The Courage of an Alliance

Chapter 9

The sky was grey and the mist was flowing through the docks. A Zaishen boat slowly came to one of the docks, then stopped. Paul, Griffin and Feliks stepped out and looked around.
"This isn´t good, Taby and Mystery said they would meet us here." Said Paul.
"Well that isn´t the worst part, the celebration starts today!" Griffin added. Taby and Mystery weren´t there because their plan didn´t go too well. At that moment Mystery was at the Imperial Palace preparing for the celestial ceremony, and Taby was with Seiuchi at the Jade Brotherhood base. The three adventurers looked around the docks for a clue of where to go. As they looked, Paul noticed a paper attached to a wooden pole.

These two criminals have performed a number of crimes, starting with betraying the Kurzicks and giving secret information to the Luxons. We still are not sure of what information they have given, but Count Jun Heltzer has guaranteed that the Luxons are aware of his "Plans". The Count attempted to capture one of the criminals, Taby Cat, but was beaten due to his inability to fight. She was chased away by two mysterious heroes that saved the count. Their names are unknown, but the Count says quote "They saved my life and I owe them my eternal gratitude." If you see either of these people report to an imperial officer immediately. So we can tell people apart, hats and helmets are forbidden at this celebration. If you are seen with one, you will be punished.
"Now that is ridiculous, that picture of me makes me look obese and unintelligent." Said Paul. Feliks walked up to Paul with Griffin beside him and a paper in his hand.
"This paper says that if we follow that road up there then we will get to Kaining City." Said Feliks.
"Well that will be a problem since I´m wanted." Paul handed the "wanted" paper over to Griffin.
"Well that gives an excuse for Taby not being here, fighting Jun and all, but what about Mystery?" Griffin Said. Soon after he spoke, the three of them turned around to see a giant boat come into the docks. Three figures stepped out, but couldn´t be seen through the fog. One of them spoke.
"I really hate when the Emperor sends us all the way out here from our guild hall to catch some criminals. There are only two! It says their names are Paul and Taby." Another one spoke, and his voice was slightly deeper.
"Why did we even come this time? I feel as though it is more and more pointless each visit in Kaining City, the place smells horrible." The third one spoke. He was the tallest, standing in the middle with his cape flowing.
"Stop complaining. We need all of the work we can get. I just wish that the world would need heroes every now and then."
"Well if you are looking for a man named Paul then you have found him!" Paul said. His blood was rushing and he didn´t even realize what he did.
"What are you doing?" Said Feliks, with a little bit of fear in his voice.
"Well It will be three on three, and we have all had a little bit of experience fighting so lets get this over with."
"Do not yell at people of higher class than yourself, Paul. In my guild, traitors are scum. You will regret betraying the Kurzicks." The tall man said. They stepped out of the shadows. The first person that spoke was a ranger, he had long brown hair but the rest of his traits were still hard to see from the fog. The second person that spoke was an assassin. He was wearing strange glowing armor that had bizarre markings on every inch of it. The tallest one that was probably the leader was a warrior. He had a giant red sword out that was probably as tall as Griffin, and the man himself was probably twice the size of Paul. The warrior spoke.
"So you have obtained allies? This will still be a simple fight. The Droknars Arena Dogs have never lost a battle and never will. But before we fight, I think it be fitting to introduce ourselves. This ranger is Jule Shannara. He has been one of my most trusted allies. The man to my right is Dagger. He has very. . .Interesting battle techniques. I am Uncle Noteeth."
"Why Noteeth?" Paul seemed confused. . .again.
"Because when I was a child, my uncle tried to sell me into slavery so he could have something to eat that night. I got away, but before I left I made sure that my uncle would never have a meal again by ripping each tooth out and making a necklace." Uncle grabbed the necklace of grey teeth hanging around his neck.
"That is kind of brutal if I say so myself."
"After the ten years of hell he put me through, he deserved it. Now lets fight!" Dagger was the first to make a move. He sprinted towards Feliks, only to be stopped by a giant axe from Bismark that knocked him down.
"So you can make allies come to you as well? Let me show you how it is really done." Dagger said. He touched a crest that was on his chest and his whole armor was shining brightly. The flash blinded Feliks for a moment, and when he looked back up, a dervish was standing by Dagger. "Let me introduce you to my double, Sithis." As Dagger and Sithis engaged Feliks, arrows were flying overhead. Jule and Griffin were shooting at each other from posts on opposite sides of the docks. Griffin was hesitating for each of Jules arrows were missing by less. Down below both of them, Paul and Uncle were brawling it out, with Uncles giant, blood red sword and Pauls blazing katana he obtained from Sskai, it was a true battle. Though Uncle had the strength, Paul had the speed. Every thrust that uncle would make, Paul would dodge to one side or another and jab at his seemingly impenetrable armor.
As the fight progressed, Griffin started to run low on arrows. He looked down at Feliks and shouted, "Is there any way that you could conjure arrows?" Feliks left Diablos to fend off Dagger and Sithis while a quiver formed in his hands and golden arrows inside. Feliks tossed them to Griffins post, and as he caught them an arrow flew by, missing Griffin by a hair. He looked ahead to see Jule firing another bow and it seemed like it was heading straight towards Griffin. He quickly put the golden arrow on his bow and fired. As the golden arrow flew through the sky, it slowly formed into a fireball. The ball of flames engulfed Jule´s arrow intersecting and hit him, knocking him off of his post onto the ground. Griffin could not see Jule after he fell into the fog, but then he saw a rope flying towards him from nowhere. It rapped around him and pulled him off of his post. He was on the ground tangled in what seemed to be enchanted ropes only to see Jule with one end of the rope in his hand.
"I had a few tricks up my sleeve as well." Said Jule. Feliks was holding up against Dagger and Sithis, until he ran out of energy. As Diablos was fighting, he slowly faded away, as did Feliks´s conjured armor. Dagger and Sithis formed together again and pushed Feliks to the ground. This left Paul and Uncle to fight. When Uncle went for another one of his thrusts, Paul dashed to the side, but this time Uncle swung his sword in the direction that Paul went, which ended up breaking Paul´s armor and gashing his side.
"As I said before. The Droknars Arena Dogs have never lost a battle and never will. You should feel honored to die by my blade." Uncle said. As he raised his sword above Paul´s head, there was someone standing behind him that stopped his action.
"Uncle, I do believe that I trained you to do better than this. You would actually kill the hero of the Orrian Prophecies? Have you lost your mind? You are very fortunate that your sister came to me and told me what was happening before you did something that would doom us all." The person who was speaking was Suun. He was dressed in his formal robes. They were red with white scarves hanging down them, each with markings and drawings.
"Master, I didn´t know. This man shouted at me, almost proud of the accusations made about him being a criminal. If I knew that he was a hero then I would have-" Uncle was cut off by a female voice. Paul couldn´t see who it was, but it sounded very framiliar.
"What you would have done and what you did are two very different things. Jule, release Griffin. Dagger, how dare you pin Feliks, help him up. Uncle I know that you must be mad at me for walking out on the guild but when I was offered such a good position here, I couldn´t pass it down. Suun, can you heal paul?"
"I do believe I can." Suun knelt down and held Paul´s wound. It slowly closed, only leaving the blood that was around him.
"Paul, I am sorry. You fought valiantly and I would be honored to lend you my Primeval armor. It is enchanted so it will fit the wearer no matter what." Uncle said. He helped Paul up so he could see the woman that saved his life. It was Mystery.
"Sorry that I couldn´t meet you here Paul but I was busy overhearing Jun talk with Bliss and Blasphemy. I don´t know how, but Safra will be making a guest appearance at the Ceremony. Now wait out here for the Jade Brotherhood to come and take you to the ceremony. I am sorry that you can´t do any more than that Paul, but you are a criminal. You can wait on the ship and meet the rest of the guild that is here, but don´t let anyone see you. Okay, now I need Jule and Griffin to go with Suun, and Dagger to come with me. Feliks, here is a paper with all of the directions and instructions you need to meet up with us. Oh, sorry, I haven´t introduced myself. I am Mystery Mesmer."
"When did you add the mesmer part?" Said Uncle, partially laughing.
"Well I thought it would give my name a little flare!"
"Oh, well I am Feliks, but you already knew that. How did you already know that?"
"Oh yea, Suun told me all about what you guys have been up to. Paul, It was Bliss and Blasphemy that sent Sskai after you if you were wondering."
"Well then lets show this Safra guy that he shouldn´t mess with the Droknars Arena Dogs!" Said Jule.
"Paul, Griffin, and Feliks. Before we go on, I would like to recruit you into our guild." Said Dagger. The three of them spoke in unision.
"We accept!"
"HA! Those stupid dogs or whatever they are called think that they can stop me? That is actually funny! The first time that I have smiled all day actually." Safra was still in the white chapel from when he walked in to see if Taby, Mystery, Paul, and Griffin were dead in the Jade Sea. As Safra was sitting down, a giant white spider came from the ceiling. It was almost as tall as Safra.
"You have spent too much time in my home. You will leave now." The spider said.
"You cannot tell the Black Knight what to do! I am probably the most powerful being on this planet!" The room started to turn hazy. Safra closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was standing outside of the three doors. He walked towards the door to open it, but it was tightly shut. "Oh well, I needed to get prepared for my grand appearance anyways! When I am free, my first order of business will be to slowly and painfully kill every DAD member there is! I do hope that they are prepared!"

- Written by Muscle Man Paul