The air of The Honeyed Dagger’s interior was warm on Mona’s face as she opened the door into the Tavern, the smell of sweet mead and honey-based foods enveloping her. Closing the door behind her, she could feel the chill from the street quickly leave her body. Despite the dense crowd of people drinking, eating, and talking usually making her tense, the warm and comforting surroundings of the business itself took off a bit of her nervous edge.

After only a few moments of weaving around the patrons, a hand rested on her shoulder. Mona turned to see Ash, the tall Rabbitfolk man’s grey eyes aglow with excitement. He was wearing his usual bard getup, except his royal purple and black vest was unbuttoned and his ruffly white shirt seemed a bit mussed. A blush was splayed across his pale cheeks and the smell of his breath told Mo that he had already started drinking.

“Mo-Mo! You’re just in time to meet our new friend!” he announced in a singsong voice, wrapping an arm around Mona while his other hand covered her eyes, guiding her blindly through the crowd toward a booth in the corner of the establishment. The Catfolk woman could feel herself tensing up again, her ears angling down as her former confidence began to wane. How typical of Ash to make a show of their introduction.

Soon, Ash’s steps stopped, causing Mo to stop in her place as well. The man’s hand then flew away from Mona’s face in a flourish, revealing the Elven woman sitting in the booth. She sat with her legs crossed, one gold-toed boot gently tapping along with the tempo of the music played by another bard near the bar itself. Her head lifted from where she had been resting it on her hand, her fluffy orange curls bouncing with the motion. Ash gave a big grin, shaking his hands in front of him in a showy manner. “Ta-da!~”

Mona hesitated, eyes glancing between Ash and the Elven woman seated in front of them, brows knit with anxiety. “Um… Hello,” she mumbled, taking a seat in the booth across from her. Ash promptly sat beside her, effectively trapping Mo in the corner against the wall. She couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder toward the exit, an instinctive worry holding her. She pushed herself past it, however, and turned to look back to her new acquaintance as she began to speak.

“Why hello to you, too!” The Elven woman beamed. Her brown eyes never left Mona’s, the confident eye contact making the feline woman feel a bit small. She soon stood, revealing her tall stature, and gave a small bow toward Mo, her left hand crossing over her chest in a lax manner. “My name is Eurwen Heliodora, it is a pleasure.”

Mo couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Eurwen’s outfit once she stood. She was wearing leather armor in a warm brown color over the white shirt of a nobleman, along with a golden metal pauldron on her left shoulder. Her right shoulder held a dark brown leather pauldron with a golden emblem depicting a sun embroidered into the corner. Hanging from that was a white cape that seemed to conceal the right side of her body. Mona’s eyes lingered on it for a moment, unable to help but wonder why she would choose to wear a cloak that only covered one side of her.

Ash beside her gave a nod, grinning at Eurwen. “That’s right! And Miss Yur-wen here has some things she’d like to discuss with you!”

Eurwen’s smile turned a bit more sheepish as she sat back down, a slight blush rising to her freckled cheeks. “Actually, it’s pronounced Air-wen, but I understand some Elven names are a bit strange to others.” Her gaze then turned to Mona once more, an expectant look about her.

Mona looked between the two for a moment before she realized what was expected of her, quickly standing and giving her own slight bow. “M-My name is Mona Lunata Haze.” her words were fast and, when she sat back down, she found it hard to look the other woman in the eye again. “But please call me Mo.”

To Mo’s surprise, Eurwen’s smile somehow widened even more. “Fantastic! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mo! Now then, as to why Ash has asked you to meet me…” the Elven woman folded her hands together, resting them on her knee. Her expression became more serious, but that smile still seemed to stick to her lips. Mo couldn’t help but wonder if she was even able to frown at all.

“There’s a rather old burial tomb about a day and a half’s travel into the woods from here. It has ties to my bloodline, and I was hoping to enter and pay my respects, but I couldn’t even get through the front door.” Eurwen then motioned a hand toward the feline woman across the table from her. “That’s what I’ll be needing you for. Ash has told me you know your way around the best locks on the market, not to mention experience with travel, scouting, and so on.”

Mona’s eyes narrowed at her in slight suspicion. “So you need me to walk far into the woods with you, alone, unlock a door, and that’s it?”

“Not quite. I’m unsure of what else lies inside. The lock is rather tight and I’ve no experience with tombs or the like.”

“I thought you said the place was tied to your family. You don’t know who or what’s inside?”

“Not at all!”

Mona paused, glancing now to Ash, who was busy gulping down mead from a new flagon he’d ordered, another one resting untouched between them, likely for her. She took the mead, her hands wrapping around it as she looked back to Eurwen. “Just what exactly are you looking for, then?”

Eurwen’s eyes relaxed and she shrugged. “That’s something I’ll be paying you not to know,” she responded, reaching under her cloak and producing a bag that landed with a heavy thud on the table, rustling with the sound of coin.

Mo had the flagon raised to her lips but froze entirely at the sound of the coin hitting the table. Her ears were perked up now, and a conflict was immediately apparent within her. Something about the job rubbed her the wrong way, but that coin could help her in the long run. A beat passed, and then another before Mona finally blinked, breaking her stare at the bag and sipping at her mead. Eurwen continued to make her case, apparently set on convincing her to take the job.

“I will be paying for any equipment you’ll need before the start of the trip, and I will personally make sure that you are comfortable whilst in my company. I simply require your services as a thief to find what I’ve been searching for.”

Mona sputtered at this, choking on her mead before she took in a steadying breath, her eyes snapping up to Eurwen. “Keep your voice down, saying things like that!” she hissed out in a whisper. She glanced around to be sure that no one else had heard this newcomer address her as a thief. Only then did she notice that Ash was no longer sitting beside her, but instead playing his lute beside the other bard in the corner, drunkenly singing along to a drinking ballad with the crowd.

Eurwen raised an eyebrow at Mona’s reaction, her smile beginning to lessen. “Like what?” she began, albeit now in a quieter tone of voice. Her confused look quickly shifted to a teasing one. “Is it that strange for me to say I’d take care of your needs on the journey?”

Mo’s eyes widened and a blush quickly rose to her scarred cheeks, stuttering as she tried to find the words to respond to her. She was all too aware of how that sort of phrasing might sound with Eurwen’s jeering, almost flirtatious tone of voice. She quickly waved her hands in front of her. “N-No! No, no, don’t phrase things that way either, but don’t go around calling me a thief!” she hissed out the last word, eyes darting anxiously around the tavern. “I don’t go around stealing or pickpocketing folks! That’s not something I do, I just… Know how to get in and out of places.”

Eurwen flashed a mischievous grin, not seeming to believe her. “What would you need that sort of skill for if you’re not a thief?”

Mona met the Elf’s eyes for a moment before her own expression hardened, her gaze moving to her cup, staring down at her reflection on the surface of the mead. She noticed for a moment how tense she looked, her brows knit with a nervous, annoyed crease, and her feline ears pressed back defensively. “Well, dungeons don’t exactly have welcome mats and baked goods waiting for those who decide to come around. You need skills like that to get in and out of those damned places alive.”

There was a moment of silence between them, but Mo couldn’t bring herself to look up at the other to see her reaction, whether or not that smile was still plastered onto her face. Mo almost thought the conversation had come to a close before Eurwen finally replied. “Well, in all honesty, that makes you even more qualified for the tasks at hand. You’ll have a lot more knowledge about the possible state of the place than I would, and you’ll probably have a good idea of what to expect.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Another moment of dead air lingered between them and Mo’s hands tightened around her flagon. Was she really suspicious about the woman sitting across from her and her ‘job’, or was she simply fearful of doing another delve? It had been two years since she’d sworn off adventuring altogether. Two years since her face had been scarred and she’d been left alone. The payout, however, was almost too tempting to refuse. She might be able to better her situation with that much coin, or at the very least become significantly closer to doing so.

“How about this?” Eurwen offered. “I’ll get enough camping gear and rations for two and then come back here in the morning after sunrise. If you don’t come around to join me within an hour, I’ll head off to the next town and attempt to look for someone else with a similar skill set.”

Mo looked up at this, surprised at the woman’s softer tone. When she looked at her again, she realized that Eurwen was no longer smiling, looking away toward the crowd with a crease to her brow and a blush on her cheeks. She seemed embarrassed, perhaps worried she’d caused offense.

Mona quickly looked back down at her drink, taking another gulp of it before giving a definitive nod. “Fine… Then I could give this a bit more thought,” she muttered, quietly bringing the flagon to her lips once more.

It was then that Eurwen stood, giving another one of her formal bows before taking back the coin she had set on the table and exiting the booth. “I’ll leave you to your drink then. I do hope you have a good rest of your night, and… That you take me up on the offer.”

Mo looked up to watch her leave, the tall Elven woman weaving through the crowd of patrons to the stairs and up to the rooms. A small pang of guilt landed in her stomach. The other’s sudden lack of a smile felt wrong. Clearly, this was important to her, but Mona’s unease caused her to become indecisive.

She sat at the booth on her own for a few minutes longer, her fingers tapping nervously at her drink as she continued to take the occasional long sip. Eventually, she tipped it back for another gulp only to find it empty. Mo gave a long sigh and placed it back on the counter before standing up and slipping past a few lingering customers and heading back out into the night.

The walk back toward Gristle’s shop felt longer than usual. Mona’s feet almost seemed to drag as she made her way down the dimly lit stone streets. She couldn’t seem to lift her eyes from the ground, her brows still stuck with that same nervous crease. Just what was she to expect on this trip? Would it be worth the coin if there ended up being a greater danger than she could handle?

She stopped once she reached the Butcher’s shop, hardly glancing at the place before heading to the fence at the side of the building. Digging a key out of her pocket, she unlocked the gate, stepped inside, and locked it back up behind her again.

In front of her stood the shack, an old wooden shed that had fallen into disuse before Gristle had offered it to her. It stood in the corner of the small yard, gently creaking in the wind. There were some newer pieces of wood nailed into parts of the roof and the walls, covering holes where rotted wood had fallen out of place. With a sigh, Mo unlocked the front door and headed inside.

In the dark interior of the shed, Mona’s feline eyes could see that everything was just as she’d left it. The bundle of old blankets and pillows in the corner, the sack of clothes in the other, and the bundle of half-made arrows and other tools lining the walls by the door.

With a deep sigh, she hung her cloak up on a hook next to the door and plopped herself onto the bundle of bedding. Her olive eyes scanned the dark, rotting rafters, her mind continuing to plague her with scenarios. How was she to know if this woman was trustworthy? How could she know she wasn’t looking to stab Mona in the back at the end of the job and save the gold?

The silence broke as Mo let out an irritated groan, slapping both sides of her face to try and snap herself out of the anxious spiral. “Stop it! Take it or don’t, you can handle yourself just fine!” she grumbled to herself in a low voice. She wasn’t inexperienced, she’d turned the tables on a fight plenty of times before.

Before she knew it, she was looking at her hands again, scanning over her scars just as she had in the bathhouse. She studied the small callouses and scars at her fingertips as well as the pale lines along her palms and the backs of her hands, reminders of the gashes that once covered them. She couldn’t help but remember that last cave, the sounds from the monsters behind, and how she was the only one to come out of that hell.

Mona blinked back to the present, still looking at her hands as they shook. She could feel tears threatening to fall from her eyes. With a deep and shaky breath, she wiped them away with the sleeves of her black turtleneck before clasping her hands together tightly. She could feel a determination beginning to rise in her as she shoved down her memories and anxious feelings.

She needed this money. Forcing herself through this job would get her closer to a safe, ordinary life, where all her worries would be small and habitual. There wouldn’t be the threat of a monster around every corner or the worry that someone she cared for would betray her or die. It would just be her, a small house, and hopefully, a solitary and uneventful rest of her life.

Mo turned in her pile of pillows and blankets, staring off toward the door of the shack with her back to the wall. Eventually, she slowly felt sleep creeping up on her and her eyes began to close. As she began to rest for the night, her mind continued to bring her thoughts of that simple dream, the small cabin she hoped to one day have staying fresh in her mind as she slept through the night.

A beam of sunlight eventually carried through the crack under the door, brightening up the small, disheveled shack. The light eventually carried over to Mo’s face, shining over her eyes and making her grumble as she slowly held up a hand to block it. She tentatively opened her eyes, blinking through the bright morning light flowing in before she took in a gasp and lept up off of her bedding. Mo scrambled around the shed, grabbing an old leather knapsack from under her pillow and beginning to stuff it with some of the loose supplies lying around. Dried rations, spare daggers, a whetstone, a waterskin, spare clothes, and so on.

After sinching the bag shut and closing its flap, she threw on her belt and her cloak. Her weapons were next, bow and quiver soon resting on her back as she double-checked that the dagger on her belt was still there. As she did this, however, she felt one of the bags on her belt jingle with the leftover coin Gristle had given her. Her eyes quickly snapped to her bedding in the corner again before moving back to the door. After a few moments more of hesitation, she moved in a rush, beginning to pull the blankets and pillows out from the corner to get to the floor.

Mo pulled her dagger from her belt, using the blade to pry up a loose floorboard, revealing a small hole and the leather sack inside of it. She quickly pulled it out with both hands, the bag landing with a jingling thud on the floor. Loosening the top, she opened it to reveal the mound of coin inside of it, glittering gold in the light from the sunrise outside. Mona dug into the small satchel of her belt, plucking out each coin she had on her and dropping them into the bag.

If this goes wrong and I don’t come back, I’m not letting anyone else have what I worked so hard for, Mona thought to herself, tying the bag of gold shut once more before placing it back in its hiding spot. After replacing the floorboards and shoving her bedding back into place, she scanned over the area, as if to check if her hiding spot was obvious. Once satisfied that everything was well hidden, she turned and left the shack, locking everything behind her as she ran out onto the street.

It had only been a few minutes before she turned the corner onto the street where The Honeyed Badger stood tall in the middle of the line of buildings. Standing there in front of the tavern’s windows was Eurwen, standing tall in her strangely ornate armor. What Mo would assume was a satchel was slung over her shoulders and hidden underneath the half-cape covering the right side of her body. The Elven woman’s head of fluffy orange curls stuck out almost more than the white and gold of her outfit.

As Mona approached, Eurwen soon noticed her and gave her signature bright grin, her gloved left hand raising to greet her. Mo couldn’t help but notice the relief mixed into her cheery expression.

“You came! I’m so glad, I was worried you’d decided not to come along.” Eurwen said, a genuinely happy air about her.

“I need the payout for this. I’m coming along to do what you need of me and nothing more.” Mo announced in an almost monotonous tone, doing her best not to meet the woman’s eyes, instead looking the other over for a weapon. She couldn’t see any obvious blades on her, so she had to assume she was keeping what she had concealed under the white fabric that draped down from her leather pauldron.

“Must you be so stiff?” the Elf huffed, her cheeks puffing out in an admittedly cute pout.

Mo bit the inside of her cheek and looked away, knowing she couldn’t allow herself to trust easily, no matter how cheerful or friendly Eurwen was. “I’m simply doing what I need to.”

Mona could hear the adventurer sigh. “Fine,” said Eurwen, “Do whatever you feel you have to. Let’s get going, then”

With that, the Beastfolk woman looked to see her begin to walk off toward the town exit, where the forest crested over the hills in the distance. Mo soon began to follow, her eyes staring into the back of the woman she was now temporarily working with. Just what was she hoping to find in this supposed tomb?

Mona’s olive eyes set in a determined yet cautious stare, her mouth set in a line as she followed the woman through the streets and eventually past the last few outlying houses of Ferncomb. The path eventually changed from stone to dirt as the two ventured into the dense green of the forest. The light from the morning sun cast spots onto both Mona and Eurwen as they began the long walk to their destination.