I am back after a long break!

Pepperony week is coming up and I intend to write three one-shots, so I am going to suspend this fic for at least 2 weeks.

Two more chapters before I do that... I am participating in the WIP week, so I have to space out my uploads..


It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only by defying it that the brave escape. Voltaire

It was early afternoon by the time, Tony and Pepper finally reached the border of Cumbria. It wasn't snowing but the air was chilly and thick. They stood at the gate of the border crossing, the outpost seemingly deserted.

"It seems," he said, looking around at the abandoned guard posts and watch tower, eerily silent and empty, "Stane and his whatever, are not scared of visitors. Or maybe they do not have any guards, even remotely human, to stand watch."

Pepper was oddly quiet and he saw she was looking up at the watch tower.

He rode over to her and asked, "Pepper, what is the matter?"

She pointed upwards and Tony gasped at the huge red banner hanging from the watch tower's deck. Against a black background, was a giant grey snake, coiled to strike, red eyes gleaming on the blackness

He swore under his breath and looked at her. Pepper swallowed hard and lowered her head. "We are in his territory now." She whispered.

"Hey!" Tony said harshly and she looked up at him. "Pep, now is not the time to lose our nerves. We are going to put an end to this now. We are going to free Cumbria from this,", he pointed at the banner, "this monstrosity!"

She straightened and Tony saw a steely glint enter Pepper's blue eyes. In a quick movement, she raised her hand and shot a bolt of fire at the banner.

It caught on fire and started to burn. Pepper stared at the flames and said quietly, "You are right, Tony, no more time for self-pity or fear. We are in the monster's den. We are going to set it alight and watch it burn."

He moved Balthazar closer to her horse and clasped her shoulder. Tony whispered in her ear. "Together, my love, together. It is not far now."

He saw the corner of her mouth tilt up and Pepper softly kissed his cheek. "Together, my lord... "

Then they rode out of the camp and on the gravelly road, towards the inland of Cumbria.

Tony looked around as the horses galloped over the gravel. They were entering deep lush forestland, trees and shrubs on both sides of the road. The undergrowth was so thick that he could not see past it.

The endless Forest of Torquin.

The trees were so tall and thick, that the road was enveloped in shadow. He was starting to get nervous and lifted out his sword from his saddle bag. He tied it to his belt and saw Pepper had done the same with her sword. Her crossbow was slung across her back.

They rode on for another four leagues, the forest seemingly endless. Finally they came to a small hill. Pepper stopped her horse and Tony reined in Balthazar.

Ahead, some distance away in the horizon, he could see a tall stone tower with a conical red roof, rising above the forest land before them.

Pepper whispered, "Cumbria Castle. We are so close."

Tony observed the lay of the land and said "How close are we? A day, an hour?"

"I should say 5 hours away."

"So if we ride on straight..."

"Then we should land right in front of the main gate of the town." Pepper widened her eyes. "Which is something we do not want to do."

"No. We must circle around and go to Lake Trinos. Set up camp, rest for the night and then start scouting the castle tomorrow."

She nodded and pointed to her left. "I guess we ride this way, then?"

"Yes. Take the lead please, Pepper, the road is narrow and I need you to set a path for me and Balthazar to follow."

Pepper clicked her horse's reins and Tony followed her at a slower pace as she rode through the thinning underbrush and shrubbery. Leaves and dirt crackled as Balthazar heavily stomped his way after Aurora.

"How much further, Pepper?" he yelled after her, aware that his horse was tiring.

"Not much, Tony!" She turned back and yelled. "Nearly there in fact!"

He patted Balthazar's mighty neck and whispered to him, "Not far, old boy... then some nice grass for you and a restful night, alright?"

His horse whinnied and surged on. The trees had started to lessen and Pepper finally came to a stop. Tony saw her and then tensed because she held up her hand in warning. Pepper quickly dismounted and pulled her crossbow off her back, to hold it in firing position.

He reined in Balthazar and jumped off, quietly unsheathing his sword. He stood behind her, trying to see what had alerted Pepper.

Lake Trinos loomed in front of them, dark blue water serenely still, surrounded picturesquely by trees. It was nestled in a dip in the land and its grassy bank was at a gentle slope, leading down to the clear water.

Tony was confused. "What is it, Pep? What do you see?" he whispered to her, scanning the lake and its surroundings.

Pepper shook her head lightly. "I felt... I thought I saw something moving in the water. I thought...", she lowered her crossbow and pushed her hair back, sighing loudly.

She turned to face him, her blue eyes wide and fearful. "I am sorry, Tony, I am simply jittery. Ignore me."

He sheathed his scimitar and held her gently. "Let me catch you a nice lunch and then we can settle down and relax for a while. Why don't you set up camp, till then?"

Pepper smiled and asked, "What's for lunch, handsome?"

Tony said with a wide grin, "If I tell you, you will not let me catch it, so I will catch it, clean it and cook it. You simply start a fire, lay out some of that nice ale we brought with us and get comfortable. Tony Stark is the Maggie today, is that clear, Madam Potts?"

He kissed her nose and she smiled.

He put his sword back into his saddle bag and instead, took his dagger and hunting knife, tying them to his belt. "Pepper, I need your crossbow please."

She handed it to him. "Leave the horses free, they need to graze." he called out as he walked into the forest.

Tony wanted to hunt something light and small for lunch, like some rabbits or a pheasant. He was used to being on the road, hunting and foraging for food, where it came. But he knew Pepper was too squeamish to actually hunt something and clean it and then eat it. So he decided to spare her from the unpleasantness of hunting and do it himself.

He settled down in a bush and raised the crossbow, waiting for his prey to cross his path.


Pepper stood up and kicked dirt onto the fire to put it out. She and Tony had finished eating a nice lunch of grilled rabbit and wild carrots, cooked on an open fire.

Tony was looking for the horses, whistling to get Balthazar's attention. The giant black horse came towards him and Tony held out a carrot. Balthazar chomped it up eagerly and then Aurora shyly stepped forth and daintily took a carrot as well.

He smiled as the white horse ate from his hand and Pepper had to ask, "Tony, why are you smiling so?"

"Aurora is just as shy as her rider, when I first met her." He stroked the horse's muzzle tenderly. "And just as soft and beautiful." He whispered, looking straight at Pepper.

She grinned with pleasure and picked the cooking pan to clean it.

Tony quickly came to her side and took the blackened vessel from her hand. "Pep, I will clean it. You put out the fire and rest for a while."

Pepper said, "No, Tony, it is alright, I can rest afterwards."

"No, my lady, I insist." He took the pan away and walked towards the river bank.

She took off her coat, rolled it up to use as a pillow and placed it on the ground. Then Pepper lay down on her side, looking at Tony. Instead of washing the pan, he was playfully skipping stones on the water and she shook her head at his antics.

Pepper raised herself a little on one elbow and called out, "Tony Stark! Stop doing that and wash the pan quick!"

He looked back at her with a grin and she patted the ground next to her. "Hurry up, so that we can spoon."

Tony widened his eyes and quickly tugged off his boots. He picked up the scouring brush and the soap from the grass, above the bank. Then he walked towards the water's edge, pants raised to his knees, pan and brush in either hand.

The water was so blue and still. Tony stepped into it, just enough for the water to reach his ankles. Then Pepper closed her eyes lightly, the sound of him scrubbing the pan, reaching her ears.

She relaxed completely, burrowing her head into her cloth pillow. But the sound of violent splashing made her open her eyes abruptly.

She sat up and her blood froze because Tony had disappeared. The pan was thrown on the bank and the water rippled gently. The air was eerily still.

The horses whinnied loudly and Pepper got to her feet quickly. She called out, "Tony!"

She picked up her crossbow and took two steps towards the dirt bank. The ripples grew larger and she could see tiny bubbles break the surface of the water.

She aimed her crossbow and then cursed. How can I fire into the water? I might hit Tony.

Suddenly Tony surfaced from the lake, gasping loudly, completely drenched.

She ran towards him but he raised his hand and yelled, "Pepper, don't! There's something-"

Then Pepper shrieked loudly as a large floating eye slowly emerged from the water behind Tony. He was in the middle of the lake and waded towards the bank urgently. Her heart started to thump loudly in her chest.

"Tony!" She screamed as the big eye rotated its clotted blood red iris to focus on Tony as he moved away from it.

"Pep! Get away!"

She saw a large red tentacle rise from the water and straighten like a pole in the air. Then it began to move and Pepper suddenly realized what it was going to do.

"Tony! Watch out!"

The tentacle fell heavily across the Lake's surface, like a whip, violently splashing Tony with a giant wave of water. She saw him try to stay afloat but then another tentacle and another rose from the water and swooshed down onto him.

Tony slashed at one with his dagger, cutting it but the other grabbed him hard around the waist.

He tried to cut it away but it was thicker than the other one, red and fleshy like a vine. Pepper moved around the bank, trying to get closer to the eye or the thing.

So I know it has tentacles and an... an... eye... but what about its body?

"Tony! Can you free yourself?"

"Trying to, Pepper! But this thing is-"

Then she saw yet another tentacle reach for him. Pepper raised her crossbow and aimed right for the eye.

She fired at it twice but the arrows missed the eye. Then as the second tentacle wrapped around Tony and raised him from the water, Pepper fired a third arrow that hit the murky red eye.

She grinned as the eye shivered violently with the impact. It quickly dropped Tony, withdrew its tentacles and submerged rapidly into the Lake.

Pepper ran back to the bank to help Tony out as he dazedly waded towards her.

She caught his hand tight and hauled him onto the bank. He was sputtering and shivering, so she used her power to heat her hands a little and rubbed his arms up and down, trying to make him warm.

Tony shakily stood up and she grasped him tightly to her side, so that he leaned on her.

"Tony, what the hell!" She said as they walked back to the fire.

"That thing is not going anywhere!" he said urgently. "We need to kill it."

"What if we just ride away?"

"No! We can't! It is a clearly something of ..."

He stopped abruptly at the sound of water splashing loudly. They both turned to watch in horror as the Thing slowly emerged from the middle of the lake, water cascading down its body.

"What sort of monster is this?" She whispered in horror at the sight of its complete form. It was a pink squirming mass of flesh, the size of a barn, covered in tiny white spots. The large reddish pink eye covered most of its face.

It had no legs, only a dozen or so, red slimy tentacles, also lined with white spots.

"Tony..." she whispered quietly as the red iris stared point-back at them, creepily silent, "Tony, what do we do?"

He came behind her and Pepper noticed he was wearing his chest plate and gauntlet.

Tony handed her, her sword and whispered to her, "I am going to wade into the water and fight it. Stay here and give me backup."

She caught his arm firmly as he took two steps forward.

"Tony!" Pepper growled in his ear as she held him back. "You are not going to take this thing head on!"

"Why not?" he countered angrily.

"It is too big and it will easily hurt you with its tentacles! This is madness! We need to come up with a plan!"

He grumbled to himself and she said, "What about fire? Let me try to burn it!"

Before Tony could object, Pepper quickly ran forward and raised her hand. She saw the Thing raise one of its tentacles as if it was waving at her.

Then Pepper fired multiple short bolts of fire at the giant eye, trying to warn it to back off.

A few bolts hit the Eye and it trembled violently, its pink flesh quivering and shimmering.

"That's it, Pepper!" Tony yelled from behind her. "Keep firing!"

Pepper fired again and again but to her dismay, the Thing seemed to have caught on to their strategy. It started to thrash violently with its tentacles, making the water rise up like a wave. Her fire bolts were swallowed by the waves of water.

She could see Tony had started firing as well, aiming higher than her but the Thing flicked his bolts away by waving its tentacles in front of its giant eye.

"Tony, this isn't working!" She yelled, tiring now from the repeated firing.

Then Pepper ducked quickly as she saw a wave of water being sploshed towards her. She got wet and heard Tony yell her name.

She looked up at him and her heart began to pound because the Thing had raised two tentacles high in the air and brought them down rapidly in the Lake, setting up a giant wave of water, which rolled straight towards Tony, half in the river, half on the bank.

He's got his armor on! Too heavy for him to swim in! I must reach him!

She ran back to his side and caught his hand, tugging him backwards but the cascading wave fell heavily on them both. Pepper was under water, looking around blindly, trying to surface. She raised her hands to pull herself up but then she felt something tighten around her leg and looked down.

A tentacle held her tightly. She was holding her breath, her heart thumping loudly in her ears as she struggling to free herself. But she had nothing to cut it away and her vision turned blurry.

Then suddenly she was free and being pulled upwards towards the light. Pepper gasped loudly as she surfaced, taking deep gulps of air, trying to breathe.

She dimly realized Tony was holding her to him tightly, his sword in his hand. He had pulled her onto the bank or what was left of the bank. They were partially in the water because the Thing's cascading waves had eroded the river bank, causing the Lake to grow larger as its bank diminished.

Pepper was trying to breathe, looking at Tony wide-eyed, holding onto him for dear life. He pushed her hair back, his eyes looking into hers with worry.

"Pepper, sweetheart, are you alright?" He said raggedly.

She nodded and looked around her. "Where is the Thing?" she exclaimed, because it had disappeared.

Tony muttered tightly, "It seems to tire when it spends time on the surface. I think it can breathe underwater only, so it needs to submerge itself from time to time. It disappeared after I cut its tentacle on you."

She leaned against him, comforted by his arms around her. "Tony, what are we going to do?"

They both heard the Dragon hiss worriedly, You need to work as a team. Stop trying to take it on directly. It is too powerful.

"You are right, Dragon!" Tony said firmly. "The water is its stronghold, we need to get the beast out of it."

Pepper shook her head. "Tony, it doesn't need to leave the water, so it won't. Think! What are its weak points?"

"The giant eye, for one." He said wryly. "If we could get a clear shot at it..."

"Yes, I hit it once but not hard enough to wound it mortally." She thought hard for a moment. "The eye... and its pink squirming flesh."

Tony was going to say something but she felt him tense and she turned. Pepper swallowed as the Thing once again rose from the water, its red eye blinking angrily at them.

Tony pushed her behind him, shielding her with his body. He raised his sword defiantly and shouted, "Oi! Big Eye! Come for round three?"

They both gasped as the Thing reacted to Tony's words by opening a slit of a mouth, revealing a gaping maw of large sharp teeth. It then roared at them, its eye blinking rapidly.

Pepper took two steps back, pulling Tony with her. "The Dragon is right! We can't face this thing head on!"

Tony was muttering dazedly, "So much teeth... toothes... teeth... Good Lord."

A tentacle darted out towards them but Tony cut it down swiftly.

"Pepper! Suit up! Please!", He called out, "I will handle this but I need your help soon!"

She scrambled onto the crumbling bank, to get her gauntlets and shirt.

Pepper pulled them out of her saddle bag and tugged her Mithril shirt on quickly. Tony was valiantly fighting the mass of tentacles coming at him, swishing and cutting them away with his sword.

She looked at the eye and was shocked at its expression. It seems so relaxed... its tentacles are actually limp and not tense... it is no longer angry...

Then she gasped with the realization. It is playing with Tony! Trying to tire him out, so it can easily overpower him!

Pepper's vision turned orange as she felt a rush of rage pass through her. She whispered angrily to herself, feeling her palms tingle, "I am going to burn its tentacled mass to hell! Set it alight and watch it turn to ash!"

Then it hit her. "What if I set it alight? Its entire body? Since it is above the water, it would burn as a whole!"

She looked down at her hands. "But how?! Think, Pepper, think! You need to set it on fire! The fire needs to burn away the body! You need to cook it... wait! That's it!"

She moved to the fireplace, where the cooking fire was still burning. "I need grease! Or oil!"

Suddenly Pepper remembered, that Magdalene had insisted she take a bottle of cooking grease along. Her exact words had been "If firewood is too damp, a little bit of grease can help start the fire. Take it, Lady Virginia. It won't occupy much space."

So she rummaged about in her bag. Tony yelled, "PEPPER! I could really use your help right about now!"

"I am coming, Tony, I have an idea!"

"Great, sweetheart but please hurry up! This bastard eyeful of a fiend here, is too getting too handsy for me!"

"Found it!"

She picked up the bottle and her crossbow and ran quickly to the bank. Pepper saw that the Thing was relentlessly splashing Tony with large waves of water, trying to submerge him.

"Tony, keep it distracted!"

"What! Pepper, what are you up to?"

She looked at the bottle and looked at the distance between her and the Thing. Too far... If I throw it from here, I will definitely miss!

Then she realized, she should circle closer to it from the opposite bank. Pepper ran there quickly, huffing as she moved into position.

"Tony, hold on! Hold on!"

"Trying to!" He yelled out and then she shrieked as she saw the Thing shoot a large thick tentacle at Tony, wrapping it around his chest.

He yelled as it began to tighten its grip and slowly pulled him closer to its gaping mouth.

"Now or never!" She dipped her arrow into the bottle, coating the arrowhead with the oil. Then Pepper willed her flame to set the arrow on fire.

She pulled it through her bow and fired. It hit the Thing and she heard it roar in pain as the fiery arrow struck its flesh.

"Again!" She shot another fire arrow and another, her anxiousness to help Tony, somehow making her aim true and straight.

The Thing roared again and again as Pepper kept hitting it with fire arrows.

Then Tony called out her name and she looked at him.

"Good work, Pepper! But you need to burn it in the water! Throw the oil at the water around it and use your fire!" He yelled and slashed down at the tentacle holding him.

She widened her eyes at his words. "Of course!"

Pepper slung her bow behind her. She took a deep breath, uncorked the bottle and threw it straight at the Thing. The bottle bounced harmlessly off the side of its pink flesh.

As the giant red iris turned to look at her, she jumped off the bank, diving towards the Thing, arms outstretched in front of her.

She yelled, "I am one with the Flame and It is one with me! Mighty Summac, bless me with your power!", calling on all her strength and fired mid-air, straight at the Thing in a glorious stream of orange.

She could see the deep blue water rise up to meet her but she didn't let up on her firing. The Thing began to shriek and roar and Pepper grinned.

The water hit her hard as she dove into it face first, diving through its depths. The Lake was clear at this side of the bank, so she could easily see the large mass of tentacles underwater, that was keeping the Thing upright.

They were writhing about madly and she ducked as a stray one darted towards her. From underwater, Pepper saw flashes of blue fire burst above her.

Tony!

The tentacles writhed again and then went still. She swam towards the surface, trying to stay as far away as she could from the creepily motionless appendages, aimlessly floating in the water like thick strands of pink hair.

Pepper surfaced and gasped, filling her lungs with air. The Thing was floating on the surface of the Lake, tentacles and all, its giant red eye clouded over and staring aimlessly at the sky.

It was badly burnt, its flesh was charred and black, its tentacles all around it. The smell of burnt flesh lingered in the air and she wrinkled her nose.

Suddenly Tony was in front of her, clasping her arms. "Pepper, you were magnificent! The way you flew through the air! Like a red-haired avenging angel and your fire blazing before you, what a sight!"

She grinned at his expression of awe but before she could reply, he pulled her into a tight bear hug and kissed her ear, murmuring loving nonsense to her with relief.

She hugged him tightly as well, relieved that their ordeal was over.

"That was close, Tony..." she said softly, "that thing nearly drowned you."

"Good thing I had you." He whispered back.

She tightened her arms around him, suddenly aware of what they were facing. "Stane's presence has tainted the countryside as well. There's no telling how many such monstrosities, we must face..."

"We need to be alert, Pep. Do not worry. We can handle his evil."

Just then, they heard Balthazar whinny loudly. "Now what!" exclaimed Tony, helping Pepper climb onto the crumbling bank.

His horse was tossing his mane and neighing loudly. Aurora was doing the same and Tony rushed to calm them.

"Hey you two, what happened? It is alright, it is alright, the evil eye thing is dead."

Pepper looked up at the sky and gasped. It had turned a deep angry red and grey with mottled black clouds.

"Tony!" She yelled. "A storm is coming!"

A powerful gust of wind rippled the Lake and blew against her heavily, nearly pushing her off her feet.

"Pepper! We have to find shelter! Let's ride!" Tony yelled at her as the wind started to howl.

"Let me collect my stuff!" She ran back to get her crossbow and sword, which she had dropped near the bank.

"Hurry, Pepper!"

Tony had gathered up the saddle bags and handed her the rolled up coat as she approached the upset Aurora.

He held the horse by the bridle firmly and she quickly mounted her.

Pepper cooed to the nervous horse, who was rolling her eyes wildly and tossing her head. "Easy girl, easy... its alright, we will find shelter soon."

Tony swung himself onto Balthazar and turned his horse. Then a blinding, purplish streak of lightning hit the ground in the near distance and Pepper screamed in fear.

Her horse reared and she had the presence of mind, to tighten her grip on the reins and calm her down. Tony yelled, "Pepper, don't be afraid, we need to move now!"

She took a deep breath as a loud clap of thunder shook the air around them with its ferocity.

Come on, Pepper, get a grip!

"Follow me!" Tony shouted and he rode into the trees. She rode after him, rain pouring down on them heavily, the thunder growing louder and louder.

"Tony, where are we going?" She yelled, blindly urging Aurora ahead, trusting his path through the bushes and trees.

"Keep up, Pepper!" was all he said, urging Balthazar to move faster.

She clicked the reins, whispering urgently to Aurora, trying to calm her horse down. "It is okay, girl, even I am scared but Tony seems to know where we are going... not long now..."

Then Pepper felt something hard and knobbly hit her head. She gingerly rubbed the spot and looked up.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed for small heavy stones of ice were now falling from the sky.

"Tony! It is raining hailstones!"

"Hold your shield above your head, Pepper, not far now!"

She saw him do the same and Pepper pulled her shield from the side of her horse and held it above her head. It was difficult to ride now for the hailstones were pouring down around her, some managing to hit her legs and Aurora.

Her horse neighed in pain and she petted her mane, softly whispering to her.

Then she looked up and saw that Tony had disappeared. Pepper turned Aurora in a circle, desperately looking for Tony.

"Tony!" she cried out, the din of the falling stones drowning her out, "Tony! Where are you!"

Nothing but endless greenery and the falling hail was to be seen. She shouted again, "Tony! Tony!"

Then she froze as something rustled from the bushes ahead of her. Pepper pulled out her sword and held it before her, her heart thumping loudly.

She relaxed immediately when Tony's face came into view.

"Damn it! Where were you? You scared me!"

He came quickly to her side and told her, "Pepper, get down! Come on! Quick! I have found a cave!"

She dismounted and he urged to keep her shield up, as an umbrella. Tony took the reins, gently pulling Aurora as he took Pepper's hand and quickly led her into the bushes.

"This way, Pepper! This way!"

She followed him, holding onto his hand for dear life as it was difficult to see in front of her. Tony led her to a rocky outcrop and she could now see a small cave in the distance.

"Quickly, Pepper, quick! I do not want you to get hurt!" He urged her and she ran quickly to the mouth of the cave. There was an overhanging ledge of branches and leaves, which Balthazar was calmly munching on.

"How is he so calm?" she exclaimed, patting his neck.

"Because he's had 3 cubes of sugar." said Tony wryly, "I used your trick. Come inside. I've got the horses."

She gulped and took one step forward into the dark cave.