Forgotten Realms Fan Fiction ❯ The Fateful Coin ❯ Chapter 8: Mirabar & Crow ( Chapter 9 )

 

Chapter: Eight

Mirabar & Crow

 

Thalen awoke to the heavenly smell of soup, for Anashra was cooking Breakfast. His mouth watered, and a thin line of drool escaped his mouth. He silently cursing,* What am I Doing? I am not a dog.* and promptly wiped it away. His stomach growled, betraying his hunger. The thought of food reminded him of something, and suddenly he was not as hungry as he had thought.* She would not really make me eat them now would she?* Thalen shook his head, sat up and stretched his arms; they made a satisfying POP. He saw Anashra give him a disgusted look, which he ignored and went over to dish himself a bowl of the bubbling stew. His attempt to relieve the pangs of hunger was unjustly rewarded when Anashra slapped his hand. Thalen looked up and her and scowled. “Thalen, what do you think you are doing with MY Breakfast? Your breakfast is in your knapsack, and I believe that you are a man of your word so, get started on those shorts.” With that, she tossed him his bag watching as his scowl deepened and he began to fish out a pair of shorts. Having them in hand, a brilliant idea came to him he could keep his word and get out of this whole mess at the same time. He slid Whisper from its sheath and cut a tiny square from the edge of the garment placed it in his mouth and swallowed. Then he looked Anashra straight in the eye and said, “I kept my word, as I was honor bound to do.” Thalen then replaced Whisper and once again started to dish the stew. This time she did not even attempt to stop him. He sat savoring the rich flavor of the wild venison its warmth filling him as a chill wind rose and blew through the quiet camp.

The rest of the morning passed in silence, as the made their way though the rocky, snow drenched mountain passes. The silence hung thick and heavy on them like a blanket until it was broken, not surprisingly by Anashra. “You cheated.” she said softly. At this, Thalen gave her a wry lopsided grin and said, “I said I would eat them, I never said how much I'd consume. Besides I'm a thief, and thieves don't play by the rules.” He heard her mumble something about cheaters, which only made him, grin wider, “Perhaps, we may not prosper; but we don't get indigestion either.” She shot him an evil look. Amused, he merely followed behind her and enjoyed the view; her hips swaying as she strode ahead fuming.

 

The remainder of the day passed quickly and without incident...

 

Dusk settled in over the horizon as nightfall neared, and Thalen quickly scouted ahead for a campsite. He spotted a cave, checked to make sure it was uninhabited and then called Anashra over. A rank musty smell drifted from the yawning mouth of the cave, he looked at Anashra, found her face crinkled up in a grimace at the smell, and smirked, Ok, so it is not the Elfsong, but it warmer and safer than sleeping out in the open.” She nodded but was unable to keep the look of disgust off her face much to his amusement. “It smells like TEN Orcs live here.” she said, with much distaste in her voice. Thalen shrugged and replied that he had slept in worse smelling places. He saw her raise an eyebrow, and scoff, “Then it's a wonder you have any sense of smell left at all.” Even more amused, he made a courteous bow and said, “Shall we Milady?” Anashra rolled her eyes and grumbled something about insufferable men. He quipped back saying, “I'll take that as a compliment.” He heard her snort in reply. They got the campfire started, ate, and as they were both tired from travel crawled in their respective bedrolls and drifted off to sleep.

 

Thalen's first clue that something was wrong hit his nose like a ton of bricks; the stench had intensified to a degree where he could no longer sleep. He heard low guttural voices, in the black speech that was Orc tongue.*Voices? Orc speech? Sweet Mystra!* His eyes snapped open, he whipped Silence and Whisper out into his hands, whirling around he plunged them into the nearest Orc who had been about to give him a new orifice. “Anashra! Darling, WAKE UPwe got company.” Thalen saw her leap out of he bedroll from the corner of his eye, and draw Evermorn that strange Elven sword of hers. Leaving his daggers in the Orc's corpse he drew another pair of daggers from their hidden sheathes spied a pair of Orcs rushing toward Anashra and threw them hitting one in the throat and the other in the right eye. Having cleared his side of the cave, he nimbly leapt over the dying campfire to help Anashra with her share of the foul beasts. Fighting his way to her side they fought pressed back to back and she snarled at him, “You would have to find an Orc invested cave. It is safer you said. It is warmer you said. If this your idea of safe then next time I pick the campsite!” he gave her a dirty look, and finished killing off the last two Orcs in quick succession. He did a fast body count, snorted then and laughed. “You were right ten Orcs did live here.” She had an unreadable look on her face, and she did not reply so he collected his weapons and cleaned them on the pants of a nearby Orc. He gathered his belongings motioned for her to do the same and when they were packed he said, “Let's go, before we have more company come. I am not in the mood to have another party.” He sighed and started back to the trail and the road seemed to beckon to him.

 

Three cold, windy, and miserable days later, they had finally arrived. They had made it to Mirabar where they could finally start their search for Therin or at least get some clue to his whereabouts. At the very least a decent meal and hot bath. Yes, that was one of Thalen's priorities right now a good meal, a bath and a soft bed. A genuine smile crossed his face as he and Anashra passed though Mirabar's gates.