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Ambush!
As the men proceeded, the terrain got harder, and trees started to block the way. Gheed complained, and said that the whole quest was futile. Eyolf used his battle axe to cut through the wood, with the others ahead a reasonable distance...
"Isn't there any other way to Kaleeah?" asked Gheed.
"You call yourself a merchant, and you've never been there?" Rogan asked, doubtfully.
"It's a long time, I tell ya... but last time these damn trees weren't all over!"
"There's another way, but that was never an option," Lukyan responded, "if the town has been invaded or something like that, we would be spotted and we'd be no match for potential crossbowmen and such."
Lukyan's invasion hypothesis was discussed for quite some time, before the group decided to rest, after the previously negotiated three hours of walk. They found a nice, open area and sat down.
"Okay, let's get something to eat," Victor suggested. Everyone agreed. "I'll go and find some berries or something," said Talos, grabbed a bucket and went out into the forest. "I'll go with you," said Eyolf and followed him. Lukyan and Victor found some wood for a campfire, Rogan lit it up and started to roast some meat. Gheed took his shoes off, complained about the agony in his feet and polished his scepter with a piece of cloth he had. When the meat was done, everyone gathered around the campfire to eat, except Talos and Eyolf, who hadn't returned yet.
"Eyolf must be suffering now..." said Lukyan, "imagine having your brother living in a possibly destroyed village!"
"Mmm... true..." Rogan responded while chewing on a large piece of meat, "but he seems very... i don't know... but he sure doesn't act like he's too concerned."
True, Eyolf had been nice, outgoing and talkative all the way. "Maybe he just don't want to show it to us," Lukyan suggested.
They sat there for about half an hour before Eyolf and Talos returned, with the bucket full of berries.
"Hey! That's impressive!" said Victor, "where did you find all that?"
"Well, we stumbled upon a few bushes, with quite a lot of berries," said Eyolf, "they're quite tasty, too."
"And we also found some apples," said Talos. Everyone recieved two apples each. Thay sat a while longer, before they decided to move on. Gheed reluctantly put his shoes back on (he received sour expressions from everyone when he mentioned the possibility of being carried). They set course for the guard outpost.
Strangely, nothing happened during the walk to the outpost, only problem was a lot of dense terrain in need of some chopping. The walk was long, but everyone made it without much hesitation or complaint. The first shock came when no one was present at the outpost. The guard tower was just standing there, without anyone nearby. Lukyan decided to investigate the tower, but found no signs of anything. "Strange," said Lukyan, "there are supposed to be at least two guards here at all times, this does not bode..."
Lukyan was quickly interrupted by a howl, coming from the woods behind them. "What the..." Everyone turned to face the source of the piercing sound. Rogan threw away the meat and drew his sword. None too soon, because three seconds later the first attacker leaped out of the bushes. The attacker was a man, dressed in a black cloak with a hood covering the head. He was carrying two medium one-handed swords, one in each hand.
Rogan, who was closest, charged at the foe. Their sound of their swords bashing together made Gheed jump up and run to the other side of the open area. The attacker swung his other sword, aimed at Rogan's foot. Rogan instantly parried it with his sword and ducked from the cloaked man's right hand attack. Rogan quickly threw himself to the left and hurled a dagger, aimed at the attacker's head... he missed. Suddenly, four more attackers came to aid their companion.
Victor and Lukyan charged quickly at the attackers, but it was not a fair fight. Four against two. "Gheed! Get up!" Rogan hollered before he had to parry the blows from the attacker again. Gheed quickly got up and took his scepter out of the robe. One of the attackers instantly went for Gheed, both arms raised, ready to chop Gheed into small pieces. Gheed screamed and started to run into the forest.
Luckily, Rogan got a small break in his battle when he managed to knock the attacker backwards. He drew another ice dagger and threw it straight into the spine of the one attacking Gheed. He instantly froze, and stood there, stone cold. Rogan turned to resume the fight with his attacker, and managed to parry a blow aimed at his head. Rogan jumped backwards as he threw a fireball at the attacker. His robe caught fire. The attacker dropped his left-hand sword and tried to get the robe off, but Rogan went for him too fast for him to react, and he ended up with Rogan's blade in the head. As he dropped, Rogan went for another attacker, to give the two paladins Lukyan and Victor relief. "Now it's a fair fight!" Lukyan yelled and brought another attacker to the ground with a bash from his kite shield. Lukyan tried to finish him with the scimitar, but missed as the attacker rolled to the side. Victor jumped backwards and then leapt to the side to distract his opponent. The operation worked, and the attacker was probably very surprised when Lukyan finished him from the back, using his scimitar. However, Lukyan wasn't fast enough and recieved a blow from another cloaked attacker. Lukyan went down, and Victor threw a lightning bolt at the attacker, frying him. Rogan knocked the final attacker backwards with his sword, and just when Rogan was about to finish him, Gheed threw a large dagger at the attacker's back. He fell forwards, landed on Rogan's sword and fell to the ground.
Rogan let his eyes examine the battlefield, and listened for noises from the woods. "I think we got them all," he said when he regained his breath. He then noticed Lukyan on the ground, and Victor sitting next to him. "Is he okay?" Rogan asked.
(to be continued)
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[This message has been edited by Slayer (edited 08-27-2002).]
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