Lefty had a notification. A blinking panel in the corner of his vision was informing him he had leveled up. He only needed to access his H.U.D to activate the process. This was probably the most important thing that had happened to him since he had arrived here on Wraath, as wizards were notoriously underpowered at the lower levels and any kind of advancement meant a positive step toward his prospects of survival. However, before he could level up, there was one big obstacle he had to get past: The centipede’s poison had paralyzed him.

Oh, and there was also the sinking feeling that he might be dying.

On the plus side, he couldn’t feel any of his extremities, his face, or most of his body. If there was any pain, he couldn’t really feel it. So on the plus side, he thought, if he was dying, it was likely to be a relatively painless death. On the negative side, he had no real idea just how hurt he was and, well, he really might be dying with no idea what to do to stop it.

So he lay there on his back as tried to imagine the poison that was seeping through him. It was an uncomfortable thought. However, he really didn’t have the time or the bodily function for much of anything else. After all, he couldn’t even wiggle his toes.

Then he felt two webbed feet climbed onto his stomach and up to his chest. Feathers’ head appeared and the duck looked down on him, tilted his head and quacked inquisitively.

“I’m paralyzed Feathers. I can’t move. It’s poison. The centipede got me, old friend.”

Feathers quacked flatly.

“I mean … I know we’ve only known each other for a few days, but I feel like calling you old friend right now because I’m pretty sure I’m dying. So just let me have this one, okay?”

Feathers only tilted his head again.

“It’s the end, old buddy. I don’t know what kind of poison a centipede uses, but I’m chock full of it now and that’s why I can’t move.”

The duck let out a skeptical warble.

“I don’t know why I’m still able to talk. I’m a wizard, not a doctor Feathers.”

The duck looked over at something and warbled again.

“What do you mean someone’s here?” He tried to lift his head. “Who’s here and what do they want?”

The duck quacked and hopped off his chest as he waddled away.

“Wait! Come back!” Lefty could feel his toes beginning to go numb. Outside of the bite wound itself, he had yet to feel any substantial pain, and even the bite itself had faded to a dull throb. He waited. He could hear voices talking, but a weird ringing had appeared in his head and everything sounded like it was coming to him from underwater. So he let the breeze tickle his skin as he stared up at the fog and waited. Finally, footsteps. He felt the webbed feet of the duck climb atop him once again and a moment later both Feathers and Calista appeared.

“It got him,” Calista said as she looked at someone he couldn’t see. “Your little pet really did a number on us. Thanks.”

The light and watery voice of the nymph responded, “I don’t recall being obligated to offer you any sort of hospitality whatsoever.”

Lefty, who could feel his face beginning to go numb, was growing upset he couldn’t see the nymph. Was it really so much to ask that he might be able to see the hottest woman he’d ever seen again before he died?

Calista snapped at the Nymph, “Then why are you even here? So you can gloat while you watch my friends die? Or were you planning on finishing us off before we got any further?”

“No, it’s because I wanted to force you into entering a bargain with me,” said the nymph.

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Calista frowned, “And what kind of bargain might that be?”

Zia then stepped into view and Lefty felt his heart skip a beat. The fae was dressed in the same rough spun cloak as before and it clung to her skin in the mountain breeze. She brushed a tress of dark hair away from her eyes as she looked down on Lefty. “I’ll heal the lot of you and in exchange all you have to do something for me.”

“That depends on the something,” Calista said.

Zia tilted her head. “I need you to help me take over the mountain. You see, I’ve had about enough of all this nonsense with the dragon and whatnot and I think it’s about time we returned this place to its rightful owner. Me.”

Calista frowned, “I suppose we don’t really have much of a choice, now do we?”

“Not particularly,” Zia said. “However, I will say that if you do what I ask, I think it will be mutually beneficial to all involved.”

“How mutually beneficial?” Calista asked. “Like this rock centipede was mutually beneficial? Or are you actually talking about something that might help us?”

“The latter. As you know, the fortress at the top of this mountain is currently inhabited by an uncomfortably large army of goblins. Now as you said, you’re here to take care of the dragon, right?”

“Correct,” Calista growled.

The nymph gave a playful look, “So I’m assuming you’d like some help in dispatching said wyrm?”

“I guess,” Calista said.

“I can’t feel my face,” Lefty said.

Feathers quacked sardonically.

“Hey, why you gotta be like that?” Lefty asked.

Feathers wiggled his tail feathers as he let out an anxious warble.

“See? I knew you were worried,” Lefty said. “Thanks buddy. I care about you too.”

“Don’t worry, honey. I’ll take care of you in a bit.” Zia smiled at him and then addressed Calista. “So what I’m proposing is I just happen to have a little item that will help you take care of this problem.”

“Go on,” Calista said.

“As I was saying,” Zia said importantly, “I’m going to give you something that should help. You see, once long ago this mountain belonged to us fae and we liked that. Then the Empire came along and put a nasty lich wizard here to control the border and we had to go into hiding. Well, not me as I’m probably about as powerful as he was, but that’s not the point. I lost most of my neighbors and I didn’t like that and so I’ve been waiting for my chance to get back at them.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have the patience for a lot of exposition right now as two of my friends are flirting with the grim reaper,” Calista said. “So if you can get to the point, I’d appreciate it.”

“Well, the point is that before we abandoned Rumadrane, we set something there in case we wanted to reclaim it. It’s a magical item called a looking glass. You might know of it. It’s a magical mirror that allows the user to look down on anything in the immediate area. Very useful if you know how to use it.”

Feathers quacked nervously.

“Right, I’m getting to that,” Zia said. “You see, the nice thing about this looking glass is that it’s trapped. We cursed the thing with a magical incantation that if you’re able to bring what I’m about to give you to it, you can set the trap off and be rid of that nasty dragon you’ve been sent here to deal with and I’ll get my mountain back.”

“I bth’ink I’bth dyin’th,” Lefty said.

“Right, I’ll be right with you,” Zia said. “Now, do we have a bargain or what?”

Calista sighed as Feathers quacked excitedly several times.

“Good. Now all you have to do is answer my riddle,” Zia said.

Calista threw up her hands, “Riddle? What the fuck? I thought we just struck a bargain?”

“Fae bargains don’t count unless there’s a riddle,” Zia explained. “I’m sorry, there are standards.”

Calista crossed her arms, “Okay fine. Let me have it.”

Zia took a breath and flipped her hair before she began, “Bright as diamonds, loud as thunder, never still, a thing of wonder.”

Calista drew back as she thought.

Feathers let out a soft quack.

“Bhat’s not it,” Lefty said. He knew what it was. He had heard this one before. “A waberfall.”

Zia leaned down. “A what?”

“A waberfall,” he repeated.

“Good,” the nymph looked satisfied. “It’s all settled then. I wanted to run the four of you by my little pet to see if you were up to the task. I had my doubts, but you’ve surprised me. Pleasantly, I might add. These centipedes are easily replaced. I can find another by the morrow.”

Zia then paused as her eyes rolled back and she tilted her head and looked to the sky. Murmuring a few unintelligible words, she leaned down and touched Lefty’s chest. In a moment, he could feel warmth coursing through his body and in a moment more, he could move. The pain and the wound in his shoulder was gone. He was healed.

The nymph then walked over to the dwarf and as Zia laid her hand on Grumner’s shoulder, the dwarf glowed for a moment and then woke with a gasp. As Grumner coughed, Calista helped him sit up against a rock as she pulled out her water skin and offered it to him. Grumner drank greedily as Calista looked back to Zia. The nymph hopped atop a white rock where she stood over them with her arms crossed and an amused look on her face. “I will consider this bargain sealed.”

The nymph then reached into her robe and pulled out a flower. Several green leaves feathered off its thorny stem and its head was a layered emerald that gleamed in the sunlight. “This,” Zia said, “is the Emerald Rose of Rumadrane. If you can bring this to the looking glass, you will open a vortex that will pull your foe into the fae realm. Use it carefully.”

Lefty took the rose out of the nymph’s hand and tucked it into his pack. “I’ll take that, thank you very much.”

Light as a feather, Calista reached around and stole the rose from Lefty’s pack. “I don’t think you’re the best person to hang on to that.”

“Hey!” Lefty cried. “What do you mean? I’m the wizard. Why can’t I hold onto the magic item?”

“Because you’re the wizard, dummy. You’re the easiest to kill and the last thing we need is your dumbass messing things up by dying.”

“I’ll have you know that I happen to be very good at not dying,” Lefty protested.

“I’m with Calista on this one,” Grumner said gruffly.

Feathers quacked his agreement.

“No fair,” Lefty whined. “I wanted the important thing for once.”

“Well, once you grow up big and strong to be a high level wizard then we’ll review the rules. Until then, I get the rose,” Calista said.

“Fine,” Lefty sighed as he turned back to Zia. “I guess that leaves just the one question.”

“What’s that?” Zia asked.

“If the dragon has the looking glass, how are we supposed to get into the fortress without being seen?” Lefty asked.

Zia’s voice sang. “Easy, so long as you have the rose, the looking glass cannot detect you.” The fae then bowed and and in a whisp of smoke, disappeared.

As if in response, a notification lit up on Lefty’s H.U.D: [Quest Accepted: Employ the Emerald Rose of Rumadrane for Zia the Mountain Nymph.]