As the other wolf set its sights on her, Tara began to
mutter an incantation under her breath, preparing one of her light spells.
However, before she could finish the incantation, and before Xeron could tuck
his spear free, the wolf pounced… and missed. Tara finished the incantation
just in time and a bright flash of light erupted from her hands, blinding the
wolf and causing its leap to miss her by about a foot. It crashed to the floor,
its momentum sending it tumbling before coming to a stop in a heap.
As Xeron finally retrieved his spear from the first wolf with
a sickening squelch, he swiftly thrust it into the second wolf's throat, killing
it. "Are you alright?" he asked Tara.
Tara nodded. "I'm fine," she said.
"You look a little shaken," Xeron remarked, as
he pulled his spear out of the second wolf's corpse. "I don't blame you.
This is your first time fighting, after all. I can't imagine you're too used to
seeing blood, either."
Tara shook her head, glancing uneasily at the bloodied
corpses of the two wolves. "I've seen animals at the communal farm getting
slaughtered for meat, but… nothing as violent as this," she said.
"But they were attacking us, and they were only wild animals, so there's
nothing wrong with it…"
"Of course not," said Xeron, wiping the blood
off his spear with an old rag. "You'll get used to it pretty quickly,
don't worry. Now then, we'd better continue onwards, towards Hilston."
Tara nodded, and she and Xeron continued on down the path
through the valleys towards Hilston. As the town grew larger in front of them,
Tara noticed that the stone-built houses seemed rather less colourful than
those in Tirera, with dull grey facades and grey-green rooftops in contrast to
the bright red shingles of her hometown. Silently, she hoped that not all of
the places they would visit on their journey would be quite so colourless.
Finally, the dirt road gave way to cobbled stone, and a
sign at the side of the road welcomed them to the town of Hilston as they came
upon the first of the town's buildings. "So, where should we go
first?" asked Tara.
"Well, first I think we should get something to
eat," said Xeron. "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty
hungry."
"I guess I am as well," said Tara, who hadn't
really noticed until now. "But I don't have any money…"
"We're partners now, remember?" said Xeron. "That
means we share our supplies, including money. Did you really think I was gonna
let you starve, Tara?"
"I, uhh… I guess not…" admitted Tara.
"Of course not," said Xeron. "Now, I
reckon we should head to the tavern first. They'll serve food there, and with
any luck, we might find some work there as well."
***
Sure enough, as Xeron and Tara were tucking into their
lunches, they were approached by an anxious-looking local. "Excuse
me," she said. "Are you two adventurers?"
Xeron swallowed his mouthful and nodded at the woman.
"That's right, we are," he said. "Is there anything we can help
you with, madam?"
The woman nodded. "My son went off playing in the
woods to the west this morning, and he hasn't come back yet. I'm getting
worried. It's not like him to forget about lunchtime."
This seemed like a remarkably straightforward job to
Xeron, but still, work was work. "You want us to go look for him and bring
him back?" he asked.
The woman nodded. "Yes please," she said. "I'd
go myself, but there are plants in there that I'm allergic to, and if I set
foot in there I'd end up with a severe allergic reaction."
"Wait… wouldn't your son bring the plants' pollen
back with him when he returns?" asked Tara.
The woman shook her head. "I don't know," she
said. "If he does, it doesn't affect me. I always make him take a bath
when he comes back, just to be sure. But he loves playing out there, so I
didn't want to stop him, but… now I'm worried."
"Don't worry, madam," said Xeron. "We'll
find him and bring him back safely. I promise."
The woman give Xeron a sincere smile. "Thank
you," she said. "I'll be waiting here in the tavern. Please, bring
him back as soon as you can, alright?"
Xeron nodded. "We will," he said. "Just
let us finish our meals first, and then we'll be on our way."
"Oh, of course," said the woman, nodding
understandingly. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meal together."
The insinuation of the word "together" sailed
straight over both Xeron and Tara's heads. "It's no problem, really,"
said Xeron.
"Okay," said the woman. "Thank you again,
honestly." With that, the woman departed, heading back to her own seat and
looking a little less anxious than before.
"Are you sure we should be charging her for work
like this?" asked Tara.
"I never said anything about charging her,"
said Xeron. "However, if she wants to reward me afterwards, then that's
her decision, and I'm not going to turn it down."
"I see," said Tara. "I guess I'll have to
get used to charging people for things I'd normally do out of the kindness of
my heart."
"Sadly, you will," said Xeron. "It's not a
particularly nice feeling, but the sad fact is, doing things out of the
kindness of our hearts isn't going to put food in our stomachs. You don't get
something for nothing in this world. The people we help know that, that's why
they often offer us rewards without us asking."
Tara nodded. "To be honest, this sounds like an easy
enough mission."
"It does, doesn't it?" said Xeron. "But in
my experience, things are never quite that easy. I guess we'll find out, though,
once we head out there."
Tara nodded once more, and carried on eating her lunch,
all the while silently looking forward to carrying out their first job
together.
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