ChaoZ: A Royal pain in the elves.

"Is it because Rol and I have beautiful bodies? Is that why we're being sold?"

He asked, inquiring about the process of slavery and the subject. He broke the magic spell, and then glanced southwards.


"Nothing that I know off. I can only cast the vision spell for so far before it leaves my range of magic. Anything past that is just too much of a blur."

He walked around and picked up the broken sword, examining it to see if it was forged by Dark Elven blacksmiths.

"Oh, well."

Rol nodded at the answers to his questions. 

"Undetected isn't exactly my forte, or rather not what I'm up for, so that's something you magical people should figure out."


The bounty hunter observed Jex picking up the sword. "Is it Riaden's? Has he been captured and seduced.. Oh, wait and sold to slavery?"

".. Dark elves consider men to be inferior. At best they are second class citizens and at worst they're cheap slaves. There's a rumor of one dark elven city where males are banned from the streets and houses. The only males there are in prison to be used as sperm milking machines. No idea if that rumor is true through. So yes.. In a way you'd be sold because you have beautiful bodies.. "Az shook her head.



"Maybe we can increase the vision spells range if we work together?"
"We'd need to do some Alchemy. And we're probably missing a few ingredients for that kind of magic."
"True.. We could go back and ask Melope if she knows where we can get what we need. She helped us a lot last time."
"Indeed, we could do that."

The sword seemed to have broken from an impact with something. Small metal shards were scattered over the ground. The dark steel used in it suggested it was indeed a dark elven sword.
"As far as I know Riaden prefers daggers, throwing knives and other smaller weapons. I haven't seen him use a sword before. So it's probably not his. And from what I've heard Riaden is immune to seduction. He's probably fine."

"Dark elves sexist, magic together using alchemy, riaden not dead." Rol summarized the answers. "Man it's like an episode of dora the explorer." He rambled.

"Kay, so they fought something though? Or did they just break the sword for shits and gigs?" The bounty hunter queried, noticing the sword shards.

"I didn't realize Dora the explorer had misandrist elves, Alchemy lessons and Schrödinger's assassins." Az shrugged.


"Certainly seems they fought something. Unless it's part of the false trail. Not sure why they'd break a sword just for a diversion though. Maybe they were attacked by a spoiler that shashashaa'd them their deaths. Or whatever."

After fully exameing the abandoned camp they head back to the farm. There they prepare a potion to increase Jex's spell range temporarily. Az lends him extra mana once he starts the spell, extending it's duration.

After a while of searching the area Jex sees signs of the dark elves. They appear to be sneaking through the woods. The trees and the dark night make it too hard to see how many there are. Just as Az predicted they were heading south and appeared to avoid any towns and cities. They seem to have a five hour headstart.
Jex reports his findings.


"Good, they didn't get far. Everyone should get some rest. We leave at dawn."

"ShashashaOneofyouwilldieonthisRPshashasha"


The next morning Ziome suddenly jumped up with a loud gasp. "..Just a nightmare.." She let out a sigh of relief. But the words of the spoilers still haunted her. When she had seen what the poison did to Jex she thought the spoilers prophecy had come true.
Luckily her efforts had paid off and Jex was better now. Had she managed to change fate or was Jex just not the one that is going to die? And what even is an RP?
She shook her head, trying to shake off the worries. She needed to keep her head straight and focus on the mission. She got out of bed and went to get ready. Dawn was approaching.

On her way to the shower she encountered Leaf who was already up and about. The small Wood elf was energetic as always, even this early in the morning. They greeted each other shortly but didn't stay to talk. There wasn't enough time for that unfortunatly.
As Ziome washed herself in the shower she wished she could take a longer one. It had been a few days since she last had a chance to shower. But those thoughts were soon replaced as the smell of breakfast reached her. Her stomache growled and she decided it was time to get out from under the relaxing shower and get ready for another smelly dungeon.

After getting dressed she went straight to the kitchen where Melope was already serving breakfast to Leaf. "Good morning." She greeted the two women.
"Good morning." Melope smiled as she set another plate on the table for Ziome. "Good morning, again!" Leaf said with a giggle.
Meanwhile a grumpy Az stumbled towards the shower without saying a word.
"Is she okay?" Melope asked.
"Oh.. yeah, Mistress is just not a morning person." Ziome answered. She didn't add the part of Az not being a day or evening person either most of the times.


An hour or two later dawn finally broke and everyone gathered outside. Leaf pet Fluffy one last time before Rol got on the saddle. "Good luck. You guys are welcome here any time." Melope said before bowing. Leaf nodded.
"Thank you for your hospitality." Ziome bowed back and got on her Broom.
Az waved as she got on her large hovering sword. "Cya"
"Oww damn the gods you woke me up! Are you getting heavier? Maybe I can suggest a diet?" The sword suddenly said. This perplexed both Leaf and Melope.
"When exactly did I give you permission to talk?" Kai the sword answered with silence. "That's what I thought."
The adventurers said goodbye to the elven women and flew off into the rising sun. Leaf kept waving even after they had gone from sight.




The flight to the last temple was a long one. They flew over several towns and even one large city. As they went further south the temperature steadily dropped. They encountered less settlements and people the closer they got to the border.
The last living creature they passed was a lone sauropod trecking the opposite way. The Sauropod looked familiar to Rol. It reminded him of a certain love interest he was with when they saw the dinosaur the last time.
They had to land a few times to take a break and eat something. But never lingered long. Every moment they wasted would allow the dark elves to catch up to them more. Eventually they saw a landscape covered with dead trees and white snow. "We've crossed the border."
Ziome shivered, wishing they had brought warmer clothes. 

After almost a full day of flying they finally reached the temple. Its walls were black, covered in cracks and snow. The wind howled through its abandoned hallways. It appeared to once have been fortificated. Possibly against the undead, obviously it didn't help.
The front gate lay in ruins and would not require a puzzle to be solved to open. Everyone landed and they continued on foot. The snow outside came up to their knees. Luckily there was less snow inside and walking through it wasn't as hard.
In front of tem was a long corridor that lay partially in ruins. At the very end was a large door and in front of it stood a figure.
"Is that Riaden?" Ziome wondered out loud.
"Maybe. Riaden is not that short though I think.. Hard to tell from this distance." Az answered.
"What should we do?"

"Alright, bye manticore rider lady leaf and farmer lady who occasionally goes by Melons. Thanks for assistance."

Rol waved at the two who helped them out.


-After things-


"Yell at it."

Rol said, as he crossed his arms. As if saying he was adamant in his decision.

Jex stepped in front of Ziome when he caught sight of the figure. He put up his staff and casted a light spell. A ball of magic dripped out of his staff and floated in front of them. It flew rapidly towards the figure. He didn't dare speak, unsure of who it was. If it was danger, he would make it explode. Although it wouldn't be too dangerous, it would create a bright enough flash to distract whoever the person was.


"Lucis."

As the ball of light approached the figure quickly the figure yelled out in surprise and stumbled backwards. "Whoa! Don't attack! I'm not armed!" The light revealed a pale elven face with blond hair. Az walked towards the boy and unsheated her sword, pointing its tip at the boy. He raised his hands up in the air.

"Why are you so far outside of your kingdom elf?' She asked, being suspicious of the boy being in a place like this.


"What?..Oh that..well you see my village heard rumors of an ancient temple not far beyond the border. And because our village is struggling with money we thought we could come and scavenge some artifacts to sell. So a group of us came here."


"Then where are the others?"


"I-I don't know..Dead probably. We ran into a pack of ghouls. We didn't think there would be so many.." The boy looked sad as he answered.
"I don't believe you." Az says as she pokes him with her sword.
"What? Why? I swear I.. Please don't hurt me!"

"Tie 'em up and use him as a meat shield."


Rol suggested.

Jex looked at the elven boy and shrugged.


"No idea. But either way it'll be better if we can keep an eye on him. Are you familiar with this area?"

Jex inquired. He thought, regardless if this kid was dangerous or not, that keeping him with them was important. If he really was friendly then it could transition into another ally, if not then it would be harder for him to do his job if he was looked over.

"And if he isn't useful, we can eat him."

Rol joked, but the kid didn't know that.

"Eat me? No please! I.. I don't know the area that well but I know the bit that me and my friends explored. Before we ran into the ghouls I mean. I can warn you when you get close to that room.. Please don't eat me!"

Az glared at the boy. "He's lying. If we're gonna take him with us we'll need to keep a close eye on him. I still think we should just kill him."
"He's just a boy though."
"Fine, whatever. But if he makes one wrong move he's toast. Tie him up."

The boy is tied up and brought along. Jex is put in charge of keeping an eye on him. Because Rol would probably lose him or something worse would happen.


The group enters through the large gate. The cold wind sends a chill through their spines. Frost covers the dark walls. The sounds of their footsteps echo through the seemingly endless empty corridors as they move through them carefully. Az lights a will-o-wisp to light the way and drive away some of the cold.

Unfortunatly this attracts the attention of a small group of three frozen corpses. They slowly shamble towards the adventure party +1 prisoner. "Great, zombies." Az sighs. " We should take them out quickly and quitly before they attract more undead."

"It's dead cold man. Why?" The bounty hunter complained just before spotting the zombies.

"Oh, so puns could be made. Good thing Kiro (right?) isn't here?" Rol pulled out his guns. "Wait, did we fix the thing where the undead don't go back dead?"

Jex stood behind the kid, keeping him in between the group and himself. When the undead came out, he put his staff up, quickly scanning the area for any unwanted surprises.


"All you guys. I might make too much noise with my magic."

"Agreed, Kiro should never come to this part of the continent. He really should do something about that phobia." Az sighs. "Put those guns back Rol, too much noise."


"My magic isn't any less noisy so its up to Ziome. Rol you back her up with your shadows if needed. They're not so noisy."


"What?! Me? b-but.."
"It's just some zombies. You can do this. Just keep calm and avoid noise." Az assured her apprentice.


"..Right." Ziome took a deep breath and stepped forward. She studied the zombies, trying to come up with a plan. Then she grabbed a light blue potion and drunk a bit of it. Her eyes light up and become cat like. She puts away the potion as the frozen zombies shamble closer, slowly, very slowly, incredibly slowly. No seriously zombies like these are never fast but being frozen just makes it worse.

Ziome pulls out another potion with a clear liquid inside. She throws it at the zombies. Then she uses her temporary cat-like reflexes and speed to quickly draw a magic circle on the ground. She casts the spell and creates a barrier around the zombies. The potion still flying through the air is also inside the barrier when it closes.
An explosion follows but the barrier dampened the sound of the blast. You could barely hear it.
When the barrier was released smoke escaped and only unmoving zombie body parts remained.



"Good job Ziome."
"Thank you Mistress." Ziome smiled.
"Uh.. Couldn't we just have ran past them? They were incredibly slow.." The captured boy commented.


"They could have attracted faster undead. And shut up, elf. I didn't say you could speak." 

The squad moved on silently through the temple. They eventually reach a large room. As they enter the doors close behind them. Az tries to open it up again but it won't budge. "Locked."
The room is mostly empty aside from some rubble and two other doors. Both of them very large ones. "Elf, Did you come through here last time?"
"Huh? Yes.. but the door didn't close.."
"Which door did you and your friends go through?"
"Uh.. umm.. That one." He pointed at the one at the other end of the room.
"Hmm.." She looked at the boy with distrust.


They went to that door but found it to be locked as well. "I guess that only leaves one door."
As they approached the last door it shook , ice came crashing down as something big seemed to be slamming against the door. "Get ready." Az said as she drew her sword.

"i'll do nothing and that'll work too."

Rol protested as Ziome dispatched the zombies. As they moved further and further Rol became increasingly irritated, sighing in relief when the hit some action.

"SInce whatever that is, is making loud noises. May I also?" the bounty hunter asked, politely.

"I think it's safe to do so."

Jex hopped back a couple feet to give himself room to cast his spells. What ever it was, it did seem quite big and he wanted as much room as  he could get. He didn't want to step back too far, in fear of the little elf dude running away.


"Come out, come out."

"Yeah, all chance we had of being stealthy just got nuked from orbit." Az also took a few steps back and got into a fighting stance. Holding her oversized sword ready to strike.
Fluffy growled at the door and also backed off, showing off his stinger to whatever was about to burst through.
The elf kid seemed to be frozen in fear.
Ziome reached for her broom when suddenly the door flew open.

One of the Large metal door panels flew of its hinges and hurtled straight towards Ziome.
The witch's apprentice jumped to the side narrowly evading it thanks to potion she took earlier. She landed right next to Jex with her broom ready to strike what ust came through that door.

When the dust settled it revealed a giant undead Minotaur. The beast was twice as tall as a human and wielded an axe that was almost as large as itself. It clearly had been dead for a long time. Its flesh was completely rotten despite the cold, one of its horns had broken off and where his eyes once were now only were two black holes. Parts of his skeleton showed through gaps in his rotten flesh. And the stench was overwhelming.
It roared, shaking the ground. Preparing to swing its gigantic axe.


"Rol, now might be a good time to try out that bomb glove thing we gave you earlier."

And then the situation got even worse as a pack of five frozen ghouls crawled into the room from behind the Minotaur.
"AAAHHH!!" The Elf boy screamed in terror.

"And he scrams when the ghouls come out. Nice. Or maybe that was just narrative pacing, what do I know about writing?"

The bounty hunter did as he was told and got the nintendo power glove out. 

"With this I am a real gamer." Rol shouted emulating a hadouken hoping it would activate the glove.

The Metal ring on Rol's new glove started spinning and the runes on it were glowing brightly. Suddenly a ball of dark shadow energy burst out from Rols palms, hurtling towards the giant undead beast.
When it made contact a dark explosion erupted, causing the Minotaur to stumble and almost drop his giant axe. The blast had blown a hole in the creatures right shoulder, exposing its bones as the dark smoke cleared. The beast let out a ground shaking roar again and turned his attention to Rol.


Meanwhile Az drew a magic circle in the air, shooting a fireball at a ghoul that was rushing towards her. As the firebal hit the ghoul another one leapt past it. Az swung her huge sword upwards decapitating the undead monster.
The first ghoul that was now on fire charged at her again. Forcing her to block its attack with her sword.

Fluffy had run his stinger through one of the Ghouls causing it to become stuck on the manticores tail. The feline tried to shake it off but the ghoul was not budging.

Ziome turned to Jex. "You and Rol focus on the big guy. I'll keep the ghouls off you."
As she says this a ghoul lunges at them but she literally brushes it off with her broom. Slapping it in the face repeatedly, not giving the ghoul a chance to do much of anything except moving backwards.

"That was pretty cool, but i can like guarantee using this will lower my lifespan."

Rol chuckled. He propelled himself towards the creature, being pushed by his shadows.

"Closer I get to the baddie, closer the explosions get. Ain't that swell?"

Jex pulled up his staff and aimed it like a gun.

"Sagitta Magica, Series Lucis!"

10 bolts of light shot and wound past the ghouls and shot straight towards the minotaur.


"Aye aye cap."

(i plan to use the smoke or what ever from the arrows as a cover to my entering the minotaur's melee range.)