//------------------------------// // A group of "Heroes" // Story: Dungeons & Dorks // by AppleJTZ //------------------------------// The moon shone down from the clear night sky, illuminating the forest in a cold sheen of white light. On a path leading towards the forest a group of five heroines had gathered around a signpost. Behind them the warm lights of a village were giving off a cozy gleam. The unlikely allies took a look around, seeing into the faces of their companions they had met at the local tavern earlier this night. After finding out they all shared the same goal of defeating a dragon that lived nearby, they had decided to join forces, each having their own reason to go after the creature. One of them was a priestess, clad in a white sleeveless robe that glistered in the moonlight. Golden insignias were stitched into the fabric, symbolizing her gods. Her hair was tied up at the sides of her head, the faithful cleric radiating an aura of beauty and elegance that comforted everyone around her. Only few knew that behind the frail façade of this fair lady, a wild heart was pounding. Bitten by a pulp she selflessly had rescued from certain doom she had been inflicted with a terrible curse that had forever split up her gentle spirit - only a magical elixir could free her from the beast within. And so it was that the priestess, Honeytooth, searched the whole world for the ingredients, one of them being the scale of a dragon. From the distant mountains of the dark lands a blue-skinned orc brute had travelled to this land. Most of her body was covered in rough iron plates, sporting sharp thorns at the shoulders and joints. On her head a helmet was a helmet with three holes for her white pigtails, also sporting spikes on the top - even her metal glasses had small sharp appendages at the edges. Her hostile and rough appearance was enhanced by the numerous warts on her face, as well as the two sharp teeth pointing out from her lower lip. Searching for glory and fame the young warrior, only being referred to as “the Axe” by the large weapon she wore on her back, had come all the way here to slay her first dragon, which would grant her great reputation and honour among her people. Also, she wanted to tell the dragon straight in its face how dumb it was to hoard tons of gold in his lair despite never getting a chance to actually spend it. While all the heroes that had assembled in this night were well known throughout the world, the most famous one was without a question the paladin among them. Her full-body armor only left her left arm uncovered, for a large shield bearing the crest of a lion head was wrapped around it. A sword was hanging on her side in is sheath, a noble weapon that had been the doom to many foul beasts already. And tonight, the righteous warrior had decided it would seal the fate of the maleficent dragon that terrorized the village. Such a vile evil couldn’t be ignored by the legendary warrior known as Thunderblade the Champion, heroine of a hundred countries, captain-commander of the royals knight, wielder of the holy grail and all in all a really swell gal. Within the group a bard was chilling out, bopping her head to the melody she played on her guitar. A red fedora hat with a big green feather was on top of her wild green mane, matching her red bard top. Her sleeves were rolled up and her collar disarranged, giving the actually very noble attire a rather casual appearance. Her messy outfit however wasn't the oddest about her appearance by far: Below the hem of the jacket her body didn't continue in a pair of legs, but in a long snake-tail twice the length of her torso. A close look on the exposed parts of her body also revealed it wasn’t covered by smooth skin, but a rough layer of reptilian scales. Wiggling her tail to the melody she played the snake-woman bard named “Snakes R. Awesome” waited for the group to start their journey, having decided to join them because defeating a dragon was totally radical. The last member of the group was hard to spot at first glance, for she stood in the shadows of the trees on the side of the path. Her long black cloak beautifully poured down to her feet, like a waterfall of obsidian fabric. From time to time one could take a glimpse at the formal attire she wore underneath, resembling the clothes of the bard, as well as a silver shimmer under her cloak when the moonlight reflected on the daggers of her belt. Her eyes and nose as well as the majority of her face was covered by a heart-shaped mask made out of shining pure silver, only her mouth and right cheek being exposed. At day she was known to the world as Velvet Cloak III., heiress of one of the wealthiest families in the whole kingdom. But at night she changed into the cloak of the righteous rogue going by the name of Nightheart, a hero of the people who stole from the corrupted aristocracy and gave the money to those who really needed it. In her attempts to make the situation for the poorest of her home better she had struck a deal with a dragon, for they were known to hoard large amounts of treasure. However, while she had kept her part of the deal, resulting in an adventure that was worth its own story, the dragon had refused to pay her out. So, she had come to this place alongside the other heroes, to best the beast in battle and claim the reward she deserved… "Seriously?" Sour asked, glancing with a raised eyebrow over the table at Sunny. "That's your hero's motivation? The dragon owes her money?" Sunny crossed her arms. "My hero, my story” she replied, holding her nose up. “Deal with it, ‘fair lady’." “You really wanna name your character ‘The Axe’?” Indigo asked Sugarcoat with a skeptical ring in her voice. “That’s rather blunt, even for your standards.” “Naming her after a weapon gives her a certain flair of danger and inhumanity” Sugarcoat replied in a slightly unfriendly, but not really rude manner. “And it’s a lot more intimidating than adding some goofy title like ‘the Champion’ at the end of her name” she added, leading Indigo to cross her arms in offense. “Hey, hey!” Lemon squealed, wearing a big grin while wailing her arm through the air. “Anybody wanna guess what the R. in my name stands for?” The others exchanged a glance. “Rockstar?” they all replied in unison. Lemon lowered her arm, blushing shyly. Rubbing the bridge of her nose Sour sighed. “Let’s just keep on playing” she suggested. Standing around the signpost the heroes were all – with the exception of the guitar-playing Snakes – staring into the distance. On the horizon a large mountain was towering over the lush forest. While the whole night sky was clear with a free sight on the moon and the stars, for some strange reason dark clouds were circling around the summit, swallowing it in a maelstrom of darkness. It looked like a black aura was cast over the mountain, warning everyone of the great evil that lurked within. From the shadow of the trees Nightheart emerged. The rogue stepped into the middle of the group, getting everyone’s – but Snake’s - attention. “Hear me, companions!” she called out, dramatically stretching her arm towards the mountain. “We all share the same burden destiny has laid upon our shoulders! Tonight, we have come together under this very moon, to compete with one of the most evil and sinister beasts to have ever roamed the lands! And as daunting as this task may seem, with our combined strength we shall overcome the creature’s fiery breath, and remain victorious in the face of its overwhelming might! So that it shall never again threaten innocent citizens with its reign of terror!” Thunderblade stepped forward. “Yeah, let’s go kick some dragon butt!” she yelled. Through her mask Nightheart coldly glanced at her, the champion staring back in confusion. “What? That’s what you said, wasn’t it?” The Axe stared towards the mountain, then lowered her gaze at the forest spreading out in front of them. “The battle will be very fierce, and the way to the dragon probably full of dangers” the orc warrior remarked, speaking in a rough, but not directly rude manner. “We must be very careful when we proceed. It’s possible not all of us will make it.” A confident smile on her face Honeytooth tapped with her staff against the dusty road. “Don’t worry” she told her comrades in a kind, reassuring voice. She placed a hand on her chest, right over her heart. “With the divine gift bestowed upon me, I can heal you of all injuries you may receive.” Her soft expression suddenly hardened. “So let’s go give that dragon what it deserves!” she declared, sounding determinate and aggressive. For a short moment the pupils of her eyes narrowed to small rift, while their irises turned yellow. With one last stroke on the strings Snakes put on a big grin, showing her sharp poison fangs as the echo of her guitar resonated through the night. “Well, what are we waiting for?” she asked. “It’s time for us to chip that dragon sucker into piecesss!” The snake-woman stuck out her split tongue, hissing in excitement. In an exaggerated gesture Nightheart pulled her cloak around her body. “I do not approve of the vocabulary, but she is right: Let us get moving, onward towards our destiny!” The sound of a sword being pulled out of its sheath sounded through the quiet night, Thunderblade raising her weapon towards the full moon. “Yeah, towards our destiny!” Smiling Honeytooth put a hand on her hip. “That’s right” she nodded, her kind demeanor shifting into a slightly devious for a moment. “Towards our destiny!” Looking rather bored the Axe crossed her arms. “Yeah” she stated without any vigor “Towards our destiny.” And so the group set out, following the path that led to the dark mountain in the distance. Soon the lights of the village had faded behind them, while around them the light cover of tress was steadily becoming thicker. Eventually the path was completely enclosed by the forest. Above their heads there was still a clearing in the canopy however, allowing them to keep their destination in sight. The imposing summit appeared to become taller with each step they made towards it, while the whirl of dark clouds above it seemed to increase. Soon it became apparent the clouds were actually coming out of the mountain, a fine trail of black smock rising up from a cave near the peak. Under the shimmering light of the moon the heroines walked (respectively slithered) deeper and deeper into the forest, slowly but steadily approaching the goal of their journey, heading towards their destiny. And they walked. And walked. And walked. Under the moonlight. Towards the mountain and their destiny. Slow but steady. More slow actually. Under the moonlight. They walked. Respectively slithered. Towards their destiny. “This is boring” Honeytooth grunted, slumping her shoulders. “Yeah!” Thunderblade moaned, looking at the dark trees around them. “I mean aren’t adventures about having, you know – adventures?” “Perhaps our bard can sing a little song to cheer up the atmosphere?” Nightheart offered, turning towards Snakes. The snake-woman, who had idly tucked on the strings of her guitar up to this point put on a wide smirk. “Thought you’d never asssk” she hissed happily. She trimmed her guitar a bit, clearing her throat and closing her eyes. After a short calm she suddenly released a storm on her instrument, frantically smashing on the strings. “AAAAAAAWWW YEEEEEEEAAAAAHHH!” Snakes' shrill voice cut through the silence of the night, the rest of the group jumping slightly in surprise. Screeching Birds were flying up all around them from the trees as she played loudly on her guitar, in a bizarre manner that seemed several centuries too early for this age. “Through the wicked forest under the eyes of the moooon, we take a strooooll bringing chaoss and dooooom♪ The dragon ssssuuucker won’t stand a chance, something something sssomething something got to daance♪ GUITAR SSSOLO!!!” Waggling with the tip of her tail she put the guitar behind her head, pressing it against her fedora hat while playing a highly complicated riff. Her face looking up she hissed and gargled at the moon, her poison fangs shimmering in the moon light as her split tongue wiped through the air. The play abruptly stopped when Nightheart snatched the guitar from her. “Hey, I was about to get to the best part!” Snakes complained, her slit-shaped pupils glaring at the rogue. “Yes, that was what I was afraid of” Nightheart dryly replied, reluctantly handing back the instrument. As Snakes took a look around she noticed not only her, but Honeytooth and Thunderblade were also staring rather unhappily at her. Scoffing took back her guitar, silently she pulled on its strings by herself again. While the rest of the group had stopped to scold their bard the Axe was still moving forward. A few meters ahead of the others she also came to a halt. “While I'd be more than happy to give our terrible bard a piece of my mind, I think this is here is more important” she told the rest of the group. Jolting up in excitement other heroines dashed behind the orc brute. “What? What did you see?” Honeytooth asked expectantly. “Bandits hiding for an ambush?” Nightheart asked, glancing around the forest. “An evil monster blocking our path?” Thunderblade asked, sounding very eager to fight it. “A space pirate riding on a unicorn?” Snakes asked, leading the others to furrow their brows at her. “…What? That’s totally a thing!” The Axe shook her head. “Nope” she replied, pointing ahead. “The way just splits up.” Everybody groaned, dropping their heads in disappointment. Forming a line they saw the dusty path was indeed splitting up in two separate ones. To the right the way seemed to leave the forest, going in a straight line directly towards the mountain. The night sky clearly illuminated the path, showing its straight course. There were no bushes or trees on the sides as far as they could see, and only a few small monsters were snoozing on the dust road itself, all of them looking very manageable to defeat. In striking contrast the path to the left was very crooked and narrow, and after a few meters led into an even gloomier part of the forest. The trees there all seemed to have holes and carvings in their bark that made it look like faces with evil grins were glaring at them. The canopy was so thick no trace of the moonlight was able to shine through it, the path vanishing a few meters beneath the trees. Howls of terrifying beasts were coming from the pitch-black woods, sending slight shivers over their spines. Quickly regaining her composure the Axe adjusted her spiky glasses. “Since it is obviously the easier route, I'd say we take the straight path leading directly to the mountain” she suggested. Nightheart nodded. “Agreed. Only idiots would go into a dark and probably wicked forest full of horrible monsters on their ow-” “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!” Thunderblade suddenly yelled, pumping her fist into the sky. “OH YEAH!” Snakes shouted with a wide grin. “Let’s go crash thiss party!” Nightheart slapped her mask, while the Axe rolled her eyes. “Really?” Sunny asked, looking in a mixture of disbelief and fury at Indigo and Lemon. “You want to get us wiped out before we are even close to the dragon?” "We are all absolute amateurs here" Sugarcoat stated. “We didn’t even get a level-up yet!” Frowning Indigo crossed her arms. “You just complained how boring this is, and now you wanna take the boring route?” she snapped back. “Yeah!” Lemon mourned. “We should go where the fun iss!” “You don’t need to hiss when you don’t talk in character” Sugarcoat reminded her. “I know, but hissing is awessssssome!” she grinned, spitting slightly as she talked with her tongue between her teeth. The two factions exchanged some furious glances, before all eyes turned towards the fifth member of the group. “What do you say, Honey?” Nightheart asked their priestess. The young cleric put a hand on her chin, looking thoughtfully at the two paths. “I'm not sure” she admitted. “The straight path looks safer…but the crooked one probably has more loot!” For several minutes the group stood in front of the splitting path, Nightheart and the Axe on the right side, Snakes and Thunderblade on the left. Honeytooth stood right in the middle, looking from one path to the other. “Jeez, make up your mind girl!” the paladin moaned, tapping impatiently with her steel boot on the dirt. Honeytooth turned her head towards the champion. “Don’t pressure me!” she snapped at her. In the blink of an eye her teeth seemed to become a little sharper and longer, turning into small fangs before they retreated back to their normal size and shape. She then looked at the paths for a few more seconds, before raising her staff. “Alright!” she exclaimed, pointing with the tip of her staff straight ahead. “I shall now consult my divine leaders via an ancient ritual to decide which path shall lead us to greater fortune!” “She’s gonna ‘eeny, meeny, moe’ it” the Axe whispered to Nightheart. For a second Honeytooth appeared to be annoyed, then took in a deep breath. “Eeny, meeny, miney, moe” she began to recite the holy incantation passed down through the priestesses of her temple for generations while wailing her staff from one side to the other. “Catch a sinner by the toe. My gods told me to pick the best, and that - is - you!” She held out her staff, the tip pointing straight in one direction.