by Pirateaba
“I mean, I’ve got that faerie flower drink, but I need to work on that. I was really thinking, though, that I need more stuff.”
“Stuff?”
Selys looked at Erin blankly. Erin nodded and tried to explain.
“Remember the acid flies? Well, the Antinium loved those. I had a full inn some nights, and I made tons of gold coins! But now its winter, I’ve got nothing special to sell. And I don’t get many guests. Plus, I made a bit of money selling the acid fly acid, you know?”
“Don’t remind me.”
“But Selys, just think about it! It was so useful—it helped kill Skinner, and you can melt undead with it really fast. Even if it does smell.”
“Where are you going with this, Erin?”
“Well…I was thinking I could sell stuff to adventurers.”
Selys eyed Erin suspiciously.
“What kind of stuff?”
“You know, like seed pod cores. I’ve still got some and they scare those Rock Crabs away. Plus, if I find more boom bark I could maybe sell that.”
“Didn’t Toren blow up your inn with that?”
“Okay, maybe not boom bark. But it could be good business, you know! I just need to go exploring.”
Selys glanced out one window. The snowfall from last night had stopped, but the snow was so deep that there were practically no features to the landscape. Even opening the door this morning had necessitated quite a bit of arm strength on Erin’s part.
“Exploring? In this weather? Erin…”
“I’ll get Toren to guide me. I think Mrsha’s scared of him, anyways.”
Both females looked over and saw Mrsha prowling around after Toren as he mechanically swept and cleaned up the common room. Every time he turned towards her she would scoot under a table, but she kept eying him warily.
“Your skeleton scares me, Erin. Okay, if he’s with you I guess you can always let him fight monsters and run away. But be careful, alright? Shield Spiders still make their nests and [Dangersense] doesn’t cover all kinds of traps.”
“Sure, no problem. But that means I’ll have to leave Mrsha with Ryoka.”
Erin looked over at Ryoka. She was still staring at her plate, although she’d finished eating. Klbkch was watching her, and it looked like Ryoka was in deep thought.
“Do you think that’s wise?”
“Well, Ryoka did bring Mrsha this far.”
“No, I mean, look at her.”
Selys pointed back to Mrsha. The Gnoll cub had lost some of her fear of Toren. She was reaching out and even as the skeleton turned, she grabbed his ankle curiously. Toren whirled, and Mrsha fled, yelping in terror.
“Toren! Don’t scare her!”
Erin went to cuddle Mrsha. She looked at Selys.
“What’s the matter?”
“She needs entertainment, Erin. She can’t stay in an inn all day, and she needs a minder, not…”
Selys nodded to Ryoka. The other girl was still motionless. Toren approached and tentatively reached for her plate. The other girl made no response, even when he waved a bony hand in front of her face.
“Right. Well, what should I do? Maybe I could leave her with Krshia?”
But that would mean she was around Brunkr, and Erin didn’t like that.
“Leave the child with me.”
Both Selys and Erin turned. Lyonette had stood up. She raised her nnose at the two of them imperiously.
“What was that, Lyon?”
The girl’s eyes flashed, but she made no comment about her name. Erin liked the sound of Lyon better than Lyonette, anyways.
“I am bored. I will look after the child—Mrsha.”
Erin and Selys exchanged a look. Erin tried to make her tone friendly.
“Well, that’s really nice of you to offer, Lyonette. But…uh, I think…um…no.”
Lyonette scowled.
“Why not? I am quite capable of looking after a child.”
She glared as both Drake and Human exchanged a dubious look. Selys coughed into one claw.
“I can take Mrsha, Erin. I’ve got a day off and besides, there’s a playground in the city. She can have fun with other kids there.”
“A playground?”
Erin had never seen anything like that, but then, she’d never bothered to explore the city fully. Selys nodded.
“She’ll be safe with me. And I’m sure she’d like to have fun, wouldn’t you, Mrsha?”
The Gnoll cub looked up at Selys. She wagged her tail a bit and sniffed at the Drake as she crouched down.
“She’s sort of like a puppy, don’t you think?”
Erin whispered to Selys as the Drake scratched Mrsha behind the ears. Selys shrugged.
“Gnoll cubs are pretty animal-like. And Mrsha’s young; I wouldn’t worry about it. Drake hatchlings like to bite everything they can fit their mouths around. Aren’t Human children different too?”
Erin thought of screaming babies and toddlers who would eat bugs and sand and poo. She nodded.
“Well…if you don’t mind, that would be great, Selys! Thanks! Then Lyonette can help me and Toren look for cool stuff.”
Lyonette’s brows snapped together.
“What was that?”
“Hey Toren!”
Erin called out to the skeleton. He looked over at her.
“We’re going out! Get your sword and put the dishes away, okay? Lyonette’s coming too!”
The skeleton appeared to perk up when Erin mentioned the sword, but when she mentioned Lyonette he seemed to sag. He walked into the kitchen as Erin went over to Ryoka.
“Hey Ryoka, is it okay if Selys takes Mrsha for the day?”
“Mm.”
Ryoka didn’t look at Erin. Erin hesitated.
“And uh, I’m going outside. With Lyonette and Toren. I’m going exploring.”
“Mhm.”
The other girl’s face didn’t change. She was clearly deep in thought, or sleeping with her eyes open. Erin hesitated.
“I will inform her, Erin Solstice.”
Klbkch nodded from his seat. Erin smiled at him.
“Oh, thanks Klbkch! But are you sure you want to stay?”
The Antinium nodded.
“I would like to chat with Ryoka Griffin. Take care while you are exploring. Do not hesitate to run.”
“Don’t worry! I’m going to bring a frying pan and a knife.”
Klbkch stared at Erin. She gave him a thumbs up.
“See you later!”
—-
“It’s cold. And wet.”
Lyonette complained loudly as she followed Erin and Toren through the snow. The skeleton was breaking a path through the deep snow, but even so, Erin had to fight just to keep moving. The snow was deep today, even for someone used to Michigan winters.
Erin had seen snow that went knee-deep, but she couldn’t remember ever seeing waist-deep snow. But in some of the valleys, the snow had accumulated to the point where it made progress impossible.
“Why are we even out here?”
Lyonette complained even more loudly Toren slipped in the snow and face-panted. Erin sighed. She was already regretting taking Lyonette with her, but it was either that or inflict her on Ryoka. And Ryoka would probably kick Lyonette in the face.
Why hadn’t she left Lyonette with Ryoka?
“Come on Lyon, it’s not that bad.”
Erin’s foot found a divot in the ground and she windmilled her arms wildly to stay upright. Lyon stared at her in disgust. But instead of her usual snide remarks she folded her arms.
“Do not mistake me; I am grateful for your assistance in my time of need. But I am not your slave, to be ordered around at your whim.”
“I didn’t say you were. But we’re all working in this inn together, Lyon. I own it, but I need your help.”
“And how is this helping your inn, pray?”
Lyon gestured at the white landscape. She stared at Toren as the skeleton sloughed ahead of them.
“It w
ill take the better part of a day to get anywhere. And what are we even looking for?”
Erin shrugged.
“I dunno. Hunting monsters? Gathering mushroom and rare stuff? Maybe there’s a mine around here somewhere.”
Erin had no idea how mining worked. And the look Lyonette gave her told her that she probably wasn’t going find any gemstones any time soon.
“You. Wish to hunt monsters?”
“Well, want is a strong word. But Toren’s got a sword. And armor.”
Erin pointed at Toren. The skeleton had stopped to watch the two girls argue. He was slowly sinking deeper into the snow as his holey bronze armor weighed him down. Lyonette sniffed.
“That thing fills me with no confidence.”
“Well…I have a frying pan.”
Erin lifted it to prove her point. Lyonette stared at the frying pan.
“…Are you unwell in the head? How will a frying pan kill monsters?”
“Hey! I killed a ton of zombies with a frying pan! Well, not this pan because they get really gross when the brains and stuff get on it but—”
“Wait, you killed a zombie? By yourself?”
“I had help. There was this undead attack and I had to kill a bunch of undead. Some Antinium Workers came to help me, and a lot of people died. Oh, and there was this horrible huge flesh-worm-thing that attacked. And a lot of zombies and ghouls and even these Crypt Lords tried to kill me, so yeah.”
Erin was aware that Lyon was gaping at her. She cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed.
“Anyways, if it’s just a Shield Spider or a Rock Crab we’re fine. I can scare away Rock Crabs and Toren and I can kill Shield Spiders.”
“You can!?”
“Well, yeah. You just hit them and keep dodging their fangs. And legs. Oh, and don’t fall into their pit traps.”
This was all normal to Erin. But Lyonette stared at her as if this was all completely new to her. Which, come to that, it was.
“But—Silver-rank adventurers take on requests to slay Shield Spiders!”
“Yeah?”
Erin scratched her head. Lyon stared at her. The silence lengthened until Erin felt it was time to move.
“Okay, we’ve got to go. Toren, take us to the place you found the mushrooms!”
She turned and began to follow Toren. Lyonette followed them after a few seconds.
It was mercifully quiet for a while, but Erin was beginning to suspect that Lyonette, annoying though she’d been, was right. After about thirty minutes of struggling in the snow, they were only a hundred feet away from the inn.
“Alright, new plan! We’re going into the city!”
Of course, when they got in sight of the gates and the Drake Guardsman on duty, Erin realized that there was another problem.
“Oh, right. Lyonette can’t come inside and neither can you, Toren.”
Both skeleton and [Princess] gave Erin a flat look. She smiled and scratched at her head.
“Um. Okay, Lyonette, you stay outside with Toren. I’ll be back soon!”
Lyonette stared at Erin as the girl shook snow off her boots and proceeded down the freshly cleared streets of Liscor. Then she looked at Toren.
The skeleton stood where Erin had left him. He was staring at the snow. Just staring. Lyonette knew the skeleton’s features never changed, but she got the distinct impression he was upset. He was gripping his sword rather tightly.
Slowly, she edged away from the skeleton and then looked at the guard. The Drake on duty stared ahead, boredom written into every inch of his body and his slowly wagging tail. He’d eyed Toren once, but apparently the guards knew about Erin’s undead helper. Slowly, he scratched at his butt.
Lyonette decided to stand right where she was. After a few minutes of waiting in the cold snow, she sneezed.
—-
“Snowshoes?”
Krshia looked blankly at Erin. The Human sneezed again and nodded.
“Yeah. Do you have any?”
Krshia scratched at her furry chin. Today Brunkr was nowhere to be seen, and she’d told Erin that he was still sulking.
“There is not much call for them outside, yes? The roads, they are melted clear with magic spell and many feet. And it does not usually snow so deeply.”
“Yeah. Um. Oops.”
Erin recalled several drunk faeries laughing as the flew out of her inn. She had the feeling that might have precipitated the sudden weather change.
Krshia eyed Erin, but shrugged.
“I may be able to find some. But none that will fit Human feet, yes? They will require resizing. And certainly none for your undead…thing.”
“Oh, I’ve got [Advanced Crafting], and I only need a pairs for me and L—uh, I just need two. Toren can run pretty fast through the snow since, you know, he doesn’t get tired.”
And the snow had a lot less mass to constrict in his case. Skeletons were thin.
Krshia nodded.
“But you will still be quite slow, yes?”
“Yes? I mean yeah, that is a problem.”
Erin frowned. She wanted to get around, at least so she could do some exploring and maybe gather some rare mushrooms like the ones Toren had found. Maybe she could sell them to the faeries for actual gold this time, or use them in a dish. But it was hard to explore when you moved at a glacial pace.
The Gnoll [Shopkeeper] thought as she and Erin stood together in front of her stall. It was nice to be on speaking terms with Krshia again. She always had good advice for Erin.
Let’s see. If snow shoes were too slow, what was faster?
“How about skis?”
“Skis?”
Erin tried to explain. Krshia looked blank.
“Snow shoes we have, but these…pieces of wood seem too fragile. Gnolls would not use such things. Perhaps a Drake might have such devices.”
The tone in her voice suggested that only a Human would be that crazy, and even then, possibly only Erin.
“Well…darn. Maybe I could make some, though. Can I buy some wood? I mean, it’d be hard since Lyonette doesn’t know how to ski. And Toren can’t either…too bad we can’t all just—”
Erin paused. Her train of thought stopped, as she switched transportation methods. Okay, skiing might be a bit impractical, but there was another easy way to travel in the snow, wasn’t there?
An idea sparked in Erin’s mind.
“Hey Krshia, do you have any sleds? Can I buy one? No—can I buy one and a lot of wood? And some nails? I have a hammer. Ooh, and some leather. Or maybe rope. And do you have bells?”
The Gnoll frowned at her.
“Wood is expensive in the winter, Erin Solstice. I would not ask, but I have not the coin to make promises to other shopkeepers. Are you sure you have the money?”
“I’ve got gold. Lots of gold.”
Erin reached into her belt pouch and pulled out a handful of gold coins. She slapped them on Krshia’s counter.
Krshia’s eyes bulged. Erin smiled sheepishly.
“I saved up. And Halrac tips a lot. So about those bells…”
—-
“T-there you are!”
Toren looked up at the sound of Lyonette’s voice. The grinding impatience and simmering resentment in what would have been his heart—if he had one—faded for a moment when he saw Erin. At last, his stupid mistress would give him an order and hopefully he would soon be released.
But his hopes were dashed when he saw what Erin was carrying. The girl was trying to lug a huge pile of various types of wood as she dragged a wooden sled on the ground. She had a box of nails and screws precariously next to a saw on top of the load.
“Hey Lyonette! Hey Toren! Sorry I’m late! It took a while to get all this stuff!”
Lyon stumbled towards Erin, her teeth chattering.
“I’m freezing. You’ve been gone for an hour!”
“Sorry, sorry. I really am. But look! We just need to get this back to the inn and we can build some really cool stuff with it!�
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“Build? Build what?”
Toren wanted to know that too. Erin was smiling oddly, and he didn’t like the look she was giving him. It was almost as if she was measuring him, and the skeleton’s nonexistent blood ran cold when he saw the bells.
He wanted to run. Something about the glint in Erin’s eyes made him want to run.
“Hey Toren, come here for a second, will you?”
—-
It was a cold, snowy day around Liscor, and on the continent of Izril in general. The snow had fallen hard last night, and so even the most determined travelers like City Runners and caravans following the main roads were moving at a snail’s pace.
The Frost Faeries considered this entertaining. They laughed and threw snowballs at one poor Gnoll who was dragging a toboggan filled with supplies across the snow. Yes, the snow could not be avoided. It was everywhere, making people’s lives a misery. The Frost Faeries felt smug at that thought.
But then—movement. From their position high overhead, the faeries saw something odd making its way across the snowy plains. They swooped down, keenly interested in anything unusual. And as they got closer their tiny jaws dropped and their eyes bulged.
They’d seen sleds before, of course. The Gnoll tribes used them for all kinds of transport, and sleighs were similarly used in colder weather. But this—this was different. No horse pulled the sled that had been mounted on skis, and indeed, this device alone was making quick headway in the deep snow. Because of what was pulling it.
A horse, fast as it might be, could only travel on relatively clear roads. The same went for a dog team; even the best dog sleds would have issues in waist-deep snow. But there was one creature that ignored all temperatures, which could run full-sprint for hours on end without tiring, and most importantly, couldn’t disobey orders.
“Mush, mush!”
Erin shouted happily as Toren pulled the sledge she’d built through the snow. The wide and long vehicle she’d constructed with the use of her [Advanced Crafting] class was six feet long and wide enough for both her and Lyonette to sit on it comfortably.
The skis she’d mounted on the bottom allowed the sledge to speed around even in deep snow, and Toren made it all work. The skeleton flailed his arms wildly as he ran through the deep snow, and Erin laughed as the reigns she’d fastened to his body jingled and rang in the crisp air.