III Marlena's Rescue III
Lucius Darkfang sat comfortably on this throne, hiding away inside of a dark cave that lied within the Stormhorn Mountains. Six feet tall and slender, Lucius had pale white skin and long blond hair. He smoothed out the wrinkles in his black robe and eyed the corner where Princess Marlena lay during her magical slumber. "Pretty thing," he muttered as his grey eyes watched the sleeping princess. The clone servants his brother Charbrys had provided him with had done their job well.
"I really must thank my brother for lending your services to me," Lucius mused softly," You both have proven to be quite adequate servants. Nice touch with the whole Manshoon disguise by the way Sedivar. Perhaps after I ransom the princess and rule Eagle Peak, I will make you both captains of my guard."
"Master do you not worry that King Azoun will be sending an envoy to rescue the princess?" the servant named Sedivar asked.
Lucius stared at both of the servants who stood to his left. Charbrys had never told him how he created the clones, or where they originally came from, but then again Lucius never asked his brother in the first place. Both of the servants Sedivar and Dedivar made excellent bodyguards, far greater than the bugbears and orcs he had under his command.
"I expect that the king will send emissaries to take back the princess," Lucius answered calmly," But a small battalion of purple dragons is nothing my legion couldn't handle." His eyes wandered over to the princess. "At dawn we will make the ransom and prepare to invade Eagle Peak. If anyone decides to try and stop us, we will destroy them.
At that moment, deep within one of the caves miles away from where Lucius and his men were hiding, the copper dragon named Gorstag was enjoying the entertainment that was being provided by one of his many guests who had visited unexpectedly in this late hour.
"...And then Storm and I fought through the vicious company of Zhentarim while Rouric and Rathan purified the holy altar and released the spirit trapped in the temple," Bowie said in an ominous voice.
The halfling stood up against a large rock, his hand motions depicting the swordplay that he and Storm were doing in his story. Dressed in full plate armor with his vorpral sword at his side, King Azoun sat silently, listening to the bard's story. Virgo, Sawyer, and Hannah were sitting behind the king. Hannah wore golden plate armor while Sawyer and Virgo were both dressed in studded leather armor. Everyone is dressed for a fight, Gorstag thought as he sat in the back, listening to Bowie's story.
After he was finished with his story the small audience applauded. Bowie looked at everyone, then at Gorstag. "Thank you once again for letting us rest our feet before we go and rescue Princess Marlena."
The dragon nodded his copper scaled head. "As always Bowie Butterball, it's always a pleasure when you and your lady visit. Rescuing the princess from this Lucius Darkfang does not sound like an easy task. Especially if it's true that he has the aid of a Manshoon clone. Not to mention that he has hordes of orcs and bugbears helping him."
A serious expression crossed the halfling's face when he nodded. The King of Cormyr saw the look on Bowie's face and leaned close to the druid. "He gets rather serious when Manshoon's name is mentioned."
Sawyer leaned closer to Azoun. "Manshoon murdered Bowie's parents in front of his eyes. There is a lot more to it that what he lets on, but Bowie has spent most of his life training for the day he would confront Manshoon. Though he doesn't say it, I believe that if Bowie got the chance, he would avenge his parent's death and kill Manshoon."
Azoun looked over at Bowie, then at Sawyer. "Whether Bowie decides to kill Manshoon will be Bowie's own decision." The king smiled and patted the druid on the back. "This has been a quite a birthday for the both of us." Sawyer looked over, seeing Erilett nestled comfortably Virgo's lap. The woman turned to Sawyer and smiled
Hannah grinned and walked up to Bowie and whispered something in his ear. The halfling bard gave a quick nod and looked at the three humans. "Let's go rescue the princess, but I think we should try and sneak into the cave where Lucius is hiding, which isn't that far from this cave from what Hannah has told me. I don't want to doubt our strength, but I think the five of us will have a tough time defeated the band of bugbears and orcs."
Bowie took a deep breath. Out of the corner of his eye, the bard saw an open grin spread across the face of the copper dragon. Gorstag looked at Bowie and slowly spoke," I know that you would like to use stealth Bowie, but if you really don't want to face all those orcs and bugbears, I believe I could be of some assistance."
Running a hand across his robe, Lucius continued to watch the princess sleep. Sedivar and Dedivar were standing against the wall, watching the entrance for any sign of intruders.
Lucius closed his eyes, anticipating what tomorrow would bring, but just as he closed his eyes, a bright light shined from the outside and flooded the cave, blinding Lucius and the two servants. When the light disappeared. Lucius screamed," What was that?"
Sedivar and Dedivar did not hear Lucius Darkfang's question as the screams of frightened orcs echoed inside the cave. They could make out one word through the screams..."Dragon!"
"Don't just stand there!" yelled Lucius once the screams had reached his ears," Go and destroy it!"
The servants stared at each other, ready to follow the order they were just given, but before they could move, the King of Cormyr, Sawyer, Virgo, and Bowie were racing towards them with their weapons drawn.
'You think Hannah will be all right?" Virgo asked Bowie.
"You didn't see that wall of fire she made," Bowie responded in a loud cheerful voice.
"I couldn't see it with all those orcs running and screaming past me," Azoun remarked just before he stopped a few feet from the clones. The King of Cormyr got a good look at them. They wore the same colored robes as Manshoon, and stood about the same height, but looking at their pale faces and long black hair, something in the king's mind reassured him that niether of them were magical copies of the wizard Manshoon. Still, his look grew more serious as he started at both of them with anger in his eyes. "Which one of you attacked my daughter?"
"That would be me," proclaimed Sedivar in proud voice," You'll have to forgive my friend he doesn't speak. But your daughter's screams were beautiful. I hope to one day listen to them again."
King Azoun roared a battle cry, holding his long sword forward. He made a quick slash attempt at the clone, but Sedivar stepped back. The clone began weaving a spell, looking directly at the king. Lightning sparked from his fingertips and a long and powerful bolt shot at the king, hitting him directly in the chest.
Standing behind them, Bowie began to sing an old Chondathan ballad, the power of his music strengthening his comrades. Sawyer channeled his energy, weaving a thorn spray spell. A long line of darts sprang forth from his arms, hitting Sedivar's body.
Virgo and Erilett had their attentions focused on the other clone Dedivar. The wolverine sprang forward, slashing her claws deeply across his hip. Virgo moved in, bringing her Berserker Blade across the clone's chest, but Dedivar moved left, allowing only his right arm to take the cut. Virgo gripped her sword tighter, using the power of her Berserker Blade to fly into a rage. She stepped forward once again slashing her weapon into Dedivar's chest.
Dedivar put his left hand over his bleeding chest. Blood flowed between his fingertips, but that didn't stop him from attempting to cast a spell. With his fingers, he motioned for the Unholy Blight spell, and a cloud of darkness materialized in front of the woman and the wolverine.
The darkness cloud pressed itself into their bodies. Virgo began to feel sickness creep into her stomach. She wanted to quit the fight and lay on the floor, but being in her state of rage, the young woman wasn't going to lie down. Erilett let out a cry and slumped onto the ground.
Bowie saw Virgo standing there, fighting off the clone and her sickness. He looked at both of the clones, disbelieving that they would be in anyway a creation of the Manshoon's. He looked past them, seeing a tall man in black robes standing there, watching as the fight ensued. He must be Lucius Darkfang, The halfling said to himself as he darted forward, making a hard slash across Sedivar's leg then used his quick feet to move past him. When Bowie made it though the fray, he stood in front of Lucius, drawing Vithril, and grinned. "Lucius Darkfang I presume."
Lucius stared at the halfling. There was something familiar about the halfling, but Lucius had trouble figuring out who it was. "I didn't think clones of Manshoon would be this easy to fight," Bowie remarked with a chuckle.
Lucius looked past the halfling, seeing Sedivar doing what appeared to be a wild dance. The clone cursed in frustration as he couldn't control the motions of his body. King Azoun took this opportunity and cut his long sword hard across Sedivar's neck. The clone gasped in horror as he felt a sharp pain, then the separation of his head from his body.
"Inferior clones!" Lucius yelled as he drew his long sword. "I would have expected better from Charbrys."
"Charbrys?" Bowie whispered in confusion, seeming to remember the name from somewhere in his past. Lucius screamed as he came at the halfling, swinging his sword at Bowie's head. The halfling quickly deflected both of Lucius Darkfang's attacks with ease. The bard spun fast, and drove the pommel of his short sword hard into the bony jaw of Lucius Darkfang.
His jaw beginning to swell, Lucius jumped back and pulled out a small ruby, and chanted the word "Everlund." Just as the command word left his lips, Bowie sprang forward, slapping the blade of Vithril across his face. Lucius stepped back once again, vanishing in front of the halfling's eyes. Bowie let out an elvish curse as he sheathed Vithril.
A few feet from Bowie, Sawyer and Virgo were finishing off Dedivar. Virgo drove her blade into the midsection of the clone while Sawyer wove another thorn spray spell. Dedivar made no sound when the barrage of darts hit his body. He reached out with a hand to throw another spell, but then the blackness took him and his lifeless body fell to the cave floor.
Hannah quietly entered the cave, seeing the two bodies on the floor. She looked over at King Azoun who was holding the wolverine in his arms. Erilett shivered softly as she looked up at Hannah, then fell asleep in the arms of the King of Cormyr.
"She'll be fine," Sawyer said as he wrapped an arm around Virgo. "How goes the situation on the outside?"
"Gorstag and I managed to scatter them across the Stormhorns," Hannah responded cheerfully," If Lucius wants to look for his men, he better start searching before they get eaten by some giants."
"He'll probably back run to Charbrys to complain about his inferior clones," Bowie remarked as he carried a sleeping Marlena over his shoulder.
"Charbrys? Who is that?" asked Sawyer.
Bowie shook his head. "I don't know Sawyer, but my gut is starting to tell me that he and I have crossed paths before."