The Four Treasures

I sighed. "Well... you seem like a good guy, so I think I can trust you. Jus' promise you won' hurt anybody or nothin' an' I'll see if they'll talk to ya." I cocked an eyebrow.

The sight of Croak's frog face contorting into such an expression made me laugh.

"I make no promises, bullywug," I grinned, once again that lion's smile. "If your friends are no threat to me or my cause, they have no fear. For now, my father's death takes priority over smaller injustices."

I stood for a moment, thinking and staring hard at the bullywug. I sheathed my blade, then calmly removed one of my gauntlets. The Mark of Justice, etched upon the palm of my right hand, glimmered brightly for a moment, then dulled back into little mre than a black circle with some runes incribed around it.

"Hold still, Bullywug." I said as I approached him. I held my hand out to him, palm up. Reciting a quick prayer to Falthyr, the Mark of Justice once again flared on my palm.

"Take my hand, Croak. Swear you will return here upon speaking to your friends."

Wary at the strange request, but still an honest creature, Croak was quick to take Seraph's hand. "I'll come back... eh... 'post-haste,' as they say."

As Croak took Seraph's hand, a pulse of energy shot through the bullywug's arm. Slight pain throbbed at his palm, as if he had left his hand over a flame for too long.

"You are now bound by your oath, Croak." The lion again grinned, baring teeth that may as well been fangs, they seemed to threatening.

"You had best hurry."

The bullywug looked at his palm. The Mark of Justice was burned into his skin.

"If you do not return, or if you have any second thoughts...well...I'll just say that I wouldn't, were I you."

I definitely had second thoughts, but not about returning--not after the big man burned a symbol into my hand. I was staring at it as I jogged away, my long legs carrying me faster than a human, despite my diminutive size. I hoped that my friends would be willing to talk; they were always nervous around strangers, especially nobles, and the big man certainly looked noble.

I was soon out of sight, making my way to the secret hideout that my friends and I had made over the years of being alone.

I held my chuckle until the bullywug was out of earshot.

Turning to my allies, I pulled my gauntlet back on, fastening the leather straps that held it in place, and adjusting the crimson plates that defended my arm.

"He'll be back soon. He has connections within the city....hopefully those connections have more powerful connections."

I reached my fingers underneath my paldron, massaging my shoulder, which had gone numb along with the rest of my arm when I touched the bullywug. Something was definitely different about the creature. Something directly from the Lord of Chaos, or one of his minions. Even invoking my power upon the creature had been costly. The mere touch of him on my bare skin had sent a jolt through my body, and had somehow opened a wide gash down my forearm. I had used my power to heal that gash, taking little of a creature's life force to heal me, but still, I should not have had that reaction in the first place.

"Now, we wait. I'll buy you all a drink."

(Im backstepping a bit)
Valin:

The Pollywug tried to weasel out of revealing his souirces, and dared to insult me, and say that I don't know what its like to be an orphan. If its one thing I cant stand, its my lessers thinking theyre my betters. Im not pompous, but I know my place. Especially when someone of an obviously lesser physical being than myself challenges me, I will not stand for it. I walked into the clearing where we had surrounded this "Croak". I picked him up by his collar, and held him at eye-level with me so that he could see my anger.
"NEVER, EVER TELL ME WHAT I DO AND DO NOT KNOW, FROGBOY. (an extreme insult to Pollywugs) I TOO, AM AN ORPHAN, AND THAT SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU. PERIOD. NOW TELL US WHAT WE DESIRE TO KNOW NOW, FROGBOY, OR I SHALL SEVER YOUR HEAD FROM YOUR SHOULDERS" As I finished my sentence, I dropped him on the ground, hard.

(we'll just say you did that as he was leaving, k?)

(fine. As long as it gets done, eh?)

My eyes followed this convostation very closely, and scowled i never did trust bullywugs. "Why should we trust this frog thing for all we know he could be lying, i don't care what you say my father was inoccent he died for no reason except for the person to anger me."
I sighed and suddenly heard something i looked round in the alleyway i saw red eyes. "Hey guys i reckon their is another person spying us, i said in a shaky voice"

EDIT: Backstepping a bit to keep up with Dan: With agility that the others apparently didn't expect, my long leg came up and caught the elf under the chin, sending him sprawling back. I quickly hopped away, hoping the idiot wouldn't follow me and make me even more angry.

I continued off to find my friends. The entrance to their hideout was amazingly well-hidden. In fact, despite my several years of living with them, it still gave me great trouble trying to find my way in. They changed the entrance every day of the month, so it took quite a bit of training to remember where it was. It took me three tries before I got the right opening--a gap formed between the roots of an old tree that faced the east city wall. I crawled in, easily slipping through a tunnel designed for humans and not for smaller creatures like me.

I crawled through the tunnel, carefully choosing my path and avoiding the forks that would lead me to a dead end or to a trap. When I finally emerged, I was in a small wooden room full of chairs, tables, and blankets, as well as a few improvised beds. Dan, the unofficial leader of the renegade group and the oldest and largest among us, was playing cards at a table with Sop and Spud. Dan was a human, with short, messy black hair and dark stubble. His skin was tanned and his eyes were blue ice. Sop and Spud were supposedly half-demon, although no one believed them. They were 14 and 15 years old, respectively, and were short for a human their age, standing at 4' 11" and 5' 1". They had sharp, pointy teeth and red irises, a trait that they claimed only existed in half-demons. Their hair was also bright red, but they enjoyed dying it different colors with the pigments they stole from local stores. Right now, Sop had green hair, and Spud's was black with orange tips.

Dan was cool and collected, experienced and worriless, but never careless. He could pick a lock or a pocket faster than most of the thieve's guild, and he was younger than most of their apprentices were. Sop and Spud were brash and unpredictable, but were very sly and could outsmart the most attentive soldiers in town. They always worked together, one distracting while the other did the dirty work. They were almost like two parts of a whole.

"'ey Dan, Sop, Spud," I nodded nervously. I was one of the newest in the group, an 8-year-old named Samuel being the only one newer than I; I still felt out of place and mistrusted. Dan nodded politely. Sop and Spud smiled viciously.

"What's up, Croak?" Dan asked, sensing my unease. I gulped.

"Well, remember those guys we saw that were gonna meet at the Stag Antler Inn?" Dan nodded. "They caught me, and they wanna know 'ow I found out about 'em."

Dan nodded again, knowingly, "So they caught you, and ratted on us, eh?" I gulped again, nodding shamefully.

"But I didn' tell 'em anything about you guys, jus' that I'd see if you'd, er..." I laughed nervously, "They wanna talk to you guys." Dan shrugged.

"'Ey, Croak," he smirked, "don' sweat it. I'll meet with the guys, and if they give you any trouble, we'll take care of 'em, right guys?" He glanced at Sop and Spud, who grinned and nodded their spikey heads vehemently. The three of them got up, Dan patted me on the back, and we headed back out to meet with the warriors.

"Oh, just one thing," I stopped Dan and the others, "the guy who sent me, big noble-looking guy. Well, I think we can trust 'im, but watch out. He gave me this--" I showed them the mark on my hand, "--and he says something bad will happen if I don't come back."

"Well, you're goin' back, so no sweat, eh?" Dan patted my back and headed out of the room. Looking over my shoulder at the smiling pair, I followed after.

Valin Norovir:
The frog kicked me. Damn him, and those frog legs, he kicked me. I would've shot him in the back with my bow, but I'd already wasted too much energy on the frog thing. I hate those frogthings anyway. Such a filthy, dirty, canniving (spelling?) race. Oh well, I contented myself in knowing that he'd never amount to anything, and would probably die before doing anything important. I shuddered thinking what his children would look like if he could find a mate.

(sorry if it seems Im picking on you Bobo, but he IS an elf...thus very proud and aloof)

I looked at the Paladin.

"We can trust him. He won't do anything with my Mark on his hand. He's too afraid of the consequences."

When he pointed over to the alley, I looked and saw the eyes. "Indeed, good knight. Let them spy, then." I turned back from Alex and walked over to Valin. Putting an arm around his shoulders as if we were friends, I pulled him close to me and whispered "Go through the back of the tavern and sneak around to that alley...maybe you can catch whoever it isa unawares. I'll leave Alexanta and the Ma'Lar out here to keep its attention. I'm going into the tavern to wait for Croak's 'friends.' I think you can handle yourself. Am I wrong?"

Valin Norovir:

"No, you are very correct," I said, smiling. Whispering still in his ear, I added "Here, take this" and handed him a leather bag. It looked normal enough. However, to those in the know, Seraph and I, and if the others were astute, they too.
"Whats this?" Seraph asked.
"Lets just say, it'll help you decipher the truth from the fake," I said, winking.

At that I pulled my black cloak around me further, and pulled the hood over my head, and headed out.

"This is perfect..." Spud whispered to himself as he watched the knight nervously glance at his departing friends. He slowly crept forward. He flashed a signal into the distance.

Suddenly, a short figure with green hair shot out of the sky and landed on the paladin, who jumped high into the air in fright. Spud jumped out of the alleyway, eyes open and glaring as if he was a devil come to steal the man's sould. Sop jumped off and stood next to Spud, the pair spooking the knight. Caught in the suddenness of it all, the paladin bravely ran away into the tavern. Sop and Spud burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, Dan and I were in the tavern, waiting for Seraph. When the big man came in, Dan glanced at me with an I-see-what-you-mean look, and then went to shake the hand of the man. I grabbed his arm, however, motioning for him not to shake hands, thinking of my own palm.

"Okay, big man," I said to Seraph, "'ere's the boss--now take this crap offa my hand, please."