They rushed to the old man's side, cutting him down and slowly lowering him to the floor. He was abused, broken, and torn to shreds, with enough blood staining his clothes that you couldn't tell the original color. The man Glory named Galt was sickly and closer to dead than alive, yet somehow he remained conscious.

"Yes, yes. The laughing fellow, he dead? Good. I was going crazy listening to that noise. Hyena sounds, yet somehow worse. Thank you, boys. You saved me... I'm not sure how much longer I would have lasted." The old man was stooped, but looked up and smiled wearily.

"Come, we must get you out of here, there's plenty of day left. We must be away before we rest, we have no idea where the other cultists are."

Galt waved his hand, looking just as pleased to remain seated, "Bring me my bag, boy. The white one, somewhere over there." He pointed halfheartedly toward the other side of the tent. While Glory stalked irritatedly over to where he gestured, he continued, "There isn't any worry now. Talmion was the only concern, the rest will scatter now that his mental control has slipped. The undead will be even worse, I doubt their forms will hold for long. Well, these undead at least." He sighed and took the bag gratefully from Glory.

As he was rummaging around inside it, Glory walked back over to Magra and spoke softly, "He says we're safe, and damn it all I believe him. Galt was there for me when things got chancey, I'll vouch for him." Magra was staring at Glory, then over at Galt, then back at Glory, "Wait, wait wait wait, wait. Ye mean to tell me, that YOU, pirate, know this man? This is the man who told me to go to that damned rock! That there was a treasure of Lyealle's in there! And all we got was a hippy who's frozen stone now! Left one rock for another it seems."

Galt perked up, "Frozen, you say? Some of the ripper get on him?" The man tsked, pulling a book from the knapsack. Glory's jaw dropped, and he whispered, "I swear, that bag was empty when I picked it up. Even reached inside. What, he might have had medicine!" He defended, his tone hurt from Magra's accusatory glare.

Galt waved away their conversation, saying just, "Lead me." Before struggling to his feet. For all of his wounds, he was quite limber on his feet. They held open the tent and the spry old man followed them out into the sun. He squinted, eyes not used to it yet, and leaned close to examine their frozen companions. "Ah yes, just as I thought. I believe I know what you need, too. Let's see..." He trailed off, flipping through the book, "Aha! There it is! I was right. Damn, I was right."

"Wait, why is that a bad thing?" Magra asked, rolling her eyes, "You know what it is, tell us so we can go get it."

He shrugged, mumbling about cliches, "Fine. You must travel to the elven forest, and find a plant with red flowers and four leaves, surrounding a bulb of blue. It only grows on the edge, so you won't actually be trespassing on the Elven lands. Trust me, you do NOT want to do that. If that one was awake, he'd tell you the same." He nodded towards Andar, still frozen stiff. "Shame. Anyways. Go grab some, and return. But you should probably rest first, you had a long day. The area will be safe for now, I can cast some spells now that I have my bag. An alarm, of course, maybe a gentle steering clear... yes, I know just the thing."

Glory wanted to argue, and Magra even went so far as to open her mouth, but both of them looked at each other, shrugged, and started to set up their camp anyways. An unspoken agreement between the two of them caused them both to steer clear of anything belonging to these monsters of people, choosing to set up camp themselves. A small fire was crackling, with bedrolls laying next to it. A small camp within a much larger one. They rested, tended their hurts, and tried to get some sleep.

No one approached the camp, just as Galt had promised. But still, something felt wrong, and sleep did not come swiftly.

Morning broke but no one felt any better. Except for Galt, it seemed. He was in a cheery mood, even going so far as to make mocking conversation with the two statues, "You guys feeling alright? You must have slept wrong, you look really stiff!" Then roaring with laughter.

As soon as he saw Glory and Andar up, he sobered slightly, "Good, you're up. Hold a while, there's breakfast. There are also a few others going to be joining you... You seem like you need it."

Glory grumbled, forsaking breakfast for his little brown bottle. Magra helped herself, making a steaming plate of what looked like a roasted rabbit and some scrambled bird eggs. "Mighty fine spread, sir. Mighty fine. Do you happen to have any chilled milk? No? It's fine, I'm sure I'll survive."

Glory glared at the spoiled dwarf, "Thank you for making breakfast. What did you mean by we were going to be joined? Did you send for help?"

"In a way, I suppose. But yes, there will be two more joining you. To make up for the ones you lost while rescuing me." Glory started to say something about how they didn't even know he was there, when Magra elbowed him in the side, "Of course, that makes perfect sense. I look forward to meeting whoever you found. I'm sure they won't hold us back too much." Her voice sounded sincere, though Glory thought he sensed a little suspicion around the edges.

Galt smiled but said nothing, satisfied to wait. They weren't forced to wait long before they could hear the approach of a couple people approaching. Glory pulled his sword just far out of his scabbard to make sure it was clear, even knowing they were going to be joined by someone. Old habits died hard.

Two figures appeared at the edge of the campsite, one looking around suspiciously while the other frolicked to and fro, like a kid going on an adventure, "I feel great, Lana! You think we're in the right place? It was kind of a cryptic message, I might have gotten it wrong."

The more serious of the two smiled, transforming from dour to beautiful. "No, Wally, I'm certain you deciphered it right. You're one of the smartest people I know! If you couldn't figure it out, I don't think anyone could!"

The smaller, red-figure turned an even darker shade of red, though the grin on his face got a little bit wider.

"Goblin," hissed Magra, her eyes turning flat and her mace clutched tightly. Glory was about to draw his sword when Galt raised a hand, "Peace. They are friends, and the goblin the kindest soul you'll ever meet. Thank the gods that one as bright as he wasn't turned towards a darker path. You'll be lucky to have him on your team, so behave yourselves."

Magra let go of her mace but held her face in a stern expression, "Nay. I will be no friend of a goblin, of that I am dreadfully sure. But I won't raise a hand against him until he falls prey to his nature. Then we shall see where the dice fall."

Galt shrugged before looking hard at Glory, waiting until he let go of his cutlass to speak, "Welcome, Lana, Wally. I'm glad to see you could make it on such short notice."

"Uh, Galt, you told us weeks ago. We've been sitting around waiting for almost a week and Wally has been dying to explore."

The goblin, Wally, wiggled a little sort of dance, "I can't help it, Lana! I feel great! I haven't felt this good in a while!" His face turned serious, "Plus, it's a chance to learn more about my magic, and become more powerful. If I can only keep the other goblins still long enough, I'm sure I can convince them that they can be good. If I can be good, so can they."

"I know, Wally. I believe in you. And I'll protect you no matter what. You know that." A long silence was punctured by Glory yawning loudly, "Well, I think it's about that time. Gotta get up and along the way." He grumbled, "Sappy shit" and hustled Magra into packing her things.

Galt pointed them towards the Elven forest, and bid them farewell, standing between their two frozen friends and looking just as much like one of them himself. Glory sighed as he realized Magra wasn't planning on breaking the silence, "So, Lana is it? How do you two know old Galt? Didn't realize he got around that often."

Wally hurried to answer, cutting Lana off, "He was a storyteller at our village. Told all the best stories, and even gave me my first spell!" He punctuated the statement with a blast of fire shooting from his fingertips, leaving a scorch mark on a nearby tent. The flame licked at the canvas, but couldn't seem to catch hold.

Glory raised an eyebrow, and even Magra looked suitably impressed, "Wow. Now that will come in handy! Eh, Magra? Dead things hate fire, right?"

Magra looked at him and shrugged, "I prefer my fire when it comes to dead things. Since it's holy and all." Flame-like radiance blossomed around Wally, singeing his skin and sending him skipping along, "Ow, ow, ow!"

"Magra! That is so not cool!" Magra shrugged nonchalantly and started walking to the east. After a few long moments, the rest started after, albeit a few paces behind her.

"Is she always like that?" Lana asked tersely, staring daggers at Magra's back.

"To be honest, I have no idea. I just met the lady a couple days ago. She might really hate goblins. I don't, however, and am happy you're with us. We haven't had the best of luck lately. Either one of you good with things that ought to be dead, but ain't?"

Lana relaxed slightly, looking away from Magra long enough to meet Glory's eyes, "Yes, I am quite familiar and very capable of dealing with the damned. My diety guides me." She made the symbol of order, hands cupped in a circle in front of her forehead, then repeated in front of her heart.

"Excellent. The nasty buggers have really been getting under my skin lately. Anything you can do to help would be great. Don't be surprised if something pops up." His words were punctuated by the sound of a hyena's laugh, shrill in the forest air. It echoed around the trees before fading.

"I will also deal with any other threats that occur to my friend. He was placed under my care by his mother, and I love her far too dearly to betray her trust." Lana spoke seriously, though for a second her eyes flicked to the back of the dwarf leading the way.

"I'll talk to her, don't worry about it. I'll make sure nothing happens to the little bugger... How old is he, did you say? Looks a little young to be an adventurer."

Wally smiled, "I may be tiny, but I'm already working on my first spell! I've been working on it for a little while, but it's missing something. Not sure what, but someday I'll have my first spell!! Czar 'Taaks Orb!"

Glory looked blankly at him, "Sar what now? What's that supposed to be, your sire's name? By the gods, I feel for the poor fellow. Can you imagine? I shudder at the thought." He took a swig and shuddered, though, from the thought, or the alcohol, none could tell.

Magra overheard and laughed loudly from the front, while Wally continued on as if uninterrupted, "Czar 'Taak was a great red dragon, that ruled as almost a god over goblinkind for so long that no one know's anything from before his reign. Only during and after. His lair was in the middle of a volcano, and he bathed in lava and so I thought that maybe I could do a spell that used lava and name it after him since he was so fearsome and powerful and I want to be like that someday too." He finally ran out of breath and panted, struggling to breathe while also keeping up. Glory shortened his pace a tad out of pity, "Oh. Sounds like a good plan... hopefully it works out for you!" He turned back to the front and muttered, "Kids these days."

"Yes, well, you never did tell us what you were doing out here. Kind of an odd camp for so few people, plus you guys look pretty banged up. What exactly happened?" Lana changed the subject, latching on to the only other topic worth talking about.

"There was a guy who called himself Talmion. Was running around raising the dead and....he kidnapped a kid from a farmhouse. We found out about it and ended up getting caught up trying to save the boy. The monster- well, he sacrificed him....we followed as quickly as we could but we were too late. Andar took it kinda hard before he...you know, got stiff."

"Wait, Talmion? The demon? He can't be here, there's no reason he would have left his plane. The Lords wouldn't have let him, too easy to gain power here."

"That's what he called himself. Looked like a person to me though, and he went down easily enough. So maybe just a wannabe?" Glory shrugged, "He had a LOT of dead things following him though, we fought a dozen or so so far, and that's just what was left at the camp you found us at. You know about demons?"

Lana nodded, her face serious as always, "Yes, I studied them a little bit. They are the absolute balance to our gods, seven supreme beings called Demon Lords that rule the Fallen Planes. Each Lord has a plane to himself, Talmion was one of the high generals. Basically the equivalent to an Archangel. I've heard stories of the things he's done..."

"Well, let's just hope it was a crazy guy and leave it at that, shall we? Too much to do, there's probably still some cultists running around all crazy like. Just keep an eye open, will ya?" Glory asked and waited for her to nod, then sped up to have a word with Magra. What he said couldn't be heard, but Wally smiled, "I like him. Even if he drinks an awful lot. How's that thing of his never run out, you think?"

Lana smiled back, "Oh, I'm not sure. Magic maybe? Or maybe sleight of hand, he seems to be halfway decent at that. Maybe we just don't see him refilling it."

Wally shrugged, then pulled out his spellbook and started to read while walking. Lana almost reprimanded him for it, but stopped at the last second and just decided to watch his step for him. It was gonna be a long day.

The long day turned into a couple, with the party settling down into a parse routine. Wally would always be muttering long into the night in front of his spellbook, and during his watch, he was ever vigilant to use his magic on someone. The opportunity never came for him, but it didn't daunt his enthusiasm one bit.

Magra slowly warmed to the two, or at least, stopped making death threats under her breath. She even offered Wally some burnt rabbit that Glory had managed to catch. It was a halfway decent three days. But just a day away from the forest, that peacefulness was broken.

Their way forward was blocked by a group of bandits, led by a brute of a man, bristling in studded leather and shortswords. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? A boy and his nanny? Maybe the fun uncle and single mom? Where's the dad..... more importantly, what's the dad?" The men laughed uproariously, the unshaven leader looking smug, "No matter. Just hand over all your gold, and we won't have to worry about anything. Fair? Come now, don't be shy. Part of me wants ya not to behave." He eyed both Lana and Magra appreciatively, "Always wondered how well you short gals were. Hardy endurance and all that."

Magra bristled and Lana drew her longsword, her armor creaking. "You do not want to fight us. We will defend ourselves."

The men all looked at her seriously for a second before roaring with laughter again, "Didja hear her?" One of the men in the back asked, "We dinnae want to fight them. I'm itchin' for a fight!"

The leader grinned and was about to speak when Glory lunged across the dividing space, faster than you could blink. His cutlass out, he skewered the man through the stomach, twisting the blade and stepping aside, pulling it free.

The man was somehow still standing and managed to draw his shortsword and make a feeble overhand swing, which Glory parried aside easily. Lana stepped in and her longsword finished the job, separating the man's head from the rest of him. She grudgingly nodded at Glory, before turning to face another bandit.

Nothing was sweeter than battle, and Wally finally got to unleash some of his spells. Bolts of fire went this way and that, and one guy was doused in a rain of acid, searing away his flesh. What few wounds the party suffered, Magra was able to soothe. After healing Wally, she spoke, "Listen... I was wrong wit' ye. I see it now. I figured you were just some cook of the old man's, like the rock. But you really helped save our asses. So, my thanks."

Wally grinned, wider than ever and threw his head back, "I feel great!!!" He called to Lana, and she waved wearily in return. Too bad their spells couldn't cure that.

"How about a break, here?" Glory panted, a few cuts still showing on his arms and cheek, "I think here's as good a place as any, they're all dead."

"But don't you think that's a bit... morbid?" Wally asked, nervously looking around at the corpses.

"They won't be any more dead in an hour or two than they are now. Plus, they probably had a little camp around here. Shouldn't be too hard to find it." And find it they did, in a small clearing just off the main path. It was shabby but suitable, and they all relaxed and drank their fill of clean water. There was even some stale bread and leftover stew that had...rabbit? Hopefully.

But the rest was over all too soon. They struggled to their feet and forced themselves to a slow trot. There was a lot of land they could cover before night, and they intended to do it. Fresh resolve burned a new fire in their muscles, and gradually, their speed increased. At one point, they were at a full out sprint, charging recklessly ahead into the coming night.

They stumbled to a stop just as the sun was sinking over a vast forest of ancient trees. There, scattered here and there along the fringe of the truly dense forest, were the flowers, just as Galt had described.

They all relaxed, relieved that they had at least made it here. Wally was picking a flower when something made him look up. About ten feet away stood a beautiful wolf, with fur the color of amber. Her eyes shone brightly, and for half a second, her tongue lolled out in what looked like a laugh.

Wally panicked, throwing his hand out in a spastic symbol; acid was sent flying out onto the wolf. Immediately after, an enraged voice cried out, "What, in all that you pray to, do you think you are doing? How dare you come here and attack our people?" The person behind the wrathful voice was a young elf, his features hardened into sharp lines. He looked terrifying, appearing as if from nowhere. "Explain yourselves, before we bring you down where you stand."

Lana looked over and saw how stricken both the wolf and Wally looked, and called out, "I'm so sorry! It was a misunderstanding! I can heal the wolf if she will let me!" The elf hesitated for a moment, looking at the wolf steadily. Finally, he nodded, "Be quick. I will be watching you." Lana hurried over, healing magic flowing through her as she focused on her holy symbol. The gear of Order, by which all things were bound. That order flowed through her veins and powered her magic. Pure order, healing a little of the chaos in the wolf.

Soon she was no longer panting pained or whimpering. In fact, aside from the missing fur, she looked as good as new. The elf inspected her closely before nodding his thanks, "You speak of misunderstanding? What brings you here, to our home? Speak quickly"

Magra took over, speaking in her deep dwarven voice, "We came for the flowers, and nothing more. As a cure for our friends, lying afflicted of foul magic a few days hence. Our little wizard panicked, probably having never seen a wolf before, let alone one that lived in the elven woods. We should have been more vigilant, and I know we still owe her an apology. If she has need of anything, it is hers."

Finally, the Elf's face broke into one of grudging respect. This was one who knew of honor and how repayment worked. His head cocked to the side, and while words could be heard, nothing was understood of what the Elf said to the wolf.

Finally, he looked back at them and shrugged, "Take her with you. That's all she asks. There is something among you that pulls on her, and she feels she must go. And we will not stop her if you grant it."

Magra looked back at Glory, who was looking like a boy on New Saint's day, getting a puppy for the first time. Lana shrugged, seeing the wolf as a noble creature, and worthy companion. "But of course, if that's what she desires. We go often into dangerous situations, and I'm not sure how long it will take us to finish our journey."

The Elf shrugged, a wry smile finally appearing on his face, "What is time to a wolf? And I'm sure she can take care of herself. No more acid though, right?"

Wally had the decency to look ashamed, but he shot a look at Magra, "I thought that's how we greeted new people, throwing magic at them." Magra blushed and looked anywhere but the young goblin, clapping her hands together, "Now, we must be off. Time is wasting, and we can't be sure that whatever happened to them isn't getting worse as we stand around here blathering."

They gathered up handfuls of the plants, their new friend watching them with her tongue hanging out. The Elf disappeared, back to wherever he came from. Glory kept looking closely at the trees, trying to find some trace of him or anyone else in the forest but had no luck. "I think we really dodged something there. By the gods that was creepy."

They hurried back, making the return trip with no other misdoings, though at times they had to hide from large parties of cultists still traveling about. A few of them had those oily black wands that Glory still had in his pack. They steered clear of those encounters, knowing that they couldn't risk not making it back.

Galt was sitting in the same place, reading from his little white book. Glory looked over his shoulder once and saw it written in a language he couldn't understand. He mashed up the plants into a paste and started to spread it all over the two frozen bodies, "A little help would be nice."

Magra grumbled, dipping a hand in the paste, "Yeah, not like we went and got it or anything. You think this is the hard part?"

The watched as the magic leeched out of their friend's bodies and color finally returned. Both were still unconscious, but at least they were flesh and blood again and breathing once more.

"Alright, old man, you have some explaining to do," Magra turned to where Galt had been sitting but the man was gone. "Damn him!" She cursed, unheard by the others who were getting ready to turn in again.

"Magra, if you like, you can come with us back to Ingran and we can sell some of this loot we've picked up."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The thought of coin perked the young dwarf up instantly and she began to hum while they worked.