Chapter 1: Lanaya
Light shined through the trees in the thick forest, worn paths winding each and every way. Quiet, but frantic and fast steps were taken. The stepper was a young woman with dark purple hair and lilac skin, piercing blue eyes to match. She had one long braid down to her bum, but it was messy.
She was scared, blood trickling down her arm as she ran from giant wolves that were fast on her tail. Her tattered clothes waved in the wind, drips of the scarlet leading behind in her path. Her chest heaved as her pace quickened. Quickly, she removed the black cowl from her face to breathe easier. She had to get somewhere, she knew. Out into the open would be better than in this dark forest, she thought. Stealing a glance behind her, she saw that the wolves were turning back.
The woman stopped to catch her breath. Leaning against a tree, she gathered her bearings. She had a bag slung around her shoulder, but it was torn. Some of its contents had spilled out, such as food, and some other belongings. She hadn't noticed. The only thing left in the ruined knapsack was an ancient book, her grimoire. 'The Nature of Life' it was called. She had studied it with her colleague, Boush the Tinker, before their laboratory was blown up and they were separated in the rubble. She turned through the pages quickly. It was unscathed. She could never seem to get rid of the damned thing; it'd survived every acid spill, failed experiment, and everything else imaginable. She was grateful it was still intact.
"I've gotta get out of here…" she grumbled, throwing the ripped knapsack over the back of her head. The woman cradled the book under her arm.
"Who said that?" a husky voice yelled from a curve in the path near her.
She froze.
There was a loud lumbering noise, and the sound of sloshing… perhaps liquids?
The woman froze, pressing herself against the tree.
"Show yourself!" another voice said, but this one was of a lesser tone, and seemingly more high up.
The sloshing came closer, and suddenly a huge orange ogre was lumbering down the path. Atop the ogre was a tiny… man with a pointy cap, holding mixing bottles in each hand, he seemed to be mixing them on the go. He looked crazy, fidgeting whenever he put down the bottles into the holsters around his waist.
"There, boss!" The ogre exclaimed, pointing at the woman. "It's a … girl…" he blinked, his voice turning from a harsh tone to a less threatening pitch, it almost seemed as he was in a dreamy trance from seeing the female.
"It's just a woman, you twit!" the man grumbled, slapping the ogre's cheek.
Gripping the book, she glanced up at the towering duo. Fear clouded her eyes.
"Don't worry, we won't bite, or, at least, I won't," the man said before climbing down from the 8 foot ogre's head. On the ground, the man was only 2 feet tall. The woman tried to suppress her laughs.
"I'm Razzil Darkbrew, just call me Razzil, and this is… well, he doesn't really have a name. We just call him Alchy," the tiny man winked, holding out a tiny hand.
"Hello lady," the ogre leaned down, reaching out a meaty fist.
The woman shook both of their hands, setting the book on her lap. "I'm Lanaya,"
"Pretty name…" Alchy murmured, dazed still.
Razzil looked up at the previously perceived terrifying ogre. "Don't worry about him, he just has a thing for females," he rolled his eyes.
Lanaya laughed nervously.
"You look like you've got some cuts and scrapes," the tiny man commented. "I've got some brew that'll fix you right up!"
"Um, sorry, I don't drink,"
The ogre and his boss laughed in unison, Alchy's laugh rumbled throughout the whole forest.
"Oh, I'm sure you will after this. But, besides, my brews are hardly alcoholic, but you'll be feeling better in a jiffy," Razzil looked down at his belt which had multiple flasks of differing color liquid. "Now… which one was it…" he pondered before pulling out two bottles, one of a lime green color, and the other a seemingly thick, tar like substance. "Alchy, smell these and see which one's poison." The man held up the two brews above his head and the ogre gingerly took the fragile glass bottles in each hand. He smelled the lime first, his nose scrunching up. Then he took a whiff of the tar one. The huge ogre looked like he was about to gag.
"This one," he gulped, handing back the lime one. "This one's poison,"
Razzil nodded, putting the lime brew back into her holster. He handed Lanaya the bubbling tar one. "Now, it'll taste bad when going down but it'll work its magic immediately,"
Lanaya nodded, gulping. She sniffed the odd liquid, almost gagging aswell. But, quickly, whilst holding her noise, she downed the brew. It was warm and left a bitter taste in her mouth, but her opened wounds began closing suddenly before her eyes, and the pain is gone. She was amazed at this tiny man.
"This is amazing! What's it made of?" she exclaimed, wanting to expand her knowledge.
Razzil chuckled, "We'll take you back to the Radiant and after you've gotten some rest, I'll tell you all about my brews,"
"Radiant?" the woman questioned.
"You don't know Radiant?!" Alchy chimed in, completely surprised by this foreign woman's inquiry. "Are you a Dire?!" he growled, clenching his fists.
"No, no! I don't even know what those things are! I'm not from around here! But… what is it?"
"It's this place, you know… it's … well… we'll explain when we get you there, I'm sure you'll like it, now gather your… book and let's go,"
Having nowhere else to go, Lanaya dusted herself off, still holding the grimoire against her chest.
Razzil climbed back onto Alchy's head. "Off we go!"