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DINN - MEADORA KINGDOM - 197
A speck of long glossy obsidian hair stands out from the obnoxious rural yellow backdrop like a sore thumb. My eyes catch and begin tracking the girl’s bobbing head up and down above the crop line.
“Hey rural farm girl, can you cook me a meal?”
The bent over twig springs up in surprise and shouts back at a distant black speck. “Who are you calling a rural farm girl!?”
I waited, staring at the girl standing in a field of corn on a farm in a rural countryside town, knowing more was to come.
“I’m not a farmer, I’m a scientist. I’m catching ra-t-rabbits in this field to experiment on.”
I walk closer to the not farmer girl, oh, she's pretty.
CHARLOTTE - MEADORA KINGDOM - 197
The black aura approaching starts to darken the sky, impeding doom snaps me out of my ranting trance, having to crane my neck backwards. Wow, those eyes, the blackest eyes I’ve ever seen. Are those solid pupils or empty shadows? Black clothing too, no makeup, the only color comes from a prim cut platinum blonde bob. Her hair looks soft and energetic. My head finally stops tilting backwards as the menacing presence comes to a stop far too close inside my comfort zone. My lungs wheeze out the last remaining cubic unit of air left to say. “Er, what do you like to eat?” I lead the queen of darkness into my quaint rural style farmhouse after being tricked.
What in the high heck is going on? Why am I cooking for this strange woman? I haven’t caught any rats this afternoon, and I JUST finished my lunch. I’ll have to do all these freaking dishes again, and she’s dressed like a bandit? No… she has no weapons, so maybe she’s a vagrant. Wait, am I being robbed right now? There’s not a lot of traffic in our town, and I’ve never been robbed before. This can’t be how the usual robberies go. For one, I may have voluntarily agreed to be stolen from, great job Charlotte, self-proclaimed genius scientist. Am I in danger? This woman is clearly strong or at least insane, and what about that gigantic guy following her around? Why did she order him to stand outside the house? An unbreaking, tracking gaze weighs on me like a physical touch, tickling the short hairs on the back of my neck. Slowly stirring the meat stew with trembling white knuckled hands, contemplating the strange series of events that is likely to result in my death. What type of meal is she really looking for? I sigh, what an uneventful life it all turned out to be, I would cry if I had any tears left to spill.
Finally turning around, an eye-opening revelation hits, an angelic scene, ah, this is the same spell that landed me in this absurd predicament. I let my guard down because she's pretty. Warm sunbeams spill into the cabin’s open kitchen window, hitting the woman’s bouncy golden hair. Lighting her face, tenderly glowing as her contradictory dark eyes lift to meet mine.
“My name is Dinn, bring some tea if you would be so kind. Your face is flush, come sit and rest.”
I follow the order. “Mind if I ask a few questions while we wait for the meal?” Continuing after seeing a small nod.
“What do you want from me and am I in danger?” Might as well settle some curiosities before dying.
“I want the stew you are cooking and some company while I eat. No, you are not in danger”
My nerves settle a little, believing her words… laughing at myself, I’m glad I feel this way, now that it's too late, seeing as I’ve already let her into my house.
“Is that all? You want some food, are you poor? Why are you on my farm? I’m a very busy woman and penniless myself. Why don't you aspire to rob someone a little above my station” Questions spill out as my curiosity quickly overtakes the fear.
Humming her approval as she sips on lavender tea with two rock sugars. “I like your pretty hair, I tire of all this yellow. I am not poor, or I guess I am presently, but securing coin is not an issue. What are you busy with? Maybe I could help.”
Purring as she sniffs the flagrant brew, sitting in a most regal posture, in perfect conflict with reality, as if she isn't presently robbing a farmer. Ignoring the fact that I’m silently glowing from the compliment over my hair. My face is hot, hopefully not red, and I must resist stroking my hair now at all costs.
“I’m a scientist, I’m busy with great works of science, of course. Sure, I’m a nobody now, but a day will come when the name Charlotte Ashburn DaVille Rowe will be revered and known by all in this kingdom!” Perhaps I should stop yelling and pointing my finger at this still terrifying creature. A little winded, I stand to prepare the meat stew that I’m rather proud of even though it was forced out of me through some mysterious, coercion or hypnosis?
Dinn digs in, gleefully scarfing down meat, veg, potatoes, and slurping away at the thick broth, as I serve one clay bowl after another. I don’t think I can stop staring at this mystifying presence, even blinking feels like a terrible waste. Feeling transfixed by something akin to a rare creature, beginning to lounge comfortably in my living room, an exquisite sighting indeed. Relaxing as if this home were her own, or maybe it’s as if the very land beneath yields, even the air that surrounds us swirls in yearning to capitulate. Could even inanimate objects recognize some undeniable authority? Within Dinn, there is a command that made me wonder if anyone in this kingdom can say no to one of her requests. Dinn is no bandit, and I’m glad she only asked for a meal.
She wakes lazily, enjoying the soft recovery from her hazy nap. “I think I am to become an adventurer, I’d like you to join my party and accompany me on the journey. I believe it may assist in your goals as well.”
“No!” I spin promptly back to washing pots, praying she didn't see me watching her sleep like a psycho. “Are you out of your mind? I have work, I have a farm, I have responsibilities to the town.”
The unending glare returns as Dinn props herself up to a half seated position. “You’ve repeatedly told me you are not a farmer, and what are these responsibilities?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Look mysterious sexy lady, I’m happy you enjoyed my soup, honestly I’m quite proud of that recipe.” Cringing in regret letting the word “sexy” slip out, Dinn sports a devilish grin, absolutely noticing my embarrassment. “While my main profession is not farming, I ah– hope, at least not for long. I am the sole proprietor of this plot of land, I live in the real world. The real world has farmers, and wolves, but not any adventurers, not out here.”
Dinn tilts her head to ask. “Wolves?”
“A big pack of wolves, their den is built into the side of the mountains facing town, and it’s too far from the cities to send soldiers.” My entire body deflates a little as I prepare to tell this story again. “They’ve been growing larger over the years by picking off livestock and holding the surrounding woods. After a steady increase in the cases of human casualties, neighboring towns got together their best fifty warriors to expel the pack. Less than ten members of the original expedition returned with their lives, and barely more than that.” I quickly catch a tear before it begins to fall, turning quickly away. “Adventures won’t come after word of that defeat got around, and I don’t blame them, the towns out here can't offer much in reward. So, I have taken it upon myself to eradicate those hellhounds, swore my life by my honor as a scientist, and all that.”
Dinn waited a few moments to ensure the tale had concluded, unwound her body from a relaxed scrunched up coil. “Thanks for the meal, it was divine. Could I ask one more favor?” The sudden pivot away from my issues and back to Dinn’s wants was a little jarring.
“Can you take care of my pack mule for the night? I will be back for him and for you tomorrow morning.” She got up to open the door. “Ah, and may I borrow that wagon?” Without any intention of waiting for a reply. Dinn blew me a kiss and sent little waves goodbye, with four fluttering fingers excitedly, before slamming the door.
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CHARLOTTE - MEADORA KINGDOM - 196
Gerald washed the dishes, mopped the floor, hung laundry, and wiped the dust above cabinets that Charlotte could never reach, so never bothered.
“Why did she call you a pack mule?”
Gerald flinches but remains silent.
“Why are you cleaning my house? Where did Dinn go? Why did she leave you behind?”
“Are you guys like a thing? Married?”
Gerald gently placed the duster back onto its assigned hook and turned around, finally replying in a flat, polite tone. “I am not a mule, I am clearly human, Dinn is an evil creature, I am in her employ, and you would do best by staying as far away from her as possible.”
“She invited me to an adventurers party, and after knowing her for less than half a day, I feel she’s a difficult force to say no to.” I did say no, but did the word take any effect? “I've feared those wolves all my life, my nightmares are full of them, and then I met that woman. It’s hard to explain what I felt looking into those eyes, endless darkness? It made my fears feel so small, insignificant in comparison. Do you know what I mean? It’s almost a sin for scientists to embrace ignorance, but something deep within me shouts to stay ignorant of whatever world you and that woman come from. Can you explain why I feel this way?”
Gerald leers at me over all my questions, only for a moment, then kindly replies. “Hmph, quite astute for a farm girl. That feeling is wise. However, we two are far from the same world.”
The striking, personable man returns to viciously eliminating decades old countertop grim. “While I thank you for the hospitality, I will have to ask you to forget about this meeting for both our sakes.”
A sour sensation bubbles deep in response to that direct advice, but I accept, of course, Gerald seems honest enough, and these power levels seem well out of my wheelhouse. Oh well, it was fun to hold the dream of being whisked away by a dark mysterious stranger to adventurous new lands, even if it was only for a brief spell. Romantic, but back to the real world for me.
What a refreshing start to a day for a scientist who hates farming! Thanks to all the chores Mr. Mule’s been dutifully cracking away at, I’m mega ahead on the weekly chores and today’s farm work! Bent over checking my new batch of automated farming inventions, I heard shouting coming from the town’s generally serene road.
“Everybody! Come to the town square, you won’t believe it until you see it with your own eyes!” A man screaming his head off, whilst sprinting towards the neighboring houses. He sounded panicked, but did I see him smiling?
Still pools of scarlet blood collect in big blotches across the town square, the fountain filled on any other day with clear running water has turned to churning a thick red sludge. Rats, crows, flies, dismembered gore, a wet penetrating stench, and mangled fur that held ripped meat still together tautly by twisted threads lay scattered across the cobbled stone. The blue gray bodies of over fifty? No, there had to be a hundred plus dead wolves neatly stacked into skin and bone mounds organized in rows of death leading to a gruesome centerpiece. The head of a massive wolf, at least the size of ten of the smaller, decapitated and vertically impaled on the top spigot of the fountain. Petrifying silence fills the crowded square as onlookers begin switching their focus from the presentation, which in itself was shocking, to a spectacle far more perplexing. The likely artist of this efficient mass butchery, a girl calmly rinsing her blades beneath the crimson fountain, she gives the still dripping bundle one final shake.
Dinn walks toward a black smithy looking man. “Pardon my intrusion, but I stole these weapons from your place of business to complete an urgent quest I received from a damsel in distress.” She drops the exposed sharp steels into the man's arms.
I notice the town blacksmith’s eyes expand in recognition of the blades returned to him. Wait, does damsel in distress mean me?
Dinn turns to the crowd to announce her decree. “Citizens, I’m an aspiring adventurer, fulfilling a contract from a member of your village, the renown scientist Charlotte Ashburn DaVille Rowe, to deal with your wolf problem.” She claps and indicates for the crowd to clap at the mention of my full name, and they did as familiar eyes fall upon me but are quickly pulled back. ”As you can plainly see, I have dealt with the wolf issue at a very central and thorough level. I request, in payment for my honorable deed, that Charlotte's farm land is well taken care of while we are away. If after returning from our heroic quests the land is not serviced and protected to her standards, I will lay the residents of this town, just as I have done with these wolves here.” She motions to the carcasses behind her, daring anybody to refuse her very reasonable demands.
Dinn notices me in the crowd, a few graceful hops over dismembered wolf bits, and she stands again much too close. “I freed you of your responsibilities, join my party, Charlotte the revered scientist.”
I stood in front of Dinn, tilting left several degrees, to view the carnage she wagoned to the center of town, evidently for my benefit. The revenge that had consumed everything, the goal of my life, the focus of every waking resource, stemming from the night my parents were ripped apart and out of my childhood by those monsters. Manic resolve born from terror, anger, the terrible responsibility of surviving and crushing helplessness. Laughing, unbelieving, crying, something within broke, support I once needed, but now it may rest. My eyes refocus on Dinn, this dark creature, a slayer of monsters, in exchange for a cup of tea and a bowl of soup, casually delivers upon me my freedom. Standing there with my life returned, a life I dared not dream, a life I forgot I lost. I accept this new chance, of course I would, I denounce my previous drowning existence marred by mental strain and physical fear. For a lone passerby to snap away my insurmountable obstacle with borrowed swords under the cover of one night. I was right, she is something rare, something exalted.
I am a scientist, I will be revered, renown throughout the two kingdoms. “You have my gratitude for saving this town, I, Charlotte Rowe, hereby retire from farming, and accept your party invitation.” What is there left to fear? I think fear fears Dinn.
Dinn smiles at her first friend.
Gerald groans.
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