Do You See What I See?
As the two new friends Devona and Aidan were walking along, they heard the town crier.
"Monsters! Monsters in the south!"
The two looked at each other, and Devona quickly ran to a weapons rack and grabbed another mallet and put a sword in the sheath tied to her waist. "Quickly, follow me," Devona called to Aidan. The two sprinted out the front gate of Ascalon, and followed the dirt path to Ashford Abbey, a small town to the south of Ascalon. They quickly ran through the river along the way, and saw smoke in the distance. "That doesn't look good," Devona stated. The two ran faster, and when they came to a clearing, they saw that a mill was on fire. Aidan looked to the base of the mill and saw two monsters torching it. "Are those some more Charr like the one earlier?" Devona asked.
"No. I think those are Grawl. They're cousins of the Charr, but much less dangerous. You can see the difference. These ones have red hair, and are wearing headdresses. They also are less hunched, and…"
"Sorry, but I don't have time for a biology lesson."
The two sprinted closer and engaged the Grawl in combat. Devona started swinging her mallet, and struck one of the Grawl to the ground. She looked over and saw that Aidan had just shot his one between the eyes, and she saw it fall to its knees, then finally to the ground. When they looked at the mill, they saw it teetering a little, and it slowly started tilting towards the ground.
"I don't think that's a good thing," Devona remarked. He started backing away little by little, then changed to a full on sprint. Devona quickly followed suit, and ran away from the mill as it collapsed to the ground, sending a shockwave out when it fell. Devona and Aidan fell to the ground. Then, they started laughing. "Well, that was fun," Devona said.
"Yeah…fun," Aidan said sarcastically. As they rose to their feet, one of the Grawl started charging at Devona, shouting all the while. By the time she turned around, it had already fallen to the ground. She also noticed someone standing next to it, holding an expertly made staff, one she would recognize anywhere.
"Mhenlo?" Devona asked. The figure turned around, and she saw the radiant face of the holy man. She ran up to him and hugged him.
"Ahem," Aidan coughed.
"Oh. Sorry, this is Aidan. He saved me from a monster back in Ascalon. And Aidan, this is Mhenlo," Devona explained.
"Hello Aidan. Any person who saves Devona's life is a friend of mine," Mhenlo said happily. The two shook hands, and when they were done, they noticed that the surrounding farmland was on fire. "That's a problem…" Mhenlo said. At that moment the fire was doused, turning instead to ice. The three turned around, and noticed a woman far away walking slowly away.
"Hey!" Aidan shouted. The woman kept walking, when out of nowhere an arrow whizzed past her head. She stood paralyzed in fear. Then she turned around, her face full of anger, and the sky turned to a dark red.
"Do you want me to roast you for dinner?" the woman shouted. She lifted her arms up in the air, and Devona tackled her, disrupting the woman's focus. The sky turned back to its normal color, and Devona got up again.
"I'm sorry about that," Devona said, blushing. She helped the woman up and she furiously brushed off the dirt on her clothes. "I'm Devona. What's your name?"
"I'm Cynn," the woman said. "You guys don't know how to give a proper thank you, do you?"
"Again, sorry," Devona said quietly. She studied Cynn more closely. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"
"I live in Ascalon. You might have noticed me in town I guess."
"Hmm. I guess so," Devona said. "So, are you originally from Ascalon?"
"Not really," Cynn muttered.
"Ok. Well, this is Aidan, and this is Mhenlo," Devona said as the two came running up to Devona and Cynn, out of breath. Cynn seemed shy all of a sudden, blushing and not looking at the two. Mhenlo and Aidan looked at each other, and shrugged.
"Well, I better get going. I have to get back to Ashford Abbey," Mhenlo said. He said his goodbyes, and started walking back.
"Come on, Cynn. I'll go show you around the town," Devona said. So Devona and Cynn walked back up north, to Ascalon. Aidan stood for a minute, thinking. He saw the sky getting steadily darker, and he smelled the stench of bugs. He was fearful of it, and he followed the scent to a cave by an old barn house.