D&D Tag Along
Chapter 9: Hidden Friends
A/N: I am so sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out. I was going through a phase where I really didn't have it in me to write anything. I think that I'm out of it now, so here's the ninth chapter.
As we last left off, oh so long ago, Deanna was captured by the evil Mindflayer/Lich known as Boneheimer. Boneheimer learned about Tint and Deanna being from another time period and was intrigued. He took Deanna to our time period in hopes of conquering yet another time period. Tint was then ordered by the king of the past to go back to his time and defeat Boneheimer. Unfortunately, he was going to have to do it alone.
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"Thanks for the ride." I said as I dismounted from the magnificent Pegasus. I ran my hand along the winged horse's back, giving the creature a friendly pat good-bye. The Pegasus snorted in reply, flapping its immense wings as it started to fly away. Before long, the Pegasus was out of sight.
I looked around at the town where the Pegasus had dropped me off. It was the original town where I had arrived in, but the town was in horrible condition. Nearly every building had been burned down. The bodies of the mauled citizens scattered the streets. It was almost like a war zone. The really sad thing about this was that I had caused all of this destruction. Was it really worth it to save Deanna?
There was one single building that still remained mostly intact. It was the tavern that held the path between time periods. Apparently, Boneheimer had felt the need to keep the pathway back in time open for his return. There I was, chasing after an insane creature out to rule the world. My friends were right, I was crazy.
I cautiously approached the door to the tavern, drawing out my sword and shield. Boneheimer might have left some of his troops back to guard the portal. I didn't want to get killed before I even got back to my time. I tapped the door with my foot and the door swung in with ease. It was almost as if someone was inviting me in.
Nervously, I crept into the dark building. Shadows covered nearly every inch of the interior, providing perfect hiding places for anyone who could be waiting for me. I could see where the section of wall that served as the cover to the portal should have been. The wall had been cleanly blown away. All I could see was the dark tunnel stretching into the depths of the earth. "That can't be good." I muttered.
"About time you showed up." A familiar voice stated from the shadows near the tunnel. I immediately took up a defensive position behind my shield. "Man, I look like a little pussy. Big tough dragon getting turned into a little flying rat. The gods and goddesses better reward me for coming to help you."
I shook my head in amazement. It was obvious who it was that had come here to join me. I lowered my shield and smiled at the tiny copper dragon that had been looking in the mirror. "Hey Sparks."
"Put that shield back up! I'd rather look at my own scrawny form than your ugly mug. Just kidding you, Master Tint." Sparks showed his reptilian smile as he flew over to my shoulder, taking up his perch.
I gave my pet dragon protector a friendly scratch under his chin. "What are you doing here? Didn't the king say that the portal wouldn't let in anyone other than evil creatures and people from my own time period?"
"You believe that crock of garbage?" Sparks chuckled slightly. "The king was lying to you. He told you that so that the others wouldn't come with you. The king plans to destroy this portal as soon as you travel through it. That way he can forget about Boneheimer and the future."
"And what if I refuse to go?" I asked; angered that the king was going to betray the very person who had won the war for him. It wasn't as if the people were going to forget the destruction that Boneheimer had visited upon them.
Sparks pointed a claw back outside. "You are surrounded. The king ordered his private assassins to take care of you if you refuse to go. Plus, you would be abandoning Deanna and I know you like her."
"This king is sure an evil person." I commented, risking a glance out the door. A dark figure quickly darted out of sight. Sparks just had to be right for once.
Sparks nodded his head sadly. "I do not know which one was worse, Boneheimer or the king. What this country really needs is a new king. You might even be one of the top runners to succeed the king because of your battle heroics."
"I guess that gives me another reason to defeat Boneheimer and come back to this time period. Now, let's get going." I calmly stated as I entered the tunnel. I could hear hushed footsteps follow me as I made my way down the tunnel. The assassins were following me to make sure I went all the way through to my time and stayed there.
The footsteps followed me relentlessly. The assassins were obviously not trying to keep their mission a secret. I felt a little nervous and sped up my pace. In reply, the following footsteps matched my pace and surpassed it. It wouldn't be long until they caught up to me.
I took a glance over my shoulder. I could just barely make out the faint outline of a solitary figure. Suddenly, my foot caught itself on something lying on the ground. I stumbled, falling to the floor in a heap. I pulled myself back up to my knees, but stopped there. My hands had come across the object that had knocked me off my feet. I held up the object close to my face and tried to identify it in the darkness.
The approaching footsteps had stopped not very far from where I was kneeling. I pulled myself back up to my feet, pocketing the mysterious object. Slowly, I began to continue my way along the dark tunnel. The following assassins once again began following me. I felt like I was being hunted.
Not long afterwards, I found myself at the base of the ladder. I looked up the length of the ladder and saw that the dumpster was no longer covering the entrance. I could see the sky overhead and was frightened by the sight. The air was a sickly green color, almost as if it had been poisoned.
Behind me, the assassins had stopped again. I turned around and looked back down the tunnel. "You guys are starting to piss me off! Why don't you come on out of those shadows and fight me like a man!" I yelled down the tunnel.
A figure stepped out of the shadows. It appeared as if the person was wearing a heavy cloak around their shoulders. I pointed my sword at the assassin and beckoned for the person to attack me. In response, the hunter held up an object in the air. It appeared to be a human head. The assassin tossed the head towards me. The head bounced along the ground and came to a stop face up at me. "That's one of the guys that the king hired to kill you!" Sparks announced.
I looked back and forth between the severed head and the cloaked assassin. Had this dark figure betrayed the king's orders and sided with me? "Who are you?" I asked, lowering my sword slightly to show that I was willing to be friendly.
The figure took a few steps towards me and into the tiny shimmer of light that was being emitted from the hole above me. My jaw dropped as I recognized my follower. I felt Sparks dive beneath my chain mail shirt in an attempt to hide. "Don't be scared of Gabriel. Remember, she's on our side."
Sparks quickly crept back into sight and beamed a goofy embarrassed smile. Even Gabriel smiled, a rare sight from the half fiend. "Found a couple of pests following you. Decided to squash them. Hope you don't mind."
"Not in the slightest." I looked past Gabriel and into the shadows. "Aren't the others with you?"
Gabriel shook her horned head in dismay. "I am afraid not. They did not want to make it an obvious act of rebellion against the king, so the others are off doing missions. Both Rurik and Jillian are out on holy crusades to recruit more soldiers for our world's defense. My brother has sworn to go find my father and slay him. So, I ended up being the only one available to come help you."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I take it you don't believe the king's statement that good creatures couldn't pass through this portal."
Gabriel raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I thought that you would have figured out that I am lawful evil in nature. Those portal restrictions would not apply to me."
"Welcome to my world then." I said with a slight chuckle. The fate of my time period rested on the hands of an evil half fiend, a wise-ass midget dragon, and a nerd who had killed a total of two opponents. I would be feeling confident if I was Boneheimer.
Sparks had taken off and was now perched at the top rung of the ladder to the outside world. His snout was directed up into the air, sniffing intently at the off-colored atmosphere. "Boneheimer is using his mind control gas again." Sparks noted, a hint of disgust in his voice as he turned his face away from the air.
Instantly after Sparks had smelled the air, I felt a sharp prick in the side of my neck. I looked over to see Gabriel remove a small glass needle from my neck. "Mind strengthening potion." She explained as she tossed away the empty container. I nodded my head in understanding, but suddenly started feeling light headed. Gabriel's clawed hands held me up as I almost fell over.
Gabriel proceeded to guide me up the ladder, forcing me out into the alleyway. I took a look around and gasped in disbelief. Nearly the entire city had been leveled. Only a few buildings remained even partially intact. I felt Sparks land on my shoulder, "I am sorry that you have to see this."
Suddenly, Gabriel pulled us down among the rubble of the library. "What the hell?" I asked as the fiend held a finger up to my lips. Gabriel pointed up to the sky, where a squadron of gigantic red dragons was patrolling the air. I heard Sparks growl jealously as he watched the full sized dragons pass out of sight. "This is going to make things fun." I commented sarcastically, picking myself up off the ground.
"Stupid Boneheimer and his big stupid dragons. I hate him." Sparks muttered, shaking a fist up at the sky. I nodded my head silently as I pressed my body up against the remaining section of the surrounding walls. For all I knew, we could be under watch. With the people of my time under Boneheimer's control, I doubted that I could trust anyone that I used to trust.
"Do you know of any good hiding places or where we might be able to learn about Boneheimer's location?" Gabriel asked as she unfolded her wings, giving the massive black extremities a brief stretch.
Nearly instantly after Gabriel stretched her wings a loud gunshot broke the silence. I watched in horror as a large hole was blasted through my friend's right wing. Gabriel screeched out in pain as she collapsed to the ground. I quickly rushed over to Gabriel's side, holding up my shield in the general direction of the shooter. "What was that?" The suffering fiend asked as she looked over at the smoking bullet imbedded in the wall.
"That would be our kind of archers." I explained, reaching into my pouch in search of something that could be helpful. My hand brushed against the object that I had found in the tunnel. I brought the object out into the light to better identify it. I could not believe my eyes. It was Deanna's healing stone. Gabriel's eyes grew huge as I held the stone against the tattered wing. A brief flash of light was emitted from the stone. When the light cleared, the wing was fully intact. "So that was how Deanna had healed that stab wound." I thought as I returned the stone to my pouch.
"Master…" Sparks whispered in a worried tone as he tugged lightly on my ear. I looked behind me and found myself staring down the barrel of a pistol. The holder of the gun turned out to be the leader of the punks who had jumped me. Out of the corner of my eye, I counted at least four other punks. "I see our nerd friend here finally decided to come out of hiding and he brought a lizard and a freak with him." This brought a chorus of laughter from the jerks.
"I take it that these are not friends of yours." Gabriel commented sarcastically as she was hauled up to her feet. I nodded my head in agreement. Now I counted a total of six punks. Only the leader held a weapon. I felt somewhat confident, even with the gun in my face. I was able to beat these guys on my own. "Hey, Gabby, I think that these are the guys who shot out your wing."
My suggestion had the desired effect. I heard a few screams of pain emitted as Gabriel slashed out. The leader's hand began to tremble as he witnessed the carnage that must be unfolding behind me. I took the opportunity to unsheathe one of my knives and drove the blade deep into the punk's chest. "Ironic, isn't it?" I whispered, a smile crossing my face as I got my revenge.
The sound of fleeing footsteps attracted my attention. I looked over to see one punk attempting to run away as Gabriel smashed in the head of the only other punk still standing. "Tint, kill him!" Gabriel yelled as she removed her mace from her victim.
I was about to give chase when the punk stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned around to reveal his chest had become a pincushion of arrows before collapsing to the ground. I was intrigued to find out who had killed the punk. I didn't have to wait long as a group of teenagers emerged from around the corner, bows in hand. "Hey there guys. Good to see you again." I greeted as I rushed towards my former D&D group.
A/N: There we go. Once again, I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter done and out. I will try to keep on track and keep up with updates. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Peace out.