After successfully clearing the dungeon, the party was deciding where to claim their reward. As a guild-requested mission, the reward can be claimed in any of the official guild houses in Sha'aya. They just need to present the dungeon map, the magical compass which also acted as a dungeon log and the monster shards they were able to collect.
It was either back to Lumhaven or Bridgetown.
"Hmm, Bridgetown is farther but I think it would be good to visit another guild house," Eris suggested. "I actually want to find new members as well."
"Are you implying we're incompetent? After I saved your lives!" Lili exclaimed in her usual condescending but innocent tone.
"Well, we are lacking some important support roles for the team," Straf added.
"Well, then it's settled. Let's go to Bridgetown and meet some new adventurers!" Eris gleefully declared.
It was going to be a long journey from Mount Elaron to Bridgetown, longer than the one they had previously travelled.
Days slipped by as they went about their usual routines - hunt for food, find water, seek shelter and sleep in shifts.
Everything was going smoothly until one day, they heard a girl screaming.
"Help! Anyone, my brother has been taken!" a girl cried in desperation while running across the forest. The girl had tan skin and dark hair. She wore a long black robe, white wimple and a veil.
She saw the trio of adventurers and without hesitation, pleaded for their help.
"Please! It's my brother. He's been captured by bandits," she explained.
"Bandits are real trouble, they don't care about consequences. Everything's just profit to them," Lili said with frustration.
"We should help her," Straf proposes with conviction.
Eris took a moment to pause and think about the situation. She had no actual combat experience fighting humans, only the training she received from her mentor back at Lumhaven. Also, she was uncertain whether the girl spoke the truth.
"Please, I beg you. I don't have any money with me but…"
Noticing Eris' wariness, she offered to heal her injury in exchange for saving her brother.
"I was a nun for the Holy Empire before coming here. Let me heal you. I'll show you I'm trustworthy," the girl said.
A healer?
Eris had heard of individuals who could use magic to heal others though she has yet to encounter one.
"Please allow me," the girl removed Eris' bandages. It was not infecfed due to the potion pills, though it was still in the early proliferative phase of healing where new tissues were just beginning to fill the wound.
The girl held her silver necklace and began to sing.
"O gentle Hand that mends the broken,
His Touch wakes the aching flesh,
Flow, o Tears of our Holy Sun,
Cleanse the wound, bind it whole,
Once was broken now is one."
The girl sang with the voice of an angel. Each note shone like sunlight through a glass window. Her melody brought relief to even the deepest wounds.
Tiny beads of glistening water akin to morning dew formed around Eris, circling her before flowing gently into her wound, knitting flesh as they passed.
"First Chant: Restoring Light"
Eris felt a soft tingling sensation spreading from the wound outward, like gentle ripples across a still pond, in this case, her skin. Warmth rose beneath her exposed flesh, as she saw her wound slowly closing.
The three gasped in awe and disbelief.
Holy Magic
"Thank you… That was amazing," Eris said brimming with gratitude.
"Do you trust me now?" the girl spoke, twisting her fingers, her voice timid.
"Okay, lead us to this brother of yours, miss?" Eris said, asking the girl for her name.
"I'm Pell," she answered.
"Let's go."
Pell led the party to the place where the bandits had just set up camp. A battered wagon and a pair of weary mules were set beside a tree. The stench of stale ale, unwashed bodies and horse sweat mingled and lingered in the air.
Five men were gathered around a campfire, while a sixth figure sat beneath a tree with its torso and arms tightly wrapped in rope, its feet and hands locked by stocks.
The three focused their gaze on the sixth figure. It was large, probably stood around six feet, and it was hairy and had sharp claws.
"What is that big thing they have there?" Lili asked curious at the sixth figure.
"That's my brother," Pell answered.
"What…" The three let out a whispered shout, lowering their voices, eyes widened in shock.
"That's your brother?" Straf nervously asked. "But isn't that a…"
"Yes, that's my brother, Pino, he's a Cursed Werewolf," Pell answered, her gaze sank to the ground, as if she was guilty of something.
In Sha'aya, some monsters, instead of killing their victims, bring them terrible afflictions - a curse of endless nightmares when one slept, an uncurable disease or in rare severe cases, even transmogrification. Pell's brother became a Cursed Werewolf after being attacked by a powerful wolf monster.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to offend," Eris apologized for how they reacted.
"It's okay. It's just a normal reaction." Pell understood.
"How do we save Pino?" asked Lili.
"I'm thinking, we should go around and cut the rope bindings first. But we still need the key, those stocks are likely enhanced by magic. We'd have a hard time destroying them," Eris said, her throughts turning to where they might find the key.
Straf noticed something shiny hanging from the belt of the one who appears to be the leader of the group, as he is the loudest. "That guy, he has a key on his belt."
"Okay. So we do have to fight them," Lili mentioned.
"Two guys holding knives, two with bows, and the leader must be the one with the sword," Eris remarked.
"Lili, you deal with those archers while me and Straf attack and get the key. Pell, you cut the rope, I have a spare dagger you can use." Eris explained her plan.
"But it's still two against one," Lili pointed out.
"Have a little faith in us," Eris said with a grin on her face, trying to hide her worry.
I hope my sparring sessions back at Lumhaven pay off.
They moved to execute their plan, quietly sneaking around the camp to reach Pino who was tied to a tree.
"Ssshh, Pino, don't move." Pell whispered to her brother, cutting the rope.
Lili then launched a Crystal Arrow against one of the archers. It knocked back the unfortunate bandit to the ground.
"Hey, who's there!" one of the goons exclaimed. "The Werewolf! It's trying to escape!" the other replied.
"Get them, you idiots!" Balthro, the leader of the group yelled, anger ringing in his voice.
The remaining archer fired his arrow at Pino but was blocked a Crystal Wall from Lili.
Soon after, Eris and Straf charged the bandits to retrieve the key.
"Take care of them," Balthro commanded the two goons with the knife.
With a sudden lunge, the bandit slashed wildly aiming for Straf's belly. Straf twisted smoothly, dodging the attack. He countered with a swift, precise strike making the bandit stumble. Unrelenting, the bandit desperately swung his knife in a flurry of erratic arcs. Straf parried and waited for the perfect moment to launch his strike.
There it is.
Straf noted the bandit overcommitted to a reckless thrust. He then drove his sword toward his opponent's belly. Unable to dodge, the bandit dropped to the ground in a pool of blood.
Years ago, when Straf escaped the assault on Fishook bay, he was found by some merchants and brought to Shas Freehold, the city of adventurers. He had been trained there by a master swordsman, but eventually left to pursue a quiet life at Lumhaven.
With the bandit defeated, Straf moved to retrieve the key from the leader but Balthro had already appeared in front of him. With a powerful slash from Balthro's sword, Straf was pushed back.
He's not like the other one. He's powerful.
Meanwhile, Eris was fighting with another bandit. They exchanged a few strikes, but they were evenly matched and the fight dragged on.
I have to help Straf.
In that moment of distraction, the bandit launched a punch against Eris. Eris crossed her arms to block.
"Aaaaaaah!" Eris cried out in pain as she felt a jolt of electricity pulse through her body. The bandit's gloves had the element of lightning enchanted to it.
"Don't you know not to get distracted, little missy?" the bandit said followed by a hysterical laugh. "You should know we don't like to play fair."
Eris fell to the ground, unable to move.
"Eris!"
Lili fired a Crystal Arrow but the bandit had seen it coming and quickly dodged it.
Straf was unable to help Eris as he is being overwhelmed by Balthro.
The bandit moved towards Eris - to land the killing blow.
Move! Move! Why can't I move? Am I going to die here?
Eris thought as she saw the bandit closing in on her, with a sinister smile playing in his face.
But suddenly, an angelic voice was heard across the scene.
"O Sky Father, lift their might,
Fill them with Your shining light.
Turn aside the shadow's breath,
Walk them far from de-e-eath."
Beads of liquid light bathed Eris and Straf like a faint drizzle. They felt a surge of energy. Their bodies felt warm like the Sun had just spilled through their veins. Eris was able to move again and Straf no longer felt overpowered by Balthro.
"Second Chant: Empowering Rain"
Pell had cast a Buff on them. It is a magical enhancement of the body, increasing its strength, boosting agility and hastening recovery.
Eris leaped forward. With her increased speed, the bandit had no time to evade. His belly was struck with the full might of Eris' attack.
"Wind Cutter!"
The bandit fell.
Straf, who was previously on the defensive, is now the one launching the attacks against Balthro, pushing him back. Soon, Balthro lost his footing and got knocked to the ground. Straf pressed his sword against Balthro's neck, his eyes unblinking.
"Give us the key."
Balthro was left with no other choice but to yield and surrender the key in his belt.
Straf used the key to unlock the stocks on Pino's hands and legs.
They all left the camp of the defeated bandits and moved quickly fearing that more bandits will come. At last, they were able to successfully rescue Pino.
________________________________________
Somewhere in a dark chamber of an underground base, a black spider with a purple glowing abdomen was crawling up the arm of a slender pale woman. It crept up the woman's neck, passing her blackened lips, then finally settling in her ear.
"Mistress?"
"Balthro, news of your incompetence do not entertain me," said a woman, her voice calm and steady, seemingly uninterested but stroke fear in the heart of the bandit.
"Sorry, Mistress, we lost the Werewolf. Some adven.."
"Balthro? Do you know the feeling of tiny little creatures nibbling at your flesh while you live?" the woman asked menacingly.
"I'm very sorry, Mistress!" Balthro exclaimed as if pleading for his life.
"What of the goods?"
"The goods are safe with me, Mistress. I shall have them brought to you at once"
"Fail me again, Balthro. And you will not live to regret it."
"I understand! Mistress of the Eight Legs."