Dreamland

After a brief moment of hesitation and confusion, the paladin dashed from his hiding spot. The hunter loosed his arrow while the mage burst out from the bushes, conjuring a line of fire.

However, she had vanished by then; both the arrow and the fiery blast missed their mark. Long before the paladin could close the gap, she pounced on the rogue. Her strikes came swiftly, one after the other, causing the rogue to scream in agony as one of her long knives sliced deep into his side.

The ambush had clearly gone awry, with the skirmish unfolding at an unexpected location. A tree now obstructed the hunter's line of sight, prompting a string of curses as he hastily sought a more advantageous vantage point. Meanwhile, the mage initiated a lengthy incantation while the rogue attempted to flee from her.

However, she swiftly intercepted him with her long knives, blocking his escape and delivering another piercing blow. A shimmering silver light enveloped the rogue as the elf began to heal him.

She swiftly pivoted and conjured a spell, ensnaring the paladin in a trap just as he closed in. However, this momentary diversion provided the rogue with the chance to break free.

The mage unleashed the devastating fire lance that he had meticulously crafted. She contorted her body with incredible speed, almost like she was made of rubber, causing the fiery spear to barely graze her but strike the fleeing rogue with full force, enveloping him in searing flames.

Finally, the hunter reached a better position, stopped, and bent his huge bow again.

Tercan thought the rogue would die from his many wounds, but the healing elf desperately cast spell after spell, lighting up the bush she was in like fireworks, healing the rogue back to life. He would not have imagined that such a healer exists!

The rogue jumped forward in another evasive move, but the princess ran after him, trying to finish him off.

The paladin invoked a spell, surrounding himself with a radiant aura that incinerated the inky tentacles of her trap. Simultaneously, the hunter let loose an arrow, creating a deafening sonic boom. The mage started launching fire bolts, with at least one finding its mark while the rogue parried her next two attacks. With the paladin now advancing, poised to strike with his massive double-edged sword, Tercan found himself pondering whether the rogue's initial assessment might be correct after all and if she was inevitably destined to lose this battle.

At that moment, she disappeared.

He could not see the flying arrow; it was that fast, but it drew a line of fire in the air, tight between the paladin and the rogue, and exploded against a distant trunk, shattering it into pieces.

The elf was still healing the rogue when Tercan saw the princess reappear, kicking the mage in the side. The mage was thrown against a trunk, and even from his seat, he heard the air leave the mage's lungs in an agonizing gasp.

She struck him again before the mage could recover, driving the long dagger into his liver with her left hand. After conjuring a fire blast, the mage tried to teleport away, but her right hand just sliced his throat; his head fell, rolling to the ground as his disjointed body teleported away, blood erupting from his headless throat as the elf tried to heal him. It was too late.

She was burning all over from the fire blast, an arrow now stuck in her left shoulder, but she didn't stop for a moment, running towards the elven healer, a strange light illuminating her body. Surprisingly, she did not seem to suffer too much from her wounds.

The hunter screamed:

“Terri, run!”

whilst the rogue burst into a fast run behind her.

The healer transformed into a lovely gazelle and ran away with the princess following close, the rogue a dozen meters behind. Tercan almost lost them from sight when the princess turned suddenly against the rogue, who was gaining ground on her. Before the running gazelle stopped, she succeeded in wounding him seriously.

The hunter shot an arrow, but he was too far, and the rogue was in between, so it was easy for her to avoid it.

The elf stopped, transformed into the elf-healer form, and started a spell when she was struck with an iron star, her unfinished chant ending in a croak. It didn't seem much, but the elf fell to the ground with a pained scream.

The rogue used the moment to strike at the princess, wounding her, but again, a strange light washed over her body, healing her.

The rogue yelled, unhappy:

“She has a healer somewhere!”

The hunter lost precious seconds looking for the unseen healer whilst the rogue fought desperately for his life, the paladin still far from them stomping with his heavy boots through the bushes.

The fight between the princess and the rogue was a fascinating succession of fast strikes, feints, and probably magic or alchemy, but whilst she was healed from time to time, the rogue was looking worse and worse.

Then suddenly, her movements accelerated, the rogue no longer able to keep pace with her. She was moving like a blur; you could only guess where her blades had been, seeing blood bursts.

The hunter tried again to shoot but missed, afraid to hit the rogue.

The running paladin screamed desperately:

“Disengage!”

But it was too late; with a final stroke, she decapitated the rogue just before the paladin would have arrived in range.

The hunter's fury scream echoed into the woods whilst the paladin attacked with his double sword.

She avoided the paladin's strike and ran incredibly fast, as a blur through the bushes, then teleported to hit the hunter as she did against the mage before, with her left foot hitting the hunter hard. Shocked by the hit, the hunter escaped the arrow against the ground. She planted first her left long knife under his chain armor, then with the right blade, she'd cut deep into his bone.

The hunter pushed her back with his giant bow, a pained scream escaping his lips. He then dropped a trap in front of him.

The paladin hesitated a second about whether to run to the healer to see if she was still alive or to run to help the hunter. He decided on the latter, turned back, and raised his sword again, blasting another spell around him.

She skillfully dodged the trap, closing in on the hunter with her long knives. He abandoned his bow and unsheathed a longsword, but in their close proximity, it became unwieldy for him. Injured, he struggled to move as she gracefully danced around him, delivering a relentless barrage of strikes, gradually wearing him down while searching for an opportunity.

She was no longer the blur she had been before but still incredibly swift, her daggers drawing blood with each stroke. The hunter realized he was destined to lose this fight; the paladin would arrive too late to save him. He attempted to wield his sword with one hand while reaching for a healing potion, but her speed proved insurmountable. She struck his hand, causing the precious elixir to spill, and with a final, decisive stroke, she severed his jugular.

A fountain of blood erupted whilst the hunter left the sword to fall, trying in vain to stop the blood from leaving his body with his hands. He fell first on his knees, then to the ground under her implacable eyes.

The paladin bowed to touch the hunter, to heal him, but it was too late. She could have struck him, but she just watched.

The paladin screamed, standing back on his feet:

“You! Damn assassin! Calamity Lara, I'm going to kill you!”

She shrugged and asked surprisingly calm:

“Do I know you?”

She looked utterly unharmed, even with that arrow still hanging on her left shoulder, which she tried now awkwardly to remove, as another bout of light illuminated her body like a divine emanation. Tercan had never seen such magic. Was the forest itself healing her? Obviously, she did not cast that spell, yet she was healed. Was the rogue right? But he had seen no other healer. Finally, she got the arrow with two fingers and managed to remove it.

Tercan wondered how she could be so calm. What kind of people are talking calmly about killing each other? OK, as a matter of fact, the paladin was not calm.

The paladin exclaimed, exasperated:

“You! Did you forget? Snowridge mine!?”

“What mine? Where? What about Snowwhat mine? Was it in the Calawan empire?”

The paladin exhaled with a distressed face.

“No, the Sassuan Kingdom. You killed us!”

“Oh! Ahem.” - she shrugged again - “I probably did that. Sorry. It must have been a quest. A contract from the temple. Again, sorry for that. I think a corrupt local governor was the culprit that gave the quest, but I do not know for sure. Now that you named it, I think I remember; it was a really good-paying quest. You are all from there?”

She was speaking as if meeting old acquaintances?

“No. The healer was new. We hired her to help us. Poor Terri!”

“Look, I am sorry. I have not done temple quests for some time. Let's call it quits.”

“No. I drank a dragon's blood potion to fight you. That had cost me almost as much as a resurrection would. You just jumped around, avoiding me. I'm going to kill you here and now!”

She answered half mockingly, half wondering:

“Even if the potion was that expensive, is it worth dying for? You'll only double your costs!? By the way, you know I could run, and you would not catch me!? Look, now, if I think about it, I am not sorry for what I did; you used slaves in that mine!"

“Don't tell me you did that job to free those slaves! I don't believe you!”

She grinned:

“I just said I am not sorry I did it. Actually, it was part of the reason.”

“Bunch of ex-pirates. You did that just to get friendly with them!”

She grinned:

“Yep! That's true. The pirates know how to party, and they threw a special party just for me.”

He snorted and attacked.

The fight that followed was, to Tercan's surprise, longer than the previous fight with all five. Longer than the fight with that dreaded mage, Grackak. Well, about that long. It took the princess almost five minutes to finish the paladin.

With his last breath, the paladin did not seem so angry anymore:

“I almost brought you down. Fuck. If I were a couple of levels higher, I would have finished you!”

He was down on his back, lying against a log. He must have said a spell that kept him several seconds from dying, or was this a feature paladins have? She looked at him.

“Yeah. Almost. Too bad I cannot heal like you.”

“What was that with the healer? Do you have a healer here or not?”

“I told him not to heal me during this fight….”

“Oh.”

“You did not succeed with the team, and you had to try it alone?”

He sighed:

“Merwan had always sucked at pvp...”

“Who?”

“The hunter. Yuun the mage is not better. He almost killed Togas, our rogue. Only Togas is a good pvp fighter, but he forgets to disengage when he should do that. Oh well, see you next time, Cala!”

He raised a hand to salute. She shook her head.

“Oh, by the way! I just met a ghost before; he said there are some problems with the resurrection process. He was going to the entry portal in Act 1 to investigate. Just saying...”

The paladin chuckled.

“Now, you say?”

She raised her shoulders:

“You did not ask...”

He sighed one last time, and his head fell to the side.

“LNowl, lnowl, lyou flolgot tlis lone!”

A giant lynx appeared, carrying an elven girl in its jaws, her legs swaying freely in the air. Cala chuckled and quipped,

"Can't talk with your mouth full, can you?"

Tercan was shocked. The Lynx, the dreaded Lynx, was working with the princess! What a revelation!

The Lynx let out a snort, releasing the elf girl who tried hard to crawl away on all fours but struggled to coordinate her limbs. A strand of saliva hung from the Lynx's mouth.

"What's this?" The Lynx spat, "I can't feel my tongue?"

"Paralyzing toxin," the princess remarked with a smirk, "You shouldn't eat her."

The elf girl visibly trembled as the Lynx spat like a cat, shaking his body.

“It's not flunny. I do not lusually eat lelves, only if they are leally nasty. What do lyou plan to do with lher? Drats, my tongue is numb...”

The princess came to the elf girl and lifted her with ease, placing her to sit near the dead paladin.

“Just wait," -she said - "the toxin should cease its effect soon. You should train your resistance; the rogue was much better.”

The elf nodded vaguely, bale dropping from her mouth. The princess cleaned her face.

“I don't plan to kill her. The stupid healer class is difficult to level, but she has to pay, so I'll only rob her.”

She then said suddenly:

“That bird could not count. There were five of them!”

She was now taking out the elf's shoes. The elf protested with a moan.

What bird?

The Lynx approached them, looking curious at the poor elf that was being robbed. He answered:

“Birds can count only to three.”

“But she said four?”

“Four means more than three.”

“Oh! Now it is clear! Apologies, little bird!”

Tercan did not understand; was this a secret language?

The princess laughed, continuing to undress the elf in a not-very-elegant manner.

The almost naked elf mumbled:

“You...ro..bb..er!”

The princess shrugged.

“Be quiet; you are alive! Welcome to hardcore Mephi. Is it the first time you're getting robbed?”

She was now checking the paladin's pockets

“As..a ..healer?.. You..re..joking.. but..”

As she walked back, the Lynx wondered:

“What are you doing?”

“Going to loot the others, too. Just give me a minute.”

Now Tercan understood. She must be the thief's princess! Yes, robber princess, they said it before!

The elf turned to the Lynx, wondering:

“I never… had… a … talking… pet.”

“I am not her pet! I am her companion!”

“Yeah… that's a pet for you.”

The elf, who was starting to recover, laughed. She scrambled with difficulty back on her feet and whispered in the direction of the princess:

“And because you were mean to me, I will not heal you!”

The princess answered from a distance:

“I can hear you! Besides, he is my mount, not my pet! Can you rezz* them? I would let you do it!”

The Lynx protested indignantly:

“I am not your mount; I am your companion!”

“No, it is too late for me to rezz. They'll need to take their divine rezz. I'll heal you for my gown! I'll pay another 100 gold for it! You cannot sell it; it is bound to me!”

The princess answered on her way back, whilst the elf girl was dressing in a simple cotton dress.

“I'll destroy it and sell the material. That will do at least 150.”

The elf girl nodded:

“OK, deal!”

“You pay now, and you get it.”

“No. In town. I don't take the risk to be robbed again.”

The princess raised her shoulders.

“As you wish. I would not rob you again, but be aware that towns are no longer protected.”

“A thief with honor? What? Are towns no longer protected? How can that be? Are they crazy?”

“No. See?”

The princess said that, pointing at the clouds.

The elf girl's answer was full of swear:

“Oh fuck me, we healers are now truly awesomely fucked.”

What did she see in the clouds?

“Now, do you want your dress?”

“OK, I'll risk it.”

She said that whilst conjuring gold out of thin air. A lot of gold. She must have one of those magical storage items!

The princess took the gold.

“You are not going to count it?”

“No. I trust you. Here's your dress. Besides, I'll see it in the inventory.”

“Thank you!”

The Lynx wondered.

“Ahem. Pardon me for asking, but this thing is intriguing me. How did you rob her, but she still has gold? You do seem to be very inefficient at what you do? At least robbing-wise...”

The elf girl laughed, now back in her shining dress:

“Your pet is too clever! What about my boots? My staff?”

“I told you he is my epic mount. Boots eighty, staff one hundred twenty-five!”

After saying this, the princess turned towards the lynx:

“She has more valuable things in her inventory box, but that is bound to her. I cannot open it, nor is there any way to open it. Besides, I told you not to talk when we are between humans?”

“She's an elf; that does not count as a human. You definitively said, humans. That inventory? You could still steal it?”

The princess rolled her eyes.

“Steal and destroy, yes, but that would have no value for me. I guess it would appear back in her possession. Magic worked this way previously.”

“Previously?”

The princess and Terri looked at each other, and then the princess answered:

“Well, yes, it had always worked like this.”

“Aha!”

The way the Lynx had said that showed he was not convinced she answered fully.

Terri shook her head.

“Well, he is really an epic mount.” - then added, pointing at the dead - “Could I buy from you back their items too?”

“If you have money to throw out, yes. You think they will not respawn with them?”

What are they talking about? Tercan was preparing to climb down.

The Lynx watched them, intrigued:

“Will they respawn? Can this happen in this world?”

The elf girl laughed again:

“I told you your pet-mount is too clever. You should remove some intelligence points and put them somewhere else.”

“Nobody touches my intelligence!”

The Lynx said that half-joking, half-serious, shaking his giant head, showing his sharp canines.

The princess watched him with a curious look:

"A divine being can bring them to life again... under some circumstances... two times per year, no more..."

She then turned to the elf girl:

“Stop harassing my mount, or I'll let it eat you... He said he likes how you taste.”

The Lynx tried to protest, then changed his mind:

“I never... Do you know there is a little spy behind us, listening to this interesting conversation?”

He was looking exactly at the point where Tercan was. How could he see him?

The princess turned and looked in the same direction:

“You mean the little boy from the market? Curious little boy, eh? I thought I lost him.”

Tercan's blood froze in his veins. He wanted to run, but the panic froze him on the spot.

“Somehow, he found you back.”

“Yeah, he must have followed Terri and her group.” - She added then louder - “You can come out; the forest is too dangerous now… or at least follow us and do not get lost.”

They started to move towards the town, and after the first seconds of shock, Tercan continued to follow them. When he reached again in ear distance, they were almost out of the woods

The elf girl, who was watching another group engaging the road in the forest, exclaimed:

“Oh, there is a caravan for chapter one!”

The Lynx corrected her: “You mean towards Dungrew Town?”

The princess confirmed:

“Yep, that's what she means.”

At that moment, the elf girl ran away.

“I'll go catch them!”

The princess yelled behind the running healer:

“Take care; slavers have raided the trading station at the border!”

Tercan had a sudden realization that it might be wiser to trail behind the elf girl. His desire to marry the dark princess had dwindled completely. Moreover, journeying with the caravan seemed like a favorable pursuit. There was a constant supply of food, children for company, and, best of all, it meant he could put some distance between himself and the bandit princess. There was no telling what she and her unpredictable mount might do next in the town. His plan was to wait for a caravan headed back and return to the town only when he could do so in their company, when, hopefully, the robber princess would have had enough of this town.