The Path to Peace

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “God knows it wasn’t going to happen if it were left to just you,” Karen deadpanned.

  “Et tu, Mynx?”

  “She did tell me that it would happen eventually, when I was sure it wouldn’t,” Fluff added.

  “If you’re all done,” Gerald said as he offered his arm to Marysue, “we should get going.”

  “You’re right,” Alburet said quickly, hoping to put the conversation behind him.

  “Never argue with your wives, especially not the first one,” Tiny rumbled as he took the lead.

  Alburet Copied Tiny, and TJ moved to bring up the rear. “It never ends well.”

  “Haha,” Bob laughed as he went from roof to roof. “He has a point, master.”

  Karen, still with the God’s Grace buff on, walked alongside Fluff, arm in arm and grinning the entire time.

  “It’s going to be a long day,” Alburet sighed.

  “Ya poor man,” Stacia giggled.

  Swatting her on the rump, Alburet shook his head before taking her arm again. “Brat.”

  “Foreplay is always good,” Kitten purred from behind him.

  “Dear gods,” Alburet sighed, “I’m outnumbered.”

  “You have been for a while now,” Karen snickered.

  Shutting his mouth, Alburet stayed silent, hoping that would finally give him a moment’s respite. The rest of the walk to the Portal Guild was, thankfully, peaceful and quiet.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  The trip out to the Bramble Wood was quick, as nothing slowed them. After getting the quests from the Gunso, the group found themselves outside of the hedge and looking into a forest filled with bramble bushes.

  “It certainly looks like it’s going to live up to its name,” Karen commented as she entered Stealth.

  “I don’t think I can fly in there,” Bob said, looking at the thorny vines thickly wrapping the tree trunks and draping from the branches. “I officially do not like this zone.”

  “Everyone has a zone they don’t like,” Tiny rumbled. “If I had wings, I would dislike this one, too.”

  “Stay on the paths and you’ll be fine,” one of the guards said from beside the archway. “If you have to go off the paths to chase a Troll, be careful—they sometimes poison the brambles between them and you.”

  “Fun,” Gerald commented. “Deadeyes, Skulkers, and Trappers, twenty of each,” he said to the group. “Trappers are obviously going to be Trapsmiths.”

  “Skulkers are going to be Assassins,” Karen said. “It’s an honorary title in the Guild, and now I know where they got it from.”

  “Deadeyes might be Archers,” Fluff suggested. “It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”

  “Okay, so what can we expect from them?” Marysue asked.

  “Depends on if they’re in groups or not,” Alburet shrugged.

  “They turn up in groups comprised of all three, normally,” the same guard said from behind them. “The Trappers try to control the field of battle, the Deadeyes will do damage and hinder movement, and the Skulkers pick off low health opponents.”

  “Okay,” Gerald said before turning to Tiny. “You stay with Marysue, she has to be kept alive—”

  “Gerald,” Alburet cut in, “both Tiny and TJ should stay back.”

  “The Skulker will probably be able to Sap a single target,” Karen nodded, “but not two of them, unless they have Double Sap.”

  “Kitten,” Alburet said, “you stay back and be ready to intercede if both of them get Sapped.”

  “As ya wish, master,” Kitten purred as she brushed her ample breasts against his back.

  “Behave,” Alburet told her, acutely aware of the guards all staring at them.

  “As ya wish, master,” Kitten pouted and stepped back.

  “That should keep her safe, Gerald,” Alburet said, bringing the conversation back on track.

  “Okay, if we keep her safe we can survive the fight, even if it takes a while,” Gerald said. “I’ll target whichever mob is closest, so if we focus fire, we should be able to deal with them.”

  Everyone agreed and the party set off, looking at all the bramble plants making up most of the wood. Bob mumbled quietly about being grounded as they advanced deeper into the zone.

  Various bird calls broke the silence that seemed to permeate the wood. “I haven’t seen any ground animals,” Fluff commented softly, “I wonder why?”

  “Maybe the Trolls are decimating the wildlife. That would explain the Elves’ ire,” Alburet suggested.

  “No, that goes back to the beginning of the Elven nation,” Fluff said. “We can ask Ioaniss to tell us the story, if we have time during lunch.”

  “That would be interesting to hear,” Marysue said.

  Gerald turned to remind them they were hunting at the moment, when his foot came down on an uneven patch of ground. The metal jaws of a hidden trap snapped up around his ankle with a dull clank, the spikes of the trap punching right though his boots. “Gah!” Gerald screamed in pain, and all eyes went to the trap that ensnared him.

  “This is our forest,” came a guttural voice from the left, the words punctuated by an arrow hitting Marysue in the side.

  Marysue’s gasp of pain was almost enough to cause to Tiny to Charge the Deadeye, but he recalled his task and settled back into place next to her, angling his shield to protect her from the Archer.

  Fluff had no reason to wait, Leaping over the brambles and right into the Archer, who was taken by surprise by the attack. Claws flashing, she was about to rip into the Troll when a blue flash hit her in the back and she froze in place from an Ice Trap the Trapper had tossed from a few feet away.

  Gerald looked at the trap on his leg, which was weakening its hold. “Five seconds,” he said as he jerked at the trap, which seemed to be stuck to the ground.

  Alburet nodded and threw a Fire Blast at the Trapper. “Bob, AoE them,” he called back to the Imp. “TJ, cover him if they try to fire back at him.”

  “Yes master,” came the reply from both Imps and TJ.

  “I’ll follow you in,” Alburet told Gerald as he threw another Fire Blast at the Trapper, getting the troll’s attention. “Hey ugly, try me on for size.”

  “Fool,” the Trapper sneered as he threw another trap at Alburet. Taking advantage of the moment, BJ used Burning Cleanse to free Fluff from the trap she’d been stuck in.

  Claws digging into the Trapper with a fury, Fluff snarled, “I see you’re the one we need to worry about first.”

  The Archer turned and shot an arrow square into Fluff’s foot, using Pinning Shot to keep her stuck in place as the Trapper backed away from her with a hiss. “I’ll give you one of my special traps,” the Troll snarled.

  Unfortunately for him, the trap he had thrown at Alburet should have been used on Gerald. Gerald Charged through the brambles to the Trapper, his shield connecting and Stunning the mob. “Should have kept me in place,” Gerald said as BJ cleansed the second Ice Trap off Alburet.

  Karen appeared behind the Archer, her Sap stopping it from helping its friend. Leaving it where it was, she headed for the Trapper. Fluff came free of the arrow and joined Gerald on the Trapper, claws digging channels into the hide under the leather armor the Troll wore.

  As everyone converged on the Trapper, Tiny and TJ went limp without warning. Kitten spun, a song on her lips as the Skulker appeared behind Marysue, his blades slamming into her back.

  Kitten got the song off a second later. The Assassin quickly withdrew his blades and looked to Kitten for orders. “Good Troll, now go kill the others of ya kind for me,” she ordered her mind-controlled victim.

  Marysue tried to heal herself, but blinked as she found that the poisons she had been stabbed with were stopping all healing and slowly leeching away her life. Her cleansing spell had no effect, either. “Bob, cleanse me,” she asked the Imp, who complied, but the poisons remained as another percent of her life ticked away. “I’m poisoned and can’t cleanse them, kill these quickly please,�
�� she called out to the others.

  “That’s right. Even in death, we will claim your healer,” the Trapper snarled, shaking off the stun and drawing his daggers.

  “No, we’ll kill you and save her,” Gerald growled as he stabbed the Trapper again.

  The Trapper fell quickly under the onslaught. The Archer was just coming out from the Sap when the group pounced on him. Caught in a circle of them, the Archer tried his best to create an opening he could escape through, but they didn’t budge as they cut him down.

  “Hurry,” Marysue called out, watching her life tick away.

  “Tha’ be a problem,” Kitten said. “Ally will nay drop off for another thirty seconds.”

  Marysue looked at her life bar and took a deep breath, “Then we have a chance, but it will be close. Tiny, TJ, go grab the Troll’s arms and hold him in place so we can get criticals. He needs to die fast.”

  Tiny and TJ ran through the brambles, heedless of the damage they took from the thorns. They both grabbed the Skulker and held him for the others. When Ally finally wore off, the Skulker tried to vanish, but he was already being held and the Ability failed. The others, already waiting, hit the Assassin with blows to the neck, groin, and heart repeatedly over the next few seconds and the Skulker crumpled under the onslaught.

  As the Skulker fell dead at their feet, Marysue was already casting her Cleanse. She was down to 5% of her life when it took effect and the poisons were removed from her. Sitting down, she let out a deep breath, “That was close.”

  Gerald gave her a hug. “I was a little worried there.”

  “Me too,” Marysue said.

  “Next time, I will Daze one of the others, instead,” Kitten murmured.

  “Good idea,” Marysue said with a weak smile. “Now that we know that we can’t Cleanse the poisons until after the fight, that is a better idea.”

  Gathering around, they waited until Marysue was ready to go. “We know what to expect now,” Alburet commented. “Kitten, if you see another Skulker coming, try to get between it and Marysue. BJ, you are to hold off and just be ready to Fire Burst the area to strip the Skulker’s Stealth.” Both copies agreed to the plan without pause. “Okay, are we ready to take the next group?”

  Gerald nodded. “Yeah. Maybe we should have you in front, though; if the first trap catches you, then the Trapper will have to waste his second one on me.”

  “Good point,” Alburet said before looking down at his boots. “How much did that trap hurt?”

  “How I would imagine a bear trap at 30% strength would,” Gerald said.

  “Sounds fun,” Alburet sighed. “Well, let’s get this party started, we have a lunch date to keep.”

  The next few hours of hunting went by without any real issue. BJ and Kitten were able to stop any of the Skulkers from landing hits on Marysue, making the fights even easier. With only three more sets of mobs needed for the quests, the group was looking forward to finding the Troll Camp for their last quest in the zone.

  They weren’t prepared as both Alburet and Gerald found themselves caught by the metal traps. Having both of them trapped was a surprise, as the previous groups hadn’t used dual traps at the start of their fights. It was soon apparent it wasn’t just a single group when two arrows flew out of the trees, one pinning Fluff’s foot to the ground and the other doing the same to Marysue.

  “Double group,” Alburet hissed as both Trappers stepped around trees and threw more traps into the party. Tiny and TJ both became encased in ice, causing a spike of panic in Marysue as her defenders were being stripped away from her.

  “Kitten, Stacia, Mind Control the Deadeyes,” Alburet called out, “and get them on the Trappers. Bob, Fire Burst and keep doing it to keep the Skulkers back. BJ, get Tiny and TJ free.”

  “Damned ambush,” Gerald growled, yanking at the trap holding him in place. Looking back at Marysue, he yanked harder. It didn’t do any good, but he did it anyway.

  The first Fire Burst revealed both Skulkers closing in on Marysue. Suddenly revealed, both of them took a step back and Vanished. Tiny, freed of the trap by BJ, roared as he spun around, his Savage Roar taunting the stealthed Skulkers into attacking him. Before they could pivot to him, though, a second Fire Burst came from Bob and revealed them both again.

  The Skulkers rushed forward and attacked Tiny. TJ, freed from his trap, Bashed one with his shield, stunning the Troll. The second Skulker attacked Tiny with two daggers. One was brushed aside by Tiny’s shield, but the other cut a thin line on Tiny’s arm where the armor didn’t quite cover.

  Fluff worked her way free from the Pinning Shot and spun to help Tiny, claws extending and her skin flushing red as she slid around to attack the mob from behind. Karen beat her to the mob after Sapping the Skulker on TJ, appearing as her knives sank into its back.

  Alburet and Gerald came free at the same time. “They have them,” Alburet said as the trap finally let go of his leg. “We should get the Trappers.”

  Gerald growled, but he knew Alburet was right. “Fine.” That single word was all he said before he blurred, his Charge taking him through the brambles to the Trappers, who had just frozen both Deadeyes in new Ice Traps. A Ground Stomp stunned both of the Trappers, allowing Gerald to critically hit them both before Alburet was finally able to catch up to the angry Defender.

  With the two Deadeyes mind-controlled, the fight was easy enough to deal with. Kitten was able to Daze the second Skulker when it came out of Sap, locking it back down. Karen, Fluff, Tiny, and TJ were handling the other Skulker, while Alburet, Gerald, both Imps, and the two Deadeyes finished off the two Trappers.

  When the last Skulker finally fell a few minutes later, the group let out a ragged cheer. “That was kind of a bitch,” Karen said as she rubbed Fluff’s back with one hand. “Can we not do that again?”

  “I didn’t want to do it the first time,” Alburet said.

  “On the plus side, we only need one more set to knock out the quests,” Marysue pointed out.

  “The downside to that is we have no idea where the Troll Camp is,” Gerald sighed, “which means we might be fighting way more than we really need to.”

  “We’ll fight as many as we need to,” Tiny rumbled.

  “I can’t even go up for a look,” Bob groused. “Stupid brambles.”

  “Well, complaining isn’t going to do us any good,” Alburet shrugged. “Let’s get moving.”

  It was another hour, and half a dozen fights, before they finally found the camp. There had been other side paths during their trip through the woods, but the one they were on widened, and a number of huts could be seen in the distance.

  “I think we found it,” Karen said. “What do you think this one is likely to be?”

  “It doesn’t look instanced, so it might be one of the tricky ones,” Alburet said.

  “I don’t see any movement from here,” Gerald added. “Bob, can you go airborne enough to go take a quick look?”

  “Yeah,” Bob replied slowly, “I’ll send me instead.”

  BJ took a running leap, launching himself into the air and flying towards the huts. He returned after a quick scan of the village. Landing, he told them what he had seen, “There’s a single Troll next to a bronze gong. The mallet is attached to the heavy wooden frame by a thick chain. None of the huts have windows, and the doors to all ten of them are closed.”

  “You want to bet that if the Troll rings the gong, the huts empty?” Karen asked.

  “No bet,” Gerald replied quickly. “I’m thinking, if we can take out that Troll, we might get to fight them one at a time.”

  “Bob, could we kill that Troll before it can grab the mallet?” Alburet asked.

  “If you can stagger your stuns,” Bob nodded. “The quest was to annihilate the camp…” Trailing off, Bob pursed his lips. “What if we set the huts on fire?”

  “That would likely bring them all out,” Fluff said. “A fire would be something they should worry about.”

  “Nuts,” Bob gru
mbled and kicked at the ground.

  “Jump the single Troll, then go hut to hut?” Marysue suggested.

  “Might be the best idea,” Gerald nodded. “I’ll have to go first to get to him—”

  “Nope,” Karen interrupted. “I go first and Sap him, you come in next for the Shield Bash, Tiny uses Bash next, followed by TJ. That gives us a good twenty seconds to burn him down. If it looks close, Tiny and TJ can grab him and drag him away from the gong.”

  “Can’t we have them grab him and move him away from the gong to start with?” Marysue asked.