Standoff in Belboz's Chamber

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 82322

Fred was taken back by the necromancer’s casual dismissal of his knightly prowess. “Never expected me to be able to free anyone!?” he snorted contemptuously, his pride wounded (in front of two princesses, no less!). “What’s that supposed to mean, you toad-spotted old codger!”

“Oh, please! Spare me the act, sir knight! You knew the risks! You came into these caves knowing full well your quest was a hopeless blunder, a last resort.” Belboz’s eyes seethed like the bubbling cauldron beneath him.

“Though I must say you have certainly managed something quite astonishing,” he continued. “Perhaps I severely underestimated you or, as is more likely the case, those old guardian spells binding the jewels have weakened over time. Either way, you've exceeded my wildest expectations. Bravo! Though I fear you may have doomed us all. Mayhaps it's my fault. I honestly never thought I’d see you again, which suited me fine. No one ever returns. Most simply disappear without a trace. The lucky ones get locked in those jewels - like my sweet Adele. Is she really free?”

Fred’s head was a stormy riot. As much as he hated to admit it, Belboz had him on one point. His ‘quest’ to slay the dragon had been more of a selfless, last ditch effort to restore some measure of honor to his family name. A name which had suffered much of late. There was of course his brother’s mad quest for ‘the fire’, a quest which had ended in utter disaster. A still-smoldering crater outside the Great House of Montefort bore testament to this insane act of recklessness. The shame that single act had wrought on his family was almost too much to bear.

He had never expected to make it out alive, and had fully intended to die a warrior’s death...if only to restore some shred of dignity to the gilded griffin and the name D’Honaire. That was all beside the point, however. What was truly troubling was this man’s apparent association with Minestus. ‘I only remain here on his sufferance,’ he had declared.

“So,” Fred said after a long and uneasy pause. “You are the worm’s gatekeeper, I see.” His eyes narrowed on the hunchbacked trickster. “A sniveling servant of the vile serpent. Well, it’s your lucky day - stand down and let me pass and I will spare your miserable life.”

Belboz cackled. “You’ve got it all wrong, sir knight! If it weren’t for me all those souls locked in stasis within those jewels would most certainly be dead. It is only because of the delicate truce I was able to establish with Minestus that they were not simply stamped out like lowly roaches.” Belboz drove home his point by physically squashing a roach beneath his feet. Seems the poor blighter was unlucky enough to come skittering by at that precise moment. The juicy, crunching sound of it caused Exotica to cringe.

Fred shook his head. He didn’t trust any of these people. Not Belboz, not Sigin, not Adele, not Elaine, not even that horn-dog Matthias. He couldn’t help but feel he was some kind of pawn in a sick, elaborate game.

“I’m really looking after your own interests,” the necromancer went on, jolting Fred out of his thoughts. “If you’re lucky and you behave yourself, I might be able to convince Minestus to put you in a jewel, along with these two beautiful damsels. At least then you have a shot at some sod coming along in the distant future and freeing you...unlikely as that may be...”

“ENOUGH!” Fred shouted, startling everyone in the chamber. “STAND ASIDE, IN THE NAME OF THE KING, OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN!”

Belboz simply smiled. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, sir knight.”

  1. Fred, with one mighty swing of his blade, made good on his promise. Only something quite unexpected happened next.
  2. Fred, with one mighty swing of his blade, made good on his promise. The necromancer's head was lopped cleanly off. A fountain of blood and gore erupted from his now headless shoulders.
  3. Belboz made the first move, chanting arcane words of power that echoed through the chamber.
  4. "Wait!" a voice shouted from the shadows behind them.

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9/28/2008 12:06:52 PM

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