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Date Posted: 19:38:18 01/29/02 Tue
Author: Corum, Valhorek, & Erlic
Subject: An end, nonetheless
In reply to: Ravin 's message, "Go fish!" on 13:09:45 01/29/02 Tue

Corum stood, and watched as the violent storm, lightning, and everything else finally came to a halt. He had seen this once before in Neromba, and knew it had something to do with Marz, although he wasn’t too sure on the details. What he did know for sure that it usually left the ex-gang leader quite drained, and sometimes in a coma, depending on how badly he got injured.

His only recourse, at least for now, was to watch over his friend. He had warned Tristan about not touching the youth, and had hoped that the dragon listened to him. Even though Tristan was hovered over his friend, he still planned on sticking around to make sure Val got to him.

Slowly, the others returned to the camp, each of them taking in the devastation that had occurred, and each wondering what had caused it. Although he knew Marz had nothing to do with any of this, he did know that he was somehow connected to it.

Valhorek was kneeling next to Marz, now that enough time had elapsed for the youth to cool off. He used his psychic powers, and was amazed at the amount of internal damage Marz had suffered. “Corum, go get me some cold water for Marz,” the healer asked. Corum immediately went off, and eventually returned with a pail filled with cool water. The healer had repaired the veins in Marz’s head that had burst during this unseen attack on the youth. He examined the youth’s chest and noticed first degree burns over most of his chest. Still stunned at how anything could have happened to the youth, the healer started to spread the salve over the area in hopes of reducing the swelling, and avoiding any infection.

He noticed a worried look over Tristan’s face, and decided it was time to let the man know how his friend was. “Right now,” Valhorek began. “Marz is in a coma. I don’t know how long he’ll be in this state, but I’m hoping that if we keep him in a shaded area, and continue to apply cold compresses to his face, and arms, hopefully he might wake from this.”

The healer looked around for an area to lay Marz down when Corum piped up. “Hey,” the youth stated. “I’ve got a magic tent that I bought in one of the cities. I’ll go set it up over there by the trees. That way, you and Tristan can carry Marz there.”

Valhorek nodded as Corum ran off to the appointed site, placed the pebble on the ground, stated the magic word, and watched in amazement as it transformed itself into a very nice, and comfortable large tent. He quickly grabbed Marz’s sleeping back, and opened it up. By that time, Val, with Tristan’s help, had carried the youth inside the tent. Tristan informed Corum that he’d be staying with Marz. The healer explained to the dragon to simply keep applying the cold compresses to keep the youth cool. Valhorek left to attend to the others.

Corum was about to leave before he turned to Tristan. “Hey,” Corum stated. “You’ll need to eat at some time, as well as rest. I can always take over for you when you want. Marz is my friend too, you know.”

The dragon nodded as Corum left the tent, coming into contact with Barry. The skull had asked him if he was all right. “You betcha Barry,” Corum answered. “Ain’t nothing gonna keep me down, if you know what I mean.” The youth looked at the skull, and wondered for a moment. “You know what Barry? You need a little decoration on you. Like how about an earring? I think it would give you a little finesse, coolness, if you get my drift. What do you say? We’ve got some time to kill.” Corum waited for Barry to reply. After all, he had gotten rather attached to the infamous skull, and he really enjoyed Barry’s company, even though he hadn’t showed it in the past.

When Valhorek returned, he started work on Isobel’s leg. The woman told him it would be fine, and as usual, Valhorek simply smiled, and proceeded to do what he thought was best. He cleaned the wound carefully. The gash wasn’t too severe, but it would need stitches.

He noticed that she was still dressed in her beautiful outfit that the Jann had given her, and for once he found it a bit difficult to concentrate. Now that he was this close to her, he couldn’t help but notice her charms. He quickly chastised himself since he had to heal her first, and possibly think later.

He numbed the area where he was going to apply the sutures, and waited for them to take affect. He applied very tiny stitches, which after a while wouldn’t leave any mark on her beautiful thigh. What was he thinking? He finally finished, and applied a salve to cleanse, and prevent future infection. He then wrapped it in clean bandages. He turned to face her, and simply stared into her eyes. “You’ll….be fine,” he somewhat stammered. “Just stay off the leg for a while, or if necessary I can fashion a staff for you to lean on.” He then handed her a tiny back with herbs in it. “Take this with tea, or hot water to insure good healing.”

He shook his head, and decided he better get to the others before they died. He now understood why it was the others looked at her in such away. She was truly a beautiful woman, but then, he had also seen how spirited she could get, and decided get his mind off of her for the moment.

Val noticed the bruise on Ravin’s arm, and decided to tend to it, despite Ravin’s assurance that it was only a scratch. “Ravin,” Valhorek stated quite pleasantly. “Why don’t you let me earn my keep?” With that he cleaned the wound, applied a salve, and bandaged it, knowing well it would heal in no time.

He had heard that Argus had made a valiant attempt to help in the fight against the assassins, and checked on the man. Fortunately, he had suffered a mild concussion, and Val gave him an herbal concoction, lifting up the man’s face to facilitate in his drinking since he was unconscious. Given a few hours, the man would soon wake. He might suffer a slight headache, but that would be all.

The healer waited to see if any of the others needed his assistance.

**************************


Erlic watched as the rest of his friends helped finish off the assassins. When he was assured that they had made it back to camp safely, he turned to survey the area to insure there were no more opponents left. He pulled out a clean cloth, and wrapped it around his bleeding arm. He retrieved the shurikens he had thrown, and made sure his sword was clean.

The guild master went from body to body, checking each for special weapons, poisons, and whatever other items could be useful to him. Now that he was alone, it was better for him to scope out the area just in case. Before, the assassins had an easy mark with people in various places at the same time, rather then grouped together as they were now at the camp. If the assassin couldn’t hit one mark, there would be another mark available to him. Perhaps that wasn’t their initial intent, but they had managed to show just how deadly they could be.

Erlic walked around the lake with sword drawn, listening for the slightest sound that might be cause for suspicion. Eventually he was satisfied. They must have killed the rest of the assassins. If that were the case, and these men never reported back, others would eventually follow in pursuit to take over where these men had left off.

Sheathing his sword, Erlic proceeded to walk back to the camp. He conversed momentarily with Val on the condition of his student. There was nothing he could do for Marz in his present condition but wait. He spotted Ravin hefting some fish, and asking if anyone wanted to help him scale them. Since everything was under control, at least for the moment, Erlic approached his friend. “Scale away, and I’ll prepare them,” Erlic stated.

Once Ravin had finished scaling the fish, Erlic proceeded to filet the fish, an art that his mentor had taught him. He was able to cut off the head, and then slice on either side of the spine of the fish so that no bones would be present when one went to eat the fish. Of course, some of the tinier bones would be present, but they were harmless. He dug into his backpack, and found just what he needed. He pulled out a pouch of rice, ginseng, and various herbs as he placed the fish into a pan. He managed to fry up the rice along with the fish, applying a special mixture of herbs, and juices that would give flavor to the fish. Actually it was a secret recipe given to him by one of his master’s friends, and one that he had enjoyed several times; that is, when he had the time to cook.

Once the fish, and rice were finished, he poured a thick, almost syrupy type of liquid over them. It wasn’t sweet, but on the other hand it wasn’t sour, but it added a very nice taste to the dinner. He picked up two plates, and carried them over to where Laurel was sitting, giving her one of the plates. “I hope you’re hungry after that battle,” Erlic stated handing her the plate. Once he finished passing out the rest of the dinner, he sat back down to enjoy the fish. The fish had just the right touch of lemon, herbs, and sauce, and he was quite content with its outcome. Of course he was raised on this type of food, and wondered how the others would react to it. He really didn’t have to worry since they had enough of other foodstuffs to go around.

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