Jalkar and Grim walk through the Tabora Crags Ravine. A few Voltaris reveal themselves.
One of them, Zinaida Voltaris, walks forward. ' We were beginning to think you had backed out on our agreement, Jalkar.'
' We had a few, delays along the way.' Jalkar glares at Grim, who shrugs.
Zinaida motions towards Grim. ' I was told that you were to come alone! Your companion wasn't part of the agreement.'
' Neither was the amount of trouble we ran into,' Jalkar snaps, ' I think compensation is in order.'
They stare menacingly at each other.
' After all, this is a dragon egg we're talking about,' Jalkar adds.
Zinaida groans. ' Have it your way mercenary. We'll compensate for your extra trouble, but your companion is not part of the deal. The Voltaris will not pay a second share.'
Jalkar rolls his eyes. ' Don't worry your glowing heads about it, Grim is my problem. So, how much are we talking about?'
' I'm sure you'll find the amount sufficient,' Zinaida holds out his hand. ' Now hand over the egg. '
Jalkar starts to get suspicious. ' I don't think so. We'll be collecting the reward first, thank you.' He reaches for his knife.
Grim slowly lowers the egg.
' Or we could just kill you, and forget the reward, ' Zinaida draws out his weapon.
The other Voltaris behind him draw out their weapons, but the last one doesn't. ' This could be unwise, Zinaida. The mute one, I believe he is the reaper.'
Zinaida turns to him. ' Shut it, Lucidius.'
Grim puts down the egg and draws out his scythe.
Jalkar chuckles. ' Smart man, your second. The Reaper is with me, has a debt to pay off. By my calculations, you are outmatched.'
' Outmatched?' Zinaida turns to his companions. He scoffs. ' Kill them.'
Grim activates his scythe.
The Voltaris charge towards them. Grim pushes one backwards with his scythe. He pushes another one upwards, leaps, and digs his scythe into his body.
Jalkar turns to Zinaida, and charges forward with his knife. Lucidius pulls out his sword and clashes it with Jalkar's knife, but Jalkar draws his knife back and kicks him in the face. Lucidius gets up, but Jalkar kicks him again and he almost falls over.
Grim dodges a Voltaris' attack, and prepares to engage. But the Voltaris kicks him back, and he falls down.
Grim gets up before a Voltaris manages to hit him, and clashes his scythe with the Voltaris's sword.
Another Voltaris tries to take the opportunity of Grim getting distracted, and charges forward, sword raised above his head.
Grim sees this, and uses his foot to stop the Voltaris. He struggles to hold back both of them.
Jalkar swings his knife around, and kicks Lucidius away, having a straight path to Zinaida.
Zinaida swings his staff around. Jalkar tries to attack, but Zinaida knocks his knife out of his hand with his staff.
Zinaida engages, and Jalkar dodges it. Zinaida tries to land an attack on Jalkar twice, but Jalkar dodges both of them.
Grim lets go of the Voltaris and swings his scythe around before killing one of them. The second one runs away, but Grim throws his scythe towards him, ending his life.
Zinaida is the only one left. He uses his weapon to knock Jalkar backwards. Grim catches Jalkar.
Zinaida raises his weapon and activates his Song, Aggrostorm. Small pebbles, rocks and leaves begin sliding towards him. They began twirling around him. It was like a whirlpool.
Jalkar and Grim also begin sliding towards him. Grim digs his scythe into the ground and clings tight.
Jalkar worries and tries to think of a way out. Suddenly, he has an idea. He reaches for his knife, raises it, aims, and throws it towards Zinaida.
The knife gets sucked by the vortex and spins around Zinaida.
Before Zinaida can react, the knife hits him from behind, and he falls to the ground. The lights on his body fade out, and his Song appears by his corpse.
Jalkar walks up to the body and picks his knife back up. ' I've always hated the Ardoni and their blasted Songs.'
He picks the Song up and smiles.
' They do sell for a lot, though.'
Grim makes a victorious grunt, but Jalkar snaps, ' Quit looking so happy! Now we need to find a new buyer for this egg. Come on, someone in the Unyielding Legion should be able to find us one.'
They walk away.
~*~
Footsteps could be heard behind them.
Abbigail looks around, and Sam barks.
Abbigail turns to the side and notices Lucidius is still alive.
Lucidius sits weakly in a corner, leaned against the wall of the ravine. His lights flicker, signaling he's about to die.
Abbigail walks up to him, bow raised. ' The two thieves, where were they heading?'
Lucidius shakes his head. ' I don't know, we were just sent to intercept them.'
Abbigail looks at him curiously. ' Are you an Ardoni?'
Lucidius laughs. ' Never seen an Ardoni before? Well, go on then, finish the job, girl.' Lucidius motions for Abbigail to kill him.
Lucidius closes his eyes, waiting for the end of his life.
Abbigail lowers her bow. ' I'm not here to kill you. I just want that dragon egg back.'
She tosses a loaf of bread on Lucidius' lap. He looks up as Abbigail and Sam are about to leave.
Lucidius couldn't find another way to thank her. ' They are heading north-east, just follow the border of Conchord. '
Abbigail looks back at him, nods and continues on.
Lucidius smiles as he watches her walk further and further away.
~*~
Jalkar and Grim are walking along in the ravine. Suddenly, they see some ender particles form.
' Get down!' Jalkar motions to Grim and they both hide behind a large rock nearby.
They hear the Enderman teleport.
Jalkar whispers to Grim, ' An Enderman. Don't look at it Grim.
Jalkar peeks over the rock. The Enderman suddenly appears in front of him.
Jalkar stops moving.
The Enderman teleports away.
' Come on!' Jalkar urges Grim.
Grim follows him, but stops for a second. He turns around. When he turns back, the Enderman appears in front of him and he shrieks.
/A/N/ Well, he grunt shrieked, I guess? I couldn't really find a word for that.
The Enderman knocks Grim back.
' Grim!' Jalkar puts the egg down and hurries towards his companion.
The Enderman turns and sees the egg. It teleports towards it and grabs it.
Jalkar leaps and holds onto the egg, preventing the Enderman from teleporting away.
The Enderman spins around, trying to fling Jalkar away, but he hangs on.
Grim stands back up painfully, spins around, and throws his scythe at the Enderman. The scythe cuts off the Enderman's arm. It lets go of the egg and teleports away.
' This job has already become far more trouble than it was worth…' Jalkar grumbles. ' Let's hurry and get out of here.'
They climb up a wall.
Jalkar reaches the top quickly, but Grim can't make it up due to being injured by the Enderman.
' Oh, come on Grim. Put your back to it.'
Jalkar reaches out his hand to Grim.
But before their hands meet, an arrow flies onto the Grim's back and he falls back down with a painful thump.
Jalkar looks up to see Abbigail and Sam.
~*~
Grim staggers up in pain and looks up at Jalkar, begging for help. But Jalkar disappears over the wall. ' Sorry mate, but I can't be slowed down any more.'
Grim reaches up a hand in Jalkar's direction as he watches Jalkar disappear.
He was angry that Jalkar ditched him. He turns towards Abbigail.
Abbigail fires another arrow and Grim spins his scythe around, cutting the arrow in half.
Abbigail's eyes widen in surprise.
Grim leaps and falls into the water nearby Abbigail.
Abbigail backs up as she aims her bow at the water, but doesn't know where or when Grim will appear.
Sam starts barking and she whirls around as Grim jumps out of the water and activates his scythe.
He spins his scythe around, blocking her arrows. He launches forward, and Abbigail ducks just in time to avoid his scythe, and draws out her sword.
She attacks but Grim blocks and strikes at her as she darts out of the way. The scythe hits a rock with a loud clang.
Abbigail gets at a distance and prepares for the next attack.
Grim charges at Abbigail but Sam leaps onto him and bites him. When he turns around to get rid off Sam, Abbigail fires another at him.
Grim slams Sam onto the ground and jumps to dodge the arrow. He
tries to attack Abbigail, but he hits the water and electrocutes himself.
Abbigail draws another arrow at Grim, who covers his face and prepares to get killed.
Abbigail lowers her bow, knowing he was only following Jalkar. She tossed another loaf of bread to Grim and walks away.
Grim stares at the loaf of bread, confused and grateful.
Sam starts barking, and Abbigail expects Grim to be attacking again. But when she turns around, Grim is still sitting on the ground.
She looks down further, and sees three Endermen looking at her. One by one, they teleport away.
Abbigail remains confused, but continues on.