick.” He
muttered as he knelt down next to Sonya.
He
brought her head up and poured the liquid into her mouth, then he held her mouth
shut and waited.
“Dwarf,
you are wasting perfectly good healing potion on someone who is quite obviously
beyond its help.” Mac said testily.
“Quite
you.” Spike turned on Mac, “As
you pointed out, we only have enough for one.
Do not make me kill you in a way that we cannot alter.”
That
shut Mac up decisively.
Before
their eyes, Sonya’s adams apple bobbed. Then
her chest began to rise and fall as her breathing started again.
In moments her eyes opened and she looked around at everyone.
Tragg released his hold on her jaw and let her open her mouth.
“What
happened?” She asked as she tried to sit.
“You
were dead, for a moment, lass.” Tragg
said as he helped her to sit. “Simon’s
potion probably did save his life on occasion.
It has the power to raise the dead…well the nearly living at least.”
Sonya
looked at Tragg and then let her gaze span across the rest of the group,
stopping on Spike. Despite the fortuitous circumstance that had brought Sonya
back to life, Spike had her arms folded and a frown aimed at her.
“I
was charged with keeping you alive and not the other way around.
If I die in your service, it is to my honor.
If you die in my service, it is to my shame.
Do not place yourself in peril for my sake again.
My honor cannot handle to see you die twice.” Was all that Spike had to say on the matter.
“Can
you walk?” Aldarys asked Sonya as
she pulled herself to her feet.
“I
am gaining strength rapidly, but not enough to enter into battle again just
yet.” Sonya answered.
“Then
we must find a defensible place where you can rest.”
Spike said. “Let us see
what remains inside of these walls. Perhaps
an outbuilding or a stable was left to stand.
It will be enough to give you cover to rest.”
They
gathered themselves together and moved through the gates.
Inside of the walls of the keep they saw a large bit of ground that was
caked and cracked, as if a lake had dried up.
The grounds were largely empty. In
the center was on round building, small in size, surrounded by a stone rail. The building had not windows and no doors that they could
see. Off to the north, nestled in
the opposite corner of the keep, was the only other standing building.
They
moved off along the wall until they had crossed the grounds to the smaller
structure. The door that had once
been on the structure was no longer attached.
Inside they found a long row of bunks.
Some of the bunks had chests at the end of them.
“A
barracks, it seems.” Aldarys said. “Most
likely for the gate guards. Look,
some of the chests are still intact.”
“Let
us make sure that it is clear before we take up housekeeping.”
Tragg said uneasily. “This
whole place smells of undead to me.”
“Priests
always think that the undead lie at the bottom of every plot.”
Mac mocked. “It makes them
feel important.”
As
if on cue, Aldarys moved an overturned bunk and a badly decomposed body sprang
out at him. The body moved of its
own accord, and took no qualms at slapping at the half elf.
Aldarys pushed it off and moved back for a better vantage to attack.
“Stand
back.” Tragg said, stepping
between Aldarys and the zombie. “Let
a professional handle this.”
Tragg
took the smooth stone that hung on a leather strap around his neck and held
pointed it at the zombie. He took
his other hand and pointed right at the zombie.
“In
the name of The Light, I rebuke you!” He
shouted. His voice echoed as if
amplified by some otherworldly power.
The
zombie stopped in its tracks and turned to find another exit.
All that it could find was the back wall.
Finally it managed to claw its way out of a small window and disappear
into the shadows of the keep.
Aldarys
set his things up in a bunk opposite of Tragg and he set about fixing a door
with the dwarf’s help. Sonya and Spike set their things further from the door.
Sonya laid down to rest while Spike went about clearing a space to fight
if the need arose. Mac set his things down and started playing with the locks on
the three intact trunks.
In
no time at all they had secured the entrance, cleared the debris, and looted the
dead soldiers’ belongings. Mac
had all of the items from the trunks spread out for all to see.
He had three bags with some coin, four vials of liquid, one long sword,
one scimitar, two daggers, and a small wooden shield.
Mac picked up the daggers and left the rest to the others.
Spike
walked over and took the shield and the scimitar, and then she gave them to
Sonya.
“One
can always use a back up sword, and extra protection.”
She said as she placed the sword and shield on top of Sonya’s
belongings.
Aldarys
took the long sword in his hand and gave it a swing or two.
It moved quickly as it slashed the air.
Aldarys smiled and took the sword back to his bunk.
Tragg, being last, looked at the potions carefully.
Much like he did before, he checked their scent and their color, but
unlike before he looked uncertain when he was finished.
“I
will hold onto them, but I don’t know how much I will use them.”
He said. “They aren’t
healers, that’s all that I know for certain.”
They
all returned to their bunks, leaving the three small bags of coin very
conspicuous on the bunk. Finally, Mac stood and snatched all three off of the bunk.
“You
all may be in it for love of country and honor, but I will need the soft sound
of coin in my pocket to feel the satisfaction of a job well done.”
He said as he retreated back to his bunk.
They
decided that their travel for the day would have to end, as Sonya still gained
her strength. They ate dried
rations and set a watch, letting Sonya rest the night completely.
They hoped to go back to work in the morning.
