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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Breakstone" data-source="post: 891840" data-attributes="member: 481">Chapter 8 Interlude and an AngelKeith rubbed his neck, and cleared his throat. “So… Ruskin, was it? Thank you for your help in defeating that beast. We would truly have been doomed had it not been for your skills in archery.”Ruskin stared, wide-eyed and silent.“Er… we’ll be off then. Goodbye, Sir Ruskin.”An awkward moment passed as nobody moved.“Er… well then…”Somebody coughed.Keith sighed, and rubbed his neck again. Although healed, it was still sore from the week’s battles. He’d have to ponder investing in some sort of neck guard soon.Another lethargic moment floated by in the soft breeze. Arudan tapped his foot impatiently, and Joshua retrieved his spear.“Say, Ruskin,” Keith broke the silence with a proposition, “would you care to travel on with us? We could always use another skilled warrior to fight by our side.”“Meh,” spoke the halfling.When nothing else was said, Keith announced, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then, I suppose. Anyways, on to Steinbruch!”“Finally!” Arudan cried as the group marched off.Two days passed as the adventurers traveled towards Steinbruch. The sky was shrouded in a blanket of gray clouds, casting a harsh light upon the road.Keith glanced towards the sky and noted in a cheerful voice, “Nature seems a little depressed today, doesn’t it Uel?”“Nature’s mannerisms cannot be defined by simple human emotions, Keith,” Uel spoke, ever stoic.“Right, right…” Keith mumbled, and inwardly rolled his eyes. ‘Elves…’Later that night, a rumble was heard in the group’s camp. “Thunder?” Keith asked, awakening from a light sleep.Uel, who was on guard duty at the time, squinted at a large shape in the darkness and answered. “No. It’s a cart, coming down the road.”“Maybe it’s a trader…” Keith pondered, rousing Arudan and Joshua awake, “I think we could use some supplies.”Arudan patted his pockets and frowned. “I hate to be the cautious one, Keith, but we don’t have much gold. Those peasants only rewarded us with a few silvers.”But Keith simply smiled. “Just leave it all to me, my friend…”In the torchlight, Tomakin could barely make out the wide, friendly grin on the armored fellow’s face. “Howdy, folks! The name’s Tomakin, and I’m a trader of goods! Need a horse? I’ve got one! Need a sword? I’ve got that too-““Tomakin?” Keith Goodfellow interrupted, drawing closer. “Tomakin, the world famous trader? Wow, I’ve heard all about you!”Tomakin smirked, and chuckled to himself, ‘This is going to be an easy profit…’…It was only the next day, in the middle of a trade with a needle-toothed half-orc, that Tomakin realized just how much money he lost that night…Over the next few days of travel, as Steinbruch grew closer and closer, Uel sent his crows out to gather more of their kin. He was rewarded with an entire nest of crows, a bit smaller than his original flock, who decided to join his league. Joshua found himself drawn to the crows, and soon befriended the entire flock Ruskin followed behind, watching in wide-eyed silence as Keith and Arudan, both riding on the only horses, went through their usual routines of bickering.And thus, no one expected the angel to fall from the sky.It was Uel who spotted him first. His eyes, shrouded in the shadow of his hood, picked up a flutter of great white wings against the monotonous gray sky. A giant egret? Uel glanced about the group, but no one else seemed to notice.Except for Ruskin, who followed Uel’s gaze to the sleek body with long green hair falling from the clouds. “Hm?” he grunted.Keith and Arudan finally broke their debate to notice the angel crash into the road ahead of them.“Great Gods above…” Keith gasped, and urged his horse forward. He found the angel, splashed with mud and blood, twitching on the ground. His wings- brilliantly white- convulsed, shedding feathers which twirled to the ground in a blizzard of ivory. Keith pulled the winged man out of the mud, eyes widening in horror at the multitude of puncture wounds, red and swollen, that covered the angel’s skin.“Help!” the angel gasped. “Stein… bruch!”He blinked rapidly, and his eyes were glazed, pupils dilated, refusing to focus on a single spot. A thin layer of sweat coated the his pearly skin, and Keith found it hard to keep a grasp. Finally, the celestial gave one last hoarse cry, and collapsed.When the others caught up, the ghastly expression on Keith’s face was enough to explain the situation. “Arudan and I will ride ahead to Steinbruch to deliver this angel to a temple,” Keith announced. He’d faced troubling situations on the battlefield before, and he wasn’t going to loose his cool now. “Uel and Ruskin, we’ll meet you in Steinbruch when you catch up.”“And me?” asked Joshua. Although almost six feet tall, the village boy had a meek presence that was easy to overlook.“Oh, yes, Joshua… stay with Uel.”“Right!”With that, Keith lifted the angel over his shoulder. The body was surprisingly light for its size, but Keith didn’t take too much time to reflect on this as he and Arudan rode towards Steinbruch……oblivious to the horror that awaited them ahead.</blockquote>

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