Do Not Open Til X-Mas
...He shoots, He Scores!! And the crowd goes wild. *Applause*
Time to post the story...
You haven't been much fun lately Enk. Its like you worked hard on the story or someting.
Time to post the story...
You're like the dunkin donuts man of story hours...or a story zombie.
Pooooooosts... POOOOOSTS!
Ahhh! A zombie! DIE!!!!
*gratuitous violence*
Uh Enk, you can move now!!
*gratuitous laying still*
I better push the button.
*gratuitous rigor mortis setting in*
*****
"This Space for Rent," or "It's Good to be Back!"
Ashrem crept back over the ridge and silently slid down the sharp embankment. When he hit the ground, he moved quickly toward the alcove in which he had left his friends. He sniffed the air as he moved, more out of habit than of conscious effort, and suddenly became aware that he had not yet rid himself of the stink of goblin and the other savages: an odiferous reminder of the his time spent in the hole called Tradesway.
Even now, he could not understand why Ander had chosen to not only deal with the bugbear, but follow the beast’s advice and place all their lives in its grubby, if dangerous, claws. That they had survived did not matter; traveling through Tradesway had been dangerous, distasteful, and, in Ashrem’s view, unnecessary. While their time in the caverns below had been dangerous – they had encountered not only a strange creature that fed on steel (which had “eaten” both of Ander’s swords, the wood-skinned warrior’s Shatterspike as well as the rusty blade had from the kobolds) but also a quartet of well armed centaur ants identical to the type that attacked Icemist – spending any amount of time in that bestial cavern town was by far the more disagreeable. Yet, he supposed, dealing with the goblins, gnolls, and other savages was worth it to follow the woodsman to which he owed his life.
The feloine stopped for a moment, looking over his shoulder to check for signs of followers, and then glided across the uneven cavern floor. He rounded the corner and entered the dark alcove. “Hold your steel. I have returned,” he said, and watched Theo’s flail lower slowly to the ground. The scout was fairly sure that the weapon’s head would have been buried in his own had he not identified himself.
Pack stepped forward, taking from the folds of his tiny cloak a small ceramic lamp only just capable of revealing his companions. Ander started interrogating him in low tones, “What are we looking at, Ash? I want general layout, numbers, everything. Don’t leave anything out.”
The feloine replied in a hushed voice. “Of course, Ander.” Ashrem paused for a moment and looked at his commander – had not the woodsman discovered that the scout rarely left anything out? “Though I dare say you won’t like what you hear.”
“Give it to us anyway.”
Ashrem squatted, keeping the balls of his feet under him, and motioned Ander and the others to do the same. Ander mimicked the feloine, while Brother Theo stood over him. Aurora knelt down beside the woodsman, while her pet kobold stood close beside her, alternately looking around nervously and gazing at the girl as if she were a warm hearth fire. Pack simply sat himself on the ground and fluffed his rucksack like a pillow, hunkering down as if he expected this to take some time: Ashrem suspected he would be right.
“Over that ridge,” the feloine began, “is a small city, easily ten times the size of Icemist, that rests in the middle of a giant crater. It is in the shape of a great wheel, with spokes leading out from a natural rock formation and moving directly away from it and up the walls of the crater. Each spoke is a major road and leads to a number of smaller roads that connect the spokes.”
Ander interrupted him, “How is it guarded?”
“I will answer that in due time, Ander, but for now I am not leaving anything out.” Pack snickered - a bit too loudly for Ashrem’s taste considering their surroundings - and the feloine continued. “The city is lit – and for that we should be grateful to whatever gods watch over us – by a type of luminous moss with which I am not familiar, though several bonfires have been lit at crossroads within the city proper. Most streets seem to be well paved, though some look to be still under construction. I cannot be sure of how many areas are under construction until we get a closer look. However, getting a closer look may prove difficult.”
“What do you mean?” Theo had lowered his voice from his usual thunder to something less loud, but Ashrem could still swear he felt the priest’s voice rather than heard it.
“Brother Theo, the streets are covered with kobolds and grey skinned dwarves, and at least some of them are armed. Additionally, regular patrols consisting of four centaur ants – the same as the ones we fought both in Icemist and again on the way toward our present position – circle the rim of the crater. I can’t be sure of how many patrols are in the rotation.”
“Armed the same?” asked Ander, rubbing the long scar across his shoulder that was the reminder from their latest encounter with the axe wielding ant-men.
“I am afraid so. Each patrol looks identical to the foursome we dealt with earlier. I fear that the ones we were forced to dispatch may be missed.”
“Then we should move quickly,” Theo rumbled.
The scout glanced at Ander as he continued. “I concur, though for a different reason. At the hub of the city is a high walled stone keep still under construction. Just to the right stands a pyramid-like temple,” Ashrem paused as his gaze shifted from one companion to the next, “with a blood soaked altar resting on top. I suspect that below that altar is where they are keeping the slave pens.”
A stunned silence hung over the group like a heavy blanket. “Are you sure it was blood on the altar?” Aurora asked in a softer tone than needed even for their surroundings.
“That is a thing of which I am most certain,” the feloine said carefully. He had nearly forgotten that he no longer traveled with a corps of battle hardened warriors, but with at least two companions full of naïve optimism. After a pregnant pause, he continued “I am also certain that by Brother Theo’s reckoning we have another four days before the new moon. If Yusdrayl’s information is correct, then I believe the children are still alive.” Ashrem glanced at Pack and Aurora; his optimistic observation had made little impact and they were still visibly shaken. Nothing to be done of it now.
He continued, “I think that we may be able to skirt the outer guards if we…” Ashrem was cut short by an unintelligible outburst from Aurora’s pet kobold.
Aurora shushed the beast, speaking quietly but firmly in its raspy, sibilant speech. “Meepo says he knows how to get us into the city,” she translated before diving back into her conversation with the kobold. Ashrem wordlessly stood and walked outside the alcove; if the little beast had a plan, the scout was positive that it didn’t bode well for the companions.
*****
Next Time:
"Is there a Gravedigger in the House?" or "What Level is Raise Dead Again?"
*gratuitous making the donuts*
