"Wow. Did she really have to do that?"

"I haven't met a Dark Mage before, so I really can't say."

---

---

Iskah and Vanessa traveled with Rie towards the Ortusian capital, riding on the driver bench of the Danuki's wagon to save the Dark Mage's energy. They had one more town to pass through before reaching their destination: The town of Pagras.

Pagras was a lot like the previous town of Sinjid, full of humans with no monster in sight save for the arriving trio. The midday sun was high up in the sky when the three monsters rode into the town. Much like in Sinjid, they were met with strange, suspicious looks from the local Ortusians. There was also an increased presence of the Ortusian military here, evidenced by a small unit of them passing by the monsters. Uniformed in cuirass and open sallet helmets, they marched in formation with their signature weapons: The musket.

But all that were probably of little import to the monsters, for they detected an incredibly thick and potent Spirit Energy emanating from somewhere within Pagras. "He's here." Iskah said, her eyes distant. She was clearly focusing on the thick spirit energy in the air than on anything else. "Aun's here."

"Wait. You're trying to seduce the Incubus Knight?!" Rie was incredulous, but even she was feeling a bit flustered from the spirit energy she was sensing.

To Vanessa, she immediately knew this energy could only belong to an Incubus. When a human male absorbs enough Demon Energy, he becomes an Incubus. Unlike human females who physically turn into monsters, males maintain their appearances but receive increased attributes. They become stronger, healthier and produce more Spirit Energy; the lifeblood of monsters. Typically, human males only turn into Incubi after coupling with their monster wives enough times. This, however, also meant that the Spirit Energy of the new Incubus was marked and would, usually, no longer be attractive to other monsters.

But this potent Spirit Energy was unmarked. Unclaimed. Vanessa could feel the temptation of simply seeking out the source and taking it for herself. Whoever this Incubus was, he became one without a monster wife. How he managed to stay single all this time could be one of the greatest secrets of this world. "I need to find him!" Iskah stood from her seat and hopped off the wagon, darting past the bewildered human crowd to the deeper parts of Pagras.

"Hey, wait! Don't just go off!" Surprisingly, Rie also hopped off the wagon to chase after Iskah. Leaving Vanessa all alone with the Danuki's wagon.

After a few scant moments, someone whistled to Vanessa. "Hail, Dark Mage!" A handsome young man approached the wagon. Fair of skin and gold of hair, he wore an attire consisting of chainmail over leather-colored brigandine armor with a short, dark yellow cape flowing down his back. On one of his hands was a well-crafted bardiche, his signature weapon. "Your fancy wagon is kind of disrupting the traffic. Do you mind moving it to the side before spacing out? The town will greatly appreciate it."

There was no doubting it. The Spirit Energy was coming from this man. This was the Incubus Knight.

Vanessa, despite having put herself to sleep with a spell, had been surprisingly easy to wake up with very little actual fuss. The travel from that point, through most the morning, had been uneventful and filled with very little actual actually contextual or notewrothy events. Though it seemed Iskah and the foreign monster girl were getting along fairly well, chit-chattig and small-talking to and fro. The dark mage, on the other hand, had adopted a more laid-back, non-invested approach and was apparently absorved in her own little world to pay much attention.

That is, of course, until they reached the new town. Yet another place Vanessa was not familiar with. Just like with other town though, the locals weren't what you would call 'welcoming'. Side-eyes, tense faces, the air of suspiscion and distrust. Yup. This sure was a human town too! Oh well, at least the guardsmen milling about in their pretty formations weren't stopping to harass them or demanding they explain their reason for visiting or some other nonsense. So, in that regard, perhaps it wasn't such a bad place. That didn't neecessarily make it a good place either though.

Then, a sudden waft of energy suddenly hit the trio of girls, and their cart jerked to a halt. It was like the sensation you got when opening a warm oven inside your kitchen during winter. The unnaturally hot air just rolls out and slaps you right in the face. That was, essentially, what it felt like to Vanessa. A wry smile spread on on her lips and she placed a hand on one cheek, tapping it gently with her index-finger.

"...Oh my..."

She didn't really have time to say anything else though, for in the next blink of the eye, Iskah leapt from the wagon in true action-movie-hero style, doing a sick front-flip with the camera doing one of those cool, horizontal spinning cuts to keep her in focus, and then she was off. Shrtly after that, their merchant-friend also threw herself off the cart... A... Dubious choice to make, considering she was, y'know, a merchant and had just abandoned her entire wagon of goods in the hands of some stranger she'd just met the night before... Not that Vanessa was the pilfering type, but you would've though someone who makes a living by selling things would be more... Concerned? For their wares.

As she watched the crazed hens run off in search of this incubi knight, the raven-haired bombshell let out a exasperated sigh. Before she could do more though, a voice caled out to her. As she lifted her eyes and turned her head to face the source of the voice,she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. A handsome young man, wielding some kind of polearm, or axe...? Vanessa couldn't really tell, weapons weren't exactly her field of expertise. After all, who needed to know the difference between a long sword nad a rapier when you could just throw fireballs the size of pumpkins at anything that gave you the stink--eye?

It appeared this man was exuding the aforementioned spirit energy though. As in, it was leaking out of him constatnly. He apparently had a desire for Vanessa to move the cart... Wait... How could that lizard-girl and raccoon-fool not tell this guy was right here? Were their sesnses so overloaded by his musk that they lost all ability to think and sense the presence of magic? The irony that he would've come straight to Iskah, delivering himself on a silver platter, if she'd stayed put for a few more seconds was almost enough to make the dark mage laugh. Luckily, she managed to reel it in. Still, this was a good opportunity, all she neeed to do was stall him out for a bit... Or failing that, she could always take more forceful measures. But for now, she would at least try to not cause a scene.

"Hail to you too, good sir. I wish I could respect your request, but this isn't actually my wagon, it belongs to a very recent acquaitence. I'm not sure she'd appreciate if I just up and started to roll off with her precious luggage, trade goods and, well, everyhting she owns." Vanessa explain, in an overly long-winded fashion. She'd also chosen to speak more slowly and deliberate, giving herself one of those sleepy air-head kind of vibes. "Besides... I... Don't really know to handle a... Um... Well... Horse." That was a lie, of course, but he didn't know that!

"Besides... I... Don't really know to handle a... Um... Well... Horse."

"A Dark Mage who can't handle a horse?" The Incubus Knight raised an eyebrow, skeptical of Vanessa's words. But then shrugged in acceptance. "Well, I suppose Dark Mages don't really use horses to get around. Being able to teleport anywhere and all."

The knight climbed the wagon and sat beside Vanessa, the thickness of his Spirit Energy outright invading the Dark Mage's senses. He took the reins and the horses began trotting to a less crowded space in the street. "So, what takes you to Pagras? On your way to the capital, I assume?" The Incubus Knight decided to start some small talk. "You monsters sure are bold, aren't you? The moment you guys found out that we don't enforce the 'no monsters even if we're no longer part of The Order' rule, monsters frolic all over Ortusian territory as if they were welcome."

"I say, it's been a real pain for an Incubus like me. Me and my companions in the Lot Knights have been tinkering with spells that hid my Spirit Energy so as not to rile up the monsters near me. We tried masking, scrambling and all sorts of stuff." That probably explained why neither Iskah nor Rie could pinpoint this guy. "Anyway, I'm glad you didn't immediately try to court or flirt with me despite being an Incubus. Are you married, by any chance?"

"Teleport around?" Vanessa repeated the man's words, but did so with a jolly laugh at the end. "It's not like you can replace walking and travelling with teleportation. If you've never been somewhere and you try to teleport there, you could very well end up inside a wall or a tree, or a stone. Or even inside another living being." Vanessa explained, still amused. Besides, long-range teleportation wasn't really something that was viable for getting around if you just wanted to travel and see new things. It took too much magic and too much prep-work to be worth the effort.

Short-ranged teleportation would be an option, but even then, you'd just waste a butt-load of magic on something you could achieve easily by just walking or otherwise. Teleportation magic wasn't meant for everyday travel after all. But, the dark mage had a feeling this incubus wouldn't really care or be interested in the different applications and purposes of magic and amgic theory, so she spared him the lecture and instead sat quiet for a bit.

Once he was aboard the carriage, she could really tell the thickness of his spiritual energy. It was like sitting in a sauna with someone constantly throwing water onto the heater. Add onto that the feeling of sitting next to a high school heartthrob while being a high school girl who was all giddy and ready to squee, and you pretty much nailed the sensation that this was exuding. Luckily, while he did cause Vanessa's face to get flushed and body to feel all warm and tingly, he sadly lacked the criteria to truly draw Vanessa in. Basically, he was like a piece of marbled, well-seasoned meat - nice to smell and look at, but not the dark mage's favorite food.

"Bold... Interesting perspective." Vaenssa responded, gently grabbing hold of one her sidelocks and beginnig to twril it. "You humans are born with the ability to go everywhere and anywhere you want. You can visit lands that belong to the Demon Lord, or ones under the thumb of your Order. At worst, you'll encounter other humans who try to steal or rob you, but on the whole you can go anywhere in this world." Shhe paused and turned her head to the Incubus Knight, tilting her head and looking at him with the r sparkling blue eyes. "But we don't have that freedom, sir. If we try to go beyond certain invisible walls taht you humans put up, we can end up getting chased, imprisoned or even killed. In some place we don't even realise your kind's set up these barriers, and then we end up being hunted and killed for simply existing." She looked at the man for a bit, then turned to look ahead as the wagon slowly kept rolling forward. "So, do you still think we're bold when we hear that one of these invisible walls that's blocked an entire piece of our world off from our kind has been broken and taken down? A whole new land, with sights we've never seen and people we've never met, suddenly opens up before us and we can go there, without fear of torches, pitchforks or burning stakes." She fell quiet for a while after this.

To Vanessa, there was nothing bold about going into ortus or any former member-nations of The Order. To see something that had been denied to you, something that could've had gotten you killed or imprisoned, that wasn't being bold - it was just morbid curiosity. Why had this been denied to our kind? Why weren't we allowed here? What was so special about all this that we had to be kept out? To be bold, one would've entered the borders while the area was still under The Order's control. At least, tat was what the dark mage thought.

Then, she raised an eyebrow as the man continued.

So, they had purposefully scrambled and tinkered with his aura? How interesting. There weren't a lot of humans who knew how to successfully tinker with the magic energy of an incubus - especially since in most cases they weren't really considered to be 'humans'. Of course she knew of humans who tried to mask or muddy their own spiritual energy, to try and avoid monsters or detection magic, but she was intrigued by the prospect that this man and his Order were apparently trying to fiddle with his overwhelming aura.

Then he asked the silly question that made her laugh out loud.

"Court and flirt with you? I'm terribly sorry, sir, but while you smell really nice, you don't really come close to what I'm looking for in a man." The dark mage said, honest and without an aounce of restraint. "And if I was married, I wouldn't be out and about, now would I? I'd have... Wifely duties... to fulfill." This last bit was said with a very sultry voice and a very naught face, befitting of the develish woman.

What the Incubus Knight might not have noticed though, was that as soon as he began climbing onto the wagon, Vanessa had done... Something... She had whispered some words under her breath and conjured a small... translucent... bird? Butterfly? Some kind of winged creature, no larger than your standard butterfly. She had held it up to her face and said something to it, and then she'd flicked it off her hand. The little creature had taken flight, and zipped off at high speeds. But what was it? Simple. A magic recording and a bit of detection magic, woven into a constuct. It had been tasked with finding Iskah, and once it did, it'¨d deliver the message.

"Your husband's here, follow." In Vanessa's voice.

The little glowy thing would then guide Iskah back towards where the dark mage was. Noq, the question became, what to do next. The wagon had rolled into a less crowded part of the street, and while this man seemed polite enough, he was a knight, and likely had duties. The chance of him staying to continue small-talk and a friendly conversation was very low. So, what were her options to keep him in place long enough for her familiar to find and bring Iskah back?

Option A: She could try and seduce the boy. A fun idea, but given that he'd seemingly become used to fending off potential brides-to-be and his words from earlier made it clear he probably wasn't the kind of guy who would be stopped by that sort of thing. Unless she got really aggressive about it, but her lizardman employer probably wouldn't like that....

Option B: She could always try and continue their conversation and casually continue talking to him, even as he got off the carriage. If she just played the part of some chit-chat-starved traveller who was simply enjoying a bit of friendly conversation, she could likely manage to stay by his side for a little longer and also keep an eye on where he was going - which would buy more time for the lizardgirl. The issue here was that if the guy was one of those rule-sticklers, he might try to shoo her away or say something like: 'Alas, I must return to my duties!' or some such other straight-laced bull-honkey, which would make it much more difficult to keep tailing him.

Option C: As soon as he got off the wagon, she could cast a bind-spell on him. Be it earth or ice, it didn't really matter, as long as she did it quick and without warning, she could lock him in place, and would likely cause a scene... Which may help Iskah return and find them quicker. The down side? The man was an incubus. She had no accurate way of telling how strong his own magic was, nor how easily he could break out of one of her spells, furthemore, there was no wayto gauge how he would react to having 'hostile' magic cast at him. He might turn violent or become resentful, which wouldn't be good.

For now, she'd choose to try Option B. If things looked like he was about to try and sneak off though, she'd have no choice but to go for the final C-option. But, for now at least, she'd try the civil approach and continue this little back-and-forth of theirs.

[color=lioghtblue]"As for why I'm here... Let's just say I've got obligations towards someone who needs my help with something very, very important. But, I'm more curious about you, sir. How exactly did you manage to become an incubus? You don't have the scent of being marked, so you obviously don't belong to any monster. And you're part of a chaste order of knights, which would suggest you don't fool around either."[/color] Vanessa said, light-heartedly. "An most curious phenomenon indeed... As a scholar and student of magic, I'm very curious."

... That's right... Distract him with small-talk and conversation that doesn't allow him to just answer 'yes' or 'no'. Keep him here, keep him busy... And if he tries to slink away, BAM! Ice grip! Stone bind! Iskah was getting to talk to and marry this hunk ofhunk-meat, that was their arrangment after all.

"So, do you still think we're bold when we hear that one of these invisible walls that's blocked an entire piece of our world off from our kind has been broken and taken down? A whole new land, with sights we've never seen and people we've never met, suddenly opens up before us and we can go there, without fear of torches, pitchforks or burning stakes."

The Incubus Knight chuckled. Albeit, sadly. "You act like we don't get chased with torches and pitchforks by visiting the wrong places either." He replied. "The Ortusians know this kind of persecution just as well as you do, Madam Dark Mage. The humans of this kingdom and the humans of The Order never saw each other eye-to-eye, even before Ortus broke off. Did you know that?"

After embarking on the wagon and Vanessa conjured the winged summon with a message, the Incubus Knight's eyes seemed to have seen and watched the translucent summon take off in search of Iskah and guide the Lizardman back to this location. Despite that, however, he simply faced Vanessa and flashed her an amused smile but said nothing about it and continued on as if he never noticed.

"An most curious phenomenon indeed... As a scholar and student of magic, I'm very curious."

The knight laughed heartedly at the distraction-question. "Heh, you're not the only one curious, Madam Dark Mage." If he knew this was something to simply occupy him, he did not show it and played completely along. "I was a carpenter once in a small monster-friendly town near Ortus called Falkran. Some... things happened and I found myself training to become a warrior deep in the Emerald Demon Realms. The time I spent there and the thickness of Demon Energy turned me into an Incubus by the time I returned to Falkran." He relayed his story quite honestly. "I joined the Lot Knights not long after to... protect those I love from The Order." The last part seemed he was hesitant to share.

Moments after the Incubus Knight parked the wagon at a suitable place, someone has been pushing through the bustling crowds on the way to Vanessa and the knight. "Aun!" Iskah cried as she emerged from in-between two people. "There you are!" Her eyes sparkled at the sight of her beloved, which then turned serious. "As a proud warrior of the Lizardman race, I demand that you duel me in a contest between arms!" She pointed a claw at the Incubus Knight.

"Ahhh, so that's who you're working for." The Incubus Knight said to Vanessa while still looking at Iskah. "Oh, but I am just a simple knight who can barely fight. Why would you ever challenge someone like that? Should you not seek stronger men?" Aun tried to 'reason' with Iskah.

"You lie! I know your combat prowess! You're one of the strongest knights in the Lot Order, right up there with The Fighting Knight!" Iskah retorted. "Now draw your bardiche and face me!"

"I'll see you around, Madam Dark Mage." Aun bid farewell to Vanessa before quickly hopping off the wagon and jogging off. "Help, help! A Lizardman's harassing me!" His calls for help were insincere and the town guards who arrived to see the commotion simply shook their heads and resumed their patrols.

Iskah immediately went after him. "Hey, hey! Come back here! You're not escaping me again!"

"I'm sure there're places your people couldn't go that belonged to The Order. But then, there're likely places where you could still travel, where my kind can't. Or are you suggesting that The Order persecuted your nation's people wherever they went? For that seems rather unlikely if I'm honest, good sir." Vanessa merely replied. The fact tat certain humans from certain cultures and countries didn't get along wasn't exactly news. After all, the main culprits of basically any and every war were, to some extent, humans. So it wasn't really surprising to hear that these Ortusians got bullied when they went to certain places... Though it did beg the question as to why they'd joined with The Order in the first place.

As the wagon rolled on and the incubi relayed his story, Vanessa listened intently. She didn't really say or respond to any of his words though, allowing the man to finish his tale. It wasn't particularly enlightening or anyhting... From the sounds of it, his change had been nothing more than the result of training in an area with overly thick monster energy. To be honest, Vanessa had kind of, sort of hoped for something a little less... Mundane... Like a curse cast on him by a scorned lover or him picking up a mysterious magic artifact or falling into a pocket-dimension and being warped...! You know, something a bit more interesting than 'Hurrp-a-durrp, I did a lot of working out in a foggy place and got all sweaty and now the stank's stuck to me, a-hyuck!'.

Then the wagon finally stopped.

Then a voice called out from behind. A familiar voice. Vanessa turned her head and looked back, spotting the apporaching lizardman. She smiled smugly to herself.

The knight's words just gave him a coy smile from the dark mage, who didn't respond with words. As the exchange between the scaly female warrior and the armored knight began, Vanessa watched with... Moderate... interest. Things were playing out pretty much how she'd figured they would. The incubus wasn't the least bit interested in the girl and was now trying to make a half-hearted escape.

... But that simply wouldn't do, now would it?

"Acceleration."

A flash of green sparkling... Sparkles! Enveloped Vanessa's entire body atop the wagon, before disappearing as quickly as they'd formed. But once the dark mage moved a little, the effects were quite clear. Her movements, even just small ones, seemed to now be greatly hastened. In fact, she looked almost out of place, as if you were playing her and her alone on fast-forward while the rest of the world (or movie) played at regular speed. Within a few mere seconds, she was well past Iskah and caught up to the jogging knight with little effort - amazingly avoiding to bump into any other pedestrians or citizens while moving at this unnatural pace.

"As I said, sweetie. I've got obligations in this town." These were the words she uttered once she appeared right next to Aun on his left, easily keeping pace with the man thanks toh er magic.

... And speaking of magic...

"Stone Grip."

Despite being like... Five feet away from Aun, Vanessa still aimed her staff at the poor fellow, and uttered words of magic again. The tip of her staff glowed and a small, tennis ball-sized sphere shot out, striking the ground infront of Aun, rather than the kkn ight himself. Almost instantly, a pair of earthern arms, seemingly made out of liquid, or very maleable, stone rose and at once reached out... Towards Aun! Trying to grasp the fellow. In total there were four of these stone arms, and they eached attempted to grab onto a part of the incubi. One for each shin or leg, one for his waist or torso, and the last one attempted to just clumbsily nab him by either arm.

Now, this was neither a very advanced spell, nor would it do Aun any actual harm. Sure, it might not feel very nice being clutched by a massive hand made of stone, but it wouldn't do any damage or cause any actual meaningful pain to the fellow. After all, the intent was to stop him and force him into a situation where he couldn't run away anymore. Now, if he somehow managed to dodge out of the way of all four arms, or decided to break through the spell by smashing it with his bardiche (provided it was magically enchanted), Vanessa would just cast a similar spell, but with ice as the element this time... Well, unless Aun decided to take a swing at the dark mage... Then she'd probably have to focus on evading his attack rather than use a follow-up spell. But givne her already improved movement thanks to her haste-spell, that... Shouldn't be too difficult... Unless he used some kind of magic too...

Anyway, the hunt for the husband was officially on!

"Stone Grip."

The Incubus Knight raised an eyebrow at the sudden appearance of Vanessa beside him, who casted a spell at him with her staff. "Oh. So we're really doing this, aren't we?" He smirked.

When the earthen arms jutted out of the cobblestone streets to grab at him, the Incubus Knight slammed his bardiche at the ground and used it as a pole to vault over the arms that Vanessa summoned. Another wave of arms sprouted from the ground and came at him, only these were made of ice. The Incubus Knight simply went faster and braced himself, crashing into the arms. The speed combined with his Incubus physiology shattered the ice quite handily, and Aun continued on his way.

"Sorry about this, Madam Dark Mage!" With Vanessa keeping up with him, the Incubus Knight suddenly shoved the shaft of his bardiche in the Dark Mage's path. Vanessa didn't have time to react and she ended up tripping. Perhaps she was still quick enough to stop herself from tumbling across the cobblestone but regardless, the Incubus Knight managed to shake her off and the Dark Mage could only watch him disappear around a corner.

Iskah finally managed to catch up and immediately helped Vanessa up. "You alright?" She asked the Dark Mage before looking to Aun's direction. "Damn it! We've lost him again..."

When the knight jumped over her earth-shaped conjured arms, Vanessa didn't so much as bat an eye. After all, she had half-expected him to do so. However, when the man performed a rolling self-catapultation right through her second wave of ice-shaped arms, the dark mage was briefly stupified. She... Had not expected someone to use themselves as an impromptu battering ram. There was a first for everything.

However, more surprising was the man's sudden turn-about and foul-as-heck-ice-hockey-rules-violating hooking-stunt! The wretch dared attack a defenseless maiden with a pole-weapon!? What kind of knight would do such a heinous thing! If she'd just been running normally, the dark mage would've surely face-planted onto the street below, with only her built-in airbags to soften the impact. Luckily, as she was under the effect of her own haste-spell, Vanessa had just barely enough cognition and reflexes to manage to drop her staff and catch herself by extending both arms. It still wasn't pleasant to fall straight down onto cold, hard, solid-ass stone, but it sure as heck was a lot better to be able to catch oneself than to give it a sudden, involuntairy smooch.

And then the jerk man casually jogged off behind some buildings, as if he'd done nothing at all.

Thankfully, Iskah wasn't far behind and manged to catch up with the majin, who was now pushing herself back onto her feet. With a little help from her lizard-employer, the black-haired woman was soon enough back on her feet, brushing herself off and fixing the pelvic curtain of her dress which, unfortunately, had become a bit tangled and displaced thanks to a certain someone's desire to have women fall for him...

"Thanks, ow, I wasn't quite expecting him to do something like that." She thanked and commented, adjusting her hat. At Iskah's words though, the dark mage simply smiled a confident and unconcerned smug smile. "Lost? What're you talking about, little one? Don't you remember who I am? You think him running out of rang eof our physical eyeballs will keep him away and hidden from someone like me?" She almost laughed the words out.

Then, just as she had done when sending her little magic construct to find iskah and lead her to Aun, Vanessa conjured up a few more of her strange, bird-butterfly... Thingies. With a flick of her wrist, she sent out a veritable swarm of the little blighters, watching as they took the sky and soared up and above the buildings of the city.

Now granted, Aun had mentioned to the mage that he and his fellow knights had done things to try and hide, weaken, scramble and displace his incubus aura. And, for some monsters, that had actually worked. However, against a monster that specialized in magic manipulation, seeing magic weaves and with vast amounts of knowledge and experience when dealing with magic phenomenon, the man's 'smokescreen' was highly unlikely to pose any real issue. True, he may be able to lay low or hide for a while, but it would only be a matter of time before Vanessaa's hand-crafted familiars would be able to hone in on and locate his unique energy signature.

The fact that she'd been sitting right next to do the man and gotten a good feel mfor his aura wasn't exactly going to help him stay hidden for long either.

But back to the majin. She looked around for a bit, plucked her staff up off the ground and then turned to Iskah.

"So.... Did you lose our friend, the goober dum-yucky? You'd think someone like her would be a bit more cautious about leaving her precious trade goods in the hands of strangers." Vanessa chuckled. "But you just leave finding your hubbie to me, alright? Just like when I fetched you earlier, my little minions will come and let us know once they've found him again."

"But you just leave finding your hubbie to me, alright? Just like when I fetched you earlier, my little minions will come and let us know once they've found him again."

"Alright. I'll leave that to you." Iskah nodded. "And yeah, I lost Rie. You're also right that it is kind of weird that Miss Rie is very carefree about her goods. Very uncharacteristic for a Gyoubu Danuki. Maybe she trusts the Ortusians that much? Also uncharacteristic for her kind too, though..."

"We should probably look for her later. But we both agree that it's not our fault if something gets stolen off of her cart, okay?" Iskah chuckled. Not even a second after, Vanessa's summons detected Aun's energy signature. He was at the edge of Pagras in the direction of the kingdom's capital, seemingly getting ready to skip town to escape the monsters hounding him. Vanessa and Iskah could definitely catch up to him, even if he hitched on a horse and started riding away.

The lizard monster noticed that the Dark Mage felt something. "What's wrong, Vanessa? Have you sensed Aun already?"

"You're familiar with their kind then? I'm surprised. I haven't met many of these Zipanguese girls in my own travels." Vanessa replied, before adding: "Then again, I might just not have noticed them, since I've never really been looking for them to begin with."

Upon hearing Iskah's comment about the danuki having only herself to blame if some of her merchandise got stolen, the dark mage chuckled lightly and nodded. But then, then there was a buzzing in her ear. Her mind's ear. Her BRAIN EAR! It appeared that the elusive rabbit they were hunting had been found by her loyal dogs, and their barking was letting her know everything she needed.

Which... Wasn't exactly good news... In fact, it made her frown slightly.

"Yes, it appears I found him... From the looks of it, he's preparing to skip town. Not very knightly if you ask me. We should probably hurry if you'd like to catch him before he runs away though."

With the information she'd gleaned relayed to her employer, Vanessa turned to face the lizardman fully. Aiming her staff at said lizardman, she chanted her 'acceleration'-spell again - since the effects of her own hadn't yet worn off, there wasn't a need to refresh it.

"Well then, let's go catch ourselves that hare of yours."

with that, Vanessa would momentarily wait for Iskah's conmfirmation and/or agreement, and then head off, leading the way towards where Aun was preparing to get away - guided by her magically constructed spies.

Iskah lit up at Vanessa's reply, and nodded with determination. The two monsters then made their way to Aun's position at the edge of town.

The Dark Mage and the Lizardman arrive at their location. Iskah's eyes widened when she saw Aun casually leaning beside the entrance of a building. The building in question appeared to be a sizeable but simple manor of sorts, made of white stone. Two-stories high, windows close to each other indicated this was likely a boarding house or orphanage. Twin doors above a couple of steps served as the entrance, the Incubus Knight being the only soul so far to be seen.

"Aun!" Iskah drew her sword once more. "I challenge you to a duel!"

"Aw, but what about the children?"

Iskah blinked in confusion. "What children?"

Aun then quickly knocked on the double doors to the building. "Hey, kids! The Lizardman is here!"

A few moments passed before a horde of human children poured out of the building and surrounded Iskah. "Ah! Hey, wait!" The Lizardman was forced to sheath her sword as she tried to address the kids who bombarded her with questions and invitations. "Wait, wait! I really can't--!" The flustered Iskah tried gaining control of the situation, but to no avail. Some of the kids began touching and patting her reptilian tail, completely mesmerized by the monstrous appendage. "H-Hey, that tickles!"

Iskah was completely occupied by the orphans, leaving the Incubus Knight free to stride over to Vanessa and strike up a conversation. "Hey, Madam Dark Mage. Are you free to talk?" He waved with a cheeky smile. "I'm not gonna do anything untoward, so long as you aren't. I just wanna ask some questions."

"I'm the Incubus Knight, by the way. You can call me Inky for short, like how the other knights call me." The knight then made a formal bow at Vanessa. "I can kiss the back of your hand if you'd like."

[quote=@PaulHaynek]




The chase was brief and not very dramatic, nor comedically accopanied by Billy Hill-music or 90's one-hit-wonder background tracks. Instead, the two monsters arrived at a building. A rather impressive one at that. Perhaps someone important lived here, and this incubus knight was waiting outside the door to solicit their aid in dealing with his pursuers? Or perhaps it was a trap, and he was luring the girls into his love nest, where he'd take advantage of and do all sorts of things that can't be mentioned in explicit detail due to PG-13 censore restrictions.

Alas, it was neither. But before that...

The lizardman unsheathed her blade, again, and called out the knight's name, again. Vanessa, standing next to Iskah, slowly turned her head towards the reptile-girl and said, in a very deadpan fashion with a very non-plussed face.

"That approach didn't work last time, what makes you think it'd be different now?"

Unfortunately, her witty quip was not given time to be responded to, for the heinous villain soon unleashed his secret weapon. Children. Oh God, the Children! They swarmed out of the house like a wave of ants, quickly surging towards Iskah as if she was made of sugar and suirrounded her, beginning to immediately do what children do best. Touch everything and everywhere they're not supposed to, and ask inane and completely vapid questions of no real consequence or actual import. There were a few random invites to go on a date as well, but Vanessa chose to pretend like she hadn't just heard pre-teens try and pick up a member of a different species.

Then, sauntering over like it was no big deal, the culprit approached. He was wearing that friendly but playful and sort of smug smile again. It might've been charming, if it wasn't so damn annoying. He struck up a conversation while Iskah fended for her life and chastity against a horde of man-goblins. So, there likely wasn't going to be any progress made for a little while.

"Such a charmer, but I'm not into the whole chivalrous-deal, so no hand for you, naughty boy." Vanessa replied and admonished. "It seems you've caught my little employer in quite a devious trap, so I suppose until she managed to free herself, I'm free to talk. Ask away, handsome."

In truth, Vanessa wasn't keen on talking at all. She would've much rather frozen the man solid here and now or have a sinkhole swallow him up and make him stuck and still so Iskah could do whatever it was she needed to do. But, unfortunately, the cavalcade of snot-nosed brats made any such plan or attempt rather impossible, unless she wanted to risk causing damage to i- albeit annoying, but ulatimately - innocent kids. And while the dark mage was confident and competent at her use of sorcery, even she wasn't arrogant or stupid enough to try and do something when there were underage innocents all around her, or at least in very close proximity.

Luckily, she had a good poker face and even greater control of her own magic and monster energy. If the incubus knight was going to pick up on her slight frustration, he would've either needed to be really good at reading emotions, or be a mindflayer in disguise.

"Oh, right. I suppose you can call me Vanessa, Incubus Knight. Or Nessa, if you prefer." She chose not to go with his nickname.

"Oh, right. I suppose you can call me Vanessa, Incubus Knight. Or Nessa, if you prefer."

"A pleasure to meet you then, Madam Vanessa." The knight replied, unable or seemingly unable to read Vanessa's frustration.

As the orphanage children continued to play and harass Iskah, The Incubus Knight watched the Lizardman begin to entertain some requests to begin getting the orphans off of her. "Iskah... isn't a Lizardman, you know?" The knight started. "Once a moonless night arrives, she'll show her true form. Well, if you find her in that time." Vanessa would know that monsters with those traits were known as Doppelgangers, monsters born from the unrequited feelings of human men.

"Unless you're one of those weird Dark Mages, I doubt you're helping Iskah out of the kindness of your heart." The knight continued, still watching Iskah play round with the children. "She must have promised you something in return. Money? Naaahhh, you don't look like you're strapped for cash. Gathering ingredients in a dangerous location then? A willing volunteer for an experiment?" The Incubus Knight got pretty close for his guesses.

He then shifted his gaze towards Vanessa, a grin on his face. "If I offer you double and more of what she promised, will you, perhaps... reconsider your contract with Iskah?"

Aun began chatting away, but what he said wasn't really so much questions as it was just unsolicited revelations about personal information. The dark mage gave the incubus knight an unamused look after his first batch of talking.

"What she is or isn't doesn't concern me. If she wanted me to know, she would've told me. It's not very knightly to go divulging a lady's secrets." The raven-haired beauty chastised. "She's got feelings for you and contracted me to help her." She stated bluntly.

The more she listened and interacted with this man though, the less... Likeable... He became. At least, in her own eyes. But then agian, he wasn't her type. Like, at all. She was, however, curious as to why Iskah was so fond and dead-set on this particular fellow. Maybe he'd been different in the past? Maybe he had some hidden characteristic or personality quirk that made him endearing? It was impossible tot elll, and frankly Vanessa didn't care enough to bother trying to figure it out.

And then the man made the unfortunate mistake of offering his bargain. This... Had been a poor move on his part, and the dark mage made no effort this time to hide her discontent. A shadow fell over her eyes, her mouth turned into a frown, her eyes sparked with the embers of anger - not yet kindled, but not far from it.

"I thought you said you had questions, Sir Incubus Knight. Asking and then answering your own inquiry, then trying to barter isn't asking questions." She punctuated this line very clearly, one hand on her hip and the other tapping her staff against the street below, more as a method of light stress-relief than anything else. "I'm sure you meant no offense by it, but I can't hlep but feel a bit insulted that you pegged me as some sort of low-life, opportunistic parasite who'd jump at the promise of a shinier prize." Vanessa was very clearly not happy. Turning to face the knight fully, the dark mage met his gaze - head on, locking eyes with him and, in no uncertain, vague or unclear terms, spoke her next few words very deliberately. "My word is the most precious commodity I can trade. Tell me, knight, what value is there in someone who breaks their oaths, vows or promises when offered greater rewards?"

There was a brief pause, before she eventually added;

"So no, I won't be reconsidering my contract with Iskah."

In Vanessa's case though, this was more an issue or principle than loyalty. After all, she hadn't known the lizard-doppelganger for long. They had nothing really in common. They knew litteraly nothing about each other. But that wasn't why she was angry at this AUn-person. No, the dark mage was mad because he had entertained the thought that she'd so easily break her word. To switch sides and toss her previous arrangement to the curb like a dirty, used napkin. It was good luck, perhaps even divine provedence then, that these children were present. For Vanessa could not be cerain that she wouldn't have delivered some... Dsiciplinary and educational... Punishment onto the Incubus Knight for his words.

... But for now, she managed to keep a lid on things. She looked back at the doppel-lizardman, entertaining the children and trying to get them to scamper off so she could continue her quest. Her eyes softened a bit from the genuinely heart-warming scene.

"So no, I won't be reconsidering my contract with Iskah."

The Incubus Knight was taken aback by Vanessa's angered response, completely caught surprised by the Dark Mage's unexpected commitment to the sanctity of the word. He could only stand there, wide-eyed, as Vanessa unloaded unto him. When she was finished, the flustered and embarrassed Incubus Knight cleared his throat before replying. "...I have indeed gravely insulted you with my brazen assumptions, Madam Vanessa. For that, I sincerely offer my deepest apologies."

"I suppose you are one of those weird Dark Mages then." The knight chuckled softly. "Iskah is very lucky to have someone as devoted as you... and very unlucky for me." He then sighed in defeat, lamenting that Vanessa was not open to negotiation regarding her partnership with Iskah. "Looks like I'm gonna have to shake you and Iskah off the hard way. May the best party win, eh?"

"Just be warned, you and Iskah's antics might land the two of you in trouble. That and, the royal capital isn't safe all the time so you two may get hurt. Badly." The Incubus Knight said. "I'll do my best to protect both of you, of course, but I can't be vigilant all of the time." Looking back to Iskah who was still playing with the children, he released another sigh. "Well, I've taken too much of your time. Time for me to go. See you around, Dark Mage!"

The Incubus Knight then hopped back and clutched an oval, dark blue pendant he wore on a necklace. Strong winds blew around him and a blue light surrounded him. The lights grew very bright before quickly fading out, but the Incubus Knight was no longer there. Iskah was finally free of the children after the latter's caretaker called them all inside. She attempted to catch Aun before he could teleport but to no avail.

Iskah could only plant her face on her reptilian palm at the development. "...I see Aun, at least, could spare some time for you. What did you two talk about?" Despite what it looked, Iskah trusted Vanessa and her question was of genuine curiosity.

Thus, the incubus knight made his retreat, after having at least had the good graces to apologize for his insolence. Vanessa had listened to his words of warning, but found them rather lacking. Unless the royal capital of Ortus was filled with monster- hunters or Order-fanatics who patrolled the streets with pitchforks and torches, there wasn't really much that would be a danger to a onster. Especially not someone of her calibre!

She was a bit curious about the little magic device Aun had used to make his escape though. Maybe she'd ask him about it after she and Iskah tied him up and made him marry the lizard-doppel-man-ganger.

Speaking of, it seemed the other monster girl had finally freed herself from the grip of touchy-feely-licky children... Or perhaps it was that their [s]strict and awful[/i] orphanage supervisor had called them back inside. Regardless, the love-struck girl had made her way over and was now asking Vanessa bout her little talk with the knight.

The dark mage couldn't help but smile warmly at the girl's sincere question. If she'd been a lamia or some other lizard-type monster, she probably would've had eyes filled with envy and distrust, saying something like: Don't you get too close to muh man, biach! Yet this one had an air of trust and curiosity. It was rather adorable really, she was like a pure and sweet cinnamon bun, too good for this world. Vanesas couldn't hlep but reach an arm out and gently give the other girl a headpat. Unlike her previously liscivious treatment of Iskah's body while riding, this was more along the lines of an older sister giving her younger sibling a loving, familial head-tussle.

"He wanted to bribe me into not helping you. I refused his offer. He gave me some warning about the royal capital being dangerous and then he went poof." She summarized, rather.... Abruptly and to-the-point. But there wasn't really any need to bring up tiny, teensy, tedious details that wouldn't serve anyone any good. "It does seem like he's run off though, I'm afraid. I can't track his essence or magic signature anymore. At the very least, he's gone beyond this city's limits, and given what he said, I'd figure he went aaaaaaaall the way to that capital he mentioned. At least, if I had to guess." She further explained.

She stopped petting Iskah's head at this point.

"So, what do you wanna do now, hm? Chase after him straight away? Do some sight-seeing? Find that Gummy Dummy who abandoned her cart?"

Iskah frowned, eyes narrowed and unamused, at Vanessa's affectionate gesture to the head. "...Please don't do that again."

"Anyway, you're probably right. He's gone back to the capital and... likely preparing for our arrival." The Lizardman then released a long sigh. "This is going to get tough... but hey, I've got you now. I bet... well, I hope they're not expecting someone like you." Iskah smiled confidently.

"So, what do you wanna do now, hm? Chase after him straight away? Do some sight-seeing? Find that Gummy Dummy who abandoned her cart?"

"While I'd like to go after Aun right away, I think we should look for Rie. At the very least, we should say our farewells before we leave her behind." Iskah decided. "Let's head back to where we left her cart and start from there."

---

Iskah led Vanessa back to the spot where the latter found Aun and where the wagon full of goodies was carelessly left behind. The Lizardman was the first to round the corner of the alleyway... and suddenly raised a hand to stop Vanessa from following. She quickly went behind again and silently motioned for Vanessa to join her in peeking what she saw.

Once Vanessa did so, the two monsters observed that Rie has returned to her surprisingly untouched wagon... along with someone else. The Gyoubu Danuki was speaking with another monster beside her transport, a lizard monster much like Iskah but her scales were a dark red and her tail sometimes glowed like an ember. It was no question that she was a Salamander, and this particular one wore a slitted metal mask that covered only her face. Her presence here agitated Iskah, she was someone that the Lizardman recognized.

"Damn it, I knew I'd see her again." Iskah muttered to herself. "And it looks like she found friends of her own. No wonder Rie followed me to find Aun." She then released a long sigh. Perhaps Vanessa should ask Iskah on who the Salamander was?

At Iskah's words and expression, Vanessa just frowned in response, then puffed her cheeks up.

"Boo. You're no fun." Apparently she really wanted to pet the lizardgager's head...

Following her employer as they began their journey to retrace their steps to the wagon which had been abandoned, Vanessa took the time to dispel both her own and Iskah's acceleration-spell. After all, since Aun wasn't around anymore and they weren't in any immediate danger, there was no need for her to keep burning magic energy on sustaining two buffs that were going to remain unused.

When they rounded the corner and her companion jumped back a bit, the dark mage merely stopped in her tracks and tilted her head, slightly confused. Then the whole cloak'n dagger-spiel began, hiding behind the corner of a building to spy on the tanuki-girl who seemed to have made friends with a masked... lizardman? No, that one was a salamander. The tail-flame gave her away. Of course, maybe this one was a doppelganger like iskah as well? Not that it really mattered.

From her reaction, Vanessa could deduce that Iskah wasn't too fond of this new arrival. Though it seemed their Zipanguese friend had no issue chatting her up. Not a surprise, the plump-tailed girl was a merchant after all. Hopefully, she just hadn't said anything unnecessary like: I travelled ehre with a lizardman! Or; My companions are off hunting a husband! Maybe you'ce heard of him? The Incubus Knight!

... But then again, merchants tended to trade in information too, so chances of her keeping her trap shut was shaky at best. Still, they couldn't stand around, staring from around a corner all day, so Vanessa decided to bit the obvious carrot dangling infront of her.

"So, who's that? And why're we hiding from her exactly?"

"So, who's that? And why're we hiding from her exactly?"

"Her name's Katelyn, a Salamander who's also pursuing Aun." Iskah answered. "And we're not hiding."

After that declaration, the Lizardman rounded the corner and walked up to Katelyn the Salamander. The fiery lizard monster, meanwhile, noticed immediately and... appeared happy to have seen Iskah. "Ah, Iskah! You're here too!" Katelyn gladly greeted the unamused Lizardman. "Still pursuing Aun, I wager?" She asked while patting Iskah on the shoulder. Vanessa would notice that the Salamander was a head taller than the Lizardman.

Iskah, meanwhile, stopped Katelyn and responded. "Yes, and I wager you are as well." She eyed Rie, who can only give a sheepish laugh. "I see you've recruited others to help you in this quest." The Lizardman remarked.

"And I see you've also made friends of your own." The Salamander looked past Iskah to see Vanessa either behind the Lizardman or still back at the corner. "A Dark Mage, huh? Now how did you manage to get a Dark Mange working for ya? Did you promise her a man once you get Aun or something?"

So, the other lizard-girl was a love rival? Vaness raised an amused eyebrow, but had the good grace not to say anything. She probably felt that having made Iskah uncomfortable etih her headpats earlier was perhaps enough torment for one day. Or perhaps she just didn't care enough to make any snide comments. Whatever the case, it seemed the dopple-lizard was done peeking around the corner and marched on out to confront the salamander and their traitorous previous travelling-companion.

A brief exchange transpired between the two. Nothing too scathing or hostile, just some quips and snark, nothing to get riled up about. The salamander-girl made a jab at the pair though, asking what Iskah possibly could've offered Vanessa in return for the latter's help. The Dark Mage didn't feel any
obligation or reason to interfere in the exchange though, and felt even lss concerned about revealing her motivations and reasons to a complete stranger - even more so to someone who was apparently actively a competitor. After all, if this other lizard somehow managed to steal Aun away from Iskah, then Vanessa couldn't collect her reward. More importantly, that would break her promise, which was just not an option.

Instead of talking to the salamander, Vanessa outright ignored her and walked over to cart and the tanuki.

"I see you found it again." She started, stopping next to and gently giving the side of the wagon a tap with her dainty fingers. "Curious. I've never seen a merchant who so readily abandon her livelihood to the hands of complete strangers. Was the smell of the knight that intoxicating?" She had a wry, playful and slightly smarmy smirk on her lips, obviously poking fun at the tanuki.

... This was payback for calling her a cow yesterday...