Serrill sits next to Lyrian and Luminitsa next to Aleena as the four wait in an awkward atmosphere. Faylin cuts the food. She has the steaks marinaded and sizzling on a pan as she dices the fruits with a knife.
Seasoning and juicy aromas of cooking meat freshen their bellies. Though Aleena sniffs at a horrid smell next to her and quickly plugs her nose in disgust. Foul stench from Luminitsa invades her space. "Soooo, who are you guys?" she asks awkwardly, trying to create space between herself and Luminitsa. "I mean who is Serrill and Luminitsa to you Faylin?"
"Serrill worked at my shop once. Didn't last very long because of some bad decisions, and we've been fighting over business since. We don't agree, he's rude, a jerk, a drug dealer, a black market weapons dealer, and I just want him to stay away from my shop is all."
"Fay, Fay, Fay, Fay, come on now. You know I wasn't always a jerk or a drug dealer. It's the business, and it pays more than your simpleton little blacksmith shop, Faylin," he says and crosses his legs. Serrill turns to Lyrian, sipping tea. "Mage, you of all people know the power of nable mushrooms cannot be ignored."
Lyrian sets his tea down, "that's different. Nable mushrooms have magical properties and in tea. It's the fen mushrooms that'll actually kill you straight up, and is outlawed in most kingdoms."
"Exactly, what's the difference? Too many nable mushrooms will kill you," Serrill emphasizes.
Faylin is done with food cooking on a pan and comes out with plates from the small open kitchen area of the room, "Serrill, you know I don't hate you right? Otherwise I wouldn't be doing this for you. I just want you to live a good life away from dungeons and executions." She sets Serrill's plate down with almost a motherly look in her eyes as she glances at him.
Serrill takes a fork and knife and smirks at her heartfelt statement, "Thanks Faylin. And I want you to live a good life away from all the corruption and tyranny."
Faylin frowns thinking of her mother then takes her seat.
"We're going to the mountains to see if a mage is up to anything, you know of a necromancer in the area?" Aleena questions Serrill.
"I thought you weren't working, why are you investigating?" he asks taking his first bit. Luminitsa just eats her fruit and stares out at the window.
Lyrian is cutting his steak and answers instead of Faylin, "we are still trying to find a mine, and along the way, we're trying to help Aleena find this necromancer."
"The only place a black mage could be is the old ruins. It's a very long and tedious trip there," Luminista finally says. She sips some tea, and her pale skin faces everyone in the room. "They are old and abandoned but it makes for a good hideout."
"That would be the place," Serrill says. "The mage has been hiding in those ruins. And an old cult of mages in fact, from what I hear at least."
"Any sign of wildlife in the ruins?" Aleena asks.
"I don't know, I'm not a ranger," he replies. He stabs another piece of fruit with his fork, "why does it matter anyway?"
Aleena squints her eyes, "you really don't know about the animals? There have been dinosaurs running about, extinct for centuries and they are back, hunting the people down."
"I've never seen any sign of these, what do you call them? Dinosaurs?" he replies.
"You should watch yourself. The creatures have killed people all around, causing terror," Faylin explains.
"I haven't seen anything, so they're probably a fairy tale," he says. He puts his plate down after eating everything, and stands up to stretch.
"You should watch yourself Serrill. I'm warning you now, you better stay safe and get your business done quickly," Faylin says back to him.
"No need to be so aggressive, Faylin," he says. He walks towards her.
"I'm only trying to warn you," Faylin stands.
"You were always a tough one," Serrill hugs Faylin for a long moment and smiles. Faylin has wide eyes, never thinking in a hundred years Serrill would be so gentle, but he steps off from the embrace, and the warmth leaves. She frowns.
"It's been nice talking with you, Serrill," she says, not giving any eye contact.
"It has been, hasn't it?" Serrill looks to the others, "well we should off. Thank you for the dinner. And good luck finding your mine and necromancer." Serrill grabs his cloak and starts to walk out the door.
Faylin gets up from her seat and nods.
"Lets go, sister," Serrill commands.
Faylin notices how Serrill commands Luminista but doesn't say anything. "Thank you so much, Fay, you've been a great host. Hopefully we will see you again, and good luck," Luminitsa says, walking with Serrill as they leave.
"What a strange pair," Faylin thinks.
"And foul. I still smell Luminitsa," Aleena wrinkles her nose in disgust. "And I thought I would smell when didn't have access to a bath out in the wilds."
"I don't know why that girl doesn't bathe," Faylin says.
Lyrian sighs and is relaxing in his chair. "Well I don't like that guy at all, Fay," he explains.
Faylin frowns again, "yeah but he doesn't mean any trouble. And I guess I owe him a good meal."
Lyrian sighs, "you owe no one a thing Faylin, especially someone like Serrill."
"I was just trying to remember what Aleena first told me the first time I met her when I gave her that dragon toy."
"Thank you," Aleena smiles to her. She eats a piece of a strawberry.
"We should be leaving tomorrow. We need to be on the move," Faylin tells the two.
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The party gets out of the inn early. Morning dawn is just now starting in town. Aleena spots commotion near a fancy town house where some people are gathered. There's blood on the floor next to the mayor's office, a woman crying, and two men yelling at each other with guards investigating the scene.
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"What happened here?" Aleena asks a nearby townsperson, who's watching.
"The mayor was murdered," the bystander explains to Aleena. He wears a straw hat and holds a basket full of food.
"What?" She replies, covering her mouth with her hand in shock. She looks to the guards questioning a few towns people.
The guards are walking around. Lyrian watches the guards pick up the body in a bag. Faylin stands there shaking. He asks her as he notices her trembling, "are you alright, Fay?"
Faylin looks shocked at him and whispers, "It can't be. What if it's Serrill?"
"Could have been," Aleena responds. "We need to be on our way before we get caught up in all this."
"Where can he have gone off to?" Lyrian asks, as the three look to each other in the middle of the street, surrounded by other citizens and even some farmers. Lyrian asks another farmer nearby, "any sign of the killer?"
"They already got him," the man replies. "Turned out to be Mernum, our local chicken farmer. Poor Mernum though, the mayor pushed him too far. No one's exactly going to miss the mayor here."
"So it wasn't the other traveler here, the black haired one?" Faylin asks.
The villager laughs, "of course not. Serrill was long gone before then. People always misjudge traveling salesmen and gypsies like him all the time." He walks off, carrying his eggs to the tavern. Faylin sighs in relief.
"Thank goodness, it wasn't Serrill after all," she smiles.
"Regardless, it's not our business." Aleena walks over to a nearby stable and grabs a stick of celery. She holds it out to a horse as it sucks it in and chews, "we need horses, it'll be easier."
"You want to take horses?" Faylin questions. She raises a brow.
"Yeah, I'd hate to walk that many miles to the ruins," she answers and continues, "it'll save time too."
"Let's go get a couple," Lyrian suggests, and Faylin nods at him.
Aleena walks over with them. She looks to the other villagers walking and chatting along the streets.
They get to a farm where Aleena buys a beautiful white stallion, and Faylin buys a spotted brown horse and a black horse for Lyrian.
"I call the white one 'snowdrop', because of his beautiful hair," Aleena smiles to herself. She pets his mane.
Faylin and Lyrian don't care about naming so they just mount up. Lyrian struggles, trying to get on, "It's fine you two, just be on your way."
Faylin smiles and she mounts the horse like an expert and starts to trot.
Lyrian is having a hard time and falls off from the horse's back.
"Come on mage boy!" Faylin laughs.
"I'm coming! Hold on," Lyrian struggles getting back up.
Faylin giggles at Lyrian but she stays with him. Aleena rides to the distance, but she stops to wait.
"Faylin! Come on Lyrian," Aleena calls out. "Let's stay together. Just get up," she yells to him, and Lyrian eventually climbs the horse. "Okay! Let's get going," he smiles awkwardly at Faylin, rubbing the back of his head. Lyrian begins to ride and Aleena takes the lead of the group.
Faylin catches up. She looks around noticing the fresh smell and the sounds of frogs in the pond. It's a cool and cloudy day, perfect weather for a horseback ride. They travel through the rocky mountain filled with pine and brush.
Lyrian in the back, is admiring nature's beauty and the day. They pass an abandoned cart with wheels broken off. The three ride down the path of the forest road.
The dirt road leads into a rocky path.
Lyrian yawns and rides beside Aleena and they eventually come to a couple of ruins getting more dense as they continue on.
Aleena scans the area, "no sign of any wildlife or any dinosaurs anywhere."
"Aleena, we can handle whatever comes," Faylin assures Aleena.
"Faylin your imbecilic human mind has no clue once again," Aleena's face goes stern. She glares, "we're in the middle of nowhere where are enemies are no where to be found. Maybe there is a cult somewhere here but they have nothing to do with dinosaurs."
Aleena dismounts her horse with Lyrian. They walk closer and come to some stairs and columns.
"They're called the ruins of Jurnia, and meant to celebrate a long lost diety," he explains. Lyrian's hand moves over the walls. "There are hundreds of ruins all over but this particular one has many religious statues."
"Who's the most famous in this place?" Faylin asks.
"One is named Volantis. A female deity of nature. Worshipped by many of the druids. And over here is Crenus, a goddess of the sun and moon," Lyrian points out to the next statue.
"I wonder why this is left to ruin?" Faylin says as they approach the stairs.
"This site was only made for worship. It's an old site dating back when magic was more rampant, and the druids would worship here," Lyrian says, explaining more. He brushes his hands along the large columns. He reads, "This one says it was made by the people of the Vale, a town once here. This temple was made seven hundred years ago. Can you imagine how long they had this as an important site for?"
Aleena studies a nearby tree, "well here's some random insects, and a squirrel over there. Maybe some chicken tracks. No dinosaurs, anywhere." Aleena takes some mental notes, and then she steps closer to a column. "Strange," she whispers, rubbing her fingers along a pattern.
"What's that?" Faylin points to some footprints in the dirt.
"More tracks, human." she says. Aleena turns and walks down the forest path.
Faylin looks around at the broken down walls of what we're once buildings, then follows. "Well we got a long ride back, so let's make this worth our time. We'll interrogate someone who lives here. See what they know."
"Good idea," Lyrian agrees and follows down the rocky trail.
"Any other ideas?" Faylin says to the others.
"Yes. Maybe the tracks can give us an idea where to go. But also the ruins are the only thing here so it would make sense to look further," Aleena responds.
Faylin groans, "we've already checked the ruins and nothing is happening."
Lyrian sniffs a whiff of magic just around the area, the faint smell of ozone and electricity in the air that's unmistakable. He points, "there's someone." A man is boiling a potion in a small pot with fire underneath the black metal. His back is turned from the group, and he has a hood on with dark robes.
"Excuse me, sir," Lyrian says.
He doesn't reply, but just keeps brewing his potion. Magic swirls around his ingredients as they dump in.
"Excuse me?" Faylin says as they all approach. They are ready for a fight if it comes. She looks at him sternly and he turns to them, and gasps when he sees Lyrian.
"Who are you? You dare trespass in my land?" He stands dominant with a hand up, but is short. He is about a couple inches smaller than Lyrian.
"We just need to know if they're any dinosaurs in this area," Aleena asks. "Is there any place they would stay nearby?"
"I haven't heard or seen anything nor do I know what that is. Now begone!" he shouts and stands up to the party. His black hood is dark over his head and covers his eyes in shadow. He pulls a dagger out of his black robe. "This is your final warning, now leave."
Faylin clenches her hammer, and Lyrian his gauntlets into fists.
Lyrian pulls green energy from around him, and a light forms, a glowing, blinding him in his eyes as he shields them from view.
"There are dinosaurs plaguing these lands, tell us what you know!" Lyrian commands. He waves the glowing light. His face is stern and serious, not in his usual calm tone and expression. The earthen rock beneath the cultist starts to liquify under his feet, holding him in place.
The cultist struggles, "stop! You're trespassing. I know nothing of what you speak of! I just want my beautiful goddess to be proud of me." Tears start to form in his eyes.
Lyrian keeps him in place. Aleena swings her bladed bow to send his dagger flying out of his hand. She puts a hand over his heart and watches his body language. His breathing is deep, and starts to fasten. His pupils are small but slowly enlarge. His face is showing signs of fear. Eyes lock together, green to brown. She stares at him with fury, ready for intense interrogation. Beats of his heart are fast yet steady, and Aleena suddenly releases her breath with a sigh. She relaxes her anger and calms herself.
Aleena lets him go. "Lyrian release him. He's just a deranged hermit," Aleena says with a straight face. Lyrian sets the hermit man loose, the gravel beneath him hardens back into stone flooring.
"We were mislead, and badly. This was a complete waste of time," she implies Serrill's directions. Aleena's eyebrows slant over her green eyes and turns to the hermit who stands in fear but ready to fight, "sorry for the intrusion sir. You may go back to your worship and we will bother this land no longer."
The hermit groans, "this is your last chance to leave before I call upon the power of our lord Crenus." He clenches his fist.
"I do not believe you are capable to kill a flea, and for that we're sorry," she bows. Faylin gives a smile to Aleena.
They walk out to the horses and mount. Aleena sits up top her white horse and Faylin her spotted horse as Lyrian struggles to get his horse to cooperate.
"Kneiclappia's road leads to Tranmere, Serrill was probably headed there next, if we're lucky, we can still catch up to him for answers," Faylin suggests and the two nod and head off.
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Aleena and the deranged hermit
image [https://i.imgur.com/7xYexlz.png]