Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 12:56:15 -0500
From: Jerry <jerryli@systec.com>
Subject: Arin Part 5

The following story contains scenes of boys having sex with other boys
and/or men, depending on what I decided on by the time I got around to 
writing it. ;) It is science fiction and fantasy, and as such contains
things which simply don't happen in real life. If your imagination is
not good, you won't enjoy it very much. As for the sex thing, if this stuff
is against your personal moral codes, don't read it. If there's anything 
you don't understand, ask your parents or friends or whoever you think will. 
If you like the story, feel free to write me a letter at jerryli@systec.com.
You're allowed to do anything you like with my story with the following
exceptions: 

1. You may not place it on a system which charges people to read it unless you 
   request permission from me first. I have no problem giving you
   permission, but there will be a slight one-time fee. ;) 

2. You may not post alterations to the story, or write sequels to it, 
   without my permission. 

Happy reading! 

=====================================================================

Chapter 21

     I stood hunched in the side drain, my sword at the ready, quivering in
fear and uncertainty. I had fought and slain many an enemy in the past. I
had endured a long adventure to the Mydrin Wastelands with my brother and
his friends. And since joining Cedra and his friends I'd survived a pair of
Orcs, a bizarre creature with a bunny tail, a menacing band of dark elves
and a tiger shark. But as scary as each encounter had been, at least my
foes were living breathing beings.

     The corroded mass of bones creeping in the corridor was not living, at
least not by my personal standards of life. It had no skin, no muscles, no
vital organs.  There was no heart in it's ribcage, no blood pumping through
it's veins. Hell, there were no veins in the first place.

     It was a walking collection of bones, held together by some magical
means. I could make out the seaweeds and the dirt and grime on each bone,
hanging from the abomination in a haphazard manner. It's eyes were glowing
a dark red, and there was a dagger in it's hand as it walked in my
direction.

     Would my sword even work? How did you kill something that was already
dead?

     "Shhhh", Rath motioned. He looked just as bothered as I was. I was
wondering how we were going to get past them or whether they'd notice us,
when Cedra came around the corner and into it's plain sight.

     We had been playing a game, running through the catacombs under the
strange keep in our giddy state. I had lost him back there somewhere,
although I didn't see any turn-offs so I don't know how. And now he had
caught up.

     The skeleton looked at him with it's glowing red eyes. It's pace
quickened, though not much, and it began to make a slow stabbing motion
with it's arm. Obviously it didn't intend to shake Cedra's hand when it got
there.

     I waited for it to pass the side drain that I was crouched in. It
seemed unaware of me, focused only on Cedra. I stepped out behind me,
ducking at just the right moment to avoid Tarus's hand as he tried to pull
me back in. He was shaking violently at me, trying to get me to come back
into hiding, but there was no chance of that. I was NOT about to abandon my
boyfriend to a vile creature, even if it was dead.

     In my stupidity, I lunged forward with a jab rather then a slashing
blow. I hadn't really thought about how much less mass there is to a
skeleton, but it became obvious as my sword went straight in between two of
it's ribs, not even touching a bone. Unphased by my attack, he turned to
face me, now aware of my presence.

     Big mistake on his part. Cedra had snapped out of his initial
shock. And although my sword wasn't going to do much to a crature of bone,
his Flail proved to be quite lethal.  A couple of well placed blows and
kiais later, the skeleton was talcum powder at our feet, and the light had
faded from his eye sockets.

     There were more of them in the alcove. Moving towards us, because they
heard Cedra's kiais. But he held out his holy symbol in front of him and
shouted "Back! Back in the name of my goddess and all she holds dear!" They
recoiled in fear, and soon crumbled to dust in his presence.

     "Wow", Rath commented, "that's quite a power."

     Cedra smiled. "There's nothing like a strong faith. And I certainly
believe in love."  He kissed me on the cheek again, and I nearly fainted
from the overflowing emotions.

Chapter 22

     We climbed the stairs into the Keep's galley. The food was scarce and
rotted. A small rat, also nothing but dead and animated bones, was gnawing
at a rotted chunk of meat. I wondered vaguely if that chunk was actually
his own flesh.

     "Geez", Dejana whined, "is there nothing living here?"

     "There's us, now" Cedra pointed out.

     "Our employer never mentioned that these people weren't breathing."

     "Did you ask him?", I mused.

     Tarus sneered. "Well, certainly means we need to talk about raising
the fee if he wants this box so badly."

     Dejana brought us back to our mission. "Come on, everyone get
ready. There are two guards on the outside of this door, or at least we
were told there were. Whether they're living or dead, they have to be taken
out."

     We had twelve minutes according to the plan to figure out how to
dispatch of the guards.  The half hour was when the wandering patrols were
supposed to have passed the area; doing this right would give us a five
hour window before anyone in the keep knew that something was amiss.  We
thought it out for awhile, and eventually came up with an acceptable plan.

     The moment came, and everyone got their weapons to the ready. Everyone
except Rath and I, who were the bait for this little trap. I strolled
straight out into the open hallway, turning to stare at one of the guards.

     The guard was alive, or so I thought at first. There was certainly
skin on his bones, so there was no issue there. He looked down at me
inquisitively. "Who are you and wha--", he began.

     Suddenly Rath burst out and grabbed me by the arm. "There you are,
young man. Get in here, it's time to prepare the royal stew." With that he
yanked me back into the room and we pretended to scuffle in the kitchen, in
full view of the door. As expected, the guards followed us in and kept
their gaze on us.

     Big mistake. As soon as they were through the door, Tarus, Dejana, and
Cedra pounded onto them from behind. Cedra jumped up and planted a
hammerblow on the back of one's neck, Dejana mimicked it with the blunt end
of her Battle Axe on the other, and Tarus gave a crescent kick to finish
the job. They fell to the floor, dormant.

     "Alright!", I exclaimed, highfiving Cedra.

     "Piece of cake so far, ey?" Tarus inquired.
     
     "Don't get too cocky", Dejana said. "We still have a ways to go." With
that, we headed through the doors and across to the staircase in the main
hall.

Chapter 23

      The staircase was long, winding, and seemed to go on forever. Stair
after stair after stair, each one no big deal but adding up very quickly. I
decided to start counting them, and it was when I got to two hundred and
forty three that I started to suspect the problem.

     "You know", I said, pointing to a stair with a crack in one side, moss
growing on the right wall and a small indent in the middle, "I think I've
seen this stair before."

     "Oh come off it", Tarus replied, "we'll be up there soon enough." He
continued to walk for a second.

     "No, really", I insisted. "I don't think we're getting anywhere at
all."

     Rath raised an eyebrow, looking around. "It's possible. This could be
an elaborate glamour." I closed my eyes for a second. How could I tell for
sure? Then it came to me.  I opened up my pack and removed one of the three
gold coins I had left. I wedged it into the crack in the stair.

     "Now", I said, "Let's move on and see what we see."

     "Good plan", they all declared, patting me on the back as we
moved. But after a couple of minutes, they had their doubts.

     "See", Tarus said, "it's just a long staircase. We'll be up it soon."
But sure enough, fifty three steps later, there was an identical stair,
complete with my new gold coin addition.

     "It is a glamour!", Cedra declared.

     "What do we do?", Dejana asked Rath.

     "Well", Rath said, "the curve of the stairs is probably different in
reality then it is in this illusion. We just have to feel the walls on the
side for a way onto the right path." We travelled up more slowly, our hands
on the side of the wall as we travelled.  A few minutes later, Cedra fell
through the wall on the left.

      "Well", Tarus smiled, "There it is." We went through one by one, to
find ourselves on an almost identical staircase, but this one had a door in
plain sight. I strolled up to the top and opened it. There was a small
corridor, with two doors. One was in the unreadable section of the map we
had seen. It was the other door I was interested in... the one that, with
my trained thief's eyes, I could already make out as booby trapped.

      "Well kid", Dejana said, clamping my back. "Go earn your paycheck."

Chapter 24

      I slipped over to the door in front of me, glancing over it
quickly. Then I pulled out my tools and I began to work. The first thing I
did was take my dagger and place it before a small, thin wire that was
strung on the door. The wire would be almost impossible to notice if one
wasn't looking for it.

       Then I noticed exactly where the trap I was triggering
was. "Dejana", I said, "you may want to duck." She was no fool; when a
trained thief says duck, you duck. She was on the ground immediately. With
that, I cut the wire, and the large scythe blade I had been disarming flew
over Dejana's head and stuck to the wall.

       I took a second glance at the door. I doubted that there would be
only one booby trap to protect something so valuable to so many
people. That's when I noticed the small indent on the doorknob. There was
an extra hole right above it on the door. I looked from the line of that
hole and saw that Cedra intersected with it head-on.

       "Move, Cedra", I demanded. Seeing the scythe come down on Dejana
gave him all the inspiration he needed. He obeyed, and I pressed the button
on the doorknob, sending the poison dart out of the hole and into the wall
on the other end.

       Then I turned my attention to the last trap, a small flick in the
door which seemed tied to a vent above it. It was a poisonous gas trap, and
that one I couldn't just trigger and be done with. I had to disarm it
outright.

       I took a boost from Rath, sitting on his shoulders like a kid in a
swimming pool, playing chickenfight. I had him move over to the vent, which
was now just eye level to me.  How was I going to jam it shut? I slowly,
carefully cut the wire holding the vent closed, but I kept it shut with my
hand. "Be very steady, Rath. You trip, we all die."

       "Thanks", Rath mumbled, with some strain in his voice from carrying
me. "Long as...  there's... no pressure."

       I tied the rope to a small jagged edge in the wall. It looked tight,
but there was only one way to know for sure. I let go of the
panel. Everyone in the room gasped, but the panel didn't move. We were
okay!
  
       No, wait! It had moved, just a millimeter. Poison gas was very
slowly seeping into the room. "Oh shit", I mumbled. "Get me down, quick!"

       "What?", Rath said, sliding me down. "You did it."

       "No I didn't", I replied. "We only have about three minutes."

       "To LIVE?!?!?", Cedra gasped.

       "No no, three minutes til the gas works it's way down here." At this
point there was a small visible brown cloud, slowly filling the top of the
room.

       I looked at the lock on the door. It was openable, but
complicated. No way was it coming off in three minutes. "Ah well", I said,
"so much for the subtle approach." I pulled out the Potion of Giant
Strength I had obtained earlier, and downed it in one gulp. It was
disgusting to the taste, like boiled leaves in water mixed with some kind
of dung. But the effects were instantaneous, and I casually slammed the
door wide open. We burst into the room, eager to claim our prize and get
out of there.

       The box was in the room, alright. I could see it easily on the
pedestal in the center.  It was ours for the taking.

       All we had to do was get past the five people chanting around it.

Chapter 25

       I drew my weapon, ready for battle, but hesitated in horror. On each
side of the box stood a man in robes, with sharp pointed teeth, glowing red
eyes, and blood dripping from their mouths. In front of them were fresh
corpses, sacrifices of some sort for whatever ritual they were in the
middle of.

       I knew what they were. There's no mistaking a vampire when you see
one. But as frightening as they were, they were not what made my heart skip
a beat or my legs quiver.  It was the man in the center, a large man with a
grey beard, glowing red eyes, and a very familiar stench. The man from my
dream.

       He was speaking strange words, in a strange tounge, and his eyes
glowed ever brighter.  "Esiane demonstra ieuf ooya Rynth flayve
econstra. Reyoun so queith Rynth emonyaie." Then he became aware of us,
startled and enraged. "Get them!", he cried.

       It was Cedra's quick thinking that saved me. He ran into the room's
side, bringing his Flail crashing down on a large wooden table in the
corner. He swung at it twice with all his might as the vampires charged
us. "Arin, Catch!"

       I dropped my sword, useless now, and in mid-swing caught whatever
Cedra was throwing at me. I didn't realize until I had slammed it right
through the heart that it was a wooden stake, splintered off of the table
he had crushed. The vampire before me cried in pain and crumbled to dust.

       The others hadn't had time to get stakes, though, as the vampires
fell upon them.  Dejana cracked at one with her axe, sticking the blade
into the middle of his head. He couldn't have cared less. He struck her
with a strong right hook, knocking her to the floor.  Rath launched a Magic
Missile, knocking his opponent back slightly, but it still advanced.  Tarus
grabbed two of his arrows, snapped off the heads, and swung the wooden
shafts straight through the heart of his assailant. That vampire also
crumbled to dust.

       It was then that I noticed, to my horror, that Cedra had gone on to
attack the man in the center. His Flail was clashing with the man's sword,
but each cut was chopping through the Flail's soft wood, weakening it. When
he finally knocked the sword out of the man's hand, the top end of his
Flail went with it. He grabbed Cedra tightly and began chanting again.
"Demonstra ooya Rynth tuihta flayve emonyaie. Reyoun so queith Rynth
emonyaie." Cedra seemed to be getting fainter and fainter as the man spoke.

       I shook off the terror that I was feeling. I couldn't just let Cedra
be taken. I ran forward as fast as I could, until I was behind Cedra. I did
the only thing I could think of - I pushed him forward into the
man. Forward so that the broken, wooden end of his Flail went straight
through the man's heart. He bellowed in rage and pain, but still had time
to grab Cedra's forehead and claw into it. A small trickle of blood fell
from Cedra's face, and he limbered down out of the man's grasp. The man
fell and, moments later, also turned to dust.

       I looked back around at my friends. While I had been busy, they had
finished off their enemies. Had I looked back, perhaps I'd have seen the
faint glow in Cedra's eyes. But I didn't. When I looked at him a moment
later he was staggering, but conscious. I ripped off a piece of cloth from
my shirt and placed it on his head wound. Tarus tended to Dejana, stirring
her back into consciousness. Rath removed the box from the pedestal and
held it out to us.

       "We won", he smiled.

       "Yeah", I said, with totally fake enthusiasm and with happiness that
was nowhere to be found in my spirit. "We did."

-------------------------------
What's in the box? Is there something wrong with Cedra? What's in store for
our heroes?  Heh, tune in next time. ;)

PS - One or two plot points in the storyline to come were "borrowed" from
another source, one which had a profound impact on me. If any of you
recognize it, I hope you don't mind.  I can assure you that, after it's
over, I'll go back to using all original ideas and stuff.