Chapter 12
"Who are you?" asked Nene, stepping to the front.
"Ah, a cautious one. Clever girl," praised the strange lady, who then replied in a friendly manner, "My name is Agatha. I have recently moved here. I had hoped to reach out by word of mouth to the nearby village. I provide many services."
"What do you know about the bears in the area?" asked Botan as she stepped up next to the bard.
"Ah, the bears… true, there used to be bears here," she began to explain while walking slowly towards them, "Though, I cannot say. Have checked the whole forest? I believe it goes on for miles. Perhaps your bears are in another part of the forest."
"Really? I thought most bears are territorial," fired back the archer, "There was no way that the bears simply moved away without a fierce fight."
"Huh. That, I wouldn't know anything about that," she said with a shrug, "I came here after that. I wasn't even aware of any bears living here."
"What do you mean by after that? How would you know the bears moved away?" asked Nene with a frown.
"Ah, I came here after traveling for miles," she said with a suspicious smile, "That is what I meant. As to knowing about the bears moving away, I didn't know. Like I said, I only moved here only recently."
"But you knew there were bears living here," spoke up Artia articulately as she stepped forward next to Botan, "Why would anyone want to live in a bear's territory? Not to mention Risu's circle is far from this part of the forest. If anything, you would be living with them. Additionally, with bears being territorial, the only way to remove them is by overwhelming force. With your hidden, hairy goblins, I wouldn't be surprised that they are all that is left of your entourage. So, who are you?"
The green lady was astonished by what came out of her mouth. Slowly, a sneer formed on her face. "So… another clever girl… a pity I never found you when you were but a babe. You would have made a good child for me," she snarked in her declaration. She transformed, her hair becoming wilder and unkept, her fingernails extending and becoming sharpened claws, and her beautiful face became a hideous visage.
"Kill them all, my servants!" she shrieked out. Squeaking and howls answered her.
"Great, a hag… and I don't know which one too," groaned out the ice genasi as she brought out her book with a flourish.
"Hello darkness my old friend," sang Nene as she strummed her lute, "I've come to talk with you again."
"Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my head,
Remains unsaid,
Within the sound of Silence."
As she chanted a faint, a shimmer in the air flickered and covered half the cave. Agatha made to scream but no sound came from her lips. She blinked in surprise and then made an angry face when Polka's dart struck her in the arm. She charged forward and lashed out at the nearest person, Artia, who jumped back to avoid her long claws. Aloe lunged forward and narrowly missed as well, while a soft glow settled on the monk, the archer, and the bard. The genasi wizard tried moving away and was clawed in the back.
Putting some distance between them, she chanted as she waved her free hand overhead, "By the power of freezing winds, I strike with purity and unity." Three darts of mystical force appeared over her and struck the hag in the chest. The darts exploded into motes of ice upon impact and their enemy screamed in pain.
"Yikes!" yelped Polka as a javelin grazed her arm. Bugbears had appeared from the shadows and were throwing roughly sharpened sticks at them. The succubus shrieked as two more punctured her wings. Meanwhile, Lamy screamed as swarms of rats came from the other side of the cave and started biting at her heels. Botan roared, the bright glow and black streaks appearing, and she moved to help the cleric handle the swarms.
"Your fight is here, ugly!" shouted Nene at the hag as she slung the lute over her shoulder and pulled out her rapier.
"Rude child! I'll get your for-urk" started the hag but was kicked in the face by a grinning monk, who followed up with a kick to the gut. She growled at the fennec fox girl before she chanted, "Eyes beyond your sight you need, for I will disappear from thee." And she suddenly popped out of existence, cackling madly as she did so.
Meanwhile, Aloe flew up to the raised area to retaliate against the slight against her wings, taking them by surprise and clawing one of them in the face. They tried to fight back but she was too agile and they missed. At the same time, a spectral sword appeared as Lamy backed away from the rats. Then, she and the sword moved on to attack the vermin with magic and blade.
"Where did that hag go?" asked out Artia as she looked warily. Keeping an open eye out for her, she sent her attention to the side and chanted as she pointed at the bugbears, "By the power of freezing winds, the drums will shatter to a million pieces." A loud ringing noise erupted among the bugbears, the goblinoids gripping their heads while still holding on to their armaments. They were able to recover and continued tossing javelins at the monk, much to her annoyance. At that same time, Botan had cut down the rat swarms by half, which had moved on to try and attack the bard. She in turn fought back, striking and stabbing at each rat in turn.
Their leader gone, Polka turned and flew towards the nearest bugbear with a flying kick. Her foot connected with the board it used as a shield. Even though she could still see in the darkened area, the goblinoids made good use of their planks to protect themselves.
"A-ha-ha-ha," cackled the green hag as she suddenly appeared before Artia. The ice genasi was expecting this and dodged. Aloe noticed this and snarled, jumping down and swiping at the hag. Agatha hissed as her shoulder got raked over. Then, she ducked under a mace as Lamy tried helping as well.
The wizard tried moving away but the hag said, "Oh, no, my girl." She swiped at the genasi, catching her in her back again, digging her wounds even deeper. She hissed and hobbled over to the monk and took in a deep breath. She exhaled, blowing out freezing cold air over the monk's shoulder. The goblinoids roared and shouted as they were bathed in her frost breath. She suddenly gasped and the breath was cut off when a javelin went into her side. She fell down behind the monk.
"Artia!" shouted Polka before screaming in surprise as a morningstar slammed into her shoulder. She then evaded the rest of the attacks sent her way, the pain still fresh on her mind. She then retaliated with a powerful punch, bursting apart the plank of wood and cracking a bugbear's skull.
Botan and Nene, after having finished off the rat swarm, turned around to find the hag missing. "Take care. She can turn invisible," warned the bard as Lamy directed her spirit sword to the bugbears as she healed the genasi.
"Thank you, Lamy!" shouted Artia as she pulled the javelin out and dropped it to the floor. As a green glow washed over her wounds, she chanted as she waved her free hand overhead, "By the power of freezing winds, I strike with purity and unity." Three darts of mystical force appeared over her head and slammed into the nearest bugbear.
The goblinoids were enraged and continued their attack on the party. Aloe had no problem dodging while attacking them with renewed vigor while the monk and wizard got taken by surprise by the brutality of their morningstars.
"Hurry, they need help!" shouted Nene as she ran towards the two. Botan's arrow thudded into the wooden shield while her rapier found its heart. "Rise!" she sang out as she laced the healing note in her words, bathing the monk in its rejuvenation.
Polka roared as she jumped to her feet and sent a flurry of blows at the nearest bugbear, mostly hitting its shield but one punch left its head ringing.
"Surprise, my dear!" Agatha cackled as she appeared in front of Lamy, her claws digging deep into her stomach. The half-snow elf screamed; the soft glow on the monk, the archer, and the bard winked out of existence. She then glanced at the bleeding genasi and grit her teeth. Then, she readied her shield and moved.
"Where are you going my dear?" shouted the hag as she swiped with her claws. Thanks to her shield, she was protected as she ran past Agatha to help Artia. Grasping her amulet tightly and touching the ice genasi, her prayers were down to a whisper as blood clotted and wounds closed by magic.
"Thank you again!" she said gratefully as a ray of frost crackled against the bugbear's plank of wood.
"Hands of my friends!" roared Botan as she charged down the hag and clawed her face.
Seeing that most of the hag's minions were down, Nene quickly swapped out her rapier for her lute. Strumming out a few notes, she sang, "In restless dreams I walked alone..."
"...Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the shining of a torch's light,
I felt my heart jump out my chest with fright,
Then my ears were stabbed by the shout of a banshee's wail,
It pierced the veil
And brought the sound of Silence."
As this went on, Polka finished off the bugbear and then ran over to help with the hag. Meanwhile, Lamy provided long-range support to Aloe in a rush to finish off the remaining bugbear.
Agatha let out a soundless, frustrated shriek and booked it, running out of the area Silence. Her speed took everyone by surprise, and as she got out successfully, she gleefully chanted, "Eyes beyond your sight you need, for I will disappear from thee." She disappeared with a cackle.
"You are not getting away so easily!" declared Artia as she pointed at the hag's last known spot. "By the power of freezing winds, the drums will shatter to a million pieces," she chanted. The loud ringing noise erupted followed by a pained shriek as the hag reappeared as she clutched her ears. She smirked for a moment before deciding to aid the cleric and the succubus.
Botan shouted something noiselessly as she shot at the reappearing hag, as the bard and the monk surged forward at the ready. Everything missed as she somehow recovered and danced around everything they sent at her.
"A-ha-ha-ha," cackled the green hag as she chanted and pulled her disappearing trick again.
"Damn it!" shouted the lore bard in frustration. Meanwhile, the other three finished off the last bugbear.
Botan seemed to say something in the silence field as she nocked an arrow. As she pulled, she closed her eyes. Nene and Polka watched in confusion and then with awe as the archer shot the arrow to nowhere in particular. As it left, the silvery sheen that accompanied it burned brightly and the arrow suddenly circled around and shot straight at something. It suddenly stopped, the head and shaft half-buried in something, as it was floating in mid-air right in the middle of the silence field. Suddenly, Agatha reappeared in a noiseless scream with the arrow buried in her back.
The bard and the monk blinked in surprise for a moment, before running after the hag in pain. Once again, she had some supernatural agility to dodge all their attacks. However, as she bolted, Polka was able to trip her. Instead of falling face-first to the ground, Agatha landed on all fours and actually scurried out of the cave with surprising speed.
"What the- Get back here, you witch!" snarled Aloe angrily as she flew after her. As the others gathered near the entrance, she came back with an annoyed face. "The witch disappeared. I lost track of her."
"Well, at least we survived all that," said Nene gratefully, "Let's search the place. We might find something."
And so they did. The bugbears had very little on them and nothing of value. The rest of the cave didn't have much. The barrels and the foodstuffs were actually a whole lot of herbal ingredients that looked old and withered. Pieces of rotten fish in one barrel almost made Botan throw up. The alcoves had very little either. One side seemed to house the bugbears. It was dirty and foul. The other alcove was a little better. The straw bedding seemed to be for the hag. The wooden thing Polka saw earlier were chests, one large and one small. The large one had lots of pelts; a black bear pelt, a brown bear pelt, two wolf pelts, and five deer pelts. The smaller one was black, two feet by two feet. They opened it and found two strange figurines, one taller and one smaller. They were strangely painted, the taller one had a red bow while the smaller one had an ox-horn hairstyle. Both figurines had oversized hands, half the size of the smaller one's head.
"Huh, what strange things she owns," stated Lamy as the party looked at them. To their surprise, the figures turned their heads to the cleric, lifted their hands to her, and raised their middle fingers.
"Hmph, how rude," the half-snow elf muttered as she glared at them while the others giggled, Polka being the loudest.
"Älright, let's bring all this back to the city," stated Botan as she closed the box, "So, who wants the box?"
In the end, Polka elected to take ownership of the black box. With Botan and Nene carrying the chest, they made their way back to the road. Thankfully, instead of bandits, they encountered a returning cart. They paid a few silver for the driver's time and got a cart ride back to Rivirapolis. They visited the hunting shop and tannery to check out the pelts. Then, they met with the requester, a lesser noble, who was quite happy with his new brown bear pelt. Overall, they earned two hundred and fifty gold from sales and the quest. By the time all this was done, night had fallen and the lanterns on the lamp posts had already been lit.
"Things were crazy today," said Botan as they walked back to the guild house. Artia had gone back to the dorms while Aloe had returned to Towa's house.
"Hi, hi, I got some nice stuff," beamed Polka as she hugged the box close, "Funny, I never thought I'd get my own trophy… sort off..."
"I still think they should be burned," groused Lamy with a pout.
"Relax, Lamy. The box will be in Polka's room, so you don't have to look at them," stated Nene assuringly, "That should be fine, right?"
"Hng," the cleric sounded out as she crossed her arms, glancing away.
"Alright, enough talking about the box, let's go get something to eat," said the bard as she led them to Robel's.
"Ah, fried chicken," muttered the archer as she licked her lips, eagerly anticipating the juicy goodness.
"...Fine," the half-snow elf muttered in reply, "I shall let this go for now. I better not see those… things... for a long time."
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the next chapter. So... for those who play D&D, it would be clear what they are fighting, but for those who don't, they are fighting a green hag with her minions. Think evil witch and you're on the right track. As for their quest, they found enough pelts and then some to complete it. The funnier thing would be... the contents of the black box. It is a reference to a 4-koma(?) manga/anime that frequently parodies pop culture. Care to guess which one?
Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.