Well over an hour had passed since they had exterminated the demigod camp. They had made good progress escaping from the area but were now stopped and hiding behind several of the large stone trees.
“What’s something like that doing out here?” asked Zundar as he poked his head out from the large tree that barely covered his body.
“It’s either someone really strong or really stupid…” said Akira as he looked at the small cottage that was hidden out in the middle of nowhere.
A constant small stream of smoke was exiting the chimney letting them know that there was someone inside. It was blocking the only path they could find to get back to the main road which was still several hours away from here.
Spearia walked over to them and waved wildly to get Akira’s attention and then pointed to herself and then the house.
Akira shook his head and said, “We can’t have you guys dying in a trap that may be set up inside.”
With Zundar’s translation, she only shrugged and returned to the other Minos warriors.
“I’m tired of waiting here. Let’s just go and knock on the door. If it’s a demigod trap, me and you can just smash them into light fragments,” said an impatient Zundar slamming his fists together.
“Yap!” said Fluffball.
Akira could only agree with him as they still had a long way back to the town and most of the werewolves and minor lycans were still recovering from the lingering silver poisoning aftereffects.
Akira, Zundar, and Fluffball silently walked up to the wooden door of the small cottage while everyone else watched with bated breath. Just as Akira was raising his hand to knock…
“The door is unlocked, you may come in,” said an elderly male voice.
Akira and Zundar both looked fully alert and nodded before Akira pushed the door open.
“Don’t just stand there, you’re letting in the cold air,” said the old man who was sitting in a rocking chair next to a large stone fireplace that had a healthy fire burning. A thick knitted blanket was covering his lap as he rocked back and forth slowly.
Akira was not sure what the old man was talking about as it was rather mild outside and it was neither hot nor cold. He just shrugged and entered the cottage first followed by Fluffball and Zundar who closed the door gently.
The interior of the cottage felt rather cramped but neat as the walls all had several shelves with small boxes, pouches, and other trinkets lying on them while several large metal and wooden chests lay on the floor below them.
“It took you long enough to come in. I have been waiting for a long time now,” said the old man.
“…you knew we were outside?” asked Akira who was fully alert and ready to spring into action if it turned out this was a trap.
“I did not need to know you were outside to know you would come to meet me. To answer in a more direct way, I do not know where you are coming from or where you are going, nor is that any of my business,” said the old man as he glanced over the trio that had come inside.
“I see…” said Akira, now even more confused than before.
“We are not here to cause you any trouble, we just want to pass through the area with our group without any conflict,” said Zundar, eyeing the old man.
“I know why you have come and I know what you need. It is the small blue and white pouch on that shelf,” said the old man pointing at Akira and then at the shelf with a frail-looking hand.
Akira was not sure what was going on but he still walked over to the shelf and reached out to grab the blue and white pouch.
“Don’t touch anything else or you will be cursed with bad luck for 20 years…” said the old man as he watched Akira with sharp eyes.
Akira was extra careful so that no part of his body touched anything other than the small pouch which felt rather light in his hands. Pulling on the strings Akira reached his hand inside and pulled out what looked like a stuffed doll.
Akira looked over to the old man with his eyebrows raised.
The old man nodded his head with a serious expression and said, “I have one last piece of advice for you: Don’t play around and just run.”
Akira wasn’t planning on messing around as they still had a good distance to travel to return to the city.
“Uh… thanks for the doll…” said Akira as he put it back into the pouch.
“You can leave now,” said the old man, shooing them away with his hand.
“Was he talking about the doll?” asked Zundar as they walked out of the cottage.
“No idea,” said Akira with a shrug.
As they were halfway back to the others waiting behind the trees the old man’s voice rang in Akira’s ears as if he was standing right behind him.
“If you ever feel the need for some nice magical items my shop is always open to customers.”
Akira turned around to respond to the old man but stopped in his tracks when his eyes found nothing there. Both the old man and the cottage that they had just been were nowhere to be seen!
“Zundar…” said Akira, getting his attention.
“What… wait where did it go? I knew there was something off with him. For some reason, the hair on my arms raised from feeling a dangerous presence, but that old man looked every bit as frail as an old grandfather past his prime…”
“Ah! I just realized that he was speaking common!” said Akira.
“What? I thought he was speaking the ancient language. I thought the lessons I gave you were finally paying off…” said Zundar.
***
When they had once again arrived on what could be considered a main road, they were surprised to hear a loud shout coming from the bend in the road farther ahead.
“Help! Help! Someone help!”
Only seconds later a short dwarf ran around the bend in the road holding a large floppy hat onto his head to stop it from falling off as he ran.
Seeing that there was someone in distress Akira and the rest of the group rushed toward the dwarf to see what was chasing the short man.
“Ah finally, I found someone! It’s really bad!” said the dwarf when he saw them running up to him.
“What is?” asked Akira.
“The dungeon is going to overflow!”
Hearing this everyone who was tense just seconds before relaxed.
“Oh by the way I’m Froppi. Nice to meet you,” said Froppi with a deep bow causing his hat to fall off his head revealing a mess of black hair underneath.
“Don’t worry, we just cleared the dungeon so there is no need to be so worked up about it,” said Akira trying to reassure Froppi.
The fretting dwarf stopped in his tracks startled at those words.
“Impossible… I checked only a short time ago,” mumbled the dwarf. “They were all there… I’m sure of it!”
“It’s not a lie we just cleared the dungeon that’s back that way,” said Zundar striking a heroic pose as he pointed toward the dungeon they had cleared earlier.
“There’s a dungeon back that way?” asked Froppi tilting his head to the side and looking toward where Zundar was pointing.
“Wait, what dungeon are you talking about?” asked Akira.
Froppi squinted at Akira as he scanned him up and down then looked to the others behind him. “I think you’re mistaken. I am not talking about that dungeon, but a different one that is ready to burst! But looking at your armor and weapons you look like you can help stop the overflow!”
“We are in no shape to be fighting an overflow right now. If you would like you can come with us to the thief city and try to get another group to help. If it is not taken care of by the time we are fully rested we can help you later,” said Rondie.
“NO! You can’t just leave! It’s going to burst at any moment! Please help! If you don’t stop it now all the local towns and passerbyers are going to be swept up by the dangerous monsters!”
