Davit was a wandering adventurer of a sort. Davit was tall like a lamppost and skinny like one too. He never shaved and his hair was a mottled brown. Davit ate his foes in practiced efficiency; Almost always cooked with low temperature for a long period. He seasoned his fair with herbs and spices found in the extremes of the wilderness. To prepare his meal today he began by cracking a roc egg and making a batter. First battering and then breading, then frying battered wild hog’s meat until it was a crisp golden brown. Slicing it into strips and saucing it with a special blend of citrus and wine.

                Taking a large frying pan out of nowhere at all he cooked the remaining egg into an omelet with a few cuts of local mushrooms and wild onions. He got a large serving tray out of thin air and began to plate his meal. Although the scene was lacking in the accoutrements of a civil society Davit enjoyed cooking bare chested near the smoking mountain.

                Davit was sitting near the summit of a volcano named the Everfire. He stored his fryer and the oil while it was still hot inside his ring of storage. He had won his ring in a card game many years back. He couldn’t imagine life in the wilderness without it. He pulled out his large four poster bed and contemplated returning to a town for supplies.

                Lying in bed on the side of a mountain gazing down and out over a vibrant green valley lush with trees and bushes Davit ate boar fillets on a white linen covered mattress. As the sun set and the stars began to become visible in the distance. Now was the perfect time to stalk game animals that had so far eluded him this trip.

                Finishing his supper, he stored his serving tray and bed all that was left was to clean the frying pan which he did by swishing it out with a few large soft green leaves and voila, spic and span, good enough for a Wildman man like Davit. Leaving his camp near the summit he stalked down the mountain about a kilometer until he reached the tree-line. There he readied his equipment. Due to his magical storage ring, he was able to bring a variety of weapons to bear. His favored weaponed was the quarter staff but for hunting the game he was after tonight; a crossbow or bow would serve him better. Usually, he would open with a salvo from his longbow, then drop it into the ring pulling out to two small hand crossbows. But that wouldn’t work for his prey tonight. The blink deer could literally teleport away if his first shot was not fatal.

                Considering his options, he pondered if the deer could blink after being lashed with a whip. He couldn’t afford for this pack to evade him again, tracking them this far had been an extreme decision on his part. Davit’s hunt had gone three weeks longer than intended. He was almost out of breading, he was completely out of milk, cream, cheese, beer, mead, brandy, and soon he would even be out of serviceable cooking wine. A lived on the road had hardened Davit to the realities and circumstances but there wasn’t much purpose in going without when you had money like Davit had.

                Still this list of things he keeps bringing up to himself don’t interrupt when he spots white spotted deer with mystical blue antlers. The antlers were valued as a rare crafting material for teleportation wands. The deer were said to taste like heavenly creatures. As I spied three of them, I found the one I had wounded two weeks earlier was not present. I would have liked to taken the largest male, dealing the least damage to the ecosystem while reaping the greatest harvest but being honest I couldn’t tell which was male or female as they all had the glowing blue antlers.

                He decided a spear would be most lethal at this range and selected his best, he said a quick prayer to Hesmeth, the god of hunters both that his aim be true and that the deer wouldn’t teleport away with his best spear. He cocked his arm and reared back, throwing with the full body movement he’d been taught as a child. The long yellow wooden shaft of the spear sailed cleanly through the stricken deer.

                The other two deer disappeared in a flash, but the one Davit had attacked had died near instantly. It hadn’t collapsed as the spear was sticking through the dead creature and embedded deep into a tree. He said another quick prayer to Hesmeth grateful he wasn’t after the creature’s eviscerated heart. Cleaning the beast’s innards and hogtying its legs he pulled it into his storage ring. The innards and scraps he put in a bucket and also stored in his storage ring. Who knew when you would literally need a bucket of chum for wolves or the like. Everything in his ring was stored separately in some kind of time stasis. Food came out in the same state in went in even the temperature remaining the same.

                He put aside butchering his new catch and began the trek back to civilization. It was night, but the stars shone brightly and Davit had a gift to see in the dark. Everyone on Tilis had some sort of special gift. His made him extremely good at hunting quarry day and night. Everyone else’s gifts may have seemed more useful to most people, but Davit was extremely pleased with his enhanced perception.

                It took him four days to reach the border town of Anglom’s hold where he was able to buy supplies but not spices or rarer still fine wine. After dallying in the market far too long and buying only enough to get him to the city his parent’s hold was located in several days hence. Davit didn’t exactly live with his parents. He had enough money to buy his own house or even a small hold in any village or town except probably the capital; It was more of a question of where would he settle. What place could contain him.

                So that evening on the road he was cooking an overly large pot of cream of blink deer stew. The very first variation he would try with the tremendously rare meat when a couple of elderly monks approached from the road. They wore red habits with blue smocks and red headscarves that marked them order of fire.

                “Bless your campfire traveler.” They said to me, eyeing my large pot of stew suspiciously. Each and everyone of their six eyes was on the large pot on metal legs over an open fire. It was clear they had smelled my cooking from the road.

                “Come sit and enjoy a meal brothers.” I suggested too them. Pulling four wooden bowls from behind my back.

                “You are too kind.” The oldest among them said.

                “You are welcome, sit and be warm by my fire.” I offered them.

                “Bless your fire.” They all said in unison.

                “Enough, enough, you must tell me how it tastes. It will be good to get an honest review.” I said knowing full well how sumptuous the feast I was preparing was. Potatoes, carrots, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, a dash of sugar, milk, some butter, a heaping portion of tenderized and seasoned cubed deer meat and you have yourself a stew. If I threw anything else in the pot I can’t recall, it’s a cook’s curse to season it once and never the like again.

                “I am Odard, and this is Honsin and Lemar.” Said the eldest.

                “We are searching for a wayward acolyte for the third day in these wretched woods when he happened upon a heavenly smell.” Said Honsin.

                “We are most fortunate that you revere the Fire Mother’s ways.” Said Lemar taking a bowl.

                I helped everyone to a heaping portion of cream of blink deer before making bread appear as if by magic. And then butter with a small knife and large crocks full of dark beer. Each surprise let on exclamations of woah and awe.

                “This really is the best stew I think I’ve ever had.” Said Honsin.

                “This might be the best food I’ve ever eaten.” Said Lemar.

                “Thank you, traveler for sharing your fare with us.” Odard said.

                I heard the honest appreciation in their voices as I too enjoyed the meal. Before long they had finished and had a weird look on their faces. It was just joy over the meal I could tell, but perhaps some longing after a second dose of the divine drug that was Davit’s cooking. To shoot them down out of hand would have been considered rude, so before they had the opportunity to ask the question; I stored the remaining stew, pot and all in my storage ring.

                A Sudden sobering look took their faces as they all profusely thanked me again and left their bowls as they went back to aimlessly wandering the forest calling out for someone named Tilda. I was glad for their company, and I was sure what I had just given them as a meal cost most of their monthly wages in a restaurant in the capital if such deer were even to be had there.

                Shortly after they left, I became aware of another lurking figure. I couldn’t see it, but I could hear it crushing leaves and even a cracked branch sound alerted me it was hiding on other side of a thick tree. I called a knife to hand and moved to flank the tree. Seeing a scrawny girl maybe fourteen in the same robes as the men from earlier I put one and one together and asked “Tilda?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

                Startled she said “That I am, how did you come to know of me?”

                “I heard you milling about behind this tree, those men looking for you are gone. Why did you run away from your order?” I asked her.

                “Because it was a stupid and stifling place and I hated it.” She answered.

                “What have you been eating for three days in the woods?” I asked her.

                “Mostly berries and I found some pine nuts that were edible.” She said sheepishly

                “Would you like a meal?” I asked her.

                “If you wouldn’t mind the inconvenience.” She said.

                And from nowhere to her utter astonishment, I produced a giant pot of creamy white stew. Helping herself to a bowl and a heel of bread she was quickly sated. I poured her some water into a cup I summoned, completely dependent on my magical trinket to impress, but so far succeeding.

                “This is wre-aallly good.” She said around a large hot mouthful.

                “Thanks, what are you going to do with those robes and those men searching for you?” I asked her.           

                “I am going to make for a village, where I’ll steal some clothes and then I’ll beg until someone takes me as an apprentice.”

                “Would you rather I just gave you some clothes and directions?” I asked her

                “You would do that? In spite of what it would mean to trifle with the order?” She practically begged of me.

                “I don’t see how giving a needy girl some clothes is going to damn me in the afterlife.” I answered drolly. 

                “I’m not just some needy girl.” She said hotly.

                “Ok, do you want the clothes?” I said producing an extra set of clothes I had never worn due to the smallish size on me.

                She took them without further disagreement.

                “Follow this road for half a day and take the first fork to the right. You’ll find a village of around five hundred people. Andrew the blacksmith owes me a favor or two if you want to apprentice to a blacksmith tell him Davit sent you.” I told her.

                “Thank you so much.” She said. “I can’t believe your kindness.”

                “Your welcome, please keep to the road or the right hand side of the road if you have to as there are dangerous creatures in the woods to the south.” I stowed the rest of my camp supplies and made to show that I was leaving. We parted ways and I thought of that pretty little thing swinging a blacksmith’s hammer and giggled to myself.

                “What’s so funny.” She asked me.

                I hadn’t realized I wasn’t out of earshot. “Nothing at all, good luck to you.” I replied to her.

                It was several more days of light travel back to my parent’s compound. It was a squarish large barn, stable, house and garden surrounded by a twelve-foot-high wall on three sides. The house’s front on the street making up the fourth effective wall.

                My parents were horse traders, but I didn’t have much like for horses. Arriving home I was greeted by a servant who took me to see my mother who wasn’t amused in the slightest by my state of disarray.

                “When are you going to shave that wretched beard. You look like a homeless person crossed with a squirrel. Your filthy darling.” Mira my mother said.

                “I’ll shave after I finish my list mother. I only have two left.” I was referring to the list I had made of rare animals I’d eat.

                “Which did you catch this time, was it the tyrant lizard or the rare mountain goat?” She asked me

                “Goat was last time mother remember the meat skewers with the peppers and pickled fruits.” I told her  

                “Ahh yes, they were good, so which did you catch this time?” She asked me

                “I got a blink deer.” I told her

                “Tell me you didn’t harm its antlers.” She asked.

                “They are fine, here look.” I said producing my still rather grizzly trophy. Two glowing blue antlers.

                My mother took them without concern for the blood on them. She was in the making old horses into sausage business after-all. After I devised a spicing recipe I adored, I had shown it to my family and they had made it the household staple. I am like I said before not rather fond of horses. That includes horse meat, but it sells well and easily covers the cost of the elderly animals. The money from glue, it was just a bonus. My family had grown quite wealthy.

                “These are worth what we make in a month. Each. A pity you couldn’t collect anymore.” She said.

                “I didn’t want to endanger the heard over my fascination.” I answered.

                “Let’s head to the chef so you can tell him what’s new on our menu.” Mother said.

                “I have some wild boar, a lot of goat this trip as well. I have some blink deer I’ll part with and three roc eggs that are too die for.”

                “Roc eggs you say.” She asked me.

                “I think I got them they day they were laid, I watched them make the nest near the top of the mountain I was staying on.” I told her

                “How big is a roc egg?” She asked.

                Her eyes boggled as I showed her a watermelon sized egg.

                “Won’t this endanger your precious eco system?” my mother asked me.

                “I don’t think so, I think they’ll just lay more eggs.” I told her hopefully.

                Chef Aronsal was a portly man that favored sugar in all his creations. I took after my mother so she as slender as I. Chef Aronsal could have eaten the both of us and none would be the wiser. He was big. He was also a better chef than I, but I took that to mean I still had time for training. He called my cooking “an unnatural gift” but he had been cooking for forty-nine years.

                He was pleased with what I brought for the larder and its freshness. I had forgotten too tell my mother about the spicy beets I had found and thought would be perfect for pickling. I hadn’t mentioned wild yams wild potatoes wild onions, and seven baskets full of berries. I hadn’t saved any trout or rabbits. He wanted first to try my attempt at a cream of blink deer. He said it was a B minus. He promised to make an S grade dish fit for royalty from the blink deer ribs and I told him I would hold him too it. Haunch of blink deer is what I was cooking for dinner for the evening for the family. Having four haunches everyone including my sister could have a giant roast deer leg.

                I decided to have Aronsal assist with my attempt at dinner to my mother’s delight. We retired from the kitchen after I had nearly emptied my storage ring. I asked my mother and we found my father in the war-room where he planned his various business strategies and attempted to talk my mother into buying another racing horse near daily. Each one a bigger pedigree than the last.

                “Father, what do you make of these?” I said holding out one of nine shiny red scales.

                “Baby or perhaps young adult dragon scales.” He said in fascination.

                “I found them at a cave entrance. I didn’t dare to go inside after I found the first scale, but I managed to gather nine of these.” I told my father

                “They are worth a few gold each at a minimum perhaps more to an alchemist or leatherworker.” Father told me.

                “So does that mean we are rich.” I asked him.

                “We’ve been rich, this means I can finally get that charger.” He stated hopefully towards my mother.

                “That’s Davit’s money as far as I’m concerned.” Said my mother defiantly.

                “What’s a boy like him need thirty gold for.” My father said.

                “Show him the Antlers.” My mother added.

                I did and my father was suddenly speechless.

                “They are like four or five gold each right pops.” I said gloating.

                “I bet we’ll get seventy-five for the pair.” My father said

                “With that much money he can buy his own holding.” My mother said and I was thinking at the same time.

                “You sure about seventy-five, pops?” I asked him.             

                “I am certain the wands that could be made from these will sell in the hundreds of gold coins.” My father said.