Chinaren
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 8879
Location: https://www.NeilHartleyBooks.com
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:34 pm Post subject: Chapter 14 - Lonely Heart. |
|
|
Chapter 14 - Lonely Heart.
Cast (in no particular order):
Evil Homer as ‘The Paladin Hero’
Chainfire as Homer’s sword.
Araex as Homer’s steed.
DukeReg as Oaf Duke Reginald Percival Thunderking Harwobble the Fifth.
Key as the Magical dignified Chamber Pot.
D-Lotus as the Elven special forces commander
Sunbellina as Duke Reg’s little sister.
Solomon Birch as a misguided Drow.
Shanty as Captain Shanty.
Ingrothechundyer as Ingro Chundyer the Gnome King.
Reiso as Gnome Prince Reiso
CowofDoom666 as The Cow of Doom
Cantolope as King of the Fairies
Sorrow as a mysterious robed figure.
Idea Master as his wretched minion.
Mother goose as a hydroose
Shady Stoat as The Twisted Witch.
Phang as The Dark Mistress
Muaddib as a wheely thing.
Lord of the Night as an Evil Demon Warrior.
Powers That Be as General Powers ‘the perverted.’
Luvd and Mr Moochie as ‘The Ravens’
Smee as the slug.
Dean as the Dean the Head.
Etheral Fauna as Ms. Slug
The Fallen.
Jnmrcs as the High Commander
Hyperion as the Mage.
Homer.
Evil Homer thought but for a short while. The question was clear in his mind, as if six people had voted for it. He drew a deep breath and faced the old Witch…
“Wait!” The witch cocked her head to one side. “Before we proceed, there may be enemy troops about.” She turned to Homer. “I suggest you send your scout to check yonder glade.”
Homer looked over at Solomon who saluted and leapt onto his horse. He disappeared in a cloud of dust.
Witch Stoat watched him go and then turned to the party. “Now then, ask your question.”
“How can I defeat Phang, avenge the villagers, return this land to the way it used to be, and make sure evil can never triumph again?” Homer asked.
There was a moment of silence as all gazed at Stoat, who rubbed her chin and pondered Homer’s question.
“Well?” Said Homer after nothing was forthcoming.
“Well what?” replied Stoat.
“What is the answer?”
“The answer?”
“The answer to my question?”
“How the bloody hell should I know?” said Stoat irritably.
Homer brought his hand to his head with a slap. “Then why did you insist I ask it?”
Stoat shook her head and sighed under her breath. She spoke slowly and clearly as if she was speaking to an idiot. “I said you should ask a question. The question was to give me an insight into your character, not so I could answer all your questions about life. What do you think I am? The bloody Oracle or something?”
She tottered up to Homer. “The question you asked revealed something about you I think. And it was not really one question but four. You asked how to defeat Phang first, which shows me your current priority. Then vengeance for the villagers.” She waved a finger at Homer. “Tut tut. Vengeance is not the path of the Paladin. True Good shall not spring from such acts. Finally you asked how to return the land to balance and ensure the defeat of evil.” Again she sighed. “You should know by now Paladin that Evil can never truly be defeated, not whilst people live, for such is the balance and such is the way of the universe. Still, your answer shows you to be concerned about more than just yourself, and for that I will join your party and aid in your quest.”
Homer bowed to the witch, who turned away.
Shanty, who had been watching faced the Stoat. “What is this Dark Head you mentioned before?”
“Black Heart.” Corrected the Witch. “It is an ancient artifact with enough power to defeat Phang or, if she holds it, to make her all but undefeatable. We must acquire it.”
“Does she know of this thing?” said D-Lotus, looking up from a mirror he had borrowed from Shanty which he was using to pluck his eyebrows.
“She seeks it out even as we sit here, or at least her minions do on her behalf.”
Homer straightened. “Then we must tarry not! Where is the Heart located?”
“Leagues and leagues away, in a secret place. We must travel far to reach it. Many perils lie in our path.”
“I am a Paladin, sword to uphold the cause of Good! Nothing shall stay my hand. Nothing shall prevent…”
“Yes, yes, save it for the young ladies” said the crone. She turned away. “I need to recover something from my cottage. Await me here and I will return shortly.”
“You will travel with us then?” said Sunbellina.
Witch Stoat looked down at the girl. “Yes indeed little one. And you and I will talk, never fear.”
Sunbellina looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded her head.
“Will you be safe on your own Witch?” Homer asked.
Stoat cackled. “I have been around longer than you think sonny. Don’t worry about me!” With that she walked into the forest, passed behind a tree and disappeared.
D-Lotus sighed and put his mirror away. “We may as well make camp here then. It is a good enough spot. Let’s collect some firewood.” He looked at Sunbellina. “Want to help little girl?”
“Okay!” she said, “but I have to make poo poo first. Come on Key!” and she skipped into some bushes with Key loping behind on his spindly legs.
D-Lotus, Shanty and Duke Reg looked at each other and then set about preparing camp.
*
Darkness was falling fast and Homer decided to do some scouting about.
The others were sitting around the fire watching D-Lotus cook some small animal he and Shanty had caught earlier. Duke Reg was near Sunbellina who was asleep, wrapped in his cloak. Solomon was looking after his horse and Key was resting nearby, his golden sheen glinting in the twilight.
As he walked through the brush a movement caught Homer’s eye. He stopped and stared. It couldn’t be! It was! But how? He walked forward and caressed Araex, patting him on the nose. “How did you get here?” he said in wonder, for it really was his warhorse. “I thought you were…”
“…the other side of Cra-yon pass?”
Homer whirled to see a black cloaked figure emerge from the trees. Behind him the ragged figure of Idea Master, nibbling on some sort of bone, lurked. To his side Sorrow’s many headed goose pecked multiply at the floor.
“Sorrow.” Homer said.
“In the flesh, such as it is.” Sorrow gestured at Araex. “I thought you may appreciate your steed. A mighty hero needs his mount.”
“How did you get here?”
Sorrow looked in the direction of the fire. “It was not easy. Idea Master managed to find some scraps to nibble on, but I have not eaten in some time.”
Homer sighed. He didn’t trust this figure, and certainly not his disgusting sidekick, but so far Sorrow had only aided their cause. “Join us at our repast then.”
They moved towards the campfire, where Homer made introductions to the members of the group not yet acquainted. Duke Reg waved the remains of the leg he was eating, grease covered his mouth. “Hello Thorrow” he said, his mouth full of meat.
“You should not eat with your mouth full Sir Duke.” Said Sorrow as he sat down on a stone near the fire and made a show of warming his gloved hands.
Idea Master lurked around the edge of the fire’s light, in the shadows.
Twisted Witch Stoat.
Twisted Stoat stood and watched carefully from the cover of several Gungle shrubs. She could feel more than see the movement of the evil presence in her cabin. She made sure her masking spell was in place and moved around to a small hut in the herb garden. Opening the door carefully she entered the dark space beyond. Various grunts and sounds, including one “Bugger!” when she knocked her shin against something, went on for about a minute.
Finally she emerged, and shouldered the bag filled with various useful items she had collected from her emergency stores. It was time to return to the Paladin. Casting one more rueful glance at her cabin she breathed in and out hard for a few seconds, then uttered magic. There was a blurring of the air and the scene changed from her beloved herb garden to a narrow path. She shook her head to clear the dizziness that always followed such a spell and paused to rest a moment, she wasn’t as young as she used to be.
As she neared the camp she felt a presence. Hobbling forward quickly she moved into the light of the fire. “You!” she hissed. Sorrow stood quickly.
“Well, we meet again old Witch!” His voice was forcibly cheerful.
“Me old? That’s rich coming from you. What are you doing here you scoundrel? Get thee gone before I get annoyed!”
Sorrow laughed, a dark sound. “You think you could witch?”
Stoat gestured and a breeze sprung up. “Try me Mr. Dark and Cloaky. Take you and your chicken off. And don’t forget that wretch that hangs around you either.”
Sorrow stood still for a moment, as if calculating the odds. Then he laughed again. “Fair enough old woman, I will depart. This time. But we will have a reckoning one day you and I, mark my words.”
The witch spat on the floor. “Look forward to it.”
Sorrow spun around and clicked his fingers. “Come on Mother Goose. The atmosphere here has become a little chilly suddenly.” He stalked off into the darkness, the Hydroose following. From the edge of the camp a scurrying marked the passage of Idea Master.
Witch Stoat glared after them until she was sure they had gone, then sank tiredly onto a log near the fire.
“What do you know of Sorrow?” asked Homer. “He has aided us several times.”
“Pah. For his own ends. Mark my words, he is on no-ones side but his own.” She looked up quickly. “You didn’t tell him about the Heart did you?”
“Fear not Witch, we told him nothing. He has gained no intelligence from us.”
The Witch looked in the direction that Sorrow and his ragged comrade had taken. She knew that Sorrow was not one to be taken lightly. He had Powers. Her good eye narrowed. “Hmmm. I wonder.”
Phang.
Phang stretched on her bunk luxuriously, simultaneously pushing the spent corpse of the young archer out onto the floor. He had been fun, but so delicate! What were humans coming to these days? There was a time a fit young stud like him would have lasted nights.
She sat up and yawned. “I hope you had a good view, peeking from the corner like that” she said into the darkness of her tent.
Sorrow emerged from the shadows. “I see your appetites remain the same.”
Somewhere under the hooded cowl Phang had a feeling that the dark creature was eyeing her naked form appreciatively. “Oh hush! Just a little harmless fun! With all this campaigning one needs a little relaxation you know.”
Sorrow nudged the body of the man with a dark boot. The corpse was drained of fluid. “Not so harmless for some.”
Phang stood up and wrapped a gown made from the skins of young children around her. Their terrified faces were sewn into it and they looked out with wild blinking eyes and moving mouths, screaming silent screams for parents long lost. “I take it you didn’t pop all this way just to get a few jollies and start lecturing me on how precious life is. You are not exactly a saint I seem to recall.”
Sorrow looked up from the face of the archer, stretched now into a permanent expression of agony and fear. “I have some information that may interest you…”
Phang stood infront of a long mirror, admiring herself in the screaming robe. She looked at Sorrow’s reflection. “Go on my little hooded voyeur, I am listening…”
Lord of the Night.
Lord tipped the last of the Newt eyes into his mouth and threw the jar across the room. He sat down on a chair and put the piece of paper he had been reading back on the witch’s desk. As he did so the crystal ball flared into life. The face of Phang filled it.
“I have new information for you Demon.”
“Just in time,” replied Lord. “I am all out of snacks and it is damn boring here. The old witch seemed to like solitude. I am more of a party Demon myself.”
“Stop your babbling. The artifact I wish to retrieve is some distance away. It will take some reaching, even for you.”
“What is this precious item anyway?” asked the Demon. “You seem to be awfully eager to get it.”
“None of your concern! You are there to do my bidding, so listen to me now,” and Lord listened as she explained her desires.
Homer.
The fire flickered in the night. Homer had just settled down to eat when a cry from Duke Reg interrupted him. “Sunbellina! Sunbellina is gone! That filthy Sorrow must have taken her! She gone!”
Homer stood up to calm the big man, who was running back and forth waving his cloak, tears streaming down his face. “She sleep in my cloak! When I check her I found this, no little sister!” He gestured at a log, about the size of Sunbellina. “That Sorrow has her! When I get hold of him he know the meaning of sorrow!” He swung his giant hammer and smashed the log into splinters with a crash.
He looked around then started walking into the woods. Homer and Shanty ran to stop him. “Where are you going?” asked Homer.
“I go find sister!” sniffled the Duke wiping his eyes.
“You will never find her in these woods! You saw how Sorrow can move! He caught up with us through the horde somehow!”
Duke Reg sat down suddenly and burst into tears. “Sisster gonnnne!” he bawled.
Homer exchanged glances with Shanty. She patted his arm and lent him a handkerchief.
“Could Sorrow have taken the girl? Why would he?” She said in a low whisper to Homer.
“She has power that young one.” Said another voice. Witch Stoat hobbled out of the darkness. “I don’t know what that cloaked scoundrel is up to, but it won’t be good for the girl.”
“Can you tell us where he has taken her witch?” asked Homer.
Stoat mumbled a few words, her eyes closed. Finally she pointed in a direction. “I sense her that way, but already she is far far away.”
“Duke go after sister!” Said Duke Reg standing up.
Homer turned to his loyal companion. He couldn’t allow Duke to go off on his own after Sorrow. The mysterious figure would surely run rings around the man. Yet to split his party up would reduce the chances of reaching the Heart, without which all would be lost.
The good of one child against the evil that threatened the world. The good of the one against the good of the many*. Should he split the party or remain together on the trail of their ultimate goal. He agonized over the decision. What should he do?
*Sorry. Star Trek fan. |
|
