They traveled north until they reached the main road that led east into the kingdom. After stopping at a small town for a few days to resupply and get new shoes for the horses, they were back on the road.

It took weeks to get to the requester’s estate, but the trip was easy. The main road was lined with inns and villages, so they didn’t have to dip into their rations unless they wanted to.

It was well into the fall by the time they reached their destination. Anna drove the wagon down the long path that led to the manor on the estate. The trees that lined either side of the small road were mostly bare. The few leaves that remained were brown and looked as if they wouldn’t last much longer.

The manor came into view. It was a three-story building made from stone and covered with glass windows.

She pulled the wagon in front of the manor, and Thokri slid off. She passed the reins to Rose and slid off as well, walking around to stand next to the dwarf. Voekeer met them next to the wagon. Both men gave her a strange look. She just smiled at them.

Why should they get to see everything?

They walked to the front door, and Thokri took the large bronze knocker and slammed it into the bronze plate beneath it. A few moments later, the door creaked open and a tall thin man loomed over them, or rather her and Thokri. Voekeer was a few inches taller than him.

“How may I help you?” the man asked in a surprisingly deep voice.

“We’re adventurers, and we have the griffin feathers your master asked for,” Voekeer replied.

He held out the large sack filled with feathers and opened it slightly for the man to look inside. The man nodded.

“Right this way,” he said.

They followed him inside. The main room was massive and filled with paintings as well as pedestals. And on these pedestals sat birds. Not living birds of course, but stiff glassy-eyed things that stood like statues. Every one seemed to be watching them as they walked.

There were paintings hanging on the walls, like most places where wealthy people resided. These paintings were different though. They were all of birds, birds flying, birds sitting on tree branches, birds feeding their young, birds swooping down to catch fish from a river. She’d never even seen most of the birds that sat upon the pedestals or were depicted in the paintings before.

The man led them to a room which had a table sitting in the middle that was also surrounded by birds on pedestals.

“Please wait here while the master inspects the feathers. I will have some refreshments brought to you,” he said, holding his hand out for the bag.

Voekeer handed the bag over along with the contract. The man took them both and nodded gravely before leaving the room, closing the door hard behind him. The three of them looked at each other for a moment.

“This is creepy, right?” Anna asked.

“This is way past creepy,” Voekeer replied. Thokri just shook his head and sat at the table.

“Humans,” was all he said.

She sat next to him, and Voekeer sat down as well. They looked at each other trying not to notice the staring birds.

There was a knock on the door, and then it creaked open. A maid pushed a cart in. There was a tray with a tea set on it.

Of course. It’s decorated with birds! Why wouldn’t it be decorated with birds?!

She set the tray on the table and then poured each of them a cup of tea. Anna put way too much sugar in, as usual, and filled the cup right to the rim with cream. She stirred it gently, and then with more grace than a human could possibly possess, took a drink withing spilling even a drop. Voekeer, Thokri, and the maid looked at her in amazement for a moment.

“The master should be finished soon,” the maid said before leaving the room.

They drank the tea and tried not to look at the birds for a what felt like hours. The man returned with their signed contract and rushed them out of the manor.

They looked at each other again when the door slammed behind them.

“How are we going to explain this to the others?” Voekeer asked.

“We don’t, lad,” Thokri replied.

And I thought I was strange…

They got back on the wagon and left the manor, not telling the rest of the party of the strange place.

She pulled the wagon onto the main road once more and headed north to the capital. The city was farther south than Oldforge, and, at least according to her friends, shouldn’t have as harsh of a winter as she’d seen her first year.

They reached a massive fortification a few days later.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to be at the city for a few more days,” Anna said.

“This isn’t the city, lass. This is just one of the outer forts,” Thokri replied.

“Outer fort?” Anna asked.

“They have these on all of the main roads leading to the capital. An army big enough to siege the city needs to use the main roads, so they try and stop them here, or at least slow them down,” Thokri replied.

Anna nodded. She looked at the grey stone walls as they got closer. Men in armor looked over the side at them. Each one held a crossbow in their hands. The gate was open, and there were no guards to stop them.

She drove the wagon through the gate. There were two metal gates that could be dropped to trap people inside of the structure along with a few holes in the archway overhead that, according to Thokri, were used to pour boiling water, oil, sand, or poison onto invading soldiers.

Once she was on the other side of the gate, there was an open space that led to another gate where men could rain arrows, bolts, or spells down on anyone unfortunate to get inside.

Looks like they can send troops in here as well.

She waved at the men on the wall. A few waved back. She could see them grinning at her.

They like me.

She drove through the back gate. It was built in a similar fashion to the front gate. Once they passed the fort, the road widened, and they were surrounded by what seemed like endless fields that were in the process of being harvested.

She watched them with some interest as she passed but didn’t care enough to ask Thokri about the process. After her treatment by farmers early in her life, she had little interest in their vocation.

They stopped at an inn that evening. It was the largest she’d ever seen on the road and larger than most of the inns she’d seen in Oldforge as well. They walked into the massive place and found themselves in an equally huge main room. The people sitting at the tables ran the gambit from scraggly adventurers, like themselves, to well-dressed merchants, and even a few that could be nobles.

They found an empty table and sat down. A barmaid walked over.

SHE HAS CAT EARS!!!

Other than the fluffy cat-like ears and swishing tail, she looked like any other woman from the kingdom. Anna had asked her friends what the beast people really were. They were almost human on the insides with a few differences based on whatever species of animal they were mixed with, but no one seemed to know for sure.

Just another thing I’ll have to figure out later, I guess.

“What can I get for you?” the barmaid asked.

SHE PURRS!

The woman had let out a little rumble at the end of her question.

“I’ll take an ale and a bowl of stew,” Barika replied, smiling at the woman.

“Same here, lass,” Thokri said.

Everyone else ordered the same thing, except Lyreen who still refused to drink ale. The barmaid left, swishing her tail as she walked away.

“She’s cute,” Anna said.

“She certainly is,” Barika replied.

“So, a few more days and we’ll be there,” Voekeer said.

“I can’t wait to get a nice room and relax,” Elaine said.

“I’m going to find a few spell books to read over the winter,” Lyreen said.

“I was thinking the same thing. They have a necromancer’s guild here. I hope they’ll let me use their library,” Elaine replied.

Lyreen didn’t look all that enthusiastic about a library filled with necromancy books, but she didn’t say anything.

“I’m looking forward to spending some time at the great temple,” Barika said.

“The clan has a huge hall there,” Thokri said.

“I was hoping to get some training from the elven sword masters. I heard a few reside in the capital,” Voekeer said.

Rose and Anna looked at each other and smiled. Anna had told Rose of her plan to find a way to heal her, and Rose was excited.

Barika told me not to get her hopes up, but I have to try.

The barmaid returned with their food and drinks. The party paid for the meal and rooms for the night, then they all started to eat.

The stew was hearty and made with better ingredients than most of the stew she’d eaten the last few months, and the ale was surprisingly good, rivaling even the dwarven tavern, though Thokri would never admit it. They all ate in relative quiet each enjoying a hot meal.

“YOU STUPID BEAST! YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!” a man shouted, followed by a meaty smack and crashing.

Everyone looked up. The barmaid was on the floor next to a fallen tray. A man was standing over her with a wet spot on his shirt.

“No, sir! I didn’t mean to! It was an accident!” the barmaid wailed. The man looked like he was going to kick the cat woman.

Anna stood up and took her club from its holder and tapped it on the table loudly. The man looked up, along with most of the other patrons. The rest of her party got up and got their weapons.

“So, you want me to crack your skull, or you going to sit back down and shut up?” Anna asked, sounding very much like a dwarf. The man’s face turned red.

“I’m not going to be intimidated by trash!” he replied.

“Guess he wants his skull cracked,” Voekeer said.

The sound of his sword being drawn quieted the last of the conversations. The men that were seated at the table all stood up and started to reach for weapons. The barmaid scrambled away as soon as the man was distracted, running into the back of the inn quickly.

“Well, lad, the little lass ran away, so who are you going to smack around now?” Thokri asked. He was holding a long single edged knife and grinning like a mad man.

People started to move away from the two groups, leaving a clear path between them.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” a cold voice asked.

Anna glanced over to see a table full of men in dark cloaks. One of the men pushed his cloak open reviling a dark uniform underneath. He placed his hand on his sword hilt. It sparkled with magic. The man who had hit the barmaid went white and put his sword away.

“Nothing, sir,” he said quickly. The man turned his gaze to her and her friends.

“Well?” he asked.

She heard her friends shuffling around. She looked at the men in cloaks more closely.

Are they soldiers or hired killers?

Every man looked lean and strong as if they spent years honing their skills.

Why didn’t they help that woman?!

Anna moved. She seemed to disappear and reappear in front of the black cloaked men. Only the breeze caused by her incredible speed showed she had actually ran there instead of using magic. She looked up at the surprised man and cocked her head to the side slightly.

“I was about to crack open his skull and see if he had shit for brains or not,” Anna said. She tapped her club against his chest. “So, big man, why did you stop me and not him? You alright with men beating women? Is that what it is?” Anna asked, thumping his chest with her club every time she asked a question.

“That wasn’t our intention, miss. We were just trying to stop a brawl,” another one of the black cloaked men said.

She looked over at him. He was older than the others, with white hair and a nasty scar running down the left side of his face.

“As if you could stop me,” Anna said. She put her club away and grinned at the men before going back to her friends who were all staring wide-eyed at her.

“What?” Anna asked.

“Those men were agents of the crown!” Elaine replied.

“So, they work for Jessica?” Anna asked. Elaine sigh and shook her head.

“For the love of the gods, call her Queen Jessica at the least!” she replied.

“Whatever,” Anna said.

The innkeeper rushed out with a crossbow in hand. He was followed by a few large men with clubs and the barmaid.

“It was him!” the barmaid said, pointing at the man who had hit her. The innkeeper leveled the crossbow at the man.

“OUT!” he shouted.

The man and his companions had lost all of their nerve after seeing the queen’s men and Anna’s strange powers, so they ran out of the inn at full speed. The cat woman rushed over to them.

“Thank you so much for helping me,” she said.

“Don’t think nothing of it, lass,” Thokri replied. Barika walked over to the barmaid.

“We can’t have a mark on your pretty face, now can we?” she asked. She held her hand to the woman’s face and gold power flowed out. The bruise healed quickly, much to everyone’s surprise. The barmaid touched her face in surprise she hugged Barika tightly.

“Thank you so much!” she said. Barika hugged her back.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

“Drinks are on me tonight,” the innkeeper said.

They sat back down and finished their meal. The barmaid brought them drink after drink. Lyreen took one after a while.

“I thought you weren’t going to drink ale anymore,” Anna said.

“One won’t hurt,” Lyreen replied.

The barmaid was all smiles every time she came to the table, and Barika was flirting with the woman the whole time. Anna drank a few too many ales and suddenly had to pee something fierce. She made her way outside, not wanting to use whatever privy they had setup.

Those places stink so bad!

She found a bush a ways away from the inn and squatted down. Someone grabbed her hair and she felt the cold blade of dagger against her throat.

Really?!

“Don’t move!” a voice hissed into her ear.

“Wasn’t planning on it. I’ll get pee on my feet if it do,” Anna replied. She let out a powerful stream. The man flinched some. “So, what do you want, or do you just like watching women pee?” she asked.

“Who are you?” the man asked.

She snatched him by the wrist and spun him over her shoulder right into the puddle of piss on the ground.

She twisted his wrist farther, snapping it, causing the knife to fall out of his hand. The man didn’t cry out in pain but did gasp some.

Tough.

She reached down and grabbed him by the throat, squeezing hard, but not hard enough to kill him.

“I asked first,” she said.

“Let him go,” a familiar voice said from behind her. The old man and two of his companions were pointing crossbows at her.

I could kill them, but Elaine said they worked for Jessica, so she’d be mad if I did.

She let the man go and stood up slowly.

“I’m an adventurer out of Oldforge. We finished a few contracts and plan on spending the winter in the capital. If you let me reach into my pouch, I can show you my guild badge,” Anna said.

The old man nodded. She took out her badge and showed him. He gestured for her to toss it to him, so she did. He caught her badge and inspected it closely.

“What contracts did you finish?” he asked.

“Monster hunting and a gathering one,” she replied.

“What kind of monsters?” he asked.

“Giant spiders, a basilisk, and wyverns,” Anna replied.

“All skull contracts,” the man said.

“Yes,” Anna replied. He tossed her badge back.

“This didn’t happen,” the man said. Anna shrugged.

“Why me and not the man who hit the barmaid?” Anna asked.

“He’s just a common fool. You on the other hand…” he gestured at the man at her feet. “It’s clear you’re far more dangerous than you appear to be,” he replied.

She reached down and lifted the man to his feet.

“You should probably get a bath,” she said. He looked at her stupidly for a moment before trotting off to his friends.

“So, why let me go if I’m so dangerous?” she asked.

“Because you’re telling the truth, and adventurers that take on four skull contracts at a time are going to be dangerous,” the man replied.

“Why do you sound so sure?” Anna asked.

“We searched your wagon before confronting you, and we found the monster parts. Also, that badge is genuine,” the man replied. Anna shrugged and squatted back down. She looked over at the men.

“Get out of here before I start charging,” she said.

A few of them turned red, and they all scurried off, leaving her some privacy while she finished. She went back into the inn and sat down.

“That took a while,” Thokri said.

“Could have used some help,” Anna replied. Thorki chuckled, thinking she was joking, and they started drinking again.

The men in cloaks returned sometime later, sans the injured one. They made it a point not to look at her or her companions.

They better not have hurt Lord Emerald or I’ll toss them!

Her friends went upstairs one by one over the next few hours. Barika took the barmaid with her, leaving her and Thokri alone at their table surrounded by empty mugs.

“Why did that man hit the barmaid?” Anna asked. She had been thinking about it, and it didn’t make sense to her.

He could have just complained to the innkeeper and gotten free drinks or a meal out of it.

“Hitting weak people makes him feel stronger, I guess,” he replied.

“That doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t hitting someone strong make you feel stronger?” Anna asked.

“Aye,” he replied, patting her on the arm.

They left the table and went upstairs. She could hear the cat woman crying out in pleasure when they passed what must have been Barika’s room.

“Did she just meow?” Anna asked, trying not to laugh.

“Aye,” Thokri replied, bursting into laughter. This caused Anna to laugh, both of them nearly falling over.

They made their ways to their respective rooms, still laughing when they entered the small but well-kept spaces. Anna took off her belt and pulled off her dress before flopping on the bed. She looked at the window and paused.

How’d that man sneak up on me like that?

That was her last thought before going to sleep for the night.

She had a long conversation with her tentacles that night, discussing what had happened, hoping they would know something. They didn’t.

They left the inn early the next morning with Barika saying a long goodbye to the cat woman. Barika was grinning ear to ear as they loaded the wagon. Anna and Thokri hooked up the horses like always before they got back on the road.

“You aren’t going to cough up a hair ball, are you?” Lyreen asked.

“She was well trimmed, child,” Barika replied. Lyreen didn’t replied, but Elaine started to laugh hysterically, so she must have made a face.

“So, was her tongue raspy?” Elaine asked.

“No, it was human, and she was quite skilled with it,” Barika replied.

“Must have been. I’ve never heard a woman make sounds like that with just a tongue before,” Elaine said.

“You really need to try another woman sometime, child,” Barika replied. Elaine sighed.

“I might have to if my luck with men doesn’t change soon,” she said.

“I’m sure you’ll find a good man one day,” Barika replied.

“I’d have better luck finding the red crown of domination,” Elaine said.

“What’s that?” Anna asked.

“Some powerful wizard created it along with a sword eons ago. It’s supposed to be able increase the mana a person can control by a thousand fold. He used it to take over a few kingdoms hence the name,” Elaine replied.

“What happened to him?” Anna asked.

“He was killed by a woman,” Elaine replied.

“Really?” Anna asked.

“Yeah. He kidnapped some princess or something, and when he tried to force her to screw him, she stuck a knife in his throat,” Elaine replied.

“Serves him right,” Lyreen said.

“Aye,” Thokri said.

“So, what happened to the crown?” Anna asked.

“No one knows for sure. Some people say that the woman took it and ruled over the wizard’s domain for years before disappearing one day,” Elaine replied.

“I should look for it,” Anna said.

“The world is filled with magic swords, crowns, and other wonderous things, child. I’m sure you’ll find lots of them in your travels,” Barika replied.

“Does this thing count?” Anna asked, holding up her hand and wiggling the finger the strange ring was on.

“I’m sure it does. You know, we should bring that to the mage’s guild to get it appraised,” Elaine replied.

“Oh, they could tell me about my medallion, too!” Anna said.

“I’m sure they’d know something. They have the largest library in the kingdom there,” Elaine replied.

“Do you think they’d let me look around?” Lyreen asked.

“Yes. There is a small fee, but it’s open to the public,” Elaine replied.

“That sounds even better than buying books!” Lyreen said.

“It is. The only reason I’m not going there is because they don’t have many books on necromancy,” Elaine replied.

“If you’re interested in relics, the temple’s library may be of interest to you as well,” Barika said.

“So, are we treasure hunters now?” Voekeer asked.

“Always were, lad,” Thokri replied.

“I mean, we really aren’t monster hunters or anything. We just follow Anna around and pick up the pieces when she’s done,” Elaine said.

“That’s true,” Voekeer replied.

“Sorry,” Anna said.

“Don’t worry about it, lass. We all made more coin from this trip than any of us have before,” Thokri replied.

“I wasn’t complaining. Honestly, if this keeps up, I’ll be visiting my father in a golden carriage and have servants tossing flower petals in front of me as I walk,” Voekeer said. They all laughed.

“As long as it isn’t a bunch of women, I’m fine with it,” Lyreen replied.

“Oh, come on. I was thinking some elf maidens would be a nice touch,” Voekeer said. She heard a smack.

And she hit him.

The others started to laugh again. She grinned as she drove the wagon towards the capital, happy to be finished with their contracts.

Killing monsters is fun, but it was starting to get boring. Maybe we should go treasure hunting for a while.