Post by Anvil on Mar 31, 2009 14:09:37 GMT -5
*ooc* This is part of a thread from our boards that has intersected with the "I just want to stay alive" thread here. The end of the thread has news of the Jovian envoy.
****It must be noted that this is a joint Post by Azriel and Banith, we have been working on this over the past week****
The pace was fast and tiring, many had collapsed from exhaustion but Banith pushed on. A couple who had looked into the face of Banith could see his face was empty of expression, he was determined. What once was forty had now dwindled down to twelve, the others too tired to continue. Banith looked as if someone possessed him, as his stamina seemed to be unnatural. As if his body, did not feel the pain of the muscles on the verge of collapse. Not one of the goblins or orcs with Banith knew where they were headed, just that he ordered them to come with him.
Moments later, they are immersed in a think forest. The pace was now a slow, stealthy. The forest was quiet as Banith and his men slipped through the darkness toward the light of the campfire, that had caught Banith's eye. Upon moving closer, Banith stopped and looked upon the site. It was true, one of his was there and this did not please his heart. Banith looked at the goblins and ordered them to attack. The goblins moved slowly toward the fire and when the undergrowth was thinner, they attacked.
Azriel and Shaka sat quietly eating a fire roasted coney and some taters that the heathen had gotten them for dinner. There they sat watchful of each other weapons well within reach, for trust was not to be taken lightly between a meeting of a member of the Defenders and the Chatar of the Chu ka Tal, even though there prior associations were meant to benifit both sides, one can never be to careful. For if the heathen held up his end of the bargin, Azriel would never again, cross swords with a Defender.
"A good meal," Azriel said as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "It has been awhile since I have tasted a meal with seasonings, but enough with the plesentries my um...... freind. I have the means now to destroy Banith, I have assembled a group of orcs loyal to myself and have equipped them with the arms you have provided. go now to your precious King Anvil and tell him of my terms, explain the territories and the alliance we shall have when the Jovians come to Dunland, so go now with haste and pray to your heathen gods he listens."
No more then mere moments after those words drifted from Azriels mouth, their little encampment was beseeched by Goblins and Orcs all bearing the symbol of the Chu ka' Tal.
"RUN SHAKA!!!.......BANITH KNOWS," Azriel yells. but it was to late, they were surrounded.
"Now we fight together giant....for the good of Dunland," Shaka exclaims.
"You fight for Dunland heathen, I fight for my own neck," Azriel replies.
Shaka spears a goblin within moments of the attack, a masterful shot over 20 foot dropping the creature instantly, multiple goblins charge Azriel. He bats one away with his mighty hand, grabs another by his head crushing it into a nearby tree. The third goblin biting and and clawing to no avail at his calf, is samarily crushed underfoot.
Azriel takes a breif moment to aprize himself of Shaka's condition he seems to be doing well at removing himself from the fray. Just then a goblin hits the giant in the head with a rock no bigger then a childs hand, Azriel stops for a moment looks down at the goblin and says...."Are those the biggest stones you have??" Azriel smashes the wretch with his great club sending his limp body into the brush
"ORCS!!!!!!..." Shaka yells"... now we have to fight orcs." Then the heathen mutters something in his own language, curses im sure Azriel thinks.
"Just be glad its fodder and not our seasoned warriors Shaka," replies Azriel.
As the fight insues Azriel finally noticed how tired and unprepared the troops were. Did they not know the Target. Could Banith have been so nieve. lost in thought Azriel lets his guard down for a moment and a axe grazes the right side of his face, blinding him in his right eye. Azriel swings wildly and catches the orc in the gut....lucky but he will take it.
Shaka yells, "I will tell the King of your deeds should you survive. Good luck Azriel as the heathen runs off into the woods."
And now Azriel stands alone waiting for the next wave, winded yet ready.
Banith watches as the few goblins and orcs are crushed under the heel of Azriel and Shaka. He was not surprised but he needed an advantage after the hard traveling they had done, after all Banith was well aware that Azriel would be in much better condition to fight than a tired bunch of goblins and orcs and now it was time to face Azriel himself. Banith walked toward the ring of light the campfire brought forth. Never had he thought that someone of Azriel's dedication could turn, but he was faced with a traitor within his finest of fighters.
"Did you expect me not find out of this, Azriel?" he yelled out as he started to circle the fire, just outside its light.
Azriel turns to face the voice of the Goth as he wipes away the blood from gaping wound that had taken his eye, Baniths face writhing in anger, a slow yet steady smile appears on Azriels lips, as he invisions a dagger of betrayal piercing the heart of his former leader.
"Am I to assume Lord Goth that I no longer grace the ranks of your Chu Ku' tal." Banith need say nothing Azriel knew the answer already.
"You tried to make me look a fool in your hall days ago, when now you realize you are the fool. Allowing me to get so close, and speaking of close where is your errand boy where is Melko, should not he be the one you sent to exact your wrath......whats wrong cant trolls keep up with goblins??"
"Melko is taking care of a matter of importance, of which you do not need to know," replied Banith as he continues to circle Azriel. "I will be taking care of this matter myself. You made yourself the fool, Azriel. A leader would know that even goblins have a use but something tells me the goblins were not the reason you failed. So tell me why? Tell me why you think this human king will allow you to rule so close. You honestly believe you, a simple fool, could rule?"
While Banith talked, he looked over Azriel looking for his weaknesses, knowing his strength although brutish would also be used against him.
"Do you believe I would allow this? That I would not find out? That any of MY brothers would follow you?" Banith chuckled. "I am the one true son of Ku'tal. I can not allow anyone to know of your treachery, and because of this I WILL kill you."
Azriel turns to keep a watchful eye on the half-orc, knowing his attack was immenent, Grasping his great club even tighter, as Azriel does not take well of mockery or criticizm, and he could feel the rage burning inside him. "Talk all I am hearing is talk, why does he not attack," the half-giant thinks to himself.
"If the new King is wise, he will take me up on my offer, and if not, I shall crush him and all who stand by him into dust.I will not stand idly by. You know full well we could have marched right in to Dunland and destroyed the humans. So that makes me wonder what it is you are planning oh great and powerful Goth, because it would appear you are hidding just as much as I."
Banith smiled at Azriel, he was obviously getting to him and Azriel was trying his best to get to him. "You think, once we destroy Dunland that will be it? That Dragonspire, Mittelmarch or any of the other kingdoms would allow this to happen?" Banith starting laughing loudly. "You really are a stupid creature, but dont worry when I kill you, no one will find out about this or you and your little plot."
Banith moves forward drawing the sword from its sheath, his stance changes as he approaches Azriel.
As the sword barely clears the sheath Azriel charges great club gripped tightly, he charges as if possessed, one thought burns in his brain......KILL BANITH
Azriel takes a mighty swing, Banith tumbles to the side barely escapeing the blow that would surely have caved in his chest. Banith taunts the giant, "see still to this day you cannot remained focused, your anger blinds you" he scoughs.
Banith leaps at Azriels back, sword poised to strike, the giant turns in time to block the the strike mere inches from flesh, and pushing Banith back in the same instance, for he know if the half-orc gets in close he is done for
Out of instinct Azriel back swings and sweeps the legs of Banith, who lands hard on the ground. The giant raises his club and starts to bring it down, Banith dazed suddenly sees the club coming down and rolls out from under it. The club comes down with a thud, just inches from the head of Banith.
Azriel laughted at the look on Banith's face as he looked at the club and where it had landed. As Banith started to look up to Azriel, his body was rocked as Azriel's foot met his side. An audible snap meant ribs were broken and Banith rolled hard to try and regain his footing.
Banith knew he could not go toe to toe with Azriel in strength because it would mean his demise. He has to rely on using his own strengths and Azriel's weaknesses against him.
Banith stopped, stood upright and smiled at Azriel. "I wonder Azriel, how long would they follow you once they discovered you were a puppet of Man?"
Azriel started to grind his teeth, grip his club tight and he charged at Banith. Banith stood his ground, gripping his sword in his right hand and let his left hand slide behind him toward the dagger that await. Finding the handle, Banith drew the blade from its sheath. As Azriel raised his club to attack, Banith loosed the dagger and watched as it plunged into the meat of Azriel's left breast. The giant stopped and looked down at the handle sticking out of his chest. Looking back up, Azriel and Banith locked eyes, and when Azriel's knees buckled he came down hard on them.
Banith walked toward Azriel, reached out and pulled the embedded dagger from Azriel's chest. His face blank, he leaned over put his face close to Azriel's ear.
"Chatar Azriel died in an ambush by bandits who had been observing caravan movements. Unfortunately they caught him and out brothers and sisters up in their plan. I discovered his body amongst the dead and honored him the only way he would want." Banith's voice changed, "This is what will be told. No one will speak of your treachery. You will be remembered as a hero amongst us!"
As Azriel's eyes started to roll back into his head, Banith turned to prepare for his departure. Killing Azriel did note please him. He did not like ending the life of someone who had brought so much progress to their cause. He would be missed, but Banith knew he would not dare turn against him without some sort of support, which meant a cleansing of the troops would be neccesary. It had to be done quickly and quietly, so as to not raise suspicion. It was at that second, at the though of killing more of his brethren, that Banith heard the snap of a branch behind him. Suddenly his air was being squeezed out of him and Banith felt the powerful arms of Azriel starting to squeeze the life out of him.
Azriel started to swing Banith back and forth, ramming him into the trees that surrounded him. Banith slowly felt his surroundings fading and he felt the pressure of Azriel's arms increasing. As a last ditch effort, Banith brought his head forward then quickly slammed it backwards into the face of the giant, he felt the arms loosen, and he fell to the ground. The air came rushing back into his lungs and the blackness faded.
Azriel was holding his nose, screaming at Banith. Banith steps back and plants a heavy foot into the groin area of the giant.
"Now stay down," gasped Banith.
Banith underestimated the reach of the giant and was caught off guard when the giant reached out and caught him upside the head. Banith stumbles and finds himself on the ground. Quickly looking back toward the giant, he can see him rising up from his agony and approaching Banith in full stride. Banith looks down and sees a spear, apparently the weapon of Shaka. As Azriel closes in, Banith grips the end of the spear and when Azriel is within reach, Banith drives the spear into the chest of the giant. Azriel lets out a primal scream, as Banith drives the spear through his chest and out his back. The giant teeters and falls to the ground.
Banith's head was ringing and his chest hurt badly, he stumbles toward his sword and picks it up. Now to dispose of the bodies and make his way back toward his people. There would be more blood spilled in the days to come, not something that will be easily covered up. That would happen later, now Banith would have to take care of these bodies by himself and hope nothing or no one would come along, for he was in no shape for another fight. Banith looked around at the bodies lying scattered in the area. He would burn the bodies and then.......a moan! Banith turned to see the body of Azriel stirring, Banith sighed and made his way toward him.
Banith stood over the body of Azriel as he watched him pull himself up and stare into the eyes of Banith. "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!?!" asked Banith yelling. Azriel smiled and starting laughing. Banith raised his sword and with a swing, the forest was quiet once again.
Banith had piled the bodies among sticks and dead foliage into a big pile. The sky would echo the glow of the blaze and cast the reddish glow into the night air. Banith would meet with Melko, implement his new choice of command for the Mor-Gundul tribe, an orc he met long ago, then return the life of the Chu Ku'tal to the acceptable form of normal.
When Melko arrived with the bodies that Banith asked for, Banith was standing within the glow of the blaze. The heat was stiffling, Melko's eyes adjusted to the brightness and he could see a few bodies of orcs which looked to be fresh kills. Banith's face had more of normal look, he brow was not creased and his scowl was gone, Melko almost didnt want to bring the news that he had for him.
"Shaka is dead...." said Melko matter of factly.
"How?" asked Banith.
"Apparently an Irish woman who has been trying to kill the Spaniard"
Banith turned toward Melko and gave him a puzzled look. "An Irish woman killed the Defender?" And Melko merely nodded.
"We will send the Spaniard to bring the news of his demise to his superiors, we dont need too much weight on the shaky knees we stand on right now. Now, lets bring the bodies and this nice little package, and on the way we will bring Flaw, he is needed sooner than expected."
*********
As Plebian turns the mount towards Dunland he just glimpses a trail of smoke in the far distance " That is no camp fire it is much to large we must investigate". Plebian sends one of the militia back to report this information to Anvil. What ever they find Plebian hopes it is not more than he and the other two militia members can handle.
The fire burns just across the next ridge. He dismounts to approach with some stealth just ahead he sees fresh tracks in the dirt road and some blood "some one is more than likely dead, there is to much blood here" Plebian says almost to himself. Mixed in with the blood he sees two sets of boot prints and one set of human barefoot tracks, female by the size.
This scuffle may have nothing to do with the fire and maybe everything. Plebian sets his sight back to the fire and moves quickly to see if there is anything important to report to Anvil.
Before he even saw the place where the fire was he could smell it. The fire was almost out now, but that did not keep the smell of cooked flesh from riseing to the nose. The body of a partially burnt half-giant lay in the middle with much smaller creatures tossed in around it, mostly orcs and goblins.
Plebian points at the giant beast in the center of the funeral pyre and says " That is Azreil, third in command of the Chu, Katal"
"The smaller creatures are to far gone to recognize". Plebian begins searching the ground around the fire.
"A troll was here, a big one too, more than likely the one they call Melko" Plebian moves the search a little further out and spots human tracks. Than he spots a place where a fight broke out. " Here, Azriel fought an orc, NO, this can't be right". "These orc tracks are slightly larger than normal." Plebian sits to take in all that he has seen, that is when he spots the broken and burnt spear that belongs to Shaka. This new bit of information puzzles him greatly "Monsters fighting each other, a Defender in the same ranks as them , this makes no sense. "There are to many unknown varibles here, we must return to Anvil and tell him what we have learned, only then can we move forward" Plebian reaches into the pile of dead and pulls the spear shard from the body and tells the nearby scout to stow it away.
"Lets get a move on darkness will be on us soon." Almost a full day has passed since He first saw the fire and Plebian will be glad this patrol is soon over. "I'm glad this can't get any worse" Plebian says.
Just then Plebian chuckles and utters a curse. A Jovian hangs from a tree only twenty feet away. "Skinned alive "says the closest scout. Plebian looks through the belongings that lay at the base of the tree and sees a satchel "Empty" He says quietly. He tosses it back down and points toward Gladden Feilds "Lets get to Anvil there is much to discuss."
****It must be noted that this is a joint Post by Azriel and Banith, we have been working on this over the past week****
The pace was fast and tiring, many had collapsed from exhaustion but Banith pushed on. A couple who had looked into the face of Banith could see his face was empty of expression, he was determined. What once was forty had now dwindled down to twelve, the others too tired to continue. Banith looked as if someone possessed him, as his stamina seemed to be unnatural. As if his body, did not feel the pain of the muscles on the verge of collapse. Not one of the goblins or orcs with Banith knew where they were headed, just that he ordered them to come with him.
Moments later, they are immersed in a think forest. The pace was now a slow, stealthy. The forest was quiet as Banith and his men slipped through the darkness toward the light of the campfire, that had caught Banith's eye. Upon moving closer, Banith stopped and looked upon the site. It was true, one of his was there and this did not please his heart. Banith looked at the goblins and ordered them to attack. The goblins moved slowly toward the fire and when the undergrowth was thinner, they attacked.
Azriel and Shaka sat quietly eating a fire roasted coney and some taters that the heathen had gotten them for dinner. There they sat watchful of each other weapons well within reach, for trust was not to be taken lightly between a meeting of a member of the Defenders and the Chatar of the Chu ka Tal, even though there prior associations were meant to benifit both sides, one can never be to careful. For if the heathen held up his end of the bargin, Azriel would never again, cross swords with a Defender.
"A good meal," Azriel said as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "It has been awhile since I have tasted a meal with seasonings, but enough with the plesentries my um...... freind. I have the means now to destroy Banith, I have assembled a group of orcs loyal to myself and have equipped them with the arms you have provided. go now to your precious King Anvil and tell him of my terms, explain the territories and the alliance we shall have when the Jovians come to Dunland, so go now with haste and pray to your heathen gods he listens."
No more then mere moments after those words drifted from Azriels mouth, their little encampment was beseeched by Goblins and Orcs all bearing the symbol of the Chu ka' Tal.
"RUN SHAKA!!!.......BANITH KNOWS," Azriel yells. but it was to late, they were surrounded.
"Now we fight together giant....for the good of Dunland," Shaka exclaims.
"You fight for Dunland heathen, I fight for my own neck," Azriel replies.
Shaka spears a goblin within moments of the attack, a masterful shot over 20 foot dropping the creature instantly, multiple goblins charge Azriel. He bats one away with his mighty hand, grabs another by his head crushing it into a nearby tree. The third goblin biting and and clawing to no avail at his calf, is samarily crushed underfoot.
Azriel takes a breif moment to aprize himself of Shaka's condition he seems to be doing well at removing himself from the fray. Just then a goblin hits the giant in the head with a rock no bigger then a childs hand, Azriel stops for a moment looks down at the goblin and says...."Are those the biggest stones you have??" Azriel smashes the wretch with his great club sending his limp body into the brush
"ORCS!!!!!!..." Shaka yells"... now we have to fight orcs." Then the heathen mutters something in his own language, curses im sure Azriel thinks.
"Just be glad its fodder and not our seasoned warriors Shaka," replies Azriel.
As the fight insues Azriel finally noticed how tired and unprepared the troops were. Did they not know the Target. Could Banith have been so nieve. lost in thought Azriel lets his guard down for a moment and a axe grazes the right side of his face, blinding him in his right eye. Azriel swings wildly and catches the orc in the gut....lucky but he will take it.
Shaka yells, "I will tell the King of your deeds should you survive. Good luck Azriel as the heathen runs off into the woods."
And now Azriel stands alone waiting for the next wave, winded yet ready.
Banith watches as the few goblins and orcs are crushed under the heel of Azriel and Shaka. He was not surprised but he needed an advantage after the hard traveling they had done, after all Banith was well aware that Azriel would be in much better condition to fight than a tired bunch of goblins and orcs and now it was time to face Azriel himself. Banith walked toward the ring of light the campfire brought forth. Never had he thought that someone of Azriel's dedication could turn, but he was faced with a traitor within his finest of fighters.
"Did you expect me not find out of this, Azriel?" he yelled out as he started to circle the fire, just outside its light.
Azriel turns to face the voice of the Goth as he wipes away the blood from gaping wound that had taken his eye, Baniths face writhing in anger, a slow yet steady smile appears on Azriels lips, as he invisions a dagger of betrayal piercing the heart of his former leader.
"Am I to assume Lord Goth that I no longer grace the ranks of your Chu Ku' tal." Banith need say nothing Azriel knew the answer already.
"You tried to make me look a fool in your hall days ago, when now you realize you are the fool. Allowing me to get so close, and speaking of close where is your errand boy where is Melko, should not he be the one you sent to exact your wrath......whats wrong cant trolls keep up with goblins??"
"Melko is taking care of a matter of importance, of which you do not need to know," replied Banith as he continues to circle Azriel. "I will be taking care of this matter myself. You made yourself the fool, Azriel. A leader would know that even goblins have a use but something tells me the goblins were not the reason you failed. So tell me why? Tell me why you think this human king will allow you to rule so close. You honestly believe you, a simple fool, could rule?"
While Banith talked, he looked over Azriel looking for his weaknesses, knowing his strength although brutish would also be used against him.
"Do you believe I would allow this? That I would not find out? That any of MY brothers would follow you?" Banith chuckled. "I am the one true son of Ku'tal. I can not allow anyone to know of your treachery, and because of this I WILL kill you."
Azriel turns to keep a watchful eye on the half-orc, knowing his attack was immenent, Grasping his great club even tighter, as Azriel does not take well of mockery or criticizm, and he could feel the rage burning inside him. "Talk all I am hearing is talk, why does he not attack," the half-giant thinks to himself.
"If the new King is wise, he will take me up on my offer, and if not, I shall crush him and all who stand by him into dust.I will not stand idly by. You know full well we could have marched right in to Dunland and destroyed the humans. So that makes me wonder what it is you are planning oh great and powerful Goth, because it would appear you are hidding just as much as I."
Banith smiled at Azriel, he was obviously getting to him and Azriel was trying his best to get to him. "You think, once we destroy Dunland that will be it? That Dragonspire, Mittelmarch or any of the other kingdoms would allow this to happen?" Banith starting laughing loudly. "You really are a stupid creature, but dont worry when I kill you, no one will find out about this or you and your little plot."
Banith moves forward drawing the sword from its sheath, his stance changes as he approaches Azriel.
As the sword barely clears the sheath Azriel charges great club gripped tightly, he charges as if possessed, one thought burns in his brain......KILL BANITH
Azriel takes a mighty swing, Banith tumbles to the side barely escapeing the blow that would surely have caved in his chest. Banith taunts the giant, "see still to this day you cannot remained focused, your anger blinds you" he scoughs.
Banith leaps at Azriels back, sword poised to strike, the giant turns in time to block the the strike mere inches from flesh, and pushing Banith back in the same instance, for he know if the half-orc gets in close he is done for
Out of instinct Azriel back swings and sweeps the legs of Banith, who lands hard on the ground. The giant raises his club and starts to bring it down, Banith dazed suddenly sees the club coming down and rolls out from under it. The club comes down with a thud, just inches from the head of Banith.
Azriel laughted at the look on Banith's face as he looked at the club and where it had landed. As Banith started to look up to Azriel, his body was rocked as Azriel's foot met his side. An audible snap meant ribs were broken and Banith rolled hard to try and regain his footing.
Banith knew he could not go toe to toe with Azriel in strength because it would mean his demise. He has to rely on using his own strengths and Azriel's weaknesses against him.
Banith stopped, stood upright and smiled at Azriel. "I wonder Azriel, how long would they follow you once they discovered you were a puppet of Man?"
Azriel started to grind his teeth, grip his club tight and he charged at Banith. Banith stood his ground, gripping his sword in his right hand and let his left hand slide behind him toward the dagger that await. Finding the handle, Banith drew the blade from its sheath. As Azriel raised his club to attack, Banith loosed the dagger and watched as it plunged into the meat of Azriel's left breast. The giant stopped and looked down at the handle sticking out of his chest. Looking back up, Azriel and Banith locked eyes, and when Azriel's knees buckled he came down hard on them.
Banith walked toward Azriel, reached out and pulled the embedded dagger from Azriel's chest. His face blank, he leaned over put his face close to Azriel's ear.
"Chatar Azriel died in an ambush by bandits who had been observing caravan movements. Unfortunately they caught him and out brothers and sisters up in their plan. I discovered his body amongst the dead and honored him the only way he would want." Banith's voice changed, "This is what will be told. No one will speak of your treachery. You will be remembered as a hero amongst us!"
As Azriel's eyes started to roll back into his head, Banith turned to prepare for his departure. Killing Azriel did note please him. He did not like ending the life of someone who had brought so much progress to their cause. He would be missed, but Banith knew he would not dare turn against him without some sort of support, which meant a cleansing of the troops would be neccesary. It had to be done quickly and quietly, so as to not raise suspicion. It was at that second, at the though of killing more of his brethren, that Banith heard the snap of a branch behind him. Suddenly his air was being squeezed out of him and Banith felt the powerful arms of Azriel starting to squeeze the life out of him.
Azriel started to swing Banith back and forth, ramming him into the trees that surrounded him. Banith slowly felt his surroundings fading and he felt the pressure of Azriel's arms increasing. As a last ditch effort, Banith brought his head forward then quickly slammed it backwards into the face of the giant, he felt the arms loosen, and he fell to the ground. The air came rushing back into his lungs and the blackness faded.
Azriel was holding his nose, screaming at Banith. Banith steps back and plants a heavy foot into the groin area of the giant.
"Now stay down," gasped Banith.
Banith underestimated the reach of the giant and was caught off guard when the giant reached out and caught him upside the head. Banith stumbles and finds himself on the ground. Quickly looking back toward the giant, he can see him rising up from his agony and approaching Banith in full stride. Banith looks down and sees a spear, apparently the weapon of Shaka. As Azriel closes in, Banith grips the end of the spear and when Azriel is within reach, Banith drives the spear into the chest of the giant. Azriel lets out a primal scream, as Banith drives the spear through his chest and out his back. The giant teeters and falls to the ground.
Banith's head was ringing and his chest hurt badly, he stumbles toward his sword and picks it up. Now to dispose of the bodies and make his way back toward his people. There would be more blood spilled in the days to come, not something that will be easily covered up. That would happen later, now Banith would have to take care of these bodies by himself and hope nothing or no one would come along, for he was in no shape for another fight. Banith looked around at the bodies lying scattered in the area. He would burn the bodies and then.......a moan! Banith turned to see the body of Azriel stirring, Banith sighed and made his way toward him.
Banith stood over the body of Azriel as he watched him pull himself up and stare into the eyes of Banith. "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!?!" asked Banith yelling. Azriel smiled and starting laughing. Banith raised his sword and with a swing, the forest was quiet once again.
Banith had piled the bodies among sticks and dead foliage into a big pile. The sky would echo the glow of the blaze and cast the reddish glow into the night air. Banith would meet with Melko, implement his new choice of command for the Mor-Gundul tribe, an orc he met long ago, then return the life of the Chu Ku'tal to the acceptable form of normal.
When Melko arrived with the bodies that Banith asked for, Banith was standing within the glow of the blaze. The heat was stiffling, Melko's eyes adjusted to the brightness and he could see a few bodies of orcs which looked to be fresh kills. Banith's face had more of normal look, he brow was not creased and his scowl was gone, Melko almost didnt want to bring the news that he had for him.
"Shaka is dead...." said Melko matter of factly.
"How?" asked Banith.
"Apparently an Irish woman who has been trying to kill the Spaniard"
Banith turned toward Melko and gave him a puzzled look. "An Irish woman killed the Defender?" And Melko merely nodded.
"We will send the Spaniard to bring the news of his demise to his superiors, we dont need too much weight on the shaky knees we stand on right now. Now, lets bring the bodies and this nice little package, and on the way we will bring Flaw, he is needed sooner than expected."
*********
As Plebian turns the mount towards Dunland he just glimpses a trail of smoke in the far distance " That is no camp fire it is much to large we must investigate". Plebian sends one of the militia back to report this information to Anvil. What ever they find Plebian hopes it is not more than he and the other two militia members can handle.
The fire burns just across the next ridge. He dismounts to approach with some stealth just ahead he sees fresh tracks in the dirt road and some blood "some one is more than likely dead, there is to much blood here" Plebian says almost to himself. Mixed in with the blood he sees two sets of boot prints and one set of human barefoot tracks, female by the size.
This scuffle may have nothing to do with the fire and maybe everything. Plebian sets his sight back to the fire and moves quickly to see if there is anything important to report to Anvil.
Before he even saw the place where the fire was he could smell it. The fire was almost out now, but that did not keep the smell of cooked flesh from riseing to the nose. The body of a partially burnt half-giant lay in the middle with much smaller creatures tossed in around it, mostly orcs and goblins.
Plebian points at the giant beast in the center of the funeral pyre and says " That is Azreil, third in command of the Chu, Katal"
"The smaller creatures are to far gone to recognize". Plebian begins searching the ground around the fire.
"A troll was here, a big one too, more than likely the one they call Melko" Plebian moves the search a little further out and spots human tracks. Than he spots a place where a fight broke out. " Here, Azriel fought an orc, NO, this can't be right". "These orc tracks are slightly larger than normal." Plebian sits to take in all that he has seen, that is when he spots the broken and burnt spear that belongs to Shaka. This new bit of information puzzles him greatly "Monsters fighting each other, a Defender in the same ranks as them , this makes no sense. "There are to many unknown varibles here, we must return to Anvil and tell him what we have learned, only then can we move forward" Plebian reaches into the pile of dead and pulls the spear shard from the body and tells the nearby scout to stow it away.
"Lets get a move on darkness will be on us soon." Almost a full day has passed since He first saw the fire and Plebian will be glad this patrol is soon over. "I'm glad this can't get any worse" Plebian says.
Just then Plebian chuckles and utters a curse. A Jovian hangs from a tree only twenty feet away. "Skinned alive "says the closest scout. Plebian looks through the belongings that lay at the base of the tree and sees a satchel "Empty" He says quietly. He tosses it back down and points toward Gladden Feilds "Lets get to Anvil there is much to discuss."