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Back to Empire on the HPe3000
... and ...
This is a first draft of a story set in the world of Greyhawk.
It is based on a home campaign so some of the people, places and things
may be different. Any helpful comments or suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks
Jason Zavoda
"Telenstil, can we fly from here?" asked Ivo.
"Not yet." he shook his head. "Not all of us, no. I have
the power for a spell or two but not the ring. I've drawn upon it
too much, it needs to rest and recover its strength."
"I will hide us then." said Ivo. "Do not leave the clearing,
the spell is very powerful but it has its limits."
"Not invisibility." moaned Harold. "Last time I was nearly
stepped on."
"Stop complaining." said the ranger, he gave the little halfling
a small nudge with his boot.
"I will weave us into the spell and make this camp appear as if we
were not here and had never even passed this way." said Ivo. "Now
to the edges of the camp, move if you have to but stay as still as
possible."
"How long will this last?" asked Talberth.
"As long as I wish." Ivo murmured already forming the picture
of the clearing in his mind. The old gnome took a small crystal from his
pack, uncut, its sides were rough and cloudy. He held it between both
hands and rubbed it in his palms. There were words, but the others could
not make out what he said, they came as if from far away like the echo
of a voice heard faintly in a deep cavern.
Ivo brought his hands up so that they were even with his eyes and
still rubbing one against the other began to pull them apart. A glimmer
of light appeared, he kept up the motion of his hands as if they were
still one against the other but drew them away. The crystal had
transformed, now it looked to be a glimmering cube, one corner pointing
toward the oerth while it spun slowly like a top.
In a flashing burst of light the crystal was gone, the clearing
took on a double image for a moment. All was the same but layered over
this sight was another, the same camp but empty, a blank space where each
companion stood. This double vision sent a sharp pain through the
viewers eyes till Ivo approached and tapped them on the arm or side
one by one.
"See what is true." he told them and the illusion disappeared.
"Rest assured, the wolves and giants will see, smell and hear
what I wish them to, all their senses will be deceived."
"They better be." said Harold.
* * *
The first of the wolves reached the campsite all too soon. It
was a large beast the size of a pony. One ear had been split, and scars
and missing fur dotted its head and muzzle. The beast strolled into the
camp as if it owned the place, lifting its leg and marking a large
tree stump with its scent.
Rounding the edges of the clearing it passed by first one then
another of the group, close enough so that its fur brushed Talberth's
leg. The young mage froze in place, his knuckles white on the hilt of a
dagger in his belt. The wolf stopped and scratched at the spot where its
fur had been ruffled then bent its neck back and worried at it with
bared teeth. It rolled over like a puppy then and with legs in the air
squirmed back and forth in the dirt. Rising, it shook itself, spraying its
unseen foes with a shower of pebbles.
With a large red tongue lolling from the side of its mouth, the
wolf strode to the fire-pit. Snapping jaws tore ribs from the carcase
that had been left behind. It settled down on its stomach, holding up
a grisly bone between two paws and gnawed, stripping away what little
flesh was left then grinding noisely till the rib cracked beneath its
teeth.
* * *
(To Be Continued...)