Chapter 6 - Saga 2, The Quest for Lady Tornhawk
Within the realm of Anything, there are many trading routes, hundreds of roads for ease of travel. One of them is perfectly straight, with one end at a certain dark foreboding castle, the other at a small town. The road does have other paths branching from it, but it is the main straightaway that our heroes are following.
DarkGuardian was nervous. He’d never been much for raiding castles, much less rescuing damsels in distress. Lady Tornhawk, wow. He’d never even seen her, and yet, he had…
They marched in a loose formation, each with his own step and gait. CardinalFang loped along on all fours, as if trying to look at pathetic as possible, occasionally collapsing to the dusty ground, a darkened splotch left whenever he did so.
YOYOY walked, simply, with a grin. He looked all around, admiring the sky, taking note of the trees, keeping an eye on his companions and wondering what other adventures this road had witnessed. Surely many, for the road seemed very old, reeking of an ancient grace bestowed many centuries ago. A blessing, a curse, a fateful wish for nothing worse…
Acid_Flux moseyed, a semi-automatic light crossbow in each holster on his sides. His arms hardly swung at all with his steps, his hands afraid to stray too far from his pistols. The kindly NoThRoG had pawned the heavy crossbow back in town before they left, finding he preferred to go in double-barreled blazing. He smiled at the thought of a good old-fashioned tavern shootout. Maybe someday.
Advocate walked with a single penguin, this one equipped with highly sophisticated communications and tracking equipment strapped to his head in the form of a helmet, bristling with a great many antenna and even a little satellite. He telekinetically held a datapad in front of him at all times, keeping track of all the other penguins out there, ready to call them at a moment’s notice. The advocate felt secure, never fully confident in his fellow non-penguins.
Ter-Soth had a lanky, goofy stride with an obnoxious smile on his face. It was as if he was daring someone to shoot him. Occasionally he even performed for the group, trying to impress them with such tricks as building a fire with his bare hands. I’m a Boy Scout he’d quip. The others learned to ignore him, mostly, though never doubting his battle prowess.
Drexlin walked slowly, yet never behind the group. As he walked, he mixed drinks, taking time to taste them as well. He wondered if the others appreciated him. The thought bothered him, but every time he’d pull drinks out he’d be reassured by their enthusiastic consumption, even if he didn’t always get a simple thanks out of it.
Stormcrow had rear guard, and DarkKnightZach had point. Even at a distance, they could feel the other, sneering, gloating, an aura of hateful spite connecting them. A Deverenian getting along with an elf isn’t completely unheard of, but here you’d think this level of malice between the two was commonplace. Each thought of himself as the most battle-worthy of the group, thinking the other wasn’t needed.
An arrow snapped through the air, punching into Zach’s pack he was wearing. It managed to hit a flask, and the liquid was now pulsing out, staining the pack’s exterior as it did so. Zach stopped in his tracks, unslinging the pack and examining it. He already knew who did it, of course, but he needed to see the arrow. It’s just the principle of the thing.
He then turned, squinting, spotting Stormcrow at a fair distance still, malevolently chuckling.
Now, the other members of the crew mostly pretended not to notice, a couple of them genuinely missed it. DarkGuardian slowly, smoothly changed his walking course so he could keep an eye on them both. Something inside of Acid_Flux was itching, the BadAcid inside of him, as he found his hands unwittingly on his pistols, fingers rapidly tapping the holsters. YOYOY was barely keeping his grin up, fearing for the group’s stability. Just what they needed, a feud within the ranks.
Zach suddenly drew a razordisk from somewhere on his person and threw it in a single motion, a blurred whip action barely noticed. The projectile spun through the air, a rapid whupwhupwhupwhupwhupwhup sound as it did so.
Stormcrow’s elven pupils saw the disk, but his mind hadn’t been set on expecting it. He didn’t have much time to dodge, by the time his body was sure it was about to be hit, all he could manage was a slight turn to the side. His shoulder ripped open, an initial flash of crimson as several droplets of blood found airbound freedom. He grit his teeth and took in a quick breath, now furrowing his brow to match Zach’s intensity, whispering That’s it…
Zach grinned, lowering his head in a basic, instinctual threatening pose. He began walking back, to Stormcrow, along the way mentioned I’m right here, elf What’re you waiting for? Stormcrow nodded, acknowledging the challenge, beginning his own walk toward Zach.
The other Fellowship members stopped in their tracks, all eyes on the fight, and not a soul about to come between them. Even Ter-Soth froze in fear, his eye twitching at the tension in the air. The lone penguin eyes Advocate, pointing to the datapad, his commander giving a quick shake of the head, mouthing the word no. YOYOY shrugged and grinned wider, ready for a show. Acid_Flux had a similar reaction, and Drexlin passed out drinks. DarkGuardian took a deep breath, hoping this wouldn’t get too ugly. Of course, with these two…
Let’s rewind a bit, there’s someone and something we missed…
Our courageous group had just left the fair town, many of the local foil surely glad to see them go, never once letting their suspicious gaze off. JWalker was getting used to his new mech, how it felt, how it handed, vastly different from his previous cyber-titanic creation.
It could be very quick, or very slow, possessing the uncanny ability to stand on one foot in mid-stride, a point from which it could pivot and spin in a quirky manner, not very graceful but he was sure he’d find a use for it.
The joystick was of a fine stone, tar-gummed wood allowing its motion. The stone was surely magical, allowing it to control the craft’s movement. Where the trigger would be was inlaid a jewel, like a button, same way up top, just like he’d diagrammed for the wizard.
The throttle handle was wooden, various switches of metal and buttons of semiprecious material. Crystal, frosted glass, mahogany, and plant matter all somehow formed the vehicle in a miraculous unity, somehow it all worked like it was meant to.
He hadn’t dared touch the weapons yet, though he entertained the notion of plowing an acre of forest for kicks. However, he noticed a few things Sorscha1 had added that he’d told her nothing about, apparently creations of her very own idea. The primary object was a dark globe mounted on the panel, a ‘button’ on the back of it. He couldn’t take it any longer, he had to try something out, so he hit the button, not sure if he’d burst into flames or force the same fate on everyone around him.
Neither was in store for our group. Instead, the globe lit up brightly for a second, corona firing a little too much light into the ****pit, J having to shield his eyes for a second. Then the globe was swirling, forming the image of a room he didn’t recognize.
He stared at the image, initially disappointed and confused until Sorscha appeared within the globe. I see you found our two-way crystal ball connection. Just hit the button and if I’m… home, I’ll answer. She smiled, or at least JWalker was pretty sure she was smiling under the odd, eerie glow of her face. So what’s up, JWalker?
He shrugged. Not much, we’re on our way to rescue the Lady as I told you. She nodded. Good luck with that… oh, do you like the mech? She rose on her heels just a bit, in anticipation of his answer. Uh, yeah, it’s great, just haven’t tried the weapons out yet. The wizard nodded. You’ll enjoy those, don’t worry. Hey, I gotta go… I’ll try calling you later, okay? Thoughts spun through JWalker’s skull of a fiery battle interrupted by the globe, or a group meeting rudely paused for a message. Or maybe just her bugging him every hour of the day and into the night. Thing is… he wasn’t sure if he didn’t like the idea. Maybe communication with a female was just what he needed. He couldn’t help but think of her that way, the one woman in his life right now. He shook it all off, focusing on the moment, no vague conceptions here…
‘’‘Okay then. Talk to you later. Bye. Bye…’‘’ In the globe, he saw her reach her arm practically through his view, as the globe blinked back into darkness, faintly buzzing. He guessed whoever hit the button during a conversation ended it.
He increased the throttle a smidge, sitting back and sighing.
Back to our confrontation…
The elf and Dev were now within eight feet of each other when Zach took two quick steps forward and through a flurry of punches, hook-hook-jab-jab-jab-uppercut-hook. Stormcrow, in a stunning display of quick reflexes, managed to deftly block each swing then hopping back to distance. He uttered a curious Hm and stepped forward back into engagement, giving a rapid front kick (blocked down), other foot neatly hopping forward and pivoting for a side kick (blocked side) the another pivot for a low back kick, which Zach caught, barely escaping a crushing blow to the groin. Before Zach could counter Stormcrow peformed a miraculous midair jumping spinning kick thing, DarkKnightZach having to duck back and let go, the elf landing on his feet, grinning.
Zach shook his head, visibly concerned with the elf’s agility. He slowly brought his hand down to his side, and just as slowly drew a dagger, its fine edge glaring in the sunlight. The elf shrugged and drew his own blade, a wretched weapon carved from bone.
The dark knight struck a very proper stance, delicately holding the dagger forward, away from his body, and gently waving it back and forth, other hand behind his back. Stormcrow growled and stepped forward.
The elf started to swing but stopped, faking Zach into a block, then swinging under to go for the Dev’s arm.
The bone knife went a little wide and Zach bent away, but the blade still found its mark, sliding into Zach just under his shoulder.
Zach winced and Stormcrow started to chuckle in cruel victory, but Zach swung his hidden hand forward, the elf seeing the new blade for only a moment.
The weapon bit deep into the elf’s lower back, and Zach shoved off, backing away. While the Deverenian now smiled, teeth still bared in pain, Stormcrow’s mouth stood agape in shock.
DarkGuardian cursed under his breath and trotted over to the couple. A few others followed suit.
Hope you two are happy, he chided.
The two wounded submitted themselves to the tender care of their companions, Drexlin happening to have some medicinal liquid on hand that’d do the job along with Ter-Soth’s immaculate handling of the wounds.
YOYOY stopped grinning, looking away as if ashamed, worried. CardinalFang held a similar look, well aware of the gravity of the situation.
Acid_Flux shook his head, now feeling disgust towards his weaponry, sincerely hoping the two would learn to get along and quickly.
Advocate had a medic penguin sent in, citing that it couldn’t hurt.
JWalker cringed, reaching forward, debating whether to engage the sweet release of crystal communication. He fingered the button that’d bring her voice back, her input, her listening… he caressed it, not pressing it, not doing a thing. Just sitting there and feeling helpless.
Something was already ominous in the atmosphere, and they hadn’t even seen the castle yet. They couldn’t help but already feel doomed, and wonder if their fortune was about to take a turn for the worse. Was it worth it, risking life and limb to rescue Tornhawk? They weren’t sure, only knowing that whatever Todd says goes. So they ventured on, sullen, only hoping to get it over with. Perhaps a battle would get their blood flowing again, remove their melancholy.
DarkGuardian looked to the sky again, noticing the clouds only growing darker. Almost as if a storm were coming.
© Eric Bailey