“My Lady, have you noticed how quiet it is here, among the listeners?” Tristan asked the noble lady who sat next to him, respectfully but quietly.

  “Indeed, it's so peaceful and calm that I feel compelled to go to sleep… It is so late, Tristan. How did they manage to convince me to stay here after the official festivities ended?” She asked rhetorically, yet with so much emotion in her voice that her loyal servant felt the need to answer – and he would do so, if he didn’t know her so long already.

  “Yes, I wonder the same – though, even though I’m no expert, I think the twins’ story is much appreciated. Maybe hearing it might be a reason enough to have stayed? None of the earlier ones had so much silence after all…” Tristan wondered aloud.

  “Oh Tristan, you forget who made all that noise – though, I can not deny you a grain of truth, they do know how to catch attention…” The lady reminded, looking at him as if he were a case without the hope of redemption.

  “...Perhaps… But… If I can be so bold…” He replied.

  “You can.” She allowed.

  “The Lich was noisy as well…”

  Oh Tristan… is that how you speak to your Lady?

  [Sekta]

  After the duel, people started to eye me suspiciously, they gave me more space while I walked on the street and finally started to answer when I asked them something, as if before, I was not worthy of their attention. Such scum and filth they were, a young pretty girl, and all they see is either a poor basterd or wizardess? Where is the middle in that?

  Ehhh… Nevermind…

  However it vexes me, when they finally started to respect me a little, things turned out to be much easier for us. Soon, we found a few gigs, or rather commissions that we could take – mostly focusing on my ability to do magic, but in one or two of them, Ekta’s fist or occasional thick stick proved to be much more useful. Unsurprisingly, no one after William came to me in need of revenge, though…

  [Ekta]

  A shame they didn’t, I would watch another such fight anytime and anywhere. Definitely worth my time.

  Another thing that was worth my time was our original plan, to find and buy myself a sword – which unfortunately proved to be much harder to do, especially after the duel.

  You see, Henry, that blacksmith and his family were the only smiths in the town, which meant no services for us, who took part in making him lose a fight in front of the whole community. I had to make a trip to a few other settlements in the area to scout where another smith was, preferably a swordsmith. And while there were few unspecialised, provincial craftsmen – a guy who made exclusively blades lived three days away, and in the direction from where we escaped, so going to him was a no-no. Not to mention, we would probably not be able to afford something he made…

  On the bright side, on the other side of the Grand Forest – where we were headed either way – a respectable swordsmith lived in semi-retirement. His services were rumoured to be bought not by money but by his curiosity. So, I settled my mind on convincing him to make me a worthy blade. Until then, a lesser sword would do.

  [Sekta]

  And so, living in the shabby, long-necked-sheep painting-covered hut, we spent over two months in the area. Each day, we either worked or searched for more work.

  Swords, as it turns out, are quite expensive. The sellers say, “a weapon for nobles” and raise the price, fuckers. Remind me, Ekta, why can’t you use an axe or a spear? Those are readily available and no less useful. I’d say they even have more uses than a sword, especially in the hands of someone who respects the blade…

  [Ekta]

  -Not this argument again… The fact that I was taught how to use it from my fourth year of living aside, swords one of the only tools that are meant only for fighting other sapient creatures – which proves your point about functionality, but also, makes it so that the warrior doesn’t forget – they are killers and killers only.

  Not lumberjacks, not hunters, not farmers or gatherers – cold-blooded murderers and nothing more…

  [Sekta]

  …

  [Ekta]

  …

  [Sekta]

  –Anyway… When we finally gathered enough money to buy Ekta a sword, we began our search for someone who might be planning to travel through the Grand Forest, whose group we could join. Or someone willing to pay us to help them cross the wilderness and not die at the same time.

  Weirdly enough, while there were no planned expeditions, no established groups who might be interested in travelling through the forest, we found a patron who would gladly pay us for an escort in record time. And bear in mind, we were two teenage girls at the time, no matter if we knew magic or how to cut off an ogre’s head off, no one trusts young girls that easily with their life. Or rather, no one sane trusts anyone with their life so rashly.

  I didn’t like him from the get-go, but not only did he pay us for the protection, he also had maps and supplies necessary to cross the forest. He was a man, barely older than us, but still under his twenties. He came from the north wearing expensive clothes, cohesive in colour – all yellow. Weird choice if you’d ask me, but it didn’t necessarily look bad on him.

  He came to Bushsawodzitz alone, but with a big backpack, a hefty sack of coin and a mace bound to his side. Supposedly, he was travelling to deliver some important message, and surely enough, just as he appeared in town, he started to ask around for people planning to brave the wilderness.

  Suspiciously, though, he asked us if we would be able to help him out of his own volition, while saying that he hadn’t heard about our search for adventurers. I still can’t imagine why he would lie about that, but on the other hand, I don’t believe he truly hadn’t heard about it.

  Weird it was, but we finally agreed to accompany him, for an appropriate reward, of course…

  [Ekta]

  –Sekta speaks as if he were some sort of evil devil who disguised himself as a human to deceive us, but the truth was that he was a really sweet boy. Slightly naive and maybe too optimistic, but it went well with his stature, so I count that as a plus.

  About that, he wasn’t very tall, nor did he have the biggest muscles, but it all blended well together and, along with his pretty face and slightly dishevelled brown hair, made him quite handsome.

  He called himself “Dove”, insisting that while he travelled, he wanted to remain anonymous. As for why Dove?

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Surely you can connect the dots between a messenger pigeon and a dove – he said he called himself a Pigeon at first, but changed after some travelling bard laughed at him and composed a song mocking his pseudonym.

  [Sekta]

  I agree with the bard. Pigeon, while it's a noble creature, sounds funny and is too long a word to be a nice moniker.

  He should be thankful to that bard, instead of cursing the man whenever someone asked him about his name.

  [Ekta, throwing a side glance at her sister]

  … Anyway, about three days after we came to the agreement with Dove, we went out towards the Grand Forest, leaving Bushsawodzitz for good. We said our goodbyes to a few people, including William the Carpenter and his family, but otherwise, the exit was swift.

  We went on foot, with backpacks full of rations, blankets, sheets and basic equipment needed in the wilderness. Dove led the way, having a map with a detailed description of the road through the Grand Forest.

  He was also the only boy in the group, it would have been rude of him to make us go before him.

  The first three days of our journey (out of the fourteen planned) passed quickly and without surprises. We walked in the day, while the sun shined through the canopy of leaves and chased away the damp chilliness of the forest, and camped through the night – in open clearings, with fire aflame and someone always on the lookout. It was tiring and boring, but also refreshing – especially as we marched next to old riverbeds, loess crevices and streams that flowed so quietly and peacefully that while walking, I often found myself lost in thought, wondering on some philosophical question or observation I made in the past.

  Afterwards, though - it became… worse…

  [Sekta]

  –It went to shit, she wants to say.

  No matter what we did, some weird thing happened. The forest seemed to hate us, sending each and every obnoxious and irritating creature our way, while also not forgetting about those who mean harm to the likes of us.

  From monstrously big snails, with spiked shells and horns not unlike mythical unicorns, through swarms of mosquitoes – fortunately easily killed by a bit of fire magic – to a wandering band of lytrans, who are famous around the Grand Forest for their brutality and retardness alike.

  Snail was first, and least infuriating. Even funny for a while. He or she, whatever it was, crawled into our camp in the morning, brazen as the sun, and started sniffing around our bags greedily – if it even had olfactory senses.

  Dove wanted to scare it away, shouted at it and jumped around, looking more like a clown than whatever he wanted to look like. The snail, though, only looked at him for a moment and two and resumed inspecting our bags, not acting at all for the boy – even though he had his mace in hand. Then, as if he really wanted to look like a clown, Dove hit the sial in a spike - breaking his mace in half and spraining his wrist… What an idiot.

  The snail didn’t even flinch, and our male defender was on the ground, crying over his wrist and beloved weapon…

  [Ekta]

  –Unfortunately, I have nothing to say in his defence – I thought he was better than that.

  The sail only left us alone after Sekta smashed it with some force spell, sending it tumbling through the bushes. I, at that time, had to take care of our brave employer’s hurt hand.

  Then, followed a day or two in relative calm, apart from the weather that seemed to target whatever we specifically didn’t want. As if some evil god focused their wrath upon us. As if Dove, who constantly complained and whined, wasn't enough for us.

  Next came the mosquitoes – a huge, dense swarm of buzzing flying needles, as if straight from a twisted tale about vampires who could transform into a swarm of bats,sawe for bats, who were exchanged with mosquitoes.

  Before Sekta could incinerate them all, Dove ran into the trees in panic, screaming profanities and attracting the bloodsucker’s attention.

  [Sekta]

  –You weren’t a saint yourself, Ekta. If I remember correctly, you ran straight after him, calling for our dead mother in panic.

  [Ekta, not looking straight at her sister]

  –You must have imagined things. I went after him to help him and bring the swarm to you – so you have an easier time getting rid of it.

  [Sekta]

  …Let’s say that’s right…

  After Dove calmed down – still assaulted by the horrid creatures called mosquitoes – he came to me along with Ekta. I, in turn, incinerated most of those devilspawns in one go. Though some must have remained as we were covered in marks for the rest of the journey through the Grand Forest, with new ones appearing every day.

  Lastly, around the ninth day of our journey through the wilderness, lytrans appeared on our way.

  Firstly, heard from afar, their distinctive cackle, along with the sound of rock hitting wood, marked their presence quite clearly. Had we had any way to hide, we would have done just that. Unfortunately, while there were plenty of bushes around, none of them were thick enough to hide us reliably. Trees weren’t much better; it was a very illuminated part of the Grand forest, with leaves of all types giving space for light to travel.

  So, instead, we prepared.

  Dove went to the back, with his – now broken – mace in one, unharmed, hand, he was to take care of himself at least. Even without his main hand, we expected him to be able to take care of one lytran on his own. They aren’t the most skilled warriors, despite what their famed brutality may suggest.

  Once Ekta unsheathed her sword, and some time passed, the sounds of lytrans, who approached us from the direction we were headed, became audibly louder – they were just around the forest path’s corner.

  As we stood, metal in hands and spells on lips, the humanoid creatures, covered in grey fur from head to toe, finally became visible to us. Similarly, we were visible to them.

  First, they stopped. None of them struck the trees with their rock-finished clubs. None of those, weird legs, with two knees facing in opposite directions, as some fawn or wolf moved. Their horrible, stench-spreading mouths, sitting atop a muzzle, widened agape in shock. None of them were pretty, their fur was dirty, sticky and partially torn off, with some scars adorning their bodies in various places and even a burn mark or two to add to the variety.

  Then – after looking around, at their companions questioningly – they charged as a unified organism with ambition and eagerness befitting a great hunter, yet none of the patience and intelligence that usually got associated with the title.

  Howling, they ran at us with their weapons high, ready to hit…

  [Ekta]

  –Their technique, as I later decided, was horrible. Even the goblins and gnolls we encountered in our later adventures handled their weapons better. With grace even, when compared to those lycan-humanoid brutes.

  Ekta and I moved in unison to meet them halfway. Dove didn’t.

  I parried a strike, sliding it on the blade of my sword until it stopped at the hilt and using the same motion, pierced the neck of one of those creatures. Then, stepped back, avoiding another strike and retaliating with an overhead slash of my own – cutting the head of the lytran who stumbled forwards as his strike didn’t connect. Another one tried to circle me and strike from the back. While cowardly and unworthy of a warrior, it was the greatest strategy they have shown. But even that failed, as I spun rapidly, fast enough to deflect his weapon and disembowel him.

  Truly, I don’t get how those creatures managed to earn such a reputation…

  [Sekta]

  –In that time, I struck down another two. Using the most basic of staff fighting techniques for mages, meaning that I amplified my strikes using force waves in tandem. Few of such hits were enough to turn the lytran heads into pulp.

  Dove, on the other hand – faced a single opponent. And was very close to winning.

  Very close, as in – had he had been a bit better fighter, he might have won – but as it was, the grey brute overpowered him with strength alone and pushed him into the bushes like some helpless brat.

  Had Ekta not dealt with her opponents so swiftly, he might have been hurt, as the lykan was just about the jump on him when his head was pierced by my sister’s blade.

  Overall, that skirmish was the moment we realised that taking Dove with us was not a good idea, even if for the money. It just wasn’t worth the struggle to keep him alive…

  [Ekta]

  –But a promise is a promise, and no matter how much we wanted to leave him to fare by himself, we already took the gold – we had to deliver our end of the bargain.

  Also, it would have been un-knightly for us to leave someone helpless in the middle of a dangerous forest. Regardless of whether that person previously claimed to be able to take care of themself…

  [Sekta]

  The rest of the journey was relatively peaceful, with no further unexpected encounters. It took us longer than expected, though, as we arrived on the Grand Forest’s edge thirteen days after leaving Bushsawodzitz. A day later than we prepared for.

  But apart from the fact that we had to push through on half-empty stomachs, it was manageable. The nearest town was in sight just as we left the treeline; it sat atop a hill, with fields and orchards surrounding it from all sides. Sun shined brightly, illuminating the great, picturesque landscape – as if greeting us among the civilisation once again.

  We left Dove behind and headed to the walls, more adventures awaited us. This time, without a hindrance, who didn’t even tell us his name.