Julie was not miserable. Water dripped onto her head and down her neck from the jute canvas she called her tent. The day had been spent interviewing villagers; they were not talkative. She gleaned some scant information from a shepherd. His field was near where Robert Two-Eyes waylaid caravans. Laying on the soggy earth with the wind blowing and the rain falling, she was excited to face the day tomorrow. The sun was down and the rain was beginning to let up, she thought she should try to force herself to fall asleep.

Sleep still wouldn’t come, she tossed and turned thinking of all the blankets she could afford with the five hundred gold chips. A fitful, short-lived sleep did finally bless her only to be broken by the piercing rays of dawn as they filtered through the thinning canvas that had fallen over her head in the night. The light was still reassuringly low on the horizon. She broke camp with practiced ease, after freeing herself from the tangled mess the six stick and jute had become. Just like every morning for the past week she pulled the twine from the sticks and laid them on the tent and rolled everything up as tight as she could before tying it all up with the twine threaded through the straps of her backpack.

Julie buckled her belt firm against her bony hips then drew her sword and tested the edge on her thumb. It seemed sharp enough, as sharp as a wood axe. She looked at the blade with apprehension before sheathing it again. It was the best she could do without oil. She was really looking forward to the reward she would get for today. Money had never been a concern, and it was so rarely used in Chalkstone she had little understanding of its worth. It had not taken long for the expenses of traveling to rack up. No one was taking care of her now, she was a brave adventurer all on her own.

Chin held high in spite of her blonde hair plastered to her neck with mud, she set out in the direction the shepherd had given her. A deep, booming voice called out from behind her making her turn and jump, “Hail there! Well met, traveler.” It was an odd sight that greeted her. Three people were approaching her, dressed in ridiculous costumes. One of them was as big as a bear with skin the color of rich soil. Another was as pale as a sheet, with a long scar running down the length of his face. And the third was a woman almost as dark as the giant, so beautiful that Julie felt herself blush as the woman started talking.

“I believe you are the adventurer traveling to turn Robert Two-Eyes to justice!” The dark woman extended her hand, and Julie met it with her own. It didn’t sound like they were going to attack her, in fact, the woman with the sleek black hair had a broad smile on her face. Under a soft suede cloak, the woman wore shiny armor; sheets of metal coated with dull paint and chromatic scrollwork. The cloak itself brought old seasoned furniture to mind, with dark gray leather in wide strips lined in red silk that flashed in the sun. Fastened to her hip was a long scabbard. It seemed to match her armor perfectly. A small folded crossbow, with more brass gears than any grandfather clock Julie had ever seen sat on her wrist. Julie couldn’t look away, pockets and flasks and ropes, tied seamlessly to the supple cloth that joined the hard plates of metal in a framework that moved easily. The woman’s exposed fingers and graceful neck bore bits of starlight caught in silver and gold.

Julie tried to shoo away a thought about her own appearance, but maybe they were a traveling circus or something. The big fellow could be a strong man performer, and the other scrawny fellow looked like a tattooed sideshow, with his eerily sallow skin in the daylight and grotesque scar. He is exactly who she would expect to eat a flaming sword.

It took Julie an embarrassing amount of time looking at them to remember that she had been asked a question. “Yes.” She squeaked, taking a deep breath and looking at the woman for reassurance. She nodded her head. “I am doing a favor for the magistrate and ridding the roads of miscreants.” She hoped her voice sounded heroic that time.

“Oh certainly.” The woman’s hair whipped like black fire in the wind. “When we heard that you were going to fight a villain with his reported body count and reputation, well Sevil here just insisted we meet you,” She clapped the pale man companionably on the shoulder, making him sway. He looked at her reproachfully and opened his mouth without speaking. She winked at him and laughed. “Would you mind too much if we tagged along? I, for one, am very interested to see you in action.”

Ah, Julie thought, they are circus performers, wishing to see a real adventurer in battle. She must be a bard, with her shiny costume. A bard always accompanies the hero! “Yes! Why I think that would do perfectly.” She put on her best heroic smile, genuine and ingratiating.

The woman raised one jet black eyebrow for a moment and then was talking breezily once more. “Great, great! So, you know where you’re going?”

“Um, well I uh…” Julie stammered and thought of her near fruitless interviews with the villagers, “I talked to a shepherd yesterday and, well, you would understand if you were an adventurer, but I talked to some of the townsfolk and they gave me some clues. Apparently most of the ambushes are taking place on the same stretch of road, just up here.” She pointed forward, and the dark woman looked like she was having to take very careful breaths in order not to laugh. The giant of a man was adjusting the leather straps that held plates of dull metal to his chest and back, and the pale man seemed completely oblivious to the conversation, smoking a pipe that reeked like the swamp Julie had crossed on her way into Kentvale.

“That actually sounds like very thoughtful detective work.” The man she called Sevil and the man with a neck thicker than her thigh gave each other wry glances. “I mean, interesting technique! I will have to make a note of that.” She paused for a moment and said, “So, if you were going to build a hideout around here, or even a fortress, where might you put it?”

Julie looked down the road. It was densely forested, the nearby town had more lumberjacks than farmers. There were plenty of stumps along the road, but it was still too thick to move a horse through. In the far distance she noticed a hill, with what looked like a clear path to the road. She realized, with a flash of embarrassment, that there was a thin cloud of smoke coming from the hill. “Oh, well I think that hill, there on the horizon.”

“Very good deduction!” The woman smiled. She must be impressed with my skill, Julie thought. With that, they set off in the direction of the hill, with Julie walking proudly in front. As they got closer, on the edge of bow range, the raven-haired woman stopped Julie inquiring, “So, tell me, brave adventurer, if you were hiding up on that hill, do you think you might have someone watching the road? Perhaps, a lookout?”

Julie paused and thought about this. It certainly made sense that people may be watching the road if the encampment was guarded. “Oh, I’m sure there are.” She said.

“Well, if it was me, and I was going to fortify this hill, I would have at least two people hiding in the trees there, and there.” Ravenhair pointed to each side, into the forest. “This area, from the road to the hill has obviously been burned to clear the area to be guarded by longbows.” The woman cut herself off abruptly, “Just speculating, of course.” The two men exchanged meaningful glances.

The importance of the distance they had left in front of them became apparent to Julie. She imagined eyes on them now, and realized just how exposed they really were. “Oh yes, that much is obvious.” Her confidence faltered, “So, if you were to approach a situation like this, how would you go about it?” The small party’s experience was becoming obvious, but Julie’s anxiety far outweighed her pride in the matter.

“Well…” The woman rocked back on her heels and looked the hill up and down. “If it were us,” she gestured to her companions, “I would send one person up the hill alone, someone who looked unarmed, maybe someone a little less intimidating. If it was a woman, they would probably send someone down to capture them instead of just opening fire. You know how men at these camps like having a young woman around.”

“I suppose I could head up the road. All I have is my sword, and I could leave that with you, if you promise to take good care of it.” Julie volunteered herself bravely. She hoped their armaments were not just for show. “Just to test the water, of course.”

The woman gave her a calculating glance, “You do know how to handle yourself in hand-to-hand combat, right?”

With far more confidence than she felt, Julie responded “Oh, yes!” She had wrestled with her brothers plenty. She had never actually been punched in her life, but she usually pinned even Jack, who had weighed half again as much as she did.

With some reluctance, she handed over her sword to the raven-haired woman and began heading towards the hill by herself. About halfway from where they stopped to the top of the hill, two men staggered out from the cover of the trees. They had lecherous grins on their faces and one was holding a bottle. Neither looked toward the threesome she had just left, and they certainly did not seem to be worried about any possible danger. One had a longbow hung carelessly across his shoulder, strung loosely. The other seemed to have an empty scabbard. The longbowman started talking first, “What do we have here, eh, Waddy? She looks like a little mouse.”

“Excuse me? I am no mouse!” Julie squeaked. She glanced nervously behind her and her heart started racing when she saw that her ‘friends’ had disappeared. I have been robbed of my sword, and left alone to be captured! A panicked voice inside her started berating her relentlessly for her stupidity.

They approached her, staggering a little. She set her feet more firmly and raised her chin. Taking a deep breath to try and steady her voice, she said “Don’t you come any closer! I’m warning you…”

“Or what?” The man with the empty scabbard laughed, reaching for her.

She slapped his hand away and he fell to the ground. Julie and the other man had identical wide eyed expressions of shock for a moment, before the man started laughing. “He never could hold his drink. That’s alright, now I’ve got you all to myself!” He reached for her, and she caught his arm, turning it away from her. Like a scarecrow, she threw him to the ground. He laid still, splayed out, with his face in the dirt.

She backed away, looking around in confusion. When a hand touched her shoulder, she screamed. The raven-haired woman snapped at her, “Hey! They didn’t alert Two-Eyes, but if you keep screaming, they won’t have to.” Julie had no idea where she had come from, but the massive man was with her too. “Good job with them, lass. Left Sevil a clear shot.” The woman tossed Julie her short sword, and she managed to catch it by the handle, the sheath fell to the ground. Julie picked it up hurriedly and buckled it around her narrow waist. She went to put her sword back in it, and the woman stopped her, “You’re going to want that in a moment, here, right Toby?”

“I don’t know what happened! They just, sort of, fell over! I barely touched them…” She stared, confused, at the snoring men.

“Don’t know your own strength, I expect.” The woman’s eyes sparkled.

“Um, what now, do you think?” Julie asked tentatively.

“We keep going!” Ravenhair was walking in a low crouch that Julie tried unsuccessfully to emulate as they made their way up the hill. “If we stand around here talking we’ll lose our advantage!” She whispered.

They made their way up the bald hillside, and still Julie did not see the man with the scar on his face. Behind her, Toby was moving as silently as a cat in spite of his size and the plates of metal he wore. The woman in front of her walked in a crouch with a practiced ease. As they approached the top of the hill, the crude structure of a wooden palisade began to become visible.

Ravenhair whispered, “They think they’re so clever,” Julie could see now what looked like a wall made out of recently felled trees. She gestured to Toby with her hands, and he began to creep ahead of the two women, now crawling on his hands and knees. “Stay here. When it starts, watch my back.”

Julie watched the giant of a man move so slowly that it seemed he wasn’t moving at all. Like a wolf pouncing, he sprung from all fours to a full sprint, straight towards the wooden wall. There was a sound like lightning striking a tree, and splinters of wood shot out in every direction. A group of men that had been sitting around a fire outside the entrance to the cave, were scrambling for their weapons. Ravenhair was still in a crouch, but she was firing bolts from the clockwork crossbow on her wrist.

Everywhere she aimed her hand men died, choking on their own blood and clawing at their throats. Julie gagged in sympathy. Toby moved through the camp like a whirlwind, swinging his giant axe, and felling men like wheat at harvest time.

Julie averted her eyes from the slaughter. She told me to watch her back. Behind Ravenhair, two men were running up the hill. Should I tell her? They were approaching fast, their swords out, running with an odd drunken gait. One of the men tripped on a stone, and tumbled to the ground. The other was already almost upon her. His eyes seemed focused on the destruction behind Julie. She held up her sword in a defensive pose, expecting it to clash with his. It did not. The blade slid into his stomach with a sickening ease. In a moment, he slumped down, pulling the embedded sword from her trembling hands.

With all of her strength she dislodged the sword from his guts, pressing her boot against his chest for leverage. There was another one, she thought, looking around frantically, in time to see the man stagger back, with a bolt sticking out of his eye socket.

Ravenhair was next to her now, and patted her on the back affectionately. “You didn’t even flinch! Good job!” Julie was trying to wipe the blood off of her sword, “What are you doing, we’re just getting started! Toby’s got the path cleared! It’s time to meet Robert Two-Eyes!”

Julie was beginning to feel excited in spite of the sickening feeling deep in her stomach. They crossed the battlefield, stepping over corpses in ill-fitting armor. Inside what remained of the palisade, she could see Toby guarding the entrance to a shallow looking cave, and at his side was the man with the scar.

“Sevil, how many inside?” Ravenhair asked him.

“Three. One of them is a magic user. Seems to be some basic warding charms up, I’ll dismantle them,” He hissed his words, casting a glance at Julie, “If you’re ready that is.”

She looked at the dark woman, spattered in blood, and wondered how she could have ever mistaken her for a bard. Toby held his axe as if was a part of his body, and Sevil, she now realized, was the first wizard she had ever met. But not the last, she thought to herself and smiled, exclaiming, “Let’s do it!”

Sevil closed his eyes, and raised his arms. Tendrils of orange and green light emerged from his hands. The threads spread until they came to the entrance of the cave, and collided with an invisible wall. There was a flash and the ward became obvious, like a spiderweb in the air. The tendrils of orange green seemed to tear at the threads and in a matter of seconds all signs of the light and web was gone. Sevil opened his eyes and smiled.

Toby let out another blood curdling roar, and led the charge into the cave. It was shallow, and as they reached the back, Julie heard a slow clapping. Animal musk, torch smoke and rotten food permeated Julie’s sinuses. The group stopped, and she turned in time to see Ravenhair roll her eyes and mutter, “Every. Single. Time.”

The man who was clapping stepped out of the shadows. He wore chainmail from head to toe, and a battle-axe almost as large as the one Toby carried was strapped to his back. Upon his head he wore what appeared to be a helmet made from the skull of a deer, antlers included. He was flanked to the right by a filthy half naked man with a short sword in each hand, and scars all over his chest. The dirty man seemed to have fur growing in patches from random parts of his body. The fur was ripping through his skin all over. Behind them both, Julie could make out a diminutive man still hiding in the shadows. He seemed to be flipping through the pages of a book and frantically trying to read it.

It was Sevil who spoke first, “Wererat? Maybe even wolf. I’ll handle him.”

The man who Julie knew must be Robert Two-Eyes in the antler hat laughed and said, “You think that the likes of you can so easily-” He was cut off as Toby charged him, while Ravenhair fired of a volley of bolts. The book dropped between dead hands to the ground. It was soon followed by the man’s body.

The fire from Sevil’s hands spread over the man with two swords without actually touching him, as if flowing over an invisible barrier. The room heated up uncomfortably and the air gusted with the stench of burned oil. He discarded his swords, hunching down on all fours. In the orange red glow of the room, his face and body contorted into something hideous, beastial. The two enormous axes clashed, sending a shockwave through the cave, and with a resounding crack, Robert’s axe split down the blade.

The man dropped his broken axe, ducking to pull out a dagger from his boot. With a swift lunge he was well inside Toby’s axe range, making the large two-handed weapon unusable. The battle had turned into a grapple, giving Julie an opportunity to contribute. While the two were locked and distracted, she drove her sword under the Two-eyes’ chainmail shirt, skewering him deep through the guts. His stance faltered sending him down to the ground on his knees. His eyes bulged out in pain as he stared into Julie’s soul with raging hatred. His agonizing scream made Julie recoil from her sword as if she was stung. With the sound of kindling cracking, the scream was cut off as Toby twisted the man’s skull around with his bare hands.

All that was left is the snarling man-wolf. Cornered against the back wall of the cave he was unperturbed by an endless stream of scorching fire and bolts being sent his way. Though badly burned and pockmarked by bolts, his wounds would heal as quickly as they were formed. His misery, however, was short lived as Toby charged through the flames, axe held high, and brought it down on the creature’s neck. Blood gushed out of the stump in crimson spurts, making Julie seriously rethink her adventuring aspirations, and wish for days when she wouldn’t have to stab someone through the gut and watch another being turned into a pincushion. Julie threw up her meager breakfast.

With a dribble of vomit on her chin, and an acrid taste in her mouth, she tried and failed to retrieve her sword.

“Right pain in the arse those things are.” Ravenhair said. “Makes me tired.” She strode over to Robert’s body and yanked out the sword from the gut. A putrid stench came out with the sword, causing Julie to empty her stomach a second time. Ravenhair kicked the skull helmet off the corpse’s head and pulled him up by the hair, exposing the mangled neck. “You want to do the honors?” She asked Julie, and Toby offered her his axe.

The taste of vomit in her mouth brought to mind her mother’s years of morning sickness with her siblings.

Julie was miserable, but it was her misery.