laneys.info Beware of Yankees, drunks, and loose women.

Footsteps echoed through the large, cavernous hallway towards the daylight which streamed through the immense doorway. Now however, something didn't feel right and Kailee noticed approaching orcs whose unmistakable scent wafted in on the breeze. Tess immediately blended into the shadows as she stopped also. Beyond them in the gorge was a much larger, more powerful danger gliding on the wind, it's rider commanding this ambush.

"Company," the nightblade mentioned quietly. "I'll go for their prince and meet you in the middle."

"Have fun," Kailee smirked as she moved forward. With each step her bronze face, glowing hair and dark grey armor suddenly melted into a dark mist which floated towards the entrance as Tess teleported from her side. Twelve armored forms crouched across the entrance shields before them and swords bristling in the daylight, their bulky frames would put fear into any normal human. Concentrating, she motioned with both hands and their defensive line was suddenly consumed in flame which roared upwards from the ground. Squealing and yelling, they flailed and tried to run away dropping their gear as they escaped the wall of fire. Stinking the already hot air with singed flesh, burned wool and leather, Kailee then stepped out to notice the large, black dragon arc upwards as his rider plummeted into the churning water far below.

Once the wall dissipated, she glided through to find most of their enemy laying dead nearby within the sandy ground or disappeared altogether into the gorge with their captain. Adgertesse now stood beside her as they both looked up to the dragon who banked around and headed towards them. Kailee reached out to it's mind.

'I have no quarrel with you nor these beings until they attacked us. You're free of his control now, return home and live in peace.'

Without replying, the sleek form screamed towards them then suddenly, rose into the air and continued east until it disappeared over the roughly carved ground above.

"Nice trick," Tess congratulated. "Wonder who sent them in the first place."

"Not sure. No one to ask now," the dark, wispy cloud then solidified into the demon queen. "Was their prince an orc also?"

"No. He was human," Tess stepped closer to the eroded edge of the shallow entryway and looked into the river far below. "Have a feeling he's still alive though if you want to talk to him."

"That's okay. Let him drown." Kailee then concentrated on Henares' outskirts. "Ready for another boat ride? Unless we get lucky enough to find that trio before they leave the sultanate. We can at least find out which ship they left on."

Tess turned to her. "You don't think they were hired locally?"

"Doesn't fit the Macau or Jann. This place was only known by someone of exceptional power."

Grey brow furrowed. "How do you know that?"

"Because this cave complex is older than the human race itself." She wrapped her right arm around her friend and concentrated, then they both vanished in a rising swirl of flame that evanesced into the air. Once gone, the doors slowly closed and dragged the removed dirt back with it.

Thin blue lines burned along the seams and sealed the entrance forever.

* * *

Grabbing onto a large boulder, the gauntleted hand held on for dear life as he pulled himself up onto the refuge. White water rushed over his back and legs, threatening to continue his journey southward if he let go. Spitting and grunting, he pulled himself up as blood coursed down his chin as he silently cursed those two women for thwarting his plan for glory. As he lay there for a long moment, pain coursed through his body from the multiple stab wounds he received from behind and suspected blunt damage that crushed his left shoulder leaving his arm uselessly limp at his side.

Suddenly, a shadow stood over him. Their steel boots and dark greaves shone in the daylight and glinted in his tired eyes as he looked up to see a familiar face. Laughing, he laid his head back upon the rock.

"I take it your plan failed," the rough, deep voice stated in Kemal. "I told you to leave them alone, follow only until they reached Henares. Why was that so difficult, Gadil?"

"You're just angry that I got the first attempt," the dying warrior laughed and coughed up more blood which now stained the greyish-brown rock in long streaks.

His accuser leaned over, "And failed. Do you know how long we've been trying to get this close to that bitch and her grey-skinned slave? And now they're aware of someone tracking them thanks to your foolishness."

"They've felt the fear before they died. My mount is digesting them as we speak," Gadil laughed as he felt his life ebbing away. He heard his companion rise and muse on that point for a long moment as numbness started to take him, sounds fading quickly.

"Die with that delusion then, fool." Gadil felt the light pierce the darkness around him as his body felt like a feather on the wind, drifting to his promised home in the sky.