Paths of Legend: The Journey

[crazy_monkey1956]

The man chuckles, "If I needed coin, I wouldn't own this place. Truth is, my boy and I are all thats left. My daughter left to go adventuring a couple of years ago. My wife died last year and my brother and his sons died in the quarry accident. So, we could use the company." His gaze turns a little wistful, but he quickly clears his throat and turns away to open the fence gate.

 

[ethandrew]

Estelle dismounts and leads her horse by the reins. "I'm sorry to hear of your losses. It seems that quarry incident affected a lot of people's lives," she states solemnly, not quite sure what to say or if she should attempt to comfort this man. He seemed lonely, eager for company, and so Estelle's hope for a night full of no distractions and a heavy sleep looked to be waning.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

The boy emerges from the back to take care of Estelle's horse and the man leads Estelle into the house.

The house and its furnishings indicate a moderate level of wealth, though much of the interior is in a sad state of disrepair.

"Sorry about the mess. My boy and I have hard time keeping up with everything. You can sleep in the guest room upstairs."

Something tickles at the back of Estelle's mind, a remnant of memor from her time in the Necropolis. The dark eyed half-elf, whispering in her ear, "They are cattle. Yours to slaughter."

 

[ethandrew]

Estelle's body stands tall and rigid. "No!" she shouts without thought, pushing the voice away, the drive and the urge. She attempts to compose herself and laughs nervously, "No, it's not too bad here, I wouldn't call this a mess." Her composure lost, all Estelle wants to do is go up to the guest room and lock herself in. She fidgeted with her hands, and not wanting to appear rude, attempted to stay courteous and polite, "This really is a lovely house." Her smile seemed forced.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

The man is a bit startled and looks at Estelle with a mixture of compassion and apprehension, "Well, its been in my family since the time of the last King. Even a little famous. Lord Noran used it as a staging area during his attack on the capital."

Sensing Estelle's weariness, he leads her to the stairs, "Last room on the right. Can I get you something to eat?"

 

[ethandrew]

She sighs, the promise of food is welcoming, but she knows she can't spend more time around this kind man and his son. The temptation now is strong, very strong, and she feels its pull. "Thank you, but I'm alright. Again, thank you for your hospitality," she smiles sincerely and turns to walk up the stairs, heading up to the last room on the right.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

Estelle finds the room with little problem and is soon able to fall asleep.

She awakens to the sound of the dog barking incessantly. It is still the middle of the night but something seems strange. The dog's bark seems to echo oddly and the air around her seems thick and humid, not at all like a cool spring night. A liquid of some sort is seeping under the door, though it is too dark to see what it is.

 

[ethandrew]

The oddness of the night awakens Estelle into a very alerted state. She jumps out of her bed and grabs her equipment as fast as she can while trying to stay quiet. After hooking her daggers into her belt and fastening the new scabbards, she slides on her backpack and grabs the rapiers, one in each hand. She didn't know what was going on, but if it was bad, she didn't intend to stick around and allow it to catch up to her.

Staring straight at her was the thought of the half-elf, kneeling over the dying bodies of the hospitable man and his son, drinking their lives away. But she knew he'd try to kill the dog first, to avoid its alarming barks, so the fact that she could still hear its hollow noise gave her some sense of comfort, what little she could collect from the suspicion of blood coming from under the door.

Half of her wanted to smell the liquid, to get on her hands and knees and taste it, to test what it was. But she knew that if it was blood then that was the last thing she should do. The taste of blood in her mouth, well, she couldn't think about that. And so as quietly and as deftly as she could manage, she grabbed the handle to the door and pulled it open.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

Estelle feels a sense of apprehension, perhaps even fear, emanating from the rapiers.

The door opens and the hallway is dark and somehow seems longer and narrower. A trail of blood leads from her room to the home owner's bedroom at the end of the hall.

 

[ethandrew]

The rapiers didn't help. Whatever it was they were doing, if it was even the rapiers or Estelle projecting her own fears. She was sure her hands were shaking, that's probably what it was. Her breathing became hurried, her heart beat speeding up to match. She'd never been one to play the hero, but this didn't bode well, especially if it was what she thought it was, she brought it here and it meant that she was being watched.

She was glad she hadn't tasted the liquid, that small pleasure empty. So quietly she moved down the hallway, the part of her mind that was telling her to run away was screaming now, but she owed it to this family to at least see if they were okay, if there was anything she could. So, one foot in front of the other, she slowly approached the bedroom at the end of the hall.