`Ladies... I live to kick demon asses!' replies Daniel. As he looks at them, I can see that he finds them attractive. Both women are looking back at him with a telling smile. They approach him.
`We live to please the kicker of demon asses!' says the brown haired one with a seductive voice.
`Yes! We desire nothing more than to give you a kind of celebration that you deserve!' says the red haired one.
`Well... If you wish to celebrate our victory over these demons, I will not object.' says Daniel with a smile.
`You heard him, Mayor!' says the brown haired woman to the bald, bearded man. `We must celebrate!'
`Ahem, yes...' replies the Mayor, who, unlike the women, seems to be very much troubled about what happened to his town. `Perhaps... we can have a nice feast in honor of Lord Keehmor... after we clean up this mess and... bury our fallen.'
`A feast?' asks Daniel, and he smooths his hand over his stomach. `I sure am starving!'
`Please, Mayor...' says the red haired woman. `You can't let our savior starve to death... Let us have that feast right away!'
`Well, I guess we could have a feast over at the Town Hall...' says the Mayor. The people start cheering, and the Mayor gives orders to some of them. He tells a group of men and women to go to the aforementioned Town Hall and start preparations for the feast. Then he turns to Daniel.
`We are endlessly grateful, Lord Keehmor! But... if I may... You called these monsters demons. Was it... just a figure of speech, Lord Keehmor? Or...'
`They were demons, Mayor. Nothing I couldn't handle.' says Daniel, shrugging his shoulders. The Mayor's face turns pale.
`Demons? By the Lords Beyond... Where did they come from? What if more will come?'
`Don't worry about it. If more come, I'll deal with them just as easily as I dealt with these. Aldut is safe, Mayor! Now, how about that feast?'
`But...'
`Enough of the whining, Mayor!' says the brown haired woman. `You should go and prepare the feast for our hero!'
`Yes, Mayor, our great hero deserves wine, not more of your whining...' says the red haired one.
The Mayor, still pale as a night elf, looks to Daniel for support. Daniel just nods towards him to go and prepare the feast. He sighs.
`Very well... I suppose we can talk about it afterwards. Please excuse me for now, I must oversee everything.'
He walks away, heading for the burning houses. The fires have been almost put out, it seems the town will not burn down.
It is strange that only the Mayor appears troubled by the attack of the demons. Nobody else in this town seems to take it seriously, not in the slightest bit. All they can think of is celebrating how Daniel came to their rescue. Do they adore him so much?
The two women who talked the Mayor into giving a feast certainly do... They step to Daniel with more than a little adoration in their eyes...
`Ladies...' he addresses them, smiling widely. `How may I address you?'
`I am Moira.' says the brown haired one.
`And I'm Dawn, Lord Keehmor.' says the red haired one.
`Oh, you can call me Daniel!' he tells them.
`And you can call me... whenever you want!' says the one called Moira.
`Me as well, Daniel!' says Dawn.
Daniel smiles at them, and it seems to me that they are about to find a nice quiet corner somewhere in town...
I frown and walk towards them.
*
`Daniel!' I call out to him. He turns towards me, and waves his hand.
`Oh, hello there, Beautiful! I must say, you fought well!'
The two women look at me with disgust. I guess they are jealous, fearing I will steal Daniel from them. Bah...
`Who is this, Daniel?' asks Moira.
`Ladies, say hello to my friend. This is... errr... errr... Flora, right? She helped me kick the demons' asses.'
`Oh... Well, we owe you a debt of gratitude then, don't we?' says Dawn. `Tell you what. I have a brother who could really show you some appreciation while I show Daniel how grateful we are to him!'
Suddenly, Moira kicks her in the ankle.
`Oh, I mean, Moira and I will show him how grateful we are...' says Dawn, correcting herself.
`Well, go get your brother then.' I tell her, hoping that she will leave.
`Let's all go together and find him, shall we?' she says.
`Alright.' I tell her, nodding. `I'm looking forward to it. But first I really have to speak with Daniel here. It will only take a few minutes.'
`Oh, must you?' she asks. `We will be so lonely without our hero!'
`Yes, Beautiful.' says Daniel. `Can't it wait? Just a few hours...'
`It will only take a few minutes. It's about the demons. It's important.'
He nods.
`Alright. Ladies, please excuse us for a moment.'
Moira and Dawn look at him with disappointment.
`Alright... but do hurry back! We are so lonely without you...' says Moira. Daniel nods.
`Of course! I would never keep you waiting, ladies!' he says, and then he turns to me. `Let's go over there.'
We slowly walk away from the two little whores, and Daniel starts to speak.
`What's so urgent? Those two are in heat! They are so grateful! They just want to reward me, I can't insult them by refusing it...'
Oh come on... This guy thinks with his dick!
`Listen to me...' I tell him. `Where did these demons come from?'
`Errr... How am I supposed to know that? They were already here when we arrived.'
`Is it common that demons show up around here?'
`Ah, no. Actually, I never saw a demon on the surface in Draconia.'
`How do demons even enter a Material Plane in the first place?'
`Well... There are various ways to summon demons. All of them are pretty difficult though. I myself never dabbled in such things. Zack knows more, but I think even he never tried it.'
`What does it take to summon one demon? What kind of magical power does it require?'
`Well, that depends on how powerful the demon in question is.'
`Like the ones we just killed.'
`Oh. Right. Well... I would say, it will take a pretty powerful wizard, and it will take a lot of preparations...'
`For one demon, right?'
`Yeah...' he says, nodding. `What are you getting at?'
`How many demons did we kill?'
`Oh, I didn't count... Well, maybe a dozen. Why?'
I stare at him in silence. Slowly, recognition gleams in his eyes.
`Damn!' he says. `You're right! How the Hell did so many demons appear here? It would take insane power to bring so many demons into our world at the same time!'
`If there were so many, there may be even more. More of them may show up any time! We need to be ready for them! We need to watch our backs and be ready to fight! We must be sober.'
`Well, I guess you're right. Maybe I shouldn't drink too much wine during that feast.' he says.
`Do you really want to stick around for that feast?' I ask.
`Yes, of course! The locals are so eternally grateful to me. I can't disappoint them... After all, we are in no hurry to go anywhere, now are we?'
Suddenly, the look in his eyes changes. He remembers something. He reaches into a small gem pouch on his belt, and pulls something out of it. It is my stone. A side of it is still glowing.
Daniel raises it to his face and stares at it. I see longing in his eyes. He is dying to know where the stone is leading him.
He sighs deeply.
`I don't want to disappoint them... but I can always come back.' he says. Then he glances around, like he was looking for someone.
`Hey, Mayor!' he shouts, as he sees the bald, bearded man. `Come here!'
The Mayor approaches us, and Daniel addresses him.
`I am terribly sorry, but I must carry on right now. I have something very important and very urgent to do. I hope you understand...'
`Yes, Lord Keehm
or. Certainly...' says the Mayor, sounding worried.
`I shall return as soon as I am able. Perhaps then we can have a celebration of our victory over the demons?'
`Of course, Lord Keehmor! We will wait for your return, and we will give you a kingly celebration! I just hope those monsters won't come back...'
Daniel smiles, like he didn't even hear the Mayor's last comment, while the bald man slowly walks away and returns to his duties. It seems like he understands the severity of the situation very well...
`Alright... Let's go.' says Daniel, and he turns to the northeast. Then he sees the two women that were trying to take him to bed. They are looking at him anxiously with genuine hunger in their eyes.
`Ah... Let me say goodbye to them first.' he says, and he walks over to them.
*
`Ladies...' he says, smiling at the two little whores.
`Our hero! You will not leave us now, will you?' asks Moira.
`I fear I must go kick some more demon asses, ladies. But have no fear! Daniel will return when all demon asses have been kicked, I assure you!'
`Oh...' says Dawn. `Must you leave? Must you?'
`Yes. There are many other towns that must be saved from the demons. Why, who will you trade with if I don't save any of the other towns in the region?'
`I guess you're right...' she says, and she looks to the ground. `...but you will hurry back, won't you?'
`Of course, ladies! I will return sooner than you imagine!'
`That's wonderful, Daniel!' says Moira. `I will be waiting for you.'
`We will be waiting for you...' says Dawn.
`Yes, we will both be here for you when you return. We are so lonely here... Will you at least give us a parting kiss?'
Daniel smiles.
`Certainly, ladies! I live to kick demon asses, and to put smiles on the faces of charming ladies!' he says, and he leans close to Moira. He gives him a long and passionate kiss, while she embraces him and firmly holds on to his ass. As their lips finally part, Dawn literally rips Moira away from him, and throws herself in Daniel's arms. He kisses her, too, and she holds on to him tight, like she doesn't want to let him go. Finally, Daniel pulls his head away and gently frees himself from her embrace.
`Farewell, ladies! Until we meet again!' he says, and he waves goodbye to them.
Finally, we leave, while the little whores are throwing kisses after Daniel.
He just smiles.
`I hope we will reach our destination soon.' he says. `I'd hate to keep these nice girls waiting.'
`Don't you think they were a little too anxious?'
`Why, no! They were just grateful...'
`If you say so...'
Slowly, we leave Aldut behind us, and Daniel seems to forget the two little whores. He gives his full attention to the stone in his hand.
As we walk, I suddenly get that strange feeling yet again, that feeling of being watched. I stop and turn around.
I spot the creature quickly. It is standing by one of the houses at the edge of the town. It is still invisible and I can just barely make out the faint outline, but it is there. It stands there motionless for a while, and then swiftly moves away from the house. But it doesn't come towards us. No, instead, it enters the town...
It stops briefly and seems to turn around, as far as I can tell. Then it seems to raise an arm, or something. It's almost as if it was waving me goodbye. It turns around and vanishes among the houses.
Slowly I realize that it was just waiting for us to leave...
That thing, whatever it is, must be another demon. It followed us from that ruined village and waited until we left Aldut behind. And now... Now what will it do?
Something's not right about this.
If this creature and the demons we killed were the ones that destroyed the village we saw earlier, why did it stay behind while the others came to Aldut? Could it be that these demons were never in the village, that they were summoned in Aldut while this invisible demon destroyed the village on its own?
Yes. That makes more sense. Then it followed us. Perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps looking for an opportunity to take us by surprise. But now that we've lead the creature to Aldut and left town, it decided to no longer follow us, but instead stay behind.
I stand and observe for a minute, but nothing happens. I slowly turn around and rush forth to catch up with Daniel.
`I saw it again...' I tell him. He is still staring at my stone.
`Saw what?' he asks absently, not even bothering to look at me.
`That invisible creature I saw by the village! I think it's a demon!'
`It was just the wind, Beautiful. Don't worry about it...' he says. I open my lips to argue with him, but in the end I say nothing.
What's the point?
Even if I convince him, what will it matter? Do we turn back?
This creature is more intelligent and less animalistic than the demons we fought. It will not show itself until we are far away from the town. If we go back before it could attack, it will remain hidden. If we go back after it attacked the town...
Then it will likely no longer matter...
One thing won't let me rest though. These demons... Where did they come from? Why are they here? If they were indeed summoned separately in these two settlements...
Where else could others have entered our world?
We silently keep walking as this question weighs heavily on my mind. Daniel doesn't notice anything of the troubled expression on my face. He just keeps looking at the stone as we walk.
After a while, he rubs his chin.
`I don't know how far we are, but I'm bored. Let's talk while we get there, wherever there is.'
`Let's.'
`Well, let me continue where I left off with my tale of our old adventures with Zack. Where was I? Right. That we arrived in Kh'Tal...'
Oh brother...
Lea and Joe
Somewhere in Kh'Tal, around three hundred years ago
So, as I told you the last time, Zack and I went to Kh'Tal and he asked to become Kurt Aurach's apprentice. The old mage put him through some tests, and he passed flawlessly. Aurach had plenty of guestrooms available, so he let both of us stay in his castle. Zack was absorbing knowledge at a rate you wouldn't believe. Over a course of just five years, he learnt so much that his magical power pretty much quadrupled. He was pretty excited about it.
During those five years, we spent some time exploring Kh'Tal. The old mage allowed Zack to take a break whenever he wanted, and while it was hard to drag Zack away from the castle, I took every chance I got. I wanted to see that world, after all. We have seen some amazing things there... Wondrous landscapes, strange beasts, terrifying dungeons... Plenty of chance for adventure! Plenty, and then some!
I enjoyed those adventures a lot, every one of them. But to be honest, there is one occasion that really stands out of all the things we did during those five years. It was I think around two years after our arrival. We explored a dungeon in an area relatively distant from Aurach's castle. It was an exciting place where we found some great adventure, but that's not what was most memorable. No, the most memorable thing was after we left the dungeon.
We had a few tough fights, and Zack expended much of his magical power. Had he not, he could have teleported us back to the castle. As it was, we had to go back the old fashioned way, and it was quite a walk. We passed by a small town after the first few hours, and we thought we might rent rooms in a tavern or some place, have a rest, and then the other morning he might be able to teleport again. So, we entered the town and sought out a tavern.
It was a very decent place, plenty of tables on the ground level for people who just want to stop by and have a drink, and at least a dozen rooms upstairs. We spoke to the bartender, and he told us that they had free rooms, so we were in luck. But Zack wanted to eat before going to rest.
`Hey, listen...' he told the bartender. `I'm kind of starving. Do you have any decent food?'
`What
's that?!' came the reply. `Decent?! Everything here is decent! Better than decent! We serve the best food in town!'
`Good! So show me the fucking menu!'
The bartender grunted something beneath his breath, but then he showed us the menu. We ordered our dinner and sat down beside a table. When our food was ready, it was brought to our table by a gorgeous brunette girl. She put the plates on the table with grace, and smiled at us warmly.
`Enjoy your dinner, kind sirs!' she said, and she was already about to leave. Zack immediately started eating, but I couldn't resist asking her about her name.
`Wait, before you go...' I told her. She looked at me curiously.
`Yes, kind sir?'
`Tell me your name, please.'
`I am Lea, kind sir.'
`You have a beautiful name, Lea...'
`Why, thank you, kind sir!'
`Please... Call me Daniel...'
`If you insist, ki... I mean, Daniel...' she said shyly.
`Please, have a seat!' I told her, offering her the chair beside me. From the corner of my eye I saw that Zack blinked when I said that, and frowned, while he was chewing on his dinner. I ignored him.
`I'm sorry, but I can't.' she said. `I am not supposed to... There are many things to be done in the kitchen.'
`Just for a little while... I am sure they'll survive without you for a few minutes.'
`Well... Perhaps just for a few minutes.' she said. I smiled, and she sat down.
*
After about an hour, we were still talking. Zack was finished with his dinner and picking his teeth. He seemed bored, but to tell you the truth, I didn't really pay attention. I was fully concentrated on our conversation with Lea. But at some point, he stood up and patted my shoulder.
`Hey, Danny Boy!' he told me. `Check that out!'
He pointed to the far end of the tavern and I glanced there. About five or six people were standing there, taking turns throwing a dagger at the wall, into some circles drawn by chalk.
`Knife throwing contest?' I asked.
`Yeah! Let's try it out!'
`I'm full, Zack. I couldn't hit the outermost circle like this...'
`You don't have to. I'll win it for us!'
Brothers Page 10