“Are you sure it ran this way?” asked Emily.

“Yes, I’m sure,” responded Jeremiah.

Jeremiah and Emily were rangers. They were hunting a deer that Jeremiah had seen, although Emily was starting to have doubts that he had seen anything.

“I think I hear it,” said Jeremiah, his green eyes looking around for any sight of the creature.

“Well, I don’t,” said Emily, pulling her cap over the tips of her ears, to keep them warm. The cap also covered her brown hair, which had a tendency to get in her way while she was aiming her bow.

“This way,” said Jeremiah, walking off through the trees. Emily sighed, rolling her blue eyes, and followed him. Determination was a good thing, but sometimes Jeremiah could simply be annoying.

But, Emily was wrong after all. Soon, they saw the creature. “Got him,” Jeremiah smirked, drawing his bow. He knocked an arrow, took aim, and fired.

And missed.

Jeremiah scowled, while Emily was trying very hard not to burst out laughing. Jeremiah glared at her as she drew her own bow. Emily knocked an arrow, took aim, and fired.

And hit.

Emily smiled happily, and slung her bow over her shoulder. “Good, we can eat tonight,” she said.

“Let’s just go get it,” said Jeremiah, irritated.

“You’re just mad because you didn’t hit it,” said Emily.

“Oh, shut up,” growled Jeremiah, walking over to the stag’s body.

Emily suddenly stopped in her tracks. “Wait,” she said.

“What is it?” asked Jeremiah.

“I hear something,” said Emily, readying her bow.

Emily scanned the terrain for any movement. Whatever she had heard must have heard her too. But then she saw it.

“Robed ones,” she muttered.

The Robed Ones are evil entities, known to have no soul, and travel in packs. They often summon lesser demons to fight for them, as they are too weak to fight for themselves. They have an incredible thirst for blood and destruction, though no one knows why. They are also rumored to serve a king or queen, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Jeremiah also readied his bow, but since he couldn’t see his enemy, he decided to let Emily have the first shot. A horrible screeching sound was heard when Emily’s arrow made impact, and the demon disintegrated.

“Well, where are the others?” she wondered aloud, eyes scanning for any sign of more demons. Funny, really. She should have been able to see them, seeing as they were surrounding the two companions. But they made themselves visible soon enough.

Jeremiah readied his bow. But Emily had another solution that would kill more of them, in less time. So, she summoned a fire ball, and used it to destroy a large chunk of the demons. (What, didn’t I mention she’s part sorceress? I didn’t? Oops… heh, heh…)

With that large portion gone, she could see another large group of Robed Ones heading for their village.

“Jeremiah, they’re heading for the village!” she exclaimed, firing another fireball.

“Well, then, let’s hurry up here, so we can beat them there!” said Jeremiah, firing arrow after arrow at the demons. Emily nodded, and continued attacking with fireballs.

Luckily, it didn’t take too long for them to finish off the pack of Robed Ones, and they began running after the other pack, hoping to reach them, before they reached the village.

Finally, Jeremiah and Emily came upon the Robed Ones. They were huddled together, just inside the forest. They were speaking, but in a different language.

“What do you wanna bet they’re summoning up demons?” Emily whispered to Jeremiah, knocking an arrow to her bow.

“I’d be willing to bet a lot on that,” said Jeremiah, doing the same.

Emily nodded, and aimed her bow. She whispered some words in a language unknown to Jeremiah, the language spell casters used, and let her arrow fly. It exploded on impact, taking out a large chunk of the Robed Ones, and interrupting their incantations. But Emily was out of arrows.

“Arrow,” said Emily, holding her hand out to Jeremiah.

“Huh?”

“Give me an arrow!” said Emily.

“Oh,” said Jeremiah, reaching into his quiver to retrieve an arrow. He handed it to Emily, who quickly repeated her earlier attack.

Somehow, one Robed One managed to escape the blast. Jeremiah was the one to take action. He let an arrow fly, and it hit the Robed One. It screeched, and disintegrated.

Emily slung her bow over her shoulder, and stretched. “Why don’t you go find that stag?” she suggested to Jeremiah. “I’m going to take a nap.”

“What? Why do you get a break?” asked Jeremiah.

“Because I just cast a lot of spells, I’m tired,” said Emily. “Now, be a man and go get the stag,” she smiled.

Jeremiah growled and turned around. He walked off muttering things that Emily couldn’t hear, and probably didn’t want to. She smiled, and headed back to the village, for her nap, and to report the incident to the village elder. There were plenty more Robed Ones out there, but for now, their home was safe.