The Life of An Adventurer

Chapter Two - Lost At Sea

Getting back to town is a slow affair, my mare is moving slowly due to the weight of the cart she's pulling. When we finally get there - I direct her to the inn. Getting off the cart I start leading her back towards the stables. I leave her hitched to the wagon, but lose to food and water. I go to the back door of the inn, entering a bustling room, even though it's late in the night. At the bar is the archer and the elf, drinking and talking quietly. I walk up behind them, raising my voice to be heard over the clamor. "So, you just left me out there huh?" I say in my snarkiest voice. They both whirl around to stare at me in disbelief. "We thought you were dead." Says the archer, rubbing his chin. "How did you escape?" Asks the elf, playing with a lock of her hair nervously. "Oh I don't know, how about taking them all out. By. My. Self." I snarl at them, baring my fangs. "Hey now, it is your fault that you shot your rifle at the goblin." Replies the elf indignantly. "To save you! Had you have been caught who knows what they would have done to that pretty little body of yours." I nearly shout at her – while the bar goes eerily quiet. She blushes and huffs turning away from me. "Now, now ladies, don't start a fight." Says the archer, clearing his throat trying not to laugh at us and taking a shot.

"It's not a fight, it's the truth, I save her from an unforeseen threat, and then she ditches me to deal with it by myself. You Moral at least have an excuse, you had to take Trevor back to town. She on the other hand, ran away like a coward." I snort, crossing my arms to glare at the back of the elf's head. "Okay, okay, what she did wasn't fair, and I'm sure she feels terrible about it." He says a little conspicuously, jabbing her in the side with his elbow. She grunts. "I'm sorry." Comes her mumbled reply, still not turning around to look at me. "There, all better, now let's hear what happened." The archer says, patting the stool next to him on his left, away from the elf. I hop onto the stool still a little miffed. I order a stein of mead before recalling the events of the night – I tell them how I overcame the difficulties of dispatching the goblin army. The whole bar is quiet as I tell my tale. At the end there is a pause before a loud cheer goes up throughout the room. Several people come over patting me on the back, and ordering more drinks for me. Soon there are four or five steins of mead and a few shots of various hard liquor in front of me.

"I can't drink this all!" I say loudly, staring at all the booze. A few people chuckle at my remark, going back to their conversations – there is a new feeling in the bar, one of celebratory and relief. I push the excess alcohol towards the archer. "Here, you drink for me tonight." I say in almost an order. "By the way how is Trevor?" I ask, He annoyed me but I think I should know if he was going to die or not. "Oh he'll be fine, but it'll take him a few days to recover from his wounds." Slurs the archer, finishing the last stein before setting his eyes on the shots. "Oh by the way, we were talking about forming a company of sorts, you know to stick and work together, we didn't think you'd live, but if you're interested we'd be pleased to have you." Says the archer pausing in his binge drinking to look towards me. At those words the elf's head snaps up and she glares into the back of his head. Startled with the proposition I stare at him. He waits, sipping at his shot. Maybe traveling with them wouldn't be so bad – and forming up a company like that, we could earn a lot more gold. Not that I was without gold, but I'm a greedy little shit. "Sure why not." I tell him holding up my stein, he clinks the shot against it and we both lift our drinks up - him finishing his shot, and me taking a long drink of mead.

It doesn't take long for me to finish my drink. "I'm going up to bed." I announce getting down off my stool. They're a chorus of goodnights from all around as I head up to my room. I unlock my door and almost miss the trip wire I set, catching myself at the last second – I hop over it, closing the door behind me. Kneeling by the bed I pull the chest out, wondering how I'm going to hide this from the others, and where I would put it, if I could, in my pack. Maybe it would be a better idea to ditch the chest all together and put the gold in smaller pouches in my pack. Nodding to myself, I slide the chest back into its hidey hole. Standing up, a little woozy, I strip down and sit at the desk, writing another letter to my uncle about my heroics today, rather pleased with myself. I seal the letter and leave it on the desk, intending to put it in the mail the next day. I go into the bathroom and use the toilet before heading to bed, rather impressed with myself.