Dagda and I rode our horses slowly down the road in Ilshenar. We were wandering for the sake of wandering. As we had been for the two previous days. Looking down valleys and places either never tread or forgotten by either of us. We had just entered a series of canyons where the road meandered down the center.
Dagda’s keen eyes looked forward scanning for trouble. Her eyes are much sharper than mine. Dressed in elven green and an arrow notched in place on her bow she directed her horse with her knees.
The butt of my lance was secured in my stirrup and leaned against my shoulder. My shield across my back. Kris at my side, dagger as well. Another three instruments of destruction stuck pommel first out of my saddle bag. My helmet was tied to the pommel of my saddle. I held my reins in one hand. Dagda’s mount was similarly covered with weapons of destruction.
Dagda may have been trying to go down the road quiet, but I sang out a tune, out of tune.
Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain;
For we have received orders,
For to sail off to Boston;
And soon never more will we see you again.
“Where is Spain?” Dagda asked interrupting me.
“South of a different Britain” I replied
“Who are these Spanish ladies?” Dagda asked
“Don’t know never met any” I replied
“Then why do you sing of them?” Dagda asked
“It’s a pleasant tune” I replied
Dagda pursed her lips in thought.
Having been interrupted I started again
Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies,
“Shhhhh” Said Dagda.
We had turned a corner, from a narrow canyon where my voice had echoed nicely, onto a small wooded plain. Before us was a bridge, to our right was another bridge and a sign.
[Welcome to Mistas]
[Open for business ]
[Travelers welcome]
We looked in each direction undecided.
Dagda looked at me as if she could read my mind. “You probably want a drink”
She could read my mind!
“Well I am a little parched” I agreed.
We turned our horse right and clip-clopped across the bridge into Mistas. We entered a large plaza with a huge mosaic of the scales of justice. A steady breeze blew left to right. Bits of tumbleweed followed the wind. An open door tapped against a wall. Over the door hung a sign with a bottle of beer on it.
I got off my horse and my helmet promptly hit the ground. The wonders of ethereal mounts. I bent over to pick it up.
ZOT-ch-ch-k-k
A lightning bolt passed through where my head had just been. Still bent over I looked and saw a Juka mage standing on a ceiling. I stood up … that was better it was still a Juka mage but they were now standing in the plaza. Another lightning bolt was flung from the mages hands toward me. I lunged backwards into the building landing hard on my butt. Dagda came in behind me on her feet.
ZOT-ch-ch-k-k
A juka warrior charged from within the bar toward Dagda. With his scimitar raised over his head and a foul curse of Mondain on his lips. I raised a foot he tripped. Dagda put a foot on his head before he had a chance to bounce off the floor and drilled an arrow into his skull. I scrambled on hands and knees to the rope handle of the door and pulled it shut.
Ka-wump and a big circle of the door turned black and smelled of ozone.
I did a quick scan of the room. Bar; Stools; One Door; Two windows same side. Dagda playing peek-a-boo in one window shooting arrows at the mage. I peeked out the other window. I could see Juka all around the far side of the plaza. Up on a wall with an ornate helmet was a Juka lord. I counted ears and divided by two. I came up with a quick count of forty.
A squad of five Juka stormed towards the door. Dagda dropped two before they got to the door. I was ready. The first Juka pulled the door open and was awarded a face full of black steel in the form of my Kris. The other two skidded toward the door. The second Juka got a belly full of my Kris for his trouble. The third slid into the partially closed door. I kicked the door he staggered backwards and sprouted one of Dagda’s arrows and fell backwards dead before he hit the ground.
I grabbed the Juka body blocking the door and dragged it in. Dagda grabbed the rope handle and slammed the door shut again behind it. A head appeared in the window behind Dagda, followed by most of a torso. I threw my dagger at the Juka it hit pommel first and bounced off his face. There was no such bounce with Dagda’s follow up arrow. I threw my shield up and wedged most of it in the window near me. I flung myself to the other window and swung down across the back of the neck of yet another over eager Juka. I got a scimitar scraped down my side for my troubles. I turned and started kicking slats out of the bar.
“What are you doing” yelled Dagda with more than a little consternation in her voice as she pulled the rope to keep the door shut.
I kicked the last upright slat and the wooden bar fell down. I scooped it up and threw it against the other window and pulled a stool to help keep it in place. More Juka tried to get through the windows and got dead. But not without leaving their mark. I had a spear tip in my hip, and a slash that went almost to the bone of my shield arm. Dagda had a scimitar cut to her leg. Missed the artery but had left her in a state where she wasn’t going to be winning any foot races any time soon.
Finally all the hot heads must have been dead or out of town. They took to shooting crossbow bolts at us at no cost to them except expended amunition.
Twilight and then true darkness fell, and with that another rush at the door. Dagda was not inconvenienced by the gathering darkness in the least and dropped three. The first to arrive opened the door to find a stack of dead Juka confronting him. As he stood gaping I ran my kris into him adding to the pile. More Juka arrived all armed with spears stabbing into and over the pile of dead Juka. I used my lance to battle back but it is not the weapon of choice in a narrow bar. I found Dagda next to me with sword drawn. I looked quizzically. She shrugged. “Out of arrows”.
We battled back and added another Juka to the pile at the door. The abused door fell its leather hinges cut The doo lay against the dead Juka like a ramp into the bar. Two different Juka tried that route and found themselves added to the growing pile of dead Juka.
There was a long pause after that. And then we heard chopping on the roof. This attack was ill conceived. We could figure out where they were on the thatch roof. They had no idea where we were. The lance and a fallen spear made short work of them. And they tumbled down off the roof limping away.
Quiet fell with the occasional crossbow bolt and scream in the night. We were not getting any rest, they were.
The first light of false dawn appeared. The Juka had found reinforcements. Including a Mage who set to with a series of fireballs that soon had the bar and its roof on fire. He was too far away to hit with any of the scrounged arrows or crossbow bolts. Desperate we shaved down the back end of a spear. Dagda put the bow to her feet and pulled it almost to the breaking point and let the spear fly like a ballista bolt. No more fireballs.
The mage must have been a favorite of the Juka commander. For after that the Juka started to form ranks, on the far side of the plaza, in the breaking dawn. Lastly they brought forth an Iron Golem gleaming in the dawn sun to the front. Smoke billowed around us. The heat was getting rather intense and the smell of burnt Juka was nauseating. A lone Juka strode forth from their ranks. He brought out a horn and started to blow a tune.
I looked at Dagda, and she at me. “De Deguello” whispered Dagda.
“What’s that?” I asked.
She laughed. “You know Spanish ladies but you don’t know De Deguello?”
I shrugged “What is it?”
“No Quarter”
“That doesn’t sound like Led Z…Oh… no quarter”
I looked at Dagda and grinned and she looked at me and grinned as well. The trumpet stopped. The Juka sent up a Huzzah and started forward. Dagda dropped three with arrows she had scrounged. I threw my lance it tripped up two one fell on my kris. The fire was now roaring behind me.
I staggered to the top of the pile of dead Juka kicked one in the face and my shin on the doorway headboard at the same time. I slid down the pile out into the plaza. A giant metal hand lifted me up in a crushing grip. I could see Dagda hitting the golem with no effect. It was starting to get dark around the edges of my vision.
“Muh Ha Hah Me Smash” the golem said as he pulled me toward his face and gaping maw.
The Juka stood around behind the golem looking very pleased.
“K-k-k-kiss my arse” I replied with all I could muster.
Suddenly a half Dozen Juka sprouted arrows. Followed by a full throated war whoop. Knights in full armor charged into plaza across the bridge. Arrows continued to fall into the ranks of the Juka. I saw a large war mace turn a Juka head to ruin. John Chanticleer. A sword flashed in the hands of a sullen Tukonese man in ranger gear. Okami. Rangers came running and more knights went flying by.
The golem threw me against the bar wall like a rag doll. I heard things go crunch. The last thing I saw was Dagda leaning over me and her screaming “Don’t you dare drop dead on me you jerk!”
I woke up. I cracked my eyes. I was still lying on the ground but a good twenty yards from the bar which was now a raging inferno. The sun showed about an hour after dawn. Rangers and Emerald Fist knight stood or sat applying bandages to various nicks, cuts, and other traumas. Dead Juka covered the plaza like leaves from a particularly brutal bonsai tree trimming.
“Ah Roberto…” I recognized Okami’s voice. Three shadows loomed over me. John, Okami, Dagda.
I closed my eyes tight.
“We want to have a word with you” I recognized John’s voice.
“Is it true you’ve been hunting Juka for arcane gems in the western wood?” I recognized Dagda’s voice.
I kept my eyes closed and thought fondly of simply fighting for my life.
Dagda’s keen eyes looked forward scanning for trouble. Her eyes are much sharper than mine. Dressed in elven green and an arrow notched in place on her bow she directed her horse with her knees.
The butt of my lance was secured in my stirrup and leaned against my shoulder. My shield across my back. Kris at my side, dagger as well. Another three instruments of destruction stuck pommel first out of my saddle bag. My helmet was tied to the pommel of my saddle. I held my reins in one hand. Dagda’s mount was similarly covered with weapons of destruction.
Dagda may have been trying to go down the road quiet, but I sang out a tune, out of tune.
Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain;
For we have received orders,
For to sail off to Boston;
And soon never more will we see you again.
“Where is Spain?” Dagda asked interrupting me.
“South of a different Britain” I replied
“Who are these Spanish ladies?” Dagda asked
“Don’t know never met any” I replied
“Then why do you sing of them?” Dagda asked
“It’s a pleasant tune” I replied
Dagda pursed her lips in thought.
Having been interrupted I started again
Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies,
“Shhhhh” Said Dagda.
We had turned a corner, from a narrow canyon where my voice had echoed nicely, onto a small wooded plain. Before us was a bridge, to our right was another bridge and a sign.
[Welcome to Mistas]
[Open for business ]
[Travelers welcome]
We looked in each direction undecided.
Dagda looked at me as if she could read my mind. “You probably want a drink”
She could read my mind!
“Well I am a little parched” I agreed.
We turned our horse right and clip-clopped across the bridge into Mistas. We entered a large plaza with a huge mosaic of the scales of justice. A steady breeze blew left to right. Bits of tumbleweed followed the wind. An open door tapped against a wall. Over the door hung a sign with a bottle of beer on it.
I got off my horse and my helmet promptly hit the ground. The wonders of ethereal mounts. I bent over to pick it up.
ZOT-ch-ch-k-k
A lightning bolt passed through where my head had just been. Still bent over I looked and saw a Juka mage standing on a ceiling. I stood up … that was better it was still a Juka mage but they were now standing in the plaza. Another lightning bolt was flung from the mages hands toward me. I lunged backwards into the building landing hard on my butt. Dagda came in behind me on her feet.
ZOT-ch-ch-k-k
A juka warrior charged from within the bar toward Dagda. With his scimitar raised over his head and a foul curse of Mondain on his lips. I raised a foot he tripped. Dagda put a foot on his head before he had a chance to bounce off the floor and drilled an arrow into his skull. I scrambled on hands and knees to the rope handle of the door and pulled it shut.
Ka-wump and a big circle of the door turned black and smelled of ozone.
I did a quick scan of the room. Bar; Stools; One Door; Two windows same side. Dagda playing peek-a-boo in one window shooting arrows at the mage. I peeked out the other window. I could see Juka all around the far side of the plaza. Up on a wall with an ornate helmet was a Juka lord. I counted ears and divided by two. I came up with a quick count of forty.
A squad of five Juka stormed towards the door. Dagda dropped two before they got to the door. I was ready. The first Juka pulled the door open and was awarded a face full of black steel in the form of my Kris. The other two skidded toward the door. The second Juka got a belly full of my Kris for his trouble. The third slid into the partially closed door. I kicked the door he staggered backwards and sprouted one of Dagda’s arrows and fell backwards dead before he hit the ground.
I grabbed the Juka body blocking the door and dragged it in. Dagda grabbed the rope handle and slammed the door shut again behind it. A head appeared in the window behind Dagda, followed by most of a torso. I threw my dagger at the Juka it hit pommel first and bounced off his face. There was no such bounce with Dagda’s follow up arrow. I threw my shield up and wedged most of it in the window near me. I flung myself to the other window and swung down across the back of the neck of yet another over eager Juka. I got a scimitar scraped down my side for my troubles. I turned and started kicking slats out of the bar.
“What are you doing” yelled Dagda with more than a little consternation in her voice as she pulled the rope to keep the door shut.
I kicked the last upright slat and the wooden bar fell down. I scooped it up and threw it against the other window and pulled a stool to help keep it in place. More Juka tried to get through the windows and got dead. But not without leaving their mark. I had a spear tip in my hip, and a slash that went almost to the bone of my shield arm. Dagda had a scimitar cut to her leg. Missed the artery but had left her in a state where she wasn’t going to be winning any foot races any time soon.
Finally all the hot heads must have been dead or out of town. They took to shooting crossbow bolts at us at no cost to them except expended amunition.
Twilight and then true darkness fell, and with that another rush at the door. Dagda was not inconvenienced by the gathering darkness in the least and dropped three. The first to arrive opened the door to find a stack of dead Juka confronting him. As he stood gaping I ran my kris into him adding to the pile. More Juka arrived all armed with spears stabbing into and over the pile of dead Juka. I used my lance to battle back but it is not the weapon of choice in a narrow bar. I found Dagda next to me with sword drawn. I looked quizzically. She shrugged. “Out of arrows”.
We battled back and added another Juka to the pile at the door. The abused door fell its leather hinges cut The doo lay against the dead Juka like a ramp into the bar. Two different Juka tried that route and found themselves added to the growing pile of dead Juka.
There was a long pause after that. And then we heard chopping on the roof. This attack was ill conceived. We could figure out where they were on the thatch roof. They had no idea where we were. The lance and a fallen spear made short work of them. And they tumbled down off the roof limping away.
Quiet fell with the occasional crossbow bolt and scream in the night. We were not getting any rest, they were.
The first light of false dawn appeared. The Juka had found reinforcements. Including a Mage who set to with a series of fireballs that soon had the bar and its roof on fire. He was too far away to hit with any of the scrounged arrows or crossbow bolts. Desperate we shaved down the back end of a spear. Dagda put the bow to her feet and pulled it almost to the breaking point and let the spear fly like a ballista bolt. No more fireballs.
The mage must have been a favorite of the Juka commander. For after that the Juka started to form ranks, on the far side of the plaza, in the breaking dawn. Lastly they brought forth an Iron Golem gleaming in the dawn sun to the front. Smoke billowed around us. The heat was getting rather intense and the smell of burnt Juka was nauseating. A lone Juka strode forth from their ranks. He brought out a horn and started to blow a tune.
I looked at Dagda, and she at me. “De Deguello” whispered Dagda.
“What’s that?” I asked.
She laughed. “You know Spanish ladies but you don’t know De Deguello?”
I shrugged “What is it?”
“No Quarter”
“That doesn’t sound like Led Z…Oh… no quarter”
I looked at Dagda and grinned and she looked at me and grinned as well. The trumpet stopped. The Juka sent up a Huzzah and started forward. Dagda dropped three with arrows she had scrounged. I threw my lance it tripped up two one fell on my kris. The fire was now roaring behind me.
I staggered to the top of the pile of dead Juka kicked one in the face and my shin on the doorway headboard at the same time. I slid down the pile out into the plaza. A giant metal hand lifted me up in a crushing grip. I could see Dagda hitting the golem with no effect. It was starting to get dark around the edges of my vision.
“Muh Ha Hah Me Smash” the golem said as he pulled me toward his face and gaping maw.
The Juka stood around behind the golem looking very pleased.
“K-k-k-kiss my arse” I replied with all I could muster.
Suddenly a half Dozen Juka sprouted arrows. Followed by a full throated war whoop. Knights in full armor charged into plaza across the bridge. Arrows continued to fall into the ranks of the Juka. I saw a large war mace turn a Juka head to ruin. John Chanticleer. A sword flashed in the hands of a sullen Tukonese man in ranger gear. Okami. Rangers came running and more knights went flying by.
The golem threw me against the bar wall like a rag doll. I heard things go crunch. The last thing I saw was Dagda leaning over me and her screaming “Don’t you dare drop dead on me you jerk!”
I woke up. I cracked my eyes. I was still lying on the ground but a good twenty yards from the bar which was now a raging inferno. The sun showed about an hour after dawn. Rangers and Emerald Fist knight stood or sat applying bandages to various nicks, cuts, and other traumas. Dead Juka covered the plaza like leaves from a particularly brutal bonsai tree trimming.
“Ah Roberto…” I recognized Okami’s voice. Three shadows loomed over me. John, Okami, Dagda.
I closed my eyes tight.
“We want to have a word with you” I recognized John’s voice.
“Is it true you’ve been hunting Juka for arcane gems in the western wood?” I recognized Dagda’s voice.
I kept my eyes closed and thought fondly of simply fighting for my life.