The fresh logs had burned down to a modest fire again, and Jane passed Sam her guitar again. He began strumming and singing along with it quietly, providing a warm background glow of sound to match that of the fire’s flickering light. I made my way to the bar, where Morgan had gone back to slinging drinks.
“Thanks for the caesar earlier, it was perfect.”
“Another one?” she said.
“Nah, think I’ll switch to beer.”
“Boo,” she said, “boring. How about a cannabeer?”
“You can make that?”
She didn’t even dignify that with any kind of response, just fiddled with her Alchemy forge for a few seconds and pulled out a frothy mug. It was even cold.
“Cheers.” I pulled out a gold coin and set it on her forge.
“Oh, big tipper,” she said. “Usually I gotta show a lot more cleavage to get that.”
“You’d need a lot more boobage to manage that,” Arthur said from behind me.
Morgan stuck her tongue out at her brother. “I’ve got quite enough, thank you very much.”
“What do you think, Daniel?” Arthur said.
“Oh no, no way,” I said. “I'm dumb, but not dumb enough to fall for that.”
I made a quick escape to the sound of the siblings’ laughter.
The evening continued with more songs, more conversation, and more drinks. Morgan's cannabeer was tasty, and it wasn't long before the combined effect of the alcohol and THC had me feeling exceedingly relaxed and a lot less anxious than usual. I made the rounds, making sure to chat at least once with everyone there. It was something I'd never do normally, but basking in the combined glow of a good day and Morgan's drinks, I was able to pull it off.
Eventually, I found a seat and remained mostly quiet, happily passing the time watching and listening, as well as secretly copying various powers using my new Versatility For The Win. I’d seen everyone around me use their powers before so I had access to all of them for copying purposes.
After a while, I got a System message that the power had evolved, and I was now able to copy two powers at a time. At first I’d get the copied powers at Novice level regardless of what level the original owner of the power had, but after leveling up Versatility For The Win to Competent, copied powers came at Competent too. It wasn’t the appropriate place to actually use most of them, but I had a lot of fun copying two of Sam’s powers and summoning an owl, then flying over the city and seeing an actual bird’s eye view of it. I had to stop when Sigrid nudged me and told me I was zoning out.
Damn. That really was some good cannabeer.
Eventually, people began to trickle away to their rooms until there were only a few of us left. Jane, Sam, and I had picked up our musical trio again while Sigrid and Morgan watched the embers glow.
“Well,” Morgan said, standing up abruptly, “I’m done.”
“Off to bed?” Sigrid said.
“Yep. This was a good day.”
“I’m glad,” Sigrid said.
“Night, Daniel,” Morgan said, tousling my hair as she left to go to her room.
“Night, Morgan,” I said.
After she’d left, I felt Sigrid smack me on the back of my head.
“Hey!” I said, rubbing my head. “What was that for?”
“For being so dense,” she said, shaking her head. “I give up. I can only do so much.”
Across from us, Jane smirked and Sam laughed.
“That’s it, I’m done too. G’night all.” Sigrid playfully smacked my head once more, then went to her room. Only Sam, Jane, and I were left around the fire.
“One more song?” Sam said.
“I’ll treat you guys to one more,” Jane said. “This one always got the anonymous singer a ton of tips.” Then she launched into a steamy rendition of Ella Fitzgerald’s Someone To Watch Over Me.
She barely strummed the guitar as she sang, just a few chords. It was all the power of her voice. I don’t know if I even dared to breathe during the whole song.
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Dinner with Morgan had been special. She was a very sweet woman with a playful side that was deeply alluring. But sitting there listening to Jane I was reminded of the responsibility I’d taken upon myself when I first got to know her. Jane was the hero here, of that there was absolutely no doubt in my stoned out mind, and I was going to do everything I could to support her through to the very end.
The final note of that last song was still resonating when the intruders appeared like ninjas in front of us.
Exactly like ninjas.
Everyone else had gone to bed so we’d kept our music quiet, but they were quieter. We hadn't heard them. We hadn’t seen them either. The final embers from the fire cast barely any light, but even if it had been a roaring blaze it wouldn't have mattered, they were good at not being seen. Plus, we were hardly ready for it. It was late. We’d been drinking. And inside the Dragon Clan dojo was the last place we’d ever expect an intrusion. Excuses aside, we were totally surprised.
They appeared suddenly. No, suddenly isn't the right word. They appeared instantly; one moment they weren’t there, the next moment they were, as though materializing out of nowhere. The way Kenji did, exactly like ninjas. There were three of them, all wearing light chainmail made of tiny silvery rings under cloaks that seemed to blend in with the surroundings. Their hoods were pulled up over their heads, balaclavas masking their faces. They were tall and lithe, and all had a pair of long knives in sheaths strapped to the outsides of their thighs.
Sam, Jane, and I had been sitting together on one side of the dying embers of the fire, and they appeared on the other side. All three of us leapt to our feet and two large tigers arose from the ground at Sam’s command. The two intruders on either side reached for their knives but the one in the middle put their hands in front of them, a silent command to stand down.
“We don’t mean you any harm,” the middle one said in a soft female voice. She slowly reached up and threw back her hood, revealing jet black hair, so dark it seemed to have an indigo sheen to it, that was cropped in a short pixie cut. Then she lowered her balaclava, revealing a beautiful oval face, full lips, dark eyes, and flawless mocha skin. The other two did the same. They were men, but their faces could also only be described as beautiful, with the same dark coloration. Jane was the first one to notice they also had pointed ears.
“Elves!” she said. “Finally!”
The female elf in the middle nodded. "My apologies for surprising you like this. I knew of no other way."
“I thought elves never left the forest anymore,” I said. “I was told no elf has set foot in the city in years.”
The female elf smiled at that. “None that anyone has seen, you mean. At least, none that we did not allow to be seen.”
Petal Wildflower Elven Guard Captain Powers:
Flurry Of Blades - Expert
Tree Hugger - Adept
Skills:
Aikido - Expert
Archery - Expert
Elvish Dual Knife Fighting - Master
First Aid - Adept
Herbalism - Competent
Stealth - Master
She’s strong for an NPC. Not quite an S-Ranker like Akari, but definitely better than us. I checked the Status of the other two, who were identified as Elven Guards. Their abilites were good; not as good as their Captain's, but if the three of us were to take them on, I had no doubt they'd probably win.
I gestured at the empty seats by the fire. “Please, join us.”
“Thank you, but we are not here to stay. We have come only to bring you back to the forest at the behest of our Magikist.”
“Why us?” Jane asked.
“Not all of you,” the elf said, “just you.” She was pointing at me.
“Huh?” I said.
“Are you not the one who created this?” She reached under her cloak and pulled out one of the lavender flowers I’d made along the wall of thorns last time I’d visited.
I was right. Someone had been watching me.
“Ye-e-es,” I said warily. “Why?”
“Our Magikist believes you may hold the key to ending the shadow Blight that has plagued us for so long.” She rose and took a step forward, standing tall and proud and looking me square in the eyes, then bent forward into a deep bow. “Please come and help us,” she said.
Right on! A quest!
“Well this is unexpected,” Jane said. “Are you sure we can’t come too?”
The elf straightened up again and regarded Jane and Sam for a few moments. “I do sense the Green in you.” There was another pause as she considered, then she said, “Fine. You may come too.”
“Awesome! I’m Jane, by the way, and this is Daniel and Sam.”
The female elf inclined her head. “I am Petal, Captain of the Forest Guards, and my companions are Phlox and Vinca, two of my best soldiers.”
The Green. The one thing Jane, Sam, and I had in common was affinity with Nature. Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe we have discovered the Nature Dungeon.
Suddenly, and that is the right word this time, Sigrid burst from her room, her armor only half buckled in haste, shield and spear at the ready. “What’s going on? I got the weirdest sensation from my danger sense.” She raced to the fire then skidded to a stop when she saw the scene around it. The two male elves stood, reaching once again for their knives, but the female made them stop again.
“Sorry,” she said. “We are always a bit skittish when we leave the forest.”
“Elves?” Sigrid said.
“I know!” Jane said.
Petal regarded Sigrid then her eyes widened. “That armor!”
“What about it?” Sigrid said.
Twice she'd stopped her companions from drawing their blades, but the female elf's hands now dropped to her sides and in the blink of an eye she was crouched in a fighting posture, a long knife in each hand, and practically oozing with murderous intent. “Where did you get it?!”