Ch. 8 Getting to Town

John was pulling the cart by the yoke meant for horses. It was not easy especially with the rough terrain around the bandit camp. He was too focused on trying to get the cart through the forest to make much conversation yet. He couldn't wait to get to a road.

John was so focused on pulling the cart he didn't notice the lustful look Sarah was giving him. She was staring at his strong back as he pulled the cart, lightly stroking her pussy with one hand and fondling her breast with the other. She couldn't wait to get her hands on him again, it all felt so good.

She called out to him in a husky tone. "Hey Big Boy, the road leading to town shouldn't be too much further."

At her comment of calling him "Big Boy" John stumbled a little and almost lost his footing in the loose leaves of the forest. But he was relieved that they had almost made it to the road. Deciding to ignore her comment for now, he trudged on through the forest. Determined to make it to the road.

They eventually reached the edge of the small dirt road. He decided now would be a good time for a small brake. He didn't need to rest but it was a good time to have a small chat with Sarah, away from the bloody mess of the bandit camp. He figured it would be easier to get to know her a bit here than in a town full of people.

Setting the yoke down and turning to Sarah and seeing that she was fondling herself. Sarah commented before he could say anything.  "Wow you really do have a lot of stamina you're not even breathing hard from all that strenuous work!"

John responded in a contrite tone, "Yeah I haven't found anything that can tire me out yet."

"Is that a challenge! I'd like to try and tire you out." She said with a wink.

John had to use all of his mental will power not to have dirty thoughts and end up ripping his pants off with another erection. He's starting to feel exasperated with her. He would end up having to spend half his life meditating if she kept doing this to him. Though he seemed to be getting a bit better self control.

"Sarah I told you already. I'm not ready for that yet." He said with a roll of his eyes.

"Awww, come on Big Boy I'm just teasing." She said with another wink. John could tell she was not just teasing.

John took a deep breath still trying to calm himself down, and asked. "Can you stop doing that, (referring to her touching herself) and tell me more about yourself."

She removed her hands from her body with a pout.  She seemed to have agreed to let it go for now and just talk. "Like I told you before, I'm a blacksmith. Though I'm still only an apprentice. I've made a few decent things so far but I plan to be the best in the future."

"Oh, what kind of things have you made so far?"

"Lots of little things, knives, daggers, spear points… mostly for practice, but so far my pride and joy is this awesome sword I made. But my fath... I was told that that it was too big for any practical use." She said enthusiastically at 1st but sounding disheartened at almost mentioning her father.

John could tell she was avoiding making specific mention of her father. She was clearly not yet ready to talk about him yet. On the positive side it seemed to have taken her mind off of sex for now. Not knowing what to say to comfort her or if it was his place to, he decided to get moving again. John grab the yoke and started pulling the cart down the road towards the town.

This was much easier going as he didn't have to keep track of his footing. He decided to continue getting to know Sarah. "So tell me about your town that we are heading to?"

"It's called Bly. It's a small town on the edge of the Gilman Empire. Not that we're really in the Empire. We're so small and far away from the capital. Only once a year someone comes and collects some taxes and that's it. What about you John where are you from?"

"Well I don't really know where I'm from.  I know it's called Colly village but that's about all I know."

"Oh I've heard of that village. It should be about a 10 day journey in that direction." Pointing in the general direction they had come from. "I heard that they are even more remote then Bly is. They don't even have a road going there. So why did you leave?"

" Well I never knew my parents and grew up in an orphanage. When I got too old for the orphanage they kicked me out. Then the town kicked me out because I had no skills or money."  He said self consciously.

"I'm sorry John… They are stupid, you're big and strong you could have helped out somewhere. So what's your plan? What are you going to do?"

"I had heard that there was a town in this direction. I guess that's Bly. So I headed this way... I've always dreamed of becoming an adventurer. I wanted to get started on that. By the way does Bly have an Adventure Guild office branch I can register at?"

"We don't have an Adventure Guild branch or anything like that, Bly is to small and remote. There is a Guild employee that works out of the tavern though. He can probably take your registration and send it to a Guild office for you. I've heard that he has the full authority of the Guild. He can give out missions and hand over payments to any adventures that come through. I think he has a very boring job, we don't get many adventurers."

"That's great, I've gotta get started somewhere!" John said enthusiastically.

They continued small talk about their lives as they went down the road through the forest. Though John didn't have much to say due to his lack of an upbringing. It was somewhat depressing to talk about. And Sarah continued to avoid any mention of her father. They eventually came upon the town around evening.

John noticed that the small town of Bly was surrounded by a short wooden palisade wall. He figured it had to have some sort of protection from the wild animals and monsters in the forest. Sarah said "Welcome to Bly." as they pass through the gates. It really was a small town there wasn't even any guards at the gates or soldiers on the wall.

Sarah directed him to pull the cart towards her home and forge. It was on the edge of the town near the wall. She explained that it was all the way out here because no one wanted the smoke and noise of the forge near the town center. As they were skirting the edge of the town there wasn't much to see but small houses. None of them looking that nice or well kept. They were all simple and utilitarian with just thatched roofs.

The people they passed all look to be of the lower class. They all stared at John. He was new to town and he was a giant to them. One little boy bravely ran up to him and asked if he was a giant. John told the boy that no he was just a very big man as the boy's mother pulled him away. The people seemed a little scared of the new, big man in town.

They eventually reached Sarah's home and she told him to put the cart in front of the doors to the forge. John looked around the area. It seemed to be the industrial section of Bly. There was a good amount of smoke and smells in the air. He couldn't identify what many of the buildings were for, but one was clearly a tannery. There were hides strung out on racks all over the place and it smelled awful.

The forge was a good size with a tiled roof. The house attached to it was quite large considering it was for a family of dwarfs. When he inquired about its curious size, she responded that the dwarves may be small but generally prefer living in larger spaces. He guessed that made sense, a unique dwarf trait.

John was wondering if her mother was home. He didn't want to have that conversation about Sarah's fathers passing yet. So John avoided that topic until it was forced upon him. He dropped the cart where she instructed him to. She then gathered up her warhammer and her father's weapon that he had borrowed for the fight. She ran them into the house for safe keeping.

When she came back to John standing there awkwardly she said. " The rest can wait for the morning let's go to the tavern before it gets to late.  We should find the Guild employee there and we can get you registered as an adventure."

Agreeing with her, John lost his awkwardness and became excited. It was time to truly start down the path of realizing his dream!