Chapter 4

Upon reaching the village, Saga and Skeleton King were met with stares and gasps. They gave the people a few questioning looks, but continued on to where they had been held. The priests met them at the gates.

"That you have fought and defeated this creature of the pit that you spoke the truth," said one priest.

"Yeah, thanks for that," said Saga, with more than a hint of sarcasm.

The priests turned to Skeleton King and one of them said, "Sir, you and your…pet will be given-"

"Pet?" interrupted Saga. "I am no one's pet!" To prove his point, he shifted back to his normal form. The priests looked at him funny, then the one that had been speaking before continued what he had been saying.

"The two of you will be paid and given any reasonable aid that you need, both to make amends for our mistake and thank you for fighting the monster," he said.

"All we want is to get home," said Skeleton King. With no minions and little power, he didn't want to risk trying anything unless he was trapped forever anyway.

"We will provide money and supplies for your trip. Where is it that you're from? One of the northern kingdoms?" said a priest.

"No, we were sent here by a portal," said Saga.

"Hmm, portal magic…I believe that there is a wizard's academy in the capitol, Gygalo, that contains some information on the subject. Perhaps you can find someone qualified to make a gateway back to wherever you are from," said yet another priest.

"Then I suppose that's where we're going," sighed Skeleton King.

A few hours later found Saga and Skeleton King walking down a wide road. Each carried some amount of money, as neither one trusted the other, truce or not. Each carried a map, although Saga didn't have his out at the moment. Saga also had a new cloak. He and Skeleton King both had some food, too, although Saga ate little, if anything. (Note: I'm not sure if Skeleton King needs to eat, or how much but I'm fairly certain I remember seeing him eat, so I'm going to say that he does.)

The two of them continued on tirelessly for a few days. Near twilight on the third day, they could see light in the distance. They continued on just as they had been, but then Saga stopped abruptly. He turned and dashed into the bushes by the side of the road. He came back with a small boy, no more than eight, over his right shoulder. Saga held the bag that had held his coins in his left hand.

"A pickpocket. How…quaint," said Skeleton King. "Hurry up and dispose of him. If at all possible, I want to get back to my ship as soon as possible."

At Skeleton King's words, the boy, who had been struggling to free himself from Saga's grasp, went limp, and his face became pale. Saga looked up at him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. But you're no gong to keep doing this. Maybe we can get you a job in the city or something," said Saga.

"Suit yourself. But you're not going to waste my time," said Skeleton King. He continued towards the city and Saga followed, carrying the child in case he'd try to run off.

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