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Vaylari jumped forward and blocked Pegg’s sword with her two daggers. She used their curved shape to lock his blade in place.

“You idiot. Don’t fight the Skurr. He’s saved our lives. Do you want to go back out there and face that swarm of feral monsters?” She said.

“No of course not, but-“ Pegg said and the point of his sword dipped an inch.

Vaylari cuts him off and turned to Hemut without releasing Pegg’s blade.

“Do you want to go fight feral monsters? Or do you want to sit tight with this group of travelers?”

Hemut shook his head, then got confused and nodded his head yes.

“No, of course not Vaylari.” Pegg said. She let his sword fall to his side.

Drew hopped back some more and perched on top of William’s suit crate.

Why is he coming after me? I’m a nice guy. I don’t want to get involved in any of their drama.

“We have to face some facts here; we are trapped in a cave, and there’s a damn army of goblins in here with us. And to top it all off we got separated from the crew! Worst case they could be dead or they are long gone!” Peg yelled back.

Vaylari got up into his face and shouted. “You did that you twat! Hemut and I followed you to save your ass back there!”

Hemut nodded.

“Someone had to make a decision. I don’t know if you noticed but we were in a bad spot back there. Those monsters were everywhere. Nobody could see a thing.”

“I was there damn it. Don’t act like I was just taking a nap!” Vaylari said.

“Well now we are in here with this group of strangers, all of them under this demon’s thumb.” He shouted.

“He’s not a demon.” Thrain called over.

“He has claws, not thumbs.” William chimed in.

“You two aren’t helping things. Let’s just stay out of it.” Drew whispered to his friends.

Pegg carried on yelling at Vaylari as if he hadn’t heard them.

“Somebody needs to take control of this situation and if no one else is prepared to take on that responsibility, then perhaps I should.” Pegg said.

“He’s not a demon Pegg.” Vaylari said.

“How can you know that? How do we know he’s not a demon?”

“A demon wouldn’t have helped us. Wouldn’t have healed us.” Vaylari said.

“Would he not? He would! Are you really going to put your faith in a monster who you said your self was a strange little monster? You said his claws creeped you out, among other things. A monster whose idea of a fair price for healing is some silver and a biscuit?”

“Not a hefty price Pegg. And I’m happy to pay it if it means no debuffs or poor sleep healing up.” She said.

“Well now we are trapped in a dark cave so you can fondle his creepy claws all you want.”

Hemut scowled at Pegg.

“Don’t get vulgar with me just because you are freaking out!” Vaylari shouted. “And I told you before to keep your vivid fantasies to your self!”

My claws aren’t creepy. I keep them very clean.

“We followed three identical men named John into a cave! A cave.” He cried and pulled at his hair.

Pegg kicked some shale on the ground and it skittered away into the darkness.

“We are in a cave. And everyone is gone. What the hell are we going to do?” He grumbled.

“We can buy rations from the Johns.” Vaylari said uncertainly.

Pegg stomped over to the John’s storage cart.

Hey where are you going?

“Ok, then what? I mean how long are we going to be here? Hours? Weeks? What about bedding? Where are we going to sleep?” He shouted and gestured at the wagon

“I have some coin.” Vaylari said.

“Phew, that’s okay then.” Pegg said sarcastically. “Oh wait. What if they don’t have anything to spare! Look how few crates of produce they have!”

William stepped up into to the wagon and pounded on the tailgate.

“They have prepared meals in storage. This is a licensed transport with the guild. They are nothing if not professional.” William said.

“And we forage fresh produce as we travel.” Drew said from his perch near the fountain. “And Thrain is a renowned merchant, he has bedrolls and anything else you could want to buy.”

“Thank you for your business!” Thrain cheered from his seat.

“Well as long as we’ve got coin then we are saved.” Pegg said snidely. “Whole lot of foraging to do in a cave. We could boil rocks.”

“Sir.” A mercenary said firmly.“You are making a fool of yourself. Get away from the wagon. Calm down and shut up.”

“Or what? You will stab me with that spear? Going to feed me to your demon bird?”

Peg grabbed a sack off the wagon and threw it on the ground.

Before the mercenary could strike him, Hemut cuffed Pegg on the head and offered the bag to the mercenary.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Instead, Marcus took the bag and tied it in place on the wagon. He checked a chest for some provisions and started planning out their next meal.

“Is nyut Demin” Hemut said to Pegg.

“You too Hemut?” Pegg said as he rubbed his head. “Why, because he was nice to us? Even if he does heal us, for a price mind you, do you really think his end goal will extend to anything more than killing you in the dark and eating your rotting corpse?“

“I’ve never eaten a rotten corpse in my life!” Drew squawked.

Hemut grunted and shrugged.

“You think that he’s gonna stroll on over every time you get nicked and make everything okay is he?” Pegg laughed at Hemut, then turned to point a finger at Vaylari. “He’s got her-“

“I don’t know Pegg!” Vaylari shouted. “I don’t know anymore than you do. What I do know is that we would be dead and devoured if we did not find their group and this cave. We’re here now and we have to make the best of it.”

Vaylari paused to take a breath then called out to Thrain.

“Sorry for my friend, if he hasn’t offended you too much, I’d buy an ale.”

“Certainly.” Thrain said and gestured to Krag who was standing by.

“Yeah, that’s great. Let’s all get drunk on Dwarvish stout shall we? Great idea. Why don’t we have some nibbles while we’re at it?”

Pegg flounced around to the other side of the cart and rifled through the crates, pulling at the ropes petulantly.

“Enough.” The mercenary said. “Stop at once or I will be forced to stop you.”

Another mercenary, came over and leveled his spear at Pegg.

“Don’t think they won’t rough you up.” Drew said. “They are professionals.”

“A duel then!” Pegg shouted turning to Drew. “A demon cannot refuse a duel.”

New Duel: Pegg challenges Drew to a duel. The terms of the duel are to first blood or forfeit. Reward: ten silver and ten biscuits. Accept: Y/N?

It’s not worth anything to me to fight this guy. I need to learn more of the symbols and complete this puzzling quest. It’s the only way to find this dungeon and then save this Exylandria woman. I don’t actually have time for his drama.

“Well demon! Accept my duel. A gentleman’s fight to first blood. Winner gets ten silver and ten biscuits!”

That would complete two of my quests. And I could shut him up.

No.

“I decline. I do not have to fight you. I’m not a muderhobo demon.” Drew said smartly. “Now leave me alone I’m going to solve this puzzle and find a dungeon.”

Pegg was surprised, his mouth fell open.

“What kind of trick is this? What is a hoebow?” He yelled and swung his sword at Drew in a lunge.

Marcus cried out in surprise. William scrambled to throw himself in the way, but he was too slow.

Krag grabbed Pegg’s sword mid swing, stopping it completely.

“Krag will accept your duel.” He said.

Pegg tugged on his sword but the half orc had a firm grip on the blade.

“Wat wait.” Pegg stammered. “I have no quarrel with you brute.”

Thrain laughed. “You only want to pick fights with small birds? Drew is a friend of the Blacktooth clan and they are honor bound to protect their friends.”

Krag nodded. He twisted the sword from Pegg’s grip and dropped it to the side. His hand bled a little from where it was cut.

“Bare hands, like real men.” Krag grunted.

He doesn’t need to fight for me. I can fight for myself! Nobody needs to fight.

“Enough! No fighting. Nobody needs to duel anyone.” Drew shouted and flapped over to Krag and Pegg.

“What ever drama you have with me, just drop it. I want nothing to do with you.” Drew said to Pegg.

“And Krag, my friend. Thank you for standing up for me. But this man has done nothing to offend my honor. Let’s forget about all of this and I’ll heal that cut on your hand.” Drew said to Krag.

The brute gave Pegg a long look then shrugged to Drew. He dropped his stance and offered Drew his hand to heal.

“That’s it?” Pegg cried.

“Just sit down and think about what you did.” Vaylari said and smacked him on the back of his head. “Idiot. These are our hosts until we get out of here, we should be on our best behavior.”

Minor Wound: (0/1) exp 150

“What was his problem?” William asked as the three ranchers walked away.

“No idea. Some people are just that way. It’s this crazy world.” Drew said.

“Were you unsure that you would win?” William asked.

“No? I don’t know. He has a big sword, my dagger would be little help. But I saw him fighting those Hoppers, he’s kinda slow with it, and I’m fast? But no. I wasn’t thinking I would lose. It’s just a waste of time to fight someone when we could just not and get along.” Drew said.

Drew flew over to his wagon and equipped his armor, then hightailed it back to the fountain.

Would be a good idea to keep my armor on hand.

Drew cleaned off his armor and mended them as needed.

[Skurr Breastpiece - Fine] - Piercing and Slashing damage reduced by 2.

[Skurr Mantle - Fine] - Agility +2

[Skurr Greaves - Fine (Set of Two)] - Strength +1, Charisma +2, Piercing and slashing damage - 2

[Skurr Circlet - Fine] - Constitution +1, Agility +1, M. Regen +1%.

While the armor dried he cleaned his feathers too.

The people around him sat sullenly. Cant blame them for being gloomy, we are trapped in a cave in near darkness. They would put anyone on edge.

Drew scratched away more of the crud from the strange symbols on the fountain. William joined him.

“So then you meant it?” William asked. He picked up a sharp rock that fit well in his hand and helped scrape the grit and moss from the fountain to expose more of the strange symbols.

“Meant what?” Drew asked.

Puzzling: Strange Symbols II. (31%)

“That he had not offended your honor.” William said. “My father was a knight and anyone who challenged him to a duel was struck down. He was very honorable and was in good standing.”

“Seems like a ton of work.” Drew said.

“True, it was. He dueled nearly every day and it eventually killed him.” William said looking down.

“Sorry for your loss William. He could have been a better father to you instead of dueling.”

“Oh he was a fine father to me. Provided for me and my mother well.”

Puzzling: Strange Symbols II. (35%)

This quest is taking forever. Is there a short cut? I know that this fountain is the key.

Drew looked down at the strange symbols carved into the fountain. He and William had worked their way around about ten feet of the basin. The carvings were looping and continuous.

“William. Hear me out for a second.” Drew said.

William slid over and sat down on his suit crate beside Drew.

“Okay try me.” He said.

“So this is an elvish enchantment right?” Drew said, and William nodded. “So assuming this enchantment follows the same structure as a Ressian enchantment, and knowing that it’s concealing the entrance to the dungeon, couldn’t we break the enchantment?”

“I imagine not. All this crud from the fountain hasn’t broken the enchantment. And don’t enchantments explode when they fail?”

“Only some of them.” Drew said. “I’m going to try something. Stand back.”

“Did you say explode?” Pegg said, he marched up beside them with Vaylari close on his heals trying to hold him back.

“Well no.” Drew said. “William thinks this enchantment might burst if broken incorrectly.”

“Sounds like explode to me.” Pegg said. “What it’s doing here anyways?”

“It’s concealing the dungeon entrance.” Drew said.

Pegg’s demeanor changed immediately.

“Alright I’m in. How do we break it?” He asked.

“Well, I don’t read elvish, but looking at it, it repeats itself here.” Drew said.

Drew pointed out the spot where the flowing cursive script stretched out in a long flat area.

“If that’s the end then we can cut through and direct the mana into something else. Draining the enchantment.” Drew said.

“Sounds good to me.” Pegg said and whipped out his sword. “Just cut it here then.”

“Well wait-“ Drew said but Pegg swung down slicing through the script. There was a flash and the five of them were blinded and knocked on their butts.

Debuff: Blinded: (0:35)

Hero’s Quest: Save Exylandria: Reveal the entrance to the dungeon. Failed

“What happened?” A mercenary called out. “There was a flash of light over there!”

I can’t see a thing!

“What did you do?” Vaylari asked and grabbed Pegg by the throat.

“You alright William?” Drew asked as the blacksmith climbed up to sit on top of his suit crate. The young man was staring at the fountain.

“We broke it alright.” William said.

The fountain had shattered in several places and water was spilling out across the cave.

Drew tried to hop up onto the fountain and get a better look but the ground fell out from underneath him.

What the heck?

The whole fountain and a circular areas of about 3 meters around it flipped like a coin. It turned silently, end over end and dumped them all down into darkness.

Damien stretched and climbed up from his spot on the cave floor. He turned to look at Thrain and Krag’s slack jawed faces. They were staring at a pristine fountain slowly filling up with fresh spring water. It had been on the reverse side of the trap door.

“Where is everyone? What did I miss?” Damien asked groggily.