Aftermath and Devestation…

Meanwhile...

A guarded truce has developed now between necromancer and adventurer. The dragon’s forces had come at them in waves, and the last one had forced them to retreat a bit further into Belboz’s lair. The hastily erected magical barriers that the mages, Exotica and Synizn 2 has temporarily sealed off the room from outsiders, affording some time now to plan the next course of action.

“Well, I guess you don’t need these,” Cuthbert says, tossing the bag that contains the broken teeth that he’d been able to gather up at Belboz’s feet.

The mage, who’s still working his newly healed jaw (thanks to one of his own special potion stashes) glares at the cheeky gunslinger and his friends.

First they knock him out but then they defend him whilst the Dragon’s forces attacked. Despite the fact that he’d attacked them (technically).

What he wouldn’t give to know how they’d resisted that transformation spell!

….

Check that. What he wouldn’t give to get Hannah back!

Head was still spinning from not only the betrayal (and rather neatly done at THAT) the dragon had done him (he’d been played for a FOOL!), but also from that small matter of a staff having knocked him out flat!

So many plans in ruin….

But there was at least one thing he could do, right now.

Hannah was all he had left, now. His grand plans for bringing a new golden age for the Great Kingdom pretty much was shot. The dragon KNEW what he’d been and would rather DIE than return to humanity. Belboz knew this now.

The beast’s betrayal had pretty much put his dreams to paid, you see.

….

Alright, for those who are scratching your head here is what is what.

Belboz here (the native) had found the current regime in power wanting. Had decided on instead of living with that, committing what basically amounted to treason by plotting eventually to overthrow the current powers that sit on the throne and install what had been thought to have been a veritable long lost legend of old.

It was a dream. Stuff of legend. Tragic.

Long ago, a paladin king had ruled the Great Kingdom. Wonderful time of enlightenment and all that happy stuff that had ended with his apparent death in defeating the pest who’d haunted these very Caverns centuries ago. That pest had been a different dragon, but fierce and a real mean dragon who needed killing. The paladin king, who’s name we’ll give here in a moment (wait for it) had apparently died (or at least disappeared without trace so was assumed killed in action) in defeating the foul beast.

Truth was, the man had lived, but had the bad luck of getting dragon’s blood in his wounds. The blood was cursed, and changed the noble man into a monster. An evil monster that soon came into power in these very same caverns. The man was now the current scourge of the Southern Caverns, the Dragon.

Nobody until of relatively recent times had connected the disappeared noble king/paladin with the evil Dragon. Belboz here had uncovered that fact, though, and thought he’d found a means to an end.

Belboz planned to free the transformed man from his “curse” and have the restored man put back on the throne.

Figured that this was for the best because the current royals were buffoons! Running the Great Kingdom right into the ground, they were!

To do this, Belboz had to take it slow and easy. Couldn’t just roll right up, wave his magical wand and BLAMMO, dragon back to human! The curse was strong! Too strong to tackle all at once. Belboz had to do research into the spell and figure out how to break it, and that took something like two decades or so (something like the lifespan of the transformed knight from time she’d become the little girl named Hannah to today). Today, the mage had planned (using Hannah to assist) to go forth. Find the dragon, and change him back!

Should be doable. After all, he’d fooled the dragon into thinking Belboz was an ally, not out for anything more than . . . what the deal he’d struck with the dark beast in exchange for access to the lower Cavern levels, home of some of the most exotic herbs and other magical ingredients on this world! In exchange for access, the necromancer promised to do . . . pest control.

Pest, of course, being defined as knights who’d had it in their heads (mostly male heads but a few Amazons over the years had tried) to kill the dragon! Belboz had, of course, done that.

We already know that Hannah had been one of those pests. Back when she’d been called Fred, you know.

Others suffered similar fates (lot of peasant wives and adopted little peasant children out there with no memories of life before, when they’d been knights and that stuff). Hannah’s fate had been different. Belboz the necromancer had taken a shine to the little tyke….

Well, you already know that.

Thing is, the beast was more up on things than he’d let on to Belboz. Was still quiet the strategist. Even remembered the time before now. What he’d been before becoming the wonderful thing he was now. Had figured out that Belboz had sniffed out his little secret AND what the wiley old man wanted to do, so had played along until now.

Ah, I figure you’d already figured that out. Just checking.

As a little added twist into the old man’s heart, the beast had given aid to the demon who’d transformed Hannah into the nymph she now was. Had given details of defenses and such to make the demon’s task all the easier, knowing what had happened would happen.

The dragon, a rather big fan of chess, had played a masterful game.

Hannah was now gone, dancing for a bitter enemy of Belboz.

And had taken great pleasure in letting the old man know of the betrayal of his “friend”. Thrown the gauntlet down.

Only way Belboz was going to live to see the next day was KILL the dragon, for the beast was NOT going to let Belboz transform him back to human, period!

And Belboz knows this. THAT is what pretty much put to paid Belboz’s grand scheme, eh?

Well, this is a much-simplified summation of what had happened, but that’s what’s basically playing out here.

Belboz is pretty much . . . .in trouble. One of the things that he had been told by the gloating dragon was that Belboz’s treason had been magically broadcasted far and wide.

Good luck at finding a haven after this, Belboz. Few good places for employment and housing accept those out to commit regencide, you know.

Whatever the dragon was going to say next had been lost. See, that’s when the demifox male had shouted something magical to shatter the connection).

He’d still been kind of woozy from everything, but he’d remembered that.

He had to get out of here and rescue Hannah, though. At least that was still within his power…. He hoped, anyway. There was the matter of the dragon who controlled the Caverns…. And these people who were still here, rather hostile looks on some still….

….

Who in the Hell are these people? Strange group, two of them….

It finally registers to Belboz that the elves here aren’t . . . normal.

No, his world doesn’t know about Dark Elves, but then again the inky black eyes are show stoppers, okay?

“Who are you?” he blinks.

“Oy, took him long enough to ask,” mutters Cuthbert, rolling his eyes.

Artizza

“Cuthbert, that’s enough!” I snap, trying to hide a small smile.

It had been kind of funny, despite these dire time right now…. But that’s not going to help us right now. Belboz here looks vexed enough as it stands, thanks. Don’t need to add to it.

Not that I’d cross the street to put him out if he was on fire, mind you, but still…. Manners.

“Belboz,” I begin, turning back towards the necromancer. “Before I answer that I will have to ask you . . . are you familiar with the concept of parallel worlds or alternate realities? Alternate timestreams?”

Am about to trot out something a little more tame, if need be, to explain the concept. Even the densest peasant knows about fairy underhills and such. Unearthly places not of this realm. Basically I was going to explain it (if need be) that we came from something like that. Then again, I’d been spot on about Belboz here.

Educated man this guy is, this mage. Worldly in otherworldly concepts, you could say.

Sure is a shame that he’s so amoral…. Then again, education does not make for greatness in character, eh?

…

1. “I know of it,” he says warily.

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