AN: This is the next chapter of my story, so enjoy!
disclaimer: I still do not own any RuneScape characters or places.
Chapter Two: The Significance of the Demon Idol
Morning had just arrived. The two adventurers walked out of the village of bandits and were walking toward Edgeville, a small town bordering the wilderness. Their pace was casual as the stones in the dirt were crunching noisily beneath their feet. They stayed quiet for a while, and then Pete suddenly broke the silence.
"How did you get into this mess involving that thief and the weird Zamorakian? I'd like to hear your story," he said as he fumbled with his whip.
"Well," started Ron, "I was walking past the Varrock Museum when I heard someone shout, 'Stop, thief!' I turned around and saw a shady character running out of the building toward the wilderness, and I saw a museum guard yelling after him. I decided to give chase, being the bold adventurer I am. When I got there, I had to battle my way through groups of thieves but they were no big deal. After that, I tried to get into the general store but the door was locked. So I rummaged through my bag and found a lock pick. I then used it, and busted open the door. After that, I got into a little skirmish and killed the thief who was with the Zamorakian. Then he maneuvered behind me and was about to slit my throat when you arrived. That's basically everything up to the point when you saved me." When Ron finished, Pete was gaping at him.
"Really? That's what happened? I wonder why a common wilderness thief would steal for someone he didn't even know?" He paused for a moment. "He was probably bribed," concluded Pete, before Ron could answer. He nodded in agreement instead. As he finished his statement, the duo was at the wilderness trench. Once they jumped over it, they were in Edgeville. Both were glad to finally be back to civilization. They walked into the nearby bank and traversed through crowds of other adventurers who were either conversing with others or accessing their accounts, to a table near a window and sat down across from each other. Ron took his bag out and placed it on the tabletop. He took out the idol, being careful not to let anyone else see it and showed it to his friend as Pete removed his helmet and put it into his bag.
"I think it would be a good idea to show this to Reldo in the Varrock castle library because he could probably tell us a few things about the significance of this thing," he proposed, lifting the idol slightly off the table. "Then we can return it to the museum."
"Good idea; let's go," responded Pete. Almost immediately after Ron inserted the statuette back into his bag, he heard another voice. This one was feminine and enthusiastic. He turned his head in the direction of the source.
"Ron Destiny, is that you? Wow, I haven't seen you in a while!" A girl was jogging toward and waving at the two friends. She was donning a rune full helm, a dragon plateskirt and a rune platebody. She was also bearing a rune scimitar in a scabbard and a rune kiteshield in her left hand. Ron stood up with awe in his eyes. This person was Jenney59, whom he befriended when he first arrived in Gielinor. She took off her helmet, revealing pretty blue eyes and shoulder-length blond hair, and put both it and her kiteshield away into her carry-on; she then embraced Ron for a couple seconds, and he returned it with one arm. "It's nice to see you again," she said quietly.
"Back at 'cha," Ron answered back as she pulled away. "Jenney, you remember my partner Pete, right?" She nodded, smiling at him. "Well, he and I must go to the library to visit Reldo about something important. Would you like to come? However, you must promise one thing: Will you keep what we're trying to find out about a secret?" Jenney giggled.
"Okay, my lips are sealed," she promised. Ron looked at Pete as if to say, "Do you trust her?" He nodded, and the trio made their way through the congested bank to the exit and set off to the neighboring city of Varrock.
Varrock is a large city that is the ideal place for adventurers to stop during whatever quest they may be on. There are many shops, a museum, two banks, a bunch of houses, a castle and more. There are also two rival gangs, known as Phoenix and Black Arms, that both have headquarters stationed in the bad part of town. The popularity of this city is mostly due to a place next to King Roald's castle called the Grand Exchange. It is a place similar to Wall Street in the respect that it's crowded, but it's not stock one is buying. Rather, items useful to one's journey can be purchased here from other adventurers. The three friends strode briskly through the dense area because they wanted to get to the library as quickly as possible, along with the fact that the large masses of people were overwhelming. When they arrived at the front doors of the castle, a guard dressed in chainmail and a medium helmet grasping a halberd stopped them.
"Halt! What business do you have here?" he demanded sternly, with authority in his eyes. Jenney was the first to pipe up.
"Excuse me sir, but we need to visit Reldo about something very, VERY important," she stated innocently. The guard's eyes relaxed.
"All right, you can go in but I'll have my eye on you!" he replied. They thanked him, entered and walked toward the library. When they arrived, Reldo, a knowledgeable man who wore glasses, immediately noticed them.
"Ah, welcome, welcome! How may I be of assistance?" the scholar asked warmly. Ron answered for the group.
"We have this artifact that was stolen from the Varrock museum by a thief from the wild," he explained, showing the artifact to him, "do you happen to know anything about it?" Reldo gazed at the object incredulously.
"I… I don't believe it…" he stuttered as if it weren't real. "That is the demon statuette that I've read about in my books before! Hold on—I may have a book or two lying around concerning that." He went over to one of his many bookcases and skimmed the shelves. "Aha! Here it is!" He removed a book titled Zamorakian Lore and Legends. He opened it and started to read. "According to this, that thing you are holding is called the Demon Idol. It is said that if Zamorak were to touch it, whether directly or indirectly, its power would open the portal to his heinous realm and all his malicious, corrupted creatures will be able to cause widespread destruction on all of Gielinor." The group of three just stared, with their mouths hanging open at the scholar. Reldo regarded each of them with reassurance.
"Not to worry! You guys look skilled and strong enough to avoid something like this. Is there a reason why you are so worried?" This time, Pete spoke.
"Yeah, my friend here," he ushered at Ron, "ran into a bit of trouble out in the wild. The thief he mentioned earlier apparently made a deal with some sort of Zamorakian follower that involved that idol." Reldo looked shocked.
"Well now, that does not sound pleasant at all! I suggest you return that to the museum now just in case that man tries to ambush you to get it back." The team heeded his advice. They thanked him for his help and hastily exited the castle.
Meanwhile, in the region of Morytania, a swamp-like part of Gielinor across from the River Salve that has the constant scent of Zamorakian evil in every bit of air stands the village of Canifis, a village of vicious werewolves. Within this village, there is a trapdoor behind the Hair of the Dog Tavern. Underneath this lies a shortcut into the Mort Myre swamp. Also in here was a recently established altar covered in blood-red cloth with a symbol that looked like a curvy "M" on top of it. Incense burners were on both sides of it and they were secreting a pungent, foul odor. In front of this was the mysterious cloaked man in the Zamorakian robes, and he was kneeling before the altar. Out of nowhere a voice of pure evil spoke.
"You are my most trusted follower, Alzorf. However, it has come to my attention that you failed in retrieving the one item that will help me cause rancorous subjugation on Gielinor." The man started to shift uncomfortably.
"I… I'm sorry, Master Zamorak! I beg of you, please give me another chance!" he pleaded, "I promise I won't fail you again!"
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you right where you kneel," the voice hissed in a calm, yet malicious tone.
"You should spare me because if you strike me down, who else will free you and your minions from your dimensional prison?" the man asked shakily. The voice sighed.
"You make a good point... all right. I'll give you one more chance, but heed my warning! If you fail me again, I SHALL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"
"I won't fail you again, master. I will make sure I get what is rightfully yours from those pesky adventurers," he said with confidence as he got up and climbed up the ladder into the murky atmosphere of Morytania.
AN: So, what did you think? Pretty suspenseful, huh? Review, please!