Helena, for once, seemed somewhat self absorbed as the walk got started.
Heading north the path was pretty smooth, though he realized they probably could shave some time off their journey by going through the woods directly.
Dracos
"We can shave off two days at this shortcut. It'll be a bit more riskier than going straight down the normal roads, though." Craig announced to his two fellow party members.
"I personally say that it'd be more efficient this way...but that'd be by myself. How about you two? Want to go through this path?"
"The forest has imps," comments Helena, shrugging. "I suppose it's worth it, though.
They're only imps, after all. As long as we stay alert, we should be fine."
"Imps don't particularly worry me," Patricia shrugged. "If it's that big a shortcut, let's take it."
Somewhere out there...
Gray imp, the imp of imps, hero of his people...
Chittered.
Dracos
"Right, then we're off. Just make sure to talk in hushed tones to keep from letting anything bigger and badder hear us." Craig lead them into the forest.
"IS there anything bigger and badder around here? I've never seen or heard of anything but imps," Patricia replies.
Although it'd be cool to see something else!
"I've never seen anything else, and I come out here all the time," replies Helena, shrugging. "That being said, I havn't gone that far afield."
"Some thief clans like to set up in these kinds of places to be able to attack the main roads and the like. This is along the path to Pravoka too, afterall." Craig easily responded.
They heard something marching nearby.
Something with big feet. Crunching the branches.
Dracos
"Uh. I think we should hide," comments Helena, glancing around nervously, and quickly heading towards some convient hidey-bush to do so in.
Craig quietly moved to follow Helena's example as he moved to the same side of the road as her, gesturing for Patricia to follow so they could consolidate their forces.
The white mage made no reply, quickly heading towards concealment with the other two.
They heard a chittering behind them. Around them. Maybe tens. Maybe hundreds. Hard to tell really.
Coming mainly from where the road would be.
Helena's hands start to curl, making vauge arcane symbols in the air. No spell is actuall cast, but she's certainly making sure she can sling one out at short notice.
Craig tensed up, hands resting on the hilts of his knives as he forced himself to calmly and softly breath through his nose to limit the noise he made as he waited the ...things out.
The chittering continued, in a sort of semicircle between them and the road. Slowly getting louder as if more were joining in.
Dracos
Helena tries to peek through the bush and get a look at what's making all the noise.
She doesn't see anything. But it's there. Somewhere.
Dracos
Patricia reaches inside her robe, unhooking her hammer from the loop on her belt - but not yet drawing it out.
"Well, uh, maybe we should be going," comments Helena, backing away from the bush and starting to sneak away from the chittering.
"Cast ice on the ground behind us as wel go." Craig quietly murmured as he started making his own way off into the bush beyond their hiding place, and away from the unknown number of imps.
Helena glances at Chris, then shrugs, and with a few gestures, leaves a fairly large patch of slick and slippery ice on the ground behind them. It's disguised as to not be immediately obvious; the ice is very thin.
Shortly after they hear a slip as an imp spins past them, smashing into a tree.
Dracos
Helena turns her head, hand lunging for her sword!
Aww, crap!
The chittering promptly gets louder as hundreds of smirking imps pop into the visible range, appearing from nooks and crannies behind them.
Seconds later there is almost a synchronized 'ching' as they draw knives.
Dracos
Patricia lets out a yelp, running as fast as she can manage in her robes. "How many of them ARE there?" she yells.
Helena blanches, resheaths her sword, and..
"Crap! RUN!"
Helena starts *running* away from the Imps. At the same time she starts throwing firebolts behind her, hoping to set to forest on Fire, and therefore the imps on fire, too.
Craig, having had these kinds of situations having had happened to him in life more often than not, simply drew his knives out for the sake of more security as he hissed out a curse as he followed after his compatriots.
Fun times.
The imps, chittering now angrily, charged.
A firebolt nearly hit Craig as he kept up the rear, spotting a cave a little ways away.
Dracos
"Follow me!" Craig veered off and began racing towards the cave, "And stop trying to kill me, dammit!" The last was said as an aside to Helena.
"You two, get behind me!" shouts Helena upon reaching the front of the cave.
With that in mind, she starts casting another spell.
A large blob of greasy black liquid jets out from her hands towards the ground, and a spark of fire follows soon after, creating an improptu wall of flame.
After that, Helena moves back from the fire, breathing heavily.
"I'm done," she says, pausing to catch her breath. "I won't be casting any more spells today, though, that's f'sure. Overdid it as it is.."
OOC: A post was here, now it's gone.
The imps, chittering and laughing, fell back before the flame, fading into the woods, the fire burning nicely as it blocked off the exit to the cave. The cold, dark cave which seemed to go back a ways thankfully. Away from the hot flames blasting around the front of it at the moment.
Dracos
"Well, at least we're safer than we were before now." Craig sighed as he put away his knives for now, inspecting the cave around them. "How long do you think it'll take to recover, Helena?"
Helena pauses.
"A few hours, maybe? Assuming I don't strain myself too much. The latent energies need time to gather," she replies. "There's nothing better for that than sleep, but I don't think we have time for that right now."
The fire light up the cave as a growl was heard deeper in the cave.
Dracos
Patricia glances back towards the rear of the cave, pressing herself up against the wall. "I hope that's nothing too big... or too hungry."
So now we're trapped in a cave with a few hundred imps outside and.... something inside, and we can't even get out. This isn't what I daydreamed about!
"Lovely, just lovely." Craig grumbled as his eyes narrowed in concentration as he edged closer in the general direction of the growl, drawing his knives as he tensed to try and hear how close it was.
Well, there are many things that lurk in dark caves.
Bats...
Bees...
Wombats...
But none of those were in this cave.
Instead there was merely...
THE BEAR.
A massive creature, maybe three or four times Craig's size. It has muscles all over. It's jaws were HUGE! Bone chunks sticking out of them as it slowly rose from it's place on the ground, stretching, drool dripping from it's jaw.
Dracos
Helena looks at the bear.
Then she looks back at the firewall.
"Today has been a lousy day," she comments, hand gripping her sword.
It creaked it's neck and lowered down as it let loose a mighty roar. The type of roar they write legends about. They could see all of it's massive teeth as it's jaws creaked open with frightening swiftness, a terrifying tongue inside the massive mouth as it seemed to stay open for half a second before the sound hit, a wave of wind and furious noise as it pushed against them.
Dracos
"Great, we're fighting the pinnacle of bearocity." Craig quickly darted to the side, "The grease fire will burn out quick, right? We're going to have to either knock this guy out or distract him so we can make a break for it!"
He began slicing at the bear with his knives, always moving to keep from getting killed by this omega bear's claws.
Helena crosses her arms in front of her face as the wind blasts through her.
"Right!" she says, grabbing a torch from her pack, and heading back to the firewall to light it.
Helena discovered an obvious thing.
The fire wall was nearly out.
Dracos
"Oh," says Helena, to nobody in particular.
"So, how do you guys feel about running some more?" she asks, brightly.
"Works for me." Craig neatly avoided having his head bit off as he made a run for the entrance, leaping out of the cave. "Tuck, duck, and roll, people!" He followed his own bit of wisdom.
"Beats getting eaten!" Patricia yells, following Craig's example as she dives through the flames at the cave entrance.
Helena follows suit, and she quickly glances around to see if there are any more imps.
The Bear roared again, the fearsome roar leaving the cave as they saw Alex looking on as they dashed out.
Dracos
"Fancy meeting you here. If you don't want to die, you'd better join us in running away before that thing decides to follow after us!" Craig idly commented to the fighter as they dashed away.
Seeing the current situation, Alex did the only thing he could think to do. He followed.
And so they ran from the bear for a bit, into the woods, the chittering dying off after a while.
And soon one fact made itself clear. Running randomly away from BEARS gets one lost.
Dracos
Craig started trying to orient himself so he could get everyone out, using the sun and the map he had been given to begin slowly guiding them. Making adjustments as he went so they wouldn't wind up walking off a cliff or into a pit or something silly like that.
Craig's navigation skills served them well as they made their way out of the forest, arriving on the north road a while later, about time to call in for the night.
Dracos
"What a life." Craig sighed as their little short cut had cost them a whole day. "Oh well, at least we have like a day ahead of when we'd normally get there if we keep at this route."
"Yeah, I guess," comments Helena, glancing around. "I guess we'll pitch camp here."
She's looking rather subdued, and a little pale, but more than anything, tired. Her complexion is matching her hair, and she takes a hearty swig of water from her canteen.
"You two handled yourselves pretty well." Craig commented as he began setting things up for the group, considering he hadn't done that much really. Making sure that the women's tents and whatnot were on the opposite end of the campfire as his and the other guy's stuff, he continued.
"Could use aiming lessons, though."
"Sorry about that," replies Helena, flopping onto the ground and producing a large tome with a thick red cover.
"God, I could use some ale," she comments, opening the text and starting to read..
Craig finished up the women's side of the camp, moving over past where Alex was setting up their side of things to gather up some twigs and other fire feeding objects.
"Didn't take any with you? I'll lend you some. My way of paying you back for the free inn stay the other day."
Alex listens along for now, though he does ask one question to Craig as he passes.
"How'd you get all those imps after you," he asks curiously.
"We were just wandering around, actually. We heard this commotion further up the road and ducked off to the side. Turned out that it was an army of imps." Craig shook his head at the thought.
"Anyhow, they attacked us, and we made a break for it. . .into a bear's cave. Guess the imps just wanted to make fools of us."
With a nod, Alex simply works on. "Still going to go on," he asks next, kneeling to finish this task.
"Well, I'm a man of my word." Craig said in way of answering. "But what about you? Are you going along? It could be dangerous, and you really have no obligation to keep going..."
Patricia has been fairly quiet since the camp was set up, a worried look on her face. She nearly flinches at Alex's last question, heading over to her tent without a word.
"I guess so," Alex finally says, glancing at the retreating White Mage.
Reality not to her liking? he wonders, but doesn't follow. "Might be interesting.."
"Well, I'm not going to force you. If you ever want to leave, you're free to do so. Won't begrudge an extra hand taking on Garland, though." Craig cheerfully walked back to the camp fire, poking at it with some wood to fuel it.
OOC: If there is nothing else, I will be shortly timeskipping the journey...
IC:
And so the night went on...
And the sun, like it does, rose from it's hiding spot, spreading light upon the world and awakening the adventuring light warriors to the new day.
Dracos
The day beginning, Alex eyes his companions, thoughtful. Patricia was still mute and reserved, but the others seemed lively enough. Settling in near Craig, "How far is it to the temple," he asks, as the group gets going.
"Thanks to that shortcut? We're practically going to be breathing down Garland's neck in a few hours. I just hope he has his guard down when we get there, although between the four of us, I bet we can at least get Sara away."
It was a few hours yet until the temple came into view...
An odd sight it was. Despite the bright day, the temple seemed to absorb the light, being cast in a contrast of shadow. It looked as if it had once been a truly great monument to human skill, a masterpiece of architecture the likes the world seldom saw... but that was long ago, in a different age of men. Now it was rotting. Decayed. The signs of age scratched out upon it's visage as they approached. A lone gateway, old and huge, bore testament to the thousands who'd entered there in times immemorial.
A cold wind blew about it as they first caught sight of it. Everything saying that this land was not a land for men. Not a land for mortals. It was a land forgotten and lost and best left behind in the annuals of history.
Dracos
"I've heard about these kinds of places from my grandfather before." Craig whispered in remembrance, and partly to honor the temple's history in a way.
"Ancient ruins like these have all manner of beast that tend to...go contrary to the nature of the world. Maybe something akin to where humans stand to their primitive ancestors?" He theorized. "I imagine this would be the best place to run...so long as you made sure you weren't devoured by the beasts either."
Helena looks edgy as she walks towards the temple.
"This place feels weird," she comments, glancing around. "Does anyone else get the feeling that we really shouldn't be here?
I guess that would make it a perfect place for someone to hide, though.. there's no animals or anything around here, and I bet nobody travels close to it if they don't have to..""
Heading towards the front gates, open, their once proud doors gone, the rotted hinges visible on the sides of the marble frame, they saw a horrific sight.
The opening corridor of the temple was lined with heads. Heads on spears, jabbed into stone cracks lining the way in. Looks of fear, hatred, and horror on the faces of each of them.
Dracos
"You'd hate to be those people," comments Helena, wryly. "But I wonder why anyone could be bothered to stick all those heads up? What, they think that's gonna scare people?"
"It isn't necessarily keep people away, you know. It's more of a cautionary statement."
"It's more of an attraction," says Helena, thoughtfully. "Come! See the heads of those who failed! The Temple of the Fiends, ridding the world of morons since 1132."
Patricia shivered. "How can you guys be so casual? This is horrific! There must be at least thirty or so dead here."
Dracos
"Y'know, one would hope that becoming a hero in itself isn't enough to doom us either. I personally expect to stroll in and come back alive, thank you very much."
"Yeah, so?" asks Helena, blinking. "Not that I'm not sympathetic, but.. they're dead people. Get used to it. This hero thing involves lots of dead people, I think. No point getting all gloomy about it.
Besides, I'm sure these people would *want* us to laugh, because they obviously can't."
"It's less the laughing that I'm worried about, and more the laughing *at* the heads. Especially in this place. Bleh." Craig continued past the rolly polly human heads.
"What're they gonna do? Laugh back?" replies Helena, looking at the heads.
"Or bite. Are you up to date on all your medication?"
"Hah," replies Helena, snorting. "Well. That's unlikely. Between me and Patrica, I'm sure we'll sense any weird undead heads trying to bite us before it happens."
Ahead of them, a bit to the left, there was a pile of skulls in the corner of the the room. Most of them looked like they'd been there a good while, the blood on them dried or soaked in completely. From there, an eerie, gut-wrenching laugh slowly became audible, a slight glowing visible from somethin under them.
Dracos
"What the heck is this?" comments Helena, disgustedly. "Some losers idea of a joke?"
Brimming with arrogant pride, she walks up to the pile of skulls and kicks it over with booted foot!
And feels a painful CLAMP on her boot! A white skull with sharp teeth biting down hard on the boot as the rest of the skulls scattered about , crashing and making a fair bit of ruckus.
Dracos
"Ack!"
Helena yanks her scabbard out (with sword still inside) and starts bashing the skull, hoping to shatter it before it actually inflicts some kind of real damage!
The skull slipped off with agile grace, releasing the boot and leaving Helena to nearly slice off her own foot as it slid back floating, as if by magic, into the air as it laughed at Helena, a grim smirk on it's skully face.
Dracos
Helena glowered at the skull for a moment, before bringing her hands together to create a spell..
A faint wave of blue-white light comes forth from her fingers; the positive energy usually used for healing should hopefully, in this case, destroy this irritant skull.
"Hey, Hey, Watch it with the white crap. Gonna make my hair fall out!" The skull dodged behind a head.
Dracos
Helena arches an eyebrow at the skull. "It's not like you deserve any better, y'know," she comments. "Why the heck shouldn't I?"
Helena still has her hands together, and they're still surrounded by a faint, etheral glow.
"The hell is going on he...re?"Craig stumbled to a stop at the sight of it all.
"Oh so that's how it's going to be? March into my place, tell jokes, wreck my house, and then try and kill me? Sheesh, heroes sure have gotten lame in the last few generations. Not even a speech or something to let me dash off." The skull sounded put upon.
Dracos
Craig lightly poked at the skull with his knife. "Why are you still talking? You shouldn't be talking?"
"Hey, Hey, what do I look like? Some animal? Why should you be talking, eh? Going to explain that buddy boy? No one ever asks that of you! But hey, a skull starts talking and it's all "Oh no, he shouldn't be talking!" It's all skull discriminations, I tell you. And stop waving that dagger around. Going to put out my eye or something!"
Dracos
"You shouldn't be talking 'cos you're *annoying*," interjects Helena. "Sheesh."
"I'm annoyin' little miss house wrecker? What about you? Charge right in and don't even introduce yourselves!"
Dracos
"Yeah, but we're all jerks," replies Helena, grinning. "Jerks with fire and light.
Unless y'become useful damn quickly, I guess you won't be doing any more talking for a while."
"Okay." It spit a small ball of fire at Helena's feather, setting it on fire. "Now, how are you guys going to rebuild my house? You have any idea how long it took to move all those skulls to make a nice skull house? WITHOUT HANDS?"
Dracos
"Is everyone around me a pyromaniac or something?" Craig idly questioned the world as he reached over to squeeze the flames out on Helena's feather. Turning to face the skull, he sighed.
"I'm sorry Mister Skullhead, but we have to save a princess and knock some Garland guy down or something. If you'd like to wait, we'll get to your problem as soon as we're finished."
"Well, but what about my house?" The skull complained.
Dracos
"We can deal with your house as soon as we're done with our mission. Dolphin trainer's honor."
The skull looked distrusting before the last part...
"You are a dolphin trainer? Really? I 'aven't met one o' those in ages. They plum died out five or six centuries ago I thought. Know the secret sign?"
Dracos
"Kekekekeh." Craig wiggled about a bit, wiggling his hands while keeping his arms tightly held to his sides. Much like a dolphin would look if it popped out of the water and swam along the water's surface.
Sometimes it paid to have an explorer heritage.
"Kekekekekekeke, indeed!~" The skull smiled, pleased.
Dracos
'Well, what do you know.'
Craig nodded at the skull, "Anyhow, what's your story anyway? I thought when one has been decapitated, that's it. Why are you still floating around and building little skull houses?"
"Well that only happens to the lazy ones. Me? I was an acolyte here oh a few centuries ago and got cursed by hades to wander eternally. So I figured, why not hang out in the old haunt? It's right homely!"
Dracos
"Ah. I see." Craig wondered how one became non-lazy in the face of death, but he really didn't want to wind up becoming a talking skull when all was said and done.
"Anyhow, we'll be back when Garland is dealt with, so please be patient."
"Okay. But if you don't, I'll haunt you folks forever!"
Dracos
"Don't worry about it." Craig turned and lead the troops off to deal with Garland.
OOC: Sigh...where is everyone?
"Oh, he *better* worry," mutters Helena, venemously.
She turns to follow Craig..
"Right, right." Craig lead them down the hall towards Garland.
And so they went...traveling down the corridor and entering the huge main chamber.
There they saw the princess Sara, tied up in the back of the room, not a sound coming from her. She was a real beauty, long red hair, creamy skin and still dressed in the long red dress she'd been in the day she was kidnapped. A little in front of her, giving an odd bluish glow to the room was an orb. Not just any orb though, but an orb of darkness held in the stony grip of two gargoyle hands.
If, perchance, they happened to look up, they would see a strange sight on the ceiling. Bats. Dozens and dozens of bats. Their black beedy eyes watching from the roof.
But that was unlikely... for their main purpose in coming here quickly rose from where he was crouched on the floor, polishing his helmet. Slipping it on too fast to see his face, he turned towards them, a crimson cape swishing in the blue light contrasting his perfect (would have been perfect save for the blood stains on it) silver armor. He was a tall and broad man. The type who usually had no trouble gathering men to his banner. An aura of strength, confidence, and charisma eminating from the figure as he rose to his full height. A deep and booming voice echoed forth from beyond the helmet.
"Another set of would be heroes? Go home... I shall forget you were ever here."
Dracos
Helena steps forward, acting much more fearless than she really was.
"Hah! Even if we fall, you'll be beaten in the end, fool. What can you hope to gain from such mad actions?"
"Mad? You know nothing of this place or of this world. You are but children."
Dracos
"Children play with swords. Only adults are so foolish to use them," comments Helena, wryly. "Once done, only the children can save the day!"
My god, that was a *hideous* analogy.
The towering warrior looked at her. "Children who are wise heed their elders. Though, if foolishness be your wont, then I guess no small kindness will save you."
Dracos
Craig had been quietly looking back and forth between the two exchange philosophies. He decided it'd be for the best to just cut it off right here and now.
Besides, he always hated fruity talking. "Can we just can the theatrics and get down to business? You aren't going to back down, and I respect that. But we won't either."
Drawing his daggers with a flair, he gazed at Garland with steel in his eyes. "We *are* going to save Princess Sara."
"She is needed. If you are unswayed...I have no choice..."
He drew a steely gray blade, darkly tinted with the hint of blood about it. Very servicible but not fancy by any means. It was a warrior's weapon, without excess trifles or flashy paint. It's only decoration the hint of death about it and the extremely sharp edge it bore.
"I will knock you all down..." He boomed as he dashed at Craig, his blade incredibly quick as he seemed to almost go from his calm standing position to right on top of Craig, his blade swinging hard in a skillful cut designed to end Craig's life in an instant, slashing right towards Craig's throat. At the same time, Garland's foot lashed out, catching the heretofore silent Alex is in the stomach and sending him stumbling back.
Dracos
Helena lapses into mumbles, kneeling down and pressing her hands against the ground..
Only Craig's elven reflexes saved him as he reacted far quicker than most humans could have as he swept low under the blade. Knowing he couldn't take on this towering menace in a contest of strength, he used his flexibility and speed to slash at Garland's leg before pulling sharply away.
Hearing Helena mumble, he decided to quickly begin poking at the knight's defense to keep him unstable and away from the caster..
Garland, showing the skill of a thousand hard won battles, shifted his legs back just slightly, dodging the slash.
Garland's blade was quick as lightning though, Alex's blade barely getting there in time to help. It was far more keeping from getting skewered than keeping him on the defensive.
Dracos
Regardless, Craig gave it his all as he used Alex's help in forcing Garland away from Helena and Patricia to its utmost. As he contorted and jived from side to side, knives flashing through the damp dungeon air, the pirate used his keen senses to allow him to sneak in a jab here, a slash there. Whenever Garland attacked, he pulled away or helped Alex defend.
A flare of light emnated for Helena's position, and a series of jagged rocky spikes lashed through the grounds of the temple, carving a trail heading straight to Garland!
Aww crap! Craig is in the way!
From his position, Alex pushes off, seeing the jagged rocks coming. Knowing if that they hit is was a good oppourtunity, he plans to make a jumping vertical slash as they hit, to cleave the evil knight in twain!
The ground rumbled as the spikes slowly traversed the range towards the embattled warriors, Craig sidestepped with swift roguish grace as they appoached, breaking into a roll to get out of the way.
Alex, meanwhile, attempted to surmount them and take advantage of the opening they'd provide for the obviously skilled captain of the guard. Garland didn't get his reputation though from simply being skilled. He followed quickly with his eyes Alex's motions and leaped up to follow, his blade coming up in a powerful parry that pushed Alex higher into the air, followed by a spinning slash...
Dracos
Seeing the slash coming, Alex moves to carefully parry it and use the force of that to give Garland a push down. If all goes well, he should land hard and be open for the ones below.
Hopefully.
Grunting, Alex puts all of his bulk behind it! "Grargh!"
Alex's blade clashes hard against the steely warrior's sword, ringing out as they struggle briefly. Garland adjusts, angling himself as he lands hard on the ground flinging Alex back with a hard push against the blade as his feet touch ground. Unfortunately, their leaps had taken them outside the spikey earth torn area Helena's spell had made.
Dracos
Helena stops for a moment, and eyes the Dark Orb that hovers with some trepidation.
"Well, I guess it's gotta be good for something," she mumbles, producing her Light Orb. With an overarm throw, she slings it at the dark-magic-thing!
Craig had made his way behind the two dualing fighters all the while, adding his contribution by attacking Garland while his attention was drawn away from him for a moment.
The light orb flew forth, spinning through the air...
to bang with a noisy crystal clink against the other orb and fall to the ground.
Meanwhile...
Craig got a near-miss on Garland, his blow slashing and cutting into his armor and leaving a sliced open groove, just barely missing slicing deeply into his flesh, before the large man could turn to parry the blow, drawing his full attention as he spun around quickly to attack.
Dracos
Well, it was worth a shot.
Scooting around the ensuing battle between Alex, Garland, and Craig, Helena tries to get closer to Sara!
Craig's eyes narrowed as he quickly backpedalled from the knight's furious strikes, occasionally diverting the giant man's attacks testingly as he waited for an opportunity to attack once again.
Helena dashed around the dueling fighters, getting closer to Sara.
Dracos
Helena worked furiously and fast, ripping apart the ropes that tie Sara, and quickly incanting a healing spell to try and wake her up.
Patricia joined her in her chant, the princess groaning and coming awake in confusion.
Dracos
"Get up! Quickly!" hisses Helena, turning her head and glancing back at the fight.
Garland briefly stepped back... his foot not finding purchase as it came upon a crystal, a brief hesitation being caused in his defense.
Sara blinked, confused and not quite there. "Huh? What? Who are you? What's going on?"
Dracos
Craig's eyes narrowed as he briefly thanked the deus ex orbica that befell them as he suddenly surged forwards, knives flashing multiple times as he used the opening to begin relentlessly battering at his defenses.
Advancing on Garland's side, Alex begins to smile grimly.
Gone on too long...I'm feeling tired, and he must be, too. One crippling blow...
Alex presses Garland as well, his heavy blade flashing to slash Garland tender throat!
Garland, showing little tiredness, turned to deflect the blade swiftly...a slash going along his side as he hopped backwards. He adjusted his hold on his sword, looking at them grimly as blood ran freely down his side. "You are...not bad." He lifted a hand and gestured them forward, his blade at the ready, trying to keep them both in front of him this time.
Dracos
Alex presses on warily, waiting for Craig before launching another attack.
Craig's knives were at the ready as he began deliberately forcing himself away from Alex and towards Garland's flank, tensing himself for the knight to come barrel rushing towards him in case his bait was taken.
"No time for that just now. We're rescuing you," whispers Helena, trying to pull Sara to her feet. "Come on! Let's go!"
Sara, confused, nodded, prepared to follow Helena.
Meanwhile, the knight shifted around, working to keep the two of them together as he circled wide cutting off Craig's path.
Dracos
Helena starts skirting the outside of the battle, hoping to pull Sara towards the exit.
Garland's attention was focused on the two warriors as they stood off.
Dracos
From the corner of Craig's eye, he managed to barely see that Helena was pulling Sara away. Deciding to make damn sure that Garland didn't try to stop the pyro, he charged towards the knight, blades slashing out before he pulled away and charged from another angle and repeating the process.
Breathling heavily, Alex rushes as fast as he can! Blade out, he looks to skewer the knight as he's pressed by Craig.
Garland quickly side stepped to the left, swinging to catch Alex's first attack and move him between Craig and him!
Dracos
Seeing an opportunity catch Garland between two blades, Alex thrusts for is side, the side that will put Craig the least in danger should he pull off a miracle dodge.
"Get him," Alex calls out to the man on the other side, putting all of his bulky muscle behind it with a cry.
Now that Alex was joining in, Craig dived to the side, shelving aside distraction tactics in favor of using his greater agility to get to the side and get Garland in a pincer attack, knives flashing once more to their owner's will.
Garland grimaced, the battle turning slowly but surely against him as he took a step back and swung out in a huge arc around himself, attempting to drive both of them back or sever them across the chest.
Dracos
Holding his blade up to parry, Alex hopes to deflect any damage! And after that, assuming grevious injury isn't taken, he uses the instant he has to do the one thing no male should do - go for the low blow with his boot, looking to crush Garland's orbs in one fell kick.
Alex's blade is practically torn from his hands as Garland makes his mighty swing, sending it flying across the room, missing Helena's head by a narrow margin.
And then it happened... the foot swung forth... slamming low. Metal groaned as Garland's eyes tripled in size, a painful slightly higher pitched whimer exiting his mouth as he briefly froze in pain.
Dracos
Craig's foot suddenly lashed out as he pivoted on his heels to smash the knight right square in the face with full force, even as his blades followed up to disarm the knight of his blade in that moment his hold slacked. Intending to bring this fiend to justice...would look damn good in the eyes of that red head.
..except for the fact that Helena was rapidly dragging Sara *away* from the fight and *towards* the castle exit..
Garland went down! The mighty knight collapsing on the floor, his cape covering his form as his sword clanged to the ground.
They'd done it!
Dracos
Breathing a sigh of relief, Alex takes a moment to do the prudent thing - getting Garland's sword in hand. With that done, assuming Craig hasn't started it, he goes to place his weight on the knight in case he still has plans to try and get up.
"Well, he sure fought like a beast." Craig sighed as he put away his knives for now, resting his hands on his knees as he took a few breaths to recover from the fight. "Wonder why he put up such a fight for the princess, though. He doesn't quite strike me as the type to be in it for a quick buck."
On that note, he eyed Garland's sword a bit greedily before shaking himself and helping Alex make sure that the knight didn't get back up. "What's the deal with the orb, though?" He pointed to the dark orb towards the back for Alex's benefit as he also settled his weight down on Garland.
Alex shakes his head once both things are done, taking in restful and refreshing breaths himself. "Eh, I don't think it matters too much," he says to Craig, for the moment putting the blade as best he can in his sheath, assuming it's not an absurd notion.
"Let's just get his armor off, bind him, and get the Princess out of here. I don't want to tempt fate any more than I have to."
"I'll take off his armor and bind him. In case he tries to escape you'll be able to hold him down since you're the stronger of the two of us." Craig got to work, pulling away the cloak off Garland first before he'd begin taking off the knight's equipment.
Alex nods, putting all of his 200ish pounds right on Garland as Craig gets to work. "...Make sure he doesn't have a dagger on him somewhere, too," he adds as an afterthought.
Patricia chanted as soon as Garland landed on the ground, healing magic swirling around Craig and Alex and restoring their few wounds and bruises. "Thank goodness."
Dracos
Garland awoke moments later, struggling roughly, his endurence a testament to how dangerous he was.
Dracos
Alex grunts in annoyance, pushing down with all of his weight focused on Garland's back, sitting - and going for his arms with his own, to hold him by the wrists.
"....Damn," Alex swears in pique - why can't this just go well so they could get back to Corneria's beds quickly? "Give me a hand here, would you?"
"Right. Let me just make sure he has no weapons on him." Craig quickly did so, while quickly and efficiently looking for where the knight might have weapons.
He found four separate long daggers, short swords really, hidden in his armor. He was obviously ready for BEAR.
Dracos
Helena, meanwhile, found herself and Sara outside in the hallway.
With the skull.
"Ooooh, ain't that a cute one!"
Dracos
"You're a skull. She's a princess. It'd never work," replies Helena, flippantly.
"Oh hush. You have a place too in the picture." The skull leered.
Dracos
"That's pretty brave. A skull acting like a pimp," replies Helena, starting to walk off (Sara in tow.)
"Pimp? Nothing like that. And where do you think you're going without repairing my house!"
Dracos
Seeing the knight struggle, Alex gives him a few good whaps to quiet down. "...How's it going," Alex asks to Craig, as the other man does his thing to the bound Garland.
Garland went back down from the cheap hits, providing no more of a struggle at the moment.
Dracos
"Done! Now to tie him up..." Craig quickly did so as he finished putting away all the weapons Garland had on him. Finishing it up, and double checking on his knots to make sure they were ready for bear as well, he nodded to the fighter.
"And we're done here. Let's haul him up and go catch up with the others." He
"Away!" replies Helena, lightly.
"Hey, ye promised! I'll eat your feets!"
Dracos
Alex was free to act with Garland both unconscious and tied up.
Dracos
"I'll stay behind a few minutes. Go after Helena before she gets too far, alright?" Craig snatched up the light orb the red mage had left behind as he headed outside to go honor his promise.
"That was..." Alex shakes his head. "What a pain in the ass." Giving Garland a final boot, mostly out of geninune bad feelings about this entire fiasco before putting it behind him, Alex takes out the blade of Garland's, giving it a good inspection.
If it's a knight's sword, it may be worth keeping, or even worth money if it's not suited to him. Could pay for a few more months of travelling, he figured.
It is in fact a knight's sword, darkened a bit with tons of use, but obviously a high quality blade.
Dracos
Holding while getting his other sword and putting the bulkier blade in his sheath, he takes Garland up carefully after putting aside Garland's blade out of reach, giving him a test lift to see if he can manage hauling the fallen knight by himself.
Well, he'd be darned heavy. Alex wouldn't be able to fight while carrying him.
Dracos
Helena muses over that for a moment.
"Naw, I never promised you nothing," she replies, nodding.
The skull frowned as Craig entered the room, spotting them both bickering.
Dracos
"Hey, I came to help fix your place up now that everyone is settled in." Craig greeted the skull with a wave.
"Really?" The skull grinned. "And here I thought you guys were about to try and skip out."
Dracos
"Huh? Well, I promised, at least. I don't go back on my promises. So then, lemme see what I can do for you." Craig knelt down and began plucking up skulls, taking a good while as he tried to arrange them how he remembered they had been before they arrived.
The skull considered. "Well... You have been a pretty good chap." It grinned and flipped a little skull token off the pile. "Here, take this."
Dracos
"Eh? What's this all about?" Craig held up the skull token curiously, even as he finished assembling the little house for Morte.
"Oh a sign of my favor. It'll get ya girls... or show the undead you know me. That kinda stuff."
Dracos
"Oh. Well, thanks a lot for the token, then. I'll make sure to hang onto it tight." Craig nodded with a smile of thanks as he put it away for safe keeping.
"Unless there's anything else you'd like, I guess I'll be off with the others..."
"Well, I could always use some cute girls around. You don't think you could kinda leave the red-head?"
Dracos
Craig laughed. "She is fetching, isn't she? But unfortunately she'll have to be taken back to her father. Our lot just can't hang around those really prissy types, unfortunately."
"Aww...why not just pretend the prissy one is her? Come on? Help an ol' skully out!"
Dracos
"Sorry Morte, but we need to get the red haired princess back to her father. If only so I can find out what the deal with these light orbs are."
"Oh fuu. Well, drop by later or somethin'. It's lonely bein' out here sometimes."
Dracos
"Well...why not come along? I mean, if you're hard up for company thanks to this place, why not just follow along. Grandpa would probably love to talk to someone like you, and until then you can just follow us along."
"Grandpa? Well...Really, you guys wouldn't mind?" The old skull asked.
Dracos
"He's an elf. You could get to talking for a while between the two of you. Much better fate than this." Craig shrugged, not really afraid of revealing what he was. "I wouldn't mind taking you along. If we're supposedly world saving heroes or something, we'll need to get a boat. From there it'd be a jump, skip, and a hop to Elfland to drop you off with Gramps."
"You're what?" asks Helena, shaking herself out of a stupor. "Oh.. geez! Dammit! Whatever, then!"
She stomps off in a huff.
He grinned. "Sure thing."
Dracos
"What is it? You couldn't tell? And here I thought all proper heroes needed to know everything they could about everything." Craig teased the red mage as he picked up the skull. "We'll make better time like this."
"Anyhow, let's go." Helping Alex carry the burden of Garland better, they started back to Cornelia.
The journey back was tiresome, but at the same time, nicely impless. The paths were clear and the sky was reasonably sunny, nice of it really.
But soon they were happy to see Corneria in sight as the guards waved. "Hail, heroes! Welcome to Corneria!"
Dracos
"Yes! We *ARE* heroes!" shouts back Helena, happily. "Wait'ill I tell my dad! He'll *never* believe me!"
"Uh. Except you, Helena." The guard stammered. "Well... Just get on in there you annoying little pest."
Dracos
Craig wisely chose to stay quite as he lead everyone to the palace.
Helena doesn't deign to respond to the guard, who was clearly bullied as a child for his inability to be witty in the slightest.
Instead, she trails in after Craig..
Heading towards the palace...
They encountered...
The Royal Elite Guard.
All two of them.
"Follow us, the king wishes you to join him."
Dracos
Helena walks after the guards, musing.
Craig wondered what the king was going to be like, considering how his kingdom seemed to be run and all.
And so they were lead to the throne room, a grand place, surrounded by many tapestries detailing the heroism of the Cornerian people through history. The place was awe inspiringly huge in proportion, wealth tastefully decoarating the room, a clear demonstration of magnamity and fortune, the throne, a tall impressive work of wood, carved from one of the great trees of the elven lands.
To the side of the throne, an announcer trumpted. "Allowed into the presence of the Great King Gregory, Greatest King in all the land, are the heroes who have defeated the ignoble warrior Garland and saved the Princess Sara."
On the throne though, contrary to all the humbug, was a little man, maybe about five feet tall, brushing his red beard as he assessed the heroes in front of him, his green eyes contemplative. "First, you have my thanks heroes, for having saved my beloved daughter."
Dracos
"Uh, it was a pleasure, uh, your highness," replies Helena, struggling not to snigger.
*This* was her monarch? Geez. And she always thought he'd be like one of those big, beefy kings with a huge beard and a temper to match.
"We even brought you a gift wrapped Garland." Craig dropped the armor clad knight down.
The king clapped once, guards promptly grabbing Garland and hauling him away. "Yes. You have done a great boon for this kingdom. I am in your debt. I sense you have many questions to ask of me." The king solemnly watched them with the wisdom of a thousand sages in his eyes.
Dracos
"Uh, yes, me, your highness!" stutters Helena, rising to her feet.
"Um. In the woods, while we were travelling towards that temple, we found, uh, a bear.
But nonono, it wasn't an ordinary bear! It was.. like, twenty feet tall, and had these *huge* teeth that looked like they could chop a tree, and, uh, yeah! It was monstrous! I don't think it's natural. Do you, uh, know where it came from?"
"Bear? ...You couldn't mean... The Bear? Why hunters have hunted it and died before it for over a hundred years. Some say he is not a bear at all, but instead a primal manifestation of bearhood, the king of all bears to whom they pledge their eternal loyalty. The mighty incarnation of the forest warrior, which no man nor woman may dare to tame. It instead lives by itself in the wilderness, roaring it's challenge to any who would dare stand before it, it's claws capable of shredding a man in just one strike. I ...may have heard of it yes. But only in tales meant to frighten mortal men and make them wary of the forces that nature wields."
Dracos
"Uh...right. Anyway, do you know what Garland wanted from you in exchange for the princess? He didn't quite strike me as the type to be in it just for petty cash."
The king brushed his beard, a grim and serious look crossing his face. "No. I am unsure. It was quite out of character really for Garland. He has always been one of our best, a shining example for all to follow. Perhaps he was taken by the curse of the ancients though, for he traveled far and wide at times, and may have indeed entered before that cursed realm known only as the Temple of the Fiends. Even now, this place is tainted by the scent of darkness, by the foul rituals that once were held here...and perhaps, were it not for you, would be held again."
The king grew silent for a moment, thinking. "It may be a sign, in truth, of grimmer things to come. What do you know of the state of the world?"
Dracos
"Well, as far as my personal travels go, it seems like people are getting more fired up. Violence abounds." Craig shrugged a bit. "I just thought people were getting crabbier, myself."
"Uh, it's a bit cloudy," replies Helena, glancing through a window. "Been like that for a while, now."
"The air grows stale and the earth begins to rot. The flames of rage, lust, greed, and hatred burn in mens hearts. The waters grow cold, draining life instead of replacing it. I would almost think the time of prophecy was upon us. It is truly a dreadful state of affairs."
Dracos
Craig blinked. "So...what does that all have to do with us?" He rather bluntly asked, wondering why the king was going about with all the theatrics. Besides, the quicker this was over with, the faster he could go join his mates now that the rescue job was over with.
"Everything!" replies Helena, nodding. "We're, like, heroes now! Isn't it officially our job to go out and fix it all?"
"Oh, speaking of which. Here's your trinket. I guess they weren't any use at all." Craig tossed Helena back her Light Orb.
"Oh, thanks," replies Helena, juggling the orb. "Yeah, it is pretty useless. Apparently this city's held it in safekeeping for ages, and, like, they gave it to me 'cos they think I'm some bigshot hero.
Like, yeah right. It's probably another stupid trick."
"I admit, in part that was my goal. But not to find just any heroes..."
The king brushed his beard. "The legends speak of the time of prophecy, when the elements of the world would turn against us, enslaved by the might of the demon king Chaos and lead by his four most fearsome generals. It also speaks of heroes... bearing the orbs of light which have grown dim, they would travel the world to fight these demons... and capture the power that they have stolen within the orb, taking it for their own and returning the world to the way it must be. With this power beside them, they would find the strength to battle even the dread demon king." The king's eyebrow twitched at the handling of the artifacts.
Dracos
"Oh," replies Helena, inspecting the orb further.
"Huh. How're we supposed to beat dread demon generals if they *already* have this power?"
"Well, I guess there's a reason why Gramps gave it to me...and here I thought it was a nest egg for the future." Craig sighed at the loss of money. "Anyway, does that make Garland one of those generals? He was hanging around something that seemed to be the polar opposite of our orbs."
The king scratched his beard considering as he stood, appraising them. "The legends didn't really say. But then...You four are the legendary Light Warriors of this...I am sure. Of ...the polar opposite you say?"
The king suddenly looked even more grim.
Dracos
"Uh. Yeah. It was in the temple of fiends with him and the princess here. Seemed to be sucking in the light from around it."
"Then there can be no doubt... Garland was being used as a tool. An avatar of the dread lord chaos meant to hasten his entry into the world. That globe must be a manifestation of the doorway between his world and our own."
Dracos
"What do we know about these.. generals?" asks Helena, curiously.
"They will make their homes where the power of their element is the strongest. One to each. It is said that the first is a mighty creature of the dead, long familiar with the earth and capable of freezing a man's soul with a touch. The second is said to be a brilliant warrioress of flame who's four arms each wield a separate instrument of death. The third is the fearsome Kraken who could create torrents within the ocean with a gesture of his arms. And the fourth and most dangerous, is Tiamat the dragon lord, who flies upon the northern winds. I shall lend you my fastest steeds and allow you travel over the northern corneria bridge... as well as the ancient lute of the earth. It was said ages ago that it could break seals of magic, shifting doors otherwise locked forever. I feel that this will be of use to you."
Dracos
"..wait. Where the earth is at its strongest? Elfland has the richest soil on this world! If Garland really did wake up these fiends, then it's most likely in danger even as we speak!"
Helena glances at the king, then at her own hands.
"When shall we leave?" she asks.
"You should go north and consult with the great seer, Matoya. She should be able to help you upon your quest. And check with armsmaster Grensayer, he may have something of use."
Dracos
"Could you secure a ship for us, sir? We'll eventually need one anyway to get to other ports beyond Elfland's as well."
"I shall...see what I can do." The king nodded.
Dracos
Helena muses.
"Well, I guess we'd better see this Grensayer guy," she comments.
"The horses will be ready for you when you leave the town. They will be with the guards at the gates."
Dracos
Alex stays quiet throughout this by and large, nodding and bowing as needed. His curiosity on the matter is minimal, though....
"Your Majesty, what fate will befall Garland," he asks, vaguely curious to the knight's final and most likely chopping blocked fate.
"He shall most certainly be executed." The king responded swiftly.
Dracos
With a hopefully deferential nod, "Of course," he murmurs, finishing. Seeing nothing else that tickles his fancy, Alex waits for this to get over with.
"Why do we need to see Matoya, sire? And she'll probably need proof that you sent us as well."
"She is a great sage, studied in the myths of old and capable of seeing into the future. Her wisdom will undoubtedly be of help to you in your quest. You shall have the ancient lute, that will be proof enough."
Dracos
Craig nodded. "By your leave, sire."
"God-speed, heroes. May the gods of fortune smile upon your journey."
Dracos
'We'll likely need it...' Craig mentally sighed as he bowed to the king, turning on his heel and leading the others out.