I figured we might be trying to make the sea at some point, maybe get on a boat and sail away to a delightful island vacation. Alas no, we were headed for a cave in a valley that smelled like rotting garbage (I was told later the smell is intentional, I made sure to save that little explination for the next time I don't take out the garbage for a while). It was all white stone and the occaisional bone dropped from carrion bird (or so I hoped). Marian slowed her horse when we drew close to a large cave mouth and I muttered under my breath, nothing good ever comes from caves and this was no exception. As if on demand from whatever dark god hates me Morley emerged from within.
"I should have guessed you'd be involved here." He looked creepier than when I last saw him, even though he was dressed fairly normally, a dark suit white shirt even had on a tie, why I have no idea. Probably to be more evil looking, he wasn't even openly wearing a weapon I could see. He ignored me and paid Marian with a sack of coins. She didn't even say good bye just got on her horse and rode off.
"Alone at last brother."
"I'm not your brother Morley." He directed me to follow and like a good little dog I did.
"Oh please Trezlan I'm the closest thing you have to family, and hell we are so much alike, you killed your father, I killed my father, see peas in a pod!" I hate when he makes a good point, its so grating.
"So you're involved in the rebellion now? Is that what this is about?"
"The rebellion? You mean that sad sack of idiots about to get annihilated in Rolak? No not in the slightest, I just heard about the 'Hero' of Rolak and what fate awaited you and figured my brother should not die at the gallows." It was almost sweet, if I didn't know that wasn't the real reason he wanted me not in Dunlok.
"And the real reason is?" We had made our want into his cave (necromancers and caves, thankfully its a tradition we have all since abandoned, now we just use basements, the we of course being me and morley I'm not aware of many other necromancers anymore). The mouth narrowed to a smaller corridor and he had a door installed there that was hilariously locked, he produced a key ring and had to fiddle to find the right one.
"You wound me Trezlan with your implication that I might have an ulterior motive for saving the only other person in this world who empathisizes with my plight."
"You'll get over the wounding Morley, because you know as well as I do that neither one of us is all that friendly with each other, or is the fact we haven't each other in over a hundred years slipped your mind." Once inside I could see he kept a fairly normal looking living area. Bed, desk, some oil lamps, he even had a painting possibly done by him hanging next to his rather comfy looking bed.
"Oh ok fine we'll drop the fake civility, you had access to journals of our former master, you have now lost those journals do to your stupidity and I need you to get them back."
"And you can't just do this because?"
"Because fool the creature that sleeps under Dunlok is now aware of our scent thanks to your bumbling. I tried to get the damn things already but he's got things watching for our approach."
"Despite his ability scent me out you want me to try and get the journals back how?"
"I dunno think of something you idiot, its your fault they are lost and I saved you from execution, you solve this or you'll be right back in line to be killed." It was great, out of the frying pan and into morleys cave (ok that metaphor got away from me). On the plus side Morley did give me a cloak to "cover my hideous body" as he so delightfully put it. He also made me sleep on the floor, guy was a dick. He invites me to a cave in the middle of nowhere to solve a problem he's having because of something I did, I tell you its almost like he is family, the uncle who always needs money kind!
No comments:
Post a Comment