Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Anna wanted to explore the temple district, and the others didn’t mind, so they started to walk around.

The streets are more worn here than even in the market. She looked down at the smooth stone. It was nearly polished, and she assumed it would be slippery when it rained. Another thing she noticed was that there were no horses or other beasts of burden anywhere to be seen.

“Where are the horses?” Anna asked.

“They don’t want shit all over their holy places, lass,” Thokri replied.

“Yeah, I get it,” Anna said.

She spotted a huge white stone temple with dozens of spires that reached into the sky. It was covered in colored glass windows.

“I want to go in there,” Anna said pointing at it.

“That’s the temple of the god of rulers,” Barika replied.

“It looks pretty. I want to see inside,” Anna said.

“I’m afraid they won’t let you in. Only nobles and other rulers can enter there,” Voekeer replied. Anna started towards the temple. “Didn’t you hear me? I said they won’t let you in!” Voekeer said, rushing to her.

“I’d like to see them keep me out,” Anna said.

“Shit!” Voekeer said. Anna ignored him and the others and walked right up to the temple’s entrances.

Two guards in golden armor stood in front of thick wooden doors. They crossed their polearms in front of her as she walked up.

“Away with you, peasant. Your kind is not welcome here,” one of the guards said.

She grabbed the shafts of both weapons near the head and squeezed, crushing the thick wood. She twisted her wrists, snapping the heads off and tossed them behind her.

“Out of my way mortals,” she said. Hehehe. I always wanted to say that.

The guards stared at the broken weapons in utter shock.

She walked up to the door and pushed it open. There was some kind of transparent barrier behind them. She reached out and touched it with her right hand. As soon as her fingers touched the barrier, it popped and dissipated.

She walked into the temple. Same thing happened with Elaine’s spell. Guess my powers work on god stuff too.

She strode into the temple. It was a huge space filled with long benches where a few well-dressed people sat. They were gawking at her as she walked down the thick carpet to the altar. Fine tapestries hung from the walls.

She looked up. The ceiling was vaulted and covered in paintings. They were of strange, winged beings all flying around a well-muscled man sitting on a cloud.

I wonder what a cloud feels like?

There was a statue behind the altar of the muscled man. It was bathed in light from the colored windows.

“So pretty,” she said.

The priests scurried away from the altar as she approached. She took a large gold coin from her belt pouch and set it on the altar.

“I hope this will make up for me barging in,” she said.

“YOU ARE FORGIVEN!” a voice boomed from the statue.

She looked up at its face and swore it winked at her.

“Thanks. It’s a nice place by the way,” she said. She heard a soft laugh. She smiled and then turned around to leave.

The priests were all bowing on the floor, and the people on the benches looked at her in awe. She walked out to find her friends staring at her stupidly.

“You just spoke to a god!” Barika said.

“Yep,” Anna replied.

Barika took her by the hands. “Child, do you know how rare that is?” Barika asked.

“No. Didn’t even know one,” Anna replied.

“Normally, only the most devout followers or ones they choose to go on a grand quest hear from them,” Barika said.

“Then why did he talk to me?” Anna asked.

“’Cause your father is an unfathomable being from an unimaginable realm,” Elaine replied.

Barika shot her a look. “I doubt her father had anything to do with this,” Barika said.

“Maybe not, but she did pop that divine barrier like a soap bubble,” Elaine replied.

Anna shrugged. Barika let go of her hands, and they started to walk off.

“We should leave,” Voekeer said, pointing his thumb back at the temple. It was swarming with priests now.

“Yeah. I don’t think the lass needs to be answering questions,” Thokri said.

They left quickly, avoiding large groups of clergy on their way out of the temple district.

“You know they will come looking for you, right?” Lyreen asked.

“Maybe, but not today,” Anna replied.

“The guild master’s going to eat us if she finds out you broke into a temple,” Voekeer said.

“I’ll toss her over the wall if she tries to hurt any of you,” Anna replied.

Thokri chuckled. “The lads would pay to see that,” he said.

Voekeer looked terrified. “I don’t think you should do that,” he said.

“How about we go to the dwarves and see if they will build those garden boxes for you?” Barika said.

“Can we not spend the day with dwarves again? I still feel kind of bad from yesterday,” Lyreen asked.

“That’s fine. Want to go to the dressmaker? I’m out of dresses, and I don’t think I’m allowed to walk around naked,” Anna replied.

“No, no, you aren’t,” Voekeer said quickly.

Now that she’d gotten used to the crowds of people, she started to look at the buildings more closely. Most were half-timber half plaster construction like the ones in the crossroads town with a few thickly built stone ones she assumed were from when the city was dwarven.

It wasn’t just the odd stone house that gave away Oldforge’s dwarven past. The streets were perfectly straight. Even if they had been repaired by humans for centuries, a few of the large flat blocks the dwarves had used to construct them originally remained.

The most surprising thing about the city was the aqueduct system. She’d asked Thokri how her hand pump worked, and he explained how basins were located underneath the city and were fed by water carried from the river to the city in underground tunnels.

Waste was carried out of the city in large pipes as well, traveling for miles to another river. The only fault with the system was horse manure. The dwarves didn’t use animals, relying on dwarf power to move everything, so they never built a system to remove it from the city. This meant that humans were responsible for removing it, and they didn’t seem as clever as the dwarves.

The other races didn’t come up with ideas to improve the city because they were treated as little more than guests, even if they had lived here their whole lives.

They didn’t pass through the market center this time, not wanting to get caught in the crowds. Even if going around was a longer walk, it still ended up taking less time.

Once they reached the dwarven tavern, they found a table and sat down. The same black-haired barmaid came over to greet them.

“Ale and food again?” she asked.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

“Uh, could you get me something else? I don’t think I can take dwarven ale, and I’m not up for spicy again,” Lyreen said.

“Want me to pop a tit out? If you suck it hard enough you might get something,” the barmaid replied, winking at Lyreen. The elf turned bright red.

“No, thanks,” she said.

The barmaid burst into laughter. “Like I’d fuck an elf,” she said and then walked away.

Lyreen looked back at her friends with a strange look on her face. “I’m not sure if I should be offended or happy,” she said.

“She’s too much woman for you, child,” Barika replied.

“I really don’t want to find out if that’s true or not,” Lyreen said.

Barika laughed. “Where’s your sense of adventure?” Barika asked.

“I lost that sometime last year,” Lyreen replied.

Barika sighed. “It was hard, wasn’t it,” she said.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

“Well, we all made it, and we have more coin than we did before, so I’d call that a win,” Voekeer said. Lyreen smiled and then kissed him. “Not in front of the dwarves,” Voekeer said as the room filled with hoots and crude jokes.

“Oh, shut up! You’re just jealous you have to jerk off!” Voekeer shouted. The dwarves roared with laughter.

“The lad grew a pair, didn’t he?” one called.

“You’re in for it now,” Elaine said.

“It was worth it,” Voekeer said.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

The barmaid came back with their food. She set bowls of thick stew in front of each of them with a loaf of bread along with dark ale. Each member of the party tossed coins on the tray.

“Thanks,” the barmaid said.

“Hey, do you know anyone that would build some garden boxes for me?” Anna asked.

The barmaid thought about it for a moment. “Aye, I’ll go fetch him,” she said and then walked off.

She returned with a young blond dwarf. He sat at the table and was oddly nervous.

“So, what do you need built, lass?” he asked.

“I want some boxes in the windows of my house so I can grow flowers,” Anna replied.

The dwarf rubbed his beard. “How many windows?” he asked.

“Three: two upstairs and a big one downstairs,” Anna replied.

He nodded. “Five copper for the materials and twenty for me. Sound good?” he asked.

Anna looked at Thokri who nodded.

“Yes, that’s fine,” Anna replied.

He held out his hand and she shook it. “Be there in the morning, lass,” he said.

“I’ll see you then,” Anna replied.

She gave the dwarf her address and then he left.

They ate their food and drank the ale, except for Lyreen. She didn’t want to get drunk this early in the day. They left the dwarven tavern with full bellies and smiles on their faces.

I like dwarves.

“So, what kind of flowers are you going to grow?” Lyreen asked.

“I’m not sure what they are called, but there was this flower on the fronter that had stripes on its petals. They were so pretty,” Anna replied.

“I don’t remember any flowers with stripes them,” Lyreen said.

“That’s because you can’t see the stripes,” Anna replied. Lyreen looked thoroughly confused now. “I can see things you can’t just like my hearing,” Anna said.

Lyreen shook her head. “Of course you can,” she replied.

They went to the center market again to look for a dressmaker. There was a small shop that had a pair of scissors and a bolt of cloth on the sign above the door. They walked into the building and a little bell chimed.

An elf woman walked out from the back. She just shook her head when she saw them.

“Let me guess, you just got back from a long job and need new clothing?” she asked.

“Yep,” Anna replied. The woman looked her over.

“Oh, you poor thing. What did they do to you out there?” she asked.

“We didn’t do anything to her. She keeps fighting monsters,” Lyreen replied. The seamstress gave Lyreen a flat look. “I’m serious!” Lyreen said. The seamstress just shook her head.

“Come on. Let’s get you measured,” she said to Anna, waving for her to follow.

They went to a small room in the back.

“Okay, I’ll need you to take off that dress now,” the seamstress said. Anna took off her belt then pulled her dress over her head. “Wow,” the seamstress said looking at Anna’s nude body.

“I get that a lot,” Anna said.

“Uh, what happened to your underclothes?” she asked.

“I don’t like them,” Anna replied.

The seamstress just looked at her chest for a moment before sighing. “Well, I can’t blame you,” she said.

She started to take Anna’s measurements. She was far more thorough than Beth had been and wrote down what she measured.

“Do you want more like this one?” she asked, holding up Anna’s dress.

“Yes, please,” Anna replied.

The seamstress took some measurements of the dress and wrote them down as well. She handed Anna back her clothes, and Anna got dressed. She left the back room and met her friends out front.

“You lot look as sorry as she does. Are you here for clothes as well? I’m a tailor as well,” the seamstress said.

“Yeah, we probably should,” Voekeer said.

The seamstress walked over and took him by the arm. She smiled at him. “Right this way, handsome,” the seamstress said, leading him away.

Lyreen looked like she was going to burst, and Thokri laughing wasn’t helping the matter any.

“He’ll be fine, child,” Barika said, patting Lyreen on the arm.

Voekeer was bright red when he returned with the seamstress who held his arm still.

“Your turn, sweety,” she said to Lyreen who went from annoyed to nervous.

Lyreen was pulled away, and as soon as she was out of sight, Thokri slapped Voekeer on the back.

“Did you have fun, lad?” Thokri asked.

“No,” Voekeer replied.

Thokri chuckled, and the rest of the party was smirking at the elf.

“She seemed nice to me,” Anna said.

Lyreen came out red faced as well, and she pointed at Thokri. “You next,” she said.

“Aye,” he replied. He wiggled his eyebrows at them as he walked into the back.

Anna walked over to the cloth and started to look through the bolts that were in a large rack next to the counter.

“Oh, this is nice,” she said. Elaine walked over and felt the cloth.

“That is nice,” Elaine replied.

Thokri walked back out from the back with a grin on his face. The seamstress seemed bemused for some reason.

Barika was the next one to go back. She was out the fastest, and it was Elaine’s turn.

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“BY THE TREE!” the seamstress shouted.

“Must have realized where the tattoos go,” Barika said.

“Yep,” Anna replied.

When Elaine walked back out, she was smirking, and the seamstress looked thoughtful.

They all ordered the clothing they wanted after that. Anna just got ten more dresses in various colors. Once finished, they all paid and got something called a receipt.

“I should have all of your things ready in a week or so,” the seamstress said.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Voekeer replied.

“Don’t call me ma’am. It makes me feel old,” the seamstress said.

“Yes ma’am, er, I mean miss,” Voekeer replied. The seamstress giggled.

“You’re just so cute. How old are you anyway?” she asked.

“Twenty, miss,” he replied.

“What!?” she asked, the smile leaving her face.

“I’m twenty,” he replied.

“Fucking hell! How old are you?” she asked Lyreen.

“Twenty-four,” Lyreen replied.

“What are you two doing out of your village? You didn’t run away, did you!?” the seamstress asked.

“Oh no, ma’am. I didn’t run away. I came here to learn magic,” Lyreen replied quickly.

“Who from?” The seamstress asked.

“The Oldforge magic academy,” Lyreen replied.

“I know that place. I take it you graduated already?” the seamstress asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Lyreen replied.

The seamstress took a step towards Lyreen and Voekeer. “So why didn’t you go home when you were finished?” she asked.

“I, uh, joined the adventurer’s guild,” Lyreen replied.

“Is that right? Well, did you tell your parents or the elders?” the seamstress asked.

Lyreen started to look around nervously. The seamstress took another step towards the elves.

“And you haven’t said a single word. I bet you are a runaway,” the seamstress said.

“This how you treat all of your customers?” Voekeer asked.

“Only when they are young and putting themselves in danger. I saw that scar on your chest that could have killed you, and you’re barely more than a child!” the seamstress replied.

“I’m not a child, though, and it’s my choice, not yours!” Voekeer said.

The seamstress looked like she was on the verge of tears. She took a step back and looked away.

“Look, I’m sorry. It’s just that, well,” she said. She took a breath and then looked Voekeer in the eyes. “Be careful. You know our kind doesn’t do well when we lose young people,” she added.

Voekeer nodded. “I know,” he replied.

“I know I can’t stop you, but could you at least tell your families where you are? Even if you don’t think they care, they do. Trust me,” she said. She went back to her sewing table and sat down dejectedly.

Realizing that the seamstress wasn’t in the best of moods, they left the tailor shop.

The walk back to her house was quiet, at least as far as her friends went. The crowds of people were as loud as ever.

Once they got back to her house, she started the fire to get dinner ready. They added more water and ingredients to the pot and brought it to a simmer. They sat at her table and waited for the food to finish cooking.

“I think I’m going to write my gramma and let her know I’m fine,” Lyreen said.

“She’ll like that child,” Barika replied.

Voekeer sighed. “I should write to my mother. I’m sure she’s been worried,” he said. Lyreen smiled at him.

“Are you going to write to your wives?” Lyreen asked Thokri.

“Already did, lass,” Thokri replied.

“I need to send Beth some drawings. It’s been too long,” Anna said.

“We can go get the things you need to draw with tomorrow,” Elaine replied.

“Yeah, I’m out of everything,” Anna said.

“I figured that,” Elaine replied.

The food was ready, and they ate together and then chatted for a few hours until the others went back to their rooms at the guild hall for the night.

Being alone in this house felt strange. It wasn’t like when she ran off into the deep. She’d felt like a wild beast then. Now, she just felt lonely. She sighed.

“I really should get more beds here,” she said to no one.

She got up from the table and went to her huge empty feeling room and got undressed for bed. She looked at herself in the mirror and the same face looked back. Not a single thing had changed in the slightest.

What am I really?

She knew what had made her. At least she knew its name. The dreamer defied even her imagination, and what it had created was no woman. At least not one that the world had ever seen before.

She laid in the bed and looked up at the ceiling for a few minutes before going to sleep.

There was a pounding sound. She jumped out of bed and rushed down the stairs. What happened?!

Whoever was beating on the door was doing so with such force that it shook the wall. Anna rushed over and pulled the door open. Before her stood three figures wearing armor.

“You?” Anna asked. One of them was the paladin she’d met earlier that day.

They all stared at her for a moment before she realized she hadn’t put any clothes on.

“Well?” Anna asked the dumbfounded visitors.

“I apologize for the late hour, but these two insisted on talking to you,” he said.

“Come in then,” Anna said.

The three of them walked into her house, and she closed the door behind them. She walked over and sat at the table. The other two were wearing plate armor as well.

One looked like the villain from an old story. He was pale with long dark hair and pale skin. His face was lean with a beak-like nose and thin lips. He was wearing glossy black armor that had skulls etched into it.

The other visitor was a woman. She had brown curly hair and dark eyes. Her skin was deeply tanned, and she had a stern look on her face. Her armor was steel with a subtle golden hue. Anna was surprised to see the figure of the goddess that Barika worshiped etched into the woman’s breastplate.

The three of them loomed over her.

“Uh, you can sit if you’d like,” Anna said.

“Get dressed first,” the woman said.

“Okay,” Anna said. She got up and went back to her room.

“There’s no need to be rude,” the paladin said.

“I’m not going to let you two ogle her while we are here,” the woman said.

They were whispering but Anna could still hear every word.

“I don’t ogle,” the paladin said.

“Maybe not, but he was,” the woman replied.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Matilda,” the man in black said.

“Oh, please. Your eyes were glued to her rear the moment she turned around,” Matilda replied.

“Perhaps they were,” the man in black said.

“You know she’s probably listening to us right now,” the paladin said.

“There’s no way she could hear us. Not even an elf can hear that well,” Matilda replied.

“I CAN HEAR BETTER THAN AN ELF!” Anna shouted.

She heard the paladin laughing, but the others didn’t say a word. She chuckled and pulled on her dress. She went back down the stairs.

“Sorry miss, I didn’t mean to be rude,” the man in black said.

“It’s fine. Honestly, most people talk about my boobs, not my butt,” Anna replied.

“I’ve never seen a finer pair,” he said.

“Thanks,” Anna replied. She sat back at her table and the three armored guests sat with her.

“So, what’s this about?” Anna asked.

“You dispelled a divine barrier, and then the god of lords spoke with you in front of dozens of people,” Matilda said.

“So?” Anna replied.

The grim looking man chuckled. “I like her,” he said.

Matilda sighed. “We are here to make sure that you aren’t the chosen one,” she said.

“I’m not. My father didn’t create me for any reason other than he wanted me,” Anna replied.

Matilda smiled. “That’s the best reason to have a child, but we still have to test you to make sure,” she said.

“Fine,” Anna replied.

Matilda took a large crystal out of a pouch that hung on her belt. She put it on the table.

“Just place your hands on either side of this,” she said.

Anna did as she was asked and nothing happened. Matilda looked at the crystal stupidly.

“That, that’s not possible. That reads your very soul! Every living thing has a soul. It should have worked!” she said.

“Looks like I don’t,” Anna replied.

“That would explain why that undead creature fled from you,” the man in black said.

“Why’s that?” Anna asked.

“A living body creates life energy. This is what tethers a soul to the body. Once a person dies, they stop producing life energy, and the soul escapes. Here’s the thing though. If a soul is removed from the body, be it by spells or other actions, the person dies instantly. And if the life energy is pulled away, the soul escapes killing the person, whether or not they have any injuries,” the man in black said.

“So, why did the zombie run away?” Anna asked.

“Easy. They attack anything with life energy in it. They have a mindless hunger that drives them. Whatever animates you must be so alien from life energy that it repels them,” the man in black replied.

“Oh. I’ll have to tell Elaine that. She was wondering,” Anna said.

“She’s the necromancer, correct?” the man in black asked.

“Yes,” Anna replied.

“Tell me, what exactly happened when you stepped on her circle?” he asked.

“It just fizzed out,” Anna replied.

He nodded. “And the barrier at the temple did that fizzle out as well?” he asked.

“No, it popped,” Anna replied.

“What are you thinking, brother?” the paladin asked.

“I’d rather not say anything. There are too many things we don’t know, but I can say for certain that she’s not the chosen one. He or she has to have a pure soul, and well, we can’t be sure she even has one,” the man in black replied.

Matilda tapped the table a few times. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the chosen one or not. Will you join us in our quest?” she asked.

Anna looked down at her hands. “I really want to, but I can’t. I’m not ready yet. My friends are right. I don’t know enough about the world,” Anna replied. She felt terrible, but she didn’t want to make things worse.

Matilda looked as if she was going to say something, but the paladin held up his hand. “Sister, only the chosen one has to walk this path. She’s free to do as she sees best,” he said.

She sighed. “You are correct, brother,” she said.

“Tell me, Anna, how can we make it up to you for barging into your home at this hour?” the paladin asked.

Anna looked at the three of them. “Take a bath with me,” Anna said.

“WHAT!?” Matilda asked.

The man in black started to laugh, and the paladin just shook his head.

“You all got to see me naked, so I want to see you naked,” Anna replied.

“Very well,” the paladin said.

“You can’t be serious, Leon?” Matilda asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s a simple harmless request, and I think it proves my point about how different she really is,” Leon replied.

“This night just keeps getting better,” the man in black said.

“Shut up, Godfrey,” Matilda said.

“Think of it this way, the men won’t be ogling you with her around,” Godfrey replied. If looks could kill, the man would have been vaporized by the glare Matilda shot his way.

“Fine,” Matilda said after a moment.

“Yea,” Anna said. She got up. “Let me go get my yellow dress,” she added and rushed up the stairs.

“I’m going to get you both back for this,” Matilda said.

“She can hear you,” Godfrey replied.

“DAMMIT!” Matilda said. Godfrey laughed.

Anna snatched her dress from the dresser she had placed it in. It was still in the oilskin to protect it, so she wasn’t worried about it getting dirty on the way to the baths.

“We’ll head back to the order. The baths are much nicer there,” Leon said.

“Okay,” Anna replied.

They left her house and started towards the temple district.

I didn’t know temples had baths.

Today had been full of surprises for her. She couldn’t wait to see what was next.

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