Freelance Saga: The Legendary Hero
Episode I: Doorway to Reality
Chapter II -- Part 1
The rolling hills and bright green grass were a
lovely counter-point to the events of the day. If a traveler on the road to
Grande Verde were to look solely to their left they would see a wide expanse of
grass and wildflowers. The rolling foot hills of the Grande Mountains would be
the next beautiful image to appear in sight. As sights go, many would consider
it worthy of addition to any artist’s canvas.
However, should that imagined
traveler chance to look to their right; they would see the aftermath of a terrible
battle. The burnt husks of former homes, former lives, littered the
countryside. Stale death clung to the air, changing its nature only on the
occasion that the wind blew the scent of those delicate wildflowers toward the
east.
In this war torn land there was
little hope for those who lived on the right-side of the road. A force of
hardened creatures had taken up residence in the mountains. The Robblins, as
they were called, had lived in the area for a very long time. Recently their
numbers had grown to levels that the townsfolk and farmers could not handle.
In the shattered remnants of a
former police station a heated discussion was underway. The results of that
encounter could mean many things for the town.
“Look, we don’t have a choice!” The
wild haired older man, known simply as Grandpa, pointed an accusing finger at
Reh, the town’s mayor.
“We do have a choice!” The mayor
hissed softly then shook his head. Why couldn’t the old fart see that they had
only one option?
A delicate hand slapped down onto
the makeshift conference table. “Listen, you don’t own me. I have a right to go
where I please.” Both the mayor and the elder soldier, Grandpa, turned to the
young girl. Jessica was a headstrong young lady fresh out of her training as a
mage. She was one of the few left in the world since the Dragon Shrine shut
down.
Reh frowned at her, deep lines of
consternation met above his unibrow. “Jessica, see here. The town spent good
money on your education. You can’t just take off at a whim!”
“You spent money on my education,
but you did not buy me on the sales block! I’ve nearly paid my debt anyway.”
She glowered at the frumpy, perennially annoyed, man. He was a constant
aggravation to most people in the area. If he hadn’t founded Grande Verde, he
would probably have been long since been run out of town. Sadly, the one who
founds a town gets to hold the position of leadership there for as long as they
wish. Reh had wished to do so for a long time now.
“Don’t you raise your voice to me
girl! I’ll banish you!”
“Good luck with that you crusty old
snot. Even you can’t just banish me without a council vote. You’re a mayor, not
a king!”
A strong masculine voice cut through
the argument in a decisive manner. “Why are we bickering about this? It’s
obvious that their plan is the only logical course of action. We can’t hold out
here.”
“Even you, Tinian? You really think
this is a good idea?” The mayor’s teeth made an audible grinding noise when
Tinian, the captain of the guard, nodded.
The older man pointed to Jessica.
“She is the only mage left in town. Yes, I get that. However, she’s also the
only fighter we have who can possibly make it across the grasslands.”
“One girl crossing the grasslands is
insane. She’ll die and then we’ll have no mage!”
Tinian looked at the mayor for a
moment. He did nothing more than look at him. His steadfast gaze made the man
feel uncomfortable. He hated to be judged by anyone. He was the mayor after
all. He was in charge! He was!
“She won’t be crossing alone. I’m
going with her.” said Grandpa.
This was both welcome and absurd
news to Reh. Grandpa had a constant pain in his ass since the old soldier had
retired from active service eight years prior. “Why don’t you go by yourself,
and leave her here!”
“Why don’t you go off somewhere and
die?” Grandpa snickered at the expression of rage that erupted across the
mayor’s face.
“How dare you speak like that to me?
If I hadn’t taken your family in in all those years ago you would still be
living in the wilds with the rest of the beasts.”
“At least the beasts know what’s
good for them. You don’t need Jessica or me here at the moment. The Robblins
probably won’t mount another major attack for a while. Even if they do, with
everyone in the city they would have trouble breaking through.”
The mayor shook his head. “No. No
and that’s final.”
Grandpa glared at the man, but it
was Jessica who answered. “Fine, I’ll renounce my citizenship.”
“Renounce… You can’t do that! You
owe the town money.”
“No, I don’t. I owe people in the
town money. You personally refused a direct loan from the budget and told me
that I’d have to get it elsewhere. The townspeople spent money on me, but I owe
them personally, not the town itself.”
Reh’s face darkened considerably,
the blood rushing to his face gave him a nearly purple hue. It faded quickly,
however, as the truth set in. He started to shake. “Y-you can’t do that
Jessica. The town needs you.”
“I’m happy to help the people living
here. I grew up here. You and the town do not own me, though. I can and will do
as I like. I’m a free citizen after all.”
The mayor slammed his ham-sized
fists down onto the table. “Fine, do as you want. Just know one thing. I am
ordering the gate fortified. You won’t be able to get back in to this town till
the Robblins are dealt with. You bring back a mercenary force, and I’ll order a
few of our remaining guards to climb down the wall and help you.”
She looked to Grandpa and the old
soldier nodded his head solemnly. It was
the best possible outcome that they could expect from this meeting. Jessica
turned back to the mayor. “Agreed.”
~*~
No comments:
Post a Comment