Daughter of Redmoon

Ch11: THE JUDE MANOUVER

"Are you asleep?" Jude whispers from the darkness.

"Oh, it's you!" I gasp, trying to calm my nerves down. "Are you trying to scare me to death?"

He pauses before answering.

"I couldn't sleep. I wanted to come and check on you."

Anna continues to snore.

"We're fine. No need to worry," I say quietly. "You should get some sleep."

He pauses again.

"It's a warm night. Want to go for a walk?"

I wrinkle my nose in the darkness.

"Jude, it's the middle of the night. We're fine. Go back to bed."

He sighs, then leaves the room as quietly as he entered.

That was very strange. What could possess him to think I'd want to go for a walk in the middle of the night like that? I nuzzle my bedmate's lovely smelling neck and drift back to sleep.

* * *

"Well, it looks like he dug his way out, alright," Anna muses as our group stands in front of the pile of rubble that used to be the dungeon. The guard station that sat overtop of the dungeon had also been reduced to a pile of timber and stone.

"All those poor prisoners," Xia says with a forlorn look.

I place my hand on her shoulder.

Jude places his hand on mine.

"Xia, where would Draxxus have gone to heal?" David asks. "This represents our best opportunity to take him down."

Xia's expression noticeably lightens when she turns to address him.

"A cave of some sort most likely. Somewhere with a ready food source."

I brush Jude's hand off my shoulder.

"Then we need to find White River's prospecting guild. They'll know where all the caves are in the area."

* * *

We pool our remaining coin for breakfast. The market's fresh fruit and pastries do not disappoint. David wants to cook, of course, but we convince him there isn't time. He and Xia are looking at each other and smiling a lot. I decide not to think about it.

A short, stout man with grey hair looks up as we enter his little shop. He wears a pointy woolen cap, has a pair of glasses perched on the very end of his nose, and has a pipe slung out of the side of his mouth. He lets several puffs of tobacco smoke escape his lips before he addresses us.

"It's a hard life, but it's worth it if you are lucky. Do you any of you have any experience? Are your licenses up to date? We'll provide a pick and shovel, but that's it. All other tools and survival gear are your responsibility."

We all stare blankly.

"Well, are you going to take the job or not?" he continues. "I don't need a bunch of statues. Someone speak up!"

"Is this the prospecting guild?" I ask.

He drops his chin and looks at me from down his nose.

"What the hell kind of group did Misty send me this time? Did she even tell you what the job was, or did you all just plug your ears and start running over here when she told you the pay?"

"Sir, we're here for information on the caves in the area," David offers. "We think the dragon that escaped from the dungeon last night might be holding up in one."