Chapter 6
Midsummer 1368 DR, Year of the Banner
The halfling, his two human companions, and the druid's wolverine entered a vast, well lit, rocky area with sharp stalactites that grew from the ceiling above. They scanned the area, looking for any sign of the dragon. Bowie drew Vithril when he saw a large, broken dragon skeleton. "What could have done this?" Bowie asked, looking at Roland and Val.
"A halfling, two humans, and a rat," howled a deep voice that shook the floor. "What fine trophies your heads will make for Dalugtin."
A twenty foot tall boar faced, ape-like demon with tiny leathery wings appeared in front of Bowie. His clawed hand pointed at the halfling. "Dalugtin will enjoy ripping your soul apart halfling."
Roland looked at Val. They both had a feeling they were going to fight a demon at some point, and though it didn't look like they were going to fight a dragon, this large beast would surely make for a good fight.
"I take it the dragon that was in these tunnels is laying right there," Bowie said, pointing his sword at the dragon bones.
The demon laughed. "My minions and I killed the dragon long ago and devoured his flesh. Now you will all die." The demon swung his claws at Bowie, but the halfling turned right, barely stepping out of the way of the claws. Roland stepped forward, slashing Flamestrike at the demon's body. The demon let out a scream as Roland's fiery blade struck his buttocks.
Val moved left of the demon's body, then stabbed Frostburn in Dalugtin's side. Dalugtin vanished from in front of Bowie, then reappeared several feet behind them, chanting some words in his abyssal tongue. Rainbow beams flashed around the demon's body, then burst across the room. Bowie felt pain in his body, but that was nothing compared to what Val, Roland, and Erilett were experiencing.
Val fell to the ground, as the memory of his father being slain by orcs flashed across his mind. Roland's memories were filled with his parent's death as well, and the fire that had consumed his home.
Erilett's nightmares were different, as she saw visions of Sawyer, Virgo, Roland, Val, and Bowie dying helplessly. Another vision passed through her mind, one of Sawyer yelling at her, calling her pathetic and useless. It was this memory that forced Erilett to her belly.
Then she heard Sawyer's voice inside of her head. It's not real Erilett, the demon is conjuring all of this. Pushing the bad visions away, Erilett rose to her feet, knowing that the druid was still alive, and that he would be back soon.
Memories of his parents being slain by Manshoon ran through Bowie's mind, but these were memories that the halfling conjured himself, and not the demon's creation. The memory filled him with a surge of energy. He ran forward and drove Vithril through the demon's stomach. The demon screamed and raked his claws across Bowie's face.
As the blood flowed down his stomach, Dalugtin conjured a black cloud, covering himself in darkness, and blinding the halfling.
Bowie spat the small trickle of blood that leaked from the cuts on his face as he waited for the demon to strike. He then felt something hit him, sending him to the floor. His ears picked up the sounds of growling and claws ripping through flesh..
When the darkness vanished, Bowie saw the demon covering his face, and blood on the wolverine's claws. The halfling rubbed his eyes when he spotted the large panther that stood next to the wolverine.
The panther let out a growl and jumped onto the demon, digging his paws into the demon's face.
"Bowie, what's wrong with Roland and my brother?" Virgo asked as she emerged from a large hole in the wall.
The bard looked down at Roland and Val, who were now just getting to their feet. "They were caught in the demon's spell," Bowie answered. "Is that panther Sawyer?" Virgo nodded with a look of pride on her face.
Erilett and Sawyer circled the demon. The blind demon raked his claws forward, actually scratching Sawyer. The panther stepped back and shifted back to the form of the druid. Bowie, as well as Val and Roland, were curious about the staff the druid held in his left hand.
The wolverine stepped back as the demon let out a mighty roar. Beside Dalugtin, two vrock demons appeared. The vrocks stepped towards the wolverine, but Val and Roland jumped in and intercepted the attacks. They swung their blades to block the wolverine from the the flesh ripping claws of the two vrock demons.
As Val and Roland were battling the vrocks, Sawyer drew Elowynn and cut the demon hard across the shoulder. Elowynn let out a war cry that filled the druid's head as the demon screamed in pain.
Gripping the staff, Sawyer channeled his druidic energy and the ancient energy of rocks that flowed around him. When he held his sword forward, green lighting shot from Elowynn's tip and hit the demon in the middle of the chest. The diamond on the staff's head began glow, and large vines sprouted from the ground, wrapping around the demon's legs. The demon tried to break free from the plants that bound his legs, but Virgo and Bowie drove their weapons through his chest. Despite the next blow the bard struck with Vithril, the demon wouldn't go down.
Then Sawyer slashed Elowynn hard across the demon's neck. He watched as Dalugtin's head fell to the floor, and shattered, spilling blood and brains next his headless corpse.
Back to the abyss, the sword hissed. The druid nodded, then looked over at Val and Roland, who were finishing the vrocks with accurate cuts to their throats.
Erilett limped over to her master, who scooped her in his arms. Roland and Val had cuts and scratches all over their arms and armor. "Just a few scratches," said the two young men as they looked at Bowie, with smiles on their faces. Bowie smiled, then walked over to the hole where Virgo and Sawyer had emerged from. He peeked inside and saw the biggest treasure pile he had ever seen. "Where did you find this?" he asked as he stepped in.
"We found the back entrance," Virgo answered as she and the others walked over the hole and stepped inside.
"How are we going to split all of this five ways?" asked Val as he walked over and picked up a dark blue silk cloak. He draped it over his body and put the hood up over his head.
Everyone's eyes widened as Val's body vanished in front of their eyes. "Val, where did you go?" Roland asked.
"I'm still here," Val answered, his voice remaining in the same spot from where he stood.
Bowie smiled as he picked up a large hard cover black book, then saw Val's body return after the young man had removed the cloak's hood off of his head. "It must be an invisibility cloak," the halfling explained. "You can all have my share of the treasure. I only want a handful of the gold and this book."
Sawyer smiled as he stared at the cover of the book. "The Brilliant Book of Bardly Ballads," he read aloud.
Val turned to Roland and whispered," Try saying that five times fast." Roland accepted Val's challenge and began to say the words, but he failed to say the title five consecutive times. Bowie Butterball stepped out of the treasure pile and watched his students dig through, calling dibs on items that caught their eyes.
Out of Virgo's hands, Val grabbed a beautifully crafted great sword that had the symbol of the war god Tempus inscribed on it's pommel. Virgo took the sword back, and shoved her brother's face into the pile of gold coins near their feet. Sawyer had found a silver box. When he opened it, he found several animal figurines inside, each of them carved from a different kind of stone. Roland had found a unicorn shaped amulet, and gave it to Sawyer. The druid tried to give it back, but Roland insisted Sawyer keep it, to honor his goddess. Val then found a crimson colored cloak and gave it to Roland. Roland put on the cloak, wondering what powers it could bestow onto it's wearer.
"You should be proud Bowie," Sylune's voice whispered in Bowie's mind.
"I am," Bowie responded. "They've grown since I first met them, and now here they are."
"You have learned much as well," Sylune commented. "I wouldn't be surprised if they made you a Senior Harper someday."
Bowie shrugged. He knew his chances of a promotion to Senior Harper were slim, yet the idea of being promoted intrigued him a little bit,
Bowie Butterball, Senior Harper, that has a nice ring to it, the halfling said to himself.
Shortly after arriving back in Shadowdale two days later, Bowie went to the Old Skull Inn and asked if he could rent the lobby for the evening. The inn's proprietor, Jhaele Silvermane wasn't sure about letting the halfling rent the lobby, but once he told her of his plan, she accepted.
"I wonder why Bowie wanted us to meet him?" Val asked Roland as they entered the dark lobby, only wearing the cloaks that were draped over their bodies.
"And why would he want us to enter naked?" added Roland as they removed their cloaks.
"Its all part of the initiation gentlemen," Bowie answered as he stepped forward, holding a small lantern with a white candle in it. "To be a Harper is many things. You must endure and suffer much."
"We fought a demon and survived Myth Drannor, what more could you want from us?" asked Roland in a harsh tone.
"You must first cross the Anarouch Desert," Bowie said in an ominous voice.
Val and Roland looked at each other, wondering exactly what that meant. A second later, they felt hard wooden paddles hit their exposed backsides. They let out a yell as they were pushed down a line, where along the way, they were greeted with hard paddle swats by men dressed in black cloaks.
"Now you must endure the Unblinking Eye of Denier," Bowie said in the same tone of voice. Roland and Val were pushed back down the line, paddles slapping their rears as they went.
"I just realized Roland," Val said as he tried to suppress the stinging in his rear. "Crossing the Anarouch Desert is a lot like the Unblinking Eye of Denier."
"And now gentlemen," Bowie said, this time in a louder voice. "The Paddling of the Red Swollen Backsides with paddles."
Roland and Val were sent through one last wave of paddling and spanking. When it was over, their backsides were as red as Roland's new cloak. Bowie smiled as he handed the young men their cloaks.
"Well gentlemen, you are now Harpers," Bowie said in a cheerful voice. "Now let's all get drunk and listen to some Harper stories. You just might learn something." Despite the soreness in their bottoms, Roland and Val let out a cheer and walked over to Rouric, who was pouring the ale.