Ferrus Umbra

Jak had made it to the plain. "Ok", he thought looking around. "Let's see if there' anything I can take down easily...." he raised his hand, and closed his eyes, searching for changes in the air temperature from anything's breath. Nothing. He decided to move further out, keep an eye out for tracks. Eventually he found some Boatherium prints, and began to follow them, checking behind often for signs of the creature or anything else hunting it. However, the tracks suddenly ended, crossed over by another set. But these were no animal prints. Straight lines, headed Southeast, and near them were several other sets. "Looks like a large caravan came through." Deciding to follow it, he rammed a nearby stick into the ground, tying a strip of green cloth to it. "Hopefully the others will see this if they follow".

Moving through the grass, he followed the tracks for several hours. Finally, he caught site of something ahead. There was a large group of Hippocolt drawn wagons, arranged in a rough circle. He could see one or two men in each carriage, swords at the ready, looking out over the plain. Laying low so as not to be spotted, Jak checked the air temperature again. There were two or three cooking fires inside the ring, so he assumed they must be settling down for the evening. There seemed to be quite a few men, it was hard to tell just how many from the air. He slowly made his way around the circle, hiding low in the tall grass. There was about 26 carriages in all, forming the ring. This was out of the ordinary. It was guarded, and too big to be a circus, there were no trailers of goods, so it couldn't be a merchant caravan. So why were these men here? Laying down and crawling, he managed to get underneath one of the caravans. He looked inside, cooking fires, as he had thought, two Boatherium carcasses split between them. "Must be a lot of people to need that much food in one night", he thought, a Boatherium could feed the 6 of them, Charlie, Styx and Meelay for three whole days. Then he noticed the Carriage. It was situated near the middle of the encampment, and it was beautifully designed from dark brown Coldwood, which was unique to the Northern forests of the Human territories. It had curtains of woven purple fabric, with golden embroidery on the brims. Definitely the Carriage of a rich human. "Maybe it's some Nobleman on a hunting trip, looking for something more dangerous than a Wide-maw", Jak thought to himself, thinking he may have solved this little mystery. But then, the curtains began to open. Jak froze in place, as a boot of black metal clanked onto the first step of the carriage, followed by a gauntlet, which pushed aside the curtain, unveiling the Carriage's owner. "So, Men, is dinner ready yet?", asked Nick the Black, as the soldiers turned and saluted. "Oh shit......", Jak thought. He had to get back, and tell the others the King of Men was in No Man's Land. He turned, but as he started off into the grass, he felt something wrap around his ankle. "Oh fuUUUUUUCCCKKKK!!!", He yelled, as he was yanked back, suspended upside down in the air within the encampment. "Well, looks like I caught a rat", the King , holding Jak up with a tendril of Shadow, "So, what are you doing spying on my caravan, Elf. I thought we'd negotiated an agreement with your kind. Unless you're some bandit or outlaw. In which case, I think an execution may be in order." He smiled evilly, and the men cheered. "Just curiosity sir!", Jak blurted, hoping to get back to alert the others, "I was just on a hunt when I came across the encampment here!""Oh really now", Nick said, as he pulled him over, so that he could see him face to face, "So what were you... wait a minute, I know you....""Oh fuck", Jak thought, "My only cover's blown!"" You're that assassin who joined with the Orc!""Yep, I'm boned", Jak thought, as the King's expression turned to one of fury. "I'll show you what happens to those who defy me!", he roared, as he swung the Halfblood into the ground. "Chain him up! We'll wait until we arrive at Venthisel, then we can celebrate the traitor's execution." He turned, and walked back to his carriage, as a group of men fell on Jak, forcing him to his knees. An officer stood in front of him, looking down. He smirked, before delivering a boot to his face, knocking him out. A few seconds later a black tendril shot from the carriage, tore of a hunk of meat from the roasting Boatherium, and darted back inside the carriage.

"The Sun's down, and no sign of him", Grom said, as he looked out from the camp. "Well, he was a good man.. or elf. Whichever he preferred.", Mikail stated, as he began to walk back to his tent. "Iceblood still is good Halfblood", Duk Duk said, as he pulled his axe from the log it had been left lodged in, " Duk Duk going to look for him.""What?! You can't go through the Jungle at night, let alone the Plains! Chances are, ten thousand to one, he's dead or as good as right now.""Doesn't mean he's dead", Duk Duk retorted, not even turning his head. "Then I'm going with you!". Now this made him turn. "Kaytelin?""If you're going after him, you're taking me with you, I do not want to be left here while you go risking your life!". Duk Duk opened his mouth, but she yelled over him before he could speak, "And don't even THINK about telling me it's "Too dangerous!" for me, I can handle myself as well as any of you". Duk Duk stood bewildered for a moment. "Ok then", he said, before turning back and continuing toward the jungle. "Yes! I mean, uh, excellent.", Kaytelin said, quickly disguising her excitement. "Wait, what! But!.... Huh?" Mikail stammered, confused. "Ok, in that case I'm coming too, I am not leaving you too alone.""And you're not leaving me here, I'm coming too", Grom said, as he and Mikail ran off after the others.

Meanwhile, Jak woke up in a carriage. He was shackled, his arms and legs chained to the floor. His hands were completely covered by the Black metal manacles, which clamped them together. He looked around. There was a door in front of him, metal, with a bar window. The rest of the room was wood. "Ha, easy....", he thought, placing his hands against the wall, and steadying himself. Nothing happened. He tried to pierce a hole in the wall with ice, but he couldn't do it. He looked down at the manacles. They were black as the void, completely null of light. They then faded to a deep grey. "What the....", he muttered in disbelief. "That's Nullium". He jumped at the voice. It was one of the guards, looking in through the bars on the door. "Blacksteel, Voidsilver, Magicbane, these are all names for what them cuffs are made of. It's an odd substance. When it comes into contact with magic or something imbued with magic, it turns completely black, and the magic disappears. Mighty Heavy and sturdy too.""Where in Bekoria did you find this?", Jak asked, holding up his hands as he examined his constraints. "You should be saying where in Nivenia now laddie, but anyways, the Goddess told the Ki.. wait, Emperor, that there was a large deposit of this stuff deep under the ground in the Northern Lands, so he's been mining it these last few months.""Woah, woah, what?! Nivenia, Goddess, Emperor?! What in Wyvernfire is going on here?!""Have you been living in a hole the last while?""Close..""Ok then, I'll get you up to date......."