A Tale Out of Time

Off to Save a Princess

One

None of them, not even Nickolas himself, could believe the sight before them.

The King himself, Titus the Second, The Iron Lion of Valenheim, sat on his throne, and gazed down at his trio with slate grey eyes.

"Are you three done gawking yet? I find it... unsettling."
Nickolas nodded, and patted Jack on the shoulder, who did the same for Samuel.

"We've come to heed your call for aid, Sire!" Said Nickolas, and the King nodded, leaning forward.

"There is a band of Orcs that has been attacking our supply caravans for more than three weeks now. It would please me greatly to see their grey heads on pikes by the end of the week. Might you be capable of such a deed, I wonder?"

"We've slain witches and monsters before, so a few savage grey-skins shouldn't be much of a hassle. Any idea what clan they're with?"

The king shook his head.

"We've a sizable enclave of Bone-Splitters and Brain-Bashas in the forests around, so between them, could be either. Color me crazy, but I'm beginning to miss the Elves. Their culling campaigns at least kept those morons at bay."

"I've my own opinions on the Eldar," said Nickolas, "But I see your point. Still, it's a relief to be spared the fury of Dark Elf Raiders."

The king nodded.

"I suppose," He said, "But we're getting off track. Back to business?"

Nickolas nodded, and the King continued.

"My daughter has also been captured by the grey-skins. I'll pay handsomely for any headway made in her recovery."

Nickolas again nodded.

"Do you have any way we might know to spot her?" Asked Samuel, stepping forward, and pale face raised to the king's.

Titus pounded his broad chest twice.

"She wears an emerald pendant in the shape of a dragon, which hangs on a golden chain. Find the chain, and you've found my daughter."

"Where was she last seen, my Lord?" Asked Nickolas, and the King sighed.

"Just northwest a ways, by my reckoning no more than a mile. We were passing by the woodline when they... when they took her."

Nickolas nodded, and leaving with his companions, said to the King: "Rest assured, we'll return her."

Two

The first night's search turned up nothing, and as the trio of Nickolas, Samuel and Jack made camp for the evening, they spoke little, eating even less.

By the dawn of the second day, the trio had abandoned their search of any area beyond the wood line, and had begun pressing into the forest.

Three

The first hour's journey into the trees had been quiet, the monotonous crunching of leaves under their feet only broken on occasion by the cooing of a bird, or the snapping of a dry branch.

Then, as one hour turned to two, and two gave way to three, and then four and onwards, the adventurers began to discover broken arrows and chunks of wagons littering the ground in a clearing, some of which were spattered with blood.

Nickolas knelt down beside one knocked-over wagon, and reaching in, discovered a leatherbound manifest, which read as follows:

December 08