Story Prt. 5

Katarin approached a stream on her first day away from the pond, and Jintaro. She knelt down to imbibe, and again felt that tingle of magic, she was starting to get used to it now. Then she lay back on the bank of the stream and slept. 1

"Katarin awake into your slumber!" A man's voice sounded from everywhere and nowhere at once. She knew this voice. This voice was his, of her dreams. 2

"Why do you seek me again? Did you not muddle things up enough last time? I left Jintaro at the pond because you said beware the beast man. Now let me be." 3

"I said naught about leaving Jintaro, I said to beware the man posing as a beast. You should allow Jintaro to accompany you. Only remember beware the man posing as a beast. But this is all past. He will be with you soon. For now your concern lie with finding the Bracelets of the Earth." 4

"But why must I seek these?" 5

"Girl where has your power gone? Know you? Then listen to me, for I know." 6

"Can you still not tell me who you are?" Katarin was as curious as ever about this fact. 7

"You are not ready yet," the man said to her. 'Find the bracelets' was thought to be heard, or heard to be thought. She could not be certain which. 8

"So you see Jintaro I let my feet guide me and they brought me here. And then Vice Lexington Mayor Gnome got a hold of me. Now I am as you see me. That was four days ago," she concluded. 9

"Jintaro worries for Katarin. Katarin must try. Or will die." He warned her. 10

"I have tried already Jintaro. I can do nothing against the bars. They are woven of stronger stuff than I can muster from my old staff here," she tapped her staff and a few of the symbols glowed very faintly. 11

"Don't do bars. Do cell." Jintaro suggested. 12

"What do you mean Jintaro. Do you mean...use magic on the walls instead of the bars. Of course. Why didn't I think of that? Jintaro you are so smart. 13

"Thank you Katarin." 14

Katarin approached the apparently eastern wall of the cell. She began muttering under her breath, tapping a few runic glyphs on her staff. They glowed at her touch, faintly. 15

She placed both hands on the wall and pushed. At first nothing happened. Slowly some dust sifted down from the roof. She kept pushing as hard as she could. Jintaro rushed over to try and help. "No good Jin-," she gasped out at him. She fell against the wall and huffed air in and out of her lungs, seemingly insatiable for clean air. 16

"It was a magical push Jintaro not a physical effort. Maybe up at the top someone small could get out, but it's so high." Katarin muttered dispairingly. "Let me try something Jintaro." 17

The tapping returned with the muttering. Katarin knelt down low on the wall and pulled the bottom of the wall back in so that it sloped up. "Alright Jintaro your turn to do some magic. Do you think you can run up this wall, snake out that little hole and go for help or something?" 18

"If Katarin think, then Jintaro will try." 19

"I know you can Jintaro. This just has to work." 20

Jintaro backed up to the wall, he circled himself once. Running with animal ferocity, he skidded up the embankment, and soared out through the gap in the high part of the cage wall. 21

“Oh Jintaro I knew you could do it, I just knew it,” Katarin delightfully intoned.22

“Katarin must quiet. Gnomes know changed cell,” Jintaro informed her.23

“Jintaro you think of everything,”24

“Thank you Katarin,”25

With that he proceeded down the corridor to the to the east. ‘Let’s see where this takes me,’ he thought. As he left he could hear Katarin struggling to replace the wall as she had found it.26

There were branches in the tunnel but most of them had audible voices trailing from their distant entries. Jintaro paced on the way he was heading.27

“Heh heh, that Catblood should fetch me quite the pretty penny when he goes up for auction. Who doesn’t want an emotionally broken Rannek?”28

“Well Vice Mayor Lexington Gnoggin, I could certainly use one. Why not give him to me as a gift?” a new voice said from around a bend where this tunnel apparently ended in a room to the left.29

“Ha ha ha, oh Quarter Senator Gnoob, I had forgotten why I kept you here. Seeing as you haven’t brought in a decent slave in over a month, it must be your sense of humour that makes me allow you to stay,” Gnoggin concluded.30

“Well Sir, not all of us are blessed enough to have a set of the Bracelets of the Earth, as you do.”31

“No you don’t, and don’t forget your place or I will show you what they can really do. Have you ever seen the earth walk? Have you ever felt the earth grab you by your throat? I can let you, if you think to talk back to me again.”32

“Yes Sir, Mister Vice Mayor Lexington Gnome Sir.”33

“Now begone Gnoob, I need to release the cuffs.”34

“Yes Sir.”35

At which point Gnoob rounded the corner and came face to face with Jintaro. “Hi therrrRRRrrrRRRrrrrre,”Jintaro growled at him with a horrifically wide, razor sharp, grin set below his eyes.36

“AUGHHH,” screamed Gnoob as he ran back into the room with Gnoggin. “Sir, the Rannek is herrrre,” he wailed.37

“RAWRRR,” cried Jintaro as he burst into the room before him. I have come for the Bracelets.”38

“Then you can have them as soon as you can get them from Gnoob,” Gnoggin said.39

“Is -that-,“ he pointed at Gnoob, “supposed to be a threat?”40

“What do you mean sir I don’t have the bracelets you do.”41

“Shut up Gnoob,” Gnoggin said as he leapt into the air, impossibly high for a gnome. 42

Completed a flip and shot both arms and legs towards Gnoob before he fell to the ground. The bracelets flew off his wrists and ankles, hurtling themselves towards the other gnome’s abdomen.43

They collided with Gnoob’s stomach at which point they turned to a golden mercurial fluid, and proceeded to course over the gnomes entire body. When the gold coating the gnome reached the earth at the gnomes feet it started to almost inhale dirt, and earth off the floor. It crept up his legs as though with a mind of its own.44

“What’s happening to me Gnoggin? I can feel this power flowing through me but I have no control over it. What did you do to me?”45

“I told you I could make the earth walk, and grab you by the throat.”46

The horrifying process happening before Jintaro was almost complete. The gnome’s face was the last thing to go and the pitch that the ensuing scream hit before it got choked off with dust and pebbles was near deafening.47

“Kill the Rannek, my elemental creature of the earth!” Gnoggin ordered the ‘creature’.48

“Mogwar raganor talik monwag,” the creature spat out pebbles with every word like they were chipped off teeth. The elemental golem slowly advanced on Gnoggin.49

“What are you doing, fool elemental, I commanded you to attack him,” Gnoggin pointed at Jintaro. Fear growing with the tremble in his voice, and also the ground. The creature’s feet never actually left the ground when it walked. It just pulled its leg forward and the ground dragged with it.50

The golem continued to lumber towards Gnoggin, who by now had sweat trickling down his face. His knees were knocking in fear. He was looking to the Rannek for help. “Please Jintaro save me and you can have your freedom!”51

“I get free anyway, just have to survive pet. I go free, one other, my choice, and one Cuff of Gaia.” Jintaro let his demands be known.52

“WHAT!?! You expect me to give you one of my braces? That’s the most foolish thing I’ve ever heard,” Gnoggin got a little of his falsely placed courage back.53

Gnoob advanced further on Gnoggin. Grabbed him by the top of his head, and heaved him to ‘eye’ level of the elemental. The creature opened the cavern of his mouth and exhaled. It made no noise but it had the reek of a corpse rotting to earth. Gnoggin was repeatedly pelted with small pebbles and rocks. This was apparently a demonstration for now the creature held Gnoggin at arms length. It turned to look at the wall and it closed it’s mouth so there was only a small narrow hole for the breath to escape from. The fury of rocks that tumbled out of it’s mouth pounded against the wall so hard that it actually dug a small track in the wall. The rocks that were being shot as well as the chips coming off the wall were all falling to the floor of the cave, which was where the earth beast was engulfing them again for continued use.  It advanced towards the wall and was still holding Gnoggin off to the side. It stretched its arm out and angled its head so that Gnoggin was being pelted with the ricocheting stones.54

“Jintaro you can have it, all of it!” Gnoggin accepted the inevitable.55

Jintaros nails had long since been elongated to their claw length. He sliced along the length of the arm that was holding Gnoggin, from the beasts shoulder down to its wrist. Pulling his own arm away just as his claws would have found soft gnomish flesh. This shaved off about three centimeters of ‘flesh’ from the things arm. After going at it furiously for five swings he realized this was not helping the situation much.56

“Gnoggin I need to know how to beat this thing,” Jintaro admitted. “A little help here?”57

“I think I –puh- know what went wrong,” he muttered through tight lips after getting a mouth full of dirt, dust, and rocks. “I was not supposed to throw all the cuffs at him, so I guess if you could get one cuff you would be able to command him to stop, but you would not have full control over it.” Gnoggin lied.58

Jintaros senses informed him of that too, but what part was being lied about. Would he not be able to stop the thing, or would he have full control? Maybe he wasn’t lying but getting one cuff would be nigh on impossible. Jintaro racked his slow Rannek brain.59

“I will come back Gnoggin,” and with that Jintaro went galloping down the corridors back to Katarins cage. “Katarin I need help. Earth elemental. We can go free if we defeat it,” during all of this Jintaro had placed his hands on the bars of the cage entrance, with a mighty push he brought the stone columns to pieces. “Follow me Katarin,” and he bolted down the passageways. Former slaves not knowing which way to go, but figuring following the Rannek  to the earth golem was a bad idea. They proceeded the other way. A tumult of alarms and gnomish yells was heard echoing up the corridor to the two remaining escapees.60

“Slow down Jintaro I can’t keep up.”61

“Go straight you will find it,” her voice fading into the distance as he got further and further away from her.62

“Jintaro has come Gnoggin,” only then did Jintaro notice that Gnoggin was already unconscious or worse. He leapt at the creature and with one mighty swipe took the arm holding Gnoggin completely off.63

Jintaro grabbed the arm and Gnoggin before either could hit the ground and he bolted down the corridor a few long strides. Leaving the creature in the dust that it had thrown into the air.64

“Okay Jintaro what’s the plan now?” Katarin had finally arrived.65

Gnoggin may be dead. The cuffs are inside the beast, covering Gnoob, another gnome inside it. Anything knocked off falls to ground and gets eaten. When I get safe distance my senses tell me. So I drop him here. Safe inside the rock cocoon,” Jintaro concluded.66

“And hard to renege on a deal. I see the games you play Jintaro,” Katarin joked lightheartedly. Jintaro could tell by her actions that she was terrified and didn’t know at all what to do.67

“No plan yet Katarin. I fight, you plan,” leaping at the monster before his last words were spoken.68

Katarin was not used to this kind of pressure when her powers were needed. Especially not when her powers were not fully hers to control. There is something all magi have but few are ever desperate enough to use. Wild Magic. The thought alone sent shivers down her spine.69

Wild magic’s abilities were based on the abilities of the caster, weak mage, weak magic. Strong mage, earth-rending magic. Wild magic never acted as desired though the results are generally what was wanted. She had heard of a magi who wanted to end a war with an evil earth warlock. She had no chance of outpowering the warlock. So in a desperate act she invoked wild magic. She had wanted to split him from his power, the earth. The results she got were the earth being split by his power. A range of mountains was split down the center and in mere minutes a valley was formed, where to this day nothing survives, not even grass. The action the wild magic took was augmenting a spell the warlock was casting to create an earthen stronghold amid a small crevasse that was present between two grand peaks.  It caused his spell to absorb his entire being into the casting, Stonedragon the Wicked was never seen again, and Stonedragon Castle was born in the Valley of the Dead.70

Jintaro leapt at the rock golem with all his might, piercing one shoulder with his claws, falling to the earth and raking down the monstrous creatures chest. Three twisted ribbons of earth fell away from the things chest. Gnoob was visible for a second on the inside, tears streaming down his face as his arms and legs were doing the same actions as the creature without. That wound was short-lived though, as was the view it proferred.71

“Katarin I don’t know if I can do anything against this beast. It keeps regenerating itself from the ground it stands upon,” he informed her, while keeping the beast pre-occupied.72

“Jintaro I am going to release wild magic, you should get out of there,” she warned him.73

He had worked his way behind the beast and was in the middle of a barrage of slices when he heard this. He dove his claws deep into the beasts back, leaped vertically and let his claws pivot him into a frontward flip. His claws rending a chunk out of the creatures back, the size of it’s own head, as he came to land on the beasts shoulders. From this position he leapt at the arch of the roof above the entranceway to this room. He dug his claws into the roof and swung his legs under him and back up on the other side digging his toes’ claws into the roof of the tunnel that Katarin was still standing in. He hung there perched on the roof, small pebbles falling from his hands and feet locked as they were in the earth.74

Katarin had already initiated the release of her power from her body. She needed to have all her power working towards one thing in order to cause wild magic to occur. Her body slumped to the ground, after a warming, and warning glance to Jintaro. Her mind reeling at the ebb and flow of magic around her. She was primarily feeling the magical heartbeat of the golem, at the mercy of the Cuffs.75

She racked herself trying to think of some way to defeat this creature. Then realization struck home. The earth was its source of power. Take it away from the earth and it would be powerless. Herself, such as it was, reached into the elemental form and found Gnoob. First she touched his heart to quiet him, then she touched his mind to warn him what was about to happen and how he was about to feel. Next she touched what was the creatures driving force, the Cuffs of Gaia wrapped around Gnoob.76

Jintaro saw Katarin slump to the ground but after the look she gave him, he believed this was meant to happen. He saw  that something inside the beast quieted down and a little bit of the rage went out of the creature. Then something incredible happened before him. The rock golem of two tonnes flew stark upright, into the roof of the cavern and through it. It ripped through that roof and the tunnel that was running above it got split assunder as well. Gnomes were seen to be peeking over the lip of the crater in the floor. Others were looking up at the crack in the roof.77

Jintaro fell from the roof in the middle of all this, for the ground, which was the roof, had started to tremble from the force that had just ripped through it. Jintaro ran under the hole, heedless of pebbles and shards of rock that were falling around him. He saw the creature shoot through the final roof of rock and rubble. It was flailing straight into the sky.78

She grabbed the Cuffs, and bolted straight up. Into the roof and through the roof. She could see the look of fear in him as he hovered protectively over Katarin. 79

Rocks showering down onto Jintaro where he had fallen from his roof perch in the ensuing small quarters earth tremor. 80

She crashed headlong through the layers of the earth. Leaving a tube of air digging straight into the earth.  Carrying this two tonne beast beneath her. She could already feel the magic fading from the Cuffs. The further they are from the earth the less power they have.81

Gnoobs voice was heard. “-ave me, PLE-,” but then it was cut off again. Katarin flew higher with this creature. Rocks were falling off almost perpetually now. The legs were flailing and large boulders were beginning to come undone as well.82

Soon the legs were completely gone, and still Katarin flew to higher heights. Until she was holding flesh and it was holding her back she would continue her flight. She looked down and saw Gnoobs head looking up at her. He couldn’t see her but it was obvious some force was dragging him into the heavens above.83

When finally only Gnoob wearing all four Braces of Earth was left she again reached into his frightened mind. ‘Gnoob you have the cuffs on but they have no power here in the bailiwick of air. If you pass these cuffs to me then I can bring you down safely to the earth,’ she directed into his mind.84

“HOW DO I DO THIS?” Gnoob inquired of the air around him.85

‘Simply will them to me who you know saved you.’86

So the Cuffs in their mercurial fashion flowed up Gnoobs body from his feet, and in along his arms to his torso. All four fusing as one around his neck, continued over his head. To the wrists of Katarins self, hanging suspended upside down over Gnoob. Two flows of golden liquid continuing to her knees, and then to her ankles.87

With this Katarin felt her power returning in some degree. She warned what was to come and that he was above all else very safe in her hands. She shot straight at the air tube and into the earth.88

To the gnomish onlookers it looked as if a rock golem went into the air and only Gnoob came down afterwards.89

Jintaro knew better though, once he saw Gnoob returning without a crusted coat of armor on, he knew Katarin was safe. He went over to her temporary corpse and propped it up into a more comfortable position.90

Plummetting to the earth at incredible speeds, Gnoob had to scream even being warned had not prepared him for this. He closed his eyes and slowly his own screaming stopped. When he felt the deceleration he had to pray that it was because they were nearing the end of this ride.91

Katarin slowed to the earth and dropped Gnoob when he was about five feet from the ground, Jintaro caught him handily. She eased over to her slumped form now sitting against a wall. 92

Her form sliding on top of her body it lowered itself in and was welcomed back to life by the sharp intake of breath.93

“KATARIN! You live!” Jintaro had not been quite aware of what was happening but he had faith in her abilities.94

“Yes, Jintaro but I am very tired,” she put her hand to her head, and felt the cold shock of metal around her wrist.95

“You have the Braces, all of them. I only deal with Gnoggin for one Cuff, but I don’t think he mind. If you threaten to leave him in the coccoon.”96

“The braces don’t come apart. You can only command them as a whole Jintaro.”97

‘So that was how he was lieing to me,’ Jintaro thought to himself98

“SOMEBODY HELP ME,” bellowed Vice Mayor Lexington Gnoggin.99

“Hello Gnoggin,” Katarin greeted the stuck little man. “How was your nap? Did you have any nightmares? I hope so. We will be on our way now.”100

“But we had a deal, the catblood and me.”101

“I never agreed to that deal, and Jintaro couldn’t have defeated the beast without me. So I guess you owe me not him. My price is four cups and all the slaves you currently hold released,” she demanded.102

“HA> I have never heard anything so prepo-,” he was cut off in mid-sentence.103

Katarin began to walk away sensing she would get know where fast unless he believed he was in danger.104

“WAIT!… Maybe I was a little hasty, you can keep all four Cuffs, and the catblood but I can’t release all my slaves. This Gnome Hall would be ruined,” he confessed.105

“Deal, Jintaro if you would, please break his thumb!”106

“With PleasurrrRRRe,” Jintaro walked over to the little gnome trapped in a big hand. Picked him up rock arm and all.107

“NO CATBL-Jintaro please listen to me I was just joking I never would have sold you as a slave, I was going to jus-,” he was cut short as Jintaro grabbed the thumb of the giant rock arm and broke it off. Gnoggin fell to the ground. He stayed there wallowing on the ground. A slight odour penetrating the air. Katarin and Jintaro were hasty to leave.108

Katarin was walking with Jintaro and Gnoob. She sensed that her power had come back and was now even stronger in some ways than before. “Gnoob, why was he running your city? He seemed cruel.”109

“He has been the ruler since I was born. We are a cruel people Katarin, have to be in this profession,” Gnoob informed her.110

Katarin slowed her pace and then stopped in the middle of the corridor. She half-squatted down to Gnobs level, and took his hands, with their feet also in close contact. She went into a semi-trance, and the cuffs started to glow and liquify. A small glob came off of each of the four cuffs. These globs in turn slid, or poured, over to Gnoob and furnished themselves on his fingers and toes, one for each limb. “You are now the ruler of this tribe of Gnomes. These Cuffs were originally full forearm bracers. Though they have to be all four present to work. You don’t need all of each piece. That is how each tribe of Gnomes has it’s own set of Cuffs. You will not have as much power as I have bearing full cuffs. But it will be enough to cow Gnoggin and indeed all of your tribe.”111

“Thank you Katarin so much for your generosity. If there is ever anything you need from us you know you can ask. Be it a slave, or a small army. It will be yours to command.”112

With this Katarin and Jintaro were escorted out of the other exit. There in front of them stood a small trickling river.113