Hello, Everyone!
How are you doing?
This is my last post for this year. I hope that you like the ending 😅
Last time in Mary’s adventures: her party just defeated a group of ghouls in the outskirts of Raxtrad. Mary did some investigating on the scene of the crime and found out some puzzling information. The bard of the group, Aurum, almost got killed in the incident with the ghouls and had to be treated for “ghoul fever” which was going to kill him and turn him into ghoul himself. Also, Mary had a bunch of nightmares about a box that her employer had in his possession? I’m sure it’s nothing important :)
We continue our story…
When they went on the street it was already approaching noon. Aurum wanted to go pub-crawling and Mary was aiming for a library but Bruno, ever the practical one, wanted to look for healing potions to stock up, in case they needed it at some point. The humans reluctantly agreed that their life might be more important than booze or books (but maybe not by much).
They didn't have luck with the task, though. They searched for hours looking for a trader who dealt with healing potions, asked around and even tried to bribe a few people but it was all in vain.
Then, just as they were passing by a small alley for the third or maybe fourth time they suddenly saw something that wasn't there before.
A shack, really old, really creaky and really small, right in the middle of the street. The sign above the door said "The Hut" and they entered with a shrug.
Walls, floor, ceiling, each and every little visible flat surface – everything was covered with trinkets. The air was filled with little motes of light from a small window higher than the outside of the hut would suggest it could be. An old woman stood at the counter, smiling a toothless smile.
The trio approached and Mary, more out of curiosity than anything else, turned her eyes to her Eldritch sight. Everything shined in different light, most brightly behind the counter. The old woman flashed her a look and her smile widened.
"Using magic in my honest establishment, eh? So? What do you need?"
Mary's ears reddened but Bruno stepped up and explained their goal. Luckily, the woman had exactly what they needed and soon they had a single healing potion. It looked a bit like cherry liquor. The whole time while they were talking the old woman was looking at Aurum, unblinking.
"What?" he said, finally.
"Young man, I have something for you." she said. "A very rare thing indeed."
She took out a phial of dark purple liquid and held it in front of the bard's face.
"What's that?" he asked.
"The poison of a purple worm," she said as if this was a huge deal.
The party looked at each other, puzzled.
"OK," Aurum said. "How much?"
She pointed her long finger at his chest. A purple amulet hung there.
"Erm, no" Aurum said and wrapped his hand around it. "That's not for sale. Don't you want money?"
The woman shook her head, annoyed.
"You have no more business here, then" she said and made a gesture as if to shoo them.
And, for their surprise, their feet started sliding on the floor, like something was pushing them away. They flailed their arms, trying to catch on something but every object slipped through their fingers like jelly.
In seconds, they found themselves on the other side of the hut's door.
"What was that?!" Mary protested. "There were so many other things in there! I could have bought something neat! What's that amulet? Why is it that important?"
Aurum held it up so that the others could see it.
"When I was little," he said, "I went to the Feylands for a while. A few hours, it was fun. The fairies liked me and they gave me this but it's not magical or something. It's just a memento."
"The Feylands?" Mary said. "Do you… do you remember anyone in particular? Have you met someone who, um, smelled like oranges?"
"Nnno, why?"
"My Patron, I don't, um, I haven't seen him yet. But I know that he likes citrus and he is Archfey. So I hoped that you might have seen him or know who he is."
"Sorry, nope."
Mary frowned. Then she decided to try and talk to the old woman again but when she turned to look at the hut, it had vanished.
After a solid lunch at a tavern (finally, Aurum had the chance to try out the local ale!) and a quick run to last night's neighbourhood to warn the people of "ghoul fever" and how to treat it, the three adventurers returned to camp.
They were just preparing to set off. Bruno and Aurum joined the overall commotion and Mary started looking for William. She'd told him to keep an eye out for the long box and wanted to know if the boy had any news for her.
But he was avoiding her!
She saw him a few times, looking at her from afar and running away, hiding when she approached. A growing suspicion gripped at Mary's heart. And when lord Dwendel called for her she prepared for the worst.
Bruno and Aurum were also in the lord's tent when she entered. Mary looked at them quizzingly and they shrugged. The lord entered, a grave expression on his face. Mary remembered her nightmares, the horror on the elves' faces when dream-Dwendel used the long box to destroy their lands and take their lives.
He put his hand inside his coat, took the long box out and…
Held it out to Mary.
She blinked.
"F-for me?"
He nodded.
She looked at her companions. They shrugged. She looked at lord Dwendel again. He nodded once more.
Mary reached out and carefully took the box, expecting it to blow up.
"Don't open it yet!" the lord said. "It'll blow up!"
She almost dropped it.
He leaned towards the box and whispered in a voice as quiet as only she could hear: "Show me the way".
The magical rune glowed, something clicked inside and the box was open.
Wow, Mell! A cliffhanger? Really?
And just before New Year's Eve?!
Really?!
Yep.
Sorry, people! It was too good of a spot to break the chapter at!
Don’t worry! The next one is already written, it just needs an illustration and a few tweeks in the wording of… words.
See you again next year!
And let it be a good one!