Fantasy The Clueless Wizard (Completed)

[ArcticFox]

"I'm the King, Wizard. We both have our duties to fulfil. Besides, if you get yourself killed, I will be here to defend Blackcliffe." King Tobias said, before the guards escorted her out of the palace.

Both Kogan and Alexei were sure bets as both of them grew a liking to Arden during her stay in the Kingdom and both were vested in protecting their home.

However, Mel was not at all glad to see her go. When she relayed the news to him, the elf stared at her dumbfounded for a good long minute, before finally opening his mouth to speak.

"Just... be safe out there." Was all he said and it was obvious that it took all of his strength to steady his voice.

- Kiss him.
- Hug him.
- Break up with him.

 

[Yokai]

》Break up with him.

"I'm so sorry," Arden whispered before she could stop herself. The apology slipped from her lips unbidden and she winced, arms crossed over her chest like a barrier. She couldn't look him in the eye. "I really thought that this could work between us, and I'm not really sure what I expected when I became a wizard but... it wasn't this." She swallowed the lump in her throat, there was a vaguely glassy sheen to her eyes but Arden steadfastly avoided his gaze.

"If -- when -- I return, I'd like to continue this relationship if you still want me but until then..." Arden trailed off, unsure of how to continue without doing more damage. Mel deserved better than waiting for her to return, than not knowing whether she would make it back. Arden didn't get to make promises but she genuinely thought that if there was anybody who she could've trusted enough to love then it would have been him. "I'm sorry, Mel."

 

[ArcticFox]

Mel nodded in understanding. "You are going on a long and dangerous trip. It would tax the best of relationships."

He closed the distance between then and hugged her tightly. It lasted but for a moment, before he turned around and left.

--

Arden was more and more like a main character from a fantasy novel. Was this how Frodo felt when he left on his grand quest? She was wearing her wizardly robes and an entire kingdom was counting on her.

She was given a horse, a chestnut mare with a mild personality that even an inexperienced rider would have no trouble with. Her two companions rode beside her on two stallions, one grey and one white, both very large and mean looking. They greeted her with nods before trotting through the gate and leaving the safety of the city walls.

- Ride hard that day.
- Pace yourself.
- Take it easy.

 

[Yokai]

》Pace yourself.

Arden had dressed sensibly for the journey with her comfortable leather boots, black lace-up trousers, and an equally black shirt in her preferred pirate style. Tazz's amulet was hidden by the high collar and Alexei's cloak was still clasped in place. Besides Watson and the basics she couldn't think of anything else to bring. There was nothing of sentimental value in Blackcliffe for her to take with her, though she wished for something to remind her of Mel. Then again, maybe it was for the best that she didn't.

Moving out of the city Arden set a comfortable pace not wanting to tire the horses too quickly. They had a ways to go, after all, and while she wanted it to be over with it'd be reckless to move too fast. Still, Arden remained quiet for most of the journey; unable to think of anything to lighten the mood as her mind frequently wandered. Initially she thought of Mel and what the future held -- both subjects made her stomach churn with unease. Eventually she settled on a more comforting train of thought, that being the landscape around her. Arden hadn't been outside of Blackcliffe before, in fact she'd done little traveling when she was in Australia. Probably because she didn't want to die from the animals or the weather conditions.

 

[ArcticFox]

The first day rolled slowly, they rode past the Temple of the Four and then south west, following a stream that would lead them to a road that led in the direction of Pella's Wish, the settlement they wanted to reach. Pella's Wish was a small village still inside Traethia's borders that would provide some sort of respite for the weary travellers, before they ventured into enemy territory. But still, it would take almost a week to reach it.

Alexei looked to be enjoying the ride. He would often spur his mount ahead to scout, then circle all the way back, conversing with his grey stallion like it was a person. At times he would fall in line beside the two of them, to report that nothing unusual was ahead or behind. Kogan was grumbling most of the way, because apparently nothing suited him. The big orc looked quite clumsy in the saddle and he would often lose balance and then pull on the stallion's reins too tightly, making the horse neigh in protest. It was clear that he was not really built for horse riding.

- Ride beside Kogan.
- Scout forward with Alexei.

 

[Yokai]

》Ride beside Kogan.

As much as Arden appreciated Alexei's enthusiasm for the trip she couldn't help but feel exhausted by his unchecked excitement. Normally she'd be right there with him, enjoying the sights and chattering away. But instead she just felt vaguely tired and apprehensive about the whole ordeal. Which was why she fell back to ride alongside Kogan who looked as if he'd been sucking on lemons... well, more lemons than usual. It was misery town at the back of the trio, population: them.

"Cheer up, buttercup," Arden said, because she apparently had a death wish. "If you want we can find a carriage in the next town and stick you in the back." She sent him a cheerful wink to indicate that she was teasing him.

"You'd make such a pretty princess~"

 

[ArcticFox]

"Not funny." Kogan growled. His horse chose that moment to jolt suddenly, making him bounce in the saddle without any grace. Alexei laughed from the front of the group, only making the orc scowl further.

"Let's turn south and down to the path." Alexei called out, trotting toward them from up ahead. "It's clear, there's no one on the road for kilometres in both ways."

"Better to stay off it for now. It is too open down there." Kogan objected. "The forest will provide some shade too. I say we continue forward and through it."

"No, that would lengthen out journey too much." Alexei shook his head.

- Follow the road
- Continue off road.

 

[Yokai]

》Follow the road.

Arden resisted the urge to pout because c'mon, she was hilarious! It wouldn't hurt to have a little appreciation; which was also why when Alexei's laughter rung out from up ahead, it only served to make her more smug. Instead of replying to Kogan's grumbling she stuck her tongue out at him when he wasn't looking. She was a mature adult who was working through some issues.

"I vote road," Arden spoke up as she slanted Kogan a look that she hoped conveyed her own sympathetic dislike of being on a horse. Spirit -- and yes, she'd named her horse after a fantastic children's movie -- had a great temperament but that didn't change the fact that Arden's butt was starting to become numb. "We should try to make good time while we're in safer territory," Arden reasoned, trying to sway the larger orc with her best attempt at puppy dog eyes. "And I know you want to be off that horse as soon as possible too."

 

[ArcticFox]

"Fine." Kogan said, clearly not satisfied with the choice, but not the one to hold a grudge.

They moved to follow the stream down the slight slope and toward the well trodden dirt path that led to the west through the plains, passing by a thick forest.

The journey that day was not too exciting. After some time, Alexei fell in with the two of them, slowing his pace to ride beside Arden. Even though he was a composed and reasonable man, he seemed not to enjoy the silence, so he talked to pass the time, pointing at various mountains and hills, explaining what lied which way.

"Those snowy peaks to the north are the ridges of the Crass mountain. At the bottom of it lies Crasmere. A big city, very prosperous.
"Ahead of us are the plains, for another ten kilometres, then we will reach the more fertile countryside.
"The weather in these parts is mild, we could sleep in the open every night without a need for a fire. Though we should build a fire to prepare a decent meal."

Kogan was still sullen, apparently in pain from riding and not at all in the mood to talk.

They stopped twice to have breakfast and lunch and then continued their ride without much pause. They needed to be efficient after all.

When night fell and they dismounted, the orc was visibly relieved. He immediately removed the saddle from his horse and tossed it to ground as if that was the source of all of his troubles. Then he stretched his sore limbs and finally went to find some firewood.

Alexei tethered all of their horses together and went to prepare a meal.

- Help Kogan.
- Help Alexei.
- Prepare everyone's sleeping bags.

 

[Yokai]

》Prepare everyone's sleeping bags.

Alexei's conversation was a welcome distraction from Arden's earlier brooding, especially since she didn't have to contribute much other than a few prompting comments and teasing remarks. Their day progressed slowly and between the pauses in their discussion she was able to sort through her thoughts. Unfortunately she left her feelings untouched; she wouldn't be touching those with a ten foot pole, at least not for a while.

When they stopped to make camp for the night she couldn't help but feel relieved as she slid from her saddle with a quiet breath. Spirit received a grateful neck rub for her efforts and then Arden was blissfully stretching out her muscles. There was a reason that cars and trains were invented, and it had something to do with how bruised her hips and thighs felt.

"Call if you need any help lighting the fire," Arden said lightly, once she'd finished stretching, reaching over to unpack their sleeping bags. It took a moment of thoughtful pacing but she found a fairly comfortable looking patch of earth -- as comfortable as earth got -- and unraveled their sleeping bags. As far as sleeping arrangements went she placed herself in the middle of the two because safety. Also because if she got cold she'd 100% be initiating that group hug. God knows that Kogan needed one.

 

[ArcticFox]

"I know how to light a fire, Wizard." Kogan said, giving her a glare. "Besides, I'm not risking you burning us all down."

Alexei simply shook his head at their bickering and proceeded to chop down the fresh vegetables and meat the brought with them, so they could be used for stew. Night had fell already, but the fire provided enough light for them to see what they were doing. It was a bit too warm to be close to the fire, though, but it still served its purpose.

Their bowls were soon filled with tasty stew as they sat around the fire and under the starts. Arden could not help but notice how much darker it was out in the open like this. Blackcliffe still provided some sort of civilisation and its streets were lit by lamplight, no matter how primitive. It was alive. Out there in the wilderness, everything was silent, except the occasional neigh of a horse and Kogan's slurping.

- Ask Kogan to tell a story.
- Ask Alexei to tell a story.
- Tell a story.
- Eat in silence.

 

[Yokai]

》Tell a story.

The bowl of stew in her hands was warm and tasted good, and Arden would've made a comment on Alexei's culinary skills had her head not been tilted backward. Dark eyes peered skyward to black velvet that stretched out to the edges of the earth as silver studded constellations created an unfamiliar map above them. Arden felt a small twinge in her chest at the reminder of Mel, who'd pointed to different constellations and explained their meanings to her as he'd walked her home.

"Have you two heard the story of Peter Pan?" Arden asked in an attempt to distract herself, her gaze having landed on a particularly bright star. She decided to fill the silence of the night with her quiet chatter, brows furrowed slightly before the expression cleared into her normal blase attitude. It wasn't an extremely well told story. Arden paused a lot as she took bites of her stew, and often had to explain certain concepts like London, but otherwise she managed to keep it short and fairly sweet. As if telling the story to a child from memory... which she kind of was.

 

[ArcticFox]

"Your Peter Pan sounds like an elf to me." Kogan snorted. "I don't like elves."

"I think it's a nice story." Alexei said with a smile. "Thank you for telling it."

--

They had only been travelling for two days. The plains soon gave way to farmland as they were approaching the countryside and Pella's Wish. Their trip had been uneventful so far, but Arden knew that dangers lurked everywhere. She had aches all over the place. She wasn't used to riding, but she was learning. Kogan on the other side, was not getting any better at it.

Around lunch on the second day they reached one of the isolated farms. It had a large fence all around it and crops stretching in all directions. Two large men who might be taken for farmhands upon a brief inspection were standing near the back door. When they saw them riding, they quickly entered the farmhouse and hid out of view. What had caught Arden's eye was the flash of metal in one of their hands. A farmhand holding a short sword?

- Sneak up to the house.
- Walk to to the doors and knock.
- Go around the farm.

 

[Yokai]

》Sneak up to the house.

Arden's melancholy had mellowed over the two days they'd been travelling, her fatalistic view of their quest reduced to the smouldering embers of paranoia. Their journey had been strangely peaceful in the beginning which left the young wizard feeling a little suspicious of the isolated farm house they stumbled across. At the flash of metal in the sunlight, and the way that the two large men ducked out of sight, her paranoia grew. Why did they hide from them?

They weren't far from Blackcliffe but that didn't mean she couldn't start practicing her information gathering skills now. In fact, that sounded like a great idea! If they left the horses out of view then they could circle back to the house -- maybe Arden could use her glamours to stay out of sight? -- a little eavesdropping never hurt anybody.

Arden flashed her two companions an unnecessarily enthusiastic smile. "Let's check it out, boys."

 

[ArcticFox]

They carefully approached the house, but didn't get very far before someone shouted. The people inside of it were on high alert from already having spotted them before.

The front door opened swinging, and a few people rushed out with their swords drawn. Judging from their clothing, Arden could suspect they were bandits. Two human men and one orc.

- Use the staff.
- Use your fire magic.
- Use your glamour magic.
- Stand back and let Alexei and Kogan fight them off.

 

[Yokai]

》Use your glamour magic.

So much for that plan. Who knew, maybe Arden wasn't as sneaky or as subtle as she thought she was?

The three males that charged out of the house could be dealt with physically, whether that was by fire or sword. But Arden wasn't looking for a fight at that moment, she just wanted to know why they'd hidden and to ask them a few questions about their current whereabouts. Hiding in an abandoned house seemed suspicious and she really hoping that they weren't actually big scary bandits. In an attempt to stop the fight before it had even begun Arden reached out with a glamour spell, one that would pose herself and her two companions as a non-threat. After all, these men didn't really want to attack them, right?

 

[ArcticFox]

The men stopped as one when she cast her magic spell. They looked at their drawn swords as if confused by them and then at Arden and others. Arden's two companions were equally confused, but only because of the bandit's sudden stop.

The spell will not last for long, so if she wanted to ask questions or make the bandits move out of their way, this was her chance.

- Ask them something.
- Send them away.
- Deal with them.

 

[Yokai]

》Ask them something.

It worked? Arden blinked at them, seemingly just as startled for the moment before she managed to recover herself. A bright smile, aiming for charismatic, was turned upon the bandits. It was probably best to be direct in her questioning and to get the answers she wanted while she could. The spell wouldn't last forever and Arden was undecided about whether she wanted to explore their hideout.

"Hi there!" Arden greeted them, cheerful and friendly as can be. "I noticed you were hiding in that farmhouse and I was just curious about what you guys were doing out here? Seems like an odd place to hang out."

 

[ArcticFox]

"We weren't hiding. We were robbing them." The stupidest of the lot, a short balding man spoke up.

Others gave him a look, but still they sheathed their weapons, under the spell for a moment longer.

"If you are not with the guard, I suggest you leave." The orc spoke, the glamour not working on his charming personality.

"Let's just kill them. They are obviously bandits, attacking some poor farmer." Kogan snarled.

"No, let's bind them and leave them for the patrol. Guards do visit the farmlands weekly." Alexei suggested.

- Listen to Kogan.
- Listen to Alexei.
- Inspect the house.
- Do something else.

 

[Yokai]

》Listen to Alexei.

Well, that confirmed her bandit theory.

Arden's lips tugged down in obvious distaste at the idea of these men robbing innocent farmers. But still, she hadn't actively killed somebody, or tried to kill somebody, when there was another way. Arden wasn't from a world where killing people for being 'bad' was a plausible alternative. She couldn't justify that in her head. And yet, here the opportunity presented itself. That was a lot of power for an individual to have -- she'd never considered the power needed to take a life.

"Let's bind 'em and leave 'em," Arden replied, pushing the troubling thoughts aside. Alexei's course of action seemed like the lawfully good choice. "Might want to act quick though."

 

[ArcticFox]

"What are you doing?" One of the bandits recoiled when Alexei approached with a rope to bind his hands. He still struggled with the thought that he should not attack the people in front of them.

Alexei somehow managed to bind the bandit's hands peacefully, while Kogan was not that patient. When the other bandit stepped away from him, he smacked him with his large fist, sending him sprawling. The last bandit jolted at this sudden motion, but before he could fight or flee, Kogan knocked him unconscious too. The orc that Alexei bound looked at his two comrades on the ground in disbelief.

"Much easier this way." Kogan murmured as he proceeded to string them up and then plop them next to a tree.

"Nowhere is safe it seems." Alexei shrugged.

--

They had found the farmer and his family bound inside the house and once released they were so grateful that they made them stay for lunch and sent them off with a basket of warm bread and milk for the road. The farmer's sons had stayed to keep watch over the bandits.

--

The first part of their journey passed by without any trouble. They slept on the hard ground for three nights and got up with dawn to continue the ride. It was not terribly uncomfortable, because, as Alexei said, the climate was mild and they were well provisioned.

The nights and days were uneventful. Until the fourth one.

--

Arden was awoken by a nudge and a sharp whisper close to her ear.

"Take out your weapons slowly. We are not alone." It was Kogan. He crouched next to her, barely visible in the weak moonlight. The fire was extinguished and Arden could not see Alexei anywhere near.

- Listen to Kogan.
- Ask about Alexei.
- Cast a spell.

 

[Yokai]

》Ask about Alexei.

It took a short moment for the orc's words to sink in as Arden stared blearily up at his crouched form. When the warning actually registered her eyes went wide then blinked rapidly to clear away the haze of sleep. She followed his instructions slowly as she stepped out from her bedroll. Distantly Arden wondered if Kogan knew that she had no training with a sword or blade. After all, the only weapon she had to draw was Watson -- whom she liked to cuddle with and who was always on hand.

"What's happening?" Arden whispered, keeping her voice soft and low as she settled beside the orc. Her brow furrowed as she glanced around their surroundings for a certain knight. "...Where is Alexei?"

 

[ArcticFox]

"The knight went scouting behind that hill and hour ago. He did not return yet. Shh." Kogan stopped abruptly.

The horses neighed nervously. Then came a shriek. And they appeared.

"Undead!" Kogan cried out, hand covering his ears as the closest of the monsters let out another piercing shriek.

They dealt with a bloated corpse in the sewers, but that corpse did not carry a sword and did not wield a weapon as these ones did. Also it did not scream at them.

There were at least five of the undead approaching them at a steady pace. They were not fast and the two would be able to outrun them. However, Alexei was nowhere to be seen and Kogan had said that he had gone in the direction from which the undead came. You couldn't really kill what is already dead, but cutting off their limbs would incapacitate them. But they also did not know if this was all of them. The visibility was very poor and easily more of the unnatural creatures could be lurking behind the hills.

- Stay and fight them.
- Go through them to look for Alexei.
- Let Kogan distract them while you push through.
- Distract them while Kogan pushed through.
- Run away.

 

[Yokai]

》Go through them to look for Alexei.

"Why is it never anything nice," Arden muttered, resisting the urge to shrink and hide behind Kogan. "Like hedgehogs or puppies or attractive people holding food?"

Dark eyes flickered over the shoulders of the approaching undead, wincing as she recognised that they'd need to find Alexei soon. She didn't fancy leaving Kogan to deal with them by himself, though she figured it'd be best to dispatch the five and then try to find the knight. Unfortunately, something told her that fire wouldn't be that much use on something that was already dead.

"I'm not sure if my glamour will work on them," Arden admitted, her nose crinkled in thought and also maybe the smell. "But we need to stop them from, uh, moving --" Elegantly put. "-- so that we can find Alexei and get outta here."

 

[ArcticFox]

Kogan simply nodded, he did not need much convincing, as he must have been already eager to bash in some skulls.

"I'll take them on, you go through!" He shouted, no need to be silent any longer, as he rushed headfirst to meet the shambling corpses, attracting their attention.

As the undead turned toward the huge orc that rushed into them like a battering ram, which did not go far, she was able to slip between them and by the side of the hill.

Only to almost get herself impaled onto a spear. One of the undead was standing at the bottom of the hill, now turned toward Arden growling menacingly. It moved to strike her with its weapon. Beyond it, Arden could see a larger shape. A horse, lying on the ground, not moving.

- Attack the undead.
- Evade the undead.
- Go back.