Zanatos awoke to the soft glow of candle light and the sound of the storm outside. He recognised his surroundings immediately. Cosmot Inn… He was in a small oak bed, inside a small room. He caught a glance of the several mercenaries, sitting nearby at a table in the corner. He quickly shut his eyes. The mercenaries hadn't noticed him.
"So as soon as he wakes, we give the mage the plant," said the voice of Arturo.
"Hmmm," said Julius.
"Well there's been a change of plan…" said Val.
As soon as Zanatos heard that, in a rapid flash he leapt up, instinct driving him directly towards Arturo. Luckily the mercenaries hadn't removed any items of clothing and Zanatos was still wearing his gauntlets. As he leapt out he drew a small, concealed knife from the gauntlets. He through his free arm around Arturo and put the knife to the young warriors throat.
"Listen! You give me the plant now or the boy dies!"
"I don't think so Zanatos," laughed Val, a malicious smile twisting over his lips. Zanatos' eyes darted about the room, desperately.
Zanatos whispered into Arturo's ear, sizing up his opponents.
"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered nervously, "your friends, they aren't what they seam, trust me and do as I say ok?" Arturo silently nodded as Zanatos outlined his plan. The three of the mercenaries has drawn their swords and were slowly drawing nearer when unexpectedly, Arturo leapt away from Zanatos and dove for their weapons which were lying at the opposite side of the room. Val threw his sword at the young mercenary, the razor sharp blade missing his head by centimetres. The sword drove into the wall. Arturo grabbed Zanatos sword and threw it to him. Zanatos caught the sword and kicked the door to the room down while Arturo shot an arrow straight into the nearest mercenary who happened to be Val. The arrow tore straight into the warriors' cheek and instead of a cry of pain and blood, a thick black liquid burst out, Val seemed unfazed.
"Just as I thought," whispered Zanatos to himself. Arturo stared in horror as he leapt for the door. The two, swiftly bolted down the hallway and into the main room, in which they had originally received the notice from the mage. They charged out the door as the bar tender, the only other person in the room stared in shock at the two figures. Once they were outside they quickly searched for cover. The rain was pouring down and lightning raged across the sky which was a sea of darkness. It was night and little could be made out. Oily mud had covered the ground. The two figures silently ran from the inn, into the village. They quickly lost themselves amongst the tight bundle of huts and houses and ducked into an alleyway. They were both soaked to the bone and panting breathlessly.
"I think we lost them…" panted Arturo, "Now explain!"
"They're… They're possessed," panted Zanatos, "when the two of us were in that temple, something happened to the other three who were waiting outside. That plant… it was locked in that temple for a reason. Did you not see those tapestries? I knew about this plant as soon as we entered the temple. It is known as the vines of D'sparil. It grows into a vine with purposes of soul destruction. It grows at alarmingly fast rates but first, it must be planted. You saw Val! And the others to! They are gone! That mage! They were under his control all along. Surely some stored of mind spell! No wonder, none of the villagers would talk to us about him! He discovered how to control this plant. Wielding this plant, he'd turn this whole village into oblivion with it and soon it would spread…"
"Then why weren't we brought under the mages spell," asked Arturo, shocked and interested at the same time.
"It's a common necromantic spell that's effective but has one major weakness. He can only infest the greedy and impure. It could not affect you; you had too much good running through your veins."
"What about you?"
"Well… I'm a different story,"
"Please tell me," said Arturo, the rain drenching him as he stood their talking to the breathless warrior.
"We don't have time for that, the plant must be destroyed. Or else it will be planted and then…well I don't want to the think about that."
"I didn't think you'd care. I mean about this."
"I don't have a choice, if we don't stop this now, then it will eventually get us"
"Then let's do it."
"Val, Thor and Julius are probably delivering the plant to the mage right now," said Zanatos, assessing the situation.
"Well then! We must make haste!"
Dawn had not yet broken. Arturo estimated that maybe it was one o'clock at night. The two solemn warriors trudged through the mud caked road towards the edge of Cosmot where the mage resided. The rain beat down mercilessly and splattered and danced on the soldiers, already saturated armour. Lightning flew and raged at the skies above them, occasionally lighting up the otherwise dark plain. Dark rain clouds covered the moon, blocking out any moon light.. The two of them walked side by side, their hair matted to their foreheads, the rain drizzling down there faces. As they neared the end of Cosmot, the small, tightly bundled houses disappeared and what lay before them a steep road, surrounded by trees. The roads only lead to one place.