The Misadventures of Riley and Rill

Chapter Four: Literally Taken

Generally that is merely a poetic way of saying that a bomb exploded and all hell broke loose. As it is, gunpowder is only known in the lands to the far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far East (or maybe just West) and they only use it for making pretty pictures in the sky and can't possibly see it as a method of warfare and killing people, which coincidentally, are both the same thing. Also, hell couldn't break loose because they, being the trio in the hallway, were already in it. Instead, in this sense the phrase "the world erupted into flame" should not be taken in the poetic sense. Rather, an eruption of flame, albeit a small one, did, in fact, take place.

The Shadow Rider stumbled out of the now-non-existent doorway and furiously stomped out a few flames that licked his cloak with their long orangey tongues so reminiscent of those belonging to wet dogs with bad breath. After his hem was successfully extinguished, The Shadow Rider turned his attention to the small bonfire that was starting to blossom on his cape like daffodils in May, or would blossom if there were actually flowers in the Fiery Fields.

Rawlyk raised an eyebrow at his black and fiery caped commander. He spoke out in the drawl he reserved seemed to reserve especially for superiors. "Awl right thar, sah?"

"Well, it gives new meaning to an explosive temper. Never saw that one coming."

Rawlyk gazed vaguely at The Shadow Rider's cape. "Apparently sah." He pronounced it 'Ah-par-ANT-ly', as if every vowel was supposed to be long. It made Rill grind his teeth in agony. Bad grammar got on his nerves like a one ton steel brick on an egg: not pretty and really smelly after a few days.

The Shadow Rider gestured to Riley and Rill. "After you."

Rill gulped, as he often did when he was nervous and walked through the door. Or more actually, Rill was painfully pushed through the still smoldering doorframe by none other than Riley.

The Shifter Entia was in a form that might have once upon a time (and in a galaxy far far away) been considered human. Note how might is the key word in that sentence. Now the creature looked like evil incarnate, which Rill reflected might have something in it. Its skin was cindered black and it had large bat wings that made the creature look like a vampire from the stories told on the Night of the Shifter's Moon. Who knows? Maybe it was. All stories have basis in fact, no matter how unlikely Mary-Sues (and Larry Stus for that matter) seem.

The vampiredemonthingthatwasactuallyEntia turned to glare at Rill. Rill saw his life flash before his eyes, leaving him wondering who had invented the rechargeable-flash-one-time-use-camera, much less light bulbs. The vampiredemonthingthatwasactuallyEntia went on a long tirade of respecting authority, those with power than you, and those who can kill, which, by Rill's estimation, lasted close to an hour. The pictures of his life were slowly down and had almost reached that fateful bucket of water. For a moment Rill was amazed that it had taken so long, but then, twenty years would probably take more than twenty seconds to recap, so then he wasn't very surprised.

Outside a pair of riders was talking.

"Thanks for the bell by the way."

"No problem. But why?"

The cloaked figure with the cindered hem glanced sideways at the door. "I think it might be amusing. If nothing else, he'll come back a decent engineer at least."

When the vampiredemonthingthatwasactuallyEntia seemed to be slowing down, Rill dared to open his eyes again. Unfortunately, the vampiredemonthingthatwasactuallyEntia wasn't finished quite yet.

"………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Luckily for you, your commander suggested that you be put to more useful work than being hung. Therefore, I'm sending you on a mission."

Rill heard Riley's jaw drop and grimaced at the sight of the lower jaw on the floor. Rill himself had eyes as big around ponds, and was having quite a hard time staring around the Lilly pads and frogs.

"W-wa-wha-what mission?" Rill though for a moment. "I have a commander who likes me that much?"

The vampiredemonthingthatwasactuallyEntia sneered (not that its face changed very much from its original position) at Rill. "Apparently so. But I have a little job for you."

"Y-yes?"

The vampiredemonthingthatwasactuallyEntia walked to the window that overshadowed the training fields. "You have heard of Castle Sulach? And the Sword?"

After registering that the sword did indeed have a capital S on it, Rill though harder than he has for a while. "Just legends, my Lord?" Rill paled under the vampiredemonthingthatwasactuallyEntia's gaze. "I guess not?"

The vampiredemonthingthatwasactuallyEntiastared daggers at Rill and Riley; the former ducked and the later preformed some sort of pirouette that seemed anatomically impossible. The daggers thudded uselessly into the wall behind them.

"Bring me the Sword of Balinor. And get out of my sight!"