Chapter Twenty-Three

**The Widow**

All Jason could do was stand bank and watch as Vanna cradled the woman’s head in her arms. Despite her whimpering and convulsing she wouldn’t take her eyes of Jason. Each iris locked on Jason as if he was conspiring against her. Jason couldn’t take the staring and turned away from them and focused on Skippy. However, he could still hear everything they said.

The woman’s sobs escalated up until hysteria and then she cried, “they’re coming for me, they’re coming, they’re… ah,” she buried her face into Vanna chest and sobbed.

Vanna stroked the woman’s hair. “It’s alright Honey, we won’t let anything happen to you,” she cooed.

“No, no, no, no, no,” the woman wept, her intensity increased with each word. “I… I need to run,” she panted then tried to break from Vanna’s arms.

“Child,” Vanna whispered even though the woman looked older than Vanna. The statement caused the woman to stop and look at Vanna. She broke down into tears again and hugged Vanna’s chest. “There, there,” Vanna said between patting the woman’s back. “What’s your name child? My name is Vanna and over there,” she pointed at Jason and the woman’s body tensed again, “is my friend Jason.”

The woman locked her eyes on Jason again, but managed to say, “my…my…my name is Eliza.”

“Eliza,” Vanna asked warmly, “what is wrong? Don’t worry we will help you.”

Eliza almost began to cry again, but Vanna stared at her and the woman managed to continued, “my… my, oh.” She broke out into tears, but was able to collect herself after a moment, “my husband, we live in the woods. A few days ago he went out, but never came back. I waited and waited, but…but,” a hint of rage and fear bubbled in her voice, “they came.”

“Who are they, Honey?” Vanna asked.

Eliza stared at Vanna as if the woman had just asked her to reveal her darkest secrets. Eliza eyes shifted to Jason.

“It’s alright you only have to tell me,” Vanna reassured her.

A tear stroked down Eliza face, but she was finally beginning to control her emotions. She nodded then leaned in towards Vanna’s ear and began to whisper. Jason could no longer hear what they were saying, but the woman took a long time to tell her tale. When Eliza finally pulled away from Vanna, Jason could see his friend was red with rage. Vanna said something sweet to Eliza and told her she would be back, then Vanna rose and walked towards Jason.

Jason tilted his head in confusion, “what’s going on,” he whispered.

“Give me your cloak and some food,” Vanna said ignoring his question. Jason handed her everything she asked. Vanna wrapped the cloak around Eliza and gave her some strips of the jerky, the woman tore into the food without hesitation.

“Vanna?” Jason hissed when the warrior returned to him.

Vanna’s face was still red with rage, but she was able to keep her words to a whisper, “we need to help her.”

“Okay,” Jason said still confused, “what’s going on though.”

“You remember that truffle hunter we found dead a couple days ago?”

Jason’s heart began to beat quickly and his throat went dry. “Yeah,” he said weakly afraid of what she was going to say next.

“I think that was her husband,” Vanna said through gritted teeth.

“Alright, but why is she like that?” Jason asked. He didn’t want to startle Eliza by pointing so instead tilted his head slightly in her direction.

“She waited for him to come back and of course he never did, but some thugs found her house and…” Vanna choked up, “and they raped her. Treated her like slave.”

Jason’s jaw dropped. He looked over at Eliza and saw the woman with a new understanding. “That… that’s awful,” Jason finally said, “what are we going to do though?”

“She said there were only two of them,” Vanna started but then went silent. A quest notification appeared in Jason view.

New Quest: The Widow Part I

Eliza, who you believe to be the widow of the dead hunter you found a few days ago, has lived as a slave to thugs for the past few days. Scout out her house and see how you can help her.

Failure Condition: Abandon Eliza

Reward: 200 Exp.

“Did you just get that?” Jason asked.

Vanna nodded, “yeah. I know we just had a conversation about not rushing into anything dangerous, but I feel like we can’t just abandon her, look at her.” Jason peeked back at Eliza and saw that she was crying again, a lump formed in his throat. “And she was clear there were only two thugs. I think it wouldn’t do any harm to a least poke around, but I’m going to follow what you say.”

The timing of it all was awful. Jason dearly wanted to help the woman, it was just ironic this had to happen right after his and Vanna’s conversation. Compared to everything else they’ve faced together, two thugs doesn’t seem that difficult, Jason thought. In the end he agreed with Vanna, “you’re right, we should help her. But before we start a fight I want to know exactly what we are up against,” Jason said seriously. “Most likely you’re going to be doing all the fighting so I want you to be honest and let me know if you can handle these pigs.”

Vanna bobbed her head fiercely, “I’m going to see if she will lead us there now.”

Eliza’s face went white when Vanna asked if the woman could lead them back to her house. However, after some reassuring words, Eliza finally agreed. Jason tailed a comfortable distance behind the women and they made their way into the forest.

As soon as they enter the trees Eliza began to fidget and whimper again. Jason couldn’t hear anything they were saying, but he saw Vanna touched Eliza’s hand softly and was able to comfort her. Still, Vanna’s security didn’t stop Eliza from constantly scanning the trees for any ambushers.

They walk for half an hour and then Eliza stopped. She pointed at an tall white tree, Jason looked closer and saw there were faint carvings in the trunk. “Come on, she says there’s a trail nearby,” Vanna called back to Jason.

“What about Skippy?” Jason asked. Vanna scrunched her shoulders indifferently then started talking quietly with Eliza. As they walked farther into the forest, the woman began to appear more and more agitated and required more soothing.

Jason looked at Skippy, the donkey snorted and flapped his ears. Jason looked down both ways of the path and saw no other travelers were coming. He wasn’t keen on leaving Skippy alone, but he didn’t think the the animal would be able to traverse the uneven forest for long. He wasn’t worried about the cart, that would be hard for someone to steal, but Skippy was another matter.

He called Vanna over and they unharnessed Skippy. Jason held onto Skippy’s reigns and followed Vanna and Eliza into the trees, “it… it’s not far,” Eliza stuttered, “they…” she balled her face as if about to cry, but continued, “I escaped while they killed one of the pigs, we should see the smoke before we see my cottage.”

When they were just out of sight of the road Jason commanded Skippy to stay. The donkey bobbed its head then laid down in the brush. Jason smiled proudly at the animal and petted him before the trio continued deeper into the thicket.

It was hard to keep a distance in the wild brush, a fact evident to both Jason and Eliza. Jason could tell Eliza constantly had an eye on him, but thankfully Vanna stayed between them to help put Eliza at ease. It didn’t take long after they left Skippy to find Eliza’s hidden path. The flattened leaves were little more than a hunting trail, but made traversing the forest easier than walking through the thicket.

Soon, Jason started to smell burning meat and not long after that they saw black smoke floating above the trees. Jason stopped. “Vanna,” Jason whispered, “what’s the plan.”

Vanna stopped and looked between Eliza and Jason. “Eliza, are you okay if I sneak around with Jason?”

The woman wrapped the cloak tight around her body, her eyes wandered between the smoke, Jason, and Vanna. Jason understood why Eliza was scared around him and he wished he could do something to let her know he meant no harm. The woman nodded her head hesitantly at first, saw the look in Vanna’s eyes then nodded again confidently.

“Alright,” Vanna whispered, “find somewhere nearby to hide, we will let you know if we think it’s too dangerous.” Vanna turned toward Jason and gave him a nod. Jason activated sneak and they moved towards the smoke. “I want you to hide until it looks like I’m in danger. If you think you can help then do, otherwise runaway with Eliza. I know she’s scared of you but I can tell she’s a smart girl, she’d take her chances with you rather than those two bastards.”

The pair took a few more steps and then Jason saw a peek of the cottage through a bush. The house wasn’t large, it couldn’t have been more than a single room. It was set in a small clearing with a pen and yard. Jason assumed the pigs were kept in the pen.

“No, no, I’m telling you I’m right,” growled a masculine voice. Jason and Vanna turned to its source and saw a man and a woman inspecting a pig roasting on a spit. Neither was older than thirty or possessed muscular bodies, Jason began to relax.

“No, I saw them do it this way when I was in Hawaii,” the girl said. Jason looked at each other wide eyed. Did she just say Hawaii, Jason asked himself, are they players?

Vanna didn’t seem to care about the origin of the people and Jason saw she was getting ready to fight. Jason stopped her with a hand then whispered, “scan them first.”

Vanna nodded then concentrated on the pair until a notification appeared.

Vagrant Pair Status: Undetected

Player [Name Unknown]

Class: Unknown

Level: 6

Status: Normal

Player [Name Unknown]

Class: Unknown

Level: 4

Status: Normal

“Think you got this?” Jason asked.

Vanna smirked then rose from her position. Damn it Vanna, Jason wanted to yell, you’re being too arrogant and letting your emotions take over. However, Jason crept to a better vantage point and waited and watched.

“Hey who are you?” the female player yelled at Vanna.

Jason could only see the back of his friend’s head, but he knew she was smiling.

“Hey,” the man barked trying to intimidate Vanna, “get lost if you know what’s good for you.”

Vanna didn’t stop walking, she didn’t even have her sword unsheathed. The man and woman began to take cautious steps back. Vanna approached the man first, he was attempting to draw a flimsy blade from his belt, but before he could get the knife out Vanna punched him square in his nose. The man crumble to the ground without a sound.

“James!” the woman yelled. Jason could see a primal fear in the woman’s eyes, like a rabbit deciding whether to sprint or stay hidden. The woman ran, however she didn’t get far before Vanna tackled her to the ground. Although the woman was helpless, Vanna gave her a few solid punches to her stomach and chest.

“Jason,” Vanna yelled. He got out of his hiding spot and approached Vanna and her prey. Jason could see the man called James was still alive as his chest was heaving slowly, but unconscious. The woman drooled bloody spittle and her skin started swell.

“Vanna,” Jason mutter as he witnessed the aftermath of the beating she deftly delt.

“Quick, find some rope before I decide to gut these pigs,” she kicked the woman in the side. The female player groaned. Jason noticed the woman wouldn’t be able to take much more pain without fainting.

Luckily there was some thick string by the fire. Jason looked at the half charred piglet hanging over the pit and saw that bits of the rope had been used to harness the animal. Jason tossed Vanna the length of string and she tied the players’ hands and feet. James had regained consciousness, but his head was swinging wildly and his eyes constantly rolled back.

“Should we…” Jason started, but Vanna held up a hand. They had propped their two prisoners up against a fallen log.

“I’ve got some question for them first,” Vanna growled.

“Just kill us,” the woman moaned, “it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve died.”

“Why did you hurt that woman,” Vanna yelled.

The woman made a confused look. “How… how did you know, never mind,” she said slowly. “She’s just an NPC what do you care, its not like they’re people.”

Vanna slapped the woman across the face with the back of her hand. She shoved her face into the woman’s and growled, “they’re more human than you’ll ever be.” Vanna raised her hand to strike the woman again, but then James spoke up.

“What other choice did we have,” he croaked. “You can’t even call this place a game. Complete reset when you die and the one chance you get everything is weighed against you.”

“That doesn’t make it right to steal and rape people,” Vanna cried. She kicked the man in the groin and James buckled. Vanna kicked him again and again. Jason moved into stop her before she killed the man, but she stopped before he could grab her. Vanna turned around and found Eliza behind her.

The tears were gone from the woman’s eyes and in their place was a defiant look. She looked down on the two players like they were dirt.

“Eliza,” Vanna started.

“First I lost my husband, then my dignity, and then my home,” she said softly.

“Here,” Vanna said, she attempted to hand Eliza the sword, but Eliza wouldn’t take the weapon. “Don’t you want to kill them?” Vanna asked confused.

Eliza shook her head and a single tear formed in her eyes, “they deserve more than death.”

“Go,” Vanna said lowly. Eliza and Jason looked at her. “I said go, I’ll deal with these two.”

“Vanna,” Jason said, worry in his voice, “you’re not going to kill them?”

“No,” Vanna said solemnly, “I’m going to do much worse.”