“What the hell has happened?” Gary asked, his face in shock, seeing the blood-stained blankets lying on the floor where Terence had dropped them. “Floretta mentioned you had been attacked.”
“I have no idea how it was. They wore a cloak and a mask.” SJ replied.
“Do you have anything to describe them by?” Gary asked.
Greb walked over to the blankets and poked them with a spear he held. “Did they drop anything or leave anything behind?” Greb asked.
“I haven’t looked, sorry. Terence was kindly sorting the bedroom out,” SJ said.
“Do you mind if I look?” Greb asked.
“No..”
“SJ. Do you need a healing potion?” Gary asked, a look of concern on his face.
“No. I will heal soon enough. Whoever attacked me was at a much higher level. They were doing serious damage. I think they were level 19. If Terence and Floretta had not returned when they did and disturbed them, I doubt I would still be here,” SJ said.
“Level 19!” Gary exclaimed. “What would someone that level be doing attacking you?”
“I don’t know. I have been trying to think who or what it may have been, and I haven’t been able to come up with anything or anyone,” SJ lied.
“No ideas at all?” Gary quizzed.
“Nothing, sorry.”
“I can’t see anything left behind. There doesn’t seem to be anything dropped or marks to track.” Greb said, walking from her bedroom.
“How did they get in?” Gary asked.
“The front door. I think. It was unlocked as I knew that Floretta and Terence would be back, and I also never expected to be attacked,” SJ said, shrugging.
“It’s a little strange. I know of no one in the town who has got a bad word to say about you,” Gary frowned.
“I wish I knew so that I could help, but I really don’t,” SJ said.
“I am going to get a guard posted at the cottage while this is investigated,” Greb said. “I will go and let the Lieutenant know.”
“There really is no need to,” SJ said.
“Someone has tried to assassinate one of the town council. I think it is absolutely critical that we have a guard posted,” Gary said with authority.
SJ had never witnessed the professional side of either Greb or Gary when on duty and it gave her a sense of pride knowing how they both behaved.
Terence cleared up the blooded blankets and offered Gary refreshments while waiting for the guard to return.
“Don’t you need to get back on patrol?” SJ said after a while.
“You think I am leaving here before the guard arrives? You have another thing coming.”
That made SJ smile. If there was one thing about Gary, it was that he cared for his friends.
It was sometime later when Greb returned, not just with another member of the guard but with two new guards, and Lorna was with him. SJ had to then go through the whole incident from the start. Lorna asked specifics, even in relation to how they had attacked, whether she could remember anything about the blade if they were short or tall, their build, and the colour of clothing seen. SJ felt overwhelmed by the end of it, feeling like she had been at the end of an interrogation.
Eventually, Lorna, Gary, and Greb left, leaving SJ in the care of Terence and Floretta, who were both fussing around her and two guards who now stood watch at the front entrance. SJ had been instructed that she had to come to the barracks the next day to submit a full report, which she had agreed to.
Terence was returning from checking the back entrance for the third time.
“Okay. I can’t cope with this,” SJ eventually said, much firmer than she meant to.
“With what?” Terence asked, confused.
“The pair of you. Treating me as though I can’t look after myself. My wounds are almost healed.”
“I know you are a Legionnaire, but someone attacked you, and we just want to make sure you are okay,” Floretta said.
“I know. I am sorry. I didn’t mean to sound snappy. I just think I am over tired now,” SJ said.
“Try and get some sleep then. You know we are both here and the guard, and we don’t sleep,” Terence replied.
“I think I will go to the cottage. That way, I am away from here, and there will be peace and quiet.”
“Are you certain?” Terence said.
“Yes. Charlotte and Brian are there, and I will just grab some food from the kitchen before I go.”
“I will go and sort you something,” Floretta said, standing and hurrying into the kitchen.
It didn’t take Floretta long, and when she walked back through with some food wrapped in a napkin, SJ stood and walked through to her bedroom. Promising she would be back once the cooldown ran down. Checking her display, it was 02:00, and her eyes felt scratchy, but she knew she couldn’t have slept there after what had happened. Standing in the bay window, she selected her portal and transported to the cottage.
When she awoke mid-morning, her nostrils were filled with the smell of fresh coffee. Charlotte stood by the stove in the cottage and, seeing SJ stir, poured her a mug and brought it over.
“Here you go,” Charlotte said, smiling.
SJ had explained to Charlotte and Brian what had happened last night, and they had both been shocked, swearing they would hunt the would-be assassin down. SJ eventually calmed them both and, feeling exhausted, excused herself, collapsing on the bed and falling asleep instantly.
“Did you make the coffee deliberately,” SJ said sitting up smiling and taking the mug form Charlotte.
“Whatever gave you that idea?” Charlotte smiled.
“It worked,” SJ said, sipping the steaming mug. The hard bitterness soothed her already overactive mind. The instant she woke up, thoughts of last night flooded her head.
“Yesterday. We need to focus on you levelling. If there is another attempt on your life you may not survive next time,” Dave said.
‘I know,’ SJ thought. “I am going to drink this, then do my morning exercises,” SJ said to Charlotte.
“That sounds like a plan. Do you need anything from me?”
“Actually, now you mention it.” SJ was mulling over an idea. “I think what I will do for the foreseeable future is transport here daily to sleep. I can go back after eight hours, and I should be able to get into a routine of completing my training and, even once the extension is finished, working on my profession. I want to make one of the new rooms into a tailor’s workspace. I would also like to get some training dummies built if possible?”
“I don’t see a problem with any of that. It will be nice to have female company here more often. The boys are great, but sometimes,” Charlotte sighed.
SJ chuckled at her comment. Climbing from the bed, she placed the mug on the side next to the coffee pot and walked outside into the front yard. Looking around, she decided that if she was going to train, an area at the rear would be best. Moving around the side of the cottage, she found Brian tending to the newly dug-out vegetable patch.
“Morning Brian. Can I ask you a favour?” SJ asked.
“Morning SJ, and of course. What do you need?”
SJ continued walking around the cottage’s rear and started planning a training ring and where she would like training dummies positioned. She even discussed having some archery targets set up, mentioning her plans to bring Cristy here at some point.
“Charlotte will like that idea,” Brian said. “I am sure she would enjoy training her.”
The remaining time at the cottage passed quickly, and as her display showed it was 12:00, she decided she better return to Killic. This would mean that the earliest she could return was 20:00 that evening, and she wanted to try to get the cooldown timer aligned as soon as she could. SJ considered what she was deciding to do to be no different from commuting to and from work.
Leaving her friends behind, she returned to an empty cottage. No guards were there, nor were Terence, Floretta, or Darren. She had made her way to the barracks and then had to go through the process of being interviewed again, this time with a scribe present, taking notes of everything she said. The news of the attack had travelled the town in her short absence, and she had to spend a substantial time calming Zigferd down, who wished to tear the town apart looking for her attacker.
Alice was improving but still very weak from the poisoning. SJ learned that Darren was staying with her at her property on the island while she recuperated. SJ could read the look of disgust on Zigferd’s face when he told her. Having explained her plans to Zigferd, the news of her had taken aback him having a soul stone at the cottage or a portal to use. Zigferd was happy with her plans, and although the skeletons didn’t sleep, neither Floretta nor Terence were high enough to combat a level 19.
SJ now had one priority.
Level.
“Okay. That’s that finished,” SJ said, wiping the goo from the spider on her dress, knowing it would clean.
Quest - A Tangled Web – Completed
You have cleared the spider infestation at the caves northeast of town.
Reward: 200xp (+100% bonus) 400xp awarded.
“What’s next?” SJ asked.
“Closest is the Cellar Dwellers. At Mrs Westerby’s,” Dave said.
“Okay. Let’s get going then,” SJ said, shifting to her miniature form and taking off.
“Two more quests, and you should reach level 15,” Dave said excitedly.
Since the attack at the cottage, things had begun to change. SJ had spent the past month questing full-time. Zigferd had given her leave from any council responsibility to allow her to focus on her growth. They had no reason to rush into solving the issue with Bellakiy, as it had existed for months before SJ was offered the quest. SJ had been spending every night at Farleck cottage and only using the cottage in town through the daytime. Since Terence had returned to Farleck, the extension was almost complete, and SJ had created a tailoring room where she would work for at least an hour a night before turning in once she returned there each day. This had been helping her immeasurably, and she had increased to tailoring level 6, completing the initial clothing quest. Her next task had been to create a rare set of trousers, which she had been struggling with.
SJ eventually admitted to Zigferd that she had spoken to Niweq, and he had not been pleased. He had made her swear she wouldn’t go anywhere near the place again without speaking to him first.
The Auction House’s main building was completed, Terence had done an amazing job with the carpentry before returning to Farleck cottage. He had promised to come back and visit Floretta. They had been getting on so well together. The walls of the adjoining warehouse were currently being finished, with only the final section left to go up and then the roof to be built. Nexis had spoken to the magistrate again and the transference network was to be configured within the week. Nexis could have set it up but, for obvious reasons, didn’t, asking the magistrate to send one of his nearest mages to configure it.
Nexis continued to be the town’s star, and the tailor shop had never been so busy with the number of clients. He had even mentioned to SJ that he should have run a shop properly before, as Nexis, because he was already aware of several new followers because of his work.
After the repairs were completed, the Inn was fully operational. Fhyliss had arranged a grand reopening, which had been the only night SJ had stayed in Killic since the attack. Nothing had happened back at the cottage, and when she moved around the town in the daytime, there were always beings around, and Dave was on permanent overwatch, which always comforted SJ.
The wyvern had revisited once in the past month, attacking the livestock in the field. An unfortunate cow had been seen being carried off back into the forests, mooing loudly. The guards and town had immediately reacted to the mage’s announcement, meaning everyone had cleared the streets apart from the guards and hunters who were present. They had attempted to shoot at the wyvern, but it had not come close enough. It had been enlightening for the town to know their training and hard work had been paying off. Their drills had been so slick. The town was not letting its guard down, though, and everyone had remained vigilant.
The mine was operational, and SJ still hadn’t been down to visit it yet. She had meant to go weeks ago, but with everything that had happened, she had left it in the capable hands of others. She spoke to Shelly regularly when she saw her and had been getting updates first-hand. They were currently finishing building the smelter on the ridge above, back from the edge itself. Nevik had been overseeing its build, and it should be operational in time for the completion of the Auction House, meaning that they could start getting Mithril sales as soon as possible.
“Where is Mrs Westerby’s?” SJ asked.
“Fourth street, southern edge, fifth house on the left,” Dave replied.
Dave had turned into her chief navigator and quest controller as she moved from one to the next, completing as many daily as she could. The experience needs had increased dramatically with each level, giving SJ an appreciation for why it had taken Darren so long to level.
“I think Darren is back today,” SJ said.
“Yeah. He should be.”
“I wonder how he got on?”
“I am sure we will find out soon enough.”
Darren had travelled with Alice to Asterfal. After her recovery, Zigferd decided that there was no point in SJ going to see if she could set a quest when Alice was because of meet with the council soon. Alice was going to discuss the new tax levies that Asterfal was trying to implement and would try to set up the quest at the same time. Zigferd ordered Darren not to leave the wagon, as he didn’t need any problems while there if Master Fretun discovered he had returned.
“Which quest is this one?” SJ asked as she flew across town. Her green dot had become a frequent expectation by many, and several often waved to her as she flew overhead.
“Cellar Dwellers. The description is a little vague, but I would guess it is a rat infestation to clear,” Dave said.
“Urrgh. Spiders to rats. But they all add up,” SJ finished, trying to be cheery. Many of the quests had begun to repeat, even if not directly but at least the basis of them. She had initially started picking up what she could do, including delivery or search quests, but soon realised that combat was the best option for her. At least they allowed her to practice her skills outside of training. Her kata had been improving dramatically with her daily routine and punishing quest schedule, and she had recently reached level 7. Her identification skill had also been getting its use and was now at level 8. The biggest bonus since the quest focus had been her developed combat skills. She was now adept at triggering all her skills as and when she could via their cooldowns. It had been what she should have done a long time ago.
“Here we are,” Dave said.
SJ flew down to the house and grew before knocking on the front door. The house was one of the larger ones on the street.
A kindly-looking ratkin opened the front door. “Councillor. What may I do for you?” Mrs Westerby said.
“Mrs Westerby? Please call me SJ, and I am here to complete the quest I accepted.”
“Oh. Please call me Silti. I had no idea it was you. Please come in,” Silti said.
“Thank you. What seems to be the problem?” SJ asked as she entered the hallway.
“There is something in the cellar. I don’t know what, but my Hawey won’t go near it.”
“Hawey?”
“My cat.”
The fact SJ was talking to a ratkin who owned a pet cat didn’t go amiss, and she smiled.
“I see. Well, hopefully, I can resolve the problem.”
“I never go down there personally. It was Goji’s workroom before he passed away.”
“Oh. I am sorry to hear.”
“Oh no, dear. No need to say that. Goji passed twelve seasons ago now. Silly old fool he was. Here, let me show you where it is.”
SJ followed Silti into a large kitchen area with a heavily bolted door. “It’s secured well?” SJ asked.
“Yes. It always was, and as I say, I never go down there. Hawey was going down weekly as a treat to clear the rats, but he won’t go anywhere near it now.”
Listening to a ratkin mention a cat being let into a cellar to clear rats was one of the most bizarre statements SJ had heard since arriving in Amathera. SJ watched a large tabby cat, walk into the kitchen, weaving around Silti’s legs and purring. Silti walked to the door and began pulling back the various bolts. Hawey hissed as soon as she did, and his heckles rose.
SJ frowned at the cat’s reaction as Silti turned a key and opened the door. The smell of musty, stale air wafted from the entrance, and SJ stepped forward. “Okay. I will go and see what the problem is,” SJ said as she stepped through the door.
The light from the kitchen only shone so far into the cellar’s darkness, so SJ removed a torch from her inventory and began to light it, striking the flint and steel. She heard a sound as though someone was scrapping nails on a blackboard. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. ‘What was that?’ she thought.
“I can’t see anything yet,” Dave replied.
