by L. R. Wolf
Elohwa took the tray containing their food and looked around at the crowded tables. Askar was still standing and watching them as everyone else had turned their attention back to the delicious meals in front of them. He waved them over to two recently vacated seats next to him. As they passed the tables, some of the workers raised their heads and nodded at the women as they went by. They finally made it to the two chairs on either side of Askar. Elohwa placed one of the meat laden plates, a mug and a set of cutlery down in front of Aya’s chair before she carried the tray around to her side. Askar remained standing until both women had taken their seats before he sat back down.
“So my Lovelies, what are your plans for this glorious day?!” Askar shoved a forkful of meat into his mouth.
“Fundraising for the city, I guess you could say.” Aya used the side of her fork to cut off a bit of the fish and then put it in her mouth. She closed her eyes as the taste of the fish flooded her mouth, memories of family gatherings where they fried the fish that her uncle caught on his fishing trips caused a smile to spread across her mouth and tears to form at the corners of her eyes briefly. She quickly devoured the rest of the fish on her plate, Derick had done such a wonderful job that she didn’t discover any of the tiny bones that sometimes were missed in the haste of preparation. The steak was next, as she cut a bite from it, before placing it in her mouth. She was so focused on the food that she hadn’t even realized Askar and Elohwa were discussing the plans for the day.
Askar barked out another laugh as he stared at Aya as she made quick work of the steak in front of her. “I do so love a woman with a good appetite!”
Aya blinked at the sudden laughter, her cheeks reddening again as she realized she had been completely unaware of anything going on around while she finished off the steak and herb baked carrots. “Oh sorry, what were you saying?”
Elohwa chuckled and shook her head a bit, her long braid swinging back and forth with the motion before she quickly winked at Askar. “I was just telling Askar that he could not propose to you as you were already married.”
Aya’s head quickly snapped around towards Askar, her mouth falling open and her eyes widening. “Wha?!”
Askar placed a giant hand on his heart. “Aye, tis true! My heart breaks as we speak!” Askar attempt to put on a forlorn look but he couldn’t resist grinning and ruining the heartbroken look.
Aya’s eyes narrowed as she glared at the two of them. She raised her hands up and extended her middle finger at the two of them as they laughed, Askar slammed his hands down on the table causing their plates to leap into the air before clattering back down onto the table.
“I hate you both.” Aya sighed and lifted her fork to stab another piece of meat only to realize she had already eaten everything. She replaced the fork and knife into the center of the plate before grabbing her mug of water and drinking deeply. The water was cold and clear having been pulled straight from the falls at the edge of the city.
Askar rose to his feet and grabbed the now empty plates of both women and piled them on his own. Aya made as if to protest, but Askar held a hand up to silence the objection he knew was coming. “You two ladies have work to get done before tonight! I will deliver these back to the kitchen while you two get going!” His smile was infectious as both women returned the smile.
“I just want to stop by the kitchen to tell Derick the food was wonderful.” Aya noticed that Askar was looking at something past her, his grin growing wider as he jutted his chin out towards something or someone behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see that Derick had actually come out from the kitchen to see how their meals were but he hadn’t wanted to interrupt them. Both women quickly rose to their feet and turned towards the Master Chef.
“Twas truly mah pleasure ladies. Ahm so glad ye enjoyed it!” Derick’s face absolutely radiated with pride.
“We enjoyed it very much, Master Chef. Thank you ever so much for the meal and the rations.” Elohwa held a hand up to her heart in a sign of deep respect.
“I agree with Elohwa. The food was wonderful and we really do appreciate a change from the cold rations we had before!” Aya mirrored Elohwa’s gesture by placing her own hand on her heart.
“Aww, now yer gonna make an old man like me cry!” Derick wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he sniffled a bit at the grand gesture the two women were making. He shuffled over towards the table quickly before grabbing the three stacked plates and heading back to the kitchen before he began blubbering and making a fool of himself in front of the two ladies and the workers sitting around.
Askar stepped aside his chair and pushed it back under the table for the next person to grab before he turned his attention back to the ladies on either side of him. “It’s truly been a pleasure dining with you two lovely ladies. I do hope we can do this again! Stay safe out there. Now, off with you!” He shooed the women away and turned away so that they didn’t feel obligated to continue the conversation knowing that the two women were working against time. He already felt a twinge guilty that he had already kept them from their business for over an hour.
“Thank you, Askar! You and yours, stay safe as well!” Elohwa nodded at Aya, as the two of them made their way away from the dining area.
Once they were away from everyone, Aya once again removed the treasure map she had replaced back into the spell book and looked at Elohwa, apprehension fleeting across her face. “Ready?”
“Very much so! For Eventide Falls?” Elohwa knew it sounded like a battle cry, but for all they knew they were about to port directly into the very mouth of the lions den.
Aya smiled and nodded. “For Eventide Falls!” She activated the map and the world fell away from the women.
Chapter 31: Ancient Treasures
∆∆∆
The women stumbled a bit as the world went black around them before they were suddenly back on solid ground. The smell of grass, dirt and trees had faded and was replaced by an all too familiar smell of moss and dankness. Aya immediately cast Fire Shields around them while Elohwa summoned Thorn to their side just in case they needed assistance. The vine creature had proven himself time and time again in battle; he was absolutely essential to their survival now. With the fire from her shields, Aya and Elohwa could see they were in a fairly small cave with a single door leading out. Elohwa began to breath rapidly as panic begin to sink in. She had been trapped in the tutorial dungeon for so long that the thought of any unknown caves or closed off areas caused those unpleasant memories to return to the forefront of her mind and threaten to overwhelm her.
Aya noticed the stricken look on Elohwa’s face as she looked around wildly looking for a way out. Aya raised her hands and placed them on her Companion’s face forcing her to look directly into her eyes before she dropped her hands down to Elohwa’s shoulders. “Look at me, ok? Just relax and take a deep breath in then let it out.”
Elohwa forced herself to look into Aya’s blue eyes. She fought to calm herself as she took a long breath in before exhaling it slowly. She repeated the breathing exercise until she was able to push the memories of her imprisonment to the back of her mind. “Thank you for that, I...I do not like closed areas that I do not know.”
Aya nodded in understanding. She knew it wasn’t claustrophobia, Elohwa had been fine within the caves of the Sky Temple when they were searching for the heart, but those had been places she was familiar with and knew for certain there was an exit and where that exit was. Suddenly appearing in the middle of a room with only one door that led to who knows where had triggered her panic attack. “It’s no problem. Don’t worry about it. If you want to use your recall spell and return to Eventide…?”
Elohwa actually looked offended at the mere mention of returning to the city and leaving her Dreamer alone. “Do not DARE ever say something like that to me again!” Aya was taken aback by the tone behind the words and she took a few steps back, her hands falling away from Elohwa’s shoulders. As soon as the words left her mouth Elohwa sudden
ly felt guilty. Aya had only been trying to help her and she was snapping at her. “I...I apologize. I am not used to being able to rely on anyone but myself. This place,” She raised an arm and waved it at the empty walls. “Brought back bad memories, I should not have taken my frustrations out on you, for that, I am truly sorry.” She lowered her head in shame, her eyes on the floor in front of her.
After a brief moment, Aya put two fingers under Elohwa’s chin and tilted her face upwards to once again meet her violet colored eyes. “You don’t need to apologize. I know you were trapped for a long time. If you ever need or want to talk about it, I’m here. I just wanted you to know that you didn’t have to stay here just for me, I have Thorn with me. I only plan to grab the chests and move on to the next one. If you’re not comfortable then you don’t need to be here.”
“No, no, I....am fine. I am not alone and that means more than you could possibly imagine. Besides, if I were to get trapped again, there is no one that I would rather be trapped with than you and Thorn” Elohwa allowed a smile to creep back onto her face. She was still feeling a bit anxious, but it was quickly fading. Thorn held a leaf covered hand up and placed it on her arm as if to comfort her. She turned towards Thorn and looked down at him, he may be a construct of vines, but he was intelligent and loyal and had saved the women numerous times with his vines and ingenuity. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug.
“Awww, group hug!!” Aya stepped forward and wrapped her arms around both Elohwa and Thorn. Aya was about to pull back from the hug when she felt pressure on her shoulders like someone was hugging her from behind. She peered over her shoulder to see a vine had wrapped around both women. “Aaaaand we’re done!” Aya couldn’t help but picture a snake in her mind with the way the vine moved across her back and arms.
Elohwa chuckled at Thorns attempt at returning the hug, though it appeared Aya wasn’t as amused. “I feel much better now, thank you both! Now, shall we go treasure hunting?”
“I do believe we shall!” Both women looked around the small cavern. They had been too distracted to notice a banner hanging on the wall. A long, thin, black dragon with violet eyes, shimmering scales and fur adorned the cloth. Aside from the lack of a blindfold, Aya was sure this was the same dragon from the royal crest they had seen in the secret hallways in the back of the throne room of the keep. Thorn shuffled over to the banner, one of his vines snaking out and slipping behind the banner. Thorn raised a hand, gesturing something was hiding behind it.
Aya was about to reach out to push the cloth out of the way when Elohwa grabbed her hand. “Let me check it for traps first. The Ancients did not suffer fools nor were they fools themselves. It is likely the banner is used to draw in unsuspecting adventurers who will set off any number of traps upon moving it.” Elohwa released Aya’s hand when she knew she got the point across. Elohwa turned back to the hanging fabric before her and focused on it. At the top, where the material was fixed to the wall, was a trap that would trigger with any drastic movement from, say, someone pulling the cloth aside to reveal what was behind it. The trap was just out of her reach so she turned to Thorn for assistance. “Think you could give me a lift?”
Thorns head bobbed up and down. He gently poked Aya to get her attention before pointing at himself and then at the floor. Some of the vines of his feet snaked out searching for something.
“You need more vines for this?” Aya always felt like she was playing charades with Thorn. He nodded again before pointing at Elohwa and then up. Aya held her hands out and cast a few patches of Tangling Vines. Thorn began absorbing the vines, with each patch of vines he got taller and bulkier. Soon, he was over six feet tall. He gently put his viney hands on Elohwa’s waist, vines shooting across to the opposite hands in order to keep her in place like a seat belt before he lifted her up towards where the trap should be.
While Elohwa worked on the trap, Aya opened her interface and checked on the progress of the buildings they had placed. The smaller buildings such as the food gathering huts and the stonecutters were already done and had begun gathering and refining their respective materials. The Lumber mill was nearly complete then it would begin to process the logs that had already been cut down around the area. Stone from the quarry was coming in at a steady pace. The stone cutters were already hard at work cutting the raw stone into blocks and depositing them into stockpiles to be used later.
Aya looked up from her interface as she heard a soft thump in front of her, the big heavy banner that had hidden the ancient chest had fallen to the floor once the trap had been disarmed. Thorn lowered Elohwa to the ground, the vines holding her flowing back into his hands. Aya rose, feeling guilty that such a beautiful banner was now in the dirt. She moved to it and knelt down opening her satchel and then touching the opening of the satchel to the edge of the banner where it disappeared within. A new icon appeared in her inventory showing a brief thumbnail of the banner. Aya grinned to herself, this was most definitely going up either in the keep or elsewhere, but it was too cool looking to just leave here. Aya looked up from where she was kneeling. It took her a moment to realize that the room was completely and utterly silent. She glanced up, her eyes settling on a massive chest sitting in front of her. While the King’s Bounty chest had been about the size of a steamer trunk, this one was the size of a two person couch. Runes and symbols decorated the lid of the chest. The same dragon that was blazoned upon the banner was decorating the front of the chest. Two half dollar sized amethysts were placed where the eyes should be seemingly staring out at the three companions. The Fire Shields surrounding the party caused the amethyst eyes to flicker in the light giving it the appearance of being alive.
Thorn was turning his head back and forth between the two women, not exactly sure what the two women were staring at. Elohwa shook herself and managed to pull her eyes away from the too alive eyes. There was just something about the dragon’s eyes that seemed so...familiar. She placed a hand on Aya’s shoulder and gently shook her. Aya shook her own head and managed to look away as well. Aya looked up into her Companion’s eyes, the same color as the amethyst eyes on the dragon. She looked back at the dragon, then back to Elohwa. “Ok that’s a weird coincidence.” Aya mentally shrugged and filed it away.
Aya focused on the chest to look for traps when the entire thing lit up red. Her jaw dropping open in surprise. “So, exactly how many traps are on that chest?!”
Elohwa peered once more at the chest focusing in on it revealing a multitude of traps. “More than a few it would seem.” Her eyes narrowed as she peered closer. “It would appear that some of the traps need to be disarmed simultaneously. Our only option is to just grab the chest and disarm it later.”
Aya was disappointed that they couldn’t open the Ancient chest now. Though her plan had been to just grab the chests and go, she was still curious as to what was within the chests, especially since she had the luck buff. There was no telling how long it would take to release the Shadow Elves which would allow Va'lore an opportunity to work on his trap disarming skills. She sighed, she was sure the loot within would be able to help them right now, but there was nothing they could do at the moment. Still, being able to take it with them with the chance to open it later was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up. “Ok let’s take it with us, I’m sure Va'lore would love the chance to use his skills when he gets back .”
Elohwa opened her satchel and moved towards the chest to touch it to the opening, her fingers grazing the side of the chest. She felt an electrical shock and yanked her hand back. Suddenly, multiple clicks sounded through the small cave. “GET DOWN.” Elohwa grabbed Aya and threw her to the floor, covering the Dreamer with her body. More clicks echoed followed by faint whirring noises. The noises from the chest eventually died away leaving only the sound of the women breathing and the sound of Thorn’s vines moving about as they formed a protective barrier around the women. They stayed that way for a few minutes, Elohwa breathing into Aya’s ear as she kept her pressed down to the floor.
“So...was something supposed to happen or….” Aya was beginning to think that the traps were duds, but once again logic reared its head up. Elohwa had said there were multiple traps lining the chest, the odds that every single trap was a dud just didn’t make any sense. It was possible that some of them were some kind of time delayed trap that wouldn’t trigger right away, perhaps lulling people into a false sense of security, but surely some of the traps had to be instantaneous.
Elohwa lifted her head up to take a look around, the same thought coming to her as well, but all she saw in front of her were interwoven vines shaped into a dome around them. Two glowing eyes in the middle of the dome indicated that Thorn had used up all of the vines within his own body to cover the two women. “Thorn, can you make a slight opening out so that I can check the chest?” The vines in front of her began to shift themselves around creating a small crack from which Elohwa could get a good view of the chest, but still be mostly protected if something were to go wrong. Elohwa peered out of the slit in the vines focusing on the chest. She gasped as she scanned every inch of the chest, the red that would warn of traps had completely disappeared. “They are all gone….”
“What’s gone?!” Aya lifted her head up but couldn’t get it up high enough to see through the narrow opening of the vines as Elohwa’s body was still bearing down on her.
“The traps...All of them are gone.” Elohwa ran her eyes over the chest again and again looking for some trick or trap. “One moment. I need to discuss this with Va'lore.”
“Umm ok, I’ll just, umm wait down here, under you, trying to breathe and stuff.” Aya was starting to get uncomfortable as she was lying awkwardly on the floor and had landed on some pebbles that were digging into her.
Elohwa grinned wickedly and peered down at Aya, “I rather like you there.”
