Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: kinsman@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (Aphoriel/Kinsman) Subject: [Kal & Co] We're Outt of here - Part Two Message-ID: <1993Feb23.183137.28119@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca> Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1993 18:31:37 GMT "E'Karam, you idiot! Now they're going to shoot us down, thanks to you and your big mouth.." Denner sounded distinctly worried. "Blast it, how are we supposed to run away if we're on top of this roof?" Meran cast his gaze over the rooftops of the city. "It's not that far a jump to try and go from one roof to the other; just about five feet, I'd say, and all of us could do that." "Uh, guys? Wait a minute here... could someone fill me in on whey they're after us?" Kevin had only begun to understand Generican a few minutes ago, thanks to the Sea Hag's spell, and was now surrounded by a situation that was a good deal more complex that he originally thought. Kalendraf shook his head. "I don't know everything myself yet, but we have to run away for now, young man. Denner... will your cart be safe in the stables?" Denner gave a start. "The cart! No, I *can't* leave it here! There's dangerous alchemics inside that could jeapordize the safety of everyone who comes to this Inn. We have to go pick it up..." Denner was cut off by the first of the guard's arrows whizzing past his shoulder, shaving off a piece of cloth from his coat. "Let's get going!" Meran shouted, and ran for the roof's edge. E'Karam, Kalendraf, and Kevin broke into a dash for the next rooftop, leaving Denner behind. Several arrows flew past Denner in the second's hesitation he had; then he turned and leapt at the roof of the stables, feet pointed down hard. Denner crashed through the thatch roof into a luckily-placed haystack inside. [There! One of them's in the stables!] The hooded figure walked up to the stable's doors, followed closely by the mischevious young man. The rest of the guard contingent payed little attention to the two and Denner, bringing most of their manpower to bear down on the other fleeing four. Inside the stables, Denner crawled out the haystack and came face to face with a somewhat surprised adventurer. "Good evening," the imposing figure began, "my name is Scott Gillig. And you are..?" "Uh, Denner Train." Denner rose to his feet. "Excuse me..." *********** About half a block away, the other four hapless members of the group were running for their lives. The guards were certainly having troubles: between the difficulty of making a running shot at a running target, and each of the group's individual skills in dodging, not a single arrow had so far hit, and the street was becoming littered with stray quarrels and shafts. E'Karam chanced a look back. "Hey, isn't Denner with us?" Kevin called over his shoulder, "I think that guy's getting his cart!" Meran's forehead creased. (Uh oh. I'm not Denner's horse anymore..) *********** Scott Gillig stood by and Denner ran up and down the length of the stables in an fretful panic. "Meran's horse is gone! How am I supposed to get out of here now?" "Well, I have a horse..." Scott began. "Really?" Denner spun. "And you'd let me borrow it?" "Not so fast." Scott took one of the stabled horses and began slowly to take it over to Denner's wagon. "Could you please tell me why you're in such a rush?" Scott brought the horse in front of the cart, and deliberately paused half-way before hitching it up. "Or why the Inn is surrounded by guards after your life?" Denner drew a breath and stared at the ground in front of him. "Suffice it to say I'm helping a person who has more enemies that I had originally realized; and part of all this involves having some ill-informed guards after us." "Hm, that's all?" "I-am-in-a-rush." Denner grumbled, looking over his shoulder at the dark, closed doors of the stable. He could hear some definine noises outside heading towards him... "Well... guess it'll have to do for now." Denner looked up. The horse had already been hitched up, and Scott was leaning back in the passenger's seat. "I hope I don't get killed myself in the escape, eh Denner?" "Thank you very much!" Denner exclaimed, and leapt for the reins. ************ went the mischevious young man's sword against the stable doors as he and the dark hooded figure waited just outside. [Come out, you! Come out and face justice! Come out and pay for all the evils you have done with your tainted magics...] BAM! The stable doors burst open, knocking the two aside as the wagon burst out at full speed, led by Scott's horse and Scott himself, perched up at the wagon's head and holding a long staff lengthwise as a battering ram. The wagon swerved and began rolling down the long street after the crowd of guards in the distance ahead. "Good going, Scott Gillig!" "Ouch. I think I've bruised my chest..." ************ "How many arrows do these guards have?" Kalendraf mumbled, after he leapt over what seemed like his fiftieth building. The group was getting tired of leaping. The crowd of guards had no difficulty keeping up with them, not being required to perform the strenous task of hurdling rooftops, and there was no visible place nearby where the running adventurers could jump down from above. It was not going to be long before someone would be struck by a stray arrow... ************* The mischevious young man scrabbled to his feet and took a flying leap at the escaping wagon, by good fortune (on his part) snatching the rear part and pulling himself aboard. "Oy! Company, Denner!" "Ok, ok!" Denner was busy focusing on driving the wagon straight ahead in a full gallop and keeping an eye on his compatriots ahead... Scott jumped at the young man, shoulder first, and knocked him off his feet to the wagon's floor, scattering barrels off to the side and making them bounce dangerously about. "Be careful, Scott!" Denner yelled in the general direction of the struggling pair, "those barrels have sensitive alchemics in them!" Denner realized what that meant, and started digging for his gas mask with his left hand. All the excitement of the last few hours kept making him forget to do that... At that point, Meran looked over his shoulder again and spotted Denner's wagon. Clueing in, he immediately spun and began running the other way, back towards the Inn. "Meran! What-" E'Karam began as Meran scooted by, then looked back himself and began to follow Meran. Kevin and Kalendraf, at the front took the hint intuitively and turned, running back the way they came towards the onrushing wagon. "About face!" called the captain, and the chase immediately resumed, in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Denner was worrying about the entire situation; guards coming his way ahead, his friends running towards him on the rooftops above, and Scott struggling with some guy behind him. "Scott! Hurry up and shove that git off!" Scott obliged by finally hooking the mischevious young man's knee and giving him a two-handed push, sending him flying off the wagon to land roughly in the dirt road behind. "Yeeha! That's great!" Denner looked up. "Jump quiiiick!" "Oh boy..." Kevin crossed his fingers and made the best-timed jump he could, followed by the other three. By good luck, the lot of them landed with a heavy thump in the wagon's rear. "Alright! That's two for three!" Denner looked ahead. "Oh-oh. One side!" And twenty guards jumped aside just in time as the hell-bent cart came rolling through. "Fire at the driver!" the captain shouted, and volleys of arrows flew through the air towards the fleeing wagon. Thunk-thunk-thunk. Denner chanced a look back, half-surprised no-one was hit. To his relief... "Phew! Looks like the barrels all got in the way of everyone else.. Well, then.." Then Denner's charm turned ice cold on his chest. Denner spun his head in alarm, and spotted one barrel which had been pierced right through with a bolt. The liquid that was dripping out was colored red. It was supposed to have been green... "VOLATILE CHEMICAL! Get that barrel off NOW!" "Eh? Right!" Scott untangled himself from the others (all a bit too tired to do anything active) and heaved the barrel off with a push. The barrel bounced and began rolling towards the guards. Denner's face fell. "Oh no..." The captain watched the wagon roll off into the darkness, and turned to his guardsmen angrily. "Damn it! We had them in the perfect position, and you all let them worm their way out of it! You..." The captain stopped to note one barrel rolling slowly towards him. He walked up and stopped it with his foot, a very annoyed look on his face... KAAAABBBBLLLLLLAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! E'Karam looked up at the expanding fireball and whistled appreciatively. "Wow! Was that yours, Denner?" "Yes," Denner said sadly, "it was." Littlefair and Listener ran out of the Inn to see what the noise was. Twenty feet away, they saw a large black char of a crater, with scattered pieces of bent and twisted armor scattered about the epicentre. The buildings on either side of the street were on fire. "Look at that! Look at that! That's it! I've had enough!" Littlefair stepped out in the middle of the street and yelled uselessly at the disappearing wagon. "YOU PEOPLE ARE NEVER, EVER, EVEEER COMING BACK TO THIS INN! GOT IT? NEEEVEEERRR! NEVVV..." Listener rested a hand of Littlefair's shoulder, and spoke with a tired voice. "Let's just go back in and forget about them for now..." ***************** "Ow. I think I've got a leg cramp." Kevin complained. "Um. Kal, you awake?" "Yes, of course I'm awake. Does everyone here understand exactly what exactly is going in right now? I don't recognize half of the people involved in all this..." "I guess it can be explained on the way," Denner continued, "by the way, this is Scott Gillig. He helped us escape with his horse, and will you be helping us in our, um.. 'quest'?" "Well, it all depends on whether it's worth my time." Scott warned. "Fine, fine. Well'p, we're all of to see Wizard Ivy! Shouldn't be more than a hundred kilometres west of this city, so you all get some sleep. We'll be there by the morning after tomorrow night!" -Aphoriel/Kinsman Sean Givan