Bella looked like she was about to squee in delight, so Kassandra slapped her hand over the girl’s mouth before anything came out. Bella looked over in surprise for a moment, then took a deep breath before nodding, at which point Kassandra removed her hand.
“Do you have any pending business in town before we leave? Or do you need help packing?” Kassandra asked calmly.
I shook my head, “It’ll just take me a few minutes. I’ll also need to inform Myra that I’m leaving.”
She nodded, “We’re not in a huge rush, and we interrupted your breakfast. I apologize for that. We’ll head over to the gate and arrange for passage, you can find us there once you’re done.” Kassandra gently pushed her chair back and left the table, half dragging Bella behind her. The pale woman looked a little reluctant, but followed.
I watched the odd pair leave, then cut a slice of pancake and popped it into my mouth. I chewed slowly, thinking about the strange encounter. Unfortunately, between the meeting and my slow eating, I gave George enough time to finish his breakfast. The massive spider put his two front legs on the table in order to pull himself up and inspect my plate. With a sigh I took one of the sausages off my plate and offered it to him so he’d leave me alone long enough to finish. That was the disadvantage of having such a powerful tame, you had to make sacrifices to keep them happy.
Once I finished my breakfast I returned my plates to the bar and informed Myra that I was leaving, at least for a while. “Investigating a job at a dungeon? You’ve been so resistant to joining a dungeon up to this point,” she said, slightly confused.
“I’m not really super enthusiastic about it, but it IS a good opportunity, and it’s more than just sitting in one spot day after day as a dungeon defender,” I replied.
I must have looked a little disappointed, because she patted the back of my hand. “Don’t worry about it, if things don’t work out I’ll save a room for you. Just let me know.”
“Thank you Myra,” I replied, before heading down stairs. I didn’t have much, it was mostly my sheets and adventuring gear. I quickly shoved most of it into my backpack, and the remainder into George’s travel bags. The big spider grumbled as I strapped his bags on, but in the end he cooperated. It wasn’t like the weight was significant, he could drag ten times that weight without issue, he just liked to complain.
The two of us climbed up, through the inn, and into the street beyond. It was quiet now, most of the greenskin races were either sleeping, or at work, so it was just a spattering of humans, dwarves and halflings. I adjusted my backpack before making my way down the main street, towards the edge of town. Travel gates were expensive to use, but extremely convenient for people traveling long distances, or with money to burn. They could only move a limited amount of mass, and you needed to arrange a set time to connect to the destination point, but being able to travel anywhere in the world? Almost priceless.
I jogged up to the portal square and looked around. The massive onyx stone structure towered over one side, connecting to other locations for only a minute or two at a time, then shutting off to wait for another connection. Kassandra and Bella must have already finished arranging the trip, because they were sitting on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the square. For some reason Kassandra was leaning way back, her head completely immersed in the flowing water spray. “Welcome Talia!” Kassandra said, as she raised her head, water spraying everywhere. “You’ve arrived at just the right time, we’re scheduled to leave in just five more minutes.” Kassandra wasn’t exactly dour before, but she certainly seemed more energetic now. “Come, sit,” she said, patting the edge of the fountain next to her.
I eyed her suspiciously, but still sat next to her. “Sorry, I’ve been out of the water so long I just felt the need to soak my hair.” She smiled at my somewhat confused stare, then bent in close. “I’m a naga, since you apparently haven’t realized that.” She rolled up one of her sleeves, revealing some pinky-blue scales on her forearm. “I have an advanced racial transformation power just like you. And Bella over here is a Banshee.” The girl leaned forward so I could see her, then nodded. “Unfortunately she can get a little excited sometimes, and accidents happen, like what happened back at the inn, so someone needs to travel with her. Fortunately there’s magic back at the dungeon to help her manage her voice.”
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“Why are you traveling incognito?” I asked.
“Probably the same reason you do dungeon runs transformed,” Kassandra replied casually, dipping one hand into the fountain. “Humans pretend to be tolerant of all other races, but there’s still a lot of tension. It’s just easier to travel in a humanoid form and avoid all the possible conflicts.”
As we were talking, a small crystal slab, which was sitting on Kassandra’s lap, started to blink with an inner light. She snatched it up with a grin and jumped to her feet. “We’re up soon, better get ready!”
While Kassandra ran ahead to talk to the portal operators, Bella and I followed at a more sedate pace. “I hope you like the Manor, it’s very different from other dungeons, and Lanivia is a good boss,” the woman said, making small talk. “It’s not even that far from the Southern gate location, so it won’t take us long to get there.”
I nodded non-committedly. The truth was, I didn’t know much about the professional-level dungeons. I’d experienced a couple, but really stopped paying attention to them once I started working as an adventurer, the layout of the amateur dungeons was more important to me.
Kassandra waved at us as we approached, “We’re next. I should have asked, but your spider isn’t going to be a problem, is he? I know some animals don’t like the gates.”
I glanced back at the big spider, who was casually rolling a rock he found back and forth with his front legs, and scoffed. “I’ve never seen George get worked up about anything, except food. Last time we took a gate he just strolled through like it was nothing.”
As I said this, the previously empty aperture glowed with a light purple color, and then flared to life. The air in the centre rippled, then the inner aperture glowed with a blue light, then changed to show the streets of a distant city. It took a few seconds to stabilize, but once it did the operator waved us through.
It only took a moment to step straight from Kavina, the town that had been my home for the last few months, into Adrence, the capital. It was quite a difference. The streets were wider, and a fair bit cleaner, and there was a higher variety of races walking the street. No one looked our way when we arrived, which I expected, there were hundreds of connections a day to different places all over the world. What I didn’t expect was for Kassandra to walk right up to a waiting carriage, and pull open the door. “The Manor isn’t that far, but Lanivia wanted to make a good first impression. Don’t worry, it’s not far.”
I nodded, then shucked my backpack, storing it in the chest at the rear of the vehicle. I repeated this process for George, who shook the pack loose as soon as he could. The carriage was small, too small for three people and a giant spider, so I simply pointed at the roof. “George, up.” The big spider looked at me blankly, but I knew he understood. “If you don’t want to get up, that's fine. If you’re not riding you’ll have to run all the way to our destination. I did think you needed some more exercise, so if that’s your choice…” I didn’t get a chance to finish, as George clambered up and sat in the luggage rack above the cab. “That’s what I thought,” I murmured, before climbing into the back.
The carriage quickly made its way down the streets, approaching the edge of town. As the large townhouses made way for adventuring supply stores and inns Kassandra tapped me on the shoulder. “We should be arriving any moment now. If you look out the left side you should just get your first look of the place now.”
I glanced out the window, half expecting a wooden arch marking the entrance to an underground cavern, like most of the dungeons I’d been to in the last few months. The Wailing Manor was something else entirely.
There was a high, wrought iron fence surrounding a deep spooky forest, and in the distance was a house so massive that it would rival many palaces. Even though I could tell it was opulently decorated, it was dark and moody. It gave off bad vibes, and part of me didn’t want to approach.
Kassandra didn’t seem to mind, she actually seemed quite proud of the place. She smiled as the carriage turned down an access road towards the estate. “Welcome to The Wailing Manor!”