They had long abandoned the stone path. Weeds occasionally poked through the dirt beaten down from hooves, shoes, and wheels. Around them was a mix of swamp and plains. In the distance, there was a town with mud brick houses and thatched roofs.
The sun was unbearably warm. It was around noon and the swamps made the whole area feel humid.
“Did I already tell you about this one woman who walks over and asks for our names?” Bas asked.
Tam shook her head. “No.”
“Alright. I have to remedy that,” Hazel said. However, instead of saying anything he quickly stopped his horse.
In the middle of the crossroads, there was a strange creature. It was not any sort of familiar creature from Earth, but seemed to be more like this world’s version of a platypus: various familiar parts of creatures combined in a small, cute monstrosity. Hooved foot, curved beak, and wide ears would have sounded like some sort of strange bird. However, whatever this was did not have feathers growing from any part of it. There was, additionally, mouse-like hands and a wide tail with webbing between points. This woodland creature that had approached them, was also wearing a blue shirt stitched with a green lining and standing back on its hind legs like a humanoid would. “Hello!” It said, in perfectly fine Tatasea—or what Orion knew as English. “My name is Matthew.”
“A sqidgle! Good to make your acquaintance.” This was the most enthusiastic Tam had ever sounded when meeting someone new. She was inching closer to the creature without any care. “Can I pet your ears?”
Matthew held out a flat paw. “Why yes you can, good human girl, but I insist on proper introductions first. Decorum must be met.”
Orion glanced at the others, judging their reactions. She wasn’t sure about how Tam was acting. “There isn’t any sort of harm in saying our names to it, right?”
“No,” Bas confirmed. “His kind are not known for stealing names or harming humans.”
A brief round of introductions for the humans was had, with Tam going first and Hazel going last.
Tam pet the sqidgle’s ears as promised. She declared them to be velvety soft and that the others should try, if Matthew would allow them to. Orion succumbed rather quickly. Meanwhile, Bas only gave in for a few moments.
Hazel was the only one of the human party that refused to come close. He was staying on guard. His love of animals seemed reserved for Scorpion, although he did pet Sirius when the creature insisted.
Sirius—who sat faithfully by the horses and waited for the rest—did insist on pets from Hazel. She might have been feeling lonely.
Matthew shook his head once they were done petting, fluffing the fur back up. “I hope that not all of your calluses are from weapons?” There was no disapproval in his voice, only mild concern.
“I play the flute,” Bas replied with a smile. He pulled the flute from his belt as evidence and trilled a short melody. He was the type of person to diffuse an awkward question by almost dodging it entirely. There were times when his upbringing was clearly shown in his behavior.
Matthew produced his own instrument from his vest pocket, which was far too small for holding a violin. He drew his bow across the string, continuing the melody. It was a soothing sound, something vaguely familiar sung in taverns and pubs.
The music was nice, but Orion was getting tired of just standing in the middle of the road. She moved off a bit to the side, in the shade. She didn’t know if these were rules for talking to sqidgles. She figured that maybe there were. No one was outright telling her though. Not knowing the rules hadn’t stopped her before from doing anything, but for some reason there was some sort of self-restraint in her soul today. If someone was going to get the blame for making the small creature mad, it wouldn’t be Orion.
Hazel had already tied their horses to a tree. He had his trumpet in his hands and joined in to start a new song. This one was also familiar, a well-known traveler’s song. Mercenaries from Malamut were the most associated with it. The repetitive lyrics made it so that even the most simple of warrior bands could remember it.
Tam began to sing.
Travelers, gather around
Gather round, gather round
Travelers, gather around
Gather round, gather round
Well met, a first time
Well met, a first time
Well met, a first time
Hey yo! A first time!
Raise your glasses high!
For well met, a first time
Since we have met once
Maybe we will meet again
Sure, we’ll meet again
Sure, we’ll meet again
I walk this way
You walk that way
How will we meet?
How will we meet?
We don’t know the future,
Life is short and sweet
Travelers, gather around
Gather round, gather round
Travelers, gather around
Gather round, gather round
Well met, a first time
Well met, a second time
Well met, a second time
Hey yo! A second time!
Raise your glasses high!
For well met, a second time
Since we have met more,
Then, I’m sure we’ll meet again
Sure, we’ll meet again
Sure, we’ll meet again
I walk this way
You walk that way
How do we want to meet?
Right here, on the street
On the way to a drink
On the way to a drink!
Travelers, gather around
Gather round, gather round
Travelers, gather around
Gather round, gather round
Well met, a first time
Well met, a second time
Well met, a third time
Hey yo! A third time
Raise your glasses high
For well met, a third time
Since we have met more,
Then, I’m sure we’ll meet again
Sure, we’ll meet again
Sure, we’ll meet again
Right here on this street
Orion knew the lyrics, but she didn’t want to sing. She instead provided a beat to this strange band in the forest by smacking her boot against the ground.
Every living thing in this small patch of woods seemed to enjoy the song. The trees seemed to sway. Flowers opened their buds. Small creatures stopped to stare. They were all quiet.
The band was soon quiet as well. It was a good song, but it had three main parts. Coming up with new lyrics on the spot was not something Tam was confident in. She slipped around to the horses for some of the snacks and then held out a piece of candied fruit to Matthew. “I want advice on what to do. This is how it works, right?”
“We’re not from around….here.” Orion wasn’t sure whether to think if sqidgles were this world’s equivalent of a GPS, a wise mountain guru, or a genie. There was also the possibility that they were simply magical creatures who could talk and had tricked everyone into thinking that they knew things.
Matthew nodded as he picked the fruit up. “Tell everyone you meet your secrets, then you won’t have any,” he told them.
“That’s not the kind of advice we were wanting.” Bas almost smacked his hand into his forehead, but he stopped himself half-way. He folded his hands under his arms.
“Oh. You didn’t specify in your question, so I guessed. Life advice is always needed,” Matthew sagely replied as he grabbed the fruit from Tam’s hand. That was almost something that couldn’t be argued with.
Orion tried her luck. She had bought some sort of acorn pancake two days ago. The honey on it had crystallized some, but it was still good. She held one of these puffy, round pancakes out. “Is there anything cool around here?” There was hope in her voice. She was getting a bit tired of just wandering around and seeing Hazel resurrect soldiers.
Matthew’s whiskers twitched. “Why, I’m glad you asked! There’s lot of interesting things. There’s a treasure that curses its user with the thoughts of every living being around it. There’s also one weird patch of grass that might be magical; although,” he stopped and tapped his foot against the dirt thoughtfully, “..it might also just be the wind moving the grass when I try to talk to them.”
Orion pressed a second pancake into the creature’s other hand. “Any others?”
“There’s a really annoying sword buried in the desert. Both the sword and sheath talk. Sentient items are somewhat cool though. To be fair to you, I’ll add one more. Since you seem to like them, a knife that can cut through anything like butter.” There was no reason that Matthew should have known that Orion used knives to fight specifically.
“We need directions. What way should we go?” Bas asked. He had some sort of chocolate in a tin. It was the big, fat kind that held things like cherry cordial.
Matthew held out his hand and accepted one of the chocolates. He ate it politely, chewing with a paw over his mouth. His whiskers twitched in satisfaction. “Directions. I’ll give you great ones for some fun. You should take a right and go to the witch’s house. If you insult her, she might curse you with whatever you hate the most.”
“That does sound fun,” Orion agreed.
“That doesn’t sound fun,” Tam responded at the same time.
“Priorities,” Bas reminded.
Orion stuck out her tongue. “Vote.”
“I think we did. Two versus one.” Bas looked at Hazel. “Your vote?”
“I’ve fought witches and don’t like it,” Hazel said. “They aren’t hard to trick, but they are also good at tricking anyone they don’t like.”
While the humans weren’t paying attention, Sirius had slunk closer to Matthew the sqidgle and was sniffing at him. Mathew was leaning away, but now running. The size difference between them was significant, as Sirius was taller than Orion’s hip and Matthew barely reached past her knee.
“Three to one,” Bas announced. He ignored Orion’s pout.
“If you ever come around back here, then I’ll be here. I’ll also be anywhere that is here,” Matthew promised.
That was a bit of an odd statement and everyone else took a few seconds to try to parse through that—except for Orion, who gave up on the metaphorical interpretation immediately and was pretty sure that Matthew was saying something about being omnipresent around wooded areas. She was the closest to the truth.
Hazel had some sort of fruit that had been smashed into dried strips. He had heard Orion call them ‘fruit roll ups’ but had no idea what any of that would mean. “What is the fastest way to the closest en masse burial of soldiers from the war with the Empire?” The phrasing was specific. He had been watching this sqidgle. He knew their rules.
“You take the left fork here and ride quickly,” Matthew pointed towards it. “There is danger that way, but there was nothing to be done about it. This is the path you all have chosen. There would simply be danger. They could turn back. Anyone can turn back.” He looked at them, their strange party of magical creatures meeting an unusual magical creature. “You won’t choose to. I wish you the best.”
Orion tilted her head. She ignored how Sirius mirrored her. “Well, that’s mostly cryptic and unhelpful. Thanks, Matthew?”
“Mostly,” Bas agreed.
Tam was not contributing to the conversation of where to go. She was petting Matthew again.
“At least we know the way to the next place,” Hazel countered. He nodded towards the sqidgle.
They said goodbye to the sqidgle named Matthew and got back on their horses.
Orion was chewing on the fruit and her last pancake. She hadn’t regretted anything she did during that encounter, even if she had fewer pancakes and didn’t really understand what had happened. She thought that sqidgles might be her new favorite animal…magical creature. They would probably be considered above regular animals since they could talk and use magic.
“What about that story, Hazel?” Tam prompted. She was still a bit energetic from having met a sqidgle and was channeling that into socializing.
“This, clearly drunk, lady goes up to us and asks us for our names, but her response is, ‘You said your name was hazy? You play very well.’ Hazel corrects her: ‘No. Hazel, the color.’ And she just looks blankly at us and says, ‘Your eyes don’t look Hazel.’ I had to hold Bas back from saying something.”
“Is it really that strange to be named Hazel without brown hair or eyes?” Hazel responded in exasperation. He looked at the two women.
Tam hummed, considering.
Orion held up her hand and wobbled it back and forth. It kind of was strange.
“After, we played some cards. Which reminds me, next time we play Clover, Hazel is not allowed to deal,” Bas stated.
“Why does it matter if I deal or not?” Hazel questioned. He was holding his reins in one hand and petting Scorpion gently with the other. The chitan didn’t lean into the touch, but seemed content to stay there.
Bas looked back at the necromancer. His expression was flat. “You can either be a player or a dealer, but not both.”
“I think he’s just tired of losing all his money to you because he’s shit at cards,” Orion proposed.
“Fine.” Bas sighed. “Next time, I’ll just cheat too. The two of you will regret this.”
“I’m not playing if you use the tricks you learned from Chester.” Tam shook her head.
Bas’ lips twitched. “Why, because you can’t figure them out?”
Tam nodded. “Yes.” Her tone was completely blunt.
Orion snorted at the conversation, but her attention was elsewhere—she squinted as she looked up ahead, past the bend.
By the side of the road was a shabby cart. There did not seem to be anything in the back of the cart. A few people were replacing a wheel. If their past encounter was something out of a fairytale, then this one appeared to be something common.
Bas, Tam, Orion, and Hazel kept at the same pace. Sirius stayed close by Orion’s horse, a whine building in her throat.
Once the travelers were close enough, the cart was rolled in front of the dirt path. The three who had been working on fixing the wheel stood up and pulled out their weapons. Behind Bas, Tam, Orion, and Hazel, another five thugs walked out of the thick grasses. It was a decent trap. As the four travelers didn’t know the area, riding straight into the muck and grass could lead to their horses breaking a leg or falling into a bog.
“Valuables, products, and any other sorts of goods. Pile ‘em on the ground. Make it easy for all of us,” one of the thugs said. He had a sneer on his face, but his tone was somewhat sincere.
Orion had been bored—and quietly agitated—ever since the vote about the witch hadn’t gone in her favor. She looked towards Bas.
“We have too much to simply agree to being robbed. Our plans would be thrown off,” Bas said with a shrug. His demeanor was obviously far too casual for someone being mugged. He already had his bow off his back and drew back an arrow before the thugs could respond.
Tam unsheathed her sword and slid off her horse. She walked forward confidently.
Bas attached Tam’s reins to his saddle. He acted as a distraction and nuisance from the front—targeting joints and other painful areas. He occasionally glanced back to check that Orion did not need support.
The muddy shoes of the attackers from the back were turned to ice and stuck to the path. Orion had already killed one of them from behind before the other four got unstuck.
Sirius leaped for one of the attacker’s throats and bit down. Blood covered her maw but she only seemed more invigorated. She jumped for another after a few seconds.
Orion fought with the three remaining enemies on her side.
“Look. It’s a baby mage,” one of the thugs remarked. Her heavy mace shattered Orion’s blades.
“What, just because I’m a mage I can’t fight with a sword?” Orion shot back. Her blades reformed almost immediately, but she still had gotten hit hard in the side.
“Specialties.” The thug with a mace shrugged.
Orion stared at the thug for a moment. She was actually kind of pissed off. “Fine.” She took a step back and thought of earth moving—in response, the dirt surged up and covered the thug’s legs. The bounty hunter moved on to the other two targets still moving.
Sirius followed Orion’s lead. Her bloody appearance was rather threatening. Colorful feathers flared behind her, dotted in red.
Bas fired an arrow at the trapped thug. It was a clean shot.
In the front, fire suddenly burst forth as a thug used a mana crystal.
Bas swore and backed up, trying to keep his and Tam’s horses under control.
Hazel turned his horse slightly and threw a dagger towards the user. His attack landed perfectly in his target’s throat.
Tam finished off the other two attackers quickly.
Hazel dismounted and retrieved his dagger, wiping the blood off.
“Everyone okay?” Bas asked. He was checking that each of their attackers was dead, and the conditions of the party.
“Strained my wrist. I’ll be fine.” Tam was gingerly stretching out her non-dominant hand.
Orion imagined how the path had been before they fought—and earth smoothed out accordingly. “Bruised, and nothing broken,” she said and took her horse’s reins from Hazel. Her side did hurt a bit—however, it was just a bit of a dull ache that would bruise by tomorrow.
“We should probably clean off Sirius . . .”
The four looked at the happy yet clearly blood covered animal. There were no objections to this plan.
Orion shook her head at Bas. “See, I told you we should have given you a new haircut. It looked bad before, but now that it’s grown out, it just breeds hostility. We’ll be attacked again tomorrow.”
“My hair isn’t that bad!”
The bandits’ corpses were buried off the side of the path. Sirius was cleaned. The cart was burned.
As the plume of smoke went up, a large shadow blocked the sun.
“Fuck.” Orion heard herself faintly—the roar of blood in her veins was too loud. Adrenaline was kicking in. “That’s a dragon.”
Bas laughed.
“Don’t just fucking laugh!” Orion was already off her horse, planting her feet in the dirt. “That’s the strongest sentient magical creature alive. He’s not here to do some shit like be our friend.”
“Well, actually,” Bas managed to wheeze out. His eyes were watery from how hard he was finding it to stop laughing.
Tam was smiling. She hadn’t drawn her sword.
“You . . .” Hazel trailed off. “You crazy bastard, you really did befriend a dragon during the hunt.”
The dragon landed neatly on the path. His silver scales were clean and reflected the sun’s light. “Greetings friends and other noble humans.” He smiled—a big toothy grin that was both sincere and unusual for a dragon. “Honorable Bas told me that you need to go to the Capital?”
A/N
Moving to a one chapter every two weeks updating schedule currently due to IRL busy-ness.
