“Hey, Elaine, have you ever been to the Spice Islands?” she asked.

“No, why do you ask?” Elaine asked.

“Well, Findwick was visiting them looking for the ruins of some ancient lizardman civilization that supposably inhabited them thousands of years ago. He found out that the southernmost island is inhabited by a race of lizard people that don’t live anywhere but that island. Well, they didn’t know anything about a lost civilization, but they did have the best dragon pepper he’d ever eaten,” Anna replied.

“Some of the scholars at the royal academy thought that the lizardmen empire used to control most of the western coast of the great inland sea, so I guess them also controlling the spice islands isn’t that farfetched,” Elaine said.

“Findwick didn’t think that the civilization on the islands was connected to the lizardman empire,” Anna replied.

“Oh, why not?” Elaine asked.

“Well, first, he doesn’t think they’re the same race. He said that the island lizardmen have bigger differences between genders than the lizardmen on the mainland. Also, they don’t eat bugs or meat like the other lizardmen do. They eat fish and other things they catch in the ocean. Oh, and their languages are so different that he said there is no way they share a common root. I’m not sure what that means though,” Anna replied.

Elaine stopped writing for a moment and looked around. She did that when she was thinking.

“Think about common and Barika’s language, and then about dwarven and common,” Elaine said.

“Oh, right. There’s a lot of things that are the same between Barika’s language and common, but dwarven isn’t the same at all!” Anna replied.

“Yep, and that’s because both human languages are based on old Imperial, so if you think of languages like a tree, old Imperial is the root,” Elaine said.

“Then all the other human languages are the branches!” Anna replied, interrupting Elaine.

“Exactly. The only exception to that is the Northman’s language,” Elaine said.

“Oh, that’s because Northmen came from the other side of the barrier mountains, and the other humans came from the far west,” Anna replied.

“As far as I know, there’s no way across the barrier mountains, and there’s nothing but an endless desert to the far west,” Elaine said.

“Findwick thinks that it used to be much hotter and wetter in this region, and he thinks that there wasn’t a desert back then. But something happened and it got colder and drier that made the lizardmen move south and the humans moved in when they left,” Anna replied.

“Okay, I can see that, but what about the Northmen?” Elaine asked.

“There was a pass through the barrier mountains, and he found it, but it was walled off,” Anna replied.

“Seriously?” Elaine asked.

“Yep, most of the people with him at the time were dwarves, and they told him that they’d never seen stonework like it,” Anna replied.

“If that’s true, it changed everything we thought we know about our past,” Elaine said.

“I know, that’s why I’m going to go and check it out,” Anna replied.

“Okay, so where are we heading first?” Elaine asked.

“Fishport, I want to see Beth before I go to the Spice Islands,” Anna replied.

“Why there?” Elaine asked.

“Findwick was hurt badly when he tried to explore the island and had to leave. When he got back to the northern spice islands, he realized he was just too old to keep on, so he decided to write his memoirs. He ended it saying that he wanted someone to pick up where he left off and go explore that island because he’s sure that the key to finding the lost civilization is there,” Anna replied.

“So, if you find something about it, then it proves the book is real?” Elaine asked.

Anna shook her head.

“No, I just want to check to see if he was really there, so if the island and the lizard people are like how he described, it’s good enough for me,” she replied.

“If that’s all you want to do, why not go somewhere closer? There has to be something in that book,” Elaine said.

“That’s the problem. A lot of the places he went, he could have just heard about from someone else, so we need to go somewhere that most people have never visited that he did, and this is the closest one,” Anna replied.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Elaine nodded.

“Okay, that makes sense. Hey, could I borrow that book?” she asked.

“Sure,” Anna replied.

She closed it then handed it to her friend who took it, opened it up, and started to read.

Well, I lost her. Might as well go to sleep for the night. We can go and talk to the others tomorrow before they go and start their days.

Early the next morning, she got up, crept down the stairs, and started to prepare food like she did every morning. The moment the smell of cooking bacon floated up the stairs, she heard the floor creak, and Elaine shuffled down, still fully dressed from the day before. She had dark circles under her eyes and had clearly slept in her dress.

“You look like shit,” Anna said.

“I stayed up reading your book,” Elaine replied as she flopped onto her chair.

“You didn’t have to. I wasn’t going to take it back or anything,” Anna said.

“I know, but it was so good, I ended up reading the whole thing,” Elaine replied.

“Want some eggs?” Anna asked.

“No, thanks, just bacon please,” Elaine replied.

“Okay,” Anna said.

She went back to cooking, and after a few minutes of quiet, she heard Elaine softly snoring and turned to see that the woman had fallen asleep in her chair. Anna shook her head and turned back around to keep an eye on the bacon. She stacked it onto a plate when it was done, popping a piece in her mouth before walking over to the table and setting the plate down. She started to eat the bacon and waited to see if Elaine was going to wake up. After a few minutes, she sighed and got up.

“What am I going to do with you?” Anna asked.

She walked over to the sleeping necromancer, and waved the plate near Elaine’s face, and the woman’s eyes flicked open. She stretched and then took the plate with one hand and started to stuff her face with the other. Anna went upstairs to get dressed, knowing Elaine would finish the rest of the food.

She got dressed, deciding to wear an adventuring dress along with her usual belt before heading back downstairs. Elaine was finishing up the bacon when she returned.

“So, we should go and let the others know we’re heading out. They’ll want to go, too,” Elaine said.

“I know,” Anna replied.

Elaine ate the last few pieces before getting out of her chair and handing the plate to Anna who cleaned it along with the rest of the dishes she’d used to make breakfast.

They left when she finished, heading to the adventurer’s guild. They reached the massive building just after dawn, and when they entered, she spotted the rest of her friends sitting together at a table eating breakfast. She smiled at them and started to walk over.

You know, they’re all pretty much the same as when I first met them, except for Rose that is. She doesn’t even look like the same person that I pulled out of that wagon. I wonder how many more Roses are out there, stuck in wagons or chained to beds waiting for someone to come and save them? NO! Don’t do that! Barika said it will just make me feel bad.

She sat down next to Rose who grinned at her. Lord Emerald was seated in her lap. He popped his head up as soon as Anna sat down. She rubbed in between his ears just like he liked. When Elaine sat down, he hopped away.

Oh, come on, she didn’t mean it!

Elaine frowned at the fleeing rabbit before looking back at the others.

“So, what do you want to talk about, child?” Barika asked.

“How do you do that?” Anna replied.

“Do what?” Barika asked.

“Know what I’m thinking?” Anna replied.

“I’ve known you for most of your life, child. I just can,” Barika said.

“Oh, okay,” Anna replied.

“So, what is it, lass?” Thokri asked.

“Oh, right, well, I’m going back to Fishport and then to the Spice Islands, and I wanted to know if you all wanted to come to?” Anna asked.

“So you’re finally going back to see your little friend then?” Barika replied.

“Yeah, but she’s probably bigger than me now,” Anna said.

“I get Fishport, but why the Spice Islands?” Voekeer asked.

“Well, I bought a book from a gnome yesterday, and he traveled all over the world exploring places, and one of them was the spice islands, and I want to go and see if he’s full of shit or not,” Anna replied.

“So, you want to go all the way to the Spice Islands to see if a gnome is telling the truth or not?” Lyreen asked.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Anna replied.

“I’m in,” Lyreen replied.

“Really?” Voekeer asked.

“Yes, really. It’s not like we have anything to do around here!” Lyreen replied.

“Aye, the lass is right, and I’m tired of sitting around with my thumb up my arse,” Thokri added.

“But you aren’t doing that,” Anna said.

Thokri eyed her for a moment and then shook his head.

“It’s just a saying, lass. It means sitting around doing nothing,” he replied.

“Oh, right, one of those,” Anna said.

Why are there so many sayings dammit?!

“We should go and let Bruno know we’ll be leaving,” Voekeer replied.

They got up and walked over to the counter, leaving their half-eaten breakfast sitting on the table. Bruno was working with one of the newer adventurers. He noticed them walking over and started to watch them. The young man turned to see who the Ogre looking at. His eyes went wide when he saw them.

“Oh, uh, I’ll come back!” he said and scurried away when they neared.

“What’s with him?” Anna asked.

“Fuck if I know,” Bruno replied.

“We’re going to be leaving. Might be gone for a few years,” Thokri said.

“You got to be shitting me!” Bruno replied.

“I wouldn’t shit you, lad. You’re my favorite turd,” Thokri said.

Bruno glared at him for a moment before shaking his head.

“Is this because you got banned from taking normal contracts?” he asked.

“No, but that was still bullshit!” Voekeer replied.

“I warned you shitsticks not to take fifty in one month, but you didn’t listen now, did you?” Bruno asked.

“I still don’t see what the problem with working hard is,” Anna said.

“There isn’t anything wrong with working hard, skinny. It’s taking work from everyone else that’s the problem,” Bruno replied.

Anna turned to look at the room full of hungover adventurers and then back at Bruno.

“Oh, yeah, they are really raring to go, aren’t they,” she said.

This earned her a look from Bruno.

“So, where are you assholes going anyway?” he asked.

“The spice islands,” Voekeer replied.

“What in the fuck are you going there for?” Bruno asked.

“Heard the food was good,” Thokri replied.

This time Thokri got a look.

“You know what, I don’t give a shit. Just don’t die,” Bruno said.

“But I can’t die,” Anna replied.

“Get the fuck out of here!” Bruno said.

“Sure thing, fatso,” Anna replied.

They left the counter and headed out of the guild hall before he could respond. They started to walk towards the dwarven tavern. She needed to let them know she was going to be gone for a long time so they could send people to take care of her house. Sparks appeared in the air in front of her, and she held out her arms. Lord Emerald appeared and fell into them. She pulled him to her chest to hug him.

“I can’t wait to introduce you to Beth!” she said.