Since I didn’t have to pay the fee at the Mages Guild, I got a new everything. I even got a fresh journal and copied everything useful into only twenty folios from the first one so I didn’t have to carry around so much. I had enough parchment for a number of runes, new brushes, ink stones, and the list went on. Bran was a bit more conservative and paid for leather armor and a new larger shield.
I saw him painting on it a couple of mornings, but he had asked me not to look until he was done. The morning we were to leave it depicted a giant mouth with teeth. Since it was a tower shield that was almost his full body height it was actually a bit scary. “What were you thinking when you drew this?” I asked.
“A great monster biting on its prey.” I looked at the shield again.
“Okay, it definitely is shocking looking like that.” I said.
“Exactly what I wanted.” We both walked over to the mission board. It was divided up into regions and there were a lot of missions posted. They were also divided up into ranks four, three, two, and general. I noted that the necklace one was still up there.
“Back to goblins?” I asked.
“No. They are as bad as fish.” Wow, he really had an intense dislike for them. “What about this?”
Rank Two
To scout and mark the location on a map of a cockatrice nest located in the Urtan Mountain Range.
Posted by Alchemists Guild in Antioch
Reward: 20 Silver
Extra: If a live cockatrice is captured and returned, a reward of 1 gold.
I pulled out a map and looked over where this exactly was. “That is about four ten-days from here and winter is coming on. Let me see if there is a caravan mission.” I pointed out the locations to him and looked over the other missions.
“Well there is one listed for tomorrow about two towns shy, or a five day walk.” I said.
“Perfect, we will make loads.” He said with a grin.
“I also noticed it was in the mountains.” He kept on grinning. “Alright, but we need winter cloaks and gear.”
“Best teammate ever.” He said. With that I grabbed both slips of parchment and went to the bored woman at the desk.
“Still here, I though you would be finished?” I asked.
“I live for punishment. Just give a girl a good whipping and I just roll right over.” She looked at the pieces of parchment. She then pulled out other piece of parchment and made some notes on it. With that done we got our mission parchment back. “Good luck. Oh and if I am still at this desk when you get back, please kill me.”
“Thanks, bye.” I said.
“Good luck getting out of here.” Bran said. Her feet were already up on the desk and her eyes closed. We made our way to the merchant guild.
“So, caravan duty to all the way up there. Well it leaves tomorrow. Show up at dawn. The guard leader is Edward.” Well this would be interesting. We thanked the teller and left.
It took a while to find a store for heavy winter clothing. “Come in, what can I do for both of you?” The sales person asked.
“Winter clothing. Going up in the mountains.” I said.
“Adventurers, well this is the right shop for you. Heavy cloaks, that tie off. The wind will try and blow them open. And a heavy kilt. Let’s you move and keep the important bits nice and warm. I also recommend getting an ice axe.” Bran and I looked things over while I considered what would work.
“I like the cloak, but the kilt seems like it would come lose too easily.” I said.
“I do sell pants, but they tend to be too bulky for what adventurers like.” The salesperson said and showed us a pair. “See, thick. Good quality sheep’s wool but you won’t be dashing around or kicking anything.”
“What do you think Bran, kilt or no kilt?” I asked.
“I like being warm.” Bran said.
“Two kilts and the cloaks.” I said.
“A silver and twenty.” I gave him a look that said are you kidding me.
“Can’t go lower. Not a high demand for this stuff here at the coast. Only nobles travel much and you are welcome to go to that shop and pay three silver for the same thing with fancy stitching.” He said. I handed over the money completely out haggled. “Come again.”
The kilts went in the packs, while the cloaks open and hanging over them. At least they both were a dark gray and not red or something silly. “So what now? I want to hold onto the money I have in case we need it.”
“Well we kind of left all dressed up, I really don’t want to go back to the guild hall.” I rolled my eyes at Bran.
“Fine, but you are treating me everywhere once we finish this mission.” I said.
“Deal.” We found a decent inn by the gate and for ten copper each got a nice meal and another twenty copper got rooms with real beds. I couldn’t even remember the time I last slept on one that wasn’t just a plank of wood.
I almost didn’t wake up since they were so comfortable, but I managed and kicked Bran awake. We then wandered over to the meet up with the caravan. Wagons were being hitched and I looked around. “Hey we are looking for Edward.”
“That is him over there.” We walked over to the man he pointed us to.
“Edward, we are signed up for this caravan.” He looked at us, while I gave him a glance over. He looked in his twenties and had an unstrung bow and quiver. So an archer.
“How far you going?”
“All the way to Pentsworth.” I said.
“Huh, so the whole way out. You do this before?” He asked.
“With Karn.”
“Ouch, so he broke you in. That man is a menace. Well things run pretty much the same way. Got another adventurer heading out, so you three get to be team four. Work out who is in charge and let me know who to yell at.”
We walked over to the older man leaning against a nearby wall. I saw a three medallion around his neck. “Twos huh. So what did boss man say?”
“Wants to know who is in charge, said we are team four. I am Ed, this is Bran.”
“X, yep that is my name, don’t wear it out. I guess I am running this pile of shit. Just don’t make me look stupid.” He said.
“Sure.” He got up and walked up to Edward they talked a bit and he came back.
“We are in the rotation, going to be a bit off with three guard times and four groups but it is simple enough. We start at the front, rear, middle rear, middle front, and so on. Watches will rotate also, we got middle watch tonight, then last one tomorrow, figure out the rest.” X said and walked off.
With that we set off towards the mountains in the west to locate a nest of a cockatrice. The heavy cloak really came in handy as the nights started to get colder. The caravan was like the last one, boring. I kept working on my chants when I was walking on the road. I still wasn’t making any progress.
I figured I needed a specific goal rather than pushing together a lot of words about time. Stopping something seemed like the next obvious step and I focused on that. A wide area of effect slow would be useful, instead of just one enemy.
X stayed to himself and the guards were friendly but I wasn’t going to risk my money gambling with them. They were all close friends and I had never gambled before. I preferred to keep my hard earned money so declined and meditated and worked on my mana. Bran took the time to look around the towns and chat with people if there was an Adventurers Guild. He also lost twenty copper gambling and I refused to lend him any money.
By the time we reached three ten-days that was when we saw the first snow. Bran was in shock at the sight. I guess living next to the ocean he never saw any. I saw some once when I was young. Just a small sprinkle before it melted in the sun that day.
We reached Pentsworth and collected our two silver each in payment. It had been a boring trip but I wasn’t complaining. We bought some food and then began to make our own way up into the mountains. It was cold, windy, and I felt the chill through my entire body.
It was tempting to make a heat rune for each of us, bu
t I knew they would only last a day each for them to have any effect against the biting cold and I wanted to save that for emergencies. We finally reached a little shit mining town with no guilds or walls all way up in the mountains. We stumbled into the only inn, freezing our asses off.
I pushed the door shut and took off my ice covered hood and let the heat wash over me. “Ahhhhh.” Bran sighed loudly.
“Well I am guessing you want a room and a meal.” We looked at an older man.
“Yes please.” I said.
“Well hang up your cloaks there and you can leave your packs by the wall. Make sure you keep all the snow by the door so you don’t make a mess.” We listened and carefully put our stuff to the side and made sure that almost all the snow was brush off.
“Take a seat. I added some more to the stew. No bread though.” We each got a bowl of slightly thin vegetable stew. “Not the best, but not much call for anything up here. So why you come out all this way?”
“Trying to find a cockatrice nest, maybe even capture one.” Bran said.
The old man looked at us then started laughing. “Hahahaha, oh my, hahahahaha. Capture, hahahaha, a nest…” He kept on laughing for quite a bit before finally calming down. “I almost died there, that would be the way to go. Do you even know what one is?” He asked.
“Part dragon and chicken.” I recalled the bestiary I had read that my father had copied when I was younger.
“A good description, that sounds about right. The thing is they like to live way up there near the peaks.” He gestured above his head. “Fierce too. Saw a full grown man ripped apart. Tried to touch a little one you see. The parents are very fierce. Capturing one, I don’t even know how you would do that.”
“How big is a young one?” I asked.
“About the size of a dog. Gellert might have a cage that size, but the parents will rip you apart. They got mana you know. Never saw it but there are stories. Heard too many not to believe them. Freeze a man into stone they say.”
“How much for a room and the meal?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Twenty five copper and that includes breakfast.” He said. I looked at him and he just wiggled his hand for the money. It was robbery but we needed a place to stay for the night. I handed over the money and he smiled at us.
“Room is the door to the left of the fireplace. If you need to take a shit or piss, out house is out that door about thirty paces. I don’t recommend trying in the dark. Freeze your ass to the seat.” We took our packs and cloaks to our room since they had dried off and left our boots by the fire place.
The beds were hard wood, but the cloaks and blankets we had helped a lot. I took the time to write up ten heat runes. Breakfast consisted of a mush up grain and some water. It tasted bland and wasn’t the most filling. I could tell the old man was hoping we would say something, over charging us for this shit food.
Thankfully the weather was clear and we went over to Gelllert’s house. “A cage you say? I got an old one for my guard dog, mighty fierce that thing was.” We looked at the cage. It was large and would take both of us to carry.
“We may need it when we come back. How much?” I asked.
“Well, I suppose I could part with it for fifty copper.” This town should change its name to Scam from whatever it currently was.
“We will pay the money if we need it when we come back.”
“Alright, no problem with me. What you plan on putting in it.”
“A monster.” Was all I said and we left. Climbing up the snow and ice covered mountain was hard work.
“Bran I am picking the next mission, lots of sun and nice women. I swear if I hear you complain about your mission I am kicking your ass down these rocks.” I said.
“This is a great mission.” Bran said in a sarcastic tone. That was when the wind hit. It was brutal and cold and threw up all the snow. I could barely see. I stopped and pulled out a rope from my pack and tied it around my waist. After a bit of shouting over the wind Bran did the same with the other end.
We set off again. How we were even supposed to find a stupid cockatrice in this storm was beyond me? The wind lifted in the afternoon for a bit. I could see the village in the distance below and we were ascending and circling around the mountain we were on. “Look around for any chicken dragons.” I said to Bran.
“So…ooo…oooo….co…..old.” His teeth were chattering.
“Suck it up and look.” I scanned the path ahead and saw a cluster of boulders in the distance sticking out of the snow. The wind picked up again and we lost sight of everything. We started walking and eventually reached the boulders. Stepping in between them the wind cut off thankfully. I looked at Bran and he didn’t seem to be doing well. I struggled to move my fingers and pulled out a heat rune. I activated it and put it under his clothes.
Bran let out a small sigh. It took a lot of effort to pull off our packs and lay out our blankets. We sat against a boulder next to each other with a blanket behind and under us and another one over us. Our packs rested on either side to block out any drafts.
“I don’t like this mission any more Ed.” Bran said. At least the heat rune was kicking in. I could feel some of it.
“I was an idiot to take it as well. We push on for two more days and then turn around and go back to the village to that shitty old man stealing our money.”
“Hah yeah. I wouldn’t even mind a fish.” I looked at Bran.
“You better not die on me.” I said.
“No, just I don’t like snow, ice, and the cold.” He said.
“Well if we survive you can tell all your kids about this amazing adventure and how they got white hair.” We kept our canteens next to us so the water melted and drank. It was cold but bearable. The only other warmth was from chewing dried meat and stale bread we had bought in Pentsworth.
The night was long and cold. Thankfully we didn’t freeze. The next day we got up. I could tell the heat rune was still working which was good. We then set off through the snowy wilderness. It was clear every so often when the wind died down. Just after midday I saw something.
“Look that peak there.” I pointed.
“I see it, there seems to be a ledge and couple of boulders.”
“Great for chicken dragons. You want to try and take one?”
“If you can slow it, it should be killable easily enough. Just kill both parents before taking any children.” Bran said.
“If we head down there, it should be doable. Getting back up will be painful.”
“This is a great mission, suck it up.” It was too cold to snort so I just shook my body a bit to show my annoyance. We set off down the mountain to go up another one. I slipped once but thankfully Bran was able to grab onto a small tree in time as the rope caught me. The ice was killer and I understood why the sales person offered small ice axes.
We ended up stopping at the base of the second mountain in a small grove of trees and spent the night huddled there. I was forced to activate a second heat rune after the first burned out. It was a tough night and I ended up activating a third rune by our feet so they wouldn’t completely freeze over.
The next day I put that one inside my clothes and felt much better. We made our way up the treacherous slope to the nest. I scrambled up first onto the small ledge and then helped Bran up. After some wiggling we both freed our swords from their frozen sheathes. We made our way to the group of boulders where I heard movement. A large chicken looking head looked around the boulder at us.
“Slow.” I cast and we rushed forward. I stabbed at the head while Bran circled around to get at its body. My blade bounced off its feathers. “Slow.” I cast again and aimed for its eye.
“I can’t cut it!” Bran called out. My blade went through the eye and into its head. A moment later it collapsed dead.
“Aim for the eye.” I said. I freed my blade and cleaned it off before the blood could freeze. We walked about the dead cockatrice. There was a nest with three small cockatrices in it about the size of
an actual chicken. “Three…” I trailed off.
“I can’t see the other parent.” Bran said while scanning the skies around us. The chicks were making bleating noises which made it hard to focus or hear anything. “What do we do?”
“Stay on your guard and keep an eye on the sky.” We kept waiting for an attack but nothing came.
“Maybe daddy left for a prettier dragon chicken.” Bran said.
“Yeah, and they just might break up and he decides to visit his old lady here.” I gestured at the dead cockatrice. “We can’t wait around here forever. Three is better than one, but it will be a lot harder.”
“Just take one, in case the other parent comes back it will stay here.” Bran said.
“Fine.” I went over to the nest and slammed the flat of my blade on the back of the head of one of the chicks. It collapsed and I tucked it under my arm. I looked over at Bran and he had plucked a bunch of feathers from the dead cockatrice and stuffed them into his pack. Probably something he picked up from talking to other people.
We left the ledge and made our way back to the grove of trees by the time it got dark. “How do we even control this thing? The moment it wakes up it is going to be screaming and causing a problem.”
“Tie it up. Use the actual bandages we have and cut off the tips of its claws with a sword.” I looked at Bran. “What? You learn that kind of thing living in village and not reading books all the time.” I was tempted to ask which fish had claws but restrained myself. Once the baby cockatrice was contained we settled in for the night.
“Got to take watch. I will go first.” I said. It was the hardest watch of my life. Sitting there in the cold and dark it was so tempting to go to sleep. I counted out the seconds until it was halfway through the night and then woke up Bran for his turn.
Morning came all too quickly and we set off again. The baby cockatrice finally woke up and began to struggle in my arms while it made noises through its wrapped up beak. I had been hoping to make it back to town but we just barely made it to the boulders. At least the stupid monster kept struggling during the night which definitely kept me awake during my watch.
Adventures of a Scribe Page 15