Silence gripped the small cavern that was hidden just beyond the entrance of the giant the Jellybeans were in. Moonlight was barely able to tease the edge of the pool of water in the centre of the underground room. Meowlynn continued to watch as Gene made his way towards Fern. The latter was frozen, staring at his own reflection in the same pool, tears welling up in his eyes.
“What the fuck did you just do?!” Gene’s voice echoed off the earth like the coming of a natural disaster.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Fern as a tear rolled down his cheek.
“You’re sorry? Well, your sorry isn’t going to help Aliya heal from her burns! Look at her right now, see what you did!” yelled Gene. Everyone glanced at the poor gnome.
She was barely consensus and was cutting open her forearms. A battle involving white and green energy trying to swallow corrupting black energy was hovering in front of her but soon the lighter colours won. Once the dark aura disappeared, a warm light slithered across Aliya and her skin started to recover rapidly. As the wounds on her arms closed, the cleric looked into the eyes of her best friend before passing out again.
“Not only did you almost kill her but she had to heal herself! How is anyone suppose to feel safe when they have teammates that cause more harm than their foes?” Gene glanced down at the pool. “Just because you are,” the monk started entering the body of water, “able to become an animal doesn’t mean you have to act like one.” Gene was wading in the water, “You better apologize to...” His voice abruptly stopped and his body became limp and his eyes seemed to gaze into the spirit realm. The monk began sinking and everyone had a confused a worried look in their face besides Meowlynn.
The wizard took everyone’s moment of panic to scan the rest of the cavern they were in. It was small and there was a tiny stream that fed into the larger pool of water. The stream came from somewhere beyond a clay wall. There were only two things of note besides the water. The first was a group of boxes and bags tucked away in a dark corner, and the second was a vanity sitting not far from the pool.
Just as Meowlynn was about to walk over to the vanity, the sound of a second splash resounded in her ears. She turned to see what happened, Ciylia was now floating in the water. The wizard couldn’t help but smile. “Meowlynn we need your help over here,” shouted Kira. The higher born elf gave a gentle nod before joining the short ranger.
Kira had grabbed a long rope from the pile of boxes Meowlynn had noticed in the corner, probably while Meowlynn was eyeing up vanity. “I need you to use your magical hand to put this end of the rope in Fern’s mouth. Using his strength as a bear and my own strength, we will pull them up. Now, once we have secured the rope on either side of the pool with our grips, you’ll have to use the magical hand to pull the rope under the water and get it under their arms then we can lift them out and drag them out,” said Kira.
“I suppose I could do that,” sighed Meowlynn. She brought out her wand and carefully flicked her wrist and soon a magical hand appeared. The hand looked like it once belonged to a knight. It appeared to be strong and had a ghostly gauntlet on it, though Meowlynn knew it was only for aesthetics as she wanted the group to think she summoned a mighty hand for the task.
She used her arcane will and grabbed one end of the rope while Kira grabbed the other. The hand floated over the motionless bodies of her teammates as it made its way across the pond. As the hand grew close, Fern turned into a bear and opened his maw. Meowlynn placed the rope onto the bear’s teeth and waited for the mouth to shut. Once it did, Meowlynn used the hand to take the middle of the rope and drag it under the water’s surface.
The rope was maneuvered with great difficulty and the wizard missed her mark a few times before she could get the rope under Gene’s arms. Once Meowlynn gave them a nod, Kira and Fern pulled the rope taut while moving towards the edge of the pool. The monk slowly surfaced but was stuck hanging limply across the rope.
To everyone’s surprise, including her own, Meowlynn went to the edge and attempt to pull Gene out of the water. It was the first time anyone had witnessed her break a sweat without being asked. It was hard and exhausting but somehow, the fragile-looking higher-born elf was able to lift her team’s leader to safety.
The moment his whole body left the water, Gene started coughing out water and gasped for air. “Well,” said Meowlynn. “Don’t we have one more to fish out?”
Fern and Kira repositioned themselves and got ready to do the same thing. Again Meowlynn used the hand to get the rope under Ciylia and the other two pulled her up. The only difference between this time and last time was that Gene pulled the thief out of the water. The wizard already did more than her fair share of the work.
“What the hell happened?” asked Fern.
“I have no idea,” replied Gene. “There was a glowing pink gem and when I saw it, I was compelled to grab it. Once I entered the water my mind went blank and I couldn’t even move!”
The group continued to talk but Meowlynn wasn’t too terribly interested in what they were saying. Instead, she was making her way to the vanity as she could faintly sense magic around it. As she approached it, it took out her wand and began casting a spell. She whispered all the types of magic that she knew, before saying, “Let my arcane eye guide me.” in elvish.
The colour of the world draining from her eyes. Everything appeared in black and white with shades of gray. It was as if she cast a spell to make herself colourblind. In reality, what it did was highlight all the things that possessed magic. The mirror on the vanity was bathed in a golden colour indicating a type of divination magic. Divination was the kind of magic that allowed the caster to see things either across great distances or into the future. A small red light emitted from a drawer in the vanity as well. This meant there was something with evocation properties in there.
The elf sat down in front of the mirror and stared at her reflection. As she suspected, she was still unbelievably gorgeous. Her hat accented her face and her tight clothes showed of her slightly more than generous curves. She ran her fingers along her narrow face and moved then down her body. The wizard enjoyed appreciating her body and she felt her breasts and then her hourglass waist. Truly, she must have been a goddess in the eyes of men and some women.
She touched the mirror as if trying to touch herself and then lifted it off the vanity. The mirror was flawless. The glazier who made it must have been a legendary artisan. Flowers were carved elegantly into the ivory frame, making the reflection of the person seem like a masterpiece. On the back of the mirror was a single word written in elvish that translated to the word “scry”.
Scrying was the ability to see across great distances to watch a location or person. Deciding to test it out, the wizard whispered, “Scry” in elvish. She focused her mind on her old bedroom.
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It was still perfectly maintained, she watched as a maid went into her room to dust it. It was very nostalgic to look into her old home. She hoped that one day she could flop into the fluffy bed that was near the window of her spacious living quarters. Once she had to ability to prove to her family that she was able to make something of herself out in the real world then she would return home. Perhaps, they would write legends of her one day.
A minute later, her sight return to the cavern she sat in. The elegant ivory that was around the mirror had turned to ebony and the mirror became smudged. Did she use all the magic? Oh well, she didn’t care. Her hand instead went towards the top left drawer of the vanity. As she opened it, a strange-looking ring rolled into view.
The ring was in the shape of a ram’s head. It was made of silver and had what Meowlynn guessed was alexandrite for the eyes. She slid it onto her left index finger and tried to channel magic through it but to no avail.
This was a powerful magical item and according to her past research, these things required something called attunement. Some rare items had specific requirements to attuning to them such as gender, certain body characteristics, bloodline, and so forth.
Meowlynn felt that she would meet the requirements as the item was evocation based and she was a student of evocation magic. The process took a bit of time ranging from thirty minutes to days depending on compatibility with the item. The wizard decided she wanted to give it a shot right here so she would have to convince her teammates to stick around for a bit.
“I’m very tired,” lied Meowlynn. “Do you think we could rest for a bit?” She looked at her leader with a pleading look on her face.
“I think that is a great idea,” replied Gene. “We definitely need a break. Fern needs to gather his strength as he is going to be our beast of burden as a small way to apologize for what he did. Aliya still needs to regain consciousness, again. I heard you did manual labour which must have been hard for you and Kira did her fair share of heavy lifting.”
“Thank you,” said the wizard while slightly bowing her head. She went back to the stool in front of the mirror and began to drown out the world around her. Meowlynn closed her eyes and focused her mind on the ring’s magic. It was draining to maintain this high level of focus but she was managing. Even though the sounds of Ciylia rummaging through the crates and bags threatened to break her concentration, she persevered.
Darkness surrounded Meowlynn, it took her eyes a while to the adjust. She knew her body was still sitting on the stood but she was clueless where her mind had gone. She was standing in front of an impossibly tall wall with a giant door in the middle of it. A giant humanoid figure stood in front of it with a tower shield.
“I can help you get through,” whispered a deep voice.
Meowlynn looked around for a moment and then noticed a strong humanoid body looming over her. This creature was very tall and had a ram-like head. It squatted down and hovered it long face barely over the wizard. “I can destroy that wall, door, and man for you if you wish.”
“Who are you?” asked Meowlynn.
“My name is Ajax, the great castle destroyer. Many have fallen to my might and I wish to lend you my power as well,” its voice could be heard but its lips never moved. Ajax just stared at the higher born elf with its green eyes.
“And why would you want to do that,” the wizard inquired.
“I’m trapped and bored,” it sighed. “Besides a bit of company could be nice. That tiger tried to bond with me but in the end, rejected my help. Since you are here I can only assume his foolishness has cost him his life.” The towering figure shrugged nonchalantly. Afterward, it just looked at her without saying something, waiting for a reply.
Moments passed before Meowlynn decided to break the silence. “Show me that I can use you then I judge if you can be my servant or not.”
“Of course master,” it chuckled playfully. Ajax crouched low and then sprinted towards the guard at the gate. Its skull smashed into the tower shield, obliterating it. It then jumped as the giant guard tried to stab the ram with a lance. The pointed stick missed and Ajax lowered its head and dashed the giant man. The ram’s horns impaled the man and he was crushed against the gate behind him.
An echo of a spine snapping reached Meowlynn’s ears as she slowly walked towards the castle gates. She walked with confidence, as if she was invincible, almost acting like there weren’t two giant beings fighting not far in front of her.
The guard’s body fell limp and Ajax once more crouched low and catapulted towards the gate. The ram’s momentum turned the giant door into splinters and the surrounding stone to dust. On the other side of the door was a desk with a single book on it.
Meowlynn casually walked through the rubble and recognized the desk. This was a fragment of her memory. She flipped open the book and read the spell that has made her want to become an evocation wizard. It was the very same spell that was in the bottle that Fern threw; Fireball.
She watched was pleased as she had forgotten the arcane symbols for learning it and here it was in front of her. While the others slept, she could now practice learning the spell. Pleased with the result of Ajax’s work, she turned to the large humanoid with a ram’s head. “Very well,” she said. “You may serve me Ajax.”
Ajax lowered its whole body towards her until was laying on the ground so that its head was below Meowlynn’s. “Yes, master. Please, use me often. I am but a tool for your greatness.” It lifted itself up and gently kissed the ring on her finger.
Slowly, Meowlynn’s eyes opened. The first thing she noticed was the mirror was returning to ivory. So the mirror was a magical item that took time to recharge. From the rate it was recovering she assumed the mirror could be used every day or two. She removed the mirror from the vanity and placed it in her backpack. Luckily, wasn’t huge and fit comfortably in her bag.
Next, she looked at her new ring. Its face looked exactly like Ajax, her new servant. The alexandrite seemed to glow with renewed life. Acquiring two magical items was well worth the trip to this filthy cave. Meowlynn hoped all of the group’s expeditions could be this fruitful.
While she was attuning to her new ring, Aliya had woken up and Gene was clutching a large garnet in his hand. The wizard made her way to the rest of the Jellybeans. “Thank you for allowing me to rest,” she said to Gene. “How did you get that?”
“I dived into the water with a rope tied to me. The second time I entered, my mind wasn’t attacked so I swam to the bottom and only found this there,” replied the monk.
“Can we get going? I would like a real rest,” whimpered Aliya. Her skin was mostly healed but she looked exhausted.
“Let’s get going,” agreed Gene. The man turned to Fern. “Just like we practiced.”
Fern laid down on the ground while Gene, Kira, and Ciylia rolled the corpses of the werecreatures on top of him. They had apparently collected the bodies while Meowlynn’s mind was occupied. After they were on top of the druid’s back he transformed into a bear. The group held the bodies still and then used the rope to secure them to the animal’s form.
Fern lumbered out of the hideout and everyone followed. Daylight encompassed the fields of bathing Meowlynn in warmth. Once they got to the gate, it took a bit of convincing but after a messenger was sent to the Hunt and returned to explain the situation, the party was allowed to enter. The guards had given them blankets to hide the bodies from the public's view as well.
Once they arrived at the Hunt, several people came out to help them unload the bodies. Everyone went to Astrin’s office after Fern reverted back to his normal self.
“Thank you all for your amazing work,” praised Astrin. “As promised, here is ze payment.” A large bag of coins slid across the table. Gene snatched the bag and began dividing the gold.
“We will return all the silvered items,” promised the monk. “May we rest in the barracks?”
“But of course,” the leader of the Hunt smiled. “In fact, we would like to give ze Jellybean a trial so you may officially join our ranks. Then you will get full payment from ‘unts.”
“When would we be doing this test?” asked Aliya.
“In a week’s time,” replied Mistress Astrin.
The cleric nodded to herself, “Would I be able to speak with you privately?”
“Of course, little one. Anything else I may help you with,” Astrin said while facing the rest of the group.
“I don’t think so,” Gene answered on the group’s behalf. “Here is 333 gold pieces for everyone and I’m giving the remaining two gold to Aliya and Kira. They did the most so they get a little extra.” He turned to the Hunt’s leader. “Have a good night.”
Gene walked out the door and everyone but Aliya followed suit. The Jellybeans quickly got ready for sleep and passed out within a few minutes. Sometime later, Aliya walked into the room and left a note on top of Kira’s equipment before walking out. Meowlynn ignored the gesture and began to meditate. She wanted to study the book that was hiding in her mind.