Part 5

While descending the stairs, a rotten stench hit Eadric's nose and he gagged. He reached the bottom and saw his companions were equally disgusted. Twinkle and Ox scrunched their faces while Gus held his nose. This room was larger than the previous two and in a square configuration. There were piles of rotting elf corpses laying all throughout the room. The far wall had the usual outline of a door. Eadric hefted [i]Blightsteel[/i] and he noticed Ox was already in a fighting stance with [i]Tempest[/i]. Gus, meanwhile, quickly strung [i]Vorpal[/i] and notched a black arrow. Twinkle handed Eadric the second torch and ran back to the staircase to hide behind the wall. Elves weren't permitted to have weapons and all four clearly knew what was about to happen. Eadric had to place the torch on the floor as he could no longer easily heft his prized family heirloom with one hand. He felt the fluttering of worry in his chest but ignored it as the first elvish corpse rose to its feet.

The zombie let out a terrible, dull moan. The piled bodies began to stir. Some zombies were naked while others had bits and pieces of frayed clothing. They all had decaying flesh and reeked of death. None of them had any weapons to speak of.

"Only thing worse than an elf is a zombie elf! Die monsters!" Ox shouted as he charged forward and began cleaving his way through packs of enemies, easily lopping off limbs and heads alike.

Arrows whizzed into the undead horde, dropping bodies left and right. Eadric bellowed a rallying cry and charged forward, swinging [i]Blightsteel[/i] through the air. He knew he was moving a bit slower and attacking with less power than normal, but his strikes were still easily able to fell swarms of foes. The three veteran adventurers made quick work of the walking dead with little difficulty. Eadric had to admit that he was more fatigued than he should have been, but he was never overpowered or overwhelmed in the slightest.

Twinkle crept into the room, noticing the fighting was done. He stepped carefully over fallen undead. He repositioned the heavy packs on his back while Eadric collected his discarded torch and returned it to the elf.

The far door had opened and the three companions pressed forward, giving each other a pat on the back as they reunited. Nothing needed to be said. They all knew they wouldn't be bested by some damn elves.

Eadric turned to Twinkle, "See if they have anything useful."

Twinkle quietly stammered, "But- but Master Strongfellow...this is the burial site of my ancestors. Please don't make me defile them further."

Ox charged towards Twinkle and slammed into him with an angry grunt, launching him through the air and back into a pile of corpses.

Ox exploded with anger, "What did you just fucking say, you knife-eared, sap-sucking sack of shit? I don't give a flying fuck about your ancestors! If they're anything like you, they were lazy, ugly and worthless!"

Twinkle held his breath and tried to get to his feet while collecting items that had fallen from the packs. He gingerly pressed himself away from the decaying bodies.

Ox pulled his animal skin flap away from his hips and whipped out his cock, "Here's what I think of you and the rest of your subhuman race!"

He then proceeded to piss on everything around him. Twinkle watched from a distance with disbelief in his eyes.

Gus piped up, "Alright, Ox, you made your point. That's enough."

Ox shook a few final drops onto the pile and spit. He laughed as he replaced his flap and walked towards the staircase carrying [i]Tempest[/i].

Eadric watched the newly muscled Twinkle wallow in corpses and piss, rifling through the pockets of his fore fathers with tears in his eyes. He was muttering something in elvish towards the dismembered elven bodies. Perhaps it was a prayer. Eadric could have called him out about speaking elvish; but judging by Ox's anger level, he decided to leave it alone.

Eadric turned to join Ox and Gus when he noticed the gleam of something shiny on one of the fresher looking female zombies. He crouched and saw she wore an expensive looking ring. Eadric tugged it from the cold finger of the zombie and examined it closer. It had an ornate, golden band and a large, pink jewel. It looked feminine and distinctly elvish...but valuable.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NtQk8yPm90oDY1fwniUhvxoMHqCTkK3K/view?usp=drive_link

Twinkle had already combed through this corpse, how had he missed it? Lazy elf!

"What'd you find, boss?" Ox asked.

Eadric showed him the ring and stated, "Looks like it could be worth quite a bit."

Gus sidled up when her heard 'worth quite a bit' and looked at the ring closely, "Yeah, I see what you mean. I don't even know what kind of gem that is."

Ox nodded his head and turned back towards the staircase, "Good find, I'd hold onto it yourself though. I wouldn't trust a thieving elf with something like that; even if it is just a pathetic elf trinket."

Ox was right, elves weren't trustworthy at all. Eadric slipped the ring on his pinky finger as it was the only finger that could fit the little band.

The ring tightened on his pinky and the pink gem glowed brightly. Eadric's body felt immediately itchy all over. He squirmed and undulated around.

"Boss? Boss? Eadric! What's going on?" Gus shouted.

Eadric tried desperately to remove the ring but it was cinched down on his finger so tight that it wouldn't budge!

The itching stopped.

Eadric reached up to his face as his thick, human beard dropped to stone floor. In fact, all his body hair slipped away leaving only the hair on his head. He froze in place. He hadn't been without a beard since he was an adolescent. Would anybody even believe he was the famous Eadric Strongfellow without his powerful beard? Every self respecting human man had to have a beard! Eadric gulped. Without leg, underarm, chest, back and facial hair he could be mistaken for a-

Eadric shot his gaze over to Twinkle who was busy looking for treasure.

No, no, it would grow back! Maybe it would come back even thicker and manlier than ever! Just a minor setback. Again, Eadric expected the magic to dissipate any time and turn him back to normal.

Ox sprinted towards Eadric and shouted, "By the gods! Boss! Your- your beard! It's gone! Damn elvish sorcery!"

Eadric shook his diminished body, trying to let the hair fall from his plate armor.

He put on a false confidence as he brushed some hair from inside his armor, "Another little setback. Don't worry Ox, It'll grow back quick. I'm guessing it'll be even thicker than before! Should actually have my stubble by tomorrow and my full beard by the time we get back to finish the quest."

Gus stood next to Ox, "Are you...Hairless everywhere now, boss?"

Eadric shifted uncomfortably again, feeling his armor rubbing against him in ways it hadn't before, "I think so, boys. It doesn't matter. Let's try and set up camp in the next room. I need to get some rest and this place smells like shit."

Eadric's companions gave each other a worried glance but nodded. It was strange taking orders from somebody without a beard.

They descended the staircase with Twinkle in tow. Eadric looked down at his new ring.

It was gone.