Path: usenet.ee.pdx.edu!cs.uoregon.edu!news.uoregon.edu!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!uunet!not-for-mail From: guido@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Guido Roessling) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives Subject: STORY: Qelrik part 56 Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc Date: 14 Dec 1994 08:38:32 -0500 Organization: UUNET Technologies Inc, Falls Church, VA, USA Lines: 148 Sender: smm@uunet.uu.net Approved: smm@uunet.uu.net Message-ID: <3cmsgo$jh4@rodan.UU.NET> NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net Gladrial wakes up ================= As Gernodt watched over the unconscious woman, he listened to the orcish guards, for lack of anything better to do. "He touch her not!", an orc commented in amazement, referring of course, to Gernodt. The second orc pondered this statement for a moment. "Maybe she his sister is?", he suggested. The first orc snorted loudly. "That never stop you, 'an your sister ugly as a goat!" "Shut up Nord!", the first orc snarled, and made a half- hearted swing, which Nord easily ducked. The two orcs were obviously used to this game of insults, likely used to pass long, boring shifts. "He waits for her to wake", Nord commented sagely, "He want to see her face whens wakes she does. She likely scream." "She is fighter. She not scream.", said the first orc firmly. "Bet?", offered Nord. The first orc eyed him dubiously, then shook his hand, "Two coins!" Nord returned the handshake. "Five coins", Nord said firmly, and the first orc reluctantly agreed. "She wake!", Nord exclaimed, and both orcs hushed to watch. * * * * * Gladrial saw a light in front of her and tried to move toward it, but her legs felt like lead. Still, she was not one to give up without a fight, so she pushed toward it with all her will. The light grew closer, and she grew aware of a throbbing pain in her head. The world tilted and spun a bit as she opened her eyes, regaining consciousness. Cold, dark stone greeted her gaze, and she suddenly became aware of a presence very close to her. In alarm she tried to sit up, but the room twisted again, causing her to fall back down. Instead of hitting the hard floor though, she felt warm, strong hands supporting her. "Move slowly.", a voice growled behind her. "You have hit your head, but you are safe.. for now." Relaxing only slightly, Gladrial heeded the advice and slowly turned to face the owner of the rough-sounding voice. As his face came into view, she involuntarily drew in a quick breath in surprise. His face was horrible to see, a hideous mask of scar- tissue making his features virtually unrecognizable. Instinct, however, drew Gladrial's gaze away from the horror of his face.. to lock onto his eyes. Gazing into their blue depths Gladrial immediately relaxed, seeing only the strange man's concern and compassion, without a hint of malice. As she relaxed, she drew herself a little closer to him and tried to think over the pain in her head. In the hallway, curses sounded as Nord lost his bet. Gladrial ignored them. She remembered the fight with the orc, and her subsequent capture. Following along her memories, she remembered the long trek back to the orc's lair, and as they reached the entrance her vain struggles to free herself and... she thought for a moment and finally remembered the orc bringing the club down on her head and then the long spiral into darkness. Gingerly she reached to touch her head. "That's where you got hit.", the man growled and grabbed her hand tenderly so she couldn't touch the spot. "I've done what I can to heal you, but you will need time to heal completely." For a moment, Gladrial irrationaly fought against Gernodt's efforts to prevent her from touching her head and examining the wound, but he held her hand fast. Gingerly, she sat up and slowly turned to face him. "Who are you? What is your name?", she inquired, avoiding looking at his face, and instead gazing levelly into his eyes. "My name is Gernodt.", he replied holding her gaze, "I am a recent prisoner here... almost as recent as you. Some of my companions are also prisoners here. Are you here alone?" Gladrial dropped her gaze, her hair falling forward slightly. She shook her head slowly. "I'm alone", she said quietly. She paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about something. "My name is Gladrial", she said abruptly. "Looks like I'm not alone in making an escape.", she added with a weak smile. Gernodt looked slightly startled, but then grinned and shook his head. "You've barely been awake five minutes, and you're already thinking about escape." Gladrial smiled more broadly and nodded her head. *************************************************************************** This story is a collaboration of seven people: one German, two Canadians and four Americans. Comments about particular characters should be forwarded to their character's "owners": Finn Ambrose - Sheryl Ann Galchutt* - fi48@sol.acs.unt.edu Gernodt - Guido Roessling - dida@pu.informatik.th-darmstadt.de Dahlarin - Brent Hughes - bhughes@student.business.uwo.ca Kyle - J.E. Mason - ** no current mail address ** Fox - Barbara French - bcfrench@mailbox.syr.edu Will appear in future chapters: Gladrial - Jennifer Immel - bhughes@julian.uwo.ca Sir Percy - Bret Rudnick - rudnick@cfatrw.harvard.edu If you have WWW access, you can also read the chapters there. The site is http://adele.pu.informatik.th-darmstadt.de/dida/qelrik.html ************************************************************************** ************************************************************************** Legal stuff about Qelrik All characters contained in this story are the sole and exclusive property of their authors. They are the copyrighted property of the authors, and may not be used for any reason without the express written permission of the authors. Qelrik is (c) 1993, 1994 Guido Resszling, Brent G. Hughes, John E. Mason, Barbara C. French, Jennifer Immel, and Bret Ryan Rudnick. Gernodt T'Slorung -- Guido Roessling Dahlarin -- Brent G. Hughes Growler --