Khyree's Story

Your quick words are accompanied by your dash between the two centaurs readying the net. Grekkor, anticipating your action, responds quickly and moves with you. The centaurs are taken off guard by your rush. You and Grekkor dart past the net-holding centaurs who unsuccessfully scramble to finish their job as you deftly dart under the unprepared trap.

You speed into the bush to your right, following the edge of the ridge. You hear a barrage of arrows let loose behind you. A couple land in trees you run by. Others thud into earth as you break free. The commander's booming call and the the sound of galloping hooves soon follow. They are in pursuit!

Khyree keeps running, winding through the tighter spaces between trees and underbrush where large clunky horsepeople can't maneuver.

With the centaurs in pursuit, you and Grekkor both pick up your pace, weaving through as many tighter spaces between trees and underbrush as possible in attempt to move more quickly through the dense vegetation than the four-legged creatures. The centaurs prove surprisingly agile in their jungle home, but still, you manage to stay slightly ahead of their advance. Some attempt to follow your path but are eventually forced to yield to the dense jungle obstacles you evade through. Others--you can't be sure how many--run further away from the ridge where it is more open for them, attempting to gain on you, on your left, and keep you pinned to the cliffy edge.

The rain begins to pickup even more fiercely, which--along with the fact that it is now behind you--makes the sound of the battle below distant once again.



You can tell that you are faring better than your master in this chase. As strong and agile as he is, his heavy breathing reveals his age is taking its toll on him. Regardless, he presses on with you in the lead.

A couple arrows fly from the centaurs that try to gain along side of you on your left and try to keep you pinned to the ridge.

The centaurs' arrows miss you and Grekkor and disappear into the bush.

Khyree continues to elude the centaurs. She confident that both she and Grekkor, with their training, can out run and out jump a pack of stupid centaurs.

The fast-paced chase persists. For at least fifteen minutes more you continue to agilely out maneuver the centaurs. The centaurs try hard to keep up. Grekkor as well continues try to keep up with you.

The rainfall begins to taper off.

One pursuing centaur attempts another shot...but aiming is exceedingly difficult as you purposely weave through undergrowth cover...He misses.

The long chase begins to take its toll on Grekkor. His maneuvers begin to slow, his age is finally affecting his performance. The centaurs notice your old master falling back slightly and let out loud hollers to encourage each other to pick up pace. Newly invigorated, they begin to close in--although you still have the dense jungle cover surrounding your movements, making it hard for them to get a clear shot or get too close to you.

A pair of centaurs do manage to get close enough to Grekkor to both fire a shot at him.

Grekkor quickly turns and snatches an arrow out of the air just as it is about to pierce him. He simultaeously flings the arrow back at the centaur who let it loose on him.

The returned arrow lodges into the centuar's hip, but it advances on ignoring the arrow. It attempts to dive deeper into the bush and gain on Grekkor.

Khyree keeps winding through the trees and underbrush.

You press on with urgency, winding through trees and underbrush. The centaur with the arrow in his hip leaps into the bush and tries to take advantage of the tiring and slowing Grekkor.

The centaur leaps around and over vines and undergrowth, managing to get closer to Grekkor. Just as one of the centaur's hooves is about to come down on Grekkor from above him, Grekkor dives low and slides under an area of dense vines. The creature's hooves come down and get tangled in the undergrowth. Grekkor presses on while the centaur remains stuck. It writhes in anger, pulls back its bow, and tries to aim for the evading Grekkor escaping through the dense jungle.

As the centaur pulls back its bow string and stands waiting for a clear shot, suddenly a huge tree limb swings from above and hits the centaur squarely in its side sending it flying across the bush into another tree. That tree scoops down a limb and picks up the tiny looking centaur by one leg. The trees are moving!!

You hear a horn sound, followed by the booming centaur commander's voice. The centaurs stop their advance and you hear the heavy sound of hooves turning back. The centaurs retreat.

You hear all this while you wind through trees and underbrush, occasionally looking back to catch glimpses. Then suddenly you come to a spot where your instinct forces you to a complete stop. Directly ahead of you the dense vegetation opens up to a rocky clearing. In this clearing is a land-locked ship, old and battered looking, yet cradled by the forest. Large jungle trees 'walk' about as if they are patrolling the area around the ship.

"Well, that's not something you see every day." Khyree says, finally stopping to let old Grekkor take a breath. "Let's hope the Ents are less hostile than the four-footed barbarians arounds here. I wonder if they can understand us?"

Uncharacteristcally winded, Grekkor makes it next to you as you speak.

He peers out into the rocky clearing and says inquisitively, "The trees could have stopped our advance on this area, yet they only pushed back the centaurs." He closes his eyes for a moment. "There's something about this place. Do you feel it?" He asks.

Indeed you do feel something that is not dissimilar from what you felt many days ago when, in the circle of protection, you experienced the vision of joining the Dragon and souring above the jungle.

"Fair point, Master."Khyree admits. She holds position for another couple minutes, then cautiously winds her way toward the ship.

When you step into the clearing the trees that move about stop. When you continue your advance toward the ship, a few trees that stand between you and the ship part to either side of you and let you through. You are being offered a clear line to the ship.

Witnessing in awe the offering you are given by the living trees, Grekkor follows you into the clearing.

When you are close enough to touch a rope hanging from the ship, movement through vegetation on a rocky cliff on the other side of the clearing catches your eye. You spot a flash of the same red you saw earlier on the red-turbaned humans battling the centaurs. Alerted by the flash of red, your peripheral vision tunes into more red on the outskirts of the clearing. You are sure your subtle reaction and movement did not reveal that you are aware of your onlookers. Grekkor comes up behind you, apparently unaware himself because he says, "It is as if the trees are asking us to board," he says to you with astonishment. "...It can't be, can it?" He mummers, almost to himself.

"The turbanheads are watching us from the cliffs and the edge of the clearing, Master." Khryee reveals to Grekkor quietly, as she moves to get aboard the land-locked ship.

The Lost Ship

With your warning Grekkor snaps out of his ponderous thought. He tries to examine the cliffs without moving and therefore giving away that you have detected the humans. He doesn't seem to spot the onlookers. "You see them again? How many?"

As he asks, you shimmy up a rope and hop over a rail of the boat's main deck, keeping low.



The deck is old, even ancient, overgrown with forest moss and plants. Any remnant of sails are thin, tattered, and soiled. Though planks and rails are amazingly somehow still sturdy and something about it all is welcoming.

Right after you land on the deck and quickly peer around, a bolt of lightning flys from a cliff and strikes one of the guarding trees, setting its leaves ablaze. The giant plant writhes in pain. Other trees rush to the border of the clearing just as a barrage of flaming arrows fly into the clearing. Arrows land on many living trees and otherwise fall to the ground or bounce off rocks. The area is still very damp from all the previous rain so not many arrows are able to stay lit or ignite their mark.

Grekkor did not follow you onto the ship.

"Master?!" Khyree glances back to see what is up with Grekkor.

There must be something aboard this old ship that is important enough to guard it against unwanted invaders. She thinks to herself. Quickly, she moves toward the old ship's helm above the traditional captain's quarterdeck.

When you glance back to see what Grekkor is doing, you spot him sneaking stealthily into the cover on the outskirts of the clearing, in the direction of the human ambushers.

You then quickly move toward the helm. As you climb the stairs leading above the quarterdeck and stand before the helm, it begins to radiate a blue energy. You feel a surge of the Dragon force run through you much like you did in the protection circle many days ago. Transfixed on the wheel, you feel like it invites you to grasp it.

Another barrage of flaming-arrows fly. A few land on the main deck, stiffly lodging into rain soaked wood and in puddles of water.

The helm glows brighter...a faint voice calls your name, "Khyree." It's not a human voice. You are not sure if the voice is in your mind only or not, but it sounds as if it calls out from another realm of existence.



As you try to understand the meaning of the voice and the surge of force drawing you to the helm, you notice a figure rise from some underbrush not very far from the ship. The figure levitates in the air. An orb hovering above the figure's hand emits a white light that begins to glow brighter. Crackling electrical energy surrounds the orb. The energy also grows in intensity.