Chapter 12-4

 “Ah, what is the Chainer's Guild?” Garkhen asked as he stepped toward Illusin.

“We had thought it just what it sounds—a guild of metalworkers specialized in the making chains,” the Archmage explained. “Now... we shall see. Come, join hands.”

He held out one hand, which Garkhen carefully grasped. Almonihah took Garkhen's other hand, and Zakhin'Dakh, after a moment's hesitation, placed a talon on the Ranger's shoulder. Once his passengers were ready, Illusin chanted his incantation...

...and suddenly they were elsewhere. They were still near the water, for it was lapping up against a small dock to their left, but to their right was a large, low building, with a sign hanging in front of its large double doors. On the sign was painted a thick chain.

Almonihah's eyes narrowed. That chain...

“Chains...” Garkhen murmured next to him, unknowingly echoing his thoughts as the younger wizard who had preceded them walked towards them.

Before anyone could say anything more, there was the bang of a shutter being thrown open, followed by another, then by the twang of bowstrings. One arrow shattered against the air a few inches from Illusin's face.

The other took the initiate mage in the throat. Garkhen rushed over to him, roughly snapping the arrow and pulling it out so he could call upon Bahamut's blessing to heal him. To the Warder's relief, the mage was still breathing after the wound healed—he had not been too late.

Another arrow skipped off of his armor, and Garkhen summoned up a ward of wind to blow any more off-course. Almonihah, meanwhile, had gotten his own bow out, and fired back at one of the windows. Garkhen's ward blew his shot off-course just as it did their foes', however, resulting in it burying itself in the shutter next to the window.

Zakhin'Dakh, you won't fit, Almonihah stated in Great Eagle as he moved aside, glancing at Garkhen to see if he'd signal when he was around the ward. See if there's a back entrance, and jump on anybody who comes out.

The big griffon shrieked a challenge in response and took off, soaring up over the building. He started circling above it, waiting for any sign of movement below from the back of the guildhouse.

Illusin, meanwhile, had been chanting another spell. As he finished, he thrust a finger towards the guild's door, and a bolt of lightning lanced out. To the Archmage's clear dismay, it struck some sort of barrier in front of the door and dissipated without causing it any harm.

“They have it warded?” He asked incredulously. “And so strongly?”

More arrows arced out of windows, to be blown aside by Garkhen's ward. Finally the Warder gave his friend a nod, and Almonihah again nocked and fired an arrow at the archer in a nearby window. The man shouted in pain as the arrow struck him in the shoulder, and he sunk out of sight, to be replaced by another archer. Almonihah ducked aside as the archer returned fire, the arrow skittering off the scales of his arm, before firing back, this time getting his target in the throat.

“This is too slow!” Illusin shouted. He again began chanting, and this time he thrust his hand toward the open window. A green ray lanced out from his palm, striking the wall, which then began to flow and melt, leaving a gap large enough for a man to walk through, and revealing the corpse of the man Almonihah had shot.

Garkhen readied his mace and shield and charged toward the opening, choking down the feeling of illness at the thought of killing men. He saw no other choice. They were trying to kill him and his friends, and they could do untold harm with the Amulet. If he could, he would not kill, but... 

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Awwww, Garkhen... maybe if you bash them on the head soft enough they won't die. 

Chapter 12-3

Unfortunately, the trail didn't last for long, petering out in a side passage not far from the amulet's former resting place. Almonihah growled in frustration as he looked about, though truth be told he was not surprised.

Just as he was about to speak, Archmage Ganver spoke up. “He must have gone through this door—see? It is ajar. Unfortunately I suspect this presages his esacpe,” he continued, opening the door into a small room lit by sunlight, “For this room has a balcony.”

Quickly Almonihah rushed past and to the balcony, his keen draconic eyes scanning the skies. Soon enough his eyes narrowed.

“There. Human flying, not a bird. Headed... to th' docks?”

“Then we shall search for him there,” Illusin declared. “Your artifact has a powerful aura. It shall not be hard to pin down its precise location once we arrive in its general vicinity.”

Hurriedly the Archmagi formed a search party, consisting of themselves and a few others they trusted, as well as the two half-dragons and griffon. Not wanting to delay, the group swiftly trooped out of the tower and down to the bridge, where, Illusin informed them, they would be outside of the teleportation-exclusion enchantment upon the Mage's Guild.

Zakhin'Dakh again returned to his true size once outside, making those wizards standing closest to him jump a bit in surprise. Ganver would not delay, however, and ushered the group together, getting them closer together so they would be ready for teleportation. Once he was satisfied they were all ready, he spoke his incantation, weaving his hands in the air...

And suddenly they were on the docks.

“You two, that way,” Archmage Ganver ordered two of the lower-ranking wizards. “You two, along there, and you two, to the right. I will take this direction, and Illusin...”

“I will maintain contact between the disparate groups here, with our guests, to be ready to aid whichever group finds the artifact,” Archmage Illusin interrupted, smoothly. “It is clear our thief knows he could be followed, so we should be prepared with a reserve, and for that reserve to arrive in time to aid, we will need one who can stay in contact with all of the groups simultaneously.”

Ganver looked like he wanted to argue, but finally just nodded. “Very well. Now, go!” He ordered the other mages, then left himself.

As soon as they were out of sight, Illusin worked a spell of his own, and soon Almonihah, Garkhen, and Zakhin'Dakh could hear the voices of the different mages speaking from thin air. The Archmage glanced over at them, looking a bit smug.

“No doubt we will soon locate our thief, and then I shall bring you in to aid in his capture. We are, as you no doubt know, authorized to make arrests within the city.”

“I see,” Garkhen said, voice neutral. He had not realized just how much power the Mage's Guild wielded in Midport. “We are, of course, prepared to aid in the recovery of the Amulet and the apprehension of the thief by the proper authorities.”

Zakhin'Dakh added a piercing shriek of agreement, then the whole group fell silent, listening to the disembodied voices. For the most part they spoke in only quiet murmurs, confirming with one another that there was nothing in each location before moving on to the next.

Finally, after what felt like hours but was more likely minutes, one of the younger mages exclaimed, “I found something!”

“Where?” Archmage Illusin demanded immediately.

“It's... there's a chain hanging on a sign in front.”

“The Chainer's Guild?” Illusin replied, incredulously, then shook his head and turned to the three friends. “Come, we must go there at once.” 

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Yep, Midport is pretty much a magocracy even if it's officially not. 

Chapter 12-2

Illusin looked nonplussed at this response. Before he could speak, however, one of the injured mages sat up, groaning with pain as he did.

“Archmage,” he gasped out, “They took it.”

“The artifact?” Illusin demanded. At his underling's nod, he continued, “Who took it? Where did they take it?”

“Please, archmage,” one of the other wizards pled, “He's badly injured, he should be seen by a healer immediately.”

Frustration evident on his face, Illusin nodded a curt assent. The mage murmured a spell, and his injured companion floated gently up into the air. Two of the mages, gently grabbed his arms and started towing him off. The worst hurt of the other mages were being treated similarly.

Illusin glared at those remaining. “Well? Did not any of the rest of you see what happened? You three!” He barked at a small cluster of wizards, “You were also to guard the artifact! What have you seen?”

They looked at each other, each daring the others to speak first. At last one of them said, “We were at the door, when we heard a tremendous explosion. We had to unseal the door to get in, and when we did... well, there were already all of the Madness-Touched, and...”

“I caught a glimpse of him!” One of his companions interrupted. “Someone in Guild robes disappearing around the corner!”

“You mean to suggest it was one of our own?” The Archmage demanded, just as another of his colleagues walked up behind him. Almonihah snorted, but Garkhen tapped him on the arm before he could say anything ill-advised.

“I suspect it is so, Illusin,” the newcomer said, startling the addressed archmage.

“Why do you say that, Ganver?” Illusin asked, turning to face his colleague.

“To be done so quickly, without destroying the outer wards? I thought it the only obvious possibility,” Archmage Ganver replied. “None but a high-ranking member of our Guild could perform such a feat.”

Illusin looked like he wished to disagree but could not think of an argument to make. Satisfied that he'd silenced his fellow Archmage, Ganver turned to the remaining mages. “That being the case, our mystery thief would likely anticipate our most predictable responses, and will thus be shielded against magical detection. However!” He turned to the two half-dragons. “We do not teach classes on tracking here in the guild. Perhaps a Ranger might be able to figure out where he has gone?”

“Across stone?” Almonihah asked, incredulously. “'f it was grass, sure, but here...” He trailed off and narrowed his eyes. “Wait.”

Carefully he went back to the breach in the wall and looked around. “Lot 'f dust,” he murmured to himself, looking about. “There. Bootprint.” He didn't bother pointing it out to anyone else, rather searching for another.

“There. Dust on th' boots now...” He muttered, starting to follow a faint trail down the hall. 

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This story needs to quit proving Almonihah right about mages. 

Chapter 12-1

Chapter 12: Secrets of the Chains

“Hate having no good choices.” --Almonihah

“There are times I regret that my heritage did not grant me wings, or at the least longer legs.” --Garkhen

The room itself was enormous, but even with its size the combat filled most of it. Almonihah drew his blades with a growl as one of the mages fell, screaming, as a Javni'Tolkhrah penetrated his last wards. As one, the three friends charged into battle.

Garkhen crashed into the back of a seven-legged, vaguely canine beast with his shield, drawing its attention. It whirled to face him, only to see his flaming mace descending, at which point it twisted away, its long body impossibly agile even in the crowded space between it and a wizard's wards. Somehow seeming more serpent-like now, it lashed out at the half-dragon with its fanged maw, but Garkhen managed to get the edge of his shield up in time to deflect it, though the force of the blow almost knocked him over.

Almonihah nimbly stepped behind a distracted Madness-Touched monstrosity, his blades flashing through the air as he hamstrung one of its hind legs. It stumbled and tried to turn to face him, but as it did, the mage it had been assaulting had enough time to hurl a blast of jagged ice shards at its head. One of them struck it straight in the temple, piercing through its skull and instantly dropping the beast. Without a word, the half-bronze dragon turned to the next target.

Zakhin'Dakh's talons clicked on the stone of the floor as he scrambled to catch up. Hey! He shrieked at the mages. Want big again so help! Amazingly, one of them apparently both understood him and knew how to reverse the spell, for he returned the griffon to his usual massive size with a brief word and sharp gesture. Delighted, Zakhin'Dakh shriek-roared at the Javni'Tolkhrah and tore into the flank of one nearby him.

It was quickly obvious that the arrival of the three friends had turned the tide of the battle. With one best dead, one distracted, and Zakhin'Dakh's... very distracted, there were now a couple mages who were no longer so worried about their wards that they could not attack effectively. The wolf-serpent-thing still chewing on Garkhen's shield suddenly jerked as a bolt of lightning blasted through it. It struck the half-blue dragon as well, but it was clear that the mage knew it would not harm him.

The beast Zakhin'Dakh had attack writhed in the giant griffon's talons, but he had a firm grip upon it, and it could not turn to attack him effectively. Zakhin'Dakh, however, had a beak free, which he soon put to good use striking its back, severing its spine. The Javni'Tolkhrah collapsed to the ground, gasping out its last breaths.

Eldereth arced through the air in Almonihah's hand until it struck the flank of another Madness-Touched. The longsword bounced off the creature's surprisingly tough feathers, but it jerked slightly at the electric shock the sword's enchantment delivered. It turned to face him, away from the wizard it had been mauling, baring bloody fangs at the Ranger as it opened its mouth to bite him. Said Ranger replied by stabbing Zithrandrak into its mouth, freezing some of the blood on its teeth as the enchanted blade slid between them and into the roof of its mouth. It staggered, listed to one side, and then fell, ripping Zithrandrak from the Ranger's grasp.

Hurriedly he seized its hilt and yanked it out, only to look around and see a freshly arrived group of wizards finishing off the last of the Javni'Tolkhrah. Once the last of them lay unmoving on the floor, some of the new group rushed in, racing to those of their guild lying bleeding on the ground while pulling potions out of pouches.

While they did this, one of the other mages stepped towards Almonihah. As he approached the half-dragon realized it was Archmage Illusin.

“What happened here?” The Archmage demanded.

Almonihah snorted. “Hoping you could tell us.” 

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New chapter! Yay! You'll notice it has the same title as the old chapter... because the old chapter didn't get as far as I thought it would. You'll also notice (if you go back) that the old chapter now has a new title. It's the magic of the Internet!

Chapter 11-8

Zakhin'Dakh had been re-shrunk by one of the Guild mages when they returned, and now they were back to waiting. Garkhen reported that nothing had happened while they were away, so Almonihah grumpily settled down to wait again, until Zakhin'Dakh trotted over to him.

I want to see the thing! He screeched, excitedly.

It took the half-bronze dragon a moment to realize what his friend was talking about. The map, he stated for Zakhin'Dakh's benefit, guessing the griffon didn't know the word for it.

He pulled it out and unrolled it on the ground, and Zakhin'Dakh all but pounced on it, looking up and down it excitedly. And after a few moments, the questions started.

Zakhin'Dakh was still asking a constant stream of questions when the entire room suddenly shook, as if struck by a giant. A dull roar echoed dimly down the hall outside, audible even from within the room. As one, Almonihah and Garkhen turned and ran to the door.

They found the acolyte outside looking about wide-eyed. “What's going on?” Almonihah demanded of him. The young man could only shake his head.

“Which way'd it come from?” Almonihah demanded instead. The bewildered acolyte hesitated a long moment, then finally pointed one way down the hall. The two half-dragons charged off in that direction, with the still-shrunken Zakhin'Dakh following close behind.

Almonihah recognized which way they were going—the stairs they'd come up were right... here. A hint of something in the air caught his attention, and he sniffed as he ran. Smoke...?

Stopping at the stairs, he looked up, and then down. “Smoke coming from below,” he growled, then charged downwards, his friends behind him.

Two floors down, the smoke was visibly pouring out from the entryway into the stairwell, and Almonihah's keen ears picked up sounds of battle. Following them the group soon burst into a scene of pandemonium: at least a dozen wizards were flinging fire and ice at twice that many Javni'Tolkhrah, all within an enormous room. At the center of the room the flaming wreckage of some sort of structure sent up billowing clouds of acrid smoke.

“Javni'Tolkhrah? Here?” Garkhen gasped.

Almonihah reached the same conclusion the Warder had. “The Amulet.” 

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And here it's unfortunate that I name my chapters before they're done, because this ended up not getting as far as I'd thought. So the chapter name is not really applicable to this chapter, but rather the next. XD

Chapter 11-7

Their rooms were far nicer than where they'd stayed on the Pirate Isle, Almonihah had to admit... but he preferred it there. At least there he could sleep outside and wilderness wasn't far away. Here, he could feel the walls around him, the hundreds of people living in close proximity to him...

Well, perhaps not literally feel them, but still, it made him more anxious than he cared to admit.

Zakhin'Dakh, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying every minute of it, looking at all of the weird people things over and over again, pestering Almonihah with every question he could think of, and just generally acting more like a rambunctious kid than an apex predator.

Garkhen, for his part, thought little about their quarters. Instead, he was focused on the problem that had brought them here. Would the mages of Midport truly be able to find a way to destroy the Amulet?

For now, however, this question was unanswerable. There was little for them to do but wait.

After a few minutes of pacing around, Almonihah abruptly turned to Zakhin'Dakh. Want to go see the city? He asked in Great Eagle

Yeah! Zakhin'Dakh screeched, excitedly.

“'m going t' take Zakhin'Dakh out,” he told Garkhen. “Back soon.”

Garkhen was surprised, but nodded. “It is probably best if he is not kept inside too long,” he said with a grin.

Almonihah snorted in agreement. Zakhin'Dakh, meanwhile, was jumping around excitedly.

Where we going to go? Can we go in more people places?

We'll look around and see, Almonihah answered as he walked to the door of their suite.

The apprentice who had led them in was sitting on a chair in the hallway looking bored when the half-bronze dragon opened the door. He stood up, surprise clear on his face.

“Is there a problem, sir?” He asked, carefully.

“Just want t' take a walk,” Almonihah replied curtly.

“Ah, with... the griffon?” The apprentice asked.

Almonihah responded with only a nod. The apprentice hesitated a moment before saying, “Ah... the Archmage said to inform you that the griffon's shrinking spell will only work inside of the Guild. If you leave he'll return to his normal size, and the spell will have to be re-applied when you return.”

The half-dragon shrugged. “Don't mind, do you?” He asked Zakhin'Dakh.

The griffon shook his head, though he screeched a bit regretfully. That would mean no going in people places.

“Well, then,” the apprentice said, sighing, “I'll lead you out.”

Zakhin'Dakh's return to his normal size was sudden. One moment he was the size of a large dog, the next, Almonihah was stumbling backwards because his big friend's wing had struck him on the way up.

Zakhin'Dakh stumbled a bit, screeching uncertainly as he regained his balance after the sudden change. A few people on the street looked over at them with some concern, but soon shrugged it off. They were near the Mage's Guild. Weird things walked out of there all the time.

They drew somewhat more attention as they got farther into the city, though most of it was irritated rather than frightened. Between Midport's griffon riders and Mage's Guild, most of the people didn't think much of a giant griffon and a dragon-man walking down the street. Probably it was some wizard's experiment, they no doubt thought.

Zakhin'Dakh, on the other hand, was endlessly interested in his surroundings, just as he had been inside the wizards' tower. Always he was looking at this or staring at that, sometimes stopping and asking a question, but never lingering long on one thing.

But then something caught his eye, and he suddenly bounded forward, not noticing he knocked over a flower pot as he landed. His beak was near a window, and Almonihah hurried to see what had caught his attention.

It was a cartographer's shop, with a large map displayed in the window—the window that had a giant griffon beak inches from that. Zakhin'Dakh made an odd, low sound, rather like an “oooooooooo”.

What's that? He asked, not taking his eyes off of the map.

“It's a map,” Almonihah stated. After a moment, he added, “It's... a picture of what the land would look like from very, very high up in the air.”

“Ooooooooooooooooo,” Zakhin'Dakh crooned again, fascinated.

Almonihah couldn't help but grin just the tiniest bit at his big friend. Glancing around, he didn't see anyone too disturbed by the whole thing, though the cartographer might complain about the knocked-over pot. He righted it, decided it was probably fine, and then looked back at Zakhin'Dakh.

“What 'f I got you one?”

The massive aquiline head swiveled to focus on Almonihah. Would you? Zakhin'Dakh asked, excitedly.

“See how much they cost, but prob'ly,” the Ranger replied. “Just wait here.”

Zakhin'Dakh watched excitedly as his friend walked in the store, talked with the cartographer, and a few minutes later walked out with a big roll of parchment.

“Biggest she had,” Almonihah explained. “Let's take it back.”

Zakhin'Dakh screeched an enthusiastic agreement as they turned back the way they came. 

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I realized I hadn't brought up Zakhin'Dakh's love of maps yet, and this seemed like a good time for him to discover it. And yes, I did just replicate the scene in this picture. :D

Chapter 11-6

There was a long moment of silence before the wizard at the head of the table shook himself slightly, looked down at Garkhen, and said, “Yes, it must. So you have come here in hopes that we might discover how it might be done?”

“Yes,” The half-blue dragon replied with a nod.

There was another silent moment before the head archmage spoke again. “It will require time and study for us to discover how this may be done, for the working of this artifact is such that it may not be undone easily.”

Almonihah growled softly in his chest. “We have t' keep our eyes on it,” he stated.

“Impossible,” one of the other archmagi responded, flatly. “We must work without interruption.”

Almonihah snorted, but before he could speak, Garkhen interrjected, “Perhaps we might arrange something...”

“Impossible,” spat the same archmage.

The head archmage held up his hand. “Do not be so... hasty, Archmage Ganver,” he said. “They have reason for their request. I believe something can be arranged.”

“But not without price,” the archmage who had brought them in interjected.

“Not without price,” the head archmage agreed. “You have something in mind, do you not, Archmage Illusin?”

“Nothing too costly, I assure you,” Illusin replied. “It is not every day that we have the opportunity to study such unusual specimens as you.”

Almonihah's head-frill went stiff, and he growled again. Illusin quickly added, “Nothing invasive, of course. Simple observation, collection of shed scales and feathers, that sort of thing.”

“That is reasonable,” Garkhen swiftly responded. “And in return for these things, we shall be allowed to observe your operations upon the amulet?”

“As well as room and board,” Illusin agreed. “I think that would be entirely appropriate, yes?”

No one contradicted him, so he sat back and nodded at the head of the archmagi at the table. Said archmage nodded back. “Very well, then, we are all agreed. Illusin, you will see them to the quartermaster.”

Illusin stood and gave the other archmagi a slight bow. “If you will follow me, we shall see to your arrangements while we prepare a place for your artifact,” He said to the two half-dragons and griffon.

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Sorry I haven't posted much recently! Vacation time was not as productive for writing as I had thought it would be.