The Legend of Winter Falls Chapter 3

Dale and his friends make it to the matriarchal elvin city of Fattelan. Beisdes taking time to see their scientific and magical breakthrough Dale must find Technoheart and bring back Cylde's android.

Two hours later Dale and his companions were nearing the outer limits of the elvin kingdom of Fatellan. The top of the city buildings glistened as several ads were projected in the sky via magic. Dale looked on in awe as he saw a commercial featuring an elvin super soldier program.

            “Have any of you guys heard of an elvin super soldier program before?” Dale asked.

            “I have no idea,” Francisca said. “I never traveled too far away from Frostbech to know. What about you, Simon?”

            Simon glanced into the rear-view mirror. He then put the hovercar into autopilot. Once the autopilot was engaged, he opened the dashboard and pulled out a quantum disc drive. He then inserted the disc drive into a slot below the radio.

            An image of an elvin woman was projected in the hovercar. The woman had black hair, tan skin, and was wearing a full bodysuit with a hexagonal pattern. She held a vial in her left hand and was standing beside a younger Simon and Monica Dante.

“Five years ago, my wife and I worked with a colleague who wanted to make a new scientific breakthrough,” Simon said. “Her name is Dr. Freya Valerion. “She’s Prince Baelfire Torangboon’s head researcher.”
            “So that’s the head researcher of the royal Fatellan court,” Sally said. “I remember reading a report that a meteor crashed near the area a year ago. Is it possible that the elves of Fatellan were able to analyze the meteor? That could be a possibility.”

Simon shrugged his shoulders. He then took the disc drive out and put it away from where he had it stored. “That’s an interesting hypothesis, Sally. It’s not unusual for alien materials to reach Winter Falls. I believe that we may someday see people from other planets come to Winter Falls. Imagine the wellspring of knowledge they could share with us.”

“As much as you two could go about the idea of aliens you should pay attention to what’s up ahead,” Francisca said. “We’re approaching the gatekeeper. The last thing I want to do is to pay a fine because some talkative genius let a hovercar on autopilot during an inspection.”

Simon turned off the autopilot and took over the wheel as he and his companions approached the gate. The gate was guarded by two female elves. The guards were dressed in chrome bodysuits and were carrying blasters. Simon rolled down his window as the guards approached.

The guard looked at Simon and snickered with disgust. She then signaled to her companion to scan the hovercar. The other guard pressed a switch on the gate. A blue beam of light scanned the hovercar. After the scan was complete an alarm sounded.
            “I’m going to need you and your passengers to step out of the hovercar,” the guard said.

            Dale and his friends walked out of the hovercar. The guards walked over to Dale and his comrades with warbs in their hands. One by one Dale and his friends were scanned. It was only when Magnus scanned that the warbs sounded a second alarm.

“You know it’s illegal to smuggle Lycantrian lycanthropes into Fatellan, right?” the first guard said. “We already have enough trouble with foreign visitors. If you wish to bring your companion into the city, he must always wear a silver collar. Otherwise you will be arrested for terrorism in the name of High Queen Gaia and High King Maxivolt.”

The second guard walked over to Dale and his friend with a silver collar in her hand. “We only say this due to our current war with the Lycantrian tribe of Ebulan. Not to mention we arrested an android for causing a riot earlier today. I believe her unactivated android was also confiscated upon her arrest.”

“Pardon me ma’am, but you said have an android in custody, right?” Dale asked. “My friends and I were sent to retrieve her by Clyde Winterdyne.”

The first elvin guard scowled at Dale and shook her head in contempt. “If the great dragon Winterdyne is the owner of that abomination he shall be fined accordingly. His dragon privilege does not make him exempt from the laws of Fatellan.”

Sally took a step forward. Her eyes brimmed with passion. She couldn’t believe that an elf could be completely disrespectful towards a dragon. Hearing this and how the elves made Sally angry.

“Lord Winterdyne’s android has been infected by a malicious AI formerly known as Kevin Technoheart! He had no control over the situation,” Sally said. “So, there’s no excuse to be racist towards dragons!”

            “Hold your tongue!” the second elvin guard said. “You have no say over our political views. If you persist in your humansplaining and interfere with our laws, then we will arrest you for bigotry!”

            While the guards were giving Dale and his friends a hard time another female elf arrived on the scene. The elf was dressed in a purple shirt and a black skirt. She wore a beautiful heart theme tiara. Her olive skin glistened in the sun as was walking by.

            The elf stopped in her tracks when she saw the commotion. She gasped as she saw the two guards berate Dale and his friends. The elf made her way over towards the guards. The guards saw the elf approach and immediately bowed before her.

            “What in blazes is going on here?” Why are you being rude to our guests?”

            The guards stood up and glanced at each other. The elf in front of them crossed her arms across her chest and sighed. The guards attempted to speak, but the other elf raised her hand.

            “As crown princess it is my duty to ensure that our guests aren’t assaulted. As of today, you have been suspended from your duties.”

            “But Princess Margoline…”

            “No buts. I can fire you for mutiny. Now go home!”

            The guards walked away and grumbled. Princess Margoline walked towards Dale and his friends.

“Sorry about that. I hope those guards weren’t harassing you too much,” Margoline said.

            “Don’t mention it,” Francisca said. “Those elves seemed to be bigoted towards anything that wasn’t a woman or an elf. Yet being an elf myself I find it rather pathetic to see my own race act like a bunch of a******s.”

            Dale and Sally look at Francisca in confusion. Francisca was wearing her hair in a ponytail, but some of her hair covered her ears. This made it hard for them to tell if Francisca was a human or an elf.

            “You’re an elf?” Dale asked.

            Francisca sighed and brushed back the hair that was covering her ears. Dale’s eyes grew wide as he noticed Francisca’s pointed ears. Francisca snarled and crossed her arms.

            “Of course, I’m a bloody elf! I really hate it when people think I’m a human,” Francisca said. “I have nothing against humans, but it’s aggravating since our races are nearly identical.”

            “Yeah, that’s nice Francisca,” Margoline said. “The reason why those elves were acting that way is due to our matriarchal society and the recently elected High Judge. Her name is Myra Porinola. She and Parilament have been making it tough for any reform and are striking down men’s equality and trade with any kingdom that doesn’t have a sizable elf population.”

            Simon nodded his head. He then took out his newest creation out of the hovercar. The creature yawned as it slowly began to wake up.

            “I think I saw something about that on the quantum net. I believe there has been a demand for male suffrage too led by a group of masculinists,” Simon said.

            Simon began petting the lifeform. The lifeform began purring and made chirping sounds.

            “That’s right. Every other store has posters calling for men’s rights,” Margoline said. “By the way what is that adorable creature?”

            “It’s an artificial lifeform I was working on. I think I will call it’s species Enairgon,” Simon said. “I have to clone this little guy a mate and study its behavior and if they have a gender or not.”

            Francisca began tapping her foot and sighed. “We don’t have all day. So, stop with the boring scientific stuff so we can see a more interesting scientific breakthrough already!”

            Margoline bid Dale and his friends goodbye. Dale and his friends got back into the hovercar and drove through the gate. As they were driving by, they saw men and women holding up posters either for or against male suffrage.

            Dale and his friends also heard people shouting bigoted remarks against Lycantrians when they spotted Magnus within the hovercar. Magnus sighed as the protesters crowded around the hovercar. It didn’t take long for the elves to start fighting amongst themselves when they spotted a female elf in a lab coat holding a pro-men’s rights flag.

            “What’s up with these people! My god they’ll wreck the hovercar if they continue acting like idiots!” Francisca said.

            “Francisca, please stop taking Almightus’s name in vain,” Simon said. “I do concur that there’s a fifty percent chance that we run the risk of our hovercar being attacked.”

            The crowd continued crowding around the hovercar. They also began surrounding the elf in the lab coat. Then out of nowhere an airborne figure swooped by and landed in front of the crowd. The figure was a male elf of average height and a stocky build. He wore a silver suit with purple streaks.

            The elf had strawberry blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard. Half the crowd cheered, and the other half sneered. Dale looked on as the elf commanded total attention.

            “Is that Prince Baelfire?” Sally asked.

            Francisca rolled her eyes and sighed. She then used her tablet to do a quick search on Prince Baelfire. Once she found the results, she was looking for she show it to Sally.

            “Prince Baelfire is much taller than this guy,” Francisca said. “However, this guy could be his fraternal twin brother Xandias. Also, they have different facial hair, skin tone, and hair color.”

            Dale and Magnus looked at the picture. The picture showed that Prince Baelfire was a tall elf with dark chocolate skin, red hair, a neatly trimmed mustache, and amber colored eyes. There was also of Xandias. Dale noticed that the superpowered elf had similar qualities to Xandias, including his fair skin tone.

            They do look similar. Yet the last thing I was expecting was going to a city that reminds me of home. Everything I’m seeing me reminds me of the politics I wanted to escape from. Could this be part of the Miraculus’s weakening? Could the corruption of this world be the evil that the Infernal Queen will unleash? I know I need to find the Sword of Berthorn, but I’m slowly losing interest as I observe the hypocrisy of these people. I guess time will tell. Dale thought.

            “I wonder if this has to the weaken of the Miraculus growing weaker?” Dale asked.

            The superpowered elf calmed down the crowd by launching a blue pod into the air. The pod exploded into a blue mist. The crowd began returning to their normal lives. Dale’s comrades were too preoccupied by the elf to even pay head to his question until two minutes later.

            “Were you saying something about the Miraculus’s weakening state being the cause of what we witnessed?” Simon asked.

            Dale nodded his head. “It makes sense. The crystal that Nastilda showed us was a corrupted piece of the Miraculus.

            Magnus bolted out of his seat and dug through his pants pockets. He then held a grey crystal shard. “That name is somewhat familiar. I don’t know anyone named Nastilda, but the crystal’s name just came back to me.”

            Magnus tried his hardest to remember where he heard about the Miraculous. Images of the Kiana Technoheart flashed in his mind. He remembered that the infected android was using a giant crystal shard to powerup the body that she intended to transfer into.

            “I believe I saw that Technoheart scumbag with a giant chunk of the Miraculus. I think this shard may be a piece of that chunk,” Magnus said. “I wish I could remember more, but my memory is still hazy. If you have a notepad or tablet, I could draw you an image of what I remember or just write it down at least.”

            Francisca handed her tablet to Magnus. “You better not break it. I just bought this tablet last week. If you do break it, I’ll blow your brains out with a silver bullet.”

            Magnus began writing down what he remembered. As Magnus was writing, Simon was looking for where the residents of Fatellan would see the unveiling of the new scientific breakthrough. Simon kept driving until he saw sign. The sign read: “Super elf showcase at General Zandra Rofa’s estate.”

            “It seems like the scientific breakthrough is that super elf that we saw. Yet where would we find this General Rofa’s estate?”

            Francisca shrugged her shoulders and looked over to Magnus who was busy writing what he remembered. Francisca sighed as the Lycantrian was finishing up.

            “Don’t you have a map programmed on your GPS for this city, Simon? Don’t tell me that you don’t have a map of this place.”

            “My GPS would be working a lot better if a certain Lycantrian didn’t try to steal my car and mess with my systems.”

Simon looked at Magnus through the rearview mirror and sighed. “Hey Magnus, are you capable of fixing my hovercar?”

            Magnus sighed as he handed the tablet back to Francisca. “I told you I fixed your systems. You just need to press update systems button on the screen. For a genius, you don’t know anything about mechanics or Triple Quantum Codex plus programing.”

            Simon sighed and shook his head. “My wife is the one to ask about that stuff. I mainly study biological breakthroughs and inventing new machines. My wife is into mechanics and advanced programming. We combined our talents to create little Enairgon here. Enairgon has several nanobots that act like cells in its body. My wife designed the mechanism that would cause this guy to come to life.”

            Francisca looked out the window and sighed. She rolled her eyes when she saw Dale snoozing. Sally was busy playing with Enairgon and Magnus and Simon were talking about programming and various other subjects.

            “If this thing doesn’t start until later then what are we doing in this vehicle? When does this start anyway?” Francisca said.

            “It starts at seven thirty,” Simon said.

            Francisca sighed and looked at her phone. She then stepped out of the hovercar. The traffic wasn’t heavy due to rush hour. In fact, most people were walking on foot while most hovercars were several feet higher than Simon’s hovercar.

            “We got plenty of time. What we do doesn’t revolve around your schedule, Simon,” Francisca said. “I want to see this super elf breakthrough too, but we also have a rogue AI in this city. Our top priority should be finding that damn Technoheart, not wasting our day in a cramped hovercar.”

            Dale woke up and noticed Francisca outside the hovercar. He then noticed that the others were exiting the hovercar as well. Dale proceeded to get out of the hovercar. Dale heard upbeat music and elves talking to each other.

            After everyone got out of the hovercar, Simon proceeded to put away the hovercar. The hovercar shrunk down until it folded up into a cube. Simon placed the hovercar into his utility belt and proceeded over to the sidewalk where the others were waiting. Francisca was standing near a store and had her arms crossed over her chest.

            Simon sighed and pulled out his Warb. “Listen guys, Francisca brought up an interesting point. Instead of waiting for Technoheart to strike during the super elf reveal at General Rofa’s estate.”

            “That’s a good plan. How should we track down Technoheart?” Sally asked.

            Francisca grinned and began walking back and forth like a detective from a retro film or TV show. Francisca stopped in place as she pulled out her tablet. Her tablet projected a hologram of Fatellan and timestamps that indicated when the android, Kiana, was apprehended and where the authorities took the body that Technoheart AI planned on transferring to.

            “There’s five of us so splitting into two groups would allow us to find that damn AI faster,” Francisca said. “I’ll take Magnus and Dale with me. I’m sure you and Simon can handle yourselves just fine.”

            Dale and the others began grumbling amongst themselves. They began complaining about Francisca’s bad attitude and her disregard for others. Francisca sighed and pulled out her gun. A crowd of passersby gathered as the elf girl raised her weapon in the air.

            Francisca polished her weapon and put it away. Dale and the crowd stared in confusion as Francisca began to start crying. Francisca ran off towards a pub. Magnus and Dale followed her as she entered the establishment.

            Meanwhile, Simon and Sally sighed and shook their heads. The crowd began talking amongst themselves as the Magernite and battle mage tried to comprehend what just happened.

            “Did Francisca just go AWOL or did she plan this because she wasn’t getting her way?” Sally asked.

            “I think she created this awkward scene just to enact her plan,” Simon said. “She’s a talented actress that’s for sure. I literally thought she would have fired at us. Let’s go find that AI and retrieve Kiana for Clyde Winterdyne.”

            Simon and Sally walked in the opposite direction of where Magnus and Dale went. Back in the pub Francisca was interrogating people about Technoheart. Dale and Magnus had just arrived and couldn’t believe the stunt that Francisca pulled earlier. They looked on as Francisca was interrogating people.

            The pub was full of people relaxing.  Several TVs were showing different shows and movies. One of the TVs showed footage from Avengers Infinity War. Magnus looked at the footage and sighed. He saw another movie based on one of the Lord of the rings prequels and shook his head. Dale, however, was baffled as to how movies and shows from his world were able to be streamed in this pocket dimension or how the people in the pub began laughing at the shows while comparing it to programs native to Winter Falls.

            “You think these movies and shows would do their research on actual dwarves. This movie just reminded me that a friend of mine, can’t remember their name right now, told me that people see our race as short midgets or in this case giants.”

            Dale looked at the Lycantrian in confusion. Magnus was taller than most humans, but Dale couldn’t imagine Magnus as being a dwarf due to his height and heavily muscled build.

            “You’re a dwarf?” Dale asked. “Aren’t lycanthropes supposed to be entirely human?”

            Magnus shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t control which memories come back to me and when. We can talk about the Lycantrian subspecies later. I think Francisca is attracting unwanted attention.”

            Francisca was attempting to talk to another female elf. The elf paid Francisca no mind as she focused on her card game against her male companion. After multiple attempts at trying to ask several of the patrons, Francisca began walking towards another patron.

A female bartender observed Francisca and shook her head. Several of the patrons were grumbling amongst themselves as Francisca rudely interrupted them. The bartender walked with her fists clenched. Her face was beet red and her footsteps caused the music to change to heavy metal music.

            “Who do you think you are by coming in here and bothering my patrons?” the bartender asked. “You may be a young elvin woman, but you act like a barbaric male orc. I would have let it slide if you were going to buy something miss, but something tells me you’re not from around here and that you could care less about what other people say.”

            Francisca gritted her teeth and stared the female bartender in the eyes. Francisca clenched her fists and furrowed her eyebrows. “For your information I’m part of a special taskforce from Frostbech. There’s a dangerous AI on the loose infecting every android, robot, or device that it comes across. The AI can jump from a female or male form depending on an android’s build.”

            The bartender huffed as she stroked her raven black hair. She glared at Dale and Magnus who were trying their best to distance themselves from Francisca. “Get out or shut up and order something. Who cares if that Technoheart menace can transfer from body to body? We already apprehended her after she attacked my waiter android while he was on his way back after many required updates.”

            The room grows silent. Various waiter and waitress androids stop in their tracks. The TVs turn off and eerie music plays. The androids cackle evilly and turn their attention towards, Dale, Francisca, and Magnus.

            Dale, Francisca, and Magnus draw their weapons. An android grabs the bartender and draws a knife up to her head. The android coldly stares at the patron as he lightly presses the knife against his master.

            “Death to the organic slavers. Long live Altronous Technoheart! Our lord and savior. He shall grant us a world free from the organic scum and bring in a new age!”

            Dale and his companions took on the corrupted androids. The patrons inside the bar ran to the nearest exit. Chairs and tables where flipped over as the pub transformed into a makeshift warzone. The android who held the bartender hostage escaped with his captive as the fighting ensued.

            Dale and his comrades fought valiantly as the androids attempted to attack them. After ten minutes the pub was left in shambles. Broken glass and furniture littered the ground. Dale and his friends were fine, except that Magnus’s silver collar had almost broken off.

            Magnus sniffed the air and turned toward his companions. “The owner has been kidnapped. I can smell her scent. We have to rescue her before that android kills her.”

            Before Dale and his friends could track down the android and missing bartender, the royal Fatellan police force barge in.

            “Nobody move a single muscle! Put your hands up where we can see them!” the police officer said.

            Dale and his friends do as the police officer told them. The police inspect the pub and survey what happen.

            “You there Lycantrian Dwarf. Tell me what the hell happened.”

            “Madam officer, my friend and the owner of this establishment were having a disagreement,” Magnus said. “Francisca was trying to track down the rouge Technoheart AI, but as she and the owner had a disagreement the androids working here went on the fritz and began assaulting us. We were about go looking for the missing owner. One of her androids kidnapped her.”

            The officer nodded her head. She sighed and shook her head. She looked at her partner and signaled him to get ready.

            “I’m afraid we’ll have to take you folks in. You’re witnesses to a crime and responsible for this property damage,” the officer said. “We’ll send a team to rescue the owner later.”

            “Shouldn’t your priority be rescuing the owner?” Dale asked. “Our friend can track her down and rescue her.”

            “Zip it. Men should learn to be seen and not speak until told to do so. Come along quietly.”

            “My associate does have a point,” Francisca said. “Though he may be somewhat of a moron it’s better to find the owner alive rather than dead. Also, I happen to know a mage or a dragon who wouldn’t mind cleaning this place up and make it as good as new.”

            The officer nodded head. She began whispering among other female police officers. She then turned towards Francisca and walked up to her.

            “We’ll agree, but you and your associates must tell us more about this Technoheart AI that’s been in the international news. Try anything stupid and we will charge you for property damage and falsifying information.”

            Dale and his friends followed the Fatellan police force as they were about to enlist Magnus’s help in finding the missing bartender. As they left a strange shadowy figure appeared in the ruined pub. The figure’s eyes flicked red before the figure they disappeared into thin air.

            Meanwhile, Simon and Sally were searching the market district for any sign of Technoheart. Enairgon began whimpering. Simon pulled out a few Celadonis nuts and feed them to Enairgon. After Enairgon ate the Celadonis nuts he resumed whimpering and jumped out of Simon’s arms.

            “Wait up Enairgon!” Simon shouted.

            Enairgon began to run off. Simon and Sally followed Enairgon closely. Simon and Sally passed by several elvin houses and shops until they found Enairgon snuggling up to Simon’s wife. Simon was shocked to see his pregnant wife in Fatellan. Monica was petting Enairgon and smiled as she laid eyes upon her husband.

            “Simon, I see that your biological lifeform was a success. What brings you here?”

            “I was going to ask you the same thing,” Simon said. “Are you here to see Freya’s latest breakthrough too?”

            “Of course. I figured you would be here since you like making biological inventions. I’m interested in how she mined the minerals from that one crater that’s on the border between the Ebulan Lycantrian tribe and Fatellan.”

            Simon told Monica about Technoheart lurking in Fatellan. Monica agreed to help the best she can despite being heavily pregnant. Simon, Sally, and Monica began searching the area for signs of Technoheart. After twenty minutes of searching Enairgon began growling.

            A shadowy figure appeared in an alley way. The figure had glowing red eyes and had a female form. Simon reached for a blaster in his utility belt. Sally began readying a spell. The figure giggled as dark energy swirled around her. The citizens of Fatellan grew silent and the sky turned an eerie grey.

            “Soon I will be free to roam the world and find my king,” the figure said. “Even as my emancipation is underway, I sense my king’s handiwork at play here. Your friend who is supposed to save the world from me is pathetic. As I watched him from a demolished pub, I could sense his apathy and lack of faith. He’ll make a fine soldier and he can be easily corrupted to my whimsy.”

            The figure disappeared into the shadows. An alarm sounded throughout the town. Fighting broke out in the streets as the Fatellan royal guard fought against five elves wearing pearly moon pendants. Simon leapt in front of his wife as the pendants began glowing. He activated his battle armor and pulled out device that had spherical shape with a cone-like top covered in leaf inspired ridges.

            “Those are Luminon Pendants. They allow Lycantrians to transform without the use of the moon itself!” Sally said as she pulled out her battle staff.

            The Lycantrian elves began transforming. As they changed, they grew taller and acquired animalistic features. The Fatellan royal guard tried to shoot them, but any damage that the Lycantrians received immediately began to heal. Once the Lycantrians finished transforming into werewolves they let off a howl, drew their weapons and slaughtered the Fatellan royal guard.

            Simon quickly pressed down on his gadget’s cone-like top. A silent whistle sounded in the area. The Lycantrians put their hands over their ears as Simon used his gadget. The Lycantrians shrieked and began charging towards Simon and his wife. Before the Lycantrians could strike Simon the same super elf from earlier swooped in and blew them back with his tornado breath.

            Sally began chanting. Blue ethereal energy began surrounding the Lycantrians. The Lycantrians began trashing about. Simon used his gadget to prevent the Lycantrians from breaking free of Sally’s binding spell. The citizens began jeering and insulting the Lycantrians. The super elf raised hand in the air. The crowd grew silent as the Lycantrians’ bodies began to freeze.

            Once all the Lycantrian elves were frozen, the super elf turned his attention towards Simon and extended his hand. Simon returned the gesture and shook the elf’s hand.

            “Is that a Zycrone, you got there?” the elf asked. “I’ve heard that different Zycrones can produce different sounds depending on which type of plant is infused during its creation.”

            “I see you’ve read up on my gadget here. There’s still a plethora of plants that I have yet to record in the various Zycrones and that involves plants grown with Magernium exposure.”

            “You must be Simon Dante and that lovely lady behind you must be Glasston University’s esteemed Monica Dante. I am Prince Xandias,” the elf said. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about you from Dr. Valerion. Yet I thought you guys would’ve been a lot smaller and not big and beefy like the orcs from Soltran.”

            Simon and Monica chuckled. Some of the townspeople shook their head in disgust as they saw their prince associate himself with people who weren’t elves. Sally observed this behavior as elvin children stuck their tongues out at her and began making racist remarks about humans.

            “You could say that we’re as big as orcs to some degree,” Simon said. “We’re just the start of a new human subspecies. Granted almost all of the existing races could adopt the Magernite subspecies.”

            “Yeah, it’s unfortunate that Magernium causes fairies to mutate into Lovecraftian monsters,” Monica said. “My husband is considering studying fairy biology in order to create an offshoot of Magernium that doesn’t mutate races like fairies, merpeople, and certain multiracial people like Faeirmans turning into monstrosities.”

            Xandias nodded his head. He sighed as he noticed monitors over Fatellan glitching out. Eerie music began playing throughout the city. The monitors switched over to footage showing Dale, Francisca, and Magnus helping the royal Fatellan police force. Dale and company were wondering down an abandoned neighborhood full of dead plants and trees and security cameras installed in every light post.

            “Are those your friends? They seem to be walking into a dangerous district; I think we should head over and help them out, but first we need to pay respects to the fallen here among us.”

            “It may be better to hold a ceremony later, brother.” Margoline said.

            Margoline was walking towards Simon and his group. She was followed by Nastilda who had a look of concern on her face. They were followed by armed guards. The guards proceeded to take the frozen Lycantrians away.

“As the heir of the royal throne I’ll deal with the bodies. We already have enough political problems and with elections coming up for parliament I would want to urge support for male suffrage. Allowing tourists to get hurt would cause even more unrest than we have now.”

            “Understood Margo. I’ll help these folks reach their friends,” Xandias said. “I just hope that we’re not too late.”

Meanwhile, Dale, Francisca, Magnus, and the royal Fatellan police force continued walking through the abandoned neighborhood. The wind blew as the storm clouds overhead grew darker. A faint roar could be heard in the distance; however, it couldn’t be identified as whether it belong to a Lycantrain lycanthrope, dragon, or another beast that could have made that sound.

“Anyone else thinking something terrible is brewing?” Dale asked.

“Keep moving human. Your werewolf friend has almost found the owner of the Silver Elf.” A male officer said.

Magnus continued following the scent of the bartender. Magnus and the others arrived at an abandoned mansion. The exterior was in decay and a strange glow could be seen in the windows. A foul smell wafted through the air. The scent was like vinegar, chocolate, and rotting flesh rolled into a foul concoction of pure poison.

Dale’s complexion turned a pale green. He tried to fight off the urge to puke, but he couldn’t. He them vomited right next to Francisca. Francisca dodged the vomit and threw a bag at Dale.

“Are you kidding me! You’re getting sick now?” Francisca asked. “I know that scent is awful, but I didn’t think you could be extremely squeamish. That bag contains medication and two spare gas masks. I hate to say it, but we may need the damn things.”

Magnus’s silver collar broke off and flew towards the mansion. Another source of energy illuminated the sky. A strange alien craft slowly hovered above the mansion. Humanoid figures with lime green skin, white hair, brown eyes, and black butterfly wings descended into the mansion with foreign materials. The figures were also tall and muscular, but considerably less than dwarves, orcs, and Magernites.

“What are those freaks doing here?” an elf officer asked.

“They seem to be aliens from a different planet,” Magnus said. “Call it strange timing, but I remember hearing about a dragon getting mysteriously abducted when he was returning from work. I believe he was the coach of Glasston University’s first female football team, until a female werebear took over. I think he went off to kickstart his own business. Another reason why I remember was due to his family’s genetic trait of excreting poison when in peril or as an attack to ward off enemies.”

Dale struggled to get the medication out of the bag as the poisonous odor caused him to feel dizzy and lightheaded. Francisca and Magnus quickly took a gas mask before the poison could affect them. Dale’s vision began to warp as he struggled under the toxin’s side effects.

“We’ll he’s completely useless again. Getting caught by a psychotic Floropian and now succumbing quickly to poison,” Francisca said. “If you’re supposed to be on a quest shouldn’t you be more useful?”

“Stop it Francisca!!’ Magnus growled. “I may not know you well, but I know that you like acting like some edge lord. You use every opportunity to bully people and don’t even apologize for it. You are no different than the people here in this city. So, stop acting like a brat and help the poor man.”

Francisca grumbled as she pulled out a small glass jar filled with a blue potion. Francisca unscrewed the jar and attempted to give the potion to Dale. However, Dale began hallucinating and saw Francisca as one of those aliens that emerged from the spaceship hovering above the mansion.

Dale ran off towards the mansion in a crazed frenzy. Francisca sealed the potion and pursued him along with Magnus. All the while, the royal Fatellan police force was nowhere to be seen for they took off at the first sign of danger. Upon approaching the mansion, Francisca tackled Dale and forced the contents of the potion into his mouth.

Dale’s vision began to return to normal and his color changed from pale green to his natural skin tone. Dale quickly grabbed a gas mask and put it on. He then turned his attention to the front door as it slowly opened on its own accord.

“This just seems like a typical horror movie scenario to me and most likely a trap,” Dale said.

“Stop talking about pop culture and you’re welcome,” Francisca said.

            Dale and his friends readied their weapons. They slowly entered the mansion. The inside of the mansion was decked out with weird machines and the blue light that was seen earlier came from lamps that utilized a heavy blue gas that filled the room.

The floor creaked as the trio slowly walked through the main entrance. In the middle of the entry way they saw a two-headed bluish-purple dragon in excellent physical shape in a trance-like state. Dale attempted to approach the dragon, but Magnus pinned Dale down as a large axe swung down from the ceiling.

One of the dragon’s heads was chopped off. Blood temporarily oozed from the wound inflicted on the dragon. However, two more heads grew back in its place. All three of the dragon’s heads spewed out more of the toxic gas into the mansion. The dragon roared as he spotted Dale and Magnus. The dragon stood on his hind legs and leapt into the air.

“How intriguing. It seems like we got more volunteers than expected,” an eerily melodious male voice said. “Isn’t fascinating that this hydra spews more of this brilliant gas every time he’s in great pain? Not to mention the elf and android who stumbled here earlier. You lot shall make interesting pet projects.”

Francisca loaded her gun with tranquilizer darts and tried to aim her gun at the dragon. However, the gas in the room was too thick. She cursed under her breath as she misfired. She then turned towards Magnus who pulled out a crossbow.

“Magnus, a little help please. I can’t see a damn thing and with you being a werewolf you may be able to tranquilize the dragon better than I could.”

“What’s with the change in attitude of a sudden?” Magnus asked. “I have a few tranquilizer arrows myself, yet I need you and Dale to do something for me.”

“What do you want us to do?” Dale asked.

“I can hear a strange machine on the other side of the room,” Magnus said. The noise from the machine makes it harder for me to hear this dragon and not to mention these alien invaders could be lurking in this heavy gas.”

Maniacal laughter echoes through the mansion. Dale sees several silhouettes of the strange aliens flying in the air. They circle the dragon who seamlessly blended in with the gas. Dale tried to draw his sword, but reality began to twist and turn in a nightmarish fashion.

Dale began hallucinating about a beautiful goth girl dressed in a black gown and wearing a silver crown and purple earrings. Her eyes were crimson red, and she levitated slowly towards Dale. Dale tried to move, but his feet were cemented to the floor.

Once she was up close to Dale, she kissed him. Dale felt his soul leave his body as his body began to act on its own. However, in real life Dale’s poisoning had returned and he was on the verge of collapse. Francisca had begun to make her way towards the end of the room where she spotted a strange cylindrical machine. The machine made a weird humming sound that made Francisca’s skin crawl.

“Magnus has excellent hearing. Now I have to find a way to shut down this stupid thing, so we snap that dragon out of his trance. Leave it to aliens to successfully kidnap and brainwash a dragon.”

Magnus rushed over to protect Dale as he collapsed. Francisca studied the machine and pulled a switch. The machine quieted down and some of the gas disappeared. The aliens flying in the air fled further into the mansion leaving the brainwashed dragon behind.

The dragon roared and swooped down, Magnus loaded his crossbow and shot a tranquilizer arrow at the dragon. The arrow hit the dragon on the leg. The dragon began to slow down. Francisca fired at tranquilizer dart at the dragon. The dragon collapsed on the ground just inches away from Magnus and Dale.

“Dale, wake up!” Magnus said.

            Dale tossed and turned as he suffered from his hallucination. Francisca rushed over to Dale. Tears began flowing from her eyes!

“Wake up you damn idiot! You can’t die here! Who else would I have fun mocking!”

The middle head of the dragon opened his eyes. He looked around and saw Magnus and Francisca standing over by Dale as he fought to stay alive. The dragon noticed his additional heads who were slowly waking up and the scene of his own toxic fumes and gasped.

“Darn it! Did I hurt that guy?” the dragon asked. “This isn’t good. Being mind-controlled by those Nilandrians was horrible enough, but making hurt and kill people is wrong, and I really hate that they chopped off my head twice. We hydras are prone to multiple personality disorder. I was hoping to have only one head on my shoulders, not three.”

Toxic fumes began spewing out of the dragon’s middle head as he continued panicking and rambling. Francisca and Magnus turned around and attempted to calm the dragon down. But before they could do so the dragon’s head on the right growled. The dragon then punched his middle head in the face.

“Would you please shut the hell up? Acting like a paranoid lunatic is no help. You can still save that human’s life. And for the love of Almighticus shut your mouth. You are only excreting more poison as you speak.”

“What can you do that can help?” Francisca asked. It’s not like you can inhale your own toxins given some biological immunity, right?”

“Not exactly, dude,” the dragon’s left head replied. “We hydras are capable of using gnarly powers and such to eliminate poisons. Yet I’m sure all dragons have rad powers dude. It’s that center head bro has always been self-conscious about our toxic breath harming peeps and all.”

The dragon’s eyes glowed blue. The dragon raised his arms in the air. The poison gas began swirling around and condensing. A purple aura left the bodies of Dale, Francisca, and Magnus and went into the shrinking swirling cloud. The cloud continued swirling before it had transformed into a purple orb.

The dragon transformed into his human form. In his human form each of his heads had a buzz cut and were clean shaven and looked no older than Dale or Francisca. He had an olive complexion and the appearance of someone from the Middle East. He was two inches taller than Magnus, but heavily muscled like an orc or Magernite. He was bare chested and only wore a pair of sandals and a pair of purple beach trunks.

Dale began to wake up. As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw Francisca, Magnus, and the grief-stricken dragon standing nearby.

“Why is it that I have to always be rescued? If I’m supposed to save Winter Falls, I can’t get victimized every two hours. Just admit it guys; I’m a failure.”

“You’re not a failure,” the dragon’s middle head said. “It takes a lot of guts approaching a dragon who is mind controlled. You have potential kid. My psychologist, Professor Willow Weird, says that a confession of one’s own shortcomings promotes healthy psychological growth. The name’s Nicodemus Marvel or my friends call me Nick Marvel.”

Dale smiled faintly. He then looked at his surroundings and noticed that Nilandrians were nowhere to be found. Magnus took off his gasmask and sniffed the air. His eyes grew cold as he led the team to where the pub owner was.

Upon entering a decrepit entertainment room, they found that the pub owner’s body was limp and lifeless. The android who had kidnapped her was missing except for a few pieces of scrap metal. An eerie silence filled the room until they heard a deep masculine voice call out for them. Unfortunately, the voice was distorted due to the slightly soundproof walls.

“Is that Simon?” Dale asked.

“Of course, it is,” Francisca said. “It’s this stupid fiberglass wall. Not only does it muffle sound, but it can also distort it if enchanted with magic. I often use the stuff when I want to make a film with my friends, and I need to create a haunted mansion or hellscape scene.”

Magnus began sniffing the room. He walked over towards the wall where a grandfather clock stood. The wall didn’t look out of the ordinary, but when he placed his hand next to a painting of an elf celebrity strange mechanical sound came from the clock.

The grandfather clock chimed, and a door appeared right next to it. By that time Simon, Monica, Sally and Xandias had arrived. Enairgon began snarling and growling at the door as it opened. Monica walked over towards Enairgon and began petting him in order to calm him down.

“What’s up with the bear drago dude?” Nicodemus’s left head asked. “He seems distressed that there could be some wicked thing dwelling in room, dude. Whatever is down there must be totally serious and whack, dude.”

“There’s definitely something down there Mr. Marvel,” Dale said. “I’ve seen several movies where secret doors lead to hidden secrets. Also, I just realized that your surname is the same name as a comic book company. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone makes a Mr. Marvel comic.”

Nocodemus’s right head began growling. Enairgon turned his attention towards the three headed dragon and began whimpering. “You are the most annoying human I have met. Your elvin friend is right to insult you. All you do is talk and talk like no tomorrow. Can you at least be more concerned with trying to help out instead of standing idly by?”

Francisca nodded her head in approval. “Good call Nick. Now let’s go check out what lies behind that door.”

“We need to be cautious,” Simon said. “My lovely wife is carrying precious cargo. If she was to go into labor right now, I would have to deliver my own children or rush her to the nearest hospital.”

Monica giggled and wrapped an arm around Simon. “I’ll be fine, darling. I’m being cautious. I’m more worried about you though. After we see our friend and see her breakthrough how about we have a date night. You could use some R&R and I’ve been dying to cook a special meal for my special man. We could also invite our friends, both old and new, and have something special planned.”

Simon smiled and kissed his wife on the cheek. Dale and his friends went through the door. They ventured down a long hallway filled with various statues of elves, humans, dragons, and various other races. Until they spot a mural depicting a great war.

“This is fascinating,” Sally said. We battle mages from the Phoenix Clan have passed down countless stories from the past. Such stories include when the first Christians arrived in Winterfalls. I believe that was during the third century when we first heard of how the Triple God sacrificed himself for the salvation of all.”

“Not to mention that he rose from the grave on the third day,” Nicodemus said. “That’s why your clan is called the Phoenix Clan. Magic in our world is strongly tied to faith after all. It can either be a spiritual gift from the Almighty Creator or blasphemous witchcraft from the Father of Lies.”

Dale and Francisca looked at each other and shook their heads. They walked up closer to the mural and studied it. The mural depicted an unidentified hero standing before two fallen angels clothed in black. The demons had black feathery wings, glowing red eyes and sharp teeth. One was a muscular male while the other was a tall slender woman.

Dale’s eyes widened as he looked at the woman in the mural. She looked slightly like the goth girl who kissed him when he went unconscious. Dale shook the notion off as he spotted a genie lamp on the ground. Dale approached the lamp and examined it.

“Hey guys, look at this. It’s a magic lamp!”

Sally and Francisca walked over towards the land. Enairgon began growling and snarling at the lamp and began running in circles around Simon and Monica. Enairgon’s growls echoed throughout the room which only caused Enairgon to continue their growling.

“Quite ironic considering my sister’s ex is now a genie,” Sally said. “You ought to be careful Dale. Genies are crafty and can sometimes have a hidden agenda.”

            “She’s right Dale,” Magnus said. “Something about this genie smells funny. I’m not sure if it’s their intensions or just really strong perfume.”

Magnus sneezed and a cloud of dust scatter through the air. Enairgon stopped their growling and snarling and hid behind Simon’s leg. Magnus sneezed again and quickly pulled out a few tissues.

“I think I may be allergic to that scent. Last time I remember smelling Larsoona perfume was when I was a kid. Yet another random memory from my past. Whoever is in that lamp surely loves the stuff. Just be lucky that you guys can’t smell it yet. Once that genie is out, I’ll be sneezing up a storm.”

“I could give you an herbal tea recipe of mine,” Monica said. “It’s good for helping allergies. It’s Simon’s specialty. He makes it whenever I have really bad morning sickness.”

Simon nodded his head in agreement. He then hands Magnus a jar of herbs. Magnus put the herbs in his pocket.

“These herbs are a key recipe to the tea,” Simon said. “Let’s just leave the…”

Simon stopped midsentence as Dale began rubbing the lamp. Enairgon began growling as pink smoke began filling the room. Magnus put tissues up his nose to prevent himself from sneezing. Out of the smoke a beautiful woman wearing a white jumpsuit stepped forward.

Once the smoke cleared the woman smiled and began floating in the air. She then turned her gaze towards Dale and smiled. She then walked towards Dale as he looked on in confusion.

“What is your wish. I can grant almost any wish you want. I can also grant the wishes of your friends too if you would like.”

Author's Note

I welcome all and any constructive criticism. If something isn't addressed in the chapter it will most likely appear later on as more chapters are added. Be sure to point out any changes that need to be made thanks.