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Chapter 5 Meeting of Casifus

Cellmate? Kane hoped it was Shade, "Shade is that you?" Kane said wearily.

He heard nothing but a laugh, "Well, we meet again eh? But we are both on the same end."

He recognized that voice and smiled but a little, "Casifus! It's you! But how did you end up in here? Are you the one who has been following me?"

"Following you? I am not and how dare you accuse me of such a thing. I am not one who stalks people. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kane believed him, he knew then it must've been his shadow or reflection. Kane leaned up against the wall, "So how did you end up here?"

"Well...after you escaped out the door I was captured..."

"' Casifus son of Lelegald! You will be sentenced for treason on this account! What did you do with the Gargoyle?'" said Lorandul.

Casifus sneered at the guard, "' I killed him! I threw his body into the river'"

"' But why? We were going to exucute him anyway, what you did was unjust!'"

"'Unjust? hah! This kingdom is unjust! Killing a person for "tresspassing" just because he wanted to get through the forest. Killing someone's father because he disagreed with the King. Killing someone's mother and siblings because they were thought to be traitors. You are the ones who are unjust! I curse you all and espeically Lorandul!!!!'"

Lorandul stepped up to Casifus and slapped him hard across the face. Casifus spat on his face and kicked his leg.

"'Your acts shall be accounted for in trial. Tonight at the beginning of eve there will be a trial to decide your fate.'"

Lorandul faced Casifus again, "' Now tell me.....was there anyone else invovled? If you tell me now they will be spared of a slow death.'"

Casifus growled at Lorandul, "' No...I acted alone...'"

"'Really? Are you positive about that? Because it seems that we have three others that seemed to be apart of your scheme.'"

Casifus was shown to Lerenwed, Kaew, and Duril also being held by the guards, "' We caught them in the dungeon killing guards. For the first part of your punishment I will let you watch their deaths.'"

Casifus sighed with some relief that his son, Kilofus, wasn't there. The other three looked almost beaten to death their faces bleeding, their hair amess. Lorandul pulled his sword slowly, "' I could be nice and let them die fast, but that isn't like me at all now is it? I shall let them die slowly.'" Lorandul grinned slowly as he stabbed each of them near the liver so to make it slow and painful.

Casifus was gasped with horror and tears were streaming down his face. Those three he knew as Kilofus' friends as he grew up now they were dead.

After the bodies dropped Lorandul faced Casifus and smiled with an evil look, "'Throw him in the dungeon.'"

Casifus was put in the dungeon and he wallowed in self pity. It was a mistake to help that Gargoyle he thought but at least he saved one life. Most of his thoughts went out to his son and wondered where he was. He hoped it was out of this kingdom and somewhere safe but then again their are no safe places in Raisher anymore he thought.

The hour drew near for the trial and the cell door opened. It was two guards and they led Casifus to the trial room. Lorandul was the judge and he banged his gavel, "'Order! Order in the court!'" Everyone hushed and had their eyes focused on Lorandul.

"' You are all brought hither today to watch the trial of this man, Casifus, who led the group of today's unauthorized execution of a gargoyle.'" Some of the auidence gasped and others whispered.

"'Order!'" yelled Lorandul again as he banged his gavel, "'Now is the time for his punishment I will let my Cardinal help decide with me.'"

The Cardinal stood up and bowed before Lorandul, "' I hearby say that this filthy scoundrel should be executed no doubt. I'm sure everyone agrees with me!'"

Some people nodded others didn't, "' But isn't that a little too easy?'' said a bishop demanding to be heard.

"'I say we banish him from our realm! It is far better than to kill him.'"

A heated debate began fro the Cardinal and two bishops, "' Order! order in my court!'" yelled Lorandul while banging the Gavel.

"'I like the Bishops idea. This man shall be banished forever and it will remain in effect tomorrow at noon.'"

Lorandul banged his Gavel one more time and stood up and left. The audience was enraged. They wanted to see some bloodshed and the Cardinal and two bishops got back into a heated argument. Casifus was led back to the dungeon where he awaited till tomorrow.

"And that's what happened......" Casifus sighed and hugged his knees.

"What did you do when you left L'usuma?" asked Kane.

"I followed your trail. Not to mean disrespect to you and your kind, but Gargoyles leave a trail as easy as Orcs do," Casifus let out a muffled laugh.

Kane kinda snuffed at this and let out a small laugh, 'So do you have any plans how to get out of this one?"

Casifus laughed again, "Nope no idea!"

The two bursted out laughing when a guard banged on the door, "You two keep it quiet! Or I'll let the execution start earlier!"

"So how did you get captured?" Kane asked again still curious.

"Well when I was following your trail two orcs came by and accused me of killing some of their kind when I clearly did not and I wonder now if it was you? I remember seeing Gargoyle tracks but they looked different. I saw two sets, ones that were clearly yours and the other was were ours but only smaller. Was it you who killed the Orcs?"

"No it was not!" Kane then told Casifus his story from the time he escaped L'usuma till he was captured.

"Do you know what happened to your compainion the minilia?"

"Shade is his name and I have no idea where he is. I don't know if he escaped or he was killed." Kane sighed and gave a thought to Shade and wished for his best.

Hours it seemed to go by but it felt like minutes to them but something strange happened. They didn't know when they were to be executed but in Orc custom they usually wait three hours before they execute someone. They know it must've been three hours by now.

The cell door slowly creaked open but no Orc was in sight. No one was. Casifus bid Kane to sit down as he would check it out first. Casifus came back a half an hour later reporting that every Orc had disappeared.

"They're all gone?" Kane said in astonishment, "That's impossible!"

"Well I don't think they all disappeared, I did find some fresh blood stains and from my findings it looked as if they were running away from something but we heard no noise at all when we were in here. It must've been a great force to drive out Orcs as nasty as these ones."

"I did get my bow and quiver back though." Casifus smiled as he fit an arrow onto his bow to see if any damage was done.

Kane looked at his hand and saw that the Ibion ring was still there. He was glad that is wasn't taken.

"If we are to escape it must be now, we don't know if the Orcs are away for a little bit or if they're hiding. We must act quickly." whispered Casifus.

Kane nodded and got up trying to go as silently as he could. Casifus lead the way and stopped every few steps to smell and sniff the air. The dungeon was still lit by lamps but many of them burned out.

"How long do you suppose we were in there?" asked Kane.

"I don't....." Casifus was cut short when his ears perked up and he loaded an arrow onto his bow ready to attack. Kane was startled and stepped back a little.

Moments later Kane too could hear it, it was a faint screaming sound as if souls were being tortured. Kane was in horror, his arms felt very weakened and he looked down and saw blood on them but not his own blood.

Kane looked up and saw an Orc's body was hanging from the ceiling with no head or legs just it's torso. It looked to be stuck on something but Kane couldn't tell. He didn't want to alarm Casifus but he tapped him on the shoulder and pointed up.

Casifus too saw it and was shocked, "Who could've done that?" asked Kane.

"Whatever it was, was strong enough to kill all these Orcs in the dungeon. We must be more quiet or else it will here us."

They moved more silently barely even breathing. It seemed hours since they walked out of there cell. Casifus led Kane into a circular room with lamps lit at four corners.

"I think we're almost out, I think I can see daylight peering out through that door" Caisfus said pointing to a door but the light he saw suddenly disappeared and a scream was let out afterwards.

They backed up against a wall, unable to move or breathe. The thing that killed the Orcs was in the next room and they were trapped. Two of the lamps blew out and Kane could hardly see. He thought he heard soft faint footsteps coming closer and closer.

Casifus let an arrow go and a loud bellow was let loose. It's footsteps were louder and louder and it yelled a faint glow could be seen and Kane could see the creature just faintly. It's shaped was like a spider but standing upright and had one eye.

Casifus gasped, "This is an anicent enemy of the old days! A Giltourion! These have thought to be extinct."

"We must get out!" yelled Kane.

Casifus let loose another arrow but only making the creature angrier. Kane was still backed up against the wall still too scared to move. He heard the creature make a coughing noise and a second later Kane felt a sticky substance on him. More was spatted on him until it covered some of his chest and arms. He found that he couldn't move and was to be done for.

Casifus was pouring out his arrows but found that it was only making the Giltourion more angry each time. Casifus got out a small hunting knife he uses and tried to sneak up on the creature but the Giltourion heard him and grabbed Casifus throwing him across the room.

Casifus was down and unconcious. The Giltourion made it's way closer to Kane. It was savoring this, it had not had Gargoyle for many a century.

Kane closed his eyes and prayed that someone would help him. He was hoping for Linden's help, Kane let out a scream of fear and anger. A bright flash took over the room and the Giltourion became scared and fell to the ground dead.

Kane was let loose from the sticky substance and fell to the ground unconcious. His ring was glowing a faint white and faded seconds later.

"Wake up! Kane! Wake up!" yelled Casifus as he shook him.

Kane opened his eyes slowly and rubbed them, " Where am I? What happened?" asked Kane.

"It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen! You did it! You killed the Giltourion!" said Casifus jumping for joy, happy that he wasn't food for the disgusting creature.

"What are you talking about? I do not remember a thing. My head hurts so much." said Kane rubbing his head.

"Your ring! It started glowing and the whole room went white and when I awoke I found the Giltourion dead and you passed out! You did it! I can't believe!" Casifus clapped.

Kane felt for his ring and smiled in relief and looked at it. It didn't seem to have any wear nor even a little bit dirty.

Daylight was creeping in the cave and Kane stood up and stretched, "We should get out of here before any more of those creatures come."

"Yes you're probably right, and we should start looking for your friend Shade. Though this will be hard, I've never tracked a Minilia before nor do I know a smell of one." Casifus got his bow and arrow tucked behind him and went ahead to sniff the air, "It seems free of Orcs, it does not smell so foul as before. If they did run off they're long gone by now, probably off to where the Dwarves live for safety."

"I thought Dwarves and Orcs were natural enemy." said Kane.

"They are but when their home is threatened of a creature to this magnitude they ally and try to kill it together. But enough of that we're killing daylight, if we are to find Shade, it is to be now."

Casifus and Kane walked out of the Orc cave to never see it again. Casifus sniffed the air in hopes of any clues, but no scent of anything except Orc, "I don't know the Unda range that good but I know where I was captured, it was east from here and maybe shouldn't take more than a days journey. From there we should perhaps come across to your trail and maybe Shade's as well."

Birds were fluttering up into the sky in the distance and Kane watched them curious as to what startled them. He thought nothing of it and Casifus already started without him. Kane walked towards Casifus was and noticed he was barely making any footprints. He forgot how Elves were lightfooted and leave footprints faint enough for only elves of their kindred to see.

Casifus went ahead of Kane a little bit and told him he found a road, "It must be the road the Orcs use to get around here, the earth groans under their feet there. Come let us follow it."

The two were going at a fast pace practically jogging so they could find Shade. Noon was closing in and still no trace of anyone except seeing an occasional dead Orc body. Kane was getting worried. He knew Shade couldn't stand alone long in the wild this long espeically with Orcs and strange things aboard.

They gave up their search for the day and decided to make camp. "You will take first watch tonight and wake me up in case you notice anything strange."

Kane nodded and went on to watching the fire burn. Casifus fell into a light sleep and dreamed of happy things. Kane felt useless since he couldn't really defend himself but he felt somewhat safe as long as he wore his ring.

Kane just sat there watching all around him. He didn't feel scared just worried about Shade. A sudden feeling crept onto Kane. He looked behind him and saw nothing but save tree and brush. He turned around and stared into the uninpenatrable darkness. He felt he was being watched.

If he was being watched Kane knew it had to have been that thing, that reflection, that has been following him since the start. Kane heard a rustle from behind him and turned around and saw nothing.

"Well isn't this a jolly gathering! Food and a fire! You didn't even tell me!" said the voice.

"Who is that?" yelled Kane.

"No need to yell! I'm down here!"

Kane knew right away it was Shade and smiled looking down, "Shade! It is you! Where have you been?"

"I'll tell stories later, but first could I have some food? I haven't eaten for three days since you were captured!" said Shade plopping down next to the dying fire.

"Yes you may, let me liven up this fire a little bit and i'll make you some soup." said Kane happily.

Casifus stirred from his sleep, "What's going on? What's all this racket?"

"Well hello sir! I am Shade, a friend of this here Kane. Are you two traveling together now?" said Shade a bit sad he might be left out.

"Yes me and Kane have met before, but we'll exchange stories later, what are you preparing Kane?" wondered Casifus.

"Some soup for Shade, he hasn't eaten in 3 days he says."

"Well then while you're at it make me some soup too and for yourself if you want any." smiled Casifus rubbing his stomach.

After filling up on soup, Casifus told Shade his story from the escaping from the prison to get Kane free till they escaped the Orc dungeon and the fight with the Giltourion.

"I remember Giltourions in the old days, fearsome creatures and quite ugly. They once served the armies in Malidorian and because of that they're almost extinct. You may have killed the last one I'm not sure," said Shade.

"Well now, tell us your story Master Shade." said Casifus licking his lips from the soup.

"Master Shade!" Shade chuckled, "I rather like the sound of that but anyways. When Kane was captured by the Orcs I overheard them talking."

"Why does Ibion want this Gargoyle anyways?" said a grunt orc.

"I don't know i'm just following orders," said the other dragging Kane away.

"But what about this other guy who was suppose to be tracking him?" said the first one.

"I said I don't know! I just follow orders I don't give them! Now shut up and let's get going before we get in trouble." said the second one.

"Do you believe in those reports of that half spider, half bear thing we've been hearing?"

"No, such disgusting creatures don't exist, don't believe those scouts they love making up stories," said the second one.

"That was about what I overheard. I decided to follow for a bit but they didn't stop one bit and I was getting tired so I slept in a tree that night. Then when I woke up I lost their trail. Later that day I saw Orcs running for their lives heading over towards the Dwarven homes. Then today I heard two people talking and walking and it was you two. I decided to follow and make my usual entrance," Shade snickered at that.

Casifus clapped, "Quite a tale, at least this explains a bit more eh Kane?"

Kane made no anwser but covered his ring shaking a little, "Kane?"

"Make sure he is captured unspoiled and alive. I have plans for him" said a voice inside Kane's head. It sounded so familiar and far away. Kane thought it sounded a little like Linden's voice but why would Linden want him and how is Linden still alive? Kane had to know.

Kane came back and looked around, "We start at dawn, let's get some sleep."

"Are you ok Kane?" asked Casifus.

Kane nodded, 'It's your turn for watch now Casifus," Kane lyed down and quickly feel asleep.

Kane slept a dreamless sleep and awoke before dawn. He found Casifus and Shade asleep dreaming pleasantly. He shivered, his spine tingling down his body. He looked down his ring and saw it glowing black. Wondering what it meant he looked around him seeing if anyone was watching. No sound was heard.

Shade woke up and saw Kane looking off into the distance. He pondered what he was looking at and walked up to him, "What's wrong Kane?"

Kane was a bit startled and turned and to look down at Shade, "Oh it's nothing much, go wake up Casifus so we can head out. I want to get out of here as quick as possible"