No one welcomed us into town. No one even said hello. They all looked like they'd been listening to melancholy pop music. They were all sad, scared, and maybe a little confused.

"This is such a warm and welcoming town. No wonder you'd want to return." I added a lot of sarcasm to my words as we continued to walk. Pips was following us at this point and I turned to him and asked him to hang back not knowing if the town was safe. He scurried back to the trees and continued to watch us as we turned to start walking again.

"I don't remember it being like this," she responded, seemingly immune to my sassiness. "Also, I didn't want to come back here. I wanted to grow old with my husband in Roseglen."

Ouch. That one hurt. She didn't know it, but that was just about the worst possible response as far as my emotional state goes. I couldn't blame her as I had set it up for her. I looked up at the sky and said, "That was mean."

"What?" She asked with a little confusion.

"I wasn't talking to you," I responded solemnly. It was technically true, I think. If she was an NPC then she only said that because the 'man upstairs' had programmed her to say it. Or was this a watchmaker putting the watch together and then letting it do its thing situation.

She was confused, I was confused. We both just refocused on what was up with this town and back to our shared goal. I wasn't smart enough to think about the programming of this place so it was easy to let go. Ignorance is bliss.

"Where did your parents live?" I asked to break the slightly awkward silence.

"Our house was on the North side of town." She pointed directly in front of her. We had entered Bettyford from the South and she was already leading me to their old house I just hadn't realized it.

We walked through the town square where some empty display tables and shop stands lined either side of the square. The shop stands each had a slanted roof and signage, but no proprietors or salespeople. This looked to be a market meant for a major trade route, but it was empty.

We continued to walk toward her old house and I saw an aged woman sitting against the side of a building up ahead.

"Ma'am?" I asked trying to get her attention. "Ma'am?" I repeated.

"It isn't safe to talk here." She didn't look up. She had a thousand-yard stare and seemed to be watching for danger.

"I came to tell everyone the dragon is dead. There's no need to fear another attack." I kneeled down to meet her eye line.

Her eyes focused on me suddenly and it sent a chill through me. Her face went from a blank expression to anger in an instant.

"Some things are worse than flying beasts, boy." Her words bit at me. She poked a finger that betrayed her old age into my forearm. "People who backstab, deceive, and steal from their own neighbors are far worse." I could tell that she spoke from experience.

"Is there somewhere safe we can speak?" I asked, genuinely concerned at the state of this town.

Her mood shifted and she was a sweet, old grandmother again. "Yes, dear. Help me up and I'll take you somewhere safe."

I helped her up and we started walking to the Northwest.

"We could just go to my house," said Jen. I'd guessed that she was still following out of concern, but had worked up the courage to ask.

"Jen, they aren't there anymore." The old woman glanced back at Jen and extended her hand as she continued walking.

Jen reluctantly took the old woman's hand. "How do you know my name?"

"It's me, dear. Don't you remember me?" The old woman turned and smiled sweetly at Jen. We hadn't seen her smile yet and it was a full-face smile where her wrinkles told us that she used to smile often.

"Lulu?" Jen's face lit up and she had said the name louder than the old woman had expected.

"Shhhhh. Quiet, dear. They'll hear and send their goons after us." She was full of fear in an instant and quickened her pace.

We silently followed her out of town and to a small hunting cabin in the nearby forest.

As soon as we pulled the door closed she relaxed. She made a little fire in the fireplace and put on a pot of water to boil.

"We'll talk over tea and cookies." She motioned over to a small, dusty couch on one side of the fireplace. We sat. The couch was more comfortable than I had expected. She grabbed a plate of basic cookies and sat them on a small, short table strategically placed in the middle of the room. She sat across from us in an ancient rocking chair.

I went to grab a cookie, but the look on her face told me I'd regret it and may even pull back a non-bleeding stump. "I'll wait for the tea." She smiled briefly indicating that I had chosen wisely.

"Lulu, what is going on with the town?" Jen asked with a look of sincere worry on her face.

"I'll start from the beginning when the dragon first came," she said while she rocked slowly. We just sat there listening as she continued.

"The dragon flew into the town square and demanded to speak with the town leaders. They met there in front of anyone brave enough to stick around. The dragon demanded that they hand over control of Bettyford to some evil ruler in the West. He said he would destroy the town if they didn't comply. He wanted an exorbitant tribute payment and gave them minutes to decide.

Mayor Kingston turned and spoke with his council and said he couldn't hand over the town to a tyrant. He was brave in the face of the dragon, but the town treasurer was a coward. He begged the mayor to just give in to the dragon's demands.

The mayor refused and said that as long as he wore the town ring he could not submit to the dragon. He turned to give his answer to the dragon and the backstabbing snake of a man pulled out a dagger and literally stabbed the mayor in the back.

The mayor fell down dead from the sneak attack and the treasurer pulled off his mayoral ring and kneeled down in front of the dragon offering him the ring and the town's compliance.

The dragon took the ring and put the murderer in charge of Bettyford. That evil man has gathered thugs to consolidate power and brought the whole town to its knees. At least the dragon was honest in his dealings.

We used to be a major trading hub from land and sea. Now, most are too scared to leave their houses unless they are out of food or water. People are accosted and robbed in the street unchecked.

Your parents left for Wolfhill, the large city to the West of here before the initial attack happened. They should have safely arrived there months ago. If your father had still been here, I fear he would have been killed. There is no way he would have put up with the current leadership. They already killed any guards that weren't on board which was most of them."

She finished explaining the awful situation and got up to grab the now boiling water. After filling the teapot on the table she sat back down.

"That is terrible," I said after taking in everything that she had said. "What would need to happen to fix things here?"

"The problem is that legally no one can be mayor without that ring. It magically binds to whoever wears it like an unbreakable contract that only resets after seven years." She spoke as she carefully poured three cups of tea. "That scoundrel isn't really the mayor without that ring."

I put my hand out in front of me as if I was holding a ring between my thumb and pointer finger and popped the ring into existence from my inventory filling the space between my fingers. "This ring."

Her eyes went wide as she recognized what it was. "How'd you get that?"

"I took it off of the dragon when I slew him," I said trying to sound mighty, but it sounded wrong. "Slayed him? Is it slayed or slew?"

The old woman raised an eyebrow and seemed to lose confidence. She pointed at Jen. "We need her father back. He could fix this."

I was a little hurt since the implication was that I couldn't help. "I'll save the town," I said exuberantly.

New Quest!

Save the town of Bettyford.

Either defeat the crooked town leaders or bring back Jen's father, Roderick. The mayoral ring must be given to the new town leader to complete the quest.

"We will save the town," Jen corrected. I'd never seen her face look this determined. I had way more confidence in her than the old lady had in me.

Lulu and Jen just started talking with each other at this point. I mostly sat in silence drinking my tea, eating cookies, and thinking about how complicated this was getting as Jen and Lulu caught up with each other.

Our next step was to meet with the town leader and see if he could be reasoned with. I knew for sure that I wouldn't be turning my back towards him like the old mayor. If I learned one thing from that acupuncturist I visited; once a backstabber, always a backstabber.