Talk To Dragons

"We just need directions and something to eat for now," Violet explained.

"Got any money on you?" the man asked. "West Lane is a traveler's town and you can't do nothing without a bit of coin, except be a beggar."

"Damn, I forgot about humans and their money," Violet cursed.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Engel questioned.

"If you can do some helpful witchy spells I'd wager some folks would pay you for it," the man suggested. "That ought to get you by."

"That I can do," Violet replied.

"Okay then, I'll open up the gate," the man said.

The neglected hinges of the gate w.h.i.n.ed as they worked, swinging half of the barrier open for the two little visitors to enter.

"I'll warn you though, be careful who you talk to," the man advised. "This place ain't got no laws. The people police themselves here and settle things however they feel necessary. Somebody might not be too kind to you."

"We appreciate the warning," Violet said. "But we're not as helpless as we seem."

The inside of West Lane was only a single dirt street with many businesses on either side. It went on for a dozen or so buildings but eventually met with the other side of the perimeter wall. There were many horses tied up outside the places of business and a few people walked up and down the road. It seemed to be a fairly busy place for traveling humans. Immediately to their right they saw an inn and restaurant. The thought of food made their stomachs growl.

"So, what should we do about money?" Engel asked.

"I remember stories about how some humans would do odd jobs for people to get by because they didn't want to do regular work," Violet said. "Think that might be something we could do?"

"I suppose," Engel answered. "But how do we find the jobs?"

Next to the entrance of the inn was what Violet was hoping for, although she wasn't specifically looking for it. A large board with many pieces of paper tacked to the cork displayed many job offers for anyone to take up. Quite a few of them were much too high for Violet to examine closely due to her lack of height.

"I can't read any of this," Engel said.

"I can," Violet said, scanning the papers. "Oh, this is one we can do."

With a little hop the witch took down a paper from the board and held it for Engel to see.

"This is asking for someone to deal with some old rotten trees that have become homes for vermin near a cave entrance," Violet explained. "That doesn't sound like too much trouble. I can just set the trees on fire."

"All right," Engel agreed. "Who do we have to see about the job?"

The job listing directed them to the town blacksmith. The building had two big open doors letting out all of the heat being produced and inside was a mess of weapons on display and workable materials. A large man wearing plain clothes and a leather apron was sitting on a stump of a stool with a pipe in his hand, presumably taking a break. He was an enormous thing compared to the two that approached him. Soot and sweat-dirtied muscles bulged in the glow of the forge and his shaved head did much the same.

"A witch and a dragon in my shop," the blacksmith said. "I suppose those are two more things to check off my list of strange visitors."

"You're the one who posted the job about the vermin trees, right?" Violet asked. "We'd like the job."

The blacksmith stared at them with no change in his expression. He took a puff from his pipe and enjoyed the taste for a moment.

"Are you sure you can deal with those trees?" he asked. "They're full of giant forest rats."

"I think we can handle a bit of vermin," Violet answered. "We'll get rid of the rotten trees and make sure they don't try to take up residence in the cave. That's where you get your metals, right?"

"That's correct," the blacksmith replied. "But going into the cave the past few weeks has been a chore because of the rats. And I'm none too agile to deal with them in numbers."

The bulky man lifted the right leg of his pants to show a healed wound that looked like a chunk of meat had been torn away from his calf muscle.

"I'm not interested in losing more of my leg," the blacksmith said. "I'm going to head to the cave tomorrow morning. While I'm inside you can deal with the vermin."

"All right then," Violet said. "We'll come back here at sunrise then."

The little witch and dragon turned and walked back out onto the street. The blacksmith watched them as they stood in the middle of the dirt, looking up and down the road aimlessly.

"Hey!" he called out to them. "You need a place to stay?"