Rune of Oldfyre

Chapter Thirty-Two

That "morning" we packed our gear and set off on our way. I decided not to ask what the lord planned on doing with the remaining soldiers in his basement. As a gift he also gave us a horse to pull the sled.

Molly sprinted through the snow drifts, untethered by the sled he felt free. He loved the snow, a product of his dire wolf ancestry. He passed the horse miles back, so I had him travel at a trot. We trotted on a hill over looking the woodland. The dark light of the perma night gave the taiga a sinister view, trees jutting out off of the dark forest floor.

When the sled finally caught up, we took a look at the map, now updated after comparisons with the maps at Rolenov, and decided to continue Southeast until the tundra meets Holíshitë Mountains and take a hidden tunnel, we found out about at Rolenov, through Mt. Totallyharmless. This was far quicker than going over the mountains.

Our trek brought us near the village of Night Vale, a tiny hamlet in the middle of the vast desert of snow. It was actually south enough to experience a day-night cycle. It was nice to see the sun again.

We found the inn, cozy seemed to be a standard in the far north, it was called The Emerald Spade. I packed my gear in the room and searched for a tavern, something to drink would have been nice. The Chivalrous Dragon was located slightly out of town in a snowy field.

Inside I found all sorts of people, mostly lumberjacks. Everyone seemed a bit uneasy. When I sat down at the bar I overheard a conversation between two beards.

"It's that time of the month again." Beard one said.

"Shit, not again." Beard two responded.

"I know. I don't see why they don't just lock 'em up." Beard one stated.

"They say it's because 'ey got rights. But, I say that lockin' 'em up and throwin' away the key'd be better." Beard two said.

"Damn werewolves." Beard one said as a form of agreement.

I quickly finished my drink and ran back to The Emerald Spade. I greeted Prana at the entrance, finding it odd that she worked here now. I didn't give it much thought though.

I opened  the door to our room and told May, "This town has werewolves!"

I must have startled her because she was on the floor after tripping on something. "By the nine, Ardy." She said. "Could've warned me."

"Sorry, got excited." I said, helping her up.

"What is this about werewolves?" She asked.

"I heard these two lumberjacks talking about werewolves." I explained.

"Why are you so excited?" She asked curiously.

"I've never seen a werewolf before." I said, almost gleefully.

"I bet you never saw a kraken before, you weren't this excited then."

"I grew up reading stories about werewolves. Supposedly one stalked the countryside outside the village I was born in." I said. It was partially true. People thought it was a werewolf, it turned out to be a really hairy man with a bad limp.

"So you have an obsession with werewolves." She said.

"Yes." I said. "Is there a problem with that?"

"It's a tad bit odd, yeah." She admitted.

"How?" I requested explanation.

"Well," she began, "werewolves are just people."

"But they turn into wolves." I said, as if she misunderstood the concept.

"I understand that, but under most circumstances they're just people."

"Okay, I'm not obsessed. But there had to be some mythical or nocturnal creature that you were enthralled by." I said.

"I thought fairies were fascinating." She said.

Not if you were awake that night, you wouldn't.

"Okay, but we're adventurers. Hunting a werewolf sounds like an adventure." I said.

"I thought we had a vaguely romantic conversation about you not being all that excited about being an adventurer." She reminded me.

"It's kind of grown on me." I said, and it had. I began to feel exhilarated when on the move. I came to realize that I was making a journey few have made before.

"Okay, so what do you want me to do about it?" She asked.

"About what?" I inquired.

"The werewolf." She clarified.

"I don't know." I said.

"Then why did you come barging in here with the news?" She asked, "you could have just told me later."

"I thought it was interesting news."

That night we didn't have to come up with a plan. As the most recent additions to the town population, even if temporary, we were called upon to deal with the issue. The group was brought into a large log building, I assume town hall, and told of our new mission.

"You will hunt the werewolf." A third beard said once we've been seated.

"There's a werewolf?" Allister asked.

"Apparently." Anya said.

I was almost giddy. "How are we supposed to go about it?"

"We're actually going to do it?" Anya asked.

"Sure, why not?" I argued.

"It's a waste of time." Allister pointed out.

"He has a point Ardy." May said.

I had almost given up hope except the third beard had informed us, "You'll be paid handsomely."

"I'm in." Allister said immediately.

"But Al, you're rich now." Anya said, "What do you need with more money?"

"I wasn't told that all that money I was to earn was going to be heavily taxed." He said.

"So that's two of us." I said, "Anyone else?"

"Sure." Anya said said reluctantly.

I looked at May, ever hopeful.

"Fine, but only because you want to so badly." She said.

We were told that the common feeding ground of the werewolf was a local field just over a hill outside of town. We sat all night taking sleeping shifts, we found nothing.

When we returned to The Emerald Spade, we found our rooms ransacked. Our stuff had been stolen while we slept. Luckily, magic books, clothes, and the most powerful item in the world were not seen as all that valuable. May and I were hit the least. All that was stolen from us was some coins we had lying on the table. Allister had had his jewels, of which he apparently had many, stolen. Anya's prized throwing knives, engraved with the tale of Orflock the butcher, were taken.

The gang had blamed me for the theft. So I only did the logical thing I could, threaten the town counsel with a dire hell hound. Many of them were put off by it, one soiled himself when I broke through the door judging from the smell. I demanded that our stuff be returned, and that we be paid for that night we spent in the field, trying to help them.

Many in the town counsel had agreed to these terms until one asshole stood up. "What makes you think we should pay you for that night?" He asked.

"We were trying to help you." I said.

"Yet, I see no werewolf corpse." He said, looking around the room, "You promised payment for the werewolf. We won't pay you for just standing in a field."

"There was no werewolf," I yelled, "you know that."

"That doesn't answer the question. Why should we pay you?" He repeated.

"Compensation for the stuff you stole."

"All your gear will be returned to you. We don't need to pay you extra."

"Ardy, just give it up," May said, "they're not going to pay us. Let's just be on our way."

"Fine." I gave up angrily. I stormed out of the hall.