Magician: Talos Silverfist
Part II
(By Dave Ray)
"Will she be alright?" Talos asked the man he
had come to know as Ingham.
"She'll be fine, she just needs rest. She normally shouldn't have been able to cast
that spell...it must have drained her." Ingham answered.
"I hope so...she may have saved all our lives back there. I've dealt with fire drakes
before, but normally they aren't so bent on killing humans. They tend to stick to the
skies and caves and hunt the forest. I just don't understand that ones behavior..."
Talos just shook his head in thought. Something must have happened to it.
After the attack, they had gathered up the woman, who he learned was named
Lanna, and gone
to the relative safety of a clearing he knew around the area. The pixies and sprites liked
this clearing a lot, that's the reason it was a 'relative' safety. They tended to be a
mischievous sort, able to become invisible at will, they liked their pranks. They had
tended to Lanna, and set up camp for the night.
"Who is taking the first watch?" Talos asked the men. Ingham looked up at the
question followed by the other two. Their names were Dargon and Jason. Dargon was a tall,
dark haired man, fairly muscular. He was the cleric of this so-called party. Jason was the
odd one. Out of his riding gear, he was actually quite plain looking. Very lean for his
height, he seemed very capable with a sword. More like a snake, small but lightning quick.
A very dangerous man.
"I will." Dargon said, "I need to get some uninterrupted sleep so I can
pray to the great god Killian in case another of those drakes shows again. You three get
some sleep...I'll wake Ingham in a couple of hours, and then I suggest Talos here and
finally Jason. Get some sleep."
Talos didn't quite like his commanding tone, but what can you expect from someone who
worshipped Killian, the greater god, the one that rules over all others? He decided to put
it behind him and unrolled his bedroll. It wasn't until then that he realized how tired he
really was. Seconds after his head touched the ground, he was asleep.
He awoke to a slight shaking of his shoulder. When his eyes adjusted to the firelight, he
could see Ingham standing over him. He was sort of a spindly man, another
sorcerer in this
group. Talos hadn't seen a sorcerer since the last time he was in the elven city
Shakara.
Shakara was about a weeks walk from this clearing to the east. It was the elves of Shakara
that kept trying to retake the Lost City. He had almost forgotten about that. These people
still planned on going there. What was he to do about that? "It's my shift,
huh?" was all he could say.
"Yeah, I have to get some sleep too." Ingham said, "us mages need our study
time and sleep just like Dargon over there. Alright...it's all yours." With that, he
walked over to his bedroll and lay down to sleep.
'Well, only a couple hours of this and then I can wake up Jason over there.' Talos
thought. Talos strapped on his sword and took up a point position in the camp. Well, not
exactly in the camp, but above it. A trick he had learned from the elves. The trees
provided ample shelter from prying eyes, and gave a little element of surprise should
someone uninvited come along. He sat his position for his two hours and was about to jump
down to the camp below when the elven half of his senses pick up a strange noise. It
sounded almost as if someone was pulling the bowstring back on a bow of some--!
Talos was out of the tree just as a sheaf arrow sped through the place his heart had
just been. "Up!! Everyone up, attack!" Talos yelled. He dived to the side just
as another arrow sped past. He scooped up his buckler and rolled so that his back was to a
tree and the shield in front of him to block arrows. He could see the others rising
slowly, definitely confused as to what was going on. "Hurry, get some cover, they're
using arrows!"
He hadn't noticed Jason get out of his bundles, but he was up and had sword in hand,
rushing into the woods. Dargon was almost right behind him, with Ingham trying to find
cover. These guys knew how to handle a situation during the night alright. Then he saw
their assailants. Its was the Dark elves. Elves that refused to follow the laws set by the
elven Queen, the laws passed down from the Ancestors. Most of the dark elves were evil,
turning to dark paths like assassination. Obviously, these didn't like them being here.
Talos unslung the elven longbow from his shoulder and let loose a volley of arrows, faster
than almost any human could fire. But then again, he wasn't fully human. "It's the
dark elves, be careful! They're known to poison their weapons." After Talos ran out
of arrows, he dropped his bow and drew the sword he owned. A family heirloom that was
supposedly a very important weapon, yet he couldn't figure out why. Just that his elven
father had once carried it in battle. With that, he charged into the forest. He could hear
the sounds of fighting to his left and, searching the area, found his target. The dark elf
say him advance and drew his own sword. Talos leaped, making a broad-arching swing to the
elfs' shoulder. The dark elf parried the blow and came in with a counterstrike to
Talos'
midsection. He parried and in turn struck again. The fight went on for what seemed hours.
Talos couldn't remember the last time he fought someone with this elf's skill. The dark
elf was pressing his limits. He noticed the fighting had stopped in the other parts of the
woods and could barely see the shapes of Dargon and Jason stepping into his
peripheral vision. The dark elf was slowly hammering him down. If he didn't get an opening soon, he
could very well die. Suddenly, a blinding light came from somewhere. When his eyes
adjusted, he saw the dead body of the dark elf on the ground in front of him, a clean
slice across his midsection.
"What was that that you did there, Talos?!" Dargon exclaimed.
"I-I don't know...What happened?" Talos stared in wonder.
"I thought you might tell us." Lanna now stood, slightly leaning on Jason, just
across from him. "You're sword glowed brightly and when we could see again, the dark
elf was dead. Seems you have a special sword there." she indicated his sword with a
gesture.
Talos didn't know what to think. All he could say was, "I guess it is, isn't it?
to be continued....