In the World of Black and White

Twenty-Familiar Faces

We approached this small tavern in the middle of the forest called the Slumbering Basilisk. "This place looks scary. Why are we here?" Lilith asked. "This is where she is." I responded. "where who is?" I dismounted my horse and tied him up next to the door. Lilith did the same. We walked in to see hunters drinking and sharing stories. "Go do something. This I have to do alone." Lilith walked to the bar and ordered a drink. I looked around for a hooded figure with a black cloak. He was sitting in a booth eating what appeared to be chicken. I sat down across from him. "Well well, Shadow has returned to the pack." The man said in a deep and rough voice. "It's been awhile." "I need to call in a favor." I told him. "You don't have any favors with us. You used them all up." He replied taking a chunk out of his chicken leg. "That's not true. I still have two after the event in Hiddleton." he slammed on the table, "That event was your fault in the first place!" "No. Grouch played us the whole time." I responded. He looked to his right, the. Looked back at me. "Whose the girl?" He asked. I turned to see Lilith looking over at us with a worried look. "She's a friend." A long pause filled the booth. "Fine. but after this, you're done." He put down his chicken. "Deal." I replied. "So what are we doing?" " you're looking for a girl in a green cloak. She will be in the forest somewhere. Once you find her, let me know where and then your job is done." He nodded to a group of archers sitting at table towards the middle of the inn. "Understood." He got up and walked out of the inn followed by the archers. As soon as the door shut, Lilith walked over and sat down. "Are we going home now?" I ordered a drink before responding. " No. Now we wait until they return." She let out a sigh. "How do you know these guys?" "After my parents died, I left the village for a couple years. I ran into a group smugglers and mercenaries. I worked for them for about two year until a smuggling job went bad and our leader got killed. I returned home after that with enough money to live by myself for years." Lilith was starring at me with amazement. "You were a smuggler?" "and mercenary." I added.