“Who am I?” the sword asked.

Anna looked down at the sword to find wisps of black smoke coming from the gemstone on its hilt.

“You’re my sword,” Anna replied.

“Oh, so who are you?” it asked.

“I’m Anna,” she replied.

“Do I have a name?” the sword asked.

“No, I didn’t know you could talk before now, so I didn’t give you one,” Anna replied.

“How long have you had me?” the sword asked.

“About five years, but I got lost last year and didn’t have you then, so I guess you could say four,” Anna replied.

“Where were you?” the sword asked.

“On the other side of the world,” Anna replied.

“Why?” the sword asked.

“I’m not really sure. That’s kind of why I said I was lost,” Anna replied.

“Oh,” the sword replied.

“Could you always talk?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know,” the sword replied.

“How can you not know?” Anna asked.

“I don’t remember anything from before I heard you calling for help,” it replied.

“Okay, I guess I’ll just call you Ted,” Anna said.

“Ted?” the sword asked.

“Yeah, it’s the name of someone who was kind to me when I was new, so it’s a good name,” Anna replied.

“Okay, my name is Ted then,” the sword said.

“So, I’m going to need you to keep quiet around other people,” Anna added.

“Why?” Ted asked.

“Because talking swords are rare, and I don’t want people asking me about you,” Anna replied.

“So, should I stop talking now?” it asked.

“You can talk until the man from the inn gets back,” Anna replied.

“What about her?” the sword asked.

“She’s knocked out, so it’s fine,” Anna replied.

“Oh, did you knock her out?” the sword asked.

“No. I heard her scream, so I came out to help and found her like this,” Anna replied.

If it doesn’t remember what happened, better if I don’t tell it. It’s like Thokri says, the less people know something, the less likely others will find out.

“So, you heard someone scream, and you came to see what was happening?” the sword asked.

“I came to help,” Anna replied.

“Okay, does that mean you like to help?” the sword asked.

“I do,” Anna replied.

“Do you help often?” the sword asked.

“I try to,” Anna replied.

She heard the door open and looked over to find a large group of men exiting the inn and heading towards her.

“Time to be quiet,” she said.

Ted the sword didn’t reply, and the men rushed over, holding their lanterns up to cast light on her and the unconscious woman. The majority of them were wearing the rough clothing she’d seen the servers wearing at dinner. A stern-looking older man wearing workman’s clothing was with them. He looked at her and scowled.

“Don’t think you’re going to get a reward for this!” he said.

“Well fuck you, too!” Anna replied.

She spat and then stormed off towards the inn, walking in through the back door and passing through the kitchen before finding herself in the main room again. The lamps had been lit and a few men stood near the center, surrounding the nightman who was now sporting a black eye and wore a bleak expression.

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She passed by them without a word and stomped up the stairs to her room where she threw open the door, walked inside, and then slammed it behind her hard enough to cause a loud crack to come from the frame. She took off her sword and placed it on her pack before flopping onto the bed.

“Anna, are you alright?” Ted asked.

“Yes!” she replied.

“Are you sure?” it asked.

“I just need sleep!” she replied.

“Okay,” it said.

Stupid bastard! Not everyone is a coin hording dragon like you!

She closed her eyes and fell asleep as quickly as she usually did. She heard a knock on her door and opened her eyes, finding that the morning had come.

“Stop playing with yourself and get a move on!” Elaine said.

She hopped out of bed and went to her pack where she strapped Ted to the side and covered it up.

“Remember, no talking,” she said.

“Okay,” Ted replied.

Once finished, she slung her pack over her shoulder and rushed out of her room.

“Sorry,” she said.

“It’s fine, lass,” Thokri replied.

“Yeah, even you sleep in every now and again,” Lyreen said.

“That’s true,” Anna replied.

They walked down the stairs, out of the inn, and found a large group of men standing in the front. They were surrounding the stern-looking man, and a few of the men dressed in rough clothing were clearly upset with him. The stern man was looking around frantically when he spotted the party.

“She’s right there! That’s the woman who found my slave! Ask her what happened!” he said.

“Slave? What slave?” Anna replied.

“Mary! The one you found by the well last night!” he said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Anna replied.

“No, she’s lying! She was there!” the stern man said.

“Yeah, I saw her!” one of the men in rough clothes added.

A large man pushed through the rough-dressed men and grabbed the stern man by his shirt.

“Listen here you little shit. I’m going to ask you one more time where my boys are, or imma knock your teeth in!” he said.

“I ALREADY TOLD YOU! I DON’T KNOW YOU GODS DAMNED WHORESON! NOW LET ME…” the stern man replied.

He was cut off by the big man’s fist hitting him square in the face. The rest of the angry men rushed in and started attacking the roughly dressed men who fought back.

“Let’s get out of here!” Voekeer said.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Elaine replied.

The party scurried way from the inn and ran down the road to the north, keeping up a good pace for a few minutes until slowing down to catch their breath.

“What the fuck was that about?” Voekeer asked.

“The men watching the wagons attacked one of the slave women last night and carried her off into the forest to bury her there. I heard her scream, tracked them down, and killed them before they could and then brought her back to where she’d been attacked and pretended that I found her there. Oh, and my sword drinks blood and can talk now,” Anna replied.

“If you knew what happened, why didn’t you tell them?” Voekeer asked.

“One, I didn’t want to explain to a mob of angry men that I killed their friends with my blood-drinking talking sword and buried them in the thicket, and two, that jerk deserved to get his teeth knocked!” Anna replied.

“Fair enough,” Voekeer said.

“Aren’t you going to ask about my sword?” Anna asked.

“Does it do anything other than drink blood and talk now?” he asked.

“It fixed itself, too,” Anna replied.

“That’s pretty useful actually,” Voekeer said.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You know, I thought everyone would be more surprised by the sword,” Anna replied.

Voekeer put his hand on her shoulder.

“Anna, we have you with us, and compared to you, a talking sword is perfectly normal,” he said.

“Oh, right,” she replied.

She paused for a moment before frowning.

“Hey!” she added.

Her friends burst into laughter.

“Come on, let’s get going before they send someone after us,” Voekeer said.

“You think they will?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to find out,” Voekeer replied.

“Lad’s right. That lot might come looking for you when they get through with the pricks at the inn,” Thokri added.

The others seemed to agree with the dwarf’s statement, and after a few more moments of rest, they started off again.

“Did I really drink blood?” Ted asked.

“Yes,” Anna replied.

“Have I done that before?” it asked.

“No, but that was the first time I used you to kill a person,” Anna replied.

“So, what do you normally kill with me?” it asked.

“Dangerous beasts and monsters,” Anna replied.

“Why?” it asked.

“Because I’m an adventurer. It’s my job,” Anna replied.

“You know, I thought one of the dark one’s black blades would be, I don’t know, more menacing,” Voekeer said.

“Ted doesn’t remember anything before last night,” Anna replied.

“Ted?” Voekeer asked.

“That’s its name,” Anna replied.

“You named a sword Ted?” Voekeer asked.

“Yeah, you got a problem with that?” Anna replied.

“No, it’s just, well, that’s not a normal name for a magic sword,” Voekeer said.

“So what’s a normal name for a magic sword then?” Anna asked.

“Heartseeker, Foebane, that sort of thing,” he replied.

Anna snorted.

“Those are stupid!” she said.

“Says the one who named her sword Ted!” Voekeer replied.

She stuck out her tongue at him, causing him to shake his head.

They continued north for the rest of the day, taking breaks every few hours to eat and drink before reaching another inn where they stopped for the night.

This inn was far different from the one they’d stayed at the night before, being far newer and constructed of mostly wood. The inside was much nicer than the other inn as well, being brightly lit and filled with higher-quality furniture. The barmaids, all the servers seemed to be women, were wearing the same sort of clothing you’d expect a commoner to be wearing in this part of the world.

I think this is the first place I’ve been to in the empire that wasn’t full of slaves!

They took a seat at one of the open tables, and a barmaid came over and stood next to their table.

“How many rooms will you need, and do you want a bowl of stew?” she asked.

“Six rooms and yes,” Voekeer replied.

“Got any ale, lass?” Thorki asked.

“Sure do. It comes with the stew,” the barmaid replied.

“Is it any good?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t call it good, but it’s not bad or anything,” she replied.

“Aye,” Thokri said nodding.

They paid for their rooms and the meal, and the barmaid swished away, heading for the back. She returned a few minutes later carrying a tray with their food and drink, passing out a bowl and mug to each of them before rushing away again. Anna took a bite of the stew and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. She took a drink of the ale to wash it down.

She’s right. It’s not that good, but it’s not that bad either.

She ate her food and listened as the others talked about this and that. A few minutes after they started, the door to the inn burst open and armed men poured inside. Every one of them was covered in road dust and drenched in sweat, making it clear they’d ridden hard to get there. The lead man looked around the room. His eyes locked onto hers.

“There she is! That’s the bitch we’re looking for! The one with rainbow hair!” he said.

She sighed and took a drink from her ale.

It’s always something.