Message #90815

[KnightsFan]

I'm a little confused, but legodac told me to post this so...

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Wham! Rocks and debris sprayed everywhere. Javic ducked, narrowly missing losing his head to a stray rock. Arrows started zipping past, causing Javic to dive for cover behind a rock. He still couldn’t see through the dust swirling through the night air. Who was attacking? What was attacking?
More rocks sailed into the ruined fortress, wreaking havoc on the strong stone walls. Dark shapes began forming in the dust. Lots of dark shapes. With a yell, Javic drew his sword and slew two of the shapes before they knew he was there. A sword swung towards his head, but with an expert slash the arm wielding the sword was on the ground. Three more of the shapes sprang forward, but Javic wasn’t worried. He sprinted forward a few steps, jumped off a rock, and flipped over them, slashing one down in midair. Allies began flowing from the broken fortress, hacking down their attackers. But the battle’s conclusion was obvious…

Three days later found Javic walking alone over the mountains, away from the destruction. He paused, scanned the terrain ahead. A large city stood in his way, the trade center of the entire land: Gathai.
Through the city Javic walked, straight to the great citadel in the center. Here, he found one of the captains.
“An attack, you say?”
“Massive at that. They crept up silently then used some giant ballista to fling rocks straight into our fortress. Hundreds of well-trained warriors stormed in.”
“Strange,” the captain mused, “they attack a fortress like Paltech. It is of no strategical value along the frontier – it can be easily cut off. There must be another reason then all-out war on our kingdom.”
“Or possibly it’s just a cover,” Javic suggested, “but what I want to know is what you’re going to do about it?”
“I will bring up this information at the meeting tonight. We have good barracks, if you want…”
“Never mind me, I’ll be off,” Javic interrupted.
“Where to?”
“Paltech. I’m going to have a look around.”
“Alone?”
“Yes,” Javic smiled a little, “that way I won’t be held up by some gallant knight in armor.”
The captain looked at Javic. He certainly didn’t look like any of the knights he had ever seen. More like an outlaw: his clothes were all black, and light enough to move easily in. No armor whatsoever. A bow and full quiver were stored on his back, underneath his cloak. A short sword hung on his left hip, while several daggers and knives balanced it. Looking closer, the captain thought but what a sword! I’ve never seen the like!

Standing still as a statue in the black night, he listened. He was back at Paltech by now. For the last few hours he had been dodging patrols of… what? He still couldn’t identify them. Most were in dull grey mail with masks. Their flags flapping in the light breeze were not to be recognized. The few times Javic had heard them speak he couldn’t even make out what language they were speaking.
Around noon, he got fed up with hiding. A patrol of five was walking slowly towards him. He casually left his hiding place and stepped onto the path.
All five reacted fast. They started, but as one lifted their shields, lowered spears and slowly advanced.
“Who are you?” Javic asked, still without drawing his weapons.
No answer.
“What do you want?”
No answer. They were only twenty feet away when he drew his bow, and, fast as lightning, sent an arrow zipping into the face of one of his adversaries! It bounced harmlessly off the mask.
Drawing his sword, Javic charged.
He grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it in their faces, slashing at a spear with his sword. The wood handle broke in half before the razor edge of the sword. Before they could react, Javic had leaped backwards, pulled a dagger and sent it zipping into the neck of one, right between the mask and the mail.
The four remaining had by now surrounded him, spears pointing at him from all directions. He leaped up and forward, landing on a spear and knocking it to the ground. The other pulled a sword and slashed at Javic’s head, but found only air. Javic’s sword didn’t.
Whack! A spear handle cracked down of his head. Fighting to stay conscious, Javic staggered back, reeling from the blow. He barely dodged the thrust that followed, but managed to stay out of range. He melted back into the woods, out of sight.
“Having fun?” A voice asked.
Whirling, Javic found himself facing a masked warrior lounging against a tree.
“Oh, don’t worry; I’m not looking for a fight. Not with you anyway.”
“Who are you?” Javic asked, trying to collect his wits.
“That doesn’t matter as much as finding a better place to talk. This is quite unprotected, you know. He pointed at the three soldiers, who were poking around the bushes looking for them. He beckoned, and slipped through the trees.

After several minutes, Javic found himself looking at the fortress of Paltech. From a nearby hill.
“Now,” said the stranger, “we won’t be overheard here. Who are you?”
“Javic, a traveler.”
“I am – how shall I put it – an agent. Name of Mokaine What I am doing here is quite confidential, but I assure you it will not effect anyone who does not try to interfere. Unlike them,” He nodded towards Paltech.
“You know who they are?” Javic asked.
“Of course. They are old non-friends of mine, those ol’ Azkakh. They are hardly human at all, they live for treasure. They hoard up treasure all their days and never do anything with it. They never do anything else.”
“Then why did they attack Paltech?”
Mokaine’s eyes twinkled. “You’re a sharp one, aren’t you? That, my friend, is a very good question. A very good question indeed. That is why I’m here: to find out why they attacked. Having been inside the fort, I thought you might know.”
“No treasure whatsoever,” Javic confirmed, “the captain there was a very good friend of mine, he told me that there was nothing of any real value. So then what are you going to do?”
“Another good question. Obviously the Azkakh thought there was something here, or they wouldn’t have attacked.”
“If they are so bent on treasure, I would have thought they’d leave by now after not finding anything,” Javic mused.
Mokaine’s eyebrows rose, “You know, you really were a lucky find. Either they are still searching, or they know something your captain friend didn’t. There’s only one way to find out, though.”
“How?”
“Tonight, my friend, we will sneak into the fortress and snoop around. Unless you want to miss out, of course.” Receiving a quick shake of the head, Mokaine outlined his plan. “You must find the best way in, as you know the place better then me. Next we will locate the leader’s bunk. There I will put out the leader and you will search the room. If you find anything pertaining to Paltech, take it. We will escape to a nice rooftop and there we will examine any finds you made. Got it? Good. Tonight it is, then…”

The night was cloudless, with a big, full moon. Both knew their work was cut out for them sneaking into the stone fortress. The wind blew noisily through the trees and rocks, effectively covering any noises they made.
Silently Javic led the way to the wall wreaked by catapults the day of the attack. A dozen or more guards lounged around there. Time of plan B. Going to the back wall, Javic found the small back gate. Coming from the side, he pressed against the wall to stay under the guards’ vision. He used oil supplied by Mokaine to grease the hinges, and then set to work on the lock. With a small dagger he carefully prodded the heavy bolt. It was quite solid. Frustrated, Javic turned away. Suddenly, the door opened! Inside stood six soldiers, wielding swords and grim looks.
“Uh, Mokaine? We have a problem…”
Mokaine drew his sword and leaped into action, scything through one, then grabbing the body and using it as a shield to ward off the flurry of blows from the other five. Javic whipped out his sword and charged. Seeing a blade swinging at his head, he dove into a roll, knocking two of the soldiers off their feet with his body, then leaped up and traded blows with one of those still standing.
Throwing away his “shield,” Mokaine whipped his blade and, with an expert move, disarmed an enemy seconds before driving his blade home. Then he whipped out a small knife and flung it whistling through the air into the last remaining enemy.
“Nice work,” he said, “but I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” At least a score of their adversaries were rushing towards them, off the walls, from the barracks, seething through the doors.
“Time to go,” Javic said, making a rush for the door.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Mokaine said, jumping out and slamming the small gate shut. “Now what? We don’t know anything still. By tomorrow their guard will be up and possibly they’ll be gone.
“Then we get the information tonight,” Javic said, leading the way to the front gate. As he expected, it was unguarded. He looked furtively around then made a dash for the keep. He dove gracefully through the window, rolling across the floor inside without a sound. He slithered across the floor, under a table and to the far wall. From there he leaped, caught the ceiling and pushed a trapdoor used for dropping debris on attackers open. He whipped his body up and in, then took stock of his surroundings.
“Give a hand to those not as agile,” Mokaine whispered from the room below. After helping him up, Javic led the way, this time slower, towards the captain’s old room. Upon finding it he put his eye to the keyhole and looked in. A figure stood by the window. Putting his bow to the large hole, Mokaine silently drew the arrow back, and fired the arrow swiftly into the back of the figure, then entered the room.
“Quick, search for anything pertaining to Paltech! He tackled a desk, rifling through the drawers for documents. After a few minutes, he pulled something out and put it in a pouch at his waist, then listened. Footsteps coming along the hall!
He beckoned to Javic, and then rushed to the window. Guards everywhere. He drew his sword and jumped. Wham! Clash! He landed on a guard then slashed another. Javic landed lightly beside him, whipped out a bow and shot a third.
Without another backward glance, both fled.

“All in all, I’d say that went well,” Mokaine said, “we slew nine Azkakh warriors at least, plus a captain or some other type of officer. More importantly, we got this,” he held aloft a stack of papers, bound with a string.
“What’s that?”
“Dunno, but it’s the only thing I found that said Paltech on it.” He undid the string, and glanced through the papers. He gasped.
“It’s a plan of the fortress!” He whispered, “look!”
“Yeah,” Javic agreed, “so?”
“And this paper here, it’s a puzzle of some kind.”

Tsewhtron renroc
Ytnewt secap tsae
Evif teef nwod

“It pretty obvious, isn’t it?” Javic said, “backwards words. It says, ‘Northwest corner, Twenty paces east, Five feet down.”
“I wonder what’s there.” Mokaine murmured.
“Another clue, most likely,” Javic said, “and so on until they come to the treasure of all ages.”
“If the clues are this easy, they’d have found the treasure in an hour,” Mokaine objected.
“Maybe they get harder.”

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If I have time I may add more.

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