The next day passed in a blur, completing training again with Lorna. Her form was improving, and she hoped she would soon trigger the next kata level the way she was going. Lorna had informed her she could not train at the training grounds tomorrow due to their rules around rest. She decided to look around the town more and pick up some quests. Fizzlewick had still not returned to the tailor’s yet, and she was a little concerned about where he had gone. Knowing that Bob had been waiting to see him probably meant he was on the mountain. The form of the massive Blue dragon could still be seen back at its peak again.
“Flying day,” SJ said excitedly. She had followed the exercise regime Fran had told her about, and she knew just from the exercises that the muscles for her wings had been improving significantly.
“Great. Let’s get you miniature and flying around battling the birds then.”
“You mentioned birds deliberately, didn’t you,” SJ frowned, recalling the huge raven that had grabbed her from the sky.
“Would I do something so cruel?” Dave stated innocently.
“Yes.”
“I am hurt,” he replied, giggling.
“Sounds like it.” SJ was in her room and began her transformation in moments, standing at her six-inch height. It had been a few days since she had altered her size, and the perspective of everything changed so substantially in miniature form.
“This is going to be fun. Hopefully, you won’t faceplant.”
Shaking her head at Dave’s comment, she slowly moved her wings. She could already feel the difference due to the scale difference of her wings between her two forms, and the movement of the wings was much more natural. Her muscles didn’t begin to throb like they had when using a single movement, and she slowly got used to the rhythm she needed to follow.
“Ok. Here goes!” SJ slowly moved her wings in their rhythmic pattern, increasing the speed until, without realising it, she was suddenly several inches from the ground. “This is so much easier.” She happily said a huge grin on her face.
“Let’s see you fly then.”
“I am flying.”
“No, properly. Acrobatics, spins, swoops, come on, don’t be shy.”
SJ gritted her teeth as she focussed on the movements and slowly began to lift higher into the air. She was now at least three feet above the floor and began to adjust her beat slightly, changing her position. There was none of the leaning backwards and forwards she had been attempting previously, and she could stay virtually upright as she turned. Slow and directed movements made her turn in the air with ease. Slowly reducing her beat, she lowered herself gently back to the floor.
“That was amazing,” she said excitedly.
“Boring more like.”
“What do you mean boring? I flew.”
“You flew before.”
“Not properly, though. I also don’t ache at all. It felt so natural.”
“You still need to actually try and fly somewhere.”
“I could get a decent look of the town from the air.”
“You could if you actually flew.”
“I did fly. Stop trying to burst my bubble.”
“I am just saying. Watching you take off and land after a couple of turns isn’t exactly what I would classify as flying.”
“Fine.” SJ huffed and began to beat her wings again, lifting off the floor much faster than before. Dave had annoyed her with his hypocritical remarks, and she would prove him wrong. She started to move forward and continued to rise. In moments, she was up by the heavy, thick cross beams of the room’s high ceiling, startling a small mouse sitting happily eating something it had found. It scurried across the beam and disappeared into the adjoining room.
Turning and looking down, she suddenly got a strong sense of vertigo, her stomach somersaulting.
“Ewwww. Not good.” SJ said.
“What isn’t?” Dave asked, confused.
“Vertigo.”
“You haven’t suffered with it before?”
“I have never flown this high before. It’s a long way down when you are six inches tall.” She moved to the beam and landed on it, resting for a moment until her stomach stopped fluttering so badly.
“Was it really a great idea to select a race that can fly if you suffer from vertigo?” Dave sarcastically replied.
“I have never suffered with it before.”
“Not a good time to start then, is it?”
Taking a deep breath, SJ steadied herself before starting again and returning from the beam. She slowly circled the room, gradually gaining more confidence in her ability and the subtle movements needed with her wing beats to adjust her flight path. It was strange how it seemed so natural now that her muscles were working independently and not moving simultaneously. The last couple of training days have been more than enough to support her daily schedule of wing development.
“I need to go and see Fran,” SJ said, grinning from ear to ear. Now, she was able to move and fly so easily in comparison.
“Sounds like a good idea. No time like the present.”
Looking towards the open window, SJ suddenly felt panic. “What if there are birds that will attack me?”
“You can actually fly now and move out of their way.”
SJ wasn’t so sure and hovered by the open window.
“Come on, stop acting like a bugbear cub,” Dave said.
Growling in response to his comment, she started out of the window.
The sun, as it had been every day, was blazing down onto the town, and as she left the inn window and began to lift towards the roof, she couldn’t stop looking around at all the goings on. Her eyesight was perfect since her transformation, and she could see around the square. The view was completely different and much more interesting than walking at street level. She could understand why so many people had always gone on about helicopter and balloon flights back on Earth.
Lifting over the inn’s roof, she turned and began heading towards the windmill she could see down by the lakeside. She felt amazing flying through the air, watching the day-to-day activities, and could hear the banging of the smithy. Looking over, she saw the smoke rising from its chimney. She felt free. The warm sun bathed her wings, and her back was not aching in the slightest. Gradually picking up speed as she flew she was soon travelling much faster than she had ever done before.
The windmill sails spun easily, and it was then that she realised that there was quite a breeze coming off the surface of the lake. Not having noticed it in the town, it became apparent now that she had left the streets and was crossing an open field. The breeze began to hit her, and she could feel herself being pushed off course slightly. Adjusting her flight path, she corrected her direction and continued. As she neared the mage’s apprentice building, there were several outside training casting various spells, and that was when the gust hit her.
One of the mages must have been an air mage as the wind whipped up, and her small, framed body was suddenly caught in what could only be described as a tornado. She saw the spiralling air at the same time as it hit her. Squealing in shock, she was suddenly thrown into the air as though she weighed nothing, completely out of control and at the mercy of the power of the mage’s magic. The tornado was rising rapidly in the air, and she had no control over where she was going, being spun around like a sock in a washing machine.
The wind took her with no mercy as she was carried higher and higher across the lake’s surface. Her head spun, and she felt exceedingly dizzy, having stopped moving her wings in the panic. It was then that the wind suddenly stopped. Realising in absolute panic, she began to plummet towards the lake she was now over. Trying to beat her wings frantically at the same time as not throwing up due to how dizzy she had become. She must have been easily a hundred feet or more above the lake.
“Dive and glide,” Dave shouted in her head.
Struggling to align her body, she managed to tilt down, extending her wings to the sides, the air buffeting her as she tried to steady her fall. Angling slowly upwards, she gradually glided at the speed of a bullet, but at least glide. Once she began to glide, she tried adjusting her wings slightly and, similar to flaps on a plane, very slowly began to calm her descent so she could part control her movement. Still descending to fast, the crop fields surrounding the mill were coming into range very quickly
Hurtling between the windmill sails, only just missing one, she careered towards the field. Trying to slow herself down as best as she could, she crashed into the tops of the ears of corn. She eventually hit the ground, tumbling end over end until she came to a rest on her back, panting.
“Impressive crashlanding. 9/10,” Dave said.
Staring up through the corn, she looked at the sky above, thankfully now back on the ground. She slowly climbed to her feet, brushing the small ears of corn from her which had stuck to her.
“That wasn’t fun.”
“You were doing well until that spell hit you.”
“Wish you got warnings!”
Her dress flowed perfectly, as normal around her, and the earth stains from her crash landing and dust began to vanish magically.
“I think I will walk the rest of the way,” SJ said as she grew to her normal size. Standing up now in the middle of a field of corn. She started to make her way across the fence towards the windmill.
“What are you doing in there?” a voice called from the mill. “Can’t you see the signs?”
SJ looked over at the mill, and a round, portly man was calling over to her in the doorway.
“Sorry. I crashed here.” She replied, smiling at the man as she approached the fence and hopped over.
“Crashed?” he said with a confused look on his face.
“Yes. I was flying and got hit by a gust of wind. I am sorry if I have caused a problem.” Turning behind her, she saw signs on the fence saying not to enter.
“You have just walked through the centre of a fresh field. You have probably contaminated the whole crop.”
“Contaminated?”
“With your filthy fae form.”
SJ’s temper flared, “Pardon?”
“You heard me. All you fae do is cause mischief and mayhem. Due to your kind, I have lost so many crops over the years.”
SJ growled, looking at the man. “How dare you be so rude. You do not even know me, and you accuse me of an issue due to an accident.”
“How dare you walk through my field.” The man snapped back.
A large, portly woman appeared next to the man at the door. “Hubert dear. Please go inside. You know you get yourself all wound up.”
The man grumbled as he turned and walked back into the mill. “I am sorry, dear. I heard you say you crashed?”
“Yes. I was flying to see Mistress Fransica, got caught in a spell, and lost control. I am sorry if I have caused an issue.”
“Oh. Don’t worry about Hubert. His bark is worse than his bite. It would not matter if you had been a fae, a goblin, or an elf.”
“It isn’t how it sounded,” SJ said firmly. SJ is still furious at Hubert’s remarks.
“Come get a glass of milk,” the woman said, smiling brightly at SJ. Her face reminded SJ of her grandmother, ‘wrinkled skin and a big grin,’ as she was fondly known in the family.
SJ approached the woman, still scowling at the remarks. She had not drunk milk since arriving in Amathera, and she was surprised when the woman removed a large pitcher of milk and two glasses from out of nowhere. Placing them on a small table sat by the mill entrance. SJ walked up and picked up one of the glasses. The glass was perfectly chilled, and she drank the milk. It reminded her of her childhood when she used to get the full-fat milk. It was so creamy and delicious, and she downed it quickly.
“You may wish to wipe your mouth, dear,” the woman said, chuckling.
Putting her hand up to her top lip, she assumed she had a white moustache. Wiping it on her sleeve. “Thank you. That was delicious.”
“My pleasure. Nubbins does produce some of the best milk in town.”
“Nubbins?”
“Our cow,” the woman said, pointing to the side of the mill, where there was a small field. She could not see the cow from where she stood.
“I see. That is why it tastes so fresh.”
“Every morning, I go out to milk her. Always a fresh jug.”
“Can I ask your name?”
“I am Gladys. You have already met my grumpy other half, Hubert.” Gladys replied, chuckling.
“SJ,” she replied, smiling, the milk placating her anger.
“You look like one of those adventuring types?”
“I am. Is there something you need me to do?”
“We do. Have you heard of the cottages?”
The mention of cottages suddenly reminded SJ about the deed, which she had not even looked into yet. “I haven’t. Can I ask what you need exactly?”
“We have a cottage to the north of town through the crags and into the valley below. It is one of three tucked away into the woods. It is a beautiful area with a fishing lake. We bought it as our retirement home but have not managed to go down there for a while as a group of undead have been in the area. Mayor Maxwell won’t send the guard as it is outside the town jurisdiction, and he definitely won’t after the death of Florina due to the fear of a hob raid.”
“I could possibly go and investigate. I am free today but have a busy schedule with training again tomorrow.”
“That would be fantastic if you could. The road splits as you follow it into the valley. If you follow it right, you will come to the cottages down by the lakeside. Ours is the second one. There is a third one further around, but we only saw the owner of it once, and they disappeared.”
SJ’s display triggered.
Quest – Investigate the cottages
Clear the cottages of the undead infestation and find the source.
Rewards: 200xp, Gift from Gladys
Would you like to accept the quest? Yes/No
SJ smiled, selecting yes.
“I will head on over and see what I can find out.”
“Thank you, and please return once you have found something out for your reward.”
Walking away from the mill’s entrance, SJ was trying to get her bearings.
“Which way is it, Dave?” she said once she was away far enough.
“It will be back across the meadow where you met Bob and through the crags.”
“I am lost. Which way is that from here? I wish the map worked.”
“Not till level 10. Head back towards the smithy, then follow the road back through the fields again. You could probably just follow the lakeside, but at least you have been that route before.”
Checking her inventory, she still had her waterskin, rations, lockbox, and keys from Darjey. This would be a good opportunity for her to get rid of the lockbox while out of town. She didn’t fancy dumping possible incriminating evidence anywhere near Killic itself. Following Dave’s directions and giving up on speaking to Fran today after her fraught flight, not wanting to bump into the mage who had caused her to crash-land, feeling both embarrassed and angry, she started towards the meadow. As she passed through the forest area, she again saw and heard plenty of signs of life in the trees and bushes. The scenery reminded her of the picture books of woodland she used to read as a child.
It took her just over an hour to reach the edge of the meadow, the scorched patches of Earth still visible where Bob had stained the earth with his lightning sneezes. Walking through the path in the middle, SJ noticed a group of deer along the lake’s edge. She was amazed at their beauty, stopping and watching them for a few minutes. As they moved through the clearing, SJ noticed that one of them was limping slightly. ‘I wonder’, she thought as she turned to head towards them.
“Where are you going?” Dave asked.
“Just checking on something. I think that may be the doe I saved.”
As she neared the group of deer, the large bucks stood alert and looked towards her. She kept walking forward slowly, not rushing or making any threatening movements or sounds. The doe, which had been limping, looked from its drinking and saw SJ turned and bleated before heading towards her. SJ held her hand out as the doe approached. The larger of the bucks snorted but didn’t challenge. The doe walked up and sniffed SJ’s hand before licking it. Smiling fondly at the doe, SJ noticed its leg had healed, but the doe had been left with a limp from the wolf attack.
She felt bad for the doe and wished she could help heal it fully. The one thing about being an assassin was she had no skills or ability to heal. She knew she would have to invest in some healing potions, lotions, or similar things going forward after spending a few minutes with the doe before turning to leave again. The group began to move away once she continued across the meadow towards the forest area on the far side.
Passing through the woods on the far side, she reached the craggy outcrop and the split in the rock face. The path was still clear and well-travelled. Crossing between the rock faces, she looked down into a huge, wide valley below.
