//------------------------------//
// Friendship Quest X: Earth Star Village 
// Story: The Book Of Friendship 
// by XombieSlayr 
//------------------------------//



Summary




The  Manticore has been resurrected and the world is on the brink of total  destruction, but our heroes bravely face off against her in Earth Star  Village as Lord Borax returns with a secret weapon that may the key to  stopping The Manticore once and for all.





Let's Quest!




In  the ruins of the Heralds secret headquarters, all the heralds are dead,  but The Great Manticore is back and making great haste towards Earth  Star Village. But our heroes have returned to Earth Star Village with  the help of The Earth Star Guardian. The town has fallen to ruin after  the Earth Star was stolen and it's guardian kidnapped. You look around,  but now see that Lord Borax and his Pegasus assistant, Siren Song, are  nowhere to be seen.

Just as you question where he went off to,  Lord borax appears in a massive magical burst of magic. Siren song  spreads her wings as she stands close at his side. But they are not  alone as you spot a mysterious feline creature standing with them. A  slender Egyptian cat with piercing blue eyes and Egyptian jewelry takes a  step forward.

*She bows her head respectfully and introduces  herself as Agugypt, a Magical cat brought into being by Lord Borax using  Cynax's blood. She says she will aid you in destroying The Manticore as  she is able to channel Hope, which is The Manticore's greatest  weakness.

Grateful for the extra help, you all follow The Earth  Star Guardian as she goes to the center of town to put the Earth Star  back in its place. But just as you arrive, you feel a sickening despair  cut through all of you. The Manticore draws near.

The Guardian  lets go of the Earth Star and it floats back into the air above the  Demon Seal. With the star returned, seal begins to shift and warp as the  Hated Gates Of The Demon Realm begin to close. The Guardian warns you  that you will have to hold off the Manticore while the seal closes, but  only enough for someone to trap the Manticore in the seal, so she gets  sealed up into the Demon Realm.

You see a dark shape on the  horizon, as entire forests of trees die, as The Manticore passes over  them. The Manticore soars up before landing with earth shattering might  in front of Lord Jarredthrax, who is undeterred by the creature's power.  She glares evilly at him.

*Lord Borax takes his staff and smacks  The Manticore across her face. The blow knocks her back, as she tumbles  into a building, before quickly getting back up and charging at Lord  Borax.

*Agugypt and Siren Song come to his aide, and all three  battle The Manticore as the rest of the group formulates a plan to trap  her in the seal.

*Sprinkles joins the fight and fires 3  magically enchanted arrows from her Lute Crossbow at The Manticore. They  land, as one sinks into her paw, another into her side, and one right  in the eye. However it seems that nothing is able to harm her as the  arrows simply sink into her flesh like Sir Awesome's sword. She once  again takes no damage. Sprinkles rejoins the group and screams at  Magelight for help.

*The Manticore snatches Agugypt in her claw  but the feline only smiles as a mysterious holy aura shines down from  the parted skies. Her eyes light up white as the mere touch of her claw  to the Manticore's face cleaves a massive gash in her chest. Red Ichor  spills from the wound setting whatever it touches on fire, as Agugypt's  Hope infused claws sink in with a critical hit dealing 42 damage. The  Manticore reels back screaming in agony as her wound steams and burns,  letting go of Agugypt in the process.

Now knowing she can be injured, The Manticore roars in rage and tries to go after one of the group. She picks Sir Awesome.

She blasts from the ground with blazing speed and sinks her teeth into Sir Awesome's body, dealing 8 damage.

*Strudel  flies into a Barbarian Rage and strikes the Manticore with her axe.  With the Hope infused wound still burning her beautiful face, The  Manticore is no longer immune to damage, and receives a large gash on  her arm, dealing 12 damage. She stumbles back and growls menacingly.

*Sir  Awesome sees her sword peeking out through the Manticore's flesh, and  grabs it and pulls down hard, cleaving a huge gaping wound in her side.  Red Ichor gushes out onto the stone pavement, flames burning off the  large puddle it makes, as her wound drips red down her beautiful black  body.

Suddenly, The Earth Guardian calls out saying the demon  seal is nearly closed and that the Manticore must be pushed in to be  sealed away. Your running out of time before the seal closes.

In  an act of unbridled bravery and heroism, Lord Borax charges at the  Manticore and, screaming like a madman, he leaps and lands, onto The  Manticore's, snarling face. She stumbles back, Lord Borax fighting off  her razor sharp teeth as she rolls back from the impact of him landing  on her and slides directly into the Demon Seal.

There is a terrible burst of energy and then a terrible noise.

And then all is quiet. The Manticore and Lord Borax are gone.

The  world is saved, but without Lord Borax it feels so much more empty.  Siren Song weeps at the loss of her beloved wizard. Agugypt and  Treeminder comfort her, as the heroes gather on the spot where Lord  Borax sacrificed himself to save them all, laying flowers and tokens of  love in his memory.

But....is he really gone?





Somewhere Else




Lord  Borax feels pain exploding throughout his entire body. He's in a dark  and alien place. He looks down and sees he is still on the Manticore's  beautiful face. Her eyes burning like fire, and her teeth dangerously  close, the wizard leaps off and lands a good few feet away.

She  glares at him with such intense hatred it causes a nearby rock to melt.  He backs up, hands up in defense as he looks around.

The  Manticore begins to mend her wounds, as Lord Borax hears the skittering  of legs. A massive centipede lunges out at The Manticore who's too  distracted with mending her wounds to defend herself.

Lord Borax  narrows his eyes as he conjures a massive sunlight spear in his hands  and throws it at the centipede. It pierces through its face just as The  Manticore turns to see it. It falls to the floor dead.

The  Manticore looks over at Lord Borax in a mix of both angry suspicion and  surprise. She questions him in her sultry and beautiful voice why he  saved her. Her hatred still quite apparent.

The wizard humbly says that its just them now. And that if they are to survive, they must look out for one another.

The  Manticore looks shocked but still angry at him. She says nothing as she  turns away, and lays down, unsure of what she should say or do. Lord  Borax, thinking it best to leave the situation alone, looks out at the  hellish scale of the realm they now find themselves in, vowing to return  to his friends,

But will our heroes ever see Lord Borax again?  Will they journey to The Hated Gates and rescue him from the demon  realm? Find out next time, on Friendship Quest!