Lord Ecthelion
Mesa
The Spirit of Fire
Tedworthy
The Silent Salamander
Maiden of the Nest
Chandra
The Banishing Priestess
Tetryos
Steadfast
Clarissa
Do-It-Yourself
Sapphira
A Shocking Salamander
In a flash, everyone was teleported to Tesonu's Dungeon Heart, as was the result of the powerful spell Hold Audience. The Keeper made his announcement, and publicly disgraced the six creatures who did not contribute to the invasion, and hence contributed to its failure. Then everyone began doing their own things.
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Ecthelion collapsed after the teleport, no longer having the energy to hold his friend up. He barely listened to everything that was being said and done. Tedworthy was promptly dragged off by an Imp, as was Ecthelion while he was still half-awake. Within moments, they were both in the Lair, and fell asleep upon their respective rocky pit lairs.
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Clarissa was abruptly woken up by the Hold Audience casting, as she found herself lying beside the Dungeon Heart. She got up slowly, as to not harm her still-repairing leg, and she looked around the room at the many different creatures that were also there, some of which she recognized from before she was converted. One such being the Maiden she faced, and Clarissa made sure she did not make any eye contact with her. The Guard suddenly spotted the shape of her companion Tetryos, bleeding out on the floor nearby. She did her best to stumble over to him. His wounds were severe and he would need immediate Healing, as not even the Lair's magic could save him now. When Tesonu mentioned that he could not Heal anyone due to his lack of Mana after the casting of Hold Audience, Clarissa felt an emotion within her that she would have never expected she would feel for him. He was going to die, and there was nothing she could...
Wait a second, Chandra, she could heal!
Clarissa ran over to the Maiden, who was already charging her staff to allow her to provide immediate assistance to whoever needed it. The Guard spoke quickly, nearly jumbling her words up as they came out of her mouth,
"Chandra, please, you must help my friend! He will die if he isn't healed quickly!"
Without even pondering the situation, Chandra quickly moved over to the male Guard's devastated body alongside Clarissa, and focused the Healing magic into her staff, promptly releasing it upon Tetryos in a shower of blue-purple energy sparks. The magic worked right away, stopping the excessive bleeding and repairing the severely damaged organs within. Clarissa sighed with relief as Tetryos slowly opened his eyes, groaning. After Chandra had finished, Clarissa embraced the injured Guard, who was simply bewildered by everything that was going on. The last time he checked, he was in the Trap Room.
"You're alive! I was so worried that you would not make it and..."
And then Clarissa realized what she was doing, releasing her companion from her embrace.
"I... uh... didn't mean to... just I... and I thought..."
Her voice drifted away. Tetryos looked up at her, a feeling similar to hers bubbling up inside of him. Or maybe it was the magic that was bubbling. He couldn't tell the difference. All he knew was that it was comfortable and warm. He took off his battered helmet, so he could get a better look at his companion. Clarissa sat beside him, speechless at her own emotions. She never knew him that well, and yet these strange feeling fluttered through her mind. Why was that? Maybe she had liked him all along? That would explain why she would often prefer to work on a team that Tetryos was on, rather than on any other. Perhaps that was why she opted to join the invasion on Tesonu's dungeon. She looked down at the Guard, who was looking up at her, and their eyes locked. More powerful than ever, her emotions caused her cheeks to go red. It was then that she found her voice back.
"I... must admit something to you..."
Tetryos looked on, nodding slightly as he tried to sit up. Clarissa took off her own helmet, laying it beside her.
"I... well... always kinda cared about you... but I never found a time to e-express myself.."
She couldn't believe that she was stammering at a time like this. Tetryos moved himself a bit closer to her, noticing she didn't object.
"To be honest, I've always thought you were such a kind and caring person. I just never could say it to you until now."
Chandra, who had stayed beside them to see if Tetryos responded well to the Healing, nodded to herself as she took her leave of the two Guards. She walked over to an injured Goblin and Demon Spawn, and began healing both of them (+10% to each).
Tetryos leaned in closer to Clarissa, who showed no signs of objection. She looked up at him, knowing that it was gonna happen. All she had to do was release herself. Clarissa held up one of her hands to his face, no longer controlling her own actions. Without further thought, she leaned towards him, their faces mere inches apart, and they drew closer until their lips touched. Both of them lost themselves in this moment of utter bliss, warmth and comfort filling their very souls. The moment lingered for what seemed a lifetime, before they separated, opening their eyes. Clarissa smiled a warm and loving smile at Tetryos, who returned the favor with one of his own. Clarissa had never seen him smiling before, at least not like this.
They sat for a short while in each other's embrace, before Clarissa promptly stood up.
"Come on, let's get you rested up."
Tetryos nodded as she helped him to his feet. Everything hurt, which was not surprising, especially after the Hailstorm he was hit with. Several bits of ice were still lodged in his armor, or at least, what was left of it. The pair of Guards limped into the Lair, where Clarissa helped Tetryos onto his bed, before giving him one last kiss, and retreating to her own lair. Before falling asleep, both of them pondered about what had occurred, and how great things had turned out.
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Confused at her sudden location change, Sapphira tried to get her bearings. They were in the Heart chamber from Tesonu. Shaking her head, the exhausted Salamander walked towards the exit, but then she spotted... something. A strange apparition, a Ghost namely, was floating near the door. There was something weird about it, something that she couldn't quite make out.
What the hell is that..? Agh, I'll just talk to it.
She approached the spectre.
"Hey, you, Ghost! What are you exactly?"
Mesa looked around, quickly seeing the curiously colored Salamander that appeared to be addressing him.
"I am simply a Ghost, nothing more, nothing less."
"No, you know that is not what I meant. Answer my question!"
Sapphira glared at him. Mesa sighed, whispering to her,
"Fine, I'll tell you, but not here. Come with me."
He floated out of the room, and Sapphira followed. She was determined to know what made her feel weird whenever she looked directly at him. After a few moments, they were in a cold, dark passage near the Combat Pit. Mesa turned around and spoke quickly.
"My name is actually Essam, and I used to be a Salamander. I was killed in this realm, and now I have managed to return in this form, but Tesonu cannot know that it's me. He will most probably kill me if he does."
Sapphira was rather shocked by all of this information, but she listened on.
"I managed to return with the help of a legend, the great Furnace himself. He helped me to return to this plane of existence, but I never bargained to return here..."
He looked around briefly, before continuing.
"The reason that you may feel strange round me is due to what I now possess, something that is the very essence of our beings: the Spirit of Fire. Every reptilian life form has this within them, but with you it feels weaker than normal, but it's still there. And because I'm a Ghost, my body does not inhibit the Spirit like it would do with yours, explaining your reaction to it."
Sapphira pieced the information together. It made sense, despite how weird it sounded to her.
"Well... uh... thanks for that."
"One last thing, you must never mention this to anyone."
The static Salamander walked off quickly, with the Ghost following closely behind. When they arrived back in the main dungeon, Sapphira entered the Lair while Mesa moved on, back towards the Training Room. He suddenly felt himself under a certain scrutiny from above, causing alarm in his mind.
He knows...
Trying his best not to react, he entered the Training Room and continued to train.
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Chandra meanwhile finished healing Grith and Diana, and found her sister.
"Hey, Pam, how did the battle go? Are you hurt at all?"
Chandra Summary
Health: 100%
Level: 2
Gold Held: 0
Gold in Lair: 0
Mood: Content
Status: Talking to Pamela
Efficiency: 100%
Equipment: Magic Staff
Experience: 10/25 (+7 for Heals)
Quick Summary: Chandra healed Tetryos for 15%, and Diana and Grith for 10% each, and talked to Pamela.
Clarissa Summary
Health: 85% (+3 by sleeping)
Level: 1
Gold Held: 0
Gold in Lair: 0
Mood: ZzZzzzZzzZZz....
Status: Sleeping
Efficiency: 0%
Equipment: Lance, Tool-Kit
Experience: 19/25
Quick Summary: Clarissa got Chandra to heal Tetryos, and stuff happened between the two Guards. They then went to sleep in the Lair.
Tetryos Summary
Health: 21% (+15% by Chandra, +2 by sleeping)
Level: 2
Gold Held: 0
Mood: ZzZzzzZzzZZz....
Status: Sleeping
Efficiency: 0%
Equipment: Lance
Experience: 0/35
Quick Summary: Tetryos was saved by Chandra, stuff happened between him and Clarissa, and they both went to sleep in the Lair.
Ecthelion Summary
Health: 25% (+2 by sleeping)
Level: 2
Gold Held: 0
Gold in Lair: 120
Mood: ZzZzzzZzzZZz....
Status: Sleeping
Efficiency: 0%
Equipment: Shattered armor
Experience: 35/40
Quick Summary: Ecthelion collapsed after Hold Audience was cast, and was dragged to his lair by an Imp.
Tedworthy Summary
Health: 26% (+2 by sleeping)
Level: 4
Gold Held: 0
Gold in Lair: 120
Mood: ZzZzzzZzzZZz....
Status: Sleeping
Efficiency: 0%
Equipment: Nothing
Experience: 1/60
Summary: Tedworthy was dragged to his lair by an Imp after Hold Audience was cast.
Sapphira Summary
Health: 100%
Level: 3
Gold Held: 0
Gold in Lair: 0
Mood: ZzZzzzZzzZZz....
Status: Sleeping
Efficiency: 0%
Equipment: Nothing
Experience: 19/50
Quick Summary: Sapphira talked to Mesa after noticing the weird feeling he gave her, and afterwards went to sleep in the Lair.
Mesa Summary
Health: 100%
Level: 1
Gold Held: 0
Gold in Lair: 0
Mood: Really worried, focused
Status: Training
Efficiency: 100%
Equipment: Spirit of Fire
Experience: 5/15 (+5 training)
Quick Summary: Mesa talked to Sapphira, sharing his secret with her. He then goes to train.