Iscariot's Bane: Part I
((Yes, there's more to come))
A slim girl in a blue skirt made her way across one of the bridges of Solinar. A breeze, carried by the nearby sea ruffled her hood gently as her boots fell lightly upon the cobblestones. Tammy rolled her eyes. She hated shopping but really, there was no way to avoid the lack of arrows in her quiver. She should also probably stop by Drem to get those traps she had been wanting.
It was then that she heard loud voices echoing across the small channel between the two bridges. Tammy frowned, eyeing the grey slate rooftops of the buildings which blocked her view. The commotion, whatever it was, must be at the end of the bridge. She quickly adjusted her belt, tapping the hilt of her sword at her side. There actually might be a bit of excitement this time around. She hurried across the bridge, grabbing onto her hood which threatened to fly back as she flew past buildings and a few stray commoners who were running in the opposite direction, looks of fear on their faces. Definitely excitement.
She screeched to a halt just at the foot of the bridge, quickly catching her breath as she glanced towards the gathering on it. She then stared as she saw a hooded…thing…jump upwards, screeching towards the sky, “I will destroy you all!”
Tammy rolled her eyes and then shuddered, wincing at the loudness of it. Like she hadn’t heard that one before.
Nevertheless, it was unnerving. The voice itself was otherwordly, echoing across Solinar. A devil or demon, perhaps? That would be her best guess, in any case.
Tammy blinked in surprise as she saw something or rather, someone, fall from the sky towards the foot of the bridge. A monk dressed in purple darted forward, his long brown ponytail streaking out behind him as he caught the girl and gently set her down. Huh, Wong, she hadn’t seen that monk in a while. Tammy glanced towards the person on the ground, quickly confirming that the brown haired girl was Galiae. Wong slowly stood up to stand next to who Tammy knew had to be his wife. After all, she always knew Scyla by that “creepy” vibe she inevitably gave off. Though really, Tammy supposed you couldn’t be Death’s Servant without being marginally creepy, at the very least.
She briefly glanced over the others gathered around: two elves, and that stuck-up druid. Well, she might as well get over there; otherwise she doubted she was going to learn exactly what happened. Not to mention that from her angle, Galiae looked as if she was about to faint.
Tammy quietly edged over, glancing at the rest, who were apparently discussing that they should move out but currently weren’t moving anywhere. She then kneeled next to Galiae, putting an arm around her shoulders gently. She was shaking. Now wonder from the size of the crater in the bridge; it must have been some nasty demon devil thing. She quickly reached into her bag and offered Galiae a canteen of water.
“Ya better not go an’ pass out or faint or whatever.”
Galiae smiled weakly and took the canteen from her, taking a sip of it.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Galiae’s trembling slowly subsided as Tammy listened to Wong and Scyla discuss the situation.
“He’s really still like a child…”
It was then that Tammy heard the steady clang of metal against stone. She sighed; it seemed as if the cavalry had arrived. How irritating.
“In the name of Domorus!”
Tammy winced. Gods, she should have known that Pelgrin would come. She forced herself to stay where she was as the marching stopped. She slowly looked out of the corner of her eye. There were probably seven or so soldiers in all along with Pelgrin, each in golden armor engraved with the crest of Solinar. Swords were unsheathed and ready to be used as they glanced nervously at the crater, still remaining perfectly in rank. Pelgrin, however, seemed to have come in a suit. If she had felt like laughing, Tammy was sure she would have done it now. It wasn’t every day that you saw Pelgrin in an outfit like that.
“Sir! What are you orders?”
The soldiers stood at attention as Pelgrin looked the area over.
“I want everyone evacuated from this district.”
“Sir!”
The soldiers rushed off in a straight line, slowly separating to disperse among the bolted doors and fearful faces staring out of shut windows. One remained behind, the highest in rank there besides Pelgrin, no doubt.
“Sir, the Pope of Westport saw the whole thing. I only caught the last of it since I live at the end of the bridge there.”
Pelgrin nodded slowly, “I want everyone who doesn’t know the name of Iscariot to leave at once.”
So it was Iscariot. Tammy frowned slightly. This was the first time she had actually seen the demi-god, even if she had heard numerous reports of him. Though she supposed she should just say a “glimpse” of him since all she had really seen was some sort of figure shooting off into a sky like a firework.
“Sir, we might need the adventurers’ help…”
“Ah, of course.”
Pelgrin quickly turned, eyeing the two elves who had been blabbing nonsense to each other the whole time. Tammy had by this point fondly named them Tweedle-dumb and Tweedle-dumber in her head.
“Citizens! Are you ready to face unimaginable terrors?!”
The elves stared at him as if he were crazy, trembling slightly, “Yes, sir.”
“Are you ready to lay your life down for the sake of this city?!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good….Now help me put on my armor!”
“..Right here?”
“Yes!”
The elves quickly pulled out pieces of his armor from his bag, helping him strap it on.
Scyla cleared her throat, a bony, white hand absentmindedly winding its way through her pale hair, “Should we perhaps move to the inn for explanations?”
Pelgrin nodded, “To the inn.”
Tammy glanced towards Galiae, “Think ya can stand?”
Galiae nodded meekly and got to her feet, stumbling slightly before Tammy gave her some support.
“Yes..”
“Good. ‘Cause I wanna hear this explanation. ‘Sides, I doubt ya wanna stay out ‘ere all night.”
Galiae gave another weak smile as the group headed out over the bridge, armor and boots alike hitting the cobblestones mercilessly.
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