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Al-Qarin: Into the Desert (3-1-24)
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<blockquote data-quote="EternalNewbie" data-source="post: 2623323" data-attributes="member: 6489"><p>Shayla cried out again, pleading with her attackers. Seizing upon every ounce of his strength, Khalid thrashed against the magical webbing holding him. Although some strands broke, everytime he moved, more and more of the sticky filments clung to him. His breath coming in short ragged gasps, he slumped down, exhausted. <em>'Think Khalid!'</em> he admonished himself. <em>'There is a way out of this!'</em> Repeating a simple mantra designed to aid concentration before casting, he forced his breathing to slow down. He closed his eyes and tuned out the sounds around him. Shayla's voice faded away, as did Gorak's chanting. <em>'Spells are out,'</em> he thought to himself. <em>'Can't reach my components and none of the ones without will help me, even if I can manage them. What else?'</em> He remembered the dagger, tucked in a sheath at the small of his back. <em>'No good. This stuff is too thick, it'll just get stuck. What else can I reach? Potion belt. Healing potion, universal antidote, goblin fir...”</em> Khalid's eyes flew open. He had one vial left of the vicious goblin naptha that burned when exposed to air. <em>'It might be enough to burn the webbing'</em>. Wincing as the gooey strands tore the hair off his arm, he managed to shift enough to pull the bottle from his belt. He was about to hurl it to the floor then stopped. <em>'Careful. There's webbing everywhere. If it doesn't break, you're finished.'</em> He slowly slid his thumbnail around the lip of the bottle, breaking the wax seal. Working the cork back and forth between his fingers, he loosened it as much as he dared. Glancing around, he found an open patch of floor, then took a deep breath to steady his nerves. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the vial on the floor in front of him. <em>'It worked!'</em> he thought as the vial shattered and erupted into flame. The webbing around the spot where the vial landed was consumed instantly. Khalid realized quickly that he hadn't fully considered the ramifications of his plan. He screamed in agony as the flames raced across the webs attached him, badly burning his face and hands. Collapsing to the ground, he rolled around frantically, trying to extinguish his smoldering clothing.*</p><p></p><p>Another shout from Gorak snapped him out of his initial shock and Khalid scrambled to his feet. Taking stock of the situation, he saw that his robes were only slighly singed, but angry red blisters were quickly rising on his face and hands where the webbing had been attached. The room was full of thick black smoke, but the doorway and a good part of the hall were clear of webbing. The sound of Shayla's voice jerked him into action and Khalid cried out, “Ah Shayla, if you're caught, use the goblin fire, yes, fire oil to burn away the webbing!”</p><p> </p><p>Stepping out into the hallway, Khalid's vision in either direction was completely obscured by thick webbing. He could hear Gorak cursing from his right, but couldn't see anything. Glancing to the left, he flinched at the sound a detonating vial of naptha and a sooty orange glow lit up the passage. She, like Khalid, cried out in pain as the flames scorched her. More black smoke billowed through the hall and the webbing in front of Khalid thinned drastically. He could barely make out Shayla freeing herself from the last wispy strands of blackened web. Unfortunately for Gorak, the goblin fire oil burned itself out almost immediately. The passage that way still completely blocked.</p><p></p><p>Hearing Shayla still pleading with her attacker, followed by the unmistakable sound of breaking glass, Khalid bit his lip and considered his options. Both ways were still covered in webbing, but there was absolutely no way to reach Gorak. Lowering his head, Khalid charged forward, bursting through the last few feet of webbing, and emerged behind Shayla almost crashing into her.</p><p></p><p>“Khalid!” Shayla cried. “I charmed one of them! He's got a wand, but he couldn't get a clear shot at you past me. When things started catching on fire, he jumped at that window at the end of the hallway.”</p><p></p><p>Khalid glanced at Shayla. Her hair was singed and her clothing blackened, but she didn't look much worse for the ordeal. As she moved towards the window, Khalid grabbed her arm. “Ah, that is not a good idea I think. Yes, quite. You may have charmed that wizard, yes, but Gormo is still out there somewhere. Ah, you'd better let me.” Without waiting for her answer, Khalid enacted one of his recent discoveries, and faded from sight. “Ah, you try to free Gorak, I'll circle, yes, circle around and come in through the front.”</p><p></p><p>“Neat trick,” Shayla remarked as she pulled out a torch from her backpack and thrust it into a small fire that was still burning fitfully along the base of the wall. She turned away and began to walk down the hall, sweeping the torch in front of her.</p><p></p><p>Watching her for a second, Khalid noticed that the hallway was filling with more smoke, despite the fact that most of the fires from the goblin naptha had burned out. Shaking his head to dimiss the thought, he moved over to the window and quickly cleared the glass away. Grabbing on to the sill with both hands, he lowered himself out the window carefully, breathing heavily with the exertion. As he let go, it occurred to him that if he fell and cracked his skull open on the ground below, nobody would be able to find him. With a grunt, he landed easily on his feet then held his breath and listened carefully for a second as he pulled out a healing salve and applied it to his burns. Hearing nothing, he assumed Gormo and the other assailant had fled, and circled around to the front of the house. Moving as quickly as he dared, he stopped and peered in a window.</p><p></p><p>Khalid had, over the past few months, seen a lot of strange things. He was nevertheless, completely unprepared for what lay beyond the window. Through the clouds of smoke he saw Hazal, a former apprentice of the White Tower and one of Halaal's bully boys, come crashing down a flight of stairs. He looked completely paniced. His robes were shredded and burned, and slick with blood from the waist down. At the bottom of the stairs, he stumbled in his haste and shattered a chair into kindling as he fell. Chasing him was an gigantic rat, easily the size of a small dog, that slavered and snapped at his feet. Taking advantage of his prone condition, the rat bit him savagely on the thigh and Hazal screamed in pain. Shouting out an arcane command, Hazal jabbed at the rat with a thin metallic wand in his left hand. The rat stiffened and flopped over, twitching slightly before disolving into a wisp of greenish smoke.</p><p></p><p>Hazal's attack bought him only a brief respite. With a shriek he rolled frantically out of the way as a two foot high orb of pure flame came bouncing down the stairs and almost landed on him. Scrambling to his feet, he turned and lunged at the window. Staring in stunned amazement, Khalid barely dodged aside as Hazal smashed through the window and hit the wall on the other side with a meaty thud. Shaking his head to clear the shock, Hazal pushed off the wall to his feet, and staggered out of the alley.</p><p></p><p>Invisible, Khalid crept out behind him and trying to make his voice as ominious as possible, whispered in his ear. “Ah, I suggest you drop that wand.”</p><p></p><p>Whirling around, Hazal raised the wand defensively. Seeing no one, he started to back away slowly, prompting Khalid to hiss, “Drop it, before I lose my patience boy! Yes quite!”</p><p></p><p>Wounded and faced with an opponent he couldn't see, Hazal complied, dropping the wand and kicking it away. He raised his hands to show they were empty. Glancing over his shoulder, Khalid realized that the amount of smoke coming out of the house could only mean they had started a serious fire inside. One that was likely to draw a lot of attention. He desperately wanted to find Gorak and Shayla, but he knew his spell wouldn't last much longer. “Move, yes, move down the street. Quickly! Take the first, yes, the first alley on your left.”</p><p></p><p>Hazal complied, and Khalid followed closely behind, when they turned down the alley, he urged Hazal onward. “Keep going. Ah, turn right here, and then left down the next alley.” They walked quickly through the streets this way, with Khalid hissing directions every time they were faced with a choice. After a few minutes, Khalid told him to stop.</p><p></p><p>“Sit down,” he ordered Hazal. As Hazal slumped to the ground, Khalid considered his next move. Deciding he had no time to spare, he got straight to the point. “Ah, I want to know where you're holding Magol, and I want to know right now,” he said in what he hoped was a threatening voice.</p><p></p><p>Hazal stiffened slightly, then his eyes narrowed. “Or you'll what Khalid?” he taunted. “Kill me? I don't think you have it in you. You're no murderer.”</p><p></p><p>Khalid cursed inwardly as Hazal spoke his name. He had hoped to maintain his anominity. Thinking quickly, he said, “Ah, you have tormented, yes, tormented me from the day I met you. You have used you position as Halaal's pet to bully and ridcule me. You have kidnapped my friend's father in an effort to bend me, yes, bend me to your masters will. I assure you, it is all I can do, my friend, to stop myself from killing you. Yes, quite.”</p><p></p><p>Hazal glanced around nervously, and licked his lips. “You won't do it, there's too many people around. Your spell won't hide you.”</p><p></p><p>“Ah, are you so sure?” Khalid asked, hoping that Hazal had paid as little attention at the lessons as he had. The spell would indeed fail if he interacted to violently with his surroundings, but he knew Hazal hadn't been powerful enough to cast it when the flow of magic was altered. Sweat was dripping from Hazal's face and his breathing was harsh and ragged. It was all Khalid could do from laughing aloud. Hazal didn't know the limitations of the spell and he was close, so close, to telling Khalid what he wanted to know. Khalid crept quietly around behind him, and leaned in close, “And besides, your master has accused me of treason. What, yes, what are they going to do? Hang me twice?”</p><p></p><p>Hazal jerked away at the feeling of Khalid's breath on the back of his neck. For a second he looked as though he might flee. And then he broke. “Okay, okay! I'll tell you,” he gasped. “He's in a warehouse, down near the river.” He rattled off an address in a part of Gem-Sharad that Khalid was familiar with. “Now let me go! I gave you what you wanted. Just let me go!”</p><p></p><p>Khalid was fairly certain Hazal was too scared to lie. There had been no hesitation when he gave the location and it was indeed in a part of town filled with warehouses. The buildings were large, and the streets relatively unpopulated. The perfect place to keep a hostage. Khalid knew, however, that if he let Hazal go, he would run straight to the White Tower. Tieing him up wasn't an option, he didn't have anything suitable, and there was no way he was going to get that close to Hazal. Even wounded, Khalid didn't feel at all confident in his ability to render him unconcious in a stand up fight, and that would probably draw far to much unwanted attention. Running through his repetoire, he knew he had two spells available to him to subdue Hazal. One that would almost certainly kill him, and one which possibly render him unconsicious, if he could overcome Hazal's White Tower training. Khalid sighed as he reached for a pinch of sand. Hazal was a bully and a fool, but it was possible that he simply wasn't as clever as Khalid at avoiding Halaal's domination. It was entirely likely that he was caught up in something far beyond his depth and as much as Khalid disliked him, he didn't deserve to die.**</p><p></p><p>Hazal started to move the instant Khalid began to cast. He leapt to his feet and headed towards the end of the alley as Khalid finished his spell. As the sand drifted from his fingers, he knew the spell had failed, and Hazal disappeared around the corner. Thinking quickly, Khalid laughed to himself and tossed caution to the wind. Sprinting out of the end of the alley, he began to give chase.</p><p></p><p>Wounded and exhausted, Hazal quickly flagged and began to slow. Clutching at his side, he turned at the sound of Khalid's footsteps behind him. His lip curled as he spat, “What are you going to do Khalid? This is a crowded street.”</p><p></p><p>Khalid glanced around, and realized Hazal was right. Even this late at night, they were on a main street and there were several people within sight. “Ah, yes, I'm not quite done with you yet. Yes, quite. I think I'll relieve of that belt you're wearing.” Hanging at Hazal's waist were several scrolls, potions and another wand.</p><p></p><p>“I'll call for the guards,” Hazal threatened.</p><p></p><p>Khalid shrugged and stepped in closer. “Ah, yes, as I said, if they're going to hang me for treason, they might as well hang me for murder as well. Yes, quite.”</p><p></p><p>A few curious onlookers had drifted closer, to get a better look at what was obviously a serious confrontation. “What's going on here?” demanded a squat little man in lurid purple pantaloons and a bright red fez, as he twirled the oiled end of his mustache between his fingers.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, this man has stolen something from me,” Khalid replied easily, as a crowd began to gather. Wearing the finest Arbaq's tailor had to offer and confronting a man that dressed in ragged, filthy robes that reeked like alley runoff, Khalid knew he had the crowd on his side.</p><p></p><p>Hazal's eyes darted around nervously as he realized people were gathering behind Khalid, and glaring at him suspiciously. Tired and wounded, he couldn't think of a way to deflect Khalid's accusation. He started to back away, which only served to make him look more guilty, and then stopped when he saw a few people circle around behind him.</p><p></p><p>Khalid leaned in close and whispered, “Neither, yes, neither of us wants to explain this to the Sultan's guards. Hand over what I want and you can go.”</p><p></p><p>Beaten again, Hazal cursed and removed the belt, tossing it at Khalid's feet. With a smirk, Khalid bent down and picked up the belt. “Ah, thank you for returning what is rightfully mine. Get from my sight you miserable, yes, miserable cur, before I call for the guards.”</p><p></p><p>Shaking in impotent fury, Hazal turned on his heel and fled down the street. The squat little man that had first spoke up, clapped Khalid on the arm. “Generous of you. I'd have had the guards take a hand off him if he'd taken my purse.”</p><p></p><p>Nodding distractedly, Khalid quickly excused himself from the crowd and rushed back to the house in search of Gorak and Shayla. As he turned the corner, he saw a large crowd gathered around a rather impressive fire. Men near the front were hauling buckets of water from the well and tossing them on the surrounding buildings, having apparently decided that it was too late to save the house. Hanging near the back of the crowd, he searched for his friends. Not seeing them among the gaping faces watching the fire, he turned to leave when he noticed a small boy of about eight playing with a oddly carved stick. Recognizing Hazal's wand, he knelt down beside the child.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, that belongs to me.” Khalid said.</p><p></p><p>“No it don't,” the boy replied beligerently, brushly his bangs out of his eyes and looking at Khalid. “I found it in the gutter over there.”</p><p></p><p>“Ah, nevertheless, it is mine. I will reward, yes, reward you for finding it for me.” Khalid replied.</p><p></p><p>“I dunno, it's all polished, and it's got these funny marks all carved in it. I think that might be gold too. I wanna keep it.”</p><p></p><p>“Ah, that is not gold, but this, yes, this is,” Khalid said as he pulled a sultana from his purse. “Surely this is worth more than a polished stick? Yes quite.”</p><p></p><p>The boys eyes lit up at the sight of the coin, then a cunning look crossed his face. “If'n its worth one sultana to you, maybe it's worth two.” he countered.</p><p></p><p>“Done,” Khalid replied and gave the boy two sultanas in exchange for the wand. Standing up, Khalid left the burning house and found a secluded side street. Glancing around to ensure no one was watching, he summoned a mount. Practically leaping into the saddle, he rode hard for Arbaq's mansion, hoping to catch up to Gorak and Shayla on the way.</p><p></p><p>A quarter hour later, Khalid tossed the reins to a startled guard as he dismounted in the mansion's courtyard. Seeking out Arbaq, he found him reading in his study. Arbaq glanced up from his book as Khalid burst into his office.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, have you seen Gorak and Shayla?” Khalid panted as he collapsed into an armchair, trying to catch his breath.</p><p></p><p>“No, I'm afraid not,” Arbaq replied as he handed Khalid his spellbook. His brow furrowed in concern. “How did everything go?”</p><p></p><p>“Ah, yes, well there was a battle,” Khalid said as he poured himself a generous glass of wine. Between gulps, he continued, “We got separated, yes, separated, but I managed to discern the location of Gorak's father. But we must move quickly. Yes, quite quickly.”</p><p></p><p>“Indeed,” was all Arbaq replied.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, they may have taken a different way back. Yes, quite. And I was on horseback, so it's quite, yes quite possible that they are close behind me,” Khalid said hopefully, as the waterclock on the mantle counted away the minutes that decided Magol's fate.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * * * * * * * * *</p><p></p><p>* Galeman let me roll the damage on the flaming web. Naturally, I took max.</p><p></p><p>** The other spell I had left was burning hands. I was fairly certain that it would have killed him outright and, even though Khalid hated the guy, he wasn't prepared to kill him by burning him alive. It was a tough choice, as I was fairly certain that sleep wasn't going to work (he might have even been too high to affect). I forgot why I started chasing him (I do remember that part of it was simply because he was so scared of me, I couldn't resist). I think I was still trying to work out a way to stop him without killing him, but it didn't really work out.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EternalNewbie, post: 2623323, member: 6489"] Shayla cried out again, pleading with her attackers. Seizing upon every ounce of his strength, Khalid thrashed against the magical webbing holding him. Although some strands broke, everytime he moved, more and more of the sticky filments clung to him. His breath coming in short ragged gasps, he slumped down, exhausted. [I]'Think Khalid!'[/I] he admonished himself. [I]'There is a way out of this!'[/I] Repeating a simple mantra designed to aid concentration before casting, he forced his breathing to slow down. He closed his eyes and tuned out the sounds around him. Shayla's voice faded away, as did Gorak's chanting. [I]'Spells are out,'[/I] he thought to himself. [I]'Can't reach my components and none of the ones without will help me, even if I can manage them. What else?'[/I] He remembered the dagger, tucked in a sheath at the small of his back. [I]'No good. This stuff is too thick, it'll just get stuck. What else can I reach? Potion belt. Healing potion, universal antidote, goblin fir...”[/I] Khalid's eyes flew open. He had one vial left of the vicious goblin naptha that burned when exposed to air. [I]'It might be enough to burn the webbing'[/I]. Wincing as the gooey strands tore the hair off his arm, he managed to shift enough to pull the bottle from his belt. He was about to hurl it to the floor then stopped. [I]'Careful. There's webbing everywhere. If it doesn't break, you're finished.'[/I] He slowly slid his thumbnail around the lip of the bottle, breaking the wax seal. Working the cork back and forth between his fingers, he loosened it as much as he dared. Glancing around, he found an open patch of floor, then took a deep breath to steady his nerves. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the vial on the floor in front of him. [I]'It worked!'[/I] he thought as the vial shattered and erupted into flame. The webbing around the spot where the vial landed was consumed instantly. Khalid realized quickly that he hadn't fully considered the ramifications of his plan. He screamed in agony as the flames raced across the webs attached him, badly burning his face and hands. Collapsing to the ground, he rolled around frantically, trying to extinguish his smoldering clothing.* Another shout from Gorak snapped him out of his initial shock and Khalid scrambled to his feet. Taking stock of the situation, he saw that his robes were only slighly singed, but angry red blisters were quickly rising on his face and hands where the webbing had been attached. The room was full of thick black smoke, but the doorway and a good part of the hall were clear of webbing. The sound of Shayla's voice jerked him into action and Khalid cried out, “Ah Shayla, if you're caught, use the goblin fire, yes, fire oil to burn away the webbing!” Stepping out into the hallway, Khalid's vision in either direction was completely obscured by thick webbing. He could hear Gorak cursing from his right, but couldn't see anything. Glancing to the left, he flinched at the sound a detonating vial of naptha and a sooty orange glow lit up the passage. She, like Khalid, cried out in pain as the flames scorched her. More black smoke billowed through the hall and the webbing in front of Khalid thinned drastically. He could barely make out Shayla freeing herself from the last wispy strands of blackened web. Unfortunately for Gorak, the goblin fire oil burned itself out almost immediately. The passage that way still completely blocked. Hearing Shayla still pleading with her attacker, followed by the unmistakable sound of breaking glass, Khalid bit his lip and considered his options. Both ways were still covered in webbing, but there was absolutely no way to reach Gorak. Lowering his head, Khalid charged forward, bursting through the last few feet of webbing, and emerged behind Shayla almost crashing into her. “Khalid!” Shayla cried. “I charmed one of them! He's got a wand, but he couldn't get a clear shot at you past me. When things started catching on fire, he jumped at that window at the end of the hallway.” Khalid glanced at Shayla. Her hair was singed and her clothing blackened, but she didn't look much worse for the ordeal. As she moved towards the window, Khalid grabbed her arm. “Ah, that is not a good idea I think. Yes, quite. You may have charmed that wizard, yes, but Gormo is still out there somewhere. Ah, you'd better let me.” Without waiting for her answer, Khalid enacted one of his recent discoveries, and faded from sight. “Ah, you try to free Gorak, I'll circle, yes, circle around and come in through the front.” “Neat trick,” Shayla remarked as she pulled out a torch from her backpack and thrust it into a small fire that was still burning fitfully along the base of the wall. She turned away and began to walk down the hall, sweeping the torch in front of her. Watching her for a second, Khalid noticed that the hallway was filling with more smoke, despite the fact that most of the fires from the goblin naptha had burned out. Shaking his head to dimiss the thought, he moved over to the window and quickly cleared the glass away. Grabbing on to the sill with both hands, he lowered himself out the window carefully, breathing heavily with the exertion. As he let go, it occurred to him that if he fell and cracked his skull open on the ground below, nobody would be able to find him. With a grunt, he landed easily on his feet then held his breath and listened carefully for a second as he pulled out a healing salve and applied it to his burns. Hearing nothing, he assumed Gormo and the other assailant had fled, and circled around to the front of the house. Moving as quickly as he dared, he stopped and peered in a window. Khalid had, over the past few months, seen a lot of strange things. He was nevertheless, completely unprepared for what lay beyond the window. Through the clouds of smoke he saw Hazal, a former apprentice of the White Tower and one of Halaal's bully boys, come crashing down a flight of stairs. He looked completely paniced. His robes were shredded and burned, and slick with blood from the waist down. At the bottom of the stairs, he stumbled in his haste and shattered a chair into kindling as he fell. Chasing him was an gigantic rat, easily the size of a small dog, that slavered and snapped at his feet. Taking advantage of his prone condition, the rat bit him savagely on the thigh and Hazal screamed in pain. Shouting out an arcane command, Hazal jabbed at the rat with a thin metallic wand in his left hand. The rat stiffened and flopped over, twitching slightly before disolving into a wisp of greenish smoke. Hazal's attack bought him only a brief respite. With a shriek he rolled frantically out of the way as a two foot high orb of pure flame came bouncing down the stairs and almost landed on him. Scrambling to his feet, he turned and lunged at the window. Staring in stunned amazement, Khalid barely dodged aside as Hazal smashed through the window and hit the wall on the other side with a meaty thud. Shaking his head to clear the shock, Hazal pushed off the wall to his feet, and staggered out of the alley. Invisible, Khalid crept out behind him and trying to make his voice as ominious as possible, whispered in his ear. “Ah, I suggest you drop that wand.” Whirling around, Hazal raised the wand defensively. Seeing no one, he started to back away slowly, prompting Khalid to hiss, “Drop it, before I lose my patience boy! Yes quite!” Wounded and faced with an opponent he couldn't see, Hazal complied, dropping the wand and kicking it away. He raised his hands to show they were empty. Glancing over his shoulder, Khalid realized that the amount of smoke coming out of the house could only mean they had started a serious fire inside. One that was likely to draw a lot of attention. He desperately wanted to find Gorak and Shayla, but he knew his spell wouldn't last much longer. “Move, yes, move down the street. Quickly! Take the first, yes, the first alley on your left.” Hazal complied, and Khalid followed closely behind, when they turned down the alley, he urged Hazal onward. “Keep going. Ah, turn right here, and then left down the next alley.” They walked quickly through the streets this way, with Khalid hissing directions every time they were faced with a choice. After a few minutes, Khalid told him to stop. “Sit down,” he ordered Hazal. As Hazal slumped to the ground, Khalid considered his next move. Deciding he had no time to spare, he got straight to the point. “Ah, I want to know where you're holding Magol, and I want to know right now,” he said in what he hoped was a threatening voice. Hazal stiffened slightly, then his eyes narrowed. “Or you'll what Khalid?” he taunted. “Kill me? I don't think you have it in you. You're no murderer.” Khalid cursed inwardly as Hazal spoke his name. He had hoped to maintain his anominity. Thinking quickly, he said, “Ah, you have tormented, yes, tormented me from the day I met you. You have used you position as Halaal's pet to bully and ridcule me. You have kidnapped my friend's father in an effort to bend me, yes, bend me to your masters will. I assure you, it is all I can do, my friend, to stop myself from killing you. Yes, quite.” Hazal glanced around nervously, and licked his lips. “You won't do it, there's too many people around. Your spell won't hide you.” “Ah, are you so sure?” Khalid asked, hoping that Hazal had paid as little attention at the lessons as he had. The spell would indeed fail if he interacted to violently with his surroundings, but he knew Hazal hadn't been powerful enough to cast it when the flow of magic was altered. Sweat was dripping from Hazal's face and his breathing was harsh and ragged. It was all Khalid could do from laughing aloud. Hazal didn't know the limitations of the spell and he was close, so close, to telling Khalid what he wanted to know. Khalid crept quietly around behind him, and leaned in close, “And besides, your master has accused me of treason. What, yes, what are they going to do? Hang me twice?” Hazal jerked away at the feeling of Khalid's breath on the back of his neck. For a second he looked as though he might flee. And then he broke. “Okay, okay! I'll tell you,” he gasped. “He's in a warehouse, down near the river.” He rattled off an address in a part of Gem-Sharad that Khalid was familiar with. “Now let me go! I gave you what you wanted. Just let me go!” Khalid was fairly certain Hazal was too scared to lie. There had been no hesitation when he gave the location and it was indeed in a part of town filled with warehouses. The buildings were large, and the streets relatively unpopulated. The perfect place to keep a hostage. Khalid knew, however, that if he let Hazal go, he would run straight to the White Tower. Tieing him up wasn't an option, he didn't have anything suitable, and there was no way he was going to get that close to Hazal. Even wounded, Khalid didn't feel at all confident in his ability to render him unconcious in a stand up fight, and that would probably draw far to much unwanted attention. Running through his repetoire, he knew he had two spells available to him to subdue Hazal. One that would almost certainly kill him, and one which possibly render him unconsicious, if he could overcome Hazal's White Tower training. Khalid sighed as he reached for a pinch of sand. Hazal was a bully and a fool, but it was possible that he simply wasn't as clever as Khalid at avoiding Halaal's domination. It was entirely likely that he was caught up in something far beyond his depth and as much as Khalid disliked him, he didn't deserve to die.** Hazal started to move the instant Khalid began to cast. He leapt to his feet and headed towards the end of the alley as Khalid finished his spell. As the sand drifted from his fingers, he knew the spell had failed, and Hazal disappeared around the corner. Thinking quickly, Khalid laughed to himself and tossed caution to the wind. Sprinting out of the end of the alley, he began to give chase. Wounded and exhausted, Hazal quickly flagged and began to slow. Clutching at his side, he turned at the sound of Khalid's footsteps behind him. His lip curled as he spat, “What are you going to do Khalid? This is a crowded street.” Khalid glanced around, and realized Hazal was right. Even this late at night, they were on a main street and there were several people within sight. “Ah, yes, I'm not quite done with you yet. Yes, quite. I think I'll relieve of that belt you're wearing.” Hanging at Hazal's waist were several scrolls, potions and another wand. “I'll call for the guards,” Hazal threatened. Khalid shrugged and stepped in closer. “Ah, yes, as I said, if they're going to hang me for treason, they might as well hang me for murder as well. Yes, quite.” A few curious onlookers had drifted closer, to get a better look at what was obviously a serious confrontation. “What's going on here?” demanded a squat little man in lurid purple pantaloons and a bright red fez, as he twirled the oiled end of his mustache between his fingers. “Ah, this man has stolen something from me,” Khalid replied easily, as a crowd began to gather. Wearing the finest Arbaq's tailor had to offer and confronting a man that dressed in ragged, filthy robes that reeked like alley runoff, Khalid knew he had the crowd on his side. Hazal's eyes darted around nervously as he realized people were gathering behind Khalid, and glaring at him suspiciously. Tired and wounded, he couldn't think of a way to deflect Khalid's accusation. He started to back away, which only served to make him look more guilty, and then stopped when he saw a few people circle around behind him. Khalid leaned in close and whispered, “Neither, yes, neither of us wants to explain this to the Sultan's guards. Hand over what I want and you can go.” Beaten again, Hazal cursed and removed the belt, tossing it at Khalid's feet. With a smirk, Khalid bent down and picked up the belt. “Ah, thank you for returning what is rightfully mine. Get from my sight you miserable, yes, miserable cur, before I call for the guards.” Shaking in impotent fury, Hazal turned on his heel and fled down the street. The squat little man that had first spoke up, clapped Khalid on the arm. “Generous of you. I'd have had the guards take a hand off him if he'd taken my purse.” Nodding distractedly, Khalid quickly excused himself from the crowd and rushed back to the house in search of Gorak and Shayla. As he turned the corner, he saw a large crowd gathered around a rather impressive fire. Men near the front were hauling buckets of water from the well and tossing them on the surrounding buildings, having apparently decided that it was too late to save the house. Hanging near the back of the crowd, he searched for his friends. Not seeing them among the gaping faces watching the fire, he turned to leave when he noticed a small boy of about eight playing with a oddly carved stick. Recognizing Hazal's wand, he knelt down beside the child. “Ah, that belongs to me.” Khalid said. “No it don't,” the boy replied beligerently, brushly his bangs out of his eyes and looking at Khalid. “I found it in the gutter over there.” “Ah, nevertheless, it is mine. I will reward, yes, reward you for finding it for me.” Khalid replied. “I dunno, it's all polished, and it's got these funny marks all carved in it. I think that might be gold too. I wanna keep it.” “Ah, that is not gold, but this, yes, this is,” Khalid said as he pulled a sultana from his purse. “Surely this is worth more than a polished stick? Yes quite.” The boys eyes lit up at the sight of the coin, then a cunning look crossed his face. “If'n its worth one sultana to you, maybe it's worth two.” he countered. “Done,” Khalid replied and gave the boy two sultanas in exchange for the wand. Standing up, Khalid left the burning house and found a secluded side street. Glancing around to ensure no one was watching, he summoned a mount. Practically leaping into the saddle, he rode hard for Arbaq's mansion, hoping to catch up to Gorak and Shayla on the way. A quarter hour later, Khalid tossed the reins to a startled guard as he dismounted in the mansion's courtyard. Seeking out Arbaq, he found him reading in his study. Arbaq glanced up from his book as Khalid burst into his office. “Ah, have you seen Gorak and Shayla?” Khalid panted as he collapsed into an armchair, trying to catch his breath. “No, I'm afraid not,” Arbaq replied as he handed Khalid his spellbook. His brow furrowed in concern. “How did everything go?” “Ah, yes, well there was a battle,” Khalid said as he poured himself a generous glass of wine. Between gulps, he continued, “We got separated, yes, separated, but I managed to discern the location of Gorak's father. But we must move quickly. Yes, quite quickly.” “Indeed,” was all Arbaq replied. “Ah, they may have taken a different way back. Yes, quite. And I was on horseback, so it's quite, yes quite possible that they are close behind me,” Khalid said hopefully, as the waterclock on the mantle counted away the minutes that decided Magol's fate. [CENTER]* * * * * * * * * *[/CENTER] * Galeman let me roll the damage on the flaming web. Naturally, I took max. ** The other spell I had left was burning hands. I was fairly certain that it would have killed him outright and, even though Khalid hated the guy, he wasn't prepared to kill him by burning him alive. It was a tough choice, as I was fairly certain that sleep wasn't going to work (he might have even been too high to affect). I forgot why I started chasing him (I do remember that part of it was simply because he was so scared of me, I couldn't resist). I think I was still trying to work out a way to stop him without killing him, but it didn't really work out. [/QUOTE]
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Al-Qarin: Into the Desert (3-1-24)
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