Leaning her back against the door and listening to the sounds of poultry in the distance, Meagen Image wondered when exactly this adventure had taken such a bizzare and surreal turn.
The first inkling that something was not right had probably been back when they were fighting goblins in Glod Glodsson's mine, and stumbled upon an underground temple and a strange little girl. After that the journey just seemed to go from one dangerously magical place to another. Meagen was hoping all the thaumatic energy she was exposed to wouldn't make her grow a third arm or something.
And here they were at Johnson Farms, where a recent magical accident had turned all the livestock into bloodthirty beasts. Hiding inside a storeroom from a mob of *chickens* was, Meagen reflected, probably the low point of her adventuring career so far.
"So what's the plan?", Amadeus asked in an undertone, from where he had been tending to Seta. Meagen didn't respond for a while, leaning back against the door with her eyes closed, a look of concentration on her face. He didn't press on, taking advantage of the occasion to examine her more carefully. Amadeus was quite sensitive to female charm, and the half-elf certainly had quite a lot of it. Even tired and battle-worn, with the rapier he'd given her in one hand and a shield in the other, she was a lovely creature. He found himself wondering how she would look wearing a dress, or even skimpier clothing.
Sensing that he was distracted, Seta butted his hand to get his attention. He petted the great cat, but his eyes remained on his ranger companion.
Finally, she opened her eyes. "The plan is simple", she said. "We charge out, Seta and I keep them busy while you cast spells."
"That was the idea all along, I believe", he said skeptically. "You nearly got killed. Seta had to escape to heal until I could call on her again."
Meagen smiled slightly. "Yeah, but now I've got an ace up my sleeve."
*****
The sorceror peered cautiously around the door, ready to drag Meagen back inside at any sign of trouble. The small flock had noticed her, and were rushing along the coridoor in their direction. She set herself, recited a short incarnation, then poined at them.
A strong smell of sap and wet trees filled the air, and the chickens found themselves talon-deep in a slick black liquid which offered no support for their claws. They slowed down, some colliding with each other, others falling onto their backs and wriggling their feet desperately. With a triumphant cry, Meagen rushed in, Seta at her side.
They had to stop to rest more frequently now, because magic drained Meagen's strenght much faster than fighting, but they were making good progress. The pauses gave her more time to reflect, and she found herself thinking of her feelings about the situation.
It surprised her how much she was enjoying herself. She had always been the adventurous kind: curious and inquisitve, drawn by the promise of gold, and not afraid to get into a fight if necessary. The death of Fenthick had left her in such sadness and despair, she'd felt all she wanted was to go somewhere peaceful and quiet, lie down comfortably, and never get up again.
The first part of their stay in Penultima City had been like that. The whole country was so peaceful it seemed like someone had carefully distilled the essence of boredom, and poured it over the land. Even the weather seemed half-hearted. An ever-present blanket of thin, gray clouds dimmed the light of the sun even on the brightest of days, and rain was never thicker than a slight drizzle. It was hard to imagine thunder, sleet or even snow happening here.
For a while, Meagen had been content to walk around Penultima City with Amadeus, or sit around and drink coffe at the tavern. But soon she grew, well, *bored* with this calm life. She felt she had been idle for long enough, but she didn't want to leave yet, so along with her companion they went to the Guild of Middlemen, to see if any jobs were available locally.
It had started out innocently enough - clean out goblins in a mine, fetch a book from a magical library. But now the adventure had snowballed out of proportion, and suddenly the fate of the valley and all its inhabitants was at stake.
(
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