by R. A. Mejia
Give my best wishes to Mary and Vrax. Also, try to keep yourself safe.
Lilliandra
I have to read the letter twice before I can believe it. We finally have a lead. Jaxson Miltonha, in Trinitarian. Hopefully he’ll be able to help us. Vrax is as excited as I am when I pull him aside and tell him about Lilliandra’s associate.
Mary returns that afternoon with news that a small farm is less than half a day away if we turn north up ahead. I note what she says but practically bounce up and down in my eagerness to share what Lilliandra wrote me. She squeals at the news and hugs Vrax and me. Still, we have to get into Monstrum before we can even visit this guy.
We wake Kitsune and as a group decide to break our current driving pattern and head to the farm Mary found. If we hurry, we’ll get there by nightfall. If we play our cards right, we may be able to sleep in some real beds tonight.
Chapter 2.6
Following Mary’s directions, our wagon turns north a few miles down the road onto a path barely discernible from the main road. If Mary hadn’t told us where to look, we would have driven right past it. Our wagon passes through the narrow break in the trees and follows the rarely used trail. You can tell the trail is seldom used because the parallel lines in the road made by wagon wheels are only faintly visible through the grass and dirt.
No one wanted to sit in the back of the wagon, so all four of us sit on the driver's bench. It’s a little tight, but Mary sits on Kitsune’s shoulder. Vrax sits between Kitsune and me. The ride is bumpier than it is on the main road as the horses pull us along the trail. Vrax bounces up off the bench every time we hit a large bump or pot hole. I’m mildly afraid he’ll go flying off the wagon if we hit a large enough bump. So, I end up holding him in my lap like he’s a child.
The off-road trail winds through a thin peaceful forest and after a few hours we start to see signs of habitation. I can smell smoke faintly on the wind, and we pass an abandoned logging camp that was used by someone when they were clearing away this section of the forest.
The trail through the thin forest ends at the top of a hill and opens up to a beautiful view. Before us, in a nestled valley, are fields of golden grain tinted red by the setting sun. A stiff breeze makes me shiver but causes the grain to wave like the sea on a windy day. The trail here is much clearer and leads down the hill to a large one story home made from logs. The house has a peaked roof and a fenced in yard in front that appears to double as a small garden used to grow vegetables. Behind the house is a two story flat roofed building with large barn style doors. There are pens near the barn, and I can see horses, cows, sheep, and chickens roaming around.
As our wagon trundles along the road towards the house, a large man with a thick unkempt beard and rumpled clothes exits the house with a bow in his hands. He’s followed by a woman with blond hair neatly bound in a thick braid wearing a blue house dress and an apron. Kitsune stops the wagon thirty feet from the house and looks to me for direction.
I tell her, “I’ll go talk to him. I’ll let him know we’re looking to buy some supplies and maybe a place to sleep for the night.”
I get out of the wagon and as my feet hit the ground a single arrow whisks through the air and hits the ground at my feet with a loud thwack. I look up and see the man with the bow fitting another arrow to his bowstring. I quickly raise my hands above my head to show that I’m not armed and don’t mean any harm. He doesn’t fire another arrow. Instead, he lowers his bow slightly and yells out, “Who are you and what do you want?”
I hear Mary cry out, “That jerk face! He just shot at Armon.”
Without taking my eyes off the man with the bow, I wave for Mary to calm down. I can hear her talking to Vrax and Kitsune, but I can’t make out what exactly they’re saying. I’ll just have to trust they’re making plans in case this all goes badly. I return my attention to the bearded man with the bow.
I try to smile at him reassuringly and yell back, “We’re just travelers who are running low on supplies and thought we could buy some from you. If you had it to spare, we’d also like to pay for a place to sleep tonight.”
The man raises his bow back up and yells, “We don’t like strangers just walking up here asking for handouts.”
“Didn’t say anything about a handout sir.” I pull up my inventory and grab a silver and hold it in the air, “See, I have silver to pay with.”
The man lowers his bow slightly as the blond woman whispers something to him. The man quietly argues with the woman, but he seems to loose whatever discussion they have and his shoulders sag as he lowers his bow fully, “My wife says we can use the coin. So, I guess you can come in. Just stable your horses round back.” He looks out towards the wagon and then turns and yells at me, “Make sure you tell your lizard friend that there’s no stealthing around the house.” The two walk back into the log house and I turn towards the wagon to signal everyone to come down but see that Vrax is already gone. Looking around the yard, he suddenly appears near the fence that's between us and the house.
I walk up to Vrax and ask, “When did you go all stealthy?”
“When that hairy man shot at you. I wanted to make sure I can get him if a fight started but it looks like he has a good search skill.”
I hadn’t even noticed that my friend had disappeared, “Oh, is that how he saw you?”
Vrax nods, “Yes. You need a good search skill to see hidden people.”
I remember Keans helping us develop our [Search] skill while we played the game Search and Sneak. I never could get that skill high enough to ever discover Vrax when he was using [Sneak] though. That ‘hairy man’ as Vrax calls him must have some special ability to detect people in stealth or a pretty high [Search] skill. Either option indicates that he’s more powerful than us. We should be careful around him.
I climb back onto the wagon and Kitsune drives it to the barn in back, and I help her unhitch the horses, brush them down, put out food, and put them in stalls so they can rest.
You’ve gained a level in [Animal Care]. Novice level 4.
The horse I’ve named Mr. Ed nuzzles against me, and I laugh at the notification. Increasing my skills is great, but I think I just got a better reward for taking care of Mr. Ed.
Kitsune and I exit the barn and find Mary and Vrax already discussing what we should be trying to buy with our limited funds.
Mary has her hands on her hips and suggests to Vrax, “I don’t want to starve in the mountains. There won’t be a lot of food there I bet. We should get as much food as we can carry.”
Vrax responds, “Yes, we need food but I am a hunter. I will get us meat, even in the mountains.”
Kitsune adds, “We won’t get anywhere if the horses aren’t fed. I don’t expect there to be much grass for them to graze on in the rocky mountains. That’s what we should spend our coin on.’
I interrupt, “Speaking of which, how much do you all have to contribute? I have about three silver.”
Mary crosses her arms, “You have all our money. You keep forgetting to give us our part of the coin you get from loot drops.”
Wait, is that true? I know Harold gave me the armor and weapons we collected from all those soldiers we killed, and he did hand me our half of the coins. Have I been hoarding the money?
“Why didn’t you say anything sooner, Mary? Or Kitsune or Vrax? I wasn’t trying to take everyone's fair share.”
Mary raises an eyebrow and answers, “I haven’t said anything about it till now because we’ve been a bit busy running for our lives. But you asking ‘what we can contribute’ makes it an issue.”
Kitsune fidgets, seeming uncomfortable to talk to us about this but says, “I don’t mind not getting any of the money. You all saved me from a life of slavery, and you’ve been feeding and caring for me since.”
With a kinder tone, Mary tells her, “Kitsune, that’s not the point. Armon should have divided the loot and distributed it as soon as he got it. ”
“I can give a silver,” Vrax
mutters.
“What?!? Armon gave you your part of the group money?” Mary says incredulously.
Vrax backs away from Mary and shakes his head from side to side, “No. No. Brother Armon no give me extra money. I collect coins from dropped treasure bags and take my share when I helped kill them. It is what we normally do when in hunting party in the tribe.”
I smile at my kobold friend. Vrax certainly will make a good rogue. He makes sure he gets his cut of the loot first.
“What are you laughing at Armon?” Mary asks, an annoyed tone in her voice.
I stifle my chuckles, “Nothing Mary. I’m sorry that I forgot to give everyone their share of the money. However, it's sort of a moot point right now. We need the funds to buy food for the horses and us. How about I divide up what’s left over after we get all our supplies?” Turning to Kitsune, I add, “And you’ll get your share of the coin as a member of the group. We might have saved you, but that doesn't mean you owe us anything.”
Mary flies up to Kitsune and puts a hand on her shoulder, “Yeah Kitsune. Don’t let ‘the man’ increase the gender based wage gap.”
Kitsune looks at Mary with a confused look. I smile inwardly at the things Mary picked up watching my world for such a long time and explain, “She means that you should get paid the same as any other member of the group.”
Our conversation is interrupted by the sound of a little girl's voice, “Oh, what a pretty fairy!”
We all turn towards the sound. Standing outside the barn is a little wide eyed blond girl. Her hair is braided into pigtails, and she is giving a big smile while staring at Mary hovering in midair.
Mary’s demeanor changes instantly. She smiles at the girl, and she flies right up to her and says, “Why hello there little one. Thank you for the kind compliment. What’s your name?”
The girl’s eyes widen even more, and she tries to grab Mary with both hands. Mary nimbly avoids the girl’s awkward move. She doesn’t seem to be mad but instead laughs and tells the child, “It’s not nice to grab fairies. It makes us very sad to be captured.”
The girl pulls her hands back and puts them behind her back. With a sad look, she says, “Sorry miss fairy. I won’t do it again.”
Mary lands on the girl’s small shoulder and gives her neck a hug, “That’s ok. I know you didn’t mean any harm. Now, why don’t you tell us your name and why you’re here?”
The girl giggles and tells Mary, “My name is Suzy. Momma said to tell you that dinner is ready.”
Kitsune kneels next to the little girl and says, “Ok. Thank you for telling us, Suzy. Why don’t you go tell your momma that we’ll be inside in a minute?”
Suzy stares at the fox woman, especially her nine long fluffy tails for a moment, then yells, “OK!” and runs back to the house giggling.
Mary flies off the girl’s shoulder and returns to us and sighs, “Aren’t kids cute?” Then remembering what we were talking about before she says, “Armon is right Kitsune. You’ll get your fair share of what we make when we work or dungeon dive.” Turning to me she adds, “Armon, I appoint you treasurer for Team Mary. Buy supplies, then divide what’s left among the group. Now, let’s go eat.” Then she flies off towards the house.
As the rest of us walk towards the cabin, I can’t help but think that I just got roped into being an accountant. Then I wonder if there’s a skill for that.
Chapter 2.7
The three of us walk up the path to the back of the house, and I knock on the back door. Little Suzy opens the door and giggles as she waves us in. When we enter the kitchen, I see a cast iron stove with a big pot on it, a white sink set into a thick wooden countertop, and a small table that seats four. The kitchen connects to a living room with two comfortable looking stuffed chairs that face a fireplace against the far wall. Along the living room walls are shelves with nick-knacks and a few books on them. A small table is in the corner and has two rag dolls laying on it. A hallway disappears to my left, likely leading to the bedrooms.
After letting us into the house, Suzy runs into the other room, hides behind one of the chairs, and covers her eyes. I hear Mary counting out loud above me and look up to see her hovering in midair facing our direction with her hands covering her eyes. She counts to twenty and over dramatically states, “Ready or not, here I come.”
Suzy giggles from her hiding place but Mary pretends to neither see nor hear the girl as she searches the kitchen, “No, you’re not in the pantry. No, you’re not under the sink. No, you’re not on the roof. Hmmmm, where could you be?”
Suzy giggles even louder and I can’t help but smile at the sight of Mary pretending to search for the little girl. Vrax scowls, scratches his head in puzzlement and says, “Why do you pretend not to see her? She is right there behind the chair.”
Mary pauses her pretend search for the little girl and flies up to Vrax and hits him on the head and tells him in a harsh whisper, “Shush. We’re just playing a game. Don’t spoil it for the kid. I don’t think she has many friends to play with.”
While Mary returns to her pretend search for Suzy, Vrax tells me in a whisper, “Little human no get good at hiding if people only pretend to look for her. Why they do this?”
I smile at my kobold friend, remembering that the tribe has a similar game called Search and Sneak but that it’s used to train young kobolds how to use their [Search] and [Sneak] skills. Those skills would be crucial to a society that depends on stealth to hunt for food. I try to explain it to him, “The girl doesn’t need to know how to sneak yet. She might not be a hunter so right now this is just play for fun, not to teach.”
I don’t think he quite understands, but he doesn’t say anything more about it and continues to watch Mary and Suzy play. I glance at Kitsune and see a sad smile on her face. Before I can ask her about it though, the blond woman that had talked to the big man with the bow walks into the kitchen. With a smile on her face she says, “Hello everyone, I’m Suzy’s mommy Sarah. You’ve already met my husband, Sam. I’m glad you were able to get your horses all settled in the barn.” She then points to the sink and the large bowl of water on the counter next to it, “Please wash up. Dinner is all ready to eat.”
Kitsune and I wash our hands in the basin of water, and I help Vrax reach the basin to wash up when we’re done. We dry our hands on a nearby cloth towel and sit down at the table. For once Mary doesn’t seem interested in eating right away, and she continues to play with Suzy.
Sarah sets out seven bowls and spoons on the table. Then she ladles a thick brown stew with a variety of vegetables and bits of meat from the pot on the stove into them. She pulls a freshly baked loaf of bread from the oven and slices it up and puts a piece next to each bowl. The combined aromas of the bread and stew make my mouth salivate.
I’m about to dig in when Kitsune puts her hand over mine, and she tells me, “We should wait for the husband. It’s only polite.”
I look longingly at the delicious food but nod my head in agreement. Being polite is important.
Sarah calls her husband and daughter to the table. The child runs up and hugs her mommy’s legs yelling in delight, “The fairy caught me, mama. She’s great.”
Sarah picks her up, hugs her, and tells her, “I’m glad you like the lovely fairy lady. Be sure to thank her for playing with you. But for now, please sit and eat dinner.”
Mary lands on the table near me breathing heavily but looking happy.
The large hairy man we saw earlier comes into the kitchen from the hallway. I hadn’t noticed before, but the man’s shaggy hair actually hides the fact that he has two round bear ears on the top of his head. He’s a beastman.
Sam smiles, showing large canines, and greets everyone, “Hello folks. Sorry for earlier.” As his eyes reach Kitsune his smile falters. He stares in open mouthed astonishment at Kitsune’s nine tails and her fox ears. He then falls to his knees, bows his head, and says formally, “Your excellency, you grace my home with your presence. Please forgive my rude behavior.
If I’d known you were with this human, I would have never have drawn my bow.”
I turn to Kitsune and see that she’s gone beet red but has a grave look on her face. The chair scrapes against the wooden floor as she pushes away from the table and gets up. Kitsune stiffly walks over to the bearman. Even on his knees and bowing he’s still taller than she is. She places her left hand on his bowed head and speaks formally as if in judgment, “You acted reasonably, within the scope of your knowledge, to protect your family. You bore no malice in your actions against the royal family, and none is born towards you or yours.” Kitsune still standing stiffly looks towards Sarah, who now clutches her daughter in her arms, a look of confusion on her face. Kitsune places her right hand on Sam’s shoulder and continues, “Your home and hospitality do your clan credit Ditlʼoi. The blessing of the Nine Tails Clan upon your house.”