by Tj Dixon
“Are you Lady Jenny?” A young woman about my age asks me. She is dressed in plain brown trousers and shirt. They have plenty of grey and brown stains but I get the impression that they are currently clean. She certainly doesn’t smell.
“I’m Jenny, though I’m certainly not a noble.” I tell her with a smile.
“Lady Jenny, a messenger pigeon just arrived from the village of Hogsford. A monster was spotted nearby and they request help killing it.” The messenger tells me.
“What type of monster?” I ask.
“I’m sorry but I don’t know. The message just says a monster.”
“Have you been to Hogsford before?” I ask her.
“Sorry, but I’ve live my whole life in the town.” She tells me shaking her head.
“Find me someone who has so I can port there to deal with it.” I tell her.
“Right away, milady!” She says and dashes out the door.
“I never thought anyone would ever call me milady.” I say shaking my head in amusement. “I even told her I’m not nobility.”
“How did it feel to be called that?” Jimmy asks. I consider for a moment.
“Weird. I would have been insulted to be called that when we were first freed, but after meeting good nobles like Aventurine, Asuna and Hinata I don’t feel insulted. It still feels weird though.”
“Maybe you should threaten to incinerate anyone who calls you milady.” Jimmy jokes. Then he looks at me seriously. “Take me with you.”
“No.” I tell him and though he is still unhappy he finally seems to accept that I am not going to change my mind. At least not this time. He will certainly try to convince me again at some point, but he knows I am too stubborn to convince in the little time we have before I go to deal with this monster. There is another urgent knock on the door.
“Come in.” I call out.
“Lady Jenny.” A young woman says as she enters the room. Then she bows deeply.
“Just call me Jenny.” I tell her. She gulps at that and stays silent a moment before continuing.
“I grew up in Hogsford and have lived here for the last two years. I was asked here to help you port there, but I don’t know how.” She says nervously.
“Don’t worry. Just place your forehead against mine and think of somewhere in Hogsford. The village square would be good.”
“Is it really alright to touch you, milady?” She asks nervously.
“I’m not a lady, and I said to call me Jenny.” I tell her firmly.
“Umm, ok.” She says but only steps very slowly towards me. I sigh and walk quickly towards her. I stop in front of her and place my forehead against hers.
“Now think of somewhere in Hogsford.” I remind her. I sense the image of the village square in her mind and port myself there. The village square is just a dry and empty dirt square surrounded by the village houses on all four sides. This is common for poorer villages in Contractia and reminds me of the village I was born in. Each house is only about eight foot wide and there are ten houses on each side of the square. All of the houses are on the village square so just like the village we were born in it has exactly forty homes. I am glad I didn’t bring Jimmy here.
I look all around and there is nobody in sight. Normally so close to the harvest at this time of day everyone would be tending the fields so I’m not surprised that the village square is empty. That made it a good choice because it was easier to avoid porting into the same spot as someone else. Of course I still made the effort to avoid that, but it is always best to avoid busy areas when porting somewhere out of your sight.
I open my senses and realise that everyone seems to be inside their homes. The fields are empty. The villagers must be really scared of this monster to abandon the fields. I need to find out what I am facing before I go up against it though, so I walk up to one of the nearby houses and knock on the door.
“Who is it?” A nervous woman’s voice asks through the door.
“My name is Jenny and I work for Lady Hinata. I am here to deal with a monster that was spotted nearby.” I tell her in what I hope is a reassuring voice.
“Queen be thanked, we’re saved! The bird ate two boys who were helping in the field. That was yesterday. We’ve all locked ourselves indoors since then.”
“What did it look like?” I ask.
“It was twice as long as I am tall, and its wings reached out twice as far as that. It had a huge golden beak and massive silver claws that could tear you apart in an instant. Its eyes were black as the night. Its feathers were red with a sharp purple tip and a pale purple mist seemed to surround the bird. When the mist hit the boys their skin went all weird.”
“All weird? What do you mean?” I ask, now very worried. This bird doesn’t sound like anything I have heard of before.
“It started to move on its own and it looked like it was melting.” The woman says sounding terrified. I don’t blame her.
“Well don’t worry, I’ll deal with it.” I assure her. My voice sounds confident, but I am actually a bit scared myself. I consider calling Rin for some extra help since it is still her day off.
I feel something directly above me and I port to the centre of the square just in time. I see the bird the woman described swoop down where I was moments ago. The woman’s description was mostly accurate, although the bird is a bit smaller than I had expected. Not knowing her height though I can’t say for sure that is because her description was wrong. It is shrouded in a purple mist just like the woman described and I can sense water magic from the mist.
The bird darts forwards at me and I create a huge wall of fire between me and it. The bird lunges through and though the mist is gone the bird seems unharmed. I port the other side of my flame wall and summon the strongest flames I can around the bird. It is already darting back at me and quickly passes through the flame wall. I can tell my attack is working though, because a trail of charred feathers is falling behind the bird. The square is too small really but I drop the flame wall and repeatedly port away from the bird without dropping my attack.
It isn’t long before the bird darts upwards to try to escape me. I can’t let it escape though, because if I do it will probably attack people somewhere else or may even return here. I am not as confident in the air but even so I take flight and pursue the bird. I take care not to follow too closely though. The bird seems to sense my hesitance and darts back at me.
I simply port away from it but up high in the sky now rather than being so close to the ground it is much faster. I have to port further each time and that uses more energy. I maintain my flames though and after a minute or two its charred remains drop to the field below. I stop the flames before they can set the field alight. The area covered by the corpse is ruined, but the rest of the field is saved.
I casually lower myself to the ground. I consider my power reserves and realise I don’t have enough power left to port back to the town. The villagers are still inside their homes. Some at least will have heard the thud of the bird corpse but I doubt any will risk coming outside until I tell them it is safe. Before I can do that I should check that there are no other dangers. With my powers reduced this much I set aside my pride and call for Rin with the queen’s gift.
“Jenny?” Rin asks. Of course I only hear it inside my head but it is little different from a normal conversation.
“Rin. I’ve dealt with a monster but I don’t have enough power left to port back to town and there could be other monsters nearby. Could you send a few people to help?”
“Okay. I’ll send some of our club, but please be careful whilst you wait.”
“Thanks Rin.” I tell her and then I feel the connection cut off. I open my senses as wide as I can whilst I walk back to the village square. I can’t sense anything but there’s no guarantee that there is nothing hiding from my senses. Jimmy is right that I could use his help, but I don’t want to risk his life. Perhaps just as importantly though, I don’t want to remind him of the early years of his life.
“Jenny!” Cherry and Sherry call out together. They were quicker than I expected. Behind them are Yu Kii and Charlotte. I didn’t expect Rin to send so many people, but better to be too careful than not careful enough. In the end we don’t find anything else. I let Cherry and Sherry give the good news to the villagers, who needless to say are both very grateful and relieved.
Chapter 7 (Multiple)
(Elucia)
“Are you ready?” Kai asks. I’m actually really nervous. This is the first time I’ve gone on a bounty hunt. Now I have my permit there is nothing stopping me and it is a chance to be useful. Until now I’ve just been relying on everyone else. So I’m not really ready but I nod anyway.
“Where do we go?” I ask nervously.
“It seems a herd of rat mules was spotted in the Lower Maze, so that’s where we’re headed.” Kai says.
“The Lower Maze?” I ask confused and even more nervous now.
“There are tunnels all around the city that form a maze to confuse people searching for the city. We’re only allowed in the Lower Maze, because we only have a tier one permit. The more dangerous monsters are generally found in the Deep Maze and the Side Maze. The Side Maze and Upper Maze are strictly off limits because the enemy is so close. The Deep Maze you reach by passing through the Lower Maze. You need a tier three permit for that though.” Kai tells me.
“So how do we reach the Lower Maze?” I ask.
“There’s a passage down to it from this dome. You have to pass a few check points but it doesn’t take long.”
“So how do we find the rat mules we need to kill?”
“The job isn’t to kill them. We need to capture them alive. The bounty is one blue coin per live rat mule.” Kai explains.
“Oh, ok. But we still need to find them to capture them.”
“Finding them is easy. Just leave it to me. Now let’s go before someone else takes our bounty.” Kai says and leads the way from our little home. The streets are empty as usual. The morning rush is already over. “Here it is.”
“That little hole in the ground?” I ask looking at a small hole near the outer wall of the cavern. It isn’t actually that far from our home. No wonder Kai had me wait at home rather than come with her when she got the permit.
“Yes and just be glad you’re small. This hole was built for slim female dwarves. It should be much easier for a child like you than it is for me.” Kai says looking down at the hole with a frown. Her words are true, though I don’t appreciate her calling me a child. “I’m going first.”
“Ok.” I say and watch as she slides her body down the hole. I wince as she struggles to get her top half through the hole. She has to take a really deep breath to get through. At least there is enough space for her head to fit through easily. Now it is my turn so I stand against the cavern wall and slide down. I don’t even need to breathe in to fit through.
“See. I said it would be easier for you.” Kai grins. Although it is good that it was so easy for me I don’t like the way she is saying it. There’s no point complaining though.
“So what now?” I ask looking around at the low dark tunnel we seem to be in. It isn’t too dark to see but it is much darker than the dome. Kai is having to stoop really low to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling.
“So now we walk to the first check point.” Kai tells me and leads the way. It takes a few minutes to reach it. When we get there we have to show our permits. They are a bit like large gold coins except that they have strange symbols on. Dwarven writing I assume.
“Name?” The dwarven girl sitting at the stone desk asks sounding rather bored. She is only about two and a half foot tall and really thin. Her clothes are the same black stone that everyone here wears, but unlike most of the dwarves I have seen before she is only wearing shorts and a small top. They remind me a little of those cursed clothes I was wearing before I found out about the curse.
“I’m Kai and this is Elucia.”
“Bounty?” She asks just as bored.
“The rat mules.” Kai answers with a smile.
“Fine. You can pass.” She says still sounding bored even as she waves us through.
At the end of the tunnel not far past her is another hole. Kai struggles just as much to get through it as the previous one. Below the hole is another tunnel and halfway along the tunnel there are two more dwarven girls. We just pass them silently and at the end of the tunnel there is a door with another two dwarven girls. Unlike the previous ones they are both wearing armour and holding short swords.
“Ready?” The dwarven girl on the right asks us.
“Yes.” Kai says and pulls me through the door as it opens. It closes silently behind us as soon as we are past it. Kai begins to glow dimly and illuminates the tunnel. It is about four foot wide and about eight foot tall, so Kai is finally able to stand straight. “This is the Lower Maze. There could be monsters nearby so keep alert and always be ready to use magic.”
“You’ll sense anything before it attacks us, right?” I ask nervously.
“I should do, but we’ll need to react quickly if I only sense it at the last moment.” Kai says, which doesn’t really reassure me much.
“Ok. I’ll try to be ready, but I’m not that quick. A bit of warning would be good and a lot of warning would be better.”
“I’ll do what I can but if need be I’ll just have to handle any surprises myself.” Kai says with a shrug. “Anyway, follow me.”
“Do you know where the rat things are?” I ask as I follow Kai.
“I’m just following my nose. Can’t you smell them?”
“I can’t really smell anything.” I admit.
“You’re lucky then. Those rat mules stink.” Kai tells me whilst pulling a weird face.
“So how far away are they?” I ask.
“That I don’t know. We just follow the smell and eventually we’ll find them. Pure dwarves have a better sense of smell than we do, so I doubt anyone else will want the job.”
“So what will they use the rat mules for when we turn them in? It doesn’t sound like the dwarves will want to go anywhere near these things.”
“Wild rat mules stink but once they’ve been given a proper wash they only smell bad.” Kai tells me. Then we reach a split in the tunnel. Kai points to the right and says. “That way.”
“So are these rat mules dangerous?” I ask.
“Yes, but as long as you know magic they aren’t too bad. Without magic they can chase you down faster than a horse and eat you faster than a… Well, faster than something that can eat you real quick.” Kai says and it is finally starting to feel real. I’m hunting some awful monster that wants to eat me. I know Peter and Rin have both been doing this for who knows how long but it is my first time. “You’re shaking. Are you alright?”
“Umm. Yeah. It’s just my first time hunting something that wants to eat me. Actually my first time hunting anything at all.” I admit.
“How old are you?” Kai asks.
“Fourteen.” I say quietly looking down at my feet.
“I went on my first hunt when I was ten but most of the kids had their first hunt after their sixteenth birthday. It was scary as anything for me, but even the older kids were terrified on their first hunt. I got over it though, and you will too. Don’t worry too much. You’re not alone and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Why were you so much younger than the other kids when you went hunting?” I ask both confused and rather impressed.
“That’s a tale for another day.” Kai says and even though it is so dark and the only light is from her glowing body I get the impression she is blushing. Maybe it is just my imagination though.
