Obstacles Part 1/2

by Red Paladin

"Nothing is ever easy."

-Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander, _Wizard's First Rule: Book one of the Sword of Truth_, Terry Goodkind.

Under the fading sun, the sands beneath their feet radiated a greater warmth on the rescue team as they trekked to their destination and eventual goal. Further ahead, moving sand sunk under an invisible weight.

As part of the scouting squad, Red, Bryn and Maruchan, crept forward to one of the bushes in the sparsely vegetated beach. Further on, a grey watch tower revealed itself, interrupting the otherwise beautiful night sky. A single light shone outwards from a tiny window, creating a beacon out to sea and highlighting a solitary pacing armed figure. He has not spotted the tiny squad as they, under the cover of Red's Cloak[tm] advanced to the tower's base.

"Wait here," came a whisper from Red.

"What are you...?" Bryn asked thin air.

Red had Shadowslipped[tm] through the tower's dark shadow into the other side of the outer wall, the shadow side. He hoped to pick off the guards quietly by passing through the shadows to the other side of the wall. Greys of an infinitesimal number of shades on one side filled his view, none of which were dark enough for a portal. The way from where he came was had the only black patch, but that would defeat the purpose. A flickering of grey indicated torches that wholly illuminated the stairways.

*Damn!* He thought to himself, as he exited the shadowplane. "So much for that plan," he muttered under his breath. "Looks like we'll have to use the front door," he whispered to Bryn and their companion.

"I couldn't get in there. The whole interior's too brightly lit for there to be a portal; probably because they're scared of the dark," Red explained. "Not even enough for a well placed dagger. Good thing is that there only two Sponges on duty: one up there and one by the door. You got any ideas?"

"We should take them both out at once." reasoned Bryn, "How's this? You climb up there and get the sponge up there." She pointed towards the window. "Make sure it's loud. Use an explosive X-Card[tm]. That'll make the other guy investigate. Then me and Maruchan can waltzes through the front door, and get the other guy from behind."

"Well, it's a start," Red replied uncertainly. Personally, he preferred silent operation, but at the moment none of them could think of another plan, and time was running out. The rest of the group would be here soon and they needed to secure the area. *Too bad the window's too small to fit through.* It was in fact only big enough to fit a playing card through. *Well, that's one inch bigger than required!*

"Okay, give me thirty seconds to get to the top." With that, he pulled out his magic grappling ball, and flung to the side opposite the window. Twenty seconds later, he was at the top and gave three sharp tugs to release to black silk rope, before returning it to his belt.

*Five... four...* He counted silently. *Three... two... ONE!* He gripped the overhanging of the cone roof with his left hand, then swung down before, he extracted and threw an explosive Card[tm].

An explosion rocked the inside of the room, obliterating everything. The card had spun through the air before it exploded in the head of the guard, and his remains littered the room. Red spotted only a set of candles on a wooden table, no doubt covered with drawing of the Hell Wyrm, and only the continuation of his swing allowed him to escape the spray of guts, among other things, that shot through the tiny window.

The blast also knocked out the lantern in the room, permitting Red to Shadowslipped[tm] into the room. The stairway door was suddenly pushed open. Red let a dagger slide into his hand, readying it for flight...

It was only Bryn and Maru. They had left the guard lying on the stairs, along with a deep dagger slit in his back.

"Alright. Now what?" Maruchan asked.

"Now we wait for the rest to come." Red replied. He shot a arrow from his crossbow. At the appropriate height and distance, about a hundred yards in both directions, the bolt flared up, creating beacon, signaling that the area was secure.

"You know, that was too easy." Bryn said. "They should have known we would come to save Katze. You'd think they would of set up a heavier guard."

"Maybe they did...." Red replied cryptically, before vanishing again. He didn't trust the enemy, whoever it was. Even a Sponge minion had to be smart enough to expect a rescue team... or did they? Shadowslipping[tm] through the wall of the tower, he scouted from the shadow plane. After a few minutes of searching a considerable amount of terrain ahead, he shook his head. He had found nothing.

Just as Red was about to return to the tower, a flickering of shadows appeared in the corner of his eye. The greys of the surreal landscape began to gradually darken until they were thick enough for an entire army to Shadowslip[tm] through (that is, if there were that many who had the ability).

*Damn!*

Shades of grey blurred past him as he raced back to the tower to recount what he had seen. Considering what he just saw, his voice was void of emotion as the Fire[tm] flared up inside him.

"It seems we have company," Red said coldly. "Maru, you carry the message back to Calculus reporting what I saw. Tell him to prepare for an attack. They're about two miles from the tower, but they're moving quickly. I estimate the time of engagement to be about one hour, tops. I'd go myself but there are a few surprises I'd like to lay out." He paused. "Don't tell him that last sentence. Just tell him to be careful." *Why didn't I prepare more of those arrows? Then we wouldn't need to send her* he asked himself, wondering at his own thoughts. However, his faced betrayed none of this.

"What did you have in mind?" Bryn inquired as Maruchan left the tower. Red did not hear this as he had Shadowslipped[tm], and had already traveled about a mile away. Had he stayed he would have heard a frustrated voice, seething. "That's it. You're not leaving me behind next time."

Actually, Red had not decided exactly what he was going to do. He briefly searched his personal pack for the electronic notepad where he had transferred Valeriana's[1] spellbook to. It was the only piece of technology he'd brought. He searched quickly through it, and scanning for a suitable spell to use.

"Ahh. Here's one that will do," he said to himself. He quickly read it through for the magical composition required. Assuming the relaxation technique he needed to cast an unfamiliar spell, Red sat on the sand, closed his eyes, and concentrated on calmness. The Fire[tm] lit up in his blood but only enough to maintain a small flame. He opened himself up to feel the power of the land, and became aware of all the movement of its elements. Slowly, painstakingly, he wove with the power; Air for shape; Water and Earth for substance; and Fire to give it the semblance of life. His illusionary dragon shone with an slight glow that covered it ruby red body. Before Red finished, he inverted the weave so that its magical origins would not known except by him. Abruptly the glow vanished. Tying off the entire web, he waited. The dragon had to remain stationary as any movement would require more energy, but because of the effort, Red was exhausted. A similar version of this spell he had done before, except that was to disguise himself. Projecting an illusion was hard work, not to mention one of such magnitude. By his timesense, he judged the army of guards to be at least half a mile in the direction of their destination. *Patience* By their present speed, he guessed they would arrive in approximately half-an-hour, so he decided to take a combat nap. Pulling up the hood on the Crimson Cloak[tm] he knew he would be safe from detection. The dragon, on the other hand, would not be as easy to hide.

To Be Continued in "Obstacles Part 2/2"

Footnotes: [1] In his home dimension, Red Paladin was the _Gaiden_ or bodyguard to a beautiful mage, Valeriana. Her death was the main reason why Red decided to fight the Hell Wyrm.

Neutral&Chaotic Publishing since 1997. The preceding segment is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.