Adventures of the Space Aces

Fantasy Space Aces

The day had been long and stressful on all of them, even Ace, the cleric who knew powerful and effective healing spells. Exhausted, the party of four trudged out of the dungeon with slow, weary steps, their bodies sagged forward, arms hanging at their sides limply. Everyone was groaning but not saying much of anything. The verbal expression of their fatigue was enough to satisfy them that no one wasted even more energy using words. It was clear what they were conveying: I am tired, let me die, please.

Silas' armour weighed him down even more than anyone else in the party, making each step harder than the last.

The party walked along the dirt path leading back to the nearest town, heads hung low. They looked like a pack of zombies with their groaning and moaning accompanying their slow stride.

After an hour of walking down the mountain, the party came across a farmer and his horse-drawn wagon full of wheat.

They were able to hitch a ride back to town, making the journey significantly easier for the party despite the bumpy road they traversed along only aiding the aches in everyone's bones along the way. No one spoke. All four tired adventurers merely slumped against each other and onto the large haystack behind them, closing their eyes and trying to fall into much-needed sleep before the ride was over and they would have to go back to walking until they found an inn to stay at.

When the farmer reached the town, he leashed his horses to a nearby post and walked to the back of the wagon to see how his passengers were doing. The party was asleep.

"Hey, kids! We're here." The farmer slapped the side of the wagon, waking the party up with a violent jolt. Sylvie and Ace looked around blearily while Silas and Aec stretched their arms. They all hopped off with yawns.

Sylvie faced the farmer. With a grateful smile, he yawned, "thank you, sir, for the ride. What should we pay you?"

The farmer chuckled, "nothing, my dear boy. It's thanks to young adventurers like you four that our lands are safer. It was my pleasure to help you. Good day, and get some rest. It looks like y'all need it." The farmer waved them off as the party all nodded and walked off with slow strides, still waking up from their naps.

It wasn't hard to find an inn. It was even easier to find an inn that provided food and drinks. Aec and Silas were very happy about that. They were definitely going to be drinking later on after they'd settled in their room and rested for a bit.

At the top of the stairs and down the hall was the party's room. Dragging themselves up the stairs, the party was eagerly awaiting the beds they'd just paid for. The four walked the remaining few metres before finally reaching their door.

Sylvie, who had the key, let everyone in. The room wasn't cramped despite having two twin beds and a dresser.

"We'll take the bed by the window," Aec announced, walking to the end of the room and to said bed, Ace following behind them. The two sat down on either side of the bed, back to back and started undressing their outer layers to get comfortable.

"Okay," Sylvie replied, closing the door and stepping over to his bed with Silas.
Silas sat down on the bed, his armour noisily clashing together with each bend. He let out a long, grateful sigh now that he was off of his feet. Slowly, but surely, Silas then stripped of his outer armour.

He had Sylvie help with the places where he couldn't reach. It was a slow process but Silas was glad in the end anyway when he was finally in his gambeson.

"Thanks," Silas yawned, leaning against Sylvie on the bed. "No problem." Sylvie patted Silas's thigh before getting up.

"Who's staying in, who's going for drinks?" Sylvie addressed the room. He personally wasn't as physically exhausted as Silas and Aec for he fought with magic instead of brute strength and didn't move as much as they did when fighting monsters. That didn't mean he wasn't mentally drained though. Magic takes a lot out of a person when used in excess.

The Aces were laying together on their bed, Ace holding Aec and chanting under his breath. He was casting relief spells on Aec with the little mana he had left from the reprieve the wagon ride provided. It was no wonder why Ace was doing as such, he wanted to ease Aec's aches and pains after they had been running and jumping and hacking away at the enemies in the dungeon today. Their bones and muscles were definitely sore and would be for a few days.

Sylvie couldn't help but smile at how sweet the scene was. He felt a bit bitter at the fact he couldn't do the same for Silas because he wasn't a healer, not like Ace and his skill. Sylvie knew basic healing magic but it only worked for visible wounds, not aching bones like he was sure Silas had since Ace had healed everyone before they left the dungeon.

"I could drink. I just need like a minute before I start moving again," Silas replied with a long sigh while he laid down on the bed, stretching his arms above his head and pushing his head into the pillows. Sylvie nodded with a fond smile at the sigh of his partner.

Aec also reacted, raising their arm in the air, saying aye before lowering it. Ace finished his hushed chanting before lifting his head, "I'll join too. A drink sounds nice."

It was decided, the four of them would go for a drink and some dinner later on in the evening.
"Perfect, I'll go cash in our loot and notify the guild we're finished today's mission." Sylvie, as the leader, was always the one to handle such business.