The Sword Of Life

 Once morning arrived and everyone was well rested, they had some breakfast then got ready to head out together. Alieta told them her friend's name is Archie and is a kind man with a big heart and very easy to like. Alieta sent out a winged messenger to tell Archie to keep a watch out for them. With that, the team headed out south west on their second journey expecting no trouble on the way. The trip was about a seven hour hike seeing that Titus was still on foot so they just took their time. Half way there two trolls jumped out in front of them and ordered the team to stop. They were smaller than them and seemed to be no threat to anyone so they stopped to listen to the two trolls. The male troll told them they had to pay a toll to pass or they would have to turn back. This time Tempressa, while wearing her her new tiara, approached the two trolls and announced to them that she was the Ice Queen and if they did not let them pass she would turn them to ice and let them melt under the hot summer sun. She pointed her finger at the ground in front of them and turned a small section of it to ice. The two trolls got very scared and their eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets. They turned and ran away as fast as they could so they were not turned into puddles. The group started to laugh and Alexa said, "Nice gift you have there". Yes I was born with it like my sister, said Tempressa. The team then went back on their way to Archie's place. Once they got close to Archie's they saw what looked like a mansion in the near distance. As they headed toward the building a beautiful girl greeted them and said they were expecting them and asked if there was any trouble on the way here. Alexa told her about the two trolls and what Tempressa told them. She just laughed and said those two are harmless but can be a bit of an annoyance. She lead them to the mansion and when there, a tall, very well dressed handsome man greeted them and said he was Archie. Alexa almost fell to her knees when she heard is very soft voice but contained herself as best as possible. Ktara snickered a bit and knew what Alexa was feeling. Archie invited them into he mansion where they found a very beautiful and well furnished home that seemed to house many people that kept the place looking great.

He introduced some of the staff to them and told them that they will be taking care of them for the night. He invited them to shower which was not a problem seeing their was several washrooms in the place. He even had a special large gym shower room where Oaklyn and Taiyo could fit and shower. Once cleaned up they all sat down to a huge feast that none of them have ever seen before. They ate all they could then Archie had his staff show them to their rooms and told them to have a good sleep and he will see them in the morning and that is when he would tell them about the quest. The morning arrived and they all got dressed and went down for breakfast. After they all finished, Archie got down to business. He told them that a wicked witch had stolen his Sword Of Life. Alexa looked confused and and asked Archie, "How can a sword have anything to do with life? A sword is used to defend ones self or kill. Archie laughed. This was a magic Fae sword that when someone has recently died you just place the sword along the length of the body and it glows a beautiful blue then red. When the light goes out, the once dead person comes back to life, said Archie. Some are so happy to be alive again they offer their services to me or give me money. So are all these servants servants people that were dead and you brought them back to life? asked Ktara. Well yes but they are not my servants, they are my helpers and they are free to go at anytime, said Archie. Alexa thought to herself, who would ever wanted to leave here but kept that thought to herself. Archie told them that the witch lived to the south in the rocky hills where she has made her home in a large cave. But be careful, this witch can be dangerous. She has some weak magic but deals mostly in potions that can do a variety of things to a person if drank or inhaled. He gave each of them a special mask that would cover their nose and mouth encase she releases a deadly vapor. It will take two days to travel there by horse but seeing Titus does not have a horse yet, he can have any horse in my stalls with exception to my horse, the big black stallion, said Archie. This put a huge smile in Titus's face seeing he has never owned a horse before, just like Ktara. A maid put the pouches with all their supplies over Taiyo and Oaklyn's back then walked back to where Archie was standing The team started on their second quest as Archie and the maid waved and said good luck to them..

They figured they better keep an eye out for any trouble after dealing with the trolls. After about three hours, Alexa noticed dust rising in the distance. The rest of the team could not see anything yet but Alexa has very keen vision as being a look out guard for many years plus she was a highbreed. Soon the rest could see the cloud of dust as it got closer fast. The team had no idea what was going to happen. It could just be a bunch of large animals running our way, said Titus. When the dust started to clear they could see it was several men on horses headed right at them. Soon they arrived and stopped about thirty feet away. They at first said nothing, just chatted among each other. Then a man moved a bit forward and announced that they were the deserts marauders and told them they have to hand over all their valuables or die and then we will just take them. We have no valubles and are on a quest so leave us be or we will kill all of you, said Alieta. You talk big words for a pint size girl, said the man. Everyone has valuables, what is in those bags the centaurs have on them? Food and supplies, said Alexa, now move out of our way or we will move you! The seven men just laughed. The heck with this, said Alexa and pulled out her sword and and so did the rest of the team. The marauders then dashed towards them with swords swinging. One tried to decapitate Alexa but she ducked and as he passed she cut the strap on the horse's saddle. The man's foot got stuck in one of the stirups and was dragged away by his horse. Another man eyed the tiara on Tempressa's head and tried to grab it as he rode by. Tempressa thought to herself that there was no way she was letting this scum bag steal her crown so when the man turned around and charge back at her she, she told Oaklyn to look out and pointed her finger at him freezing both him and his horse, stopping the horse in it's tracks. Taiyo and Alexa were sword fighting on the ground now but when one of the marauders saw what Tempressa did he screamed out, "She is a witch, lets get out of here"! With that they turned, got back on their horses and fled leaving the man and horse to melt under the desert sun. Tempressa just shrugged her shoulders and said, well maybe when he melts some flowers might start to grow there. The others smiled and didn't realize Tempressa had a funny side.

The night came so they made camp and took turns on watch out just encase the marauders decide to sneak back. About half way through the night Alexa was on watch and saw three large wolves sneaking up on the team. Alexa woke up Titus and Tempressa and they prepared to defend themselves. Oaklyn and Taiyo were still sleeping but the commotion woke them and they quickly got onto their feet. When the three wolves saw these two large centaurs they got scared then turned tail and ran away. Alexa giggled and said, "Look at that, you didn't even have to do anything, just wake up and standup. Now that I call power!" It was going to be light in an hour so they decided to break camp and eat something then start heading south again. Hours went by and the air was getting cooler it felt like it might rain soon but as they continued south. They  spotted the rocky hills in the distance so they knew they were getting close. Alexa told them we need some type of plan that will throw the evil witch off guard. Oaklyn figured that her and Taiyo can distract the witch and lure her out away from the cave. Alexa volunteered to go into the cave and find the sword while the team kept the witch distracted. They arrived to a cave that was very big and must of been her home. Taiyo yelled out, "Come out evil witch we need to talk". In a moment this very ugly fat woman appeared holding a flask in one hand and a staff in the other. Everyone went to put on their masks but they didn't fit right so they just moved the horses to a safe distance. Taiyo and Oaklyn started to taunt the witch making her mad and as she moved closer they kept moving back slowly. When she was far enough away from the cave the others on foot got a bit closer which made they hag even madder. Alexa knew it was now or never so she quickly but quietly slipped into the large cave and it was not too hard to find the sword seeing she had it mounted on the wall above the witches bed. Alexa grabbed it and ran out and saw that the witch was about to smash the flask on the ground in front of Taiyo. Alexa put down the sword then ran at the witch from behind and drop kicked the witch in the back pushing her forward onto her own potion. The went to get up but the flask broke open and she immediately started to choke and in a few moments she laid dead on the ground. Alexa grabbed the Sword Of Life then they all got back on their horses and started back to Archie's mansion.

It started to get dark and it also started to rain a bit also so the team decided to take cover under some trees. Once again they took turns taking watch but when Ktara was on watch she noticed that the ground seemed to be moving in the distance and it was slowly moving towards her. When the moving ground got closer she noticed that it was not moving ground, instead it was a bunch of big poisonous snakes heading their way. Ktara hates snakes and yelled out loud, "SNAKES!" This woke everyone up and they quickly jumped up and grabbed their swords. Horses are afraid of snakes and took off but they did not effect Oaklyn or Taiyo so they joined in running fast and jumping out of the way of the snakes as they reached down cutting snakes in half. Titus grabbed one of the snakes by the tail threw it as far as he could then continued to kill snakes. Tempressa was doing the same killing snakes as fast as she could but suddenly she felt a sting on the back of her calf and knew she got bit. Soon the snakes were all dead and they gathered all their horses and saw Tempressa laying on the ground in pain. One of those snakes got me, said Tempressa. Titus grabbed Tempressa  and tied her to his horse seeing she has now passing out and then he mounted the horse. They had no time to waste and they bee lined it back to the mansion as fast as they could and when they arrived at the mansion they all yelled out help! Two helpers and Archie quickly ran out but they were to late, Tempressa had died.

Archie noticed that they had retrieved the Sword of Life and quickly grabbed it and had them place Tempressa face up on the ground. Okay step back everyone, said Archie. He placed the sword along Tempressa's body and sword immediately started to glow blue then turned to a light red then slowly went dim and then turned off. Alexa was almost in tears and asked if it worked. Well let us see, said Archie. He sat Tempressa up and slapped her hard on the face. Tempressa began to cough and looked at Archie and said, "You didn't have to slap me that hard you know. If it was anyone else I would slapped you back". Everyone laughed and cheered. Archie told them that she will have to spend a day here in bed so she can get her strength back and make sure all the poislon was out of her system. Alexa thought to herself, now another full day in the mansion would be great, maybe one of the girls will give me a pedicure and manicure. They got Tempressa into a nice bed and put a girl by her side to keep an eye on her. The others took another shower and were too tired to eat so they all went directly to bed.

When morning came they all got up and went down stairs and Archie was sitting at the table waiting for them and had the girls prepare a fabulous breakfast. After they were done and could not eat another bite, Archie asked them if they could do him a favor. I have a very good friend in the east that that has been having a bit of problem and she lives not that far as the crow flies, said Archie. She could use your expert help and would like to know if they all could help her out. I will let her give you the details but is very important to her and me. The group immediately agreed seeing he just saved Tempressa's life. Thankyou,now you will have to stay another night and leave in the morning so we can continue to make sure Tempressa is all good to go, said Archie. As a reward though, it is time for you all to get pampered. Can I get a pedicure please, asked Alexa. Yes of course and how about a manicure and a massage too, said Archie with a smile. They all went up to check on Tempressa to see how she was doing. How are you feeling? asked Alexa.I am feeling much better and wanted to get back to join the team again, said Tempressa. So are you up for another quest? asked Titus. Always, not a problem so when do we leave? asked Tempressa. In the morning and then set out east to a friend of Archie's, said Alexa. Once they saw that Tempressa was going to be okay they went back down stairs to start the pampering. Alexa had two girls giving her medi and a pedi then went to the massage room and got an amazing massage. Every one else got the same treatment except for Tayio and Oaklyn. They got their coats washed, brushed and hooves polished. After another nice meal and a good nights sleep they got ready for their next quest. Archie gave them directions as how to get there and it will take just a few hours to reach her place. He told them that there should be no problems on the journey but you never know in this part of the land so just keep your eyes open. He thanked them all again, gave them all a hung and even gave Alexa a kiss on the cheek that made her knees feel weak. Okay another quest, said Alexa, I am begining to like this. Yep sure beats wandering around in the Bad Lands all day, said Ktara. Okay, lets head out due east to see what Archie's friend needed us to do, said Alexa.