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Dearest Readers, though the woods and streets be unfriendly, may you find the allies within and without to be strong and to overcome.

THE HIDDEN SWORD: A TALE OF BALDUR'S GATE

Book One: From the Earth | Chapter 32: The Worst Monsters

"Goblins! Two of them!" Thadd cried from behind her.

Glancing over her shoulder, Irse shot him a confident thumbs-up before drawing the blade and decapitating one in the same arc and cutting down another in the return swing. A pitched shriek reached her ears followed by the cackle from a third goblin, one who must have remained hidden until the others jumped out for the ambush.

"Blast," Irse cussed.

Kerda would never forgive her if anything happened to Thadd's expert lute-plucking fingers. She pivoted, ready to charge at the monster which tried to waylay her friend.

And halted in her tracks.

The remaining creature limped and circled the human youth, one arm hung and flopping at its side while it dragged along a lifeless leg, likely never having healed properly from an old skirmish. It snarled and swung a bent club with the other hand in the manner of drunken brawlers at a tavern.

Fortunately, Thadd seemed to have picked up something from Irse; bored as he often appeared in all the elf's attempts to educate him in basic sword-handling, mostly on how not to accidentally impale oneself. Contrast to the goblin's ineffectual attempts, he swung with stiff and panicked abandon, hitting naught but air yet managing to keep the monster at bay.

Irse flicked the blood from her sword before sheathing and walked up to them to stop at a respectful distance. Unbothered, she observed her friend as he tried to bring down the lone creature.

"A little lower, try to hit it in the head. Move your hips, hero," she instructed, unruffled and leaning on her weapon.

Screeching, the goblin bobbed in seeming agreement.

"Aren't you going to help me?" Thadd grumbled, heaving from the effort.

"And snatch from your hands your first glorious victory with which to pen your first epic war poem?" she yawned. "Nah. Pass"

Irse scratched the back of her ear and cast an impatient gaze at the horizon beyond the thick of the deep woods before them. What's keeping Teacher and the other men?

Farmers had sighted the monsters along the edge of the forest. Not waiting for these to venture closer to the village, Okami and two of the menfolk took it upon themselves to deal with the matter. Naturally, Irse tagged along. Naturally, seeing a chance to prove himself to Kerda, though mostly to Kerda's father, Thadd tagged along as well.

They tracked the goblins to this part of the woods, the men and the elf engaging a handful of the creatures while the rest retreated deeper into the forest. Okami and the other two had ventured further to pursue the remainder of the pack, leaving behind Irse and Thadd to wait and call for help if they didn't return. Though it seemed more of Okami's way of making sure the boy doesn't end up getting hurt from tripping over his own sword.

"I think it's already tired," Irse called out helpfully. "Just like you."

"Th-thanks a lot," he wheezed, though not exhausted enough to disguise the sarcasm in his tone.

A lucky swing aided by gravity finally landed on the goblin's shoulder, the blade biting deep into its body. Shocked at his own success, Thadd lost his grip and lurched away. Stubbornly the creature remained on its feet, struggling to raise its club even as the abandoned sword stayed stuck between its limb and the rest of the body.

Irse made to deliver the killing blow but determined against it. Let the prize be Thadd's, she decided. Not long and the goblin finally sank down to the grass and moved no more.

"Shouldn't I pull out the sword?" he mumbled, sitting on his haunches, staring dazedly at the blood pooling in front of him.

Irse stepped forward to stand behind the corpse, raising a warning hand. "Not yet. Might still be alive."

With nonchalance the elf drew her sword, flipped to a dagger grip and stabbed the goblin at its neck. From the impact of the blade, the body twitched but otherwise remained still. Thadd retched in chorus with the squelching of blood and flesh as Irse casually yanked his sword from the dead goblin.

"Congratulations! You've emerged unscathed from your first encounter with a monster. Now, breathe," Irse soothed her friend, patting him on the back and laying down the retrieved weapon at his feet.

"Farmer Mozes ought to be impressed with such a brave poet and protector of the village," she added with genuine praise while cleaning the tip of her blade. If songs cannot win the heart of Kerda's father, then goblin-slaying should do the trick.

The young man blushed even as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "I hope so, her mother seems to like my verses well enough, but her father always seems more interested with sharpening his scythe."

Both paused at the understanding, then laughed awkwardly, interrupted by a sharp whistle from beyond the trees. To Irse's relief, all three men emerged from the brushes.

"Seems like you kids had your own fun while we're gone," said Nalwin, one of the hunters, as he eyed the aftermath of the failed ambush.

He bent over the corpses and examined them, while the other man, Andor, poked and prodded, humming with appreciation for the elf's handiwork. Curiosity overcoming the better of him, Thadd peered over their shoulders, turning green and paling at the sight of one headless goblin corpse, and another nearly cleaved in twain from shoulder to thigh.

"As I feared, a few of them have lain in wait for a chance to attack, should we separate. Perhaps it was wiser to have sent you two back to the village," Okami said, sparing a stern glance at the bodies as he approached his student.

The blacksmith looked them over, checking for injuries - the elf beaming like a child pleased with her antics, the human youth sulking as if wanting to reach up his arms and be picked and fussed over.

"Are you hurt?" Okami asked his apprentice, clearly not trusting his own eyes should the elf be hiding an injury out of pride.

"Uh, I nearly got killed?" Thadd piped up, still seemingly expecting a hug.

Irse tutted at her Teacher, waving a dismissive hand. Didn't he trust her enough to be competent on her own even against tiny threats?

"These critters weren't any trouble. Probably stragglers from the pack. Don't worry, Thadd's fine. Good thing you left me with him, or he'd have been goblin chow. Watery and chunky like I'd make it myself."

She threw a knowing side-eye at her friend who returned an annoyed glare.

"Never mind us. What happened with you?"

"We tried to reason with their leader, requested them to stay clear of the village and the farmlands. In return they would have been allowed to nest and hunt in the deep woods without interference. Still they refused, surrounded us and forced our hand."

Perhaps seeing the apprehension on his student's face from hearing what happened, Okami canted his head, smiling to reassure her. "Fortunately, the creatures were poorly equipped despite their numbers, and we had no difficulty in defeating them."

Glancing at the other men as they dragged the bodies and tossed them into the bushes, the blacksmith gestured to them.

"Shall we go back to the village?" he beckoned.

"Yes, please! All this talk of chow just made me hungry," she cheered.

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Rapidly the beads of the hand-held counting frame flicked across their rods as Okami calculated the amount they were to collect from Merchant Hagskins while Irse sat cross-legged on the floor tallying aloud the short swords and daggers. Halfway through the second batch, her count was interrupted by the sound of a chair being overturned, the rustle of cloth and the frantic push at the door. Surprised, she looked up in time to see her Teacher, having rushed outside, his back to her, falling to his knees at the ground.

Irse scrambled to his side, muttering a question but was answered with a pained groan as Okami vomited again and again. Helpfully she held back her Teacher's hair from his face as he retched his breakfast and midday meal all over the grass.

"It can't be the eggs, right? I noticed they were cracked when I brought them out this morning, but I didn't think anything of it," she reasoned, guilt pitting in her stomach.

If interrogated further, the elf would've confessed to even neglecting to dunk the eggs in water to check if they've gone bad. So hungry she had been and eager to have breakfast before they set off for the woods.

"No, not the eggs or we would never have made it past the border of the village. This is nothing," he dismissed at her concern, wiping his mouth.

Irse stared at him, unsettled at seeing him in this state. A moment ago he had been fine, if not unusually somewhat fatigued from the encounter.

"Nothing? Not only that but you're shaking and sweating now, worse than a drenched chick in the rain!"

Then she remembered. "The goblins! Did they nick you with their weapons? Could they have coated them with poison?"

"Not I, though Andor had been grazed by one of their axes, but then he would have fallen immediately. No, it cannot be the goblins as well. Perhaps I am merely in need of -," he tried to counter, yet once again seized by violent nausea.

Irse waited until Okami was done before helping him to his feet. Upon the ground and mingled with the former contents of his stomach were yellow bile. She wagged her head. This cannot be well.

As they headed back inside, she saw Headman Prappin and Wisewoman Daserah walking up their pathway. The elf waved them over but didn't wait, instead aiding her Teacher to his seat.

"You've got the Shivers Disease just like Nalwin and Andor. Their wives said they showed signs within a couple of hours from your return," Prappin explained as they sat at the kitchen. "Though the young ones don't seem to have it all," he added, glancing at the elf.

Okami propped himself up in his chair, squeezing his eyes shut every now and then, evidently plagued by lingering queasiness. "It is good that Irse and Thadd are free of it. Though how could we have caught it and from what?"

"Acquired from contact with the vicnent flower, if you have seen greenish mottled bulbs growing close to the swamps. You must have touched one or inhaled its spores," Daserah replied from at the stove where she and Irse worked to boil and brew the herbs she brought with her.

"I remember. There were many of those in the clearing by the bog where we caught up with the goblins," Okami said, his voice now close to a rasp.

"What can we do? Will it go away on its own or can you cure it?" Irse fretted.

Daserah described the ailment to them - constant vomiting and shivering robbed its victims of food and rest. Untreated, they either wasted away or died from dehydration. No natural remedy could be gleaned from nature other than to wait for the affliction to run its course in a matter of a month. The hardiest do survive but emerge permanently infirmed with frailty of the body. In the meantime, the herbs may help somewhat with the nausea but only a priest's healing touch could remove the disease and restore their health.

"Tomorrow we'll get one of the men to a temple in the City, to fetch a healer," Prappin decided. "But first we have to raise the money among us."

Irse wrinkled a nose as she steeped the leaves, and it wasn't from the pungent scent. Healers don't come cheap with temple fees easily running from several to over thousands of gold pieces.

"There is no need to send another, neither trouble yourselves with the collection. I will go," Okami volunteered.

Irse paused from mixing the herbs in a pot, wanting to protest but deciding to keep her peace. She understood as well as her Teacher did that all able hands must be at the fields for the ongoing harvest, even as the rotting rains have already started ahead of Uktar. No wonder that Okami would willingly undertake the errand despite his condition.

"Are you certain? You shouldn't be in any state to travel at all."

"I must. We have business in the City to deliver to a merchant. The amount we shall collect on the sale is more than enough to pay for healing all three of us. If I can sit upright and speak with you now, then I am well enough to hand over those swords and extend my palm to receive their payment."

"We'd truly appreciate that. Much as I'm willing to spare a man or two for the trip, we've been laboring past sundown just to bring in the sheaves much sooner. If you feel hale enough to do this, then may Chauntea strengthen you more. And besides, you have Irse to help out," Prappin agreed.

The elf grinned and gave them an assuring thumbs-up, interrupted by a light rap on the wrist as the Wisewoman reminded her to keep stirring.

As soon as their visitors left, Okami returned to the smithy to resume numbering their stock. She knelt by the pile, observing him, noting how he wavered in his steps and fought to control the tremors. As expected, he grabbed a readied bucket and threw up several times more. By the time he finished, the elf already had a plan brewing on top of her head.

"Teacher?"

"Hm?"

"Why don't you stay here while I go in your stead?"

Okami paused to look at her, brows furrowing. "I cannot… I should not have to let you. This is my responsibility."

Years ago, his immediate refusal might have sent her fuming at the apparent lack of trust in her abilities. Not anymore.

"I understand. But you're not even well enough to stand straight for long."

"But on your own…"

"Please, let me do this," Irse pleaded, hands balling into fists on her lap. "You let me watch over the store by myself, and sometimes the customers come for their orders and we've made the exchanges without any hitch. You've let me accompany you in your visits to other traders and I've watched you speak to them. I can also handle what paperwork we need for the Council's taxes. You must let me try, at least this once."

She banked on her confidence, and not without reason. Merchants were usually fair in their dealings. Better and repeat business were guaranteed from honoring agreements and sometimes showing unsolicited generosity – whether forgoing an offered discount or paying more on top of the settled price as a gesture of satisfaction with their work.

Okami looked at her, undeniable apprehension in his eyes. For the inevitable rejection she waited, readying herself for the disappointment. But her Teacher nodded and resumed gathering the blades.

"Very well. I agree, by now you should be trusted to do this on your own."

In any other circumstance, the elf would've punched a triumphant fist in the air. Right now she settled for a silent prayer of thanks.

"Though I must advise you, this Merchant Hagskins still owes us from the last commission."

"Not a problem. How much is he yet to fork over? A quarter?"

Okami bowed, apparently embarrassed. "Almost all of it."

Her mouth fell open with disbelief. Almost as if they did the work for free?

"But he gave a downpayment which at least covered the cost of materials for that job, and for this. A necessary concession to convince him to engage with us again for this new batch," Okami tried to justify.

Irse smiled wistfully at her Teacher. Ever so obliging with customers. Though if they start demanding he give them foot rubs on top of his work, then she will have to draw the line with the pokey tip of the sword.

Okami absently picked up one of the daggers and asked her, "What weapon will you take with you?"

"The iaito? Or maybe the bokken, so as not to be too much. Ought to be good enough to break a few bones should anyone try anything funny."

"Do not bring any of those."

"Not even the iaito? But… sure, of course. I'll bring my own katana. We've proven it anyway against goblins and wild animals so far."

"No," he interrupted. "Take my sword."

Irse paused, wondering at the urgency in his tone.

"It would ease my mind if my sword were at your side instead," he insisted gravely.

Proven against people if such was what he meant. "Oh, all right, Teacher. If it keeps you from gnawing at your knuckles, then I'll bring yours just to be on the sure side."

Okami murmured his thanks and went back to preparing what things his apprentice might need for the transaction. Skimming over past invoices, the blacksmith's hands tremored involuntarily from the shivers, his voice cracked from a throat hoarse and raw from heaving. Yet patiently he explained and advised her on what she must say and do.

Though already confident and learned of the process, Irse listened quietly, knowing it would make him feel better if he thought he had done all to make sure everything turned out fine for her. And besides, if she didn't ask any questions, the sooner they would finish and the sooner he may take his rest.

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In the morning, Irse stood by the doorway, rubbing at her eyes while restlessly tapping the tip of her shoe against the crate of blades at her feet. Normally she'd be digging into breakfast by now, but after last night's lecture on deal talk, her Teacher had been winded and tired. He wanted to either wake up much earlier to make a small feast, more like a whole party of bacon and eggs and hash, to send her off, or at least prepare a huge pot of porridge before going to bed. But not wanting to exhaust him, Irse fibbed about having some bread stored in the pantry. Which turned out to be true.

Now if only she hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night to snack on the entire loaf. Irse sighed with deep regret. At least they still have some leftover soup at the pot, even though he would only throw them up afterwards.

Her stomach croaked, and she pressed a thumb between her brows, hoping to delay the beginnings of a headache. It didn't help that Irse hardly slept the night before, feeling her own gut twisting in helplessness as she listened to his intermittent attacks of sickness through the thin wall between their rooms.

Casting tense glances at the road, she waited for the hired carriage that would take her and the merchandise to the City. From the corner of her vision, the elf spied her Teacher quietly creeping out of his room and heading to the smithy.

She rolled her eyes, brows knitting. Understandable how he would feel restless from being struck down by an almost incapacitating ailment after a lifetime of laboring, but why can he not understand that the human body has its limits? Why must he be so insistent?

"What are you doing up? You're supposed to be resting all day," Irse admonished as she rounded on him.

For a moment, Okami appeared sheepish but perhaps emboldened by a memory of his authority, tried to straighten himself and answer back. "I am no invalid. No laws prevent me from seeing to minor duties around the house and the smithy."

"Don't be so mulish. You know you need to rest completely," Irse scolded, voice heavy with frustration as she rubbed hard at her temple with a knuckle. With deep deference she would've pleaded with him, but sometimes, a hard hand might be necessary.

And the headache now hammered diligently at her forehead with a pickaxe, as if it already had breakfast.

"I am not being mulish as you charge me. Very well then, if you are so intent on easing your own mind, then I only mean to complete a minor task, and afterwards, I might return to bed," he replied with uncharacteristic petulance.

What hammer-noggin bullheaded…

Igniting the last straw of her patience, Irse pointed at the open door of his room.

"No! Whatever it is, I'm taking care of it after I get back. So march yourself into your room right now and do nothing else but lie down and wait for me!" she roared at him.

Stunned, Okami pressed against the wall, wide-eyed, a trembling hand on his chest.

'Thought so, Irse grunted as she peeked out the door, then suddenly turned on him once more, still unsatisfied that she had made her message clear.

"And you had better still be in that bed when I return or so help me, I will chain you to the bedpost myself!"

Okami blinked, stupefied for a moment, then hardened his gaze and scowled at her with a disobedient soldier's defiance.

Irse didn't stand down. She glared back with a newly minted general's authority. Stubborn creatures these men!

Their staring spar was interrupted by the holler of the carriage driver pulling up to the pathway.

"Mister, help me with this, please," she called loudly to the man and pointed at the crate.

But the request was more to deter her Teacher from expending his own now feeble strength with assisting her. As Irse and the driver worked to haul the crate to the wagon, Okami stood by the doorway, fidgeting and ill at ease from the imposed inaction. She finished securing the merchandise and alighted to speak with her Teacher one last time.

"Don't be bothered about anything. I'll get both the payment for this and the last one, find a healer, then be home before sundown," she reassured him, gently this time, knowing how much he'd be fretting at the thought of her alone out there. Unsupervised.

Okami beamed wanly at his apprentice, quietly giving his assent. Irse was about to climb up when she spied her friends walking down the road and towards their cottage. Kerda bore a basket with pouches while Thadd lugged a large kettle in one hand and a wrapped parcel in another. Irse motioned for the driver to hold as she ran to meet them and the two paused to wait for the elf, both waving a greeting at the blacksmith.

"Mother made bread and stew for you and Mister Okami. Tomorrow, it's Kerda's turn to make them," Thadd said with a grin replaced by a look of surprise as the elf savagely snatched the parcel, unwrapped the loaf, broke off a piece and shoved the large morsel into her mouth.

Chewing hastily, Irse swathed the bread once more with the parchment and reinserted the bundle into the crook of the young man's arm, mumbling her gratitude through the crumbs. Ah, much better.

"Wisewoman also sent more of these herbs for him," Kerda added, raising the basket. She glanced at the waiting wagon. "You're truly going to the City by yourself, aren't you?"

Irse nodded while swallowing her quick breakfast. Last night she went to Prappin's house and found the headman in a small gathering with the other villagers for word had quickly spread of the three men's illness and they had come to him eager for more information and gossip. Irse told them of her plan to go in Okami's place. Though Prappin and some of the menfolk volunteered to accompany her, the elf graciously refused, reasoning how the harvest already kept everyone busy and that this was her part in helping.

Thadd frowned, clearly perturbed at his friend's insistence in traveling alone. "Why? I could go with you myself if you wish. If we'll be gone for just a day, then Father and the rest can do with one less pair of hands at the fields."

"I'd be grateful, but I can manage by myself."

"That's what we're worried about. You running loose around the City without Mister Okami to watch over you. Chauntea help those poor people," Kerda ribbed, poking the elf at the side, who giggled good-naturedly in return.

"By the way, Headman also promised to send someone to check in on Teacher every now and then."

Irse had specifically asked for Old Tucky to be the one to do so. In front of everyone there.

For upon hearing the blacksmith had fallen gravely ill and that his apprentice would be at the City for an entire day, not a few of the unmarried village ladies dropped hints of wanting to bring food and check on her Teacher. Irse threw a suspicious side-eye at the cottage. Maybe she ought to put double locks on everything - doors, windows, the chimney. Hopefully not too late to borrow any bear traps from the hunters.

"Don't you think too much anymore. We'll also keep watch over Mister Okami for you. I'll even make sure he doesn't do anything so much as light up the forge or the stove," the other girl swore with an assuring hand on Irse's shoulder.

"Careful, though. He's a human, not a carpet," the elf reminded, earning a hard but playful smack at the same shoulder from Kerda.

Irse laughed and exhaled, genuinely grateful at their kindness. "But truly, my thanks to you both. Well, I must be going if I'm to catch a merchant and a cleric."

As the carriage pulled away, Irse waved her farewells, to her Teacher at the doorway and her friends at the pathway. Soon the village disappeared, and she saw none but the empty road before and behind them.

It was nigh impossible not to fret over her Teacher, unaccustomed to seeing him ill and impaired. Only human after all. Sometimes she wondered if he had been working himself too hard and letting her off too easy. And from what she had heard from Daserah, he would still need to rest for a day or more even after the healing.

Yet thank Tethrin for the help and kindness of their friends, otherwise she and Okami will certainly starve. That is, if Irse doesn't get impatient first, attempt to cook by herself, and end up accidentally poisoning them both.

But now, time and energy shouldn't be wasted with dwelling on something out of her control for the task ahead demanded her focus. Irse went over the details, the amount of merchandise, the cost of materials and labor, the mark-up, the invoice and deed of sale to be accomplished after reaching an agreement on the price. Hopefully, the merchant wouldn't haggle too much.

After all, everyone's counting on her to pay for a full healing.

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