A/N Hey guys, I would like to offer an apology as to this late chapter. Thanks to a certain Internet Service Provider (whosename begins with Century) my "upgraded bandwidth" resulted in a total loss of fiber optic use. DSL and Phone are both disabled. Anyways, don't think I've forgotten about you or this book. I do have to say production of this story is beginning to slow, and I'm not sure at this time if I will be able to keep up with Friday deadlines. Nonetheless, I do have six chapters written, meaning I've only published half of what I've written. Stay patient, and stay tuned. And also, a big shout out to everyone who's read the book so far. I hope you've been enjoying it!
Ascanor sat up. He blinked. Where am I? I was...home. No, I wasn't. He looked around. Sharyas sat against a tree, her cheeks blazoned red as she watched him. When he locked with her gaze, she blushed farther and dropped her gaze. Ascanor grinned pointedly and stretched. "Mmm, where is everybody?"
She continued to stare across the clearing. "Ereven decided not to wait for you to heal, so he and Alandil continued ahead while leaving me to get you when, or if, you woke."
"If I woke? What do you mean?" He sucked through his teeth at the searing pain in his arm. It came flooding back. He grunted. "Right. So, should we be going?"
She nodded quickly and strode off quickly, putting as much distance between the two as possible. Ascanor jogged to catch up, but his lungs began to burn before long and he had to slow. They came across the river and a small series of shallow rapids that made the best crossing area. Sharyas leapt deftly from dry rock to rock and crossed without a drop on her. Ascanor plodded along, silently praising his decision to waterproof his boots. They veered a sharp left at the other side and began to follow the river downstream. Ascanor strained his ears, but heard nothing more than animals and wind whistling through the leaves. "How far out could they get? How long was I out?"
"Six hours."
"Six hours? How on Faerun do you expect to find them?"
She huffed. "My senses are ten times better than yours, and they only left half an hour before you woke. You will let me find them."
Ascanor sidled away slowly. He could almost feel her chilly attitude from where he strode. They continued on in silence, Sharyas easily clearing every obstacle while Ascanor stumbled through with his bulky gear. His ears twitched at a strange sound rising above the ambiance of the forest. It sounded like...shouting? Sharyas stopped, she'd heard it too. Quickly morphing she took off towards the source. Ascanor thudded across the ground. "Wait up!" He squinted at the stinging plants that grasped his clothes as he shot past.
He burst out onto a large clearing on the edge of the water. Alandil and Ereven stood at the edge, their attention on a slimy creature shifting through the water. Ascanor inhaled sharply as the creature's three, vertically placed eyes, opened to scowl malevolently at the intruders. He'd seen pictures in books before of the ancient aboleths. He'd hoped never to see one in person. Ascanor stifled a yelp. "Guys, get back. Now."
Ereven slowly spun around, a dazed look plastered across his face. "Now...why would I want to do that?"
Ascanor cursed. They'd already been taken. Alandil, head half cocked to the side, smiled. "The experience is so...educational. You simply must try it, Ascanor."
"No thanks, I'd rather pass." He headed to leave into the forest.
Sharyas leapt in front of him. "Where do you think you're going?"
"What's it matter to you?"
"You can't just leave with them like that."
"Sure I can, and I am."
"You have to help them."
"They're nothing to me!" He waved her off.
As he passed, she grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him back to her face. "Please!"
He sighed. "No."
She huffed. "Then I'll do it myself." She began to head out into the clearing. Alandil shifted, remembering their first fight together. He groaned. "Stop. I'll do it."
She smiled.
He leaned over to her ear. "Wait in the trees for when I call out."
She nodded, quickly disappearing into the dim underbrush.
Ascanor strode over to the waiting creature at the bank, pushing past the drone-like Ereven and Alandil. They gave no resistance to his passing. So it thinks I'm no threat. He looked down at the creature with contempt. "You have something of mine. These people, they have no purpose to me, they are no problem of mine. You could have taken them and gone. Had I left, you could have. But not anymore. Bring them back, now."
A voice echoed into his mind. A rattling, raspy noise that could only have been a laugh. No. These have become mine, for eternity.
Ascanor grunted. "Then we'll just have to see about that."
The aboleth laughed again. I like you, tiefling. You have quite the tenacious attitude. If you leave now, I'll give her to you. She can be all yours.
Ascanor's face heated up. "Impossible, I have severed all ties beyond my mind." It couldn't have been able to reach me.
Oh, but I always could. And have.
Ascanor bared his fangs.
The aboleth wheezed a sigh. You still think you stand a chance. I will enjoy absorbing your consciousness.
Quick as lightening a tentacle whipped out of the water, leaving a cleave in the ground where the tiefling once stood. He smiled, unharmed at the side, as he wiped a strand of algae off one of his horns. "Let the games begin."
The aboleth raised three more tentacles, driving four repeatedly into the ground. Ascanor had little time beyond his feet touching the ground before he was back in the air. His feet began to cramp, and his stamina quickly decayed before he finally made a mistake. He somersaulted again, but the aboleth had anticipated his repeated movement. A tentacle rose, a crossing beam in his path. His breath ripped out of his lungs as the tentacle drove him across the clearing into a tree trunk. With a sharp snap Ascanor flopped onto the ground. He took the screaming pain in his back, and the fact that he could slightly move his body, that it'd been the tree that snapped. He fumbled with a small flap in his jacket, pulling a vial of bright red liquid out of it. He downed the fruity contents, able to get back onto his feet in seconds. He threw down the potion vial and pulled his knife. "Well then, let's make things interesting."
The tentacles came all at once, from different sides. He turned, perpendicular to the creature, and straightened as hard as he could. Two tentacles passed harmlessly by, while the third received a deep gash as it drove itself across his extended knife. The aboleth screeched in pain, a sharp knife driven into Ascanor's mind. He tried to focus on the creature's connection to his mind, but the noise broke his focus. The aboleth leered at him. I will devour you. It hissed into his mind.
Ascanor smiled. "You can try."
Its eyes turned to the two men, who had watched the fight in their hypnotized daze. Get him. They nodded, their expressions turned stormy.
Ereven drew his axe. "Demon scum." He growled, brandishing the weapon with menace.
Alandil notched an arrow and pulled the string back. "A wonderful time to see the true power of your heritage. Quite the learning experience."
Ascanor smiled, looking not at them but at the aboleth. He sheathed his knife. "You can't make me fight them."
I can. Ascanor gasped as he felt the ground drop beneath his feet. The creature had him with its mind. Slowly, he began to drift towards the waiting pointy ends of his companions' weapons. He kicked, frantically trying to break the steely grip of the aboleth's mind. He tensed, sensing a rapid shift in the magical essence beneath the earth. With a a sudden rush, the earth erupted around the aboleth, a spike driving into the creature's semblance of a temple. It did no more than shatter against its rubbery flesh, but it provided enough of a distraction to break the creature's grip on Ascanor. The two looked over into the woods, where nothing more than an echoing laugh remained.
Ascanor dropped to the ground and smiled, mouthing a silent thanks to the kitsune. "Time to bring out some special spells." He reached into the air, drawing the lines of magic towards his body in a massive funnel. Slowly, he began to rise off the ground. Alandil, following his ascent with the tip of his arrow, let one fly. Ascanor's blade darted from its sheath, slicing the arrow in half between Ascanor's fingers. Alandil frowned. "Impossible."
He got lucky. The aboleth could read the tiefling's amazement. Fire another, he won't manage it again.
Ascanor ceased the levitation spell, dropping mere inches below a whistling arrow. He created a magic missile, launching it into the elf. He nimbly dodged the screaming cone, but Ascanor curved the magical essence around the elf, driving the cone into Alandil's bow. The weapon exploded in a cloud of blue energy, leaving nothing more than trace wisps of ash. With one down, Ascanor turned his attention to Ereven. Ascanor wheezed as the hulking, armored man slammed into him. Ascanor rolled onto his back and heaved. "Why don't you just take my lungs? Obviously you don't want me to use them." He squinted, barely able to see the man's driving axe between the clouds of darkness in his vision.
Quick as a flash, his two blades bit into the half moon axe. Ascanor shifted the axe off his knife, twisting Ereven's grip with his hilt. He channeled energy into his fingers, lime green sparks dancing among his fingertips. "Time to finish this." He flicked his wrist, sending a small arrow of acid through the shaft of Ereven's axe. With a snap, the head broke off, flicked away harmlessly by Ascanor's sword.
Ereven stood dumbfounded with the melting shaft in his hand. Ascanor got to his feet and shoved him aside, his infernal heritage burning within his eyes as he turned his gaze to the glowering aboleth. The creature, seeing its pawns defeated, howled in anger. If I must do it myself, so be it. Tentacles rose from the water, lifting the aboleth's mottled, prawn-like body out of the water. Ascanor smiled, whistling. "Now, Sharyas!"
With a giggle, the kitsune dropped from a branch overhanging the aboleth, unleashed a furious series of foxfire. The creature screamed in pain, its respiration mucous evaporating within the nonstop onslaught of fire. Within seconds, the creature's flailing slowed, and stopped. Sharyas, rapidly losing adrenaline, sank to her knees. Ascanor rushed over, but she shrugged him off. "I don't need your help."
The two men groaned, the spell broken on the death of their master. Ereven collapsed in a heap of armor. "What happened?"
Alandil's brow wrinkled. "It appears we'd been taken by an aboleth. It's apparent that creature has died."
Ereven nodded. "Thanks Sharyas."
Ascanor started to speak, but a scathing glare from the kitsune shut his mouth.
Ereven rolled to his side, noticing the remains of his axe. "What in the Nine Hells did you do?" He roared.
Alandil fingered his broken string. "Yes, my bow seems to suffered the same."
Ascanor sighed. "Relax, I can fix it." He aligned the magical lines within each weapon, fusing the two pieces together with a bond stronger than iron. The weapons looked good as new, except for the telltale split in both. Ereven gave his axe a few test swings. "I guess it's okay then."
Alandil twanged his bow. "It will be adequate."
"Yeah, but don't touch it again, tiefling. I'm warning you."
Ascanor waved them away. "You're welcome."
