weapon pegs, naked mannequins, and barren shelves. He whirled around and slammed the door. As Yusar stormed across the room to confront Drask, the door behind him disappeared into the wall to leave the smooth black stone solid once again.
Yusar walked into his former room to stand before Drask, who was comfortably sitting in Yusar’s favorite chair. The naga that fetched him stood behind Drask, next to a large stash of weapons and armor. Yusar tried to keep calm as the naga smiled at him.
“ Yusar, this is Sirash, from the third hall of blades. She will serve as one of my advisors and generals,” Drask said as he rolled a dagger around in his hand.
“ Looks like you have been busy. Summoning demons and acquiring my weapons,” Yusar replied with a sharp tone.
Drask grinned and waved Sirash and the imps from the room.
“Yusar, you have a beautiful collection of items and weapons. I saw it as a travesty to let them all sit in that room unused.”
Yusar quietly considered how to respond. He looked at his fortune in magical items laying on the floor like a pile of treasure. Drask waved a hand before his face in dismissal and spun the chair to turn his back on Yusar.
Yusar went to say something, but felt a sharp edge press against his neck and heard a deep whisper in his ear. “You would do well to stay silent human. We will take what we want.”
Yusar stood sweating and short of breath. Drask spun the chair back around to face the shaken wizard.
“Ready yourself and a meeting room on the ground floor. Your friend Temo is coming for dinner. When I’m done having a chat with him, you can have your chance to kill him.” The pressure on the blade across Yusar’s neck disappeared.
Yusar finally smiled back at Drask. “I will have the room ready, Prince.”
As Yusar turned to depart, he looked around, expecting to see one of Drask’s guards, but the room was empty.
Val walked and climbed for several days, each day giving him one more clue that he was on the right trail. He found another such sign in the form on a young boy’s corpse in one of the caves. The grim and terrible sight actually gave him hope of reaching his sister, as the blood on the cave floor was only sticky and not dry. He kneeled over the boy and fought with himself over continuing on with his travels for the day or burying the unfortunate child.
Val heard the noise of a rock skittering behind him. He immediately snuffed the torch in the boy's blood and turned to face the light. He saw the silhouette of a man crouching at the front of the cave, moving his head back and forth to adjust his eyes to the light. Val held his breath and watched. The man looked back into the sunlight and motioned for someone to stay where they were. He ran his hands across his chest and removed something small and cylindrical. He held it up to the light and inspected it. The light shined through the container and showed a milky red liquid inside. He held it close to his body for a few seconds and did something in the shadow that Val couldn’t make out. He recapped the vial and replaced it, then took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck.
“ I see you! Is that you, Val? Is that right? Val? Hey, I’m sorry if we scared you away before; we really mean you no harm. Actually, I convinced my brother to track you. We found some dead goblins in the woods and thought you might have gotten caught up with them.”
Val slowly rose up from the cave floor and approached the light.
“I’m not sure if you know this, but you are on an extremely dangerous trail. This is an orc slaver passage.” Rylan removed a rag from his pocket and wiped his neck, his motions all silhouetted by the sun.
“ I know. I’m tracking them.”
Val walked past Rylan, trying not to make eye contact. Rylan reached out and grabbed his left arm.
“Hey—” he called, but was cut short as Val’s right hand struck out and grabbed Rylan by the wrist and wrenched.
Yusar walked into his former room to stand before Drask, who was comfortably sitting in Yusar’s favorite chair. The naga that fetched him stood behind Drask, next to a large stash of weapons and armor. Yusar tried to keep calm as the naga smiled at him.
“ Yusar, this is Sirash, from the third hall of blades. She will serve as one of my advisors and generals,” Drask said as he rolled a dagger around in his hand.
“ Looks like you have been busy. Summoning demons and acquiring my weapons,” Yusar replied with a sharp tone.
Drask grinned and waved Sirash and the imps from the room.
“Yusar, you have a beautiful collection of items and weapons. I saw it as a travesty to let them all sit in that room unused.”
Yusar quietly considered how to respond. He looked at his fortune in magical items laying on the floor like a pile of treasure. Drask waved a hand before his face in dismissal and spun the chair to turn his back on Yusar.
Yusar went to say something, but felt a sharp edge press against his neck and heard a deep whisper in his ear. “You would do well to stay silent human. We will take what we want.”
Yusar stood sweating and short of breath. Drask spun the chair back around to face the shaken wizard.
“Ready yourself and a meeting room on the ground floor. Your friend Temo is coming for dinner. When I’m done having a chat with him, you can have your chance to kill him.” The pressure on the blade across Yusar’s neck disappeared.
Yusar finally smiled back at Drask. “I will have the room ready, Prince.”
As Yusar turned to depart, he looked around, expecting to see one of Drask’s guards, but the room was empty.
Val walked and climbed for several days, each day giving him one more clue that he was on the right trail. He found another such sign in the form on a young boy’s corpse in one of the caves. The grim and terrible sight actually gave him hope of reaching his sister, as the blood on the cave floor was only sticky and not dry. He kneeled over the boy and fought with himself over continuing on with his travels for the day or burying the unfortunate child.
Val heard the noise of a rock skittering behind him. He immediately snuffed the torch in the boy's blood and turned to face the light. He saw the silhouette of a man crouching at the front of the cave, moving his head back and forth to adjust his eyes to the light. Val held his breath and watched. The man looked back into the sunlight and motioned for someone to stay where they were. He ran his hands across his chest and removed something small and cylindrical. He held it up to the light and inspected it. The light shined through the container and showed a milky red liquid inside. He held it close to his body for a few seconds and did something in the shadow that Val couldn’t make out. He recapped the vial and replaced it, then took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck.
“ I see you! Is that you, Val? Is that right? Val? Hey, I’m sorry if we scared you away before; we really mean you no harm. Actually, I convinced my brother to track you. We found some dead goblins in the woods and thought you might have gotten caught up with them.”
Val slowly rose up from the cave floor and approached the light.
“I’m not sure if you know this, but you are on an extremely dangerous trail. This is an orc slaver passage.” Rylan removed a rag from his pocket and wiped his neck, his motions all silhouetted by the sun.
“ I know. I’m tracking them.”
Val walked past Rylan, trying not to make eye contact. Rylan reached out and grabbed his left arm.
“Hey—” he called, but was cut short as Val’s right hand struck out and grabbed Rylan by the wrist and wrenched.
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