The Fae Chest

 Alexa was one of these stronger human females and even though she knew that all the orcs were dead she still stood watch on a high cliff with the old ruins over looking the lands. One day Alieta approached her and asked for her help to retrieve an important item that was stolen from her by a mean strong and odd looking human that heard what the chest could do and wanted it for himself. You see the Fae chest is magical and is able to give the person that opens it the thing that they needed the most, said Alieta. The chest will only open to those that are true of heart and is indestructable so this chest is useless to this odd looking human. Alexa was glad to help and went back to town with Alieta and got her friends Tempressa and Titus join her on the quest. On their way to the palace to get what ever enchanted weapons they might need on this guest, Alieta introduced them to Taiyo and Oaklyn, two centaurs that wanted to help and join the team. When they arrived Alieta gave Oaklyn and Taiyo special body armor for extra protection, but Alexa was happy with her leathers, that had better freedom of movement. Taiyo and Oaklyn were glad to get some armor and their choice of swords that had special properties. Again Alex preferred her light weight sword that was given to her by a Fae friend that said it will never need to be sharpened and will never break. First they all got together in the big dinning room where they all enjoyed a feast before their long journey. After a bit of a rest, they were ready to start but before they left Alieta gave Alexa a special item to take with her seeing she didn't want anything else. Alieta told her it was a Sun Crystal that when squeezed at the base, it would emit a very bright light that would brighten her way and temporarily blind any opponent plus the crystal will never run dim. Now Alexa was happy to take that item! Oaklyn and Taiyo got Alexa and Tempressa to hop on their backs while poor Titus had to walk at first. Alieta told them to head towards the Black Forest and a winged sprite will follow you from above but once inside they were on their own. That said they waved good bye and started on their way.

After about four hours, they were getting close to the Black Forest when they came across an elf sitting by the fire cooking a campfire dinner. She jumped up and pulled out her sword. Let me talk to her, said Alexa. She walked up to the elf some. We want no troubled we just saw your fire and came to check it out, said Alexa. Smells good what ever you are cooking. It's a stuffed turkey, said the elf. Stuffed with what? asked Alexa. Stuffing of course, a good cook never gives away her secrets, said the elf. Can we join you? We have some rations we can share, said Alexa. She agreed and they all sat together and had dinner. They found out that her name was Ktara, a bad lands roamer plus was familiar with the Black Forest. Once she heard about the quest they were on she asked if she could join them. They all agreed and to their luck they now had a guide and now there is six. Ktara told them there was an old odd looking man living on the edge of the clearing and to the best of her knowledge he would be a little threat to them but it would be best to offer him a gift of some sort and he would be happy to welcome them. Now they had some valuable information. After they finished eating and had some idle conversations so they all could get familiar with each other they got up and started on their way. After about two hours they reach the boundaries of the Black Forest and Ktara told them they should sleep here before entering the forest seeing it was getting dark so they all laid down and grabbed a some sleep. In the morning Ktara gave each of them a piece of special loaf that had properties that would give them extra energy for their journey.

As soon as they entered the forest they all felt a strange dark heavy feeling about this place and now they understood why it was called the Black Forest. Even though a lot of the trees were dead it was still very dark inside the forest. Ktara pointed in the direction to the middle of the forest. We have to go follow this path though the middle of the forest, said Ktara. It is the only way to the clearing where this man lives. They all started along the path and as they got deeper into the forest the strange dark heavy feeling got stronger. Ktara assured them they would get use to it and not to worry so they kept moving forward. All of a sudden a giant spider dropped down from the trees and looked very angry and hungry. The six of them pulled out their swords and prepared for battle but the spider climbed back up to the tree tops. Man I hate spiders, said Tempressa. Me too, especially when they are bigger than me, said Ktara. This concerned Alexa so she rode backwards on Taiyo's back so she could keep a watch on their backside. Okay lets keep going, the clearing is not that much farther away, said Ktara. Soon they reached the clearing and saw a house to one side of it, hidden mostly by trees. As they got close to the building an old looking male elf jumped out and started to yell at them and told them they must leave the forest now. He had no weapon so was no threat to them at this time so Alexa on Taiyo approached him and explained why they were there and needed to continue their quest for Alieta. Once he heard that the quest was for Queen Alieta he calmed down and said that if it is for my queen then you may continue. Alieta put me in charge of guarding the forest many years ago and has probably forgot about me but I am loyal to her, said the old elf.

After about an hour they reached the edge of the clearing and and saw a cabin in bad condition but their was smoke coming out of the chimney so they figured he was inside. As they approached the cabin an odd man jumped out of the front door and yelled to them to leave his land now. This is private property! he yelled. I got this, said Ktara then approached the man. She was out of ear shot from the rest of the team but they could see that she handed him something. It seemed to calm him down right away. She then waved the rest of the team to come closer. We are on a quest to retrieve the Fae Chest and bring it back to Alieta, said Alexa. Without a word he turned around and when inside the the cabin and after a few minutes he came out with the chest and handed it to Alexa. Take it is useless to me, the darn thing doesn't work anyways and won't even open. It's light so nothing is in it any ways. He hanned it to Ktara then turned around and went back into the cabin without saying another word. Ktara brought the Fae Chest back to the team. Well that was a lot easier than I figured it would be, said Alexa. Ya I didn't even get a chance to freeze his butt, said Tempressa. So what was it you gave him that calmed him down? asked Alexa. It was a button off the side of my top, said Ktara. It was just there for looks anyways. He is a horder and wanted to add it to his button collection. That guy has all kinds of unusal stuff all over the place in his house. Alexa was shocked to hear that a little button ended the quest for the Fae Chest but then started to laugh.

The team started back to return the chest to Alieta but soon after they were about half way out, that large spider dropped down again from the trees with several smaller spiders. This time they knew there was going to be a battle. Alexa looked behind her and saw their was several spiders heading towards them fast also. They all pulled out their swords and the battle started. Oaklyn and Taiyo where big and heavy so they crushed a few with their hooves then stabbed them in the head to make sure they were dead. Alexa was fighting two at once aiming for their legs, cutting them off one by one as the others continued to battle with the large spiders. Tempressa was frezzing them then the two centaurs would smash them with their hoves but the spiders just kept coming. They managed to kill off one front of the spiders but Alexa was tiring and so was eveyone else. There must be a nest close by thought Alexa. Alexa remembered what Alieta gave her so she told the others to get behind her and to cover their eyes. She took out the Sun Crystal then squeezed the bottom of it. Immediately it emitted a very bright and intense light that lite up the entire forest around her which blinded the spiders and stopped them in their tracks. Lets get the heck out of here, yelled Alexa. They doubled up on Taiyo and Oaklynn then took off as fast as they could and didn't stop until they were out of the Black Forest then started back to see Alieta.

Once back Alexa asked an elf to get Alieta for them. Alieta came out right away and when she saw that they had her Fae Chest she was so happy she gave Alexa a big hug then offered them a reward. She told Alexa to open the chest first and when she did so she pulled out a brand new pair of leather boots and a new leather armor suit that looked similar to her's but was even lighter then the one she had on. Alieta told her it was stronger than heavy metal armor and she should wear it instead of what she had on seeing it was enchanted also to stop swords from penetrating it. It was Titus's turn and when he opened the chest he pulled out what looked to be a gold compass. He asked Alieta what it was for and she explained it was a special compass that when opened, it would point him in the direction to his true love. He smiled and knew he had been looking for a mate for a long time. Next it was Tempressa turn to open the chest and when opened she pulled out a brand new outfit that was very beautiful and a silver tiera that when worn, it would help her make good decisions. Now it was Oaklyn's turn and when she opened the chest she pulled out a gold ring with a large diamond. Oaklyn was a bit confused but said nothing and let Taiyo take his turn. When he opened the chest he pulled out the same thing as Oaklyn got, just a bit bigger. He turned to Alieta and asked what is this for. Alieta explained that the two rings where engagement rings and when put on, the two wearing them will be united for life and live a happy together for as long as they live. This put a big smile on both of their faces seeing they were both secretly in love with each other but never said anything encase either of them got turned down. Ktara turned and started to walk away because she knew she was not part of the original team but Alieta yelled at her and said, Where do you think you are going girl", it is now your turn to open the chest. She was surprised but went to the chest and opened it. She pulled out what looked like a leash that would be used to lead a horse. She asked Aileta what is this for. You Ktara, my new friend will have the choice of any horse in my stalls excepted for mine which is the large white horse. This made Ktara so happy she began to cry. I have never owned a horse before, said Ktara. Alieta then told the six of them that she has an old friend to the south west that heard that Alieta had a team of heroes threw the pixie grape vine and asked her if he could borrow the team when she was finished with them. The team gathered together and collectively agreed to help Alieta's friend. With that Alieta told them it was time to rest and sent them all to their own quarters, except for Oaklyn and Tayio, seeing they had already put on the rings on and needed some quality time together.