The Necklace of Zedan
Chapter 28
As the heroes finish off the soldiers, they see the wave of Goblins descending down upon them. "Kram better get here soon with some help or this war will soon be over." Romeelus hisses. The others nod. Scanning across the field, the bounty hunter looks for red hair, billowing out of a helm. He almost gives up hope when at last he spies a warrioress fighting off two undead warriors, and two infantry. "That's my baby," he remarks with a grin. "Excuse me guys, but I hear my duty calling me elsewhere.” Putting his heart into his strides, the bounty hunter runs between skirmishes until he reaches the Sasha's side. "Could you use a little help?" A gritting of her teeth is his only response. A stroke that Sasha doesn't see arcs towards her. Romeelus' axe intercepts it. As the odds begin to swing into the lovers' favor a wave of fresh Goblins steps forward to replace the dead; it'll be a long time, before they will see a break.
* * * * *
The cavalry spurs their mounts forward. Stefan and his group try frantically to reset their spears. They are not in time. Stefan dives out of the way of the stampeding horses while the rest of his division get cut to ribbons and get trampled beneath the hooves. Turning around once more, the riders set their sites on the lone figure lying in the dirt. Stefan sees the moment of his death before him. "It's not fair!" He yells into the sky. "I haven't fulfilled my promise to my dead father. I cannot die until I have enacted my revenge on Belghar, the murderer of my parents.” As the tears stream down his face; the cavalry charges; he braces himself for the impact that never happens. Just as the riders bear down on him, they see the Goblins swarming onto the field. Seeing the impact the Goblins are having, the cavalry avoids Stefan and ride toward the greater threat. Stefan, the last remaining pike man for the Belgharian army is given one more chance to fulfill a promise.
* * * * *
On top of the castle, Jake finally let’s go of his embrace with Gwyninne. His hazel eyes stare into hers. "I must go out there and fight. I can't stand to be this far away from Belghar. My duty and his death are linked as one. A promise to you I will make. I promise to return to you. After all, I have lost; I will not lose this battle. I will not lose you.” In a heartwarming, yet lonely gesture, their lips touch, and the kiss provides the strength that Jake will need to fight and destroy, Belghar.
* * * * *
Steadily, and calmly Kyle walks onto the field. Ten Goblins spot him, and advance quickly toward him. Paying them no heed, he claps his hands together. Muttering softly, he makes the motioning of parting water with his hands. As the Goblins advance, the ground opens up. As they fall in, he claps his hands again. The ground closes. A quick scream and then silence, as blood bursts out of the ears, nose, and mouths of the creatures; from the waist down the Goblins were enclosed in a tomb of earth. Warily, three undead soldiers approach. Taking out his scimitar, Kyle waits for the dead. He knows that soon, the dead shall rejoin with the dead.
* * * * *
Leading his group towards the heroes Pontew notices that the bounty hunter is no longer among them. He sighs and rolls his eyes. "I suppose it is my fault that the bounty hunter isn't here now. I shall just have to deal with him myself. Men, join up with those Goblins and attack those five. Do not stop until they are dead. There are only three of them now. You should be able to dispose of them with the help of those smelly beasts that Belghar allied himself with.” They nod with confidence. "Now where is that bounty hunter?" Walking off in search of Romeelus the aide to Belghar leaves the soldiers to a fate of their own.
* * * * *
Slowly, the odds start to overcome the mighty Tyrellian soldiers. Like an hourglass that is constantly being turned, the sands shift toward Belghar's favor. The victory is so close, he can almost taste it. With revelry, he watches the defense slowly begin to wane. It is only a matter of time.
Thadden, Magdellaine, and Menecha stand side by side and hack away at the enemy that surrounds them. Goblins and skeletons swing at them in mockery. As one or the other falls to the ground, there is always more to take their place. Fatigue starts to set in on the heroes. "I'm not sure if I can keep this pace up much longer!" Menecha responds to her companions.
"Just do your best. Kram and the Gohwarves have got to be arriving soon.” The thief strikes down a Goblin. When it falls, from the corner of his eye he notices a black shape darting in and out of the enemy's legs. "Feacon!" the thief exclaims happily. "Where have you been hiding?” The cat trips up a skeleton, which in turn falls into three more of its group. They fall to the ground in a heap. Holding his head high, Feacon struts behind the trio. Goblins, rush forward to fill in the gap. The sound of breaking bones fills the air, as the Goblins walk on the skeleton bodies. "Look! Behind the line of Goblins; there is a cavalry approaching. Luckily, for us they can't charge us, unless, they want to plow through the Goblins that they are allied with.” She parries a thrust, and cuts off the offending arm. Covered in small nicks, and gashes, the trio, seem to be doing well enough, considering the odds. An arrow flies over the heads of the Goblins. It imbeds itself into Menecha's leg. She grits her teeth from yelling out. The arrow shaft went straight through and is poking out the other side. Letting out a whistle of amazement, the thief moves quickly to her side. He cuts off the arrowhead. Grabbing the feathered shaft, he yanks it through quickly. Menecha lets out a murmur of pain. As Menecha and Magdellaine concentrate solely on parrying all attacks to Thadden, he rips off some cloth from his arm sleeve. Making a tourniquet, he gives the paling Menecha a quick kiss, then resumes his fighting.
* * * * *
Pontew steadily progresses his way to the bounty hunter. With the bounty hunter in his sights, he does not see the figure that is only a few feet away, watching his movement. "I have you now Romeelus" Pontew raises his hands. Before the monk can strike with his deadly hands, a staff blocks his efforts. Pontew looks up to see the man responsible. Standing before him is Jake. With a scowl of determination, Jake stands in his way.
"To get to my friend, you must first get through me.” Pontew fails to recognize the man before him.
"And who are you, to be so foolishly attempting to stop Pontew, Belghar's aide and bodyguard." He replies imperiously.
"Belghar's bodyguard huh! Well, it looks to me like you are doing a miserable job. How do you intend to protect Belghar if you are over here and he is way over there?" Jake points behind the monk. "I am Jake Rebish, former prisoner of Belghar, killer of Drekkar, the torturer, and the inevitable ruin of Belghar and his bodyguard Pontew.” Grasping the staff tightly, Jake keeps his eyes focused on the next best thing to Belghar.
* * * * *
As battle after battle is fought throughout the land, the lightning disappears from the sky. Darkness descends upon the combatants. They seem not to notice as more arrows fill the sky. Body after body, blood after blood, litter the ground with their presence. All night the war rages on. By morning, the battlefield is nothing more than a bloodbath. Belghar sits on a wooden chair and watches the scene with glory. "I’m enjoying what I’m seeing. Where’s that fool Pontew. I don’t see him among the cavalry sent to destroy the bounty hunter and his allies. But then again, I don’t see the bounty hunter among the allies right now either. Oh, well, I'm sure Pontew is taking care of the situation.”
As the sun reaches the noon position, there is the sound of a horn. It’s loud, and brazen. For a moment all fighting ceases. Everyone glances around to find the source. From atop a hill stands Kram Ironjaw, and beside him is the leader of the Gohwarves, Vlim Axe-Wielder. Staring at the carnage, the Gohwarves feel the anger within them begin to boil. When they see the undead, and the evil Goblins, that they know that Kram was correct. The Gohwarves have sworn to rid the world of this evil. Feeling the rage overwhelm them, they storm down the hill. With the coming of the Gohwarves, the sands of the hourglass shift towards good.
* * * * *
At the sight of the Gohwarves stampeding towards them, the Goblins shriek in fear. With wide eyes, they make themselves ready for the charge. The Gohwarves split their troops. Half of the army searches out any Goblins, while the other seeks to vanquish Belghar's steadily growing horde of skeleton warriors.
"This is how you vanquish the undead" Kram yells to any who will listen. With a swing of his mighty hammer, the Gohwarf crushes the skeleton. Its bones scatter like shrapnel from a splintering board being smashed. "You use blunt weapons fools; that is the only way to harm these foul creatures.” Hoisting his mug into the ale, he drains the last of his foamy ale. The enemy surrounds him. Throwing his empty mug to the ground, he grips onto his hammer. Like the Gohwarves of ancient lore, he begins to cleanse this world of the darkness that has started to arrive in this world.
* * * * *
As Kram fights his battle, an even more important battle is being fought between two people. All night the two have combated. Neither has gained a significant advantage, although both are badly bruised, scratched, scarred, and sliced. Jake can feel the energy pour into him from the staff. He knows that it will be a long time before he will have to worry about getting tired. His time has come to make himself better.
"I will get to Belghar," he says to himself determinedly. Pontew is thinking otherwise. He too seems not to tire. Instead of a staff feeding him energy, he is feeding off the energy of the bodies near him. He closes his eyes and goes into a trance. All around him he can see the auras of energy in the air. With this much to feed off, he is sure he can outlast even Jake.
"That staff is what is supplying him with the magic. It holds a lot of energy. When the time is right, I will start to suck the energy from the staff, and quite possibly his soul with it.” Opening his eyes he comes out of the trance-like state, and ducks under the swing of Jake's staff. Turning his fist into fire, he punches. Jake can't dodge it in time, and feels the pain from the searing heat. Grinning with satisfaction, Pontew wonders why he is suddenly feeling malicious, and cold hearted.
"I resent the ways of my king, but yet he and I are much the same. Why am I fighting? Why am I having thoughts so evil that even Belghar himself would cringe at them? Am I becoming a thing of evil?” As feelings of uncertainty cloud his mind, Jake makes good use of this distraction. Whirling his stick, he connects into Pontew's groin. Pontew is coming up out of his fog. He looks up and sees three balls of fire spiraling towards him. Just as they are about to converge on him, he opens his mouth and begins to suck. Jake watches in amazement as the three fire balls enter harmlessly into the aide's mouth and disappear. Pontew grins. Instantly, he blows and a stream of fire jets out and heads for Jake. Reacting, just as quickly, the man who has had enough surprises in the past few weeks, and is no longer going to be taken unawares, sticks his staff into the ground. A geyser shoots out and puts out the flame inches from Jake's face. It seems the battle between these two, is hardly over.
* * * * *
Feeling the shame at the loss of his troops, Stefan quickly gets over it. "I am glad to still be alive. Perhaps it is time for me to approach Belghar and kill him where he stands.” With a firm jaw, he begins his trek towards his leader.
* * * * *
As the Gohwarves come onto the field, Belghar again knows that he has not won the war yet. "They think they can defeat me at every turn. I have anticipated the coming of the Gohwarves. Although, their timing is quite early, but I have been waiting for them. Let's see if they have a solution for the Demons that I am going to summon. Yes! They have not seen much of my magic yet, but once the Demons are summoned I no longer need to conserve my magical energies. I will enter the battle and take the head of Queen Tyrellia myself,” he laughs as death surrounds him on the battlefield he closes his eyes and begins to summon.
* * * * *
The cavalry spurs their mounts forward. Stefan and his group try frantically to reset their spears. They are not in time. Stefan dives out of the way of the stampeding horses while the rest of his division get cut to ribbons and get trampled beneath the hooves. Turning around once more, the riders set their sites on the lone figure lying in the dirt. Stefan sees the moment of his death before him. "It's not fair!" He yells into the sky. "I haven't fulfilled my promise to my dead father. I cannot die until I have enacted my revenge on Belghar, the murderer of my parents.” As the tears stream down his face; the cavalry charges; he braces himself for the impact that never happens. Just as the riders bear down on him, they see the Goblins swarming onto the field. Seeing the impact the Goblins are having, the cavalry avoids Stefan and ride toward the greater threat. Stefan, the last remaining pike man for the Belgharian army is given one more chance to fulfill a promise.
* * * * *
On top of the castle, Jake finally let’s go of his embrace with Gwyninne. His hazel eyes stare into hers. "I must go out there and fight. I can't stand to be this far away from Belghar. My duty and his death are linked as one. A promise to you I will make. I promise to return to you. After all, I have lost; I will not lose this battle. I will not lose you.” In a heartwarming, yet lonely gesture, their lips touch, and the kiss provides the strength that Jake will need to fight and destroy, Belghar.
* * * * *
Steadily, and calmly Kyle walks onto the field. Ten Goblins spot him, and advance quickly toward him. Paying them no heed, he claps his hands together. Muttering softly, he makes the motioning of parting water with his hands. As the Goblins advance, the ground opens up. As they fall in, he claps his hands again. The ground closes. A quick scream and then silence, as blood bursts out of the ears, nose, and mouths of the creatures; from the waist down the Goblins were enclosed in a tomb of earth. Warily, three undead soldiers approach. Taking out his scimitar, Kyle waits for the dead. He knows that soon, the dead shall rejoin with the dead.
* * * * *
Leading his group towards the heroes Pontew notices that the bounty hunter is no longer among them. He sighs and rolls his eyes. "I suppose it is my fault that the bounty hunter isn't here now. I shall just have to deal with him myself. Men, join up with those Goblins and attack those five. Do not stop until they are dead. There are only three of them now. You should be able to dispose of them with the help of those smelly beasts that Belghar allied himself with.” They nod with confidence. "Now where is that bounty hunter?" Walking off in search of Romeelus the aide to Belghar leaves the soldiers to a fate of their own.
* * * * *
Slowly, the odds start to overcome the mighty Tyrellian soldiers. Like an hourglass that is constantly being turned, the sands shift toward Belghar's favor. The victory is so close, he can almost taste it. With revelry, he watches the defense slowly begin to wane. It is only a matter of time.
Thadden, Magdellaine, and Menecha stand side by side and hack away at the enemy that surrounds them. Goblins and skeletons swing at them in mockery. As one or the other falls to the ground, there is always more to take their place. Fatigue starts to set in on the heroes. "I'm not sure if I can keep this pace up much longer!" Menecha responds to her companions.
"Just do your best. Kram and the Gohwarves have got to be arriving soon.” The thief strikes down a Goblin. When it falls, from the corner of his eye he notices a black shape darting in and out of the enemy's legs. "Feacon!" the thief exclaims happily. "Where have you been hiding?” The cat trips up a skeleton, which in turn falls into three more of its group. They fall to the ground in a heap. Holding his head high, Feacon struts behind the trio. Goblins, rush forward to fill in the gap. The sound of breaking bones fills the air, as the Goblins walk on the skeleton bodies. "Look! Behind the line of Goblins; there is a cavalry approaching. Luckily, for us they can't charge us, unless, they want to plow through the Goblins that they are allied with.” She parries a thrust, and cuts off the offending arm. Covered in small nicks, and gashes, the trio, seem to be doing well enough, considering the odds. An arrow flies over the heads of the Goblins. It imbeds itself into Menecha's leg. She grits her teeth from yelling out. The arrow shaft went straight through and is poking out the other side. Letting out a whistle of amazement, the thief moves quickly to her side. He cuts off the arrowhead. Grabbing the feathered shaft, he yanks it through quickly. Menecha lets out a murmur of pain. As Menecha and Magdellaine concentrate solely on parrying all attacks to Thadden, he rips off some cloth from his arm sleeve. Making a tourniquet, he gives the paling Menecha a quick kiss, then resumes his fighting.
* * * * *
Pontew steadily progresses his way to the bounty hunter. With the bounty hunter in his sights, he does not see the figure that is only a few feet away, watching his movement. "I have you now Romeelus" Pontew raises his hands. Before the monk can strike with his deadly hands, a staff blocks his efforts. Pontew looks up to see the man responsible. Standing before him is Jake. With a scowl of determination, Jake stands in his way.
"To get to my friend, you must first get through me.” Pontew fails to recognize the man before him.
"And who are you, to be so foolishly attempting to stop Pontew, Belghar's aide and bodyguard." He replies imperiously.
"Belghar's bodyguard huh! Well, it looks to me like you are doing a miserable job. How do you intend to protect Belghar if you are over here and he is way over there?" Jake points behind the monk. "I am Jake Rebish, former prisoner of Belghar, killer of Drekkar, the torturer, and the inevitable ruin of Belghar and his bodyguard Pontew.” Grasping the staff tightly, Jake keeps his eyes focused on the next best thing to Belghar.
* * * * *
As battle after battle is fought throughout the land, the lightning disappears from the sky. Darkness descends upon the combatants. They seem not to notice as more arrows fill the sky. Body after body, blood after blood, litter the ground with their presence. All night the war rages on. By morning, the battlefield is nothing more than a bloodbath. Belghar sits on a wooden chair and watches the scene with glory. "I’m enjoying what I’m seeing. Where’s that fool Pontew. I don’t see him among the cavalry sent to destroy the bounty hunter and his allies. But then again, I don’t see the bounty hunter among the allies right now either. Oh, well, I'm sure Pontew is taking care of the situation.”
As the sun reaches the noon position, there is the sound of a horn. It’s loud, and brazen. For a moment all fighting ceases. Everyone glances around to find the source. From atop a hill stands Kram Ironjaw, and beside him is the leader of the Gohwarves, Vlim Axe-Wielder. Staring at the carnage, the Gohwarves feel the anger within them begin to boil. When they see the undead, and the evil Goblins, that they know that Kram was correct. The Gohwarves have sworn to rid the world of this evil. Feeling the rage overwhelm them, they storm down the hill. With the coming of the Gohwarves, the sands of the hourglass shift towards good.
* * * * *
At the sight of the Gohwarves stampeding towards them, the Goblins shriek in fear. With wide eyes, they make themselves ready for the charge. The Gohwarves split their troops. Half of the army searches out any Goblins, while the other seeks to vanquish Belghar's steadily growing horde of skeleton warriors.
"This is how you vanquish the undead" Kram yells to any who will listen. With a swing of his mighty hammer, the Gohwarf crushes the skeleton. Its bones scatter like shrapnel from a splintering board being smashed. "You use blunt weapons fools; that is the only way to harm these foul creatures.” Hoisting his mug into the ale, he drains the last of his foamy ale. The enemy surrounds him. Throwing his empty mug to the ground, he grips onto his hammer. Like the Gohwarves of ancient lore, he begins to cleanse this world of the darkness that has started to arrive in this world.
* * * * *
As Kram fights his battle, an even more important battle is being fought between two people. All night the two have combated. Neither has gained a significant advantage, although both are badly bruised, scratched, scarred, and sliced. Jake can feel the energy pour into him from the staff. He knows that it will be a long time before he will have to worry about getting tired. His time has come to make himself better.
"I will get to Belghar," he says to himself determinedly. Pontew is thinking otherwise. He too seems not to tire. Instead of a staff feeding him energy, he is feeding off the energy of the bodies near him. He closes his eyes and goes into a trance. All around him he can see the auras of energy in the air. With this much to feed off, he is sure he can outlast even Jake.
"That staff is what is supplying him with the magic. It holds a lot of energy. When the time is right, I will start to suck the energy from the staff, and quite possibly his soul with it.” Opening his eyes he comes out of the trance-like state, and ducks under the swing of Jake's staff. Turning his fist into fire, he punches. Jake can't dodge it in time, and feels the pain from the searing heat. Grinning with satisfaction, Pontew wonders why he is suddenly feeling malicious, and cold hearted.
"I resent the ways of my king, but yet he and I are much the same. Why am I fighting? Why am I having thoughts so evil that even Belghar himself would cringe at them? Am I becoming a thing of evil?” As feelings of uncertainty cloud his mind, Jake makes good use of this distraction. Whirling his stick, he connects into Pontew's groin. Pontew is coming up out of his fog. He looks up and sees three balls of fire spiraling towards him. Just as they are about to converge on him, he opens his mouth and begins to suck. Jake watches in amazement as the three fire balls enter harmlessly into the aide's mouth and disappear. Pontew grins. Instantly, he blows and a stream of fire jets out and heads for Jake. Reacting, just as quickly, the man who has had enough surprises in the past few weeks, and is no longer going to be taken unawares, sticks his staff into the ground. A geyser shoots out and puts out the flame inches from Jake's face. It seems the battle between these two, is hardly over.
* * * * *
Feeling the shame at the loss of his troops, Stefan quickly gets over it. "I am glad to still be alive. Perhaps it is time for me to approach Belghar and kill him where he stands.” With a firm jaw, he begins his trek towards his leader.
* * * * *
As the Gohwarves come onto the field, Belghar again knows that he has not won the war yet. "They think they can defeat me at every turn. I have anticipated the coming of the Gohwarves. Although, their timing is quite early, but I have been waiting for them. Let's see if they have a solution for the Demons that I am going to summon. Yes! They have not seen much of my magic yet, but once the Demons are summoned I no longer need to conserve my magical energies. I will enter the battle and take the head of Queen Tyrellia myself,” he laughs as death surrounds him on the battlefield he closes his eyes and begins to summon.