"What are we looking for anyway?" Sonereal asked, standing up and stretching his back. Lighthearter held his torch up as he too straightened. The ruined building was a dreary place, weighing heavily on the minds and hearts of the Immortals as they searched it. Then again, New Orleans had been a sad place even when Atlantis had ruled it.
"Something." Lighthearter said, looking back around the room. "Anything."
"We've been looking for hours." Dem Taqat said, rooting through a few scrolls. "What more could there be?"
"This." Nukeknockout slid over to a large case of scrolls, staff on his back, examining them closely. Redspy, Mechaerik and Celticfury all moved that way. Lighthearter spotted something though, lying in the shadows behind one of the ornate chairs in the room. He quickly stepped over and picked up the massive tome. He opened it. A wall of runes greeted him, and he paused to decipher them.
"We truly have been blessed," he read aloud, "By the intervention of the Dark One. Without him the Atlantean monsters would have continued to befoul our lands, but with his magic aside us we have driven them from New Orleans. This city shall be an heirloom of our kingdom, a great place of light and music."
All the others had turned and were watching Lighthearter now, expressions of curiosity on their faces. Lighthearter turned a page, still reading.
"I have such plans as to dwarf all those ever made before . . . the race of Men shall rise anew from this land, and all who follow in my bloodline shall be bound to its fate." He paused, looking at the pages. "It is stained now. I can make out a rune here or there, but no great amount and in no sensible fashion."
"What I hear is disturbing enough." Celticfury said, casting a sidelong look to Mechaerik.
"I can see more." Lighthearter said, flipping several pages. "Ah, this appears to be several years later. How much a fool, as you must know, I have been! It is said to never trust to the aid of divine forces, but rather watch and guard yourself. I have been such a fool to trust the Dark One to his word and bond! The city is all that is left of our once budding empire. We can hold the gates little more. The M'Galsh horde is almost within. Soon I fear I shall have no choice but to use It. I desire not to, but It may be our only hope against them.
"I can hear them, in the night. Creeping across the city and screaming from the rooftops. There is no way out. We are trapped here. Soon - tonight, I think - they will come for us, and we will die. There is no way out. It is blank beyond that."
"M'Galsh horde?" Redspy asked.
A cry went up from outside, and everyone's weapons flashed out. "Goblins." Sonereal explained offhandedly. Lighthearter quickly slid the book into his pack, then pulled his bow out.
"We have to get out of here now!" Lighthearter said to all. "Get out! Make northward for the tribesmen - but get out!" He started for the door.
The door blew downward and a horde of small green men rushed in. Lighthearter fired his bow, slaying one, and Redspy added another arrow to the mix, before running for the upper walkway, where Nuke was. Nuke tossed a throwing star, hitting an onrushing goblin in the face.
Lighthearter slid his bow away and drew his sword, parrying a strike and then decapitating the attacker. He kicked another goblin into Celt, who ran it through, backhanded another, struck and third and then shoved a fourth away in one smooth motion.
Redspy fired several arrows into the melee from above, Mech tossing knives beside him. Nuke held the stairs, tossing his shuriken, then smashing knees, elbows and skulls as goblins surged after him. One threw an axe that missed him by a hair. The axe slammed into a bookshelf, which leaned, then collapsed on Nuke and the stairway. Nuke shoved free, but noticed a scroll of interest. He seized it and proceeded with the fight.
Mech turned and vaulted the rail, landing beside Nuke and slashing goblins with his dagger. The poison quickly sunk in, sending creatures falling from even slight nicks and touches. Dem Taqat grabbed the rail of the upper floor with one hand and heaved himself up, then dropped on a hapless goblin with a cry of "Atlantis!"
Lighthearter threw his torch, setting one foe afire. The goblins were drawing back now, shocked by the staunch resistance from a mere few.
"Get out!" Lighthearter yelled to the other Immortals, kicking a side door off its hinges. The others quickly followed. Celt slipped in a pool of blood and fell to the ground. He stood again with a groan, but noted a few scrolls scattered at his feet. He seized one and tried for the others, but an arrow skittered near him and he ran.
The Immortals tore out of New Orleans, the goblins not pursuing, as though some force held them in check. Lighthearter found that the book was intact, but contained little information beyond the constant references to "It" and the "Dark One" whom he could only surmise was the Dark Lord.
What Nuke and Celt found if for them to reveal.
Update will follow shortly.
-L
![[party]](/images/smilies/partytime.gif "Party [party]")
We hope to see you soon in the 'our minds are ruled by LH club,' Informally known as the chatroom. 
Perhaps you would care to enlighten us on your current stance?
