The Crystals of Narlkant

"After several attempts to block the hoes"

...

Other than that and the one Pan mentioned, the chapter was great. Hadn't been expecting to see the journey of Mathew as well, but nice touch. And now they've gone and gotten themselves swallowed yb blue light. Can't wait to see where it took them.

Keep it up.

Giant earth worms! *adds a tick to the constantly expanding list* I was also surprised that Mathew was shown doing his thing.

Thanks for the editations, fixing document...

Seems to be some surprise with two chapters happening simultaniously. That was, admitedly, because I needed to fill up the start of the chapter. Also, it was a sandworm, not an earthworm.

Next chapter when you solve this:

Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking.

Fish.

New chapter, please.

Crud. Warning: this chapter will annoy some of you. Well, most of you.

Part 2: Air

Chapter 1

The beer had a strange smell to it, but the man drank it anyway. It tasted disgustingly bitter, and he would not normally have drunk it but for the fact that he wanted to keep on the good side of the man who had bought it for him.
He grimaced and set the empty flagon down on the bar. ?So Orin, did you find the information I was looking for??
Orin scratched his head. He was a large man, the kind of person you would expect to be a bodyguard to a crime lord. But when he spoke his voice had a keen intelligence to it. ?I did. The gem you are looking for is in the possession of the governor of Nenkalos, Lord Rodolfo. I didn?t find anyone else looking for it, though I heard rumours of one. I suggest you get going if you want to meet with him before the festival there, because once it starts you won?t be able to get near him. Nenkalos is two days travel to the north, at the foot of the Kalan Mountains. The festival starts in three days, so there?s enough time. Now, you owe me twenty silver coins.? He paused, then said threateningly, ?You do have the money don?t you??
The man pulled out a bag of coins and took twenty silver ones from it. He handed them to Orin, and added in a couple of copper coins for finding more than enough information. ?Here you are. Now, I must leave if I?m to make it to Nenkalos in time. Thank you for your services.? He shook Orin?s hand, stood up and left the inn. In the square he paused to look at the reconstruction work.
A few days before he had arrived in Narlmark this square had been the hub of a vicious fight between two men and hordes of daemons. At least that was the story. He couldn?t deny that the statue was destroyed, but that could have just been rioting. The barmaid had told him an interesting story about what really happened. Apparently the statue had been animated using magic, and that was the cause of the wreckage and the stories. The Soldier?s Arms was a good inn, but he was a little disappointed in the beer. Orin had assured him that it was usually great. Maybe it was just a bad barrel.
The man crossed the city carefully. He wore a red-brown tunic with a black leather belt over the top of it and a dark red cloak. His chest was protected by a leather breastplate. Fastened to the belt was a longsword in a plain scabbard. This was his main means of defence from thieves and muggers, but it still wasn?t guaranteed safety.
He reached the north gate, and paid at the stable for a horse to take him to Nenkalos. This was a new idea of the king?s; each gate in every city was to have a stable nearby where people could rent horses to take them to other cities. So far though most horses were not being returned upon reaching their destination.
The horse he acquired was in good shape and walked at a steady pace. Having set out at noon, he was hoping to cover a good distance before night fell. This road was not commonly used by single travellers, as it passed through a pine forest which was inhabited by bandits and thieves.
He reached the forest at dusk, dismounted, and set up camp. He tethered the horse to a tree and took some bread and dried meat out of his pack to eat. After he was finished, he lay down beneath a large tree and went to sleep.
He woke up at midnight to the sound of voices. He loosened his sword in its scabbard. The voices were coming from the direction of where he has left the horse. ?Wow, the chief?ll be sure to promote us when we take him this! He?s been after a good horse for months now!?
?Shh, not so loud, if he wakes up we?ll be in trouble. Go on, you take the horse back to the camp; I?ll deal with the man.? There was the sound of muffled footsteps, and the man saw a bandit sneak out from behind a tree. As the man approached him with a large knife he waited. The thief raised the knife and the man drew his sword and stabbed it through his attacker?s chest. The bandit looked down in surprise and let out a small gurgle, then fell over backwards with a soft thud.
The man got up and walked softly over to where he had left the horse. There was no sign of it, but the thief was inexperienced at horse theft and had left deep tracks in the loamy earth. The man followed them through the forest until he came to what was seemingly a village made of tents with a wall of spiked wooden posts around it. The gate was open and unguarded, so the man snuck in. The camp was filthy, with animal dung in small piles all over the ground. The man snuck behind one of the tents and looked in. It was full of supplies and weapons. He moved on to the next tent, and looked in. A hand clamped down on his shoulder and a voice growled ?Got you!?
The man twisted to escape, but before he could even get a look at the bandit something smashed into the back of his head and he blacked out.

When he woke again he was tied to the central pole of a large tent. A man stood over him. He wore studded leather armour which was dyed a dark red. His hair was black and his eyes were the same colour. He bent over the man and spat in his face.
?Why did you come to our camp?? The man didn?t reply. ?Answer me!? Still the man said nothing. ?Very well, if you won?t tell me what I want to know?? The armoured man clapped his hands twice. Another thief walked into the tent. He had a belt of knives across his chest and was grinning wickedly.
The new thief pointed at the man and drew one of his knives. ?Where d?ya want him cut first boss? How about the left cheek? I could cut his ear off. Or I?m sure I could do something painful to his d??
?Enough of that Polus. Just a simple face job should do. But I need him to be able to speak, okay? Apart from that, just torture him as much as you like. I?ll be back in half an hour to see how he?s doing.? The leader walked away. At the entrance of the tent he paused, looking over his shoulder at Polus and his victim. ?One more thing Polus. Don?t let him black out. I want him to understand the consequences of entering our camp without permission, and the punishment for not obeying when I give him a command.?
With that, the armoured bandit left the tent. Polus slowly walked over to the man, knife at the ready. First he ensured that his victim was tied securely. Then he slashed the dagger down the man?s left cheek. The man shuddered and whispered something in a horse voice. Polus frowned and leaned closer. ?Sorry, didn?t quite catch that. Was it ?ouch my face!? by any chance??
The man gave him an evil smirk. ?I said that you?re about to die, Polus.?

... you're just going to leave us in suspence like that? Without telling us how the Earth saga with shade and Mathew went? ... I'm proud of you and annoyed with you at the same time.

Anyway, good chapter. I'm not going to comment on too much right now (primarily because I'm ocnfused), but I'll say that I'm looking forward to more.

?Where d?ya want him cut first boss? How about the left cheek? I could cut his ear off. Or I?m sure I could do something painful to his d??

...ow!

Good stuff so far. I like the way you're seperating the story for each crystal. No problems noticed, so that is all.

I'm irritated that a) Like Seos said, you just leave us hanging with a dead sandworm, and a flash of light, then move on to the next part. B) That chapter was too short for my liking. You know me (Well, you know me as much as Part one of the story will allow), and you know that I like really long stories. Good chapter, nice suspense at the end, but I'm slightly confused as to the significance of this newly tortured guy. No typos, good grammer, etc... I was also wondering about how the crystals work. Do you just think what you want to happen and say the word pertaining to that crystal? Like silex for earth? I need that explained.

Pretty much, yeah. There's quite a lot of magic throughout the fic, so you'll get more examples along the way. Also, I'm glad to see that I've annoyed everyone with that chapter.

Sonuvabi-

*ahem*

I'm going to kill you for that. Anyway, good chapter, if a little short. Needs moar length next time, mkay?

I wasn't annoyed. (Those three words were written before reading.)

I hate you! You give us a chapter which explains just as much as it keeps hidden and then you leave us on a cliffhanger. Sly that was!

Well, this new bloke sounds pretty decent. I suppose he'll be meeting Shade and Mathew at some point, right?

No, you'll find that he's actually a figament of Shade's imagination. [/sarcasm]

Chapter 2

?What? You?re threatening me when you?re tied to a pole and I?m the one with a knife or twenty? Are you stupid?? Polus slashed his prisoner down the cheek again, leaving a second cut parallel to the first. ?Pah! You can?t do anything to me!?
Those were the bandit?s last words. The man gritted his teeth and snarled. ?That was a mistake. Die!?
Force slammed into Polus, knocking him to the ground. Then more energy snapped the ropes holding the man in place. He stood up, massaging the life back into his limbs, then walked over to where his sword had been left in the corner of the tent. The man belted them on, and walked over to the stunned thief.
Polus moaned and his eyes flickered open. The man was standing above him, sword pointed at his throat. He gulped, and the point of the sword pressed further into him. The man spoke. ?Foolish. Very foolish. You are lucky that I am not as powerful as some of my colleagues; I dread to imagine what they would have done to you. Incineration most likely. Still either way you?ll end up dead. Tell the devil Zaltan sent you!? The man thrust his longsword into Polus? throat, and the bandit died with a muffled cough.
After wiping his blade on Polus? shirt, Zaltan walked out of the tent. His thoughts centred on delivering justice to the thieves of this camp. Namely, he was going to kill all of them. His only other thoughts were on the time he had left in which to meet lord Rodolfo, and a vague wish that he had some way to stop the bleeding from the vertical cuts on his cheek. Still that was a minor concern, and there were bandits to kill.
The guards outside the tent were his first victims. The first was stabbed through the neck as Zaltan walked past, and when the second tried to shout out a warning he found his jaw unable to move. Zaltan stabbed him through the chest. As the surprised man fell to the ground, two other thieves broke from cover behind another tent and charged towards him, while a third ran in the direction of the main part of the camp.
As the two men neared him, Zaltan held up his hand and barked out ?Hold!? The thieves froze in mid-step and without another glance the warrior ran between them after the third man.
He caught up with him at a tower in the centre of the camp. There was a bell suspended from the top of the tower, and the thief threw a rock at it. A brazen note rang out, mingling with the thief?s scream as Zaltan cut him down. Bandits poured out of tents all over the camp, forming a large circle around the tower. Before Zaltan could summon the energy to charge, the rim of the circle parted and the leader of the thieves walked in.
His studded leather armour seemed to amplify his presence, and he clutched a large sword in each hand. His black hair was tied back to keep it out of his eyes. He glowered at Zaltan, and pointed at him with one massive blade. ?So, a wizard. Why did you really come to our camp? Who sent you? Ah, it doesn?t matter. You won?t be reporting to anyone after I?m done with you. I challenge you to a one on one duel. If I win, you die; if you win? you can leave my camp. Ready for a beating?? He charged.
Zaltan deflected the brigand?s first swing with his longsword and barely dodged a swipe from the other sword. This man was deceptively fast. A scissors cut almost bisected him as he jumped back out of the way, but the attack left the chief open. Zaltan swung his longsword at his enemy?s head, and was amazed to find it blocked by one of his foe?s swords.
The bandit leader shoulder barged Zaltan backwards into the surrounding ring of bandits. Gleefully, they pushed him back into the circle, and he fell to the ground. He leaned on his sword to get back up and saw that the chief had backed off. The bandit smirked. ?Tell me, what name to I put on your grave?? Zaltan raised his sword and pointed it at his advisory.
?They call me Zaltan. But that?s irrelevant. What do I put on your grave??
The chief?s smirk vanished. ?You may refer to me as Mokan. And I tell you that it will not be me who dies this day.? So saying, he charged at Zaltan with a roar. The mage stepped to the side and brought his sword down on Mokan?s head. The bandit burst apart into a nova of darkness, leaving no trace of having been there. Zaltan?s longsword embedded itself in the ground and he struggled to retrieve it before the ring of bandits got over their shock and came after him.
He finally freed the weapon and retreated to the base of the wooden belltower. The bandits began to realise what was going on and started to close in. Zaltan let them get a little closer, then suddenly spun around and smashed his sword into the tower behind him. At the moment of impact, blue energy exploded from the weapon and knocked the tower past the crucial point. As it fell, the bell tolled out one last time and then hit the ground with enough force to split in two. The man it landed on was not happy.
The collapse of their belltower was enough of a distraction for Zaltan to slip into the crowd of remaining bandits. He then began to kill them, one at a time, by reaching inside them and pinching shut some of the major arteries in the brain. Those stupid biology lessons his father had made him endure had turned out to be useful after all!
Finally, one of the thieves noticed what Zaltan was doing and pointed at him before the mental probe killed him as well. But there was no more time for sneak attacks, they required too much concentration. The mage readied his sword again and prepared to fight. Almost as an afterthought, he swung the weapon horizontally and concentrated. The result was a blade of energy which scythed towards the last dozen bandits, reducing their number by six.
The survivors encircled him and one of them thrust his sword, but Zaltan deflected the attack and beheaded the clumsy thief. The other five used the chance to assault his undefended back, and his spinning block stopped four of the five blades. The last bandit, slightly slower than his allies, managed to stick his weapon into Zaltan?s right shoulder. The mage staggered backwards, dropping his sword and clutching the wound. His arm felt numb down its whole length and his shoulder was bleeding badly. Focusing his mind, Zaltan used magic on the thieves. The one who had stabbed him resisted for a moment, then turned and mechanically thrust his blade into the chest of one of the other four. Pulling it out, the controlled man killed a second bandit with a slash to the gut before the other two released him from the spell with a swift sword through the skull.
They advanced on Zaltan, looks of hatred on their faces. The mage killed one with a burst of force which ruptured his internal organs, but the second managed to break his concentration by stabbing his sword into Zaltan?s knee.
The mage buckled and fell to the ground. He knew that he was dying of blood loss, but he had no skill in healing arts and was already exhausted. The bandit pointed his weapon at the mage?s throat. ?You?ve done a lot of damage my friend, but now it?s time to kiss goodbye to the world of the living. So long, and don?t forget to give my regards to all those you slew here today. I?m sure they?ll give you a warm welcome!?
As the bandit drew back the blade for the fatal stroke, Zaltan realised that he had no chance of escaping from this one. The realisation called him; he was going to die at some time in his life, why not now? But then he remembered the mission he had been entrusted. With his last ounce of strength, Zaltan reached inside the thief?s head and cut the blood flow. The man collapsed to the ground, dead.
The mage looked around as much as he could from his position on the ground. He was too weak to move, and knew that he did not even have enough energy to whisper. As his vision blurred and faded, Zaltan thought he saw silver ghosts come out of the forest towards him, and heard the clinking of their chains. As they approached, he passed into darkness.

[Sarcasm] Yay, another cliffhanger [/Sarcasm]

Strike magic makes it's first appearance, as does shadow magic. Yay. Also slightly shorter than the Shade and Mathew chapters, which is adding to my opinion that I like them better, but this is also interesting. I'm looking foreward to the Fire crystal part, and if you make it, the Shadow part (Plot hint: Two crystals were made secretly: Shadow and Light) And I belive it's Scissor cut, not scissors. Minor typo, but I'm just trying to be helpful. Thats something Microsoft Word wouldn't catch, because scissors is a real word, and scissors cut is grammatically correct in some contexts. Looking foreward to next chapter. Keep it up

Strike magic, in my opinion, is uberer than light or Earth, so far. I'm hoping the ghosts are going to keep this Zaltan guy alive, because he seems pretty cool to me.

No complaints, awesome chapter. Just keep it up.

Sorry, never got around to this. Zaltan's one of Mathew's mates right?

As said above, Zaltan seems like a pretty decent bloke, and I'm presuming that he's not going to die any time soon.

Nothing I can fault at the moment. Good job.

KoH: Fixed in document.
Seos: I like strike magic too. That's why I invented it.
Cat: Wait and see!
Everyone: More chapter!

Chapter 3

Zaltan woke to the sound of birds singing. He could feel a soft mattress beneath him and there was light shining on his closed eyelids. After a few moments, he realised that he was not the only one in the room? wherever the room was. There were two voices, one male one female, and they were having a heated discussion.
?I?m telling you Palma, the man will not recover. He?s nether eaten or drunk anything since we brought him here. He?s obviously in a coma, and a deep one at that!?
?And I?m telling you John, that I saw him move earlier! I think he?s almost awake. He stays, and you?re not changing my mind on that!?
?Fine, I don?t care; just leave me out of this.? Zaltan heard a door slamming to his right, and then the female voice sounded next to his bed.
?I?m sorry about him. I hope you do wake up soon though. The captain wants to know what happened in that camp. He claims that if he didn?t know better he?d say that you killed them all, which sounds a little far fetched to me but there you are.? Palma stopped speaking and after a brief pause Zaltan heard her sigh and sit in a creaky old chair. She began to hum softly under her breath.
Zaltan decided that he had lain on the bed for long enough. With great effort he forced his eyes half open, and looked around at the room. It was very plain, probably in a tower judging by the circular shape and the four windows. The walls were made of stone, but painted white and hung with pictures and covered in shelves of books. With a supreme effort, Zaltan turned his head slightly. To his right there was a wooden door, and next to the door was a woman sitting on a chair sewing. That must be Palma, he decided.
She was engrossed in her work, which seemed to be a sheet from a bed. She was just finishing the repair of one of the seams which had come undone. With a sigh she put the finished work aside and glanced up. When she saw Zaltan looking at her she gasped and rushed over to him.
With quick, efficient motions, Palma wet a piece of cloth in a bowl of clear water and let it dribble into Zaltan?s mouth. The water had had special minerals added to it which would aid a swift recovery. With a faint sigh, Zaltan swallowed the water and felt himself lose consciousness again.

When he woke again, there was no more light coming in through the windows. He felt a lot better than before, and ravenously hungry. He tried to get up. The movement sent bolts of agony through his shoulder and knee, and he cried out in pain.
The sound attracted the attention of the nurse who was on duty at the time. Surprisingly, it was Palma again. Had she stayed up all night? She got up out of the chair and opened the door. After a whispered conversation with someone outside she walked over to his bed again.
?Welcome back. It?s good to see you awake at last. I suppose you?ll want to know what happened, but you should eat this first. My name?s Palma by the way.? She offered him a small roll of soft bread, which he ate slowly. When he had finished, he asked where he was.
?You?re in the medical wing of lord Rodolfo?s castle in Nenkalos. You were brought in on the day before the festival by a patrol of guards. They said? well, I?ll let the commander explain it when he gets here.? The door opened and a man walked in. He was over six feet tall, well built and had an air of command about him. ?Ah, right on time! This is the commander. His troops call him sir, his friends call him Strongblade, his wife calls him when he?s late for dinner, and everyone else calls him Sam. He?s wanted to speak to you since you were brought in.?
Zaltan sat up, leaning on a cushion which Palma had placed behind him. Sam looked down at him. ?Right, first off I?m going to need your name. I can?t just call you ?Hey You? all the time. While you?re at it, you could tell me what you do for a living, why you were in the forest and whether you like cold weather.?
The mage was silent for a moment, debating whether to lie to the man. He eventually decided not to. ?I?m called Zaltan, and I?m a Strike Mage. I can also wield a sword and I?m not bad in a fight. That?s my living. As for why I was in the forest, I had hoped to get a message to your Lord before the start of the festival, but my horse was stolen in the forest. I tracked the thief to his camp, where I was captured. I killed my guard and escaped, and then killed every bandit I could see. Their chief, Mokan, disappeared when I was about to land the last blow on him, and then I got wounded just before killing the last of them.? It was not the whole story, but it was pretty accurate. Zaltan took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. ?Now, why did you ask me if I liked cold weather??
The commander grinned. ?Because Lord Rodolfo might have a job for you when you recover, but you should deliver your message to him first. He?ll want to speak to you anyway. I?ll go and get him.? He walked out, and Palma followed him. A few minutes later, she returned with another woman in tow. The new person wore the white robes and badge of a healer, one of the people who had been specifically trained to heal wounds using magic. The hood of the robe covered her head. She spoke some words in a low voice, and Zaltan felt the warm glow of Healing magic spreading throughout his body. The pain in his shoulder and knee suddenly vanished, leaving him wondering why they had waited so long to heal him.
The healer seemed to read his mind, and explained in her soft voice. ?We couldn?t heal you before now because I am the only healer in this castle, and I did not want to waste my power on healing a person who may never have woken from his coma. Fortunately, I was able to prepare the water of life, which was given to you by my assistant Palma. You should rest until tomorrow, to allow the magic to do its work. Rodolfo sends you his regards and hopes that you can meet with him once you get up. He also says that you should train with some of our instructors to increase your skills before that mission which the commander mentioned.? She sat down on the chair, which she had pulled over to the bed, and looked sideways at him. ?The messenger he sent should be coming to tell you that in a minute. I only know because I listened at the door.? She laughed. ?Don?t tell anyone, okay??
Zaltan laughed too. ?Did you here what this mission is likely to be? The commander didn?t say. He mentioned cold weather, but nothing else.?
The healer stopped laughing. ?Pam, could you leave us alone for a bit? I need to explain a few things to Zaltan here.? Palma nodded and left the room. The healer lowered her hood, revealing long brown waves of hair, and spoke in an urgent tone. ?Cold weather means the mountains. I suspect that your fight with the bandits impressed Sam and he thinks you should be able to search the mountains for something without danger. Lord Rodolfo won?t stop him, he?ll be thinking of the advantages of not losing another patrol. He?s been sending them into the mountains almost every week, and they never come back. Of course he?ll offer you gold, and when combined with the aid he?s given you this would make it impolite to refuse. He?ll forget all the help you?ve already given by clearing out all the bandits from the forest, and if you do refuse he?ll probably have you executed. He seems like a kind old man on the outside, but in reality he?s no more than a bandit himself.? She looked around nervously for a second, as if checking she hadn?t been overheard. ?Word is, he had a whole family put to death because one of the children said something about him.
?Of course, the official reason was giving money to finance the activities of those bandits you cleared out, but I looked into it and found that they didn?t have enough money to even feed themselves, let alone donate to others. But that?s all beside the point. You?ll be here for a few days anyway, and I?d better leave before the messenger arrives. If you need any help, ask Pam, or come and find me. I?ll be in the healers? quarters most of the time.?
She stood up, replaced her hood and walked to the door. On the threshold she paused and looked back at him, smiled once, then left the room. Zaltan sighed. She?d given him a lot to think about, such as what there could possibly be up in the mountains that had caused Lord Rodolfo to sacrifice so many patrols. His thoughts wandered back to the healer, and he realised that he didn?t even know her name. He was just wondering on why she hadn?t told him when the door opened again. He turned his head to see who it was.
It was a man with short, black hair and a serious expression. He wore the uniform of one of Rodolfo?s servants. ?Sir, my Lord will see you tomorrow when you have healed a little. He also recommends that you train with some of the guards and his court wizard before you leave.? He bowed and backed out of the room. When he had gone, Zaltan burst out laughing.

Laughing, when he's about to be sent on some deadly mission? He's brave!

Anyway, I'm liking the sound of the plot so far, and I'm presuming that Zaltan is going to be sent on a mission to find a crystal for Rodolfo. Then I'm guessing that he won't give it to him and he'll keep it. But I'll just wait and see.

"His troops call him sir, his friends call him Strongblade, his wife calls him when he?s late for dinner, and everyone else calls him Sam."

Epic win.

Like I keep saying, needs moar length. And I think I preferred Shade's section on the grounds that it had moar action than this one. Still good, though.

Yeah, I tried to make the sections different. Plus I was running out of ideas for fights. Glad you liked it though, and once again, sorry about the length. It's hard to judge when you're using Word.

"He?s nether eaten or drunk anything since we brought him here." Should be neither. Like Pan said, the Earth portion has more action, but this one is interesting to, due to more tasks to be accomplished in order to get the next crystal. Like in a videogame, when you need to solve a puzzle to get an item, instead of beating an enemy or boss. I hope you'll delve deeper into the various uses of magic, cuz I'm still a bit confused about it. I wonder if the wind crystal has a different word for it. And I wonder how the people find out the words for the magic. Like, if somebody just picked up an element crystal, would they automatically know how to use it? Or would they need to research in order to find the word? Explain! And keep up the good work.