Chapter Two
A Fluffy Side Quest
Sixteen years have gone by since that horrible week. The Freskada Season came again and with it new life, and I traveled mountain ranges away from Firedown. I traversed a region that bordered the Mizu Race and the Fotia Race. The Mizu Race was of average height with dark hair and eyes, short pointed ears, and they were strong in the water element. I long ago finished my training as a valkyrie with a specialty in fire magic, and I had a new family to care for and protect, those who also called themselves adventurers. I was on my way to meet with a member of my party when someone distracted me from reaching the Town of Lame Pony. Foi, the leader of our party, had fussed at me for allowing things to distract me, but he had also told me that my caring heart was one of my strongest assets.
I came across a girl of the Mizu Race barely ten of age with hair dark as night. She was crying, so I asked her, “Why do you weep? Did someone hurt you?”
“No,” she told me. “A creature came during the night and snatched my puppy away and dragged him into the dark woods. My puppy had been tied outside. No one will go with me to rescue my precious Fluffy. They are too afraid of the goblins that live in the forest.”
“Goblins you say. They can be nasty creatures,” I told her and when I saw the tears filling her large dark brown eyes, I melted like ice scorched by my flaming wrath and then I said, “First tell me your name and then answer me one question. What were you going to do when you came across the goblin that took your puppy?”
“I am called Ko and to answer your other question, I had not thought that far ahead. I guess I would fight the creature until I got my Fluffy.”
I looked up at the high sun and knew that Jisei would be angry with me for being late to meet her in the Town of Lame Pony, but a child was in need, so I told the girl, “I'll help you track down the goblin who took your puppy. Take me to the spot where it was tied up.”
Ko took me to the back of her hut, and I saw the tracks surrounding the area and confirmed that it was a Chisana Goblin. They were the smallest of all the goblin kin but none less vicious. Ko would need my help if she was to get her puppy back, but I also had to teach her that she needed to rely on herself since those around her refused to help her. I tracked the Chisana Goblin to its lair, and we started into its cave that went into the roots of a Kyodaina Oak Tree. I lit a torch with my Fotia Fire and lit one for Ko also, and then I led the way down amongst the roots and deep into the lair. At first, the air smelled of earth and must, but then the stench of the goblin's victims filled our nostrils. I could tell that fear filled the girl the further down we went, so I armed her with my boot dagger and then I told her, “My father taught me a song that was passed down through the generations of my family. We sing the song when we're afraid and want to stir up our courage. I'll teach it to you.”
“Won't the goblin hear us if we sing?” Ko questioned me in her adorable little voice.
“It most likely will, but it will only send fear into the goblin, hearing us as we approach, so take heart and learn this song and sing it with me.” I mustered up my voice and began with,
“On the Mountains of Firedown
live a people since time of old.
Great are their deeds and courage,
and none live so bold.
Fire flows through their veins and flame they have tamed
and Inferno Casters they are called.
Many sing praises of the Fotia Race
who hold their creator then loyalty and friendship above all.
Tread softly those who hold to evil
the Fotia Race will track you down.
They will smite those who pillage and rape
and send them to their ancestors' mound.
Come and sing with me and lift up your voices loud
to those who have gone before and now rest in our creator's arms.
When we carry sword and shield and hold to bow and arrow
evil doers will tremble, and they'll do no more harm.”
Ko sang with me and once we had finished singing it through a third time, we reached the goblin's lair. The creature waited for us and leaped upon us as we entered. I forced it back with a small ball of fire and then instructed Ko, “You need to smite the goblin and save your Fluffy.”
“Me?” she uttered in disbelief. “You want me to kill the goblin?”
“Yes,” I told her. “The puppy's yours so you must save it, but do not fear, I'll be right behind you. Raise the dagger that I gave you and point its tip at the goblin's chest and drive the blade into the beast.” As Ko gathered her courage, I placed a protection spell upon her that would shield her from harm. At the goblin's current level, claws and teeth wouldn't be able to penetrate my shield-magic, but I didn't tell Ko. She needed her fear to find her courage, and to know that the goblin could hurt her would bring out that terror-inducing-strength.
I watched as Ko charged the goblin as it came at us a second time. The creature swiped at her three times with its claws and hit her across the shoulder and stomach. The goblin clawed through her clothing but didn't knick her flesh as my shield-magic protected her. Ko started to run away as the fierceness of her foe overwhelmed her, but then she heard her puppy whining and saw him in the corner. She saw the bones surrounding the puppy; the image must have given her strength to turn on the goblin again and thrust with her blade. She pierced the goblin's chest, and it fell to the ground writhing in pain. Ko quickly ran over to her puppy, snatched it from the cage the goblin had put it in, and then she ran to me.
I ordered her, “Go back the way we came in. I'll be right behind you.” Ko bolted up the tunnel, heading up as I approached the goblin that was still writhing on the floor. I drew my sword and finished the goblin, so that it no longer suffered from its fatal wound. I followed Ko out and met her at the entrance to the lair. Fluffy was licking her face, and Ko was crying for joy.
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” she told me. “You saved my puppy.”
“You're the one who saved your puppy. I did nothing,” I replied.
“But you did,” she insisted. “You came with me when no one else would, you taught me a song when I was afraid, and you gave me the courage to save Fluffy. Without you, Fluffy would have died.”
“It is still your courage that saved your puppy; don't forget that. Now come. I'll escort you back to your hut.” I started off and said to her, “Since you were so brave, I'm going to let you keep my dagger. Keep it sharp, and it'll watch over you.”
I walked Ko and Fluffy back to their hut and as I started for my destination, she questioned me, “Are you heading for the Town of Lame Pony?”
“I am. What of it?”
“I have a gift, but it is not that powerful yet; I can see a little into the future for others. Let me see what your fortune holds while you are at Lame Pony and a few days into the future as my thanks to you.”
She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow before I could reply to her. I hated hearing prophecies and predictions; they usually put a damper on things. When Ko opened her eyes, a blue light engulfed them.
Ko spoke, “Do not be persuaded by the tongue of the dragon. Lies mingle with the truth. She is the power behind the throne. The heart of a true paladin will be sacrificed after a sword has been broken. A family feud will bring you to ruin.” Ko stopped speaking, closed her eyes and when she reopened them, they were back to normal. “Heed my words. They may save you.”
“Umm... Thank you. I'll remember your words and on that happy note, I bid you farewell,” I told her and then headed for my destination. I was glad that I stopped and helped even if Jisei and Foi fussed at me later; it was worth it to see the smile on that little girl's face. She adored her puppy as much as I adored my father, and I couldn't bear to think of them apart. I do wonder what her prophecy meant; it sounded very ill-fated.