Strange Travels cont.
As the next day approaches, the group leaves a small mountain
range, still travelling south, and enters a hilly area. Tang experiments, then uses his ability to pass through
the earth to cut straight lines through the hills, staying well ahead of the group, and then resting or exploring
until they catch up.
The days grow long as they are fairly uneventful with no one to speak with and no one even realizing he's there.
The morning of the forth day in t he hills, the kender passes through a large hill and happens upon a cavern inside
the hill where he spots two strange bat-like creatures, with bodies made mostly of fire.
Somehow, they seem to notice him, and as he looks closely, they appear to be made of the same material as he is
right now. The flaming two-foot bats swoop down upon the kender attacking him with their fire and claws.
A bit perturbed by the unprovoked attack, Tang pulls out his whip and smacks it. One of the bats seems dazed by
it but recovers and begins attacking anew.
The first bat flies in close and attaches itself to Tang's side. The claws of the bat wrench open a wound and the
bat's fire burns the poor kender. Somehow, Tang manages to dodge the second bat. He lashes out with his whip and
kills the bat that's still flying around.
Turning his attention to the one attached to him, he howls in pain as the claws dig deeper and fire burns his flesh.
He whips at the thing again and again until finally, though near death himself, he destroys the second fire bat.
Picking himself up, he tries to tend to his wounds as best he can, wishing Sandera or Bert or even Maruk was there
to help him heal his wounds. After a minute, he checks out the dead bodies of the bats, then from t he corner of
his eye spots something glistening in the caves.
He steps over to find several pretty gems and some sort of carved rod. "Somebody must've lost these,"
he says to himself. "I'll hold onto them in case they come looking for them." The kender sticks the stuff
into his pouches and moves on, through the earth and back to the surface world, just in time to catch the horse
riding group.
Another day passes, and Tang feels a bit better after the night's rest, though still in poor shape. He decides
to stay above ground for a while, figuring he can catch the group when he needs to by taking the underground shortcuts.
The next night, the group camps at the base of a southern mountain range. Tang sleeps in the camp with the group.
He sleeps soundly until late in the night when something strange happens.
The kender awakens on the shift of Nikk and Lirielle. Amazed, he spots a grey skinned figure floating above Buford's
body with sword in hand. Even more amazing is a smoky creature made of the same material as Tang, but shaped like
the grey-skinned man.
Before Tang can react, the man slices Buford's throat, killing the squire.
"Hey!" screams the kender. "Somebody help! Wake up! Nikk! Lirielle! Somebody help Buford!"
His cries fall on deaf ears again, as the night watch fails to see the murder and hear the cries of the kender.
The grey skinned man flies off followed closely by the smoke thing. Tang jumps up, grabs his gear and races after
them through the foggy hillside. He keeps them in sight for a while, but eventually loses them.
He makes his way back to the camp as the group wakes for the morning and discovers Buford's dead body.
"What ghastly maleficence is this?"
Praha says, staring at the motionless Buford. He immediately begins looking around the edge of camp for footprints
and other signs left by potential intruders. "Nikk, Lirielle -- do you remember anything even slightly peculiar
from your watch? Who else amongst us stood guard last night?"
Lirielle shakes her head. "I neither
heard nor saw anything out of the ordinary."
"He was right there," says the frustrated kender. "How didn't you see him? I saw him fine and his
shadow too."
"I saw nothing out of the ordinary,"
Nikk replies, visibly shaken by the death of the young squire. "There must be something we can do. What clerical
spells are on that scroll that we have?"
"Nothing that can help poor Buford,"
says Sandera. "Only spells which help combat undead."
"Well this guy wasn't undead," Tang says to himself. "He was thin and grey skinned."
"This is hideous indeed," Leeth
intones. "To kill a man in his sleep, and he as peaceful as a summer breeze. It bodes ill for us, I wager.
Hear me now: If we intend to live to see Kale and our ultimate foe, it behooves us to be more alert. Clearly, we
don't know whose watch this happened during, and I lay no blame, but I do know that I myself was woken by the clattering
of Nikk and Lirielle practicing at swords. Not all our enemies, as you can see, come at us with growls and battle
cries. Any assassin worth his hood could tiptoe into the camp under those conditions. So long as we have moon or
starlight by which to see, let us douse the fire before sleeping, lest we blind ourselves for the sake of comfort.
My advice is to maintain constant and silent vigil henceforth. It is a matter of life and death."
The priest reaches into a deep pocket and
pulls forth a small sack. He pauses for a moment with a grave look upon his face, then holds the pouch above his
head and chants:
"O great and mighty Tarantin
Look down upon this hateful deed.
A secret slay'ng, an odious sin
This mortal crime against thy creed.
Our friend and guide this night was slain
By loathsome wight in cloak of shade
With these your glyphs, do make it plain
If horrid man who murder made
Stands with us in rocky field
And keeps his pois'nous goal concealed."
With this verse, the priest reaches into
the pouch and casts the contents into the dust. Kneeling down, he pushes the runestones into a strange configuration.
Leeth mumbles some words over the stones.
Looking up, he announces, "All is as well as it can be, considering. Look here," he gestures at the three
marked stones. "Here is our present situation: Laguz, reversed. A hidden flow, against our direction. There
are concealed actions hindering our progress. Next, what will be: Dagaz. The sunlight comes from between the clouds.
Our purpose is clear before us, and what has happened shows us more lucidly than ever that we must continue. We
must hold together, there is security in numbers. Third, what actions we should follow: Nauthiz, reversed. We must
hold ourselves back, be patient. To jump into accusations and blame would be disastrous for us now. Patience is
the key."
Maruk says in a shocked voice, "Who
has done this? Obviously there is more here than even Buford knew. And we need to find our way to Kale alone now.
Who will assist me in rigging a lean to that we can use to carry Buford back to his homeland so his king can see
that he was a good and true knight."
Frustrated with his inability to tell what he saw, Tang wanders off into the hills to search for the assassin.
Go to Part 3
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