Private Tales The Monster and The Burning Heart

[Zael Castomir]

Yes...but no wife...

Ollie achieved the impossible. He actually got Zael to cover his mouth in an attempt to hide his laughter. Giggling, he said under his breath, "Oh-h shit!"

Well, Zael wouldn't begrudge a man getting him some—unless that man was a piece of shit about it. For that matter he wouldn't begrudge Sarah either for getting her some, Trik wasn't no slouch when it came to being a sexy beast. But goddamn if it wasn't funny seeing Trik jog through the entire spectrum of shades of red. He and Ollie were having such a raucous time it'd be hard to believe they were setting off to face a legendary monster.

While Zael was likewise turning some shades of red in his attempt to stifle his laughter, Gier spoke up for the Elbioners after being introduced, "We are intent upon the Stalker and the Burning Heart for our studies. However, we are prepared to—allow me to borrow a human phrase—'pull our own weight.'"

Zael, his fit of suppressed giggles dying down, managed to say, "They're helpin us out, and we're helpin them."

Gier nodded. "It goes without saying that the three of us have magic for the use of combat—"

"Except me," Yuna interrupted in a chirpy tone, "I just make love potions and doodle lewd pictures."

Gier pressed on, ignoring the facetiousness of his comrade, "—and we've plenty of spells for utility. We can recharge the crystals in these masks, for instance, the Grishinoans were gracious enough to teach us that. We can keep the poison gas at bay for a time, if an emergency happens. Many more. We want this join venture of ours to be a success as much as you Anirians do."

"Yeah," said Zael, "Fuck those Allirians, fuck those Tyrians, and...ah, all those solo guys are cool. Cool, but they won't get anywhere."

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Reigning himself in, and taking deep gulping breaths Ollie managed to pull back some of the laughter. Head still shaking as Zael helpfully reinforced the bond they held with their new companions. "Right."

The noble said in confirmation, the slight pang of guilt still sitting in his chest.

"Right...Well..." Trik said, his face still a shade of pink as he cleared his throat and looked at each one of the Elbioners in turn. "Lets get over this river already then. We're here for the Stalker and the heart, not to talk about our personal lives."

Trik said, his eyes finally landing on Ollie.

A wide grin spread across the young Nobles face, but his head dipped down in a nod.

"Right, my loyal bodyguard." Ollie said as he took in one last breath, allowing the smile on his face to last a second longer before he motioned towards the others. Before long each one of them had boarded the little riverboat in turn, not the first to set off across the river, but certainly not trailing far behind.

Ollie stood near the prow of the boat as they made the short journey, the plague mask still resting on his head as he watched Rostok slowly draw closer and closer. The heavy fog around the village obscuring most of it's features, but a sense omf dread growing in his stomach nevertheless.

 

[Zael Castomir]

ROSTOK​

Obscurity inevitably produced in whatever was so obscured an ominous character. Here with Rostok, just a short boat ride down the river from Grishino, it was no different. The earthen tones of gray rocks, brown soil and tree trunks, overhanging green from the leaves above, were interrupted by the sight of the thick white fog, this like some unsightly wound upon the otherwise picturesque landscape. The fog, in truth concentrated gas, hung round Rostok and stayed there as if pulled in and kept by some unknown force—maybe the Stalker itself had some slight influence upon it.

"There it is," said Gier, this with equal parts dread and fascination.

"Do you think it's true?" asked Herrim. "That the fire is still burning beneath the ground?"

Zael smiled and said, "Won't be a problem for me."

Before Yuna could chime in with a Hey, but what about the rest of us and more specifically me?, the boatman yelled, "Masks on!"

Zael pulled the mask down from the top of his head and made sure it was pleasantly snug, just like Sarah instructed. He moved his jaw about here and there, checked his mask again, and still it fit securely. The sound of his own filtered breathing echoed inside of the mask's confines, the tiny vibrations of it traveling up to his ears making it seem louder than it truly was.

After he was done, he looked at Ollie and gave him a thumbs up. "Lookin sexy, hotshot."

"When we land and enter the town," Gier said, his voice now muffled by his own mask. "Watch out for Skitterers."

"What now?"

"Skitterers," Herrim offered knowledgeably. "Previous hunters and the like reported about them. They're...something like miniature versions of the Stalker. They hide in the fog, attack in packs, sort of like wild dogs in the Savannah."

"Skitterers," Zael said, huffing with amusement and taking it all lightly. "Say that five times fast."

Yuna took him literally and tried to do that and failed and giggled about it. Which was all for the better, Zael supposed. This was how he cleared his mind, lessened stress and anxiety: making light of things, turning the negative into the positive, all that. It worked in the Academy for him, it'd work here in Rostok now. Might even help ease some of Ollie's nerves if he was feeling the same sort of apprehension Zael was.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

"Oh thanks." Ollie said as he pulled on the strap of his mask, making sure that it was snuggly fit against his face.

He tried to focus on the water around them, the calming and serene movement of the water. His thoughts, pointedly, did not turn towards the Stalker or even Rostok as the town came into view. He kept his mind focused on things more pleasant.

Sword forms, his friends, and most importantl; Elspeth.

He kept himself calm. Breathing slowly until Herrim helpfully brought up another piece of advice. "You figured that would've been brought up before now."

Ollie remarked idly, letting out a loud sigh and placing a hand on the hilt of his sword. The blade seemed to shift slightly, moving on his hip as if it too was preparing itself for something more. His shoulders rolled, and a pier slowly came into view.

The thing was ancient, half rotted and with more than a few planks missing, but apparently still workable enough for this riverboat. He supposed that it made sense, Rostok must have been a thriving down before the Stalker showed up. No need to jump onto a beach when you could pull yourself onto a dock instead.

"Alright, my friend and assigned Dreadlord." Ollie said, trying to keep the fear from his voice. "How bout you go first?"

He was under no illusions, Zael could kick his ass any day of the week and was easily the best fighter among them. If anyone had to lead the way, it should be Zael.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"You better be back before nightfall," said the boatman as he guided his riverboat up to the old pier. "Or I hope you're all good swimmers."

Yuna muttered something, probably derogatory, but it was muffled pretty well by the mask; and all for the better, Zael supposed, since it wasn't the best idea to piss off their ride out of here.

Ollie offered him up the honor of being the first one off of the boat, and Zael grinned behind the mask. "Love to."

He unsheathed his sword and then stepped down onto the pier. The wood groaned underneath his weight, but the planks didn't snap. Good. Maybe Trik's big ass would get dunked, but Zael at least could stay dry.

Wisps of the white, poisonous gas seemed like inviting, almost grasping, arms, coaxing them further into the town. The toxic fog was still thin and hazy by the docks, but ahead one could see that it thickened quickly enough; only a few scant edges of rooftops and building corners peeked out from the town proper, and all the rest was still shrouded in mystery.

Off to their right, the Allirian mercenaries were disembarking on a far more rickety section of the docks. One of them even did step on a rotted board and had his leg fall through and had to be pulled up by his brothers-in-arms.

"The Heart," said Gier from behind Zael and Ollie, "is likely to be underground still."

"Where the fires supposedly are."

"Yes."

"Alright," he glanced over to Ollie, "just need to find a mineshaft, sinkhole, somethin like that."

"Maybe the Stalker will invite you down for dinner," Yuna said, laughing a little, still not taking this very seriously.

"You kid," Zael said. "But...you might be right."

Another look to Ollie, this one sober to the reality of things. Yeah, they were on the menu, weren't they?

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie hauled himself over the side of the boat and onto the dock. His boots landing with a creak as the ancient and rotted wood shifted beneath him. He glanced back towards Trik for a moment, offering the Ogre of a man a cautious look before he gave Zael a grim nod. "Yeah."

He said slowly as he drew his own blade.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about finding it." Ollie remarked as the rest of their crew unloaded. It took only a few minutes before the rest of them were hauled from the boat. The rickety pier remaining shockingly stable as they slowly made their way onto the shore.

The closer they moved to the town, the thicker the fog of fumes became. Without a mask one quickly would have found themselves choked by the smell of smog and sulfur perforating the air. Even with his own, Ollie caught the scent of burning ash, and he couldn't help but crinkle his nose the further they moved.

Around them Rostok came slowly bleeding Into view. The dead gardens and the sunken houses a sight of rabble which reminded Ollie of some cities that had been razed by an army instead of blighted.

"Lovely place." Someone said from behind him, their voice muffled by a mask.

Olvir didn't quip back, instead his head swiveled back and forth. He scanned the fallen stone walls and rubble around them, walking behind Zael until he noticed something. A haze within the air, just beyond the span of a broken wall that seemed to have once been a tavern, or something close. "See that?"

He asked, pointing through the thick haze.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Shit, get down," Zael said quietly, and mostly this was for the benefit of their esteemed College buddies. Whether or not they heard him or his mask made his low words an unintelligible muffle, Zael nevertheless put a hand to Gier's back and guided him down near the broken wall—Herrim and Yuna got the idea and followed suit.

Through the haze and along the track of Ollie's pointing finger was the tavern. Perched like a gargoyle on the pointed end of the tavern's surviving rooftop was a thing with blanched flesh stretched tight across its gaunt and gangly skeleton, eyeless, and with a mouth permanently open in a fang-filled sneer. There was some kind of hissing sound coming from it, high-pitched—calling for others, maybe. It was hard to tell whether or not the creature had spotted them.

"That one of them Skitterers?" Zael asked, crouching and peering over the broken wall's top edge.

"It matches the accounts from surviving hunters," said Herrim.

"Uuuuuug-ly!" Yuna said, disgusted.

Zael glanced to Ollie, his eyes communicating his hidden grin. "Figured they weren't just going to let us parade in here. Suits me."

"Wait. Look there," Gier said, pointing slightly off from the tavern.

The group of Allirian mercenaries were coming through the haze ahead, close to the tavern, and one of their number gave a shout "Look alive, boys!" The Skitterer on the rooftop had indeed been calling for others, and for each of the mercenaries jumped down in savage assault an equal number of Skitterers. Beyond the broken wall that was their cover the fight between the Allirians and the monsters erupted.

"Heh, maybe let them handle it," Zael said to Ollie. Far be it for a guy like him to suggest they slip on by a nice chance at a fight, but... "We got a bigger fish to catch."

At any first glance of the battle, seemed the Allirians were holding their own. Maybe their skill and fortune would hold, maybe it would not.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie froze, crouching behind the half-wall as they finally managed to peer through the mire. His lips turned to a frown as one of the odd ‘skitterers’ came into view, it’s multitude of appendages seeming to vibrate and trill within the air. Almost as though it were using it’s legs to ‘listen’ for prey.

Even looking at the thing made goosebumps run up the young nobles spine, his fingers gripping a bit tighter on the hilt of his sword. He shifted slightly, taking a stifled break within his mask. ”Guess the warm up is…”

Before he could finish Gier shifted, pointing behind the half torn tavern.

A group of Allirian mercenaries quickly rushed up, moving with none of the stealth or sense that their own posse had shown. Within mere minutes the men engaged the odd creatures, a swarm of the monsters coming out from the surrounding buildings as though they had been laying in wait.

Ollie nodded his head at Zael.

”No reason to fight if we don’t have to.” He said in agreement, nodding, but letting his gaze linger on the distant battle for a moment before he turned on his heel. Quickly they moved away from the tavern, cutting through a nearby alleyway and moving behind a section of half torn buildings.

”There.” Ollie said as they came out into what had likely once been a market square of some sort. ”There’s a Well. That should get us under the city at least.”

Where the heart would be.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Ollie with the eagle eyes," Zael said, communicating his grin through his gaze.

They all came to circle around the Well. Zael and their esteemed Elbioner friends all leaned forward and glanced down the Well...which, to be fair, didn't do much because they couldn't see very far. A combination of darkness and a slow and steady rise of that thin, wispy white poison gas choked out any vision beyond so far.

"I don't suppose any of you brought a rope," Zael said.

"You know me so well," Yuna said, her blush evident in her tone.

"Do you actually have one or you just pinin' for some bondage?"

Yuna held her hands behind her back and dipped her head low and mumbled something conciliatory and bashfully kicked some dust.

"Herrim is quite adept at Slow Fall spells," Gier offered, and to which Herrim nodded and agreed. "It shouldn't be a problem."

"Well..." Herrim said, abruptly struck by something, "...what if we get down there and...I don't know, there's no hole to the underground, or the hole isn't big enough, or something like that."

"No problem," Zael said cheerfully. "I'll handle it. I can blow open a hole for us. Easy."

Gier was very hesitant about that idea. "But we'll be down there with you. In that cramped space. Standing on your shoulders, essentially."

"That's why you're gonna stay up here while I scout and probably blast us a way through," Zael said as he perched onto the Well's edge like an owl on a branch. "I'll make it quick." Then he gestured to his friend. "Ollie's got your back up here. And you can hug Trik if you get scared. Heh, don't let the Skitterers bite."

With that, Zael disappeared down the Well, echoes of fire jets and flame blasts slowing his descent coming from within.

Yuna pranced over to Ollie and reached up and tapped him on the shoulder. "Remember what you promised me! Haha!"

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

The moment Zael said he was going down alone Ollie opened his mouth to object, his lips opening only for a short jab to his ribs to quickly silence him. His head turned back towards the person who had poked at him whirling back to find Trik standing there.

His bodyguard said nothing, but simply shook his head.

For a brief moment Ollie frowned, but then nodded in understanding. There wasn't any reason to object. Zael was their fastest option, and at the end of the day...this was why he was here. Questioning him, even for a brief moment, ate precious time. There was no place for that here. "Good luck, buddy, try not to do anything stupid down there."

Ollie said with a grin, watching as Zael threw himself over the edge of the Well and down into the darkness below.

"Form up." He called, remembering it was something Trik had said once. "Zael and I saw the damned thing last night. No way it do-"

Before he could finish speaking, Ollie let out a curse.

He heard them first, the strange skittering noises of the creatures which had been so aptly named. The others heard it to, and their eyes flickered towards one of the smaller ruined buildings. There they saw the first one come free, crawling forward before stopping.

Then a second joined the first.

Then a third.

"Get ready." Ollie said, taking a single step back as a wave of the strange creature erupted from the fallen rubble.

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Don't worry, I was born stupid," echoed Zael's voice from inside the Well. "So it can't get any worse, ah ha!"

Herrim looked to Gier, and then to Yuna, figuring she would have more context. "Does he always joke like that?"

Yuna, of course, didn't pay Herrim much mind. Because it didn't take long for Skitterers to sniff them out—or however it was that they detected intruders into Rostok—and start to gather on the periphery of the fog, skulking and circling as others came to join.

Form up.

Yuna let out a frightful little shriek, and formed up in the best place she could figure: directly behind Trik, the giant of a man and largest among them. Gier and Herrim, each nervous (and who knew if they were helped in putting on brave faces each in independent attempts to impress Yuna), nevertheless took places to Ollie's left and right respectively. Both knew elemental magic: Gier's hands crackled with lightning, while air swirled around Herrim's palms.

"Okay, okay," Herrim said, psyching himself up.

"Seems the Allirians missed a few," Gier said, doing the same.

"Ahhhhh! They're-so-ugly!" Yuna said, decidedly not doing that.

The Skitterers, at first while their numbers were still low, kept making feints and juke attacks, scurrying forward—when they "saw" that no one was looking directly at them—before scurrying back—when one of the five did look at them. Gier shot off a bolt at one of these charging Skitterers, a second, and missed both times. Herrim sent a couple of wind shears toward a charging Skitterer of his own, these slicing through the wispy white fog, but similarly missed. Even though the creatures retreated each time, their numbers were growing steadily, and a tipping point would be reached before pack mentality gave them all the courage to pounce at once.

The sharp crack of a small explosion echoed up the Well. Then came another.

And then came Zael's shouting voice from far below: "Shit. Fuck. Gimme a minute!"

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Shit. Olvir thought to himself. Having read Demir's Treatises on Warfare and Leadership, he knew that the person in charge shouldn't show any sign of trepidation. Particularly in a situation like hi-

Wait.

Was he in charge? Shit.

Ollie thought to himself, briefly glancing around and reminding himself that he'd always been in charge. His family was the one paying for this venture, and he was the one who was supposed to be leading all of this at the end of the day. His fingers tightened on his sword, and then he did what came only on impulse.

"Herrim." Ollie's voice took on a tone of authority, one he'd heard Aisling use with her troops before. "Strike them with the wind behind the forward group. Drive them towards us."

Ollie demanded, then gestured towards Gier. "Blast them as soon as they get close. Trik, me and you will take out any stragglers."

He said, then motioned to the last of the Elbion group."Yuna, call out their movements."

Without even thinking, Olvir moved to stand at the front of the group. Shifting so that when Herrim did throw the wind the Skitterers would see him first.

Bait.

Noble Bait.

That had to count for something, right?

 

[Zael Castomir]

"Uh-h-h...okay, I'll do it," Herrim said, a little uncertain in his own ability but taking heart in the manner Ollie's orders were delivered.

"Understood," Gier said simply, readying himself.

Yuna, taking readily to be Ollie's command, piped up with relief and even eagerness which could be heard through the muffling of her mask, "Yes! Call out their movements! You got it, Ollie!"

From inside the Well came some more explosions, more flashes of light and fire. These weren't particularly loud or destructive, if one judged by the sound, but precise and spaced out in their timing. Zael, though immune to his own magic, wasn't immune to flying debris, and furthermore he didn't want to accidentally bring down whatever passageway he was creating by going too strong, causing a cave-in, and fucking up all of his work. He had to be careful.

Herrim went on the offensive, as ordered. The Skitterers were still gathering up, crying out with their high-pitched hisses and clicking sounds to summon others, but they were still at present circling and eluding and only truly feint attacking. Herrim worked his magic, taking his time to concentrate and get the spell right; he conjured a big ball of condescended wind behind a bunched-up group of four Skitterers and then let it burst. The four Skitterers, caught completely by surprise, went tumbling through the air as if the lot of them were being tossed so for sport.

Gier had a bolt ready to go in each palm, the crackling lightning prepared and pulsing. One bolt ravaged a Skitterer in mid-air, and the thing was fried even before it struck the ground. Another bolt struck another, the thing screeching and flailing but ultimately shriveling in death after it slid across the ground and came to rest by the Well.

That left two of the creatures, recovering, getting to their spindly feet amidst Ollie and the group.

"Get 'em, get 'em!" Herrim cried out.

"Uh, uh, from behind, they're looking really feisty behind us!" Yuna advised with no shortage of worry.

But at last, some good news. "Okay!" Zael yelled from the bottom of the Well. "Got it! Start comin down! One at a time! Ain't room for more than that! Figure out the order!"

The danger, naturally, would increase as more and more of their group escaped into the Well. The Skitterers were proven to be opportunistic fiends, after all.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie moved with a flash, his sword cutting first through the nearest skitterer's legs and then severing it's body in two. A quiet screech escaped it's companion, and the thing moved as though it were about to avenge it's fallen comrade, but before it could jump Trik's sword came down to crush the creature. His massive blade seeming to bludgeon the thing more than cut it.

Wordlessly the two stepped back, moving in perfect tandem as everyone else continued the task that Ollie had set them too. Another bolt shot out, frying one of the skiterers and sending it crashing to the ground with a weakened screech.

His eyes darted swiftly back and forth, Zael's shout echoing out not a minute too soon.

"Yuna! You first." Right now she was the one they could afford to lose. After her it would be Trik, then Herrim and Gier. He would go down the Well last, and as they went down one by one the Skitterers drew closer.

Magic flashed, Trik stepped forward once or twice to swipe his massive blade in an arc and scare the creatures off. Yet as the group began to thin out, the creatures became more and more bold. By the time it was only Herrim, Gier, and Ollie, the damned things were practically swarming.

"THEY'RE CLOSE!"

Herrim shouted, Ollie's sword swiping forward and catching one of the creatures legs. "Go!"

He shouted, grabbing the boy and practically shoving him towards the well. "We don't have time to wa-"

One of the creatures suddenly jumped forward, crashing into him with it's full weight and sending Ollie stumbling back. His feet fell out from under him, and he heard a shout from one of the Elbion kids as he ran into the well.

Balance failing him, the Skitterer slashing, biting, and doing it's best to claw at his face as he suddenly went tumbling into the well. Letting out a cry as he began to fall.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Zael stood just inside the breach he made in the wall of the Well, a breach big enough so that Trik's big ass could fit through when it was his turn. The breach went for a couple meters through earth and stone, and then it opened up wide into Rostok's vast underground, the blackrock mines. Simmering orange glows loomed ominously down each of the twisting tunnels, white smoke clung to the roofs of the caverns almost like a layer of underground clouds, but all that was a worry for the moment after this one.

Everyone needed to get down here safe and sound first.

Yuna came Slow Falling down as the first of the bunch. "I got ya," Zael said, reaching out and pulling her into the breach before she got dunked in the fetid Well water further down in the Well's shaft. She must have been scared shitless, because she didn't even make one of her usual lusty comments.

Then came Trik, and it was best to get out of the way and give the big man some room.

And then came from above a fearful shout, followed by the sounds of banging against the Well's shaft. Zael peeked out from the breach and looked up and saw in the low light something big and amorphous which he couldn't readily identify (but which was in truth Ollie and the Skitterer, tumbling and fighting). But he saw it and saw that it was coming fast.

"Oh shi—!"

Zael had to duck back inside the breach. Ollie and the Skitterer went past, and that nasty water outside the breach splashed uproariously, splattered Zael's one side, and sprinkled those bug-eyed lens of Zael's mask. A quick wipe didn't help all too much to clear it. But it was enough to allow him to make out that it was Ollie and one of those freaks in the water.

"Ollie! OLLIE! Fuck! I can't get a clean thrust!" Zael said in alarm and frustration. Then he glanced back and tossed his sword to Yuna (who fumbled and dropped it on the ground).

And Zael dropped down flat onto his belly, reached down, and with both hands grabbed hold of the Skitterer's backside, trying to hold the thing still for a second so Ollie or someone could finish it.

Olvir

 

[Olvir]

Ollie's blade stabbed through the Skitterer. It's tip easily impaling through the creatures body and stopping just short of Zaels' face. The things legs seemed to twitch, once, twice, and then the Noble ripped his blade free.

Almost immediately the creature let out a bubbling, gurgled scream beneath the waters, and then went limp in the Initiate's grasp.

Two swift kicks sent Olvir scrambling up and above the surface of the water. A breath dragging into his lungs as he scrambled onto the hard surface of land, tossing his sword onto the ground so he could use both hands to scramble free.

"Kress fuck." He swore, a hand quickly dabbing at his face as though he were making sure the Skitterer had not ripped it free. With the mask still in place, most of his beautiful features had been saved.

Still, his palm came back bloody, dozens of tiny cuts decorating his head where the creature had scratched, bitten, and done everything it could to hurt and harm.

"Fuck that." Ollie said, pointing to the dead creatures in Zael's hands. "Fuck all that."

He said, reaching out and grabbing his sword. Taking the blade almost as a safety net as he scrambled to his feet. A long breath quickly dragging into his lungs as he settled his nerves back into his place, the stupid mask on his face making him feel half claustrophobic. "Those things might actually be worse than the big one."

Ollie spoke the words, though he knew they weren't true.

Still, goosebumps rolled over his flesh as he looked towards the corpse.

 

[Zael Castomir]

Zael flinched at the sudden eruption of Ollie's sword through the Skitterer, at the tip of the blade halting just a couple inches from his face. He might be a Dreadlord (Initiate, for the specificity-inclined folks), but he was still human, and there was just gonna be those times when he didn't have the hard and fearless reaction that was expected of him.

Zael let go of the Skitterer's pallid corpse with all the haste granted by disgust. The thing bobbed lifelessly in the fetid water, and even though it was dead Zael didn't much like it any better than when it was alive. Kress, they couldn't find the Heart fast enough and get out of here.

"Yeah, I'm not invitin any of em to my birthday party," Zael said. In any other context the words would've been spoken in a tone inextricably linked to a grin and good-natured fun, but here Zael almost spat them out with a pure revulsion.

Next down the Well's shaft came Herrim, and Zael pulled him in to the breach once he descended close enough.

"Gier?"

"He's coming, he's coming!" Herrim said, shaken but holding it together. Good on him.

And just like Herrim said, last came Gier. Only he didn't Slow Fall down. He came plummeting down feet first like a diver, making a big splash in the Well water and disturbing the corpse of the Skitterer. Zael helped pull him up to the breach.

"We...we made it!" Gier said, giddy and ecstatic just to be alive.

"Good stuff," Zael said, clapping the elf on the arm. "I'mma have to tell the rest of your classmates at the College myself; they ain't gonna believe ya."

Then Zael glanced toward Ollie.

"I might have to tell your dad too. Get that knucklehead to listen to what his son went through for this shit."

Olvir