She awoke with a start, jerking to a sit and gasping for breath. She panted a few times and looked down at her stomach, which she had been reflexively holding. As the god had stated, she did not remember her conversation with him, but the final imagery of her dream, and the feeling of being impaled upon a spear was too clear for comfort.
"Ask me what I had to do all night." A slightly slurred voice came. Sharmin turned her head quickly to find Vlad sitting at the table of her room, an empty mead bottle on the surface next to him. "No please, do ask me, I'm dying to tell you." He said, propping his elbows up on the table and chair back and lacing his fingers together in front of his chest.
"How did you get in here?" Sharmin demanded coldly.
"Locked doors are no more of a hindrance than a mosquito bite." Vlad mumbled. "You didn't ask the proper question though, try again." Sharmin sighed, irked that he would intrude upon her room so boldly without permission. How long had he been there?
"Fine then, what did you have to do all night?" she asked, giving in. A smile lit Vlad's face that chilled Sharmin to the bone.
"I had to spend the night behind bars, can you imagine that? Someone had gone and told people of my past exploits, which caused me to be brought in for questioning. During this time it was discovered that I had several books of ah…questionable nature, of which were promptly removed and destroyed." He stated professionally, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. He stared at her evenly then, the mirth lost from his expression. Sharmin gulped under that gaze and scooted a little farther away from him, wishing to hide at that moment. "Miss Sharmin, do you have any idea how long it took me to procure some of those texts?" he asked, his voice steady. When she didn't answer, he scooted the chair towards her and said in a lower voice, "I should kindly ask that you do not bring up the past again with parties who have no need of involvement, or must I finish what I began that night and make it so you cannot speak of it again?"
With this, Sharmin pushed herself from the bed and bolted past him, falling into the door and flinging it open before racing down the stairs. She didn't pause to see if he were behind her this time, and ran, still in her nightgown, through the inn. Several morning diners looked up at her in surprise, as it was unnatural to see a human lady in her undergarments. She burst out the front doors of the inn and collided, head first, with a solid set of armor, causing both her and the one she ran into, to tumble to the ground. She winced and held her head, waiting for the worst of the pain to be over. She looked up at the person to apologize at the same time they looked at her, and identical screams emanated from both.
"FISH FACE!" Ryonai screamed, pointing at her.
"HORSE MOUTH!" Sharmin screamed back, echoing the point.
"Chicken legs!" a pale pink-haired light elf said from beside them. Both Sharmin and Ryonai shut their mouths and looked up at her. She had her eyes shut and one arm thrown into the air to emphasize that which she had just stated. She opened her eyes at the stunned silence she was receiving and blinked in confusion. "I thought we were playing a game." She said innocently. Sharmin's eye twitched and Ryonai sighed, putting a hand to his head.
"Fish Face, how in the world did you get here? Last I heard you were still on the island." Ryonai asked, helping Sharmin to her feet. Sharmin recovered from the stupor of running into her old nemesis and grabbed his shoulders, staring at his face intently.
"Ryonai, you've got to help me, the guy who killed Einhovant's headmaster is in there, and I think he means to kill me!" She said in a low voice. Ryonai frowned and lifted an eyebrow. "Please tell me you remember the headmaster getting killed!" She pleaded. "Nobody here seems to remember it!"
"Well, duh, of course I remember that, but why would the killer-" he paused and looked over her head, a smile forming on his face. "Hey Vlad! How's it hanging? Did you find what you were looking for?" Ryonai suddenly said cheerfully. Sharmin froze and slowly turned her head to look behind her. Vlad stood in the doorway, a forced smile planted on his face. Yelping, Sharmin ducked behind Ryonai and the pink-haired elf.
"You know him?" Sharmin asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She didn't have to see his face to know that Ryonai was rolling his eyes.
"Well duh, he's my clan mate." He stated in an annoyed tone. Sharmin's eyes bulged out at him
"Don't you know he's the..."
"MISS Sharmin was just telling me how she was going to accompany me back to the Wasteland, as it appears the copies of some of my books have gone missing and I need to grab what I hid there." Vlad said over her, staring at her evenly.
"Like hell I will." Sharmin muttered. The pink-haired elf turned to give her a curious look, obviously not understanding the situation, but not seeming to mind either.
"Hey, that's a great idea; I was just telling Shizuka how I'd like to head down there soon. Ant eggs are highly valued on the market, so grabbing a few would be a great business venture." He said cheerfully, ignoring Sharmin. Sharmin glanced at the pink-haired elf that she could only assume was Shizuka, who grinned back at her. Sharmin's eye twitched, she could almost hear the wind blowing through the elf's head.
"You can't make me go anywhere." Sharmin grumbled, her feet planted into the brown gravel that made up the town's roads.
"You're absolutely right, we can't." Vlad said, staring at her evenly. "However, I think it would be a wise choice since I so kindly escorted you from the Ruins of Agony to this town." Even though his words said differently, there was a strong implication in his voice that stated that she really didn't have a choice in the matter. Grumbling to herself, Sharmin shuffled past Vlad and retreated back to her room to change and prepare. She needed to be searching for her sister, not going jaunting into the Wasteland to find some books some nutcase stowed there. Wearing freshly cleaned armor, Sharmin rejoined the trio a moment later. Ryonai handed each of them a small sack of money, and before Sharmin could question its use, the trio approached the Gatekeeper and requested a displacement spell. The Gatekeeper accepted their money with a nod, and then held her hands in an arc shape in front of her. A swirling ball of light appeared there as she concentrated, and as she released it, the trio disappeared before Sharmin's eyes.
"Uh…um…" she stuttered, rushing to the Gatekeeper and fumbling with the tiny money pouch. The Gatekeeper gave her a beaming smile and gently took the bag from Sharmin's hand.
"Northern Pathway to the Wasteland, yes?" she said in a singsong voice. Sharmin blinked at her cluelessly as she formed the ball of light between arched hands once more. The world seemed to stop around her as the Gatekeeper lifted her arms, and then suddenly Sharmin had the sensation that she was falling. In the inky blackness ahead of her, she saw a pinprick of light, which slowly grew. In the light she saw a girl, perhaps her age, perhaps older, huddled on the edge of an ottoman, weeping. Her long, illustrious blonde hair streamed out from underneath a strange headpiece that resembled a shell. As she grew closer, the girl looked up at her with a tear-streaked face and sobbed once. Sharmin then suddenly flipped and landed hard on her back, darkness surrounding her.
"Noob." She heard Ryonai say. Sharmin coughed once and rolled to her side, wincing in pain where her armor had dug into her skin at the impact. She discovered she was lying on arid red dirt, packed hard from lack of rain. A pale hand reached down to her, and Sharmin looked up to find Shizuka smiling sweetly at her, her eyes shut. She took her hand with a half smile, and Shizuka pulled her to her feet with surprising strength. "Only the truly lame land on their back, you know." Ryonai grinned at Sharmin, hugging Shizuka around her waist from behind and leaning his head on her shoulder.
"I've never traveled by Gatekeeper before." Sharmin said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, what do the awesome do, land on their faces?" she grinned back at him, pointedly staring at the dirt smudges gracing Ryonai's cheeks. His grin dropped instantly and his face turned red.
"Come along children, we've got ground to cover." Vlad called, sheathing his swords. An archer skeleton lay at his feet, broken into pieces. Ryonai kissed Shizukas neck, glaring at Sharmin before catching up to Vlad and sliding down the rock ledge. Sharmin rushed to catch up, accustomed to being on the front line of whatever beast they would battle.
"No, stay back with Shizuka." Ryonai said, halting her. Sharmin glared at him, clenching her fists. "I mean it, we're going somewhere you're not strong enough to handle by yourself yet. Just protect Shizuka for now, ok?" he said seriously, staring at her.
"Where could we possibly be going that's so dangerous that it needs a formation? This is the Wasteland, we can see for miles." Sharmin stated stubbornly, batting away the arm he had held out to stop her.
"In there." Ryonai said, jerking his head towards the rock pillar behind him. Sharmin's eyes widened as Vlad calmly cruised into the gaping hole located at the base of the stone.
"That's the Ant Nest, isn't it?" Sharmin asked, glancing up the pillar. It extended hundreds of feet into the air; it's point a strange unicorn horn design.
"Yep." Ryonai answered, turning away from her.
"There's poisonous insects in there, aren't there." She asked again.
"Yep." Ryonai repeated, disappearing into the entrance.
"Oh gee." Sharmin grumbled, shutting her eyes.
Sharmin nervously glanced at the tunnel walls around her several minutes later as they made their way past the first cavern. The nest seemed to be composed of tunnels that led to caverns, which had more tunnels sprawling in different directions from it. Vlad and Ryonai methodically took out the insects they met in each tunnel, but Sharmin could hear the squealing and shuffling of more in tunnels above and below her. She shivered and hugged herself, desiring to not be poisoned again.
"How much farther until we get to the books?" Sharmin asked as Ryonai stabbed an ant larva through the middle. It squealed and squirmed around his sword, blue-green blood squirting from the wound.
"To the center." Vlad said lightly, checking a compass. Sharmin's eyes bugged out.
"That's suicide! The queen is in the center!" Sharmin sputtered, her voice rising.
"Exactly. What better place to put texts in which you don't want anyone to find but with the queen?" Vlad said, smiling. "It's the most ingenious hiding spot that I've come up with yet."
"Just stay with Shizuka, Fish Face, you'll be fine." Ryonai stated, walking ahead with Vlad. Sharmin lingered behind for a moment, puffing out her cheeks and glaring at the two men who jaunted on ahead as if they were taking a stroll along the beach. Shizuka paused by her and placed a hand on her arm, smiling at her and gently leading her along.
The deeper they went into the ant tunnels, the thicker the ant guards became. Soon black ants became red armored ants, which attacked with deadly precision, coming from deep within the tunnels in waves to stop them. They squealed as they were methodically cut apart, sometimes managing to bite the men with poisoned fangs before they were destroyed. Shizuka never once missed a beat, and healed them of their poison before it could take effect and hinder their progress. The journey was made in silence, trying to travel with the least amount of encounters the closer they ventured towards the queen. Sharmin traveled nervously behind Shizuka, holding her shield close to her body. She watched as the two fought, suddenly ashamed and embarrassed that she was not as strong as them. She wondered why Vlad had insisted that she come along, as she was proving to be useless to help them cut through the insects, until Vlad motioned to her. She looked around her, thinking he meant Shizuka, but saw that Shizuka had moved near Ryonai, and was casting a healing spell on a cut one of the ants had left on his face. Gulping, she shuffled towards him, holding the strap of her supply bag tightly.
"Come, come, and don't dally." Vlad said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her along after him. She whimpered to herself and looked over her shoulder at Ryonai for help, but found him to be indisposed, his lips fully locked with Shizuka's. She went into a glare, hoping there'd be an unfortunate cave-in over just him. Vlad ducked behind a stalagmite, pulling her down roughly to her knees beside him. "There she is, as beautiful as always." He said in a low whisper. Wincing at now scraped knees, she peered around the other side of the rock.
What she saw, at the far end of the great cavern Vlad has pulled her in, was far from beautiful. The Ant Queen was large, as big as four men, standing on each other's shoulders. Her front section was raised, as if she were some bizarre form of mantis. Her head was uglier than her ant minions, as if she had tried to morph herself into a human, but had failed. She was surrounded by small black ants, smaller than the ones who had been at the entrance of the tunnels even, but they were numerous, and she could only surmise they were quick in attack.
"You have strange taste in women." Sharmin mumbled, raising her eyebrow as she glanced at Vlad whom seemed entranced by the Queen.
"Ah yes, she's guarded them well. Such a wonderful lady, I'll have to thank her." Vlad stated more to himself than anyone, a smile forming on his face. Sharmin's eyes widened enough to fall out of their sockets, had they not been held in by flesh. Secured to the Queen's waist, half buried in scarred over flesh-armor, was a bulky brown sack.
"How in the hell did you get it THERE?" Sharmin choked, still staring.
"A good magician never reveals his secret my girl." Vlad said, moving out from behind the stalagmite at a crouch. "Come along, seeing as how our good friend Ryonai is currently indisposed with his lady friend, you'll have to assist me in retrieving it."
"How about I go get Ryonai? A well placed kick can do wonders…" Sharmin suggested quickly, scooting away from him.
"Don't be silly, it would be rude to interrupt, come along." Vlad said smoothly, grabbing her by her wrist before she could move away and pulling her, once again, behind him. As he led her into the center of the cavern, she noticed skeletons littered along the walls of the cavern, some fully armored, some in tattered robes. There was an awful stench emanating from behind one of the stalagmites, and she saw a partially fleshed leg sticking out from it. "Ok then." Vlad said after the short stretch of silence. "You stand here." He said, placing his hands on her shoulders and planting her in an open area. "And make sure that once the guards start moving, you move too, got it?" he said, walking away from her.
"Wait, WHAT?" Sharmin shouted in disbelief. The sound echoed off of the cavern walls and the ant guards' antennae moved like radars, and 200 or more heads turned in her direction. She squeaked and froze, staring at the guards as they conferred with one another for a split second before making a beeline towards her. She screamed and took off for the nearest tunnel, opposite of the one she had entered from. The horde of guards squealed and chattered, following after her in close pursuit. "Why me, AGAIN?" Sharmin cried, pealing through the tunnel blindly. Her fast trek was halted as she smacked into the hard body of a winged Ant Noble, which squealed as she grasped around its thorax tightly, trying to regain her balance. It took off through the tunnels, spooked, as its own kind attempted to attack it, trying to get Sharmin. It flew out of the entrance to the ant nest and into the sky, Sharmin still clinging tightly to it as it weaved this way and that, trying to shake free of her. She peered over her shoulder to her feet, which dangled freely off the back of the insect's body, and saw the ground far below her. She groaned to herself and scrunched her eyes shut, gripping the insect tighter.
The insect finally began to slow down and droop in altitude nearly an hour later. Sharmin's muscles burned with pain, and she released the ant as it slid into the dirt. She stretched out on her back, grateful to be back on the ground, and turned her head to look at the bug. It lay unmoving where it had landed, most likely dead from exhaustion and stress. She found, as she rolled onto her side, that her arms lacked the strength to lift her armor-clad body from the dust. As she rolled onto her back once more to stare at the sky, the square face of an Orcish woman stared back down at her curiously. Sharmin yelped and hoisted herself to her knees by propping her shoulder against the ground and pushing against it. She attempted to reach for her sword, but again her arms would not cooperate, so she did the next best thing, run.
No sooner did she turn to bolt in the opposite direction, she felt the hand of the Orc woman grasp her armor, at her back, and lift her into the air. Sharmin yelped and swung her feet uselessly as the Orc woman carried her off, Sharmin helplessly dangling over the Orc's head. She found that she was no longer in the Wasteland; the Noble Ant had carried her into the lush woods outside. The woods bordered the ocean, and Sharmin surmised the ant had brought her to the southern portion of the continent.
"What have you got there, my delicate calf?" a man's voice came from around the side of a house they approached. The home was built on the outskirts of the woods, and Sharmin could smell the stench of Ol Mahum nearby.
"Dinner." The Orc grunted, dropping Sharmin unceremoniously to the ground. She landed on her chest, groaning as the triangular point of her chest armor dug into her stomach.
"I am not dinner!" Sharmin exclaimed, rising up to look over her shoulder. The Orc grunted and folded her arms, staring at Sharmin evenly.
"Oh dear me, dearest Emixis, this isn't food, why this is a female of my race." The voice came again, chuckling. A hand appeared in front of Sharmin's nose, and she followed it up to the face of a weathered human who smiled at her. The Orc grunted again, this time aggressively, and hoisted Sharmin to her feet again, spinning her around to glare at her.
"Female, competition." She growled, placing a hand around Sharmin's neck. "No competition. Aron mine."
"Now Emixis, stop that. You know very well you're the only woman in my heart." The man, whom Sharmin figured to be Aron, said, placing a hand on her muscular arm.
"Yeah, that's fine, I don't want him." Sharmin said, her voice coming out strained as Emixis began to squeeze. Satisfied, Emixis released her hold from her neck and placed her gently on the ground, patting her head and giving her a thin-lipped smile.
"Sorry about that, Emixis means well, she just is a little protective." Aron said, holding a hand out in apology. Sharmin struggled to raise her hand to meet his, her entire arm shaking in exertion.
"She's uh…wonderful." Sharmin said, wincing as she struggled with muscles that didn't want to cooperate. Aron didn't seem to notice and took her half lifted arm, shaking it vigorously. He then put an arm over her shoulders and led her towards the house.
"Come you must stay for dinner. She may not look it, but Emixis is the best cook of wild game. She can make even reptile meat taste like a delicacy." He said, good-naturedly. Sharmin looked over her shoulder at Emixis, who was standing at a wooden table, watching them retreat with a cleaver knife in one hand. Without blinking, she brought the knife down, cutting off the head of some small wriggling creature with a loud "THWACK". Sharmin grimaced.
The man, who introduced himself during dinner, was Sir Aron Tanford, a retired Paladin who passed on his knowledge to young Knights who would seek him out. He was a kinder man, seemingly softer than Cedric had been, or even the Master who had overseen her tasks to become a Knight. She wondered why he chose to live in such a strange place, so far from any civilization, but she did not voice this curiosity.
"So what brings you out here? Emixis says she found you lying next to a Noble Ant? How in the world did you drag one of those all the way down here?" Aron asked after they had finished eating. Sharmin found, much to her surprise, that the Orc was a good cook.
"I got dragged into the Ant Nest by an idiot, an airhead and a sadist." Sharmin said, licking her fingers. "The idiot and airhead got distracted and left me with the sadist, who used me as bait to get some books that he's not even supposed to have from where he hid it, the method of which left me running for my life through the tunnels, where I ended up running into a Noble Ant that decided to take me for a ride. I think it died though, and that's when your girlfriend found me." Sharmin said in one breath, relieved to get the story out.
"That's quite an adventure." Aron said, chuckling. "Do the Idiot, Airhead and Sadist have other titles, or did their parents really give them such bizarre names?"
"Ryonai, Shizuka and Vlad." She grumbled, biting a fingernail.
"Oh, Ryonai? How is he doing?" Aron asked, gathering up dishes and standing.
"You know him?" Sharmin asked, surprised.
"Of course, he came to me for training." Aron stated, putting the dishes in a washbasin near an indoor well pump. "Let's see… Yes, it was nearly a year ago now that he came to me. He had an Orc Shaman with him, her name was Sprissa I believe… is she still around? She seemed to have a lot of potential." Aron continued, putting a hand to his chin in thought.
"Er, no… He was with an elf this time…" Sharmin said uneasily. Ryonai's relationship actions were reminding her of her sister's. Not wanting to hear about Ryonai's former girlfriends, Sharmin asked, "What kind of a student was he?"
"Ah I remember it like it was yesterday." Aron began. Emixis grabbed his arm and pulled him down onto her lap, as if he were the girl and she the man. Sharmin's eye twitched in disgust. "After Leon had left I hadn't had many students, so it took me a bit to get back into teaching mode."
"Wait, did you say Leon?" Sharmin interrupted, scooting forward and staring at him with eager eyes.
"Why yes, Leon DiValmont was my student, do you know him as well? Such a small world this is." Aron said, blinking at her in surprise. "Such a fast learner, that young man. Very eager to become a Paladin and serve to bring glory to Einhasad's name." Aron smiled at the memory. Sharmin's own eyes glazed over, imagining Leon practicing knee-deep in the ocean as he did back on the island as a student. Her heart pitter-pattered for a moment until she saw Gatz' sad face turning away from her in memory of the night he left the island. She dropped her fantasy and frowned, wondering why he would appear.
"Will you train me to become a Paladin too?" Sharmin asked eagerly, pushing the memory aside. It would be a wise choice, she decided quickly, as she seemed well suited to protect, rather than to attack. This however, was not the true reason, as the childish side of her still desired to be near Leon.
"Well, I suppose you've had enough battle experience…" Aron stated thoughtfully, pulling away from Emixis' embrace and circling Sharmin thoughtfully. "Any experience you do lack, why, this is the perfect place to gain it. Let's see…yes, I think you'll do quite nicely as a Paladin. Einhasad knows we don't need any more Dark Avengers running about…. Poor souls are the offensive form of a Necromancer sometimes, no glorifying Einhasad there, it's purely honor for Gran Kain." He said, shaking his head in pity. A fuzzy memory was sparked in Sharmin's mind, and she blinked, trying to retrieve it as it quickly slipped away. The thought that she was left with unnerved her; and what's wrong with honoring Gran Kain?
"How soon can I begin then?" Sharmin asked, sitting up straight. Excitement surged through her limbs like electricity, and she forgot about her sore arms.
"Patience, there requires some time of book study before the physical training. A Paladin is a mesh of healer and fighter, perfectly suited to protect. You must also meditate to unlock the sleeping well of magic within you, as Paladins are well known to heal as well as fight." Aron stated, his aura changing to that of a teacher. He then launched into a speech detailing the advantages to being a Paladin, as well as the disadvantages. Sharmin absorbed all of it eagerly, wondering what the future was to bring from now on.