AN: After this chapter is complete, I will try to go back to full chapter updates since people seemed to enjoy those. I believe there will be two parts to this one.

Chapter 10.1: Fly, My Fairy BFF! Fly!

Everything had gone well for the bandit slaying trio as they wandered through the underground inner-sanctum of the murder-minded bandits. Outside of a small few altercations they had not really had to do anything difficult to continue onward.

At this point they had taken out eighteen or so bandits, and had begun to see the ending to their quest. Soon, they came to the end of a large corridor and were confronted with an even larger open area. The place seemed strangely empty, and something about that fact did not sit right with the group.

“Think it’s a trap?” asked Ero.

Scott nodded then looked to Rhea. She nodded as well. It was obvious that something was going on here. There should be at least a few more bandits to contend with, but the place had a strangely empty look about it.

Ero volunteered to check the place out and fluttered forward to see what she could see. After a few minutes she returned and shrugged her tiny little shoulders. “It’s empty.”

Scott glanced at her then at Rhea. He could not stop feeling a strange sense of dread about the situation, but if it actually was empty then what else could they do?

“I’ll go out first.” said Scott.

Ero had flown a scouting mission, and now Scott would go on point to see if he drew any bandit fire. It could be possible that they were simply waiting and well-hidden for Scott or Rhea to come out.

“Be fairy careful Scott.” whispered Ero as her sorcerous love interest moved forward.

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He glanced back at her and raised up his thumb. He wanted to show confidence in the face of whatever might be found.

Rhea smiled at him as well, and he nodded to her. The women-folk appeased for the moment, Scott began moving forward to see what he would find. As soon as he entered the open area, he moved to the wall on the left and used it to circle the room. The large former mining area, as far as he could tell, could have comfortably fit a few hundred people. There was a series of scaffolds and ramps around the area that rose several levels into the air.

Light streamed down from several holes in the ceiling of the cave, and provided slight illumination. The background music was soft, quiet; it held an empty and mournful tone to it like he had entered a tomb.

He lept upward then climbed along the scaffolding. There were no signs of life anywhere as he thoroughly checked the area. Even the mine office was suspiciously lacking in recent signs of life.

None of it made any sense. This was clearly the largest area in the bandit sanctum. Where were the bandits? Why were there no signs of anyone having even been here?

Scott returned to the girls and discussed the situation with them. It was Rhea who made a key observation. “Too bad that hairy hornball died. His nose might have told us something.”

“Yeah, if only he wasn’t an idiot. Still, that doesn’t change anything. Do we continue on?” asked Scott.

Rhea sighed. “It feels like a trap.”

“It’s definitely a trap.” said Scott.

“Shouldn’t a trap have bait?” asked Ero.

Scott looked to her then nodded. “Ah, but it does have bait, the empty room. Most might not notice it, but it’s too empty. This place is run by bandits, not particularly clean and orderly bandits. I don’t even see trash here, or signs that anyone has been here in a long time.”

“Yeah, but what do we do about it? We can’t stay here, and if we go back we can’t finish the quest.” said Rhea.

“True. I suppose all we can do is fall into the trap and hope for the best.” said Scott.

“That’s a terrible plan, Scott.” said Rhea.

“It’s fairy silly...” said Ero.

Scott nodded to them. “Absolutely, but we don’t have to make it easy for them. We can go one at a time to the next area. If they spring a trap here, it won’t catch all of us. They’ll have to pick one of us.”

“Good point.” said Rhea. It certainly seemed like a reasonable plan of action. They also had little choice other than to abandon the area and come back later, possibly when they had to deal with a lot more bandits.

“Ero, you should merge with me. I think that might confuse them if they expect three of us to come out.” said Scott.

“OK!” exclaimed Ero with great excitement. She fluttered down then slipped into the side of his head. Once nestled safely within his mind she unleashed a soft giggle.

“Pop, always warned me about letting a girl get inside my head.” said Scott. He looked to Rhea. “Did I listen? No.”

Rhea gave him a flat look then reached out and poked him. “Goof.”

“I go into dangerous territory. If the enemy takes me, promise that you will never marry.”

Rhea laughed at his silliness then shook her head. “Heroes come back alive.”

Scott squinted at her then smiled. “Fair enough, I must risk it to get that biscuit...”

“I’m a biscuit now?”

Scott reached out and gripped her tight before kissing her warmly on the lips. His hands slid down to caress her perky elven posterior for a moment before he released her. “Soft and fluffy with a sweet yet buttery after taste.”

Rhea’s cheeks reddened ever so slightly, “Seriously....Comparing me to a biscuit.”

“Well, I’m a southern boy. We like our fresh buttered biscuits.” said Scott before he released her and stepped back. All kidding aside, it was time to go fall into the obvious trap.

“You’ll find no butter on these biscuits my good sir.” said Rhea.

Scott eyeballed her for a moment then grinned. “We’ll see....”

Her cheeks reddened further and she shook her head. This guy...

“You can butter me Scott.” suggested Ero in an almost musical tone of voice.

Scott laughed again then shook his head. “Well, we’re off. I’ll wave when I’m through.”

Rhea nodded, and Scott headed off toward the obvious trap. Despite its apparent and obvious nature, no trap rose up to ensnare the man. He and Ero both safely made it to the far corridor. Scott glanced over to Rhea and waved at her.

The elf girl set off at a steady jog and soon she joined the others. Nothing happened.

Scott raised a finger to his lips and Rhea nodded once more. They still had to go down this corridor.

The group moved forward, Ero still hiding inside of Scott’s mind, and soon they came to another room. This one also seemed suspicious, but after a short time was spent searching the area, they discovered nothing. The exit had a metal portcullis atop it, no doubt to stop intruders, but it was left up. It was as though every bandit left had evacuated in a hurry.

It was not until they moved toward the next corridor that something finally happened. Scott stepped down on a perfectly normal section of stone. There were no distinguishing marks, or any other sign that something was different there than anywhere else. However, something decidedly wrong did occur.

A brilliant blue-green field of energy rose up around them and set off a cascade of system messages even as a portcullis fell down before them. The way forward was blocked and they had no other alternative but to backtrack. The trap had been sprung!

[Message]

Your mana has been sealed! You will be unable to use magic or special techniques for ten minutes.

You have been poisoned! You will lose health at a rate of 1 point per second for ten minutes.

You have been mana poisoned! You will lose mana at a rate of 1 point per second for ten minutes.

You have been cursed! You will be unable to access your inventory storage for ten minutes.

You have been cursed! You are afflicted with weakness. Your strength, agility, and vitality are halved.

You have been cursed! You are afflicted with silence. You will be unable to speak for ten minutes.

[--]

“What the hell!” snapped Scott, or rather he tried to do so but no words left his lips. He looked to Rhea and she had the same issue. She could not speak and she looked visibly ill.

Scott tried to call up his inventory, but just as he was told he could not access it. He knew they were in trouble now, as their health would run out long before they had access to their inventory! He thought as strongly as he could in order to reach Ero. “Can you still hear me, Ero?”

“Yes! This is fairy bad. I’m OK, but you’re going to die!” exclaimed the fairy girl.

“Can you do anything?” he asked her.

“Well, if I had some water... I don’t think my other healing powers are strong enough to break these curses and cleanse this level of poison.” she said.

Scott winced. He knew exactly what she meant to do. He gestured for Rhea to follow him, and she nodded.

They ran back the other direction. If they moved swiftly enough, they might be able to reach the ocean and dip some water out for Ero.

However, true to the form of a trap, the other portcullis dropped in front of them. They were stuck in the corridor with no way out.

“Dammit!” screamed Scott silently.

Scott tried to lift the portcullis, but he was not strong enough. Rhea joined him, but even together they were barely able to make it budge.

“Ero! Do you think your power ability will make me strong enough to lift this?” asked Scott quickly.

“No... At least not enough to let you both go through.” said Ero.

Scott frowned then shook his head to Rhea. However, another thought occurred to him. “Ero, can you go make some sacred water and bring it back?”

“Sure! I’ll do my fairy best, Scott!” exclaimed the little fairy.

The tiny little fairy separated from her rapidly dying love interest then flew through the bars of the portcullis. It was all up to her now.

Scott reached over and took Rhea’s hand. They could not speak, but some things were easily said when left unspoken.