(--------------------%------------------)
"I can't believe they let you take Deckard Cain away right before their very eyes." Warriv shouted merrily.
"You are a true hero indeed Magician." Deckard Cain congratulated him. "You have proved that it takes more than strength and magic to defeat the enemy but intelligence as well."
Dru looked down feeling ashamed at this comment.
"What's wrong?" Ki-Ki asked the Paladin privately, but he shook his head.
"How did you perform this trick?" Warriv asked slyly.
"I merely slipped Deckard Cain a town portal as I helped him into the box..." Ki-Ki explained.
"You are surely something." Warriv said patting the Magician on the back.
"I am curious to know one thing." Dru spoke up.
"How is it that you washed every monster away with that wall of water?"
"Oh that?" Zhon said as if it was nothing. "That was a simple trick I learned a long time ago."
"And that Lightning bolt? It reminded me of a Sorceress's Thunder storm." Dru continued.
Zhon shrugged.
"You have a skeleton minion like a Necromancer and now you are performing a Sorceress's spells." Kashya commented crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You truly are amazing hero."
"As a token of my gratitude I shall now identify anything you need, free of charge." Cain announced in his old man voice.
Immediately tons of items were dumped at his feet.
(--------------------%----------------)
Zhon walked gallantly to Charsi's post at her anvil. He was going to brag to her about his quest. Willy and Rouge were outside one of the tents playing chess. Ki-Ki had decided to get some rest. Zhon didn't know where the heck the Paladin had gone to.
He sighed in awe as he saw Charsi was alone banging on her anvil. With such determination in her eyes he saw that ever blow was followed by the most beautiful smile of satisfaction. Sweat dripped from her brow and her arms glistened as her muscles bulged. The top of her apron clung tightly to her...
"Can I help you?" Charsi said sweetly standing in front of him with her arms upon her hips smiling.
"Are you awake now Magician?" She said chuckling. "You seemed to be in a daydream.--Probably dreaming about your next grand trick!--I heard about your deed in Tristram.--Amazing!--I only hope you can help me now!" She said quickly in one breath like usual.
"Any...Anything for you." Zhon stuttered as he wondered what would happen if she knew he was daydreaming about her.
"In our flight from the monastery I left behind one of my greatest treasures--the Horadric Malus!--Please, find this item and I will imbue any item you wish free of charge."
She gave him a big bear hug. He treasured the second her bosom was on his. Her sweat wiped off on him and he lavished her feminine odor.
"Thank you Magician.--I knew you could help me."
"Please call me Zhon." Zhon whispered, but Charsi had already begun banging on her anvil again. Zhon turned around in a daze and nearly jumped in fright upon seeing Gheed right behind him.
"Um, I need to talk to you." Gheed said sheepishly.
"Hi Gheed!" Charsi called from behind.
"Hi..." Gheed grumbled which annoyed Zhon even more.
"I already told you, I am not interested in gambling for your stupid items." Zhon said annoyed getting ready to walk away.
"Its not about that!" Gheed said stopping the magician from leaving. Zhon looked at the man's hand upon his shoulder in disgust. Gheed carefully removed it.
"It's about..." Gheed whispered looking fearfully around.
"It's about Ki-Ki.@ He finally sputtered.
"What about her?" Zhon demanded though he already could guess what Gheed was thinking.
"Are you two dating?" He said in a small voice. Zhon puffed his chest up and over towed Gheed looking menacingly down at him. The man looked fearfully up at him.
"Because if you are that's ok. I was just wondering... It's not that important..."
And Zhon began to burst out laughing.
"What? What?" Gheed said. Zhon just answered him with more laughter.
"What are you laughing at!" Gheed demanded in a loud voice.
Zhon stopped laughing and again looked menacingly at the man. Gheed cowered like a cornered mouse. And Zhon began to laugh again.
"Please Mr. Magician. What are you laughing at?" Gheed said in a whiney voice.
"She's my sister!" Zhon boomed and began laughing again.
"What?" Gheed questioned.
"Ki-Ki is my sister." Zhon said after calming down. "Or like my sister anyway. We grew up together. I would never picture her as a lover." Zhon said chuckling and wiping a tear from his eye.
"We are like family." Zhon continued. "So to answer your question, Gheed." Zhon continued. "No we are not dating." And with that he left the stunned Gheed in the rain laughing his head off.
Just then Ki-Ki was running after Dru.
"Just let me look at it!" She was yelling.
"No. It is forbidden for a lady to see a man without his clothes!" Dru answered running away from her with only his shirt off.
"Oh come on! It is just your shirt. Now let me see!" She demanded.
Zhon caught her as she tried to catch up with the shirtless fast moving Paladin.
"What are you doing Ki-Ki?" Zhon said still holding back laughs.
"Dru hurt himself and won't let me look at his wound which is on his back. He says it is against some sort of Paladin code or something to see him without his shirt." Ki-Ki explained.
"You wouldn't believe what me an Gheed were just talking about." Zhon began.
"What?" Ki-Ki asked not really interested and trying to see where Dru ran off too.
"He thought we were dating."
That caught her attention. "What? Us? No way!" She said looked at him up and down.
"I could never...Oh no!" Ki-Ki explained thinking about it. "Uhg. I just couldn't picture you...Yikes! Ah!"
"What?" Zhon asked as Ki-Ki hit herself in the head.
"Images...I didn't really want to see..." She explained.
"Ah!" Zhon said. "Wait a minute." He realized that he might have been insulted.
Just then Dru walked up with his shirt on. Ki-Ki ran over to him. "Are you Ok? You don't want it to get infected..."
"I got Akara to heal it."
"I thought you said a girl couldn't see you without your shirt?" Ki-Ki said confused.
"But Akara is a healer. Plus I don't think the Zakuram warned me against old ladies..."
"Huh?" Ki-Ki said in confusion.
"How is the Rogue I gave you?" Kashya said from behind Zhon. He turned around to see her smiling up at him.
"Oh Rouge? She and Willy are getting along real good." He said pointing to them. Currently they were lying on the grass pointing to the clouds trying to make shapes out of them.
"I'd say that one looks like a bunny!" He heard Rouge exclaim to Willy.
Kashya watched them with her eyes almost popping out. "I never imagined a Rogue and a skeleton together."
"Yeah who would have guessed." Zhon said.
"Well I suppose I should be going off on my next quest to find the Horadric Malus!" Zhon announced. "Are you two ready?" Zhon said and found Ki-Ki gazing into the eyes of a very uncomfortable Paladin.
"Uh hum!" Zhon cleared his throat and that brought them back to reality.
Kashya turned away disappointed that the magician was leaving and went back to her job of crossing her arms.
"Come on Rouge and Willy!" Zhon called. "We are off to save the malus."
"All right! Let's go!" Ki-Ki said excitably. "I hope we can perform more shows!" She continued. "Don't you Dru?" She said patting the Paladin on the chest. He gulped nervously.
Dru and Ki-Ki ran on ahead to the front of the camp. Willy and Rouge followed holding hands. Zhon sniffed as they passed. 'I'm glad Willy's happy.' he thought.
He stopped to gaze at Charsi still banging away at her anvil. 'Now she'll really like me if I rescue her Horadric Malice! Take that Gheed! Perhaps I'll get a tattoo with her name on it. And she can have one with my name on it and we can . . .'
"Greetings Magician!" Deckard Cain interrupted his thoughts.
"Um, I . . . hi." Zhon answered surprised to see Deckard Cain in front of him.
"I hear you are off to retrieve the lost Horadric Malus for Charsi."
"Um, Yes." Zhon simply answered.
"She's a sweet girl though she talks to quickly for me to always follow." Cain continued.
Zhon was about to go when Deckard Cain stopped him.
"It took me a while to figure it out but this encampment is filled with love triangles, passion, and raging hormones..."
"Excuse me sir?" Zhon said astounded.
"It is clear to me that Kashya likes you."
"Kashya?" Zhon said puffing up his chest.
"But you like Charsi."
"Charsi..." Zhon said dreamily.
"But Charsi likes Gheed."
"Gheed!" Zhon said with disgust.
"And Gheed likes Ki-Ki."
"Gheed!" Zhon said again with disgust.
"And she likes the Paladin."
"Gheed!" Zhon said again with disgust.
"The only people not mixed up in all this is your mercenary and your skeleton minion."
Zhon came back to reality then.
"Yes." He said dreamily. "I've made two people, (or one person and a skeleton), very happy."
"This is better than those Romance novels back in Tristram!" Cain announced.
"Huh?" Zhon said confused.
"The old witch who used to live there gave them to me."
"Oh." Zhon said a little disturbed.
"Well go on your next quest now Magician. And bring Charsi back her Horadric Malus."
"That was the plan all along Mr. Cain." Zhon answered.
"Are you coming Zhon?" Ki-Ki called.
And Zhon was off along with his four followers on a quest to get the Horadric Malice!
(------------------%---------------)
They turned left only to find a dead end. They turned right only to find another dead end. They went straight only to find a dead end. They went backwards only to find that they were exactly back to where they started from.
"Why don't you two stop to ask for directions?" Ki-Ki asked the Paladin and Magician as they looked upon a map of the catacombs.
"And who are we supposed to ask Ki-Ki?" Zhon said annoyed. Dru looked at a skeleton lying in the wall. Zhon followed his gaze.
"Should we ask him?" Zhon said sarcastically. "Oh Mr. Dead Skeleton Dude? Do you know where we will find Charsi's Horadric Malice?" He continued sarcastically.
Just then the skeleton came to life. "Why yes." It said scratching its chin. Willy and Rouge immediately rose their bow and arrows. Ki-Ki jumped back screeching and Dru caught her before she could faint on the ground.
"The Horadric Malice?" The Reanimated Skeleton thought aloud. "I believe the Smith has it through the hidden passageway behind this wall." It said.
"Well how do we get their?" Dru dared to ask.
"Why opening the door of course." It said chuckling.
"What door?" Ki-Ki shouted after waking back up from her faint.
Zhon leaned against the wall and immediately it fell open revealing a passage way through the hole he had created.
"That door." The skeleton said pointing to the crumbling hole.
"Thank you." Zhon said bowing slightly before the skeleton. Zhon didn't seem a bit surprised with the reanimated skeleton. "Your welcome sir." The skeleton said and settled back down into his long, long sleep.
Ki-Ki, Dru, Willy, and Rouge looked on amazed at the again dead skeleton and back to Zhon's disappearing shadow down the new found passage way.
"Amazing Magician." Dru muttered. Rouge nodded in agreement.
"At least he stopped and asked for directions." Ki-Ki muttered and shoved herself through the hole and followed after Zhon.
"Men..." She mumbled wiping off spider webs and dust from her legs.
Dru offered her a handkerchief and she took it gratefully and continued to wipe off the dust and grime.
"Men..." She said dreamily as she watched the Paladin walk nobly after the Magician.
They came to a huge door. Zhon tried to push it open. "Um. Could I get a little help with this?" Zhon muttered.
Dru came over and helped him try and push the door. The two men strained as they tried with all their might to push open the door.
"Could we get a little help here?" Zhon said with a grunt. Willy and Rouge helped to push the door. They all grunted and panted as they pushed at the door. Ki-Ki stood back smirking. The four pushed and pushed but the door would not budge.
Rouge had her back to the bottom of the door using her feet to try and make the door budge. Willy had his arms in front of him straining against the door. Dru was using his side to try and bust open the door while Zhon was pushing with all his might using his own two hands.
"Perhaps we are going about this all wrong." Dru said finally giving up. Rouge fell to the floor in frustration and Willy put his hands to his hips staring at the door.
"How so?" Zhon said not giving up on his pushing.
"Perhaps this door is opened by pulling at the handles instead of pushing at them." Dru said. Ki-Ki laughed in the background. Everyone ignored her.
"It's worth a try." Zhon said and pulled with all his might at the handles. Dru grabbed the other handle and they both tried to pull open the door. Willy grabbed his master and tried to help him out. Rouge grabbed Willy to help pull as well. But still the door wouldn't budge.
After ten minutes of struggling, the four weary warriors stopped to rest beneath the unopenable door. Ki-Ki looked at them in amusement.
"Leave it to the assistant to be the brains of the operation." Ki-Ki muttered and they all looked at her in amazement as she put a key into the lock and unlatched it. She gentle pushed the door and it came swinging open and then fell off its hinges.
"How did you. . .?" Dru began with his mouth open. Zhon smiled upon his assistant.
"Good thinking Ki-Ki, I would have never thought to use a key."
"But where did you get the key?" Rouge asked confused.
"I simply found it." Ki-Ki answered. "After spending years getting out of a locked cage in a locked box, in a bigger box filled with water and that locked as well while your chained up, I learned to unlock just about anything."
"Ah, the Locked box stunt." Zhon realized. "I would never have thought of that."
Rouge just looked at her confused and was pushed through the door by Willy. Ki-Ki followed feeling very good about herself. Zhon followed. Dru stayed behind with his mouth opened frozen in shock. Zhon came back and dragged him through the door.
They came into a clearing filled with rats.
"Eeeee!" Ki-Ki screamed as the rats began to throw spikes at them because these were no ordinary rats. They were quill rats and had shootable spikes or quills on their back. Willy and Rouge quickly cleared out all the rats without a problem as Ki-Ki painfully pulled out the quills they had so graciously given to her.
"Well we have taken care of their rat problem." Zhon announced.
"To bad that is not one of the quests." Ki-Ki said bitterly looking at the dead carcasses. "I hate rats." She said. "Especially quill rats." She muttered looking down at the small puncture wounds on her chest caused by the quill rats quills.
Dru handed her a potion. "Oh its just a couple wounds." Ki-Ki cooed. "Save it for when you are really injured." Ki-Ki declined. But Dru opened the bottle of red liquid and handed it to her. She accepted it and drank the potion. She spit it out immediately. Then examined the bottle.
"Uhg!@ She said in disgust. "What is this stuff!" She yelled. Dru looked at her confused.
"It is a health potion. He said confused."
"I expected it to taste like cherries not like sour milk!" She complained. Dru shrugged. "That is the price for instant healing."
Ki-Ki reluctantly gulped down the liquid and the puncture wounds gradually disappeared.
"We must find the Smith!" Zhon said impatiently. "He so wrongfully took something that does not belong to him and it is up to us to bring about justice.@ Zhon said righteously.
"You sound like my Paladin brethren." Dru said jokingly.
"Perhaps I do have some Paladin blood in me..." Zhon said dreamily. "Women love a man with a sword..." He continued.
"Get real!" Ki-Ki interrupted his fantasy. "You have no more Paladin blood in you than you have...rat blood in you!" She said.
"But we have a real live Paladin here with us now." Ki-Ki said looking up at Dru. He shifted uncomfortably. "I can understand why you would want to be like one." She continued dreamily. Zhon cleared his throat annoyed. "Let us find the Smith and retrieve the Hammer."
"I thought it was a Malus?" Ki-Ki said.
"Whatever." Zhon said and led the way into the crumbling monastery.
(-----------------------%-------------------------)
He eyed the Smith from across the room. The others were fighting all around him. Ki-Ki had gotten a hold of some throwing potions and was busy throwing them making pretty lights flash around them. Dru was of course having no problem fending off the monsters using his Paladin abilities. Willy and Rouge were, as always, using their bows to fight off monsters. But Zhon focused on the Smith as the fighting went on around him.
Zhon cried out and the Smith charged at him in Fury. Zhon chanted and held out his wand. Vines shot out of his wand and tangled itself around the Smith. It groaned angrily as it fell to the ground. Zhon walked up to the Smith as he struggled on the ground.
Holding out his hand Zhon said, "Give me the Hammer."
The Smith somewhat mesmerized by the Magician gave him the Horodric Malice. "Thank you." Zhon said and walked away leaving his assistants to fight on their own.
(-------------------%------------------)
He walked proudly up to the woman still banging on her anvil. Sweat ran down her neck and made a pool on her chest. She stopped for a moment to sweep the blonde hair out of her eyes. He marveled the moment she stretched her neck under the clouded sky. Then she saw him.
"Oh hi there!--Did you get the Malus?" Charsi said running over to him. He held the Hammer up sheepishly. "That's great!" She said hugging him. He was at a loss for words. "I knew you could do it!--Now I will imbue any item of your choice!--What shall I imbue for you?--Plus you know you will always get the best prices from me!"
He held out a helmet. "You wanna imbue a helmet?" She asked as if talking to a child. "That's great!-I'll get started on it right away.--Come back later to get it!" She said quickly and immediately started working on it.
He walked away dreamily and was interrupted when he saw Ki-Ki there with her arms crossed. Dru, Rouge and Willy stood behind her and they didn't look very happy.
"Hello, my fellow followers." He started.
"You just left us there!" Ki-Ki exploded. "How could you? We didn't even know you had left until Willy here saw your portal! I thought you might be dead!"
"Sorry." He answered and looked back at Charsi. "I wanted to get the Malus back to Charsi as quick as I could." He continued dreamily.
"Oh." Ki-Ki answered realizing what Zhon was saying. "Well next time at least tell us where you are going." She said a little more softly.
(--------------%----------------)
And that is it for today! Thanks to my consistent reviewers. (Gives you all hugs...)
"I can't believe they let you take Deckard Cain away right before their very eyes." Warriv shouted merrily.
"You are a true hero indeed Magician." Deckard Cain congratulated him. "You have proved that it takes more than strength and magic to defeat the enemy but intelligence as well."
Dru looked down feeling ashamed at this comment.
"What's wrong?" Ki-Ki asked the Paladin privately, but he shook his head.
"How did you perform this trick?" Warriv asked slyly.
"I merely slipped Deckard Cain a town portal as I helped him into the box..." Ki-Ki explained.
"You are surely something." Warriv said patting the Magician on the back.
"I am curious to know one thing." Dru spoke up.
"How is it that you washed every monster away with that wall of water?"
"Oh that?" Zhon said as if it was nothing. "That was a simple trick I learned a long time ago."
"And that Lightning bolt? It reminded me of a Sorceress's Thunder storm." Dru continued.
Zhon shrugged.
"You have a skeleton minion like a Necromancer and now you are performing a Sorceress's spells." Kashya commented crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You truly are amazing hero."
"As a token of my gratitude I shall now identify anything you need, free of charge." Cain announced in his old man voice.
Immediately tons of items were dumped at his feet.
(--------------------%----------------)
Zhon walked gallantly to Charsi's post at her anvil. He was going to brag to her about his quest. Willy and Rouge were outside one of the tents playing chess. Ki-Ki had decided to get some rest. Zhon didn't know where the heck the Paladin had gone to.
He sighed in awe as he saw Charsi was alone banging on her anvil. With such determination in her eyes he saw that ever blow was followed by the most beautiful smile of satisfaction. Sweat dripped from her brow and her arms glistened as her muscles bulged. The top of her apron clung tightly to her...
"Can I help you?" Charsi said sweetly standing in front of him with her arms upon her hips smiling.
"Are you awake now Magician?" She said chuckling. "You seemed to be in a daydream.--Probably dreaming about your next grand trick!--I heard about your deed in Tristram.--Amazing!--I only hope you can help me now!" She said quickly in one breath like usual.
"Any...Anything for you." Zhon stuttered as he wondered what would happen if she knew he was daydreaming about her.
"In our flight from the monastery I left behind one of my greatest treasures--the Horadric Malus!--Please, find this item and I will imbue any item you wish free of charge."
She gave him a big bear hug. He treasured the second her bosom was on his. Her sweat wiped off on him and he lavished her feminine odor.
"Thank you Magician.--I knew you could help me."
"Please call me Zhon." Zhon whispered, but Charsi had already begun banging on her anvil again. Zhon turned around in a daze and nearly jumped in fright upon seeing Gheed right behind him.
"Um, I need to talk to you." Gheed said sheepishly.
"Hi Gheed!" Charsi called from behind.
"Hi..." Gheed grumbled which annoyed Zhon even more.
"I already told you, I am not interested in gambling for your stupid items." Zhon said annoyed getting ready to walk away.
"Its not about that!" Gheed said stopping the magician from leaving. Zhon looked at the man's hand upon his shoulder in disgust. Gheed carefully removed it.
"It's about..." Gheed whispered looking fearfully around.
"It's about Ki-Ki.@ He finally sputtered.
"What about her?" Zhon demanded though he already could guess what Gheed was thinking.
"Are you two dating?" He said in a small voice. Zhon puffed his chest up and over towed Gheed looking menacingly down at him. The man looked fearfully up at him.
"Because if you are that's ok. I was just wondering... It's not that important..."
And Zhon began to burst out laughing.
"What? What?" Gheed said. Zhon just answered him with more laughter.
"What are you laughing at!" Gheed demanded in a loud voice.
Zhon stopped laughing and again looked menacingly at the man. Gheed cowered like a cornered mouse. And Zhon began to laugh again.
"Please Mr. Magician. What are you laughing at?" Gheed said in a whiney voice.
"She's my sister!" Zhon boomed and began laughing again.
"What?" Gheed questioned.
"Ki-Ki is my sister." Zhon said after calming down. "Or like my sister anyway. We grew up together. I would never picture her as a lover." Zhon said chuckling and wiping a tear from his eye.
"We are like family." Zhon continued. "So to answer your question, Gheed." Zhon continued. "No we are not dating." And with that he left the stunned Gheed in the rain laughing his head off.
Just then Ki-Ki was running after Dru.
"Just let me look at it!" She was yelling.
"No. It is forbidden for a lady to see a man without his clothes!" Dru answered running away from her with only his shirt off.
"Oh come on! It is just your shirt. Now let me see!" She demanded.
Zhon caught her as she tried to catch up with the shirtless fast moving Paladin.
"What are you doing Ki-Ki?" Zhon said still holding back laughs.
"Dru hurt himself and won't let me look at his wound which is on his back. He says it is against some sort of Paladin code or something to see him without his shirt." Ki-Ki explained.
"You wouldn't believe what me an Gheed were just talking about." Zhon began.
"What?" Ki-Ki asked not really interested and trying to see where Dru ran off too.
"He thought we were dating."
That caught her attention. "What? Us? No way!" She said looked at him up and down.
"I could never...Oh no!" Ki-Ki explained thinking about it. "Uhg. I just couldn't picture you...Yikes! Ah!"
"What?" Zhon asked as Ki-Ki hit herself in the head.
"Images...I didn't really want to see..." She explained.
"Ah!" Zhon said. "Wait a minute." He realized that he might have been insulted.
Just then Dru walked up with his shirt on. Ki-Ki ran over to him. "Are you Ok? You don't want it to get infected..."
"I got Akara to heal it."
"I thought you said a girl couldn't see you without your shirt?" Ki-Ki said confused.
"But Akara is a healer. Plus I don't think the Zakuram warned me against old ladies..."
"Huh?" Ki-Ki said in confusion.
"How is the Rogue I gave you?" Kashya said from behind Zhon. He turned around to see her smiling up at him.
"Oh Rouge? She and Willy are getting along real good." He said pointing to them. Currently they were lying on the grass pointing to the clouds trying to make shapes out of them.
"I'd say that one looks like a bunny!" He heard Rouge exclaim to Willy.
Kashya watched them with her eyes almost popping out. "I never imagined a Rogue and a skeleton together."
"Yeah who would have guessed." Zhon said.
"Well I suppose I should be going off on my next quest to find the Horadric Malus!" Zhon announced. "Are you two ready?" Zhon said and found Ki-Ki gazing into the eyes of a very uncomfortable Paladin.
"Uh hum!" Zhon cleared his throat and that brought them back to reality.
Kashya turned away disappointed that the magician was leaving and went back to her job of crossing her arms.
"Come on Rouge and Willy!" Zhon called. "We are off to save the malus."
"All right! Let's go!" Ki-Ki said excitably. "I hope we can perform more shows!" She continued. "Don't you Dru?" She said patting the Paladin on the chest. He gulped nervously.
Dru and Ki-Ki ran on ahead to the front of the camp. Willy and Rouge followed holding hands. Zhon sniffed as they passed. 'I'm glad Willy's happy.' he thought.
He stopped to gaze at Charsi still banging away at her anvil. 'Now she'll really like me if I rescue her Horadric Malice! Take that Gheed! Perhaps I'll get a tattoo with her name on it. And she can have one with my name on it and we can . . .'
"Greetings Magician!" Deckard Cain interrupted his thoughts.
"Um, I . . . hi." Zhon answered surprised to see Deckard Cain in front of him.
"I hear you are off to retrieve the lost Horadric Malus for Charsi."
"Um, Yes." Zhon simply answered.
"She's a sweet girl though she talks to quickly for me to always follow." Cain continued.
Zhon was about to go when Deckard Cain stopped him.
"It took me a while to figure it out but this encampment is filled with love triangles, passion, and raging hormones..."
"Excuse me sir?" Zhon said astounded.
"It is clear to me that Kashya likes you."
"Kashya?" Zhon said puffing up his chest.
"But you like Charsi."
"Charsi..." Zhon said dreamily.
"But Charsi likes Gheed."
"Gheed!" Zhon said with disgust.
"And Gheed likes Ki-Ki."
"Gheed!" Zhon said again with disgust.
"And she likes the Paladin."
"Gheed!" Zhon said again with disgust.
"The only people not mixed up in all this is your mercenary and your skeleton minion."
Zhon came back to reality then.
"Yes." He said dreamily. "I've made two people, (or one person and a skeleton), very happy."
"This is better than those Romance novels back in Tristram!" Cain announced.
"Huh?" Zhon said confused.
"The old witch who used to live there gave them to me."
"Oh." Zhon said a little disturbed.
"Well go on your next quest now Magician. And bring Charsi back her Horadric Malus."
"That was the plan all along Mr. Cain." Zhon answered.
"Are you coming Zhon?" Ki-Ki called.
And Zhon was off along with his four followers on a quest to get the Horadric Malice!
(------------------%---------------)
They turned left only to find a dead end. They turned right only to find another dead end. They went straight only to find a dead end. They went backwards only to find that they were exactly back to where they started from.
"Why don't you two stop to ask for directions?" Ki-Ki asked the Paladin and Magician as they looked upon a map of the catacombs.
"And who are we supposed to ask Ki-Ki?" Zhon said annoyed. Dru looked at a skeleton lying in the wall. Zhon followed his gaze.
"Should we ask him?" Zhon said sarcastically. "Oh Mr. Dead Skeleton Dude? Do you know where we will find Charsi's Horadric Malice?" He continued sarcastically.
Just then the skeleton came to life. "Why yes." It said scratching its chin. Willy and Rouge immediately rose their bow and arrows. Ki-Ki jumped back screeching and Dru caught her before she could faint on the ground.
"The Horadric Malice?" The Reanimated Skeleton thought aloud. "I believe the Smith has it through the hidden passageway behind this wall." It said.
"Well how do we get their?" Dru dared to ask.
"Why opening the door of course." It said chuckling.
"What door?" Ki-Ki shouted after waking back up from her faint.
Zhon leaned against the wall and immediately it fell open revealing a passage way through the hole he had created.
"That door." The skeleton said pointing to the crumbling hole.
"Thank you." Zhon said bowing slightly before the skeleton. Zhon didn't seem a bit surprised with the reanimated skeleton. "Your welcome sir." The skeleton said and settled back down into his long, long sleep.
Ki-Ki, Dru, Willy, and Rouge looked on amazed at the again dead skeleton and back to Zhon's disappearing shadow down the new found passage way.
"Amazing Magician." Dru muttered. Rouge nodded in agreement.
"At least he stopped and asked for directions." Ki-Ki muttered and shoved herself through the hole and followed after Zhon.
"Men..." She mumbled wiping off spider webs and dust from her legs.
Dru offered her a handkerchief and she took it gratefully and continued to wipe off the dust and grime.
"Men..." She said dreamily as she watched the Paladin walk nobly after the Magician.
They came to a huge door. Zhon tried to push it open. "Um. Could I get a little help with this?" Zhon muttered.
Dru came over and helped him try and push the door. The two men strained as they tried with all their might to push open the door.
"Could we get a little help here?" Zhon said with a grunt. Willy and Rouge helped to push the door. They all grunted and panted as they pushed at the door. Ki-Ki stood back smirking. The four pushed and pushed but the door would not budge.
Rouge had her back to the bottom of the door using her feet to try and make the door budge. Willy had his arms in front of him straining against the door. Dru was using his side to try and bust open the door while Zhon was pushing with all his might using his own two hands.
"Perhaps we are going about this all wrong." Dru said finally giving up. Rouge fell to the floor in frustration and Willy put his hands to his hips staring at the door.
"How so?" Zhon said not giving up on his pushing.
"Perhaps this door is opened by pulling at the handles instead of pushing at them." Dru said. Ki-Ki laughed in the background. Everyone ignored her.
"It's worth a try." Zhon said and pulled with all his might at the handles. Dru grabbed the other handle and they both tried to pull open the door. Willy grabbed his master and tried to help him out. Rouge grabbed Willy to help pull as well. But still the door wouldn't budge.
After ten minutes of struggling, the four weary warriors stopped to rest beneath the unopenable door. Ki-Ki looked at them in amusement.
"Leave it to the assistant to be the brains of the operation." Ki-Ki muttered and they all looked at her in amazement as she put a key into the lock and unlatched it. She gentle pushed the door and it came swinging open and then fell off its hinges.
"How did you. . .?" Dru began with his mouth open. Zhon smiled upon his assistant.
"Good thinking Ki-Ki, I would have never thought to use a key."
"But where did you get the key?" Rouge asked confused.
"I simply found it." Ki-Ki answered. "After spending years getting out of a locked cage in a locked box, in a bigger box filled with water and that locked as well while your chained up, I learned to unlock just about anything."
"Ah, the Locked box stunt." Zhon realized. "I would never have thought of that."
Rouge just looked at her confused and was pushed through the door by Willy. Ki-Ki followed feeling very good about herself. Zhon followed. Dru stayed behind with his mouth opened frozen in shock. Zhon came back and dragged him through the door.
They came into a clearing filled with rats.
"Eeeee!" Ki-Ki screamed as the rats began to throw spikes at them because these were no ordinary rats. They were quill rats and had shootable spikes or quills on their back. Willy and Rouge quickly cleared out all the rats without a problem as Ki-Ki painfully pulled out the quills they had so graciously given to her.
"Well we have taken care of their rat problem." Zhon announced.
"To bad that is not one of the quests." Ki-Ki said bitterly looking at the dead carcasses. "I hate rats." She said. "Especially quill rats." She muttered looking down at the small puncture wounds on her chest caused by the quill rats quills.
Dru handed her a potion. "Oh its just a couple wounds." Ki-Ki cooed. "Save it for when you are really injured." Ki-Ki declined. But Dru opened the bottle of red liquid and handed it to her. She accepted it and drank the potion. She spit it out immediately. Then examined the bottle.
"Uhg!@ She said in disgust. "What is this stuff!" She yelled. Dru looked at her confused.
"It is a health potion. He said confused."
"I expected it to taste like cherries not like sour milk!" She complained. Dru shrugged. "That is the price for instant healing."
Ki-Ki reluctantly gulped down the liquid and the puncture wounds gradually disappeared.
"We must find the Smith!" Zhon said impatiently. "He so wrongfully took something that does not belong to him and it is up to us to bring about justice.@ Zhon said righteously.
"You sound like my Paladin brethren." Dru said jokingly.
"Perhaps I do have some Paladin blood in me..." Zhon said dreamily. "Women love a man with a sword..." He continued.
"Get real!" Ki-Ki interrupted his fantasy. "You have no more Paladin blood in you than you have...rat blood in you!" She said.
"But we have a real live Paladin here with us now." Ki-Ki said looking up at Dru. He shifted uncomfortably. "I can understand why you would want to be like one." She continued dreamily. Zhon cleared his throat annoyed. "Let us find the Smith and retrieve the Hammer."
"I thought it was a Malus?" Ki-Ki said.
"Whatever." Zhon said and led the way into the crumbling monastery.
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He eyed the Smith from across the room. The others were fighting all around him. Ki-Ki had gotten a hold of some throwing potions and was busy throwing them making pretty lights flash around them. Dru was of course having no problem fending off the monsters using his Paladin abilities. Willy and Rouge were, as always, using their bows to fight off monsters. But Zhon focused on the Smith as the fighting went on around him.
Zhon cried out and the Smith charged at him in Fury. Zhon chanted and held out his wand. Vines shot out of his wand and tangled itself around the Smith. It groaned angrily as it fell to the ground. Zhon walked up to the Smith as he struggled on the ground.
Holding out his hand Zhon said, "Give me the Hammer."
The Smith somewhat mesmerized by the Magician gave him the Horodric Malice. "Thank you." Zhon said and walked away leaving his assistants to fight on their own.
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He walked proudly up to the woman still banging on her anvil. Sweat ran down her neck and made a pool on her chest. She stopped for a moment to sweep the blonde hair out of her eyes. He marveled the moment she stretched her neck under the clouded sky. Then she saw him.
"Oh hi there!--Did you get the Malus?" Charsi said running over to him. He held the Hammer up sheepishly. "That's great!" She said hugging him. He was at a loss for words. "I knew you could do it!--Now I will imbue any item of your choice!--What shall I imbue for you?--Plus you know you will always get the best prices from me!"
He held out a helmet. "You wanna imbue a helmet?" She asked as if talking to a child. "That's great!-I'll get started on it right away.--Come back later to get it!" She said quickly and immediately started working on it.
He walked away dreamily and was interrupted when he saw Ki-Ki there with her arms crossed. Dru, Rouge and Willy stood behind her and they didn't look very happy.
"Hello, my fellow followers." He started.
"You just left us there!" Ki-Ki exploded. "How could you? We didn't even know you had left until Willy here saw your portal! I thought you might be dead!"
"Sorry." He answered and looked back at Charsi. "I wanted to get the Malus back to Charsi as quick as I could." He continued dreamily.
"Oh." Ki-Ki answered realizing what Zhon was saying. "Well next time at least tell us where you are going." She said a little more softly.
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And that is it for today! Thanks to my consistent reviewers. (Gives you all hugs...)
