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This Editions Feature Signature Is By: Wolfblade 
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The Search For A King: Chapter 2
 ] to go to it in the July Archive.I walked for miles through the pouring rain whilst my clothing was soaked right through thanks to puddles with an unthinkable depth. I tripped many times and grazes began to appear all over my arms and legs, sometimes even my face. I clutched my cloak and wrapped it around myself trying to take advantage of the slightest bit of heat that remained within. The storm settled after some hours and I kept on traveling through the mist that was left behind. The sun began to rise and I managed to notice each time it rose by a certain degree. I gazed up into the sky, clearly not noticing anything in front of me. Ahead of me on the path was a large boulder. As I continued to stare into the night sky, I hit it and crashed to the floor. As I did so, I violently rolled down the hill to my left failing to keep my consciousness. Everything went dark and it seemed as though my soul had simply disappeared. “Whom do you think it is?” I heard in the distance as I regained my awareness. Then, another voice began, “I’m not sure, but I think we should get our medic in right away no matter whom it is.” Very well was the reply. As the footsteps moved away from me, I bolted upright to notice that I was in a small cabin. The door slammed shut as the people left, not noticing that I had awoken. Their voices seemed so far away at the time, they must have been whispering. I looked around the cabin as best as I could with the flickering candle on the shelf. The first thing that I observed was a stack of ale on one wall and helmets and axes on the other. I then glanced on a desk to my right at some distinctive horns. It seemed as though, that after my many miles walk, I had gone no further than the Barbarian Village, which was no more than half a mile west of Varrock itself. I was somewhat disappointed by my location, but I knew more important things had to be done. I gathered myself and I reached for the door handle. As I did so, it opened swiftly towards me, hitting me hard in the face with a loud crack. In the light of the doorway I saw a barbarian woman with her hands over her mouth, gob smacked as to what she had done. I stood upright holding my nose as blood poured from it, staining the stone floor. “I am ever so sorry!” The conscientious barbarian said. “Us barbarians aren’t exactly well known for being the safe type. We tend to be quite clumsy from time to time. Have I hurt you much?” I replied, “There is no need to worry. I think it may be broken but it can’t be worse than what I went through the previous night. May I ask who found me and brought me here?” “It was my brother, Gunthor. He should be here any minute with the medic. We’ll see to your wounds.” “Honestly, I don’t need you to-” I tried to say but I was rudely interrupted by the clambering of men that rapidly entered the small, unwelcoming cabin. The man who must have been Gunthor gave me a somewhat friendly wave and the medic began to speak, “Well, well, well. What do we have ‘ere? Looks like someone was out and about when they shouldn’t be, doesn’t it? Just for the record, what is your name?” I replied, “My name is of no concern. All you need to know is that I am the Duke of the Kingdom of Misthalin. I travel here on private affairs that I do not wish to be interfered with. Now, would you kindly let me be on my way?” The medic hastily said, “Now, now, now. Us barbarians aren’t going to be held responsible if anything should happen to our Duke of all people now, are we? Let me just quickly attend your bruises and nose and we will let you be on your way.” I was unfortunately overpowered by the looks in their eyes and I lay back down on the table. The medic almost covered my entire body with bandages and he dare not touch my nose because it didn’t seem too bad and he didn’t want to cause me pain. When the medic and woman left, Gunthor said to me in his booming voice, “I know you must be on very important business, but would you be ever so kind as to have a drink with me in the pub?” I replied, “I guess one pint wouldn’t hurt.” He helped me walk up the stone path leading to the pub. I passed a few more cabins and, after seeing the pub itself, saw that they were clearly fond of hunting due to the moose heads that were nailed on either said of the pub sign. As we entered, I couldn’t help but notice a dark corner of the room where someone in a black cloak sat. I couldn’t see their face and cowardly didn’t want to be near them, so I hastily sat at the bar. “What would you like to drink?” Gunthor asked. However, before I managed to even think about it, someone had grabbed the back of my cloak. I was pushed into the now empty dark corner and turned to see the dark stranger push back the barbarian. “I have to talk to him! Stay away!” the stranger threatened. For a small man, he truly was quite strong and even Gunthor of all people knew this so he stealthily left the pub leaving me by myself. Even though he seemed so vicious, I became certain that I wouldn’t be hurt by this man so I outburst, “Now talk about warm welcomes! It looks like I won’t be getting one in a while! Do you even know who I am?” “Of course I do duke. No need to be afraid though, I am the messenger from the palace.” Startled, I said, “Really? Reveal you identity at once!” He pulled the cloak away from his face to confirm that he truly was the messenger from the palace. He then gestured for me to be quiet and he carried on, “Now, we must get down to an important subject. The answer to your first obvious question is that I found you easily because I followed you when you hurriedly left the palace the other day. Now, swiftly moving on, would you care to tell me why you locked the King’s chamber the other day?” “It is none of your business!” “Very well, I shall tell you. You locked that door because you didn’t want anyone to find him dead. You didn’t want that to happen because then an heir would need to be found and there is no heir, is there?” “There is somewhere, I just don’t know where exactly.” “I knew it! The King sent you to find out who his heir is before Misthalin enters a rapid decline. Well, I am not here to state otherwise, quite frankly, I am in a state of envy. You should be proud that he asked for you, and told his secret to you alone. Fortunately for me, the royal librarian keeps up to date on the royal family matters. He knew of this all along and sent me to find you just to give you some help. Last month he lent out a book to a wizard called Mizgog. Now, I have no idea where this person is or what the book contains. However, I do know that you must find him in order to complete your quest. You must go now, hurry!” He pushed me off my chair as if he expected I knew where I was supposed to go. I ran outside and found Gunthor. I asked him, “Do you have any idea where I may find some wizards?” He replied, “Well, they’re all over the place now-a-days. However, I have heard of place that has many wizards. The Wizard’s Tower. I believe it is home to, now let me see. Ah yes, one wizard Traiborn-“ “Anybody else? Is there a wizard Mizgog?” I said interrupting his thoughts. “Now you come to mention, that name does ring a bell.” I then hurriedly carried on to say, “Excellent! Now how do I get there?” “Travel south of here past Draynor Village and the fishing spots. You should come to a bridge. Cross it and you'll be at the base of the tower.” Forgetting my manners to thank him, I zoomed off into the distance. I headed south towards Draynor Village. Suddenly, I felt the need to slow down though. I noticed a swift descent in the amount of healthy trees and I began to travel through a forest of dead ones. The skies, once blue, had turned black and brown with thunder in the air. I could here faint cackles in the distance and I knew that this was not the safe way to go. I heard bangs to the left of me, but I could not tell what it was because of the dense woods. It sounded like something bashing against metal bars. Trough a gap in the trees, I saw a metal fence. Behind it, more dead trees and a house. On the side it had a vandalized sign barely saying ‘Draynor Manor’ so I knew I was getting close. I then saw what seemed like a living tree. Not just an ordinary tree though, it seemed to have a mind of its own. My vision must have been distorted. But then, I saw its branch raise high into the air and come crashing down on the fence, ploughing through the dead forest and almost hitting me. I began to run through the forest, twigs snapping beneath my feet. I jumped over stumps and dodged trunks. All the while the living tree tried to kill me. I was out of its reach eventually, but then another to its side began to try to hit me. I sped up once more staring at the tree, or creature. I fell over a stump with my face buried in orange and brown crunching leaves. The banging stopped, but the tree did not. Its longest branch lay over my back. As though it were a hand, it clenched me and pulled me up into the air. It seemed so fragile and gentle. Until, it took me back to the ground and violently threw me through the air. I smashed through a near by window on the second floor of the Manor. I was once again covered in blood thanks to the shattering glass. I fell to the floor with a loud crash and quickly sat up to see that I was next to a bubbling, sinister cauldron. I looked back out the window to see the tree still at the ready in case I tried to escape so I could not exit there. I looked around the room. There was no way out. There were spell books on the shelves, thumbs and toes in jars and blood in containers. The cauldron began to sizzle even more violently. My hearing sharpened and I heard the sound of heavy boots coming my way. The cackle I had heard once before occurred again but much, much clearer. The doorknob then began to turn. The door clicked and opened. I closed my eyes, petrified of what was to come. By: CJH
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August Highlights: This Edition's Competition is a Brain-Buster. The Murder of a King debuts and the Search for a King continues. The Life of a Noob is a rough & tough one. The Summer is usually packed with loads of FUN, but you can listen to the Summertime Blues.  The Summer is Sizzling | ||
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