Shadows of Doubt
Resda mentally struck himself in the forehead. Stupid, stupid. How could I have forgotten to buy return scrolls? he said as he trudged across the forest floor, crunching through dry leaves and brushing away low branches. He now regretted his decision not to take the taxi, as fatigue set in. He gave up, sitting down at the base of one particularly large tree. A quick rest won't hurt, he assured himself, as he closed his eyes.
Above him, something a little more interesting was happening.
Kai's attacker drew close, blade drawn, ready to stab Kai. "Magic Claw!" Kai chanted in response. She waved her staff in the air, releasing a magical blast before teleporting out of reach. Reappearing behind him, she was surprised to see him dodge the attack.
"Savage Blow!" he cried out, leaping after her. Kai jumped back to defend herself, and all he managed to do was tear her skirt.
"Try dodging this!" Kai yelled, adrenaline pumping. "Fire Arrow!" The flame flew towards her opponent.
"Dark Sight." The bandit leapt back into the shadow of the platform above, effectively disappearing.
"So it's a game of hide and seek now, is it?" she jeered. "Fire Arrow!" She fired her spell into the shadow, hoping to catch him while he was defenseless. Nothing happened. Kai yelled. "I'll get you if it takes everything I have to do it! Magic Claw! Fire Arrow!" She cast spell after spell, finally depleting her magic power. "Did I get him?" she asked herself.
"Nope."
Kai turned towards the source of the noise, but before she could react, a knife plunged into her side. She dropped to her knees, clutching the wound, blood dripping onto the floor. "Who... are you? Why have you done this?"
"That staff," he said, not bothering to reply. "Give it to me."
"No! This staff is mine! It's important to me!"
"My point exactly," he replied, with a swift kick to her side. She doubled over in pain, releasing her grip on her staff. He reached down and picked it up. "Thanks for your cooperation."
"You aren't going to get away with this!" Kai said, glaring upward, on her hands and knees.
"I believe I will." He pushed her over to the edge of the platform. "I'd love to finish you off, but I'd rather leave you to the monsters. See you around... or maybe not." With another well-placed kick, Kai was sent hurtling to the forest floor.
With the wind whipping across her face combined with the excruciating pain of her wound, it took everything Kai had to remain conscious. No energy, she reminded herself. If I can't teleport, perhaps I can steer myself onto that ledge. With her remaining physical strength, she aimed for the ledge. Unfortunately, she only brushed against it, causing her to spin out of control. The combined feelings of dizziness, pain, and weakness flooded her body. That's it, she said in resignation, the floor drawing nearer with each passing moment. I'm sorry, everyone... was her final thought before she slipped into unconsciousness. With a loud crunch, she slammed into the bottom of the tree.
The noise snapped Resda out of his sleepy daze. "Gods! What was that?" He looked around his immediate surroundings. Finding nothing, he decided to enter the tree dungeon. As he entered, he looked down to the floor beneath the platform he stood upon. A young female mage lay unconscious on the floor, as monsters began swarming near. "She needs help!" he said, as he jumped down. The monsters were shaken up by this vibration, but soon they resumed their march, advancing on the both of them.
Resda locked a bolt into his Arbalest, preparing to fire. There are far too many for me to take out one by one. They'd get to me too fast. So, let's try something new. He took aim at a small group of Horned Mushrooms, and focused his energy. "Iron Arrow!" he called out as he fired. The bolt flew at a blazing speed, and started rotating in the air. It made contact with the head of the group, and proceeded to pierce through them all, dispatching them instantly. Damn, that was cool, Resda thought. He fired several more Iron Arrows into the crowd, killing half of the group. But for as many as he killed, several more appeared behind them. The monsters seemed to pour out of the shadows. A few bold ones even leapt out and struck Resda several times before being shot down.
Gods... there's too many of them! My kingdom for a return scroll! Wait... there's an idea. With a sudden burst of ingenuity, he reached into Kai's bag and began sifting through its contents. "Score!" he exclaimed, tearing open the scroll, grabbing Kai, and reading the spell written upon it. With a rush of wind, they vanished, whisked towards Ellinia.
They reappeared next at the very top of the city, in front of the cottage belonging to Hines. Resda immediately knocked on the door. "Hines! Are you there?"
"Not now, I'm busy!" a voice issued from the house.
"Someone's hurt! We need your help!" Resda persisted.
After a long silence, the door opened. Hines looked annoyed, until he saw exactly who it was that got hurt. "Come inside, quickly," he said.
Several minutes later, Resda and Hines were standing over a bed, where Kai lay still, a faint magical glow surrounding her. "Is she going to be alright?" Resda asked.
"Yes..." Hines replied. An odd quality presented itself in his voice.
"You're sure?" Resda pressed on, catching Hines's apparent uncertainty.
"Oh... no, no, it's not her injuries that bother me," Hines said. "She did get pretty beat up, however... broken arm, bruised ribs, a slight concussion, very nasty knife wound... but it's nothing my magic can't fix up."
"Then why..."
"Well, your arrival was a bit unexpected," Hines said.
"That's the way an emergency works, I guess," Resda replied, confused by Hines's response.
Suddenly, Kai bolt upright, panting heavily, looking around frantically. Her wild eyes turned to Hines. "What's going on?"
"Calm yourself, Kai..." he said, in a soothing voice that seemed almost to magically melt away the tension. He turned to Resda. "Didn't I say she'd be alright?"
Kai took a deep breath. "What happened?" she said, this time firmly and clearly.
"Well, it appears that you were attacked. The fine upstanding gentleman to my right managed to find you before it was too late."
"The name's Resda," he introduced himself.
"I'm Kai," she said sheepishly, a weak smile on her face.
"Now that we all know each other," Hines said, "perhaps you could fill me in on the details of your attack, Kai."
Kai shut her eyes, shuddering to recall the painful memory. "A thief... dressed in black and gold. He attacked me. He stabbed me in the side, and then he took-" Kai stopped short. "Oh, no! The staff!"
"The staff?" Hines repeated, incredulous.
"That thief took it! I'm so sorry, Hines, I failed!" Kai broke down.
"Now, now, Kai, please relax. The important thing is that you're still alive," Hines reassured her. "Your grandfather, for one thing, would be more pleased to see you than to see the staff intact."
"Doesn't seem that way, the way he told me off," Kai muttered to herself, sniffing. "That staff was so important! I should have done a better job protecting it!"
"Do not worry, Kai. Just be grateful that you're still alive and able to get it back."
Kai returned to the rest of the story. "The thief pushed me off the ledge. I blacked out when I hit the floor."
"That's where I come in," Resda interjected. "I saw her on the floor, so I picked her up to defend her from the monsters. I had to borrow one of her scrolls to get here when they started overwhelming me." He scratched his head. "So what's important with this staff?"
Kai and Hines turned to each other. Hines sighed. "Perhaps I should explain. You are familiar, I presume, with the story of how I and the other three Wise Men saved the world?"
Suddenly, it all clicked. "More familiar with it than you think," he replied, showing them the red Maple charm adorning his neck.
"Then you're..." Kai tugged on her necklace, revealing a similar charm. "You're Henesys's champion!"
"So people tell me," Resda replied.
"Perhaps it wasn't just some coincidence we met," Kai said, excited.
Hines did not share in this euphoria, instead deciding to pace the room. "Puzzling," he said to himself.
"What's wrong?" Kai asked.
"I had no idea that you two were going to arrive today," Hines replied.
"Well, we did kinda come out of nowhere," Resda said. "So what's wrong?"
"I should have known." Hines waved his hand, procuring a spherical crystal from nothing. "Prior to your visit, I was trying to locate the whereabouts of the champions. But when I peered into my crystal ball... nothing." The crystal vanished into thin air. "Something is interfering with my clairvoyance."
"It's gotta be something terribly powerful to stop you," Kai wondered aloud, Resda nodding in agreement.
"Something... or someone," Hines added. "I must do research."
"And what should we do?" Resda asked the wizard. "Should we wait?"
"No, no," Hines replied. "You must get going. Try to find Kai's staff. If I could, I would tell you where to look. All I can offer you is a suggestion - try Perion. Your thief may be trying to sell your staff on the free market."
"Good plan," Resda agreed.
Kai climbed out of bed, embracing Hines. "I won't let you down again," she promised.
"I should hope not," he joked. As Resda and Kai moved for the door, Hines stopped them. "Kai! I have something for you." He held out his staff. "Take it."
"Hines? This is your staff! Should you really give it to me?"
"Oh, don't worry about this thing. Consider it a loan, until you get your own staff back. It's a little old, but it should serve you well." With many thanks, the two of them left out the door.
Resda started north, but Kai stopped. "Where do you think you're going?" Kai asked.
"Uh... north?" Resda shrugged. "How else are we getting to Perion?"
"We aren't going yet!" said Kai. "I want to restock our supplies."
"What?" Resda checked his bag. "I've got enough potions to go around, if that's what you're worried about."
"No," Kai said, dragging him towards the shop. "You're buying me a return scroll."
"What?" repeated Resda. "Is that all?"
"You looked through my things without asking!" Kai said, resolutely.
"You were unconscious!" argued Resda, as she continued to pull her along.
Someplace else, another pair was continuing their exploration. "Ozeku, I think we've made it," one said to the other. "These crystals should be adequate for my scry." She picked one up, depositing it in her satchel.
Suddenly, a monster appeared in front of her with a cloud of black smoke. "Deianira, step aside!" Ozeku said, drawing his great sword.
But Deianira stopped him. "Hold, Ozeku," she said before turning to the monster. "Welcome back. You have something to report?" she asked of her creation. Instead of attacking, it spoke.
"This is our plan, mistress," it finished, after talking at length, just out of earshot of Ozeku.
"Excellent. Now go," Deianira said. The creature obeyed, sinking into the floor through a dark pool. Deianira turned to Ozeku. "I'm impressed."
"What happened?" Ozeku said.
"They actually formulated a plan."
"Hmm, that should be interesting." Ozeku said, as Deianira returned to collecting crystals.
"This should be enough. Shall we continue?" Deianira asked.
"Lead on," Ozeku said, as they continued on their way.