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Back to the previous chapter: Dreams
First Draft
The afternoon proved to be as pleasant as the morning had promised. As the carriage followed the merchant caravan down the road, just a few dozen paces from the River Skai, birds called cheerfully from trees along the river banks. All around the carriage were fields of vibrant greens with brilliantly colorful flowers. Small game animals grazed in the fields, unmindful of the noisy creaks of the heavily-laden merchant wagons.
Adria remained curled on the top of the carriage, basking in the warm sun and enjoying the novelty of being a cat. She was not quite able to doze off, since the road was not completely smooth and the wagon jarred irritatingly every now and then. But the sun was still pleasant.
She sat up and stretched, then ambled up to the carriage driver's seat. She looked down at the empty space next to Rishala, then hopped lightly down and sat.
"Why are we here?" she blurted. "In the dreamlands?"
"I need to see someone who can tell us how to find Rhongomyant."
"But why are the rest of us here?"
"I needed help. I knew the trip was too long and too perilous to take alone. And, when I turned around, there the rest of you were. As was Farran."
Adria contemplated his response for a moment. "Then how do we leave."
"We wake up."
"Just like that?"
"Aye, in a way. And not so in other ways. Ye dinna need worry about it, Adria. When it is time, you will understand."
Adria started asking questions rapidly, trying to make sense out of her situation. "We are dreaming, right? How can we all be in the same dream? Why do we have to travel? If this is a dream, can't we just dream that we're where we need to go? Why should any of this be real?"
Farran had been walking alongside the carriage, half-listening to the conversation. His ears had perked when Adria asked her last question.
"Adria," the kelpie replied before Rishala could, "this is another world. It is not your world, but it is as real as yours in many ways. People are born, and people die. The sun rises, and it sets."
"Aye," Rishala added. "As the horse..." he glanced at Farran. "As the kelpie said. It is a world. We get to it by dreaming, and we exist here in a way that is very close to real, but we are not physically here. Our bodies are still aboard the Bard's Hearth, on their way to Brallian."
"So we aren't really here," Adria protested.
"Not fully," Rishala agreed. "We can come here, body and spirit, if we know the right magicks. I have heard of people doing so."
Adria still was unwilling to accept the explanation. "It's another world, but we can alter it. We can create things, or even people."
"Aye, but our changes are not permanent. They will evaporate within a week of us leaving the dreamlands. Unless we make several trips here, and expend effort on the things we create, they will be temporary. Perhaps this is how magick works in this world. There is no Heka here."
Adria changed questions. "How long will the trip take?"
"Six days to Dylath-Leen. If we find a ship quickly, two weeks from there to Celephais."
"Three weeks? We're going to be asleep that whole time? Won't we starve?"
Rishala shook his head. "Three weeks of time in the dreamlands is not three weeks in the waking world. It may be just a few hours. This journey will have ended before we wake up."
Adria sniffed dismissively. The dreamlands were strange. But she was feeling tired, and she was wasting good sunshine. She hopped back onto the top of the carriage and curled up, purring quietly to herself as she snoozed.
Unaware of the conversation that had taken place above him, Bilbus scowled pensively with the carriage. "I was raked by a darkblade. If it's going to take us a few weeks to reach this drow Rishala has to meet, am I still going to be alive? What happens if I die while I'm dreaming."
"I don't know, Bilbus," Eric replied calmly. He had retaken his natural form for the trip, and he sat next to Breanna. "But I think time works differently here."
"So I may already be dead. Or I will be before I wake up. What happens then?" Bilbus shrugged when Eric did not answer. He reached into a pocket hidden in the interior of his jacket and pulled out a stack of cards. "Wanna play cards with a dead man?"
From the top of the carriage, Adria called out, "You're not dead!"
That evening, the party made camp near the merchant caravan. The merchants cooked large enough meals to share with the party: spicy mutton and stews for everyone, along with some bland flatbreads. As Kasey heartily devoured his meal, Bilbus and Eric set up a game of Queens and Rooks on one side of the campfire. In the dwindling light, the two faced off, moving pieces on the board to corner or capture opposing pieces. The game lasted well into the night, until the campfire had faded to embers.
Bilbus and Eric had continued the game of Queens and Rooks over the ensuing days, but it had slowly evolved into something else. Every now and then, Bilbus changed the rules, countering Eric's moves of the carved gemstone game pieces with cards from his deck. Eric started playing along, until the game was utter nonsense. The two were riding on the roof of the carriage, loudly protesting one another's moves while blatantly cheating at what few rules still remained unchanged.
Eric looked around after Bilbus clumsily tried to distract him. He noticed two of the merchants on the trailing wagon, about fifteen paces ahead of the carriage, were watching intently.
Eric glanced back at the Queens and Rooks board. Several pieces were missing, and Bilbus had moved most of Eric's remaining tokens to one corner of the board, several to a square.
Eric threw his hands up in disgust. "I can't believe this!" he protested, then glanced towards the merchants. One was handing the other several coins. Eric looked back at Bilbus, then pointed past Bilbus's shoulder. "Isn't that the barmaid you created frolicking in the flowers?"
Bilbus smirked, but dutifully looked over his shoulder so Eric could cheat. Eric grabbed three of Bilbus's Queens -- there should have been one on the board -- and shoved the remainder of the pieces against Bilbus's side of the board. Bilbus turned back, a pained expression on his face as he looked at the position of his remaining tokens. Eric watched the second merchant hand some coins back to the first.
In a lowered voice, Eric told Bilbus, "The merchants are watching us play, and they're betting on it."
Bilbus grinned wryly. "Shall we make it entertaining?"
The two kept playing, getting more and more extreme in their antics, until Bilbus nearly fell off the top of the carriage when he overreacted to the only legitimate move Eric attempted.
The clouds had been rolling in overhead for a good part of the morning. By midday, the sky was a sullen gray, not heavy enough for rain, but still enough to blot out the sun.
Farran trotted up to the side of the carriage. "I am going ahead to see what is up there. I think we are close to Dylath-Leen." He cantered away, passing the lumbering merchant wagons with ease.
Twenty minutes later, the carriage caught up with the warhorse-kelpie on a ridgeline. "We're almost to Dylath-Leen," the kelpie announced. "It is right there."
Rishala looked at the city ahead of him. It filled the shores of the bay into which the River Skai emptied. Tall granite walls enclosed the entire city, including an intricate section over the river itself. Tall buildings, predominantly of the same granite as the city walls, jutted up above the walls. Other buildings were a darker gray, perhaps basalt. With the overcast sky above, the view was somber, almost depressing.
Farran resumed walking next to the carriage as it crested the top of the hill. Bilbus glanced out the window at the kelpie. Its eyes glowed, a dim red that would have been missed in sunlight, but unmistakable with the gray skies overhead. They followed the caravan down to the gatehouse nearest the river, and on into the city.
The streets of Dylath-Leen were narrow and twisting. There were few places where one could see more than seventy or eighty paces ahead or behind. There were surprisingly few people on the streets for such a large city, and many of those who did travel moved in groups of four or more. Bilbus grinned as he looked around. With the tall buildings -- none were shorter than three stories -- and the overcast, most of the narrow roads were in perpetual twilight.
"What are you grinning at?" Eric asked as he, too, looked around at the town.
"This is a thief's paradise. Dark, twisty roads, even in daylight. Tall buildings, narrow alleys. The people here know it, too. Look at how they stay in groups."
Eric looked around once more. The behavior of the people was unusual, but he had not figured out why. Perhaps Bilbus's answer was the right one.
The caravan turned down one of the wider side avenues. As the last wagon turned, Eric could see a sign ahead that read, "City Market Ahead." The caravan had turned off of that road.
"That's odd. They are not following the sign," Eric said.
"In this town, I wouldn't, either," Bilbus said. "They know where the market is. That sign probably leads to a nice ambush."
"Rishala, follow the caravan," Eric said.
"Aye."
They followed the caravan through the twisted roads, past numerous morose gray buildings and unfriendly city folk, to a marketplace. It was not a large market, but at least it had colorful merchant's tents.
"This is the City Market?" Bilbus wondered loudly. "It's small for this size city."
One of the merchants on the rear wagon answered the mountebank. "There are many markets in Dylath-Leen. This one trades in ironwares."
"What about the sign to the Central Market?"
The merchant scowled. "We do not trade in those ... goods."
Rishala interrupted before Bilbus could ask more questions. "Which way to the harbor?"
"Continue down this road. When you get close, you will be able to see it down the side roads."
"Thank you," Rishala said. "We enjoyed traveling with your caravan."
The carriage continued down the road, following the frequent twists and turns.
After the carriage rounded a particularly sharp turn in the road, Bilbus muttered, "Oh, hells..."
"What?" Rishala asked as he pulled the reins of the horses. They stopped.
"We just walked into an ambush."
From a dark second-floor window, a voice called out, "Thank you for stopping the carriage. Kindly hand out your valuables, and we may let you live."
"We could back out," Rishala said quietly.
Bilbus glanced back over his shoulder quickly. "Nope. They have archers behind us, too."
"We could give them the carriage," Rishala suggested. "We must be close to the harbor by now."
Bilbus considered the idea. "We don't have anything else to offer." He ducked his head into the carriage. "Let's get out of the carriage. We may as well give it to these thieves, since we can't take it onto the boat."
As soon as the party got out of the carriage, Farran laid back his ears and nipped at one of the carriage horses. The horses and carriage careened down the roadway.
"So much for that," Bilbus muttered to himself. He addressed the thief in the window. "We will let you have our carriage. We have no valuables, as you can see."
"The carriage just left," the thief called back. "It is a shame. It would have fetched a pretty pile of coins. Then again, you are all Waking Ones, so it probably would have vanished, anyway."
Bilbus took a step forward, striking a commanding presence in his Utherian dress armor. "You may still have the carriage. It is of this world."
Eric leaned close to Bilbus. He whispered, "And the box of gold in the carriage."
"And the box of gold we have."
"Ha! Waking One gold. It'll go away, and we will have nothing for out efforts."
Bilbus smirked. "Not if you spend it quickly."
The thief considered the offer. Bilbus saw him lean back into the dark room to confer with someone else. While the thief was busy, Bilbus took the opportunity to carefully glance around. Now that he was looking, he could see nearly a dozen men watching from windows, all of them with bows. In the Waking World, the party could have fought their way out of the ambush, but here, Sturm and Bilbus were the only ones with armor, and Bilbus's dagger was the only ranged weapon. Adria's armor and bow had vanished when she turned to a cat, and she was still in feline form.
The thief turned back to the party. "We would accept your offer, but you have no carriage."
"It'll be here. Let me send someone to get it."
The thief in the shadows nodded acquiescence.
Bilbus walked over to Kasey. "Will you get Farran and bring the carriage back here? We don't need it any more, and if we give it to these thieves, we will be able to walk away."
"Without a fight?" Kasey asked, worried.
"Yes, Kasey." Seeing the dejected expression on the knight, Bilbus added, "We will have plenty of chances for other fights if we avoid this one. And I think I still owe you a bar fight, anyway."
Kasey brightened. "Okay. I'll get the carriage."
The knight left down the twisty road to find the kelpie and the carriage. While Kasey was gone, Bilbus stalled with the thieves, trying to talk to them about "business". The thieves were not particularly interested in talking with their victims.
A few minutes later, the clatter of horses and carriage sounded from down the road. Kasey rounded the bend, leading the team hitched to the carriage. He stopped near his friends. Farran stood behind the carriage.
"Well? Let's see the gold!" the thief commanded.
Eric and Bilbus went to the carriage and climbed into it, stooping to look under one of the bench seats.
"I don't think I can make the gold," Bilbus confessed. "I think I used up whatever it is on this uniform."
Eric nodded and shut his eyes in concentration. An ornate wooden box appeared under the bench. Bilbus pulled it out and opened it. Gold coins filled the box. He closed the box, then he and Eric carried the heavy box out to the paving stones. Bilbus opened it, revealing the bounty within.
"Good enough," the thief said. "Now leave. And don't do anything stupid. We've killed Waking Ones before."
Bilbus led his friends down the road. As he passed Farran, he snarled quietly, "Don't mess with the carriage again, and we will walk out of here alive."
Farran laid back his ears and stamped one forehoof into the cobblestones, sending a chip of rock flying, but said nothing.
After twenty minutes of walking, the party finally spotted the harbor down a side road. The vast harbor held dozens of ships at anchor. Smaller boats, some rowed, most sail-powered, moved between the ships, off-loading cargos or passengers.
Adria sniffed loudly. "What is that stench?"
"What st..." Bilbus cut himself off as the smell rolled past him. It was the sickly sweet smell of decay, but it had something else mixed in with it, something unearthly.
Sturm surveyed the ships in the harbor. "That's an odd one," he observed.
"Which one?" Rishala asked.
Sturm pointed at one of the larger ships in the harbor. Rishala looked at it. Where every other ship in the harbor had one or more masts and a spider's web of rigging running above it, this galley had none, even though it was every bit as large as the largest sailing ships in the harbor. Instead of masts above the ship, there were three closely-spaced rows of oars coming out of each side of the ship. The ends of the oars were in the water, still. The ship was made of a dark wood, a black form on a gray sea.
"Black Galley," Rishala breathed.
Breanna had not heard him. "What?"
Rishala glanced at her. "The Black Galleys travel the seas of the dreamlands. The merchants on them are strange. From the stories I've heard, they wear silk robes. They cover their faces with a veil, and the rest of their head with a silk turban. They trade large rubies wherever they go."
"What do they trade for their rubies?"
"Slaves," Rishala answered. "They usually buy them by weight."
Breanna shuddered, then looked past Rishala down the length of the shoreside docks. "Are those the merchants?"
Rishala looked at the group of people approaching. They wore pale pastel-colored robes that covered their bodies entirely. The heads were likewise covered, with both turban and veil, revealing a narrow strip of the face near the eyes, but the head was unsettling nonetheless. The face was almost wider than it was tall, and there were lumps on the foreheads bulging underneath the silk wrappings. All eight of the odd merchants were walking towards the party purposefully, eyes fixed on the dreamlands travelers.
"Maybe they aren't looking for us?" Breanna asked hopefully.
Rishala disagreed, "It's too coincidental."
"He's right," Eric said. "Let's duck into that tavern." He strode quickly to the nearest of a row of taverns on the waterfront. The party followed him in, and Farran stopped outside and watched.
The merchants walked through the entrance, following the rest of the party.
Eric quickly slipped into the kitchen of the tavern. He found the back entrance and stepped into the alleyway. His companions followed him down the alley past two other doors and into the kitchen of another tavern. The party stopped by the door, waiting quietly.
Kasey looked at the cooks nearby, then smiled at them. "May I have some bread? And some meat?"
The nearby cook nodded. "Of course. You realize that the dining room is in the front of the tavern, yes?"
"Yeah," Kasey said, "but the food is fresher here."
The cook look puzzled as he gave Kasey a small loaf of bread.
"They should have passed by now," Rishala thought aloud. He carefully opened the door and peered into the alley. He shut the door quickly and locked it.
"What?" Breanna asked.
"They split up in the alley, and four of them were coming towards us. They saw me."
The door latch rattled. Quickly, someone rapped at the door.
Eric leaned close to the door. In a falsetto that sounded like a caricature of an elderly woman, he asked, "Who is it?"
One of the merchants spoke, a voice that was soft but menacing. "Waking Ones, we merely wish to talk. We intend no harm."
Continuing the charade, Eric replied in falsetto, "I don't know who you're talking about."
"Waking One, we just wish to know to where you are traveling."
Eric dropped the falsetto. "Why?"
"We are merely curious. Will you open the door, so we may talk?"
Eric glanced back at his comrades. Kasey was busily tearing chunks off his loaf of bread. The rest of them were watching the door intently. Bilbus fingered the grip of his adamantine sword.
"We could get a private room," the mountebank suggested darkly.
"That's not a bad idea," Eric admitted, ignoring Bilbus's unexpressed intent. "We can talk to them without anyone else overhearing us. Bilbus, see if this tavern has a private dining room. Get food. Let's talk to our visitors and see what they really want."
Bilbus disappeared into the dining room of the tavern. He returned a moment later. "We have a room. Follow me."
Eric unlocked the door and opened it slowly. The merchants stood outside, each standing in an identical pose, hands clasped in front of their abdomens, patiently waiting. The identical robes made it impossible to differentiate the four, and they had the same pale complexions.
The eyes were an orangish-brown color, and they were the most startling element of the merchants' appearances. They had slits, like a cat's, except that the slit was horizontal, not vertical. The merchant closest to the door smiled, a disquieting movement visible beneath the thin veil covering its face.
"May we talk like civilized beings, Waking One?"
"Of course," Eric said. "Come in. We have a private dining room. Join us, and we shall talk." He held the door open, letting the merchants in. He closed the door, then followed them to the private room. His companions followed him.
Inside the room, Eric took one of the seats around a large, round dining table. On the table were two platters of breads and one of meat -- mutton, from the looks of it. Breanna, Rishala, and Kasey took seats at the table, with Kasey immediately grabbing a leg of mutton. Sturm likewise took a leg, but he remained standing, watching the merchants suspiciously. Bilbus stood next to the Sun Knight, arms crossed and hands close to scabbards. The merchants stood close together, almost touching, in one corner of the room.
The merchant standing in front blinked, a disturbing sight as a second layer of eyelids closed just before the outer layer did.
Eric started talking. "What do you want of us?"
Again the merchant smiled. "We merely wish to know to where you travel."
"Why would you want to know this?"
"We are merely curious. We intend no harm."
"Did you plan to offer us travel?"
"We would not be averse to such an arrangement. To where do you travel?"
Eric ignored the question. "Who sent you to seek us?"
"We were sent by no one. We were merely visiting Dylath-Leen to provision for a long journey, and we wished to speak to the unusually large group of Waking Ones. It is not a common sight on this world. Why are all of you in the dreamlands?"
"I see no reason to answer your questions. The Merchants of the Black Galleys do not control the seas, nor do they need to know the destination of every traveler upon the seas."
The merchant blinked unsettlingly once more. "If the Waking Ones wish not to answer, so be it." The four merchants turned to the door and shuffled through it.
"That was fun," Bilbus commented mirthlessly.
"Yeah," Eric agreed. "We should find a ship and get under way. Perhaps the owner of this tavern can recommend someone." He stood up and went to the door. He glanced out to see the merchants leaving the tavern, giving Farran a wide berth as the kelpie laid back ears at them.
Eric found the owner of the tavern after asking about. The owner was an old woman, hair gray and face wrinkled.
"Good afternoon, good mistress. We are seeking a reliable ship to hire. Can you recommend one for us?"
"I can," she replied in a voice startlingly similar to Eric's falsetto. "Hire the Full Sail. The captain is most reliable, and the ship is fast."
"You know this captain?"
"I do. He is my own son. He arrived in port just yesterday, and he is ready to sail soon."
Eric glanced at his companions. Bilbus shrugged. "Very well," Eric decided. "Where is his ship?"
The old woman led Eric to the nearest window that overlooked the harbor, then pointed out one of the ships. "That ship is she."
"Thank you," Eric said to the tavern owner. To his friends, he said, "Shall we get a boat to take us out there?"
They found a harbor boat that would take them out to the Full Sail. Farran simply walked into the water and trotted along next to the boat as it sailed out to the ship.
After a brief negotiation, the captain invited the party aboard. The ship was soon underway, plying its way towards the mouth of the harbor.
As the party got close to the harbor mouth, they realized that they were going to pass close to the Black Galley. The party hid below decks until the captain notified them that they were out of sight of the galley.
Late in the afternoon, the sun broke through the clouds. Sturm leaned against the railing, watching the sea roll past the ship. They were making excellent time, judging from the turbulent froth that the Full Sail made. The sails snapped crisply in the steady winds, and the waves underneath roared continually.
Sturm gazed at the ocean off the side of the ship. He noted with surprise that the sea had started boiling, as if something large were about to erupt from beneath the waves. Before he could call out, a horse's head broke the sea's surface. Soon another, then three more, then even more broke through the surface, until two dozen horses ran alongside the Full Sail, galloping on the gentle waves of the sea as if it were solid land.
Sturm braced himself as he watched the herd of kelpies. He glanced towards the crew of the ship to gauge their reactions. One of the sailors had raised a hand in greeting, and others called out jovially to the kelpies. Farran bellowed a loud whinny, a sound that conveyed far more than a horse's call. The warhorse-kelpie trotted across the deck and dove overboard, surfacing soon to run alongside his fellow water-beings.
Every now and again, a kelpie dove into the waves, neck stretched. It would return to the surface, running along, with a fish clenched in its sharp teeth. Some of the kelpies devoured their prey, flinging the still-struggling fish into the air, then snatching it and biting part of it off. Other kelpies tossed their prey onto the ship, earning gracious responses from crewmen who raced to catch the fish before they could flip themselves back into the sea.
Sturm watched the spectacle for nearly half an hour, kelpies racing alongside the ship, tossing fish to happy crewmen, until the kelpies dove back beneath the waves. Farran continued to pace the ship for a while, until he leaped back aboard in an impressive bound.
After the kelpies dove back beneath the waves, Eric set the Queens and Rooks board on the deck. He placed pieces randomly on the dark and light squares, then put a third of the cards in the middle of the playing board. Bilbus had watched the explorer. He crossed the deck and sat opposite the Queens and Rooks board from Eric.
The mountebank grinned and took the top card off of the deck. "Ah. A Knight. I get to put a second Queen on the board."
Eric flipped the next card over. "But the Deuce of Swords means I remove both of your Queens."
Bilbus cursed unconvincingly under his breath, then went belowdecks for a few minutes. He returned with a ceramic jug that he placed next to the board.
The mountebank pushed two of his pieces across the board. He noticed Breanna walking up behind Eric. "Hey, Bree," he greeted her. When Eric glanced over his shoulder to look at his fiancee, Bilbus grabbed the top few cards from the deck and quickly changed their order. He put the cards back on the deck, then slid one of Eric's pieces next to the deck.
Eric turned back to Bilbus. "Whose turn is it?"
"Yours," Bilbus replied. "And, since your Pawn is next to the deck, you have to draw the top two cards. If they are a five or a seven, you have to drink from the jug."
Breanna sat down next to Eric. "What are you two doing?"
Eric flipped the top two cards over. They were a seven of Swords and a five of Stars. To Breanna, he answered, "We're playing a variant of Queens and Rooks." To Bilbus, he asked, "What if I draw a five and a seven?"
"You take three drinks."
Eric drank from the jug. It was a spicy rum, smooth but strong.
"Your turn," the Azirian said.
Bilbus moved his two Queens.
Eric tsk'd loudly. "Moving before drawing a card. Two drink penalty."
Bilbus grumbled to himself, but took the penalty drinks and flipped a card over.
"Hah!" he barked triumphantly. "The Five of Stars! You have to give me one of your Queens!"
Breanna looked at the two. "But you slipped that card on top of the deck! I saw it!"
"Oh, Eric," Bilbus said somberly. "She just cost you a penalty drink and a draw."
"Thanks, Bree," Eric said, trying to sound upset. He took a drink from the jug. "You have to drink, too."
"What?" she asked.
"It's the rules of the game," Bilbus said sternly. "He loses if you don't take a penalty drink."
Breanna took the jug of rum, still looking disbelievingly at the two men.
Adria, still a cat, walked up to the side of the board. She watched Bilbus and Eric each take a turn, then sat down. "Eric is going to win," she said. "You need to cheat better, Bilbus."
Bilbus glanced at Adria, then looked contemplatively at the game board. He flipped over three cards, then arranged them into a small house. The breeze on the deck blew it over almost immediately, so Bilbus moved two of his game tokens across the board, then sipped from the rum. The game ran to sunset, and by the end of it, neither Bilbus nor Eric nor Breanna were able to walk unassisted. It took them most of the next day, miserable from hangovers, to figure out who actually won the game.
The sun rose over the brilliant blue sea once more, casting its pleasant rays over the Full Sail. The party had risen early -- Bilbus and Eric had given up on running their hybrid game too late, due to the misery of the following morning's hangover.
On this morning, one of the crew approached Bilbus. Most of the crew had assumed Bilbus was in charge of the party, due to his uniform, and the mountebank had done nothing to change their assumptions.
"Waking One, there are ships approaching from behind." The crewman gestured towards the rear of the ship.
Bilbus followed the crewman to the rear deck. He looked behind the ship. Near the horizon were six dark shapes, spread in a wide line.
"A merchant convoy?" Bilbus wondered aloud.
"No, Waking One," the crewman shook his head. "I watched them come over the horizon. They are moving towards us. A convoy of merchants would not sail side-by-side, and not spread that far apart."
Bilbus rubbed his goatee. "Do you have a spyglass?"
"I will fetch it."
The crewman returned a few moments later with the spyglass. Bilbus took it and trained it on one of the ships approaching the Full Sail.
The ship was dark -- not just from the distance. It was moving quickly, for it had a large, white prow wave. And there was no mast. Instead, rows of oars, moving impossibly fast and in perfect synchronization, pushed the ship forward.
Bilbus lowered the spyglass and glanced over his shoulder. Rishala was on the deck, staring contemplatively off in the distance.
"Rishala!" The Caledonian did not immediately respond. "Rishala!"
"What do ye want, Bilbus?" the story teller asked, an edge on his voice.
"Are these Black Galleys?"
"What?!?" But the Caledonian was now hurrying to the rear deck of the ship.
Bilbus offered the spyglass to Rishala. "I said, are those Black Galleys that are following us?"
Rishala looked from ship to ship. "Gods, six of them. I have never heard of more than one in a port ever."
"Nor have I," the crewman admitted.
"Maybe they'll just pass by," Bilbus suggested, not believing it himself.
Rishala gave the spyglass back to the crewman, then he and Bilbus related what they had seen to their companions.
Adria stretched, exposing her claws. "What if Farran summoned help? Can he call the kelpies?"
The party looked at the warhorse.
"I can try," Farran agreed. The kelpie leaped overboard and dove into the sea.
The ships closed visibly, converging towards the Full Sail at unbelievable speeds. Minutes passed, and turned to an hour and more, and still the ships closed. They were close enough that the party could see shapes moving on the decks of the ships. Some were undoubtedly the robed merchants, but the other things were much larger. And Farran had yet to return.
The Galleys approached inexorably, closer and closer. Even with the sails played out fully, the Full Sail crawled through the sea compared to the Black Galleys.
The sea around the Full Sail started boiling frantically.
"Maybe they were going to warn us about something," Bilbus quipped, still not convincing anyone.
Kelpies leaped to the surface around the Full Sail, galloping towards one of the galleys that threatened the ship. There was chaos around the ship as dozens of kelpies kicked oars, snapping them like twigs, or leaped on the deck of the ship to attack the merchants and the other things, or battered the hull of the ship. As the first galley slowed in the water and started to sink, the kelpies went after another galley. Within the course of minutes, all six Black Galleys were dead in the water, sinking. An unearthly ululation rose from the ships, low and mournful, as water flooded them.
The kelpies returned to the Full Sail. Farran stood at the front of the herd, blood and ichor still on his face and neck, eyes glowing a violent red.
Eric stepped to the rail. "We thank you, kelpies, for helping us. Is there any way we can repay you?"
One of the kelpies laid back its ears. "Toss us the Fire Knight." Even in the human tongue, "Fire" conveyed multiple meanings coming from the kelpie. Eric had mental images of the sun as well as of a raging fire.
Eric glanced towards Sturm, hiding the concern he felt.
"No. The Fire Knight." The kelpie snaked its head towards Bilbus.
Eric looked to Bilbus. The mountebank still wore the dress uniform of one of King Uther Paendroeg's palace knights. Eric glanced back out to sea. Many of the kelpies had ears flattened threateningly, their glowing red eyes fixed on Bilbus.
"Get him belowdecks," Rishala hissed. "Now!"
Kasey and Sturm grabbed Bilbus and hauled him to the cargo hatch. Bilbus grudgingly climbed down the rope ladder to the hold.
"I can't do that," Eric told the kelpies.
"Then there is nothing you can do to thank us." The kelpies turned one by one and trotted away from the ship, sinking into the sea, until only Farran remained.
In the hold, Bilbus heard knocking coming from the hull. Cold, unfriendly voices spoke through the hull. "Fire Knight, come play. Surely you wish to hunt kelpie, too."
Bilbus stayed in the center of the hold, as far away from the sides as he could.
"Come swim with us, Fire Knight! We can cool you."
After several minutes, the knocking stopped, leaving Bilbus alone in a quiet hold.
The Full Sail dropped anchor in the harbor of Celephais. A glistening white wall surrounded the city, and hundreds of white buildings filled the walls. Towers and minarets plated in copper or brass loomed above the cityscape. One rose-colored spire with a golden cap, near the city center, towered above the rest.
A cargo skiff sailed out to the Full Sail, and the party climbed into it. Farran jumped overboard into the bay. The crew of the skiff sailed towards one of the many docks along the shore with the kelpie trotting alongside.
Once on the shore, Bilbus kneeled to look at the odd, black paving stones on the road leading into the city. He stood up, his eyes wild. "These are onyx. This entire road is paved with onyx! And look at that tower!" He pointed at the rose spire with its golden top. "This town is rich!" He took off down the road towards the rose spire.
"Bilbus!" Breanna called after the mountebank.
"Let him go," Rishala said. "He kinna get into too much trouble on his own here. We need to see if my contact has shown up."
He led the party towards a now-familiar tavern. The sad singing of the raven-haired woman greeted the party at the doors. Rishala led his friends to an empty table. Adria jumped onto it and curled up, while the rest of the party took seats around the table.
Bilbus jogged excitedly along the onyx-paved road, looking in wonder at the people around him who seemed unaware of the value of the stones upon which they walked. Bilbus slowed to a brisk walk, sparing glances on occasion at the black stones of the road, until he rounded a corner and saw the rose spire.
The spire was the tallest of a castle that seemed impossible delicate. The entire castle, and the wall around it, were of the same odd rose stone. Bilbus walked towards the front of the castle -- the wall on that side had an open gate -- his mouth agape. All of the spires and towers were topped with gold plating.
Bilbus stopped at the gate of the castle and looked at the wall. It was then that he realized that the wall, and indeed the entire castle, were not a rose colored stone, but rose crystal.
The impossibility of the castle scarcely had a chance to settle into Bilbus's mind when a liveried servant approached.
"Is Sir here for a tour of the Crystal Palace?"
Bilbus shook his head. "What?"
The servant repeated himself.
"Sure! Let's see this palace."
The servant led Bilbus through the gate and towards the open doors of the palace proper. "King Kuranes built this palace to celebrate his seventy greatest pleasures. Each room is dedicated to one of those pleasures. This tour will show you twenty of them." The servant prattled along, pausing occasionally to explain something or describe an object in detail. Bilbus paid scant attention to the servant as he looked around in wonder at the crystal building and its priceless treasures.
Through a number of the rooms the servant led Bilbus. There were rooms devoted to beautiful flowers, fine sculptures, fanciful paintings, exotic wines... the list was unending. After some time, the servant led Bilbus back to the entry room, then departed, leaving the mountebank alone in the spacious room.
As Bilbus studied one of the intricately-painted vases in the room, another man approached. Bilbus glanced up at him. He had dark hair and a short-cropped beard. He wore fine clothing, something one would expect on a mid-level noble in Londoun, perhaps. He had a half grin on his face, and there was something familiar -- or different, perhaps -- about him.
"Did you take the tour?" the man asked.
"Yes," Bilbus said. "There's an impressive collection of valuables."
"How much of the palace did you see?"
"Twenty rooms."
"Hmmmm." The man looked about the room, then leaned towards Bilbus conspiratorially. "Would you like to see more of it?"
Bilbus thought, but only briefly. "I am curious to see what other pleasures this king treasures."
"I can show you the greatest one," the man offered.
Bilbus grinned. "Considering what I've seen in these lesser rooms, I'm curious to see what's the greatest."
"Come with me," the man said.
Bilbus followed the man through the palace, past some of the rooms he had seen before, and others he had not. The man stopped at a stairwell that spiraled upwards. "It's a little ways up these stairs. You'll like it."
Up the stairs the two climbed. The crystal of the walls were thinner, giving a blurred view of the exterior. Bilbus could see that the cylindrical staircase was the interior of one of the castle's towers. Onwards it climbed, until Bilbus could see no more towers through the walls. This was the tall rose-colored spire that he had spotted from sea.
At the top was a small room, scarcely big enough for the two of them to stand. The gold-plated top of the spire was supported by narrow supports that stretched from a waist-high wall around the spire, giving a magnificent view of Celephais, its harbor, and the surrounding countryside.
Bilbus looked upon the city. "What is it? What am I supposed to see?"
"The city. The countryside. My greatest pleasure is the city and kingdom that I created."
"Created? Wait. You're King... Kuranes."
The man nodded.
"What do you mean you created the city? Are you a mage?"
King Kuranes shook his head slowly, smiling. "I was once a Waking One, like yourself." Bilbus realized that that was the reason the king looked familiar -- he had that aura that Bilbus's friends also had, just not as strongly as they had. "I spent years of my life visiting this land in my dreams, creating the city, the countryside, this palace, the people... When I had it the way I wanted it to be, I entered the dreamlands in body, not just in mind. I became the king of the land I created."
Bilbus gazed upon the city as he digested the King's words.
Rishala and Eric each nursed a crystal glass that held a deep red wine. Kasey had an oversized mug -- a "small" ale, and Breanna sipped a glass of chilled tea. Adria had a saucer of cream in front of her that she ignored.
The serving girl had returned to Sturm. "Sir Knight, what may I fetch you?"
Sturm mulled over his options. "Scowling Knight freeze-distilled wine."
The girl stammered. "I ... I am not familiar with this wine. Perhaps something else?"
Sturm looked at the mug Kasey had -- it must have held at least a pint and a half. "An ale. Something dark."
"Of course, Sir Knight. What size of mug would you like?"
"How about a large mug."
The girl curtsied and left the table. She returned moments later, staggering while carrying what looked to be a small barrel. She set it heavily on the table in front of Sturm.
Kasey looked admiringly at the large mug. "That should be pretty easy for you, Sturm," the Church Knight stated. He looked at the serving girl. "One time, on the Steppes, Sturm had to get in a drinking contest with centaurs so we could learn the cure to heal his wound. And he won. And it was a lot of beer."
The girl was puzzled. "Centaurs? What are 'centaurs'?"
"Oh, they are big half-horse and half-man creatures. And they can drink a lot."
The girl chuckled disbelievingly as she walked away.
The party had been in the tavern for nearly an hour, sipping at drinks and watching people coming and going. Kasey was becoming restless, drumming his fingers on the table and looking towards the door. Adria had jumped down from the table to stalk mice, or at least find something interesting to do. Sturm had nearly finished his ale.
A man stepped through the door and looked around. Rishala recognized the too-pale skin and silver hair. Before the Caledonian could wave, the man spotted the party. He grimaced briefly as he surveyed the crowd, but he approached and took a seat nonetheless. His plain face looked pinched, as if he had a headache. When the serving girl approached, he waved her off brusquely.
"You're here," he finally said in a voice that bordered on musical.
"Aye," Rishala agreed.
The man looked again at the rest of the party.
"They travel with me," Rishala answered the unasked question. "If I kinna trust them, I kinna trust a soul."
The man snorted. "I hope you are right." He took a deep breath. "The Baroness Eclavdra is having a victory celebration at her noble manor in one month to celebrate the Great Lord's upcoming victory. She has Rhongomyant, and she will be parading it around the celebration. If you can get into her mansion, you might be able to get the spear."
"And how do we get to her mansion," Rishala asked.
"Her mansion is in the Noble Cavern of Erelhei Cinlu."
"Aye, but we know only one way to reach the city, and that is by Portals."
"You can travel overland. The tunnel to Erelhei Cinlu leads to the fortress overlooking Arabel Cinlu. If you have a medallion, like this one..." A round black medallion appeared on the table. It had a tentacle-faced monstrosity on it. The party had seen the medallion before: Bilbus wore one all the time, and he had given one to Breanna. "Show the medallion to the guards at the gates of the fortress, and do not be too talkative. It is a two day trip by horse, so pack food."
"That will get us in," Rishala said, "but we still will need to get out. Leaving through the front gates may nae be so easy."
"Bilbus's way may work," Eric suggested.
Bilbus still gazed at the city. People went about their daily routines, visiting merchants, or selling their wares. In shore, farmers tilled their lands, driving horses across fields. The harbor bustled with ships, dozens of them of every description.
One of the ships in the harbor had not been there a while ago. Long and black, it had no masts. Rows of synchronized oars pulsed, pushing the ship towards an empty dock. Men in pale colored robes crowded on the deck, as did several pale monstrosities.
"I've got to warn them," Bilbus blurted. He ran down the stairs, leaping one or two at a time, bumping against the crystal walls as he fought to keep his footing.
The mountebank raced through the palace and out of the walled grounds, nearly bowling over a servant as he did so. Down the black onyx road he ran, careening around people and horses.
At the end of the road, on the shore, several of the merchants walked towards a tavern on the corner, spears at ready. Bilbus got a brief glance of one of the pale white monstrosities when someone screamed.
In the tavern, Adria sat on the party's table, lashing her tail. "We still need to find a way to get in, and get out again."
"We know how to get to Erelhei Cinlu," Rishala said.
Adria interrupted. "We can get into the city. We still have to get to this baroness's party. And we can not expect them to let us leave with the spear."
"Aye," Rishala agreed. "We do have that invitation."
Someone outside screamed. Concerned, Eric walked to a window and peered out. He shouted to his companions, "A Black Galley!" then ran to the door.
After a brief glance outside, Eric concentrated. His long bow and quiver of arrows appeared on his companions' table. He grabbed the bow and quiver, then went back outside. His friends followed him out.
A dozen of the merchants from the Black Galley approached, spears carried at the ready. Following them were two large, pale monstrosities. The things looked almost like pasty white frogs, over two paces tall, except the flesh was a sickly, rubbery texture. These things also carried spears as they shambled towards the party.
"Rishala!" Eric shouted. "Try to bring down flame on one of those large things!"
A column of flame appeared overhead, streaking down upon the closer of the two frog-things. Parts of its skin were charred and smoking, and several small flames still burned upon it, but it still closed with the party.
A heavy iron cage materialized around the other beast. It slowed briefly, then began to exude itself between the bars, making disgusting slorping noises as it did so.
Kasey approached the merchants, his sword at the ready. Sturm stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, holding the large leg of a lamb as a makeshift club. The Church Knight swung his sword in a fast arc, cleaving one of the merchants in two. The Sun Knight slammed his lamb's leg into the side of another merchant's head, knocking it dead in a single powerful blow. As Kasey rushed forward towards another merchant, Sturm flung his leg of lamb at one of the others, striking it squarely in the chin. It collapsed as Sturm rushed it.
Sturm dropped to a knee to grab the fallen merchant's spear when he spotted another one running towards him. Sturm brought the spear up, bracing it against his foot as the merchant impaled itself.
The Sun Knight stood once more, spear in hand, and continued to close with the remaining merchants. Arrows shot past him, as Eric fired upon the merchants with Adria's bow. Merchants fell quickly to the withering archery.
Bilbus fought a pair of merchants, holding his own despite being outnumbered. He slowly pushed the two back, then started landing cuts on them. Within moments, both had fallen. Bilbus then rushed towards the beast in the cage. It was nearly halfway through the bars, but was still restrained enough that Bilbus could attack it freely. He cut at it repeatedly, slicing at the gelatinous blob, ignoring the foul ichor that sprayed from it with each slice.
Arrows shot through the beast. Bilbus risked a quick glance to see that Eric now had Adria's bow, and he was unleashing a torrent of deadly arrows that seemed to have little effect on the pale thing.
With a few more brutal slices, Bilbus killed that last beast. It oozed messily on the onyx stones, leaving a white puddle around the cage.
The sudden silence was surprising. The merchants and the two pale monstrosities that had accompanied them were all dead.
A low roaring noise quickly intruded upon the silence. Bilbus looked towards the Black Galley at a nearby dock. The oars were turning blindingly fast, throwing a spray of water towards the shore as it backed away from the dock. Several of the white monsters were on the deck, impossibly holding spears in tentacular arms.
Eric dropped Adria's bow. As Bilbus watched, the Azirian transformed into a dragon, nearly forty paces tall. He was not as large as Anmanivas, and he had a distinctly different shape. Bilbus guessed that Eric had transformed into an Azirian dragon, instead of an Avillonian dragon.
The dragon-Eric took wing, flying several dozen paces straight up before tilting over and diving towards the Black Galley. As he got close to the ship, the pale things threw spears at him. The spears fell woefully short, never coming close to the fast moving dragon. Eric spewed a tight jet of flame at the deck of the ship, searing the deck panels and charring the pale beasts that had been on the deck. The dragon flew past the galley, climbing once more, before circling. He alighted upon the deck, causing the ship to drop precipitously into the bay.
Using one of his taloned fore-claws, Eric ripped a deck hatch from the galley. He tossed the hatch aside and looked in. Packed belowdecks in the ship were dozens of the white monsters, each operating a row in perfect unison with its neighbors. Eric took a deep breath, then he once more sprayed a jet of flame. The blast of supernatural flame shot into the opened deck hatch, searing the creatures within. The timbers of the galley were ignited, and soon the ship was a large funeral pyre for the unnatural things within it. Eric hopped into the air, causing the prow of the ship to dip below the waterline as he did so. He flew back to shore and landed on the harborfront road.
The dragon-Eric picked up a nearby rowboat. He dipped the rowboat into the water, then dumped its contents on the bodies on the road, washing them into the harbor. With a few minutes of effort, the dragon had cleaned the ichor from the onyx paving stones.
Bilbus watched Eric set the rowboat back in the water. The dragon sat on its haunches on the road, looking out at the burning embers of the Black Galley.
"Did the drow show up?" Bilbus asked. He raised his voice and repeated himself before Eric noticed.
"Yes. He told us the baroness is having a ball in a month at her mansion in Erelhei Cinlu. He also told us we can get to it from Arabel Cinlu."
"I think I can get us through Erelhei Cinlu to the Noble Cavern. There are three big caves in the city, from what Sulz told me. There is one that is farmland or something like that, there is another that is the city where most of the drow and whatever live, and there is a third that the nobles hide in." He paused for a moment. "How do we get in there?"
"We thought of using the Portal," Eric said.
Bilbus shook his head emphatically. "Not a good idea. The drow have walled the Portal off, and they have archers and ballistae on the wall. They probably shoot first if something comes through the Portal that isn't black as pitch or ugly as an orc. We may be able to get out using it."
"We also have an invitation."
Bilbus snapped his fingers. "Of course!" He glanced at Sturm. "Captain Sigurd, there." Bilbus nodded his head towards the Sun Knight. "He was invited. He can show up, along with us, his men and slaves."
Farran snorted. "We can disguise Kasey as Sturm, and offer him as a prisoner to the baroness."
Rishala dropped to his knees, laughing hysterically. In an instant, his laughter stopped. He was no longer there.
"I guess it's time to wake up," Eric said. He focused on Bilbus, who looked surprised in the instant before he vanished.
One by one, the party disappeared, until only the inhabitants of Celephais stood on the street.
The journey in the Waking Lands had continued with no further incident. None of the party managed to reenter the dreamlands, so they had soon returned to the routine they had established on the trip to Hellenas, studying various tomes they had borrowed (or stolen, in Bilbus's case) from Church libraries.
Nearly a week into the trip, Breanna prepared the cure for Bilbus's darkblade wound. It had already taken on the bright red, puffy characteristics that Sturm's wound had as it festered, but it did not look as severe as Sturm's did before Breanna was able to cure it.
Sturm helped the mountebank as Breanna administered the salve and the potion, keeping Bilbus from vomiting the cure too soon. When Bilbus finally was permitted to expel the now-vile concoction, Sturm clapped him on the back.
"Welcome to the club, Bilbus," the Sun Knight said. "At least next time one of them visits you in the night, you'll have warning. That scar will let you know one of them is nearby."
It was one of those odd dreams. Not odd so much in that the events were strange -- which they were -- but odd in the sense that Sturm knew perfectly well that it was a dream.
Sturm was back at the Scowling Knight Winery. He had been industriously filling bottles of Scowling Knight wine. And to top off each of the bottles, he held his finger over the bottle, squeezing a cut on the finger, to drip several drops of blood into the bottle. Sturm did not know why he was tainting each bottle, but he knew he had to do so.
The setting changed. Sturm was now in a darkened palace. The interior was vaguely like that of al-Rhayidhian palaces, but much older. Facing Sturm was a man Sturm had seen in dreams before. Dark hair, closely cropped beard, noble robes. The Dark One stood before Sturm, leering like a madman savoring imminent victory.
"So, knight, you finally acknowledge my victory," the Dark One sneered triumphantly.
Sturm kneeled. "I do, Great Lord." He held out an opened bottle of wine. "I bring an offering to my new master."
The Dark One took the bottle. Abandoning any modicum of propriety, he tipped his head back and drank deeply from the bottle. As he lowered the bottle from his mouth, he had a strange expression.
"What manner of deception is this?" the Dark One bellowed.
Sturm stood. A sinister smile crossed his face as he held up his right hand, showing the scab on his finger.
The Dark One gurgled. He dropped the bottle of Scowling Knight wine and staggered towards Sturm, falling to his knees as he did so. He grabbed desperately at Sturm's shoulders, trying to prop himself up, but his hands found no purchase. The Dark One fell to the ground, convulsing, as Sturm watched.
"Moron," the Sun Knight growled. He turned and left.
Sturm tossed fitfully in his sleep, throwing his bed covers to the floor...
The trip to al-Rhayidh had been harrowing, to say the least: the drow cavern-city of Erelhei Cinlu, with its myriad of pitfalls, had been just one stop on the journey. The strange dreamlands, and the weeks the party spent there in one night, were a fading memory, although the encounter with the herd of kelpies was still fresh in Sturm's mind. The perpetual twilight of Vladomani's realm, with its lingering feel of death and decay, still haunted his dreams. Gas Bulg, the foul, arcane spear Vladomani had, was now in his hands -- figuratively. He did not enjoy even touching the spear, for it left an emptiness afterwards, as if something had been taken away.
But those times were past. Ahead lay only the trip across the deserts of al-Rhayidh, over the treacherous Vulcan's Furnace mountains, and through the Wasted Lands. And the fate that loomed at the end of the journey.
Eric had suggested seeking an audience with the Caliph of al-Rhayidh, to see if the Caliph would lend some of his army to the party to help get through the Vulcan's Furnace and the Wasted Lands beyond. Since the party was landing in al-Qayir, the capitol of al-Rhayidh, it would not add much time to the trip to try to get assistance.
The party had gathered on the forecastle of the Bard's Hearth, around the ballista Captain Laechille had installed in Hellenas after the previous orc attack. The heat had been palpable, but even on the sea the humidity was not excessive. Sweat ran down everyone's faces, but Bilbus had showed fewer outward signs of the heat than he should have, considering he still wore his black leather armor.
Al-Qayir was large, maybe even larger than Londoun. As the ship approached the city, the party was able to see the walled estate of the Caliph on the south end of the city. West of the city, clearly visible despite the distance, were the four Pyramids of Duzai, the Caliphate's national reserve of Heka.
The port area was bustling, with scores of ships either at anchor in the large harbor or tied up alongside the long docks that peppered the shoreline. Hundreds of people jostled through the area, moving cargo or racing to a ship or just watching the traffic. Above the skyline, the party could see some of the fabled magickal carpets flying along, carrying passengers from place to place. Breanna commented excitedly on those carpets, wondering if the party could rent one.
Once ashore, the party followed a major avenue towards the Caliph's estate. The city felt exotic, and not just because of the darker complexioned people who lived here. The buildings were mostly white or light colors, like the Hellenic buildings, but where Hellenic buildings were uniformly square and rectangular, Rhayidhian buildings were rounded, with graceful curves and arches. The avenue passed through the city's bazaar, a marketplace that would have made the merchants of Arabel Cinlu envious. While in the bazaar, the party ran into Quaeven, the gnome merchant whom they rescued months ago in the Kingdom of the Five Crowns. He insisted on taking you to his home, but the party postponed his hospitality.
The Caliph's estate was impressive. The walled compound hid several palatial buildings, all surrounded by lush manicured gardens and orchards. Several servants, clad in the colorful gossamer cloths that were so popular in al-Rhayidh, led the party through the estate to the Caliph's Day Palace.
Within the throne room, the Caliph waited patiently on a large pillow on a raised dais. He reclined to one side, watching curiously as the party approached. He was young for a leader, perhaps in his mid-twenties. Like all Rhayidhians, he had dark bronze skin and black hair with dark eyes. There were no guards in the room, but there were, no doubt, mages protecting the Caliph.
After the servants made formal introductions, they left, leaving the party alone with the caliph. Rishala retold the story of the party's adventures in a highly condensed form, explaining to the Caliph that they were trying to stop the Dark One from escaping. Eric asked the Caliph to provide an army to help the party cross the Vulcan's Furnace and the Wasted Lands to the Dark One's palace.
"At the very least, can you supply guides?" Eric asked as well.
The Caliph thought about the request. In a lightly-accented Brytho-kelltic tongue, he replied, "My advisor told me that you would arrive here one of these days. He suggested that I do not assist you, for it would be contrary to my interests."
Sturm tensed immediately, feeling an urge to draw Gretorixmar.
"May we speak to your advisor?" Eric asked. "I think he is mistaken in withholding support. What we are doing will affect your people as well as ours."
"Very well," the Caliph agreed. He clapped his hand once.
A Shadow Kindred glided from a side entrance, its appearance disturbing in this bright light. The indistinct edges of its form were far too clear, and its gray skin looked even more lifeless in full light. It held its darkblade in one hand, at its side.
Kasey shouted and charged towards the thing immediately, drawing Caladbolg as he ran. The Shadow Kindred snapped into motion, charging Kasey. It deflected every one of Caladbolg's blows, and as it fought the Church Knight, it exhaled a noxious green cloud. Kasey staggered, choking, as the Shadow Kindred cut him down.
Even as the rest of the party brought weapons to bear, more Shadow Kindred rushed from the side room. They quickly overwhelmed the party, striking all down with slices too fast to see. Sturm was the last one standing, fighting desperately against impossible odds, and he knew he would not last long. Strike after deadly strike found its mark, and the warrior collapsed to the floor of the Caliph's throne room, dying.
As darkness settled over the Sun Knight, he heard the familiar, disembodied voice of the Dark One laughing mockingly.
End Book III: Amidst the Chaos
Back to the previous chapter: Dreams
Continue to the next chapter: Book IV: Hats
Back to the Book III Index.
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Original Draft 6 December 2002
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