From: cgirard@neumann.une.edu.au (The Blade of Malchrntyne)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [T&R] The messenger
Date: 27 Aug 92 11:55:44 GMT


	The night was clear, affording good views, a fact that Timelord
was grateful for as he crept along the rooftops of the buildings near the
alley where they had battled just the day before.  This was the night that
the messenger from Ak-lssh, the unknown crime lord, was due to arrive, and
it was Timelord's task to spy him out.
	It was just about midnight when a cloaked figure appeared at the
entrance to the alley.  Timelord, his body pressed against the roof of
a house opposite, could not see what manner or creature it was, but an
undeniable reek of decay emanated from the figure.  The sight gave him
cold shivers, as if somehow he could feel the evil of the creature.
	The cloaked figure entered the door to the hideout, and Timelord
dropped quietly to the alley floor a few seconds later and followed,
closing the door behind him.
	The figure had stopped in the centre of the room, facing Rollik
who had been waiting inside in case there had been a secret entrance they
had missed.  The smell of rotting flesh was much stronger.
	"Who are you?" said the figure in a voice that sounded like death
itself.
	"We," said Rollik in a grand voice, "are those who brought the
brigands that infested this place low, and shall do likewise to yourself
and this brigand Ak'lssh.  What do you say to that?" he asked with a 
flourish of the embroidered handkerchief he had been holding to his nose.
	The figure was silent for some time, as if in thought.  Suddenly
the cloak fell to the ground, and both Timelord and Rollik gasped in fear.
	It was obvious that the person in front of them was not alive.
He, for it was just identifiable as male, was clothed in rotting rags,
and all the exposed skin was rotting and gangrenous.  The room was filled
with a charnel house smell that nearly sent them both gagging.  The eyes
of the creature, however, glowed yellow with some hideous inner power.
	"My master finds your words amusing," the zombie croaked, "and
thinks that you may be able to provide him with some...entertainment."
	Timelord reached over his shoulder for his katana, but as his hand
touched the hilt, the room suddenly came alive with eerie lights, and a
strange, almost living wind.  Both he and Rollik found themselves unable
to move, barely able to think, as the winds howled louder and louder, and
the lights danced faster and faster around their motionless bodies.
	Then, the lights suddenly descended upon the two, and their minds
shrieked in agony and fear as they felt themselves torn apart by the insane
winds and fiery lights.  
	So screaming, they minds went dark.

	As if from returning from the depths of some unimaginably deep
pool, their consciousness slowly returned, although they could not see, hear
or feel anything.  Only their minds were awake, and the deprivation of
the senses was nearly enough to drive them mad.
	A voice suddenly spoke directly into their minds.
	"So, humans," it said, in a voice that seemed neither male or
female, human or inhuman, but a strange mix of them all, "you survived
your trip to my domain.  Quite an achievement.
	You think you can kill me, do you?" Contempt filled their minds.
"Hah!  So many have tried over the years, and none has ever come close.
Bring me to justice?  I am my own justice, I do as I please.  You are
nothing but ants to me.
	"However, you do amuse me, ants.  Yes, amuse me, and so you will
live for a bit longer.  In fact, you can even try to kill me, if you like.
	If you can find me...."
	The voice in their minds faded off, and as it went, their other
senses slowly returned.
	Timelord sat up, immediately noticing three things.  Firstly, his
weapons were gone.  Secondly, he was in a small, windowless chamber, that
had apparently no exits.
	Thirdly, he was alone.


 The Blade of Malchrntyne (CJ)| There comes a time when the jewels cease to
 Drummond College A100        | sparkle, and the gold loses its lustre, and
 x 3069                       | the throne room becomes a prison - and all
 There can be only one.       | that remains is a father's love for his child