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Karamus Entry 4
Karamus settled within his chair once more and closed his eyes, taking in measured breaths as he slowed his racing heart. Outrunning guards and thieves was not as easy as it use to be but the end result was well worth the risk. He untied a pouch from his belt and drew it open to reveal a golden ring. From his pocket he withdrew his handkerchief and began to wipe the dried blood that had collected on it. “At long last, the cold dish of revenge can be had.” He muttered to himself before the door came crashing open followed by the thundering herd of children.
Karamus gave a growl and slipped the ring into his pocket, “What do you bastards want now? Another story?” he asked.
“Yes!” the children answered in unison.
“Then sit the sod down. Now, I believe we left off with the Silver Phoenix and I leaving the Cathedral of Feathers following this magical lantern which sent a beam of light in the direction we were suppose to go to the next test to get out of the hellish place. Our new adventure took us to the Tremor Zone, a place that looks remarkably similar to old uncle Vermark’s face.” The look of disgust quickly covered their faces as the image of the demon’s face came to their minds. Karamus gave a grin and continued.
“Now, as we traveled, the light seemed to randomly choose a direction for us to go in which, at the time, made no sense to us. Then again, with the half breed holding the light, I can’t say I’m surprised. If I were the lantern I would try to get away from him as well. As we descended into the zone, an event took place that I shall never forget. A lizard like creature attacked us, looking for its next meal. Its eyes…oh those eyes were deadly as you see, with one look, it could turn a creature to stone. In the heat of battle, the half-breed, the sodding paladin and myself were teleported back to the beginning of the invisible maze with the creature. Needless to say, we were surprised which quickly led to a sour note in my career. The half-breed and I were turned to stone when we accidently caught its gaze. I don’t remember anything that happened during that time, it was like time stood still in a gray haze until everything came back to normal and the freak standing in front of me, looking caught pleased with himself.”
“You were stone papa?” asked Gresh as he held onto his tiny horns in disbelief. “Yes, just like the guardians at the temple. I also came to life, just like them too. Now stop interrupting.” The cansin snapped.
“Apparently the sodding paladin had slain the beast, it was, after all, his job to be the mule. As for why we were teleported, we figured out that it was because we had stopped and fought the beast and not moved forward. The logical deduction was to have one person keep moving forward and if anything else came out after us, the group would handle it. This decision led to one of the highlights of the journey, an encounter with a priestess with ample…assets and her three lucky companions. Naturally, the dwarf made an asinine remark and the group attacked us, stating they wanted our lantern. It was soon shown that the three lucky men were actually trained at combat and the third one was one after my own heart and went invisible. I did the same and the fight was on.”
“This is where I mention my favorite part. The half breed, though mindless, was very good and hand to hand combat and quickly wrapped up the priestess in his arms in a loving embrace. I moved over invisible, wishing I had thought of it…that is, until the other invisible guy came out of hiding and planted a dagger in his brain box. The assassin looked pleased with himself and his handy work. It was too bad that his companions were no challenge for the rest of the group. We descended upon the two of them like a pack of Lost looking for food. I killed the priestess, regrettably, swiftly and the assassin was killed quickly thereafter. Everyone seemed sad to see the lifeless body of the half-breed, well, with the exception of me that is. He left just as quick as he arrived. Some fools are not meant for adventuring. To top it off, his body was left on the field, deemed too heavy to carry.” The cansin had a broad grin on his face which he soon dropped and continued on with the story.
“With the half breed dead, I took up the duty of holding the lantern to guide us the rest of the way through the blasted maze of a trial. Our journey took us deeper in and with what seemed like an eternity, a new creature came into view. It was almost predictable. What wasn’t predictable was that the creature was a large spider like creature standing nearly 20 feet in height. Then again, maybe that is too. I don’t’ know why that place liked spiders…appropriate I guess for the creepy factor. I did what I was suppose to and keep moving while the group and the spider decided to fight and see who had the larger pants. The dwarf in particular lost that comparison as he was bloodied quite quickly and efficiently. The thing picked him up and started to carry him away…presumably to feed him to offspring or some other nasty, vile and torturous death. The group chased after it as I continued following the path. I presume the finally killed the creature as they all returned, with dwarf in tow. Drats.”