Long chapter is long. Ish. Please enjoy.

Chapter 24: Broken Bonds

Frost inhaled the earthy scents of the tunnel, attempting to steady his nerves as he gripped the cold, iron staff in his hands and leaned his back against a wall near an intersection of pathways. He took another breath, his eyes closed, and his body trembling as he thought about what he was doing. He questioned himself for the umpteenth time that day, fearing that he would die halfway through the plan and the fairies would be killed while he was waiting to respawn. If that happened, he would be stuck with the curse and the fairies would be left to die. With a third breath he reminded himself that their lives and their curse were in his hands, so he couldn't allow himself to fail. He wouldn't even consider it a possibility any longer, because failure wasn't a result that he could accept.

With the next breath opened his eyes and stood up straight, giving the staff one last squeeze to calm himself as much as possible before he began. The fairies would be on the upper level of the city above him, distracting the guards with their demonic appearance at that moment. He took one last breath, just five deep breaths to precede the nightmare he was about to bring on himself. He was taking on an entire city full of armed guards and adventurers who would see nothing more than a rampaging demon with a death wish. Trying to make it through a city while appearing to be a demon was no different from running a deadly gauntlet. Running a gauntlet after not sleeping more than a few hours the past three days and with no idea whether or not there was even a sliver of a chance that he might succeed. 'Yeah. No problem.'

Frost activated Burst of Speed as he rounded the corner, sprinting at full speed towards the gates of the underground city. Six heavily armed guards stood at the end of the tunnel that led into the city. The presence of "demons" above them had increased the alertness level of the guards, but he hoped that they had sent a significant portion of their soldiers to prepare for a demon army attacking the city. If the city sent people to hunt them down, the fairies could simply use their magic to run away. If nothing else, an army of monsters should attract the attention of players who would see it as an event of some sort. It wasn't the most brilliant plan anyone had ever concocted, but it was just about the only idea he could come up with other than stressing about the fairies and trying to protect them from every little bit of danger as he found a place for them within the tower.

The guards held pikes out, bravely trying to stop his advance by impaling what must have looked like a hideous, charging beast on their weapons. Take on an army without knowing how far he had to run, without knowing the number of enemies he had to face and without knowing which direction the end goal was in? Frost smiled behind the mask he still wore, waiting until just before he was impaled on the spikes to make his move, Shadow Jumping behind them and moving forward without stopping. He had a bit of confidence because he had already been through something similar during the trials to gain his class. It would be difficult, but he had the skills and the stats to outrun and escape the city as long as nothing unexpected happened.

The curse wasn't meant to prevent someone like Frost from escaping the tower, it was meant for Seraya. The way he saw it, Frost had more mobility than anyone else in the game, having the ability to teleport to shadows, slip into the shadow realm, and run faster than anyone else he had met so far. Seraya never could have escaped the tower the same way that he could attempt to, so she had been stuck there in the chaos zone fearing for her life and the lives of those she loved. He grit his teeth as he ran into another group of guards, tripping them, disarming them, and generally disrupting their ability to fight him or chase him down.

He didn't stop moving for more than the few moments it took to slow down his pursuers, and the chaos of the people panicking as they ran for cover made it harder for any of the guards to get to him and stop him. His escape was going smoothly for the first few minutes and Frost was starting to think that he would have less trouble than he originally thought. It seemed as if the city had really been concerned by the approaching demons and sent a large amount of their forces to the upper level. They didn't close any gates on the lower levels because they didn't want to prevent adventurers from making it back to the city safely. He should be able to get through the city before whatever army was above him could make their way into his path.

A large fireball flew out of one of the side streets as he passed by and he barely reacted fast enough to roll in an effort to avoid it. He still felt the flames sear his back and his left arm, having been unprepared for the surprise attack that still hit him despite his best efforts to avoid it. He stared down a group of smug looking adventurers as he slid to a stop at the intersection, trying to get an understanding of what he was up against. Four warriors stood in front of a mage who was already casting another spell in his direction. Five small orbs formed around the mage's hand that he held palm out towards Frost. He finished the incantation and the orbs spread out before speeding to a convergence point directly behind Frost.

He tried to move out of the path of the orbs, but they chased him, exploding next to him when they were within arms reach. This time, he had been prepared for the attack and jumped to the shadow of a building, taking minimal damage from the chain of explosions where he had been standing. He continued his full speed run down the main street of the city, deciding to interact with the more dangerous looking adventurers as little as possible. The average player would have a much greater chance to slow him down than a group of NPC soldiers, with all the skills and abilities they could potentially have. He didn't want to risk being tied down by unwanted fights , allowing others to catch up and join the fight. The longer he stayed in one place, the more that enemies would surround him until he no longer had any chance of escaping.

Frost began to get the impression that the city itself was much larger than he had originally anticipated, having expected the typical game city barely larger than a town. The city in the tower was actually the size of a large town as far as he could tell. It would take more than a few minutes of running to cross it,even with his speed, giving his opponents up ahead the time to prepare for him. Luckily, bows were uncommon in the area, as the tunnel passageways were only about ten feet tall, making the ranged weapons less effective. Occasionally, someone would throw a dagger or a spear at him, mostly missing due to his speed and the illusion that made him look much larger than he actually was.

Under the combined assault of weaponized magic and steel, his health was chipped away bit by bit until he began to fear that he would die in vain. Still, he refused to give up or fall into a state of despair again, and focused on the task at hand. He stopped paying attention to health bars, levels, and statistics, focusing only on the stamina and shadow energy he had left. He only needed to reach the far side of the city and escape, only needed to dodge attacks, and he only needed to survive. He knew from the start that it was a fool's errand, destined to end in failure, but he roared in defiance as he swept an adventurer out of his way with a mighty swing of his staff.

He fell into a rhythm as he moved, using alleyways and walls to lose his pursuers while staying close enough to the main road that he would easily be able to get back to it. The illusion had to have changed its shape or size to fit through the small pathways between buildings or it would make the illusion's true nature obvious to anyone who so much as glanced at it. The buildings continued on, monotonous and grey, lit by glowing lamps and small chips of luminescent stone built into the architecture that helped to give the city an even lighting that wasn't overly bright. He hadn't really had time to study it before and only then did he notice the city's warm, comforting glow and the nature of its source.

The constant excitement and terror of running through a hostile city, combined with the mental exhaustion of staying up for a couple of days straight, had overloaded his brain, leaving nothing but a cold, calm detachment. He was able to focus a little more and dodge attacks a little better, using his brain to plan his next steps as he ran through streets that had been emptied of citizens faster than he could run. The only people still in the streets were the ones prepared to take on a rampaging demon sprinting through the city. Some of the guards looked terrified, but resolute as they stared Frost down, ready to lay down their lives in defense of the city and its people. Some of those men and women looked so young, even to him.

As much as he could afford to, he tried to avoid hurting the people who weren't players, afraid of doing too much damage and crippling or killing someone who didn't deserve it. These were good, innocent people that were bravely laying down their lives to prevent disaster, and to them, he was nothing more than a monster. He charged a particularly frightened looking young man who held a spear in shaking hands, waiting until the last possible second before diving into the shadow realm. His shadow energy was beginning to run low and he was conserving it as much as possible, letting it slowly recover. He returned from the shadow realm to see a strange light in the distance straight ahead. It took him a moment to realize exactly what he was looking at that was so much different than the lamps and the ambient lighting.

Sunlight.

After an uncertain amount of time, he was nearing the edge of the city and the gate was in sight, letting in a stream of sunlight that reached deep into the mountainous tower. A shiver of excitement ran through him and he let out an enthusiastic yell as he finally felt the hope of escape. The light seemed to grow larger as he closed the distance to the exit and his face split into a grin. There were hardly any enemies left between him and the doors, other than a large group standing directly in front of the doorway to the outside of the tower. He could easily get past them by slipping into the shadow realm and running past them, avoiding a fight entirely.

Skeletal hands burst from the ground all around him, grabbing at his feet and dragging him to the ground before he could avoid it. A dozen spells and a handful of arrows flew over his head, probably passing directly through the poorly designed demonic beast illusion. From what he remembered when he saw the illusion on Seraya, it was far too large and bulky to be pulled low to the ground in the same way a humanoid creature would. Noticing that the illusion couldn't follow Frost to the ground, he decided to use that to his advantage. When the hands disappeared, he pounced forward, running the last few hundred meters on all fours. Arrows sailed above him and lightning missed him by a hairsbreadth as the melee fighters stepped forward to form a wall at the front of the group.

A large serpent, made entirely of fire, flew at him and then split into several smaller versions of itself as it drew near, causing Frost to throw himself to the ground in order to avoid getting hit. He looked up and all of his hopes were crushed as the last of the sunlight vanished behind closed doors. They had closed the exit to the city in an attempt to seal him inside, as if they knew his purpose or had a reason to prevent him from leaving. He punched the ground and cried out in frustration. He had come so close, made it so far, and they had closed the doors right in front of him, as if to mock him. He watched as six men lifted a large wooden board and placed it into it's holder, barring the gates.

He stood up slowly, grinding his teeth as he looked at his feet with a simmering anger plastered across his face. His lips curled into a twisted smile and he let out a crazed laugh as he covered his eyes with one hand. "Heh. Ha! Hahahah..." He quickly sat back down and took a deep breath to calm himself before he completely snapped. It wasn't over yet. He looked up at all the people in front of him, and every single one of them besides the six men who had lifted the plank were players. Almost thirty players stood between him and the barred door guarded by soldiers. Mages and archers prepared for their next round of assault while the wall of fighters stood ready for the demon beast's charge.

Not wanting to disappoint, he ran headlong at the players with a cold fury, knowing that there was someone intentionally working against him. The only explanation for why they would close the gates and keep a dangerous rampaging demon inside was that someone knew that he was trying to escape and they didn't want him to. There was a good chance that someone was trying to stop him from breaking the curse, and knew the consequences involved. When Frost was close enough, the players attacked him with everything they had, throwing their best attacks at him in the hopes that it would finish him off. However, he was close enough that he could use some abilities of his own.

With a flourish of his staff, he moved into a position that would allow him to strike an opponent with a heavy blow as he sunk into his own shadow and out of someone else's as though they were rippling puddles that were somehow connected. Having shadow jumped behind an archer, he swung with all of his strength, hitting the man's head hard enough to knock him from his feet and leave him dazed. The end of his staff flicked out and caught a spell-caster in the stomach and from there on he moved through the vulnerable back line, tripping, striking, and sewing chaos among the spell casters and others who attacked from range. They must have had no knowledge of his abilities to place themselves into such a disadvantageous arrangement.

Of course, there was no way he could take on over two dozen players at the same time, even if they were of an average level. He wasn't trying to kill them all though, he was trying to provoke them. He danced between mages and archers who were unfamiliar with close combat, doing everything he could to make them angry. An archer even had the guts to try and punch him, but it was a clumsy attempt that made it easy for Frost to knock the man on his ass. The players were clearly confused that the hulking monster before them was so nimble and strange. The design of the beast was so that adventurers would stumble upon it and be frightened into unleashing their most powerful attacks on Seraya, destroying her before they could notice anything strange. It was an imperfect design not meant for anyone other than her, waiting deep in the tower for someone to find and kill her.

A tall, heavily armored knight reached Frost, raising his large hammer to strike a decisive blow on the beast's flank only to take a blow to the ribs that knocked the air out of him. A pair of following strikes to the knee and the chin left the big man falling backwards as the weapon fell out of his hands. The game stayed true to its semi-realistic style, making blunt weapons more effective than blades against heavily armored foes. Having gained more than enough attention, he stumbled out of the mass of adventurers and crouched low, waiting. They surrounded him, gathering themselves for another attack, spreading out their warriors in case he tried the same trick again. He let them organize themselves as the mages chanted and the archers nocked arrows.

A mage shot another fireball at him and instead of dodging, he let it hit, rolling backwards as the flaming orb passed through him. There was a brief moment of silence before the adventurers unleashed every single attack they had in his direction all at once. Electric arrows, flying blades, spears of acid, and an assortment of magical energies flew at him in a wave as the guards behind him abandoned their positions. He activated shadow armor, consuming a significant portion of his left over energy, and he held his position, not daring to move from that spot until the attacks began to hit. He moved backwards one small step at a time, dodging some of the attacks with the barest of movements only to be hit by others. His health quickly dropped to dangerous levels as the wave passed, but he still didn't dare to move if his plan was going to work.

He was able to dodge the worst of the wave of attacks and most of the follow up attacks that were probably going right through the illusion of the beast, its great size being the largest flaw in its design. He glanced behind him, and his brow creased with his determination to withstand another wave of attacks. He would only need to withstand one more, but he didn't have the health required to withstand even the weakest of their attacks if he was hit by too many of them. Still, he stood his ground and waited for the next wave of deadly attacks with grim defiance. His Adrenaline skill had already kicked in, but it would do little against the blanket of attacks that came from the players. They released their attacks as someone screamed the command and he left it all up to fate, too tired to do anything else. He fell onto his back as the fear of certain death washed over him and left as quickly as it appeared.

The great majority of the attacks missed him, crashing into the closed doors behind him, further damaging the wooden plank holding the doors shut. He stood and moved the last step backwards to stand directly in front of the door, a smug look on his face as he stared at his enemies that were kind enough to help him make his escape. One more wave of magic ought to be enough to fully break the plank, and the greedy look in their eyes showed him that they smelled blood. His health was below ten percent and his stamina wasn't too much better off. The illusion most likely revealed his state to his enemies, letting them know that he was weak and enticing them to go in for the kill. A third and final wave of magic, arrows, and thrown weapons filled the air in front of him and he took a step back, walking into the shadow he cast on the door as he used the last of his shadow energy to enter the shadow realm once more.

He waited a few seconds before returning to the mortal realm, and went into motion the moment he was back. The plank holding the doors shut was in pieces at that point and with his impressive strength, he was easily able to remove it from one of the doors. He pushed the door open just enough to slip through and started running down the short tunnel as fast as he could manage. He had used too much stamina using burst of speed multiple times in succession so that he could make it through the city, but he had underestimated its size and now his stamina was running dangerously low. He stumbled and had to struggle to stay on his feet as passed into direct sunlight and a bird made of lightning just barely missed his head from behind him.

He tried to yell out for help, but an arrow hit him directly in the back and sent him tumbling into the dirt. Breathing heavily, he realized that he didn't know how long it would take to break the curse, or what he had to do. He was filled with uncertainty as he cried out for aid. "Someone please break this curse. Emiri. Gods. Anyone! Please, just end it!" He felt nothing and it didn't seem to have worked, but he wasn't about to accept the god's ignorance of his plight. He was there, outside the tower where he was supposed to be, as Seraya had said. All he had to do was pray to the gods.

Arrows and magic filled the air around him, burning and damaging him as the players tried to destroy him. He growled and clenched his fist with the ring he had received from his patron goddess Emiri. He brought the ring to his lips and spoke softly into the ring. "Emiri, I swear to you, that if you don't break this fucking curse here and now, I will turn against you. I will become your nightmare and I will raze the heavens or whatever damned place you come from until I find you, and I will show you hell."

The players yelled in excitement as they caught up with Frost and prepared to finish the demon beast that lay broken on the ground before them. A wave of frigid air exploded outwards from Frost and he could the curse shattering, completely destroyed once and for all. A delicate hand made of pure darkness rose from his shadow and grasped his forearm to drag him into a place that was black as pitch, but he was too overcome with a mixture of emotions to care and he lost consciousness as he sunk deep into the void.

Star and Nala

To say that Nala was disappointed would have been a terrible understatement, hardly adequate to describe the way she felt as she raced with Star back towards the city. They had finally met some people they could enjoy playing the game with, only to discover that Grud wasn't the person he had pretended to be. His actions and his attitude put a wedge between the group's members, reminding them that they were playing a game and any one of them could be deceiving the others. Rather than continue forward as a single entity, they were split into groups of two to comb the corridors of the ancient stone tower in search of demons, and they were barely working together at all.

She absentmindedly chewed on her lower lip as she switched her focus into thinking about their quest. They were running out of time to find and stop the demons before they could escape, and she had seen almost no sign of demons other than the occasional random encounter with the usual mobs. She began to doubt herself, mentally kicking herself for being a fool after having more time to think about her plan to chase them back to the city. It made no sense that the demons would try to break through the city's defenses and make it into the outside world. There was no way they could manage it without losing a significant number of their own, even if they were a higher level than the city guards and the average adventurer.

Star and Nala had taken a path on the upper level, further to the East than Sir Galahad and Skoff who were on the same floor as them. There were two accessible entrances to the city on the level that they were on, an East and a West entrance at opposite ends of the city. Nala had given up on the quest already, deciding to find some work in the city the moment they returned. Star was her persistent self as usual, refusing to give up until the absolute end, or until something better came along. She should have known better than to trust a quest with unrealistically high rewards, even if it was originally given to them by servants of Arkiel, Star's patron god.

If Nala was being honest with herself, she didn't want to give up on the quest either, hoping that by some miracle or strange circumstance, she would be right and they would run into the demons soon. She checked the real world time on her screen, deciding that they had a little over an hour left to play the game before Star had to stop playing for the night. It would give them enough time to reach the city and find a quest or two that they could complete the next time they played. Recognizing the signs that lead people to the entrance of the city, she began to relax as she thought about what she would do the next day. That's when she heard the sound, a dull screech that echoed through the area.

Star and Nala stopped to stare at each other with eyes wide open before breaking into a full run in the direction of the city. It wasn't long before they reached a small army of demons flooding the corridor, letting out terrible shrieks that gave Nala goosebumps. She cringed as she saw their grotesque features, their horrid green flesh spewing pus, and their bodies emitting a putrid stench. They were hideous monsters that hissed viciously at them when the pair approached, but they didn't attack, preferring to remain as an army that could swarm small groups of enemies. Nala called for aid, letting the other party members know that they had found the demons as they prepared to be attacked by the creatures.

The demons charged her and Star, but then split off into side paths, scattering into the mountain. A large, heavily armed force of knights marched into view and looked about as confused as they were. It seemed that the city had sent an army to deal with the demons that were harassing the guards on the upper level, but the moment they arrived, the creatures ran off. She made up her mind and chased after a group of them, determined to at least attempt the test now that her hope of success were renewed. She already had her short-swords out, ready for a fight as anyone should be when traversing monster filled areas. She had expected to catch them almost immediately with her speed, but once they were spread out in the tunnels, the demons moved surprisingly fast.

Star fell behind, along with the soldiers, but Nala was slowly gaining ground on the four demons in front of her as they fled. They tried to lose her with sharp turns around corners, but she was close enough that she wouldn't lose them so easily. She slipped one of her swords into its sheath so that she would have a free hand to grab the demon in the back of the group and drag it to the ground. As they turned another corner, she reached out and grabbed the slimy neck of one of the disgusting, goblin-like demons. The two crashed into the wall with their momentum, but she refused to let go, mounting the demon and putting her sword at its throat.

She bared her teeth in a victorious grin as she watched the other demons disappear around a corner. It seemed that they had not noticed their companion being captured, which was all well and good to her, considering that she was planning to use the creature. She faced the smelly creature, studied it with a sickened but fascinated curiosity. "You're going to lead me to your buddies, or I'm going to kill you right here." She grimaced at the feeling of her hand on its shoulder that was greasy and cold.

The knobby, disfigured head shook in defiance, the little beast refusing to tell her where its friends were. It sneered at her threateningly, but it didn't move, didn't so much as try to scratch her with its wicked looking claws. It just looked at her as if it wanted to murder her, its eyes smoldering with evil hate. 'They won't fight you or hurt you, no matter how threatening and dangerous they appear.' That was what that man had said about the demons, but how could she trust someone who hides behind a mask? She kicked herself for not asking him about why he wore a mask in the first place. 'Doesn't matter, I'll just ask him next time. Oh, that's right. I might never see him again.'

She shook her head to dismiss the thought and raised her blade, poised to deliver a deadly strike to the demon's throat. "Tell me where they are or I'll kill you and go find them anyway. It turned its head to look away, not even bothering to respond as it accepted its fate. "You have 'till the count of three. One." He had called them children, hadn't he? Even if they were children, they were still evil demons. Right? "Two." Then again, who had ever heard of a demon sacrificing their own life to protect its allies? They were supposed to be selfish and cruel. She couldn't know what was right. If she let them live, they might go on to kill people and do terrible things. If she killed them, she could be killing innocent children.

She hesitated long enough that a head poked around the corner, growling menacingly at Nala. Another head appeared below the other, followed by another on the other side of the fork in the pathways. More heads popped out until there was no more room and the grotesque creatures began to spill into the hallway. Feeling slightly relieved, she jumped to her feet and whipped out her other sword, nearly bumping into another demon behind her that screeched alarmingly. Her heart was racing as she put her back to the wall, preparing for the inevitable death that would come when they swarmed her. She would take as many of them with her as she could, even if it was only one or two of them. She had been tricked and lured into a trap, and she was furious at them and at herself for allowing it to happen.

The moment passed with the demons standing their ground, staring at her with the same hate as the one on the ground. The demon she had captured joined the crowd surrounding Nala and turned to face her as the others did. Once again, she questioned whether or not they were truly demons, feeling as if she was on an emotional roller-coaster. That's when she realized that the wolf mask wasn't there, protecting them. "Where is he?" she surprised herself when she asked the question aloud. They didn't respond, so she tried again, louder than before, wanting desperately to have some answers. "Where's the man in the wolf mask?"

When she mentioned him, she thought she could sense some change in them, a determination in their eyes and their bearing that wasn't there before. It was surprising to anything other than hate and resentment from them, but it wasn't necessarily any better. She could sense that they wouldn't tell her anything about him, because he was their guardian, their friend. She put her swords away, deciding that she wasn't willing to risk doing something horrible just because a quest asked her to do something. This game was more realistic than most, and there were probably situations where even quest givers could be mistaken. She let her companion know relatively where she was with windspeak, relaxing a bit when she wasn't attacked in that vulnerable moment, uncertain as she still was about them. Even if it was only a game, murdering children would still make her feel terrible.

They all began to file down a single corridor, many of them meandering by her to go in that direction as they followed their friends. Nala shadowed them easily, since they were no longer running at full speed. In fact, their slow, relaxed gait made them look as though they were ready to fall over from exhaustion. They didn't look tired, but then again, they looked too awful for anyone to be able to tell. They were headed deeper into the mountain, and her quest was to keep the demons from escaping out into the world, so she had no reason to kill them anyway, as long as they stayed inside the tower. If they tried to leave the tower, then they were probably trying to trick her, and she would kill them. Taking a look at them, she had to wonder if maybe they were a little too ugly and sickening to be real demons.

Nala followed them to a big open chamber with no exits other than the one they entered through. The creatures went to the back and sat down, huddling together in the shadows. The room was dark, lit only by a pair of torches at the entrance that were insufficient to light more than an insignificant part of the room. Star was the first to find her, giving Nala time to explain what she thought about the quest and what had happened. Star looked a bit skeptical, but she trusted Nala and promised to take her side when the others arrived. Skoff and Sir Galahad arrived next, ready for a fight, but Nala stopped them before anyone was hurt.

They were in the middle of a calm discussion about the best course of action when Bluejay and Grud found their way to the large chamber. Grud was shockingly calm at first, agreeing that they could wait for the rest of the party since they had the demons cornered. When Nala mentioned that she didn't think they should kill them, Grud gave her such a baleful glare that even she was startled by it. "In that case, it doesn't matter what you think, because I'm going to kill them anyway, and anyone else who gets in my way," he sneered at her.

Nala wasn't the type of person to back down when someone tries to bully her. She drew her blades, cold fury flowing out of her as she stared daggers at Grud. He chuckled and pulled out his axes, mockingly saying "Are you gonna attack me and become a dark player?"

"Duel me. If you win..."

"No," He drew out the word as he cut her off, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop him besides attacking him illegally according to the laws of the game world.

"If you win, I won't stand in your way," She had thought that Grud was just some meathead, but it seemed he wasn't as dumb as she thought.

"If you take off all your equipment and fight me naked, I'll consider it."

Star reacted faster than anyone, jumping in front of Grud and grabbing him by the shirt. "You bastard! How dare you!" He easily pushed her to the ground off to the side, leering at her.

Nala was too stunned by his words to be as angry as she should have been, and she spoke almost absentmindedly, "You're a much more terrible person than I thought." She stepped forward as quick as she could manage and stabbed Grud's throat with the tip of her sword. She followed up with precise, compact slashes as he backed away from her, sloppily trying to defend against an assault he wasn't prepared for.. A warning popped up in the corner of her screen that she promptly ignored while continuing to cut away at Grud's health. He jumped backwards and activated his Berserk ability that would temporarily increase his attack speed and his strength. He had used it during the fight with the wolf mask as well, but it was hard to tell that he had done anything at all unless enough time was spent playing with him. He had some other abilities that went with his rare class, but many of them were passive effects that made him better at fighting or taking damage.

She activated a few abilities of her own, her armor and weapons suddenly glowing with golden light that brightened up the room. It wasn't even about the little demons anymore, it was about not backing down to a man who was a dreadful person and a bully. Star glowered at Bluejay who held his hands up and declared his innocence, trying to explain that he wasn't part of Grud's despicable actions. Skoff and Sir Galahad both frowned at Grud, but they didn't want to become dark players, so they sat out of the fight. Star wouldn't help Nala unless things took a turn for the worst because she knew that the girl would want to prove that she was better than Grud and people like him.

Nala had a level and speed advantage while Grud had strength and health greatly surpassing hers. She used Soul Binding and moved even before the golden chains that popped out of the ground finished binding Grud's legs and torso. The skill only lasted six seconds, but it would prevent him from leaving that space, even if he had an escape skill like the wolf mask did. She used another ability to boost her own stats and circled around behind Grud, slashing him dozens of times before the binding spell wore off. He whirled around quicker than Nala expected and a lucky blow caught her in the side, flinging her into the nearby wall. He followed her and swung his axes crashing down upon her head.

She conjured a translucent magic shield on her left arm the same golden color as the rest of her spells, catching both of the axes on it a moment before they struck, counterattacking with a thrust of her blade to his stomach. They continued to clash, slowly tearing each other apart with grim determination. Grud was skilled, but Nala was better than him, and soon had the advantage. Grud was losing, and both of them had used their entire arsenal of skills. They had both run out of mana and all that was left was pure fighting skill.

The two were circling each other again when a voice boomed, "Enough of this!" They both looked over to see that Arizona had arrived looking none too pleased at seeing his comrades fighting. "What the hell is going on here?" They both tried to explain their sides of the argument, and when they finished, Arizona looked sternly towards Nala who was already a dark player at that time.

"I hate to do this, but he's right about the demons, even if he is an asshole." He sent a cross look towards Grud who smirked in reply. "I would normally agree with you, but most of us have to go soon and we can't wait around here to keep an eye on them to prevent them from leaving. If we want to finish this quest, we have to do it now, and we put too much effort into it to give it up, so don't even suggest it. Sorry, but that's the way it is." He drew his sword and headed towards the demons with purpose. The other's followed, preparing their spells and weapons for a battle. The creatures stood, able to read the hostility and intent coming from the adventurers.

Nala collapsed to the floor, having concluded that efforts had been wasted, only resulting in her becoming a dark player. Tears of frustration at being impotent and weak flowed from her eyes because she knew she couldn't stop them, even with Star's help. She had finally decided which side to take and was immediately told that she was wrong. She turned to look at the poor creatures on the far side of the room and watched with her knees brought to her chest. It wasn't fair, but they were probably right, and she was just confused by the words of that man in the wolf mask. She hated him for that, and just wished they would get it over with.

Grud sent one more smug look towards Nala and lifted his axe into the air with a deliberate and exaggerated slowness to rub it in that he had beaten her in the end, even if he had nearly lost the fight. He turned to the demons and swung, attempting to decapitate the closest one. A blast of icy wind emanating from the demons spread throughout the room, knocking the adventures back a few steps and throwing them off balance. A web of cracks appeared in the terrible visages of the little monsters, and green light spilled forth from them. The monsters seemed to break apart, glowing shards falling to the ground and becoming motes of light that dissipated shortly after coming into existence.

Before long, the only thing left was a group of handsome children with colorful insect wings standing where the demons had been. Tears spilled from their eyes and some bawled while others danced with joy. Everyone was dumbfounded by what had happened to the little monsters right before their eyes. It was a beautiful scene, watching the putrid creatures turn into beautiful fairy children who celebrated and cheered. The players didn't know what to do with themselves, other than Grud who was not convinced by the spectacle. He surged forward to attack the fairies, but two sharp needles of pain pierced up through his sides and into his chest. Even though the pain was only a small portion of reality, having two swords in his chest burned, and he screamed in outrage at Nala who stood just behind him.

She twisted the blades, using them to keep a grip on him as they ate at his health, slowly draining him of life. He managed to throw her off and pull out the swords, only to find Star's sword in his neck. She twisted and pulled it out, the blade taking a portion of his health with it as she stepped away from the fight. Nala was on him before he could recover, once again sinking her blades deep into his sides with a wild look on her face. She was swiftly impaled by a spear of condensed fire, tearing her away from Grud and throwing her body across the floor. She slid to a stop fifteen meters away as the spear dissolved, looking up to see that Arizona had attacked her. Fat Steve healed Grud with a strong spell, and she could do nothing but glare at them.

"We still can't prove that they aren't demons," Arizona said. "This could all be an illusion."

"The illusion has been destroyed. We are free now." One of the little fairies spoke to them, attempting to be serious but having difficulty containing her joy. The party turned to see that the fairies had stopped their celebration and stood firmly as a group. A pretty little boy fairy ran over to help Nala to her feet, his smile warming her heart. Then a window appeared across her screen and she could see that the others received messages as well from the way their eyes unfocused.

Quest complete. You have discovered that the true nature of the rumored demons is actually a company of cursed fairies. Do not kill them or there will be terrible consequences.

Rewards: 300 gold pieces , 22,000 exp., Eilan's Leather Armor[/TR]

She dismissed the message and slumped her shoulders while her fox ears drooped, feeling tired beyond just physically, and hoping that it was all over. Grud could still attack the fairies, but they were now considered friendly and he would become a dark player. The others wouldn't hesitate to take him down, so he couldn't do whatever he wanted. They began to awkwardly shuffle out of the room, heading back to town where they would log off for the day.

"You were right," Star spoke softly, standing next to Nala, close enough that she could support her if she needed it.

"No, he was telling the truth. I guess we owe him an apology."

"Seriously? Apologize to that murderer guy?"

"Maybe he's not so bad after all."

"What do you mean?"

"Well he fought against us to protect them," Nala waved a hand to gesture towards the fairies. "He fought with people at Kharz Forest to stop them from killing wolves. Maybe he's just an NPC that protects other innocent NPC's and creatures that can't protect themselves."

"What if he's not an NPC?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Do you think that's possible?"

"I doubt it," Star watched as the fairies bowed to Nala and thanked her for trying to protect them. She could see how someone could grow to care deeply about the fairies, but there was no way that anyone could have know what they really were.

"Yeah. I think so too."