Voodoo Child
Chapter 4 - Fizzled Out
By Genoscythe
No sooner had Xan'Jin left his former village when a short, sweaty orc ran onto the road. The orc waved his arms at him, apparently in a panic. Xan didn't see any demons or Alliance nearby, so he assumed it was a typical case of overreaction. "Who you be?" Xan asked, trying to maintain his cool.
"I'm Ukor. Please, can you help me?" This guy sounded desperate. Xan nodded. "I have a load of food here. I walked along the road and braved scorpids and spiders and worse!"
Xan'Jin raised an eyebrow, looking down the road. He saw nothing, save for a scared little rabbit being chased by a relatively harmless green snake. "Worse, huh?"
Ukor's head bobbed enthusiastically. "I brought the food to the Valley of Trials because I thought they needed it and I like to help out. But they don't need any food! Now I have to take it back to Razor Hill and I'm afraid of all the beasts along the way..." Xan directed his attention back to the road, where the snake was now being chased by a bloodthirsty rabbit.
"Smart move. Wouldn' want to face all dose horrifying beasts, eh mon?" He said, choking back a snicker. Ukor ignored his cynicism.
Thrusting the bag of food into his hands, he said, "Can you take it for me? I'm just a peon, but you're a hero. You fear nothing!" That was the last straw. Xan'Jin roared into a fit of laughter, grabbing his knee and cackling like a madman.
"H-hero!" He gasped between bouts of laughter. "A hero!" He cried in disbelief. Finally, he managed to straighten up. "Well, I definitely don' fear that," he said dryly, pointing down the road. The rabbit sat in the dead center, snake blood dripping from its fur. The snake lay at its feet, mauled almost beyond recognition. Xan blinked in surprise. "Still don' fear it," he affirmed, and at that the rabbit bit into the snake's spine, snapping it in half and tossing the tail end off the road.
"T-take it to Innkeeper Grosk at the Razor Hill inn," the peon instructed, his voice quivering in terror. Xan looked at him as if he had just drank a keg of lava.
"Razor fricking hill!" Xan roared, outraged. "Dat be ten steps down da road!" He pointed again. "You can see it from here!"
"H-hey..." Ukor stammered. "You saw the bunny. It's not safe."
"You said scorpids. There ain' no scorpids on da road!"
"Well, the trail I took..."
"You be kiddin' me, mon..." Xan began the grueling trek to Razor Hill.
"Be careful!" Ukor called to him, hiding behind a rock.
"Watch me!" Xan yelled back, already halfway there. As he passed the killer rabbit, he kicked it aside. It growled, then hopped into a hole in the ground, presumably to devour more snakes. When Xan crossed the entrance, he looked back at Ukor. "Check it out, mon. I'm safe."
Ukor nodded, feeling emboldened by Xan's success. He took a tentative step out from behind his rock, and when nothing jumped out to attack him, he almost yelped with glee. Xan hung his head.
However, as Ukor passed a hole in the ground, the same rabbit launched out of it. The rodent, now covered in snake blood, latched onto Ukor's head and began biting his bald dome. He cried out, flopping on the ground and trying to shake it off. Xan moved to help, but just then an angry mob of at least five scorpids circled in from all directions and began stabbing the peon with their stingers. Xan grimaced, and turned around just as two giant spider legs burst up from the earth and dragged Ukor down into the red dirt.
Xan'Jin handed the dearly departed peon's load to the innkeeper, and immediately set off for an army commander to get bossed around by. He didn't have to search long, for a short, thick orc bellowed "Rogue! Get over here!" Xan walked leisurely over to the orc standing just outside a bunker. "Orgnil Soulscar. You are?"
"Xan'Jin," Xan said. Orgnil looked him up and down.
"...good enough. Listen, I've been investigating the Burning Blade, and I found that a warlock named Fizzle Darkstorm has camped within Thunder Ridge to the northwest. There, he and his cultist minions spread chaos."
Xan'Jin couldn't believe his ears. "His name's Fizzle?"
"Don't take this guy lightly, son. I already sent a group after him earlier this morning, so meet up with them if you can."
"Mebbe they already got him," Xan pointed out, not wanting a repeat of the Zalazane incident. Which reminded him... "Was dere anyone in dat group named Granik? Big, burly orc wit an axe?"
Orgnil laughed. "No, Granik's over there." He pointed, and Xan saw a crowd growing in the middle of Razor Hill. One figure that towered over them all was quite obviously Granik. He had orc women hanging off him (literally, since he was too tall to flirt with easily). "He's been dueling people all morning, and winning every time. I think most of them don't realize that he's purposely challenging the weaker soldiers."
Normally, Xan would've been a little put off by this. However, this meant he actually had a shot at taking down this Fizzle guy. He chuckled again at the name. There was no way someone named Fizzle could be that tough. Now, with Granik out of the way, his victory was almost guaranteed. He took off for Thunder Ridge at a run. However, he skidded to a halt when he saw why it was called Thunder Ridge.
Massive thunder lizards filled the canyon, lumbering about and swishing wickedly spiked tails along the ground. Xan considered his options. He could either risk stealthing through, which would be an insurmountably bad idea since there was virtually no room to maneuver in the canyon. The second option was to actually fight for a change. Xan finally decided on a combination of the two.
Disappearing into nothing, Xan crept toward the first thunder lizard. The beast had its back turned to him, and seemed to be sniffing at a plant on the ground. Xan leapt, clearing its back and landing on top of its head. It roared, and his concentration broke, but not before he slammed his knife into the lizard's neck. The creature thrashed, and he stabbed it again. This time, it keeled over and dumped Xan right in front of the next thunder lizard.
Its horn glowed for a brief second, then a sharp crack filled the air. Xan jumped back, feeling as if he had been burned. The lizard was charging for another bolt of electricity, so Xan leapt forward and struck it on the face. The thunder lizard didn't take kindly to this.
It whipped its head, knocking him into the wall of the canyon. It shocked him again, and he growled in protest. Getting to his feet, he slashed it again. Before it could strike him again, he decided to try out a move he had learned from Rwag. He slashed again, this time spinning around and slashing again. Both attacks hit right where the beast had already been injured. It groaned unhappily, then slid to the ground in defeat.
Xan jovially noted that the canyon widened, and he now had enough room to sneak by. Minutes and several dead thunder lizards later, Xan found an unusual crag cut into the wall. What was unusual about it were all the dead bodies strewn about the front. He took several tentative steps forward, reminding himself what a ridiculous name Fizzle was to calm his nerves. When he was able to see clearly into the crag, he almost laughed out loud.
A goblin, one of the shortest he had ever seen, stood in the midst of an upturned camp. He looked about at the Burning Blade disciples with a withering gaze; at least, it would've been withering if he didn't look so comical. His warlock's robes were several sizes too big, and they pooled around him like a puddle of tar. One of his ears was set higher on his skull than normal, and the other set lower. This alone made his face almost look like a caricature.
Xan noted that there weren't many disciples surrounding him; many of them comprised the dead bodies littering the crag. However, he noticed some horde soldiers mixed in with the Burning Blade. Saying a silent prayer for the dead, he took a step forward. Or, he would've. A hand had seized his vest from behind and pulled him backward into the shadow of a rock. He felt something soft behind him. In fact, two somethings, and they felt an awful lot like...
"Idiot!" A soft feminine voice hissed into his ear. "You were going in alone!" Xan tilted his head back, and found himself staring into a pair of golden eyes.
"Ja." He said indignantly. "The little dude be named Fizzle. What's da worst dat could happen?"
The woman flicked her eyes toward the pile of corpses outside the crag. "That's the worst that could happen. My entire group was killed by that monster." Xan couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
"And who you be?" Xan asked, twisting around so he could see her clearly. She was a troll, and a pretty one at that. Her blazing red hair was knotted in a ponytail, and errant strands hung down the sides of her soft face. Her tusks were small, curving up and out of her mouth. She was remarkably gentle-looking, and almost seemed more like a human with blue skin and tusks than a troll.
"I'm Alani," she said, her voice as soft as her features (exempting the tusks, of course). "I'm a priestess." Xan'Jin nodded, suddenly understanding why she seemed so gentle. Priestesses were naturally 'cuter' and had a better disposition than normal beings, no matter what race.
"Xan'Jin," Xan said. "Master rogue, at your service."
"Oh? A master, huh?" She said playfully. "Help me kill Fizzle, then." He nodded. "Just fight. I'll keep you safe." Xan'Jin got to his feet. Now this was more like it. The hero meets a beautiful young woman, they help each other overcome a daunting obstacle...this was sounding more like one of the legends Xan had admired as a child.
He turned invisible, and began creeping toward the Burning Blade camp. Behind him, he could feel Alani pacing him. He wondered how she knew where he was, but it wasn't important. As long as she could help him, that was enough.
As soon as he stepped into the crag, the two nearest Burning Blade disciples turned to look at him. He wondered why they were looking at him, because he was fairly certain he was invisible. It didn't matter. He turned his thoughts back to Alani and her two somethings. Speaking of Alani, she now cleared her throat in alarm. Xan'Jin tuned back in to the real world to find that every Burning Blade disciple in the camp was staring at him.
Well, that doesn't make sense... Xan thought, and he looked down at himself. He was most definitely not invisible. Thinking about Alani must have jogged his concentration, and he suddenly hoped that the young priestess was a lot more skilled in healing arts than she looked.
Fizzle Darkstorm stepped forward, cackling madly. A new addition to the scene was the towering voidwalker that floated resentfully behind the evil warlock. Fizzle didn't seem quite so comical anymore.
"Caught another rat, have we?" The little green man said, in a voice reminiscent of a chain smoker drinking helium. "You all know the drill. Save his soul for me!" At that, three orcs wielding broadswords charged forward. Xan raised his dagger to parry, but their blades never reached him. They bounced away, as if hit by a shield.
"Hurry! I can't keep it going for long!" Alani's voice echoed in his head, and Xan took this as his cue to attack. He slashed at all three orcs, only causing minor gashes in their thick hides. They all struck again, but he matched one of their attacks with five of his own, and his smaller attacks were taking their toll on the orcs. Whipping around with an eviscerate move, two orcs fell in gouts of blood. The third Xan kicked into an oncoming foe.
"Behind you! The shield's down!" Xan whipped around and slashed blindly, luckily hitting the orc's jugular vein. He turned back to the enemy he had knocked over earlier. This one was a spellcaster, and he was in the middle of a shadow bolt when Xan leapt at him. He slashed, but the orc dodged it. Moments later, a ball of pitch black energy erupted from his hands and struck Xan in the chest. The rogue nearly doubled over from the impact, and he felt a creeping coldness envelope the area he had been hit in.
Immediately, the coldness ceased, and Xan was surrounded by a bright light. As Xan continued to stab at the warlock, he heard Alani cry out. His thoughts distracted, the warlock smashed him in the head with his staff. Dazed, Xan saw Alani at the mercy of Fizzle's voidwalker. The goblin himself, however, was nowhere to be seen.
As Xan got to his feet, he felt weak. It almost felt as if his soul was being drained from his body. Incidentally, this was exactly what was happening. Fizzle stood just below Xan's field of vision, draining his soul merrily. It didn't take long for Xan to notice him, however. When he did, he kicked out at the small warlock. With a squawk, Fizzle was sent across the camp, landing on top of a tent.
Xan ran at the voidwalker now, who held Alani up by the collar of her dress and repeatedly punched her in the stomach. This only fueled Xan's anger, which sadly did nothing to boost his combat prowess. As soon as he was within range, the voidwalker backhanded him and flung Alani to the ground. Fizzle, his voidwalker, and the orc warlock all converged on the prone troll.
Both Fizzle and the warlock readied shadow bolts, but the warlock was cut down halfway through by a flash of light. Fizzle broke off the spell and turned around to see Alani, dress torn and bleeding, crouched on the ground and beginning another smite spell.
"Helmon, deal with her!" Fizzle barked, but by the time he turned back, he was staring at Xan'Jin's kneecap. The rogue stabbed downward, the knife penetrating Fizzle's skull and sinking into his brain. Helmon looked between Xan and Alani, confused over who should be beaten up first. He never got the chance, for Alani's smite lanced down at him and reduced him to a puff of smoke and black gauntlets.
Xan knelt down to the miniature warlock and sawed his hand off. He figured that would be sufficient proof for Orgnil that Fizzle was dead. Alani hobbled over to him. "Mind if we share that?" She asked, pointing to the bloody claw.
"Baby, we can share anything you want," Xan said, accompanied by his roguish grin. She smiled and sat back against a rock.
"I'd like to, but my husband is too nosy for his own good. It'd be healthier for you if we just-"
"You're married!" Xan cried out, his dreams crumbling once again.
"What, you expect me to stay single for long?" She asked coyly, running a hand down her thighs. Some priestess... Xan thought bitterly.
"You be as old as me! Mebbe younger!"
"So much the better," Alani said as she stood again, stretching her arms. Gently, she took Fizzle's gnarled claw out of his astonished hands. "Now, come on. Orgnil's waiting."
End of chapter 4