Episode 4: Food For Thought
Two days now have passed since our Heroes' trials and tribulations against the Basilisk in the Tuli Desert and the events that unfolded in Willow's Keep. True to their word, Locke and Lilanei left the elven village by sunrise the next day, taking with them a temporary companion in their friend, Esra. As she agreed she would, the elf escorts our Heroes through the forest that surrounds Willow's Keep and through the savanna where, instead of negotiating the Tuli Desert once more, they head southwest. Passing through some countryside, they finally arrive at the top of a large hill; looking down, our Heroes and Esra see the modest sized town of Tuli at the bottom of the hill.
"Well," Esra begins as she turns to our two Heroes, Lilanei and Locke, with a small smile on her face. "It's been a long two days, but just as I promised you, I have escorted you to the nearest town from Willow's Keep. The town you can see is called Tuli, which the desert is named for. I'm afraid I must return now as the journey back to Willow's Keep is a long one, and I wish to make good time to return and see my friends and sister – before I once again restart my travels and explore this world. Who knows?" She then says with ever-growing grin, "We may meet each other once again."
Lilanei steps forth and takes Esraniel's hands in her own as she says, "We really appreciate you doing this for us. We're going to miss you."
"I'll second that," Locke says with a small smile. "It's going to be strange getting used to not having another person to talk to during our journey. Make sure you bump into us again real soon, okay?"
Esra takes her hands from Lil's and looks to Locke with a beaming smile and a giggle before she says, "Believe me when I say I will try. For now, Lilanei and Locke, I bid thee farewell. Good luck with your adventures, and I hope you grow into the Heroes you hope to be. Although, if it means anything after your effort with the Basilisk, I think you're true Heroes already."
With that, Esra hugs them both; then with a smile and wave, she runs back along the path from which they came from, putting some distance between herself and our Heroes within a few minutes. All is silent for a moment before Locke turns his head and looks down towards the town of Tuli.
"So, Tuli then," Locke announces before he looks to Lilanei. "What do you think?"
Lilanei looks down and sees that, from the bottom of the hill, the town is about half a mile away. From their seemingly bird's-eye-view from atop the tall hill, Lil can see many buildings; however most of them seem to be rather small in height, probably only large enough that any person only a little taller than Locke and Lilanei would find it very difficult to fit inside the buildings.
Lil finally turns to Locke and exclaims, "Look at those little buildings! They're so cute!"
"Ha," Locke chuckles. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you utter that word."
Lilanei sticks her tongue out at Locke and says, "It's not very often I get to use that word, traveling with you. Have you ever seen what you look like when you wake up in the morning?"
"Well, since I don't reach for my mirror first thing in the morning, no," Locke answers. "But then again, I never said I was cute. I just have rugged good looks. Much like Hercules or the like."
Lil retorts, "More like a Basilisk's backside!"
"Ha-ha-ha," Locke says, blankly. "I haven't heard that one before!"
Sarcasm aside, Locke takes another look down towards Tuli before grasping the handle of his rucksack in his right hand as he announces, "Ready to see what Tuli has to offer?"
"Sure am," Lilanei responds with a grin.
The two take their first steps as they begin to make their way down the hill, when suddenly they hear a high pitched screech from their right. To their shock and surprise, Locke and Lilanei see a rather large arachnid springing towards them as it has leaped out of a large hole in the hill – a Deathjump Spider!
"What is that?" Locke cries as he watches the creature rush towards them.
Lil emits a shrill shriek, as she sees that it is a spider, "Eek!"
The Deathjump Spider finally stops in front them, its monstrous size for an arachnid evident as it peers down at them from being at least two feet taller than they are. Locke and Lil look on in horror as they see saliva drip from the mandibles and fangs of the Spider – its upper body lurching forward and its eight legs bent as it is ready to strike at our Heroes.
Lil clenches her eyes shut as she thrusts her palm forwards in an attempt to launch a bolt of magic force at the arachnid, screaming, "Get it away!"
However, in her frightened state, the bolt launches with no direction, sweeping past the spider and making not even a graze against it. Seeing that it was attacked, the spider is now provoked and needs no other reason to attack its prey. The lower half of its body wiggles slightly as it screeches once again and springs off all eight of its legs, leaping toward Lil. Quickly it thrusts its head forwards into her right shoulder, allowing its two protruding fangs to sink into Lilanei's shoulder, puncturing her attire and skin – to which Lil screams in horror and pain. Seeing Lilanei in danger, Locke immediately withdraws his sickle and quickly turns to his side – now facing the spider. Without hesitation, Locke raises the sickle high into the air and jams the tip of the sickle down into the side of the spider's body in a bid to at least distract it and coax it away from Lil if nothing else. The Spider once again lets out a shriek as it thrusts its head upwards, taking its fangs away from Lil's shoulder.
After grasping her shoulder for a brief moment in pain, Lil finally begins to focus as she thrusts both of her hands forward and attempts to fire her magic bolt once again. Lil focuses her energy in her palms, and in moments, a silver bolt launches from within her hands, striking the massive spider in its left front leg. The spider immediately raises it, the skin of the leg burning as the hair is singed away – causing a nauseating burning smell to waft in the air. The wind suddenly picks up around our heroes, sending the smoke from the spider's wound swirling in the wind. Wounded, the spider finally puts its left leg back on the ground, and with one of its one many bug eyes on its head, notices Locke at its side. Immediately, the spider raises its third left leg into the air and attempts to knock Locke down with a kicking motion. However, Locke sees the large leg swing and anticipates the attack as he leaps back, causing the spider to miss its hit as it then lowers its leg and turns around to face the young man. The spider's many eyes now facing Locke, he clutches his sickle tightly and immediately thrusts it forwards, allowing the tip of the jagged, curved blade to land in the center of its right fang. Saliva violently spurts out of the wounded fang as the spider shrieks once again.
The spider – now thoroughly distracted by Locke and paying little attention to Lilanei's actions – fails to realize that Lilanei has begun to focus her energies into another magical attack. Chanting under her breath, the ground begins to spark and crackle around her, and as she raises her arms into the air, this crackling becomes louder and stronger. Finally, the energy meets in front of her and lashes out at the spider's right legs as it whips it with a loud “crack!”. The Deathjump once again screeches in pain as the strike on its legs now cut them open and begin to draw blood from the wounds.
Enraged, the spider decides to take out its full fury and pain out on the target in front of it – Locke. The spider hisses and makes a bound for Locke, snapping its mouth wide open in an attempt to bite the young rogue this time and to get its wounded fangs to strike him. The spider succeeds, its fangs sinking into Locke's left shoulder as the sharp tip of the uninjured fang pierces Locke's clothing and punctures his skin. Although its other fang also does its fair share of damage, the spider feels great pain through it and cannot fully bite down on him. Now with the spider in such close range, Locke takes his sickle and jabs it into one of the Deathjump's already bleeding wounds, causing it to screech and release its hold of Locke as it steps back in pain.
Seeing the arachnid weakened and at a disadvantage, Locke clutches his sickle tighter and rushes towards the spider, drawing his arm back – almost as if he were loading the sickle and readying it to fire at the spider. The tip of the sickle glints slightly in the sun as he rushes the spider; however, it notices Locke charging it and immediately extends one of its many legs, causing Locke to trip over it and fall down beside the spider – missing his attempted killing blow. During this time, Lil has unsheathed her dagger, and with a forward dive, she attempts to strike at one of the spider's already wounded legs. As she dives forward, the strike connects – the dagger sinking deeply into one of its four legs. With great force, she twists the blade in its leg before then pulling it out with both hands, blood spitting up out of the wound like a stream of oil that has just been drilled open.
At this point, the spider is struggling to stay alive, let alone fight its prey. Slowly turning once more, it turns to face Lil and once again lashes out at her, exposing its fangs as it attempts to strike Lil with another bite. Its fangs connect with Lil's already injured shoulder, sinking deeper into the wound as tears of fright and pain streaming down the half-elf's face – blood beginning to stain her clothing. The spider, feeling Lil's anguish, releases its hold of her and lets out a shriek of intimidation and triumph.
"Locke, help me!" Lilanei finally cries as she struggles to fend off the spider.
Rising from the dirt, Locke looks on to see the spider's backside facing him. He then picks up his sickle once more and charges at the spider; however, instinctively, the spider kicks one of its hind legs backward, the leg hitting Locke in the chest who, from the impact, then stumbles backwards. Gritting her teeth in agony, Lil raises her dagger weakly as she simply steps forth and slashes at the spider's wounded fangs before her with a sideways slash, cutting through them. The spider lets out another ear piercing shriek as it realizes that one of its fangs has come loose and actually drops from its head – as Lil has managed to cut one fang off the spider. The spider does not react in an aggressive manner; instead it now simply drops from its legs so it is resting on its belly, as its legs flail wildly in the air while it continues to screech in pain.
To Lilanei and Locke's surprise, a figure rushes out from the bushes behind them and runs with all speed for the spider. The figure, clasping a large hammer tightly in its hands, raises it above its head, and with all of its might, it thrusts the hammer down onto the spider's head. The impact of the hammer colliding with the spider's skull causes the spider to spit up much blood and saliva as it gives one final screech – three of its many eyes flying out of its skull from the sheer impact of the blow, as it is now dead. Locke and Lil look to the spider's dead body, seeing that its skull has literally been caved in by the blow. Dumbfounded that the spider has suddenly been killed, our Heroes do not take their eyes off of it until a voice comes from the figure that rushed into the battle.
"My, what a horrific battle you've endured. I apologize for interrupting, but I wished to assist you – even though, I'm confident you could've slain it by yourselves."
Locke and Lil look towards the figure and with surprise notice that she is of below average height of around four feet tall, of a sturdy build, and with very long, curly blond hair which drapes all the way down to her knees. Her body is donned in bronze armour while her main weapon, the Warhammer, rests now on its head by her side – the hammer almost as tall as her and looking just as heavy.
Gripping her bleeding shoulder as she drops to her knees in relief, Lilanei sighs, "It's no problem. If anything, we appreciate the help."
"So I see!" She exclaims with a gasp as she looks at Lil's wounds. "My, that spider sure did ravage you, dear."
Without another word, the Dwarf leaves her hammer where it stands before she waddles over to to Lil, and without needing to crouch down or kneel, surrounds Lil's shoulder with her hands and closely examines it.
"Well, luckily, there's no sign that the spider injected any venom into you," she finally announces. "How curious. They usually do—"
Lil's eyes suddenly widen as she gawks at the Dwarf, "Venom!"
"Fear not, child," the Dwarf replies. "If the spider had bitten you and injected any venom, the wound would be green by now. But fortunately, it is not. Those Deathjump spiders are very vicious creatures. You and your companion should be more careful when traveling in these parts. The spiders are countless, and they always prey on unsuspecting targets."
Picking himself up from the floor, finally, Locke brushes himself off and picks up his sickle before he walks over to Lilanei and the Dwarf.
"Well obviously," Locke points out, “we're not from this area – so we don't know a thing about the local wildlife! Now tell me, is my shoulder laced with venom?"
The Dwarf immediately looks at Locke's shoulder and, with a smile, shakes her head to confirm the bite was clean.
"This is most odd," she says. "These spiders usually inject venom on the first bite! Perhaps this one's venom glands hadn't developed. You were very lucky there."
"Yes. Lucky," Locke echoes, feeling slightly put out that he was denied the chance to kill the beast; he hadn't even spit on it as he would usually do, since an outsider made the kill!
The Dwarf turns from Locke and looks to Lilanei who is still on her knees, grasping her bleeding shoulder.
"My dear," the Dwarf says, "are you alright?"
"I'm sure I will be," she begins weakly, “once I can stop the bleeding in my shoulder."
"I can help you with that," the Dwarf announces. "Come with me to my campsite. I will tend to your wounds."
Lilanei nods and, clutching the bottom of Locke's leather shirt, she pulls herself to her feet, stumbling slightly after doing so. Locke stumbles also, not being prepared for Lil's body weight, but he immediately adjusts himself and wraps his hands around Lil to steady her on her feet. Looking to our Heroes, the Dwarf simply nods, picks up her Warhammer which she props on her shoulder, before she waddles off back into the bushes – Locke and Lilanei following close behind. Within a few moments, Locke and Lil negotiate the many bushes and brambles in the thicket before they find themselves in a clearing in the middle of the greenery. Off to the left of the clearing sits a small green tent, and in the center of the clearing is a campfire which is burning softly – a kettle hanging just above it from a crude prop. A few feet away from the Dwarf's campsite is a small pond. The Dwarf walks into her tent and within seconds returns with a small bronze box which contains suitable dressings and antidotes. She then waddles over to a large stone – one of five that surround the campfire. She hops onto the stone and sits down, motioning for Locke and Lilanei to join her.
"Please, sit," she announces.
Locke and Lil walk over to the campfire and sit on either side of the Dwarf. The Dwarf immediately takes a wet leaf which has been coated in a blue liquid, which she then begins to brush on Lil's wound.
"Now this may sting, child," she informs Lil as the leaf brushes on her wound.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Lil shrieks as she kicks her legs slightly in front of her, hands clutching the stone she sits on.
"Be brave, Lil!" Locke says jokingly. "After the Orcs, the bandits, the lizards, and the skeletons, I can't believe that a medical process is making you so unsettled."
Lil in return snaps her face at Locke, glaring daggers as she cries, "I just don't like spiders, alright?"
The Dwarf chuckles softly as she continues to brush the leaf on Lil's shoulder. She then drops the leaf down by her side on the stone and takes some bandage, which she then pulls apart with her teeth before pressing it down on Lil's shoulder.
"Lil," She echoes. "Is that your name?"
"Well," Lil says as she looks to the Dwarf and calms herself down, "my name is Lilanei, but yes. You may call me Lil."
"Mm-hm," the Dwarf murmurs. "Both names sound just as pleasing to the ear."
"And I'm Locke!" Locke suddenly blurts out, without waiting.
"Another fine name," the Dwarf replies without actually looking at Locke; instead, she continues to bandage Lil's wound before then taking her attention away from her and shifting so she faces Locke – where she begins the same process of tending to his injury.
Lil observes the job the Dwarf has done on her shoulder before stating, "You're pretty good at tending wounds. What's your name?"
"My name?" The Dwarf echoes, her head slightly twitching as Lil asks; the Dwarf is silent for a few moments, before she then smiles and looks over her shoulder to Lil, while Locke hisses in pain from the leaf's medicine. "How nice of you to ask, child. Not many are so polite as to ask. My name is Yurla."
Lil smiles, "That's a nice name, too."
"Well, my mother must've thought so," she softly answers with a nod of gratitude before she turns to Locke's shoulder and finishes bandaging it.
Putting the box down by her side, the Dwarf hops off the stone and waddles over to the kettle, her long curly blond hair bouncing off her heavy set body as she walks. She pours some brown liquid from the kettle into two gray cups and hands one each to Locke and to Lil, before pouring herself a cup and hopping back up onto the stone where she drinks.
"Dwarven tea, my dears," she says. "Please, help yourselves."
Locke sniffs at the liquid for a moment, grimacing slightly to Lil as it is neither rum nor is it berry juice. Still, he closes his eyes, opens his mouth, and quickly thrusts the cup up, letting some of the tea splash into his mouth and swirl down his throat.
"Mmm, pretty good!" Locke finally announces. "This is what dwarves drink, eh? My, maybe there is something that could wean me off the rum."
Lil, wiggling her eyebrows in amusement at Locke, simply takes a sip from her cup of tea and smiles before saying, "For once, he's right. This is quite delicious."
"I thank you," Yurla says before sipping more from her own cup. "Now that I know your names, Locke and Lilanei, tell me. What are you doing around here? This is a Dwarven settlement, don't you know."
"We're travelers," Locke announces. "We have left our hometown of Illias upon the Sea and are now making our maiden exploration of Murrad. We have been trained in the arts of self-defense and sorcery by our master Akorrin, and now we wander this island, helping people who may need it and ensuring peace and justice abound in this land of ours."
Lilanei clears her throat as she stares at Locke with a blank gaze, "My friend tends to over-exaggerate. We're simply just explorers trying to find our way in the world."
"Oh," Yurla sighs softly as she looks down at her cup of tea. "So, your young friend is wrong? You don't help people in need?"
For a few moments, Lil is at a loss for words, but looking to Yurla with a concerned expression, she says, "That's not entirely true. We will help those that we encounter, who truly need assistance. Why? Is something the matter?"
"Well," Yurla begins. "Watching you two fight the Deathjump Spider back there, I thought maybe you were such Heroes that many in my town aspire to be. Yes, I am in some bother. . . Quite a lot."
"What's that then?" Locke asks, clenching his fist. "You let us know what it is, and we'll make it right for you! Right, Lil?"
"Yep," She responds as she takes another sip of her tea.
"That is assuring," Yurla replies. "Let me explain my predicament. You see, as I'm sure you can figure out, I am from the Dwarven town down below the hill. I have lived there all my life; however recently my luck has – how would you say – turned. My fruit business had fallen upon hard times, and to try and keep my business afloat so that I and my baby daughter may live comfortably, I had to take a loan of some gold. The Treasurer denied me the money, as he felt I wouldn't be able to make good on the payments, so I was forced to take a loan from one of the. . . rougher members of our town. He gave me the money, and initially, everything was fine. But soon, his repayment prices began to go up, and up, and up. Soon, I could no longer afford to pay him back, as he was demanding more money than I was making! He threatened me at least one night a week, preying on the fact that I was alone with my daughter – as my husband had died the year before. . . He was killed by a Deathjump, funnily enough. Then one evening, only last week, he and his two men broke down my door and smashed by possessions. As they were simply humble belongings, he told me as I had nothing to offer and so he would take my daughter instead, to raise her so that she may serve him well," Yurla pauses, tears beginning to run down her cheeks as she sighs. "My dear daughter is now in the hands of an evil person. I know not what he plans for her, but all I know is that I miss my daughter dearly and would give anything to get her back. But. . . I am simply too afraid to fight him, even with my husband's mighty Warhammer."
Lilanei, hearing the Dwarf's story, looks down at her cup of tea with great sadness in her eyes as she is unable to find the words to comfort their newly made comrade.
"That's awful," Locke sighs. "That evil son-of-a-war-sword! How could he do that to you? What if that was my mother and Zelsa in that situation? Grrr. . . I don't want to think about it. All I feel like doing right now is getting up from this rock, picking it up, taking it down to that town, finding that slime, and introducing it to him! I'll take this rock and shove—"
"What he means to say," Lil interjects before Locke becomes too violent, "is that we'd be glad to help you."
Yurla looks up from her tea, tears staining her face as her hair is wet from the tears that fell.
"Dear, do you really mean that?" She asks.
"Of course I do," Lil smiles. "You've been very kind to us, and it is only right we return the favour."
"Oh, I do thank you both!" Yurla says with a happy sigh. "No other Dwarf down there wanted to even get close to Bront or his men. But I see that you and Locke are more red-blooded than any of those peasants could ever hope to be."
"Well, we are rather brave," Locke says, his ego slightly inflated from Yurla's words. "Tell us. Where can we find this. . . this. . . Brick?"
"Bront!" Lil quickly corrects him, with an agitated sigh.
"I know that," Locke hisses. "But my enemies do not deserve to be recognized properly by me."
Lil mutters beneath her breathe before directing her speech once again at Yurla, "Where is this Bront anyway?"
"Bront lives down in the town," Yurla explains, pointing a stick she had just picked up out in the direction of where the town is located. "He does not hide away like any normal villain would. Instead, he lives rather proudly in the largest home of the town. He is a rather wealthy man, you see, because. . . Well, I'm sure you can imagine how. He lives in the house with his wife and two henchmen who act as his muscle. I don't think he likes to soil his hands too much as the local authority could pass the blame onto him. I know his henchmen practically live in the ground floor of his home, so that he may be guarded from any person who he may have scorned. If you are willing, Lilanei and Locke, I propose that you rest now, and later on tonight we travel down to the town and infiltrate his home to try and rescue my daughter. Does that sound reasonable to you?"
"Well, I would prefer to go down there right now," Locke announces. "But I suppose you wouldn't want your baby to be harmed, and nor do I. So I'll go along with that."
"Thank you, my friends," Yurla says with a humble nod. "You have restored my faith in the world and my hope that I may be reunited with my dear daughter. You both look weary. Perhaps you should rest now. You may use my tent to rest in, and while you rest, I will prepare a meal in gratitude for what you are about to do for me."
Lil emits a great sigh of relief, "Thank you! I can't recall the last time I've had a decent rest in the last two days."
"Oh no, thank you," Yurla replies as she rubs her hands together and then hops off the stone before wadding over to the side of her tent to retrieve her pots and pans. "Rest now, my dears. I will return shortly, while I gather up some ingredients to make you both a decent meal."
No comments:
Post a Comment