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Gurak awoke like normal. The gentle sensation of something around his dick, suckling gently. The orc sat up and moved his hand to pat Rulu, whom he expected was the one down there. His hand was met with soft fur.

Alarmed, Gurak moved his hands to rub the sleep from them, only to find Zamdor was the one down there sucking on him. The orc chuckled softly. “What're you doin?"

Zamdor leaned back a little, kissed Gurak's fuzzy stomach, and smiled. “Figured I'd see how you liked it if I woke you up this way."

Gurak chuckled softly. “I panicked, 'cause I didn't know who it was. When I didn't feel scales, I got concerned." He sighed softly, his hand coming down to rub over the bull's head and around his horns gently.

Zamdor smiled and leaned in, kissing along the length and then suckling on the orc's dick gently. Gurak rubbed his hand through the bull's head fur slowly. “So, where's Wukin and Rulu, I notice they aren't in the hut." He said, glancing around and it was indeed just the two of them.

The bull pulls back slowly and smiles. “Rulu wanted to make you a special breakfast, Wukin went with him." Zamdor moved up to kiss along the orc's stomach and chest, then up to his lips, planting a kiss there. “So it's just us for a little while. Rulu will probably take his time getting supplies, I said I wanted to wake you up a special way." He grins at the orc.

Gurak blushed and laughed. “What'd you have in mind?" The orc was hopeful it was something he'd enjoy, at the very least.

Zamdor stood up slowly and climbed up onto the bed, laying flat on his back and with a soft huff. “You're the only one who breeds me, and I've been craving it for a long, long time now."

Gurak didn't need much convincing after admiring the view in front of him. He sat up and scooted in closer. Laying overtop of the bull and leaning down to kiss him. His orcish arousal, hard as could be, smeared his pre on the bull's stomach as he did so.

The bull rumbles and leans up, kissing Gurak back firmly, the pair remained like this for a few moments, before Zamdor gently pushed Gurak back with a soft huff. “Don't get me wrong, I like kissing you. But I have a need that only you can fulfill right now." He huffs and lets out a soft moo.

Gurak snickered ever so softly, he'd never heard the bull make such a noise before. He leaned back though and carefully lined himself up. He nudged the bull's ring and carefully sunk inside of Zamdor. The bull's muscled ring was tight and resisted immensely, Gurak held steady and just let the muscles surrender slowly, as inch by inch, he worked his way inside of the bull.

Gurak rumbled softly. “You're so tight this morning." He almost grumbled as he spoke.

The bull nodded. “I hadn't been using toys since you left. I haven't put anything inside of me since you claimed me."

The orc blushed fiercely but smiled. “You didn't have to do that!"

The bull nods and moves his hands up, stroking the orc's face and chest. “I know, but I wanted to. I wanted you to know I'm yours and only yours." He rumbles out, then clenched his muscles around the orc's invading length. Making Gurak moan louder as he did.

The orc continued to blush but smiled. “You silly bull." He leaned over slightly, the bull's legs wrapped around his waist as he started to thrust nice and slow into the bull. His hands kneading the bull's chest, his hips rocking slow and lovingly. The bull's legs locked around Gurak's hips to keep him from pulling away, not that Gurak planned to.

The pair stayed like this, for what felt like hours. The orc leaned over Zamdor, kissing all over his chest and face. The bull, his hands roaming the orc's body, leaning up to meet most of those kisses with smooches of his own. The bull's arousal, throbbing between them, oozing a river of pre along his stomach and down the side, lost in the hay mattress holding them up.

Gurak huffed softly and smiled, breaking one of the numerous kisses to rumble out. “I don't think I'll last much longer." He warns the bull. Gurak's hand then moved between them to encircle the bull's arousal, stroking him rapidly.

Zamdor grunted softly and shuddered. He'd been pushed slowly closer to his release little by little as they made love like this, but with the grip, his need for release surged forward much more prominently. He wouldn't last too much longer either.

The orc gave a few more slow, deep thrusts, locking eyes with Zamdor, before he grunted and squinted his eyes shut, feeling his orgasm peak, and his length inside of the bull twitching and throbbing. The waves of satisfaction shot through the orc's body, just as his orgasm shot right into the bull.

Zamdor, very aware of the orc's orgasm, as the heat of the orc filled his body, groaned loudly, and only moments later, with the aid of the orc's stroking hand, his climax was reached, streaks of bull cum across his blue and blonde furred chest. The bull grunted and huffed as his release slowly tapered off and he slumped back.

Gurak rumbled and moved his hand, the less spoogey one, to rub the bull's arm and side gently. Zamdor grinned up at him and rumbled out quietly. “Mmph, that felt good lad."

Gurak nodded and stayed hilted, his hand moving to rub the side and thigh of the bull as he smiled. “It did. Better than last time." He stuck out his tongue at the bull, and both laughed lightly. Gurak's butt was still a little sore from that.

The orc slowly pulled away from the bull and lay beside him. Leaning in to hug and kiss over the bull's face. They lay a few moments, before getting up. Behind their hut, Zamdor had already set up a small tub and an enclosure so that they could bathe privately. Zamdor had even already had a fire going so the water was warm for them to get into it. Zamdor and Gurak hugged in close, the orc nuzzling at the bull's chest and neck as they sat together.

“I love ya lad." Zamdor rumbled out quietly, as his hand moved up and down the orcs back. Gurak smiled and hugged Zamdor tightly in return.

“I love you too Zam, you and the others all mean the world to me, you're all irreplaceable treasures." The older bull perked his eyebrows and laughed, blushing ever so faintly at the kind words.

The pair washed one another, turning a sweet moment into a slightly sensual one. The pair took care of bathing one another. Lathering each other up and rinsing each other off. Once they were done, Zamdor and Gurak climbed out of the tub, dried off, and went back to the hut, replacing the bed covering with their massive bedroll the pair sprawled out on the bedding naked.

Zamdor and Gurak lay there for some time before Zamdor spoke up. “Lad, there's something I gotta tell ya."

Gurak sat up slowly and looked at Zamdor curiously.

The bull looked to Gurak. “Rolwood, the town we're headed to next is where the Mage's College of Otrad is located."

Gurak blinked a moment. “So….the next town over is where you used to be a teacher?"

The bull nods his head a touch. “Yeah. So I'll probably be a little more distant than normal while there."

Gurak nodded, his hand moving down to interlock his fingers with Zamdor's. “It's okay Zam. You aren't alone, you're surrounded by folks that love you."

Zam smiled softly and nodded. He scooted closer and kissed the orc's forehead. Gurak and Zam finally got up and got dressed, they headed out into the village, eventually running into Rulu and Wukin. The lizardman was haggling for some herbs with one of the orcs. Rulu didn't get as big a discount as he was hoping, but he did manage to shave a silver piece off the price.

The four of them returned to the hut, packed up their things, and then headed to the entrance, Gurak paid for their horse's upkeep overnight, their horses were hitched up, and before too long, they were on the road, headed for Rolwood to the east. First, they had to travel through a bit of forest, but, according to the orcs he spoke to, it should, only be a two, maybe three-day trip.

The first day went by with little trouble. They made it to the edge of the forest and parked for the night. Setting up camp and getting rest for the day to come.

The next morning went fairly normal. Rulu woke Gurak as usual. The four of them shared some intimate time. It was much like the morning on the way to Churreg, with Zam and Gurak on top, while Rulu and Wukin 69'd.

After this tender moment, the four bathed and had breakfast as usual. They packed up their gear and headed into the forest.

Gurak had been in forests before, he lived near one, after all, however, this forest was significantly more dense, and the trees overhead blocked out the light to a greater degree.

The light barely made it through the leaves overhead. Only small pockets of the forest were illuminated. The group traveled slowly, cautiously. As the road was a little less maintained through the area, roots seemed to stand out more than anywhere else they had traveled until now.

Gurak was on high alert, something about the forest felt off, it was too quiet, and the insects were silent. The birds weren't chirping.

Gurak turned to Wukin who nodded. “Whatever it is, it's close." The monkey whispers, as Gurak turns to look at Rulu and Zamdor.

“Something's close, something dangerous." Gurak said as he heard it, whatever it was, far enough away that he couldn't see it, but the hissing was the first noise that was noticeable.

Gurak parked the wagon and stepped off. He nodded to Zamdor. “Put a stone barricade around the wagon.

Zamdor shook his head. “The stone will be too easy to break if I do, it'd be thin. If this beast is what I think. I got an idea though."

Zamdor instead pressed his hand flat to the ground. “Blessing of Balanos, mother of earth and stone, shelter these poor animals and our wagon from harm. Stone Shelter." Rocks came up from around the wagon and horses, and slowly encased it, but instead of staying where it was, it lowered down into the ground, and the wagon, with the horses, was completely gone, hidden under the road itself.

Gurak was impressed, they'd be safe, and with just a little vents here and there, that Gurak could see, the air was able to get inside, so the horses were safe, they could breathe just fine, as long as it didn't rain or anything, at least.

Gurak unknotted his axe, taking one axe head into his hand, the other still atop the haft of the large axe. Wukin jumped up into the trees, using his tail to hold onto a branch with the daggers in his hands, the monkey put the grips together and twisted, they locked into place and started to move, the two daggers becoming a bow, the monkey wasted no time in stringing the bow in his hands, the arrows at his hip made more sense now, and they hung in such a way so that the heavier weight of the arrowheads kept the quiver pointed downward, even while the monkey hung upside down with the bow in hand.

Beside him, Rulu unsheathed his sword, the sound of it reminding Gurak of the noise he always heard from movies as a kid, just that faint metal against metal noise of a blade being unsheathed. Rulu stood, shield on one arm, blade slightly outward in a diagonal direction.

Just behind him and Rulu, was Zamdor, who pulled up his staff and it expanded in size, much like Gurak's own did, though, it didn't look magical when it transformed. Then it dawned on Gurak, that these weapons were made by goblins. They weren't magical, they were engineering marvels. As soon as the staff had expanded fully, there was a mana cryst atop the staff, blue and deep in color, Gurak guessed it to be ice, which suited the bull perfectly.

The three on the ground stood at the ready, watching the trees. Listening for the hissing. It was to the left. Gurak turned to face it. Zamdor's staff tapped Gurak's shoulder. “Don't let your guard down, that could be it's tail making that noise. Stay vigilant." He whispers.

Gurak nodded as he kept his eyes focused on the woods as best he could manage. He was sick of waiting though. He opened his palm, summoning a handful of small orbs of light, and launched them forward, not as an attack, but as a means of seeing through all the darkness the leaves overhead created.

Gurak's eyes caught the sight of a snake's head around the tree and loosed his axe head at it. He must have been severely out of practice, as the axe head was way off course and instead of hitting the snake, buried itself into the tree it was behind, and no matter how hard he called it back, the blade didn't dislodge from the trunk of the tree. It was lodged too deeply into it.

Gurak grunted and put both hands on the axehaft in his hand, it was as tall as himself and the blade he had left was sharp, he just needed to get a clean swing in. The weapon, with fully expanded was a 2 or 4-headed greataxe.

Rulu shouted from his side, and grabbed Gurak's arm, pulling him as, from the right side, something came crashing through the trees, uprooting them and tossing them aside with little effort. The snake's head had been to the left, the beast was large.

From the mess of trees and foliage thrown everywhere, Gurak finally saw it.

A chimera, massive in size, easily larger than their wagon, and the snake's head was the tail, he'd been looking to the left, where the snake's head was, and he'd almost fallen for it. The lion's head, large and ferocious had snapped at Gurak, if Rulu hadn't grabbed and pulled him away, the orc might have lost a limb to the beast's massive, hungry maw.

Wukin was, fortunately, had not hanging from any of the trees thrown about by the chimera, and with the trees knocked down now, there was more light able to filter through and they could see the beast a bit more clearly.

Wukin knocked an arrow, using his feet to brace himself and aim carefully, before losing it. The arrow sailed through the air and caught the goat's head, just above the lion's head. The goat bleated angrily, though the arrow itself didn't seem to do much damage overall. It did pierce the skin at least.

The goat's head turned and bleated angrily at Wukin, then suddenly a bolt of water shot from between the goat's horns and caught Wukin in the arm, not knocking him loose from his perch, but catching him off guard. All of them seemed surprised by this.

Gurak had never seen a monster use magic before. He suddenly felt very concerned.

Zamdor focused his hand on the staff in his hands. “Blessing of Kruos, goddess of frost and chills, send a barrage of ice to pierce my foe. Frost Shards" As he spoke, dozens of tiny slivers of ice formed in the air, and then launched at the chimera.

The beast turned to try and mitigate some of the damage, but that just meant the side of the beast was dappled with spots of blood all over it. The wounds weren't deep, but it was obvious that the wounds hurt, as the lion roared.

Rulu, now that Gurak was safe, lept forward with his sword held high, the dark-looking metal almost glinted in the low light, he brought his blade down quickly, but the goat head moved just enough so that Rulu's blade caught it's horn instead, hitting it, and causing no damage to speak of, Rulu jumped backward as best he could, and readied himself for another strike.

The snake lunged at Rulu just as he landed, but his shield deflected the head of the beast, sending it upward. Gurak took this chance to make a move, using his wind magic, focused around his feet to propel him upward, and using Rulu's shoulder as a step to jump over him and bring the axe high over his head and downward in a furious strike. His axehead sunk satisfyingly into the goat's head. Right between the horns, where Rulu had aimed not a moment before.

Gurak attempted to wrest his weapon from the skull of the beast, however, the lion shook violently and his grip on the haft was shaken free and he was tossed into the tree line. The skull that the blade was embedded in was too strong and didn't released the axe.

The lion roared again, this time swiping its claws at Rulu. The lizardman had his shield up, not that it mattered much. The claws themselves did no actual damage, but the strength of the swing threw Rulu several feet backward, making the lizardman roll across the ground where the wagon had been before.

Wukin nocked another arrow and loosed it. This time aiming for the snake, the arrow itself aimed to sink into the snake's head, it didn't hit the intended target, however. Instead of burying itself in the haunch of the chimera, just near the tail/snake portion of the beast, the arrow hit the scales and bounced off harmlessly.

The snake, seeing where the monkey was, lashed out, the monkey tried to let go of the branch his tail held onto, but the snake was faster, and its fangs sunk into his shoulder, it held the bite for several moments, shaking Wukin violently, before throwing him towards where Rulu was, the monkey's body landing and rolling several feet, though, unlike Rulu, he wasn't immediately back on his feet.

Zamdor, seeing Gurak was lost in the trees, Rulu was getting back on his feet and Wukin wasn't getting back up at all, he had to make a decisive move. The bull planted the staff in the ground and focused intently.

“Blessing of Balanos, mother of stone, pierce my foe and keep it held in place. Sharpen thy spears, and puncture as deep into my foe as the stone runs deep in the earth. Encircling spears of stone!"

From around the chimera, nearly a dozen spears came from the earth and shot upward, most of them found their target, finding the soft flesh of the chimera and piercing it. Lodging themselves deeply into the beast's sides and holding it in place. The stone was several inches deep on each wound that made its way into the chimera's body.

Rulu steadied himself, and lept forward, seeing Wukin get tossed aside so effortlessly, he targetted the snake now. With Zamdor's stone spears impaling it in several locations, the beast wasn't able to move. This allowed Wukin's blade to find its target. The blade didn't slice through it like butter, but it did catch the snake's body and buried itself at least a little into it. The snake wasn't severed, but it was bleeding profusely from the wound.

The lion roared angrily, in pain and rage. The beast barely had time to realize that Gurak was standing in front of it. In his hand, a small ball of flame was held, he threw it, and unbeknownst to the lion's head of the chimera, it had gone into the beast's mouth while it was roaring. Gurak clenched his fist and whispered. “Detonate." Just as he said the word, the ball of fire in the chimera's mouth exploded, causing immeasurable damage to the inside of the lion's maw, the beast, slumped, its main head unable to fight any longer, leaving only the snake at it's ass-end to struggle in vain.

Zamdor watched the beast and sighed. His hand came out in front of him and pointed at the chimera palm first. “Blessing of Anamabe, come to a blade and sever the beast from its body. Wind blade!" Much like Gurak had seen a dozen times before, a blade of wind formed, and launched similarly to how he threw his axe blades.

The wind magic connected with the target, and sliced clean through the snake's elongated neck, severing the last head from the chimera's body and finally felling the beast.

Gurak checked Rulu first, healing his wound from being thrown. He had some bruises and a cracked rib-bone, but with the orcs healing magic the wounds were healed almost instantly.

Gurak looked to Zamdor, who shook his head, waving the orc away, and instead pointed to Wukin, who still wasn't moving.

Gurak's heart caught in his throat and he rushed to Wukin's side. He rolled the monkey over, looking him over quickly. The snake's bite on his shoulder was large, as the teeth on the beast were massive, at least as big as one of Wukin's daggers. Gurak could see that the skin underneath was discolored, poison was already coursing through the monkey's body, and blood was pooling under them.

Gurak focused his healing magic immediately to stop the bleeding. The orc focused his magic wholly on the monkey, doing his best to use the magic to filter out the poison and let it fall to the ground. Separating it from the monkey's blood and body as best he could.

Gurak didn't let go of Wukin as he focused completely on him. The wound slowly closed up, the orc allowing his mana to fill Wukin, doing his best to make sure the monkey healed quickly. The bleeding stopped, and the discoloration lessened, but it didn't dissipate.

It was several minutes of him holding Wukin before he felt comfortable stopping. Wukin's breathing was labored, but he was doing better. The wound was closed, and there was no scar, though the fur was missing where the snake had bitten the monkey. Four punctures, two on his chest, two on his back, at least an inch or two deep, and as wide as a blade.

Zamdor, unable to do anything else to help Wukin at the moment, brought the wagon back up from underground. The horses seemed glad to be out of the darkness that the protection afforded them.

Gurak didn't leave Wukin's side. They carefully picked him up and laid him in the back of the wagon, Gurak in the back with him. Zamdor did the best he could to put some of the trees back in place, the chimera had destroyed quite a few of them so there was a patch where the trees should have been. There was only so much he could do, however.

Rulu pulled Gurak away from Wukin, just long enough to get the orc to put the carcass of the chimera, and the snake-like tail, into his backpack. The bag, inexplicable just opened up wider and wider till it pulled the chimera in completely.

Gurak was too worried about Wukin at the moment to be in awe of the bag, of course, he didn't know it was capable of that, but despite that, he was solely concerned for Wukin now. Rulu got Gurak's axe head from the tree, and before putting the chimera into the bag, made sure to get the axe from its body. Rulu used water to wash it clean from the blood of the battle before.

Rulu took the reins, while Zamdor sat beside him. Gurak was in the back of the wagon, holding Wukin's hand for the rest of the day. Rulu, knowing full well Gurak wasn't of sound mind right now, did what he felt was best. With Zamdor focused on the wagon and horses, Rulu took care of the rest.

Rulu made dinner that night. Gurak ate, though it wasn't much. Gurak kept close watch over Wukin, constantly checking and rechecking him. Desperate to fix whatever was keeping the monkey asleep, but as far as he could tell, the poison was all removed, and the internal damage was healed up too. The monkey lost a bit of blood, but the orc didn't think he'd lost that much.

Gurak made sure to make something for Wukin to eat. He fed it to the sleeping monkey as best he could manage, trying just a spoonful at a time and it wasn't working. Gurak used his magic to create a thin tube, with which he administered the soup. It wasn't a lot, but it was all he could think to do. Maybe food would help his body recover a little faster, as little as it was.

He knew he couldn't try to feed Wukin, he might choke, so using a tube to administer soup, was at least something. He'd seen something similar on TV shows way back on Earth. The memory of it made him feel at ease, that it was at least a viable thing to try.

Gurak stayed in the wagon with Wukin while he slept. Rulu and Zamdor slept in a small enclosure nearby.

The morning wasn't much different. Gurak had barely slept, he'd watched over Wukin the majority of the night, constantly using his healing magic to check him over, channel healing into him, in the hopes that it would hasten his recovery and he would wake up. Small bursts of healing were better than prolonged exposure, he remembered that from his childhood.

Rulu made breakfast that morning, and he and Zamdor took care of most things while Gurak was otherwise occupied. Gurak did his best to feed Wukin again that morning, but it was about as successful as the night before. He couldn't be sure how much was making a difference.

They were back on the road before long. Zamdor and Rulu were concerned, but there wasn't much else they could do. It was up to Wukin at this point. Gurak had gone above and beyond what could be expected of him, and yet he persisted. He didn't know what else to do.

Gurak was still in the back of the wagon when he felt it slow and stop. The orc, confused stood up and looked out over the front to see a large beast standing in the road.

Gurak wasn't going to let something else happen, as soon as he saw the beast, he was out of the back of the wagon and had his weapon at the ready. Rulu and Zamdor were about to jump down to join him and put his hand up. “Stay there and keep Wukin safe."

The beast regarded Gurak curiously before it roared at him. The orc, unphased, simply threw one of the chakram-like axeheads at the beast, it dodged to the side, as Gurak expected, and when the beast touched the ground, right where the orc anticipated, he raised his hand and lowered it. Bolts of lightning from the sky shook the tree branches as they hit the beast from above. Gurak had really taken to casting magic without vocal incantations. Zamdor was especially impressed by this.

Causing the creature to howl in pain. The branches above the beast were alight with fire from the lightning shooting through them. The beast turned to escape. But the second chakram blade was unlatched and hurled with enough strength it could probably have split a tree.

The blade found purchase in the monster's hindquarter. The beast tried to flee, though the wounds were too egregious for it. It made it a few steps before it slumped over and went still.

Gurak was about to call back his blades and jump into the wagon when the oddest thing happened. The beast melted away.

Rulu stared, confused, while Zamdor jumped off the wagon and investigated immediately. Gurak had already turned away and was calling back his blades. Unaware that the beast was disappearing unnaturally.

Seeing Zamdor dash past him, caused him to stop and turn to investigate the sudden change in the bull's demeanor.

Gurak was astonished to see the beast melt away. He watched for several seconds, confused.

Slowly, he approached the place where the beast was melting away, standing beside Zamdor. “Beasts...don't melt away like that Zamdor."

The bull nodded as he watched the last vestiges of the creature bubble and sizzle, leaving only a pair of analysts where the beast once lay. “Aye, lad. That's a unique trait to beasts from dungeons. As far as I know, there aren't any dungeons around here. Despite that. Beasts don't leave dungeons anyway." He watched as the last of it melted away.

Zamdor reached down and picked up two mana crysts from the ground, neither was very large. About the size of his finger, more or less, one was brown, and the second was blue. Zamdor looked to Gurak, holding both crysts. “Beasts don't possess two mana crysts either. Something foul is afoot."

Gurak watched a moment longer. Before recalling his axe heads, he caught each one and locked them back into place on his hip. “I don't even know what to think about that right now."

Zamdor nodded as he looked at the place where the beast was. “Nor I lad. We'll need to tell the adventurer guild when we get to Rolwood. We have more pressing matters."

The pair got back into the wagon and started back down the road. Gurak still focused on Wukin, holding his hand as they went down the road, while Zamdor created and expanded his wind barrier as much as he could. Trying to see if he could detect anything odd in the area using it. Zamdor's reach wasn't quite far enough to find anything out of the ordinary though. Zamdor had Rulu douse the flames before they left, to not cause any more harm to the forest as they passed through.

If only his range had been a few feet further, he would have detected another creature, just steps away from where the wind barrier ended, sharp, wild eyes watched as the wagon passed by. Eyes that recognized the orc, the bull, that lit up with excitement.

The unknown being darted through the trees, moving with speed more than silence. Catching the bull's attention, but it was too far away for his wind barrier to discern anything. Just the noise of something running through the trees. As curious as he was, another fight wasn't something he cared to entertain.

It was only a few hours later that their wagon rolled up to Rolwood. The city had a stone wall around it. It wasn't quite as well made as say, Whetstin's or Halfsea's, but it was still made of stone, so it was sturdier than what orcs did for defense, which was typically wooden walls.

The wagon was parked and the horses stabled. Zamdor and Rulu took care of all the negotiations while Gurak carefully picked up Wukin, and after asking a few guards, was told where the healer of the city was.

Gurak carried Wukin carefully through the streets, found the healer clinic, and took Wukin inside. He was directed into the back where he laid Wukin down onto a bed. He held Wukin's hand the whole time as the healers inside, several of them, all set about checking him over.

“What happened to him?" One of them asked Gurak's face was focused on the monkey, it took a few moments for it to register he was spoken to.

“Oh uh, we encountered a chimera in the forest. The snake bit him and I think he was poisoned. I did the best I could to heal him with magic, but I don't know if I got all the poison out."

One of the others nodded and went into the back. They were gone only a few moments before returning with a vial. “Poisons are almost impossible to remove with magic. Unless you have incredibly high-level healing magic. We have to rely on traditional means." The healer, a human woman, now that Gurak wasn't looking solely at Wukin smiled at the orc.

“I can see this man means a lot to you. You did well, he'll be fine." She says, patting Gurak's shoulder. “The wound is healed up, not even any scars, that's impressive. We'll administer this antidote and he should be fine in less than a day."

Gurak looks at her and nods. He smiles briefly.

“You did well. It doesn't look like much poison is in him. There is some." She says. “You can see from the look of his face." She gestures to it. “His skin is a little off-color, and he's sweating just a little." She smiles softly. “But, that's a testament to how well you took care of him. We've treated several folks who ran into a chimera there, most were much worse shape." She says softly. “I'm glad to hear you got away safely."

Gurak shook his head. “We didn't get away. We slayed it." He says, his hand balling up into a fist as he spoke. “Too slow, because it had bit him by that point."

She blinks and looks at Gurak. “You...slayed it!?" The orc turns to look at her finally. Surprised by her surprise. He nodded.

She looks at the orc, then at the monkey. “Did you harvest it for parts?"

Gurak shook his head. “I hadn't yet, no. I was in a rush to help my friend, so we just threw it in my backpack to deal with later. My friend, Wukin." He nods at the sleeping monkey. “He enjoys harvesting from beasts, more than I do, at least. I also thought it would be cathartic for him to be one to get to do it. Sort of a last laugh."

The woman nods, completely overlooking the claim of putting a whole chimera into his backpack. “When you do. Please make sure to keep the snake's head as intact as you can. We can use its venom to make more antidotes for future victims. That would help us out a lot."

Gurak smiled and nodded. “I'll keep that in mind. Is it okay if I stay here?"

The human healer shook her head softly. “I'm sorry, no. This area is only for patients. We'll tend to him, you have our solemn vow he'll be okay. But, unless you need treatment as well, I'll have to ask you to go to the front of the building. Nonpatients can wait out there. The front room is for friends and family. It won't be long."

Gurak was going to argue but figured the restriction was to protect from cross-contamination. He was probably one of the few healers to come here. So he knew how to keep himself clean and not make others sicker, but he was an outlier and shouldn't be considered the average person.

He nodded his head and smiled. “Thank you." He reaches into his pocket and takes out a gold coin, offering it to the woman. She was about to protest and he shook his head. “Please, just take it. Any price is worth it to ensure he's okay. Use it for whatever you need to. Consider it a donation, if nothing else. Just, help him recover."

The woman nods her head slowly and sighs. “Very well." She takes the coin and smiles, bowing her head slightly. “I will endeavor to do my best."

Gurak went out into the front waiting area and he stayed there a few moments before he left the building. He got Wukin the help he needed, sitting in the waiting room wasn't going to change anything from here on out. He wasn't the sit-and-wait kind of person, he was going to take action. The next steps were unclear though.

The immediate danger was mitigated to the best of his ability, now he needed to go to the adventurers' guild.

As he came out of the clinic, both Rulu and Zamdor were waiting outside. “Is he gonna be okay?" Zamdor asked.

Gurak nodded. “They think so. They've treated folks with worse poisoning, or so they said. For now, we should report the chimera and the weird, massive wolf-like beast to the guild."

Zamdor nodded and the three of them headed for the guild. Since Zamdor spent so much time here, he knew the town fairly well and led them to where they needed to go.

They went inside and approached the counter. A female orc smiled as they approached. She looked a little odd, since she was wearing glasses, and her dark hair was in a ponytail, uncommon traits for orcs to do, at least in Gurak's experience back home.

He smiles and unclasps his plate. “I'd like to report in. It's been a while since I was active, long, complicated story."

The woman looks at the plate and nods. Writing something in a book on the counter. “Gurak of Drugkar, correct? Registered just over two years ago in...Vrose it looks like. You've been missing for most of that time as well, but your dues were paid up in advance, so you don't have any outstanding issues at present. What I can help you with?"

Gurak smiles. “Well, on the way from Churreg, to here, we were attacked by a chimera, we defeated it. Wanted to see if there was any reward to be had for it. We have the carcass in my bag. We'll harvest it in a little while, our party harvester was wounded, and is recuperating in the local clinic."

The female orc nods and smiles. “Oh, yes we have a few quests for chimeras. Not just slaying them but turning in their parts as well. As soon as you can turn them in, we'll mark them as completed and give you the money for them."

Gurak nodded. Then leaned in close. “Also, something strange happened in the woods." The woman tilted her head. “After the chimera, we encountered a wolf, much larger than normal, which I suppose wouldn't be too out of the ordinary in and of itself, beasts come in a lot of varieties I wager. But this one had two mana crysts, and when it died, it melted away, like it was from a dungeon."

The woman listened intently when Gurak mentioned two crysts and melted away. She looked concerned. “Can you wait right here?" She excused herself and went into the back. A few moments later, an orc came out, an older man, with an eye patch covering one eye, and one of his tusks was chipped. He had short black hair.

“You the fella who saw the strange wolf?" Gurak looked at him, then nodded. “You, come with me, all of you."

Gurak, Rulu, and Zamdor followed the man around the counter and into the back. They were taken to a room. Once inside, the orc closed the door and locked it. Then placed his hand on the wall. “Blessing of Aethos, the fire within all orcs, fill this space with warmth and shield us from prying souls. Heat Domain, Orcish Stronghold."

The room warmed, but more importantly, Gurak felt mana all around him. What an odd sensation. He'd never felt anything like it. The ocean was a bit similar, but it wasn't the same. It was moving and fluid in the ocean, this was dense, thick in the air.

He looked to the man who came to sit on one of the chairs and nodded. “Please, sit." He said softly, the three of them did so.

“My name is Tarod, I'm the guild master of the Rolwood adventurer's guild. Forgive the need for privacy, but this is a delicate matter, and this being where the mage's guild is, it's important to maintain a level of security from prying eyes. I'm not saying the mage's college cold be involved, but I can't rule it out either. You say you encountered a strange beast, with two mana crysts." The man said, as his one brownish-red eye laser-focused on Zamdor, watching him carefully. Only the bull noticed the stare in his direction.

Gurak nodded. “We did. On the way here, just a few hours down the road. Just as we were about to leave the forest. It wasn't overly aggressive, it seemed like it was going to attack, changed its mind, and meant to flee, however, I was not in the mood to let it go, and I slayed it. When it died, it melted away, like it was from a dungeon. Not only that, but it had both an earth and water cryst when we checked it."

The man nods and sighs. “If you were the first to make reports of something similar, I wouldn't put any stock in it. But you're the fourth such claim in a month. There have been sightings of beasts, much larger than usual, and while you're only the second to defeat one, the previous person claimed that two mana crysts were found where the beast's body was felled."

Gurak looked at the man. “What about the other two instances?" Gurak asked curiously.

The man nods. “Both times the beasts escaped, into the forest, no less." Tarod sat back, rubbing his chin, there was a grey scruff on his chin. “Every instance was of a beast that looked unnaturally large. The two that escaped, we can't know if they had two crysts or not. Since they escaped, but their unusual size led us to believe they are related events."

The guildmaster looked at the trio. “Normally, we wouldn't tell this kind of information to someone of your rank." He says, looking directly at Gurak. “But you're traveling with the Blackscale Swordsman." He nods to Rulu, who blinked and turned his head, seemingly embarrassed. “Not to mention the Bluefrost Bull." He nods to Zamdor, who also looks embarrassed at the name.

“Given that you are traveling with such skilled adventurers, we figure it's okay to share this information with you." Tarod said as he watched the three.

Zamdor laughed softly as he looked at the orc. “Tarod, believe me when I say, for all my accomplishments, Gurak here." His hand came to rest on the orc's shoulder. “Is much, much stronger than either of us. This lad took a dungeon solo at the age of seventeen. Survived the destruction of Drugkar, and has led us through many an adventure."

Tarod's single eye blinked as he looked at the bull, then at Gurak. “You don't say?"

Gurak rubbed the back of his head. “I'm not the bragging sort, but, all of that is true. I didn't realize how dangerous dungeons were, so I took one on solo."

The man sighs and laughs. “Well, if the Bluefrost bull says so. I'll believe it. It's not often we have Platinum adventurers in our area, it's unlikely he would lie." Tarod said softly. “Not to mention you guys felled a chimera, that's no small feat for a group of Mithril adventurers. So you must be above that in power if four of you took one down. It normally takes a group of about five Orichalcum adventurers or higher."

Gurak was confused by this. "What does that mean?" He asks, looking to Tarod.

The older orc smiled. "Well, seeing as you're tin, I suppose you wouldn't know the rankings. It starts with copper, goes up to tin, then iron. From there you go to steel, silver, gold and where your friends are, platinum."

Gurak nods his head, understanding it so far. "After platinum, we come to mithril, which is where they wager your power level resides." He watches Gurak curiously. "But, if you defeated a chimera, I'd gauge your power to at least that of orichalcum, or even higher, since it takes a whole team of veterans, to fell a chimera in the forest near here. Ruby or perhaps even dragon rank." He waves his hand lightly. "Dragon, being the highest tier achievable."

Torad smiled. “Well, there isn't any other information. I just wanted to clear that up. You guys are free to go. Once your friend has recovered, we'd love to accept the materials from the chimera you defeated, and give you a decent price for them."

Gurak and the others stood up, Torad dispersed the mana domain and they quietly left the room.

The female orc came in after they left and spoke up. “Do you believe they defeated a chimera, sir? Aren't those uncommon?"

Torad, still sitting in his chair nodded. “They are. It's maybe once a year we hear about chimera attacks. Do you know why, Murob?"

The female orc shook her head, her ponytail swaying behind her as she did.

He smiles and looks at the doorway. “They only seek out opponents that pose them a challenge. Chimera is the amalgamation of beasts who wanted to grow strong, they developed a unique skill to discern the power level of those around them, defeating those that were stronger, in turn, makes them stronger. So those four, are leagues stronger than we probably can understand. Chimera don't approach those that we weaker than themselves."

Murob walked back out into the lobby, the three had left, her eyes glancing at the doorway. Whatever those men were doing, was far above even the guild master's strength, such thoughts filled her with fear beyond words she had to describe it. Just what kind of monsters were they?

Gurak, Rulu, and Zamdor, without much else to do, decided to get dinner while they waited. It was going to be a long day, waiting for Wukin to wake up. Zamdor took them to the place he enjoyed eating at most, in Rolwood. It was a small tavern. Just on the outskirts of town.

They went inside, and it was well-lit, and there were a few folks inside, all wearing what looked like robes from the college. The trio sat themselves and after some time a beastfolk man came over, smiling and bowing his head. “Apolog…." he blinked and noticed Zamdor, smiling at him. “Well, long no see professor. Are you teaching at the college again?"

Zamdor shook his head. “Ahh, no, just passing through is all. But I knew I had to stop in for a meal here, it was always my favorite place."

The beastfolk, a panther-looking man, smiles and nods his head. “Your words of praise brighten my day professor. What can I get you gentlemen to drink?"

Zamdor spoke up. “I think we'll just have water for now, thank you." Gurak and Rulu nodded, both felt it was too early for anything too hard on the stomach.

The panther smiled warmly. “Do you already know what you want to eat?"

Gurak looked at the panther man. “I'll have whatever is special today? I'm not picky." He rumbled out. Rulu and Zamdor followed up with the same request.

The panther man smiled and bowed his head. “No problem, I'll have your drinks out in just a moment and your food not long after that."

Zamdor smiled and nodded, then turned and Gurak was staring at him real hard. “So the Bluefrost bull, I'm gonna need to hear ALL about how you got that name!" Gurak grinned big as he stared at Zamdor.

Zamdor groaned and covered his face. “Ugh, gods, no, please, I don't want to."

Gurak turned slightly, to look at Rulu. “AND the blackscale swordsman?! What the hell have I missed? I'm traveling with celebrities!" He asked. Rulu laughed softly and sighed.

The lizardman spoke up after a moment. “Well, while you were gone, me, Zamdor, and Wukin, started doing our own thing, mostly. But we'd work together on missions from the guild. it was a source of money. We'd usually do one or two a week, and after a while that got us a reputation, I guess. Our rank rose steadily, we're not super renowned, only the guild master seemed to recognize us."

Gurak chuckles softly and nods. “True, but, that's still impressive. I understand Zamdor's rank going up, he was working with Brun all the while." Zamdor covered his face, sighing with a laugh.

Rulu nods. “Me and Wukin took jobs too, especially on days we had nothing else going on. I didn't want myself or Wukin to rely on my mom for anything too heavily. She's head of -that- guild, ya know and they aren't exactly...legal." He shrugs his shoulders. “So, Wukin and I, when Zam was away with Brun, would do stuff around Halfsea. Make our own money. Mostly it was stuff for whoever, Blert was probably the only one who ever asked for us by name. She even made our weapons."

Gurak nodded. “I thought they looked different. They weren't elven, human, dwarven, or orcish in design. So I figured, the only other option was probably goblin, especially since you were staying in Halfsea."

The lizardman smiles and nods. Seeing the panther man return with mugs of water, set onto the table, then departing. Rulu spoke up softly. “They're really impressive too. I was...kinda hoping you'd enchant them when you got back." He carefully lifts the sheathed blade and shows it to Gurak with a smile. “We even got her to put in something for mana crysts here. The size of the hole can be changed so a mana cryst of just about any size can be inserted into it."

Gurak blinked and looked at it, he nodded his head. “Huh, you just twist the outer ring and it reduces the size of the inlay, so it can be held in place too. That's impressive." He looks at Rulu. “You didn't...tell about...ya know…"

Rulu shook his head. “I didn't. We all kept it secret after what happened in Whetstin. We didn't want to risk it happening in Halfsea too. I just told her I wanted to swap out stones that looked nice in the blade guard. She had no idea the real reason I wanted it."

Gurak sighed softly and nodded. “Sorry, thanks for keeping it secret and safe." He rumbles out quietly.

Rulu nodded and smiled. “Of course. When we realized everything, we kept it all to ourselves. It's been scary at times, cause, we know how dangerous the inquisition can be now. We've just been waiting for you to come back and take the next steps forward after everything."

Gurak nodded. He was about to say something when the panther returned once more. Three bowls are held on a tray. Each was set in front of each person. A large bowl of what looked like a stew. A large amount of vegetables was visible, though there were pieces of meat seen in the mix as well. The panther smiled and watched the three. “is this to your liking?"

Gurak looked at it and nodded, it'd been a long time since he'd had stew, and the broth was a flavorful deep-looking brown too. Gurak looked to Rulu and Zamdor, both nodded and all three smiled. The panther looked delighted and bowed softly before departing.

Gurak looked over the food a moment. “I don't mind enchanting your stuff, but, I think we should leave the crysts out of it, it's too dangerous to do that currently."

Rulu nodded softly. “I understand. Just figured I'd ask."

Gurak smiled and nodded. “It's a good idea, and one I plan to follow up on later, but not right now, with the way things are. Let's...deal with the problem we have first, then make it publicly known. Everyone should be allowed to make whatever they want, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. They're tools, like anything else."

Rulu nodded his head, he understood the danger such information posed currently.

The three of them ate in relative silence after that. The beastfolk man returned after some time, taking their bowls and the payment for the meal, Gurak paid a few silver extras as a tip before they left and sought out an inn for the night.

Gurak hugged Rulu and Zamdor, before he spoke. "I'm gonna go back to the clinic and be there for Wukin, incase he wakes up in the middle of the night."

Zamdor and Rulu nodded. "Okay, that's a good idea, we'll get a room in town, I know a good inn around here. It's just up the road here." He points towards it. "It's the one with a sword and staff crossed on the front. "Okay?"

Gurak nodded his head softly. "Sword and staff crossed, got it." He headed back to the clinic and spoke to the woman at the counter. She didn't mind him sleeping in one of the chairs while waiting for Wukin to wake up, he was an orc of action, but there was nothing else to do now.

Zamdor and Rulu went to the inn and got a room, it wasn't quite as nice as Halfsea's had been, there was no in-room bathing, so that wasn't going to be fun in the morning. But it wasn't a big problem, they'd just have to wait till later if they required a bath.

Gurak's rest was often interrupted by his movements. He'd shift and wake himself up, the anxiety of Wukin's well-being ever-present in his mind. Gurak didn't sleep as well as he would have liked. As soon as the sun was up. Gurak was fully awake and sitting in the chair, just watching out the window as folks were starting their days as well.

Gurak sat and waited, just watching the people before the woman behind the counter spoke up. "You are here with the chimera victim, correct?" She asked.

Gurak looked concerned as he replied. "I am, is he okay? Has something happened during the night?"

The woman shook her head and smiled. “He's doing just fine. The antidote worked with no unexpected side effects. He woke up a little bit ago, but we told him he had to stay a bit longer, for observation."

Gurak sighed in relief and nodded. “I'm glad he's okay. Can I see him?" The orc asked.

The woman shook her head softly. “I'm afraid not. The back is still only for patients. He'll be released soon though. I understand it's frustrating, but it's for our patient's safety. We know he was poisoned, but, not every patient is. Some could be sick with highly contagious diseases, so we must keep anyone in our care secluded until they are deemed safe."

Gurak nodded and sat in the waiting room, it was all he could do at this point.

Gurak waited patiently, it was maybe an hour before, the door opened, and Wukin stepped out. He smiled, seeing Gurak, the pair hugged gently, and Gurak looked at the woman. 'Thank you, so much. How much do I owe you?"

The woman shook her head softly. “You don't. The donation you gave earlier was far and above what we'd have charged you. But, if you could donate the chimera's poison, it would save many lives in the future." Gurak nodded his head.

Gurak and Wukin left, his arm around the monkey as they walked back towards the inn that Zamdor had mentioned to him, Gurak was confused to see a lot of guards at the inn. The orc watched as the guards brought out some people. Gurak couldn't see through the crowd, however.

He did hear the others in the crowd speaking. “Did you hear? They say someone in the mage's college was murdered last night." A man said.

This was followed up by a woman. “I did. It was the headmaster of the college, they say a disgraced teacher was the culprit. He'd left town, but came back recently."

Gurak's heart suddenly started to drop. Just as those words left the woman's mouth, Gurak saw Rulu and Zamdor being walked past in chains. The bull looked to Gurak and lowered his gaze. Rulu, just behind him saw Gurak, but he said nothing.

Wukin felt Gurak start to pull away from him. The monkey's hand squeezed Gurak's own and didn't let him move. Shaking his head. “Don't, not here." He said softly. “If we cause a scene, we're likely to be arrested too. We all arrived together, they are under suspicion right now. If they even think we were part of whatever happened, we'll be in prison too. The best thing we can do right now is investigate this crime ourselves. If we can prove Zamdor and Rulu weren't involved, it'll get them exonerated, and set free."

Gurak didn't know what to do, it was so much to take in. He'd only just got Wukin back on his feet, and now his other two friends were being arrested for a crime he was certain they didn't commit.

Just as he turned to head away from the inn, to try and find a quiet place to sit and think about what to do. He saw a familiar-looking man in armor. Gurak blinked in surprise. The man turned his head, and blinked, noticing Gurak. He smiled and the pair rushed toward one another.

Gurak's arms locked around Towen and he hugged the lion tightly, the lion's arms squeezing around the orc in return. “Towen, we were heading to Macta to find you." The orc confessed.

The lion blinked and chuckled. “Well, that's convenient. I was heading to Halfsea to come see you. Wukin told me he'd found you, and I was going to come visit. Since I wasn't needed for the investigation in Macta, I was gonna take some time to come down." He chuckles softly. “What happened?" He asked, seeing the crowd.

Gurak looked over his shoulder, then back to Towen. “Rulu and Zamdor have been arrested on suspicion that they killed the headmaster of the mage's college here in Rolwood. I can't believe they'd ever do something like that."

Towen blinked and sighed, nodding his head. “I agree. Zamdor has a bit of an angry streak, but he's no murderer. Rulu definitely isn't." The lion smiles then, his hand cupping Gurak's cheek so their eyes meet. “It'll be okay. I'm a captain first class now. I'll take up the investigation and get to the bottom of this."

Gurak smiled and just kind of slumped against the lion. “Thank you, Towen."

Above all the chaos unraveling on the street, atop the roofs, stood a man, his long flowing golden hair waving in the breeze, the glint of stone and ice, completely unnoticed by anyone on the ground as the sun rose over the horizon. The scowl on the man's face as he looks down at the people there. His eyes focused intently on one man. The monkey beside the orc and lion. Anger burned in his heart for the beastfolk who took everything from him, and he was going to repay the favor. Wukin would pay for the betrayal of the Umbral Blades. An'Falen would make sure of it.