Return to Valoria

We decided to rest outside the dungeon for the night, as the sun had already set, and the city was a few hours away by foot. I fell asleep accompanied by a flurry of ideas about how to deal with Nymeria, the Hornet Empress and the city as a whole. I wanted to make Valoria my lair, my base of operations, my home. I had to defend it, naturally, even though it wasn’t mine yet. The main strength of the Hornet Empress was the sheer mass of her children. The swarm would overwhelm any regular army. They would crawl into armour, sting to inflict their venom, rip away chunks of flesh and for every hornet you struck down ten more would appear. Against such an enemy pretty much all of my current abilities and allies were useless. Neither my chains nor my blades would have any significant effect, the mountain orcs would eventually be overwhelmed and there wasn’t much to be gained from making the insects horny. What I needed was a **** strong enough to hold back the swarm while I went after the Hornet Empress. Eventually I slipped into an uneasy sleep for the first time since my new life began. While not necessary for survival, it did help with my healing and recovery.

Nymeria shook me awake in the morning, “Look at the sunrise.”, she urged me with a joyful sparkle in her eyes. I rose to my feet and noticed, with a high degree of satisfaction, that the wound on my flank had mostly healed. I followed Nymeria’s pointing finger and took in the sunrise above Valoria to our east. The city was awakening, drenched in the red light which cast the long shadows of the high towers belonging to the more powerful guilds and the main keep that lorded over the entirety of Valoria. Hundreds of fishing boats cut through the ocean to the cities north, framed by the beautifully sparkling ocean. “What a beautiful city.”, I simply stated, then I turned to Nymeria who was still admiring the sunrise, “Let’s go save it.”. She looked embarrassed for a second that she had gotten distracted by the beautiful morning, then she nodded and started packing her things. I hadn’t brought much with me, so we soon walked along the main road leading to the western gate.

We reached the city before noon and stood in the short queue to enter. It was quite the boring ordeal, or it would have been, had Darien not spotted me. The young guardsman and I locked eyes, and a beaming smile appeared on his face, “Victor!”, he yelled, “I was so worried when you did not return last night!”. He approached quickly and gave me a smack on the shoulder, “I am glad you are safe.”, he smiled and then added, “I was worried I’d have to drink at the Moon’s Embrace alone.”. I chuckled, “Thank you Darien, good to see you. Noone drinks alone at the Moon’s Embrace.”, I added, and we began walking past the waiting line. Nymeria followed us through the gate, which Darien only noticed once he turned around. He blushed slightly when his eyes landed on the beautiful elf, “Oh, um- How rude of me!”, he stammered and then fell into a polite bow, “My name is Darien, humble guardsman of the western gate of Valoria. It is a pleasure to meet you. May I ask your name?”. Nymeria smiled and gently placed her hand in the guardsman’s outstretched arm, “Nymeria is my name. The pleasure is mine.”. Darien gave a brief kiss to her hand, then let go and rose again, “We must drink together in the Moon’s Embrace, tonight!”, he pleaded. “Indeed!”, I agreed, “We have something to celebrate. The orc threat to the west is no more, Nymeria and I eradicated them.”. Darien clapped his gloved hands which made more of a clanking sound, “You two are formidable! Valoria is blessed to have you.”. A guard wearing a cape, an officer, cleared his throat. Darien looked caught, “Excuse me, work is calling. Many mostly empty wagons to check.”, he returned to the gate where he waved to us one last time, “See you tonight!”.

Nymeria and I continued further into the city, “Lively fella.”, she mused. “A good soul and quite the adept warrior.”, I replied, “No match for you though.”. She left the compliment uncommented, “I have some business to attend here. One of my contacts has connections to the government, I will try my best to warn them.”, she explained. “I am impressed, you didn’t come here without a plan.”, I teased at which she rolled her eyes, “I will go ahead to the Moon’s Embrace and talk to my dear friend Percival. He has some connections to the guards inside the city, maybe he can help us. Let us meet there tonight.”, I suggested. She agreed and I explained where my Dungeon was located before we finally parted ways. I admired her ass for a few steps as she left, then quickly made my way to the Dungeon.