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| - Silence; not a fish had been sighted and there had been not a single ripple for the past few hours. Tarqinder was weary and tired, he knew there was still danger lurking, but what the next phase of attack would be was unknown to him. Tarqinder, Mark and Tony sat in silence against the derelict buildings of Port Sarim. Everyone had fled from the sea life, every coastal town was unoccupied now. "What do we do now?" Mark asked. "Wait," Tarqinder replied. "For what?" "For something, a sign, I think Sharkros is waiting for us." "How can you know?" "I can feel it," Tarqinder said turning to face Mark, "it's in the air, a sense of danger." "Guess what I can feel?" Tony asked, "the bloody cold, that's what I can feel. We've been sitting around for hours, maybe we should go in search of Sharkros ourselves." "No Tony, we're going to let the shark come to us," Tarqinder said. Raef, Dancus and Raiah had been admiring the views around Keldagrim, the rich stonework towered above them. The River Kelda flowed beneath their feet as they stood on the bridge looking towards the Palace. "When you say government of Keldagrim, you don't mean Kings, Queens and other rulers, do you?" Raiah asked. "No, now come on, we must visit the Trade Octagon and speak with the members," Raef said, looking towards the towering Palace ahead. "It's certainly using a lot of coal this city," Dancus noted, watching a dwarf carrying a large sack of coal along a narrow path. "Blinkin' humans," the dwarf grunted, heaving the sack further along. "He doesn't take kindly to humans," Raiah said. "Think about it Rai, we nearly broke their mining companies with our economical crash, so you could say they're not very pleased with us," Dancus stated. "The gnomes take kindly to us though." "But dwarves are grumpy, sweaty workers while gnomes are relatively peaceful." "What about Khazard and the gnomes fighting?" "I said 'relatively.'" Raiah shrugged her shoulders "Will you two cease your whitterings? I need to get my bearings! And let's play to Saradomin that the Octagon will listen," Raef snapped. "The Trade Octagon? Like the Red Axe company?" Dancus asked. "Yes, exactly. There's seven other companies though, and they're all associated with mining, so they practically run this city." "Well Raef, I take it they're responsible for a fair bit of the world's coal in take, don't you?" "Indeed, and as I've already said, if we stop them then we stop a whole lot of burning." "And a whole lot of danger," Raiah added. Metallian stalked the night streets of Falador. He had failed his task, and now he had to find Tarqinder and finish him off. A few minutes later, he arrived at Port Sarim, where he jumped onto a building stealthily. He watched the trio, and considered his options; inform Sharkros or kill them. He saw a seagull fly nearby. He grabbed it, and spoke to it harshly. "Tell your lord Sharkros his main threat can be found at Port Sarim. Be quick!" he said, as he let go of the bird as it flew away. Metallian lied in wait, watching. "The Trade Octagon," Raef mused as he, Dancus and Raiah entered the large area. Dwarves scurried about, some exchanging services of smithing and others attemtping to sell ores, the Red Axe company leaving a significant empty space due to their withdrawl. "He must be from the ...urm... Purple Pewter Company?" Dancus stated, acknowledging a dwarf with distinct purple clothing standing nearby. The dwarf must've heard, because he turned around and raised his eyebrow at Dancus. He shrunk behind Raef as they approached the dwarf. "Hello there my good sir, I am Sir Raef-" "We don't care! Get away you blithering humans! Everything you touch crumbles to dust, especially when it comes to money. Now shift, we don't want humans around the Consortium!" the dwarf snapped. "I don't think you understand-" "Oh we understand, now go, before we have you thrown out!" "Look! Three humans! The cheek of them, I demand they leave," grunted the Blue Opal representative. "As do I," added the representative of the Brown Engine. "SILENCE!" Raef yelled. "Who on Gielinor do you think you are, human?" asked the Trade Referee who oversaw all trade between companies. "You might like to know I am the current leader of Ardougne, but my words are of no use to you, so I bring material evidence," Raef stated, handing the Trade Referee a document with the Ardougne seal on it. "What of Lathas' seal?" the Referee asked. "We use Ardougne's seal now, he has been banished, and the seal of Ardougne makes the city a sign of equality throughout." "Equality between leaders and citizens? Bah! We call that anarchy, but you do not." "Nevertheless, I am King of Ardougne and you should listen to what I have to say." "Very well, but should you not be with advisors and other human?" "Other humans? What a rather raw term to use. These are who I have travelled with, Mr. Dancus James Frumac and Ms. Raiah Gestoff," Raef stated, gesturing towards them. "Doctor Dancus James Frumac, in the discipline of dracology," Dancus corrected him. "Mmf," he murmured, slightly nervous due to the number of dwarven eyes which had fallen upon him. "So what do you want?" asked the Trade Referee. "Your constant burning of coal, I ask of you, I beg of you, please limit it." Murmurings and much discussion began, slowly turning to concerned and confused conversation throughout the Trade Octagon. "Why should we do that?" asked the Trade Referee. "We have reason to believe that this burning of coal is burning the skies, so much in fact that it burns away at the heavens themselves and makes the light from the sun in the sky stronger, so much that it melts ice rapidly, floods lowland and fuels storms. Karamja was badly hit some few days ago," Raef stated. "Karamja? Who cares? The primitive people worshipping their statues and golems, in fact, they probably worship the vines of the very jungle they live in!" Laughter came from the crowd. "I'm asking you, really, please stop, just think, for one moment. Just think about what you're doing to this world, this beautiful world. Please try and stop this before this entire world burns like the flames of Zamorak himself!" Raef exclaimed. "This city thrives, it prospers in fact, on coal and ore, we cannot let it crumble like what you humans caused earlier this very year with your economy disasters and the likes. Now go, for your words are wasted here; we do not care for human warnings." Norbert sat at his table carefully studying yet another frail page of the most advanced book in the whole Wizards' Guild. Originally the floor had been for the sales of runes and robes, but with the economy crisis it had become a place of practise and research. "Well tell us Norbert, can we use the book?" Ibrahim asked, standing tense awaiting an answer. "There are a few we can cast straight away, but there are some which we can cast but have nowhere near enough runes to use," Norbert replied. "Well then, let's get ready shall we? What runes do we need for the spells we can cast?" "There's a charm on this page which may do some good, but we'll need hundreds of fire, air and nature runes, and craft me nature orbs, and fast!" "I'll get Gregory to craft you the orbs while I inform our runecrafters." "Yes, yes, just get to it! Oh, and bring some battlestaffs as well!" "Yes Norbert," Ibrahim replied hastily before hurrying off to get to work. Ibrahim rushed out of the hall where Norbert and the other wizards were reading or practising various charms to where Gregory was, enhancing the pure essence gathered by the rune crafters. "It cannot be enhanced any further, we are already pushing the boundries of the essence by enchanting it like this," Gregory stated. "Gregory, you are required by Norbert to craft as many nature orbs as you can as quickly as possible," Ibrahim ordered. "Certainly, and what about this essence?" "We'll just have to pray to Saradomin it's strong enough, we'll enhance it again if we have more time." "Right, now where are the unpowered orbs?" "There are many stored in the vaults, but if need be, teleport to the Wizards' Tower as quick as you can and take what they have, now I must find the crafters." Ibrahim then rushed to find the crafters. "Good luck," murmured Gregory, but Ibrahim had already left. Norbert continued his readings but his mind was beginning to wander. Was he really good enough to be a Guild Master? He was a good magician, but he wasn't great, and he came nowhere near as close to the power Henry had achieved in his life time, let alone Zavistic Rarve. If only you would come back Rave, Norbert thought to himself. The Wizards' Guild had been noticing the weather changing for many years, but had thought very little of it. About a year ago they had begun to take notice after a minor flooding at Draynor Village, and after that Zavistic Rarve and many other main wizards had left for the Mage Training Arena to alter the teachings and try to spread the word and hopefully devise a plan to stop the weather, but it had not worked. The last letter was from a few days ago, and Zavistic had stated he knew Crandor was in a dangerous state and would be extremely busy in organising a defenceagainst the ash. Please, please hurry, Norbert thought to himself; he and Ibrahim could only do so much without Zavistic's help, and since that Ire of Phyrrys last year things had never been the same. "Norbert! Look at this!" exclaimed Wizard Frumscone, dashing into the room. "Frumscone, what is it?" Norbert asked. "The ash is moving, Karsahr saw it through his telescope upstairs; it's getting closer." "We're working on it Frumscone, now have you found anymore charms?" "No, all I've found is alchemy spells and a few adaptions to bones to bananas, peaches and apples, utter rubbish. Karshahr says he's found nothing as well, but we'll keep looking." "Good good, now I must return to my reading, there's more to be found I'm sure." And on that note, Frumscone hurried back upstairs and Norbert returned to his reading. "Saradomin save us," he murmured. Metallian jumped from his perch, landing in front of Tarqinder. Before anyone could do anything, a metal blade from Metallian's arm was at Tarqinder's throat. "I have a message for all three of you. Sharkros is willing to see you, on his conditions. You will ride these dolphins to his fortress. Should you try to escape, you will either get stabbed by me, drowned in the ocean or eaten alive by the Piranhas and eels that will guard you. Don't talk - just shut up and ride!" Metallian lead them to the dock, where three dolphins arrived. Behind them were eels and piranhas, keeping a watchful eye. Tony, Mark and Tarqinder did as they were instructed and hopped on. The dolphins skimmed the surface, so their prisoners couldn't get wet. The evening was drawing in, and the jungles of Karamja were silent. Nobody dared travel north of Tai Bwo Wannai, as the land from there was under many inches of water and patrolled by eels and crabs waited in the more shallow areas. The winding vines and towering trees made the jungle a very dark place at night, and in the distance a small fire was lit. Amongst the trees was Kumthalatta and his guards, watching the undergrowth for signs of movement. "Kumthalatta, there is nothing to fear, the wise man was wrong, no danger is coming tonight," said one of his guards. "Can you not feel it though Rumthah? In the air? It is something new tonight, something we have never seen," Kumthalatta said. "What is coming?" "I do not know." "You fear danger from the lands to the north? The lands swallowed by the sea?" "I do not know." A trickle of water began to creep along the jungle floor, slowly flowing in the direction of the village. "By the great god Marimbo, what is this?" Kumthalatta asked angrily, slamming his spear into the ground. "The sea has come for us!" exclaimed a guard. "We shall follow this water, and see what has come to our jungle; and kill it." "Yes Kumthalatta, we shall take our sharpest spears, let us fetch them now," said the other guard. As the two guards headed to their huts to fetch their powerful spears, Kumthalatta began to follow the trail of water. The thin trickle turned into something of a stream as he crept through the undergrowth quietly, his spear pointed directly in front. "Show yourself things of the night, so you may feel the tip of my spear against your throat!" he exclaimed, swinging it from side to side. The water by now was coming up to his ankles, and Kumthalatta was beginning to feel concern over how safe he actually was. He went on tiptoes to avoid dampening his feet, and as the water swirled around them he kicked it in anger. The water rippled into the darkness, and Kumthalatta stopped, waiting for the water to settle again. "May Marimbo aid me in slaying you whatever you are," he murmured, keeping his eyes peeled. Advancing further, the water was almost coming up to his knees which began to worry him. He then trod on something, it felt like a large stone, and he flinched. He then felt something forcing his foot upwards, and he then saw the stone wasn't a stone; it was a creature. A crab began to swim towards the surface of the water and grabbed Kumthalatta's leg. "Marimbo save me!" he exclaimed, struggling to get free as another crab grabbed at his other leg, forcing him down. As he disappeared beneath the water, his spear was left floating along the stream which was beginning to retreat back into the sea... It was a quick journey, and Metallian followed in a boat which had been captured at Musa Point. They arrived, and hopped onto the land. Mark gasped in awe. The water was up to his waist, and there was a massive castle, made of kelp. The trio went inside, and saw Sharkros on a high rock. For a leader, he didn't seem to wear a crown, which Tony marked as strange. "Ahh, a resistance. So you know of my plans and tactics? I should kill you on the spot, but I'm in a merciful mood today. You three are officially prisoners of war." "But there is no war!" Mark barked. "I mean the war that has yet to come. Why else did you come here?" "To discuss a treaty, and establish peace" Tarqinder said. Sharkros just laughed, as did the many creatures in the room. "You are already boring me - perhaps I should just turn you into the brand new human sandwich? Or a human casserole? I think you should have the choice of what you will become-" "Hear us out! We humans have done nothing to you, so why do you want to destroy us?" Tarqinder interrupted. "That is the understatement of the century! Humans have just about devastated the oceans! You hunt us, you devour us, and you poison our oceans! This is justice! The freak weather has gained us an advantage, and all your continents shall flood! It will be everlasting peace, with you humans as the food source! An empire of bliss" Sharkros shouted. "I shall apologise to all of you beautiful sea creatures, on behalf of the human race. We are trying to stop fishing and polluting the seas-" Tarqinder lied. "Its too late now to turn back! It will only be a matter of hours until my plan is executed! Besides, I know you aren't telling the truth! You are hiding behind your lies! They can't save you from the fate you have bestowed upon yourselves! Guards, chain them up! Negotiatons are terminated!" Ardougne's guards and citizens had returned to their regular positions the next morning. A whole night had gone without any attacks from the sea or other unusual circumstances, and everybody was much more calm. The makeshift barricades which had been assembled around the city's entrances yesterday morning were being removed. Nobody spoke of what had happened a few nights ago in the city, and the only thing on most people's minds was the cost of anything. "The fools," Raef grumbled as he stood near the Market, with Dancus and Raiah watching the stallowners to make sure they weren't burning too much. Raef knew that the sea slugs from a few nights ago were just a few of the many pawns of the Sea Life Army, and that they would not stop fighting until they had took revenge on every single human in the world. "My Lord, might I insist on behalf of your people that you return to the Palace before they suspect there is a problem?" asked a guard. "I'm in charge of this city whether you like it or not my good sir, and might I insist that we haven't seen the last of these sea creatures," Raef snapped. "Well I'm sure that we'll be able to stop them." The guard returned to his duties, chasing after a young man who had tried to steal a piece of cake from a stall. Raef felt rather annoyed, he had been given the duty to rule but was not being listened to. "I could do with the Slayers' Union right now," Raef said to Dancus as he walked over to Raef. "Well they're no use at the moment, they've all fled Varrock from those swarms of bugs or whatever they are," Dancus said. "Any news on Falador?" "Why are you asking me Raef? You are in charge of the city." "Well it doesn't feel like it, and nobody is listening to me when I warn them about the sea creatures." "I'll try and get some news on Falador; and hopefully Tarqinder as well." The Wizards' Guild was bustling with wizards, all rushing in and out through teleportation, some bringing spellbooks, some bringing runes and some bringing orbs. "Hurry everyone, hurry! That ash is getting closer by the hour, the charms are wearing off!" Norbert exclaimed. In a blast of purple energy, Zavistic Rarve teleported into the room causing everyone to standstill. Silence came over the whole Guild, regardless of the situation. "Zavistic?" Norbert asked. "It is me, I've returned, now Norbert, it's time you stood down and let us take control of things, we come with spellbooks and much more, and we shall stop the ash before it chokes us all," Zavistic stated. "We? But you are alone." "But I am not, Norbert." Seconds later, many other wizards teleported inside, all carrying spellbooks, runes, orbs and staffs. "To work!" Zavistic boomed. Norbert felt much more relieved now, but nevertheless, disaster was impending, and they had to return to work. People rushed up and down all doing their own individual jobs, except for one person. Gregory watched from a far corner of the room as Zavistic gave orders, he looked at the skin underneath the bottom of his robes which was occasionally shown, and noted the distinct yellow hue... Tony, Tarqinder and Mark were in the dungeon of the kelp castle. There were other prisoners, and Taqrinder immediately recognised them all. Kumthalatta, King Vallance, Duke Horacio, a Fremennik chieftain, an Elven Lord, a Dwarven prince, a Gnomish prince, a Kharidian Sultan, a Void Knight general and a leader of a Zamorakian cult. It was eerily silent, for there was nothing but the smell of fear and kelp in the room. "It is you bwana! You failed to retrieve the statue! Infidel!" Kumthalatta shot at Tarqinder. "At least he doesn't go around naked all the time! What the hell is bwana? Jeez, you're just a primitive!" Tony replied. That was when the door fell down. Sharkros glided in, followed by Mother Mallum. "These are the sacrifices... and those three are prisoners. Possibly the only living resistance. We cannot fail!" Sharkros grinned. "I have my spawn all over... and they are watching everything. When shall the stratagem activate?" Mother Mallum hissed. "In a couple of hours... but first, I must panic the world. I shall see Gielinor at its feet, crying for help. I cannot resist..." Sharkros mused. "I will kill you! I swear I am the person who kills you!" Tony suddenly shot out, angered to the extent of sweating. Sharkros looked at him, and shot some lightning at him. He screamed in pain. "Should you carry on, it's gonna be the other way round. This is my war, and you're welcome to it" Sharkros grinned, as he glided out. Mallum followed. That was when a portion of the wall exploded, and a bird-like figure stepped through. The creature held out its wing, which the feather tips resembled fingers. "Come with me" it boomed softly. Tony tried to raise his arm, but he was still bound. The creature drew a spear and cut his bonds. Tarqinder and Mark were also freed. "Rax?!" Tony gasped in awe. "Aye. We must go - we have a surprise for you. All of you." "What about them?" Tarqinder said, pointing to the world leaders. "There is no time - and the stars have already spelled out their fate!" Rax lead the trio outside, where Fort Avias had been anchored. They were taken up, and inside the fort. The fort then flew off. For a few hours he had remained in Falador, trying to help the guards fix up the city. But his heart tore him away, and he decided to leave. Deciding that Hecate, or at least the others were in Keldagrim, Bruce secretly teleported away to the city, arriving outside the Octagon. Whilst the others negotiated inside, Bruce waited outside the Octagon. He was a smart tactical planner, but politics and the strategy of it all eluded him. His place was a trek, not a table. Bruce had attempted to meet with Raef and ask if there had been any activity with the sea creatures. He paced up and down in front of the building, to strange expressions of dwarves. As he moved to find a chair, he saw in the corner of his eye a purple blast. That caught his attention. He stopped walking to and fro and ran over to the explosion. He had photographic memory and used that to navigate through the low, narrow streets. Crunch, crunch, crunch - he was stepping on something strange, and that he could only hope it was coal or sand. He rounded the final corner and saw shimmering strings of purple - teleport rune fallout. He looked in and saw, standing up behind some barrels, a strange figure - and Hecate. "Bruce!" she exclaimed as she saw him. She vaulted the barrels and ran towards him. "Hecate... where were you?" Bruce asked, as she flung herself at him. "Well, after we separated, I came to look for you after you teleported out. I joined up with my old master." "What? The monk?" "No, no! Master Vadas - he taught me most of what I know about necromancy." Bruce looked past her and saw a tall, robed figure looking at him with an air of discontent. "Um... hello." Bruce said. "You are my former apprentice's companion?" Vadas asked, smugly. "Well, yes." "I have one thing to say. And that is: It could have been worse." Bruce gave a silent sigh of relief. It could have been worse indeed; both sides could have been worse off. Then he spoke. "Listen - any moment now there might be chaos from the sea. We need a plan, to go and help. Where?" "Lumbridge," Hecate said. "That's one of the major fishing hubs, especially since they started to construct the port there last year. The swamps are going under, and that's giving them a free bridgehead." "We have weapons," Vadas added. "Or rather, we can make them. You, Brysworth - my former apprentice has told me that you are a keen military tactician. They will need people like you." "Lumbridge it is," Bruce said. "How do we get there?" Hecate asked. Bruce slid his arm backwards into his bag, rummaged, and pulled out a teleportation rune. "Lumbridge!" he cried, throwing it on the floor. People in Falador were running about and panicking. The remaining White Knights could not ensue control in the city, and there was a small riot. The Knights were sent in to try and control things, but they failed. Mad, drunken men started it. The end of the world was approaching, according to them. A newspaper was blown by the wind, and the top headline read "The World Ends Tonight!"...
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