Chapter 3: On the Run

"That must have hurt."

"Ya think?

"It's a good thing Tysan got to him when he did."

"Ugh…" Kaeryd groaned.

"Hey he's awake!"

"W-Where am I?" Kaeryd thought out loud.

"You're in Taverly, Kaer," came Jasmine's voice.

Kaeryd, still groggy, sat up in the lumpy bed. He was still wearing his favorite cloak, except now it had a huge tear across it.

"What happened?" Kaeryd asked groggily, looking around the room. The room was neither big nor small, which must make it a hospital room.

"You got battered by Sifias," Enterran said.

"Oh yeah, I remember now," Kaeryd remembered and put his hand on his chest. There was no pain, the wound was gone. Tysan had done a very good job.

"Then Hale came right?"

"Yep, I completely nailed him," Hale said with pride in his voice.

"Good, where's the King?" Kaeryd asked suddenly, his voice immediately down to business.

"He's with Zac," Auranus answered. Zac was Enterran's little brother.

"So they're here?"

"Yeah, Dysann is too," Hale replied.

"Great…, But first, I need to talk to the King," Kaeryd said seriously.

"All right, we're meeting for dinner in Zac's house tonight," Tysan added.

"Yeah, but right now you need to rest," Sonic reminded.

Slowly, everyone trickled out of the room, leaving Kaeryd with his own thoughts. Etherian…. He saw him. He was sure of it. Kaeryd had neglected to tell the others because he was rather sure no one would believe him…and there was something different about Etherian. Those eyes were red. No mistake.

That night, everyone crowded into Zac's house. The house was dimly lit with short candle sconces stationed around the interior.

"That was good!" Dysann sighed, emptying his bowl of stew. Dysann was nineteen, under Sonic who was twenty-one. At almost seven feet tall with jet-black hair and emerald green eyes, Dysann was an Officer of the once great Silver Chaos.

"Well, that's the last of the food, so you won't be getting any more," Zac said a tad grimly and sat down on a chair around the rectangular table.

"That was delicious!" King Zarin said in his booming voice and patting his pudgy stomach.

Kaeryd looked up from his soup. "King Zarin?"

"Yes?"

"What do we do now?" Kaeryd said worriedly.

"I've been thinking," King Zarin stood up, taking out a piece of parchment, and rolled it out on the table, "This is a map of Asgarnia, and this…is Taverly."

"Yeah, so?" Sonic was getting impatient. Kaeryd threw him a look that plainly said to show some respect. Sonic shrugged and look away.

"So, I noticed we're close to the cave," Zarin said looking up.

"What cave?" Tysan asked taking a bite out of a loaf of bread.

"Wait a second…are you talking about the Vault of the Ancients?" Jasmine's eyes perked up as the question popped from her mouth.

"Yes. The vault is somewhere in this area…somewhere on the peak of White Wolf Mountain," Zarin circled his finger around the top of the mountain, north of Taverly.

"All they way up there?" Enterran complained, "Why do we need to go there anyway?"

"Etherian told me about that place. I've never been there, but he told me it was a place of artifacts. A place of great power," Zarin explained nonchalantly.

Kaeryd nodded, "Yes, that's where Etherian got the orbs. The orbs that protect us from the Soul Reapers powers."

"Exactly. He had reason to believe that there were other artifacts there that might help us against the Soul Reapers. However, he never had time to check it out before he, uh, died," Zarin said slowing down on the last word.

"So we're going there?" Dysann said raising an eyebrow.

"Well we need to, but I do not think we can," Zarin said sitting back down with a heave.

"What? Why not?" Auranus asked still eating.

"Etherian told me that there was a powerful enchantment surrounding the entrance," Zarin sighed with a look of disappointment.

"An enchantment, huh?" Hale quirked his left eyebrow.

"Yes, and no one can break it! Except Etherian of course," Zarin said that last part

grumbling and throwing his hands into the air.

"Jasmine and I could have a crack at it," Kaeryd suggested. His sense of challenge was beginning pique.

"We were trained by Etherian you know," Jasmine affirmed, smiling confidently.

"I see, maybe it's possible then…" Zarin said looking up at the ceiling.

"Then it's settled! We're going to White Wolf Mountain!" Aghamand announced happily. Aghamand sported a head of ruddy brown hair and brown eyes. He stood six feet tall and had earned the title of a master druid.

Conversations sprung up around the room. None of them had ever gone to White Wolf Forest before. They were eager to go on an adventure, but they also knew it was a mission to destroy the Soul Reapers.

"All right, so we leave in the morning!" Sonic said turning to leave.

"Agreed!" Everyone said in unison.

Kaeryd yawned. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about Etherian. Was he dead? Did he really see him in the cave? He didn't know. But he was determined to find out. After the Soul Reapers were vanquished from the world, Kaeryd would find him. He promised himself that.

As his internal clock struck two, Kaeryd dressed and quietly tiptoed out of Zac's house. Outside, Kaeryd strolled around Taverly. Taverly was not big, at least not compared to Falador. The town was an overall decent place to live, situated as it was by an ocean. Kaeryd especially liked the view. He climbed a tower overlooking the ocean and gazed across the colossal ocean with awe. The silvery moon made the sea all the more enticing.

"You too, huh?" a voice said softly from behind Kaeryd.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep," Kaeryd did not turn. He could recognize Hale's voice anytime.

"Nice view," Hale commented.

"Yeah, I-" Kaeryd stopped in mid-sentence. That sound was definitely a scream. A woman's scream.

"What's that?" Hale pointed out behind Zac's house.

"Fire."

Kaeryd and Hale both leaped from the tower and dashed toward the flames, hoping their fears would be wrong.

"Oh no," Kaeryd gasped in disbelief.

"They found us already?" Hale said incredulously, looking from soldier to soldier.

There, in front of them, was the Misthalin Army as vile-looking as ever.

"How did they find us so fast…?" Hale glanced at Kaeryd.

"No idea," Kaeryd answered. He was getting angry again. Questions of how and why kept repeating themselves in his head.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here," A tall, lanky figure stepped away from the mass of the red-eyed knights.

"Who are you?" Kaeryd asked boldly. Both boys tensed and stepped into a crouch at the ready.

"Me? I'm Kaeryd. Great General of the Misthalin Army," He boasted with a condescending smirk.

"Yeah, whatever. Just hurry and let me kick your butt," Hale taunted.

"Not a good idea, Hale," Kaeryd whispered, not removing his eyes from the General.

"Die, Misthalin scum!" Hale raised his mammoth sword and it started to glow bright red. Hale then slammed it, point-down into the ground with all his might and craggy spikes of earth exploded from the ground at ferocious speeds.

"Hehehe…," Kaeryd gave a chuckle, as if it was mere child's play, and seemingly vanished from sight.

"What the-?" Hale looked around, bewildered and frustrated.

"Looking for me?" a sinister voice came from above Hale.

"No way…" Kaeryd breathed, staring upward.

"Y-your flying," Hale's eyes bulged.

Renafarr gave a hollow laugh, "You are nothing!"

"Shoot!" Hale rolled to the right as Renafarr came crushing down with a runite long sword in hand.

"HAHAHHAH! Attack the defilers!" Renafarr shouted and resumed fighting Hale.

"Aw crap, I can't fight an army by myself," mumbled Kaeryd. Just then the flames upon the burning house moved. They glided, hot and furious, across the field and made a wall in front of the army. The soldiers could not cross it.

"What, no 'thank you?'" Jasmine said holding her staff in the air as she came forward to

stand beside him.

"That was…amazing," Kaeryd looked at Jasmine gratefully.

"Yeah. Well, I can't hold it for long though." Jasmine's forehead was beginning to bead with sweat.

"Uh…Kaer? HELP?" Hale yelped, as he was knocked back by his black haired assailant.

"Coming!" Kaeryd threw one of his scimitars at Renafarr. The ancient-styled sword spun toward the general. Renafarr dodged it with a grunt, letting the weapon fall to the ground. As he was recovering from the dodge, Hale smashed Renafarr in the chest with the hilt of the sword. Renafarr coughed and staggered backward. Kaeryd quickly recovered his sword and jumped behind Renafarr, slashing at him. Renafarr backed up just in time, only to find an arrow suddenly embedded in his chest.

The general let out an agonizing scream. Hale sprinted toward Renafarr sword swinging, but regardless of injuries, his target ducked and leaped onto a nearby house. Another arrow zoomed by his face. Kaeryd hurriedly absorbed three air runes on his waist, concentrated, and muttered a spell. A gust of wind knocked Renafarr off balance and he came pummeling to the ground, apparently losing grasp of whatever helped him fly. His body hit the cold dirt with a thud.

"I'm out of fire runes!" Jasmine warned and a moment later, the wall of fire dissipated.

"Shoot, now we're in for it."

"Not quite," came Aghamand's voice. Kaeryd, Hale, and Jasmine spun around to see Aghamand, Zac, Sonic, Enterran, Tysan, and Dysann gathered by a house. Aghamand took out a rock with an etched symbol on it. He quickly pressed it firmly into the ground and spoke a few muffled words. Nearby trees suddenly started to thrash about, flinging the soldiers either into the earth with a crack of bones or into the air screaming.

"It's still not enough!" Sonic told Aghamand.

"We need to escape!" Zac urged.

"And leave all these people?" Auranus said appearing on their right, his quiver nearly empty of arrows.

"Everyone's already safe! We told them to head west to Catherby," explained Dysann.

"King Zarin is with the horses! We're ready to go to the Vault of the Ancients!" Enterran yelled over the screams.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get outta here!" Tysan yelled.

"Let's move!" Kaeryd commanded and headed northwest.

"Just a sec," Aghamand then raised his hands and giant thorny vines burst up from under the ground forming a twenty-feet tall wall of spikes.

"Wow," Tysan gaped, awestruck.

"That'll buy us some time," Aghamand said.

Then, together, the party sprinted toward Zarin's location.

"Hey! Over here!" Zarin waved at Kaeryd and the others. Kaeryd caught sight of the king behind a few trees to his right and stopped.

"Are you guys ready?" The king asked as Kaeryd neared him.

"Yeah, did you have the blankets and food packed, your Majesty?" Kaeryd questioned, feeling a bit strange to be asking a king to pack horse. Shrugging the notion off, he alighted a brown speckled horse.

"Of course."

"Then we're good to go."

"The sun's coming out, we need to move," Hale urged.

Zarin lead the group north, toward White Wolf Mountain. The mountain was immense in size and as the altitude increased, the weather dropped to freezing. Kaeryd and Jasmine, having received training from Etherian, could withstand the bitter temperatures, but Kaeryd knew that the others might struggle a bit. After a few minutes, the party reached the base of the mountain. They started to gallop along, slowly looking around.

"Come. We must press on," Zarin commanded and hurried his horse along. After what seemed to be hours in the biting cold and freezing winds, Zac discovered a cave a few meters from the road.

"Hey, let's rest here for awhile."

"All right, I could use a small respite," The King admitted.

Tysan slid off his horse and strode into the cave.

"Hey, it's much warmer in here!" Tysan shouted to the others jubilantly.

Everyone started to climb off his or her horses and take shelter inside the cave. Dysann lit a fire using some wood and a tinderbox from his bag. Auranus pulled out a few pieces of meat to cook on the fire. Everyone was hungry so he hurried, and in about five minutes, lunch was served. True, meat and some cold bread did not account for much of a lunch, but everyone enjoyed it. People began to relax, talking amongst themselves. Perhaps they were finally safe.

Kaeryd felt at leave to stroll out of the cave. He sat down on a rough rock and thought about his home and everyone in it. What had happened to Rimmington? He wondered about that a lot. And what about Etherian? Was he alive? The same questions…over and over. He couldn't stop thinking about it.

Then he heard it. A jarring howl to his right. Kaeryd glanced over to see what had made the screech. Two golden eyes glared at him from the trees, eyes that could have belonged only to a wolf. A huge wolf.

Feet in thick boots came rushing out.

"What was that?" Jasmine said as she emerged from the cave.

"A wolf."

"Not just a wolf…wolves," Tysan pointed a few yards in front of them.

There, camouflaged in the snow, snarled twelve other wolves. The giant one was obviously the alpha pack leader. Saliva dripping from their snouts, the wolves slinked slowly toward their prey.

"Okay, I kind of wanted to avoid this," Zarin said from behind Kaeryd.

"Well, they're here now. Should we just run?" Zac asked to everyone.

"No way! There just wolves…" Hale took his gigantic sword off his back and held it out. Other fighters likewise unsheathed their weapons.

The wolves charged. The party was ready for them. Hale swung at a wolf, slashing it across its body. The animal collapsed abruptly, blood staining its white fur. Auranus plucked out an arrow from his quiver and shot a wolf straight in the heart. Sonic, battling two of the brutes simultaneously, blocked a razor-sharp claw with his shield and backed up a couple steps. The other wolf pounced full force at Sonic but he ducked and the wolf crashed into a rock, losing consciousness. The other wolf bit at Sonic's leg but his runite armor was too strong for his jaws. Sonic shook him off and stabbed the wolf with his longsword.

"We'll protect the king!" Dysann said and nodded to Zac and Aghamand. The three then took the king into the cave.

Enterran dodged left and jabbed at a wolf's neck. Four wolves were on him. Enterran knew he was in trouble but he had to keep fighting. He jumped high into the air and spun his spear over his head like a helicopter. Wind and gales formed around Enterran. He then took his spear and thrust it down toward the ground. The spear hit the ground, sending a tornado swirling about it, throwing the wolves onto each other, knocking them out.

Meanwhile, Tysan was guarding Jasmine as she cast her spell.

"Hurry up with that spell, Jasmine!" Tysan shouted as he kicked a wolf away from Jasmine.

"I am! I am!" Jasmine shouted back. Jasmine was readying a legendary spell. One that would terrify the wolves so they would not return.

"Crap, I don't have any lava runes," Jasmine rememered worriedly, "Kaeryd! Do you have any lava runes?"

"Yeah, a few. Hold on!" Kaeryd stabbed a wolf in the head, spun around, and slashed a wolf with his other weapon vertically.

"Here!" Kaeryd yelled to Jasmine and threw all his lava runes toward Jasmine. Jasmine absorbed two air runes to snatch the lava runes mid-air, and then absorbed the four runes into the palm of her hand, quickly followed by two additional fire runes and a couple air ones for good measure.

"I'm ready! Everyone into the cave!" Jasmine shouted.

Feet scurried as people heeded her warning and fell back toward the cave. After everyone was in, Jasmine lifted her staff and invoked the words, "Flames of Zamorak!" Flames erupted from her hand enveloping the wolves. Howls of pain pierced the air as all the wolves perished inside the merciless blaze. As the smoke cleared, Kaeryd and the others peered out of the cave. Nothing was alive, just ashes and charred earth.

"Wow, that was more effective than I thought it would be," Jasmine commented a bit shocked.

"Uh…yeah," Hale said gaping at the destruction.

"That was awesome!" Tysan said jumping happily.

"Nicely done," Kaeryd complimented.

"I'm exhausted," Jasmine sighed. She had read about the spell in a book shortly before the Misthalin attacked, but nowhere did it mention such an aftereffect.

"Well, let's go," King Zarin said, mounting his horse.

Some of those who had fought the wolves groaned but nonetheless obeyed their king, mounting horses and cleaning up the remains of their meal. Many rode congratulating Jasmine on the spell and cheering for themselves on the victory over the mountain wolves. Everyone was happy and full of mirth as they rode on up to the frozen peak. So joyful however, that they failed to notice a Misthalin scout team trailing them in the shadows.

"Yes! We're finally here!" Enterran exclaimed as they reached the peak of White Wolf Mountain.

"Okay, let's split up and find that vault," Zarin suggested immediately.

Kaeryd nodded and began looking around. The spectacular view from this height required some time to gaze upon it. He was able to see the top of the tall oak trees around the mountain and a clock tower in the distance. The sun's rays shone warmly upon Kaeryd's face as he searched for the vault. A few minutes passed as everyone scoured the peak.

And then… "I found it!"

Zac waved everyone over to his position behind a few boulders. King Zarin was the first to reach him, despite his size. Zac pointed toward an elaborately decorated door. Zarin followed Zac's finger to the magnificent, eight feet tall door. White as the snow, the door held a golden symbol of a tree with huge branches jutting out of the trunk engraved on it. Even the tree's leaves were golden. Zarin approached it and touched the door. The others watched him. Zarin then backed up a few steps.

"Okay so we just…open it?" Dysann asked.

"I don't know," Zarin answered, "It's worth a try."

Dysann approached the door and put his hand on the handle. He pulled with all his might but the door did not budge.

"Dang, I think it's locked," Dysann answered after another try.

"Hmmm… let me take a look at it," Zac said and trudged through the snow to the door. Zac put his ear to the lock. Hearing nothing, Zac then took out a small silver stick and inserted it into the keyhole carefully. Zac felt around the lock with the needle, gazing upward as if seeing the inside of the lock. After a few moments, he grunted, shook his head and took out a bigger pick to stick inside the lock. After a few more minutes, Zac jerked the pick free and cursed.

"It won't open."

"Shoot, now what?"

"Didn't you say there was an enchantment on it?" Jasmine asked the King.

"Yes, but Etherian said it was behind the door, not the door itself," Zarin explained.

"Maybe if we had a cannon…," Sonic muttered.

Then, quite suddenly, a gray blur of a cannonball zoomed above their heads and smashed into the door with a roaring bang. Smoke cleared, and they saw that the door was completely demolished, golden plates scattered in the snow. Behind it was a red shield of some kind.

"Huh," Sonic said and raised an eyebrow. Everyone looked behind them and saw a dwarf multi-cannon sitting on a rock next to a Misthalin army.

"You missed!" a familiar voice berated the soldier manning the cannon.

"Sorry, master," The soldier answered in a feeble voice.

"Etherian?" Kaeryd squinted at the yelling general. It was him! That hair and armor…he was alive! But what was he doing with the Misthalin?

"Ah, the general of the once great Silver Chaos!" Etherian smirked at Kaeryd.

"What? Etherian what are you doing?" Kaeryd asked.

"Etherian? My name is Sifias," Etherian/Sifias answered.

"No…" Kaeryd shook his head. That was Sifias' voice. Not Etherian's. But… The boy did not have to wait long for an answer to his unspoken question.

"My body was getting weak because of all the battles…so, instead of killing your precious guild master, I possessed him," Sifias sneered.

"So…that wasn't you in the cave?" Hale exclaimed.

"I was in the cave…but it wasn't me that you killed. He was my officer," Sifias said looking away abruptly. Was the vile man actually mourning his comrade? That mentality certainly didn't fit Kaeryd's opinion of him.

"And now, you will share the same fate," Sifias said turning back, a low fury laced in his voice, and raised his hand, "Get them!" Sifias ordered his scout team.

"Oh, no you don't," Kaeryd murmured and took out the small artifact. Holding it up, the orb radiated and glowed brightly.

"Damn that orb. No matter. Slay them instead!" Sifias shouted and the small army behind him charged. Black knights, soldiers, and mages…the remains of the Silver Chaos didn't stand a chance.

"Crap!" Hale cursed. He unsheathed his weapon and held it in front of him, ready to strike. Dysann took out his giant hammer and Zac fastened his runite claws. Enterran held his spear out as Sonic brought his menacing sword and shield to a crouch. Tysan pulled out his double-sided sword as Auranus expertly strung his bow and notched an arrow.

"Kaeryd! Jasmine! Break the enchantment!" Zarin shouted to Kaeryd and Jasmine. They nodded and darted toward the door.

"Go for the ones at the door!" Sifias commanded.

"You'll have to get through us first…" Sonic said standing in front.

"Fine. The defilers must die…" The two groups engaged in battle.

"Okay, let's see if we can do this…" Kaeryd said approaching the force field.

"Hmm… I think it's a Shield Spell," Jasmine said. She waved her hand across the wall.

"Don't think so, I think it's a Wall Spell," Kaeryd answered.

One by one, Auranus sent his arrows flying in a flurry toward the enemy faction. One by one they fell.

"Hold your ground!" Eclipse shouted over the racket. He bashed a black knight with his kite shield, stunning him. He then thrust his sword into the knight's chest. Hale, fighting a few spaces to Sonic's left, swung his gargantuan sword, cutting four knights across the chest. He then somersaulted over a knight, and came down stabbing his sword into the cold earth. The ground rumbled under their feet, knocking a few knights off of their feet. Enterran spun around in a circle pushing enemies backward. He then hit a knight with the blunt side of his spear and spun again, bringing the bladed side of his spear this time slamming into the knight's chest.

"All right let's assume it's a Wall Spell," Jasmine consented.

"Okay then, let's see if I remember…" Kaeryd held up both his hands and closed his eyes. Etherian taught him this. He knew how to disenchant a Wall Spell and was determined to do it. Jasmine did the same. Their hands started to glow blue and small beams of light started to shoot out toward the force field.

Slowly but surely, the field started to contract and dispel.

Tysan slashed a soldier in the leg and punched the guy's face. The soldier crumpled to the ground with a groan and a few broken teeth. Tysan then stabbed behind him with the backside of his sword. He hit his mark and then brought down the other side of the sword on an unsuspecting knight.

Zac and Dysann, on the other hand, were cornered at a cliff surrounded by about eight soldiers.

"Shoot," Zac swiped at a knight and sent him flying down the cliff. Dysann grunted and smashed his maul into a knight's chest, completely shattering the armor.

"Crap, we're still screwed," Zac said worriedly. But then, nearby trees came to life and swept them up into its high branches. They were safe in the trees for now. Aghamand, who was controlling the trees, took out a Limpwurt root and stuck it into the ground. Suddenly roots burst up from the ground just as they did in Taverly. The thorny, bramble vines thrashed about killing nearby knights and soldiers.

"It's working!" Jasmine exclaimed happily. She caught herself before she actually clapped in satisfaction.

"Yeah, it's almost gone," Kaeryd agreed triumphantly.

"Hurry up you two!" Zarin shouted impatiently from behind a rock.

"Don't worry it's almost done!" Jasmine replied. By now, their comrades fighting in the battle were slowly retreating.

"Is it open?" Hale shouted to Kaeryd.

"Almost!" Kaeryd saw that the army was approaching fast and they were going to reach Jasmine and him before they could finish.

"Jas! I can handle it from here! Keep the army back!" Kaeryd shouted to Jasmine. She glanced at him once, then nodded quickly and turned toward the approaching army. The remains of her work switched over to his concentration.

"Aghamand!" Jasmine looked at Aghamand and he nodded. The roots Aghamand was controlling retracted into the ground and burst up again in front of their allies. Jasmine then shouted, "Everyone behind me!"

They frantically did as she said, recalling what she had created at the base of the mountain. However, Jasmine absorbed only two fire runes and threw a fireball at the squirming roots. The vines erupted into flames and now formed a giant firewall protecting them from the enemy.

"It's open!" Kaeryd shouted. Dysann grabbed the king and hurried inside. People rushed in after the two. Kaeryd took one look back toward sunlight, then rushed into the darkness of the vault.