This is a long one, and a good one. Have fun!
Chapter 5: New beginnings
"You have come far in the past month," said the old druid.
"Thank you," said James, bowing deeply. He had been training and learning with the druid, Hajex, since he arrived. It was hard, but he enjoyed it deeply. It was just yesterday that Hajex told him he had taught him enough, and that a ceremony would be held today. The ceremony was welcoming James in the rank of druids. He had discussed this with Hajex though, and decided he'd be a traveling druid, like others, because he wished to start a new life, and wanted to be far away from Burthorpe.
"I present to you these robes; they are the mark of a true druid."
"Umm, if it's all right, I'd like to keep my Burthorpe clothes." James looked down at the ground. The druids attending the ceremony looked confused, one of them laughed, but most just looked amazed that James would say such a thing.
"Child, why would you even consider such a thing," asked Hajex? "First off, all those garments will do is remind you of the terrible days with their army, and the terrible event that took place. Not only that, but there are not a great many places you would like to go that would allow you to visit wearing them."
"I know that. It's just that they have become like a second skin, and it would feel odd wearing robes." James realized that what he was saying was probably a really stupid request, but he didn't like the idea of wearing robes.
"Hmm, I have an idea. We usually don't wear these, but I'm sure it would fit your purposes much greater." Hajex told a young druid to run into his home and retrieve something. The young man did so quickly, and returned holding a pair of dark green pants and a shirt of the same color. The clothes greatly resembled the ones from Burthorpe, and came complete with a dark green mask.
"These were the garments our ancestors, the first druids, wore. This is what inspired the Burthorpe clothes, although they chose black for a color instead. At the time, disease was common; we had not yet mastered making cures from herbs, so the mask was for a practical use. I believe you can make good use of them."
James bowed deeply again and quickly said his thanks. The clothes looked very strange though, but he thought he just wasn't used to seeing them in green. He wasn't about to say anything to the druids either, these were almost considered sacred clothes. Instead, he quickly put them on, and handed his old white clothes to another druid.
"Go now child, it is time you returned home, or rather, Falador. It would be wise to keep the mask on. Also, it would be wise to keep your weapons hidden until it is time to do battle, Guthix forbid you should have to. Claws are immediately paired with the Burthorpe army. Like I have warned you many times over, stay out of sight until it is safe. Find someone you know you can trust. And now, everyone, before he leaves, let us grant him our blessing.
"May you walk the path, and never fall, for Guthix walks beside thee on thy journey. May Guthix bring you peace." All the druids joined in on the last sentence, and James found himself waving goodbye as he set out through the large gate that separated him, and the road to Falador.
It was a long and uneventful journey to the city. Because of recent events, highwayman patrolled different streets than before, most flocking between Lumbridge and Varrock. It wasn't until the next day that he arrived at the walls of Falador.
"Hey, you, you're with that army, up north. Burtherope or something," yelled one of the guards.
"I assure you," said James, "I am not from the Burthorpe army. There clothes are a dark black, whilst mine are green, a symbol to Guthix. I am a wandering Druid, who wishes to live peacefully in this city."
"Umm, I don't know if I can let you in, let me go ask someone," yelled the guard, who ran down the stairs and presumably through the city.
"Why do they have such idiots for guards?" He murmured to himself.
"Hello there, state your name and your business."
James looked up to see a rather annoyed looking Urantan speaking to him. "I am a traveling druid, as you can probably see from my clothes. My name is of no importance, you would not know me, and it would make no difference."
"I know a lot more than you probably think," said Urantan, with a large smile. "Let him in," he said to the guards, who immediately opened the large gates. Confused, James strode into the city. As he walked in, he looked around for the full effect. People were going about their day, going to the salon or general store. Children were laughing and playing in the streets, and guards patrolled the area.
"This place looks a lot better," said James, happy that his previous efforts were not in vain.
"It has changed a lot, eh? Now, do tell, how did you escape? Come, I'll get you a drink, and you can tell me all about it." James could barely digest this information before Urantan was already walking into the local pub.
"How do you know," Said James, running to catch up to him? "Be quiet, we shall discuss this in the privacy of my room."
Having tons of questions, but deciding to listen to his advice, James just followed Urantan into the pub. The bottom floor was surprisingly empty, save for one rouge like man leaning back in his chair. He winked at James, and then tipped his hat over his eyes; so he could take a nap.
"Who was that?"
"Ah, pay no attention to him. He's not the type to get mixed up in."
Realizing all answers would be like this until he reached Urantan's room; he tried to shut his mouth again. The two walked up the stairs, took a right into the corridor, and locked themselves in. Taking a quick look around, James noticed an odd looking lumpy cloak on the floor, as well as a pile of broken chairs by the door.
"Oh, pardon me; I haven't cleaned up in ages. Don't normally get company, you know. Fancy a glass of water?"
"No, I'm not thirsty," said James, trying to find somewhere safe to sit.
"No one ever is," said Urantan disappointedly. "Now, before I tell you anything, you must tell me your riveting tale from the very point I left Burthorpe. Also, take that mask off, it looks strange to talk to someone with it on." James obliged, wanting to tell someone about what happened, and quickly jumped into the story. Urantan was a good listener, and didn't interrupt at all. Finally, when James finished, Urantan pulled out a few runes, and 'created' a glass of water for James, and pushed it through the air towards him. "You must be thirsty after all that, no matter what you say. Honestly, I'm not sure I needed such description during the repercussions, but otherwise, you seem to be doing well for yourself."
"Yeah," said James, swallowing his water. "No, you have to answer my questions. One, who's side are you on? Two, why did you defect, first to Falador, then back to Varrock, and three, how are my old friends?"
"All good questions. One, it is quite safe to say I am on Varrock's side as of now, but who knows, I just go for the highest bidder. As for why, I already explained that. One of my biggest faults is that I love studying spells and creating new ones. The only problem is, Varrock hardly has the everyday funding to provide me the high quality rune stones, and for that, I take on special jobs. Sometimes I'll do a job for Varrock, considering they can pay some of the time, and sometimes I work for Falador. I am greedy, and I hate my self for it."
"So, you're basically a mercenary?"
"One could say that, yes."
"Good to know. Now, could you please tell me how my friends fare?"
"They are all fine. Danik is now a royal bodyguard to King Roald himself. Mark, Merk, and Haddlin are leaders of the army stationed here in Falador, and mostly fight off small resistance. The Wizard's Tower has been giving them a lot of trouble lately." James looked relieved, and sighed. An awkward moment went by, until Urantan finally broke the silence. "What do you plan to do now?"
"I…I haven't really thought about it. I messed up bad though. I think what I would like to do the most was help stop the resistance."
"You are optimistic to the point of foolishness; the Falador army wouldn't accept you. They go through a large screening process, and as soon as they figure out who you are, well, good luck."
"Yeah, I realized that. I was thinking, maybe, I could start my own little group. We would all be against Old Falador, and would fight them as we pleased. We might provide aid to the Varrock army, but until then, we are merely a group of, well, mercenaries, without the pay."
"Ha. You are mad, hardly anyone would take the job, considering an honest man could just join the army, and a dishonest man would want some pay."
"Would you be willing to join?" Asked James hopefully, ignoring Urantan's last comment.
"Some incentive would be nice," said Urantan, not expecting anything. James nodded, and reached into the leather pouch on his waist. He pulled out several large runes, four runes with a symbol of what looked like lava, four that had a symbol that resembled a drop of blood, and one containing a bright star.
"These are all rare runes given to me by the druids before I left. I have no idea how to use them, and I'm guessing you do."
Urantan quickly snatched them out of James's hand. "You do me a great honor. But, how did the druids come across these runes?"
"The druids have a great many friends in a great many places. I'm not allowed to tell you anymore of our secrets. So, are the runes enough to make you join me?"
Urantan nodded it over, thinking of all the possibilities in his head. After a long moment of silence, he responded, "James Farmer, I will join you, but not because of these runestones you have provided. I will join you on this quest, as a friend." Urantan stood up, and the two shook hands. "I have an idea, please wait here a moment, I'll be right back!"
Before James could say anything, Urantan was out the door. He decided to get up and look around the room. He walked over to the far corner, where he found an array of magical devices on a shelf; magical talismans, old scrolls, and a beautiful amulet with a large sapphire in the center. On the shelf next to it were numerous other pieces of enchanted jewelry, including a ring with a dark purple stone on it, which made James feel happy as soon as he brought his hand over it. At the very end was another ring, this one with a bright looking diamond on it. As soon as James touched it, he felt life come back into his body. He smiled, and without thinking, grabbed the ring and thrust it in his pocket. It's not going to do anything rotting in here he reasoned to himself.
He continued to circle around the room, until he came to Urantan's desk. There was a large piece of parchment with numerous incantations written upon it. Next to it were a few runestones. James picked up a few that looked like they had symbols of smoke on them. As he held them, he went through his head, trying to remember that one incantation that Urantan had taught him. He said it was very important to know, and that he should always keep some fire and air runes on him because of it. Since these runes were fire and air combined, he figured they would work fine.
"Fl-flamma exuro libere… flamma exuro validus… adveho quod ser… servo mihi ex is ne…nefas." As soon as James finished the last syllable, power began to surge through his body. All his energy went towards his hands. Not used to using magic, he couldn't control the energy. He fell to the floor, shaking, not being able to let go. After a few seconds, the power began to fade. Then, in a sudden eruption, a giant ball of flame leapt from his entire body and burned straight through the roof. It went what James thought must have been at least twenty feet high, and then exploded, burning ashes falling towards the ground. As James got up, he heard someone running up the stairs.
"Fool! What have you done! You have ruined this city, and possibly Varrock!" James looked up to see a livid Urantan standing in the doorway. "We are done. We'll just have to round up the men! Why did I even bother to teach you that spell?!"
"Umm, what exactly happened, and why is this such a big deal?" As he spoke, James heard numerous citizens outside panicking and screaming in terror. The guards were trying their best to calm everyone down, but it had little effect.
"I'll explain as fast as possible, I can give you more details later. Come, we'll talk as we go; we must go see the current leader of the city, now! And put your mask back on, someone will recognize you!" Urantan grabbed James's arm and dragged him out the door. Before leaving, Urantan grabbed a large amount of runes from his desk and put them in his robes, as well as grabbing a staff with a glowing white orb at the top.
"To put it simply," he yelled as they ran downstairs, trying to be heard over the crowd hiding in the pub. "Wait a moment," said Urantan, running over to a guard who was boarding up the door. "We have to get out of here!"
"Oh no you don't. We just finished boarding this place up!" He said, hammering the last nail for emphasis.
"You couldn't possibly have gotten all of the villagers in here!"
"Naah, this is only one of the safety buildings."
"How can you be so calm?!" James yelled, running towards the two. "We are here to help fight, he is an accomplished wizard, and I a soldier. Are you really going to deny us passage?"
"Rules is rules, you should've been out there already!"
"Listen," said Urantan, pulling out an earth rune and clutching his staff in his other hand, "You're going to pull those boards off and let us out, or we knock the door down, and this won't be a very safe place." The guard didn't seem phased at first, but this response was met with Urantan beginning an incantation, at which the guard obliged to the request and began to pull of the boards as fast as possible. Urantan took this time to explain to James.
"Basically, we are not ready for an attack. Varrock as had increasing trouble to the east of the city. What is going on there doesn't concern you, so you will not ask me about it, I hardly know anything myself. The point is, we needed to pull back troops. We had to do so without letting the wizards know, of course, or else they would attack us. They have multiple spies within the city, to which we have been feeding false information. The problem is, the spell you just fired is an SOS spell, which was probably something close to the signal the spies would've used when and if they found out we are in a state of weakness."
"So you're saying I just gave the signal for an army of highly trained wizards, as well as any other fighters who may be aiding them, to come attack us, while we have next to no men to defend the city?" "Well, yes, you could say that."
"Right," said James, who withdrew the metallic claws from his pouch. A collective gasp went around the room as he fastened them on. The guard, who was otherwise occupied, withdrew his sword and directed his attention at James.
"Stop this nonsense!" Yelled Urantan, before anyone could move. "He acquired these weapons while traveling, and has now taken a liking to them. He is completely ready to help defend this town with his life. You have my word; I am Urantan of Yanille, of the order of the elite Mages Guild, who has separated themselves from the wizard tower. I have helped your town in time of need many a time, and even fought the wizards myself. If you can not trust me, who can you trust?" James almost laughed at the last sentence, but caught himself and disguised it as a cough. The guard, satisfied, backed down and pulled the last board of. The two of them ran outside and shut the door behind them.
As James walked out, he saw complete chaos. The few citizens who had yet to seek shelter were running around town square, trying to find a house or building not yet boarded up, that would help. The few guards they could spare tried to calm them down and lead them to the jewelry store in the south, but it did not help. The few already trained soldiers and guards were heading for the south gate, getting in position. The archers on the walls were desperately lighting fires to use on their arrows. Mages walked through the streets muttering incantations, trying to figure out what spell to use.
Worst of all, at least to James, there were young teenage boys being given weapons and fit for whatever little armor they had left. The young men had no idea how to fight or survive in battle, much like James. One boy looked at him with hopeful eyes, hoping the coming battle would not happen. James looked away, once again angry with himself.
"Come," commanded Urantan, who was running off to the castle. James quickly followed, and the two made their way up the stone steps. They made their way through the confusing castle on an all too familiar route. As they climbed the ladder to the old room of Sir Amik Varze, James's head was filled with terrible memories. He quickly flushed them out, and continued climbing.
"Urantan! I thought you would never come! What has happened?" James found the voice belonged to a rather old man, maybe in his fifties, who looked like he had been in his fair share of battles. He wore no armor, but had an immensely large sword on his back.
"In a moment, Ussieus. First, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine, who will be fighting for us, if you wish it. He is a traveling druid, who uses the weapons of the Burthorpe army, obviously against them."
"Welcome," said the man heartily, holding out his hand to James. "My name us Ussieus, Duke of Falador, appointed by King Roald. Your name?"
"My name is…Rikas," said James, realizing it wouldn't be wise to give his real name.
"Odd name for a druid, but who am I to say. But I digress, Urantan, we should really get back to the battle."
"That may be a good idea, yes." James got the idea that they were thinking of the coming fight as a joke.
"Well, a flare spell was accidentally fired by the very same before you, which is why I was hoping you would accept him first. He did it unknowingly and is deeply sorry. The good news, the spies still know none of our secrets. The bad news, well, it won't matter if we lose the city now. Do we have any defense strategies?"
"Not exactly," said Ussieus. "The soldiers here are still very under trained. I tried to argue with Roald, but I don't think he cares much for this city, even though it's under his control. Either way, there isn't an amazing amount of hope."
"Hmm, we'll have to make due as we go. We should probably make our way to the gate." Ussieus nodded, and the three of them walked outside. As they went, a strange mist, a vaguely familiar one, filled the city.
"These wizards use the same tactics every time. It's a shame; I was hoping they'd try something new."
They walked in silence, although James continuously had to put his hand in front of him to stop himself from walking into something. They finally found the gate, where James was directed into a certain unit by Ussieus. Urantan and Ussieus walked over to right in front of the gate, where James could hardly see them, even though they weren't very far away.
"Today," began Ussieus. "Today, we fight. We fight four ourselves, our family, and for the freedom and goodwill of man! These wizards may be superior, but has not stopped us. Think of how the great heroes claimed this very city, not long ago. If they could accomplish such a great feat, we can at least defend this city in their name. For Danik!" The soldiers shouted Danik in response. "Haddlin!" The soldiers again shouted Haddlin's name in response. "Mark! Merk, and Sakir! Even today, we shall celebrate James Farmer, who taught us how a man can become something greater, and how easily to is to lose greatness!" The men cheered in response, but with much less vigor. James wasn't sure if this was a compliment or an insult.
"We fight for these men as they fought for us. Some of them are still fighting; three of them now stand amongst you, ready to die for their cause. It is for this reason we shall confront our enemies!" As Ussieus said this, the giant gates nearly slammed open. "We will charge fiercely into battle!" Another bang. "We shall fight with no mercy!" The wood began to splinter. "And we shall fulfill our destiny!" On cue, the gates bursted open, revealing hundreds of wizards, in varying colors of clothes.
"N-n-n-n-necromancers!" Yelled the soldier next to James. With this, the men in black robes smiled, and began yelling incantations. At least one skeleton or zombie for every necromancer was summoned. "Zombies are weak to fire. Archers, that's you!" The archers nodded, and thrust their arrows into the fires burning next to them. They all got ready and waited for Haddlin's command.
"Try your best to find one, and shoot. Better if you find a zombie, but just go for anything that looks like an enemy! Now, fire!" The archers responded by sending a volley of arrows into the enemy ranks. Numerous shrieks were heard, from human and undead alike.
"Now now, that's not fair!" The head wizard brought a large amount of water runes from his robes. "Ver Pluo, Estas Tempestas, Pluvia super lemma, suum spera dubium." The runes from his hand disappeared, their energy floating to the sky. As they reached the clouds overhead, they turned into dark storm clouds. It began to rain fiercely, effectively putting out the fires.
"A minor setback," yelled Urantan, trying to think of a plan.
"Soldiers, charge!" Ussieus ran without thinking, straight into the group of mages. The soldiers followed suit. They two groups collided, and along with the mist, made it harder to see. James noticed numerous soldiers began killed by the archers on the wall.
"Caliga Absum!" James heard Urantan yell, and the mist evaporated. James now got a better look at Urantan, who was firing spell after spell, muttering the incantations under his breath.
"Urantan, look out," yelled James, as he spotted an enemy zombie going up behind him. Urantan took out a fire rune, and without even looking back, sent a giant ball of flame towards the zombie, who fell to the ground and burned to ash. As Urantan slowly got circled in, James began to run towards him. Before James or the surrounding enemies could do anything, Urantan swung his staff around, creating a giant gust of wind that pushed back the entire group.
"James, I'll be fine on my own. Concentrate on surviving yourself, I don't want to be unemployed!"
James nodded and turned around, to come face to face with a giant skeleton. As swung and stabbed at the bone, but didn't seem to hurt it at all. Realizing this, he instead jumped up and grabbed a bone on its chest, which was surprisingly sturdy. James pulled himself up and climbed up to the skull, which he tore of and threw in the air, where it was hit by an incoming arrow. James jumped off to solid ground right before the skeleton fell into a pile of bones.
"Not bad," yelled a familiar voice. James looked over his shoulder to see Mark, who was fending off to zombies at once.
"Thanks," said James, wishing he could say more. He approached one of the zombies and slashed at its chest. This gave Mark an opening to slash at its heart, which is the zombie's weak point. It fell in a pile of flesh and blood.
"You're not half bad your self," yelled James.
A blast of fire suddenly streamed by James's ear. He quickly ripped around and slashed the wizard in the chest. The enemy clutched his chest, and pulled out some runes with his other hand. Before he had a chance to use the spell, James stabbed him in the heart, ending his life.
"Thy death was not in vain," began James, staring at the lifeless body, ignoring the battle. "For it brought some balance to the world. May Guthix bring you rest." The druids had taught him to honor every living soul that he had killed, so that he could cope with killing. It didn't help as much as he would've liked, but he honored them, and Guthix, just the same.
"What are you doing wasting time, you'll be killed," shouted Mark! Just as he did so, James was hit by a giant stone. Mark ran over to James, while another soldier dealt with the wizard. Mark rolled the stone off James with as much vigor as he could muster.
"Please, reach into my pouch," began James, trying to find the energy to speak. "You'll find a glass vial filled with a white liquid. Give me some!" Mark complied, and dipped a few drops of the contents into James' mouth. The potion seemed to give James a little energy, enough to sit up at least.
"Think you can fight?"
"Maybe," groaned James, gingerly touching his chest. He assumed he broke a few bones on his rib cage.
"Whoa!"
"What?" Asked James. Mark merely pointed in the distance, as did many others. There was Wizard Traiborn, leader of the mage tower, fighting Urantan. Nearly all of the enemy wizards and necromancers as well as the Varrock soldiers stopped to watch.
"Undo of Obscurum!" As he yelled this, a giant wave began to form in back of Urantan. As it reached at least three times Urantan's height, it went through him, towards Traiborn.
"Volatilis Suggestus of Terra," screamed Traiborn, smashing an earth rune on the ground. The earth around him created a circle, which floated high enough to just barely hover over the passing wave.
"Procella of Ventus," hollered Urantan, holding out his staff. Numerous bursts of wind shot at Traiborn, who dodged each shot. In return, Traiborn sent a volley of water arrows at Urantan, who dodged nearly all of them, but was hit by the last on in the arm, forcing him to drop his staff.
Urantan mumbled another incantation, withdrawing a fire and earth stone, not wanting to use his lava runes. As he did so, a giant fireball went straight towards Traiborn. When Traiborn dodged the fireball, he didn't have time to see the giant stone that was right behind it, hurtling towards him. As he was hit by it, he was thrown back, and just barely was able to grab on to the edge of the stone.
"You are a formidable opponent, I'll give you that, but your spells don't have nearly enough to power to defeat me. Give up; in a one on one duel, you stand no chance." He then pulled out some runes and began chanting something.
"One last chance," said Urantan to himself, reaching into his robes. He pulled out the three runes James had given him, the lava runes, and with his other injured hand, the blood runes. He quickly prayed to Saradomin, and began the incantation, before Traiborn could finish his.
"Laqueus of terra quod aestuo!" A wall of flame appeared under Traiborn. As Traiborn moved his floating stone to the left, the fire followed. Traiborn just barely noticed the stone that appeared above him. He quickly directed his platform backwards, dodging the stone completely. Another one appeared, forcing Traiborn to move to the right. One last, massive stone appeared, in which Traiborn moved close to Urantan, so that the blaze was right in front of him.
"A perfect spot, thank you," said Urantan politely. He transferred his lava and blood rune to one hand, and with his other hand withdrew a single nature rune from his robes. He raised his hands in the air, and as he did so, four giant spiked vines rose from the ground, towards Traiborn. As they rose, the thorns grew longer. Just before Traiborn tried to move, the vines grabbed him, and held him to the spot. The thorns got large enough to hit the platform he was on, shattering it. The vines then slowly pulled Traiborn into the flames, where he let out a painful screech, to be his last sound he made on this world.
"Traiborn is dead!"
"We can't survive now!"
"Retreat!"
The wizards, who seemed far less in number now that Traiborn was gone, created a giant veil of smoke. As the smoke disappeared, the only ones left were the Falador army.
James looked at Urantan, who raised his hand high in the air. The men all cheered, and as if in response, Urantan fainted and fell to the ground.
