Ghostly Citadel. A Quick Escape.
"He's coming around Lynsey," the ranger heard Timber say just as he was opening his eyes. "How are you feeling Dorm?"
"Like I've just been hit with twenty pounds of ice and stone," the ranger moaned as he rubbed his jaw, which was a little swollen. He slowly sat up, the throbbing pain that had originated in his face had expanded to the back of his skull. His green eyes scanned the area and the rage in his stomach began to grow when he noticed that he and his friends were locked inside of a small prison cell, made of the darkest color of stone he had ever seen. The iron bars that separated Dorm and his friends from the outside world appeared to be made of iron.
Dorm didn't need to ask where his weapons were. He knew exactly what was going on, and before he could say anything, the traitor approached the cell, wearing dark silks over his leathers.
"I see you're awake," said Ash Werewood as he stood outside of the cell, staring at his three former friends.
"You son of a bitch," Lynsey muttered, her eyes filled his anger.
Dorm rubbed the side of his face. "You have a lot of balls coming down here Ash. You betrayed us and it looks like you separated us as well. And for what? Do you want Redcrosse for yourself?"
"For what?" Ash repeated. "After Mason disbanded us years ago, while you and Timber were enjoying being bachelors in Solace and while you Lynsey were playing dark knight hunter in the South, I was selling my services to the good people of Ergoth. After working for a few employers, I was hired by Rownan and eventually earned a place at his side. Rownan is one of Frost's more powerful warlords and with him, I can go far."
The three prisoners looked at each other for a brief moment, then back at the one who betrayed them.
"As for Roxi, Melinda, and the dwarf," Ash continued, taking two steps closer as he spoke," they're coming with us to the Ghostly Citadel."
"So Rownan wants Redcrosse," guessed Dorm as he crossed his arms.
Ash laughed at the ranger. "Rownan just wants to explore the Citadel and keep its treasures, but one insignificant sword isn't much of a value to him. So yes Dorm, I do want Redcrosse for myself. I would have gone for the sword soon if Riva Silverblade hadn't been so stubborn in following the directions of Mason's will and getting you all here. But don't worry, I'll bring the others back. Of course, you three will be dead before then."
Ash pressed his face against the bars. "It's too bad it had to end like this my friends."
Finally fed up with his words, Dorm and Lynsey moved towards the traitor, but it was Timber who reached him first. The elf's slender, but muscular hands reached through the open spaces between the bars and grabbed Ash by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him closer, his head crashing on the bars.
"Listen to me you sneak," the elf said in a cold voice. "When we get out of here…and we will Ash because you should know that a piss ant prison cell like this one can not keep me locked up…We're coming to the Citadel to not only get that sword before you, but to also slit your throat with it."
Timber held Ash for a moment longer, then tossed him to the floor. Ash hissed blood trickled down his lips. After taking one last look at the prisoners, he walked away.
Once the traitor was out of sight, Timber breathed a sigh of relief. "That went well."
"Yes it did," Lynsey added with a shake of her head. "Not only do we have to look forward to Ash getting more guards, but our executions will probably be sooner than scheduled. It's obvious why he only took Roxi, Melinda, and Cicily , and not us." Her green eyes went to Dorm, confident that he was thinking the same thing she was.
"Because each of us could beat him in a fair fight," Dorm said. "Melinda's magic is very powerful, but one spell drains her of her energy. He hasn't seen Cicily fight, so he doesn't consider her a threat…a grave mistake if you ask me. Then there's Roxi, who is powerful, but he could come up with some story, that if she resists, he'll have us killed on the spot."
Timber sat up against the wall. "Yeah, but Roxi knows we could hold our own against Rownan's ogres."
"It didn't take very much to surprise me and Dorm," Lynsey said, her head titled towards the bars. "And I'm sure it didn't take very many to get the drop on you and Cicily."
The elf gritted his teeth. "No it didn't. We thought Ash was going to get you guys. But then I got hit by that damn hammer in the stomach. Thankfully Roxi ran over and healed me." He sighed as he looked at the floor, his eyes drifting from one end of the cell to the other. Along the way, he spotted a small brown haired mouse scurrying towards him. "Smelly rat," the elf said as he tried to shoo the rat away.
"Who are you calling sssmelly elf," hissed the mouse as he darted past Timber and went over to the ranger.
Timber jumped back, gripping the bars tightly. "Did…did that thing just speak to me?"
"Apparently he didn't like that you called him a smelly rat," Dorm answered as he looked down at the rodent, who looked up at him with its beady black eyes.
"Dorm Sssilverfalcon, I have found an escape route and I've also got all of your weapons they ssstole from you."
The ranger continued to stare at the rodent. "Do I know you?"
Upon hearing the ranger's words, the mouse dashed to the cell entrance, hen peeked around, and making sure no guards were coming. Closing its eyes, the mouse's body shifted from rodent into a medium sized green scaled draconian wearing hide armor. As he stretched his bat-like wings and arms, the draconian's yellow eyes were fixed on Dorm. He reached into a small brown bag on his belt and pulled out the ranger's swords, the bow, and then finally the quiver.
"Let's just say we met in Darken Wood," the draconian said as he handed Lynsey the bag, allowing her to pull free her sword. "My name isss Codoesss and like you I am a faithful follower of Habbakuk. I also ssserve the Foressstmaster. Ssshe sent me when you and Tibalt left Darken Wood. I've been hiding in your quiver."
Dorm smiled. A draconian druid, he thought in amusement. "You must be a pretty powerful druid to sustain your shape for this long."
Codoes smiled. "I've ssshifted to my normal form and rested at different points throughout your journey. One moment pleassse." The draconian shifted back into a mouse and ran out of the cell. He returned ten minutes later, a small key in his mouth covered in grime and spit.
Just as Dorm bent down to grab the key, two club wielding ogres burst into the prison area. "Where mouse go with key?" asked one ogre.
The ogres walked over to the cell together, seeing the prisoners armed with weapons. "Give us key," one of them commanded to Dorm. Dorm smirked as Lynsey stepped forward and drove the tip of her sword through the ogre's neck.
After watching his companion fall to the floor, the other ogre retreated from the prison area.
"Should we go after him?" asked Timber as he reached through the bars and went through the ogre's armor, finding three pieces of steel.
Dorm smiled as he unlocked the cell and opened the door. He looked at the mouse and asked," You said you know of way out of here?"
Codoes nodded and began leading the way.
Rownan and Ash were the first to enter the Ghostly Citadel. On the outside, the citadel appeared to be an ordinary tower with several stories, made of milky white colored stone that had become eroded and chipped in many places over the years. The Citadel had been built by a wizard of the black robes three years before the Second Cataclysm. When the gods left the world (or had it stolen by the Dark Queen as many priests would say), it was said that the wizard went made and locked himself in the tower, never to be seen by living eyes again.
The inside of the Ghostly Citadel was similar to the outside. Its white walls were eroded and decaying. The floor of the Citadel was barely visible, due to the thick mist that engulfed the stone tile. Shadows clung to the ceiling and hideous looking statues of gargoyles were lined up against the walls.
Several ogres entered the citadel, followed by three prisoners who were chained together. Ash looked at each of them, studying the expressions on their faces. The mage's eyes told him little of what she was thinking. He then stared at the dwarf, who appeared to be irritated with the ogres, who took turns in poking her with their axes.
Then his eyes turned to Roxi. Her blue orbs stared at him, filled with confusion and hatred.
"You made a wise decision my friend," Rownan said as he clasped Ash on the shoulder. "Soon the treasures of the citadel will be ours."
Ash turned to the commander. "Just so long as I get the sword."
"Aye the sword. Do you think the other prisoners will come?"
A thin smile parted Ash's lips. "If they do escape, it is only because your grunts were grabbing their rear ends instead of finishing them off. But look at it this way, if the others do make it here, we will finish them. And I will use the sword to slit their throats."
Rownan smiled, then walked away. Ash's eyes turned back to Roxi, who stood in front of him.
"This wasn't suppose to be like this," the cleric said as she looked up at Ash. "We were suppose to go look for Redcrosse together."
"But we are together," Ash responded with a sneer. "And after we find the sword, you and the others will be reunited. In the afterlife that is. I'm sure by now Rownan's men has already disposed of them."
The priestess shook her head. "I don't believe you, and if they are dead…"
Ash grinned and walked away. Roxi sighed and quickly made her way back to Cicily and Melinda. "Is that any way for a priestess of Mishakal to talk?" asked the dwarf, her hands on her hips.
"Even Mishakal walks the heavens, carrying a flaming sword," Roxi answered as she walked to Melinda, whose head was pressed against the wall. "Melinda is something wrong?"
"Strong magic and so much undead are in this place," was the answer the wizard gave to the half-kender.
"Move out," came Rownan's deep voice from up ahead. Roxi shook her head. She turned to help Melinda, but saw that Cicily was already helping her up.
"Now just because your red head friend doesn't trust magic doesn't mean I don't," the dwarf said in a low voice. "I'm actually quite fond of it. Truth be told, I think there's something else that makes the mage and the red head argue, but that's just my opinion."
Roxi nodded in agreement. Her thoughts went to Dorm, Timber, and Lynsey. Were they dead like Ash was saying, she wondered. Or were they well on their way.
The cleric marched along side her companions, part of her wishing that her friends would bust into the Citadel and come to their rescue.
Another part of her wished she carried the flaming sword, like her goddess.
The two ogres who had been guarding the front door, came at the escaped prisoners with their sword swinging.
Dorm, whose blades were already marinated in ogre and thaoni blood, snapped into action once more, bringing his long sword at a high angle to intercept one ogre's sword. Though the force of the impact almost knocked him over, the ranger managed to bring his short sword low, driving it deeply through the ogre's belly.
The ogre howled as the ranger pulled the short sword free. The wounded guard stumbled over and screamed as Dorm's shorter blade went through his skull.
Less than three feet away from the ranger, Timber and Lynsey both toyed with the remaining guard, parrying any strike that came their way.
"Why don't you let me have this one," suggested the elf as he scratched the ogre's temple with his rapier. Annoyed, the ogre gave a mighty, but slow swing of his sword, which both the elf and the woman avoided with ease.
Lynsey raised her sword to deliver the killing blow, but Timber was the quicker, tumbling past her and plunging his rapier deeply into the guard's back. Not wanting to lose her kill, Lynsey gave a swing of her own sword, cutting the ogre's head off his shoulders.
"About time," Dorm remarked with a smile. He looked on the ground, seeing the mouse chewing on a piece of moldy cheese that he had recovered from the other ogre's pocket.
"Of all the things these guards could have carried on their person, they had to pick moldy old cheese," Timber said as he poked the headless body with his rapier.
Codoes quickly shifted back to his draconian form and tossed the rest of the cheese in his mouth. "It'sss not asss bad asss you might think," he said after finishing it. "I take it you will be going to the Ghossstly Cssitadel from here?" he asked Dorm, his reptilian eyes filled with concern.
Dorm nodded. "Our friends need rescuing, and we also need to find the sword."
"Not to mention our business with Ash," Lynsey added as she walked to the door.
Codoes lowered his head and wished them good luck as they left. Closing his eyes, the draconian's body shifted into the form of a dove and flew out of an open window.