"To rescue Head Wizard Rosheil, we'll need to get past the blue dragon, not to mention tons of Black Knights as well." Kondaz muttered softly.
"I realize that, Kondaz, but it's all right. If we go together, we can crush those knights and hopefully avoid the dragons," Alexandros offered.
"Wait, soldier, don't you want to hear the good and bad news about your organization? You waved me off when I first asked you about that," Nicolas reminded Alexandros, who nodded this time. He braced himself for the news, and even the wizards themselves gathered around Nicolas, waiting to hear the young mage's words.
"First, the bad news, so get ready. The Imperial Guards are dead."
Nicolas' words washed like a cold storm over Alexandros, who gasped in horror. The wizards were silent as they watched an expression of bewilderment stretch itself across Alexandros' face.
"What happened?" Alexandros demanded to know.
"Well, according to what I heard, a White Knight came from Falador and ordered Burthorpe's monarchy to send what's left of the Guards up to fight the trolls again. The Knight explained that Falador feared the trolls might eventually get past Burthorpe and start attacking the rest of Asgarnia, too. The Guard had no choice but to follow orders, and subsequently, the Guard were completely wiped out despite equipped with powerful weapons brought to them by the Knight."
"My mission is pointless now, then," Alexandros uttered. "What use am me now, without a job? My comrades are dead, all because of a stupid order from Falador. Maybe Falador sent the Guard to their deaths on purpose!"
"That's exactly what I had in mind, soldier. Falador always wanted Burthorpe for themselves, without the Guard to defend the village; it'll fall easily into the White Knights' rule. Quite cunning, I must say. However, the good news is that one of the Guards survived; his name was Joxcaite, apparently he was the Commander."
"Commander Joxcaite survived? Yes!" Alexandros cheered.
"So, what'll you do now, soldier?" Kondaz demanded. "Will you continue to help us, or head back to protect your village?"
"I know it's a hard decision, but I've decided to stay. I'll help you rid of the Knights and save Rosheil, and then hopefully meet up with my Commander and find out what's going on at Falador. There's still the Warrior's Guild near Burthorpe to protect the village; their leader Harrallak is a tough man to reason with."
"All right," Kondaz looked relieved. "What will we do now? We can't launch a direct assault because of our scarce runes and lack of anti-dragon armor."
"I've got a plan for that, my friends," Nicolas announced triumphantly. "The answer is Lance Jaszas! He is one of the Slayers of the recently disbanded Ardougne Slayer Force, and from what I heard; he's currently near Draynor Village. I know Victoros Paladine, the best of the Slayers, might be a better choice, but I've got no idea where he is currently. So our best bet would be to find Lance and have him slay the dragon while we rescue Rosheil. Then you'll give me those Soul Runes you promised, right?" The young mage turned to face Kondaz, who nodded slowly.
With that, Nicolas and Alexandros left the Tower to find Lance. There were only a few hours before Rosheil was due to be executed by the dragon's fiery breath.
*************************************************************
Volstagh Abumei took aim, and instantly fired five rune knives at his target with deadly accuracy. However, his would-be victim was more nimble than he thought, easily reacting to the attack and diving to the side to dodge the potentially fatal knives.
Damn, zero-for-two. Volstagh had already missed his target two times already. The bounty hunter reached into his supply pack and pulled out twenty rune knives, with two between each finger. He stood up behind the bush he was hiding behind, and jumped up high, firing the knives one by one with deadly ease. The knives zoomed at the target, who dodged all of them easily, twisting, turning, jumping and running nimbly. The last one almost got his throat, but he spun around at the last second, the knife only scratching his shoulder slightly. Volstagh slammed his fist on his knees in anger. This guy was certainly tough to hit.
"You call yourself a bounty hunter?" the man mocked.
"Shut up, Lance Jaszas!" Volstagh growled. "I'll get your throat before long!"
Lance unsheathed his Dragon Longsword and turned to glare at Volstagh. The bounty hunter suddenly jumped backwards.
"It's time to retreat, but be warned, Lance Jaszas, I will get you soon," Volstagh whispered in a soft voice. The softer the bounty hunter speaks, the more deadly he means. The bounty hunter was quite shocked at his target's speed, but there's still a week before he is due to collect the bounty. Plenty of time, Volstagh decided. He gave Lance a dirty look and charged away into the bushes, disappearing from sight.
Lance sighed and slid the Longsword back into its ruby-red sheath. This was the third time in three days that Volstagh had ambushed him, and he had failed every time. Perhaps he'll never stop until Lance gives himself in, but that wasn't possible. No way was he going to die at the hands of a greedy bounty hunter like Volstagh. The warrior reached over for his heavy brown backpack, and slung it over his shoulder as he followed the path south.
How I miss the days in the warm hideout, Lance thought sadly. Days of journeying into the Wilderness with my comrades…fighting to repel the evil of Gielinor. Perhaps a time will arise when my services will be needed again. The former Ardougne Slayer Force Slayer sighed and continued on. I might even encounter Dirk, Chonalin, Victoros, and the rest of the Slayers again…
Lance walked into the Market Square of Draynor Village and reached into his backpack to grab out a few gold coins. He handed them to the bakery stall owner, who gave him two large cakes. Everything had either gone up or down since the economy crisis had begun, and cakes had shot rapidly up in price. One cake was worth 200GP now, and Lance had just spent 400GP on two full-sized cakes. The Slayer quickly devoured the first cake, and was just starting to eat the second one when the bakery stall owner, a man with brown hair, stopped him.
"You look famished. Are you all right?" the owner asked, concerned.
"It's all right, I just had a rough day," Lance replied. "In short, I was attacked by a bounty hunter, but I managed to survive."
"Bounty hunters...people would do anything to gain money these days," the owner stated crossly. "Even killing people for money!"
"Yeah, I know. I was a Slayer of the Ardougne Slayer Force, but due to the economy crisis, we were forced to disband. I'm now an adventurer, letting my travels write out my life."
"Well, here you go, it's a big loss to me, but here's a free slice of cake." The owner handed him a delicious slice of cake on a paper plate, and Lance accepted it gratefully. He bid farewell to the bakery stall owner and was heading out of Draynor Village when suddenly a young mage, accompanied by an Imperial Guard soldier, stopped him.
"What do you fine people want?" Lance asked the two in front of him.
"My name is Alexandros Buchelof, and this young mage here is called Nicolas. We need your help, mighty Slayer."
"How did you know I was a Slayer?"
"We overheard your conversation with the bakery stall owner. Please, great Slayer, assist us, this is very urgent!"
"Fine, tell me what it is first, though. I require the details."
Alexandros leaned forward and began to speak.
"We need you to help slay a blue dragon…"
Victoros Paladine and Joseph Dolciban stepped into Draynor Village. They had been kicked out from Falador for unknown reasons, and now they were thinking of a plan to get in.
It was there that Victoros noticed something. A circular mark had been carved into a nearby oak tree, with a capital L in the middle. It was the sign of Lance Jaszas, his former comrade! He always left his symbol wherever he went, because he was too proud, but Victoros had always lectured him that this would mean enemies can track him down easier.
"Wait here, Joseph, rent a room or two, I'll be back shortly," Victoros ordered Joseph, handing him a pouch full of money.
"You're not gonna ditch me, are you?"
"I'm a Slayer, I'll keep my word. See you in a few hours."
Victoros rushed off from Draynor, strapping on his armor along the way. He followed the various marks, determined to find Lance again.
*********************************************************
Kondaz was looking out the window, in the direction of the Black Hole cave. He felt anger flowing through him; he would love to death blast every single Knights in Gielinor to death.
"Am I wrong?" Kondaz asked.
"What do you mean?" Johan answered, as he entered the room.
"I mean am I wrong to doubt the soldier and the boy Nicolas?"
"Well doubt is to be expected, but remember what he is capable of. He had enough brainpower to think up that escape strategy by hiding us under the ground hidden away beneath here."
"Anyone could think of that." Kondaz argued.
"That's not my point; I'm saying he works well in a crisis. Also, did you not see the Book of Balance he wields and that glowing stone in his pocket?"
"All right. But what good would this Lance be? His name will be more of a problem to the Knights than his strength. Even if he is a Slayer, can he really fight off tens of the Kinshra at once?"
"If you are so concerned, why did you not offer to travel with Alexandros and Nicolas?"
"Because I was scared. I'm in no shape to travel, and I'm no good against big brutes or anything in fact, even a young impling could take me on when I don't have my runes with me."
"Talking of runes, why don't we mine our own runes? We have teleports, do we not?"
"For goodness sake Johan, think about it! As soon as the economy swung out of control everyone began fishing, woodcutting and mining. Where did that get us? Barely any fish, trees and ore, all of it was used. Then the runecrafters put such a strain on the Essence Mountains that they lost their quality. Our crafters came back with merely airs and mind runes for days!"
"It was just a thought, and surely we can fix it?"
"Well we're the only people who know how, but we can't actually get anywhere with a big part of the Kinshra population right on our doorstep!"
Kondaz resumed to looking out the window, and Johan walked out of the room, slowly closing the door behind him.
"Let's do this, Alex," Nicolas commanded as Lance followed the two of them. Alexandros nodded and led them to the entrance of the Black Hole cave.
Inside the cave itself, Rosheil was still there. His body was incredibly numb and sore, having been chained to the wall for days, and every morning a new victim would be burnt to a pile of charred bones. He was also incredibly hungry; the knights fed him just a loaf of bread and cup of water every day, enough to keep him alive, however. Every morning Rosheil dreaded where the dragon would go, and it always seemed to breathe its blast of fire towards him, only to quickly change its way and kill another poor soul. It was that time of the day again, and the dragon was pulled out of its lair. Its large blue scales shimmered in the light, and its red eyes burned right into Rosheil's soul as he looked in terror at it, feeling his hear pounding rapidly against his chest.
Where the hell is Alexandros, Rosheil thought as he watched the dragon advance slowly, tons of knights cheering around its massive body.
"Today, my friends, this wizard here will be burnt to a crisp," a black knight, who was pulling the dragon by its chain, said loudly. The others cheered and jeered. Rosheil thought he was going to faint right there.
"Five, four, three, two, one," the same black knight chanted, and as soon as his voice trailed off, the dragon let loose a huge blast of fire, shooting straight at Rosheil.
"Good-bye, Alexandros, Kondaz, and the rest of my loyal wizards," Rosheil murmured sadly as he watched the fire near him with every second. Suddenly, a strong looking warrior jumped in front of his chained body and deflected the flames with one swing of his Dragon Longsword.
"Sorry to disappoint, my friends, but Rosheil here is going to live!" Lance bellowed dominantly at the knights, who cowered in fear.
"Attack!" a black knight ordered the blue dragon as he pulled off the chains restricting its movements. Nicolas quickly shot a Claws of Guthix spell at the knight, who was instantly binded. Others charged at the young mage, but he caused more of them to be immobilized. Alexandros was punching and smashing any knight coming his way; his attacks were those of ultimate fury.
"All right, little dragon, let's start the show!" Lance yelled. He quickly hurled a small knife to Alexandros, who caught it by its handle and used to it to easily slice off the chains binding Rosheil. He then moved on to the other prisoners and began freeing them too. Rosheil muttered a word of thanks to Lance and rushed forward, joining Nicolas in attacking knights.
Soon all of the prisoners were free and escaping the cavern rapidly. Lance was trying to lure the dragon away to no avail. He dodged another blast of fire and charged forward, only to be smacked backwards by its long tail.
"Rosheil, take Nicolas and Alex and get out of here!" Lance hurriedly called out.
"How about you?"
"I'll handle this; just get the hell out of here!' Rosheil nodded and ran out, with Nicolas and Alex behind him. The other knights roared in outrage and followed the three escaping men away, out of the cave which had suddenly turned into a battlefield.
A deathly roar thundered from the dragon's mouth. The cave shook violently as the beast took a step forward. Lance gripped his Longsword and tried not to run away from pure fear. It was now Lance against the blue dragon. One on one. Man on beast.
"Damn!" Lance roared as he got hit on the leg by a rapid blast of fire from the dragon. He collapsed onto the ground, writhing in pain as the dragon raised a claw, ready to impale the Slayer.
Suddenly, Victoros ran into the cave as fast as he could, and raised his Godsword, in time to block the claw which had spiked down at Lance's helpless form.
"Is that you, Victoros?" Lance asked, looking up slowly at his former comrade.
"Yes," Victoros answered, grinning. "It looks like you owe me one now."
"Whatever," Lance said, smiling back. "Let's finish this brute off!" He managed to jump back onto his feet, and he charged at the dragon, stabbing its hide with his Longsword. The dragon roared and knocked Victoros onto the ground; it began chasing Lance deeper into the cave.
"You great ugly brute," Lance barked at the dragon, causing it to roar more loudly. Lance dodged another blast of fire from the dragon and continued to run deeper into the cave with all the energy left in his worn out legs. The dragon continued to send blasts of fire at the Slayer to no avail. However, as Lance finished another insult at the dragon, he accidentally tripped over a stray rock and collapsed onto the cave floor with a loud thud! He struggled to get up, but he felt intense heat near him; Lance quickly rolled to the side, and a blast of fire zoomed past, burning the spot where he lay a moment ago.
Lance glanced up at the towering dragon in grim hopelessness. "Looks like this is the end."
The dragon opened its mouth wide, and let out such an immense blast of fire that Lance thought the whole cave was going to get burnt down along with him. However, Victoros quickly bounded across the ground and lifted his Dragonfire Shield in time to absorb most of the fire. He activated the Shield, and sent the blast of fire zooming back at the completely surprised blue dragon. It growled as the fire pierced its thick hides, fully engulfing its huge body. Victoros held out his hand to Lance and pulled his fellow Slayer back upright. Lance dusted some dirt off his armor and glanced at Victoros' Dragonfire Shield in fascination.
"Where'd you get such an awesome shield, man?" Lance asked eagerly.
"Well, I got it made by Oziach of Edgeville; however, I heard he died in the Socialist assault. A sad ending for such a great armor-constructor; he personally smithed the Rune Platebody I'm wearing now," Victoros explained, rubbing the Rune Platebody once.
Lance nodded and turned back to the dragon. The great beast had been burnt quite badly by its own intense flames, even though it had the protection of its magical hides. The dragon staggered forward, weakened badly by the previous counterattack, but managed to let loose another blast of flames. Victoros stepped forward once again and let the Dragonfire Shield do its work. The dragon's thick feet staggered and its whole body collapsed onto the ground as the flames finished burning what's left of its hides. The counterattack was so powerful that even the nearby cave walls were scorched.
"Should we leave it here to die eventually, or kill it right now?" Lance demanded, fingering his Dragon Longsword.
Victoros shook his head as he inspected the downed dragon's body. "I think we should just let it die a peaceful death; I imagine it wasn't such an aggressive beast before the Kinshra captured it. Let's get out of here."
"As you say."
The two Slayers gave each other thumbs up, and headed back out of the Black Hole cave, glad to have finished their work. However, ten Black Knights who were hiding nearby, watching the previous fight, jumped out from behind stalagmites and drew their 2 hander swords. Victoros distinctly held up his Dragonfire Shield and Saradomin Godsword.
"You'll pay for killing our dragon!" one of the Knights growled.
"I think not, my friends," Victoros answered calmly. "You'll pay for torturing countless prisoners, vile knights!" The Slayer rushed forward and easily downed three knights with a few swings of his Sword. Meanwhile, Lance took down five knights by himself, using his Dragon Longsword to stab their armor and chop their helmless heads. Soon the Knights were all defeated, lying in a circle around the two victorious Slayers.
"Guess we taught you guys a lesson," Lance sneered as he followed Victoros back to Draynor. Rosheil, Alexandros and Nicolas were all waiting for them at the end of the path. Bodies of defeated Kinshra Black Knights were on the ground next to them, apparently struck by powerful magic.
"You made it back," Rosheil said.
"Of course," Victoros replied, grinning. "We're professional Slayers."
"Let's head back to the Tower," Nicolas suggested. The others nodded and they all dashed off in the direction of the Wizards' Tower.
"So, they made it back out alive," Volstagh Abumei mused. He reached into his pocket, grabbed out a crumpled piece of paper, and opened it slowly. The bounty hunter read through the paper again, and put it back into his pocket as he stood up, polishing a few Rune Knives with a cleaning cloth.
"The bounty list said the two Slayers' heads are worth five million each. I think it's time I made my move. Who knows, I might be rich by tomorrow."