Deke Brolin Rhol (30 page)

With a grin he answered Abednego. “Of course you will have my help, Abednego, but from afar. Rhol will be defeated no matter what happens.”

“What form of help should we expect Solharn?” Abednego excitedly asked.

“Do not worry. You will see it coming and when it comes you will know what I speak of, now go! Gather the armies! You must ride and strike out at the very heart of Solace.”  

Solharn rose
up into the sky, spinning as he ascended. Abednego breathed a sigh of relief. No longer would he have to look at Solharn. Solharn had become more monstrous with each passing day. He smelled of death. He exuded death. He was beyond evil, beyond compassion, he no longer lived. As Solharn disappeared from Abednego’s sight, Abednego had a sudden realization. Solharn was death, resurrected in the form of a malevolent, dark energy.

Deke ran past Deo and embraced Mary with all the strength he could muster.

“I’m sorry Mary. I should have known when you left the necklace but I was too determined to save Delca…er..you…or I should say the imposter.”

Delca had not moved. She stood staring at Mary and Deke
. “Mary? Where are we? Deke, you can see me?” Delca stammered.

“It’
s a long story, Delca. One I am sure you will be in no hurry to hear. We are in the Swamps of Tiqor and yes, Deke can see you, just as he can see Deo,” said Mary looking around frantically. “We are still in danger here, and are in desperate need of some food and a little rest. We can all talk later but first we have to find refuge from the Tetagorous. Please, follow me and be quiet about it.”

As the three slowly ambled behind Mary in silence Deke could barely contain himself. He had so many questions and
he was sure Delca, who seemed to have no memory of what had transpired, would need some answers, but it would have to wait. Mary was insistent that they walk with as little noise as possible. Who was he to argue? After several hours they crossed a small creek which, unlike the water in the swamps, appeared to be crystal clear.

The ground that surrounded the creek w
as dirt rather than mud, and the trees growing around the area were mature unlike the scrub brush in the swamps. Deke began to hear birds chirping as if they were welcoming spring. Little animals jumped from one tree to another, looking down upon them, wary of those whom they thought were invaders to their small forest.

From a distance
the animals appeared to be squirrels, but on closer inspection he could clearly see they weren’t. Most were black, but the odd one was a bright yellow. Their tails were much like a rats and they used it to fling themselves from tree to tree by wrapping it around a branch and then flipping themselves, somersaulting through the air, to reach another one. After they felt they were close enough to get a view of the intruders, they would hang upside down cackling away with their fur standing straight out. Deke was sure this was their way of trying to be intimidating, but it only made them look cuter, like cuddly big balls of fur hanging from a tree. That was until a rather large object bounced off his head.

“Hey, you little buggers!” he yelled.

“Quickly! We are upsetting the Chumpralas,” Mary said as she waved the others over to a hole leading into the ground.

Mary climbed in first followed by Delca, Deke and Deo. No more than a few minutes later they
found themselves in a surprisingly large, comfortable home outfitted with all the basic amenities one would require to survive. Mary covered the hole leading in, by draping some canvas over it. She then lit a small lantern and placed it on the table. 

“
The Chumpralas,” Mary explained, “are used to me, but they are not particularly fond of anyone else coming into their territory. It took a month before they stopped chirping and throwing nuts at me, but they have served their purpose. You will know in an instant if anyone comes near this place,” Mary explained, half smiling.

“Are we out of the swamps then Mary?” Deo asked.

“Not quite, we are on the very outskirts. This has been my home for almost two years now. Ever since Solharn captured and possessed Delca.”

“Since Solharn did what?” Delca asked with surprise.

“It is good that you have no memory of it Delca. It was awful. How should I put this? You have been me for the last two years. Do you remember the battle we had to undertake when we reached the bottom of Mount Sibileo?” Mary asked.

“Yes, we came across a Balane
, and to equal its strength you changed me into a Kruntulla. I remember being surprised that you would be able to maintain enough energy to keep me in that form, but you did. I remember going head to head with the beast, but it must have gotten the better of me. I recall plummeting to the ground and then…and then? Strange, that is all I can remember,” Delca responded.

“Yes, I do not doubt it. You see
, you were right. I should never have thought that I was ready to transform you into such a powerful beast, and at the same time remain conscious. I collapsed from exhaustion and that caused you to transform back into your own body. That was why you fell from the air. I tried to run to you, but my legs would not move. I was too weak. Out of nowhere Solharn appeared before me and demanded the amulet. I told him it was gone; little did he know it was hidden less than two feet from where I lay. He was furious. He must have seen me look at you and thought you had it. It was demoralizing when he cackled at me and shook his head before walking over to you. I screamed for you to run, but you were dazed and my cries fell on deaf ears. Solharn grabbed you by the neck and lifted you high in the air. I was sure he was going to break your neck, but that was not his plan. He forced your mouth open and spewed some sort of black liquid down your throat. After that, I watched as he slowly transformed you into me. I was horrified; you were no longer yourself. He carried you over to where I lay and threw you down, ordering you to remain where you were. Then he snatched me off the ground. His fingers felt like icicles, sending shivers up and down my spine, as he lifted me off the ground and gravitated up into the sky. I was terrified, but more so because I thought he would find the amulet which I had now retrieved again. As he pulled me through the air, to what I thought would be my death, I knew I had to give someone else the chance to find it. Kiran had told me how Solharn had dispelled of the amulet originally, so when I spotted Shimmer Lake, or the Blackpool, as we have come to know it now, I tossed it in. I hoped it would find its way to you Deke, as it should have in the first place.

He
brought me here to this swamp, threw me to the ground and laughed. I thought this was it. He would bury me here so nobody would ever find me, and Delca would go undetected while she posed as me, but I was wrong. He told me that ending my life would be too good for me, that Delca was his now and that she had crossed over to the dark side. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and lifted me toward his rotting, decomposing face until it was just inches from mine. His breath smelled of death. No, it was worse than death. It smelled like, like he was death. He told me that Delca was lucky and that I would suffer a far worse fate, that I would suffer the fate of a Pintante.

I had no idea what this meant until much later but I knew it certainly could not
be good. I stared at him waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. He just stared back at me with his black hollow eyes. After a minute or so I could see his lips curl into a cruel smirk, and then he just disappeared leaving me in the middle of what I would soon learn to be the Swamps of Tiqor.”

“And what became of me?” Delca asked.

“That question would perhaps be better answered by Deke and Deo, for I did not see you again until I tracked you three down in these very swamps.”

Delca sat staring in
disbelief as they told her what she had done while she was in the form of Mary. Deke described what he believed was her sole purpose, to obtain the amulet and to destroy him in the process. Delca was shocked to learn that she had almost succeeded, but she was grateful that Mary had intervened enabling Deke to save her from Solharn’s grasp.

Delca was crying as she spoke
. “I am so sorry...it feels as if somehow I have betrayed all of you, yet I cannot remember anything.”

“There is no need for you to be sorry
, Delca,” Deke explained trying to console her. “It was not you. You were under Solharn’s control. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it.”

“We
ll, just the same, I feel awful. I feel used. I am grateful that you were able to bring me back Deke. Thank you.”

Deke blushed as Delca hugged
him, and then kissed him on the cheek. After clearing his throat he turned to Mary. “Mary, I have been waiting for ages to ask you. How did you ever come to be here, in Rhol?”

“Basically, the
same way you did. That morning I waited for you on the bridge; it was a beautiful morning. After a short time, I figured you must be running late. I was excited to get to the fort and thought, what would be the harm? You would be along soon enough. So I headed to the fort, but I never made it. While I was walking through the cornfield, I could see something sparkle as the light of the morning sun glanced off it. I immediately walked over to where it was laying and picked it up. Suddenly, I felt dizzy and I fell to the ground, slicing my ankle open on a rock. I sat down and shook my head trying to rid myself of the peculiar feeling I had. I took my shoe off to check out the damage I had done to my foot. Then I simply blacked out. I have no idea how long I was out, but when I opened my eyes I found myself in a cave. I had no idea what had happened, or how I got there. My stomach churned as I walked toward the only light I could see. It led me to a cliff where a young girl stood. She was beautiful with skin like ivory, her eyes a deep blue and she looked to be about the same age as me. The wind was gusting causing her long black hair to whisk across her face, but it couldn’t disguise the smile she had. I asked her who she was and where we were. She told me that she would answer all my questions in time, but first we would have to find shelter, because a storm was coming in fast. She told me that someone was going to come and get us, someone that I would be shocked to see. She told me to trust her when that someone arrived and to just follow her lead. She would answer any questions I had later.

I was
shocked when I saw what looked like a horse flying at a great speed through the air toward us. As it got closer I saw its fangs or teeth, and became slightly more unraveled. But, for whatever reason, I trusted this woman that I had just met, so I did as she asked. She was of course Delca, my paladin and she took me to the Sacred Realm of Solace where I met Kiran. Kiran would spend the next several months preparing us for what was to come, well most of it. That reminds me, Deke. How is Kiran? I miss her terribly.”

Deke looked over at Deo. He knew this question would come
eventually. “I’m sorry Mary, she has passed on.”

“What? How?” Mary asked becoming visibly upset.

Deo could see Deke was choked up at the very thought of it so he answered for him. “It is a long story Mary but in the end she died saving Deke’s life.”

Mary was
very upset, but she knew Deke would be far worse. She knew her friend better than anyone except perhaps Deo and she knew how he would feel if someone had died to save him. She didn’t have to hear the intricate details. She knew Kiran. She knew them both.

Pulling herself together
, Mary walked over to Deke and hugged him so tightly he could hardly breathe. “I have missed you Deke, don’t let Kiran’s death burden you. She had her reasons for everything. She loved Rhol more than life itself. If she died for you it was because she knew you were worthy of it, and you are. I’m just glad we found each other.”

Her words reminded Deke of another question
. “How did you find us Mary, and why didn’t you just say who you were?”

“The la
st part of that question is easy; I was almost Pintante. You would’ve thought I was completely out of my mind if I told you who I was. Since Solharn was controlling Delca, who knows how she would have reacted? I told you I was Torrell in hopes that I could convince you to follow me in the direction you should have been heading, to the camps of the Phits. I would’ve tried to tell you the truth before we got there, but it wasn’t possible. I was slowly losing my mind, and struggled to stay focused long enough to convince you. Instead, my actions scared you away. Luckily, I knew exactly what Solharn had planned simply by the direction that he had Delca leading you. I thought of another plan of attack, allowing myself to get captured by the Tetagorous. I followed you all day and timed my capture to coincide with your arrival. It was risky, but it was the only chance I had left to try and save you. It was either die at the hands of the Tetagorous, or die as a Pintante. Either way, death was coming. My plan was simply to make you aware of Solharn’s plan. It turned out much better than I anticipated,” Mary explained.

“How I found you is a little more complicated. First of all
, these swamps have been my home for over two years now. There is little I don’t know of them. I’m sure you’re wondering why I would have chosen to stay in these swamps instead of trying to find my way back to Solace. That’s where it becomes complicated. After Solharn abandoned me, I did try to find my way out. For weeks I walked aimlessly around in circles. To survive, I ate bugs along with things that I don’t care to recall or repeat. Creatures, which I’d only heard about through Kiran, constantly tried to attack and devour me. I’d finally given up. I sat down not far from where we sit now. As I listened to the Chumpralas berating me while I sat there alone, I finally made up my mind. I would sit here and wait until death found me, but death never came, just quietness. All at once there was no noise. The Chumpralas just disappeared, the birds stopped chirping and then right before my eyes, an elderly man appeared.”