Rashemen Book 2

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Sepp danced out of the reach of a fire, then saw the largest tangled up with Jex. He ran over to it and thrust both daggers into it. It was sucking all of the coldness protecting Jex out of his armor, and it sucked the coldness out of Sepp's daggers too. The connection Sepp had set up with the ice field was strained to its breaking point, but with his last ounce of concentration, Sepp held the connection until all of the heat of the large fire was extinguished.

As its last smoke drifted up into the air, Sepp and Jex fell down exhausted in the puddle that had formed. A river of slush wandered out from the battlefield into the ice. Sepp knew without even trying that he wouldn't be able to reconnect with the coldness.

Jex pulled himself onto his knees, then helped Sepp sit up. "I guess this is where we all get burned to a crisp now," Sepp told him.

But the remaining fires had waivered in their attacks when the big one went up in smoke.

A medium sized one somehow made words come out of its form. "Small creature of flesh, who are you, and how is it that you fight with such vigor, and such cold?"

Jex pushed Sepp up on his feet, "Answer it," he whispered in Sepp's ear. "A good bluff would be my suggestion."

Sepp noticed that part of his cloak was still on fire. He took the time to slap it out with his wet hands, then spoke in as loud a voice as he could muster.

"I am my mother's son. And we are on a mission for the Earth, to return Her Heart. As I said before you attacked us, we will succeed, regardless of what you do. Many of you have died, unnecessarily, and if need be, you will all die. Yet that would not be my wish. You have all lived in harmony with the Earth in the volcano for ages, and there is no reason that you can't return there. Let there be peace between us. Let balance be restored. Or die, if you must. Choose now, we haven't got all day." Sepp bent down and picked up one of his daggers, then extended his right hand with an empty palm and his left hand with the frosty dagger to the fire.

For a few moments, all that could be heard was the flames flickering, then the one who had spoken said, "You speak the truth. We shall have peace. You may pass." It lead the other fires back to the volcano.

Sepp had been ready to die. Now that it seemed they would live, his mind was numb. It was all he could do to pick up his second dagger, and put one foot in front of the other. From the noises he heard, he assumed that everyone in the group was following.

As he put his first step down on the rock of the volcano, the earth started shaking. From the rocks emerged several Earth elementals. They were emaciated, and sickly looking, yet their gaunt faces held joy in them. Four laid themselves down to make a bridge over a magma flow. Three more created a staircase up a small cliff.

As Sepp came over the ridge of that cliff, he saw a small hole in the side of the volcano. Judging by the hardened magma around it, it had been a side vent at one time, and now probably led into the main crater vent. A quick sense probe confirmed that.

Looking back, he saw Atten, with Nakia and Alexi almost carrying him, come over the rise. He waited for them to catch up with him. The Earth's Heart was still beating, a little bit faster now with anticipation. He reached out to touch the crystal that held his mother's spirit, but there was no contact with her. It was as if she were truly gone.

"Goodbye, Ma," he whispered, giving the crystal a kiss. "We've made it," he told Atten. "Just a little bit farther, and in that tunnel we'll find the magma vent. Our quest is almost finished." He didn't have any water left in his body to cry.

 

Weary but hopeful Nakia lead Atten, with Alexi half-carrying him, to the vent. It was dark inside but there was a breathe of welcome warmth. Reaching in her bag she pulled out a funny gadget and in a moment it shot out a beam of light. The vent sloped downwards and was large enough for the big folk if they wern't claustrophobic.

"Ayee, Atten we are almost there. Let's go. The Heart is eager to go home."

 

Jex was tired. He hadn't been this tired in years. After dieing while fighting the Mycoids, and the battle for the Heart against the Fellowship, and the hurried escape into the night only find the very elements against them, he needed rest.

Jex finally slid his scimitars back into their respective sheaths, it felt strange without them in his hands, they hand been gripped so tightley for the last few hours that it didn't even seem right.

He walked along side Sepp into the tunnel. Feeking releaved to finally be this close to ending the problems caused by the Heart.

 

Atten drew the gem from his pocket. It still felt heavy in his hands but he could feel the power reaching out. Somehow they had passed by all the elements of the world in their journey to this spot. Against all the odds they had made it. Now balance could be restored.

Atten walked down the tunnel. It was lit by some strange light even after they passed out of reach of the sun.

The heat was oppressive but eventually the tunnel came to and end at a great rift. Atten strained his eyes but could not see to the bottom. He could feel a great heat rising from the gloomy depths.

Here was a place where the Heart could be returned to the Earth. Atten lifted it high and it took several moments to find the courage to let it go. He opened his hands and watched it fall into the darkness.

Nothing obvious seemed to happen for several minutes and Atten began to wonder if they had done the right thing.

Then he began to hear a low rumbling sound. This was followed by a feeling of increased heaviness. The power of the Earth was returning!

Atten turned and walked back out of the tunnel. It was slow going as his legs took a while to get used to the return to normal gravity.

 

Sepp followed Atten out of the tunnel. As they neared where the rocks and the ice met, a great rumbling erupted from deep within the Earth. A huge explosion blew magma bombs out of the crater and they flew through the air in all directions. One particularly large magma bomb came straight at the group.

“Run! Get out of the way!” Sepp yelled. But it was no use. The burning stone plunged directly towards them. All their work, all their toil, all for nothing. Was this their reward? To have the very Earth they’d just saved kill them all as a thank you? Sepp reached his hands up to the incoming missile, knowing that it would be useless to attempt to redirect it, but feebly trying anyway. He looked at all his friends, “I’m sorry I failed you. Forgive me,” he pleaded.

The magma bomb was just about to impact into them, when it exploded in mid-air. Small pieces of red hot rock crashed down among them. When the smoke and steam cleared, everyone was still standing, a glowing ember burning next to everyone. The smoke trail from the magma bomb lead back to the volcano, and as it disappated, a thin white streak remained behind, a torso of a woman materializing out of the smoke, with a wispy cord of smoke connecting it to the volcano.

“Ma!” Sepp sputtered. She put a finger to her lips and motioned for him to stay still. She went over to Alexi and touched the glowing ember at his feet. It split open to reveal a small silver ring set with a ruby.

“Alexi,” she told him. “Thank you for your help in returning the Earth’s Heart. As a reward, I return to you your mother’s ring. She was stolen from your father by one of the major houses of Menzoberran. She was taken there and thrown into the bottomless pit, to forever hide her secret. But even the bottomless pit comes to an end in the depths of the Earth. Also, I give you information about your father. His breastplate and bones lie underground near where Atten and Sepp first met. That would be a good place to start your search for answers.”

She moved over to the drow brothers. “Kelvados and Delinos,” she said. “When you first joined the group, there was a concern that you would upset the balance. But neither of you are as evil as you sometimes try to appear, and it turned out that you gave a balance to the group. Your enemy watches you from afar, as you well know.” She touched the glowing ember between them, and it split open to reveal an odd shaped stone that was so black, it seemed to suck light into it. “This is a lode stone, but instead of attracting metal, it attracts magical light. It hums softly when you are being spied upon from afar, and you can chose to use its power to bend the light, so that the one watching you sees you in a different position, up to a days journey away, from where you really are. May it help you defeat your enemy.”

She floated to where Delphinae stood and touched the glowing ember at her feet. A large diamond in the shape of a dragon claw was inside. “Delphinae, you escaped the destiny foretold for you. Your future lies in a fog, and will depend on your own actions. This claw was Harfangoural’s, the father of the red dragon race. The Earth has turned it into the hardest substance ever known. It will be a fearsome weapon for you, as it was for Harfangoural, for the times your enemies are too close for to use your arrows or your bow. May those times be few and far between.”

Next she glided to Maron. Inside her ember was a necklace of stunning beauty, made of several different types of jewels and precious stones. “Maron,” she said. “May this remind you that the Earth holds things of great beauty in it, not only terror of enclosed spaces and tons and tons of rock and stone over your head. When you wear it, you will feel safe and at home within the depths of the Earth, whether you are just in a small cave or in the deepest reaches of the underdark, should you ever chose or need to go there.”

Atten looked up as she came to him. Her form went to the ground and bowed to him. When she looked up, she said, “I thank you, Atten, and the Earth thanks you. Indeed all of Nature thanks you for returning the balance. It would not have been done without you. I fear that Sepp would never have been able to toss the Heart into the firey pit, knowing that I was in it and could not leave. Your name will be sung by the stones, to the end of the Earth. Thank you again.”

“Nothing could repay the debt owed to you for your service, but it will be attempted. Not long ago, Sepp tried to explain to you how the elements, earth, fire, air, and water, are also alive in a way that is the same, yet different, as the plants and animals and creatures are alive. He did his best to explain what it took me years of labor to understand, and you resisted his instruction some, yet none-the-less, he planted a seed of knowledge in your mind. Since then, that knowledge has been growing. You are not really aware of it, but when you accessed it was when you were the most powerful. For example when you combined the intelligence and anger of the rabbits with the power of the earth, or when you called Medvartak to your aid. If you continue to ignore this knowledge, eventually it will grow to such a size in your mind that you will be forced to walk around it, as an ivy vine blocking your path. If you chose, and I would suggest you do, go down this path here in your mind, and find out what you truly know.” She reached a hand into his head and gently touched his mind.

Touching the ember in front of him, a large chunk of amber with what seemed to be an acorn in it tumbled on to the ice. “Long, long ago, when the Earth was yet young, and Nature just a babe, before the gods were born, and plants and trees were the prime life on the planet, there was a race of sentient trees. As the gods started creating their races, there soon became no where where these trees were safe, and they dissappeared. This seed trapped in the amber, still holding the potential of life, is the last. If anyone has the wisdom to guide this tree, to decide if and when it should be planted, it is you.”

“And finally, take the gift of Sepp’s friendship that he has been offering to you, and that of the others as well. You will find that it is not such a bad thing, to be friendly. He has been doing great things, assisted by my power and that of the Earth’s Heart, and now that those are gone he will need guidance. He still has much to learn that I will not be there to teach him. Please teach him for me. In return, there are a few things that he will be able to teach you. Thank you again.” She bowed low once more before moving to Nakia.

She touched the ember in front of Nakia and a small, dull grey rock fell out. “Oh nice. Del gets a diamond claw, and I get a rock. At least I can use it as a sling bullet.” Nakia quipped.

“My dearest niece,” Anatha said, “That is no mere rock, it is the Philosopher’s Stone.” Nakia’s eyes grew wide and she was silent. “Yes, when you hold it, you will not only be able to turn any lead you hold or touch to gold, but any metal to any other metal. If you turn a hard dense metal into a softer one, the object may lose some mass, but other than that, you can have all the gold of your dreams. Though you may find that gold is not always the answer to a problem. When you see your father again, give him a kiss for me. I hope the dreams I’ve been having are just warnings of possible problems with the clan, and not the prophecy, but we’ll manage, we always do.” Nakia looked at her quizzically, about to ask what she meant, but the spirit just shook her head and moved over to Jex.

“Jex, thank you for keeping my son alive. Without you he surely would be dead. And thank you for being a friend to him when he had no one.” She tapped the ember on the ice and it opened to reveal a dark black stone with glittery sparks. “Jex, this stone is embedded with diamonds. Blades that you sharpen with it will be sharp enough to cut through the hardest metal, or the thickest stone. May it serve you long and well.”

Then she came to Sepp, who found that he did have tears left in his body. “My dear little Sepp,” she said, lifting his chin with a gentle ghostly hand. “You think you are losing me, but nothing is further from the truth. Yes, I will not be able to leave the Heart, but it is a home, not a cage. I am not the only one to be a part of it. Others far more worthy than I already have been blessed with this honor. I will not be lonely, nor will I be far from you. Whenever your feet touch the Earth, you will be walking on my body, and when you call upon the Earth Mother in your time of need, how can she refuse, you being one of her own sons?”

She touched the ember at his feet and it broke open, revealing two identical rings, twisted bands of gold and silver, set with a small crystal. “One is for Gesed, when you see him again. The crystal is from the Heart, and contains a piece of my spirit, for when you are lonely. Now I must go. I am proud of you Sepp. I love you.” She gave him a kiss then rose up and addressed the whole group.

“The entire Earth has all of you to thank. Each one of you was critical to the effort. And without all of you this would not have come to pass. The Earth offers you its thanks and blessings on your future journeys. Goodbye.”

And she was gone.

Sepp picked up the rings, putting one on and the other in his pocket. He turned and looked at his friends. They didn’t look to good right now, tired, burned, wet and dirty, but there was no better sight in the world, aside from his family together eating mushroom pie, but that was just a dream.

“I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. I was able to do this quest only through your help. I will not stop to rest until all of your quests are also successfully finished, or I am dead. This I promise you, as my mother’s son.”

 

Delinos and Kelvados walked towards Sepp and bowed.

"We value your companionship, Sepp, and we are just glad to.. erm.. help you. Even if you are a surfacer.." Delinos cracked a smile. Kelvados grabbed Sepp's hand and pushed him into a hug.

The brothers backed off and bowed once more, just as their new stone started to hum...

 

Jex stared at the stone in his hand. A small smile spread across his lips. He could hear the humming comeing from the stone that Sepps mother had given the drow brothers, but he wasn't to worried. After all the very elements themselves couldn't stop this group, how would a single Mind Flayer fair.

"Perhaps we should move out and face our new challenges. We have quests to finish and friends who are still in danger, and it's time we finished it."

 

Nakia fingered the rock with a thoughtful look on her face then placed it carefully in a small pouch which promptly disappeared. She then walked over to Sepp.

"Must admit what your Ma said worries me but, Chief, where you go I will go. Guess we'll find out in time what she was talking about. Think we may have other problems right now."

She looked over at the Drow Brothers and the noise of the humming stone.

 

Delphinae hesitantly reached down for the dragon claw. Though she trusted the spirit, red dragons are well-known for their evil, and such an artifact might well be harmful. But at the first tentative touch, her eyes opened wide and she grasped the claw involuntarily. "I am complete; my tasks are done." Abruptly, her eyes narrowed. "No, one task is not yet finished. The Fellowship yet exists."

Del turned to address the group and was shocked to silence by the auras she saw. Nakia, Sepp, and Maron blazed brightly, and the evil of the drow brothers was clear yet tempered in some strange fashion. But Jex's soul was only a void, with a cord so thin it was barely visible reaching up into the heavens; a mystery still, it seems. Finding her voice again, she spoke surely, "I can sense the Fellowship's evil. I will return when I have accomplished my mission." Barely a breeze marked her departure.

 

Maron stepped up to Sepp, still quiet after the spirirt's departure.
She slowly reached up behind her neck, and fastened the necklace. After taking a moment to position it carefully, she laid a hand on Sepp's shoulder.

"Well, it is over. No, not over. There are still things to do. I still have a job to do, but it can wait a while. Perhaps I could tell you my task along the way?"

 

Sepp returned everyone's bows. He was about to speak to Maron, when a coughing fit struck him and he hacked up some charred lung. He had no energy left to heal himself. He mananaged to hoarsely whisper, "I'd love to hear about your quest Maron, but first could you maybe heal my lungs? They really took a beating back there in the fight."

 

Finally, I have found them.

It was an .. effort to track them down, but I have finally done it.

But wait, there is more strength in this group. They have more will. More spirit. More .. purpose.

There is one leaving. She is determined. She will be .. gone soon.

I wonder how they will fair against demons. *chuckle* I will predict that one of them will sense the evil magic soon.

The Brothers have become more powerful. Maybe they will put up more of a fight than I had first imagined.

Oh, what is this? An Avariel? Did I not notice before? No matter, she will only prove a slight delay. [ ]

Two halflings? One is very drained from their travels, he is almost .. depleted. The other, stubborn, looks .. interesting.

A druid. The one who carried the Stone. Drained as well.

Half-Drow.. Maybe relative of the brothers. His soul is weak, his heart strong. He has a strong will.

An Elf prince. How very amusing. He has a strong love for his companions. It seems he would do close to.. anything for them.

They will be fun. And they will see it coming. But the End is inevitable.

 

Jex led the group out of the cavern. The young half drow felt energized. He walked along side Maron and said very little. He had a new bounce in his step. He was confused though, before Del had left she had given him a strange look, it almost had fear in it. He wondered what it meant.

As the broke through the mouth of the cavern, Jex was stunned to find is sunny and calm outside. He had suspected to find trouble, for some reason the calm was picking at his senses.

"Where to now?" He asked the drow brothers. "I think it's time you stopped running from this Mind Flayer and time that you and we faced him head on. You and I both know, if Mind Flayers have one fear, it's the abilities of the drow."

 

"That sounds like a good idea, Jex." Sepp said. "I hope that the way leads past Iceborn village. I'd like to stop and see Gesed if possible, and give him his ring. I'm sure he'd like to have it."

Sepp watched a chunk of ice flow down the river that had now turned from slush to water. "I wonder..." he mused.

 

"Wait... I have something to say before we go any further," said Alexi rather abruptly. "As you know my quest is to find the murderer(s) of my parents, as you also know I am an elf prince... that is not an elf. To tell you the truth part of my quest is to seek out what and who I really am. My name isn't really Alexi Alantie... I do not know my real name... that is the name my adopted parents gave me. I also didn't tell you that my parents did not rule the Kingdom of Mornie... they rule the secret Kingdom or Highlimb. I've waited to now to tell you because... you all were so occupied in getting the Earth's Heart back into the Earth... I coudn't distract you from such great and important task. You see when my family was murdered I caught a glimpse of who killed them. It was a boy. He had wings of blood and he was shouded in an aura of screams. As he killed my brother (the future king) and my sister (The future Queen if my brother died) I realized that not only my older, adopted brother and sister had died the true heirs to the throne had died and I was the only one left. I knew I would be made prince and then when I came of age I would be king. I didn't want that responibiliy, I didn't want to lead bloody wars, I didn't want to make a mistake that would cost the lives of my people. So I ran, I ran from my responsibilities." Alexi said almost in tears. "I ran untill I got to the forest I used to play in when everything seemed so simple. This felt like the place I would be safe. I wanted to stay there forever. All of a sudden I heard footsteps behind me. It was a boy stumbling, and bleeding, his clothes must've been torn off as well. He had his head down so I couldn't tell who it was. Just then I felt a strong erg to help him. His presence was so innocent and he reminded me of myself when I was younger and playing in these woods. I felt that the world depended on me helping him. I ran over him and caught him in my arms just before he was about to colapse. I was interested to know who he was so, pretending to be running my hand threw his hair, I tilted his head upwards to get a look at his face. Instantly I knew who he was he was the one who attacked my village. Although he had his deep blue eyes closed, I knew it was him, he looked a bit like me. I dropped him onto the ground. He hit without making a sound of pain. He was out cold. I didn't know what to do so I just left him there and walked back to my Kingdom. I knew I had to be king now. I had to take on the responsibilty or my people would be lost. I knew that boy was being controlled by someone... or something. Somehow I knew the boy would never do that. I vowed I would put a stop to the thing behind this. I went back to the woods the next day and the boy was gone. I never saw the boy again. the next day I was crowned prince. Ever since I was planning tor the day of my quest to destroy the evil behind the masacre and to find the boy again. I knew he'd be a good asset. I spend years training how to fight and learning about all the evils of this land to prepare for my journey." Alexi cleared his throat. "I'm asking you all if you would help me. I know I told you at a bad time but I fear this evil may be bigger than I can comprehend. I've had nightmares ever since the day I met the boy. Nightmares of an evil force so frightning and so real. Nightmares of people doing horrible things to the boy too horrific to imagine. I dream of the boy and myself alone in the woods in the rain. I believe the last one represents the day I was found. I was taken by an elf family. I don't know the significance of the boy being there. Anyway all of the dreams lead to one place in the end... I believe a place on the other continent. I think that's where the boy came from and I think that's where the evil's centered."

[ October 30, 2005, 23:21: Message edited by: Nicolas Hydre ]

 

"I knew a Mind Flayer once. Physically they are weak. For one of small brain such as I the best thing to do is keep away from it. But a bullet or bolt can do it a lot of damage."

Nakia caresses her sling gently. "As a group we are strong but should not get over-confident. Mind Flayers are tricky creatures. We need to confront this thing but it would be nice to be on ground and not ice. On the other hand we will be exposed when climbing down."

With that she moves resolutely forward cap shading her eyes from the glare of the sun on the ice.

 

With a smirk, "If you are Prince, then who is King?" Delinos said, automatically not liking the 'elf', "And who is ruling your kingdom now?"

The humming of the stone had become very annoying to the Drow, so he triggered the magic of it.

------

Aha, the Prince speaks. He has been quiet. I see now why.

What is this? They are standing in a plain? Did I not remember an ice field? My age must be getting to my mind.

 

"Goodness Alexi," Sepp said. "That's awful. I wonder how your father got put in the ground not far from Iceborn, and why your mother was thrown into a pit. Or if Ma even knew what she was talking about then. Your quest seems very daunting. Well, never the less, you stood by me and lent your blade and skill to my quest, and I will stand by you in yours. I never expected to get into all this when I left my valley, I was just hoping to find my brother. I guess you never know where the path will take you."

Sepp saw that they were not far from the ice sled they had used. "Hey everybody. Help me push the ice sled into the slush river. It seems to be flowing downward, maybe it will take us to the wall."

 

Jex and the others started pushing on the ice boat. To their surprise it slide along easily. But after a while they started to get tired. The fatigue of the last few days was catching up to them. It took nearly half the day, but eventually they got it to the river. Sinking his scimitars into the ice, Jex tied a rope around the hilts of his swords and tied the other end to a tree. Pushing the iceboat into the water he stepped back and allowed the others to climb aboard.

 

Atten stepped nervously into the iceboat.