Posted by Irzen, Neven, Serna & Venger
on 10/17/2009, 10:42 pm
Once the Adventurers reached the entrance, they saw below them an Orc battalion spread out in battle formation with The Dark Lord in the lead astride his Nightmare. Suddenly a loud cry of war horns went up as the Orcs yelled, roared and jeered at the Adventurers as they reached the top of the stairs and looked down upon them. Shadow Demon stood ever present by his Master's side.
"Well," the Gamer murmured, "it's a target-rich environment, that's for sure."
The assassin glanced over at the gamer talking to himself again.
"Now I know how Custer felt at The Little Bighorn," the Swordsman gasped.
"Elementalist! Gamer! Swordsman!" declared Venger without ceremony, "Come before me and yield unto me my treasure!" Pointing directly at Alyson, the Dark Lord snarled, "And you shall be the first to taste of its power, woman, once I order you to kneel before me and call me master!"
The Ranger gritted his teeth and his grip on Kana's Lightning Bow as he marched down the long flight of stairs towards the Dark Lord.
"Alyson! Seriah! Are you guys ready?" asked the Swordsman without looking back to his compatriots.
Tommy shrugged. "Just about, I supp- hang about." He paused as he caught something out of the corner of his eyes. "Hold one just a sec," the Gamer said pleasantly, holding up a finger towards Venger. He walked over to where a wicker Basket was concealed behind a rock, just a few paces away. "I was wondering where this had got to. Picking the Basket up, he pulled out a small towel and began rubbing the runes painted on his face as he walked back to the group. "Here you go," he said, tossing the towel to Alyson. "I don't know about you, but I think we're done with the whole peace and love thing."
The elementalist remained quiet. Not a word slipped from her mouth as she took the towel from Tommy.
Willow Bark watched the Orcs like a hawk. Never once did he draw his attention from them.
"Anyway," Tommy continued, looking up at Venger innocently, "where were we? Oh yes, the Talisman. Irzen?"
The Drow Swordsman stepped forward yet he did not present the Talisman to The Dark Lord, "Before I give you what you want, Venger, there is something you must do first."
"Oh!" The Dark Lord raised an eyebrow, "And what is that?"
"Restore Quake!" demanded Irzen, "High Lady Alyson told us how you turned Quake into a craven coward by stripping her of half of her normal power. Return Quake to normal, I will give you the Talisman and then our deal will be done. Understand?"
"I understand all too well, Irzen," snapped the Dark Lord as he summoned a globe of red energy into his hand, spotted Quake hiding behind some nearby boulders out of the corner of his eye and hurled the magic globe at the Dragon Elemental, "I understand that you are using excuses to waste my time and prolong my inevitable victory this day. So be it."
Once Quake was fully restored, Venger turned to the Drow, "Now, you have no more excuses, Irzen. I have fulfilled my end of our bargain. It is time for you to fulfill your end of it as well. Render unto me that which is mine and be done with it."
The Swordsman sighed, walked up to The Dark Lord, dropped to one knee, bowed his head and raised in his outstretched hands The Talisman of Dragon Control, "As you have asked, O Dark Lord, I present to you The Eleventh Talisman. We have fulfilled our end of the bargain. Honor has been kept."
Venger raised his hand and levitated The Eleventh Talisman until it landed lithely around his neck. Turning towards the Elementalist and her Draconic Elemental, the Dark Lord commanded, "Elementalist, kneel before me and call me Master as you did at Taubin's Tor!"
Pointing to the rest of The Adventurers, Venger ordered, "Elemental, slaughter my enemies and bring me their weapons!"
+++++
Once the Adventurers had departed, the Shield Maiden squatted down before the Wolfen and pulled out a deck of cards, "Well, since we have to wait, why don't we play a game of fan-tan like Lady War Scribe taught us when we were trapped in that cage?"
Reaching out blindly to Serna, Kana told her calmly, "I can't. The visions won't stop. I think the Dragon Gods have stepped into this."
"Really?!" The Shield Maiden got a worried look on her face, "Well, can't you tell them to step out of this, Mistress Kana? After all, you have the power to command any Dragon to do anything you want, right?"
"Do you know where the Valley in the Mountains are?" the Wolfen asked Serna. "I need to find her first and that's were I will find her."
"There are valleys and mountains all over the Realm, Mistress Kana," Serna replied with a completely dumbfounded expression upon her face, "We're in The Topaz Mountains right now and there are plenty of valleys around here. You have to be more specific. And who is this person that you need to find first, Mistress Kana?"
Neven just stood back silently and waited to see what Kana would next do.
Coming out of the trance, Kana told Serna, "No,no. It's all too confusing. Nothing stays the same. I can't see anything of whats to come, but the girl. There is a girl that the Gods have chosen to bear this weight. To be the new Bearer. The valley in the mountain is either a garden inside a mountain, or a valley completely surrounded by mountains. But that's all I get."
"That makes no sense, Mistress Kana," confessed Serna taking Kana's hand and gently pulling the Wolfen down so Kana could sit in front of her, "There is no garden inside of a mountain that I know of while there are valleys completely surrounded by mountains on all side of us. And other than myself, there are no other girls here."
The Shield Maiden sadly sighed as she gave the Wolfen a warm hug, "O Mistress Kana, what have you done to yourself? That--that--that thing within you is making you all squirrely in the head. You have to concentrate, Mistress Kana, you have to focus on the here and now. Remember the Talisman is only a thing. It may have a mind of its own, but you're stronger than it and you're better than it. Become the master of it, Mistress Kana, don't let it become the master of you. Okay?"
"I wonder how the others are doing," Neven spoke to no one in particular, "I hope they are doing well and don't need our help. But then again, they may not."
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