The day was dismal and dreary. The sun had not once shown it's face. Mist rose off the forest floor, penetrating the clothing of those who walked through it until they were sticky and chilled.
Oren could not have been happier.
He'd wanted for some time now to make some use of his warrior's training in the service of the duke, but until now had never been given an opportunity.
Today, he, along with several others, had been asked by Misha to investigate some strange sightings of mysterious creatures in the northern woods. Even if he never saw combat, it was something to do besides hauling rocks around.
With him was Jesse, the farm boy-kangaroo with a talent for blowing things up. He'd recently offered himself to the service of the keep and her duke, though he wasn't quite as thrilled that his offer had been accepted in this particular manner.
There was Charles, the rat as well. He'd not been very close to the rat of might, but that was changing. He'd hoped that a friendship lay in store for them, though such would mean that he'd probably feel compelled to stop gathering information on the rat in the entertaining methods he had been using. Of course, he'd have to do that anyway. He'd almost been discovered in Misha's place.
Barnaeus, one of the veteran patrolmen, had been sent along in case of trouble. The squid-man could often be heard complaining of baby-sitting duty.
The final member of the band was Gornul, Oren's diminuative dragon friend. While he had not actually been invited, there was little hope of separating him from the otter Besides, with his innate ability to telepathically transmit images, combined with his size and his wings, he was perfect for a recon mission.
This notion was proven right when Gornul, from high overhead, sent a picture of a strange sight indeed. A large black bubble marred the misty woods.
With glances, the keepers wordlessly agreed to investigate.
With each step forward, the already low light seemed to dim even more. Oren found himself utterly blind.
"Oren?" whispered Jesse. "Do you see that eerie light ahead?"
"I can't see a thing."
"Mystic light source." said Barnaeus. "His eyes won't be able to see it."
"I hate being magic null." Oren mumbled. This was just one more in a long string of headaches his antimagic nature had caused him. When he came to Metamor and learned of the power of magic being used for good, he immediately set about studying all the various types of magic, from the subtle methods employed by the healers to Jesse's eldritch projectiles. He'd studied them all, only to find out that he could not perform even the simplest spell.
He couldn't be magically healed. He couldn't be magically protected. He couldn't even communicate using magic, unless one were to count Gornul's imagery, which was a one-way thing at best.
There was a flash of orange flame. "I saw that!" Oren whispered. The four crept closer, slowly becoming able to make out the shapes and voices of a group of scrawny-looking lutins.
In the middle of the group was what looked like a man, except that it was totally black. It looked like the deepest shadow brought to life.
"Is that what I think it is?" Charles whispered. The color had drained from his ears and nose and he was shaking slightly.
"What do you think it is?"
"Have you ever heard of a shrieker?"
The black creature leapt at one of the lutins, only to withdraw when the lutin produced an arc of flame from one hand. The others giggled, producing flames of their own, to which the creature responded with horror.
Charles shook his head. "That can't be what it is." he said with a sigh of relief.
"Is it my imagination?" said Jesse. "Or are we getting awfully close to a collection of lutin fire mages?"
Oren was already off. Even without his vision, he took silently to the trees and crept closer to the foul beasts.
"Led us on a merry chase, you did." said one of the lutins.
"Had to waste a perfectly good darkness spell on you." said another.
"Wretched darkman. We ought to let daylight take you and be done with it." said a third.
"And we would, if it weren't for what the master would do to us if we came back empty handed."
Oblivious of the otter, the lutins delighted in torturing the black thing which they had tracked down and captured.
The snap of a twig caught everyone's attention. Oren whirled his head around to see Jesse standing there in the glow of the lutins' magic fire, looking rather sheepish.
There was silence only a moment before one of the mages bellowed "GET HIM!"
Oren made his move. Taking his staff from off of his back, he leapt between his friend and the enemy. Several searing jets of flame hit him at once. Oren cringed at the heat only momentarily. It didn't hurt.
Barnaeus and Charles now entered the fray, taking advantage of the lutins' confusion due to the fact that Oren was still standing. The otter heard bodies being tossed about, but was unable to join in the chaos. He feared hitting one of his friends in his blindness.
Then, suddenly, he could see! He saw the top of his own head as he felt the claws of a dragon grab the sides of his head. Gornul! The dragon was acting as his eyes, quite litterally. Oren grinned savagely as he watched one of Jesse's explosions spread a lutin across the forest floor. Swinging his staff, he barreled into the fracas and began breaking heads.
The black creature had been nearly forgotten. This was to change when it grabbed Barnaeus. The gristled warrior let out a scream as his shoulders began to freeze in the monster's touch.
Charles grabbed the monster and flung him away, only to find himself screaming as his hands became severely frostbitten.
But the thing was coming back.
Oren did the only thing he could think of. Using his staff as a bumper, he body checked the dark being.
The monster responded by grabbing Oren's hands. Oren prepared himself to be painfully frozen. ...but nothing happened!
A million thoughts raced through the Hipoccian's mind at that instant. He'd been told from several of the insects at the keep that heat is just another kind of light, and that every living body had a deep red glow to those who could see it. This creature seemed to thrive on darkness. Naturally, it would seek to extinguish all forms of light, including the light of life that was invisible to most. It sought to eliminate him and his friends by using it's magic powers to freeze them to death.
Magic would never work on Oren.
As the monster stood befuddled, Oren set his staff aside and pummeled the dark thing with his bare hands. Again and again, it tried to freeze him, with no results. When he began to tire, he told his companion "Gornul, flame please."
The being of darkness would have looked horrified if it possessed any facial features. Oren took the dragon from his atop his head and swept him in an arc above the monster's chest. Where the light of the fire hit it, the thing's neck simply ceased to exist.
Wrapping the darkman's head in his cape, Oren squealed triumphantly.
Jesse was just finishing with the last of the lutins, splattering his head across the forest quite nicely. With no more mages to sustain it, the bubble of darkness began to fade. With it, the darkman's body began to dissolve.
Barnaeus and Charles, despite their incredible bravery, needed medical attention. It was time to return to the keep.
"As a token of my allegiance," said Oren as he bowed low before the duke. "I offer you the head of my first enemy slain in the service of your Grace."
If Thomas felt any revulsion at the bizarre ritual, he hid it well.
"Well done." said the duke. "My friends, I wonder if you would do me the honor of accompanying myself and our friend Phil at dinner tonight, to regale us with your full report."
Though Barnaeus, by rights, should have accepted for the group, it was Oren who said "It would be an honor."
Thomas smiled a little. He liked this man who had a tendancy to shove tradition and protocol aside for a truer brand of honor and respect. He saw a friendship in store for them.
"Oren," said Charles after they'd been dismissed from the duke's presence. "I just wanted to say that I was impressed by the way you handled that darkman."
"Impressed? I was an idiot." said the otter. "I CHP! Let my anger get the better of me. A warrior of Hipocc should never get so cocky."
"Your cockiness saved Jesse's life."
"And you saved Barnaeus'. Gornul saved mine."
"That's the way things work around here. We stick up for each other."
Oren smiled, but his smile quickly faded.
"What is it?" asked the rat.
"Nothing." said the otter, brusquely. "I'll see you at dinner."
Charles held up a bandaged paw to say goodbye, flashing Oren a confused look.
He hated to treat Charles like that. After all, the rat had been most kind to him. He just couldn't get close to him, though. He couldn't let that happen.
If he did, he would die.