"So what did you parents say about you traveling?" Half-Dragon Priestess looked toward her comrades as they continued down the path.

The girls decided that it would be best for them to broaden their horizons and would do some traveling. They knew of the deserts and plains near the Capital countryside, but their curiosity told them to wonder what lay beyond the mountains in the opposite direction. They were told there was another kingdom on that side, but they wanted to see it for themselves.

"My mother was already apprehensive by me becoming an adventurer, saying I was going to be traveling away from Frontier Town for an extended amount of time, might cause her to molt."

"My older sister wasn't much better. She thought after one adventure I'd be back with our pack, this news was a bit of a shock. She told me she'd be moving the whole pack to Frontier Town and anxiously checking everyday for my letters."

"My parents were same; mother was trying to convince me to stay nearby and father cautioned about how dangerous it could be. I'm happy they were so concerned, but just as they did before me, I too need to explore the world."

For nearly tens days the trio of girls and their dire wolf had been on the road, moving towards the next settlement, living off the land to conserve their supplies. Their friends and family reluctantly let them go in exchange for receiving a letter as often as they could to be updated about their progress. The girls soon found themselves moving through farmlands, farms present with large fields all around them, very much like Frontier Town. Gentle sloping grasslands, as the grass swayed in the wind like waves in the water, the simple motion made the girls smile.

"Seems like quite the peaceful area, kind of like Frontier Town." Half-Dragon Priestess smiled as she looked around, happy with the sight of people living their normal lives.

"I believe this place is supposed to be called Longfield Town, I'm guessing because of all the farms around it." Harpy Scout smiled as she took to the sky to look ahead. "Seems pretty large."

"Then let's see what this town has to offer." Wolf Brawler smirked as she instinctively slammed her right fist into her left palm.

In the town, the girls could see all the people happily moving around the large town, many of the people eagerly waving towards these new faces. Some young children eagerly running up to see these new faces, surprised by the sight of a harpy, padfoot and what they believe to be a lizardwoman walking through the town. The girls, reminded of the young children who would always hang around them, happily chatted with these new faces.

"Are you three really adventurers?"

"This big beast, is a wolf? A monster?"

"You guys sure are curious. Okay, let's see…yes, we are real adventurers and yes Specter her is a dire wolf." Half-Dragon Priestess smiled as they all walked down the street.

"That is so amazing! Are you all here on some quest?"

"Traveling right now. We were actually looking for the guild hall here in town, maybe undertake a quest in the area." Harpy Scout smiled as she looked down at the children who followed beside them.

"I wonder where we could find reliable guides to help us find it? Maybe you all can recommend someone who can assist us." Wolf Brawler smiled as she saw the bright look on the kid's faces.

"We can! We can! We can!"

"Alright then." Half-Dragon Priestess reached through her coin pouch and pulled out four silver coins. "Payment for services rendered."

The children looked at the silver coin in their hands and eagerly took hold of the girl's hands to lead them towards the guild hall.

"This way!"

Once at the guild hall in Longfield Town, the three said their goodbyes to the four children before entering inside. The inside of the guild was both similar and different from the guild hall they knew in Frontier Town, as soon as they entered they could see the main desk to the right of them with several adventurers already in line. Towards their left was the supply both where they could purchase healing and stamina potions; ahead of them was a massive quest board and nearby was a doorway which would lead to the tavern.

"Damn, would you look at this place." Wolf Brawler marveled at the guild hall and all the various individuals near the quest board. "Looks like there's even some centaur and other padfoot adventurers here too."

"Good to see other demi-humans out and about, makes me feel like we're back in Crossroads." Harpy Scout smiled then turned toward her friend. "Should we get in line and check in with the guild employees or check out the quest board?"

"The line still looks pretty long so maybe we should…"

"Get the hell out of the way you damn beast!"

Just about everyone in the guild turned toward the angry shout, Half-Dragon Priestess was expecting it to be someone snapping at Specter but then saw a young woman had fallen on her bottom with three other adventurers looking down at her, at second glance she could see two tall ears above her head.

"Why you knock me down? I not do anything to you." The young Rabbitfolk girl with light brown hair frowned as she looked up toward this trio of humans.

Their leader was a young man in light armor with sword and shield, a warrior; on his right side was another young man dressed in a dark blue robe with staff in hand, a spellcaster; on his left was a woman with bow around her chest and a quiver of arrows rest on her right side, a ranger. All three had obsidian tags around their necks and a look of annoyance as they looked toward the woman on the floor.

"You damn demi-humans should just stay out of the way, especially when you're just a damn porcelain." The young warrior spat as placed his hand on the grip of his sword. "Perhaps I should teach you some manners."

"Not before I teach you some you insolent brat!"

Everyone's attention was now drawn on the wolf padfoot with bright pink fur who walked toward them, at her side were her comrades, all too eager to stop this bullying. Half-Dragon Priestess reached down to help the Rabbitfolk adventurer back to her feet, she herself was surprised by the sight of these three women coming to help her

"Yuck, more demis! You'd think the guild would have higher standards for those becoming adventurers." The ranger turned her head away as if the mere sight and smell of them would make her sick.

"I'm pretty sure if that was the case, you'd be cast out for having a rotten attitude." Harpy Scout frowned as she looked at the human ranger when a smirk crossed her face. "Little girls shouldn't go out pretending to be so grown when it's clear how under-developed you are."

"You damn demi bitch!" The ranger had a look of pure rage as she covered her chest.

"No need to be so angry, in fact we should pity these unfortunate creatures." Spellcaster had a cold gaze as he looked over the three girls. "A flea-bitten padfoot, your kind only excel at menial tasks like cooking and cleaning. A harpy, usually found in dungeons, she is probably the offspring of some ugly adventurer who defiled her monster mother. Ah lizardman, the stench of the swamp clings to them like stink on shit."

"Yeah, let them say what they want, they're clearly beneath us. All of them are porcelain, just like this stupid rabbit." Warrior chuckled as he looked at all four adventurers, a sneer present on his face. "No class, in any of them."

Specter took a step forward, snarling as he barred his fangs at this trio of adventurers; all three of them backing up a couple steps and reaching for their weapons. Half-Dragon Priestess stepped forward and placed a hand on head, gently stroking his fur to calm him down, a neutral expression present on her face.

"I seem to recall it was a human who ran a slave camp in the desert, selling slave of all races and those she kept were forced to fight for her amusement. Five years ago, a human nearly brought the capital to its knees with an army of mutated monsters; aiding the hero was an army of elves, dwarves and lizardmen."

"Your point?" Warrior had not let go of his sword as he looked at the lizardwoman before him.

"All races are guilty of some past crime, to assume one is better than the others is naïve. I would hope that someone who is of a higher rank would have more commonsense than this." Half-Dragon Priestess then flexed her wings before pointing towards them. "Also, I'm a half-dragon, not lizardman, as you can see by my wings. I figured since you're a little slow to catch on to things, I'd be nice enough to inform you."

Warrior growled at being spoken down to by this demi-human but as he looked around the guild, he could see the disapproving gaze of not just other demi-human adventurers but other humans as well.

"Enough of this. We have a quest we need to take care of and talking with these damn demis will just waste more of our time."

Warrior turned and headed for the front door, the spellcaster and ranger also following close behind him.

"You demis should select an easy quest from the board, something befitting your current rank…like cleaning the horse stables!" The conceited ranger laughed as she exited the guild with her comrades.

"The only thing that stinks of shit around here is your damn attitude." Wolf Brawler grunted as she let out a sigh to calm herself. "Damn idiots aren't worth the beating."

"Maybe not, but I'd still feel better lodging an arrow in each of their asses." Harpy Scout too let out a sigh before turning around to check on the Rabbitfolk adventurer. "You alright?"

"I fine. Rude people knock me down and then get angry, but I not hurt."

The Rabbitfolk Warrior smiled as she looked toward the trio of adventurers, her attire was rather striking and many young men had to turn away to hide their flushed faces. She wore a dark brown leather corset, though the top of her large breast were still visible; in place of shorts or pants she had on a leather loincloth with white cotton around the edges. Around her arms, thighs, shins, and arches of her bare feet were the same-colored leather wrappings. Attached the back of her leather loincloth with a short, curved sword. Her light brown hair was wavy and came down to her shoulders, and finally above her breast and upon her forehead was red tribal paint.

"That's quite the outfit she's wearing, kind of reminds me of what the amazons would wear, though maybe not as revealing." Half-Dragon Priestess looked carefully at the young girl before extending a hand. "Well I'm glad you're not hurt. Are you a member of the Harefolk?"

"Hmph. I Rabbitfolk, not Harefolk." The young girl crossed her arms, puffed out her cheeks and turned her head all while crossing her arms. "Harefolk too nice and polite, not good warriors. We Rabbitfolk strong and agile, good fighters."

"My apologies, I did not mean to offend." Half-Dragon Priestess smiled as she bowed her head.

"It all right. You no need say sorry." Rabbitfolk Warrior smiled as she eagerly took the girl's hand and gave it a vigorous shake. "I look for quest before people push me out of way. You want come with me?"

"Well we just got into town, but why not? Is your party going to mind us joining you?" Harpy Scout looked around checking to see who was partnered with this your girl.

"No party. I just register. Ready to start."

"Ah okay. So now we just need to select an appropriate quest." Half-Dragon Priestess looked at the massive quest board for something the four of them could do together.

"No goblins though, I still can smell the stink of their cave even after so many days." Wolf Brawler shook her head with a bit of a snort, like a dog trying to get a smell out of its snout.

"I know, I know. The goblins quest was just to prove how much we had learned from my brother and the others. I wouldn't want to put him out of work by taking all the goblin quests." Half-Dragon Priestess smiled as she looked up at the board then took hold of a particular paper. "What about this one?"

The three girls examined the quest their friend had selected, it appeared to be a simple hunting quest, trying to find a particular animal.

"What's a jackalope?" Wolf Brawler tapped a finger alongside her face as she tried to think about what this creature might look like.

"Not sure, let's check with the front desk, hopefully they'll give us some information." Harpy Scout suggested as she too was not familiar with this creature.

The four young women waited patiently in line as the adventurers in front of them were either beginning the registration or selecting their quests. The girls finally got their turn and were introduced to a young man with short black hair, his uniform similar to what Guild Girl would wear with him wearing as blue vest over his whit long-sleeve shirt.

"And a fine day to you all, apologies for the behavior of some of our adventurers." Guild Gent offered an apologetic smile as he bowed his head toward them.

"Is that common around here?" Half-Dragon Priestess worried that she and her comrades would have to deal with other adventurers such as that trio.

"That trio is a bit problematic, thankfully, the others around this guild hall are not so narrow-minded. I'm honestly not sure how they even moved up a rank." Guild Gent shook then nodded as he took the quest slip from the girls. "Let's see, ah yes, this one is still available."

"What exactly is a Jackelope?"

"A jackalope is a unique animal, a rabbit with antlers like a deer."

Guild Gent smiled as he looked over the girls, but they themselves had a skeptical or hesitant expression on their faces.

"A rabbit with antlers…you have got to be kidding." Harpy Scout sighed in frustration as she shook her head.

"Rabbits no have horns, see?" Rabbitfolk Warrior took hold of her own ears and smiled while looking at her friends. "Ears nice and fluffy. You want feel?"

"Oh, no thank you." Half-Dragon Priestess smiled before turning her attention back to Guild Gent. "So someone actually saw this creature?"

"The client reported seeing a group of rabbits with horns on his travels back from the kingdom beyond the mountains. He's a bit on the elderly side and unable to seek out the creature himself, hence his readiness to hire adventurers to capture it."

"Why exactly does he want this creature alive? Some sort of pet?" Wolf Brawler crossed her arms as she awaited a reply.

"He didn't mention exactly why he wanted it alive, so there is that possibility. The other…" Guild Gent seemed a bit uncomfortable with saying the next part but had to give as much information as possible. "There is rumor that the horn of this creature makes for an excellent aphrodisiac. Very few have ever been seen, let alone been captured that's why he's willing to pay 100 gold coins for this quest."

There was a moment of silence as the four girls heard this, the former reason had made sense of course, but the latter caught them off guard.

"Old man want aphrodisiac? It mating season for him?" Rabbitfolk Warrior clearly understood what the quest detailed but lacked tact when openly discussing such situations.

"Humans tend to be in heat all the time, but I imagine it will be saved for special occasions." Wolf Brawler smiled as she elbowed the young rabbitfolk girl in the side.

"You're just as bad as she is. Neither of you know how to read the room." Harpy Scout mortified by the two shook her head.

"Disregarding all of that, we'll take the quest. Do you have a map to show us the general location these creatures were spotted?" Half-Dragon Priestess was also eager to leave the situation and get out to questing as soon as possible.

xxxx

"Find a rabbit with horns, this has to be the most idiotic thing we've ever done." Harpy Scout grumbled as they moved through the forest.

"Oh I don't know; following me after that Thunderbird was pretty stupid." Half-Dragon Priestess smiled as she moved with her friends.

The four of them had spent the night camping in the woods before continuing on toward their target the next day. The four had spent much of the second day looking for just about everywhere they could; both Half-Dragon Priestess and Harpy Scout took to the sky circling around trying to spot any rabbits while Wolf Brawler and Rabbitfolk Warrior kept close to the ground. For the two girls up in the air, they could not seem much through then trees, but Wolf Brawler managed to pick up on the scent of rabbits yet they smelled different.

"It smells like rabbit, but something is off, I smell blood as well." Wolf Brawler frowned as she continued to carefully smell the air.

"Blood could be injured animals. See markings. Bear near here." Rabbitfolk Warrior moved toward a nearby tree and ran her hand over the deep scratch marks.

"I'd rather not run into a bear, but thankfully we have a dragon with us." Harpy Scout smiled as she turned toward her friend.

"Well roast bear does sound good, but let's see if we can avoid any further trouble. Trying to find this elusive creature will be challenging enough as it is."

The party of four moved further into the forest, carefully scanning the area from left to right when Half-Dragon Priestess stopped them. The other followed her lead and crouched low to the ground weapons ready to deal with whatever caught the young dragon's attention.

"Ahead of us. Near the trees."

The girls slowly maneuvered around Half-Dragon Priestess and could see a large grey object standing nearby. The girls carefully moved around the creature, Harpy Scout and Rabbitfolk Warrior to the left and Half-Dragon Priestess and Wolf Brawler to the right. They moved slowly, until they were well within striking distance, and then Harpy Scout let loose one of her arrows only to find it bounced off the target.

"What the hell?"

The others rushed forward as Harpy Scout fired her arrow and also witnessed it be deflected; they stopped themselves and carefully examined the creature before them. It was a stone statue of a large bear, it appeared to be frozen in an attacking position, standing on its hind legs.

"Why bear made of stone? This some kind of warning?" Rabbitfolk Warrior moved forward and poked the statue with her short sword.

"I'm not sure, this statue actually has a lingering scent of a real bear. How strange." Wolf Brawler gave the statue another sniff, puzzled by the smell.

Half-Dragon Priestess was just as confused by the sight of the stone bear but as she continued to study the creature, she then noticed something odd.

"Hey look at this." Half-Dragon Priestess crouched down and rubbed her hand over a small hole that could be see on the bear's left leg. "Looks like a puncture wound."

"Why would this statue have a puncture wound?" Harpy Scout retrieved her arrow and placed it back in her quiver when a sudden, chilling thought crossed her mind. "Unless this isn't a statue."

"Yeah, this bear was turned to stone, but what kind of magic can do this?" Half-Dragon Priestess cautiously looked around, wondering if the being who had done this was watching them.

Rabbitfolk Warrior and Wolf Brawler paused as their ears began to twitch, over the wind blowing through the trees they could hear a tearing and chewing sound.

"Behind us! Hear sound like…wolf eating meat."

"She's right, there's something over there feeding on something. Sounds like a bunch of them."

"What do you think?" Harpy Scout nervously licked her lips as she looked toward her friend.

"Let's move ahead, but we got to be careful." Half-Dragon Priestess tightened her grip on her blade as she looked back toward the bear.

The party continued onward, following the sounds of the creatures feeding, and soon came upon a large creature down on its side and several small creatures around it.

"It deer, but what's that around it?" Rabbitfolk Warrior was puzzled by the sight of the smaller creatures feeding on the deer carcass.

"They're…they're rabbits."

The girls looked on with surprise and confusion to see almost two dozen rabbits feeding upon the deer. Wolf Brawler then noticed something odd about the rabbits, each of them had a long horn atop the center of their head much like the legendary unicorn.

"Hey look! They have horns on their heads. We found the jackalopes." Wolf Brawler took a step forward, pointing toward the rabbits and unfortunately caused a dry twig to snap beneath her foot.

The rabbits turned their toward the sound, their white fur stained crimson from the blood of the deer, and saw the four women standing nearby. One of the rabbits let out a ghastly shriek and the other rabbits followed suit before charging forward to attack the next prey; the girls were shocked by this but readied their weapons to attack.

"I feel bad, but I'm not about to be eaten by a bunch of rabbits." Harpy Scout let an arrow loose and easily killed one of the charging rabbits.

The moment it fell, another rabbit behind it stabbed through its body with its horn to move it aside. The girls then noticed that the carcass that had been stabbed by the horn was now covered by stone, they now knew the answer to what turned the bear to stone.

"Watch yourselves! Don't let them get to close! Brawler stay back." Half-Dragon Priestess cut one of the rabbits down before breathing fire at others.

Wolf Brawler nodded her head and moved back behind the other girls; she knew full well that the without a weapon she could run the risk of being stabbed by these rabbits. Right now all she could do was keep an eye on the rabbits and warn her friends if they came from a different angle. Rabbitfolk Warrior, Harpy Scout and Half-Dragon Priestess continued their onslaught against these poor rabbits, part of them feeling bad for doing it but the other half not wanting to be eaten by the creatures themselves.

"I think that's the last of…"

"Warrior behind you!"

Before Half-Dragon Priestess could finish, she turned as her friend shouted to warn their comrade of the coming attack. Rabbitfolk Warrior turned, with blades raised to attack as the screeching rabbit drew closer, but she fortunately did not have to attack as a burlap sack fell over the rabbit.

"Gotcha!"

Wolf Brawler quickly pulled on the sack and lifted it into the air, keeping it far away from her body as the rabbit fought to get out. There was a bit of concern as the rabbit's horn broke through, but sack managed to hold despite its thrashing.

"We did it! We caught us a jackalope!" Harpy Scout cheered as she happily raised her rams upward.

Her friends all gave an equally delighted cheer, they had dealt with the other rabid jackalopes and still managed to capture one alive as requested.

"Quest completed. This exciting. Lot of fun." Rabbitfolk Warrior smiled as she sheathed her short sword and looked over the bodies of the rabbits below. "These rabbits very dangerous. Not ever seen rabbits like this."

"Neither have I. I know the quest details said the rabbits had horns like a deer, but they must have been mistaken." Half-Dragon Priestess commented with a light shake of her head.

"Well, single horn or multi-horn, we got us a jackalope. Let's get back to town to claim our reward, but we might want to try and make a sturdier cage for this little monster." Harpy Scout smirked as the little rabbit continued to thrash about in the sack.

The group of girls all happily exited the forest, ready to complete the unusual quest and claim their reward. What the girls had not known was the rabbit they had collected was not a jackalope, but an almiraj, another type of mythical creature that most had never seen. As the girls moved further away, they failed to notice a small brown rabbit emerge from a small bush, its nose twitching as he took in the new scents and atop its head was a small set of horns that resembled deer antlers.

xxxx

"You actually found it." Guild Gent was surprised by the sight of the small white rabbit with a horn atop its head.

"Yeah, though be very careful, he's not friendly at all." Harpy Scout chuckled as the tiny rabbit hissed at everyone around it.

Some time later, the quest giver personally came in to verify the rabbit was genuine and was astounded by the sight before him.

"Incredible you truly found it!"

"There was a small herd, but they were very aggressive and tried to attack us." Half-Dragon Priestess told them with a bit of a frown.

"All I need is one for my research. The horn…like that of a unicorn, perhaps it's somehow related. You've easily earned your rewards and my gratitude." The old man smiled as he took out a small bag, within it was the 100 gold coins. "Foolish adventurers, once my spells are complete I'll be making a fortune. I'll just go back and find the jackalopes myself when I'm successful with my experimentation."

"Be careful of the horn, it can turn living creatures to stone." Half-Dragon Priestess warned the over eager man who reached for the small wooden cage.

"Oh thank you, but I am well aware of what I'm doing." The old man took the cage and turned to leave the guild with a wily smile. "Thank you again."

"Strange old man, but let's divi the gold coins and get us a good meal to celebrate." Wolf Brawler smiled as she made the suggestion then reached out to clap Rabbitfolk warrior on the shoulder. "You'll be joining us too right?"

"That okay? I able to join you for food?"

"Of course, there's no way we'd leave a friend out of a celebratory party." Harpy Scout smiled as the party maneuvered toward the tavern.

That night the party celebrated, the next day Half-Dragon Priestess and her comrades began to shop for supplies once they felt they would need to keep moving on their journey, but Rabbitfolk Warrior was not with them. The girls could not figure out where she had gone and wanted to ask her if she'd like to join them on their adventurers and if not then to at least say goodbye. The third day back and the girls had met up at the guild, ready to find their friend and hope she'd come with them.

"Good morning. I'm hoping you're all doing well." Guild Gent smiled and bowed his head toward the trio.

"Morning, say you haven't seen Warrior around?" Harpy Scout looked around the guild in search of their comrade.

"I did see her this morning and I think you'll be a bit surprised when you find her." Guild Gent smiled then looked ahead and gestured with his hand. "There she is."

The girls turned around to find Rabbitfolk Warrior and beside her was a large figure, much like a lizardman, but his skin was much smoother and upon his back was a massive pack, but this was in fact a shell. The tortle donned a light green robe with white markings around the trimming, and in his left hand was a large wooden staff with a blue crystal atop it.

"A tortle." Wolf Brawler was surprised by the sheer size of the figure, due in part of her size, she had to look up at the tortle.

"A fine morning to you all. I trust you're all doing well." The Tortle Master replied with a friendly smile.

"Is…is he your partner?" Wolf Brawler looked toward Rabbitfolk Warrior, who had a smile on her face.

"Yes. He ask me to work with him. He says he want to ask me earlier, but thought I was with you all." Rabbitfolk Warrior was delighted to now be party of a party.

"We were actually going to invite you ourselves, but I guess we were too late." Half-Dragon Priestess smiled, though a bit sad to have lost their friend.

"I sorry. I not know."

"I do apologize, I did not mean to steal her away. I too was starting out and was looking for a potential party to join. When I asked her about you all she said that she was not in a party, so I asked her to join." Tortle Master frowned as he bowed his head toward the trio.

"Oh you don't have anything to apologize for. We're just glad that she found a party member." Half-Dragon Priestess smiled then turned toward Rabbitfolk Warrior and extended her hand. "We wish you well and thanks for joining us on that quest."

Rabbitfolk Warrior looked at the extended hand and instead rushed to hug Half-Dragon Priestess then did the same to Harpy Scout and Wolf Brawler.

"Thank you, you all good people. I hope we get to meet again."

Rabbitfolk Warrior and Tortle Master bowed their heads before exiting the guild to gather their own supplies.

"It's too bad, I would have liked her to join with us." Wolf Brawler sighed as she watched the duo leave.

"Me too, but like she said, I'm sure we'll meet up with her again." Harpy Scout smiled before placing her arms around each of her friends. "Come on, we still got a grand adventure ahead of us."

"Of course. Then let us be off."

"Just a moment!"

Before the trio could depart themselves, Guild Gent called out to them, beckoning them to see him before they left.

"Something wrong?" Half-Dragon Priestess a bit confused by his sudden request.

"I wanted to ask you all for a small favor since I heard you say you'd be departing." Guild Gent had a bit of a frown on his face, his gaze moved down toward the front desk.

"Oh by the way, whatever happened to that old man who was interested into the jackalope?" Wolf Brawler curious what the human was trying to research with that creature.

"Ah him. We unfortunately found him turned to stone. The jackalope was missing its horn so we can only speculate he must have ingested it in his formula." Guild gent sighed as he shook his head.

"We did try to warn him. Such a waste." Half-Dragon Priestess too sighed then looked back toward the guild representative. "Is that what you wanted to discuss with us?"

"Oh no. You don't have to accept this request, but that trio of adventurers you had a disagreement with have still not returned. They were to investigate a recently discovered ruin, and when moving by cart, they should have returned two days ago, but the merchants said they never returned for pick up. While on your quest, would you be able to check for any sign of them?"

"Those jerks? You want us to find them?" Harpy Scout had a scowl as she remembered what the spellcaster had said about her conception.

"Damn idiots probably got themselves killed!" Wolf Brawler was just as angry about being asked to go and find these people.

"I understand your reservations, but if you do come across any signs of their remains, could you send some kind of word? Though it's all too common to lose adventurers, I'd like to be able to give their families some peace of mind."

Half-Dragon Priestess too was annoyed with the behavior of those people, but then the thought of her family flashed through her mind.

"If we do find any signs of them, we'll have a letter sent to you."

Both Wolf Brawler and Harpy Scout were both shocked to hear this and were just as quick to voice their concerns.

"You can't be serious! Those idiots were damn rude to us and other adventurers!"

"Bastards got themselves into that mess! We don't have to go and save them!"

"I know they were rude, and they're probably gone, but just like us they have family. The least we can do is find their tags and give their family some peace of mind."

The mere mention of family was enough to take the fight out of both girls and they reluctantly agreed to help in find these missing people; if they were lucky they might still find them alive but were ready for the more likely event.

"We'll keep an eye out. Which way were these ruins located?"

xxxx

Days earlier, the young trio of adventurers had made their way through the ruins with little trouble. It was an ancient structure from the age of the gods, one in which some goblins had taken over thought they had yet to capture any females for their breeding purposes. If anything, the wolves they had were the most difficult but with a few short hours the ruins were clear, and they discovered what they believed to be a treasure room.

"Come on, just another big push!" Warrior smirked as he threw his shoulder into the heavy stone wall.

"Right behind you!" Spellcaster grunted as he pushed along the entrance way as well.

"Has to be the easiest quest we've taken so far. Stupid goblins and wolves, and now a potential horde of gold for us to take. I'm betting if those damn demi-humans had gone on this quest, they'd have been wiped out with the first wave of goblins." Ranger sneered as she eagerly rubbed her hands together in anticipation of the treasure before them.

"Very true, when we get back, we'll probably get promoted again. And with this treasure, we can easily have a large celebration, all the beer and food we can eat!" Warrior gave the wall one more push and beamed as it finally gave way. "There we go!"

The trio of adventurers rushed into the hidden room, with torches in hand expecting treasure but to their surprise found a large figure in the middle of the room. Around each wrist and his neck was a large metal shackle with a long chain connected to each wall. It was a bald figure with a tan complexion, if one were to describe his body it would be like a mountain of muscle. The only clothing her had was worn black trousers and dusty leather boots, along his body were numerous scars, but other than that he seemed well.

"Damn it, not a single gold coin in here, just this stupid ass." Warrior clicked his tongue as he moved past the figure to see if there was any sign of treasure.

"Look at the size of this bastard, maybe he's descended from a giant." Spellcaster looked up at the figure.

"Hey! Look at this!"

Spellcaster and Ranger looked to find Warrior standing near what appeared to be armor made from bones, beside it was a massive hammer, nearly as big as warrior himself and a blade that also appeared to have been made from bone.

"These things are gigantic!" Warrior set his torch down and tried to lift the hammer and knife but struggled with each. "Damn heavy too!"

Ranger turned her attention back toward the figure, enthralled by his size, and reached out with her hand to touch his well-toned midsection. The action caused the apparent sleeping figure to wince his eyes and grunt, this of course made her jump back.

"He's alive!"

"The hell are you talking about! No way goblins would leave a human like him alive, he's not female." Warrior angry by his comrades sudden outburst.

"I tell you he's alive. I touched him and he grunted."

"Hmm. If he's alive, we should release him then." Spellcaster ever the calm figure turned his attention from the figure to Warrior.

"Why the hell would we do that?"

"There may be a bounty on retrieving him or a reward if he's some stupid adventurer who got caught by the goblins…we could charge him a fee for saving him."

Warrior was silent as he thought about Spellcaster's proposition then smiled as he quickly went to work cutting through the rusted metal chains. With all three chains broken, the figure suddenly dropped to the ground like a stone slab; Warrior sheathed his sword and went to work on trying to break the shackles.

"Come on…stupid piece of rusted metal." Warrior continued to pull and the first shackle came loose. "Yes! Only two more!"

Warrior failed to noticed the giant's right hand starting to move with more ease as he worked on the second shackle on the other arm until it too was broken.

"Alright now, just one mo…"

The figure's right hand lunged forward and gripped Warrior by his throat, though it was so massive that much of it rested upon the boy's chest. His comrades were surprised by this and quickly backed away as the figure pushed himself to his knees before finally standing back up. Still choking, Warrior watched as the figure reached up to easily snap off the final shackle around his neck, a small chuckle escaping from his mouth, his dull blue eyes staring at the boy before him.

"You have my thanks." His voice was deep as the grin on his face widened.

"Then...let me…go! Bastard…"

"My apologies. I haven't properly thanked you yet."

The figure moved his left hand towards the right side of the boy's head and then placed his right hand on the other side and began to squeeze. Warrior placed his one hands on the giant's forearms, slapping at them to let go all the while the pressure continued to build. He gurled as blood ran from his eyes, nose and mouth as the crunching of his skull could be heard, but the giant eventually crushed the boy's skulls between his hands, smiling as the blood covered his body. Ranger screamed as Warrior's body was tossed aside, the hulking figure now turning his full attention towards the other two.

"Lightning!" Spellcaster held out his staff and a suddenly bolt of lightning struck the giant.

For a moment, he was happy thinking he had killed the figure but that quickly vanished as the figure charged forward and with the back of his left hand struck the spellcaster. The boy flew and hit the wall, a quick splash of blood staining it from where his head had hit and he too slumped to the floor, neck broken from the strike of the giant's fist.

"You think a bit of lightning will kill me? Stupid boy. Now then…" The figure then turned his attention toward the frightened girl, who had collapsed to the floor as a small puddle of urine collected around her. "Goodness, look at the mess you made. A big girl, or rather a grown woman like yourself should not behave in such a manner. I guess It's up to me to discipline you…after a bit of fun."

The Ranger screamed, and her cries echoed within the dark ruins, but there was no one to hear it. An ancient evil had been released, and although all three would pay for their mistakes, none of them could have imagined the horror they let loose that day.