The Journey

With the wind howling like a hungry wolf and the thunder and lightning sounding like a vicious cat and dog fight, the streets of the normally busy city of Phyndetti were like that of a ghost town. The locals were in their homes but most of the tired travelers and drunken ruffians had gathered in the Red Dragon Lair Tavern. The sounds of conversation and laughter rang from the tavern and echoed down the dark, empty streets of the city. The crashing thunder could barely be heard over the sounds from the busy tavern. With a blinding flash, lightning would light up the city streets as brightly as a cloudless afternoon sun. I was keeping to myself in the corner away from all the loud drunks, and trouble. I normally avoided places like this. However, I do like to watch people, they're such strange creatures. Besides, I needed to unwind from the endless day I just had. I’ve been trying to track down whatever it is in the woods just outside of town that’s been scaring all the locals and killing a lot of the wildlife. Whatever it is, it doesn’t leave much of a trail for me to track it by. As fast as I could find a trail, I’d lose it. I figured, rather than toss and turn in my bed at the Inn, I’d come to the tavern and see what’s going on. I was just sitting there, watching the people, there was this one in the middle of the tavern, I could tell right when he walked in that he liked to be the center of attention, he’d tried more diligently as the night progressed to be just that. At one point he was arm wrestling with a Half-Orc, strong creatures to begin with, but this one looked tougher than normal. He was doing OK, if I was a betting man though, I would have bet the Half-Orc was going to win.

Without warning, the tavern door swung open and the wind and rain rushed into the tavern like it was trying to escape from the horror of the storm outside. The crash from the door hitting the wall made the thunder sound like a mouse squeaking in the corner, the people all went completely silent. The fierce gust of wind that blew in the wide open door extinguished all of the lanterns, making the once well-lit tavern as dark as the barren city streets The only sound that could be heard was the rushing wind whistling as it blew into the tavern. Then with a roar, the sound of thunder filled the room and in a blinding flash the tavern was re-lit, for a moment, by the lighting streaking across the sky. Most of the patrons were shielding their faces from the wind and rain rushing in through the open door. I, however, didn’t need to, as I was far enough away from the door that the wind and rain felt as a summer breeze and light mist as it caressed my face. Then again, I could have been outside in this weather and still been unaffected by the wind and rain. The darkness didn't bother me either as I have been trained to see as good in the dark as I do in the light. The only people in the place that didn’t seem too concerned by the sudden rush of wind and rain was a man in the corner to the left of the door, at the far end of the tavern from where I sat. He didn’t exactly blend in either, his clothes were a bright, almost blue-green. He had short, neatly trimmed black hair and a clean shave. His tunic had embroidery on it, but I couldn’t make it out from this distance. He could have just not cared, but he was too observant to the actions of the people for that to be the reason. He might have been a bounty hunter, or even a ranger like me but his clothes were too outlandish for that. Then again, he was seated in a place where he probably wasn’t being affected by the wind or rain. The other person that didn’t seem too concerned was a hooded figure in the corner by the bar, opposite mine. There was another flash of lightning, which lit up the tavern again; it also silhouetted a massive humanoid creature standing in the tiny doorway.

A moment later, a roaring fire sprang to life in the fireplace of the once dark and silent tavern. As my eyes readjusted to the light, there was a sharp, piercing scream. The sound of panicked murmurs and gasps of shock rang through the tavern. One of the waitresses was cowering behind the man that wanted to be the center of attention pointing at the door. He looked toward the door, there, filling the doorway to bursting was an Ogress. Her immense figure towered over everyone in the room; she had long, rain-drenched night black hair that hung flowingly over her broad shoulders. The Ogress stepped into the room and stood up straight, adding another three feet to her already enormous height. Now that she was fully in the light, I could see the rest of her garb. I’d never seen an Ogress wearing shoes before, especially not plated ones, but she seemed quite comfortable in them. She had armor everywhere, except her head, where she obviously, (judging by the enormous scar across her left cheek) didn’t wear a helmet. On each hip hung a sword that even I would have to use both hands to wield, and across her back strung the largest bow I’d ever seen. It was expertly crafted and properly strung, not merely a small tree and some rope like most Ogre Bows. She was wearing plate mail that had to have been specially made just for her. It was nicely constructed of the highest quality steel and was beautifully decorated with embroidery and etchings, one in particular stood out; it was right over her heart. Etched into her plate mail was a picture of a sword, standing upright, crossed in front like an ‘X’ by a key and a wand. The ‘would-be center of attention’ was now cowering behind the waitress.
“You get out of here! We don’t like your kind here!” The command came from the hooded figure in the corner who promptly jumped up on the tabletop. I couldn’t see any details about the persons face or body, only that it was small and wearing a black leather cloak that draped down to its feet and what little bit of clothing was visible from under the cloak was also black leather. The Ogress took a few steps into the tavern. “Are you going to make me leave?”

A couple of guys near the door with a little liquid courage in their systems stood up, this should be good, I thought to myself. They approached the Ogress; their shoulders barely came up to her waist. They pushed on her, trying to force her outside, their efforts were pointless for she didn’t budge. She chuckled, placed one hand on each man’s head and picked them up off the floor; she then tossed them aside and headed across the tavern toward the hooded figure on the table. The hooded figure leapt from the table to the bar top, “Go on! Get out, you big, ugly, Ogress.”
The Ogress obviously getting angry at the little hooded figure charged the bar, when she got to the bar, she brought her fists down on the bar, one on each side of the hooded figure. The force from her blows knocked a giant hole in the bar where her fists had struck, the now poorly supported bar top where the hooded figure was standing, collapsed under the weight, and the hooded figure disappeared behind the counter. By this time there were several other men with their swords drawn, approaching the Ogress from behind. She turned around and looked at the group, counted them, then, she smiled “This isn’t fair,” she said, still smiling “eight of you against just me.” The smile quickly left her face, I’d never seen anyone look that serious before, “you don’t stand a chance.” She drew both her swords, and the smile re-appeared on her face. My curiosity was peaked; I’d never seen an Ogress like this before. She gracefully swung her swords around in a dramatic display of her skill. The men planning to attack her hesitated for a moment. The Ogress stood there, ready to defend herself, but she never had the chance. The Ogress literally disappeared. Everyone, including myself, was left in shock at this, everyone except for two people that is, the hooded figure, who was just sneaking out the back door of the tavern, and the brightly dressed man who was sitting in the corner at the far end of the tavern from where I was. While everyone was watching the men and the Ogress, he seemed to be more interested in the Bar Tender and the hooded figure. He could have just been watching for possible thievery but an Ogress in full armor in a fight is a little hard to ignore when she just disappears. Which brought me to the conclusion that he was in cahoots with the Ogress and knew what was going to happen. He didn’t appear ready to leave just yet, so I decided to stay and watch him further to see what he was going to do next.

After a few hours, the rain had stopped and most of the taverns patrons had left. The Bar Tender was ready to call it a night, so he ushered the rest of us outside. I stepped across the street and followed the brightly dressed man from the shadows. He had put on a cloak, but like the rest of his garb it was bright, an almost illuminated green it completely covered the rest of his clothes. He only went a few blocks, and then he stepped inside the “Sleeping Troll Inn” which just happened to be where I was staying too, so I went in as well. Not seeing him in the foyer, I felt it safe to assume he already had a room, so maybe I could find something out from the Inn Keeper in the morning. So I headed toward my room, there he was, just a few doors down the hall from me, but I don’t remember seeing him before. Then again I have been very busy lately trying to figure out what’s been spooking all the animals in the Phyndetti Woods. But I was curious what this man had to do with that ogress, besides, I doubt she’s staying in the Inn, after all, even though she was well dressed and well spoken, most people wouldn’t want to give an ogress the chance to prove it’s not a savage beast. I think I’ll get up early tomorrow and follow this guy some more; he might lead me to her. Maybe I can find her before my meeting with the Baron. He wants an update on my progress, I’ve only a few days left to find the cause of the disturbance, or he’ll want his down payment back.

The next morning I had over slept, I got up, grabbed my gear and headed down the hall to the stairs. On my way past his room, I noticed the door was open, so I peaked inside, the room was empty, there was nothing in there, it appears that he had already left, so I hurried down to the innkeeper, “the man in room 107, where did he go?”
“I’m sorry sir, but I don’t give out information about my guests.”
“Is there anything I can offer you that would help you change your mind?”
“No, like I said Sir, I don’t GIVE out information about my guests.”
“Ah, I see, well then, here.” I placed a small pouch of coins on the counter, “here, this should pay for my room, and anything else I need.”
The innkeeper opened the top of the pouch and peeked inside, “yes, this will do nicely.” He looked up at me with his eyes and a small smile crossed his lips “He bought a donkey off me this morning. He’s on his way to the Wizard in the Dark Wood. He left about two hours ago.” I thanked him and hurried out of the Inn. I ran around back, got on my horse and headed out of town toward the Dark Wood.

It didn’t take me long to catch up to him, as he was on foot, leading the donkey however, he wasn’t traveling alone, as I had suspected, the ogress was with him, and so was the hooded figure from the bar last night too, but she had her hood down and I could see that she was a halfling. She had long blonde hair that was pulled back and hung down to her waist. She wore leather boots and a belt with several small pouches on it. She carried what looked like either a small short sword, or a large dagger. They were walking the footpath along the edge of the Phyndetti woods, and they weren’t even attempting to be quiet as they joked, laughed and just plain made noise. Just then something spooked my horse and it almost threw me off. I managed to calm him down enough for me to climb off safely, then I let him go, he’ll come back when I call him. I hid myself behind some bushes and started searching the woods for whatever it was that spooked my horse. I didn’t see anything at first, but then deep in the shaded area I saw something move, or did I? The man and his companions were still making a lot of noise, which made it impossible for me to listen for anything. Then I saw it again, it was large, bipedal, fast and it moved with the grace of a cat. I’d heard of creatures like this before, but I always thought them to be a myth. I’d never heard of them being out during the day either. I blinked for a moment and I lost it in the shadows again. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw it, it leapt out of the woods and attacked the donkey on the path. It was huge, it must have been ten feet tall, and it had fur from head to toe. I couldn't see it’s face, but the rest of its body was like a mixture between a tiger and a man. The ogress drew her swords and tried to attack the creature, but with one swift swipe from it’s massive claw, it knocked the ogresses swords from her hands and sent them hurling into the field where they disappeared in the tall grass. The halfling drew her dagger and jumped on the creatures back, stabbing her blade into it’s shoulder, the creature let out an earsplitting scream, stood up and swung around, sending the halfling, who was holding onto her dagger for dear life, into a nearby tree, knocking her unconscious, it looked her over quickly, then went back to attacking the donkey. I quickly drew a poison arrow from my quiver and took careful aim toward the creature’s head and let it go. The arrow hit its target, striking the creature behind its right ear. It let out another deafening scream and turned toward me. It’s eyes met mine and I could see the pain, anger, and fear in them all at once.

We stared at each other for a couple seconds longer, and I could swear I saw something familiar about it’s eyes, the coloring was unique, and it was like looking into pools of the purist water. I’d only known one other creature with eyes like that. She was the only woman I'd ever love. She had the most beautiful blond hair that flowed down her back; I could see it blowing in the wind. Her face was soft to touch and was the color of ivory. Her tender lips were sweet to kiss and could warm me up on the coldest of nights. But it couldn’t be her, she was long dead, I’d buried her myself. I remember it like it was yesterday, I found her mangled body at the bottom of the cliff, where I picked her up, dressed her wounds and buried her next to the river. The same river where she loved to swim, to sit on the rocks and watch the fish. I haven’t been back to that river for more than five years, it’s just too painful, and I swore to her then and there that I would never love another as much as I did her. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about her and wish I had told her how I felt while she was still alive.

The creature turned and ran off into the woods, leaving the travelers and their donkey where they were. I started to chase after the creature, but it had done a number on those people and their donkey so I couldn't leave them there, especially since I might be able to help them. I ran over to them, the ogress was busy looking through the field for her swords, so I went over to the halfling to see how she was doing. She was still unconscious, and she appeared to be pretty badly hurt. There was a lot of blood running down her face from where she hit the tree and slid down the rough bark. She had a broken arm and a couple broken ribs; she needed immediate attention as she might have had some internal injuries as well. I decided to attempt a healing technique, I’d learned it from a shaman during my travels, I’d never used this before, mainly because the shaman told me that if I did, then as it helped my patient, it would inflict as much harm to me, not in the form of actual injuries but I would receive whatever pain my patient was feeling but, under the circumstances, I thought it was worth it. My healing attempt worked, but the pain I felt from it was more than I expected, it almost made me pass out but the halfling was alive and moving again now. I tried to stand but I got dizzy and fell backward. Someone must have caught me, for I didn't hit the ground.
“Are you OK?” I felt myself being pushed back onto my feet. I turned around and saw the ogress looking at me with a smile on her face and concern in her eyes, I’d never been this close to an ogre before (I thought they were supposed to smell) I’m just glad she’s not attacking me. She reached out her hand, I took it in turn. Her grip was firm yet calculatedly gentle. “Thank you for helping my friend.” Wow, she was well spoken, this ogress just impresses me more and more. “Um, you’re welcome.” I managed a smile, even though I felt like I wanted to vomit from the pain. Luckily the effects of the healing technique I used should wear off soon.

“How’s your donkey?” I gestured toward the obviously dead beast.
“Oh, never mind that. “I’m Arabrab.” She extended her hand to me, I took it and we shook hands again.
“I’m Rew.”
“Well, Rew, thanks again for helping us. This is Knellie and Nordrik.” She gestured toward the halfling, then the man.
“It’s a pleasure meeting you but I should be going, that creature might need some help too, that was a very poisonous arrow I shot it with.”
“You’re going to go help that thing?” If I didn’t know better, I’d almost say that Arabrab seemed concerned about me.
“I have to, I have never killed a living thing other than for food, and I don’t intend to start now.” I smiled at her, “I’ll be OK, these woods are like my home, there are several tricks I know to protect myself in there, besides, if that creature doesn’t die, I still need to get it out of these woods, it’s upsetting the balance of nature here.”
“Let us go with you then.” Knellie insisted.
“I couldn’t ask you to do that, it’s too dangerous in there and besides…” (I almost slipped up and let it slip that I knew where they were going). “I’m sure you guys have someplace you need to go anyway.”
“No, not really,” Nordrik spoke up, “I mean we do but, it can wait for a few days.”
“OK, if you guys really want, but we must be very quiet.”

We all headed off into the woods, I was in the lead tracking the creature while they trailed behind me however, they weren’t doing a very good job of being quiet. That really didn’t matter though because not even three hundred yards into the woods I saw it, lying in a small cove. “Shh!” I motioned for them to stop “I see it.” I turned toward them, “You all stay here.” I quietly snuck over to the cove; the creature was curled up in a ball. Then right before my eyes, it started…shrinking. All the fur on the creature looked as if it was growing back in. Its physical size was diminishing, and it began transforming into…well, human. It was definitely a female, I…no…it can’t be…she’s…dead. I pushed through the bushes and into the cove. I grabbed her up in my arms and stared into her eyes. It is her, thank the gods, SHE’S ALIVE!!! Then I heard a voice, “Is everything OK?” I looked up and saw Arabrab standing there looking at me, a look of concern and confusion on her face. I just nodded, and continued to hold my love. I felt my eyes filling up with tears, she wasn’t moving, the poison must still be in her. I whistled as loud as I could, for my trusty horse Charger to come. That’s how I call him. He stopped just outside the cove. “Quick, in the left saddle bag, there’s a small black water skin.” Nordrik quickly opened my bag and looked in, he instantly found the water skin and handed it to me. I opened it and poured a little across her lips. It seemed like I sat there forever, just holding her. Then I felt her move, she managed to sit herself up and look at me.
“Jewel, I can’t believe it, is it really you?” She nodded slightly, and lowered her head as if ashamed. (I didn’t know what to say to her, how was this possible?) “What is it? What’s the matter?” I placed a finger under her chin and gently lifted her head so I could see her face again. There were tears in her eyes too. “I can’t be with you anymore.”
“But…Why not?”
“You’ve seen what I am. What I’ve become; I’m a hideous, savage beast. There’s no way we could be together.”
“I don’t care what you are. I love you. I always have, I always will.” She looked into my eyes, I could see her love there, then she started acting skittish, her eyes were darting around rapidly and she started breathing faster.
She backed away from me, “NO! I don’t want to hurt you!” She got up and ran away, “WAIT! DON’T GO!” I reached for her but I was too late. As she ran I watched her change back into that creature. She was gone from my life for a second time. At least this time I knew she was alive, and I knew that I would find her again.

As I watched her leave I was terror struck, what was I going to tell the Baron? It’s obvious to me that I’ve found the cause of the disturbance, but if I tell him, he’ll want proof. I can’t say I killed her though, there was no body. Which means he’d send out a hunting party to try to track her down and kill her. I can’t let that happen. I guess I looked distraught because all three of my new companions were starring at me. “What’s the matter?” Knellie finally asked.
“It’s not your concern.” (I guess I was a little harsh with her, but I wasn’t in the mood for company right now.)
“Well fine! If you don’t want our help, I guess we’ll leave!” she turned and started stomping off back toward the footpath.
I just scoffed, “Kind of childish isn’t she?”
Arabrab placed her hand on my shoulder, “Yes, she is, but she’s got a lot of heart.” She then walked over to Nordrik, “So, what’s the plan boss?”
He stood quiet for a moment, and then he approached me. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. Please, if there’s something we can do to help, let us know.”
“There isn’t anything you can do. I just need to go make some money.”
“What do you need money for?”
“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“I can’t do that, you see, we’re a band, that means we watch each others backs. Since you’ve watched our backs, that makes you one of us, so what can we do to watch yours?”
“Really, there’s nothing, I just owe someone some money.”
“Well, then, how much?”
“A hundred gold. I took a job I can’t complete, so now I need to pay him back.”
“I see, and who was this person whom you feel so obliged to repay?”
“Baron Von Hammon, Lord of the Royal Guard of Phyndetti.”
“Well, that’s definitely someone you want to repay. So here, take this.” He handed me a bag, it was beautifully crafted, it was made of a weird, soft cloth, unlike anything I’d felt before, it was embroidered the same as on Nordrik’s tunic which was clearly visible now, it was a Wand standing upright, with a key and a sword crossing it like an “X”, very much like Arabrab’s was, only with the symbols in different locations. The bag felt nowhere near heavy enough to contain anything, yet alone gold.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the gold you need, just don’t tell the others I gave it to you.”
“Why not, I thought you were a band?”
“We are, that’s why I don’t want you telling them. If they knew I had given you the hundred gold, they would be upset that I didn’t allow them the chance to make a similar gesture and give you part.”
“You’re the most unusual band of thieves I’ve ever seen.”
“WHAT! I can’t believe you’d say that, we’re not thieves!”
“Please, I saw you’re little act in the bar last night. Pretty slick how Arabrab pretended to attack Knellie then distracted everyone else while Knellie was behind the bar.”
The look on his face was one of shock and enjoyment. “You saw through our little act huh?” “Not at first, it wasn’t until I saw you all together that I realized completely what had happened. I mean, I figured you and Arabrab were in cahoots, but I wasn’t positive Knellie was in on it until I saw you all together.”
“Well then you obviously didn’t see everything because, we’re not thieves.”
“Well then what was Knellie doing behind the bar?”
“I can’t tell you that yet but we didn’t steal anything, I assure you.”
“I’m not sure I can trust you on that yet but, I need to get back to town and meet up with the Baron. Where will you be? Maybe I’ll join up with you after my meeting, if that’s ok with you guys.”
“Sure, we’ll be on our way to the Dark Wood. If we get there before you catch up, we’ll wait outside the wood near the stream.”
“I’m sure I’ll catch up before that, I don’t expect my meeting to take very long.”

I mounted my horse and headed off toward Phyndetti. Nordrik and the others headed off toward the Dark Wood, but our paths would cross again very soon. As I approached the city, I noticed a gathering of people around the bar. They appeared to be upset about something, they were all chanting something, but I couldn’t make it out yet. As I got closer, it became clear what they were saying. They were chanting, “Kill the Ogre.” Typical barbaric humans, always trying to destroy what they fear or don’t understand. I rode past them, trying to ignore their ignorance. I found the Baron rather easily, he and several of his guard were near by on their horses watching the mob, I guess they were there to keep the peace.

I approached him, and bid him good day. He returned the courtesy and invited me to be next to him while we talked. He was a young man, much younger than would be expected for the head of a royal guard. His face though, showed wisdom beyond his years. He wore the royal colors, as all the guard did. The bright blue pants were tight, so as not to snag on things while riding, but the shirts of the same color were loose and flowed in the slightest breeze. They all had black leather, custom fitted boots which came up their legs to just below the knee, these I assume were to keep from tearing the pants, when riding through the briars, and to keep their feet dry when moving across rivers and water ways. The baron though, also had a tunic he wore over his shirt, it was black leather, the same as the boots, with the royal seal embroidered over his heart, and on the other lapel, was what I assume, his own crest. He had a close shaven beard and mustache. His hair was long and hung loosely down to the center of his back.

He didn’t look at me when I arrived beside him, he just continued to watch the crowd but he addressed me.
“Good morning, Sir Rew. I trust you have good news.”
“Actually no, I don’t. I had a trail, but it went cold and I lost it completely.”
“Really, that’s too bad, well then, might I interest you in what I’ve found?” He pointed to the bar where the “fight” happened last night. “You know this place?”
“Yes, I’ve seen it once or twice.”
“Well, apparently there was a fight there last night.”
“That’s not surprising, it was stormy out, and storms do tend to bring out the worst in people.” “Well put, but this was no ordinary fight. Apparently an Ogre happened to walk into that very bar and immediately started a fight. Had you heard about this?”
“Yes I had but that’s not how I heard it.”
“Really, and how did you hear it?”
“I heard the ogre came in and was immediately challenged by someone that was already there.” “I see.” (He had a look on his face like he didn’t exactly believe me). “Well, either way, you don’t suppose that this ogre could be the very creature you’ve been looking for?”
(I knew I couldn’t completely disregard the ogre as a suspect without raising suspicion,) “The thought had crossed my mind, that’s why I went out this morning and searched again for tracks, the ground is wet from the rain, so they should be easy to follow but alas, I couldn’t find any ogre tracks.”
“Really?” He looked toward me, and right into my eyes. “You’re clothes are muddy, I would assume that’s from searching?”
“Yes, that would be the case, I do tend to get close to, if not completely on the ground a lot while I search for and investigate tracks.”
“I see. And the blood on your hands, did you cut yourself?” (I looked at me hand, it was covered in blood, I must not have noticed with all that was going on, it must be her blood, from the arrow.)
“That must be from the wounded animal I found, I tended to its wounds.”
“That must have been quite a traumatic experience for you not to think to wash your hands afterward.”
“While tending to the animal, I saw some tracks, since the animal was dead, I immediately started following them and didn’t notice the blood. You know how involved in my work I get, and how much I enjoy and care for nature.”
“Yes I do, as I recall it cost me a hundred gold pieces just to get you to come into town and start looking.”
“Right, about that, I don’t feel right keeping the gold, since I haven’t been able to produce any results for you, so I’d like to return it.” I wiped my hands off on my pants, and then I took out the bag that Nordrik had given me, reached inside it and pulled out the gold. I then handed it to the baron. “Here, one hundred gold pieces, I don’t need them, and I’m sorry but I’m going to have to give up my search, I have more pressing matters to attend to besides, I believe whatever was causing the problem, has given up on this area and left. What with all my snooping around and the fact that there isn’t much wild life left out there. I also believe it doesn’t like the taste of humans because I haven’t found any dead ones, nor have I heard of any getting attacked.”
“Well, you still have done a wonderful job, so please, keep the gold. Call it a token of trust if you will.”

I thanked the Baron and bid him farewell then headed off back toward the woods. I could feel his eyes watching me as I rode away. I know he suspected something, but it was no matter to me, he didn’t know where I was heading, and I doubt anyone in his service could track me, especially since I planned on concealing my true tracks, as well as all those from this morning before heading off to meet my new companions. It took me most of what was left of the morning to cover all the tracks. Then I headed off toward the Dark Wood where Nordrik and the others were supposed to be waiting. As I was coming closer to the place they were all supposed to wait I could see smoke over the horizon. At first I thought it a good sign, they were still there I thought. Then I realized, that was way too much smoke for a campfire, something big was burning over there. I put my horse to a full gallop and rode as fast as I could toward the smoke.
As I approached the place the smoke was coming from, the source came into view. It was a large building, the size of a small barn. It wasn’t a barn, it was an Inn, and other buildings around it were also a blaze. There was Nordrik creating ice from his fingertips and spraying it on the burning buildings. It almost seemed to be doing more harm than good as several people that should be helping bring buckets and water were standing watching him, dumbfounded. You would think with the major down pour we had last night that the grass covered roofs would be too wet to catch fire that easily, how did it get this out of hand this quickly? I rode into the middle of the town next to Nordrik to see if I could help.
“Help!” Who was that? I looked around to see who was screaming. “Help Me!” There it is again, it’s coming from the Inn. I jumped off my horse and ran toward the burning building. “Where are you going?” Nordrik's voice was full of concern.
“There’s a girl in there, I heard her, I have to go save her.”
“You can’t, it’s too dangerous, there’s nothing you can do for her now.”
“Ahhhh!” The scream was tearing at my heart, I had to go. “I have to try.” I turned and ran into the Inn. The fire was hot, hotter than anything I’d ever felt before. The heat was overwhelming, the smoke was thick and black I could barely see a foot in front of me through the thickness of the smoke. The roar of the fire was deafening, I could barely hear anything but the burning wood around me.
“Help Me!” I heard the voice again, but barely. I tried to take a breath to yell back, but the smoke filled my lungs and I could do nothing but cough at the taste of it.
“Please! Help!” There she is again, it’s coming from upstairs. I ran to the stairs and took them three at a time until I reached the landing on the second floor. The whole place was a blaze all around, the intensity of the flame was hurting my eyes, and with the added sting of the smoke it was all I could do to see. But see I did, a little girl in the corner of the next room to the left. She was crouched in a ball near the outer wall; the fire was surrounding her, like a pack of savage wolves closing in on a helpless fawn.
There’s too much flame between us, I can’t get to her. I inched toward her, the fire reaching up and slapping me in the face driving me back again. I tried again, I could barely see, but I heard the weakening wood of the Inn creaking under its growing strain. I couldn’t tell where the creaking sound was coming from, but something was going to give any minute, I didn’t have any time to waste, I had to get her now. I inched closer again trying to look for a break in the intensity of the flame, then suddenly, I fell, the floor beneath me had given way and my right leg fell through, but my left hadn’t, instead it stretched out to the side, the fire licking at the heal of my left foot. I was stuck, there’s nothing near by to grab onto to pull myself out, I had no leverage, and a piece of wood had jabbed itself into my inner right thigh, if I moved, it would rip me open for sure. It was hopeless. Then I heard her scream again. NO! I’VE GOT TO SAVE HER! Using every muscle in my fatigued body I forced myself to twist and pull and ignore the pain as the jagged shard of wood tore through my right leg like a bear rips through the flesh of it’s victims when eating.
I managed to get free from the floor’s death grip and come to my feet. The pain was immense, I didn’t know how much more of this I could take, but I needed to save her. I took a few steps back and with a quick burst of energy I ran toward the girl leaping over the hole in the floor, I tumbled when I hit the floor on the other side because my leg couldn’t support the weight. I lost no momentum though and continued toward the girl. Then it hit me, what am I going to do when I get there? How am I going to get her out, I can barely carry myself. None the less, I kept running toward her, I scooped her up in my arms and dove at the wall with all my force, I turned at the last instant so my back would hit the wall, it worked, the wood was weak enough from the fire that it gave way to my weight and force, I kept the girl tucked to my chest in my arms as we fell toward the ground. I made sure to roll so I would take the blunt of the damage and she would land on me, hopefully only suffering minor injury.
We were only about 20 feet up, but it seems to be taking forever for us to hit the ground. I could see it all in my head, running backward. I see me grabbing the girl, I see my leg being torn apart by the floor, I see me running into the Inn, I see the smoke on the horizon, I see the Baron and the tavern, I see her eyes, the eyes of the only woman I’ll ever love. She’s looking back at me, so lovingly, so peaceful, then she spoke to me. “You need to wake up now, there are things you need to do.”
“But I don’t want to wake up, I want to stay here with you forever.”
“You can’t my love, there are others who need you too.”
All at once my eyes opened and I sat up, “No!”
Then I felt a cold moist thing touch my forehead. It was Arabrab; she was wiping my brow with a moist cloth.
“What happened? Where am I?” Then I remembered. “The little girl, is she okay?”
“Shh…She’s fine, she’s more scared than anything, you did a brave and noble thing saving her like that.”
A moment later the door opened and Knellie came walking in with more water and clean cloths. “How’s our hero doing?” she asked Arabrab as she put the stuff down and came over to the bedside.
“He’s doing pretty good considering what he’s been through.”
I tried to get up, but my leg hurt too much. Then I remembered the fire and how I’d hurt it trying to get to the little girl. I lifted the sheet and looked down at my leg. It was bandaged up; whoever bandaged it did a wonderful job with it. Then I noticed something else, I was completely nude. Someone had taken off all of my clothes. I looked up at Arabrab and Knellie, “Um, where are my clothes?”
They both smiled, then Knellie pointed to the chair in the corner of the room. “They’re over there.”
“Well would one of you be kind enough to hand them to me please?”
“Sure.” Knellie walked over and grabbed the pile of clothes from the chair. She brought them over and set them on the bed next to me.
I picked up the shirt to put it on then I noticed it wasn’t my shirt. “This isn’t my shirt, where are my clothes?”
“This is your shirt,” Arabrab said, “your other clothes were damaged in the fire, the little girl you saved is the daughter of the town seamstress, she made you new clothes. They’re custom fit to your body.” She smiled as she said that last part.
“I see, well I’ll need you to point her out to me so I can thank her.” I held the shirt up to look at it for a minute. I noticed on the left side over the heart was an embroidery, it was a bow standing upright with a sword and a key crossing it in an X and a wand going across it horizontally. “What’s this?” I asked pointing to the embroidery.
“Oh, we had her put that there.” Arabrab said as she pointed to the one on her chest. “See, we even had her modify ours. She wasn’t wearing her armor right now, just a shirt, but it also had the embroidery on it. Hers looked the same as before, except it now had a bow crossing it horizontally. Knellie’s was the same, it seems they’ve made me a member of their band and added a symbol for me to their crest. I was honored, yet at the same time I was a little upset about it, as they didn’t give me an option to not join.
“I see…well…I should get dressed then so we can get going, Nordrik said something about needing to meet a Wizard in the Dark Wood.”
Arabrab and Knellie didn’t move they just kept looking at me.
“I believe that was your cue to leave for a little while so I can get dressed.”
“Oh, ok, not that it should matter now, I mean, who do you think dressed your wounds?” Arabrab said, seemingly a little upset at the notion that I wanted her to leave.
They both left and I managed to get up and get my clothes on. Although the pain in my leg was intense.