“Oh my goddess!” Kassadi shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.
“You’re really gonna make this difficult for us?” Madrona
asked, glaring at the goblin.
“I’m gonna make this real difficult.” Maryl said, emphasizing
the word ‘real’. “And why not? You’re both big powerful caster types, a Wizard
and a Warlock, but here in my mom’s house? You can’t do nothin!” She grinned.
“Maryl.” Lidya approached with a heated teapot and four
cups. She slowly began to pour out the chamomile. “I asked you to be polite.”
“After what they put me though, this is polite, mother.” She
said, frowning at her mom. “I don’t owe them anything.
“Okay what do you want?” Kassadi asked leanig heavily into
one hand on the table.
“The wands.” Matyl said, sipping her tea.
“What?” Madrona quirked a brow.
“The Wands that you took from me, I want them back.” The goblin
bandit grinned, it make Madrona want to turn her and the chair she was in to
ash.
“We don’t have the wands, something else!” Kassadi said,
annoyance thick in her voice.
“Then get them.” Maryl snapped, frowining at the Wizard.
“We’re not going to give you Magic Wands so you can attack
the town.” Madrona said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m not gonna attack the town.” Maryl growled. “You two saw
to that… But now I got ten goblins in a maze with no protection. They won’t be
able to come back here, not after what we did.” She banged her fist on the
table. “But if we had those wands me could at least protect ourselves!”
“This is ridiculous there must be something else. Gold, will
you take gold?” Kassadi asked.
“How much you got?” Maryl asked, glancing at the clothes that
clearly didn’t belong to the Wizard.
“Uuuh…” Kassadi glanced at Madrona, the Inferni shrugged.
“So if we get you the wands you’ll tell us everything you
know about these bracelets?” Madrona asked, turning to the goblin woman again.
“Madrona you don’t honestly think we’ll agree to thi-“Kassadi
began.
“Shh!” Madrona intoned, lifting a finger to Kassadi without
breaking eye contact with Maryl. Kassadi’s face tewisted in anger and offence
and she pouted very viciously at the Warlock.
“Yeah I’ll tell you everything.” Maryl nodded, finally
getting somewhere.
“And you swear that you have something to tell. You know
something of importance.” Madrona narrowed her eyes.
“Oh I know a lot. Was a lot of books on those shelves before
you found that room I can tell you. I got the info.” Maryl replied.
“Then we have a deal.” Madrona drew her hand up to the
Goblin to shake on it. Maryl recoiled at first, but smiles and took the hand.
There was a flash of light that surrounded the both of them. Maryl glanced
around.
“What was that?!” She shouted.
“A spell.” Madrona smirked.
“A spell?” Maryl’s face filled with anger. “What kinda
spell?”
“Dutiful Pact.” Madrona replied. Her finger trailed along
the edge of her Grimoire. “Two creatures who discuss terms seal the spell with
a handshake, or the closest possible approximation given available limbs and
appendages. The two creatures are bound to their word and must complete the
agreed upon terms. So when we bring you the wands, you will have to tell us
what we want to know.”
“And if I don’t?” Maryl sneered.
“Oh I wouldn’t suggest that at all.” Madrona stated, shaking
her head. “It would end very poorly.”
“Mom!” Maryl shouted, turning to Lidya.
“Hey you wanted to be a leader.” Lidya said calmly. “That
means negotiating and making deals for the betterment of your people.” She
sipped her tea. “And when you’re a leader of a bandit camp, that means the ones
you make the deal with is sometimes a Warlock.”
So the
next morning Kassadi and Madrona found themselves heading west from the Goblin
village, trekking back to the main road that would take them back to town. Dulav
had been there when they parted, handing the two of them a small pouch filled
with crushed herbs and flowers. It smelled stringly and the women wrinkled
their noses at the offer, but were assured that it should keep the hound of
their sent for a while. When they asked what a ‘while’ was, Dulav was somewhat
more ambiguous than they would have liked. However having any protection from
the beast was good, it was a long walk. It would be some hours after sunset
before they arrived, most would likely have made cam; at the halfway point, but
the women were not interested in that at all.
The trek
started early, with the morning dew still sprinked across the grassy fields. It
stuck to boots and pantlegs and it wasn’t long before the two were moist from
the knee down. They had to trek to the field for a number of hours before
finding the road since there was no path lead from the Goblin village to the
road, the peoples there preferring their privacy. It was good weather, though,
so they had that to be thankful for. What they were less keen on was the
clothes. Though they may have ‘fit’ it wasn’t exactly a good fit, certainly not
apparel you would bring to a hike. Kassadi found herself lagging behind
Madrona, adjusting herself in the vest and hide pants several times, more than
once taking long enough that their tether snagged and Madrona found herself whipping
around suddenly. Kassadi gave a sheepish chuckle each time and hurriedly caught
up.
Two or
so hours later they found themselves at the road, and thankful for it. The rolling
fields may look flat to the naked eye, but stomping through them tells another
tale. They had only just started and were already feeling the need to stop. Wet
from the dew, achy from walking through an uneven field, and constantly
shifting and jostling just to keep their
clothes on it did not seem the most amicable start. They sighed and decided to
share one of the rations Lidya had provided on the road before going.
“So um.” Kasadi began. “You never did tell me how you plan
to swipe the wands.”
“Mostly because I don’t have a plan yet.” Madrona said, popping
a dried raisin into her mouth.
“Uh, didn’t you do that Dutiful whatever spell?” Kassadi
asked, fiddling with some crackers from the pack. “Does that mean if you don’t
get the wands you…”
“I never said when I would do it.” She said, glancing up at
Kassadi, but she then glanced away just as quickly. “But yes if no time table is
stated in the preamble the spell assumes thirty days.”
“So in thirty days…” Kassadi quirked a brow.
“I will burst into flames.” Madrona said flatly. “I might
survive it, actually, due to being Inferni.
“Yeah not looking to test that!” Kassadi shouted, and threw
a dried blubbery at the woman. Madrona laughed. “It’s not funny, you’re in danger
now and we have to figure out how to steal a bunch of magic wands!”
“Well good that I have access to one of the smartest women I
know?” Madrona replied, smirking.
“Oh yeah?” Kassadi said, “She live in the town then?”
Madrona
sighed.
They finished
their food and continued on. The road was better and the mid-day sun was slowly
drying their pants. The clothes were still an issue, but since they weren’t
tripping over rocks impossible to see through knee high grass they didn’t find
the need to adjust as much. That didn’t make the comfortable, however, a haze
of anxiety hovered over the two of them. Every black spot in the distance was
the hound it seemed, but it never was… Each spot in the distance became a
traveler or wagon, they even once spotted a deer. It ran away from them as they
approached, however. The road was turning out to be quite dull, that was
however until they spotted the road they knew to lead into the distant woods,
to Travlona and the manor. Their anxiety only rose as they passed it, expecting
to see the seven-foot-tall Gild spring up from a pit dug in the ground and lop
their heads off with one stroke! That didn’t happen, and they eventually passed
the path. A few hours later they were closer to the town than they were to the
forest, right around the spot they first encountered the hound. They
momentarily debated if they should take another break and eat some more, having
already skipped the noon meal and now working towards evening supper. They
glanced at each other and then over to the field, Kassadi’s wall wasn’t there
any longer, the magic keeping it erected long gone, but a streak of disturbed
earth showed it’s placement. Next to the wall sat a hole, a tunnel that was dug
from within, the one the Hellhound had dug to free itself from the pit Madrona
trapped it in. The women glanced at each other… and kept walking.
Eventually
the sun set into the distance and the women were finding themselves losing
their drive. They were both tired of walking, tired of constantly looking over
their shoulder, just tired in general. It was only when they saw torchlight in
the distance that they found themselves a new surge of energy. Picking up their
step they found themselves entering the town again with a relieved sigh between
the two of them. They leaned into each other, barely kept on their feet as they
burst into the inn. Kassadi was suddenly nervous, they didn’t have any money! How
were they going to pay? Madrona sauntered over to the front desk and tapped on
the wood.
“Yes, hi.” She said to the attendant. “I have a room under
Gilbert Hofferound’s name, booked for three weeks. I unfortunately lost my key,
is there a spare?” She smiled as she spoke, and was eventually given a key. She
was told that if she lost this one there would be a charge added to her bill.
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