Soleil's Well-Kept Journal!

An Inconvenient Situation

In hindsight, people have probably been in worse positions. However, I fail to see how being captured by a gang of man eating trolls, while roped to one of the most insufferable dunces in the entire realm, could get worse.

What had been a simple retrieve and deliver quest had gone terribly wrong, fast. Our job had stated that we were to adventure into a rather dark and disgusting cave, find this hidden relic of some old king and deliver it to the high priest of Velsignet. The first part had gone surprisingly well, we had discovered the relic and were on our way out when were ambushed by the most horrific looking trolls I had ever seen, and trust me I've seen a lot of trolls.

In my defense, it was entirely his fault, him being my ever so dashing and completely vain fellow guild member, Jasper. If he had just kept watch as I had asked him to we wouldn't be in this, inconvenient situation. I'm just surprised he hasn't come up with some heroic plan to save us yet.

"Hey, Princess." I spoke too soon. "I have a plan." He states in a hushed voice.

"How many times have I told you not to call me princess," I hiss back at him.

Even though I can't see him, I know he's rolling his eyes. "Look, do you want to get out of here?" He asks in his annoyed tone.

"That would be preferable, yes." I reply just wanting this whole ordeal to be over with.

Just as he was about to begin, we were rudely interrupted by what I could only tell was the leader of this ungodly bunch of savages. He makes some sort of inaudible grunting noise as his underlings come storming in. They proceed towards us, hoisting us up, with disregard to our comfort and place us over a large bundle of fire wood. They begin to chant and dance around the soon to be fire and the leader slowly approaches us with a flaming torch. In conclusion, I was wrong, it got worse.

I probably shouldn't be complaining, the day did start off rather well. I had woken peacefully, which was a rarity at the guild hall. A thin stream of light passed through my curtains, a sign that the today was going to be delightfully sunny. Those were my favorite types of days as it meant that most people would be out on quests and I could have some peace and quiet. Thinking back on it now, it was a nice thought but I must have been kidding myself as nothing is ever that simple. I did my morning exercises, including some lovely stretches. It is, in my opinion, that one must always start their day off with exercises as it helps to not only wake one selves up but also helps maintain a healthy life style. After my morning ritual is over I creep across to the communal wash room and take a cold bath. Lastly I change into my dark green tunic with matching trousers, not forgetting my sweetheart, Barbara, an elven bow which is one of only five within the realm. She is my prized possession.

I make my way down to the lower floor of the guild hall, to find, much to my dismay that he and most of the guild had yet to leave.

"Well, look who decided to finally grace us with their presence," Jasper smirks while bowing.

I ignore his childish behavior, walking by him as I head to the bar. As I sit upon the stool the friendly Minotaur greets me.

"Well good morning Soleil. How are we doing today?" he asks with a cheerful smile.

"Quite well Sean," I reply returning his smile.

"Will you be having the usual?" he asks.

"That would be quite splendid." He nods his head and swiftly prepares my breakfast of bacon and eggs. I thank him before starting my meal. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long before I am interrupted.

"Hey Princess, I have a new quest, it's got quite a generous reward, if you were interested in tagging along." I look up at him seeing that sparkling smile and dark messy hair of his. I remember thinking once that he would make a fine suitor, if only he didn't speak. I turn away from him determined to finish my breakfast. Sadly, he is just as determined as me and refuses to leave without an answer.

"Alright fine," I forcefully reply "but you shall not refer to me as Princess again." I knew it was going to be a bad idea but I was in desperate need of the money to pay my rent.

"Great! Let's go." The brute then proceeds to almost yank my arm off while dragging me away.

He gave me a brief description of the quest, in which I'll admit I was only partly listening to as we walked deeper into the forest. The journey was quite pleasant, aside from the times where he tried to make conversation, and before too long we were standing outside the grim looking cave.

"Do you think this is it?" He asks to which I only replied with a glare as I notched an arrow in my bow.

The rest of the events were quite straight forward, the cave was dark, wet and slimy. It had taken an unreasonable amount of time to find the relic we were looking for. The only thing that stood in our way was a large thick door.

"Let me handle this." He spoke with a confidence.

"Be my guest." It hurt to let him take the lead but he is one of the best mages in the guild.

"Alright then Princess, stand back."

I reluctantly stood back, cautious of his unpredictable powers. A blue glow emits from his hands as he started chanting in an ancient language. He presses his palm against the solid door and after a few moments they slowly opened.

He turned back to me gesturing with a gentleman's bow for me to processed, I did eager to find the relic and leave this awful place. The new room we entered was large and cleaner looking than the cave, but I still kept my guard up. I motioned for my companion to wait at the door in case anyone had followed us. He nodded in response and I foolishly trusted he would carry out my request. Feeling safe with him keeping watch, I drew my attention to the red glow at the far end of the room. Wasting no time, I quickly reach the object and stowed it under my tunic.

Just as I was heading back to the entrance I saw that he had indeed ignored my request and was now more occupied with some of the rooms other treasures. That's when the trolls came pilling into the room. They had been lurking in the shadows waiting to ambush us. We tried to stand our ground but were completely outnumbered and we had no choice but to surrender.

Which brings us back to now. Still hanging over the soon to be blazing logs, I loudly call behind me.

"You don't happen to still have a plan, do you?" I ask with a slight panic.

"Well now you mention it I do. But you're not going to like it!" He states, a slight waver in his voice.

"When do I ever!" I reply trying to lighten the situation.

He stifles a laugh, "Right, well on my command I need you to roll to the right, got it?"

I shake my head, unsure of where this is leading. He screams go and I roll to my right, I feel us slide out of our confinements and tumble across the dusty ground. Coughing and spluttering I heave myself up. The surrounding trolls have all stopped chanting and are now staring blankly as us. One makes an ear-piercing screech, and they charge at us.

"Time to go," Jasper announces, and we run out of the cave. We pick up our equipment on the way out and I make a few shots with Barbara taking out a troll or two, their dying yells are music to my ears. After working our way through the maze of tunnels we are greeted with the warmth of sunlight.

My companion turns to me, still out of breath.

"See that wasn't too hard," he smiles. There is a loud smack as I knock him to the ground. "A simple thank you would have sufficed."