POV Rio
As I leave the portal into this new world, I double-check the readings that the drone had delivered, and everything seems to check out. I was in a forest, a completely ordinary-looking forest. There was mana in the air, but it was weak, very weak. The soil and environment seemed like those of any other Earth-like world.
I was here for a few reasons; the first was to test some devices that I had been working with Tony and Rocket to develop: an interuniversal communicator. We had made a few prototypes that needed testing in various circumstances. For instance, this world was very far away from the Marvel Multiverse, if my calculations are correct. The other reason I came here was to see if there was any resource that might be interesting for me. Resource, in this case, could mean basically anything. And I also wanted to take a slight break from the constant work on Earth.
There were still several issues on Earth that needed to be resolved, but for now, it was good enough that Hydra was gone and its assets were being used to fund the Guardians of the Globe. But we still had to deal with The Hand, Kingpin, Monstropolis, The Box, The High Table, Atlantis, Talo Kan, the eventual arrival of Thor, and even possibly other magic-related issues. Atlantis and Talo Kan were of particular note as they were at war right now, and it was causing issues for ships traveling through and sometimes near the Bermuda Triangle. Not to mention the fact that there are two separate underwater city-states.
'I don't even want to think about dealing with that mess.'
In less grim news, I had gotten my next template, and it was a pretty good one. I got a Breton from the Elder Scrolls Universe. The first massive addition was the flat 50% resistance to all magic. ALL MAGIC! It was so broken when you really think about it. Sure, it was only 50%, but that was a literal lifesaver for most. I was fully certain how it would work in practice, as spells I cast upon myself aren't affected by the resistance, but from my knowledge, it should make some spells no longer affect me at all, thanks to my other resistances that get stacked on top.
In terms of gear, it was pretty good. I got a set of mage's robes. The template was a more or less generic mage, nothing too noteworthy; they were skilled equally in all schools of magic and had the knowledge to back that up. The robes themselves were actually quite good. They reduced the cost of all magic by 25% and fortified mana regeneration by 100%. The only downside was that the robes were all one piece, so that was a 25% total reduction, not per piece, but it was more than good enough for me. Other than the robes, I got a few spell tomes, some alchemy ingredients, and a couple of soul gems. The soul gems were of most interest to me as I was somewhat curious how they worked. I was also curious about the difference between a white and a black soul. I didn't have a black soul gem, but I figured that with the normal soul gems, I could get an idea of how it worked.
I was partially here to relax, and that was what I intended to do, or at least try to. To that end, I started to wander the forest while testing the prototypes. Unfortunately, only one sort of worked, and its signal was so garbled that even I couldn't make out what it was supposed to sound like.
'Oh well.'
I placed the items back in my inventory. As I was walking around, I stumbled into a clearing where I spotted a caravan in a semi-circle. But that wasn't what caught my attention.
'Blood. Fairly fresh.'
I smelt blood in the air, and from my experience, it was pretty fresh. I entered the caravan and found the source of the smell. It was two shorter folk that I almost thought were hobbits for a moment. They had both been brutally ripped to pieces, and some of their flesh showed signs of being eaten.
'A clawed creature with a beak did this. It also seems to be an airborne kind of creature.'
The bodies were too damaged to identify, and as I was considering whether or not to try and cast Speak With Dead, I heard a distant screech. I looked into the sky and spotted a creature flying through the sky. It looked like a twisted version of a vulture and a mammal. I say that as the Vulture had tits.
'A Harpy.'
I quickly hid from the creature as it patrolled the skies for a few moments before leaving fully. I probably could have killed it, but something told me that would be an unwise choice. Instead, I chose to investigate the caravan and found why I felt I shouldn't start a fight. The Harpy didn't kill an innocent caravan but had killed its captors. It was that, which, combined with the name of the carvan that I, finally gave me a pretty good idea as to where I was. The caravan was a carnival, Mommy Fortuna's Carnival to be precise.
'I'm likely in the world of the Last Unicorn. Interesting.'
I decided to seek out the Unicorn, as if anything, it would be a fun experience to watch the story firsthand, and it would be fun to go on an old-school fantasy quest.
Tracking down the Unicorn wasn't that hard. I just had to look for tracks that had both human and hoofsteps. That being said, they still had a decent head start, meaning I didn't catch up to them until right as they happened upon the outlaws.
"Listen! O-Oh, I was afraid of that! Run swiftly, hide yourself! We'll find each other later!" Schmendrick the magician shouts.
"Why? Who are they?" the Unicorn asks.
"Outlaws!" Schmendrick shouts before they both leave the road.
I stay hidden and watch as the outlaws capture Schmendrick and ride back to their camp. I consider revealing myself, but I choose to help out Schmendrick first. They end up riding quite far, and I have to admit they are really good at hiding their tracks and making it harder to follow them, but they can't hide from a Witcher's senses.
"Add more water to the soup, love, there's company," an armed man who seems to be the leader of this group shouts.
"I'll not have it, Cully! Not another mouth to feed. The soup's no thicker than sweat as it is," the man's lover or wife, whom I'm fairly sure is Molly Grue, says angrily as she approaches Captain Cully.
"My love, where's your greenwood hospitality?" Captain Cully says jovially.
"And who's this long lout? I don't like the look of him. Slit this wizard," Molly Grue says while looking Schmendrick over.
That was when I stepped in.
"I wouldn't do that! I would be quite saddened by the loss of my friend Schmendrick here," I say with a smile.
I surprise everyone, and several draw their weapons.
"Now, who may you be? Friend or foe?" Captain Cully asks cautiously.
"I am Rio Pines, and I speak for the trees," I say with a theatrical bow.
"Rio Pines, huh? And you are a friend of our guest here? Have you come to take him away?" Captain Cully asks darkly.
"I mean no harm; in fact, I bring gifts!" I say as I swing my arms wide, and a table full of food and drinks appears before me.
At first, everyone shouts in panic, but then they all pause and look at the massive spread before them. Several look desperate to try some food, but their survival instincts prevent them from doing so. To settle their fears, I approached the table and ate several of the foods and tasted the drinks to prove it was safe to eat.
"Nature's bounty is before you; will you partake?" I say with an inviting smile.
Eventually, someone can't take it anymore and runs to the table before tasting some of the food. He pauses for a second and then starts shoveling any food he can into his mouth. That causes everyone else to do the same, even the most skeptical, such as Molly Grue, who can't resist and partakes in some of the food.
The amusing thing was that none of it was poisoned or tampered with. It was normal food that I just kept with me at all times. That being said, they hadn't had a proper meal in a long time nor such high-quality booze, so they had a little too much.
One by one, they all passed out drunk, all except Schmendrick and me, who didn't have any alcohol. I would have been fine even if I drank double everything everyone else had drunk tonight, but I didn't see a need to drink. I didn't like the taste. Once everyone was passed out drunk, Schmendrick and I left the camp, though I let them keep the spare food and the table, as I had plenty more where those came from.
"I-I must thank you for saving me, but I must ask why? Why did you save me?" Schmendrick asks.
"It was the right thing to do. And your quest is not over," I respond calmly.
It was at this point that the Unicorn revealed herself, but she ignored Schmendrick completely to stare at me.
"What are you? You look like a human, but smell like the forest, and feel like a Unicorn," the Unicorn asks curiously.
"I suppose I can be considered a unicorn sometimes. Other times, an elf. It all depends on my whims," I answer cryptically with a smile.
"Wait, then who are you really?" Schmendrick asks.
"Right now, I am just a humble wizard traveling with you on this quest to save the Unicorns," I reply.
"Leaving us so early, wizards?" Molly Grue says as she reveals herself from her hiding place.
But after spotting the unicorn, she pauses in awe.
"No... Can it truly be?" Molly says with a sad look on her face.
The sadness turns to anger.
"Oh! Where have you been?! Where have you been?!" Molly says with anger.
"Don't you talk to her that way!" Schmendrick defends.
"I am here now?" the Unicorn responds calmly, still somewhat lost in thought.
Molly starts a sad laugh as she starts to calm down a bit.
"And where were you twenty years ago? Ten years ago? Where were you when I was new? When I was one of those innocent young maidens you always come to? How dare you? How dare you come to me now... when I am this?" Molly says before she starts to cry.
"Can you really see her? Do you really know what she is?" Schmendrick says quietly.
"If you had been waiting to see a unicorn as long as I have..." Molly says sadly.
She recovers and wipes her tears before standing up and looking towards the Unicorn.
"It's alright, I forgive you," Molly says quietly.
"Well... It's time for us to go now," Schmendrick says awkwardly.
"I'm ready," Molly responds.
That breaks Schmendrick for a second as he realizes what she says.
"You can't come with us. We're on a quest," Schmendrick denies.
"Can't I? Ask her," Molly says with a smile as she points to the Unicorn.
"I, Schmendrick the Magician, forbid it. And be wary of wousing a rizard's wrath... rousing a rizard's w... rou... Be wary of making a magician angry! If I chose, I could turn you into a frog!" Schmendrick shouts as he stumbles over his words.
"Hahahaha! I should laugh myself sick. Have sense, man," Molly says as she and the Unicorn both laugh at Schmendrick, and even I chuckle a bit.
"Oh, you don't even know where we're going!" Schmendrick complains.
"Do you think it matters to me?" Molly retorts.
"We are journeying to King Haggard's country to find the Red Bull!" Schmendrick warns.
"Well, you're going the wrong way," Molly says bluntly.
"Huh?" Schmendrick says dumbly.
I hold in a chuckle and let Molly lead us, as I have no idea where we are anyway. But as she leads us to King Haggard's castle, I stop us around two days from the castle.
"What is it?" Molly asks.
"A magic most foul is at work in this land. Be on your guard; magic such as this can do terrible things to those who wield them," I warn as I look over the landscape.
A day later, as we get close to the castle, I stand watch over the night as I feel a surge of dark magic and feel something I hadn't felt before.
A cold chill ran through my veins as if some instinctual fear was taking hold of me. It took me several moments to understand where I felt this fear from, but when I did, it worried me greatly. It was my elven blood that was scared. It was as if there was some spiritual fear passed on through my lineage. And there were a few things I could think of that would make sense of this.
"What is it?! What's happening?!" Molly asks with fear.
"A demon of the ancient world, it is beyond us. Run!" I shout, and everyone awakens from their stupor and makes a run for it.
ROOOOOOOOARR!!!
We run as fast as we can, but I can tell the creature was closing on us, so I had to make a decision, and there was the best place for it just ahead. A small bridge over a ravine with a river at the bottom.
"Over the bridge now!" I yell and speed everyone along as a wall of fire erupts from behind us.
As they cross, I come face to face with the creature of every elf's nightmares, a Balrog. Or something that looks and feels close to one. I had a feeling this was not a true Balrog, but the exact details mattered little.
"Rio! Come on!" Schmendrick shouts.
"Go! I shall stall it as long as I can. I will find you later," I shout without looking back.
Thud Thud Thud
The flaming bull walks towards me with eyes filled with hatred, but it seems focused on the Unicorn, so I do something to draw its attention. I reveal my elven nature on full blast, and that seems to do the trick as it ignores the Unicorn to stare at me instead.
"Dark fire will not avail you! This world is not yours. Return to the shadows from whence you came!" I shout as I draw the Elder Wand and equip my robes underneath some Witcher Armour.
The Bull roars at me, and I feel a cold sweat cover me.
"YOU... SHALL NOT... PASS!" I say, while casting my strongest spell; I had to enforce my will upon the world.
The Bull snorts in derision of me and begins to charge at me. In response, I summon up every last bit of mana and power I can muster into a single purifying spell to defend against the attack.
BOOOOM
A blinding explosion is created, and for a few seconds, I hold back the beast, but in the end, the beast was too powerful for me, and it blasts through the spell and impales me through the chest. But as it impales me, the bridge can't take the strain anymore, and we are cast down into the ravine below before crashing into the freezing waters of the river, and darkness takes me.
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Author's Note:
Can't... Hold... On... Much... Longer!!!! I don't know if many people will get that reference, but whatever. This little arc will be only two chapters, but both will be longer than usual. It came out to like 6k words, so enjoy it. Until next time, Ciao.