The riders were dismounting from their horses as Goliath, Tia, and Mirabelle walked up to the other group. There were three new people: one man dressed in a fancy black suit with a top hat and monocle, and two others trailing slightly behind him, wearing guard uniforms and armed with spears.

‘Well, ho there!’ the man in the top hat called. ‘I didn’t realise the settlement of Cursed End had been reclaimed! Oh, you must be the “lucky” founder!” Holding out his hand, he walked up to the neatly dressed Alan.

Alan shook his head, stepped away from the man’s hand, and said, ‘I’m sorry, sir, I’m not the founder. Let me see if I can find him for you quick.’

‘No worries, he’s right over here,’ Isaac spoke as he stepped forward and pointed to Goliath.

‘Cursed End?’ Benji whispered loudly enough for all to hear and got shushed by Grandma Manon.

‘Ah, yes, Cursed End,’ the man said with a delighted little laugh. ‘Didn’t your founder tell you the settlement’s name? I suppose finding willing vic.., ah, inhabitants are not always easy.’

‘And I believe men make their own luck,’ Goliath said, stepping forward. ‘I am Goliath, the founder. Welcome to our village, mister … ?’

‘Mayor. Mayor Marbles from Marbleville, your settlement neighbour over to the south. How nice to meet you, soldier, and is this your lovely daughter?’ The mayor did not offer his hand to Goliath.

‘Yes, indeed, this is Mirabelle, my daughter,’ Goliath replied, patting Mirabelle’s head where she stood beside him.

Pointing to the rest of the people, he continued, ‘And these travellers were our guests last night.’

‘Guests, you say?’ There was a predatory glint in the mayor’s eyes as he looked again at the little traveller group.

‘OUR settlement guests are welcome, VERY WELCOME, guests,’ Tia added, staring at the mayor.

‘Why thank you, assistant, I am honoured to meet you too.’

‘No, that’s not what I meant.’

‘Well, Mayor Marbles, we were just about to prepare our morning meal,’ Isaac spoke. ‘Would you like to join us?’

‘How can I refuse?’ the mayor laughed, a momentary grimace crossing his face as he looked at the porridge pot.

<>

Everyone sat in a circle eating breakfast while Isaac and Alan quizzed the mayor about the area, and the rest listened to his answers. It didn’t surprise Goliath to notice the mayor deftly emptying his porridge bowl behind a rock when he thought no one was looking. Gwyn caught his eye, and he laughed as she subtly rolled her eyes. No one else noticed, and the mayor clanged down the spoon with satisfaction, loudly declaring how good the porridge was. Goliath also noticed that the mayor’s two guards hadn’t joined the breakfast. They were still standing at attention, one by the horses and one behind Mayor Marbles where he was “eating”.

‘Mirabelle no like hat man,’ Mirabelle spoke. Luckily, all other attention was still on the mayor and his description of the seasons.

‘I agree. But, Mirabelle, you shouldn’t say that out loud. At least not where our guests can hear it.’

‘Why not?’ said Tia, joining their conversation. ‘I don’t like him either. He’s trying to steal our villagers.’

‘Please Tia, they are not our villagers. They can talk to whoever they want and go wherever they please.’

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘Yes, and if you had only made them villagers last night, we wouldn’t have this problem now.’

‘I like them. They no go away.’ Mirabelle said, gazing at the little group and especially Ana.

Goliath sighed. It would be hard to go their separate ways. Mirabelle was growing on him, but it was simply not practical for him to travel with a kid. Not that he knew enough of kids to even try. Mirabelle would have a good home with Ana and Isaac. They’ll probably judge him for abandoning his “daughter”, but he could live with that as long as she was cared for and safe.

He was also a bit worried about Tia’s possessiveness of the travellers. He had never seen a settlement assistant display these kinds of emotions before. He wasn’t sure whether they were supposed to possess them at all. His previous assistant had certainly never shown a side like this. In fact, he didn’t believe she had ever done anything other than follow his instructions. If he had asked her, he guessed she might have admitted that more inhabitants were a good thing. Openly saying this and plotting to make them villagers, he believed, would’ve been out of her bounds. Not to mention the troubling settlement name of Cursed End.

He turned to Tia and questioned, ‘The name of this settlement is Cursed End?’

‘No. Ah, yes.’ She paused, looking upward at nothing as she recalled, her image shimmering slightly. ‘This settlement’s name is listed as Cursed End. But that wasn’t what it was called. It used to be called … ah … I don’t know. It’s name is now Cursed End.’

‘You don’t remember what it used to be called?’

‘Correct. My memories of the big disaster and before are very fragmented. The memory reconstruction protocol is underway but taking a long time.’

Yes, that’s right. He remembered seeing the phrase “big disaster” when he reviewed her log after his arrival. And then he was distracted by Mirabelle’s situation and their guests arriving.

‘You’re talking about your settlement’s name, aren’t you?’ Mayor Marbles chipped in. The travellers also perked up with interest.

‘Why yes, I became the founder so recently; I have to admit I don’t know much about the area’s past. Since your town’s territory neighbours on this settlement’s, do you know anything about its history?’

‘Unfortunately, not much more than its name, but everyone here knows to avoid it. Especially when the eldritch lights appear in the sky.’

‘Eldritch lights?’ Alan questioned. ‘What do you mean?’

Grandma Manon had also woken from her doze and was leaning forward with a sudden interest.

‘There are times, especially on the nights when the seasons turn, when rays of light shoot up from this area. It makes for a pretty display if you’re watching from afar, but everyone knows to stay away. Strange things happen here when the lights flare. Over the years people have gone missing, strangers appear with no memory of their past or babbling strange stories about faraway worlds, and sometimes there are even monsters running rampant. Yes sirree, this is not a safe place, that’s for sure.’

The travellers were muttering under themselves, looking quite alarmed. Goliath was troubled too. He had heard of similar things in places where the worst wizard battles had occurred. His company had even been around once to see a giant monster, which looked like a cross between a monkey and a snake, unfurl and climb through a crack in the sky during the heat of a wizard offensive. It was a terrifying experience he didn’t like to dwell on.

‘But do not worry, travellers, we have plenty of space in our safe town if you need a place to stay. Founder, you could even transfer Cursed End over to our jurisdiction and be rid of it completely. No one would judge you for it, not one bit. Extra land in a territory is always welcome, even if it is haunted, and I could use another guard for the town.’

Everyone jumped as Tia suddenly broke in, yelling, ‘No, No! You will not steal the Founder’s land!’ She advanced on the mayor ominously while her image shimmered and flared, with him hastily backing away as he raised his hands.

‘Steal? No! I don’t want to steal the land! Founder Goliath! Control your assistant!’

Goliath actually thought it a bit amusing seeing the man unnerved by Tia, but he supposed he had to do something as “ founder “.

‘Tia, stop! Get away from the man!’

‘But he’s trying to take the founder’s settlement!’

‘It’s fine, let me handle it.’

‘No! I will not let him!’

Mirabelle started crying, saying, ‘Tia scary.’

‘Tia, stop and listen to the founder,’ Goliath commanded. She gasped, looking from Mirabelle to Goliath. Her colours dimmed and, suddenly, she disappeared. Ana rushed over to console Mirabelle, Goliath also bending down to rub her back.

‘Well, well.’ Mayor Marbles said. ‘I’m so very sorry. You just learned that your town is cursed, and now it looks like the assistant is faulty too.’

He didn’t sound very sympathetic. There was more of an undercurrent of glee to his words, which Goliath fully understood once he spoke again.

‘Travellers, if you don’t feel safe here, please remember my offer to join my town. Everything is normal over there, and you’ll live good lives. But now, I think I’d better go. I have some other matters to attend to.’

‘Yes,’ Goliath agreed. ‘That would be for the best.’

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