[While on a rescue mission gone crazed, a holy warrior and a rogue fight bandits, demons, and the urge to rip each other's clothes off.]
The mission, rescuing a princess, could be going better.
Séa is an earnest paladin, honest and gullible. Tash is...
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After another crawl up the stairs to below the top step, Ghomarck gazed ceilingward. He stroked his beard and pursed his lips.
Ripples disturbed the foggy green radiance of the central portal. The upright, elegant form of Zorexis stepped through it. As if a valet had recently attended upon him, not one of his long hairs was out of place. He wore natty boots and a long, embroidered jacket, color-coordinated in blacks and grays. The torture beast lunged forward, not to bite, but to sniff. It ran its snout up and down the incubus's body, then exhaled a snort whose gusty sound carried all the way to the watchers. The four wights swiveled to watch.
Well, feck me. I half expected a demon army, but it's just Zorexis.
Nestled among the party members, Chantelle quivered. A bright smile lit her features. Séa kept a hand on Dooch's skinny shoulder.
Having passed inspection, Zorexis's path hooked to the right toward one of the braziers. He chanted indistinct words and waved his hands. Its radiance died.
At the display of magical prowess, a line appeared between Séa's eyebrows. Her stare intensified.
I agree, Séa, Tash thought. He hid the fact that he's a wizard. Also, what the feck was he doing through the portal?
Unhurriedly, the incubus produced a cloth sack from inside his jacket. He began scooping the faceted stones that formed a heap in the brazier into the bag.
"Should we go meet him?" Chantelle whispered.
Tash shook her head vigorously from side to side.
Zorexis knelt and rummaged in the sack of gems. He loosely knotted the neck of the sack, rose, and strode toward the skulking party. Ten paces short of the stairs, he spotted them and chuckled. He made shooing motions with his hands and said, "Downstairs, please. The portal guardian is beyond my control, you see. But I come bearing gifts."
He collected Chantelle in his embrace and the party descended the stairs in silence. At Dooch's red-lit kitchen, they formed a loose circle. Dooch screeched, "Gifts, master? What'd you get me? What'd you get me?"
Weariness clouded Zorexis's handsome brow and his eyes half shut at the vocal noise. He said, "A promotion, if you're smart enough to keep your big mouth shut. Starting now."
"What? Really? Will I outrank Pokkalilly the Poacher?"
Irritation pinched the incubus's eyebrows together. "Shut it, Dooch, and keep it shut. That's a command."
The toady chef fizzed like a pot boiling over but managed to keep his lips sealed.
With a flourish, Zorexis held up a cut diamond pinched between his thumb and forefinger. In size, it could almost serve as a faceted monocle. He presented it to Chantelle. "A small token, my love. A promise of better to come."
