The Quests of Fable

Ch. 10: Time For A Quest

Fable slung her bag over her shoulder and closed the door to her room behind her. She had to check in with the headmasters and the front desk before leaving. She had gotten herself a new tunic and sewn a new coat/robe for Slight, as well as bought him a proper scarf.

She closed and locked the door to her room and headed to the headmasters' office. Elsivar was waiting there, ready to let her know it was okay for her to leave. Next Fable went to the front desk, where she checked out and signed her name on the forms that said she would be studying outside of the academy. Finally, it was time for her to leave.

Bidding farewell to the front-desk man, Fable left in the morning with enough time to meet Jin and the others at the tavern. Once they were all together, Fable asked what exactly it was that they were going to go do.

"Why, find a quest, of course!" Kieran grinned. "But there's no good ones here, so we'll be heading out to the next town over."

"Kieran speaks true. We will be going to the town of Mockney," Jin clarified.

"Nifty. We following anything specific or just looking for a quest in general?" Fable sped up a little to keep pace with Jin.

Jin thought for a moment. "We are pursuing a certain line of quests relating to the recent monster attacks, but I doubt we will find anything in Mockney."

"Should we go get horses or something?" Barley asked. "I feel like we shouldn't just walk the whole way."

"Ah, you only want a horse because you don't like walking so much," laughed Kieran.

"Hey, just because I don't like walking-"

"Both of you, hush. We will not spoil this next quest with more of your useless bickering." Jin glanced threateningly at the two boys, and they fell silent.

Despite Kieran's jokes, they did end up getting some horses. There was a system between most towns where people could rent horses in one, and return them in the other. To make sure the horses weren't stolen and so that the other stables knew which town the horse belonged to, each stable had a special symbol that would be branded onto the horse's flank.

Fable and the others saddled up and rode through the fields until they reached Mockney a bit before nightfall. It was relatively close considering the size of Merrington, but Mockney was also a farming town, whereas Merrington was a trade town.

They started their first quest as a group in the same place all quests started: by going to the tavern. It was loud and crowded, much to Barley's dismay. Slight didn't like it much either, but with him they could just leave him outside with their horses. Fable had gotten a particularly skittish steed, meaning that if anything went wrong they would surely hear it.

The party of four sat down at the bar. While Jin got them all drinks, the rest tried to figure out who in the tavern has a quest, and who just wanted to have fun on a Friday night. Kieran spotted someone interesting over in the back corner and grabbed Fable's arm, pulling he over there with him.

They sat down at a table in front of a tall bald man wearing a pair of bronze gauntlets. Kieran leaned across the table and grinned, which Fable was beginning to think was a trademark of his personality. She had to admit though, if he fell off of the table again she would have to laugh.

"So, where'd you get those gauntlets?" Kieran asked. "Dungeon? Wizard? Win 'em in a bet?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "What's a scrawny thing like you want with the Ogre Gauntlets?"

Kieran's grin widened. "Well, it's not so much the gauntlets I want as information on how to get something like them."

There was silence for a moment, and then the man laughed. The rest of his fellows picked it up too, a deep belly laugh that filled the room.

"So, a scarecrow like you wants a pair of Ogre Gauntlets? I've never heard something so silly in my life!"

Kieran grumbled under his breath, and Fable decided it was time for her to step in.

"Excuse me for interrupting, but we really couldn't care less about your little gnome gauntlets. We're here for a real artifact. So if you could just point us to the place where you obviously chose the worst option, we'll be on our way." Fable crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

The man turned to her with a scowl on his face. "What did you just say, little girl?"

Fable's instincts told her that this was a very bad idea, but she held firm. "I said we'd like to know where you got it. We're on the hunt for something more powerful."

"What are you doing?!" Kieran hissed, pulling on her sleeve. Fable waved him off.

The man stood up to his full height, towering over the pair of them. "I took these gauntlets from a squad of skeleton warriors with my own hands! I don't-"

"Skeletons?" Fable snickered. "Oh, please. Where would you even find skeletons in a little town like this? Your closet?"

"Oh, you think I'm a liar? I'll show you exactly where I got these! Come on, little girl. Or is it too dangerous for you?"

Fable raised an eyebrow. "Let me go get the rest of my friends, and you can prove you're not a liar. Wait here."

She hopped out of her chair and grabbed Jin and Barley. Kieran helped her explain the situation, although he embellished it quite a bit. In truth, her plan had been sheer panic and the desire to not be embarrassed with Kieran. Fable even told them all as much, which Kieran did not enjoy. Secondhand embarrassment was an excellent motivator.

The burly man led them through the town, cutting an easy path through the thin dusk crowds. Fable and the others trailed behind, with Jin being the only one able to keep up and Barley a close second.

When they reached their destination, it turned out to be a crude hole carved into a cliff face. The ledge overlooked the entire town of Mockney, and at the top was another town, although nobody really visited that one. Fable wasn't even sure what the cliff town was called. Mystery towns aside, though, a dark hole certainly seemed like a logical place for a crypt or an artifact hoard.

"Well, seems like you were telling the truth after all," said Fable. "We'll be on our way now. Thanks."

The man grumbled and harrumphed quite a bit, but he left them to their own devices.

"Shall we enter, or shall we wait and observe?" Jin asked.

"Wait," Barley replied instantly.

"Go in," said Kieran at the exact same time. They all turned to Fable.

"Fable, you are the deciding vote. In or out?" Jin said.

Fable though for a moment. "What if we head inside in the morning? That way we've got time to rest and get ready, plus the monsters are probably nocturnal. They'll be weaker during the day."

Everyone agreed, and even Slight nodded along from his place atop Fable's horse. With that decided, everyone set up camp and went to sleep.