The Knight of Arcalund Book 05

"So what are we doing here again?" Sir Carnos said, riding his powerful steed Savolt in a confident gallop. Smokesnort that Dragon was coasting effortlessly through the air behind him, while Lindi the Wizardess trotted atop her lazy, droopy looking horse beside them.

"I've told you three times already, Sir Carnos. We're searching for the Ogre village of Thornspear." The rather plain magic user sighed, hating that Sir Carnos seemed to be completely unable to remember anything the Wizardess had said since their journey to destroy the terrible Orb of Orgov.

"Ah, right. Ogres. The Ogre village of Thornspear." He nodded and paused. "Why are we going there again?"

Lindi sighed. "The Orb of Orgov was created by Ogre magic. As such, the best way to discern its location is by using that same Ogre magic. The arcane studies that I practice are fading by the minute, and my spells are not powerful enough to shed any light on exactly who or what has found the Orb. Understand?"

"Oh, I see!" Sir Carnos exclaimed. "Why didn't you say so? I can just use my sword. See, it leads me wherever I need to go."

"I'm afraid that won't work, Sir Carnos. Your sword only works if you know your destination. For instance, you could ask it to take you to the Lucky Lich Tavern, but you could not command it to lead you to an item or person if you don't know the name of their location."

"Wow, how did you know that?"

"I know a lot about you." She said, immediately turning a savage shade of red about the cheeks and looking away from the young Knight, her thick, large glasses dominating her long and skinny face. "I mean...I've heard..."

She didn't need to worry; Sir Carnos was already looking off into the distance, as if he had just forgotten their conversation. The skinny, plain Mage sighed softly and rode along, stealing small glances at the gorgeous young Knight. Her skinny heart pounded in her bony and flat chest, and even with her practiced and disciplined willpower, she was not immune to the lures of Sir Carnos. From his agonizing handsomeness to his domineering presence, right to the marvelous scent he exuded, Lindi was as helpless as any other when confronted with his presence. So sad for her, indeed, that she held none of the qualities that our hero finds admirable in a woman. Indeed, she was rather the opposite.

Skulking, the Wizardess ushered on her droopy horse into the wilderness.

The silence was cut short by the Gold Dragon Whelpling named Smokesnort. "Why are we taking the long way? I saw you change your shape into an Owl. Why don't you just teleport us there? What are you hiding from us!?" The dragon's suspicion towards Wizards had not dulled in the least bit in the course of his adventures.

Lindi was beginning to feel completely and utterly invisible on this particular trip. "I told you, Arcane magic is weakening throughout the land due to the orb of Orgov. I don't have the magical strength to teleport any of us anywhere. I can't even change my own shape."

"Serves you right!" He spat out at her.

"Come on, Smo-Uh, I mean...Steve." The Gold Dragon had made Sir Carnos swear that he would not reveal his true name to the evil and wicked wizardess. He used a ridiculous alias in the meantime. "No need to be mean to Cindy."

She sighed and removed some tangled, mousy brown hair from her face. "Lindi, my name is Lindi." She said so softly that even her horse could barely hear her.

While Smokesno-I mean, uh, Steve had the constitution of a 500 year old Dragon, and Sir Carnos was in excellent health, and Savolt simply never, ever tired, Cindy-erm, I mean, Lindy was not the picture of robust health and stamina. The quartet had made a small and cozy camp about a day's journey in, setting up a blazing and warm fire. Sir Carnos was sleeping peacefully, and Steve, after much tossing and turning, even managed to eventually fall to slumber. He had set about him a complex alarm system, constructed of many tripwires attached to large pots and pans, sure that the untrustworthy Wizardess would try to dissect him in his sleep for his gooey and rare Dragon-parts.

Though Lindi would not be cleverly scheming a plan to disarm the Dragon's clever trap this evening. Instead, she was busy staring into a small and cloudy mirror, a pair of scissors looking clunky and large in her small bony hand. She clipped away at her flat, bodiless hair, making accurate and straight snips along the jawline. __________________________________________

"Good morning, Lindi." Sir Carnos said as he prepared himself for the day's adventuring. The evening of sleep had left the Knight rejuvenated and rested, prepared for the quest to come.

The Wizard smiled and smoothed her skinny hands along her freshly sheered short bobbed hair. "Good morning to you, Sir Carnos." To be acknowledged at all by this shimmering example of masculinity made Lindi's body quiver. She found herself distractedly aroused as she mounted her depressing looking steed.

"How far away are we from Thornspear?" Sir Carnos asked.

"Huh? Oh...um...just a few hours ride. I'm close-I mean, we're close."

A sad looking mule of a pony was the last thing Lindi wanted to be riding at the moment, but she endured the hours of riding and tried to concentrate on matters at hand, difficult as that was. She remembered watching Sir Carnos valiantly duel the hulking Golem in the terrified Village of Bargagle, remembering how deft and agile, yet strong he was. The memories of him felling that enormous beast made her entire body shiver, her breathing quickening,

It was not long until the Ogre village of Thornspear was visible in the distance. Simple huts and large stone structures dominated the distant horizon. Large signs displaying skulls and remains of intruders dotted the landscape, not encouraging much tourism. The surrounding terrain was wild and unkempt, filled with beautiful and exotic flowers and powerful looking plants of all colors and shapes and sizes. This was nature, unchecked and free. The sounds of wildlife were all around them as they ventured deeper into the dense jungles.

"My, it is rather humid..." Steve fanned himself with a sharp claw. He squinted at a large skull posted on the end of a wooden spear jutting from the ground. "And the natives don't seem very hospitable. This isn't very welcoming at all. I do hate Ogres. Uncivilized brutes, one and all."

"Ogres are actually a very noble and peaceful people. They have mastered wild magic and can control the very forces of nature. They are simply misunderstood by the civilized peoples of the world. I've read numerous books on their proud and dignified race." Lindi said, examining the skull. "This skull seems Dwarven. You see, the Ogres and the Dwarves have been at war for hundreds of years."

"Man eating plant." Sir Carnos said to Lindi the Wizardess.

"What?"

"Man eating plant." He repeated.

"No, Dwarf. Man eating plants don't have skulls."

Sir Carnos pointed behind her. "MAN EATING PLANT!"

Lindi turned just in time to be snatched by a long and strong green tendril that wrapped around her thin body and hoisted her into the air. Many more vines and Tendrils around them sprung to life and made wild grabs for the party. Steve deftly avoided the tendrils while a few string vines grappled Sir Carnos off his noble white steed Savolt.

From the ground beneath them, a large pod like shape emerged, looking not dissimilar to a venus fly trap, only with a much worse attitude and far more teeth. It opened its hungry maw to reveal seventeen rows of jagged, razor sharp teeth. Lindi screamed as the vine around her slowly lowered towards that inhospitable looking purple tongue, green acidic saliva drooling from the things hungry mouth. Sir Carnos, bound at each wrist, focused all of his might into his arms, straining against the vice-like grip of the Man Eating Plant. His eyes focused with exertion and his entire form flexed strongly. A loud snap accompanied the severing of the vines that grappled him. Once his sword hand was free, a flurry of swordplay made ribbons of the smaller vines entwining his legs and ankles. He was racing towards Lindi the captures Mage in seconds, severing her from its grip by neatly and accurately slicing each lace of vine that entwined her, catching her neatly in his strong arms, looking down into her glass-shielded eyes.

He smiled brightly. "I told you. Man eating plant."

"Regenerate!"

"Huh?"

As quickly as he had severed the threatening limbs, the plant had reformed each and every severed tentacle. In an instant, the Knight and the Wizardess were both captured in iron and foliage-clad grips.

"I told you. Man Eating Plants regenerate." Lindi countered as the two were being strangled and crushed, brought ever closer to that starved and wicked maw.

Steve flapped his wings wildly, deftly avoiding snatches and grabs from the enormous and evil plant. He slapped at Tendrils that came near to him, trying to shoo away the creature and its endless arms.

"Steve! Fire!" Lindi shouted.

"Fire? What do I look like, a musketeer?" The Gold Dragon Whelpling snorted. "Shows how much you know..."

"No! Fire! The Man Eating Plant is vulnerable to fire!"

"Oh, right. Fire." Steve said, swooping down towards the large pod-like head of the creature, who snapped its powerful jaws at the Dragon, nearly chomping him in one gulp. Steve's deft flying was one step ahead of the tendrils and bites of this beast, however, and once close, the Gold Dragon reared back its head and spat out a cone of blazing hot fire, bathing the carnivorous plant in jets of orange flame.

Almost immediately the pod caught ablaze, shriveling into a black husk, plopping to the jungle floor and exploding into a pool of shredded ash. The tendrils withered and weakened, dropping Lindi and Sir Carnos unceremoniously to the ground with a thud.

"Good shooting, Steve!" Sir Carnos exclaimed, patting his dragon companion on the shoulder, the Knight getting up from the jungle floor and dusting himself off. "Just a little Man Eating Plant. No problems, right?" He mounted Savolt and was off into the jungles again, leaving Lindi to pick some leaves and whatnot from her freshly sheered hair. She rushed to catch up with them; the sounds of the living jungle making her feel rather unwelcome in this place.

The four adventurers rode into Thornspear Village to the suspicious and unfriendly glares of the resident Ogres. These creatures were large and Blue, filled with muscle and primitive features. The males and females alike wore tribal markings on their skin, savage designs and primal tattoos of their deeds in battle. The men had large tusks that would jut from their mouths, their ears pointed and littered with piercings. Ogre hair came in a variety of vivid colors, from black to yellow to red to orange and even a few with purple. Each Ogre had eyes of purest and most vigorous red. The men appeared like Neanderthals, wild and primal versions of men, with large builds and strong physiques. The women were smaller and less defined, their tusks much less prominent than the males. Many of the Ogres wore braids lined with trinkets through their wild hair.

"My goodness, they do look unbathed, don't they?" Steve said distastefully, wriggling his nose as he made his way through the village.

"Shhh!" Sir Carnos admonished. "Act natural. We need their help, remember?" He smiled at Ogres that passed him by.

It was not long before they were greeted by a very large and powerful looking Ogre male. He was adorned in the trappings of a mystic, complete with a large bear skin cloak and many druidic looking trinkets. His hair was long and braids ran thick down the sides of his head, each one interwoven with leaves and other natural symbols. Accompanying him was an athletic and gorgeous Ogre woman, her hair a blazing and pure red, some of which was braided and framing her alluring face. She was primal and wild looking, that natural and urge-driven sex appeal that made man so keen on reproduction. Her head was shaved round the sides, lending her bobbed tresses a primitive allure. Her body was barely covered. Leather scraps held her massive breasts together poorly, and a simple loincloth was all that separated the wind from her naturally hairless slit. Her boots were knee length and lined at the ends with thick and fluffy fur. She carried an elegant and powerful looking bow at her side and a full quiver on her back. Her headband had trapped inside it numerous brightly covered feathers and her skin was electric blue, more vivid than the other Ogres.

The large Ogre male spoke in a loud and booming voice, his language unable to be understood. His words were translated by the lush and feral Ogre woman at his side. "Why have you come to our village?"

Lindi stepped forth, clearing her tiny voice and answering for the group. "Wise and proud Ogres, we come to Thornspear to seek your aid in finding and destroying the accursed Orb of Orgov."

The village spoke in murmers when the orb was mentioned. Orgov was a decidedly despicable Ogre, an outcaste among his own people for his dabblings in Black Magics. "You speak to chief Nagvar, the very one who crushed the vile Orgov in battle and finally brought end to his carnage. Our mighty Chief sees interest in destroying anything that our most hated foe has brought to existence, but the aid of our tribe is not for the unworthy. You must undergo a trial to prove your worth. Do not agree lightly, for whomever fails the trial forfeits their very life. Who among you is brave and cunning enough to pass the sacred trial?"

The assembled group pointed immediately to Sir Carnos. "Gee thanks, guys." He muttered under his breath.

The mighty Ogre Chieftain Nagvar spoke and the assembled Ogres cheered. The startling Ogre woman translated. "Then it is settled. The Golden haired one will attempt the trial when the sun rises from its hiding place. He will succeed or he will perish." __________________________________

For a brutish and inhospitable race, the Ogres were fine hosts to Sir Carnos and his friends. They set them up in a large leather teepee structure, complete with a good hot meal. While they weren't the most social bunch, the Ogres of Thornspear were far from the blood thirsty monsters that popular folklore made them out to be.

"You should rest." Lindi said, scribbling wildly into her book, chronicling the lives of the Ogres and everything she could gather about their primal culture. "You have a big day tomorrow."

"Yea..." Sir Carnos said, laying on his back, staring upwards, hands laced behind his head. "Rest. I'm too tense to rest. I have no idea what these Ogres are going to have me do in the morning. What if it's a footrace? Or a game of checkers?"

"Don't be silly."

"I'm dreadful at checkers!"

Lindi looked over to the stressed young Knight. The unknown is a powerful force, dear reader, even strong enough to shake the brave and noble Knight of Arcalund. "Wow, you are stressed." She closed her book and set aside her quill, looking around and walking over to sit beside him. Smokesnort did not much like the company of savage Ogres, so he took to the skies for the evening. Savolt was also preoccupied enjoying the lush and crunchy grazing grounds near Thornspear village. As it were, the Mage and the Knight were completely and utterly alone in their confines. "Maybe I could help you loosen up a bit?" The Wizardess slowly, clumsily unclasped her clunky robe and slowly peeled it down around her bony shoulders. Her bare torso was pale and unremarkable, with very little to be found in the way of curves. Lindi did have clear, smooth skin, however, but her physique was altogether malnourished and wiry, far from the supple and curvaceous daughters of the Kingdom of Trilane that Sir Carnos so effortlessly courted.

Sir Carnos say up quickly, sighing to himself. "You know, I should get some fresh air. A walk would do me good." He didn't even notice the topless Mage sitting beside his bed, even as he looked her dead in the eyes and spoke. "I shouldn't be too long. See you, Lindi." He patted her on the shoulder and exited the tent, as if a naked body didn't even register to his knightly brain unless it was accompanied by two swaying, swollen breasts and hips that could crush a mongoose.

The Wizardess slowly slipped back on her robe, looking down at her less than clutchable curves, pondering... ______________________________________________

The grounds surrounding Thornspear were fertile and lush. The wild jungle broke into peaceful streams and brightly colored plants. The humidity had broken as the sun sank low, and now the stars were each twinkling in the clear sky. The fresh air and the surroundings, as pretty as they were, did little to ease Sir Carnos of his worries.

"You should be resting. Your Trial is only hours away." A voice spoke from behind him. Sir Carnos spun to find the fit, surprisingly attractive Ogre translator behind him, the moonlight reflecting off of her electric blue skin. The Orange tribal markings on her face and arms brought out the color of her hair. Even though she was a female, and not as tall as the males of her kind, she still stood equal in height to Sir Carnos, who evenly broke six feet in height.

The Knight's soulful blue eyes met the wild red eyes of the Ogre, her approach soundless, as if the jungle itself covered her movements. "Yea, tell me about it." He tilted his head. "Why do you speak Human?"

"I am a ranger of these wilds. I come across many Human poachers who wish to grow rich from the hides and skins of the beasts of our lands. It is beneficial to learn the tongue of ones prey." She said plainly. "You are Sir Carnos."

The young Knight was taken aback by the recognition. "How did you know who I am?"

"Ogres respect warriors, regardless of their race. Tales of your exploits have reached my ears in many evenings spent by the fire."

Sir Carnos couldn't help but smile. Sometimes the adventuring life ain't so bad after all. "Well, I do what I can." He walked towards her, looking the Ogre over from head to toe, paying particular attention to the glorious figure, athletic and lean, but curved to perfection. His eyes rested on her cleavage and were loathe to leave it. "You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"I am Jagza, Warden of these wilds." Her full, supple lips were decorated with hoop piercings that glittered in the moonlight.

"Very, very nice to meet you, Jagza." He took her hand and offered it a soft and pleasant kiss along the knuckles, slightly dragging his tongue along her hand in the process.

Very much to his surprise, his kiss was replied with a stern, stunning blow to the side of the face that sent the young Knight reeling back a few steps. Holding his aching jaw, he looked at her in shock. "Hey! What the heck was that for?!"

Jagza gave him a look as though he had asked her what color the sky is. "You have kissed my hand. You wish to court me, no?"

"Well if that's what you people call it..."

"If you wish to court an Ogre, then you must prove your might in battle. It is our way." She reared back and delivered another powerful blow. This time, the young Knight was ready for it, and he deftly ducked beneath her attack, kicking her legs out from under her, sending Jagza to the floor.

She deftly rolled away from him, reaching her feet with minimal difficulty. A sly grin crossed her features as she lunged for the Knight, who let her tackle his reinforced breastplate, sending her crashing to the ground in a dull thud. Dazed, she looked up at Sir Carnos, who was unfazed by the blow. He dusted off his armor and jumped atop the stunned Ogre, pinning her to the ground and giving her a wild kiss on the lips, moaning as he grinded his hips against her supple body.