Chapter 117

You Probably Won’t Believe.

Abigail

I moved off the road to camp for the night. Deep into the grassland. The landscape held an occasional tree, but I found the grass tall enough to provide me enough cover.

That is, until a woman walked right into my camp.

I was lying down on my bedroll when she came upon me. We looked at each other for a moment as the crickets began to sing.

“Can I help you?” I said.

“You’re one of those adventurers,” she said.

“Of a sort.”

“You’re camping.”

I looked at the evidence. Then her.

“Name’s Eileen. I’m a hunter. May I… May I camp with you?”

My surprise must have been on my sleeve. She chuckled. Went red.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m often alone out here. It would be nice to have some company.”

“You tracked me down,” I reasoned.

“I won’t deny that. I saw you walk off into the grass. I was hoping you’d be camping.”

“That’s all you want? Company? Until I wake up with a slit throat and all my possessions gone.”

“I’m a bronze ranked hunter,” Eileen said. “I’ve got the meat and dressings to prove it. I’ll roast us a meal. If you don’t want me to camp with you, I’ll leave after we eat. How does that sound?”

“I’ll eat with you,” I said. “We’ll see about the rest.”

After informing Eileen that I was a gold ranked brewer, I poured a libation of Blending Shelter. The whole bottle to last us the whole night.

Eileen frowned at me.

“This will camouflage our camp from everything,” I explained. “Insects too.”

“No shit,” Eileen said. “I’d kill for a few bottles of that.”

“No need,” I said and handed her two bottles of Blending Shelter attribute ale.

“Well, thank you,” Eileen said at the end of my repetitive insistence.

Then I watched her make fire. She expertly adjusted it into a cooking fire and laid a grill over a few logs. After she’d built a pile of coals, she grilled rabbit. Soon after, we were chatting up a storm, laughing over stories, and sharing a simple lager.

“Beer,” she said. “That’s incredible. I’m glad I ran into you.”

“Stalked me,” I corrected.

She sipped and choked at that.

“Like I said, I was hoping to share a camp with someone. The truth is, you never know when bandits are lurking about. That’s why I camp fairly close to the road at night. If anyone’s in trouble, I’m there to help. Rescued a few folk that way.”

“You would have come to my rescue?” I said.

“Of course. But now that I know you’re gold ranked, I would have probably only gotten in your way.”

“I appreciate it,” I said. “I’ve had my fair share of run-ins with bandits these last few months.”

“I bet,” she said, “but there’s more than bandits to worry about. I saw something yesterday. Something I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

I gave her the silence to continue.

“Like I said, I’m a hunter,” Eileen continued. “One of my skills is sort of like the beer you used. It’s called Clay of Ash. Covers me head to toe in muddy ash—sort of like clay. It hides my scent and therefore raises my success rate when hunting large game.”

“I’m guessing you came upon a monster who didn’t know you were there.”

“That’s the odd part. It knew I was there. Despite my camouflage. I thought the monster was a person at first.”

I sat up, hackles raised.

“Start from the beginning,” I said.

Eileen had been hunting migrating wildebeests. She pointed at the road we’d stepped away from, indicating she’d been several miles beyond there. She’d drawn her bow and nocked an arrow, when all of a sudden the earth began to shake.

“I thought a giant was approaching,” she said. “Boom, boom, boom. All of a sudden, this short little beast comes running through the grass. At first glance I thought it was human.”

“Wearing a cloak?” I asked.

“No. Not wearing a thing. Mind you, I was expertly hidden. Laid low in the grass with my Clay of Ash active. So the beast stops maybe a dozen feet from me. It starts chowing down on these fruits. At least a hundred of them! Just kept pulling them out of thin air. It got fatter and fatter while it ate. I was terrified. You should have seen its belly just grow and grow. I didn’t move a muscle while I watched. Then it turned around and I swear I almost screamed. It was like coming upon a monster bear, but instead of a snout, it had a flat face with a snub nose. The most horrifying part was the eyes. They were gigantic—I mean, gigantic! The irises contained at least a hundred layers of different colors. It looked at me with those eyes and I nearly fainted. I was certain it couldn’t see me. Until it smiled.”

Eileen shook as though to dislodge the memory that clung to her like a spider’s web.

“Its smile was like a gash of flesh from ear to ear. Every tooth was a canine.”

Eileen stared at her feet, rabbit haunch forgotten in her hands.

“What happened after he saw you?” I said.

“It spoke. It said, ‘Boo’ and then sprinted off through the grass.”

We resumed eating at nearly the same time. Both of us stared off. Thinking.

“You probably don’t believe me,” she said.

“You probably won’t believe that I’m after that monster,” I said.

We shared soft smiles.

“Which way was it going?” I said.

Eileen pointed north.

“Straight north?” I said. “Through Greditch, north? Northeast? Northwest?”

“Maybe northwest,” Eileen said with a shrug. “What are you doing chasing a monster like that?”

“It’s going to lead me to the person that controls it.”

“What for? Please let me know if I’m being too nosey.”

“You’re fine,” I said. “It’s a quest I’m on for the god of my quest path. The man who controls Thrush—that monster—might become one of the world’s greatest brewers.”

“Ah, ok,” she said. “Beer. Monster. Chase. Gold rank. Makes sense.”

“The problem is he’s too fast for me. Even with the tools at my disposal. Would you mind bringing me to where you last saw him? I’d love to pick up the trail from there.”

“Does that mean I can camp with you?”

“I’ve warmed up to you, I think. But just remember. I’m gold ranked. There’s nothing you can do that I won’t see coming.”

I’d made a friend in Eileen, and we slept beneath the stars after our meal. After we packed up in the morning she led me through her hunting grounds until we came upon Thrush’s footprints. They were different now. More bear-like.

I thanked Eileen, we hugged, and I promised her I’d come see her in Greditch city one day. “We should go hunting together,” she had said.

Then I was off to follow Thrush’s trail.