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"Ah!"
Moran shot up from her bed and immediately clutched her injured arm. It turned out her staff was rubbing on it. She shoved it off her bed and it landed on the brick floor with a few soft clunks, muffled by whatever piece of clothing was on the floor.
A few rays of light seeped through the heavy patterned curtains. Another day, another fight. She touched her arm absentmindedly as she wondered if she'd live through this one. At home, she would be throwing two pieces of Pop-Tarts into the toaster, and hiding her mother's favorite whiskey into his highest drawer in the kitchen behind a couple of cereal boxes. Then she'd go to school, come back home again to find that her mother had thrown all the cereal on the floor and the whiskey bottle was gone. Then she'd clean up, do her homework, and go to bed.
Did she want to go back? Life here, in this other world was interesting and much, much more exiting than life at home. Was she needed back? She sighed and swung her legs off the bed.
She dressed quickly, and rearranged her armor on the bed so she wouldn't have to hunt for it before they went out. She brushed her hair with two quick strokes on the makeshift bone comb and hurried down. Down there, she found all the others in full armor, surrounding a small table and eating what looked like roasted pork.
"What!" She groaned. "You all didn't wake me? Hold on, I'll go up and change-"
"Wait," Thorn grabbed her arm. "You're not going with us."
She glared at him. "What?"
"You're still injured, for one thing and…" Nikan shrugged. "What happened last night…"
Hot anger flowed through her. "Are you saying that I'm too "weak" to manage this fight?" Her voice dripped with icy poison.
Kail lifted a wooden mug full of steaming liquid. "We never said that." He looked at her with his piercing eyes as he drank. "How's your arm?"
She moved it to show it to him, and winced at the pain. "Fine."
"See?" He offered his mug to her. "Want some? It helps relive pain."
She knocked it out of his hands with her injured arm. It clattered on the floor and the liquid steamed and hissed. "Damn it! No, I'm going!" She turned on her heel to leave for her room. "Wha-"
She felt Kail grab both her arms and whipped them behind her back faster than a Fallen could say "Rakanishu!" and held her upright. "Come on," he gruffly said.
"What! You can't do this to me!" She protested, twisting wildly, but ended up having to stay still because her arm was hurting her. Following Kail, feeling exactly like how a dog must feel after being scolded, she followed him up to her room in Elzix's inn. He kicked the door open.
"Come on…" She pleaded. "I don't want to be left out."
"Better left out than-" Kail let go of her arms but pressed her right wrist on the bedpost. He pulled out his wand from his pocket and jammed it roughly on her wrist.
"Hey!"
Bones sprouted from the bedpost and wrapped around her wrist, similar to the bone walls and cages Kail does. She glared at him and he returned it with a grin.
"Handy spell, isn't it?" He smiled.
"Fuck you," she muttered under her breath.
"It'll last for a time, don't worry," he jammed his wand back into his pocket. "Don't even think about running after us."
"Yes, mother hen," she said.
"Well, you and Thorn do get along well," Kail rolled his eyes, grabbed his white hair and tied a knot at the base of his neck with a leather thong. "Behave, will you?"
"Yes, mother hen."
"Oh shut up," he slammed the door shut.
"Hey, lay me an egg will you?" She shouted.
"That's your job. I'm not a woman," he shouted back, sounding far away.
"Really?" She shouted back, but he was probably downstairs by now.
Sighing, she tested her bond and found it to be indeed, very secure and she had no choice but to sit in the hot room with flies buzzing outside. She was becoming very warm, and her hair plastered to the base of her neck.
"Damn…" she muttered. She violently moved her wrist.
The bone cracked.
After a few more struggles, she finally broke free and rubbed her wrist. "Kail is going to get it bad when he gets here," she muttered fiercely as she walked down the hall. She clomped down the stairs to what you would call the "lobby" of Elzix's inn. She sat on one of the chairs and placed her feet on top of another.
"Why are you sulking for?" Elzix asked and she glared at him. "Want anything to eat?"
"No," she swung her legs off the chair and headed back up. While she was at it, she could do something like hiding Kail's underclothes or dull Thorn's armor. Not that it needed any more dulling, that barbarian never even took care of severe dents.
She opened Kail's door with a clever ice bolt that froze the lock into a chunk of ice that was easily broken after she kicked it. She swung open the door and whistled.
It was probably one of Elzix's better rooms, and she might as well put it as a V.I.P room. It was nothing like hers. Almost the entire tiled, red clay floor was covered with a large black carpet splashed with colorful birds and flowers. A mattress was set on the floor and covered with pillows and a blanket sprawled untidily near the balcony, which had gossamer purple curtains blocking some of the view of the sea.
Other than that, his armor, clothes, miscellaneous oddities, and a book were tossed all over the room. Kail was definitely not a very neat necromancer. It was a little too messy for her to do anything cruel to it, so she left, sighing.
Her eyes darted back to the open book on the mattress.
She walked back and picked it up. It was a Tomb of Town Portal.
She bit her lip. Didn't they all share one tomb? Did they have another one? Did they forget it?
She sank down on his mattress and chewed her lip. No, the Five-well, actually the four now that they left without her-were not that careless. But if they did forget it-a vision of four warriors crawling on sandy ground with a throng of demons coming behind them was looking more and more realistic in her head.
She nearly tripped as she picked up the tomb and ran from Kail's room into her own. She threw the door shut and jerked off her clothes. She had to go quick.
Balancing on one foot, she jerked a thin shirt over the leather "bra" she wore as she tightened the heavy suede/leather pants around her waist. She jammed on a pair of laced boots that went nearly to her knees as she struggled to free the Undead Crown from her back. She slipped it on her head, laced up the leather and steel armor, fixed the shoulder plates, and stuck in whatever she needed into her bag. She was about to pick up her staff when a though occurred.
She had to find them fast, and she'll need a horse. No way was she using a staff to fight on horseback. She needed a sword and a shield. Whispering an "excuse me" to wherever Ollan was, she ran to the Paladin's bedroom and barged in after breaking the lock. Ollan's room was a lot neater than Kail's and it didn't take her very long to locate a shield light enough for her to hold and a dirk that glowed blue. She strapped the shield on her arm, the dirk to her side and hurried down.
"Back so-whoa, what's with the armor?" Elzix looked at her.
"Get me horse, come on!" She said. "The others…I think they're in trouble."
He left and came back fast with a large stallion, tacked with what looked like a real war saddle and bridle, all complete with a single hprn protruding from the forehead. After quick thanks, she mounted the saddle.
She let her anger built as she trot towards the city gates. This was too much. Kail and the others leaving her and not letting her come with them-and left one the things that might save their lives. She drew the dirk from the sheath and swung it into a stabbing grip. She grinded her teeth together and held the double reins in one free hand.
The horse lengthened into a canter with the slightest push of her calves and release of the reins. The sun beat down on her back, and she had a sudden urge for water.
She slowed the horse down to a walk to get the skin from the saddle when she had a prickly feel of being watched. She sat upright in the saddle, her hand gripping the dirk shaking slightly.
Don't turn back! If you do, whatever it is, it'll come for you.
She raised her arm until it was level with her shoulder. Looking into the shiny metal gauntlet, she caught sight of a dozen dog-like demons skittering across the sand.
Cold sweat broke on her forehead.
With her nervous, shaking hands, the horse broke free and she saw one of the demons leap up into the air.
Giving a shout, she raised the dirk high above her head. She heard a squeal of pain and warm blood trickled onto her hand. The dead, heavy thing made her loose her balance for a second as she struggled to free it from the dirk.
The were all around her now, and thankfully the horse who was trained as a battle creature, did not panic and throw her off, but it didn't stop him from breaking into a gallop to get away from the demons. Moran looked back and the creatures were following at an amazing speed.
Do something, you're a sorceress…
"Phillipe dominay," she shouted and fire burst from the horse's hooves. She grinned to herself. The Blaze spell worked perfectly as she heard the screams of the terrified beasts and the smell of roasted flesh in the heavy air. She gagged once and sped up until it was quiet again.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Having a horse was definite advantage. She gave the animal a good pat on the neck as they slowly walked across the sand.
A spear appeared out of nowhere and zoomed towards her.
No! Not Cats again…
Moran cried out and jerked on the left rein. The horse wheeled the same time as the spear struck the shoulder plate. The spear, thankfully, gave her the full impact of shoving her from the saddle and landing on the sandy floor but it did pierce through the armor.
Coughing, she gripped the sand and tried to gasp for breath. Pain wracked through her body.
"Oh no, MORAN!"
She gulped in air, and finally felt it reach her lungs. She slumped on the ground as four blurry faces peered at her. Nikan cried out and jerked the shoulder plate off.
"Hey, are you all right?"
That would be Kail. Moran tried to speak, but can't.
"Hold on, don't move," Thorn's heavy hand went on her shoulder.
She finally found her voice. "Damn…Ow, that hurts."
"Looks like your aim was off, Nikan," Ollan said and he grinned. Moran pushed herself up with an elbow.
"My aim wasn't off, she moved," Nikan said.
"Good thing I did," Thorn helped her sit up. "That spear would've killed me."
"And we're going to kill you afterwards," Kail picked up the shoulder plate and looked at the dent that was nearly five inches deep. "Do you know how much it's going to cost to repair this? Didn't I tell you to stay where you are?"
"Fuck you, Kail," she spat out angrily, wondering at the back of her head whether he had any idea yet what "fuck" meant. Picking herself up, she tore the backpack she hooked on the saddle and threw the tomb out at his feet. "You left this."
He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"You left the tomb of Town Portal in your room!" Moran said. "Damn it Kail, it basically means that you left a tomb of Town Portal in your room, which is about the only thing that can save your ass when you don't have healing potions left. Oh, and what if you're crawling around for water, miles and miles away from town!"
Kail remained silent for a while. Finally, he spoke. "So you actually thought that we would actually not bring a town portal with us?"
Her heart suddenly sank. "What?"
He pulled out a scroll with a single blue ribbon around it. "Feast your eyes Moran. I just didn't want to drag around a book."
"But-but-" she suddenly felt like someone stepped on her head and said she was crap.
Thorn laid a hand on her shoulder and patted it. "Well, we have to say you would risk your life for us."
"Of course I would," she bit her lip, picked up the tomb and shoved it back inside her bag. "Guess I'll be leaving now."
"Oh…just come with us," Nikan said.
"No she's not!" Kail said.
"Who died and made you leader of our group?" Moran shouted back.
"I am the leader of the group!"
Ollan's quiet voice came. "Kail, you're worried about her. We all know that but there's no reason to hold her back."
Kail was on Ollan faster than Moran could blink. "You keep your mouth shut, Paladin."
At that moment, through the shock that she was trying to filter, a band of cats crawled up behind Ollan and Kail.
"Let…go…" Ollan's voice held an icy anger that she had never heard before.
"Guys! Cats!" Moran screamed, swinging her shield over her face to blow a spear. She staggered backwards. She tried to grab the reins, but it was too late. The horse reared in terror and sped back to Lut Gholein.
She continued to fight, but most of it was blocking spears. She managed to see her hand slice open a cat before everything quieted down. Nikan was down on her legs and one palm, breathing heavily. One hand gripped a pilum while the other balanced her crouched position. Thorn was gripping a cat by the neck, and looked like he had broken it. Kail and Ollan were nowhere in sight.
"You all right there, Moran?" Thorn asked, giving the cat one final look of disgust and throwing it down.
"I'm fine," she panted. "Where's Kail and Ollan?"
"What? I thought they were on the other side of you," Thorn looked past her.
"No…" Moran bit her lip. "You don't think-"
"Shh!" Nikan held up a bloody finger. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
A violent wind rushed through the desert, and at that very moment, the sand around them bulged as if humps were growing from the sand. For a very long moment, things seemed to move in slow motion. Moran saw Thorn yell as dozens of Cats appeared from the sand.
"A trap!" He cried.
Moran felt a sharp prick in her neck and she pulled out what was a long dart with a blackened end.
The world swam into blackness and the last thing she felt was someone grabbing her arms roughly as she went down to her knees.
Kail opened his eyes and the first thing he felt was someone leaning onto his back. His hands were chained and the air was freezing cold. So cold his teeth were shattering the moment he felt it hit him. It was so dark he couldn't see a singling thing except for a small beam of light that landed next to his boot.
"Ollan," he said between shivers. "Ollan, hey. Wake up."
He felt the Paladin move. "Hey, Ollan. Are you all right?"
"Hmm?"
"Ollan, open your eyes."
"My eyes are open. All I see is blackness."
"Ollan, listen. Do one of your auras. We need light."
"I can't move, Kail. And my arm hurts like hell. I think it's broken."
Kail uttered a curse under his breath, his chest heaving. "All right…try to stand-no! No, wait! Aaargh!"
He fell backwards on Ollan, and after several grunts and yells of pain from Ollan, they were back in the same position.
"Let's do this again," Kail grinded his teeth. "We stand at the same time."
"And then what?" Kail felt Ollan's finger flexed against his, trying to break loose from the bonds.
"I don't know." His answer made the air turn colder. "What happened?"
"All I remembered was a whole bunch of cats came up on us. I killed a few-and then…"
"You broke your arm and we're in somewhere freezing cold in Lut Gholein," Kail molded his voice into cheerful sarcasm.
"Shut up," Ollan said, and Kail could almost see him glaring. "Where is it coldest in Lut Gholein?"
"As far as I remember, Tal Rasha's chamber with Duriel in it."
Both of them fell silent at the word "Duriel".
"Oh damn…how long till we die?"