Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.
Where?
Balor regained consciousness like one waking from a nightmare. Shivering, sweating and breathing heavily he quickly looked around.
He was not on the hill anymore. Now, Balor was sitting in a beautiful grove of trees. Fruit trees! Balor jumped up to see what kind of fruit. When he saw what kind, Balor stuck out his tongue in disgust. Evilo! Balor hated this fruit! How his stepfather Niro and surprisingly his blood father Pwyll liked this fruit was beyond him!
Balor then climbed to the top of the tree to see where he was. On his left, a mountain with a bit of its top missing that looked as oppressive as thunder! On his right, a friendly looking seaside town!
Balor started to look back and forth between the mountain and the town. Along the slopes of the mountain were groves of those disgusting evilo trees. In the town were large houses.
Balor began to tap his chin with a finger. Decisions, decisions! Which to choose? Climbing a mountain whose slopes have those disgusting evilo trees on them or a nice walk into town to learn where he was.
This decision was too easy.
Town!
Balor jumped down from the tree he was in and quickly left the grove. Where ever it was he was at this was a nice place, but why did he have to end up in an evilo grove?
Balor looked up at the sun. Bright and hot! It was summer after all. But why was it so quiet? Where were the animals? Even during the heat of the summer day he should have heard something.
Balor didn't think that much about it. He just jumped over a small stream that had dried up and continued towards the town. There must have not been much rain in a while if the stream was all dried up.
Once Balor got to the town he saw that it was an Evabon settlement. On the standard at the front of the town was a hippocamp. Balor stared for a few seconds as he realized where he was. He had been told that the town of Kawdor's insignia was a hippocamp.
He was in Kawdor!
Kawdor? If this was Kawdor then that meant the mountain was really the volcano Mount Dunkan!
It was busy in Kawdor. People were buying stuff from open shops, some of them very rushed and busy. At the sight of those shops, Balor walked towards one of shops that moved more slowly. In one of the busy shops, Balor heard someone say: "What do you mean the sword broke? Are you calling my brother-in-law a bad blacksmith?" Better to stay away from that shop!
As Balor walked towards one of the less busy shops he looked around him. He saw adults, children, teenagers all of different skin colors but no one like him. He didn't see any gray-skins but no one seemed to notice him.
When he reached a shop with large jars Balor found himself being greeted by the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was a middle aged red Evabon. His beard made him look older than he probably was but beards could do that. "Ah, one of old Malkolm's grandchildren, eh? What can Makbeth do for ya?" The shopkeeper then took a closer look at Balor. "Say, I don't recognize you. Are you from out of town? From one of the villages I'd wager! Been brought here to meet your grandfather for the first time, have you? You've got to be what? Six? Seven?"
"Eight, actually."
"Eight. Hmm." The shopkeeper, Makbeth, looked at a jar labeled evilos. "Want some?" Balor shook his head. Makbeth started to scratch his stomach as he thought. He then noticed the scar on Balor's arm. "That's quite the scar you've got there, lad."
Balor laughed. "You should see the ones on my back!"
Makbeth nodded. "Scars on your back, huh?" Makbeth walked away to a room in the back of his shop and came back a few seconds later with a red vest in Balor's size. "I've got a grandson your age, lad. I asked Banquo the tailor to make one for my grandson but he made three like he always does. Whenever you ask for something from Banquo he triples it!" Makbeth handed the vest to Balor.
Balor put the vest on him and looked at his reflection in a nearby barrel of water. Just a vest and a loincloth… He guessed some from other races would call him a civilized barbarian. Balor then looked at Makbeth. "Thanks but I've got nothing to pay you with."
Makbeth burst into laughter that would make Zuvowang seem not as loud. "I'm not asking for any stones, lad. After all random acts of kindness make the world go round!" At that moment, another red Evabon, young and with a walrus-like mustache holding a meat cleaver walked over from the shop next door and started to clean the cleaver over the jars. "Makduff, what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm cleaning my cleaver, brother." Makduff just continued cleaning the cleaver. He had no consideration about Makbeth's things.
"Over my grain? Over my dried fruit! Over my evilo?" Once Makbeth brought up evilo, Balor stuck out his tongue in disgust. "No you don't, little brother! Clean your cleaver in your own shop!"
Balor left the brothers to their argument. He passed Makduff's butcher shop and came to a tavern where Evabon men were eating, drinking or playing instruments. He then passed and went over to another shop and another. There were children in both shops. A boy looking at tolacs and a girl looking at bracelets! Nothing that interested him…
He then came to a bakery. Hungry, Balor started to look at the bread in the bakery. He stuck out a hand only to have it grabbed by the baker. "Any stones, little master of the world?" There was a sarcastic tone to the baker's voice that Balor didn't like. Quickly, Balor checked the pockets of his vest to see if there was anything in them. Nothing. "No, stones?" The baker then looked at the scar on Balor's right arm. "Ah. Here is something to keep you from stealing again." The baker took a knife and stuck the point of the blade into the lightning bolt-shaped scar. Balor cried out in pain as the Baker removed the blade and threw it aside. "Try it again and I'll put two knives in that scar, understand?" Balor nodded and walked away, with black blood seeping from the scar.
Balor walked past shops selling honey, eggs and dates. He didn't even want to look. His arm hurt and he wanted the pain to start. He then passed some more shops selling grapes, garlic and onions. Balor eyed the grapes hungrily. He was hungry but wasn't going to risk getting a blade stuck in his scar again.
"People of Kawdor!" Balor looked over to see black Evabon man standing above a crowd. "I Menteith have come to ask for aid! For centuries Thundera has taken more and more of our land! Join me and we will take back our lands and drive Thundera into the ground! Eradicate it from Third Earth! Thundera must fall!"
Balor shook his head. Thundera would fall but not by Evabon hands.