Fantastic+Setting+Story,+Take+Two

"There's no way..."

"Well, apparently there is."

"Neroth's like... a three day journey on a fresh horse from here, why on earth would a ragtag, vagabond group of bandits travel all the way down there just to rest?"

"I don't know, Tara."

"What, are they planning a mass take-over of the village? The three of them?"

"No. I wouldn't give them that much credit."

"Nor I..." Tara leaned back into her chair with a sigh, flopping her arm over the back as her darkened gaze rested on the floor in thought.

"I still don't see the problem, Tara. You've gone farther for a bounty than Neroth," her employer said, leaning against a door frame and crossing his short arms over his chest.

"It just doesn't add up to me, Feo," she sighed in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, well, the gold adds up, though," Feoryth said simply. "Really, Tara, its not that big a deal."

"Fine fine fine fine," she said, flicking her hand back and forth dismissively, "How much does is this lot going for?"

"10 for the two lackeys, 25 for the ringleader."

"Yeesh... That's not bad. I guess."

"Mm. Its actually very good for the situation. They wouldn't be worth half as much if they were hiding behind the nearest tree outside Lymrath Castle. Most of the pay is for the travel trouble."

Tara nodded in understanding before turning a cerulean eye up to the Head of Criminal Affairs.

"Is this the total before of after your commission?" There was a slight pause between the two before a toothy grin spread over the man's plump face.

Tara smirked.

"Of course. Sugar-coating it, are we?"

"Its only a 15% commission, I'd hardly call that sugar-coating." Tara wrinkled her nose at the man. Feoryth was a shorter elf in his mid forties. He had a round frame and a tight, diplomatic smile, of which he had acquired from years of working his way up the political ladder. He was dark complected, and sported a salt-and-pepper comb-over to hide his receding hairline.

As Head of Criminal Affairs, appointed by the princess, it was his job to run the prisons and hire bounty hunters for the kingdom. Politician that he was, this man had a good heart.

"Anyway, you've been to Neroth, have you not?" Feo asked.

"I lived there for a year or two of my early teenage years, yes. There is a swordsman there that taught me the basics that started this lovely career," she said, the slightest hint of sarcasm in her tone.

"Good. Do you remember the way, or shall I supply you with a map?" The Head of Criminal Affairs offered lightly. Tara shook her head, and told him she was fine. The employer and employee bid farewell, and as she was leaving his office, Tara hesitantly turned back. Something on her mind had been bothering her for quite a while.

"Sir?" she ventured formally. The politician had seated himself behind his desk, and was busying himself with sorting through a mound of parchment.

"Yes, Tara?" he called, not looking up from his work.

"I was wondering... The reason I've been assigned numerous small bounties recently, does it have anything to do with my... skill?" Feoryth paused in his filing. He gave a sigh, then removed his glasses as he looked up at Tara.

"You are still learning. I understand you've passed certain training, Tara. But you are very young. You are yet very unskilled, and there is much still to be learned." He paused briefly to give her a quick, sympathetic smile. "You do have promise," he said with slight reassurance. Tara responded by giving a nod of acknowledgement. "Well. I hope that satisfied your curiosity. Good luck with the bounty," he said as he returned to his papers. Tara gave a short bow, and turned on her heel. Disappointed with the reality she was afraid of, she left the castle slightly disheartened.

The brisk morning air hit Tara as she made her way into the middle of the Lymrath Castle Town, illuminated by brilliant sunlight. Slightly perturbed from her last conversation with her employer, on the subject of her mediocre skill in the field of bounty hunting, she kept her eyes on the ground directly in front of her as she walked in the direction of the stables. //You are yet very unskilled, and there is much still to be learned...//

She heaved a giant sigh. Feo was right. She was no bounty hunting prodigy. She was Feo's go-to for easy missions when the other, more prestigious BH's were out on other missions. But she was only 17... She had a while to improve. Feoryth was also right about that.

Tara retrieved her horse, paying the stable keep more than half of the gold left over from her last bounty.

Once in the Brevolian Expanse, Tara patted her big, black horse's neck firmly.

"Hey Willie, baby, you miss me? //Ooooo// I know ya did, I know ya did," she crooned. The draft horse snorted, and his bridle clinked as he tossed his mane of black hair. In her imagination, he was scoffing at her baby talk.

She climbed onto his back, and spurred him east, in the direction of Neroth. The journey was relaxed, and took them four days of riding across the beautiful green hills and plains of the Brevolain Expanse to reach the gorgeous forests of Fen, where the rural Elven town of Neroth was located. She entered into a clearing, where a strange-looking Fenian sprite was seated by a cauldron over an unlit fire. She gave a false, toothy smile as she twiddled fingers at the forest being, who obsessively tried to give her a lantern.

"Ha ha... noooo thanks..." she hissed through her exaggerated smile as she tried to center his attention on something other than the lantern.

"Sir, I would be very grateful if you could answer a few of my questions..."

"Oh, yes yes yes, but I insist that you take this lantern, Miss Foreigner!" he called, waving the lamp back and forth furiously over his head like a beacon.

"I assure you I don't need it, but if you could take a peek at these thugs and tell me if you've seen them, I'd-"

"Its rather foggy and dark in the forest!"

"Yes, but I'm quite confident I'll man-"

"Oh, no, trust me, Miss Foreigner, you're going to need it! The giant spiders and Cave Grelicks have been particularly pesky as of late!" The spindly creature had risen from his seat by a cooking fire to strategically scuttle between Tara and the path to Neroth. Tara strained to keep her smile from turning to a snarl, her short temper threatening the possibility of getting information about her targets.

"All I need to know is if you've seen these men!" Tara thrusted the //WANTED// flyer of the group of thugs in the man's face, as he thrusted the lantern up at Tara on her horse, the ever-present, good-natured smile on his face. //Annoyingly// good-natured. They continued to banter each other, Tara in rising fury, the Forest Man in good-natured amusement.

"Ahem..." Both ceased in their ridiculous exchange, turning their heads simultaneously toward the attention-seeking throat-clearer at the other end of the clearing. A young Nerothian elf stood there, no older than Tara herself, blinking at them from across the clearing. A twitch of a smile threatened to expose itself on the corner of his mouth as he spoke up.

"Um, hello. If you don't want that lantern, Ma'am, I'll take it," he said politely, evidently trying to hide his amusement.

"Splendid, Sir!" The strange Forest Being clapped his hands together around the lantern as the Nerothian elf approached. Tara hunched low in Willie's saddle, grumbling in mock concentration as she attempted to hide her embarrassment behind the //WANTED// flyer. She desperately tried to gather up the shattered bits of her composure from behind the piece of parchment.

"Can I help you, Ma'am?" The elf's voice floated from beyond her view of the flyer.

"Oh, no. //No//, I'm fine," she chuckled nervously, fighting the rising flush of embarrassment at being seen arguing so ridiculously with a stranger.

"You're flyer's upside down," he said pleasantly.

"Oh dear!" She guffawed nervously through her teeth, swiping the flyer away from her face. "How silly of meee..." The boy laughed along with her, a warm, golden sound, as he softened the embarrassment for her.

"Well, I need that lantern quickly. I don't have anymore time to waste." His face darkened slightly, as he addressed the Forest Being. The creature obliged, giving him the lantern, and encouraging him to buy lantern oil, should he run out. He thanked the man before he motioned toward the entrance of the clearing.

"See you later. I'm afraid a village girl is lost in The Glade, and I'm in a hurry to find her." The Forest Being bid him good luck as he gave him the key to the gate, and soon the farm boy was gone. Recovering from previously making a fool of herself, Tara gazed across the clearing toward the dark cave entrance in slight bewilderment. Was that a //wooden// sword he tromped off into the cave with?

"I apologize, Miss Foreigner, I admit to dramatizing our encounter on purpose... It was all in good fun though," he smiled up at her, scratching the back of his green-skinned head guiltily. Tara snorted, her pent-up, flustered state fizzling to nothing at his sincerity. "What brings you to Fenian Province?" he asked her.

"Well, I'm a bounty hunter... from Lymrath Castle." The Forest Being gave a whistle.

"That far, huh?" he chuckled. Tara nodded. He extended his hand up to her. "Let me see that wanted sign," he beckoned. Tara handed the parchment to him, and he examined it thoroughly. He tutted, and returned to her the flyer.

"They came and went, about 2 days ago. Briar, a swordsman from Neroth, showed them what's what before they left, though," he chortled. Tara's heart sank, her job becoming much harder.

"You don't say..." she muttered. The Forest Being patted Willie's flank with a pale, three-fingered hand.

"Your horse looks worn. You might want to catch that boy when he comes back around from The Glade. He's from Neroth," Forest Man suggested amiably. "You could've gone after him if you had a lantern..."

His smile was devilishly innocent.