INTERLUDE:
Some days ago, the group was marching in the woods with the army, towards the village and a massive undead raid that was barely stopped by killing the mage that commanded them.
The forced march took many days. Not all of them were filled with fighting.
The second night after leaving the citadel, the group met around a campfire as the sun went down.
Georgeous had noticed a change in
El Flesh. “You aren’t eating anymore.” He growled. He had never trusted the Necromancer. “In fact, I haven’t seen you eat since the grand banquet we had with Mental back in the Citadel. What is that tiny red core in the yellow light in your eyes?”
Zebs of Dooooom stopped his slurping and smacking of lips as he noisily consumed Jumbolaya.
The silence was more telling than anything
Georgeous could accuse
El Flesh of.
Ninja silently turned his cloaked head to watch
Georgeous. Even
Korisu, already drunk on the last of the Wine he had found at the Inn, looked over. He, too, had noticed the change and was curious, although never sober enough to consider the subject worth broaching.
“It is a change due to more power. Do you prefer our Brotherhood weaker? Or stronger? Dwarf.”
Georgeous bristled. He had never trusted the unsettling
Flesh, who was now looking more like the enemy than an ally. “I want our group more powerful, of course! But not if YOU will merely replace Zarquon when I take his head off!”
“I
will replace Zarquon, dwarf. But only as the Supreme Necromancer on this globe. Not as an enemy of Mental; I have no interest in conquest of the living, or of any city that lives peacefully with Mental’s rule. I have other goals which have nothing to do with Humans, Dwarfs, or even half-Ogres for that matter.”
Zebs grinned, food dripping out of the corners of his mouth. He resumed noisily eating. The tension seemed to vanish.
But not for
Georgeous. In his typical fashion, he stood up and vehemently pronounced his promise: “If I find at all that YOU kill even ONE innocent to fuel your power, I will take your head off right after I take Zarquon’s.”
Zebs immediately stopped eating again, looking wary.
“Fair enough, Dwarf.”
Flesh conceded. “I will now retire to my tent. Good evening, all.”
It satisfied the dwarf enough, but he was not entirely done. He looked at
Zebs, who glanced guiltily at
Ninja, then back.
Georgeous looked at
Ninja, who returned the look with a face that betrayed nothing.
“Damn you three. You are always holding
secrets. Why are you so close? Does the Necromancer visit your beds at night?” The spearmen in earshot chuffled at this joke.
“You know as well as I do that he works through the night on his magics.”
Ninja quietly spoke, immediately dispelling the laughs.
“…in fact,
Flesh knew our fathers.”
“Ya. Him know my dada.”
Zebs muffled through a mouthful of food.
“Ah so ka!”
Korisu interjected. It was enough of an explanation for him. “We need story feel good. Please tell us itto.”
Ninja saw an opportunity to calm the dwarf down, and draw their group closer together. “Well, of course I wasn’t there; my father told me about this adventure with Flesh. I met him when I was still learning my father’s trade, and asked about him later on, for he was an unsettling thing even then. My father told me about the first adventure they went on together, all for a reward of gold from Mental when he worked for the previous king – the one who was killed in battle with Zarquon when he first showed his face.”
Zebs was excited enough to drop his plate of food in the fire. “Ya! Ya. Ya – my dada tell me! Him want me see Flessho if need help. Anytime see. Ya.”
“Please tell us what happen this advencha!”
Korisu demanded, as he sat back and tipped more wine into his mouth.
Zebs rooted around the fire, singeing his hands a little getting his food out. The ash and dirt on his food went entirely unnoticed as he ate it, now happy that the problem seemed to be over.
“Well my father told me,” continued
Ninja, “that there was an evil wizard, Erongil, gaining more power. This was when reports were first coming in of Zarquon gaining allies from the more chaos-aligned races, which Flesh is
not,” he looked pointedly at
Georgeous, who had sat back down, as he said this “The king ordered Erongil dead in retaliation for having killed some other wizard of his. Flesh was just a young man then – still in his last teens, I think. My father was with them, and so was Zeb’s father, who was a Barbarian from the Northlands. These three had never fought together before, but even then, they found they could rely on each other…”
______________
“My DADA go in first, cos him BRAVE like Me!”
Zebs pounded his chest. “Him open door and find little lousy goblins.”
Ninja said nothing, smiling faintly to himself. The other quickly caught on how likely it would have been.
______________
“The three of them soon faced three goblins. At the time, all Flesh could do was raise two of the weakest skeletons we face nowadays. But they were enough to help them wipe out the three goblins. My father had killed Goblins before, but this was the first time
Sneaky Singh was in one of their castles…”
______________
“Ya, my dada not like either. But him never faint. Maybe only fall down from wet floor.”
_______________
They found a nasty surprise though, - he told me it was a pair of Fimirs in the next room.”
____________________
“Ya! Ya. My dada go fight them. Him kill them both in one swing!”
Zebs swung his mighty arm to illustrate, belting and knocking down a spearman standing behind him.
___________________
“The next room, however, was opened by a skel of Flesh’s. It was cold in the room, icy. He sent the skel thru, while Retard of Doooom waited in the hall.
_________________
“When him find Gargoyle – first one of dark magic ever – him FIGHT it! POW! BANG! BOOM!”
____________________
“Him KILL it all by himself and den them go look treasure. Find stuff. Nothing big.”
_____________________
“But looking not good them times. Make monsters come sometimes looking. Maru. Bad.”
“Ahhh so ka nah…”
Korisu said in a long, drawn out voice. He was feeling no pain, and was enjoying the story.
______________________
“Not take long my dada kill all dem Cold Deaf Mummies.”
“But they were hard to beat for sure,”
Ninja interjected, “they produced cold somehow, and could freeze you if didn’t resist well enough…”
_____________________
“They had a hard time searching for secret doors in that hallway. They knew it had to be there, but they were damned if they could find it. That’s why my father had me trained very well in searching. Well, it took a lot of searching up and down the hallway…”
__________________
“When my father finally found the secret door, it knocked Retard on his butt.”
“Heeeyyyyy!” protested
Zebs________________________
“They were excited about finding some artifacts on a fireplace. Though it wasn’t great compared to what we’ve been finding as we get closer to Zaquon. He’s stronger now; he’s definitely stronger now.”
____________________
“Flesh’s skeleton found a door of fire, but it fell apart trying to get through. There were four skeletons on the other side, and two of them destroyed themselves trying to get to them on the other side. Well, our fathers jumped through the door, and took out the other two skeletons. They were weak, but remember our fathers didn’t have enchanted weapons like we have. And they didn’t have much formal training either.”
_______________________
“
“He told me that they found an old tomb…it spoke to them and told them to beware of a circle of power.”
_______________________
“Flesh almost died falling into a lava pit, but he held on until my father dragged him out. When they found the sorcerer that was in the circle of power, flesh’s skeletons fought them on the side of it; they killed three skeletons in the room, then one of flesh’s skeletons fell apart trying to run down the wizard. They had to fight him hand to hand. But he wasn’t as hard as the Ice Gargoyle and he got wiped out. The evil spell and circle of magic was dispelled, and they took back the castle. It was the first time there was a direct fight, though, between our two sides, light and dark. Just because Flesh uses dark magic, doesn't mean he can't use it to serve the light instead. These guys learned they could trust each other. I have no doubts about Flesh.”
“Ya! Ya. Me not have no louts, neither.”
“Well,” said
Georgeous “Still I will keep an eye on him. And still I will kill him if he betrays us!”
“So da, na,” commented
Korisu, “this normaru. I kirru anyone betray. ANYONE. You tu, George-san. You kirru
anyone betray, na? Not onry Erru Furesshu.”
“Aye. Though I would have a hard time to kill you, old friend…”
Korisu passed merely the
last of the wine to his ally, for though they were good friends, a good drunk would always come first for
Korisu Yamato.
by ken » June 10th, 2011, 8:38 am 
What a lovely heartwarming story. I always KNEW my hero Zebs had a Daddy, in spite of El_Flesh
I know Puck would attend 
