Okay, this is my first story so bear with me. Disclaimer: I do not own the Dungeons & Dragons characters, don't sue me. Warning: This story has a bit of H/S moments, so please don't give me a negative review just for that.
Chapter One
Another chance to get home, ruined by Venger, Hank thought. I should have destroyed him when I had my chance. Hank remembered back to when they were at the Dragon's Graveyard and Venger was there, restrained and helpless. He had a chance to be rid of Venger forever, but his pride got in the way. He didn't want the others to be responsible for murder. He didn't want anyone to see him kill someone. He didn't want to see Sheila upset.
Hank had just led the group through a mountainous region called the Cliffs of Suffering to find a portal Dungeon Master told them about only to find out that Venger was waiting for them. Venger destroyed the portal and sprained Bobby's ankle in the following fight. Luckily, Uni transported all of them to a forest just a mile away from the Cliffs of Suffering.
He looked at the others. Presto was looking at the camp fire with a depressed look on his face. Diana was leaning against a tree looking down at the ground. Sheila was sitting next to Bobby, bandaging his ankle, while Bobby was petting Uni's mane while she slept. Teleporting all of us must have taken a toll on her. He looked over at Eric and he was sitting on a stump, his back to all of them. Typical.
He looked back at Sheila. She was done bandaging Bobby and she just sat next to him and hugged his shoulders. She was always the one to lift everyone's spirits, but who was there to lift hers? He would gladly go and hug her but that would look suspicious. He hated pretending he didn't care about her. He was the leader, he couldn't get involved with her that way, not in this Hell. He didn't want their life to end up like Presto's or Diana's, having loved someone and lost them.
Sheila broke the depressed silence, "Cheer up guys. There will other portals. We just need to…"
"Shut it, Sheila! We don't want to hear it!" interrupted Eric.
This struck a nerve in Hank. "Why are you yelling at her? She's just trying to make you feel better, you jerk!"
"Well none of us want to hear it! There is nothing to be happy about right now! Bobby is injured, Uni is too tired to move, another chance to get home ruined and Venger is probably sitting in one of his castles laughing at our expense!" Eric shot back.
Hank was getting angry. "That is no reason to take it out on her!"
"Well it's not my fault Miss Sunshine doesn't know when to shut up!" Eric yelled.
After that, Sheila stood up and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and she disappeared.
"Nice, Eric," Hank said before running into the forest after Sheila.
Hank knew he couldn't see Sheila, but he didn't care. All he knew was Sheila was alone and upset, the two things she hates the most.
He looked at the ground and he noticed footprints. He figured they would lead to Sheila. He followed them and he started to hear crying. He followed the sound and he found Sheila huddled next to a tree, crying her eyes out. He hated seeing her like this. Why does Eric always have to cause trouble?
Hank walked up and sat next to her and asked a stupid question, "Are you all right?"
"Yes," she replied, but her voice said otherwise.
"You shouldn't listen to Eric, he's just a jerk," Hank said, trying to comfort her.
"But he's right. I don't know when to stop pushing. I just wanted Bobby and the others to feel better but I… I just…" She sobbed, her voice starting to break.
"Hey, you didn't do anything wrong," Hank said, putting his arms around her to comfort her, "Eric has no right to yell at anyone, especially you. He should be thanking you for trying to cheer everyone up."
"But Hank, why should everyone act like they are happy when they're not?" Sheila snapped. "I'm tired of giving false hope to everyone." She looked up at him with her green-turquoise eyes, fresh tears in the corners. Hank didn't like the look in her eyes: a mixture of shame and defeat.
"Sheila, don't look at me like that." Hank couldn't help but feel guilty. Maybe he was guilty. If he stopped pushing Eric in that argument Sheila's feelings wouldn't have been hurt. "It's not your fault, it's mine. I'm the one who didn't get everyone to the portal in time, I'm the one who didn't protect Bobby good enough, and I'm the one who let Eric yell at you. I'm the leader, I shouldn't be the one starting fights, I'm the one who should stop them." Hank looked away from Sheila. She opened her mouth to speak, but Hank wasn't finished. "I shouldn't let you be the person that cheers everyone up. I am the leader, it's my responsibility."
Sheila just stared at him. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Hank moved to get up but Sheila stopped him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.
"Thank you for being here for me," She whispered in his ear. He hugged her back, not wanting this moment to end.
"Ahhhhh!" A scream came from the all too familiar voice of the Cavalier.
Hank broke their hug and grumbled, "What did he do now?"
Hank got up and helped Sheila to her feet and they ran back to their campsite. When they got there, they saw a sight to common.
"Give me the weapons and I will spare your lives," Venger commanded. He was on his Nightmare, flying around in the air while throwing silver fireballs at the children.
The Cavalier was standing in front of Presto with his shield up protecting the both of them. Presto was waving his hand over his hat and mumbling magic words into it. Diana was swatting of Venger's energy blasts with her javelin.
"Run to the thick part of the forest," Hank ordered, "He won't be able to follow us!" Hank pulled an arrow and shot right at Venger.
Diana started to run into the forest while Eric and Presto were slowly walking backwards while still under Eric's shield. Sheila was nowhere to be seen, which was a good sign. As soon as the others were out of sight, Hank followed. But Venger was not going to give up just yet.
"You think a hiding behind trees will help you?" His hands started to glow as silver fireballs formed and hit the trees. A silver forest fire started. Hank ran to the others, and they were all hunkered under Eric's shield. Hank tried to run to them but he was cut off by a flaming tree falling in front of him. He looked around and noticed a cave just a few yards away from them.
"Guys, run to the cave. We will be safe in there," Hank ordered.
Hank jumped over flaming branches as he ran to the cave and when he got there he was met by Eric, Diana, and Presto.
"Where is Sheila?" Hank asked, starting to get worried.
"We thought she was with you," Diana replied.
This made Hank panic. He ran off into the forest screaming her name.
"Sheila!" He yelled. "Sheila! Where are you?"
He heard a scream come from behind him. He turned around and saw a fallen tree.
"Sheila!" he yelled frantically.
"Right here," she said as she reappeared, her cloak stuck under the tree.
"Take off the cloak," he ordered.
"No, that's what Venger wants!"She yelled.
"He also wants you dead!" Hank yelled, trying to get through to her.
Sheila ignored him and kept pulling at her cloak. Hank knew she could be stubborn, so instead of arguing with her a got a hold of her cloak and pulled. They both pulled at it with all their strength, but no use. They both pulled one last time and the cloak slipped out from under the tree.
"Come on," yelled Hank as he took her hand and led her to the cave. They ran as fast as their feet could carry them and finally made it to the cave. They just made it to the entrance when a tree fell right on top of the entrance, closing them in.
"What do we do now?" asked Presto.
"We walk and hope this tunnel has an exit," replied Hank as he drew an arrow for light.
"That's comforting," Eric said snidely.
They walked for about five minutes when Hank realized something was wrong. "Where are Bobby and Uni?"
Sheila turned around frantically and looked at the group searching for a sign of the boy and unicorn. Tears started to form in her eyes.
Diana looked at Eric and Presto, then at Hank and Sheila and said, "Bobby and Uni were too weak to defend themselves from Venger and they were taken to one of his castles. We tried to fight him but he was too powerful. We're sorry."
Sheila slumped to the ground and started crying. Diana kneeled next to her and tried to comfort her. Hank wanted to be the person to comfort her but he had to ask some questions.
"What happened exactly?" Hank asked Eric.
"Well, as soon as you and Sheila ran off, Venger showed up and attacked us. Bobby and Uni just sat there while Presto, Diana, and me tried to fight off Venger. Apparently, Venger knew about Bobby's injury and had some Orcs come and get him while we were fighting. We didn't have time to react, and by the time you got there he was about to take us too." Eric explained the whole story, and Hank knew Eric wasn't lying this time.
"Why weren't you protecting Bobby? Diana and Presto could have held him off while you shielded him," Hank said accusingly.
"Uh, Hank, I told you. Venger was too powerful, and even if Bobby was strong enough to fight back we still probably would have lost the fight." Eric snapped back. "Where were you, huh?"
Hank felt his cheeks start to blush. "I was trying to make Sheila feel better after you hurt her feelings," Hank finally barked.
"You know what, forget it! Let's just forget this entire situation. We'll find the exit, save Bobby and Uni, and then we can go back to hunting portals." Eric was done talking.
They kept walking through the tunnel, Eric in front, Diana and Presto in the middle, and Sheila was with Hank at the back. Hank looked at her and there were still tears coming out of her eyes. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and let her lean on him. She needed the comfort, and besides, Hank kind of liked it. But he couldn't think about that now. He had to focus on getting Bobby and Uni away from Venger as soon as possible.
Hank remembered the last time Bobby was captured by Venger, and Hank was forced to betray the group and the Cloud Bears to save Bobby. He hated how Sheila looked and talked to him when she thought he betrayed her. When he finally told everyone why he did it, it felt like an enormous weight was lifted off his shoulders.
They kept walking until they came to a big room inside the cave. Hank reluctantly took his arm off Sheila's shoulder and shot an arrow at the roof and the room filled with light. There were five tunnels all throughout the room, but that wasn't what attracted everyone's interest. What drew everyone's attention was the giant statue in the middle of the room. It was of a large dragon with five heads.
"Tiamat," Hank gasped, breaking the stunned silence.
"What's a statue of her doing in the middle of a cave?" Eric asked sarcastically.
"Because Cavalier…," replied a familiar voice.
"Dungeon Master," everyone said in unison.
"This is not a cave, it is a temple," continued Dungeon Master, "A temple that was abandoned many years ago, because of the foolishness of the priest."
"What did he do?" asked Diana.
"He created five magical rings in honor of Tiamat, but the priest didn't know that the rings were stealing Tiamat's power, and Tiamat killed the priest and the temple was abandoned, with the rings sealed inside," Dungeon Master explained.
"What exactly could the rings do Dungeon Master?" asked Hank.
"Each ring represents one of Tiamat's five heads, each having the abilities of the head within them. When you are in possession of the ring, you will gain the strength of the ring you hold."
Hank thought of something. If he had the rings, he would be as powerful as Tiamat and he could finally get rid of Venger.
"But be warned, my pupils, the rings will be difficult to reach, and you will not choose the rings, the rings will choose you," Dungeon Master said, "And one more warning, one man cannot control all five rings without the rings controlling the man," then Dungeon Master walked behind the statue of Tiamat and disappeared.
"So, where do we start looking for the rings?" asked Presto.
Hank looked back at the tunnels surrounding them. The one behind the statue was red and orange with two torches surrounding the entrance. The tunnel to the right of the red tunnel was blue with a lightning pattern around the entrance. The tunnel to the right of the blue tunnel was black with walls that looked like they were melting. The tunnel to the left of the red tunnel was green and smoke was covering the floor. The tunnel to the left of the green tunnel was white and it looked as if it was snowing inside.
"Guys, I think these tunnels will lead us to the rings," Hank said while walking over to the red tunnel. Hank knew Tiamat's red head was the most powerful and he figured that ring would be in that tunnel. He was one step away from entering the tunnel when the entrance was engulfed in fire.
"Hank!" Sheila screamed.
Hank fell back and the flames died a little. Sheila helped him up and he stepped back. The flames completely died and Eric walked up.
"I guess I'm going to have to go down this tunnel then," but as Eric was one step away from the entrance the flames started again. "Ahh. Well, anyone else want to try?"
Diana and Presto tried, but with the same results. It was Sheila's turn.
Sheila stepped up to the tunnel. Nothing happened. She stepped into the tunnel. Still nothing. She took a few more steps and still nothing happened. Then the entrance was completely covered in flames and Hank couldn't see Sheila anymore. Then he heard a scream from the other side.
"Sheila!" Hank yelled.