The scene was like something off an idyllic picture postcard. Lush green trees. A calm deep blue lake had a rolling waterfall in one corner. In the opposite corner a man sat on the bank, fishing rod in hand, waiting for his lunch to be caught. He loved this place. It was so quiet and peaceful. He could escape from all of his worries of the world here. From further around the side two ugly, big, dirty hoodlums sat crouching in the cover of the bushes. Their eyes were pinned on to the old man with a greedy lustful glare behind them. They each knew what the other was thinking without either man having to say a single word. They quickly moved out of the bushes towards the quiet fisherman.
Despite this world being in a different Temporal Reality Event Sequence and in a different part of the galaxy from Earth, good was still attacked by evil at every given opportunity. And the evil usually picked on those who were unable or unwilling to defend themselves. The two large men saw this fisherman as easy pickings and they were going to enjoy every minute of the kicking they were about to deliver. They walked up to the old man slowly. That gave the man enough time to fear and take in the sight of these two large men coming towards him. The old man smiled in a friendly show of trust and kindness. These were ignored completely by the other men.
“What are you doing here?” one of the hoodlums asked in a sharp barking tone of voice.
Unknown and unseen by them, Larna Fox came flying headfirst out of fresh air. She had jumped into Darius’ portal without a care for where it would take her. She just knew it had to be better than where she had been. Larna swam through the air as she dove headfirst over the edge of the waterfall and into the lake. The roaring of the waterfall drowned the splash she made out. As she surfaced, she could see the scene unfolded before her on the bank. Her instincts told her that she needed information. She needed to find out where she was first. Then she had to try to find the Silver Lady. Larna hoped that that would not be a case of trying to find a needle in a haystack. Her gut was telling her that old men would be very grateful to the person who helped them getaway from rough looking men. Her head was also telling her that an old man would probably be a lot more co-operative than the thugs would. Larna swam quickly and as quietly as she could to the edge of the lake.
“My friend asked you a question old man,” the second thug barked in a very menacing tone.
“I was just fishing,” the old man replied meekly. He felt very small. These men were very intimidating and made him extremely fearful for his personal safety.
“Well you did know that this is our lake and anyone using it either pays a tax or gets a good ass kicking as a lesson,” the first man explained in a very confident tone. He was sure that this old man would not want a kicking — a lot of money was sure to be coming their way very shortly.
“Perfect!” Larna yelled out from behind them. She had heard enough of the conversation.
Her sudden appearance made everyone jump. The two thugs stopped moving towards the old man immediately. They had not expected to have someone sneak up behind them. They did not even hear Larna approach. The two thugs turned around sharply. They expected to see a ferocious, ugly warrior woman with scars and missing teeth. Their mouths fell open when they saw the Fox standing in front of them.
Larna made up a fantastic sexy and stunning figure. Her stunning twenty-one year old fitness-trainer-like body was displayed gorgeously. She was wearing the Lillian outfit that she had given by her trainer when she first arrived in the Lillian camp. The outfit was a mixture of leather and chain mail that hugged and exaggerated the curves of her figure. She had well-worn brown leather boots on her feet that went up about halfway up her shin. They both had daggers on the outsides of them. Larna’s athletic legs were bare from the top of the boots up to the middle of her thigh. A short brown leather mini-skirt went around her slender waist. The skirt hugged the sides of her thighs tightly. A strong broad belt held it up with little silver circles on it. Those circles were tiny explosive devices. A brown leather corset went around her stomach and waist to hold it tightly so that her figure was forced into an hourglass shape. A chain mail cover went over the top of the corset. The corset itself emphasised her bosom by lifting upwards. Attached to the top of the corset was another chain mail cover that went right up to the metal slave collar that had been permanently locked around Larna’s neck. Her arms were bare apart from tiny leather bands up her forearms. The bands were attached with tiny fasteners around her middle fingers. Larna wore a long raincoat-like coat over the top of the whole outfit. Despite its length, the coat did not impede Larna’s martial arts movements. It actually made them look even more impressive. The broad sword on her right side was tied tightly to her leg. It moved with her also. Larna stood with her feet wide apart. She placed her hands on her hips. The pose was one of her most sexy. She was looking down at the ground just in front of the two men. Her face did not need much makeup. She held the look of the actress Hudson Leick. Her lips were slightly coloured red thanks to red berry juice. She slowly lifted her head so that the two thugs could see it.
The two men found it hard to take their eyes off the young woman in front of them. She had come from no where. They did not mind that though. Someone this sexy and stunning could sneak up on them any time they liked. Larna even started to crack a cheeky schoolgirl grin as she stood peering up under her eyebrows slightly.
“What do we have here?” the smaller of the two men asked with a broad smile on his face. “Is this your fishing companion old man?” he then asked after he had turned his head to look at the fisherman. “Because if she is, you are the luckiest man alive,” he concluded finding it hard to contain the drool inside his mouth.
“So what are you doing here sexy?” the taller and uglier of the two men enquired in a rather friendly tone of voice.
It was too friendly for Larna’s liking. “This is just so damn perfect it is unbelievable,” she expressed with a deep sigh and a shake of her head.
“What is so damn perfect?” the taller man exclaimed harshly. He did not like the tone of Larna’s voice. Despite its softest, it held a certain amount of threat and danger to it that did not make him feel comfortable.
Larna took a step closer to them both. She did not like too. The smell of their cloths and their bodies was enough to kill the crows perched in the highest treetops. The men did not back down. They did not even consider this stunning young woman to be a considerable threat to them. Again, an enemy of the Fox was underestimating her skills and talents for inflicting a serious amount of pain and discomfort.
Larna glared up at the two with not a sign of fear in her eyes. Her eyes held a cold unemotional state that sent chills right through the spine. The fact that her clothes were soaked just added to the sexy look she was giving off. It made her seem less threatening too in a strange sort of way. She glanced towards the old man briefly. “I was travelling along on my horse when she suddenly started behaving strangely. Something had spooked her good and true. I thought she could sense danger ahead in the trees. Well, she got spooked so badly that she threw me from the saddle into the lake. Now, I’m a little pissed off that she did that in the first place, but now, having seen and smelt what she was concerned about, I don’t blame her in the slightest,” Larna started firmly not breaking into a smile or showing any sign of emotion. Her last statement did bring a smile to the old man’s face.
The old man then stopped smiling as quickly as he had started. He could not believe that she was tempting these men like this. “Listen guys, I am sure that this young woman did not mean to insult you like that. Why don’t you just let the pair of us go and we shall saying nothing about it?” the old man requested softly.
That request brought stern glares from both of the men and from Larna. When the old man saw the look on Larna’s eyes, he felt a severe chill run right down his back. That glare was so threatening, even coming from someone looking like Larna. The old man started shaking his head in a — I am sorry I spoke — manner.
“Guys, just at this moment right now,” Larna then continued after she had turned back to stare at the two thugs in front of her. “I am looking for someone I can give a severe ass kicking too. I DO NOT like being wet. Normally I take out my frustration and anger on the nearest person to me. As you two claim that this lake belongs to you, that is just the perfect answer to my search. It was your fault that my horse threw me into lake in the first place and now I find out that you actually lay claim to the offending piece of water. I cannot think of anyone better I would like to beat into the ground than a pair of smelly, scruffy thugs with only the limited bravado to pick on an old man,” she finished n a very threatening and insulting manner.
The two men could not believe their ears. No one had dared insult them like that before. No man had — now they were faced with the fact that a stunning woman, who would not have looked out of place sitting on a throne seat as a Princess of the Realm, was insulting them and provoking them into a fight. Larna circled around the two men to stand beside the old man. She glanced down at him with a cheeky look of confidence on her face. She even gave him a quick wink of her right eye. The two warriors looked at each other with questioning glances. They were desperate to try to work out what to make of it all. Larna did not hang around wasting time. Normally she waited for an attack to be launched, then made a counter move. But, her martial arts training did allow her to make a pre-emptive strike when the need arose. Unfortunately, it appeared to her that these men were so dumb that they did not even understand a clear insult to them when they heard one.
“Guys, now come on, are you telling me that you are just going to stand there while a mere woman calls you two stinking, rotten planks of wood with as many brains as a slug?” Larna asked trying to provoke the men into making a move even more.
The men’s face turned red with rage.
‘Bingo,’ Larna thought to herself seeing that her tactics had worked and the fight was ready to begin.
Larna reached for the fishing rod in the old man’s hand like lightning. She swept it into her left hand in the blink of an eye, taking it from the old man before he eve knew what was happening. On bringing it around in front of her, she twirled it around in her hand, transferring it across to her right hand with a minimum of effort. Once in her right hand, she twirled it through her fingers and around in her hand, then brought it flashing down on to the top of the largest man’s head. The wood cracked down over his skull and shattered into tens of pieces. Larna knew that the blow was not going to be enough to take the man down. The rod had not been that thick and the force of the blow was slight. But, it would give her the advantage she needed to strike at the other, while the first was slightly incapacitated. She shifted her stand slightly to face the second man. Working up from his low stomach, she alternated between left and right blows, all the way up to his stomach, his ribs and then his chest. The final blow was a stinging uppercut with her right hand under his chin. As he staggered backward in stunned shock and dull pain, Larna grabbed hold of the front of his outfit then spin around in a clockwise direction. She used the momentum of the spin to help her launch the man through the air. The man as sent flying several metres into the lake. Larna continued the spin around. On the way she clipped the first man across the face with a right-footed rising spin kick from her left-to-right. That just added to the daze he was suffering from. Larna then swiftly did an upward right-footed kick into his groin. When he bent forward in reaction to the stinging viciousness of the last kick, Larna grabbed hold of the back of his shirt. Doing just the same move as she had the first time, she sent this second man flying into the lake to join his friend. By co-incidence more than design, she almost managed to get the two men crashing into each other as one entered the lake and the other surfaced. In a matter of just a few minutes, Larna had beaten two rough looking men with limited fuss and without them even throwing a punch, let a lone laying a hand on her. They did not even come close to launching an offensive move of their own.
The old man found it hard not to smile as he watched the two men struggling to stay afloat in the lake. They were both splashing around like crocodile’s battling with their dinner. Larna slowly walked up to stand beside the old man, walking with an air of confidence and satisfaction that normally graced her sexy swaying hip movement.
The old man sensed her instantly. He peered around at her cautiously. “I was not with them,” he pointed out in his own defence. He was sure that he did not want to get a kicking from this young lady if he could help it. His eye then took in more of the stunning outfit that Larna was wearing. “You’re a Lillian. Or at least—” the old man paused when he noticed the colouring of Larna’s hair. “—your clothes would suggest that you are,” he finished confused.
“I guess you could call me an honorary member of the tribe,” Larna explained answering the old man’s questioning expression about the fact that her hair was auburn and not blonde.
“I should have had more faith in your abilities to handle yourself shouldn’t I,” the old man reported with a deep sigh. He now regretted the fact that he had tried to back down from the situation earlier in the piece.
“Don’t worry, I’m no threat to you. I’ll not hold that against you,” Larna said in a very calm, soft and reassuring tone of voice. “A lot of people underestimate the skills that I have, even when I’m dressed as a Lillian Warrior. I was just a little concerned that they were going to harm you. Besides, they needed a bath don’t you agree,” she finished adding a little light-hearted relief to the conversation.
“Thank you Lillian,” the old man expressed with deepest gratitude. “I do not know what I would have done if you had not come along to help me. If there is anything that I can do for you, please you only have to ask,” he finished continuing with the tone of gratitude.
“Fox, please call me Fox,” Larna replied in the same calm voice that displayed her slight French accent at its maximum. She did not use her full Earth name. She never had since she had been in this alternate TRES. They did not seem to understand the concept of two names. Besides, Larna was just happy being known as Fox for the time being. “Perhaps I should accompany you back to your village, just to make sure that those men do no decide to try to take out their vengeance on you,” she finished in more of a statement than a suggestion.
The old man could tell by her tone, that he would find it hard to argue with her or to dissuade her from that course of action. “My name is Licius,” the old man replied before he looked around for his fishing tackle. His name was pronounced Lie-C-Us. After he realised that Larna had used his only rod as a weapon and that he did not have any fishing tackle left to carry, he slowly walked away from the lake.
Larna took one last glance at the men struggling to swim. She knew that they were no threat to this man, she doubted that they would even make it back to the side. Larna just wanted to join this man in the hope that she could get some information from that might be useful.
The path Licius man took from the lake was one that was not used very often. It was overgrown with bushes, thorns and overhanging trees. Licius knew it though like the back of his hand. It was almost like he could give a running commentary on every stone, every hole and every shortcut that there was. He did not talk that much. Larna sensed that he was still a little intimidated by her. It was strange the way that she could intimidate those that she was trying to help, yet those she was fighting against took her lightly and did not consider her to be a threat. Larna walked along behind the old man following in his footsteps carefully. The ground was very dry, despite the overgrown bushes. The bright blue sky told its own side of that story. When the path got wide enough, Larna moved to walk along beside him. For a man of his age, Licius was certainly quick on his feet and held his balance extremely well. A touch of the old soldier, Larna guessed from the way that he held himself with pride. His clothes were well cared for. He himself was not underfed or unkempt in any manner. His grey hair was combed back to try to hide the balding patch on the top of his head.
“So what province have I wondered into exactly?” Larna enquired casually. She wanted to try the softly-softly approach in the hope that she could get as much information as she could without having to go into the full details of why she was there.
Licius found that to be a strange question, but he answered it anyway. “This is the land of Amona,” he stated simply.
That did not mean anything to Larna. “How far away from Lycia and the great city of Talane are we?” she asked to try to get a better sense of her bearings. She enquired in such a manner that did not suggest that she had come from those places, but more that perhaps she was heading towards them.
Licius stopped dead in his tracks. “I have never heard of those places. I have been across this Realm as far as twenty moons distance, but have never come across those places before,” he expressed in surprise. “If you are looking to travel to those places Fox, then you are no where near in the right direction,” he pointed out
‘Twenty moons are the equivalent to twenty months. That’s nearly two years. And he never came across Talane and Lycia. Jesus, I must be right over the other side of the planet,’ Larna concluded from that statement to herself. She was slightly disturbed by this news. It meant that Darius was too far away from her for her to be able to do anything to stop him. He could have taken over the whole of that side of the planet by the time Larna got back.
“That begs me to ask a question of you Fox,” Licius started in a rather reluctant tone of voice. “What are you doing in this realm? I mean—” he began to explain in a flat calm voice, “—nobody does anything without having a motive,” he expressed. “I doubt that you would have volunteered to fight those men if you did not have a damn good reason for wanting me to owe you a favour. As I am a little too old for you, I’m guessing that it is something other than infatuation that is driving your actions,” Licius finished with a wry smile on his face.
Larna did not know how to take that statement. She found it quite amusing, but if she responded with a laugh, would that offend Licius. “You’re right,” she said deciding that truth was better than deception in this encounter. “I needed to save you for something,” Larna confess gently.
“Don’t get me wrong Fox, I am not saying that I am ungrateful to you for helping me out back at the lake. Far from it in fact. I realise that a young woman on a quest often needs guidance. I can understand that you would see me as a good source of information. Those men attacking me were the perfect chance for you to exploit. I am not criticising you for taking advantage of the situation for your own needs,” Licius explained in a very steady voice. There was no anger or resentment present at all. “You did the right thing and I commend you for your bright and alert thinking,” he added as a compliment to show that he was not trying to knock Larna down in anyway. “I assume that you are a long, long way from home and you are now searching for something very important. If Talane is your home, then I cannot be far from the truth,” he stated reading in-between the lines of the conversation so far.
Larna could not get over how intuitive this old man was. His body may not have been fit for the fight much now, but he had not lost any of his intelligence. He was just as good at reading people and motives as Larna was. “I am searching for a very important person. Someone who will bring an end to my fight with darkness and destruction and who may even be able to get me home,” she reported still not giving away the whole truth, just to see what Licius would make of that little statement.
Licius stopped dead in his tracks. Larna continued to walk on a couple of steps more, before she stopped also. She turned to look at the old man questioning his motives. Licius held a stern glare on his face. Larna wondered if she had just stepped over the line and said something that she should not have done. She did not know in what regard people in Amona held the Silver Lady. She could be resented by them and treated like a witch.
Licius glanced down a pathway going off to his left. “I think you need to come with me,” he stated more than suggested. “You NEED to speak to a friend of mine,” Licius explained sharply in a tone that suggested he would not take no for an answer.
Larna picked up on that tone and was instantly suspicious of the motives. Licius may have been an old man, but this could well be the start of a trap beginning to unravel. “Why?” Larna asked in confusion.
“He will be able to help you find the Silver Lady of course,” Licius replied instantly before he turned and walked off down the path he had just looked down.
Larna watched him walking off down that path with a look of admiration on her face. He was good. Not wanting to pass up on an excellent opportunity to find out about the Silver Lady, Larna quickly started after Licius, before he got too far ahead of her.
Continuing from the last adventure, Larna finds herself in a distance realm that is in the middle of a conflict between Good, the Silver Lady and Evil, the Devil Woman. The Devil Woman is holding the Lady prisoner in her dungeons and only Larna can rescue her.