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Gilead


Irrie

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Review Topic: http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/20289-review-gilead/

 

 

"With every civilization of sapient species you will always have individuals who exceed expectations and advance beyond all others for the progression of their society. These people eventually disappear into legend and myth, the tales of their exploits and achievements slowly becoming more and more heroic as they are passed on through the years. Dimension 3 is no different, and the lore of BZ Nui tells of an individual named Garmatus, a brave and noble Toa who created amazing works of literature, architecture, and music. He was also known for his deep connection with the sixteen elements and his desire for solitude in his life. 
 
"Garmatus was a Toa of an unknown element who wore a mask of elemental energy and light blue armor. After he published the epic, the Konkistaholm, which accounts the adventures of a fictional Toa of Light named Konkist, his success became renowned throughout the entire island. Alas, only one copy of Garmatus’ Konkistaholm was ever made, as it was delivered orally by the author himself. Many people would gather around the city square to listen to him read out his masterful work. 
After publishing Konkistaholm, Garmatus founded a school of fine arts. He enlisted sixty members of the island and taught them wondrous amounts of knowledge relating to literature, painting, architecture, music, the sciences, and other areas of knowledge. 
 
"However Garmatus soon grew tired of living in BZ Metru, as the Hand of Garmatus (the name of his school) was constantly bombarded by aspiring students seeking his instruction. Thusly he and his sixty students left the city and fled to a small island on the northern coast of BZ Nui. There he and his students built a city made entirely out of quartz. Garmatus himself named the city Gilead, and made it to be a refuge for him and his students to live in quiet study for the rest of their days. 
But alas, Gilead soon fell into ruin. The Hand of Garmatus began to disappear over time, as did Garmatus himself and the Konkistaholm with him."
 
 
 
***
 
 
Bonkle drew his eyes from the book and looked up at Irrie, who was sitting across from him at the table. 
 
“Wow, that’s quite a piece of history,” he said. 
 
“I know, it’s amazing!” exclaimed the Toa of Earth. “Think about it, the lost city of Gilead is still out there somewhere, waiting for somebody to find it. And if they do, imagine all of the rich and ancient lore and treasure that they’ll find waiting for them! All it would take is a short trip up to the north and some rummaging around.”
 
“Alright, alright, hold up a bit. You’re not seriously thinking about going through with this, are you?”
 
“Well why shouldn’t I? I myself am a Loremaster, and Garmatus was essentially the very first one despite the fact that he was never given the official title. And the Konkistaholm! The Konkistaholm, the greatest work of Bionicle-related literature to ever be conceived in our dimension could be within our grasp if we embarked on it. Think about how amazing that would be!” 
 
“I mean, it sounds exciting and all, but I still don’t know. Don’t you think that if it was easy enough for us to find, it would have been found already?”
 
“Incorrect! That’s what they all think, and that’s the notion that deters all people from achieving their goals, the prospect of somebody else having beaten them to it!” 
 
Bonkle’s BZPad began buzzing with a notification. 
 
“Well, how about I think on it. In the meantime, let’s get back to BZ Metru to watch the Glatorian fight.”
 
They places all of their recently retrieved books into their bags and went downstairs to check them out at the circulation desk. They then left the library and climbed down a series of stairs carved into the side of a cliff to where a ferry boat was waiting at the bottom. Several other Toa and Matoran also got on the boat as well. 
The ferry took them from the Creative Archipelago to the shores of the main island itself. There they boarded a long-distance personelle transport chute, taking them to BZ Metru in a mere fifteen minutes. 
 
After arriving they made their way to the Arena, located to the west of the Coliseum. The reason for the event on that day was the annual BZ Metru vs BZ Koro Glatorian battle. The Metru and the Koro had had a long-standing friendly rivalry with each other, and they often got to express it through their Glatorian fights. This year it was to be hosted in the Metru, giving them a home field advantage. 
 
They met up with Kovika, Dragon, and Dallior at the front gates. The others couldn’t come for a variety of reasons, most of them involving the Duct Tape Incident that happened the previous week. 
 
The group of five showed the attendant their tickets and then went into the stadium to take their seats. 
 
“Anybody got money on this one?” asked Irrie. 
 
“75 widgets for the BZ Koro rep,” replied Kovika. “Betting with a guy who lives over at Comic Land. I’m hoping that I’m able to catch him and get him to cough up the money before he makes his way back there.”
 
“What makes you so confident that the Koronans will win? I’ve got 50 widgets on BZ Metru,” said Dragon, “and I’m betting against Dallior here.”
 
With that, the announcers introduced the combatants. From BZ Koro was a fighter named Ronnix. He entered the field clad in a light suit of armor with a mace in one hand and spiked chains in the other. The fighter from BZ Metru was named Sasstun, who had a full suit of armor and a broadsword with a thornax launcher attached to the hilt. They then paused as the crowd rose for the national anthem of BZ Nui.
 
After delivering their patriotic duty to the glory and splendor of Dimension 3, the battle began. The referee walked onto the field and raised the starter zamor launcher into the air. He fired off the empty zamor sphere and the game began.
 
Sasstun was the one to make the first move, charging across the sandy field at full speed. When he was within striking distance he lunged forward with his blade sideways while simultaneously firing his thornax launcher. Ronnix jumped into the air and did a full front flip over Sasstun landing a blow from his mace into the small of his opponent's back when he hit the ground. Sasstun spun around with a fluid horizontal slicing motion of his sword, but Ronnix was able to jump back before it penetrated his armor. He then brought his left arm into motion, swinging his spiked chain around in the air. Sasstun took this opportunity to retreat back to the middle of the field where he loaded another thornax fruit. Ronnix followed him and eventually had him cornered at the edge of the field near the entrance gates. Sasstun fired the fruit at his arm, but Ronnix lowered the spinning chain ever so slightly, causing it to prematurely detonate before reaching him. Taking the opportunity, Ronnix swung his chain around and it hooked onto Sasstun’s armor around his lower sides. The rest of the chain then flung around and around his body, entangling him in the mess of iron links. Ronnix then, with surprising strength, pulled Sasstun to him, where he landed a strike to his helmet with his mace. The warrior of BZ Metru collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
 
Unlike the Kanohi Force members present, the majority of the crowd wasn’t there to win bets, but to support their home representative, and they were not at all pleased to see their highly decorated champion thrown to the ground by a simple chain maneuver. They started booing and throwing cans and batteries onto the field. 
 
“Let’s get out of here before the fights break out,” said Dallior as he got up and adjusted his fez.
 
“I’ll catch you guys later,” said Kovika, “I need to go hunt down that guy and get my money before he slips out of here.”
 
“Speaking of, pay up,” said Dallior. Dragon reluctantly gave him 50 widgets. 
 
They waited near the entrance to the arena for Kovika to return. While they waited, Irrie and Bonkle told them about the legend of Garmatus and his city of Gilead. 
 
“Guys, don’t tell me that you’re going to go looking for this,” said Dragon.
 
Neither of them responded.
 
“It’s too late, they’re both committed,” commented Dallior. “Well look, if you guys are going to go off and find a city that may or may not exist, you’re going to have to tell the rest of the Force about it tonight.”
 
“Does that mean that we can go?”
 
“I’ll have to talk it over with the rest of the Leedurz. If you two are leaving, that means that our revenue from epic production is going to tank until you get back.”
 
“Ghidora said that he’s about to publish one of his, right?”
 
“Well yeah, but that still leaves us with only one source of epic-related income rather than three. Like I said, I’ll talk it over with the rest of the Leedurz tonight and we’ll let you know our verdict.” By this time Kovika had returned with a bag of freshly earned widgets and then the group headed back to the Kanohi Force Tower. They spent the rest of the afternoon doing work around the tower until it was time for them to eat. 
 
That evening, the Force decided to eat in the dining hall. They had chicken teriyaki and lasagna with a side of raw makuta fish imported from new Ga-Koro. Each wore what their opinion of being fancy was, since the first friday of every month was fancy friday at the Kanohi Force Tower. 
 
“Attention everyone,” said Dallior as he tapped his wine glass with a spoon in an ever so eloquent and sophisticated manner. “Attention. Yes, so Irrie and Bonkle have an announcement, I believe.”
 
“Yes we do,” they both said as they stood up at the same time. “Bonkle, will you read them the excerpt from the book?”
 
“Certainly.”
 
Bonkle then went on to read the section from the book to the rest of the Force that you just read at the very beginning of the chapter. 
 
“That guy sounds like Homer, Da Vinci, and Confucius all rolled into one,” remarked Jakura. 
 
“He was an amazing teacher with unquestionable talent,” replied Irrie. “And it is because of this that we want to go on an expedition to find the lost city of Gilead.”
 
“But would you ever find it?” said Pohatu, “I mean, the way this is sounding is that the tale was exaggerated so much over time that maybe this guy’s private countryside house that he went to visit every summer eventually became a gigantic city of quartz.” 
 
“Ah, but think about the benefits of it,” countered Bonkle, “if we did find this, then we would be the proud finders of Dimension 3’s greatest treasure! The name of the Kanohi Force would be known on every corner of the island, as well as their amazing exploits!” 
 
“Alright, that’s enough,” said Ghidora. “This was already discussed earlier at the Leedurz’ meeting. We voted and decided that we would sponsor your mission, Irrie and Bonkle.”
 
“Under one condition,” interjected Shadow.
 
“What’s that?”
 
“You must keep a detailed record of what you encounter as you go. The north western part of BZ Nui is one of the least explored places on the island, and even after this place existing for so long there are still things up there that we aren’t aware of.”
 
“Can do,” said Irrie.
 
“However we’re not going to let you two go run around up north by yourselves,” continued Shadow. “So we will let you choose four people to accompany you.”
Irrie and Bonkle exchanged several whispers, clicks, and odd hand gestures.
 
“We will take Dallior, Petewa, Kovika, and Dragon.”
 
“Good. Now go pack your bags, you’re leaving tonight.”
 
“Wait, tonight?”
 
“Yes, tonight.”
 
“Why tonight?”
 
“Just a subtle way to get back at you for making us to have to work overtime to compensate for the lack of revenue in the tower.”
 
They then quickly finished up their meals and scampered up to their dorms. After hurriedly packing a backpack filled with seemingly random household items, they went back downstairs and said their goodbyes to the rest of the Force. 
 
“Just before we leave,” said Irrie, “how many of you, aside from those who are going with us, believe that we will find anything?”
 
Nobody raised their hands. 
 
“Right. Okay. Well, see you guys later!” 
 
The six went over to the parking deck where they each went to their own vehicle. After engaging in a rather unnecessary revving competition, they sped out of the parking deck and into the streets of the great city, the twinkling and dazzling lights of the metropolis guiding them as they drove northward, hoping to one day find another city. 
Edited by Irrie: The Loremaster
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They made their way through the lesser-populated outskirts of BZ-Metru, in the area between the two outer walls of the city. They stopped and rested at a motel and got a few brief hours of sleep before they were awakened by daybreak. After eating a quick breakfast and getting their vehicles refueled, they set off once again. 

 

The six of them were headed northward, planning on eventually arriving at one of the two islands that floated off the shore of the main island. Unfortunately for them, the islands were much further than swimming distance, and since there were no civilized establishments up there, no ferries to take them across. They had discussed this a little bit the previous night, but they decided it would be best to just improvise on the spot. 

 

The way the roads of BZ-Nui worked were that there were several main highways that connected the various settlements across the island, as well as the roads within the cities and villages themselves. There were also above and underground chutes, which had become a more common use of traveling and transporting goods between locations in recent years. The lack of usage gave the administration less incentive to upkeep the roads, and thus have fallen into a less than superb conditions. 

 

The group eventually passed into the point where the roads stopped and gave way to shrubland. 

 

“Do you guys think we’ll save time walking on foot or roughing it with the cars?” asked Irrie.

 

“Some of our vehicles are better equipped for this area than others. I say that we leave them all here so that in case we get into a situation out there we’ll have all of them ready for backup. Remember, the shrubland has some small bogs here and there, it could be really easy to get your wheel stuck in one of them. If that happened we’d be down a car and probably would have gone in further than we could walk back,” responded Dallior. 

 

There was some further exchange of words, but they eventually agreed to follow through with the plan. 

 

The biggest task that they had to overcome were the tendrils of spiked vine that ran along through the dense shrubs. These were a distant cousin of the Thronax vine and were unique for producing a strange type of fruit that’s no larger than a grain of sand, and the seeds within them are even smaller. But it somehow works, as the vines were numerous and almost all over the area. They were silver and covered in a reflective coating, which allowed for them to avoid the ones growing on the surface, but the ones below the shrubs would ensnare, entangle, and scrape them as they marched through. They were beginning to question their decision of leaving their vehicles behind, but they arrived at the point where the vines ceased their presence before they decided to go back. 

 

What they beheld was a marshland extending as far out as the eye can see. The mud was damp and moist and there was stagnant water everywhere. Marshgrasses and cattails poked out very frequently, making foliage a limiting factor of their crossing.

 

“Behold, the old site of the Gaming and Media centers,” said Dallior as he held out his hand toward the marshes. “Long ago, the Gaming and Media centers were not located in the Creative Archipelago, but rather just to the north of the city. That was, until the Great Flood came.”

 

“Yes, I remember researching that,” said Irrie. “It happened just before the Great Downtime. There was a massive rain that came through the island and it piled up on top of Lake Tohu to the north. There was a massive flood that swept through the landscape, destroying the buildings like they were nothing but straw houses. It took almost all of the island's Ga-Toa to stop it before it reached the city, and even then it caused serious damage to the houses that lived beyond the walls.” 

 

“It took a long time to clean up. There were some people trapped under the rubble and water for months, but luckily nobody was killed,” said Dallior.  

 

The company passed out of the bushland and plunged into the seeping mud. They waded through the waste-high water, occasionally getting their feet stuck in the slimy mud below them. By this time dusk was drawing upon them and they tried to find a place to stop to rest. There was a large and gnarled tree that jutted out of the marsh grass. It was approximately forty feet tall and it had no leaves on its branches. The roots snaked out from it like a messy mop on the ground and its branches twisted and intertwined with each other. The six of them put their bags down among the notches in the roots and they propped themselves up against the trunk to sleep. They woke early in the morning, just as the sun was rising, casting long shadows across the marsh. They took out their meals from their bags and ate swiftly before they donned them again and set off into the sludge. They walked for just only five minutes before encountering something odd.

 

Kovika, who was in the front, called out to the others. When they arrived he pointed to a cloud of silvery liquid floating in the water in front of them. Dragon picked up a piece of dead marsh grass floating on top of the water and tossed it in. As soon as it touched it, the grass shriveled up and disappeared. 

 

“Energized Protodermis,” he said. 

 

“If you touch it you’ll either get fused with something, evolve, or die,” muttered Bonkle. 

 

“Well what’s it doing floating in this marsh? I thought the only energized protodermis deposits were far below the island.”

 

Nobody was able to answer. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

“My people are constantly being hunted. We are captured from the wild and transformed into domestic lap pets. When we’re not, we are attacked are slaughtered for our meat. Our numbers are dwindling, and it is hard to make more of us. Nobody fights for us. Nobody remembers us. They dry to contain us and our beastly nature with their elemental powers. 

 

“I will lead them to rise up. To revolt against them. They’ve already spread their infection to the southwest and the northeast. They almost took the northwest before we unleashed the flood on them. No, we will revolt. For we are Rahi.”

 

A mutated Fikou spider crawled onto the platform that the being was standing upon. 

 

“My liege, the mutation has been completed. The First King of the Rahi has been formed.”

 

“Excellent. Dispatch him to the lake and amass our armies there. We will begin our raid on the city by nightfall.”

 

“My liege, there is a problem.”

 

“What?”

 

“A group of six beings from BZ-Nui are walking toward the lake through the swamp.”

 

“How powerful are they?”

 

“Three Matoran and three Toa.” 

 

“Send in a scout, I want to see what they’re capable of.”

 

“Yes, my liege.”

 

While the Kanohi Force heroes stood idly and conversed about the nature of the energized protodermis that was before them, none of them noticed a tiny rodent Rahi with thee eyes peering through the marsh grasses. It opened its third eye, which in turn opened a portal in the being’s chamber, far away. The being peered through it. 

 

“Hm. They’ve discovered the protodermis leak in one of our underground pipes. Interesting. As for them, they look like they could potentially be a threat, seeing that they’re armed and appear to be skilled in their styles of combat. Send word to the first Rahi King, Ladeshk, have his soldiers go out ahead and capture the travelers.”

 

“Yes, my liege.”

 

 

***

 

 

The Kanohi Force group walked around the energized protodermis, remembering to keep watch for it should they encounter it again. They trekked through the marsh as the day went on, further and further walking forward without ceasing. At around two o’clock, they stumbled across a ruined chunk of a building. 

 

“This was once the game center,” said Dallior. “That is, before the flood.”

 

They spent a few minutes to pay their respects to the old forums before they resumed their journey. 

 

It was about three o’clock when Kovika, who was still at the head of the group, called out to the others. He crouched down below the grasses, as did the others while they waded their way toward them. 

 

Each of them peeked their masks through the tall grasses and saw three strange beings ahead of them. They were almost eight feet tall and had Rahkshi heads. Each carried a primitive variant of a club that looked like it was made from driftwood. 

 

“I told you that I saw them up here,” said one. 

 

“Shut it, Zrozar,” replied another one, “you were probably seeing things.”

 

“Xokai, why would I be seeing things?” exclaimed Zrozar. “I saw them with my own eyes! The first one was tall and white, the next was short and green.” 

 

“Your eyes aren’t exactly the most reliable source,” muttered the third one. “Remember the Snowball Incident?” 

 

“That didn’t concern you, Bezius!” retaliated Zrozar. “Besides, those are exactly what King Ladeshk told us before we were sent out, a group of three Toa and two Matoran!” 

 

“There’s no need to get angry big guy,” soothed Xokai, “but honestly, why would you have seen them but we didn’t?”

 

Petewa activated his elemental control of stone and with a flick of his wrist sent a pebble flying up out of the mud and hit Zrozar in the back of the head.

 

“Hey!” he shouted as he turned around and stared at Bezius, “why’d you throw that rock?”

 

“What rock?”

 

“Don’t play stupid with me!” he roared as he ran forward and tackled him. Xokai hurried over and pulled the enraged being off of him. Bezius then retaliated and tackled both of them. While the three were squabbling among the marsh waters, Irrie created a sinkhole beneath them. The Rahkshi-headed beings immediately were swallowed by the mud and earth, falling almost ten feet before coming to a stop as they reached the harder clay layer.

 

“Let’s see if they can use teamwork to get out of that,” said Irrie as they climbed out of the grasses and continued walking. 

 

It was now nightfall when the six came to a small rise in the terrain. The land sloped upward and formed a ring around the lake. However when they climbed over the crest of the hill, they peered down into the body of water and gasped. 

 

A tower made of black iron was built in the center. The lake was polluted by sewage and ash hung in the air. Armies of the same warriors they saw earlier were amassed in great numbers on the lake’s shore and a stone bridge had been constructed between the coast and the tower. 

 

 

***

 

 

Far away, atop the peaks of New Ko-Koro, a scholar looked to the sky with his telescope. He jotted down the star alignments, which had become surprisingly different in the past few hours. After a few minutes he tore his eyes away from the telescope and gazed down at this parchment. He did some language number and conversions, eventually arriving at the translation of the message. 

 

“The Fifteen Rahi Kings are coming.” 

 

He shrugged his shoulders and continued watching the sky. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
The company of six gazed over the rise of the hill and observed the huge display that was going on beneath them. A single horn rang out above the rest of commotion and clatter, and all of the strange beings below them trotted from where they were standing and stood in formation on the bridge that lead to the iron tower. 

 

The beings wore blackened armor that was lazily positioned on their bodies. They all had different colored Rahkshi heads, however some wore helmets overtop of them. In their hands they held varying types of spears. No Rahkshi spears, but crude polearms ranging from quarterstaffs to javelins to lances to spears. 

 

From a balcony positioned above the entrance to the tower emerged a hulking figure that gazed down at the assembled crowd. It looked like the rest of them, however it had a cluster of nine or so heads positioned behind its frontal head, the only one that had light burning in its eyes. It had no legs, but rather slithered on the ground with a long and powerful tail. In its hand it held a gnarled staff with the head of a serpent on the top. Its eyes glowed, almost as if it was alive itself. 

 

 

***

 

 

King Ladeshk gazed out from his balcony at his armies. Pride surged through him as he saw the crowd standing perfectly still, all other beastly notions disciplined out of them. 

 

Before he addressed them, he had a sudden flashback to when he first gained his sapience. In fact that hadn’t been very long ago, just under a week. But his master was patient and used his understanding and cooperation to teach him the ways of warfare and commanding tactics. He was proud to serve under such an admirable leader. 

 

“My people,” he said as his voice projected over the assembled army. “My dearest people, I have come to adress to you that the hour is upon us to enter into battle.”

 

The crowd rang out in applause. 

 

“For who are we, my people? We are Doom Vipers! For long we have been tormented and endured terrible sufferings at the hands of the Matorankin. For ages we have been hunted and feared because of the abilities that we were graced with at birth. They fear and hate us! They want to see our species’ demise! But nay, no longer will we lie quiet in wait. For we have been gifted with sapience and bipedality. We shall use these tools that were given to us to strike back at those who hate us and show them that we are the dominate species of this land!”

 

The crowd cheered and celebrated. Low bass drums were brought out and rang out calls throughout the area. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

The group of six slowly slid back behind the hillside. 

 

“Whaddya think this implies?” said Bonkle. 

 

“Hostile takeover of our city by...Doom Vipers?” replied Kovika. “Never thought I’d see the day that this happened.” 

 

A bell was rung from the very top of the tower. The army began to dissipate as the soldiers were put at ease. Dallior crawled to the top of the hill and saw a group of four coming up the slope toward them.

 

“Hide!” he hissed as he slid back down. Kovika activated his Huna, Irrie jumped onto the ground and encased himself in dirt, Petewa formed a boulder around him, Bonkle used his Mahiki to become transparent, Dallior hid inside of an animal burrowing in the ground, and Dragon ducked behind a bush. 

 

As the four Vipers passed by one of them stopped and opened its mouth, its tongue wagging in the air. 

 

“Niruth! Do you smell that?” 

 

The one in the front of the group stopped and sniffed as well.

 

“Yeah. Matorankin, fresh traces. Good thinking, Beroan. Chenth, go back and warn the overseer.”

 

One of the smaller ones turned around and trotted off, back down the hill. Before long another group of ten soldiers came back up. 

 

“Yep, that’s Matorankin alright,” said one. “What do you guys suppose we do?” 

 

“Search the area. If they find out that we’re here prematurely then we’re done for,” replied Niruth. 

 

The fourteen Vipers immediately scrambled about, their tongues licking the air frantically to try to detect where the enemy had gone. Kovika was having a particularly difficult time with this, as he had to continually dodge and dance around the hulking bodies of the Vipers without letting himself cast too big of a shadow. One of them actually bumped into him, but the mutated snake took no notice of it. 

 

Fifteen minutes of this passed by and the Vipers had begun to get frustrated. Their command barked out orders for them to return to the rest of the group and alert the King. As soon as they had walked out of earshot, the Kanohi Force group dove out of their hiding places and ran back to safer grounds. They hid in a dense cluster of marsh grass and evaluated themselves from there. 

 

“What do we do?” said Bonkle. 

 

“I...I’m not sure,” muttered Dallior. “I mean, clearly what’s going on here is unknown to anybody back in the Metru.”

 

“It seems like they’re planning a coup d’etat of some sorts,” explained Irrie. “What quarrel they have against us is unknown to me, but I sure don’t want to get close enough to ask.”

 

“From the way I can see it, we’ve three options,” said Kovika. “We could either confront these things, go back to get help, or go around them. I say we fall back to alert everyone back in the Metru.”

 

“What?” exclaimed Irrie. 

 

“Please, be rational for once. If we just keep on going then nobody will know about this and those Vipers will have the benefit of surprise. Don’t worry, if Gilead is still there it’s not moving.”

 

Irrie looked disappointed when he heard this. 

 

“What if we split up? You can go back to BZ-Metru, and anyone who wants to go with me can go on to Gilead.” 

 

“Only if you’re willing to take that risk, Irrie. None of us expected to see the marshalling of an army of rahi when we set out, so there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll see some other things that you don’t want to encounter.”

 

“Don’t worry,” remarked Irrie, “I know a thing or two about fending off creatures of unusual size. Right, now we need to decide who’s going with who.”

 

“I’ll go with Kovika,” said Dragon. 

 

“Same,” said Petewa. 

 

“I’m with Irrie,” explained Bonkle, “I want to get to Gilead as fast as he does.” 

 

“I suppose I’ll go with Irrie too,” said Dallior.

 

“Very well then,” said Kovika. “I hope that the three of you will stay safe out there. We’ll move as swiftly as possible so that help can come soon.” 

 

Kovika’s company crawled away through the marsh, en route to BZ-Metru. Irrie’s group traveled to the west to attempt to skirt around the perimeter of the lake, away from the line of sight of the guards. They thought that they were undetected because they were crawling in the reeds. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

A Doom Viper, seated on a balcony on one of the highest floors of the tower, gazed out into the distance. She was bored with hearing the rattling of chains, the clanging of steel, and the sharpening of weapons. Almost every floor in the tower was filled with various warriors sharpening their weapons or assembling new pieces of armor. There was such a surplus of raw metals that they discovered beneath the lake that they didn’t know what to do with them other than create new weapons and armor to be sent off to the Grandmaster. 

 

“Keesh,” said a familiar voice. She turned around and saw her brother, Nieshmir standing at the doorway. 

 

“Yes?”

 

“Ladeshk says that you and I are to come to throne room.”

 

Keesh groaned. 

 

“Fine, fine. Tell him I’ll come in a minute.”

 

She turned around and continued to look at the landscape while Nieshmir slithered toward the door. 

 

“Wait!”

 

“What?”

 

“Look!” she said as she pointed over the edge of the railing. Her brother came up and stood next to her, following where she pointed. There were three beings crawling in the grasses. One was black, the next was green, and the last was red. Nieshmir pulled out a horn that he had on his belt and blew a loud, clear note. The armies below immediately scrambled about, trying to find their position in line while Nieshmir descended within the tower. He later emerged from the lower balcony that Ladeshk had spoken from earlier. 
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