Travels of Sir Jathan

[j_dean80]

"Why should I let you speak?" the king roared.

I pushed the spear to the side and rushed towards the dwarf king. My sword pointing straight at him. "This is why!" I shouted at him. Then calmly, "You know this sword. You knew my father. Now stop this tussle with the elves and join us in the real battle. The armies of evil are growing. We fought off one assault already. There will be more. Now, do you know where I can find Phinehas?"

"Phinehas? The oracle? The weakling? Why would you need to find him?" The dwarf king scoffed.

"He is the last known descendant of Buvell and Treb. His ancestors had a magical sword like mine. I am looking for answers," I responded.

"Last I heard of him he was locked up by those nasty Ranger Elves. If you see the *cough* oracle, let him know King Brum sent word. My word is his future he foretold, never happened. He is false. Then strike him down for me!" the dwarf king spoke irrate. "As for the elves...we will stop when the last is perished!"

I see now we must go back to the Gray Forest. The stubbornness of dwarves is too great. I sought out Mawr, hoping he knows a shortcut. He agreed to lead us through, though the way is dangerous and unstable.

"The marsh makes the tunnels too wet. Entire sections collapse!" Mawr explained as we climbed through.

Much of the way we crawled on our bellies. Ta had the most difficult time. He had to break the walls in several overly tight spots. In the pitch black, we came to the end. Though I could not see the door.

"It is a one way door. Once it closes you won't be able to come back in," Mawr told us.

With that, we swung the door open to reveal more darkness. We were still in a cave. Hopefully, close to the outside. Bam! The door swung shut. We could hear rats scampering about.

Then, a most foul shriek!

[j_dean80]

"Na thrar!" I shouted.

Instantly, a bright light began to shine in the cave. Somehow these phrases stuck in my memory.

The shriek grew closer and louder! Now I could hear a dragging sound accompanying it.

Into the light it came! Hunting us!

It was a giant cave troll! The dragging sound was a large, studded club. It lifted the giant club and smashed it towards me!

Ta and Sellert intercepted the blow. Ta is very large compared to me. This cave troll was double his size!

Etrine jumped on the monster's back. It threw him against the wall! Sellert smashed the monster's foot with his hammer.

A loud shriek made my ears pop. I could hear nothing!

A huge swing! A miss. The cave troll's club splintered against the floor. I thrust my sword into it's gut. Ta chopped at it's shoulder.

The cave troll swung it's splintered club, again. It smashed into Sellert sending him across the floor! I could see Yarz mouthing something and then vanishing down the cave. I thrust my sword into the monster's chest during it's backswing. I could feel the vibrations from a huge shriek of the monster! My hearing still not back.

Down it went! The whole floor shook like an earthquake.

"Sellert! You alright?!" I screamed. My own voice echoing in my head.

I ran towards him. He was not moving. Now, I could hear talking. It was Yarz. He was chanting magic and mixing up some herbs he found.

"Everyone back! I need space!" Yarz shouted.

We gathered around, but leaving space. Our companion was still not moving.

"We need to bury him. He was a great friend and warrior," Yarz whispered.

It was the first time I ever heard Yarz with a soft voice. I knew hope for our friend was lost.

[j_dean80]

Finding Phinehas, will have to wait. We wrapped Sellert in what cloth we could spare and began to carry him back to Yarz's tower. After a tiresome journey, we arrived. We found all the salt we could, to preserve him for the trek. A short rest, a quick meal, then on the road again. We headed for Yerber.

Solemn voices and heads dragging. This seemed the longest journey in my short life. We finally arrived, just to find the armies had already left. Querdo, also, was gone. I sought council.

"King Merkel! Where are the armies? Where is Querdo?" I anxiously asked.

"Probably all home by now. Things have been quiet since you left, so everyone headed home. They will not stay without your leadership." King Merkel answered.

"We cannot make it to the North Hills on our own. Not with Sellert in tow, anyhow. Too many dangers," I talked aloud, but to myself.

"You can take one of my boats. Float down the South River to the Sea. From there, you can head to the North Hills. You just need to find a sailor," King Merkel chimed in.

To everyone's surprise, I am that sailor. I haven't spoken much about my past.

We gathered food and supplies, then, headed towards Lake Yerber. That is where the King keeps his ships. Lake Yerber connects the North River to the South River.

Another journey begins. This time on water. Most of the river is calm. Too calm, a lot of rowing. Other sections much too rapid. The few in our party, could never make it upstream. We were never short on food. The fish would jump out of the river, and many landed directly in our boat.

The shores of the river were not free of evil. Many orcs were scattered along the banks. Flourishes of arrows rained upon us from time to time. We let our own arrows fly. We could take out just enough enemy to stop them from pursuing us further.

One morning, the clouds began to circle. They were dark as ashes. Ferocious winds. Large waves crashing over the ship. Through the darkness, I could see a solid shape. It was darker, even, then the clouds. It looked strangely familiar. Towering over the horizon.

[j_dean80]

"That is a mage tower!" spoke up Yarz. "Never seen it before!"

The winds grew stronger. A funnel began to form just above the tower. Rain whipping at our faces. Lightning struck so close we could feel the heat. Followed, closely, by a sudden crash of thunder. It was like a roar.

The funnel drew closer and closer. We could not move. The ship began to lift from the water.

I had one idea. "Shuerp tuka pul!" I yelled, while holding my sword high above my head.

A huge, blue bolt shot out from the tip and leapt towards the tower.

A loud scream could be heard over everything. Then, instantly, calmness fell upon the sky. The tower was clear to sight. It was a dark tower. Looked closely like the other mage towers I had come across.

"Yarz, who lives there? Is he friendly?" I questioned.

"Don't know! Told you before! You never listen! Never seen it before! I suggest we get moving and find out some other time!" Yarz spoke loudly, as is his usual self.

I agreed and we began to row. The river was flowing quickly today. Made our progress swift and with ease. As we got further down river, I could see a pack of large orcs have been following us. Then, the Eastern Sea was in sight.

Crash!

"The boat is sinking!" shouted Etrine.

"Swim for shore!" I ordered. "I see a village."

The orc pack was on the opposite shore. I could see them looking for a crossing. We need help, and fast. Ta carried Sellert above his head. He was a good swimmer. Yarz was not. I drug him along, splashing violently. He pulled me under several times. We reached shore just as I could see the orcs had found a crossing. With Sellert in tow, we could not outrun the orcs.

They were closing in fast. We were closing in on the village.

[j_dean80]

"What do you think you are doing?" lectured one voice.

"Eating...what else?" was the response.

"That was the last of our food!" sounded another.

"It's not my turn to look!" the second voice snapped back, "I was hungry."

In the darkness of the cave sat four large creatures argueing amongst themselves. As was common, it was about food. Thus is the main worry of ogres. They paid little attention to the three of their own kind piled in the corner. Food was scarce and they knew without it they would be next in the pile.

"We need to leave the Sheer Peaks and look for food," came the first glint of wisdom.

With the horned food around their area being all but gone. The four ogres instantly got to their feet and clambered out of the cave. The sun was bright, too bright. They all squinted and grasped for something to steady them. When their sight came to, two of the large creatures rolled a huge boulder in front of the cave entrance.

"Remember you at every meal, De, La, and Cu! Farewell." one spoke.

That was the greatest honor the dead could receive. Everything revolved around food. Even fighting is fun, but it is only needed for getting food. Off the four ogres went, awkwardly climbing and half sliding down the steep sides of the mountain. Bo, Ta, Ja, and Su were their names. As they slid further down, the trees grew higher and higher.

"We gotta stay out of the nasty point-ears trees," said Su. "Else they shoot the pointed-feathers at us!"

"We lost five of our horde to them just last week!" cried out Ja.

Bo chimed in, "We can circle the bottom of the Peaks safe enough and head to the small-gut's town. They keep food penned up outside the town. Easy food to grab. Small-gut too afraid of us to fight."

The others all roared with agreement to that idea. They headed west, carefully navigating the sides of the Peaks. They paid special attention to stay out of the point-ears' trees.