When a cry of "Land ho!" broke the stillness in the air, everybody rushed
to the deck to view the large island they were approaching. David stepped
in front of the crowd, bringing them all to a silence.
"Silver is bound to know of our mission, and has most likely sent
troops to welcome us," he said with surprising calmness, "Arm yourselves
and get ready for a good warm-up." He walked over to the many sacks filled
with weapons, motioning for everybody to follow.
"Pick a weapon that you know you can use well; Silver's army is
fierce," he reached into the bags and drew out a pair of blue swords. One
by one, everybody was equipped with their weapon of choice, and the ship
arrived at the dock. Jug released the anchor, and the gangplank was
lowered. Everyone walked down it carefully, looking around for signs of
coming ambushes. Slowly, they made their way across the dock, making as
little noise as possible.
A war cry pierced the air, and dozens of Silver's thugs surrounded
their group. Both parties charged, aiming to kill. Jug leapt into the
center, slashing wildly with his battle axe. David faced soldier after
soldier with an impressive display of special moves. Vivienne stood at the
side with her broadsword, killing any opponent dumb enough to get into her
range. Sekune and Sydra backed away from the cluster of fighters, expertly
firing arrows at the green-armored antagonists. Cagen and Chiaro blasted
around themselves with area magic, destroying about half of the thugs. Even
Felena was fighting, hurling throwing knives everywhere.
At last, the army was defeated, and everybody was nicely warmed up.
Vivienne walked over to Felena, who was collecting her knives.
"That was some nice fighting," she complimented.
"Thanks," Felena muttered, yanking a knife out of a corpse. She wiped
the bloody weapon clean on a leaf and tucked it back into her cleavage.
"Bloody jerks, dirtying my poor knives," she said, sighing.
"Well now, little lady, that was some nice fighting back there!"
Jug's teasing voice stopped Vivienne from replying.
"Call me that once more, and you'll experience my fighting
firsthand!" she snarled. Jug grinned apologetically and set to work
cleaning a bright coat of blood off his battle axe.
They moved on into a dense forest, keeping an eye out for more
attackers. Instead of Silver's henchmen, they found themselves battling
huge snakes, easily the size of large anacondas if not larger. After the
snakes were dealt with, giant insects came to investigate the noise and
attacked, but were cut off by the shower of flaming arrows Sydra delivered.
Sekune grinned proudly at her sister; she was quite the archer. They moved
on through the forest, fighting more snakes and insects, until they reached
a rocky beach. They picked their way across the rocks and came to a small
cave where the rocks ended and turned into golden sand.
"What do you think's in the cave?" Sydra asked curiously. She peered
inside, but could see nothing in the darkness. "Hey, could I borrow the
light orb for a minute?" she asked David. He searched inside the largest of
his bags and pulled out the shining orb. Sydra took it and grinned,
absorbing the magic in her palms.
"Anyone want to come inside with me?" she asked the group. Sekune
joined her reluctantly.
"I'm going to regret this, but I can't let you in there alone," her
older sister sighed. She fitted an arrow to her longbow and stood facing
the others, silently pleading for somebody else to join. Jug stepped
forward, scratching his back with the blunt edge of his battle axe.
"Guess I'll go," he grunted. The three of them entered the cave,
ready for any coming ambushes. Sydra, wanting to be able to fight,
concentrated, sending a ball of light to hover over her head. She released
the orb from her hands and pulled out her firebow, slipping the quiver of
fire arrows over her shoulder. She took an experimental step, and the ball
of light followed, staying two inches above her head at all times.
"Where'd you learn that one?" Sekune whispered.
"I've been studying magic books at home, remember? This is a trick I
learned in that really big one," Sydra grinned, "I didn't know if it would
work, though." A low hiss filled the cave, sending a chill up her spine.
"What was that?" Sekune held her longbow up, ready to fire at any
given moment.
"Probably some native monster," Jug lifted his axe and held his
dragon-crested shield up to cover his body at a sign of attack. A tan
figure leapt past Sydra, landing a few feet behind Sekune.
"Sekune! Behind you!" Jug warned. Sekune whirled around, firing an
arrow at the thing instinctively. It fell, dead. Jug bent down to examine
the body.
"It's some sort of feline monster," the giant man muttered, "Keep
your guard up; there might be more."
"Maybe we should get out of here," Sydra suggested timidly. Sekune
nodded and turned towards the exit. A gasp escaped her lips; the tunnel was
blocked by about a dozen huge felines.
"Oh, great," she groaned. She but an arrow in her bow, and Sydra did
the same. Jug held up his shield and axe, preparing to slice any attacker
into neat cubes. A particularly large feline, most likely the leader,
roared a command to the others, and all of the huge cats raced towards the
trio, snarling loudly.
"Usually, I like cats! This is different!" Sydra fired dozens of
flaming arrows at the group of felines, killing about half of them. Sekune
shot down another three, and Jug finished off the rest with a few swipes of
his battle axe.
"Awww, I was hoping for a challenge!" the burly warrior pouted. He
shrugged and stepped over the bodies towards the exit. Sekune followed him,
and Sydra collected the arrows from the carcasses before running to catch
up.
Outside the cave, Sekune explained to David about the huge felines,
and warned him that there might be larger groups of them farther on. Sydra
cleaned a cut that one of the giant cats had given her, thankful that it
was shallow. The group moved along the beach quietly for a while, stopping
only to deal with a group of snakes.
"Snakes, bugs, cats, what next? Man-eating deer?" Vivienne joked.
"Maybe killer fish," Sydra suggested. The sun was lowering on the
horizon, and David announced that they should call it a day. They set up
camp and fell asleep to the sounds of waves gently lapping the shore,
knowing that it might be their last chance to enjoy such a serene setting.
. . .
They awoke the next morning to the ear-splitting screams of one of the native felines, followed by a chorus of similar noises. Jug groaned and hurled a boot (easily a foot long) at the offending beasts. "Stupid cats, disturbing my beauty sleep," he muttered, going to retrieve his shoe. The felines, who had scattered at the sight of the monstrous footwear, began to slowly come out of hiding, snarling loudly. "Eh? Kitties wanna fight? Then kitties go bye-bye," the giant man grinned and grabbed his battle axe, easily taking down the creatures in a few well-executed swipes. He trudged back into his sleeping bag and was out like a light, only to be awakened a couple minutes later by David calling for everyone to get up. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty! Get up!" Vivienne yelled when Jug didn't stir. She grabbed him by the ear and, miraculously, dragged him out of his bag and dumped him onto the sand. After everyone was up and ready to go, the warriors left the beach and found themselves in a forest so dense it was pitch-black beneath the trees. Sydra, with the help of the Light Orb, managed to produce enough light to let them see faint outlines of trees so as not to smack into one in the dark. Even with the orb's strong magic, its light only cast a dim glow on things, which was very odd indeed. "If you ask me, this whole place is magicked to make it completely impossible to find your way through," Chiaro said thoughtfully. "No, you're kidding! Really?" Vivienne rolled her eyes and squinted through the flickering light, "I think something's out there. But it doesn't seem to be anything we've seen before. It looks almost. human." "But the nearest town's not for a few miles, and I doubt anyone would just go for a stroll in these dark, monster-infested woods," David peered in the direction Vivienne was looking, "I think I do see something moving out there. no, that's a squirrel. Hey, Jug, get out of the light!" The large man moved, allowing their leader to see into the woods. "There is something out there. Be alert, it may be hostile towards visitors." "Don't have to tell me twice," Vivienne shivered, "I don't fancy fighting whatever's out there at the moment, I'm still getting over the stupid snakes." She stopped as a large spider lowered itself down in front of her face, then slashed it in two and looked around for anymore. "Durn bugs." she grumbled as they moved along. After what seemed like ages without a word, David turned to the group and announced, "We are almost at the city of Trillium. It will be a good place to rest and stock up on supplies, plus get some information from the villagers on what has happened lately." "If any of the villagers feel like giving information to a bunch of unruly, heavily-armed strangers," Vivienne muttered, grinning at Jug's rough beard and bald head. "What?" the giant man gave her a look of fake confusion, "Are you saying that my loveliness is threatening in any way?" "How about we just get to Trillium as quickly as possible, and not stop to bicker amongst ourselves," Cagen suggested, eyeing Jug and Vivienne irritably. "Good idea," Chiaro agreed from the back of the group. "If you were all paying attention to what's ahead of us, you'd notice the Wall of Trillium directly ahead," David pointed to a massive wall, visible above the treetops. "Great!" Jug picked up the pace, followed by the rest of the warriors. As he neared the gateway, a single arrow landed directly in front of him, narrowly missing his foot. "Halt!" a voice shouted from above. David looked up, craning his neck to see the top of the wall, and saw a guard atop the barrier, bow drawn. "Please, sir, let us enter!" he shouted up. "Nay, sir, I cannot let anyone in until the Daemoness is slain," the guard yelled back, "The bloody dryads will sneak in if I so much as crack the door." "Daemoness? Dryads?" David questioned, "What is the meaning of all this?" "The Daemoness. The Queen of all Dryads. She plagues the caves beyond yon forest," the guard pointed eastward, "Some say that she's not a dryad a'tall, but a daemon in disguise. The local dryads are somehow controlled by whatever it is, and they've changed into bloodthirsty monsters. 'Spect they'll stay like that until the Queen's gone." "When did this first occur?" David asked. "Just a coupla days ago," the guard answered, "Right after Aurum was killed, Things like this started popping up out of nowhere." "Well, it looks like we've got our work cut out for us," Vivienne stretched, "Battling daemons and monsters like the old days." "We will return later, once the Daemoness is gone," David nodded to the group, and they began moving in the direction the guard had indicated. "Good luck to ye," the guard shouted, "But I doubt you'll return!" "He doesn't know us, does he?" Jug grinned. "Guess not," Vivienne agreed, drawing her blade and keeping an eye out for dryads. They were only a few minutes away from Trillium when a high- pitched scream broke the silence. The scream was followed by several more, and a figure crashed through the trees and stood to face them. Their attacker would have been a lovely young woman if it were not for the razor sharp fangs and claws and wild, bloodshot eyes. It was definitely a dryad, with nut-brown skin and long, beautiful hair of the deepest green. Behind the creature stood about seven others, all with teeth and claws bared. "This could be a problem if we want to get to the cave," Chiaro admitted, extending his flaming hands towards the forest nymphs. "I agree," Jug took a battle stance, "I don't like problems." The nymphs screamed again and rushed at the warriors, claws outstretched as they prepared to rip the throats from their victims. Instead, they were met by a wave of fire and lightning, followed by a wildly slicing Vivienne and Jug. Sydra and Sekune stood back, firing arrows as usual, while David pushed his way into the heart of the fight, sword skillfully cutting its way through. Once the dryads were defeated, David sheathed his sword, "It seems that normal weapons have little effect on these creatures. Had we been fighting with magic, fire particularly, it would have been over much quicker." He pulled a brilliant red and orange sword, flaming with magic, from their supplies and handed it to Jug, "You take the fire sword, and Vivienne and I will take Ice and Acid magic. Sekune and Sydra can keep to arrows and Felena." He looked at the redhead, who was cleaning a throwing knife, "Felena can stick to what she's got, I guess." "How sweet of you to allow me to slaughter daemons in my own fashion, David," Felena smiled sarcastically. "Let's get moving, guys!" Vivienne said impatiently, "I don't want to have to waste my time on minions when we can be kicking some Dryad Queen butt!" "Good idea, little lady!" Jug grinned and ducked as she sent a jet of acid at him. David nodded and began walking once more, followed by Vivienne and Jug. Sekune and Sydra collected the arrows that were not too deeply embedded in trees, then ran to catch up with the others. Chiaro, Cagen, and Felena were not far behind. "Look ahead!" Cagen pointed far ahead of them, where beams of light were breaking through the densely packed trees. The faint sound of water splashing was heard over the various birds and woodland creatures' chattering, heightening the spirits of the entire party. "We're finally out of this godforsaken forest!" Vivienne picked up the pace, slashing through some thick bushes to reach the edge of the forest. "Vivienne! Wait for the rest of us!" Jug called after her, crashing through the foliage as he cleared a wide path for the others. When the entire group had made their way out, they were met not by a tranquil coastal scene, nor a raging group of monsters, but a large, unruly band of pirates wielding every weapon from throwing knives to extremely sharp, pointy, nasty-looking swords. "This could be fun," Vivienne grinned, "I haven't fought a large, unruly band of pirates wielding every weapon from throwing knives to extremely sharp, pointy, nasty-looking swords for the longest time!" "Argh!" the leader yelled, spotting the warriors. "Looks like this'll be a nice warm-up," she crouched down, hands outstretched. "Argh!" the pirate cried again, rushing at Vivienne with a particularly sharp, pointy, nasty-looking sword. "'Argh!'?" Vivienne arched an eyebrow, "Is that all you can think to say?" "Argh!" "How intelligent," she sighed and took out the pirate with one blast, "I hate to destroy such a genius, but you really bugged me." The rest of the pirates, with a few scattered "Argh!"s, were dealt with quickly enough, and the group was able to proceed on to the cave. "That wasn't quite the fun I had expected," the redhead admitted, frowning, "I thought they would at least survive a couple attacks." "I guess the pirates we faced back in Rain were only tough-looking because we were not as experienced back then," Sekune pointed out. "Well, there's the entrance," David pointed to the mouth of a large cave directly ahead of them. "Maybe we can find some stronger monsters in there," Vivienne said thoughtfully. "From what the guard said, the Dryad Queen is no pushover, even for a skilled warrior," David said, "I'm sure you won't find that too easy." "Hopefully," she muttered before entering the cave with the rest of them. Inside the first cavern, they were met by a large group of dryads who were guarding what looked like a trapdoor in the ground. "Oh, I wonder what's in there?" Vivienne said sarcastically, making sure the dryads and every other creature in the cavern could hear her. The dryads shrieked dangerously, baring their teeth and claws. "Bring it on, ladies!" Jug raised his blade, blazing with magic, and shot two fireballs straight into the wild tree-nymphs. Two of them screamed in agony as the flames made contact with their skin, desperately trying to put the fire out but succeeding only in spreading it to the other dryads. Chiaro let loose a few of his own fireballs, and together he and the giant man easily disposed of the nymphs. "That was quick," David commented as he strode over to the trapdoor, grabbing the handle in his hand. As he lifted it up, pale green light emitted from beneath it flooded the cavern, temporarily blinding everyone. When the glow dimmed, the group of warriors was able to descend down into the underground throne room. It was a magnificent room, fit for the most elegant royalty, with a deep brown throne offset by sparkling emeralds and deep green silk atop a short set of steps. Seated on the throne was the Daemoness herself, Queen of all Dryads, blood red eyes blazing with rage at the intruders. She lifted her hands, burning green with magic, and pointed to the ground below the eight fighters, and thick green vines sprang up from the earth, wrapping tightly around all but David, Jug, and Sydra. "Stupid vines!" Vivienne shot at the leafy confines with a jet of acid magic, but the snakelike plants seemed unaffected. "Why do I have to get trapped during the really big fight?" she struggled to get free. The Queen shrieked and shot a blast of green light at the three still standing. Jug put up his mirrored shield just in time, and the attack deflected off onto the ceiling. Sydra put a flaming arrow up to her bow, drew it back, and released, repeating the action mechanically. The daemoness screamed in pain and rage as four shots embedded themselves in her side, and pointed to the ground around the young archer. A huge vine shot out, snaking out to grab the girl's legs. "Sydra!" Sekune cried out as her sister became entangled with the enchanted plants. Sydra quickly grabbed an arrow from her quiver and jammed it into the base of the vine. It shrank away, leaving her free to grab her dropped bow and fire another round of shots. Jug and David were sending blasts of ice and fire at the Queen, and she seemed to be greatly affected by the powerful magic. The Dryad Queen gave an ear-splitting shriek of defiance, and sent an overwhelming blast of brilliant green magic at the three fighters. All three were hit by the attack, the force of it bringing them to their knees. When the light cleared, Jug was the first to shakily get up. He gritted his teeth and sent three fireballs towards the daemoness, all three hitting dead-on. David was next, calling upon all his magic reserves to make icicles materialize on the ceiling, then crash them down onto the Queen. Sydra was last, scooping up her firebow and releasing three more arrows. As she reached for a fourth, her gloved hand grasped nothing but air. "This could prove to be a problem," she admitted as she dodged an oncoming vine. "Sydra! Here!" Chiaro called to the girl. He released the Fire Orb from his body and threw it to her. Sydra grabbed it and allowed it to merge with her, then sent a thin line of fire streaking towards the Queen. Jug and David followed her attack with a barrage of their own magic. The Daemoness screeched once again in a voice unknown to this world, and seven bloodthirsty dryads burst out of the ground, charging at the warriors and drawing their attention from their Queen. "David, you concentrate on the Queen and we'll take care of them!" Jug yelled to his comrade. David nodded and turned back to the Queen, trusting Jug and Sydra to keep him protected from the dryads, and shot a blast of Ice magic at her. The young girl and the towering giant fought the wild nymphs as they came, but as soon as they finished with one wave, the Daemoness would summon another, larger group to keep them occupied. It seemed the pair of them was fighting a losing battle, and David wasn't having much luck either. The use of so much magic without time to rest had exhausted him, and it took all his strength to dodge her attacks and left none to attack with. Then he fell, all his energy gone. The Queen immediately cocooned him in thick vines, screaming triumphantly. Sydra and Jug grimaced; their leader and best hope of emerging from this alive was trapped, the dryads were growing in number, and David wasn't the only one low on power anymore. "Ignore the big 'un!" Jug roared when Sydra began to turn towards the Queen, "I'll get her, just try to hold off the small ones!" Sydra gritted her teeth and blasted the oncoming dryads as Jug hurled fireballs at the Daemoness, each smaller than the last. Finally, the fiery magic surrounding the blade dissipated, and the fireballs stopped completely. Jug gave a booming battle-cry and began to charge the Queen. "Jug, you IDIOT!" Vivienne bellowed at him, "Get back here or that thing'll kill you! And if she doesn't, I WILL!" Jug, finally realizing the lose-lose situation, skidded to a halt and narrowly dodged an explosive blast of green magic. "I sure hope that oaf has something brilliant up his sleeve, or else I-" Vivienne's mutters were cut off by Sekune. "SYDRA! DON'T!" Sekune shouted. Sydra had abandoned the dryads and was now preparing an attack to throw at the Queen, and Jug was slicing at the dryads to the best of his ability in his state. Sydra looked at her sister for a moment, "If I don't, who will?" Sweat was running down her dark face, and she was shaking. Bloody and bruised from relentless dryads' attacks, she forced the last fragment of strength she had into the fiery sphere, and cried out, hurling the blast at the Dryad Queen. With a final scream of pain and rage from the Queen, the fireball made contact and exploded. It was just as she went flying headfirst into a pillar that Sydra realized, Next time, I should stand back a bit. Then she collapsed motionless to the ground.
. . .
They awoke the next morning to the ear-splitting screams of one of the native felines, followed by a chorus of similar noises. Jug groaned and hurled a boot (easily a foot long) at the offending beasts. "Stupid cats, disturbing my beauty sleep," he muttered, going to retrieve his shoe. The felines, who had scattered at the sight of the monstrous footwear, began to slowly come out of hiding, snarling loudly. "Eh? Kitties wanna fight? Then kitties go bye-bye," the giant man grinned and grabbed his battle axe, easily taking down the creatures in a few well-executed swipes. He trudged back into his sleeping bag and was out like a light, only to be awakened a couple minutes later by David calling for everyone to get up. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty! Get up!" Vivienne yelled when Jug didn't stir. She grabbed him by the ear and, miraculously, dragged him out of his bag and dumped him onto the sand. After everyone was up and ready to go, the warriors left the beach and found themselves in a forest so dense it was pitch-black beneath the trees. Sydra, with the help of the Light Orb, managed to produce enough light to let them see faint outlines of trees so as not to smack into one in the dark. Even with the orb's strong magic, its light only cast a dim glow on things, which was very odd indeed. "If you ask me, this whole place is magicked to make it completely impossible to find your way through," Chiaro said thoughtfully. "No, you're kidding! Really?" Vivienne rolled her eyes and squinted through the flickering light, "I think something's out there. But it doesn't seem to be anything we've seen before. It looks almost. human." "But the nearest town's not for a few miles, and I doubt anyone would just go for a stroll in these dark, monster-infested woods," David peered in the direction Vivienne was looking, "I think I do see something moving out there. no, that's a squirrel. Hey, Jug, get out of the light!" The large man moved, allowing their leader to see into the woods. "There is something out there. Be alert, it may be hostile towards visitors." "Don't have to tell me twice," Vivienne shivered, "I don't fancy fighting whatever's out there at the moment, I'm still getting over the stupid snakes." She stopped as a large spider lowered itself down in front of her face, then slashed it in two and looked around for anymore. "Durn bugs." she grumbled as they moved along. After what seemed like ages without a word, David turned to the group and announced, "We are almost at the city of Trillium. It will be a good place to rest and stock up on supplies, plus get some information from the villagers on what has happened lately." "If any of the villagers feel like giving information to a bunch of unruly, heavily-armed strangers," Vivienne muttered, grinning at Jug's rough beard and bald head. "What?" the giant man gave her a look of fake confusion, "Are you saying that my loveliness is threatening in any way?" "How about we just get to Trillium as quickly as possible, and not stop to bicker amongst ourselves," Cagen suggested, eyeing Jug and Vivienne irritably. "Good idea," Chiaro agreed from the back of the group. "If you were all paying attention to what's ahead of us, you'd notice the Wall of Trillium directly ahead," David pointed to a massive wall, visible above the treetops. "Great!" Jug picked up the pace, followed by the rest of the warriors. As he neared the gateway, a single arrow landed directly in front of him, narrowly missing his foot. "Halt!" a voice shouted from above. David looked up, craning his neck to see the top of the wall, and saw a guard atop the barrier, bow drawn. "Please, sir, let us enter!" he shouted up. "Nay, sir, I cannot let anyone in until the Daemoness is slain," the guard yelled back, "The bloody dryads will sneak in if I so much as crack the door." "Daemoness? Dryads?" David questioned, "What is the meaning of all this?" "The Daemoness. The Queen of all Dryads. She plagues the caves beyond yon forest," the guard pointed eastward, "Some say that she's not a dryad a'tall, but a daemon in disguise. The local dryads are somehow controlled by whatever it is, and they've changed into bloodthirsty monsters. 'Spect they'll stay like that until the Queen's gone." "When did this first occur?" David asked. "Just a coupla days ago," the guard answered, "Right after Aurum was killed, Things like this started popping up out of nowhere." "Well, it looks like we've got our work cut out for us," Vivienne stretched, "Battling daemons and monsters like the old days." "We will return later, once the Daemoness is gone," David nodded to the group, and they began moving in the direction the guard had indicated. "Good luck to ye," the guard shouted, "But I doubt you'll return!" "He doesn't know us, does he?" Jug grinned. "Guess not," Vivienne agreed, drawing her blade and keeping an eye out for dryads. They were only a few minutes away from Trillium when a high- pitched scream broke the silence. The scream was followed by several more, and a figure crashed through the trees and stood to face them. Their attacker would have been a lovely young woman if it were not for the razor sharp fangs and claws and wild, bloodshot eyes. It was definitely a dryad, with nut-brown skin and long, beautiful hair of the deepest green. Behind the creature stood about seven others, all with teeth and claws bared. "This could be a problem if we want to get to the cave," Chiaro admitted, extending his flaming hands towards the forest nymphs. "I agree," Jug took a battle stance, "I don't like problems." The nymphs screamed again and rushed at the warriors, claws outstretched as they prepared to rip the throats from their victims. Instead, they were met by a wave of fire and lightning, followed by a wildly slicing Vivienne and Jug. Sydra and Sekune stood back, firing arrows as usual, while David pushed his way into the heart of the fight, sword skillfully cutting its way through. Once the dryads were defeated, David sheathed his sword, "It seems that normal weapons have little effect on these creatures. Had we been fighting with magic, fire particularly, it would have been over much quicker." He pulled a brilliant red and orange sword, flaming with magic, from their supplies and handed it to Jug, "You take the fire sword, and Vivienne and I will take Ice and Acid magic. Sekune and Sydra can keep to arrows and Felena." He looked at the redhead, who was cleaning a throwing knife, "Felena can stick to what she's got, I guess." "How sweet of you to allow me to slaughter daemons in my own fashion, David," Felena smiled sarcastically. "Let's get moving, guys!" Vivienne said impatiently, "I don't want to have to waste my time on minions when we can be kicking some Dryad Queen butt!" "Good idea, little lady!" Jug grinned and ducked as she sent a jet of acid at him. David nodded and began walking once more, followed by Vivienne and Jug. Sekune and Sydra collected the arrows that were not too deeply embedded in trees, then ran to catch up with the others. Chiaro, Cagen, and Felena were not far behind. "Look ahead!" Cagen pointed far ahead of them, where beams of light were breaking through the densely packed trees. The faint sound of water splashing was heard over the various birds and woodland creatures' chattering, heightening the spirits of the entire party. "We're finally out of this godforsaken forest!" Vivienne picked up the pace, slashing through some thick bushes to reach the edge of the forest. "Vivienne! Wait for the rest of us!" Jug called after her, crashing through the foliage as he cleared a wide path for the others. When the entire group had made their way out, they were met not by a tranquil coastal scene, nor a raging group of monsters, but a large, unruly band of pirates wielding every weapon from throwing knives to extremely sharp, pointy, nasty-looking swords. "This could be fun," Vivienne grinned, "I haven't fought a large, unruly band of pirates wielding every weapon from throwing knives to extremely sharp, pointy, nasty-looking swords for the longest time!" "Argh!" the leader yelled, spotting the warriors. "Looks like this'll be a nice warm-up," she crouched down, hands outstretched. "Argh!" the pirate cried again, rushing at Vivienne with a particularly sharp, pointy, nasty-looking sword. "'Argh!'?" Vivienne arched an eyebrow, "Is that all you can think to say?" "Argh!" "How intelligent," she sighed and took out the pirate with one blast, "I hate to destroy such a genius, but you really bugged me." The rest of the pirates, with a few scattered "Argh!"s, were dealt with quickly enough, and the group was able to proceed on to the cave. "That wasn't quite the fun I had expected," the redhead admitted, frowning, "I thought they would at least survive a couple attacks." "I guess the pirates we faced back in Rain were only tough-looking because we were not as experienced back then," Sekune pointed out. "Well, there's the entrance," David pointed to the mouth of a large cave directly ahead of them. "Maybe we can find some stronger monsters in there," Vivienne said thoughtfully. "From what the guard said, the Dryad Queen is no pushover, even for a skilled warrior," David said, "I'm sure you won't find that too easy." "Hopefully," she muttered before entering the cave with the rest of them. Inside the first cavern, they were met by a large group of dryads who were guarding what looked like a trapdoor in the ground. "Oh, I wonder what's in there?" Vivienne said sarcastically, making sure the dryads and every other creature in the cavern could hear her. The dryads shrieked dangerously, baring their teeth and claws. "Bring it on, ladies!" Jug raised his blade, blazing with magic, and shot two fireballs straight into the wild tree-nymphs. Two of them screamed in agony as the flames made contact with their skin, desperately trying to put the fire out but succeeding only in spreading it to the other dryads. Chiaro let loose a few of his own fireballs, and together he and the giant man easily disposed of the nymphs. "That was quick," David commented as he strode over to the trapdoor, grabbing the handle in his hand. As he lifted it up, pale green light emitted from beneath it flooded the cavern, temporarily blinding everyone. When the glow dimmed, the group of warriors was able to descend down into the underground throne room. It was a magnificent room, fit for the most elegant royalty, with a deep brown throne offset by sparkling emeralds and deep green silk atop a short set of steps. Seated on the throne was the Daemoness herself, Queen of all Dryads, blood red eyes blazing with rage at the intruders. She lifted her hands, burning green with magic, and pointed to the ground below the eight fighters, and thick green vines sprang up from the earth, wrapping tightly around all but David, Jug, and Sydra. "Stupid vines!" Vivienne shot at the leafy confines with a jet of acid magic, but the snakelike plants seemed unaffected. "Why do I have to get trapped during the really big fight?" she struggled to get free. The Queen shrieked and shot a blast of green light at the three still standing. Jug put up his mirrored shield just in time, and the attack deflected off onto the ceiling. Sydra put a flaming arrow up to her bow, drew it back, and released, repeating the action mechanically. The daemoness screamed in pain and rage as four shots embedded themselves in her side, and pointed to the ground around the young archer. A huge vine shot out, snaking out to grab the girl's legs. "Sydra!" Sekune cried out as her sister became entangled with the enchanted plants. Sydra quickly grabbed an arrow from her quiver and jammed it into the base of the vine. It shrank away, leaving her free to grab her dropped bow and fire another round of shots. Jug and David were sending blasts of ice and fire at the Queen, and she seemed to be greatly affected by the powerful magic. The Dryad Queen gave an ear-splitting shriek of defiance, and sent an overwhelming blast of brilliant green magic at the three fighters. All three were hit by the attack, the force of it bringing them to their knees. When the light cleared, Jug was the first to shakily get up. He gritted his teeth and sent three fireballs towards the daemoness, all three hitting dead-on. David was next, calling upon all his magic reserves to make icicles materialize on the ceiling, then crash them down onto the Queen. Sydra was last, scooping up her firebow and releasing three more arrows. As she reached for a fourth, her gloved hand grasped nothing but air. "This could prove to be a problem," she admitted as she dodged an oncoming vine. "Sydra! Here!" Chiaro called to the girl. He released the Fire Orb from his body and threw it to her. Sydra grabbed it and allowed it to merge with her, then sent a thin line of fire streaking towards the Queen. Jug and David followed her attack with a barrage of their own magic. The Daemoness screeched once again in a voice unknown to this world, and seven bloodthirsty dryads burst out of the ground, charging at the warriors and drawing their attention from their Queen. "David, you concentrate on the Queen and we'll take care of them!" Jug yelled to his comrade. David nodded and turned back to the Queen, trusting Jug and Sydra to keep him protected from the dryads, and shot a blast of Ice magic at her. The young girl and the towering giant fought the wild nymphs as they came, but as soon as they finished with one wave, the Daemoness would summon another, larger group to keep them occupied. It seemed the pair of them was fighting a losing battle, and David wasn't having much luck either. The use of so much magic without time to rest had exhausted him, and it took all his strength to dodge her attacks and left none to attack with. Then he fell, all his energy gone. The Queen immediately cocooned him in thick vines, screaming triumphantly. Sydra and Jug grimaced; their leader and best hope of emerging from this alive was trapped, the dryads were growing in number, and David wasn't the only one low on power anymore. "Ignore the big 'un!" Jug roared when Sydra began to turn towards the Queen, "I'll get her, just try to hold off the small ones!" Sydra gritted her teeth and blasted the oncoming dryads as Jug hurled fireballs at the Daemoness, each smaller than the last. Finally, the fiery magic surrounding the blade dissipated, and the fireballs stopped completely. Jug gave a booming battle-cry and began to charge the Queen. "Jug, you IDIOT!" Vivienne bellowed at him, "Get back here or that thing'll kill you! And if she doesn't, I WILL!" Jug, finally realizing the lose-lose situation, skidded to a halt and narrowly dodged an explosive blast of green magic. "I sure hope that oaf has something brilliant up his sleeve, or else I-" Vivienne's mutters were cut off by Sekune. "SYDRA! DON'T!" Sekune shouted. Sydra had abandoned the dryads and was now preparing an attack to throw at the Queen, and Jug was slicing at the dryads to the best of his ability in his state. Sydra looked at her sister for a moment, "If I don't, who will?" Sweat was running down her dark face, and she was shaking. Bloody and bruised from relentless dryads' attacks, she forced the last fragment of strength she had into the fiery sphere, and cried out, hurling the blast at the Dryad Queen. With a final scream of pain and rage from the Queen, the fireball made contact and exploded. It was just as she went flying headfirst into a pillar that Sydra realized, Next time, I should stand back a bit. Then she collapsed motionless to the ground.