AUTHOR'S NOTE: Why don't we just skip this part and get on with the story?
For your reading pleasure-
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING
CHAPTER 05: SO CLOSE, SO FAR
Orphen and his group are getting ready to begin for their dangerous journey, but nerves are uneasy.
Orphen and the others stood around the teleportation relic, about to leave for Arystal. Out of the whole group, not one was feeling confident about going, knowing all to well that they would find Zain there.
Hartia looked over to his old friend, who seemed to be hiding his fear quite well, but everyone knew how he must have felt. Hartia opened his mouth to say something, but instead, Cleao was the one to ask the question.
"Orphen, just how do you plan to save Azalie anyway?" she asked. But Orphen just continued to stare into empty space. Cleao lowered her head at how her question had been shot down so easily. But she then looked back at him as he gave a low sigh and looked toward her.
"You know Cleao," he began with a slight grin, "I really don't know, but the answer will come eventually, I'm sure of it!" Cleao wasn't to sure herself if she should be comforted by this or not, but she had a feeling that he would come through like he always had, and that was enough for her. Majic then tried to lighten the mood by asking a less critical question.
"So just where did you tell Volcan and Dortin to go anyways, Master?" asked Majic. Orphen laughed at this, remembering just what he had told the two gullible trolls.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them, chances are if they followed what I told them, we won't see them for a while" Orphen replied.
***
Orphen's words had been true, for at that moment, the trolls brothers were making their way to the vast graveyard that stayed to the right of the Tower of Fang.
Volcan and Dortin were quietly walking toward a grave marked with a cenotaph. Volcan was acting casual and fearless about it, walking with shovel in hand. But Dortin was worried that at any second a ghost of a sorcerer might spring up and put a curse on him for walking their graves.
"I really don't think we should be here Volcan," squealed Dortin, "What if we anger one of these spirits or something like that?" Dortin jumped as he thought he heard something in a nearby bush.
Volcan looked sternly over to his brother, but continued walking. "Look, Orphen told us that there we treasure in this old tomb if we dig deep enough under it, so that's what we're going to do!" Volcan yelled impatiently, "Besides, we're already here so we might as well take a look."
The cenotaph was beautifully carved with many markings of runes all around it. Four columns were placed at the four corners of the tomb, all with carvings of stone roses encircling them. Many jewels were embedded on all sides of it. Obviously someone of great importance rested there.
"See?" Volcan stated, "You can't tell me that there is no treasure hidden somewhere in there." Volcan dropped the shovel and walked toward the cenotaph to try and open it. Unfortunately, his small arms couldn't even budge the door. "Hey Dortin, stop hopping around over there and give me a hand" he barked at Dortin.
Dortin immediately ran over to lend his older brother a hand. Of course they still had problems with the door, but with their combined strength, they were able to open it. They both peaked in to take a look inside. But all they saw were a casket and a few more carvings along the wall.
"I don't see anything!" said Dortin. Volcan knocked his brother on the head as if he were an idiot.
"You dummy, Orphen told us we have to dig for it,so," Volcan retrieved the shovel and went back inside the tomb, putting the shovel between two broken rocks on the floor. "Start digging, I'm going to take a nap over there" he said as he walked to nearby wall, "wake me when you're done."
Dortin was slightly annoyed by this, but not all that surprised. And like the loyal little brother he is, he picked up the shovel and started digging. Muttering, "Why me?"
***
Orphen was still laughing quietly leaving everyone else puzzled at what he had done to the brothers. But he finally stopped and looked around at the strange looks he was getting.
"Anyways, I guess we better get going," Orphen finally said. Everyone walked over to the center of the relic, following what Orphen had said. Everyone followed except for Hartia, that is.
"I'm afraid I won't be joining you this time my friend," Hartia replied. The rest of the group turned around in shock after hearing this. But Orphen thought this might happen.
"But why?" Majic and Cleao both yelled out. Hartia walked out of the large wooden double door, saying nothing to the question he had just been asked. Leaving them there alone.
Orphen watched as Hartia left them, understanding why he didn't want to go. "Come on you guys", he said, "I'm sure he has his own reasons for not wanting to come along."
Majic and Cleao went back over to Orphen, still wandering why Hartia backed out, but figured he might have just been scared. They all stood together in the center of the relic as Orphen waved his hands and said, "Arystal". And with that they left in a glowing green flash.
***
Hartia had returned the room that used to belong to his old Master, sitting alone in the darkness.
'Why?' thought Hartia, 'Why did he have to come back now?' The chair creaked as he moved his body forward and sat with his head in his hands. "Zain", he said to himself, "I'm sorry." Hartia then began to cry, as he remembered some painful memory from his past.
***
Zain has been silently waiting for Orphen and the others to come, sitting in a tree near Azalie's cabin.
Normally anyone can see a person sitting in a tree so close to their home. But because of Zain's cloak, he blended in perfectly with the trees, leaving him free to say or do whatever he wanted. "They should be here any time now" Zain said to himself, "I can already sense they used the teleportation relic, so I can probably expect them sometime today." Zain began to smile coldly at the thought of it. "Oh, goody!"
***
Orphen and his friends had finally arrived in Arystal, and are beginning the search for Azalie.
"Well at least it's not a very big place", muttered Cleao. Orphen looked around at the town of Arystal, understanding why Azalie would choose this place to live.
"So Master", Majic said, "Where do we start?" It may have been a small town, nowhere near the size of Alanhaten, but it would still take a long time to search the whole place, and they were on a tight schedule.
"Well, maybe we should try that place over there", Orphen replied, pointing to a nearby tavern, the same one that Zain had gone to.
The group went in and found a very old and broken down bar. Cleao and Majic both grimaced as they noticed the many cobwebs and other things around the place. But Orphen did nothing, as if he had seen worse.
Still the group walked up to the bar and greeted the bartender all the same. Orphen took a seat on a barstool, but Cleao and Majic decided to stand, not wanting to get close to the bar itself. "Sorry about the mess, I'm going to have it remodeled", the kind old bartender said to them, "So what can I get you?"
"Nothing, thanks", said Orphen, "But if you could just tell me something?" Cleao turned blue in the face as a small rat scurried near her.
"Sure, what do you need to know?" the bartender replied. The rat came closer, and Cleao's face became bluer.
"I wanted to know if you knew of someone named-". Orphen was interrupted as Cleao ran out screaming after the rat had ran up her leg. "Oh! Go get her, would you Majic?" asked Orphen. Majic ran out to catch up with Cleao, very happy to be out of that place.
"You seem to have some very jumpy friends there", the bartender said with a sweat drop on the back of his head. Orphen gave a long sigh, as if the bartender didn't know the half of it.
"Yeah, well anyways", Orphen continued, "Do you know about anyone around here named Azalie?" The bartender thought about how he could possibly be asked the same question in such a small amount of time.
"Oh yeah, she lives in a cabin in the middle of the forest on that mountain north of here", the bartender told Orphen. Orphen thanked him and was about to leave when the bartender said, "You know, someone came here not to long ago asking the same thing, strange".
Orphen froze in fear of this and said in a very fearful voice, "Do you remember what he looked like? When did he come here?"
The old man scratched his head trying to remember, and then replied, "Oh, well let's see. I think he had silver hair and blue eyes" Orphen, not even turning around, tightened his fist till his knuckles were white, "And he came in here about yesterday I think" Orphen immediately shot out the door after hearing this, leaving the bartender completely dumbfounded.
Majic was trying to calm Cleao down by keeping her from running any further away, and was still trying to calm her down until Orphen came outside yelling, "Stop messing around you guys, we have to hurry!" The two of them immediately stopped and followed Orphen to wherever he was going. Hoping they weren't too late to save Azalie.
END CHAPTER 05
FOOTNOTE: I know I've said this a lot, but sorry this was so late, I've been having a little bad luck with my computer lately. Not to mention having to worry about this speech contest I'm in (sigh). Anyways, hope you liked this chapter and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. So long.
For your reading pleasure-
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING
CHAPTER 05: SO CLOSE, SO FAR
Orphen and his group are getting ready to begin for their dangerous journey, but nerves are uneasy.
Orphen and the others stood around the teleportation relic, about to leave for Arystal. Out of the whole group, not one was feeling confident about going, knowing all to well that they would find Zain there.
Hartia looked over to his old friend, who seemed to be hiding his fear quite well, but everyone knew how he must have felt. Hartia opened his mouth to say something, but instead, Cleao was the one to ask the question.
"Orphen, just how do you plan to save Azalie anyway?" she asked. But Orphen just continued to stare into empty space. Cleao lowered her head at how her question had been shot down so easily. But she then looked back at him as he gave a low sigh and looked toward her.
"You know Cleao," he began with a slight grin, "I really don't know, but the answer will come eventually, I'm sure of it!" Cleao wasn't to sure herself if she should be comforted by this or not, but she had a feeling that he would come through like he always had, and that was enough for her. Majic then tried to lighten the mood by asking a less critical question.
"So just where did you tell Volcan and Dortin to go anyways, Master?" asked Majic. Orphen laughed at this, remembering just what he had told the two gullible trolls.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about them, chances are if they followed what I told them, we won't see them for a while" Orphen replied.
***
Orphen's words had been true, for at that moment, the trolls brothers were making their way to the vast graveyard that stayed to the right of the Tower of Fang.
Volcan and Dortin were quietly walking toward a grave marked with a cenotaph. Volcan was acting casual and fearless about it, walking with shovel in hand. But Dortin was worried that at any second a ghost of a sorcerer might spring up and put a curse on him for walking their graves.
"I really don't think we should be here Volcan," squealed Dortin, "What if we anger one of these spirits or something like that?" Dortin jumped as he thought he heard something in a nearby bush.
Volcan looked sternly over to his brother, but continued walking. "Look, Orphen told us that there we treasure in this old tomb if we dig deep enough under it, so that's what we're going to do!" Volcan yelled impatiently, "Besides, we're already here so we might as well take a look."
The cenotaph was beautifully carved with many markings of runes all around it. Four columns were placed at the four corners of the tomb, all with carvings of stone roses encircling them. Many jewels were embedded on all sides of it. Obviously someone of great importance rested there.
"See?" Volcan stated, "You can't tell me that there is no treasure hidden somewhere in there." Volcan dropped the shovel and walked toward the cenotaph to try and open it. Unfortunately, his small arms couldn't even budge the door. "Hey Dortin, stop hopping around over there and give me a hand" he barked at Dortin.
Dortin immediately ran over to lend his older brother a hand. Of course they still had problems with the door, but with their combined strength, they were able to open it. They both peaked in to take a look inside. But all they saw were a casket and a few more carvings along the wall.
"I don't see anything!" said Dortin. Volcan knocked his brother on the head as if he were an idiot.
"You dummy, Orphen told us we have to dig for it,so," Volcan retrieved the shovel and went back inside the tomb, putting the shovel between two broken rocks on the floor. "Start digging, I'm going to take a nap over there" he said as he walked to nearby wall, "wake me when you're done."
Dortin was slightly annoyed by this, but not all that surprised. And like the loyal little brother he is, he picked up the shovel and started digging. Muttering, "Why me?"
***
Orphen was still laughing quietly leaving everyone else puzzled at what he had done to the brothers. But he finally stopped and looked around at the strange looks he was getting.
"Anyways, I guess we better get going," Orphen finally said. Everyone walked over to the center of the relic, following what Orphen had said. Everyone followed except for Hartia, that is.
"I'm afraid I won't be joining you this time my friend," Hartia replied. The rest of the group turned around in shock after hearing this. But Orphen thought this might happen.
"But why?" Majic and Cleao both yelled out. Hartia walked out of the large wooden double door, saying nothing to the question he had just been asked. Leaving them there alone.
Orphen watched as Hartia left them, understanding why he didn't want to go. "Come on you guys", he said, "I'm sure he has his own reasons for not wanting to come along."
Majic and Cleao went back over to Orphen, still wandering why Hartia backed out, but figured he might have just been scared. They all stood together in the center of the relic as Orphen waved his hands and said, "Arystal". And with that they left in a glowing green flash.
***
Hartia had returned the room that used to belong to his old Master, sitting alone in the darkness.
'Why?' thought Hartia, 'Why did he have to come back now?' The chair creaked as he moved his body forward and sat with his head in his hands. "Zain", he said to himself, "I'm sorry." Hartia then began to cry, as he remembered some painful memory from his past.
***
Zain has been silently waiting for Orphen and the others to come, sitting in a tree near Azalie's cabin.
Normally anyone can see a person sitting in a tree so close to their home. But because of Zain's cloak, he blended in perfectly with the trees, leaving him free to say or do whatever he wanted. "They should be here any time now" Zain said to himself, "I can already sense they used the teleportation relic, so I can probably expect them sometime today." Zain began to smile coldly at the thought of it. "Oh, goody!"
***
Orphen and his friends had finally arrived in Arystal, and are beginning the search for Azalie.
"Well at least it's not a very big place", muttered Cleao. Orphen looked around at the town of Arystal, understanding why Azalie would choose this place to live.
"So Master", Majic said, "Where do we start?" It may have been a small town, nowhere near the size of Alanhaten, but it would still take a long time to search the whole place, and they were on a tight schedule.
"Well, maybe we should try that place over there", Orphen replied, pointing to a nearby tavern, the same one that Zain had gone to.
The group went in and found a very old and broken down bar. Cleao and Majic both grimaced as they noticed the many cobwebs and other things around the place. But Orphen did nothing, as if he had seen worse.
Still the group walked up to the bar and greeted the bartender all the same. Orphen took a seat on a barstool, but Cleao and Majic decided to stand, not wanting to get close to the bar itself. "Sorry about the mess, I'm going to have it remodeled", the kind old bartender said to them, "So what can I get you?"
"Nothing, thanks", said Orphen, "But if you could just tell me something?" Cleao turned blue in the face as a small rat scurried near her.
"Sure, what do you need to know?" the bartender replied. The rat came closer, and Cleao's face became bluer.
"I wanted to know if you knew of someone named-". Orphen was interrupted as Cleao ran out screaming after the rat had ran up her leg. "Oh! Go get her, would you Majic?" asked Orphen. Majic ran out to catch up with Cleao, very happy to be out of that place.
"You seem to have some very jumpy friends there", the bartender said with a sweat drop on the back of his head. Orphen gave a long sigh, as if the bartender didn't know the half of it.
"Yeah, well anyways", Orphen continued, "Do you know about anyone around here named Azalie?" The bartender thought about how he could possibly be asked the same question in such a small amount of time.
"Oh yeah, she lives in a cabin in the middle of the forest on that mountain north of here", the bartender told Orphen. Orphen thanked him and was about to leave when the bartender said, "You know, someone came here not to long ago asking the same thing, strange".
Orphen froze in fear of this and said in a very fearful voice, "Do you remember what he looked like? When did he come here?"
The old man scratched his head trying to remember, and then replied, "Oh, well let's see. I think he had silver hair and blue eyes" Orphen, not even turning around, tightened his fist till his knuckles were white, "And he came in here about yesterday I think" Orphen immediately shot out the door after hearing this, leaving the bartender completely dumbfounded.
Majic was trying to calm Cleao down by keeping her from running any further away, and was still trying to calm her down until Orphen came outside yelling, "Stop messing around you guys, we have to hurry!" The two of them immediately stopped and followed Orphen to wherever he was going. Hoping they weren't too late to save Azalie.
END CHAPTER 05
FOOTNOTE: I know I've said this a lot, but sorry this was so late, I've been having a little bad luck with my computer lately. Not to mention having to worry about this speech contest I'm in (sigh). Anyways, hope you liked this chapter and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. So long.