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Pansy was fearless he rode his horse directly in the center of the path towards the sound. It abruptly stopped and Pansy simply said "YOU ARE ALL OUTMATCHED. IT WOULD BE BEST IF YOU JUST SURRENDERED, RIGHT NOW!" Braynt moved his horse up towards Pansy, "Have you lost your mind, we don't know how many there are or who they are!"

"We got this, we are invincible!" Braynt was alarmed in this crazy person a glow with the supposed bravado of gaining a spirit oath to the Order of the Star, He went along with it, because he was a friend and lover to this madman, now so full of himself he might get them both killed.

"OKAY, YOU ASKED FOR IT!" Pansy dismounted his horse and ran towards where he had heard the sound, He knew Braynt would use his Endowment and take care of the all the horses, and then become Stellar and take up a flank position to go around the whomever was doing the singing, that Goblense person.

Braynt used his path and did move himself with the horses all tied in a string-line behind him, he had taken Pansy's horse in his hand then went into that in between dimensions place upon a path. He concentrated and was all of a sudden inside Stellar looking through his eyes. He ran towards Pansy then took a long path around to the left of Pansy's approach, he saw Pansy was sticking to the plan and only seemed to have gone completely crazy with his newfound affiliation. Pansy was going around to the right of that sound keeping low and using the natural cover of the trees.

Braynt galloped on through ferns and soft looking plants, to mask his hooves pummeling the ground. He took the route going through the Callium Four daisies and the Hayseed grass, on through the patch of Nightplant and wild Asparagus. It muffled the sound of his hooves while he was wearing the skin of his familiar.

Pansy was ecstatic he was running along not stepping on any twig just next to one, and not kicking up any leaves or dust, He saw in a quick glance they lay flat or moved horizontally to his Drexian toe-boot foot falls his newly acquired addition to silent movement was working extremely well, so well in fact that when he spied the group looking in every direction but his, did not see him at all. They did not see Stellar running in from the left either, all their eyes were on the place where Pansy had shouted, with four people all tied up in a group in the middle of a caravan bunch of four wagons, provisions and other cargo strewn about a camp, but no horses.

The Goblense was working on absolutely nothing in both his hands but pulled out a short cross bow bolt that immediately went invisible as soon as it looked like he had loaded an invisible crossbow with it. The Screw Guild had taught him how to recognize many of the Orders by the weapons or Guild items they used, this Goblense belonged to the worst kind of persons in the entire pantheon of the Guilds and Orders this was a murderous back fighting, cowardly murderer. He was a torturer and dastardly villain, a member of the Order of the Crimson Dagger. A guitar was on his back slung hastily from the looks of it, only one Guild had musical instruments to ply their trade and gain Save with their Mentors, the Guild of the Troubadours; the Harp. A more ancient Quasi-Order like association, The Harp Guild members acted in kind more towards the ideal behind all the Orders they tried to become politicians and famous people and idols of society than a profession oriented Guildsman.

This had been the singer he had heard using his racial language coming closer to where he had captured and was undoubtedly torturing these hapless merchants they captured. Merchants usually had a guard of some kind, unless they all ran away. Back in his own hometown of Torsa there was always having groups go out with merchants to work as outriders for a caravan, but these were green untried late teenagers or young adults that went out on those runs, most never returned home, most winding up in the slave ships of the Sitrans or captured by the Drusimehr raiders, or dead.

The two others looked to be a Royant with swords all over his broad back and much narrower hips. Obviously he was a member of the Order of the Sword. He might be a problem since Swords were notorious for fighting to the death, and never retreating from a sword fight. They liked to think their honor was at stake and they had to stay on as long as they could hold a sword. The last person had several weapons, one a long thin looking weapon maybe racial by the look of it not being conventional, a shield though he was winged with owl like wings, frosty feathers on top with long gray becoming white ones spanning out. Probably an Antarean a pack of aerial sky lances sent against a tree. He looked to be a spell caster from the Orb Staff like Gerald used to have the short time he had met him back in Torsa. "I'll need to do something wonderful for that guy too when I see him again, he really wasn't that bad, and I treated him unfairly, since he didn't actually do anything to me, just called me a faggot is all" Pansy thought as he ran all the way around stopping behind an uprooted oak tree that had fallen over from age and some storm, maybe the Drusimehr running through, still it made great cover,

Stellar galloped up and stopped, Braynt was inside as he spoke to Pansy. "There are three of them an Orb like Gerald was some guy that plays with himself, I think he is actually insane like you've become, and a big guy with swords all over him" Stellar whispered with a lisp to Pansy.

"I have a funny idea!"Pansy began remembering a trick he was taught at the Screw guild, "Let's bait and switch them".

"I don't know what that is". Braynt said with Stellar's lisping mouth.

Okay I'll go running straight through their camp only counting coup on the Goblense, then when they get together to come after me' I'll use my teleport ring to leave them running after nothing, but away from those merchants" then you come in and grab the merchants by the ropes tying them together and go on the path". Pansy finished.

"What about their wagons and cargoes they won't want to leave them behind if they get saved from getting murdered by these obvious outlaws". Braynt reminded him, "they are probably like your friend and mine; Desi the short time I knew him."

"Yeah you're right!" Pansy said thinking, "Okay they will of course be our friends for a long time to come but will be thinking about their lost revenue from the cargo they were carrying to somewhere. They have no horses and we have three extra ones!" First we get them free then after wards they will be our friends too, and we can use the three extra horses to hitch to their wagons, then take everybody on your path!"

"Yeah but that is really involved Pansy, I don't know ...!" Braynt thought through all the steps.

"Let's take it one part at a time," Pansy reiterated, "We first save those fellas, and you run in after I get those guys to chase me, and as long as they are all tied together they will come with you when you use your path again as Stellar".

"I'll be fine Braynt, they won't be able to know where I am. This is just to keep drawing them away. After they are sufficiently lost in the forest, I'll teleport back here, my rings work again after thirty seconds and I have three of them. So after I use the first one they will need to cover the ninety feet I am at to get to me, that will take some time, then I'll run again and get them away from here using myself as bait", Pansy finished.

"How will you find me then"? Braynt brought up the major flaw in his elaborate plan.

"You will need to lead the horses back out as yourself to hitch them up to the wagons right?" Pansy said, "And I will be able to go line of sight or where I have already been, coupled with teleports and running silently again. I'll come back to a place that is familiar and return to where those wagons are now and then when we are all together can go on the path to whatever destination our new friends need to go!" Pansy looked at Braynt as he tried to come up with another objection.

"Okay?" Pansy asked "you got all that?"

"Yeah but we will be in danger without you should those guys turn back". Braynt objected.

"Look I'll be able to come back close to you with my teleports in case that happens. But I don't think it will as soon as the others say a word I can use their racial language to make the other ones think that their ally is where I actually am."

"We will make very grateful new friends, and you and the animals will be safe too while I risk my life to make sure you stay that way!" Pansy said as a Star he wanted to keep Braynt and Stellar safe from harm now.

"You will make sure the animals are safe when they are with you and Stellar and I will come back to where you are with these mean people lost in the forest somewhere!" Pansy revealed how Braynt could make points with his Mentor of the Lion as well". Pansy finished, now for the first part, I'll get them to chase me! And you know what to do get those fellas on the path!"

Pansy took off around the tree; Pansy's conversation was with a reclusive lone hunter type of killer of large cats. He knew there were probably no lions or other large predators within a mile of their location having caught the scent of Stellar; this gave him extra confidence in his plan. He ran straight for the Goblense who was scrunched up behind a tree waiting for his two allies to flush whoever had yelled for their surrender a short few minutes ago. The Royant and the Antarean had gone around together one protecting the other spells to swordsmanship. The Goblense remained behind to both keep the dread of fear in the captives as well he liked to ambush people, being a Crimson Dagger, like Pansy identified him to be. Pansy would run by and take a swipe on the Goblense as he ran on by. Pansy loosened his Drex Stormsword and came silently at the Goblense, from behind, a Star could attack any adversary in the best possible fashion, people that would never be his friend in a thousand years were open season to a Star. This was not a dirty trick nor was this evil, Pansy on a mission, he was going to save people's lives, while risking his own, he was filled with bravado and elated as well since he heard Bertrand in his mind approve of what he was doing, "You go Girl!" Bertrand said, knowing that Pansy was a girly gay boy bottom like a girl was, and it was a compliment not a slur.

The little Goblense man wore leather armor that made n noise as he moved, showing he really was an ambusher, Pansy ran up and took all the armor right off his foot with damage his Drex Stormsword did, the little guy was livid that someone smaller than he was had been able to get the drop on him so easy they make good his escape, after destroying his left leg armor the tear ran all the way up to his hip but smacked his heel-walker foot slicing through his boot and baring his dull green skin leg to the forest air.

He tried to take aim and fired as Pansy danced silent as the wind through the trees, the bolt went somewhere and buried itself in a tree. Shot wide of where Pansy went, the 'leader' screamed after his allies, "YOU BITCH! ...GET HIM!" and both pointed as well as slung his invisible crossbow behind him in a sling string on the weapon to his back and took off after the little Drex that had suckered him with looking the wrong way. "Gets that Drex; son of bitch, faggot bastard, mother fucking, shit ass, cock-sucking dirty fighting, cheap little shit fucker!" the Goblense ran out of adjectives in his anger. The Goblense pulled his other weapon he favored as he ran after the little bitch that tore his leg armor all the hell, his Wakazashi short sword. He was much better with his 650mm gripbox held cannon, but here in the trees it was too big to get it out with a high tech antigravity and mobile mounted or not. It was just too big to pull out in the forest.

"I can see his heat" the Royant called out to tell the Antarean how to track the Drex.

The Antarean said "Good! ...thanks", then said "Shit!!" telling everyone that knew about spells he missed it on the first try, then "Okay, aw shit he's out of range!"

"Follow me then I can see his footprint heat on the ground!" the Royant called out again, his great crashing through the forest could be heard a mile away snapping off small limbs and tearing chunks of tree bark off defenseless older trees. He pulled up shrubs and tender stalks of plants in his wake.

Pansy could hear him catching up to him the Antarean was cur sing since he was thoroughly lost going the wrong direction into something else from his screams. The Royant stopped and turned to run towards whatever the Antarean had gotten himself into. The crashing sound of the Royant was heard going down into a hole in the ground.

The Goblense however could be seen plainly his green leg every now and then came closer to where Pansy had stopped. He instead drew his other Drexian Stormsword, the odds became rather equal now, the Goblense was not wearing very good armor for fighting in a forest, and Pansy was much smaller and had plenty of room with his small size in such close quarters of the trees.

"You son of a bitch shit eating little bitch I am going to delight in cutting your balls off and eating them right in front of you little shit! You destroyed my armor!" The Goblense was still not thinking right his eyes were wide and he thought the Drex before him was an easy mark being nearly have his size. He pulled out his thin narrow blade Dirk and immediately lunged with it as his favorite; the Wakazashi was his parry weapon. He cut directly to Pansy's codpiece attempting to make good his threat, Pansy swung his left hand sword down and away, easily parrying, but the Dirk was aimed precisely and chipped his Drexian blade a few points of damage curling the blade edge duller. Pansy swung his other sword across to try and end this battle as soon as possible, to his surprise Pansy did not swing down at his head, and in so much as he thought he would easily beat the smaller Drex he missed completely

Pansy had swung across to connect just across where his gray-green navel was, both destroying his leather armor, and neatly slicing his arrogant belly in half to the spine which also sliced neatly in half his guts and spleen spilling out as he had advanced on Pansy. As his upper half slid off the lower half of his body sliced in half at the navel, he glowed for a second calling on his Order to heal him and save his life. He lay on the forest floor with both weapons still in his hands but without either his torso or both of his legs armor at all. "I give please don't kill me, again!" he screamed as he lay upon the ground, his lower torso lay with both legs, the armor intact on his right leg lay with that half of his body.

Pansy said plainly "No one can trust a Crimson Dagger at all, you are all liars. I should just end you since you are no friend of mine!"

"Wait, wait! I'll give you my magic ring; please I'm begging you please! I am done you win, I'm sorry, here take my money too!" he had shit when he died the first time, now he was peeing all over himself, his weapons were flung away from him and he pulled off the ring on his finger and sixteen Green Empire Imperials worth ten High Silver each out of his coin bag at his neck.

"What about your invisible crossbow", Pansy said motioning to something still invisible on his back next to his guitar, and what is this thing, this thing that is invisible too?"

He carefully removed all his weapons those swords were inches from his naked belly and legs, he only wore underwear but those too were on his other half. He tossed them to one side only he could see them.

"Okay! Get up slime!" Pansy said menacingly scowling with as fierce a face as could manage." Now start running. "

The Goblense obeyed he was completely naked except for his arms and head, "Bu-bu-but wait, I am totally unarmed I don't have anything, I am alone too, my two idiot friends ran off and left me, I don't have a chance! He pleaded and begged," without my weapons? At least leave me my dagger!"

"I'll leave you your life; no one can trust a Crimson Dagger!" Pansy said again. The Goblense ran away as he was told naked friendless and alone without any weapons he didn't have a chance in the forest at all. Pansy gathered up the things he could see, the supposed magic ring and the imperials, the Dirk and the Wakazashi, too. He didn't see the Goblense anymore and figured he was coming back around to get even with Pansy somehow, So Pansy used one of his rings and teleported back the way he had come. He dropped the Wakazashi and the Dirk then made his way back towards the camp this way was a little more familiar since he had run this way a little over a half an hour ago. The leg armor of the Goblense lay against a tree and he knew he was on the right track, he figured the Drusimehr pat was up ahead a ways so he teleported again, and stood where he had dismounted his horse. Stellar came out of the forest then.

"Did you get them?" Pansy asked as he put his swords away, "Stellar looked down.

"They were all dead, he killed them before we could save them, and each one had a slit throat". Stellar said.

"Oh, well I kept you safe at least; I guess we should continue with our journey then". Pansy said solemnly," I let him live, but I don't think we'll ever see him again, he has little armor no weapons and is alone and lost".

"Where did the other two go?" Braynt asked.

"Fell down a hole looking for me I think, or that is what it sounded like." Pansy said.

"Well I hitched the wagons up on our spare horses like you said, but left the merchants were they were, I've got my body with them. Let's go see what happen to those other two guys, so they don't come after us later". Braynt informed him.

"Yeah maybe you should change back to your own body in case". Pansy said a little lighter in spirits.

"Okay", as Braynt brought himself back and returned to his own skin he left Stellar with the horses and the spare ones with wagons on the path and walked with Pansy towards where Pansy last heard the Royant and Antarean went.

Pansy and Braynt picked their way through the forest, with Braynt in the lead, He was intending to become a Ranger eventually and had a better understanding of the forest now, and Pansy was smaller and less able to bend away brush and limbs to get past them as Braynt was.

Braynt stopped at a precipice. "Um I found the hole; it goes down a ways into darkness."

"Well I don't think they are coming after us anytime soon, not now anyway!" Braynt said flatly.

"Yeah, well I guess we should keep going, maybe we can come back here someday after getting our friends!" Pansy looked down into the darkness of the deep hole. "Kind of weird though, there being a hole in the middle of the forest far from any road and one this big too".

"Yeah it is pretty big. Look a couple of trees died and nothing else seems to have grown close to it as well". Braynt observed looking around, "just this scrub and dead trees".

"I know this weed, actually it is the primary ingredient to Andychrome", Pansy looked the plant over it was scraggly and misshapen and had a grey color like it was dead. "A drug my mother got addicted to, this is Skull weed, it grows on graves!"

Braynt observed, "This is a big grave then, something huge is buried here, and those poor fools fell into this grave, then.

"No tombstone or marker either, like there was never supposed to be one. I think this is a mass grave with a lot of people buried here". Pansy commented.

"Well it is ancient I suppose, or if not it was never meant to be found and only bad luck for those two, or your good luck kept you from finding it instead". Braynt said in a melancholy way.

"You sound like we should go down there, and see what is down there!" Pansy still looked into the dark hole, "you notice it kind of slopes to the right beginning over there". Pansy pointed a good thirty feet beyond where he stood. If we got some rope and some torches we could explore it, maybe those two would like we came to help them out of there if they survived".

Those guys were running with a Crimson Dagger, Pansy those guys can't be good much".

"Yes, that is true, but it might have been like it was back in Torsa the party didn't have a choice we all were ready to leave and didn't have a choice as to who we traveled with, maybe those two didn't have a choice either, the Antarean seemed like he wasn't all that good with his weapons nor very powerful with magic". Pansy looked at Braynt's back and asked the obvious question, "You want to go down there and see what it is underneath there in your forest, don't you?"

"I'll get the rope". Braynt said, showing his mind was made up when he heard about a hole at all, it just took a while to convince Pansy to go with him.

A little while after Braynt and Pansy had secured a rope around a big red oak a little ways back of the hole with big strong roots going into good ground.

"You think that little devil Goblense will find our rope tied to the tree and just lie in wait for us to come out". Braynt asked as Pansy and he walked backwards down in to the darkness, using the rope as an anchor on the steep slope.

"Yep if he can find his way into your path where you took his backpack and the rest of his stuff, sure!" Pansy continued good naturedly using sarcasm about how lucky that guy had to be, "Then he only need to search and find his weapons I dropped in the forest somewhere and then figure out we are down this hole and not only his friends instead".

"Or could find his way running away in the forest like you made him do". Braynt finished for him.

Pansy laughed "Yeah, he was pretty scared too running off bare ass naked with his balls hanging out, I kind of think he will lay low a long time since he only has a guitar to defend himself from everything in this Forest"!

"Are you sure you aren't a Screw still that was really a mean nasty trick!" Braynt said in jest.

"I'm a Star now, he wasn't my friend, and no one can trust a Crimson Dagger as far as they can throw them, besides he was bigger than me, I could never throw him very far at all!" Pansy giggled thinking on how he could even try to throw that guy.

"What is so funny?" Braynt asked as they kept going down now under the shadow of the side of the pit.

""Me trying to pick that guy up, and then toss him a good ten feet!" Pansy giggled out.

Once down in a flat area, Braynt lit up a torch, then lit another one for Pansy to hold, the only saw the Royant in a clump on the ground down here, his head hung at a strange angle not normal even for his race.

"Well one down and one to go!" Pansy said jokingly.

"You're awful; he probably hit his head on the way down and broke his neck later, no chance to ask for a Save from your guild then". Bryant said and walked on by the corpse "This leads to a gate or door up ahead you see it in the flickering torch light?"Braynt said, "I think this was a dungeon maybe, like an old tomb of somebody."

Yes, a door, I wonder what happened to the other guy". Pansy said looking down, "Look at the ground ...no tracks!"

"Yeah but he had wings," Braynt said, "Maybe he flew out of here".

"That reminds me you did load everything in the wagons including the big feathery lances". Pansy said.

"Everything except the dead guys, I figured they wouldn't have anything on them I didn't check though, I figured tied up those guys probably fleeced everything off them already except their clothes". Braynt replied. Well here we are, do we just find the latch and ...!" Pansy slapped his hand away from the handle with the latch on it.

"Did you even look for the magic trap? No you didn't ...did you! You've never been in a dungeon before have you?" Pansy asked surprised Braynt didn't have a clue about such things.

"I planned on joining the Garter to become a Ranger on the ground up there not down in a hole in the ground, where we are now. I just wanted to know what this is". Braynt defended himself.

"Yeah well let us look for what looks like a drain going down it is unmistakable, it is the trap's flaw". Pansy said thinking a simple statement could teach Braynt about a magic trap. "Just don't touch the door or the trap yet". Braynt pulled his hand back from resting it on the outside of the door and took a little step back to keep from touching the surface with his other hand while he searched.

Pansy just stared at him, then shook his head without saying a word, not everybody gets kicked out of their first Guild then refused by every other Guild in Town as well as all the Orders, The Orders including the Star reject everybody since everybody has to try in Avalon first. Then the only one Guild that would take him was the Screw and afforded him a way to get back at people. So to be as mischievous as possible he had gone to magic traps, 101 and 102 & 103 classes to learn everything there was to know about all the different kinds of magic traps.

"It's okay boyfriend, it is not your fault not everyone can go to the school of hard knocks and study up on every magic trap design ever created, I still love the way you taste!" Pansy said and slipped his hand inside Braynt's codpiece and fondled his sheath and low hangers.

"MMMM! That feels good, are you thirsty?" Braynt asked thinking a good stiff sucking by Pansy on his cock right now would feel pretty good right after having to rescue dead people's wagons and all the weird cargo they were hauling.

"Let's get through the door first and find out what's on the other side first!" then we can play Mister Bananas gets his creamy sauce milked out". Pansy said pulling his hand back out.

"Can he get his flower cleaned too"? Braynt asked in a sweet little voice.

"Oh you liked that eh, yes if Mister Bananas wants it then little peaches will lick all inside his whole flower pot in every inch and as far as possible too". Pansy said like a little girl.

"OOOO GOODY, you do have nice little peaches too"! Braynt replied and leaned back into his little Peaches.

"Okay! Look for a hole, look for a hole, look for a hole". Braynt said as he looked around the surface of the door.

"NO! BRAYNT. Look for a drain like it ...hmm how can I put this, okay it looks just exactly like a drain with water in it going down, you know that spiral of the water going down the drain?" Pansy corrected.

"OooOOOOHHHhh!" Braynt said as it finally became clear, "It looks like a bathtub of water going down the drain!"

"Right ...exactly!" Pansy said.

"I think I saw that very thing", Braynt said when he looked at the door, "Right there"! He pointed nearly touching it.

"YYYYESH, Braynt don't touch it yet"! Pansy warned really alarmed.

"Okay now you need to evaluate it now that you know where it is". Pansy said.

"How do I do that", he asked looking at the spiraling drain looking thing in the door.

"Okay how many ribs or high spots does it have?" Pansy asked looking at Braynt.

"Uumm, ahhh it looks like just one, yeah just the one"! Braynt said finally.

"Okay now how many squirrels does it have, you know they look like an eddy in a stream kind of a back and forth kind of thing to the way the water looks going down as if it was going over rocks". Pansy instructed.

"Hmmm, oh one!" Braynt said triumphant.

"Great wonderful," Pansy inhaled a big breath before he continued with his explanation. "Braynt now that means you now can go about disarming it!" Pansy said "You use your Intelligence to focus on it, and then you need to be quick you know like with your spirit: that spark of insight, and also you need to use your finger, good thing there is only one right? And lastly if you think about it too long or try to concentrate with your mental fortitude, you'll miss it and the trap will go off on you and me!"

"Oh, then that would be bad," Braynt repeated the obvious. "Okay here I go!"

Pansy was going to tell him the other two things to look, evaluate twice more in case there are more than one trap on the door, but after he misses this one from being, well Braynt then ..!

"Whooohoo! I did it, it's gone," before he could stop him Braynt reached out and grabbed the latch, both he and Pansy could see each other's skeletons like in an x-ray with a foomp! And both of them teleported.

end of Chapter Twelve