“I’m telling you, Mungo. I asked for FIVE skeins of yarn. Not ten. What am I going to do with ten? They’re not even the right color!” One tall man with sharp features, salt-pepper but once black hair, said.

  “I don’t know! Dye them! Make some things for that kid of yours. Or your niece, she’s always blowing up her clothes,” Mungo said. He was much shorter, bald, had a hooked nose, but not unfriendly blue eyes.

  “I don’t have time for that! Besides, I can’t very well dye black wool light blue, can I? No really… can I? It’s not a trick question,” the other man was saying.

  “I don’t know, I’ll have to ask Mary,” Mungo said, and then turned to see us coming down the alley, “Speak of the pixie! Cyn, how are you lass?”

  “Oh I’m great. Just great,” Cyn said, looking down at her clothes that had several holes left in them from the blast, “Though you’re right, I could do with some new clothes,” she said with a wink, and then asked, “My uncle giving you a hard time, Mungs?”

  “You know how he is…” Mungo said, warmly.

  “Hiya uncle,” Cyn said, sweetly, “We’re going to need a new barn.”

  Trask sighed, shook his head, and ran a hand through his salt-pepper shoulder length hair. He had a dignified look to him, without being overly pompous. It was the way he carried himself, probably.

  Like he commanded respect, without the commanding part.

  “Cyn… How many times are you going to…? You know one of these days you’re going to get hurt. That would destroy me, and I promised your mother…” He said, trailing off as he glanced over and saw unfamiliar faces, “Cyn, who are your friends?”

  “Oh, these are the fellas that put out the barn fire. And Maleena!” She said, dragging Maleena up with her to shake her uncle’s hand.

  “Maleena saved my life! Isn’t that grand!?” Cyn continued.

  “Saved your—”

  “Uncle it’s not that big of a deal. I’ll be more careful next time. I promise. Now can we get my friends some hot lunch?”

  “I could eat,” Dane said from the rear.

  “You can always eat,” Benji shot back.

  I walked up to shake Trask’s hand and said, “You’ve got a very warm niece, Mr. Trask. Took that hit like a champ and bounced right back to show us around. Beautiful town you’ve got here,” I said.

  Trask shook my hand and then went to accept Dane’s when he noticed the flier in his hand and asked, “So… monster hunters, are you?”

  “Of sorts,” Dane said, accepting the older man’s hand.

  “I suppose that’s why you came?” Trask asked.

  “We did,” Maleena said, “But we also came for some good barleywine. Tell me, which was is the tavern?”

  “Oh, I can do you one better. Follow me,” Trask said.

  We followed Cyn and her uncle out of the alley and back onto the main drag to where the band was playing. He took a large pitcher off a big side table and gestured for us to sit at one of the communal tables.

  Cyn brought us a few mugs and Trask filled them.

  “To new friends!” He toasted.

  “To new friends,” we said in chorus.

  “So… you came for those damned Bloodthirsty Flittermice?” Trask asked.

  “That, and other things. Got a few problems around here, we’ve heard. We’re here to help,” I said.

  “Don’t mean to be rude. You all seem a decent sort. And I’ll be in your debt for saving little Cynthia. But if you don’t mind me asking… what’s in it for you?” Trask asked.

  “Experience,” Dane said flatly.

  Trask raised his eyebrows and took a deep swig.

  “What he means to say is we’re here, as Initiates, to get experience… yes. But we’re also here because our benefactor told us your town could use the help. What with the rebellion going on in the south, the King’s Guard isn’t over here much are they?” Maleena asked.

  “No…no they are not. Listen, I’m grateful. I really am. It’s just hard to believe in times like these. We’re not in Finak. Unless you’re them? Are you?” He asked, looking at us up and down and assessing our gear.

  “We’re not them. But we’re… like… them,” I ventured.

  “Well, that makes us lucky then. I’ll drink to that!” Trask said, toasting again and then filling up our mugs once more.

  He spent the next ten minutes telling us about all the troubles Kalawyn was having. It was quite extensive. There was a multitude of nests of Bloodthirsty Flittermice that were harassing the town.

  Some family’s goat had been stolen away in the middle of the night due to a horde of them descending on the town. Other people were complaining about a band of thieves in the forest that was poaching their incoming supply lines.

  Some said it was an advanced scouting party of the rebel army, but others just thought they were opportunists. There was also a taint in the local well, and no one had been willing to go down to the underground river it drew from.

  In the end, we decided to finish out Benji’s clumsy exposure therapy of Flittermice and took the nest destruction quest. There were a few nearby the town that we could finish off before night fell.

  But we’d have to plan accordingly for the other ten or so. Trask invited us to stay with he and Cyn at their farm, and toasted again to new friends. He told us about the location of the two closest nests and our Party Perk mini map auto populated little circles symbolizing their position in the landscape.

  New Quest! Destroy Bloodthirsty Flittermouse Nests: 0/18

  With a few hours left of daylight, we headed for the nests, doing our best to keep Benji calm. It would be a rough few days for the poor guy.

  -

  The hike to the first nest was a short one. It was just on the Eastern outskirts of town, past the road to the Royal Manor. As we got closer, the amount of people out on the streets considerably diminished. It seemed this part of town was one most chose to stay away from, despite there being a few things of note.

  There was a rather large livery near the gatehouse, full of horses and other animals making noises I’d never heard before. I wanted to take a peek but we didn’t have enough time if we were to dispatch the two nearest nests before nightfall.

  Another building, with a billowing pleasant and grainy sweet-smelling smoke coming from it, lay next to it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that it was a brewery.

  Just as we were about to exit town, we heard a familiar voice behind us.

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  “Wait up!”

  It was Cyn, half jogging up to us from what looked like the brewery doors.

  “Cyn, what are you doing here? I thought you were with your uncle?” Maleena asked, touching her shoulder and looking her up and down again, she added, “Are you okay?”

  The little alchemist was swaying on her feet and had a melancholy look on her face like something weighed heavily on her mind.

  “Aren’t you sweet? Yes, yes. I’m fine. I just saw you four coming through and I had to…” She dug something out of the satchel at her side and said, “Well it’s better if I just show you.”

  She pulled out a midsized looking package. One end was completely brown, and the other end had a little glass capped test tube with some liquid inside. There was a cord that snaked out of the tube and a prong that went into the brick. At the other end of the tube was a wick sticking out.

  “Cyn did you bring us a bomb?” I asked.

  “Sure, looks like a bomb,” Dane agreed.

  “Bring it? Sure. Bring you? Nah. I’m coming with you! I finally got the formula right, and those fuckers are going to pay for what they did to Bernie,” Cyn said, scowling.

  I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “My cat. Took her a few days ago. They’re getting brash, so I’m going to blow them up. Fair is fair,” she said in a as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

  “Cyn, hon, it’s going to be dangerous out there. If you get swarmed, they’ll kill you,” Maleena said, trying reason.

  “They’ll kill you too! What’s stopping that from happening?” Cyn argued.

  “Well, for one thing, we’re Initiates,” Dane said.

  “Dane…” Benji chided.

  “Eh, let her come. She’ll be useful, right?” I said.

  “I knew I liked you for some reason, Greg,” Cyn said, smiling and slapping me on the back.

  Maleena shot me a dirty look.

  “What? It’s her town,” I said.

  -

  A quarter mile away from the gatehouse, the trees took over the land once more. No more fields lay this far east due to the humungous oaks, providing plenty of shade and respite from the afternoon sun.

  There was an odor to the forest.

  At first, I couldn’t place it, as it was paired with dirt and vegetation and a hint of mint. But the further in we went, the more I recognized that same putrid smell we encountered with the Diak Hresh and all it’s rotting limbs.

  “Ugh, what’s that smell?!” Cyn said with a little too much volume.

  “The dead. Now keep quiet. We’re getting close,” Dane said in a hushed tone.

  “Right, shhh. Sorry!” Cyn said.

  Benji was looking down at the satchel Cyn carried with an inquisitive look and asked, “Cyn do you have longer wicks to those?”

  “Huh? Nah… don’t need em. Once we get close, I’ll just pop it into the hollow tree and we’ll be off. Easy as pie!” Cyn said, cheerily, but at least whispering this time.

  “Easy as pie? I’m not getting anywhere near that thing,” Benji protested.

  We got near that thing.

  The mini map guided us to a midsized willow tree with a gigantic trunk. The middle was hollowed out and the smell we had caught earlier was emanating from it. Benji gagged, and I pinched my nose. Maleena just looked nonplussed while Dane had his usual stoic demeanor plastered to his face.

  Cyn… Cyn was pissed.

  Before we could do anything, she was sprinting at it with her bomb in her left hand and a burning match in her right. As she got a few steps away from the thing, she lit the fuse and tossed it in with a thud. Cyn turned on her heels and came hurdling back towards us with a manic look on her face.

  She was downright gleeful.

  ‘Quick turn around time for that one’s mood,’ I thought.

  “Let’s go!! Behind those trees! Haven’t got much ti—”

  The hollow tree exploded. The most vile, putrid, squishy flesh came flying in our direction. Big bad smell made worse by the bomb, I nearly vomited then and there. The tree was in smithereens, much like the barn.

  But nothing caught on fire.

  Apparently, the forest was too damp for anything like that. Or maybe it’s because of all the blood. The Bloodthirsty Flittermice had been sleeping off a meal, roosted in the tree, and had clearly had their fill the night before. The forest floor was covered in gooey, congealed, and partly sizzling remains. A Flittermouse wing had found it’s way onto my right moccasin and I shook it off.

  “A little warning next time would be nice!” I said, only sort of yelling at Cyn.

  It was gross and messy, but her bomb did the job in seconds versus the half a dozen minutes it took us coming into Kalawyn.

  Nests destroyed 1/18

  “Sorry! I just got excited,” Cyn said, still wobbling a bit.

  Dane walked up to Cyn with a very serious look on his face. For a minute I thought he was going to yell at her. But then he picked her up in a big bear hug and gave her a twirl. A fucking twirl. When he put her down again all he said was,

  “That was awesome.”

  -

  The next nest was Northeast by about a mile. We made relatively good time and only stopped for a few minutes for Cyn to get her next bomb ready. If exploding nests like this kept us all out of harms way while we still got loot drops, I was all for it.

  Cyn seemed more than happy to put in the work and even promised to show me the recipe should I have an interest in alchemical bombs.

  I had an interest.

  Very much so.

  The second nest was equally as fast as the first. Though we had better warning this time, I had forgone doling out hygiene drinks in case we were splattered again. I still had to loot all the goopy corpses, anyway. Honestly, that’s what took the longest out of anything. But with two nests destroyed, and something like thirty Bloodthirsty Flittermice in each, the drops were pretty decent.

  Nests Destroyed: 2/18

  We debated hiking for the next two, which were about a mile and a half north of our location. But the further we got into Kalawyn’s Eastern Forest, the more spooked Benji got. Also, the sun was getting lower and lower by the second. Electing to return to town, we turned tail and followed the mini map back.

  On the walk I took a minute to peruse the drops from both nests, eager to see if anything of note was included in the kills. There was plenty of alchemical supplies that Cyn would probably be happy to take off our hands.

  We got a stack of thirty Flittermouse wings, a full stack of bones, and some cave droppings. Also amongst the drops were two more of those strange empty glass vials.

  “Hey Cyn, know anything about these?” I asked as we moved through the forest, proffering a vial in her direction.

  “Oh! Yes! Oh how exciting! How many do you have?” She asked.

  “Um, just four I think. Anyone else have any in their inventory?” I asked.

  A chorus of no’s came in response.

  “Damn. That would have been awesome. But four is still great. When we get back to my workshop I’ll—” Cyn said, and then stopped herself.

  “Forget you blew up your workshop?” Dane said, wryly.

  “…Yeah…”

  “Sorry hun. I’m sure the next one will be even better. Just don’t blow that one up too, okay?” Maleena said with a wink.

  Cyn smiled and ran her hand through her hair and asked, “Can I see one?”

  I gave her a vial.

  “Amazing! This is a treat! You probably can’t use these, but I can. I can make you something really, really nice,” Cyn said, smiling.

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Benji said.

  Cyn stopped in her tracks and grabbed Benji by the face, “You saved my life and let me come on a raid. Best day ever. Of course I do!”

  Benji rubbed his face but didn’t protest. We came out of the forest and back onto the road headed for Kalawyn. There was still plenty of sun left in the sky, but no one wanted to go further into that forest today. It’d been a hell of a day.

  “Pub?” Cyn asked.

  Dane smiled, the first one I think I’d seen in a while, and said, “Cyn, you are quickly becoming my new favorite person.”

  “Hey!” Maleena and Benji said in unison.

  “Okay but what about the vial?” I asked, not wanting to let go of my question.

  Normally, my identify inherent skill would have told me what the little glass bottle was. But for some reason I couldn’t. I would have said its because I didn’t have the right Discipline, but Cyn was a normal human as far as I could tell.

  “Hey, you’re not an Initiate… are you?” I asked Cyn.

  “What? No. I wish. Maybe one day,” she said sheepishly.

  “Sorry, not trying to rub it in or anything. Just confused why I can’t tell what these are,” I said.

  “Alchemy is different. It’s its own magic, really. Anyway, sorry. I forgot what I was saying. You wanted to know what it was, right?”

  I just nodded, still trying to wrap my brain around there being a whole separate magic system in this world. It made sense, especially considering how rare Disciplines were to acquire. Maybe it was just like how technology looked like magic to the outside eye? Magic of their own making to keep up with the lack of skill books.

  “It’s an Enhancement Vial. Get the right ingredients and you can do all sorts of things with it. It’s a one time use sort of thing. I haven’t exactly mastered using them, yet, though. I’ve only ever seen one, and I used it right away.”

  “What’d you use it on?” Benji asked.

  We made our way into the Brewery and picking out a large round table in the back. It was a common and simple little tavern, much like a dive bar in the city but with a lot more hand crafted wooden seating. Cyn dished out a few menus that were laying on the table, encouraging us to pick a beer, and blushed.

  “Oh I… well don’t judge me. I found it when I was sixteen. Changed my hair color permanently. Stupid, I know…” she said, handing the vial back to me from across the big table.

  “It is a nice shade,” Benji said, admiring her purple-black shimmering pixie cut.

  Maleena started playing with her own hair, twirling it a bit in her hand, and said, “I don’t think it was stupid at all.”

  “Aw thanks! I mean, I LOVE it. It’s just, that’s before I knew I could make my skin fireproof or my nails harder than iron. Wild stuff like that.”

  “Well, that’s pretty gods damn cool,” Dane said.

  “Agreed,” Benji said.

  “Yeah, you just need the right ingredients. Some of which are rare,” Cyn said, tilting her head side to side, “But some aren’t! When that happens, and you have impulse control issues… you get this,” she said while pointing at her hair.

  “I’m guessing the fireproof one has some of those rare ingredients you’re talking about?” Dane asked, though the answer was obvious.

  “Yep! But I know where to get that stuff. It just… well it’s kinda dangerous to harvest. Other ingredients too. People always say you need a Disciple to hedge your bets, but I’ve never met one. Well… until now,” she said looking around at the four of us.

  “We’re really that rare huh?” I asked under my breath to Benji.

  He nodded, “In this Kingdom, at least.”

  I shrugged and tapped the vial on the table and then tossed it in Cyn’s direction, “Here, have one!”

  Cyn’s eyes got huge.