"This is delicious," Evalynn said as she poked at a sausage with her fork. "Whatever this is made of, I hope it is plentiful."
"That kind of makes you wonder what these meats are made of," Chandice said as she fished around in her pasta for a mushroom. "I mean, it is a fantasy world, for all we know that's vampire eel."
"What's wrong with eel?" Gisley asked as if the point were silly.
"I didn't meant to imply that their was anything wrong with eels," Chandice quickly backtracked as she remembered that Gisley was from Japan. "It's just where I come from, people assume sausage is made from pork, but those could be anything."
"Well, they are delicious," Evalynn repeated as she chewed another bite. "And I don't care if the are beetle."
Gisley laughed and happily sipped at a soup full of noodles while Jaina enjoyed a slice of chocolate cake layered with cherries.
Roric had a lovely meat pie and a tall, dark beer with a thick white head. He leaned back in a chair while his girls enjoyed the atmosphere of the little country inn they had found along the road. It was three days since they left the city, and they traveled mostly at night. Gisley spirited them along, flying invisibly with Evalynn to keep her company since she didn't need to often. During the day they stayed wherever they could and had been lucky to find small towns. They could use the tent if they needed to, but tonight they were staying put as Evalynn finally needed to sleep. He had already purchased their largest room, which wasn't large at all, but none of them cared. So long as they were together, it would be enough.
"You know one of the things I love most about this world?" Jaina said as she smiled over a fork full of cake. "I can eat as much of this as I want, and I will never gain weight."
"Perfect health is a nice benefit," Evalynn agreed.
"So is our plan to retire to the room and have hot sordid sex all night?" Jaina asked as she smiled at Roric.
"Unless I can find somebody to sell you to for the night," Roric replied with a wily smile.
"Oh, is that your plan?" Jaina laughed. "Still not done whoring your slave girls out?"
"I will never be done with that," Roric replied with a fork pointed her way. "And you will never stop loving it."
Jaina and the others laughed as his words struck true. They all knew she loved her role and wouldn't want to live any other way. She enjoyed being used as a prostitute and worked hard to make her master his money. Still, it was nice to have some quiet time to themselves, and an evening in bed with her lovers was just what she wanted.
As the sun moved away and left behind a blanket of stars, Roric took them for a walk, holding hands as they explored the tiny town. It only had a few shops, all run by NPCs, marking this town as the home of a single player. They assumed that a player ran the inn, but the innkeeper seemed like an NPC too and didn't care much for talking.
They stopped at a little fruit stand that sold things they had never heard of. Tuji fruit and kalipallo were available, and Roric bought some of the small yellow tuji fruits for Gisley. She ate the treat as they visited another stand that sold fancy lace umbrellas.
"Oh, I want the black one," Chandice said and pointed to the one she liked.
"Are you going goth on me?" Jaina teased. "Everything you buy these days is black."
"I happen to be a warlock," Chandice pointed out. "We warlocks don't prance around in soft colors."
"Please, good sirs," the woman behind the little cart said. "But it has gotten dark. I need to be inside before it begins."
The group looked up and shared a glance before Roric asked the woman what she meant by that. The nervous woman explained that the undead raided the town at night, and anyone out on the streets after sunset was often prey. No sooner had she said it than a screech echoed from the dark empty street, causing the group to stare into the shadows. The woman abandoned her wagon and fled, vanishing down a street as the group listened for more noises.
"Can you see anything?" Roric asked as his ears perked up.
"Nothing," Evalynn replied, but Gisley stepped forward, her superior night vision easily seeing through the shadows.
"Something is moving on the far side of town," she said. "Four shapes, stumbling about as if they can't walk well."
"Probably zombies," Chandice said with a roll of her eyes. "I bet this town is all NPCs because it's part of some adventure."
"I think you might be right," Roric agreed but reached out a hand to summon his spear. A long shaft of elven metal appeared, ending in a curved tip suitable for stabbing and slicing. Rajeen presented it as a gift from the duke, saying he was pleased with Roric's thank you. It was far better than the magical spear he lost in the forest, and the silver blade was effective against most undead.
Evalynn called for her armor and spear, standing at his side as Chandice brought up her devil warrior, this one brandishing a large hammer that took two hands to hold.
"They come with different weapons?" Jaina asked with a raised brow.
"It's random," Chandice replied. "You usually get the curved sword type, but they can come with almost anything."
"Hmm, what does the succubus use as a weapon?" Jaina pressed.
"Usually a whip," Chandice said with a wry smile. "So she can punish you for being a bad girlfriend."
"I am not a bad girlfriend," Jaina insisted.
"Then why didn't I get a threesome with Zorak?" Chandice asked. "You managed to share him with Evalynn."
"Why are you still mad at me over that?" Jaina countered. "I told you I did that because Evalynn has a thing for lizardmen. I would have gladly shared him with you if we hadn't had to leave so soon."
The two went on arguing as Gisley tried not to giggle. This conversation had come up four times since the journey started. Chandice enjoyed teaming up with Jaina to make love to her boyfriends and was looking forward to Zorak. However, that moment never came, and now Chandice felt left out.
"I thought they were done with this yesterday," Evalynn whispered to Roric.
"It would seem Chandice is still upset she never got a chance to make love to her girlfriend's boyfriend," Roric replied as his nose picked up a scent. He squinted into the darkness to see a mist curling about the distant streets and dark shapes moving on both sides.
"Excuse me, ladies," Roric said to break up the conversation. "I hate to interrupt you, but it appears we are surrounded."
"By zombies?" Chandice laughed and turned to see one coming out of the mist, its dead eyes fixated on the group. It opened a dangling mouth and uttered a sort of hiss before shambling forward at surprising speed. Chandice ordered her devil to kill it, and he rushed out to crush it with that big hammer. The zombie went down in one blow, crumpling to the ground with ease.
"Not very challenging," Evalynn said and turned to face another zombie. She used a hero power to hurl a red copy of her spear, lighting the street as the weapon flew by. It struck the zombie with enough force to throw it back, the spear fading as the creature came stopped moving.
"This is going to be boring," Jaina sighed. "We may as well go back to the inn."
Roric hurled his spear, the silver blade leaving a streak of light for a second before blasting through the zombie that staggered a step more before falling. Evalynn was right, these weren't very challenging, but something about this situation concerned him. Before he could vocalize his thoughts, zombies began to pour out of the mist, rushing at them with surprising speed.
Chandice and Gisley opened up with spells with bolts of fire and glitter lighting up the night. Evalynn charged the largest pack, taking them head-on in a one-sided conflict as she tossed them about. Roric picked off any who came too close to the girls, putting them down easily. Still, their numbers were alarming, and he recommended they move toward the inn while fighting.
"This is crazy," Gisley said as she loosed another glitter bolt. "Why are there so many?"
"This isn't so much a quest as it is an endurance run," Jaina said as she used her claws to slice a zombie and drop it.
"We need to get to the inn," Roric insisted. "I think this might be more dangerous than we are giving it credit for." Evalynn did the bulk of the work, using her shock waves to throw piles of zombies back. The group followed in her wake, picking off those that came from behind as they fought their way into the mists.
As they moved further, the hoard seemed to thin until it suddenly broke with the few zombies they saw retreating into the distance. Gisley asked why they were leaving, but Roric had his ears up, listening to a sound that reminded him of chains.