[Mkguild] Crossing Paths ch. 2

[joeschoder2 at charter.net]

Well, here are my next 2 chapters.  Took a while, but now that I've graduated I should have a little more time to write, at least for the next few months.  



Crossing Paths
Chapter 2
By: Joseph Schoder Jr.



<For a few hours we were rather worried, trying to get together everything we would need.  Then we ran into a rather knowledgeable store owner who told us that it was merely a rumor.  Apparently a group of soldiers who had escaped the rout at Metamor had drunk themselves into a stupor thinking that Nasoj was going to personally come after them for abandoning the battle.  Another few hours of walking around town, listening to gossip, revealed that this wizard, Nasoj, was currently out of favor in these lands.

After that little bit of news we were able to slow down, we took the day to prepare for our journey, if our information was correct it might take several months to get to the Keep.  But we were finally on our way.>

________________

Drake looked back, the large gate of Arabarb was still visible down the road.  Well, more a valley than a road really, about two hundred meters across, perhaps following the path of an ancient river that had eaten its way down through the rock of the mountain and long since dried.  On both sides of the road huge walls of rock towered above them.  It was oppressive, especially after a life lived on the open ocean.  He began to feel a familiar pressure in his stomach.  <Damned high walls of rock, weighing untold thousands of tons, all waiting to come crashing down on me... did that wall just move closer?!>

He jumped, visibly, as he heard the distant crack of a falling rock.  <Gods, the place is caving in on us!>  

In reality it was merely a pebble dislodged by a perching bird.  Fortunately Dimalya was walking slightly ahead of him and didn't notice his trouble, he'd had enough lectures about meaningless fear, <by the Nine the walls are getting closer together!>   

Focusing, he forced himself to breath evenly, staring at the form of his love walking ahead of him instead of the crushing weight on either side. 

Much to his annoyance, the sun began to set while they were still within the pass, forcing them to make camp.  

The fire was a comfort to him, its glow seemed to drown out the view of the massive cliffs.  He'd always liked fire, he could stare at it for hours sometimes...

"Drake?"

The voice, and the hand on his shoulder broke him from his reverie.  He looked up, "Yes, is anything wrong?"

"Perhaps.  You've been nervous since we left the town, I know you don't like walking under these mountains."

"I don't have a problem with the mountains."

"Oh really?"

He winced inwardly as he took the fish-on-a-stick she handed him, the tone of her voice telling him that she was about to get even for what had happened during our trip across the ocean.  He wasn't overly worried, she never went too far.

She sat down, biting into her own fish, "So, you've finally gotten over it?  Good for you."

Picking up a small stone she casually tossed it out into the darkness, the sound of rock bouncing on rock echoed in the confines of the valley.

So much for the comfort of the fire, the light now seemed to only amplify the sight of the towering walls of rock on either side.

Not about to let her win so easily this time, he smiled unconcerned, determined not to show any outward sign, and took a bite of his fish, spitting a stray scale into the fire. 

"I suppose I can understand why you used to worry.  I mean, all that rock up there just waiting to fall at the slightest touch..."

She was right about that, the pebble that morning proved it, at least in his mind.  If a bird could dislodge a piece of the mountain, then a wandering animal or even the wind could easily do more.  <Using my own logic against me isn't very fair.>

"Except they've been there and stable for hundreds or thousands of years."  Turning her arguments against her helped a little.

"Well then, they must be about ready to fall."  

<Another one of mine.>

"Well if the mountain falls, there isn't much we can do to stop it, so why worry?"  She had used that one several times, it was rather hard to argue against, so it was nice to be able to use it himself for once.

Thankfully she couldn't think of any way to refute it either, so they finished their meal talking about other things.

He had won the argument, but she had her revenge, he doubted he would be able to sleep much that night.

Dimalya got up and sat down behind him, putting her arms under his shoulders, "Don't worry, we'll probably be out of here by tomorrow.  Close your eyes, love, I'll help you find your center." 

Drake gratefully let his eyes close, as he settled into a more relaxed pose.

Dimalya lowered her voice, speaking slowly and softly, "Focus on the sound of my voice, let your mind empty.  Breath in.  See your breath as a white light, expanding to fill you, pushing out all worry, all thought, until only the light remains, and relax..."

He passed out sometime later without realizing it, and he was woken in the morning by a hand on his shoulder.

They continued walking, mostly in silence, till the late afternoon, and just when he was starting to think it would never end he saw the sky ahead open, the cliffs stopped and open land began.  

With the end in sight, the crushing weight of the cliffs seemed to redouble their effort.  Suddenly it was too much, he had to get out, it was the only thing he could think of, get out, get out, get out, get out.  Just as suddenly as it began it was gone, there was only open sky around him and the mountain pass behind.  And Dimalya, far behind.

He winced as he realized that in his fear he had broken into a run.  <I can just imagine the self satisfied smirk that she will have when she catches up.  The one she gets when she's won, and she knows she won, and she knows I know, and she wants me to know that she knows that I know that she's won...>  He smiled to himself, <I hate that smirk.>

She caught up to him after a few minutes, let him have it, and just kept walking toward the forest.  He followed, just happy to be out of the mountains.

__________________________


As they walked among the trees Drake began to feel that something was wrong.  There was an unnatural stillness in the air.  He had just enough time to realize that the sounds of the forest were silent before a short, stocky, green creature burst from the foliage, swinging a club for his head.

He quickly brought up his hands, pain raced down his arms as he caught the club and brought it to a jarring halt.  Without slowing, he pulled, took one hand off the club, and slammed it into the creature's face. 

As his hand hit, a flash of fire exploded between his palm and the creature's head, blowing the back of its skull into the forest.

The clash of metal on metal brought his head around, as Dimalya blocked a sword aimed at his head.  In a burst of light a spear appeared in the summoner's hand, and he plunged it through the beast's chest.  

Three more charged into view, Dimalya kept one at bay as the other two turned to Drake.  He parried a sword to the side and slashed his spear's tip across the monster's throat.  In the same motion flipping the spear end for end, and battered through the final creature's guard with the heavy metal ball on the end of his spear.  As it tried to block, the force of Drake's blow rammed its own club into its head along with the weighted end of his spear with a sickening crunch.

Breathing heavily, rubbing his throbbing hands, he looked around.  Dimalya was standing over the headless corpse of her opponent, looking to her left at the ground.  Following her gaze Drake saw that one of the creatures had survived, barely.    

He walked over to where it was lying, gasping for breath, coughing as it drowned slowly in its own blood, its eyes darting about in fear.  The summoner's eyes narrowed as he placed the tip of his spear to its throat, "tell me why you attacked us, and I will end your pain swiftly."  

It coughed up blood, "Mistress said to find and take summoners alive."  

"Who is your mistress?  And why does she want us?"

"Mistress say do, Lutins do, not ask why."  

"Who is your mistress?"  The creature, Lutin, merely smiled as it breathed its last.

"Who is your mistress?  WHO!"  Its eyes stared back at him, lifeless.  

Dimalya's voice broke him from his thoughts as she called his name.  There was a tremor in her voice that sent a shiver down his spine.  She was bending over the one whose head had been destroyed, her hand closed on a chain around its neck and pulled it off.  

She opened her hand as Drake looked over her shoulder.  It was a pendant, a teardrop shape, with three lines radiating out from the tip.  The symbol of the Deadra, Lilith.










Crossing Paths
chapter 3


Dimalya whispered, "Eli protect us."  

"What could she want?  I had expected Ba'al to come for us if anything, for what happened in Arabarb, but why Lilith?"

A feeling of terror sent cold fire racing through Drake's body, and he could see a similar reaction in his wife.

Suddenly a twig snapped among the trees, the suddenness of the sound breaking them from their fear.  Blinking, Drake realized that the fear was not his own, it was coming from somewhere else, magically induced.  The summoners looked up, then at each other.

"Run?"

"Run."

The two ran as quickly as they could through the forest, toward the mountains looming in the distance.  Behind them Dimalya could hear something crashing through the brush.  Looking back she saw a pack of lanky, long legged dogs burst through the foliage.  

"Mbwa la Mwezi , they'll be on us in moments!"

As they ran, Drake began muttering under his breath.  The light of the sun seemed to diminish, the shadows under the trees lengthened as he wove his spell.

"What are you doing?"

Without turning he answered, the spell continuing to gain power, "Binding a creature in our path to slow the pursuit."

"But that could take over a half-hour!"

"No, actually only a few moments."

As he spoke, the spell became powerful enough for her to see the aura, Dimalya's eyes widened, "What are you doing?!  You can't take a creature from the gods without recompense!  You know as well as I what he will demand if he discovers this!  The dread lord's wrath should not be trifled with!" 

"You don't really have any reason to lecture to me, love.  You impersonated one of his priestesses not a day before."

"Lying and stealing are two completely different things!"

Looking over his shoulder he grinned, "Nothing happened last time.  Mlima wa Jua,  remember?"

"You know, sometimes I think you enjoy testing the gods!"

"There's no time for a more conventional summoning, those Mbwa will be on us in moments!  If you have any better ideas, please tell me."

As he finished the spell, the shadow under a large oak in their path suddenly became as dark and deep as the night sky.  As they passed the tree, the darkness seemed to gain depth, expanding, seeming to devour the light as it moved outward.

The dogs passed the tree.  Suddenly, black tentacles shot out from the shadow, spearing, grabbing, twisting, ensnaring the dogs as they ran.  The shadow under the tree seemed to gain size and dimension as the tentacles began dragging the dogs into the darkness.  The tentacles and the dogs seemed to be absorbed by the darkness.  A bone-chilling shriek pierced the air as they disappeared into the creature.  It cut off suddenly, as a loud crunch echoed through the valley as the two Irombians moved up into the mountains.  

_____________________________


Drake and Dimalya had been traveling for months in the mountains.

They had made it over the top and moved down the other side.  They came to a large inland sea and followed the shoreline for another few weeks before reaching a town.  

Upon seeing more Lutins they decided to avoid the town and they continued following the shore.

That night they made camp in a small copse of trees by the water.  The shore had become a rocky incline, the water was a dull roar in the background as it flowed downhill to the South, not quite loud enough to drown out the insects and other nocturnal hunters.

With a sigh Dimalya sat down by the fire, “We are in trouble.  It’s been almost five months since we left home and the only towns we’ve seen have been less than hospitable.  What if the man was lying about the direction?”

Drake looked up from the fire, “You could be right, but two towns is hardly an entire continent.  I don't think he would lie to someone who he thought was a dark priestess.  I have this feeling that we’re getting closer, I need to keep going until I know.”

“We need to keep going.  When we got married I promised to stay with you forever, if you want to travel to the ninth Hell and back I’ll be right there beside you.”

Suddenly Drake held up his hand, “Wait, do you hear that?”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly”

It was totally silent, even the insects.  Drake’s hand was bathed in light and a slender javelin appeared in his hand.  Dimalya materialized a bow and a single arrow.  In her mind, Dimalya began a mnemonic litany that would give whoever was out there a little surprise in a few minutes.  They both raised their weapons as the sharp crack of a stick echoed through the forest.

With a yell a group of the little creatures burst through the foliage.  The first caught Drake’s thrown spear in its throat, the next took an arrow in the chest and the one beside it another javelin between the eyes.  Drake’s hand was glowing as he threw one after another, each time he threw one a new one would appear.  Dimalya’s whole arm was glowing, as she fired one arrow another appeared in her hand.

It was incredibly effective, none of them even got close.  The only problem was, it took so long to store all the projectiles and they would run out sooner or later, and it was looking to be sooner.  The damn things just kept coming.

A giant crashed through the trees, immediately two spears slammed into its chest, it didn’t even slow down.  An arrow punctured its eye and it fell only a meter from the two.

The green ones kept coming and Dimalya tossed aside her bow, having run out of arrows.  Her hand expelled a blizzard of light particles that coalesced into a scimitar in her hand.  With a flourish she brought the sword up to a defensive position.  The metal was a mix of silver reinforced by aluminal, the blade curved back slightly.

It was her most precious possession for the cutting edge was made of Mithril.  When dealing with the occult and otherworldly as often as most Irombians do, Mithril is something one can’t live without, literally.

A roar from the side brought Dimalya’s head around, the huge shape of an Ogre was charging at her.  She dove forward, between its legs as it swung at her, her sword found the inside of its thigh.  She rose quickly and slashed the underside of its left arm.  A fountain of blood rushed out of the severed arteries, a series of handsprings took Dimalya out of range as the Ogre stumbled to the ground, quickly bleeding out.

A glow lit up the night, Dimalya looked over to see what appeared to be a geyser shooting out of the ground.  The water flowed together into the shape of a long, snake-like dragon standing behind Drake.  He stepped back into it and disappeared into its body.  Dimalya smiled, he had always been faster at summoning than her.

Two more giants crashed through the forest.  Drake, in his new body was now about equal in size to them, he ran toward them, crushing the smaller creatures in his way.  He reached the first giant and drove his hand directly through its chest, the water of his arm freezing into a spike as he drove it into his opponent.  The second giant brought its huge club down across Drake’s back.  The club created a huge spray of water, but the wound filled in as the club passed through his body.  Drake pushed the body of the first giant off his arm and grappled with the second, his serpentine body coiled around it.

Dimalya was ready by then, she stopped and brought her palms together, finishing the mnemonic poem in her mind that allowed her to unlock the ancestral power of her people.  In the blink of an eye her entire body began to glow, the glow diffused into the air behind her.  Suddenly the air burst into flame, a form coalescing within the blaze.  Its body was like a black miasma, it had a humanoid form that was slightly canine in appearance, bipedal, a head taller than the summoner.  It had a short muzzle, long claws, and a tail of flame.

The summoned creature stepped forward directly into Dimalya, it appeared as if she melted into its body.  Her head bowed forward and she shook herself, throwing sparks into the air, then she straightened up and looked at the stalled horde with eyes like two glowing coals.

Her mouth opened as she roared out a challenge, her voice was hollow and breathy, like wind roaring through a bonfire.  When they saw this, those that hadn’t already run away turned and fled.

As she ran forward she saw a third giant crash into Drake’s form, pushing him back toward the river.  She moved to help him, but suddenly the green creatures were back, running toward her... no, more like running away from something else, something that scared them more than she did.  Putting it out of her mind she burned through them, Drake had to come first, then they could face whatever new threat there was.

She jumped full upon one of the giants, the claws of her left arm digging into its shoulder, her right wrapped around its arm.  The blood boiled, the flesh seared and vaporized as she pulled herself up to its head.  The giant’s scream died as her claws tore out its throat, its head burst into flame and it fell to the ground.  Drake took advantage of the distraction, His body sprouting dozens of razor sharp icicles that speared into the giant he was wrapped around.

Suddenly, a wave of energy tore through the forest, the liquid form of Drake’s body boiled and evaporated, Dimalya’s flame was snuffed out and her body slammed through Drake’s leg.  She rolled end over end, coming to a rest on the edge of the incline over the river, one arm hanging down over the edge.  In a blaze of light the two where again themselves, breathing heavily as they picked themselves up off the ground.

They looked up, a line of broken tree stumps showing the path of the attack, and saw a dark form standing there. 

They were backed up against the steep bank, surrounded by the green creatures, another three ogres and a giant.  The dark figure strode forward slowly.

Drake grabbed Dimalya’s arms, her breath caught in her throat as she saw the haunted look in his eyes.

“You have to continue, find this Metamor.”

Her eyes widened, she tried to grab onto him, her mouth opened in a yell as he threw her over the bank into the quickly flowing river, “SIYO! ”

She broke the surface far downstream and looked back, she saw a sword appear in his hand.  He slashed down at the first of the green creatures, taking off its head.  She tried to swim against the current, as he swung again his target ducked and plunged a spear into his gut, he doubled over and she lost sight of him as he was swarmed by the little monsters.

Crying out in anguish and rage Dimalya was swept away.  Still trying to swim back to her love she didn’t notice the roar of the water until she was in open air over the waterfall.

As she plunged into the depths her head hit something hard, and darkness engulfed her.