Chapter 13: Chapter 13

She got up early the next morning and rushed out of the inn, heading to the bakery. The mud squished between her toes, and she moved at a hurried pace. She entered the bakery. It wasn’t very far from the inn. It was a large open space with ovens lining the walls and tables. Set up in between them, people with mixing bowls were kneading dough at the tables, taking the prepared goods to the ovens and then back out when they were finished. She walked in, looking for the woman from the night before and spotted her taking bread out of one of the ovens. “There you are,” Anna said. The woman looked at her, then placed the bread on a cooling rack and took off her mitts. “You came. I have a tray of them in the oven. They will need to cool after they are done before I can put the frosting on.” She said. “How many are there?” Anna asked. “The tray has thirteen, but,” she started. “I’ll take them all,” Anna said, cutting her off. The woman just looked at her, but Anna had already pulled out the coins and was walking to the head baker to pay. “This is taking sooo long.” She thought, although it has only been about an hour. The woman finished putting on the frosting and carried the tray to her. “I’ll get a box for you.” the woman said. “No need.” Anna replied as she began to eat them.  

It took her fifteen minutes to finish them all. The bakers seemed impressed. She waved goodbye and then walked out the door. She explored the town, looking for the market. It was much smaller than Fishport, only a small square in the center of town. Browsing through the stalls, nothing quite caught her eye. Spotting Lyreen, she walked over to the woman. “Hi.” She said. “Hi." Lyreen replied. She looked like she was trying to think of something to say. “Are you alright?” Lyreen blurted out. “Yes.” Anna replied, confused. Nothing could hurt her. She wasn’t sure why she had asked that. “I mean, I’ve never seen you angry. Last night was...” She trailed off. “Oh, last night.” Anna thought. She had been too distracted by cupcakes to think about it. “I’m fine now.” she answered. “Why, though?” Lyreen asked.  

Anna took a moment to think about it. “Well, I’ve saved everyone four times now, and no one ever asked me what I want. You all just expect me to follow you around and do what I’m told.” She answered. Lyreen looked thoughtful. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I didn’t think about it.” She said haltingly. “It’s ok. I’m not mad anymore, and I really don’t know why I got so mad in the first place.” Anna answered. She hugged the woman. “I don’t know what we are going to do with you. You’re just so nice.” Lyreen said. They looked around the rest of the market together, and not finding anything worth buying, then left. The inn was crowded. It was just late enough for the towns people to be off work, but not late enough that they had to worry about the next day. The others were seated at a table. Lyreen headed towards them. “I’m going to go to my room to clean my feet off.” Anna said, leaving the woman. There was a small wash basin in her room normally used to wash hands. “That will work.” She thought. She set it on the floor and filled it with water from a pitcher that was in the room for that purpose, using a cloth to scrub away the dirt. “Good enough.” She said aloud, tossing the water out of the windows and returning the basin to its spot on the dresser.  

She joined her party at their table. They had already ordered food. It was still steaming when she took a seat. They ate in silence. “Lass, if I ever start leaving you out again, just whack me one. Not too hard though.” Thokri said. “Yes. I think we all owe you an apology.” Barika said. Voekeer nodded, and Lyreen smiled at her. She smiled back. “I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. I know this isn’t normal and that most recruit adventurers aren’t quite as tough as me.” She said. “Aye, lass. That’s putting it mildly.” They all laughed in agreement. Thokri began to tell some tall tales about his time in the mines at his clan’s mountain. “He may have been drinking out of his flask too fast.” Anna thought. Laying in her bed that night, she thought about her sudden anger. “Just one more change that’s happened since I left Fishport.” She thought, falling asleep and dreaming of things far beyond the stars.  

It had dried up enough to leave the next morning, and they set out towards the city of Endertown. A week into the trip, they encountered their first obstacle, a tree. A massive tree had fallen across the road. They could walk around it, but it wouldn’t take much effort on their part to get it moved. “Well, let’s get to work.” Thokri said. They had dropped their packs on the road. He was going back to get more rope. The length they had got at the farmstead turned out to be dry rotted. The dwarf was muttering something in his own language. None of them needed a translation to know how he felt about the farmers.  

There was a crashing sound. Anna turned just in time to see a massive creature shamble out of the forest and backhand Thokri. The dwarf went tumbling away. “TROLL!” Voekeer shouted. Anna ran to the creature, reaching for her club. The next thing she knew, she was flying through the air. She crashed into the fallen tree, splintering it. She slid off the tree and looked around. “Its arms are longer than they look.” She thought, running to the troll again. It was being peppered with magic bolts and not paying attention to her. The club had flown away when she was hit, so she punched it on the thigh. The punch sent ripples through its flesh, and the crack of bone could be heard. It howled with pain, trying to smash her flat. She rolled away from the blow towards its other leg.  

Back on her feet, she found herself face to face with its ball sack. Acting quickly, she reached up and grabbed it by the base right below the massive mushroom shaped appendage that flopped over. She clamped down with all her might. Yanking hard, it tore free, showering her with blood in the process. The troll screamed in pain. She ducked away, still holding the sack in her hands. The troll grabbed its crotch with both hands and limped into the forest. Lyreen ran up to her. “Are you ok?” She asked. Anna saw Barika running to Thokri. She handed the severed sack to Lyreen who took it without looking. She ran to Thokri. Barika got there first. Her hands were already on him, a golden light already fading. She looked down at him. He turned from Barika to look at her, then held his hand in front of his face. “Lass, cover that thing up. You’re going to kill some human lad one day.” He said.  

It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about, but she got it. Reaching out, she took his hand and pulled him to his feet. She took the sack from Lyreen who was just staring at it wide eyed. Anna looked at it closer. “I wonder if they will grow back?” She said, remembering the stories about trolls healing abilities. “They won’t. Trolls heal like my spells. They can’t regrow missing parts. His leg should be fine in a few hours, but that injury will just skin over.” Barika said. “There will be a few angry troll women tonight.” Voekeer said. Anna looked at the sack one more time before tossing it into the brush. “Why did you hand that to me if you were going to throw it away anyhow?” Lyreen squeaked. “I wasn’t thinking,” Anna replied. “ANNNAAA!” Lyreen shouted, making a step in her direction, looking as if she was going to hit her. Then she stopped, realizing who it was. “I hate you so much right now,” she said. Anna laughed. “It’s not the first time you’ve had balls in your hands. You should be used to it by now.” Anna replied, winking at Voekeer who turned bright red.  

Lyreen turned a darker shade of red and stormed off. She heard a choking sound and saw Thokri walking up with tears in his eyes. Then he hugged her. She wasn’t certain what was going on, but when he stopped, he was grinning ear to ear. “Lass, that was the funniest thing I have ever seen. You just handed an elf lass a troll’s sweaty ball sack, and then told her she should be used to it. I can’t wait to tell the lads back at the guild hall.” Thokri said. Lyreen made another high-pitched sound. “That’s enough. You don’t want her to pop a blood vessel. Let’s finish moving the tree.” Barika said. The others stood around the tree for an hour arguing about the best way to move the thing. Anna had heard enough debate about the tree and simply threw it back into the forest. “Well, that settles that.” Thokri said. Lyreen didn’t speak to her for a few days, but she came around eventually.  

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