Chapter Ten: The Strange King
Thol stomped off the ship cursing up a storm. Keza had done nothing but annoy him for the entire trip and he was about ready to fry him with his most powerful spell. Melira giggled at him as she followed him off.
Thol turned to her. "What's so funny?" he asking in a slightly annoyed voice.
"Oh, Thol. You take everything too seriously. Keza was just trying to lighten the boredom a bit, that's all."
"Well he could have done that without pestering me the entire time."
Tor and Keza were discussing their next visit to the shops when Goro finally stumbled off the ship.
"I'm glad that's over with. I don't know if I could have taken much more of that," he said.
"I'm sure that the elves can whip you up something for that," Thol said.
Valon was the last to get off the boat. He immediately went up to the others and told them about the general area.
"A half day's walk to the city you say. Why so far?" Goro asked.
"When Elfland was originally built, they had no need for a port so they built it further inland. Later when the population began to put stress on the economy, the then prince ordered the two ports to be built. The southern one isn't used as much anymore. The only cities that dock there are Crescent Lake and Melmond."
"Well I can tell you myself that Crescent Lake doesn't see trade as a major benefit," Thol said.
"Melmond was still interested in trade the last time I was there. What happened?" Keza asked.
"We don't know. They just stopped coming all of a sudden. We haven't been able to get in contact with them at all. We've even sent scout ships but none have returned," Valon said.
Keza looked worried by that. Tor noticed and spoke up.
"Something wrong?"
"I'm from Melmond. I wasn't exactly treated well there, but it's still my hometown."
"We can go right now and take care of Astos later if you'd like," Thol said.
Keza shock his head. "No. We promised Matoya that we'd get her crystal back from Astos first. We can look into Melmond afterwards, as we planned."
"Alright. If you don't mind," Thol said.
They set off without stopping at the shops. Keza assured them that they would find more high quality items in the shops at Elfland City. They had been walking for a little over an hour when Valon suddenly had a revelation.
"That's it!" he yelled, startling the others.
"What are you talking about?" Thol asked.
"The Dark Elf, Astos. I remember where I've heard of him. He appeared suddenly twenty-five years ago and attacked the palace. He put the prince to sleep and has been harassing the kingdom."
"And you forgot this? If someone put my king to sleep, I think I'd remember," Thol said.
"Thol, the king has been asleep since I was a baby. It's not something people talk about every day here. I'm pretty sure Astos is the one the prophecy refers to as The Dark King. That title has always had me a little worried," Valon said.
"Worried? Why so?" Goro asked.
"It could very well mean that Astos will usurp the throne and rule Elfland, that's why."
Goro nodded his acceptance at that.
"Well see what the townspeople think before we make any decisions on how to proceed," Thol said.
The rest of their journey to the city of elves was uneventful other then the occasional skirmish with the local monsters.
"Well," Tor said as they walked into the town. "Shall we all split up again?"
"For once, Tor, I think that's a good idea you have. Let's do it," Thol said.
"Elfland doesn't have a pub, so we should meet at the inn instead," Valon commented before everyone left, and then he too went off. . . .
* * * *
Thol was flipping through a spell book for a spell he didn't know. I was similar to one that he already knew, just more effective. If you can call Sleep an effective spell, he thought to himself.
"Thol! Look at all the spells they have here!" Melira exclaimed from across the room in the white magic section.
He looked up from the book, saw the look of childish enthusiasm on her face and grinned. "Aren't you getting a little over excited about all this? The magic here isn't that good."
"But Thol, there's so many of them! I haven't even heard of half of these spells!"
He decided to go over beside her so he grabbed the stack of books that he though he would need. She was paging through a book herself when he got over to her. He tried to read what was on the page, but it made him dizzy. "How do you understand all that gibberish?" he asked.
"It's not gibberish. It makes perfect sense, which is more then I can say for your books of nonsense you have there," she said, motioning to the books Thol had selected.
"Watch what you're calling nonsense, young lady. I seem to remember a certain horde of pirates that were turned into ash in seconds somewhere in the past."
"I'm sure the others could have handled them."
"Oh sure. Maybe if we gave them all day and tied the pirates' legs together. Besides, my way is much more impressive."
"Of course, Thol. We're all just so impressed by how you toast everything in seconds," she said with a little grin.
"Was that sarcasm I detected?" Thol asked.
"Would I do that?" she asked, her grin getting wider.
"Oh, I'm going to get you for that."
"Sure you will, now help me with all these books."
"You're lucky this time," he said, picking up a pile of them.
She just giggled and picked up a pile herself.
When they had everything paid for, they headed for the inn. On their way there, they noticed a gathering of people. "Wonder what's going on here?" Thol said to no one in particular.
"Why don't we go find out?" Melira suggested.
Thol shrugged and changed directions. He walked up to a booth of sorts and spoke to the elf behind the counter. "Excuse me, but could you possibly tell us what is going on?"
"Our annual archery contest. It's a national contest. Would you care to join?" the elf said.
"Archery, eh? Sure why not?" Thol said. "What's the prize for winning, if I may ask?"
"A rather expensive pendant that aids in the casting of magic. They are very rare I'm told."
Thol reached inside his robes. "Does it happen to look like this by any chance?" he asked, holding up a pendant.
The elf looked at it and his eyes went wide. "Why yes, that's exactly what it looks like. Where did you get it?"
"It was a gift from the Circle of Sages at Crescent Lake," Thol said. There was a small crowd that had formed behind him as he was talking with the elf and they were listening in. Some of them who recognized the Circle were impressed. "Tsk. Shame really. I guess I don't really need another, so I guess there's no need for me to enter. Thanks anyway."
He had begun to turn when a voice spoke up from the crowd behind him. "You seem pretty sure you'll win," said an elven archer.
Thol turned to look at him. "I am fairly confident on that fact," he said.
"Ha! You'll be lucky if you make it passed the first round! No human has ever come close to winning this tournament. Besides, you'd have to beat me first and no one has ever beaten me," the elf said.
"You're an arrogant little fellow. Just who are you?" Thol asked, annoyed by his attitude.
"I am Runarel, thirteen year consecutive champion of the tournament. And what is your name, human?"
"Thollatos. One of the Light Warriors. Perhaps you've heard of us," Thol said.
There was a sudden rush of whispered voices at his claim.
"Light Warrior? Ha! Don't make me laugh. The Light Warriors are a myth. Even so, if you were one then you'd take up the challenge."
"I think I may at that. Your arrogance has fouled the air and I think it would be rather refreshing to breath in the air of victory. You're on," Thol said.
After registering and getting a little practice with the bow he was given, Thol stood to watch his opponent. Runarel was indeed quite gifted, as Thol thought he would be, but then he had to be to win thirteen years in a row. The contest began in short order and Runarel went first. His arrow was right on target as Thol expected. The crowd cheered for him as he made his way from the line.
Thol's turn didn't come for quite awhile after that. He was a late entry so he had to wait. When it was his turn, he did fairly well, though not as good as his opponent. It was enough to get him to the next round though, so he really didn't care.
In the end, much to everyone's surprise, it came down to just the two of them. Thol had increased in skill with each round and by now was almost as competent an archer as his opponent. They walked up to each other and stood there for a moment.
"Hmph," the elf said. "You're better then you look, but you're still not going to beat me."
"Is that so? Well I'm not one to be rude so champions first," Thol replied.
Runarel sniffed and began to take aim.
Melira, who had been watching the whole thing and nearly bursting with excitement, noticed a particular surge of energy just as the elf let the arrow fly.
At the same instant the arrow hit the target, a bolt of lightning smashed it into pieces.
"My, my. Mighty strange weather you have around here," Thol said. "Care to shoot again, chap?"
Melira giggled. She knew it was Thol who did it while the other elves were looking at the sky wondering how it had happened. Obviously, most of them didn't know what a mage looked like.
The elf growled and shot again. His aim was perfect and no mysterious bolts of lightning shattered the target this time.
"Very good. Now watch and learn," Thol said, aiming his own arrow.
Again, Melira felt a surge of energy. There was no bolt of lightning however. Instead, Thol's arrow went right through the target and nearly cracked a boulder in half right behind it. Runarel's arrow was blasted to nothingness from the impact.
"Oh dear, it seems I put a little too much elbow grease into that one. Oh well," Thol said, filled with mirth.
The elf stood staring at the quivering arrow sticking half out of the rock with a confounded look on his face.
Thol walked up to him and patted him on the cheek. "There, there old boy. There's always next year." With that said, he whirled around and strode away from the line. The crowd cheered for him as he walked over to claim his prize. The elf at the booth announced him as the winner and awarded him the pendant. Thol took it, bowed quickly and then made his way from the throng of people.
Melira was quick to follow him. She was smiling at him as she watched him.
Thol looked at her. "What?" he asked, noticing that she was staring at him.
"You were great, Thol! Where did you learn how to do that?"
"One of my many hobbies from my childhood actually," he replied. He looked at his prize with resignation. I really don't need another one of these, he thought. He made a magnificent idea then. "Here," he said, holding the pendant out to her.
Melira's eyes lit up. "Thol, I can't take that. You just won it."
"I've already got one, remember? I don't need it and I want you to have it."
"Oh, Thol! Thank you," she said as she took the pendant from him. "Can you put it on for me?" she asked.
"Of course," he said. He took the pendant back and went behind her. She moved her hair out of the way so he could fasten the clamp and he noticed how close he was to her. It was having a dizzying effect on him. He noticed his fingers shaking slightly as he fixed the clamp. You're being silly. You're just putting on a pendant for her. No need to be so shaken up over it, he thought to himself. "There. All done," he said as he moved back around to her front.
"Thank you, Thol," she said again.
"You already thanked me for it, remember?"
"I know. I just want you to understand how much this means to me."
Thol was rather confused by her response. What does that mean? "We should get moving now. We've been gone for quite awhile," he said, trying to ignore his confusion. . . .
* * * *
Tor and Keza had finished their shopping over twenty minutes ago and had gone directly to the inn as they had agreed on.
"Where are they?" Keza asked in an annoyed voice.
"They'll get here, just calm yourself. Thol and Melira do have to sort through an entire library of spells after all," Tor replied.
"And Goro? All he had to do was purchase more supplies. That shouldn't take longer then fifteen minutes."
"You've a point there. I guess we'll just have to wait. . ."
Goro entered the inn as he was talking.
". . . And see," Tor finished. "Goro, what kept you?"
"There was a merchant from the dwarf caves who was ahead of me so I had to wait for awhile before I was taken care of."
"You see? A perfectly logical explanation," Tor said.
"Yeah, whatever," Keza said. He faced Goro. "Did you run into Valon this time?"
Goro shook his head. "No. I've seen nothing of him since we split up. I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"We'll see," Keza said doubtfully.
They sat in silence for the next few minutes. Keza was rolling his dice on the table with no objective in mind and Tor kept himself amused by trying to keep track of his dice rolls. He gave up after he got to fifty.
Thol and Melira entered a few minutes later. Tor noticed with some amusement that they were holding hands and he figured that it was none of Thol's doing. He also noticed that Melira was smiling more fully then she normally did.
"Hey!" she said as she entered the room with Thol in tow. "Look what Thol gave me!"
Tor looked at the pendant that she was holding up for them to see and whistled. "Wow. That looks like it cost quite a bit of gil. How did you pay for it?"
"He didn't. He won it for me," she said, giving Thol a peculiar look.
"How?" Keza asked.
"An archery contest. It was really no big deal," he said, referring to the gift. "I already have one of my own," Thol said.
"Maybe so, but it's the thought that counts, Thol," Melira said.
Thol just shrugged and sat down. As usual, Melira sat down next to him. He noticed with a little discomfort that she had yet to let go of his hand.
"Did you two find anything at the shops?" Tor asked.
"Yeah. Even I found a spell or two that I don't know, so it was a fairly worth while trip," Thol said.
"How did you fair, Melira?" Goro asked.
"Excellent. It's going to take me a month to read all these," she said with a happy smile on her face.
"Did you find anything for Valon?" Tor asked.
"Valon already knows every spell here. Speaking of which, where is he?" Thol said.
"We don't know. No one's seen him since we split up. Do you think he went right to the palace?" Keza asked.
Thol rubbed his chin in thought. "It's a possibility I guess. We'll just wait here for now. It was his idea to meet here after all." He had another thought then. "That reminds me, how did the equipment shopping go?"
"Also excellent. The elves are gifted at crafting weapons and armor out of silver. We'll be well armed for a while, although a little broke as well," Tor replied.
Thol nodded and looked at his pile of spell books. He shrugged and picked up the first one to start reading it. He had read only a half page before he was interrupted.
"Thol," Melira said.
"Yes?"
"Could you please pass over one of my books?"
"Of course," he said. He reached over to the pile and moved all of his books off the top. He picked up the first book off Melira's pile and read the title. "Anti-Fire, eh? Funny sort of spell."
"No funnier then," she began to say. She read the title of his book. "Fast," she finished with a grin on her face. She took the book from him and started to read it.
Thol chuckled a bit and went back to reading.
It was well over an hour before Valon finally arrived at the inn.
"What in the world took you so long?" Thol said, glancing up from his second book.
"I was summoned to the palace almost immediately after we parted ways. A strange message arrived at the palace a few days ago addressed to the Light Warriors."
"Interesting. How did anyone know that we were going to be here? We didn't even tell the people of Provoka that we were coming here," Thol said.
"That's just it. The message came from the Northwest Castle."
Thol waited for him to continue. After a few seconds, he said, "And?"
"Wait a minute," Keza said suddenly. "Isn't the Northwest Castle the one that appeared suddenly twenty or so years ago?"
"Exactly."
"So what's so unusual about that, other then the fact that it just appeared that is?" Tor asked.
"Quite simple really. It's the fact that no one has ever returned from there that makes a message from there interesting."
"What did the message say?" Melira asked.
"It said that our help was required. There was no signature, just a funny looking royal seal of some sort. Oh yeah. That's another thing. The letter said that Astos was the one that they wanted help against."
"Then we're going!" Tor said.
"Not so fast, sir knight," Thol said. "How do we know that this isn't some kind of trap? After all, even we didn't know that we were going to come here a few days ago."
"Maybe so, but you have to remember that Lukahn wasn't the only seer in the world. In fact, there are a lot of seers in Elfland," Valon said. "That and Lukahn's prophecy mentions something about Elfland."
Thol sighed. "Okay. I guess I can live with that. Should we go to the palace first or just head out instead?"
Valon ran that over for a second. "I don't think it's really necessary to go to the castle quite yet. The Regent knows that we're here and he is aware of the letter as well."
"Alright, then we'll leave first thing tomorrow," Thol said. With all the arrangements taken care of, he began reading again. . . .
* * * *
They had been traveling for about two and a half days so far and still hadn't reached the castle. The ogres of the area were nowhere near as tough as the two Thol and Tor fought in the cave but there were so many more of them out in the wilderness of Elfland that it didn't really matter. In one particular battle, Keza almost got his arm broken by the club of one of the things, but his agility saved him at the last second.
Thol had only one more book to read and he would have finished his stack. He was doing so as he ate his lunch. Melira on the other hand had only diminished her pile by a quarter. "Are you sure those make as much sense to you as you said they do? I've noticed that you take quite a bit longer then me to read one," he commented as he read.
"That's because it's a lot harder to fix things then it is to break them, Thol," she said to him, not bothering to look up from her book.
"If you say so, but you wouldn't if you had to read the book for any of my high level spells."
The rest of their break was normal to the point of boredom so they were on their way again in short order.
About three hours passed when they finally found the Northwest Castle. Like its sudden appearance, it looked to be an unusual building.
"Well," Goro said. "It can't be much worse then the Temple of Fiends, so we might as well go in."
The others agreed.
They soon found out why no one had ever come back. There were monsters roaming the halls in droves and they were hard pressed to get through. They made it, however, and eventually found themselves in front of the throne room.
Tor was the one who walked up to the doors and opened them. When he wasn't attacked by a raging monster right away, they entered the throne room.
There was a thin, sickly man sitting on the throne that was centered in front of the back wall. He started suddenly as the six of them entered but he relaxed instantly when he saw who they were.
"Thank the Gods you made it! As you can see, Astos has cursed my castle and now I'm stuck here. My last retainer just barely made it through to get my message to you."
"We got your message. What exactly is it you want us to do?" Thol asked of the strange king.
"I need your help in defeating Astos. I had a crown with the power to banish the him for good, but he sent his minions to steal it from me several years ago. They've taken it to the cave in the southern marshes. I ask you to please retrieve it for me."
"Why do you need us to get it? Why didn't you just send some of your men?" Tor asked.
"Most of them were killed when Astos cursed my castle. As it was, none of them had the skill to defeat the creatures that took the crown. I had over a dozen men guarding the crown when they came for it. None of them survived the encounter. Only you, the Light Warriors, have the power needed to take the crown back from those creatures."
Thol thought it over. There was something about the strange king that he didn't like but he could find nothing wrong with his story. "Do you know where Astos is right now? There is something he has that we need."
"I'm afraid I cannot help you there. I've been imprisoned in this castle for far too long. I know not where he is hiding. I'm sure he'll return here when he realizes that the crown has been taken back. We can finish him off then."
"Alright. We'll do it. How many days away is the cave exactly?" Thol asked.
"About two if memory serves correct. Be careful though. The normal creatures of the cave are nearly as dangerous as the ones guarding the crown."
"We will be careful," Thol said. He bowed and left the throne room. The others mimicked his actions and followed him out.
"Well? What do you think?" Keza asked.
"I think that there's something he isn't telling us," Thol said.
"Like where Astos is," Goro replied.
"For one thing, yes, but isn't it a little strange that he is the only one there? Valon said that no one seen the so called retainer either," Thol said.
"Right. For now I think we should just play along and see what happens," Valon added.
"To the cave then," Thol said. . . .
* * * *
To say that the trip through the marsh was horrible was an understatement. Keza was barely able to walk from the queasiness and the insects were in an absolute frenzy. It took them almost a half day just to find the cave. It was to the extreme south of the marsh and well hidden.
The interior of the cave was only marginally better then the outside. It did, however, look as if it was a man made structure. They wasted a good hour or so when they took a wrong turn. After backtracking and picking a different direction, they found a slimy ladder leading deeper into the earth. They all managed to get down without any difficulties and continue on their way. Another half hour or so later they found a second ladder and went down that as well.
It was Thol who inevitably caught Melira when she slipped and fell the rest of the way down. She was grateful of course, but they didn't have the time to stand around all day while she thanked him.
The cavern they had entered was filled with many rooms and it was impossible to tell which one they had to go in.
"We could be here for a week looking through all these. We can save time if we split up," Keza suggested.
"No. If that funny little king was right then we have to stick together. We don't know how the creatures are going to react when we find them," Thol said.
Despite the seemingly gigantic task, it didn't take as long as it first appeared it would. Many of the doors were strangely locked, so it cut down their choices significantly.
The eventually found the room with the crown what seemed to be the exact center of the vast cavern. The creatures that were guarding the crown didn't attack right away like as they all though they would. Instead, the tentacle faced humanoids simply stood in a V-formation in front of the altar. It was obvious that the creature at the vertex was the leader. It was larger and colored differently.
"What do we do now?" Melira asked.
"Um," Thol said. "Let's try and talk to them. Maybe they'll let us have it." He stepped forward and confronted the leader. "We are the Light Warriors. Let us have the crown," he said in an authoritive voice.
The lead creature responded in a booming mental voice. "Lord Bahamut has decreed that none shall possess this holy crown!"
Bahamut? The dragon king? I thought he was just a legend, Thol thought. He turned towards the others again.
"That old man is full of shit," Keza stated bluntly.
"If these really are minions of Bahamut and not Astos, then perhaps they will know of our quest. Try explaining it to them, Thol," Valon suggested.
Thol shrugged and stepped toward the lead creature again. "We are on a quest to revive the orbs. We require the crown to complete this quest. Stand aside and let us have it."
"None shall possess the crown! Those who seek to possess the crown must be eliminated!" the creature boomed. With that, the creatures became suddenly animated.
Thol cursed as the leader attacked him. He was just able to get his silver staff up in time to block the creatures smashing blow, even still, he was driven to his knees. He cast a quick, low-level spell to get away from the thing and prepared to cast a more powerful spell. Tor rushed by him to keep the thing busy while he cast.
He was just about to release the powerful fire spell when he heard Melira scream. Without even stopping to think that he could have released the spell on all five of the creatures, he abandoned the spell and leaped at the thing that had knocked her over. He cracked it over the head with his staff but the blow didn't really seem to affect the thing. It inevitably retaliated and threw him against the wall. He could clearly hear a rib crack in the process.
With him out of the way, the creature turned its attention back to Melira who has just getting up. She screamed again as it raised its arms over its head in an attempt to crush her with a massive downward smash. It didn't quite make it though. Thol had recovered and hit it with his highest lightning spell which drove it back stunned long enough for him to get back to his feet. He again attacked the thing with his staff and was rewarded with a gush of orange blood spouting from its forehead. The thing still wasn't down for good though. It hit Thol in his cracked rib with a sweeping fist that sent his careening towards the lead creature.
The creature seemed to wisely think Thol was the greater threat, so it ignored Melira this time and went right after Thol again. Thol stumbled to his feet and was again about to be thrown to the wall but he managed to get it a crushing blow to the thing's temple. The thing screeched and tossed his into the wall anyway, but it was clearly in pain.
Goro had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began to assault the thing. He had finished off one of the things just a few seconds before and had seen Thol thrown into the wall. "Melira! Help him! We need his magic to end this quickly before anyone else gets seriously hurt," the large man yelled as he fought.
She hardly needed to be told what to do. She had gone to him almost as soon as he hit the floor. "Thol! Wake up, Thol!"
The black mage groaned slightly and tried to rise.
"Thol!" she said again. She looked over to the others to see how they were faring. She was afraid that Thol was beyond her help at the moment and that they would have to fight without him.
Keza was fairing well against his slower adversary. Unfortunately, his silver knife could only do minor damage so it would take a while for the thing to fall.
Goro had his second creature reeling for the moment, but it showed a great deal of tenacity and lashed out at the martial artists left leg. He recovered in short order, but so did the creature.
Valon was keeping his creature busy by alternating between magic and the silver sword he possessed. His magic would only last so long though and then he'd be forced to rely on his sword alone.
The battle between Tor and the lead creature was the most spectacular, however. The creature had an iridescent staff and was giving blows as nasty as the ones Tor's silver sword was dealing out. Lucky the brand new silver armor he wore protected him from all but the most serious blows. It was plain to see that Tor was growing tired and would not be able to keep his attack up for too much longer.
Melira turned back to Thol, who was still unconscious. Not knowing what else to do, she began to cast the strongest curative spell that she knew, even though she was aware that it would not be enough to completely heal him. She touched the pendant Thol gave her as she released the spell for luck. The effect was astounding. The light that was produced from the spell blinded them all, creature and man alike, for a few moments. When they could all see again, they could see that Thol was getting up, though rather slowly and using the wall for support.
Thol looked around the room and tried to clear the haze from his vision. He remembered hitting the wall head first after the creature threw him and after that he blacked out.
"Thol! You have to help them! They can't last much longer!" Melira yelled trying to get through to him.
Melira? He remembered their current situation then and shook his head. The haze cleared and he was able to see the battle raging on. "Shit!" he yelled suddenly. He started the fire spell again and was alarmed when he nearly toppled over. Melira steadied him and he began again.
This time he was able to complete the spell. The three lesser creatures succumbed to flames instantly but the leader just shrugged off the tremendous spell. Tor took up his offensive almost immediately and was soon joined by the other three who no longer had the lesser creatures to worry about.
Exhausted from both his wounds and the casting of the spell, Thol slumped back to the ground.
"Thol!" Melira almost screamed.
"I'm alright. I just need to get my wind back," he said in a shaky voice.
Even with the four of them attacking it, the lead creature still proved to be tough to handle. Keza was nearly thrown through the wall when the thing knocked him out of the way with its staff. Goro tried to get a shot in while it was distracted with Keza but it again showed its unnatural agility and not only blocked the attack but broke his arm in the process.
Valon and Tor quickly began to work together like a well oiled machine and managed to hit the thing every so often but it was still not enough to do serious damage to it. They almost mortally wounded it in an impressive display of swordplay, but the thing blew them both back with its staff. It suddenly turned its attention to the two mages who where side by side against the wall.
Thol cursed and stood up, ignoring the agonizing pain that his twice cracked rib was causing him. He stepped in front of Melira to protect her even though he knew that he wouldn't last long.
Instead of attacking right away, the creature instead spoke to him. "Your wounds are nearly fatal, human. I know that you are aware that you could not defeat me without magic even at full health, so why do you insist on continuing to fight?"
"It's called friendship. Look into it. What are you waiting for? Finish me off if you're so sure my wounds are nearly fatal."
The thing contemplated that for a moment. "Why is it that you shield the one behind you with such fierceness?" the thing asked.
Thol stopped breathing for a second. "I-I can't answer that question," he said simply. He wasn't even sure if he even knew the answer to that one.
"None who have come before you have known the honor of loyalty, friendship, and love. Even in your attacks there is mercy. You are all different," the thing said. It looked from Thol to Melira and then cocked its head to the side slightly. After a moment, it spoke again. "No matter your intentions, I must protect the crown." It again started forward but was blind sided by both Tor and Valon who had been listening to the thing question Thol.
Valon was unlucky enough to end up like Keza and be thrown into the wall. Tor managed to hold his ground and continue to fight the thing. Thol, unable to cast spells yet, joined his friend in attacking the thing. He actually managed to hit it a few times before it cracked a third rib and sent him back to the wall. Thol cried out as he hit the ground and Melira was there again to support him.
"You have to kill it, Thol! Use the pendant!" she said, in tears.
He painfully tried to stand but could only make it to his knees. It was close enough though. With Melira supporting him, he used his last bit of magical energy and cast his high-level fire spell. The pendant had a similar effect as it did with Melira's magic. Much to Thol's amazement, the thing continued to live.
Tor attacked it again with a look of defeat on his face. His face quickly brightened, however. He could tell right away that the creature was nearly finished. It couldn't move as fast as before and it was bleeding heavily from the wounds he was inflicting. Tor finally managed to kill the thing with a mighty slash that cleaved the thing right down the center.
Tor collapsed as soon as the creature was dead. He was in almost as bad a shape as Thol. Keza had finally begun to stir and Goro, cradling his broken arm, moved to help him. Thol has passed out again from the strain of casting that last spell. Of all of them, he was the worst off.
Melira was the only one who wasn't hurt in some way. She suddenly remembered why they were here and walked up to the altar where the crown sat. She hesitated for a second then removed the crown from where it was. Looking over the crown, she was filled with awe. It was the most beautiful piece object she had ever seen. She placed the crown on the ground beside Thol and then went around to everyone trying to get them healed as much as she could.
Goro's arm proved to be more then she could handle right now so they had to settle with a more mundane solution. The others back at nearly fully steam in moments as they had not broken anything. They were all worried about Thol at the moment. He had not woken up yet and his breathing was labored. Valon advised them that they could not wait for him to wake up. They made a litter for him and moved him that way. They ran into only a few monsters as they made their way back up to the day light. Moving Thol up the ladders proved to be difficult, but they managed without further injury to him.
Later that night at the camp that was set up a few hundred meters away from the marsh, Thol finally woke up. He was definitely in more pain then he had been in for a while. With three broken ribs and one being broken in two places it hurt like Hell to breath. Melira had recovered from her casting spree in the cave enough to lessen his pain somewhat but she was unable to get rid of it entirely. He also still had one Hell of a headache from being slammed into the wall headfirst. That made him rather irritable.
Thol was looking over their prize for the brutal fight critically. "This stupid thing? I almost killed myself for this? I think I'll fry that stupid king for a few weeks when I see him again."
"Thol, the crown is beautiful. Can't you see that?" she said, taking offence to his calling it 'stupid'.
"Big deal. I don't see what it has to do with getting rid of Astos. I'm definitely certain it wasn't worth breaking my ribs over."
"You're impossible." She said in defeat. They were silent for a moment. She remembered something then. "Thol?"
"Yes?"
"When it asked you why you were protecting me, why didn't you answer it?"
"Because it really didn't need to know," he said. And I'm really not sure why. Other then your father's request of course.
"Why did you protect me like that?" she asked.
Thol groaned inwardly. I knew she was going to ask that. "I wouldn't worry about it."
"Please, Thol. Tell me."
He sighed. "Well, you're not exactly all that great with your staff and you don't have any offensive magic other than the harm undead stuff. And you're rather frail looking," he said. He knew immediately that he had said the wrong thing at the end, even if it was true.
"Are you trying to say that I'm helpless?" she asked incredulously, her voice going up slightly in volume.
"Well not exactly," Thol said, trying to smooth things over before it was too late.
"But that's what you mean isn't it? You think that just because I'm a girl that I can't defend myself?" she said, almost yelling now.
"I didn't say that! I promised that I'd keep you safe, that's all!" Thol replied, now yelling himself. His headache was dulling his senses otherwise he would have realized that he was making a big mistake.
"Promised who?"
"It doesn't matter who! You should be grateful that for me! I just cracked three ribs back there for you!"
"I didn't ask you to! It's not like you didn't have a choice!"
"I might have had one if your father didn't railroad me into looking after you!"
"My father?" she yelled. Her face had gone red with rage. "Look after me? I don't need you to look after me! I'm not a child!"
"Really? You sure are acting like one right now!"
Her face suddenly went pale. She stood there for a few seconds than slapped him as hard as she could across the face. She stormed out of the tent without saying another word.
Thol stood there in shock. Why did I have to go and do that? he though finally realizing that he had just made a very big mistake. . . .
* * * *
Melira went directly to her own tent and burst into tears. She was convinced now that he didn't really care about her and that he was only being nice to her and protecting her because her father had asked him. She held the pendant that he had given her in her hands and wished she could use it to change what had just happened, but she couldn't. She cried until she had fallen asleep. . . .
* * * *
Thol tried to apologize to her the next day but she just slapped him again declaring that she hated him and that his apology was a lie. Thol slumped his shoulder in defeat at first and then after that was a raging storm of anger. He was angry at himself because this was all his fault and now things would never be the same between the two of them.
The trip back to Northwest Castle was unpleasant for the others too as he had taken out his aggression on his companions. None of them were as rude as to ask what happened so they were a little confused. Their topic of conversation every night inevitably turned towards the two mages at one point or another. Thol knew they talked about it and really didn't care. He kept mostly to himself now and rarely spoke unless it was to issue a blistering reprimand to one of the other men in the group. He had not attempted to speak to Melira at all since that morning, nor did she say anything to him. Nor also would she look at him. He often found himself looking at her and wishing he could take back what he said, but she never once looked at him.
So he thought. She in reality looked at him almost as much as he did her, but she was more covert about it. It hurt her to look at him though. Every time she did so, it made her want to cry. She had only known him for about a month but she couldn't deny it anymore. She was in love with him and she really didn't know why. It wasn't because he was attractive because he was nearly completely covered from head to toe. His attitude was certainly not it. Sometimes she wondered how she even thought of him as a friend. He was so arrogant, rude and was always putting his companions down. She certainly pitied him for his childhood, but pity isn't love. She was sure it wasn't because he was always protecting her because he had proven that he was only doing that because he was asked to. It was none of those things. She knew that. But then she remembered how he acted when Tor found out about Bikke. Moreover, she remembered the children in the park back in Coneria. She thought that perhaps all of his crudeness was just an act. She thought that maybe it was his way of paying the world back for shunning him.
She didn't know and it really didn't matter anymore. There was no way things would ever be the same between them again. That probably hurt her more then the fact that he didn't care about her. There was nothing she could do though, so she just sighed and continued on with the journey.
The next day they had returned to the Northwest Castle with the crown. The king was ecstatic. He took the crown and stared at it in wonder.
"What of Astos, your majesty?" Goro asked of him.
The king tore his eyes away from the crown and gave him a strange look. "Astos?" the king said. He laughed then, a strange, unsettling laugh, then looked at them with now pitch black eyes. "You are all fools! I am Astos and now that I have both the crown and the crystal, I shall become a god!"
The king, Astos, changed then. He grew in height and became something that only vaguely looked like an elf. He had many needle like teeth and large claws jutting from his fingertips. They could see that he now wore the crown and that a large sea blue crystal was embedded in it. When he spoke, his voice was raspy and most certainly evil.
"Nothing can stop me now! You will be the first to have a taste of my new power!" the Dark Elf said. He launched a powerful lightning spell at them that was not unlike Thol's massive fire spell. Melira was quick to throw up an Anti-Lit spell to absorb most of the damage.
Tor, as usual, rushed forward and began slashing at the rather thin being. He found out quickly that his flesh was a strong as steel and his silver sword wasn't very effective. Valon had joined him seconds later, as did Keza and Goro. Even Thol, still weakened from the battle with the guardians, joined in to beat the Dark Elf with his staff. He attacked with a certain brutality that the others had not seen before. He was obviously venting his anger that he had been projecting in the form of physical violence.
Ironically, it was Thol's staff that was harming the Dark Elf the most. Large, angry red welts rose from the elf's body wherever Thol struck. Astos had been striking back as well, but he had been unable to cast another spell due to the close quarters and that alone probably determined the outcome of the battle. He did manage to cast one more spell though. It was one that almost cost Thol his life, but he was so enraged now that he just smothered it with his own spell which was a powerful ice spell.
Thol cast a temper spell on Tor's weapon and with that little advantage, the Dark Elf started to bleed. Astos began slashing like mad and was able to score a few hits. Goro, one arm and all, was deflecting most of these attacks while the other four continued to attack. Thol cast a second temper spell on Valon and he too started drawing blood. That was the last thing he did in the fight though. Astos lashed out at him and caught him in the ribs. Thol grunted in pain and went down.
Melira saw him go down and almost ran to him. She instead cast a healing spell on him and purposely ignored him, waiting to see if the others would need help.
It was Tor who finally dealt the killing blow. Astos was impaled right through the heart and died almost instantly. His body dissolved into a black mist and the crown fell to the floor. The crystal that was embedded in it separated when it hit the floor.
Thol, thanks to Melira's healing spell, picked up both the crown and the crystal and could feel the power that flowed between them. "It's a good thing he didn't get a chance to cast anymore spells," he said absently, more to himself then to the others. He handed the crystal to Goro, who took it with a questioning look on his face. "We should try to keep these two items apart. The power of these two things is incredible. You could probably shatter the world with them when they are brought together."
Goro simply nodded. That was the most he had said to anyone since his falling out with Melira, so he figured that it was a good sign. Unfortunately, Thol had gone back to the way he was almost immediately after then left.
Castle Astos, as it would be known as after that, shuddered and imploded when they were half a day away. The rest of their journey back to Elfland City was uneventful. . . .
* * * *