Under A Calamari Moon
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 3284
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The hot sands blew into their faces but the masks of thick cloth wrapped
around their heads protected
them from the worst of it. They had been traveling by foot for two days
now, the tracks behind them
swept clean by the harsh winds and swirling gusts of the desert around
them. Fred, still recovering from
Dr.Vincent's operation, was struggling to keep up with Astra but he refused
to admit his weakness. Astra
wondered if Allarian knights were always so idiotic or if it was only when
they were in the company of a
woman. When they had first met she had found his behavior toward her
amusing, but now it was
becoming a liability. She would not abandon him of course, here in the
Calamari, but his actions were
making a difficult situation even more so. And she did not appreciate
that. Astra sighed, men could be
so irrational sometimes. Most of the time, she corrected herself.
Finally, after reaching the crest of the next dune, Astra halted. She saw that Fred could go no further and regardless of how it might bruise his ego she would not take one step more until he had rested somewhat. "Why are we stopping?" Fred asked when he reached her. Astra turned to him. "Because I say so," she said flatly. Fred didn't argue with her. Instead, he pulled out his flask and swallowed some water. Even though they traveled mostly between dusk and dawn, the desert still left him parched and dry. The Calamari was not kind to living things. But soon he would be back in Allaria and this dead world would be left behind him. If Vincent had told them the truth, and Fred was confident he had, then the Great Kingdom was only another two days away. But then suddenly Astra hissed and motioned at the barren expanse before them. A cloud of dust was moving across the dry desert landscape and even from this distance they both could see that it was not a windstorm or sand twister. The cloud was raised by a band of riders and the riders were headed straight for them. "Bandits!" Astra cursed. Fred said nothing but continued to stare at the oncoming horsemen. "Who else would be out in this hellish land?" she continued. But Fred shook his head, "No. They bear a standard with them. They are soldiers, not bandits." Astra tightened her grip on the hilt of her sword. "But soldiers for whom?" she asked grimly. The light of the moon above them was bright, but they needed to wait until the riders were closer before they could make out more details, but what Fred then saw filled him with a great excitement. "Do you see? Do you see!?" he cried. "They carry the banner of Allaria! The golden lion striding across a crimson field! They are soldiers of the Great Kingdom!" Fred moved to stand but Astra yanked him back to the concealment of the dune. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end and something inside her warned her that all was not right. "And what are they doing out here, in the middle of this lifeless wasteland?" she asked, suspicion thick in her voice. Fred shook her off. "I have no idea," he said coldly, "but we Allarians do not waste our time dabbling in mischief. You have nothing to fear from them, especially since I am with you." "How close are we to Allaria?" Astra asked. She could not shake the feeling that she was in danger, even if Fred was convinced otherwise. She just didn't like the look of the riders, the way the moonlight twisted their shadows about. "Two days," Fred answered, "we should be nearest to the borders of the Duchy of Farmoor." Astra gazed out at the oncoming riders, "And what Duchy do they belong to?" Fred squinted, trying to make out the pennant beneath the Lion's banner. When he finally could he gasped and dropped to Astra's side. His eyes were troubled and his face had gone pale. "What did you see?" Astra asked in a whisper. "Who are they?" "They- they carry the banner of the Duchy of Bantane." Fred faced Astra and looked her straight in the eyes. "But that Duchy was destroyed over 100 years ago."
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WolfRun
9/11/2000 6:30:16 PM
Extending Enabled
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