Back to page 2
-----Raven starts to hand Sol one of his short swords when he suddenly spies a couple of sheathed swords and other weapons near the back of the stable. He points them out to Sol and Kazel. "Those might be your weapons. Grab ‘em up and let’s get away from here. I don’t like the look of that fog."
-----Raven lifts Sarah in his arms and leads them out from behind the stable around in front of the keep where the bonfire is. From there, they can see the last of four riders exit the front gate into the woods.
-----Suddenly a whoosing sound occurs as a space of ground between the bonfire and the steps of the keep catch fire.
-----Not sparing any time, Sol quickly moves back to the stables, though this time he heads for the entrance, taking care to avoid the dubious looking fog. He does so whilst buckling on his swordbelt which has his shortsword sheathed. Just before he enters the stables, he pulls out his longsword and runs inside the stable.
-----Raven sets Sarah down and Rinda immediately applies a healing spell. The mage remains weak although she can sit up.
-----With a flurry of hooves, Sol rides Thunder out of the stable and roars off toward the gate.
-----Raven looks up, watching the departing warrior, and says, "There he goes. We better back him up in case he charges in over his head." As Raven runs toward the stable, he looks at Kazel. "Want to come along?" he offers.
-----Rinda yells after him, "If you can, yell for those guards to get in here!"
-----The flames in front of the keep grow larger and begin to ride up the steps somehow toward the front door.
-----The Dread Pirate then openly saunters around the corner of keep, in plain view of the rest of the party. From this vantage point, he calmly surveys the blazing fire and rubs his palms together then holds them up towards the burning keep, "Arrrr, there be nothin like a nice, toasty fire on a cold night, eh? At least this way the keep will be rendered unusable by the forces of darkness. Shiver me timbers, shoulda thought o' torchin the place to begin with."
-----He then addresses the rest of the gathered group, "Well then, everything seemed to turn out alright after all. How'd things go out here? It was pretty rough inside for Seth and I. Those wizardly bastards made those dead prisoners rise up from their rest and attack Seth and I. There must've been about a dozen of 'em shamblin about, mumbling about 'brains' and such, tryin to rip our heads off. But we managed to kill 'em all again and they should be nicely toasted by morning. That'll teach 'em to get back up after death. Miserable undead bastards. Isn't that right, Seth?"
-----The Dread Pirate accompanies his tale of battling the zombie horde with appropriate gestures and hacking motions with his arms. Then, apparently quite pleased with himself, he heads over to get his pony before the stable burns down. He appears to weigh going after Sol, but decides against it, having no chance of catching up with his pony.
-----Seth follows the Dread Pirate around the corner and nods in agreement. His eyes wide with fright, he adds, "Yes, sometime soon I shall compose a song about those vile denizens of evil." He looks up at the keep burning. "I don't suppose anyone wants to rescue Woder, do they?" He then smiles down at Sarah, not sure if she can hear him or not. "I think he is about to be suitably punished."
-----The Dread Pirate smacks his forehead with his hand, "Arrrr, I forgot about that scurvy dog. He's a slippery one though. He might just manage to escape from the keep somehow. I'll go watch the windows, just in case."
-----Sarah sits bolt upright, a look of panic in her eyes. "Chessie!" She screams. "Chessie! Where are you?" The look on her face is one of absolute desperation.
-----"Where is he? What happened?" She asks Rinda and Kazel, while she jumps up, prepared to run whichever direction Chessie tells her he is in.
-----Suddenly, Sarah’s small owl flutters down to her. Chessie alights on her wristband and though he can fly he looks like he has been through quite an ordeal.
-----Raven then appears from the stable on one of the horses and heads out after Sol.
-----Sarah clutches her familiar to her chest, kissing him and trying to soothe him. "It’s okay, baby. Mommy’s here." She sing-songs to her owl.
-----"It didn't go so good for me." Sarah says, quietly. "I was out on the outer tower and the same thing that attacked me in the warehouse and took Aaron flew overhead and landed in the window. It looked back and saw the rope leading right to me. So I tried to blind it but it cast magic missiles at me." Sarah rubs her chest where the two bolts slammed into her, wincing as she does so. "I trapped it in a web, and set it on fire." She smiles grimly. "But it was still blocking the rope and then one of its friends came to help it. I tried to charm him but he blasted me like his scumbag companion did." Sarah looks down sadly at Chessie. "I would be dead right now if Chessie hadn't flown in and taken one of the missiles." A gasp escapes her lips. "I don't think he's doing so great right now." Sarah begins to examine Chessie gently, hoping she can help him. Silently she curses herself for thinking she could do everything without the help of her companions.
Go to Page 4