The Fated Three

Resting Up

    The woman leads Rose and Delgan through the village to a seemingly random house in the corner. She opens the door for them and they see a good place to rest. Delgan goes inside and takes a seat. Rose hesitantly sits on the edge of the cot. She hated being in a new place for too long."So, this is your house?" She asks, unsure how to act around the strange woman. "Yes, please feel free to use it, make yourself at home...What's your name?" Rose ignores the woman's question. Delgan shrugs and the woman seems surprised, she blushes and stutters her name before adding. "You don't have to tell me, it's fine." Rose sighs. "I'm Rose," She tells her, lying down. "Where's the best place to get some grub?" Rose adds the woman nods and thinks for a second. "I think the Tavern, there's a woman there called Eliza who's the best cook in the village" the two nodded but didn't respond so the woman added, "Sounds good, I'll leave you to it then." Delgan and Rose head to the tavern to rest up and talk to Eliza.

     Rose and Delgan sit at a table with a map stretched across it. Rose begins to scan the map for recent undead attacks and asks Eliza where on the map have the attacks been more frequent. Eliza tells Rose that most of the attacks are coming from Calbridge, so Rose makes a note of that. Delgan begins to talk about other villages in the area and what is happening there, but Rose seems distracted and keeps glancing at the door as if expecting someone.

    "Something on your mind?" Delgan questions. "Nothing, sorry," Rose mutters, putting down the map and taking a drink of her Ale. "You keep looking over your shoulder like someone is there" Delgan insists. "Eliza, what can you tell me about Calbridge?" Rose diverts. "Not much, it's a small town with little to offer. Its people are hostile towards travelers and the military has been trying to establish order there for years, so far things are going badly." Eliza answers honestly.

    Rose raises a brow "badly?". "Well, they haven't completely collapsed yet, but it's only a matter of time," Eliza adds. "Hmm, so is there any particular reason why the military can't establish order there?" Rose questioned. "Perfect place for a lich wouldn't you say Rose" Delgan admits. "I guess, so why hasn't one made it there?" Rose retorted. "Well I don't think the military is aware of its exact location, hence why it isn't a priority." Delgan continues. Rose smirks "that means we can get there first". "Yes, yes we can," Delgan exclaims. "When do we leave?" Rose asks while putting away the map as if she already didn't know the answer. "Now!" Delgan answers instantly jumping up and marching towards the door. Rose chuckles and pulls him back "whoa there cowboy. We aren't going anywhere until I get my meal." Delgan shakes his head "Are you kidding me?" Rose's eyes narrowed in a serious brow. "Would you rather I ate you? Because I have no problem with that" A hint of red flames ignites in her eyes as a small grin form on her lips. "Look, I'm just going to speak to the owner and be back shortly." She adds with a chuckle. "Fine, I'll go wait outside" Delgan grumbles, annoyed. Rose mocks "No food for you?". She laughs as Delgan looks at her in annoyance before walking out the door.

   Rose sighs and shakes her head before ordering some food. Delgan waits outside until Rose appears with her meal. "I hope this is enough," She says as she sits down and begins to eat. Rose chuckles at Delgan's annoyance. She pulls out a slice of bread and painfully slowly takes a bite enjoying Delgan's frustration. Rose seems to ignore Delgan's glares and begins talking with her mouth full. "So Del, you said this was the best way to get to Calbridge?". Delgan sighs "To be honest we can either take a long way avoiding the undead or the fast way, but we will most likely encounter undead". "Well I didn't come this far to not complete my mission so if undead is in the way then I'll just deal with it, though I hope you have a better plan than just running past them." Rose declares. "Nothing we haven't handled before Rose, so if you could finish your meal sometime this century, we can get some rest and ice this fucking lich" Delgan retorts.

   With those words, the two both settle down for the night in the woman's house. The next morning Delgan wakes up and quickly checks outside, nothing has changed. He checks on Rose. She was still sleeping. Knowing not to wake her up abruptly he moved towards Rose and gently shook her shoulder. Rose instantly grabs at her dagger prepared for battle. After realizing it was just Delgan, she released her dagger and relaxed. After a quick stretch, she jumped to her feet. "Have you not learned from the last time you tried to wake me?" She motioned at a scar she left on his cheek. It happened many years ago, Delgan had abruptly tried to wake Rose. Reflexively she had grabbed her knife and slashed at who she thought was an attacker. Years later the wound had healed and left a scar. "You must be careful," she scolded. "Sorry" He apologized. "We need to leave while we got daylight on our side," Delgan whispered. "Agreed" She nodded. The two-pack up their things and checked to make sure they haven't forgotten anything. After grabbing their swords, bow, daggers, bread, and wine they walk out the door.