The Quest

[DoS Archive]

From: moyrloch@aol.com (Moyrloch)
Date: 31 Mar 2003 11:07:23 EST

After making his way home from the Arena(which, due to the injuries, took a good two hours), he decided that enough was enough. He would find this witch doctor, and get this curse removed, no matter what it took. Five years was just too long to continue under it.

He carefully packed a small bag, light enough for him to carry in his current condition, but holding enough to sustain him over the course of his journey. All the while, he grumbled about the timing of his abilities disappearing. His mind raced with possibilities and "what-ifs". He knew that, no matter the outcome of this journey, things would change, and quickly. He then got into his bed for a short night of troubled sleep.

Surprisingly, it took less than a day to find him. Traveling a-dragonback tended to do that, he supposed. He limped up to the small mud hut, some distance outside Rhydin, and politely knocked on the door. There was no answer. Debating his options and throwing caution to the wind, he opened it a crack. Just enough to get a good look inside. A good look at the dead witch doctor. His hopes plummeted, and tears started forming at the corners of his eyes. "Nae, nae, ‘tis nae possible. . .’e canna be dead. . .NAE!!!!!!!!!!" He slumped to the floor, filling with despair. After a good half-hour of wallowing in his own pity, he noticed something in one of the skeletal hands on the floor. Cautiously, he crawled over to take a closer look. It was a piece of parchment, with his crest on it. His eyes widened at that, as he hadn’t seen that crest in more than 5 years. He carefully slid the parchment out of the corpse’s grasp, and broke the seal. The slight breeze that kicked up in the hut did absolutely nothing to comfort him. He quickly looked at what was written on the page. . .

"Taryn,
If you’re reading this letter, then you’ve gotten better than I expected. I didn’t think you’d be here before this page crumbled to dust. Fitting, isn’t it? Seeing as how that’s how you treated me, all those years ago. But I’ll take pity, this one last time. The key is your ring. Somewhere, you’ll find a duck that looks an awful lot like I expect you to. He’ll have your ring on his leg. If you can find him, and remove that ring, you’ll be cured. I don’t expect this will come to pass, however. I’ve seen the hunters around here. Best of luck to you. It will be my everlasting pleasure to see you cower as a lowly animal.

Sign-"

The parchment was torn at the end of the page, and he carefully searched around the hut for the missing piece, but to no avail. Then, he left the hut and sighed. Aeroch, who was rapidly growing to full size these days, looked over to him.

~Did you find what you were searching for, Father?~ the young dragon asked.

"Aye, m’frien’. Bu’ ‘tis only leadin’ me t’ more questions. ‘Ow in th’ ‘ell am I supposed t’ fin’ a single duck in these lands?". . .

To be continued.