Death Or Fortune (34 page)

     
Keltor was able to talk Logan into staying behind by making it his duty to
defend the people. Yet I would not be talked out of it.  I had to stay
with him as he was my friend and my brother in faith. We spent the night
talking while we made our way north.  Talking of our past, our adventures
and our hopes for the future.  Just before dawn we were there on the Plain
of Hope, at the ruins of the temple of Solarth.  Two walls of the temple
still stood tall, I looked around, the foundation was good, it just needed to
be rebuilt.  When I told Keltor this he said it would be rebuilt.  He
told me that I would rebuild the temple before I left the island.  I asked
him how he could be so sure and he just smiled telling me that he knew.
 You will build the temple and a great tower here. At the top of the tower
will be a light, the light of hope.  It will be a guide to those who are
now lost in the dark.  He then told me that we must part, that he must
take this last walk alone. He told me to stay within the ruined walls of the
temple, that I would be safe from harm there.  I tried to question him
about what was going to happen, he would only tell me that it was the gods
will.

      So I
stayed behind and watched as my friend walked across the Plain of Hope, when he
was near the middle of the field he stopped and started to look around.
 He took the Fist of Solarth in to his hand and waited.  I could hear
the approaching army as I knew he could as well.  He just stood there, watching,
waiting for them to come.  As promised Kesslin was leading his army, one
thousand strong towards the home of the Melkor.  The sky over the Plain of
Hope was clear that day, Keltor's white robes blazed under the sun.  He
stood tall and firm as the army approached. They stopped short, only Kesslin
and his commanders came forward to meet with Keltor.  I thought of leaving
my hiding spot there at the ruined temple but something kept me firmly rooted
to the spot.  I assume it was the same thing that allowed me to hear their
voices as they spoke. When Keltor raised the Fist of Solarth over his head, he
spoke not to just Kesslin but to all the army.

     
"My name is Keltor Stormcaller, Cleric of Solarth.  I came here to
help return you to your proper path as the true chosen people of our god.
 You have been led astray by an agent of evil, yet you are still not lost.
 This is your chance to return to the light, embrace your brothers to the
south and go forward together as one people, blessed by the good god. If you
chose to continue down this current path, you will face the fury of the god who
only sought to protect you." I had hoped that I would see a mass exodus of
men.  While more than a few dropped their weapons and returned to their
home land, most stayed where they were. Waiting for the order to march. Kesslin
told Keltor to stand aside or he would be trampled as the army came forward.
 At first I thought it was just the sun but as the army took its first
steps forward The Fist of Solarth started to glow. Soon the glow spread down
his arm and soon his whole body was covered in that strange golden light.
 Blinded by the darkness of Kesslin's heart, they continued forward.
 It was then that Keltor began to rise up into the air.  Kesslin
screamed out to his men to continue on, that it was nothing but a trick to
scare them off.  When Keltor was directly over the advancing army he
shouted out one last thing. "I am sorry."

      It
was then that Keltor threw down the Fist of Solarth.  I imagined for a
moment that it landed at the feet of Kesslin. There was a blinding flash of
light followed by a rumble of thunder. I fell to my knees there in the ruins of
the temple of Solarth, I could feel the world shaking under me and I could hear
the screams of the men who knew they were now doomed to a horrible death.
Clouds of dust rolled across the Plain of Hope, for a short time, blotting out
the sun.  I stayed there in that temple on my knees until I could hear
nothing else.  When the dust cleared I got to my feet, leaving the ruins
behind to go in search of my friend.  Not more than a few hundred feet
from the ruins the land was shattered.  Solarths fury had torn the island
in two.  I stood on the edge of the destruction and prayed for my friend
for I knew that I had seen him for the last time. I am sure Solarth understood
my tears that day. Where the Plain of Hope once was, there was now a hundred
foot gap between the Othos and the Melkor. The bodies of the men who died that
day were now lost in the ocean between the two halves.

      In the
days ahead Logan and I were able to reach out to the Othos, to reconnect them
with the Melkor.  As I was instructed by my friend, I rebuilt the temple
of Solarth with the tower he described.  After two years of work we were
able to heal the rift between the two villages.  Once again they were
going forward as intended by Solarth.  The island of Napatiea was no more.
They have now taken the name of Va'Nox.  It means the broken.  I am
sending this journal back home with Logan, he and the remaining ship's crew are
going to leave the island.  As I still have work to do here, it will be
awhile before I can return home.  Logan has told me that he will be back
in one year's time to collect me.  I do not doubt his words and truth be
told I am looking forward to going home again. To return to my home land and to
start my own family. Until that time I will be here, doing the gods work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     After
Kandella finished the translation she sat back and read everything she wrote
one more time. When the idea came to her that those people, the Va'Nox were
still there after all this time she started to get excited. Was it possible
that there was still a temple out there. That those people were still alive and
the continued on through the years. More importantly she thought, they could be
the only ones who continued to worship Solarth after the fall. Is it possible
that they were never touched again by the corruption of Asmodai? Taking her
written translation, she returned everything to the box and took it up stairs
to the office of Bishop Hans. As she climbed the steps out of the cellar she
knew what she had to say, she knew what it was that she would ask of him.
 This find was far too important to ignore.  Faced with what she
believed was a road with endless possibilities she was going to ask him to send
her there.  To find that link to the past.  She believed that this
was the true meaning behind her coming to Arcadia and she was determined to
make him see this as well.

      Near
a week later in the town of Rohloff, Kandella was on the deck of the ship
waving goodbye to Bishop Hans. While it took her some time to convince him, he
did agree that this find was something that should be looked into.  Yet he
sent along with her a few men.  He did not want her blindly roaming around
an island that could be a very dangerous place now.  Bishop Hans talked
Captain Turk into sending a few men with her.  While Kandella did not care
for the brutish humans, she was glad for their protection.  She knew the voyage
would take several weeks and she was looking forward to writing about the
journey there and back.  She gave Bishop Hans one last wave as she turned
away from the railing of the ship and took her things to her room.  She
had some strange looks from the sailors on the ship but none of them said a
word to her.  The ship's captain had a good reputation in Rohloff and for
some reason the name of the ship pleased her.  If only she knew when they
set out that this would be the last voyage of Nathan’s Bounty for a very long
time.

     Sa'tilix
made an imposing figure sitting there amongst the burnt buildings, almost
majestic. I didn't see him at first but sitting there on the dragons back was
General Malkov. While I could not see his face I imagine he wasn't all that
pleased. When the great beast lowered him to the ground I knew he was going to
come to the tower.  It was the only building left standing.  I drew
my weapon and started to make my way towards the stairs.
'What are you
doing?
' Zender asked me with some confusion in his voice.  I told him
we had to deal with Malkov, one way or another. '
What about the dragon, did
you think of that?'
he asked again.  I looked out the tower window
again at the beast, I just shrugged my shoulders.  It is only one dragon I
told him. Thinking in the back of my mind that the red we killed months ago was
so much bigger than Sa’tilix, I knew we could take him.  Either way, we
had to do something before they went back to Ramanthus to tell him what had happened
at the spire.  We had to give Lomark the time he needed to make our escape
ready.  I was tired of standing around and doing nothing, I was tired of
trying to find the back way around it all.  It was time for me to start
going towards things head on.  I told him he could follow me or stay with
the wizard.  Either way I was going down there to deal with it.
     Looking back I may have just been itching for a fight.
 While I take no pleasure from killing, there is something to be said
about the fight.  As I was rushing down the tower stairs, I could hear
them behind me.  I took a moment to look back and was shocked to see
Lomark.  I told him he could stay behind, he just said
'Fight with me
or die without me'.
 I wasn't sure how to take that but then I remembered
it was Lomark.  Malkov opened the door to the tower just as we reached the
bottom of the stairs.
'You did this!
' he shouted at me.
'I'll kill
you all.'
He was lost in his rage. While he did have a dragon outside, how
could he believe he would take us all on?  He raised his weapon over his
head and started charging towards us.  I doubted for a moment if I wanted
to kill him right away.  This wasn't his fault, he was just the hired
hand.  I wanted to give him a chance to walk away. To this day, I do not know
why.  I stood where I was, three steps from the bottom and waited for him
to come to me.  Knowing my timing had to be just right I set my back foot
and when he hit the first step I kicked out at him.
     The sound of my foot crushing his face echoed up the
tower.  He flew back towards the door and landed in a heap on the floor.
 While I still don't know what was so funny hearing Zackary laugh made me
smile.  Malkov rolled around on the floor, drawing a deep breath into his
mouth, his nosed was completely crushed.  As he got to his knees he spit
out two teeth and looked up at me.
'Should have known better than to trust
you. Did you burn them all alive you bastard?
' I just shook my head at him.
 I told him he was an idiot, that the men set the fires as they were
leaving. I told him about Willis coming out of the house saying something about
how the priest and that all the gold was gone.  I then told him the men
rioted over not being paid.
'Lies!
' he screamed at me.  I just
shook my head at him and told him that it was over.  That all their plans
had fallen apart and he was better off leaving before it was too late.
 Using the tower wall to hold himself he got to his feet again.
'I will
give up when you are dead.
' While I wasn't determined to kill him yet I
could feel my anger starting to burn.  I slowly slid my weapon back into
its scabbard. Locking my eyes on his, I started to walk towards him.
     I saw him draw the dagger from his belt but I didn't
even acknowledge it.  I could hear my friends behind me, talking, warning
me.  It didn't matter.  As he thrust the blade at me I caught his
wrist, slamming it into the wall over his head. Watching the dagger fall to the
floor. 'You do not know me', I said to him. 'You do not know what I am capable
of doing to you.  I am giving you a chance, a chance to live.  To be
free of this mad man and live out the rest of your life.  You know he
can't beat Xcavere, every man in this fortress would have died.  We saved
them, now save yourself before it is too late.'  I was watching his eyes,
watching to see if my words had any effect on him.  All I could see was
madness, he was beyond my ability to reach with words.  He tried to free
himself from my grip, it was then that Zackary once again saved my life. The dragon
Sa'tilix had been watching from outside the tower.  Sticking his head as
far into the door as was possible it tried to bite me.  It would have had
Zackary not pulled me away.  I turned and looked at the face of the beast,
'do not kill my human. Give him to me.'
I honestly could not believe my
ears.  I wondered what it was that made him so protective of Malkov.
 Most dragons don’t care for humans, evil dragons only view them as a
threat or something else to eat.
     I took a hold of Malkov and held him in front of me
like a shield, marching him out of the tower. The others followed behind me,
fanning out to the sides once they were clear of the door way.  Sa'tilix
took Malkov in one of its claws, standing on his hind legs he looked down on
me. It was then I noticed the wounds on its body, the blood on his face.
Holding Malkov's body close to its face, Sa'tilix began to whisper words of
magic, causing the man to fall fast asleep.
'I remember the sting of your
blade human.'
As it looked down on me the dragon’s voice rolled over the
courtyard like thunder over a plain.
'I have lost my mate this day to those
cursed elves, I will not lose my young. They are not ready to live in this
world alone. Yet this I swear human, I will find you again. My time is great,
when you are old and gray I will come to you. You will be helpless as I kill
everyone that you care about. Then after seeing all that you love destroyed, I
will take you. Remember my name human, I will not soon forget yours.'
I do
not know why he was so focused on me and I still do not know why he was so
protective over Malkov. When the first fireball exploded around the dragons
head, I thought we might never know.  A roar filled the air as it turned
in rage towards the wizard.  Malkov's charred body dropped to the courtyard
below.
     Lomark continued to cast his spells, offensive and
protective, as the dragon dropped to all fours to face him.  It was then
that Zender called down the power of his god in the form of a column of light,
striking the head of the creature.  I knew I only had moments to act,
sword in hand I began to charge the beast.  As I ran magical attacks
continued to strike the dragon.  He was wounded and not ready to fight,
not against the combined power of a wizard and a cleric of good.  I could
hear the beast drawing in a breath as I got close enough to strike.  I
rammed the sword deep into the chest of Sa'tilix, trying to open up his chest.
 The dragon’s blood came down on me like rain as I removed the blade.
 Barely avoiding the creature’s claws I moved away.  He turned his
head towards me with murder in his eyes when another barrage of magical energy
slammed into the creatures head. Snapping his head back around, he unleashed
his breath weapon at the wizard. A blinding flash of light filled the air as
the lightning struck the barriers the wizard used to protect himself.  It
was not enough, when the smoke cleared Lomark was on the ground.  I looked
for Zender but could not see him.
     Once again the beast turned its head towards me, I
watched as it opened its mouth and tried to bite me. It was all I could do to
stay away from its gaping maw, filled with dagger like teeth.
'Pathetic
humans
.' The dragon continued to come after me, no matter how fast I moved.
 I knew it was only a matter of time before it used its breath weapon on
me.  I looked around for the others, Zender had Lomark on his feet,
Zackary I could not see.  Not until he struck his own blow into the
dragons flank. Another roar of rage filled the air as it turned towards him, Zackary
had opened up a gash three feet long.  The dragon’s blood soon began to
cover the courtyard. Each time he took an attack, he turned towards it. We hit
him from all sides, each of us taking our toll on him. It was only a matter of
time before the beast fell. He could not withstand the assault of steel and
magic. After the beast died, I was just happy to be alive.  I thought
about cutting out a patch of the dragon’s skin for a trophy when I saw Lomark.
 He was filling old potion jars with the creature’s blood.
     I was about to ask what was next when we heard his
voice again. '
Kromwell'
he screamed at me. I looked over and saw Malkov.
 He was broken, bloody but far from dead.  He was trying to walk but
one of his legs was clearly broken.  He would take a step, drag the other
leg ahead and continued his pain filled march.
'I am going to rip your head
off and watch as the crows eat out your eyes.'
As he walked he continued to
get stronger. It almost reminded me of something but I could not put my finger
on it at the time. The four of us stood there next to the dead dragon watching
him.
'I have a spell or two I want to try on him.'
I thought the wizard
was joking but by the look on his face I could tell he was quite serious.
 I told Zender to take the others back to the tower, that I would deal
with Malkov.  Zackary had taken a hit or two from the dragon but was still
in good shape, he helped Lomark up the stairs.  Zender however would not
move, he stayed there by my side.
'You do not have to kill him but you can't
allow him to stop us from taking the rod.'
I told him not to worry, that I
would deal with the good general one way or another.
    
'When my lord returns, you will all suffer for your
betrayal.
' I told Zender to go help Lomark and that I would be up as soon
as I could deal with Malkov.  I watched as Malkov walked over to the
dragon’s body, placing a single hand on the side of the beast.
'They will
all pay my friend, they will pay for what they have done to you this day.
'
I tried to talk to him but he was in another place at the moment.  I kept
telling him that he had time to flee before it was too late.  He just
stood there next to the body of the dragon with his eyes closed. When he at
last turned away and started to move again he didn't even limp.
'I am going
to kill you now.
' he said this as anyone else might say it was a nice day.
 As if it was just a simple matter of fact.  He started towards the
tower, I just shook my head and went after him.  I was more than a little
shocked when he started to run.  He was going for his weapons, once he had
his own sword in hand he turned back towards me.
'Lord Kromwell, bhaaaaaa.
You propelled yourself to glory on the strength of others. I thought so much
more of you before I met you. I see what you are now. Nothing but a coward who
hides behind real men and then you take credit for it. What will you do now?
There is no one to save you.'
He stood there sword in hand, waiting for me
to make my move.
     'Are you going to fight me or talk me to death' I said
to him. I held out my sword and waited for what I was sure to come. He charged
at me, screaming like a mad man. Standing my ground I blocked his sword with
mine, the sound of metal slamming into metal was soon the only sound in the
air. With each blow of his that I turned away, he seemed to grow a bit angrier.
He was weak and he wasn't even a very good fighter. I felt like I was toying
with him. Locking his blade with mine I pulled him in close. His nose was
completely healed at that point, as was all his other injuries.
'Why won't
you die!
' he shouted in my face. By that point I had enough. I pushed him
away, sending him flying to his back. He laid there looking at me and I asked
him if he really wanted to die. 'I am giving you the chance to run, take it now
or this will not end well for you.'  I really didn't want to kill him, yet
in the end he gave me no choice in the matter.  He got to his feet and
charged towards me again. Blocking his blade with my shield I chopped off his
sword arm at the elbow.  Malkov fell to his knees, holding the bloody
stump with his other hand.  He was in shock, watching his blood run out of
what was left of his arm.  He reached out for what I thought was his
weapon with his remaining hand.  It was then that I ended him, ramming my
blade into his chest.
     I stayed there over his body until his breathing
stopped.  I started to go into the tower when I remembered the dragon, I
wasn't going to leave without the skin I wanted.  I cut enough off the
back of the beast to make a second cloak, to match the red one I had.  I
rolled it up and stuffed it into the bag with all of the gold we took from
Ramanthus.  As I was walking back past Malkov I noticed something strange,
the arm I had cut off was longer than before.  I picked it up, it was
still warm to the touch. While I had fought a troll or two in my time, I had
never seen such a thing.  I looked at the rest of his body and Malkov was
clearly dead, yet the arm continued to live.  I carried it with me up the
tower to show it to the others.  Zender took it from me right away,
pulling off the gauntlet that was still over the hand.  He showed me a
large ruby encrusted ring on the middle finger.  He whispered to me
'It
is a ring of regeneration, had you left this down there he would have grown a
whole new body in another day or so.'
I watched as he pulled it off, the
arm started to bleed and before long it turned gray. Zender handed me back the
ring and told me not to tell Lomark about it.
'It would make him reckless'
was all he had to say.
     I looked at the Rod of the Arcane, still protected by
the magical field.  I asked how we were going to get it out of there,
Lomark looked up from his book and said he would be able to dispel the field
but he wasn't sure if it would set off the wards in the tower.  I asked
him what would happen if it did.