We found ourselves a booth in the corner of the saloon, the activity ramped back up and everyone went back to enjoying themselves.

“My name Demi, thank you for taking the time to listen to me.”

“It’s no problem I probably need you more than you need me, so let’s not dilly.”

“I highly doubt that, but very well. My home is in another village somewhere in the forest, due to reasons I cannot disclose here and now, I know we will suffer an attack from an enemy we cannot beat in three weeks’ time. This enemy will also have a goblin hoard of over five hundred. My village is very small only forty-eight residents, there is no way we can survive such an onslaught.”

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“Three weeks huh, I don’t think I can help you then, I..”

“What! Why not? You clearly are adept at combat, did the details frighten you? I assure you, I will not allow you to fight alone the entire village will aide you.”

She cut me off before I could finish my sentence and then went on a tirade.

“How much does this job pay?”

Her demeanor changed she went from this lively girl to a sulking pup.

“One gold coin is the most my village can offer. We don’t use money there, it’s a wonder we even have that to offer.”

Tasa, can you explain.

One gold coin is the equivalent of one hundred dollars, one big silver coin is fifty dollars, a silver coin is ten dollars, and a copper coin is one dollar. Although rarely seen among civilians there’s the large gold coin which is five hundred dollars and a platinum coin for one thousand dollars.

She’s not paying much for what she is asking.

After a brief internal dialogue, I spoke up.

“Well, the amount of money isn’t the primary issue. I am currently broke, I don’t even own a canteen to carry water. I may be able to live off the land for a few days, but a few weeks is out the question.”

“What if I provide food and shelter?”

“Then I will accept.”

“There are more details to my request; however I cannot provide them here. I can go in full details once we return to my village.”

“When can we leave?”

“Immediately is preferable for me, but may I ask you one more question?”

“Sure, shoot.”

“The sword at your waist, you didn’t draw it against your opponent, why?”

“Well, that would’ve been overkill.”

“I see, let’s get on with it.” She stood, and we proceeded to the exit. We stepped over the still unconscious body of Barlaam which was still laying outside.

“So how long is it going to take us to get there? Is it walking distance?” I asked.

“We can make it there before sunset.”

After we departed from the village we headed into the forest behind the village in the opposite direction I came from, unlike the plains I crossed this place was full of wildlife. I found myself fascinated at the smallest details.

The trees were tall and lush, but sunlight managed to find holes between the branches and rays of lights peaked through. If you follow the rays you would often find nice flower gardens thriving. The forest, in general, was what one would expect.

Damara was kind enough to teach me about some of the animals that was I not acquainted with. Overall it was a peaceful and serene walk. After a few hours of walking hunger set in. We took a break on the bank of a small lake.

I noticed she wasn’t carrying any bags, so I asked her. “Hey, do you have any food?”

“Hmm no, but I will be fine. The forest will provide.”

Just like that, she held her hand out and an apple fell into her palms.

“wow, how?”

She shrugged off my question with a rather cute smile. Well I guess this is a fantasy world after all. Must have something to do with magic.

“I am going to see if I can find a bird or rabbit or something, are you interested in anything?”

“I would recommend a rabbit, the birds here aren’t very meaty, and they are very fast.”

“thanks for the suggestion, are you going to be ok here by yourself?”

“Yes, I will be fine this is my forest.”

“ok if you say so, I shouldn’t be gone room long.”

I dashed thru the forest solo using my keen senses to determine where my next meal was going to come from. I detected what felt like the presences of life very close to me after only a few minutes.

I effortlessly leaped to the branch of a tall tree. I observed the quiet unmoving terrain waiting and looking for the rustle of a bush.

I closed my eyes and I felt the flow of the wind. While I couldn’t see them I felt them, every living thing within a half a mile. I leaped off the branch I was perched on and dashed to a specific bush. A startled white hare jumped out the bushes in an attempt to flee, however, it was well too slow. I grabbed it by both ears as it squirmed and kicked with all its might to get loose.

“I’m sorry for this.”

I apologized before I gripped and broke its neck. It struggling stopped and its body went limp in my hand.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

With my spoils in tow, I returned to the bank of the lake. Damara gathered fruit and was putting wood together to start a fire. She was a little startled by my sudden appearance but was relieved to see me.

“Wow, that was fast. You were gone for less than ten minutes, and you managed to catch a white hare.”

“Yea it was close by and it just dashed in front of me.”

She lowered her eyes suspiciously at me before rolling her eyes and brushing the issue to the side. It was clear she knew I was lying.

“I’m in the process of prepping a fire if you’d like I can prepare it, I also gathered us some berries.

“That will work, to be honest, I wouldn’t know how to prepare this thing over an open flame.”

She shot a perplexing look at me, likely due to the fact that I was trying to be an adventurer that didn’t know how to cook his food, it was a little odd.

“Joten since we are no longer in the human village I would like to give you more information on the mission.”

“Human?”

“Yes my real name is Damara; I am the first princess of the fairies. We are a very small village forty-eight including women and children, we do not have a large fighting force. I had a vision that showed a goblin army of over five hundred invading and slaughtering my people, it was terrifying. The truly terrifying thing is that goblin don’t usually work together in such a large force unless they have a truly powerful leader to gather them under one rule, but even a goblin general could only manage to gather 75 at most. I fear the being leading the army is a Hobgoblin.”

“What’s the significance of a hobgoblin?”

“Hobgoblin are said to be born once every few hundred years. They are incredibly powerful monsters, I honestly don’t believe even a gold rank adventurer is much of a match for it.”

She stopped speaking and a look of despair washed over her face. I watched her mumble a few words and the stack of sticks she had piled up suddenly ignited.

“Was that magic?”

“Oh yes it was, fairies are the race above all others when it comes to magic, however, they are physically very frail. If this goblin invasion is successful it will mean our extinction.”

“you say you’re a fairy, but you have no wings.”

“My people and I are forest fairies, we have no need for wings and keeping them is a constant mana drain so we lost them ages ago.”

I could imagine what it's like to navigate in a forest with large wings at your back.

“I see, so why would the goblins be doing this?”

“I wouldn’t know, I would assume it’s for our territory. The fairy forest is protected by a sacred magic mist that keeps humans out, and goblins who are hunted by humans almost daily would probably want its protection.”

“I’m assuming I won’t be welcomed with open arms then.”

“haha we would be lucky if they don’t try to kill you on sight. I want you to be aware that I broke and I’m currently breaking several taboos by doing this, but my options are limited.”

Ehhh. Killed on sight!

“So how will I be able to stay in this village for three weeks?”

“I am a princess, before I am deemed guilty they must first put me on trial, and as royalty, I have the right to declare a continuance, that will delay the trial for one month time allowing me to gather evidence and or prepare, where we cannot be bothered.”

While she was speaking her attention was on the rabbit. She began skinning it with a sharp stone, she started by creating a hole in the nape of its neck and dragged it down splinting it along its spinal cord down to its tail before peeling the skin of like a jacket, and it was very interesting, to say the least.

She cleaned it in the lake, cut it in two, then stuck a stick through it and roasted it over an open flame.

“I would like to request a change to our agreement since new information was provided.”

“I see. It’s only fair since I sprung this information on you so suddenly. What are your requests?”

“Well, the truth is I am not from around here. I am not sure about the way the people here work, but I am sure that one gold coin is nowhere near what this mission is actually worth. So, in addition, I would like two things Information and for you to teach me magic.”

She looked at me with an awestruck face before she responded.

“What kind of information?”

“Well I was raised in a secluded forest with my grandfather up until a few days ago when he passed away I have no knowledge of the way things work here.”

“Oh I’m sorry for your lost, may the spirits guide his soul. I can agree to teach you what I can about this world during the three weeks we spend together, but keep in mind I’m a fairy that lives in a secluded village, very similar to you. In regards to teaching you magic, well a human asking a fairy to teach them magic is like a dog asking a dolphin to teach it how to swim.”

“I’m not sure if I should be insulted by that or not.”

She was likely, saying she was far too advanced to be to teach me magic.

She chuckled to herself before agreeing to my terms. After she finished roasting the rabbit and served it on the stick like a shish kabob.

My first time eating rabbit wasn’t bad, it wasn’t as gamey as I was expecting. it actually had a pleasant taste it was lean, not a lot of fat on it. We had an assortment of fruit as the side dish, it wasn’t a large hearty meal, but it would last us until dinner.

After we ate we sat on the bank together and enjoyed each other’s company before we prepared to set off.

“Still have a lot of time to go until we make it to your village,” I spoke first breaking the awkward silence that was building.

“We actually don’t.” She snapped her fingers and the sky began cracking like glass. It shattered into a hundred pieces and dissipated into the air, The blue afternoon sky I was looking at was now gone. In its place was the dusk orange sky.

“What’s going on?”

“As the fairy princess, I have to take necessary precaution to protect my people. I put you under an illusion spell once we left Poten village that slowed your perception of time around you, you believe we’ve only traveled for a few hours, however, it’s been nine. I apologize, but this was necessary.“

“I can’t say I mind or have an issue, it was actually rather convenient.”

But to exceed my magic nullification she must’ve used some high-level magic.

To clarify her magic was the fourth tier which is moderate level magic. However, your skills did not activate because she was deemed friendly once you accepted the quest with her. If you were to be resistant to all magic that would mean healing magic, potions, and other magic items, including your sword would also not work on you.

That makes sense.

“So what are we waiting on?” I asked as I stood up getting ready to go.

“I would’ve felt guilty if I withheld information from you after you accepted my quest. I will ask that once we enter please allow me to do the talking.”

“No problem, can we start the magic training tonight, it could prove useful in the battle.”

She offered her hand to me, I grasped it and helped her off the floor. She was a lot lighter than I expected and I pulled her with too much force. She leaped off the ground and into my arms we stood chest to chest my arms around her waist, she was still reeling from the sudden change. Her face became as red as a tomato. She quickly regained her composure and pushed herself out of my arms.

“What the heck was that? I just needed you to give me a hand of the ground and you took that chance to make a move! All you men are despicable! As soon as you see a girl with a decent size chest you turn into rabid animals.”

THUD

I flicked her on the forehead.

“Please stop talking, you’re spiraling. It was an accident you were a lot lighter than I expected, I am not interested in getting labeled as a pervert.”

“You just flicked me! I’m a princess you moron! I will have you executed!”

She was cute flustered and I caused me to crack up.

“You’re cute when you get worked into a tizzy like this.”

Her face flushed red all over again.

“Cute? Ahhhhhh! Can we please just go?”

She stormed off and I chased after her because, to be honest, I have no idea where I am.

After ten minutes of walking, we stopped in front of an arch created by two tall trees and there branches overlapping.

But I could don’t see anything different, the path we were on just look as if they continued through the arches. Damara, however, looked as though she needed to firm up her resolve to continue.

“Don’t forget to let me do the talking,” she said casually as she proceeded. Once she crossed the under the arch she was gone. I hurried through behind her, but, once I crossed through the arch before I could take a second step.

“”

The earth rose up on my left and right and closed in on me, encasing me from the neck down in a mound of clay. Someone used magic on me.

To be honest, I picked it up with my perception and denoted that it wasn't anything powerful and likely wasn't worth worrying about. In addition, it would’ve been easily avoided but, I didn’t want to create further issues for Damara.

Once she looked over to me and seen the situation I was in she sighed.

“Already huh.”