Javal, still holding his head with his right hand nodded, acknowledging following Cyrans lead. Javal said “you have to count to 100 evil sheep and then you can start looking for them”. “TIME DOES NOT MATTER TO ME I WILL COUNT TO 300. THOSE SHEEP WILL BE MINE EITHER WAY. I WILL HAVE MY KIN AND YOUR HEADS.” The misty voice screamed into their heads but the black mist hovered over the same place. It was only once Javal and Cyran left with the sheep in their hands did the misty voice start counting loudly. “What do we do now that we bought some time” Javal asked.

Three hundred seconds to come up with a plan.

Cyran turned to Javal, a coy smile on his face - he was not a particularly mischievous man, but there was a bit of humor in his smile, despite the gravity of the situation. “We’re going to lay a trap.”

He explained his idea as quickly and succinctly as he could - they wouldn’t really hide the sheep in the woods. All they had to do was store the livestock away somewhere, and use illusions to lead the demon all the way to some sort of trap. “There are plenty of caves and cliffs around here that we can lure it to. If we can’t kill it, then we just have to trap it somewhere that it can’t leave from.”

The plan was simple. Cyran would hide and mimic sheep sounds through the woods, be the one to lure the herder to the place that Javal had scoped out. With that in mind, Cyran ducked into the shadows, waiting for the moment their three-hundred seconds were up. The demon coalesced in the woods, hovering around as it searched through the forest in search of its kin.

Cyran waved a hand, creating the distant sounds of bleating for the demon to follow.^[1]

---

1. Minor Trickery 

Javal giggled a bit "A trap Cyran what do you have in mind to trap that evil sheep"
Javal listened to Cyrans plan happily, "Cyran where should we hide them, I did see a giant cave earlier with a boulder around maybe we can do something with that.
Throughout this whole thing Javal heard the loud counting in distance. This contuined until the number reached 300 and he heard a screaming "READY OR NOT I DONT CARE IM GONNA GET MY KIN AND KILL YOU ALL". He heard the loud beating that Cyran summoned and heard a loud gust of mist following them trying to catch up. Javal and Cyran began to run to the direction of their trap.

“We’ll have to stash them away somewhere outside of the woods.” They didn’t have much time to find a good hiding place for them, but Cyran had a feeling that as long as they were outside the edges of the forest, the demon wouldn’t be able to sense them. With that in mind, they stashed the animals tied up behind a shed just outside Moonveil Forest before they made their way back into the woods.

“A cave?” Cyran’s eye sparkled in interest. “If we could trigger some kind of cave-in… if you have any kind of magic to do so, then now would be the time to use it.”

And then their counter ran up.

Cyran could hear the demon’s voice reverberating through the woods as it chased after Cyran’s illusion… almost as if it was calling out to the animals.

“THERE’S NO NEED FOR YOU TO HIDE FROM ME, LITTLE ONES. LET ME PROTECT YOU.”

Cyran continued causing his illusions from behind, luring it closer to the cave that Javal was pointing him to. Every time the demon seemed to get close to the source of the sound, Cyran moved it, luring it closer to the cavern.

The beginning of the trap had been set. Now it was time to catch the herder.

Javal was worried but at the same time excited about executing the devious plan that Cyran and he had cooked up. They had placed both the sheep into a shed and then began to make their way to the cave that Javal had mentioned earlier “I can ice over the entire cave or make a house inside the cave, that should do something at least to bury it inside I should hope”. As soon as Cyran responded to that, Javal heard it, the ominous booming counting that had been occurring in the background this whole time had finally reached its end. Javal heard a loud blood-curdling shriek all around the forest

“300” he heard the Herder shriek.

Javal soon heard and felt the loud and massive presence of the sheep as Cyran was guiding it into the cave Javal had shown him before. It felt like the whole forest was being moved as the black wisp whizzed through the tree line. Javal and Cyran were hidden close by the cave enough to see its presence as it wooshed inside the cave.

“WHERE ARE YOU MY BRETHREN, I KNOW YOU’RE HERE I CAN FEEL YOUR PRESENCE”

Javal nodded at Cyran signaling it was time to spring their trap.

Cyran continued through the woods, leading the herder through the woods, closer to the cave that Javal had noticed. He held his breath, watching as the mist ducked into the cave. There was a tension in Cyran’s shoulders as he stared at the opening.

“Javal, if you have anything to help trigger this cave-in, then now would be the time to do it.” While he spoke, from his shadow, a large, bat-like creature rose into the air.^[1] The shadow-bat opened its mouth, blasting a bolt of dark magic right at the entrance to the cave. Rocks began to dislodge and crumble apart, triggering a devastating cave-in that would trap the Herder inside. Cyran could only hope that the creature stayed that way.

---

1. Summon: Dark Elemental

As soon as Cyran activated his dark elemental the herder screamed out in Javal’s head making him drop to the ground.

“WHAT IS GOING ON, MY BRETHREN WHERE ARE YOU”



The mist started to surround the entrance.

“YOU PATHETIC MORTALS DARE TRICK ME, I’M A BEING OF A HIGHER LEVEL, I’M KOTH OF THE LORDS OF CHAOS”



The trap that Cyran had set was successful the whole entrance of the cave was caved in and blocked off. Javal placed his hand on the tomb *icing all possible small holes existing off.



The screaming now intensified bringing Javal to his knees and holding his head



“I WILL ESCAPE FROM HERE AND WHEN I DO I WILL KILL BOTH OF YOU IN THE MOST PAINFUL AND AGONIZING WAY POSSIBLE. I’LL FIND EVERYTHING YOU BOTH CARE ABOUT AND DESTROY IT ALL. BESIDES, I’M NOT THE ONLY BEING LIKE MYSELF THERE ARE MANY OTHERS LIKE ME”.



*Ice Over

It was foolish to hope that this cave-in would trap this demon here forever. But as Javal iced up the cracks with magic, sealing the cave, Cyran could only hope this stuck for as long as it could.

“I think that should hold it.” He breathed. The mist didn’t seem to be able to break through the barrier, if its uttered threats were anything to go by. He turned to look at Javal, putting a hand in the young fellblood’s shoulder and helping him to his feet. The voice was horrible, but it could no longer hurt them here. He hoped.. “Good job. If it weren’t for your help I don’t think we would have been able to seal that thing in there.”

Time would tell if it was going to hold - for now, Cyran called the shadow elemental with a sharp whistle, mentally ordering the creature to stand sentinel at the entrance to the cave, ready to react in case the creature attempted to break free.

“… For now, we should go check on the farmer and make sure he’s doing okay.”

Javal screamed loudly in relief, “WE DID IT CYRAN, WE BEAT THE EVIL SHEEP” he jumped for joy and picked up Cyran.



“WE DID IT WE”RE ALIVE”



After about twenty minutes of celebrating their victory in front of the sealed tomb of the evil sheep. Javal and Cyran made their way to find the sheep where found them, along the path. Javal was excitedly talking to Cyran about anything he could. They eventually made their way to the shed unlocked the sheep carried each in their arms and turned back to make their way to their destination. They were gonna take these sheep to their rightful owner. It wasn’t long but by the time they got back to the farmer’s homestead, it was already nightfall.

Cyran let out a burst of startled laughter as Javal suddenly moved to pick him up and hoist him off his feet with an admittedly unsurprising burst of strength given his stature. Even more welcome was the sudden burst of relief and elation evident on Javal’s face, a far cry from the fear that had been plastered on his face when the demonic creature threatened to paint the walls red with their blood. But the demon had not reemerged from the cave… Cyran didn’t want to preemptively celebrate, but even he could not help his relief at the prospect of finally managing to shake that creature.

“We did it.” He agreed, finally letting out a deep breath. With a wary look at the cave, Cyran patted Javal on the shoulder as the young man set him down. “You did good. It’s not easy to fight a beast like that, but you held steady and didn’t yield even when the odds were stacked against us. That quality is commendable.”

Neither one wanting to stick around the cavern very long, they made their way back through Moonveil forest back to the village, picking up the sheep they’d hidden along the way. Javal had opened up considerably, the young fellblood sharing stories with Cyran about whatever topic struck his fancy. Cyran nodded along, asking questions and reacting appropriately. He had a lot of energy, but it reminded Cyran of his own kids. And it reminded him that underneath the blades and the bravado, Javal was around the same age as his children.

Eventually, they made their way back to Farmer Tally’s property, who could have cried when he saw his sheep, unharmed.

“You found them, you found my precious animals!” He ushered the sheep back into the pen, which he’d already managed to repair. Looking between Javal and Cyran, he looked like he might cry once more having his livelihood returned to him safe and sound. “Please, how can I repay you?”

“You don’t have to pay me”, Javal responds, “Crushing evil for the sake of justice is reward enough for me”.

Cyran then responds to the farmer’s request about paying them. The pair of adventurers rest at Farmer Tully’s farmer for the night in his farmhouse. Javal had a nightmare that night, he saw the evil sheep in his nightmare telling him simply, “The other lords of chaos are still out there some are even worse than me. If you truly want to crush evil then I’d recommend going after them. I’ll warn you though some are even stronger than me. I will break free from my prison one day and kill you both”.

Javal wakes up in a sweat and tells Cyran about his dream.

“So Cyran what’re you doing, after all, this, tired of dealing with evil sheep”, Javal Chuckles, “Want to join me in dealing with the rest of these lords of chaos".

“No payment necessary.” Cyran added after a moment. Farmer Tally needed those funds to take care of his animals and make any necessary repairs after the earthquake. Cyran was well off enough that he didn’t need to deprive the poor man of his funds. “I’m just happy to help you find your livestock.”

They decided against telling the farmer about the demonic creature that disguised itself as a sheep and nearly got its hands on his animals. As long as he was happy, then there was no need to cause him unnecessary worry. The druid insisted, at the least, that the two of them sleep in his farm for the evening, now that the sun had gone down. Cyran slept light, as usual, without any dreams. What was more concerning, though was the ill omen Javal came to him with the next morning.

“The Lords of Chaos…?” Cyran had never heard of them before. Some coalition of demons, perhaps? Cyran didn’t know much about fiends, and never really cared to know. Demonology left a bad taste in his mouth, reopened old wounds. But when Javal asked for his help, Cyran couldn’t bring himself to let the young man wander off and get into danger on his own.

“I think it’s dangerous, but…” Cyran rested a hand on the dagger at his hip. “If you’re going to hunt after these creatures, then you have my blade.” He promised.

And he meant every word. Who better to kill chaos itself than an assassin?

After the duo's adventure everything seemed fine, after all, the whole thing got wrapped up into a nice little conclusion. The heroes beat the villain, freed the sheep, and saved the day after all, however, it seems like Koth will have the last laugh. It seems that the heroes were not the only craft beings during the final trap, as he was being trapped in the cave Koth was able to shoot out a small misty clone of himself into the forest. This misty apparition spied on the heroes in some nearby bushes observing them as they left. Once they turned their backs, the sheepish apparition shot two beams from his mouth. They were each very very faint and those two probably wouldn’t be able to feel it. These beams were a tracking signal to all Lords of Chaos and the new offspring of Koth would at least have that against the tricksters. This little apparition decided that soon he’ll get his revenge, he would train while he followed them to become strong enough to free his father so they could get revenge on both of the tricksters. The small sheep-like apparition contemplated what he should call himself and after some thinking, he settled on Thok, the Other.