I haven't finished this story because I ran into a stone wall.
I have already basically written all that I had on my plot, and whatever else is on the plot is probably obvious.
Limondis' Revenge
Chapter I
The Plan
A light snow drifted down on the forest trees, and gently settled on the shoulders of a lone rider. He was deep in thought and ignored the light dusting on his shoulders. The snow gradually deepened as he rode through the forest, unmindful of the elements.
His goal, on the opposite side of the forest, was a small hut. Inside the hut three occupants huddled near a lantern on the hearth. One of the occupants was a tall slender man with battered features, and rough clothes. To his left was a better dressed figure whose body was obscured by the shapeless mass of an enormous gold trimmed cloak, a bright stone on the clasp of the cloak seemed to glow as it reflected the lamplight. The third figure was shorter and carried a small scroll, which he nervously turned in his hands.
All three started nervously as footsteps sounded outside the door, and then someone began pounding on the door.
“Who is there?” asked the cloaked man, in a deep bass voice,
A slight scuffling sound and heavier pounding answered him.
“I said, 'Who is there?'.” He repeated in a louder voice.
A faint voice came through the door,
“Does the sun shine?”
“Not for a year.” Answered the shortest of the three.
“Have ye found the cause?”
“Nay, hast thou a solution?”
“Two. If ye will hear them.”
“Enter, then, and tell us.”
The door creaked open, and two forms, covered with snow, entered the room. The cloaked man, who seemed to be the leader, advanced and helped them out of their cloaks.
As the two visitors turned toward the three companions, the smaller of them gasped with astonishment,
“Uncle Robiquet! How... what... ?”
Uncle Robiquet ignored his nephew, and turned to the elder of the two visitors,
“Good to see ye here, Brother Skamandros.”
The cloaked man cleared his throat.
“We are waiting for one more individual before we start this meeting. So please, make thyself at home. Meliadis, get out the bread and wine.”
While they were waiting for the sixth guest, they talked and ate bread dipped in wine.
Several minutes passed like this before the door again received heavy blows. The same conversation, and the same entry as before, except this time only one person entered through the creaking door.
As the six gathered around a small table, Meliadis unrolled his scroll. On it was a map of the area, covering about two hundred fifty square miles. There were red and blue circles on the map.
The red circles were rather large, and scattered all over the map, while the blue ones were small and few.
The cloaked man now removed his cloak. His face, seamed and weathered, had a large, red scar running from his hair, down beside his eye, then over his mouth, ending on his chin.
The sixth man gasped,
“Sir Ghaddar! But I thought ye were with the Paeon Knights!”
“Nay, Lethes, though they asked me to lead them, I could not fight against my own blood.”
“Then the rumor is true.”
“What rumor?”
“There is a rumor passing among the common people, that thy grandmother was Tloryn.”
“That is true, though she was but half.”
“Gentlemen, if we may get back to the business at hand.” Said Robiquet rather impatiently.
“As ye have seen, this map covers most of the area that is still loyal to Triptolmus. The areas marked in red are where the Paeon Knights are most active. Those in blue places of safety... so far.
The common people will not rise unless the Paeon Knights are killed. Which leaves it up to us six here, and four others, namely, Baron Duekelion, Sir Lyrhardt, Sir Moliens, and Rhadamanthes, to kill them. I called this meeting, so that we may figure a plan.”
Sir Ghaddar looked thoughtfully at the ceiling,
“There are twenty-seven knights in the group. Which makes it almost three to one. Only five of us know much about fighting, which makes it more like five to one. Like Listan of old, it is most definite that we cannot meet them in the open field. We must ambush them.”
“The best thing I can think of is drop rocks on them from the trees.” said Meliadis,
“Good, but how will we get big enough rocks in the trees? And how will we know when they are going to pass by?” Robiquet replied.
“We need an informer with the Paeon...” Lethes' voice trailed away,
“Of course! Sir Ghaddar!” he exclaimed,
“Now, wait!”
“Why not? After all they had asked ye to join them.” Robiquet was catching on.
“Yes, but-”
“Ye would not have to fight thy own people, just find out when and where they go.” interjected Skamandros
“But-”
“I do not think there is any other way. All the rest of us are suspected.” said Meliadis,
“True, but-”
“Ye're not scared are ye?”
“No, but-”
“Then what's the problem?”
“Well, I-”
“There's no backing out of it, after all ye were the one to suggest an ambush.”
“So I did say we need to ambu-”
“Quiet! Do ye hear something?” hissed Lethes.
They listened quietly, in the distance came the muffled sound of horse's hooves on the snow covered ground.
Meliadis grabbed the map and stuffed into a small chest, while Thamrys grabbed the lantern.
“Now, where do we hide?” Asked Meliadis franticly.
Sir Ghaddar went to the apparently solid, back wall. As the hut was built against a hill, this back wall was underground. He grabbed one of the ladder pegs leading up to the tiny attic, and pulled it to the left, it moved about three inches. And then with a loud groan, a piece of wall slid back, revealing a dark tunnel just barely tall enough for them to stand in.
“Get inside, Now!” ordered Sir Ghaddar, as he grabbed the chest containing the map.
They all crowded inside the tunnel. Then while Sir Ghaddar closed the door, Robiquet lit a candle with his tinderbox and led the way deeper into the tunnel. After what seemed like ages, they came to a small room, with a table and chairs.
Robiquet placed the candle in a stand on the table. Then they all sat down, as Sir Ghaddar took out the map, and an object wrapped in blue silk, and set them on the table.
After everyone had stared and wondered for a bit, Sir Ghaddar unwrapped the object, placing the silk on the table, he put the object on the silk.
They all gasped, it was a beautiful sword with a steel blue blade that had silver streaks in it, and the handle was of silver with gold trimmings.
“The Sword of Limondis!” Gasped Robiquet, as he gazed at the silver handle.
“Yes, the Sword of Limondis, with which Limondis killed Panakie, leader of the Peaon Knights, many years ago. And his son fought and died with this sword at his side. It was then captured by the Peaon Knights and used by their leader, Lyradis, until my father, the great grandson of Limondis, recaptured it. Now it is my turn to use it against the foe.”
Meliadis had a question,
“If your great grandfather, your grandfather, and your father fought against the Peaon Knights, then how come they wanted ye to join them?”
“When I was a child, about six or seven, I was on a sea voyage with my uncle, Dersias, when a great storm came up and we were wrecked. I was the only one that survived, and when I came to land I could not remember even my name. I was found by the brother of one of the knights and raised as a Skyllian. It was not until two years ago that I found who I really was, and of course I hid it from my foster parents, as they would turn me in. So now I am thought to be on their side, when they should actually be hunting me down.”
“I wonder why the Peaon Knights came here, tonight?”
“Probably just a random patrol. That is what makes it so hard to hide, because ye never know where they will go, when.”
“Which brings us back to what we were talking about before the Peaon Knights interrupted us. Sir Ghaddar, ye have to join the Peaon Knights. After all, that is what your foster parents would want, is it not? And it would keep ye from suspicion.” said Robiquet.
“And if ye were leader ye would not have to fight, ye just tell them where to go. Which would help us, because ye could tell us where it is safe to be.” said Lethes.
Sir Ghaddar looked thoughtful,
“Never! I will not work by treachery against any man, even if he be mine enemy. We must ambush them!”
“But how will we know were they will be?” Lethes inquired.
“We must watch their patrols, there must be some kind of pattern.”
“Now we must find a good place for the ambush.” Unrolling the map, he looked over it, then placed his finger on a shaded spot, representing forest, and said,
“Here is a perfect place. There are a lot of branches over the road, and the trail is narrow. Now we must find large rocks and haul them into the trees.
“When I have decided the time, I will contact Sir Moliens, and he will contact the rest of ye.”
“It is getting late, we must leave soon.” Meliadis commented.
Robiquet picked up the candle,and they all stood and began walking towards the exit. When they got to the door they listened carefully.
There was no sound at all, but Sir Ghaddar kept a firm grip on his sword anyway. He pulled what looked like a piece of root, and the door creaked open. He peered out, no-one was around. They immediately left the hut, and mounted their horses. After a final farewell they rode off, each in his own direction.
The mouth of a large cave opened in the cliff wall. Mordus peered into the semi dark interior but could see nothing unusual. He then walked cautiously inside. It was roomy, and somewhat warm inside. He picked up a pine knot and lit it with his tinderbox, then moved further into the cave.
The ceiling, so high up he could barely see it, was fairly smooth, without the usual stalactites that inhabit caves.
The walls and floor were polished, and looked like marble, with blue-green curls on a grayish background.
After a few minutes walk, when the entrance was no longer visible. Mordus noticed some peculiar marks on the floor that flashed as the torchlight hit them. He knelt to examine, but never saw what it was, for at that moment, with a deep rumble, a large rock hit the ground a few feet away from him, snuffing out the torch. The impact sent splinters flying, several of which struck Mordus, and drove deep into his chest, and left shoulder.
Mordus weakly tried to stand, but toppled over in a dead faint, knocking his face on the floor. The marks on the floor glowed faintly, turning red as his blood flowed over them.
Chapter II
If You're Going Through Hell...
He lay on his face, the sticky stench of blood filled the air. A faint blue light filled the air.
He began to feel pain in his chest and face. Slowly he recalled the last few moments before he fainted. He had seen some faint blue symbols on the ground. He bent to see better, then with a rumble, a huge rock hit the ground close to him. Splinters hit him. He slowly rolled onto his back.
Mordus groaned. How long had he been lying here? Where were the others who had come with him? Or had he imagined other companions in this deserted cave.
He sat up slowly, his chest was covered with clotted blood. Feeling his face, he found that it was blood covered, his nose felt like someone had hit it with a club, and one eye was swollen almost shut.
He carefully pulled off his pack, but not without pain, and some blood. He reached into his pack and pulled out a small metal jug. Pulling off the stopper, he took a drink, accidentally spilling some on his chest. The stinging bite caused him to drop the jug, spilling the contents.
He slowly turned on his side.
The jug lay beside him, on it's side, half empty. And there was a small puddle over the blue symbols, which glowed even brighter. They looked familiar;
He recalled seeing similar letters somewhere, if this headache would stop, he might remember.
Mordus lay back slowly and began sifting through his memory...
That day was disastrous.When Mordus had finally finished his lessons, it was already past the midday meal, which he had to do without. To crown it all, the weather was a bad as had ever been seen so far from the Stormkress Mountains. And as there was nothing else for him to do he decided to explore the dungeons, and see if he could find some secret passages. Sneaking some candles from the kitchen, he lit one and wandered down dusty stairs, and long echoing halls. Finally he found a small spiral stair going down at a steep angle. Climbing down he found a short hall going straight ahead, with dungeon cells opening off to both sides. He walked to the end of the hall, and gently touching the stones as he passed. They were soft, and had patches of moss on them. He reached the end without seeing anything unusual.
As he turned to leave, his elbow knocked against a small projection. With a rumble, a portion of the wall opened, letting out a cloud of blueish dust. He coughed.
Diving through the entrance he found it was hardly dusty on that side. He saw a long earthy tunnel going off into the darkness beyond range of his candle. As he gazed into the darkness beyond the reach of his candle, he heard a rumble. He turned, the door was closing! Mordus ran for the door, but it closed before he reached it.
He pounded his fists against the wall, but nothing moved. Suddenly, the twelve year old boy remembered one of his father's favorite sayings.
“If you cannot go back, press on.” Wiping his tears, he turned, and walked into the darkness...
He found himself in a small room, about the size of a closet. The room was empty, except for one small cabinet against the back wall.
He examined the outside, it was made of cherry wood, sanded to a silky finish, but somewhat grimy with dust. There were no markings or decorations on it.
He opened the door to the cabinet slowly, and peered in. It was cluttered with odds and ends, bits of paper, cloth, and metal. A couple of gems flashed in the light, and a golden ring glowed. Then he saw it.
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