Sands of Aranoch
by Hikako
Chapter One - Saber Cats and Skeletons
Morgaine leaped over the sand dune as a Saber Cat threw another exploding potion at her retreating back. She didn't know what was worse, being lost in a desert, having twenty Saber Cats behind her, or the two dozen or so Leapers in front of her. She cursed the Prime Evils in her mind as she drank one of her mana potions.
Morgaine's caravan had been on route to Lut Gholein and after that, Kurast, but the Leaper horde, driven to insanity by hunger and drought, had attacked the almost defenseless caravan. The Saber Cats had also attacked the caravan but for the priceless treasures that it carried from the West; gold, metals, and food. The caravan didn't stand a chance and the Saber Cats and Leapers took it in under an hour.
Morgaine had barely escaped by the skin off her teeth. A few Blaze spells and a Fireball managed to create a hole she could slip out. However, the Saber Cats had already slipped back to their lair, which was in the direction that Morgaine had taken, and the hunger-crazed Leapers followed her trail. That lead to her present predicament. She had used almost every once of mana she had and still there was thirty or more demons to kill. The Salamander, the battle staff in her hand, hummed with the thrill of battle.
Three Leapers crested the dune opposite the Sorceress and she unleashed three Firebolts that left nothing but three charred skeletons. Morgaine heard the hiss of sand shifting above her and brought her staff to bear, just as a Saber Cat leaped at her and would have cleaved her skull in two with its spear. Morgaine felt her arm almost buckle under the force of the blow but she swiftly swung the staff in a circular movement that knocked the spear from the demon's hold and sent it spiralling off into the sky. Another swing of her staff sent the Saber Cat's head to an 180 degree angle.
Morgaine grasped her staff as she prepared for another enemy, instead she heard the sounds of fighting coming from over the dunes. She crept up the sand and peered over, and the scene that greeted her caused her eyebrows to rise. There was an enormous man, about seven feet tall, and he looked like he was all muscle, he was swinging two axes and chopping up the Saber Cats. Beside him stood a woman with blonde hair and a bow and arrows and she was shotting the few Saber Cats that escaped the man's axes.
Turning around Morgaine was even more surprised. A man, probably a knight or something, was swinging a huge broadsword and slicing Leapers in half. Another woman stood next to him and was fending off several Leapers with what looked like traps of some kind and a several moves of a fighting style that Morgaine couldn't place.
Morgaine waited until they had finished before coming out of her hiding place. The four warriors ran to meet her and as they got closer Morgaine could see that the knight looked like he came from Kehjistan and he wore full body armor. The hulking man was covered in chainmail and fur and the women looked like they were wearing scale mail. The first one to reach Morgaine was the hulking man, who towered over Morgaine, and he was covered with tattoos.
"Who are you?" he said, his voice was like a boulder crashing down a mountain, and he held his axe in front of him as if he expected her to attack. "Who are you?" he repeated as the other three arrived. The blonde woman had drawn an arrow and was pointing it at Morgaine, while the other woman gripped her dagger in her hand and eyed the Sorceress, and the knight held his sword at ready.
Undaunted Morgaine stood up to her full height, not very impressive since even the woman with the dagger was taller than her, but she raised her head and spoke in a voice that disguised more panic than calm. "I am Morgaine Lafanay of the Zann Esu. Emissary of her Excellency Laurana DeRowan, Mistress of Castle Cranda." At the end of her statement the knight visibly relaxed and lowered his sword.
"I am-" he began before he was interrupted by the bulky warrior with tattoos, "How do we know that? I have never heard of Castle Cranda, how do we know it isn't a demon stronghold, huh?" With that the knight raised his sword again and looked like he would strike Morgaine down then and there. Instead, the blonde woman, who spoke in a voice that reminded Morgaine of running brooks, said to the other woman, "Anasta? Can you see into her?"
The other woman, Anasta, stepped forward and leveled her gaze at Morgaine. Morgaine felt her knees go weak as she stared as hard as she could into the deep golden eyes that told Morgaine if she had any darkness in her that she was dead. Luckily her knees held and Anasta turned away, and in a dry voice said, "She is a clean as a virgin of Zakarum." This gained a chuckle from the large man and a glare from the knight.
The large man put down his axe and stuck out his hamfist, and in his gravelly voice said, "Auden, son of Thurden, of the Wolf Clan." And with that he shook Morgaine's hand so hard she felt it in her bones. The two women came forward and with a salute from the blonde and a head nod from the other Morgaine soon learned they were Hipponia of Lycander and Anasta of Ureh. Finally the knight came forward and, to Morgaine's surprise, put his sword in front of him and bent to one knee. "I, m'lady, am Gawane iban Fatiman. Paladin of the Order of Zakarum and servant of the High Heavens, Protector of the Word-"
His long introduction was cut short by Auden, "C'mon Gawane! We don't have all day to listen to you list your titles." Gawane rose to his feet his face slightly flushed as he realized he had been babbling on. Morgaine smiled at him, taken in by his boorish charm.
After a few minutes rest the five companions went to catch up with the caravan they had come on. "We were only a few days behind you," Auden the Barbarian said as he trodded along beside her, "We saw your caravan was being attacked and instead of helping you the caravan-master just went around! He said they would be so busy with you that he could slip by unnoticed!" Auden let out a disgusted grunt as he continued. "In my homeland he would've been labelled a coward and dishonorable."
Finally night crept over the sand dunes and the company stopped for the night. Morgaine made a fire burn as Anasta pulled some food from her packs. As they sat around the campfire the four told Morgaine stories about themselves.
Auden, a proud and mighty warrior of the Wolf Clan, was to become chieftain of his home, far in the frozen North. However, a rival tribe had raided their home and killed almost everyone in the village, including his new wife. In a murderous rage Auden crept into the enemy camp and slaughtered their warriors in their sleep. Now he was travelling, trying to redeem himself in hopes he could join the Ancients. Morgaine didn't understand what the Ancients were but she assumed they were ancestors of his or something.
Anasta, a trained Assassin, was sent out into the world to hunt down corrupted mages and destroy the demonic hold on many mages. Her hunt led her to Tristram, the Monastery of the Sightless Eye, and now to Lut Gholein. She said that she had learned all her moves, Shadow Arts and how to make traps from a head assassin that was supposed to be legendary.
Hipponia was a warrior-chief of Lycander Isle and had, on accident, killed a child during a hunt in the deep forests of her home. Instead of the customary sentence of death, the King had sentenced her to exile on the continents and now she was just making her way to Lut Gholein because she believed that there she could find someone who could take her to Kehjistan. There she hoped to join the few Amazon tribes that lived there.
Finally, Gawane told Morgaine of his holy mission to rid the world of demons and help all people see the Light. Gawane even tried to get Morgaine to participate in evening prayer. She politely declined but thanked him for offering. However, that didn't stop him from trying and he seemed to try to get the other three involved as well. Anasta merely smiled and began her meditation and Auden just sang a short chant before going to sleep.
The next morning they each divided up the water they had left and put it into seperate canteens. When everyone had some breakfast they headed out, Gawane in the leader followed by Anasta and Hipponia, with Morgaine and Auden bringing up the rear. Soon midday arrived and they hadn't spotted the caravan yet. Auden was beginning to get irritated.
"We couldn't be that far behind the caravan, could we?" he huffed out to Gawane as he trodded along. Gawane had a frown on his face when he called a halt to the running. He looked out across the sand dunes and shook his head, "No. We were only a few hours behind the caravan, maybe." His sharp brown eyes scanned the horizon. Pointing at several dark masses circling in the distance he said, "Maybe, something happened to it."
At that the small group began to run, double time, towards the circling masses in the sky. As they drew closer, Morgaine saw Anasta unsheath her dagger, Hipponia knoch an arrow in her bow, and Auden grip his axe. Morgaine, in anticipation of the coming trouble, pulled the staff from her pack and held it firmly in both hands.
Instead of finding a destroyed caravan they found a strange rock. It was large, larger than a house, and it looked black like a starless night. Surronding it were several skeletons that patrolled the rock and sand dunes surronding it in packs of three, and three skeletons, with strange glowing hands, stood on top of the rock. Gawane immediately stepped forward and was greeted by several arrows from the skeletons patrolling the rock.
Auden let out a loud war-cry and charged into the skeleton patrols with both axes swinging. Several skeletons fell to his axes as over three more patrols came charging from the rock. Hipponia stood atop the sand dune and fired into the horde and skeleton after skeleton fell to her arrows. Anasta, dagger grasped in her hand, began to take down the few skeletons that tarried on the left flank.
Morgaine watched as the four attacked with speed and organization that most armies dreamed of. However, as she watched she noticed more skeletons coming and Auden and Gawane were in deep trouble. In a soft whisper Morgaine cast a Frozen Nova that caused several skeletons to freeze and soon be shattered by Auden's axe or Gawane's sword.
For nearly the rest of the day the quintet fought until dawn when the last remnants of the undead were done and all that was left were the three undead with the glowing hands. The five companions, weary and wounded, approached the skeletons and the three undead made their way down the rock. Soon the eight stood there, at the base of the rock, ready to die, again in some cases. The skeletons raised their hands and the glow began to get brighter. The five humans braced themselves and prepared to attack.
"STOP!" rang out from the rock and immediately the glow around the skeletons hands subsided and the three undead put their arms down. The five companions looked up, to the top of the rock, and there stood a figure robed in black with a large skull for a mask. In his left hand the figure had a curved sword, like a scimitar, and in his right was a wand with two blue feathers attached to it.
"Put down your weapons!" the figure spoke to the five adventurers, "The earth you trample on is holy." Morgaine and the others glared at the figure but slowly lowered their weapons to the ground. The three skeletons began to make their back up the rock and to the positions they held before. The figure moved down the rock to the five, moving like a shadow on the ground. When he stood in front of them he spoke, in an eerily hollow voice.
"Who are you, and why are you attacking my minions?" the figure in black said. He stood a good six feet high and his black robe couldn't hide the armor under it, the scimitar in his hand had a pale green tint to it, and his skull-mask showed nothing of his face. Gawane was the first to find his tongue. "I am Sir Gawane of Kurast. A paladin of the holy order." He stare straight into the eyesockets of the mask and spoke again. "And if these are your minions then you are an enemy of the Light!" He held his sword up high and looked like a statue of some fallen hero.
"My minions would never attack unless you attacked them." the figure stepped forward and stood face to face with Gawane, and in a sneer that spoke volumes of hatred said, "Paladin." With that he tore the mask from his face and his dark robe fell open to reveal armor that looked like bone but reflected light like metal. His face was pale, but healthy looking, he had no beard and his hair, white like snow, rolled down his back into a ponytail. What struck Morgaine was his eyes, emerald green, so green they defined green and they held nothing but contempt for the adventurers in front of him.
"I am Death-master Lothose, and this is my home." With that skeletons, ten twenty even fifty or more, popped out of the sand and surronded the quintet. "Tell me your mission, or I assure you, you will be here a lot longer than half a day."
To Be Continued...