here?”
“My name is Jess and I’m… uh…”
“Here to steal my staff?”
“Not steal. I didn’t know you existed. I’m a sorceress and I need it for something very important.”
“Well… it’s mine. Are you going to try to take it from me?”
Jess thought for a moment before responding. She had assumed the staff would just be waiting for her unguarded in the cave. Count on Aim to not find all of the details when it wasn’t something he was personally interested in.
“Like I said… I need it. There’s a demon that’s in between life and death right now. I need to bring him back.”
“And you need my staff for the spell. I see.”
The monkey king looked as if he was considering the request. After several moments of silence, he shook his head.
“No.”
Jess waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t.
“That’s it? No?”
“Correct. No.”
“That’s unacceptable.”
The monkey king seemed to get a little annoyed with her response.
“No… let me tell you what is unacceptable, Jess. It’s unacceptable that the Dragon took away most of the giants he promised would guard me here. It’s unacceptable that you somehow got through the three giants that were left. It’s unacceptable that you entered my cave and it’s unacceptable that you are trying to steal my staff.”
Jess readied her staff.
“I guess we don’t have anything further to discuss. I was willing to make a deal.”
“No. No deals. No. No. No.”
“You sound like the giant out there that’s chasing a bird. He doesn’t have much of a vocabulary either.”
The monkey king’s eyes turned red.
“No… once again you don’t understand your situation. It is you who has a lacking vocabulary. I’m the immortal monkey king. Immortal means I can’t die. Wandering in here hoping to kill me was incredibly foolish. Attempting to steal my staff was an asinine idea. I will place your rotting corpse at the entrance of this cave with a sign that says ‘I was dumb enough to attempt to steal from the monkey king.’”
Jess went with her go-to first attack, corpse hands reaching up from the ground grabbing at anything they could reach and pinning them down. The monkey king flashed briefly and then disappeared. Moments later, Jess felt something fall on her shoulders and hit her hard on the head. She felt dizzy and fell over.
“I won’t even need to use spellcraft to slay you. You are a novice. I’m still immensely surprised you made it past the giants given the state of your sorcery.”
The monkey king brought his staff down hard, aiming at Jess’s head. She brought up both hands in an attempt to block it, unsure of where it actually was because of her dizziness. The staff connected hard with one of her forearms. She ignored the pain and quickly grabbed it with her hand. She started muttering a spell and the staff began to heat up. Fire shot from the staff up the monkey king’s furry arm. He kicked Jess hard in the face, threw his staff across the room, and then rolled around in the sandy cave floor until the flames on his arm were extinguished.
“Well that was… unexpected. I guess I misjudged you. I don’t come across many demons who can summon flames. It was a miscalculation on my part… one which I won’t repeat.”
The monkey king ran across the cave and touched his staff briefly before withdrawing his hand. It was still too hot. Jess knew she had a limited window of time to act. She shook her head, hoping to clear her vision, and grabbed at her staff. Jess summoned a snake that slithered over to the monkey king and wrapped itself around his body, pulling his arms to his sides. The monkey king laughed.
“I’m a monkey. My feet work the same as my hands.”
The monkey king grabbed his staff, which was now cool enough to handle, with his feet. He cast a spell and the snake turned into a string and fell off him. Before Jess could get back to her feet, the monkey king attacked.
CHAPTER 21
“Were you
“My name is Jess and I’m… uh…”
“Here to steal my staff?”
“Not steal. I didn’t know you existed. I’m a sorceress and I need it for something very important.”
“Well… it’s mine. Are you going to try to take it from me?”
Jess thought for a moment before responding. She had assumed the staff would just be waiting for her unguarded in the cave. Count on Aim to not find all of the details when it wasn’t something he was personally interested in.
“Like I said… I need it. There’s a demon that’s in between life and death right now. I need to bring him back.”
“And you need my staff for the spell. I see.”
The monkey king looked as if he was considering the request. After several moments of silence, he shook his head.
“No.”
Jess waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t.
“That’s it? No?”
“Correct. No.”
“That’s unacceptable.”
The monkey king seemed to get a little annoyed with her response.
“No… let me tell you what is unacceptable, Jess. It’s unacceptable that the Dragon took away most of the giants he promised would guard me here. It’s unacceptable that you somehow got through the three giants that were left. It’s unacceptable that you entered my cave and it’s unacceptable that you are trying to steal my staff.”
Jess readied her staff.
“I guess we don’t have anything further to discuss. I was willing to make a deal.”
“No. No deals. No. No. No.”
“You sound like the giant out there that’s chasing a bird. He doesn’t have much of a vocabulary either.”
The monkey king’s eyes turned red.
“No… once again you don’t understand your situation. It is you who has a lacking vocabulary. I’m the immortal monkey king. Immortal means I can’t die. Wandering in here hoping to kill me was incredibly foolish. Attempting to steal my staff was an asinine idea. I will place your rotting corpse at the entrance of this cave with a sign that says ‘I was dumb enough to attempt to steal from the monkey king.’”
Jess went with her go-to first attack, corpse hands reaching up from the ground grabbing at anything they could reach and pinning them down. The monkey king flashed briefly and then disappeared. Moments later, Jess felt something fall on her shoulders and hit her hard on the head. She felt dizzy and fell over.
“I won’t even need to use spellcraft to slay you. You are a novice. I’m still immensely surprised you made it past the giants given the state of your sorcery.”
The monkey king brought his staff down hard, aiming at Jess’s head. She brought up both hands in an attempt to block it, unsure of where it actually was because of her dizziness. The staff connected hard with one of her forearms. She ignored the pain and quickly grabbed it with her hand. She started muttering a spell and the staff began to heat up. Fire shot from the staff up the monkey king’s furry arm. He kicked Jess hard in the face, threw his staff across the room, and then rolled around in the sandy cave floor until the flames on his arm were extinguished.
“Well that was… unexpected. I guess I misjudged you. I don’t come across many demons who can summon flames. It was a miscalculation on my part… one which I won’t repeat.”
The monkey king ran across the cave and touched his staff briefly before withdrawing his hand. It was still too hot. Jess knew she had a limited window of time to act. She shook her head, hoping to clear her vision, and grabbed at her staff. Jess summoned a snake that slithered over to the monkey king and wrapped itself around his body, pulling his arms to his sides. The monkey king laughed.
“I’m a monkey. My feet work the same as my hands.”
The monkey king grabbed his staff, which was now cool enough to handle, with his feet. He cast a spell and the snake turned into a string and fell off him. Before Jess could get back to her feet, the monkey king attacked.
CHAPTER 21
“Were you
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