After my prayer in thanks for the food, the entire barn had fallen quiet and not just the slightly drunken man. The pulse of mana and Presence was helped by all three of us and our intent, so it spread much farther than the normal ten feet and covered the entire barn. The woman that served us stood beside us with wide eyes and barely breathed at the display.
“That worked a lot better than I thought it was going to.” I said, and both Maylia and Afyne laughed.
We started to eat our food and it tasted really good, and the woman drifted away to tend to the other people. I introduced Afyne to the joys of eating a good bread bun and showed her how to tear it apart properly and dip it in the stew to use it almost like a spoon. I made sure she knew to be careful so she wouldn't splash it onto her dress, too. She copied me and Maylia joined in, and we had a great time talking and eating. A few minutes later, the rest of the people resumed eating as well.
“That was great.” I said when we were done eating, then sat back as I raised a hand. “Check, please.”
“Check you?” Maylia laughed. “What are you saying?”
I laughed, too. “Where I come from, it means I'm done eating and I want to pay the bill.”
“You have a lot of odd sayings where you come from.” Maylia said.
“Where do you come from?” Afyne asked.
I was about to answer when I thought that this wasn't the right place to share that kind of information. “I'll answer that when we're back in the room.” I said and turned to wave at the woman. “I'm ready to pay for the food.”
The woman walked over to us and her face was blank. “Please, don't.”
“What?” I looked at her with wide eyes.
“You've been touched by the divine.” The woman said and ducked her head. “We all felt it.”
“Why would that make the food free?” I asked. “The expensive restaurant tried to say the same thing.”
“Please accept the offering.” The woman said and bowed slightly. “We don't want to offend you or your god by asking you to pay.”
“Don't bow to me.” I said and stood up. “I'm just an adventurer.”
“Please, don't be angry.” The woman said and tried to bow over more.
I caught her and stood her up straight. “I said not to do that.”
“I'm sorry that you're unhappy with me.” The woman said and ducked her head to her chest and several tears formed in her eyes.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked.
“This is a small town. We've been plagued by disappearances for years, and now you're here.” The woman said. “We are all aware of the punishment and reward system of the diving beings.”
“I don't understand.” I said.
“People are plagued for bad behaviour and then rewarded for good behaviour.” The woman said and lifted her head to look at me. “We've been waiting for years for the plagues to stop.”
I was about to say that wasn't what I was there for, then I remembered that I was actually summoned to this world just for that purpose.
The woman saw my indecision. “I knew it. You can't say that you're not here for that.” She smiled. “People have been whispering about two angels that showed up to deliver us from this evil.”
“We aren't angels.” I said and tried not to get angry.
“You're both tall with long blonde hair, and so beautiful that you are hard to look at.” The woman said. “You can't deny that you came here to fight the monsters for us.” She blinked her eyes for a moment and stared into mine. “I doubted it was you at first, that you were just a fantastic looking man that wanted to see how the poor lived and came here to eat... and then you prayed and we all felt it.”
“That wasn't why I did that.” I said. “I only...”
“I know.” The woman said. “You don't have to hide what you are here.” She said and waved to the barn and the other people that stared at me. “We all know you are here to try and save us, even the ones that won't admit that's what we need.”
I couldn't deny her and say that I wasn't there to save them if I could. “I'm not an angel.”
“Does that mean you can't fly?” Someone asked, and they were immediately hushed by several others.
I opened my mouth to say that I couldn't, then realized that it would be a lie. I could fly, quite easily, in zero gravity. I could also levitate for a while, as Maylia knew, since I had used it a few times with her.
The woman smiled as I remained silent. “You can't deny that, either.”
I sighed. “I'd like to, because you've gotten the wrong impression of me, and you're jumping to conclusions.”
“How many people have you saved so far?” The woman asked, and I sighed again.
“Let's go.” I said to Maylia and Afyne.
“What about paying for the meal?” Maylia asked.
I took out a coin without looking at it and put it on the barrel, then held my hands out to her and Afyne and we left the barn hand-in-hand.
*
The woman waited until the barn door shut before she turned to the barrel and picked up the coin. She gasped at the silver sheen as it reflected in the lamp light and she turned to face the door that the angels had just passed through. She stood there silently and held in her hand a coin that she had only seen rich people use for common purchases.
“Are you okay?” A man's voice asked.
The woman turned and looked to see that it was the slightly drunk man. “Just keep eating, Kirsan.”
“I'd like a bread bun.” Kirsan said, and her eyes widened.
“Me, too.” A woman said.
“I'd like a couple of them.” A man said. “What the angels did to eat them looked like fun.”
The woman looked at the silver coin in her hand and smiled again. “I'll be right back with another batch.” She said and quickly left the barn to go to the house. She would tell them that all of the meals would be free tonight when she gave them the buns.
*
I led Maylia and Afyne back to the inn and we met more whispers. I now knew what they were saying and I kept ignoring them as we went up the stairs and back to our room. We got changed and Afyne didn't make a fuss about climbing into bed with us. She even laid down between us with a smile on her face as I tucked the blanket up to our chests.
“What are you smiling for?” Maylia asked, curious.
“I really was rescued by angels.” Afyne said, smugly.
“Afyne.” I huffed and Maylia reached over her to cup the side of my face.
“Hunter, think of it from her perspective.” Maylia said. “We showed up one day and gave her money, then showed up a few days later to take her with us. Now she's living a new life with you as her guardian.”
I couldn't dispute Maylia's words, either. “I'm not an angel.” I said instead.
“You act like one.” Afyne said. “You left a silver coin on the barrel.”
“What?”
“You gave her a whole silver coin and you only gave that expensive place five copper.” Afyne said and grinned at me. “I wanted to stay and see her face when she saw it.”
“I... well, dammit.” I said, and she giggled.
“Go to sleep, you two.” Maylia said and she had a smile on her face.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“They called you an angel, too.” I said and laid down on my side to face her over Afyne's head.
“I'm not insulted in the least.” Maylia said and laid down to face me.
“Maybe I'll be an angel when I grow up.” Afyne said, happily.
“Maylia's right. Go to sleep.” I said.
“I can't. You promised to tell me where you came from.” Afyne said and turned onto her side to face me, too. She put her hands together as if she was begging, then gave me her sad puppy dog eyes. I sighed exaggeratedly and she giggled, because she knew I couldn't refuse her when she was being so cute.
“All right.” I said and started to tell her an abbreviated version of how I got there. Both her eyes and mouth had gotten wider and wider as I talked. When I was done, Afyne closed her mouth and didn't react in any other way. “Uh oh!” I said and started to tickle her. “I think I broke her!”
Afyne laughed and squirmed to try and get away, so I put my arms around her and rolled onto my back as I pulled her on top of me.
“Maylia, is there a warranty on children if you break them?” I asked and tickled Afyne a little more to keep her laughing.
“I'd say no, since I don't know what a warranty is.” Maylia said.
I laughed at that. “It's a guarantee that something will work, or you get either your money back or a replacement.”
Afyne stopped laughing at those words and pushed herself up to sit on my stomach. “Are... are you...”
“No.” I said firmly. “It was a joke.” I reached up with a hand to touch her cheek with my fingertips. “No matter what happens, for the rest of your life, I am going to do everything I can to take care of you and protect you.”
“You mean it?” Afyne asked, her voice full of hope.
“As god as my witness, I do.” I said, and Afyne gasped as a pulse of Presence appeared and covered us.
“Hunter! Your blessing!” Maylia exclaimed as she sat up.
“I know what I said and what it means.” I said and held a hand out to Maylia. “Will you help me?”
Maylia smiled as she took my hand. “As god as my witness, of course I will.” She leaned in to give me a kiss and the flow of Presence covered her, too. She leaned back and I saw Afyne had tears in her eyes.
“Th-thank you.” Afyne said and laid down on top of me and hugged me.
I held her and let her cry, because I knew they were tears of both sadness and joy. “We need to find someone that can figure out what your abilities are and...” I stopped talking and sighed. “The queen could have done that before we left the capital.”
Maylia laughed. “Yes, the queen of the First Sothen Kingdom would appreciate you taking up time in her busy schedule, just so you can use her as a skill scribe.”
I had to laugh, too. “Okay, going to the queen for only that might be a bit of overkill.”
“Might be?” Maylia raised her eyebrows at me.
“We can ask the innkeeper in the morning if he knows anyone.” I said and took an arm away from Afyne to put it around Maylia. “We should get some sleep until then.”
“Goodnight.” Afyne said and didn't let me go or try to move off of me. I glanced at Maylia, who shrugged and moved in closer, then she put an arm over the both of us.
“Goodnight.” We said at the same time, and Afyne sighed and held me a little tighter for a second, then she relaxed fell asleep. Maylia looked at her peaceful face, kissed her forehead, then rested her own head on my shoulder. I entered a meditative state, so I could stay alert and sleep at the same time, then spent the rest of the night being cuddled.
We got up the next morning and I answered the room's door when someone knocked. Once again, breakfast in bed was being served by the innkeeper's daughter. She had blushed the entire time and had a look of anticipation on her face. I took the tray from her with my real hands and she opened her mouth for a second to say something, then she closed it.
“I'm sorry. I was carrying on yesterday. I can't make Afyne jealous on purpose.” I said and closed the door on the innkeeper's daughter's surprised face.
“M-m-me?” Afyne stammered.
“Do you see another young woman around here that I give hugs to?” I asked, and she blushed and shook her head. We ate breakfast quickly and Maylia and I dressed in our armor. I was tempted to leave Afyne at the inn, mainly because we had no way of knowing where the snake was today. It moved so fast that even if the horses did detect danger nearby, they might not react in time to get Afyne away. When I tried to mention the danger, Afyne completely ignored me, so we left the room and went downstairs to the innkeeper.
“Good luck today!” The innkeeper said when we turned in the key and handed over the breakfast tray.
“Thanks.” I said. “You wouldn't happen to know someone that can tell a person's skills or magic affinities or something, do you?” I asked, and he shook his head. “Well, I'll keep looking.”
We left the inn and went to the stables to pick up the horses. The worker was there and looked like he had been there all night. When he saw us, he quickly had both horses kitted up and ready for travel.
“Somebody is dedicated.” I whispered to Maylia, and she smiled and nodded at Afyne. I looked from her to Afyne and then back at her, and she nodded again.
“Good work.” Afyne said and gave him two more copper coins.
“Th-thank you miss! Thank you very much!” The worker said. “They're wonderful horses!”
“They really are.” Afyne said and led them outside so we could mount them. I knelt by my horse and pat my knee, and she smiled and used it as a step to climb up onto the horse all by herself. I climbed up behind her while Maylia mounted her own horse, then we rode out of town to begin the search for our elusive quarry. I sincerely hoped that we would find it before it found something else to eat.
*
Allirynn and Imiryl woke early and roused the others, they all ate breakfast quickly, then the carriage was on its way again. The driver didn't push the horses, despite knowing the queen's orders, because he knew that the horses would last longer with an easier gait and wouldn't need to rest for as long each time they stopped. If he ran them as hard as they could go, their speed would be offset by the time the horses would need to rest when they stopped, which would increase because of the extra strain the horses would have to endure if they ran full out.
*
The head acolyte's advice to the emissaries had been to let Steven do what he felt was right, and if the ritual to ask for guidance didn't work with so few emissaries, she would be by in the morning to help. Kara, Josh, Jessica, Evangeline, and Aimee had tried and asked for guidance from the Goddess Chaiya the night before, and they only received a vague sense of what needed to be done and no direct instructions.
The head acolyte arrived at the castle and went right to the room at the end of the hall where guests ate meals. “All right. Tell me what happened.” She said, and Evangeline told her that it felt like something was missing.
Jessica sighed and everyone looked at her. “I guess that's my fault.”
“Can you explain?” The head acolyte asked her, and Jessica told her what had happened during their meeting with the queen the day before and how she felt that without Hunter, the group was missing something that they needed and wouldn't function as well as it was supposed to.
The head acolyte nodded. “You are letting your own feelings interfere with the ritual.” She said. “It worked before because you were sure of your course. Now, with Hunter gone off on his own...”
“Wh-what?” Jessica gasped. “Hunter what?”
“He was here two days ago.” The head acolyte said. “I asked to see him and was refused.”
“Why would the queen refuse to let you see the Goddess Chaiya's chosen hero?” Kara asked, angrily.
“Calm down, emissary. It wasn't the queen.” The head acolyte said. “Hunter was the one that refused.”
“What? Why would he refuse?” Evangeline asked, confused. “We are the Acolytes of Light for the Goddess. We are here to help her chosen heroes.”
“I have another question.” Josh said. “Why didn't the queen tell us that Hunter had been here and left?”
Jessica sat down and didn't feel hungry anymore. “Probably because of how we treated Allirynn and Imiryl.”
“How would she know about that?” Josh asked. “We didn't tell her.”
“No, Allirynn and Imiryl probably did.” Aimee said.
“She saw us first thing in the morning and I know they were still in the guest room, so they couldn't have biased her against us.” Kara said and thought about it. “I believe we're overthinking this.”
“Really? How?” Josh asked.
“It's simple.” Kara said when she understood. “We didn't ask.”
“That doesn't explain why she wouldn't tell... oh.” Josh said and understood, too.
“She wasn't going to volunteer the information, not after we waited to see her in person to tell her about the cracks and how to seal them.” Jessica said, sadly. “How can we mess things up like this? We're supposed to be the Goddess' chosen.”
“We're still just people.” Josh said. “We're not perfect. We can make mistakes just like everyone else.”
“That's very wise, Sorcerer Priest.” The head acolyte said. “What are you going to do now?”
“We still need guidance from the Goddess, so we can make sure we're doing her work properly.” Josh said and the head acolyte stepped close and took his hand, as did Evangeline, and Aimee took the head acolyte's hand.
“We should ask for Hunter's location as well.” Kara said and stepped forward to take Aimee's hand. “If he was here two days ago, he's had a huge head start on us. We're going to have a hard time trying to catch up to him.”
Jessica sat there and didn't stand up to join them, so they turned and looked at her expectantly. “I can't.” She said. “I don't think I... I'm not in the right state of mind to help you right now.”
The head acolyte let Josh's and Aimee's hands go and walked over to Jessica and knelt in front of her. “Emissary, the Sorcerer Priest is right. You will make mistakes. We all do.” The head acolyte said and took her hand. “If you can't trust in yourself and your decisions, then let the Goddess guide you.”
“But... I followed her advice and... people were suffering... and... and...” Jessica took in a sharp breath and caught a tear from her eye before it fell and stored it.
“Faith is a matter of perspective.” The head acolyte said. “You only just discovered her. It will take time to feel how right things are with her in your life. I've been the head acolyte for a year now and she hasn't failed me yet.” She smiled. “She even brought me a son-in-law that I didn't know I wanted.”
“Mom!” Evangeline gasped, and Aimee squealed a girlish scream and hopped a little.
“What?” The head acolyte let Jessica's hand go and stood. “Did you think you could hide such important news from me?”
“He asked me last night after I came back from visiting you!” Evangeline said. “How could you know what I didn't!”
“I asked the goddess for guidance, of course.” The head acolyte said. “Her church should be done next week and I wanted to make sure it was to her satisfaction.”
“You mean... the other acolytes know?” Evangeline asked, and her mother laughed.
“You need to act surprised for the party tonight.”
“P-p-party?!?” Evangeline asked, surprised. Aimee let out another squeal and hugged Evangeline.
“That means we're staying for at least another day.” Josh said. “I wonder why the Goddess doesn't want us to leave right away?”
“Let's ask her.” Jessica said and stood.
“I thought you didn't feel up to it.” Josh said with a smile.
“After what the head acolyte said, I think this is the best time for me to help and to ask for it for myself.” Jessica said and they all clasped hands and started to chant. With the head acolyte there and Jessica's thoughts directed to asking for help and not about missing Hunter, the directions they received from the Goddess Chaiya were clear and precise. They weren't what any of them expected, however.
“We need to wait?” Josh asked as the Goddess' Presence faded. “Wait for what?”
“We need to wait and find out.” The head acolyte said with a smile. “Is that fresh eggs I smell?”
“Ham, too.” Jessica said. She was filled with reassurance that everything was going to work out and her appetite was back in full force. She led the older woman over to the buffet table and they both started to eat. The others went with them and they started to eat as well.
Kara, on the other hand, sat down and had a disappointed look on her face. She wasn't going to question the Goddess' orders, even though she knew that they needed Hunter's help. She needed to wait with the others to see what the Goddess intended for her emissaries to do next.