Hubris and sparring siblings

Another explosion rocks the tunnel behind you as you grab Ari and Tlax and leap off the chasm into the imp-filled pit below, your wings carrying you in a quick glide to the bottom. Multi-coloured lights fly back and forth overhead, evidence of the ongoing battle between several groups of adventurers and your minions. You wince as Ari runs her finger over a deep gash in your arm: the three of you barely escaped a particularly agile rogue who seemed heaven-bent on ending your dreams of a perfect world bounty. Tlax hisses and jumps in front of you as a dagger lodges in her long form, then the three of you dodge to the side as several more rain one after another on your position. The same rogue from looks over the edge. When he sees that the three of you are still moving, he quaffs a glowing red potion and throws himself down the rickety ladder, leaping several rungs at a time in his haste to catch up. Your imps' fireballs sink harmlessly into him, and he's nearly at the bottom when a well-placed reddish arrow launched from Ari's bow lodges in his skull, the small bag of loot announcing that he's been sent home.

"Urgh, stupid!" You extract another dagger from your leg and toss it aside. The rogue's group had been around level 15, and you figured you'd have some fun and try out your new melee abilities. As it turns out, you've improved somewhat, but still belong firmly in the back line. What should've been a well-matched encounter nearly turned into a disaster. "Ari, how are we doing?"

"I'm almost out of mana here. I just wish the twins were with us." Yeah, maybe you should've waited until they were here to try your little stunt. The day had started with attacks at both dungeon entrances, and you had sent them to deal with the above-ground path. The world bounty tracker still indicates all of your named minions are alive, but that doesn't tell you much about how they're faring.

The din of battle dies down and a cackling cheer rises up from the trickster daemons who fill the room. The three of you have nearly made it back to the rickety ladder when a bright light fills your vision. As you slowly regain your eyesight, you see imps flying into walls and bumping into one another, then suddenly three of them are simultaneously skewered by arrows. Cursing, you grab Tlax's tail in one hand and Ari's hand in the other and drag them in the direction of the dungeon, and only moments after you've left the chasm it turns into a maelstrom of dust as a fierce wind seizes everything still inside.

The three of you sulk in silence in Sera's old cell, listening to yelps as imp after imp is dispatched above. Is this really the end of your short streak? At least last time you were dispatched by adventurers far beyond your capabilities: this time you'll have nobody to blame but yourself. All your underlings and champions stuck to the plan and the heroes weren't anything out of the ordinary.

Silence falls outside, but soon after you hear the telltale creak of the ladder, several pairs of boots descending one after the other. "Tlax," you whisper as quietly as you can, earning a questioning hiss. Your horns, wings, and tail recede into your body as your skin shifts to a peach tone. "I have a plan, but I think we need to fight—Ouch!" She retracts her fangs from your finger with an angry hiss. "Don't give me that, I don't like it either, but I'm just trying to make sure not all of us get wiped here. I'll make it up to you with a nice, juicy rat later." She hisses again before relenting and moving to the entrance to the cell, and you motion for Ari to attack. "Help! Is someone there? We need support!"

A trio of adventurers rush around the corner as Tlax and Ari trade blows. Luckily for all of her spunk the snake seems to have gone along with your plan, as she could easily dispatch both of you in your current state. She bites Ari once or twice but moves just slow enough that more of Ari's swings find purchase than her own, then hisses as a trio of arrows lodge in her back. Ari raises her sword to finish Tlax off when a familiar voice yells "Wait!"

You look away from the skirmish to see a familiar blue-eyed ranger fumbling with her pack. She draws out a small flask and tosses it at the hissing snake. Tlax is consumed by a burst of blue flame, leaving only a sapphire ring in her place: a ring which Celestina quickly pockets. "There, now it can't respawn for the rest of the event. Didn't you guys have any left? Wait a minute, Adam? Ari?"

"Fancy, ugh, meeting you here," you groan and slide down the wall, taking a chance to look at her companions. A tall, dark-skinned human woman stands in front of her, her whole body clad in thick plate mail and her hands holding a plain steel sword and shield. Her blazing yellow eyes give her away as a paladin. Behind the two women, a burly copper-skinned dwarven man wearing tatters of cloth holds a gnarled wooden staff: no doubt the druid who summoned the cyclone earlier. A large grey wolf sits at his side, one of his hands in its thick fur.

"How did you get here? What happened to the gem? Didn't you have it?"

"Ugh, yeah, had. About an hour after you left I got ambushed by the imp bastard and his snake pet. Ari and I pushed our way in here yesterday but ran out of supplies and have been camping out ever since, hoping for another group to find us. We tried to use your battle to sneak across to the treasure room, but it must've been a trap since that thing found us there. Anyways, care to introduce us to your new friends?"

"Oh, right, uh, this is Tashila," she motions to the paladin, "and this is Orin. Orin, Tashila, this is Adam, a player I've run into a few times, and Ari, an... NPC companion of his." She blushes a bit.

"That lass is your clone, more like," the dwarf remarks in a thick drawl.

"Look, just... don't ask, okay?" Celestina shows no interest in elaborating further to her new friends. "Hey, did you say you found a treasure room? Let's go check that out!"

"Sure, urgh, do you think you could spare some potions though? Like I said, we're completely dry, and I don't fancy our chances if the imp finds us." She reaches into her tiny adventurer's pouch and pulls out a few flasks, handing them to each of you. You let out a relieved sigh as your cuts stitch themselves back together and you feel your mana replenish.

"Right, follow me." Your new party leaves the prison, shooting down a few stray imps and entering the tunnels on the other side. You weave through a few twists and turns until you come to the small treasure room. It isn't much, just a heap of coins and gems with whatever equipment you've collected from adventurers, but your new companions still rush to it and start eagerly sorting through the spoils. You pretend to join in, picking out a magical-looking sword and a gaudy ring. Losing the gems will be inconvenient, but if it gets you out of this alive it's worth the price.

"Now look who we have here!" You spin around to see a familiar rogue and warrior accompanied by two other adventurers you don't recognize: a young elven mage clad in flowing red robes that match her hair and an archer clad in silvery chain mail and a heavy helm that obscures their features entirely.

"Ugh, go away David, we were here first," the bratty ranger snaps in response while continuing to rummage through the discarded equipment, before suddenly freezing. You raise an eyebrow, and a moment later you feel your body shake off an enchantment: the elf mage's fingers wiggle subtly under her robes.

"Really?" You glare at the rogue, and he smirks and shrugs before dropping into a combat stance and tossing a dagger at you. You leap to the back of the room, summoning a wall of fire between the melee and ranged adventurers while the paladin and the druid's wolf charge at your new enemies. Shadowdagger the rogue dodges their charge almost too fast to see, but suddenly his limbs are wrapped in thick vines and several well-placed magic arrows from Ari send him back to town.

You crash to the ground as the druid's wolf slams into you before vanishing. By the time you look up, Jared the fighter has already turned to engage the paladin to his side, their blades crossed as both sides grunt from the strain. Orin lets out a roar of pain and casts a spell to coat his skin in bark before summoning a thick cloud of insects which swarm and bite at the fighter. You hear yells from the other side of the wall before the mage and the archer jump through, also coated in a crawling mass, and launch a barrage of arrows and magic at the paladin. She falls just as she brings down the fighter, leaving three on your side—the frozen ranger aside—and two on theirs.

Ari charges into melee with the archer, but by the time she makes it they're able to make short work of the now-exposed and weakened druid, while the wizard repeatedly tries and fails to cast spells under the writhing swarm. He finally creates an explosion of blue light which clears to reveal the bugs falling away and Celestina moving once again. Suddenly, the combat stops and all three adventurers' eyes are on you.

"Fiend! What... what did you do to Adam?" Celestina draws her bow and slowly backs away, then trips and falls over backwards over a discarded weapon.

You look down at your hands to see daemonic claws, and can't help but let out a chuckle. "Well, this is awkward." The archer, caught off guard by your transformation, is quickly cut down by Ari, and you blast the mage with a fireball, finishing her off in her weakened state. An arrow lodges in your shoulder as if to remind you that Celestina is still here, but she isn't a match for even one of you and quickly falls to a barrage of fire and arrows.

"And things were going so well with her too..." You laugh a bit at Ari rolling her eyes.

"Well then, my lord, maybe next time spend a bit less time showing off your new claws?" She isn't wrong. At this point you're happy to have made it through the encounter alive. The two of you take a moment to recuperate before heading back up to the main dungeon, and although a few more adventurers make it past the outer defences you soon find yourself in bed no worse for wear. You close your eyes, and the next thing you know a blaring trumpet announces that it's time for the last day of the bounty.

World Bounty: Lady Eleanore's ****
A foul daemon has stolen the Lady Eleanore Highcastle's most precious family heirloom and sacrificed it in a profane ritual to his foul gods. The Lady demands retribution for this blasphemy. Slay Azazel and his minions!
Notable living monsters: 6/7
Day 3 of 3
Monsters killed have a very small chance to drop boss equipment.
Azazel will drop unique items suitable for barbarians and bards up to level 25.
Azazel's champions will drop one piece of unique equipment from his loot table when banished.
Bonus (No clears on day 1 & 2): Day 1 & 2 rewards also apply.
(Rewards will change each day)

With the lack of any cosmetic rewards you feel real hope that you might make it through the event without dying. You're half way to the baths to enjoy your last moments of peace when someone yells down the hallway. No rest for the wicked...