The Last Favor

Chapter 11

The forest wasn’t nearly as big as the last one they visited, but it definitely had more creatures. Tristan assumed they gathered in a smaller area than usual because part of the woods was taken down to build the city and the creatures left on the edge were in more danger than the citizen who attacked them under the pretext of them being a danger to society.

An hour or so later, the Lezterp put the honey on a rock and waited for the Dearb to appear. Barely a few minutes later, a sword tickles Tristan’s back as a disembodied voice declared

“The Dearb is mine. Hunt something else.”

Tristan has always been a man of actions more than words so without wasting a second, he put his hands on the floor and made a shield out of the sand. When he felt the sand on his neck remove the sword, he turned and he kicked his opponent’s hand allowing the sword to fall on the ground. As he heard the metallic sound colliding, he reached for his dagger and was ready to cut the stranger’s throat.

He stopped in his track as soon as he saw his attacker. The girl who just a few seconds ago thought she was in control of the situation had now put her hands in the air as she grumbled.

“I’ve been tracking that beast for days.”

“You don’t stand a chance against us,” bragged Bryce, “we’re two against one and I have Tristan.”

“Little boy,” she spoke with a silvery voice, “if this Tristan had the slightest bit of dignity, he would respect the fact that the Dearb is my prey. But if he is as cruel as to bring his son at such a young age to these woods, his lack of principles wouldn’t really surprise me.”

“Not my son.”

Tristan could tell she’s a Neroc just from her attitude.

“You use magic!” exclaimed the kid as he stared into her eye.

“My name’s Adelaide,” she introduced herself, “I’m a Neroc so of course I use magic.”

“One reason.” Tristan cut their conversation.

“Excuse me?”

“One reason why I shouldn’t kill you.” He further explained, clearly annoyed.

“Surely, you wouldn’t kill me just like that in the presence of a child,” she scoffed.

“Uh, Tristan?” the kid poked him to get his attention.

He held the dagger tighter to her throat as he turned around only to see the Dearb approaching the honey.

“Saved by the beast, girl.” He whispered as he let her go and ran towards the monster.

“Mine!” Adelaide screamed as soon as she regained her freedom.

Tristan activated both the gem on his sword and the potions he took earlier. He kneeled and touched the floor to throw sand into the beast’s eyes.  As soon as Tristan heard the growl, he gripped his sword and stabbed the mountain of brown. He barely made contact when the animal pushed him away with his paw. He heard a thud as he hit the grown.

Adelaide, on the other hand, attacked him from behind with a fire ball. But the bear-like monster hardily received any damage as he raised his tail and whipped her hard. She flew back and hit a tree.

Tristan was standing up again at this point. He ran towards the Dearb once more and stroke him. He cut the creature’s eye. Bryce closed his ear because of the loud growl. Trystan thrashed again. He heard the beast’s loud breathing. Tristan gave him one last blow. Then, the beast grabbed him by the neck using his tail. The hunter heard the crackle of his falling sword. It was getting harder to breath. The world around him was turning.

Tristan was about to lose hope when Bryce found a Klim. Without any second thoughts, he throwed at the Dearb’s face. Tristan heard the explosion as he felt the pressure abandoning his neck. His feet hit the ground with a loud thud. He climbed the shivering beast’s back and cut his neck off with as much strength as he could muster.

Bryce ran to his companion’s side to observe the result of their work. The small thing immediately recoiled at the sight of blood. He heard the rustle of leaves in the distance and followed the noise instantly only to find Adelaide whimpering in pain.

“She’s alive.” He stated in awe while Tristan skinned the beast. “We should help her.”

Adelaide, as prideful as is, spat at his suggestion and stood up shivering.

Tristan, on the other hand, was already heading back to the city with the Dearb’s head in hand. So, with one last glance, Bryce took out a piece of his bread from the satchel and gave it to her then scurried along.

Once in the city, Tristan flung the head of the beast onto the feet of the person who had put out the reward. He then gave 50 gold to the kid and headed to the market place to exchange the skin for valuables.

Bryce followed him to the market and bought himself a cloak, a notebook and a quiver for a grand total of 40 gold. He was learning the ways of merchants quickly and despised them for their snaky ways.

Once done, they headed back to the tavern for dinner. And in there, Bryce saw Adelaide again.

“Are you better now missy?” He jogged to her side.

“Yes, I’m all better now,” she replied, “it’s all thanks to the bread you gave me. I know this isn’t as valuable but have this.”

She handed him 5 gold as he stared at them incredulous.

“I don’t need them,” he stated as he stared her in the eyes, “I earn my own gold. The bread didn’t help you. You used healing magic.”

Halfway through their conversation, Tristan walked past on his way to his room for the night when he saw the kid talking to the girl earlier. He stopped in his track as he glanced at her then back at the kid. Unaffected, he kept walking.

“Hey you!” she shouted to get his attention. “You should be ashamed of yourself. Stealing someone else’s pray is one thing. But taking this poor kid with you everywhere? He’s not your familiar and he deserves better care. You’re the real monster.” She scolded.

Tristan didn’t bother facing her, he simply kept going.

“I’m not his familiar,” Bryce puffed, “I’m his companion.”

“Well, you deserve a better companion then,” she argued, “he’s a bad guy.”

“No, he’s not. He’s a hero. He kills bad guys.”

“No honey,” she cooed, “he works for the highest bidder. He’ll kill for whoever pays more. Nothing about him makes him a hero.”

“You don’t even know him.” complained the boy, “you’re just jealous because he’s better than you. You’re the bad person here, Adelaide.”

He stuck out his tongue and ran to the room he was sharing with Tristan.