Timothy and Nava approached the farmhouse as the sun was setting on the small town. The amber light on the horizon made the sky look as if it was on fire, which was in stark contrast to the bitter cold wind coming from the east. There was a large firepit in the front yard ablaze with reddish-orange light and a spit above the fire. The meat was being rotated by the Dafro’s oldest son, Larry, when they approached.
Larry squinted through the firelight at the two approaching and when he noticed that Nava was carrying the sleeping child a grin split his face.
His voice was similar to his father’s, deep and resonant, “You found her,” he said in a soft tone to avoid waking his little sister.
“She found us,” Nava replied quietly. Her hand moved up to stroke the child’s hair, “We took her sledding for a while.”
“It looks like you tired her out, good, let her rest up a bit. Dinner will be ready soon,” Larry said in that same soft tone.
Nava moved towards the front door and entered the house while Timothy moved over to the firepit to warm up.
“You mind if I stand here and warm up a bit?” Timothy asked Larry.
“Not at all. This log is dry, take a seat,” Larry gestured to a large log laying on its side next to him.
“Thanks,” Timothy sat down as started warming his hands by the fire.
“I should be the one thanking you since I didn’t get a chance to properly say it earlier,” Larry paused for a second before continuing, “Thank you for what you did for us this morning. That beast has been terrorizing the livestock for weeks and I don’t know how many losses we could have endured through the winter. Especially with how cold it has been lately.”
“No sweat. Nava did most of the work, I was just there as support,” Timothy said.
“Na… She is a good fighter and a tough woman but that howler would have torn her to pieces without you. They are vicious creatures and, from what I hear, would have seriously hurt or killed her if you were not there. She has become a part of this family and a sister to me, I will never forget what you did for us all.”
Timothy rubbed his hands together to spread the warmth from his palms over his hands, “How long has she been here?”
Larry looked to the darkened sky in contemplation, “Gods, what? Maybe ten years.”
“You know that she is worried what Francine will think of her once she is old enough to understand that she is not her real sister?” Timothy asked.
Larry nodded somberly, “I do,” he checked the doorway before continuing, “I have talked to her about this. She has nothing to worry about, that little girl loves her with her heart and soul. That will not change when she gets older.”
“That’s good to hear from you, someone that is an actual part of the family,” Timothy winced when he saw the look that Larry turned toward him.
“She is a part of our family!” He said with total conviction, “You will not put thoughts like that into her head. She is already struggling with it, without you adding to her doubt.”
Timothy dropped his head to his chest, “My apologies. I did not mean that, the way it sounded, it was a poor choice of words. All I meant is, that it is nice that you all have,” he paused, searching for the best choice of words, “brought her in and made her a part of the family. So much so that the thought of her being treated as anything but family is offensive.”
Larry thought over Timothy’s words then nodded in agreement, then changed the subject, “Are you two staying for dinner?”
“I don’t think so. While we were walking back, she said she had to work tonight, so I think we are heading back to the tavern once she is done putting Francine to bed.”
Larry’s expression saddened, “I wish she was able to have dinner with us more often, but I can’t complain too much, Roric has been good to her.”
“Why doesn’t she work the farm with you?” Timothy asked.
Larry laughed at that.
“What’s so funny?”
Larry composed himself and was about to answer Timothy’s question when he was cut off by Nava.
“Because every plant I touch dies and the animals never seem to like me,” she said. Neither Timothy nor Larry saw her approach.
Larry chuckled and shook his head, “She is not lying,” he looked at her, “You are a terrible farmer,” and he started laughing again.
“But I punch things really well,” she eyed Larry and he started to stifle his laughter, though he did not try too hard to hide it.
Nava continued, “Speaking of which, we really need to get going. I need to work the door soon and I want to clean up first.”
“Be well sis,” Larry said and pulled her into a hug. Her body relaxed and she returned the sentiment. This left Timothy feeling a bit awkward, so he moved his gaze to the fire and started warming his hands again.
“You too,” Nava said to her brother and then looked at Timothy, “Let’s go Tim,” she said and started walking away.
Timothy got up and hustled after her, giving Larry a wave as he did.
When he caught up to Nava he cleared his throat, “Um…Nava.”
“Yes?”
“I really do prefer Timothy, not Tim,” he said to her.
She turned her head towards him and looked him up and down. A smirk touched the corners of her lips, “Okay…” she paused, “Tim.”
“So, it’s gonna be like that, huh?” Timothy said sarcastically.
“Like what?” She retorted, the grin growing on her face.
“The name Timothy has a lot of meaning to me,” He looked away from her, his head down, “In my family it is an honor to be given that name. It has been used for generation after generation, always given to the first-born son. I feel that shortening the name somehow… I don’t know… cheapens the meaning of the name to me and my family,” Nava stopped walking to look at him and it looked like she was about to say something, but Timothy waved her off and continued, “Even though they are not a part of this world I would like to keep the tradition going. Could you please call me Timothy?”
Nava’s regret was written all over her body language, “I didn’t know. I will.”
Timothy started laughing hysterically and Nava’s shame turned into utter confusion.
“I am just messing with you,” he continued to laugh, “But seriously, everyone but my girlfriend calls meeeeee…”
Nava used one hand to lift him off the ground and throw him into a snow drift a few feet away. Thankfully the snow was as soft as a pillow, and he sunk into the drift by a foot or more. He struggled to get himself unstuck and get to his feet. When he did, he saw Nava walking away from him down the street, she glanced back at him and stifled a snicker.
“You didn’t pick up on that lie, did you!” Timothy jeered at her.
“Nope,” she said as she turned around chuckling to herself.
Timothy looked at his clothes, he was covered from head to toe in the fine white snow. He must look ridiculous, he thought to himself and started laughing again.
As soon as Timothy returned to the tavern, he retired to his room to remove his cold clothes, now damp from the snow that melted into the fabric. There was a small cast iron wood stove off in the corner with a pile of wood next to it. He approached the stove and rummaged around for something to start a fire with, he found a tinder box with a flint and steel.
“Well… I guess there is a first time for everything,” he said to the empty room.
After trying, and failing, over and over again to light the fire he gave in and decided to try another approach.
“Screw this,” he said and tossed the flint and steel back into the box.
He pulled his gem bag out and exchanged the water gem for the fire gem. He thought about what he was going to do, breaking every last detail down to its minor components. Rift had told him that casters could learn as many spells as they wanted, could he invent a spell on the fly? It may not be the best time or place for him to try and figure it out, but he was cold and all his thoughts were on warming up.
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He pulled in the slightest trickle of fire magic through the gem and started to shape it with his mana. He visualized the small fire leaving his hand and arcing to the tinder at the base of the wood in the stove. He released the spell.
“Match,” he said.
A small ball of intense red light streaked from his hand and entered the stove. With a loud whoosh, the small ball of light exploded, blowing all the wood out of the stove. It covered Timothy in black soot, splinters and shards of wood.
“Well, that didn’t work like I expected,” he shook his head.
He stood up and started brushing himself off when his door burst open.
“Are you okay?” Nava said.
Timothy turned around, “Um… yeh.”
She burst into laughter at the site of him, turned around and left the room.
“Heh, I made her laugh twice today. I guess I need to keep this self-deprecating behavior up,” he said quietly to himself.
“One thing I won’t do is let one failure stop me. I may not have learned how to start a small fire, but I do believe I discovered how to make a tiny fireball spell. This could come in handy,” he thought out loud, “And I need to stop talking to myself.”
Timothy pulled out his tablet and looked at his mana on his character sheet, there were nineteen points left, Okay, I used one point of mana on that spell. One point of fire mana caused a small explosion.
He scratched his chin, Think dammit, think! You had science classes in school.
He paced around the room a bit, Reaction rate! That’s it, reaction rate. I need to take that into account.
He stared at the stove, I don’t know how much energy was released, but I know I need to slow the release of energy down to get a slower, longer burn from the spell.
Timothy sat down in front of the stove again and thought about what he was going to do with the spell running it over and over again in his head. He was going to create an end point for the spell below the tinder and use a slow trickle of magic to create a fire under it. His plan was to let the magic trickle out of him over five seconds, that should be a good starting point. If he needs to adjust the flow after that he could, but he should avoid blowing himself up.
He started in a similar way to when he created the tiny fireball, opening up to the magic and shaping it with his mana. His mana created a funnel for the magic to flow through and a line for it to follow into the stove. A glowing red ember formed in the tinder and grew in intensity, smoke started billowing out of it. After three seconds or so a tiny flame burst out and licked at the kindling. When the magic ran out and the fire had started, he sat back in amazement at what he had just accomplished.
Timothy grabbed a small rack from the closet in the room and laid his clothes out on it to dry by the fire. He then spent a few minutes warming up by the fire, adding wood as needed, then went to the baths to get cleaned up. When he returned, he put on another set of clothes that he had in his pack and made his way downstairs.
It looked like the dinner crowd was making its way into the tavern now and most of the tables were filling up with patrons. He saw Nava over by the front door and Candice over at one of the tables taking orders. Roric was behind the bar working one of the taps, filling a mug with beer.
“Should I mess with her again?” Timothy said to himself under his breath, “Yeh, definitely.”
He walked by the bar, towards the front door, Nava eyed him as he approached, but Timothy ignored her and stepped outside. He immediately turned around and flashed a goofy grin at Nava.
“I would like to enter the tavern for dinner,” he said to her in the best matter-of-fact tone he could muster, holding back the grin.
She grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the bar and past her, slapping him in the back of the head as she did.
“Get in here,” she said with a smile.
Timothy rubbed the back of his head, “Thanks. I guess.”
“Go get a table before they all fill up,” she said with a dismissive wave, but the corners of her mouth were curling into a grin.
“Yes mam,” he replied, his voice dripping with mock contempt.
“Again!” the two heard from the area of the dining room. Candice was storming over to Nava, “He was barely in the door, and you hit him already!”
Timothy rushed over in-between the two, “Candice, it’s all good. We spent the day together and got our differences settled. That was just some playful banter.”
Candice wheeled on him, a look of bewilderment on her face.
“Wait a second!” Timothy put a hand up, “Not like that! Mrs. Dafro made us train together after fighting a howler last night, or um…early this morning. Whatever time it was.”
Candice’s expression changed to astonishment, “That was you that helped her?”
“Yes, he did,” Nava broke into the conversation.
Timothy jumped in, “Turns out we make a decent team in a fight.”
“Well… I am good, but he still needs work,” Nava said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“That’s good to know,” Candice stated, “There have been a lot of people asking who helped her out.”
“Ya, it was this guy,” Nava thumbed in Timothy’s direction, “Turns out you were right about him.”
Candice stood there dumbfounded. That was the closest thing to an apology that she had ever heard come from Nava’s lips.
Timothy stood there in stark amazement at the two women, shook his head and turned to find a table, leaving the two women behind. As luck would have it, the table from last night was empty and he walked towards it and sat down. He looked around once again and over the crowd then to the stage. The stage looked like it was set up for more of a performance tonight, there were multiple instruments set up on stands waiting for the performers.
“I don’t remember telling you that you could sit here,” Timothy heard Candice say, he turned his head to look at her.
“You’re messing with me, right?”
She couldn’t hold back, and a smile crossed her face.
“I am,” she blushed a little, “sorry.”
He chuckled, “Don’t worry about it. A dry sense of humor is good, reminds me of,” he caught himself before he continued, “performances I watched as a kid. Hell, I still enjoy those performances.”
“What are the names of those stories? Oh! And what would you like to order?”
“I doubt that you have heard of them, they are put on by a group called Monty Python,” Timothy paused for a moment and Candice shook her head, “I didn’t think so, they are from a long way away, like me. Anyway, I would like the same thing as last night. I never got to finish that steak, and I want a second crack at it.”
“Very well!” She said with exuberance, “Would you like the beer again too?”
“Of course!”
The band started taking the stage when his food arrived and were tuning their instruments. The bard from last night looked like he was a member of this larger band taking the stage, which was a good thing in Timothy’s opinion, he was very talented, and he wanted to hear more.
Timothy was about halfway through his meal when a short, somewhat overweight man in a top hat, long black coat, black trousers and a white shirt walked through the front door. Many of the patrons turned and looked at him. He gave a slight nod to Nava and removed his hat as he entered the establishment. He placed his hat and coat on a rack near the door, he was wearing a black suit vest under the coat. Timothy had to admit that the man looked sharp.
The man leaned in and said something to Nava. She pulled back and looked around the room until her gaze fell on Timothy, then she pointed his way. The man smiled and started making his way toward Timothy, but he took every opportunity to stop and shake hands with people as he did. He eventually arrived at Timothy’s table and bowed slightly.
“Good evening master Tim, I am the mayor of this little town. My name is Johnathan, Johnathan Tims.”
Timothy stood up and offered a hand to the mayor, “Nice to meet you Mr. mayor, I am Timothy Marshal. Not to be rude, but I do prefer Timothy.”
“My apologies,” Johnathan looked aghast, “Nava told me your name was Tim.”
“She did, did she?”
“Oh dear! I hope I did not cause an issue?” The mayor said with worry in his tone.
Timothy laughed, “Not at all, but I think her and I now have a little game going. I will get her back, don’t worry about that.”
The mayor leaned in and whispered to Timothy, “Please leave me out of it,” he glanced over his shoulder at her then turned back to Timothy, “She scares me.”
“You and me both,” He gestured to the other chair, “Please, take a seat.”
“Thank you,” said the mayor, and the two sat down at the small table.
“What can I help you with?” Timothy asked.
“My dear boy, I do not need any help. I wanted to stop by and say thank you to you and Nava. I heard what you did for the Dafro’s, and in turn, the town. Your services should help us make it through this cold snap that we are having,” the mayor told Timothy.
“Oh, that. Don’t worry about it, I am glad it all worked out. Truthfully, I had no idea that it would be this big of a deal. I mean, the mayor showing up to say thank you…wow!” Timothy said.
“This is a small town. Everyone knows everyone and almost everything affects the town in one way or another,” the mayor replied.
Timithy looked down at his food and then back to Johnathan, “Forgive me, I am being rude. Would you like me to ask Candice over so you can order something?”
Mayor Johnathan started chuckling, his belly shaking, and his cheeks turned a shade of pink. Timothy thought he looked like a younger version of Santa Claus and was half expecting to hear him say Ho-Ho-Ho, but to his disappointment he did not.
Johnathan composed himself and waved his hand, “No, no, but thank you. I think I have had a few too many steaks from this place,” he patted his belly, “I just wanted to stop by and personally thank you and let you know that if you need anything, let me know. If it is in my power, I will make it happen.”
Timothy sat back in his chair, “You know, there is one thing.”
“Name it.”
Timothy took the opportunity, “Is there any chance I could talk to the McManus brothers?”
Johnathan tapped his finger on the table as he thought about the request, “I think so. There is a sub-section on the books that allows me to make special requests and inquiries regarding people being detained for breaking the law. Let me double check the law tonight and I will confirm with you in the morning. How does that sound?”
“That sounds good to me,” Timothy said.
“I must ask. Why do you want to question them?”
“I have been told that their behavior has changed over the past few weeks. I want to find out why. What was the trigger?” Timothy informed the mayor.
“That sounds reasonable, but why are you interested?”
“Eh…I am a curious person. It is a question that has been nagging at me since I got some of their story and I won’t sleep right until I know,” Timothy said to the mayor, giving him half the truth.
He really wanted to see if there was something that could tangentially tie to the other events going on. He didn’t want to start any conspiracy theories yet, so he wanted to play this a little close to the vest, even though he had already said something to Nava.
“You know what? I could go for some dinner,” Johnathan said.
Timothy got Candice’s attention so the mayor could place his order, it came out quick. Really quick. The two ate and talked for a while as the band played on the stage. They were good. The entire place was enjoying the performance. When the band took their first break Timothy excused himself for the night and tried to put the coin down for his meal. Johnathan refused to let him pay and thanked him again for his help. The two shook hands, then Timothy headed for the stairs and went to his room for the night.
His initial plan was to grab a quick bite to eat, then return to his room and look through his tablet again, but he was just too tired. He was downstairs far longer than he intended, but he was glad he stayed, making connections was never a bad thing, but now his eyelids felt like steel weights. They were shutting on their own and he decided to listen to his body and lay down for the night. Everything else could wait until the morning.