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  “Perhaps we can work together,” Lionel said, also pushing himself shakily to his feet, using his long sword as a crutch. His large, angular shield bobbed on his back as he moved. He reached back and began unclasping the defensive weapon from his back, lowering it down to place it back on his left arm.

  “I don’t need your help,” the elf replied. “None of us do. Already our battle plans against mankind have been drawn. There is no stopping it now.”

  “I don’t like the sounds of that,” Solomon said, mostly to Woody and Lionel.

  “We didn’t much care for the sounds of splintering wood and grinding gears in the middle of the night either,” Alcronus replied, “but that didn’t stop your kind from rolling over us and leaving us for the carrion birds.”

  “Alcronus, please,” Lionel said, taking a step forward. “Let us talk—”

  “Talking is done!” screamed the elf. “All that’s left is death!” He leaped forward, charging toward the paladin, his stone sword carving a tight arc through the air. Lionel shifted right, lifting the shield and the sword glanced from it, raking a shower of sparks from the jagged line carved up the shield’s surface. Moving forward, he balanced the shield on straps on his forearm, clamping both hands around the long handle, and swung it in a horizontal sweep. Alcronus twisted, blocking the blade, more sparks exploding, the necromancer stumbling backwards under the sheer force of Lionel’s blow. Solomon wasted no time, lurching forward with his axe, trying to get an angle as the elf corrected his stumble and prepared a counter strike. Woody saw his advance and charged forward himself, activating Scamper and running hard, taxing the buffs to his dexterity and agility, crossing the ground in a few long bounds. Alcronus sensed his approach and turned to block Woody’s blow, but Solomon took the opening, moving in and swinging his axe, triggering Axe Blow. The weapon slammed hard into the elf’s left side, blistering his armor with a full-strength hit, the elf shouting in pain at the strike as a huge swath of HP slid from his health bar.

  Congratulations!

  Axe Blow Increased to Level 03!

  (+10 to Axe attack)

  (+30% to hit with axe)

  (+30% to chance for critical hit)

  Solomon didn’t have time to celebrate as the elf reacted quickly, far more quickly than he anticipated, turning on him and coming at him with the ornately carved stone blade. Activating Long Jump, Sol pushed off, leaping high and far into a sprawling back flip, arcing high away from the attack, landing in a less than graceful crouch, his boots digging divots in the ground as he barely caught himself with his stray hand. Even as he was landing, the elf charged, racing toward him, his legs blurring with movement, his feet seeming to skip over the rugged landscape, his sword down and dragging a long trench in the ground next to him.

  Solomon crouched, bringing up his axe, trying to tense for impact, knowing in the back of his head that his health was down to less than twenty-five percent and even if he parried the first blow, he wasn’t likely to survive five seconds of one-on-one with Alcronus.

  But he didn’t have to. Not alone, anyway. Woody’s Long Jump skill was more evolved than Solomon and he activated it, leaping forward, skimming over the head of the charging elf, then twisted and landed in a half-fighting pose between the necromancer and Solomon, his sword lashing out, gashing a chunk out of Alcronus’ chest armor, sending him spinning. Quite a bit slower, but still persistently, Lionel was racing up behind him, his sword down at an angle, and he silently summoned Blessed Blade, his sword glimmering with a pale blue glow as he reared back and swung. Faint light trailed after the arc of the blade, and it impacted with the spinning sorcerer, exploding in impact, the momentum bringing Alcronus into direct contact with the swinging blade of purity and light. There was a bright, almost blinding flash as the pure blade struck the being of dark magic, both opposite energies colliding in an explosive burst of spent mana and kinetic energy. Amazingly, the high elf remained standing, though he did step back, bending at the waist and grunting in pain as the fireworks of the sword blade slowly dissipated in the air. Woody struck again, leaping forward and driving his sword into the right hip of the elf, forcing him down on one knee, and in Solomon’s HUD he could see the health bar shouting a vibrant, angry crimson warning.

  “Don’t make us do this!” Woody shouted, bringing his sword back up, bending his elbows, preparing a potential killing blow, but Alcronus merely scowled up at him from his half kneel, his fingers still wound tight around the contoured handle of the stone blade. Solomon inched forward, his eyes darting from one to the other, anticipating something, though he was not sure what.

  Alcronus threw himself into a crooked fighting stance, his leg still weak, his waist swivelling as he whirled on the Harefolk, his stone sword lashing out. Woody hadn’t been prepared for the swift counter-attack and seemed frozen in place, the blade arcing up toward his exposed neck. Solomon couldn’t afford to wait, he couldn’t stand there and consider his options, he simply stepped forward, triggered Axe Throw, and let fly.

  The power of the throw sucked every ounce of remaining mana from his MP meter, but the axe glowed with a soft energy and tumbled forward, its head striking home, burying itself in the upper chest of the twisting elf.

  CRITICAL HIT!

  An explosive discharge of energy burst from the point of impact, chased by the dark flood of elven blood and Alcronus’ mouth parted in an angry, frozen sneer, lips open, but no words coming out. He took an uncertain step back, reaching for the handle of the axe, finally grabbed it, yanked it out, then toppled forward, the platinum weapon clanging to the rocks as he fell.

  Congratulations!

  Axe Throw has increased to Level 03.

  (+7 to Axe attack)

  (+30% to hit with a thrown axe)

  (+10% to chance for critical hit with thrown axe)

  There was a low thrum of energy in the air, the smell and tension of life or death combat, the thrill of a hard-earned victory tinted by the realization of the razor thin line between life and death, and the fact that someone else had fallen on the other side of that line.

  Solomon looked at Woody, then Lionel, confirming that all three of them were slim on HP, he and Lionel were a hair’s breadth from death, yet they remained victorious, the elf necromancer face first and motionless on the ground.

  “It didn’t have to end that way,” Woody said sadly, looking down at his prone form. “I did not know him, but I knew others like him. The elves are not bad creatures, just very protective of their natural habitat.”

  “Yes!” a triumphant voice broke the solemn mood and Woody and Solomon looked over at Lionel with narrowed, serious eyes. “What?” he asked, looking back and forth between them. “I hit level four.” They looked at him in silent disapproval. “And Blessed Blade went up to level two.”

  Woody eased his eyes closed, sighing deeply, and bent low above Alcronus, picking up his stone blade. It resonated with power once he held it in his paws, a glowing green light seeming to consume Woody entirely.

  “I will honor you, high elf,” he whispered. “By using your weapon to fight evil. Restore the balance to your elven heritage.” Solomon looked closely at the blade, his eyes widening.

  You have Received:

  Elven Necrotic Stone Blade

  +3 to enemies with an alignment of Holy

  5% Chance to cause Instant Death

  Durability: 145/145

  Rarity: Rare

  As he knelt there, he looked more closely at the worn and beaten ground where the elf lay, leaning over to trace the ground with his paw. “Look at this, friend Solomon,” he whispered and Sol walked over, bending low himself. He saw it the moment Woody pointed it out. In this spot, a clear swath of dirt, one of the few in the village where grass had not yet covered, there was a pattern embedded in the soft ground. Several horizontal lines connected by thick vertical ones, a very distinct and familiar mark.

  “Those look like treads,” Solomon said quietly.

  Woody looked at
him, clearly not understanding him.

  “Vehicles,” Solomon continued. “Machinery, just like Alcronus said. He was right. He didn’t do this, machines did.”

  The proclamation settled around them, surrounding them all with a thick curtain of silence that nobody felt appropriately equipped to break.

  Chapter 20 - Return to Thorathon

  * * *

  “Queen Soracia!” the Amazon scout yelled, pointing toward the trees, which were growing obscured in the settling evening dusk. “They return! The quest returns!”

  Soracia moved through Thorathon Village like a whisper, her regal cloak fluttering behind her as she walked, her strides long and confident, carrying her swiftly toward the northeast perimeter of the village.

  Sure enough, emerging from the shadows was Tyson, the bright silver/white wolf, taking careful step by careful step, Megyn slumped over his back, barely holding on to the saddle she sat upon. Ella was on the mount behind her, holding on with both hands, her staff bumping along her back, leaving her hands free to tangle within Tyson’s fur so she wouldn’t fall off.

  “I expected this to take longer!” Soracia called as they approached, looking both stern and somewhat worried, especially as they grew closer and she saw the condition of Megyn. Turning back toward the village, she shouted again. “Get the healer! Now!” Two scouts nodded aggressively and turned, darting back into the darkened village, their shadows fading against the large fire raging in the center of town.

  Tyson trotted into the grass clearing that formed the edge of Thorathon, and Ella vaulted from the back of the wolf, landing carefully on the grass, one hand keeping to Megyn, to make sure she remained upright.

  “What happened,” Soracia asked, her voice concerned as she moved toward Megyn and lifted her head, checking her wounds.

  “We ran into what appeared to be a group of kobolds, Queen Soracia,” Ella replied. “We believe they were mercenaries working alongside the Sharak-Ku. Scouts who were helping develop attack plans. They were many in number, and while we successfully drove them off, Megyn was grievously injured.”

  “So I see,” the Amazon replied. “These kobolds, you believe they were scouting for the Sharak-Ku?” As they spoke, the scouts came running from the village, the healer in tow, making their way to Megyn. Gingerly, they helped her down from Tyson’s back, and the healer stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder, a gentle blue light glowing from her palm.

  “Yes,” Ella replied, her and the queen walking away from the healer to give her some space to work. “They were travelling lightly, equipped more for surveillance than full-on combat.”

  “Yet they still nearly killed Megyn.”

  Ella nodded stiffly.

  “This does not surprise me,” Soracia said, looking out into the sky, now shifting to a darkened blue, the color of an old bruise. “The kobolds have worked these woods for generations, offering their services to the highest bidder. And they have a tendency to ensure they’re working for the stronger side.”

  “If Tyson hadn’t been there, we would have both perished,” Ella said.

  Soracia’s face made an indiscernible expression. She looked over at him, sitting in the grass, watching Megyn be tended to by the healer.

  “I suppose that’s a good thing,” she said bitterly, then looked back at Ella. “I still do not like that creature. And I don’t trust him.”

  “He has saved us many times,” Ella said. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s family.”

  The queen sighed and nodded.

  “Yes, yes, very well. Back to the kobolds. Did you learn anything from this exercise, or was it purely about combat?”

  “Well, there was the map, which—”

  “The map?” Soracia asked, her voice elevating.

  Ella slapped her forehead.

  “Yes, of course! The map!” She opened her Cloak of Containment and reached into one of the enchanted pouches, retrieving the narrow scroll they had found amidst the kobolds leading up to the battle. She unfurled it and stepped over to Queen Soracia showing her what the map said.

  “See these lines?” Ella asked, pointing out a few of the dotted and dashed lines leading from the Devils’ Mouth Caverns to spots at the Forked Tongue River. Soracia had to lean in close and squint, the pictures not quite forming clearly in the low light, but she nodded.

  “Indeed, I see them.”

  “We believe those are attack patterns. This line right here matches up with where the boat was ambushed.”

  “I see,” said the queen, looking closely.

  “If these are correct, the Sharak-Ku are amassing a force north of here, along the edge of the river, where they plan to close off any chance of escape, then converge, coming at us from the north and the east.”

  “Not good,” Soracia replied angrily. “Not good by half.”

  “I believe they are just beginning this process,” Ella said, “so there is time, but not much of it.”

  “Did the kobolds see you take this?” Soracia asked, canting her head to one side.

  “No,” Ella replied, shaking her head. “I don’t believe they did. As far as the Sharak-Ku are aware, we know nothing of this.”

  “Good,” the Amazon replied. “Small favors.” She looked back at Ella, her hard expression softening somewhat into a gentle, appreciative smile. “Well done, young ones,” she whispered. “Well done indeed.”

  You have Completed the Quest

  Preparations for War

  Part 03 - Spy of Devil’s Mouth

  The Sharak-Ku reside in or near the nefarious Devil’s Mouth Caverns. A small team will voyage to those caverns in search of military intelligence that can be used by the Amazon Warriors to formulate an attack plan.

  Rewards:

  1500 XP

  Reputation with Soracia: Trusted

  Charisma: +1

  “Thank you, my queen,” Ella said, dropping to a knee and bowing slightly. “If I may ask?” she said, lifting her head slightly. “Have you heard from Solomon and his group? Have they had any luck finding the Harefolk?”

  Soracia shook her head. “While we suspected your quest would take a while, I figured they would have been back sooner. I have heard nothing.”

  “Does that… worry you?”

  The queen drew a deep, troubled breath.

  “There are many dangers in the Gallowind Wood,” she said quietly, “even with the pit fiend vanquished it is a wood teeming with life, and not all of that life is friendly. I am not worried, not yet. But I do hope we see them back soon.”

  Ella nodded, looking up at the bright moon shining against the darkened sky. She remembered how much Solomon hated staying in the woods at night. She hoped they heard something soon as well… for all their sakes.

  Chapter 21 - The Favor of the Fae

  * * *

  “We’re going to have to sleep in the woods again tonight, aren’t we?” Solomon asked as they walked through the trees, shadows forming around them.

  “It took a few moments to find the right herbs to heal us all,” Woody replied. “It’s a handy skill to have, but it is, unfortunately, not quite as simple as laying on hands.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry I’m not a high enough level to be real useful with that yet,” Lionel continued. “I know the skill, but turns out finding the herbs was quicker than me sucking down all of my MP, waiting to recharge, and then doing it all over again.”

  “You’ll get there,” Solomon replied. “As it was, your Blessed Blade saved our bacon a few times. Handy skill to have, that.”

  “Imagine what it’ll be like when I gain a few more levels,” Lionel exclaimed. He was almost giddy with anticipation.

  “If you fight by our side through the upcoming war with the Sharak-Ku,” Solomon said, “I don’t suspect that will be an issue for long.”

  Lionel paled slightly when he said it.

  “So… a war? A true and honest war?”

  Solomon nodded. “Isn’t that what the quest said?”
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  Lionel shook his head.

  “I don’t believe the word ‘war’ was ever mentioned. Conflict maybe? Battle probably. But no, never war. That doesn’t sound nearly as cool.”

  “That’s why it remains so important to find my brothers and sisters,” Woody said. “We will need assistance, and my fellow Harefolk can provide that assistance. Once we return the GlowerLilly to the fae, we need to continue on with our quest.”

  The group pushed through one last group of trees and came out upon the familiar clearing where the wreckage of the small fae village had been. Several of the creatures were airborne now, fluttering around, their pale lights illuminating the surrounding area even amidst the black of approaching night. A few of the lights darted left and right swiftly, but most of them hovered and floundered, dipping down, barely recovering, sliding left and right drunkenly. As they emerged, one of the brightest of the lights flared, then zipped towards them, leaving a bright after-image contrail in its wake.

  “Solomon!” the shrill voice chimed. “You have returned!”

  “Indeed, Gossamer,” Solomon replied, nodding. “We bring glad tidings.” Arranging his rope belt, Solomon removed the pouch behind him and unfolded the woven flap. Woody joined him in removing the thick handfuls of GlowerLilly flowers and handing them to Gossamer, who zipped back and forth excitedly. With each armful she took, she tore off, to hand the material to someone before returning for a second load. After only a few minutes, several more dim lights were glowing more brightly, the slow and sluggish faeries now moving much more quickly and coordinated.

  Congratulations! You have completed the Quest

  The Quest for the Healing Flowers

  Gossamer and the Gallowind Fae have been grievously injured in a Sharak-Ku ambush. Travel north to the ruins of their homestead and retrieve a dozen stalks of GlowerLilly, then return them to Draeslamere to restore the fae to health and power.