Escaping fates:

disclaimer forgot to put this on the first chapter but here it is: the characters the plot and the places are mine, the spell names, creatures and classes and of course d&d rules are not mine.

Chapter 4: Ending the feud.

The night seemed to grow colder and it stung stephen's skin yet it seemed that his foe did not notice. Both fighters looked at each others eyes, yet stephen's eye wondered to his foe's arms and armor, the magistrate wore a long cloak so stephen did not see what armor was he using, as for weapons- he had that covered as well, with both his hands the magistrate held a mighty long sword, the sword was both beautiful and intimidating. The hilt of the sword was shaped as a serpent's tail and the blade as the rest of the snake, the crosspiece was shaped as a dagger going through the snake's body.

"Your sword suits you magistrate, a serpent for the serpent. Yet it also tells your future, death." Stephen began before the fight began.

" Don't be too confident, last time luck prevailed you yet I came back, this time luck might turn on you…" The magistrate responded quickly with a hissing voice with a snake like smile the gave stephen the chills.

And with that the fight began swords clashing with endless attempts to swing at the opponent, stephen dodged most of the wild flailing sword swings the magistrate delivered, obviously the magistrate was not calm during the fight, stephen saw an opening, always be calm during a fight, that was the first rule of sword fighting.

Stephen aimed at the head but the magistrate was quick to respond, he tried to move away, yet stephen's blade pierced the magistrate's chest sending a black ooze every where,

The magistrate fell.

Stephen turned at the guards now awaiting a fight.

"Leaving so soon?" a angry hiss came from behind him, he turned back and saw the magistrate standing as if nothing happened!

"I… I… I pierced your heart no one can survive that…" stephen was amazed, he almost dropped his sword.

" Told you I was the one to walk out of this fight…" the magistrate whispered and came to attack stephen who was still shocked and did not even defend himself. The sword entered his side sending stephen to his knees.

" This is it my noble friend…" the magistrate said to stephen smirking like a lizard.

" Not yet!" Stephen protested and rose to his feet attempting to punch his enemy, but he was dazed from pain and the loss of blood, he missed his mark and fell lying on his side.

" Need glasses?" The magistrate mocked as he kicked stephen in the gut.

For some time stephen lay there enduring the magistrate's kicks, he did not even attempt to stand he thought it was over, he's lost. He can't even hurt that thing now.

"his dead! Wait that's it his dead yet he walks that makes him an undead!" stephen thought to himself.

" I'll try to banish him!" stephen kept reasoning.

The magistrate stopped kicking. "Did you say something?" the magistrate inquired.

"Yes that this fight is over…" stephen answered now sounding like his old self again, proud and confident.

"Did I hit your head too hard? Can't you see? I've already won!" The magistrate yelled at stephen rising his arms for applause, but he got nothing.

For the surprise of the magistrate stephen said nothing yet his lips moved as if in a prayer.

"What are you doing boy?" The magistrate asked with now a nervous voice, yet stephen did not respond, his head was bowed down and he still mumbled, the magistrate did not understand what was going on until it was too late, stephen finally raised his head and now with a clear loud commanding voice he yelled at the magistrate.

"By the power of tahoor the god of life I command you foul being to be banished away from the realm of the living back to the abyss from which you were spawned!" stephen commanded and as he did a bright blue aura was visible around him, the magistrate began to come with smoke, yelling in panic the names of dark god to his help he came to his knees and at last the body was once again lifeless, his soul at the endless abyss of evil, he was dead forever.

The guards were shocked, they dared not chalanged stephen now, they were afraid.

"Hey you down here…" a low voice was heard beneath stephen's feet and as he looked down he saw a pair of eye looking through a sewer opening.

"Come on the guards won't come in here!" the voice encouraged stephen to enter, he had nothing to lose he went in before the guards regained their wits.

Inside the sewer he only saw a shady figure infront of him, whoever it was he was leading stephen somewhere and stephen had to follow. The figure too short to be a human or an elf and walked too silently to be a dwarf, niether a halfling or a gnome. With out a word the two walked for a long while and stephen began to worry but at last they came to a halt.

They were in a big hall, as big as the town square and in the room sitting on a comftarble looking sofa Domo sat grinning from ear to ear.

" So how was the fight?" Somo broke of the heavy silence with a chearful voice.

" What is this place? who is this?" Stephen began to ask pointing at the short person next to him.

" This is tom swiftdagger. An old friend of mine and one of the finest rouges in all of onwera!" Domo replied with a respectful smile at tom who still stood silent.

" Glad to meet you, I am stephen heartreaver and I thank you for your assistance." Stephen approched the halfling with a polite smile.

" No prob! Glad to help any friend of Domo is a friend of mine!" Finally tom spoke, he sounded very chearfull for a rouge but that's how halflings are.

" I need you to get me to the temple of tahoor, And do you know where did the guards took my horse to?" Stephen asked his new friend as he poured three cups of some smelly brew.

" Your horse was taken fortunatly for you to the temple's stables, and yes I can get you there, and Domo only there I dare give you the information of the wizard you speek of, for he knows I know where he lives and he is watching me. Only in the temple I am shielded from his eyes of black magic. It will be hard to bring a human that is known for all and does not kno the arts of hiding." Tom explaind what he had to to his friends his plan.

They had to disguise themselves as temple visitors, well more correctly two of them did one of the rouges will have to delay the guards, it was decided that tom will do that and Domo will help Stephen with tricking the temple guards. They decided to start the operation the next night, the guards would forget all about th event by then.

That night only tom slept, Domo was busy going over the plan. Stephen was haunted by nightmares of his past and visons of his beloved dalana and the fallen prince who smote her down and started all these problems, and endless visions of the magistrate and he remembered the face of the walking corpse his heart filled with nothing but revenge, the fuel the kept the magistrate going. Stephen's only hope was getting to the temple everything will be better after that… And with that he fell asleep.