Vance was now about an hour from the gates of Maplestead, nearly falling asleep on the back of his horse as it traveled onward. A bright flash of light rushed in front of the horse, scaring it, and causing it to rear up slightly, which instantly snapped Vance to attention. He grabbed the reigns and tried to calm the horse. 

[color=6ecff6]"Whoa... it's ok, it's alright"[/color] he said in a soft voice. It had a light accent to it when he spoke.

After taking a moment to calm his horse, he looked around for what scared it, but there was only darkness in the forest around him leading to the town. He slowly nudged the horse forward again, moving slowly, and constantly looking around them. When he was finally at ease, the light flashed again, like the fading light of a firefly in front of him. It didn't seem threatening, and he swore that he heard something. 

After it disappeared, he continued on, but keeping his guard up. He had nearly been attacked once already, and the flier did say that monsters were becoming such a problem, that they were paying people to exterminate them.

The light appeared again, racing in front of him. 

[i]"Help me.."[/i] it said in a small, feminine voice.

[color=6ecff6]"Help you?"[/color] Vance repeated, not sure that he'd heard anything at all. He thought that he may have been going crazy from exhaustion. 

[i]"Behind you!"[/i] the small, panicked voice said while the light flashed again in front of him.

Before he could react, he was pulled from his horse, hitting the ground with a 'thud', and being held down by two small demons. Each one was griping one of his shoulders and a third emerged to attack him while the others held him down. Without time to analyze the situation, he didn't have time for an incantation, or know how to properly defend himself. He raised his boot to kick away the one in front of him while trying to struggle free of the ones that were holding him from behind. He opened his eyes wide to try and get a look at them to see what he was up against, but all he could see were pairs of yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. As the one that he kicked was recovering, and coming close for another attack, the ones on his back held him tighter. He reached down, barely able to reach the sword at his side, but his body was moving in desperation to survive. He grabbed the handle of his sword, drawing it and quickly swinging it around to try and hit the demons who were holding him, while keeping the third at bay. 

When he was clear of the monsters, he positioned himself to that he was facing all of them. “Always keep your enemies in your sights” he thought, remembering the basics of his training as a Templar. As soon as he could see them, or what could be seen of them anyway, he was in a ready stance.  He looked to each one, gauging their strength, knowing that they needed to attack him all at once to stand a chance due to their size, but one of them was brave and lunged forward, quickly impaled by a thrust of Vance’s sword through its chest. The sword started to glow with a white light as the demon was banished. It shrieked as its body faded away. 

Vance’s broadsword was still glowing with a holy light as he raised it in front of his face.  He closed his eyes, and started whispering softly.  

[color=6ecff6]“I call forth the light, to banish evil to the depths of hell, to bring again the light of day from the darkest night!” [/color]

He opened his eyes as his sword continued to glow. He turned it around, thrusting it into the ground in front of him, sending a beam of light towards the demons, which started to flee, unsuccessfully when they saw their comrade defeated on his blade. The light quickly disintegrated their small bodies and then faded. After the light from his sword faded away, he re-sheathed it, and headed towards his horse.

[i]“Now THAT was an incantation!”[/i] the small, female voice said as the fading light returned in front of Vance’s face. His first inclination was to swat at it, like an annoying fly, but he didn’t. He didn’t feel threated by it, mostly seeing it as an annoyance, one he would soon be rid of.
 
Remounting his horse, and making sure that his pack was secure, he started towards Maplestead again.  The small light seemed to follow him now, staying back a bit, but still noticeable. 

Vance sighed. [color=6ecff6]“Can I help you?”[/color] he asked the small light.

[i]“I’m comin’ with ya. You saved me! Those demons would have torn me apart.”[/i] the small voice said.

Vance knew that this would be a headache, but there was nothing that he could do about it. 

[i]“What’s your name, Templar?”[/i] she said in a curious tone.

[color=6ecff6]“Vance”[/color] he said sternly, sounding annoyed. 
[i]
“Oh, Well Vance, I’m Eve. I live here…. Well, I used to, until the monsters started coming around, then me and all my friends scattered, and then those things attacked me, but then you saved me, and now I’m here, with you! Where are we going? Are we on a quest, or are we just out for a night stroll? What are we doing?”[/i] she said excitedly. Her speech seemed to speed up as she went on, which got annoying quickly. She was very emphatic on using the term ‘we’ when she spoke.

Vance looked up to the sky with that familiar “Why me?” looked.

[color=6ecff6]“Eve”[/color] he repeated. [color=6ecff6]“I’m heading to Maplestead”[/color] 

[i]“Maplestead… oooo, what’s there?”[/i] she asked curiously. The glow around her was now constant; she was a small fairy, no bigger than Vance’s hand, and constantly emitting light when she felt that she was safe.

[color=6ecff6]“We…”[/color] he started, then corrected himself. [color=6ecff6]“I’m going on a quest to exterminate these monsters, but I’m doing it for money”[/color] he said stoically.

She was flying in front of him, in part lighting his way as they traveled through the night. 

Once he got to the gate, he was welcomed by the guards, and questioned as to why he was here. It was no surprise that the guards would be cautious with all of the attacks as of late. 

“State your business.” One of them stated harshly.
[color=6ecff6]
“My name is Vance Meridian. I am a Templar, here to accept the quest to eradicate the monsters from this land”[/color] he started.

[i]“For the money!”[/i] Eve chimed in, unwelcomingly, which caused Vance to get a nervous expression on his face.
Vance mouthed the words “Shut up, Eve!” through clenched teeth to her when she smiled at him.

“Another one for this death quest that’s been advertised” one of the guards scoffed. “Proceed to the town square, someone’ll be by… sometime… to give you more information.”

Vance nodded to the guard, clicking his tongue, giving the horse the signal to move forward into the town. Maplestead was a busy place, filled with both townspeople, and others who came from all over to help with this quest. He was thankful that he was on a horse when he saw people nearly trampling over each other to get around.
 
Making his way to the town square, he looked up from the people to notice the girl, just as she dropped her bag, and another woman helping her to her feet. He gave it little thought, as he hadn’t bet on being with anyone for this, except his new companion, Eve. Nevertheless, he tied his horse off at the nearest post, dismounting and walking into the square. All he had to do now was wait for someone to give direction on the details of this quest. Eve fluttered towards her new friend, and landed gently on his shoulder, kicking her little feet gently back and forth while they waited.