Tales for the Childlings - Legacy of Varshun

[Alyssia Kanath]

"Auntie! Auntie! Tells us a story!"

Alyssia cringed inwardly as Chryssie begged in her cute little whine. She, Owen and Chryssie, and Mahrayne sat around a crackling fire that the Thunderlord had built not far from her home. She had invited the cubs over for a hike. They had spent the day winding through the forest as Alyssia taught them a great deal of her old Ranger training. Much of it, they already knew. But every once in awhile they would glean some new information as they were escorted about through the woods.

But evening had come and now, before they made their way back to the safe walls of Stormguard, Alyssia had urged them to stop and have a quick meal. With stomachs full, and eyes still wide with adventure...they were now begging for a story.

"Why don' you tell us a story, Chrys?" She said gently. "Yer so good at it..."

"Nuh uhs!" Exclaimed Owen with a wide grin, "You don't tells us enough stories. It's yous turn! You keep sayins you will, but you hasn't in soooooooooooo long...." His arms flung out wide to give a visual to his exaggerated word.

Alyssia chuckled and rubbed her face wearily as her mind tried to frantically recall some story.

"It has to be about you and da Ranjahs!" Chryssie piped in cheerily, causing her great aunt's shoulders to slump.

Mahrayne gasped loudly and clapped her hands, sitting upright. "Stahry time???"

Chryssie nodded at Rayne and said, "Yes! Auntie is tellins us a stories!"

All eyes turned to the Thunderlord eagerly.

With a deep breath, Alyssia nodded and said in almost a whimper, "Alrigh'...alrigh'...." Shaking her head, she laughed softly. "But once it's done, it's straight to home! You two are goin' to bed an' I's takin' Rayne home to her parents." She grinned.

"Awwwww." was the collective groan.

"Promise!" Alyssia looked at them with mock sternness.

They all nodded and once again waited patiently.

And so, Alyssia began:

[Alyssia Kanath]

They tramped through the dense undergrowth of the Spiritwood as evening began to settle over the forest, blanketing it with a cool breeze and the oncoming of night's cloak. Each of them pulled a pack mule in tow, laden with supplies from Vesper meant for stock in Que's tavern. The mule's packs were bulging with goods and it was getting increasingly difficult to convince the animals of venturing onward, tired as they were from their day's travel. The ground was thick with moss and tree roots, causing footing to be difficult, and as night approached...dangerous.

The trip had been Ruden Solic's idea, the Ranger having noticed that their tavern's stores from Vesper town to be dwindling. Some rather popular items came from there, and when they had run out of the town's fine chocolate...not to mention it's finer wine and ciders...he had organized the trip. With him had come Alyssia Kanath, the youngest of their family. At only nineteen years of age, the fiery red headed warrior was easily bored and he had figured that perhaps the trip would do her good. Not to mention keep her out of trouble. The Thunderlord had, at this young age, an incredible knack for immersing herself in bad situations. Mostly spurned on by her temper and smart mouth.

"It's getting dark...we should stop for the night." Ruden murmured while his eyes scanned the surrounding wood for any danger. "The mules could break a leg with even the slightest wrong step in this tangle..."

Alyssia held tightly upon the rope that was attached to her mule's bit. She was leaning back at an almost impossible angle, cursing from between gritted teeth at the stubborn animal that she had been fighting with all day. Try as she might, the mule was in no mind to move from the spot in which it had anchored itself. "Righ' about now...I don' give a rat's ass if this stupid flea bitten git' breaks a leg...." She gave another sharp tug, causing the mule to bellow and brace itself. "I may break ALL it's damn legs!" As she tried to step back, one foot got caught in her cloak and she slipped, falling hard on her rear with a loud "Oof!"

The mule bleated in triumph.

Ruden chuckled to himself and shook his head, "It's no wonder it won't move for you...you're constantly insulting it."

The young woman growled and hopped up, dusting leaves and moss bits from her person. "Fine...we'll find a place to make camp then..." She huffed, "I's hungry..." The young warrior looked around and sighed. As her emerald eyes scanned the surrounding forest, she saw something that seemed out of place. "Wha's tha'?"

"What?"

Alyssia pointed towards the south, and Ruden turned to see what she was talking about. Sure enough, jutting out from the ground seemed to be a pile of large stones that seemed slightly alien to the rest of the landscape. Though they were covered in moss, it was the shape of them that wasn't on par. "I'm not sure..."

The young woman was already heading in that direction to inspect.

"Aly...wait...!" Ruden hissed, then shook his head and muttered as he tied the mules to a nearby tree quickly. Once secured he hurried off after her. In a moment he was beside her. "What is it?"

She looked over the stones and then to either side and noticed that what they were looking at, wasn't a pile of stones at all...but the remnants of a stone wall. They both peered around curiously as more structures became noticeable. "It's a ruin..." She murmured.

"Hmm..." The Ranger nodded slightly, "I wonder..."

"Let's go in!" Alyssia grinned, already hopping over the wall.

"Aly wait a minute..."

She just waved a dismissive hand towards him as she entered what seemed to be, at least at one time, a courtyard.

"Dammit..." Ruden Solic hopped over the wall after her, telling himself he was getting too old for this.

Sure enough they were in the ruined courtyard of what looked to be a small keep. Only about half the surrounding wall was still intact, the rest of the stone piled in crumbled heaps around the perimeter. In the center was what could be a large stone building, it's upper floors long ago having crumbled away. It seemed to them however that the ground level was relatively intact.

"This is a perfect place to set up camp!" The young warrior turned to Ruden with a lopsided grin upon her face. Alyssia's emerald eyes twinkled brightly with curiosity and mischief...that same look that she had always gotten when adventure seemed to be just around the corner. The girl had the heart of an adventurer to tell the truth, something that Ruden knew would in time begin to lessen. But she was young...and the prospect of discovery burned untamed within the Thunderlord's passionate heart.

"I'm not so sure..." Ruden intoned, being the voice of reason. "You know I have heard tales of a necromancer who had a keep deep within the spiritwood many generations ago." The man's eyes slowly scanned the surrounding area, hairs upon the back of his neck raising slightly with some unknown portent of danger. I had thought it rumor...as it was said that his keep was lost...swallowed up by the forest after his defeat...."

That was exactly the wrong thing to say to Alyssia.

The Thunderlord's eyes widened in awe as she looked around quickly, the grin upon her face growing two fold. "Perfect! I bet that old necromancer had some treasure or somethin' of the like in this place...we should look fer it...!" She started jogging around the courtyard, her curiosity near overwhelming as she poked and prodded at nearly everything in her path.

"Aly...I'm not so sure it's a good idea..." Ruden sighed, "Come on we can set up camp just outside the walls..."

"Nonsense!" Was the reply he got.

Ruden muttered and went to get the pack mules. "This is going to be a mistake...I can feel it in my bones."

Alyssia called back after him, "That's because yer gettin' to be OLD Solic! Come on! What's the worst that kin' happen!?"

"Don't ask..." The Ranger muttered.

----------------------------------------

After getting the mules within the courtyard, which in itself was a near impossible task as the animals sensed danger just as Ruden had...they set up camp. While Ruden built the fire, Alyssia continued her search.

"Ruden!"

The Ranger's head whipped up as he looked for the source of Alyssia's shout. After a moment he realized she was up on the landing of one of the walls. "Aly be careful! That wall could collapse at any time!" He stood and began making his way towards her.

"You won't believe wha' I found! Come up 'ere!" Her voice held an infectious tinge of excitement, causing him to smile despite his nagging doubt. Finding the ladder, Ruden carefully made his way up to the top of the wall. Once there, he found Alyssia standing beside something large that had been covered with a tarp of some sort. On the other side of her was a crate, nearly as tall as she was. The warrior was covered in moss and dirt, which he realized meant she had pulled a large amount of both from the top of the tarp. "Check THIS out!" She almost giggled giddily as her hand grasped the tarp and ripped it away. There, in what seemed to be relative good condition despite it's age, stood a large ballista. It sat upon a base that was rigged to slowly spin in a complete circle via a series of cranks attached to the frame. Also attached was a seat with a large release lever in front of it. Upon the lever was a trigger like mechanism. Another large crank obviously worked the string, pulling it back into the ready to fire position. "I's never seen one so...complicated!"

Even Ruden had to admit that it was impressive, "It's amazing that it's still in such good condition after all these years... The tarp must have shielded it from the brunt of the elements..." He murmured.

Alyssia eagerly jumped into the seat, grinning with excitement. "We need one for Que's!"

"Right...you're right Aly.." Ruden muttered sarcastically, "The tavern needs a ballista..."

"On the roof!" The warrior laughed. She reached for the lever and her fingers lightly touched the trigger... With a loud "THUNK" it released the empty string, the lever between her legs shooting back towards the Thunderlord and coming dangerously close to some precious parts of her anatomy. She yelped loudly and scooted back a bit. Then, panting, she remarked. "Well it was obviously built by a man...the damn thing goes off if ya barely touch it!"

Ruden blinked at the large contraption, "What happened?"

The young warrior looked around curiously at it, mumbling "I dunno...but I think I gotta pay it..." Slowly, she slid off of it, now wary of the weapon. As Ruden continued to inspect it...she focused her attention on the large crate. It was rather tall, so she reached up and grabbed the top, lifting herself up upon it. "Hmm...it's sealed shut..."

"I wonder where the...."

His musing was interrupted by the sound of wood cracking, followed by a shriek...then crashing noise. He whipped around, reaching for his sword...and noticed that Aly was no longer on top of the crate. "Aly!"

There was a slight pause...then coming from inside the crate he heard, "I'm okay!" Alyssia's head popped up from inside, a sheepish grin upon her lips. "Um...wood's a bit rotted...fell in..." She coughed slightly, then disappeared inside the crate again. "Holy....!"

Ruden stared in confusion "What??"

She popped up again holding in one hand a ballista bolt....and in the other...what looked to be a small keg. "That thing has explosive rounds!" Sure enough, upon half of the bolts was already tied a small keg of black powder. From the top of each keg extended a fuse, just waiting to be lit. "Think the mules kin' drag..."

"No Aly, the mules are not going to drag the ballista to the tavern..." Ruden said flatly.

She blinked, then muttered and disappeared in the crate again, tossing out a few bolts and powder kegs as she finished searching through the wooden box.

Ruden just shook his head.

Once the entirety of the courtyard had been explored, Ruden talked Aly into sitting down for a meal...and then resting. He decided on taking the first watch, just to make sure she was asleep and not going to cause any more trouble. Around midnight, the Ranger's eyes were beginning to droop...and his own tiredness kicked in. "Well..." He muttered to himself, "Hopefully she'll stay put..." He then crawled over to Alyssia's sleeping form and shook the warrior gently, "Aly..." He whispered, "Wake up. It's your turn for watch..."

"Eh? Wha'?" She opened her eyes and blinked blearily. "Oh...aye..." The Thunderlord sat up and stretched before crawling over to the fire and situating herself. Ruden, for his part...lay down upon his bedroll and went to sleep, praying that the night was uneventful.

His prayers were not to be answered.

[Alyssia Kanath]

It was not long before the Thunderlord's curiosity got the better of her. Her emerald eyes were continually drawn to the building that lay within the center of the courtyard, and it's entrance. The doorway was sealed off with a large stone slab that looked impossibly heavy. Soon enough did that wondering win it's struggle and the young woman glanced at Ruden briefly to ensure he was fully asleep before silently rising. She crept as quietly as possible through the courtyard and towards the door.

As Alyssia reached it, her eyes scanned the frame and door itself for a way to open it. Pulling a small vial of black liquid from a belt pouch, she downed the contents. Making a slight grimace as to the acrid taste of the night sight potion, she waited for her eyes to adjust as her vision sharpened and darkness lifted enough for her to be able to see. There, chiseled upon the slab, was a circular diagram divided into four equal parts. Within the lines existed some sort of runes, the likes of which Alyssia did not recognize. She could however, sense magic radiating from the door...something that most people would have no way of doing. Her Thunderlord heritage had it's uses...

Tentatively, the woman threw caution to the wind and raised her fingertips to lightly trace over one of the runes. To her surprise it suddenly began to glow softly in the darkness. Alyssia pulled her hand away quickly and blinked. Grinning slightly to herself she then touched the second. It too flared to life at her touch. Quickly she did the same with the last two runes, only just as her fingers touched the last...all four went dark once again.

Scratching her head with a curious look upon her face...she started all over again. touching the runes in every possible combination she could think of, finally she was met with success as she got all four to light up...and with a loud scraping sound, the door began sliding to the side and disappearing within the wall. Making a soft sound of triumph, the warrior quickly drew Havoc. The artifact sword gifted to her family made a metallic scraping of it's own as the blade was released from it's scabbard, beginning to cast it's own azure glow in the gloom. As the door fully opened, her nostrils were assaulted with a gust of stale air, nearly causing her to choke. It was obvious this door had not been opened in a very long time.

"Well my friend..." She grinned, addressing the sword as her emerald eyes glittered brightly with excitement, "Shall we?"

Havoc's light pulsed softly in response, even it wasn't sure this was such a good idea...

With that, the Thunderlord passed the threshold and began making her way into the dark recesses of the keep.

*****************************

The sound of the door grating did not go unheard by Ruden Solic. He sat upright and reached for his sword, eyes opening wide as he looked around in a frantic attempt to find the source of the eerie grating that had awoken him. "Aly...?"

No answer.

"Aly!" He hissed softly, eyes narrowing in annoyance. It was only a matter of seconds before he realized that the young warrior was gone. "Dammit, Kanath..." He growled, standing quickly and once again looking around. His eyes settled on the Keep's door...and when he saw it open, Ruden know exactly where Alyssia had gone.

Sighing to himself...he began walking to the doorway. "She's gonna get herself killed one day I swear..."

Those were the last words he uttered before he himself disappeared into the darkness.

[Alyssia Kanath]

The corridor was choked with dust and spider webs hung lifelessly from the ceiling. Upon the walls every ten feet or so were torches, most of which were rotted and useless. About thirty feet in, Alyssia found one in relative good condition and gently removed it from it's sconce, shaking the dust off and inspecting the tattered rag that wrapped around the end. She slid it into her pack for when the night sight potion wore off.

Suddenly she heard a soft sound behind her. Narrowing her eyes she spun and raised Havoc menacingly, prepared to take on the threat. To her surprise, she was not met with an enemy....but the grim visage of Ruden Solic. He stood there, arms folded and glowering at her. "Aly...what in the name of the All Mother do you think you're doing?"

She blinked, and then said in an almost guilty voice, "Um...explorin'?"

He just continued to level his disapproving gaze upon her.

Alyssia sighed, shoulders slumping. "Come on Ruden...." She whispered to him, glancing around. "Have some fun! Aren't ya curious? There may be somethin' useful ta' the Rangers down here...you know... Maybe find somethin' magic fer Rai to study...or...or some new ingredient fer Robin's potions! Dara I's sure would love some kind o' detailed report on this place...you know... We don' wanna let 'em down, do we?"

Ruden smirked and glanced around. "Fine...but not too far in. "

She grinned at him, "Thank'ee!" Then spun and began creeping through the hallway again. Only this time, Ruden drew his sword and brought up the rear... It also gave him a chance to keep an eye on her.

A couple of hours they spent, picking through the main floor of the keep. It was a bit treacherous, as the building was so dilapidated. Twice they had to pull one another out of the way of a collapsing wall, and for their efforts they found very little. A stairway led up to the almost completely destroyed second level, but after some inspection they both agreed that nothing that up there was worth getting crushed by a collapsing building for. Just as they were about to head back though, Ruden noticed a sealed door. This one was of better make than the previous doors they had found, which had been mostly nothing but rotted wood and rusted hinges. This was made of thick oak wood with re-reinforced iron bands. Runes adorned the wood, burnt into it in some way. Both of them could sense magic.

"I wonder wha's behind it...?" Alyssia mused thoughtfully to herself as she scanned the door up and down.

Ruden frowned slightly, "I don't know but something tells me we should leave it be..."

"C'mon Ruden...we's come this far..." She grinned at him.

"Which in itself was rather stupid of us both..." He remarked dryly.

Alyssia snickered and reached for the iron ring that adorned the door, preparing to open it. Her fingers touched the cool metal as she braced herself in case it was trapped. But nothing happened. So she wrapped her fingers around it and prepared to pull. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be..." He sighed, readying his sword.

"One...two...." She counted, and then..."Three!" She gave a sharp pull and much to their surprise, the door opened easily. Not only that, but the hinges made not a single squeak. "See? Nothin' to worry abo....whoa....." Alyssia gasped, eyes widening as she saw what lay beyond the doorway.

It led to a large laboratory, the likes of which a powerful sorcerer might have been the master of. However the condition of it was terrible. Bookshelves had rotted and collapsed, spilling their contents of books and scrolls all over the floor. Most of which however were completely destroyed from dampness and time. The room stunk of mouldering components as behind a large stone lab table stood another huge shelf full of glass jars. Half of the jars were broken or had fallen when a couple of those shelves had collapsed as well. Some still held unidentifiable contents...others were completely empty, holding nothing but a crack in the side that had probably let their liquid contents leak out. Upon the black stone table was an alchemist's lab, it's parts broken, rusted and scattered around the top and floor near the table itself. A few vial racks were intact, holding in them vials of unknown substances. Acridic and damp was the air, causing both to suppress their coughing as best they could.

"Robin an' Rai would love this...!" Aly exclaimed, grinning crookedly as she stepped into the room. "I bet there's stuff here left that they could use..."

Ruden stepped in after her, frowning. "I doubt it...it looks like not much is left. We should leave it."

Aly was already rummaging through things.

"Aly we shouldn't mess with these things, they just ooze evil...." He grimaced, wrinkling his nose. "I can feel the darkness they exude..."

"Ya make it sound like a slug..."

He blinked, then smirked. "I'm serious."

"Tha's nice..." She murmured, not really listening to him. Then the warrior picked up a glass jar and peered into it curiously. "Ugh..." She wrinkled her nose in disgust, "I think these were eyeballs at one time...but now they look like...raisins..."

Ruden made a face.

The Thunderlord made an agitated sound and sighed, shoulders drooping. "Everything's wrecked..."

"I told you. "

"Bah..." She walked over to an old tattered tapestry, the image it held having long since faded. Smirking in disappointment, she ran her hand over it.

Ruden spun on his heel, hearing the young warrior make a slight yipping sound of surprise. He watched as she quickly ripped the tapestry from the wall and began running her fingertips up and down. "What is it?"

"I found a door I think...." Sure enough her fingers felt a small split in the stone, moving vertically from floor to a height of around six and a half feet. Alyssia blew softly against it, causing dust to fly away and reveal the outline of a stone door.

Ruden walked over to inspect. "Yep...that's a door..."

"Thank you fer tha' remarkable demonstration o' keen observation..." Alyssia remarked dryly.

"Bah..."

They both pushed on the door, to no avail. "We've gotta find a trigger..."

"There's probably a switch around here somewhere..."

And so the two began their search. After a half hour, Ruden finally found what looked to be a small square button, carved into the wall on the opposite side of the room. "You'd think they'd have made it closer..."

"that'd be too easy." Alyssia smirked. "Push it..."

Ruden looked hesitant.

But the Thunderlord had no patience in her youth...and so she muttered and jerked the hunting knife from her belt. With a quick flick of the wrist, Alyssia threw the weapon through the air an just as Ruden stepped back in surprise...it collided with the button. It's momentum pushed the switch and in the very same motion, Alyssia spun and brought Havoc to bear...preparing to face whatever was on the other side of the portal.

"Damn it, Kanath! You could have hit me with that thing!"

"If I wanted to hit you with it, I would have..." She murmured, peering into the newly created darkness before her. And dark it was...inky blackness facing them both. The revealed corridor sloping downward and turning into a stone stairway heading to the underground. The Thunderlord pulled out the torch she had been saving, and with a lash of her fingertip, a thin coil of electricity arced to the oil soaked rag...setting it aflame. The torch flared into life, illuminating the room and the darkness. "Here...hold this..." She shoved the torch in Ruden's direction.

He took it, muttering. "Right."

They both began making their descent into the laboratories lower level.

[Alyssia Kanath]

They made their way slowly down the stairs, trying their best to be cautious. After about twenty steps Aly stepped upon the top of the next stair lightly...and it quickly sunk downward. The movement threw her off balance and she struggled to not fall, instead throwing herself back against Ruden. The Ranger caught his companion easily, "What happened?"

"I think I jus' hit a trigger!" She said worriedly.

And sure enough she had.

With a loud grating sound, the stairs began to move, each step shifting position and causing both of them to struggle for balance. Soon they were not on a staircase...but a steep ramp moving downward at a sharp angle. Alyssia had almost impeccable balance, given her blade master training...but Ruden was not quite so lucky. His boot slipped out from under him and he began to fall downward. "Ruden!" Alyssia exclaimed frantically as she reached out to try and grab him. To no avail however, and it just served to send her tumbling down after him with a loud "Gahh!"

Ruden hit the ground first, knocking the wind from his lungs and leaving him thankful that he hadn't fallen on one of his weapons. His leg ached, but he was able to move it...which was reassuring as a broken leg down here could mean a death sentence. After a few seconds, Alyssia came tumbling down the ramp. "Oof! Gah! Augh! Ow! Erk! Damn it!" She then landed painfully on top of him.

"OOF!" He once again got the wind knocked out of him.

Alyssia lay there on his back, face up and panting in pain as she held her ribcage with one hand and bleeding head with another.

"Aly..." He gasped.

"I'm okay!" She squeaked.

"No...Aly..." He gasped again, trying weakly to push himself up.

"I think I have a concussion though..." She muttered...

"ALY GET OFF!" He wheezed and using all his strength, bucked her off to the side.

"ERK! OOF!" She landed on the hard packed ground again. "Damn it Solic yer tryin' to kill me!" She wheezed herself.

Ruden staggered into a standing position, groaning stiffly and testing his limbs for damage. Alyssia did the same, wiping the thin trickle of blood from her forehead with a sleeve. "Well at least we's alive..."

"No thanks to you." He snapped.

"Relax! Ya sound like an old man..." She looked around and then walked over to where Havoc had fallen from her grasp. Picking the broadsword up she noted curiously that the blade now glowed with a steady soft bluish light, thin arcs of electricity occasionally dancing along it's length. "Somethin' down here..." She whispered.

"Great..." He snapped, retrieving his own sword and the torch, which thankfully still burned upon the oiled rag. .

Looking around, they noticed that they had been deposited in a long hallway. At the end of the hall, they noticed a very gentle light glowing. Almost a magenta in color...and a soft humming noise issuing from there as well. They began to cautiously walk towards it. When they had gotten about half way, they froze in their tracks...sensitive ears picking up a noise, the soft hissing chitter of ...something...

And it was moving...

"What was that?" Ruden whispered softly to Alyssia, eyes widening.

"I dunno..." She said softly. "Don' recognize the sound?"

He shook his head slowly. "No..."

"Only one way to find out.." And Alyssia began moving back down the hallway with Ruden in tow...

Their hearts raced at the notion of battle, senses on edge and blood rushing through their veins.

There was no turning back now, and death was only a few steps away...

[Alyssia Kanath]

Alyssia whispered in the darkness, "Wha' do you know 'bout tha' necromancer you mentioned?"

Ruden tried to remember the tale that had been told to him, "His name was Varshun...and he had fallen in love with the daughter of a Trinsic Paladin by the name of Melanie..." He said softly as they moved down the hall. "He spent his days in his keep, pining for her in between his experiments to create the perfect flesh golem. He was sure that if he could combine the abilities of various creatures, he would have in his service the means by which to take his love. She of course, was disgusted by his very nature...and swore to him that she would never love him..."

"Lovely...." Alyssia smirked.

"Finally one day he succeeded...and with his construct in tow...kidnapped the woman and stole her away to his keep. He was going to force her to marry him...but she denied him at every turn. Loving her too much to kill her, he held her prisoner. It was not long though before her father came to his gates with a host of paladins at his side to rescue his beloved daughter... Varshun unleashed his construct monstrosity upon them and after a long and bloody battle they defeated it. Though just barely. All the Paladins were killed save the woman's father. He then faced Varshun and they battled as well. The Paladin defeated him, but just before the necromancer died he lay upon the girl a curse...ripping her soul from her mortal body and forcing it into the defeated golem, replacing the defeated soul. Unable to control herself...and turned mad by the taking of her soul...she...it...then finished off the Paladin...her own father..."

"And wha' happened to her?" Alyssia whispered hoarsely, as they were now only feet away from the archway.

Ruden paused and said cautiously, "I...I'm not sure..."

"Aww hell...." Was her only answer.

And then they slowly stepped into a large stone room, the amethyst glow coming from various magical orbs that hung suspended high in the air. Four large tables, each holding what looked to be various remains of different creatures adorned each table. In the back was a huge iron cage, it's door hanging open and broken upon a single hinge. The stench of death and decay still lingered lightly in the air, despite only bones being left upon the tables. In the center of the room an Abattoir rose upon an upraised dais...dark crimson and black stains soaked into the stone.

They both stood still, eyes scanning the room and holding their breath as they tried to listen in hopes of hearing any danger.

"I don' hear nothin'....nor see nothin'..." Aly whispered.

"Me neither..." Ruden responded, turning to her and shrugging. "But it doesn't really look like there's anything here..."

"Ruden..." Aly whispered quietly...eyes widening as she looked past him.

"Figures you'd drag us all the way down here for nothing. Now how are we going to get out?"

"Uh...Ruden...?" Alyssia's eyes widened a bit more, jaw sagging slightly.

"You've gotten us into nothing but trouble, Alyssia...I wish you'd just listen sometimes..." He rambled in agitation.

"Ruden...!"

"What!?"

Alyssia grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to see... "LOOK!"

Standing not ten feet away, upon what seemed to be the body of an insect, was a huge monstrosity of half rotted flesh and bone. It's maw, bristling with sharp dagger like teeth, was partially open and dripping with some sort of thick oozing saliva and it held it's claws up, each of them glinting wickedly in the torch and orb light. It was a mismatch of parts sewn together haphazardly, and it's eyes were a watery half decayed Grey which oozed some sort of puss like liquid down it's face. The head of a troll, sewn upon the long necked torso of what looked to have been at one time a wyvern. The crimson and fiery wings of a Balron sprouted from it's shoulder blades and flapped in excitement at the sight of it's prey. And the entirety rode upon the eight hairy legs and hind end of a huge spider.

They both stared at it in abject horror for a long moment, slack jawed.

Then looked at one another, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They screamed in unison.

Then the two Rangers broke into a sprint towards the ramp leading upward like rabbits!

The sudden escape of it's prey spurned the construct into action. It threw back it's head and opened it's maw in what would have been a bellow of rage, but since it lacked usable vocal chords it just came out as a wet sickening gurgle... Eight legs began to push it with uncanny speed after the two.

[Alyssia Kanath]

They reached the ramp and tried desperately to scramble up it, but the steep slope was difficult to traverse. More than once they slid down more than they climbed upward.

"We've got to get out of here and into an open area! It's our only chance!" Ruden yelled, struggling with the climb due to his leg being slightly wounded from his previous fall.

They were almost to the top but both were tiring from the climb quickly.

"Hold on!" Alyssia shouted, steadying herself before quickly withdrawing Havoc from it's scabbard. "tintreach fuip!" with a quick jerk of her arm backwards and the magical summoning, Havoc's blade elongated and thinned, twisting in the air and from the cross-hilt now extended a twenty foot whip like tendril of surging azure electricity. It snaked around and coiled in the air, seeming to be alive...the hairs on the back of Ruden's neck raised. "Grab onto me!" Alyssia yelled to him. The Ranger did not question the command and quickly grabbed onto tail end of her cloak. "Don' fail me now a'cara!" She said to the sword, before flicking her wrist and throwing her arm forward. The whip flew through the air upward towards the entrance of the stairwell. It shot through the portal and coiled itself around the leg of the stone table that sat in the center of the lab. She then began using it to pull them up quickly without fear of sliding back down. Coiling the lightning around her arm as she went, sure to absorb all the energy into her body...for fear of it jumping to Ruden and harming him.

The two scrambled up and into the laboratory. "claíomh!" The Thunderlord ordered, and the energy whip reformed itself into Havoc's silvery blade. "C'mon!"

They could hear the creature's legs scrambling upward with lightning speed of it's own.

"You don't have to tell me twice...!" Ruden yelled, taking off into a sprint after the already running warrior. But as they ran out of the lab, a sticky white rope like object shot past Ruden and attached itself to the Thunderlord's leg. She fell face first with a loud exhale of breath and began getting dragged backwards.

Alyssia yelped and twisted onto her back, eyes flashing angrily and a snarl upon her lips. She looked up to see the creature turned at the top of the ramp, the spidery spinnerets at the back of it's abdomen working overtime to reel her in. It was pulling too quickly for her to get a good cut in with her sword. "Ruden!"

Ruden was already on it. He had slid his bow staff out from it's loop at his back and quickly strung it. Then, with a keen eye, pulled a red fletched arrow from his quiver and nocked it...releasing almost instantaneously. The missile flew through the air and slammed directly into the creatures spinnerets, halting the pulling of the silk wrapped around the Thunderlord's ankle. The creature writhed and a sickly wheeze issued from it's drooling mouth.

It gave Alyssia enough time to swing Havoc, slicing through the sticky silken web in only a few tries. She then scrambled to her feet and the two took off once again. "Get it into the courtyard!" the Thunderlord cried.

They ran through the crumbling passages of the keep, sure the creature was hot on their tails. Just as they were closing in on the exit, Ruden turned and saw...nothing? He skidded to a halt.

Alyssia, realizing her companion was no longer beside her, also stopped and turned quickly. "Wha' are you doin'!?"

"It's...it's gone..."

Aly, gasping for breath and confused...looked around frantically. "Wha' the hell?"

That was all the time she had to think on the subject though before another strand of sticky webbing slammed into her back...knocking her forward slightly. Then the creature, which had somehow gotten ahead of them...began pulling her in yet again. "Whoa!"

Ruden turned and drew his sword, running to the aid of the young warrior. He ran up and lunged at the creature, growling in anger. "Oh no you don't!" His blade slashed an arc through the air and upward, slicing into the creatures torso and leaving a thin line that leaked gore and putrid liquid. It swung in return, a heavy clawed hand delivering a stunning blow to the Ranger, causing him to spin and fall to his knees.

Alyssia snarled and spun to face the creature, wrapping the strand around her and then winding it around her wrist to get a secure hold. She then ran forward, her right hand wielding Havoc. The magical artifact weapon's blade crackled and hissed with electricity at the portent of battle. She lept upward, twisting in mid air to avoid the same type of blow that had been delivered to her Ranger brother, and landed upon one long jointed leg of the beast's spidery body. Then, in an equally lightning fast motion, she jumped upon the back of it's abdomen, scrambled around to the other side and then down off of it, Havoc's blade delivering a host of wicked strikes along it's back. Still holding the webbing within her grasp, she began hacking at it quickly in attempt to release herself. Having the web now wrapped around it's body, made the effort of reeling her in more difficult.

By this time as well, Ruden was up and on his feet. Realizing that getting close to the creature was dangerous indeed, he switched tactics and drew his bow once again...beginning a hail of arrows aimed at the construct. This motion distracted it, taking it's attention off of Alyssia and allowing the Thunderlord to slice free of the web that held her arm and body. The monster now had eight arrows sticking out of it's body in various places. It's focus aimed at the insolent human who had fired them, reaching it's grasping claws in his direction. Ruden dodged easily, keeping it distracted. "Aly! Get out!"

The Thunderlord was busy as well, her sword once again slicing through the air and into one of it's legs. Havoc sliced through the jointed limb easily, sliding through the armored leg like butter. The blade hissed and crackled with energy as gore splattered down upon it. Though with that leg down, the one next to it kicked outward and caught her in the shoulder, knocking her to the ground. She rolled to the side quickly as it's foot came slamming down, threatening to impale her upon the stone floor. Flipping over onto her hands, and then back to her feet she picked Havoc back up and rushed in for another attack. "Not wit'out you!" She answered, expertly dodging a swing of the creatures huge clawed hand. She spun around and sliced upward into the beast's arm, then jumped and flipped backwards as another spidery leg whistled past. Breaking into a run she then lept upward and with all her strength, rammed Havoc into the creatures chest, hoping desperately that it would do some damage. But the creature merely knocked her off and back to the hard stone. "It's no use! This thing cannae even feel pain!" The wound in the center of it's chest dripping putrid slime as it began moving towards Ruden.

For his part, he continued to fire his arrows. The Ranger backed up and around, trying to put himself between the creature and the exit. "Aly go! Outside! I'm gonna bring it out!"

The warrior suddenly realized just what Ruden was asking. She grinned widely and with the beast distracted...broke into a sprint towards the exit.

Perhaps it didn't feel pain...

But if the plan worked...it wouldn't matter...

[Alyssia Kanath]

The Thunderlord ran as hard and fast as she could out into the courtyard and to the wall where the rotating ballista was anchored. Climbing the ladder with spider like speed of her own, she hopped up onto the landing and hurried towards the siege weapon. Grabbing up one of the bolts that she had previously tossed out of the crate, she hopped over to it and started turning the crank to pull the string back. Then, she set the bolt in place and leapt into the seat. Another series of cranks turned and the ballista rotated towards the entry to the keep, slowly it aimed downward until it was trained on the very center of the doorway. She snarled under her breath, wrapping her hand around the lever that would release the deadly missile. She was careful not to touch the lever. Then, leaning forward she moved one finger close to the fuse, prepared to light it when the time came.

"Come on Ruden..." She whimpered worriedly, "Be alright...."

After five minutes of nervous waiting...out ran the Ranger full bore...

Alyssia laughed triumphantly and lit the fuse with a thin lash of electricity emitted from her fingertip. "You wanna suck on somethin'?" She snarled evilly, eyes narrowing with a wicked grin. The next few seconds seemed like an eternity, but soon enough...as Ruden got to the top of the ladder near her...out rampaged the beast construct. "Suck on this!" She squeezed the trigger and pulled the lever in one motion, releasing the huge bolt with a loud "THWANG!" of the string. The missile hurtled through the air, but...missed. Instead, the power behind the ballista causing the head to embed itself into the stone doorway. "Aww hell!" Aly muttered. However she had little time to address the issue before the small powder keg exploded next to the creature, knocking it over to the side and pelting it with an explosion of sharp jagged stone chips and larger rocks. "Ha! Well it's nae all bad!" Alyssia nearly bounced in the seat, excited at being able to use the huge weapon. "Ruden! Help me aim! And hand me another bolt!"

Ruden did as asked, thin trickles of blood oozing down from his head and over his neck. His injuries were not too bad, but they caused him some weakness. He panted with the exertion. Handing her another bolt and keg, she loaded it while he turned the cranks that would help her aim. The beast was now back on it's feet and more enraged than ever...it began unsteadily scrambling over the rocky ground, as fast as seven good legs could push it.

"Alright, ready!?"

"Aye!"

Alyssia lit the second fuse and grasped the lever, pulling on the trigger and yanking back...

But it didn't move...

"What the hell!?"

She jerked hard on it repeatedly.

"What's wrong!?" Ruden shouted.

"I dunno! It's stuck! The mechanism is stuck!" She snarled impatiently, eyes moving to the rapidly burning fuse, "Definitely made by a man!" the Thunderlord jumped off and looked for something to knock it loose. "When ya WANT the thing to go off, it won't!"

"Aly..." Ruden warned, keeping his eyes trained on the monster that was rapidly closing in on them.

"I know..." The warrior picked up a lone powder keg and started knocking it against the lever with all her might, in order to break it loose.

"Uh..." His voice cracked worriedly, "Aly...!"

"SHUT UP I KNOW!" She howled. "C'mon! Damn...you...fire...you...stupid...man built...piece...of...sh..."

THWANG![/b]

"YES!" She exclaimed happily as the ballista fired, slamming it's bolt directly into the now too close for comfort creature. A look of almost confusion made it's way to the thing's face. It grasped the bolt with one hand and looked down...

Then the powder keg exploded....

The concussion nearly knocked them off their feet, but they held fast, jumping behind the weapon to shelter them from the bits of disgusting gore that now sprayed through the air. Puss and oily ooze rained down upon the two, as what was left of the creature's lower body collapsed not far from the platform on which they stood.

Both Rangers let out howls of triumph...

But their celebration was short lived.

Ruden's eyes widened and he pointed to her hand, "Aly! Look!"

Emerald eyes widened as she looked down to the powder keg she still held, somehow...in the confusion, while she was pounding on the lever with it...the fuse had gotten lit. Probably from touching the one that had been loaded.

"AHHHHH!" once again they both shrieked in a chorus!

Alyssia, not sure what to do, tossed it to Ruden.

"No way!" He yelled, tossing it back to her.

"Do something!" She answered frantically, tossing it in return.

"You lit it!" He threw it back.

"Not on purpose!" it once again flew to him.

Ruden yelped and instinctively just...tossed it to the side...

They both sighed in relief...

Until that is, they realized he'd tossed it into the crate with all the OTHER powder kegs.

"AHHHHHHH!"

They both jumped off the platform and landed on the ground painfully. Staggering up they barely had time to start running before the crate...exploded. The ballista was the first to go, it's wooden frame splintering and out flew deadly wooden missiles of it's own through the air. the platform collapsed and nearby wall crumbled, spraying rocks in all directions. The two Rangers were thrown off their feet and they both were hurtled through the air. Alyssia slammed against the opposite wall, back first. She slid to the ground in an unconscious heap. Ruden was a bit luckier, he was thrown against a pile of mouldering hay.

The Ranger groaned and slowly sat up, tossing hay off of himself and blinking. The beast was destroyed, what was left of it now half buried under tons of rock and debris. He gave a sigh of relief before suddenly realizing he didn't see Alyssia. Getting to his feet as fast as possible, ignoring the pain of his wounds, he called out to her. "Aly!? ALY!? Where are you!?"

No answer came to him.

Frantically, Ruden began searching for his Ranger sister. After a few moments he found her, huddled upon the ground against the base of a wall. a stream of blood trickled from a large gash in the woman's head and she was completely unconscious. Gently, he picked her up and carried her to the other side of the wall...laying her down upon the soft moss. Leaning down to listen, he detected a heartbeat that was strong and steady. The Ranger sighed in relief and began bandaging her head wound.

An hour later...he heard a soft groan as the young woman stirred. She began to sit up, but gasped in pain and weakly fell back upon the ground. "Ohhhh I feel like I's been run over by a fruit cart..."

He chuckled... "Careful Aly...you took quite a beating..."

"Don' remind me..." She sighed and slowly tried to sit back up, gasping in pain as she suddenly realized that more than one rib had been broken when she slammed into the wall. She wheezed and struggled to breathe.

"I bound ya up..you'll be fine..."

"Thank'ee..." She murmured quietly.

He handed her a bowl of stew that he had prepared and smiled gently, "Eat up..."

"Aye...I s'pose..." Taking the bowl she looked around, "Where's the mules?"

"They're over there..." He pointed to where the two were tied to a tree, ears flicking in agitation.

"Glad they survived, eh? Otherwise You'd have to pack that load to Que's..." Her eyes regained some of their own mischievous twinkle.

He grinned at her, "Who says I'd be the one lugging it?"

"Bah!" They both laughed. The two then ate and prepared to renew their journey to Que's.

"Ya know, all that an' we got nothin' out of it..." Alyssia muttered in agitation, "Not a single coin!"

Ruden looked off towards the ruined keep thoughtfully...then murmured, "We got something..."

"What's that?"

"We released the woman's spirit from it's imprisonment..." He said, smiling over to her. His eyes held a hint of wisdom to them as he spoke. "We did the Goddess' work..."

"For free!" She replied sarcastically, but in her heart the Thunderlord knew that it was the right thing to have done.

"Everything happens for a reason, Aly..."

She sighed and nodded, "I s'pose..."

They began heading towards Que's once again, the sound of Alyssia's agitated swearing and Ruden's amused chuckling radiating through the forest the whole trip home.

"C'mon ya stubborn jackass! Move it or I's gonna turn ya into glue!"

Ruden never could figure out if she was talking about the mule, or him.