"False Conscience"

by Black Mantle

ACT IV:

4 days later…

The pirate ship docked at Herald Coast and its five passengers disembarked. Deneb was just glad to get off the ship. Revealing herself to them every night, even for just four nights seemed like torture. Any one of them looked like the kind to jump up, tear of her clothes and rape her then and there. As if one wasn't bad enough, that would likely have led to all 36 of them joining in. Fortunately, the captain was honest enough, and had enough control over his crew. The cook whom she had worked for was also pretty nice, and very large; a big help should any of the crew get a little too rowdy.

The crew in question whistled and hollered as the young witch walked away, now dressed in a thick snowsuit.

{I'll bet those bastards are even now picturing me stripping for them right here.}

Deneb waved goodbye, and was out of sight in a minute.

* * *

Herald Coast was a nice city, but the people left much to be desired. They were still being ruled over by the Empire and because of its remote location, many feared weither or not the rebellion would ever come here to free them from their oppressors. With the Empire still here, Deneb knew she had to remain incognito to prevent any of her former allies from recognizing her, though most were called towards Kotz to repel the Rebels.

Deneb rented a room at a local inn under the assumed name "Debbie" and tried to find out as much about the current struggle as possible. Now teamed with Prince Tristan, Lexar had recently taken Kotz and Ells Wahs and was using them as his front line to attack the Empire.

* * *

The next day, Deneb left for Endis Rohn. The first part of the journey was fairly troublesome has there were no roads leading out of Herald Coast, and all alternate transportation between here and the nearest city, Ruskayah were closed pending the battle. Inside a shop, "Debbie" tries to recruit some transportation.

The old man seems very apologetic to his customer, "Sorry ma'am, but we've been ordered closed by the Empire. Only they can use my sleds."

"But my mother has taken ill, I have to get to Endis Rohn.♥"

"Well, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. I can't lease out any of my dog sled teams or the Empire'll have my hide."

"Could I at least rent a sled itself? I'll find some form of substitute.♥"

"I just can't do that ma'am."

"Oh, I understand." With that, Deneb takes a few steps back and lets the storeowner have it with her stun spell. "Sorry old man, but I'm desperate."

Deneb takes one of the sleds from the shop, but realizes that she still needs some way to pull the sled, and turns menacingly towards her pumpkins.

* * *

A few hours later, Deneb is riding the back of the sled, now being pulled by two large hellhounds, with her pumpkins sitting in the sled.

"Yahooooo! I haven't had this much fun in years! Yipeeeeee!"

Deneb stopped over in Ruskayah for a break, then proceeded towards Endis Rohn.

* * *

Upon reaching Endis Rohn, Deneb started to search for a way to get her hands on the Brunhild. Lexar was up in Kotz, and he had the blade with him, but she couldn't just go up there and ask for it. Riding her dog sled through the town, she looked out for any of Lexar's troops, hoping not to be spotted, at least not by anyone who might recognize her.

She then stops suddenly. "Woah there."

In front of her was a bar where what looked like some of Lexar's men entered. Deneb pulled up to the side, tied up the hellhounds, told her pumpkins to stay hidden beneath the blankets and snuck into the tavern. Inside, two units of Lexar's army where talking.

A dragoner drank some ale, "Damn, Goazer, it looks like you and your crew got wasted, big time!"

The other was a large red demon, "Tell me about it. The whole place is crawling with angels and cherubims up there. I've had so many white magic spells cast on me, I'll be afraid of the light for years!"

"Well, that's the way the ball bounces, doesn't it? So how's it going up there?"

"With the snow, it's pretty slow moving, I hope you and your troops will find it better than we did."

Deneb looked over at the rest of the troops, a couple of mages, a paladin, an evil one, and sitting to one side just looking on, was one of her pumpkins.

Goazer was also looking at the odd vegetable, "Tell me Stewart, where'd you get salad head over there?"

"Lexar found him in Deneb's Garden, just wandering in the hills. He's not very strong, but his attacks are deadly. Gives me the creeps though."

{This could be my chance.}

Deneb left and returned to her sled which was undisturbed, not surprising as no one would want to mess with a couple of two-headed hellhounds. It was getting late so Deneb was forced to stay the night, as did Stewart and his group. Preferring the night, Goazer left for home at sundown.

* * *

The next morning, which came very early in this winter wonderland, Stewart left with the paladin and the pumpkin, mounted atop a large gold dragon. They were barely a kilometer away when they heard a noise in the forest to their right. Dismounting, the crew moves towards the noise to determine the cause.

"Hellhounds?"

The two black creatures turn and run the moment they are noticed.

The paladin turns to his leader, "Hellhounds aren't native to here, they prefer dark, hot places."

Stewart considers the point, "True, but they're gone now, and we have to get to Kotz."

The two return to the dragon and mount it with the pumpkin. They then continue on their way. But in the bushes on the other side of the path, Deneb and three of her pumpkins have pinned down and tied up the pumpkin that was originally traveling with the dragoner.

"Now, all we have to do is follow them, and when we get our chance, we can snag the Brunhild, and I'll be rid of these damn nightmares."

Deneb whistles to summon the hellhounds back, and they set off to follow Stewart to Kotz.

* * *

Later that day, Stewart approached a tavern in Kotz where Lexar was holding a meeting. Sitting with him at a table was Lyon, the beast king, Yushis, the next in line for the job of head angel, and the two high knights, Slust and Fenril.

Lyon tipped back a bit, patting his stomach. Lying before him were two large trays that were once full of food. "Nothing like a good meal to make ya feel stronger."

The red Knight had also put away a fair bit of foodstuffs in the last hour. "You said it, dude."

Having only eaten what could be considered a snack, Yushis looked across the table to the one she referred to as "the Ice Queen." She grunted, "Men…"

Fenril only glanced back, but Yushis received quite a questioning stare from Lexar.

"Sorry."

Lexar looked up from the table, and the belching contest now taking place between to two well-fed warriors. "Stewart, glad you're here, I was starting to wonder if we were going to get swamped by the Empire up here."

The dragoner and his crew, minus the dragon entered the tavern, "Yeah, like you couldn't handle things by yourself."

"Every bit helps." The Lord gets up to signal the dragoner to come and have a bite to eat. "Order something, just watch it 'cause our two chow hounds here still look hungry." As if on cue, Lyon and Slust burp simultaneously.

While the greeting went on, Deneb slipped into the tavern to watch the events that she hoped would lead to her possession of the sword.

Stewart sits down and orders a steak, "So what's going on?"

"Pretty quiet now, we think we've got most of the Empire bundled up around Balleny."

Stewart grins, "Then why the hell did you call me here?"

"The enemy is getting weak, so we're pulling back our stronger units for the final fight with…" Lexar looks over toward Yushis.

"When we… confront…"

Yushis almost scolds him, "…when we FIGHT my sister, Mizal. Just say it, Lexar. Covering it up with your 'political correctness' does no justice and is almost as bad as lying."

"Don't worry, well save her."

"I have little doubt as to that being your intention, or I would not have sided with you."

"Well, getting on with it, I figured you could use the experience and…"

Lyon jolts, "Wait."

"What is it?"

Lyon sniffs around, "Someone's here."

Deneb startled, "Uh, oh. They didn't see me?"

"Someone… over… THERE!" Lyon lashes his whip out at a dark corner of the tavern, from the space drops two small figures, leaping to avoid the leather sting.

"DAMMIT!" They must have gone past us before we got here and circled back.

The two ninjas started to shower the room with shuriken when three samurai bashed in a back door to join them. Holding up their swords, the samurai thrust forward, firing energy blades into the tavern, straight at Lexar. He dived to avoid it, as did anyone else in the way. Lyon and Fenril jumped forward to confront the intruders. The ninjas showered them with more shuriken, which reflected off Fenril's armor, and Lyon leapt to avoid.

Flailing his whip, Lyon snared one of the samurai, pulling him atop one of the ninjas, while Fenril thrust forward, planting her sword straight into the chest of the other ninja. With a forceful swipe, she swung her blade, throwing the deceased ninja from it, and started towards one of the two remaining samurai. Locking swords with him, the other started to move towards the blue knight. Fenril saw almost no way out but to fall back when the other samurai was slammed in a beam of light. With only one adversary to worry about, Fenril tackled him and mowed him down.

Lyon had also completed his job in tying up the ninja and samurai, Fenril looked over, "Thanks, Yushis."

"No problem, what are friends for?"

Lyon looked around, "Everyone else O.K.?"

"Think so, Lexar?"

Lexar started to stand up, "Yeah, just fine, nothing a half a dozen clerics couldn't heal."

"Well, at least…"

"WHERE'S THE BRUNHILD?!!"

Everyone glanced at Fenril who was normally as cold as the ice that she was named for, but a quick inspection of Lexar's hilt showed that the Brunhild was indeed missing. In a panic, everyone started to look for the item. Slust checked outside the tavern to find the pumpkin that Stewart brought, jumping onto a dog sled and speeding away.

"It was that tomato brain that Stewart brought. He just went AWOL with some blond girl."

"Blond girl?" Lexar took but a second to put two and two together, "Deneb!"

* * *

Lyon spent the whole night searching for Deneb from the sky, but with no luck.

Yushis ponders, "Why would Deneb take the Brunhild?"

Fenril stopped pacing the floor, "She probably knows of its power, probably going to use it in one of her damned experiments. We have to get it back!"

Lexar looks at her, "But we can't leave here until we're finished with Mizal."

"We can't just abandon my sister!"

"We won't, we won't. We've got to find out where Deneb is going. Any thoughts?"

Lyon spoke up, "Probably back to her garden."

"Perhaps, but I know of someone who might know."

Reaching into his pocket, Lexar pulls out a small piece of white paper; holding it out, he tears it in half. As if my magic, the strange salesman appears.

"Good day my friends, ready for some of my lovely merchandise, for I am 'Anywhere Jack'."

"Yes Jack, I'll take a three agility potions, two luck potions, three vitality potions, and some information."

"That'll come to 153,000 Goth, and what information are you looking for?"

"Where's Deneb?"

"Deneb? 8 foot, purple hair, four arms?"

"Deneb, 5 foot 2, blond hair, looks pretty beautiful and talks sweeter than ginger cake."

"Oh, her! I may have run into her, let's see, in Antalia I believe."

"ANTALIA!!" Everyone again glances at Fenril's second outburst.

Yushis looks on, "Twice in one day, this must be a record."

Fenril and Slust move towards Lexar. "We've got to stop her! If she takes the Brunhild to Antalia, we're all screwed!"

* * *

High in the sky above the Tundra, Fenril, Slust and Lyon head for Antalia. Accompanying them are a samurai master, two wyverns (who are doing the flying) and a gold dragon.

"Lyon looks over towards his immortal companions, "So, what's the big deal with Antalia anyway?"

Fenril looks back to respond, "There's a Chaos Gate there, one which was meant to stay sealed."

* * *

About two days later, the group arrives on an island.

"So, where is this Chaos Gate to?"

Slust turns towards the beast master, "You don't see it?"

"Nope."

Fenril moves into the field, "Good, then it's still sealed."

Slust follows his fellow knight, "Are you sure Deneb may come here, assuming she even knows?"

"We can't take that chance."

Lyon walks up to the two, "We could be here for a while waiting for the witch to show up. We flew here, but she's probably coming by land and sea."

"Then we wait for her here."

"Fenril, we could be here for weeks waiting for her."

Lyon didn't like the idea of simply waiting around. "I'm heading out, pick up some supplies, we'll need them if we're going to be camping here for a while."

Lyon heads for his two wyverns and sets off for the mainland.

* * *

It would take a while for Deneb to appear, with no direct route between the Tundra and Antalia, Deneb was forced east to the Kalbian Peninsula.

* * *

4 days later…

Lyon returned to the two waiting Knights with a report from Lexar. Taking the scroll from the beast tamer, Fenril started to read it.

We made it to Mizal's lair, but despite our best efforts, she couldn't be saved. Though despondent over her sister's loss, Yushis agreed to remain on Earth to help rout out Rashidi and the Empire. Deneb had been sighted in the Kalbian Peninsula, so we are heading there next, hoping to find her. If not, they would likely head for Deneb's Garden so we'll search there. I want you to return and rejoin the group, you may run into Deneb on the way back so deal with her then and retrieve the Brunhild.

Lexar

Fenril crumpled up the order in her hands and threw it to the ground. "He doesn't understand, the fool. We can't afford to let her pass here. If she heads this way, we must wait for her HERE!"

"Listen lass, if ye don't want to return, that's fine by me. But he pays me, you don't, so I'm heading out."

Lyon is about to leave when Fenril grabs his arm. "I may not pay you, and maybe you only serve for the money, but if Deneb brings the Brunhild here, you'll discover a new meaning of 'Hell on Earth'!"

Slust gazed on as the two argued, but the scene was disrupted when one of Lyon wyverns started to act up.

"What is it boy?"

The ground started to shake beneath their feet. The wyverns flew into the air to avoid the tremor while the others fell to their knees. The rumbling started to subside as the quake ended, only to pick up again for a different reason.

"AVALANCHE!"

The crew scrambled to its feet in order to move as far away from the crumbling mountainside as possible. After the shaking stopped, they started to get up when Slust noticed Deneb and her pumpkins making a break for it.

"OVER THERE!"

Slust started to give chase, but was blindsided by one of the two hellhounds Deneb had; the other made for Fenril and the others. Lyon grabbed the other hellhound while Slust still struggled with his. Fenril took up the chase.

"Get back here you little bitch!"

Deneb could hardly hear her, but still ignored her. Holding out the Brunhild, lightning started to sparkle from the shining blade, crackling and fizzing. A massive burst of energy flew out in all directions, and before the witch appeared a large triangular monument on the ground. Without a moment's hesitation, Deneb and her troupe ran right onto it, and disappeared.

"NOOOO!!!"

Fenril stood for what seemed like an eternity before Slust and Lyon caught up to her.

"What do we do now?"

"We go after her." Turning back, "Slust, you and I will take Katz and one of the wyverns into the gate. Lyon, you find Lexar and bring him here, got it."

Lyon backed away, taking one of the wyverns and the gold dragon with him.

"Time to finish what we started."

To Be Continued…