I was so glad to have the team back together again. We entered the Lost Abbey to discover the Lord of the Brocken. We had to defeat him.
He sent his minions against us first and we took them down. (Yep, the minions hogged the fight leaving us with just the lord to deal with in the second fight.)
"Ha ha ha!" laughed Christina. "What are you gonna do now?"
Christina, when will you ever learn to shut your mouth? *sigh* Welcome back, girlfriend. ^_^
(Yep, he used Levy on Christina... which doesn't matter...)
(Had he used Levy on Sierra, he would have survived this attack. Phbt! Oh yes, he's got 13100 HP and is Storm, if the Levy didn't tip you off.)
The evil ghost transformed into a kind spirit who thanked us.
Oh my gosh! Please don't go through a phase too, Grace! :(
(Got a rare hairstyle drop from the Lord. Not gonna use it. Maybe I'll change Rachel's hair.)
"We're looking for the Sword of Kings," said Grace. "You know where it is, Rra?"
"Aye," sighed the spirit. "We stole the Sword of Kings on orders of the one who enslaved us and turned us into evil ghosts - Pendragon, the Lord of the Hunt." (This would not be the last time I heard this name.) "We gave the sword to the Froudlings, who took it away in a wagon. If you follow the path, you should catch up with them and recover the sword!"
"We'll do that, thanks," I said. "Let's hurry, girls!"
"Oh great," sighed Christina. "If we recover the sword from that, it'll be hot as magma!"
"Who did this?" asked Grace. "An ally?"
"If they are our friend, they would have taken the sword from this place," I said, sighing.
"Help me!" cried a tiny voice. I looked around and saw a figure on the hill next to a flaming tree.
It was an imp. I was wary of imps but this once was distressing.
"Please help me!" he begged. "Our home is on fire!"
"The tree?" I asked. I looked up and saw in horror that tiny houses in the branches were on fire.
"Yes!" said the imp. "Please collect some water from the Chromatic Fountain nearby and douse the flames before I lose everyone!"
I wondered if the ones who attacked the wagon set fire to the tree briefly...
But I didn't waste time. I grabbed a bucket nearby and filled it with the rainbow-colored water and then splashed it on the tree. It went out in a cloud of steam.
"Thanks," I said. Then it hit me - the imp lives nearby, he could have seen who attacked the wagon. "Did you see someone attack that wagon?"
"Aye," said the imp. "Twas the Death Seraphs, they blasted the wagon with their fiery breaths and burned it to the ground. They took a big-man's sword from the charred ruins and went to the Graveyard with it." He pointed to a creepy graveyard nearby.
I groaned. Death Seraphs? I knew about Seraphs - Lady Oriel and her sister Sylvian - but the Death version were clearly evil, and they had the Sword. "Thanks, I'll go get it."
"Ye can't enter that place," he said.
"Oh, I'm not scared," I said.
"Nay, it's not the danger, it's the fact that an ettin called Billy Brute guards the way in! Ye won't be able to fight past him, no matter what! If you can bribe or appease him, he might let you past."
I sighed. More complications. Oh well. Wait, I had never seen an ettin before, what was an ettin?
We quickly found out - a giant with two heads, but this one had a stone head. He demanded food.
So we got it for him.
"Rude!" shouted Christina as I slowly inched the pot to him so he didn't eat me as well. The left head gobbled up the meat.
"Let us bargain, Wizard," said Billy.
"We gave you food!" snapped Christina.
"The mutton? A small matter," said the ettin. "A vile Leprechaun cursed me to be stuck to this spot, knowing that the sunlight would turn me to stone."
"I have heard about this," whispered Grace. "Legend says that the two-headed giants turn to stone if they are exposed to the sun, that is why they hide in caves during the day and only come out at night. We must help this one."
"Well, we could turn him to stone and chi---" Christina got the death glares from us. "Nevermind, that would be kind of cruel." She whistled softly.
"How can we cure you?" I asked.
"I need a Cloak of Raven's Shadows," said Billy. "Find some raven feathers in the Froudling Village, then defeat some Twisted Treants for branches and Wildfire Treants for ashes. Give these things to a leprechaun smith in the Toadstool Village to make the cloak."
"I know who could help, but he won't be helpful if I have to explain why I want it," I said.
"Yeah, I don't trust you," said Christina.
Billy groaned. "Okay, do this and I promise never to harm a leprechaun again."
The items took a while to find, but we got them all. (Drops for the branches and ashes is 50% so expect to fight an extra battle.)
I explained to Shane the truth. He frowned.
"That brute ate half of my village and he's..." he began.
"We made him promise never to harm your kind again," I quickly said.
"Well, I guess I do owe ye a favor, methinks," said Shane. "However, you must make sure BOTH heads promise, or else it won't mean a thing."
"We'll force him to promise with both heads," said Christina.
"Okay, give me a moment," said the leprechaun. In a few minutes, he had woven the branches and ashes into the feathers to make a massive cloak.
I gave a sneer. "You're lucky I can look over context, buddy, or I would have agreed to my friend's idea and just chopped you up when the rest of you petrified. Now, promise me your other head will make an oath never to hurt the leprechauns or I'll just not give you this!"
"What? I have to make my other head prom---" He coughed. "Fine fine fine, I'll have me other head promise, just please give me the cloak!"
"Well, I won't hear the vow from him until I do, so here." I attached the cloak to his body and his other half unpetrified. He walked into the graveyard and let us enter. "Let's hear it..."
I wasn't convinced, but it was eligible.
"Thanks, Wizard," said the left head. "We won't forget this."
"Aye, we'll remember ye as we pick yer bones from our teeth," said the right head. I grabbed my weapon and the others did likewise.
"No no," the left head scolded. "We keep our word. We won't harm you three either. Go ahead... say, why do you need to go in there?"
"We need to find a sword," I said.
"Then ye'd best speak to the ghost Brigid," said the left head. "She's a kind lass, she makes sure I get a good meal now and then. Good luck!"
We quickly slipped by the ettin. Last thing we needed was for his right head to get antsy and fight him. We were tired from all the fighting of treants.
And it looked like we'd have to fight these evil angels too. *sigh*
"Can't we just kill them all and get the Sword?" asked Christina.
"We would take years to find the blade," said Grace. "It may not even be here anymore."
"Considering our streak, yeah," I said. "Let's see if the ghost Billy told us about can help. At the least, she can tell us where the Sword has gone."
"So much for the kind and friendly ghost," muttered Christina.
Brigid blinked and I saw her eyes were cloudy. "Oh, forgive me, friends. I thought you were more Froudlings. My vision is foggy and I cannot see clearly ever since those foul fiends stole my grave goods and defiled my shrine."
I sighed. "We'll get them back. What was taken?"
"Several carved markers," said Brigid. "And a vile spriggan stole my shield and arms."
"We'll be right back to restore your shrine," I said.
The carved markers were easy to find...
But the other items required beating up a bunch of these Spriggans. "No wonder Nerys left their ilk," said Christina. "They reek!" (Spriggans are Myth, so Sierra would have a hard time soloing them.)
After roughing up a few, they confessed that their leader was holding the arms, so we went into that hut they pointed us to and confronted the vile creature.
The battle was long and brutal, with the chief Spriggan slamming us with Power Nova...
We had to end this quickly. I found a treasure card that a friend gave me that would work...
We were all amazed as something burst from the floor. "What the heck did you just summon?" cried Christina in shock.
It called upon the energies of every world we had visited...
And unleashed the energy of the Spiral itself on that fiend.
Whatever it was, DANG was it powerful! (Time I showed off the Celestial calender Treasure Card I had gotten from Amy. I can't wait for the spell to hit Sierra's deck. ^_^)
We quickly grabbed the sword and shield and got the heck out of there. (But not before Christina got pulled into a battle with a Skulker. I forgot the stats of this boss. Sorry. All I know is she is Balance, which is why Celestial Calender did so much.)
We restored the grave relics to the shrine and it glowed. Brigid's eyes cleared up. "Thank ye, Knight Errants," said Brigid. "My sight has returned! Now how can I help?"
We explained, for the umpteenth time, what we were looking for.
"The Sword of Kings," sighed Brigid. "I saw the Death Seraphs carry it away. To track it down, you will need the aid of a knight who has committed such sins against Queen Gwendoyln that his name was erased from history, thus he is known only as the Nameless Knight. You must enter his tomb and confront his traps and himself in battle in order to continue your quest." She pointed to the giant tomb nearby. I also noticed something else...
Another defiled shrine which we'd no doubt have to restore. I shook my head. I was glad Christina was back, but I was saddened that I had to chase the Sword of Kings all over Avalon.
I needed a break, so I went home to garden.
(And this is my break too, once Zenmaster Blue has caught up with my girls, I'll continue my journies in Avalon. Cheers!)
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