Korudai - Village of the Sacrificed Maidens!
It was three weeks since Dhoulmagus had attacked Trodain castle and the Cursed King marched on with his companions, his daughter who had been turned into a horse and a young guardsman named Abel, the only person who wasn't transformed in the attack. They were in search of a magic scepter that Dhoulmagus had used to transform the inhabitants.
They had made a fair amount of progress the first few weeks, but they still had no leads on the whereabouts of Dhoulmagus or the magic scepter. So one night they decided that they would rest in a small mountain village called Korudai, which to King Trode's knowledge was a peaceful village.
"There we can recover and then decide where to head off to next, " Trode said as Abel looked at his map. The sun was already starting to set. It would be well after sun down when the group arrived in the village: Abel just hoped they would be able to find an inn they could stay the night. He was tired of sleeping in the wilderness. Slowly they marched on.
Abel was right - it was well past sundown. As they entered the village, Trodo covered his face with his cloak; their last few attempts to enter towns were disastrous when Trode was revealed and they hoped this time would be different. The town was unusually quite. All the doors were locked and no lights eminated from the windows. The group began to wonder if the village was deserted. They made their way to the inn and knocked on the door. No one answered until the fifth attempt and then they heard a voice, weak and barely audible, from beyond the wooden door.
"G-g-go away you fiends! You shall n-n-never t-t-take my daughter!" the voice exclaimed.
"What is this non-sense! We are simply travelers looking for a room for the night! What is this rudeness about!" Trode replied. He was beginning to get impatient with the town.
The door opened slowly and a middle-aged mustached head poked out of the threshold. "S-sorry about that. I thought that those monsters had come early for my beautiful Karla. Then again they are a day early…" The Inn-keeper was starting to calm down a bit.
Trode became curious when he heard this. "What did you say? Monsters are attacking the village?"
The inn-keeper shook his head. "Its best that you stay out of this. This village is doomed and there is nothing anyone can do about it. I guess we just have to accept our fate…"
"Nonsense! It appears that we are already involved. If there is trouble, we'd have you tell us," Trode said.
"Very well, but its your own fault if you end up dying! Come inside, Karla will make a room for you while we talk. You can stable your horse in the building to your left."
After Trode said goodnight to his daughter, he went into the inn. There Abel and the innkeeper were already discussing the villages recent complications.
"It began a little more then a month ago. A group of monsters came out of the forest and told the village elder that if the village didn't give the monsters one maiden a week then they would destroy village." The innkeeper paused. There was a tear building up in his eyes." We are a pretty small town and therefore we are pretty close… the Item store owner lost his daughter Eve last week. She was a pretty little thing too… Now this week they demand my Karla… I just don't know what I'm going to do…"
The innkeeper was now crying freely. Trode and Abel looked at each other and knew then what they must do. This village was doomed if they didn't do something and it would be their fault. They must defeat the monsters tomorrow, for the sake of the village.
Trode patted the innkeeper on the back. "My companion and I have decided to help you. Tomorrow when the monsters come, we shall help you defend your town…"
The innkeeper sniffed a little. "You mean it? Thank you! Thank you! I'll let you stay the night for free!" At hearing that, Trode and Abel's face brightened. "Karla, make their room now!"
Karla, a cute young girl with brown hair went into the room and prepared it for the Trode and Abel. She whispered something to her father and he frowned. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to share our only room with another traveler. A young traveller who came in yesterday. Kind of a creepy fellow, I don't exactly trust him myself, but he is just passing through. Business is business you know." Trode and Abel shrugged and followed the innkeeper to their room.
The room was fair sized. Two beds, one being occupied, and a table and chair. Trode claimed the bed, after all he was the king, and Abel was assigned the chair. As Abel started to fall asleep, he noted that the stranger had long silver hair, and even stranger, pointy ears. He was an elf! Abel was amazed, he thought that elves lived far away and never left their lands. After a while the amazement died down and he fell asleep.
It was early the next morning when Trode woke Abel up. Their roommate was still asleep when they left the room. They ate a quick breakfast began making their plans. From what they were told, the monsters would be there at sundown so they would have to act quickly. Abel wasn't quite sure what Trode had in mind, but he was almost positive he wasn't going to like it.
First they went to the local tailor and picked out a dress and a wig. Then they went and picked out some perfume. After they were done shopping Trode turned to Abel. "I need you to put this on. Hurry, the monsters are going to be coming soon."
Abel tried protesting, but Trode wouldn't hear any of it. His plan was perfect and in order for it to succeed, Abel would have to dress like a girl. After 15 minutes of not gaining any ground, Abel submitted, went back to the inn room, and dressed. Afterwards Abel noticed that the elf was still sleeping. Wow, he must have been through a rough road!
When Abel returned to Trode, Trode had retrieved the Princess. "Just in case we have to leave quickly" Trode explained. Wow, the king sure has a lot of faith in my skills Abel thought to himself, but didn't say anything. Slowly the group made their way to the sacrificial altar that the villagers had made for the monsters. The innkeeper and Karla wished Abel good luck as they passed. When they arrived, Trode and the Princess hid behind a tree about 100 feet from the altar. It was all up to Abel now.
Abel waited at the altar for 10 minutes before he heard a rumbling noise deep in the forest. Boom boom. The sound magnified as the monsters drew closer until it was nearly unbearable. And then they emerged from the trees.
There were three of monsters. The leader was Cloudking, a huge monstrous demon who was made from clouds it seemed. He had a long beard which he would often twiddle with his fingers. He was accompanied by a Swordgon and a Skulpent.
Cloudking smiled. "Those foolish villagers brought us another girl eh? It seems they have bought themselves another week."
The Swordgon waved his tail about excitedly. "Nuts, I was hoping to have some fun this week."
Cloudking gave a soft chuckle. "Soon my pet…Soon. The village will not be able to maintain their supply of girls. Soon they shall be spent and then you can have your fun."
The Skulpent hissed. "Massster. Can I have thisss week'sss girl? Ssswordgon ate last weekssss almost all by himsssself!"
Cloudking shook his head. "No. You will share or I'll have her myself, understand?"
Skulpent and Swordgon nodded in acknowledgement. Then Swordgon stepped onto the platform and began sniffing Abel. Suddenly be pulled back in shock. "Master! This is not a girl! They have tricked us!"
Cloudking suddenly began to frown. "You're perception has gone down. That is clearly a girl!" Meanwhile Skulpent had picked up another scent coming from the forest so he followed it until he found the Princess and Trode. He let out a shriek and Abel was momentarily forgotten.
"Massster! There is a girl over here! She looks like a horse, but she smells like a young maiden!" Skulpent hissed excitedly. Trode moaned in disappointment and Skulpent lead him and the Princess to the clearing so Cloudking could get a better look.
"Hmm… I sense it too. There is something strange going on here. Either way it doesn't matter, you may have all three of these vermin!"
Skulpent lunged at the Princess but she was quicker and kicked it with her hind legs. It went flying in the air and impaled itself on Swordgon's back. It twitched for a while but then stopped moving.
Cloudking was furious. "Swordgon, destroy her immediately! Feast on her flesh!" Swordgon then ran towards the princess and when he was within range he swung his scythe-like tail at the Princess. She closed her eyes in fear, expecting to be brutally hit soon, but was shocked when the blow didn't come. Abel had blocked the attack!
Abel had his sword drawn and was blocking Swordgon's powerful tail. Swordgon began throwing himself at Abel and Abel managed to avoid all of his attacks. Swordgon was strong, but he was bulky and thus fairly easy to dodge. Whenever he could, Abel would strike a blow. After a while Swordgon began to get desperate and his fighting got sloppier. Then Abel saw his opening and took it. While Swordgon was trying to recover from a failed blow, Abel plunged his sword deep into Swordgon's side, hitting several vital organs. Within a minute Swordgon was dead.
Cloudking was not pleased. "My minions! My pets! Destroyed by some cross-dresser and a horse! ( "On second thought, I have bad taste in minions.."). This town shall be destroyed for their foolishness!"
Bolts of lightning flew from his fingers and struck nearby trees, setting them on fire. Abel lunged at Cloudking but was knocked aside with ease. " You won't find me as easy as those weaklings you just beat! I'm a whole new game!" He then started casting various wind spells at Abel and it took all of his energy to avoid the attacks.
Meanwhile Trode had ran back into town to warn the villagers the forest was on fire. They began to panic and started drawing buckets of water from the well. They had managed to drive back the flames, but the battle with Cloudking only added more flames as his wind spells only fed more oxygen to the fire.
Abel was starting to wear down. The battle with Swordgon had taken a lot of energy from him but Cloudking was way outclassing him. He knew all kinds of spells which reeked havoc on him. He could no longer dodge the spells and soon the battle would be over - with a victory for Cloudking.
Suddenly a blast of lightning hit Abel. He screamed as he fell to the ground. This is it. Its all over now. Cloudking walking menacingly over to where Abel lay. "Hehehe… You feel your coming demise, don't you? Yes…Yes you do. It has been a long time since someone has challenged me. I thought I had risen above tha- AHHHHHH!" His sentence turned to a blood curdling scream as suddenly a fountain of blood sprayed from where his hand was. It had happened so quickly that Abel hadn't even seen what had caused it and then he saw him. The elf from the inn. His long silver hair was shinning in the fading light and he was clad in black. He was wearing a skull necklace. In his left hand he carried a sword that had a golden hilt with a snake motif.
The stranger sighed. He had no idea why he had intervened. As a matter of fact it would have served his plans more if this village was destroyed. After all, it were humans much like these that made his Rosa cry several times. However, it was too early in his plans to be connected with any destruction. He was scouting. "Cloudking, leave now and I may let you live. I have no interest in killing you, however easy it may be."
Cloudking shouted back to him. "You…defeat me? Hardly. Who are you to say you can challenge me anyway?"
The stranger brushed his hair out of his face. "I am Saro." He paused for a moment to spit out the foul taste of the name that no longer applied to him. He was beyond Saro now. "I am Necrosaro. This is your last chance as I must be going, someone special is waiting for me."
Cloudking laughed(the last laugh he ever gave actually). "What a pitiful name. Necrosaro… Soon you shall be buried underground with…" Cloudking wasn't able to finish the thought as he was lying there dead a few seconds later. Necrosaro had stabbed Cloudking in the neck as he stood there talking. Cloudking fell to the ground with an earthshaking thud. All the nearby villagers rose and cheered. Their tormentors were destroyed and they were free! Before anyone could run up and thank him, Saro had disappeared and it would be the last any human saw him for a long while. He had other matters, more darker matters, that must be taken care of.
That night there was a feast. Abel and Trode (whom the villagers had gotten to like despite his ugly looks) were held in honor and again their room was free. A new day began.
Trode had spent some time talking to the village elder who pointed Trode toward the village of Trapetta and the next morning when Abel, Trode, and the Princess left that was the direction they headed.