The Articulum Part 15 By: Lance Holloway Swurg lead his army toward the mountain range. The tracks in the desert sand indicated that the Norrom left the oasis in this direction. When he saw the town, he knew he could track them. Swurg ordered the army of lizardmen to stay where they were. Only the captain and a few officers came with him. He guided his elephant mount over to one of the small farms on the outskirts of town. The four lizardmen followed. The farmer and his wife were out in the back tending to their crops. The woman saw the elephant and fainted. The farmer ran to his wife and looked up at Swurg. "What brings you here, stranger?" he asked. "I am looking for a friend of mine. I was wondering if you had seen him," Swurg said. The farmer thought for a second, "I don't think I have. What does he look like?" Swurg had no idea what any of the band looked like. Just that they had three horses and a dragon. The dragon! "A dragon was with him. Have you seen a dragon around here lately?" "Oh, a dragon. Yes, I've seen a dragon," the farmer said. He headed off toward that way." The farmer pointed to the mountain range. "Thank, you," Swurg said. He turned the elephant around and started back to the army. Then he stopped. "You don't know who I am do you?" he asked the farmer. "No, I don't. Why?" the farmer asked. "I am Swurg, the powerful." The farmer stared in shock. "You served me well, farmer. I'm glad I have loyal subjects as far away from my castle as this town is." Swurg loved loop holes like this. He waved his hand. The farmer started to grow. Scales covered his body as a tail burst through his paints. The farmer now stared in shock at his lizard-like body. "There, why don't you join my army. You will make a fine soldier," Swurg said. The lizard farmer didn't say anything for a few seconds. "But, my wife. I can't leave her." "Wife? You don't have a wife," Swurg said. The lizardman seemed dazed. "You're right, Master, I don't know what I was talking about." The lizardman walked away from the woman and joined the lizard soldiers. Swurg thought about the wife. What would she do when she woke up? He didn't care. She couldn't say she was loyal to him when she was unconscious, so he couldn't change her. She would just have to learn to live without her husband from now on. "Back to the army," Swurg ordered. His elephant and his lizardmen headed toward the others. ----------------- Peten pulled himself up to the rocky ledge. He had made it. The cave opening was gaping open right where he was. He helped Metty up. Then Turlon arrived. "This is it," Turlon said. He had a hint of nervousness. Peten could understand. The thing that awaited him inside was going to change his life forever. They helped the others up to the ledge. "Ok, let's go in," Arna said not even pausing to catch her breath. Peten knew it was Jamk who did all the work anyway. Arna forced Jamk into the cave opening. She dug out her portable light and disappeared in the darkness.. "Well, we have to go in sometime," Hokmal said and followed Arna into the cave. Peten dug out his light from Metty's pack and Turlon did the same for his. They were about to go in when Hokmal, Jamk, and Arna returned. "It's too small to bring the horses," Arna said. "It's big enough to ride them in, but without a lot of room. It would be better to leave them here," Hokmal said. Jamk seemed relieved; however, Arna didn't. "Looks like I'll have to stay behind also," Rarguf said from his rocky perch several feet above the entrance to the cave. "Who's heard of a dragon that can't get into a cave?" "Let's get this over with," Turlon said trying to sound brave. ---------------- The four of them turned on their portable lights and proceeded into the darkness. The cave didn't seem too bad. Just dark. Turlon didn't mind the dark or enclosed areas. The only problem he has was the fact that the cave twisted, turned, and branched everywhere. "This is a MAZE!" Peten yelled. His voice echoed through the multiple tunnels. "Shhhh," Arna said with her finger to her mouth. "No telling what is guarding the Articulum." "Guarding the Articulum?" Turlon asked. "I thought I was the rightful owner." "You are," Hokmal chimed in, "But whatever is guarding it won't know that at first." After saying that he put his finger up to his mouth. He whispered, "Listen." Turlon listened to the emptiness of the cave. All he heard was water dripping on the limestone, a slight breeze coming from the entrance, and hoof steps. "I hear hooves," Turlon said. The clopping of the hooves on the limestone was echoing so much, that he couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. "I thought the horses were staying behind." "They're supposed to be," Arna scowled. "Wait, listen," Hokmal said again. This time the hoofsteps were closer, but Turlon still couldn't tell where they were coming from. "Those aren't horse's hooves," Hokmal said. Just then a loud bellow blasted from behind them. They all spun around and shone the lights directly on a bulls face. The bull stared at them angrily. He stepped forward. As he did, Turlon saw that this wasn't a normal bull. It looked partly human. Enough human to be able to stand on two legs, and to have hoof-like hands that unfortunately was carrying a large ax. "Who dares enter my maze?" bellowed the bull. He swung the ax at them, but hit the wall instead. Turlon felt it wasn't a miss, but just a threat. Arna whispered in Turlon's ear, "Tell him who you are." Turlon stared questioningly at Arna. She shoved him forward in response. The bull readied the ax, and focused directly on Turlon's eyes. Turlon met his gaze. His eyes were bovine, but had intelligence behind them. "I am the new Norrom," Turlon said boldly. The bull lowered his ax but kept it at a good swinging position. He walked closer to Turlon, his hooves echoing in the silent tension. Turlon stood there calmly. Well, he hoped it appeared calm. The bull stopped right next to Turlon and peered closer at Turlon's eyes. Turlon could smell that this was definitely a bull all to well. Did he never take a bath? The bull snorted and stepped back. He lowered the ax head to the floor and knelt in front of Turlon holding the handle in front of his head. "You seem to be telling the truth, Master," the bull said. Turlon was shocked. He didn't expect this kind of reaction. Of course, he will probably have to get used to it soon. "Rise," Turlon said. "May I ask who you are?" "I am the guardian of the Articulum, Master Norrom. I have been guarding the Articulum for 18 years waiting for you arrival," the bull said. "18 years?" Turlon couldn't believe it. The Articulum was sitting here waiting for him to pick it up since before he was born. "What is your name, guardian?" "Mike," the bull said. "Pleased to meet you, Mike. Let me introduce you to my friends," Turlon said and motioned the others to come. He ran through their names. Mike greeted each one by shaking their hands. He even kissed Arna's hand with his bovine lips. "My, my," Arna responded, "Aren't you a gentleman?" A quick flash of sadness flashed in Mike's eyes. "I used to be," he said. "Now, let me show you the way to the Articulum." He headed off down the tunnel. Turlon began to follow. He looked back to see if the others were coming. Peten was coming, but Arna had Hokmal to the side. "Go back and tell the others what we are doing," Arna told the gormod. "Think you can find your way back?" "I sure can, Arna," Hokmal said. "I've been leaving a trail on the wall." He pointed out marks on the wall where he had casually used some paint. "Good thinking," she said. "Now go." Hokmal scampered off down the tunnel. Mike was in the distance waiting for them to follow him. "We're coming," Turlon said, and they followed the bull through the tunnels. ------------------- Jamk was relieved that he didn't have to go into the cave. He didn't like spelunking as a human, and now he was much bigger. He gazed at the view from the high mountain ledge. He could see the small village from way up here. Metty and Vulla were admiring it too. ["It's beautiful. Isn't it?"] Vulla asked. ["It sure it,"] Jamk said. ["I would much rather be closer to the ground,"] Metty said and turned away from the ledge. She stood closer to the entrance to the cave. ["Oh, Metty,"] Jamk said nickering, ["It's not too bad. We aren't that high up."] He looked down to see exactly how far they were from the base. The rocky face of the mountain stretched downward for a long ways. And on that face was a hoard of lizard-like men climbing it. One group was just about to reach the ledge they were on. ["Oh, Geez!"] Jamk whinnied. ["There's some lizard things joining us."] Rarguf who was resting above the cave entrance perked up at Jamk's cry. "What? What is it?" Jamk motioned with his head to the slope below them. Rarguf leaped into the air and flew out to get a view. "It's Swurg's army!" he bellowed. "Swurg is down below." Jamk looked over and sure enough he saw a human sitting on an elephant watching the army of lizards. ["What are we going to do?"] Vulla asked. Jamk looked around and saw something that might work. ["Push boulders over the edge,"] he said. He trotted over to some loose rocks and pushed a medium sized one over the edge with his muzzle. The rock rolled over the edge and hit one of the lizards. However, it wasn't enough to stop him from climbing. Metty and Vulla proceeded to help Jamk push rocks over. Several found their targets and caused the lizards to fall a few feet, but it wasn't enough to stop them. Rarguf was circling above. He rose to a height and dove down fast. A blast of fire erupted from his mouth scorching many of the lizards. Jamk looked down and saw that the lizards, minus a few, continued to climb. Jamk and the other horses continued pushing rocks on the lizards while Rarguf roasted them. The lizards continued their assent. "Wow! A battle!" shouted a voice behind Jamk. He glanced around and saw Hokmal standing in the entrance to the cave. He ran to the edge and held out his amulet. "Watch this," he said. He closed his eyes and concentrated. A light beam shot from the amulet and hit one of the lizards causing a bright flash. When Jamk's eyes cleared so he could see again, a camel was where the lizardman was. The camel looked surprised. Jamk couldn't tell if it was from realizing that he was a camel or the fact that as a camel, his hold on the mountain was lost. Either way, the new camel rolled down the mountainside. "Camels are funny that way," Hokmal said with a sly grin. He held out his amulet again and turned another lizardman into a camel. With the rocks, fire, and tumbling camels, Jamk hoped they could hold the lizard army off. ----------------- Swurg sat on his elephant watching his army scale the mountain. He wasn't about to climb that steep face. As he watched, he noticed someone throw a rock down. "This has to be the place," he said to himself. Then the dragon showed up and toasted a few of his men. "NO!" Swurg yelled. He bent down a patted the elephant. "I'll be back. You stay here and be a good boy." Swurg cast his levitating spell and floated off the elephant. He also cast an invisibility spell. I didn't last long, but he could make it into the cave before the others saw him. He flew up to the ledge where a group of horses and a gormod were throwing rocks at his army. Then he saw the gormod shoot a green beam at one of his lizards. The man instantly changed into a camel and plummeted. "How dare that little imp!" he thought. However, he didn't deal with the gormod at the moment. He needed to get the Articulum. He quickly sneaked into the cave entrance and released the levitation and invisibility spells. After noticing how dark the cave was, he cast an illumination spell and began to follow the tunnels. ------------------ To Be Continued......