Chapter 13: Festival

Festival

 

It was time. The end of season festival was finally upon Alteep village, and that meant Gregor was almost completely free of his responsibilities. Today, all the preparations would already be made, and the party would begin in earnest. Gregor himself was ready, and found himself meandering aimlessly through town.

 

Drinks would undoubtedly flow into eager tankards for most of the day as various games would be played. There was a basket weaving contest, a boar hunt, and an all day fishing competition, that Gregor thought was likely an excuse to get away from all the noise. Still all would spend the day as they pleased, celebrating a successful harvest.

 

Gregor was looking forward to the day as well. It promised the same things Gregor had scraped tooth and nail for as a child, both free time and normal social interactions. It was the night he was more anxious about.

 

Before the entire village would gather in the town square for a toast, Gregor and the other 6 freshly minted adults of the previous season would declare their intentions, to which the toast would then be made in the name of. Although he had already cleared his path forward, Gregor still felt trepidation about making it official.

 

It didn’t help that he would be standing with people he hadn’t really spoken to in years, either. Ever since adults had begun coming to Gregor for advice, and for his help, the other children his age had simultaneously stopped associating as much with Gregor. This trend continued as he grew older, until now he hadn’t seen or spoken to one of them since he was 15, if Gregor’s memory served.

At the time, Gregor had just thrown himself further into his advancement, but now that divide filled Gregor with some regret. Part of him wondered if there was something he could have done differently.

 

As Gregor’s feet found themselves settled in the doorway of the tavern, he knew the answer to his problems. Day drinking.

Woah. The alcohol had gotten to Gregor’s head much faster than he had been anticipating. All the other warriors Gregor had seen could handle loads of the stuff, so Gregor assumed he could too because he was stronger than them.

 

That was wrong. Not him being stronger than them obviously, but the alcohol part. Gregor didn’t normally think he would say those sorts of things so easily if he could handle the alcohol like them. Which again, he couldn’t.

 

Still, he lifted the next round to his lips and kept drinking. If Gregor didn’t, his eyes would be magnetized again to the woman polarizing the room. Maybe because he had just been thinking about it, but of course, one of the new adults of Gregor's age, Amar Ket had entered the bar during his second drink, and the atmosphere had suddenly shifted.

 

Maybe it was just because Gregor felt hyper aware of the woman, but it seemed like all the women were casting furtive glances at her, while the men were casting glances of an altogether different nature. Although Gregor too thought her body was attractive, all lithe curves and slender limbs, and her hair was an exotic pearlescent white, what really drew Gregor’s attention was her face.

 

Namely, as far as Gregor remembered, Amar Ket never even smirked. And today, on her face was the most glorious smile Gregor had the pleasure of witnessing. Despite his best efforts not to stare, Gregor kept finding his attention focused on the way her lips creased at the corners as she laughed over a drink, or how her cheeks had just a little flush to them.

 

Luckily, he didn’t think she had seen. Gregor was not in any state to present himself, and for some reason he kept drinking instead of being sensible and leaving. He had finally decided to do just that when Gregor felt a hand on his shoulder.

 

“If you wanted to talk, you could have walked over to me.”

 

Oh my.

 

Somehow, despite Gregor’s finely honed senses, the one person he had been paying attention to, Amar Ket was standing at his left shoulder.

“Uh, well, how have you been? You seem to have been doing well.” Gregor didn’t think he did that bad considering he felt a more visceral fear than he could ever remember experiencing from a Beast Hunt. 

 

“Well Gregor, I’ve been doing quite alright actually, thank you for asking. The question everyone wants to know is, how have you been doing Gregor? How is the future mayor?” 

 

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“Haha, I doubt I’ll ever become mayor.” Gregor said as he took another swig from his tankard in order to play it cool. Amar’s voice had become more resonant since he had last spoken to her, and the effect was not non-existent on Gregor.

 

“Oh? And why would that be? You’re certainly intelligent, and rational enough. And no one could question your strength.”

“Can I tell you a secret, Amar?” It was probably the alcohol loosening his lips, but Gregor figured he was going to tell the whole town in a matter of hours. He might as well.

 

“Of course, Gregor.” Amar said with a playful smirk. Before Gregor could feel the flushing of his face he carried on.

 

“I’m not going to stay in the village. I plan to leave for the Legion Conscription Officer a town over as soon as the festival ends.”

 

Amar just laughed. This puzzled Gregor, as he didn’t think it was really a funny response, or that preposterous that it deserved to be laughed at.

 

“Sorry, it's just that if you say that I feel compelled to tell you my secret in turn- I plan to do the exact same thing.”

 

Gregor let out a chuckle. “Well, I can drink to that.” He said as he lifted his ale.

 

Amar lifted her own in response. Cheers and laughter resounded out as their drinks met.

Finally, Old Jeremiah had decided Logan could accompany him on an excursion through the Forest. Up until this point, the only time Logan had been was when he first arrived, apparently, but that didn’t count as he had been unconscious the whole time.

 

Now, he would get to see what Jeremiah said could make Bennett the bear into an afternoon snack. And hopefully, he could avoid that unfortunate outcome himself. That would be nice.

 

To that end, Logan was following closely behind Jeremiah, doing his best to remain quiet. So was Remy, the little guy half perched on Logan’s shoulder. The Rizzel’s eyes were as vigilant as Logan’s own, which was cute, but Logan would definitely see a predator coming with his soul sight. The question was if he could run quick enough. With Logan’s teleport, it was at least possible, and those were decent odds in his book.

 

Still, Logan didn’t think he would take the risk of hunting in the Forest alone. Something about the noise and the presence it had kept him on edge. Now that he was here, imagining Bennett as something’s dinner seemed more and more realistic. 

 

Slowly, the three of them made their way through the foliage, until they came unto a clearing. Jeremiah took three steps in, and then abruptly held up a hand.

 

“Something’s wrong.”

 

On the other end of the clearing, four horse sized abominations descended from the trees. Until they had revealed themselves, Logan had no idea they were there, even with his soul sight. They weren’t exactly close, standing around 40 feet away, but their size made their grotesque forms easily discernible. They resembled long, slender spiders, except on top of their back they had another set of stunted legs growing out. These half formed appendages writhed and wormed, as if looking for prey to choke.

 

If there was anything Logan hated in the world, or worlds, it was bugs. Especially when they came in a size fit for nightmare fuel.

 

“Jeremiah, you got this, right..?”

 

The old man’s face was as pale as a sheet.

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