The Devil's Foundry

Electra nearly collapsed in relief when the village appeared on the horizon

“Finally!” She jogged down the last hill, grin growing wider on her face. “Where were you a day ago?” With a huff, she tossed the worn piece of parchment over her shoulder. The map spiraled in the air, wrinkled parchment caught by the breeze before flying off to the ocean.

Not that it had helped Electra much in her own possession.

“Gonna need to convince Empress to ‘invent’ some GPS later,” the woman muttered. She ran a hand through her sweat-slicked hair. The island was hot, and the road was so dusty it sometimes made her eyes water.

Better the road than the thick jungle that dominated the rest of the island, though. Christ, just seeing land cleared for farming made Electra breath a sigh of relief. And was that the tower of Corvandr on the horizon? The caravan she’d asked for directions had mentioned that.

But, of course, they also said she’d make it to this village in about a day.

She shook her head. All that mattered was that she made it. And also, that she made it before she ran out of water, but that was a secondary concern! She was a hero, and heroes didn’t balk at things like rationing and stuff like that, not if it meant helping people.

“Hello there!” She waved a hand at the first farmer she saw. The man was stocky and built like a linebacker. He glanced up from his field, squinting at Electra as she jogged down the road.

“Yes?” He eyed her warily, but Electra ignored it.

Woman in armor comes running up to you? She’d be more surprised if he wasn’t a bit suspicious. “Is this Mrander?”

“… It is.”

“Great!” She placed her hands on her hips. “Heard you had a monster problem.”

The man blinked, before a grin broke out on his face. “You’re here for them? Praise the Rain.” He leaned on his… whatever he was using. Electra didn’t really know much about farming. “Bout time the guild sent someone!”

Electra chuckled. Well, she wasn’t really with the Adventurer’s Guild—though she would be soon, if all went well. “Where can I get more information about the job?”

“Hmm?” The man scratched the back of his neck. “Old man Hilv said he sent it all to the guild with the request. Probably wasn’t such a good idea… there were a lot of the damn hounds.”

“Well, I’m not exactly with the guild.”

He blinked again. “You’re not?”

Electra shook her head. The man looked like he was about to tell her off, but she clapped him once on the shoulder. “Last I heard the Adventurer’s Guild marked this quest as too dangerous for any tier one adventurers.” She had done some research, of course.

Though, that research also included the current Guild entry fee, which she was hoping to save up for. She’d always wanted to join an Adventurer’s Guild, so the fee was a bit of a bummer. But it was a temporary setback at best.

The man slumped. “Ah. Well… if the guild won’t take it, I don’t think you should either, miss.”

Electra laughed. “Relax. I can handle a few Strong Maws.” She jerked a thumb towards herself. “I’m a Rare Classer.”

“Well, sure you could probably deal with the hounds, but…”

Electra tilted her head. “Did you have another problem?”

“No, no!” The man waved his hands. “Just, Hilv sent payment already, you’ll… uh, have to talk to him about all of that.”

Electra clicked her tongue. “Well, no one said adventuring was gonna be easy.”

“That’s why most of us don’t do it.” The man shrugged, looking away from her. “Best not to get in over your head.”

She held back a huff of annoyance with the ease of long practice. “I can handle myself. Where can I talk to Hilv?”

The man grunted, shading his eyes for a moment. “At this time of day… probably at his house. It’s the biggest one, right in the center.”

“Thanks!” She smiled. “And don’t worry, I promise I’ll have this handled in a flash.”

The man quirked a thin smile as Electra started past. He shot a single glance over his shoulder, before shaking his head and returning to this field. He had a lot of rocks to clear today. “It’s not the monsters you need to worry about, Miss.”

Electra, for her part, just continued down the hill none the wiser.

She found the biggest house easily enough. It was the only one with more than a single story, including the ‘inn.’ The village… honestly it looked a little bit quainter than she expected, but they were farmers. Everything couldn’t be all nice and shiny like in a book, after all.

She knocked on Hilv’s door. After a moment with no reply, she knocked again, louder. There was shuffling from the inside, as a moment later the door swung open.

The man on the other side was certainly old.

He was bald, with a long straight beard going gray. The man rubbed his eyes with a single wrinkled hand. “Yes, miss?”

Electra put on her press force smile. “I’m here to handle your Strong Maw problem.” She paused, glancing off to the side. “I’m not with the guild though, in case you were wondering.”

“The guild, pah.” The man opened his door wider, beckoning her inside. “Shoulda known they wouldn’t bother sending anyone.” She gave her a toothless grin. “Still, it does an old man some good to see the young’uns taking a stand for us small folks.”

“…Right.” She followed him inside. The house was dirt floored, and what she’d taken for a second story was actually just a loft area with what looked like a bed.

“Take a seat, take a seat.” Hilv gestured to a small wooden table in the corner of the room. He pulled down a tea kettle from a nail over a shuttered window.

Electra did as she asked, accepting the cup of tea a few minutes later. Hilv sat down across from her, bowing his head over the small plume of steam. “Now, you wanted to know about the hounds.”

“Yes.” Electra took a sip of her drink. “And also about payment. I understand if you can’t offer the same amount as the guild, one the farmers told me you already sent some money to them?”

“Hmm, should be able to cancel it. Still, it’ll be a while ‘fore we see any of that coin back.” He nodded to himself. “Still, if you kill those monster hounds, I’ll be able to offer you… half a silver a head. Don’t have much more to spare than that.”

She held back a wince. The guild notice had offered twice that much in payment, but Electra had just walked through the village, and they were not in good shape. She’d caught sight of more than a few buildings that were half collapsed, and there were several overgrown fields as well.

After a moment she sighed. “That’ll be more than enough.” These people clearly needed the help and the reward was more than enough to cover the guild’s entry fee. “What can you tell me about the hounds?”

The man smiled, letting out a sigh of relief. “Rain bless your heart, miss.” He cleared his throat, taking a sip of his tea. “Right, well, we don’t know exactly where they are, but I can draw you a map of the general area. I know my letters well enough.”

Electra felt her smile turn a bit brittle as she looked at his shaking hands. “Could I get a guide instead? Just someone to show me most of the way.”

The man chuckled. “We need the men for the harvest, and none of the boys know the land as well as I do. You’ll have to head a ways into the jungle, but they’re not subtle creatures, them Strong Maws. Once you’re headed in the right direction, you should be able to see their marks easily enough.”

“Haha, of course…” But then, that was also what the merchant had said about Corvandr’s tower, hadn’t she? “How close to the village did you say it was, again?”

“Oh, less than a day’s walk.” He stroked his beard. “Maybe a full day, if you get a bit tangled up in the undergrowth.”

“Great…” Electra nodded as Hilv stood up to fetch a stick of charcoal and some cloth. The moment he disappeared into the back room, she slumped. “Fucking maps.” She shook her head, straightening a second later. “Focus, Electra. You’ve dealt with worse.”

She managed to get a smile back on by the time he came back, shakily drawn map in hand.

At least she wouldn’t have to go as far this time.

With one last nod, Electra took it and went outside, shading her hand as she looked at the slowly sinking sun overhead. She sighed again. There was no way she’d be able to find them before nightfall. That meant she’d be sleeping rough.

Again.

“Well.” Electra rolled her shoulders. “I’m probably doing better than Empress, right?”

*~*~*

Rel watched as sparks leapt from the coils of copper wire. Her eyes were so wide they felt like they were about to pop out of their skull.

Empress continued to laugh, features cast into stark relief by the lightbulb that glowed without a single drop of mana.

“Unlimited POWERRRR!”