The Broken Sword

Kalista opened her mouth to retort but Kelnozz persisted. "The world has grown and evolved, mother. Much has changed since your time. There are many different peoples now, dwarves, humans, halflings, and others. Many are descended of the ogres of old, but now they are separate races scattered about in many towns and cities. They have greater numbers then the elves, and they possess armies as well. No, the time of the elves ruling all is past. It died in your time, with the betrayal of the forsaken ones."

"Impossible," Kalista spat. "Rule at my side, my son, and we can claim it all again! These are but a sample of the army I have at my call. We can sweep through the lands and reunite it!"

"You were married to the brother of the King ages past, I was named heir and King through direct blood and ability. You and I shall never rule together. You forsook your claim to nobility by betraying your husband and everything he stood for!" Kelnozz said, his voice rising with his ire. His concerns over her nature had proven to be true, he saw at last. In spite of his hopes to the contrary, his father had made a mistake by imprisoning her instead of executing her.

Kalista looked at him in shock. Then her shock faded and was replaced by condescending laughter. "And what will you do, King Kelnozz? I remain your mother and your elder, you have no right to challenge me."

"I grew up having no mother," Kelnozz growled, matching her challenging stare. "And no father, thanks to you and your consort. You are nothing more then a relic of the past. Unfinished business that was left for me to take care of."

Her eyes narrowed hatefully. "So be it, I will show you first hand the strengths of my magic and my army!"

Kalista raised her hand and the doguren drew their weapons, everything from swords and spears to bows. Gregory looked back and forth rapidly, seeing an unavoidable and obviously unpleasant confrontation rapidly approaching. Yamara cursed under her breath behind him, seeing the same thing.

"Got any tricks up your sleeve?" Yamara whispered to Alesha, who stood nearby.

The woman glanced at her briefly and shook her head, looking none to amused. "I must focus on stopping whatever Kalista does."

Unseen at their feet Bobo's eyelids fluttered open. He stared up at the night sky, his eyes still a milky white and seemingly unseeing. What he actually saw was the world in a different way. Around him he sensed the life force of those closest to him. Even the grass beneath him he could sense. Then it faded, his eyes clearing. With it so too did his special vision fade. The brighter glow of the people around him faded and he recognized them as those he had known.

He sat up slowly, dimly hearing the talking behind him, but paying no attention to it. He looked down at his body, studying it and noting that his armor was in tatters and worthless, yet his body was whole. Somehow though, he felt different. More aware, more alive, then ever he had before. Bobo stood up and turned around, seeing his mother and father were now with them, and they were facing his grandmother. A family reunion from hell.

"Welcome back," Nathanial whispered to him. Bobo grunted, hearing him clearly.

"Seems your grandma and dad are not getting along to well," Nathanial continued.

Bobo nodded, focusing on the world around him and wondering at how differently he was perceiving it. Something was nagging at him, something he could not quite place. He sensed something behind them all. Unable to deny it any longer he turned around and walked to the edge and peered over the cliff. Faint heat still rose from the cliff wall, sending an unpleasant shiver down his spine at the memory of it.

Far below, climbing up out of the water along the rocky wall was what had tugged at his mind. A giant...thing, was crawling up the wall. It possessed six legs, each ending in vicious talons half the size of a man. A tail with a bony club on the tip of it swung behind it. A thick shell protected its back and its belly, and spikes of hardened shell protruded from it further showcasing its violent nature. The head of the monster possessed four multi-faceted eyes and sharp pincers that could grip and tear food before feeding it to the sharp looking teeth of the beasts mouth.

"Mother! Father!" Bobo called out, backing away and reaching into a pouch that was secured to his belt behind his back. He pulled out some small items wrapped in silk and shoved them into the barrels of his pistols. He followed this with two iron balls, one for each barrel, and reached for the wooden rod that was normally stored alongside the barrels to ram the bullets and powder in with. His eyes widened when he realized the rod had burned up in the flames.

Gregory approached the edge quickly, seeing Bobo up and acting somewhat frantic. Bobo saw him approach and snatched the wizard's wand out of his hand, shoving it quickly down each barrel and completing the action of arming his pistols. Gregory looked at him in shocked outrage, then snatched his wand back as soon as Bobo was finished. The Prince shrugged and gave him a weak grin by means of apology.

"What is it, Bobo?" Alesha said, alarmed by the tone in his voice. Kelnozz turned away from Kalista, but made sure he could still see her out of the corner of his eye. Dimly he noticed a smile was spreading across Kalista's face.

"It is the guardian that was left behind, in case the shield should ever fail," Kalista said. "It will not stop until all of Thoragloorin is destroyed and everyone within it is slain."

Bobo leaned over the edge, took quick aim, and fired both barrels of his pistol. One slug bounced off the hard shell of the guardian's back, and the other glanced off one of the cruel horns coming out of its head. Bobo fell back, dismayed at how useless his ranged attack had been.

"This is bad," Gregory said, having looked over the edge as well.

Nathanial glanced at him and then at the army of doguren behind them. "You have a talent for stating the obvious." Gregory smirked and tried to think up some creative ways to use his spells.

"Let us destroy this mindless creature and then we can debate the future of the elves and the legacyI gave you!" Kalista said, emphasizing her last words. Kelnozz turned to her then looked back at the edge of the cliff. He looked back to her and nodded once, accepting the truce.

On cue the first of the beast's six feet cleared the top edge of the cliff, landing with enough force to impress upon all of them a desire to not be caught under it. Gregory acted first, flinging his wand forward and spraying magical flames out of it and over the leg and foot. If the guardian was upset or dismayed by the fire he made no sign of it, instead bringing another of its insect-like legs over the cliff.

Yamara, Bobo, and Nathanial acted next, lashing out with their weapons, be they swords in Yamara and Bobo's case or Nathanial's fists and feet. Small wounds were scored on the creature, but nothing that seemed to inconvenience it. It continued its nonstop ascent towards them, gaining a purchase with its middle legs and pulling the bulk of its body towards them.

Kelnozz glanced to Alesha, who nodded with a resigned look in her eyes. He drew Llarothimaril with his right hand and ran forward, dodging under a sweeping horn and lashing out, cutting the tip off of one of the pincers of the guardian. At nearly 6 and a half feet tall Kelnozz was still dwarfed by the guardian.

Alesha raised her hands, reaching down deep within herself and then deeper still, within darker places she could connect to, and flung tendrils of non-light at the guardian. Where they struck they clung to the creature, leaching away at its strength. It howled and thrashed, throwing the shadowy fragments free of it after a moment. It turned to gaze at Alesha, moving towards her with determined steps.

Alesha reached to the sky again and made a beckoning motion with her hands, backing up slowly as the guardian approached her. The doguren rushed forward, adding their mostly ineffectual help by hacking and chopping at the feet of the creature. Bowstrings twanged and arrows struck about the head and neck of the guardian, bouncing off or sticking in but doing no real damage to the hardened skin.

Alesha's spell reached fruition then, summoning a mighty glowing rock from the sky, it blazed down from the sky and struck the rear of the guardian with force enough to send nearly everyone stumbling to the knees. The smoke from the strike cleared quickly, blown away by a breeze and showed the guardian still alive and picking itself back up to attack her. Near the rear of the beasts body the ground was littered with dead doguren, either those slain by her spell or crushed under the guardian as it was driven to the ground. Her eyes widened in surprise and she fell back.

Kelnozz slashed across with his sword, opening a great wound on the underside of the guardian's jaw. No blood fell from the wound, instead a viscous fluid filled the gash and sealed it over, hardening before the elf's eyes into skin. Kelnozz stood there, stunned, and for his inaction was caught by one of the forelimbs as it stepped forward. He sprawled to the side, rolling out of the way of the descending foot and scrambled back to his feet.

The guardian plowed its head down into the masses of doguren around it, capturing one between its pincers and impaling another on one of its horns. Kelnozz blinked in shock and realized that the pincer he had severed earlier had regrown its tip already.

Alesha began to understand the nature of the beast in front of her. Enough physical damage might eventually destroy it, but it was a creature of the elements, created to merge both nature and the world around her. Fire, earth, water, and air would not destroy it. Indeed, perhaps nothing could destroy it. But, if given enough time, she could defeat it.
"Keep it busy," Alesha called out over the din of battle. She turned and ran from it, heading towards the portcullis where the stream flowed from the fountain in the palace courtyard. She stopped and turned to face it, reaching out and gathering the dying life forces of the doguren and drawing their energy in to her. It left her with a sour taste in her mouth, yet simultaneously filled her with power and ignited the spark of lust for it within her.

Bobo looked up, sensing something, and saw his mother standing with her arms raised above her. A black cloud swirled around her hands, growing larger and larger by the moment. He felt chilled, as though whatever she was doing was drawing the warmth from the air around him. He squinted and realized that he could recognize bits and pieces of the cloud, they were the souls of the dead.

Bobo gasped when Gregory knocked him aside, barely avoiding a descending taloned foot from the guardian. Gregory gasped as a numbing pain spread through him. He looked at where a talon had torn a gash through the inside of his thigh, nearly to the bone. Beyond that he could see Alesha standing with her arms raised, He saw nothing of the cloud, but he could sense the growing magic around her through his own nauseating pain.

"Powerful stuff," Gregory said through gritted teeth as he grabbed Bobo's arm and let himself be hauled to his feet.

"Necromancy!" The Prince whispered.

Gregory shrugged. "She needs time, let's give it to her!"

Bobo nodded, raising his sword and rushing towards the nearest leg. Gregory aimed his wand and cast another spell, sending his magic ball of super compressed air towards the guardian's head. It exploded, sending several doguren flying, and even managed to tear a chunk of flesh from the cheek of the guardian, but in moments it healed the damage done to it. The guardian's attention was diverted, however, making it lash out with its tail, clipping a ducking Gregory in the shoulder and sending him rolling. Nearby doguren were not so lucky, being struck dead on by the crushing weight of it.

Alesha was ready at last. She gathered enough power within her and above her to cast her spell, a powerful spell of imprisonment. She flung her arms forward and the energy gathered materialized into a dark band of energy that shot out from her towards the guardian in a beam. It struck the guardian easily and spread quickly, enveloping it entirely. It screamed at the spell and tried to move out of it, but the spell stuck with it. Alesha gritted her teeth and focused, lowering her arms slowly and clearly fighting every inch of the way. The guardian began to slowly sink, the ground underneath it yielding as it gradually lowered.

Nathanial pulled away, seeing the beast covered in a dark glow, then he drew back with the intent of punching it again. He was stopped by someone grabbing his arm, the strength as great as his own in his divine fervor. He turned and saw Yamara standing beside him, shaking her head.

"Do not touch it, it will pull you down with it," she warned. Nathanial followed her gaze and saw several doguren that had continued to attack and were now in the very predicament that Yamara had warned him of. Nathanial nodded and relaxed his stance.

They backed away and watched as the guardian struggled, stomped, and screamed its rage, but was unable to break free of Alesha's spell. Finally the last of it slid beneath the surface of the ground. Still Alesha remained focused, lowering her arms more and more until at the end she was pointing nearly straight down. Only then did she relax her stance and swoon, barely catching herself before falling.

Alesha shook her head, sending her raven hair flying about her face. She reached up and pulled it away then looked to Kelnozz and the others. "It is done."

Kelnozz hurried towards her, sheathing his blade and when he reached her he pulled her to him, wrapping his strong right arm around her. She only gave minimal strength to returning his hug, but she did move her head next to his ear so she could whisper into it.

"Was Thoragloorin worth it?" she asked, her voice a mixture of anger and despair.

Kelnozz pulled away, looking at her questioningly, but found the look in her eyes stilled any response he might make.

"Where did Kalista go?" Gregory asked, breaking the tension. Everyone turned to look, trying to find the elven sorceress, but she was nowhere to be found. The doguren that remained among them retreated as well, heading into the castle.

"She had no intention of helping us fight the guardian, it only served to help her escape!" Kelnozz said, nearly grinding his teeth in frustration. "We must find her and stop her!"

"She is gone," Yamara said, opening her eyes and looking at him. "I felt my link with her break during the fight, but I did not notice it at the time. She has fled Thoragloorin."

Kelnozz cursed softly and looked at those surrounding him. His gaze went back to Yamara and he cocked his head as he stared at her. She stood still and firm, weathering his gaze as he studied her nude body.

"You look well for a woman who has aged over 30 years since last we met," he observed.

"I try to eat healthy," she responded.

Kelnozz smirked and stared around Thoragloorin, looking beyond the cliff into the more common sections of the city below, as well as the fabled park that surrounded the lake. His gaze returned to Yamara, as it always seemed to, though this time he made no attempt at pretending he was doing anything other then studying her face and her eyes.

"Why are you here?"

"I brought the blade here, I heard there was a place within to hide it, a place where no one would ever find it," she responded. Kelnozz closed his eyes and shook his head.

"The Well of Lost Worlds?"

"Yes, that is the place," Yamara said.

"Then you may have doomed this world," Kelnozz said sounding tired. "That sword may not leave this world through any portal, for it is bound to it. By doing so it forces the portal to remain open, allowing entry to whatever chances across it."

"The Well of Lost Worlds can open a rift to almost anywhere," he continued. "And though the blade no doubt went to whichever world you were thinking of when you cast it in, a rift has been opened in every world where it can reach for those who can see it, allowing anyone access."

"For the truly talented a beacon or a thread can be seen connecting the blade with the portal, showing them the way to it," Kelnozz finished. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Thoragloorin is a place of many forgotten wonders... chief among them is the wonder that perhaps we are not ready for it to be returned."

"I will go and get it," Yamara said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that followed. "It was mine to safeguard and still is. I will ensure that it is returned."

Kelnozz nodded, "Do you remember what it is you were thinking about when you tossed it in?"

Yamara grinned, her smile resembling nothing so much as that of a predator's. "The most inhospitable place I could think of."

"Where is Gregory?" Nathanial asked, looking about for his companion. At last he found him lying amongst several dead doguren, his face pale.

The monk rushed to him before anyone else could reach him and knelt beside him, carefully lifting his head. Gregory's eyes fluttered open. "Leave it to you to ruin a good dream," the enchanter said, his voice weak. Nathanial's eyes widened. He looked at his friend and saw the wound on his leg.

"Rest, I will see if I can heal you," Nathanial reassured him.

Gregory smiled faintly. "About time you earned your keep."

Nathanial fought the smile and the tears in his eyes and instead focused on his internal conduit to Alto. The priest had used much of his power already, but surely for such a worthy cause Alto would grant him an additional spell. In his arms Gregory closed his eyes and relaxed back into a deep sleep.

When Nathanial looked up there were fresh tears in his eyes. Bobo, Kelnozz, and Alesha all stood nearby looking down up on him. Yamara alone was off retrieving her clothing. "I could not heal him in time," Nathanial whispered.

Kelnozz nodded, resting his hand on the monk's shoulder. "It was a grievous wound, it is no fault of your own he bled out so quickly."

"You healed your son when he was all but dead, is there nothing you can do for him?" Nathanial said, looking to Alesha pleadingly.

Alesha's face drained of color at the request. "No!" She nearly shouted. Then her tone softened. "I am sorry, but I can not, to restore his life another must die, and even then he would forever be tainted. Not he alone, but it would damage me as well."

Nathanial looked away then stood up, picking up his friend's body as he rose. He walked over to the edge of the cliff and, after a long moment he dropped the enchanter into the lake hundreds of feet below.

Part 2 : Old Friends

Chapter 12

"I would be better off doing this alone," Yamara said to the Elf King.

Kelnozz looked at her and shrugged. "Call it redundancy. If you fail he can take over where you left off. I have every appreciation for your abilities and talents, but there is a great deal more at stake here than you proving you can do it. Every minute that portal is open brings us a minute closer to something coming through it that we would rather not deal with."

Yamara nodded, grinding her teeth. She knew that alone she stood a much better chance of speed, stealth, and the lethal force necessary to reacquire the blade. On top of that she was concerned by the very nature of the thing that Kelnozz had chosen to go with her.

"Then let us go, the sooner we are off the better. Have you the equipment I requested?"

Kelnozz nodded, smirking. It was plainly obvious to all that Yamara was not happy about her situation, but she accepted responsibility for it and acquiesced to his demands. He pointed to two filled backpacks lying on the ground behind him, one for each of them.