by Phoenix Grey
“Thank you. We will definitely reach out for your aid if it's needed,” Lonnell assured her.
With their business concluded, the two men collected their loot and set back towards Cragbell. The second they stepped foot outside of Baremire, Azure was presented with another notification.
Quest: Return to Cragbell
Uden and Lonnell overheard the goblins talking about mounting a raid on Cragbell. Even though Uden returned early to warn the villagers about the raid, you should probably check to make sure that everything's all right.
Difficulty: Very Easy
Success: Reach Cragbell
Failure: Die
Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?
He barely needed to acknowledge the notification before it went away. Where else would he head after this other that Cragbell?
The night was spent counting their loot and inquiring about the value of the gems. There were five copper coins, ten silver coins, two gold coins, two small rubies, a medium sized garnet, and a large sapphire. Lonnell explained that the rubies were the most valuable of the gems in the lot, worth about two gold coins each even at their smaller size. The garnet was worth two silvers and the emerald worth three gold coins. Altogether, Azure estimated that they had earned, what would be the equivalent to, about $1,220 from defeating the silver nether. It had definitely been worth their time.
Upon waking the next morning, they feasted on leftover boar and then continued on their way. Lonnell gave pause when they converged upon a large set of footprints, most of which were too small to be human. He knelt and ran his fingers across the dirt.
“Goblins,” he said, as if Azure couldn't guess. “These are fresh.”
Noticing a few larger prints, Azure asked, “Do you think the fray carried all the way out here?”
“No.” Lonnell shook his head. “There is no blood.” He moved over to the larger indentations, examining them. “These belong to a woman. They lead back into the forest.” He glanced in the direction that the footprints were headed.
“Should we follow them?” Azure anticipated the appearance of a new quest screen.
“No.” Lonnell stood, sighing. “I have a bad feeling about this. We should make haste to Cragbell. Something isn't right.”
It wasn't much further into their journey that they saw smoke billowing into the sky up ahead. With it came a sense of dread.
“Hurry,” Lonnell said, quickening his pace.
As they got closer, particles from the fire wafted through the trees towards them, carrying an acrid odor. It was something that Azure had never smelled before, but he had a good idea of what it was. Burning bodies. The stench—a strange combination of charcoal, sulfur, and charred meats—made him wrinkle his nose.
Upon entering the town, they were relieved to see that most of the buildings were undamaged. A few men were busy fixing broken windows and doors. The mercantile seemed to have received the brunt of the damage, the back of the building still smoking from a fire that had caught inside. That was not what they were smelling, though. On the far outskirts of town, several men were tending to a pyre. Azure could make out small skulls and bones in the flickering flames, though most of the flesh had already been burnt away.
While the majority of the shops were closed, Ruthren's cart was still set up in the same place it had been before. He lazily leaned against it, watching everyone around him labor to fix the town. The other vendors in the area seemed to have taken the day off to clean up and help make repairs. Azure doubted that the traveling merchant was getting any business, though peculiarly, his wares were all on display as if he hadn't been affected by the raid at all.
“Ruthren!” Lonnell called to get his attention as they approached.
The merchant's eyes lit up, and he pushed himself away from his cart. It was the look of a man who thought he was about to make a sale.
“Lonnell. Where's your brother?” He glanced past them as if Uden was about to emerge from the forest.
“He has not been by?”
“Not today. I just got back into town early this morning after restocking on the mainland. This carnage had already come to pass.” Ruthren nodded towards the pyre.
That explained why his cart still had all its wares. While Azure knew he should be focused on the conversation, he couldn't help but glance past the two to everything that Ruthren had lined up for sale. He was pretty sure that his bag of holding was just within reach. Hopefully, Lonnell wouldn't think it insensitive of him to want to do some shopping.
“Thank you.” Lonnell nodded respectfully. “I should go find my brother.” He turned to walk away, but Azure's feet were planted.
“Shouldn't we sell what we collected on our journey while we're here?” Azure suggested, but the twist in Lonnell's expression immediately made him feel guilty. “No, you're right. We should find Uden first.”
Sighing inwardly, he following Lonnell to the tavern like a dutiful friend. Azure couldn't help but cast a longing glance back at the bag on Ruthren's cart, though, silently promising it that he would return and praying that no one else got to it first. Thankfully, no one else around looked much in the mood for shopping, but you never know.
The tavern door was propped open with a chair. On the inside, the wood was scarred with a short deep cut, likely from an ax head. There was a blood stain beneath it that suggested the weapon hit its mark. Lonnell paused only for a moment to look at it before going inside.
Leland and his patrons were also on cleaning duty. Two men hauled out a broken table, and Lonnell and Azure stepped aside to make way for them. The barkeep was sweeping up broken glass near the bar. Lonnell made haste towards him.
“Leland, have you seen my brother?”
Leland stopped sweeping, leaning on his broomstick briefly to scowl at them. “He's lucky I haven't. Not that I have time to deal with him amongst all of this.” He huffed at all that still needed to be done. There was a pile of broken chairs in one corner of the room. A woman was on her hands and knees scrubbing blood stains from the floor.
“He did not come to warn you about the raid? Nor did my father?”
“Do you think things would be this bad if he had?”
Azure could see the concern on Lonnell's face.
“Something must have happened to him,” Lonnell said absentmindedly before glancing over at Azure. “We should return home.”
“Or you could stay and help,” the barkeep suggested.
Lonnell was already walking towards the door as he said, “I'm sorry, but we don't have time.”
“Lonnell,” Leland called to him with a sense of urgency, making both men stop.
This time, the barkeep looked pained from what he was about to say. “The goblins took Bronna.”
All color drained from Lonnell's face. Azure expected him to be angry—expected him to want to immediately divert and go after her.
“Those must have been the other footprints we saw,” he said, knowing that Lonnell had already figured it out. “At least, we know which direction they're headed in.”
“Thank you,” Lonnell said to the barkeep before continuing out of the tavern.
He stopped once they were standing in the middle of the street to process everything they'd just learned. Uden had been a no-show. As a result, Cragbell had been unprepared for the raid, and Bronna had ended up getting kidnapped. It was a lot for Azure to wrap his head around. Either the half-imp had purposely abandoned his mission, or something had happened to him. That meant Manny's farm had possibly been affected by the raid as well. Azure hoped that the kind farmer and his wife were all right.
As he was thinking, a notification popped up.
Congratulations! Quest: Return to Cragbell has been completed.
You made the journey back safely. Unfortunately, Cragbell wasn't so lucky. Uden did not return to warn the townsfolk, and as a result, they were unprepared for the goblin raid. You have earned 55XP.
Brushing it away, he voiced his opinion on the situat
ion. “We should go check on your parents. I know that rescuing Bronna is of the utmost importance, but we can kill two birds with one stone if we head to the farm first. If Uden isn't there, we might be mounting a rescue mission for two people instead of just one. Could any of the footprints we saw have belonged to a man?”
“I don't think so. ” Lonnell shook his head. “They weren't big enough to have belonged to Uden. He was not with them.”
“Regardless, we need to find out what happened to your brother.”
Lonnell let out a loud sigh. It was evident that he felt conflicted about the matter, but finally, he agreed. “You are right. We should check on my parents and find out what happened to Uden.
“I hate to think what those...beasts want with Bronna. But the goblins are in a group and are traveling slowly. Besides, we already know in which direction they're headed. As long as it doesn't rain, those footprints should remain undisturbed.” He glanced up to check the weather. The sun shown brightly overhead, the sky dotted with only a few fluffy white clouds. There was no threat of unfavorable conditions at the moment.
A quest notification popped up in Azure's field of vision.
Quest: Where in The Realm is Uden?
Uden wasn't in Cragbell. Maybe he's at his parents' farm? Whatever the case, you need to find out if the farm survived the goblin raid. Fingers crossed that it's in better shape than Cragbell.
Difficulty: Very Easy
Success: Reach Manny's farm and discover what happened to Uden.
Failure: Die
Will you accept this quest: Yes or No?
“Then it is decided. We shall return to your parents' farm,” Azure said, sending the notification away. “But first I think we should offload our wares and restock on items we might need. Who knows when we'll be coming back here next. I think it's safe to assume that once we check on the farm, we will immediately head back out to search for Bronna.”
“I hate to spend the time, but as you said, it is necessary.”
The two men returned to Ruthren's cart to trade all they'd collected during their hunt for the silver nether. Azure immediately went for the bag of holding as soon as Ruthren presented them with a stack of coins.
“I want this,” he said, holding it up. Oh, how he'd longed for it. His excitement was almost too much to be contained.
The grizzled merchant lifted a thick eyebrow. “Can you afford it?”
“I would certainly hope so.” There was a question to his voice. Wasn't that massive pile of coins enough?
“It's twenty-five gold pieces,” Ruthren informed him.
“Twenty-five gold pieces!” Azure's jaw dropped.
“They're not cheap,” Lonnell said as if that wasn't now abundantly clear.
“Not cheap?” Azure huffed. “Twenty-five gold pieces is outrageous.”
“And that's for the smallest one.” Lonnell patted the bag on his hip.
“I guess you can't afford it right now.” Ruthren took the bag back from him.
Azure felt the loss of it immediately, and he scowled. This was bullshit. They had fought hard to defeat the silver nether. The reward laid at their feet by the sprites seemed like a small fortune at the time. He had been confident he'd have enough coin to buy the bag with plenty leftover for a better quality bow and maybe some armor. He suddenly felt poor all over again.
“Fine.” He gave the bag of holding one last longing look before surrendering to the idea that he was going to have to save up for it. Maybe this wasn't so different from real life after all. Nothing of great value came easily.
His mood now soured, nothing else that Ruthren had for sale seemed to please him. The weapons he'd been carrying thus far had served him well enough. There was no real immediate need to upgrade, especially since he was still in a party with someone stronger. Maybe it was a cop-out, but Azure really wanted to save up for the bag of holding. The only things he was willing to part with some of his coin on were a bunch of empty vials and a mortar and pestle to help level up his Alchemy skill.
“This would serve you well in upcoming battles.” Lonnell handed him a book. The cover had a dark green hue to it and an almost reptilian feel, the title reading Speaking Goblin for Idiots in some strange, messy text that looked like the handwriting of a child. Apparently, anyone who wanted to learn a new language in The Realm was immediately considered an idiot, which was kind of ironic.
Azure held the book up to Ruthren. “How much for this?”
“Seven silver and one copper,” the merchant told him.
“Good grief.” He fought the urge to roll his eyes. These prices were robbery. The last time he spent so much on a book, he was in college.
“Knowledge is expensive.” Lonnell consoled him as Azure sifted through their pile of coins for the payment. Whether he liked it or not, he knew that learning Goblin-tongue would be useful. He didn't want to have to waste time having Lonnell translate everything for him. That would just get annoying for the both of them.
You have received the following item:
Book: Speaking Goblin for Idiots
Quantity: 1
Durability: 1/1
Item Class: Common
Quality: Average
Weight: 0.5 kg
Uses: Language Skills
With their shopping concluded, they collected the rest of their coins, thanked Ruthren, and went on their way. Azure tried to kill two birds with one stone by reading his book while they walked, but the foreign text wouldn't convert in his brain like the sprite book had.
“I think this book is broken.” He closed the book and tilted it towards Lonnell.
“What makes you say that?” Lonnell kept his eyes forward. His focus seemed entirely set on returning to his parents' farm as quickly as possible.
“Shouldn't this be making sense to me?”
“You can't learn a language while you're mobile. You need to be in a quiet place where you can concentrate on what you're reading. I assure you that the book is fine.” There was a hint of irritation to his voice, though Azure knew that Lonnell meant nothing by it. He was just stressed out over the situation. A lot had gone wrong in a very short amount of time.
“Fair,” Azure said, placing the book in his pouch. That did make sense anyway, needing to be able to concentrate to pick up on the language. The words had been bouncing before him as he walked, and he had barely even been able to focus on the English portion. He'd try again later at a more opportune time.
Compared to how much walking they'd done in the previous days, the trip from Cragbell to Manny's farm seemed short. A rabbit hopped across their path when they were a little more than halfway there. Azure had wanted to shoot it, but Lonnell understandably had no patience for hunting. Priorities were priorities, and leveling Azure up wasn't one of them right now.
When the path finally opened up and revealed the farm, Lonnell paused and let out a sigh of relief. All of the buildings were intact, and the crops seemed undisturbed. Perhaps the goblins had bypassed this area and gone straight to Cragbell instead.
They hurried on toward the house but diverted to the barn when they saw the door open. Manny was inside mucking out the stalls. He smiled when he saw them, setting his shovel aside and wiping the sweat from his brow before coming to greet them.
“You've returned safely. I'm glad.” He gave Lonnell a hug and then nodded to Azure in acknowledgment.
“We have, but I fear Uden has not.”
Azure could hear the pain in Lonnell's voice. It was evident that he feared the worst for his brother.
Manny let out a short laugh, seemingly misplaced at the moment. “Fear not. Uden returned home late last night, though he was pretty bloodied up. A tough one, your brother is.”
“He returned home?” Lonnell parroted slowly. The relief of knowing his brother was safe seemed lost on him.
“Yes. The goblins had taken him captive, but he was miraculously able to escape. He's inside resting now.” Manny nodded towards the house.
“And the raid didn't reach here?”
“Thankfully, no. But I fear that supplies and rations were not the only things they were after. Your brother could tell you more.”
“We just came from Cragbell,” Azure chimed in. “The goblins kidnapped a girl.”
Manny let out a short sigh. “It is as I feared.”
“Bronna,” Lonnell added, weighing his words with significance.
“Bronna! Oh no.” Manny shook his head sympathetically.
“Do you know what they plan to do with her?” Anger and urgency seeped into his words.
“You should probably speak to your brother.”
“We must make haste,” Lonnell said to Azure before returning his attention to Manny. “I'm glad that you and mother are all right. I am sure you understand that we will have to leave again immediately. Azure and I came across goblin tracks while we were on our way to Cragbell. There was a woman with them. It had to have been Bronna. We need to pick up their trail before it's too late.”
“I understand. Do what must be done, son,” Manny gave them his blessing before returning to his work.
Azure and Lonnell left the barn and continued on to the house. Uden was lying on a cot in the corner of the room. His eyes were closed in sleep, his arms crossed over his chest. The contrast of his pale skin and dark hair reminded Azure of a vampire.
Meva was tending to a stew on the hearth. She immediately came to greet the boys, smiling brightly with the same relief that her husband had shown. After a brief exchange of affection, Lonnell turned his attention to his brother, kneeling beside the cot to gently shake him awake.
Uden's eyes fluttered open, his expression a mixture of weariness and weakness, though most of both dissipated once he recognized his brother. “You've returned. I am glad. What of the silver nether?”
