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Untitled Document
The great hall of Meridell castle was empty during the daytime
hours, except for the occasional group looking for a spot to congregate. Most
of the peasants and servants were staying away from it, however, as Davarain the
cloud Lupe and his gang of knights had occupied most of the table.
"Tomorrow," the Lupe said, pacing back and forth
before the group, "is the day Echelon betrayed all of knighthood."
There was a rumble of discontent from the assembled
group.
"Tomorrow," he continued, his voice growing
in power, "is the day Echelon destroyed the blessed Princess Amidine out of
hateful revenge."
He stopped pacing and faced the knights, his
eyes filled with fire.
"And tomorrow is the day Echelon escaped the
rightful judgement of our laws into exile!"
The assembled knights roared and banged their
fists on the table. Davarain leaped onto a chair, punching his fist into the
air.
"And tomorrow these wrongs will be avenged!!"
he roared.
The knights leaped to their feet and cheered,
rattling their swords.
Off in a nearby hall, watching from the side,
Jeran shook his head in dismay. He knew that Echelon's current descendent, Tharen
the Draik, was a little unruly at times, bordering on sheer unlawfulness, but
there was no reason to go out and hunt the poor thing down. He stepped forwards
and waited until the knights respectfully fell silent.
"Tharen cannot be held responsible for the actions
of Echelon," he said clearly, his hand resting on his sword.
"He is a stain to our honor," Davarain growled
in response.
"He is no knight, and never will be. And if
you carry out this fool's quest, than you shall be a knight no longer too."
The Lupe knight turned and left, leaving Davarain
and the others in silence. But the cloud Lupe was unfazed. He turned to his
followers, determination showing in his very stance.
"Tomorrow," was all he said.
It was all that was needed.
***
The next morning, on the outskirts of Meridell, a shadow Ixi and white Draik
were making their progress towards Neopia Central, blissfully unaware of the
trouble brewing behind them. The two had spent the night in the dubious cover
of a lone tree, used to sleeping under the stars. They'd reached the border
of Meridell the day before, and were continuing down the road towards Neopia
Central. As they walked, it grew more and more apparent that they were approaching
civilization.
"So what exactly is bughouse?" Mharen finally
asked.
"How should I know?" Tharen replied.
"Well, do you have any guesses?"
"No, I do not. You have already asked me this
eight times now."
The Ixi fell silent for a while. Eventually
the duo reached another road, the dirt one they were traveling on suddenly merging
with a modern-day pavement one. The two stared at it for a long time, then Tharen
hopped off of Mharen's back and rapped the road with his staff.
"It's stone, I guess," he said, bending over
to inspect it.
"Or something of the sorts," Mharen agreed,
walking forwards to stand on the edge of it.
"But which way to Neopia Central?" Tharen asked,
looking up and down both lengths of the road.
"Read the sign, nitwit," his companion replied
with a giggle, pointing to the green sign above their heads.
"Right. This way then."
He climbed back up on Mharen's back and the
two started off again.
It wasn't until after midday that they found
their first sign of life. A car had pulled off onto the side of the road, and
a couple people were gathered around it. Mharen and Tharen approached slowly,
neither having seen a car before.
"Hello!" one of the figures said, waving.
There were two young men, probably around nineteen
or twenty, and a fire Scorchio. The Scorchio stuck close to the side of the
one that had waved, a tall skinny person with spiky light blond hair. The other
was not as skinny, with close-cropped brown hair. He was standing in front of
the car with the hood up, hands folded across his chest and staring at the steaming
engine in irritation.
"Greetings," Tharen replied nervously.
"So, what are you two doing out here in the
middle of nowhere?" the one with the Scorchio asked.
"We're going to Neopia Central."
"Indeed, we are from Meridell."
"That explains a lot," the Scorchio said.
"Okay then. I'm Sabreur, this is my pet Infernus,
and that there is Steve."
"I am Mharen and my companion is Tharen."
"Good to meet you. Know anything about cars?"
The two merely stared at him blankly.
"Guess not then. Erm, it's our form of a wagon.
Only a lot faster. Anyway, what are you going to Neopia Central for?"
"Chess tournament!"
Steve's head snapped up at the mention of chess.
"S-so are we," he said with a trace of a stutter.
"Really? What's bughouse then?"
"It's a partner game," Sabreur explained, "one
person plays white, the other black. Every time you take a piece, you give it
to your partner. They can then move normally, or place a new piece on the board.
The game continues until side loses."
"I-I'm going to c-compete with S-s-sabreur."
"Yep. And you two are together, I assume."
"We are," Tharen said, then hesitated. Mharen
smoothly took up the conversation.
"May we travel with you?"
"Of course, if we can get the car started."
"We need a j-jump."
There was silence from the group until Infernus
walked over.
"Stand back," he directed to everyone.
The group moved away, and Infernus leaped into
the air. There was a crackle, then a lightning bolt shot out and struck the
battery in a blinding flash of light. Sabreur staggered over to the now humming-car,
rubbing at his eyes.
"Infernus…" he said weakly.
"Hey, I got it started, don't complain."
"With a GRAND LIGHTING BEAM?!"
The Scorchio just shrugged.
Mharen and Tharen discovered little else about
their new companions. They all had clambered back into the car, the three pets
squeezing into the back seat. Steve took the front, and Sabreur drove. The group
didn't talk much, as Mharen and Tharen had never rode in a car before, and consequently,
it was all they could do to keep from being carsick.
***
Illusen stood at the edge of the forest, invisible to normal eyes. In the
distance, a group of knights led by a cloud Lupe slowly vanished from sight.
She'd done her best to deter them, but eventually they had picked up the trail
of Mharen and Tharen. 'I should have at least tried to hide it better,' she
thought ruefully, quite surprised at the determination of this group of knights.
None of the previous groups had ever been so stubborn about hunting the duo
down. She waited until they were completely out of sight, then reluctantly returned
to her home in the center of the forest. Mharen and Tharen were on their own
now, she could only hope that they managed to elude the knights.
"Neopia Central is a big place," she said out
loud, "they won't find the two."
She could only wish she felt as confident as
she sounded.
***
The group of two humans, three pets, reached Neopia Central in late afternoon.
"The tournament starts tomorrow," Sabreur told
them, "so if you want, you can spend the night at my house. I've got room… kind
of."
"We are truly grateful," said Tharen, looking
more green than white after several hours in the car.
Sabreur pulled up into the driveway of a modest
house, about four rooms wide with an outer wall not unlike a castle. The group
got out and looked it over in amazement.
"T-the neighbors must t-think you you… are crazy."
Sabreur merely grinned at his friend.
"Believe me, after the first couple explosions
from my lab, they are grateful for this wall. And besides, I like the castle
look. It's definitely not as odd as some houses around here," he replied, nodding
towards the jelly house near the end of the block.
Mharen and Tharen enjoyed their time with Sabreur;
especially exploring his lab. Sabreur, for his part, hovered over their shoulders
anxiously, repeating his admonition not to touch anything every couple minutes.
However, once Steve started fiddling with his latest project, he lost all interest
in keeping an eye on the Draik and Ixi and instead joined Steve who was in the
process of an amazing breakthrough. Around the time the two started talking
about re-calibrating the electromagnetic field that kept the reactor stable,
the pair decided it would be wise to leave. They found Infernus in the living
room, watching the clock and whistling.
"What are you doing?" Mharen asked nervously.
"Just wait."
Five minutes later there was a terrific explosion.
"A new record," Infernus muttered, "I'm going
to go check to see if anyone's hurt."
To be continued...
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