Verifying Integrity of Game Cache...20%

Verifying Integrity of Game Cache...20%

“MY SWEET HEART!”

And in a powerful burst pure white-gold energy tore our across the landscape as Grog and Arnie collapsed to the floor, as if puppets without their strings.

“Your Highnesses!” The servant girl shouts with alarm as she drops her tray to catch Grog while the Wizard catches Arnie. Both grunting as they pull each back to their thrones and set them down.

“Arinor,” the ghostly princess calls as she points out to landscape as white-gold motes of start dust start to gather around her, “Look!”

The once dead and twisting trees shed their corrupted shells as they burst anew from the ground with new life and new vitality. At their root the tared and black ground bubbles and bursts to reveal verdant green fields as twisted monstrosity of nature shed their skin to reveal their true forms as beasts of the field and forest. The once brackish water clears as the stagnant rivers once again run and monstrous sea life return to the form of fish. The blasted and broken exterior of the castle repairs itself as the walls to the cave and the mantis pit below also return to their glory as a new flag flies high about the towers and hangs from the banners of the mane gate and the throne room a banner emblazoned with a warm sun rising over a new horizon supported by the magical wand and royal scepter.

“Your highness!” The wizard Arinor gasps, “Your arm.”

The princess look to her arm as the magic pulls back from her finger, reveling new flesh and blood. It does the same to her face, her toes, and her hair, and she is hardly the only one to be granted new life and the same magic pervades the servant girl and Arinor, and the clatter of their weapons hitting the ground alerts them to the shock on the faces of the throne room guards as they to are returned to life. They and all the other guards threaded through the castle.

“Arinor what does this mean?” The princess wonders, a soft white glow emanating from her eyes as her gown gives off a similar white glow.

“I-I can not say your highness,” the Wizard turned to the stunned servant princess and the rapidly gather collection of guards. They all bore the same glowing white eyes, as well as a soft glow from their armor and after a moment they noticed something else, ears like either Prince Armand, furry and wolf like, or like Princess Grog in her Magical Girl form, jagged, green, and orcish.

Arinor knelt by the prince, brushing aside his hair as he felt his brow before checking Grog, “The prince and princess seem fine. No fever, probably just exhaustion. But magic like this...to not only restore our lands but also to restore us to life. I have never heard of such magic out side of the Lords of Magic.”

“What are you saying Arinor?”

“I am saying that only a god, or a wizard with the power of one could do what we are witness to.”

“What should we do then?” one of the guards asked concerned.

Arinor considered his words carefully then spoke with the authority granted the Court Wizard, “First off all of you return to your posts. We may have been given a second chance but we do not yet know if that means so too have our enemies.”

“Sir?”

“This may be a test by the divines, using our new Prince and Princess as a conduit. Maybe the Goblin Horde are on the move again and this is our chance to protect our home properly. Maybe there is a new enemy we are needed to fight. As amazing as all this is we must protect our home all the same.” his voice getting softer as he brushed Grog's hair aside, “Especially with the Prince and Princess like this.”

“Understood!”

All save for the throne room guards quickly filed out as Arinor lifts Arnie into his arms, “Princess, Alizia, pick up Her Highness.”

“Right away Lord Arinor!” the servant girl jumped as she lifted Grog by her arms.

“Understood!” The princess nods as she takes the feet and they follow Arinor.

As they leave the throne room the guards follow them, one of them bold enough to speak, “Where are we going Lord Arinor?”

“Our Highnesses need to rest and the throne is no place for such a recovery. We will take them to the master bedroom for them to recover properly.”

“Of course,” the guard nods, “and we will guard the entryway.”

As they turned into the large master bedroom it too has been restored they set the two on the large curtained bend and pull over the covers as they closed the curtains around them. The guards standing post outside the room as Arinor turns to the Princess and servant girl.

“What should we do now?” the servant girl wonders.

“Alizia I need you to check the kitchen, we are still horrible short staffed and have no idea of the state of our food stuffs. We are living now and will need to eat and drink but we may not have any food or wine to do so. Take stock of what we have and if need be head out with an escort to hunt up more food. Do you happen to have any knowledge of cooking?”

“I have picked up some basics Lord Arinor.”

“It will have to do until we can rebuild our staff.”

Alizia nods as she quickly turns to run off, “I'm on it mi'lord!”

“And what can I do Arinor?”

The wizard smiled as he turned to the Princess, “I know it may be beneath your station but we need to take stock of where we lie with our armory, and our fortune. We may have been given new life but are we as poor as beggars? After that take an escort and see how far this magic has reached, has the town been restored. Are their any other people living in the outer lands. Are we still a kingdom or little more then a lone standing castle?”

“I wont let you down!” The princess nods as she quickly heads out, her voice dropping to just above a whisper, “Not like last time.”

“As for myself,” Arinor whispers as he pulls up a chair and takes a seat by the master bed, “I will wait right here to make sure that our Highness condition does not get worse and be ready to explain everything when they awaken.”

Grog's eyes fluttered opened, and she was quite confused to to find herself lying in an opulent curtained bed, “What the?!”

With Arnie asleep next to him.

Grog immediately leaps from the bed, nearly knocking over Arinor in the process, “Did we? Did we sleep together? How did we get to this bed? I thought I crashed!”

“Relax your Highness, I can answer all your questions.”

Grog leaps back confused as Arinor pulls himself to his feet after being knocked over, “W-Who?!”

He gives a royal bow and smiles, “It's your Court Wizard, Arinor.”

“C-Court Wizard?” Grog says confused, “But you were a ghost! What is going on here?”

He smiles as he takes her hand, “Come with me and I will explain everything.”

“O-Okay.”

As they exit the master bead room silently one of the guards follows, “You Highnesses collapsed after your spell and we transported you to the Royal Chambers to recuperate.”

“S-So Arnie and I didn't...”

“Make love? No. Though I don't see why this would be so alarming to you your Highness.”

Grog took a long breath, “It's complicated, I'm not quite sure you would understand even if I explained it.”

“I am your Royal Adviser, and several hundred years old, you can try.”

Grog nods but as they walk out onto the balcony and see the change vista her voice is taken away.

“Beautiful isn't it?”

Grog nods mutely.

“Your magic did this. It not only restored the land but purified all the animals within and restored us to life. Right now Alizia...”

“Who?”

“Your servant, the girl who was feeding you grapes earlier.”

“Oh, her,” Grog smiles sheepishly, “I never got a chance to get any of your names before we crashed.”

“There's that word again, crash, what does it mean?”

Grog laughs nervously, “How do I explain it. We Players...er Chosen are connected to an outside source, if that source is broken our Consciousness retreats away until it is safe for us to return. Similarly we may be asleep for several days as well, we call this Logging Out, as our consciousness need to be somewhere else.”

Arinor nods no thought, “I see, so the Chosen are like spirits themselves and must release their spirit mater from time to time in order to rejuvenate their mystic energies.”

“I-I guess.” Grog laughed nervously before looking around, “So where is Alizia now?”

“She and the Princess Alexia have ventured off to restock our pantries and see to the status of the surrounding countryside and the state of our lands.”

“I see...”

“Now why was it you were so terrified of the thought of sleeping with Prince Armand?”

Grog scratches her head, “Well it's not that I don't want to. But well it's complicated. And maybe I shouldn’t be talking about his personal life. Not to mention the fact that when not using the power of the wand I'm also a man. But weather he or I are the woman it's just not wise for us to sleep together even outside personal issues.”

“Is this because of your Orcish blood?”

Grog nods, “Y-You understand how that works right?”

“To a degree, perhaps it would be best for you to elaborate.”

Grog sighs as she stares out over the lands, “When an Orc male sleeps with a female, any female, there is a risk to the female. The more he sleeps with her the more the risk rises. In the best case she simply becomes a Orc female herself, in the worse case the transformation kills her. And if she is fertile each time they lay together she gives birth a short time after to a pod where a fully grown Orc soon emerges, one that is mentally little more then a child.”

Arinor nods, “I see and you don't want to do that to Prince Armand.”

Grog nods, “And the reverse is also true. If he were to sleep with me like this, as an Orc Female, while I would not be giving birth to a pod but would have actual true births and children there is another risk. As soon as I had his seen in me I would begin a natural cycle where even without us sleeping together I would start to birth children on a regular basis.” she sighs longingly, “No matter how you slice it, it is not wise for Orcs to mate weather male or female.”

Arinor nods, “Yes, I can see how that would complicate things, and your Champion form can not discard her clothes as it's all part of her body. This does prove a challenge for the future of the kingdom but do you worry Your Highness I will look into things and see what solutions can be found.”

Grog smiles, “Thanks,” then with a breath turns and heads back toward the main hall, “Now I should get back to town. I still have a quest to turn in and some shopping to do.”

“Your Highness,” Arinor says confused as he follows after, “I just told you that Princess Alexia is investigating the town.”

“No no the towns around here, the one back through the cave.”

“Cave? What cave?” Arinor ask confused and he and the Guard follow the quickly moving princess down the spiral stair case and to the main hall, passing a couple other guards along the way.

“The cave into the grand hall, kind of hard to miss?”

“I'm sorry but I'm still not quite following Your Highness.”

“The giant hole in the wall!” she exclaims as she pushes open the doors to the grand hall, “Right there!”

Only to stare at a pristine wall.

“W-What?”

Running to the far end Arinor calmly chases after, “Maybe in the restoration it was repaired. Your magic did restore the exterior walls, if there was a hole in the castle surly it would be restored.”

“But...I....” Grog was short for words, “How Am I supposed to finish my quest, I need to get back to town, I promised the girls I would collect enough silver so they could train and not have to worry for being kidnapped again.”

“I don't know what to tell you Princess...I'm sorry.”

“The key!” Grog exclaims suddenly as she rummages in her dress pulling out a golden key as she opens the magical door, “Arinor I'll be back soon, I need to make sure I can get back to town.”

“Your Highness?”

But with that she vanishes into the door and the door behind her, Arinor gasping as does the guard, “A portable sanctuary spell?”

“Will Her Highness return?” The guard asks worried.

Arinor stops his inspection of the spot where she vanish form and gives the guard a reassuring smile and pat on the shoulder, “I'm sure she will.”

“Hey look who it is,” One of the town guards taps his partners shoulder at the Orc Warrior Grog strode back toward the town gates his ax over his shoulder and a sack in hand.

“That took longer then before, we saw the women return a few hours ago, did they escape on their own?”

Grog reached into the bag as he pulled out the Chieftain’s head dropping it at the guards feet.

“Quest Completed”

Before he pushed past them into the town, “Now if you'll excuse me I have a lot of other things to accomplish, just have my bounty waiting for me when I come back through this way.”

One of the guards bending down to pick up the shocked and horrified severed head wit ha sheepish grin, “Well I guess 7th times the charm.”