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He kept the book back in the trunk and turned to stare at others with a worried look, all jokes and superior attitudes vanishing from him. “Something about this whole set up bothers me greatly. Ruel never fully told me what he really wanted me to come here and get. These are very ancient and powerful items to be in the possession of anyone. How did he come about it? Who gave it to the baron in the first place? If it was a priest of Nemphis, how did they come into the possession of these? There were lots of relics of power scattered around the world after the pantheon war. But they were all located and locked up in hidden places heavily fortified and protected with powerful sorcery.
“I’m concerned about Ruel’s interest in this. What are his goals, what is he aiming to achieve? For himself or does he do it for another? He is obviously not a sorcerer or a wise one, then of what use are these powerful relics to him? “
“We won’t find answers to that standing here. “ Jarrael cut him off . “We got what we came for, let’s move, remember we have a rendezvous to keep, they won’t wait for us if we are late. “ He signalled to Gamba who came to pick up the trunk after it closed on its own, effortlessly lifted it and put it on his shoulder.
“It would really have saved us some time if your hocus-pocus can quickly transport the trunk to a safe place, don’t you think? “ Meera came close to Thrace circling her hand around his shoulders gently.
“Unfortunately that is impossible. “ the acolyte said slowly. “These two relics have very powerful anti-magic wards which protects them against been used by teleportation magic. Anyway I am yet to try out any form of teleportation acts. “

“Hmmmmmmm a black crytal. Didn’t know any of these still exists. The Lapzulis potemina The power stone. “ Thrace took out the stone and closely examine it. “They were greatly used in the past to call down, focus or store great magical powers. But they were all believed to have been destroyed during the pantheon war. Yet here is one. Only the most knowledgeable of sorcerers and wise ones know about this. But how did a merchant like Ruel come about this knowledge? “
He kept the stone back in the trunk and pulled out the second item in it. It was a heavy volume book, the cover made of iron and a key hole by the middle. Intricately carved woods in gold were on it. “The rune scroll of Kumish also called volumos nicromicon by the wise ones of the society of the eyes. A book that is believed to have been read by no one. It had been rumored to contain knowledge that are forbidden to mortal men. Only the gods can read and comprehend it’s language and writings. Any human that attempts to read it will have his mind destroyed. “

The room was windowless and almost empty save for a pedestal on which is a raised platform of block marble. On the flat top of it is a wooden chest with thin strips of metal bindings. It looked like something that have sat there for a long time but amazingly there were no dust or cobwebs to mark the long time of neglect.
“Here is the goal of our trip. “ turning to those behind him, Thrace said. Pointing at Gamba he continued. “Gamba if you will be so helpful.”
The Hokunian hung back his huge war axe on his belt, walked down to the pedestal, with little effort lifted the trunk from the pedestal and brought it down. Touching the trunk at specific areas, after consulting another scroll with him, Thrace got it to open on its own. Two items were visible in the trunk, one was a black crystial with a heptagonal irregular shape.

Heading out of the shattered room, Thrace brought them to a smaller corridor that was surprisingly well preserved , it appeared like an oasis of order in the midst of the catastrophe surrounding them. The corridor built of the same white polished marble as other part of the city was dark, without light. Thrace snapped his right fingers in the air and a round spherical globe appeared floating on the air, twice the size of a clenched fist, giving out cold pale blue light.
The light illuminated the part they were to take along the corridor. There were three doors each on both sides of the wall, all made of gold and locked. A seventh door was directly at the end of the corridor opposite them. It was made from brass, with a heavy lock which sealed the door shut. The acolyte spoke some words and with a click the key snapped open. He pushed the door inward as the floating ball of light followed him. As the others crowded in beside him, the light from the floating globe revealed a small room in contrast to the ones they have been seeing here so far, with sizes of about six paces by ten paces been its length and breadth.

And looking at the story in retrospect, I think a lot of the characters are underrated. The ones that have really taken the time to shine so far are Jarrael and Meera(Thorn). As annoying as Thrace may be, he has great potential, he is very powerful, what he lacks are skills, experience, discipline and character, but from the little I know, he is potentially one of the most powerful mage Ghemmaria have ever seen, though he is just an acolyte.
As for Gamba, it's quite obvious that he is physically very strong. But what is not known about him is that he is a very skilled fighter at least on par with Khen. He is also extremely intelligent and outspoken. But these two later qualities are subdued because of the exile he is in. It had adverse effects on his self esteem, so he is more introverted for now.
Khen can easily be seen as very skilled and competent fighter. He is also an experienced tracker, as good as Jarrael. Another of his ability is he has the best eye sight of the group. He can see details from a distance and be able to give full details.
So they are all great characters and no pushovers. Besides its fun to just let them kick ass.. .. Lol

jupitre:
You're a very good writer...Your works are really awesome..But think the way you're trying to portray the characters,they are very good and can't be defeated..I think that should not be so..

About the leech, i think you should have allowed it to really hurt one of them..And the fight ended too soon.they ought to fight it for like 17 minutes before the sorcerer can remember how it can be defeated..

And lastly i think the story is just full of actions..it should be filled with suspense..with little romance at least..

EVEYTHING I POINTED OUT IS JUST MY OPINION OOO..SHALOM

Lol, your points are valid and all these are weaknesses in the story I took note of.
Anyway, I wanted this to be a short story, it's actually a spin off from a much larger story.
Well as for the suspense, the story has a little too much suspense that can't all be covered here.
As for the characters, I have bigger roles for them, I wanted my readers to get a lot more feel for them, their strengths and weaknesses, get to like them too. While I can't allow any of them to be really hurt or killed at the moment (this is not A GAME OF THRONES after all) is, I created these characters knowing the extent of their powers , skills and abilities. Nothing they have faced yet have really challenged them very well, but soon they will meet their match. ( also note that Ruel while picking this team, didn't do that carelessly, he had an idea what the problems are about obtaining what he wants and took his time to select highly skilled people that have the best chance of achieving his goals.)
Stick around, a whole lot is about to happen in a short while and I guarantee you, the results will surprise you (if not shock you, that is) .

Damibiz:
Guy let move to that side...we miss u,jst make out time to come ok....

I don't think so. This story suffered a bit when I did the first part of last gang. Ok let me give u an idea how full my hands are at the moment.
1. I have to finish this story.
2. I have MARVEL CHRONICLES 2 EXECUTIVE SANCTION that I have abandoned just to finish this present story.
3. I still have to write MARVEL CHRONICLES 3.FIRST CONTACT.
Then my major work, GHEMARIA CANTICLES has been abandoned since all these started.
Meanwhile I have not been chanced to read again(I love reading, that is my major hobby.) so I need to get back to my books. I have missed them.
All these not including work, personal issues, got to rest, eat, see if I can make money, pay some bills... Ah I just need to be superman to really meet up with all of these... So that is why I can't contribute on last gang standing at least for now. But the other writers are doing great jobs with the story, better than I did... So I'm not really missed

Damibiz:
Have being following this work as a ghost reader,bt i hv decided to comment..u re super duper great man..keep it coming..before i forget,why not move to a combine work title #THE LAST GANG STANDING....u re a great writer nd ur skill could be utilise over there......waiting for u

Lol thanks. But as of the Last gang standing, was already there, check it out, I kicked started the programe. I wrote the 1st 3 chapters

Hi guys, just wanted to inform u all that I may not be able to send updates today because I'm seriously busy preparing for a long trip to Rivers state tomorrow. Will see if I can type a little when I get back this night. Well it depends....

So what do u guys think of my intruduction of the Alto mattis betminus-Soul leech.? I kinda felt I didn't explore the potential of that creature much. Let me get your feed back
Also felt like bringing Thrace in. What do u think about his performance so far? Do u guys feel he was really needed in this trip? Has he made any real meanful contributions to the group?
Let me get as much contributions as possible. Give me things to think about, laugh about, feel silly about even get angry about... It's all part of the fun

“Oh I’m so sorry, my mistake, I just remembered now. “ Thrace said shaking his head sadly. “The soul leech can be susceptible to magical fire. What I used on it was just ordinary natural fire. “
Meera knocked the acolyte strongly on the shoulder. “It’s a good thing we are all still alive to learn about the mistake. “
“You all should stay away and far from the creature. “ So saying the acolyte closed his eyes and bowed his head in deep concentration. He joined his hands together, forming several intricate hands symbols. “Eldura! “ he commanded pointing two fingers at the soul leech as a blue colored flame shut from the fingers and struck the creature. This time as the flame touched the creature, any part it comes in contact with melted and turn to ash. It continued that way till all that was remaining of the soul leech was a pile of ash.
“Good work magic boy. “ Meera said from behind him ruffling his hair gently.

“Very impressive. “ Thrace said quietly to himself. “Like I had always suspected, Jarrael’s scimitars are ensorcelled. “
As Jarrael pulled Meera free, the two prominent tentacles from the open mouth of the soul leech stroke him, knocking him away from his sister. Before he could get to him feet, the tentacles grabbed him. The suckers under the tentacles making whizzing sounds as it try to start sucking off his flesh from his bones. The thin chain mail armor under his clothes prevented the sucking from starting at one. The little magic built into it temporarily negating the efforts of the soul leech.
“Hey Kez, catch. “ Meera screamed at him throwing his scimitar to him. He reached out his hand and catch it. With little effort he slashed down at the tentacle holding him and the appendage dropped to the ground wriggling. He landed lightly on his feet. He quickly ran for the second scimitar he dropped and dove to the ground just as another tentacles lashed at him. He slashed at it, which drew heavy blood from it. The soul leech pulled it back with a loud hiss.
“Thrace what happened? You said the soul leech is vulnerable to fire. Why didn’t your fireball stop it.? “ Jarrael said as he raced to the rescue of Gamba and Khen who both have been pinned down due to the little effects their none magical weapons was having on the creature. Already the prominent appendage from the mouth, which it uses to suck the flesh from the bones was already heading for them while the stomp of the one cut by Jarrael was still spilling out large amount of dark black blood. With two hard strikes the tentacles holding the two dropped on the floor. Gamba knocked the dead tendril wrapped around him off and picked his dropped axe while Khen just wriggled out of the tight holding appendage.

Speaking into his closed fist, after the words, Thrace opened his hand, pointing it at the direction of the soul leech, when he was sure the others were away from the creature he spoke a word. A fire ball burst out from his opened palm and flashed towards the creature. The fire ball increased and expanded as it got closer to it and completely engulfed the soul leech.
“Now that is how you take care of a soul leech once and for all. “ Thrace said smacking his palms on each other as if throwing dust away from them.
The fire surrounded the soul leech burning heavily and darkening the walls behind it with smoke.
“Eh master wizard I think you should take another look at your handiwork. “ Meera whispered softly into the acolyte’s ear.
“What do you mean? “
“Just that. “ Meera pointed at the burning createure.
Thrace watched, his jaw dropped in amazement as the soul leech roared, shook itself and the fire surrounding it died suddenly. It lashed out several tentacles at the source of its recent discomfort. The almost half a dozen tentacles struck them both, while Meera was knocked off her feet, Thrace was just bounced about as the magical shield surrounding him kept him from any harm. One of the tentacles reached out and circled round Meera, lifting her up and pulling her close to the maw of the soul leech. Gamba jumped close to the appendage, hitting it several times with the sharp edge of his axe but it didn’t do any noticeable damage or stop its movement. With a loud scream Jarrael jumped close to the tentacle holding his sister, lifting one of the scimitars, dropping the second one, with both hands on the hilt, he struck with all his might. The blade sliced through the tentacle, and the part holding Meera dropped to the ground. He quickly ran to Meera to untangle her from the part still wrapped around her as the soul leech hissed loudly in pains withdrawing the stomp of the tendril dripping black blood.

Meera pulled back on her necked arrow and let fly, aiming for a spot between the eyes believing it to be a vulnerable spot. She was surprised when the arrow bounced off the spot.
“Oh wrong spot to hit the soul leech at Meera. “ Thrace came behind her to say. “The fore head of that creature has the densest bones of its skeletal system. If you want to hit it with a none magical weapon with little success, attack the tentacles. “
“Nice advice. Let’s see what you can do on your own against it. “ Meera sneered.
“Don’t worry lady Thorn, I already got the solution to this problem. “
“And that will be? “
“Fire. “ Thrace said excitedly. “I just remembered the soul leech are vulnerable to fire. “
As they both watched, they saw as Khen dodged the strikes of three tentacles with fast somersaults, then struck back with multiple hits with his curved sword which only seemed to annoy the creature more. Gamba was knocked off his feet and he smashed heavily at a wall which collapsed under the heavy impact of his weight. Jarrael seem to be holding his own, his scimitars seem for now the only things working well against the tentacles. They seem to withdraw from him each time the keen blade strikes them. The scimitars seem to draw black colored blood from them creating wounds on the tentacles.
“Ok watch this and be amazed. “ Thrace said.
“Oh I’m watching closely. “ Meera stood behind him.

A heavy whizz noise sounded from above them they all turned to look at the source and noticed something dark colored coming down on them from the open high roof of the circular room. What they saw was a cross between a bulbous arachnid and dark skinned squid . It moved by extending tentacles that were easily fifteen feet long. It has a round large opening that seem to be the mouth with two very prominent tentacles like appendages with feelers at the tip and multiple suckers along the under sides of them. Just above the round mouth are two amber glowing eyes that stared menacingly at the group. The tentacles were so long that they can reach both sides of the broken wall, cling to them like an arachnid and move down with the tentacles creating slurping sounds as it moves through the wall.
The soul leech dropped on the ground so fast it took quick reflexes from the group to evade it. The room became too small to accommodate the creature with the humans running around trying to evade it. The dodging movements of Jarrael and others seem to infuriate the creature as it lashed out with all its dozen tentacles at onces on every direction. The tentacles smashed the weakened walls of the room, breaking them down. The people in the rooms did their best to evade the tentacles attack.

“So you mean this creature feeds on human flesh as well as their life and soul? “ Jarrael pulled on the acolyte’s shoulders willing to bring him from his evidently wishful mind state.
“No no, it doesn’t devour the flesh, it actually drinks the flesh. That is why you don’t notice any mark of the flesh been forcefully consumed from the bones. “ Thrace shook his head severally. “If I had known earlier about this, I would have been adequately prepared before getting here. “
“That sounds dangerous. Any way possible for us to take another route to our objective? “
“No Jarrael, not according to the map. We have to go through here and we have to face it. “
“So any ideas how the creature can be subdued? “ Meera’s hand involuntarily went to her bow with an already nocked arrow.
“ It’s a magical creature and can greatly be harmed by magical items, it can be harmed by normal weapons too but it won’t do much damage. “
As Thrace was speaking a low agonizing sound was heard behind them. When they turned to look, they saw Gamba been lifted up from the floor, struggling as a dark colored tendril like appendage was wrapped around his chest.
“That is the creature “ Thrace screamed as the others scattered. He muttered some magical words and his body seem to glow with an orange color aura.
Gamba lifted his two hands holding the axe on the handle and brought it down with savage strength. The sharp edge of the axe hit the appendage wrapped around him but seem to do little or no damage. After repeated hits, the tendril suddenly uncurl and he was released. Gamba dropped down heavily but with well coordinated balance.

“This word I thought I didn’t understand before is not actually a word, but a minuscule icon. “ he said with shaky voice opening the map and Indicating the part he was referring to. “I mistaking thought it was part of the hieroglyphs in which the words in the map was written. I just realized now that the word is a stand alone. It’s an iconograph which is the same with the one on the lintel on the entrance to this place. Same with the carving on the center part of the floor here. If the image on the wall by the door have not been destroyed, I would have realized earlier before now. But seeing this image I now know what it is and I hope we are not too late. “
“Thrace what are you talking about? “ Jarrael asked him coming closer to peer into the map the acolyte was holding.
“This stands for something dangerous like the map indicated. “ he lifted his eyes looking at Jarrael in the face. “This is the Alto mattis betminus. “
“And will you care to enlighten us now that you know? “ Meera asked coming behind her brother.
“It’s a magical creature. The word means several things among which are the deep slime or the soul leech. “ Thrace shook his head as his audience seem not to perceive the import of what he was saying. He continued before further questions can be thrown his way. “ It is a creature that have been known to drain the soul from its victims and feed on their life essence. In some occasion while doing these, the flesh of those being killed vanishes with their lives. “

Thrace continued ahead in the corridor with others following behind in a single line as they did their best to side step the skeletons littered on the ground. After getting past the door leading out of the corridor, they came into another wide circular room identical to the one they left behind, except here there are no images or alters only a big carving of black marble on the center surface of the floor.
“By the gods. “ screamed the acolyte when he saw the caving.
“What is it again boy wizard? “ Meera asked with an exaggerated yawn of boredom.
“It’s this carving. “Thrace said pointing at the image carved on the floor at the center of the room. The image was of a black circle broken up at the lower circumference with four curve lines that looks like tentacles, below that, four sharp points like teeth and two triangular shapes in the middle of the circle like eyes.
“What about it? “Meera said taking tentative steps coming to the center of the room to take a better look at the image. Jarrael and Khen were already standing there while Gamba stood back watching the entrance behind them his two hands on the hilt of the axe.

Jarrael agreed with him, turning to the acolyte he asked. “What do you think could have done this? “
“Very few animals in Ghemmaria could have, like the silk bat, creeper leech and white slug all of which are extinct and none ever lived around this part. “ squeezing his nose as if to avoid an unpleasant smell he continued. “I doubt if these are the works of any animal, because no sign of broken bones, except those that just fell off the joints when the flesh holding them have been consumed. No marks on the bones to show flesh been forcefully pull off from them. This is no natural action, sorcery must have been involved. “
“Could there be a magical trap set in this place that brought about this? “ Jarrael asked the acolyte.
“No I don’t think so. “ he replied. “The spell I cast lifting up the concealment is still in effect, so any hidden trap should have been revealed. Anyway let me not take chances. “ He spoke words of power which produced noticeable rippling effects on the surrounding, causing slight changes in the appearance of things then returning them back to how they were. “Still nothing. But any hidden thing within this place is going to remain that way. “

Leading them past the door, Thrace took them through a long corridor devoid of any side doors but heading to another entrance ahead. The corridor would have completely been dark if not for the crumbled roof overhead and broken down walls on both sides of it. Just then the acolyte stepped on something that brought a loud crunchy sound. He stopped when he took a look down. It was a bone he had stepped on and his weight has crushed the bone that seem to have weakened with the passage of time. Looking ahead he noticed that the corridor was littered with broken bones, skeletal remains of people, mostly warriors because of the armors on them and the discarded weapons by their sides.
Most of the armors on the skeletons were of soldiers, northern and southern soldiers. There were few of them on outfits worn by bandits and herdsmen. Jarrael could recognize at least two skeletons with clothes belonging to thieves and pirates. While Jarrael still stood watching the dozens of bones and skeletons scattered in the corridor, Khen came ahead, squat and began to examine some of them.
“The flesh that decayed from these bones didn’t come as a result of the slow decay caused by time. “ he said after observing several of the skeletons. “The environment of this place should have kept the flesh preserved on the bones as it did their clothing. There are no remains on the bones to show that the flesh decayed, no dust or tiny bits of remains. If I’m to hazard a guess, it seem the flesh were all pulled out of them at once. “

Just then something carved into the lintel of the eight door caught his attention. It was like a word or symbol . Unlike others carved with gold, the word or symbol was carved in a black marble slab affixed to the lintel.
“Now this is interesting. “ He called to others to join him Indicating a figure in the map and then pointing at the black slab over the door. “The word here in this map is the same one carved on the stone over this door. This is the only word in the map I don’t understand and the map indicates we go through the door. “
“Alright then, lead the way Thrace. “ Jarrael said.

“But if the cities were built after the war, then the worship here might have been done in secret, because after Arl, the all father decreed that the gods should stay away from mortals world, the worship of the gods ceased, the various priesthood of the different deities crumbled except that of Nemphis. Worshiping the gods during that period was difficult. Gods worshippers were persecuted, hunted down and killed.
“Most men who survived the aftermath of the pantheon war saw the gods as the cause of the devastations they had just witnessed. They were all too glad of Arl’s decree. Most of them became more bold to blaspheme the gods and kill their priests and worshippers because they knew the gods can no longer protect them. But the Gondolians were exempted because their goddess devolved herself into a demigod and continued to protect her worshippers. Also the priests of Nemphis were not attacked because they were feared. Even without their god, the priests were still formidable and have very powerful magic with them.
“Still the priests were mocked, scorned and ostracized which forced them to abandon civilized lands and go build their black tower deep in the inhospitable part of the Amirian desert. “
Taking some steps ahead of the groups, Thrace went to each images, taking little time to observe them.
“I can recognize each of the images of these gods, they are the first gods of the southern lands. The southern lands have only seven first supreme gods, not eight. “ he said as he got to the eight door. “This present a kind of puzzle. With the accompanied image for this door destroyed I can’t really tell what it is. “

Getting beyond the broken walls and doors of the entrance revealed the real nature of the building, it was a temple. From the entrance they got in to a place that might have been an amphitheater without the tiers of seats. It must have been very high but the roof of the buildings have crumbled down. Round the circular amphitheater like place are eight doors leading to different areas of the building. Each door has an image carved at the wall beside it and an alter of some sort was built before it. The images were of carved marble but the alters were of white marble too but overlaid with gold. Seven doors have several images with alters before them except the eight door. It has no alter and the image carved besides its door had fallen down and broken into several pieces too small to be recognizable.
“This building must have been a beautiful and magnificent temple in the past. “ Thrace said as he led the group into the place waving his hands at the images. “The first seven gods of the earliest settlers in the south are what these image stands for. Each of them was worshipped in this temple before these alters.
“What is difficult to determine is if this worship was before or after the pantheon war. If it was before the pantheon war, then everything we know about Kedesh and Ankara beneath it is false. That means these cities predates the war and gods were actually worshipped here.

As they marched slowly through the cobble stones of the deserted streets, amidst broken down towering pillars, crumbled gigantic building and walls, footsteps sounds with dull thuds instead of the expected echoes. They were led by Thrace, as he consulted the map, to a street that just poked at them from the left. The road of this street deviate from the usual cobble stones of other streets and is made of polished black marble with dull gray shin.
The street seem to grow slimmer as they moved ahead, carefully side stepping huge broken down stones, pillars and columns littered around. The street was a short one which very soon showed signs of ending at what might have been a huge building at one time. The street which have become almost a path led to the entrance of the building. Before the building were broken parts of huge statues, about seven lined up by both sides of the road leading to the entrance. Heads, arms and torsos of the images were all scattered about. Just a head detached from of one of the statue, in the image of a helmeted warrior was was higher than Gamba. Not all of them had the appearance of warriors though, some were in long robes and others of fearsome looking beasts. Female statues were there also.
Just beyond the statues are semi circled shape of steps made of white marbles with chunks of several broken potions. Ahead of it is a broken wall with a golden gate broken from its hinges. Something looks a bit different about this building from the others observed in the ruins of the city. Besides the broken down statues lined before its entrance, the wall have cravings on them, glyphs carved into some of them and the pillars too, all overlaid with gold. Putting gold carved images and characters on marble is a very difficult fit to achieve and the former occupiers seem to have done it with ease.

Jarrael felt his skin crawling, despite all he had heard about this place, it didn’t prepare him enough for the experience. This was a dead place. Not even the buzz of annoying insects has he heard. The constant feeling of being pressed is ever here. The sound of voices that should have echoed in an abandoned place like this, doesn’t. Words spoken by his companions don’t seem to go beyond their circle. As he watched and observed, he noticed that the eerie feelings he had are equally replicated on all except Thrace who seem to walk with a carefree attitude.
Several things he noticed about this place keeps him tensed and unease. The first surprise is to see the quantity of marble used in the massive buildings and colonnades of this place. Marbles are so scarce in the south, how did they come about such huge quantity of it to be used to build a whole city? Another thing is, almost all the cities in the civilized areas came about progressively. As trade and population increased, buildings and roads were built and added to already small structures available. But Kedesh seem to have been built all at once as a city, as if there is a specific purpose in the city been built. The reason this bothered him the most is that the ruins of the city didn’t appear to have come about as a result of the slow decay of time or abandonment but a catastrophic event. The city seem to have been destroyed at once. He could detect scorch marks, heavy damages indicant of force hits. Cracks on heavily made walls which shows signs of been knocked with extensive pressure. So what could have caused this massive city wide destruction that affected every life, even the smallest life forms?

The ruins of Kedesh has this feeling of dark aura surrounding it. Here, despite the heat of the desert, was a cold that chills the bones without a single stir of breeze. The blazing sun appeared to have been dampened, despite the almost noon bright sunlight, it appears like early evening within the ruins. The city it self has large columns, walls and what might have been magnificently designed buildings all broken down. The materials for the buildings were mostly of polished marble and some of terrazzo. From the entrance it was evidenced to the travelers that the city might have been well built with straight roads and streets, avenues with trees on both sides of the roads, huge city walls that formed a circle round it that might have been the height of several men, iron gate both strong and beautiful, all broken down and crumbling. The roads were made of marble and cobble stones. No single structure in the city seem to have been left intact but the evidence of its past grandeur could not be denied. It’s been whispered that the city of Ankara, on whose ruins Kedesh was built on was several times more grander than it.

Yes o all is well, just been busy. Will definitely post some updates today. Let me just finish typing

Greymatter4:
Where is my dear Apollux; dat guy got potentials

Sorry, I have been so busy, with my hands tied down. I was even typing an update but couldn't finish because I got busy. You guys should just bear with me. Don't worry, the whole story is already concluded in my head before I even started so there won't be anything like me running out of ideas.
Will give typing an update tonight a shot, though very tired at the moment after today's activities.

“Now we can proceed. “ Thrace said as he finished the spell casting. He stretched his hand palm open to Jarrael Indicating the map should be returned to him. “Thank you. “ was all he said as he grabbed the map and start going over it once again. The little that Jarrael could see from the map revealed that it wasn’t a map made for regular use. The image of the surrounding areas drawn into it were from a much older format and the language used are words in very strange alphabet, probably the alphabet of the sorcerers’ language.
“With the spell of concealment lifted, we can now see all things previously hidden. I can detect clear directions from this piece that will lead us to where… uh oh. “ Thrace suddenly stopped in mid stride.
“What is it? “ Jarrael who was immediately behind him asked.
“It’s not that clear, “ he replied showing Jarrael the map and pointing at a particular point in it as if Jarrael can understand the undecipherable writings. “It says there is something dangerous along the only pathway we must take. An older form of this language is used to describe it. I don’t understand the meaning of the word or what it stands for. “
“What? Of what use are you then to us if you can’t really understand the map? “ Meera asked from behind Jarrael before her brother could say anything. Others looked at the acolyte, eyes accusing.
“Hey don’t blame me. It’s not my fault that I haven’t completed my course on the study of ancient languages before the magus sent me on this quest. “ Thrace shrugged.
“Alright let’s move ahead but take precautions. No one moves alone or leaves the group. That includes you, Khen. We don’t know what is in this ruined city, so you may not need to scout ahead for now. “After a while, Jarrael brought out his scimitars. “You all should unsheathe your weapons. “

They took a straight path leading to the ruins of the old city. At a point, Thrace asked them all to stop, pulled out an old scroll from his bag, opened it and studied what was penned inside it. It was an old map with strange markers. A particular part of the markings got his attention.
“From what I can detect here and the little Ruel told me, a spell of concealment is up from this place onwards and it goes round all of Kedesh. If it’s not lifted, we will not be able to find what we seek. “ Thrace said after lifting his head from perusing the map. He handed the scroll to Jarrael. “Please I suggest you all stay behind me. “
Clapping his palms together once, after noticing others complying by moving behind him, he separated the palms with his arms stretched out straight ahead, he made complicated hand gestures that changes too fast for the others to really see very well. He closed his eyes, speaking words in the ancient language of sorcery. The hem of his robes lifted as a gentle draft swirl around him. As the others watched, his eyes blazed with white light, his voice, once low, was now taking on a higher volume, till it sounded as high as a wide whirlwind. He now lifted both his hands up wards and uttered a single command. “Sýna’ka! “
The air around the acolyte mage seem to take another layer of thickness, with an effect similar to the ripples of water been disturbed. It folded into him then burst out from him like an explosion. With the control of his hands he directed the ripple toward the ruins. Instantly the ripples moved heading to the ruins and the appearance of the place took on a hazy look. The ripple effects hit the ruins passed all around it then disappeared.

His initial thought to dismount and cover the faces of the horses hiding their sights from seeing the sand cats had been helpful. Though the horses were scared they didn’t run off during the attack which might have been what would have happened had their eyes been open.
“Let’s mount up, ride slowly to the next water hole. It’s an isolated well and the last place to get water before getting to our destination. We will rest the horse there, rest our selves too. We have to fill our canteens with enough water to take us there and back. “ Jarrael said as he pulled off the face cover from his horse, stroke its tensed body to calmness before mounting.

♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠

“Let’s leave the horses here, it will be impractical to take them into the ruins of Kedesh.” Jarrael said when they got to a point from which the ruins of the city was visible. The surrounding areas close to the place were slightly rocky, having naturally made caves and holes. He indicated a wide cave, asked the others to bring in their horses. He directed them where to tether the horses, pulled out some of the stored hay, kept at a distance close to the horses. A water basin was kept close by to them too. He unrolled a leather blanket, affix it to holes at the entrance of the cave to cover it against sand storm to protect the horses from sands.

Jarrael wasn’t buying into the acolyte’s levity something more profound bothered him. This is the second time something strange was happening. First it was the herdsmen who seem to had been waiting to ambush them. Moreover the leader of that group had mentioned something about them being sent to attack a particular group of people who was supposed to be at the area he and others with him were. It hinted that the person who ordered the herdsmen had idea of the journey they are on and the route they will take. He was sure he never told Ruel how he planned to get to the Ruins of Kedesh but that still doesn’t rule him out. On the other hand, Ruel really needed him to complete this mission so he can’t sabotage it at the same time.
Though the merchant had hinted that Jarrael may just encounter some resistance on his way, that didn’t answer how who ever was after him knew before hand the route he had planed to take without him having told a soul about it. Now he may have allowed that go concluding it may have been coincidence but the attacks from three sand cats is just plain odd. He is sure now that sand cats don’t come this far from their nests. Something strong must have dragged them here. Does it mean the priests of Nemphis are that powerful? Of course he is not in doubt about how powerful those dark priests are, but this, if they are in a way responsible for all that just happened, it throws their power ratings into a whole new level.

Mutaino7:
balogunsamuel155@gmail.com.... Oga Apollox if you decide later in the future to publish your works, youv got a customer.

Thanks for that. Will definitely go along that line... In the future