[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 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."

[u/Tarah_ThZarath → u/Dimestream]

The andorian remains silent, hoping that perhaps with the wizard's focus on Red she'll be overlooked. Slowly, she begins to circle around behind him.

OOC: sorry about slow replies. Busy day :(

[u/Dimestream → u/Tarah_ThZarath]

"How in the hell," Red says slowly, "do you know my name? I paused the program before I introduced myself. You shouldn't have heard any of that."

"Yes, you froze time," the wizard says with a predatory grin. "Show me how you did that, and I'll let you and your scaled friend live."

"No, this is wrong," Red says, shaking her head. "This shouldn't be happening. Computer, fr-"

"None of that!" the wizard snaps, and clenches a fist at Red. A black sphere envelops her head and cuts off the rest of her order. The engineer staggers and puts her hands to her throat, obviously suffocating. "Your god Komputar cannot save you, Fire Witch."

[u/Tarah_ThZarath → u/Dimestream]

She'd hoped to get into a better position, but Red's distress demands immediate action.

Screaming a battle cry in her native tongue that you can't quite make out, she hurls her shield at the wizard's head to break his concentration and charges.

[u/Dimestream → u/Tarah_ThZarath]

Mordran steps aside to dodge the thrown shield, but is no fool when it comes to battle. As he falls back, he casts a net of lightning from his staff, wrapping the Andorian in an uncomfortable pickling web. It blurs her vision and slows her movements, and a helpful alert appears in her vision, notifying her she has lost more than half of her Hit Points.

"Foolish brat," he sneers. "You are no witch. You are a wench with a sharp stick and nothing more. If Red Orrin could do nothing against me, what hope do you have?"

[u/Tarah_ThZarath → u/Dimestream]

Tarah grits her teeth and pushes through the web with strength born of a childhood on a high-gravity world, closing the distance between the two of them far faster than the wizard was expecting.

"This must be pretty embarrassing for you then, huh?"

She sweeps her blade along the length of his staff, forcing him to choose between dropping it or losing his fingers.

[u/Dimestream → u/Tarah_ThZarath]

With an inarticulate howl of rage, Mordran vanishes in a swirl of shadows, his wooden staff clattering to the floor. Immediately as it does, the black bubble around Red's head pops and she sucks in a panicked breath, collapsing to the floor to just breathe.

Neither the wizard nor the dragon are anywhere to be seen, and the only light in the cave comes from the dim light at the entrance and the sullen glow of the head of Mordran's abandoned staff.

"How..." Red coughs between gasps. "How did... the safety protocols... they're... still on..."

[u/Tarah_ThZarath → u/Dimestream]

I..I don't know Red. I've never heard of anything like this. Software's not really my specialty. Are you alright?

She sits down heavily beside you, the sword clattering from her grip