<HTML> *** It's a conspiracy, all right. So of course they're not going to tell any of the grownups. Not that it'd really matter - they're all pretty sure that the grownups at least know about what Derek managed to find, seeing as though they were kind of there at the time when Derek and Sammy were joining the fighting - but they're keeping it a secret anyways, because that's the Thing To Do. And anyways, the other kids might find out, and They'd insist on doing it too, and all the little kids just can't be trusted with this kind of responsibility, they all tell themselves. Derek's the one apparently in charge here; nobody objects to this. All the kids involved in this were hand-picked by Derek. All of them know All about Derek's mighty heroism in the face of all those Bad Guys (Derek insists that they be called Lutins; that's what the grownups call them, after all), mostly from Derek's own lips, confirmed by stuff others had overheard from the grownups. In the eyes of the children, this places Derek on a platform of popularity and reverence normally reserved for gods. He has fought bad guys. TWICE. And beaten or at least survived against them both times. He is well and truly the warrior that he's always claimed to be, and so they're all willing to follow the wisdom of the King of the Snowfields. It started when Josh overheard Uncle Jono talking to that weird-looking black winged guy about where all they were going. They'd been walking for hours and hours and hours, or so it seemed, with absolutely nothing to relieve the monotony. The Deal was still on, and so they couldn't really play all that many games together, and these tunnels were still are incredibly BORING. They just went on and on, the same old boring smooth black. Nothing to look at, no places to explore just boring old walking, like so many of their parents forced them to do every once in a while and which all of them dreaded almost as much as they dreaded the Bad Guys. So Josh had headed up towards the grownups, who'd been whispering back and forth about the trip they didn't look like they were having too much fun themselves and started to listen in. And while he hadn't caught most of what was said, he did get the basic idea. They'd be going outside again. Josh had been frightened every time they'd gone outside so far they'd been nearly hurt by bad guys, so he'd gone to talk to the hero Derek. Thus the conspiracy. Derek had gone immediately to a few of his friends - they know at least Sammy and Jeremy were there, which makes sense; the three of them make the Invincible Trio Of The Snowfields; several think Daemion was there as well - and then Derek had gone out and picked several of the oldest kids who'd always been champs on the snowfields until he showed up, and started to fill them in on the plan. "Now, when we get outside, there's going to be plenty of snow to work with.Right, Sammy?" Derek is whispering. Sammy nods solemnly. If he's still shaken from whatever-the-heck-it-was earlier, it's not really showing. All the kids have heard of Sammy's strength and speed in assisting Derek in the battle again told through Derek's lips. Sammy had been very badly hurt by the bad guys before Daemion did whatever he did, apparently - that's what Jono's friend Jo had told Daemion's dad - so obviously he'd been very much hated by the bad guys for the role he'd played in the heroic adventure several hours previously. This only elevates him in the eyes of the others - he assisted the great warrior Derek, and was wounded in battle for it, and ultimately came out unhurt. Never mind what Daemion did. Sammy is a helper and a survivor. Obviously he is someone to be respected. The kids are in awe of this whole scenario, of course - the older kids are getting to be just as tough as grownups. They might even BE grownups someday... imagine that! Derek keeps going. "All right. When we're outside, Sammy and I are going to set up near where everyone's getting out, and we're going to start making snowballs. Each kid gets two snowballs apiece, one in each hand. If you see any bad guys, and the grownups can't get to them, throw the snowballs at them. Don't everyone throw all snowballs at once you'll need them if more bad guys show up. And don't let the little kids get near them; they can't throw too well, and they might accidentally hit someone else, and these snowballs can't be brushed off." He nods a bit at Daemion as he says the latter, who nods back. Every single last one of the kids knows all about how some really weird stuff that freaked out even the grownups happened around Daemion. It's just that nobody really knows for sure exactly what happened. The grownups didn't tell them a thing, Sammy was too shaken to talk about it, Daemion refused to talk about it beyond saying "yeah" to some bits of what Derek kept saying... and Derek kept making up these absurd stories of fighting some kind of daedra (of course provoking snorts from the Follower kids - daedra are just some myth told to insolent Lightbringer kids, right?) to save Sammy and Daemion being this big hero and all that. None of them really believe THAT, 'cause, well, come on, it's Daemion who's supposed to be this big hero. Daemion! The weirdo kid who never actually gets into the snowball fights but gets other kids to throw for him. Still, Derek would Never admit that it was Daemion who was the hero and not him, so you'd think that maybe he was telling the truth, and everyone Did see or hear about the weirdo stuff around Dae, so obviously he did something big but this is Daemion, here! It's just way too confused, and there's no way any of it can add up, so all they're willing to say for sure is that something really big and weird happened, and that after it Sammy and Derek weren't hurt anymore. So they're in awe of Daemion too. And he doesn't seem to have anything wrong with this plan (or at least he hasn't voiced objection), so that's even more support for the conspiracy. "Jeremy will be in charge of watching our backs when we're making snowballs," Derek announces next. Jeremy nods, thinking that finally he gets a chance to show what he's made of again. Sure, Jeremy got more than a little famous when he was wounded and saved, but that was back then before a lot of kids knew what was happening. Now, Derek's the real warrior here - he actually hurt the bad guys, while all Jeremy did was fail to get out of the way. He's definitely more than a little eager to show that he's still part of the Invincible Trio - himself, Derek, and Sammy - and he wants people to know his contribution. Fortunately, Derek still understands that all his friends can contribute - Jeremy was the first person he talked to about what Josh had heard, and the plan was mostly Jeremy's idea, and Derek had pointed that out at the beginning. He's always been the clever one of the trio; that's why they always kept him around even though he kept getting hit by snowballs so frequently. Jeremy's dad (despite being a weirdo who obviously wants to become some kind of old fogey guy) obviously knows what he's doing when he keeps telling Jeremy about brave warriors from battles past. It only makes Jeremy that much better of a tactician; quite an ability considering he hasn't hit his teenage years yet (One more month, he keeps reminding them all). "Okay, everyone understand?" Everyone nods at Derek's question. "Right. When we go outside, be ready, and be quiet until then. Swear by the snowball bag." He holds up the bag he got from Kyia. There's a chorus of whispered "I swears as all the kids give their oath. None of them will break it deliberately or even accidentally; the oath of an adventurous child is an unshakable bond. Derek has no worries about them at all. He doesn't have any worries about his sudden new position as commander, either; this is what he's been waiting for his whole life. He's getting to command people! Decide on troops, issue weapons, and be prepared to stop the bad guys if they get past the grownups. So what if nobody believes his fight against the daedra? This is *way* better. He's come into his own as a warrior for Metamor with his two clashes with the Bad Gu-er, Lutins (he's not going to call them Bad Guys anymore; that's what little kids do), and he's going to do as much as he can in this capacity. His troops all disperse back into the ranks of the civilian children, and then Daemion and the Invincible Trio sit back down next to each other to further discuss their own plans for the time outside that they know is coming. The Plan has been set in motion. *** Clack Jono instantly freezes upon hearing the sound, as does everyone else behind him. As a result, the following CLICK and slight rattling from what sounds like a kicked pebble comes that much more clearly. He starts to turn his head, meaning to ask if anyone else behind him was possibly responsible for it, but that becomes unnecessarily when the low grumbling is heard. They're in the tunnels! How did they get in the tunnels? Slowly, carefully, Jono steps back, motioning for the other grownups to move up to him. Then he turns to the kids, gives them what he hopes looks like a reassuring smile, and puts his finger to his lips while Dana and Jo and Kevin move forward as slowly and quietly as they can. Another bit of low grumbling is heard then, and everyone freezes once more. Jo nervously fingers one of the daggers, straining to see forward into the darkness, but nothing comes after them as the rest of the adults make it up to where Jono and Kirk are standing. Jono breathes in deeply, then whispers, "Okay... ideas, anyone? Jahnsen, can you 'see' them?" His voice is shaking; it's clear that he never expected for this to happen, and really isn't sure what to do. This doesn't help the moods of the others in the least; so far Jono's always been the clever, prepared one, and now he's uncertain what to do. Jahnsen turns in the direction of the sound, taking a 'look'. None of the other adults can hear the supposed sound Jahnsen says is part of his ability to see in the dark, and they're hoping that the Lutins can't as well. "Probably twenty or so, about forty yards down." "Can't charge through them; too many kids will be hurt, and we need to be able to get them out of this tunnel," Perry offers, his voice barely audible. This clearly isn't something he wanted either. If the tunnels are breached, they could get directly into the Keep... maybe even catching their group from behind. "Just this one, or have they found others? How far can they get in?" "Kyia can handle them if they start getting too close," Kevin says in as authoritative a voice as he can manage. "Need to handle these, though. Fireball would make quite a bit of noise and possibly bring more down on our heads, and it almost certainly wouldn't get them all, or finish off most of them." Kirk nods quietly, looking rather dismayed by Kevin's pronouncement. "Right, we need something that can keep the Lutins at bay long enough to get the kids past." Jo looks up at that remark suddenly, a curious looking smile on her face. "Jono." Jono blinks, looking over at his compatriot. "Yes?" "You wouldn't happen to remember that moment when we were trying to sneak that Lightbringer relic out of Ederan, would you?" She's grinning almost impishly now, as if sharing a private joke. Jono seems to get said joke, because his face lights up immediately in a bright grin. "That I do." he says slowly, turning to look over at Kevin. * * * Tharag Blackhand isn't feeling all that great anymore. A half-hour previously, he'd managed a truly glorious feat - finding what looked like a hidden tunnel! Of course it had to lead to the Keep, he'd reasoned - all big castles have secret passages; Nasoj's Citadel certainly had them, and so obviously this must be some kind of escape tunnel. The potential glory of it was obvious; cut off escaping Keepers where they thought themselves relatively safe. He had dreams of coming down here and intercepting some nobleman, perhaps a few Keepers to be used as hostages, maybe even - dared he think it - the Duke himself! But that was half an hour ago. Now Tharag is bored and irritated, along with the rest of the Lutins he brought down with him. On reflection, he realized that leading some two dozen Lutins into these tunnels was a bit much, given that they didn't have all that much space to fight, and the more there were the more noise could be made. Many were grumbling loudly, despite strict orders to be silent, and one of the fools had even kicked a rock. If there were any Keepers down here Tharag just knew that the element of surprise would be completely los- Tharag does not complete the thought as he sees a light in the distance suddenly... rushing straight towards them. "Get down!" he calls down the line of Lutins, and drops flat just as the massive jet of flame thunders straight down the tunnel, singing his hair as it rockets over him. Then it's gone, and the air starts to rush in after the jet. * * * Jono and Joanne have been on the road together for nearly two decades. They've been all over the explored world in that time, and in a few unexplored parts as well. In the course of these travels they've ended up in quite a few notably troublesome situations. As a result of this, they tend to be prepared for lots of possible contingencies, and it's rather hard to catch them in a situation where neither of them know what to do. A prime example would be the current event. Near to a decade previously, after the death of Jono's parents, the two of them had been asked on behalf of a local Lothanasi chapter to recover a holy relic of theirs from a ruined citadel. It had turned out that several daedra worshippers had set up housekeeping in same, and so they had to sneak their way in. They'd almost gotten out through a long hallway when suddenly several dark priests had emerged from the shadows in front of them. The solution they'd applied then was unplanned and rather hastily done, but ultimately it had worked, and so they'd set the idea aside, just in case they'd have to apply it again, say in a situation much like this. Joanne is sort of an alchemist, but she usually practices it for purposes of healing rather than defeating enemies - she has other effective means for handling that. Despite that, there are a few agents used for healing that can also be quite effective when employed against foes. Like sleeping agents. In this particular case the agent is a billowing cloud of what seems to be light lavender dust, almost invisible in the tunnel's darkness, rushing in along with the rest of the air moving to replace the oxygen consumed by Kevin's flame jet. * * * Tharag does not know anything about Jono and Joanne's past adventures, and he can't see the light lavender tint to the air in the darkness. What he does manage to notice is that as soon as the air starts rushing in, he starts to feel very sleepy. "Magic wind!" He instantly covers his nose and mouth, trying to filter what he's breathing, listening as the rest of the Lutins behind him slump over and start snoring. "Brainless worms!" he thinks to himself. Now there's no way he can keep the Keepers from moving forward. Then an idea occurs to him, and he slumps over himself, face down, keeping his hand concealed while it stays over his nose and mouth, closing his eyes to try to look asleep, listening carefully for any approaching Keepers. * * * Jahnsen makes another quick check. "They're all down. We can move." Jono nods, then turns to the kids. "Everyone got their covers on?" He gets a series of nods; all of the children have extra shirts tied over their noses and mouths to keep from breathing in the gas. The adults have already ingested the counteragent Jo has (or rather, had). "Okay, let's go!" And with that all the children start trotting quickly on tiptoe after Jono and the others as they head towards the fallen Lutins, with Jo and Dana in the middle to keep watch and Kevin and Perry holding up the rear... * * * It takes another few minutes and hearing lots of small forms passing by before Tharag is willing to risk opening his eyes again. He smiles inwardly. "Children. Perfect." Jo and Dana have both moved past Tharag when he jumps up Very suddenly, prompting several muffled yelps from the children behind them as he grabs for one of them. It's at this point that Tharag makes a critical error. He grabs the child in front of him by the left arm, leaving said child's throwing arm free. Tharag's first words, muffled though they are through his hand, are intended to be "I have a hostage!" But he doesn't get beyond the "have" before Derek has hurled the spikeball he'd been carrying right into the hand and mouth, pinning the two together and prompting a loud howl of pain from the Lutin. None of the other Lutins are awakened by his cry, though, so Tharag only has a brief moment before the flash of light from Jo's dagger causes everything to go permanently black. ---- *** Their first three warnings come almost right on top of each other. The first of these is a cold breeze, catching them all unawares and starting a few of them who'd taken off their coats shivering a little. The second warning comes as a bit of light from right in front of them, revealing a small heap of snow just below the open trapdoor. The third is a snort and grumble from the direction of the trapdoor that could only be a Lutin. Of course they would have posted guards at the entrance. Jono nods quietly to the others, then starts forward while Jo gets out a dagger and moves just far enough forward to get a good shot in if necessary. While he moves Jono keeps his ears perked and eyes focused around him; he can't see any shadows over the trapdoor to indicate any guards right there, but that doesn't mean they aren't present. He's moving unusually quickly despite his trying to stay stealthy; it's a risk he figures he can take since the wind is so loud above that he can barely hear his own breathing, low and quiet as it is. His hand is moving far more slowly than his feet as it reaches for his whip; the metal bearings could smack against each other if he jars it too quickly, and that could very easily give him away. So he closes his hand over the bearings first before unhooking the whip from his belt, ready to swing with it handle first. It would seem a rather foolhardy gesture, except that Jono's practiced looping the whip around something when attacking handle-first. Like, say, around a foe's neck. Jono gets up very close to the trapdoor only about a yard away. He peeks upward torwards it, looking for any guards but the only things visible to him outside are the billowing snows. Okay. No guards on that end, now comes the tricky part. He takes a deep breath (the sound of which is hopefully obscured by the wind), then leaps forward to the other end of the trapdoor, landing and turning to look out the other side - and there's a Lutin there, sure enough, looking very shocked by his sudden appearance for just a half moment. That half moment is all that Jono needs to lash the whip up and around the Lutin's neck, yanking him down with one quick motion back down into the tunnel, whereupon he quickly pulls a knife with his free hand and stabs the Lutin through the eye. He quickly looks up, hoping there weren't any other guards in the immediate area... ...but there aren't. If there are any other Lutins they're further away from the trapdoor. He nods to Jo and Perry, both of whom are still towards the front of the group, and both of whom start moving up quickly, both trying their best to remain silent but knowing that speed is far more critical at this phase. Jono keeps his eyes open towards the trapdoor, both of his ears perked and listening for any surprised yells from outside that would tell him that other Lutins discovered that their comrade is missing, but no such yells are heard as Jo and Perry make it to the end. Jono gets down on one knee and knits his fingers together to create a foothold, Perry steps there, grabs the edge of the trapdoor opening, and then Jono shoves upwards while Perry yanks upwards, speeding him quickly over the top and out of the trapdoor. There are no Lutins immediately menacing Perry. But there's a small squad not three yards away, near two tents they obviously pitched. Most of them are looking towards the small fire they somehow got going. He manages to take this all in the half-second it takes for Jo to join him. It's at this point that one of the Lutins turns and rather suddenly notices that the trapdoor is no longer in their hands. Jo's dagger is already flying before he can even get a look of surprise on his face, though, and he falls over flat without getting the chance to give the alarm. The attention of the Lutins immediately goes towards their fallen comrade, buying enough time for Jo to toss both daggers, dropping two more while Jono leaps upwards and catches the trapdoor edge, hauling himself upward. There are now four Lutins left in plain sight. They all turn towards the trapdoor to see Jono and Perry with swords drawn, charging towards them. Only one of them manages to get a weapon out before the two Keepers are upon them, but it's far too late to employ it. The remaining two go down just as swiftly under Jo's last two throws. And that's when the apparently human mage steps out of the tent, cackling, holding two giant fireballs, which he flings in their direction. * * * Orrusk Blackhand has not been having a good day. To start the day off, he'd been sent along with his brother and a few squads to head South to cut off potentially escaping Keepers that might retaliate. South! AWAY from all the glory and plunder at the Keep! That alone would be enough to completely ruin his mood. But that wasn't all. While marching along next to his brother Tharag he's shoved in the back and falls like some kind of weakling, banging his head on something flat and stone; when Tharag had thrown him back to his feet, his damn brother had discovered it was a trapdoor, and took credit for discovery. An obvious attempt to discredit him in front of the tribe; it probably worked, too, which is all the more frustrating. And then, to top it off, after a half hour of mind-numbing boredom with no chances for glory in these hellish tunnels, they'd all been magicked by the Keepers and sent to sleep. And he's only *now* waking up after the gods know how long... He blinks once in brief shock as he starts to stand up. Right in front of him is his Wizard boots licking brother, clearly brutally slain from the way his hand has been pinned to his face. But none of the other Lutins are harmed... they must have known somehow that he was leading! And so they thought that leaderless he and his fellows would be weak... another insult to add to the day. Then that thought drops. Orrusk Blackhand, second and last son of Markesh Blackhand, has always been the more ambitious and clever of Markesh's two sons. It had been Markesh's desire that Orrusk take over rulership of the then-independent Blackhand tribe after his death, but Tharag had jumped in and quickly made arrangements with the damn wizards that had barged into the Giantdowns, and thus secured the leadership of the tribe with the backing of the most powerful army in the North. He knew he'd had no hope to challenge that, so he'd played dumb so as to avoid being destroyed himself by the Wizard's forces. But now Tharag is dead. There are no other challengers to the post of chieftain. His first act is to go to his brother's body and remove the ill-gotten family scimitar from same, slinging the scabbard over his back. His second is to start rousing the Lutins about him, getting ready to rally them for a rush down the tunnel. He's sure that they'll be glad to fight under a real Blackhand again. * * * Jahnsen's eyes go a little wide when he catches the echo from his last check. He turns to Dana. "The Lutins behind us are getting up. It wore off." "Ohhh, that's just great," the swordswoman mutters before turning to the kids. "Okay, everyone quickly get bundled up again! We're going to have to leave real soon now!" ---- They each pick a direction to dodge the explosions. Jono leaps right, Perry left, and Jo somersaults back, tossing one of her daggers as she touches down. The mage doesn't get off any more shots before he falls; in the meantime Jono and Perry are both each charging a tent. Jono slashes through the side of his tent with his sword, leaping through the cut fabric, and nearly runs right into a mage with a fireball ready. He instantly drops to the floor as the mage hurls it, managing to hold onto his sword but losing a few seconds to start to get up. The mage takes advantage and pulls out a small dagger, stabbing downward towards the cat. So he drops the sword and catches the mage's wrist with one paw - and gets blown back nearly a meter from the force of the magical blow that somehow lands on him, nearly flying out through the cut fabric of the tent, leaving him twitching, eyes closed in agony while the mage cackles over him. "Foolish little fighters. Think that force can solve ev-" His last word catches in his throat as Jono flips forward very suddenly, a knife seemingly appearing out of nowhere in his hand which he flings right into the human's chest. The mage blinks once, peering at Jono in puzzlement. "Bu..." He knows that it's rather clich� to comment, but he really can't resist, especially after putting on a show. "Acting," Jono comments as the mage crumbles. "Had lots of practice," he says, grinning a bit at the corpse. "Jono!?" The call is from Perry, apparently from outside. Jono retrieves his knife, then walks out through the proper exit for the tent. Perry is standing in front of the other, presumably also successful. The expression on his face isn't one of triumph, however... "Tent's clear here! What about yours?" "There were two! One of them got off a distress call, I think!" "Marvelous. Get started on the tents! I'm going to help get the kids out from the tunnel!" He catches sight of the nod before jogging back towards the trapdoor. Kirk is already at the trapdoor's entrance, thankfully. "Kirk! We've got to get the kids going!" "I know! Kevin's casting the warming spell right now!" Jono gets puzzled. "You heard the distress call somehow?" Kirk shakes his head. "The Lutins behind us are getting up! Your friend's sleeping stuff is wearing off!" "Dammit!" is all that Jono manages to say. Kirk nods in wholehearted agreement. "Okay, get Jahnsen up here! I need him to try to spot someplace nearby and defensible!" "Right!" Then Kirk is away from the trapdoor for a few moments while Jono yells out to the others aboveground. "Jo! Perry! Our friends from the tunnels are coming back! Speed is of the essence!" "Can't be!" Jo yells back, even as she keeps working to take her tent down. "That agent lasted twice this long back in Ederan!" Jono doesn't shout back a reply as Kirk comes back, hoisting up the batmorph. "Sir! What're we looking for?" "Tower! Stone house! Anyplace we can hide the kids!" Jahnsen nods, then starts turning about, scanning around for anything nearby as Jono kneels down, reaching down to pull up the first child Kirk hoists upwards - a little girl whom he can't quite remember through the stress. "Go over to where Jo is and stay right there!" he says, setting her down. He gets a nod before the little girl runs over towards the vixen. Then, "Kirk! Tell the kids to head over to Jo when they get up here!" "Got it!" Kirk turns to the kids and starts to talk to them while Jono turns to Jahnsen. "Got anything?" "Sir! Good news and bad news!" the bat reports. "Good news is, we're close to the goal! 'Bout three hundred fifty, maybe four hundred yards down that away" - he points - "I think I'm seeing the fortress outpost between the Keep and Lorland!" "You think you're seeing?" Jono asks incredulously, looking in that direction. If he uses his imagination he thinks he can pick out maybe a slight shadow through the flurrying snow... "Sir, noise from the wind is playing hell with echo locating damn near as much as the snow's screwing up regular vision!" "Figures. Bad news?" "Bad news, sir, is that about a quarter of that distance that away" - he points in the other direction - "is a whole shit load of Lutins, headed right this way!" Once again there's only one thing Jono can think to say in response. "Damnit!" He turns back to Kirk. "We need Kevin up here, soon as you can!" ***   End part 45 </HTML>