Chaele adjusted her pack and turned toward the village gates. “Ready, Kodish?”

When he didn’t respond, she frowned and looked over at him. He was staring vaguely into the distance, not moving. She said his name twice, then snapped her fingers in front of his face. Nothing.

“Huh.” Chaele debated kicking him but didn’t. The brat’s mother had given him a pair of pants covered chains, and he’d immediately donned them. It would hurt her foot more than his leg to connect with those stupid links.

Since Kodish was still staring blankly at some random piece of ground, she got her latest missive out and read through it again. The leader of the village was kicking them out. Oh sure, he’d dressed it up as there was nothing left for them to do here, but she was pretty sure they’d been doing nothing most of their lives. Never had a problem with it before. Now the guy was just about paying them to get gone.

“Kodish?” Chaele asked again.

Nothing.

She shoved the notes back into her pocket and tried to think of what to do. She jumped up and down a couple of times, but that lost its novelty quickly.

Then she heard a whisper, “Pssst, over here!”

Chaele looked around for the source. A short, bald dude was gesturing for her to come closer. As she approached, she tried to decide if he was a dwarf or a gnome. She never could remember the difference.

“What’s up?” Chaele asked when she reached him.

“Not so loud!” he told her, making dramatic hushing motions. “I wanted to speak with you. Will you walk with me?”

“Do you pay?” Chaele asked, trying to decide if this was a surprise job she’d stumbled on. She didn’t remember reading about it, though.

He tilted his head. “The kingdom bleeds, Chaele, and you ask a poor man for a copper?”

“How do you know my name?” she asked, following when he went around the corner.

He walked faster, and she had to jog to keep up. “Hey, I’m talking to you.”

“Yes, I know. Ah, here we are…” he paused before a small home with a grass roof, white fence, and a patch of yard with some sprouting beans. “Come along now.”

Chaele stepped with him through the gate. He led her over to the sprouts and sighed in relief. “Much better. We can talk freely here.”

“We couldn’t talk freely out there?” Chaele raised both eyebrows.

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“Out there is hardly a garden,” he told her. “Plenty of little birds, certainly, but not a single carrot to hide our conversation.”

She studied him a moment. Dwarf, she decided. A bald dwarf preparing her for one of the secret missions she’d heard rumors of before — they were scarce and took a lot of time and creativity to figure out. She felt excitement course through her and clasped her hands together. “Okay then! What’s going on?”

“Chaele, Chaele,” he tutted. “You desert folk are always the same, so impatient!”

She put her arms to her side. “I’m cool. I’m cool.”

“Good, now you listen close,” the man said, almost a whisper. “Winter is approaching.”

“What? It’s never been below a hundred degrees out here!”

He patted her on the shoulder. “You see, the undead from the northern continent are making their way to the mainlands, threatening our very way of life.”

Chaele’s eyes widened. “That’s terrible!”

“I lost a special memento somewhere in this garden,” the dwarf continued. “Some say it’s haunted. It’s a very rare relic from the last time the undead attacked. It’s very, very valuable. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of gold pieces — but even more important than gold, it’s prestigious. You see, there were many celebrations in the before times. When they attacked, they left behind necklaces with magic powers. Secret magic powers. I’ve seen it firsthand. If you wear such necklace, a spirit will follow you! Only then will you—”

“So, you want me to find it?” Chaele asked, tapping her fingers on her leg.

He nodded, then pointed at a shovel leaning against the garden’s fence. “It’s somewhere in this garden. Take that shovel and start digging! Careful not to break it, now!”

“And I don’t get anything for it?”

“I’ve — uh — I’ve got some fresh bread and mineral water?”

Chaele sighed. “Fine, I’ll take it.”

“You can have it. If you find it.”

“The memento?”

The dwarf laughed. “The bread and water! You have to hand me the memento, and I’ll hand you your supplies. Surely an adventurer such as yourself would know the protocol.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why can’t you look for it yourself?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” he said, heading toward the gate. “I can’t be here, in the garden, looking for the necklace. I have to be on the road; that’s my place. Your place is here, in the garden.”

She went to the fence to grab the shovel. “Whatever.”

When Chaele turned around, Kodish was standing there, towering over her. “Hey.”

“Ahh!” she said, dropping the shovel. “Don’t scare me like that. Why weren’t you talking earlier?”

He shrugged.

“You were completely zoned out. Couldn’t get your attention at all.”

“Dunno,” he said. “Just kinda lost track of time. One second I was standing there, then all of a sudden, I was sitting on the ground.”

“Weird,” Chaele said, bending down to pick up the shovel. “Well, I’ve got a secret mission to find a spooky memento. It’s haunted.”

He pointed at the dwarf idly standing on the other side of the gate, talking to a group of adventurers. “Did that dude over there tell you to find it?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“He’s been trolling people all day! They say he’s a well-rounded hero, got tons of experience out there in the rest of the world, now he’s just bored.”

Chaele threw the shovel down. “Who told you that?”

Kodish pointed at a group of orcs, gnomes, and the lone pirate laughing with the bald dwarf. “Those guys. They said he’s been getting poor schmucks to dig up some poor farmer’s garden all day.”

“That jerk,” Chaele kicked at the ground, missed, and got Kodish’s leg. She yelped in pain.

The watching adventurers howled with laughter. Chaele raised her voice and called, “%@#$*&#!”

That shut them up. She stomped away, and as she and Kodak left the safety of the village, she caught a glimpse of a small, blue blob scampering into the bushes.

“Nah,” she muttered, deciding it was nothing but her imagination. “Stupid walkers were at least two world threats ago.”