The House Of Ellis, Episode 23

Everyone came rushing to the farm gate, joining up with Lady Madison, Shalista, and Cordelia.  "I thank you for your hasty arrival," Lady Madison said.  "As you can see, we have a situation on our hands."

"What is that thing?" Sophia asked of the giant snarling wolf standing before them.

"I think it's the alpha," Lady Madison said.

"I've actually read about that creature," Hilde said.  "If it's as strong as has been rumored, this is going to be a heck of a fight."

"We can talk about it later," Shalista said.  "Right now, we have to kill it."

"Shalista's right," Lady Madison said.  "We don't have time to learn its backstory."  She faced the wolves and let out a mighty roar.

The alpha replied with an ear-piercing howl, that made everyone cover their ears and drop to their knees.  Even the alpha's pack appeared dazed.  Lady Madison managed to stay on her, fighting through ringing ears and buckling knees.

Shalista recovered quickly.  "Holy heck!  We can't let him do that again.  Cover me.  I'm going in."

Lady Madison obliged, firing off attack spells as Shalista ran in and wolf down any wolves that got in her path on her way to the alpha.  Lady Iocasta joined in with ice spells, Lady Glinda used fire, Sophia threw force daggers, Lady Audrixia fired of lightning, Akiko threw shiruken, Cordelia shot arrows, and Wendy used support spells to augment everyone's speed and defense.

The smaller wolves were killed in no time, which seemed to infuriate the alpha.  Hilde ran out behind him and shot him in the butt with fire.  This did nothing but draw the alpha's ire.  It turned, but not before sending Shalista flying with a vicious paw swipe.

"Agh!" Shalista cried.

"Shalista!" Lady Madison said, running to her fallen friend with Wendy right behind her.  "Please, no! Shalista!"  Tears began to well in her eyes.

Shalista sat up slowly and shook her head.  "Ugh!  That wasn't very sexy, huh?"

Lady Madison checked her out.  She didn't appear wounded, but ordered Wendy to cast a healing spell anyway.  Just because there weren't any visible injuries didn't mean there were none.

"Hit me with a strength buff, Wendy," Shalista said.

"Me, too," Lady Madison said.

Wendy obliged and off they ran into battle again.

Lady Madison saw the alpha was slapping at Sophia and Hilde, who were safe behind one of Sophia's force fields.  The other women pelted the alpha with magic, but it seemed to do nothing.  The buffs she and Shalista received should have make physical attacks effective.

They each slashed at one of the alpha's hind legs, cutting into its flesh and causing it to let out a pained whine.  Effective, but not effective enough.  He turned and swiped at them with his paws, but they dodged.

"I know a high-level spell that can help," Hilde called out, "but it's too dangerous to do near the farm.  We have to lure him away!"

Lure it away?  How would they do that?  Their attacks weren't doing much of anything.

"I have an idea," Shalista said.  "Hit me with a speed buff, Wendy."

Wendy did so.

Then, Shalista cut off a dead wolf's head and ran out in front of him, where he was launching a brutal assault on one of Sophia's force field protecting Hilde.  "Hey, prick!" Shalista said.  "Look what I did to your brother!  Don't you want revenge?"  Then she started running away.

The wolf let out a sad howl, then gave chase.

"It worked," Lady Madison said.  "Sophia.  Hilde.  Wendy.  Follow me.  Everyone else, stay behind and protect the farm."

"Yes, milady," everyone said.  Then everyone did their assigned tasks.

Shalista and the wolf had already made it out quite a way and had stopped to fight.  That should have been enough space.  "How much time do you need, Hilde?" Lady Madison asked.

"Two minutes," Hilde answered.  "And I can't move while I'm gathering the power.  Try to keep him in one spot if you can."

"Okay.  Sophia, protect Hilde.  Wendy, buff my speed and rebuff Shalista's speed."

"Okay, but Shalista's out of my range," Wendy said.  "I have to get closer."

"I'll send Shalista over to you."

After receiving the speed buff, Lady Madison got in there and said, "We need to buy Hilde two minutes.  Go let Wendy buff your speed so we can distract the alpha."

Shalista slapped her butt.  "Tagging you in," she said as she ran toward Wendy."

The alpha tried the follow, but Lady Madison hit it with a fire spell.  "I shall be your opponent, cur."

She saw the wolf opened its mouth and breath deep.  It looked familiar, kind of like a dragon right before... "Great.  It breathes fire, too."  She dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding the torrent of fire that shot from its mouth.  She fought back by shooting it with lightning.

Not long after that, Shalista rejoined the battle.  Together, they hacked and slashed at the alpha, dodging attacks and keeping his attention.

Then, Sophia came over.  "Hilde's ready."

Lady Madison nodded.  "Good.  Set up a barrier."

Shalista ran over to her and Sophia raise a barrier to protect the from the wolf's fiery breath.

Then, Hilde unleashed her spell.  "Rage of nature, burn without mercy!  Scorched World!"

A big ball of fire fell from the sky and crashed down on the alpha.  His pained cries brought them all to their knees.  Even Lady Madison's knee briefly touched the ground this time.  She fought through it and braced Shalista and Sophia.

The alpha tried to run away, still on fire, but didn't get far, collapsing about 200 feet away.  He rolled around in the fields and by the time the flames went out, he was exhausted, seemingly unable to move.  He fur had been completely burned off, revealing burned skin and muscle.  His once mighty cries were now mere whispers.

"Okay, let's finish the job," Lady Madison said.  "Strength buff, Wendy."

"It must be suffering so much," Wendy said on the verge of tears.  "I kind of feel sorry for it."

"All the more reason why Shalista and I should put it out of its misery."  After receiving the requested strength buff, she and Shalista worked together to cut off he head.  The job was done.  "Let's tell the farmer."

"Should I burn the corpse?" Hilde asked.

"No," Lady Madison said.  "Not until Lady Iocasta examines it to see if any meat can be salvaged for a meal."

"If not, we still have plenty of dead wolves back at the farm," Shalista said.  "On another note, you were crying after I took that blow, weren't you?"

Lady Madison didn't answer the question directly.  "In battle, you get used to seeing allies fall.  That doesn't necessarily mean you grow numb to it.  Truth told, you're the first person that I've allowed to get this close to me in some time for that exact reason.  Lady Belinda and Sophia are the only other people who have this level of trust in my heart."

"Really?" Shalista asked, her voice cracking.  "I mean that much to you?"

Lady Madison nodded.

Shalista sniffled.  "I promise to redouble my efforts to be the best friend I can be."

The House Of Ellis, Episode 22

Lady Madison made her way up to the farm gate.  "Okay, Cordelia, what do we have?"

Cordelia looked back, a worried look on her face.  "We've got trouble.  It's the wolves...and there are a lot of them."

Lady Madison looked, but couldn't see them.  It was unlikely that Cordelia would joke about something like that, so maybe she just had very good eyes.  She was an archer, after all.  "How many are we talking about?"

"They're still a ways of, but I can count thirty to fifty."

"Hmm...that many, huh?"

Cordelia nodded.  "It's just an estimate based of the edge of my sight, but it's definitely in that range."

"Right.  How soon?"

"They'll be here by the time it gets dark."

Lady Madison nodded.  "Sweep the perimeter.  Make sure there aren't any other threats on the way.  Lady Glinda, Lady Iocasta, protect the farmer's house.  Sophia, protect the barn.  Shalista, defend the south.  Lady Audrixia, take the east.  Hilde, Akiko, take the west.  Wendy, watch the main gate"  She drew her sword and started walking ahead.  "I'm going out to confirm a sighting and thin out their numbers.  Everyone got that?"

"Yes, milady," everyone said with authority.

Everyone except Shalista.  "No."

Lady Madison stopped and looked back.  "This isn't the time, Shalista."

"Going out alone against those numbers is insane, even for you.  I'm going with you."

"No, you're not," Lady Madison said, glaring at her.

Shalista glared right back at her, hands on hips.  "Yes, I am."

"Why won't you do what I say?"

Shalista softened.  "Because you're my best friend.  The first real friend I've had in quite some time, in fact.  If I let you go out there alone and you don't come back, I'll have approved the death of my best friend."  She walked in front her.  "Either we go together or you don't go."

"And you intend to stop me?" Lady Madison asked.

"No, I don't intend to," Shalista said.  "I will."

"Um...guys?" Lady Iocasta said, her voice shaky.

Lady Audrixia stepped in between them.  "With all due respect, milady, I am in agreement with Shalista.  The two of you together can devastate their numbers.  The rest of us can mop up any who squeeze past you."

Lady Madison grumbled.  And grumbled.  Then, grumbled some more.  "Akiko, guard the south."

"Yes, milady," Akiko said, bowing.

Lady Madison headed out with Shalista in tow.  After they got out a little distance, Lady Madison said, "Damn it, Shalista.  You embarrassed me in front of everyone."

She heard sniffling.  Looking back, she saw Shalista crying.  "Hey.  What wrong?"

"I just want to be helpful.  I can't believe you'd think I'd try to embarrass you on purpose."

"I wanted you to stay behind precisely because I recognize your strength.  I knew that if something happened to me, you'd be capable of finishing the job."

Shalista shook her head.  "I can't accept that.  You see, I already lost a friend under similar circumstances.  I just didn't want the same to happen to you."

So she had a past.  Maybe she'd ask her about it when she had time.  "I didn't know it meant so much to you.  I didn't know I meant so much to you."  She turned around and hugged her.  "I'm sorry."

Shalista hugged her back.  As they shared a long embrace, Shalista hands slowly worked their way lower down her back.

"Keep 'em above the waist."

"Aw, you suck."

"Haven't you already felt me up enough?"

"If I had, I wouldn't still be trying to do it."

Lady Madison pushed her away and laughed, "perv."

Suddenly, the sound of howling echoed through the air.

She turned and saw the clearly saw the wolves.  They were still a distance away, but close enough to be positively identified.  Forty-five doglike creatures were running in their direction.  The howl was likely a warning to get out of the way or be killed.

Lady Madison and Shalista nodded at each other.  "Try not to let a single one through."

Lady Madison's hand started glowing yellow.  "Nature's wrath, sear through the enemy.  Lightning!"

Bolts shot out of her hand and into the oncoming pack, taking out five of them.  A few stopped to check on their brethren, but the rest kept coming.

Lady Madison drew her sword, raised it over her head, and bellowed, "I'm am Lady Madison!  Tremble in fear before me, maggots!"

A few wolves stumbled and fell to a stop before turning and running away, whining.  The rest kept coming.

"You've been warned.  Rawr!"  She and Shalista ran at the pack.  Their weapons slashed and pierced wolves, resulting in whines and pained howls.  Wolves attacked and were promptly cut down.

"Die, mangy curs!" Lady Madison bellowed, striking down several at one.

"Get back here," she heard Shalista scream.

Looking back, she saw a few had gotten past them and were headed for the farm with Shalista giving chase.  She let a lightning spell loose.  While she didn't hit any of them, she did scare them enough for Shalista to catch up and kill them.

Shalista turned and gave her a thumbs up, then said, "Look out!"

Lady Madison turned just in time to see a wolf lunging at her.  His fangs were so close to her face, she could smell his putrid breath.  She fell back to avoid the attack while piercing his heart with her sword.  She rolled through with the momentum and withdrew her sword, recovering in time to kill two more that were approaching fast.

Some wolves ran away while others continued on, only to be killed by Shalista.  One tried to run away from Shalista and was sent off with a punt to the butt.  "Yeah!  You don't mess with sexy warriors!"

The remaining wolves tried running away, but Lady Madison struck them down with magic.  Then, they beheaded each of the fallen to make sure they were dead.  "The job's not done," Lady Madison said.  "About ten or so got away."

"So do we follow them?" Shalista asked.  "No.  It's getting dark.  It'd be too dangerous."  She scooped up a wolf corpse.  "We return back to the farm and wait for them to come back.  In the meantime, grab a corpse.  Lady Iocasta will cook us up some wolf stew."

Shalista took up a dead wolf.  "See?  Aren't you glad I came along?"

There certainly were a lot of wolves.  Maybe, just maybe, she couldn't have driven them off without her.  "Yeah.  I guess so."  Then they headed back toward the farm.

Upon arriving, they saw Wendy and Cordelia at the gate.  "Did you kill them all?" Cordelia said.

Lady Madison shook her head.  "No.  They'll probably be back.  Until then, we've brought back dinner."

Lady Iocasta wandered over.  "Ah, now I can make some wolf stew."

Suddenly, they heard a howl in the distance.  "Better make it fast," Shalista said.  "It sounds like they've already regrouped."

Then they heard an ungodly sound.  "What was that?" Wendy asked.

"I can't see," Cordelia said.  "It's too dark.  I have to wait for it to get closer."

Lady Madison dropped her wolf carcass.  "I don't like the looks of this.  Wendy, go gather everyone up.  I get the feeling we're going to need everyone to tackle whatever made that sound."

"Yes, milady?"  Wendy trotted off.

"Agh!" Cordelia said.  "I s-see it."

Lady Madison turned to see it as well.

It was the wolves that got away.  That isn't what had Cordelia worried, though.  No, that thing was in the sky.  She couldn't make it out clearly, but it was big.

The closer it got, the clearer it became.  It was a wolf.  A giant wolf with wings.  It must have been the size of a small building.  It landed in front of them and let out the noise they'd heard earlier.  It was definitely him.

Lady Madison looked at Shalista.  This quest was her idea.  "I hate you..."

The House Of Ellis, Episode 21

Lady Madison was under a tree, enjoy the shade and the book Hilde lent her.  She took joy in simple things like that.  She breathed deep and exhaled, taking in a cool breeze before reading more.

Then, Hilde plopped down next to her.  "Still enjoying the book, huh?"

"I am.  I really have to thank you for letting me read it."

"Anything for Lady Madison."  Hilde crossed her legs and wipe sweat off her brow.  "So, what's it like to be Lady Madison?  To be adored by girls and women as a mighty female warrior they aspire to be, yet still be hot enough for the guys to drool over, while having the charisma to keep subordinates of both genders in line?"

That was a mouthful of a question.  But, she had a simple answer.  "I try my best not to think about it.  I just go out and serve my Empire as best as I can.  My fame will fade away one day when someone more powerful than me comes along, but my loyalty and devotion to Empora won't."

Hilde sighed.  "So cool..."

She and Hilde went on to talk about books they like.  She realized that they had a lot in common when it came to books.  They had read many of the same ones.

Audrixia wandered over.  "Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead."

Audrixa sat on her other side.  "To think, I'm sitting next to the one and only Lady Madison."

"It's not that big a deal."

"Ha, 'not a big deal,' she says," Audrixia laughed.  "Maybe not for you because you see yourself everyday.  But for those of us who have only heard songs and stories and only seen pictures, it's a dream come true.  Speaking of pictures, you're usually depicted wearing a full suit of Emporan armor.  When did you start wearing such sexy armor?"

She was kind of embarrassed upon hearing this.  "When I met Shalista.  Don't worry.  I'll go back to my usual armor when my vacation is over.  Anyway, what made you decide to become sexy warriors and why are you wearing the same armor as the rest of us?"

"When we met Shalista," Hilde said.

"Hilde, Akiko, and I all just happened to meet up here as we asked the farmer if he would kindly provide us with lodgings for the night," Audrixia said.  "That's when we saw her carrying you.  She tried to recruit us on sight.  She took us back to town to get us fitted for the armor.  I always wondered where women bought such armor."

Before Shalista, she would have never considered wearing such a thing.  "So, how do you feel?"

"It still feels a little weird being so...exposed," Audrixia answered.

"I know, right?" Hilde said.  "I went from wearing big, elegant robes to wearing something that barely even qualifies as underwear within minutes.  It's kind of embarrassing."

"And yet here we all are, hanging together, wearing it quite comfortable," Audrixia said.  "If nothing else, it says something about Shalista.  Just look how she reduced every single one of us to this with virtually no resistance.  Even the mighty Lady Madison isn't immune to it."

"She does seem quite persuasive," Lady Madison said.  "She's not a bad person, though.  Maybe a little handsy when it comes to rear ends, but otherwise she hasn't done anything wrong or come off as deceptive.  I can say I'm glad I met her."

Eventually, Akiko sauntered over.  "Hey, kids.  You have some kind of book-reading club under the trees."

"Kids?" Lady Madison said.  "I'm thirty-two years old."

"I've still got you beat," Akiko said.  "I'm thirty-six...kid."

She hadn't expected that.  "Seriously.  But you're so...small.  How do you do it?"

"When you do work that involves stealth, it's good to be small," Akiko said.  "Obviously, there are exceptions, such as your sunbathing friend.  In general, you want to be small, lithe, and mobile.  It takes a lot to stay this size at my age, but I make it work."

Before she knew it, she'd spent hours talking to Akiko, Audrixia, and Hilde.  It was dusk.  They weren't a shabby group of women.  She was glad she'd gotten to spend some alone time with them.

And then Shalista made her way over.  "Cordelia says she saw a group of animals in the distance headed this way.  It's likely the wolves."

Lady Madison stood.  "I'm on the way."  Then she looked back at Audrixia, Akiko, and Hilde.  "Well, are you ready to work?"

They all stood and, in unison, said, "Yes."

Lady Madison turned the toward and farm entryway and said, "Okay.  Let's go slaughter some puppies."