Chronicles of Uel

Chapter 4

Kai slumped over and blasted a box with a fire ball.
          "Why are we breaking things?" He asked.
        "We need to find the secret entrance to this place." Smoak said.
          "Well why can't Duros just move the ground and make a hole for us?"
          Duros sighed. "There's no way I'd be able to put it all back correctly, and I'd rather not raise my bounty for trying to do the right thing."
          Kai sighed and went back to blowing up boxes. "Isn't this just as bad as breaking the street?" He asked. Duros and Smoak looked at one another and shrugged.
           "I found it!" The three looked over to Uel, who pulled a lever on the wall. The ground opened up near him, revealing a staircase. The others walked up and looked down, Steven pecking against the first stair. "Well, let's go." Uel said, starting down the stairs. Kai pushed past Smoak, who growled as Kai started down the stairs. Duros patted him on the back and walked down. Smoak sighed as he walked down behind Duros. Uel looked around the slowly darkening walls. When the light had completely vanished, a door opened in front of him, plenty of light coming through. Inside the room that had just opened, there were plenty of carts and tables with people both running the booths and sitting at the tables. Kai lit his fist up with a smirk. Duros elbowed him. Kai growled at Duros.
          "We can't afford to have an all out magic brawl. These guys are mostly hopped up on pixie dust. Their powers are boosted tenfold." Uel said. Kai growled and extinguished his fist. One of the men at one of the booths noticed the strange group of travelers and waved.
           "If you're in the market for a power boost, you've come to the right place. Step right up, my friends."
          Uel nodded and walked over. "Hey." He said, leaning on the table. "We're not actually here for the dust."
           The man's brow rose. "Then why are ya here?"
           Uel chuckled. "It's about Toney." He said.
           The man leaned in. "What'd he do this time?" He asked.
           "Well, he got himself caught. He's holed up in the big house. I says we bust im out."
           The man smiled. "Sounds like a plan." He said.
           Uel nodded. "Me and my boys'll hold this place down. Some of you better go after Toney."
           The man rose. "That's a good plan. Except for one thing." Uel stood. The man's smile faded quickly. "I don't know no Toney." Uel took a step back. The man cracked his knuckles.
        "Oh." Uel said. "Really? You don't know a single guy named Toney?" The man shook his head. "Do you know a Johnny?"
          "Of course." The man said. "I know like six Johnnys."
          Uel snapped his fingers. "Knew I should have gone with Johnny. There was a metallic clang as the man slammed his fist into Uel's helmet, causing him to stumble backward.
          Duros held up his stone fists, Kai lighting his own ablaze.
           Smoak took off his hood to reveal his glowing red eyes, smoke drifting out from under his cloak."Get ready." He said.
          Duros stomped on the ground, only to discover it was made of wood. "Not good!" He shouted, using his threads to pull himself out of the way of a metal shard flying toward him. The customers all got up, most fleeing, some staying to fight. Smoak released a large cloud that filled a portion of the room with a thick smog. Using his vampiric vision, he was able to sense the silhouettes of his enemies, taking most of them down quickly and with ease. Uel dashed forward and hid behind an overturned table as a thick entanglement of vines shot toward him, wrapping around the table and snapping it in half. He summoned his dagger and began chipping away at the vines, keeping them from touching him. A M'Feles lunged at Duros, who slid under him, delivering a solid stone kick to the feline's backside. He used his momentum to flip over and land back on his feet, just in time to block a sword attack with his wrist, using his threads to disarm the man holding the sword and fling it across the room. He punched the man square in the face with his stone fist.
           Uel dove out of the way of a large wave of vines, which crashed into the wall and battered it up. Uel threw his dagger, burying it in the woman's leg, causing her to retract all of her vines.
          Kai blasted himself forward and slammed his elbow into the man who threw the metal, sending him flying to the other side of the room. He smirked and dusted his hands. The man threw a metal shard at him, but it simply phased through him.
          Kai turned around and faced him. "You shouldn't have done that." He dashed forward and began pummeling the man with all his strength, burying the man in the wall.
           Uel picked up one of the men who was on the ground. "Where is your boss?!" He shouted. The man pointed at a door on the other side of the room. Uel threw the man to the ground and walked toward the door, Duros and Smoak close behind. Kai looked around. Seeing there was no one else to fight, he followed behind them as well. Uel kicked the door in and pointed his dagger at a chair that was facing away from him.
         "I knew you'd come." There was a squeaky voice on the other side of the chair. The chair turned around to reveal a small man, a dwarf, sitting in the chair. He jumped up on to the desk. "They finally got wise to me, eh?" He asked.
           Kai fell on the floor laughing. "You expect us to be afraid of a little guy like you?!" He shouted.
           The dwarf frowned. "Ya know, I was willing to cut ya a deal, but now, now I'm angry."
           Kai laughed even harder. "Oh, he's an angry dwarf!"
           The dwarf pulled a small needle out from under his desk. He smiled. "You won't be laughing for long." He sank the needle into his arm.
          "Hey!" Duros shouted, wrapping him up in threads. The dwarf began to laugh. But the laugh wasn't his normal squeaky voice, it was instead gradually getting deeper, and the dwarf was getting bigger. Duros was forced to unravel him as everyone backed away. The dwarf grew too big for his small office and smashed through the wall to the big room, throwing everyone scattered about into the room. The dwarf roared and bared his animal like teeth, falling over on all fours. He snarled, looking straight at Kai, who grinned.
           "Well, now here's a fight!" He shouted, lighting his fists on fire and blasting himself forward. The beast dwarf simply swatted him aside like a gnat. Uel raced up and jabbed at the beast with his dagger, but it didn't seem to do much. Duros stuck his fingers through the cracked wall. Feeling stone, a smile crept across his face. Stone spires shot up from under the wooden floor, surrounding the large dwarven beast.
           Smoak sent out a smokescreen. "I didn't agree to be a monster hunter!" He shouted, dashing toward and swiping at the creature with his claws.
            Uel laughed. "What do you mean? This is the fun part!" He tossed the dagger into the air and it began stabbing the dwarf in various different areas, faster than he could swipe at it. Kai blasted up from where he'd been swatted away and raised his fists, lighting them up. He thrusted his fists down into the dwarf's head, slamming his chin into the ground. Duros sewed the dwarf's tattered clothes to tie him down and hook him to the ground beneath the wooden flooring.
           Smoak dusted his hands. "Well I guess that wasn't so bad." He said.
           Kai landed beside him. "That creature was weak. Let's go find another one to fight instead!"
           Duros laughed. "That was fun. Maybe I should become a bounty hunter."
           Uel shook his head. "Not officially. They need all your information. You can't give that."
           Duros sighed. "I guess you're right."
           Uel patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. As long as you stick with me, I'll split my earnings with you." Duros smiled and wrapped his arm around Uel, who gave him a glare. Duros nodded and pulled his arm off. "Anyway, do we have to walk all the way to a town with a bounty hunter office now?"
          Uel shook his head. "We can send a messenger to them. Then they'll send a few officers to take everyone away and block this place up." He began walking back up the stairs. Smoak and Duros were close behind. Uel walked up and stood next to Kai, who was looking at the center of town with a twitching eye. Uel looked over to see that the sword was missing.
           "Someone stole Excalibur." Kai said softly. Duros and Smoak soon joined them.
           "But who?" Uel asked. Uel felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Rin, a scared expression on her face. Uel bent over a little. "What's wrong?" He asked. Rin pulled something out from behind her, the legendary sword Excalibur.