"Grrrraa!" The fury swiped its other claw at Iris. The elf's hand grabbed the thick middle claw jutting out from the wooden arm pulling the dryad into the ground. She pressed her foot hard into the dryad's back pulling its limb. The wood arm splintered from the dryad leaving it flaying on the ground.

 

"Just die." The elf spoke, casting [Flame] onto the one arm fey. She looked back onto the golem as a shriek filled with hatred came from behind her.

 

  The rope from which Kia hung was torn, the large pack of forest spirits alongside the golem had their backs turned to Iris. The giant golem stumbled back as a fireball hit his shoulder, the flame engulfing the giant large boulder serving as the shoulder swirled in the air licking the fey golem's back with fiery tounges setting the green moss alight. 

Iris charged at the backs of the dryads surrounding Kia, the unnerving clicks and screeches turned into a loud shriek as the elf drove the tip of her spear through a dryad.  *Crack* Iris's arm jerked violently as the mundane wooden shaft of her weapon snapped under the abuse.

The sound caused the nearby fey to pivot their attention on the elf.

 

  The shadows around them shifted and dozens of arms burst from the ground, grabbing the forest spirits. The dryads clawed at the shadows attempting to drag them down many of them being ripped to shreds by the necromancer's spell. The stone golem effortlessly tore the shadows as it lumbered forward. 

Iris followed the golem's movements, she saw Kia standing in the middle of a scorched field bend over with her hands on her knees breathing heavily. The sight caused something inside Iris to start. She clawed at a dryad rushing her leaving deep groves in its face, tossing the fey aside.

 

  The golem lifted its arms into the air as it stood over Kia. The undead mage lifted her eyes to meet the amber gems serving as the constructed eyes. 

 

"Kia, run!" Iris screamed at the girl as she ran with all her power towards her. The undead mage sluggishly lifted her hand to the horror of the elf racing towards her. 

 

  Iris leapt toward Kia, clutching the girl tightly in her arms as she tumbled in the air. Dark light abruptly blinded her

*Boom* The cold feeling pulsed in Iris's body as the ground shook with a series of dull sounds that rang around her.

 

 

[Area Boss  Deafeted]

 

 

"Kia!?" The panicked elf looked at Kia, she lightly patted the girl's cheeks trying to wake her up.

 

"Mmmm?" The girl sluggishly opened her eyes.

 

"Don't scare me like that! Why didn't you run!?" On the risen's forehead, a deep grove appeared as she frowned at the nonchalant mage.

 

"It was the eyes." The girl said with a small accomplished smile growing on her face. "That's why it did not want to die."

 

The elf looked behind her and saw a pile of inanimate boulders with no intention of moving again. "Why are you smiling, we almost died?" She turned around Kia smiling uncontrollably, her emotions running havoc in her mind.

 

"Don't know?" Kia replied, her figure shrinking under the elf's stare.

 

Iris sighed and tried to stand up. "Heck," She cursed in her mind feeling mud running down her spine. "You are not standing up?" She asked Kia who lay still in the mud.

 

"Hehe," An awkward laugh escaped from the laying undead. "I am not used to limiting myself."

 

"Helpless," Iris plucked out the mage out of the mud. She placed the girl on a boulder. 

 

  From high above drops of water started to pour onto them extinguishing the fire the hoplite caused.

 

"Iris?" The girl rubbed her muddy hand into her pristine face trying to not fall asleep and fall off the large rock. "What are you doing?"

 

"Looting." Iris replied, she searched dryads' mutilated bodies searching for something valuable. She prised opened the charred corpse of a Furry finding a small vermilion gem embedded deep inside. 

She found seven of these small gems after a few minutes of searching. She turned over the head of the fey construct to recover the orange gems but instead she found orange dust mixed with the turned-up soil.

 

"Well, we only came here for the experience anyways." She said giving the gems to Kia.

 

"What do we do now?" The girl with dirt and mud fouling her once immaculate pale skin asked.

 

"We are going back of course." The elf replied.

 

"Ohhhh." Kia whined as if the risen had taken away her favourite toy.

 

"Alright, Kiayicu stand up and then touch me if you want to stay here." Iris demanded stepping one giant step back from the necromancer.

 

Kia pouted at the elf upon hearing her full name. She attempted to hop off the boulder but her body refused to listen.

 

"See?" Iris gently picked up the exhausted mage. "We will come back here after you rest, alright? I love you a bit too much to let you die in a dungeon." She said to her fellow undead as she carefully navigated towards the exit. 

 

"Thank you." Kia suddenly licked Iris's blood off her forehead.

 

"You truly are a cat." The elf shifted the undead cat in her hands into carrying her as a groom would.

 

"Didn't like it?" The too innocent-sounding Kia asked.

 

"I am covered in mud thanks to you." The elf shifted the conversation not answering the question.

 

  Iris slowly walked through the rain causing the forest floor to become hard to walk on as she sunk into the soaked dirt, thankfully for the two, the dungeon did not respawn the hordes of dryads they killed beforehand in the time it took them to defeat the golem. The massive dungeon covered in a forest did not have anything to help Iris judge how much time had passed since she and Kia entered the dungeon. Their undead state did not help her in estimating the time outside.

 

  Iris, slumped her body to fit with Kia in the tunnel leading to the cave with the exit to the outside. The echo of water running filled the cavern as Iris descended further into the cave.

 

"Two people are in front of us." Kia whispered into Iris's ear.

 

"Can you stand up?" The elf asked, lowering the mage after a slight nod.

 

  Iris slowly and carefully walked in total silence towards the exit watchful for any traps someone might have laid. Upon entering the cavern she spotted two humans standing beside the ladder.

As soon as the tall human woman noticed her, she flicked her motionless companion on the forehead.

 

[Inspect]

 

[Human Level 37]

[Human Level 43]

 

"Whaaa... I am here already no need to do that again!" The other human shouted at the woman flaying his arms in the air not realising the elf's spell. Iris watched the woman leaning on the man's shoulder and whispering in his ear. His head turned towards Iris eyeing her with a hazy gaze with his unfocused irises jerking erratically. "Didn't you say there were two of them?" He loudly said, his unnaturally toneless voice echoed in the cavern.

 

"I assure you my lord those two are our guests." The woman said in a similar toneless voice.

 

"If you say soo..." The man said pulling a handkerchief out of his jacket and cleaning the drops of sweat gathering. "Under the jurisdiction of The Great Blood Council lead by the great Fang of the North who granted me the power of the knight of our divine creator. I Lord Eastwood demand your submission!" The human incomprehensibly rambled at top of his lungs making exaggerated gestures with his hands. "Now grovel on the ground and appreciate my unfathomable compassion."

 

"The venerable Lord Eastwood orders you to surrender yourself and to unveil your traitorous plans to him." The woman tried to simplify her companion's words.

 

  Iris eyed the two from head to toe noticing a dagger hanging on a woman's belt. Are they mages or something? She stared not knowing how to optimally solve this problem before a idea entered her mind.

 

 

"That... was easier than expected," The man happily expressed seeing the tall unarm elf holding her arms in front of her and slowly approaching him. "My genius once again saves us from Her." He sighed with ease.

 

"Yea..." The equally stunned woman standing beside Lord Eastwood sighed an even bigger sigh. "You to join your incredibly smart partner."

 

  Kia stood still behind where Iris had stood watching the hoplite with a puzzled look.

 

"Come on you weird warm blood!" The man shouted. "Or I wi-" His voice suddenly ceased and was replaced with wet gurgles as Iris's hand tipped with sharp claws pierced his neck. "Wgghgy?!" He said but he did not attempt to get away from the angered elf. His hazy eyes slowly gained focus before turning over in their sockets.

 

"How dare you!" The woman screamed trying to pull out the mundane steel dagger from its leather scabbard. 

 

  The undead clawed at the remaining human causing crimson droplets to paint her armour and skin. The human did not show any pain when Iris tossed her into the rough stone floor of the cavern.

 She glanced at the lifeless bodies beside her, noticing a strange black tattoo on the man's neck. The elf undid the tight collar on the woman's neck finding the same black circular tattoo resembling a spell circle.

 

"Strange," She said kneeling over the human body. "What that Kia?"

 

"It's a simplified control spell of some kind." The girl said standing over Iris's shoulder. "See that middle sign, it is in the wrong configuration and that-"

 

"Thanks, Kia." The elf stopped the girl's lesson before going out of control. "I think we should leave." Iris said to Kia. Covered in mud and blood she help the still exhausted undead with climbing the ladder.

Her plans of staying in the city for some time were torched in an instant.