Double The Trouble

Queen Matilde sent a representative to the Marquis Padraig Mac Setanna, lord over the region including Nirvan, in the matter of Kanae getting registered with the adventurers guild. The visitation was kept secret, so as not to cause a commotion.

We went to the dungeon to do some exploring and training. The guild representative told us that the guildmaster had summoned us.

“Salutations, we are here to register to explore the dungeon today. We are the C-Ranked Raggedy Raiders party,” I said.

“Greetings Raggedy Raiders. I see you have your guild tags. Let me pull up your guild register entry and update it,” guild representative Alicia said.

“There is a notice here indicating Guildmaster Nic Fagan has summoned your party. Please make sure to answer the summons today. You are alright to explore. Be safe, and good luck hunting.”

“I wonder what the guildmaster wants? We'll be sure to check in after we are done exploring today. Thank you,” I said.

“Alright! Let's go dungeon diving!” Kanae said.

We then entered the dungeon, whose massive spell-enhanced iron doors were already open.

“Have you ever explored the dungeon?” Kanae asked.

“Yes. I've been exploring the dungeon for years, but haven't gone very deep. Level 43 is the deepest any party has ever explored,” I said.

“That doesn't sound very deep,” Kanae said.

“It's a very difficult dungeon, but has some rare monsters, and that's why it's fairly actively explored,” I said.

“So, this difficult dungeon is where you want to train me, as a new adventurer?” Kanae asked, with rising alarm.

“The first five floors aren't that difficult, but are still good enough to scrape by some income. Pay attention to your surroundings, or you might get hurt,” I said.

“What is that shiny thing over there in the shadows?” Kanae asked.

“Ice dart! That's a rare silver slime! It has a rare silver chrystal core. It's best to hit them with an ice attack. It freezes the slime but doesn't shatter the core. The cores are worth more if intact. Using wind blades will slice the core in two. Fire spells work also, but sometimes the cores overheat and shatter into shards,” I said.

“What about traps? Are there traps in the dungeon?” Kanae asked.

“Oh, yeah, for sure. The first traps appear on level 2. I developed sensing and detection skills early on. Of course being half-dragon the sense skill was innate. So traps won't be a problem for us,” I said.

“I have both the sense and detect skills, but haven't had a chance to use them,” Kanae said.

“You have not used them!? You should have them active at all times. Sure it burns a little mana, but you have plenty, and your recovery speed should be fast since you have light magik. Keeping them always active will raise their level and improve many other aspects,” I said.

“Oh, ok. Sense! Detect! Oh! Oh wow! This is amazing! There are monsters everywhere! I can even tell what some are,” Kanae said.

“Wow, you have like no magik common sense at all. It's almost like you've lived your whole life without seeing, or using magik,” I said.

Kanae looked away as if she'd been caught doing something wrong.

“Is that a kobold? Bow! Wind arrow!” Kanae cast. The kobold fell dead, and Kanae then retrieved soul chrystal.

“Nice work,” I said.

We slowly worked our way down to level three. We killed a number of kobolds, a few Giant Cave Wolf Spiders. We encountered slimes beyond count. We also faced a nest of giant horned-wood rats.

“Let's take a break here and have some lunch,” I said.

“That sounds wonderful!” Kanae said.

After we ate lunch and rested for a while we continued on until we reached the last room of level 5.

“Alright, this room will be a kobold nest, so get ready, Kanae,” I said.

“I'm ready!” Kanae said.

We entered, and simultaneously cast, “Earth bind!”

“Stone dart! Stone dart! Stone Dart!” I cast.

“Wind blade! Wind blade! Wind blade!” Kanae cast.

After several more attacks we cleared the room.

“That was hectic,” Kanae said.

“It's a lot more hectic alone,” I laughed.

“I bet,” Kanae laughed.

“Well this was a good practice, but we'd better head back. We need to cash in our haul and see the guildmaster,” I said.

“I wonder what that's about?” Kanae said.

Back at the guild Christine escorted us up the stairs to a large ornate door that was Guildmaster Nic Fagan's office.

“Raggedy Raiders are here, Guildmaster,” Christine announced, and opened the door for us to enter.

“Welcome, have a seat please,” Guildmaster Adele said.

“How we be of service, Guildmaster?” I said.

“I've called you here on the pretext of handling complaints by several guilds about your party rank and Kanae's rank. The real reason is the Queen requests you take on a mission for her that Ms Kanae's skills are uniquely qualified for. The Queen is secretly making this request through the Marquis, and to us through him. Officially, this will be a further test for Kanae and your party,” Adele said.

“I see, so this is a request we can't refuse. Clever of the Queen. So what is this quest?” I said.

“A Rainbow Wyrm has taken up residence in the Empire's Adamantine Mine under Gomrah Mountain at the edge of Marquis Setanna's territory,” Adele said.

“A Wyrm!? You really expect us to take on a Wyrm? Assuming we succeed, do we get to keep the materials?” I asked.

“Can we mine any of the adamantine while we are there?” Kanae asked.

That's the most elf-thing Kanae's said since we met!

“You may keep the Wyrm's materials. You may also take any adamantine that gets knocked free during the battle, up to 3 bars worth, but you may not actively mine any,” Adele said.

“Alright, I assume they want us to leave right away? It will take a day or more to reach the mine,” I said.

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“Yes leave as soon as you can. Pick up the quest paperwork from Christine before you leave,” Adele said.

“Alright, well, we're off,” I said.

We went up to Christine at the guild reception desk.

“Here is your task to take down the Rainbow Wyrm in residence at Gomrah Mountain. Be careful and good luck,” Christine said.

There were whispers all over the guild.

“They have to take on a Rainbow Wyrm? Isn't that a certain death?” someone whispered.

“A rainbow Wyrm? Are they stupid? Or suicidal?” Whispered another.

All eyes were on us. Some were shocked. Some were concerned. But most were smiling in triumph. After we were alone, Kanae asked,

“A Wyrm? Does that mean a dragon? Is that something we can really aim for?”

“Wyrms are a dragon form, but they are wild and beast-like. They lack the intelligence, powers, and evolution of dragons. Some consider them as a failed form of dragons. They are considered an A-Rank monster. Not something we should be tackling yet. But I admit, I'd really like to take a few down. We could get some really good armor made for the two of us with the materials,” I said.

“Why is such a quest a match for my skills?” Kanae asked.

“Well, it's right there in the name, rainbow. Rainbow Wyrms are considered all-elemental. Except they don't have the darkness element. In fact, they are super weak against the dark element. You are probably the only person in all of Eå who is a perfect match for a Rainbow Wyrm,” I said.

“Do you really think I'm ready to take on an A-Ranked monster?” Kanae asked.

“No, but I have a plan that will probably help us. Do you trust me enough to try it? If not we can just refuse. Although, it will probably be very bad for us if we do,” I said.

“I trust you, but I'd like to know this plan,” Kanae said.

“I'll explain it along the way. Come on let's get some dinner and then head out!” I said.

After we finished dinner, I pulled out my little cart from storage, and we headed for the east gate.

“What is this?” Kanae asked.

“It's a magik powered cart I built, for when I have to haul things around. But this time it will be our carriage, since we don't want to walk, and I don't want to rent a carriage,” I said.

We had a lot of curious followers, and spying eyes on us, as we made our way to the gate.

“We are leaving on a quest to Gomrah Mountain, and will be back in a few days to a week,” I told the guards at the gate.

“We have been informed. Good luck,” the senior guard said.

We rode away on my makeshift carriage for over an hour, until I was sure we were out of sight, and not being followed.

“Alright, that's far enough. Time to implement the next phase,” I said as stopped the cart and got off.

“What are we doing?” Kanae said.

“We're going to fly. There's something I want to pick up before we get to the mine. Then I'll explain my plan. So climb down,” I said.

Once Kanae was off the cart, I stored it in my storage space. I picked up Kanae, transformed to my battle form, and leapt off into the night air.

“Whoa! What are you doing!?” Kanae said.

“Hold on. You don't want to fall. I told you we're flying to our destination. It takes a day by carriage, or two on foot. But it's only a little more than an hour flying,” I said.

“But you're carrying my in your arms!?” Kanae said.

“It can't be helped, I can't take a large enough form yet to carry you on my back. Don't worry, I'm strong and don't tire easy. I can carry you like this for hours,” I said.

“Well, ok, but it's kind of embarrassing. You're carrying me like a bride being carried by a groom,” Kanae said.

“Oh? Are you proposing to me?” I asked with my devilish grin.

“No way! I was just saying, this is embarrassing!” Kanae said.

“He he he.”

“You're a meanie!” Kanae said.

After flying a third of the way there a forest appeared beneath us. Near the center of the forest was a small treeless hill with a partial stone ring crowning it. I landed in the ring.

“Where are we? What is this place?” Kanae asked.

“These are ruins, from another age. The name of this place is long forgotten. I don't know how many people even know about this place. It's a faerie mound now. There are treasures buried here. But there is one in particular we need. Don't touch, or take, anything! We don't want to start a war with the faeries! Follow me, but stay close,” I said.

I walked over to the stone embedded in the center of the broken ring. I pulled off my necklace with the blue gem from my neck and pressed it into a depression in the stone. Thin lines of blue light spread out in a curving vine shape until the stone was filled in the intricate pattern of the World tree.

“Vivia Eå!” I chanted. A blue light grew out of the stone and spread out around us, until we were encased in a dome of light, and suddenly we were inside the hill. At first, it was totally dark, but slowly pins of light began to glow one after the other in the ceiling. Then three lights grew into circles of light, and the room inside the hill was lit as if on a cloudless night under the light of the triple moons of Eå.

“What is this?”

“The ancient sky of Eå. The stars have all moved since then. I reckon this is what the sky looked like on Eå's Day more than 4000 years ago. I've spent a long time looking at old sky maps and calculated back. I've always been fascinated with this puzzle. Beautiful though isn't it?” I said.

“Amazing doesn't begin to describe it. But why are we here?” Kanae asked.

I turned around and looked at the treasures laid out inside the hill until I found what I was looking for. Then I grabbed Kanae's hand and pulled her along.

“This way!”

I reached into my small waist purse and pulled out all the treasures I'd chosen for tonight, and deposited at a spot where a flat metal band lay giving off a luminescent glow. I grabbed the band and slapped it against Kanae's right wrist. It wrapped around her wrist and merged into a single band fitting snug against her skin. A brilliant light flared out and turned into a rainbow of colors.

“Takari av takara!”

“What the Hell! What did you do!? Deirdre! What is this!”

The light faded and a bracelet glowing in a rainbow of colors shimmered over the bracelet.

“Eå's Shield! This is Eå's shield. It accepted you. Don't let anyone know you have it. It's an Empire class artifact. It's legendary, he he he! No one knows it really exists. I found it years ago, but it's not something I could use. Only someone with all elements.”

“I can't just take it! It doesn't belong to us!” Kanae said.

“Yes you can, we traded it for my treasures. Takari av takara, treasures for a treasure. The bracelet accepted it, and so has the Faeries' Treasury. It belongs to you, and only you, now. Now you can fight the Rainbow Wyrm without worry. Nothing can penetrate Eå's shield. Well except maybe another Goddess. You can also use it as a weapon in times of need. Or so the legends say. If you shove it at what ever is attacking you. But I don't see why anyone would need that. It already reflects any damage back at the sender at double the damage. So be very careful using it,” I said.

“How do I use it as a shield?” Kanae asked.

“You already are! See it glowing? That means it's active. If someone attacks you, then you can attack back by shoving your wrist forward like you had a shield on it. But it won't work if you aren't being attacked,” I said.

“How do I de-activate the shield?” Kanae asked.

“You can just think about turning it off, but don't do that now. Leave it alone until we complete our mission,” I said.

“Now what?” Kanae asked.

“Sleep!” I said and pulled out our sleeping mats.

_______________________________________________

When the morning came we left the hill behind.

“Let's get in some more training, before heading to the mine. There is a monster that lives in these woods that the faeries would like us to get rid of,” I said.

“Do we have time for that? Aren't we expected at the mine today?” Kanae asked.

“This shouldn't take long, and it's still too early to show up at the mine. I'd rather not have to deal with explanations for how we arrived so fast. Better late than early,” I said.

“OK. So what are we hunting?” Kanae asked.

“A Red Ogre General. Real nasty monster,” I said.

“An Ogre general? Doesn't that also mean a bunch of regular ogres?”

“Yeah, sure. But ogres are easy. Probably under a hundred,” I said.

“Under a hundred!?” Kanae said distressed.

Suddenly a beam of purple light shot down from the sky into some other part of the forest.

“Damn! That's like the same thing that happened when you appeared! Only the Demon forest was too dense to have seen the beam of light.”

A shockwave blasted past us.

“Come one, hurry! That light landed near where the Ogre General is! Unless I'm mistaken someone else just arrived and is in no way ready to deal with a Red Ogre General!” I said as grabbed Kanae's hand and cast,

“Wind boost!”

We lurched forward with the wind pushing us forward with our feet inches above the forest floor. Momentarily we arrive at a clearing nearly identical to the flattened one that I found Kanae in.

“Cancel. Ice Wall!” I cast.

We stopped and landed on the debris. My ice wall blocked the large scimitar the Red Ogre was driving at the two frozen in fear humans staring at the ogre. They turned and looked at us with wide open eyes and open mouths.

“Kill the ogre with an ice or wind arrow Kanae.”

“Bow! Wind Arrow!” Kanae cast. An arrow shot out and flew right at the ogre, but he deflected it, and it exploded into a tree, taking it out.

“Wind arrow! Wind Arrow!” Kanae cast.

The ogre deflected another arrow and another tree was destroyed. The second arrow hit its mark and blasted a large hole in the ogre's chest, and he fell dead. We approached the stunned and shocked teens. One was a male about fifteen years old with ocean blue eyes and midnight-black, ruffled hair. The other was a female about the same age with cotton-candy-pink hair in long curly twin pigtails. They were both dressed in white and black uniforms, with gold socks.

“Greetings and Salutations travelers. I am Deirdre, half-dragonkin, and this is my partner Kanae. We are adventurers,” I said.

The boy fainted, and the girl's shaking legs gave out, and she collapsed in one section of the grass not covered in tree splinter shrapnel. Kanae squatted down next to the girl and smiled,

“Welcome to the Dargon Kingdom. Are you alright? It doesn't look like that Ogre harmed you.”

“I...I...Uh...Hello, I'm Takanaka Aoi. Aoi is my name and Takanaka is my family name. I am alright. The ogre? Was that an ogre? It didn't get a chance to hurt us, but I think we'd be dead now if not for you two. Was that magik?”

“Yes. Yes it was. We don't have much time, but I think you two had better come with us,” I said.