by Ian Rodgers
Dora started and spun around, hand clasped over her heart.
“Oh, it’s just you, Rindel,” she said, puffing in relief. “You gave me a scare!”
“Sorry about that,” the blue-haired gnome said. He joined her at the wall’s edge. Unfortunately, he wasn’t tall enough to peer over the crenellations.
“Do you want me to hold you up?” Dora offered.
“No, no. I only have a little bit of dignity left, I’d prefer it if you didn’t take it from me like that,” Rindel said with a sad shake of his head.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “I could find you a crate or a chair…”
“Please stop talking,” Rindel requested, and she shut up.
The two stood there for a while in silence before the green-skinned Healer broke it with a question.
“What did you mean when you asked if I was thinking about home?” Dora inquired.
“Well, I assumed you were thinking of Partaevia based on where you were looking,” Rindel explained.
“I only thought of that place as a home because my mother and I lived there. When she died, I had no more connection to that place or its awful people,” she said darkly. “Why is it that so-called ‘civilized’ people can be so vile and cruel, yet the people here in these wastelands offer me more kindness in two years than I received in fifteen back in Partaevia?”
“Honestly, the fault all lies with Partaevia and its xenophobic policies. If we went to Varia, Brune, or any kingdom west of the Starblinds, the people there might give you and me some odd looks, but ultimately remain friendly,” Rindel explained.
“What are the odds it will collapse in on itself anytime soon?” Dora asked hopefully.
“Couldn’t say. Though give it another century, and if the region’s beliefs don’t change, its neighbors will crush it for being such a bag of rotten fecal matter,” the gnome said bitterly.
Dora grunted in agreement. “Sounds about right.” They stayed silent a bit longer. “So, why’d you come and fetch me?”
“Well, when you didn’t show up after work, Reed and I got worried, so I came to look for you,” the gnome said.
“Oh. Sorry for making you two worry, I guess. And thanks for caring,” she said shyly, unused to being cared for in such a manner.
“No problem. By the way, Reed has something he wants to tell. It’s urgent.”
“Really?” Dora asked, surprised. “Did his mysterious client finally deign to meet with me?”
Rindel nodded, and the half-orc’s souls swelled with hope and excitement.
“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” she cried, grabbing Rindel’s arm and dragging him along after her. Their height difference resulted in Dora practically carrying the gnome a foot or so off the ground as she jogged back to the mansion.
“Ow! Ow! Stop pulling so hard! Ow!” Rindel complained. Dora laughed nervously and put him down when they reached the entrance to Reed’s home. Her palms glowed green as she checked over his shoulder.
“Good news is that I didn’t hurt you!” Dora said cheerfully.
“And what’s the bad news?” he demanded, rubbing his arm.
“Oh, there isn’t any. Why, should there be?” Dora asked.
“Normally, when Healers and doctors say ‘good news’ it tends to be followed up with ‘bad news,’” Rindel pointed out.
Dora didn’t have anything to say to that. He was right after all. Instead, she entered the manor and made her way to Reed’s study.
She politely knocked on the door, giddy with anticipation. When he called out for her to enter, she all but skipped into the room.
Within the wood paneled office, Reed sat behind his desk, fingers steepled. Dora looked around curiously as she sat down in a chair facing him.
“Where’s the guy?”
“I assume you mean the client who hired you to kill the Necromancer?” Reed asked for clarification. When Dora nodded, he smirked. “I’m sorry, but he’s not here.”
“But Rindel said he’d be here,” Dora complained, her mood deflating.
“Uh, no, I did not,” the gnome protested, puffing slightly as he appeared at the door to the study. “I just told you Reed had something to tell you about the matter. Not that the mysterious client would be at the manor.”
“Oh,” Dora muttered, disappointed. Reed couldn’t help it, and he quickly cracked up, laughing at the whole situation. His laughter suddenly transformed into a terrible hacking cough and Dora quickly leaned over and applied some Healing magic on him.
“Thank you, my dear,” Reed whispered, his voice hoarse.
“It was no problem,” she assured him, sitting back down. “So, what is the message your client has for me?”
“The client wishes to meet with you. He is not here, as you now know. And he will not be coming here, either. Thus, he desires that you come to him,” Reed explained.
“I suppose I can do that,” she said slowly. “Where is he, exactly? Another outpost somewhere? The Lake of Tears? Annod Bol?”
“He resides within the Aldani Gorge,” the elderly mayor revealed, and Rindel hissed in shock.
“What? Who’d be stupid enough to live inside that place? It’s crawling with monsters, and is a veritable labyrinth!”
“Is he going to send someone to escort me to his home?” Dora asked worriedly, no less shocked than Rindel.
Reed’s expression twitched. “No, he is not. You’ll have to find him yourself.”
“What in the Hells?” Dora demanded angrily, slamming her hands on the desk. “First he makes me do his dirty work, and now he wants to test me with some ridiculous maze running task?! He promised me a reward and information, not… this!”
“I am no less pleased with this than you are, I assure you,” Reed said, holding up placating hands. “But, I cannot go against this client’s wishes. He is far too powerful.”
“Truly?” Dora asked, disbelief clear in her voice.
“His power and influence make the Tower Lords of Annod Bol look like children trying to act like adults,” Reed stated.
“Oh. Oooh!” the half-orc exclaimed. A shiver of fear ran down her spine. The Tower Lords were akin to kings who ruled over the Cracked Land. And this mysterious client was on a pedestal higher than theirs?
“When do I have to go and enter the Gorge?” Dora inquired softly.
“Dora!” Rindel gasped. She gave him a sad look.
“There’s no other choice, Rindel. If I want information on where Scarrot, Holt, and the others are, I have to go to this man. He holds all the cards right now, and if I refuse, then we can kiss the Menagerie goodbye.”
The gnome looked like he wanted to protest, but Dora’s expression of stoic acceptance made him hold his tongue.
“Fine. But I’m going with you!” he declared.
“I’m afraid you cannot do that,” Reed interjected. “His request was for Dora to enter the Gorge alone.”
“Besides,” the mob boss-like mayor continued, glancing down at Rindel’s legs, “how can you possibly traverse the Aldani Gorge as you are? Your artificial legs are not suited for hard travel through such a place. Hells, you need to constantly clean them thanks to the ever-pervasive dust in Creidor. You’d never make it through the Gorge.”
The Menagerie’s former quartermaster wanted to argue, but he knew the facts as well as Reed did. He turned a worried expression towards Dora, who smiled comfortingly at him.
“I’ll be fine. You guys taught me all about how to survive in the Dreadlands, after all.”
Rindel’s smile was strained. What else could he do?
“Come along, Dora, I have gathered some supplies for you to use. Let us take a quick look at them,” Reed ordered.
He escorted Dora down the hall to a small dressing room with piles of luggage littering the area. All sorts of equipment lay on tables and chairs. It was a survivalist’s paradise, with water gathering and purifying tools lying next to fire starting items, cooking utensils, sleeping bags and magically ward
ed tents.
“Select what you like from here. But make sure you can actually carry it all,” Reed said.
“You’re really letting me pick what I want?” Dora gasped.
“Of course,” he said calmly. “I’ll never use this stuff, and my staff rarely has a need to venture out beyond Creidor. Help yourself.”
Giddy as a little girl in a candy shop, Dora ran about the room, examining the items and selecting what she needed, as well as a few extra things she’d always wanted. Some were for personal use, like self-heating blankets and auto-cooling capes, others were for feminine hygiene. All of them were expensive.
By the end of her not-quite-shopping spree Dora had accumulated quite an astonishing number of items, some of which Reed had completely forgotten he’d once owned.
Most of her stuff was now stored in a backpack-shaped Bag of Holding. Said item was another artifact Reed had gifted her. It was quite the present. Each Bag of Holding was capable of containing vast amounts of supplies while reducing the weight to almost nothing thanks to powerful enchants that made the inside of the object bigger than its outside would suggest. The mouth of the bag itself could stretch, letting her put in and remove items that normally wouldn’t fit inside a regular pouch.
Inside of the Bag of Holding were her camping supplies, including, but not limited to, a water-proof tent with built in heating and cooling enchantments as well as an Alarm ward, several Cinder twigs for lighting fires or creating flares, a boiling rod, a water gathering and purifying pot, a half dozen plates and cups embedded with Detect Poison enchantments, and a pair of boots that were fire-proof, water-proof, and dirt resistant. The latter weren’t very magical, but useful for avoiding trekking in large amounts of dust and grime into a nice, pristine campsite. Plus, it would let her traverse the Cracked Land more safely. Sure, she could use her Healing magic to fix any sore and blistered feet she got, but she’d prefer to save her magic for actual wounds.
And then there was a brand-new Potion Belt which contained two all-purpose Antidotes, a Cure Minor Disease potion in case of rabies, and four Moderate Mana Potions in case she ran low on spells and needed to cast quickly. Since her old Potion Belt had been destroyed when she’d used an overpowered and incomplete spell to vanquish the Necromancer, she’d been hoping for a while to find a new one to replace it.
“I think this is everything,” Dora mused as she tried on a traveler’s coat with magically enlarged pockets and a Temperature Control enchantment woven into it. She nodded at her reflection in the minor. “Hmm! Yes, indeed, this is almost everything!”
“And what more do you need?” Reed asked, leaning on his cane.
“A better weapon,” Dora declared. “My old crossbow is getting rather worn. I’ve had to replace the string several times, and the arms just aren’t bending like they used to. Plus, the trigger is not as responsive anymore and I have to hold it down harder to get it to fire.”
“I shall see what I can do about that,” the mayor of Creidor assured her. She smiled warmly in thanks and went back to browsing.
“Oh! And maybe a knife, in case of close combat,” she suggested after a moment. Reed merely nodded.
All good things must come to an end, however, and after another hour of trying on clothes and rooting through supplies, Dora was finished. With a sorrowful glance back at the room, she allowed herself to be taken back to her bedroom.
“I leave tomorrow, then?” she inquired, and Reed nodded.
“I will make sure the kitchens whip up a week’s worth of rations for you. It shouldn’t take that long to reach the client, but when dealing with him and the Gorge, I find it best to err on the side of caution,” he explained.
“Thank you for everything, Reed,” she said, and hugged him. At first, the old man didn’t know what to do, and awkwardly patted her back.
“There, there?” he said, unsure.
Dora giggled. “Never been hugged before?”
“I don’t get many hugs as the mayor. Nor did I receive many before that, come to think of it,” Reed admitted.
“Well, just enjoy it,” Dora suggested. “You know, I’ve always wanted grandparents. Mother never told me if her parents were still alive, and, well, I don’t know my father. So, what I’m asking is, if you don’t mind, could I call you ‘grandfather?’”
“…Of course. Whatever you like,” Reed said, surreptitiously wiping a tear from his eyes. He wasn’t crying! He was a man! An old, cruel, heartless man who rose to power on the blood of others. He was not sentimental over gaining a granddaughter!
His hug became genuine, and he politely ignored the smirk Rindel and the servants wore as they watched the tender scene.
She released him before retiring to her bedroom to prepare for dinner. Once the young Healer was gone, he coughed lightly and glanced around at the people nearby.
“No need to say anything, boss. We won’t say a word,” Rindel said, making a sewing motion over his lips to emphasis they were sealed.
“Good. That’s good,” he said, before hobbling his way to the dining room. “Come along, Rindel, we must discuss some financial questions I had regarding your tollgate proposition…”
∞.∞.∞
The next day arrived quickly, and before dawn had fully come, Dora was busy putting her saddle on Starspot. Her trusty and beloved steed shifted minutely so the young Healer had an easier time attaching it.
Rindel and Reed stood nearby, watching her as she prepared to leave.
“Take care of yourselves while I’m gone,” Dora said as she effortlessly mounted Starspot.
“Isn’t that what we’re supposed to say to you?” the blue-haired gnome asked with a chuckle.
“Nah, I’m always prepared and able to take care of myself. You two on the other hand…” she trailed off meaningfully.
“No respect for their elders these day! No respect!” Reed laughed, waving Dora off. “Go on, get out of here! And come back alive, please.”
“Of course,” Dora said firmly, and guided Starspot out of the manor’s stables. The pair were out of the gate within minutes and riding hard towards the Aldani Gorge. She smirked in the direction of the great canyon.
“Hang on just a little bit longer, everyone,” Dora whispered to the wind. “I’m coming to save you soon!”
∞.∞.∞
Creidor was a few hours ride from the large, labyrinthine canyon that was the Aldani Gorge. It was so massive that it could be seen from atop Creidor’s walls, or one of the tall buildings within the town.
The Gorge stretched out over a vast swath of land, reaching out of the Cracked Land and invading a small portion of Par-Orria. But to try and pass through it to go from one end to the other was foolhardy, at best. Suicidal at worst.
The Aldani Gorge was home to numerous monsters, many of which were feared for their deep connection to Earth Element magic, and their ability to petrify foes. The Stone Gaze of the Cockatrice. The Petrification Venom of the Basilisk. Strange Elementals made of stone, mud, and clay that escaped from Gaeum, the Elemental Plane of Earth. All these and more dwelled within the sprawling natural maze. For good reason the Gorge’s nickname was the Stone Pit.
Trying to evade the denizens of the Gorge while exploring it was no easy task. But Dora was confident in her chances of success. She hadn’t just healed the merchandise of the Menagerie. She learned from them.
While the Yellowmoon Menagerie had carried slaves to and from the markets, it was also renowned for its selection of captured beasts and monsters. Sphinxes and Manticores to be trained as guard dogs. Trolls to be used as brute labor. If it could be captured, the Yellowmoon could do so and make a tidy profit.
And as she worked alongside these hunters, Dora had learned much about the creatures that called the Dreadlands home. She was confident this knowledge would serve her well in her travels through the Aldani Gorge.
As she approached the outskirts of the Gorge, Starspot began to nicker in fear as the scent of monster wafted up from t
he earthen maze.
“Calm down, Starspot,” Dora murmured soothingly. “It’s alright. I’m here. It’ll be fine.”
The brown mare with a white star-shaped mark on her forehead pranced nervously, but after a few more calming words from her rider, continued to advance.
Seeing Starspot’s troubles, Dora waved her hand through the air, muttering incantations. Soon, the rank stench of the Gorge’s inhabitants faded, and the sturdy horse relaxed perceptibly.
“There you go, my brave girl,” Dora cooed. “Can you continue on now?”
Starspot snorted and trotted down into the Gorge, leaving the half-orc with a wide grin. “Yes! Let’s do this! Come on, Starspot! Let’s ride!”
The pair descended into the canyon, unaware of eyes that were watching their every move.
∞.∞.∞
She was here! Soul-Giver! Light-Bearer! At last she has left the filthy settlement!
A dark grey creature lurked in the distance, watching the maiden with glowing violet eyes. Entering the town had not been an option for it was too small to have any proper places to skulk and hide. Observation of the target had to be done from a distance, which was hard, given that the green-skinned Healer was in a town with fairly high walls.
But this set-back had not dampened its spirits. Oh, what a wonder! Emotions! So curious! So wrong! Yet they felt so right!
The creature shook its head clear of those thoughts. Now was not the time to get lost in its newfound mental abilities. It had a mission to perform; observe the young Healer and determine if she was, in fact, the Chosen One its master sought. It felt certain she was the being spoken of in the prophecy, but needed more proof.
It crawled across the cracked ground, undetected by its prey or the beast she rode. It had no scent to give it away, and its flesh was caked in the grime of the wasteland, allowing it to pretend to be a lumpy rock when it went still.
The Healer approached the Gorge. A mote of annoyance filled the creature’s mind. It would be very easy to lose track of the girl within the winding paths of the canyon. It would have to stay very close to her. Otherwise she might escape it. That would not do at all.
