Author's Note:

Did some edits to Chap7. Wasn't able to do any of the ones after it. (As of 14/4/16)

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Strozazand scratched at the azure stubble growing along his chin, and thought about Kegar's betrayal. He felt conflicted. On the one hand, Sir Wilbur had made Kegar the leader of their group. Strozazand respected Sir Wilbur a great deal and valued the old man's judgment, even when it irked him. On the other hand, Kegar had literally thrown him into harms way to save his own skin. That was cowardly. He didn't care for cowards much. Strozazand knew that dargons didn't generally have much use for knights, but he found their nobility intriguing.

            He kept pace behind Finos, deep in thought, Of course, I lived through the experience… I'm a dargon after all. But as the shadows had closed around his vision, while he was being strangled, he had felt the hot sun of the southern wastelands warm his back and breathe new life into him. Cole had intervened on his behalf and that was out of character for the sun priest. He is also a coward, but at least he tries to overcome himself. That knowledge warmed Strozazand. He liked knowing that his friend was growing as a man.

            These were very deep thoughts for Strozazand and he didn't have time to think about them while they were skulking through the basement of the keep. Unfortunately, they were things he needed to think about right now because it impacted how he would handle the rest of the day… And the days to come.

            He sighed deeply. His steps were sullen as he trudged. Finos was searching everywhere he could reach for traps, which unfortunately ended about five feet up the wall. They had stopped multiple times for Finos to disarm this trap or that.

            The stone was dark and blended into the gloom. Stroz's moonlight rod glowed strongly, illuminating the walls, but the walls were uneven and cast strange shadows. Finos stepped carefully down the empty hallway. Halfway down the hall, the left wall turned from stone to steel cell bars. They were ill-fitting and appeared to have been taken from another location and forced into the stone. Inside the cell were the broken husks of wagons that appeared to have been dropped from a height.

            Finos stopped and pointed to the ceiling of the prison, "See the seams there are the ceiling?"

            Strozazand did not, but he didn't want Finos to think badly about him. Dargons should have good vision. I'll have to work on that. "Yeah. Is that a trap door?"

            Finos nodded, "It is. I'm thinking that the orcs we killed outside were the ambush left for the traders, who after slaughtering the guards would force the merchants to drive the wagons to the keep. Somewhere above us is a section of the flooring that opens up and drops those wagons in here."

            Stroz eyed Finos, "Why do you think they left the merchants alive?"

            Finos pointed at one of the wagons, "See the right wheel? I can see human bones over there."

            Strozazand approached the cell. Sure enough, there were bones with a torn and bloody shirt. The cloth looked expensive and the bones could have been human, but Stroz didn't know. He had never cared much about clothing, after all, he barely wore pants. He couldn't tell the difference among bones either. It had never been a necessary skill before. Something else to learn, I guess.

            Stroz looked over his shoulder at the rest of the group. There was a heated… discussion… going on about whether Kegar should have berated Katrina the way he did. Stroz met Finos' eyes and shrugged. It seemed like no one was listening to the direction Finos was giving about the traps.

            This wasn't strictly true. Ellen was listening quite closely to what Finos was saying, but she was near the back of the group because she was bringing up the rear and waiting for Katrina. Since she was near the back of the group, Kegar was arguing so vociferously, and Finos wasn't speaking loudly she couldn't hear everything he was saying.

            Ellen glanced over at Mary, who was walking next to her, and shrugged. The benefit of being in the back was that they had more time to react if something came from the front. Since Katrina and Cole were behind them, they knew nothing would actually be coming from behind, but Ellen was insistent that the group set a precedent for how they wanted to continue.

            They continued on through a few more rooms. Chairs were overturned and mugs of ale spilled across tables. Stroz sniffed one of the overturned mugs, then touched the spilled liquid with his finger, "This ale is still cold. It was freshly poured."

            Finos nodded sadly at the waste, "And even more freshly knocked over. What a shame."

            Percival slipped through the melee behind them and sniffed the ale, "This is Southern Kingdom ale. It's very expensive. There is no way the orcs could have gotten their filthy hands on it legally. Obviously, it came from one of the wagons they raided."

            Finos righted one of the mugs, "This was spilled after our fight with the troll. It would be warm if it were older. Maybe a few minutes out of the cask."

            Stroz smiled wistfully, "I'd love to take their cask, even if it is only partially full."

            Percival nodded in agreement, "It's a sin that they spilled it so carelessly."

            Finos went to the door in the wall opposite from the one they had come through. It was locked. This was strange because it was the only door that had been locked. In fact, it was the only door they had come through that was shut. Finos hiked up his belt and approached the lock. After a few tedious moments of searching for traps around the lock, he began the process of unlocking the door.

            Percival was dragged back into the argument when Lizzy demanded that he agree with her and back her up. Stroz half listened as Percival hedged his words. Stroz felt bad for the southerner. Lizzy isn't going to let him stay neutral and Kegar won't tolerate anyone disagreeing with him. A part of him thought maybe he should back Lizzy up, but… it sounds more like a lover's quarrel and I want no part of that.

            Stroz waited behind Finos as the halfling picked the lock, Finos' ear was pressed against the door, listening for the tumblers. His face was red and he was cursing softly. "Damn people won't shut the hell up…"

            Kegar continued to argue with Lizzy about his behavior with Katrina. Stroz couldn't hear what Lizzy was saying because she was speaking in a hushed tone, but Kegar had no problem raising his voice. Stroz had no patience for that sort of argument. Which was why he was at the front of the party with Finos. The tumblers clicked into place and the door swung open.

            Finos and Stroz looked into a room with four orcs standing, waiting for them on the other side. One of the orcs was a black-green, one was a cherry red, one was the yellow of decayed flesh and the last was a pale, powder blue. The blue orc held a ornate staff in both his hands, the staff glowed a sour blue that looked sickly. The yellow had a bow strung, but no arrows knocked. It was very obviously a trap. Finos pointed out arrow slits in the right-hand wall.

            Kegar shouldered his way toward the front, "Go on, Finos." he said impatient.

            "It's a trap, Kegar." Finos said, stepping into Stroz and away from the doorway. "Whoever goes into that room will be shot by the archers hiding behind the arrow slits. Whoever is left alive will be wiped out by the orcs."

            Shandra pointed at the doorway, "Does anyone else see that shimmer around the doorway?"

            The yellow orc whispered to the black-green orc, his pitch too low for the party to hear, "Can I just shoot these idiots? Can't they see us standing here?"

            Shandra pushed up her glasses and continued on, "It appears to be an anti-magic field. Anything cast into the room will be undone."

            Percival blanched, "Can we work around it?"

            The black-green orc grumbled back, "Stick to the plan."       

            "Well," Shandra continued, "that depends. The field could just cover the doorway so we can't cast into the room. Alternatively, it could envelop the entire room, preventing any magic from being cast even after we enter." She glanced at Faute, who shrugged, "If that's the case, we won't be of much help."

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            Stroz was a charge in kind of guy, but he didn't have dargon hide yet. Which meant that an arrow, or more likely a crossbow bolt, would ruin his day. He eyed the orcs suspiciously. Stroz didn't know much about orcs, but he thought they were charge in kind of guys too. He was disappointed.

            Ellen had been making her way towards the doorway. When she was close, she drew back the arrow she had already knocked and fired. The arrow flew about two feet before becoming entangled in the air. The arrow hung there for a moment before dropping.

            Kegar, still arguing with Lizzy, looked over just in time to see Ellen fire. He grimaced at the anti-magic field. "If Katrina hadn't given us away, this trap might not have been here!"

            The blue orc leaned toward the yellow and whispered something. The two started laughing. The blue orc laughed so hard that his staff fell from his grip, which earned him a smack from the black-green orc. Since no one was focusing on the problems that were in front of them, or at least no one who could see magic, no one noticed that when the blue orc dropped his staff the anti-magic field that glimmered around the edges of the door disappeared for a moment before he picked his staff back up.

            While Faute was asserting her agreement with the dwarf, Lizzy snapped at Kegar, "If you hadn't given us all away after the first battle they might not be here either!" She gripped her lute with white knuckles.

            The argument was spreading to other members of the group as the chief arguers, Kegar and Lizzy pulled additional people in. This excluded Faute, who had invited herself into the fight. The volume increased as they continued to bicker, with no one taking responsibility and everyone pointing fingers. Stroz couldn't think with everyone yelling. We have these guys in front of us, why can't we deal with them?

            The orcs who had been smirking and laughing at the group were growing impatient with every passing minute. Frankly, so was Stroz.

            One of the orcs; larger than the rest, with black-green skin and armor that covered him in brilliant feathers, took a step forward and garbled at him. The orcs language sounded like he was grunting underwater. Strozazand had never heard a language so… stupid sounding. He was shocked to realize he understood it.

            "What are you cowards waiting for? Wait or don't wait, death will find you. Come and let us be done with this so we can clean your pink blood off our swords and be done!" The leader snarled.

            One of the others laughed, "Those pink skins will die and be butchered like the swine they are!"

            The group laughed, but the leader was watching Strozazand. "Do you understand us, pink skin?"

            "How could I not with the way you babble? You sound like small dogs barking for attention!" For a language that sounded so barbaric, Stroz was surprised by how civilized it was.

            The orc leader scowled. "Why don't you come out here and say that to my face, pink skin!"

            Stroz laughed, "Why would I want to come close? You're so ugly I'll probably go blind!"

            The leader clenched his fists, a low rumble emanated from his chest. Another one of the orcs, the much shorter red one, moved to step forward, but the leader put his hand out stopping him. "No, he is baiting us." A cruel smile pulled at his lips, "Smart, pink skin." He fixed his glare on the red orc who had stepped forward. "Let them come to us. From their shouting, we know they cannot go backward. Either they will come, or they will starve."

            The orcs responded in one voice, "Yes, master!"

            The leader turned back to Strozazand, "Pink skin, you are smart. Unfortunately, your friends are not, so you will die. However, I will give you the honor of knowing the name of the one who will kill you." With a dramatic sweep of his arm, he announced, "I am Grugnark the Smasher!" He hefted his club above his head, "And you will have the honor of dying by my hand!"

            Stroz frowned. These orcs seem certain of themselves for dung-sucking orcs. There has to be some kind of way to outsmart them! He thought about what he had seen and what had been done. The anti-magic was a problem since it effectively turned Shandra and Faute into pretty women instead of assets. The field stopped magic, but he didn't breath by magic. His breath was an innate ability of a dargon. Maybe he could solve this himself!

            A smiled curled upward from his lips, "You shit-eating dogs will regret messing with me! I'm Strozazand the Dargonman and you will die by my hand!" Stroz took a deep breath, he felt the fire stirring pleasantly in his belly, hungry to be called upon.

            The orc leader's, Grugnark's, brow scrunched in confusion for a moment before relaxing, "Perhaps you should look at your fellow pink skins before you gloat."

            Stroz looked over his shoulder at his friends. He had tuned out their shouting and so hadn't noticed how heated the argument had become. His attention turned just in time to watch Kegar yell, "Mary, you blue skinned idiot! You don't have good ideas and you can't!" He shoved her, hard. She stumbled backward into Stroz, knocking him off balance - into the room and through the anti-magic field.

            Grugnark laughed, his laughter echoed through Stozazand's mind as an arrow struck him in the back. The tip of the arrow protruded from his stomach. The hooked arrowhead had caught his intestines and sliced them open. The smell of spilled bowels spilled into the air. Stroz marveled, seeing his insides outside.

            Mary's face drained of blood. "Stroz!" Her hand stretched out for him, but when her hand passed across the anti-magic line an arrow pierced it. She jerked her hand back across the line.

            Ellen snapped the arrow and pulled it out.

            Another arrow wizzed by, missing Stroz as he stumbled, before a third arrow hit his thigh. He fell to his knees and turned his head toward the orc leader, Grugnark. He drew in a rattling breath as another arrow thudded into his back. He spat flaming oil at the smiling orc.

            Stroz smiled as the screams of the orcs reached his ears. His head lolled to the side, Mary and Ellen were running out to him. The arrows were streaming toward them.

            Perhaps it was the blood loss or the imminent death leering at him, but he saw the wind streams the arrows created and the shimmering of the fletching. Even knowing he was going to die, he was more horrified to see his sister about to die. Especially, in a vain attempt to save him.

            Fear laced through him and with it came pain. His back tore itself open and great, blue wings burst forth. His wings shimmered in the light of the moon rods, sparkling and turning the light of the room a brilliant blue. Stroz's wings exploded out and surrounded Ellen and Mary. His wings cradled them like a mother hen's her chick. Arrows thudded into the great leather and scale wings, but couldn't penetrate.

            The last thing he saw before his vision darkened into nothingness was Mary and Ellen cupped in his dargon wings. I knew I would get my wings… The shrieking of the orcs still echoed in his ears. He couldn't focus until he heard Mary's voice, "Strozazand! Stay with me!"

            Even as his skin grew cold and weak, he felt his body prickle as if a storm were rolling through the room. His flesh was reacting to the electricity coursing through the room, electrocuting the orcs who were already burning but his eyes were already blind and he couldn't see the fruits of his flames or the late coming help of Cole and Katrina.

            The screams of his friends bounced of his fading mind. He couldn't hear them call his name, or their attempts to come to his aid. Just as his eyes had faded, so did his other senses until all he had left was his final words.

            He smiled, blood spilling out of his mouth. "I saved you." but his words were nothing but a gurgle and the arrow that perforated his lungs rattled tearing him up. He tried to gasp a breath, but choked on his blood and died.