A week has passed since the "foppish fuff'nar" incident. During that time, Feli "Jynx" Kurai – young adventurer and heir to Blackshire Keep – has had time to stock up on provisions and make preparations for an excursion into the deepest part of the Whispering Wood, accompanied by his three more-or-less loyal companions.

Among these is the diminutive Aelfin water mage, Scarlet, adorned in bejeweled robes, equipped with the glittering image of a held spell floating in one hand, and with her staff held in the other. Among her enchanted items are a mysterious wand with the letter "F" engraved on the tip in fancy script, and a small arsenal of potions, many of them unidentified. She also has the ancient Knife of Omens – K'uravel, an Aelfin blade. To most, it would be a large dagger, though to her scale, it's a sword.

A tall armored and robed warrior, Born-in-Shame, is armed with the sword he brought with him from the far-off lands of Abaddon. His people are known as the Silent-Ones, and he lives up to that name for the most part … though his armor makes quiet whining and creaking noises, and on occasion during the journey, one joint or another will freeze up, causing a delay as he enacts repair on his strange armor to make it serviceable again. He – like Jynx – has a vial of the milky white potion that Scarlet identified as a healing elixir, and he also carries three large tomes: The Sylvanian Heresy, loaned to him by the Vartan known to him as "The Peacemaker", the History of Blackshire Keep, obtained from the depths of the submerged castle, and a third tome with an embossed emblem of the Star on its cover.

Lastly, a foppish-looking fox, adorned in garish attire that would probably be all the rage in Fleaufille, skips along with the group, strumming on his lute and making a sing-song melody that he claims will charm the monsters into staying away from the group.

Hear me little monsters, don't come out and play!

Just a little longer, we'll be on our way!

But if you poke out your snout,

If you dare to come on out,

I give you my worrrrrrd …

We'll whack you with a sworrrrrrrrrrd!

(strum! Then, faster!)

Whack, whack, on your back!

Crack, smack! Ouchie, ack!

Pow – YEEP!

The vulpine bard halts his singing and covers his head as yet another strange noise in the forest startles him. "Monsters!"

"The only thing that even remotely resembles a monster is that mouth of yours," Jynx says with ears flattened back, as he trudges through the murky, dirty forest. Cats don't like to be damp or filthy, and he is both, leading him to be in an even more sour mood than usual.

The foppish fox looks as if he's about to dare to make a retort, but then he looks around, confused. "Ah … where did the lady-mage and Sir Squeaky go?"

"Right here, Sir Fox!" Scarlet calls out from just behind the foppish fox. She seems to have slowed down a bit to reset the leather-work on the sheath of the Knife of Omens. The blade now slings across her back, where it is mostly out of her way. A bit of the actual sharp point of the weapon sticks out, undoubtedly to allow her and the others to notice its glow should danger arise.

The foppish fox shrieks loudly! Several bird-things are startled by the noise, and alight into the air. As they flutter away, their own cries compete with the fox's cry for sheer potential to irritate.

Despite this, the blade still remains dull, not glowing one bit.

The black cat jumps at the shriek, already tense as is. "Would you settle down already?" He glares at the fox, "If there weren't any monsters around before, they're sure as Dagh gonna find us after that!" He sighs, smoothing his head-fur back. "C'mon, we still have a ways to go."

The foppish fox hmphs! "Of course they won't! My charming music has driven them away, so they won't bother us!"

Some snapping branches and creaking noises herald the arrival of Born-in-Shame, catching up with the group again.

Jynx looks back to the cheetah. "You might be able to travel easier if you took all that armor off."

Scarlet whines slightly from the loud outburst of the fox. The motion of Born-in-Shape quickly catches her attention and she waves the armored warrior forward with the rest of the group as she moves to stand near Jynx.

"Die easier, too," signs the warrior in response.

The tip of the blade carried by the Aelfin flashes, taking on a luminescent shade of pink.

The Khatta grimaces, "Good point." He begins to continue forward, but halts as he catches the new hue of the blade. "Um, is it supposed to do that?"

Scarlet tilts her head at Jynx's question. The little one turns her head to look behind at the blade before she shakes her head at Jynx. "No, the blade is only supposed to glow when danger abounds. I believe we should get ready for this danger, whatever it may be." With that, the Aelfin clenches her left hand and holds her staff outwards as a sort of ward in case said danger decides to leap at her, again.

Jynx grimaces, and pulls out his dagger. "Let's not stop here and wait for it. Come on." He continues forward towards their goal, keeping a wary eye out for whatever may be lurking.

The bushes rustle again. This time, something appears. It's a cute little fuzzy fluffy bunny – white, with black spots.

Then, there's another bunny, pure white. And another, black. And another bunny. And another. They're … coming out all over the place! They all look at the heroes, wiggling their little pink noses cutely.

The Aelfin dagger flashes brightly.

"Run!" yells the black feline, as he does so!

The fox needs no further encouragement, and bolts off after the Khatta!

Scarlet's face drops at the bunny horde approaches. "Oh no… " she whispers softly. Her staff is held at the ready, but only for a moment. Jynx's orders are taken to heart and the Aelfin runs after the Khatta, although she is much slower.

Born-in-Shame takes off last, taking up the rear behind the Aelfin.

More and more bunnies hop, skip and jump out of the bushes, looking oh-so-cute … and then … well, this is really no surprise, now is it? Their eyes turn red … and their mouths take on unlikely proportions, as the fanged terrors bound in hot pursuit after our heroes!

Jynx sprints off in the direction they had already been traveling, glancing back now and then at the following party and killer Lapines. "There's too many of them! Keep running; fight only if you have to!"

The trees grow more and more thick – and bizarre – as the adventurers flee deeper into the enchanted forest. Branches reach out, trying to slash out at anything within reach, it seems … and in the panic, it's hard to tell whether the plants might be animated as well!

While running, the Aelfin quickly tucks her staff under her left arm so that she can free her hand. She digs into her pouch and searches for something useful. She locates the red colored vial, and glances behind her. She tosses it to break on the ground once she is sure she won't hit Born-in-Shame.

The black cat bristles, slashing blindly and wildly at the attacking foliage while trying to forge ahead, slowed a bit by the attacks.

As the bottle impacts the ground, it is immediately buried in a thin carpet of fluffy bunnies … but a reddish glow can be seen from within their midst, for just a fraction of a second.

The foppish fox whines pitifully. "Oh, woe is me!"

Jynx just continues to run, not even seeing the bottle thrown. He slashes left and right at the trees.

Suddenly, a red sphere expands outward from where the bottle impacted the ground. As it spreads outward, fluffy bunny-monsters are quickly reduced to ashes and then puffs of vapor. The shockwave blasts outward, shattering trees, and knocking over the warrior, the Aelfin … and even the fleeing fox and Khatta! A loud clap resounds, as a ball of fire explodes in the midst of the fuzzy predators!

The black Khatta is thrown off of his feet, tumbling forward face first! He tries to regain his balance at the last minute, but instead just slams down into the dirt.

Scarlet is thrown forward to skid face down into the dirt below, tripping once over her staff, and rolling a few times to land on her side with the staff a few feet from where she is. "Aiiiie!" she can be heard to scream before she ceases to roll.

A red pillar of flame and smoke rises into the air, and curls outward and in upon itself, like a great expanding mushroom of flame. And then … it dissipates, leaving a smoking crater behind the pursuers, and several wisps of red vapor disappearing into the breeze.

No more fluffy fluffy bunny monsters. Not immediately, anyway.

Jynx coughs up mud and smoke as he slowly gets back to his feet, wincing at a few scratches received. He looks back at the area affected by the potion, and does a double-take. "Dagh… powerful stuff!" His gaze lingers for only a few seconds more, then he shakes the feeling off. "Everybody get back up; we have to hurry!"

Scarlet coughs some, before groggily pushing herself up to a sitting position. She runs a paw along her back from where the Knife of Omens bruised her when she rolled over it a few times. Quickly now, she checks to make sure she and her possessions are intact. Then, she stands, grabs her staff, and looks over to see if everyone else is in one piece.

"Hooooga! Ahoooooga!" bellows some unknown entity in the woods. "Rak! Rak! Rak!" chitters another. The whole forest seems alive with bizarre noises created by unknown creatures.

For the time being, it appears that the adventurers are unharmed. And the trees are note moving, as might have been previously imagined in the hurried flight. Still, their shapes are undeniably creepy, and it wouldn't take much imagination to fear that they could move … if they cared to.

Still … those trees in the blast radius evidently didn't "care" to move, and now they're quite crispy.

The black cat flattens his ears, partly at the sound and partly at his companions' slowness. "Hurry! We're not out of the woods yet!" He quickly starts off back down the path, only jogging so as to let his companions catch up.

"Ah, ha! Magic prevails! That will teach them to look so cute and friendly, but be quite mean. They really just are not very nice!" Scarlet declares, her triumphant words losing their force as the echoing sounds of other forest creatures can be heard. She lowers her ears a bit and quickly chases after Jynx.

The fox starts to run past Jynx … but then realizes that this would put him deeper into the woods without anyone to protect him, no doubt, so he drops his pace to keep closer to the rest of the group. Born-in-Shame, as usual, takes up the rear-guard, after pulling his sword up from where it was imbedded in the ground during his fall.

Jynx wipes more of the mud from his face, hissing under his breath at the turn of events. His heart starts to pound, and his legs begin to fatigue. "How close are we now?" he calls out.

Once Scarlet catches up with Jynx, she takes a moment to inform him of what occurred a moment ago. "I used one of the potion bottles, Jynx. The red one." As for the map, well, she needs to stop and dig that item out. Eventually she removes a scroll and extends it out to read it. "We are almost there; it should not be long now. The monsters may get worse, soon."

The trees clear up ahead, forming a clearing. In the middle of this clearing, however – blocking the path – appear to be a few bizarre creatures. One of them would look something like an orangutan with a bug's head and giant pincers. Another would look like a ball-like shape, a mass of wings … and eyes? The third looks like it's made out of solid stone, except that it's a bit more mobile, and vaguely humanoid.

"All the more reason *pant* for us to keep moving!" replies the ebony Khatta. He looks up from the Aelfin, and screeches to a halt. "Oh, by Dagh's tail, what now?" The feline drops into a defensive position, staring at the three living obstructions. "What in the name of the Star are those?"

"Ahooooga!" bellows the bugorangutanclaw-thing. "Rak! Rak!" scrawks the winged-eyed ball-thing, though it has no visible mouth. The stone behemoth just stands there, making no noise whatsoever.

Scarlet stops a few steps behind and to the side of Jynx at the appearance of the creatures. Despite the fact her hand is shaking quite badly, she plants her staff in the ground and attempts to make herself look fearsome. "I do not know, Jynx. But they are not attacking us, so perhaps we should try to communicate with them?" the Aelfin replies.

Born-in-Shame skids to a stop, adopting a defensive position right in front of the Aelfin, holding his sword to guard.

The Khatta's tail trashes about madly. "Communicate? Ha!" He slowly starts to circle the strange trio, looking for a way past. "Since when can you reason with monsters?"

The flappy-thing flutters to block the Khatta's path. It's not technically attacking him … but the "Rak! Rak!" noises it makes sure seem intimidating.

Then, the orangutan-bug-thing starts lumbering toward Born-in-Shame and Scarlet, raising its pincers. Green saliva drips from between its mandibles. "Ahooooga!"

Jynx backs away from the flappy-thing, raising his dagger in defense should the creature attack. "I don't think they're interested in talking!"

The stone thing starts edging toward the fox. The fox shrieks and runs around in circles!

Scarlet frowns slightly at the Khatta's words, but she tries to communicate anyway. "We are a party from the castle of the owner of these lands. We mean you no harm. We seek only to find the center of the crater and investigate it. Should you decide to attack us, we will have no choice to make you face our wrath." Wrath? Well, the Aelfin thinks it sounds good at least. She tries telling them this in Rephidim Standard and Aelfin.

The orangutan-bug-thing still advances. Born-in-Shame holds his ground … but one of the large pincers swings in, in an obviously offensive strike. It's wild, though, and the warrior easily deflects the blow with his blade … with no harm being done to the chitinous shell of the hairy creature's pincer.

A mist starts spreading from the flappy-ball-creature. It starts to form a haze. The Khatta's vision starts to get slightly blurry…

The black Khatta swings his dagger at the flappy beast, almost blindly as the mists fill his eyes. "Gah! Fight back, they're attacking!"

The black feline's dagger strikes true, and the flappy beast lets out an anguished shriek of pain! However, it seems to be a fair deal more durable than one of the bunny-horrors … and it has plenty of extra eyes to spare. The mist about it seems to be thickening all the more, though it seems to be restricted to the immediate vicinity of the monster.

Coughing, and still swinging his blade, the Khatta leaps back from the strange beast as best he can, trying to escape the misty cloud.

"S-so b-b-be it!" Scarlet declares. The Aelfin drops her staff and reaches her right hand for the wand she has tied to her belt. She lifts this and points towards the monster who is attacking the knight. "F… umm… umm! F, f, I need an f word! Oh, oh, fungus!"

Several copies of the letter "F" pop into existence above the Aelfin's head, before finally … sparks erupt … and the bug-thing starts to turn green. And blue and red. And other colors. Mushrooms start sprouting from all over its form! The bewildered creature starts flaying about wildly!

Meanwhile, the Khatta rolls clear of the gas … though it seems that the winged creature is quite capable of flying right after him again. Still, hopefully the cloud will take a little longer to follow.

The fox yelps … indicating that he's still alive. Born-in-Shame swings at the bug-beast, striking home on one of the furry areas. Vapors seep into the air where he scores a hit, but the monster is still standing … albeit howling in anguish at the blow.

Jynx uses the momentary clarity to attempt a direct stab at the strange creature, putting all his force into the jab.

Once again, the dagger strikes true, and more vapors burst into the air as the flappy thing takes another wound. It shrieks hideously, but it's not down for the count just yet. The mists start to slowly coalesce about its form, but not at the full intensity the Khatta was subjected to just a moment ago.

The Aelfin shakes her head at the effects of the wand. The fox's yelps catch her attention, however, and she suddenly realizes no one is protecting him. Turning the wand now to point at the stone creature she attempts to conjure up another 'f' word. "Oh, bother!" Rapidly the Aelfin cycles through words in an attempt to find out what she thinks is the least dangerous. Finally, she finds one. "Fox!"

The black cat yanks his blade from the innards of the beast, backing away from the cloud of gas once again. He waits for the creature to get close before making yet another lunge.

A few sparks fizzle from the "F" wand, but nothing happens.

Meanwhile, the Khatta's strategy seems to be working. As he backs away from the eye-wing creature, he is able to keep clear of the worst effects of the gas cloud, since it takes time for the monster to generate more vapors. With each stab, he weakens the beast … until finally it lets out a pitiful sputtering noise, and collapses like a punctured bubble-berry … dissolving into a red vapor.

The stone monster swings at the fox. The foppish fox, so far, either is having an incredible stroke of luck … or he is a downright slippery critter!

Scarlet blinks once and shakes her head. "Oh no! I, need another word. Umm, fissure!" This "f" term is directed towards the ground under the stone creature.

Sparks fly from the wand … and the earth begins to rumble and tremble mightily.

Panting heavily, Jynx takes a quick breather to make sure his for is done in for good, then makes his way back to the party. "Whoa… what the… ?" He halts as the earth begins to shake.

The bug-orangutan-mushroom monster immediately falls on its now be-mushroomed tail. The armored cheetah almost falls over, but manages to stand his ground – unsteadily. The Aelfin, fop and Khatta, however, seem to have no trouble at all keeping aright, despite the confusion.

The earth abruptly splits beneath the stone monster … which lacks the agility to even have a chance to dive for cover. The foppish fox, however, displays nearly supernatural agility (or amazing luck) as he succeeds in leaping for the edge of the newly formed ravine … which yawns across the width of the clearing, and far enough into the woods on either side to cause several of the trees to tilt in their bearings. The ravine, however, is not so wide that it would be impossible to jump. Except, perhaps, for someone the size of an Aelfin, or in full armor.

Jynx just watches as the ground opens up, making sure to keep his distance from the wild magic.

Scarlet clutches the wand to her chest with a start, before she giggles a bit, and backs away. "See? See! I told you! Wrath, just like I said!" She giggles a bit more, while scooting as fast as she can away from the fissure,lest it extend to reach her.

The fissure continues to widen … and the earth trembles some more … but it appears that the spell has expended itself. Still, there's an odd light seeping up from the crack, that glows and flickers eerily in contrast to the gloom of the overcast sky.

The orangubug, meanwhile, stumbles back onto its feet. "Ahoooooga!" it bellows, snapping its pincers menacingly, as it makes a lunge for the Aelfin!

Taking his eyes off the fissure, the Khatta sees the orangubug make a swipe at the mage. He quickly sprints over as fast as his legs will carry him, preparing to make another attack.

Scarlet blinks as the creature catches her while she is gloating. Her teachers always said excessive pride would hurt her, and she now sees the logic in that. Luckily, she steps back in time to have the creature's badly managed lunge miss her. Uncertain what to do with a threat this close, she simply bonks it a few times with her wand. "Back, back you evil thing!"

The orangubug's attack misses wildly. The Aelfin's attacks connect with the wand … but, alas … it snaps in two. Perhaps it wasn't made for combat. At the same instant, though, two perfectly placed blows from the Khatta and the cheetah connect at the same time. One moment, there's an evil bug-thing monster. Next … there is just a puff of red vapor. Three out of three monsters down. And the fox is up a tree.

"Dead?" squeaks the fox. "Ahem. I mean … are they all dead now?"

Jynx stumbles back a bit as the assailant dissolves, panting heavily due to the action. "See? They didn't *pant* want to chat," he says to the Aelfin. The Khatta shoots a glare up at the fopfox. "Yes, 'dead', Mister Off-Key. Now get down from there; we only have a little ways to go."

"I am not off-key!" retorts the fox, in his best attempt at a shout – which isn't terribly intimidating. He scrambles down the tree, and dusts himself off.

The Khatta makes no reply, only checking the cheetah and Aelfin for any injuries. "Looks like the wand bit the dust. Guess it was fun while it lasted."

Would anything else have broken, the Aelfin might have rushed to thank her defenders. But, the wand broke! She drops to her knees and moves to gather up the other part of the wand in her hands, frowning heavily. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break it." She sighs and lifts her head slightly. "I should have been more careful. I broke it, because I was careless. I should have been more concerned with the foppish fox and with my feline friends than with my magic." The girl sniffles some and lifts the broken wand to clutch it to her chest.

"Don't worry about it," the cat says, beginning to pace towards their desired direction. "I wasn't all that attached to it. You'll live."

The foppish fox shrugs. "I'm rather relieved, honestly. I'm so glad you never got the chance to say 'feline' or 'female' or … uh … Let's discard that thing while we have the chance, eh? Broken wands could be dangerous!"

A lingering smell of fudge wafts into the air, replacing the bitter scent of the eye-wing-thing's gaseous vapors.

Jynx glares at the fox for that 'feline' remark. "If you keep it, just be careful. The fox may be right."

Scarlet stands up slowly and glares at the fox. "If you had been fighting, maybe I would not have had to use it so much." She shakes her head again and lowers her gaze to the wand. "Did I really break it? I wonder if it can be fixed?"

The foppish fox sniffs at this. "I hardly think that bludgeoning the rock-monster with my lute would have done any good!"

The wand is roughly broken in two. Whether or not it can be fixed … it's a fair bet that right here in the middle of the Wandering Woods is not the place to try. In any case … the wand makes no visible response to the word 'fixed' being said while holding it.

"You two quit bickering," the cat says to the arguers. "We aren't where we need to be yet. Let's go." He starts back down the path, eyes set forward.

Scarlet puts the remains of the wand back into her pouch and looks around for her staff. Her staff, having been dropped when the combat began, was closer to the fissure. "Has anyone seen my staff?" she asks as she sulks off after Jynx.

It takes some sidetracking to get safely around the fissure … and as it is passed, there can definitely be seen some sort of unnatural glow seeping up from somewhere deep within the ravine … but as the heroes continue, the sky gets darker, and the trees seem to cluster more thickly together. The path fades altogether, forcing the group to depend more and more on the Aelfin's map … and their natural senses of bearing.

"We'll get you another staff later," says Jynx, as he trudges along. He halts as the path disappears and the overgrown forest seems to loom forever forward. "Which way now?"

A loud roar echoes from just beyond the trees, joined by two similar roars.

The fox stammers, "N-n-not th-th-that w-w-way!"

The cat bristle, and for once agrees with the vulpine.

Scarlet seems to have found her staff, where it was pushed into some shrugs by her foot by accident. She gathers it up along the way and smiles a bit for finding it. The map is taken out afterwards and is mulled over as the Aelfin walks. The roars cause the little one to jump, but she answers. "In the direction of the roars Jynx."

The fox whimpers loudly.

Jynx grimaces, and stares down at the Aelfin. "Are you… certain?" He looks back up towards the roar, trying to peer through the undergrowth. "That doesn't seem the most… healthy of ways."

A few floating sparks of light drift out of the Aelfin's pouch.

Scarlet peers down at the map and nods. "Yes, I am. It really seems we must go that way. The most powerful monsters are in the center, where we need to go." The girl pauses and folds the map up for a moment before she glances down towards her pouch. "Mm? What is this?" she asks, before her slender hand reaches over to open the bag and look inside.

Suddenly, something wooden and cylindrical pops out of the pouch, and falls to the ground! It … looks like the "F" wand, only it happens to be intact!

The foppish fox's eyes go wide. "Oh no! It's back!"

Scarlet says, "Oh!" The Aelfin jumps for joy before she quickly reaches down and takes up the wand. "I am so happy you are okay!" she tells the object before she twirls around with it in her arms and hugs it. "Those silly others, they wanted you broken. But they just do not understand magic like I do! Especially that silly fox. He did not even thank me for saving him twice. But, I do not mind. I am just glad you are all fixed, no thanks to that fox.""

Several letters "F" pop into existence above the Aelfin's head, at the mention of every "F" word, but no magical effects appear to happen otherwise. The fop-fox, however, cringes at every mention of "fixed" or "fox".

Jynx cringes as well, flattening his ears. "Careful with that! Don't wave it around like that!"

Scarlet holds the wand protectively to herself, and sticks her tongue out at Jynx. "I will be more careful with it. You should worry about where we need to go next. We have to go where those roars are; that is what the map says."

A chorus of three roars erupts from the direction the Aelfin indicates, as if to underscore the point.

Jynx frowns, shouldering his pack and getting his dagger to the ready. "Well, if that's where we gotta go, then that's where we gotta go… " With a deep breath and a gulp, he starts off towards the roars, eyes wide and thrashing tail bristled.

The foursome heads through the woods, Born-in-Shame having to use his sword like a machete to get past some of the more stubborn undergrowth that tangles the way. At last … the trees spread out to show a wider clearing … but at about that time, a light drizzle begins to drop from the sky, the haze obscuring a clear view of the full expanse of the field in the center of these woods. What can be immediately seen, though, is a very, very large three-headed dragon, about the size of a three-story building. One story for each head. How appropriate!

The very happy little Aelfin follows right along side Jynx once again. This time, the wand is wrapped in some spare leather straps and kept in her free hand. The Aelfin pauses, though, once she heads so far in – so far in as to see the dragon. Her little jaw drops and she cowers backwards.

The dragon's right head fades to a bright red, the middle head is a hazy purple-grey, and the leftmost head is a whitish blue shade. Mists and smoke rise from the nostrils of all three reptilian heads, and it claws the earth, tearing up large chunks of tangles and brambles.

The black Khatta's heart sinks, shivering both from the rain and the sight of his new obstacle. "That's where we gotta go?" he asks the Aelfin.

Born-in-Shame adopts a ready stance … while the foppish fox boldly … hides behind the armored cheetah.

"Y-y-y-y… " answers the Aelfin. The wand is tucked away quietly for a moment before the Aelfin reaches behind her and unbuckles the Knife of Omens. This is handed to Jynx. "T-aaa… aa… "

The blade flashes pink in the Aelfin's hand.

Jynx blinks, and takes the blade. He sighs. "Well, how are we gonna get past this one?" He crouches low on his belly, and hides on the edge of the clearing, looking for any route to use to get past, or anything that might help him get rid of the dragon.

Taking a moment to compose herself, the Aelfin nods, and answers, "I know how. Shall I h-handle this, Master Kurai?"

The Khatta looks back at Scarlet curiously. "You know a way? By the Star, do whatever it takes!"

As Jynx holds the blade … it flashes blue in his hand, then resumes its normal appearance.

A puff of smoke erupts from the nostrils of the red head of the dragon. The sky-blue dragon head scans the surroundings, a white plume trailing from its mouth and nose.

The Aelfin nods again, and gestures people around. "We should split up. I believe the foppish fox should come with me, and play his music as a distraction once I create a smoke screen. You two who can fight will then attack the creaturewhile it is distracted with the fox. I will see if I cannot help you with other magic during all this. Does that sound like it would work?"

Born-in-Shame nods solemnly.

The foppish fox stammers. "You mean … I'm to draw the attention of that thing … toward myself?" He gulps.

Jynx turns his dagger over and over nervously in his paw, tail trashing. "Well, it's a better plan than no plan, and I don't have a better one. Let's go." The feline starts off in one direction, motioning for Born-In-Shame to follow.

The armored warrior starts after Jynx. Immediately, the blue and purple heads of the dragon snort, and turn to look at the two fighters. Better hurry up with that distraction!

The fox gulps, and whimpers, "Showtime!"

Scarlet reaches into her bag and hands the Foppish Fox a cold potion. "If it looks like it may actually attack you, throw this at it. But be certain the others are not near the creature when you do. I saw how quick you can be; we need you to distract it." The Aelfin shoots her head to gaze at the dragon and nods once more. "Yes, let's be off!" With that, she dashes towards the dragon ,digs a smoky bottle out of her pouch, and flings it at the monster.

The foppish fox leaps out from his hiding place, and starts strumming his lute.

Hello, Mister Dragon, I think you're really keen,

Even though you're big and nasty, and really really mean!

Hello, Mister Dragon, I think you're very odd,

But please don't trample me and grind me in the sod!

The red head of the dragon snorts, and turns to look toward the fox. A small tug-of-war follows, as the monster seems undecided about which quarry to pursue for the time being.

Jynx runs over to the far side of the clearing, hugging its edges and keeping his distance until the dragon becomes distracted. He pauses to watch the scene, waiting for his opportunity.

The smoky vial impacts the ground in front of the dragon … and soon a cloud of gray vapors spreads out, completely enveloping the three-headed monster! It roars angrily … and a flare of flame can be seen erupting from where the red head's mouth should be!

Conversely, ice crystals seem to form in the air in front of the blue head … and the smoke appears to be clearing and blasting outward in the area in front of the purple, middle head.

The Khatta begins to bolt forward, but slows as the vial is lobbed. If that potion does something nasty, he doesn't want to be caught up in it.

After the bottle of smoke is tossed, the Aelfin moves over near the fox and waves her staff around. "Yes! Over here! Come hither so that I might trounce you readily! Over here!" She pauses, noting the various effects of the heads. "I believe it is an elemental dragon. I have another idea. Mr. Fox, how quick are you? Could you toss that cold vial in the red mouth at some point?"

The vulpine yeeps! "I … I can't see the mouth right now! Yipe!" He ducks, as a jet of flame shoots out and toasts the air far above him – far above, but the fox is very jumpy. He resumes playing.

Oh, please Mister Dragon, don't have me for lunch,

And I'd be really happy, I'd thank you quite a bunch!

Jynx decides to continue forward, looking for any available spot that looks for a good target.

Besides, it's quite a problem, there's just not much of me,

And even less if you were, to divide me 'tween all three!

The tail pokes out from the cloud of smoke, looking quite vulnerable compared to the rest of the beast right now. It's not vital, but about as easy of a target as there can be right now.

The Khatta makes a quick run-by swipe at the tail, sprinting straight for the other side of the clearing.

The Khatta's attack connects … and the dragon bellows three times in anguish, lurching about clumsily, its tail flailing about wildly! The black cat escapes harm, however, and soon disappears into the haze as he heads toward the other side of the clearing.

Jynx goes blind as he enters the cloud of haze, trying to wave it away as he runs forth towards the clearing. ( Dagh, I can't see! )

Scarlet reaches into her pouch and digs around for something else of use while standing beside the fox. She perks up as she remembers something and quickly puts out her paw and turns towards the fox… "Quickly, return that cold potion! I have an even better idea."

The foppish fox looks quite confused … and hands the vial back to Scarlet.

Eerie bellows, honks, warbles … and other animal noises … echo through the mists around the black Khatta.

Now that she has that bottle back, the Aelfin reaches into her pouch and digs around for another. She removes an apparently empty bottle and peers at this carefully. "Well, I must trust my skills." The Aelfin opens the bottle and quickly downs the 'contents', and waits for something to happen.

And then … the Aelfin vanishes!

The fox shrieks! "She's disintegrated! Master Jyyyyyynx!"

The Khatta flattens his ears at the shrieks of the monsters, then the one of the fox. He flails about, trying to find his way out of the mists.

The black Khatta's hand strikes against something hard and chitinous. A rattling hiss erupts from one side of the surface. Maybe that's where the head is.

"Keep playing! Distract it!" calls out the disembodied voice of the Aelfin. Invisible, the little one begins walking towards the monster, watching and waiting for the smoke to clear.

Jynx's fur stands on end, and he begins to wildly slash at the object. "Oh Dagh oh Dagh oh Dagh!!"

Several monsters pile on Jynx. Roaring noises can be heard, interspersed by several sounds of "Paf!" "POOF!" "BAMF!" as red vapors burst out of the mists.

The foppish fox sings on…

Mister dragon, I know you're angry, it's really really sad,

The black Khatta gives a loud feline shriek, continuing to slash madly as he searches for a way out of the mist!

But you won't solve a single thing by getting hot and mad!

The smoke clears from around the three-headed dragon. In the confusion, it looks like two of the heads (blue and red) have started engaging in a head-butt match, while the middle head just keeps ducking.

In fact you're really frightening, you've got me really scared!

But now I think you're in trouble, because the smoke is cleared!

About that time, Jynx stumbles back out of the mists, just in time to see the three-headed dragon, free from smoke. Of course, he can't see the Aelfin right next to it.

Scarlet, and the invisibility-created "crater" that follows her around, head off towards the dragon alone. As she closes in on the beast, a trail of crystal fragments erupt from where the crater moves. The crater picks up speed, and it seems Scarlet is running towards the monster now.

Jynx uses the moment of clarity to make a break for the safety of the clearing, or what little it provides.

The moving crater is suddenly met by icicles that drop from the sky in front of it in ever increasing lengths. One can track Scarlet's ascent up them by the way the tops vanish once her invisible form passes over them. It does appear she has created a sort of staircase wall that she is running up, right up to the red dragon head.

The red dragon head turns to sniff confusedly at the suddenly appearing ice staircase, as the blue head appears to be distracted by snapping in the direction of Born-in-Shame.

Jynx pauses for a bit in the cover of the clearing edge, regaining his breath and checking himself for any injuries.

Atop the ice-formed staircase, the Aelfin – or at least the odd missing space of staircase that marks her presence – stands. When the red dragon head nears her position, a small shimmering object trails condensation clouds as it arcs towards the head from out of nowhere.

The Khatta peers out from the clearing edge, watching the scene and hoping for some opportunity to attack.

The vial heads right into the mouth of the surprised-looking red head of the dragon. It starts to look as if it might protest … but then its form is suddenly encased in a spreading sheath of ice!

Jynx blinks, and creeps out into the clearing, watching the strange scene as he gets closer.

Once the bottle is tossed, the steps show something – or a lack thereof – moving back down them quite quickly. It seems whatever was up there is now trying to flee the creature as quickly as possible.

Born-in-Shame jumps back at a snap from the blue head … then stands in surprise as the rest of the dragon is soon encased in the spreading ice as well … and the ground underneath it!

Slowly, an Aelfin and her possessions fade into view, as the invisibility potion wears off. The "crater" that seemed to be following her positionvanishes as well.

The black Khatta blinks again, but then quickly sprints forward. "Attack it now! Maybe we can shatter it!"

Jynx screeches to a halt as he sees the ground turn to ice as well. "Uh… never mind! Fall back!" He does an about-face, and runs!

Born-in-Shame catches on quickly … and sprints as fast as his armor will allow (which isn't very) away from the spreading sheet of ice.

The foppish fox dashes madly away. "Yiiiiiiiiiii!"

The now visible Water Mage skips as fast as her legs will carry her, away from the creature and the wave of ice that is spreading from it. She might be aligned with water, but she certainly doesn't fancy being frozen. "Eeeek!" she can be heard to scream as she flees.

The sheet of ice spreads out … and then stops, glittering like crystal, all the more so since droplets of rain have pebbled its surface and frozen there in place.

Jynx skids to a halt as the spreading stops, and slowly walks over to the rest of the group while panting. "Is it… finished?"

The foppish fox pants loudly as well, while Born-in-Shame just slumps a bit in his armor. Yes, it looks like the dragon is nice and frosty now.

Once she has sufficiently run herself ragged, Scarlet wanders back to the group, meeting up with Jynx and the rest who have gathered. "I am not certain. My theory was if I froze the red head, there would be some sort of reaction. The results were not quite what I expected, but they seem to do for now." The girl smiles a bit and curtsies to Jynx. "Master Kurai, what shall we do now?"

The foppish fox suggests, "Go home? I'm famished!"

The Khatta finally regains his breath, eyeing the dragon. "I guess we do what we've been doing: continue on." He shrugs, and starts off across the clearing, giving the ice a wide berth. "Make sure you don't touch the ice; it may still freeze you." He shoots the fox a glare.

The fox holds up his hands. "I'm not going near that thing!"

As usual, the Aelfin tags alongside the Khatta. She smiles up at him and wiggles her ears a bit. "I do hope you will write my school a letter of recommendation for helping you defeat a hydra. I do believe that would help me quite a bit in my grades."

The haze slowly relents, as the light rain drops back to a drizzle, then a weak mist. The entirety of the clearing can be seen now … with a very large crater in its center. All sorts of forest animals are gathered around it – some of them looking fairly misshapen, but all of them looking quite mesmerized by whatever is in the center of the crater.

"Make sure you remind me later," the Khatta says distractedly to the little mage. "How much further now? We must be getting close if the monsters are getting this nasty… " He trails off. "Uh, never mind, looks like we're here."

There's a sizable "dent" in the crowd of creatures. Perhaps that's the area that Jynx blundered into earlier, and it hasn't been filled in again yet.

Thinking as fast as his feline brain will allow, Jynx starts to run towards the gap. "Quick, that's our opening; we have to hurry!"

"Hurry for what?" cries the fox, as he tries to keep up with Jynx.

Born-in-Shame, sword still drawn, does his best to keep up with the lighter runners.

"I certainly will," Scarlet tells Jynx, followed by a giggle. She pauses as something distracts her leader and turns to gaze off at the creatures. "My, this must be it. The meteor should be located directly down there… Oh! Wait for me!" And with that, she chases after Jynx once again.

"Just get ready to fight your way though!" replies the cat as he heads for the dent. "We're going to have to eventually, and that'll be the easiest spot!" He points at the vacant area in the crowd.

Soon, monsters start breaking out of their reverie. Some of the forest animals undergo the usual transformations … but a few bolt away in fear.

The two felines – one armored, one not – cut a swath of destruction through the crowd of deformed creatures, red puffs of vapor rising in their wake, as they make a path for the fox and the Aelfin. However, it gets to be harder going, the closer one gets to the crater … since the creatures are more densely packed there, and the worst of the monsters seem to be those closest to the center.

Scarlet fumbles for her prized possession, the wand, and tries to wave the others back with her free hand. Once it looks like she can see the creatures,she points the wand at them and yells something. "Fear me!"

Sparks fly from the wand. Several of the monsters stare, wide-eyed, at the mage … and then start bolting! Some of them are so frightened that they simply explode right then and there in puffs of red smoke!

The fox suddenly starts shrieking! "AIEEEEE! MAD MAGE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

The black Khatta pauses in his slashing and hacking, and turns to look. His eyes go wide at the sight of the mage, and he gets in a defensive stance. "Stay away! I-I mean it, don't come closer!!"

Born-in-Shame takes a break, as the creatures flee from him, and turns around. It's impossible to see the expression on his face, of course, since he's wearing a mask.

The critters dash off, disappearing into the woods … and the foppish fox runs right along with them! How odd.

Jynx slowly backs away from the Aelfin, his tail trashing wildly in agitation. "B-back off!" He sees the fox take off, and backs away even faster, towards the center of the crater.

In the center of the crater is now visible a partially-buried crystalline structure that pulses with an inner light. It looks somewhat as if it might be made of molten glass, in some places. It looks very much like the Artifact of Calderas … except that it seems to have a dark splotch on one part, where several cracks are visible, and a large wedge is evidently missing.

The "terrible mage of doom", meanwhile, seems to be having far too much fun routing the monsters to notice the two fearful adventurers. She roars and hollers, and – frighteningly enough – even wiggles her dainty little fingers at the creatures to chase them off. Once they seem to be off, she spins around and walks towards Jynx. "Jynx! What ever are you doing? Do not be so silly! This is dangerous!" She approaches anyway, not seeming to find the Khatta very threatening. She seems to think he is being funny.

The crystal veins running through the dirt inside the crater flicker with pulses of glowing energy at irregular, broken intervals.

The feline's fur stands on end as the little mage nears, and he spins on his heel, headed straight for the middle of the crater. "Born-In-Shame, r-run!"

Born-in-Shame turns and dashes after Jynx, sheathing his sword as he goes.

"Oh, stop that!" Scarlet calls after Jynx, running after him. "It was amusing at first, but now you're being as odd as that… Now, where did that other one go?" The Aelfin slows down a bit so she can look behind her, but besides that, she never stops following Jynx.

In the very center of the network of crystal veins is a clump that looks just like the Artifact of Calderas, except that it looks quite securely anchored to this mass of crystal … and, of course, except for the dark wound and the fist-sized shard missing from one side.

Once the Khatta is a reasonable distance from the Aelfin, he turns to face her, baring his teeth. "You stay back, or by the Star I'll run you through!" He suddenly blinks, and starts to shake his head as though he were trying to get something out of it.

The blade occasionally flickers a pale blue … more erratically and randomly than it had in the presence of the three-headed dragon.

The Aelfin's ears straight up, and she wiggles her nose. She stares at Jynx for a few seconds, before taking a step backwards. "Jynx? You… you would hurt me? I… " The Aelfin's head lowers some, and she turns around to walk away quietly.

Born-in-Shame shakes his head, and hand-signs, "Magic is dangerous."

Jynx shakes the final bits of mental cobwebs from his mind, and looks up, blinking at the Aelfin. "Hurt you? Why in Dagh's name would I do that?"

Scarlet stops walking a few steps after she began and pauses, tilting her head to look behind her. "You were saying if I came any closer you would 'run me through'. I thought you decided to keep this big crystal for yourself and had turned on me." She reaches over and rubs her eye a bit with her hand.

There's a flash of red visible over the lip of the crater, as a frightened fox comes bolting over the edge. "HEEEEEELP! Monsters! Everywhere! Save me!" He dashes up and clings to Born-in-Shame's leg. No monsters immediately present themselves.

The black Khatta rolls his eyes at the Aelfin. "Don't be ridiculous. Now get over here and help us out." He turns, and slowly begins to approach the middle of the crater, flattening his ears as the fox reappears. "This must be what we came for. It looks like the Artifact of Calderas, but much much bigger." He studies the central broken part carefully.

"Oh! You silly Khatta!" For what it's worth, Scarlet doesn't seem too upset by being threatened by her partner, at least not now that he "apologized". She reaches into her pouch and removes the map, and what looks to be a Jynx doll. Both she studies, though the map gets a serious review and the doll gets a giggle. "I think I know what we do here," she tells Jynx as she nears.

Jynx studies the broken part of the crystal as best he can. "I may have a hunch too, but what do you suggest?"

The doll and the map are put away, and the Aelfin walks closer to lean forward and study the object. "Well… " she begins as a paw is traced across the crystal, "It appears to be some sort of First Ones – or possibly even a Sifras – artifact, judging from its construction. There is a lot of erratic magic here; I can feel it. But, as for what to do with it … I believe I saw a fragment of this crystal in the keep. Perhaps if we placed that in the hole here, it might calm down, and the magic will cease to be chaotic, and thus the monsters will cease appearing?"

The black Khatta nods to Scarlet, placing a contemplative paw to his chin. "I was thinking the same thing. Maybe the thing has gone all haywire because it's broken. One question remains however," he sighs. "What will it do when it's fixed?"

Scarlet straightens herself back up and ponders the object a bit more. "Indeed. I, being a magic user, might be able to work with it somehow. It certainly produces a magical field, so maybe I can affect that. But, first thing is first. Someone needs to go get that fragment and bring it back here."

The foppish fox hides all the more behind Born-in-Shame.

"It'd take the rest of the day to get back to the castle," Jynx says, "and I don't want anyone going off on their own. It took all of us just to get this far, and whoever we send might not make it back." He shoulders his pack, and starts to head out of the crater, peering over the top. "I'm thinking it may be best for us to return home, and come back with the shard tomorrow. It's too dangerous to stay here."

The fox nods enthusiastically. "Yes, yes! We can fetch it later!"

Scarlet nods her head slightly. "As you wish, Master Kurai." And with that, the Aelfin skips along after the Khatta.

As our heroes head off, they pass through the mists … and head up to a slowly thawing three-headed dragon. The ground around it is wet and muddy, and the creature lies curled up on the ground, all three heads curled up as well … eyes closed, and little puffs of smoke and vapor rising from the nostrils.

The foppish fox says, "Yiiiiiii! (gulp) Uhm … Do you have another one of those nifty ice vials, Miss Mage?"

The black Khatta halts as he nears the giant lizard. "Oh great! It's still kicking! We should have shattered it when we had the chance!" He looks to the cheetah. "Quick, go after it while it's down!"

The mage tilts her head slightly at the sight of the sleeping dragon, smiling a bit. "It is rather cute when it's sleeping," she comments before shaking her head to the fox. "I am afraid not. I am out of almost all my potions and I would need a great deal of time just to cast another spell."

Born-in-Shame shakes his head. "That would not be honorable, sir," he signs.

Jynx blinks at the cheetah, and his brow furrows. "Dagh take it! There's no way I can get him with my dagger!" He sighs, and triples his pace as he starts back off towards the woods. "We'll just have to deal with him again tomorrow. I hope we can find a way!"

Scarlet blinks a little, and smiles. She turns and begins walking off towards the dragon with her wand in hand. It seems the little mage has an idea she isn't sharing.

The feline stops, and turns his head to look over his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

The fox stops, too, and cringes. Maybe that "fear" spell is working on him again. Or maybe he's just naturally that way.

Scarlet lifts her paw to her muzzle to signal the Khatta to be silent, and gives him another smile. Before she turns around, she also waves the others to hide somewhere.

The fox takes the cue … and dives into some bushes!

Jynx backs off into the woods, getting a tree between himself and the mage. He peers out intently, curious.

The purple head snorts and sniffles, then turns sideways, snoring loudly. The blue head is drooling in its sleep … though its drool makes icicles that hang from its lip.

None of the three heads appear to have any idea that there's an Aelfin sneaking up in front of it.

Born-in-Shame looks a bit more reluctant to hide. He just settles for standing off closer to the trees. Not exactly hiding, per se. Just not right in front of the dragon's nose, either.

Eventually, the Aelfin arrives next to the dragon and begins climbing up the side of the creature carefully – very, very carefully. She seems to be headed for the area just above the blue head's muzzle, so she can stand on that.

Jynx shakes his head at the sight; the mage has gone insane!

Born-in-Shame signs to Jynx, "Should I tackle her?"

The blue head sniffles a bit, and a paw comes up to scratch at a spot, just narrowly missing the Aelfin, but so far she's untouched. Being frozen in ice must have taken a lot out of the dragon.

"Not just yet," the Khatta signs back. "Let's see what she has in mind."

Once on top of the blue head's muzzle, the Aelfin reaches down to rub it carefully with her free hand in an attempt to wake it gently. Being she is standing directly in front of its eyes, it should be the first thing it sees. While waiting, her wand is lifted up as if she is about to cast a spell once the creature awakens.

Jynx shakes his head in disbelief. "Get ready," he signs to the cheetah, "It looks like she finally flipped! We may have to rush in… "

It takes quite a bit of effort … perhaps not surprisingly, since the creature is able to sleep through a mage crawling over its noggin without doing more than just scratching at an itch. But at last it's just too much, and droopy eyes reluctantly open … then give an annoyed cross-eyed look at the mage standing on the blue nose of the warped reptile.

Born-in-Shame braces himself, looking ready to charge.

The foppish fox hmms, and strums his lute idly. "An ode to the dear departed Scarlet … uhm … who was destined to become a starlet … What else rhymes with Scarlet?"

The wand touches the Aelfin's chest, right above her heart, and then taps the dragon's muzzle. "Friends," she tells it with a smile, reaching down to rub its muzzle again to show she means it.

Sparks fly from the wand, and a chiming noise rings through the air. The dragon blinks a few times … then its eyelids get heavy … and it goes back to snoring again.

Funny. It almost looks like it's smiling. Three times at once.

Jynx blinks once… twice… thrice. "Oh great," he mutters. "The little fuzzball enchanted it; now we have another mouth to feed."

Born-in-Shame holds up three fingers.

The black cat sighs, and nods to the cheetah. "Make that three." He comes out from behind the tree, and yells out to Scarlet. "Now that you've done your good deed for the millennium, let's get back home!"

Not quite done here, the Aelfin wanders over to whisper into the dragon's ear. "Would you be a nice dragon and give me and our friends a ride back to the castle? I promise I will warm up some water and see you can rest in peace." Again, to show she means it, she chants for a moment and heats up the moisture around her body slightly before giving the creature's head a hug. "See? No need to fight. I am so very sick of fighting."