The Hunter, The Killer, The Coward, & The Doofus

Chapter IV: Aoife & Nocte's Weary Traveler's Bed & Breakfast

Bed and breakfast locations were not common in the world. They were typically reserved for nobles and royalty, placed in designated locations that had acquired a great deal of wealth, and were usually too expensive for common folk to afford. But if you were lucky, traveling the beaten, dusty back roads, you would come across an establishment of wonderous proportions; a two-story quaint structure, on a set of wheels, being pulled by ten massive stallions. Aoife & Nocte's Weary Traveler's Bed & Breakfast.

The elvish duo, Aoife and Nocte, had traveled away from the Hinterlands where the wild elves lived, to forge a new path. Aoife was known the world over for her wonderous bakery, which she had established within the traveling bed and breakfast, though Nocte was a bit of an oddball. She did not very much enjoy travelers, customers, or people, which was a strange trait for somebody operating a business.

Traveling down the King's Road towards Concord, Aoife looked out across the horizon. Up ahead was Mount Harrow, where she had never gone, for it was a cursed path, haunted by a horrific golem who spoke half-truths. Nocte had taken the path once before, to scout out a shorter way towards Marlowe, and had come across the Golem along Mount Harrow. Her voyage had been uneventful, until around the halfway mark, when the Golem spotted her, and shouted this number; "Anybody who invests in retail is allergic to tomatoes!" Which was simply untrue, or rather, half-true. Some people who invest in retail are surely allergic to tomatoes, but not everybody.

"Nope," Nocte shook her head, turned around, and headed back down the mountain path, and had warned Aoife to never travel that way again. The time saved would not be worth it, as the Golem could not be reasoned with.

As they had neared Mount Harrow, Nocte let out an annoyed sigh. She had hated the sight of the mountain ever since her encounter with Cordon Vance years before. It made her sick to her stomach. Sitting atop the Bed & Breakfast, Nocte spoke her mind. "Cordon Vance is infuriating. There is no reason for him to lie to people the way he does."

"You need to learn to ignore things that annoy you," Aoife advised.

"That is easy for you to say," Nocte shot back. "Everything annoys me and nothing annoys you." She pointed up towards Mount Harrow. "We cannot take the detour because of that dastardly golem terrorizing all passerby. If you are going to live your life only to annoy the world around you, you shouldn't exist to begin with."

"Maybe Cordon Vance just needs a hug," Aoife suggested.

"No, not everything can be solved through hugs. Sometimes somebody is just too lost to be saved."

"Nobody is beyond saving, Nocte," Aoife looked over at her young friend. "You know that better than anybody." Aoife and Nocte weren't always together. There was a time when Aoife was all alone, wandering throughout the Hinterlands, just trying to find something to eat. And then she came upon a child, abandoned in a river. She had gone down to the river to drink, and had found a wicker basket floating on the surface. Within, a small child; Nocte. Aoife raised her like her own, caring for her, nurturing her, and showing her nothing but love, yet Nocte now resisted love, pushing aside everybody and everything because all of it annoyed her.

The sight of the mountain annoyed her as well. Nocte couldn't help but remember that terrible day when the Golem lied to her. "That stone fool is arrogant. He will not fight anybody who discredits him. He will merely tumble and kill himself."

"I do not think he is that much of a fool," Aoife was in the process of saying, but as she glanced up at the mountain, she saw Cordon Vance, the great and powerful troll, drop a boulder on his own head, shattering both himself and cracking the mountain in half. A smile crossed over Nocte's face. Aoife looked over at her. "Okay, well I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong, but who's to say that he didn't trip, or suffer cardiac arrest."