Alastor- a God that was most recently swept up by events stemming from his normal lapses of boredom-

rushed to his Godly friend Teana, who sat in her chair blankly staring at one of his pets (She was also
consumed by boredom.)
The sudden burst surprised her and caused her to look over, "What?" she asked, concerned as if
something important was happening.
Panting he said, "I just heard-" he gasped and calmed himself. "I just heard that this other God named…"
He looked blank for a moment. Teana looked confused.
"… Named?"
He snapped to, "xMorrighanx, that's her name." Alastor chuckled, "Silly name, really."
"So, what about her?" she asked impatiently as he became off track.
He snapped to again, "Right! There was this awesome World that these few Gods made, but they only
let a few select people in! It's all pretty and brutal and cool and nifty and fancy and it could cure my
boredom for awhile! It looks awesome!" Alastor gasped for breath, speaking too fast and excitedly to
get air into his lungs. "This Morrighan girl was invited, and invited people get two invites to share with
friends! She started a contest that if you entertained her enough she'd give you one of the invites!" his
lungs reached out for air again.
Teana rubbed her chin, "So… You plan to entertain her, don't you?" she asked.
He happily nodded and sat down in his favorite chair, "Hell yes I do! She said stories are good, pictures
are good and so are drawings. I'm horrible at drawing and I don't think I'm funny enough to make a
funny picture. But I'm good at stories, you know?"
"Somewhat."
Alastor ignored her and conjured up some pencils and paper, "So I'll write her a short story that she'll
hopefully find entertaining and I'll get invited!" he turned away and already began thinking of what to
write of.
Sighing, Teana asked, "Can't we just break into this World instead of going through all this trouble?"
He looked up from his paper with a look of shock and horror, "And ruin the fun?! You're crazy!" he
grunted and mumbled, Can't believe you'd suggest such a thing. his betrayed eyes said to her.
She put her palm to her face, "You deeply confuse me sometimes, Alastor."
Grinning he grabbed his pencil and put it to the paper and soon the God began writing.

The sound of Gnoll's skull being crushed against a wall echoed through the somewhat quiet, yet stirring
air. The Swordsman Lann backed himself away from the crumpling body of the Gnoll and laughed. As he
rubbed his glove against the wall - ridding it of the fragments of skull and brain left behind - he tried to
make his comrades behind him laugh, "I may have put too much power into that."
Evie, the Sorcerer and Healer of the party laughed - but she always laughed. "There's never too much
power." she still-half-laughing said as she hopped past the remains of another Gnoll.
But there was a disagreement to what Evie had said, "No." Fiona, the one and only other party member
said, "Too much power is the entire reason for this insanity." her tone sounded as if she meant it as a
threat.
But Evie had gotten used to her harsh attitude by now, "Maybe." she started, "But I know that a little too
much power in crushing a Gnoll's skull into a wall is not a bad thing. Nor is too much power in the hands
of someone who wills to use it for the good of the World a bad thing."
Lann sighed, knowing Fiona would disagree on that as well. And, she did. They began arguing. Saying
what was right and what was wrong and how even good people can be corrupted by too much power.
A minute in was enough for him to smack Evie on the back with the flat of his blade. With a quiet yelp
she bound away from him, rubbed her back and looking at him as if he was crazy.
In a hushed, angry tone he scolded them, "Not that I don't love my daily argument from you girls, but
we're not even a hundred yards from the Gnoll Chieftain's location. We're lucky they didn't inspect the
noise of cracking bone or your constant bickering!" he blushed and sighed, "Or my laughing…" he
quieted his voice more to make a point as to how quiet they should be right now. "When we're finally
rid of this thing and we're in a nice Inn having a nice hot meal you can argue all you want - I'd even be
happy to join you in it - but right now is not the time!"
Evie still looked at him, confused, but Fiona nodded her head. "He's right." she turned to Evie, "We will
set aside this fight until later. Let us be done with the Chieftain and return victorious."
Lann thanked Morrighan for Fiona being blessed with same sort of logical intelligence that he had.
Probably the only other person he'd ever met to have it.
The hurt Sorcerer rubbed her back and grumbled, "Fine." she said. "But when we get back I will repay
you for striking me."
Lann would have normally laughed her threat away, but he was in no mood. "Fine. Whatever. I'll let you
pay me back tenfold if we get out of here in one piece."

With that the trio crept their way past the last turn in this Ruin maze and looked upon the building
where the Gnoll Chieftain was supposed to be staying. It was a hundred yards away - As Lann predicted -
filled with a dozen so of anxious - or bored - looking Gnoll guards.
The courtyard that led to it was filled with cracked ground, tile, and stone pillars (As was the rest of the
Ruins) but it was far wider than any other place. Plenty of running space.
He pointed out spots to run, places to hide, escape routes, everything they needed if things went wrong.
For once, the two listened to him without bickering. The victory of this long trip was so close that he
could taste it, which was probably why they weren't fighting. They could as well. They were all right
here, about to fight the Chieftain. Just one last fight. Just one last risk.
Lann took a deep breath as he lay against the stone wall. In the possibly last calm moment of his life he
looked at the world in a way he hadn't before. The way the cold, cool air kissed upon his cheeks in the
breeze. The way the metallic smell of blood tinged his nose. How beautiful and colorful the sky and
world around him suddenly seemed.
Maybe this was how it felt before one died?
He shook his head, I'm getting distracted. he thought.
With a quick nod to his partners he gave the signal to advance. Fiona wordlessly ran past the corner and
raised her sword and shield for combat.
Lann waited. Her footsteps became faint, then the Gnolls noticed her. Then they yelled out. Then he
heard the sound of a weapon clanging against Fiona's shield.
That was his cue.
As silent as a phantom he ran out to the left of the pack of Gnolls. They were focused on Fiona to his
right. Without so much as one of them noticing, he was upon them. Stabbing one from behind, then
taking off another's legs. They turned to defend themselves from both threats, only for a few to burst
into flames from Evie's magic.
All of them were dead within a minute. A minute, however, was not enough time to keep their
advantage of surprise. Up until now there were few enough Gnolls in packs to kill them before one could
run off and warn the others, but that didn't matter when the sound of fighting and death was within
earshot.
That sound of fighting and death was answered by the Chieftain's roar.
A dozen more Gnolls poured out from the dark, moldy insides of the temple. They formed a line on top
of the stairs and waited for their leader.
He most likely wasn't the kind to make his minions wait, for he charged out with his massive hammer
swinging. This was when all of Lann's somewhat clever plans and tricks came to an end. It was a brawl.
And it was starting now.
The Chieftain trampled one of his guards in his frenzy to get to Fiona - the one he seemed to have picked
first to die - and with no regard for his surrounding attacked with a wide arcing swing.
Seconds before the attack Fiona ducked under a stone pillar, only to get it smashed upon her as the
hammer cleaved it apart.
Lann paid no heed to it, however. Even against him Fiona could hold her own long enough for him to
finish off the rest of his guards.
That didn't mean that he didn't have to be aware of his surroundings. Stones flew everywhere as the
Red Gnoll Chieftain smashed and swung his hammer about, trying to kill the elusive Fiona.
But that did mean he had less guards to worry about. The Chieftain was in such of a frenzy that he
trampled, killed, and crushed most of his guards within the first twenty seconds of fighting. A few stabs
to a dazed and confused Gnoll was all it took for it to just be the four of them.
Taking plenty of caution Lann tried to sneak in a few attacks on the furious Chief. With his massive
hammer, though, there were few openings. Most of the statues and pillars that somewhat decorated
the yard were now just rubble on the floor to impede their movement. Evie stayed in the back, casting
whatever support magic and hindering things she could cast. A fireball or two would still have an effect
on a Fomor of this size, but it mattered not if Fiona died because she was busy casting it.
So it was left to Lann to do any real damage. But as he danced around avoiding the hammer and looking
for an opening he could tell Fiona was beginning to grow tired. The Gnoll was getting closer and closer to
hitting her each swing, and she wouldn't be able to block them with a weapon that size.
So he did the only thing he could do in a decisive moment.
He threw a rock.
The Chief barely noticed, but eventually he would. In that split second of distraction Fiona and Evie
could do a massive amount of things. Maybe doing direct damage to the Gnoll wasn't the key to victory,
but letting your team mates do it?
He threw a bigger chunk and sure enough the Gnoll gave a panting, "Huh?" in the general direction of
the projectile.
Fiona rushed up to his legs and cut his hamstring, deep. The beast fell to a knee with a huge roar. Almost
as quickly as he was distracted he was back to the task of chasing down his tiring foe. But the damage
was done.
He slowed. His blood left a dark trail behind him as he limped after the now far ahead Fiona. This may
not win the battle, Lann told himself, But it just might.
As the dreading time wore on Lann was able to find small openings in the ragged Chieftain's attacks. The
cut on his leg drained him of energy every second they prolonged the fight, allowing them to slowly - but
surely - push the offensive onto him.
The once roaring, crashing, angry Chief now became a grunting, defensive, still angry Chief. They backed
him into corners that he had to use the low amounts of energy he had left to make them retreat. It was
now only a matter of time.
Lann had managed to cut his other leg as well - along with the cuts and scrapes from Fiona's own agile
and precise cutting he was completely immobile.
But the weapon was still too dangerous. They say a cornered animal can pull insane things out of its
arse, so caution was a thing Lann begged the others to take. Fiona was far too smart to take that risk as
well, she stayed back, letting Evie finish the Chieftain from a distance.
It held up in the corner, swatting with its bloody hands at the fire and other spells she shot at it. It was
going to take awhile, but eventually the beast would die a slow and annoying death.
Lann almost felt bad for it.
The Chieftain, however, decided that it had nothing to gain pity from. With a loud, blood gurgling roar
he sprang up from his spot and flailed wildly. The action happened so fast that Lann was caught off
guard, only able to narrowly avoid a chaotic swing in his direction. Evie had leapt back, sensing the
attack before he had.
Fiona was too slow.
A loud clang and scream was heard from her as Lann lifted his head from the ground. He raised his head,
looking over where he last saw Fiona. Her body was as a ragdoll as it was lifted by the foaming Chief and
thrown against a wall.
Fiona, though, was not done. She tried to stand up, which gained the Chieftain's attention. He howled
and charged towards her with his hammer hung high.
A massive blast of heated air and flames was the only thing that saved her that moment. It caused him
to yell out in pain and strike a few inches away from Fiona. His fur caught fire. Evie fell down to her
knees, "That was all I had left." she told him, "You have to finish it."
He nodded, using the last bit of spare strength he had left to burst into a small sprint. The Chief began
getting back to his shaking feet when Lann jumped onto his back, the fire and smoke caused him to burn
and cough, but not for one second did it stop him from stabbing all of his weapons into its back. Over
and over.
It growled, flailed wildly trying to scrape him off of his back. It weakly ran into walls, only to hurt itself
more than Lann. Finally, with one last despair filled yell, the Chieftain fell. Lann was flung a short
distance off of its back and landed on his side, within seconds he was up and making sure the thing was
dead.
The gathering pool of blood around its crimson fur wasn’t enough. One of his two swords was still
impaled in its back, he took his last one and thrust it through the creature's skull with a wet Thrtk.
He painfully waddled over to Fiona and inspected her. She sat upright against the Ruin's wall, definitely
looking as if she'd had better days.
For the first time since he'd met Fiona weeks ago, he saw her smile. "Congratulations." she weakly said,
"You killed it."
Lann felt pride with that. But… as Evie limped over and quietly began healing Fiona he sat down with
them and said, "No. We all killed it. Together."
Alastor triumphantly yelled out and held the paper up, "Woo! Finished!" he got up and ran out of the
room.
Teana chased after him, "Are you going to deliver it now?"
He burst out of the house and into the open plains of his World, "Yes, I am. Do you wish to come along?"
She shook her head, "No, thanks." she laughed chaotically for a second. "You really need to calm down,
Alastor. It's not like you're going to really be cured of your boredom if you win."
He gave her that betrayed look again, "Well, Teana, it's not so much for the boredom that I want to win:
I want it for the other Gods. To talk to others! To have fun with others! Maybe that's the key to it all!"
He raised his hands to the air and happily yelled, "Maybe that's everything I've always wanted!"
Teana snorted, "You're an idiot."
Alastor cackled, "Yes, well, you're the one that said you love me. So you're in love with an idiot. What
does that make you?"
Her cheeks flared at the sudden accusation, "I never said anything of the sort!"
"Pfft. Fine. Whatever. Keep denying yourself." he waved her away and started walking into the field of
grass.
She put her palm to her hand once again as she watched him teleport away to another World. Such an
idiot.