Heroes of Lagendia

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Dragon Nest: Chapter 2
Pursuing the Black Knight

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Campfire by MissSpoox


The Assissin's Den. Among the many low-lying hills that surround Calderock Village, there lies a settlement near the east called the Assassin's Den. Rightly named after a band of assassin's took refuge in those warm hills. But that was long ago, before dragons plagued the world of Lagendia.

Now, the creatures who reside there are still assassins in their own right, but fiercer and darker than their human equivalent. Monsters had taken over the eastern hills and a Dark Elf named Lydia ruled overall. It is said that she was gathering her forces for an evil force that has yet to reveal itself.

The people of Calderock are warned never to venture there. Even the soldiers keep their distance if they could. But despite the infamy, one adventurer was brave enough build camp near the entrance of the Assassin's Den.

A young elf by the name of Astrid crouched upon a small fire to fight off the cold night air. Her pale skin glowed orange from the light of the flames. With her blue headband keeping her ash blond hair in place, she had little trouble nibbling the crusts of the meat pie one of the merchants in Calderock had given to her.

Quietly and gracefully, Astrid picked out the meat from the dough and threw them to the ground. Without meaning to, pieces of the meat found its way in the flames and before long, the air was filled with the dangerous aroma of burnt meat. She hoped no dangerous animal would disturb her tonight but she wasn't afraid with her shortbow and quiver lying in wait by her side.

An unnatural rustle of nearby bushes made her tense. Instinctively, she reached for her bow while her long ears perked for more sounds of an intruder. It was quiet for a while until a twig snapped somewhere in her right. "Who goes there?" she called out, her bow at the ready.
 
Another woman, human, with pink hair bright enough to have caused quite a few aneurysms, stepped out of the woods, muttering angrily under her breath, and seemingly deaf to the question that had been tossed her way. "Oh go find the elf, he said, it'll be easy he said. I wonder how much he likes tromping through a forest in the middle of the night," Venefica growled as she tromped into the clearing, picking twigs and leaves out of her hair. It took her a little while before she noticed that the clearing had another occupant, and that occupant had a weapon pointed at her. "Oh what is wrong with you," she snarled, glaring at the elf. "Do I look dangerous to you?" All things considered, the sorceress may have actually looked quite dangerous, a half crazed light in her eyes and the foilage in her hair giving her a feral look.
 
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Astrid was taken aback from the mussy young woman that appeared from the bushes. Did she look dangerous, she had asked with such contempt. Astrid didn't know how to respond but she lowered her bow nonetheless. "Yes, you do," she replied in Elfen honesty, which was why she hadn't let go of her weapon completely. But then, taking a good look at the girl before her, she saw that she was but a simple human. Granted, she had such a staff and orb in hand, but a human still-- and a young one at that. Astrid was concerned. "You shouldn't be here, human. It's not safe in these hills. Run along now and get yourself a bath," she gently shooed her away like she would to the younglings back home. "You have twigs all over your..."-- then she wondered how one's hair could be so offensively be pink-- "...hair."​
 
At the comment about danger and her age, Venefica was immediately up in the elf's face. "You got a problem with my age elf?" she screeched. "I'll have you know that I'm old enough to take care of myself. No one tells me what to do, I'll stay here if I want to." Venefica crossed her arms with an arrogant toss of her pink hair and decided to conveniently ignore the fact that the only reason she was in the clearing in the first place was because Deckard waved a bag of gold in front of her and told her to go.
 
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With a defeated sigh, Astrid sat back down on the log near the fire. Yet, another difficult human to deal with. They're even worse than the younglings she took care of at home. "Alright, if you say so," she said, putting her bow down next to her. "I'll let you stay with me for tonight, but tomorrow, I'm heading off to Assassin's Den. It's a very dangerous place so you can't come with me afterwards, understand?" Still gentle and concerned, she took out her nibbled meat pie again and offered it to her companion. "Would you like some meat pie? You can have the meat."​
 
Venefica sat down with an snooty huff, and another swish of her blinding hair. Suddenly she processed the elf's words and remembered Deckard's instructions. Pulling out a piece of paper from a pocket, looked it over then asked in a loud voice: "Hey! Are you As-Astr-" She probably could have figured out the name in the next few seconds, but decided that, that would be too much work, so she shoved the piece of paper in the elf's face instead and pointed to a name. "That person?"
 
Astrid instinctively backed away from the piece of paper the human dangled too close in front of her. Quite rude, this one, she thought. Examining the paper closely, she read her name scrawled in familiar handwriting. Deckard of Calderock had seemed to prefer speaking rather than writing. "Yes, I'm Astrid," she looked back at the girl, now with more curiosity than concern. "Why are you looking for me? Don't tell me you're..." She could not finish the sentence. After all, how can she be the reinforcement the guild house master had promised her.
 
Venefica, being the wholly narcissistic, insensitive being she was, completely missed out on the misgivings the elf had. Instead, talking in an obnoxious voice again. "Deckard told me to find you. Why did you have to be so hard to find? Do you have any idea how bad that trip through the forest for my hair?! Ugh, anyways, I'm supposed to go with you to some place or something." She waved a hand dismissively at the last part, feeling that since the elf knew where they were going, she didn't need to strain her memory with the extra information.
 
Astrid forced herself to smile at her new companion. This girl... is worrying about her hair? "Yes," she answered with all the gentleness she could muster. "I'm sorry for making you go through all that trouble. I had to camp somewhere not even the monsters can find me. Um..." Astrid was unsure whether there were anything else she needed to say. The other girl seemed like she didn't want to listen any further. "Well, I guess Deckard has told you everything. We should sleep early. We rise first thing tomorrow morning. I imagine we'll get the harp by noon--" but one look at the young girl's staff and orb made her think otherwise. The only thing threatening about her is her attitude, she sighed. I might have to look out for her every single step. "Maybe before dinnertime. What shall I call you?" she asked kindly.​
 
At the mention of getting up early, Venefica's mind had stopped processing any more words the elf said, fixating on that bit of information. "Ugh, why do we have to get up so early? Do you have any idea how late it is? I need my beauty sleep you know!" She continued ranting for a bit before daintyly brushing off an area of ground and sitting down, wearing an arrogant face that she definitely did not practice infront of the mirror for several hours each day. Her brain, finally getting over its fixation, informed her that the elf had asked for her name a while ago. "Oh, yeah, I'm Venefica."
 
Beauty sleep? Really? Astrid tried to keep her smile wide. Quite vain, too. With an uncomfortable laugh, she told her, "Ah, you don't need the beauty sleep. Trust me." Thanks to Merchant May back in Calderock, she has had a lot of experience with women like Venefica. If you stroke their ego enough, she thought. They'll come around. "Besides, we need to grab Lydia's harp as soon as possible," she now spoke with a tone of seriousness. "I can't afford to waste anymore time." For Rose's sake...
 
Venefica, with her selective hearing, and her mind's habit of fixating on certain topics, unsurprisingly tuned out after the comment about her not needing beauty sleep. "Oh, you really thing so?" she gushed to Astrid. "That's so nice of you to say. I always thought my skin could use some work, but I suppose no one can be perfect." Venefica's tone suddenly turned viscious. "Certainly not that little freak May, no matter what she thinks. Oh, one of these days..." The sorceress started growling about all the things she would like to do to the merchant of Caderock Pass. None of them were particularly pleasant. It was one of the curiosities of the world as to how this vain, petty, and bi polar woman was the most talented sorceress of her generation.
 
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