With the death of the Tantabus, peace returned to Basil's life…for about forty-five seconds. No, actually, it took several weeks, rolling past early summer into its climax in the later months. Puca had left him for greener pastures, and by that, I mean tasty nightmares since Basil no longer woke up screaming in fear.
Basil was once again able to work hard at his job and make many happy faces walk in and out of his bakery. Things were going great! His fields were always full of different grains and vegetables, his cattle were producing plenty of milk for him to try out new dishes, the bees made tons of delicious honey, and the Halflings harvested and split the profits between them, himself, the Small Torah, and even the Lizard Men.
Speaking of such, the tiny sheep creatures took care of the grounds and the small crop plots out front, which had been converted into a mixture of fruit trees and berry bushes going down the length of the walkway. The Lizard Men aided in any repairs that he or the Halflings needed and, apparently, had plans for a massive repopulation boom near the end of summer. While the goblins still remained in their citadel while remaking the structure of their entire culture.
Hagson occasionally came for his human classes and left when he was told they were over, only saying he had more unfinished business to attend to. Bow and Ball aided in keeping the fields fresh and fertilized.
Basil had attempted to get the boy and his pet to sleep in his house on innumerable occasions, but the boy seemed more comfortable outside. Melon had grown to full size and could fend and feed herself, which she did by flying into the Empty Lands to hunt. Things were looking up for him, so much so that he wanted to expand to chickens and pigs next while also adding a pond to connect the nearby river for easy access to fish.
That is, until one day, when he was walking through town and cleaning out every farmer's stand of spices and eggs while accompanied by Wrinkles and Teto, he heard and saw a new face come into town and begin making a ruckus. He was a short, portly man dressed in fine yet well-worn dark reds, white, and black clothing. He wore a strange and loud hat with many colorful feathers adorned on top, drawing the eye. He held a scroll in his hands and stood upon the back of his mammoth donkey, who chewed on some weeds by the roadside.
"Here ye here ye, one and all! Here ye here ye!", the short man declared with the scroll unrolled. "A declaration has cometh straight from the lips of thine honorable majesty himself.", he proudly and loudly proclaimed enough that even the edge of town could hear.
A large crowd formed very quickly around the man as he shouted his announcement. Struck with overwhelming curiosity, Basil and his two compatriots followed him to the crowd, where they tried to listen in on whatever the man was prattling on about. Basil, who wasn't paying attention at all, eventually found himself next to the mayor of Ash End.
"Mayor, what's going on?", he asked the older man.
So the mayor kindly summarized for him, "The king has issued a decree of immediate curfew for all in Ash End."
Confused by this, Basil inquired, "Like…bedtime? Does he really have that kind of power?"
"It's in our best interest. It's usually initiated when a nightly threat is on the prowl--vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and ghouls, those sorts of creatures." The older man explains to the younger man.
"From the town's southern border, near the Empty Lands, along the road, a Dullahan has been spotted riding its way here." The Cryer announced to the crowd, causing a gasp of shock, stress, and talk amongst the townsfolk.
"I've never heard of a Dullahan before.", Basil told the mayor.
"It's a specter that takes the form of a man in gilded knight's armor and rides a black steed of black smoke and ashen flames. Riding across the lands seeking revenge.", the mayor told him in a playfully ominous tone.
"That doesn't sound so bad. Seems like it's just a ghostly guy on a horse. And revenge for what?", Basil shrugged nonchalantly at the description, while Teto and Wrinkles hid behind his legs in terror.
"It's head. The Dullahan is headless yet holds its severed head as it rides across the night, unable to differentiate friend and foe as it blindly seeks revenge. Also, it uses its own spine as a weapon.", the mayor answered in an even more ominous tone, leaning in for dramatic effect.
Basil's eyes shrunk down to pinpricks, and he said in a small yet petrified tone, "Okay, now I'm terrified. So what ranking monster is it to have a crewfew in place?"
"I actually have a book on all manner of creatures. Follow me to my office.", the mayor offered while waving to the boy to follow.
Basil followed, seeing no reason not to listen and that he had no interest in hearing the Cryer's long-winded speech about nothing. Once he got to the mayor's office, which also doubled as his home, he was taken to his private library, where the older man took a ladder and brought it over to a particular section. The man appeared to know where everything was in this small room of books, especially this one specific book that he was almost immediately attracted to.
After pulling the book down from the shelf, he plopped it down on the table, which made a loud thud with a small puff of dust! The book is enormous, thick, made of leather, and coated in dust so thick it made it look gray! The mayor then blew on the book and lifted the dust right onto Basil, who choked and coughed from the dust that hung like a cloud! Teto and Wrinkles attempted to blow the dust away, but the Kenku got caught up in it while Wrinkles, who tried blowing it away, ended up swallowing the dust.
After the dust had finally settled, the mayor gave an apologetic look; he turned the book to the man where he saw it was written in a language he didn't understand. This must've been the common language that this world used, but this was his first time seeing it in person. From his point of view, every time he viewed something in writing, it always appeared in the stat window and in his native language, Korean.
Basil took the book and had to crack it open because it was so stuck together--literally! The book had clearly been out of use for decades! After doing so, he flipped through the first few pages of the appendix and found the first section, which was still written in a strange language he didn't understand.
Then something unusual happened. His eyes began to adjust, and the words melded and reformed into the language he understood! The first page said many deep, smart people talking, but then he saw a column with three interesting words. It was a categorization system with even more details on the next page. There, he realized this was some sort of textbook bestiary!
"Creatures, Beasts, and Monsters? There's a difference?", Basil asked, looking up from the book.
The mayor excitedly nodded, and he explained with glee, "Indeed. However, this is simply the most straightforward form of distinction. A creature is any two-legged being that is also intelligent. A Beast is any four-legged being that is also intelligent but is not usually immediately dangerous. And monsters have just about any body type. Still, they are far from intelligent and extremely dangerous.", he then continued to explain, "Though these three categories have their own subcategories and some beings can be in multiple categories. For instance, your Kobold and Kenku friend are technically monsters and creatures.", this led Wrinkled and Teto, hiding behind his legs, to blow raspberries at him. "While a Unicorn is also technically a Creature and a Beast.", the mayor excitedly continued, Basil noting how his eyes sparkled with the wonder and excitement of someone who enjoyed something and not the tired and worn-down old man he'd known for years.
Looking back at the book, he skimmed through the pages and pointed out some keywords, asking, "And what about that other thing you said, the subcategories?"
Getting even more excited, the older man began to ramble in explanation, "While humans are in the Creature category, we are also placed into the subclave of humanoid, which is shared by many creatures that stand on two legs. Further from there, we have the Demi-human category, which is where elves and dwarfs are. Then, back up, we have the Beastren subcategory, which refers to any creatures that stand on two legs but share no physical similarities to humans and Demi-humans, such as-."
Only for Basil to cut him off and say kindly, "Mayor, you're rambling."
The mayor shook his head to get out of whatever spell he was under and replied, "Oh! My apologies. I never get the chance to talk about my interests with others, so I tend to get ahead of myself."
Basil narrows his eyes at the man and suspiciously asks, "It almost seems like you'd prefer being a researcher than a politician."
The mayor rubbed his head and answered, "Very true; I would've loved to go out and research monsters, creatures, and beasts. But my parents forced me into such a life so I had no other choice but to pursue politics.", he then takes a seat and sighs profoundly and sadly while explaining, "I would've just run away and started my own life, but my parents put me into an arranged marriage and then I had a duty to uphold as a husband and leader.", Basil's hairs raised on ends hearing this. He's heard this story before since it was his own! Who knew that someone a whole world away shared a life similar to his own, albeit to a much minor degree? "Luckily, my parents and wife died some time ago, but by then, I was an old man and a needed figure out here in Ash End, so I couldn't just leave.", the man finished off, looking sadly and longingly out his window at the wide world ahead of him.
Basil puts the book down and walks to his side while looking out the window with him; he tells the older man, "I know this may sound crazy, but I know how you feel. Honestly, I do."
"Well, I doubt that. You are a Chosen Touched, so I'm sure no one knows your past other than you.", The mayor says back, making Basil sweat at how wrong he was. The man changes topics and says, "Now about that, Dullahan."
Deciding to drop the conversation, Basil shrugged and picked up the book to search for the monster in question. At first, he found a section on Dragons and had his eye drawn to it, especially the page on Black Dragons. His eyes skimmed the cover and stopped at the picture in the book, which looked like Anaya, bringing back a whole slew of bad memories.
The pain, the agony of her acid splashing and burning his skin, melting his bones, boiling his blood, only to be momentarily relieved from Gossamer's healing magic. It was a pain greater than any he had felt before! Her cracked and gurgled laughter, like an old hag. Her hateful eyes that struck him with such fear it made him freeze up. And the horrid feeling of her vast intent to cause as much suffering as she could before he died!
Luckily, the mayor saw this and shook him out of his trance. Basil shook his head rapidly and turned to the worried older man, seeing him smile softly at him. So he breathed to calm himself and skipped over the section on dragons.
"Interested in dragons? I can tell you a bit about them if you'd like?", the mayor offered.
Basil really didn't want to, and he couldn't tell if the mayor was being disingenuous or mindless. So he shrugged and passively replied, looking off to the side, "I guess. For the future."
"For starters, all dragons are under the Family of Draconica, which means Dragon. But separating them means they are given different names. True Dragons have four limbs, two wings, hyper-intelligence, massive size, and a magical breath weapon. There are fifteen different kinds of True Dragons, but the most well-known ones are the Colored Dragons. White Dragons, otherwise known as Snow or Tundra Dragons. Black Dragons, otherwise known as Acid or Swamp Dragons. Green Dragons, otherwise known as Poison or Forest Dragons. Blue Dragons, otherwise known as Lightning or Desert Dragons. And finally, Red Dragons are otherwise known as Fire or Volcano Dragons. They-."
"Mayor.", Basil interjects, stopping the man. "You're ranting…again," he informs him.
This made the older man's sweat drop awkwardly, and he backed off, allowing Basil to do his own research. So he opened the book and flipped through the pages. Eventually, he found the appendix and the monster in question on page 400. There, he saw the page titled Dullahan, which had several paragraphs of information over several pages and was accompanied by a sketched picture of the monster.
It looked almost exactly like a human wearing a suit of armor, but it was missing its head, and a flame engulfed the stump where it should have been. The monster's severed head was in one of its arms, covered in a helmet, and riding atop a monstrous-looking horse. On the other hand, it held a whip made from a human spine. Ignoring the haunting picture, Basil looked over the information and read aloud the first sentence.
"It says that a Dulahan is a Level 45 Spirit Monster under the A minus category and stitched in the niche of…Special Circumstances?", he questions while looking up at the mayor.
"Like many undead or Spiritual Monsters, they are incredibly hard to kill. Usually requiring something that the common folk have no way of acquiring, or needs a special ritual of sorts, or something that's simply not known.", the mayor simply explained.
"Good to know.", said Basil, who recorded it in his head.
The mayor continues to inform him, "Just sprinkle some holy water outside the perimeter of your home with some salt, and you should be safe."
To which Basil replies, "Also good to know."
He then sets the book down, thanks the mayor for his time and knowledge, and leaves. When he does that, he almost trips over himself! Quickly catching himself, he sees Teto and Wrinkles clutching each of his legs, looking absolutely scared! Basil assumes it is from the book, so he sighs and reserves himself to walk with a waddle as the two small creatures refuse to let go.
xXx
Later that night, Basil did everything the mayor had told him and headed off to bed just after closing the shop before the sunset. Even though he technically wasn't an actual resident of Ash End, he didn't want to test faith and, least of all, the law! So, after closing down and winding down for the night, he fell asleep. However, this didn't last for long, as the sounds of an angry horse could be heard outside his window in the middle of the night. Basil tried to ignore it but ultimately couldn't as it continued for so long! He wonders why he even got that horse in the first place.
So, while he's still half asleep, he says under his blankets, "Wrinkles, go tell the horse to be quiet."
"Master, thou doth own a horse.", Wrinkles answered from his cat bed.
Basil's eyes shot open at his answer, and he realized he didn't have a horse! So, whose horse was screaming outside at this ungodly hour of the night? Getting out of bed, walking up to Teto, who was sleeping on the other side, and walking to the window, he threw it open to see what all the noise was about!
Did one of the Bugbears kidnap a horse from town and eat it on his lawn? He really hoped that was all. But he found himself quite disappointed with the actual result.
What was out on his lawn making all that commotion was what looked like a knight on a horse. But it wasn't. It was a headless knight in obsidian black armor with gold trim and screaming faces edged into the metal, on top of a massive black stallion with red glowing eyes, limbs, mane, and tail that faded out to smoke, and a set of horns on its head like a ram.
The head, cast in a helmet made of the same black obsidian with gold trim and a furious face imprinted on it, sat in one of its arms with the horse's reins in the same hand. But instead of a whip, it held a blue flaming iron sword that was bigger than itself! In addition, the ghostly fire that emanated from the neck was the same as the blade.
For some reason, the horse could not get any closer to his home, so all it did was rear up and scream! And yet, despite the sight of such a haunting ghoul, Basil didn't flinch or feel fear. He just stared on, mesmerized by the monster.
Turning to Wrinkles, who finally joined him to stare at the ghost, he asked, "Hey, isn't that the Dullahan the town was sent on mandatory bedtime because of?"
After rubbing his eyes, the Kobold answered, "Me thinks so? What is it doing here?"
"Now that I look at it, it is pretty unsettling.", Basil says while narrowing his eyes at the monster and shivering in fear. Only for an idea to cross his mind, and he exclaimed with eyes wide, "Oh, don't tell me whoever sent that damn Tantabus also sent this thing now?"
"Thine stalker must be getting desperate.", Wrinkles offered while Teto nodded in agreement.
Basil sighs and then groans, complaining, "Or revving things up. Good thing that holy water and salt trick is working."
"Good thing indeed.", Wrinkles agrees while Teto nods again.
Seeing that the Dulahan was still loitering outside his salt line and causing his horse to scream angrily, he pointed at the monster. He yelled, "Hey! Hey you! Yeah you! Yanky doodle on the pony! Get lost! I don't know who sent you, but tell them to shove it!", only for the thing to bring its head up into the air and make a loud roaring noise as its flaming neck hole burst into a column of fire.
Shaking off the sensation of fear after seeing such a sight, Basil loudly proclaimed, "Hey! I said get lost, you undead freak! Go crawl back to your grave in whatever battle took your head off!"
Only for the horse to roar demonically and one of its sharp hooves to touch the salt line and then burn up. Basil grains at the sight while covering his ears and yells, "And quit making all that noise! You can't get in here so long as my land is holy and salty!", He then throws the window closed and the curtain shut as he turns to his friends and says, "Let's just go back to bed and hope it gives up."
They both nodded tiredly and headed for their sleeping spots. But before they could even slip into the covers, something broke through the window Basil had just closed and landed on his floor amongst broken glass!
"What the-?!", Basil shouted as the three of them ran over.
Wrinkles quickly found what came through and gave it to Basil, saying, "This flew in, master."
Taking the rock in his grasp, he tightened his fist so much that the stone began to crack, and he yelled, "It's throwing rocks!?"
So he returned to his now broken window, threw open the blinds, and began shooting at the malevolent entity with beams of holy light! A few scratched the horse, which screamed in pain before running off into the night!
"Yeah, that's right! Unless you wanna taste the sun at midnight, you better keep running!", Basil yells at them.
After the Dullahan was far out of sight, Basil threw the curtains over the window and sat back on his bed to moan. Seeing this, Wrinkles tries to warn him, "Wrinkles believes that is not the last wes shall see thine Dullahan."
Looking at the window, the cracked rock, Teto, who looked just as stressed as Basil himself, and then back to wrinkles where he pulls on his face in anxiety and replies, "And I think you're right."
xXx
The following nights after that happened much the same. At the false witching hour, the Dulahan and his wicked steed would appear, make a bunch of noise, and wake Basil up, causing him to try and ignore it, only for the monster to throw a rock through a different window, making Basil shoot at it with holy magic, finally allowing him to sleep…only for it to return the same night. This continued for nearly two weeks unending, and Basil finally had enough.
One morning, he travels to Ash End, barges into the mayor's office, and aggressively asks him for advice. After being begrudgingly let in by his secretary and offered some homemade coffee by the man, Basil begins to list his grievances.
"You've gotta tell me something, mayor! That Dullahan is driving me crazy!", he exclaimed while pulling at his long hair.
The mayor stayed silent, filled his mug halfway with the hot brown liquid, and handed it to him. Basil then filled it the rest of the way with milk, a ton of sugar, and a generous amount of honey. After stirring the concoction, which was probably not even coffee at this point, he gulped it down in one go!
After coughing from nearly inhaling the drink, he continued, "It's a far cry from being kept up all night, but having that thing come like clockwork at midnight every night is grinding my gears! My windows can't keep taking it; that holy water and salt trick only keeps it from getting any closer! You've got to know how to keep this thing away for good or kill it!"
The mayor had just finished stirring his coffee when he placed his spoon down and, with a sad sigh, said, "I'm afraid very little is known about Dullahan's since everyone who fights one either dies or comes back seeing horrors untold."
Hearing this, Basil slammed his head on the table, his hair splaying out like the legs of a spider, and groaned in aggravation while the mayor patted his back sympathetically.
Just as he was about to give up, a voice from behind said in a very slow, low, and creepy tone, "Waaaateeeeeer."
Basil jumped from the voice and dashed behind the mayor, yelling, "Ah! Who are you? Who is that?"
"That would be Millard, the town undertaker.", the mayor introduced him to the new man.
Millard was a man of even more considerable age than the mayor himself. He wore a long, full-body mortician gown of black and gray. He was hunched over, had long silver hair, and had different-colored eyes, one lazy and the other inflamed. His hands looked crooked and riddled from arthritis, while his skin was pale and cracked.
Basil looked between the unsightly man and the mayor before asking the undertaker, "We have one of those? And what did you say before?"
"Water. Running water is a Dullahan's greatest weakness. Not only is it pure to an impure being, if it drops its severed head in it, it will drown.", Millard explained.
"Wait, an undead ghost zombie…that can breathe?", Basil questions, trying to wrap his brain around such a ridiculous statement.
Millard shrugs and replies in his slow, low tone, "I don't make the rules; I just tell them."
Then, a fast thought crossed the young man's mind, and he inquired, "Wait, how do you know about their weakness?"
"When you work with the dead for as long as I have, you tend to figure out how to make sure they stay dead.", Millard replied in his usual slow tone while taking a raspy breath, as if talking for too long took its toll.
"Anything else?", Basil prompts further as the Mayor pours him another cup of coffee.
"Holy Magic and reading holy scripture.", the undertaker tells him.
"Probably should've been able to figure that one out.", Basil mutters under his breath as he fills it, once again, with far too much sugar, milk, and honey.
"Also, if the Dulahan rides a horse and wields a sword. Watch out for the blade tip since it can take away your soul.", Millard warns him eerily while getting uncomfortably close, staring at him with his inflamed eye.
Leading Basil to not react in the slightest and only stare back with a neutral expression. Then he stirs his coffee and downs it right in front of him.
After wiping his face, Basil replies, "Noted."
"But why is the Dulahan after you? Did you perhaps…kill it in life?", Millard suspiciously asks.
Basil looks more hurt than insulted and argues, "I've only been in this world for three years and only got powerful since taking down Anaya. Plus, I've only killed monsters, no people."
But Millard still doesn't look convinced, so he stares uncomfortably at him, making a sound in his throat that was supposed to be thinking but came out like disturbed purring.
"I can't see why you can't just slay it yourself. You did kill Anaya the Black. A mere Dullahan should be easy.", The mayor offered his own reprieve.
Basil turns to the mayor next, and with an unamused expression, he replies, "If by kill you mean by the skin of my teeth, then yes. I got lucky in that fight, real lucky! One false move, and Anaya could've killed me easily. Plus, my fights don't come with my consent in mind. If I had my way, I'd run for the hills!"
Hearing this and understanding his gripes, the mayor countered, "I can send a letter to the Kingdom of Daunt for aid."
But Basil's Thought Acceleration skill activated, and he could envision what would come if he took the mayor on his offer. He saw the mayor sent out for help, Elliot happily coming to Ash End, hopelessly unaware of what was to come. Then he meets the horrifying Dullahan and either freezes up in fear or freaks out and blasts everything at the monster! Thankfully, killing it but also destroyed his house and land in the process. But he was also seeing a thoroughly traumatized Elliot lying on the ground and crying in the fetal position.
Shaking his head, Basil quickly cut the mayor off and told him firmly, "Please don't. The last thing I need is for poor Eliot to be traumatized having to fight that headless horse shit.", the mayor looked confused by this, so Basil put his lips up to the empty cup while looking away, realizing he said too much, and said, "Just trust me on this."
"Regarding your windows, don't you have magic that allows you to build things instantly, as well as the lizard men?" the mayor inquired, dropping the previous topic.
"I do, but I haven't worked all the kinks out. Last week, I tried to make a chicken coop. I didn't like the door I used, so I tried to remove it to replace it, but the whole thing fell apart when I did! I don't want to do that with the place I live, work, and sleep in.", Basil stressed before getting a disgusted expression on his face as he said, "Also, the Lizard Men are busy right now."
The mayor raised an eyebrow and asked, "Busy? Isn't their new civilization at its peak?"
Basil shook his hand in a dismissive wave as he explained, "No, not that. You remember when I told you that nearly their whole population got bum-rushed by the Bullywugs?", the mayor nodded. He continued, "Well, they're trying to repopulate quickly. Some kind of communal orgy or something. I don't know; it apparently helps the females lay eggs quickly, more of them, and hatch stronger young due to the mixing of many males."
"That's…interesting.", the mayor replies, trying not to gag at the thought.
"So you can imagine why I don't want to go meet them when their village smells like sex in a swamp.", Basil tells him with a shiver.
Trying to give the man some hope, he says, "Point taken. But I'm sure you'll figure something out eventually. Now, what is it that you needed, Millard?", turning to the undertaker who had been patiently and quietly waiting in the background, leaving Basil to stew in his thoughts about what to do.
xXx
As usual, the Dullahan came to his home every night at midnight, and the same set of actions would occur. It came to a point that Basil got used to it, until one day, when everything finally changed. It was the first week of fall, and Basil was asleep in bed, dreading waking up just to shoot the specter. Then he hears the sound of something hitting his house. It wasn't through the windows like it always did; instead, it was the body of the house. This royally pissed Basil off, thinking the specter decided to change tactics from assaulting his windows to assaulting his house!
So he rolled out of bed, shuffled to the broken window, tore open the curtains, hair flying all over his face, and loudly complained while looking out, "Oh, what now?"
When he looked down at the ground, however, instead of seeing the Dullahan, he saw a small group of humanoid creatures standing on the outer ring of his salt and holy water protection circle. Since his brain was so tired, he didn't recognize any of them at first, until one of them spoke out in a whispering shout with a very familiar voice.
"Hi, Basil! Sorry for the late arrival. Can we come in? By the way, what's up with your windows?", Marigold's voice said from the ground.
Almost immediately calming down, Basil said to himself before leaving to unlock his front door, "Oh, it's just Marigold.", all before his half-asleep brain finally woke up and realized it was only a few seconds before midnight and yelled, "Oh my God! It's Marigold!", he quickly ran back to the window and shouted, "Quick! Get inside the ring!"
"What ring?", Marigold called back.
Only for the barbarian to tap her shoulder and say with a terrified tone, "Uh, Marigold?"
She turned around to see what had frightened him so badly. She quickly caught sight of the headless monster racing towards her upon the back of his demonic steed! She nearly freaked out as she exclaimed, "A Dullahan!?"
Only to hear the sound of a door being flung open and turn back around to see Basil standing in his doorway, looking crazy scared and yelling, "Get in! Quick!"
Without thinking twice, the adventuring party ran headfirst into the bakery, nearly getting stuck over one another in the doorway itself until they all fell face-first into the hardwood of his entryway! As the Dullahan quickly charged the group of people, its steed didn't stop soon enough before the salt circle and ended up getting both hooves into it, where its four limbs burst into flames as it screamed in pain! After backing away, the Dulahan made its ghostly wailes while slashing its flaming sword around in the air!
After the group got back to their feet, they all breathed heavily from stress and fear while looking back at the ghostly apparition, who dared not get any closer. After confiding in themselves that they were safe for the time being, they all began to relax.
"Thank you for the warning.", the bard thanked him.
Basil sighs in relief and replies, "I'm just glad none of you are harmed."
"Is that really a Dullahan?", the cleric nervously asks, pointing at the moaning specter.
"No, I just paid some smuck to dress as one to scare people for kicks.", Basil sassed her in an annoyed tone. Seeing the half-elves' saddened expressions and the rest of the group's disapproving glances, he slumps over. He apologetically says, "I'm sorry, it's been a hard few weeks.", pulling at his face, he stresses to them, "That thing has been coming to my home every night at midnight for weeks on end trying to get in and making a bunch of noise. I have to scare it off with my holy magic only for it to come the next night."
Then, the onslaught of questions was thrust upon him.
"Why can't it come any closer?", asks the paladin.
"Why is it after you?", asks the cleric.
"Did you kill someone?", asks the warlock.
"Ring of salt and holy water around my house, I have no idea why, and no, I didn't kill anyone.", Basil answered in order.
"Well, why don't you kill it? You killed that dragon.", the bard asks.
Basil groaned a sigh into his hand before breathing profoundly and stating, "I don't wanna have another conversation like this. Just come inside, and I'll scare it off again."
So, the group dropped the conversation and began to head deeper into Basil's darkened bakery. That is until something long and thick reached out and wrapped around Marigold's waist before pulling her out at breakneck speeds! The only thing everyone saw and heard was Marigold vanishing from sight and then screaming in shock before she was taken into the arms of the Dullahan and rode off into the night!
"Marigold!", Basil yelled after her.
"Mari-napped has been kid-gold! No wait. Switch that around.", the bard said far too quickly.
"No time for jokes! We have to act before that thing takes her soul, or her head, or her-!", the paladin began to list off increasing rates of horror.
Until Basil cut him off and exclaimed before running out the door, "Then we have no time to waste!", only for him to instantly stop, turn around and trudge back into his home, saying, "Right after I change into some pants."
xXx
Marigold never saw it coming. One minute, she was walking into Basil's home, ready to sleep the night away and get some answers. The next, she felt something like a bone grab around her waist and then yank her with astonishing strength! The next thing she knew, the world was washing by, and she was thrown onto the shoulders of something running away at the speed of a horse!
When her brain finally caught up, she saw her party and Basil trying to run after her with no success! When she looked down, she finally realized it was the Dullahan that had snagged her in its spine whip and then grabbed her before taking off!
For a while, Marigold was confused by what had happened until her brain finally caught up and realized she was being abducted! So she began to fight back! There was no head for her to beat, and the one present was far lower and armored, so she just tried to beat at the arms and back to release her.
"Put me down! Put me down, you overgrown undead horse rider!", she yelled while trying to kick the corpse, but the Dullahan never reacted.
After several minutes of fight-riding, the horseman finally stopped and dropped his load onto the ground. Landing on her hip, Marigold yelled, "Ow! Guess I shouldn't have expected gentleness from a brute like you."
After rubbing the pain away and pretending to lay on the ground like a helpless damsel, a slick smile crossed her face, and Marigold jumped to her feet while proclaiming, "Now get…ready?"
She took out her sword, which seemed to shimmer in the moonlight, and pointed it defiantly at the monster, only to see it turned away. Marigold was confused. She was sure the thing would try to tease her a bit before trying to kill her, only to one-up it and take it out by surprise. After all, that's how this usually goes with her. So what was different now?
Looking at the Dullahan, she saw how it and its severed were several paces away from her. With their backs turned and not even acknowledging her previous statement, they almost looked…calm, too calm. This put her on edge more than anything.
So, with sword in hand, she moved over to the monster and called out, "Hey! Hello? I'm over here! The person you just kidnapped!"
But the monster did not stir, still as a statue; even its horse didn't turn its ears to the sound of her voice. So she plucked up the courage to stand directly before the frozen monster and demand, "Hey! What's gotten into that empty head you carry around? You snatch me up, ride into the Empty Lands, and then don't even acknowledge me? What gi-!?"
Suddenly, her thoughts clicked, and she realized why the Dullahan was acting strangely. After looking at the ground in thought, she looked up at the headless monster and said in a small voice, "Wait a second. You don't want to kill me. You're using me as bait for…Basil."
Realizing this, Marigold became angry and threateningly pointed at the specter and demanded in a shout, "Hey! What do you even want with him! What's so important about him? You got sent by Anaya's ghost or something?", and yet the horse and rider showed no reaction, keeping their eyes on the distance, waiting for their actual target to arrive. This pissed her off even more, and the woman shouted up at the headless thing, "Hey! I'm talking to you! You may be undead, but I know you can understand-!"
But the horse had other ideas, and when she raised her voice while getting too close, the monster attempted to bite her with its piranha-like teeth! Marigold stumbled back momentarily, but the rider stopped his horse from advancing, making it scream at her! She stood up to the monster defiantly in the face of the vicious animal and clenching her fist, she punched it straight into the nose!
"Shut up, you stupid bag of glue!", she yelled at the beast.
The blow was powerful enough to not only make the horse flinch and back away from the pain but also cause it to bleed profusely! After recollecting itself, the monstrous equine licked its broken, bloody nose and stared daggers at the young woman. This is when the Dullahan took its sword off its back and readied itself and its steed for a fight!
Taking up her sword, Marigold chastised, "Oh, now you decide to fight. Well, bring it on! I'm not scared of you!"
This is when the Dullahan lifted its head in the air, roared its eerie moan, and its neck fire burst into a column. The world around the Dullahans' moaning head appeared to distort! The horse also reared onto its hind legs and screeched its demonic call!
Marigold's eyes shrunk to pinpricks, and her sweat dropped as she said, "Okay, I'm a little bit scared."
The battle began, and the monster attacked by charging the horse forward while swinging its sword! But Marigold was light on her feet as always and easily dodged the attack! The monster could move and turn for more rapid attacks thanks to the horse! But every time, Marigold would dodge. Unfortunately, this didn't give the woman any chance to counterstrike, as the monster was already charging again when she readied herself.
Things finally changed when the Dullahan charged head-on instead of veering off to the side to swing its weapon. This is when Marigold also took a different direction and began to backflip faster than ever before, dodging the wide swings of the sword and the crushing hooves of the horse who attempted to stomp her!
This all came to a head when Marigold backflipped off a tree, used it as a springboard, and jumped atop the horse who ran headfirst into the plant! This allowed the woman to slash at the monster while it was trying to get its mount under-counter! Huge gash marks were left in the monster's armor as its long sword was useless in such a close-up fight! Anytime it attacked with its sword, Marigold would jump over the blade and put more slash marks on it!
So the Dullahan changed tactics and ignited its neck flame into a massive column of heat and light, blinding Marigold as it gave the monster a chance to grab her leg and throw her to the ground! Marigold winched and cried out from hitting the rocky ground with such force but managed to steel herself enough not to just lay there! As she got to her knees, she saw the Dullahan doing something strange with its sword.
It raised it into the air and moved in a circular motion. Marigold had no idea what was happening, but strange energy seemed to pool from the monster's body and into the blade, causing it to grow bigger and brighter. One thing Marigold knew for sure was that whatever was happening, she was in the splash zone and needed to move!
She ran while her body ached but didn't get away in time as the Dulahan made a slashing movement in the air and caused a massive beam of energy to shoot out in a wide arc that passed by and through the whole forest while also hitting Marigold in the back! Her cries of pain were drowned out by the sound of wailing energy released by the sword, and she fell to the ground with her back feeling like it had been completely ripped open!
As her vision blurred, she barely saw the Dullahan closing in on her! She tried to run but ended up falling over from the pain and ended up receiving a slash across the cheek from the tip of its sword before the horse reared up and knocked her away with its sharp hooves, getting cut on her arms! Just before her vision went dark, she felt the horse roughly place its hoof on her chest, causing her to gasp for air! Looking up, she could almost swear that the two monsters were grinning at her, even if one was an animal and the other had its head covered in a helmet.
Marigold knew she had to act and fast, but what to do was the issue. What could she do? She looked off to the side to try and find something but only saw her sword within reach. Its glowing blade called to her like a moth to a flame. She could feel the power of it and hope. So she reached out and grabbed the blade as the Dullahan lifted its sword to strike her.
Then, with what little might she had left, she thrust the blade through the horse's leg! The beast cried out in pain as Marigold pulled out the sword and stuck it through the chest, causing the monster to back away from the cuts that appeared to burn its being! Being able to breathe again, Marigold rolled over to her side while trying not to agitate the wounds she already had. So she reached into her side bag and pulled out a vial of red liquid, a potion of healing as it was called. She popped the cork with her teeth and then drank down the red-colored concoction that tasted nothing like cherries. After nearly gagging from the potion, she felt her strength return once more, and her wounds disappeared.
Once she was well enough to get back to her feet, she uncorked and downed another potion before throwing the glass vila away and staring down her quarry, who also recovered quite quickly and tried to slash at her again with another super attack! She could dodge it this time, but the attack cut the other side of her face! When the wound opened, the pain was unreal! It was hot on the outside but cold on the inside! And she had the strangest feeling that part of her was…gone?
She wondered why she didn't feel this same pain when the sword hit her earlier, but then she remembered how much pain she was in and probably didn't notice. She was already low on potions, so she had to be resourceful. She stood to face the ghostly rider but noticed a strong breeze from behind. Seeing how the Dulhan wasn't moving, almost inviting her to look, she did and was shocked by what she saw!
Before, she was inside a small forest of trees, but now that forest was half destroyed! Adult trees had been cut down to the stump in half or weren't there anymore. The ground had been stripped of grass and was now patchy dirt and rocks with dust clouds, deep gashes, and any remaining plant matter covered in the same blue flame the monster's sword was enveloped in! The only remaining plant life of the first was the one in the back of the Dullahan.
With strands of hair in front of her face, she slowly turned back to the monster with a horrified expression, making the two spirits leer at her in delight. Licking her dry lips and swallowing dryly, she said, "You're unlike any other Dullahan, are you? That sword had been super buffed to do…that. Someone sent you. But why Basil of all people?"
As usual, the Dullahan said nothing and made its horse walk towards the woman instead. Marigold felt her blood boil under her skin. She tightened her grip on her sword, and her fear was replaced with anger at this realization. She wanted to know more than anything why anyone or anything wanted to try and hurt such a kindhearted and genuine person like Basil. It made no sense! He is so lovely and deserves to be happy and not fight everything that wants to kill him or make his life miserable for no reason! And now she would be the one to fight one of his unneeded battles!
So she stood tall and proclaimed boldly, "Right, you're trying and failing to kill me."
This did not sit well with the monster; it lifted its head in the air while roaring! Marigold lifted her shimmering sword in defense and changed her footing to lunge! When the monster stopped its roar, they both charged! The horse took a minute to speed up, but Marigold could go full speed in seconds! The moment they were in range of one another, Marigold and the Dullahan clashed swords! Their strikes were equally powerful on both ends, with the Dullahna having more strength and viciousness and Marigold being quicker and more agile!
Marigold was jumping, sliding, and dodging around the horse as she crossed swords with its rider! The Dullahan kept trying to use his steed to make attack openings, but Marigold was like a blur of gold that could only see the slashing and stabbing of her sword! This game of speed and strength finally ended when Marigold changed fighting spots to the side of the horse and began to attack the Dullahan on its weaker fighting side, its left side. The horse tried to move, but Marigold kept light and fast, always keeping to its side but not its back!
This led to the Dullahan and its horse taking more than enough hits from the sword on its weak spot! But also gained the irritation of the Dullahan, who charged its ultimate attack in a hurry and slashed it on the ground! This was precisely what Marigold wanted, and she rolled under the horse as the attack blew up the ground, causing the huge animal to be flung to the opposite side and allowing Marigold to stab her sword into the horse's side and then force it to fall to the other side of its body with her strength and into the small hot crater!
There, she moved fast upon the downed animal and sliced off both of its front legs before it could stand up, then stabbed it through the neck before grabbing both ends of the sword where she fought against the huge animal's massive strength to twist and finally snapped its neck! This caused the ghostly animal to scream one last dying breath before it fell limp and faded into black smoke and fire ash. Marigold stood up and huffed heavily while wiping the sweat from her forehead. As she stepped away, smiling satisfactorily, she heard a familiar yet panicked voice call out to her.
"Marigold!", yelled the voice of Basil, who she saw running towards her with her party members.
"Basil!", she called back, feeling new energy flow into her, nearly tripping as she ran to him.
The two embraced like two people who had almost lost one another while her party looked down with differing expressions ranging from aww to ugh. After they pulled away from one another, Basil held her face and began to heal her wounds with his magic.
Once she looked better than before, Basil said in relief, "You're okay and…", He trailed off while looking over her shoulder to see the disappearing horse and the unmoving rider lying in the dirt. "You beat the Dullahan?" he finished in a tone of disbelief and amazement.
She put up her nose and proudly stated, "Yeah, I did! I told you I'd be a great adventurer."
Even though Basil was impressed and happy with her, he still needed clarification about how she beat a Level 45 special-class monster. So he asked her, "But how? You wield a normal sword?"
The cleric answered his question, "Actually, I enchanted her blade with a bit of holy magic just before she got taken."
"I thought my sword looked more glowy.", Marigold said with a bit of shock while holding up her rapier, which appeared to radiate positive energy.
Just before they could all celebrate the women's victory, the paladin cut in and said, "That's great and all, but you didn't kill it."
"Pardon?", Basil and Marigold said at the same time.
He exemplified this by pointing behind them and explaining, "You didn't kill it, just its steed."
Returning to where the Dullahan lies, they saw the ghostly figure rise from the ground like a vampire from its coffin, pick up its head, reignite its neck flame, and try to brandish its sword. When it realized it no longer had its string weapon, it looked down to see what remained of it vanished with its steed. Gripping its hand in anger, it reached into its neck and yanked out its own spine! After barely falling over from losing its support, it stood straight, adjusted itself, and appeared to crack its neck. Afterward, it flicked its wrist, causing its spine to loosen into a whip, and lifted its head into the air and let out its ominous roar of despair while its neck sprouted forth blue flames!
"Oh, shit.", Basil squeaked out in fear.
Only for the entire party of adventurers to stand before him with weapons and magic ready to fight the monster!
"Step aside, baker. Watch how real adventurers take down a monster!", boldly professed the paladin while brandishing his holy sword.
The Dullahan cracked its whip and threw it in a wide arc at the group! The cleric put up a magic shield and blocked the attack! Once the monster tries to ready its next attack, the barbarian, paladin, and Marigold all run in to attack it head-on! The cleric then casts a spell that, from Basil's novice understanding, seems to tip the scales in favor of their success. At the same time, the warlock begins to chant something in a demonic-sounding tongue, and the bard begins to strum on his lute, which appears to invigorate the barbarian in particular.
The Dullahan throws its whip again, but the palladian blocks the attack with his winged shield, allowing Marigold to get in and begin peppering the ghouls' armor with many slashes. The Dullahan tries to retaliate by bashing her with its own head, but the barbarian is given a big opening to jump and come down with his great ax on the monster's back! The attack connects, and a huge gash is formed on the shoulder of the monster! The Dullahan cried out in pain as its blue fire turned back, and newfound strength was discovered as it quickly pulled the ax from its body and then stunned the barbarian with a punch before rapidly hitting him with its right arm and then headbutting him in the head with its own severed head!
It then flicked its wrist, turning its whip into a sword, slashing and stabbing the barbarian in his shoulder! The Dullahan then turned its sword back into a whip and swung the colossal man around and around before sending him flying into the Paladin, who had to defend with his shield! Luckily, the man managed to catch the half-giant but nearly fell over from the force of the fling and the barbarian's weight, creating two trenches from the man's feet digging into the earth.
When Marigold tried to side-blind the monster, it moved quickly and turned to her, raising its leg and striking her in the chest! This caused the woman to nearly have the wind knocked out of her while she plunged her sword into the ground to stop her forced movement. With that, the flame changed back to blue, and the monster used its whip to strike at the remaining fighters! Luckily, the cleric summoned a shield made of light and deflected the attacks, which were far faster and more numerous.
But it gave the bard a chance to strum his lute and saw some demoralizing words to the monster, who flinched while trying to hold its aching head! This allowed the warlock to finish her spell and cast it, which sprouted dark demonic arms around the monster, holding it in place! Then, each magic user used a spell against the monster, doing severe damage.
The cleric shot a blast of holy magic from her staff, the warlock fired a beam of chaotic energy, and the bard strummed his lute so hard that it shot lightning! Marigold got in on the action and threw a handful of weak bombs on the monster that exploded all around it, concealing its vision! Meanwhile, the paladin is trying to heal the barbarian's wounds, but once the half-giant can stand, he pushes the human aside and tenses his body while breathing a ragged breath. In moments, his breath becomes increasingly tattered and rapid as his body tenses and bulges to the point that he looks to double in size! Then, with a primal roar of intense Rage, he runs towards the monster, picks up his axe, charges with a might greater than any beats, and bursts right through the metallic monster like it's made of tinfoil, cutting it in half and many pieces! Finally, the battle ends as the cleric and paladin tend to the wounded.
Basil watched in amazement, jaw-dropping in awe, before he exclaimed, "That. Was. Totally Epic!"
All the adventurers all smile or give their thanks for the praise to the young man.
"I knew you'd be impressed.", the paladin said with a cocky attitude, only to be blindsided by Basil's sudden change in expression from excitement to dread. So he asked cautiously, "What?"
"Uh, I think the Dulahan just started its second phase.", Basil said while backing away and pointing behind them.
Looking back over to the broken monster, the party saw as the many scattered pieces began to reform back into the original monster. The very last piece of reforming was the spine whip, which snagged the severed head back to its hand! It stared through its helmet and roared as its blue neck flame turned black again, shooting a column into the air!
The adventurers readied themselves again, and the paladin shouted to his friends, "Look alive, men! We're just going to have to break that thing even harder!"
The battle went down again, and just like before, the hero's teamwork was instrumental in taking down the strong monster! But no sooner did they kill it when it reformed once more! From there on, no matter how hard they hit it or with what, the Dullahan would always rise back up! The heroes quickly began losing strength, resilience, courage, and stamina. How could they beat something that never seemed to die, no matter what they did? Should they make a beeline for Basil's house again?
Basil wanted to help but needed to figure out how! Usually, when he's in the thick of danger, his fighter fight response always tells him to fight, but now that he was on the back line, he was getting battle-shy and couldn't bring himself to attack or defend. He just stood there, biting his nails in fear and crossing his legs in the stress of what would come once the Dullahan got the best of them. Then, his skills began to activate from his anxiety and worry, first starting with his Appraisal Skill.
Dullahan: an unusual specter monster that takes the form of a human in a suit of armor, carrying its severed head and a roaring flame from its open neck. It roams the countryside in desperate revenge for the one who beheaded it. It rides an unknown horse-like creature thought to be a tamed Tantabus, but it's a previously unclassified undead.
It wields one of two vastly different weapons: a flaming sword or a whip made from its own spinal column. It only has the sword when riding its steed and will vanish if the horse is vanquished. The sword can siphon the soul of any living creature it cuts and will harvest the soul if slain by the sword. The whip can extend great distances and is nearly unbreakable, in addition to being used as a sword.
This particular Dullahan has been super-buffed by the magical aid of a higher devil known as xxxxxxxxx. However, after losing its steed, it has lost most of its power and a level 6 flaming sword.
Basil had to shake his head after seeing all that at once. He never expected such a flood of information and wondered why. Then he realized his Appraisal Skill must've leveled up. This explained the surplus of information and the extra bit that he wouldn't usually get, like the Dullahan's horse, its sword (whatever level 6 meant), and whoever buffed it up. However, he wondered why the name of this person was censored.
He'd have to think of that later because he had to figure out how to beat this thing right now. Appraisal activated to give himself an in-depth information window; it might work if he concentrated on figuring out its weakness. So he did just that, and suddenly, Appraisal, Foresight, and Telescopic Vision merged together and formed a new skill called PinPoint. According to its description, it allowed him to find the weakness of anything he looked at and tell him what it was.
Using the new skill, his eyes changed to red target lockers and zeroed in on Dullahan's head with a window, saying that was its weakness. At first, he was confused about what to do with this information, but then his hindsight skill was activated, and he remembered his conversation with Millard not so long ago!
In a eureka moment, he exclaimed, "Head!"
"Marigold can give you that later!", the paladin called to him while trying to hold back the Dullahan's bone sword.
Basil blushed in anger and embarrassment before explaining nervously, "What? No! The head o-o-of the Dullahan! I-It's the only weakness! You've gotta destroy it; otherwise, it'll keep reforming!"
"Even if we do that, how do we destroy it?", Asked the Warlock as she blasted the monster with three beams of fire.
Thinking fast with Thought Acceleration, he devised a loose plan and yelled, "Get its head away from the body and give it to me! I know just how!"
The party looked at the man, then looked at Marigold, who was attached to the monster's back, a sword stuck into its back and through its chest, legs wrapped around its hips, and rapidly stabbing its body over and over with her dagger. She saw how her team was looking at her, silently nodding, only for the Dullahan to grab her leg, pull her off, and then throw her into a tree stump! So they shrugged and tried to separate the head from the body, a task easier said than done.
But before the whole party could run after the monster, Basil stood before the healer and asked, "You! You're the healer, right?", the cleric nodded her head rapidly, looking like a frightened dog. "You've gotta come with me!", he told her while extending his hand for her to take.
The half-elf blushed a deep pink, and, holding her staff close to her breast, she exclaimed in shock, "Good sir! I'm a woman of the cloth! I have no interest in such things, let alone a threesome!"
Basil finally lost his cool over everyone thinking that he and Marigold were a thing and, at that point of the relationship, yelled at the flighty woman, "Will all of you just fucking stop with that! This is serious!"
The cleric squeaked in fright as Basil pushed his already messy black hair away to try and calm down. Only to be taken off guard when the bard yelled, "Heads up!"
He looked up and saw a flying object falling towards him. He ran around, desperate to catch the object, but without sports skills. Once he did, he saw what looked like a horrified face made of metal but quickly realized it was the head of the Dullahan! The head shook in his grasp and moaned in anger at being held by anyone but its own body.
So, with eyes wide, he placed the head under his arm, grabbed the cleric, and shouted, "No time to chat, let's go!"
"Hey, wait!", the cleric tried to argue but was forcefully taken to wherever Basil wanted.
Just before leaving the battle zone, Basil said, "Marigold, big guy, fancy pants, hold the body down!"
Hearing this, the barbarian tackled the Dullahan's body to the ground; Marigold stabbed her sword into one of its shoulders and through the dirt while the paladin restrained its legs with his shield. Meanwhile, Basil was running with all he had with the Dullahan's head and the cleric's arm. The ladder of which was barely keeping up and already panting like a dog! Basil implored a new strategy, seeing that they would never get to the spot he wanted and that the Dullahan would eventually break free and chase after them. With the sigil glowing on his right hand, a burst of light exploded from under them, and from it came out the giant pink unicorn Gossamer, who the baker and the cleric were riding!
The cleric was more than shocked by this as she tried to hang onto the galloping beast and asked Basil in shock, "You have a unicorn!?"
"I'll tell you later, just hang on!", Basil yelled over the rushing wind as the young half-elf decided to hang onto the man himself, around his waist, very tightly.
As they ran through the night and under the moon's light, Gossamer telepathically asked him, "Basil, where are we going, and what's happening?"
Without a second to spare, Basil quickly replied, "Dullahan is after my head; now I have his, and we're going to the Halflings!"
"You're going to feed them a vengeful spirit.", the unicorn said in a statement rather than a question.
Basil shot him a look and exclaimed, "No! I'm going to drop its head in the water and drown it."
"A spirit that can drown?", Gossamer questions.
"I know, right!? That's how I reacted!", Basil replied.
"Ack!", Gossamer suddenly cried in pain.
"What's wrong?!", Basil asked in concern.
"The body has caught up, and me.", he winched out in pain.
Looking back, Basil saw the tailbone of the whip sticking out of the unicorn's flank, with the rest of the monster being dragged behind at its entire length. Entirely unable to move any closer due to the speed and being dragged harshly across the ground. Basil grunted in frustration and stated, "How freaking long is its spine!?"
So he summoned the Hands of God and slapped the monster away like an annoying little gnat. After that, he pulled the spine out of the unicorn, allowing them to race towards the Halfling town unimpeded. Once they arrived at the sleeping burrow, they slid off the huge animal, where the cleric followed the baker to the river's edge as Gossamer stood guard. As they stood over the bridge that connects two parts of the town, the cleric looked down into the shallow but calmly running river that trickled like a melody.
Looking at the young man, the half-elf asked, "Now what?"
"Take my hand.", he answered while stretching out his left hand.
"But we're not even married yet!", the woman cried in embarrassment.
"For fuck sake, just take it!", Basil yelled at her, making the nervous woman quickly take it while looking away from him. From here, he dropped the moaning head into the water, and they both watched as it sank like a rock. "We have to use our holy magic to make the water pure. The river is shallow, and the Dulahan can retrieve its head before it drowns.", he explains to the woman.
"That's genius!", the cleric exclaimed in excitement, wiggling her ears to show her emotion.
Suddenly, they heard Dullahan's head bubbling angrily from the water. They turned their heads to the sound of heavy metal armor and felt a raging fire hit their faces. It was Dullahan's body, which finally caught up and was looking for its head. Its neck fire raged out of control in a spiral like a tornado of ash and flame while the flame turned a shade of obsidian black!
"Here it comes!", the cleric squealed in fright.
It marched with hands out, ready to grab anything it could, but instead found itself fighting off Gossamer, who appeared to have it completely outmatched in raw strength. This gave the two people enough time to channel their magic into the water. Basil only had to activate it with a thought, and the cleric began to recite scripture. Very quickly, the river started to shimmer with a white light, and the Dullahan's head began to bubble and boil in the cool water.
This also affected the body, which began shaking and shuttering like a loose door in an earthquake. But with what strength it had left, it hit Gossamer on the side of the head, temporarily stunning him, allowing the body to run as fast as it could to attack the two people! Even though the monster put out amazing and terrifying speed, nearly causing the two people to stop in fear, they braved the sight and thought of what may come to put out even more into their magic to fell this monster once and for all finally!
Just as the body made it within grabbing distance of the two people, it was suddenly pulled back and just out of reach by Gossamer, who quickly recovered from the punch! Even though its long and grotty cape held it back, the monster still tried to crawl towards it even though it was already showing the signs of a drowning victim. This gave the two people more motivation to try harder, and within a few seconds, the legs of the body fell off, followed by the torso and one arm after the other, until the flame finally puffed out into black smoke!
When Basila and the cleric finally opened their eyes, they saw two things. First, the Dullahan body broke down and was reduced to nothing, and second, smoke wafted off the river as the water boiled in the shape of a painful soul, exiting with one last shriek! All before vanishing with the wind and allowing the quiet of the night to settle around them.
Once the situation finally settled between them, the cleric cautiously asked, "We…We did it?"
"We did it!", Basil exclaimed while grabbing the woman, jumping up and down while laughing.
Only for all the noise to wake a Halfling from a nearby hill home and throw open his window while yelling in a tired voice, "What's with all the racket out here!?"
"We just killed a Dulahan!", Basil replied with zeal, making a shocked expression come upon the older Halfling's face and making him slowly retreat into his home.
After Basil stopped jumping around with the woman, she fell to her knees, clutching her staff, and said, exhausted, "The boys back at the church are never going to believe this."
"I witnessed it, and I don't believe it.", Basil interrupted her monologue.
Just before anything could happen, a slow, low, and raspy voice said to them, "Congratulations."
The two people both freaked out and jumped into one another's arms, scooby-doo style, and looked behind them in terror to see what had snuck up on them! Only to see the old undertaker, Millard, standing behind them with a shovel and wheelbarrow. After calming down and climbing off one another, Basil was the first to question him,
"Ah! Millard!? What are you doing all the way out here? Actually, why are you here?", he asked, going from shock to calm, and finally curiosity.
"Same as you. This is the nearest river to the town. So, I came to imbue it with pure spices and herbs while chanting holy scriptures. I planned on acquiring the Dulahan's head and dropping it in. But, it appears you beat me to it.", Millard explained, making Basil wonder how in the world he was even going to try and do that. He then motions to his wheelbarrow and asks in his raspy voice, "Now, would you be so kind as to retrieve the head and load it with the body into my cart?"
Before Basil could explain to him that the monster had melted away, the wicked witch of the west style, he heard a bubbling sound and saw the helmet of the Dullahan float up to the surface. But something was different. It no longer had the horrified face imprint on the helmet's metal but instead looked like a regular metal helmet for a totally normal, not undead, headless knight. He next looked to where the Dullahan's body disintegrated but saw the dust reformed back into the body of a regular headless knight that Gossamer was poking.
So before accepting the man's request, he asked, "Can I ask why?"
"I want to bury the body so it can't rise back up or into something far worse. There's a reason to treat the dead with respect.", Millard explained in simple terms, making the man shrug to his request and comply.
So he waded into the shallow river and grabbed the head while Gossamer picked up the heavy body and placed it into the small wheelbarrow. Shocking the young man by his strength, Millard looked over his shoulder with his lazy eye and commented slowly and lowly, "Have a good night. And many more."
"Yeah, you too, Millard.", Basil replied, waving him off and trying to hold back his shiver.
He then turns back to the equally creeped-out cleric, who stands in awkward silence. Both sides hoped that someone would break the tension. Basil looked at Gossamer for social aid, but the Unicorn just looked on with enjoyment, happily watching the two socially awkward people act the way they did. Thus, Basil is upset and embarrassed about his awkwardness being used for entertainment.
Luckily, the tension was quickly broken as the adventuring party's rogue, who had mysteriously been absent for most of their arrival, appeared out of nowhere, holding a large jingling bag over his shoulder.
"Hey, hey, hey! I just swiped all the gold from that dumb baker! Let's book it to town and-.", the Halfling rogue stopped halfway at seeing Basil with the cleric, only to finish by saying, "Oops."
Just then, Teto and Wrinkles came out of nowhere, screaming primal cries and lunging at the thieving halfling! All three wrestled about on the ground, making all kinds of noise as they fought in a comical dust cloud, and the money bag rolled off to the side.
Seeing all of this godown, the cleric nervously turned to Basil as she asked, "I'm guessing that sleeping over is out of the question, yes?", who only replied by sighing very loud and very irritated.
xXx
"Another failure.", said Charlotte as she scratched deep crevices into the wood upholstery of her desk. A dark shadow overcast her face.
Suddenly, the devil grabbed her counter table, ripped it from the wall, and threw it harshly against the opposing one with the vanity mirror floating in the air as she screamed, "Another failure…AGAIN!"
After screaming in a fury, she stood up and yelled as the fire came off her body, "First my Tantabus, and now my own knight!", She quickly made her way to her vanity mirror, which showed Basil's exasperated expression. She exclaimed, holding herself back from clawing the mirror, "You aren't just impeccably lucky! You're stupidly lucky!"
So, instead, she punched the wall next to the mirror and yelled in frustration, "What does it take to kill you!?"
As Charlotte raged further, her room door opened, and in hobbled a strange little creature. It was no bigger than a medium-sized dog, colored all red. It had black horns and quills going down the length of its back, hooved feet, bat wings, sharp teeth and claws, yellow eyes, and a whipping-pointed tail.
It cautiously entered and meekly asked, "Um, milady? Is now a bad time?"
Charlotte whipped her head hard enough to make her neck crack as she hissed with flaming eyes, "What are you doing here!?"
"You, um, called for me, Lady Charlotte.", the little red thing cowered before her.
In a moment, Charlotte calmed down and fixed herself up before saying to him, "Oh yes, that's right. I nearly forgot, um…what's your name?"
"I am imp number 4,327, your ladyship.", the imp introduced himself with a bow.
"No, that won't do. Instead, I'll call you…Acolyte.", Charlotte offered the imp.
Acolyte gasped in delight and replied, "A name just for me? Oh, thank you, Lady Charlotte. A million thanks over!" He jumped for joy while clapping his hands.
Charlotte rolled her eyes and waved him off, "Yes, yes, you're very thankful. Now then, do you know why I've personally called you?"
Acolyte thought momentarily and guessed, "Because my hard work and dedication have set me apart from my other kin, catching your eye?"
Charlotte burst out laughing before quickly calming down and telling him, "Ha! No. You're no different from the thousands of other imps who trip over themselves to get recognized.", This made Acolyte deflate on himself as Charlotte continued, "No, the reason I called you here is because you have a very unique quirk."
Acolyte blinked in confusion before asking, "I'm not sure I understand your meaning, my ladyship."
"You can do…", Charlotte began revving him up as she sneakily charged up an attack behind her back. She then revealed the magic ball of dark energy while exclaiming, "This!" and threw the orb right at the imp.
Acolyte screamed in pain, or at least prepared for the soon-to-be pain, until he realized that he was not in pain or dying or anything. He opened one eye and saw the dark energy swirling around his body before being completely absorbed and marking his body with black streaks.
Patting his naked and genderless body over, he said in delight, "Hey! I'm still alive! And tingly."
"Now, do you see? You are a Deviant.", Charlotte explained to him.
"Thank you, mistress.", Inferno said with a bow.
Charlotte slapped her face in response before explaining in aggravation, "Not that kind of deviant! All devils are deviants by nature. You're the kind that can absorb magic and then redirect it as your own."
Acolyte blinked in surprise, looking himself over before saying, "I've never had magic before."
"Because of that, I have a very special job for you.", the higher devil said to the lower devil, booping his snubbed nose.
"You can count on me, Milady.", Acolyte said excitedly, standing at attention and saluting her.
"That's excellent to hear. Because if you fail me…", Charlotte began to say while rubbing her hands with a clap and smile, all before grabbing his face roughly and growling with glowing eyes of hellfire, "It will be your last mistake!"
"As you wish.", Acolyte replied through his squished face and fear.
"But first, you are far too weak to do what I need. So, I shall grant you a promotion.", the Devil Pierre told him with a knowing look.
Acolyte looked gobsmacked as he exclaimed with fierce excitement, "A promo-a promo-a promotion!?"
"Are you ready?", Charlotte asked while wiggling her fingers, looking out of the side of her face.
"Yeah yeah yeah!", Inferno replied while shaking his head violently.
"Good. Cause this'll hurt.", Charlotte quickly told him while preparing to blast him with something new.
"Wait, what?", Inferno asked at the last moment of realization.
Suddenly, Charlotte cast a magic sigil at the imps' feet, and a massive, colossal column of dark energy sprouted up, engulfing the imps as he cried out in pain, for real this time! His screaming silhouette was seen for just a moment before it was swallowed up entirely! After a few minutes had passed, with Charlotte standing before the column and chanting in some demonic tongue, the energy pillar died down, and within, on its hands and knees, was a man.
He was nude, sweating buckets, had a pale complexion, short red hair, and black eyes with a well-made physique. Seeing him in his birthday suit, Charlotte waved her wrist while twirling her index finger, and the man was covered in a black substance that formed into a three-piece suit and tie.
After the man caught his breath, he stood up and looked over himself. This man was the imp, Acolyte. His wonder quickly turned to excitement as he realized he had been promoted to not just any station in the devilish hierarchy but also the fourth highest kind of devil, a Devil Marquee! One step under the Devil Pier standing before him, now at eye level.
"Lady Charlotte, you…you promoted me this far?", Acolyte asked in amazement with a completely new voice.
Charlotte giggles at his reaction and says, "Like I said, you were far too weak to do anything in your previous state. Succeed, and you get to keep this form. Fail and…well, I don't have to tell you."
Acolyte got on his knees, grasped her hands, and, with his head bowed, sincerely asked, "Whatever can I do for you as thanks for such kindness?!"
Charlotte smiled wickedly at his offer and, pulling away while going to her mirror, she told him, waving her hand over it, "Go to the town of Ash End. Find the Baker known as Basil and bring him to me. Kill anyone and destroy anything you like. Just bring the bread maker to me, alive!" she exclaimed in the last part while pointing to a shot of Basil.
Acolyte stood up, bowed his head, and exclaimed, "Consider it done, lady Charlotte.", He then vanished with his new teleportation magic.
Charlotte sat back down in her chair, crossed her legs, folded her hands, and, with a toothless smile, purred through a forked tongue, "Excellent."