Scales of Vengence

by Kensan Oni.

Chapter One: Quest of the Ivory Scale

 

Terror filled Fylwinn as she woke up from a haze. The scars from the last week were still fresh on her body, and her body shoke from the cold of the where ever she was in. Things have gone so poorly for her. She had been in a group of mighty adventurers. She had only wanted to go see and document the ruins of the city that lied just north of the jungle. The Froglok’s seemed so friendly to her expedition when they passed through. Everything was fine when they saw the great expanse of white bleached sand.

Then they were attacked by these madmen, Knights with hordes of skeletons moving in on them. She used her magic to aid her companions the best they could, but there were too many of the scaled warriors. Before the fight was through, a stray arrow clipped the side of her head, and she fell into unconsciousness.

She isn’t quite sure how long it has been since then. They had striped her of almost everything except her pride in the last couple of days, but as she explored her cold dark chamber, she saw her equipment left in the open, near the only exit from the room. It was to be one last sick game before her death, then. She picked up and started to dawn her equipment. Maybe… maybe she stood a chance. Maybe she could become free.

*   *   *

Zaphad awoke to unfamiliar scents and a harder floor then he liked. His eyes opened, and his slited pulpi adjusted to the darkness. He wasn’t at home. He wasn’t anywhere in Calasis. He slept near a woman, that was good. But the walls were beyond his sight, and all of his adventuring possessions were dropped by his side. That was not an opportune sign. So he said the first thing that came to his mind in situations like this.

 “Hey, baby. Ready to breed?”

Ratraraza eyes open, and looked across the darkness to this uncommon Iksar, and frowned. “Only if I can eat your heart afterwards.” She sat up, and surveyed her surroundings, and ignoring everything due to curiosity, she started to wander out blindly. Her step was steady as she wandered outward away from him in a drowsy daze.

Zaphad mutter quietly under his breath. “Of all the luck… stuck up…” He reached for the note, and started to read it.

Hatchlings -…

Zaphad immediately crumpled up the letter and tossed is aside. “Argggh! Hatchling? I’m not a Hatchling. I’ve been an adult for at least three years. I am sick of everyone calling me a Hatchling!”

Ratraraza spoke quietly. “Maybe if you would stop acting like one…”

“I heard that…”

Ratraraza starts to speed a little up, the movement making her body a little more aware, as she find the exit to her room. “This way. The sooner I find my way out, the sooner I’ll be away from you.”

Zaphad just gave a hiss, and started to gear up. He was about halfway done strapping into his leathers, when he hears the sharp hiss of the woman from around the corner. Grabbing a scimitar from the woman’s pile, he dashes over to see what danger faces him.

Ratraraza walked around the short corridor into another cavern, and moved forward into a trap. A scorpion, about the size of a Scaled Wolf pup, shook of the sand from its body and made a stab for the unaware Iksar.  She wheeled back, and made to grab her whip to make this arachnid pay… to find that it wasn’t at her side. With a curse, she wheeled back and kicked at the scorpion. It skittered even closer to the woman. From behind, she heard. “Hey, you want this?” Zaphad was standing there, holding out her sheathed sword.

“Give me that.” She commanded as she reached behind her, agilely dodging another close blow by scorpion pincer.

Zaphad dropped the sword. “Opps. Clumsy me…. “

With a move that was way too practiced for any woman Zaphad had ever seen, Ratraraza swept with her tail, and pushed the sword within easy reach of her, picking it up, and slicking at the scorpion all in one clean move. The Scorpions body spurted in half, ending the conflict neatly.

With a look of contempt, she started to move on, ignoring the male.

“Hey, darling. You think you might want to get dressed first?”

 “I am dressed”, Ratraraza hissed annoyed. Then she felt herself, and then realized that maybe she spoke a little hastily. “No, I’m not…” She walked back to the room she woke up in and picked up her belonging, and started to dawn her armor. While Zaphad defiantly watched with some interest, curiosity pricked his mind. Casually, he picked up the crumpled note, and read one last thing.

 -Harbinger Zazaros

 “Woman, have you ever heard of Harbinger Zazaros?”

Ratraraza finished strapping on her last buckle as he asked the question. “No. I can not say I have. Should I? He must be part of the council.”

“How dare he put us in this place? What purpose?”

“Does it matter? It must be some kind of test. All we have to do is walk out of here, and repay him with a blade through the throat when this is all done.”

 “Yes… Yes! That is what we shall do. We shall have vengeance. We shall make him and all who did this to us pay!”

With this conviction they traveled back out into the dark cavern, following into a split.

“Well, which way do we go?” Ratraraza asked to herself. Oddly, the male leaned down and sniffed at the ground, and looked carefully at the floor. She felt a slight annoyance until Zaphad spoke up.

“Four Skeletons and two Iksar walked this way to and fro… and two skeletons walked down this passage. Our captors must have gone to the right. That is the way we should go.”

Ratraraza smiled. “Well, what do you know? You are useful for something. Come then, pet. To the right we go.”

For a moment Zaphad grinned, before he came to his senses. “Hey, what do you mean by pet?” as he took off after her.

*   *   *

Fylwinn sat down, and panted. Whoever had set up this torture had spared no expense. The first scorpion had been easy to spot, the disturbed sand making it easy to tell where it was. However, the following room contained more the just the one scorpion hatchling, and the numbers had almost overwhelmed her. She was lucky to avoid getting stung, but she had wasted many a shot, and her mouth was a little tired from all the whistling she used to make sure she kept an edge of the excited arachnids. She took a moment to let her self pity show through. She should have never left home. She wanted so much to see daylight again. She couldn’t handle much more of this.

With a soft melody, she started to mend her bleeding wounds, and rested for the moment.

*   *   *

The two Iksar walked and headed towards a slightly larger, but still narrow chamber, and as Zaphad was about to enter, Ratraraza held her hand. “Wait, don’t you hear that?” she hissed quietly.

“Hear what, woman?” Zaphad hissed back.

Ratraraza listened again. They both heard the distinct click of bone against bone. “That. Pets from the Tower, I am willing to bet. They must be the next challenge around here.”

 “I grow tired of all these obstacles that are in our way. Let’s just get this over as quickly as possible. At least bones break easy.” Zaphad readied his hammer, and slowly crept forward. Rataraza looked at her bow, shook her head, and drew her scimitar once more, and prepared for battle.

They did not have to wait long. Moving out of the darkness, visible only in the reflection of their own heat, the skeletons advanced quickly out. The charge took Rataraza by surprise, and she felt the claws move quickly on the inside of her armor, scraping deeply into her thigh. She wobbled and tried to remain standing despite the pain, as she hacked and slashed weakly at the skeletal threat.

Zaphad was much luckier. Although he suffered a wound or two, he smashed his way through like a madman, like a seasoned warrior. Ratraraza could not help but be impressed with the speed he dispatched the skeletal companions. Impressed, and a little worried.  As the last skeleton hit the ground, Ratraraza fell to the ground. “Okay, we stop here.” Blood stained the ground deeply where she sat, as she panted.

Zaphad thought about abandoning her briefly… but he feared something even stronger that waited beyond him. He also knew that he could not continue on the path of vengeance without some companionship. That and maybe he would get a chance to breed with her when all this was done if he stayed around.

Zaphad took some time to light a lantern, and sat back down, and got his first true look at her without the haze of infravision. She was not all that remarkable now that he could look at her. The Chain she wore obscured her features. She had the dark scale colors of the Crusaders marked across her jaw. She herself saw his markings. He was a Spiritist. They both just stared at each other for a while, and then leaned back, and let their bodies recover.

A few hours later, they snapped out of their haze when they heard a melody, piped and haunting, echo through the cavern complex, sounding as if coming from a far distance.

Ratraraza eyes opened. “What is that? I’ve never heard anything like that before.”

“Probably just another thing we’ll have to kill. We’ll know soon enough. Rest, you lazy woman. You recover from wounds like a hatchling.”

A slight hiss was given in response, but she ignored it.

It was a full eight hours before Ratraraza’s wound finally healed over. “That’s it. I’m ready.” She got up. “So, are you coming, or should I send the Legions back to pick up your sniveling carcass?”

They traveled for a little bit further before they saw light flickering from the tunnel ahead.

Zaphad scoffed. “Torches. I bet it’s the ceremonial chamber for this place. We should be out soon.”

 “Good. I’m leaving.” Ratraraza said plainly, and with bow drawn, dashed into the other room, heedless of the danger. She ended up in a medium sized room, carefully carved out of the earth. Another tunnel was across from her, as well as another blocked by a large bolder. The torches kept this room very well lit. Well enough lit for the Shadow Knight to pick out a Spying Eye floating off in the corner. She let loose an arrow, and watched as it thunked near the small magic. “Zaphad, the Necromancers spy on us.”

Zaphad in anger rushed around the corner, and charged in the direction of the arrow, smashing the small eye with his shield, which disintegrated into nothingness. He hissed in pleasure briefly, before the haunting music started to rise again.

Coming out an entrance directly opposite of theirs, came Fylwinn. Moving with unnatural speed, she saw two more of her enemy. With very little choice, she drew her bow, and shot at Ratraraza, sending a small gush of blood as it hit mostly muscle through the tough hide.

Battle ensued, with curses and hatred shared equally, as Fylwinn dashed around with unnatural speed. The Iksar’s skill alone would have fell her if not for the magic of her song. Even with her healing, she barely could feel her energies start to drain. Her magic was all about gone when it faltered, and Zaphad struck and crushed a bone of her thigh.

In desperation, Fylwinn pressed her body against the bolder, praying that it would give so she could get away from these demons. Zaphad and Ratraraza took a breather for a while, as they watched the elf bounce against the stone. Fylwinn was determined to die with honor, and grabbed at her short sword. Zaphad smacked her sickly with his hammer, and the elf fell over, dead.

*   *   *

The Skeleton was waiting outside when the two Iksar pushed it open. It’s dim eyes saw them worn out, but holding the possessions of the dead elf. It was as was expected.

 “Greetings whelps. Congratulation, you have passed your tests. You are now adults. You have the congratulations of the council.”

Zaphad exploded with anger, even as his body limped in pain. “I am an adult! I am going to make you pay for doing this to me. Watch your back, Harbinger Zazaros. I’m going to be coming for you.”

The Skeleton just cackled. “I admire your spirit. Come and get me if you will. You are two days east of Cabalis. Come home. You have duties to perform.” With that, the skeleton crumbled its magic leaving for good.

Ratraraza sighed. “Well, that was stupid.”

Zaphad turned and hissed. “How so?”

“Now he knows I’ll be coming, pet. How can I extract my revenge when you broadcast it to everyone?”

Zaphad just looked in dumb bound shock, as Ratraraza started to walk west, towards home, and towards vengeance.

TO BE CONTINUED