Dragnar rushed out of the Tavern and began assaulting one of the many clusters of fallen warriors, Dagon could see him battling them back alongside several of the town guard, and some of the brawnier citizens, who were brandishing anything from table legs, to kitchen knives.
"SHIT!!!!! HELP HELP!!!" Dagon heard his brother cry. Without looking, he bolted for the door and overtook a fallen, trampling him in the process. Nothing in his mind but helping his brother from whatever peril faced him. Dagon saw him, with a fallen warrior bashing him in the face with a club.
He sprinted over faster than he thought possible, as if his stride were aided by some unseen force. He was upon him in an instant, took the fallen by the shoulders, and threw him backwards against a wall. He tackled the warrior, tearing into its flesh with his fingernails, which had sprouted into wickedly sharp points. His teeth were sharpening as well, he tore at the neck of the fallen with his barbed fangs, wanting nothing more than to extinguish the life from the imp that nearly killed the only family he had left. It loosed terrible howls, squeals of pain as it's flesh was rended from its body.
In seconds, nothing was left but a bloodied, shredded corpse. Dagon merely hunched over it, panting as his body returned to normal, bloodlust subsiding.
"What... the fuck... was that." Dagon said under his breath, not knowing what had just happened to him. He knew it was something to do with his heritage, he could only hope that he would retain his humanity in the coming days.
He wiped away the blood seeping down his mouth.
Drawing his blade, he rushed over to Dragnar's side, ready to meet the oncoming horde of fallen.
"Anyone who can hold a blade, form a line! Archers and Mages, support!" he called, hoping anyone nearby would listen to his plans.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Dagon shielded himself with his gauntleted arm, ducking behind it as shards of glass flew at him from Jerfuth bounding through the window. Dagon waited several seconds, cowering behind his arm before the shards would bounce off it.
Nothing happened.
He looked out from it, and saw the shards frozen in the air, the bar patrons frozen in place, all but one of the women, now walking towards him.
"I know you since my awakening. I've been looking for you. You are my companions in the search of my past and I'm your companion in the quest of your fate. Without me there is dark and uncertain future for you. Time is my gift, I know the future and the present, but my past has been hidden from me, you must help me. I can aid you out of this danger by giving you a few seconds to use your powers and weapons against the dark forces of hell. Do not waste your time" Dagon took a minute to take it all in, he couldn't believe that he was the subject of some prophecy. He had to believe it though, why else would a time manipulating witch approach him in the heat of battle?
"I'd ask you more, but, it seems we've got a bit of a situation on our hands. You're welcome to join us, so long as we survive." Dagon said to the mysterious woman, wondering how he ever got caught up in this all.
He looked out into the street, warriors and fallen were frozen in place. Villagers cowered as Fallen warriors brought their axes down upon them, they would strike home as soon as time resumed its flow. Dagon spotted what he assumed was one of the generals of the fallen, sprinted over, decapitated him, and ran back to the safety of the bar just as an arrow sped up it's flight in mid air, and embedded itself in the side of the tavern.
The quick respite from battle was all Dagon needed, he was ready to fight again, and it would be much easier with the general dead.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Ja'Quar raised the patron from the dead, Borin and Seddrick bashed on the shut door, Dragnar slaughtered one of the fallen, and steeled himself for more, and Vakar stood patiently waiting their arrival.
"Should we go out or wait them to get in?" said Vakar from across the bar.
"Well, it would be wise to wait for them in here. If we can force them through the small doorway, we can meet them one at a time, and not be beset by the entire horde." Dagon said, pointing to the doorway.
"As long as we flip some tables-" Dagon was cut off mid sentence by the creaking of the door, and saw Seddrick and Borin rush in.
Just as soon as Dagon let out a sigh of relief, a Fallen warrior screamed into the tavern, brandishing a wicked looking blade.
He kicked up his foot, which flipped the dagger into his hand. He heaved it towards the door and caught the first of the demons in the chest, toppling it onto its comrades. He drew his blade and rushed towards them, grabbed hold of his dagger, and kicked the fallen backwards into the street, while simultaneously loosing his dagger from the beasts' flesh.
Two more took its place, one sliced its axe towards Dagon, but hit his gauntleted arm. The metal brace deflected the blade, and Dagon drove his longsword into the Fallen's gut as its axe was flying backwards. He gripped his blade with both hands, and tore it out of the side of the beast, and into the side of the other. Both fell backwards onto the street, and bled out their last seconds on the stone walkway.
Dagon turned to the left side of the door, hiding behind the door, waiting for more warriors to come in. Can catch them off guard from here... might as well flank them if I can he thought to himself.
"We need more warriors!!" Dagon yelled across the bar, hoping the patrons knew how to handle a weapon, or better yet, had a grasp of magic.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Dagon's drinks arrived within minutes, and he grinned at the barmaid, slipping her an extra silver for bringing them so quickly.
Ripples formed in his drink, a rhythmic wave that would repeat every second. Dagon knew this was no trick of the senses, he had not had anything to drink yet. The ripples grew in size, eventually shaking the glass itself. The patrons of the bar were experiencing similar activity, some having to hold onto their glasses to make the clinking stop.
He heard cracking sound outside, and a booming crash. He drew his blade and walked slowly to the door, opening it an inch to see what was happening outside. As he peeked out, an arrow whizzed past his face, and impaled a bar patron, his cries pierced the silence that had developed. The other patrons rushed to the man, examining the arrow. It seemed to be made of wood, with bone fletching and a bone tip.
"This is of Fallen make..." one of the men gasped. "Demons?! Here?!?!" yelled another, obviously working himself into a state of panic.
Dagon peeked back outside, and saw guards manning the ramparts, and several holding the gate.
A church bell rang out, alerting the citizens to take shelter: Demons were upon the town.
Just as the bell finished its 5th toll, the gates crashed down, and hordes of fallen poured into the town.
"FALLEN!!!!" cried Dagon, looking back at his companions, making sure they were all in fit condition to defend their lives.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Dagon nodded at their newfound companion, and followed him, as did the rest of the men, to the town of Yarin.
As they approached, the massive walls of the city loomed 30 feet in the air, the angular, cut stone in stark contrast to the unorganized farmland laying outside of the walls. The city seemed out of place, slapped in the middle of a lowland meadow, surrounded on all sides by rural farms. But, Dagon was still thankful that they had managed to reach the city.
They passed through the gates without any harassment from the guards, obviously adventurers frequented this part of the island. As they passed through the gates, the grandeur of the stone walls was not diminished by the town: it was a beautiful city. Wooden cottages stood side by side, lined with gardens while stone walkways intertwined between them.
"Well... guess we're in the residential neighborhood, there should be a tavern somewhere around here." Dagon said, licking his lips at the thought of a cold pint of ale, no doubt the others were doing the same.
They searched about for what seemed to Dagon as an eternity, the thought of food weighing heavily on his weary mind. They eventually came to a Tavern, The Drunken Demon, the name alone suggested adventurers of all sorts visited this town, just as the gates did.
They went inside, and were greeted with the sounds of music, pints clanking, and general bar sounds.
"First round on me." Dagon said to the group as he tossed a bag of silver at the barmaid, and grinned back at the former slaves. Some ale would do wonders to raise the spirits of the group.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
The mysterious man expressed his concern about his companions, and brother, obviously realizing that he would be overpowered and killed.
"Anyway, I help you and you help me. Let's put on a little show." he said, as he cut the rope above Dagon, slamming him into the ground with a thud. Dagon got up as the man put his hand on his shoulder, "Watch your steps in these swamps friend. My traps are not meant for you. Now come with me and I will show you the way."
Heh.... guess he's figured out they'd kill him. Dagon thought, grinning at the sudden change in the mans mood.
"Easy guys, he's not here to kill us. I happened upon one of his traps, no harm done." he said to his onrushing companions, trying to ease their combat ready nerves.
Dagon eyed the man suspiciously. "Well, at any rate, seems we've got ourselves a guide now, lead on."
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
"So, do you like this little deer here? Because I don't think it likes you!" said the man as he emerged from the bushes, obviously he was the one who set this trap.
Dagon was rendered speechless as he watched the previously dead deer rise up and lock eyes with him. Dagon merely gulped at the sight, wondering if this was all some trick of the mind.
"Now, we are going to have a nice little chat, just you and me. You are going to stay quiet, or I'll let missus zombie deer here gnaw your face of. We agree? We agree!" an odd smile creeped across his face as he spoke, he was taking pleasure from Dagons fear. "I'm Ja'quar and you are my prey. I live in swamps and, like many other people, I kill trespassers. I loot their bodies and stuff their corpses in the muck, ready to fight for me if time calls for it. This is how I live, and I like it that way."
"Now give me one good reason, or more if you'd like, not to kill you so I can live." said the mysterious swamp dweller.
"Erm.... well, I mean you no harm, if that's a start. I guess it's also worth mentioning that my brother would skin you alive if he found you with my body, my other companions probably wouldn't take the news of my death well either. Since I'm pretty sure you have no ties to authorities, I'll tell you that we're escaped slaves, we just landed on the island and are seeking the nearest town. If you let us pass unharmed, then no harm will come to you. Do we have an agreement?" said Dagon, remaining suprisingly calm in the face of such horror. The thought of his armed companions, especially the barbarian, calmed his nerves.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
"The drinks are in town, which is where we should be headed off to." said Dagon, honestly wishing they had all the time in the world to just sit here on the beach.
Fucking paradise around here...
"I figure if we walk far enough through this forest, there should be a road on the other side." he said to the others, pointing to the woods past the shoreline.
He lowered the anchor, making sure it was secure in the sand before walking off into the woods, hoping his companions were close behind. He drew his dagger and began hacking away vines and tree limbs as he walked through the forest, keeping an eye out for any beasts that may attack them, or beasts that they could eat. Food was beginning to run short, and they needed to resupply.
As if the gods themselves were reading his mind, he saw a dead deer several feet ahead of the path he was currently following. You've got to be shitting me.. he thought to himself, he couldn't believe his luck. The deer even looked fresh, something must have been interrupted after the kill. He bent down, and hefted the deer over his shoulders.
In seconds, he was thrown up into the air, a rope around his ankle. He was left dangling from a tree. "AAAAAAHHHH, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!!?" he yelled, looking around for any companions. The only person he could see was a shady figure looming behind several trees.
Guess this is it he thought to himself, silently cursing himself for not foreseeing this trap.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Dagon leaned up against the mast of the boat, crossing his arms.
Guess this is as good a time as any to get to know these people, who knows how long we'll be traveling together for.
He listened to the story of the man who was previously Stryder, replying just as soon as he was done talking. "Didn't know trees could teach magic." he said, chuckling.
"My brother Dragnar and myself, Dagon ", Dagon paused to point out Dragnar, "were both captured in our home town.... we.. don't know what became of the rest of the inhabitants, but hopefully we can return there as soon as we're resupplied. We've got a ship, after all, might as well make good use of it." he eyed up the ship as he said this, impressed with the attention to detail that went into it. He was quite shocked that slavers possessed such a graceful vessel.
"Anyway... im curious to now something about the others" said the man calling himself Seddrick, Dagon merely nodded at him. He was thinking the same.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Dagon was nearly thrown from his feet as the ship stopped moving, planting itself firmly on the sandy shores of Torusk. He stepped out of the cabin he was resting in, and looked out across the land.
He was greeted with sandy beaches, palm trees, and what looked to be marshlands area beyond the tree line. Picked a paradise to land on.. he thought to himself as he strolled across the deck, and released the boarding plank, which came to rest on the shoreline.
"Well, I guess this is our stop, we'll have to find a nearby road that will take us to settlement." he said to the group, hoping they could find a road soon enough. Aimless wandering would do nothing to help them.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Dagon was thrown backwards against the boat by the force of the explosion, and was peppered by guts, ice, and flesh. Need to get back on the boat before this ice collapses... he thought to himself, looking for a way up.
He did not see any, so he sheathed his sword, withdrew his dagger with his right hand, and began scaling the side of the boat, driving the spikes on his single gauntlet into the wood, then supporting his weight with the dagger as he worked his way up the wooden planks.
In a minute, he had vaulted back over the side of the boat, and onto the deck. Looking about, he saw slavers swimming away from the boat, some in the water, some in escape boats. Several remained, and still seemed to be ready to put up a fight.
Dagon took a minute to catch his breath as the battle raged on around him, and rushed the first of the slavers. He lowered his left arm, and threw him off his feet, shattering several of the slaver's ribs as the force behind his metal clad arm dispered into his body. He quickly drew his longsword, and stabbed it downwards through his chest.
With a howl, he ripped the sword out the his chest, and out of the wooden plank. He swirled it in a wide arc to deter any attacks, and followed through with a slice across the next slavers neck, decapitating him.
The remaining slavers fled the boat, knowing that their few numbers were too small to take on the obviously underestimated slaves.
"WE'VE WON THE BOAT!!" Dagon howled, sword raised in the air.
Well, guess we won't have to use those escape boats after all, he thought to himself as he grinned.
End of Chapter One
Over the next few days, the slaves plotted out their course to the nearest island, the island of Torusk. Several large towns existed on the Island, and they thought that this would be a suitable place to start their lives anew. Most saw this as a chance to start over, and all accepted that at the very least, they needed to choose an island to resupply on, if they were going to have any hopes of making it back to their homes.
Yet, the slaves still wished to know of why they were captured. Hours of searching turned up nothing but a cryptic note, and a bag of gold. It talked about funds being transferred to the account of what the slaves assumed was the captain, for providing suitable sacrifices. They knew not what they were going to be sacrificed for, only that a town called Sulvus was behind their enslavement.
They could find no maps of the island on board, and thus chose a suitable shoreline to make landfall on, and set out to find the nearest town.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
The kraken was slowly becoming less and less of a threat. Now rooted into place, and missing several tentacles, it could do little to harm the ship. What remained of the slavers still fended off tentacles with tridents and swords, completely ignoring the slaves to deal with the more imposing threat.
Dagon still fought off attacks to the mage he was protecting, who was currently launching freezing orbs into the water surrounding the kraken. There was a thick layer of ice surrounding it now, keeping both the ship, and the kraken, rooted in combat.
"Bring it down before it capsizes the ship!" he heard a booming voice yell, and looking over, saw a muscled old man fending off attacks to one of the mages.
Dagon looked down at the water surrounding the Kraken once more, and judging its thickness, vaulted over the side of the boat and onto the ice. The ice held firm, and easily suppoerted his weight.
Heh.. lucky he thought to himself, wondering what he would have done had the ice collapsed from underneath him. Wasting no time, he rushed the kraken and drove his blade deep into its left eye, spraying a blue ichor across the ice, and onto himself. The beast let loose a cry like none he had ever heard as he withdrew his blade with a twist, further damaging the eye.
He brought his blade back down in an overhead chop, seeking to several a tentacle at the base. It cleaved through the flesh like it was butter, and the tentacle rolled off the ice and floated off to the side.
Driving his blade back down into the side of the kraken's head, he yelled at the other slaves. "ACT QUICKLY, WE NEED TO BRING IT DOWN!!"
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
No sooner did the words leave his mouth, Borin was rushing upstairs to take the fight to the enemy, followed by his brother, and several of the other prisoners.
He followed suit, and emerged to see a scene of complete chaos. Slavers fending off the kraken, his fellow slaves fighting the slavers, and the kraken indiscriminately devouring anything it could lay its tentacles on.
He looked about the desk, most of the slavers had their attention on the kraken, but several were turning towards the slaves.
He spotted one of the aiming an arrow at Dragnar, and rushed the man as quickly as possible. Drawing his blade and attacking in one motion, he drew his sword from it's sheath and sliced the slaver laterally across his chest. The man howled in pain and dropped his bow, bringing his hand down towards a dagger he carried. Dagon pressed his advantage, slamming the hilt of his sword into the slavers face, which broke his nose with a sickening crunch. As he reered back, Dagon thrust the tip of his longsword into the man's throat, spraying blood out the back.
A massive red tentacle curled around the slaver's corpse, still impaled on his sword, and drew it backwards. The body flew off his sword, and into the gaping maw of the kraken. The tentacle shot back at Dagon, seeking to make a meal out of him as well.
He dogded to the side, and brought a viscious chop down along the width of the tentacle, severing it several feet down from the tip. It sprayed a opaque, blue ichor across the deck, and flopped around for several seconds before going limp.
We're going to lose our lives to that beast if it isn't brought down soon...
"ARCHERS AND SPELLCASTERS, FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS ON THAT KRAKEN, BRING IT DOWN, WARRIORS, PROTECT THEM!!" he yelled across the deck, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline as his voice boomed across the ship.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
"We can't rush into this, we're on a boat, in the middle of the sea, full of armed slavers. A full of escape is bound to fail, we need to scout out the next floor of the ship. That being said, is anyone willing or capable of doing this?"
No sooner did he finish speaking, a bloodied, mangled corpse was thrown down the stairway. He heard screams coming from above decks, and the ship suddenly jerked to the left, sending the group sprawling to the ground.
"What the hell was that?!" Dagon yelled, looking around in panic, and suddenly cursing himself for alerting the rest of the slavers.
As if in response, a scream from above deck echoed down into the cargo hold.
"KRAKEN!!! EVERYONE ON DECK!!"
Heh.... guess they've got bigger problems than a few escaped slaves he thought to himself, wondering if this sea monster would be the perfect distraction to make it off the boat.
"New plan, we rush the upstairs, take the remaining slavers by storm, and make it to an escape boat." he said, looking around frantically at the rest of the group.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
Dagon watched as his brother skewered the guard on his own blade, glad to see he picked up on the plan. Dragnar snatched the keys, and began unlocking each of the prisoners.
Dagon waited until the keys circled around, and unlocked his shackles, glad to be free of them. Even more glad, for the chance to have a say in whether he became a slave now.
He jumped as one of his companions yelled an incantation, and killed another of the guards sneaking up on his brother. He clapped this man on the back, "Good job friend, I'll be glad to have you on our side." he chuckled as he looked down at the corpse of the guard, eyes running over the solid shard of ice embedded in his chest.
"Like I was saying, where do you think they have stored all of our weapons and armor?" said the man calling himself Stryder, Dagon merely shook his head at him.
"Seems we've got to figure that out on our own, I did see one of the guards take several packedges to the hold when we were first captured though, no doubt our confiscated gear is laying around here somewhere." he said to the group, hoping that the slavers had kept their gear around to sell at port. He grabbed one of the glowing bracers, and used it to search around the blackened hold.
He opened crate after crate, searching for his blade and armor. Sure enough, after several minutes of searching, he came across several bundles of arms. He gestured at the rest of the captives that he had found thier arms, and lifted the bundles as silently as possible, making several trips to reduce the noise.
"Well, this seems to be ours. Even if it isn't, we'll have to make due." he said to the prisoners, as he rummaged around in the second of 4 bundles. He found a longsword, and feeling the hilt, found the pommel gem his father had inserted into it. Well, this is it he thought to himself as he strapped on his sword, and armor.
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"One in every 10 million people can potentially have a headache from this pill." God forbid she is the 0.000000001% of having a headache.
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"SHIT!!!!! HELP HELP!!!" Dagon heard his brother cry. Without looking, he bolted for the door and overtook a fallen, trampling him in the process. Nothing in his mind but helping his brother from whatever peril faced him. Dagon saw him, with a fallen warrior bashing him in the face with a club.
He sprinted over faster than he thought possible, as if his stride were aided by some unseen force. He was upon him in an instant, took the fallen by the shoulders, and threw him backwards against a wall. He tackled the warrior, tearing into its flesh with his fingernails, which had sprouted into wickedly sharp points. His teeth were sharpening as well, he tore at the neck of the fallen with his barbed fangs, wanting nothing more than to extinguish the life from the imp that nearly killed the only family he had left. It loosed terrible howls, squeals of pain as it's flesh was rended from its body.
In seconds, nothing was left but a bloodied, shredded corpse. Dagon merely hunched over it, panting as his body returned to normal, bloodlust subsiding.
"What... the fuck... was that." Dagon said under his breath, not knowing what had just happened to him. He knew it was something to do with his heritage, he could only hope that he would retain his humanity in the coming days.
He wiped away the blood seeping down his mouth.
Drawing his blade, he rushed over to Dragnar's side, ready to meet the oncoming horde of fallen.
"Anyone who can hold a blade, form a line! Archers and Mages, support!" he called, hoping anyone nearby would listen to his plans.
Nothing happened.
He looked out from it, and saw the shards frozen in the air, the bar patrons frozen in place, all but one of the women, now walking towards him.
"I know you since my awakening. I've been looking for you. You are my companions in the search of my past and I'm your companion in the quest of your fate. Without me there is dark and uncertain future for you. Time is my gift, I know the future and the present, but my past has been hidden from me, you must help me. I can aid you out of this danger by giving you a few seconds to use your powers and weapons against the dark forces of hell. Do not waste your time" Dagon took a minute to take it all in, he couldn't believe that he was the subject of some prophecy. He had to believe it though, why else would a time manipulating witch approach him in the heat of battle?
"I'd ask you more, but, it seems we've got a bit of a situation on our hands. You're welcome to join us, so long as we survive." Dagon said to the mysterious woman, wondering how he ever got caught up in this all.
He looked out into the street, warriors and fallen were frozen in place. Villagers cowered as Fallen warriors brought their axes down upon them, they would strike home as soon as time resumed its flow. Dagon spotted what he assumed was one of the generals of the fallen, sprinted over, decapitated him, and ran back to the safety of the bar just as an arrow sped up it's flight in mid air, and embedded itself in the side of the tavern.
The quick respite from battle was all Dagon needed, he was ready to fight again, and it would be much easier with the general dead.
Ja'Quar raised the patron from the dead, Borin and Seddrick bashed on the shut door, Dragnar slaughtered one of the fallen, and steeled himself for more, and Vakar stood patiently waiting their arrival.
"Should we go out or wait them to get in?" said Vakar from across the bar.
"Well, it would be wise to wait for them in here. If we can force them through the small doorway, we can meet them one at a time, and not be beset by the entire horde." Dagon said, pointing to the doorway.
"As long as we flip some tables-" Dagon was cut off mid sentence by the creaking of the door, and saw Seddrick and Borin rush in.
Just as soon as Dagon let out a sigh of relief, a Fallen warrior screamed into the tavern, brandishing a wicked looking blade.
He kicked up his foot, which flipped the dagger into his hand. He heaved it towards the door and caught the first of the demons in the chest, toppling it onto its comrades. He drew his blade and rushed towards them, grabbed hold of his dagger, and kicked the fallen backwards into the street, while simultaneously loosing his dagger from the beasts' flesh.
Two more took its place, one sliced its axe towards Dagon, but hit his gauntleted arm. The metal brace deflected the blade, and Dagon drove his longsword into the Fallen's gut as its axe was flying backwards. He gripped his blade with both hands, and tore it out of the side of the beast, and into the side of the other. Both fell backwards onto the street, and bled out their last seconds on the stone walkway.
Dagon turned to the left side of the door, hiding behind the door, waiting for more warriors to come in. Can catch them off guard from here... might as well flank them if I can he thought to himself.
"We need more warriors!!" Dagon yelled across the bar, hoping the patrons knew how to handle a weapon, or better yet, had a grasp of magic.
Ripples formed in his drink, a rhythmic wave that would repeat every second. Dagon knew this was no trick of the senses, he had not had anything to drink yet. The ripples grew in size, eventually shaking the glass itself. The patrons of the bar were experiencing similar activity, some having to hold onto their glasses to make the clinking stop.
He heard cracking sound outside, and a booming crash. He drew his blade and walked slowly to the door, opening it an inch to see what was happening outside. As he peeked out, an arrow whizzed past his face, and impaled a bar patron, his cries pierced the silence that had developed. The other patrons rushed to the man, examining the arrow. It seemed to be made of wood, with bone fletching and a bone tip.
"This is of Fallen make..." one of the men gasped.
"Demons?! Here?!?!" yelled another, obviously working himself into a state of panic.
Dagon peeked back outside, and saw guards manning the ramparts, and several holding the gate.
A church bell rang out, alerting the citizens to take shelter: Demons were upon the town.
Just as the bell finished its 5th toll, the gates crashed down, and hordes of fallen poured into the town.
"FALLEN!!!!" cried Dagon, looking back at his companions, making sure they were all in fit condition to defend their lives.
As they approached, the massive walls of the city loomed 30 feet in the air, the angular, cut stone in stark contrast to the unorganized farmland laying outside of the walls. The city seemed out of place, slapped in the middle of a lowland meadow, surrounded on all sides by rural farms. But, Dagon was still thankful that they had managed to reach the city.
They passed through the gates without any harassment from the guards, obviously adventurers frequented this part of the island. As they passed through the gates, the grandeur of the stone walls was not diminished by the town: it was a beautiful city. Wooden cottages stood side by side, lined with gardens while stone walkways intertwined between them.
"Well... guess we're in the residential neighborhood, there should be a tavern somewhere around here." Dagon said, licking his lips at the thought of a cold pint of ale, no doubt the others were doing the same.
They searched about for what seemed to Dagon as an eternity, the thought of food weighing heavily on his weary mind. They eventually came to a Tavern, The Drunken Demon, the name alone suggested adventurers of all sorts visited this town, just as the gates did.
They went inside, and were greeted with the sounds of music, pints clanking, and general bar sounds.
"First round on me." Dagon said to the group as he tossed a bag of silver at the barmaid, and grinned back at the former slaves. Some ale would do wonders to raise the spirits of the group.
"Anyway, I help you and you help me. Let's put on a little show." he said, as he cut the rope above Dagon, slamming him into the ground with a thud. Dagon got up as the man put his hand on his shoulder, "Watch your steps in these swamps friend. My traps are not meant for you. Now come with me and I will show you the way."
Heh.... guess he's figured out they'd kill him. Dagon thought, grinning at the sudden change in the mans mood.
"Easy guys, he's not here to kill us. I happened upon one of his traps, no harm done." he said to his onrushing companions, trying to ease their combat ready nerves.
Dagon eyed the man suspiciously. "Well, at any rate, seems we've got ourselves a guide now, lead on."
Dagon was rendered speechless as he watched the previously dead deer rise up and lock eyes with him. Dagon merely gulped at the sight, wondering if this was all some trick of the mind.
"Now, we are going to have a nice little chat, just you and me. You are going to stay quiet, or I'll let missus zombie deer here gnaw your face of. We agree? We agree!" an odd smile creeped across his face as he spoke, he was taking pleasure from Dagons fear. "I'm Ja'quar and you are my prey. I live in swamps and, like many other people, I kill trespassers. I loot their bodies and stuff their corpses in the muck, ready to fight for me if time calls for it. This is how I live, and I like it that way."
"Now give me one good reason, or more if you'd like, not to kill you so I can live." said the mysterious swamp dweller.
"Erm.... well, I mean you no harm, if that's a start. I guess it's also worth mentioning that my brother would skin you alive if he found you with my body, my other companions probably wouldn't take the news of my death well either. Since I'm pretty sure you have no ties to authorities, I'll tell you that we're escaped slaves, we just landed on the island and are seeking the nearest town. If you let us pass unharmed, then no harm will come to you. Do we have an agreement?" said Dagon, remaining suprisingly calm in the face of such horror. The thought of his armed companions, especially the barbarian, calmed his nerves.
Fucking paradise around here...
"I figure if we walk far enough through this forest, there should be a road on the other side." he said to the others, pointing to the woods past the shoreline.
He lowered the anchor, making sure it was secure in the sand before walking off into the woods, hoping his companions were close behind. He drew his dagger and began hacking away vines and tree limbs as he walked through the forest, keeping an eye out for any beasts that may attack them, or beasts that they could eat. Food was beginning to run short, and they needed to resupply.
As if the gods themselves were reading his mind, he saw a dead deer several feet ahead of the path he was currently following. You've got to be shitting me.. he thought to himself, he couldn't believe his luck. The deer even looked fresh, something must have been interrupted after the kill. He bent down, and hefted the deer over his shoulders.
In seconds, he was thrown up into the air, a rope around his ankle. He was left dangling from a tree. "AAAAAAHHHH, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!!?" he yelled, looking around for any companions. The only person he could see was a shady figure looming behind several trees.
Guess this is it he thought to himself, silently cursing himself for not foreseeing this trap.
Guess this is as good a time as any to get to know these people, who knows how long we'll be traveling together for.
He listened to the story of the man who was previously Stryder, replying just as soon as he was done talking. "Didn't know trees could teach magic." he said, chuckling.
"My brother Dragnar and myself, Dagon ", Dagon paused to point out Dragnar, "were both captured in our home town.... we.. don't know what became of the rest of the inhabitants, but hopefully we can return there as soon as we're resupplied. We've got a ship, after all, might as well make good use of it." he eyed up the ship as he said this, impressed with the attention to detail that went into it. He was quite shocked that slavers possessed such a graceful vessel.
"Anyway... im curious to now something about the others" said the man calling himself Seddrick, Dagon merely nodded at him. He was thinking the same.
He was greeted with sandy beaches, palm trees, and what looked to be marshlands area beyond the tree line. Picked a paradise to land on.. he thought to himself as he strolled across the deck, and released the boarding plank, which came to rest on the shoreline.
"Well, I guess this is our stop, we'll have to find a nearby road that will take us to settlement." he said to the group, hoping they could find a road soon enough. Aimless wandering would do nothing to help them.
He did not see any, so he sheathed his sword, withdrew his dagger with his right hand, and began scaling the side of the boat, driving the spikes on his single gauntlet into the wood, then supporting his weight with the dagger as he worked his way up the wooden planks.
In a minute, he had vaulted back over the side of the boat, and onto the deck. Looking about, he saw slavers swimming away from the boat, some in the water, some in escape boats. Several remained, and still seemed to be ready to put up a fight.
Dagon took a minute to catch his breath as the battle raged on around him, and rushed the first of the slavers. He lowered his left arm, and threw him off his feet, shattering several of the slaver's ribs as the force behind his metal clad arm dispered into his body. He quickly drew his longsword, and stabbed it downwards through his chest.
With a howl, he ripped the sword out the his chest, and out of the wooden plank. He swirled it in a wide arc to deter any attacks, and followed through with a slice across the next slavers neck, decapitating him.
The remaining slavers fled the boat, knowing that their few numbers were too small to take on the obviously underestimated slaves.
"WE'VE WON THE BOAT!!" Dagon howled, sword raised in the air.
Well, guess we won't have to use those escape boats after all, he thought to himself as he grinned.
End of Chapter One
Over the next few days, the slaves plotted out their course to the nearest island, the island of Torusk. Several large towns existed on the Island, and they thought that this would be a suitable place to start their lives anew. Most saw this as a chance to start over, and all accepted that at the very least, they needed to choose an island to resupply on, if they were going to have any hopes of making it back to their homes.
Yet, the slaves still wished to know of why they were captured. Hours of searching turned up nothing but a cryptic note, and a bag of gold. It talked about funds being transferred to the account of what the slaves assumed was the captain, for providing suitable sacrifices. They knew not what they were going to be sacrificed for, only that a town called Sulvus was behind their enslavement.
They could find no maps of the island on board, and thus chose a suitable shoreline to make landfall on, and set out to find the nearest town.
Dagon still fought off attacks to the mage he was protecting, who was currently launching freezing orbs into the water surrounding the kraken. There was a thick layer of ice surrounding it now, keeping both the ship, and the kraken, rooted in combat.
"Bring it down before it capsizes the ship!" he heard a booming voice yell, and looking over, saw a muscled old man fending off attacks to one of the mages.
Dagon looked down at the water surrounding the Kraken once more, and judging its thickness, vaulted over the side of the boat and onto the ice. The ice held firm, and easily suppoerted his weight.
Heh.. lucky he thought to himself, wondering what he would have done had the ice collapsed from underneath him. Wasting no time, he rushed the kraken and drove his blade deep into its left eye, spraying a blue ichor across the ice, and onto himself. The beast let loose a cry like none he had ever heard as he withdrew his blade with a twist, further damaging the eye.
He brought his blade back down in an overhead chop, seeking to several a tentacle at the base. It cleaved through the flesh like it was butter, and the tentacle rolled off the ice and floated off to the side.
Driving his blade back down into the side of the kraken's head, he yelled at the other slaves. "ACT QUICKLY, WE NEED TO BRING IT DOWN!!"
He followed suit, and emerged to see a scene of complete chaos. Slavers fending off the kraken, his fellow slaves fighting the slavers, and the kraken indiscriminately devouring anything it could lay its tentacles on.
He looked about the desk, most of the slavers had their attention on the kraken, but several were turning towards the slaves.
He spotted one of the aiming an arrow at Dragnar, and rushed the man as quickly as possible. Drawing his blade and attacking in one motion, he drew his sword from it's sheath and sliced the slaver laterally across his chest. The man howled in pain and dropped his bow, bringing his hand down towards a dagger he carried. Dagon pressed his advantage, slamming the hilt of his sword into the slavers face, which broke his nose with a sickening crunch. As he reered back, Dagon thrust the tip of his longsword into the man's throat, spraying blood out the back.
A massive red tentacle curled around the slaver's corpse, still impaled on his sword, and drew it backwards. The body flew off his sword, and into the gaping maw of the kraken. The tentacle shot back at Dagon, seeking to make a meal out of him as well.
He dogded to the side, and brought a viscious chop down along the width of the tentacle, severing it several feet down from the tip. It sprayed a opaque, blue ichor across the deck, and flopped around for several seconds before going limp.
We're going to lose our lives to that beast if it isn't brought down soon...
"ARCHERS AND SPELLCASTERS, FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS ON THAT KRAKEN, BRING IT DOWN, WARRIORS, PROTECT THEM!!" he yelled across the deck, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline as his voice boomed across the ship.
"We can't rush into this, we're on a boat, in the middle of the sea, full of armed slavers. A full of escape is bound to fail, we need to scout out the next floor of the ship. That being said, is anyone willing or capable of doing this?"
No sooner did he finish speaking, a bloodied, mangled corpse was thrown down the stairway. He heard screams coming from above decks, and the ship suddenly jerked to the left, sending the group sprawling to the ground.
"What the hell was that?!" Dagon yelled, looking around in panic, and suddenly cursing himself for alerting the rest of the slavers.
As if in response, a scream from above deck echoed down into the cargo hold.
"KRAKEN!!! EVERYONE ON DECK!!"
Heh.... guess they've got bigger problems than a few escaped slaves he thought to himself, wondering if this sea monster would be the perfect distraction to make it off the boat.
"New plan, we rush the upstairs, take the remaining slavers by storm, and make it to an escape boat." he said, looking around frantically at the rest of the group.
Dagon waited until the keys circled around, and unlocked his shackles, glad to be free of them. Even more glad, for the chance to have a say in whether he became a slave now.
He jumped as one of his companions yelled an incantation, and killed another of the guards sneaking up on his brother. He clapped this man on the back, "Good job friend, I'll be glad to have you on our side." he chuckled as he looked down at the corpse of the guard, eyes running over the solid shard of ice embedded in his chest.
"Like I was saying, where do you think they have stored all of our weapons and armor?" said the man calling himself Stryder, Dagon merely shook his head at him.
"Seems we've got to figure that out on our own, I did see one of the guards take several packedges to the hold when we were first captured though, no doubt our confiscated gear is laying around here somewhere." he said to the group, hoping that the slavers had kept their gear around to sell at port. He grabbed one of the glowing bracers, and used it to search around the blackened hold.
He opened crate after crate, searching for his blade and armor. Sure enough, after several minutes of searching, he came across several bundles of arms. He gestured at the rest of the captives that he had found thier arms, and lifted the bundles as silently as possible, making several trips to reduce the noise.
"Well, this seems to be ours. Even if it isn't, we'll have to make due." he said to the prisoners, as he rummaged around in the second of 4 bundles. He found a longsword, and feeling the hilt, found the pommel gem his father had inserted into it. Well, this is it he thought to himself as he strapped on his sword, and armor.