Chapter 1: The Fogs
There was a race of evil, nasty creatures that lived in the world of Zale. These fogs, as they were called, were green skinned, had bodies like a human except that their arms reached all the way to the ground. At one point in time, they were also humans, but they were a group that was isolated from the world. They were isolated for a reason. They had a completely different culture and way of life, and they could not tolerate any other but their own. Secluded deep in the mountains of Zale, they eventually evolved into fogs. The land in which they inhabit is called Goffog. The fogs rarely ever had any fun or excitement in their land, for it was very quiet and dull. Most of the time, the fogs were either planning or doing evil things to the humans that lived nearby or were passing by Goffog. Because they wanted everyone to be like them, they absolutely loathed the humans. Their greatest desire was to rule Zale, and to have power over all humans. The fogs weren't only evil toward the humans, but also to other fogs. A small group of fogs had a different color skin, a golden-yellow color. These fogs were seen as weird and stupid, and the green fogs thought themselves superior to this small group, whom they call the underlings. The underlings were known to everyone as a completely different race from the fogs, even though the only difference was their skin color. The other fogs often took the underling as slaves, and some tortured them for fun. When they were desperate, the fogs even killed these underlings for food. After all the cruel things that were done to the underlings, they eventually sided with the humans in the rivalry that lasted almost forever. The immortal leader of the fogs was named Rardon. He lived in a vast, dark castle, Darktrithe, with magic spells cast on the walls so no one could invade. He was an evil-minded creature, and of course, as the leader of the fogs, wanted to dominate the humans. He was a very intelligent fog, and used it for evil. Rardon was extremely rich, because he had an evil wizard at his side to give him as much power and riches as he needed. To motivate his fogs to kill humans, he would reward any fog that brought him a human head. The prize was anything that the fog wished, for Sazes, the immortal fog wizard, could grant any wish. The rivalry had changed over time. It was no longer about cultural differences, but it was a rivalry to rule the world. At this time, the humans were the rulers and controlled Zale. Humans greatly outnumbered the fogs, so in the many wars that they fought for Zale, the fogs always suffered significant losses. For almost one thousand years, there seemed to be peace between the two races, and no human knew what the fogs were up to. The existence of the fogs were forgotten by almost everyone, until one day...
Chapter 2: The Meeting
King Peflot, the ruler of Zale, had his castle in the northern part of the land in which the humans dwell, Istribal. One day, he called a meeting for all residents of Istribal in front of his castle, and he gave them one week to travel the mountainous lands to his castle, which was called Tribocrone. Thousands of people came, and among these was a young man named Traz. Traz's friend, Garet, came along with him. Traz was a young man who lived alone in the mountains of Istribal. When he heard of this "very important" meeting, he became very curious, and journeyed to the castle with Garet to find out what it was all about. When he arrived, he saw all the people and wondered if any of them knew the purpose of this meeting. No one knew. "Everyone, quiet down. The King will be ready in a moment," said a man who stood on a temporary stage built in front of the castle. As the man said, in a few seconds, the King was on the stage, ready to speak. The good wizard, Cramen, had used his incredible magic powers on the King so that everyone could hear his voice. King Peflot began, "Good morning, everyone. I am your King, Peflot. The man next to me is the marvelous wizard, Cramen. He has come to me with some shocking news about the fogs. Most of you probably don't know who they are, even I didn't know until Cramen informed me." The man next to the small, plump king looked very old and had a huge, green beard and wore a long white robe. King Peflot sighed, and then continued, "As you know, Cramen is immortal and knows every little detail from our past. He told me about an evil race of creatures called fogs. The fogs are planning to destroy us all, if we don't do something about it." There were many frightened gasps and people started to talk. "Quiet down, quiet down. We can overcome this terrible thing if we all cooperate and do as Cramen advises. We have had many wars with the fogs in the past, but they were slowly forgotten by us over the thousand years where we have seen no signs of them. I will let Cramen explain the rest." The King stepped back and the wizard continued, "The fogs have been our enemies for a countless number of years, and are a cruel and evil race. I have some valuable information that I have acquired from one of our allies, about what the fogs are have been planning to do. I am not planning to explain exactly how the fogs are preparing to destroy all humans in the land of Istribal, for I will only tell the five chosen people who will go on a quest to prevent this awful event from happening." Cramen bent down and picked up a bag. He said, "In this bag, I have five little creatures that I have created, called trosuns. They have the power to find the most courageous, intelligent, and bravest young men to go on this quest. If you are chosen, you will be obligated to go on this quest to save all of us humans. I will now free these trosuns and they will hop onto whosoever is worthy to go on the quest." The wizard opened up the bag, and out came five blue, lizard-like creatures that ran into the gigantic crowd. The trosuns ran around everybody in the area and eventually picked the five people worthy of the quest. Traz and Garet were two of the five and there were three other men that were chosen. Many young men wished to be one of the men worthy enough for the quest, but not all of them were so lucky. Traz simply could not believe that he got chosen and was very nervous, "How could I have been chosen? There has to be a mistake. There has to be!" he said to Garet. "This is great! We're chosen to be the saviors of the human race! We are worthy. How could there be a mistake? No way! It'll be fine. We get to go on this quest together! How can you not be excited, Traz?" "Yeah, well, I just don't think—," Traz was cut off by the voice of Cramen. "Will the five people chosen please come into the castle? I will explain the rest to you. Everyone else, the assembly is over. Thank you." Traz, Garet, and the other men stood up and walked over towards the castle. The portcullis was opened automatically when they neared it. When they arrived inside the castle, they saw the wizard and the king seated at a round table, and King Peflot told them to sit down also.
Chapter 3: The Quest "The five of you have been chosen as the most worthy men in all of Istribal to go on this quest to save the human race. Now I will explain your quest," said Cramen to the men with the utmost respect. He continued, "First, I will inform you on what the fogs are planning. For the one thousand years where there has been no trace of the fogs, they have been creating a weapon that will destroy us all." "A weapon? What kind of weapon? Destroy us all?" asked Traz nervously. "Well, actually, not really a weapon, but a defense. You see, with the help of the immortal fog wizard, Sazes, they have been working on a piece of armor. Whomever wears this piece of armor, will be invincible from any attack." "How do you create invincibility armor?" asked Garet. "They have been killing humans, underlings, which is a race that the fogs take as slaves, and other creatures. Then, with the help of Sazes, they are absorbing the power of each of the victims into the armor. Some of the victims have even been knights of King Peflot. Others have been trained underlings, who have been trained as warriors so their death will bring more power to the armor. They have been doing this for over a thousand years, but no one knew, not even me. I believe Sazes did something to disable me from using my crystal ball to see what they are doing." "So how do you know about it now?" asked one of the men. "One day, an underling escaped from his master, Rardon, the leader of the fogs, and told me everything. He also told me what Sazes is doing that is preventing me from prophesizing what will happen. Of course, I used my magic to counter that, and I saw everything very clearly in the crystal ball."
Cramen continued to speak, "Anyway, when the armor has enough power in it, the wearer will become invincible. Sazes is going to transfer the power from that single piece of armor to every piece of armor their army has, and eventually attack us with invincible fogs."
"So what are we supposed to do? We can't do much, can we?" asked another man.
"Fortunately, the armor is not yet ready to make anyone invincible, but it is very close. At the rate that they are going, it will take roughly about a year to a year and a half for the armor to be finished. This is the amount of time you have for your quest. I will also go on this quest and advise you. Now, I think everyone should introduce themselves so we can get acquainted with each other."
Immediately, one of the men spoke, "I will start. My name is Zrac, and I come from the southern lands of Istribal. Before today, I worked as a trainer for young men who wished to be warriors. I am skilled with swords, and I also like to use the boomerang for defense. I will be sure to protect you all in a time of danger."
When Zrac finished, a shorter, skinnier man next to him started, "My name is Ivan, and I live nearby in a small town called Ravei. I am a farmer, so I am not very skilled at fighting, but I have experience as the doctor in our town. Even though I haven't fought, I practice throwing spears as a game, so I should be able to use those in case of any danger." Ivan talked softly and muttered; he was rather shy.
After that, a man with long, dark hair introduced himself as Trimlon. He was from another nearby town called Sewite, and he was one of the protectors of the town. He said that he usually liked to use his two daggers as weapons. When he talked, he appeared very confident and was not shy at all.
Garet and Traz introduced themselves together, since they were from the same town, Gahei, and knew each other well. Traz has practiced archery, and is extremely skilled. Garet used stones and kept a whole pocket full of them to use as weapons. He likes to play with stones in games and other recreational activities, but he could also be very deadly with them. Both of them also used swords for close combat.
Cramen explained to the party that the first part of the quest was to eliminate the evil wizard Sazes, which will stop the spell around the walls of Darktrithe, and also to stop them from continuing this evil scheme. Next, they had to retrieve the armor and bring it back to the King. With the armor, the wizard could put the power of the dead fogs that they will have slain into the armor, and then use the armor to destroy the evil in the land of Zale once and for all. Completing this quest will insure that there will be peace and no evil in the land of Zale forever. Lastly, the wizard told them about the large number of fogs that they are sure to encounter on the quest. Some would be warriors of Goffog, and others would be regular fogs seeking reward. He told them about the reward that Rardon offers fogs for human heads, but Trimlon asked, "Well, how come none of the humans have seen any fogs for a thousand years? Surely some of the men are strong enough to live through a fog attack and tell others the story!" "Rardon is very intelligent. He knew that if no humans saw fogs, they would eventually be passed from human knowledge, and he would be able to make the invincibility armor in peace. He decided to not offer this reward anymore, and only send his most skillful warriors to bring back the humans to use for the armor. But now, the armor is almost finished, and he is now rewarding fogs again for the killing of humans." After the wizard explained everything they would have three days to rest and to prepare for the quest.
Chapter 4: Farewell to Tribocrone
For the next few days, the men stayed at the Castle Tribocrone and familiarized with each other even more. They had plenty of rest, and also spent much time packing. They brought large amounts of medicine and herbs in case of sickness, and also, King Peflot supplied them with gold to spend on their quest. Each of the men was given a horse to ride and to carry luggage.
On the fourth day, they departed from Tribocrone. There was a huge crowd bidding them farewell when they left the gates of Tribocrone. Many people gave them gifts and useful supplies for the journey.
After the departure, Cramen warned, "Sazes knows what we are doing, so he has sent many fogs to try and stop us. There will be many fogs in the mountains waiting for us to cross, so keep your weapons ready and be very alert. Also, I have a magical crystal, in which I will store the power of fogs."
They went on, and not long after, an arrow sped by Traz's head. He looked up and saw a fog standing up on the peak of a mountain shooting down at them. He quickly shot one of his arrows and it pierced the fog through the head. "Nice shot," said Garet, and the other companions agreed. Cramen held the crystal up, and he said something that no one could understand. The very bottom of the crystal turned red, and he explained, "I have absorbed the power of the dead fog. Part of the crystal turns red every time it absorbs power, and once it is completely red, we will have enough power to make the invincibility armor." They traveled many miles that first day, and camped in a cave during the night. They traveled like this for many more days and met many fogs along the way. However, these fogs were no threat to the group; someone always noticed it, and before it could do anything, it was dead.
Chapter 5: Gahei
One day, deep in the mountains of Istribal, the party reached the town of Gahei, the hometown of Traz and Garet. Naturally, Traz and Garet were very excited when they reached here. They have decided to spend the night here, and Traz assured them that they would eat a good dinner and have a good rest.
When they entered the town, a friend, Meena, greeted Traz and Garet. Meena was the owner of a small inn in the town. Traz and Garet met many of their friends in this town. They explained what they were doing on this quest to the people in the town, and introduced Cramen, Zrac, Ivan, and Trimlon. Meena invited them to have dinner with her in the inn. The group accepted the offer, and came to the inn.
Meena went into the kitchen to cook the food, but when Traz went into the kitchen to talk to her, she told him to go away, and that she was almost done.
The others were resting in the inn, and Traz whispered to Garet, "Come here, something is wrong." They went upstairs and hid in the bathroom so they could talk privately.
"I have noticed something, too. Meena doesn't want to talk to me, and neither does anyone else in this town," Garet whispered to Traz.
"What could be wrong?"
"I don't know, what should we do?"
"Garet, maybe they are just shy because of all the other people that we have brought along with us."
"Yeah, let's hope that's it."
When they left the bathroom, they smelled this horrible smell down in the other direction of the hallway. "Oh gosh, what is that awful smell?" Traz said in disgust, "it smells like rotting flesh!"
Garet smelled it as well, and he followed Traz to where the stink was coming from. The smell seemed to come from a closet, so they opened it. A dead body fell out of the closet; Traz and Garet nearly screamed, but they knew better. "This is Meena!" said Garet. Meena had a small knife stuck in the back of her head.
"Meena is dead. Who could have killed her? Who is the other Meena in the kitchen?" Traz asked in shock.
"This has to be the work of the fogs! I bet the fogs murdered everyone, and then took their forms to trick us!"
Traz and Garet hurried downstairs and whispered it to the other people in their party, but Cramen was not there. They took out their weapons and Zrac yelled, "We know you are fogs, so come out and let me slay you all!" When he finished, all the villagers came to the inn in the forms of humans, but changed into fogs a few seconds later.
The fogs attacked them, and as a result, the party fought back as hard as they could. Traz and Garet thought of their friends that the fogs slew, and fought even harder. After a while, all the fogs were dead; there were at least thirty of them. The party only suffered minor injuries, which could be cured with the herbs and the help of Ivan.
Now they had to find Cramen. They searched every little cottage, and at last found him; he had many wounds on his body. The fogs had tried to silence him, for he knew that the villagers were not humans, but fogs. Cramen told them that he knew what the fogs were preparing to do, which was to take them captive, and then take them to the evil fog leader, Rardon. Also, Sazes had given them magic to be able to take the forms of the villagers. Ivan quickly used the magical herbs and his knowledge to cure Cramen, as well as the wounded in the rest of the group.
After this, Cramen absorbed the power of the fogs into the crystal. This time the crystal filled up more than before, because there were so many fogs. That night, the party slept in one of the small cottages, and in the morning, they set out once again. Traz and Garet were very depressed about the deaths of all the people in their town, but eventually, they felt better.
Chapter 6: Currents River
The party went on for many more days. On the way, they killed many more fogs that were trying to ambush them. One time, there was a fog sneaking up behind the group, with Zrac being the last one. The fog grabbed onto Zrac, and it was about to kill him with his sword, but with Garet's quick reflexes, he quickly pulled out a stone and hit the fog right in the center of its head. The fog was hit so hard that it died almost instantly.
There were many occurrences like this, where someone nearly died, but they had all been saved, until one unforgettable day.
It had been a few months since the incident at Gahei, and the party was heading towards a little town. Here, they met an old man. Trimlon asked the man what was up ahead. The man told them about Currents River. It was originally a peaceful river where all the children played by, but for the past half year, there had been massive currents all the time. Many people from the town had drowned in the Currents River, so the man encouraged them to go another way. The old man told them that the town believed that evil was at work.
Cramen said, "This is the only way we can go. The Currents River is so long that if we went around it, it would take us a year. We don't have much time."
The old man replied, "Well, if that is the only road, you should be extremely cautious of the dangers of the river." Then he thought of something, "Oh, I nearly forgot! I have something that will aid you across the river."
The old man led them into the town, and the party followed him into a cottage. There, the old man gave them some long metal sticks with spikes on the bottom. He explained, "Use these as you would walking sticks, there are spikes on the tip so you can dig it into the bottom of the river. The river is not very deep, so with these, hopefully, you will pass. We gave these the name, rivercrosser."
To cross the river, the party had to leave their horses behind. They also needed to carry all of the bags, which were lighter now, because much of the food had been eaten. The horses were given to the old man, and they headed toward the river, which was a few miles away. After a while, the party heard some movement around their area, so they searched, but found nothing. Shortly after, they noticed a dead man lying on the ground, with much of his flesh eaten. "This is the work of the fogs. Be careful, they are probably in this area," whispered Cramen. They heard a rustle in a tree nearby. Then there were footsteps behind them. Nothing was to be seen. The party continued with great fear. Then, all of a sudden, an arrow sped past Cramen's head. Many more arrows were shot at the party, and soon the fogs were exposed. All of the fogs appeared in a circle around the party, surrounding them. There were fogs shooting at them in trees, and others came up close for combat. Most of the arrows were deflected by the men with swords. Trimlon decapitated one of them with his small dagger, and Zrac threw his boomerang up at a fog shooting arrows from a tree. He gave the fog a blow to the head, and it fell off the tree; the boomerang came straight back at Zrac. The group killed all the fogs, and absorbed all the power, and finally, they reached the Currents River.
"You go first," Trimlon said to Traz. Traz secured his gear on his back, and he spiked his rivercrosser onto the bottom of the river. The current was very violent, and Traz was almost swept away a couple of times. The rivercrosser proved to be a great tool. He continued to spike it into different places, and walked forward, until he finally made it across the river.
Cramen, Zrac, Garet, and Ivan also forded across the river with the help of the rivercrosser successfully, and now it was Trimlon's turn. Trimlon appeared to be very nervous and afraid of doing this; he waited to be the last one to cross. Trimlon's hands were trembling as he spiked the rivercrosser into the water. He reached the middle of the river, and suddenly, he sunk below the surface of the water.
Unexpectedly, a huge creature arose from beneath the surface and with its tentacles wrapped around Trimlon's body, it flung him out of the water. The creature had brown skin with many scales, and large transparent teeth.
"No!" yelled Traz, and dove into the water to save Trimlon. He was helpless, for the creature kept Trimlon out of Traz's reach. Traz was almost swept away by the current another time, but the rivercrosser saved him once again. The creature swung Trimlon into the air and into the water again, but Trimlon was still alive and screaming. Garet had started throwing stones furiously at the creature, and when Traz came out of the water, he started to shoot arrows at it. The arrows and stones were ineffective against the creature's thick skin; they bounced right off. Cramen said, "That is a bloodsucker! There is only one way to defeat it!" After saying that, he pointed his hand at the bloodsucker, and a ray of blue light shot out from his hands. The bloodsucker was stunned and poisoned, but with its last breath, it sunk its teeth into Trimlon's neck. Trimlon's face turned pale-white, and the bloodsucker dropped dead. "Trimlon!" yelled Traz and Garet at the same time. A look of despair filled everyone's faces. The party rushed over to Trimlon, who was still trapped in the tentacles, and Cramen tried to use his magic to revive Trimlon, but it ceased to work. Trimlon was dead. "This is the work of Rardon and his fogs! They knew we were going to cross this river and sent this evil creature to trap us!" Cramen said in anger. The death of Trimlon put the party in grief for many days, but it also gave them motivation for the quest. It seemed to give them more of a purpose to continue on this quest. Also, after the party passed the river, the massive currents disappeared, and the river once again became tranquil and peaceful.
Chapter 7: The Parting of Ivan
Another few months passed; the party had been on this journey for over eight months. They were still traveling toward Darktrithe, and of course, there were many fogs along the way. By this time, with the huge number of fogs slain, the red part of the crystal had reached a little over the halfway point.
On one particular day, there had been more fogs than normal in the mountains that they were traveling through. That night they agreed to take turns watching over the others while they sleep. The person was to walk around the camp in circles so the whole perimeter was guarded. The first person would wake someone up to watch when he was sleepy, and this would continue until the morning.
The first person to watch was Traz. After about two hours, he woke up Ivan to keep watch. During the dark night, some of Rardon's fogs snuck up on Ivan without him noticing, and shot him with a magical arrow, which made him fall asleep immediately. Fortunately, the fogs did not find the rest of the group, because Ivan had been patrolling quite a distance away.
The fogs laid Ivan across a horse and rode him to Darktrithe, where he was held prisoner. When Rardon saw Ivan, he screamed at the fogs who captured him, "This human is part of the group that is trying to take the armor, you idiots! The party must have been nearby, how could you not find them? Uhh!" Being the evil fog that he is, Rardon ordered the fogs to be executed.
"NO! Please don't! We'll go back and find them! Please..." cried one of the fogs, but they were dragged away.
Rardon interrogated Ivan about what they were planning to do, and also the whereabouts of the rest of the party. Ivan was extremely brave, and knew that he had no chance to live no matter what, so he planned to not say a word, no matter what. Rardon ordered his men to torture him until he told them. "Kill him if he doesn't talk!" he ordered.
The fogs obeyed the orders, and Ivan was tortured very severely, but he kept his honor and stayed silent.
"I will not say anything! The rest of my team will come and slay all of you, and get revenge!" Ivan said this with his very last breath.
When the rest of the party woke up that morning, they noticed that Ivan was missing. They searched the area for the whole day, but then decided that fogs probably took him. Cramen comforted the other members of the party by telling them that they would see Ivan again when they reached Darktrithe, although he already knew that there was little chance that Ivan was still alive. Another few depressing days went by; they had no choice, but to continue on toward the destination. They were getting close to Darktrithe, only about two weeks away.
Chapter 8: Undertown
They traveled for another week, and now the party was getting close to another town. Cramen told them that it was a town of underling rebels. "Since we need more men for this mission, we can persuade the underlings to help us. It should not be difficult, since they are already on our side."
They entered the town of the rebels, which was called Undertown. Once inside the town gates, two underling guards greeted them. They demanded to know why they were here, and what they wanted. Cramen explained everything to them, and the guards agreed to take them to see their leader, Kag.
They were taken into a small palace, where Kag was waiting anxiously for them. "I hear that you want our help in taking the armor from the fogs. As you know, we will do anything to destroy all of those evil fogs. What exactly do you need?" Kag said with excitement.
"Well, first, we need you to send one of your soldiers into Darktrithe and act like a slave. We need to know where the armor is and how it is being guarded. Also, we need to know when Sazes usually is outside of the castle," Cramen replied.
Traz joined the conversation, "I just thought of something. After we have the information and are ready to penetrate the castle, wouldn't it be a good idea if we had an army fight the fogs outside of the castle, while the we sneak inside to the armor?"
Cramen pondered over the idea for a while and said, "Brilliant! This will make our part much simpler. We can only do this after killing Sazes, though, since the castle walls are surrounded with magic."
Kag said, "Very well then, I will send an army of mine to fight the fogs after the magic is gone. While my soldier is in Darktrithe, you guys can stay here and rest until he comes back with information." Without delay, Kag sent one of his best soldiers to go to Darktrithe to retrieve the information needed.
For the next couple of days, the party stayed in Undertown with much comfort and was very relaxed. They had time to play games, tell stories, and other enjoyable things that they haven't been able to do for a long time.
The underlings treated the humans with great respect, and invited the humans to many magnificent feasts. However, the fun didn't last for long. During the last week in Undertown, they started to practice with their weapons and planning the method to eliminate Sazes. It was agreed for Traz to shoot arrows, and Garet to throw stones at Sazes. Cramen would help by shooting his magic rays of death. It was the safest way, because it could be done at long distance.
At last, the soldier returned safely with all the news. First, he reported that Sazes is usually outside watching the army train and practice during the early morning hours. He told them that the armor was in a tall glass container, deep inside the castle. There was the magic of Sazes around it, but that would be ineffective after he is no longer alive. Furthermore, many of the best fog warriors stood guarding before the glass container. In the room containing the armor, a gigantic monster stood over the container. He said that he asked the other slaves about the weakness of the monster, a jaggermouth. They told him that the weakness of a jaggermouth is its mouth.
Now the party knew exactly how to get the armor, so they started on the first part of the quest, to kill Sazes.
Chapter 9: Death of Sazes
The next day, the party and a small army of underlings set out towards Darktrithe. In a week, they arrived in the trees near the castle, where they could not be seen. When they arrived, it was already nighttime, so they slept through the night. In the morning, they woke up and it was very dark and gloomy all around the castle. It was always like this in Darktrithe, night or day. They finally saw the army outside for training. Not long after, Sazes, who was wearing a long yellow robe, similar to Cramen's, came outside and started to direct the army.
Traz and Garet slowly started to climb up the trees, and Traz shot an arrow in the direction of Sazes. It landed close to him, but it missed. Right away, Sazes started to run towards the castle, but Garet threw a stone, and it hit him in the back.
Sazes was knocked onto the ground, and then Traz shot an arrow right into his leg, which made it much harder for him to run. But nevertheless, Sazes started to go behind the castle, where Traz and Garet could not hit. Before he was behind the castle, Cramen shot a ray of magic light at Sazes, and the evil wizard was killed. Then Cramen started to kill the other fogs that were in training.
Traz and Garet helped him by using the arrows and stones, and not long after, all the fogs were dead. Zrac returned to the camp, and they all rested for a while before getting ready to invade the castle. Cramen absorbed the power of the fogs and Sazes into the crystal, and right away it filled up with red, because of the enormous power of Sazes. "All we need now is the armor," said Cramen.
Chapter 10: The Invasion
In a little while, a huge swarm of fogs came marching out of the castle. "Looks like they know we're here," said Zrac. Each of the fogs carried a big iron sword, and all of them wore metal armor.
From far away, the underlings and Traz started to kill many of them with arrows. All of them had incredible aim, and wasted no arrows. "Shoot as many as you can, until you run out of arrows. They cannot hurt us from a distance!" yelled Traz to the underlings. Traz stopped shooting to conserve his arrows for the battle inside the castle.
"These guys are going to be tough to beat!" one of the underlings said, after most of the underlings were out of arrows, but there were still many, many fogs left. Everyone made last preparations before charging out toward the fogs. Zrac, Traz, and Garet fought and ran toward the castle at the same time. Cramen fought using his magic, killing many fogs with one shot.
It was very difficult to go through all of the fogs, but with the help of the underlings, Cramen, Traz, Zrac, and Garet, made it to the entrance of the castle unscathed. The entrance was wide open, since the fogs just came out. They hurried inside. Inside the vast castle, it was dark and eerie.
The party stayed together and searched everywhere for Ivan, the armor, or Rardon. First they went into the dungeons because that was the place where Ivan was most likely to be. It was, but Ivan was not a pretty sight.
Ivan's head was cracked open, his eyeballs were gone, and one of his arms was detached. Also, his internal organs were taken out, and some have been partly eaten, and had many bruises on the rest of his body. "Oh my!! What have they done to him?" cried Traz in disgust.
"Looks like he was tortured pretty severely. This is awful!!" yelled Garet.
"It will be best to forget about him for now. We will come back and get him later," Cramen said sadly.
After that, they started to search for the room with the armor or Rardon. They walked around the whole castle many times, but they still had no success. Then they got to something near the entrance that looked like a door, but it would not budge, nor were there any handles or hinges. "There must be some password or spell that can get this door open," Traz said to Cramen.
Then they noticed an underling slave walking in their direction. "Hello, would you happen to know how this door opens?" Traz asked him.
"Yes, but I will not tell. My master will have me executed for telling you," replied the underling.
"We have come to free all of you, and destroy the wicked fogs. If you tell us, there will be no master, and you shall be free! Or else, they will eventually destroy everything in the world," Garet told the underling.
The underling thought about it for a moment, "Fine, I guess I can tell you, for the sake of the world."
The underling whispered into Traz's ear, "There is a password: garguo tran tyydo. It is in the language of the fogs, and it means "Fogs rule the world." Traz repeated the phrase out loud, in the direction of the door. The door started to move upwards, and a few minutes later, it was completely open.
They stepped inside and found two hallways both leading opposite directions. Garet chose one of the paths, and they walked into it. They path twisted and turned; it was very long, but they continued. At the end, they saw a group of fogs guarding another door. Cramen shot another ray of light at them, and they all died. These fogs seemed to have a special armor on them, so each person put one on.
Opening the door, they found Rardon inside. Immediately, Rardon came rushing towards them, and using his long sword, he hit Garet into a wall. "I will stop you from taking the armor, no matter what you do!" Rardon yelled. Zrac used his sword and pierced him in his stomach, then Cramen shot a beam of magic at him, but he still wasn't dead. "Why do you have to ruin my plan when it is so close to being finished?" cried Rardon. At last, Traz used his arrows, and shot him in the throat, which killed him.
After he was dead, they rushed over to Garet, and found that he was fine. He had been hurt a little, but the fog armor saved his life. Now, they left this room, and went back to where they came from. They took the other path and arrived at the armor.
They saw the jaggermouth. It was as tall as the room, had huge eyes, a large mouth, and extremely long arms. It grasped a club in each of its hands, and swung them around at the humans. There were also many fogs in the room. In the center, there was a huge container, with a shiny piece of armor inside.
The fight began. Zrac was very brave, and climbed up onto the jaggermouth, and shoved his sword into its mouth. The monster was obviously wounded, and huge amounts of blood squirted from its mouth. Zrac was still on the jaggermouth, stabbing it many more times, but three fogs started to shoot at him with arrows. Some of the arrows missed, and some even hit the monster, wounding it even more.
One of the arrows nailed Zrac in the leg, and he fell onto the ground with a thud. Traz shot three arrows simultaneously at the fogs, killing them all. Then Traz and Cramen both aimed for the jaggermouth's mouth, and killed it as well.
Cramen absorbed more power into the crystal, even though it was completely red. He put the crystal onto Zrac, and he was healed. He broke the glass container and took out the armor. The crystal made the armor light up a red color, and Cramen told Traz to put it on. He did, and then Cramen transferred the power onto each of the other pieces of armor.
They had completed their quest. The four men left the castle, and helped the underlings outside, who were still fighting. Many underlings were dead, but with the help of the invincibility armor, the fogs were quickly destroyed. Then Cramen used the crystal and healed all of the underlings that had lost their lives in the battle.
Chapter 11: Return to Tribocrone
The underlings returned to Undertown, and all the slaves of Darktrithe followed. They thanked the party for freeing them from the fogs. Then Traz remembered Ivan, and they went back down into the dungeon help him. Cramen used the power left in the crystal with some of his magic combined, and revived Ivan completely. The separated body parts magically floated to each other and joined together miraculously. Ivan did not know what was going on, so they told him the story. Then Ivan told them about what happened to him. "It was awful! They slashed me with a whip for about two hours, until the skin on my back was completely gone. Then they told me that if I didn't cooperate, they would eat me. Of course, I didn't tell them anything, so Rardon tore off my arm. Then they used knives to dig my eyeballs out. After that, I just couldn't remember. Pain, excruciating pain, pain..."
Cramen also explained to him how he was dead, but revived with the power of the crystal. Ivan thanked them and told them how grateful he was for being alive.
Ivan put on the armor of a fog, which was also made invincible. Now the party could withstand anything, so there were no obstacles on the way back. There were no more fogs on the way home anyway, so the armor wasn't really much help.
When they arrived at the Currents River again, they tried to find Trimlon's body, but were unsuccessful. They did, however, revive all the villagers of Gahei, who were killed by the fogs earlier. Everyone stayed at Gahei for a few days to rest; Traz and Garet were very happy to see their old friends once again. All the villagers congratulated them for what they had done, and made their short stay very pleasant.
Finally, they arrived at Tribocrone. King Peflot congratulated them, and thanked them numerous times for the deed that was done. He told them that whenever they needed something, they could come to him, for he was forever in their debt. Each of them was rewarded with gold and jewels, and they were allowed to keep the invincibility armor. All of the men returned to their hometowns, and lived wonderful lives.
Chapter 12: Afterwards
However, King Peflot did not forget Trimlon. He gave Trimlon's family the same reward, and personally traveled to their village to thank them. Trimlon's family was very sad when the heard the news, but after they heard of what he did, they became very proud.
Later, Cramen transferred the power from the invincibility armor to all of the men in King Peflot's army. Traz, Zrac, Garet and Cramen only destroyed the fogs in Darktrithe, but there were still many more, for the land of Goffog was massive. King Peflot used the armor on his army, and the rest of the fogs were conquered.
King Peflot also traveled to Undertown to thank Kag, and his army. Without them, the fogs would have conquered all of Zale. King Peflot also gave each of Kag's men a piece of the armor, so Zale would be ready to fight when evil comes once again.
King Peflot continued to rule over all of Zale for many more years, until his death. Cramen still helped the King and the many future kings.
The underlings and humans worked well together, and over time, there was even an underling that ruled over Zale. In time, the humans and underlings evolved to form one peaceful race, called the huunders, and they became the only race in the world of Zale. For all eternity, the world of Zale had peace and prosperity, and no evil could defeat the power of the armor.
There was a race of evil, nasty creatures that lived in the world of Zale. These fogs, as they were called, were green skinned, had bodies like a human except that their arms reached all the way to the ground. At one point in time, they were also humans, but they were a group that was isolated from the world. They were isolated for a reason. They had a completely different culture and way of life, and they could not tolerate any other but their own. Secluded deep in the mountains of Zale, they eventually evolved into fogs. The land in which they inhabit is called Goffog. The fogs rarely ever had any fun or excitement in their land, for it was very quiet and dull. Most of the time, the fogs were either planning or doing evil things to the humans that lived nearby or were passing by Goffog. Because they wanted everyone to be like them, they absolutely loathed the humans. Their greatest desire was to rule Zale, and to have power over all humans. The fogs weren't only evil toward the humans, but also to other fogs. A small group of fogs had a different color skin, a golden-yellow color. These fogs were seen as weird and stupid, and the green fogs thought themselves superior to this small group, whom they call the underlings. The underlings were known to everyone as a completely different race from the fogs, even though the only difference was their skin color. The other fogs often took the underling as slaves, and some tortured them for fun. When they were desperate, the fogs even killed these underlings for food. After all the cruel things that were done to the underlings, they eventually sided with the humans in the rivalry that lasted almost forever. The immortal leader of the fogs was named Rardon. He lived in a vast, dark castle, Darktrithe, with magic spells cast on the walls so no one could invade. He was an evil-minded creature, and of course, as the leader of the fogs, wanted to dominate the humans. He was a very intelligent fog, and used it for evil. Rardon was extremely rich, because he had an evil wizard at his side to give him as much power and riches as he needed. To motivate his fogs to kill humans, he would reward any fog that brought him a human head. The prize was anything that the fog wished, for Sazes, the immortal fog wizard, could grant any wish. The rivalry had changed over time. It was no longer about cultural differences, but it was a rivalry to rule the world. At this time, the humans were the rulers and controlled Zale. Humans greatly outnumbered the fogs, so in the many wars that they fought for Zale, the fogs always suffered significant losses. For almost one thousand years, there seemed to be peace between the two races, and no human knew what the fogs were up to. The existence of the fogs were forgotten by almost everyone, until one day...
Chapter 2: The Meeting
King Peflot, the ruler of Zale, had his castle in the northern part of the land in which the humans dwell, Istribal. One day, he called a meeting for all residents of Istribal in front of his castle, and he gave them one week to travel the mountainous lands to his castle, which was called Tribocrone. Thousands of people came, and among these was a young man named Traz. Traz's friend, Garet, came along with him. Traz was a young man who lived alone in the mountains of Istribal. When he heard of this "very important" meeting, he became very curious, and journeyed to the castle with Garet to find out what it was all about. When he arrived, he saw all the people and wondered if any of them knew the purpose of this meeting. No one knew. "Everyone, quiet down. The King will be ready in a moment," said a man who stood on a temporary stage built in front of the castle. As the man said, in a few seconds, the King was on the stage, ready to speak. The good wizard, Cramen, had used his incredible magic powers on the King so that everyone could hear his voice. King Peflot began, "Good morning, everyone. I am your King, Peflot. The man next to me is the marvelous wizard, Cramen. He has come to me with some shocking news about the fogs. Most of you probably don't know who they are, even I didn't know until Cramen informed me." The man next to the small, plump king looked very old and had a huge, green beard and wore a long white robe. King Peflot sighed, and then continued, "As you know, Cramen is immortal and knows every little detail from our past. He told me about an evil race of creatures called fogs. The fogs are planning to destroy us all, if we don't do something about it." There were many frightened gasps and people started to talk. "Quiet down, quiet down. We can overcome this terrible thing if we all cooperate and do as Cramen advises. We have had many wars with the fogs in the past, but they were slowly forgotten by us over the thousand years where we have seen no signs of them. I will let Cramen explain the rest." The King stepped back and the wizard continued, "The fogs have been our enemies for a countless number of years, and are a cruel and evil race. I have some valuable information that I have acquired from one of our allies, about what the fogs are have been planning to do. I am not planning to explain exactly how the fogs are preparing to destroy all humans in the land of Istribal, for I will only tell the five chosen people who will go on a quest to prevent this awful event from happening." Cramen bent down and picked up a bag. He said, "In this bag, I have five little creatures that I have created, called trosuns. They have the power to find the most courageous, intelligent, and bravest young men to go on this quest. If you are chosen, you will be obligated to go on this quest to save all of us humans. I will now free these trosuns and they will hop onto whosoever is worthy to go on the quest." The wizard opened up the bag, and out came five blue, lizard-like creatures that ran into the gigantic crowd. The trosuns ran around everybody in the area and eventually picked the five people worthy of the quest. Traz and Garet were two of the five and there were three other men that were chosen. Many young men wished to be one of the men worthy enough for the quest, but not all of them were so lucky. Traz simply could not believe that he got chosen and was very nervous, "How could I have been chosen? There has to be a mistake. There has to be!" he said to Garet. "This is great! We're chosen to be the saviors of the human race! We are worthy. How could there be a mistake? No way! It'll be fine. We get to go on this quest together! How can you not be excited, Traz?" "Yeah, well, I just don't think—," Traz was cut off by the voice of Cramen. "Will the five people chosen please come into the castle? I will explain the rest to you. Everyone else, the assembly is over. Thank you." Traz, Garet, and the other men stood up and walked over towards the castle. The portcullis was opened automatically when they neared it. When they arrived inside the castle, they saw the wizard and the king seated at a round table, and King Peflot told them to sit down also.
Chapter 3: The Quest "The five of you have been chosen as the most worthy men in all of Istribal to go on this quest to save the human race. Now I will explain your quest," said Cramen to the men with the utmost respect. He continued, "First, I will inform you on what the fogs are planning. For the one thousand years where there has been no trace of the fogs, they have been creating a weapon that will destroy us all." "A weapon? What kind of weapon? Destroy us all?" asked Traz nervously. "Well, actually, not really a weapon, but a defense. You see, with the help of the immortal fog wizard, Sazes, they have been working on a piece of armor. Whomever wears this piece of armor, will be invincible from any attack." "How do you create invincibility armor?" asked Garet. "They have been killing humans, underlings, which is a race that the fogs take as slaves, and other creatures. Then, with the help of Sazes, they are absorbing the power of each of the victims into the armor. Some of the victims have even been knights of King Peflot. Others have been trained underlings, who have been trained as warriors so their death will bring more power to the armor. They have been doing this for over a thousand years, but no one knew, not even me. I believe Sazes did something to disable me from using my crystal ball to see what they are doing." "So how do you know about it now?" asked one of the men. "One day, an underling escaped from his master, Rardon, the leader of the fogs, and told me everything. He also told me what Sazes is doing that is preventing me from prophesizing what will happen. Of course, I used my magic to counter that, and I saw everything very clearly in the crystal ball."
Cramen continued to speak, "Anyway, when the armor has enough power in it, the wearer will become invincible. Sazes is going to transfer the power from that single piece of armor to every piece of armor their army has, and eventually attack us with invincible fogs."
"So what are we supposed to do? We can't do much, can we?" asked another man.
"Fortunately, the armor is not yet ready to make anyone invincible, but it is very close. At the rate that they are going, it will take roughly about a year to a year and a half for the armor to be finished. This is the amount of time you have for your quest. I will also go on this quest and advise you. Now, I think everyone should introduce themselves so we can get acquainted with each other."
Immediately, one of the men spoke, "I will start. My name is Zrac, and I come from the southern lands of Istribal. Before today, I worked as a trainer for young men who wished to be warriors. I am skilled with swords, and I also like to use the boomerang for defense. I will be sure to protect you all in a time of danger."
When Zrac finished, a shorter, skinnier man next to him started, "My name is Ivan, and I live nearby in a small town called Ravei. I am a farmer, so I am not very skilled at fighting, but I have experience as the doctor in our town. Even though I haven't fought, I practice throwing spears as a game, so I should be able to use those in case of any danger." Ivan talked softly and muttered; he was rather shy.
After that, a man with long, dark hair introduced himself as Trimlon. He was from another nearby town called Sewite, and he was one of the protectors of the town. He said that he usually liked to use his two daggers as weapons. When he talked, he appeared very confident and was not shy at all.
Garet and Traz introduced themselves together, since they were from the same town, Gahei, and knew each other well. Traz has practiced archery, and is extremely skilled. Garet used stones and kept a whole pocket full of them to use as weapons. He likes to play with stones in games and other recreational activities, but he could also be very deadly with them. Both of them also used swords for close combat.
Cramen explained to the party that the first part of the quest was to eliminate the evil wizard Sazes, which will stop the spell around the walls of Darktrithe, and also to stop them from continuing this evil scheme. Next, they had to retrieve the armor and bring it back to the King. With the armor, the wizard could put the power of the dead fogs that they will have slain into the armor, and then use the armor to destroy the evil in the land of Zale once and for all. Completing this quest will insure that there will be peace and no evil in the land of Zale forever. Lastly, the wizard told them about the large number of fogs that they are sure to encounter on the quest. Some would be warriors of Goffog, and others would be regular fogs seeking reward. He told them about the reward that Rardon offers fogs for human heads, but Trimlon asked, "Well, how come none of the humans have seen any fogs for a thousand years? Surely some of the men are strong enough to live through a fog attack and tell others the story!" "Rardon is very intelligent. He knew that if no humans saw fogs, they would eventually be passed from human knowledge, and he would be able to make the invincibility armor in peace. He decided to not offer this reward anymore, and only send his most skillful warriors to bring back the humans to use for the armor. But now, the armor is almost finished, and he is now rewarding fogs again for the killing of humans." After the wizard explained everything they would have three days to rest and to prepare for the quest.
Chapter 4: Farewell to Tribocrone
For the next few days, the men stayed at the Castle Tribocrone and familiarized with each other even more. They had plenty of rest, and also spent much time packing. They brought large amounts of medicine and herbs in case of sickness, and also, King Peflot supplied them with gold to spend on their quest. Each of the men was given a horse to ride and to carry luggage.
On the fourth day, they departed from Tribocrone. There was a huge crowd bidding them farewell when they left the gates of Tribocrone. Many people gave them gifts and useful supplies for the journey.
After the departure, Cramen warned, "Sazes knows what we are doing, so he has sent many fogs to try and stop us. There will be many fogs in the mountains waiting for us to cross, so keep your weapons ready and be very alert. Also, I have a magical crystal, in which I will store the power of fogs."
They went on, and not long after, an arrow sped by Traz's head. He looked up and saw a fog standing up on the peak of a mountain shooting down at them. He quickly shot one of his arrows and it pierced the fog through the head. "Nice shot," said Garet, and the other companions agreed. Cramen held the crystal up, and he said something that no one could understand. The very bottom of the crystal turned red, and he explained, "I have absorbed the power of the dead fog. Part of the crystal turns red every time it absorbs power, and once it is completely red, we will have enough power to make the invincibility armor." They traveled many miles that first day, and camped in a cave during the night. They traveled like this for many more days and met many fogs along the way. However, these fogs were no threat to the group; someone always noticed it, and before it could do anything, it was dead.
Chapter 5: Gahei
One day, deep in the mountains of Istribal, the party reached the town of Gahei, the hometown of Traz and Garet. Naturally, Traz and Garet were very excited when they reached here. They have decided to spend the night here, and Traz assured them that they would eat a good dinner and have a good rest.
When they entered the town, a friend, Meena, greeted Traz and Garet. Meena was the owner of a small inn in the town. Traz and Garet met many of their friends in this town. They explained what they were doing on this quest to the people in the town, and introduced Cramen, Zrac, Ivan, and Trimlon. Meena invited them to have dinner with her in the inn. The group accepted the offer, and came to the inn.
Meena went into the kitchen to cook the food, but when Traz went into the kitchen to talk to her, she told him to go away, and that she was almost done.
The others were resting in the inn, and Traz whispered to Garet, "Come here, something is wrong." They went upstairs and hid in the bathroom so they could talk privately.
"I have noticed something, too. Meena doesn't want to talk to me, and neither does anyone else in this town," Garet whispered to Traz.
"What could be wrong?"
"I don't know, what should we do?"
"Garet, maybe they are just shy because of all the other people that we have brought along with us."
"Yeah, let's hope that's it."
When they left the bathroom, they smelled this horrible smell down in the other direction of the hallway. "Oh gosh, what is that awful smell?" Traz said in disgust, "it smells like rotting flesh!"
Garet smelled it as well, and he followed Traz to where the stink was coming from. The smell seemed to come from a closet, so they opened it. A dead body fell out of the closet; Traz and Garet nearly screamed, but they knew better. "This is Meena!" said Garet. Meena had a small knife stuck in the back of her head.
"Meena is dead. Who could have killed her? Who is the other Meena in the kitchen?" Traz asked in shock.
"This has to be the work of the fogs! I bet the fogs murdered everyone, and then took their forms to trick us!"
Traz and Garet hurried downstairs and whispered it to the other people in their party, but Cramen was not there. They took out their weapons and Zrac yelled, "We know you are fogs, so come out and let me slay you all!" When he finished, all the villagers came to the inn in the forms of humans, but changed into fogs a few seconds later.
The fogs attacked them, and as a result, the party fought back as hard as they could. Traz and Garet thought of their friends that the fogs slew, and fought even harder. After a while, all the fogs were dead; there were at least thirty of them. The party only suffered minor injuries, which could be cured with the herbs and the help of Ivan.
Now they had to find Cramen. They searched every little cottage, and at last found him; he had many wounds on his body. The fogs had tried to silence him, for he knew that the villagers were not humans, but fogs. Cramen told them that he knew what the fogs were preparing to do, which was to take them captive, and then take them to the evil fog leader, Rardon. Also, Sazes had given them magic to be able to take the forms of the villagers. Ivan quickly used the magical herbs and his knowledge to cure Cramen, as well as the wounded in the rest of the group.
After this, Cramen absorbed the power of the fogs into the crystal. This time the crystal filled up more than before, because there were so many fogs. That night, the party slept in one of the small cottages, and in the morning, they set out once again. Traz and Garet were very depressed about the deaths of all the people in their town, but eventually, they felt better.
Chapter 6: Currents River
The party went on for many more days. On the way, they killed many more fogs that were trying to ambush them. One time, there was a fog sneaking up behind the group, with Zrac being the last one. The fog grabbed onto Zrac, and it was about to kill him with his sword, but with Garet's quick reflexes, he quickly pulled out a stone and hit the fog right in the center of its head. The fog was hit so hard that it died almost instantly.
There were many occurrences like this, where someone nearly died, but they had all been saved, until one unforgettable day.
It had been a few months since the incident at Gahei, and the party was heading towards a little town. Here, they met an old man. Trimlon asked the man what was up ahead. The man told them about Currents River. It was originally a peaceful river where all the children played by, but for the past half year, there had been massive currents all the time. Many people from the town had drowned in the Currents River, so the man encouraged them to go another way. The old man told them that the town believed that evil was at work.
Cramen said, "This is the only way we can go. The Currents River is so long that if we went around it, it would take us a year. We don't have much time."
The old man replied, "Well, if that is the only road, you should be extremely cautious of the dangers of the river." Then he thought of something, "Oh, I nearly forgot! I have something that will aid you across the river."
The old man led them into the town, and the party followed him into a cottage. There, the old man gave them some long metal sticks with spikes on the bottom. He explained, "Use these as you would walking sticks, there are spikes on the tip so you can dig it into the bottom of the river. The river is not very deep, so with these, hopefully, you will pass. We gave these the name, rivercrosser."
To cross the river, the party had to leave their horses behind. They also needed to carry all of the bags, which were lighter now, because much of the food had been eaten. The horses were given to the old man, and they headed toward the river, which was a few miles away. After a while, the party heard some movement around their area, so they searched, but found nothing. Shortly after, they noticed a dead man lying on the ground, with much of his flesh eaten. "This is the work of the fogs. Be careful, they are probably in this area," whispered Cramen. They heard a rustle in a tree nearby. Then there were footsteps behind them. Nothing was to be seen. The party continued with great fear. Then, all of a sudden, an arrow sped past Cramen's head. Many more arrows were shot at the party, and soon the fogs were exposed. All of the fogs appeared in a circle around the party, surrounding them. There were fogs shooting at them in trees, and others came up close for combat. Most of the arrows were deflected by the men with swords. Trimlon decapitated one of them with his small dagger, and Zrac threw his boomerang up at a fog shooting arrows from a tree. He gave the fog a blow to the head, and it fell off the tree; the boomerang came straight back at Zrac. The group killed all the fogs, and absorbed all the power, and finally, they reached the Currents River.
"You go first," Trimlon said to Traz. Traz secured his gear on his back, and he spiked his rivercrosser onto the bottom of the river. The current was very violent, and Traz was almost swept away a couple of times. The rivercrosser proved to be a great tool. He continued to spike it into different places, and walked forward, until he finally made it across the river.
Cramen, Zrac, Garet, and Ivan also forded across the river with the help of the rivercrosser successfully, and now it was Trimlon's turn. Trimlon appeared to be very nervous and afraid of doing this; he waited to be the last one to cross. Trimlon's hands were trembling as he spiked the rivercrosser into the water. He reached the middle of the river, and suddenly, he sunk below the surface of the water.
Unexpectedly, a huge creature arose from beneath the surface and with its tentacles wrapped around Trimlon's body, it flung him out of the water. The creature had brown skin with many scales, and large transparent teeth.
"No!" yelled Traz, and dove into the water to save Trimlon. He was helpless, for the creature kept Trimlon out of Traz's reach. Traz was almost swept away by the current another time, but the rivercrosser saved him once again. The creature swung Trimlon into the air and into the water again, but Trimlon was still alive and screaming. Garet had started throwing stones furiously at the creature, and when Traz came out of the water, he started to shoot arrows at it. The arrows and stones were ineffective against the creature's thick skin; they bounced right off. Cramen said, "That is a bloodsucker! There is only one way to defeat it!" After saying that, he pointed his hand at the bloodsucker, and a ray of blue light shot out from his hands. The bloodsucker was stunned and poisoned, but with its last breath, it sunk its teeth into Trimlon's neck. Trimlon's face turned pale-white, and the bloodsucker dropped dead. "Trimlon!" yelled Traz and Garet at the same time. A look of despair filled everyone's faces. The party rushed over to Trimlon, who was still trapped in the tentacles, and Cramen tried to use his magic to revive Trimlon, but it ceased to work. Trimlon was dead. "This is the work of Rardon and his fogs! They knew we were going to cross this river and sent this evil creature to trap us!" Cramen said in anger. The death of Trimlon put the party in grief for many days, but it also gave them motivation for the quest. It seemed to give them more of a purpose to continue on this quest. Also, after the party passed the river, the massive currents disappeared, and the river once again became tranquil and peaceful.
Chapter 7: The Parting of Ivan
Another few months passed; the party had been on this journey for over eight months. They were still traveling toward Darktrithe, and of course, there were many fogs along the way. By this time, with the huge number of fogs slain, the red part of the crystal had reached a little over the halfway point.
On one particular day, there had been more fogs than normal in the mountains that they were traveling through. That night they agreed to take turns watching over the others while they sleep. The person was to walk around the camp in circles so the whole perimeter was guarded. The first person would wake someone up to watch when he was sleepy, and this would continue until the morning.
The first person to watch was Traz. After about two hours, he woke up Ivan to keep watch. During the dark night, some of Rardon's fogs snuck up on Ivan without him noticing, and shot him with a magical arrow, which made him fall asleep immediately. Fortunately, the fogs did not find the rest of the group, because Ivan had been patrolling quite a distance away.
The fogs laid Ivan across a horse and rode him to Darktrithe, where he was held prisoner. When Rardon saw Ivan, he screamed at the fogs who captured him, "This human is part of the group that is trying to take the armor, you idiots! The party must have been nearby, how could you not find them? Uhh!" Being the evil fog that he is, Rardon ordered the fogs to be executed.
"NO! Please don't! We'll go back and find them! Please..." cried one of the fogs, but they were dragged away.
Rardon interrogated Ivan about what they were planning to do, and also the whereabouts of the rest of the party. Ivan was extremely brave, and knew that he had no chance to live no matter what, so he planned to not say a word, no matter what. Rardon ordered his men to torture him until he told them. "Kill him if he doesn't talk!" he ordered.
The fogs obeyed the orders, and Ivan was tortured very severely, but he kept his honor and stayed silent.
"I will not say anything! The rest of my team will come and slay all of you, and get revenge!" Ivan said this with his very last breath.
When the rest of the party woke up that morning, they noticed that Ivan was missing. They searched the area for the whole day, but then decided that fogs probably took him. Cramen comforted the other members of the party by telling them that they would see Ivan again when they reached Darktrithe, although he already knew that there was little chance that Ivan was still alive. Another few depressing days went by; they had no choice, but to continue on toward the destination. They were getting close to Darktrithe, only about two weeks away.
Chapter 8: Undertown
They traveled for another week, and now the party was getting close to another town. Cramen told them that it was a town of underling rebels. "Since we need more men for this mission, we can persuade the underlings to help us. It should not be difficult, since they are already on our side."
They entered the town of the rebels, which was called Undertown. Once inside the town gates, two underling guards greeted them. They demanded to know why they were here, and what they wanted. Cramen explained everything to them, and the guards agreed to take them to see their leader, Kag.
They were taken into a small palace, where Kag was waiting anxiously for them. "I hear that you want our help in taking the armor from the fogs. As you know, we will do anything to destroy all of those evil fogs. What exactly do you need?" Kag said with excitement.
"Well, first, we need you to send one of your soldiers into Darktrithe and act like a slave. We need to know where the armor is and how it is being guarded. Also, we need to know when Sazes usually is outside of the castle," Cramen replied.
Traz joined the conversation, "I just thought of something. After we have the information and are ready to penetrate the castle, wouldn't it be a good idea if we had an army fight the fogs outside of the castle, while the we sneak inside to the armor?"
Cramen pondered over the idea for a while and said, "Brilliant! This will make our part much simpler. We can only do this after killing Sazes, though, since the castle walls are surrounded with magic."
Kag said, "Very well then, I will send an army of mine to fight the fogs after the magic is gone. While my soldier is in Darktrithe, you guys can stay here and rest until he comes back with information." Without delay, Kag sent one of his best soldiers to go to Darktrithe to retrieve the information needed.
For the next couple of days, the party stayed in Undertown with much comfort and was very relaxed. They had time to play games, tell stories, and other enjoyable things that they haven't been able to do for a long time.
The underlings treated the humans with great respect, and invited the humans to many magnificent feasts. However, the fun didn't last for long. During the last week in Undertown, they started to practice with their weapons and planning the method to eliminate Sazes. It was agreed for Traz to shoot arrows, and Garet to throw stones at Sazes. Cramen would help by shooting his magic rays of death. It was the safest way, because it could be done at long distance.
At last, the soldier returned safely with all the news. First, he reported that Sazes is usually outside watching the army train and practice during the early morning hours. He told them that the armor was in a tall glass container, deep inside the castle. There was the magic of Sazes around it, but that would be ineffective after he is no longer alive. Furthermore, many of the best fog warriors stood guarding before the glass container. In the room containing the armor, a gigantic monster stood over the container. He said that he asked the other slaves about the weakness of the monster, a jaggermouth. They told him that the weakness of a jaggermouth is its mouth.
Now the party knew exactly how to get the armor, so they started on the first part of the quest, to kill Sazes.
Chapter 9: Death of Sazes
The next day, the party and a small army of underlings set out towards Darktrithe. In a week, they arrived in the trees near the castle, where they could not be seen. When they arrived, it was already nighttime, so they slept through the night. In the morning, they woke up and it was very dark and gloomy all around the castle. It was always like this in Darktrithe, night or day. They finally saw the army outside for training. Not long after, Sazes, who was wearing a long yellow robe, similar to Cramen's, came outside and started to direct the army.
Traz and Garet slowly started to climb up the trees, and Traz shot an arrow in the direction of Sazes. It landed close to him, but it missed. Right away, Sazes started to run towards the castle, but Garet threw a stone, and it hit him in the back.
Sazes was knocked onto the ground, and then Traz shot an arrow right into his leg, which made it much harder for him to run. But nevertheless, Sazes started to go behind the castle, where Traz and Garet could not hit. Before he was behind the castle, Cramen shot a ray of magic light at Sazes, and the evil wizard was killed. Then Cramen started to kill the other fogs that were in training.
Traz and Garet helped him by using the arrows and stones, and not long after, all the fogs were dead. Zrac returned to the camp, and they all rested for a while before getting ready to invade the castle. Cramen absorbed the power of the fogs and Sazes into the crystal, and right away it filled up with red, because of the enormous power of Sazes. "All we need now is the armor," said Cramen.
Chapter 10: The Invasion
In a little while, a huge swarm of fogs came marching out of the castle. "Looks like they know we're here," said Zrac. Each of the fogs carried a big iron sword, and all of them wore metal armor.
From far away, the underlings and Traz started to kill many of them with arrows. All of them had incredible aim, and wasted no arrows. "Shoot as many as you can, until you run out of arrows. They cannot hurt us from a distance!" yelled Traz to the underlings. Traz stopped shooting to conserve his arrows for the battle inside the castle.
"These guys are going to be tough to beat!" one of the underlings said, after most of the underlings were out of arrows, but there were still many, many fogs left. Everyone made last preparations before charging out toward the fogs. Zrac, Traz, and Garet fought and ran toward the castle at the same time. Cramen fought using his magic, killing many fogs with one shot.
It was very difficult to go through all of the fogs, but with the help of the underlings, Cramen, Traz, Zrac, and Garet, made it to the entrance of the castle unscathed. The entrance was wide open, since the fogs just came out. They hurried inside. Inside the vast castle, it was dark and eerie.
The party stayed together and searched everywhere for Ivan, the armor, or Rardon. First they went into the dungeons because that was the place where Ivan was most likely to be. It was, but Ivan was not a pretty sight.
Ivan's head was cracked open, his eyeballs were gone, and one of his arms was detached. Also, his internal organs were taken out, and some have been partly eaten, and had many bruises on the rest of his body. "Oh my!! What have they done to him?" cried Traz in disgust.
"Looks like he was tortured pretty severely. This is awful!!" yelled Garet.
"It will be best to forget about him for now. We will come back and get him later," Cramen said sadly.
After that, they started to search for the room with the armor or Rardon. They walked around the whole castle many times, but they still had no success. Then they got to something near the entrance that looked like a door, but it would not budge, nor were there any handles or hinges. "There must be some password or spell that can get this door open," Traz said to Cramen.
Then they noticed an underling slave walking in their direction. "Hello, would you happen to know how this door opens?" Traz asked him.
"Yes, but I will not tell. My master will have me executed for telling you," replied the underling.
"We have come to free all of you, and destroy the wicked fogs. If you tell us, there will be no master, and you shall be free! Or else, they will eventually destroy everything in the world," Garet told the underling.
The underling thought about it for a moment, "Fine, I guess I can tell you, for the sake of the world."
The underling whispered into Traz's ear, "There is a password: garguo tran tyydo. It is in the language of the fogs, and it means "Fogs rule the world." Traz repeated the phrase out loud, in the direction of the door. The door started to move upwards, and a few minutes later, it was completely open.
They stepped inside and found two hallways both leading opposite directions. Garet chose one of the paths, and they walked into it. They path twisted and turned; it was very long, but they continued. At the end, they saw a group of fogs guarding another door. Cramen shot another ray of light at them, and they all died. These fogs seemed to have a special armor on them, so each person put one on.
Opening the door, they found Rardon inside. Immediately, Rardon came rushing towards them, and using his long sword, he hit Garet into a wall. "I will stop you from taking the armor, no matter what you do!" Rardon yelled. Zrac used his sword and pierced him in his stomach, then Cramen shot a beam of magic at him, but he still wasn't dead. "Why do you have to ruin my plan when it is so close to being finished?" cried Rardon. At last, Traz used his arrows, and shot him in the throat, which killed him.
After he was dead, they rushed over to Garet, and found that he was fine. He had been hurt a little, but the fog armor saved his life. Now, they left this room, and went back to where they came from. They took the other path and arrived at the armor.
They saw the jaggermouth. It was as tall as the room, had huge eyes, a large mouth, and extremely long arms. It grasped a club in each of its hands, and swung them around at the humans. There were also many fogs in the room. In the center, there was a huge container, with a shiny piece of armor inside.
The fight began. Zrac was very brave, and climbed up onto the jaggermouth, and shoved his sword into its mouth. The monster was obviously wounded, and huge amounts of blood squirted from its mouth. Zrac was still on the jaggermouth, stabbing it many more times, but three fogs started to shoot at him with arrows. Some of the arrows missed, and some even hit the monster, wounding it even more.
One of the arrows nailed Zrac in the leg, and he fell onto the ground with a thud. Traz shot three arrows simultaneously at the fogs, killing them all. Then Traz and Cramen both aimed for the jaggermouth's mouth, and killed it as well.
Cramen absorbed more power into the crystal, even though it was completely red. He put the crystal onto Zrac, and he was healed. He broke the glass container and took out the armor. The crystal made the armor light up a red color, and Cramen told Traz to put it on. He did, and then Cramen transferred the power onto each of the other pieces of armor.
They had completed their quest. The four men left the castle, and helped the underlings outside, who were still fighting. Many underlings were dead, but with the help of the invincibility armor, the fogs were quickly destroyed. Then Cramen used the crystal and healed all of the underlings that had lost their lives in the battle.
Chapter 11: Return to Tribocrone
The underlings returned to Undertown, and all the slaves of Darktrithe followed. They thanked the party for freeing them from the fogs. Then Traz remembered Ivan, and they went back down into the dungeon help him. Cramen used the power left in the crystal with some of his magic combined, and revived Ivan completely. The separated body parts magically floated to each other and joined together miraculously. Ivan did not know what was going on, so they told him the story. Then Ivan told them about what happened to him. "It was awful! They slashed me with a whip for about two hours, until the skin on my back was completely gone. Then they told me that if I didn't cooperate, they would eat me. Of course, I didn't tell them anything, so Rardon tore off my arm. Then they used knives to dig my eyeballs out. After that, I just couldn't remember. Pain, excruciating pain, pain..."
Cramen also explained to him how he was dead, but revived with the power of the crystal. Ivan thanked them and told them how grateful he was for being alive.
Ivan put on the armor of a fog, which was also made invincible. Now the party could withstand anything, so there were no obstacles on the way back. There were no more fogs on the way home anyway, so the armor wasn't really much help.
When they arrived at the Currents River again, they tried to find Trimlon's body, but were unsuccessful. They did, however, revive all the villagers of Gahei, who were killed by the fogs earlier. Everyone stayed at Gahei for a few days to rest; Traz and Garet were very happy to see their old friends once again. All the villagers congratulated them for what they had done, and made their short stay very pleasant.
Finally, they arrived at Tribocrone. King Peflot congratulated them, and thanked them numerous times for the deed that was done. He told them that whenever they needed something, they could come to him, for he was forever in their debt. Each of them was rewarded with gold and jewels, and they were allowed to keep the invincibility armor. All of the men returned to their hometowns, and lived wonderful lives.
Chapter 12: Afterwards
However, King Peflot did not forget Trimlon. He gave Trimlon's family the same reward, and personally traveled to their village to thank them. Trimlon's family was very sad when the heard the news, but after they heard of what he did, they became very proud.
Later, Cramen transferred the power from the invincibility armor to all of the men in King Peflot's army. Traz, Zrac, Garet and Cramen only destroyed the fogs in Darktrithe, but there were still many more, for the land of Goffog was massive. King Peflot used the armor on his army, and the rest of the fogs were conquered.
King Peflot also traveled to Undertown to thank Kag, and his army. Without them, the fogs would have conquered all of Zale. King Peflot also gave each of Kag's men a piece of the armor, so Zale would be ready to fight when evil comes once again.
King Peflot continued to rule over all of Zale for many more years, until his death. Cramen still helped the King and the many future kings.
The underlings and humans worked well together, and over time, there was even an underling that ruled over Zale. In time, the humans and underlings evolved to form one peaceful race, called the huunders, and they became the only race in the world of Zale. For all eternity, the world of Zale had peace and prosperity, and no evil could defeat the power of the armor.