Timothy and Nava turned to the front door to the farmhouse, “Nava, is that you?” they heard from the silhouette in the doorway, “Come in, come in! It is freezing outside,” the woman said to the pair with motherly concern.
“Hi Mrs. Dafro. Thank you, but we are filthy and should return to the tavern to clean up,” Nava replied in a submissive tone that surprised Timothy.
He had not known her long, but he had the feeling that this was not her normal demeanor. Even when they were running to the house, she was informative, but there was no sign of acquiescence in her tone. It was strictly business.
“Nonsense!” Mrs. Dafro admonished her, “With four children I know how to clean up. Now, get inside, both of you.”
“Yes mam,” Nava said, lowering her head.
“You go ahead, I want to try something first,” Timothy told Nava, “It shouldn’t take but a minute or so.”
Nava cocked an eyebrow at him, “What are you planning to do? There is only snow and the corpse of the howler out here.”
Timothy sighed, “I have an ability that I want to try. It is my first time using it and I am not really sure how it works. If anything goes awry, I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“What is this ability?” Nava’s voice was thick with suspicion.
Timothy took his eyes off the howler’s corpse and turned toward Nava, “Don’t worry, it is nothing sinister,” he paused, thinking of what to say next, “It consumes a corpse in fire. I am figuring that the ground is frozen and the body will be difficult, if not impossible, to bury.”
“I want to see this,” Nava continued to regard him skeptically.
Timothy shrugged, “Why not,” and he settled in, focusing on himself when he was interrupted by Mrs. Dafro yelling at them from the porch.
“I said get in here, NOW! Before you catch your death from the cold,” her tone was that of a mother admonishing a child that was not listening, tough but caring.
“Sorry Mrs. Dafro, give us a minute,” Nava said a little more harshly than she intended.
Mrs. Dafro became enraged with Nava’s attitude, “Don’t you talk to me in that tone! Get in here now!”
Timothy tuned them both out, remembering back to his time at RDS and how he would tune out the office noise when he was working. He was able to hyperfocus on the task at hand and looked into himself, searching for that power. It was like he was searching for his house for his misplaced car keys, the power being his keys. He knew that it was there somewhere, but he didn’t know where. He searched all the likely locations, his mind, his body, his heart before he finally found it lingering around his soul. He grabbed the power and focused on the corpse.
It started with a soft reddish glow from the center of the howler’s chest that grew in intensity by the second. The skin and fur dried out, cracked and split allowing small flames to lick their way out of the fissure. From there the flames progressed rapidly, consuming the entire body, turning it to ash within a few seconds. The smoke bellowed above the corpse and stopped about five feet above it as if it was being caught by an invisible shield of force. The smoke rolled in and over itself as it started to coalesce into a dense ball, shrinking to the size of a grapefruit. The scene brought back memories of Howard’s final moments in the second door, thankfully it stabilized once it reached the grapefruit size. The outer skin of the smoke turned a tannish brown color and dropped to the snow packed ground.
Timothy walked over and picked up the little brown bag. It looked exactly like what he had always imagined a coin purse to look like from the tabletop games he played. He bounced it in his hands a few times, it was heavier than he thought it would be, he opened it up and peaked inside. At a quick scan there had to be between 30 to 40 copper in the bag, he looked up with a smile.
“Um…What?” He said as he looked at the other two.
Nava and Mrs. Dafro were standing there dumbfounded.
“What was that?” Nava asked in disbelief.
“I told you, it burns the corpse up so we don’t need to bury it.”
Nava stepped into Timothy’s space and gripped his shirt up in her fist, “Don’t lie to me little man,” her voice was very nearly a growl.
“Can we not talk about it here?” he asked in a low voice that only Nava would be able to hear.
She appeared shocked by his question, but then her expression morphed into an anger burning deep within her eyes.
“You’re hiding something, and if you think I am letting you anywhere close to anyone in this town without understanding what you did, you are sorely mistaken.”
Timothy’s shoulders slumped as he decided to give in to Nava’s demands, Powers like this can’t be all that rare, why am I hiding it. What’s the worst that can happen? He thought to himself.
“Fine!” He said in disgust, “It is an ability that I have. It allows me to loot the corpse of something that I killed or had a hand in killing.”
“What does that mean?” Nava said, tightening her grip on his shirt.
Maybe it isn’t that common.
Timothy continued, “It allows me to convert their body mass into something else. I am not totally sure how it does this, but it does.”
“Then what is in the bag that dropped from the air once it burned?” Nava asked in a voice that dared him to tell her anything but the whole truth.
“Copper coins,” he pulled the bag out and offered it to her.
She snatched the coin purse with her free hand and let go of his shirt, using both hands to open the bag and inspect its contents.
“So, you can make money?”
“Yeh! I guess,” Timothy scratched his chin, “Like I said, it is my first time using the ability. I don’t know anything more about it right now.”
She looked him up and down, “Okay, I believe you. Or at least you believe what you are saying,” she looked around, “Keep this to yourself, I am not sure what kind of trouble it could cause if people find out you can just make money appear.”
Timothy gave her a disappointed look, “That is what I was trying to do, but you had to know.”
“Yes, I did,” she said, her tone flat, and she shoved the purse back into Timothy’s chest.
He looked down at the purse then back up at Nava, “Half of this is yours.”
She paused for a moment, staring at him. Timothy was having trouble figuring out if she was angry, shocked or something else entirely, then she nodded and turned to the Dafro house.
“Are you two quite done?” Mrs. Dafro yelled from the porch.
“Yes,” they answered simultaneously.
“Good! Now get in here before you freeze to death,” she said in that same motherly voice, stern but caring.
The two crunched their way through the snow-covered yard and climbed the steps to the covered porch. Timothy could feel the warmth issuing forth from the doorway, it made him think of coming home after a long day at work during winter. As he approached the doorway, he thought he heard a child crying somewhere in the house. He stopped at the door, turning to Mrs. Dafro.
“Are you sure this is okay? I don’t want to scare any of your kids with the way I look, blood-soaked clothes and all.”
“Nonsense! Come, come. Let’s get you cleaned up,” Mrs. Dafro said, pulling him into the house.
Mrs. Dafro is a woman that looks like she is in her early forties with long blonde hair in a large braid reaching down to the middle of her back. Her rosy cheeks, blue eyes and bright smile made Timothy feel right at home. She is tall for a woman, standing a few inches shorter than himself, with a build that suggests she spends most of her days working the farm.
She led him to an empty room just off the living area, “Wait here. I still have some of my eldest’s old clothes. Let me get them for you so you can change while I get those clothes cleaned.”
She returned a few minutes later, “Here we go,” and she dropped a basket with some worn but clean clothes on a chair in the room, “Put your dirty clothes in the basket when you finish.”
“Thank you Mrs. Dafro,” Timothy said.
“You’re welcome sweety,” She smiled and closed the door, giving him his privacy.
He and Nava returned to the living area at the same time, she was wearing a man’s clothes, probably Mrs. Dafro’s husband’s, which made sense. It was most likely the only clothes in the house that would fit her.
“Let me take those,” Mrs. Dafro said and grabbed the dirties, taking them to another room.
Timothy and Nava were standing in the living room in an uncomfortable silence waiting for Mrs. Dafro to return. Neither was too sure of the time, but they knew it was early and didn’t want to disturb the house. Especially since the crying had stopped.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
She returned to the room carrying a plate of fruits and vegetables, “Please sit,” and gestured to the couches and chairs in the room.
Timothy picked a comfortable looking chair in the center of the room near a oval coffee table made of a dark wood.
“I know Nava but I have never seen you before. Are you new in town?” Mrs. Dafro asked.
“My apologies. I am Timothy, and yes, I came into town last night and met Nava in the Tavern.”
“Well…I am glad you did,” she turned to Nava, “She is strong, but I don’t think she could have handled that howler without your help.”
Nava hesitantly nodded in agreement, looking up at Mrs. Dafro about to say something when she put her hand up, stalling Nava.
“That was not a criticism. I said that because I wanted to say thank you to both of you. I don’t believe either of you could have taken that thing without the other, you make a decent team. Don’t get me wrong, you need work, but it was a good start.”
“I agree with you,” Timothy added, “we need work, but nothing some training couldn’t resolve.”
“I don’t think so. He is weak,” Nava gestured toward Timothy, “and made some poor decisions during the fight,” she exhaled dramatically, “He is a caster that jumped into hand to hand with the howler. What caster does that?”
“Look! I thought you were in danger; I was trying to help!” Timothy interjected.
“Do you want me to feel gratitude to you because you did something stupid?” Nava said, standing up from the couch.
“No! But I do think you should be smart enough to recognize when someone is doing something to help verses something completely reckless,” Timothy stood to challenge Nava.
“BOTH OF YOU SIT DOWN!” Mrs. Dafro scolded, “You are acting like children! I expect immaturity like this from my youngest,” she turned her gaze on Nava, “Not from a woman of 25!” She then turned to Timothy, “Or a man of your age! What are you, 25 as well?”
Timothy was about to correct her on his age, but her stare changed into something that reminded him of his mother. The look dared him to say anything in response, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
“I said SIT DOWN!” She exploded.
Both stopped their bickering and sat down.
“I am not leaving this as an option,” She looked at Nava, “you will work with Timothy and figure this out,” she turned to Timothy, “Nava, has some experience in fights, you will listen to her.”
Timothy looked down at his hands in shame, “Yes mam,” and then looked at Nava, “I am sorry. Will you at least give me a chance to prove myself?”
Nava just stared at him.
“Let me make this proposal. Train with me for a few days and maybe we can come up with some strategies together. I think once we have an idea of how each of us moves in a fight, we may be able to work well together. For Christ’s sake, we were working well together until I stepped in, I shouldn’t have done that,” Timothy said to Nava.
She continued to stare at him for a few more moments and just as Timothy was about to abandon hope she nodded once, “Okay, let’s try. I will not waste too much time with you though. If I think you are not taking it seriously or that we will not be able to work together, then I am done.”
“That is all I can ask for,” Timothy retorted.
“And who is this Christ that you spoke about?” Nava Asked.
The question stammered Timothy, “eh…It is a saying from my country.”
Nava eyed him, knowing that he was hiding something.
Just then a large man, taller than Nava, came down the stairs and looked over the room before settling on Mrs. Dafro, “She is asleep,” and then he looked from her to Timothy, then Nava, “But she won’t be for long if you three do not keep your voices down.”
“Calm down Hugh,” Mrs. Dafro said, “These two still have a bit of the excitement from the fight running through them.”
Hugh is a mountain of a man with short red hair and a long red and gray bushy beard that started at his temples, reaching down to his chest. His wide shoulders and thick arms left Timothy without any doubts that this man worked on a farm for his entire life. He looked a few years older than Mrs. Dafro, but not much.
He turned to Mrs. Dafro, “Dolores,” he said in a calm, but stern voice, “Our daughter had quite the scare tonight, do not tell me to calm down. You were just as loud as these two, even louder at times, you know better.”
He turned to Timothy and started walking towards him, Timothy had to resist the urge to gulp in fear at the sight of such a large person approaching him, “I want to thank you,” Hugh’s face lightened up, just a bit, “I don’t know what that beast would have done if you two didn’t show up,” he offered his hand to Timothy.
“No thanks is necessary, but you are welcome,” Timothy said as the two shook hands.
Hugh looked down at the handshake, “Good! A man that knows how to give a proper handshake,” he said and smiled.
“Can I ask a few questions?” Timothy inquired as he looked back and forth from Doloras to Hugh.
“Sure,” Hugh replied.
Doloras gestured to the chair, “Please sit, I don’t know what we can answer for you, but we will try.”
Timothy, Doloras and Hugh all sat down in the chairs and couches in the living room, Nava stayed seated where she was.
“What happened tonight? Why was that howler attacking the door like that? I thought they only went after livestock.”
Hugh started off, “Normally, that is true,” he looked at his wife.
Doloras jumped in, “I think Francine, our youngest daughter, overheard us talking about how many of the animals we have lost to that beast. She has always been an adventurous child, climbing trees, wandering in the fields, chasing the animals around. I think she went out to see what was making the noise.”
Hugh cut in, “Excuse me Doloras, but that was not why she went outside. She told me why she did it when I was trying to calm her down. She wanted to help save the farm and the town by chasing the beast away, keeping the livestock safe. When the howler saw her on the porch it stopped going for the animals and charged her. She ran in and slammed the door shut. That is when the two of us woke up and ran down the stairs. That beast started ramming the door trying to get to her.”
“Has the howler ever done something like that before?” Timothy asked.
“No, but it has only been attacking the farm recently,” Doloras said.
“For how long?” Timothy added another question.
“Almost a month now,” Hugh answered.
“Have there been attacks like this in the past?”
“Like this, no,” Hugh said, “We have lost a few animals to howlers over the years, but nothing like this.”
Timothy sat back in contemplation.
“What is it?” Nava asked.
“I am not sure yet, give me some time to think about this,” Timothy said to Nava without looking at her, semi lost in his own thoughts.
The next few hours went by uneventful, Nava and the Dafro’s talking about this and that, while Timothy continued to run things over and over in his head. He would occasionally drop out of his thoughts and drift into the conversation for a little while before continuing to ponder the situation. Daylight eventually started poking its way through the curtains, brightening the room. Soon after the rest of the family woke and joined the four of them downstairs. Dolores excused herself and went to the kitchen, their second child, Mary, a girl in her late teens followed her mother there. The two prepared breakfast while the rest talked in the living room. When they all finished eating, they cleaned up and went back to the living room for a short time. Mary brought Nava and Timothy’s cleaned, dried clothes back to the room and the two got changed, said their goodbyes and left.
The two walked in silence for the first mile or so, then Nava gave him a light backhand slap on his arm.
“What is up with you?” She asked.
The backhand slap made him think of his walk with Gina as he accompanied her back to her apartment.
“Hello?” She looked down at him.
“Uh…Sorry. I can’t stop thinking about that howler.”
“You will get over it. It happens to most people after their first fight, especially when it leads to a kill.”
“Huh?...” Timothy said absently, “No. That’s not it.”
Nava was shocked at his response, “Then what is it?”
“It is too convenient,” he said, more to himself than to her.
“What is?”
Timothy stopped, Nava did the same, “The howler, the dwarves, the extreme cold,” He scratched his chin, looked down and kicked at some of the snow at his feet, “Maybe I am crazy, but I feel that there is a connection somehow.”
Nava furrowed her brow, “That is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, but all starting around the same time?” He paced, “Do you think they will let us talk to the dwarves?”
“I doubt it. I may be friendly with Brian, but I don’t think he would let that happen,” Nava said.
“Eh…I need more information. There are pieces to a puzzle here, but I do not have all of them yet,” Timothy said in frustration.
“I still think you are grasping at straws here.”
Timothy stopped pacing and stared at her, “Brian said it, ‘These three have been causing trouble for the past few weeks,’ How many weeks?”
“Three weeks or so,” Nava said with suspicion.
Timothy pointed at her, “Three weeks or so, huh? Would you say the ‘or so’ is on the higher side of the three weeks or closer to two weeks?”
Nava thought about that for a moment, “Closer to the month side of three weeks.”
“And you said the extreme cold started about a month ago, and the Dafro’s said the howler started attacking about three weeks ago. All three happening at the same time, it’s suspicious and too much of a coincidence for me. I need to talk to those dwarves,” he finished the last sentence as if he were thinking out loud, not talking to Nava.
“Sometimes things just happen,” Nava said and shivered a bit, “Let’s keep moving to the inn. Even I am getting cold.”
Timothy’s mind was racing so much so that he didn’t even realize how cold it was outside until Nava said something about it.
“Good call,” he said and the two started walking again, “Damnit! No!” He stopped again.
“What!?” Nava said with exasperation.
“Sometimes something happens, but, in my experience, when a bunch of things happen at the same time they are related. Somehow...” he trailed off but started walking again.
The two entered the tavern about ten minutes later and made their way over to the fireplace to warm their bones. The bar area was not crowded during this time of the morning, the lull between breakfast and lunch, and they were able to hang their jackets up near the hearth to dry them out. After warming up a bit they walked over to the bar and sat down on two of the stools.
Timothy looked at Nava, “I am tired, but I think I could use a drink before heading to bed, you want one? My treat.”
“Ya, I think I could use one too,” and she gave a quick gesture to Roric.
“Here is your cut of the loot,” he placed 20 copper coins on the bar top.
She eyed the coins and grabbed them so fast that Timothy looked around to see if anyone in the bar looked like the type to steal them. While his back was turned, looking around the room Nava said one word to him.
“Thanks.”
Timothy pulled two iron coins out and placed them on the bar for the two drinks while Roric was pouring them. He looked at the coins with disgust and flicked his head at Timothy. Timothy got the gist of what he was telling him and removed the coins, returning them to his coin purse. Roric placed the two mugs of ale on the bar top, a small stream of foam cascading down the side of the cups. Timothy and Nava grabbed their own mugs, clinked them together, and took long pulls from each before placing them back down on the bar.
Roric stood there, looking at the two, “Thank you for helping them,” he turned without waiting for a response and started wiping the bar.
“I guess we do make a decent team,” Nava said as she swirled a finger in her beer.
“You were right though, I made a lot of stupid decisions in that fight,” Timothy turned his head to look at her, “So…you really are open to training with me? It wasn’t just lip service to Mrs. Dafro?”
“Maybe. There are a few things we need to iron out first,” Nava said, not looking at him.
“Shoot.”
“First, no lies, no half-truths. If we are going to work with each other, we need to know each other.”
Hesitantly, Timothy responded, “um…Okay. I can do that under one condition of my own. There are certain things that stay between us and us only. Like the loot power.”
“Deal,” she paused, “First test, when you said that it was a saying from your country, that was a lie. What is the truth?”
Timothy looked around the bar, they were the only two in the establishment other than Roric and he had disappeared into the back.
“Okay,” his shoulders slumped, “That was not really a lie since it is a saying from my country. Now this is going to be hard to believe…” he looked at her.
“Try me,” Nava said.
“The country I am from is not from this world, or realm, or dimension. Hell, I am not even sure of that, but it is not on Draconous,” he said sheepishly.
Nava sat back, watching his body language as he spoke, “I believe you, or I at least believe that you believe it. I want to know more about this and your loot power, but we should probably move this to a more private location.”
“Where? This place is nice, but I did notice that the walls are not all that insulated from sound.”
“Not here, when we go out to train. I know a place that is pretty much wide open, so we can see anyone approaching,” Nava said in a low tone.
Timothy nodded and looked to his beer again, picked it up and drained the remnants as Nava did the same. The two decided to get a few hours of rest before going out to the fields to train together. Timothy found Roric coming back from the kitchen and requested the room for another night. Roric repeated the gesture from the night before, pushing the five coins back to Timothy. He smiled and nodded to Roric and started to head up the stairs. When he opened his hand up there were six coins in his palm.