[While on a rescue mission gone crazed, a holy warrior and a rogue fight bandits, demons, and the urge to rip each other's clothes off.]
The mission, rescuing a princess, could be going better.
Séa is an earnest paladin, honest and gullible. Tash is...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The paladin knelt among pebbles and hardy grass blades. Wind stirred the stray hairs that escaped from her coiled braids. With head bowed and one hand wrapped around the crude pewter hammer amulet that dangled from her neck, she delivered a eulogy. "With Torugg as my witness, I call to all the gods. May these nameless sojourners find rest among the celestial planes. May their misguidances be corrected. May their paths be straightened. And for this world they have left behind, may those that loved them find peace. May the hurts they left upon the world be healed. May their passing, in ways ineffable, be a help to those that remain. By Torugg's ruined eye, this I pray."
Nearby, Tash leaned on a rock and chewed on a stalk of grass. "Fecking crazy woman."
The wizard pleaded, "Time to go. Yes?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
As the sunset began to flame in earnest, they crossed the ridge, astride increasingly sluggish horses. At ridge-bottom, the sunlight drew glowing orange outlines of village rooftops.
"Millage," Ghomarck declared.
"I don't see any dead bodies on this side of—" Séa began. But a shadow seemed to pass over her head and a sudden chill raised bumps on her skin. As swiftly as it arrived, it passed, and left Séa scanning the skies. She gripped Tash's knee. "Hey. Did you feel that just now?"
"Aw, Séa, just when I finally manage to doze off, you wake me?" Tash did sound sleepy. "Ew, I slobbered on your ... back metal."
"Backplate," Séa said, resigned. "Breastplate up front, backplate in back."
"Fine, whatever. It's less shiny now. Just letting you know."
In defeated tones, Séa said, "Condition update acknowledged." What had it been? A flying ghost? Some invisible, evil bird? A dark cloud passing in front of the sun? No, that can't be it.
They wound their way down among granite boulders and outcrops. The horses, especially the gelding, seemed grateful for the downward slope.
A thin voice drifted to them. "Help. Oh, riders, be friends and not enemies. Help me." The voice sounded female. Furthermore, she sounded about twenty years old, lissome, full-bosom'd, and not overly bright. As the three riders forged ahead, they cleared an outcrop to discover the source. Downslope, a woman stood at an awkward angle with her foot wedged between rocks. The aural impressions gained swift confirmation regarding gender, build, and age. The young woman possessed an abundant cascade of red hair that caught the sunset light and reflected it in a nimbus of hair-glory.
