The
Kismet Mountains were only a few day’s ride from the House of Ganesh. Crom had with him a dozen of his best
men. A scout met them just south of the
mountains and pointed them in the direction of the caves that held Quadri and
Rohib’s men. They were quite stealthy as
the made their ways through the caves.
Two guards stood outside the entrance with breastplates and giant battle
axes. One of Crom’s men appeared behind
each and, using a sturdy metal wire, strangled the guards. They fell to the ground limp. It was quite bloody. It was quiet.
The invaders cleaned their wires on the dead men’s tunics. They each had garrotle wires; small crossbows
with bolts made to go through armor, throwing axes, and a melee weapon of
choice. The invaders wore no armor,
black clothing, and veils that covered most of their faces. Crom took the lead, he signaled the men with
movements of his sword. They moved
silently down the tunnel. He heard
something, stopped and raised his crossbow, motioned to his men who movde
against the wall and waited. Two guards
came walking down the corridor talking to each other. Crom used a hand signal and fired his
crossbow as the guards approached.
Crom’s bolt pierced the first guy in the throat, another bolt hit the
other one in the eye. They too were
dead. As soon as Crom made the hand
signal, two of Crom’s men ran forward, ducking low so as not to get in the way
of the bolts. Because of this, they were
close enough to the men to catch them before they hit the ground to make
thunderous noises. The men who caught
the guards dragged them backward toward the entrance, where they hid the bodies
then rejoined Crom and the others. The
invaders moved forward again. They soon
came to an intersection. Sounds drew the
invaders down one tunnel. After a little
more sneaking, the cave widened out into a large room. At one end, a stalagmite stuck up out of the
ground. It had been leveled off of the
to top and stairs had been carved into it.
At the top was a man preaching.
He said various praises about Ishmail, death, destruction, and
sheep. There were about 15-armed men not
wearing armor in the chamber listening to him.
Crom made signals and his men readied their crossbows. They all fired at once, Crom’s bolt took the
preaching man on the rock. It was
Rohib. Each bolt hit a different target
and a dozen men fell dead. The invaders
dropped their crossbows and pulled out throwing axes, killing more people from
a distance. Twelve more men fell
dead. The remaining five men turned
around to see the invaders and they all yelled out “Intruders!”. Then the second wave of throwing axes took
them out. All of the previous
inhabitants of the room lay dead.
Crom announced to his men, “Reload you
crossbows. It is time that we make a
swift exit. I fear that our gracious
guests may not be pleased with our premature departure. Let us thank our kind guests as we leave and
give them steel gifts of the heart.” As
they made their hasty exit, Quadri’s men begin storming the room. Crom shot some poor member of that group in
the chest with a bolt and he fell immedietly.
They were no longer quiet as there was no use. They made a speedy exit and as they reached
they intersection on the way out, a throwing axe takes the last man in the
back. As he fell he cried out, “At our
back, Lord Crom!”
The men abruptly turned around with their crossbows
ready. Strom came running from the
intersection tunnel, looking back over his shoulder as if there were people
following him. He pulled the axe from
the back of the fallen soldier, the men lowered their crossbows. One soldier asked Strom, “Have you come out
of your exile to help us, Lord Strom?”
“Yes, I came here in search of you. Come, we must flee.” The soldiers continued running out of the
cave and Strom took rear. Crom did not
let Strom know he was there, but Strom was no fool. Though his face was covered with a veil,
Strom knew his own damn brother when he saw him. As they were running Strom ran up behind the
man directly ahead of him and cut his throat with a cold dagger. He went through man after man until it was
just him and his brother.
As they approached the exit, Crom turned around to
see that Strom killed ever last one of his finest soldiers, “Brother, what have
you done? You have betrayed our father
and our kingdom.” Strom said nothing, he
just advanced on Crom with his axe out.
Crom did not even draw his sword.
At this point, there was a large crowd surrounding Crom. He had no chance, “Strom! I am your brother, your own flesh. Would you slay your own kin?”
The men all whispered amongst themselves at this
revelation. Upon Strom’s face grew an
evil grimace. He said nothing at all,
but gestured to the men surrounding them to allow Crom passage. Crom stared at Strom a moment then hesitantly
made his way out of the cave compound.
All of the men were shocked and silent.
When Crom was out of sight, a pissed off Quadri screamed, “Damn
you! Rohib is gone! You let Crom go? Why have you ignored the legacy of my
family? My brother and I have fought
long and hard for a chance at somebody like Crom. And you!
You are his flesh and blood! Your
father! He did this to us!”
Strom understood Quadri’s rage. He knew what it was like to lose a brother,
so he said calmly, “Yes I am of his flesh, but I am no longer his brother. We must not make haste dear comrade. Vengeance will
be had. Do you not realize that Ganesh
may lay off of us a while when he sees that I am at the center of the
uprising? My father may hate me, but I
feel that he loves me as well. Fear not,
Quadri, Rohib has not died in vein. On
the contrary, he is a martyr.”
###
More Greatest Evil
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