[Mkguild] Past Present and Future - part 2

[christian okane]

   It took some effort for Edmund to locate his fellow cheetah friend. He
had to search all the usual places Stealth would go before finally locating
him. The paladin found his friend relaxing under a tree in one of the small
courtyards that dotted the keep itself.  

 "I'd love to go with you, Ed," Stealth said. "Except for one problem."

   Edmund titled his head to one side. "What's that?"

   "I'm not gonna," Stealth said firmly.

   "Why won't you go? It will be a grand adventure!" Edmund asked. "It'll be
exciting!"

   "I understand what you're saying; I won't wake you with cold water
anymore," Stealth said warding off the paladin with his hands. Then he
turned and started to walk away.

   Edmund grabbed the retreating feline by the tail. "You are not running
away from this adventure. I won't let you lead a boring life."
 
   "Boring? I've seen your room and you call me boring?" Came the response.

   Edmund pointed a finger at Stealth. "Are you going to stay here in the
boring safety of the keep?" The paladin countered. "Adventure awaits us.
there are good deeds to be done and places to explore!

  Stealth pulled his tail free of his friend's grasp. "And what have you
found? You can't just wander aimlessly and expect to find something!"

   "We have found something every single time!" Edmund answered. His tail
tip flipping back and forth rapidly.

   "And the ghosts still scream each night," Stealth snapped.

   Edmund slowly nodded his head. "I know. And that is why we keep coming
back," he said in a soft whisper.

   "I'm still not going," Stealth responded.

   "Let's stop the games," Edmund responded harshly. "You'll say you're not
going and we'll argue about it for a while but in the end you'll go. So
let's just avoid the arguing and you just agree to come now."

   "And miss the argument?" Stealth said cheerfully. "That's the best part.
Ed, here's what you're going to do. Go and have a think about it, then come
back and give me a good reason to go." Stealth waved a finger at his friend.
"I don't want to hear anything about destiny, come back to me when you have
a factual, specific reason."

   "You can't be serious, you're giving me homework?" Edmund exclaimed,
surprised.

   "I'm being fair and practical Ed, try it some time," Stealth answered.
"Go, ponder and return at sunset."

   The paladin stood there a moment. Then he quietly turned and left the
room.


***************


   "I don't want to waste any time, I want to cover some serious ground
before day break. So eat up." The fox ordered.

   Misha, Rickkter, Caroline and Charles were seated around a table in the
large room that was the Long House mess hall. In front of Caroline was a
plate filled with an assortment of fish that had been fried, boiled or
grilled.

   "You look nervous, my friend," Rickkter said. He stood a short distance
from the table with his arms crossed.

   Misha set down his mug, "What makes you say that, why would I be?" He
scowled.

   The raccoon's markings hid his eyes in the flickering candle light of the
mess hall. "It doesn't take a master to see it in someone, even a skittish
fox."

   "Alright, you think I'm skittish? How about you sit down at the table,
stop floating about ominously. Can you handle that, Rick? I'm nervous about
going to the Amber order ruins," Misha said slowly.

   "Then why go?" Charles asked. "Why take the risk?"

   "Because I have to know more. Too many people are showing an interest in
me, Madog and automata," Misha explained. "And I cannot just ignore an
entire mountain top filled with powerful magic."

   "This is no lutin stronghold. It's a place of old and dangerous magic,"
Rickkter snarled.

   "We've been there before," Charles responded. "So it's not completely
unknown."

   "We only visited a small portion of the ruins. The rest of it is
unknown!" Caroline countered. "And certain to be very dangerous."

   "That only adds to the excitement!" Misha countered, trying to sound
cheerful.

   "There's no telling what unknown or long lost magic waits up there for us
to find it," Rickkter snarled.

   "Are we going to climb back up that mountain?" Charles asked. "It's a
long. hard climb."

   "Yes," Misha answered. "Until I know what defenses remain we're not
flying there."

   "Rickkter nodded in agreement. "I'd rather not get hit with a bolt of
lightning while flying. I can deal with the bolt but plummeting ten thousand
feet will hurt."

   "What will we be doing there exactly?" Caroline asked between bites of
grilled fish.

   "First to properly map the place and an exploration of the ruins. See
what we can find," Misha answered. "And also to be sure Bolva is still in
his cage."

   Rickkter lowered his snout and his whiskers bristled. "Is that all?"

   "Of course not! There are some questions about Madog that can only be
answered in the ruins," Misha explained. "To really understand Madog I need
to understand the people who created him; the Amber Order. And the only
place I can find out more about them is in the ruins."

   Rickkter slowly nodded his head. "Now that make sense but it doesn't make
exploring those ruins any less dangerous."

   "Agreed, but it is something that must be done!" Misha said.

   "We can't ignore Bolva and those ruins forever," Caroline added. "We need
to be sure he is still held there."

   Charles lowered the heel of bread he'd just been about to bite and
muttered, "I thought we decided that we were going.  Why are we still
arguing about it?  We are going to the Amber Order to see what's there,
what's not there, and to make sure Bolva is the former and not the latter.
Whatever we find, we find."

   "It's not that simple," Rickkter shook his head.

   "It's precisely that simple. We're all trained and more than capable
warriors. We know our limits. Now," he hefted the bread again, "Misha wants
to get going soon.  I want to get going soon.  Let's eat and get on our
way." So saying he shoved the loaf between his incisors and bit off a chunk.


   Rickkter glared first at the rat, and then Misha, but finally sat down
and started his own meal. "It's never that easy," he muttered under his
breath.


*****************


   This time it Edmund didn't have any problem finding his friend. He found
Stealth at one of the small archery ranges scattered around the interior of
the keep. The scout was the only person there and was slowly shooting arrows
at a target one hundred feet away. Edmund walked up to his friend but didn't
speak for a moment. Instead he stood and watched as his friend practiced his
archery.

   After Stealth had loosed several more arrows he turned to the paladin. In
one hand he was still clutching an arrow. "Well? Do you have answer? Explain
to me why it's my destiny to go into those woods."

   "Destiny has nothing to do with it," the paladin explained calmly. "We
are involved with this. And if we don't free the spirits in those woods then
who will?" 

   Stealth shook his head briskly. "Try again!" The arrow in his hand waved
about as he moved his arms in animated gestures.

   Edmund's ears flattened against his head as his tail whipped back and
forth at high speed. 
"Let me ask YOU a question," he said and pointed a finger at Stealth. "Why
shouldn't we help them?"

   "It's not a matter of helping, you didn't plan this, you're just
compelled and you won't tell me why!" 

   "These souls need help and it's my duty to help people. All people,"
Edmund answered with a wave of his hands.

   "Enough of this! No more of your lectures." Stealth snarled, "Give me
answers, I have a right to know!" Stealth emphasized his point by tapping
the paladin lightly on the chest with the head of his arrow.

   "Alright." Edmund said in a whisper. He pushed Stealth arrow away from
his chest with one out stretched finger.  "I may not be able to give you the
answers you seek but I can say this. These people are the reason I stayed. I
allowed myself to become cursed so I could free them."

   Stealth looked surprised for a moment as the arrow dropped from his hand
and clattered to the floor. "When did you decide this?" 

   "When I led my troops thru those haunted woods back during the Winter
Assault counter attack." 

   Stealth bent down and picked up the arrow. He stood up straight and
looked his friend in the face. "You didn't tell your men, when you convinced
them to stay?" 

   "I gave them the choice to stay or leave and serve another honorable man.
Some left, most stayed." 

   "You didn't tell them!" Stealth shouted.

   "I told them we were needed here. That was enough," the paladin
responded. "Sometimes you just have to put aside the questions and accept
things." Edmund patted Stealth on the back. "We leave tomorrow morning to
meet up with Nestorius."

   "Then you'll have to cancel my training for a while," Stealth responded.

   "I already did." Edmund answered simply.

   "What?! You can't do that!" Stealth exclaimed.

   "Yes I can. I asked Terry and she asked George," the paladin responded.

   Stealth scowled at the paladin for a moment. Then he turned and walked to
the corner of the room. There hanging on a pair of hooks was a jacket and a
large satchel.

   "We'll need to leave before dawn if we're to meet up Nestorius," Edmund
said.   

   Stealth took the quiver off of his back and placed it on an empty hook.
"Really?" He asked slowly. "He'll be accompanying us again."

   "Yes." Edmund answered coldly. Sensing another argument coming.

   Stealth removed the strap that was wound around his left wrist and
dropped the strap into the satchel. "And how do you keep roping him into
this, isn't Nestorius the Lord of our northern defenses?"

   "Yes he is and he is deeply worried about the haunted woods which falls
into his area of control." Edmund responded.

   "Well, I'd prefer not to take any detours," Stealth commented as he undid
the strap on his right wrist.

   "If you wish we could meet him at the crossroads." the paladin responded.
"And cut down on our travel time."

   Stealth's eyes narrowed. "Can't we just go alone? Without him?"

   "No," the paladin snarled. "All three of us are bound up together in this
mystery."

   "Why?" Stealth snapped. "Why us?"

   Edmund shrugged. "I don't know. That too is a mystery that only time and
effort will reveal."

  "You still have work to do."

   "Yes, I do." Edmund nodded.

   "No, that's not what I meant," was his friends response.

   "Oh?" Edmund asked, curious as to what Stealth meant.

   "You failed your homework, Edmund, now you have more," came the reply.

   Edmund's ears folded, "Oh really?" He asked sarcastically.

    "You always trudge through the woods and expect something to turn up.
Now you're going to make a plan. You will create a structured layout
outlining your mission and checkpoints."

   "Stealth my friend. I have never seen anyone so creative and energetic at
avoiding doing something as you do." He pointed a finger at Stealth's chest.

   "Ed, I have never seen someone display such irony."

   The paladin just looked at his friend for a moment. "Oh, you'll get your
homework. But can I count on you to attend me tomorrow?"

   "Of course, Ed, I have another reason to accompany you," was the second
feline's response.

   "And what reason is that?" Sir Delacot asked.

   "To stop you from doing something stupid," Stealth explained
  
   Edmund just sighed and shook his head.

   Stealth peered closely at his friend. "Edmund, are you feeling alright?"

   "Yes I am all right. Why do you ask?" Edmund responded, a little
confused.

   "Any stress or fatigue?" Was Stealth's question.

   The paladin shook his head. "No stress from people asking me how I feel
all the time." Edmund placed a hand on his friends shoulder. "Enough of the
arguments. I HAVE to do this. Helping those spirits is something I need to
do and I cannot do it without your help."


*****************


   It took Stealth only a little while to find her. Terry was always busy
doing something but George was able to tell the cheetah where the woman was.
He found the female knight in a corral working with a horse on a long reins.
She was standing in the middle and the animal galloped in circles around
her. Stealth caught her attention with a wave of the hand.

   She handed the reins to another woman and walked over to where the
cheetah waited.

   The woman was now known as Terry Gattaway but before the curse had change
her, HE had been called Terrant Gattaway. Terry had taken being a woman hard
at first but now she seemed to be happy. She had served with Edmund for many
years as his second in command. No one knew Edmund better.

   "It's good to see you Stealth!" The woman exclaimed and hugged the
feline. "How are you doing?"

   Stealth gave the woman a hug in return. "I'm doing all right," Stealth
responded. "But I am worried about Edmund. Have you noticed anything strange
about him lately? Any strange habits?" The feline asked.

   "Edmund? He has nothing strange about him," Terry responded. "Do you have
something specific in mind?"

   "Obsessions. Extreme ideas," the feline explained.

   "You mean like constantly wandering off into those haunted woods?" She
asked.

   "Yes!" Stealth responded energetically. "Then you have noticed!"

   "I have noticed that the trapped spirits in the forest have occupied more
and more of his attention," Terry answered. "That and Bridgette."

   "Doesn't that bother you?" He questioned.

   "Edmund is a paladin, he's supposed to be concerned with spirits and the
undead," Terry answered and stopped speaking.

   Stealth leaned closer. "And?"

   "I worry about him going into a place so filled with evil and so many
undead," the woman said. "But some thing's need to be done."

   "What needs to be done?"

   She looked at him surprised. "What? It is a paladins task to defeat evil,
help the innocent and put undead to rest. There are many in the Order who do
nothing but fight undead."

   "Yes, and how is that achieved?" Stealth asked.

   "Many different methods. The simplest is it simply destroy them with
sword and axe and bow," the woman explained. "But many of the restless dead
must be helped to gain their final sleep. That is much harder."

   The cheetah leaned against the fencing of the corral. "But what if we're
just making them restless?"

   "You mean we are the ones stirring them up? Interesting idea but those
woods have been haunted long before we came here."

   Stealth wagged a finger back and forth in front of the woman. "No,
Terrant, they've been haunted but it wasn't until you arrived after the
winter assault that they became active. It's a constant occurrence now."

   She nodded slowly. "True, something has stirred them up but I find it
hard to believe our mere arrival caused the trouble."

   "Not your mere arrival," Stealth explained. "Edmund's journeys. He
frequents the woods."

   "There is more going on here than that. " she said. "Something greater is
happening now. How can you explain the drawing on that map of the three of
you? And those odd dreams Edmund has been having lately. And what about you
and Nest?  Don't you find it odd that all of you seemed to be drawn to those
woods? Like Nestorius. He was exiled here. With the entire world to choose
for his exile Nest chose Metamor Keep. Why Metamor?"

   He tilted his head to one side. "Aren't you reading too much into
coincidence?" Stealth asked.

   The woman shrugged. "Perhaps, but there are too many things happening to
just be coincidence."

End part 2


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