It took three days of near constant travel to reach Gilly River Village.
Because there were four travelers and a wagon full of heavy supplies the horses had to stop to rest frequently.
It was travel unlike anything Alice ever experienced: slow and monotonous.
Even the wonders of the unfamiliar country glazed over in her eyes on the evening of the third day.
The group did little chatting during the day. The beating sun and warmer weather as they left the mountains behind gave them little energy.
Though it was difficult to get through, Alice was grateful for the book she’d borrowed. She frequently had to speak the words out loud to understand their meaning, but the teasing of her teammates petered out after the first day.
It was after they set up camp each night that they really chatted with each other.
During those nights, sitting around the fire eating rather unappealing rations, Alice learned more about her new friends.
Orbahn Feldspark was forty-five, and he became an adventurer at forty. Before that he had been a town guardsman like Patty’s father. His village had been hit with a plague and he lost his wife and children to the sickness.
Orbahn was working with a different group of adventurers when he met Felix.
The Fae boy had been chased out of his village by the townsfolk who believed he caused bad luck. At the time Felix was too young to join the Guild, so he taught Orbahn the Fae language in exchange for tagging along with his group.
“We got in so much trouble with Eve when she found out Felix was traveling with us,” Orbahn laughed. “That was the first time I’ve ever been afraid of someone so small.”
“Yeah, she came down hard on you guys,” Felix nodded. “But at least you didn’t have to do chores every single day as punishment until you were old enough to join. Patty and Daryl did stuff that got them out around town as assistants!”
Felix shuddered. “But I... washed so many adventurer’s underwear.”
The group around the fire laughed.
“We met Dahlia at a festival,” Orbahn said. “She was a trick shot performer with a traveling troupe.”
Alice gasped. “That’s so cool!”
Dahlia’s cheeks turned red in the firelight.
“It’s nothing special really,” she mumbled into her cup. “At the time I was doing whatever I could to earn money…” She fell quiet for a long time.
“Back in Root Hollow you mentioned buying your home back,” Alice said. “Is that what you were talking about?”
Dahlia sighed and set down her cup.
“Kind of. Yeah,” she said then quickly shook her head to rattle the dark thoughts loose. “Let’s not get into that! I don’t want to drag down the mood.”
She looped her arm over Felix’s shoulder. “Like you guys said, I joined the Guild after I met you guys and it’s been really great.”
Felix smiled, but it was forced.
They lightened the mood by playing cards. Alice learned the rules their first night out, but she had yet to win any hands. They played until the sun set, then hunkered down in their bedrolls.
Dahlia took first watch.
As sleep drifted over her companions and Alice’s eyes grew heavy, she thought she heard a quiet sniffling coming from Dahlia’s direction.
___
They arrived at Gilly River Village early in the morning. A crowd of farmers greeted them as they pulled up to the village outskirts and all began talking over one another.
As they reached the village center, Alice helped the farmers unload the bags of water purifying powder as Felix and Dahlia spoke with the villagers to gather information. Orbahn met with the Village head and followed him to his home where could use a leyline phone to contact the Guild and let Eve know they arrived.
After they unhitched their horses and traded for fresh ones, the group reconvened at the Village elder’s house for a quick meeting and a hot meal.
“-and that’s about the extent of it,” the elder said. “We’ve been doing what we can to make up for the water shortage in Marshwood, but it’s gotten dangerous to do so. Our village has a party of adventurers of our own that has been regularly transporting water, but they haven’t returned from Marshwood yet.”
“Did they go missing?” Dahlia asked.
“We don’t actually know,” The elder replied.
“Missing adventurers would be serious,” Dahlia replied. She gave Orbahn a wary look. “This might even push it into A Rank territory… Should we call the Guild again?”
“Hell no!” Felix blurted. “We’ve been waiting for a job like this for ages.”
“There’s no harm in scoping things out,” Orbahn said. “Once we’ve seen the situation in Marshwood for ourselves I’ll decide.” He turned to the Village elder. “How long does it take a caravan to make the trek?”
“Half a day,” The elder replied. “Our village would load up barrels of water in the morning, purify them on the way, and return in the evening. They made the trek every three days.”
“How long has it been since your last caravan?”
“Four days.”
“Could it be that they simply stayed in Marshwood due to an accident or injury?” Felix asked.
The elder scratched his chin. “Possibly. We haven’t heard word though… Our leyline phones don’t connect to one another.”
“Why did you wait so long put in a request?” Alice asked. The elder, who had been stealing glances at Alice since she entered his house, turned to her.
“A drought in the spring is uncommon but not unheard of,” he replied. “So we were simply ready to do as we’ve always done. We put in the request when it became clear this wasn’t an ordinary natural occurrence.”
Alice, who had been taking notes, scribbled in her notebook.
“Thank you for the info,” Orbahn said as he got to his feet. Alice hurriedly closed her notebook and stored it in her vest as the others followed their leader.
“The core of this commission seems to be in Marshwood and it sounds like we’re on a time limit so we’ll be heading out right away.”
“Of course,” The elder shuffled to the door and opened it for them. “I pray to the pantheon for your success.”
___
As he said, the trip across the marshy trail that connected Marshwood and Gilly River lasted several hours. Despite the clear skies and bright sun, the swampy land on either side of the raised gravel road let off a cool humidity from the damp ground and occasional shade.
And yet, Orbahn scowled at their surroundings.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“There’s barely any water,” he said. “Hard to call this a marsh. It’s much lower than I remember from my last visit. May as well call it a grassland.”
“That’s not good,” Alice muttered. “This world isn’t going through climate change too is it?”
Everyone in the wagon stared blankly at her and her cheeks turned red.
“Forget it…”
Damn it. I miss Eve.At least she laughs when I say something that doesn’t make sense here… Alice grumbled to herself.
Dahlia rustled in her bag and pulled out a small, leather bound book: her monster compendium.
“Like the elder said, droughts aren’t uncommon. But when the environment changes too much it stresses out the monsters that live there and they get more aggressive. You remember those fishmen from the Rank Assessment?”
Alice nodded as she peaked over Dahlia’s shoulder.
The pages she flipped through were amazing: detailed drawings of creatures (many of which Alice could have sworn she’d seen in table-top games) where heavily labeled on all sides. After each set of sketches detailing the ins and outs of each monster were pages of descriptions that Alice still couldn’t quite read. Still, she found the guide fascinating.
“There is a colony of them around here. There’s also other monsters like bog mares, goblins, and slimes that use the moisture and the stagnant water for their survival…”
Dahlia noticed Alice leaning over and flipped through the pages to show her the monsters she was talking about.
“Huh.”
“We should check out Marshwood’s defenses while we repair wells,” Felix said.
“Agreed,” Orbahn replied. “Just to be safe.”
At first look, Alice wouldn’t consider Marshwood in need of extra defenses. The village, built like a motte and bailey on ground that rose well above the still water and tall grass, was enclosed on all sides by high stone and mud walls. Defensive spiked barricades made of wood also protected the base of the walls.
The village inside consisted of clusters of small wood cabins with roofs thatched with grasses from the marsh. Higher still, on the motte above the village, were larger buildings used as storehouses.
Oh. I might be too tall for this place, Alice thought.
As the wagon came to a stop, Orbahn jumped from the driver’s seat and helped Dahlia down. Felix hopped over the side as Alice stepped down out of the back. The crowd had already begun to form and stare, and her skin prickled unpleasantly at their gazes.
“-per three houses.”
Alice jumped and looked down at the man speaking to her.
“Right. I’m on it.”
She turned back to the wagon when Felix elbowed her in the side.
“You okay?” he asked.
“They keep staring,” Alice whispered. She grabbed the rim of the water barrel and felt her Gift flare to life. The barrel, which Alice guessed to weigh about five hundred pounds when full, lifted out of the wagon with one tug of her arm. She shouldered the barrel with a grunt.
“They’re gonna keep staring if you do that,” Felix whispered back. “Seriously, how strong ARE you?”
Alice’s cheeks turned red.
“I don’t know, okay?” she whispered. “Now help me out: I wasn’t listening to that guy so tell me where I’m taking these.”
By the time they finished distributing the barrels, the village head had descended from the motte above down to the village square. Orbahn waved Alice and Felix over and the village head grinned with wide eyes. His attempt to hide his surprise.
“-you’ve met Felix before, and this is Alice,” Orbahn was saying. “She’s half-giant and our new party member.”
“Half-giant…” the man breathed. He held out his hand for Alice to shake, and for the first time in awhile Alice hesitated.
“So that everyone is on the same page…” Eve said about a week prior. She called Alice’s party members together for a private late-night meeting. “The official story from the Guild is that Alice is a half-giant orphan. Before she came to Root Hollow she was constantly traveling so she doesn’t have extensive knowledge of any one place.”
“That excuse is pretty flimsy,” Dahlia said. “If anyone presses even a little…”
“We won’t let them press,” Orbahn replied. “The point is just to give her plausible reason to be in this world with limited knowledge. ‘I don’t know’ will work just fine. The only ones likely to consider travelling between worlds would be temple priests, powerful fae, and anyone associated with the Library.”
“Orbahn’s right,” Eve nodded. “Deflect when you can.” She turned to Alice. “And you should be careful with your power until we learn more. The odds of you running into someone who knows more about your situation than you increases when you leave this town.”
“I gotcha,” Alice smiled. “I’ll be careful.”
Alice focused hard to dampen her Gift as she reached out and gripped the man’s hand. After casually carrying full water barrels all over the village she legitimately worried about using too much strength on him accidentally.
Ripping the village elder’s arm off probably won’t leave a great impression… She told herself.
They shook.
“I’m Danzig,” the man said. “Head of Marshwood. It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Alice. Is Rothnia different from Albagard?”
Orbahn cleared his throat and grabbed Danzig’s attention.
“Surely it’s better for us to ask the questions,” he said with an easy smile. “We have a lot of work to do after all.”
Danzig let go of Alice’s hand.
“Of course. Where do you want to start, Mr. Feldspark?”
“What do you know about the Adventuring party from Gilly Village?” He asked. “We heard they should have returned by now, and it’s been four days. Are they here in town?”
Danzig frowned and shook his head.
“No. They left on time.”
“How long can a person last without water in this world?” Alice whispered to Dahlia.
“About a week,” Dahlia whispered back. “So we’re already halfway through the time limit if we assume they had no supplies with them when they left.”
Alice leaned against the wagon as she made notes in her adventurer’s handbook. Her pencil stilled. This story is hosted at g.com.
“But wait…” Alice looked up. “They had to have had a wagon too right?”
“That’s right,” Danzig nodded. “They arrived and left with their wagon.”
“Why didn’t we see it on the road?” Alice asked.
“Oh!” Dahlia gasped. “You’re right! There’s only the one road and we didn’t see another wagon at all.”
At this, Orbahn pulled out his own notebook and took notes himself.
“Danzig, the last time there was a drought, did the marsh dry up completely?” He asked.
Danzig raised an eyebrow. “ 'Course.”
“You’ve noticed there’s still water in the marshland then, I assume.”
“I have.”
“And monster activity. Has it increased lately?”
Danzig scratched his chin. “Sightings have gone up. A lot of darkness dwellers seen in broad daylight. A few attacks. We’ve put in a few hunt requests recently.”
Orbahn scribbled more notes, then tucked his notebook away.
“Please arrange accommodations for my party. We will be here for a few days. I will also need access to your leyline phone.”
Danzig gave Alice another glance but nodded and walked off.
“Why’re you calling the Guild?” Felix asked as they pulled their supplies off the wagon. A young boy led the horses and their wagon to a small stable near the village’s outer wall.
“Do you really think this is an A-Rank mission like Dee said?”
“I’m starting to,” Orbahn replied. “I don’t think there’s time to send anyone else, but Leon’s party could very well be done with their Lindwurm hunt. If Eve can reach them before they return to Root Hollow that would save some time…”
The village head set them up in the a small guest house behind his home. Well, he called it a guest house, but Alice sensed it was more of a renovated shed. A sheet hung from the ceiling to separate the inside into two rooms. There were three cots inside and a thick pile of straw, roughly in the shape of a bed.
“I’m so very sorry, but we don’t have a cot that can support miss Alice,” Danzig had said, wringing his hands. Alice, who already had to stoop to avoid hitting her head smiled.
“It’s fine! Really!” She said. “I’ll use my bedroll on top of this and it’ll be perfect.”
“You’re not a horse though,” Dahlia grumbled after the four of them were left to settle in.
Alice chuckled as she spread her bedroll over the straw.
“It’s hard to ignore that I’m kinda huge,” Alice said. “I wasn’t this tall or this jacked in my own world. I don’t like that people stare, but I can’t do anything about it.”
“Let me braid your hair later,” Dahlia said. “That should keep it from getting full of straw.”
“Sure,” Alice grinned at her. “Thanks.”
Because the water they delivered needed to be rationed, they four of them shared a basin to wipe off the road dust they accumulated on their faces and arms and called it good enough.
Danzig’s wife invited them into the main house for dinner. She served fire roasted pheasants and tubers harvested from the marsh.
After dinner, they sat around the table chatting with Danzig and his wife. Every time either of them tried to ask Alice about anything she didn’t know, Felix and Dahlia answered for her, and Alice smiled gratefully.
Eventually, they stopped asking. Just as Eve said they would.
While they table chattered away, Orbahn leaned against the wall and watched as he spoke into the phone.
“So, what do you think?” He asked when he relayed all that they’d uncovered. “Is it an A-Rank? Should we pull out?”
The silence on the other end made Orbahn smile a little. He could practically see Eve trying to keep her face straight as the gears in her smart little head turned.
“It’s fine,” she said after a moment. “The adventurers Gilly Village’s elder spoke of aren’t employed by the Guild. As harsh as it sounds, since they aren’t a Guild asset, the Guild isn’t required to raise the rank for their rescue. Besides…”
Orbahn heard her pen tap against her desk. The stack of papers she was working on sounded quite thick.
“Even if Leon’s party was on the way back, I don’t see the need to send him down to you guys. I trust you to handle it,” she said.
Orbahn raised his eyebrows.
“That’s surprising coming from you,” he said.
A chuckle came from the other end of the line, so quiet Orbahn almost missed it over the chatter at the table.
He’d never heard her laugh before.
“Well everyone’s been earnestly giving it their all so… I’ve had a lot to reflect on lately,” Eve said. He knew there was no way she would ever noticeably smile in the Reception area, but Orbahn could almost hear the smile in her voice.
“I’m… doing my best to change too.”
He wasn’t sure he was meant to hear that. Nor whether he wanted to hear it. The way she mumbled it, Eve probably didn’t even know she said it out loud. A painful knot twisted in Orbahn’s chest.
“I’m…glad we have your trust,” he said. “Anyway, that concludes my report for today. We’ll be busy tomorrow so I probably won’t report.”
“That’s fine,” Eve replied. Orbahn heard the pen tap again.
“…How is Alice?”
At this, Orbahn chuckled.
“You’re new favorite person? She’s good. Do you want to speak to her?” He asked. He only meant to tease, but once again Eve surprised him.
“I do actually,” she replied.