Bound - NaNoWriMo2020 11/9

                 Madrona was not about to trek out of town on a moments notice with a woman she didn’t know. She didn’t want to leave the town at all, she finally found a place that didn’t treat her like dirt the moment she stepped into town. It was going to be different here. Her gaze snapped back to Kassadi. The cheerful Wizard was carefully peeling the wax paper from a bear claw, the confection, she didn’t have an actual bears claw. Though at this point Madrona wouldn’t be surprised if this strange woman randomly produced an ursine foot.

“You have a destination in mind?” Madrona asked.

“Well…” Kassadi said through a mouthful of sugar and bread. “We could try Travlona.”

“Who?” Madrona asked, brow raising.

“Oof… You didn’t do your research before going into that Maze did ya?” Kassadi swallowed her mouthful of bear claw and wiped her mouth on her sleeve.

“No I didn’t.” Madrona was growing annoyed. “I was asked to retrieve stolen goods from a band og Goblins in some old maze, I didn’t think a research expedition was called for.”

“That labyrinth was the home of Valel Hex, a pretty nasty Sorcerer who terrorized this land about a century back.” Kassadi pulled a chunk of confection off the bear claw and popped it into her mouth. “She like,” She swallowed. “She like hid a whole bunch of magical treasure down there, it’s why it’s so popular for Adventurers, or at least it used to be… Pretty picked clean these days, but there’s still some interesting things down there.” Kassadi decided to display this by wiggling her wrist, jangling the bracelet that currently cursed the both of them.

“And Travlona?” Madrona asked.

“A Scholar. Totally obsessed with Valel, been studying her for years. If we can’t find a Cleric cause we’re too broke, then might as well see if we can find out exactly what’s got us bewitched?” She shrugged. “Maybe we can find a way to counter the curse instead of removing it.”

“It’s a start.” Madrona crossed her arms. “And where is this Travlona, exactly?”

“That’s the best part! Not far!” She grinned. “She lives in a Manor less than five miles away from the Labyrinth entrance, no more than twenty miles out of town!”

“Mmm.” Madrona nodded. “That’s not too far, if we get up at dawn tomorrow and are quick to start we should be at the manor by sunset.”

“Dawn?” Kassadi furrowed her brow, looking as though the thought up being up with the sun was a personal offense.

“Yes, dawn.” Madrona said, tapping the table with her index finger for added punctuation.

“Fiiiine.” Kassadi groaned, and went back to her bear claw.

                The dawn sun rose a lot easier than Kassadi did, that’s for sure, but for once Kassadi beat the sun to the punch. She shuffled and groaned as consciousness found her. Pushing up in the bed of the inn she instantly regretted it. Warm. The bed was nice and warm and all that laid outside of it’s confines was the terribly cold and awful world… She needed coffee. She sighed, and glanced over to her companion in the other bed. Madrona said Dawn and a quick start, which meant Kassadi needed to be up well before that. Bare feet met the wood of the floor and Kassadi’s mind was filled with half formed curses. The problem is that what it wasn’t filled with was magic. Kassadi needed to spend time with her Spell Book, looking over her spells and filling her mind with their magic. Swaying slightly as she lifted herself to her feet she felt a deep urge to just fall back into the bed. Instead she walked over to the small desk they were provided and opened her spell book.

                The hurdle now was which spells she wanted to learn today. Paging through the book Kassadi pondered, like any serious Wizard Kassadi had far more spells noted in her book that she could possibly fit in her head, the trick was picking the spells that would be useful to the day. She would be spending most of the day traveling, always a certain amount of danger moving away from civilization, bandits, cutthroats, even a monster could block their path demanded some offensive spells. But then some amount of extra mobility would also be good… Perhaps some sort of divination magic to see what was coming before it came? So many decisions. She peered over the pages, picking out each spell she wanted as she came across them, marking each one with a strip of loose paper. Once they were all selected she went back in order to begin her study of them.

                Madrona did rise with the dawn and was surprised to find that her companion was up, dressed, and was seated at the desk with two steaming mugs beside her. Madrona pushed herself up to a seated position, and Kassadi turned, a wide smile across her face. Lifting the mugs the Wizard crossed the room and offered one to Madrona. The Inferni quirked a brow, but smiled pleasantly and took the cup, it was a steaming cup of coffee, and Madrona felt herself fall in love. With the coffee that is. She brought it to her lips to take her first sip.

“Careful now!” Kassadi said with admonishment. “It’s still hot!”

“Mmmm.” Madrona chuckled as she pulled the mug away. “I’m Inferni dear, I don’t burn…”  She was lying, her skin could in fact burn, it just took a lot more than a hot drink. Madrona knew a thing or two about the limits of her resistance to fire. “How did you even get these, did the curse wear off?” She asked, glancing up with hopes that this could all be over.

“Uh… No.” Kassadi shrugged. “I may have had to shout our order from the top of the stairs, which I could just barely get to.” She paused. “I may have also told the inn keeper we couldn’t come down for our coffee cause we were both naked.”

“I…” Madrona began. “That doesn’t even make any sense, Kassadi, why would you say that? Why would he accept that?”

“I don’t know!” Kassadi said, throwing her hands up. “He was askin why we just didn’t come down for the drinks, I panicked!” She sat at the foot of the bed and blew on her own coffee. “When I said we were naked he didn’t ask any more questions, just said he’d bring the drinks up.”

“Being naked does tend to shut most men up.” Madrona said flatly, Kassadi guffawed into her drink. Hissing and wiping her chin as the hot drink ran down her front. Madrona smirked.

                The women were on the road shortly thereafter, Kassadi telling Madrona that the journey should be pretty easy, the main road would take them most of the way there, the last two or so miles being on a smaller trail that would take them straight to the manor. Open fills and rolling hills would be the view the entire way. They considered renting a pair of horses for the ride but the thought of one of the horses getting too far from the other and causing a comical, and possibly boke breaking, fall it was decided that the only legs that would traveled on would be their own.

                Hours passed and the women walked and walked… and walked. Kassadi began humming about three hours in, Madrona ended the humming on hour three and twenty minutes. It was just as Kassadi had said, a well-trodden dirt road streaking between a grand vista of absolutely nothing. Grassy hills blocked their view of the distance and the horizon didn’t even hold a tree to gaze upon to judge their travel pace. It was an agonizing trek, but not physically so. Around noon time they decided to stop, make camp, and share a meal. Moving off the road they found a patch of grass to sit in and broke out travel rations.

“God this place is dull.” Madrona said as she tore a strip of jerky in half.”

“I dunno, I think it’s very pretty!” Kassadi said with an earnestness. “The greens of the ground and the blue of the sky stretching across your view, coming together gently at the horizon.” She laid on her side, staring out at the vast field before them.

“Very poetic.” Madrona said. “Sure you’re not a Bard after all?”

“I just like pretty things.” Kassadi said and reached to her neck, she pulled out a small metal crest, and showed it to Madrona. On the crest was curved lines that formed feminine figure with wide hips and an equally wide bust.

“Callista…” Madrona said, looking at the medallion. “The Goddess of Beauty, always noted her followers as fairly” Madrona paused, thinking of a way to be polite with her words. Then she changed her mind. “Vain”

“You’re not wrong.” Kassadi said, rolling onto her back. “It’s cause people don’t understand, they think it’s all about physical beauty. Don’t get me wrong I like a pretty face, but I mean, look at this!” She gestured to the field again. “If that isn’t beauty I don’t know what is!”

“Mmm” Madrona quirked her brow. “I don’t exactly think that’s how Callista worship works.”

“Whatever. Callista is divine beauty, no rule says it means ladies with big breasts and men with chiseled jawlines. I’m not devout or anything, just when you stare at the world through a window frame your entire life, certainly gonna have a longing for the beauty of it all.” She turned her head lazily. “You follow any of the Gods?”

“Barath.” Madrona said, adding a dismissive wave. “Mostly.”

“The God of Knowledge? Yeah?” Kassadi tilted her head. She wasn’t trying to insult Madrona but Barath’s followers tended to… well they always smelled like old paper.

“I like my books.” Madrona said with a shrug. “Knowledge is, in the end, the only thing that separates the Kings from the Commons.” She picked at some of the corn bread of her rations, not really intent on eating it. “Well, that and piles of money, castles, and an army of men sworn to throw their lives at whatever whim the King has… But Knowledge is the only piece of power that Kings can’t keep from the people.” She said, eyes trailing up to meet Kassadi, the Wizard was taring in awe. Madrona felt suddenly very exposed.

“Wow.” Kassadi said.

“What?” Madrona furrowed her brow. This is why Madrona didn’t talk to people!

“That’s so cool!” Kassadi stated, excitedly.

“It is?” Madrona’s worry was slowly deflating inside her.

“Yeah!” Kassadi pushed herself to a seated position, reaching out and taking Madrona’s hand. “I’ve never thought of it like that but it’s true!” She was giddy. “I’m a Wizard, Madrona, knowledge is literally power to me! You are one hundred percent correct! You’re really smart, Madrona.”

Madrona was no longer worried, but still feeling incredibly exposed. She cleared her throat, and tried to wave the woman’s fawning off as ridiculous, Kassadi was having none of it. Madrona was about to inform Kassadi that she was wrong, that she was neither cool nor smart and she should completely forget everything Madrona just said. Needed to nip this admiration in the bud, that’s for sure. However before she could open her mouth there was a sound that jolted the both of them. A howling, piercing and terrible, sending shivers throughout the women.

“What was that?” Madrona asked, glancing up, it sounded like it came from the hills.

“It sounded like a wolf.” Kassadi started to stand, eyes also on the top of the nearest hill.

“That doesn’t make sense, Kassadi, wolves hunt at night. It’s noon!” Madrona said while drawing her dagger.

“What do you want from me?” Kassadi hissed. “It sounded like a wolf!”

“There!” Madrona called, pointing to a large black speck that appeared at the crest of the hill.

                The creature was large, as it was becoming quickly dicernable even at a distance. Black matted fur and four powerful limbs that carried it quickly towards the women. A snout bared yellowed fangs that were stained with blood, and a tail that swished through the air as it charged. Atop the skull of the beast, where any normal canid would have piercing yet very normal eyes, were glowing coals. Red hot flames licked up from this beasts gaze and it exhaled a black sooty smoke… This was no wolf. This was no creature that called the Prime Realm it’s home… this, was a Hellhound.

“Ex-fucking-cuse me!?” Kassadi shouted.