Dragon's Egg - Act II

[Ireth]

My lip curls as I watch Ankari retreat, but I know that speaking up will only invite more conflict that we do not need. I turn away, trying to push back my own dark thoughts and focus on the present. It will not do for me to linger on his words, no matter how true they ring. I, as much as anyone, have done things I am not proud of.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

He stands in silence while arrows and javelins fly! We were shot at, and not one word of this creature's innocence! Now he storms off with the hostage he was supposedly trying to protect?

"Ankari!" I call to him, "bring the wounded one to Rydh so we may help him! Two of theirs have died by my sword, and I can never undo that! If I am to atone for what I have done, it starts with seeing the wounded one healed."

 

[Steerpike]

There is more arguing between the reptiles, which is silenced by a sort of growling hiss from their leader. Then, the creature speaks again, lowering its voice as best it can. The sounds carry only to Baldhart and Cadell, who stand nearest the corner. The rest of the group can make out the hissing, but not the individual words.

"You not need die. You have hatchling. We want. You give hatchling, you live. Go free. She not of your egg. You not fight for her."

 

[Ireth]

My eyes widen. They want Burnbright? Why? I look to Baldhart, speaking barely above a whisper so my voice does not carry farther than her ears. "We cannot simply hand her over! Who knows what they want with her?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"You - Darin - wall," I whisper.

To the queen, I say, "I am sending a man to fetch the hatchling."

To Cadell, "You heard me! There, by the wall."


((As soon as I have a shield-wall: INTIMIDATE QUEEN))

 

[Ireth]

I obey Baldhart without question, taking my place beside Darin again. I hold my shield steady and watch Baldhart, hoping this will go in our favor.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I wait to see what the party will do. Will the lizards speak? Will they attack me?

I mentally prepare to dodge what I can, should arrows fly before I can call the wall over.

No... there may be traps in this hall. We will fail here.

"Weaklings!" I shout angrily. I sheathe my sword and grumble, "Do I have to come over..." I look at the queen. "Men!" I say to her with a shrug.

"We'll tie her to the table," I shout as I walk out of the kill zone. "Come and get her now or wait until we are long gone. It matters not!"

I whisper to Burnbright, "They want you. Scream as if I am hurting you." As she screams I say to Ankari, "You've been tricked. Kill that damned thing and help us kill the rest." To the party, "In the room. Rydh. Bow by the door. It's yours." To Mauve, "Lay on the table. You'll pass for a kid from afar."



Not knowing if they'll follow or argue or what, I attempt to signal others to positions in the room not visible from the hall. Shields closest to the door.

A fight is coming. I pray the party will accept that. And win... or Burnbright's fate will be worse than ours.

 

[Ireth]

I stare at Baldhart in confusion for a moment. So much for peaceful negotiations... "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

 

[Nihal]

((My turn to lose some action xD))

"I have no energy to cast right now," I say, "so I doubt I'll be of use for healing anytime soon. Still, I doubt they mean to talk. I think Aliron is right. They want another hostage."

Another one who needs a good talk when it's over. Would he hear me? I try to recall everything I know about him so far. I think he hates me, hah.

The commotion takes place and I stand still, watching. At every passing moment I get more sure that I'll have to cast again.

To Mauve, "Lay on the table. You'll pass for a kid from afar."

"Dangerous." I move quickly to the room, unfastening my cloak. "Switch." I keep from explaining in details, hoping they understand. I've heard the wounded lizard hissing to the others.

"One moment." I hurry and take the maximum distance possible from them, going to a corner and facing it. I take a deep breath and whisper quietly the spell.

[1d20+2] = 10+2 = 12 #Spellcast
((I think I've failed, right? It was a Shocking Grasp. If yes...))

Tsc. I slowly release the energy into the air, dropping the spell in the middle.

"Forget it." I mutter.

[1d20+2] = 12+2 = 14 #Spell saving throw

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I stand in front of Mauve and Burnbright, spreading my cloak to give them privacy as they switch clothes.

While they change I tell Cadell, "I don't know know if they'll send a scout or all come together or not come at all, but the magic user is protected by four lizards, so if we march down the hall toward them we take many risks—traps, spells—the shield wall would only block the arrows."

I check to see if the girls are decent enough yet, then I move to the table with chalk in hand.

"I need two knights by the door to form a wall. Sir Matthew, you can fight or just defend, but nothing can get past you and Sir Cadell. Archers will be behind the wall. Rydh, you have the bow from my first kill. Mauve, the second bow is by the table. Roll off and get it when the fight begins.

"I need Aliron and Darin with me. Aliron, you hide in the dark—but where I can see you—and give a signal when you think it's best to rush in. The signal could be you firing an arrow into the lizard queen's head or a hand gesture if you wish to remain unseen until Darin and I make the run—but I do depend on your marksmanship once Darin and I must run down the hall to engage the enemy. The queen, if she shows."

It's so crazy it might not work!

Really, Nissa? At a time like this?


I put the chalk away and draw my sword.


"That's our best bet at getting to the queen if they all show up. If just a scout comes, let him in before you kill him. Then we may need to go after them or find another path.

"Look, the queen said she's after Burnbright. I don't know if my plan is crazy or if we'll wait for a very long time, or what. I only know that these creatures are our enemies and capturing Burnbright is their purpose here."

I walk up to the prisoner, and pull him from Ankari's grip...

...slam him to the ground, then hold him under my boot so I can finish him.

"We take no prisoners."

 

[SeverinR]

I pray, wondering if it is night outside. I hold up an arrow asking it be blessed to strike its target when needed, I place it on the string, and look around the corner, looking for the victim of my blessed arrow.

If the wall is up I will move, hiding behind the shield, looking for the target. No hostility yet, but ready to return it if it comes.

 

[Nihal]

"Get the bow and do what? I've never fired one in my life." I pick up my dagger, giving my spear to Burnbright.

"Don't do anything stupid, girl. You'll stay hidden. Oh, and take care of my spear, it's a good spear.", I whisper.

The barbarian moves and take the lizard from the ranger's grasp. When she is finished I talk again, frowning.

"Did they say why? It would be nice to get the queen without more... bloodshed. The others would maybe surrender for her sake. We need answers."

 

[Ankari]

Anger recedes likes the ocean before a tidal wave. The cow yanks my prisoner from my grasp as if I were a child. I watch, stunned, as she slays the troglodyte as an afterthought.

"There was a time when I held you in high regard, Baldhart. You have fallen lower than the rest. Who are you to know my intentions? Who are you to act in open scorn towards me."

I replace my axe and shrug off my bow. "You would ask me to abide by your plan? With what currency have you purchased my acquiescence?"

The blood of troglodyte flows around our booted feet, staining us with guilt. "I am not sure how well learned your people are, but to kill a prisoner, even if it's allies still fight you, marks you as a tyrant and savage. Little different from enemies you claim threaten us."

I move to the doorway and stop. "You will have my bow. I fear the outcome if I rejected your commands."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"The lizard men die for their queen as I would for Burnbright. She said that Burnbright is not from my egg so I should not fight for her, but abandon her to them. When they bickered in their forked tongue, she silenced them and spoke to me. The other four aimed their weapons at me. They did not fire because...

"They thought it would be nice to get Burnbright without more bloodshed."

I turn to Ankari.

"There was a moment when I wished, Ankari, that you were right—despite that it would mean I had innocent blood on my hands. The queen is a beautiful and elegant lizard. We can communicate with her kind, but any future words between us hold no meaning. Any beast, man or woman who tells me to abandon Burnbright is my enemy to whom I will show no mercy.

"If that makes me a tyrant and a savage, I'll accept that. To fail to protect Burnbright makes me something I cannot accept."

 

[Nihal]

I feel almost bad for the ranger. Almost. Often I agree with what he wishes to do, but he's always so angry, arrogant and secretive, and choosing the worst courses of action... He's only reaping the results of the rotten seeds he planted. Yeah, I feel more satisfied than sorry.

With another deep breath, I carefully pick my words.

"Protect her? Yes. Yet..." I raise my still stained hand in case anyone try to argue about my right of opining. While they were busy having their fun I've taken the javelin for the girl. "You don't know their intentions. In any case their information is vital for her future. Mindless slay them and you're placing her in greater peril."

 

[Phietadix]

Idiots! Complete Idiots! How can my companions be so incredibly stupid?

No, no, no! Don't think those thoughts. Those thoughts will accomplish nothing. But still, something needs to be said.

"As much as I hate to say this, I have to agree with Ankari. You have gone too far Baldhart. All you have done is give them reason to hate us, to kill us, to dread us."

To Darin I say.

"You keep saying they desecrated this place. Likely they did. But we don’t know this. We may be murdering the innocent.â€

“I believe that we should listen to Ankari this time, these creatures may have attacked us. But we don’t truly know why. They may have simply acted in self-defense. We came to their home, and we came armed for war.â€

I realize that I made the same mistake as they. In the case of Mauve. I suppose I am an idiot as well.

I turn to Ankari. “Whether you want it or not. You have my support in this, what would you have us do?â€

 

[Ireth]

I look down at the corpse on the floor, processing all that has happened. I raise my head and speak to Baldhart. "You said yourself that the lizards wished to get at Burnbright without bloodshed. We could have protected her while still sparing any innocent creature's life -- such as this." I nod to the corpse. "Killing a helpless creature, even an enemy, runs counter with my Code, and now the lizards only have more reason to hate us. I would have listened to their parley peacefully, but it seems there may not be one now."

 

[Nihal]

"Enough! We all want the best for the girl, don't we? Priorities!" I raise three fingers.

We need time.

I turn to the hallway and shout, making sure the reptiles hear us. "You gave them time to argue, so we shall have too!" I lower a finger.

This won't ruin her plan. Just in case.

I turn back to them.

"Consensus. At least once would be awesome if-" I start in a sarcastic tone.

No, I can't. Drat, they're always pushing me into roles I don't fit!

"Sorry. Look, we need to be rational. It is not about you, it's about her. Just shut up about your personal disagreements and focus on her! " I lower the second finger. "We'll have time for all this bullshit about being right or wrong later! Not now."

"Her." I lower the third finger. "Everyone wants the best for her, everything we are doing is for her. Don't you all agree?" I look at every one of them. "Her fate is tied to the curse, I'm sure she'll play a role in this, for best or worst. So we must accept this and make sure to protect her, to aid her. Immediately - and - later."

"So, will you forget all your vendettas for a while? Please. Please!"

 

[Ireth]

I sigh. That is exactly what I have been attempting all along. I bite back my less-than-courteous words, and simply nod in agreement, folding my arms somewhat awkwardly.

 

[Ankari]

Screeching noises escape the flapping lips of the wizard. I walk by her as I take my position. "You words are as rewarding as rotted fruit in a grave yard. Learn to speak less and do more."

I stare down the darkened corridor, considering Matthew's words. Four troglodytes and a queen are no match for our disjointed party. They are fools to threaten us. What would they gain exposing their queen so carelessly? Only desperation.

They need something. Why is that something Burnbright and how do they know of her? Aslaug. She compels them.

I slip between the shield wall and stand a few paces away from my party.

Voice raised, I address the lizard folk. "Know that my name is Ankari, and I will slay you before you think of doing harm to the girl. Speak plainly of your intentions and needs. Does a woman named Aslaug direct you? Does she pose a threat to your kind? If I do not find your answers satisfactory, you will not walk from this hallway."