[Mkguild] MK Story Past Present and Future part 10

[christian okane]

 Here is part 10


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  The sunlight streaming through the trees was a welcome sight to all three
of the feline keepers. They paused at the head of the stairs they had just
come up and enjoyed the sun's warmth. Something drew Edmund off to the
right. His footsteps following a path all their own. He weaved around the
trees till he came to the tumbled ruins of a wall. Even after so many years
it was easy to see that the wall had been through a ferocious fight. Places
where the wall had been battered by stones, arrows and a battering ram were
easy to see even after so many centuries.

   "There was a large fight here," Nestorius commented as they walked among
the tumbled stones and debris. "Someone made a last stand in this place."

   "Where are we?" Stealth asked.

   "I'm not sure but I think we died here!" Edmund exclaimed.

   "Ed I told you, it was just a nightmare!"

   "Was it?" The paladin snapped. "Was it a nightmare or a memory?"

   "Edmund, listen to me." Stealth said firmly, "It is entirely possible for
something to have no meaning."

   "I understand that but this place was in my dream!" Edmund waved his arm
about as his tail whipped back and forth energetically. There was a fire in
his eyes that surprised Stealth.

   "You really think it was a memory?" Stealth said slowly. A little
unnerved by the strong emotions his friend was showing.

   "I don't know," Edmund responded honestly.

   "It's something to consider," Nestorius commented.

   "I'm sure the answer to that is here in the ruins," Edmund said as he
waved his arms about. "This place I remember." Edmund made his way slowly
through the ruins with Stealth and Nestorius close behind.

   Edmund leapt up onto a stone block and started to scramble up the masonry
but after a few moments his paws slipped and tumbled to the ground.

   "Are you all right?" Stealth asked as he raced over to help his friend
stand up.

   "I'm fine," Edmund responded. "I just lost my footing." He clamored back
up the stones trying to get higher and higher. He was barely ten feet off
the ground when both of his paws slipped and tumbled downwards hitting the
ground with a solid thump that made both Stealth and Nestorius wince.

   The two other felines crowded close to their friend. "Are you all right?"
Nest asked as he examined his friend closely. "Nothing seems broken or
torn."

   Slowly the paladin stood up. "Just a few bruises. I just couldn't get my
footing. My paws kept slipping." He looked down at his legs and the paws on
the ends.

   "You're a cheetah," the lion explained. "You're body is built for speed
on flat open ground. Not for climbing trees and rocks."

   "So no rock climbing for either of us," Stealth said and patted Edmund on
the back.

   Edmund patted some dust and dirt off of his pants. "All right. Let's
return to exploring the ruins. The afternoon is fading fast and I want to
explore this ruin more."

   "This was an important structure," Nestorius said as he looked at the
tumbled down walls around them. "A good sized tower or a small keep."

   "Agreed," Edmund said in short terms. "We were defending something
important here."

   "What?" The lion asked. "We passed where the city walls once stood over
an hour ago are in the city itself so it is not a gate or wall tower."

   Stealth hopped up onto the remains of a wall that was over twenty feet
thick but barely five feet high. Scattered around were the blocks that had
once made up the rest of the wall. "This was definitely a castle. This wall
is too thick for a palace or someone's home."

   "Whatever it was there was a very ferocious fight here," the lion
commented. "The level of destruction here is even greater than I've seen
elsewhere in the ruins."

   Suddenly a terrible stench of death rolled over the three like a title
wave. It sent Nest staggering backward with his hands to his muzzle as he
tried to keep from gagging. The trees in front of them suddenly split apart
and the trunks shattered and the leaves went flying in all directions
pelting the felines with wooden shrapnel. The figure that pushed through the
tree towered over them. It was vaguely human but the rotting flesh and
decaying bones were covered by moldering bits of cloth and rusted bits that
might have been armor. The skull was more bone than flesh and where there
had once been eyes two pinpoints of blood red light glowed. In its hands was
a massive slab-sided, flat-headed war hammer. The head alone weighed more
than both cheetah morphs combined.

   "What is that thing?" Stealth asked as he drew his sword.

   "Some form of undead." The lion spoke softly and moved his hands in a
complex gesture. A ball of light shot out from his hands and slammed into
the rusted breastplate on the undead ogre. "I believe it's left from the
last battle."

   "How can he still be fighting the battle? It's been over for 500 years!"
Edmund snapped. "The magic that created it should have failed long ago." The
paladin pointed to Stealth and then waved his hand to the left.

   "Tell him that!" Stealth snarled. The cheetah moved to the left forcing
the monster to decide who to face and who to show it's back to.

   The monster turned in the direction Edmund had gone and charged at the
paladin raising its massive weapon.

   "The same magic that holds the ghosts here powers this monster,"
Nestorius responded.

   Edmund raised his right hand and in it was a simple wooden cross. He held
the holy symbol up in front of him. "In the name of the Great One I order
you to stop!"

   The massive undead creature hesitated for a moment and seemed to strain
to move forward. Almost as if held back by something.

   Stealth raced forward swinging his sword. The blade slashed deeply
through the rotted cloth and corroded metal on the creatures back and into
the bone and flesh beneath. The undead thing spun around with surprising
speed swinging its massive weapon. Stealth leapt backwards and twisted his
body. The mammoth weapon flashed past the feline's head missing it by the
tiniest of margins. To the cheetah it was like a mountain was flying through
the air.

   Edmund charged at the monstrosity swinging his own sword whose edges were
alight with flames. When the blade struck the chest of the monster there was
a soft whoose and the rotting armor burst into flames.

   "I didn't know your weapon could do that!" Nest shouted.

   "Neither did I!" The paladin responded as he dodged a blow from the
massive hammer.

   "I dislike unknown magic," Nestorius snarled. A shimmering ball appeared
in each of his hands. He tossed the balls of light at the undead
monstrosity. They struck the creature in the chest and exploded in a spray
of sparks.

   Edmund rushed forward swinging his sword as he moved. The undead creature
swung it's own massive hammer at the paladin. The feline leapt upward
propelled by the powerful muscles in his legs. But he didn't leap high
enough and the old weapon caught him in the legs and the feline was sent
spinning through the air before crashing into some bushes.

   Stealth let out a snarl and leapt into the air. He came down on the
monster's back as his sword blade pushed past the corroded armor and sank
deeply into the rotten flesh beneath.

   Nest knelt down and picked up a small rock. Almost casually he tossed the
tiny projectile at the monster. With each moment of flight the projectile
grew larger and larger, first the size of a clenched fist, then the size of
a human head. When it stuck the creature it was over three feet wide and
weighed several hundred pounds.

   With its legs smashed and its spine cut the  creature crashed to the
ground and did not get up.

   Edmund leapt upward landing lightly on the monsters chest. "In the name
of the Great One I banish thee and send your spirit to its final rest!" His
drove his blade downward and it punctured the corroded armor and went deep
into the decaying chest right where the creatures heart had been. There was
a bright flash of light the enveloped the entire monster. The creature
twitched once and lay still.

   "I think it's dead," Nest announced. "Again."

   Stealth leapt off the body and crouched a few feet away. "Will it stay
that way?" He asked without lowering his guard.

   The lion didn't answer at first but stared at the corpse for a moment.
"Yes," he said slowly as if unsure of his answer. "The magic controlling it
has dissipated."

   "I hope so," Edmund said. The feline paladin was kneeling nearby.

   "Are you all right?" Stealth asked as he ran over to his friend.

   Stealth helped his friend stand up. "I'm fine. Thankfully the armor
deflected most of the force of the blow."

   "Are you in pain?" Nest questioned. "I have a potion that can help."

   "I'm fine," Edmund responded. "No major injuries."

   Slowly the three felines gathered around the massive rotting body. "What
was it? An ogre?" Stealth asked.

   "Yes. Most likely it was killed during the attack on the city. When the
spells that created the ghosts happened it was raised as some form of
undead," Edmund commented. He knelt down next to the body and examined it
closely. He pointed to a large hole as big as his fist in the center of the
breastplate. "That was from a ballista."

   "This was not done by the magic that holds the ghosts here," Nestorius
said. "The magic used is different and was cast before that terrible event.
I think it was cast by an imperial mage."

  Edmund nodded. "Makes sense. Getting your enemy to fight for you, but
using undead is a revolting act."

  "Desperate people do desperate things," Stealth commented. He walked over
to where the massive hammer had fallen. "I bet it used this to smash down
the city walls."

   Edmund took a step backward and suddenly stopped in midstride. He looked
down at the ground. There at his feet was a small opening that shone light
onto carved stonework that dipped downward and vanished.  "I've found
something." 

   Stealth turned completely around in a circle. "Where are the horses?"

   The paladin looked around and the horses were no were to be seen. "They
bolted when the fight started," Edmund responded. "Probably didn't go far.
They are trained too well to just run mindlessly for long. Stay here. I'll
go find them. They know my scent and will respond to my calls." With that
the paladin quickly headed off and vanished from sight.

   The forest had gone remarkably quiet and in moments. Edmund had
disappeared and now Nestorius lost sight of Stealth. A projectile lodged
itself above his tail, when he turned around another hit above his nose.
Through the branches he saw a figure with a long tail before being forced to
the ground from behind. After planting the lion's muzzle in the undergrowth,
Stealth threw a dagger. Not knowing or caring if it hit anything he ducked
back down.

   Nestorius strained himself up, sending the cheetah rolling off. He
glanced at the figure again and then two more arrows hit the ground in front
of him. They sent dirt into his face which he rubbed off with a snarl.
Disoriented, the lion lay flat on the ground and started to cast a spell but
was unsure of who to cast it at.

   He lost track of time as his frustration and anger grew. Eventually limbo
came to an end, scorn gave way to relief;

   "It's clear. Get up now." Stealth called.

   Nest looked about and realized the cheetah was nowhere near him. He
looked up again and found a dagger embed itself in front of his nose, along
with the arrows.  

   "I can't see any sign nor scent of the archer, but I found my gear." The
cheetah commented.

   Nest cast a quick spell and the air shimmered around him in a sphere of
protection. "He vanished as quickly as he had appeared."

   "It was Edmund!" Nest exclaimed.

   "Are you certain?" Stealth asked as he looked around.

   "Yes! It was a cheetah and it wasn't you so it had to be Edmund!" The
lion explained. "He must be controlled by some spirit!" Nest snarled. "This
place is full of unhappy spirits."

    "Yeah, it has to be some spiritual, magical, fantastical thing," Stealth
said.

   "Are you agreeing with me or being sarcastic?" The lion snarled.

   "I'm being sarcastic you moron! Why is it always something mystical with
you people?" Stealth growled.

   "And why else would our good friend suddenly attack us?" The mage
countered.

   "I don't know, but I'm not going to draw circles and meditate for hours
to figure it out." Stealth snapped. "

   "And neither do I," the lion snarled. "But I know several spells that
will capture him without harming him."

   "Good," Stealth commented bur he sounded unsure. He was unsure of whether
it was his friend or not. Edmund wouldn't normally attack his friends but
was he normal? Certainly the paladin had become obsessed with these haunted
woods. Maybe something had pushed him over the edge into madness?

   The bushes off to the right rattled and a cheetah dressed in full armor
stepped into view. "Hail!" Edmund shouted as he waved a hand in greeting.
"I've found the horses!"

   "Get him!" Nestorius shouted.

   "What?" Edmund said and the two felines rushed at him.

   Edmund grabbed Stealth by the arm and stuck his right leg behind
Stealth's own leg. The paladin twisted his torso and sent Stealth flying
through the air. He hit the ground and tumbled a short way before crashing
into a thick bush.

   Nest raised both hands and opened his mouth in start of a spell as light
danced along his hands.

   Edmund lashed out with a metal gauntleted fist and punched the mage dead
square in the nose sending the lion tumbling to the ground.

   The three felines separated, each standing a few feet from the others.

   "What are you two doing? Are you both crazy?" Edmund demanded between
trembling pants.

   "You attacked us!" Nestorius roared, tending his bruised cheek.

   "I never attacked you. You attacked ME first!" Edmund shouted.

   "You shot off arrows at us." Stealth countered and stood up.

   "Arrows?" Edmund asked slowly. "When have you seen me use a bow?"

   "On our first trip to these woods!"

   "I meant on this trip. Am I even carrying a bow?" The paladin asked
harshly.

   The two felines were speechless.

   "Ah," Stealth answered with a blush.

   "We were attacked by a cheetah Keeper," Nest said. "And it was NOT
Stealth. So who else could it be?"

   "Well," Stealth said. "Maybe the ghosts were playing tricks on us? Or
maybe the ghosts drove you crazy?"

   "Or maybe you were possessed, by a bow you found in the ruins, where did
you put the bow?" Nestorius accused.

   "I am not possessed now or ever! And I am not insane!" Ed snarled.

   "Can you really be sure?" Nestorius probed. "How can I be sure YOU'RE not
possessed?"

   "A paladin should sense it!" The lion shouted.

   "Silly kitties fighting over nothing!"

   Edmund pointed his sword tip in the direction of the voice and found a
metal fox standing there.

   "Madog?" The battered lion asked, "You stole some of my property."

   "Borrowed!" Madog cheerfully barked.

   "STOLE!" The lion roared.

   "BORROWED!" Madog barked again, much louder. "SILLY KITTY" He shouted
before Nest could respond.

   "Silly kitties fight over nothing. Other things in this woods than them,"
Madog intoned.

   "What did attack us?" Stealth asked. "That was no ghost. It looked
alive."

   "There are many things more dangerous than the undead," Edmund commented.
"Things that love to sow chaos and discord."

   "Wonderful," Stealth snarled. "Besides the ghosts and lutins we have to
worry about demons."

   "Not just demons," the lion added. "Powerful magic and undead attract
many things far worse than demons. Something or someone caused the terrible
curse that hangs over these woods."

   "It seems we have defeated someone's first attempt to turn us against
each other," Edmund said. 

   "Let's get out of here," Stealth commented loudly. "I've had enough of
this place."

   "Not yet," Edmund countered. "I found something besides the horses. A
hole leading to an underground passage."


End part 10


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