They rode out of the northern gate of the city early in the morning on what promised to be a beautiful spring day. Thokri smoked his pipe and leaned back on the rest looking up at the puffy clouds.
He’s really happy about going home.
She felt kind of strange. Coming back to Oldforge hadn’t felt like going home this time. She wasn’t sure if it was because of how long she’d been gone or because her house wasn’t the same, but it just didn’t feel right.
I’m never going to belong anywhere. I’m just not like anyone else.
After traveling around the kingdom for most of a year and spending the winter in the capital, she’s seen so many different kinds of humans. People from the far west, the islands, the north, the far south near the swamps, but she never saw a single soul that looked quite like her.
It wasn’t just her outlandish features either. Even her face, pretty as it was, couldn’t be placed amongst the races of men. She didn’t even look like the people that were the children of one or more of the kinds of humans. It was as if the dreamer had made something entirely new when he made her.
I’ll always have Fishport I guess. Beth sounded so happy in her letter. She even learned to write so she could tell me how much she wished she could have gone with me. I hope she’s happy with William. He seemed like a nice boy.
Ted and Elizabeth had sent her a letter as well thanking her for keeping her promise to Beth and telling her to be careful because the life of an adventurer was clearly dangerous. She still hadn’t told them everything about herself and probably never would.
They arrived at Lonesome Keep a few weeks later. It was the last bastion of civilization until they reached Elven lands, which could take weeks depending on the road which was only maintained by caravans traveling to and from the Elven kingdom.
Lyreen and Voekeer had ridden in such a caravan when they had left home, though Voekeer had to work, and Lyreen had her way paid by the village elders. Both had been dropped off in Oldforge, Lyreen because that’s where the mage’s academy was, and Voekeer because he was tired of doing all the menial labor.
She looked at the ancient fortress as they rode past. It was the same as the one they’d taken refuge in during the rain storm the year prior where she’d found her strange medallion. This fortress was in far better shape having been partially rebuilt in the millennia since the fall of the old empire. She waved at one of the watching soldiers, and he waved back.
They could have stopped there for the night if they had wanted to, but the others didn’t want to stay in the fortress unless they needed to. Once passed the fortress, they were in the wilds, at least part of the wilds. There were lots of wilds as it turned out.
I wonder why the forest we found Rose in wasn’t considered a wildland? I mean, no one patrols it, and something tore all those people apart.
Rose refused to talk about what happened, and the others told her not to ask, so she didn’t.
They had been traveling through the forest for days, but after crossing the border, it grew thicker until a few hours later, it reminded her of the forests on the frontier. Unlike the frontier, the road was in good repair. She was surprised by this.
People usually do a half assed job unless they are being paid, and even then, they do like three quarters of an ass. I wonder what three quarters of an ass would look like, maybe Lyreen’s. No, that’s more like half assed but with both cheeks. Why am I thinking about Lyreen’s ass? Oh shit, her weird thing with asses is rubbing off on me. ACK!!! I DON’T WANT TO THINK ABOUT LYREEN RUBBING HER ASS ON ME!!! WHY DID THAT JUST POP INTO MY HEAD?!?!?!
She shook her head and started to watch the tree line as they rode, trying not to think about Lyreen’s rear. Even though the forest didn’t belong to anyone, adventurers from the human kingdom and rangers from the Elven forest kept the worst of the monsters away from the road.
She was a little disappointed when she found out. She had been looking forward to killing something with big teeth and claws. She liked to keep teeth and claws, even though her friends thought it was weird, except for Elaine, who didn’t see a problem with it.
Elaine has jars with body parts in them, so maybe she’s not the best person to ask? Oh well, don’t care. I like them either way.
They traveled north for two days before heading to the northwest. Had they continued on the northern road, they would have reached the land of many lakes as the Northmen called it. None of her friends knew much about the place other than it was where the Northmen lived.
I really got to find Olig one of these days!
She kept missing him. It was like the guild master didn’t want him around, so she’d send him on the farthest contracts from Oldforge available at the time. He was heading to the southern swamps at the moment to fight a swarm of giant leeches that were eating fishermen that lived on the outskirts of the wretched place.
Leeches are so nasty! They just try to suck you! It’s just gross!
She’d been attacked by normal sized ones while taking a bath in a pond. She squealed and ran out of the water when it happened, much to the amusement of her friends.
Nothing much happened as they traveled to the Elven border. They did pass a caravan on its way to the human lands, but the merchants didn’t have anything they wanted.
Why would anyone want nut oil anyway?
The Elven border crossing had a fort just like the human one, though they were patrolling and stopped the party to search the wagon. They didn’t find anything unusual except for what Elaine had in her jars. After that, they stayed away from the necromancer, far away.
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Back on the road with a slightly irritated Elaine, they continued on their journey northwest. Boulderfist mountain was nearly a year away from the Elven forest if nothing went wrong.
Something always goes wrong. That’s just how my life is.
They passed a small group of empty cottages a few miles from the border.
“What are those?” she asked.
“Elves don’t have inns, lass. They build cabins for folks to stay in along the road,” Thokri replied.
“That’s kind of weird,” Anna said.
“Just the way elves are,” Thokri replied.
Later that day, she pulled into one of the clearings filled with cottages and stopped the wagon near the small barn. Anna and Thokri took care of the horses, getting them bedded down for the night, while the others started cooking dinner.
One of the cottages was a common building that contained a kitchen as well as a laundry and a few tables for travelers to eat at. The rest of the cottages had a few beds and a large fireplace to warm them during the winter.
Once the horses were taken care of, they went into the main building. The smell of a freshly started fire filled the room. Voekeer and Barika were tending the fire while Rose and Elaine were cutting up the dried vegetables and meats. Lyreen was nowhere to be seen, but Anna assumed she was off doing some chore or another.
My friends aren’t lazy, that’s for sure.
She walked over to help cut things up, and Thokri started getting the pot ready. It had been brought in, but no one had bothered to rig the chains needed to hang it over the fire. The pot was the big one. She still wasn’t sure why they had brought such a huge thing with them, but as usual, she didn’t question her friends’ decisions.
She started to chop food, and within moments, it was all done. Lyreen came in carrying a bucket full of water. She set it down, completely out of breath.
“You sent her to get water?” Anna asked.
“She insisted,” Elaine replied.
Anna walked over, grabbed the bucket with one hand, and casually lifted it from the floor. Lyreen glared at her with pure hate in her eyes as Anna smiled sweetly at her. Then she bounced off to the fireplace, not spilling a single drop, despite swinging it slightly as she went.
Thokri brought the pot over and hung it on the iron arm that swung out from the fireplace. He adjusted it so it hung straight, and then she poured the bucket in the pot. It only filled it up partway, so she went out to get more water from the well. Lyreen was still glaring at her as she walked out of the cottage.
She followed the splashes that Lyreen had left to the well. She handed the bucket to a tentacle that appeared next to her. It reached down the well and scooped up a bucketful of water before handing it back to her. She went back to the cottage and walked inside.
The others were dumping the food into the pot. She poured the bucket into the pot and decided that it was enough, so she set the bucket next to the door and then took a seat at the large table in the center of the room. The table had also served as the prep table, but her friends had cleaned it off before and after they had filled the pot. The others sat down as well. It would take a while for the water to boil, and they could see the pot from the table.
“We need to cut some wood to replace what we used. Someone already put a few logs out to dry, but they didn’t split them up,” Voekeer said.
“I’ll do it,” Anna replied.
“There should be tools in the wood shed,” Voekeer said.
“Don’t need them,” Anna replied. He looked at her for a moment then shrugged.
She went back outside and found the woodshed, not that it was hard to find, and then walked behind it. There was a stack of huge logs sitting there. She summoned an eye to look around and make sure no one was watching her before she summoned a few tentacles. They got to work.
One shaped itself like a saw, and another held the log up. A third grasped the chunk that was cut off the log, handing it to another two which ripped the chunk into smaller pieces that would be just the right size for use in the fireplace.
The tentacles made quick work of the logs. She stopped when the woodshed was full, heading back into the cottage no more than half an hour after she had left. The pot was bubbling, filling the room with a mouthwatering aroma. At least, she liked it.
Her friends were sitting around the table chatting. She went to sit with them.
“How much did you cut?” Voekeer asked.
“I filled the woodshed,” Anna replied.
“Well, we definitely won’t have to cut anymore,” Voekeer said.
“Did I do something weird again?” Anna asked.
“No, not at all. It’s just that most travelers just replace what they use, that’s all,” Voekeer replied.
“Oh, okay,” Anna said.
Thokri picked up the spice box and walked over to the pot. The spice box looked like a small strongbox.
I mean, it did cost me a gold and a few large silvers for the spices. The box was free though. I mean, that’s something, right?
He opened the box and started to pull out pouches of spices. Elaine got up and rushed over. She snatched a pouch from his hand and stuffed it back in the strongbox.
“Not going to happen!” Elaine said.
“Just a pinch won’t hurt you, lass,” Thokri replied.
“I’d rather have you pinch my ass than put that shit in our food again!” Elaine said.
“It’s not that bad,” Anna said.
“Oh, shut up! You can’t even taste spice!” Elaine replied.
“You’ll get used to it if you eat it, child,” Barika said.
“It made my ass burn last time we ate it!” Elaine whined, causing Anna to giggle.
“You’ll get used to that, too,” Barika replied.
“I don’t want to!” Elaine said.
Slamming the strongbox shut, she picked it up and carried it back to the table, leaving Thokri with a few spices, none of which were what one would call spicy though. Elaine glared at him, and he chuckled and started to season the stew with what he had.
At least he didn’t take out any salt. The dried meat has more than enough of that on it.
Thokri sprinkled the spices in and then stirred the pot a few times before tasting. Dwarves tended to like heavily seasoned food, whereas elves, not so much. There was no telling with humans. Barika, for instance, could eat food that would make Thokri sweat, but Elaine, as she’d just proven, didn’t even like strong island pepper. Rose was somewhere in the middle, leaning closer to Barika.
And then there’s me, who can eat anything.
She was being literal about that. She hadn’t found anything she couldn’t eat, though most of the nonfood things she tried didn’t taste very good. She watched him stirring the pot. She could have done all of this with her tentacles, but she didn’t.
They already feel kind of useless after the monster hunting thing. I don’t want to make it worse. I should use normal tools next time I cut wood. That should help make them feel better.
The stew bubbled for a few more minutes before they dished it up. The stew was a little on the salty side but still good.
“What happens if another group of people show up?” Anna asked.
“They wouldn’t stop unless they needed to, and then they’d either wait for us to finish or ask to join us and make sure to help out any way they could,” Voekeer replied.
After they finished eating, she used her ring to clean up the mess.
One day I’ll figure out where it all goes.
Once she finished, she went to one of the cottages. There were ten of them in total. She took the one nearest the road. If anyone were to join them, they’d enter that one first. She wasn’t in any danger from anyone, really, so she didn’t mind being out in front so to speak.
The inside of the cottage was empty other than a huge fireplace and six beds.
We could all stay in one of these if we needed to.
She got undressed, tossed her clothes and belt on the floor next to the bed, and flopped on the bed. She didn’t bother with covers or a pillow. She could fall asleep on a rock if she needed to, and didn’t sweat, so she wouldn’t get the mattress dirty.
Even if I did, I could just clean it with my ring.
She looked at the old spider webs that covered the ceiling.
I think humans have a better idea with the inns.
She fell asleep hoping a spider wouldn’t crawl in her mouth or nose while she slept.