FINAL REWARD: PART XV
by: Taliaferro Erucolindo
The two Fier'Dal raced through the trees of the Faydark forest. Kiren looked truly at home, thought Taliaferro. Darting amongst the trees, making nearly no sound at all, Kiren truly seemed at peace with his decision to leave. He had said his goodbyes, he was going on one last hunt, and then.....Tal wasn't sure exactly what would happen at the end of the night, but he hoped that he would be there to see it. As the two neared Kelethin, Kiren noticed something and pulled up short. Tal stopped as well, looking about for signs of an enemy. Kiren walked over to a tree near the path, and eyed an innocent looking piece of parchment, nailed to the tree. Yanking it off the tree, Kiren cursed, "Who wrote this? Who defiles the very trees of Tunare with this....FILTH?" Tal looked over his friend's shoulder at the piece of paper. It claimed to be an announcement of a new law enacted by King Tearis Thex, one that would ban all non-Elven races from travelling the Faydarks. Tal shook his head then spat in disgust, "There's no WAY that came from King Thex! What kind of sham is this?" Kiren wadded up the parchment then set it aflame with a spell. "I do not know, my friend, but if Tunare is with us, then tonight we'll get to the bottom of this!" As the two raced on, they did what they could to remove and destroy as much of the blasphemous propaganda as they could.
Stopping in Kelethin, the two parted ways briefly to consult with the head trainers of their respective professions. Kiren used the opportunity to say farewell to his fellow Rangers at the Champions of Faydark training hall as well. Afterwards, the two met at the "Orc Lift" to discuss their findings.
"Master Regren says that the King is aware of this plot, and that His Majesty has set some of his Paladins to the task of uncovering the root of this deception. General Jyleel has been placed over the investigation. If we find anything, we should report it to him," said Tal. "Aye," replied Kiren, "this treachery must not go unpunished. Before I leave, we must seek the identity of the culprits. According to Maesyn Trushot, many of tracks leading to the trees where the propaganda was nailed.....came from Crushbone." Tal pondered a moment before answering, "The Orcs? They couldn't possibly be organized enough to have engineered this," said the Fier'Dal Warrior, "Also, according to Jakum Webdancer over at the Songweavers Hall, there is news of other propaganda campaigns, similar to this one, being spread throughout Antonica and Odus, as well as Faydwer. In every city from Erudin to Ak'Anon, there are guilds forming under false pretenses, spreading mis-information and trying to shatter the Alliance. There is some larger plot behind this. Just like they tried to trick us out of the Artifacts of Light, the Dark Forces are trying to subvert and tear apart the Alliance from within." Kiren nodded, "I think it's time we paid that visit to Crushbone. If I can pick up the trail, we might just be able to find the source of this evil!" The two Fier'Dal rode the lift down to the ground, then ran down the familiar path towards "Orc Hill", and the entrance to Crushbone.
As they neared the hill, where the Orcs had established a small raiding camp, the two were pleased to see that the young trainees from Kelethin and Felwithe had things well in hand. They were even more pleased to see several young Dwarves, Humans, and Gnomes helping eradicate the Orc presence. "Glad to see not ALL of the young ones have fallen victim to the propaganda conspiracy," said Kiren as they passed by the hill. "Aye, 'tis good to see, but we must put a stop to these lies soon, lest the generation after ours falls upon each other in a senseless conflict that leaves them weakened and vunerable to the Dark Forces," answered Tal. The two approached the cave entrance to Crushbone, and wasted no time in dispatching the Orc guards there. Even without their armor, the two veterans of many battles were able to parry, dodge, or block every attack the two overconfident Orcs threw at them. Within seconds, the two came out the other side into the foul-smelling territory of Crushbone.
"Shall we go straight to the castle?" asked Tal. "First, we should see if there are any captives to be freed," replied Kiren. "Good point," responded Tal. The two made their way around to the mines, dispatching guards and legionnaires on their way. Several other adventurers were in the area, doing their part to help free the captives, and take revenge against the Orcs who would enslave members of their races. After helping to free the slaves, the two worked their way around to the entrance of Castle Crushbone. "Do you think Crush is in there again?" asked Tal. Kiren looked at the ground for a moment, sniffed the air, and responded, "Aye, it seems they've ressurrected the old grunt yet again. You'd think he'd get tired of dying!" Tal laughed, "I guess that's the priviledge of being 'Emperor' around here! The right to be ressurrected and slaughtered! I just want to know how he keeps getting ahold of stolen Dwarven ringmail!" It was Kiren's turn to laugh, "Although our Dwarven friends make fine armor, it never seems to be enough to keep Crush alive. Well, shall we go prove that skill is more important than armor, my friend?" Tal nodded and grinned, "Absolutely!"
Boldly entering the throne room, the two armorless Fier'Dal strode brazenly into the middle of the room, facing no less than a half dozen bewildered Orcs. "Who dies first?" Tal taunted the room. Two members of Crush's "Royal Guards" charged at Taliaferro, along with an Orc Warlord. Two Orc Legionnaires and an Orc whom Kiren recognized as the one called Lord Darish charged at Kiren. The two Giliath Lang members danced through and around the clumsy slashes and thrusts of the Orc weaponry. Tal parried an enemy with each of his twin Ykeshan short swords, while leaping over the swing of his third adversary. Kiren nimbly dodged out of the way of Lord Darish's charge, which caused the surprised Orc to smash into one of his Legionnaires. Meanwhile, Kiren unleashed a blast of magical fire on the other Legionnaire. As the second Legionnaire howled in pain from the fire, Kiren summoned a swarm of insects to attack Lord Darish. Slicing into the first Legionnaire with his short sword of Morin, Kiren lashed out a kick into that Orc's knee which staggered the brute. Spinning around, Kiren swept his sword low, hamstringing the Legionnaire. As the Orc fell over backwards, Kiren inverted his blade and drove it home into the monster's chest, drawing a spurt of thick black blood, and a death rattle from it's throat. As Lord Darish attempted to flee from the throne room, Kiren summoned magical thorny vines to snare his legs and prevent him from leaving. Turning his attention back to the fire-singed Legionnaire, Kiren summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky, through the nearby window, and electrocuted the Orc where he stood. The Legionnaire fell over dead, and Kiren turned to see Lord Darish struggling against the vines, swatting vainly at the swarming insects. Smiling to himself, Kiren unlimbered his bow, nocked an arrow, and took careful aim. "Smile, Darish!" Kiren said in perfect Orcish. Surprised to hear his own language, Darish looked up to see Kiren release the string on his bow, sending an arrow directly at his head. Kiren grinned as the arrow sank into Darish's skull, precisely between his eyes.
Tal had dropped the first Royal Guard with a lethal combination of slashes to the Orc's throat, armpit, and inner thigh. Blood gushed from three of the Orc's major arteries, staining Tal's cloth clothing a dark color. Grinning like a wolf, Tal didn't care. His own blood pumped through his veins as the thrill of battle coursed through him. The second Royal Guard attempted to attack Tal from behind, but without looking, Tal reached behind him and parried the thrust, spun around and kicked the Orc in the shin, then ducked under another sweeping attack from the Orc Warlord. Dashing towards the large table at the back of the room, Tal leaped up onto it, spun around and slashed the charging Royal Guard across the eyes! As the Orc dropped his weapon and reached for his ruined eyes, Tal thrust the point of his Ykeshan blade into the Orc's throat, silencing it's cry of pain forever. The Orc Warlord swung his massive two handed sword at Tal's legs, but Tal leapt over it, lashing out at the same time with a kick to the Orc's head. "I've spoken to the REAL Warlord, Orc, and now I'll send YOU to meet him too!" Still on the table, Tal took advantage of the elevation to drive his inverted Ykesha directly down into the top of the Orc Warlord's skull. As the Orc began to fall, Tal withdrew his blade, spun and slashed cleanly through the Orc's neck, severing his head from his shoulders.
Kiren re-slung his bow on his back while Tal wiped his blades. "What took you so long?" laughed Kiren. "Had to make it look good!" returned Tal. "Now, where is old Crush?" continued Tal. Kiren looked at the carpet on the floor of the throne room, while Tal shook his head in amazement at his friend's ability to track, even on carpet inside a stone building. Kiren looked over at the passageway behind the throne and said, "This way, to the tower..." Tal put the Bracer of the Hidden on his wrist, activated it, and gave himself and Kiren the ability to see things invisible to the naked eye. "A falcon on a cloudy day, eh Kiren?" "You betcha," replied the Fier'Dal Ranger, as he cast a spell of camoflague on them both.