~*~ Chapter 7 Planning~*~
The five travelers set a camp on the beach, since it began to get dark. Assembling some of the grey pieces of wood on the beach they got a nice fire, too. Cered made a simple spear of a long branch and managed to catch some fishes, which he roasted over the fire.
"It makes me angry knowing that the rat Dalton destroyed our weapons," Cered sighed as he picked tiny bones out of his meal, giving the dark fortress a dark glance, "alas, nothing can be done. At least my grandfather's katanas art safe in my time."
"Only a coward would destroy the weapons of his enemies," Frog snorted.
"Suits him right," Schala said.
Magus took a second fish. He just moved his fingers a little, and the dead animal was suddenly cut in two pieces. Molor got one of them, and swallowed it whole.
"What is the weapon thou use, Schala?" Frog asked.
"A staff," she told him, "I never liked sharp things."
"Suits thee right."
Magus watched the fire, thoughtful. When he spoke, it was so sudden it almost startled everyone else.
"You know what, Frog, I just started thinking about something."
The knight was one inch from saying something like "Thinking? Astonishing!". But he didn't, by no other means than the respect for Schala.
"What would that be?" he said instead.
"Considering the fact that you were last seen being abducted by the Prince of Darkness, beaten half to death, how will you explain to your friends how you can return only a few days later without a scratch?"
"By all means, every man and woman knows that I can use the blessed magic of healing," Frog said.
"Yes, but would the undead Magus just let you go? Doesn't it sound a bit suspicious?"
Short silence.
"I see," Frog finally said, "but this query is mine; why would thee care, Magus?"
"I'm not worried about you," he snorted, "but since my sister will be there too, I'm thinking about her safety."
"Aye, a few hours with thy sister has already made thee almost human," Frog said, teasingly.
"Humph."
"It sounds like you're not coming with us, Janus," Schala pointed out, carefully.
He shook his head.
"No. I will come later, it would be most unwise of me to show up near that castle."
"I see..."
"I think I'll stay here and take care of the fortress while Frog explain what happened," the warlock said, watching the fire, "you can call for me when you go hunting for Flea and Slash."
"So what would be the explanation?" Cered asked.
"In your condition that day, you would certainly not have been able to heal yourself," Magus said, thoughtfully resting his chin on a fist, "and the Prince of Darkness wouldn't have helped you, now would he?"
"No," Frog concluded.
"So how on earth would you have been able to escape those dark clutches?" the warlock asked.
"Somebody helped thee?" Cered suggested.
Magus nodded.
"Smart boy," he said, ignoring the fact that Cered was in the warlock's own age, "I believe that would seem possible. It is well known that undead aren't as strong as they were when they lived, so an undead Dark Prince could be stopped even without the Masamune."
"So you mean that me and Cered should act heroes?" Schala said.
"Yes."
Schala shook her head.
"I've got a bad feeling about that," she said, "I cannot walk around telling people I've defeated my own brother."
"That is certainly something that they must be unaware of," Magus said, almost sharply looking at her.
"I understand that. But telling somebody I've fought you... no."
She shook her head again.
"I just couldn't."
Such sibling-love was truly rare, but it was understandable since she'd spent several years worrying about her brother. Schala obviously didn't want to break anything at all.
"I see," Magus said, slowly, "would you bear to say that I just stepped out of a strange, dark portal, and at the sight of you just threw Frog at you and disappeared again?"
"Fascinating," Frog said, "where is thy pride, Magus?"
"What do I care? They all think that I am dead anyway."
"It sounds much better," Schala said.
Magus shrugged his shoulders.
"Look, Schala," he said, "when you take Frog back, don't try to defend me whatever the people in 600 AD might say. My reputation is far too dark to lighten."
"Alright, Janus," his sister said with a sigh.
She didn't ask what he had done to get such a dark reputation, and neither Magus himself nor Frog felt like telling her. It would without any doubt be better if she didn't know all the details.
"Now let us think this through thoroughly and wise," Cered said, "we know now what to tell them, but how will we proceed after that?"
"We should start with searching out the lair of Flea and Slash," Frog said.
He became thoughtful.
"Wait, it now cometh to my mind... when will we show up?"
Magus nodded.
"Surprisingly smart thinking," he admitted, "the soldiers saw me and you disappear through a Gate, that would be 'a strange, dark portal'. For someone that doesn't know time travel, that could just as well be a door to another place or dimension of some kind."
"And if we saw you as you stepped out of one," Schala said, nodding, "you would have escaped through that 'warp-door', ending up in the place where me and Cered saw you."
"Adding what the soldiers tell, it will seem quite possible," Magus submitted, "you only have to make sure that they've already left their rapport, and there'll surely be no doubts."
"Due to my liege's diary," Frog said, "the troop reached the castle on the tenth of March. Therefore we should preferably be at the castle one or two days later. Let us sayeth that we met in the south forest, close to Porre. 'Tis a two days walk from there to the castle."
"Careful," Magus said with a cold little smile, "your brain might break with all this thinking."
"Just giveth me one more reason, dark wizard, and I will gladly do something about thy own brain!" Frog snapped back, giving the warlock a dark glare.
"Oh, how morbid!" Magus sneered, "I'd ask Molor to eat you if I weren't minding his health, you pest!"
"Why thee...!"
The two fighters looked up in surprise because of the sudden laughter.
"I'm sorry," Schala smiled and covered her mouth with her hand, "it's just that..."
She started laughing again, and couldn't continue to speak. Cered replaced her:
"Thee sound just like two friends of mine. Oh my..."
He and Schala leaned against each other, shaking of laughter.
"Thee act exactly like Leon and Shadarak! I ask thee to forgive me and Schala for this..."
"Humph."
After a few tries, Schala managed to take a deep breath and stop laughing.
"Alright," she said, "we've got the date, time and the full story. So when we've convinced your king and queen that you haven't been traveling together with my brother for a while, we'll come back here to fetch Janus and then start looking for this Flea and Slash, right, Frog?"
"Yes, indeed. No, wait..."
Frog slapped his forehead.
"It will not work. I was badly hurt when the soldiers last saw me, and those injuries could not have healed normally in just a couple of days."
Magus smiled coldly then, with that evil, alarming sparkle in his eyes.
"I was hoping that you would think of that yourself," he said, soft as silk.
"Oh, no!" Frog exclaimed, with one hand on Masamune's hilt, "perish the thought, I warneth thee!"
The warlock shook his head, and said:
"You misunderstand. I can just restore the wounds you had with a simple spell. It might ache a little, but not as much as it did when you got them in the first place."
"I dost not trust thee."
"It's your life... Schala and Cered might of course 'find you' a couple of weeks later, but knowing your care for queen Leene, I believe you wouldn't want to have her crying for two weeks unnecessarily."
"Why thee... I... she..."
Frog finally gave up and sighed.
"Alright. I giveth," he grumbled.
The five travelers set a camp on the beach, since it began to get dark. Assembling some of the grey pieces of wood on the beach they got a nice fire, too. Cered made a simple spear of a long branch and managed to catch some fishes, which he roasted over the fire.
"It makes me angry knowing that the rat Dalton destroyed our weapons," Cered sighed as he picked tiny bones out of his meal, giving the dark fortress a dark glance, "alas, nothing can be done. At least my grandfather's katanas art safe in my time."
"Only a coward would destroy the weapons of his enemies," Frog snorted.
"Suits him right," Schala said.
Magus took a second fish. He just moved his fingers a little, and the dead animal was suddenly cut in two pieces. Molor got one of them, and swallowed it whole.
"What is the weapon thou use, Schala?" Frog asked.
"A staff," she told him, "I never liked sharp things."
"Suits thee right."
Magus watched the fire, thoughtful. When he spoke, it was so sudden it almost startled everyone else.
"You know what, Frog, I just started thinking about something."
The knight was one inch from saying something like "Thinking? Astonishing!". But he didn't, by no other means than the respect for Schala.
"What would that be?" he said instead.
"Considering the fact that you were last seen being abducted by the Prince of Darkness, beaten half to death, how will you explain to your friends how you can return only a few days later without a scratch?"
"By all means, every man and woman knows that I can use the blessed magic of healing," Frog said.
"Yes, but would the undead Magus just let you go? Doesn't it sound a bit suspicious?"
Short silence.
"I see," Frog finally said, "but this query is mine; why would thee care, Magus?"
"I'm not worried about you," he snorted, "but since my sister will be there too, I'm thinking about her safety."
"Aye, a few hours with thy sister has already made thee almost human," Frog said, teasingly.
"Humph."
"It sounds like you're not coming with us, Janus," Schala pointed out, carefully.
He shook his head.
"No. I will come later, it would be most unwise of me to show up near that castle."
"I see..."
"I think I'll stay here and take care of the fortress while Frog explain what happened," the warlock said, watching the fire, "you can call for me when you go hunting for Flea and Slash."
"So what would be the explanation?" Cered asked.
"In your condition that day, you would certainly not have been able to heal yourself," Magus said, thoughtfully resting his chin on a fist, "and the Prince of Darkness wouldn't have helped you, now would he?"
"No," Frog concluded.
"So how on earth would you have been able to escape those dark clutches?" the warlock asked.
"Somebody helped thee?" Cered suggested.
Magus nodded.
"Smart boy," he said, ignoring the fact that Cered was in the warlock's own age, "I believe that would seem possible. It is well known that undead aren't as strong as they were when they lived, so an undead Dark Prince could be stopped even without the Masamune."
"So you mean that me and Cered should act heroes?" Schala said.
"Yes."
Schala shook her head.
"I've got a bad feeling about that," she said, "I cannot walk around telling people I've defeated my own brother."
"That is certainly something that they must be unaware of," Magus said, almost sharply looking at her.
"I understand that. But telling somebody I've fought you... no."
She shook her head again.
"I just couldn't."
Such sibling-love was truly rare, but it was understandable since she'd spent several years worrying about her brother. Schala obviously didn't want to break anything at all.
"I see," Magus said, slowly, "would you bear to say that I just stepped out of a strange, dark portal, and at the sight of you just threw Frog at you and disappeared again?"
"Fascinating," Frog said, "where is thy pride, Magus?"
"What do I care? They all think that I am dead anyway."
"It sounds much better," Schala said.
Magus shrugged his shoulders.
"Look, Schala," he said, "when you take Frog back, don't try to defend me whatever the people in 600 AD might say. My reputation is far too dark to lighten."
"Alright, Janus," his sister said with a sigh.
She didn't ask what he had done to get such a dark reputation, and neither Magus himself nor Frog felt like telling her. It would without any doubt be better if she didn't know all the details.
"Now let us think this through thoroughly and wise," Cered said, "we know now what to tell them, but how will we proceed after that?"
"We should start with searching out the lair of Flea and Slash," Frog said.
He became thoughtful.
"Wait, it now cometh to my mind... when will we show up?"
Magus nodded.
"Surprisingly smart thinking," he admitted, "the soldiers saw me and you disappear through a Gate, that would be 'a strange, dark portal'. For someone that doesn't know time travel, that could just as well be a door to another place or dimension of some kind."
"And if we saw you as you stepped out of one," Schala said, nodding, "you would have escaped through that 'warp-door', ending up in the place where me and Cered saw you."
"Adding what the soldiers tell, it will seem quite possible," Magus submitted, "you only have to make sure that they've already left their rapport, and there'll surely be no doubts."
"Due to my liege's diary," Frog said, "the troop reached the castle on the tenth of March. Therefore we should preferably be at the castle one or two days later. Let us sayeth that we met in the south forest, close to Porre. 'Tis a two days walk from there to the castle."
"Careful," Magus said with a cold little smile, "your brain might break with all this thinking."
"Just giveth me one more reason, dark wizard, and I will gladly do something about thy own brain!" Frog snapped back, giving the warlock a dark glare.
"Oh, how morbid!" Magus sneered, "I'd ask Molor to eat you if I weren't minding his health, you pest!"
"Why thee...!"
The two fighters looked up in surprise because of the sudden laughter.
"I'm sorry," Schala smiled and covered her mouth with her hand, "it's just that..."
She started laughing again, and couldn't continue to speak. Cered replaced her:
"Thee sound just like two friends of mine. Oh my..."
He and Schala leaned against each other, shaking of laughter.
"Thee act exactly like Leon and Shadarak! I ask thee to forgive me and Schala for this..."
"Humph."
After a few tries, Schala managed to take a deep breath and stop laughing.
"Alright," she said, "we've got the date, time and the full story. So when we've convinced your king and queen that you haven't been traveling together with my brother for a while, we'll come back here to fetch Janus and then start looking for this Flea and Slash, right, Frog?"
"Yes, indeed. No, wait..."
Frog slapped his forehead.
"It will not work. I was badly hurt when the soldiers last saw me, and those injuries could not have healed normally in just a couple of days."
Magus smiled coldly then, with that evil, alarming sparkle in his eyes.
"I was hoping that you would think of that yourself," he said, soft as silk.
"Oh, no!" Frog exclaimed, with one hand on Masamune's hilt, "perish the thought, I warneth thee!"
The warlock shook his head, and said:
"You misunderstand. I can just restore the wounds you had with a simple spell. It might ache a little, but not as much as it did when you got them in the first place."
"I dost not trust thee."
"It's your life... Schala and Cered might of course 'find you' a couple of weeks later, but knowing your care for queen Leene, I believe you wouldn't want to have her crying for two weeks unnecessarily."
"Why thee... I... she..."
Frog finally gave up and sighed.
"Alright. I giveth," he grumbled.
