Lured of the Rings

Lured of the Rings
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The Demon Lord’s Ring! The ring that he had stolen from that Dragon’s hoard located deep in the cave off of the coast of Jalam.
Frotho had had only a short amount of time in which to decide which portion of that Dragon’s hoard to make off with, before that sleeping draught he had slipped her, wore off!
He decided upon that treasure box that was the most heavily secured item in the entire cave! Diamond necklaces, great golden goblets, emerald diadems, all those were just lying about, unsecured. But that one treasure box that stood alone caught his eye. Making short work of the locks that sealed it to its pedestal, Frotho was surprised by its lightness! Yet, he had scant time to puzzle over that mystery, when he heard the snorting of the Dragon as she started to grumble herself awake!
So, he ran with his prize! He ran so far and for so long, until at the last, his legs failed him. Finally, after what seemed forever, he caught his breath. Then, he unlocked his prize.
Oh, the oaths he uttered upon discovering that the box held but a single golden ring, wrapped in samite! In frustration he had smashed that damnable box, scattering its pieces in search of the real treasure, perchance in some hidden compartment!
But no, there wasn’t anything else! So, out of curiosity, Frotho put on that ring and discovered its secret: it was a Magical Ring of Invisibility! Like something out of legend!
After that, his thieving luck improved dramatically! Other people’s property just came naturally to him then! How could he ever have lived prior, without his precious ring!
But even then, he had no idea of just how much power that ring of his held! Swiftly, he discovered that Monster-girls would no longer threaten him! Yet, with all that power, he felt empty. It was almost as if he was missing a part of himself. Soon, he began to dream of all things: a Dark Elf maiden! Every night, that wondrous creature would come to him in his dreams, and he just knew that she belonged to him! But, Frotho had no idea where to find her!
If it weren’t for that chance encounter with the Dark Mage Gallandia, at the inn of the Prancing Cadaver in Cynosure, he might never have discovered his destiny. She was most impressed with him after he had bought her a drink, after much ale had flowed, she accompanied him to his room and he showed off his Magic Ring to her.
It was then, that she performed a test that made him cry out with fear- she threw his ring into his room’s fireplace! But instead of melting it, strange writing appeared glowing upon its surface.
That high and mighty Dark Mage vanished upon her seeing the writing that appeared as it sat within the flames. In her place, there appeared a different Dark Mage, a timid one that deferred to him. Out loud he wondered why the ring’s writings would change her so.
 “It is the One Ring, Frotho!” She whispered, her voice quivering in fright, as she clung to him fearfully. Before he could ask what the One Ring was, she continued.
“It is the Demon-Lord’s One Ring! The ring of ultimate power that she lost in a terrible battle with the Chief God, ages ago!” He gasped in shock at that news.
She continued, “You may very well hold the fate of the world in your hands! What will you do?” She said, gaping in awe of him.
“Wha, wha, wha, wha!” he sputtered, “What can I do? I am merely a thief! Na, na, na, not,…not a Hero of the Order!”
“Destiny will often call upon the least of us to do great deeds, Frotho.” She said solemnly as she held her gaze with his. “The Powers that Are has chosen you, My Lord, to do that which all of the combined might of the Order cannot: Defeat the Demon-Lord on her Dark Throne, in the land of Royal Makai!”
“What must I do?” Frotho said, slurring his words.
“You must go on a Quest! You must leave tonight! Travel light! Tell no one! Avoid as many as you can!” She sighed dramatically.
“Where must I go?” he asked, as he stumbled around his room, trying to dress himself.
“You must travel South! To the Fortress of the Council of the Wise, that is cleverly disguised as a tumbledown cottage located just off of the Caravan road, three days travel from here!” She replied, as she helped him pack his saddle bags.
“What will you do?” He asked, suddenly.
“I will stay here tonight! So as to fool your pursuers!” she said breathlessly.
“What pursuers?” He asked, confused.
“The Demon-Lord’s servants: the Dullahan, Frotho! Try to keep up!”  she said impatiently. “If they capture you with Her Ring upon you, your screams will be heard for millennia!”
“eeew.” Was all he could manage, as he shouldered his saddle bags.
Finally, as a farewell, Gallandia gave him a long, passionate, adoring, kiss, before sending him on his way.
‘She could surely die in that warm, dry, room.’ He thought to himself as he rode his palfrey into the monsoonal rain. ‘It’s such a noble sacrifice on her part, just to protect me.’
And then, three sodden mornings later, as per Gallandia’s directions, lay the Council’s Fortress, that was indeed very cleverly disguised as a tumbledown cottage.
Within that cottage, he met Sharsa Grimfury, the Dark Elf-maiden who had been haunting his dreams for far too long.
“Do you like what you doth see . . . ?" said the voluptuous Dark Elf-maiden as she provocatively parted the folds of her robe to reveal the rounded, shadowy glories within.

Frotho's throat was dry, though his head reeled with desire and ale. She slipped off the flimsy garment and strode toward the fascinated human unashamed of her nakedness. She ran a perfect hand along his hairy chest, and he helplessly watched them curl with the fierce insistent wanting of her.
"Let me make thee more comfortable," she whispered hoarsely, fiddling with the clasps of his jerkin, loosening his sword belt with a laugh.
"Touch me, oh touch me," she crooned. Frotho's hand, as though of its own will, reached out and traced the delicate swelling of her Dark Elf-breast, while the other slowly crept around her tiny, flawless waist, crushing her to his barrel chest.
 "Hairy chest, I love a hairy chest," she moaned, forcing him down on the silvered carpet. Her tiny, pink fingers caressed the luxuriant fur of his pectoral muscles while Frotho's nose sought out the warmth of her precious elf-ear.
"But I'm so tall and hairy, and . . . and you're so beautiful," Frotho whimpered, slipping clumsily out of his crossed garters. The Dark Elf-maiden said nothing, but only sighed deep in her throat and held him more firmly to her faunlike body.
"There is one thing you must do for me first," she whispered into one rounded ear.
"Anything," sobbed Frotho, growing frantic with his need. "Anything!" She closed her eyes and then opened them to the ceiling.
"The Ring," she said. "I must have your Ring." Frothos whole body tensed.
 "Oh no," he cried, "not that! Anything but . . . that."
"I must have it," she said both tenderly and fiercely. "I must have the Ring!" Frotho's eyes blurred with tears and confusion.
"I can't," he said. "I mustn't!" But he knew resolve was no longer strong in him. Slowly, the Dark Elf-maiden's hand inched toward the chain in his vest pocket, closer and closer it came to the Ring Frotho had guarded so faithfully.
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“I have to admit, Takane. “ Gallandia said, ”I would never would have guessed that this madcap scheme of yours would work so well.” Takane the Danuki, smiled at that compliment from her business partner. They both sat in folding chairs, next to Takane’s hidden Vardo, located some trees behind the tumbledown cottage.
“Fortune favors the brave, Gallandia.” Takane giggled, as she counted out Gallandia’s cut of the Dark Elf’s payment for services rendered. “Why risk life or limb joining the Demon-Lord’s Army for a slight chance to capture a conscripted simpleton who can barely remember which end of a polearm he’s supposed to hold?”
Takane poured Gallandia’s cut into a cloth bag and then handed it over to her. “When instead, you can lure a man, who has some measure of ability, into your clutches?”
Gallandia accepted the bag with a satisfied smile, and tucked it away into a pocket of her satchel. She then pulled out another one of ‘The Demon-Lord’s One Ring’ from a different pocket. Holding it up in the light, she couldn’t help but admire it.
“A magic ring, imbued with spells of Invisibility, Tracking, and the corrupting Demonic Energy of a husband-hungry Mamono.” Gallandia shook her head at its simplicity.  “The human male who snatches it from one of the Dragon hoards, discovers the invisibility and thinks he’s invincible.”
Takane finished for her, “And with the Tracking spell, allows you or one of the other Dark Mages in my employ, to nudge or delay him accordingly.” Takane smiled as she poured the two of them a celebratory drink. “All the while, he’s being corrupted by his intended bride’s Demonic Energy in his quest.” Gallandia laughed out loud as she accepted her drink.
“A Quest! I think that’s the most hilarious part!” she guffawed. “A lone human male thinks that he, and he alone, can take on the Demon-Lord in all of her might, and succeed in overthrowing her?!” Takane smiled as she sipped her wine.
“It is the nature of men to dream grand dreams, Gallandia! Each and every one of them dreams of being an Adventurer! Damned few of them are willing to get their feet wet. My ‘scheme’, gives us a chance to grab the men who do.” Takane smiled over her wine. “For a suitable fee, of course.”
“Of course. “ Gallandia agreed, smiling back.
Just then, Gallandia and Takane’s turned their heads to watch, as the cottage’s front door creaked open when Sharsa and her new husband came out. Frotho was grinning happily, as he crawled out of the cottage on all fours, led by the leash around his neck that the Dark Elf held in one of her hands.
Sharsa waved to the pair happily as she smiled with satisfaction, when her husband allowed himself to be used as a stepping stool for her to climb up onto his palfrey. She then allowed him to seat himself behind her, as they began the journey to her home.
“There goes another satisfied customer.” Takane said, as she grinned a smile of contentment.
“So how many does that make?” Gallandia asked, business like.
“Aaah, let’s see.” Takane said as she consulted her notes. “Frotho there, will make number seventeen, for this month alone.” Pulling out a crystal ball, she consulted something else unseen. “Oops, looks like I’m going to need your services again, Gallandia.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve got two ‘Heroes’ due to arrive by tomorrow morning at nearly the same time. I’ll need you to delay one of them by at least a day.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Uhhmm, I’d recommend you delay the one who is in the abandoned dwarf mines to the west. Just take him along the scenic route, and avoid the band of Orcs who have taken up residence on the lower east side.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. Who is his intended bride by the way?”
“An Ushi-Oni from Zipangu, I would imagine that she’ll want some extra ‘personal time’ with her new husband, to make up for lost time.”
And with that, Gallandia teleported herself away to meet and delay the future husband of the Ushi-Oni.
Takane, sat back into her portable chair and began to read, yet again, her favorite work of fiction that she had found in a Cynosure used-book store That ‘paperback’ book that had been imported, supposedly, from the Musume world.