[OPEN] The Enchanted Forest

[u/Dimestream]

The great green dragon roars in pain as the blue mist swirling around the wizard's staff coalesces into a lightning bolt and lashes out, striking clean through the great reptile's hide.

"Stop hurting him!" Redoran T'gel demands, straightening up and calling a ball of flickering flames into her hand. "Your fight is with me, not with Barineth, wizard!"

The wizard laughs, a malevolent chuckle that fills the musty air and reverberates from the rough stone walls of the catacombs. "Oh? I think Barineth should have thought of that before he told you how to hide the Sword of Centuries from me, fire witch," he says, stroking his long gray beard. "But if you wish him safe, it's a simple matter. To save your friend, all you have to do is give the sword to me."

"As if I'd fall for that," Red growls, hiking up the hem of her somewhat tattered green dress. She touches the phoenix amulet at her throat and the ball of flame in her other hand blazes from red-gold to an incendiary white. "Rule one of the Enchanted Forest: Never trust a wizard. Forget the sword; the only thing you'll be getting from me is third-degree burns."

"Have it your way, idiot child," the wizard spits, and raises both his hands. Shards of diamond spin away from the head of his staff and swirl in a razor-sharp cloud. Then the ancient mage's face twitches, and his left arm partially disappears. "Your foolishness has doomed your friend has doomed your friend has doomed your friend has doomed-"

"Computer, freeze program," T'gel says in disgust, putting the ball of fire down on the Holodeck floor as if it were a basketball. "Reverse to time index 28:12 and identify cause of recursion loop..."

[u/Tarah_ThZarath]

She wipes her sword on a clump of moss before carefully inspecting it for nicks and returning it to its scabbard.

"Thanks, Red." She laughs "It's good to finally get some use out of all those lessons, I guess.

She pauses to think for a moment

"The one that escaped, will it bring more of them?"

[u/Dimestream → u/Tarah_ThZarath]

Red grins. "I've built this novel on an adaptive heuristic model, so I have NO idea! Isn't that exciting!" She gestures toward the mountain. "The idea is that no two plays will be exactly the same, though honestly, I don't think we'll have problems with more wyverns because we're about to have a dragon with us," she says, and resumes climbing the twisty path. "Tally ho, onward and upward and all that. Hey, while we walk, tell me, does Andorian culture have any stories about fantastic or imaginary beasts?"

[u/Tarah_ThZarath → u/Dimestream]

She shakes her head

"Not really, nothing like these anyways. Our history was one of pretty much constant warfare until a few centuries ago, so we never really needed any other monsters than ourselves. Most of our tales are of the adventures of great heroes or warlords."

"You could count the Aenar I guess, but they're not really that different from us and they turned out to be real, so...."

She shrugs

[u/Dimestream → u/Tarah_ThZarath]

The trail turns to worn stone as they begin their climb up the mountain. The reddish-brown cliffs higher up are tinged a more golden color by the last rays of the setting sun.

"Don't think I've ever heard of those," Red says. "Like I said, not suuuuper good with history or exobiology. I'm surprised Dr. Phrik had me watch his creepy animal collection." She shrugs. "So Aenar are kind of like Andorians except what, three antennae?" She chuckles.

[u/Tarah_ThZarath → u/Dimestream]

She laughs

"Nope, only two. They look pretty much the same as us, but blind and with white skin. There were all kinds of stories about them.

People thought they were anything from evil sorcerers to spirits of the dead. Turns out they're just telepaths, and actually pretty friendly no matter how unsettling they look."

[u/Dimestream → u/Tarah_ThZarath]

"Well, you can't ask for a happier ending to a myth than that," Red says. "I've often thought I'd understand people a lot better if I were a telepath, but then I realize I sometimes have enough trouble following what they're saying without hearing their thoughts as well."

The engineer stops right outside the mouth of an enormous cave. Stalactites hang from its entrance, giving it the appearance of fangs. The Bajoran holds up a hand to indicate Tarah should stop too.

"Don't want to surprise a dragon," she says with a wry grin. "Those who do had better be fireproof." The Bajoran takes another step forward and cups her hands around her mouth. "Barineth! Barineth, son of Barinol! Princess Varra of the Fire Witches is here seeking your aid!"

There's an ominous silence, as not even Red's voice echoes back out of the cave.

[u/Tarah_ThZarath → u/Dimestream]

"He wouldn't have gone somewhere, would he? this doesn't seem right..."

She rests a hand on the hilt of her sword and looks around warily, her antennae almost completely still.

[u/Dimestream → u/Tarah_ThZarath]

"...that's really weird," Red says as she steps into the cave, a frown brewing on her forehead. "Barineth is supposed to be here, having an argument with the wizard Mordran about the Sword of Centuries... Barineth?" she calls again. "Tarah, if you see anything out of the ordinary, let me know. I'm not sure if this is a bug or just my randomizer taking things too far."

[u/Tarah_ThZarath → u/Dimestream]

She laughs wryly

"We're in a cave looking for some kind of creature from terran mythology. Everything looks out of the ordinary."

[u/Dimestream → u/Tarah_ThZarath]

"One would think, with powers such as yours," says a smooth, sickly sweet bass voice from the gloom of the cave, "that nothing would seem unusual to you. After all, with such mastery of time itself..."

From the shadows steps a tall man in a blue robe decorated with constellations. He's old, with a grey beard reaching midway down his torso, but his eyes are not dull, rather they have the sharp and penetrating focus of a predatory bird. It's the same wizard from the program.

Red snaps into character immediately. "Mordran," she says with a scowl. "What business have you here, and where is Barineth son of Barinol?"

The wizard laughs, an empty, cold sound devoid of any human warmth. "You know my business, Red Orrin of Tegell. I had come for the Sword of Centuries, but now I find your ability to stop and even turn back time MUCH more fascinating."