Unwanted Adventure

February 5th?

We reached the outskirts of the Hawk Clan yesterday. Their scouts took one look at the spear Aaron was carrying and quickly placed themselves as our guides and protectors, the Wolf Clan escort taking their leave. We completely bypassed the Hawk main camp and headed straight for The Crown Prince’s encampment.

The Crown Prince, who we’ve since learned is named Ahrian, has been trying to unite the barbarian tribes together to fight the Taranian forces; according to our guides only the Hawk, Lion, and Serpent clans have joined with Ahrian’s troops, while the Wolf, Fox, and Elk clans maintain their independence and the Bear clan is still scattered and decimated.

The Prince’s encampment is actually the partially rebuilt ruins of an old military fort; I have no idea how old it is, but the repairs are very extensive. The men guarding the entrance took one look at Sasha and let us in, a man in similar uniform but with a silver cord around his left bicep greeting us and escorting us to a waiting room. Sasha was escorted elsewhere, and supposedly we are waiting for Ahrian to grant us an audience.

All the while I feel like something isn’t right here. I get the feeling like something bad is about to happen, though what I can’t say.

Survival First.


“What do they know, do you think?” Ahrian lounged back in his chair, idly sifting through the various maps and reports on the table before him. His second-in-command, a major by the name of Grey stood on the other side of the table, his hands held loosely behind his back.

“Hard to say, milord,” Grey replied. “Your bride to be has little to say on the matter, though we have received several reports that indicate Kraiv’s men are hunting them for kidnapping his daughter.”

“Interesting.” Ahrian began to roll up the maps, looking up at Grey as he did so. “Send them in,” he said. “And prepare rooms for them. Make sure to take special care in accommodating their needs, hmm?”

Grey nodded in understanding. Sasha’s companions were not to survive the night.

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“So you are the people I must thank for brigning Sasha to me safely,” Ahrian said as HC and his group entered the room. HC took care to examine Ahrian as he entered; the prince was in his late twenties, well built, rugged but not handsome, with short dark hair and eyes as gray and hard as steel. It was obvious to HC that this was not a man to take lightly.

“We are,” HC replied, “Though in truth we made the last part of this trek on luck.”

“Indeed,” Ahrian replied, smiling slightly. The smile made HC nervous; it was not a grateful smile or one of amusement, but a cold, calculating smile that indicated a plan going off smoothly. “Please, tell me how this came about. Sasha was supposed to have been traveling under the care of her father’s secret forces; it disturbs me that she arrived and they did not.”

HC pondered for moment, then began to relate the story as truthfully as possible, omitting their own story and anything that he thought might give Ahrian an insight to their own abilities. When HC got to the point of the story where Sasha revealed Kraiv’s plans, Ahrian’s eyes grew dark; HC suppressed a smile at this.

“Your highness,” HC said, “Kraiv’s men already set up one ambush, which we only narrowly escaped. That indicates to us that this story of his treachery is no laughing matter. If it were not true, he would have nothing to fear from people like us. It would be our word against his, and who would the king believe?”

“You speak the truth,” Ahrian replied. “I know my father, and he trusts Kraiv explicitly; that is the only reason this ploy has worked thus far. I thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now if you will excuse me I have affairs to attend to; Major Grey will show you to the rooms prepared for you.”

“You are a most gracious host, your highness,” HC said, following Grey out the door.

“Not as much as people think,” Ahrian said when they were through the door and gone from hearing distance. “Some would claim quite the opposite.”

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“Nice use of diplomacy there,” Nicole said when she and HC were in their room.

“It’s a class skill,” HC said with a smile. He noted the confused look on Nicole’s face and remembered she wasn’t familiar with the games like he was, laughing at himself for forgetting. “Just nod and smile honey. I’m just rambling.” He paced a circuit around the room, taking it in. It was a small room, perhaps twenty feet by fifteen, and the furniture was Spartan. Yet despite its simplicity, HC noticed a few disturbing complexities about the room.

“Honey, start casting some defensive spells,” he said. “Our situation is about to get ugly, real quick.”

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“So Kraiv planned to have me killed, is that it?”

Sasha refused to look at the man to whom she was promised, a man who, in her mind, was no less a monster than her father. Though she was in some of the most lavish quarters this base had to offer, she was still a prisoner with armed guards stationed outside her door.

“What would it have been, do you think?” Ahrian continued. “Poison? A ‘hunting accident’? Perhaps an assassin who would conveniently be a zealous follower of my father’s?”

“Whatever his plan was,” Ahrian said, “it doesn’t matter anymore. Kraiv is my father’s only competent general; if I reveal this plot, my father will lose trust in Kraiv and then my armies will be victorious. I have to thank you, Sasha. Not only have you given me the key to deciding this war, you will also give me the key to securing the throne by giving me an heir. Speaking of which, the sooner the better…”

Sasha gasped in surprise as Ahrian grabbed her and quickly secured her hands behind her back with one of his own. Leading her roughly to the bed, he threw her down and was straddling her before she could get away. Holding her arms above her head with one hand, Ahrain drew a dagger with the other. “Do try not to struggle,” he said as he began to cut away her dress. “I’d hate for you to cause yourself any unnecessary harm. She screamed when Ahrain ripped the tatters of her dress fully off, leaving her body completely exposed. Sasha struggled against him as he forced one knee between her legs and spread them apart, crying out for help that wouldn’t come as his hands forcefully grabbed at her breasts and trailed down her body…

The guards outside ignored the cries they heard from inside the room. They knew their prince’s tastes and had stood guard during similar episodes with whores brought in from the city and abducted farm women. Eventually the screams and cries died away, just as they always did. Ahrian exited the room, nodding to them as he always did. And they continued to stand guard without concern for the woman within the chambers, as they always did.

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Kurin, they were called on their home plane. To common people they were hellhounds. They were rumored to be immune to fire, resistant to magic, and untouchable by weapons without powerful enchantments. It was said that they would never stop hunting once they had a scent, and that their ferocity once they cornered their prey was unmatched by anything in all the dimensions.

They were all of this, and yet they cowered before Aaron, the spear given to him by the Wolf God glowing with a fierce blue light. They had come out of a hidden door into his room and the warrior had grabbed his spear to combat them, only to have them shirk back at the sight of his weapon. Aaron could feel their fear, sense their acceptance of his superiority, their acknowledgement of him as an alpha. He glared at them and they shuddered, he commanded them to sit, and they sat back on their haunches.

“Go back to whoever sent you,” he growled. “Do to them what you would have done to me and my companions. Tell any others to do the same.”

Eager to follow their alpha’s command and to leave the presence of the spear, the kurin turned and fled back into the secret passages from which they had come.

Outside in the corridor Aaron found his friends, all except for Jake. “He’s not in his room and there are two dead hounds in their,” HC was saying. “He must have gone after Sasha. I’m not leaving without my brother, and we may have to save Sasha too. Any objections?” The others shook their heads, and as one they tore down the hall towards the center of the keep.