[Open to All] Book 2: Hunting after The Rise.

[Mixed-blood]

“Covering fire… covering fire… ”


Someone else let out a terrified banshee like wail, as a demon tore into him. The demon, which looked like the spawn of a dwarf and a coal powered nightmare had already torn out Bauer Kyostal’s throat, and had a pair of sic inch claws digging into the dark elf’s chest before anyone had a chance to react. Bauer’s death had been blessedly quick, unlike Schmied and Auerhahn’s.

The demon didn’t get a chance to attack anyone else, as Siha, who was closest to the fallen mercenary, calmly bayonetted the demon and tossed the thing in Lothar’s direction as though it was nothing more than a bail of hay.

“Here’s another one for you half-breed,” the deep basso forewarning being the only signal he’d get to prepare himself for the nightmare spawn being tossed in his direction, as easy as if it where nothing but a sack of feed, and not a thrashing dwarf sized fiend.

He could feel the impact of the thing with his raised combat knife all the way up in his shoulder. The things legs going limp as the full sixteen inches of his weapons blade passing through the break in its spine right above the lower abdominal region. His left blade came around to hook the thing in the kidney, followed by a double stab into the things left lung. After that Lothar slammed the monster face down into the dirt, which shadowed by a powerful boot stomp made sure that the creature wouldn’t be trying to hurt anyone else ever again. The thing wouldn’t be moving ever again either.

So far they had killed easily over two dozen of the fiendish beasts, an exact count wasn’t possible as things were too hectic, but still the creatures seemed to keep coming.

They had taken losses too, six by the current count, and it was likely they were going to lose more before this was over.

“Some of them are falling back.” There was no mistaking the elatedness in Siha’s voice at this realization.

“Why? ”

Equally easy to discern was the skeptical tension in the tone of the dark elf to Siha’s right. “I have no idea Ardulace, perhaps Alberdyne has something to do with this.”

It was as good a guess as any and the presence of the human along with a female companion did help bulster the conjecture some what.

“their comeing again” Ardulace declared, the ‘I told you so’ coming out loud and clear in the resignation that laced his utterance.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

The Behemoth roared when it realized something had happened.

Many of the Demons faded back into the Twisting Nether.

They were recalled, but a sizable group still remained, enough to give the remaining Heroes a decent battle.

Dyne nodded towards Kabellath, he knew that he had to come up with a fast plan.

The women lurked just ahead but uncomfortably close...and at the same time...

He shook his head and looked at Kabellath. "Withdraw our troops." Dyne yelled as he came up with a plan to get rid of the Behemoth Demon. Dyne looked back towards Kabellath for the last time. They have already betrayed you. He remembered the words The Prophet of Apocalypse had spoken. I can't worry about this now. I have to find a way to get rid of that thing... Then the thought dawned on him. Like a rainbow appearing after a long storm. Of course! Dyne looked at the woman for a long moment. "Come with me. We have to protect Joshua Cronen." Dyne commanded and the woman obliged.

The beast before them was a massive creature, but Dyne had one trick up his sleeve.

One that could potentially be his undoing.

It is too big I've never tried anything that big before... Dyne thought to himself. As he began to concentrate, his body was already glowing with an aetheric glow. It was a dark purple energy that swirled around Dyne. A mysterious demonic taint that was present within Dyne. He had the power to control and command demons, but was taking a huge gamble to save his friend. He no longer trusted the citizens of Alerar...they had already back stabbed him. This job was a farce from the beginning, I, I should have known. The anger allowed him to concentrate as he summoned The Demon Compendium in his possession. The mysterious book opened on it's own, a long ago relic from the ancient lore of The Thayne Codex. It's pages were filled with glowing red symbols and they turned on their own as the wind picked up at the sudden surge of power.

The woman stood nearby, and would guard Dyne with her very life. Kabellath and his mercenaries withdrew from the battle. The few that remained would return to the cities of Alerar to report that the town had been over run by Demons. It would be a failure and a disgrace...Dyne would not be welcome home. The Son of Alerar began to chant in the Demonic Tongue. The Behemoth's eyes darted towards Dyne and he began to move towards him. Hot breath from the creature scorched the air. As it prepared to raise it's mighty fists against Dyne and the book.

But Dyne had already finished the preparations and called out the last part of the spell.

Demonic runes and a sigil appeared around Dyne as the aura became brighter. A pillar erupted from somewhere within Dyne's tainted soul. "And by blood, and shadow do I bind thee!!!" Dyne suddenly called out as loud as he could and yelled. A brilliant swelling of energy surged out of the Demon Caller and a suitable sacrifice was made. Dyne had to give up adequate soul energy to bind a creature as powerful as The Behemeoth was. But, it had proved sufficient. Dyne's eyes glowed as he looked at the symbolic bindings wrapping around the wrists of the creature, and finally around it's neck.

The sounds clamped around the creature and it roared furiously.

"The power...of a Devil Caller..." The woman said calmly as she looked at Dyne with eyes widened with a mixture of respect and fear.

Dyne knew he had completed the task set before him.

The Behemoth looked at him with a strangely calm expression.

"Command me, my lord." It said in perfect common-tongue after having been bound.

Dyne was just catching his breath when he heard the words of the Behemoth clearly. "You are bound to the Compendium, and to me." Dyne said carefully. "Withdraw your legion." He added.

"It shall be done." The Behemoth responded and one by one, in a rippling effect of a pattern the Demons blinked back into The Twisting Nether until only the present were left. Dyne, the woman, and The Behemoth. Nearby, Joshua was still fighting his enemy. I must help him at all costs... Dyne looked at the Behemoth for a long moment. "You have done well my servant." Dyne said without realizing what he was saying. "Me and my companion must accompany you to Joshua Cronen." Dyne continued. "I must protect Joshua Cronen."

The Behemoth nodded. "You can ride on my back. You and your friend."

The Behemoth then picked up the two companions and placed them on his back. "Hang on tight." And the Behemoth bounded towards Joshua Cronen's position...

[Breaker]

Breaker ducked and locked his arms around Kron's skinny chest. He lifted the dark elf and drove him through a nearby wooden wall in a shower of splinters. He slammed his enemy to the floorboards and launched a volley of swift straight strikes, aiming to perforate his opponents throat and chin with his knuckles.

Sha'keth slithered away like a snake and rose to his feet. The dark elf coughed from the force of the blow to his body but gathered his bearings swiftly. They were in what had been a home, but swiftly abandoned upon the demon assault. The windows and doors were boarded up, and all valuables had been removed.

Kron snatched an empty whisky flagon from the hearth and smashed its end on the hard stone. He gripped the bottle around its neck and wielded the broken end like an icepick.

"I will ensure your death is slow and painful," he taunted, stabbing the air as he advanced and circled around a low table, "you deserve no less for murdering my brother."

Josh lifted the table and broke off one of its legs, and then tipped the broad oaken table toward Sha'keth. The dark elf sidestepped scathingly.

"Shut up and die already," Josh retorted, "I swear I've killed you before."

"Only in your dreams, Cronen." Sha'keth hissed, and struck. He ran forwards with the bottle held high but stopped short and kicked out at Breaker's head.

Josh ducked, feeling the dark elf's boot slide by his hair, and lashed out with his makeshift club. He swept it across the ground at ankle height and then whipped it up toward the back of Kron's knees. The dark elf was forced to hop awkwardly and then roll away from Cronen's own kick. They circled again and again Kron struck first, reversing his grip on the bottle and stabbing for Josh's stomach. Josh twisted so the bottle hit his hip and countered by locking Sha'keth's elbow with the length of his club. The bottle broke the skin on his hip but shattered against the bone, and he dragged Kron around by his trapped limb and smashed him through another wall.

This time the dark elf found his feet more slowly.

Josh pressed a hand over his hip and bent forward as if trying to stop the bleeding.

"You missed your only chance there, Cronen." Sha'keth sneered, "if only you hadn't let a little cut distract you--"

Josh's hand dropped to his knee, and then to his ankle.

"You could have killed me just there."

"I have," Josh said, and threw the black diamond dagger from his boot with an upward flicking motion.

It buried its blade in the dark elf's throat. He fell, gagging and bleeding and already dying.

Kron's own dagger. The one Josh had taken the last time he bested him.

Josh tried to think of something to say as he stood over his dying enemy, but it seemed right to observe the moment in silence. He crouched down and yanked the knife free. The blood flow increased, staining the floorboards dark red. Sha'keth made one last ugly gurgling sound and then fell silent forever. Josh wiped the dagger on his enemy's black shirt and sheathed it on his ankle. He walked out of the building just as Alberdyne and his companion rode up on the behemoth.

"Whoa, there!" Josh exclaimed, "have you decided to keep it?"

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Dyne was greatly concerned to get to his friend.

The situation had gotten much more complicated than he initially considered before.

As they arrived at Cronen's position...Dyne noticed that Cronen killed his foes.

For the first moment since the nightmare began...the battlefield started quiet down.

Dyne and his female companion slid off the behemoth and the trio walked towards Cronen.

"Cronen." Dyne was relieved that his friend had survived the battle. "We have a big problem." Before that, Dyne took out the demon compendium once more and recalled the behemoth back to it's pages. The behemoth vanished as it returned to the book. Then, Dyne closed the book and it was stored back in his mind. He looked at Cronen immediately after that. "But yes...I decided to keep the big one. It was the only way to save us all." Dyne looked at the woman. "I found a survivor. But that's not the problem. It's Alerar..." Dyne sighed as he considered what the other Demon summoner had told him. "I think we've been set up here and we better get out of here as fast as possible." Dyne pondered the situation...he felt tired and had a really bad headache.

"Are you well, devil caller?" The woman asked.

"No...I'm just tired...used a lot of spiritual power just now." He looked at Cronen. "Cronen...I'm no longer safe here. They will likely blame us for what happened since we survived...we weren't expected to survive." Dyne shook his head. "If you have a way to get us out of here that would be greatly appreciated. We can plan our next move once we're safely away." Dyne explained. He waited for Cronen's response.

[Breaker]

"Right, follow me." Josh responded. He clapped Alberdyne on the shoulder and nodded to the woman he held in tow, and then set off through the wreckage of the battle. Bodies of demons, humans and elves littered the ground between them and the low hill where two steam buggies remained. We'll have to send some soldiers back for the fallen, he considered. Assuming of course that they were able to leave. Josh's muscles were sore from the sustained battle, his wounded hip ached, and he had a bad feeling about the vehicles remaining to them.

The first buggy had a damaged axle; the driver had run afoul of a rocky outcropping and nearly snapped it in half. The second sputtered when he tried to start it, and so Josh got down on his back and wiggled underneath the vehicle to take a look. He had only a rudimentary knowledge of steam technology but after a moment's tinkering realized that the main steel gasket moderating the engine pressure had blown. Breaker went to the toolbox in the buggy's boot and found an adjustable wrench that looked to be the right size. He scraped his back getting under the engine again and, with as much banging as twisting, managed to remove the gasket.

He left the broken part on the ground and crossed to the buggy with the busted axle, throwing Dyne a quick wrench salute.

"Won't be a minute," Josh said with a confident smile.

It was several minutes. Josh nearly lost a finger in the process, but he managed to remove the same gasket he needed, and re-attach it on the second buggy. Feeling rather proud of himself, Josh settled into the driver's seat and flicked the ignition switch.

Nothing happened for a long twenty seconds, and then the engine coughed to life as pressure built inside it.

"Hop on board!" He called to Dyne and his acolyte. The pair climbed into the buggy's open back and found seats. Josh navigated the machine's levers and pedals and managed to get it rolling forward. He turned the wheel and got them going back the way they had come, following the tracks left by the retreated forces.

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

Impressed, Dyne finally settled into his buggy.

With betrayal following him constantly...he was glad to have a friend.

Dyne carefully sat back against the back seat of the buggy thinking about everything he had just learned. "Cronen. Thank you." Dyne said calmly. He sincerely meant that. He hadn't felt so tired in a long time. The weight of losing what few friends he'd had in Alerar made a huge difference to his current mood. In the meantime though, he needed to think. Further, he had to come up with what to do next. I no longer have a place to call home...the damned Civil War in Corone also left me without a family or title, or anything...have to start over fresh. Dyne realized he wasn't the only one who lost a lot during the Corone Civil War...many people had.

The female survivor looked at Dyne very calmly. "You don't have to solve everything all at once." She suddenly said calmly. "The answers will come in time."

Dyne nodded. "Yeah, for now we have to find a safe place to stay at." Dyne looked over towards Cronen who was currently driving the buggy. "Do you have any ideas, Cronen?" Dyne asked of his friend. "I have to lay low for a while after this whole event. Gotta train and think of a way to become stronger..." There were a lot of really serious problems that Dyne was facing. But...the important matter was that they had all survived.

Dyne rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He knew the coming days and weeks would become quite difficult for him. "Do you mind if I tag along with you for a while?" Dyne had to ask. He respected Joshua Cronen a lot. And that was the building blocks of any viable friendship...trust.

[Breaker]

"I don't mind at all," Breaker said. He put one hand on the empty passenger seat next to him and leaned back to talk over the engine. "Only thing is, I'm planning to buy passage back to Corone as soon as I can get to a port. If that's where you're going, then you're welcome to join me."

The buggy sputtered and sloshed as it rose and fell with the sandy ground beneath its treads. They drove in silence for a time, and Josh reflected on the recent battle, letting the realization that Kron Sha'keth was dead wash over him. For the first time in years he'd be able to relax, to live without looking over his shoulder for an assassin at every corner. It would take some time to adapt to life without an arch-nemesis, but he was looking forward to the relaxation.

A grey sky looked down as they passed a stand of sand-scoured trees that Breaker recognized from the trip out. They were nearing the mercenary barracks where the adventure had started. The barracks was conveniently located a short walk from Ettermire proper, where Josh knew he would have no trouble finding a ship back to Corone. A little gold in the right pocket and I might even have a cabin to myself for this voyage, he thought. He'd spent the crossing to Alerar sleeping on a hammock in the common quarters of a pirate ship.

Josh hummed a sea shanty he'd learned from one of the pirates as he pulled up in front of the mercenary barracks. It was mostly a mobile unit, comprised of many tents and only a few permanent wooden structures. The whole affair was surrounded by a spiked wooden bulwark, however, and the gate stood closed. Josh left the engine running and hopped out of the steam buggy. He knuckled his back and stretched his neck.

"You lot left this behind," he said to the pair of dark elven guardsmen who approached, "sorry I didn't have time to fill the tank before returning it."

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

The barracks would not bet he wisest of ideas...but it was better than Ettermire proper.

Dyne considered everything Cronen just said. Back to Corone huh...where it all began? For some reason Dyne took a shine on to the idea. Dyne and his female friend followed Cronen and the looks from the guards staring knives at the trio spoke volumes. We weren't meant to survive... The idea of the scheme never sat well with Dyne, but he understood betrayal whenever it arrived. Dyne stuck close to Cronen, even though he was technically in his own turf. There was no way of knowing how the guards would react to their arrival.

However, surprisingly enough, nobody bothered them.

Despite the dirty looks...the guards would continue their own business unless Dyne started a lot of trouble. Which was not very likely to happen. Dyne followed Cronen to their destination. "I'll go with you to Corone. I don't want me and my friend here to be by ourselves after what happened. And it would be nice to have a friend watching our backs. In exchange, Cronen, I'll do my best to watch yours as needed." It seemed like a fair trade. Dyne had nothing waiting for him back in Corone but anything was better than letting the wolves of Ettermire consume him and leave him out to dry. Dyne looked at both of his friends and they arrived at where the check in area of the barracks was. "Probably should check in." Dyne sighed. He looked at Cronen. "Wait here." He said to his friend and entered one of the main command tents for a debriefing...

Probably would be one of the worst moments of his life and Dyne had already suffered much.

[Breaker]

Not knowing how long Dyne would be, Breaker wandered through the camp. He drew a few odd glances, but no one seemed wont to challenge him. The tents stood in tight lines, every stake nailed down tight and every flap battened efficiently. The few buildings at the center of the barracks were ramshackle by comparison, but all scrubbed and shining with military precision. A ruckus of elves shouting echoed from a nearby tent, and Breaker ducked through the open flap to investigate.

The elves sat at a single long table which dominated the center of the tent. They supped ale from steel steins, bantering to one another in Alerian. The focus of the group was on two elves who stood near the middle of the table. A full mug rested in front of each, and their hands worked frantically at assembling a pair of muskets. The elf closer to Josh finished his musket assembly first, placed the complete weapon down on the table and tipped back his head, emptying his stein in one long swallow.

Breaker could not understand all of the Alerian words they used, but he knew a drinking game when he saw one. He was not particularly fond of ale, but the game seemed like a good challenge. He had never assembled a musket before, but watching it done even once was enough to ingrain the actions in his mind. He stepped up to the middle of the table as the elves congratulated the winner of the last round.

"My turn," Breaker said in Alerian. He thought he heard a few jokes flying back and forth about his accent, but the elves seemed to accept his presence. A tall, broad-shouldered Alerian with blue skin and a white scar splitting his forehead steppe up to the table opposite Josh.

"You must break down the musket and re-assemble it," the tall elf said in Tradespeak, the language of Corone.

"I think I can manage that," Cronen said in Alerian. His hazel eyes started into the elf's blue ones for a moment, and then another mercenary banged two full steins down on the table before them.

"Begin!"

Josh ignored his opponent, completely engrossed in the task at hand. He lifted the musket in both hands and began by unscrewing the lower band, and loosening the middle and upper bands. This allowed him to remove the barrel, which he placed down on the table, focusing on the stock. He unsnapped the lock from its berth and placed it down next to the barrel. His hands moved with practiced ease, as though he had done all this before. He felt as if he were working with the musket for the hundredth time, not the first.

The trigger assembly came off easily, and then Breaker simply reversed the process. He re-attached the trigger assembly and lock, lined the barrel up with the stock, and tightened all three bands. Checking on his opponents process, he saw that the scarred elf was only about halfway done; Breaker's handspeed had granted him a considerable advantage. He spun the musket in to a gun salute before placing it casually on the table. He picked up his stein and threw the ale back swiftly, trying not to taste the cheap beverage. At last he slammed the mug down on the table, amidst a chorus of amazed gasps and half-hearted cheers. Most of the elves had been hoping to see him lose.

"Sorry lads," Breaker said in Tradespeak, "I've yet to find a drinking game I can't win."

[Alberdyne_Cormyr]

The girl waited outside for Dyne.

She knew that what was going on in the tent was not for her eyes...but if they put Dyne in danger she would save him.

***

Dyne looked at the superior officers of the small barrack areas. They were looking at him harshly and coldly. They were speaking in native Alerar, and Dyne understood their meanings. It did not bode well. I shouldn't have come. There were three official officers and two representatives of the adventure party from the doomed outpost.

Dyne had given his full account of what happened...but left details out. They did the same to me... He didn't have to tell them everything anyway. There was no need to. The other adventurers were not present when Dyne met the Demon summoners. Dyne kept his arms folded across his chest, his muscles bulging and he was staring forward with a blank expression on his face. They are testing my nerves...I shouldn't have agreed to this job. But a chance to fight alongside Joshua Cronen was too good to pass up... Once the superior officers came to a decision the speaker looked at Dyne.

"You should not have come back." The man said in a serious voice. "You will be held fully responsible for what happened at the outpost."

Dyne sighed, he half expected that would be the end result. "I'd like to say that the Demons that were present were already summoned by something else."

"Did you obtain the identity of this other party?" The official asked.

"I could not...no." Dyne said. "Me and Cronen were able to defeat the invading Demons though. The mission was not a complete failure."

"That's for us to decide." The official responded. "As I said, you will be held responsible for what happened. You will not be welcome at this station again despite what you and Cronen accomplished. Because there were no survivors except that girl...the mission is deemed a failure."

Dyne sighed once more. "So that's it?" Dyne continued. "I came here under the assumption that I wouldn't be treated any different because I'm not Drow."

The official raised an eyebrow. "That is not the reason you're getting the axe here." The official continued. "To put it bluntly, you weren't supposed to survive. I made a mistake in sending you in the first place. Thinking you could follow orders, but I guess I was wrong."

Dyne shook his head. "You're making a huge mistake."

"You're dismissed and and not allowed to return to here. If you return you will be court marshaled and then executed do I make myself clear?" The official threatened. "This is your one chance to leave with some token of dignity."

Dyne wanted to say something, anything...but he knew he was out-matched and out-gunned. So he decided to give them their win that day. I might have a chance in Corone to regain something... Dyne spoke one last time to the official "Then I shall be taking my leave. Good day."

***

"How did it go?" The female companion asked.

Dyne was extremely angry, but hid it well. "We have to leave. Let's find Cronen and get out of here before things get any worse."

And so, Dyne went to find Cronen who was actually easy enough to discover. He was by an area of the barracks that had a bunch of soldiers just enjoying their down time. Once Dyne caught up to Cronen he spoke. "Cronen. We have to leave." Dyne hadn't felt that angry in a long time.

That was the second government body that left him out to dry...