The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen

Chapter 61: Stranger, Danger?

(Saturday, September 11th Game Day / Friday, March 26th Real Day)

A few days had passed as Selene appeared to have returned to normal, with her behavior more consistent with how it had been in the past. Between her and Katherine, the two of them seemed to be getting along just fine as they managed their own affairs apart from me.

The Loyalty Bar had received a slight bump from both women, as Selene's Affection for me rose slightly after talking things out while Katherine's went up in both. Her Trust Bar raised due to the Rattanorv incident and Affection saw a boost from general discourse. All in all, I was making good progress with my Companions.

Unfortunately, I had yet to reach the threshold for Soul Link with Katherine, though it actually wasn't too far away. A few more adventures, a little more Trust building, and maybe some flirtatious behavior, and it was within reach.

Well, that was for another time.

Without anything in particular needing to be done at the village, I had taken the day off and decided to go on a hunt. In search of new creatures roughly fifty miles to the southeast of Dragon's Breach, my travels had thus far proved fruitless with only a wolf to show for it. One lousy wolf in fifty miles, and it was a mangy one, at that.

In the midst of skinning a hide, I was suddenly startled when a wild beauty appeared through the bush! She had stumbled forward and fell to the ground in an awkward display of coordination, or lack thereof. Brushing the leaves off her clothes and plucking the ones stuck in her hair afterwards, she then patted her knees and stood up.

Watching the scene unfold before me while kneeling down next to the corpse of the wolf, with hands halfway through the process of carving the carcass into something usable, I was completely thrown off guard. My hands and arms dripping with blood, all I could muster was a weak smile as I realized the graphic nature of the scene.

It took her a second to realize I was there, as her eyes traced the ground up to the carcass and then up towards me. Shocked with what she saw, she took a step back before realizing I had already seen her.

"Uhh hi?" she said awkwardly, in an attempt to break the ice.

"Hello," I replied as I turned away and went back to work.

Continuing to carve up the carcass, I ignored the girl that was standing a few feet away. The only problem was, she didn't move or say anything else. Ah, where are my manners, I thought to myself.

"Welcome to the North," I added onto my previous greeting with no shame felt.

Returning to my work with the hopes that she would turn around and head in the opposite direction, I was soon disappointed when she continued to stand there silently.

Separating the meat from the hide caused a small piece of fat to flick off into the distance as the girl jumped back in disgust, clearly too close for her comfort. "Um, I'm kind of lost," she explained with slight hesitation as she slowly backed away from me, clearly unsure of what to make of the entire situation. "Do you think you could, when you're done with your work that is, uh, like show me the way to the nearest town?"

After finishing her statement she made a cutesy pose and winked, trying a bit too hard for my tastes. Not bothering to stop slicing, I simply turned my head slightly so as to eye her better. Wild beauties didn't randomly appear in the depths of a forest, especially one this far north.

I was a bit suspicious of her, as I was of all strangers that traveled out here.

Her gear was suspect, too.

Trendy brown leather boots that flared out with lace boot cuffs at the edge, leather short-shorts dyed blue, and a white linen halter top shirt to complete the look. Sleeveless with an abundance of cleavage being shown, along with the bare midsection, all screamed foreigner. Foreign, to the North that is… she had a modern style, more appropriate in the Central Kingdoms.

Suspicious, this one is, I said silently while nodding to myself in agreement.

"Ah, straight west of here there is a village but you won't find much that way," I began to explain as I looked for the position of the sun. "You won't make it before nightfall, not to any village honestly. Did you have a place in mind?"

Standing up and walking over to a small stream, I cleaned my tools and hands and turned my attention back towards the fashionable beauty that had mysteriously appeared. A redhead with a large chest, ample curves, and a barely-there six-pack while retaining some more exotic features, especially the eyes… yeah, she was heavily altered.

There was no doubt in my mind about that.

That wasn't her real appearance, not by a longshot.

"Oh, is that like, how it is?" she stated more than asked as she started to tap her chin repeatedly with her index finger. Then, as if she had come to a conclusion, she placed a closed-fist into an open hand with a sort of ah-hah! feeling to it. "So like… if the nearest town is that far, where are you going to spend the night?"

Letting out a singular muffled ha, I smiled at her while thinking of her angle.

She wanted to tag along, and I guess that wasn't terrible.

"Well, I was in the middle of a hunt," I replied honestly while rolling up the fresh hide. "I don't mind you tagging along, but I'll have to ask again, where are you going?"

"Secret! hehe," she giggled out, oblivious to the fact that I wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, well head west for about thirty miles and you'll run into the village of Andal, it's a small one but the largest of its kind around here. Further north are the Triangle Villages, I don't suggest wasting your time going there though. You won't find anything except a handful of shacks and poor villagers."

"Can't I just uhm, tag along with you? You said that was okay, right?" she asked seriously, while locking eyes with me. "You aren't from those villages, right?"

She was either a conniving individual or sharper than she appeared, or both.

I wasn't sure, but I didn't trust her.

"I was from one of the Triangle Villages, actually," I answered honestly yet again, if not a bit misleading in practice though. "That's why, as a fellow player, save your time."

Wishing to distance myself from the girl, I grabbed my pack and began my trek to the east. I wanted to find new creatures, not new women. Plus, she threw me for a loop, being so trendy and alone this far north was peculiar. A girl like her was almost expected to have a flock of friends or male followers lingering nearby.

She had that sort of air about her.

"Ah! You aren't leaving me are you!?" she yelled as she started to hurriedly walk after me. Catching up to me, she puffed her cheeks as she looked at me, feigning some anger as she playfully hit me on the shoulder.

"That's not fair! You said I could tag along!"

Glancing to the side as I continued to walk, I started to grin a little.

I felt like teasing her.

"Oh, but I'm not heading to a town dear," I said with a fake frown.

"Not ever?" she questioned with a pout, clearly practiced with her responses.

"Hmm, not for a while, no," I said with a shrug. "I'm going to hunt… for at least a day, maybe two if I feel like it, then I'll consider heading to a village."

"But I'm lost!" she exclaimed while throwing her hands up in the air like a child. "Won't you like, show little ole me the way? Take me with you; it's scary out here alone!" Pouting and pretending to be sad, she was a master at her craft. If I didn't have more attractive women waiting for me in Dragon's Breach, I might have been tempted.

"Ah I don't know. You don't really want to head north, trust me."

"But I do, I really do!" she stated with a playful fit. "There's a really fancy village near the mountains, and by a river, I saw a picture of it! There were tons of NPCs in there, like a hundred!"

Eh, this girl was giving me a headache.

And she was troubling me.

The picture she was talking about was one and the same… the one they showed at the Alpha and Beta Meeting. The one that Emily put up for all to see… and the one that made me angry enough to stop attending.

Where did this girl hear or see it?

And why would she want to travel alone, a hundred some miles, to see a village.

That made no sense at all to me.

"Sounds like fantasy to me hun, you sure it wasn't photoshopped?" I asked with a confused expression, attempting to cause some misdirection.

"No way, it exists, it's been verified like for real."

"Well, even if it did exist, why would you want to head there?"

She took a second to think as her index finger made its way toward her chin. Tapping repeatedly as if it were a bad habit, she eventually stopped and answered me with measured confidence.

"I want to move to the North," she finally stated.

Nodding at herself, she seemed pleased.

"Yeah? Well, again, welcome to the North miss," I said with a slight bow.

"Hehe, thank you thank you, I'm Milly by the way, pleasure to meet you!"

Laughing at myself for getting caught up in her pace, I gave in.

"Likewise, the name's Sigurd."

Extending a hand, she took the offered handshake and returned a cheerful smile.

"So you're going to take me, yeah?" she asked immediately while still holding onto my hand. "I won't let go until you say yes!"

"We'll see about that, I might make my way north in a day or two."

"That's a promise. I'll hold you to it mister!"

Ah, this girl.

I wasn't sure what to do with her.

Oh well, if she tagged along for a day or two and still wanted to move North, I couldn't stop her. I would need to increase the player population anyways, if I wanted to turn my little village into a metropolis. It was a bit soon to start, since my infrastructure wasn't completely sound yet, but it couldn't hurt to start.

The more the merrier, or so they say.