by Hans Bezdek
Glancing around, I noticed that the forest had grown quiet. There were no longer any wolves stalking about, and the breeze had died down completely. That was odd.
“That’s strange,” mumbled Dhot.
He must have noticed the same thing I had.
“It is, isn’t it?” I asked. “I wonder what’s going on with the wolves.”
“Wolves?” he asked. “No, I mean that’s strange someone is living this far out.”
The goblin pointed over to our left, past a few trees. On the other side we could just make out a large, wooden hut.
“Should we get a closer lo-” I stopped as I watched Cassandra already crouching up to the trees.
Silly me. Why bother trying to decide things as a group?
The three of us looked around from the cover of the trees, trying to get a better look of the hut. There were several windows all around, and we could see a light from inside. Gardens surrounded the hut, with peppers, tomatoes, and other foods scattered about.
“Food! We’re in luck!” squealed Dhot.
Suddenly, the front door opened up. A human woman walked out, taking a left and heading for a small garden off to the side.
“They’re probably poor farmers,” I sighed. “I don’t really want to steal from them.”
“We’ve got money,” Cassandra pointed out. “Why don’t we go see if they’re will to sell us some supplies? I’m sure they’d be happy to have random buyers.”
“Smart,” nodded Dhot.
“That’s not a bad-”
Dhot and Cassandra broke free from the trees and approached the woman.
“-idea,” I said. We really needed to work on our communication.
I jogged up to join them as the farmer woman stood and watched us. We all kept our hands up to show we meant her no harm, but it apparently wasn’t necessary. The woman didn’t seem startled or bothered at all.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” said Cassandra. “We’re running low on supplies and were wondering if you could help us out. We’ve got quat and would be happy to pay.”
“Anything you have would… be… nice…” I said, trailing off at the end. It wasn’t until we had gotten closer that I noticed how strikingly beautiful the woman was. She had long, blonde hair, with big, blue eyes. She looked more like a queen than a poor farmer.
“Very… nice…” mumbled Dhot. Sounded like he noticed for the first time, too.
“Why, of course!” smiled the woman, reaching her hand out. “I’m Sandra, by the way.”
“R-Reimar,” I mumbled, blushing as I took her hand.
“Dhot Skullsong, at your service,” bowed the goblin.
“Uh… Cassandra,” said the elf slowly, looking at the two of us with concern.
“Where are you three headed, if I may ask?”
“Rexford,” I blurted out. Cassandra shot another look at me, but I didn’t care. She probably wasn’t too happy with me giving away so much information.
“Rexford, huh?” giggled Sandra. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I ever heard. “I’m afraid you’ll be walking through the whole night to get there! I probably have enough beds to keep you till morning, if you’d like.”
“We’d like!” shouted Dhot.
“That won’t be necessary,” laughed Cassandra nervously. “We’re just looking for a bit of food and drink.”
“Dinner is nearly ready, if the three of you would like to join us!” said Sandra.
“Us?” asked Cassandra.
“Yes,” nodded the woman, heading back to the door.
My heart sank, but I did my best to follow. Of course she was married. Probably had a loving family, too. Maybe a dog.
She opened it, calling something out inside. Two more women walked over, each as beautiful as Sandra. In fact, aside from their hair and eyes, it looked like they could be triplets. The red head with green eyes smiled down at Dhot, while the brunette gave us a small wave.
“These are my sisters,” she beamed, gesturing at the two other women. “The red head is Sabrina, and the brunette is Sophia!”
“Your parent’s really enjoyed the letter ‘s’, I see,” mumbled Cassandra, eyeing all three of the women with suspicion.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean,” laughed Sandra, taking my arm and pulling me inside.
No husband? Maybe I was in luck after all!
I turned back to see Dhot following behind with a large grin. Cassandra looked much less pleased, but eventually came in, too.
We looked around the hut, which was surprisingly larger than it appeared from the outside. Inside the room we were in was a large table with eight chairs, plates and silverware already set. Off to the side was a kitchen, with a fire going and a large cauldron above it emitting the delicious smell of venison. Also attached to this room were four doors, each of which opened to separate bedrooms.
“This is quite the place you guys have! Maha!” said Dhot, his eyes not leaving the cauldron for more than a few seconds at a time.
“It’s not much, but it’s ours,” smiled Sophia.
“Poor little guy seems hungry,” said Sabrina, bending over and pouting at Dhot.
The goblin turned a darker shade of green and nodded bashfully. “I could eat… assuming the three of your have any leftovers, of course.”
“Nonsense!” said Sandra, her arm still wrapped around mine. “There is more than enough for six! Why, there should even be some leftovers for you to take with.”
“That’s very kind of you,” I smiled. She really was kind. And pretty. And warm.
“It has gotten pretty dark out, too,” noted Sophia, walking over to a window. “We’ve got more than enough space for the three of you to spend the night here, if you’d like.”
“We’d like,” said Dhot and I in unison.
The three sisters giggled at that, but Cassandra didn’t seem to find it very funny.
“I’m going to steal him away for a quick moment,” said Cassandra to Sandra, taking my other arm and yanking on it.
Not kind. Not very warm, either.
Sandra let go with a pout as the two of us walked back outside. Cassandra closed the door behind us, then faced me with arms crossed.
“We can’t stay here,” she whispered.
“What?! Why not?” I demanded. “They’re offering us free food and beds!”
“Something here… it just isn’t right. I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s something more going on here. This all seems too nice and convenient.”
“I think I know what’s going on here,” I nodded slowly. Of course… how was it not obvious? I should’ve seen this coming a mile away.
“You do?” she said, eyes brightening. “I knew it wasn’t just me! What do you think it is?”
“You’re bothered that three beautiful women are taking an interest in Dhot and me,” I said, gently patting her arm. “There’s no reason to be jealous, Cassandra. I’m sure there’s someone out there for you, too.”
Cassandra’s eyes darkened as she took my hand from her arm and twisted it.
“Ow, ow, ow!” I begged, trying to wiggle free.
“I’m. Not. Jealous,” She hissed, finally letting go of my hand. “This is just like what happened with Stalrik and the Greeners! They tried to make us feel welcomed, and then they turned on us.”
“I highly doubt these three are dragons,” I laughed.
“Don’t laugh, I’m being serious!”
“Stalrik traveled with a group of scary looking goblins and orcs,” I said. “It was clear almost immediately that there was something off and evil about them. Look at these three sisters, though. They look like they don’t have a mean bone in their body, and aren’t even carrying any weapons.”
“We don’t know that, yet,” she said, eyes narrowing. “Although I’m sure you and Dhot will do everything in your power to frisk them down later.”
“You think we’d get that lucky?” I asked. Cassandra glare told me to change subjects.
“Don’t worry, okay? Even if they mean us harm, it looks like you could easily take all three of them by yourself.”
Cassandra shifted as she thought about it. “That’s a good point…”
“They had food and beds for us,” I continued. “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather spend the rest of the hike up to Rexford tomorrow on a full stomach and a good night’s rest.”
Cassandra sighed, refusing to look at me.
“Okay, fine. We can stay the night. But if anything starts to go wrong, we’re out of here.”
“Maha!” came Dhot’s laugh from inside, followed by an explosion of giggling from the sisters.
“Deal,” I nodded, running back into the hut to join in the fun. I didn’t know what Cassandra’s problem was, but I had no doubt it was going to be a fun, relaxing night.
Chapter 11
We all took a seat at the table as Sandra prepared our plates. Taking large scoops of the venison stew, she added large chunks of bread and carrots to each serving. Sophia helped set the dishes down before us, before the two sat down to enjoy.
Dhot and I both picked up our forks and knives, eager to rip into the dinner. Before either of us could, though, Cassandra, who was sitting between us, grabbed our arms.
“Don’t eat until they do,” she whispered.
“Oh, right,” nodded Dhot. “That would be rude. Maha!”
“Or, it could be poisoned,” she whispered back.
To our delight and her dismay, the three sisters began eating without hesitation. If there was any poison in the food, they would be eating it too.
Cassandra released her grip and let us start in on the meal.
“This is amazing!” shouted Dhot after a few mouthfuls.
“I agree,” I nodded enthusiastically. “You’ll have to share the recipe with us!”
“Of course!” smiled Sandra. “We cook this meal all the time, actually. It’s one of our favorites.”
“Eat all you can,” laughed Sabrina. “We got plenty to spare!”
The rest of the meal was filled with stories from both sides of the table. Dhot explained his background, with being driven from Tu’Wun and being the sole survivor of his clan. They all listened somberly, water welling up in their eyes as he described the destruction that the red dragons brought with them. They didn’t even doubt him when he finished, only pausing to let him gather himself again.
I asked about them next. I wanted to know more about how the three came to this hut, and why they stayed here instead of moving to a town, where it would surely be safer. The three sisters explained that they grew up here, and after their parents passed away they couldn’t bare to leave the only home they ever knew. They were rarely disturbed here, and had all the food and comfort they could need.
“The only thing we’re really missing are some men,” blushed Sandra, looking nervously at me.
“O-Oh,” I mumbled. “That’s… that’s too bad, isn’t it Dhot.”
The goblin nearly broke his neck from nodding as quickly as he did. “Sounds horrible! We’ll definitely be on the lookout for eligible bachelors… if you’d mention what your interested in.”
“I’ve always had a thing for goblins,” said Sabrina, leaning closer to the table. “I just love their green skin and how smart they are.”
“M-Maha!” laughed Dhot nervously.
“Wow… what are the odds,” mumbled Cassandra, picking slowly at her food. Even though it was clearly not poisoned, she didn’t seem to have much of an appetite.
“What was that?” asked Sophia.
“Um, I was just asking why there aren’t any wolves around here,” said the elf, clearing her throat and glancing at me.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” smiled Sophia. “There aren’t any wolves in this part of the woods.”
“Right,” said Cassandra slowly. “But wolves have been following us for quite some time. Ever since we got off the road, really. However… I noticed they all disappeared once we got close to your hut.”
“Well, how lucky we are, then!” cheered Sophia. “We wouldn’t want any nasty beasts wandering around, so close to us!”
“That’s just the thing, though,” said Cassandra, setting her silverware down. “You’re food smells nearly as good as it tastes… surely the wolves would’ve smelled this from farther away than we could, and would want to come around here.”
“Oh, most of the food we cook doesn’t have much of a scent, really,” said Sandra. “We wouldn’t want to attract anything here that might mean us ill will.”
“Then why did you just mentioned that you ladies cook it all the time?” asked Cassandra, an edge appearing in her voice.
The three women stopped eating and stared at the elf.
“Cassandra,” I whispered, even though everyone had stopped talking and could clearly hear me. “They were probably just trying to be polite. I’m sure they don’t cook this all the time. Where would the manage to find all this venison?”
“This doesn’t seem right,” she whispered back, nervously running her hand over the hilt of the Shattered Sword. “This isn’t adding up.”
“What a beautiful sword you have there,” said Sophia, trying to change subjects. I felt bad that they were offering us all these comforts while Cassandra was being such a poor guest. Maybe this was the way elves treated their hosts down in Aelric, but she should really read the room. “How did you come across it?”
“None of your busines-”
“Funny story,” I said, cutting her off. “The two of us were after a mythical sword of old. The Shattered Sword, actually… perhaps you three have heard of it?”
The women nodded, smiles returning to their faces.
“Papaw would tell us the wildest tales of the Sword when we were children!” said Sandra, clapping her hands together.
“I thought it wasn’t real,” said Sabrina.
“So did I,” I laughed. “I remember when Cassandra first told me about her goal of trying to find it. Oh, how stupid and naive I thought she was!”
Cassandra turned and whispered something to Dhot while I spoke, ignoring my insult. The three sisters giggled at me, so I continued.
“Anyway, the two of us went on a great adventure! We passed through the town of Trenton on the other side of Truska, up to Kra’Gar in Gorland, before finally finding ourselves in the Willows of Wander.”
The goblin shook his head at the elf. “No reason to,” he muttered.
“And you escaped?” gasped Sandra. “You are so brave!”
“Well, you know…” I said, sitting up a little straighter. “With this silly elf going on and on about trying to find this make believe sword, I wasn’t about to let her go off on her own to her death. We made it through to the middle of the Willows, where we found the Ruin’s of Le’Ma-”
Suddenly, Cassandra swatted at Dhot’s head, pushing the goblin’s Goggles down from his forehead and back onto his face.
“Cut it out!” snapped Dhot, glaring at Cassandra. He slowly turned his gaze back to Sabrina across from him. “These things make my eyes… my… eyes…”
“Is something the matter?” asked Sabrina, smiling at the goblin.
Dhot jumped back, knocking his chair over and nearly the table along with it.
“Ba… ba… Babas…” he mumbled over and over, pointing at the sisters.
“Cool it, man,” I hissed. What had gotten into the goblin? “I’m just getting to the best part!”
“These women aren’t what we thought they were!” shouted Dhot, grabbing his bag from off the floor and putting it back on. Cassandra looked pleased, although she probably didn’t know exactly what the goblin was shouting about yet. “We’ve gotta get out of here!”
“You need to leave?” asked Sabrina. The three sisters were all looking at the goblin now, their faces completely blank.
“I thought you were all staying the night?” said Sandra.
“We are,” I laughed nervously, before turning to my friends.
“I don’t know what Cassandra said to get you to act all crazy and try to get us to leave, but you need to cut it out.”
“It’s not her!” he shouted, pointing again at the women. “It’s them! They’re Babas!”
“Babas?” asked Cassandra, raising an eyebrow.
“Why are you both babbling?” I asked.
“We aren’t,” said Dhot, shaking his head wildly. “Babas are evil creatures who prey on unsuspecting travelers in various parts of Yaerna!”
“Evil creatures?” I laughed, gesturing back to the women. “They are three gorgeous women. How can you say such things?”
“They can mask their real appearance through illusion magic, but I can see straight through it with my Goggles! They’re Babas, I guarantee it! I’ve run into their kind before.”
“Are the dangerous?” mumbled Cassandra, pulling out the Shattered Sword.
“Very,” he said. “They are masters of death magic. We really need to leave. Now.”
“Death magic?” I asked. I had never even heard of such a thing. “What in the world is death magic?”
“That’s a very good question, Reimar,” giggled Sandra, pushing her chair back and standing up. Sophia and Sabrina slowly did the same as she continued. “Death magic is a very ancient, and forbidden, art form from millennia ago. Those that practice it are able to prolong their life by hundreds, possibly thousands of years, and have full control over death.”
“Full control over death?” I asked. Why were they all standing up? And why did Sandra know so much about death magic? “You mean just over the users death… right?”
“Not quite,” smiled Sabrina. “It also gives you the ability to raise the undead, wherever they might be, and use them like puppets.”
“That… doesn’t sound good,” I laughed nervously.
“It’s not,” said Sandra, shaking her head. “At least, not for the three of you.”
Sandra’s hair began to gray as she finished speaking. She shrank down several inches, packing on quite a few more pounds. Her eyes filled and became completely black, and her nose became hooked. Her fingers elongated and became almost claw like, with long, yellowed nails.
All three sisters completed their transformation at the same time. Now completed, they all looked identical, and they all smiled at us with long, sharp teeth.
