I park my car and stare out at nothing, using the insistent noise of the rain to drown out my thoughts and feelings. I stare out at the grassy field with rough teeth jutting out. I try to steer my eyes away from a portion of the graveyard but to no luck. I stand up and approach the graves of my parents. "Hey mom, dad. I miss you two." The slabs remain silent but still I continue, "I've had a rough two weeks, I ended up getting hit by a truck like you said would happen. But it's not like I could run without distraction not after... well you know. And after getting hit by that truck I got pushed into a magical land full of pain and misery. It's not the worst, I can still chug along. I saved Three people and not just in a metaphorical sense but pushed them out of danger. I know you would be proud of me dad. I just wish you were here to say it." I swallow a lump in my throat and blink back my tears. "I..I don't think I can visit you guys anymore, I am very out of the way now. Mom, I am sorry I lost our family photos. My phone broke and I don't think I can fix it. I am scared, scared of dying, of living in a world I don't know, but most of all I am scared of losing you two even more. Some days I feel like I can't picture you two in my mind." I bush out the dirt from my pants and the tears on my eyes. Behind me I hear a voice and I turn to see them, both of them. I stare at my late parents burning their faces in my mind, I know now I am dreaming. I approach my parents and give one last embrace, as their faces split revealing the fangs of a spider.
With a jolt I sit up and feel my familiar achs. I rub the tears from my eyes and take stock. I have a re-broken arm and some puncture wounds, but surprisingly I escaped in-tact. That is physically, I don't think I can look at spiders the same though. I take a deep breath, despite the sorrow it was a good dream, I think I needed to see them again. I guess we were saved, but I have no Idea where I am. I stand up, I am in a tiny room with one door and one bed taking up the entire opposite wall. I put on my shoes and wander. I appear to be underground as I see no windows and any light is artificial. Following the right wall I find a door, without following any decorum I open and enter. I see in front of me is a elderly lady pampering a bedridden sonja, changing bandages on her. I am distracted by the lack of magical markings, do they only appear when somebody is casting magic? No, that can't be right Hazlee had roses on his face before speaking to me. It must be a sign that they are either holding ready magic or actively using it. Just before she takes off Sonja's shirt I give a loud cough. The elderly lady's head snaps to me in an instant followed by a series of insistent clucks and pushes until I am forced to go to bed. Got it, one prescribed lazy morning.
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You would think someone that is that heavyset and with those wide shoulders would fight like a bruiser, but he fought like a thief. He rolled, dodged and used his head, he may be a dullard but he has passable fighting instincts. I almost feel bad cursing him out, and here I thought he was a coward but he pierced the illusion of the spiders. Still if he can be trained to use his frame and weight he could be a bit better. The doctor finishes sewing me up, a thankfully painless process, she then forces a liquid down my throat, it tastes like bad potatoes mixed with fresh manure but I cannot physically resist. The warmness of the medicine pushed out the numbness of the spider's venom leaving pain in my shoulders. I immediately get up ignoring the nurses protest and cooing, I need to move. If not across the thieves highway then to Boss. I need to be productive, always moving forward.
My report is finished and again I wait for the boss to process the information at his subdued pace. "Brilliant, I love it when a gamble goes right." He grins at me and throws a small pouch of coins at me. Opening I see six gold, a staggering amount for such a simple assignment. "I don't think your job with young Asher ends here though." Fleece gives a deliberate pause, watching me as I try to stop annoyance from bubbling onto my face. He continues, "They're certainly more spiders in the area, you are to take him and inspect the surrounding districts and eliminate any more nests. And to encourage you I am informed that they have a bounty on them." My eyes gleam at that prospect time to get productive.
With a great heave I kicked the door open, "Wake up you lazy pile of waste, time to get going." I am greeted by Asher giving me a quizzical look. I beckon him as one would a dog, eventually he gets the point and follows me. We collect two entry tokens and enter the common room, when Asher is roughly shoved and lets out what I can only describe as a yelp. "Oh there you are Sonja, I was looking for you. After you and your recrute got injured I was so worried, I even went to your recruits inn to retrieve his items to make him more comfortable." he states shoving a burlap sack at Ashers injured arm. Asher frowns and inspects the bag as Mordin continues his mocking, "It's such a shame that Fleece is sending you out on a suicide mission. If you got so injured with two it's-" Mordin's insult and nose is broken by a large fist. Asher stands over the unconscious body with fury in his eyes and an empty coin pouch in his hand. The rest of the guild is satisfyingly silent as Asher rifles through the pockets of the thieving rat.
Stolen story; please report.
It seems he was dissatisfied by the amount of gold he got back as he grumbled to himself all the way to our first stop. I peer around at the square, I can see why the kids would play here it is all but abandoned. During my inspection I see a shutter slam shut as my eyes slide in that direction. I grin. Good a lead.
With a thump I knock on the door, "Miss I am with the Church of Spitha, would you mind answering a few questions?" I wait as I hear shuffling around inside the building. "You won't get me. I saw what happened to the others, begone! I ain't no fool." I pinch the bridge of my nose of course I get the paranoid ones. "Listen you don't have to open the doors just tell me what you saw and I'll have the priesthood take care of the issue." I wait, my trained ears still hearing the slight shuffling of a person behind the door. Silence stretches between us, and I know the stubborn old man won't break. "Oh well that's a shame. Come Asher, let's report back to the church. This district may need to be purged if we can't find the nest." If I am right a stubborn old man like this couldn't stand losing his home to holy flames, nor could he tolerate the church's modest accommodations. As I walk away I hear the distinctive click of a deadbolt unlocking. Gotcha.
My interview is finished with the sharp clap of a door slamming and my notebook shutting. It seems that that old man was quite the gossip monger. He regaled me with stories of youths running away with their lovers, vampires taking people, kidnappers and press-gangers for the war. Still, I need to connect the information. I peer at Asher who's eyes have never stopped darting around since we entered this district. I think it's good for us both to get out of here. Now it's time for research.
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With a relieved sigh and a shudder I leave that district of the city, I can see the signs of magic there. Small white threads of magic surround the entire district. I guess I work for these guys now, as they paid me and retrieved my stuff. I assume that they are adventurers or mercenaries, the lack of coordination between members and us hunting down spiders are good evidence of such. I look at my swollen knuckles, that was the first punch I have thrown. I mean that's what he gets for stealing my money. Normally I would use my words to resolve any problems, I know Sonja would believe me, it seems she doesn't like that man. But alas again I don't know the damn language.
We arrive at a large building, I am awed by the elaborate presentation. It starts as a large brick building but quickly changes to an assortment of bleach white gears that culminate to a giant clock six floors up. I also see that each gear has the subtle glow of magic all leading to the clock. Looking at the clock I get a similar feeling as the hollow circle on Sonja's face, that is the feeling of immense depth and mind boggling complexity. I pry my eyes away before my head can throb and follow Sonja into the building.
Whatever institution made this wonderful work of art has my thanks. Spread across me is a veritable feast of knowledge. Books as far as the eye can see, and in between the floors is more of that pristine gearwork. Sonja seems to be fiddling with some census data as there is a map in front of her. I am assuming we are looking for more spiders, but I'll leave her to it no use accelerating my newfound arachnophobia. I wander the stacks, checking books hungrily seeking my prey, I will find it no matter what. After a few hours I found it! I inspect my prize, I open the book to see a bold letter accompanied by a picture. That's right no one can resist the might of toddler books. First I shall learn language, then magic and then the whole world is mine!
I turn to another page and my horror increases, I can learn how to read eventually but to speak I need someone to demonstrate the sounds. I glance at Sonja and imagine asking her to teach me, and then I remember her cussing out some poor barmaid when they got her order wrong. Suppressing a blush I focus on reading first and focus on any pictures I can recognize. I look at her again. It seems she made a copy of the map and has marked a random house, interesting. I reach for her map and she surprisingly lets me. If this map is accurate I could find the centerpoint of the attacks. I grab her fountain pen and make straight lines between six opposite sides of the reported attacks marking a house five blocks away from her marked location.
She receives the book back and looks at me incredulously, what can I say I am a savant. My feelings of triumph are interrupted when a bookish girl pulls the map away from Sonja for a second time. The most notable thing about her are the ink stains on her sleeves, some dried and some fresh. The second notable attribute about her is her adornment of brass tools; goggles, spanners, and measuring tools are just a small bit of what she keeps on her person. The final most notable thing about her is her face, it is framed by curly brown hair, and contains a multitude of freckles, her eyes are almost silver. She glances at the map then at Sonja's notebook. Out of thin air she produces a familiar looking device, a compass. She then marks a circle around three seemingly random houses and marks where they overlap. Hah, you fool! You cannot use circles in an enclosed environment as the walls will artificially distort the spider's activity. Confident in my internal assertions we head out back to the spider's den