Sands of Aranoch
by Hikako
Chapter Two - Skeletons and Sand Fires
The tension hung thick in the air, like oil, so thick you could literally cut it. And there were enough swords around to do just that. Not only the air but the five humans who stood in the middle. The Necromancer Lothose stood in the center of the horde of skeletons, each bearing a shield with three green drops of liquid on the face. The Death Mage stared at the quintet of adventurers with his piercing green eyes.
"I will ask you one more time." he said, "Tell me why you are here, why you attacked my minions, and if your answers are sane enough I will let you go." Lothose's voice was like ice sliding across ice, but only colder, as his armor glistened in the waning sunlight and his sword held in his left hand ready to attack. Morgaine was the first to find her voice.
"W-w-we a-are going to Lut Gholein." she stuttered as Lothose turned his gaze on her, "We hope to help them with their current problems." She swallowed as her throat closed itself under the Necromancer's stare. She was once told that to stare a Death Mage in the eye was to see your own death, and Morgaine realized her death would be several skeletons turning her into stripes.
"Aw." Lothose said, turning his eyes from the Sorceress to Gawane, the Zakarum paladin. A small smile played on his features, "Trying to play hero again, Gawane." Lothose snickered at his own private joke. "You tryed that one already, and we all know how that turned out, don't we." The emeralds that were his eyes flickered across the features of the other four adventurers. "Or maybe we don't!"
Gawane, in a flash, dropped his sword and hurled himself at Lothose, only to be stopped by three skeletons. Gawane's metal gauntlets were only inches away from Lothose's throat. Gawane struggled to grasp the Necromancer's throat but the skeletons finally pushed him back to the circle around his friends. Lothose meerly chuckled as he saw this display of futile strength.
"So you are going to Lut Gholein?" Lothose asked redundantly, "I hear they have quite the problem with a mummy in their sewers." He began to pace around the group, staying just out of reach, as if daring them to try to kill him. His sword and hands were clasped behind his back as if he was just going for a Sune's Day walk. Morgaine couldn't, for all the life in her body, take her eyes from him. It wasn't just the fact that he held her life in his gloved hands that drew her eyes. His body, though hard to see, was obviously toned and well muscled but slimmer than Auden and Gawane.
"What are you looking at, Sorceress?" he asked in his all-encompassing contempt voice. "Like seeing a man who holds life and death in his hands? Or maybe some other reason?" A cocky little grin, that Morgaine would've loved to whip off his face, played on his features. The grin told her he could read her as if she had blurted what she was thinking about in a yell.
"Leave her alone, you bastard!" Gawane said his hands clenching into fists. His eyes burned with a hatred that frightened, and fascinated, Morgaine. What had Lothose done that had so angered Gawane, she didn't know that Paladins could hate that fiercely. But what bothered her the most was what Lothose had meant when he said, 'trying to play hero again' and 'we all know how that turned out.' Was there something in Gawane's past that he hadn't told them, or something he was ashamed of? Morgaine didn't know and her thoughts were interrupted by Lothose's bitter-sweet voice again.
"If you want my advice," Lothose cast a sidelong glance at Gawane, "It would be to avoid Lut Gholein. There is hardly any gold in the city, or food and water for that matter." He stopped his pacing and stared off to the north with a suspicious look. "Only death." he finished in a low voice that the quintet could barely hear.
"Thanks for the advice." Auden said in his rocky voice, "We'll be sure to take it under advisement." His face was like a stone, completely unreadable, and he stood straight as a pole. His head, however, was bent slightly, like he was trying to hear something to the north of the group. Lothose hardly noticed Auden answer as he continued to stare to the north as if there was something there just out of his sight.
Auden's face suddenly went slack and his jaw dropped. He pulled his other axe out of its holster and gripped both of his blades in his hamfists. Lothose's eyes, around the same time, went so wide Morgaine could see the whites. With only a head nod he sent a skeleton into the rock, only to return a few moments later with a shield that looked like it was made from human heads. With little more than a snap of his fingers the skeletons, which had been surronding the adventurers, formed into tightly fitting ranks.
"What is it Auden?" Gawane asked as his eyes darted from the north to Auden, and his hands held his sword at ready. Auden whispered, "Demons. A lot of demons." Anasta pulled a second dagger from the one she was holding out of her boot, while Hipponia knoched an arrow into her bow.
The rock, situated in a basin no deep than a man, blocked the sun from the eyes of the defending humans. The skeletons under the control of Lothose didn't even move as the demons lined up along the northern ridge. Morgaine couldn't see all of the demons of the horde, a large mass of teeth and claws, but she saw that a large chunk of them Saber Cats.
"You killed a couple of Saber Cats, didn't you." Lothose said as he pulled a shield that looked like it was made of skulls from behind his cloak. "Saber Cats are vindictive animals, who will track something for days if they feel they have a debt to repay." Morgaine held her staff so tightly she felt her palms go numb and her knees felt like they were going to pop right out of her legs. "Looks like they recruited some Sand Raiders. No doubt from the nest I've been trying to extinguish for two days."
Morgaine looked at Auden and the others they each held a grim look on their faces as the number of demons began to grow. She heard Gawane whisper a prayer and soon a glowing aura surronded him and all of their group, except for Lothose. She didn't know what it was, but it made her feel braver, and more battle ready. She soon began to plan what spells she would use; Fireball, Blaze, and Frozen Nova were her best spells.
Lothose spit upon the ground and whispered something that sounded like a couple of snake hisses and a few soudns like someone being choked to death. The small piece of mud Lothose's spit caused soon grew immense and finally drew itself up into the shape of a man. The mud-man was nearly as tall as Auden, but he was far more bulkier, one of his fists large enough to crush Morgaine's skull.
A horn issued from the horde north of the rock and suddenly the huge mass of demon flesh flew down the basin towards the undead army. Morgaine felt her muscles tighten like rope, as she stood like a cat ready to pounce. The horde came closer and closer, by now Morgaine could hear the clinking of metal and grunts.
A sound, like thunder, issued as the two armies collided. Several skeletons were shattered almost immediately, likewise several demons found spears sticking in their chests. One moment Morgaine knew where everyone was, even Lothose, then less than a split second later all she saw were demons and skeletons.
She didn't have long to think as a Saber Cat appeared and threw an potion at her feet. Before the potion exploded Morgaine tucked her legs under her and rolled towards the left. After the sands stopped flying by Morgaine came back up with her staff at ready. Not a moment too soon, as the Saber Cat stabbed at the Sorceress with her spear and barely missed as it went right between Morgaine's arm and her chest. Before the Saber Cat could do anything Morgaine brought her staff hard against its side, a sharp snap told Morgaine a rib was broken.
Before the Saber Cat could recover Morgaine leaped forward and buried her shoulder into the Saber Cat's gut. It stumbled back a few feet, straight into the oncoming blades of a Sand Raider, and cut into four different parts. The skeleton, to whom the blades were aimed at, took the opportunity to stab the Sand Raider in the head with its spear.
Morgaine looked around and saw that all the demons were now surronding the pit, fighting the skeletons and the few members of the group Morgaine could see. In an instance, inspiration struck Morgaine and whispered the words to a Blaze spell. Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth Morgaine felt warmth underneath her souls, two small fires burned at her heels, and her legs felt like she could run to the moon and back.
Morgaine took off and headed toward the ridge that ringed the basin, leaving a trail of fire in her wake and killing several demons. She watched as the battling forces flashed past her, catching only one or two scenes of skeletons and demons locked in a struggle. Based on the ferocious fighting she was seeing, Morgaine hoped they'd all make it out of this battle alive.
As she arrived on the ridge Morgaine looked out at the endless sand dunes that was Aranoch, from the ridge she could see no other beings; demonic, humaniod, or undead. She sighed a breath of relief, maybe she could survive her plan. With that thought in her mind, she began to run again, and as it had before the sand lit like a candle and the roaring blaze grewing higher and higher, until it was at least ten feet tall.
Morgaine didn't stop, except when she had to renew the spell and once when she ran out of mana. She continue running along the steep ridge that lead into the basin, until a ten foot tall wall of flame encircled the small valley. Down by the rock the battle raged unstoppable, however there were clearly some battle lines now. The demons held the northern half of the basin and the skeletons, with Lothose and the others at the front, held the rock and the rest of the basin.
Nodding her head in satisfaction Morgaine ran to the northern most part of the basin, where the fire rage so hot that it leaped out into the air like great jets of oil were shotting from the ground. Morgaine stared at the backs of the remaining demons, who were putting up quite a fight, before she began to hurl her spells. Frozen Nova shot across the space between Morgaine and the demons, followed by several Fireballs.
This, combined with the frontal attack lead by the Necromancer, made the demons' moral drop and soon their lines broke and they scattered towards the ridge. The few who were brave enough tried to jump the flames, only to be consumed on their way down. The others were killed off by the skeletons.
Finally the battle was over and Morgaine let the fire die down. Just as the sun sank beneath the dunes. The whole desert was basked in the glow of sunset. Morgaine smiled and looked down at her friends. Auden looked like he was ready to drop, but a big boorish grin was on his face, Hipponia and Anasta stood side by side and laughed as their arms dropped.
Morgaine stopped smiling when she saw Gawane, being supported by Lothose and half of his plate armor burned off along with much of his hair. His face looked awful with blisters and blood running out of everywhere. Morgaine looked at her friend as he turned one deep brown eye at her and soon after closed it.
Never to open it again.
To be continued...