The Journey of a Dragoon (Chapter Six: The Fork in the Road)
They had to walk the open road for five days, heading west. Their first landmark was the ancient ruins of the Castle Anu, a once great, decaying structure with rubble and debris this way and that. No green grass could be found in this small piece of the Western world. When Boramir saw it, he kneeled immediately. Ulfgar followed suite, and everyone else just stared at them.
“What are you doing?” Drake asked, puzzled. Boramir got up, and said to him, “This once proud castle was the site of a great battle. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it, from your days at the Academy.” He paused, smelling the air, and then pointed out, “You can still smell the fetid brimstone stench that is left behind by such a terrible force.” Drake could still smell the brimstone, but it didn’t bother him all that much, compared to his companions. Coronet held her nose, breathing out of her mouth, and Ulfgar’s beard wiggled every so often from his twitching nose. Drake paused, now using all of his senses, including that of a sorcerer, feeling out the magical world around them. He felt a great impression of dark magic here, as if many dark powers had been bound to this place.
“Drake,” Boramir continued, “This place was besieged, long ago, by a necromancer of terrible power. He besieged it not with an army of undead, not with demons of the Hells, but from within, by taking the lord of the castle’s mind. He killed his soul, and took over his body. He then opened the one thing that this castle was special for: a protective barrier that guarded our world from the Hells that kept darkness from entering our land. That was in the Young Days of the Earth. It worked for many, many years, strategically placing soldiers on patrols far away from the castle, so that he could sneak into the chamber with the barrier, and open the gate to the Hells. Then, when he opened them he was almost immediately slain, or so goes the legend. Adventurers came from all over, to conquer this evil, and over time, they closed the portal. What I don’t understand is why they insist on keeping it intact, instead of destroying it. The wizards in charge of the portal and the adventurers who risked their lives debated endlessly, and then decided to keep it closed. I think that there’s something amiss with the world of magic these days…”
Drake cocked his head, slightly miffed, and began to stare at Borawin, wishing for him to explain his words, or to take them back at the least. Borawin felt uncomfortable under his gaze, and quickly stammered, “What I meant was that I just think that someone may have manipulated certain people to get a desired outcome. I know how you feel about people wanting their free will.” Drake stopped staring at him, understanding, and silently cast a spell, trying to find what happened here so long ago.
He saw fire and darkness. There was a vermilion portal at his feet, in which shrieking, cackling red-skinned imps and minor devils climbed out of, to crash their wicked blades with the castle guard. It seemed that every time one of these minor devils was destroyed, in which it would burst into flame and disintegrate within a second, two more would climb out of the portal. Fires burned on the ground in seemingly random places, where a devil’s breath had failed to hit their opponents, or in some fires, the skeletons of guards lay burning. It seemed endless, a madman’s abyssal asylum, with more disturbing things going on to drive anyone mad. And there was a figure by Drake’s side, a crown of gold and gems upon his white hair. The king’s eyes were open wide, as if mad, his evil smile showing his content with the chaos and the pain.
Suddenly, a figure human in stature, with blood-red skin and horns pointing to the heavens, climbed out of the portal, and it was huge to behold, much bigger than any of its brethren. Its claws were like knives, and its fangs were like spikes. It bore a singular, shining ruby on its forehead, from which Drake could identify the large source of magic given to this being. It roared a feral, lion like roar, as if claiming victory from its arrival. The king now laughed a shrieking, madman’s laugh into the night, glee filled in his insane voice. The demon looked at the king, and not knowing that the king set him and his brethren loose, the demon slayed the king with a single stroke of his sword to the king’s neck. The king’s crown crashed to the ground, blood stained onto the gold, and the red gems on it pulsed to life. Gray mist seeped from the gems on the king’s crown, as he lost his life, and absorbed itself into the ruby on the demon’s brow, the energy within the gem pulsing. The demon roared and shrieked in pain, terror and a thousand other emotions before it finally was left silent. Then it stared right at where Drake was watching, and let loose a sound somewhere in the middle of a piercing shriek and a guttural roar. Drake saw a blinding white light and then- Drake blacked out, screaming within his mind from all of his subconscious despair, trying to hold onto who he was.
Deep within a land, a land dead beyond death, where monsters roamed, there is a castle. It was an honorable castle, where men would come in need of guidance. Now the castle, with its spikes reaching for the heavens, is defiled. A darkness seeps over and into the land, creating a shroud around the land. The castle, once white, is now pitch black, and turns everything it touches to evil. The stone angels that were decorated on the castle are now gargoyles, their wings only slightly revealing their once noble form with feathers barely noticeable against the growing evil festering within them. The creatures around have changed into dire forms, their teeth sharpening and growing, some losing the fur they had, and their eyes revealing the madness they have gone through.
Only with great courage can we follow to see inside of this razed keep, and see within its halls the vast array of demons that fly or stomp through the unholy halls. But in these halls, a lone figure approaches. There is not much distinction between the darkness within the castle and the figure, as he seems to meld into the shadows, but this figure stands out against all of the imps and the subterranean goat men, and other demons of uglier nature. The figure seemed cloaked in shadow, and he slowly makes his way deeper into the keep.
As we follow, we see a huge throne, once meant for the king of Giants, but it’s once purple velvet cushions have been turned a dark, ice blue color, and the gems fastened upon it replaced with skulls. Where silver used to keep it together, bones now stack themselves up, supporting the throne. But even fouler than this defiled seat is the creature that sits in it: a massive creature wreathed in shadows, and only his pale green eyes, lit aflame, are able to be seen. The figure before him, of human height, bows down to him, and picks its head up, showing its glowing violet eyes.
“Master, the spies have reported that the Guardian has been found.” The smaller of the two has a hollow, soulless voice that gurgles in the throat.
“Well then, it is time to start the hunt now. Where is he?” The colossal creature has a booming voice that shakes the very soul, along with the walls around him.
“Castle Anu Barakka of the Rebirth, my lord. He seems to be continuing to gain strength, as you have predicted. Should I send the Stalkers, master?”
“There will be no need for such overkill, my minion. You need only send something as powerful as the Watcher. I have heard that he is traveling with bodyguards. The Watcher will find them all to be rather… tasty.” The monster on the throne laughed a deep, rumbling laugh that makes one shudder. It continued, “Make sure that it brings the gem to me, as proof that my will has been done. Only when we have gotten rid of this Guardian may we take down the limited power of the Court of Draconia.” The being laughed again, the laugh gaining volume, as we can finally breathe some fresh air as we make our escape. One can only survive their sanity for so long in that forsaken place.
Back at the Castle Anu ruins, Drake’s companions had rushed to his side when he had fallen, seeing that he was not conscious and becoming extremely worried. Borawin put a hand to his throat, and felt that he still had a pulse, filling everyone with relief. All except Jen was trying to help him awaken, who was not sure what to do, and hesitated. Ulfgar was slapping Drake’s face, Coronet was poking him constantly, Borawin was shaking his head, not understanding, and Gail was in deep meditation, which elves are known to do at will, and was trying to discern the reason for the sudden failure in Drake’s legs and his apparent need for sleep. Jen wasn’t sure as to what she was to be doing in this group. All the others had rushed to him; they knew what they were to do, but she was confused. Something inside was telling her something, but she wasn’t sure whether or not to listen. Fickle, she told herself, You’re being fickle. Just go over there and try to help. But something was holding her back, and she wasn’t sure what.
Coronet was watching her from the corner of her eye, not sure whether or not to trust this new member of their party. Drake had accepted her, and had even seemed to know her, and Coronet hadn’t liked it. With her colorful reputation, she found it hard to trust anyone new, but her distrust of Jen had grown to a carefully concealed animosity. Coronet had been watching them, before they got to the castle ruins, and even as she was fifteen years older than Drake, she began to feel jealous. She thought she was in love with him, though she wasn’t sure how he felt about her. She was never hesitant to kill someone when she was in a tight spot, in the process of a burglary, but she could never quite find the words to express her feelings to Drake. They always seemed to catch in her throat, and she felt that she might choke on them.
Not able to get Drake to wake, the others began to make camp, since it was starting to grow dark. Jen finally made up her mind as to how to help. She approached the others as they sat around the fire they had made, trying to figure out what to do, and told them her proposition.
“Well, we aren’t going to figure out what’s wrong with him, just sitting around like this. I’m not sure exactly how it will work, but I think I might be able to figure out how to help him.” This news struck everyone else with relief, now that they knew something could be done. Coronet remained suspicious, however. The last person who had tried to “help” her was a back-stabbing thief who tried to sound the alarm and pick up the pieces left behind, after she had done most of the work. But she had a gift that allowed for her to sense when a person was lying or not. She had ended up stabbing him in the leg right before she started the job they were going to do. Back at the campsite, she was suspicious not because she had a hard time to trust people, but because she was wondering what the catch was. Jen continued.
“Here’s the thing. I will probably have to heal him with magic, to figure out how to heal him is key, and is a rather complicated process. Even though I know that you want to be with him as much as you can, not knowing if he’s going to live or die, I’ll need one hour with him, in privacy, in the tent.” This didn’t go so well with some of the members of the party. Ulfgar was about to bark a protest, and maybe a curse, before Borawin slapped him in the shoulder, his teeth clenched and his eyes burning with tears he had shed from worry. Coronet just remained glaring at her from the shadows, but Gail merely lowered his eyes and said softly, “Whatever it takes. I’m sure the others feel the same, but as much as I want to be at his side, it won’t help as much as your abilities will.” His companions did not argue nor did they agree. They were just silent. Gail looked from them to Jen, and then nodded, and Jen, taking her cue, went back into the tent.
Drake was surrounded by darkness. He couldn’t see anything other than his own hand, if he put it in front of his eyes. He felt alone. He didn’t want to be alone. He wanted his friends at his side. He wanted to see Jen again. He wasn’t sure what he felt for her. He thought it might just be what he felt for even the wenches at the taverns he had been to before, and he had turned down their offers to make his nights better ones. He knew, somewhere in his heart, that he was looking for more than just a pretty face. He was looking for a bond, somewhere in the world, and though he wasn’t sure what kind of a bond it was, he knew that he would know it when he saw it. Where am I? What time of day is it? Where are my friends? Why didn’t I return like I was supposed to? His thoughts raced through his head, and he couldn’t grab all of them, focus on them, figure out exactly how he felt, or what he wanted to do. He was wondering why he didn’t return to his body, like he was supposed to, after the spell wore off. He tried walking, but he didn’t seem to be going anywhere. He felt completely alone.
“Hello?” he yelled off into the distance. He couldn’t hear anything but an echo. He felt totally, completely alone. He was slowly drifting into a state of depression. I just want to go. I don’t want to be alone anymore. He started to hear a sound, like a heart beating, way off in the distance. A soft white light also began to shine through the darkness, illuminating him, but he didn’t concentrate on any of it.
I want to go back. I want to see my friends. I want to see Jen. I want to return. The sound of a heart beating slowly grew louder and louder, faster and faster, but he didn’t concentrate on it. The white light grew in area and intensity, and he began to feel a heat rising from within his chest, as if it might explode. He seemed to feel a comfort, like a mother’s hand on her child’s shoulder, while he continued to rage from within. I won’t stay like this, I won’t give up now, I won’t stay in this infernal prison. His eyes flashed, though he could not see them, and began to glow a reddish color. I WON’T STAY HERE!Drake awoke with a start, yelling as he woke, “I WON’T!” He startled Jen, who was in the middle of a spell, trying to scan what was wrong with him, and who desperately tried to hang onto the spell, so she could properly dismiss the magic powers she had conjured. White candles had been lit around him, and he had been lying on a sheet with a white pentagram woven into it. Quartz crystals were positioned at each point of the star. Dragon’s Blood incense was in the air, and it smelled good to Drake’s nose, sharp, yet soothing. A blue aura encircled Drake, and blue rays from the aura came into Jen’s hands and encircled her brow like a halo. While she dismissed the powers, Drake sat where he was, sweating, and just looking around, speechless, at the lantern, at the sleeping bags, at the backpacks, and at last, at Jen. She sat down next to him, after the aura was dismissed and the blue light gone, and touched his forehead, checking his temperature, then started to pick up the crystals and put out the candles that she had lit and placed around him. At last, Drake found his voice again.
“Where are we?”
“We’re just outside of the ruins. You gave everyone a real scare, Drake.”
“What time of day is it?”
“It’s night. Everyone else is outside, if you want to see them.”
Drake pondered this, and started going outside of the tent. Jen lowered her eyes as he passed her, but she was surprised when Drake took her by the hand and looked into her eyes. His eyes, she would never forget them. Those eyes that seemed to just meet her, that seemed to see through her and understand her, whether she liked it or not, and yet they had a warmth about them, like a father comforting his child. His next words were like that as well:
“Thank you for your help, Jen. If it wasn’t for you, I might not be here, awake, now.” She was stunned speechless, and the closest she could come to a response was a nod. He lowered his eyes and walked outside, and she began kicking herself from within. Why didn’t you say anything?! You could have gotten away with saying something, but why didn’t you?! [i]This internal voice of hers suddenly seemed to take on a life of its own, and she wondered why it jabbed at her so. I know what you’re all about: you want to be there to protect him; you want to be there to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again. You want to stay by his side. Do you love him? Do you? Find out the answer to THAT, and maybe you have a chance at figuring out whether or not you’ll be able to respond to him with something other than a dumb nod.[i]
When Drake walked outside, he was assailed by his welcoming friends. He was almost immediately tackled within a group hug that included Borawin, Coronet and Ulfgar. He could feel Ulfgar’s helmet beneath one of his arms, and he adjusted it to hug his short companion. Tears rolled down Ulfgar’s cheeks as he tightened his grip on Drake. He was never afraid of enemies that were twice his size or more, but the magic that he could not understand, the magic that his race was generally superstitious of, that frightened him a bit, though he would not admit it. He was afraid that the ruins they had been at still held some spirit of the evil necromancer had cast a spell on Drake and that he would never see him alive again.
Drake could feel Borawin’s scale mail was tight around his right side, and he embraced him. Coronet had wrapped herself around his right leg, and he smiled at his friends who seemed so pleased to see him. Gail still sat by the fire, smiling warmly at Drake, with a look on his face as if he was waiting for this moment, and pleased to see it have this effect on everyone. Drake would have to talk to him one of these days about not telling him everything.
When they had all calmed down, Drake explained to them part of what had happened. He didn’t explain to them the castle in too much detail, for it was just too horrific for any of them to hear. When they realized that Drake placed the blame on himself for what happened, some of them started to protest. Ulfgar immediately barked, “Ye couldn’t have known that was supposed to happen, Drake. Don’t blame yerself.” Coronet tried comforting him by saying, “Drake, it’s ok. You’re back with us now.” Borowin couldn’t find any words to say for he was still crying a little, and Gail was silent, as usual. Jen came out of the tent after he finished his story, and for some reason, he thought he would tell her about it later, and in full detail. He wasn’t sure why, but he trusted her with this more than he trusted these adventurers that had become his second family. She seemed to understand him a little more, for she knew of the magics that Drake knew the others couldn’t quite comprehend.
In the morning, after they had all gotten a good night’s sleep, they packed up their equipment and headed off, the only one who wasn’t speaking to anyone was Drake. Everyone else, now that Drake was ok, were talking to each other in excitement, wondering about their destination. Jen was also quiet, for she still felt left out, and only answered if someone asked her a question. Drake’s first question for Borawin was, “Where’s our next stop?”
“The city of Hanon. It’s a bit more colorful than our previous home, but you should get used to it. It’s not filled with scum or villains, just colorful[b] people like ourselves.” They both grinned at this comment. The trip there was uneventful, but Drake had a continuous feeling that he was being watched. His senses were completely tuned, and he was trying to detect the source of this feeling. He couldn’t see, smell, or hear anything that might be following him, however, and he left it alone as they continued on their journey. He noticed, as well, that Jen was in the back of the group, not speaking to anyone, and acting very distant. He dropped back in the group, drawing some attention from his comrades, but they quickly went back to concentrating on their journey.
“Hey, why so quiet?” he asked. She sighed, and answered, “I’m not really sure. You all seem like such a close, tight-knit group, I’m afraid to spoil it.” Drake waved his hand, dismissing the idea. “You’d do fine if you stopped being so damned distant. I know you well enough to know that they’d accept you as you are, so just stop looking at everything from the outside, ok?” Drake grinned, and it made Jen laugh. She nodded, and the rest of their journey was uneventful.
by Drake_the_Windseeker
Written by admin on September 10th, 2006 with
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