Gnarl Finds Something Interesting

Gnarl peeked his head in through the farmhouse's doorway, lips curling into a twisted smile as he saw the aftermath of the battle. Pulling himself into the building, he began shuffling towards us. "Excellent work, sire. Good to see you aren't wasting time before collecting some higher quality minions." Sarah moaned weakly in either protest or agreement, I couldn't tell which. "Would you like me to look around and see if there's anything worth taking from this hovel?"

"Please do, Gnarl." The ancient minion likely had methods to divine how valuable things were. Or maybe he was just old enough to tell, old people always seem to know weird things. Gnarl's stooped figure wandered around the farmhouse, poking and prodding at the various items strewn across the floor. He occasionally snorted in derision as he found something particularly disappointing. Finally, he turned around and walked back towards Sarah and I, shaking his head in annoyance.

"It seems there's nothing of val-" Gnarl froze in place and stared down at the boards under his feet. He began sniffing the air, slowly pacing the area until he stopped and pointed at a particular section of floor. "Miasma, Chunder! Tear up the floor here! I feel something terrible, a truly benevolent energy." Two of the browns scampered over to him, giggling wildly and tearing at the wood there. Gnarl shooed them away once a hole had been made, and brushed some of the splinters from the canvas wrapped box that had been uncovered. He snapped his fingers at the minions and they lifted the box from its hiding spot, laying it on the ground in front of me. Gnarl carefully unwrapped it. The box underneath was long, thin and carefully made, the wooden surface polished to a lustrous sheen. A curling design resembling a pair of feathered wings was inlaid on the surface in golden wire, centered around a gleaming sapphire. Gnarl reached a finger out to touch the gem, but hissed and tore his hand back as soon as he made contact. "Cursed thing! It stinks of the Goddess's touch. Sire, we should find a way to destroy it."

Gnarl's reaction to the box made me hesitant to try anything. "How do you plan to do that, if we can't even touch it?" The old minion frowned, eyes trailing across the room until they found Sarah, still lying against the wall.

"The girl is not a product of your powers, sire. She should be able to touch the box without any ill effects. We can use her to at least see what the box contains. We may get more ideas from there on how to deal with it."

"Should be able to?" I didn't want to thank Sarah for the sex by maiming her. That just seems like a bad precedent to set for the relationship.

"If not, she will be able to extract herself before any lasting damage is done. It's hardly going to vaporize her instantly, lord."

"I'll hold you to that, Gnarl." I grabbed Sarah's shoulder and gently shook her until her eyes focused on me.

"Mhwhat? What are we talking about? I'm probably going to need a minute before we can go again, but I'm down." She didn't even bother covering her body as she spoke.

I chuckled "We'll save that for later. For now, I need you to open up that box and see what's inside it."

Sarah looked down at the hole in the floor, then the box and gasped. "We had something this well made and never sold it? What the hell?" She scrambled over to the box, but her fingers froze before touching the latch. "Wait, why am I opening it, and not one of your little gremlin guys?"

"It's got a lot of divine energy radiating from it. It'd hurt me pretty badly, and fully vaporize the minions. Just pull your hand back if it starts hurting."

She gave me a withering look. "Gee, thanks. Nice to know I'm appreciated." The look was annoyed, but had no real venom behind it. Tentatively, Sarah reached her hand forward until just her fingertip was touching the latch. The sapphire on top pulsed once, and Sarah jerked her finger back, though it looked to be more out of shock than pain. Looking back and forth between her finger and the box, she seemed to get her nerves up for a second before trying again. The sapphire pulsed, but this time her hand stayed in place and she flicked the latch up, carefully opening the lid. Nestled inside was a gleaming double edged sword, fashioned from an odd white metal. The cross-guard mimicked the design on the box, each feather edged and detailed in gold wire that swirled around a central lightly glowing sapphire. The sheath and handle were a blue-tinged leather, and the pommel flared out before coming to a gentle point. Gnarl hissed in shock.

"Sire! We must approach with care. This is far more dangerous than I thought." Gnarl was slowly edging away from the box, fear etched in his features.

"What do you mean, Gnarl?" There was definitely an increased divine pressure with the box open, but nothing to justify the abject terror on his face.

"This is an ancient artifact. A powerful weapon crafted specifically to combat Overlords. Something that should be kept in a highly secure vault." Gnarl seemed to be lost in thought for a second. "It's the 15th Overlord all over again" he muttered, then shook himself back to attention. "The weapon itself is indestructible, but it can only be wielded by someone of the right bloodline. As long as we keep it out of their hands, we shoul- oh no." Gnarl was interrupted as the sword began glowing. Sarah had been enraptured by the sword from the moment she saw it, and reached out to touch it as Gnarl began to explain. As soon as her fingers met the hilt, the sapphire lit up with a harsh light that began to leak along the gold inlays. "Sire, we must flee! We'll return for the tower heart later, but if we stay here you are sure to perish." A minion that was standing closer than the others turned to stone, then began to crumble into dust. Still naked, I stood up and began sprinting for the doorway, the light beginning to burn my skin as I did so. A painful glance at Sarah showed armor forming around her nude body, made of the same white metal and gold inlay as the sword. Gnarl, moving with a speed that defied his stooped figure, was already out the door.

As odd as it felt I was thankful to still be naked, the lack of heavy armor allowing me to run much faster. My breath started coming hard and fast as I sprinted through the destroyed field, the mud and pumpkin squishing between my toes. Just as I reached the end of the field, two armor covered feet slammed into my back, forcing me to the ground. I lay there, face buried in a rough half of a pumpkin, and waited for **** to come.