A/N: Edit June 25th, 2017
Chapter one
Severine
Sandpoint.
A quant little town just on the Varisian coast. Home to just over 1,000 people. What in the name of the gods was my mother thinking sending me to such a backwater town? "Find my father" my ass. If there's a dude here that's got horns, a freaking tail, and a pair of fucked up looking wings, I'm sure I would have found him after like day four. It's been almost a month. You'd think a bigass festival in the honor of some deity (that I know but don't really care about) would make it easier right? Tons of people all gathered in one spot, two horns, a tail, and two crumpled wings would be easy to spot.
I might as well be trying to find my shadow in complete darkness.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to get the blood back to my wings. Mother recommended sewing them to my back when I was in public. It would be great advice if it wasn't so damn painful. Now that I'm complaining about how hiding shit is stupid, my tail is obviously there, I mean who ties something that looks like rope around their waist underneath a set of leather armor? And sawing down my horns every morning is getting really fucking annoying. One of these days I'm going to say screw it and let them go wild. See the looks on everyone's faces as they run and scream in terror. Oh gods that would be amazing!
I really didn't care what the festival was about (something about a goddess, swallowtails, and a chapel or some shit), but I was kinda inclined to join in on some of the less...kiddy games. Tug of War was a stupid game played by meat heads trying to impress a date, same with the weight lifting. The balance beams however were quite interesting. The event itself was quite boring, although the duo I saw when watching it were...interesting.
Standing in front of the platform to the large wooden beam stretching down all of the road (Tower street or something) was a man of larger height, his musculature further emphasised by the very heavy looking armor he bore. At his hip was a large sword (A bastard sword if I guessed correctly) and on his back was an absurdly tall shield. Standing - leaning more like - next to him was a three foot tall halfling (I would have assumed child if he didn't have a half full bottle of ale in one hand and five empty ones in the other). He had a rapier strung on his belt (I could probably use it as a tooth pick), and was wearing a garish set of armor that would probably fit quite well in a circus. I double taked the first time I saw them, they made for a very interesting sight. The halfling said something to the man, who looked back at him in disbelief, curiosity took over and I made my way through the crowd, closer to them, to better hear their conversation.
"-no way in hell I'm doing that" The larger man stated simply.
"Oh come on Daerion! It's just one little wooden beam, you can walk it no problem." The Halfling poked the larger man's greaves several times
"Need I remind you that I'm nearly ten times your weight?"
"So? What's the worst that could happen?"
"I could break the beam in half."
"Your point?"
"My point is I'm going to throw you at the beam and break it with your face if you don't shut up."
I couldn't hold back the laughter, so I turned and walked farther into the crowd so as not to arouse their suspicion. I made my way out of the area and into one of the smaller alleyways, silently chuckling to myself. As I made my way through town, I passed several food stands (and helped myself to several handfuls of free goodies), one of which had an arguing pair of very tall elves, I caught a couple of words, something about a language, sneaky sneaky, and a sweetroll? I really didn't care. Although I was quite shocked when a large flower bud burst out of the ground and split in half, revealing a red, fleshy mouth with hundreds of large white teeth covered in a film of green saliva. The pod wiggled a bit until it was completely out of the ground, roots and all, and sauntered over to the argueing elves, without any hesitation it scooped up the shorter of the two in its maw - much to the elf's displeasure - and began making it's way down the street. From the maps I had looked at of the town, the only things that way were stores specializing in herbology and plant care. The remaining elf look quite confused before shrugging and following the large plant creature.
That was probably the highlight of my day.
I continued to walk through town, just taking in the sights of the final day of the festival that I really didn't give two shits about. I figured that today could be a day where I just wandered about, not really having a plan. Just a lazy day you know?
Apparently something out there went "fuck that" to that idea.
Before lunch time, everyone gathered into the courtyard (if you can even call it that) in front of the newly built cathedral. Picnic tables had been set up everywhere, and a large podium was placed right in front of the building. A rather short red haired woman stepped up to the podium and smiled quite affectionately out at the very large group of citizens and festival attendees. Judging from her rather well made clothing (for a small town at least) and the way she held herself, I assumed this was the mayor.
"I thank you one and all for attending the Swallowtail Festival," she began, "for those of you who don't know, I am Kendra Deverin, mayor of this fine town"-fucking called it-"and I would like to say that I am quite pleased at today's turnout. Even Larz lifted his bloodshot eyes from his precious tannery to attend today." The crowd burst into applause and laughter, while the aforementioned workaholic grunted and shook his head, "I just want to thank you all once again for attending and I hope you continue to enjoy the remainder of the festival." With that she stepped off the podium to the roaring applause of the crowd.
Next to step up was a dour looking man. He was wearing a set of chainmail, I assumed he was a member of the city guard, possibly the captain? He must be if they were letting him give a speech to the crowd. He didn't have the hood of the mail pulled up over his head so it was easy so see his face. He had dark black hair, kept short that became a beard, ending in a goatee. Streaks of gray and white were the only signs of age on his face, but they were more likely to have come from stress than years. He held up a single hand, cutting the applause short.
"Right, right." He grumbled, "We've had a nice week of celebrations, but today's the real deal folks. Today we bust out the ale and the mead, and we talk with our friends and neighbors around the traditional bonfire. However that doesn't mean that tonight anything goes. Be safe around the bonfire, and if you know you can't handle five tankards of ale, stop at four."-my intuition told me a certain halfling was scoffing somewhere in the crowd-"I would ask for a moment of silence to remember those lost when the last cathedral burned down." Ah, so that's what happened. I awkwardly hung my head like those around me and pretending to pray for the poor bastards. May whatever stupid thing they worshiped have mercy on them
…
…
…
...All right this moment of silence shit got stupid two minutes ago. Hurry. The fuck. Up.
…
…
"Thank you. I hope the gods above hear your prayers and they are treated well in death, as they were in life." Fucking hell, finally! I'm all for dramatic silences for people who have died, but ten minutes is pushing it. Mr. soldier guy stepped off the podium and for the next several minutes, no one stepped up to the podium. The crowd fell into quite an awkward silence until a rather short man came running down the street, up the stairs and right to the podium.
"I hope everyone's having a good time?" He began without preamble to the cheering crowd, "What was that?" He said, cupping his ears as though he didn't hear them, "That's what i like to hear! The day's already half over, but we've got quite a lot of stuff left to do. Lunch is going to be served right after my speech, and a little while later Father Zantus will consecrate our new beloved cathedral. And may I just say how much hard work this community put forward to…" Blah, blah, blah. Something, something, something. Happy, happy, happy. "...but before I step off the stage, I am quite pleased to announce that our theater will soon be presenting the very famous play, 'The Harpy's Curse'! And our fine town will be hosting none other than the starring actress, Allishanda!" Who? I really stopped caring about the speeches. I walked out of the crowd and towards the long rows of tables set up for the banquet that was planned, and saw someone who I believe shared my same sentiments towards the whole festival.
They were sitting by themselves at one of the tables, leaning over it and most likely helping themselves to some of the many free samples throughout the town. They were wearing a dark black cloak, and had the hood pulled up over their head, disguising any of their features. Sensing a kindred spirit, I approached them, hoping to perhaps find someone who could help me find my father. As I approached I realized that this person was either a man, or a very, very bulky lady, choosing the more sensible option, I figured I could make him laugh and set us off on the right foot. I sat down right next to him.
"Well hello there tall, dark, and wearing-a-hood-so-I-can't-tell-if-you're-handsome, what are you doing sitting here all by yourself?" I was expecting a burst of laughter, perhaps a chuckle, dammit even a snort. What did I get? The douche grunted and scooted like an entire table away from me. "Well that was rude." I muttered under my breath. I scooted after him and decided to try the more casual route. "Perhaps you don't know how to make friends, here this is how." I stuck out my hand, "Hello! My name is Severine, pleased to meet you." Silence, "Now you take my hand and do the same." More silence, I grabbed and shook my own hand and in a mocking tone said; "Hi Severine! I'm very pleased to meet you. My name is tall, dark, mysterious, condescending asshole." I saw him tighten his knuckles. Good, that got a reaction out of him. He turned to face me, his hood angling just well enough that i could only see a nose.
"Go away." well that was anticlimactic. He had a very deep, very gravely voice, like someone who had a lot of flem in their throat, or perhaps hadn't drank much water that day.
"Alright asshole, I'm just trying to make friends here, you're the one who's being majorly rude."
"I didn't come here to make 'friends'. I came here to rest for a day, eat, and continue on my way."
"Well then it looks like we've got something in common, and when people have stuff in common, they become friends." He went silent for a moment before setting his hand, palm up on the table. In a single second his hand engulfed into flame
"I said go away, or I'll make you go away." He tightened his hand back into a fist, the fire disappearing in an instant.
"I would like to see you try." I stood up and drew my quarterstaff, "You want to play, then come and get some asswhoopin'." He stood up as well, and gave me a once over.
"I will not test you, nor do i want to 'play'. You are the one who is coming up with such foolish notions. Besides, there is no feasible way you could ever land even a glancing blow before I won." Oh now he's done it. He's trying to egg me on, get me to make a mistake, well that's not working douchebag
"You talk a lot of smack for someone who's unarmed."
"I am never unarmed." He reached into his cloak with his right hand, and summoned the fire again with his left. We stared at each other, assessing one another, and preparing to block should the other attack first. After a couple of minutes, he banished the fire in his hand and both his hands fell back to his sides. "I win."
"What the hell!? We haven't even moved." Is this guy for real?
"During our little staredown, I evaluated and planned out every possible action you could take in this entire battle, and there was not a single action that would end with your victory. Therefore I win." I looked at him in disbelief. I don't think I'll ever meet a bigger asshole
Somewhere else in Sandpoint, a very tall elf sneezed
I shook my head, "Whatever asshole, all I wanted was your damned name, but if that's too much for you then fine, I'll just take my awesomeness somewhere else." I holstered my quarterstaff, turned on my heel and walked away. Before I got into the alleyway nearby, I swore I heard the bastard say something.
"Vex." I turned my head to look at him
"Did you say something?" He simply grunted and sat back on the picnic table, going back to whatever meal I had interrupted.
"Gods dammit! What the hell was that guy's problem!?" I punched the wall of the alleyway I had entered. I walked quite a ways away just to make sure no one would come across me while I vented my anger. "How I would have wished to sneak up on him and choke him to death with my tail! 'No way I could win' my ass. He was scared that's what happened." I punched the wall again, "Well I'll fucking show him." I started making my way back to the cathedral, hand toying with the quarterstaff I planned to use to beat the shit out of an asshole. I made it back to the tables to find them completely filled with people. If the dude was anywhere in there, I wasn't about to find him anytime soon, and I certainly wasn't going to brain him in front of a thousand people.
I leaned up against another alley, hoping to find the guy and corner him when he inevitably left, I was sure he would leave, especially if he's as huge of a loner and asshole as he seemed, and when he did I would be there to teach him a lesson. Oh I couldn't wait to hit him so hard he-
My thought's were cut off by a very loud clap of thunder, standing at the podium was a man in his late fifties, his beard filled with different shades of gray and black. He smiled warmly at the crowd, like a man seeing his children after a long time apart. He cleared his throat, opened his mouth and…
A woman screamed.
I didn't have a good angle of the courtyard, so all I heard was the scream and several people (including the man, halfling, and two elves from before) draw their weapons while everyone else fled in various directions. I drew my quarterstaff, preparing to charge in…
When I felt a sudden extreme pain. I've been injured by rocks and other people because of my horns and shit, and I'm a girl so I go through hell every month, but the pain I felt made all that seem like nothing. I looked down and saw a very crude weapon, practically just a slab of sharpened iron protruding from my abdomen. I thrust my quarterstaff behind me, and upon feeling it make contact with something, hauled it over my head, flinging whatever stabbed me to the ground in front of me.
Laying in front of my was a very small, green creature with piercing red eyes and sharp yellow teeth. I swung my staff down and crushed his head in with a single strike. Goblins. I took a step forward to help the people fighting in the courtyard, when the blade through my stomach decided to remind me it was there. I was faced with a dilemma. I could either keep the blade in my wound, thus slowing how long it will take for me to bleed to death, and help the people fighting, however, the pain I was feeling from it was sure to knock me unconscious and that would probably mean the death of me. My other option was to remove the blade and use my only healing spells to at least close it off, so as to not bleed all over the place (thus attracting more goblins) but I would still be bleeding internally, so if I didn't find help fast, I could die. I heard the sounds of more goblins coming from down the alley way, so I made a split decision. I reached around my back, grasped the hilt of the crude dagger and took a deep breath. This was gonna hurt like a bitch.
With a quick tug, the blade came clean out of the wound, and I immediately began to bleed profusely. I placed the palm of my hand on the exit wound and focused all my energy to that point of my body, a warm glow enveloped my hand and I felt the wound begin to close, after a couple of seconds I placed my hand on the entry wound and repeated the process. I was still bleeding internally (and was probably going to die in less than ten minutes if I didn't receive better healing) but at least I could actually move without the threat of passing out.
I needed a better healer, I needed a miracle, and I needed it before I bled to death on the inside. I did a quick scan of the battlefield, and figured my best chances of finding a healer were within the walls of the cathedral, so I drew my staff and bolted towards it.
You know how with most wounds you don't forget they're there? Like they constantly remind you; "Hey, hey! Look at me! I exist!" by hitting you with the pain stick repeatedly and without mercy? Internal bleeding isn't like that. In fact it's relatively painless. Sure you feel pain from all the organs that were pierced or otherwise damaged, but you kinda forget about the bleeding part. In fact if I wasn't a slightly medically trained professional (by slightly I mean I'm mostly self taught and have been teaching myself for about a year) I would probably have ignored the whole "quietly and slowly bleeding to death from the inside" thing and just went straight to kicking ass and taking names I can't pronounce. But since I had that medical training, I had the common sense to push on, ignore whatever goblins didn't throw themselves at me, and make my way to the church.
Once I made it to the doors and pounded on them with my fist, "Father!" I shouted, "Father let me in! I'm badly wounded and will most likely die if I do not receive medical attention! Please let me in!" There was silence for a little while, and I feared I had made a wrong call, and I was going to die because of it. My worries were banished however when I heard a shout from deep, wizened voice.
"The door is not barred child. Enter quickly, but make sure to close the door before any of those vile creatures get in." I pushed open the door and quickly closed it behind me. I took a step backwards and turned, only to almost hit my face against a glowing, scale like translucent barrier. "Quick! Bar the doors so I can drop the barrier." I turned on my heel again and walked over to one of the pegs on either side of the doors, I flipped it up and slid over one of the bars, which was basically an iron ringed half of a large walnut trunk. After sliding it all the way I flipped the peg down again, locking the bar in place. I then repeated the process with the other bar, having to stand on the tips of my toes to reach it. After locking it in place, I turned back to the man.
Standing in the center of the aisle was the same man who stood at the podium before the goblin attack. He was holding up a long staff, with a butterfly shaped crest at the top above his head, and expanding outwards 50 feet to the left and right, and 100 feet up to the ceiling. I read that spell in one of the various books I had used to teach myself how to be a cleric, and I knew for a fact that was one of the largest feats of protective magic one could perform, and he was smiling warmly at me as if it was nothing. He pulled the staff out of the barrier and held it next to him, the barrier faded almost instantly when he did.
"You seem to be unharmed my daughter, what is the problem?" He inquired, a look of both calm friendliness and suspicion in his eyes
"I was stabbed from behind by a goblin." I lifted the chain link shirt i was wearing slightly to show him the scar.
"I see. Did it go clean through?" I nodded "Did any of the blade break off into your skin?" I shook my head "Do you think it punctured any major organs or arteries?"
"No Father, but I am not a skilled enough healer to heal internal wounds as bad as I have, I was only able to remove the blade and heal the entry and exit wounds to ensure I could make it to a healer without passing out from the pain."
"While I believe that you would have been better off keeping the blade in the wound until you made it here, I understand and see the reason in your decision. Although it would have been much easier to heal had you kept the blade in."
"I'm sorry Father."
"Please my daughter, call me Abstalar, or at the very least Father Zantus. Father makes me feel old." He chuckled, "But look here, I am rambling like an old man while the young one within me tells me to act. Come closer so I may keep you alive." I approached him and he placed the palm of his hand on the exit wound, he tilted his head down and closed his eyes in concentration. "You said you were a healer yes?"
"Yes Father Zantus, I am a cleric in training."
"Then think of this as a career showcase. Get a glimpse of the healing power of a master cleric." With that his hand began to glow a radiant, heavenly light, so bright I had to look away from it to avoid getting one of those annoying squiggly lines in your vision from looking at the sun. Most healing spells fail to incorporate a painkiller so ironically, you feel more pain when you are healed than when you simply allow the wound to be and slowly die because of it. However I felt no pain from this spell, in fact I felt more of a tingling sensation and then the prickling of muscle, organs, veins and arteries knit themselves back together.
"It seems the blade nearly missed your spine. Goblins aren't known for their accuracy, but one gets lucky every once in awhile. Your wound was fairly easy to heal, and loathe as I am to say something as such, I require a favor to make up for this healing." It wasn't uncommon for most healers or clerics to require monetary compensation for their services, but it was an unspoken rule amongst clerics, of good deities, not to charge for life threatening or otherwise fatal wounds. However it wasn't unheard of to ask for a favor when the healing involved the neglection of another problem that could result in the death or fatal harm of others.
"Of course. You have but to name it and I shall see it done Father Zantus." The Father smiled warmly at me before gesturing at the door.
"You are no doubt an accomplished fighter to be able to make it here through a veritable army of goblins while bleeding internally, so I would assume you plan on re-entering the fray. However you can no doubt hear the goblins attempting to get inside the cathedral." Sure enough I could hear them scraping and banging at the door. "Thankfully these goblins are too smart for their own good, and have assumed this door is a pull door rather than a push. Should you open the doors and attempt to leave, many of the goblins would be far too distracted by you to try and get in, but if a single one gets in we could lose many wounded and several of the healthy."
"But what about that barrier you had set up when I arrived?"
"I lack the energy required to create a barrier like that more than twice per day, and should any of the goblins get in, I lack the energy to sustain the barrier for very long against the sheer number of them that would be throwing themselves at the shield. You can no doubt hold your own in a fight, so I beg a favor of you in recompense for the healing I have administered, push the goblins back away from the cathedral and close the doors behind you. Will you do this?" I looked at him for a moment.
"Of course" I walked over to the grand doorway and pulled both bars away from the doors, I then looked back at Father Zantus and nodded, signaling I was ready. He nodded back to me and raised his staff high into the air.
"Obice. Protegat. Tueri!" With a flash the scale like barrier blinked into existence, then flashed once more, become opaque. I pulled open one of the doors and charge forward with my quarterstaff at the ready. I was expecting four or five goblins waiting for me on the outside, unfortunately for me, twenty is not four or five. My eyes widened briefly before I slammed my left foot onto the ground in front of me and used the momentum of my charge to spin in a complete circle, my quarterstaff against my left side, my left hand held out slightly to the right of my right shoulder, glowing black and ready to unleash a nasty little spell I had prepared just for this occasion. Finishing the spin I thrust my palm right into a goblin's face "Mali!" It screamed and ran in the other direction, a blackened handprint on its forehead. I quickly spun on my heel to bring my quarterstaff smashing down on the skull of another goblin, pivoting again to catch one in the side of the face.
Keep in mind that for me all this is happening in slow motion, (as is the tendency for people trained to fight) however it really took a matter of 2 seconds, and to anyone else I would have been a blur and suddenly there was three less goblins. I spun my quarterstaff around me, forming a sort of "whack the enemy away with kung-fu power" shield as I tried to kill off all the goblins so I could close the damn door. Now if I were a mace or sword wielding brute, I would have all these goblins fatally wounded or dead very quickly, but a lot of people fail to realize the precision necessary to use a quarterstaff properly and lethally, if it's not a blow to the head or a slam to the chest when the enemy is lying on their back, the enemy is likely to survive the blow with little more than a broken bone or perhaps blunt force trauma. So the challenge of killing twenty goblins so I could close a gate was a lot more demanding than I had expected.
I had successfully killed five of their number, and knocked out another three, but I could feel myself growing tired, I was already moving half as fast as I could normally go, and several goblins had gotten close enough to warrant me having between them and the door, and taking several slashes. I began another kung-fu shield and turned my head to the side.
"Father Zantus!" I shouted, "I'm so very sorry, but I've failed you. I cannot hold these goblins for much longer, I'm going to die and with me many innocent wounded folk. I'm sorry I couldn't be the hero you wanted me to be." I turned my head back to the goblins, ready to take as many of them down with me as I could, when Father Zantus spoke, and he was really close to me.
"Do not lose faith! Even you, a cleric in training knows the strength of faith! The battle is not truly lost until there is no faith left in one's heart." He was standing right in the doorway, and was flanked by several members of the clergy, they were currently waiting for me to push the goblins back one more time before they sealed the doors shut. Unable to continue fighting I dropped down to one knee, and used my staff to try and keep myself up. The goblins were encroaching fast, I closed my eyes, waiting for the transition to wherever people like me go when we die. I never felt anything. I opened my eyes to see the goblins frozen in stasis, I turned and saw Father Zantus and his five clergy members holding their hands out, energy flowed from their palms and encompassed the little green devils.
"I told you not to lose faith my daughter. For your brothers and sisters always hold faith within you, and it would not be kind to them to squander such a gift."
"Yeah! We know you can do it!"
"Indeed, now go out there and...what was the term? Oh yes. Kick the asses and take the names."
"If you keep fighting, I will buy you all the pie you can eat!"
"You're a hero! You can do anything!"
"Yes, you are a hero! Our, hero. Now go and save the day." They think I'm a….hero? Dammit I can't stand up, I don't want to let them down.
"Flante!" A burst of force blasted out from Father Zantus, sending the goblins in stasis flying in many directions. "Renovare." I felt warm, soothing energy flow through me and I suddenly felt revitalized. I got to my feet and nodded at the clerics ready to shut the doors.
"Thank you. All of you. I will not disappoint, and I'm holding you to that pie thing." I pointed a finger at the cleric who offered the pie. He gulped then nodded, flashing me a bright smile.
"Go my daughter, the gods have much yet planned for the fair people of this town, and it appears you have been chosen to be the one to save us all." The door slammed shut behind me and I heard the bars be pulled into place. I smirked at the goblins approaching yet again, and flourished my staff. "The shitstorm has come, and you are all caught right in the middle of it." I leaned forward, waiting for the goblins to get closer. Twenty yards. Fifteen yards. Ten yards. Five yards. I grinned evilly and burst forward, charging the closest goblin.
I planted my foot into it's face and used the poor little shit as a kickboard to launch myself into the air. I held my quarterstaff out at the goblins below and when i got within range i thrust at one right in the eye. Blood spurted everywhere and I used the remaining force from the blow to launch myself back into the air, this time flipping and landing on one knee the middle of a group of goblins. They were all cautiously maintaining their distance, I smirked again and slowly stood up. I heard rustling through the air and suddenly a very familiar black robed figure landed behind me, his back to mine.
"You looked like you needed help." The gravelly voice stated.
"I have it under control, these things aren't much of a challenge." I replied.
"That's not what it looked like in front of the church." He pulled a longsword out from his cloak, and with a crackling burst, arcs of electricity jumped between his fingertips and raced around his hand.
"I was fighting defensively, I'm not very good at that. I'm more of a 'dance around them and make them regret ever being born' type of person." I heard him snort and could picture him smirking under that hood. "Whatever, asshole. What's with the electric hand? What happened to the whole 'my hand can burst into flame' thing, did the routine get old?" He shrugged,
"Lighting's a lot cooler. Heads up, looks like the fight is starting again." Sure enough the first of the goblins took a tentative step forward, before shrieking and charging towards us. I readied my quarterstaff, but just as the goblin got within range I felt a hand on my shoulder. Cape dude lifted himself over my head, threw himself into the air and slammed the sword into the ground, slicing the poor goblin in two.
"Hey! I thought we were doing sides!?"
"Hmph, you must not have heard me call dibs on this side." He set the palm of his electrified hand against the forehead of a goblin, like someone would to their younger brother. Except the younger brother usually doesn't begin to blacken and twitch from the high amounts of electricity being pumped into him. The poor bastard fell over backwards, his head as black as burnt toast. He then pivoted and thrust his longsword straight through the heart of another approaching goblin. "I would appreciate you handling your side. After all you said you didn't need help. Unless you were wrong and want me to do all the work?" I quickly turned and smashed a goblin on the temple. I tripped another one and slammed my quarterstaff into his chest, with a sickening crunch his chest caved in and he stopped moving. Another was brought down by a sharp smack to the front of the face, and I crushed the head of another goblin. On my side, unconscious and dead goblins flew everywhere, while the sound of bones being crushed rang out. On Mr. Asshole's side, blood and dismembered body parts of many goblins littered the floor.
Once we had cleared that wave of goblins, another large group was heading our way, Mr. Asshole turned to me. "I'm going to charge the goblins, when I shout now, you need to throw your quarterstaff as though it were a javelin. Understood?" I nodded, but then opened my mouth to ask a question, alas I was too late. The cloaked avenger went rushing off to meet the sharp toothed menace. When he met the horde, he began quite a beautiful, yet bloody dance of steel, He dismembered goblins and ended their lives quickly and effortlessly. He then kicked off the face of a goblin and landed very far back. He began to charge the goblins again, and shouted, "Now!" He yelled. I hurled the staff as hard as I could, and he dropped to his knees and bent back, sliding across the slick, bloody cobble. He grabbed the staff with ease and leapt back to his feet. Once he was almost upon the horde once more, he used it as a vault to land on their heads, running across them he landed on the opposite side of the street. Assuming his intentions, I ran forward and grabbed the staff from the ground. We had them flanked.
~In Another Part of the Town~
Daerion sidestepped to avoid another bolt. He shot a glare at the (absurdly) tall elf before hacking the arm off another goblin attempting to get around his shield.
"If you don't want to get shot at, move out of the way." He heard the elf state smugly
"Brother. That is no way to treat one who fights with us. He is one of nature's children, and should be respected as such." calmly stated the elf that was spinning and dancing around the goblins, scythe glinting in the sunlight and droplets of blood following it like rose petals. "At least give the poor man a warning next time"
"Fine. I'll make sure to let him know when I shoot" A mechanical twang sounded, and Daerion jerked slightly to the left to avoid the bolt that went sailing past his ear. "I shot"
"Wulfe!"
"For the love of the gods Feanor the man's been able to handle himself fine, he's dodged all the bolts so far, if one hits him than it will be his fault for getting too cocky."
"I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way" Daerion shouted behind him
"Dammit all! When the hell did i manage to surround myself with stuck up assholes?" Daerion took a half step back as another goblin managed to climb over his tower shield, only to be shot between the eyes by Wulfe. "You're welcome!" A high pitched shriek filled the air as a rat-like dog began to panic and run through the horde of goblins, a child sized figure riding it
"Look Daerion! I got me a doggie!" The small man deftly leaped off the dog to avoid the slashes of two nearby goblins, and successfully landed back onto the dog.
"Damn it Callidus! You're going to get yourself killed!" Screamed the brown-haired man as he lopped the head of a goblin before it could strike the halfling.
"Relax. I've done things like this like a bajillion times!" In an impressive display of flexibility, Callidus bent all the way back, the back of his head touching the flank of the goblin-dog, to avoid more haphazard goblin swings. With a laugh he flicked the forehead of a goblin attempting to bite him.
Feanor stepped over the stampeding duo and swung his scythe in a wide arch, cleanly slicing through the bodies of the goblins. Under his breath, quiet murmuring could be heard. "Your bodies return to the earth, your souls to the oceans, and your blood to the fires of life. We are all children of nature, and it is with a heavy heart that I cut you down so others may live. We are all created from nature, and so must we return. Your time has come." Upon reaching the end he would restart it, as though it were a holy psalm to bring peace to his foes. Meanwhile a very large flower bud spit out the skull of a goblin, all the flesh melted off of it, and proceeded to gobble up another of the pint sized terrors
All of this was observed by a duo standing crouched on a nearby rooftop.
"...Should we help them out?" Asked Severine after seeing the halfling barely avoid the slash of a goblin.
"They seem to have it under control" Smoothly stated the robed figure at the same moment as Daerion lifted Callidus and his dog (barely avoiding being bitten) and placing them behind him, seemingly scolding Callidus. The goblin-dog proceeded to bite Daerion in the hindquarters and try to buck Callidus off, creating a humorous spectacle of chaos. The hooded man hung his head and sighed loudly. "Perhaps we need to get down there and help them Severine" Severine laughed and with a quick 'race ya!' leapt off the rooftop to another building.
(P.O.V Severine)
I felt the wind pull my hood off my face as I dashed from building to building towards the group of fighters. I could practically feel Mr. Asshole behind me, I knew he could probably outrun me, but knowing him he probably had some strategic reason to let the cleric go first.
As begrudged as I am to admit it, Asshole is a surprisingly good warrior. Thanks to him I was able to get through a large crowd of goblins (I would have been able to do it alone, but him being there helped save me from personal injury) and get to where I was quite a bit faster. Leaping down from the rooftops, I plunged straight into the heart of the horde. I called upon the magic in my blood and let it form in the shape of a red dagger made of energy in my hand and with a swift motion, stabbed it into the skull of a goblin. The dagger disappeared immediately, the negative energy quickly being absorbed by the goblins blood, and i watched as the goblin experienced what i can honestly say, is a chilling death.
You see, every cleric is capable of using negative energy, but there is a reason why the ones who specialize in it worship evil gods, or are a wee bit on the messed up side. Channeling positive energy into spells makes you feel warm and relaxed, like laying in the sun on a cool summers day, your blood feels alive, and if shaped properly its primary use is healing. Negative energy however feels like jumping into a lake in the dead of winter. It's from this that the old saying "The cold grasp of death" comes from, negative energy being the basis of almost all necromancy. Now when you're hurt by a spell using raw negative energy, it basically takes your blood and makes them dead cells, unable to take in any more oxygen and not properly transporting nutrients, and if you do not have enough red blood cells to be converted, the energy shapes itself into dead cells.
So I watched as all of the goblin's blood was swiftly eradicated.
I'm told it's not a painful death, just a very...cold one.
Mr. Asshole landed within the ring of defenders, and I heard the tall elf exclaim "You made me miss my shot you fucking idiot! That was one of my last 25 bolts!" I could practically hear Asshole shrug indifferently. Smirking and bashed my way through the goblins over to the defenders. "You all looked like you needed some help. So here we are"
"She means here I am, she really isn't any help." I flipped him off and smacked a goblin on the side of the head. "Compact the ring and give me some time"
"What the hell for? If you haven't noticed, we don't exactly HAVE time!" Shouted the only apparent human in the group.
"Just give me some time, I'll send them all running...down to hell"
The armored man swung his shield out, sending a goblin flying as he considered his options, after a moment he nodded curtly and shouted; "Form a quarter ring around the corner! Feanor-" He pointed at the shorter of the two elves, "-and-"
"Severine" I said as he pointed at me, he nodded again,
"-and Severine with me at the edge, Callidus get right behind me and stab any of the bastards that we miss. Wulfe provide cover fire, thin out their ranks so we don't get swamped down. Whatever you do, don't let them through, I'd rather not have whatever Cloaky over there is cooking up blow up in our faces." We quickly made our way to the corner of the market, where two buildings met and formed a quarter ring. The tall elf - who I now know is named Wulfe - stood at the back, just in front of Asshole, who was standing directly in the corner, his hands rapidly moving through different gestures as he muttered under his breath. Feanor was on the other side of Brown Hair and directly behind us was the halfling -Callidus- his rapier held out in front of him like a traditional duelist.
The goblins we left behind in our scramble to the corner were quickly approaching. "Hold the line!" Brown Hair shouted, "They are half our size-"
"Speak for yourself!" quipped the halfling.
"They are half the size of most of us. Are you happy now? Anyway, hold the line and all that. Thanks Callidus you ruined my moment."
"Always a plae...plus…. I like doing that." Callidus replied. He looked at the approaching goblins from between Brown Hair's legs and sighed, "I'm gonna need a drink after this" Shortly after, the goblins reached us and the fighting began.
I could have sworn I heard Brown Hair mutter something like 'you always need a drink' but I pushed that out of my mind.
I would just like to mention that I've just met these people, and the gods be damned, Brown Hair gave us all the perfect places to fight. Due to the shape of the quarter ring, Feanor and I were ahead of Brown Hair by about two feet and that gave us just enough space to do our martial arts routine. I say martial arts, but that really only covers mine. He actually looked like he was dancing, I hate elves so much for just that reason. They always seem to approach things with grace and beauty and-
"Whoo! Did you see that shot!?" Exclaimed Wulfe, who had just shot and killed a goblin instantly, "That went clean through! Holy shit I can see his brains! That's so cool!"
...Okay maybe most elves are like Feanor. But seriously, when I twirl my quarterstaff around me, you hear cracks and goblin screams and blood just kinda splatters everywhere, but when Feanor does it with his scythe? It's practically silent, the weapon just cuts through them and slices their skulls clean in half, and rather than splatter of blood, streams of the stuff trail behind that scythe of his.
Any goblins we didn't kill in our mini maelstroms of death, Brown Hair would quickly beat down with his shield, or hold them off long enough for Callidus to dart out from between his legs and shove that needle like blade of his right into the goblin's trachea, without fail. The damn halfling is insanely precise with his thrusts, always stabbing in just the right spot to kill the runts instantly.
Wulfe proved to be a deadeye with that crossbow of his, while he seemed to have a very limited range of motion -he would turn to shoot something 90 degrees to his right, rather than holding his arm out and looking in that direction- every one of his shots was placed in just the right spot, so while he didn't always kill them instantly (something I blame more on the type of crossbow than his own skill), he certainly put them out of the fight and made sure that he slowed down any other goblins near the one he killed
"Collapse against the walls!" I heard Mr. Asshole shout, we all did exactly as he said and looked to see his entire body wreathed in flame. "Roast in the inferno you little green bastards. I'll see you in hell!" He swung his arms in an arch and with a roar of Liontári tou Dánti! He slammed his arms to the ground and a surge of fire, taking the form of a pack of lions charging across the ground consumed them all. We turned to him again, mouths agape to see him panting hard. An instant later he sagged and collapsed to the ground. Running over to him I fell to my knees next to his collapsed body.
"Dammit you bastard," I muttered, "We could have handled it. You didn't need to get all dramatic and practically drain yourself of magic." Brown-Hair walked up behind me.
"Is he gonna be okay?" I looked over my shoulder at him and cracked my knuckles, ready to start pooling magic in them.
"Yeah, he's just being overdramatic, he could probably keep going without the magic, but I'm gonna perform a transfusion just in case." With that, the magic pooling in my hands took a physical form in the radiant purple glow coming out of my hands, putting each hand on his pectorals, I pushed and the energy was directly injected into him, which should hopefully jump start his reproduction of magic, getting him up on his feet real quick. I heard him groan and he shifted, I pushed him back down when he tried to sit up. "You practically drained yourself of mana. I'm a novice and even I know that's dangerous. You will lay your ass back down and stay there until I, the healer here, say you can get up." He gave a resigned sigh and tilted his head to the side, letting me continue with the transfusion.
There was a mighty roar and the earth shook as the large pile of firewood ignited in a single instant. The bodies of three charred goblins hit the ground near our corner, the remaining 6 of their company danced around the pyre, torches in each hand, their knives forgotten. The leader of their little band was wearing what seemed to be a candelabra melted down and reforged into a circlet it wore around it's head. The five, lit candle sticks framed the back of his head, giving him a very priest like feel, a feeling that was further exemplified as he seemed to lead the goblins in chant around the fire. The "extravagant" headpiece seemed to attract the attention of Callidus as his attention was locked on the goblin. He took a step forward and Brown-Hair pulled him back.
"Dammit Callidus, there are six of them, and one of you. At least wait for Cloaky-
"Vex" Mr. Asshole croaked. What? You let Brown-Hair know your name but you don't tell me! Dammit you deserve your nickname. I spiked the energy going into him, giving him a sharp little jolt and smirked at the yelp of surprise that came from the cloaked man
"Thank you, Vex. As I was saying Callidus-" Brown-Hair cut off as he looked around bewildered, Callidus was nowhere to be seen! Brown-Hair began to look panicked as he spun on his heel towards the goblin pyre, and sure enough, there was the small halfling sprinting towards the enemy, rapier drawn and gleefully shouting something about the glory of some man named Cayden. "Callidus!" Brown-Hair shouted, his entire body tense with anger, "You get your brown ass back here this instant or I swear to all the gods above and below us, I will drag you to every corner of the Inner Sea, tied to Ace's back left leg!" Callidus had only the most intuitive and astute of responses
"You can kiss my fuzzy, drunken ass! You big metal tin man!"
"That's it you alcoholic bastard, if you die, I'm dragging you back from whatever pit you go too and then I'm gonna kill you again myself!" With that exclamation, Brown-Hair took off at a sprint after Callidus, Wulfe close behind whooping; "Hoo-Fucking-Ray! I get to kill me some more goblins!"
Feanor looked down at Mr. Ass- Vex, and I. "Do you require my assistance, while I would not be capable of such a feat of restorative magic, as that is a power reserved only for the strongest of nature's chosen." I look up at him, confusion etched on my face. What the fuck was he talking about? Even Vex sat up a little bit to give him, what I assumed to be cause I can't see under his hood, a bewildered look. Feanor coughed before looking away for a moment, realizing that his statement was rather off putting. He turned back to us with a patient smile and simply asked; "Do you require my assistance?"
I beamed at him "Nah, me and Vexie here-"
"Don't call me that." Croaked Vex from next too me, too which I responded with a sharp elbow jab to the stomach.
"As I was saying. Vexie and I have got it handled, I'll have him all healed and singing folk songs in a matter of seconds."
"I do not sing folk songs, and I would have been on my feet by now if you weren't constantly hitting me!" I simply jabbed him again with my elbow
"Who's the medic here? That's what I thought, so shut up and let me do my job so you can get up and do your job." I looked up at Feanor again, who was still standing above us, awaiting a clear answer. "We're all good here Feanor, go help them out, they could use you and your scythe." With a curt nod, Feanor hefted his scythe behind him to clear his legs, allowing him to sprint after the others unimpeded. He was followed shortly by a giant waddling plant, green, acidic saliva still dripping out of it's tan, bud like head.
Turning back to Vex, I leaned in close too him and whispered; "Listen here, knowing my luck I used way too much of my own energy just to give you back what you lost. Meaning that if I use more magic, there is the possibility of me collapsing from exhaustion," His eyes widened at the implications of that. Having the one confirmed person capable of casting any kind of healing magics fall unconscious could be disastrous. "I see you understand my dilemma. I want to make myself very clear, I understand that your flashy display earlier was necessary to get us out that shit storm. But if you decide to be fancy and do something like that again without the situation warranting it, I will kick your ass so hard that you'll be begging me to heal you come next tuesday, you know when you finally wake up again from the ass-whooping." I lifted him up and pushed him towards the action, and smirked at the subtle shiver of fear I saw run through his body. "Now go get 'em tiger."
Vex drew his longsword from the scabbard it was kept in and dashed after the rest of the group, who seemed to be dealing with reinforcements for the original six goblins that were there.
Tease and insult them as you may, but you have to admit; if there is one thing goblins are good at, it's outnumbering the enemy.
At the very moment I thought that, I heard the squeaky war cry of a goblin that leaped down upon me from the rooftops…
...only to splat onto the ground two feet to my left.
Look I said they were good at outnumbering the enemy, not that they were intelligent or anything
After gently nudging the corpse of the goblin (just assuring myself it wasn't about to spring up in a display of courage and energy not befitting their tiny frames, as they are want to do), I turned my attention back to the rest of the group, who were faring well with Vex's arrival (not that they didn't have the situation handled before he arrived, these are goblins we are talking about after all). I let out a sigh, just cause I'm the healer doesn't mean I don't want to, you know, kick some ass. Bash some skulls together
Fun stuff like that.
"God I wish I had something to hit" I sigh again and kick a rock, the rock skips away and lands in the open mouth of a dead goblins. Whoo! Hole in one! I start walking towards the improvised rock-golf hole, and not long after I reach the goblin, stoop down to fish out the rock and get ready to kick it again, a shrill shriek fills the air. Brown-Hair snaps the neck of the last goblin around the pyre and looks out in the direction of the scream.
"Damn, sounds like someone's in trouble." Way to state the obvious my brownie haired friend.
Oh my various gods, brownies sound so good right now.
Callidus ran in front of Brown-Hair and turned to face him. "Well? What are we waiting for? We're the heroes right now, so we've gotta save that damsel in distress!"
"I do not think we should jump to conclusions, yet my short friend. We do not have evidence that this person is either male or female." Feanor interjected.
"Bro, did you hear how fucking high that shriek was? The only time I've ever heard a man scream out with a voice that high pitched was when Papa Nature over there took a big chomp on his delicate bits." Wulfe jerked his thumb towards the large plant. "I bet some pathetic dame is just waiting for brave men like us to valiantly rush in to save the day!" I walked up behind him and smacked him upside the head. "The fuck!?" He turned to face me and I promptly introduced his "delicate bits" to my knee. His shriek was notably higher pitched than the scream we had heard.
"I don't think it matter what their damn gender is at the moment," I said to the elf that was slowly sinking to his knees, "So how's about we stop talking about something as stupid as this and get a damn move on? What do you say Callidus?" I turned to see three people obviously missing from the group.
"Can't talk, too busy being a hero!" Shouted the aforementioned halfling, who was already almost halfway to the person in trouble, flanked by Brown-Hair and Vex.
"I won't be left behind gods damn it!" I broke off at a sprint after them, leaving the elven siblings behind, one still hunched over in pain.
"Ah jeez….fuck she hits hard," the taller elven brother moaned in pain, "Mind helping me up brother?" He lifted his arm hoping to be pulled up, but then noticed that no one made to grab it, looking up he realized that Feanor had already ran off after Severine and the rest of the group. "Bro! What the fuck man!?"
"I am sorry brother," Shouted Feanor, a small smile present on his usually expressionless face, "Perhaps you should not have offended the healer. After all she knows which places that hurt the most when hit. Feel free to get up whenever you're ready." Wulfe burst into a very long string of profanities, all directed at the retreating back of his brother.
Finally reaching the location of the scream, we came face to face with the first actually intimidating goblin we had encountered. This one's skin was a green several shades darker than all the other goblins we had seen, it's bare arms covered in numerous scars and scratches, and rather than the crude lump of iron on a stick the other goblins used, this one bore a crudely made halberd, befitting its size. A hodge podge of many different pieces of armor formed a breastplate and greaves for the little menace, and on it's head was the carved skull of a horse. Together, it actually gave it a fairly intimidating presence. However there was one detail that made all those other things pale in comparison to its intimidation factor.
The fact it was riding a fucking wolf
The goblin dug his heels into the wolf, prodding it into moving forward towards its only opposition, a growling cinder-hound, whose patches of orange fur were smoldering with small flames in its anger, that was snapping at the head-goblin. The entourage of this "boss" goblin as it were, seemed to be utterly terrified of this small tracking hound, whereas the "boss" goblin was not bothered by the black and orange dog in the slightest. Seeing the poor puppy in trouble, I kicked up my speed by several notches, quickly overtaking Callidus and Vex, who had the lead.
"Hey! Over here you big, dumb brute!" I called out, attempting to antagonize the ugly bastard. The goblin turned its head towards me and sneered, "Yeah you, peas for brains! Come and get your daily dose of ass kicking!" The goblin's sneer turned into cocky grin and he jabbed his mount into turning towards us, the tracking hound took that as its chance to attack.
It leaped at the head goblin, it's teeth sinking into the exposed flesh of its left arm. Crying out in pain and rage, the goblin shook the hound off and slashed out with his halberd, fatally wounding the dog. At its anguished cry, I felt as though fire started running through my veins as I stared the boss goblin down in fury. It flicked the blood of the poor hound off the axe head of its halberd and laughed. It hoisted its weapon towards us and shouted out a rallying cry in goblin, most likely telling his posse to charge.
Only for him to find out they had all deserted him when they noticed my eyes smoldering with murderous intent. The head goblin paled inside its mask and felt itself start to shake as I stopped running and began slowly traversing the last several yards between myself and it. I slowly brought my quarterstaff up until it was leaning against my shoulder and stopped in my tracks, just a couple feet away from the quivering goblin. I looked down at the wolf (who was shaking in fear too) and flicked it lightly on the nose. That little hit was apparently enough to break its spirit as it threw its rider onto the ground at my feet and bolted in the other direction.
I kicked the goblin that lay before my feet and it started trying to scurry away. I stomped my foot down onto the back of its knee, and was satisfied at the resounding crunch that was heard. It cried out in pain, but rather than try to scurry away again (not that it would have gotten very far with a broken kneecap and my foot still on the back of its knee), it grabbed an item tied to its belt that I had stupidly mistaken for a drinking horn.
"Severine! Don't let it blow that!" Way ahead of you Brownie. I raised my foot again, ready to crush the horn when he brought it to his lips and blew. The high pitched bellow of the horn resounded for several seconds before I crushed it and lined the end of the my quarterstaff with the back of its skull. Before I could let it drop though, a small arrow whizzed by my head, barely missing my ear. I turned my head and looked in the direction the arrow had come from, and saw another goblin perched on a rooftop, a bow in its hand and a quiver full of arrows at the ready. I could tell that had been a warning shot, this goblin could have easily hit the back of my head if it had wanted too. Besides the fact it was wearing the skull of a dog as a helm, it was too far away for me to make out any other details.
I looked in the other direction and saw that Brownie and company were almost here, and I hoped to all the various gods that Brownie himself would show up in time to block that arrow that was gonna go through my skull in a matter of moments. I raised my quarterstaff and prepared to take out the goblin, but as I let it drop, I was blasted away by a large wave of pure force.
Across the street was another goblin, this one wearing a human skull to protect its head, its hands were held out, and its eyes glowed a dull purple, tell-tale signs of a sorcerer. The sorcerer goblin lifted its comrade off the ground and carried it brought it close by, then the archer goblin jumped off the roof next to the sorcerer goblin, who lifted up a small bead and crushed it, and in a single instant, all three goblins disappeared.
"Severine, are you okay?" I heard the scratchy voice of Vex ask me. I nodded dully and he hoisted me up. I felt my head ringing and was overcome by the feeling of vertigo. Let me tell you, getting blasted away by anything, magic or not, is not fun. It leaves you disoriented and very light headed. After I had gotten my bearings and when I realized I was in the arms of Mr. "I'm-too-much-of-a-douche-to-tell-you-my-name", I leaped away with revulsion and proceeded to pretend to vomit, much to his annoyance I hope. He glared at me (or so I assume, he's wearing a hood).
"If you're done being a pain in everyone's ass,we have business to attend to." I stuck my tongue out at him and was rewarded with a sharp 'ch' from the robed man as he turned away from me.
"U-uh...excuse m-me?" We all stiffened at the sound of another voice speaking. Near the now completely still corpse of the poor hound, was a barrel, and currently standing in said barrel was a man in his mid twenties. Wavy black hair, pulled back into a ponytail gave us a good view at his face.
He had a very angled face, all lines and very few rounded parts, his thin eyebrows furrowed together and he looked at his with soft brown eyes, darting about in fear. His eyes fell upon the body of the hound and his thin lips pulled down at the corners into a frown. Brownie cleared his throat to get the man's attention and he jerked in fear.
"Ah! Terribly sorry, I did not mean to inconvenience you by being caught by those damn gremlins. I thank you for saving me."
"No need to be sorry my good man," Brownie responded, waving a hand at his concerns, "Do you need help getting out of that barrel there?" The man shook his head and climbed out, he dusted off his very finely made clothes and gently pulled on a few tears with a look of disgust on his face. He was quite obviously a man of wealth. "May I get your name sir?" Inquired Brownie.
"Yes, my name is Foxglove, Aldern Foxglove current head of the Foxglove family of Magnimar." He ran his hands down the front of his shirt, smoothing out wrinkles and attempting to appear more noble. "May I ask the same of…" He locked eyes with me and trailed off. Oh shit. If he fucking recognizes me or something I'm screwed! Ah fuck! This is the first time I've ever been to Sandpoint, and I certainly haven't gone any farther south, there's no way he could recognize me? Or could he? I looked away from him and he began approaching, I felt him near me and was expecting to be yelled at or slapped or something to that effect.
When I felt a hand grab mine and place a single kiss on my knuckle. I looked down to see Aldern on one knee, kissing my hand as though I was some sort of pompous noble or something.
"My lady, I am glad to see you are unharmed," sensing my confusion he looked up at me, "You see my lady, I was cowering in the barrel over there, knowing it was only a matter of time before my lifeblood would coat the blade of that mongrel, when I heard a voice that seemed as though it had been sent from heaven to rescue me. I peered out of the barrel and saw you charging that dim witted creature. After my faithful hound was..." He looked at the corpse with sadness in his eyes, "Well, you know. I was so touched that someone as elegant and beautiful as yourself would have such protective ferocity, and would injure such a cruel fiend as handily as you had. When that other heathen used his foul magics to launch you away, I feared you had been injured. But I am greatly relieved that you are unscathed." He flashed me a charming grin and I suppressed the urge to both punch him in the face, and I don't know like give him a damn hug or something.
Brownie cleared his throat, getting Aldern's attention, "It's nice to meet you Aldern. My name is Ser Daerion." Ah damn, and here was I hoping his name actually had something to do with brownies. Yum, food. Gods, I'm starving for some kind of baked good.
"And what is your name, my thorned rose?" I looked down at Aldern, who had returned his attention to me and raised an eyebrow.
"Thorned rose? Isn't that just a bit redundant?" He simply shrugged and kissed my knuckle again.
"Your beauty requires repetition to truly convey what it means to me." Oh damn he's smooth. I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked anywhere but at him
"Severine. My name is Severine." I blurted out. Gods, I feel more awkward than the average teenager.
"If you two are quite done, I'm sure there are people who would like to see us since, you know, we just got done slaughtering at least half a tribes worth of goblins?" Vex interrupted, walking between Aldern and I. Aldern smiled up at the taller man.
"Ah, are you another one of Severine's friends? It is a pleasure to meet you." He stuck out his hand, Vex looked at it for several moments before briskly walking past him, his attention focused on Daerion.
"Don't mind him Aldern," I said to the dejected looking man, "He's just jealous someone else made a move on me before he did." I saw him stiffen, so he heard me huh? Good. I could just imagine an eye twitching underneath that cloak of his. Just as I finished that thought, my own eye started to twitch as a voice I recognized rang out from behind me.
"Ah fuck! Did I miss all the fun? Gods be damned!" Wulfe shouted, angrily unloading his crossbow and putting it away. I turned to face him, grinding my teeth together I said;
"Didn't I knee you in the balls?" Wulfe glared at me and stuck out his tongue.
"Yeah, you sure did. You know, I really don't appreciate it when people decide it's okay to hurt other people. But rest assured that next time you decide to hit me in my most sensitive area, I will be well pre-"
Wulfe's high pitched shriek once again echoed into the sky.
A/N: Whew. Well, it's been a year since I first posted this chapter, and it has undergone many edits and actually went before the eyes on one of my players (who so kindly took the role of editor) and I decided to commemorate my return this story (after far too long dammit!) by updating the first chapter with its new and improved version. Please, tell me what you think, any kind of feedback is immensely helpful!