Chapter 11

"Master warrior, your skills with the blade are evident in your poise alone! Just standing in your presence fills me with fear! Oh if only I could share such talent!"

The mysterious boot-licker had been singing my praises since I sat down and seemed entirely unbothered by my lack of a response.

Looking to the bar I saw the innkeeper trembling with rage. If looks could kill the boot-licker would be most thoroughly dead.

I groaned internally and addressed the yappy pest, "What is it that you want, you are disturbing my meal."

"A thousand apologies cannot do justice to the regret I feel!

My master, Lord Qualos, ordered me to gather the bravest men to set forth on a daring quest. Upon seeing your unmatched courage I could not help but implore your aid!

Last month my lord's darling daughter was bitten by a foul fiend that set upon her while she picked flowers in the nearby mountains. My lord's guards slay the vile insect at once and entered its lair. Alas they have not returned and now my lady's skin is the color of stone! Her body burns with fever and she raves with madness when she awakes.

Her only hope for a cure lies in the dark depths of the fiends nest."

I was intrigued by the earnest care that shone in the boot-lickers eyes as he spoke of his lord's poisoned daughter.

"Did you know her well?" I asked.

The boot-licker smiled and stared at his shoes while remembering days gone by, "I have stood by her side since she was born. I consider her my closest relative. To see her like this, it breaks me."

There was a loud bang as I slammed my tankard down on the table, "Very well! Your story moves me, I shall seek justice for this girl with my sword."

"Master your honorable spirit sparks a fire in my heart! I shall inform my lord at once of the good news! Return here tomorrow morning and I shall introduce you to your companion on this quest. No doubt your names will go down in legends to come!" Without leaving his name or providing any information on my pay the man scampered off.

Once he had left the innkeeper's scowl finally slackened. He still didn't look happy but at least he wasn't quite as angry as before.

"The lord's servant, Maurice, he is not well liked here."

The unfamiliar voice caught my attention. It was rare for others to initiate conversation with a wandering sword. Far too often they were maniacs or criminals.

"What he spoke of, is it true?" I asked, evaluating the confident stranger.

Her face was slightly round and dotted with brown freckles. The callouses on her hands hinted at a background of manual work. Likely farming. I used my perception to scan her for any traces of magic. There were none. This woman was ordinary down to her very bones.

I made a note to increase my mediation. The upheaval of this world brought uncertainty. Unknown forces were at play and the magic that had arrived from other planes expressed its discontent. My closeness to the elements had caused their feelings to spill into my own.

I had become paranoid, believing a simple village woman to be a threat to my safety.

"He does not lie, Lord Qualos's daughter truly has been bitten by a fiendish monster." She paused and swirled the tankard of ale in her hands.

"But he twists the truth. Those guards slew that vile monster, all of them are dead. Poison. Qualos hid this from us and sent many good men to their deaths. My son-" She choked up.

I waited silently for her to regain her composure.

This was the third village I had passed through on my travels and by now I had become bored of ghouls and Nekkers. Fighting with a blade was exhilarating, but my opponents had been too weak to provide any real sense of accomplishment.

Finally something interesting had delivered itself to my ears.

"I am sorry. I never intended to become emotional about this. My son, Edwin, he was scratched by one of those beasts.

He described them to me, black as night and tall as a man.

They speak to one another with movements of their spindly legs, crawling endlessly about their tunnels in search of food. No sound is made as they walk, their grotesque bodies seeming to be as light as the air we breathe. Their many eyes gleam in the darkness, serving only to inform men of their coming end." Her breathing quickened as she spoke and her hands clutched the tankard so tight that her knuckles were white.

"My son cannot move. He lies there, writhing in agony when he awakes and wracked by unknown dreams as he sleeps." Tears trickled down her face but her eyes stared piercingly into my own.

She spoke hoarsely, "He will not survive the poison. It is unlike anything I have ever seen, it eats at the core of his being in ways my medicine cannot explain. All I can do is dull the pain as it consumes him."

Her words and the heavy scent of herbs on her clothes told me that this woman was a healer. Kindness radiated from her face.

But her spirit was broken.

All that was left was emptiness and hatred.

"Then I saw you." A smile slowly spread across her face.

"Even before you had arrived I felt your presence in my dreams and I have been waiting for you here since.

The forces of destiny cannot touch you, something I cannot see bars you from their reach. They swirl and flow at your back, like wolves surrounding their prey.

You will save my son and do so much more." She stood up, her eyes shining with intensity.

"Good luck Albert, I wish you well. I am certain we shall meet again." The doors shut slowly behind her, leaving me alone in the inn. The other customers and furious innkeeper had disappeared without me noticing.

I sat in silence.

"Destiny's a pain in the ass."