Varres awoke with a start and the feeling that the left side of his face was made of broken glass. Gasping in pain his hand reflexively went to the injured part of his anatomy, fingers gently probing the tender flesh.<i> Nothing broken at least</i>, the elf thought ruefully, tonguing his teeth to make sure they were all still present and accounted for.<br/><i>That orc sure knows how to throw a punch…wait, that orc! <br/>
</i><br/>“ Haruna! “ the blood elf suddenly bellowed, eyes quickly taking in her missing equipment, the missing tablet, and the infusion of natural sunlight and dry desert breezes now wafting through the chamber.<br/>Momentarily panicking in trying to choose between his leggings and this rapier, Varres snatched up the former and, hastily tugging them on as he moved, ran towards the rectangle of blazing light that had been opened at the far end of the chamber.<br/><br/>Varres staggered to a stop at the end of a simple, unadorned hall that lead to a secret exit on the temple’s south side. A thick plume of magenta smoke from a gnome-crafted smoke stick swirled and danced from the prop wash of a goblin flying machine slowing rising into the sky, a lone figure climbing a rope ladder with a blocky burden tucked under one arm, purple hair dancing in the conflux of winds around her. His deep scowl made his cheek smart even more, mind wrestling with whether it wanted to hate Haruna or himself for letting her win. His prize well beyond his grasp the rogue turned his back on the rapidly shrinking gyrocopter and padded sullenly back down the hall.<br/><br/>Five minutes later found Varres Summerdawn dressed and armed, his black shirt left where it had been tossed, ruined. Setting his hat over his tangle of black hair he walked to the edge of the altar that the tablet had rested upon, gazing down the empty space like he was willing the artifact to suddenly appear before him. Snarling suddenly Varrres gripped the edge of the stone display and kicked the side of it over and over, spitting out a word with each strike;<br/>“ That…fucking…green…bitch! “<br/><br/>Toes now throbbing in tune with his cheek Varres’s scowl quickly melted into a look of curiosity as he noticed several large fragments of a veneer that had shattered from his violent outburst. Crouching down and slipping one of his throwing knives from its sheath he pried away some large chunks, eyes growing wide as a hidden relief revealed itself bit by bit.<br/>The scene was of a gigantic, statuesque figure with an orb casting rays of light standing before an army of tol’vir who recoiled and fled before its power. Varres had no clue what any of it meant, but the line of runes along the bottom of the carving must hint at something. Grabbing a scroll of paper from his pack and a chunk of charcoal he dutifully rubbed the image onto it.<br/><br/><i>Well</i>, he thought, examining his handiwork<i>, I didn’t get what I was hired to retrieve, but I’ll bet this will help soothe my client’s anger</i>, he admitted with a smirk and then a wince.<br/>Looking off into the distance as he rolled up the rubbing Varres pictured Haruna in his mind’s eye.<br/><br/><i>You won’t win next time you muscle-bound harlot.</i><br/><br/>THE END...?<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>