The Immortal Hero And The Nightmare Queen

by Gravitiaxis

Chapter Eight: Age 21: Sometimes Dirty is Necessary

You've set a great goal for yourself. With Gilvina and her group joining you right after your first job, you found yourself making a lot more money than you ever could alone with just your companions, plus she proved to be good company. She added more muscle to the group, which you desperately needed. You knew that not everything could be solved with the wonders of magic and when that time came, Gilvina and her group was there to pick up the slack.

Over the course of three years, you and your little group had become rather well known in country, gathering the eyes of a few nobles as well as a few shady characters, who would often desire your abilities for a number of different jobs. The jobs paid extremely well, but sometimes they could be morally challenging. Especially Gilvina's jobs. Especially hers.

"No, I'm not doing it." You said putting down the wanted papers.

"Pleeease? When have I ever steered you wrong?" She said placing her hand on your leg.

Touching you seductively wasn't going to get you to help her. Not this time. "Remember the dragon fiasco?" You said recalling a former adventure you had with her which caused you, her and Fenris to be tail deep within dragon country. While you never had any prior knowledge of dragons in the first person. You did know that after experiencing them for the first time(and hopefully never again) you knew you had developed a small fear towards them.

"Come on, you use that same excuse every time you don't want to do a job that I offer you." She said moving her hand further down your thigh, making you feel uncomfortable.

"I was swallowed by a dragon! I was almost digested twice in the same day!" You said cringing.

"Oh, calm down you big baby. Did you forget that I was swallowed as well?"

"Look I don't care. I'm not going to help you find the-" You stopped for a quick second and looked at one of the job offers. "Banish the...demon...of...Morgas. Look at this! Where do you find these types of jobs? These are jobs for weirdos and treasure hunters...or both! I'm neither. Go ask Linnan, she's into weird crap like this and for the love of Celestia get your hand off of my leg. You nails are really uncomfortable."

Sucking her teeth, Gilvina removed her hand reluctantly. "Linnan doesn't want to do the job with me either. She said something about self-preservation. I don't know what she meant by that but I think she was agreeing with what you were saying." She then took your shoulders and began to shake you. "Please! I can't complete these jobs on my own. I need someone who can control the elements, bend minds to their will, summon monsters and demons at will."

"That sounds a lot like me." You said suspiciously.

"Because I was defining you, you dolt. Come on! I'll die if I do it alone."

"You know she's not going give up on you." Fenris said walking into the room with a warm cup of tea in hand.

"Yeah, and it would be better on all of us if you'd just go with it." Linnan hissed as she put an ice pack on her head. Yesterdays job involved her getting hit upside the head with a club and she could still feel the effects.

"Fine, I'll do it." You said finally giving up.

"Thanks boss. I could almost kiss you." Gilvina said springing out of her seat.

"Please don't."

"Don't worry, I said almost." She said giving you a playful wink. "I picked the best job on the roster."

You then held your head in hand. "I'm going to die."

---

The town you had been staying in had recently gathered a lot of travelers. Gilvina claimed that the person who gave her this job request had been one of them. "So who's this contact we're supposed to meet?" You asked holding onto your bag of supplies.

"He says his name is Kerd. He hails from a now deserted island to the east." Gilvina said leading you to the pub, where she pointed out an old man sitting alone in the back of the room. "That's him over there. You should go over there and talk to him. I'm not even suppose to be here." She said starting to act fidgety.

"How? I don't recall being in this town for a long time."

"I got into too many bar fights the last time that were here. As a result I've been banned by the owners." She said noticing two of the employees speaking with one another, looking directly at the two of you. "Hey! Don't give me that look! I'm leaving! I'm leaving! I'm surprised you guys still remember me after two years." She said yelling at the two employees nearly starling them. "I'll see you outside boss."

Sighing, you proceeded over to your contact who immediately passed you a mug of fresh ale, as if he had been expecting you. While you were about to introduce yourself, he immediately held his hand up and stopped you. "I know who you are, Aetherrant. That griffon lady already explained to me who you were." He smiled weakly. "As well as the entire populace of the town."

"Believe me, most of the things they've said about my exploits were exaggerated."

The old man chuckled. "Maybe, maybe not, but allow me to ask you a question. How much faith do you have in your own abilities?"

You rubbed your chin while thinking about the nature behind his question. You had of course had faith in you abilities to accomplish almost any job sent your way. However the tone Kerd was using made you feel a little uneasy. "I have enough. So you want me to banish a demon?"

Kerd nodded his balding head and looked almost distraught as he began to speak. "Yes. You see I hail from a small island across the sea. Since we're kind of excluded away from the other communities we've been able to live in peace without fear of intrusion." Before continuing Kerd took a sip of his drink and looked absently at the other bar patrons.

The Isles of Morgas are a group of medium sized islands that laid not too far off from the coastline. It was at first a fishing colony, but after a generation or so it quickly expanded into a large enough state where they could farm other means of food rather than relying on ships from the coastal towns. You hadn't been there before but you'd figured that they've been having a rough time lately. Rumors have been strong about the possibility of the Isle being cursed...

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors about the Isles." You nodded your head. "It pains me to the very core of my being to say this but all 2189 lives that used to reside on Morgas has ceased."

Comments

[Fireeaters]

Derp. That is all.

[BrotallySwagical]

Damn.