CHAPTER 14: TOWN HEROES

That night only grew worse for me. My fever had spiked up and the pain in my body had grown worse. I became delusional, and thrashed about. I was hallucinating from the fever and even tried to turn on my friends, believing they were enemies that were after me. It was as if I had become a wild animal. It was the longest and most horrifying night I had ever faced. I had begun to wonder if the sun would ever rise again...

I had eventually exhausted myself and fallen asleep. When I awoke early the next morning, I found Cormag holding my wrists down to the ground. He had fallen asleep as well. I tried to pull my arms free, but he awoke and gripped me even harder.

"That hurts!" I shouted.

"Are you sane again?" He asked.

"Sane...?" I then remembered the night. "How bad was I?" I asked.

Cormag looked annoyed. That sort annoyed someone is when they are lacking decent sleep. "I would rather have spent the night in a bear's den."

"Was I that--" I began to say, but he interrupted me.

"You see this?" He said as he pointed to a bite mark on his arm. "You did this."

"I bit you?!" I was shocked. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

His hardened expression didn't change.

"You want to go back to sleep?" I asked.

"Why, I would love to." He said, still aggravated.

"There's really no point in that." Selena said, sitting up from where she had been sleeping. "It's morning. We might as well start the march again."

Cormag grumbled. "I'm worn out. We all are. Let's just go back to sleep for a while."

"We need to get to Jehanna as soon as possible." Selena protested.

"Listen, you may mean well, but there's no way I could possibly march right now. None of us could."

"We have no choice. We'll never reach Jehanna before Grado does if we waste any more time."

His eye twitched with irritation. "We didn't sleep last night thanks to Darian!" Cormag shouted. "You didn't have to hold her down to keep her from hurting herself or some body else!" Every one else was awake at this point.

Selena was surprised by his reaction. "Stop it!" I shouted. "I'm sorry I cost you a good night's rest, but how was I suppose to know the Devil Axe would do any of that to me?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Sorry." He said. I pulled out a map. "There's a town near here." I said. "Let's go as far as there and we can rest at an inn. We have money now, we can afford a bed and even dinner tonight."

"That sounds great!" Joshua exclaimed. "Let's go somewhere else to sleep." The others didn't need to be persuaded. The thought of sleeping in a bed and not the dirt ground of a cave was appealing. We abandoned the cave and headed off to the town. The walk there felt like it lasted forever but that could have been due to our lack of sleep.

As we walked, Knoll approached me and said, "Are you feeling alright, Darian?"

I nodded. "I'm fine, why?"

"Last night...I was so worried. You were in so much pain."

I took out the Devil Axe and stared at it. "This thing is screwed up." I said.

"Please don't use that thing anymore." He begged. "I never want to have to see you in such pain again."

I shrugged. "I might have to. It's the only weapon I have right now."

"We have money now." Neimi said. "We can buy you a better weapon."

"One that's not possessed." Colm added.

"But...This axe is so powerful! I could take out anything with it."

Rennac raised an eye brow. "Yes, and take yourself out in the process. I don't particularly want my employer to kill herself with a demonic axe."

"I get your point, but it's just..." I couldn't explain it, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to part with the weapon. It felt important to me for some reason.

"Please get rid of the accursed thing." Zel pleaded. "For your sake, get rid of it."

"I'll think about it." I replied.

"Think about it?!" Cormag and Selena cried out. They sounded absolutely appalled by this. I understood why they were but...

"You will get rid of it." Cormag said. "If you don't then I will. That thing is not a weapon it's a death wish."

I stayed silent and stared at the large axe in my hands. I sighed as I strapped it to my back.

Selena muttered something to Cormag, low enough to where I couldn't make out what they were saying, but they kept glancing back at me. It made me feel uncomfortable.

"I see the village!" Colm shouted excitedly. "Finally! A bed and food!"

Even though we were all exhausted, we ran to the town. We found the inn and wasted no time in reserving rooms. After, we paid the clerk for a night's stay, we headed up to our individual rooms. But just then, the clerk stopped me.

"Were did you get that axe?" She asked as she pointed to the Devil Axe.

"I took it from the bandit leader after I killed him off." I replied.

"You destroyed the bandits?"

I motioned to my friends. "I wasn't alone. We all worked to defeat them."

"I don't believe it!" She exclaimed. "But that's clearly the leader's famed weapon." She reached back into the desk and pulled out the gold that we had given her. "Here, you can stay here for free."

I was completely speechless. "But...What?"

"Those bandits have caused nothing but trouble for this town for a long time." She explained. "They would raid this place on a daily basis or steal our belongings. We owe you all for what you have done."

"Thank you." I said. "Thanks a lot!"

I then headed to my room, feeling happy. Although our act at stealing the bandit's gold originally was intended for selfish reasons, fighting the bandits and destroying their leader helped out this town. They were free from the harassment of the bandits. Hurray for good deeds!

I slept like a log. I must have been out for hours. I leaped out of my bed, feeling refreshed and full of energy. I left my room and went down to the lobby. I turned to the person at the front desk and asked, "If my friends wake up and ask were I am, will you tell them I headed into town?"

"You're friends are already up." She explained. "They left me with a similar message for you as well."

That makes things easier. I left the inn and headed into the town. I walked by houses and small shops. I found a candy shop that I couldn't resist to go into. I have a weakness for candy. I bought some chocolate and I happily ate as I walked through the town.

Next I passed by an armory. I decided to take a look inside. I found suits of armor that looked like they could withstand any assault and powerful looking weapons. But the thing that caught my eye was the section of capes. I pulled out a nice red one and couldn't help but try it on.

"It suits you." The guy running the armory said. "I take it your a traveler."

I nodded. I pulled out the Devil Axe and began swinging it around, making sure that I didn't accidentally knock anything off the walls or break something.

"That weapon looks exactly like the bandit leader's Devil Axe." The man said.

"That's because it is." I said proudly. "I defeated him and took it."

"You? You defeated him?" The man seemed surprised. "But your so...Scrawny."

I glared at him. "I may be...short...but I'm crazy powerful."

He laughed. "Come to think of it, a shaman had popped in here not long ago. He said something about the bandits being defeated."

"Did he have short purple hair and seem sort of depressed?" I asked. The man nodded. "That's my buddy Knoll, so what did he say about them being defeated?"

"He said that the person who defeated the leader was a spunky, short tempered, arrogant, impatient, rude, ill mannered, little girl."

I clenched my hands into a fist. Knoll's going to get it next time I see him!

"I suppose you're the person he's talking about?" The man went on.

I nodded. I took the red cape off and put it back on the shelf. I then purchased a Silver Axe because I didn't want to rely too heavily on the Devil Axe. I needed to save the rest of the money I took from the bandit's hideout to pay off some of my debt to Rennac.

I left the armory and continued on. I walked by a shop that had a pink dress hanging in the window. I stopped to stare at it and thought, that must be the ugliest thing I have ever seen.

"Have you decided to become a real woman and wear proper clothing?" I heard someone say behind me. I turned to see Rennac and Knoll standing behind me. Rennac was the one who made the smart ass remark.

"First of all, no. I would never be caught dead in something like that." I said.

"Why not?" Rennac asked. "I'm sure Knoll would enjoy it."

"W-what?!" I shouted.

"Ha! You're blushing!" The rouge snickered.

"I was going to pay you, but I've changed my mind now." I said.

"I'm only kidding with you. Knoll knows I was just kidding. Right, Knoll?"

"I think you would look...lovely in that dress." Knoll said to me. A small smile spread across his lips.

My face lit up and I turned to the ground so they wouldn't see. "Oh, yeah, I owe you this." I said to the shaman as I grabbed him around the neck and noggied him.

"Ow ow ow!!" He cried out. "D-Darian that hurts!"

"Good!" I shouted. "That's what you get for calling me arrogant, ill mannered, and little!"

"They make such a good couple..." Rennac said loudly enough for half the town to hear.

"Shut up. You're next." I said but the rouge was already gone.

I let go of Knoll and began to walk on through the town once more. Then I noticed that he was following me. It was a little odd. It was like he was a lost puppy or something. I then noticed a clothing shop. I turned to enter it and he followed me.

"Hey, since you're here, why don't you help me pick out some new cloths?" I asked the shaman.

"Sure." He said. "So what exactly do you want? A short sleeve shirt? A skirt?"

"No skirt." I said. "I hate skirts."

"You don't like skirts or dresses?" Knoll seemed surprised. "I thought all girls liked them."

"I'm not exactly a normal girl." I said. "I just don't like them. I don't like that feeling of exposure, you know?" Although I knew he wouldn't understand. The guy was wearing robes that looked like a dress.

I looked through the selections, grabbed the clothes I liked, and headed to one of the changing rooms. A full size mirror was sitting against the wall of the changing room. I hadn't realized until that point that I must have really stood out among everyone. I was wearing a plain black t-shirt, jeans with holes in the knees, and tennis shoes. The clothes were battered and I felt that I shouldn't allow myself to stand out anymore. I put on the new clothes I had chosen; a long sleeve blue shirt, half cut off white pants, brown work gloves and boots, and a black head band. To finish it all off, I added a long black cape. I was quiet impressed by my new look. I left the changing room and showed Knoll.

"Ta-da!" I said. "I've class changed!"

He gave me a skeptical look.

"You know…" I said, trying to get him to understand the joke. "When ever someone class changes, they get new clothes randomly."

He said nothing, obviously not finding the joke very humorous. "So um, what do you think?" I asked, changing the topic.

"You look great." He said. "But don't you think that you look a little...odd?"

"That doesn't matter to me." I said. I paid for the clothes with some of the money I was going to give to Rennac for his payment.

Knoll and I left the shop and headed to a magic store. The inside of the shop was eerie. Bizarre potions and herbs lined the walls. One shelf was stocked with magic tomes. I pulled out a dark purple book and read through its pages. The text was in another language entirely.

"That's a Nosferatu spell." Knoll said. "It's a special attack that robs the victim of their energy and transfers it into the caster."

"I didn't catch half of that, but alright." I said. "You only have that Flux spell book, don't you?"

He nodded. I took the book to the cash register and bought it. Then I handed it to Knoll. "Happy Birthday." I said.

"Darian, are you sure?" He asked. He took the book from my hand and gazed at its cover. "You used your own money to buy me a weapon?"

"Yep." I replied happily.

"Thank you." He said.

We departed the shop and found Joshua standing outside, gamboling with some stranger. The stranger handed him some gold coins and walked away.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Getting some cash." The myrmidon replied as he stuffed the money into his pockets. "After all, you guys didn't bother to take me along for your little adventure.

"My bad. I just didn't want to get too many people involved."

"You're lucky you made it out alive at all. Especially after last night. By the way, have you gotten yourself a new weapon yet?"

I pulled out my new Silver Axe.

Joshua gave a nod of approval. "Good, now you can get rid of the Devil Axe."

I didn't say anything. A part of me wanted to keep the weapon close to me, even though I knew my friends would never allow it. We heard the door to the shop that was next to the magic store open and Rennac walked out of it. He looked over at us and when I went to approach him, he began backing away.

"I'm not going to noogie you." I said. He still didn't take his cautious glare off me. I pulled out the small pouch my money was in and handed it to him.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Your money." I replied.

His eyes widened. "You're actually paying me?" He said in disbelief.

"Well, duh!" I said. "There's about 4050 gold in there. It'll pay close to half the amount I still owe you."

"Wow. I'm not used to getting paid." The rogue explained. "The last person I worked for never gave me a cent and dragged me around the whole continent while rambling on about justice."

"Well, now you're being dragged around the content while being paid." Joshua said. "I guess that's the better of two evils."

Rennac smiled a little. "I think I'm going to enjoy working for you."

((Author's Note: This chapter was pretty slow, but I think these guys deserved a slow day. After all, they've been running around or getting captured, they've earned some R and R. At least Darian and Rennac are starting to become friends and Darian's becoming really good friends will Knoll...))