From alt.pub.dragons-inn Thu Sep 1 15:04:08 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7616 Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!news.hal.COM!olivea!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!news.duke.edu!solaris.cc.vt.edu!swiss.ans.net!malgudi.oar.net!sun!vax.cns.muskingum.edu!hsexauer From: hsexauer@muskingum.edu (Rapunzel) Subject: [Legacy] Heart of Darkness Message-ID: <1994Aug31.193749.1@muskingum.edu> Lines: 227 Sender: root@sun.cns.muskingum.edu (Operator) Organization: Muskingum College Date: Wed, 31 Aug 1994 23:37:49 GMT For the next two days the company was cautious while travelling. Aleric kept the skiff out of center stream, following the shore closely. The remaining members of the party lined the sides of the craft, scanning both sky and land for potential danger. Since the encounter with the kraken, they now knew they couldn't relax their vigil, even during full daylight and far out from shore. Once, high above the tree line they saw the winged silhouette of something much larger than a watcher outlined against the blaze of colors the leaves were showing more and more now. Kieriah and Ruel exchanged glances, knowing what it was. Ruel gestured to Laurenth and Tierge to build and illusion of nothingness over the skiff to protect it from the prying eyes of the icarus. They passed by safely under the shield constructed by the two mages. By the third day the skiff was no longer able to be put to shore. The banks had grown steadily steeper and higher as the river cut into the bedrock beneath. The night before, Durstrin had been forced to climb the bank to tie a rope to a tree on the shore above to keep the craft from drifting in the night. All had remained on the boat to sleep, an arrangement impossible that third night. With no place to anchor the skiff, they were obliged to stand shifts at the tiller, guiding the skiff clear of the rocky ridges lining the river. As dawn's pearly fingers began to reach across the dark sky of the fifth day on the river, Aleric and his companions were surprised to see, a short distance ahead the inky blackness of a craggy mouth swallowing the river. Aleric and his brother stood in the prow, watching the cliff walls constrict around them. If either were to reach out his arm he would almost be able to touch the cold stone. The passage through the channels would be just wide enough to permit the skiff to pass, leaving little room for error. The elder Lyorn frowned, contemplating the opening with darkened eyes. He turned his head and motioned for the mages to join him. "Tierge, Laurenth," he said when the women had joined him. "Is there anything you can do to slow our progress, or halt it even? I want some time to give last minute instructions before we go jumping into anything blind." Aleric cocked his head as he looked at them, a shaft of the young light glinted off his hair, outlining his head clearly. Laurenth looked at her peer thoughtfully and shrugged. "I suppose we could place a barrier across the entrance to the tunnels..." "A possibility. I was thinking more along the lines of something bracing against the walls, holding us back," the little mage replied. She entered into a short discussion with Laurenth about their options. Aleric sighed, shaking his head. Jaerodyn grinned at him, patting his shoulder. "I think Tierge is happy there's another mage with us now. They seem to be in their element," Jaerodyn remarked. Aleric had to agree, having seen the two of them conferring often. "I suppose so. But right now I wish they'd stop comparing notes and just do something. We're moving fast enough that it will be a moot point before long." He cast a glance at the ladies who appeared to be doing some field research on the question. Aleric looked at his brother meaningfully, eyebrows raised and pointed at them. Jaerodyn laughed. "Yes, I see. Well, encourage them to swiftness, o sagacious one." Aleric didn't even bother to make a response to that one. He respectfully tapped his old friend, Laurenth, on the shoulder. "Um, pardon me for interrupting this fascinating experiment... But we seem to be approaching the crucial moment. Have you two decided anything?" Laurenth looked around somewhat absently and answered him nonchalantly, "Hm? Oh, hello Aleric. Yes, I believe we're ready." She turned her attention back to the little mage, "Tierge, if you'd like to begin..." Tierge nodded and raised her hand to Laurenth, palm outward and fingers closed. Laurenth stepped back to line herself beside Tierge, and lifted her own hand to place her palm against Tierge's. The little mage removed her lodestone from her neck and draped the chain around their joined hands, so it touched both. She nodded once and both raised their opposite hands with palms facing toward the cliffs on either side. Tierge focussed her power through the lodestone, bolstered and enhanced by Laurenth's. The stone began to hum softly and emit a faint pinkish light. The skiff's progress slowed visibly, then stopped. Once he was sure the skiff wasn't going anywhere, Aleric hastily called his comrades together for a quick conference. They gathered around the stern of the craft where Durstrin had been at the tiller, guiding the skiff. He outlined their goals again briefly, and cautioned that they were entering the domain of the Shekiren. At any time they might find themselves up against the whole lot of them. Aleric glanced at each of the faces studying him. "Now our first problem will be to find our way through the crypts to the keep itself. Elcoran, you've been able to show us through tunnels before, and I won't ask how. But can you do that again?" Elcoran scratched at his chin thoughtfully, contemplating the opening hovering not ten feet before them. His silvery hair giving him a look of age that belied his years. "I'm not sure actually. I don't get any sort of feeling from where we are. Maybe it's just because we're still out here and not in there." "Hopefully once we enter you'll be able to help lead us through. Now when we land, I'd like to have Ruel with me in the lead, and Laurenth as well to provide light. Kia, you and Elcoran will keep an eye to the sides for any side passages and whatever might come out of them. And Jaer, you have already proven to work well with Durstrin. I'd like you two to bring up the rear with Tierge, who will provide light." Laurenth called back to them from where she and Tierge were holding back the skiff. "Aleric my dear! I would suggest you talk a little faster. We can hold this longer with no trouble, but that would reduce our effectiveness later if we waste all our power here." He called back, "Don't worry, I'm almost done. Give me another two minutes and you can release us." Aleric turned back to the group clustered around him. "Please be careful, all of you. As long as Chiyasangehir is still missing, and Xel'eman is in Euskaya's hands, we've no hope of actually destroying the Shekiren. We'll get in, take back the celestial blade, and get out. No heroics." After his final words, Aleric dismissed them all, and moved to return to the prow and the mages. Jaerodyn stopped him with a hand on his arm. In a low voice he said, "Aleric, can I talk to you for a minute? There's something I should..." The elder Lyorn covered Jaerodyn's hand and gripped it momentarily before releasing it. "Ordinarily, I would make time for you. But right now, there isn't the freedom to do so. It will have to wait till later; the mages are releasing the skiff now and I need to pay attention to where we're going." When his brother strode away, Jaerodyn blew out his cheeks in frustration and clenched one fist in an excess of tension. He checked his weapons quickly in the growing light of day, before the skiff passed into the tunnel. This was going to be a long day. At the first bend in the stream, the weak light from the opening disappeared, leaving the company in darkness. With a low command from Aleric, Laurenth and Tierge both lit magelights and sent them to hover some distance ahead of the skiff. So far, there were no side passages that might lead to the catacombs under Highspire. Aleric gripped the low rail on the boat tightly, knuckles whitening under the pressure. Now, as his quest was nearing its destination, he was beset by doubts and worries that had previously been pushed aside to be considered later. The trouble was, later was now, as usually happened with time. Those doubts that occupied his thoughts started taking on the forms of his fevered nightmares. Visions of himself surrounded by demonic creatures in an unknown hall pestered his sight in the blackness that surrounded the island of light that was the skiff. Outnumbered by the creatures, he found himself being overrun and torn apart by taloned paws screaming out for help that would never arrive. And yet, in the midst of his pain he felt an icy touch that seemed to ease the agony. Coolness spread from the touch to every part of his body, rendering the creatures mere annoyance. He stood easily, staring down at the demons crawling in obeisance at his feet. He found he could control them all with a word or a gesture. He raised his arm to banish them, and found a sword in his hand. It was not Xel'ha, as he expected, but one similar. A bright nimbus of white light surrounded the blade, causing the creatures to cower in its ambiance. A sense of supreme power suffused him with the knowledge the he could control the world if he chose. In answer to an unspoken command, he transferred the shining blade to his left hand and drew Xel'ha with his right. The flames engraved on its length were dancing and the amber light shone forth bravely. With a sword of power in each hand, he drew them together and touched the blades together. A flash of brilliance blinded him to all in the room, but the splendor of the two swords and the power coursing through his body. Glancing down at the joined hilts, he saw his own pale, white hands wrapped comfortably around their grips. Aleric jerked himself out of a reverie with a shock. He was sweating in reaction, trembling nervously. Turning to let the magelight shine clearly on his skin, Aleric brought up his hands to inspect them, just to make sure there was no trace of pallor. He breathed a sigh of relief to see the bronze skin unblemished by the infectious evil of the Shekiren. The Lyorn shuddered and firmly gazed ahead once more, determinedly keeping his thoughts to the business at hand. Aleric was not the only one with internal struggles, as the company continued the slow voyage through the tunnel. Kieriah crouched at the edge of the skiff on her knees, leaning against the rail circling the craft. She clutched apprehensively at the hilt of her beltknife with one hand, while the other tapped her thigh with the fingers. Close spaces made her uneasy, and it didn't help that she kept reminding herself uncomfortably how much rock was poised above her with no place for her to escape to. Though she wasn't in the least bit cold physically, her teeth started chattering softly. The Lyorn girl was trying her best to remain quiet and say nothing, despite the fears that kept bubbling the the surface in her mind. The touch of a hand on her shoulder nearly caused her to jump away defensively, dagger half drawn. It was dim on the skiff, the lights concentrated as far ahead as possible to guide Durstrin as he piloted the craft. Kieriah could just make out Ruel's shape as he dropped to one knee beside her. She exhaled the breath she had unconsciously held until then. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the rail again, beating back her claustrophobia. She felt Ruel's gloved hand close around hers in apology. He squeezed her hand gently in encouragement, trying to give her strength to endure the passage. Kieriah clung to his hand like a lifeline, reassured by his presence and warmth next to her. She prayed silently that the side passage wasn't too much further ahead. -- Heather Sexauer Muskingum College hsexauer@muskingum.edu Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. -- H.L. Mencken