10
DEC/21
The Sultan’s guards were all dead, as well as David and Ixen. Vashir, Oni and Arnia moved their friend’s bodies to a safer spot as they considered their options. Oni placed David’s body down and he paused to look at his lifeless face. His eyes seemed to be staring right at Oni. Oni shed no tears for his dead companions, moisture still too important to waste, but he would miss them none the less and he grieved inside. He closed his eyes for a moment and reflected. Unbidden a memory floated to his mind.
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David didn’t need to touch the hieroglyphs on the walls in the room with the statue of Set in order to read them, but he did it anyway, almost reverently. What had started as just a routine deciphering of wall scribbles became something so much more when he realized what he was looking at. It was nice to have time to study it, to take it all in without that ominous portal summoning in monsters non stop.
“This is … Amazing!” He turned to Oni who had been watching him quietly, listening as David interpreted what he saw. “It’s a history lesson. A history lesson about….” He had wanted to say ‘us’ but instead went with “…a lesson about the first heroes who tried to stop the Cult of the Dragon from freeing Tiamat.”
David turned back to the wall and moved to the edge. “It starts here.” David pointed. “The death of Layleighana. Dragon Bane’s first death, by the hand of some goblins.” David continued speaking but his voice changed for the following. “That was before me even. Crickey, it goes all the way back.”
David moved a little and continued in that odd accent that occasionally came forth from David’s lips. “Me and Saudade caught an acid bath here. Bhalgod too, but…” David paused as he examined the wall and turned to Oni. “But someone saved him.” Oni looked David in the eyes as he spoke. It was weird, Oni was sure David had blue eyes, but right now they were green. “You made the right choice, no hard feelings.”
Oni was sure he didn’t know what David was talking about and was confused when reached out and touched his shoulder. “Seriously mate, no hard feelings.” David then winked with those green eyes.
David turned back to the wall and skipped a little ahead. When he spoke his voice was back to normal. “Porter and Thelmar Cuthbert at Stargazer’s castle. The group tried to talk their way in, Bania doing the talking.” David stopped for a moment incredulous. “Bania doing the talking?” Oni thought that David was no longer reading the wall but instead now talking to himself. “That’s crazy!” David said after a moment. David nodded his head as if hearing a voice inside his head say ‘I know, right!’
I think it says “a familiar looking owl, no that’s not right. An owl familiar came through the whirlpool.” His voice was back to normal. In his head, David pondered ‘An owl through the whirlpool, why would an owl go through a whirlpool?”
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Oni shook his head and opened his eyes, driving the memory away. “Crazy David.” Oni muttered.
Vashir, who had been standing nearby said “Yeah, he might have been.”
Oni glanced at Vashir and back at David. “Crazy,” he said again. And yet on some level he wasn’t so sure. And for some unknown reason Oni felt the need to kneel down and turn David over, face down into the desert. He then pulled his knife and sliced David’s shirt from top to bottom and then ripped it open, completely exposing his back. He stared at the Tattoo. “Yeah, crazy.” He said, entirely unconvinced.
The group was then startled to hear a loud “No no no no no!” coming from behind them.
To Be Continued….