Cojisto and I didn’t have to travel far to find the entrance. The settlement wasn’t very large. It only had one way in and out from a forked dirt road, one heading north and the other heading east. The door was made up of several tree trunks lashed together, and I found myself wondering who they hired to attach it to the palisade. That was bound to be incredibly heavy.

Standing at the gate was a spear-wielding Human in leather armor that appeared to be of shoddy make. The weapon didn’t seem all that great, either. Rust was starting to take the spearhead and the wooden shaft was beginning to warp.

Regardless of the poor state of his equipment, he heard us trudging along beside the palisade and peeked out of the open gate. Once he saw us, he approached, taking on a nervous gait. As he got closer, I saw that his aura was green.

“Good afternoon, travelers,” he greeted. It was a young man, and his voice still cracked from youth. “Are you, by chance, the adventurers that we sent for?”

I looked down at my clothes and distinct lack of weapons or other gear, but my hesitation cost me the chance to answer.

“I was not sent for, but I fancy myself the world’s greatest adventurer,” Cojisto responded. “So if an adventurer is what you’re in need of, then you are in luck.”

The young man’s face lit up. “Really?” he asked, sounding hopeful as he stood up straighter. “Then we need to get you in front of Mr. Carr right away, we have a lot of troubles that need a stronger hand than what we’ve got.”

“Before that,” I interjected, looking the man over. “You seem really young, are you a part of a union? Have you had any contact with the dungeon owner recently?”

“Union?” he asked, confused. “The miner’s coalition is in charge of this venture, but I don’t think that counts as a union. I’m not sure about any dungeon owner, either. I mean, there’s Mr. Carr, but he’s just the boss, you know?”

His words confused me as much as mine did him, but I didn’t think he was lying to me. “What’s your name, kid?” I asked.

“Jesuf, sir,” he said.

“I’m Dungeon Inspector Badger, and this is Cojisto,” I said, introducing us. “This dungeon was recently taken over by The Dungeon Master, and we’re here to do some damage control. How long have you been here?”

“Uh, I’d say about… maybe half a year?” Jesuf said as if he weren’t sure, scratching his untrimmed chin. “I came here with my father, on account of him being a miner, but the only dungeon we knew of was the silver mine and I haven’t heard of any Dungeon Master coming out of it.”

I frowned, and turned to Cojisto. He looked back, and then shrugged. “Where do you come from, Jesuf?” I asked. This wasn’t adding up.

“Antrinarc, sir,” Jesuf answered, still confused. He started slouching again as his nervousness returned.

I frowned. Antrinarc was the name of the capital city of the Witchlands, the place where the Winter Witch Scelara started the Thousand Year Blizzard. It was a name few cared to learn since it wasn’t handy for anything other than debating the history of the storm. This Dungeon Master was thorough, I’ll give him that.

But the story wasn’t adding up, and I still didn’t think Jesuf was being duplicitous. His whole body was basically screaming that he didn’t want to get in trouble by incorrectly answering the strange questions the strange traveler was throwing his way. I looked back at Cojisto, but he shook his head.

“I don’t know why you keep looking at me,” he said. “I have no idea what’s going on.”

Sighing, I shook my head. “Did another traveler come through here? An Elven woman with blonde hair named Ferrisdae?” I asked. “Or a… particularly large moose?”

“Moose is only a little taller than average, just a few inches,” Cojisto corrected. I tried to ignore him.

Perhaps it was finally because I stopped speaking what he would consider nonsense, but Jesuf perked up. “Yeah!” he almost shouted. “A really pretty Elven lady came in with a moose not too long ago, maybe about a half hour or so. It was strange, but she assured me that the moose was harmless, and it followed her around. Never seen an Elf like that before, the ones around these parts all have pale skin and white hair.”

“Lucky her, getting the one that can’t talk,” I mumbled.

“Moose!” Cojisto said jovially. “That is my best friend! Do you know where they went?”

“A… moose is your best friend?” Jesuf asked slowly. “And his name is Moose?”

“Yes on both counts,” Cojisto confirmed, grinning.

“Do you know where they went, Jesuf?” I asked before this could devolve into a conversation I could definitely do without.

“Oh, right. Sorry, sir,” Jesuf apologized. “There’s a building that functions as a mess hall near the center of the camp with stables attached, so that’s likely where you’ll find them.”

“Okay, thank you,” I said. I addressed Cojisto next. “Alright, let’s regroup with Ferrisdae and Moose, then we can start asking around about the dungeon.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cojisto said. “But shouldn’t we ask Jesuf about the giant chicken?”

“I’d rather us be together first,” I answered. “And once again it is highly unlikely that it’s a giant chicken.”

“No, no he’s right,” Jesuf said. “Never seen anything like it. Just seems to conjure itself out of thin air once every week, but it’s definitely a giant rooster.”

I stared at Jesuf so intensely that he actually took a step back. The excitement coming off of Cojisto was palpable, and I didn’t even need to look at him to feel it. “Get information if you want, Cojisto, I’m going to go find Ferrisdae,” I snapped. Without waiting for a response, I walked around Jesuf and entered the settlement.

Jesuf really hadn’t been kidding when he called this place a camp. Tents lined up around the circular palisade in neat rows, each big enough to hold at least twenty men. Only four wooden buildings stood in the middle of the camp, one of which had a roofed stable attached. It almost reminded me of Thatcher, though there was no church here and most of the buildings were replaced by tents.

As I walked towards the mess hall, I noted that Cojisto had decided to stay. That giant chicken story was going to really rile him up. He was going to insist that we try to fight it, Moose would go along with it because of course he would, and Ferrisdae would insist that they shouldn’t have to fight it alone. That’s how I was going to get dragged into it, I knew. I could always say no, but if something happened to my junior on my watch then it would be my head.

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

The sound of a hammer striking metal came from the building closest to the entrance. As I peered in, I saw a large Orc man making what looked to be a pickax. Our eyes caught, and he gave me a congenial nod as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a muscular arm. I returned it, but kept moving.

The next building looked to be some kind of equipment storage with plenty of racks for, what I assumed by context, mining equipment. It was quite large, but that made sense. There were easily enough large tents to fit more than a hundred men. This was a big operation out here in the middle of nowhere.

I didn’t bother looking too closely at the last building as I had arrived at the stables. I peered over the fence that kept the animals in and saw Moose chewing on a head of lettuce. Just like Cojisto, he was outlined with a blue aura. He paused to regard me, spitting out his food.

“You, uh… you okay in here, Moose?” I asked, feeling really silly for asking an animal if they were alright. There was no reason for that, I knew; it was confirmed that Moose was, in fact, a magical moose, but the mind was harder to change.

Moose stomped his hoof once and croaked. I didn’t even know that was a sound they could make.

“Okay, so I was right about not getting some kind of moose translation power,” I muttered. “Hey, so, apparently you met Himia? And could… communicate with Himia? She said that you had a magical affinity for holy energy…”

My voice trailed off. I couldn’t do it. “Why am I asking an animal for healing magic?” I asked myself. “This whole situation is throwing me off, I need to get a hold of-”

A vibrant golden glow engulfed my body as Moose croaked again. I wasn’t prepared for the magical healing and I tensed, but the golden light seeped into my skin to send a comfortable warmth through my body. It was, without a doubt, some kind of divine magic.

Divine healing almost always felt like someone was comforting you, depending on the god or goddess that the caster worshiped. It wasn’t universal, but it was a good rule of thumb since most healers would worship those that considered healing a worthy goal.

Arcane and alchemical healing was completely different, however. On both counts, being healed felt like your wounds were being stitched back together at an accelerated pace. It was a fast, albeit unpleasant, experience.

“You really are a magic moose,” I said, flabbergasted. It wasn’t often that I was speechless, but at this moment I didn’t really know what to say. I was talking to a moose. “Um, thank you, Moose. I really appreciate you helping me when I, I’ll admit, never believed Cojisto about you.”

Moose snorted, and shook his head.

“Uh, right,” I responded. “Do you think that, after you’re done with your meal, you could get Cojisto? He’s talking to Jesuf, the gate guard, about the possibility of fighting a three story tall chicken. You probably know how he is better than I do…”

Moose stamped his foot once and nodded. He resumed eating his lettuce.

“Excellent, good talk, I think…”

The conversation left me confused and feeling really silly. I was having a really hard time wrapping my head around it. I asked a moose for healing, and he healed me. The facts were all there but they conflicted with my past experiences.

I entered the mess hall as I gathered my thoughts. Inside, it was mostly bare, which made sense if they had only been here for a few months. The only thing hanging up was a dart board on the far side, which had just as many holes in the wall as there were on the board. The tables and chairs were almost all different shapes and sizes, made quickly rather than uniformly.

There were only three people in the mess hall. A Dwarven man popped his head over the bar as I closed the door behind me. Our eyes met briefly before he nodded towards the other two sitting in the room, then he ducked back down behind the bar. I could hear the sound of glass being shifted. He was probably keeping busy since there were people present.

Sitting at a table was Ferrisdae and another man. I approached, knocking on a table as I passed it. They both looked my way, and the man frowned while Ferrisdae’s face lit up. She also wore the same outfit that Cojisto and I were forced into.

“Badger! You made it!” she exclaimed, almost jumping out of her chair. Coughing politely into her hand, she pushed her hair out of her face as she slowly stood up instead. It seemed that she had not been given a hair tie. “I found Moose, but we arrived here before we could find you or Cojisto.”

I pulled out a chair for myself and took a seat. “Cojisto’s at the gate talking to Jesuf about the appearance of a thirty foot tall chicken,” I explained. “But I’m glad you’re safe.”

Even though my words were directed to Ferrisdae, the man she was with kept my attention. The first thing I noticed was that his aura was orange, just like the moose’s was before it charged. That immediately put me on guard.

Other than his aura, he was a rather plain middle-aged Human wearing dark rimmed spectacles and a crumpled gray suit. There was some heft to him, especially around the middle, and despite his age his face still carried its baby fat. The handkerchief in his pocket was stained with sweat, and I had the distinct impression that he wouldn’t be this far from civilization if he could help it.

“This is Mr. Carr,” Ferrisdae offered. “He’s the man in charge of running the mining operation. Mr. Carr, this is Dungeon Inspector Badger, my boss.”

“An honor to meet you, my dear man,” Carr said. “The name’s Keith Carr. Ferrisdae has told me a little about you.”

“Hopefully not too much,” I said.

“All good things, I assure you,” he responded with a smile.

“What was that about a really tall chicken?” Ferrisdae asked.

“Yes, that would be a great topic of conversation, Mr. Carr,” I said. The man’s aura remained orange, and every so often his gaze would linger on Ferrisdae. It was unbecoming of a man in a position of authority, but not uncommon. I was pretty sure I knew why he was feeling unfriendly towards me.

“There’s not much to say,” Carr said. “Every seven days, a big, thirty foot tall chicken attacks our wall in the evening. Always at the same spot, and it appears and disappears out of thin air. It’s the damnedest thing, but none of my men are equipped to handle such a beast. We honestly don’t have any clue what to do about it, but the wall has held beautifully so far.”

“And you don’t find it at all alarming?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, of course it’s alarming,” Carr scoffed. “But what am I supposed to do about it? I’m too busy dealing with the mine and the dangers that lie within. The chicken, at least, has proven harmless to everything but the walls. One fire at a time, I say.”

“Before you came, we were talking about the mine,” Ferrisdae said. “They’re out here in the middle of nowhere because of a recently discovered silver mine that Mr. Carr acquired the rights to.”

“Quite right,” Carr confirmed. “Once Junior Dungeon Inspector Ferrisdae introduced herself as such, I told her about the dungeon the mine had been turned into right away. It was low level, barely an inconvenience, really, and we managed to muddle our way through with what few weapons we had.”

I sincerely doubted that the “we” he used actually included him, but I noticed with distaste as he puffed out his chest as if it did. I tried not to let it show.

“We’ve had different shifts going throughout the day and night,” he continued. “So as to not allow the monsters to resurrect, you know.”

“Yes, I am aware how dungeons work,” I said, my tone causing the man to frown. “Who was the dungeon owner?”

“He was one of those bird people. Oh, what were they called…?” Carr asked himself, trailing off.

“Avians,” Ferrisdae reminded him.

“Yes, Avians!” Carr said with a snap of his fingers. “And that was a fight and a half, let me tell you.”

I looked at Ferrisdae. “That sounds like it might be where we’ll need to head next,” I said.

Ferrisdae nodded. “You’re right, but there is one more piece of information you should hear. Mr. Carr?”

“You would not believe what this Avian fellow was guarding,” Carr said, sounding excited. “Why, I had never seen anything like it. I have my men bringing it here today now that we’ve finally worked it out of the tunnel.”

“What was it?” I asked, wanting him to get to the point.

“A towering crystalline pillar,” Carr said, practically bursting. “We’re going to have it stand in the center of town. An obelisk standing tall in the face of adversity, all for the glory of the Carr Mining Corporation.” the man sighed happily. “Oh, truly this will be a wonderful day.”