Aisur
Posts: 1249
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Joined: 6/9/2005
Country: United States
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Sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. I finished it a week before christmas, but i have been very busy and couldnt post it. I hope you like this continuation. I think i can only squeeze 4 more chapters, and then i will have to change tracks and make a new story. Start reading ~~^^
Dragon Hunt
Chapter 6: Dragonspear Castle
Eberek woke to golden sunlight and sounds of nature. To the south he could see the outline of a fort. To his west was The Trade Way, and to the east and north were trees. Lia was searching the trees for signs of Kimmigan and her dragon. Eberek rose and joined her.
Lia looked up as he approached. She had been staring at some trampled leaves and traces of blood on the ground. Eberek noted the slight footprints. Measuring them, he found them bigger than both of his hands.
“This was definitely a dragon, or something extremely close.” Said Eberek.
Lia nodded. “I figure the portal to have been here.” She traced the outline carefully. “I have tried, but I cannot find any traces of the magic. I guess that we have to find out where she went the hard way.”
“And that is…?”
“Wander around randomly and see if we bump into her. I think it best if we just continue with our other plans until we get more information.”
“Okay. You get the others up and I’ll pack the gear. We can start off in ten minutes, after a quick breakfast.”
Lia nodded and went to rouse her companions. Eberek started to pick up the few belongings the group had unpacked before they had fallen asleep. When he finished, he set about preparing a light meal.
When everybody had eaten, they mounted the horses and rode back to the Trade Way. Continuing south upon it, the fort grew larger and larger. As they traveled, conversation turned to last night’s attacker.
“Clearly she was a dragon rider. How can she force such beautiful and intelligent creatures to bear her weight?” asked Allison.
“Clearly,” answered Tyren, “she does not share your belief of the dragon gods, nor does she put herself into service of dragons. She does not understand how unworthy she is to claim one as a companion, let alone a mount.”
“She was pretty good with her sword.” Stated Eberek.
“Pretty good?” replied Allison. “None of us could touch her. She had a flawless technique. I don’t understand how she got that good when she subdues such majestic creatures.”
“She has probably trained as a Weapons Master or a Defender of some type.” Lia put in. “She had a slightly exotic weapon and wielded it very proficiently.”
Allison suddenly cut in, “Back to the dragon. There is a chance that it is the dragon I am sent to kill. If so, then we can accomplish two goals at once. We can get rid of a bad person and kill the dragon. That would complete my mission and yours, Eberek. We could find the treasure and pay back Tyren and Celowin, and move on to another adventure.”
“It could be the same dragon, but it could also not be. We did not get a good look at the dragon, so it’s hard to tell.” Eberek replied.
At this point the group had neared the fort, well enough to see that it was not a fort, but a castle. Turning onto the road leading to the castle, the travelers passed a sign written in some foreign language.
Allison looked at the sign and read, “Dragonspear Castle.”
“Simple enough,” said Eberek. “Well, let’s go in.”
They continued up the road to the open gate and beyond, into a courtyard. A flag bearing the sword and shield of Tempus flew on a pole in the center, and a large group of men were praying under the midday sun. Dismounting, Eberek stood silently until the priests stopped praying. Then he walked up and asked about a place to stay. Immediately their horses were taken from them and the group was hustled into a large dining room. Soon, people started bringing out trays piled with food.
When everyone sat down, they lowered their heads. Eberek looked around, and hurriedly put his down. A chant started, and soon finished. Everybody started eating, so Eberek and his friends grabbed some food and feasted.
When everyone was done eating, and elderly man got up and stood at the head of the table.
“My friends,” he said. “We have guests among us today. Now that they have been fed, I must inquire as to their intentions.” He looked down the table.
Eberek spoke up. “We have come to fight the creatures that live here.”
“Surely you don’t mean us.” Said the man. “You want to fight the monsters below, I presume?”
“Yes. If you would give us somewhere to stay, we would fight the horrid creatures.”
“Of course. Darik, Amily, show the guests to the rooms.”
A man and woman got up and beckoned at the group to follow. Grabbing their gear, they did.
They had a room each, and each room was very large. They also had a large room that all the others adjoined to. They chose to go here first. Eberek sat down on the floor and took out his sword and an oily cloth and set to polishing. Allison sang a sweet song and played a harp along with it. Lia and Tyren practiced shooting at a post. Celowin merely stripped her armor and sat, enjoying the music.
So the day passed and night came. Each person went to their rooms and fell asleep. In the morning, they ate breakfast and prepared to journey into the dungeons beneath Dragonspear Castle. As they were buckling on their armor in the central room, a knock sounded on the main door.
Eberek opened it. “Yes?” he said as he buckled on his greaves.
“We were wondering if we could hear the angel sing again.” Said the priest.
“We?”
The priest stepped aside to reveal the entire population of the castle standing in the hall.
Eberek called Allison over to the door and whispered to her, “They want to hear you sing again.”
Allison smiled and asked the priests, “With what instrument?”
The man at the door turned around and consulted the group. One near the stairs ran to get something. Turning around, the man said, “can you play a mandolin?”
Nodding, Allison went to find hers. The man stopped her and handed her a gem-imbedded case. Opening it, she saw a magnificent mandolin of Masterwork quality. She carefully took it out and tested the strings, tuning each one. She was quickly finished.
“Where should I perform?” She asked.
They ushered her out of the room. Tyren quickly slid on his cloak and followed. Lia finished lacing up her bracers and did so also. Eberek and Celowin joined her. They were led into a chamber larger than the one they had eaten in. There was a stage at one end and many carved benches facing towards it. The priests filled up the benches, but left spots open in the front. Eberek, Lia, Celowin, and Tyren filled these spots and turned their attention to the stage and Allison upon it. As the room quieted, she picked up the mandolin and strummed it. She picked a tune, and filled the hall with wonderful music. Her voice combined with the notes to created angelic harmony.
This form of concert lasted for a few hours. When it was over, applause filled the air and the priests filed out of the room, leaving the five companions.
“That was amazing, Allison.” Tyren said. “Absolutely wonderful. How did you get so good?”
Allison replied, “I have been performing all of my life. It comes naturally now.”
“That was a good opening act to the show. It’s time now to go down into the dungeons and face some fiends.” Said Eberek, pulling his shield up higher on his back.
They returned to their rooms to finish getting their armor on. They packed food and sleeping stuff, but that was it. The rest stayed. Soon, they were being guided to the dungeon stairway. Here, the castle stopped being nice and turned gloomy and foul. The walls were granite colored stones and were moist to the touch. The hallway magnified every sound and bounced it back at them.
The light grew steadily darker as they went down. After a bit, Eberek ran back up the stairs and reappeared, out of breath, with a lit torch. The group continued onward. In a few moments the stairs leveled off. The new passageway went strait. There were piles of rubble every once in a while, suggesting collapsed tunnels. Finally, an open side path appeared on the left.
“Want to try this one?” Tyren asked. “It’s the first turn we’ve met.”
The group assented, so they took the path. Allison halted them for a moment, just to run back and draw an arrow pointing the way they came.
“Good thinking,” said Eberek.
They continued on, stopping once to draw an arrow. Then they came upon a closed wooden door. Tyren tried the handle, and it swung open with a loud creak.
Inside the door was a small room with a hallway leading out the other side. On the north side, to their left, was a small pile of rags and a box. Tyren went to the box, opened it, and pulled out a silver dagger of fair workmanship. He then put the box back and tucked the knife into his belt.
Loosing their weapons, the group went into the hallway and came upon a barred wooden door with a peephole just above eye-level. Tyren, the tallest, stood on his toes and could barely see an orc sitting at a fire, eating something. He backed up, and then tried the door, which was locked.
The orc had heard the quiet attempt. Carefully he got up and grabbed an axe off the floor.
“Who there?” he grunted.
Eberek remembered his sword. Unsheathing it, he spoke the secret word and shoved it into the door. As he had planned, the sword, and the door with it, caught on fire. The orc, sensing an attack, shouted something in a rough tongue and raised his axe, hastily putting on a helm.
When the wood had burned enough, Eberek put his foot through it and charged, just in time to meet three more orcs, coming from adjacent rooms. One orc swung wildly, loosing his axe into the air and maiming a fellow. The maimed one chopped his attackers head off. The head hit another, who in turn killed the orc. The two remaining turned towards Eberek. They grunted to each other, and soon turned to argue. Then an axe was raised, and one was split in two. Before dying, however, the orc had slipped a dagger, much like the one in the box, into the final orc.
As the remaining orc bled itself to death, Eberek watched, flatfooted. He had not had to do anything and had won the fight. The rest of his group had worked its way in and was dismantling the room in search of treasure.
A rattling noise soon came, and everyone paused to look for the source. When it was not apparent, they posted Celowin to guard and resumed their treasure hunt.
The rattling noise became more persistent, and Celowin finally spotted what was making it. High up in the room was a cage. Immediately it was brought down via a chain no one had paid heed to. Its occupant was thin, yet young.
Celowin opened her pack and set about feeding the stranger. As he ate and drank, he told his story.
He was a traveler named Branigan, from the north. He was only 20 and had come here looking for treasure. Trained as a fighter, he was over-confident and was ambushed by the orcs that now lay dead. He had stayed in the cage for only a few months, but with little food or water.
As thanks for rescuing him, he gave them a short sword he pulled from the cage. Somehow it slipped by the orcs. Celowin took him aside and gave him directions, then sent him on his way. He turned around to say goodbye, but was surprised to see a bolt sticking from his chest. He gave a feeble cough, which showed blood, and fell over. An orc could be seen through the doorframe. It was busy loading its crossbow.
In a blur, Tyren hurled the silver knife at the orc and nailed him to the door behind him. The loaded crossbow fell to the ground, and upon impact released a bolt into the doorframe.
Celowin hurried over to Branigan and said a silent prayer, and dropped a white flower onto his body. Then she turned around and joined the group as they debated which way to go.
The room had a door in each of the cardinal directions, and the group chose to go south. Beyond the open door was a small room, and another door. Through the door was a hallway. After only a few minutes of walking, the hallway turned into a flight of steps, leading downwards.
The stairs were very long, and it took over an hour to finally reach the bottom. There, at the bottom, the passageway split in 3.
Strait ahead was an ornately carved, gold and gem inlaid door. To the left and right were regular passages, their ends hidden in the darkness.
With a wordless vote, the group chose the fancy door. Celowin sensed its magical aura, and stepped up. With a slight push, it swung inwards soundlessly.
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~Thank you Kylin
The Mind Makes The Sharpest Picture
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