Bal'Nox the Great and Terrible, self-named, inhaled deeply. The crisp morning air whistled through the gaps in his teeth. He chuckled to himself slightly at the futility of the action.

  Bal'Nox hadn't been able to feel mundane temperatures in decades, nor did he need to breathe. All the same it was fun to partake in mortal actions every now and again he thought.

  He continued trudging down the dirt path away from a colossal black stone wizard's tower towards the paved road he knew existed in the distance. Behind him the sun was rising, yet Bal'Nox remained in shadow for a good twenty minutes after his surroundings began illuminating.

  The forest trees glowed a beautiful green in the sunlight and small woodland life ran merrily around the path as Bal'Nox walked on. In a bout of playfulness Bal'Nox gestured threateningly towards a squirrel just a few feet away perched on a branch eating an acorn. Yet the squirrel did not care, for it could not see him through his layered invisibility and disguise self spells.

  If it could've seen him through the spells it would've been quite terrified though. Bal'Nox was a seven foot tall skeleton of a man, in the most literal sense. His bones were a pitch black and his eyes glowed purple with a flickering flame. He wore wizard's robes inscribed with countless arcane runes and used an intricately carved wooden staff with what appeared to be a miniature dragon's skull as its focus.

  His tower stretched leagues into the air and cast its shadow far. Eventually the sun overtook the tower and Bal'Nox was bathed in warm sunlight. As the suns rays illuminated him, he let the invisibility drop. A family of deer twenty odd paces off the path grazing in the grass were taken aback and stared puzzled at the sudden appearance of an middle-aged human man with brown hair, nondescript features and brown eyes in front of them.

  Bal'Nox stretched his limbs and felt old bones, very old bones, creak and groan at the motion. "Ah, it's been far too long since I've been out of the house."

  He brushed down his farmers garb and looked back fondly at the behemoth of construction that still loomed, smaller now, behind him. 'I could teleport on ahead I suppose. It would shorten this inane walk immensely...' Bal'Nox paused in thought, then shook his head. 'No, no, that would defeat the whole purpose of my vacation! It's been decades since I've spoken with the living and to fit in once more I have to act like one of them!' He nodded to himself satisfied then strode on, directly into a puddle of mud.

  His right boot sunk ankle deep with a loud squelch. The lich looked down at the puddle in awe, as if amazed nature itself dare defy him in this way. Then he tugged gently with his foot to no avail. He sighed deeply. 'How in the world did I ever live like this? Just one little spell couldn't hurt...' Bal'Nox flicked a finger on his right hand and his boot slipped immediately back out of the puddle as his entire body began levitating slightly off the ground. "Much better!" He exclaimed with a smile. Then he continued on his leisurely stroll, admiring the wildlife, trees, and ferns as he bobbed slightly off the ground towards the road ahead.

  A couple hours later, Bal'Nox let his levitation go with a forced huff of air. He dropped back to the ground next to a stone road, causing a puff of dust to rise around his brown leather boots. He patted down his leather tunic and glanced over his baggy trousers for any dirt. Then he nodded satisfied when he saw none.

  Bal'Nox knew the road he found himself on stretched between the bustling crossroad city of Avalth and the port city of Yabor. He thought deeply to himself then confidently turned left toward Yabor and took a step. Then he paused and confidently turned back right toward Avalth and took another step. Back in his original position he froze in place. 'I plan to visit them both, but which first..?'

  He stroked his chin softly with the strange, fleshy, human fingers of his disguise then laughed softly to himself. "I forgot how much flesh tickled!" Bal'Nox pondered his impossibly complicated new predicament.

  30 minutes later

  Jeoffrey strode exhausted down the highway. He felt near collapse and looking around at his companions he could tell they shared his fatigue.

  "Surely this is far enough now Jeoffrey? The parchment only said we had to go out of town for the herbs not to another continent!" Horace complained loudly as he plopped to the ground and rolled onto his back under the shade of a nearby tree.

  Jeoffrey made a show of rolling his blue eyes then sighed and turned to his friend.

  Horace was a tall man, 6'4 and wide in stature. It was clear he spent great amounts of time exercising. Horace's normally immaculately polished plate armor was covered in dust and his greaves covered in mud. Sweat drenched his brown hair and rolled down his face as he lay on the ground panting in the hot sun. The symbol of a rising sun on his chestplate matched the brilliant sun overhead and alongside his kite shield and longsword it marked him as a paladin of the God of Light Konep.

  "Normally *wheeze* I'd make fun of you for *huff* this, but I need a break too." Cassandra groaned as she dropped to the ground next to Horace.

  She was dressed in all black, a very questionable choice on the brightly lit road, but one informed by her profession. Cassandra was clearly a rogue of some sort. She wore black leathers, soft soled boots, and was covered in an impressive array of knives of all sorts. The miniature crossbow on her waist clinked softly as it bounced off a root when she dropped and for a moment it pointed at Jeoffrey. He jumped in fright.

  "Damn it Cassandra! You know not to point that thing at me!" He shrieked in an impressively high register. "Baby." Is all she muttered back as she pushed her small black bangs out of her eyes.

  Jeoffrey looked down and took in his own appearance. His beautiful blue apprentice mages robe was covered in mud along the bottom and his shoes had shifted from a brilliant green to a muted brown. He adjusted his matching green sash slightly.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "We can rest here. Then we've got to look around. The quest said the herbs were more easily found away from the city and we're hours out now so it'll be easy." Jeoffrey proclaimed proudly.

  "More easily found..?" Horace asked threateningly. "As in we could've found them by the city walls, five hours ago..?" He sat up and stared. Jeoffrey began sweating.

  "Well, maybe, but what if we weren't the only ones taking the quest? A search near the city walls could've easily been fruitless! I saved us from wasting our time by coming out here." He defended himself.

  "And how long was the walk again Jeoffrey?" Cassandra asked pointedly. "Well, five hours or so..." He grumbled back. "I'm going to stab you one of these days." She responded calmly.

  Jeoffrey rolled his eyes and looked around as his companions lay exhausted on the ground. Roughly fifty paces ahead he saw a nondescript looking man, approximately 5'10" in height and dressed in the same clothes one might see on any old traveller. He was not armed in any visible way.

  "Look, that guy could even be on the same quest as us! Maybe we haven't gone far enough yet." Jeoffrey argued passionately. "If you make us walk another step up this road I will finish the job after she stabs you. Konep as my witness." Horace stated placidly before laying back down.

  "Fine, fine. We'll take ten here then get into the forest and get this over with. Just don't let our competition know alright? He could even be dangerous." Jeoffrey pleaded.

  Cassandra sat up and swivelled, looking at the man up the road. "You can't seriously think that random farmer is competition for an E-rank quest. You are the only person I know insane enough to go this far out of town to do it." Cassandra said.

  "Well you never know. Better safe than -" Jeoffrey started saying before Cassandra cut him off "Hey mister! Are you lost?"

  Bal'Nox the Great and Terrible looked up from his important contemplation to see three human children yelling at him.

  They all looked to be somewhere in their late teens but it was hard to place where for Bal'Nox. "What was that miss?" He called back.

  The girl in black shot a triumphant look to the skinny youth standing in embarrassingly dirty mages robes. "I said are you lost!" She called again.

  "No miss, just out for a stroll!" He called back happily. A third youth, previously unnoticed as a mound of shining metal covered in dirt on the floor sat up and exchanged puzzled glances with the other kids.

  The mage began whispering something worriedly to the other two as the mound of metal stood up and wiped some of the dust off his armor.

  "Out for a stroll? This far from town?" The newly revealed paladin called back confused. The mage began gesturing frantically to the other two as they pointedly ignored him.

  Bal'Nox was thoroughly amused by their antics and considered briefly casting a spell to overhear the mage's blubbering, but he dismissed the idea as he noticed the symbol on the paladins chest. Ignoring the paladin's question he began walking towards the three youth.

  "Is that old man Konep's sun still shining? How's he doing these days?" Bal'Nox called conversationally to the paladin. "Old man Konep? You mean Lord Konep the Brilliant? He who illuminates the world and frees us from the clutches of that which lurks in the dark?" The paladin responded in a well-rehearsed manner.

  The rogue girl rolled her eyes at the overly long title and cut in before Bal'Nox could respond. "Are you here on the quest?" She asked him. For whatever reason, the mage behind her grew visibly frustrated at this question and his face began shifting to a lovely tomato red.

  Bal'Nox drew closer until he was standing well within earshot of the trio. The mage had long since ceased his motions and was silently staring at Bal'Nox and the other two youths. "A quest you say?" Bal'Nox asked intrigued.

  The girl in black begin to answer but he cut her off. "Are you three perhaps here to slay the serpent of the swamp? That's quite a bold idea, but I do admire your suicidal bravery. Would you mind if I tagged along?" Bal'Nox asked. At this, all three of the youth lapsed into uncomfortable silence and stared at him weirdly.

  Bal'Nox was struck with a new sensation, one he hadn't felt in years and years, but he couldn't quite place it. It was uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

  "Not the serpent then? Are you after the manticore in the hills? He's an old fellow and still a few hours away..." Bal'Nox trailed off as they kept staring. He began looking down at his illusionary self to make sure his clothes were clean and proper.

  "Were uh, here for some herbs..." The mage boy answered. All four of them stared at one another for a few more uncomfortable moments before Bal'Nox turned away and coughed loudly into his sleeve. "Yes! Yes herbs of course. A solid beginner's quest. Ahhh perfect. Which herbs exactly do you seek?"

  The girl now had a faint grin on her face for a reason not discernible to Bal'Nox as she responded. "A handful of Moon's Dew and a small bag's worth of Lycanthrope Ears." She responded.

  Bal'Nox's shoulders slumped in disappointment. He had so been looking forward to watching these brave adventurers fight a vicious monstrosity to the bitter end.

  His head perked up again as he thought to himself. Perhaps he ought to just arrange for them to fight one after their quest was finished? A small ghoul or ten never hurt anyone after all. He puzzled over the idea mentally for a moment. Then absent-mindedly he remembered what the girl had just told him.

  "Oh for Moon's Dew there's a patch just up the dirt path on my right about 30 paces. Lycanthrope Ears though, they only grow near Yabor to my knowledge." Bal'Nox said.

  At this, the paladin and rogue both looked at the mage with murder in their eyes. The mage seemed to shrivel into his robes a bit as he loosened his collar. "Well how could we possibly have known that?" He asked his companions.

  The rogue's right hand dropped to one of her many daggers as the paladins eye began twitching.

  Sensing the rising tension, Bal'Nox bravely intervened. "Here come with me I'll show you to the Moon's Dew." he offered graciously.

  The tension diffused slightly. "Please, lead on." The paladin invited. Bal'Nox mentally pat himself on the back as he turned and began striding up the path he'd just walked down less than an hour prior.

  "We're going to kill you once this quest is done Jeoffrey." Cassandra whispered to the mage. Horace nodded sagely and Jeoffrey sighed.

  "Fine, fine this one might've been my fault guys." He admitted.

  "You think?" Cassandra pressed. Horace tapped her gently on the shoulder.

  "Later, we're losing our weird guide." He pointed up the road to the farmer disappearing from view onto a path off the side of the road.

  Jeoffrey seized this opening as if he were a starving man offered a succulent manticore steak. "Yeah let's let bygones be bygones and get this quest done. We're on the fringe of D rank!" He strode purposefully ahead and away from his mildly upset companions.