The Articulum Part 10 By: Lance Holloway Turlon sat near Vulla away from the others. Another person was killed because of him. Julmer wasn't really killed. He was turned into a shark, but the rooman that Julmer was is now completely gone. Turlon hated this journey. He hated what he was. He didn't ask to be the Norrom. Vulla nuzzled Turlon. "I know. I have to complete the quest," he said to the horse. "But, does all this have to happen?" Suddenly the boat crashed to a halt. Everybody but Vulla ran to the door. Peten slowly cracked the door to check for the mysterious wave. He opened the door and quickly walked out. The others followed. Turlon was last. The others were looking over the railing shouting for joy. When Turlon joined them he saw why. They had run aground. The whole time they sat in the storage cabin on the boat they were drifting to land. Luckily the wave wasn't anywhere to be seen. Peten walked up to Turlon. "We made it," he said. "We reached land." "But, now we have to rescue the others from the trullums," Turlon said. "One step at a time, Turlon," Peten said and went below deck. The two roomen had already lowered the plank and hopped to the ground. They leapt happily around on the dry sand. Wilm joined them barking. Why the half-seal-half-sailor was happy to reach land was beyond Turlon. Rarguf appeared from behind some trees. The two roomen stopped hopping about and stood on guard. "You finally made it," the dragon bellowed. "I've been waiting for you. I tried to steer the boat in the right direction by creating wind with my wings, but it was so tiring. I had to come rest." "Well, at least we got here," Turlon shouted back as he walked down the plank. Peten lead Vulla down the plank. "Hey, Rarguf, have any idea of where to go next?" "We head north," Rarguf answered. "I have seen the castle they took them to." "Good, then let's not keep Sorrora waiting," Peten said. "Let's get our supplies packed and head for the castle." Everybody looked reluctantly at Peten. Peten turned and walked back on board the ship. He went below to round up some more supplies. Slowly the others joined him. ------------- The elephant that used to be Swurg's messenger was a very comfortable ride. Swurg was pleased that he came up with the idea. He had planned on changing the man back to normal when they returned, but the messenger made an excellent elephant. Well, he could always change him back into an elephant when he needed to go somewhere. The forest had given way to grassy, rolling hills. Off in the distance, Swurg could see Sorrora's castle perched on top of a mountain. A very strategic place. Plus the fact that she had an army of trullums. Taking the Norrom from her dungeon would be a challenge. But not a huge one. He just hoped that the witch hadn't exiled the Norrom's spirit yet. ------------ Jamk sat against the wall just like everyone else. The dungeon wasn't comfortable at all, but then it's a dungeon. His mind was busy of ways to get Sorrora to release them without giving away that Turlon was the Norrom. Arna was stubborn about not saying anything about the Norrom. Metty sat next to Jamk. She hadn't said much since Dabb was killed. Jamk tried to comfort her, but he didn't know much about the emotions of horses. He had only been one for more than a week. His train of thought was broken by the sound of footsteps. A trullum stopped in front of the bars. Jamk couldn't tell if it was Mulmer or not. If it was it wouldn't make any difference. The trullum stood guard as Sorrora appeared. She stopped at the bars and peered in. "Hello again," she said. "I hope you have some news to tell me." "We have nothing to say to you," Arna said standing up. "You don't? Too bad. I was hoping to give you good news. Oh well, I'll just have to settle with this," Sorrora said pointing a finger at Kelmer, one of the roomen. Kelmer seemed to freeze. He then began to show signs of turning into a trullum as Mulmer did. His fur on his arms fell out reveling gray skin underneath. In a flash, Arna hopped to the bars and grabbed the arm Sorrora was pointing at the rooman. "Stop it!" she yelled. Sorrora stood there shocked. The rooman had stopped changing, but Arna started. She wasn't turning into a trullum though. Her kangaroo features melted away to that of her human body. Sorrora's mouth hung open. Then it pushed out into a muzzle. Her ears grew longer and a thick tail pushed out from under her robe. Sorrora still in shock stared at her kangarooish body and the back at Arna. "Arna," she muttered as she regained her senses. "Yes, Arna," Arna said. "I see you still use that Species Swap spell you learned in our Freshman Spellcasters class. That was you best spell. And only spell." Arna sneered. "Oh, I've didn't just swap our species. I have blocked all magic from the both of us." Sorrora eyes grew big. She frantically concentrated. Jamk could tell that her spells weren't working. "How could you do this?" Sorrora screamed. "We are friends." "WERE friends. Ever since you stole my family's talisman, I have not considered you a friend." "Oh, that hurts. Don't you remember the great memories that we had as roommates?" Sorrora asked. Arna didn't respond. Sorrora paused and then glanced down at her hands. "Very well. I have other ways to deal with you...." "Mistress!" a trullum yelled from down the hall. "We have an emergency!" Sorrora glared at the trullum then turned to glare at Arna. "I'll be back," she said and angrily hopped down the hall. The trullum which was probably Mulmer walked behind her. Arna walked away from the bars and sat down in her spot against the wall. Metty watched her the whole way. "So, Sorrora can't cast any spells?" Ketta asked. "No, she can't," Arna said. "And magic can't affect her. She's stuck as rooman for about a week." "So, she can't harm anybody with magic?" Metty asked. "No, she can't." Metty leapt to her feet and in a single bound was next to Arna. She grabbed Arna by her collar and lifted her up. "Then why didn't you do it before she killed Dabb?" "I... I...," Arna sputtered. "WHY?" "I had to wait for the right time," Arna managed to get out. "Right time? Saving Dabb wasn't the right time?" Metty pulled Arna closer to her muzzle. "It was too late for Dabb. Even if I changed her after the dart hit Dabb, he still would have been killed," Arna said. Metty snarled and threw the woman down. She then hopped over to the wall where Jamk was sitting and plopped down. Arna straightened her dress. "I'm sorry about Dabb, but it was too late." Metty snarled again and put her head between her knees. ------------- Peten marched on towards Sorrora's castle. The others followed. Rarguf stayed on the ground most of the time, but occasionally he would be the groups' aerial scout. Peten couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to fly, but he could imagine that it was tiring. Especially across the sea. Vulla was drafted into carrying most of the supplies. Everyone else pitched in and carried some. Since Vulla was the only horse, she got the big load. While Rarguf was on the ground he carried a lot since he was the largest of the seven. But the extra weight was too much for him to fly. The trees were still thick in this area, and Peten could not see the mountains. "Rarguf, how much farther to the castle?" Rarguf placed his bundle of supplies on the ground and leaped into the air. Peten watched the dragon fly ahead and then circle around the group. "It's quite a ways, Peten," Rarguf bellowed. "I would say at least half a day." "Then we camp here," Peten said. Rarguf managed to land through the trees. He had gotten better at his landings. "No, Peten," he said. "If we camp now, then we have half a day to the castle. When we get there we will be tired. I say we get closer and then camp." "But we might be spotted," Peten said. "We can stay hidden. Besides we won't be camped right next to the wall," Rarguf said. "He is right," Mikmer said hopping over to the two of them. "We could rescue our friends easier if we rested closer to the castle." Peten looked to the others. "Peten, I'm not that tired," Turlon said. "I could continue." "Me to," Lewmer said. Vulla and Wilm nodded in agreement. "Well then, I guess we should head for the castle," Peten said and hiked through the trees towards their destination. ----------- The mountains were crossed easily. Swurg's soldiers were the best in the business. And the elephant wasn't too bad either. They had reached half way up the mountain where Sorrora's castle was perched with no problem what so ever. The sun was just beginning to set. "We camp here," Swurg shouted to his soldiers. He then whispered in his elephant's ear, "Let me down." The elephant raised his right front leg so the wizard could climb off his back. The soldiers were busy dismounting their horses and setting up camp. "Tomorrow we will attack the castle," Swurg shouted. "So get a good night's sleep." The soldiers let out a unison "Yes, Master," and went about their business. Tents sprung up while small fires began to glow. Of course Swurg's tent was the first up. Swurg walked over to the captain. "Captain, when we attack tomorrow, the Norrom must not be killed." "Understood, Master," the soldier said. "I knew you would," Swurg said patting him on the shoulder. Swurg then opened the flap to his large tent and walked inside.