The people of the village scrambled and sounded the alarms. They had no idea those approaching eyes were those of allies. As the villagers formed a defensive line and prepared for battle they would see shapes of people slowly make their way into the visible light. In front of the group was Karl waving his hands in the air. "It's okay!" He yelled. "They are with me!" The villagers heard Karl's words but remained uneasy. For all they knew the monsters had Karl under some sort of mind control or possession. They readied their bows as the unknown entities approached. Karl could see the villagers preparing to attack. "I don't think they believe me." He said to the group behind him.
Pricilla ran up next to Karl and joined in his waving. "It's me Pricilla! We have all come back to the village!"
Lars spoke up as well. "Yes father, we have returned. Please do not fire upon us."
When the chieftain heard Lars' voice he fell to his knees. "It's my son. He is alive!" He rejoiced. "Everyone lower your weapons! We do not attack our own!"
"But sir, how do we know that isn't a trap?" One of the bowmen asked. "Some thing is obviously wrong with them, just look at their eyes! Our lost citizens did not have glowing yellow eyes!"
"I believe my son." The chief answered. "I ask that you trust in my belief as well." He said as he placed his hand on the bowman's bow lowering it.
Karl and company finally made it to the village entrance. The villagers could now see the group fully in the light. It was indeed their missing citizens now transformed into a new race of wolf people. "Sorry to cause you all to worry." Karl addressed the villagers as he entered. "Miss Mia, here who was captured by the wolves last night, ended up curing the lot of them. Well mostly curing them anyway. They may have a different appearance than us now, but they are still the same loved ones we once lost. I hope that you will embrace them with all the love you have."
"My son!" The chief yelled as he ran to Lars. Lars embraced his dad with a big hug lifting him off the ground.
"I'm happy to see you too, dad." Lars said with a tear running down his cheek. "Everyone please go to your family. We have been gone a long time and I am sure that they will be overjoyed to see us again." Lars shouted out to his group. With that the wolf people dispersed and reunited with their families. Mothers saw their children, husbands with their wives, and children with their parents. Everyone in the village rejoiced and went to bed happy. Mia and Lucell went back to their room in the inn, after having agreed to meet with the chief in the morning.
"It has been insane since we got here hasn't it?" Mia asked Lucell.
"It most certainly has." Lucell answered. "First, we discover our magic doesn't work, then we were attacked by hordes of undead. To which I was injured and you were captured. Next you became cursed and turned into a wolf person, then cured the wolf people, defeated a lich, and reunited a village."
"Yeah it was quite the day." Mia replied. "I was scared. For the first time in a long time, I was truly and completely scared." Mia began to tear up. "I thought that I had lost you when Lars attacked you. I was so afraid I would never get to see you again or talk to you. I just didn't know…"
Before Mia could finish her sentence Lucell had gone up to her and embraced her tightly up against him. "Don't worry Miss Mia, you shall not lose me that easily. Mia began crying harder and wrapped her arms around Lucell's torso and squeezed him tightly. With her otherworldly cursed strength Lucell was completely defenseless against her vice like grip. "Mia… You… Are… Squeezing…" He tried to say but words were hard to make with no air.
Mia heard Lucell's pain in his voice and let go of him immediately. "I'm so sorry Lucy!" She said as he collapsed on the floor. "I am so used to you being super strong as well I forgot that my wolf curse gives me super strength. Are you okay?" She asked as she reached her hand out for his to help him up. Lucell gathered himself before grabbing Mia's hand. After he had caught his breath he reached out for Mia's hand. When he grabbed her hand, she yanked him up and forced him into a kiss. She passionately made out with him for a solid minute before pushing him away. "That was for staying alive." Mia said as she wiped her mouth off with her hand. "Don't think too much about it." Her tail was wagging so furiously that it was creating a breeze that was moving objects around behind her.
"Who does she think she's kidding?" Aquir asked.
"Beats me, sad thing is I don't think Lucy has it figured out yet." Tolvash responded. "Man is dense. Girl be in mad love."
"Woof!" The dog inside Mia's head decided to chime in as well.
"Great, not you all have the dog picking on me too." Mia said out loud.
"What dog Miss Mia?" Lucell asked as he tried to regain his composure from the kiss.
"The elementals gave the curse form in my head." Mia explained. "It is the cutest little puppy."
"Are they saying anything important?" Lucell asked. "Anything I should know about?"
"You're right this guy is super dense." Aquir answered. "But I suppose it's not like she has admitted to herself that she loves him either. They're both dense. They deserve each other."
"Agreed." Tolvash answered.
Mia blushed from Lucell's questions and the elemental's teasing. "They are not saying anything you should concern yourself with!" She yelled. "Now let's go to bed, if today was this intense there's no telling how bad tomorrow will be." With that Mia and Lucell headed to bed. When Lucell awoke he found Mia still sleeping next to him licking his side.
"Mia!" He shouted, causing her to stop licking and to wake up. "What were you doing? Why were you licking me?"
"I was what?" Mia asked. "I wouldn't lick you, that's weird."
"You were!" Lucell explained. "See the side of my chest is all wet."
"Must be the wolf curse." Mia explained. "Sorry."
"It's fine, just surprised me is all." Lucell replied. "Come on let's go meet with the chief." With that Mia and Lucell got dressed and went to the village chief's house where they were greeted at the door by Lars.
"Good morning you two." Lars said as he opened the door for them. "I hope you two slept well."
"We did." Mia answered. "How was it for you being back in your old home?"
"Amazing." Lars responded. "I had no idea how much I missed it until I was back. I truly cannot thank you enough for what you have done for us Miss Mia." Lars said with a bow. "Now please allow me to escort you to my father." Lars then guided Mia and Lucell into a den area of the house where the village chief was sitting.
"Please sit." The chief instructed. "So what can I do for the heroes of the village, name whatever you want and as long as it is within my power I shall grant it to you."
"Thank you." Mia replied. "We are hoping to return to our world. Anything you can do to help with that would be great."
"That is a tough request." The chief responded. "Only the divine is able to travel between worlds, and we in this village only have fables of the divine one. You should seek out our elven allies, their lifespan far surpasses that of ours and they may have some more information about what you are seeking." The chief gets up and picks up a sealed scroll from his desk and hands it to Mia. "This scroll is a symbol of our alliance with the elves. Simply show it to them and they will help you in any way that they can. I will also prepare a carriage for your trip. The elf village is far away, by carriage it should take you no less than a week of travel. We will provide you with enough provisions for your journey as well. If you would like I can also appoint a guard to accompany you."
"That won't be necessary." Mia answered. "Thank you for all that you have done for us, we will head out for the elven village at once. With that Mia and Lucell made their way to the prepared carriage and began their journey to the village of elves.