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Date Posted: 10:17:37 02/25/02 Mon
Author: Marz
Subject: Finding a stream
In reply to: Marz 's message, "This kitchen is a popular place!" on 10:14:25 02/22/02 Fri

Marz felt his blood start to boil again when Erlic spoke of the deaths and injuries that occurred at the tavern. He felt only a touch of regret for the twenty-five innocent people who had lost their lives. Their deaths didn't affect him much at all since they were faceless, nameless patrons of the tavern. No doubt they had family and friends to mourn them and seek revenge. Marz was tormented enough by the senseless slaughter of Rooster and Marna; a pretty barmaid he would flirt with occasionally. He cared nothing about Nicklar's injury, yet the news of Josh nearly losing his hand made red sparks of anger flash within his eyes once again.

His hand tightened its grip on Tristan's knee as he continued to listen to Erlic. Secretly, he hoped that Tegol would send some of his minions to Neromba because he looked forward to ramming his sword into their black hearts. He wouldn’t achieve complete satisfaction though, until every drop of blood was drained from the body of Tegol Denair. The crimelord had gone too far this time, and if Marz got his way, he would make him pay with a slow, agonizing death. There would be no pleasure in killing Tegol swiftly.

A frown crossed his face when Erlic mentioned that Tegol's men might try to capture, rather than kill them. It suddenly dawned on him that the crimelord would use Tristan to control him if he knew how deeply Marz loved the dragon. The thought instantly drained all the color from his face. He now understood why Erlic kept hinting that it would be wise for the others to stay out of their battle. His sensai was also fearful that Tegol would use their friends to hurt them. Marz knew that the crimelord was a man of rash actions, but he had some damn good advisors who might suggest kidnapping the loved ones of Tegol's main targets in order to get them to submit to his will.

Tristan, who wanted to speak with him in private, pulled Marz from his thoughts. Quietly, he followed his lover from the room and watched him pace a little before leaning back against a wall. Since Marz wasn't in a humorous mood, he was surprised to hear Tristan ask him not to laugh at him. What was there to laugh about anyway?

"I want to tell you that it's not just your fight," the dragon said, his hand reaching down to the sword at his hip. "It'll never be just your fight anymore. Anyone who tries to hurt you hurts me in return."

Marz nodded his understanding although he had to agree with the suggestion Erlic hinted at earlier. It would be best if Tristan and the others stayed away from Kazabet's palace in case Tegol had his minions in position there. He was about to mention that when Tristan cut him off by saying he looked like hell. The ex-gang leader glanced down at the much too large shirt he wore, along with his bloodied, torn pants. After agreeing with Tristan's assessment that there had to be a cistern or well around, Marz ran into the kitchen to retrieve his pack from the counter. "Let's have a look around," he quipped when he rejoined Tristan in the hall.

They came upon more bedrooms and a storage area before finding stone steps leading down from a room on the first floor of the tower. Moss covered the walls to the sides of the stairs, and the vague flickering of light could be seen coming from far below them. They gripped the hilts of their swords as they slowly made their way down at least fifty steps. A smile came to Marz's face when they reached a stream running through an underground cavern, lit by oil lanterns that had been set upon the ground in a number of areas.

"Looks like the Sharm were here recently," he said, glancing at the light sources before turning his eyes to the water. He moved closer to cup some into his hands, splashing it over his face an instant later. "It's no hot spring," Marz chirped. He stripped off his clothing, pulled a cake of soap from his bag then stepped into the stream, the initial shock of the cold water making his shiver. Moving as quickly as possible, he lathered up his body and hair then rinsed all traces of blood and soap away before climbing out of the stream. He squeezed the moisture from his hair, drying off his body with the too large shirt before hurrying into clean garments he withdrew from his pack.

Marz felt quite refreshed by the time he took a seat beside Tristan near one of the lanterns. "What if Eremis told Tegol about my love for you?" he blurted out, while staring off into the distance. "It that bastard gets his hands on you, Tris, he'll try to use you to bend me to his will."

He threw his arm around the dragon, pulling him close. "I'd go raking crazy if he hurt you!" They shared a tender kiss before Marz pulled back to gaze into the dark eyes of his lover. "Maybe Erlic's right. You and the others should stay out of this. I can handle any amount of torture that Tegol might dish out to me, but I'd fall apart if he were hurting you to get to me instead. I think you guys should hang back and let me, Erlic and, and Ravin approach Kazabet's palace alone since we're the only ones that Tegol really wants."

Marz turned to face Tristan, both hands coming to rest on the dragon's thighs. "The three of us might be able to fight off any men Tegol happens to have around the palace. If we can't, and we're captured then teleported to Bizmar, we'll only have ourselves to worry about. It would be a lot easier on us, knowing the people we care about are safe."

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