Breathe (Book Two) (UNDERCONSTRUCTION--100 pages lost)

[Riverdane]

Up in a great arc, Rallos' flaming sword curved through the air, blow aimed to cleave Ramluk in two. Ram's hands went up in the air as if to beg off the blow, reaching behind him. Calloused ogre hands gripped the handles of two scimitars, strapped crisscross to his back, and brought them up in a scissor over his head. Rallos' blade stopped barely inches above Ramluk's skull, striking the barrier. Ramluk's eyebrows singed off from the heat of the blade. And the battle had begun.

Now the dance. From the very start, Rallos began offensively, striking from the left, the right, above. Ramluk moved in time with him, for all his awkward size moving like a dancer, darting left, dodging right, crossing his weapons to block the massive blade. The work was strenuous, and before long you could see the sweat pouring down Ramluk's massive face, but the warrior was actually smiling, in the midst of what came natural to him. And amazingly, he was holding his own.

Another swing by Rallos, caught at the hilt of Ramluk's parrying blade, and then Ram swung unexpectedly with his other hand, catching the flaming sword from underneath. Had Rallos not then smashed his sheild into Ram, knocking him back, that move would have sent Rallos' weapon up in the air. Instead, sheild connected crushingly with Ramluk, and the ogre staggered backward, momentum for the underswing lost. He and Rallos faced each other, moving clockwise like cats watching for the next move to come.

"Get me DOWN!" Pedi yelled suddenly from high up on the edge of the pit. Ramluk's eyes darted up at the sound of the gnome who had given him so many cookies in the past. During that moment, Rallos saw Ram's eyes move to over his shoulder. Using the distraction to his advantage, Rallos swung with both hands, up over his head, down onto the ogre.

"Ramluk! LOOK OUT!" Pedi cried from high above. Ram's eyes registered the blade seconds before it chopped him in two. With a massive spring he leapt back and the sword buried itself in the dirt three inches in front of his toes.

Like a cat on a fence, Ramluk ran up the length of the buried sword, up Rallos' arm, and catching the huge helmet by the horns, swung onto Rallos' back, legs around his neck. Out from Ramluk's weapon array came a war hammer, and Ramluk began banging away on the helm.

Rallos, head ringing with hammerblows, reacted wildly. Feeling Ramluk like an annoying fly buzzing around his head, he tried with his free hand to brush Ramluk off, but Ram was dodging the blows like a snake, continuing to whack away at Rallos' head. Rallos' flailing arms grew more frenzied, as Ramluk rode him like a kicking bull.

"Whizbang, GET ME DOWN!" Pedi screamed again. Whizbang looked up at his wife for a moment before riveting his eyes back to Ramluk taunting Rallos.

"Damnation woman I can't!" he called up to her. "What do you think the range is on levitation? Zone wide??"

Rallos was in a rage, unable to shake the ogre on his back. His swings became more and more erratic, until, in a beserker rage, Rallos swung up his own sword to his head.

With a jarring crash, the sword missed Ramluk's grapsing fingers by mere inches, to connect solidly with Rallos' helm. The god staggered from the force of his own blow, stamping around in a daze.

Ramluk, with a mighty backward swing of his hammer, arced the weapon down and around to strike Rallos from behind under his arm in his armpit.

The sword flew out of his hand and tumbled in a lazy arc across the pit.

River watched what happened next as if in slow motion, eyes locked on that tumbling sword, hilt over tip.

With a speed uncanny, Rallos, now with both hands free, reached over his head and plucked Ramluk off his neck. With a violent toss, he sent the ogre hurtling after the blade.

And then, like a flying arrow, Rallos launched himself with a spring after his loose sword.

Up in the air Rallos leapt after the flying ogre and tumbling weapon. Faster than both of them, flipping completely in the air, Rallos caught his sword three feet before it hit the ground, just as Ramluk landed flat on his back underneath it. With a deft move, Rallos reversed the blade, point down, and drove it with both hands through Ramluk's chest, pinning him down to the floor like a butterfly to a board.

"Rammie NO!" Pedi cried from up top. "Gods' damn it NO!"

And without another thought, she leapt.

"Damnation on tinkers not figuring out jet packs!" Whizbang muttered, drawing out a bat wing. He levitated himself with a word. "Verdad, g-flux, NOW!"

Verdad nodded quickly and murmured something in elven, hands pushing out at Whizbang. His spell hit the tiny gnome wizard hard, propelling Whizbang up into the air in a huge arc, momentarily stunning the gnome. The gravity flux pushed him up and over to his falling wife.

Pedi saw her stunned husband flipping through the air at her as she fell. Her hands locked around his neck jarringly, but held. Whizbang, dazed from the stun, began to float slowly down, Pedi hanging from him, as his levitation made what would have been a fatal fall become a gentle landing. Pedi released herself 5 feet above the ground, hitting the floor running, and ran to the fallen ogre, just as Rallos removed the flaming blade.

The wound was massive, but the blood was little, the flame from the sword cauterizing the huge hole in Ramluk's chest as it withdrew. Ramluk's arms and legs twitched weakly.

"Rammie no." Pedi cried, cradling the ogre's massive head into her lap. "I have no mana from healing those soldiers...." Her eyes were desperate, looking at the huge wound burned black in Ramluk's chest. He began to cough, blood spraying in a thin sheen.

"I need mana!" she begged. "Vven, I need KEI."

"Pedi," Vven tried softly.

"I NEED KEI!" she screamed.

"As you wish..." Vven said resignedly, casting the mana replenishing spell upon the weeping woman. But he knew how fast she would regain her mana. And there just...wasn't any time.

"Rammie, don't die." Pedi wept, stroking the ogre's forehead.

Ramluk looked up at her, eyes focusing for a moment. And smiled.

"Me lie." Ramluk said coughing. "Me sorry. Is you who make number one cookie."

"Live through this, I'll make you cookies everyday, Rammie." Pedi promised, tears rolling down her cheeks. She could feel the mana coming back to her, but too slow, too slow....

Ramluk coughed again, and more blood. She could feel his head burning as with fever. His lips moved, and no sound came. Finally he found his voice.

"Me die, is ok." he managed. "Me go see Big Momma now."

"But Big Momma is alive..." Pedi said miserably.

"No," Ram corrected. "Me bad ogga. Me not tell lots of truths." He looked apologetic. "Big Momma die long ago, with brownies..."

"But I thought the gnomes saved..." Whizbang began, and then his brow creased in shame, as he looked down at the ogre sadly shaking his head. "No, I guess they wouldn't, after all, would they."

Pedi's voice hitched. "I would have saved Big Momma, and I'll save you Rammie." she swore. Just a little more mana, and she could fix....something.

Ramluk's eyes smiled up at her, but the light behind them was fading.

"Is ok." he whispered. "Who would save a monster?"

And then Ramluk died.

[Riverdane]

One sound broke the silence following Ramluk's last breath.

Laughter.

Peals and peals of laughter issuing from Rallos.

"Now THAT was good!" he laughed. "A flying gnome circus! If your ogre had had reflexes like that, I wouldn't have to clean his stink from my blade! Priceless!"

Pedi looked up from Ramluk's corpse, tears streaming from her eyes. Her lips were bared, teeth showing, every muscle in her small body bunched. A sound River doubted she heard issued from her, a growl, something feral. She looked completely rabid. Too much had happened too fast, and the shock of Ramluk's death had not lifted from him. He just knew something bad was going to happen. Pedi was going to snap.

"Pedi..." he began, taking a step forward to restrain her. Only Whizbang's hand on his knee stopped him.

"Nono, River," Whizbang said, staring at his wife almost in a daze. "You are about to witness a 'Whizbang sleeps over at Shiloch's' moment."

"Ahh, did I kill your pet, little miss?" Rallos chuckled. "If you really like ogres, you can have one of my Daik..."

"YOU KILLED MY FRIEND!" Pedi screamed, rushing at Rallos. He didn't flinch, but he did stop midsentence as the woman rushed at him. She stopped at his feet and glowered up at him, standing in his giant shadow. The effect was almost comical, this tiny doll propped up in front of a colossus, if the air wasn't already tense with bloodshed.

"He was weak." Rallos dismissed her.

"He was the strongest man I knew!" she shouted. "Strong of character! Strong of friendship and loyalty and all the things that make men MEN! He wasn't a COWARD like YOU!"

"Coward..." Rallos repeated slowly. Then in a blink, his flaming sword swung around, dangerously close to Pedi's head. Her eyes watered from the heat, but she did not back down. Now it was Whizbang's turn to step forward to pull back his wife in a panic, and River's to grab his arm and hold him back.

"Let her finish, Whiz..." River murmured, transfixed. Whizbang's face looked striken, but he nodded.

"Let me go, human." he muttered. River complied.

"COWARD?" Rallos bellowed, "You are that stupid to..."

"STUPID?" Pedi shot back. "Ok, who's stupid, Rallos? Tell me, do you know where your clerics are? Do you? Do you have the slightest clue what the hells is going on with the world outside of your war games? Or are you too STUPID to look beyond the walls of this stinking PIT?"

"My clerics, you viscious little twit, are hiding from me, too afraid to serve the very thing they worship! And when I find them, I will hang their bodies on a rack next to yours until they grow some hair on their chests."

"Wrong, IDIOT." she said. Rallos had heard enough, he swung up the sword, faster than anyone could react.

"No..." Whizbang whispered, knowing that there would be no time to do...anything.

The sword descended.

"They're DEAD!" Pedi yelled, seeing but oblivious of the sword.

The sword stopped two feed above her head. Another inch and her hair would have gone up in flames.

"They're dead." Rallos repeated.

"Yes, all you had to do was talk to your dying men to find out!" Pedi told him with a sneer. "End Game has begun. End Game is nearly upon us. Clerics can't resurrect anymore. And yet you sent all your followers into wars and skirmishes with no way to resurrect the fallen. And yet you subjected your followers to death daily, oblivious to anything any messengers tried to tell you. And they tried to tell you alright. Everyday as their numbers grew smaller they tried to tell you, but you just called them cowards and couldn't comprehend what they were telling you. You killed men for bringing you bad news, you made them fight each other for your amusement. And all the while, they KNEW there would be no resurrection for them when it was done. But not you, no you only know about borders and feints and crippling blows. Your clerics, you assumed, ran off because they were afraid of war. They weren't afraid of war, Rallos, they were afraid of YOU. Your clerics, Rallos, made a suicide pact and KILLED THEMSELVES!"

"Get out of my sight, you wretched beast." Rallos said. He glared at the rest of them. "Get out, NOW! Before my mercy is rescinded."

"So that's it, you dismiss us??" Pedi said in amazed disgust. "Do you not feel yourself getting weaker, Rallos? How do you think Ramluk slipped through your defenses in the first place? Your followers are dying, and with no worshipers, there is no reason for the gods to exist. Slowing, you're all dying, you gods who march us around like puppets. WE are your lifeforce. And war is the most destructive force of all, and you are singlehandedly destroying yourself. Are you so blind you cannot see that???"

A noise escaped Rallos' throat, primal rage. His sword came up a third time, this time, with the intent to murder. Pedi watched the blade come round with no fear.

"Is a wonder Terris ever loved you." she said clearly.

The arm stopped jarringly mid swing. The sword fell to the ground with a ear-ringing clang.

"Terris?" Rallos whispered.

Vven cleared his throat loudly, the only one of them not affected by what just occurred.

"You, sir, have been disarmed, I believe." he said.

Rallos' eyes glanced at his blade laying in the dirt of the pit, and then back at Pedi.

"So it seems I have." he said slowly. "Alright, I will hear your case. And then...tell me about Terris."

[Riverdane]

Rallos picked up his sword after River had detailed their journey, from his drowning in Kedge through his escape from Neriak. When it was finished, River almost looked physically exhausted, the weight of what had occurred over the past two weeks sitting on him like a great stone. Ramluk's body and sacrifice lay in the dirt close by, a reminder of all they had lost since End Game had been set in motion.

"When War finds peace from eternal strife." Rallos repeat carefully.

"I believe," River finished, "That is an indication for you to call an end to wars throughout Norrath, before we just hasten our death sentence."

"An end to war." Rallos mused. "That will be the first time in the history of the world."

"It may prevent the end of history." River said, "Pedi was right, the more followers you lose the weaker you will become, until you simply cease to be. At least with a ceasefire, you may retain enough of your people to last till the end of this quest. It's....temporary at best. But even the least of generals knows when retreat is the better solution."

Rallos turned to Pedi. "And Terris, she cried for me?"

Pedi glared at him, no forgiveness in her eyes. "She cried for women everywhere who have been lured away by the call to arms from their homes and loved ones. If her tears had anything to do with you, it was because of you, not for you."

Rallos began pacing.

"I did not mean to deceive her." he said defensively, almost to himself. "Terris is....a remarkable woman. Never before has a female moved me the way she did. I have known lust before yes, it burns in every male next to the fires of competition and destruction. But her fragileness, mystery, that was new to me. And her eyes, deep black pools. I lost myself in them. I was under her spell during my time with her, unable to think logically, a victim of something alien to myself. When with her, I could not concentrate on war, my job, my goals. I could only think of her, and her eyes, the touch of her hand on mine, I felt ill, but not in a sickening way, just....not myself...."

"Damned, man. Whipped." Verdad said.

Pedi shot Verdad a look. "You were in love, not ill, Rallos."

"Love." Rallos tried the word out, as if for the first time. "Aye, I guess I was."

"And you left her." Pedi added.

"I was a fool." Rallos murmured to himself.

"Yes, you were." Pedi finished.

Rallos looked up from a spot of the floor he was carefully studying. He lifted his sword, and walked to the fallen body of Ramluk.

"This warrior fought with honor. He shall not rot with mere men who have failed." he said, touching the sword to Ramluk's body. The corpse caught quickly, set alight. Pedi choked back a cry, and turned to Whizbang with a look of hopelessness in her eyes. Whizbang's face was ashen, but his arms opened, and he let his wife sob quietly into his chest. Vven and Verdad watched quietly while the body burned.

"Let Ramluk return to the world with honor, and let it be known, his god has seen his prowess on the battlefeild and did not find him lacking!", Rallos declared to sky. "Return to ash, child of Rallos, and know that though you have fallen in battle, you have won your war!"

River knelt down beside the burning corpse.

"Goodbye ogga." he whispered.

"LET IT BE KNOWN!" Rallos continued loudly, voice swelling to a deafening volume. "From this moment on, soldiers are to lay down arms, men return to their families, swords and sheilds returned to mantlepieces! For until the future is decided, no creature will die to satiate the bloodlust of Rallos! Rather, find comfort in your families, for the End of All grows near, and none shall say Rallos the Warlord was instrumental in the loss of that battle! CEASEFIRE!"

A thunderclap dramatically followed, and then, horns began to sound, echoing down into the pit, as Rallos's remaining men scattered wide to deliver the news.

"And I," Rallos continued quietly, "Am taking holiday to the Plane of Nightmares. A woman awaits me, and I have been a coward for far too long."

[Riverdane]

"Sir!" came a voice from high above them, at the Pit's edge. Rallos looked up, as did the rest of them. One of Rallos' men stood at the edge, holding a piece of golden parchment.

"Yes?" Rallos asked.

"A message from Mithaniel Marr of the Hallas of Honor, sir!" the man called down.

"Tell Mithaniel my mind is made up." Rallos barked. "Warfare is my jurustiction and there will be none till this mess is settled!"

The man paused and cleared his throat nervously. "With all due apologies, sir, this message is of a different nature."

"Well, then," Rallos called up, "What is it? Spit it out!"

"Yes sir, sir!" the man called down, hands trembling as he read from the paper. "Greetings from the Halls of Honor. I, Mithaniel Marr, request the immediate audience of all deities available to meet me in the Plane of Hate. This End Game is a nasty business, and I believe I have a solution that, tho it requires the sacrifice of a loyal follower of mine, may put things in order neatly. I wish all who can be present for the salvation of the world to be there. Regards, Mithaniel."

River's eyes snapped wide. "The last part of the Prophecy!" he said to Vven, panic growing. "The part about love...."

Whizbang finished. "And love denied will even the score, and all will be as it was before?"

"Camille...." River whispered. Mithaniel's 'sacrifice' was all too clear.

"Brimstone!" River snapped. The black stallion shimmered into view. River leapt onto his back.

"To Hate, NOW!"

Whizbang took a step forward, but it was too late. River and the horse shimmered from view.

"Damnation, River..." Whizbang muttered.

"We did what we could." Verdad said, patting Whizbang on the shoulder, "It's his game now."

Whizbang winced and rubbed his shoulder.

"Next time Verd, a little gentler on the gravity flux please. I'm old. I feel like I've been beat with a meat tenderizer."

"That was very brave of you, saving me like that, Whiz." Pedi said with a shy smile.

"You're my woman," Whizbang said, cheeks flushing red. "It's my job. Now let's go home." And he walked off, the scowl on face an obvious ruse to hide his pleasure.

"Pedi," Verdad said quietly, watching Whizbang march off, "You're a cleric. Why didn't you just Divine Aura when you jumped? You would have landed saf....OW!"

"My hero." Pedi said loudly, following her husband to the exit from the Pit.

Verdad rubbed his shin where Pedi had kicked him. "Well, Vven," he said, "Time to get out of..."

Verdad looked around the empty Pit, blinking.

"Vven?"

[Riverdane]

"Your excellency!" the teir'dal Elite exclaimed, as River brushed past as he entered the Palace of Hate, "You have unexpected visitors..."

"I know." River said, not looking back at him. He pushed his way through the door to his bedchambers.

The room, indeed, held many unexpected visitors.

Bertoxxulous, dripping decay from his black robes. Fennin Ro, beard aflame. Quellious, watching like a strange ever-calm child. The two lesser Zeks, Tallon and Vallon, their orcish features making them look barbaric. And more. Luclin. Karana. Rodcet Nife. The dieties and sub-deities of Norrath, too many for River to take in with a glance, were assembled there in the room. And standing above Camille, sword raised high, was Mithaniel Marr, the Truthbringer.

River's hands began to glow black.

"Swing that sword and one of you dies, Mithaniel!" River dared in a loud voice. It startled River himself. It was not his voice. It was the voice of a god.

Mithaniel hesitated, as heads both humanoid and not snapped in River's direction.

"I killed Innoruuk, do not doubt that I can destroy one of you." River added, his fingers all but lost in the power of the black light surrounding them.

"Do not interfere, Mortal Hate!" Mithaniel shot back, sword frozen in place, but not lowering. "And love denied will even the score! This is not about you, this is about the future of all!"

"Killing Camille will not deny my love for her!" River replied angrily. "So before you think to kill her, you had better be sure that your interpretation is correct!"

"Aye, Mithaniel," Xegony chimed, butterfly wings beating behind her, keeping her aloft near the back. "What if you are wrong, would you sacrifice one of us? Mortal Hate means to do murder, I can see it in his eyes."

Mithaniel's grip tightened on his sword. "If I am wrong, then she dies, and one of us dies, and we discover another way. The lives of one mortal and one god is worth the salvation of all!"

His sword descended.

River's eyes darted from face to face, time slowing down, as he decided the target for all his unbridled hate. So much had happened, so many tears, so much death, to end with Camille's soul snuffed out by the very god she worshiped. So...unfair. Before the sword had fallen an inch, River commited himself to his future.

His hands flew up to cross his own chest, over his heart, and froze there, crackling black energy.

"STOP." he commanded. "Or I will destroy myself. And to Hells with you all."

Mithaniel pulled back his swing.

"You wouldn't dare." Mithaniel whispered.

"Watch me." River replied, locking eyes with the God of Honor. "Camille and I will die forever in love, and the only thing denied will be YOU."

Mithaniel's hand wavered. And the gods began to mumble amongst themselves.

"Begone fools." came a feminine voice from the back. "I told my brother this would never work. Begone and leave this to me!"

The crowd of dieties parted, and through the throng walked the most beautiful woman Riverdane had ever seen.

"Erollisi..." Mithaniel began.

"Listen to your sister, Mithaniel!" commanded Tarew Marr from the side. "You had your chance and it damned near left us without Mortal Hate to finish this quest! Leave the ways of love to she who commands it!"

Mithaniel's arm dropped uselessly to his side, sword dangling impotently. "Yes, father." he said.

"Now, all of you," Erollisi said loudly, glancing imperiously around the room, "Leave me and Mortal Hate alone to speak. Our time together will suffer with an audience."

The mumbling increased, as the gods mouthed their opinions on what should and shouldn't be done, till in raised into the volume of a riot.

"BEGONE!" Erollisi's voice boomed, "Do not interfere in the work of the Goddess of Love! This is MY domain, not yours!"

All grew silent. There was no denying that. And slowly, following a chastised and reprimanded Mithaniel, they filtered out of the room. River's hands never left his chest as he watched them go.

Finally, they were alone, River standing against the wall, Camille in repose on the bed, and Erollisi, magnificent to behold, in a simple tunic and skirt that accentuated every luscious curve of her perfect body. She looked at River with eyes the color of molten gold and pursed her full, beautiful lips.

"Now now, Hate..." she said with a voice like honey. "Lower your hands from your breast. You have nothing to fear from me.

River felt his breath catch at the sound of her voice. It was the voice of angels. The sound of it made him slightly dizzy, but his hands did not drop.

"Hmm, stubborn are you?" she smiled, advancing towards him slowly, her hips moving from side to side, skirt raising a bit as she did to offer more of a view of her glorious legs. "I like that in a man. In control. A man's man."

River began to break out into a cold sweat. The scent of her perfume reached him. It smelled of flowers, fresh dew, sex, all rolled into one. A heady smell, making him forget his current tension, to be replaced with one of a more carnal design.

"Are you pleased with what you see, milord?" Erollisi murmured, another step toward him, hands moving sensously down her body as she asked.

"You are...amazing." River stuttered stupidly, finding his voice.

"You look so uncomfortable in all that armor." she commented, glancing full length at him from eyes to his feet, then back up to his eyes again. River felt devoured in her glance.

With a wave of her hand, every strap on River's armor unfastened, and with a loud clattering, fell in pieces to the floor. River stood in simple clothing before her, blinking uselessly.

"Umm." he managed.

"Every woman has the power to strip a man of his armor." Erollisi laughed melodically. "I just have a more physical power."

Her eyes roamed over him, stopping below the waist. "My my, sir." she purred, "Is that an....ogre war maul in your pocket?" Her eyebrow raised in surprise. "Or are you just happy to see me?"

River's face flushed red in embarrassment as he realized his body was responding to her charms.

Erollisi came closer yet, her breath a delight to smell as she pressed her body close to his andstroked his face with her hand.

"All of me is yours, Mortal Hate." she whispered close to his ear. "All you have to do..." A nibble on his ear, as his breath catched. "Is deny your love for that plain creature on the bed. I am everything you have always dreamed of, and can show you things in your wildest dreams you never thought a woman would do for you. All this is yours, if you forsake her and take me." Her smell, her touch, her voice, a siren's call. "Can you do that for me, milord?"

Yesyesyesyesyes, River's body screamed.

"No." he said weakly.

....

With sudden violent force, with no control of their own, River's arms were thrown wide, his wrists pinned to the wall by some unseen force. Erollsi stared at him with fury, her beautiful eyes now dark and ugly, and very very angry.

"NO??" she screeched at River, who stood pressed to the wall spreadeagle. "You say no to ME??"

River opened his mouth to speak, but Erollisi in her anger was already moving. One hand gripped his throat like a vise. The other grabbed his crotch painfully. Both hands began to squeeze.

"I'm....sorry..." River gasped, senses swimming.

"You IMBECILE!" she growled, as her grip tightened. River's body felt on fire, the pain was so intense. And his air supply was cut off. "You foolish foolish man! Don't you know, you pathetic idiot, that hells know no wrath than a woman scorned??" Her eyes burned like fire, her mouth twisted into a cruel little smile. The smell of sex in the air now sickening, mixing with the smell of violence. River could feel his consciousness slipping away from him, and welcomed it. Anything to relieve the pain she was inflicting below.

"You could have had the world on a platter, Riverdane Wyldechylde." she spat, as light began to go black. "But instead, you dare deny me!"

And suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw the edge of his fallen sword lay across Erollisi's wrist. Her grip loosened for a moment.

"Get your hands off my man, bitch." Camille said evenly. "Or you won't need to be present at your next manicure."

River blinked.

Camille was awake.

[Riverdane]

Erollisi released her hold on River. He collapsed into a useless pile on the floor, gasping air in huge gulps.

"You're awake. How nice." Erollisi commented to Camille. Camille knelt down next to River, eyes not leaving the Goddess of Love.

"Cami...." River began weakly.

"But how?" Erollisi asked. "This fool of a husband of your refused to deny you, and believe me, I tried..."

"That's why I love him." Camille said, kissing the top of River's head. River grinned like an idiot through the subsiding pain of his lower region with a grimace.

"That's very nice, sweetheart," Erollisi said bitterly. "But that still doesn't explain..."

Suddenly the door to one of the wardrobes flew open wide. Out stepped Vven dressed in an oversized smoking jacket, so lavishly decorated and large that it puddled around his feet.

"My my my." Vven announced, looking Erollisi up and down. "Papa Marr certainly didn't have any ugly children, but the pretty genes kicked all the brain genes out of the pool, didn't they?"

"Is that Vven the enchanter?" Camille whispered to Riverdane.

"Sssh, baby, he's just warming up." River hushed her with a smile.

Vven paced around Erollisi, smoking jacket trailing behind me.

"Say it with me, Erollisi, Love." Vven said. "Say it, I know you can."

"I know how to say love, teir'dal." Erollisi snapped.

"Hello? More emphasis please? Say Love, not love. With a capital L, dollface. Love. Looooooove. As in Love, the Goddess of Love. Neither you or your brother read the Prophecy very closely. And Love denied, capital L. That meant River had to deny YOU, calendar girl, not Camille."

Erollisi's mouth opened to argue, and then shut as the annoyed puzzled look slowly left her face. "Oh." she said.

"What is Vven talking about, River?" Camille whispered.

"That's another chapter, hon." River said quietly. "I'll tell you when we get home."

"So, then. He was destined to say no to me." Erollisi managed. "Good, had me worried for a moment there." But her glance at River showed she far from forgave him for rejecting her. She turned her attention back to Vven, and then smiled seductively, staring below his belt. "And my my, sir," she purred. "Is that a candlestick holder in your pocket or are you just happ..."

"It's a candlestick holder." Vven said, pulling out a large, ornate candlestick holder from under the smoking jacket. "In Hate my body is solid and I'm robbing the place blind."

"Oh." Erollisi said flatly. "How nice." And with that she turned on her heels and walked with as much dignity as she could muster out the door.

"Love is..." Vven commented, after she left. "...never wanting to say you're sorry."

Camille helped River up to his feet. All had happened so suddenly. His hands caught his wife around the waist and he pulled her close, drinking in her eyes.

"I dreamed of you, for a long time." she said quietly, looking him in the eye, her hands resting on his shoulders.

"I couldn't dream at all...." he whispered, looking at her eyes, her nose, her mouth. "I could only hope..."

"I dreamed you were next to me, holding my hand, but then you were gone..."

"I'm sorry..."

"But then you returned..."

"Yes..." he leaned close, breathing her breath.

"Please don't make me sick." Vven said.

"Vven?" River asked, lips inches from Camille's.

"Yes?"

"Shut up." Camille finished, lips touching River's for a long awaited kiss.

"Even Coma Chick disrespects me!" Vven muttered.

"Yes Wyldechylde." came a rich voice from the door. "Please don't make me sick."

Camille and River broke their embrace, startled by the voice.

Innoruuk walked into the room.

"Daddy's home!" Vven exclaimed, dropping to one knee before the former God of Hate.

"Is that my smoking jacket?" Innoruuk frowned.

"Err..." Vven said, looking up from the ground.

"And all will be as it was before." River quoted. "It's over. Back to where we left off." He stood protectively in front of Camille, picking up his sword warily.

"And don't we have a problem." Innoruuk said with some annoyance, absently rubbing his long neck. "I can't keep Ms. Holy over there or I'll have my rabid son blowing off my head every other day. And I can't keep the River here after all the lessons I've taught him, eventually he would turn this place into an amusement park. And yet a soul must be paid!"

"Your excellency!" the Elite said, striding through the door. "The other gods and goddesses have left, but several candlestick holders are miss...." And then his eyes saw Innoruuk, and he fell to his knees in shock. "Your excellency!" the teir'dal exclaimed, now to Innoruuk. "You have returned!"

Vven's head shot up, eyes glowing blue. He stared at the Elite and twitched his fingers, as if holding puppet strings. The Elite's head suddenly snapped up, eyes lit with that same blue, vacant. He lurched to his feet as if directed by an unseen hand.

"Pet kill." Vven murmured.

With the movements of a clockwork robot, the Elite drew its sword and marched towards Innoruuk.

With a single motion, Innoruuk reached out a gnarled hand and snapped the Elite's neck like a twig. All light went out of his eyes as he crumpled to the ground.

"As to that soul needing to be paid," Vven said, getting to his feet and gesturing to the dead guard. "My resume." He bowed low. "I believe your staff now has an open position? And I just happen to have one soul, tarnished as it may be, ready for your use, oh Lord."

Innoruuk looked at the body of the fallen guard for a long time, no one saying anything.

"Tell me Vven," Innoruuk drawled, "What do you know about pain?"

"Nonono, Inny." Vven smiled back. "What do YOU know about pain?"

Silence, and then they both began chuckling in a way that stood River's hair on end.

"Back to your body, Miss Priss." Innoruuk said, no longer interested in River or Camille. "I have a new student." Camille slowly began to fade away.

"River..." Camille cried out.

"I'll see you at the guildhouse, Cami." River promised as she disappeared. "Soon."

"And as for you, my wayward son." Innoruuk began.

"You gave life to me, Innoruuk." River said evenly. "But Dane was my father."

"And so it seems." Innoruuk said quietly. "And so it seems. Begone. Till we meet again, under quite different circumstances."

"Brimstone...." River called. The horse materialized in front of him. River climbed onto his back.

"If you see Runiko, tell her I got detained a millennium or so." Vven said.

"I will." River smiled at him.

"And the Wuoshi thing..."

"Not a word." River promised. Their eyes sealed the bargain.

"River..." Vven began.

"Yes?"

"You were a lousy god." Vven laughed.

"I know." River agreed, bemused.

"It is against your nature." Vven said. "Go follow your nature and make babies with your woman or something."

"That's not a bad idea at all, inky." River agreed. "Thank you for...well, thank you." He sat there on Brimstone's back looking down at Vven.

"I'm still not gunna kiss you." Vven said, waving.

"Right." River said. "Brimstone, to Freeport."

And Hate, Innoruuk and Vven shimmered from view.

[Riverdane]

East Commonlands, the border to Freeport, the city that housed the guild of Razor's Edge.

River swung off Brimstone's back, and ran his hand fondly through the stallion's mane.

"You served me well." River said to the horse. "But our journey is over, Brim. It is time to return to your mistress."

The horse pawed the ground and snorted fire, shaking his beautiful head in agitation.

Two large black eyes suddenly appeared in the air over the horse. Huge, dark, and solemn. River looked up into them.

~~thank you for what you have returned to me, riverdane wyldechylde~~

"The horse was borrowed, Terris." River replied. "As much as I hate to let him go, he belongs to you."

An odd sound from Terris. Laughter.

~~not the horse, riverdane wyldechylde, not the horse~~ she said. ~~thank you for returning my heart~you may keep the stallion as my gift~~

"Rallos....?" River began, knowing the answer.

~~came to his senses~~ was her reply. ~~farewell, prince of hate~~

"Farewell, Mistress of Dreams." River said with a smile, as her eyes faded from view.

A hand appeared to River's left, holding an apple to Brimstone's mouth. The horse gently took it.

"Grelin." River said, greeting his old druid friend. "Camille..."

"Told me to look for you." Grelin said. Then he glanced at Brimstone. "Nice horse."

"Yes, isn't it?" River said, patting Brimstone's neck. Then he fished his crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and put one in his mouth. "Grelin, you have a match? I haven't had a smoke in...weeks."

Grelin snapped his fingers, and druid fire lit the tips of them. River leaned in to light the cigarette and then paused.

He felt....old. After everything that had happened, as he stared into the green flame dancing on Grelin's fingers, he wondered if it wasn't time to just....settle down. After all that had passed, if it wasn't time to start taking care of himself. The cigarettes had in the waning years left him short of breath, and all the running around playing hero and soldier....maybe it was time to just stop. Leave Razor's Edge to Nizzre's care. Do what Vven has joked about and just work on a family with Camille, and stop running around like a boy with a wooden sword fighting in a play war. Just relax. Breathe.

"Nah." River said outloud, lighting the cigarette and inhaling deeply.

And suddenly his felt his breath crushed. The cigarette popped out of his mouth to smoke uselessly on the ground, as River gasped for air. Two large arms had wrapped around him from behind, and was slowly crushing him. He heard a voice deafeningly loud in his ear.

"OGGA!"

Then all will be as it was Before.



--The End--

[Atelen]

It's over? Noooooooooo!

*grins* Amazing story, Riverdane ">

[Riverdane]

woooo.......has a cigarette and a tall glass of champagne....god, that felt good.....and I sorta feel...a little lost...back to the old drawing board..=p

[Herbert Dypp]

damn fine River

[Lorieannaie]

Awesome story Riv! Can't wait for another story, at your leisure of course, but the sooner the better. ">

[Teeka Wyldwood]

I loved your story ! You made me laugh , brought a tear to my eyes and had me anxiously waiting for the next chapter.
I am also looking forward to your next story .">

[Riverdane]

Epilogue-

Floating in a black void, totally naked, with no shame Riverdane spins in place, waiting for...something. His soul is floating free, with no where to go. Where do I go now?, he wonders, Now that I have seen the gods and found them as weak as we? The question nags at him, but he cannot garner enough will to care.

A face appears in the void, slowly. A woman's face, long black hair, beautiful features, and eyes....eyes both striking and odd . The face orbits River so that he may gaze upon it while spinning, matching his pace. Those eyes mirror his own. For they are his eyes looking back at him....yet not.

"My son." she says.

"Mother." he says.

"You have fallen to your death." she says.

River almost laughs, such is his shame. "I slipped on the ice while exploring Velks."

"It was late." she comments.

"No one knew I was there." River adds, knowing what she is going to say.

"Your body is too old."

"I know."

"You have died."

"I know."

"Where will you go?"

"I...don't know."

Innoruuk was no choice, he had been rejected, along with the myriad of gods and goddesses he had met along his journeys as a mortal deity.

"Choose." his mother says.

And as simple as that, Riverdane chooses.

~~riverdane wyldechylde~~

"Milady." Riverdane says, as he appears in the lair of Terris Thule.

She motions to the room, the four columns with their gargoyle guardians, and one fresh column, new since he was last here, off to the side, with no statuary upon it.

~~do you know what happens to the few souls that worship me when they die?~~

"I have an idea, I think." River says, and begins to climb to the top of the column. He stands atop it, taking a long look at Terris.

~~then sleep, riverdane wyldechylde~~ Terris intones.

River feels his body changing, his features twisting, his skin hardening....one by one his joints, lock, freezing him in place.

~~sleep~~

The transformation complete, he is one with the column, a silent stone guardian, forever watching...forever waiting...

~~and dream~~


--end--


(And that, my friends, is the end of the story, and the end of Riverdane Wyldechylde. It is time I left the land of fantasy and return to much more dangerous world of the real world. Was not an easy decision, but after coming on the last 10 days of a /played of one year, it is inevitable. This seemed a fitting way, through story, of putting River to bed. A dramatic end, to a dramatic character and player, but, it's part of me, for good and bad. Best of luck Walkers, with your futures both in and out of game, all of you, including the ones with whom I didn't quite see eye to eye. There are far too many of you that have affected my life to address individually, but you can reach me through ezmail and please stay in touch. Just know, my friends, you filled a void in a more real way than the real world has ever done. It was my pleasure to write and work with you.)

[BonlainyT]

I'm sorry to see you go River, but I can understand where you are coming from too. You taught me a lot about raiding and leading raids and I am appreciative. You will be missed and I really do wish you the best and look forward to seeing your books published either hardbound or digital, but either way I will read.

Take care of yourself and drop in and say hi when you can, let us know how you are doing and what you're up to. You will be missed.

[RudeeD]

"> Ill miss you. You helped bring alot to this game for me. It was due to people like yourself that Ive managed to play as long as I have. Bes of luck man.........