There and back again (Closed)

[black shadow]

Ooc:
closed to Matthewkuch and continues from "To End The War" (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?27210-To-End-The-War)

[black shadow]

~Al Kitar Dungeon~

Where the heck are they?? Xnias thought. They should have been here about an hour ago with the king's head! Those simpletons can never do anything correctly. Xnias waited as a dark figure came down the corridor that led to the dungeon. Xnias realized this was one of his men and a wave of relief washed over him.

"Well?" He asked, "Is he dead?" The figure hesitated and Xnias's relief turned to rage.
"I told you not to come back until he was dead!" Xnias roared.

"We were faring well until that vampire and his traveling companion interfered!" A higher pitched voice complained back

"How did Gavner interfere!? I thought he was poisoned!"

"So did we! Our team was overpowering the king and his men until the vampire and the masked man broke down the door and took the upper hand. I escaped just in time. All else was lost." The figure said timidly.

"Hmm" Xnias said scratching his chin, "so there were no survivors."

"None, save me sir."

"No. There were no survivors" Xnias said tearing his sword from his sheath and piercing the dwarf through the heart before he could squirm away.

Picking up the dwarf by the neck in one hand Xnias turned around to face the entire army that was stowed in the Al Kitar dungeon. "Is there anybody else who would like to disobey orders!?"

The sound of Xnias's voice echoed through the enormous room until there was dead silence. Dropping the body Xnias smiled, baring his perfectly straight teeth in his smile of pure evil.

"Good. Now listen up, all of you! Tonight is the night we have all been waiting for! When I give the signal in Al Konvar you will all uprise and take the hall, cut down all who oppose you! I will personally kill their precious king and take my rightful place on the throne. Do I make myself clear?" He shouted

"Long live the king!" The army chanted in unison.

"Good" Xnias said softly to himself. "And Master Nahs will have a lovely surprise coming his way, a lovely surprise indeed."

[matthewkuch]

Gavner and Black Shadow stood outside the large wooden doors of Al Konvar. Woodan was at the front of the party, listening in intently to the room.

"Now!" he hissed, and pushed the doors open.

Straightening up, Gavner and Black Shadow started down the aisle in Al Konvar. Their strides were long and elegant, as they were in front of the whole dwarf clan. Slung across his back was Black Shadow's bow, and he was carrying a happy Espoir who was lovingly gurgling at Black Shadow. Espoir reached up to his face and closed her tiny fingers around the bottom of his mask, happily squealing as he smiled underneath.

Gavner and Black Shadow came to a halt when they reached the base of the throne, but behind the table. In the throne sat King Hronzak, dressed in his royal attire. Gavner and Black Shadow turned to face the hundreds of thousands of dwarves that filled the room, and Gavner began to suspiciously eye the long table of dwarves. These dwarves were allegedly part of the clan's council, which seized control of the clan if the king was assassinated.

Formally, the council was one union under the king but rumor had it that the council was divided into two groups. Group one was the righteous dwarves mainly of Iusti family heritage. The Iusti family was the sworn protectors of royalty and they longed to serve the king and the clan forever. They wanted what was best for the clan and the dwarves of the clan. Group two was the corrupt dwarves based of vitiatus heritage. The vitiatus family were the rivals of royalty, who craved power and longed to expand and conquer.

King Hronzak stood, and the rest of the clan in Al Konvar followed suit. He held up his hands and bellowed out "You may be seated."

The whole clan, including the council, sat down. "We are gathered here today," the king boomed, "to discuss urgent news from these two men." Hronzak looked at Gavner and Black Shadow and Gavner.

"Queen Olivia of the Outlandish Elves has entrusted me with very important news." Gavner said loudly. "She requests a truce, and for both sides to cease all violence! This war has gone on for long enough!"

There was murmur all throughout the room. From some came cries of agreement, and some cries of angry protest. Gavner and Black Shadow exchanged a look. This was not how they had expected the dwarves to take the news, and from the looks of it this was going to be a long night.

[black shadow]

~Two Hours Later~

"It is settled then. Master Nahs, Master Shadow, you must return to Queen Olivia with the treaty agreements," King Hronzak said. "We will meet with her in the Hall of the High Dramorsha. There, we will negotiate the terms of our truce."

As Hronzak said this, the sounds of footsteps came from beyond the giant golden doors. This was unusual, but no one thought anything of it. The the sound of fighting cold be heard. Black Shadow looked at Gavner, and they both thought the same thing.

Black Shadow ripped an arrow from his quiver and shot it at the giant glass window behind him. Glass shattered and fell down the mountain, the cold winds blowing into the room. He searched for a rope of some sort, having to resort to the rope for the curtains.

Black Shadow tore the rope from the giant curtains and tied it to an arrow. As he did this, the golden doors flu g open, and many dwarves began to swarm the room, swords drawn and yelling "death to the king!" Black Shadow grabbed King Hronzak and bega to run towards the shattered window, Gavner running behind him. As he reached the window, a sudden fear came over him. He had to jump, putting the king, himself, and even worse, Espoir, in danger. His hesitation was met with the sound of Gavner's voice.

"Black Shadow, Espoir will be fine. Just do it!"

Black Shadow took a leap of faith upon hearing this, and jumped and turned his back towards the ground, a few hundred feet below. He readied his arrow and fired, the arrow coming in contact with the side of the mountain. The rope began to tighten, and Black Shadow stretched his arm out to catch the king, barely grabbing onto the edge of his shirt. Then he looked up to see Gavner sliding down the rope.

Then came the sound of a frightened baby crying for help.

[matthewkuch]

Gavner gripped the curtain rope as the others hung suspended from the side of Al Kitar. After looking down to see that Hronzak, Black Shadow, and Espoir were all safe, Gavner heard struggle coming from Al Konvar. The outbreak of violence became the least of his struggles when he heard a loud ripping sound coming from the rope in his hands. Frantically Gavner shifted his hands to either side of the tear and braced himself as both ends separated.

Had he not been a vampire Gavner would have been torn asunder, but his supernatural strength had him covered. Gavner was stretched to his limit as he was hanging on to both ends of the rope for his life. A jet black stallion with beautiful feathery wings soared around the mountain peak and Gavner gave a sigh of relief. They were not going to be trapped on this mountainside after all.

"Gavner," a deep voice boomed in his head, "I will not be able to carry all of you. I can manage Black Shadow and the King but I must leave you behind."

"Very well," Gavner replied back in his mind. "Just get them to a safe place first to set up camp, I can manage."

"I shall send you a message when we land. I cannot directly speak with you over that long of a distance though so I will come to you in one of your dreams. Until then, luck my friend."

Echo swooped underneath Black Shadow and the King and hovered there as Black shadow let Hronzak off onto the steed first. He used his free hand to gather Espoir and gave the frightened baby to the dwarf king. After that he mounted the Pegasus and they soared off into the night. Gavner dropped the loose end of the rope and grabbed the remaining piece with both hands. He knew what he had to do, and now he was ready...

Climbing the rest of the rope Gavner looked down and observed the vertical drop. The descent was hundreds of feet before the mountain even remotely began to slope. Gavner was now at the window that Black Shadow had shattered, and looked into the hall. Al Konvar had to have been overridden with hundreds, maybe even thousands of dwarves. All the members were being forced to be seated and the assiliants seemed to be ranked. There were foot soldiers running around forcing dwarves to sit down and handling any opposition, there seemed to be officers who were barking out orders to the foot soldiers who had red trim on their black garments, and then there was him.

Sitting on the throne that belonged to Hronzak was the second in command of the entire dwarf army; General Xnias. He did not give orders but sat there watching as all opposition was being snuffed out, then he turned to a dwarf and said something. The short figure faced the window and Gavner knew he was in trouble. Ducking his head so it was not visible through the window he began to swing on the rope towards the mountain. The window ledge came out from the mountain peak so the rope hung about 5 feet from the side of the mountain. When Gavner was close enough he thrust his hand into the snow and mud on the side of the mountain and kicked his foot into it as well.

Using his teeth he severed the rope he was holding and thrust his other hand and foot into the mountainside. Gavner felt the presence of the dwarf on the ledge above, but he knew the dwarf did not know he was there. Looking back he saw the small bit of rope being pulled up into the window. Then Gavner realized, the dwarves now thought Gavner was dead. A grin spread across his face as he imagined Xnias's look when he was going to see Gavner alive...

[black shadow]

Black Shadow did not feel right letting Gavner go alone, but he soon realized that it was necessary. He dropped from the rope and onto Echo's back. The black Pegasus' voice boomed withing Shadow' head.

"I will take you as far as I can. I will not be able to take you all the way though. You must find your own way."

Echo turned from the mountain and quickly his them from the sight of the dwarves, watching Gavner carefully escape being noticed. A worry for Gavner came over Black Shadow suddenly. How could he evade being noticed? It was a question that Black Shadow could not answer.

The short flight was accompanied with King Hronzak gripping Echo's mane tightly in fear. It was when the steed's booming voice entered his mind that the king released his grip, almost falling off while doing so.

A dark tree line grew into a light green field, and Echo began to tire. Echo found a small cave, and quickly dropped his passengers off, speaking to Black Shadow.

"I will stay and protect the King. You go and warn Queen Olivia." Echo said in his deep voice. Black Shadow nodded and turned to exit the cave. The journey would be at least a few days.

[matthewkuch]

All of the dwarves were sitting in Al Konvar, being oppressed by the figures in black. The enemies had resorted to violence and were now striking down anybody who showed any form of resistance. Soon all resistance ceased but there was still a murmur throughout the room. When General Xnias's voice rang out through the hall though, in a false tone of friendliness, everybody fell silent.

"People of Fortin Perpetuum," General Xnias said. Gavner perked up his ears. He knew that the kingdom was in the Al Kitar Mountain Range but he had never heard the name of the actual kingdom.

"It has come to my attention that you are unhappy under the rule of Hronzak." A murmur spread throughout the room. The dwarves were shaking their heads in disapproval. Xnias noticed this but continued on in his phony voice of friendliness.

"King Hronzak was a liar and brought dishonor to the clan under his rule. I promise each and every one of you that from now on things will be different. There will be order instead of chaos. Instead of being lowly creatures of peace and simplicity we will rise out of the darkness and make a great kingdom out of this perishing clan!" Al Konvar erupted into shouting and outraged protests. One dwarf stepped up and shouted that the clan would be disgraced if such a thing were to happen.

Instantly Xnias's friendly demeaner dissolved. His tone was sharp and cold, bitter and merciless. "Silence!" General Xnias shouted, standing in front of the throne. "The kingdom has fallen and you all belong to me now; which means whatever I say goes. Anybody who says otherwise will be executed on sight."

Xnias pointed to the man who had stepped up to speak out against him and told the guards to seize him. The dwarf pulled a hammer and began to fight back with impressive skill and precision, slaying at least 5 of the guards who attempted to restrain him. Eventually, however the dwarf was overpowered and his hammer taken from him. He was dragged to Xnias who pulled out a small assassin's dagger.

"This is what happens when you fight back."

[black shadow]

Black Shadow ran as fast as he could, he felt like he was moving faster than he had ever run before. The trees were flying past him and the grass behind him was kicked up and flown a few feet. it took but an hour for the fatigue to seep into his mind and for him to stop. Black Shadow took in a few more deep breaths and began to run again. He had a goal: Get to the elven kingdom and call upon queen Olivia.

The stops became more frequent until Black Shadow was forced to stop completely. He was tired, and hungry. Food was not hard to find, as there were plenty of wild animals around to kill. Black Shadow created a small fire and began to cook the field deer he shot.

After eating his meal, he lay his head down and began to rest.

[matthewkuch]

Gavner crept into his friend's camp and started soup. He had just flitted for several hours and was very tired. He found a half-carcass of a field deer and decided to make some food. Gavner found some wild herbs and mushrooms that would go perfect in a soup. Finding a nice sized boulder, Gavner carved out a large stewing pot with his razor sharp and extremely hard fingernails. He filled it with water from a nearby brook and boiled the water. Placing the articles of the stew in the pot he looked around for a thickening agent.

Gavner remembered Fintin teaching him something about Tara Gum; an agent in roots that caused liquids to thicken. Digging up some roots from a tree Gavner ground them up with two rocks and added them to his stew. Now all he had to do was let it boil down. He stared into the fire for several seconds, admiring the beauty of it. Looking around he noticed that the sun would rise in several minutes. The trees should provide cover for him, but it would delay he and Black Shadow for a day.

Going over to Black Shadow, Gavner lay down next to his friend; fairly close. He was looking directly at the archer, who was sleeping on his back. Gavner waited about ten minutes until his friend began to stir. Black Shadow opened his eyes and Gavner could tell he smelled something cooking. He looked up with his head and observed the pot on the fire. Laying his head down he rolled onto his side, the side that Gavner was on. Black Shadow's nose touched Gavner's and he found himself staring into the blazing red eyes of the vampire who had a grin from ear to ear, displaying his sharp black teeth.

"Hi there."

[black shadow]

Black Shadow shot his hand forward, connecting a clenched fist with Gavner's nose. Quickly spinning and standing up, Black Shadow grabbed his bow and aimed it at Gavner. When he realized it was his ally, he put the bow down. Gavner hissed at him and turned his back away laying down again.

"I'm going to sleep. we can continue tonight." He said, turning and falling asleep. Black Shadow noticed the food cooking over the fire. Black Shadow noticed it was almost ready and stirred it until it was ready. When ready, he pulled it off the fire. It was good, and he was surprised. Gavner is apparently a good cook.

He waited for the day, taking a nap or two so that he could be rested during his and Gavner's voyage. As the sun fell an the moon began to rise, Gavner awakened, and the two set off on foot again.

[Philomel]

Name of Thread: There and Back Again (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?27460-There-and-back-again-%28Closed%29)
Judgement Type: No Judgement
Participants: black shadow and matthewkuch

Rewards:

black shadow (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?16247-black-shadow) receives:
515 EXP
55 GP

matthewkuch (http://www.althanas.com/world/member.php?17109-matthewkuch) receives:
470 EXP
44 GP

These scores DO NOT include the 3x Althanas Day special EXP awards, as no post was written on AD.

[Logan]

EXP and GP Added!