Chapter II: Detours

The group trudges onward...

The charred remains of the branch crumbled in his gloved hand. There wasn't much left of the pines just outside the campsite. "Simply delightful. She shows great promise. Wouldn't you agree, Vraknir?" he uttered in his gravelly voice.

Another cloaked figure stepped forward. "Of course she does. Did you ever have any doubts?" Vraknir affirmed before all of the glittering essence around the small campsite was sucked into a small pouch on his belt. "Though she could work on her defensive incantations; I've definitely seen better alarms."

The elder chuckled, shaking loose a few flakes of snow from his hood. "'Tis true enough... but now arises a new concern. What of the boy," he nodded toward the boy with the knives and shortsword,"and... the cat...?" He raised an eyebrow at the red-headed boy with the tail, but then his gaze drifted back over to the girl. "So she enjoys a good high jink from time to time... Hm. Ah well. Anything can be fixed with the proper technique, but that will come later. We must go." He turned on a heel and started back toward the tree they had marked. 

Vraknir turned in confusion, the sun briefly glimmering off of his mask. "But aren't we supposed to take her back to the others?"

"Yes, we were," answered the bearded man,"but it appears that now is not the time. You need more training if you are to defeat her in the event that she awakens. I am old and feeble, therefore I would be no match against her myself." He placed his hand on the blackened trunk.

"But master! I can han-," Vraknir began.

"Oh, shut it, will you? I left the tea over the fire again." With that, he took his apprentice and shoved him past the tree, where he didn't appear on the other side, and followed behind him while mumbling, "Have to replace Snowball too... A shame. He was a good pup."

Varyn and Mya awoke with a start as a sharp snap rang out followed by a squeal of rubbing timber. CRASH!

The two jumped up. Mya yelped in surprise, but, after following Varyn's gaze, realized that one of the trees she had scorched last evening had simply fallen over. This was followed by obnoxious snoring.

"Man, this makes me wish that he was an actual cat. We wouldn't have to put up with his snoring," joked Varyn. "Can we trade him in somewhere?"

Mya was already on the case, however. "Sjin! Get up or I'm giving you cat ears too!"

This, apparently, was enough to awaken the slumbering heap of fur blankets that was Sjin, because he then snapped up, fork still in hand from last night, and hid behind a tree. "Oh no you're not!! No more of that nonsense," he blurted out.

"Oh really?" Mya teased. "I'm beginning to think you might need those ears after witnessing you sleep through the sound of a falling tree!"

Varyn decided to just block the two out and begin packing up the camp. After about an hour, everything was ready to go and Sjin had finally gotten his things together. Mya just teleported everything into her pack, much to the annoyance of Sjin.

"Mya, why can't you do that with our stuff?" he queried.

The sorceress turned toward him with a look of anything but kindness. "I have to know what the inside of your bag looks like when it's empty, and I'm not about to go through your stuff in order to do so. Please spare us the smell."

Varyn snorted and barely held in his laughter, his face turning a shade of crimson. "Okay. We... snort... should really get going again. We're wasting time."

"Agreed," Mya stated. "C'mon, Whiskers."

"WHAT!?"

"I said, 'let's go, Sjin.'"

The group walked on for several hours in the bitter cold with the wind snapping at their faces. Until, that is, they came to the mountain pass that marked the first third of their journey. The pass, however, went east into the barren tundra of the Bitter Wastes and on to Forystar whereas the group needed to head south to Eversight Castle.

"Hey guys. What about this way," chimed up Sjin. "I've never been to Forystar before and I hear they have amazing weaponsmiths over there!"

Mya scowled, "Sjin, we're supposed to report back to the Guild as soon as possible, and furthermore if w-."

"They have Lofiron's largest mage emporium in town square," Sjin interrupted.

"Oh... Well, um." Mya fiddled with the clasp of her book, Styles for Mages of all Ages. "Varyn, what do you think," she chirped as she leaned in close and gave him the puppy eyes.

Varyn, utterly defeated and outnumbered, gave in. "Alright... but you guys owe me after this one, okay?"

"Okay!" Mya cooed. "And Sjin..." she hopped around to face her six foot companion. "For suggesting such a good idea, here you go!" She gave a snap of her fingers. "Bam! Tail gone!"

Sjin's tail gained thickness, length, and black stripes.

Varyn lost it and collapsed to the ground in a fit of laughter.

"Mya, please tell me you know how to reverse this," Sjin gulped.

"Erm... hehe... yeah... I just need to... um... find the tome I learned it in," she replied nervously. "There's just one problem with that. It's back at the guild."

It was Sjin's turn to look utterly defeated. "Well, let's carry on and hope we can get a new tome in Forystar."

The tundra was wide open with no where to hide from the razor sting of the wind, but the group trudged on. Only mountains were visible over the barren landscape. Varyn informed the other two that they should stay close to them if possible. It was their only source of shelter, after all. Even with the occasional screech of a griffin echoing off the mountainsides. It was unbearable, feeling that cold and vulnerable, and as the sun began to sink low on the horizon, it only got colder.

"We need to find shelter for the night," Varyn chattered out.

Mya raised a hand and an orange ball rose from it. "I've been thinking on that. Trust me and f-follow the sphere," she managed.

After what seemed like hours, with the sun sunk halfway below the horizon, the ball of energy led them to an opening in the mountainside. A cave. They wasted no time in rushing inside as the sphere returned to Mya's hand. Mya collapsed from exhaustion onto the damp cave floor. Maintaining an assisting entity for that long was not her area of expertise. Varyn and Sjin wrapped her in fur blankets and sat her against the cave wall. Varyn struck up a fire with some timber he had saved from the forest and left Mya to rest.

"I'm going to check out the rest of the cave, watch over Mya, Sjin," Varyn huffed. "If you hear me shout... be ready."

Sjin simply nodded in return and unsheathed his longsword as he marched over to the fire. He was all business now and Varyn respected Sjin for what he was: ready for anything. With that, Varyn lit his torch and set off into the depths.

Squeezing through the crevices, Varyn's hand never left his sword. He was afraid, that was for sure, but he had to make sure that his friends were safe. The cave seemed bottomless. He just kept climbing further and further down into its depths. That was when the stone beneath him gave way and he began to fall.

Mya's face. Laughing. Smiling.

Sjin. Getting into trouble as always and laughing it off afterwards.

Many more memories of this nature were shown before him. Before he reached the bottom of his seemingly endless fall. How could he let this happen on their first big job? He was supposed to lead Sjin and Mya back home safely and now, because of his carelessness, they're going to come look for him and suffer the same fate. His whole body ached. Had he hit the bottom?

"Hello?" A small voice chirped.

He could faintly hear soft footfalls.

"Oh no, you're hurt. How could you be so clumsy? Everyone that comes down here... one way or the other... they always d-."

"No. I'm not letting you suffer the same fate."

Water was splashed on his face, causing him to gasp at the shocking cold. He had just begun to feel so incredibly warm.

"Hey! Are you with me, here?"

Varyn opened his eyes but was disappointed to see how fuzzy his vision was. That was until someone stuck their face in front of his.

"Hey!! Snap out of it!" shouted the face.

"Ahhhh!!!" Varyn screamed back as he scurried to the corner of the room. How rude.

"Oh, looks like that really did the trick!" perked up the voice.

Once Varyn's vision finally adjusted, he could actually see the figure before him, and it was quite strange indeed. Before him stood a creature that was about as tall as Sjin, covered in amber fur, but with white mixed in on the front torso, hands, and feet. On top of this, "It" was humanoid and had the features of a young woman, but with digitigrade feet, like the hind legs of a wolf and a thick tail that seemed exclusive to "It's" species. Then there were the bright emerald eyes just above the fox's muzzle, matched by the fox ears. Could Mya have shapeshifted and came down after him? She was too weak to do anything of the like, and to forget her clothes?

"Could you stop staring, please? You're making me uncomfortable. Pffft. Humans..."

"Erm... I'm so sorry!" blurted Varyn as his senses came back to him. "You're just not what I expected to see at all."

"I'll pretend that was a compliment. So. Is this how humans normally act? This is the first time I've seen a... well... living one," she bubbled, motioning to the skeletons scattered throughout the chamber before leaning down and getting within inches of Varyn's face. "So?"

"Um, not really. Maybe my friend Sjin though," Varyn explained.

"Ooh. That's right. You humans have names... and friends..." she pondered this for a moment. "So, if that's true, what's your name?"

"I'm Varyn, nice to me-"

"WOW!" she cooes. "No one has ever introduced themselves to me before!!" She wraps Varyn in a bear hug, but then a thought occurs to her. "Hmm. Would it help if I had a name?" she inquired.

"Tremendously," Varyn replied, half muffled from the hug.

"Well it's a good thing I went through your story book here! I never knew a story about survival would be so entertaining."

"You went through my st-" Varyn starts.

"Ooo!!! How about Calista, the main character? It says here that her name means 'the most beautiful.' Does that fit me? What do you think? Hmm?" she babbles uncontrollably.

"That's fin-"

"Then it's settled! I am Calista! The fair! The beautiful! The heroine of my own story!"she rambles on and on. "And... I think you owe me a favor, Mr. Varyn. You know, since I saved your life and all with my magic. It's not very easy to do on someone who's already dead."

"Okay. What's the favor?" Varyn asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I want to accompany you on your adventures as soon as we get out of here," Calista declares.

Varyn sighs. "Well, I suppose there's no arguing with you," Calista nods,"but how do we get out?"

Calista slumps against Varyn coyly. "Well that's the trick, isn't it? Luckily for you, I can fly, being obviously magical and all, buuuuut... I only just managed to get you into this room safely. There just so happens to be an abnormally huge grizzly bear that's moved in recently. He doesn't make good company and seems to hate me. Imagine that! So. It might be in our best interest to rid ourselves of him, since he guards the way out and all."

"And you're confident my sword can do the job?" Varyn questions. "You said this bear was enormous."

Calista plays with the end of her tail. "No, I don't think your sword can do the job, but I have a special technique that I can use to help you out. If I read a battle aloud from your book here," she produces the book from nowhere,"the battle will turn out just as it does in the book. It's like I'm narrating your fight! Only... the book turns to ash once I finish. A shame really. So? Your book's life to save your's?"

Varyn and Calista forged a pact. Calista helps Varyn escape and Calista gets to accompany him out into the world. That is, when he defeats the monstrous bear that waits beyond the door he has just opened. It spots him and braces itself defensively, sensing danger.

Calista perches herself above the doorway to the dungeon and flips to a battle scene in the book. A scene where the mighty hero takes on a zombified bear with just a knife and his wits.

"Ready down there, Hero?" Calista jokes.

"As I'll ever be," grumbled Varyn.

"That doesn't sound like the voice of a hero! With more ferocity!!!", the heroine bellows.

"Yeah!! I can take you on!!", cheers the hero as he charges toward the monstrous bear.