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"He held aloft the mighty sword..."

SNIPER was bored. So what if monsters had begun attacking the city again? There was nothing he could do about it. If those other stupid idiots he sometimes called his friends wanted to try to stop them, let them. He didn't want to go looking for any stupid sword.

__________

"So where the hell has SNIPER gone now?" asked Your Honour, turning to the other members of the party.

Grix shrugged, there were much bigger things to worry about than the whereabouts of SNIPER.
Ant however had seen SNIPER disappear, so decided to speak up "Well, he said we were a bunch of stupid morons trying to find this sword, and went off that way." Ant pointed towards a meadow.

"Well if he doesn't care about our homes being destroyed and us being enslaved then so be it. I do, and I vow to find the Sword of Nogard, and slay those foul beasts that attack our homes!" Cried Your Honour, and the three of them set off into the forest.

___________

SNIPER continued to wander through the meadow, it was a beautiful day, the suns were bright and the sky clear. Walking through the waist high grass amongst the butterfly was something that always helped to cheer SNIPER up. Maybe he should catch up with his friends he thought, and he too headed for the forest.

___________

pb marched up to FantasyMeister. "You can't keep sending our men out to die! We only have limited resources, and cannot fight them out there in the fields!"

"Then what would you suggest pb, letting those beasts inside our city walls, letting them slaughter our wives and feed on our children?" Replied FM looking down on pb.

"But we cannot hold out forever. We need help!" said pb shaking his head, as he walked away.

___________

SNIPER's mood had again changed for the worse. Where were those stupid idiots now? SNIPER looked round to see something catching the light in a clearing nearby. Maybe it was his friends! He ran into the clearing.

Moments later he realised that it was not his friends in the clearing, but something much more special. Stuck in the ground was a sword. The sword of Nogard! As SNIPER approached it he suddenly felt a chill in the air. The skies had clouded over, and the wind had picked up to such an extent that the trees creaked. If SNIPER could retrieve the sword, he would be a hero! No more would he be laughed at!

SNIPER grabbed the sword and pulled with all of his might. He could feel the first drops of a violent rain storm lash against his face. Still he pulled on the sword, until it gave up it's hold on the ground. SNIPER could feel great power within him as he held it.

He held it toward the skies as a sign of victory.
_____________

Grix didn't like this change in the weather. Not one bit. Why had it changed so suddenly? He could feel something strange in the air. "That way!" He cried, pointing towards a clearing nearby as thunder crashed in his ears and lightning lit up the skies.

_____________

"Aaaarghhhh!" Cried SNIPER as he was thrown to the ground. A lightning bolt had struck the sword and flowed through his body.

_____________

Your Honour was the first into the clearing. "It's SNIPER" he said, "Or at least it was...." he said, looking at the charred remains of his former companion.

"It looks as if we weren't the first at the scene" Said Ant, pointing towards some footprints leading out of the clearing. Next to these was a strange track, much like that that would be left be a sword, being dragged through grass........

Darkreaper emerged from the forest just short of the small village only to be greeted by the massive hordes of the retreating Orc Army. He had just arrived with four skilled Chaos warriors to aid them in the battle for the village. Darkreaper, a Chaos Warrior himself, had been led to believe that the Sword was inside the small village and that with the help of the Orc Horde he could capture the village and claim the sword for himself.
"You Stinking Cowards!" Darkreaper yelled at the retreating and terrified Orcs as they ran past him into the dark forest that he had just emerged from.

Darkreaper looked at the village and could see huge black sooty clouds reaching up and covering the heavens. The huge pile of Orc and Human bodies that littered the ground around the village gave a clear indication that the battle was over and the Orc horde had been defeated but not without heavy damage to the village itself.
"What do we do now master?" One of the four black plate mail glad chaos warriors enquired. Darkreaper had asked the question himself. He turned to face the four chaos warriors behind him.
"We will approach the village" he began "and will kill anything and everything that is still alive inside and around the village"
He glanced over his shoulder at the village.
"We will then search the ruins for the Sword and report immediately to the Gods at once."
"What will we do if we can’t find the sword master?" One of chaos warriors asked.
"If we can’t find the sword" Darkreaper paused for a second "then we are in big trouble"
Darkreaper draw his double handed sword and walked slowly towards the village, cutting down the odd Orc that fled the battlefield. The four chaos warrior draw their axes and followed. Darkreaper was more than angry with the Orc horde. He had paid them large amounts of gold and equipment in return for attacking the village but the cowards had fled. After I have the sword, Darkreaper thought to himself, I will have to pay a little visit to the Orc Warlord. A small dark grin spread across his face as the thought of killing the Orc Warlord and taking his head as a trophy came to his mind. He could give it the Gods as a token of his loyalty.....you never know. They might even bestow the honour of granting him god like status.....or something like that.

They had hardly walked for more than a few minutes, when, suddenly, out of no-where, the creature emerged.

Yes! It was the dreaded three headed knight! The fiercest creature for yards around! He had taken most of the group by suprise, but Mr I'm Paying Attention (SonicRav) grabbed his sword, and started to battle the monstrous beast.

For second, after terrible second, SonicRav held his own, but th eonslaught proved too much for the brave knight. Luckily, Ant had some wits about him, and quickly ran up, and kicked the creature in the nadgers, killing it instantly!

YH and Grix had scarcely had time to remove their swords from their scabbards (Grix's got stuck after he put too much polish on the blade, trying to look like a hero instead of act like one, and YH was busy taking a leak), but the battle was almost over.

Ant suddenly noticed a man leaning against the tree. He looked exactly like John Cleese.
"Sorry lads, it was definately better when we did it in The Search For The Holy Grail, kids today eh?" and with that, he wandered off. Never to appear in the story again.

After that shcok attack, everyone fancied a cup of tea. So they had one.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tarrant was now not impressed at all. He had forgotton how to do the evil cackle properly. His father had taught it too him when he was a young godling, of course, to advance he had had to kill his father, and now his evil, maniacal laugh came out as no more than a giggle.

Also, when he'd made his evil Sniper he had forgotten to make him unkillable.

So he set about making an improved Sniper.....

But of course... Tarrent was not as intelligent, as he may have thought...

"Are you SURE that the rope is tied securely?" Grix said to SonicRav...

"Yeah... yeah..."

SonicRav, master of... err.. not much... but he could climb. Very well.

The cliff that stood between them and the wise Meka was quickly scaled by Rav, and a rope, tied to the top, was thrown to the remaining members.

"I thought that women said hills, anyway..."

"Perhaps she underestimated... things..."

Grix tugged at the rope one last time, and climbed up the cliff...

"Urgh."

He reached the top with a thud.

Next, went Ant.

"Urgh."

*THUD*

Ant reached the top safely...

Next... Sniper.

Sniper clutched the rope in his hands... and began to climb.

Suddenly, the rope snapped under the pressure... and Sniper fell the massive two metre drop from the top of the cliff to the bottom... he was killed instantly.

"HEY! SNIPER'S DEAD!!" Shouted Your Honour, as he stepped onto the cliff.

"Yes... we know..." Grix said, wondering why YH was so shocked...

"Don't worry," Said Ant. "He'll come back to life now."

Sniper lay dead on the ground.

"Any second..."

Sniper's lifeless eyes stared at the clouds...

"...You know, I think he's actually dead."

They all stared at him from the two metre peak... "Humm."

"Well... that's odd."

They all shrugged, and left the dead Sniper lying on the ground.

Grix, YH, SonicRav, Sniper and Ant had set off shortly after dawn. They were all on the lookout for the invisible ears, you couldn’t be too careful out in the wild.

The group was headed north, towards the hills. The rain had stopped, the sun was shining and there were few clouds in the blue sky. It looked as though it would be a fine day for a change.

Just after midday Ant spotted a village just off the main road. The group decided they should investigate.

The village was situated on what looked to be small rise, but its looks were deceptive. It was a steep slope, and all of the companions were out of breath by the time they had reached to the top. All except Sniper.

The village, although not completely empty, certainly had fewer people around than its size would indicate.

A man wondered up to the group, to ask their business.

“We saw your village from the road, we are running low on supplies, an wondered if we could purchase some more here.” SonicRav was the nominated speaker for the group.

“Bah! It’ll be a first if The Councils soldiers pay for anything……” The man began. He was cut off by a voice coming from a haggard old woman that had been sitting on a porch nearby.

“Let me talk to them!” Came the shrill shout.

“As you wish” The man bowed to the group and walked away.

“I know you are not here for supplies. Tell me your real business!”

The group exchanged worried glances, the knew the woman for what she was, a witch, and didn’t know why she was still here.

“Why are you still in this village m’lady? All of sorcerous power we ordered to report to the city by the Grand Council to help fight the horde.”

“Pah! To hell with your horde, and that bunch of imbeciles you call a council! Now, tell me why you are really here”

Grix had had enough of all of this, and despite warning glances from SonicRav and YH he walked to the front of the group and started waving his finger as he spoke angrily to the woman.

“We were sent on a quest to find the Sword of Nogard. We heard of a woman with sorcerous powers lived in this village, we require your help”

“Ahhh, so one of you is brvae enough to tell me of your real task. Very well, you must travel to the hills in the north, find a hermit by the name of Meka,” SonicRav looked particularly pleased with himself at this news. “He will be able to help you in your quest. One word of warning to you before you leave.” Continued the old woman. “He is quite mad, but he cannot lie to you. He may answer your questions in riddles, but he cannot lie! No begone from this village, and never return.”

The horde of Orcs relentlessly pounded the castle's defences. PB saw that many of his men were wounded and called them to retreat to a safer distance. He ordered two of them to bring the barrels of tar, used for lining the pathways around the castle, and they lifted the heavy barrels on to the nearby catapult. Filling the barrel with nails he felt for the direction of the wind and ordered the men to launch.

Several archers were ordered to set their arrows alight and as the barrel was released, they waited for PB's signal, then fired. The streaming arrows arced over the Orc hordes down below and whistled as they met with the barrel. A massive explosion lit the night sky and thousands of Orcs ran screaming from the field, many with nails sticking from eyes or other orifices. The rest that were left, mainly climbing the ladders on the castle walls, looked down in terror at their fellow soldiers fleeing the castle grounds.

PB noticed that the rest of the castle was quiet. He looked in to the distance and saw the castle elders leading the population through the secret door at the back. He motioned to FM and they both exchanged glances. After running back to the main turret, they found a letter pinned to the turret door, it was hastily written but PB read it.

'You have failed us again commander FM, normally this would call for your death, but we are eager to save the lives of our people so your imminent demise will be delayed until we meet again. Be warned, we will meet again and you WILL pay!'

"Hm. Elders!" said FM in disgust. "They never wait for the outcome, just look after number 1 and then run like chickens when the going gets tough."

PB looked down and saw the pin that had fallen from the notice. It was a dull brass pin with a strangely shaped head that reminded him of something, but he just couldn't quite remember what. Why had the elders been so quick to judge them? Something was very wrong, but now they were outcasts and the only way to save their lives was to get as far away from the castle as possible.

The almighty Tarrant was again being given cause to worry and again was pacing the breadth of his heavenly chamber.
"They're going to find Meka. I can feel it." he muttered.
Tarrant stopped in his tracks. Look at me, he thought, I am a God of unheard of power and I've been reduced to orally trimming my fingernails by a band of pesky humans.
"Meka will be able to tell that Sniper is an evil clone!"

The figure who had been listening to Tarrant go on like this for hours, rose to its feet.

"Is it time to send you in yet?" Tarrant inquired. The figure shook its head and made its way out of the room.
Tarrant resumed worrying. Moments later the figure returned with two men.

"Ahh! Good thinking." announced Tarrant.
"If these two Assassins can make it to Meka before Grix and hid men, then there'll be no need to worry about Evil Sniper being found out!"

Tarrant couldn't believe he'd not thought of this himself. He'd been very busy lately, but still...

"How long before I can send you two down?" Tarrant inquired.

"Not long now master." came the reply.

"Good, good."

Tarrant was pleased but new that his troubles were not over yet. Even if these two did make it to Meka first, he could not be sure they would win the battle. He needed something extra to tip the balance in his favour.
Sending two down at once was already dangerous but still within Tarrant's power, what could he send with them to aid the assassination?

Meka was a skilled warrior yes, but even the most skilled warriors have their achilles heal!

" 'Tis time for us to flee" Said er-no to the other members of the committee.

"We cannot do such a thing. Plans need to be in place." Replied Dan2K1

"Speak not of your plans fools! If you sit around here planning, it will be too late. I suggest we get the women and children out to the caves. We have supplies there to last us many moons. Once the orcs have taken the village they will consider that a victory. We can await the return of our search party with the sword!" Said er-no, trying to get the committee to commit to action for once.

"Agreed" said SHEEPY "We leave a skeleton defence here whilst we get out women, children, and our elite defences to protect the caves immediately!"


________________

Sonic Rav woke his companions. "I suggest we head north into the hills. I have a feeling we will find what we need there."

"I guess you're right, if we keep going in this direction we'll meet the orc army, and we don't want that" said Ant.

"But what about that crazy old hermit, meka, doesn't he live out that way? Could he be a danger to us?" Asked YH concerned for his safety.

"I don't think so, in fact, he might be just what we're looking for...." replied Sonic Rav, speculatively.

The battle had raged for the past hour. The men on the walls had been pushing away the seige ladders with long poles each time they appeared at the top of the walls, and many orcs had died from being crushed by their falling comrades. But still the orcs continued attacking, there seemed no end to the carnage they were willing to suffer in their bid to take the city.

Another ladder appeared right next to FM, and as he turned to face it an orc head appeared coming over the top of the wall. A strange expression crossed its face as it looked down at the arrows that had suddenly appeared in its chest, and then he keeled over backwards off the ladder and plummeted downwards. FM was glad the archers in the keep towers were excellent shots, and he grabbed the top of the ladder and hurled it sideways, watching the other unfortunate warriors climing the ladder lose their grip and plummet below.

More and more siege ladders were appearing now. More than once today breaches had been made on top of the walls, but because they had enough men to cope with it the only orcs that had gained entry into the city were dead ones. But now the men were getting weary and the orcs were gaining a foothold.

Then a call came from below.

"The Gate!! They are burning the GATE!!!"

FM sent a messenger off to grab PB and his men from the south wall, then hurried down to the main gate to see what was going on. When he got there, he noticed that the main gate to the city had smoke billowing from it. The orcs on the other side had shot flaming arrows into it, and the fire had now caught hold. It wouldn't last the hour.

PB and his men arrived, and PB sent them straight up onto the walls to start firing arrows back at the orcs who were preparing to rush the gates. But it was too late. The orcs were brave warriors, prepared to die for their chieftans, and a mass of them were now rushing towards the burning gate with a battering ram fashioned from one of the oaks from the forest.

As each orc was hit by and arrow and fell, two more rushed to take his place on the battering ram, which now picked up momentum and crashed into the gate, setting many of the orcs alight.

The gate was breached, it was only a matter of time before orcs would start pouring though into the city....

Sniper was confused. He'd been trampled (nearly) to death by the stampeding Orc horde, had been knocked unconcious for the second time ina couple of days, and now he was in the command tent of the Orcish Army. What was going on?

"Gnnnggghhhh!!!" Sniper said when he saw who was in front of him.

"So, it has come as a bit of a suprise for you to see me in here then. That is good. Less people know about me than I thought." With that, the figure walked out.

Sniper just wanted out. To anywhere, he didnt care. Just away from the Orcs, and away from the city.

As he looked up, a big Orc, flanked by four guards, came into the tent. Two of them came over to Sniper and yanked him to his feet. They dragged him out of the tent, and too a much larger one a littlw way away.
Inside were 5 braziers, each the point of a pentagon, and each billowing forth different coloured smoke. The flames, although small, should have given out some heat. Sniper felt no heat. Only the slight chill of the oncoming winter.

Sniper was muscled to the middle of the pentagon, other orcs stood by the braziers, mumbling in an arcane tongue that he couldnt understand. Sniper was starting to get a little scared now. The smoke billowed higher and higher, filling the space in front of Sniper. In that smoke, a face formed. Sniper gasped with astonishment when he realised who it was........

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The rest of the night passed uneventfully for Grix and his companions. No invisible ears were seen at all. A definate plus as far as Grix was concerned. Sniper had turned up, out of the blue. YH was worried, as he had thought that he had seen Sniper dead, hit by lightning, some 4 or so days beforehand.

Ant had noticed that there seemed something wrong with Sniper, but he couldnt quite put his finger on it.

"I think theres something wrong with Sniper, but I cant quite put my finger on it" He confided in YH and Grix, while Sniper was off getting some wood.

"Maybe he's just worried about the invisible ears?" Suggested Grix.

It was as good an explanation as anyone could come up with, and the subject was dropped.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tarrant was pleased. His plan was going perfectly so far.
The real Sniper had been captured by the Orcs, an added bonus that he had not forseen. But the definate source of Tarrants good mood was that the fake, evil Sniper, had found Grix and his team.

"Now we just wait for the right moment....." He cackled evilly to himself, rubbing his hands, as all the best bad guys do.

Grix watched over the sleeping companians...

Invisible ears could attack them at any moment... it was hard staying sane in a place like this.

...A noise.

From the bushes...

Grix stood, and drew his sword.

(Oh that was clever.)

"What?"

(Firstly, make yourself an easier target. Then draw your sword, to make certain whoever is coming knows where you are.)

"Oh yeah. Crap."

A man fell through the bushes... it was Sniper.

"Oh. Hi Sniper."

Grix sat back down again, and watched for the invisible ears...