Like every day, Olivia woke up early. After a simple breakfast of buttered bread and fresh vegetables, which she prepared the previous night, she went to the small prayer room. It was connected to her bedroom and, originally, meant to be used as a closet. She had no need for it, unlike most of the other women she didn’t have a variety of clothes, just her sleeping gown, work clothes and an a quality robe for ceremonial use. Between that and the several sets of simple underwear meant the chest in her room proper was more than enough.
She knew Whimsy didn’t much care for worship, but it was her ritual ever since the previous Oracle took her in. After half an hour of contemplation she swapped her sleeping gown for a work shirt and pants. No one worried about propriety, at least not to that degree, in the village. Survival was difficult enough, expecting women to do the work while wearing long dresses and corsets was, they all agreed, stupidity. It helped that most of the inhabitants were former adventurers and as such used to a more egalitarian approach to life. Monsters and bandits didn’t much care for what you wore, why should they?
Heading down from the bedrooms, Olivia entered the shared space and saw Eira Shadowfoot. The huntress, bleary eyed and swaying in her chair, cradled a steaming cup in her hands. She never was a morning person but with the first signs of autumn already visible it was the busies time of year for her, and she took her job seriously. While the farm had a few cows and chickens their value lie in producing eggs and milk, not meat. As such, Eira’s game was the primary source of it in the village, and with winter just around the corner it was time for her to start building up their stores. Olivia grabbed herself a clean mug, put in some tea leaves from her private store in a strainer and headed for the kitchen counter. Grabbing the magically powered kettle and channelling some mana into it, she brought it to a boil and filled her mug. Tea in hand, she sat next to Eira.
“Good morning, lady huntress.”
“Mo—orning.” The woman responded, yawning. “How can you be so awake so early? Ugh.”
“Years of practice dear lady. It also helps I go to sleep early instead of drinking the night away with Drogan and Kael.” Olivia’s responded with mirth in her voice. “Will you be heading into the forest soon?” Her smile was met with a scowl.
“I didn’t ‘drink the night away’, as you put it. We just had a couple of beers. Anyway—” She continued after another long yawn. “Anyway, yes, I’m heading to the forest as soon as I finish my drink. And to answer your next question, yes you can tag along, I promised to show you the starlight berry bush I found.”
They spent the next ten minutes in silence, each enjoying their morning brew. Olivia took that time to take a closer look at Eira. She was a tall, muscular woman with short raven black hair. Her blue eyes were piercing, rarely softening even when she spoke to someone she liked, which fit rather well with the perpetual scowl on her face. Across her broad shoulders, like usual, she wore a dark-green cloak made of drake hide. Supposedly she hunted the beast herself, but as she arrived at the village alone, no one really knew. Her skills were the real deal though, so very few doubted the claim. Underneath the cloak she wore a simple but sturdy shirt the colour of dark wood. Her pants and boots were made from the same leather as the cloak, allowing her to seemingly disappear when in a forest, even without the use of magic.
Next to her legs stood her bow, carved from a single piece of ironwood it was a simple, yet devastating weapon. Olivia once saw her shoot a deer from almost five hundred meters away, the enchantments in the longbow keeping the shot stay level the whole way. As she considered the skill required to use such a weapon, Eira stood up and gave Olivia a look. She quickly gathered herself, put away both cups after rinsing them, then grabbed her basket and return her companions gaze. Nodding, Eira grabbed her weapon and headed for the door, closely followed by Olivia.
The village, unnamed as none of the residents cared about such things, was a small affair. The tavern was the biggest building with two stories above ground. The top one housed the owner, and village chief, and his wife. The second had several guest rooms for the few adventurers, and fewer traders, who visited the village. The ground floor had a large kitchen and meeting hall, frequently used by the villagers, hence it was called ‘the tavern’.
The next two largest buildings were the lodging houses where most of the residents lived, one for men one for women. Each had a number of small two room flats on the first floor, a shared bathroom, kitchen and lounge on ground level. It was closely followed by the communal storage, nothing but a large barn really, but it had a basement for storing products requiring cold to last. Other than those, there were several small cabins for the few families that formed since the village’s beginning, and several workshops, spread across the village to where they would not be a hindrance for the residents, or where they had easy access to resources they might need.
The morning dew still clung to the varied plants growing in the different pots and beds spread across the village. Most were useful in way or another, from vegetables and herbs to medicinal plants. Only a few pots, those hung under and around the windows of houses, had purely ornamental plants and even then most of them had uses other than being pretty. Life on the frontier was too demanding to allow much leeway. Looking around she took in the view, enjoying the quiet, sleepy atmosphere of the village at dawn. Fog was slowly dissipating as the sun rose between the trees and the two women headed towards the river.
They crossed the waterway using the simple bridge. Calling it that was really giving it too much credit, Olivia often thought, as it was simply a trunk of one of the Ironwood Oaks that grew in the area, cut in half and hollowed out. It was raised several steps this year. Kael, the carpenter, hoped it would survive the spring thaw and rising of the water level.
—
The Dark Forest always gave Olivia the shivers when she entered. She could feel the mana in the area actively not wanting them there. She knew the dungeon in the north-western part of the woods was powerful, but she often wondered how strong its aura must be to extend all the way to the edge of the woods. She focused inwardly, grabbing hold of her meagre mana reserves she released a thick aura of it around herself. Eira cast a quick glance her way and nodded in approval. Olivia knew the younger woman did this almost instinctively now, she’s been hunting in this forest for years now after all.
As she followed Eira, she took note of any plants that she might want to gather or tell Rowan of. Unlike the herbalist she didn’t know everything that was growing around, but in the years since moving here, she inevitably learned some of the basics from her. Most of the plants she knew were medicinal, and she dearly hoped she never needed to put her meagre knowledge to the test. She made a mental note of a few herb patches but nothing stood out to her enough to warrant picking up. Her basket had limited space and today’s quarry was far too valuable to waste space on anything but the rarest of plants.
It took them almost two hours before Eira stopped and beckoned Olivia next to her. When she stood next to the huntress she pointed towards a small hill.
“The berries grow on the other side of that hill. The area’s reasonably safe but if anything happens, scream, I’ll try to stay within earshot. Since I have you to help me I’ll go for smaller game today, it’s always a hassle to carry many carcasses.” Eira spoke barely above a whisper, her tone neutral. “Stay safe and I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” With those words she turned west and walked away, disappearing into the foliage within moments.
Olivia went around the hill, her old bones successfully arguing against climbing up and down it. The few minutes she might save were not worth the complaints her body would have the next day. She reached the north side of it quickly enough and looked around.
The forest wasn’t much different here, except for one patch that seemed much darker, the canopy almost leaning into it. Walking into the gloomy area she looked around.
Her quarry stood out in the darkness. Despite the sun already being above the forest refused to let any light touch the ground. There was little growing on the forest floor, several types of mushrooms, a dark purple moss and the massive berry bush. The slightly luminous berries cast eerie shadows all around.
Starlight berries were a great find, their taste fresh and sweet with a slight note of citrus. They grew in very few places naturally, the conditions for them to appear making them a rare treat. The bushes grew tall and wide, requiring a lot of space, minimal to none exposure to sunlight, fresh air and a decent flow of mana. Some caves in the central plains supposedly regularly had them appearing, mostly though they were bred in noble grow-houses. The argument whether the plants were natural or some herbalists or wizards cultivars were an ever popular topic for discussion.
The area around her was perfect for the plant. Olivia gently picked one of the fruits, tasting it. It was delicious ripe and bursting with flavour and mana. She quickly put the basket she prepared down and began gathering, picking a handful of the berries before gently putting them into her carrier.
Eira’s arrival, several hours later, nearly caused Olivia to scream. One moment she was alone, slowly picking all the fruit from the bush, the next the huntress’s arm appearing beside her. She picked one of the fruit from the bush, causing the Oracle to jump back, eyes wide. As she processed who it was that scared her so much, she scowled at Eira, the younger woman ignoring her as she savoured the berry in her mouth eyes closed in delight. Though she did have a half smirk on her face. Olivia sighed internally, well aware of the huntresses peculiar sense of humour, then spoke, keeping her voice calm.
“How did your hunt go?”
“Good. I got almost two dozen giant hares and two pheasants. Something must have happened deeper in the woods, probably a turf war between the bigger monsters.” She replied, her tone neutral.
“Oh? What makes you say that?”
“I saw many more creatures moving, or signs of them moving, from the east, than last year. None of the big monsters though, so the village is safe, well, as safe as it usually is. I’m assuming a new pack of dire wolves, wyverns or something of the sort moved into the area. It is about that time of the year when the new spawn try to establish their territories and secure food for winter, much like we are. The last few years were rather calm so I guess they bred well this time around.”
Olivia’s mind went to Whimsy, perhaps it was something done by the goddess? The messenger did fly north-east. She mouthed a quick prayer for her goddess’ safety then turned back to her companion.
“Shall we head back? If you’ve hunted so much game it will takes u a while, I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“That’s why I came for you. I’ve already bled the critters, they’re hanging about half an hours walk from here. I figured it’ll be safer for you if I keep them a decent distance away. I don’t want to leave them alone for too long. Hate to lose that much work to some opportunistic monster.”
“Hold please.” The huntress raised an eyebrow but did as she was asked, grabbing the basket Olivia was holding out to her. Olivia quickly grabbed the large piece of cloth she set aside earlier and, with practised ease, tied it around the whole basket, sans handle. She made sure there was no gaps - the berries would lose a lot of their sweetness if exposed to sunlight. Satisfied with her work, she took the basket back from Eira. With a smile she nodded to the huntress.
“Lead the way.”
—
Olivia squinted her eyes at the sun glaring from above. It was now well past midday, the sun slowly sinking towards the forest. Following Eira she had time to think what to do with the starlight berries. She decided to split them between Rowan, who would use them for making sleep aids, and Drogan who would most likely turn them into wine.
She’d enjoy that, starlight wine rarely appeared in any of the markets. In fact she only had one occasion to taste it, many years before, when she was still the Oracle, and a visiting noble wanted the goddess’s blessing for his daughter’s first birthday party. She tried to recall the girls name, but couldn’t get any closer than remembering it was some sort of flower. She did remember the noble, a young lordling whose demeanour carried the, typical to many nobles, air of self importance and certainty of being better than others.She wondered briefly what happened to them, but moved on with her thoughts to the present as they reached their goal.
Over twenty hares, brown and grey, hung by their legs from a long line stretched between two trees. Each animal was almost a meter in length, though about a third of that were the ears. The two pheasants looked small in comparison. Under the line a thick dark patch of moisture, the animals blood, formed a pool.
Eira approached the far end of the line and picking up a long pole from the ground she spent a minute carefully weaving it around the line. She nodded to herself, then prompted Olivia to the other end of it. They untied the line from the trees and secured it to the pole, hefting it on their shoulders. Olivia buckled a little under the weight, but biting her teeth she put a bit of mana into her muscles. It likely wouldn’t last her until they reached the village, but at least she wouldn’t be gasping and wheezing. Well, not the whole way at any rate.
—
“No. Absolutely not.” Whimsy’s firm voice left no room to argue, though Alice was of half a mind to try, just for fun. “You cannot name her ‘Fluffy’.”
“But she is!” Alice responded, her hand inside the basket, now held against her hip, gently comforting the sleeping kitten. They’ve been arguing over the baby felines name for hours now. Shortly after leaving the clearing, Alice mused aloud about giving the kitten a name and they’ve been at it ever since.
“And when she’s the size of her mother, fangs dripping with the blood of your enemies?” Alice could almost see the raised eyebrow. Alice responded in kind, a thoughtful tone to her voice.
“I don’t know, the juxtaposition might be fun. I can almost see the confused looks when I shout ‘Get’em fluffy!’ Also, I don’t hear you giving any suggestions. And no, ‘shade’ and ‘phantom’ don’t count. I’d feel ashamed for the poor thing if she had such edgy name, not to mention myself for having to call her that.”
“Yeah, yeah you mentioned that. Many, many times. Tell me, are you going to keep her?”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“I promised. Yeah, it might be silly to hold on to a promise given to a dead monster but... She came to me for help, desperate or no, she died protecting us. So, yes, I will care for the little one as best I can, for as long as I can. Why do you ask?”
“In that case how about we call her ‘Cheshire’? We can shorten it to ‘Chess’ and since she’s with you it fits the theme.”
“That... Is perfect. How did it take us so long to figure that one out?” Alice asked, genuine confusion in her voice. Looking into the basket she crooned at the small figure, gently stroking its head with a finger. “Cheshire, is that your name? Huh? Who’s a sweet little Cheshire cat. You are, yes you are.” The form stirred, looking up, her wide eyes blinked slowly at Alice. She turned her head, licking Alice’s finger once. “Aww... OW!”
Alice’s crooning abruptly turned into an exclamation of surprise as the kitten bit her finger. Or, tried to anyway.
It didn’t hurt too much, the tiny sharp teeth still too weak to pierce her skin. Moments after, Alice felt a strange warmth slowly moving from her core into her arm, then the finger. The kitten tumbled round, putting her forepaws around Alice’s finger, holding it in place. As she watched small bursts of shadow formed around the creatures muzzle and paws, the kittens eyes closed in apparent bliss.
“What...” Alice trailed off, unsure of what was going on. At Whimsy’s prompting she explained what she just felt.
“I think she’s sucking up your mana. You should keep an eye on her, wouldn’t want you to get sucked dry.” Alice winced at the wordplay, then smiled as a prompt appeared before her eyes, she focused on the screens, concentrating on making the appropriate choices.
“Seems you’re right.”
[Warning: energy reserves being drained by an external source. Scanning.]
[Source confirmed. Do you wish to whitelist the unnamed creature?]
[Added ‘unnamed shadow panther’ to whitelist. Would you like to name your companion?]
[Name added: Cheshire]
[User: Cheshire added to group: household]
[Establishing household link]
[Link established]
[Adaptation in progress... ETA: ? ]
Suddenly she felt another presence appear in her mind. Small and confused she once again focused, this time on the new feeling. It was coming from the basket, a tiny, flickering ember of... Something.
She could feel the kittens empty belly and the single-mindedness with which she soaked up Alice’s mana. She felt the fear and loneliness slowly as the young mind processed and adapted to the traumatic days behind them and their new circumstances.
Alice could also feel when the little body was full of mana, almost crackling with energy. The little one kept sucking, unaware that it will not fill its belly. She daintily removed her hand from the kittens grip, despite the small peeps of protest. She gave the fluffy chest another stroke, then softly spoke as she covered the basket again, the cats eyes, now seeming more aware than before, never leaving hers.
“There there. Now sleep, we’ll have some real food for you soon, I promise.” As she turned her eyes forward, she brought up her own reserves, then winced. She had a full stomach just before the fight, giving her an idea of how difficult it would be to keep her strength up, cost wise.
[Energy reserves: 32%]
“Could be worse I suppose, for all I know the little one took the majority of it rather than the fighting.”
“Unlikely. Your mana capacity is somewhat tied to your size. It’s by no means a hard line, especially for humans, but with how much juice you likely possess, I’d be surprised if Chess took ten percent, if that.”
“Well, at least I can keep her fed one way. That village better have cows or something, I don’t think she’s ready for food other than milk yet.”
“We’ll know soon, at my estimation you’re about two, maybe three hours away from the village.”
“Good. Hopefully we’ll manage to get there before the hunger wakes Chess up again.” Smiling at the name, yeah she was definitely liking it more and more, she continued. “Will anyone have a problem with her? She is technically a monster, isn’t she?”
“Yes, but you’re not the first to tame one. I’m not sure about the household thing, never seen that. Then again, we get slightly different rules and I never, well... You know, kept in close touch with humanity. Either way, don’t worry, unless she goes on a rampage or something no one will bat an eye.”
Alice’s hope that they would make it to the village before Chess woke were dashed as she felt the ember in her mind stir. Moments later soft peeps could be heard, growing more incessant by the second. Looking inside, she saw the panther cub sitting up and looking at her, demanding attention.
She picked her up and brought her to chest, the little one nestling on her hand, pushing its head underneath hers. She lowered her chin giving a weird sort of embrace to the cub. The basket, now in the crook of her arm, swayed as she balanced the kitten in her arms. Despite the close embrace she still demanded attention, Alice feeling the sucking hunger through their connection.
It was somewhat unnerving, similar to what she experienced when communicating with Whimsy, though much more intimate. She didn’t know if the cub could feel her as she did it, the emotion was faint, her physical status even more so. Hoping that was the case, she sent calming thoughts her way, but the hunger was winning the fight for the kittens attention.
She knew that feeling well. Trying a different tack, she decided to sing to the little one, much like her mother did to her when she was very young and in distress. Taking a deep breath she began a lullaby she remembered from some classic game. It seemed fitting. Despite the dark theme she took a breath and in a clear, pure voice she lulled the kitten back to sleep. Eventually.
—
Eira and Olivia were at the edge of the forest, minutes away from the river crossing when they heard it. A voice, singing. They both startled at that. No one should be on this side of the river but them, let alone doing something as frivolous as singing.
Eira raised her free hand, indicating they should stop, and Olivia could feel the draw of ambient mana and slight loss of control as Eira gathered power and spoke, voice barely above a whisper.
“Winds around me, come, abide.
Let my ears be open wide.”
Eira focused in the direction the sound was coming from, her eyes widening at what she heard. A hauntingly beautiful voice, each note pure and silky smooth to her enhanced hearing. It wasn’t so much the dark nature of the lyrics, though that did unnerve her a little, as the language it was in. She voiced her shock to Olivia.
“That’s... One of the Elder Tongues. And the accent... I don’t think I’ve ever heard it. I can’t even imagine where it’s from, and I heard most, if not all, languages spoken on our and the nearby shards.” Looking behind her shoulder, with a slightly dazed expression she locked eyes with Olivia. “What do we do?”
“Why are you asking me? You’re the hunter!” Olivia responded in kind, voice rising in panic, unsure why the younger woman would ask for her guidance.
“Because you’re the spiritual expert? I don’t know of a single person who would walk through these woods singing a lullaby in an Elder Tongue. And since there aren’t any humanoid monsters in the area, or at least there should’t be, I have to assume it’s something else...” She trailed off, at Olivia’s increasingly shocked expression. “What?”
“I... I think... No, I hope, yes, I hope it’s my Lady. The voice is coming from roughly where the divine messenger went, and you mentioned the animals running. You think a wandering goddess would warrant a mass migration?” Eira’s eyes grew wider as Olivia spoke. Moments later, they heard rustling leaves and even Olivia could clearly make out the words as a female figure stepped from behind the foliage.
(Lullaby of Woe – Ashley Serena)
Wolves asleep amidst the trees
Bats all a swaying in the breeze
But one soul lies anxious wide awake
Fearing all manner of ghouls, hags and wraiths
For your dolly Polly sleep has flown
Don't dare let her tremble alone
For the witcher, heartless, cold
Paid in coin of gold
He comes he'll go leave naught behind
But heartache and woe
Deep, deep woe
Birds are silent for the night
Cows turned in as daylight dies
But one soul lies anxious wide awake
Fearing all manner of ghouls, hags and wraiths
My dear dolly Polly shut your eyes
Lie still, lie silent, utter no cries
As the witcher, brave and bold
Paid in coin of gold
He'll chop and slice you
Cut and dice you
Eat you up whole
Eat you whole
She had long, burning red hair, skin white as snow and a serene smile on her face. Her right hand was held against her chest, a tiny black shape held close to her chin. She was oddly dressed, her left sleeve missing from the shirt exposing slightly reddened skin. She had no shoes, one of her feet slightly red as well, though besides that there were no blemishes on them. Olivia wondered how that could be, assuming she walked through the forest, when she spied the basket in the crook of the figures left hand.
It was the same one she left for the divine messenger! Her knees finally gave in to the shock and she fell down, the pole holding the game landing behind her with a dull thump. She raised a hand to her mouth as she spoke, tears streaming from her eyes. Eira just gaped at the scene, unsure what was going on, head swivelling between the newcomer and Olivia. She didn’t know what to think of the odd visitor, but she could feel an insane amount of mana emanating from the figure and knew for a fact she’d never want to fight her.
“My... My Lady.” Olivia’s voice brought Eira out of her reverie, driving another pang of surprise through her mind. She quickly knelt down. She had no idea if the figure was ‘Olivia’s Lady’, and wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. There was no point in risking offending a passing goddess, however, even if Whimsy was considered the weakest among the deities. As she lowered her head in respect, she heard Olivia continue.
“Lady Whimsy. It’s a great honour finally being able to make your acquaintance. Please, allow me to formally welcome you in—” Interrupting the speech, the woman finally spoke, her voice quiet though tinged with mirth.
“I’m not her. Whimsy’s a friend, but I’m no goddess. Nor is she, really, but I suppose I shouldn’t say that to you. It’s a pleasure to meet you Olivia, I owe you a big thank you for the care package you prepared.”
—
Alice couldn’t help laughing in her head at Whimsy’s protests to how she greeted Olivia. You said yourself you’re no goddess and that I can handle this how I wanted. Not my fault you didn’t set any conditions. Her private thoughts tickling her cheeky side even more as Whimsy continued to protest her ‘trolling the poor woman’.
She approached Olivia and putting a hand under one of her shoulders she helped her to her feet. As she looked up their eyes met, though the older woman quickly averted her gaze.
Wanting to diffuse the tension, Alice gave the former Oracle a one sided hug, keeping a firm grip on her strength. Last thing she wanted to do was to accidentally hurt her, or the kitten still nuzzling under her chin.
“Thank you, truly, for the package. The soap especially. It literally saved my life last night.” Releasing Olivia, she took a step back then looked to the other figure, still kneeling.
“Who’s your friend?” Speaking up a little, she continued, now facing the other woman.
“You don’t have to kneel, seriously, I don’t deserve any reverence. Get up, please. It seems I bumped into you on your way back from a hunt? Lucky. We weren’t sure where the bridge was so that saves time.”
Eira slowly rose to her feet, still unsure of what to think of the newcomer. She was wary, the woman clearly possessed a strength she’s seen only in the top ranks of military, otherwise how could she so casually stroll through this forest? Sure, they were at the edges now but she came from the depth of it. It was well known that the eastern side was home to many deadly monsters.
From dire wolves to shadow panthers on the ground, giant hawks to drakes in the sky, piranha to gators in the waters. Even the game was dangerous to the unprepared and weak. And that didn’t even touch on her casual use of an Elder language, clothing that couldn’t possibly provide any protection, nor the offhanded comment about the goddess being a friend. And... Not a goddess apparently? She looked towards Olivia, slightly worried. The older woman stood frozen stiff, with her jaw hanging open, wordlessly moving it up and down, like fish without water. Steeling her resolve, she spoke up.
“If you’re not... If you’re not the goddess, who are you?”
“My name’s Alice. Like I said, I’m a friend of Whimsy. Though that probably doesn’t answer your questions...” Thinking for a moment she focused her mind then spoke again. “Oh, right! ‘Share public ID’”
At her words Olivia and Eira both saw a message appear in front of them.
[Name: Alice Surname: ? Age: 1726
Access level: GM
Titles: Spark of Life, Champion of Whimsy, Transcendental survivor]
“Seventeen hundred...”
“Champion of Whimsy”
Both women now had thoroughly shocked expressions on their faces, tough for different reasons, and Alice was beginning to worry for their well-being. It seemed her appearance was more of a shock than Whimsy suspected.
“Oh, yeah I forgot that was there, though I suppose the title of champion makes it easier to accept what I said?” Alice looked inquisitively at Olivia who just nodded, still unable to speak. Turning to Eira she continued.
“And no, I’m not seventeen hundred years old. Well, I am, but—” As she floundered trying to explain her situation, she felt a stirring from Cheshire. Then she heard a demanding ‘mhrowl’, followed instantly by their connection letting her know the cub was fully awake and starving. She felt the little head turn to look at the new people. There was a momentary jolt of fear, but it soon subsided as the kitten realised her ‘mother’ wasn’t worried.
“Is that a shadow panther cub? How in the world...” Eira spoke, the surprise at Alice’s apparent age forgotten, replaced with a more mundane source of confusion.
“Her family was killed by an acid slime.” The tall woman said, gently petting the kit as she spoke. Eira stiffened at the monster mentioned. Sadness filled Alice’s eyes as she looked down at the ball of fluff in her hands. “Her mother... Asked for my help. She also saved my life during the fight. Unfortunately she didn’t make it, but little Chess here did.” Warmth and determination filled Alice’s eyes. “So now I’m a shadow panther mommy.” She looked up, shrugging softly.
“On that note. Are we far from the village? The little one is getting really hungry, and while I can, sort of, provide her with mana, milk is another thing entirely. I also desperately need a bath, a good nights sleep and a warm meal. Not necessarily in that order.” Alice Smiled at the woman in front of her.
“What’s your name, anyway?” At the question Eira shook herself out of the stupor the last several minutes brought her.
“I... Sorry, it’s just... Sorry. I’m Eira Shadowfoot, former adventurer, current village hunter. No, we’re not far, less than ten minutes from the bridge, then another twenty from the village centre. Drogan, he’s the farmer and husbandry specialist, will be able to help with the mon... With your cub.” Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Eira picked up her end of the pole, now lying forgotten on the ground. She was about to tell Olivia to do the same when Alice stepped past the Oracle and picked up the far end with one hand, and apparent ease. Putting the pole end on her shoulder, she spoke.
“I’ll help, she needs a while more I think.” Poking gently at Olivia’s cheek and smiling as the woman started and looked up at Alice she continued, laughter bubbling in her voice.
“I don’t think this is a good place to have your crisis of faith, no? I’ll happily answer any of your questions, I’m sure you have many, but we have more immediate needs now.” She turned towards Eira.
“Lead on.”
Eira simply nodded and headed back to the village. She looked back several times, at first to make sure Olivia was following them, then to steal a few glances at their new companion. Alice seemed preoccupied with the shadow panther kitten, crooning softly to the terrifying creature. Eira fought shadow panthers twice, and even the drake she now wore didn’t scare her like they did. The drake was stronger, sure, but it was also a straightforward beast. Shadow panthers were smart, preferred surprise attacks and with their command of shadows were often called ‘ghost reapers’ by those who survived an attack. Luckily they preferred to live far from civilisation so encounters were rare.
She thought feverishly if she’s ever heard of anyone taming one, but as far as she could remember no one did. Nor did anyone see their cubs before. And yet, there it was, sprawled across Alice’s left shoulder, mewling loudly as its front paws dangled freely. They were barely across the bridge and she was about to ask Alice some questions when Olivia suddenly rushed past them, something Eira’s not seen there before sparkling in her eyes.
“I’ll go ahead to the village, have them prepare for your arrival Lady Alice!” The portly woman moved with a fervour of a someone half her age. “Please, take your time walking there. Eira you can thank Lady Alice for the help by bringing her to the tavern when you drop off your spoils.”
She was going to respond but Olivia was gone before she could even speak. Alice was apparently similarly surprised.
“I’m no Lady just caa— aaand she’s gone. I hope this won’t end up something weird. She had that zealot look in her eyes. I don’t like that look on people.” Alice sighed, as Eira connected the look in Olivia’s eyes to what she heard.
Straining her ears Eira barely heard the words that followed.
“What are you laughing at? She’s one of your clergy, isn’t she? You didn’t tell me she was a religious nutjob... I... No, I get it. I said I get it already! Jeez, Whimsy. Just tell her to tone it down if she goes overboard. Damn right you will... Or? Or I’ll tell her some of your shameful secrets... Don’t I now? You sure you wanna take that risk?“
If the events of the past half hour hadn’t thoroughly exhausted Eira’s shock reserves she probably would have stopped dead at hearing the one sided conversation. Or rather... One side of a conversation.
She didn’t know what alternative unnerved her more. That Alice was insane and talking to herself, unlikely as it was? Or that she was indeed in direct contact with one of the gods.
It was too much for her. Giving up on getting an answers for now, she focused on her muscles and reaching the village. Questions and answers could wait.