Moving forward

Well, that didn't go as planned.

We got suckered, bad. We got caught with our pants down. We got rolled hard. We got....

Well, you get the idea.

Here's the 411. That guy we met in the middle of nowhere was a slaver. He masqueraded as the member of a tribe of humans living in the mountains. There were rumors of such tribes, supposedly survivors from when the humanoid tribes sacked the city of Highport. We were talking about it, and this guy must have overheard it. So he played along. We were desperate and we fell for it. We needed help finding the slavers' stockade and we didn't have much choice but to take what help we could get.

We followed the stranger into a small encampment. There were about ten people there. Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched us. They looked like a haggard bunch. In retrospect, it was probably an act.

One guy approached us and claimed to be the chieftain of his tribe. He gave us this sob-story about how the women and children of his tribe had been kidnapped by slavers. We agreed to help. He would lead us to the stockade and we would free his people as well as ours. It was a fair bargain. We planned on freeing every slave we could find anyway. Of course, it was too good to be true.

We got within sight of the stockade when it happened. We started getting sleepy. I heard Marc cursing up a storm. His words were slurred as if he were drunk. Everyone sounded like they were underwater or something. Everything got blurry. I tried to stand, but I fell. I don't remember hitting the ground. Magic sleep is like that. Imagine the most tired you've ever been, and then multiply it by ten. You can't resist it.

We went through hell--especially the girls--but we escaped. We succeeded in our rescue mission, for the most part, and we got more information about those behind the war to the south and west. No doubt Thrommel will want to pursue what we know.

Frigging great.

Right now we're leaving Dame Gold's home and heading back to Mitrik. We've sent a preliminary report via mages already, but Thrommel will have a million questions. For now, it is quiet, and I'll enjoy it while I can.

You know, this adventure stuff can be the pits sometimes. I think about getting out of it, but it's too late now. I have skills people need in the war against the evil one (I still think that's a silly name). Besides, I've been doing this long enough I can't do anything else. As terrible as it can be, when you are not out on some kind of adventure you start jonesing for adrenalin. You start to get used to it. You hate it and love it all at once.

I suppose I should pick up where I left off. I'm so far behind it ain't funny.

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Ferrets. I had a roommate who had these things. They stunk and the chewed up everything. The difference between these ferrets and the ones my old roommate used to have is that these were six feet long. And there were five of them.

Now that is just too much.

We entered the room through the back entrance. One would think it would be guarded or trapped or something, and then I was suddenly reminded of one of the advantages ferrets have over humans.

From our vantage point behind the crates I could see the ferrets. They stopped doing ferret things (sniffing the ground, each other, and their own behinds) and sniffed the air together. There heads turned in our direction.

"Uh, oh," Saul said. Man, he was right.

The ferrets squealed and darted for us. So much for stealth.

Anna had her bow in hand. She released an arrow, burying it in the head of one of the ferets. It fell dead. The other ferrets didn't even stop.

We heard the single man in the room shout something. The smelly ferret that jumped me made so much noise I couldn't hear anything. It jumped over the stack of crates with ease. I've never seen such evil on a ferret's face before.

Kantos Kan jumped into my hand. It seemed to move in my hand, and I let it. I came to trust the magic sword's judgment regarding combat. This was no exception. The ferret landed on top of the point of the sword. It shrieked loud enough to make my ears ring. I managed to step to the side before the creature's dead weight knocked me down. It slumped to the side, the point of Kantos sticking out of its back. It twitched violently, but the ugly creature could do no more than that.

I withdrew Kantos and turned, ready for the next creature. I imagined my old roommates ferets and how they used to chew up shoes and crap on the carpet. It made watching these things die a lot easier.

Audry had dispatched a ferret with ease, as did Saul. A flash of light erupted from Marc's hands. The light turned the ferret into a burning mass of fur that flopped on the floor. Anna fought the last ferret with her short sword. She wounded it severely, but hadn't yet finished it. I nearly cut it in two with Kantos Kan.

"I could of handled it," Anna said. She pulled out her bow.

I was about to say something when Kantos interrupted me. "We're not through yet."

I felt the sword nudge me into turning around. Behind us stood the man who recently had been sitting at a desk. Now he stood behind ten orcs. They knelt on the ground, pointing bows at us. The ferrets managed to knock over a lot of the crates, reducing our cover, making it that much easier for the orcs to hit us.

"Get down!" Audry shouted. She pulled Saul and I to the ground behind the crates. Anna was already there, but Marc still stood. I started to reach for him but Audry stopped me. I saw immediately why he did.

Marc spoke softly, waving his hands in intricate patterns. Soon, a ball of fire appeared in his hands. I didn't think he'd hold on to it for much longer.

"This going to be big," Saul said. And it was.

I'm not sure where the fireball detonated, but from the screams I knew the orcs took the brunt of it. A wave of heat followed the deafening explosion. It was like standing next to an open oven.

When the heat died down I opened my eyes. Anna laid there next to me, her hands covering her head. Slowly, we stood and looked.

The other side of the crates burned, sending black smoke up to the ceiling. On the far side of the crates lay ten bodies, all burning. I felt bile rising up in my throat. You never do get used to the smell of burning flesh.

"Good work," Saul said.

Marc merely nodded grimly. "Thank you, though it appears we have a survivor."

I looked where Marc pointed. On the other side of the desk someone staggered. His clothes were severely burned, and I could only assume his skin was equally as burned. He staggered across the large circular room to a set of stairs leading up.

Anna nocked an arrow and aimed. Audry put her hand on her arm. "No, wait. He will know where the slaves are."

She moved forward and we followed. The room was ringed by sewage and stunk to the seven heavens. The only other furnishings were a single desk and chair, both singed by the effects of Marc's fireball.

We caught up with the man quickly. Audry grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned, ready to attack, but he spun to far. He fell to the floor. I could clearly see the burns on his face and hands. He would have been a goner back on Earth.

Audry touched his face. Some of the wounds closed and healed. Her Paladin laying of hands helped him, but he needed far more help.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked. "Audry, he's a slaver, look at him."

At his belt hung a whip. The parts of his clothes that were not burned looked like they were expensive and unworn. He wore what looked like leather armor and he had a short sword at his side.

"I see that," Audry said. "But we must have information about this place. We can turn him over to the authorities--"

Audry stopped. It just occurred to her, and to me as well. What authorities? Highport was run by the Slavelords. They were the authority. The closest halfway lawful authority was far to the north.

Marc sensed her thoughts. "Yes, you see the dilemma? If we let him go, he will tell his superiors about us. And we can't turn him in."

Audry laid the man on the floor. He didn't resist. "What is your name?"

"You killed my weasels," he muttered. "How could you."

"Your name," Anna asked. "What is it?"

"Blucholtz," he said. "I could have gone to the stockade."

"You deserve it," Saul said wryly.

"I could have been promoted and sent to the stockade in the mountains," Blucholtz said. "You ruined that." He turned and looked around the room. His eyes looked glazed over. "Where are my pets?"

I took a closer look at him. His wounds had healed somewhat, but not enough. Audry had managed to delay the inevitable, but not by much.

"Where are the slaves?" I asked him. "If you want our help, tell us where the slaves are kept."

He looked toward the stairway. "No good ones, sir," he said. "Good ones went to the stockade. Special plans. We have good laborers." He started to shake. "If the price is right."

"Thanks Bob Barker," I said. "How many are guarding him?"

He shook more. His eyes rolled up into his head. Audry stood and stepped away from him. He was dying. In this state he seemed almost innocent, but if we healed him with our potions we'd probably just have to kill him again. I thought about ending his life and sparing him any more pain, but then he stopped shaking. The breath left his body and he lay still.

"Let's go," Saul said. "Let's get those slaves."

And then get out of here, I thought.

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We made our way up the stairs...and nearly fell all the way back down. They were trick stairs designed to close flat, creating a ramp to send everyone into the middle of that circular room. Then those orcs could fire upon the disoriented intruders with ease.

Anna saw the mechanism in time for us to jump to the side. The stairs went flat for a few seconds, and then righted again. She took a dagger and jammed into the control mechanism, keeping it locked in place.

We went through the door at the top of the stairs and down a hall. At the other end of the hall we heard them--a strange chittering noise we heard earlier.

"Oh great," I said. "You think they got those things in the cave doing guard duty?"

"Sounds like it," Saul said. "What can we do?"

"Move forward," Audry said. "We have to free the slaves, no matter the cost."

And forward we went.

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It is late and we are making camp. I'm so very tired, but I won't be getting much sleep, at least right away.

I'm very quickly getting used to not sleeping alone.