AN: To tell you all the truth, I actually had fun writing this chapter. Perhaps 13 is a lucky number of mine? Anyway, I have a challenge for all you current and former members of RuneScape. See if you can name all the quests Ron mentions later in the chapter.
Chapter 13: The Book of Haai, Found
Eventually he had to choose. So he did (at random), and he selected the left path. It was the same as the preceding corridor—it had the same strange symbols. It wasn't as long, though. After a few minutes, he found himself in a large, empty room.
"Oh perfect," Alzorf grunted sarcastically. "What now? There's nothing here!" he shouted to no one, moving his torch around to see. He took a step forward. He then heard stone moving. Looking down, he noticed that he stepped onto a switch on the floor. It was disguised as a stone tile. Oh crap. What did I do now? Well, he was about to find out. As if out of nowhere, flaming arrows rapidly shot out of the walls. Metal spikes emerged from random spots on the floor. Judging by the green substance on the tips, they were poisoned. Of course, something living had to be involved. Several scarab swarms made their appearance from crevices in the ceiling, walls, and floor. He was really in trouble now! I don't have time for this. I must recover the book! He cast a levitation spell, which raised him into the air. As quickly as he possibly could, he flew toward the doorway at the room's opposite end. Luckily for him, he made it before anything could touch him. He took off down the hall after that, like bat out of hell. If he stayed to fight, he wouldn't have made it out alive. At this point, he could feel the presence of the Zamorakian manuscript. This hallway was even shorter than the last one. As a result, he was in another room in no time. It had torches lining the walls, burning brightly in their brackets. It was smaller than the previous one, but it had something the other didn't. Against the opposite wall was a lectern, holding a book of some kind. On both sides of it was a tall, intimidating statue of a black demon. The Zamorakian assumed it was the Book of Haai. Placing his torch into an empty bracket, he approached it. As he edged closer, he observed that it was dark red with a gilded border and spine. A gold "Z" was in the middle of the cover. "Finally, I have it! The Book of Haai is mine to use!" Alzorf cackled.
"I think not," a nonhuman voice asserted. Following these words was the appearance of a scarab mage. This creature was half man, half scarab. He wore purple magician's robes and a yellow staff shaped like a pharaoh's cane. He had big, buggy eyes and two antennae.
"Says who?" Alzorf asked angrily, tired of all the obstacles.
"Ah, yes. I do think it's an appropriate time for introductions. I'm Asim, the guardian mage of the Book of Haai," the scarab said, bowing his head slightly.
"Whoa, hold on a darn minute! Why would someone like you be guarding the book?" Alzorf questioned, vigorously pointing at Asim.
"Hmmm. You do seem to be confused. Please allow me to explain. When Zamorak's warriors came here during the God Wars to hide this text, Scabaras offered to help protect it. Zamorak had trusted him on this, since he kept himself secluded. He believed Scabaras could keep the book hidden, too. That explains why I'm here," Asim finished, gesturing to himself.
"Wait, Scabaras? You mean the scarab deity who is a member of the Menaphite Pantheon?"
"Yes, that is him. Since that's been taken care of now, why don't you tell me your name?"
"I am Alzorf, Zamorak's most trusted follower. Now enough with the small talk! Why are you trying to stop me from getting the book?" the Zamorakian demanded impatiently.
"It is my duty. If you are indeed Zamorak's 'most trusted follower,' you must prove it by defeating me in battle. Then you may have the book," Asim challenged.
"Fine. If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you'll get!" Alzorf insisted, taking a fighting stance.
"You sure are easy to persuade. Let's not waste any time, then." Asim gripped his staff with both hands. They stared each other down, waiting for someone to make the first move.
It was a bright and sunny morning when the ship docked in the port. Ron (sporting green pants, black shoes, and an unbuttoned, green short-sleeve shirt with two breast pockets and a white shirt underneath) crossed the gangplank onto the deck of Port Sarim, one of Gielinor's major ports. It was a seaside town, alive with drunk, almost drunk and sober sailors. He moved aside so several other people could disembark. He let the salty sea air blow onto his face, closing his eyes as it did so.
"So, this is the land of Gielinor… I just might like it here," he thought with interest, surveying his surroundings.
"Um, excuse me?" a nervous female voice said behind him. He turned around, adjusting his satchel to a more comfortable position. He saw a pretty girl with shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in a blue short-sleeve shirt, a blue skirt, and brown shoes. "I believe we met during the boat ride here, sir. What is your name again?" she asked passively, her arms behind her back. She was eyeing him indirectly and blushing. Ron could tell she was being shy with him.
"My name's Ron Destiny, miss. What's yours?" he asked kindly. She awkwardly jerked her head to face him.
"Um, it's… Jenney. I was wondering if you…" She trailed off for a moment, her ocean-colored eyes looking down at the ground. Her cheeks were red. Ron couldn't understand why she was acting this way. Wait, was it possibly because she—
"Would you like to grab a drink with me?" she blurted out, looking up at Ron again.
"Uh… sure," Ron said, slightly startled by her sudden question. He looked around. "I see a tavern over there." He pointed into the distance, to a building with a drunken sailor outside it, asleep. "Let's go." Jenney nodded and followed him, as he traversed the pier that was packed with newcomers, sailors, and adventurers. After squeezing past many people, the two new acquaintances entered the bar. It was noisy, due to the many jolly individuals enjoying a beer with their friends while conversing. Ron and Jenney sat down at the bar. The bartender approached them while cleaning a glass. He had a white apron on, and had short black hair and brown eyes.
"What can I get 'cha?" he asked.
"Two beers, please," Ron replied. The bartender prepared two glasses of ale and set them down in front of Ron and Jenney. He then returned to his cleaning. "Well, bottoms up!" Ron declared, gulping some of his beverage. Jenney just stared at him with pink cheeks, not touching hers. "What? Is there something on my face?" he asked, lowering his glass mug.
"What? Oh… no, there isn't. Actually, I have something else to ask you," she said shyly.
"Shoot," he responded, drinking some more beer. "By the way, you don't need to be shy. I'm not completely judgmental or anything," he added.
"Oh. Well, I would like to know if you want to be friends with me," she said, feeling more confident. "I would like to know more about you." Ron gave her a surprised look.
"Actually, you're the first person I've ever met who said that to me out of the blue," he explained. "You know what, I think I like you. Sure, we can give it a try." A happy smile spread across Jenney's lips.
"Really? Oh, thank you so much! I thought I'd have a hard time making friends in this new land. It's obvious that I wasn't wrong when I thought I could befriend you." She giggled conversationally. Ron said nothing. Instead, he warmly smiled back at her.
"I think I'm really going to enjoy my life here," he thought merrily.
Ron sat on his bed in one of Camelot's guest rooms, pondering the time when he first met Jenney. The white moonlight was shining through the windows, onto his dark blue comforter. A lit candle was flickering on the nightstand next to the bed. He was wearing his sleeping clothes, which consisted of a forest green collared nightshirt with matching night trousers and slippers. This outfit happened to match the color of his hair. All his equipment—weapons, armor, cape, everything—was in a mahogany wardrobe in the corner.
At that time, I had no clue as to what I was going to encounter in the future. I've faced many challenges since then: slaying Elvarg the green dragon and two major demons, Agrith-Naar and Delrith; risking my life by traveling all over to search for ancient magic in the Kharidian Desert; saving Gielinor from Bandos' wrath through an avatar and a demented necromancer who uses food-based spells, and more. Even though I had to deal with all that, Jenney has always been a supporting friend of mine. We've come a long way since that day. After the recollection of his past questing, there was a soft knock at his door.
"Ron? Are you still awake?" It was Jenney.
Speak of the devil! Here she is now. "It's open," Ron called. The door opened, and there stood Jenney in a white nightgown. For some reason unknown to him, she had her hair tied in a pony tail. She was also holding her sheathed rune scimitar in her hands.
"What's up? Is something on your mind?" he asked caringly.
"Actually, there is. I would like to talk, if that's okay with you," she replied gently.
"Sure, I'm here for you. What do you want to talk about?" Jenney shut the door, then ambled across the room and sat next to him.
"Well, it concerns the upcoming battle against Zamorak."
"What about it?"
"I don't know if I'm a good enough warrior to survive the battle." Jenney looked down melancholically at the sword on her lap.
"Do you really believe that? I don't. I think you're a wonderful fighter. You handled the last few fights we had really well," Ron said soothingly.
"Yes, but this one is a different story. It is practically a war against Gielinor's god of evil. I might die, but I don't want to." She started to cry quietly.
"Jenney, don't ever say that! I'll make sure you live through it, I promise. You're a good friend of mine, after all. I wouldn't be doing my job as one if I let you die," he assured her.
Jenney did not respond to her friend verbally. She answered by hugging him tightly, her tears moistening his shirt. After a minute of silence, she pulled away.
"I realize how much you care about me, but I want to learn how to become a better swordswoman." Jenney held up her weapon. "I would like you to teach me some attacks," she insisted. Ron looked at her in awe.
"Okay, if that is what you want. Follow me, but be quiet. We don't want to wake anybody," he said affirmatively. He went over to his wardrobe and retrieved his dragon scimitar from it, sheathed. "Let's go out into the courtyard. No one should be able to disturb us there." The two friends exited Ron's room, creeping past the rooms as quickly and noiselessly as they could.
Two spells collided, exploding like a mini supernova. Asim and Azlorf were thrown backward. They were both battered pretty badly. It had been a long battle.
"You have not beaten me yet, human. I still have some fighting spirit left inside me. I'm afraid you'll have to do better than you are now, if you wish to be victorious," the scarab mage said. Alzorf winced for a split second, while breathing heavily. Asim noticed this immediately.
"I see my poisonous magic has affected you. If it's going to impede your ability to fight, I suggest you stop now. You have my word that I will not harm you further."
"Like hell I'm going to give up! I need that book! My master would never forgive me if I failed to get it!" Alzorf replied torridly.
"Very well, but don't say I didn't warn you!" The scarab-man shot another round of venomous magic at his adversary. Alzorf jumped to the side and cast a Water Surge spell at him. It hit, drenching the target with pressurized water. Asim was slammed against the wall again, sliding down it after the attack. That's when Alzorf saw his opportunity. He swiftly drew his rune dagger from his sleeve, chucking it forcefully at Asim like a throwing knife. By the time he opened his eyes, he found a dagger deeply lodged in his chest. It actually pierced his heart, too. Green blood started to slowly flow out of the wound, staining his robes.
"Impressive," the scarab wheezed. "You have shown me that you truly are a devoted worshipper of Zamorak. You may now take the Book of Haai." His bulbous eyes glazed over, and then his death followed. He sat lifelessly against the wall, nothing more than a shell now. Alzorf cast a cure poison spell on himself, and then strode over to the lectern, grabbing the semi-heavy text. Then he went over to Asim's corpse and wrenched his melee weapon out of it.
Now that this book is mine, I must get out of here and report back to Master Zamorak in Canifis at once! But first, I have to meet with Lord Daquarius. He has the Demon Idol. He cast a teleportation spell to the Black Knight hideout, leaving the deceased scarab mage behind.
AN: Well? Were you able to figure them out? If you guessed Dragon Slayer, Shadow of the Storm, Demon Slayer, Desert Treasure, The Chosen Commander, and Recipe for Disaster, you were right!