The Quest of the Defender
Part 2
| Stormbringer and Mangoboom had
been waiting for what seemed like hours at the meeting point. They were
on long range patrol and surveillance. While waiting, Mangoboom cleaned
his weaponspatiently, Stormbringer on the other hand was nervous and it
showed. "Quit fidgeting, Stormy!" saidMangoboom. "I can't
help it." said Stormbringer. "What if the reports are true?"
"It's unlikely at best."said Mangoboom. "If Cisco thinks
this is where we should be looking, this is where we will look. I don'tagree
with his reasoning, though. These are the slipperiest group around and we
have looked for theirhidden base of operations for years." "And
not many have returned from that search!" said Stormbringer. "Don't
worry about it." said Mangoboom. "These guys are ghosts, the stuff
of legends now. Their order probably doesn't exist anywhere but in the minds
of children who are told that if they aren't good, those of The Lidless
Eye will come for them.". "I don't know." said Stormbringer.
"I have a strange feeling about this place. Look at the scorched earth
and the tracks of hundreds leading to the bridge" They were in a culvert near a bridge over a river, They had a portable slipgate set up under the Bridge on the near bank. On their side of the river the road that led over the bridge came to a crossroads at which two roads met. One road skirted the river's edge and the other led into the nearby woods. Most of the tracks came from the woods and appeared to have been made recently. "Anyone could have made those tracks." Said Mangoboom. "I wish that I knew where Cisco was getting his information." Stormbringer gave him a look of incredulity and said: "You know as well as I that there were eight damaged slipgates that led to this location. Who else destroys gates as they go from destination to destination? We either take ours or leave them hidden at the site for future use." "I wonder who the source of this data was." said Mangoboom. "When I asked, Cisco just said that I didn't want to know. I wasn't going to argue the point. You know how secretive he is on this subject." Stormbringer looked at the treeline of the woods and thought to himself: "He doesn't want Saxon to know....." Saxon and Stormbringer were the same age and were indoctrinated into the ranks of the defenderswithin a month of each other. They both were from nearly the same time period and each of them had lived near the sea. They had learned the new ways of battle together and were close friends duringtimes of peace. They were evenly matched in sparring and although Saxon had more patience, hisfriend was by far the better marksman. They had shared many private thoughts with each other and during their earlier years were inseparable. Saxon had shared his sad tale with his friend long ago and they had both searched during their travels for news of the lidless eye. Their searches had spawned great adventures, ......but that is another story. During the seventh year of their service Stormbringer had met a woman that stole his heart. He wassoon married and had less time for his friend as he was busy raising a family of his own. Saxon had no jealousy in his heart and found other things to occupy his time. He had visited from time to time, but those visits had become infrequent as they were sent on separate missions more and more. In his own mind Saxon avoided all rememberances of romance. He was happy for his friend, but what could have been for him was always in the back of his mind. Outwardly he appeared very much a happy go lucky character. Inside of him was a fire that raged without stopping. For the most part he kept to himself, if battle was his only destiny, so be it. Recently Stormbringer had been called to a secret meeting with Mangoboom and some others. It seemed that during a recent group of losses in the outland sectors a survivor had returned with news of several damaged slipgates of the same design as the lidless eye were known to use. The engineers had been sent to inspect these very gates and had returned with some promising news. One of the gates had an undamaged display panel and the destination stamp was as clear as when it had been input into the key pad. The sequence was repeated and the advance group had found more of the damaged gates amidst scenes of carnage and destruction. It was as close as anyone had ever been to finding a location or base of operations for these foes of all that is good and pure in this world. Stormbringer and Mangoboom were sent to one of these locations to watch and wait. This was called location five as that was it's order in distance from home base at Ironfort. The people that had lived here called it by another name, Arilinn. In their tongue it meant riverwood. The woods were dense and there were few paths through it to the mountains on the other side. The ground was rocky and the overgrowth in the woods was very thick. The water in the river was clear and cold as it was coming from a snow field in the distant mountains of the north. This was a land of beauty until recently when a force had swept through the valley. Burning village after village until no buildings stood and the townsfolk were herded into the main squares of the villages and murdered, there were no witnesses left. Among the bodies there were old and young, from mere children to old men and women who could have posed no threat. Strangely absent were young men and young women, but with no one to tell the tale it was hardto make any sense of the scene. Stormbringer had seen carnage before, but nothing prepares a person for the scenes of the brutal murders of women and children. From what he had heard all of the other locations were reporting much of the same thing. He knew in his heart that he was seeing the work of those that Saxon was hunting. Their orders were clear, don't engage the enemy. It was simply their job to make it back alive without being seen to make their report. That would be fine with him, they had brought a portable type of self teleporting slipgate. In the event that they were discovered it would be no trouble to slide down the embankment and under the bridge to the slipgate. A test run had them back at the base in five seconds. Still, it was an eternity for those on the run from someone with the hardware to track a dimensional shift. If they were to make an escape to the base it would have to be unseen, a secondary location would be used if detected so as not to give away the location of the base. At the secondary location they would have to hold their ground until reinforcements arrived. Stormbringer preferred to go completely unnoticed if possible. He had a pleasant life outside of this work and he didn't want to jeapordize it. In the distance coming from the other side of the river he heard the sounds of marching feet. Manymarching feet. Stormbringer motioned to Mangoboom the take cover signal. They slipped unnoticed down the embankment and under the bridge. Soon the marching sounds were very close and it appeared that there were hundreds of men approaching the bridge. He could hear the sounds of chained feet in amongst the marching and some quiet sobbing. As the sounds reached the bridge and began to be heard above them they heard a gruff voice speak: "Company Halt!" and with that the marching stopped right above them. Another voice said: "Now, Captain?" "Stand them on the retaining wall." barked the gruff voiced man. "Now you will see what happens to those who attempt to escape the service of their new master." In the shadows of the clear river bed Stormbringer could see the shapes of two figures on the wall above them. "Let this be a lesson to all of you, push them off!" Said the gruff voice. Two bound figures weighted heavily with stones fell from the bridge. Stormbringer could see that they were a young couple in their teens. With a splash the two fell into the water and sank slowly to the bottom with an amount of blood coloring the water where they fell. "March on!" growled the gruff voiced man and the contingent slowly passed over the bridge. Stormbringer looked at Mangoboom and then slipped quietly into the water to attempt to rescue the young couple. Mangoboom shook his head and followed him in. They dove to the couple and cut the ropes that bound the stones to them with their short blades. They pulled them from the water and attempted to revive them as quietly as possible. With a choking sound the young girl began to exhale some water from her lungs. The boy was already dead. They could see that he had been badly beaten and she too. The young girl looked over at the dead body of her lover and began to sob incessantly. Mangoboomwashed the blood mixed with algae from her face and said: "Where were they taking you?" She looked ather two recuers and then began to tell them how these men in blue had come to her village last night androunded up all of the townspeople to the main square by the fountain. They had murdered all of the fullygrown men first. Some of them had attempted to fight and their death was more horrible than the others.Then they put the rest into a circle and their leader picked the young men and women out of the group and had them stand aside. All that was left of the townsfolk in the circle were adult women some with small babies in their arms. The men in blue had stood them against a stone wall and cut them down where they stood with their weapons. Perhaps one hundred and twenty had died that night at the hands of theseevil men. Stormbringer said: "Did they have a symbol on their tunics?" "Yes," said the girl "it appeared to be the symbol of the eye." Mangoboom said to Stormbringer: "Well, Cisco was right after all." "So it seems." said Stormbringer." "Where does the road into the woods lead?" The girl looked down and said:"It leads into the mountains past the forest, a one day journey by foot." "What is up in those mountains?"said Mangoboom. "Nothing but snow and a high pass that leads to a barren valley where some of the men go to harvest minerals and metals for farming implements during the summer months." said the girl. "Mango, take her back to the base, I am going up to have a look in the woods." Said Stormbringer."You know our orders, Stormy!" Said Mangoboom. "No unnecessary risks.""I am just going in a little wayto see if they stayed to the path or veered off into the woods, I won't leave the path and I will be right behind you in a minute."And with that Stormbringer crawled up the embankment and looked for any stragglers from the group that had just passed. Mangoboom said: "It's your neck, Cisco will call you on the carpet for this when you get back, if you get back!" Mangoboom set the gate for Ironfort and left withthe young girl in his arms. Stormbringer, meanwhile walked across the crossroads and into the wood. It was very dark in the woods and it had a smell of rotting vegetation. It apparently stayed very wet in thisplace and the tracks were not hard to follow even in the low light that came through the overgrowth. He stayed to the side of the path and moved stealthily among the trees for about a half an hour until he came to a place where the brush had been trampled and many heavily booted feet had left the path. He left the path with a feeling of foreboding he followed the swail to a cliffside with a cave in its face. He could hear muffled conversation inside as he crept up to the opening. As he entered the cave he switched on his night vision and focused the monacle for thirty feet. He was a sniper of the first order and could make distance shots like no other but the legendary Q-tip himself. As he crept further into the cave he could see the dim light of a lantern and two figures sitting near a row of six slipgates. He positioned himself against a rock near the wall and aimed his weapon. He was careful to leave his laser sighting device off until the last minute. He sent two rounds sailing into the foreheads of the men in blue. The last one never even knew that the first one had been hit. He slowly walked up to the two dead men and knelt to scavenge the bodies for whatever was to be found. In one of the men's belt clip he found a communicator of a design he had never seen before. He kept this and some ammunition and then eyed the slipgates with a strange feeling. He walked up to the nearest one and checked the destination. He had never heard of this place before. The display read: "Land of Ice and Sorrow". He was filled with curiosity and could not help himself. He stepped onto the pad as the slipgate was active and disappeared into the shift. He arrived onto an ice shelf in a large glacial cave. Luckily he was alone. As he took in his surroundings he could see many footprints leading this way and that through the many openingsin the sides of the cave. He stood with his back to the wall near the closest opening and listened. He could hear the sounds of sorrowful whimpering emanating from the passage. He steeled himself for what lay ahead and entered the access tunnel quietly. He wandered down the tunnel for a time until the sounds grew louder and he could hear a voice. It was a soft sweet sounding voice: "There, there.... It'll soon be over." said the woman's voice. "Shhhh.... Be quiet, I can hear them coming again." Stormbringer heard it too, the sounds of heavy boots with ice spikes coming down the passage from behind him. With nowhere else to go he entered the cave and looked for a place to hide. In the corner were twelve figures heavily cloaked in fur sitting near a sort of heater on a stone platform. One of the figures looked up and quickly bid him to come over. "Here, hide in these furs and keep your head down." Said the woman. "They are coming and probably won't notice you unless you are chosen to go with them." He sat next to her and wrapped the fur of some unknown smelly beast around him and over his head. Just in time too, as five swarthy men dressed in blue came into the room and took positions by the opening. The tallest one walked over to the women and said: "You, come with me!" to the nearest one. Slowly she stood up and obeyed while crying softly. The men left with the woman and walked up the passage. With the sounds of the boots growing softer in the distance Stormbringer spoke to the one who had hid him: "What sort of place is this?" he said to the woman. "You are in the ice mines of the unnamed one." said she. "How came you to be in this dungeon with a weapon?" "I am searching for those of the lidless eye, long have we been on the hunt for these sons of evil" "You appear strangely dressed, bold traveler." She said. "From where have you come to this evil place?" Stormbringer delighted in her speech as it reminded him of his youth and the speech patterns of the past were not often spoken in his presence by anyone other than his friend Saxon. He asked her what her name was and to his amazement she replied: "I was once known as Lisbeth, in this place I am simply called the vulgar term, Wench." Stormbringer's jaw dropped and he faltered as she drew back the fur covering from her face to reveal the most beautiful features he had ever seen on a woman. Although she was unwashed and obviously underfed on some meager diet she had the deepest blue eyes he had ever seen. Stormbringer had to ask: "Have you ever known one named Corin who is called Saxon?" "The name Saxon is unfamiliar to me but I once knew a man named Corin, he was my one and only true love and has been lost to me for what seems to be an eternity. Stormbringer could scarcely believe his eyes and his ears. He recounted his adventures with Saxon and told her that Saxon now believed her to be dead. "For a long time we searched for news of these evil men that hold you and these others captive. Only recently had any evidence of their very existance been found." "Surely that is news of great hope to me." She said. "We cannot leave without escort from this place, though. And one man, however valiant cannot best the number of these evil ones that would come if one of us were to pass through that opening." "How so?" said Stormbringer. She showed him a small anklet that she wore on her right leg and said: "Do you see this device and at yonder opening the small magical jewels in the ice pillars that frame the door?" He nodded and looked over at the door to see small sensors in place. "Were one of us to pass through the door unbidden many men would come and surely one or more of us would die so as to be a lesson to the others." He asked to look at the anklet and found it to be magnetically sealed to her leg, he was unable to remove it. "I have tried for years to remove this, but it has a spell on it that cannot seemingly be broken." Lisbeth said. Stormbringer sized up the situation and said to her: "I will return with an army to free all of you." Lisbeth said to him: "If you see Corin, tell him that I wait." Stormbringer said that he would and prepared to depart the way he had come. "Here," said Lisbeth "this is a token that Corin will recognize." She handed him a small handful of dried flowers that she had hidden in her garments. Stormbringer said: "I will return with him and a mighty army of others to rescue all of you. How many are imprisoned in this evil place?" "I know not, but I suspect that hundreds are held here in these catacombs. You will need a mighty army indeed if you are to vanquish this army of the unnamed one." Stormbringer let a grim look cross his brow and said: "We defenders of the red cloak are legion, now that we know where you are we will return in force to avenge the needless deaths of thousands of innocent souls." He bid her farewell and snuck quietly back up the passage to the slipgate room. He carefully checked the surroundings before entering and seeing no one he entered the room. He walked up to the slipgate he had come into this place from and prepared it for travel. It was just then that the two furthest slipgates began to crackle. He closed his eyes in preparation for the blinding flash of light. Two men in blue appeared and instantly saw him. He quickly jumped into the gate and was transported back to the cave in the forest. He ran as quickly as he could back up the swail to the path in the woods. In the distance behind him he heard several arrivals of his foes on the slipgate pads in the cave. He ran like he had never run before knowing the importance of the information he had. The sounds of pursuit were getting closer and closer as he made it to the crossroads nearly exhausted. He ran for the embankment and as he did several men in blue broke the edge of the woods. As he slid down the embankment he realized that he would have to set the gate for the secondary location as the last ones who had left were traveling to the base at Ironfort. Quickly he set the destination in and hopped on the pad. As he left for the shift he felt the warm sting of a railgun penetrate his right shoulder through the armored vest he wore. He was thrown off the destination pad and onto the floor. His right arm was limp. He got up and shouldered his weapon with his left hand. He punched in the distress call on his communicator and prepared for his battle with those who were soon to arrive. He didn't have to wait long as five men in blue popped in one at a time and showered his area with railgun rounds. Several of them richoceted off of the walls and ceiling into his already damaged body. As he began to lose conciousness from the loss of blood he heard one of the men say: "He's done for, every one else here was killed a few minutes ago, we don't need to come back. Blow this place and lets get out of here!" Stormbringer drug himself with his left arm to a location behind some obstacles. As the detpack blew he saw a figure come running up the hall from the other direction and dive for cover in the nick of time and then all went black. He soon felt himself being shaken and woke to find himself in the company of his friend Saxon. He knew he was dying and when Saxon had recognized him he gave him the information he had risked his life for. He died in peace knowing that he was on his way to fight evil in another dimension. To be continued.......... |