I awoke with a start as the door rattled and jolted about. Likely due to the fact that someone was trying to get into my room in the middle of the night, but the chair was preventing them. I hear muffled cursing coming from behind the door, but they have yet to give up. I draw my knife and jerk the chair out from under the doorknob.

I step to the side as a large man comes tumbling in. He has a large kitchen knife in his hands, but a swift kick to the jaw incapacitates him for now. Another large fellow was standing in the hall with a wooden club attached to his belt. He reaches for it, but I reach him first. I tackle him to the ground and his head hits the wall opposite my room. He is still breathing, but he seems to be knocked out. I get up in an attempt to go alert whatever sort of guard was in this place, but suddenly I was falling out of bed and face first into the floor.

It was all a dream. Just a dream. The chair hasn’t moved an inch from its spot under the door handle. The sun is just peaking up above the horizon and shining in from the window. I gently rub my nose as it is a bit sore, though I am lucky I didn’t break it in my mad scramble forward. I collect my belongings with the felling axe tucked under the left side of my belt, with the head hooking over top of it, making a rather snug fit. My knife is adjusted to be in the small of my back and the pouch with the key is where my front left pocket would be in jeans.

I shake my head, and think about where I would have even been trained to fight. About nowhere. It wasn’t like I was in many fights in school. More average than anything, wasn’t a bully and wasn’t bullied in turn. Though a schoolyard scrap would certainly be less harrowing than a life or death battle.

I heft the backpack and place the chair back at the table. I walk down the narrow hall to the stairs and the smell of breakfast is heavenly, eggs, bacon, and hopefully some potatoes! First, on the docket though is to find a bathroom. There was an outhouse looking building out behind the inn, so I rush there. After my business is done, I wash off my hands with water from my waterskin and got back inside for food. Still need to get some soap. Though again, breakfast first.

I take the same spot at the bar as last night, though things are certainly calmer now than they were previously. I wave towards Marcy, and she nods my way before waving the same server as last night towards me. The characteristic smile still on her face, though much more lighthearted and less forced than the one she wore towards the end of last night.

“Same drink as last night?” The young woman asks, a small but self-assured smile adorns her face as well.

I give her a nod of confirmation, though it isn’t long before I was wearing a smile of my own. “What’s for breakfast?” I ask, though I was fairly certain I already knew most of the answer from the smell alone.

“A few eggs, some bacon, gonna be a few minutes until we get some more potato hash made though. That alright with you?” She replies, her smile dipping a little before returning in its full force. Her dirty blonde hair had come a bit out of its binding, letting a few strands out across her forehead. Her visage leaving me more than a bit speechless, though I think I managed to pick my jaw up off the floor quick enough for her to hopefully not notice.

“I can wait.” I reply, already cursing myself for only saying that much. She nods at me, and her smile quirks more towards a grin, and she lets out a light giggle before she goes back to working with the other customers. Damnit. My sigh from behind her seems to cause her to giggle even more, though I turn back around and slap myself a little bit to bring my attention back to the present.

It wasn’t all that long of a wait for the food. Like she had said, only a couple minutes wait total. It all comes out on a single plate with the mug of apple cider in her other hand. Her smile seemingly even more radiant than before.

“This looks delicious! Thank you.” I say as she sets it down in front of me. She hesitates for a split second before turning away. I let out another sigh, though this one more mourning the loss of a conversation partner, not that I had been all that eloquent before.

The plate of food does really look delicious. Three big eggs cover a good third of the plate, bacon covering another third and freshly made potato hash covering the final third. The bacon was fresh and still sizzling from the pan, having the distinctive fatty smell. The eggs smell like they were cooking in it as well, though it does look like I won’t be worrying about cholesterol or anything like that while I am here.

It doesn’t take me long before I was digging in, and it did taste as good as it looked, if not more. When I was about halfway done, however, someone did pull out the stool next to me, and I see that it was the server from before, with a smile that was closer to a grin. She looked to have taken her apron off, before plopping down, right next to me.

“I don’t think I ever got your name, stranger.” Her voice has a laughing lilt to it, and her smile remains as radiant as I had seen it yet. I could feel my tongue almost swelling to thrice its size, now that I seemingly had her whole attention. Now that she was this close, I could see that the smile definitely reached her light brown eyes.

“Uh…” It escapes my mouth before I even have the chance to stop it. “My name is Davin. I don’t suppose that I could get yours?” I say, once again working to pick my jaw up from the floor.

Her hand rises up to cover her mouth, as she lets out another light giggle. “My name is Addondalia, though most people just shorten it to Adona. I don’t know what my parents thought when they named me that either.” She says, rushing it all out in a single breath. “I don’t suppose you will be in town for any longer, will you?” She says, sounding a little hopeful. Making me wish I didn’t have to move on. Wait. Why did I have to move on? The buzzing returns, stronger this time, making me miss part of what she said next. “… gonna stay, we could get to know each other a bit better.” Her grin turning impish now.

I sigh before saying, “I would love to, but I have to keep moving. Got some place I have to be, unfortunately.” Her grin flips into a light pout, and she punches me in the arm.

“Well, if you ever pass by again, look for me. I have to get back to work, though if you are gonna stay another night, I might be able to get some time off.” Adona says with a wink, before she turns and rushes back behind the counter. I can only really stare ahead blankly for a second, before watching her emerge from the kitchen with her apron once again on her. She waves to me, and I just sort of turn back to my food. We weren’t talking for that long, though it has cooled a little, it still tastes great.

I clean my plate, before starting to get back under way. I wave at Mary one last time and made to stand. “Thank you for the amazing food.” I say, though I was looking around the room for Adona, but I fail to find her. I take the key out and set it on the counter in front of Marcy, before saying, “I think I shall be on my way,” and I hesitated for a second before continuing, “Can you tell Adona that I am going to be on my way?”

Marcy’s smile quirks into a grin as well. “I might just do that. You should come back some time.” Her smile returns to normal and she says, “Safe travels, Davin.”

I give her another nod before turning towards the door, and throwing a “Thanks,” over my shoulder. With that, I left. The pack on my back, key returned and ready to set forth.

I dug the bow, unstrung of course, and quiver out from my backpack and strapped the quiver to my right side, placing the bow itself in there as well. It was a rather tight fit, but it did fit. I walked down the street and before too long, I entered the forest on the other side of the village. Then I facepalmed before turning back towards the village, and more specifically towards Jack’s store.

It didn’t take too long before I got there, and to my surprise, Jack was actually out at the counter, instead of dozing in the back. As soon as he recognizes me, he gives a small “Ha!” before saying, “I knew you would be back, so lad, what did you forget?”

I sigh before saying, “Soap. Though the cheap stuff is probably gonna be all I can get, just need a bar or two.” I let out a small chuckle of my own before asking, “Do travelers often forget sundries, or is that just intuition about me personally?”

“A little of both it seems.” He takes a breath before continuing, “You did about step back in yesterday, so I thought you might’ve forgotten something. Though it isn’t exactly uncommon for people to forget things.” He had started rummaging through one of his many drawers before coming back up with two bars, roughly the size of a pack of gum, though certainly much thicker. “Not all that many too frazzled by not having soap, though. Some certainly, usually the ladies.” He lets out a hearty guffaw, before saying, “That’ll be two copper, total. Not all that expensive, and I would dare say many times more useful. Helps to not smell of the road.”

I was already pulling out the coins needed, though it would seem that I was dwindling on money a bit, didn’t want to break out another silver just yet. This left me with just the one silver, as well as eleven copper. Though the journey to the next stop should see me with some more pelts, now that I don’t have to exclusively use traps. “A pleasure doing business with you, Jack. I certainly think that the benefits outweigh the price by a whole lot.” I pack the soap away, before heading out.

A quick wave over my shoulder, and I was back outside, finally ready to be on the road again. It doesn’t take long before I get back to where I was. I had brought the little sled with me the whole way, though I had secured it to my back, under the backpack, with the rope I had gotten, the rest of that was sitting in the pack, as I hadn’t wanted to cut it just yet.

This was more of a road than a simple animal path. The next place on this path would take me to a frontier town, from what I heard being gossiped about. The last stop before the open wilderness. I had heard that something was going on with the neighboring kingdom, but not many would say what it was, all whispers of monsters and such. Not that I had seen too much out of the ordinary thus far. This place was about a week and a half away and offered plenty of time for me to hunt. I hadn’t used a bow in a few years, but it should be easy enough.

The first few days I traveled through the woods, trying to hunt some rabbits and deer with the bow. I say try because I can’t seem to hit a single one of them. Even with them standing completely still, I can’t get them. Not like I wasn’t getting some practice in. A few days before I got to the frontier town, I finally got a deer. The first shot winged it, but it seemed to have cut something important as it soon fell. It hadn’t died yet, so instead of letting it suffer, I made it quick with the knife. I used the rope to hoist it up on a sturdy tree branch and waited for it to be drained of blood. I wasn’t religious myself, but a quick prayer and a thank you to the animal for its sacrifice was certainly something that I was willing to do.

I skinned it and smoked and dried the meat that night and the following day. This helped me out because my food supply was dwindling since I hadn’t been able to catch anything. There was still plenty of fruit on the trees lining the roads, but it was good to have something new, like the deer meat. I did however roast a few deer steaks up fresh, with a little salt and rosemary. It smelled divine. The melting deer fat was perfect for some carrots and potatoes, which went into the pan next. It was a meal fit for a king, and the inclusion of some seasoning was certainly appreciated. I did go light on them though, because they were damn expensive.

Water had never been an issue due to what was either a large stream or a small river running next to the road. It was about fifteen feet wide, and I couldn’t tell all that well how deep it was. I did see more than a few fish swimming in it, though I never much cared for fish, bordering on active dislike. Probably because I was nearly killed by an improperly prepared one when I was younger. Though that was in the past. I suppose getting a fishing rod wouldn’t be a bad decision.

The next few days I had some more success. I got about ten rabbits and processed them accordingly. The pile of carefully wrapped dried meats, and furs growing on the sled every day. A day before I would be arriving in the town, I had a small problem. It would be more correct in saying that I had a few medium sized grey-brown problems. Ok, my problem was wolves. Five of them in fact.

I had been prepping another rabbit when they came out of the underbrush, with three of them spread out across my front and two behind. Before they could get any closer, I tossed the half-gutted rabbit away from all of them. While they were distracted by that, I scrambled up a tree with my backpack. While it was probably safe to say that I couldn’t be harmed by them, I also couldn’t get away. I had my bow out but I had dropped about half of the arrows out of the quiver as I was climbing the tree. Not to mention the fact that I had broken a handful of them with misses, or from being unable to extract them from animals. I did draw it back and managed to get off two solid shots before they backed away. The first shot landed in the throat of one of them, while the other only seemed to graze the flank of a different wolf. The grazed wolf was only a step behind the uninjured ones, while the one with an arrow in its throat had collapsed only a few paces from where it had been struck.

I left my backpack in the tree and followed after with my bow, the axe, and of course my trusty saxe knife. Not before I managed to recollect all the arrows that I could, having about eleven total able to be used. The wounded one hadn’t made it too far away; the shot must have been more damaging than I had thought. I had hit it in one of the back legs and it couldn’t run far before it collapsed. I put it out of its misery, from a distance as I knew it would still be dangerous up close and gave chase to the rest of them. I soon found some signs that they had passed going north as there were muddy paw prints on the ground. The previous day’s rain seems to have not dried up yet around here.

I was soon brought to a clearing where they seem to have come from. By the tracks on the ground, it seems that they had passed through here multiple times. There was a small pond towards the southern end of the clearing, close to where I was. On the far end of the pond was a flattened space that seems to have been where the wolves were taking up residence. Though they seemed to have all fled by now. There were definitely more sets of prints than those that had tracked me down. They seemed to have left this place behind, in favour of not accruing any more wounds.

Laying in the middle was a small sleeping wolf pup. Just the one. It seemed to be a lighter grey, with some small hints of brown peeking through. One of its back legs was at an odd angle, and definitely looked broken. There had probably been more pups, but this one was probably left behind because of its infirmity. I could definitely sympathize. I tried not to think about my time of being unable to walk, though it wasn’t all too long ago. I wanted to put it behind me, and what if I could help this pup do the same? It couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. I know how to splint a bone, though I hadn’t ever had to actually do it, and I could hunt for it. Was it worth it? I had always wanted a pet dog, but I never could get one. There is always the fact that it has already been living among wolves and probably can’t be domesticated. Though as I looked at it, I knew that I couldn’t just leave it here.

That pup is mine. My walking closer seems to have woken it. Despite all of my time traveling through the forest, I was nowhere near quiet. Its head turns to look at me, and all I can see in its eyes is fear. I don’t know if that fear is just the fear of the unknown or of me. I had some meat with me in a pouch on my belt, so I took out one of the larger pieces and held it in front of me so as to hopefully placate it some.

As I grew closer, it got more and more tense. The poor thing was desperately trying to get away at this point. I tried soothing it with gently petting and scratching it behind the ears. I held the meat out and it cautiously took it. While it was mostly gumming it, there did seem to be a few teeth in its mouth. I looked around for materials to make the splint and found some sturdy sticks nearby.

It was definitely not going to like what was going to happen next, so I slowly desensitized it to my touching of it. I eventually got it to lay on its stomach and rubbed it to the obvious satisfaction of the pup. In the process, I found out that it was female. While I still had clear access to the leg, I quickly fixed the leg into the correct position and tied it off with some of the rope I had. She screeched and howled, but eventually calmed down when she realized that the constant pain of having a broken leg in the incorrect position was now gone.

I gathered her up in my arms and carried her back to where I had left my bag. I avoided the two corpses of the wolves and set her down at the base of the tree with my bag in it. I left some of the meat at the base of the tree in her reach while I went out and skinned the two wolves. For all I know, they were her parents, so I didn’t want her to see them. I took the sack with me and the rest of the rope. Just out of view of the pup, next to one of the many small streams of this forest, I processed the two wolves that I had killed.

I tried extra hard so that the scent of the two wolves got washed off in the stream, and I stuffed the two pelts into the sack. I collect the meat and brought it over. I laid it out on some of the rabbit skins and started a fire. I cooked about half that meat into steaks for my dinner and started drying and smoking the rest. The steaks weren’t my finest piece of cooking, leaner than I wanted, and definitely too gristly.

That night was uneventful, and the next morning I packed up all of my stuff and continued on into the town, wolf pup carried in my arms. I had decided on a name the previous night before I had fallen asleep, and it was Bella. The day was just another one of walking. Enjoying the beautiful scenery around me, with the seemingly starving wolf pup eating lots and drinking at every stream we passed. She never did go to the bathroom on me, which I suppose is good.

By evening, we arrived at the gates of the frontier town. The walls themselves were a fair size, going up about fifty feet, while the gates went up about halfway. There were two lanes of traffic going in and out of the town. Guards checking carts and wagons for something. The gates were fully open, and two wagons could pass through at a time and there was still room for some foot traffic.

I approached the line of people going in and waited. It all seemed rather simple, the carts and the people who worked outside of the city walls brought unprocessed materials in, they left with some finished goods and necessities going out. There also looked to be two merchant caravans going into the city. One behind the other. I could tell they were different because the guards were wearing a different uniform color than each other, and that they were looking warily at each other.

The line advanced quickly enough, and soon it was my turn.

“State your name and business here in Two Rivers.” The guard said, rather tersely. Not looking up from his book. His whole body had the posture of someone who just wanted to take a nap, though he probably wouldn’t get his wish for some time.

I said, “Davin Benjamin, looking to trade in some furs and collect some supplies.” He nodded along, not bothered by my words, though I did see him misspell my name in his logbook, which did bring a light smile to my face.

“Go on in son.” He said, waving me in, and the next forward, with the same greeting.

I made my way forward and marveled at the sight that the city was. Hundreds of buildings ranging down the central avenue. Alleyways crisscrossing every few buildings providing access to some of the seedier parts of the town. I made my way down the road and turned off into one of the bigger side streets into what looked to be a market area. There was a sign similar to that which was outside Jack’s general store, hanging down from the storefront, and I made my way there.

While I wasn’t particularly paying much attention to the people around me, they were most definitely paying attention to me. I wonder what could possibly be the reason? Most certainly not the wolf pup in my arms. Bella was just looking around, amazed as I was. She had most certainly not seen anything like this ever before. She had warmed up to me more as we had traveled here. The sled piled high with stuff certainly had nothing to do with it as well.

I reached the door to the general store and let myself in. Inside was a counter just a few feet from the door, three people were standing behind the counter. Two of them were talking to other customers. The last one was an older gentleman standing at the far end. He looked up when I had come in, and when his eyes landed on me, they lit up in confusion. Definitely not from Bella. I made my way over and set Bella down at my feet. I stuck my arm out for a handshake and greeted him with a smile and my name.

“Davin Benjamin.” I said. His confusion rapidly being replaced with cool professionalism. He shook my hand and returned the smile.

“Connor Daniels. How may I help you this fine day?” He had a congenial smile on his face at this point, looking ready to do some business.

“I need to sell some animal skins and dried meat.” I started unpacking what I had brought, each different kind of pelt going into its own pile. “Eleven rabbit pelts, one deer, and two wolf.” I said, while pointing to each in turn. I had certainly gotten better at skinning them, though they all did not sport arrow holes where they had been struck. I then started about setting the dried meat onto the counter in bundles, and though I had eaten some of what I had caught, I definitely had more than I had sold in the last village, which, come to think of it, I had never gotten the name of. I probably set about sixty pounds of meat onto the counter, though I managed to pile most of it onto the deer pelt. I had set aside what I wanted to keep earlier, so I didn’t have to divide it out now.

He looks a bit surprised by the shear amount that I had, but his raised brows soon came back down as he was inspecting the pelts individually. It took a few minutes, but he seemed satisfied by what I had brought. He said, “I can do twelve coppers per rabbit skin, thirty for deer pelt, and one silver and ten copper per wolf pelt.” He looks up at me questioningly, as he reaches towards the jerky, which I had figured he wanted to try, as Jack had, so I quickly gave a nod. He chewed on it for a minute, literally. Seemingly tasting everything that it had to offer. “And I can do eight copper per ten pounds, for this jerky. The total would come to, six silver, thirty copper.” He says, after using an abacus like device, that he had sitting next to him.

I nodded at that, not really knowing what to do with all that money. The amount made me not really want to haggle, though he certainly had the presence of someone that knew what they were doing. I said, “Well, that sounds good to me. Though I had a few things that I needed to buy as well.” With that money, my current pool would be seven silver, forty-one copper. The most I have ever had. “I will need some spices, salt for starters, some rosemary, thyme, maybe some peppers if you have them. Anything with a bit of spice, if you wouldn’t mind me sampling them. Some soap recommendations, my supply is steady, but it doesn’t smell the best. A journal, as well as a pen, and ink.” I had just started listing off some of the things I needed, but he nodded along, and waved towards one of the others, who had finished with their customer during our earlier transaction. Between the two of them, they managed to assemble what I had said rather quickly, eager to get me to part with the coin I had just received.

A few sachets of spices were set aside, as well as one labelled with a symbol I hadn’t seen before, looked to be a little plant, surrounded by a small flame. The soap came next, and I could smell the scent of lavender from ten feet away. The journal, if you could call it that, looked more like a thick tome, bound in leather, with each page being closer to parchment than paper. The ink came in little stoppered clay wells, and a nice pair of quills were set beside them.

Daniels said, “Well, Davin, I think that I can accommodate all that you seek. Though it will certainly cost a little, not more than you can afford of course.” He gave a wink at that, before continuing, “The spices will come out to a silver by themselves, though I would suggest trying this spice mix, a blend of some chili flakes from the south, and some peppercorns from a local source. I find it a bit much, but it might be what you are after. The soap is lavender scented, and it is what I personally use, less harsh on the hands as well. I am willing to part with a few bars of it for ten coppers. The writing supplies are going to be about the same as the spices, with a total for everything coming to two silver, twenty copper.” He nodded sagely at that, though inside I was balking a bit at the price. Though even in modern times, spices were expensive. Paper wasn’t though, so the price shock hit me a bit. Though I suppose I could afford it.

With a sigh I said, “You certainly don’t deal in the cheap stuff. If I could try the spice mix, I am more than willing to pay the price for the rest of it.” He nodded, and an open packet was retrieved from somewhere, and a tiny bit was handed to me on a wooden spoon. Bottoms up I suppose. Right off the bat, I knew I was in for a bit of a ride. It started off at a slow burn, but it ramped up quick. I was soon coughing a little bit, but it never got to the point of being more than I could handle. Overall, amazing, especially compared to the spices I have had since I have been here. With a nod, I said, “Definitely gonna take some of that. Right up my alley.”

He was more than pleased at that, and was setting out my money soon enough, having deducted the cost of all the items from the money he was going to pay out. It was a time sorting all of it, but eventually I had it all settled. With a smile, he said, “Thank you for shopping at Daniels’ Supply Store, we hope to see you again soon!” My final count being five silver, twenty-one copper.

With a small smile of my own, I said, “Have a good day Mr. Daniels. It was a pleasure doing business with you.” With that, I was on my way again. Bella hadn’t made too much of a fuss while I was shopping, though she had certainly done a number on one of my boot strings. A quick scolding, and some animal fumbling later, we were actually on the streets again.

I walk down the street and generally just explore the city until it starts to get darker. The sights that I saw were like just about nothing that I had ever seen. There was this giant statue in one of the open squares, of someone on a horse, looking like he was the head of a charge in a battle, quite heroic. Though now would probably be the time to be looking for some accommodations. I had seen an inn a few streets back, so I cut into an alleyway hoping to cut out some of the time it takes me to get there. The first one was fine, but the second one was already much darker. I felt like something was telling me not to go down this one, but I ignored it. The promise of a warm bed and food luring me into its depths.

About halfway down, a person turned the corner from an adjacent alley and stood there in the middle of the one I was on. I looked back and someone was turning the corner there too.

The thug, for all he looked the part, gave a rather stereotypical line. “Give us all of your money and we won’t kill you.” He said. Though I don’t know if I would hold them to that.

It was too dark in the alley to make up the face that went with the voice, but it definitely sounded male. I was probably too far away to call for any guards if they were bold enough to rob me here. I took off my pack after setting Bella down, in between two barrels and out of the way of any harm. Hopefully. I wasn’t exactly spoiling for a fight, but they certainly wouldn’t get away clean from this. Too tired to give in to thugs, though I am sure that my parents wouldn’t approve of what I was about to do.

“Silent type, eh?” The one behind me said this time. His voice was certainly more accented, and I could tell that he probably wasn’t from around here.

They were both edging closer to me, the glint of something metal came from the one in front of me. I drew the axe and charged forward. Besides hunting game, I had almost no combat experience. The one in front of me was closer so I went after him first. He, in turn, jumped forward as well. He stabbed out with a dagger, but I had the longer reach. I didn’t want to kill him, so I swung out with the blunt end of the axe like a baseball bat. The shaft of the axe, just below the metal, collided with his head in a meaty thunk. He was out like a light. His eyes rolled back into his head as he hit the cobbled alleyway.

There were loud footstep coming from behind me, but it seemed far enough away. I dropped the axe and drew my bow. It had been strung since morning, as I usually had it strung throughout the day so as to defend myself from predators, and only to be unstrung at night and when it rained. It was very bad practice, which would lead to the degradation of the weapon, but it very much helped now. I pulled an arrow from the quiver and pointed it right at him.

“Stop!” I yelled out. For a moment, I don’t know if he was actually going to, but he seemed to begrudgingly listen. He came careening to a halt a few feet away from me. He was just outside of the range the long daggers in his hand could reach.

“Drop the knives!” I said with more confidence in my voice than I felt, hopefully. With a sneer on his face, he released his grip on the knives and they fell off to the sides.

“Lay on your stomach with your hands on your head.” This time I was more assured, though still not feeling fully confident in the situation.

He complied and did as such, though still begrudgingly. I eased the tension off of the bow and took up the axe again. The blunt side of the axe thudding against his head and rendering him unconscious. It certainly wasn’t a love tap, but I knew that too much force would leave him a dead pile of mush on the streets, so there was more than a little restraint in the blow. The fight ended more with luck than any skill on my part. It would probably be a good idea to find someone to teach me a thing or two.

I dragged the two together and tied them up with the rope in my bag. I checked them for anything of value and a few coin purses turned up. Most of it was coppers, but there were a few silver pieces intermixed within. It seems that I was their first mark of the night. I also found two silver rings and one silver earring. I stored all of this in my pack, collected my wolf, and dragged the two very slowly down the alley. My total coinage now at almost a dozen silver, and probably over a hundred copper, a more detailed count would have to wait until later.

I left the two just in the shadows of the alley and I stepped out into the main street. There was a guard troop passing through and I approached them. One of them saw me coming up to them first and promptly asked, “What is the problem?” He looked like a no-nonsense kind of dude, and going by the little star on his lapel, and uniform, I assumed he was an officer of sorts.

“I was attacked by some thieves down an alley. I wanted to turn them over to you.” I said with a sigh. Surprise filled his face and those of the guards around him.

“How were you able to get past them seemingly unscathed?” A different guard asked. His confusion turning rather quickly into suspicion.

I give him a faint smile. “Boatloads of luck, and a longer weapon.” One of them gave a snort at that, but the officer waved me forward.

I lead them over to where I had left them, and sure enough, they were still tied up there. The guards just nod, and one of them pours a waterskin over their heads. The thieves sputter awake, and then scowl at the standing guards.

“I am going to have to ask you to come with us as we take them to a guard station. You will need to talk to a truth reader.” I have no clue as to what a truth reader is or does, though I could probably guess, but I nod anyway. I had collected all of their items earlier and they were all in my pack. Three daggers, all look rather worn, but still in good repair, and the two rings and earrings. They did look a bit apprehensive at the fact that they had nothing on them, but their officer waved away their concerns, with some mutterings of ‘to the victor goes the spoils’, though I just gave a grin.

The guards untied the now prisoners and handed the rope back to me. They hauled the two to their feet, and we were off. We walked about five streets down before we got to the guard station. The building was rather large with two other guardsmen standing outside the building. They talked with some of the other people in the guard patrol and had surprised expressions when they were told what had happened.

I entered in behind them and was pointed to a bench on one of the walls. The guard patrol took the prisoners to where they would be held and told the clerk sitting at the desk what happened. I looked around and on the far wall was a set of wanted posters. One of them looked very similar to one of the thieves that I had caught, so I got up and read it.

Jake ‘Two Knives’ was apparently the first one I had knocked out. He was wanted for murder and robbery and had a bounty of a whole gold coin on his head. I was stunned as I read this. Apparently, he had murdered a local merchant family scion, and had evaded capture until now, and they had put the bounty up to ensure he was caught.

“Hey. I think I caught one of these wanted men.” I said, in a bit of disbelief. Though it quickly turned to greed at the thought of getting the gold.

“Hmm?” One of them looked over at the one I was pointing to. He studied the face on the wanted poster and recognition bloomed in his eyes. “It seems that you did. I suppose you want the bounty on that.” With that, he looked towards the clerk sitting behind the desk. I walked over to them as the clerk was rummaging through drawers looking for something. He finally found what he was looking for and it turned out to be a key.

He unlocked a lockbox that was hidden under the floorboards, giving me a rather dour look to keep that to myself. He took out the gold coin and handed it to me. I was surprised at the nonchalance of this all. None of the guards had a greedy look in their eyes so I accepted it. I put it away in my pack towards the bottom. One of the guards soon walked off towards the back and came back with a tall man in a gray robe.

“Are you the one who took down the two thieves?” He asked, in a rather thin and nasally voice. It probably wouldn’t be your first expectation from the man, as he still had a full head of hair, and a rather robust figure.

“Yes, I am. Davin Benjamin is my name sir.” I said, though there was some reluctance about me, just from my apprehension about the whole process. He was a bit befuddled at the fact that I was carrying a wolf pup, but I wasn’t planning to put Bella down again any time soon, she had fallen asleep in the time it had taken to walk to the guardhouse, and I wasn’t going to wake her.

“No need to call me sir.” He said, “Just sit and tell me what happened. I will use truth magic to tell if you are lying or not.” Simple enough, and certainly in the name. Though I hope that it doesn’t involve any weird shit. With a sigh, I began my tale. I recited all that happened during the fight and after, up until I went and got the guards. He nodded here and there in my tale and at the end he seemed satisfied with my answer.

“You are free to go anytime if you have no questions.” He said. Looking a bit drained from the experience, though nothing too bad.

“I do have one, would you mind telling me why this area is called the frontier, all I have been able to gather is that something disastrous happened some time ago, though not exactly what.” I said, hoping to get the answer from a reliable source before having to resort to the local gossips.

“Good question. This place is considered the frontier of our kingdom because the kingdom that used to encompass this area fell about ten years ago. After a succession of coup attempts, the line for the throne was put into disarray. Coupled with a monster problem, it was a recipe for disaster. The city states are the last vestiges of what once was a mighty kingdom. I am sure that the gossips would say that the gods smote them, or that a scourge of dragons finished them off, but it was nothing more than bad luck and mortal hubris. If you have no other questions, I shall be going. Good day to you.” He explained, giving me a slight bow towards the end, before nodding to the other guards in the room, and then walking back from where in the building that he came from.

I gave a slight bow to him as well, before I left the guard station and went back up the streets to a tavern I saw when I was walking with the guards. The sun was almost completely down and there were a lot fewer people out and about. I walked in and saw that the place was almost full. It was all rather calm and orderly. The different groups chatting away and there was not a bit of fighting going on. Bit of a different atmosphere than in the last place I had stayed, but it was by no means bad.

There was an empty seat at the bar, so I approached and sat down. I put Bella by my feet and gave her some more meat to chew on. The noise of the bar had woken her, but she took it well in stride. She sighed gratefully and plopped down. The barman approached with a light smile.

“What can I get for you, friend?” He said. He wasn’t an ugly figure by any means, but his stature and voice both were as if they had been carved from stone. I suppose that is why no one brooked any arguments in this bar.

“What are you serving, and do you have an empty room?” I asked, letting more than a bit of my weariness leak into my voice.

“We have a few left, eight coppers a night and two for dinner and breakfast, each. Drinks are all a copper. Tonight, it is pork chops with potatoes and carrots.” He said, his tone stating everything as a fact, leaving no wiggle room. I gave a slight sigh at that, his prices more than I had thought they would be, but certainly not that unreasonable.

“I will take a room for the night, some dinner and a mug of cider if you have it,” I say while digging out the correct amount. I don’t let anyone see just how much I am carrying. Most everything I have is inside my backpack, while the coin purse at my waist has a silver and about thirty copper. I still had to count out the coins I had gotten from the two thieves, but that could wait.

“Coming right up.” He said, his voice grinding like an avalanche. Though he is back within a few minutes with my food, drink, and room key. The combination of quick service and no-nonsense attitude definitely had its benefits.

“Have a good meal.” With that, he is off. Charismatic enough, but certainly not chatty, at least not to me. I was fine with that. He was talking to other patrons and serving food and drink. The meal is good. A nice change from just smoked meat and fruits. Cider is rather bland, though, not so many spices in it. I head up to my room after I wave at the barman. Though he gives a nearly imperceptible nod in return.

I had to get the room number off of the key, which was a bit of a task in the gloomier light of the upstairs, but I could discern a number six embossed on its surface. Not that there were many rooms to choose from, the closest on the right being number one, and the left being twelve. I suppose that would put me towards the end of the hall, and sure enough, I am.

The room is much the same as the last place. A bed, chair, and table. No window in this one, though. After an exhausting day, I place Bella on the bed, prop the chair under the door handle, and set my stuff down on the table. There was a lit candle on it, providing the only light in the room. I had some work to do in the morning, taking stock of what I had, and make some plans for what to do next. Maybe I would venture out and make a homestead, the boundaries of the kingdom would certainly mean I would have some peace there, for a little while at least. I stretch and lie down on the bed, soon drifting off with my thoughts into the dream world, with Bella curled up on my stomach.