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| The Ancients of Magic - Chapter 4: The Fletcher - By The Shepherd |
Chapter 4:
All was absolutely silent as LoMet Rath
entered the inside the walled section of the castle.
There was still some distance to cover to get to the castle and
XenShr herself, but Rath nerves had calmed down a bit, now that
he had penetrated the bulwark. Rath had never been inside
the bulwark, and now as he stood there, he knew he never wanted
to be there again. The bulwark was made of large
rectangular stones. The stones where so huge, that it took
4 elves to carry just one. They were dark and covered in
moss and dead vines. However, the most hideous site was
that the walls were stained with the blood of Elven sacrifices,
and scattered amongst the stains were fleshy chunks of elves who
had been torn to pieces then flung up against these walls.
Rath’s stomach turned within him at the site of such blasphemy.
But he knew, that soon their immortal spirits would rest with
peace knowing that Queen XenShr’s reign of chaos had been
brought to it’s end!
With in the bulwark there were other
buildings. Most of these other structures were forges and
weaponry storages, with an occasional stable here and there.
One could easily distinguish the method by which Queen XenShr
ruled by observing the type and condition of the building she
surrounded herself with. If Rath was going to finish his
task properly, he would need some added support.
“Ah, the Fletcher,” Rath thought, “I could
use with a bow and arrows for this task.”
Rath pulled the hood of cloak over his head
a little tighter and walked over toward the Fletcher. A
goblin was hard at work putting feathers in arrows and making
sure they where straight. He had is back toward Rath and
despite the thunderous silence all round didn’t notice Rath
coming up on him. Again, it would need to be a silent kill
so as not to alarm any one. Rath did not want to use the
dagger, for it would cause the victim to glow green for a
moment, and Rath could not afford that disturbance.
The fletchery was an open faced structure,
almost more like a lean to, but built with stone. The
goblin was facing into the building, and Rath was 2 paces behind
him. On the left side of the goblin there was a small
forge that was used to shape and harden the arrow heads.
On the right of the goblin there was a pile of newly finished
arrows, and some piles of feathers, sticks and twine.
Scraps of twine and feathers littered the ground at the feet of
the Fletcher. Rath didn’t have much more time, sooner or
later the goblin would feel his gaze or another sentinel would
notice him just standing there.
“Eh ha! Er nother perfect air-row,”
snorted the Fletcher. He tossed the finished arrow into
the pile of other finished arrows at his right, then he bent
down to pick up another stick to begin another arrow.
“T’was now or never,” thought Rath!
He leaped forward into the air and simultaneously pulled his
knees up to chest and thrust his right arm between his legs with
his fingers spread wide apart. Rath’s hand was the first
part to make contact with the goblin. Those Elven fingers
latched down onto the skull of the hunched over Fletcher, as the
rest of Rath came striking down on sending the both of them to
the ground. Rath struggled to maintain balance as the 2
went smashing into the dirt floor. The goblin choked
coughed and gagged as it struggled to breath, as the massive
sudden blow shocked his twisted body. Rath reached his
left hand over top the collapsed goblin and grabbed an arrow as
his right hand yanked the head back exposing the length of the
Fletchers neck.
“In the name of the LEGION!” came the
resolute death warrant. Rath was sure to say the phrase
quietly, but loud enough that the goblin could hear him clearly.
Then with the arrow in his left hand, he slit open the throat of
the goblin and dropped his head with his right hand. Green
blood began to ooze from the wound and the goblin gasped
silently for air, struggling to hold onto life. However,
as with all mortal wounds, life finally escaped the hands of the
goblin and he lay still and silent.
Rath, grabbed the nicest bow he could find
in the shanty structure and a strapped a quiver full of arrows
to his back. He also grabbed the cloak of the Fletcher and
exchanged it for his own, that way he would have the royal mark
of the Fletcher and would be able to move around the castle more
easily. |
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