"Keyli Arcadia, famous Ranger of the Midlands, in the flesh!" Comes the mocking salutation. Keyli turns slowly, knowing that asshole's voice anywhere. Sure enough, there he is Amidus. One time a very mistaken lover, now a competitor in the business of monster hunting.
"Amidus, the Asshole! Still having trouble keeping it up dear?" Keyli replies with an arched brow. Amidus reddens instantly, the veins bulging on his neck. Looks like he hasn't forgotten that magical night not too long ago when he couldn't keep it up for round three. Keyli had to finish herself off after he stormed out, looking much the way he does now.
A course of jeers and catcalls follows their exchange as the guild house is full tonight.
"Walk it off, Ami!"
"Careful! She might have to spank you again!"
"She can spank me!"
"Better than you always spanking yourself!"
Keyli shakes her head as she moves through the room, very aware of the eyes on her body as she saunters towards the back. She is wearing her usual tight leather pants that firmly hug her round tight ass and wide hips. The green jerkin is cut to accentuate her narrow waist and full breasts. Long raven black hair is down up in a simple braid down her back.
While many ladies and courtesans outpace her in looks, none could possibly claim her skills in battle, or in bed. The stories of her defeating a succubus by fucking it to death still circulate regularly, and while many claim it to be just another tall tale, there is no shortage of men willing to trade places with said vanquished opponent.
Other stories abound as well. How she defeated the Robber King of Darkwood by posing as a camp follower, fucking her way through the guards into his inner chamber, only to then kill him, take his famed blade, and then fight her way out, leaving a trail of dead bodies.
Another favorite among the Guild House was the tale of how Keyli defeated a group of sorcerers by infiltrating an orgy. After hours of drinking, sex, fellatio, and cunnilingus, she was the only one still left coherent, and proceeded to slay everyone present
Witnesses claim to have seen her running out of the mansion wearing nothing but the blood of dead sorcerers and guests, carrying an unusual ornate buckler.
How many of the tales are true and how many are just fanciful musings of lonely horny rangers is up for debate. But as she leans against the bar at the back of the room, her shapely ass on display, there is no denying that at her hip is an ornate sword last seen in possession of a now dead bandit, and hanging from the sword is a buckler with a horrifying visage of a tentacled Elder God.
Keyli catches the eye of the tall voluptuous barmaid, Aliyah, and beckons her over. Aliyah saunters over, hips swaying, and leans over the bar, her large white breasts threatening to burst out of her peasant top without the slightest provocation. She entwines her fingers in Keyli's with the easy familiarity of old lovers. In fact, not too long ago those same fingers were making Keyli pant and scream between those fabulous breasts.
"I need to see Valen," Keyli says with little preamble.
"Hi! Aliyah, it's so good to see you again, thanks for fucking my brains out last time we met, something? Just straight to work, huh?" Aliyah says with a wry look.
"I'm sorry Aliyah. I don't mean to be brusque. I'm sure we can catch up later, but..."
Aliyah cuts her off with a wave of her hand.
"But there is business at hand. Yes, yes! I know." She lets out a long-suffering sigh.
"Valen is in the back, waiting for you." She leans forward, her breasts threatening to spill out, "Go take care of your business, but make sure you see me before you leave."
Keyli lays a quick kiss on her lips and pushes through the door behind the bar into a dim room beyond. Sitting at a small desk is a dark man wearing the muted clothes of a Ranger. His scarred face is hard to look upon, not because of the disfiguring scars, but because of the occasional madness that radiates from his eyes. How Valen survived his fight with the handmaiden of an Elder God is not known, but it left him caught between two worlds. Though his words are still the same measured and thoughtful ones he is known for, the madness that leaks from him threatens the sanity of those who spend too much time in his presence.
"Good Keyli! You made it. I've been awaiting your arrival. Are you well my friend?" he asks with a gravelly voice.
"As well as can be expected. Tired from the road, yet already looking forward to returning to it." She answers ruefully, still smarting from her earlier encounter.
"Yeah, I heard. Let their words pass like the wind. In the end, you are the survivor, the victor. It matters not how you got there as so many others never make it..." his voice trails off as he stares off into a dark corner, eyes narrowed.
Keyli looks to the corner as well, but it is empty as far as she can tell. A chill enters the air for a moment, then it is gone again. She shivers involuntarily, pulling her cloak closer about her and turning back to look at Valen.
"Master Valen? Are you alright?" she asks nervously. Valen has not blinked or moved a muscle since he last spoke. It is as if he has turned to stone, but as quickly as it came, the moment passed, and he drew in a deep but shaky breath.
"I'm fine. A shadow of an Elder God crossed me. Part of my essence is still trapped there on the brink of the Void, and I die sometimes. It takes a while to be reborn." he smiles the smile of a lunatic, of a prophet.
"I'm fine now," he says again, though Keyli has her doubts. "I called you here because new trouble has arisen in the East. There is a new Elder cult there."
"An Elder cult? Nothing new there. The Guard can go in and clean them out easily enough."
"Yes I know, Elder cults are a dime a dozen these days, but this is different. This isn't one of the usual groups of stupidly bored teenagers that got a hold of an old scroll or tome. This is one made of true believers. And they have a relic."
"That saying. 'Dime a dozen' I've never heard that before. What is a dime?" Keyli asks worriedly. Is his madness spreading? Is he about to send me on a mission that exists only in his tortured waking nightmares?
"Sorry, it's not something said around here, it's from...far away. And I know what you are thinking. No, I'm not lost yet. Though the madness is still there just below the surface and one day the Elder Gods will take me, I'm still here now. This is not the tortured ravings of a crazed man. I think..." his scared brow wrinkles in thought, his eyes lose focus and he reaches out to something only he can see.
"Master Valen! Snap out of it!" She yells, grabbing his outstretched hand. Before she can even touch him, he evades her grasp, and his steel like fingers lock onto a pressure point on her arm, eliciting a cry of pain.
His suddenly very sharp and clear eyes pierce her own.
"You forget yourself. You let your compassion for me make you forget that I am just this side of a rabid wolf. Do not let your guard down again!" His words are softly spoken, yet they still make her face burn with shame.
"I am sorry, Master." She forces through gritted teeth, the electric pain in her arm excruciating. She jerks her arm as he releases her, settling back into his chair.
"I apologize that the lessons are painful, and I know my...condition...makes it difficult for you." He looks down, almost looking ashamed.
"But iron sharpens iron, and you are the keenest blade among us. Far better than the rabble out there." His praise makes a forgotten feeling swell in Keyli's breast, but she pushes it down, it is a dangerous feeling to have. Especially with this particular man.
"Now, our time is short, and we must hurry." Valen continues. "This Elder cult is not one to be ignored. It is the most successful we have seen in many years, and they have a goal in mind. They seek to create an avatar for an Elder God."
Keyli is rocked by this news, her mouth gapes open for a moment before she collects herself. An avatar is the closest an Elder God can come to walking on this world. While its true form is far too large to fit through the small rifts between this world and the Void, an avatar is somehow able to get around this limit. The last time an Elder avatar walked the earth, thousands died in horrible ways, and Elder Spawn roamed the lands for months afterward causing chaos.
"Where is this new cult temple? Usually, we can only find them by accident or when it is too late. How can we find this one in time?"
"We don't know where it is beyond a very general region. But, I believe there is a way to find out more." Valen looks almost embarrassed, eyes looking to the floor, the table, anywhere but at Keyli.
"Do you trust me, Keyli? I mean do you trust me beyond my position as Master Ranger? Do you trust me, Valen, the man, Void-touched though I am?" His words are pained, and that hurts Keyli more than she would like to admit.
"After all we have been through? Always," tentatively she adds "Valen," leaving off the Master. She looks at him with concern.
"Just tell me why you are trying to dance about."
Valen grins, and his laugh echoes in the small room.
"Oh, Keyli! You have always been my favorite, though I know I should never admit to having one. There is a good reason those cretins out there are jealous of you! You are stronger than they will ever hope to be."
His mirth subsides, and the serious look returns to his twisted face.
"I dreamt of a woods witch. She lives out past the last marker on the East Road. She knows and sees much, and I believe she can give us the information we seek. But she had a steep price. One that I think you alone of all the Rangers that are left can pay."
Keyli thinks about what Valen said, parsing it out. He dreamt it? This could be very bad; was this a regular dream of no real consequence or is it something more malevolent? Could this be something from the Void, and if so, from what in the Void? Or is this just his madness seeping through?
Keyli looks up and sees Valen staring intently at her, the knowing look on his face says it all.
