The Ninth Dungeon

The Plot

The world of Zelkar is one of monsters and magic. And dungeons. They sprung up centuries ago, eight in total. Three are in ruins and rumoured to be completely destroyed. Five are still intact and still being explored. For centuries, the Adventure's Guild has been exploring these dungeons and mapping them. But something has happened and it has the various city guilds in an uproar.

There's a Ninth Dungeon.

Only recently discovered and yet to be mapped, the new dungeon near the ruins of Old Pasina is a mystery just waiting to be discovered.

You are one of many solo adventurers who would be a higher rank--if you had a party behind you--and you're curious. You signed up as an advanced scout to explore the new dungeon. Only there's one problem; they won't let you in unless you have a minimum of five people in your party.

Welcome to the Ninth Dungeon, adventurers. Will you be the one to discover dungeon's secrets?

Character Sheet:

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b] (first and last, if possible)
[b]Age:[/b] (17+ please)
[b]Gender:[/b] (male/female/other)

[b]Race:[/b] (human, elf, orc, etc)
[b]Role | Guild Rank:[/b] (adventurer | rank f to c)
[b]Profession:[/b] (thief, hunter, etc)

[b]Appearance:[/b] (a brief appearance will work; you can include a picture)

[b]Personality:[/b]
[b][i] - Strengths:[/i][/b]
[b][i] - Weaknesses:[/i][/b]

[b]Magic:[/b] If applicable

[b]History:[/b] (brief history will work)

[b]Up For Love:[/b] (y/n, orientation?)

[b]Other:[/b] (anything that doesn't fit above, such as personal missions/goals, any secrets you might be keeping, etc.)

Characters Slots:

NPCs:

Since the start of the week, all adventure parties that had been commissioned or sent out on active adventures had been recalled, with only the ones actively in dungeons being encouraged to continue with their contracts.

The exciting news? Tar Pasnia had finally been opened to all adventuring parties by the Adventurer's Guild. The bad news? Tar Pasnia had finally been opened to all adventuring parties. And the worst part? They were doing this one a bit differently. There was only one contract open on Tar Pasnia at each Guild Hub Salia Vistra had visited on her trek to Old Pasnia. Every Guild had given her the same piece of parchment with the same seal enclosing it: Black and Gold. By the third contract, Salia called it a lost cause looking for a different mission.

Each contract detailed the same mission: reach level 100 of Tar Pasnia. But the catch, and the reason why Salia was not looking forward to this? There was a strict rule that each Adventuring Party would require at least five party members. Well, that was per the usual, of course --the whole point of the Adventurer's Guild was teamwork and companionship and blah blah blah-- but Salia had always been a sort of lone wolf type of adventurer. Usually, she could sneak her way into the dungeons and make up some kind of excuse as to how she completed the contract alone, like "oh my party members are dragging behind" or "oh they backed out halfway through and I decided to continue by myself". It worked... well enough. She had to juggle between the dungeons as soon as the local Adventurer's Guild started to catch on. And if they were too suspicious from the get-go, Salia traveled to the ruins and too under-the-table contracts not officially sanctioned by the Adventurer's Guild.

But this one? This one was going to be different. Detailed plainly on every. single. one. of the contracts was how this dungeon was not fully mapped out yet, and was predicted to be the most dangerous dungeon out of the bunch. As such, the Guild, with a capitol G, is stationed at Old Pasnia for backup and for security, if things started to go awry.

Salia guessed they were having troubles exploring Tar Pasnia if they were opening it up before mapping it... or, well, as much as they can map a dungeon.

And so Salia Vistra found herself at Drann Port arguing with the local Guild Leader that this was indeed the first time she had wanted to get a contract for Tar Odessa (it wasn't, of course) when the Leader was suddenly called away by an assistant. Salia had the mind to take the nearest ship to Onis Isle by the time the Guild Leader had come back with a scroll for her. This scroll was black and gold, and Salia thought the lady was screwing with her. She read the location next to the wax seal. Tar Pasnia. That wasn't even a dungeon? She was about to get arrested, wasn't she? But the Guild Leader said curtly that that was the only contract available, and left without another word. Salia figured she would rather not ask any more questions as she was already asking too many, and left the port. Every small village that had a little shack for the Adventurer's Guild all the way to Dessa Port had the same contract: Tar Pasnia.

So either the world was playing a huge prank on her, or this thing was real. While she was at Dessa Port, she decided to go to the library there and look up Pasnia, as that wasn't a word that was in her memory. There were directions on the contract, sure, but she wasn't going to be that gullible adventurer who went to the middle of nowhere just because some prankster told her to.

Sure enough, though, that town was on older maps. It was at the library actually that Salia got her first confirmation that this thing was legit. According to the librarian, she wasn't the first adventurer coming in to do a little bit of research on Pasnia. Why Pasnia was not on any modern maps was a mystery, but this all but confirmed that this quest was indeed an actual quest and not some kind of cruel joke from Guildmasters --although if it was a cruel joke from a fate unknown, or known.., that was yet to be seen-- and Salia had a choice: either take this gamble of a quest or do what she had always been doing.

Salia left the library in a hurry; she was going to get no more answers there. Knowledge only did so much, actions did so much more.

Salia found a pilgrimage headed to the west and following the coast, which meant they would go right by the supposed town of Pasnia and Tar Pasnia. She dodged the preparing people and shadow-stepped her way onto the back of a carriage, where she waited.

The whole world was headed to Tar Pasnia, and Salia Vistra would be damned if she missed out.

Glittering stars faded to a glowing sunrise as the thin veil of night was pulled away across the sky and the sun broke the horizon to reveal a bright dawn. Bright shades of cream and orange painted over the once navy blue canvas and colored the waves of Adessa Bay the same, interrupted only by the ripples formed as a lone ship cut through the water. It wasn't a large ship by any means and was only larger then a fishing boat but large enough that it required a small crew to run.

Nikolai Calix stood near the prow of the ship, holding onto a line and leaning slightly over the edge of the ship. The sunlight and morning mist from the water made his golden hair shine as he breathed in the salty air, exhaling with a small cloud of mist not unlike that drifting over the waves. A few hours later and he guessed the same mist that hovered over the waves now would move inland. Although, he really had no way to know that. He simply guessed based on the ease and agreement of the sailors that were his one way trip to the old port of Old Pasnia.

He had heard rumors for ages now about the port ruins but it was only a few days ago that he had actually put his mind to going there. His journey after a particular series of events had led him to Dessa Port and from there, South to Dalheller. He had been looking for a contract to prove himself, something to finally move him up the ranks and initially, that something had been the decision to find a contract to the Hungry Isles and the Ruins of Tar Onis. They had a reputation for their brutality and if anything was going to get him up a rank, it had to be that dungeon. Or so he had thought. Upon reaching Dessa Port, the only thing he could find was a black and gold contract for Old Pasnia and absolutely nothing for the Hungry Isles. The same thing occured upon reaching Dalheller. Without a second plan in mind, he had taken the contract and found himself a ship willing to take him as close as possible. Luckily, it was a much less expensive trip to Old Pasnia instead of the Hungry Isles anyway.

Now, he found himself on a ship taking him straight to where adventure awaited. Well- not straight there anyway. The sailors had been too superstitious to take him close to the port itself, rumors of it being haunted by ghosts that would lure ships in then sink them to join the legions in the ships graveyard. Or something like that... Nikolai had lost interest as soon as there wasn't any sort of treasure mentioned and only tales of doom and gloom.

"Mr. Calix!" One of the crewsmen called across the deck to where Nikolai stood at the prow. "We're approaching as far South as the Cap'n willing to take you and will soon be weighing anchor to put a rowboat out and get you to shore once we're a bit closer."

Nikolai turned, glancing to the crewsman before up at Pasnia Peak just to the West. "Brilliant! How much longer do you think it'll take before we weigh anchor?"

The crewsman raised his hand, using his thumb to measure the peak in the distance. "If the winds are favorable, 'bout an hour. Do you need any help gathering your things?"

Nikolai shook his head. While he had paid quite a bit for this journey and the good service, he liked to keep everything tidy so he was ready at a moment's notice. "Everything's accounted for already in my pack. Thanks though. Unless you have some more of those sardines for the road?" He asked with a raised brow.

The crewsman blinked once before smiling a bit. "You're the strangest man I've met so far, Mr. Calix. No one eats sardines as a breakfast. Least not usually."

Nikolai just chuckled, letting go of the rope and moving to lean against one of the masts. "So is that a no?"

The crewsman shook his head, both a little bewildered and amused. "I'll go get you a couple for the road from below deck."

Nikolai grinned and called as he watched him go. "Thanks!"

A few hours later and Nikolai was trecking across the country side, his dungeoneer's pack on his back and a jar of sardines in his hand which he snacked on every now and then. He had neglected to make a meal any time after leaving Dalheller and now that a few hours had passed, was beginning to feel peckish. However, stopping before he reached the road to make a meal would mean less of a chance of grabbing the attention of a ride to Old Pasnia so he opted to snack for now.

The dew and salt covered grass brushed against his boots in a rhythmic swish as he made his way inland toward the road. Hopefully he'd be able to find a ride the rest of the way to Old Pasnia. The impulsivity of his decision to go to the newest dungeon and the rumors from the sailors had left him somewhat lacking in transportation the rest of the way there. Surely though with how much of a commotion the new dungeon there had caused, there would be plenty of traffic to the ruined port city.

About half an hour more of walking brought Nikolai the rewarding crunch of gravel beneath his boots as he stepped onto the road and, after setting up a small makeshift camp, a warming second breakfast to fend off the last of the night's chill. Now all that was left to do was to continue heading to Old Pasnia and hope he could catch a ride along the way.

The sun was just rising as Zel steered Banshee out of the shadows of Pasnia Peak, dew glittering in the early morning rays. He exhaled a cloud of fog and pulled his hood up higher with one hand, the other resting on the reins as his mare trotted out into the sunlight. He'd been riding all day and all night, having left Dessa just after sundown the day before. Luckily, he hadn't encountered anything worrying as he rode through grasslands and farmland alike. The crops had spread out for miles before giving way to grass and rock, to sand and then grass again with the odd tree here and there.

Pasnia Peak was a rocky mountain right on the edge of Adessa Bay, the two peaks looming over dark waters and sandy beachs. He'd never been to this particular part of Zelkar before, prefering to take the riverside roads or the main road between Odessa and Dessa. He definitely hadn't come this far south before, not into the Old Pasnia Cape area. When he'd crossed over to the mainland all those years ago, he'd taken a ship straight to Odessa, brought a horse and then immediately headed north. To Adessa and her dungeon. He'd returned to Odessa later, to explore Tar Odessa.

Now, he was headed for a new one. The one that hadn't existed just a few months ago.

Zel dropped the reins and reached into his saddlebag to pull out the notice, reading it again. The mission was...mildly concerning. And completely unprecidented. The Adventurer's Guild had never released one like this before. It was open to all ranks but coloured Black and Gold. No other information. Not anything useful, anyway. Just the same basic goal as any other dungeon, but with no idea of what to expect. And with a reward of ten thousand gold. It was also the only contract currently being offered to adventurers. Zel frowned, peering over the paper to watch the newly-worn road for a moment. Banshee tossed her head and kept trotting along. She showed no signs of alertness, no anxiousness, so he figured he'd be fine to let her continue to follow the path.

Zel smiled, leaning forwards to gently pat her neck. "Good girl," he cooed, pulling back after one more pat and folding the notice in half. He sighed again and Banshee snorted, her breath misting in the cold morning air. He chuckled and shook his head, tucking the notice away again. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Think we'll reach the camp this morning?" Banshee tossed her head again, twisting to fix him with one big eye. She blinked and Zel smiled wider. "Yeah, I think so, too."

He patted the saddlebag, frowning a little. It really was concerning that they'd opened a Black and Gold listing up to all the ranks. What was the Adventurer's Guild thinking? Many newbie adventurers could die if they accepted the job. Zel just hoped that they were smart enough to ignore it. Who knew how dangerous the new dungeon could be? He hoped it wasn't as bad as Tar Iriax or Onis had been. Iriax in particular had been vicious once he'd gotten past the tenth floor. There was a reason the Hungry Isles had a reputation for their brutality. And it wasn't just because that was where the rest of the kingdom had dumped anyone that hadn't fit in with their ideals or preferred appearances. Fiends, Tieflings, Fey'ri, dark elves. Anyone who was even rumoured to be of the Destroyer God's bloodline. Or the Betrayer's bloodline.

It was a punishment that had lasted centuries. Not that they hadn't thrived on the Isles regardless. Mostly out of pure spite, if Zel was being honest with himself--and listening to what the Lore Keepers recounted.

Zel smiled grimly, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword. He knew the First Emperor had tried to wipe them out. Anyone born in the Hungry Isles learnt that at a young age from the Lore Keepers. He'd failed. Somehow, Zel felt that was fitting. It was also ironic that his cousin had basically seduced the current Crown Prince--a direct descendant of said First Emperor--and was now his lover.

The exile of and then a thriving community of those who were demon-blooded. Well, it was just one of many mistakes the old man had made before he'd died and passed the throne on to his first born.

Banshee suddenly shied back a step, nickering loudly, and Zel jerked his head up, scanning the road ahead and the area on either side. He could just see the white of tents past a half-collapsed stone wall and nothing but grassland and the odd scattered rock or tree for miles. Zel grabbed for the reins, pulling her up short. Banshee stamped a foot and shifted sideways. He let her turn in a circle, twisting to keep his eyes on the distant camp. He couldn't see anything unusually, so... What had gotten her all stirred up?

Zel frowned as Banshee spun around again and reared--and then he saw it. The direwolf headed right at them. Zel's eyes went wide and he cursed, hopping up onto Banshee's back and into a crouch. The direwolf was moving fast, from the direction of the camp. Had it escaped the dungeon? He couldn't think about that--it was coming right for him, growling lowly. No wonder Banshee was panicking. He drew his sword, keeping it out to the side so he didn't accidentally nick his mare's side, waiting until it launched into the air and then he moved. Zel lept off Banshee's back, slashing at the direwolf and falling into a roll.

He came up into a crouch and turned to look. The direwolf was limping, Banshee was nickering and shying away from it. Zel stood swiftly, half an eye on his mare as she gave them space. She wouldn't run. She was too well-behaved for that, but she would put distance between her and the threat. The direwolf turned towards him, limping. Zel's eyes narrowed as he adjusted his stance, taking a deep breath.

The direwolf growled.

"Come on, then," Zel muttered, pointing the blade at it. "Come and get me."

It took a limping step forward, growling. Zel sneered at it. It crouched down like it was going to pounce on him and then it lurched sideways like something had hit it. Zel watched it stumble in confusion. Then he caught a glimpse of something metallic in its shoulder and blinked one, twice. The direwolf shook its head and looked off to Zel's right. Zel followed its gaze to find a blonde man standing several feet away.

"Need a hand?" he asked, giving Zel a brillant smile.

The trek to Tar Pasnia was short but felt a whole lot longer when someone was secretly hitching a ride with pilgrims who take a stop every hour to do some kind of prayer ritual. Salia Vistra had thankfully hidden in a carriage full of crates and no people, so she was not bothered by any passerbys. However she did just have to sit there and hurry up and wait for them to start and get going once again. She was sorely tempted to nab a horse and leave them in the dust, but that thought came and went without any action. Salia was many things, but she wasn't evil. There were some former suitors who would beg to differ.

But, finally, as the sun began its descent past the mountains and sea for the night, the pilgrims had finally made it to Old Pasnia. The wreckage of the ancient city lay out in a natural valley by the sea, sunken in and partially flooded by the coastline and nestled snugly by the mountains. If one wasn't intentionally trying to get to Old Pasnia, they would have missed it completely, its natural configuration acting as camouflage for the average person. Lights flickered in the distance, close to the mountain but on the further west side. That must be the Adventurer's Guild encampment, and her stop. There was a lit path that started not too far from where the pilgrims were that cut through the ruins of Old Pasnia on a path that, at first glance, traced through parts of the ruins that looked safe enough.

The pilgrims did not think so, though, and their caravan veered away from Old Pasnia to the Mountains on a trail that took them above and away from Old Pasnia. It was probably for the best, as Salia didn't want any potential confrontation that might occur if she got to the Adventurer's Guild with the pilgrims. The pilgrims didn't stop when they crossed the ridge to the sight of Old Pasnia like Salia did in her mind, they just veered to the right and continued their trek. It would have been incredibly convenient if they did stop --like they had been doing the entire tip-- but she knew it wasn't time for them yet. So, she had to get off the good ole-fashioned way: tuck and roll.

She just had the additional risk of getting caught after she jumped off. She couldn't afford to use her ability right now... even thinking about it gave her a headache, so she had to use her brain instead. She studied her surroundings. It was mainly just crates, and anything further into the carriage she couldn't access. Maybe she didn't have to tuck and roll. She scooted over from her position to the nearest crate. There was no top to it and so she dug inside. It was mostly wool and cloths and cottons at the top. She wrapped her arms around the crate and yanked. The crate budged, but only a little. It was heavier than she expected it to be. Well, it seemed like she would have to put in a little bit of effort into this. She had to resist outwardly sighing and giving her location away. That was harder than she expected it to be.

Salia prepared herself and shoved the crate with a moderate amount of her force. The crate acquiesced and scraped off the crate it was sitting on and toppled over to the ground, spilling its contents everywhere with a satisfyingly loud crash. Not many moments after the sound, the carriage lurched to a halt.

The first commotion that started was largely confusion as to the source of the noise. Now was Salia's one and only chance to get out completely free. She pulled her hood up and jumped out of the carriage, landing on the ground lightly... especially compared to the crate. She didn't take the time to check her surroundings as she darted past the end of her carriage and skirted down the natural decline. She skidded to a halt and squished herself against the terrain, finally turning to see if she was followed and glance at the glory that was the chaos of people who didn't know what to do when any ounce of complications happened. The amount of people that crowded around the singular crate that fell off their carriage. It looked almost like a pile of ants scattering around when their dirt got interrupted. But, no eyes were on Salia, even though she was only a handful of steps away. No, they were far too focused on themselves-- the thought that an outsider could have done it was so preposterous that it probably didn't even cross their minds.

Salia Vistra was in the clear.

She gave the pilgrims enough time to get the crate back on their carriage and get back on track, sitting in the dirt in the meantime. It took them a frustratingly long time to get back to normal, which meant Salia was just waiting in the dirt for way too long. There became a point in time while waiting that she begrudgingly came to the realization that she could have left at any point by scooting around the pilgrims. In fact, they probably wouldn't have even noticed if she just stood up and walked past them. But, her stubbornness wouldn't let her move; she had waited long enough that it would have felt like time wasted if she moved before the pilgrims did. And so she waited.

Finally, the pilgrims took off and Salia groaned as she stood up. Her knees did not enjoy the sitting and doing nothing. She began the trek down to the ruins of the old city and through the ruins. The Adventurer's Guild had made the passage safe enough for a ruined old city, but Salia still had to watch her step. There wasn't much to the city besides stone, stone, and more stone. Anything else had really withered away over... however long it had been since this city was a city. Just dust and dusty now.

Salia finally reached the Adventurer's Guild campsite that was presumably sitting just outside Tar Pasnia. The dimly lit torched morphed into something a bit brighter, a bit cooler, and a bit more magical. The trail ended at a perimeter point --the Adventurer's Guild sure loved their perimeters-- with two guards standing by the entrance chatting with each other. As Salia waltzed up, they stopped their conversation and turned to Salia. The one on the right, a short woman with thick coiled hair smiled at Salia. "Greetings, Adventurer!"

"Hey there, I'm assuming this is Tar Pasnia," Salia gestured all around them.

"Yeppers it is!" The Adventurer's Guild representative said. "Well, formalities first!" She cut herself off, glancing at her partner. "Do you have the summons?"

"Oh, right." Salia searched her pockets. "I'm sure I have an intact one here somewhere..." She pulled out tatters of what was probably several different Tar Pasnia contracts combined into some kind of contract abomination. In a vest pocket she found a folded and folded again contract and handed it to the lady.

"Uhh... okay then! Looks like a contract, all right!" She glanced past Salia, and Salia followed her eyes to the ruins behind her. "Do you have a party?"

Ah, that part. She had been so preoccupied with the pilgrim situation that she had momentarily forgot about this little problem. If she had remembered, she would have just snuck into camp and into Tar Pasnia by herself. Too little too late, now, she guessed.

"No, well, they're waiting on me inside. Well," Salia sighed. No use trying her regular antics. "Sorry, was thinking about something else. Nope, no party. Hoping to solo this contract."

"No can do, Adventurer." The other perimeter guard finally spoke up, their deep voice feeling like a subtle penetration of her eardrums, it was so rough and deep.

"But if you don't have an Adventuring Party, we can assign you one! You're certainly not the only lone soul hoping to tackle Tar Pasnia." Her voice ended in a light chuckle. She pulled a colored ribbon from one of her many pockets. It was crimson. "Just head over to the right and they'll get you assigned to a Guild-approved party."

Salia nodded and stepped through with the lady's permission.

"And don't wander." The other guard said grimly.

Great. She couldn't wait to meet her Adventurer's Guild assigned and approved party.

"If you're willing to help, yes."

"It would be my pleasure!" Nikolai grinned, more then happy to accept a challenge.

As he had been making his way down the road toward Old Pasnia Camp, a curious sight had befallen his eyes: a half-elf on a horse fighting a giant wolf. However, something about the half-elf didn't seem quite normal and the wolf most certainly wasn't either. In fact, he seemed quite experienced, almost impressively so, and quite pretty. Either way though, it would be rather difficult for one person alone to take down a beast so big. Better to even out the playing field with numbers if one couldn't with size.

With a flick of his hand, Nikolai took out a couple more of his throwing knives and sent them whirling towards the Direwolf, aiming at vital, albeit broad, spots on the wolf's body. He would have gone for more precise spots but unlike dungeon rooms or rooms in general, the wilderness had a knack for swallowing his dainty blades and not giving them back.

"Now then, how would you like to take this creature down? A bit of diversion and strike? Defend and attack? Ranged and melee? The choice is yours my friend."

The half-elf seemed to consider the question as he dodged a swipe from the direwolf's massive paws. He spun away to put distance between them and planted his feet, shrugging off his cloak as he did so. It fluttered to the ground somewhere behind him, leaving his sturdy armour on display. He tilted his head and brought his sword up in front of him horizontally.

"If I keep it still," he said, bringing his other hand up to cover the blade near the hilt, "do you think you can deal with it?"

Nikolai nodded with an air of confidence, drawing one of his shortswords from the sheath at his side. "I know I can deal with it."

"Then keep it off me!" he called, eyes lighting up bright blue. "I need a few minutes!"

"As you wish!" With a flick of his wrist, Nikolai sent the last throwing knife in his hand whirling toward the beast before drawing his second blade and lunging into action in a flurry of blades.

This was the part he loved in a fight. The swish of blades, the surge of adrenaline, it was like a dance, one that he knew well. He swung at the direwolf a couple of times, each hit true to their mark, before dodging a snap form its maw. However, even in the heat of the battle, a small thought crossed his mind. What could be taking a few minutes to prepare?

Now slightly out of range of immediate attack from the beast, Nikolai could feel a cold air settle around the area and glanced back at his new companion. To his surprise, this brief glance brought a view of what appeared to be magic as the half-elf's hair floated as if suspended by a calm breeze while he coated his blade with ice from a seemingly unknown source, frost similarly coating the ground beneath his feet.

"You can do magic!?" Nikolai called over in astonishment. "I didn't know I was going to be meeting a mage today, I would have dressed nicer otherwise!"

"Trying to concentrate here," the half-elf called back, eyes closed. "Shut up!"

Nikolai chuckled, "Right, concentrate away then!"

"Might want to focus on your opponent!

Nikolai grinned before narrowly dodging a swipe from the direwolf's claws. "Ah- thanks for the warning! I could do this all day though!"

"Less talking," he yelled, "more fighting!"

Nikolai dodged to the side to try and lure the beast away a few feet before attacking once more. "Why not both?"

Suddenly, the half-elf was right beside Nikolai, eyes--and the blade of his sword--glowing blue. Freezing air wafted off the sword as he plunged it into the direwolf's shoulder. Ice crept down its leg, pinning it in place. The half-elf turned his head, meeting Nikolai's eyes with his glowing ones.

"Do shut up," he said, yanking the blade free and spinning away a few steps. "Now kill it."

Nikolai felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up from the unexpected sight, however, it did the trick for snapping him into the present moment. Dodging a snap from the wolf as it tried to pull its leg free, Nikolai tucked and rolled before using his crossed blades to neatly slash at its throat and end the beast. It didn't seem to realise for a second before it collapsed with a high-pitched whine.

There was a thud behind him and a grunt. Nikolai turned to find the half-elf down on one knee, sword point planted in the dirt. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were no longer glowing. The ice around them was also quickly melting.

Quickly sheathing his shortswords once more, Nikolai went over and offered a hand, mildly concerned that his new companion had been injured in some way. "Well, the beast is dead. Are you alright?"

The half-elf knelt there for a moment, still breathing a little heavily before he pushed Nikolai's hand away. He sent him an unreadable look before he unsteadily climbed to his feet. "I'm fine," he muttered, knuckles white where he held the hilt of his sword. "Ice magic takes a lot for me to cast. I just need to rest soon."

Nikolai tilted his head slightly, internally a littled puzzled by him so far. "I have to say, it was quite impressive. I haven't seen much like it." He commented, letting an at ease smile replace the previous concern. "As for resting, I wouldn't mind setting up a camp if needed."

He shook his head and turned away. "Banshee!" he yelled, and a grey-speckled mare--the horse from earlier--came trotting over to the half-elf. He smiled and gave her nose a soft pat. "No need. She'll take us to Old Pasnia."

"I had a feeling you were headed to Old Pasnia as well." Nikolai chuckled. "She's a beautiful mare."

The half-elf glanced at him, still smiling. It was such a soft, fond smile. "This is Banshee," he said, then gestured to Nikolai. "Banshee, this is..."

"Nikolai. Nikolai Calix. Or Nik but that's typically only reserved for my mother." He chuckled before reaching into a pocket and pulling out a sugar cube to offer the silver horse. She nudged his hand and swiftly accepted the sugar cube. "Nice to meet you, Banshee."

The half-elf chuckled. "She likes you."

Nikolai grinned. "What can I say? I'm quite popular with horses. I have my own mare back home by the name of Gingersnap."

"That's a good name," the half-elf said, leaning into his horse. The mare huffed a breath and shifted, pushing him towards Nikolai half a step. The half-elf sent his mare a glower. "Behave."

Nikolai, however, sent the mare a bright grin before smiling at the half-elf beside him. "Thank you. You know, I don't think I ever got your name. Who might I have had the pleasure of fighting beside today?"

"So many words," the half-elf scoffed, turning to go and find his cloak. He wiped his blade off on it before tossing it over a shoulder and then sheathing his sword. "Zelfyn Moryra, at your service." He bowed shallowly, with a tiny flourish before straightening up. "My friends call me Zel."

"Hm, Zel," he seemed to contemplate the name slightly for a minute before grinning, "that's a wonderful name."

"That was not an invitation," Zel muttered, coming back to the mare's side. He sighed and turned to face Nikolai. "Come, I'll give you a ride to camp."