~ The Quest for the Ring of Fire Command: [Home] [Previous Turn] [Next Turn] ~

"Shit!" Hannibal curses silently to himself. Whatever Skandor had said to Amos had mad the man come unglued, and now it was clear he and the two others were not on the same team. Acting quickly, but still with as much stealth and secrecy as possible, Hannibal changes plans. Moving along the wall past Amos' rear, Hannibal searches for the best hiding spot. Behind a wall where the shadows are especially dark and where he can hide and observe. It was times like these that he was glad for his new profession, no matter how much he longed to be a warrior again.

Hannibal watches the two other "priests" carefully. These were not monks as Amos was, these were men of action...probably warriors or possibly assassins. Hannibal returns his dagger to it's sheath and surveys the room they are in, looking for potential escape routes if need be. Several times his eyes fall upon that crack in the wall, was it a secret door? Quietly he searches through his things till he located one of his iron spikes. He would keep it handy just in case.

'Evil indeed,' Emma thinks to herself, 'Any group holding a high priest of Hathe captive in order to insure the cooperation of the monks of El-Balans could only have evil ruling their hearts...'

'Who was this new man?' Hannibal continues thinking. 'Another entry into the equation.' Hannibal watches this newcomer carefully. Simply the way the man carried himself hinted at a man of power or importance. Alone, however, he could not be too important, could he? Hannibal waits 'till the man speaks and suddenly the familiarity was there, that voice he had heard before but where?

This was growing worse by the moment! Whatever Skandor and the monk had spoken of must have shed some light on the issue as even Storm was on edge now, the whole group for that matter. Hannibal dares not move, not wanting to give away his position. If there were to be trouble, Hannibal could best serve the group from the shadows. Quietly he waited, hoping the others would make the right choice.

El watches as Skandor and the priest Amos whisper to one another. He can see a bead of sweat forming on Amos' brow. Yawning in forced boredom he walks to the wall and leans on it with his arms folded. His sword is plainly visilble and plainly in reach. When the dark-browed man walks in, El can feel a wave of power wash over him. This man is something different, something new. His breath catches for a moment, and his head clouds with battle fury. Thrusting it deep within him, he forces an insolent smirk onto his face. He will not be shown up by some human. He tries to seem as relaxed as possible though in reality he is as tightly wound as he can get.

'Evil?' Emma reconsiders, looking momentarily over her shoulder to Robert Wade IV, 'Not Robert...I already looked into his heart. Misguided, perhaps...and in need of someone to set his soul in balance before it's too late.' While she still has her back to the nobleman, her hands quickly reach back to pull up the hood of her cloak. She adjusts it so that none of her hair peeks out and then clutches the front of the cloak around her chest to hide the symbol of Anhur on her tabard.

"Robert..." she whispers aloud, keeping her eyes focused upon Amos and hoping the others can handle the situation, lest they be discovered immediately, "...what are you doing here?"

Crayne shakes his head 'Another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into!' he thinks to himself. It was an awkward situation and one that the Rinder's Six could really do without, but nevertheless they were now in the centre of things and there would be no turning back until the priests were freed from the captivity of the Caerloon troops. Nevertheless, what worried Crayne most was the mention of Red Dragon mages. They were here he could feel it and they were looking for exactly the same thing: The Ring of Fire Command.

The question was, however, how many and how powerful? Crayne was growing in magic but he still felt weak in terms of a spell catalogue. The Ring of Water Command was at his disposal, he knew, but he still didn't know how to control it properly. He wished that his friend Dire was with him now.

What was in the favour of Rinder's Six was the fact that a fair few number of El-Balans priests seemed to still be alive and they, Crayne was sure, would be useful allies when the time came to it. For they would surely have a few tricks up their sleeves that could be unleashed upon the Caerloon troops. But as to now the only thing to be done was for the Six to play along with the priest and see where it would lead them.

Suddenly Crayne drops his staff on the floor just in front of Emma. With a muffled curse he reaches over to pick it up. He now positions himself between Robert Wade IV and Emma. In an embarrassed fashion Crayne looks to the Amos and nodds, "Sorry Brother! I apologise..." he says in a nervous manner and strange accent "You are wanted! We-we-we will wait until you return! For we are eager to hear more of your teachings!" Crayne nods in a very humble manner. He is careful to hide the Red Dragon emblem on his staff from the eyes of Robert.

Skandor's eyes turn briefly to regard the new figure to enter the room. His eyes dart to Emma, who has raised her hood over her head, and to Crayne, who seems almost frightened of the newcomer. Crayne...frightened of this man? Emma hiding her identity? Who was this man who could suddenly change the demeanor of his companions?

Not wanting to draw attention to himself, or his companions, Skandor merely bows his head respectfully towards Amos, and prays silently to himself. His mind races over the priest's words. 'They' were here...the Coreognate was murdered...they were holding the high director hostage...fifty men... Fifty men? And their apparent leader, standing in this very room, instilled unease and perhaps even fear into the hearts of Crayne and Emma?

His muscles tense, his battle-senses preparing him to leap into battle at a word or sign from Crayne or Emma. "Anhur, give me strength," he whispers to himself...

Storm's blood is at an absolute boil. Wade...Wade!!! Wade the younger was suddenly staring them down...in RINDER!!! Storm realizes he now has a much bigger degree of freedom than the first time they met, for if he had tried something then he and Emma would surely have been doomed. But now...all were visible, and the sides were drawn clearly...Storm was free.

His daggers come out of his belt slowly and cautiously, the blades being cuffed against his wrists, the daggers being held in an underhand fashion, and he brings his arms up in front of him, crossing them on the table. Through fiercely gritted teeth, Storm does everything dwarvenly possible to hold himself back...for, he knew, even with the freedom to strike at this man now, his friends would not approve, and he could also see for himself that an uncareful attack would cause an all out battle with, as Amos was saying, more than fifty men.

"Wade," he mumbles, just loud enough so everyone at the table, and no one else, can hear. "It be Wade the Younger!" His muscles twitch violently for a second, though he manages to hold himself steady for the time being. Slowly, the world around him starts to disappear as the only thing he can comprehend is running his dagger through this enemy's heart...

Robert Wade IV stops in his tracks, his eyes narrowing. He looks over this group of newcomers conversing with Amos. Then he glances to his two men, also in the sanctuary. Surely they would have signaled him were something the matter, right? 'Surround yourself with good men, and ye shall better yourself,' Artide had always said. He would trust them.

So he turns to regard one of the newcomers, the one who had dropped his walking stick. "Yes," Robert says slowly, looking carefully at Crayne, "you can learn more from Amos later. Now we must see him."

Amos looks to Crayne, nodding slowly, sweat dripping from his temples. Then he makes his way toward Robert, who leads him out. Before exiting through the sanctuary doors, however, Amos stops and calls to Crayne: "You'n may wait down in the study," he says quickly, leaving the sanctuary.

"The study?" Canter repeats. "Where might that be?"

Then, suddenly, Hannibal finds the wall upon which he is leaning to be moving! Jumping out of the shadow, he turns to look at the wall behind him, right next to his suspected secret door. And there before him, is a small opening, just large enough for a person to get through sideways.

"You see this?!" the thief whispers to the others.

"What does that mean?" Alara asks, confused.

Emma answers. "That, my friends, is the way to the study. Quiet now, lest more of our 'fellow priests' study with us..."

And with that, Emma moves toward the opening in the stone wall, slipping through quietly, followed by Elloharin, and then the others. On the other side is a small space, followed by a narrow staircase leading down, lit by sporadically placed torches along the walls. Just as Canter, the last one, slips through the stone opening, it begins to quietly close with an almost inaudible scrape along the floor. Within seconds the wall is nearly seamless.

Emma leads the group down the staircase, which maintains its narrow, steep pitch. The walls are smooth, lit by the warm, deep yellow of the torches. After about a minute of a slow pace down, Emma reaches the bottom. The stairs end in an alcove of a small chamber, carved out of the earth below El-Balans and reinforced with stone along the walls, which have been covered with wood. The stone floor is smooth, and there is a warm fire crackling in the center of the chamber, providing a warm, shifting light. Also in the chamber is a small reading table and three chairs, in addition to a bookcase with two shelves of bound volumes and another shelf of scrolls.

"This place is spectacular!" Crayne whispers as he beholds the small study chamber.

"And, by the looks of it, untouched by the Caerloon troops and the Red Dragon mages," Canter says, looking around. He holds out his hands over the fire to warm them, but then suddenly pulls them back. The quick motion attracts Elloharin's attention, and the elf's sudden turn to look at Canter alerts Crayne.

"What is it?" the mage asks.

"The fire..." Canter begins, kneeling and peering at the base of it, "...emits no smoke."

"Could it be priestly magic?" El suggests, looking to Crayne for approval, or at least a nod, recognizing how this might apply to their recent discussion on the origins of magic.

"Could be," Crayne replies.

"Or could it be bein' the Ring we be lookin' fer?" Storm suggests, replacing his daggers in his belt for the first time since leaving the sanctuary upstairs.

"We have no way of knowing," Alara says, "without knowing what kind of effects this ring might have. But definitely possibility, I'd say."

"So what be happenin' now?" Storm asks.

Skandor answers, "No, I believe, we wait for Amos to return..."

About an hour later, footsteps are heard on the stairs above. Quickly, everyone reaches for their weapons (and Emma throws her hood over her head again). When finally the person comes into view, it is clear that it is not Amos. But it is also fairly clear that it's not a soldier, either. It is a little girl, perhaps twelve or thirteen years old. She is in loose-fitting but warm clothing, with a symbol of Hathe painted on her sleeve. She look up from beneath her strawberry-blond bangs, her eyes searching the room.

Those eyes widen as she sees the array of weapons drawn at her. Finally she settles upon Alara, and moves slowly toward the half-elf. "Please," the girl says, reaching out for Alara's arm, "Amos bade me come to you'n. He sends a message..."

Alara kneels down, bringing herself to this young, scared girl's level. "It's okay," Alara says quietly, placing a hand on hers. Emma lowers her hood, thinking that another woman in the room might also calm this girl.

"What is the message?" Alara asks, trying her best to use a soothing tone in her voice.

The girl nods, swallowing heavily. "He says he knows of the priest you'n seek. It is not a song, at least not anymore, but has become a play of theater. He believes he can find it in one of the collections, but no one has been in that library for some time. It is further below...in the ancient chambers."

"Ancient chambers?" El repeats.

"Yes," the young priestess says with a quick glance toward El, "he can lead you'n there. But not now. You'n see, they'n are always watching him. And he mustn't come down below, lest they find the secret stairway down, as you'n came. We must rid ourselves of these soldiers, Amos says, before he will dare to come down below..."

The young priestess brushes a few strands of strawberry-blond hair away from her eyes, which slowly scan those in the room once again. She notes the dwarf, the mage with the staff, the Sword Bearer and his Shield Maiden, and the two with elven blood. "Are you'n...are...you'n...warriors of Rinder or..." her eyes look once again to the two tabards of Anhur, "...of the warrior's caste? Will you'n save us?"

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