Lady Ella Rosethorn had insisted that they stop back at her home before leaving so she could see the powerful dress they had created. Neither Gromphy nor Esther wanted to delay returning home and did not intend to abide by that promise. Neither of the characters was Honest, so it wasn’t a problem. Ella disagreed.
After they sold the carriage to the first person who would give them a handful of gold for it, they made their way toward the north side of the city where the travel node was but were stopped in the street by two large men. Esther recognized them as guards from Ella’s study.
“Our mistress demands an audience before you leave town,” one of them said. “That was part of the arrangement.”
“I’m sorry, boys,” Esther quipped, “but we are exhausted and need to get back home. Just let us pass, and I won’t have to kill you.”
Both men chuckled and then turned into werewolves.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Esther muttered as she dove out of the way of a claw attack. She rolled fifteen feet and came up with both blades drawn. She was about to charge the one facing her when a high-pitched squeal stopped her. It sounded like a pig. She turned her head to see it was a goblin. He kind of looked like a pig, hoisted above the gaping jaws of a wolf, but he wasn’t dressed like one.
“Take one more step toward us with those blades drawn,” the other werewolf said, “and your friend is dead.”
“The dress your mistress wants to see is in his inventory. If you eat him, she’ll have to cut you open to get it back.”
The creature holding Gromphy adjusted his grip so he could wring the neck of the goblin instead of biting him. Esther sighed and sheathed her weapons. “I will come peacefully,” she said.
The guards weren’t taking any chances. They transformed back into men, but one kept Gromphy in the air, Grappled in his strong hands. The other tried to put a hand on Esther, but she bared her fangs at him, and he stepped back.
The walk to the Rosethorn estate took several minutes, and the butler opened the door for them. “How nice to have you two fine adventurers back in our home. Were you successful?”
“Can it, Slim,” Esther said, no time for small talk. “We have an appointment this time. Just take us to her.”
“As you wish.”
The group made their way silently through the house. Esther knew the way and marched confidently around the ornate furniture and past the paintings and statues that filled the hallways. A guard followed close behind, wary of the volatile woman’s intentions. His friend still held Gromphy securely in his arms, the goblin putting up no struggle. The butler trailed behind, ensuring they didn’t disturb the pristine décor that was his responsibility.
Ella was waiting for them in her study. “You have returned so soon. This is a pleasant surprise. Were you successful? I must see the dress.”
Esther stopped when she was ten feet from the woman’s desk, her displeasure clearly displayed. Ella waited for Gromphy to be set down on his feet and then for her guards to leave. “Why the dour face? Was it not a delightful party?”
“The people they are killing,” Esther started, “where did they come from?”
Ella shrugged. “From all over. There are several cities less than a day’s travel from here. The largest being Shark River Port.”
Esther flinched at the name. That was the city where she had first met Atrax. “And they will all . . . respawn?” She wasn’t comfortable using the terminology she had heard Jace use. It still felt unnatural, even if she had evidence for it.
Ella laughed. “Is that what is bothering you? A vampire with a conscience. Everything in the realms has a purpose. My job here is to facilitate adventures in their quests and to serve the Madam of this town loyally. You had a purpose in Portsmith before your master ripped you out of there. Now you drift about without a reason for being. Those humans you seem to cherish have a purpose too, and right now, it is to feed the many guests Imani has invited to his party. Whether they do that from serving trays or their very bodies matters little. They are fulfilling their purpose. It is what the gods of these realms demand of them.”
“No god that I serve.”
“One that you used to,” Ella replied, able to sense that she was a fallen angel.
“You haven’t answered my question,” Esther said, not wanting to discuss her past. “Will they respawn?”
“Why this sudden interest? You have killed many in your lifetime, no? What is it about what you just saw that has you so troubled? Did you learn something about yourself that you didn’t like?”
Esther wasn’t going to ask again. She only stood there with her arms crossed.
The witch sighed. “Likely yes, though not as they are now. They are fodder, minions, unimportant souls who exist on the edges of every city. When they die, new ones are summoned. They don’t look exactly the same or have the same names. Some aren’t even named, but they all serve the same purpose. They are necessary when the king musters his loyal subjects for war. They fill the stalls at each local festival. And they are food when a powerful predator wishes to have a party. They live, they are killed, and they are forgotten. But the realms will never run out, and you should not waste tears on them.”
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
The older woman stepped around her desk and stood before Esther. “There is one exception, however. If they are used in a binding spell, their essence is tied up in an enchantment that remains after their death, and their souls are not recycled. They will exist forever, locked in place between the demonic realm and ours. That means whomever you killed to curse that dress will not respawn. So who is the greater evil? One who kills worthless minions who return repeatedly, marching to their fates like lemmings? Or one who takes a sentient character and binds their soul to a magical item at the whims of their master?”
Esther had no answer for the wise woman but didn’t soften her visage.
Ella continued to stare at the rogue but reached her hand toward Gromphy. “I’ll see that dress now.”
The goblin obeyed, produced the garment, and handed it over. The witch shivered in anticipation as the powerful item touched her hand. “My, but you did a fabulous job with this. Whom did you kill?” she asked, still staring at Esther. “This wasn’t a human. It must have been one of Imani’s guests. I bet he was upset about that. Who was it?”
“She served a purpose,” Esther replied coldly.
“Tsk, tsk,” Ella replied, returning to stand behind the desk. “You can’t have it both ways, my child.”
Esther riled at the youthful monicker, guessing she was several centuries older than the woman before her.
“Either you are a monster who plays the game or a minion against whom the game is played.”
“And if I want to be a Player?”
Ella shook her head. “But you aren’t and never will be. Jace might direct you, but you will never become him.” She paused as if she wanted to say more but shook her head. “Enough of this nonsense.” She held up the dress and cooed. “Incredible. I can feel the power rolling off it. Have you tested it yet?”
Gromphy shook his head. “We have come straight to thee, as thou hast requested.”
She glared at him through the corner of her eye, knowing that her guards had tracked them down trying to leave. “I suppose you would need a fire mage to know if the protection lasted more than one round. Do you deal in fire?”
Esther was confused but then played back in her mind the conversation Gromphy and Ella had earlier. The goblin had lied about everything, implying that the dress already had an enchantment that did 100 damage each round and that he wanted to reverse it. So now Ella must think the dress she held would protect against 100 points of fire damage every round.
Gromphy pulled a firebomb from his vest, playfully tossed it in the air, and caught it. “I do.”
“Excellent,” she said. The witch turned around for privacy, and Esther saw her bare back for a few seconds before Ella spun around to model the slim-fitting gown. She flaunted more curves through the deep V-neck than Draya would, but Esther wasn’t impressed and looked forward to the next part of Gromphy’s wickedly clever plan.
“Now I activate it, and you attack,” she said. “I should easily survive the first strike if it doesn’t . . .” but her voice trailed off as 100 points of damage flared through the dress, the rubies burning with fire. “That’s strange,” she said, barely hurt. She apparently had innate elemental protection. “That is the curse it had when you first showed it to me. But it feels so much more. . .” Fire surged through her again, eating away the last of her protections and doing slight damage.
“No,” she said to herself, half closing her eyes and going into her inventory to see the true nature of the dress. The next burst did a full 100 damage to her health. “You fools!” she cried. “You think this will stop me? I can summon creatures that can . . .” Whatever spell she tried to cast was interrupted by another wave of fire, and she failed her Concentration roll. She tried to take the dress off, but it was cursed.
“Lobo! Lupus! Get in here!”
The two werewolves raced into the room but saw nothing amiss at first. “Get this dress off me!” Ella cried. The men didn’t understand but ran past Esther and Gromphy toward their mistress, slashing at the gown with their claws. The enchanted garment wasn’t going anywhere.
“Perhaps I may assist,” Gromphy said, popped out his trunk, and began rummaging through the contents.
Esther heard the witch cry out twice more in pain and guessed she couldn’t last much longer. Still, the werewolves slashed at her with reckless abandon, probably doing as much damage as the dress.
“Ah, I have it,” Gromphy announced, holding a green potion. “To remove the curse.”
“Give it to me!” Ella screamed, pushing her guards aside. The goblin tossed her the vial, and she drank it without thinking. It wasn’t the antidote to the curse; instead, a cloud of green vapor enveloped the woman. Esther took a step back, but the wolves weren’t fast enough. They took one whiff of the spell and fell to the floor in a deep sleep.
Ella saved against the magic but didn’t have the energy to lash out at the goblin for yet another trick. Instead, she stumbled out of the cloud and leaned heavily against her desk, gasping in pain. Esther felt it safe to approach. “Will you respawn?” she asked innocently, leaning over the table's far side so their faces were inches apart. Ella gritted her teeth in agony as another wave of fire coursed through her. “Do you serve a purpose? Or are you just a monster?”
Ella started a response, but the last of her health burned away, and she fell hard against the desk, her body bouncing to the side and finding the floor. Esther walked around and looked at the witch. No evident burn marks or smoke rose from the woman. The fire had been entirely internal. Esther remembered the pain when she had drunk from the fire drakes. She had been able to heal that damage as she drank, but if she hadn’t, it would have burned her from the inside out.
“Thou shouldst be able to remove it now,” Gromphy said, keeping his voice down. The wolves snored loudly a few feet away. “With the body dead, the curse is broken.”
Esther understood, knelt beside the woman, and removed the dress from the Helpless witch. Ella lay mostly naked on the floor, and Esther thought it was fitting. Let the next group of adventurers find her like this. Esther walked over to Gromphy and gave him the dress, wanting nothing to do with it. “Do you have an antidote to remove the curse?”
“I will,” the goblin replied. He closed his trunk and returned it to his inventory.
They didn’t say another word to each other as they left the study, exited the house, and made their way through the quiet city. Several minutes later, Esther looked at the bulletin board next to the travel node, remembering that she had found a bounty for the salamander they had killed earlier. She wondered if something was there for fire drakes, but there wasn’t. Without lingering longer in the cursed town, they activated the travel node and left.
The End
----------------------------------------
If you want to remind yourself of what happened immediately after this, you can go to Chapter 33 of the second book, where Jace, Draya, and Psycho walk in on Esther and Gromphy fighting. Book 2: Chapter 33
Thank you for reading. I will be posting the second short story soon. I already have the third written. Please consider following this story to be alerted when the next one posts. And if you are willing to favorite the story or leave a good rating, I would really appreciate it.