part0035

So, it looks like the cat’s out of the bag, Sam thought as he sprinted behind Emma on a winding path out of the city. The only real question now, was how he was going to complete the quest. They clearly had the guards either fooled or in their pockets, maybe even both.

“Just got a quest update,” he said, as Emma dragged him into a side alley and pulled him towards the city exit.

“Tell me about it after we’re free of the death trap!” Emma replied, dashing from the alley mouth and nearly bowling over a group of passing civilians.

Sam’s anger had mostly run itself out by now, and he did his best to keep up with Emma. The only problem with that was that his Agility was crap and his Stamina was running out fast. He’d already gotten a notification, informing him that his Sprint skill had ranked up, not that it was doing much to mitigate his Stamina loss.

Sam panted for breath as they rounded a corner and the city gates came into view. His Stamina was nearly spent, and if he didn’t stop for a break within the next few seconds, he would be embracing the ground with open arms.

Instead of stopping, Emma just reached into her pack and shoved something into his hand. It took Sam a few moments to register the glowing yellow leaf as a Stamina Herb, but once he did, he shoved it into his mouth, chewing quickly and watching his nearly empty bar refill itself.

Immediately, his breathing eased up and the pressure that had been building up in his chest vanished in an instant.

“Now comes the hard part. You ready for this?” Emma asked, as the gate guards saw them coming and moved to intercept them.

Sam wasn’t sure if the guards knew who they were or not, but he had a pretty good idea of what would happen in they attempted to fight their way out.

He had his Mental Manipulation skill to lean on and from past experience, he knew Emma was a pretty good actress. If all went right, they’d be able to completely avoid fighting.

He nodded, and she finally released her iron grip on his arm. Gordon padded up next to him, looking quite excited as his tongue hung out and he panted for breath. The guards looked a bit confused as Sam grabbed Emma’s arm and pulled it into the crook of his elbow, then the three of them approached the gate at a normal pace.

“Um, sir? Ma’am? Is everything alright?” the guard on the right asked, grinding the haft of his spear into the ground as he eyed his compatriot, who looked equally as confused.

“You’ll have to forgive me, good sirs,” Sam said with an embarrassed smile. “You see, my wife and I just picked up our dog from a relative after our honeymoon, and he was so excited to see us that he began jumping all over us. Naturally, we had to burn off some of that energy- hence all the running.”

The guard gave Sam a dubious look, but when Gordon looked up at him with those big eyes of his, his suspicion melted away.

“A fine looking dog, he is,” the guard said, reaching down to scratch Gordon between the ears. “You folks have a nice day now and be careful out on those roads. I hear that there have been some sightings of bandits recently.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Sam said, returning the smile. “Come along now, dear.”

Sam had to conceal a wince, as he felt Emma pinch him in the crook of his elbow. He knew that the whole husband and wife thing was completely unnecessary, but he’d wanted to get her back for the prank she’d pulled earlier that day.

Once they’d walked far enough outside the city that the guards could no longer see them, a sly grin spread across Emma’s face.

It hadn’t hurt, but it had been so unexpected that his heart had nearly come out of his mouth.

“And don’t you forget it,” she said with a wink. “Now, unless you’d like to get caught, I suggest we pick up the pace. I doubt those guards will chase us too far, but we’re still fairly close to the city.”

Sam blew out a breath, but nodded. Milly wouldn’t be happy when he wasn’t there tonight, but maybe that was for the best. He felt Emma’s fingers tighten around his wrist once again, and they took off running down the road, with Gordon following closely on their heels.

They made it to Emma’s house in a quarter of the time it had taken them to travel the other way, just a few hours before. As soon as they stumbled inside, panting and out of breath, Baron Von Tweet began shrieking and flying around them. Apparently, he’d gotten angry at Emma, and flown back here once they’d separated, which answered Sam’s question of the foul beaked bird’s whereabouts when they had been fleeing the city.

This entire day had been a shit-show. From discovering that the majority of his money had been fake, to the realization that someone had been keeping careful tabs on him, since before he’d even entered the city.

He no longer thought it was a coincidence that he just happened to discover Aoife being assaulted by the two men he’d had a run in with just that morning. His theory was further backed up by the fact that Aoife’s brother, the armorer Sirus, was the one secretly in charge of the guild.

All of this led him to one conclusion, which he did not relish the thought of, but made the most sense. Only one person could have done all this without him suspecting a thing- the person who had led him to the city in the first place.

“It’s Milly,” Sam said, instantly quieting the room and bringing him to the center of attention.

Her fingers were currently clamped around Baron Von Tweet’s throat and the bird in question had his hooked beak sunk into the side of her hand. Gordon was sitting placidly in the corner, chewing on his stick.

“I mean that I’ve been a target ever since I showed up in Farmer’s Rest, ” Sam said with a sigh.

He then went on to explain his theory that Milly was working for Sirus all along and had been playing him from the start. It was no wonder his Mind Over Body skill had increased so quickly. It had absolutely nothing to do with resisting the woman’s charms, and everything to do with spotting deception.

“I see,” Emma said, sitting down next to him and releasing the bird, who flew to perch on the other side of the room with an indignant shriek.

“So what you’re saying, is that you were specifically targeted by this woman when you walked into the inn. The question is, why? It’s not like you had anything of particular value on you at the time. Why go through all that trouble?”

“I can’t be sure, but if my guess is correct, she somehow found out that I was the one responsible for killing a monster threatening the town. She’s probably been doing this for years, tricking men into escorting her to the city, then having her companions rob and/or kill them. I knew that she’d been messing with my head, but after I confronted her about it, she was so open about her skill set that I just assumed she was telling the truth.”

“From the moment I’ve come here, nothing has been as it seemed, and for some reason, I just keep falling for it. I’ll have to reexamine the way I’ve been doing things until now. I’ve been way too nice and gone about things as I would if we were still back on Earth. But this isn’t Earth.”

“I can understand what you’re talking about. We need to get your things back and, more importantly, you need to confront the people who have screwed you over so badly. So, how are we gonna do it?”

“Of course, silly!” Emma said, punching him lightly in the arm. “I won’t let a bunch of fantasy creatures fuck with you and get away with it!”

Sam felt a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He hadn’t been expecting this at all and even though he didn’t want to ask the question, he forced himself to anyway.

“Why help me, though? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about it or anything,” he was quick to add. “But we only just met the other day. It’s not like you owe me anything…” Sam trailed off lamely, not sure how to end the question.

“True. We did only just meet the other day, but there are several reasons I’d want to help you,” she said, tapping a finger against her lip. “For one, you’re in the same boat as I am. You’re trapped here against your will, and I think that we’ll have a much better chance at survival, and getting back home, if we stick together.”

Sam nodded. He’d been thinking much the same thing and would have asked her to join him once he left the city.

“And for another,” she said, lips now pulling up in a smirk. “Now that I know I’ve got no competition for that cute ass of yours, I’m a lot more inclined to help you take that elf bitch down.”

Sam’s cheeks colored at that last one and he cleared his throat nervously to buy himself a moment to think.

So, Emma was interested, after all? No! No time for that, he admonished himself.

They needed a plan to take down Sirus’ organization within the next four days. Otherwise, they will have failed the quest, and who knew if he’d get such an opportunity again. Not to mention, he still wanted his shit back and revenge was a great motivator.

“My cute ass aside,” Sam said, trying his best not to blush again. “How do you think we can manage to take their entire operation apart? I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Emma grinned at that, tapping the side of her head the way he’d seen a lot of evil villains do before executing some brilliant plan.

Sam felt his lips turn up in a wicked grin of his own and he nodded as Emma began laying out her plan.