Banging on the walls of the wooden wagon to alert Alex, Elyza shot a glance at the broken down coach that blocked the path forward, gesturing to the merchant sitting next to her to slow down the horses. A groan emanated from within the wagon. It had been only half an hour since Alex had handed off the chaperoning to her, and he was finally about to succumb to a much-needed nap. Lifting his weary head from the comfort of a wooden crate he was using as a pillow, he jumped out and followed behind the horse-drawn wagon as it eased its pace.
Overtaking the wagon as it stopped, the merchant retreated into the safety of the wagon, as Alex joined Elyza as the duo walked towards the kneeling carriage, a man wearing quite fancy garments waving to them for help. He seemed bothered, an appropriate reaction to the situation, but his eyes weren’t focused on the people coming to help, his gaze drifting uneasily toward the shadows cast by the surrounding trees.
“T-thank god so-someone arrived so soon.” the man spoke, his voice wavering dangerously, as if he was about to collapse from exhaustion, sweat trickling down his reddening face. Unless he thought the two had come to rob him, he was awfully nervous.
“What happened?” Elyza inquired, her gaze shifting between the distressed man and her partner, who was already investigating the intricately embellished coach.
“W-we were just passing through when w-I suddenly heard a loud crack and the whine of horses, and felt the carriage come to an abrupt halt. My driver told me that the horses had panicked and ran, so he went after them and told me to wait.” As he spoke, while he did maintain eye contact, he never once blinked. He was trying to seem like he wasn’t lying, his posture too perfect, his words too carefully chosen.
While the two were talking, Alex was figuring out how the horses got free. It wasn’t an arduous task. The area of the U-shaped shaft to which the horses are tied to in a coach, didn’t snap off, there were no wooden shards that had fallen down, they were cleaved off. And something that was even more damning, the pieces that had been separated from the shaft were still lying on the ground, with the part of the traces still attached to it.
He looked towards Elyza, and she met his gaze, and they both came to a mutual understanding. This was a trap, a bad one at that. Without exchanging a word, they seamlessly slipped into their roles, each assuming a character to draw out, in most likelihood, the bandits hiding in the cover of the forest.
Elyza adopted an air of vulnerable naivety, her features softening into an expression of concern and uncertainty, a rare sight for Alex, as he usually assumed that caricature. Meanwhile, Alex himself adopted an air of heavily misplaced self-confidence, his swagger exaggerated as he rejoined the group, even stumbling over the still wooden wreckage in a clumsy attempt to appear authoritative.
“Yup, definitely broken,” He announced, puffing out his chest in a display of false bravado as he examined the damaged carriage.
“That’s a shame, I was about to lend him one of our horses so he could reach his destination,” she began, her voice uncharacteristically exuberant. As Alex closed his eyes and focused, she addressed the man once more, her keen gaze scanning the elegantly decorated interior of the carriage for any signs of additional occupants.
“Were you the only one travelling in this coach?” she questioned, peering inside the elegantly decorated area for any signs it was used to house multiple. A set of muddy footprints on the plush purple carpet confirmed her suspicions, prompting a quick glance from the man towards the concealing foliage of the surrounding trees.
Before the man could answer her, Alex subtly released a pulse of mana, and immediately felt them return, bouncing back as they hit the people hiding in the trees. Elyza felt the wave pass over her as well, and when she glanced over, she saw him holding up a sign for eight. Turning back to the man acting as the bandit’s bait, she noticed him quickly glance towards the trees, he was worried about someone hiding within the foliage.
“No, I, uh, I always travel by my lonesome,” he stammered, his nervous demeanour getting even worse, sweating a river, barely managing to keep his hands from trembling. They were finally about to meet the bandits.
“I guess we could let you travel with us,” Alex remarked, his voice going all high and mighty, “Although, we may have to unload some of our cargo, unless you would be willing to pay for the lost value we would incur,” the words felt just as slimy as he wanted them to.
And it began, the trap finally unfurled around them. Jagged stone walls erupted from the ground in front of them, blocking the road forward, while another set emerged from behind the two carriages, emitting a horrendous screech as the stone grated against the gravel roads.
As the dust settled, two bandits revealed themselves by stepping boldly in front of the duo, abandoning the safety of the trees. They stood tall against the backdrop of granite pillars, their weapons drawn and ready. Four more emerged from the shadows, flanking the wagon with two on each side, their faces scrunched in an attempt to look tough.
Of the six assailants, two were unmistakably mages, their staves held aloft alongside their daggers. While one was dual-wielding swords, holding them as clumsily as the grounds on which that fighting style was developed, another holding a gleaming spear, looking as new as the weapon she wielded. Yet another held in his hands a rusty mace, while the last one simply held up his fists, which were wrapped in leather strips.
The last one to emerge seemed to be the leader of the bandits, a scar running the length of his face, going through his eye and mouth, the tip of his nose missing. Donning full knight armour, his left arm didn’t look real, the mass not matching the right one, the shine and grain of the metal not matching the rest of the coat of mail—it was mechanical.
As the leader of the bandits approached, strutting confidently with his longsword resting casually on his shoulder, he began to speak, his voice dripping with arrogance. “Look what we caught, boys! Some more benefactors to help us. So why don't you pompous pricks relieve yourselves of your—”
He never had the chance to finish his sentence. With a sudden crackle of lightning, a bolt slammed into his chest, propelling him backward into the granite walls with a resounding thud. The leader crumpled to the ground, his mechanical arm sparking and sputtering as he lay stunned.
The attack was rapidly followed by another stream of lightning erupted from Alex's other hand, striking the mage who had stood to the right of the leader. She was catapulted into her own wall, arcs of electricity crackling in the air before dissipating into nothingness. Elyza, just as quick to react, forced the air above the other bandit to thicken till it was dense as metal, pushing down on the dual-wielding swordsman, squeezing him against the gravel till his nose bled, long enough so that he only lost consciousness.
A tense silence hung in the air as the rest of the bandits’ minds tried to catch up to what they had just seen. As Elyza nodded towards the bait to get in the coach, Alex broke the quiet by addressing the gang with a measured tone, naturally smiling as he said, “We don't have a lot of time to waste here, so if you could surrender peacefully that would be extremely convenient…” letting his words trail off so they could tell he was being sincere, and able to follow up on his unsaid promise.
Before the bandits could fully process the gravity of their situation, the bare-handed bandit rushed forward with a bloodthirsty scream, his fists bursting into flames as he slammed his knuckles against each other. The rest of the gang followed suit, spurred on by the momentum of their de facto leader's reckless charge. Elyza moved first this time, her hand shooting forward, calling upon the ring hiding beneath her gauntlets. With a swift motion, her halberd materialised in her grasp, its gleaming gold-plated blade shimmering in the dappled sunlight.
The serpent that wrapped around the shaft would unfortunately have to starve, the blade remaining clean for another day. Stepping forward with practised precision, she flicked the blunt of the spear into the rushing martial artist’s head, smashing the ironwood into his temple. There was a crack of bone, and the man crumpled, his momentum causing him to slide on the loose gravel road as he did. He still drew breath, but the others didn’t realise that fact.
As panic spread among the remaining bandits, Alex seized the opportunity to exploit their fear. His hand clenched the empty air into a fist. The long shadows of the wagon exploded into tendrils of darkness under his command, enveloping the two nearest bandits—the mage and the one wielding the tarnished morning star—squeezing them, causing their weapons to snap, and crushing the air from their lungs, leaving them gasping for breath. Alex dismissed his hold with a snap of his wrist, throwing them both into the trees, fortunately not going far, the impact with the trunks of birch leaving them dazed and disoriented.
And then there was one. Neither of the two wanted to embarrass someone who had clearly joined the band of bandits in the near past, either due to either necessity or coercion. They did not need to, because as soon as the duo turned their attention towards her, she just yelped, let go of her spear, and stammered out, “I-I s-surrender, I’m sorry.”
It looked like she was about to cry in fear, so Elyza moved to comfort her, her halberd returning to its ring form. “If you have realised what you were doing is wrong, then you need not fear us.” she reassured her, her voice gentle yet firm, gesturing to the last bandit to sit next to the wagon. “Now rest, we may need your testimony against the others, but I will make sure that they are lenient towards you, if you deserve it.”
“Although,” Alex threw out into the conversation, “It would be helpful if you could lend a hand in rounding up the rest of the circus, especially…” turning around to see the bandits’ leader clearly not where he was supposed to be, only his sword lying on the ground, and exclaimed, “…FUCK.” He concentrated a ball of mana within his chest as fast as he could, disregarding the pain that followed, releasing it as fast as possible. Something pinged to his left, and he reacted instinctively, swinging around and drawing his dagger in one motion, ready to defend against an attack.
The leader stumbled out of the woods, his arm wrapped tightly around a girl, a knife pressed threateningly against her throat. His hand trembled, his breath laboured from the electric shock he had endured. Alex glanced behind, expecting Elyza to be there, wanting to discuss how they would approach the situation, but when he saw no one behind him, he knew what she was planning.
“I thought you would have pride,” Alex remarked, turning back towards the trembling leader. He deliberately avoided the pleading gaze of the hostage, “But I was clearly mistaken. Look at you hiding behind a hostage. A soldier only by looks, since you’ve cowering behind another like a dog with a tail beneath its leg,” he spat out grinning, his tone dripping with disdain yet his face revealing no care for the girl.
The words struck a nerve, igniting a flicker of anger in the leader's eyes, though not enough to drive him to rash action. “Here’s what you’re going to do,” he stopped, readjusting his grip on the hostage as she tried to break free, having the audacity to demand, “Unhook a horse from behind you, get in the wagon, and I’ll let the girl go.”
“DON’T LIST-” The girl’s words were cut off abruptly as the cold steel of the knife pressed harder against her skin, silencing her protest.
“I agree with your hostage, why the fuck would I trust you, because we both know as soon as you let go of her,” Alex stared, holding out his hand, the shadows beneath him parting to allow a claymore wreathe in umbra to rise under his command, the darkness protecting it in its journey dissolving to reveal its deep red gem core, surrounded by metal that looked like pure charcoal.
He grasped the hilt of the sword with one hand, swinging it effortlessly to cradle it within his arms, the blade pointing to the sky, continuing, “There will be nothing in the world stopping me from castrating you, and I know from the look in your eyes, you're too much of a coward to actually follow through with your little threat.”
“Your little tricks don’t scare me!” He exclaimed, trying to deceive the assassin.
“This wasn’t meant to scare you.” Just as Alex uttered the words, his partner grabbed a hold of the distracted leader, using one arm to put him into a choke hold. The other pried the metal arm ajar, twisting the wrist so that it could not maintain a grip on the weapon it held. As the knife fell on the ground, his other arm rushed upwards in a futile attempt to do something about Elyza’s grasp on his throat, his mechanical arm failing to match her trained muscles. Now suddenly free, the girl stumbled forward, before dashing towards the coach, and Alex ignored her for the time being.
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As his accomplice lighted the man in full armour off the ground, the leader’s legs swinging like a newborn baby, struggling against Ears’ strength, he asked, “What do you want to do with him?”
She thought for a moment, with deadpan, she replied, “I believe a slap would be sufficient in his case.”
The leader's face contorted with a mix of fear and confusion, mirroring the elation evident in Alex's expression. Before he could figure out the hidden meaning behind the words, Elyza shoved him towards her partner, who just waited for him to stumble forward.
Without hesitation, Alex raised his right hand, and brought it down as hard as possible, almost losing control and turning his palm into lightning. Colliding with the bandit's cheek with an intensity that the world appeared to go silent as his palm made impact, erupting into a resounding thunder. The leader collapsed to the ground, stunned by the force of the blow as the echo of the slap lingered in the air.
“That looked better than last time.” Elyza remarked, walking over to the unconscious body, grabbing its ankles and dragging the leader towards the broken carriage.
“Eh, The angle was a bit off, had to twist my wrist quite a bit, didn’t feel natural,” Alex mused, walking backwards knocking on the tightly shut carriage door. He called out to the people bunkering inside, his voice returning to his usual, almost on the verge of cracking a joke, “You can come out now!”
There was a moment of hesitation from the other side of the door before it creaked open, the bait peering through the crack with a look of contemplation on his face, still deciding whether to trust the two. “Let us be, we have nothing to reward you with at the moment,” Mr. Bait pleaded, a kernel of doubt still in his head, which annoyed their saviour a bit, not enough to express it, but the emotion was present
Before he could clarify his intentions, the man’s daughter spoke up, her voice carrying a tone of reassurance, “It’s alright Father, he doesn’t seem to harbour any ill intention.”
Alex smiled warmly, exuding an aura of compassion as he stepped forward to address the father and daughter. “Hello, I didn’t get to properly introduce myself the last time we spoke, I’m Alex,” he heard someone being dragged behind him, gesturing towards his accomplice who was busy dragging the mage behind her. Acknowledging the scepticism in their eyes, Alex continued with a comforting tone, “And that absolute spectacle of an elf, is my partner in crime, Elyza. Your daughter’s intuition is spot on. We’re but only humble explorers travelling, who wanted nothing more but to help some fellow travellers.”
By the looks on their faces, he knew that they doubted that they both were mere explorers, considering the absolute domination they had just witnessed, but nevertheless he continued, “So it would calm my nerves to know that you are healthy, and if you and your daughter are willing, I would love to extend an invitation to join our journey till we reach Rexham. If not, well, there are other ways I can arrange your travel.” For some reason, his poorly hidden, accidental, and frankly incredulous threat, convinced the family to promptly accept his help.
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Rays of coloured sunlight cascaded into the room, casting vibrant hues upon the space where Alex and Elyza found themselves essentially trapped. Not by physical barriers, nor by any arcane forces, but rather by the constraints of social norms. To be fair, it wasn’t that they weren’t willing to break social convention, if only the one who had trapped them in the room wasn’t Rexham’s Guild Master.
So they both stayed sitting on chairs whose cushions were so flaccid that they felt as if they were made of loose stones stuffed in rough wool. The room was cluttered, clearly the Guild Master had held the position for a significant amount of time, but it still carried an air of importance, if you could ignore the stale air.
The walls boasted an eclectic array of trophies—skulls from an impressive variety of monsters. Some were undoubtedly genuine, their weathered surfaces and jagged edges bearing witness to battles long past. Yet others seemed suspiciously perfect, their teeth too pristine, their surfaces too smooth. A few were clearly replicas, lacking the telltale signs of age and wear. Alongside hung depictions of past guild masters in oil painted portraits, and a few family portraits of the current Guild Master were interspersed among them. Flanking the desk beneath a towering stained-glass window—depicting the legendary red dragon of local folklore—stood towering bookshelves
Elyza sat with relative patience, her feet idly tracing patterns on the worn carpet beneath the desk, waiting for the Guild Master’s return. Beside her, Alex grew increasingly restless, having already paced around the room and touched whatever was in range of his grubby little hands for ten minutes by now.
Finally, the door swung open, and the Guild Master stumbled in, carrying a stack of papers. In his mid-fifties, his hair half grey, he was dressed in what could only be described as 'Casual Aristocracy'—a white poet's shirt, a red coat of mail, and a black vest, paired with white pants and leather boots. Clearly having dressed in a hurry, his shirt was improperly tucked in, his hair shabbily combed over his skull, and his glasses sat crookedly on the bridge of his nose, giving him the appearance of a neighbourhood grandpa.
“Sorry about the wait, you two. It took a bit longer than I would've liked,” he apologised as he settled into his chair, which was noticeably more luxurious than the ones provided to Alex and Elyza. Readjusting his glasses, the Guild Master continued, “And I was surprised to learn that you were telling the truth.
With a deep breath, he acknowledged, “Please accept my apologies, Alex and Elyza, was it?” His tone held genuine remorse as he addressed the duo. “As a representative of the town of Rexham, I, Lucian Crane, would like to extend its gratitude for helping remove a gang that has been terrorising the district for the past two years.”
In a rare moment of restraint, Alex bit his tongue to prevent himself from impulsively responding, allowing Elyza to take the lead. “I appreciate your thanks, and I believe my argument for Mara was sufficient to award her some leniency,” she stated calmly, exuding more authority than the mind
“Ah, yes,” Mr. Crane acknowledged, shuffling through the papers in his hands. “The paladin? No, the artificer, I believe.” He paused, his brow furrowing slightly as he scanned the documents before him. “I've reviewed her record. It appears she was coerced into creating weapons for the group after they threatened to burn down her workshop.”
“Furthermore, the reason she was present during this particular incident was because one of their members had perished in a recent hijacking. They were reluctant to abandon the opportunity presented this weekend, especially given the influx of travellers due to the annual festival in Ruvha.”
“It was quite fortunate that you two were the ones that stumbled across the scene.” Mr. Crane’s tone turned sceptical, “Even more so that you two were able to defeat them all, quite handily, by what I’ve heard. You both came from the Capital, correct?”
“Yes.” Elyza replied, while Alex stared at her, still keeping quiet, knowing what they were going to be asked next, wanting to study how she would approach the situation.
“Why exactly are you two visiting our quaint little town? The Guild says that you two are merely explorers.” Mr. Crane pressed, his gaze narrowing in suspicion.
“Just a stop as we head to the coast,” She replied, her tone turning back to a bubbly voice as she reached out to take his hand. “Me and Alex are going to visit family up north.” She lied, throwing the Guild Master off of his suspicions, whose expression relaxed as the conversation proceeded.
“And I saw downstairs that there was a significant amount set to be rewarded to the people who gave information about the gang,” she continued, her voice bright and enthusiastic, “I was wondering if you could maybe add a night’s stay in a local to it? Since we did catch them and all.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Mr. Crane accepted, nodding in agreement. “We’ll make sure to set you up with the best room our local inn has to offer, it’ll take us about an hour.”
“Thank you, now if you would excuse us, I haven’t eaten in nine hours, and I am starving,” She proclaimed, and with that, she strode towards the door, Alex trailing behind her.
As soon as the door closed behind them, he wasted no time to talk. “Me and Alex, eh, the beach, what a romantic destination for our two-year anniversary,” he teased, earning a slight eye roll from Elyza, even though she knew how he would react.
“Let us just go and see what is wrong with the cave,” She sighed as she moved towards the stairs.
“Why didn’t you tell him why we actually came here?” he questioned, tracing her steps, wanting to know her thoughts.
“A gut feeling.” her voice was quiet yet resolute.
A playful grin spread across his face, as he admitted, “Good, I thought I was just hungry.”
Once they walked out of the guild, it didn’t take them long to know their heading. First they went to the only inn in the town, just to inform them that they would be staying there, before offhandedly mentioning having a picnic date as they waited. The receptionist immediately forewarned them of going to a particular area of the forest, notifying them of the people that were supposedly disappearing near there. And they repeated that with everyone they met as they walked into the birch woodland, which included, a company of adventurers, a lumberjack, and some apothecaries.
The cave was, supposedly, southeast of Rexham. After some snooping around the guild, along with some first-hand experiences Alex had had stumbling through the same woods, extraordinarily drunk, they both were making good progress navigating through the ocean of white.
Squirrels darted between the branches of the ashen trees, while birds chirped around them, signalling the onset of dusk. They encountered traces of monsters along the way—a couple of harmless slimes, a pack of dire wolves that scattered as soon as they spotted the duo, and a young rust eater whom Elyza fed an old paring knife.
“What’s our plan?” Alex asked, his voice cutting through the tranquillity of the forest, as they stepped over a rotting log.
“Depends on what is in store for us. Although the likelihood of it being a monster den is increasing with each minute, I believe you’ve noticed it as well.” Elyza remarked, her voice melding with the calmness of the forest.
“That everything we’ve encountered is running the same way? I did, how do you want to do this?”
“If they're goblins, lure them out by throwing in some monkshead seeds, if they're ogres, we go in and block the exit. Either way, we just need to slaughter them all.”
“After…?”
“After we make sure they aren’t capable of morality and high level consciousness.” She repeated what he parroted whenever they went monster hunting. It was a ritualistic exchange, yet one they never skipped. Yet she still asked her usual question even though she knew his answer, “Why do you insist we do this every time we have to kill ruthless monsters.”
“It’s personal in a way. And you can’t assume something is evil before you stare into its eyes, or eye, or the general face… area.”
And on they both went, making their own trail through the trunks, Elyza picking up some rare plants to experiment with, while Alex avoided trying to pet everything that came in ten metres of them. The incline started to increase slowly, soon they were climbing a hill, when suddenly the trees just stopped, and they emerged into a clearing before a cave burrowed into the cliff face. Trees were lying on the ground, compressing the dirt beneath them. They had been uprooted, their branches stripped of leaves, and they all seemed to have pushed away from the cave.
The cave… looked like a cave, usually dens had a few monsters loitering outside, keeping a look-out, or skinning whatever they caught, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. As they approached the entrance, the ground beneath them was scorched, remnants from campfires, both noticing a pattern scratched into the floor — three vertical lines parallel to each other. The air smelled smokey, not damp, the walls barely moist, and there was a slight breeze coming from within.
With a nod from Elyza, Alex focused as hard as he could, and his right hand lit ablaze. He led the two into the darkness, trusting her to be his senses as he focused his entirety to feed and keep the fire alive. The fire danced in response to the soft breeze, which dwindled and flourished in a pattern, casting eerie shadows on the dolomite walls as they delved deeper into the cave. Gradually, the air grew thick and oppressive, yet the duo continued on, unaffected by the dense air.
Then, amidst the darkness, they stumbled upon a grisly sight—bones littered the cavern floor, cracked and picked clean of flesh. Elyza picked up one of the bones, examining it closely. The marrow had been completely sucked out, leaving behind a hollow husk. The stench of decay hung heavy in the air, and the ends of the bones showed signs of being gnawed on, yet there were no maggots to be found. It was as if something within the cave was starving for nourishment, leaving behind only desolate remains. All the other remains they encountered as they continued, maybe twenty to thirty bodies, were in the same state. Whatever was occupying the cave clearly didn’t appreciate visitors.
The ground gradually became more slippery beneath their feet as they progressed, the walls appearing fresher and whiter, less weathered by the elements, with dust lingering in the air. It was evident that this part of the tunnel had been freshly dug, they were nearing the end of the tunnel.
As they kept walking, the sound of heavy breathing echoed through the cavern, matching the rhythmic flicker of their flames, and simultaneously they both realised, there was something huge waiting for them. As they neared the final curve, nearing the apex, they both synchronously called upon their weapons, Alex’s claymore extending from his cloak, while Elyza’s halberd popped in her hand. The duo took a deep breath, focusing themselves for the coming bloodshed, and stepped past the apex of the curve.
“You have to be kidding me.” Elyza bluntly stated.
“Well, thankfully it isn’t a monsters’ den,” Alex blurted out, trying to look at the positive side of things, to keep the morale up. Which was hard when they were both standing in front of a curled up snoozing dragon who filled the entirety of the chamber they stood at the entrance of.