The warm, midday sun was beating down.

Maria tilted the brim of her witch cap down and shielded her eyes. The peaks of wooden silos and windmills peeked over the nearly seven-foot corn stalks. The wind rustled the crops, crickets chirped and cicadas buzzed. A horse-drawn cart carrying bales of hay creaked against the uneven dirt road. Maria and Chariot stepped out of the way, walking beside a long wooden fence.

“It’s so nice out here,” Maria said.

“I concur. It wasn’t always like this though. A couple of years back the Demon King’s forces ran through this land. They tore it up, destroyed the soil, and ravaged the town.”

“I heard there was an attack on Oxfell.”

“Mhm. It took a lot of time and energy to rebuild, but these people have managed. It certainly doesn’t look like it was all burned to the ground.”

“No, not really. You’re not from here, right?”

“No, but in many ways, I wish my family had raised me here. I spent my adolescence in Penkurth. It’s a city in the far north.”

“Ah, you prefer it warmer.”

“The warmth of the sun certainly does feel better without the cold sting of winter. It’s been nice here. The locals are kind and have stories to tell. Plus, the low level enemies make for good practice.”

“I can’t argue that. So, once we're through here, do you know the way to Eimdon?”

“I’ve only been to the village once before, but I should remember the way. There is a shortcut we could take. I haven't traversed it though.” Chariot opened her map menu and showed it to Maria. Despite seemingly being made of glass, there was no reflection or glare from the sun. “We’re here, see,” She pointed to a small blue dot moving through the seemingly endless farmland. “This road goes for quite a bit. At the end of it is the Oxfell River, and beyond that is a fork in the road.” She pinched her fingers together and pressed against the map before spreading it, zooming the map out. She dragged the map to a mountainous range of canyons and ravines, acting as a sort of natural wall between the borders of Oxfell, and Eimdon. “We can go around the mountains or cut through it.”

“Cutting through is obviously faster.”

“It would be the quickest…”

“There’s a ‘but’ coming, isn’t there?”

“But… it’s not the safest. All the paths aren’t shown. Many of the ravines are connected by caves and tunnels.”

Maria looked over the map again. There were so many ravines it was hard to tell which ones connected to which, or if any of them connected to any others at all. “Can we not see the caves?”

“Not like you can see dungeons. They have their own dedicated maps, but caves aren’t marked for us.”

Maria sighed. “Great. Well, if it saves us a little bit of time, why not?”

“We can travel that way. We just need to be weary of Pythors.”

“Of what?”

“Pythors. A higher-level enemy with long necks and big fangs that wield spears.”

“Lovely.”

“We should be alright. Merchants have been known to ride through the ravines, so it should be safe enough. The caves are supposedly wide enough for horse-drawn carriages to pass through, and there are natural roads that make it easier. There are some man-made paths and scaffolding built around the ravines as well.”

Maria paused for a moment. “What level are the Pythors usually?”

“I’ve fought them in dungeons before. Those were around level fifteen if memory serves me correct.”

Maria pursed her lips. Chariot was only level 6, and the prospect of going somewhere dangerous didn’t seem to scare her. Maria needed to be the same.

“Alright,” Maria said. “We can cut through the ravines.”

At the edge of the farmlands was an expansive, rolling field. The wind swept through the emerald grass, causing it to ripple and sway like ocean waves. The snow-peaked mountains reached into the heavens, and along their slopes were forests so dense it looked like the mountains had been covered in a blanket of moss.

A distant roar rang through the air, followed by a thunderous boom.

Maria shook. “What was that?”

Another scream rent the air, and an explosion echoed in the distance. Smoke rose over the hill.

Chariot sighed. “I have a feeling…”

The duo veered off the main road and ran over the rolling hills. When they came over the crest of one of the mounds, there was a creature in the dip. It was tall, as green as the grass, with the skinny body of an insect, the bulbous sack of a spider, and the legs of a praying mantis. Its wings fluttered so fast they were near invisible, and buzzed with such force it rang in Maria’s ears.

Tanalia backed away from the beast, her bow in hand.

“As I suspected,” Chariot said.

Tanalia jumped back as the monster lunged and hissed. A set of pincers clamped down over its mouth as it tried to bite her. Tanalia fired an arrow at the monster’s abdomen. It screeched and flew up, swinging its bulbous sack and swatting Tanalia against a patch of burnt grass. She groaned, holding her side.

Chariot drew her sword and slid down the grassy hill. The monster dove for Tanalia, but Chariot leaped over her, hacking off one of the beast's legs. It squealed as blood gushed from the wound.

Maria cast {Firebolt}, setting the creature aflame. Its name and health bar appeared above it. It was low.

Graxite - Lvl 15

The creature landed, lighting the grass on fire as it flailed about helplessly. Its body was overcome with the intense crackling heat. It roared as it limped over to Chariot and attempted to bite at her with its massive pincers. She blocked and parried each attack, then swung again, beheading it.

The creature fell, and vanished into a flurry of pixels.

The trio backed away from the ring of fire spreading through the grassy field. It soon faded, leaving behind a smoldering black ring of ash and burnt earth.

Another ding echoed in Maria’s ear.

Name: Maria Marigold

Lvl: 7 >> 8

HP: 471 >> 532

MP: 91 >> 103

Total Defense: 83

Total Attack: 27.5

She had gone up a few levels and was now sitting on three skill points. Not the time to use them, though. She could browse her options later. Maria walked over to Tanalia. “You alright?” She offered her hand out to help Tanalia to her feet.

Tanalia swatted away Maria’s hand and got up herself. “I’m fine.”

“It didn’t appear like you were fine,” Chariot said. She dragged her sword through the grass and whipped the blood off before sheathing it.

“I had it handled.”

“You rushed into the fight, didn’t you? You didn’t stop to consider what you were up against. Again?”

Tanalia rolled her eyes, then looked at Maria. “Almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Oh, yeah, I got a new outfit. What do you think?”

“Are you just ignoring me?” Chariot asked.

“It certainly looks better than what you wore back at the ruins.” Tanalia said, continuing to speak to Maria. “Speaking of, how’s the old man?”

“He’s alive, thankfully. I wouldn’t say he’s doing better though.”

“Good,” Tanalia nodded her head awkwardly. “I’m going to find that bastard.”

“Who?”

“The jester, whatever his name was.”

Chariot grumbled. “Fine, just ignore me then.”

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

“Oh, The Ringleader,” Maria said.

“Yeah, that’s his name.”

“How's the search going so far?”

“It’s going well enough…”

“You don’t have any leads, do you?” Chariot said.

Tanalia didn’t answer Chariot. She heaved her shoulders and glanced away.

“We’re in the same boat,” Maria said. “We don’t know where to look either.”

“You two are working together?” Tanalia asked.

“Yeah, we are. We both want to take down the Ringleader.”

“Come on, that’s not the only reason,” Tanalia said with a smirk.

“Yes, the demon king’s treasure certainly is another incentive,” Maria said.

“I’m bringing him to justice to avenge Eardwulf,” Chariot said. “I want to ensure he will never harm another soul. No man with a heart as black as his should be allowed to roam this world freely.”

“Power like that doesn’t seem so bad,” Tanalia said. “As long as it’s in the right hands, of course?”

“Who’s?” Chariot asked. “Yours?”

“I’m not saying mine, I’m just suggesting it might be fun to play with power like that.”

“There’s nothing fun about it.”

“You don’t see any fun in anything. You’re like a stuck-up saintly bitch, always wanting to uphold the law.”

“Excuse me?” Chariot growled.

Maria quickly interjected. “We’re all looking for the same person. It’d make sense if the three of us worked together.”

“Absolutely not,” Tanalia said.

“You would want me to work with her?” Chariot asked.

“We have a common goal. None of us alone are going to be able to take down the Ringleader. We could barely do it when there were four of us.”

Tanalia scoffed and shook her head. “And what makes you think the three of us can do it then?”

“What makes you think you can do it on your own?” Maria asked.

“Because she won’t get in my way.” She gestured to Chariot.

“Get in your way? You were in my way! You’re the one firing all those explosive arrows!”

“It’s not my fault you were always running into them.”

“You need to be more careful where you shoot them! You’re too reckless!”

“Both of you, calm down,” Maria said. “Look, we all got off on the wrong foot. Let’s start over. I’m Maria, and this is Chariot.”

“We’ve done this before. I know who you two are. I don’t want to travel with you.”

“It should stay that way,” Chariot said, then turned to Maria. “If we work with her, she’s going to get us both killed.”

Maria grabbed Chariot's shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a second?” She pulled her aside and whispered to her. “We could use her help.”

“There are plenty of other elves that we can find who’d be of more use than her.”

“She went through the same thing as us. She has the same motivation. It makes sense for us to work together. Give it a chance.”

“I’ve given her enough chances. Now she just follows me everywhere. I swear it’s just so she can continue to bother me.”

“Just… give her another chance. She can help us.”

Chariot glared back at Tanalia and frowned. Maria stood quiet and waited while Chariot pondered. “Fine. As long as she stays out of my way, I should be fine.”

“Thank you,” Maria said. “I’m sure things will work out, we just need to give it a little time.”

“You should make haste and speak with her then. She’s leaving.”

Maria spun around. Tanalia was already halfway up the grassy knoll. “Hey! Wait!”

“Not interested in joining your party,” Tanalia said, still marching up the hill.

“We could help each other!”

“Nope, can’t see it working. Take my word on that. I have better eyesight than you.”

“But we could—”

“Not interested.” Tanalia glanced back at them. “Best of luck with your little quest though.”

Maria stopped chasing her and sighed as she disappeared over the hill.

Chariot walked up beside her, shaking her head. “I told you. We can find someone else.”

Maria looked at the patch of scorched earth and nodded. “I guess you’re right. An archer would be helpful to have though.”

“She’s a psychopath, firing explosive arrows without a care for those around her.”

“I’m sure if we gave her a chance—”

“There’s no chance to give,” Chariot said, and started marching back to the main road.

Maria heaved her shoulders and followed her. She had always assumed people were stronger in numbers, and to take down someone like The Ringleader, they’d need more than just the two of them. If they couldn’t convince Tanalia to join them, then they would need to find someone else. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go back and ask to join Irra’s party. Now that she thought of it, she wouldn’t mind doing some more training with them.

Down the road, a winding river cut through the valley. The current was gentle but uncrossable without swimming or using a raft. A stone bridge spanned the divide between its two sides. Colorful banners hung from archways above both ends of the bridge. Beyond it, the road split. One path continued straight ahead, while the other veered right towards the sprawling array of mountains. The formations were like something straight out of a fairy tale. There was no feasible way the formations could simply exist, lest a god hurled thunderbolts carelessly at the earth until it looked like shredded paper. In many ways, Maria figured that the gods themselves had just dropped a hodgepodge of mangled, misused land.

As they came to the bridge, two guards looked their way. They were dressed in the same attire as the guards back in Oxfell and were equipped with the same spears and swords. Both looked exhausted. One guard was rubbing his chin where a bruise had formed.

“Afternoon,” one of them said, raising his hand in both greetings and as a gesture for them to stop walking.

“Afternoon,” Maria repeated back with a friendly smile.

“Are you fine women looking to pass?”

“That we are. We’re on a quest for the Adventurers Guild. Eimdon is in need of medicine.”

“Eimdon? You have a long walk ahead of you,” the other guard said. He stood opposite his partner, in front of the other stone pillar holding up one of Oxfells banners. His jaw was bruised.

“You’re a guild member I see,” the first guard said to Maria.

Maria beamed and proudly pulled at her bronze guild badge with her thumb. “Newly instated too.”

“Well, congratulations, and good luck to you.” He stepped aside, letting them pass. “At least some people are decent.” The guard waved in the direction of the stone pillars. Two more guards were standing on the bridge, both facing the corner of the pillar where a pair of boots stuck out. Someone was sitting behind it.

“You two have safe travels,” The other guard tipped his helmet.

As the pair crossed the bridge, the two guards standing by the crouched figure looked their way. Tanalia sat against the stone wall of the bridge, tucked in the corner against one of the pillars holding up the archway. Her arms had been bound behind her back, and an old, stained rope gagged her mouth. She flailed, her face red and eyes wide. She and Maria locked eyes.

“Oh, look who it is,” Chariot looked over to one of the guards. “What did she do?”

“This one? Do you know her?”

“You could say that.”

“She started running her mouth off to us, calling us worthless swine. She should respect us for how often we put our lives on the line for keeping folks like her safe. We let her off with a warning but she continued mouthing off and hit Diorus over there.” He gestured to the guard with a bruised jaw. “So she’s staying here until we can figure out what to do with her.”

Tanalia struggled against the restraints, but the knots were tight. She was burning her wrists against the rope as she desperately tried to break free.

“Do you mind if we talk to her for a moment?” Maria asked.

The guards looked skeptical, but after a moment of contemplation, one of them knelt and removed the gag from her mouth. “Watch what you say,” he said. “I won’t hesitate to kick your face.”

“Screw you,” Tanalia growled, huffing for air. She started speaking rapidly in elvish. Maria couldn’t understand a lick of it. It’s not like she understood the language to begin with, but each time she heard it, she became more and more convinced the words didn’t mean anything.

Maria knelt to be at eye level with Tanalia. “Been a while since we last saw each other, huh?”

Tanalia glared at Maria.

“It certainly didn’t take long for you to get into trouble again,” Chariot said.

Tanalia glared at Chariot. “Can you two just move along already?”

“See, we would,” Maria said, “but now you’re all bound up here, and I’d feel bad leaving you.”

“What exactly did she say?” Chariot asked the guards.

“She started calling us ‘flat ears’, and ‘degenerate bastards.’ She crossed the line when she cursed Diorus’ mother.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Tanalia said to the guard.

“Did you not say that Diorus would be nicer if his mother had been awake when he was conceived?”

“Tanalia,” Maria said, “We have the sa— Wait what did she say?”

“She said—”

Maria’s eyes went wide. “No, no, don’t repeat it. Anyways, we have the same goal. Revenge… the map. Just work with us. We’re doing quests to get stronger so when we find The Ringleader, we’ll stand a chance against him.”

“I can handle it myself,” Tanalia said.

“You can’t,” Chariot said.

“Look,” Maria said to Tanalia, “I’m trying to help you here. Come with us. We’re actually on our way—”

“To deliver something to Eimdon, I know, I heard you when you were talking with the other guards.”

“You can come along with us. I’d never say no to any additional help.”

“You still want me to join your party?”

Maria nodded her head obviously. “Look, why don’t you just join us? We can go after The Ringleader together.”

“You keep saying that. I really don’t—”

Maria frowned.

Tanalia took a deep breath. “Fine, fine. Get me out of this, and I’ll join your party.”

Maria smiled. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”

“Sure it will.”

Maria negotiated with the guards to free Tanalia, paying them a little for her release. They untied Tanalia, and she sprang to her feet, growing at the guards as she readjusted her belt and marched along the bridge with the two.

After crossing, Maria opened her menu and invited Tanalia to the party. A moment later, she accepted.

Tanalia Taymore has joined the party.

Name: Tanalia Taymore

Lvl: 17

Hp: 1314

MP: 37

Total Defense: 322

Total Attack: 37

“You’re a higher level than I expected,” Chariot said.

“What can I say? I’m good at what I do,” Tanalia replied.

“What’s that? Bombing people?”

“Things, not people. But then again, I’m fairly good at doing people as well.”

Chariot rolled her eyes.

“These are really impressive,” Maria skimmed through Tanalia’s stats.

“They’re alright.” Tanalia skimmed through Maria’s and Chariot’s stats, then grinned. “So, I really am the strongest of us three then.”

“Don’t hold onto that,” Chariot said.

“I can and will,” she smirked, then walked in silence for a few moments before sighing. “Thanks for helping me back there.”

“Don’t mention it,” Maria smiled back.

“Do try not to get into that kind of trouble again when you’re traveling with us,” Chariot said.

“Can’t make any promises,” Tanalia said.

The trio came to the fork in the road. Maria led the way. She turned to the right and started marching towards the canyons. They loomed over her, imposing, and mysterious. She didn’t know everything that was in these canyons, but she had to stay vigilant. She didn’t want to end up like Eardwulf.