Chapter Six
[Flea]
A lone figure sat in a dark corner, in a small tavern,
in a very insignificant village, where the most exciting thing to do was
make fun of the local monster rancher.
"Well, my bad luck all started one day when I was
off trying to rid this town of an evil double headed dragon, but was--"
said a very boring looking man with two very dragon-like creatures sticking
out of his back, before he was cut off.
"Bad luck? Bad luck? You want to talk
about bad luck?! I used to be a world famous bounty hunter.
I was trained by the mighty Shadow in the ways of battle! And look
at me now! Just some washed up drunkard in a backwoods town.
All because of that b@st@rd King Marley! A simple
kidnapping job. Hah! I wound up traipsing around the woods
with that bootlicking general Neo, an insane witch, and a mind controlled
rebel," the lone figure yelled, "and what's more, I never even got paid!"
"Sir, not to be rude, but shut up already.
Nobody cares," the bartender said with a snarl. As he sipped his
ale, Flea pondered what had gone wrong the past two days. After the
mind control spell was cast, Neo had gotten incredibly overbearing, and
sent Spyder off to hunt down the rebel group. Sure, Spyder was strong,
but her against all them? HA! Then, as they were making their
way back to the castle to report, Tiamat suddenly suffered extensive injuries,
from no apparent cause. He deducted that Spyder has been injured
or killed, and relayed the inuries to the witch. The control spell
was gone, the witch was in a coma, and Flea's head had nearly been permanently
separated from his body.
"Hmph...foolish soldiers. Thinking they could
sneak up on me, and chop off my head..." Flea thought to himself.
"They'll regret turning against me. I may not be any warlock, but
I have a few tricks up my sleeves. Wait...no...first things first.
I need to find Spyder. My life depends on it."
That foolish general had the gall...the nerve...the
insanity
to have the witch summon out Flea's soul, and encapsule it on an orb.
And then, to make absolute sure that Flea would do his utmost to
ensure Spyder succeeded, gave Spyder the orb!
"Good lord...if they find it...or worse, know
what
it is...well...I'm screwed."
He had made his way to this village to restock in
supplies, and drown his sorrows after he escaped the trap. But he
was sure the king's men would not rest until they presented his head to
Marley himself.
"Bartender...gimme the strongest thing you have,
and double it!"
[Tazor]
"Oh, great! Parsnip must've knocked Spyder
too hard!" Roland yelled while looking back at Parsnip.
"No, she's just a little dazed, that's all!
Come on Spyder, you know me! Parsnip!" Parsnip was starting
to get a little nervous.
"Oh, no..." Cyclinbear said as he kneeled over Spyder.
Spyder tried to sit up but fell back down holding her ribs. Belisarius
walked over and tore off a piece of his sleeve. He wiped the blood
off of Spyder's chin.
"This is horrible...Isn't there anything we can
do? Parsnip, look in that book and see if there's anything in there
on how to bring back memory!" Tazor said.
"I don't think there would be anything about memory,
but I'll check." Parsnip replied while taking out the book. Parsnip
started flipping through the pages.
"How are you feeling Spyder?" 2 dope asked, joining
the others.
"Fine. Who are you guys?" Spyder replied.
"Great. She really doesn't remember us.
I'm Tazor. This is Roland, Parsnip, 2 dope, Cyclinbear, and Belisarius,"
Tazor said, pointing at the others.
"Wait, there is something! Let's see."
Parsnip started to mumble some strange words. An orange ball covered
Spyder and lifted her off the ground. The ball suddenly diminished
and Spyder fell to the ground.
"Ow..." Spyder said while grabbing her ribs.
"Did it work? Does she remember us?" Cyclinbear
asked.
"Wha, what happened? Oh, hey guys..." Spyder
said rubbing her head.
Everyone cheered.
[Flea]
"...And the last thing i remember was some witch
chanting. Then I woke up here, after you hit me with a death blow,"
Spyder said, finishing her explanation of what happened after she was kidnapped.
"Hmm...well, you appear okay, except for minor outward
damage. If memory serves, those who are mind controlled like this
relay all pain and damage to their controllers. So, I'm thinking
this witch is not feeling very well right now" said Eldaron, as he rose
from his spot by the camp fire.
As he looked over his companions, he noticed an
odd necklace around Spyders neck. It was a black orb, like onyx,
with a single red imperfection in its center. It was hung on a silver
chain. "Say,
Spyder...I don't recall you having a necklace like that before..."
[Belisarius]
Spyder looked down at the necklace. She looked
up again with a slightly confused expression on her face. "I... don't
know where I got this. I didn't notice it before. I wonder
what it is." She held the pendant up to the firelight, but it appeared
to be made of black stone of some sort, and no light pierced it.
Roland reached out and inspected the orb.
Before he had said anything, it became apparent that he had no knowledge
of what it was either. Glancing around, he noticed that there was
no need for him to voice anything.
"Perhaps we should leave it behind. It may
have a dweomer that can be followed. Or perhaps it is some sort of
clairvoyance device, allowing us to be monitored," Belisarius suggested.
Roland faced him. "That's a possibility, but
it may be important, too. I'd hate to throw away something that could
be useful. We'll keep it, but you have a point. We might as
well put it somewhere that might muffle some of its abilities."
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