Third Earth 2: Quest For The Red Dragon Pearl

Kariv didn't usually walk and eat and talk, but she knew it wasn't their pristine dining hall, but it was more of a survival kit. She munched on the jerky ferociously, and tried to listen hard to what Rodger said. She kept oscillating between his words and her thoughts.

Kariv swallowed down a bite, and then thought of a good answer. Tossing the jerky in the air as if it were a clown's prop, she answered:
"He was my grandfather."
Stopping, she took another bite, and after swallowing it said out loud:
"I can possess people if I bite them. Not entirely successful this time, I think."

 

Rodger stopped as Kariv answered his questions. The ability to possess people would prove handy, but that wasn't a major concern. In fact he barely heard it as his mind worked over her other answer.
"Why would your Grandfather be here? He was after your Grandmother, so why come after me?" Rodger asked. "Sure I stabbed him in the shoulder, but it apparently didn't take, so unless he's holding a grudge I should be in the clear."
Before she could answer him, he spoke again.
"Just how powerful is your Grandfather anyways?" he asked hoping she would know.

 

Kariv thought ahrd, and then yawned.
"I don't know why he was after you. Must've done something a bit too bad I guess?"
She then stopped to answer the next question.
"Pretty powerful. He's a warlock grade, and my grandma told me he can manipulate electricity, summon curses and bring the dead back to life. I don't think he's very sharp otherwise, but anyways, it doesn't matter as long as he doesn't come in our way again."

 

"Yeah. We just hope the powerful warlock decides not to come back," Rodger said sadly.

He stopped talking saving his energy as he struggled onwards. He leaned heavily on his staff, hoping nothing bad would happen. If they were attacked again, he would be utterly useless.
They now had to fight the Great Red Dragon, avoid a powerful wizard, avoid who knew how many creatures sent by their enemies, and not get killed by all the other very common dangerous things that lived in the world.
He hoped Kariv had money, they needed to buy more weapons.

 

Kariv nodded and her gaze crept towards Rodger as he thought of something. She was still thinking about why her grandma would have done anything wrong to him. And if not, then why was he lying? She pulled away her eyes and looked over the beautiful and intruiging hills sighted not so far. She opened up her hair and braided it as they walked, thinking about things she had to tell Rodger. After a long silence, she finally said:
"Well, Uncle, as I'll call you, I have to tell you something."
She stopped briefly to catch his attention.
"I'm not a very easy girl. I have a darker side, Virak, who takes over me whenever I'm upset. Though I'm pretty sure I can handle the stress, in case I enter the state, which you can tell by the reddening of my eye color - please don't stay behind. You might get hurt."

 

UNCLE!
Rodger stopped to listen to her.
"So basically, I see your eyes turn red, I run away screaming like a little girl, or you possess my body and throw me off a cliff, if I'm lucky?" he said.
Before she could say anything he took off his pack. "Lets set up camp. I need sleep."

 

Kariv nodded as she threw her bag to the ground, leaning down to it to unpack.
"Yeah, basically. Unless I forget you altogether and commit suicide."
Kariv stopped for a moment, thinking about the last time Virak had taken over her. That snotty demon. She always said opposite and did opposite of what Kariv wanted to do. Once Kariv was caught in a typhoon and was trying to save her life. Virak took over and tried to commit suicide. Bah. She just hoped this wouldn't happen again.

 

Rodger tried not to stare at Kariv. That was just bizarre.
Not knowing what to say he unrolled his blankets and collapsed on the ground. They should probably set up a watch, but he was too tired to care. He made sure his knives, and staff were close to his hands and fell into a deep sleep.

 

Kariv watched him fall asleep rather easily, while she always had a hard time falling asleep no matter how sleepy she were. She gazed at the silky skies full of silent melodies and kept thinking about her grandmother and mother. Then she wondered whether Mercy was missing her.
******
Mercy knitted the last sweater for the day, tossing it into the fruit basket. She climbed the window sill and looked at the clustered stars illuminating the dying autumn sky. She let out a wistful sigh and let tears embroidery down her pink cheeks. She missed Kariv just so much. Even worse, her father hadn't returned home since Kariv had been missing. She wondered where she was.

 

Rodger woke well after dawn.
His legs were stiff, but they no longer hurt, which was a vast improvement.
He stretched and began cooking breakfast, they'd need a good meal after all the chaos of yesterday.
Fortunately they were heading in the right direction. If they could just find the main road again they would be able to head to town to buy supplies, and rest.

 

Kariv acted asleep as Rodger prepared breakfast. She had had the same dream again. But this time it was clearer and a little different. She recalled the screams and shrill voices which echoed in her head throughout the dream. She recalled her grandmother lying in somebody's arms, presumed dead. By the lakeside she saw her grandfather and Rodger, fishing (which was rather silly). But most importantly, she saw herself this time. Instead of her grandmother, she found herself roaming the lands, with her grandmother's soul calling her back.
"Kariv, don't go there!"
"But grandma..."
"Don't go there, beloved!"
She did not respond, and kept walking. She didn't know where she was going. Rodger was walking behind her, and her grandfather was still at the lake fishing. Suddenly Virak appeared and enveloped Kariv. That was when Kariv had woke up, at the break of dawn, sweating profusely. She hadn't fallen asleep since. She pondered whether she should continue going where she was. Maybe it was a sign. But Kariv didn't want to fight Rodger, or tell him this dream. But she didn't know if she wanted to go on. She kept her eyes closed, worried.

 

Rodger enjoyed the warmth of the fire, and at his bowl of boiled jerky, and vegetables. The warm if bland food filled his belly nicely. The sounds of birds and small animals in the forest was a welcome relief. If anything big was stalking them it would probably have scared away the animals.
Kariv was still asleep, so he rinsed out his bowl, banked the fire, and left the small pot of soup hanging over the coals.
Walking into the woods, he spent the next half hour scouting around the campsite looking for any signs of predators or hunters. It seemed clear.
Breathing a sigh of relief he headed back to camp.

 

Kariv heard Rodger leave. she got up straight and smiled. The sky was pitted with clouds and couldn't imagine herself in a better weather. She hummed a tune as she sniffed the soup briefly.
There was an unwanted thud behind her. She turned around, and made a despicable face at what-so-ever creature was ruining the mood. She was relieved to see it was a small rabbit, gnawing at a nut. Kariv giggled and caressed the small creature, unconcerned with the daylight dangers. There was a sudden shadow hovering over her and the rabbit ran away. She raised her futile black eyes and jumped away from the soldier.
"Who are you?"
The soldier did not respond. He pulled out a cross bow and placed it against her forehead.
"Come with me."
"I will not."
"I said, COME WITH ME!"

 

Rodger came from behind a tree pointing his crossbow at the soldier. He'd seen the tall figure through the leaves and wasn't taking any chances.
"Sir, please put your crossbow down," he told the man.
The soldier looked at him, but didn't move the crossbow. "You put your crossbow down and come with me. Unless you want your girl killed," the soldier replied.
Rodger shrugged his shoulders. "I've only known her for one day. You kill her, I kill you. I loot both your corpses and walk away." Rodger paused and lowered his crossbow a little, aiming it at the mans stomach. "Of course, if you do kill her I'll have to carry more, so I will take out that irritation on you. Do you know how long a person can survive with his stomach pierced and bleeding into his guts? I don't, but I would like to find out."

 

Kariv her eyes, glaring at the soldier. Rodger was being smart, but she wasn't sure if this was getting anywhere. For a second she went on to believe that Rodger would really let her die. Which was, actually possible.
"Look," Kariv murmured, "I'm not going anywhere."
The soldier transferred his eyes from Kariv to Rodger and finally put down his crossbow.
"Your turn."
He said as he secured his left hand on his blow horn from behind.

 

"Turn?" Rodger said surprised. "Who said anything about turns. You're my prisoner now"
He raised his crossbow back to the mans chest. "You're going to tell me who you are and keep your hand away from your horn. Unless you want to find just how blood thirsty I really am."
He paused for a second thinking. "Kariv please start packing our bags, we're probably going to need to move quickly. This man doesn't look very smart."

 

Kariv jumped to the service, and swiftly packed both the bags, stopping to eat some of the soup. Hey, she was hungry. The soldier sighed and shook his head, and broke into a maniacal laughter.
"Kill me if you want to, I don't have anything to worry about. If you don't hand over this girl to me you're at loss, not me. They're going to get her anyways. No matter how fat a man tries to save her."
"He's not fat."
Kariv thought out loud, at which the soldier raised an eyebrow.
"I don't really care, Kariv. But, if you want your guardian to live, you ought to hand yourself over."

 

"Hey guy with the crossbow here, demanding answers," Rodger said breaking in. "Is this some kind of family squabble? Dispute between nobles? Some rivalry between girls at school? I'm kind of lost here. But I also have all the important weapons right now. So please, before I decide to release all my frustrations on some inopportune target, explain what this is all about."
Rodger grinned somewhat maniacally as he said this. Acting like a blood thirsty savage had worked so far, and it wasn't hard to put the irritation into his voice.

 

Kariv sighed and looked at the soldier demandingly, and the soldier replied:
"I've given my answer. The girl and everyone's happy. If you like crossbows then remind yourself, you're at loss."
He then cackled and Kariv hit him with a stone.
"Hello grass head, you're just wasting time talking mumbo jumbo. Who are you?"
The soldier's eyes widened.
"You don't know, Kariv? Why it's me...Sylvester."
Kariv's eyes eluded with fear as she gulped down. Not. Him. She shouldn't have forgotten his face...but it had been so long.
"Remember me now?"
He grinned, and turned back to Rodger.
"I guess you still want an 'answer'. Well, have it. I'm from the city of Fars, to arrest Kariv."

 

Rodger shrugged his shoulders again. "Unless she's some insane killer, why should this bother me?" he asked.
"Actually even if she is an insane killer, why should this bother me? Considering the people that I've run into, a common criminal would be a pleasant companion. An insane killer would be a useful tool, provided she's pointed in the right direction." He leaned towards the soldier still keeping well out of reach if he decided to fight. "So tell me why should I care, and not simply nail your head to the ground with a tent peg?"

 

The soldier ran out of words for the moment. Kariv thought hard on exactly the correct penalty for her so-called crime. After a pause, the solider shot back:
"Actually, I never asked you to care, Sir Rodger of Redcliff Keep. I asked you to be reasonable about yourself. Fine, go on, kill me. I won't even move."
The soldier threw out his blow horn and other accessories on the ground.
"Fair, I'm not even hiding anything."

 

"Well since your being so reasonable, please strip," Rodger told him. "I am willing to kill you, but I'd rather not. So we'll just tie you up naked as a jay bird, take all your useful goods, and gag you."
The soldier started to take off his clothes. Rodger stood back waiting to make sure the man did nothing stupid. Finally the man stood in the small clearing naked, shivering a little from the cold.
"Good, now if you would please put your kerchief in your mouth, that should do as a gag. A little uncomfortable I know, but prisoners can't be choosers. As soon as you have done that put your hands out and allow Kariv to tie them. Then lie down and let her tie your feet. If you try anything I will kill you," Rodger warned.
He watched as the man was tied up. Kariv tied some good knots, using the mans clothes and what little rope to bind his limbs. As soon as his were tied, Rodger put the crossbow down, and using the mans pants tied his arms to his sides. He would have trouble moving from that.
Rodger piled the mans possessions into a pile. He grabbed his weapons, helmet, food, money, and a few other useful things. He left the armour, and the boots, they wouldn't fit him.
"Sir it was a pleasure meeting you. If I see you again, I will gladly rob you again, instead of killing you if possible. Good day," he said bowing to the bound man.
As he and Kariv left the field, he turned to her. "So why is the city of Fars looking for you?" he asked.

 

Kariv didn't have a good answer, but she cutely yawned and eyed the sun.
"Long and pathetic story. It wasn't even my fault."
She searched her pokcets for a bunch of mint leaves.
"I killed their Queen and stole a bunch of magical scrolls. I know, not the right thing to do, but I had reasons. I mean, I didn't do it. As always, Virak was behind it. And now she's gotten me into trouble."
Kariv thought over the dream. Was Virak going to get her into trouble? Suddenly a whistle blew in her head. She turned around and ran back to the site of the soldier, feeling the need. Her eyes popped out. He was gone.

 

Rodger stared at the bizarre young girl beside him. Killed a queen, stole magical scrolls, Gods be damned, he thought. What had he gotten himself involved in?
Before he could say anything the girl was running back to the clearing. What was she doing now?
He chased after her, stopping just as suddenly as she did as he saw the soldier had vanished.
"Ok, I am no longer wasting rope on prisoners," he said. "If they keep vanishing I'll just knock them out and turn my back on them for a moment."
He looked at Kariv. "Do you have any idea why this happened?" he asked not really sure if he wanted to know the answer.

 

"If I knew," Kariv started, "I would be in Queen Mortina's chamber eating fish sticks."
She then knelt down and felt the dirt. He hadn't vanished. He had decomposed.
"BUT...I could say that someone cast a magic spell and turned him to dust. I'm standing on his body remains right now. And your rope remains."
She thought hard as to who it was. Suddenly she gagged, and fell to her knees. A weird wind began to blow as she felt an invisible hand on her throat. She tried to look at Rodger and plead for help but everything became fuzzy. She felt her eyes burning as the place became dark.

A moment later she rose and turned towards Rodger, grimacing. He must've looked into her eyes - her eyes were hollow..
"Curse more gods, Rodger. It is such a pleasure to meet you."
It might've been Virak, but it was not. It was worse.
"I have told you, I will dispatch my knights. Maybe you didn't understand. Oh well. I'll count till ten."
Slowly Kariv's body became invisible, and only an echoing sound could be heard.
"One. Two. Three. Eight. Nine. Ten."