Chapter 16

By Hdogg

Told By Aly Miko!

The Flames Burn High

Note: Aloha! Tis me, Mo. Though Chap. 13 was told by Aly, I have decided that she needs to tell this one. Aly meets Devak…Danger! Two hot heads (no offense Aly) in the same room! BEWARE! ::gets an evil glare from Aly:: Err, I'm shut up now and write.

Oh, Aly put in little comments in here….to take note of the stuff in parenthesis.

 
Thank You's: Thanks to my friends who let me use them in this story! You're all so cool! Thanks for supporting my story!

Disclaimer: Blizzard owns the game, character types, and everything else. I own myself(the sorceress), my cd player, and my ideas(as in Devak). My friends(everyone else) own themselves.

Onward to Victory!

~*~*~

                I set my bow and arrows down. I'd never be able to use the dang things at this rate. I sighed and sat down on a log by the fire. I glanced about me. Stu was snoozing, using a book for a pillow. Mo seemed to have died(thank goodness) and so did Larry.

                I looked up and watched the stars twinkle above me but my moment of peace was shattered when a chorus of curses rang out threw out the camp. Mo and Stu were awake in an instant while the big lump slept away.

                I glanced over to where all the racket was taking place. Dan and some fellow were in a shouting argument. Cain stood by them shaking his head. It was hard to make out the fellow that Dan was yelling at because of the smoke in my eyes and the darkness. I shook my head. Men could be such idiots at times. I wondered where Dru and Jen were. They should have been back by now. It was dangerous at night.

                Mo, practically reading my thoughts, asked, "Gee, where's the love birds? It's late and they should have been back by now…"

                "Yeah, I know." I said, looking around. "Where could those two be…"

                Mo glanced at Dan and mysterious fellow. "Bakas…Worse then me…" She wisphered to herself, shaking her head. She leaned back against the log I was sitting on and shut her eyes. Stuart looked about, shaking, and stayed low to the ground. I just shook my head, slid off the log, and onto the ground. Getting into a comfortable position, I was asleep instantly.

~*~*~

                I woke up last the next morning, like I usually did. Stu handed me a plate with sausages and eggs on it. I looked around for a fork but I didn't see one.

                "Umm, Stu, Don't I get a fork or something?" I asked.

                "Oh, sorry, there ol' girl." He handed me a wood fork to match the wood plate. Didn't these people have anything better?

                "Thanks."  I mumbled. I ate the food quickly and handed my plate to Stu. I took a quick look around. Dan and Larry were talking to each other in a calm matter for once. Mo was snacking away on food while Stu cleaned the dishes in a small spring used for cleaning equipment by the rogues. I didn't see Dru or Jenny any where though.

                I walked up to Mo and asked, "Have you seen Dru or Jenny?"

                She shook her head and answered, "Not since yesterday." Concern filled her eyes though her face was emotionless for once. No silly grins, no mischievous gleams. She was acting serious for once. Which was a surprise for the most part. "I'm about ready to go out searching for them."

                "Yeah, so am I." I replied. I looked towards the horizon. The sun felt warm on my very tanned face. I was getting a lot more sun then I usually did. I sighed and watched the sun. It looked to real…but it couldn't be. This was only a game. A reality to nightmare sort of thing, I suppose. I twiddled with my hair as I pondered the game.

                Mo set down her plate. "Come on. Let's go and ask Dan if we can go and find our missing friends, kay?"

                I nodded. "Yeah, okay." We trekked over to Larry and Dan who surprisingly were not chewing out each other in a verbal war.

                "Dude, I don't know." Larry said to shorter young man. He looked over Dan's head and waved at us. "Hey! What's up you two?"

                Mo looked at Dan, "Hey, Danny, can Aly and I go and find Dru and Jenny? We're worried about them."

                "Hmm, They have been gone a long time." He scratched his chin. A stubble of whiskers grew on it. Usually he kept it clean shaven but I guess he decided he wanted a goatee. "Yeah, but I want Devak to go with you. He's knows the woods out here."

                Mo smiled. "Thank you." Mo started to leave but Dan stopped her.

                "Just one more thing, don't kill anyone please. Oh, and Larry, Stu, and I will be heading out towards the Barracks to get the Malus. Meet us at the Barracks once you find Dru and Jenny, kay?"

                Mo nodded. "Okay. No problem but I forgot to ask, Who's Devak?"

                "Oh, yeah, I forgot you two didn't meet him. He's Cain's nephew. I stroke a pact with him. He's going to be our guide for the last two quests. He's probably by Miss Akara or something. Good Luck you two. Be careful." He hugged Mo and turned back to Larry. "How much money you got?"

                Mo smiled a little and disappeared off towards Akara tent. I envied the little twit. I sighed and trekked after Mo. I should concentrate on finding my friends not my pathetic love life.

                I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw who Mo was talking to. It was the young man from my dreams. I gulped. 'What is he doing here?' I regained myself and walked up coolly to the tent. Devak glanced at me and snorted. I looked at him and rolled my eyes.

                "Hey! Aly, this is Devak. Devak, this is one of my best friends, Aly." Mo said. Devak didn't acknowledge my presence and I did likewise. "Umm, well, shall we be going?"

                "Sure, let's go." I said a little too roughly. Mo gave me a funny look and shrugged. Devak headed towards the exit while Mo chattered away about stuff.

                "So, where are you from, Devak? Not around here I bet." She asked him.

                He shrugged and said in his wonderful voice, "I lived jungles of Kurast when I was younger before the demons came and destroyed everything."

                "Cool! Err, not the demon part but the living in a jungle sounds like fun!" Devak just shrugged and continued walking. Mo tried to get him to talk more but he wouldn't. She tried to strike up a conversation with me but I didn't feel like talking. She eventually shut her big mouth.

                We trekked around all morning without finding a single clue on where our friends  had disappeared to. Mo finally dropped dead under a tree and refused to move when Devak told her to.

                "Buzz off. I'm tired." She mumbled.

                "It's dangerous to sit out here. We have to keep moving." He stated but Mo didn't move. He glared at her. "Get up now." He growled out dangerously. Mo sighed and got up.

                "Fine, but you didn't have to be so rude." She wisphered trudging along. I glared at Devak and followed Mo. Only I was allowed to be mean to Mo. It was my rightful duty as best friend to do so.(dang right!) Devak followed behind us, as silent as a fox.

                After a while, Devak called us to a stop. "Stay here for a moment." He walked up ahead, glancing about him. He came back a few minutes later. "It seems your friends have been here but the campfire was cold when I check it. Either they took a different route back to the camp or someone," He paused then added, "or something has kidnapped them. The second of the two seem more plausible at the moment. A multitude of tracks can be seen leaving the camp toward the Dark Wood."

                Mo stared at him in disbelief. I just glared at him as I sorted things out in my head. 'Oh, great, now Dru and Jen are kidnapped and we're stuck in a strange world and we have a stuck up snotty boy for our guide…Joyous.'

                "Come on. Lets go get your friends," Devak grumbled walking into the clearing. I followed behind him while Mo followed me. He was right. There was a multitude of footprints on the ground leading away from the camp fire. Devak kept walking past the camp though Mo and I had stopped to look around.

                "Hmm, interesting." I mumbled looking around.

                "I hope they're all right…" Mo wisphered to herself.

                Devak came back with an irritated look on his face. "What are you two doing?"

                "Looking around. Got a problem with that?" I asked, giving him a glare.

                "Yes, I do. We need to get out of here before what has kidnapped your friends, kidnaps us." He responded in a growl. He stood across the clearing glaring at me as I stared angrily at him from the other end. While we glared at each other, Mo started to poke me and mumbled about something.

                She finally managed to get my nerves and shouted at her, "What?!"

                "Err, well, you see, there's this really freaky thing standing behind you…" She mumbled, twiddling with her hands. She always did that when she was nervous.

                "Freaky thing behind me?" I turned around and did see a Freaky thing standing behind me. "Err, I see." I turned back to Devak. "I'll get back to you." Giving him a pleasant smile, I turned back to the freaky thing. "So…what is it?"

                "A freaky thing?" I glared at her. "Oh, fine. Let me think. Hmm…" She stood for a moment looking at the non-moving thing. "I think its some sort of Goat man…"

                "Goat man?"

                "Oh, err, it's either from the Moon Clan or the Night Clan…Can't remember which one though." She replied, smiling. She smiled constantly! It was annoying. She laughed in the face of danger too.

                "Wonderful…but why isn't moving?"

                "Err, I don't know!" She replied throwing her hands into the air. The creature fell forward, dead as a door knob.

                "Well, that was quite a fight it gave." I said in an undertone to myself.

                "Hmm, interesting." Mo mumbled, poking the body with her staff. I gave her a look that basically said 'I -DO NOT- know you'. She was a queer one.

                "I told you, we have to get going before your friends kidnappers decided to take us too." Devak growled out. Startled, I jumped into the air and whirled around.

                "What to you think you're doing?!" I yelled at him.

                "Saving you two brainless children." He answered, with an idiotic grin that said, 'I'm better then you, get over it'. I rolled my eyes. This guy was really getting on my last nerves. 'But he is so damn good looking.'  I added to myself.

                "Shut the hell up you vain loser. One, I am not a child, and two, I do have a brain, unlike you, whose brain is smaller than a rotten tomato!" I yelled in his face. I shoved him hard and he fell over a rock. He glared up at me from where he had landed and started to say something but I kicked him in the side and stormed away into the woods, with Mo right on my heels. "What an idiot. I swear, if he tries that again, I'll." I stopped talking. Something was moving in the bushes ahead of us. "Ah, hell. What now?" Devak popped out of the bushes. "Great…it's you." I snarled at him.
                Devak glared at me then said to Mo. "If we're going to find you're friends, we're going to have to rack the woods them. It's going to take a while. Maybe two weeks if we're lucky."

                "If we're lucky?!" She yelled at him. "What'd ya mean?"

                "C'mon. What are the chances of them surviving in a wilderness like this?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. A smug smile was on his handsome face. God, I hated him.

                I laughed. "You don't know my friends. They're more then capable to keep care of themselves out here." I twirled my spear in my hand. I got him this time.

                "But then why are we looking for them?" He asked raising an eyebrow. "Hmmm?"

                'I think I'm gonna cut off his head and make it into a trophy…' I thought angrily to myself.

                Then Mo bounced in. "Would you two quit it! Stop trying to best each other!" She glared at both of us. Her eyes sparkled with annoyance. She could be frightening when she was annoyed. "We are here to find Jenny and Dru. If you two don't work together, I'll…uhh…do something!" She stomped her foot. With an air of dignity, she stormed between us and went off by herself.

                I glared at the idiotic Sorcerer and ran off after my little friend. "Hey! Mo wait up!" I stumbled through the brush and over tree roots trying to catch up with the running Baka. "Slow down you idiot!" I yelled finally catching up with her. Actually I ran into her. We both fell forward. "Mo what's - - -?"

                "SHHH!" She clamped her hand over my mouth. "Quiet!"

                I gave her a questioning look.

                "Look through here." She brushed back a bit of brush.

                I nearly screamed at the site. It was…horrifying. That's all I could think of. It took a lot to scare me and this most certainly was a lot. I was amazed at how calm Mo was. She normally would have been freaking out. I bit my lip and watched.

                This didn't seem like anything from the game. The monsters were definitely different from the regular monsters then ever before. Horns of crimson jutted out of their black skulls. They carried blue axes, probably enchanted with a cold attack, that dripped with freshly drawn blood. The armor they wore was of the Ancients. The color of it though looked like dried blood. A fire protection enchanted was most likely induced on the armor. A black cape swirled around each and everyone of them. They were the pure image of the devil and their little domain was a peak of hell.

                One turned around and faced our hiding place.

                I choked back the bail in mouth. To add to the nightmare, it had small dark eyes with a pinpoint of white in the middle of them. They were shallow and held no depth. It was the eyes of a drone. The beast had the face of a man that was crossed with demon. It had no nose, just two slits in the middle of its gruesome face. Like a snake it seemed.

                My eyes traveled down to its mouth. A piece of raw meat hung out of it. Its jagged teeth stuck out at odd angles, holding the mass firmly in its grip. The blood ran steadily down its bare throat.

                I grabbed Mo's cape. "What is going here?"

                She didn't speak again. Only pointed to the center of the camp.

                I looked again. Bonfires blazed with fury and next to it were two forms. "Ah shit…" I mumbled.

                "See the dilemma then?" Mo asked sadly. She chewed on her hair as she ran her hand over her staff. The wood seemed to confront her a bit.

                "I see it all right." I snarled, as I tighten my grip on my spear. If those beats came a little closer or laid a hand on either of them I would –kill- them. Slow and painfully.

                Devak snickered behind me.

                I whirled around, jabbing the spear point under his cute little chin. "Gonna laugh are you?"

                He just smiled snugly and brushed the sharp tip away. "This is no time for games, child. Let a man handle this."

                Mo got up and promptly slapped him across the face. "Would. You. Just. Shut. Up." She spat out. In her eyes you could see the flames of her soul burn with anger.

                I snickered. Mo hated men with a passion that thought with were 'all that'. Her father was like that and she just hated him.

                She knocked him over and leaned against a tree. Her eyes scanned the camp.  She was probably applying her strategic knowledge from the game Star Craft to this. And all the other useless knowledge she had collected over the years. She walked back over and tugged Devak to his feet.

                "Listen closely, Devak," She hissed holding onto the collar of his blue shirt. "You are going to use your little magic tricks to create a distraction. Do anything –else- I'll personality kick your ass again."

                I snickered. I didn't think the little twit had the nerve to curse.
                She turned to me and smiled kindly. "You and me will be on the rescue squad, my friend."

                I crossed my arms over my chest and smiled wickedly, "This is going to be one butt kicking fest of fun." Mo just smiled and watched sadly at the scene before us. I leaned against her and pulled her hair. "Don't worry, Mo. It's gonna be fine."

                "I hope so…" She mumbled looking at her staff then she turned to Devak. "What the heck are doing standing there?! Go create the dang distraction!" She snarled waving her staff impatiently.

                He walked away, grumbling to himself.

                "Nice one Mo." I said ruffling her hair. "Let's get to this…" A wave of white light spread throughout the monsters camp. "And now the show begins." I mumbled.

                The monsters took off towards the light leaving all but two to guard their prisoners. "Stupid hoard of beasts…" I grumbled almost happily to myself. This was going to a piece of cake.

Without any warning to Mo, I jumped out of the bush and charged at the monsters. "Hey-laaaaah!" I shouted out jabbing the butt of my spear into the ground. Using my spear as a vault, I sailed over the two dumbstruck guards. I landed lightly on my feet then charged once again but from behind.

Strength that had been locked away from me, coiled within my muscles as I began to run through an attack in my mind. I would slice the first one through the middle perhaps or take off his head in a mighty swipe of my spear. They deserved death and would receive it from my hands.

                Without my knowledge, I had begun to laugh with high spirited evilness. As soon as the first beast was within reach of my spear, I jabbed at his knees. He stumbled backwards into his companion. The beast was stabbed in the side by his companion's dagger. Swiftly and silently, I rushed around the side of the two. I extended my arm and the spear sliced through the first monster. With a mighty heave, I pulled it upward. The spear jutted out of the beast's middle as it sliced upward into his heart and shoulder. Then I struck at the other, slicing off his ear and part of his skull. I pulled my spear out with a yank and whirled the weapon around again. This time I took off his arm with a mighty swipe of the blood stained weapon. The blood spattered onto my clothes. I didn't care though. These monsters had dared to hurt my friends! They deserved this defeat in their own blood! Upon the ground would be written a warning to all that dared to pursue and attack my friends! That I, Allison Miko, would come and hunt them down. That only their blood would remain to carve another message into the earth to those that would follow.

                He stumbled backwards and fell into the fire. His gruesome cry was forever engraved within my mind. I stumbled backwards into the first. My laughter had died away and a choking cry escaped my throat. The first one lay face down in the dirt. The blood slowly drained away into a puddle that spread from underneath the corpse.

                The bloodlust drained away from me like the blood that flowed into the soil. I dropped my spear and looked around. Mo was watching me from the sidelines. Her look unsettled me. Anguish and sadness were etched into her eyes though her face remained cold and forbidden. She slowly turned to the right and watched another battle taking place.

                I turned and watched too. Devak could be seen through the dust that encircled the site in which he fought. Lighting cracked and another beast fell to Devak's might. Fire engulfed another while ice encased the warrior to his right. The elements fought with sorcerer as he defeated his enemies with grueling attacks. The wind picked up and his dark hair blew out into front of him. With a wave of his staff, a raging fire took all that were left behind of the forces.

                The dust settled and Devak walked past the smoking corpses as he made his way towards me. He was smiling victoriously though he looked a little sad about something. He looked at me then at my handiwork. "Not bad…for an amateur."

                I glared at him. "If you weren't so stupid and naïve, I may have complimented you on your work." I snarled. I knew that sounded a bit lame but nothing else came to my mind.

                I looked over to where Jenny and Dru lay. Mo was all ready there, examining both. She looked mildly happy and relieved.

                "Well, they aren't dead but they are unconscious. They have been so, for at least a day." She said, standing up and brushing some dirt off her pants.

                Devak snorted. "How do you know this, kiddy?"

                She smiled sweetly with a deadly ping to it. "I read." She stuck her staff onto her belt and bent down to pick up Jenny. "Devak, you get Dru." She commanded softly.

                "She reads?" Devak shot me a questioning glance and picked up Dru with ease. Dru wasn't a big man, muscle wise, but he was tall and lean. He probably had to weigh at least hundred and ninety pounds.       I watched Devak walk past me. His lean frame standing firmly under the weight of the other man. Mo half bounced over to me. She had Jenny situated on her back.

                She smiled brightly with hint of mischievousness. "Ready, my friend?" She was all ready ahead of me when she asked the question.

                I shrugged as I jogged up beside her. "How can you carry her on your back? Doesn't it hurt?" 

                "I'm used to it. She weighs about the same as one of my cousins." She replied shaking her head to get some hair out of her face. I usually didn't notice since it was a common occurrence but she had tied up her hair into a wad thingy. I actually had no idea what it was called and she probably didn't either. But it was the first time she had her hair up since we had arrived in the game.

I sighed as we trekked along. I wondered why we didn't call on a town portal and I asked Mo. She just shrugged and said the waypoint was easier. She was probably out of scrolls as was I. It took us awhile but eventually we made it to the waypoint.

I was breathing slightly heavy but Devak and Mo were panting for breath. "Hmm…" Mo set Jenny on the grass and Devak set Dru beside her.

Mo then plopped down on the waypoint and pulled out a canteen of water. "Ack…to much physical work…" She tossed the canteen at me.

I caught it with one hand and downed the half the canteen in a single gulped. Kneeling down next to the two lovebirds, I gently poured a bit of water on each of their lips. Their eager tongues licked the wetness. That was when I noticed Jenny's eyes starting to open.

"Hey, stay down and don't move. You're probably weak from loose of blood and getting beat up." I mumbled giving her what was left of the water. I looked toward the other two. Mo was half awake on the waypoint while Devak was staring at the canteen.

"Please…may I have some?" He asked. He looked so pathetic at my mercy. I almost felt sorry for the loser.

I turned over the canteen and not a drop poured out. "I'm sorry…I gave the rest to Jen and Dru." I smiled wickedly on the outside but on the inside…I hurt for him. For the small bout of suffering he was going through. I shook my head and snarled at myself. The stupid pointless bastard was playing mind tricks on me! I knew it!

He groaned and looked at the waypoint, "Let's get going." He mumbled something as he stood on the platform. An extremely bright flash of light engulfed us all.

I blinked a few times to get the fuzziness to go away. "Neee…" I mumbled. We were back in the camp thankfully. Cain and Akara were rushing over to us.

"By the grace of the Sightless Eye! You have returned!" Akara said happily. A smile that stretched from ear to ear, beamed on her face.

Devak sighed and leaned against his uncle. "Yeah…I guess we did." He ran a hand through his dark hair. In the dying sunlight, his bronze skin gleamed a bit.

I blinked. "What the hell? How did it get to late?"

Mo shrugged. "We've been out all day. We'll catch up with the crew tomorrow…I wanna sleep…" She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She reminded me a little kid just getting out of bed. By the she acted at times she could have been a little kid too.

Akara smiled at Mo and patted her on the head with a wrinkled hand. "Go to sleep, little one. I will keep care of your friends."

Normally Mo would have protested being called a 'little kid' but she just nodded. She stumbled over to the fire and sat down next to a log. I watched her curl up into a ball and drift into sleep.

Cain gently took his slumbering nephew off his shoulders and led him to his tent. "G'night, ladies."

Akara turned to me as the bodies of my two friends began to float in the air. "I bid you a good night, young Amazon. May the great Eye watch over you." She smiled kindly at me then left me.

I sighed and looked to the dying sun. The clouds and the red light made a spectacular show for me to watch. So much like my own world and yet so different. It almost seemed that this wasn't a game but a different land behind my own. But with so much more… The game could have been only bits and pieces of this world seen by someone in a dream. What I had experienced today was something I thought would never happen in the game. Monsters…a hoard of them. Maybe…just maybe, there was something more then met the eye in this world.

I sighed and wondered what tomorrow would be like. It was certainly going to be interesting. The barracks…I wondered what surprises were in stored for me there. Hopefully not something like today.

To my disliking, my eyes wandered to Cain's and Devak's tent. I wondered how the stupid ass was doing. As much as I hated his ignorance there was just something about him that…made my heart beat a little faster. That made my thoughts drift to things that I never thought possible…

I shook my head. Once again my mind went to him. One so stupid, full of himself, so preppy…and yet…

The sun had set as had my thoughts. I silently walked over to Mo and sat done next to her. The fire crackled with happiness as it burned the wood. The light bounced and played. The mesmerizing dance of the flame and colors eventually put me asleep.

~*~*~

More Notes: Time Line Info, the dates and chapters. I kinda had to space it out a bit more. I mean it's impossible for seven actual people to get to the third quest in four days, right? That where I ended my revision work at chapter 8 and that has some minor day stuff in it as do a few other chapters. Sorry if I'm confusing you. This will play an important part in the next acts. Please feel free to e-mail me your opinions on this. My e-mail is HersheyDogg@hotmail.com . If you have any questions, I can probably answer them.

Time Line:
Chapter 1: February 28th
Chapter 2: March 1st

Chapter 3: March 1st

Chapter 4: March 8th 

Chapter 5: March 8th

Chapter 6: March 9th -10th

Chapter 7: March 11th – 12th
Chapter 8: March 13th – 14th

Chapter 9: March 15th

Chapter 10: March 15th – 23rd (Ack! I missed her{Jenny's} B-day! But she was with Dru…I guess it's all right)

Chapter 11: 23rd

Chapter 12: 24th
Chapter 13: 24th – 26th
Chapter 14: 26th
Chapter 15: 26th
Chapter 16: 26th (gees…enough chapters for the 26th ?) – 27th

PS: If ya really want me to(and I mean really), I will fix the other chapters.