Pieces of Sonder

The sun touched the horizon when they came back to Tharvan. Freya had hoped the setting sun would bring lower temperatures, but the air still felt hot and sticky.

Just as the inn came into view, the ground began to rumble. It started low and soft then,

Bang! Crash!

Heilong lost her balance and fell back into Freya. 

The ground shook violently.

Freya struggled to keep her balance. Heilong grabbed onto her for support.

Then it stopped. The town fell silent as if nothing had happened. But the damage was apparent. A large crack ran down the middle of the street. Several signposts and street markers had fallen over. Luckily the brick houses around them appeared to be intact.

“Is everyone alright?” Infamous Biscuit said, sitting on the ground.

“We’re okay,” Freya answered, helping him get back to his feet.

Heilong straightened her ponytail back into place, “What was that about? It can’t be a coincidence.”

Roar!

The three of them turned towards the muted sound.

“It sounds like it’s coming from outside of town,” Freya said.

Infamous Biscuit took his staff out of his inventory.

Roar!

“That one sounded closer. Let’s go see,” Heilong said, stringing an arrow.

They ran towards the noise, with Freya eventually taking the lead. As they ran, they passed by more and more of Tharvan’s residents coming out to inspect the damage and the increasing roars.

Running outside of town, Freya could see something heading towards them in the distance. It came from the same direction as Kirin’s house.

As it came closer, it continued to grow in size. The lion-like creature roared again.

The creature was the size of a large draft horse. Its mane was many times larger than a normal lion’s mane. It also appeared more rigid and fanned out. 

[Siyana Gathering Lion]

[Lvl 7] [90/90 HP]

“Huh, not as scary as it looks,” Freya said, reading its low amount of health.

“It’s probably the boss. Even though this is a level 5 dungeon, they still try to make the bosses look big and intimidating. Tangling vines!”

The lion lurched forward, crashing face-first into the ground.

It looked up at them. Its long tongue licked around its face and mane.

With a paw swipe, it cleared the vines but Freya was already in position.

Gathering qi, she directed her punch at its ribcage.

The lion stumbled.

An arrow cleanly hit the center of its forehead.

And that was it.

Watching the creature turn into a large smoke cloud, Freya frowned in disappointment. 

“I didn’t even get to try out my new skill book.”

Heilong retrieved her arrow and looked at the loot, “Any of you interested in a water condensation spell skill book?”

They both shook their heads.

“We can sell it and split the profits,” Infamous Biscuit suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Heilong said. “Hey, is that Kirin?”

She pointed. Freya strained her eyes. She could barely make out a stick figure coming towards them.

Behind them, townspeople from Tharvan started to gather. They whispered about the smoke cloud. By the time Kirin came close enough for Freya to recognize him, the smoke cloud had disappeared.

He gasped for breath, “Is everyone okay? There was–the seal broke! A giant lion ran this way!”

“We took care of it,” Infamous Biscuit said. “Wait, a seal broke?”

Kirin sank to his knees in relief but looked away when he heard about the seal.

“I- I think I might have accidentally released it.”

“What!” one of the townspeople shouted from behind them.

“You caused that earthquake?”

“My house is ruined!”

“The creature could have killed us all!”

“Stupid anti-Sibra trash, they’re going to kill us all one day.”

“What were you thinking?!”

Infamous Biscuit held his hands up and tried to quell the crowd, “Please, everyone calm down for a moment.”

Kirin was still on his knees, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think this would happen. I was just trying to break a different seal, but somehow it traveled. I wasn’t even close to it! All the sealed demon stones are far from my house-”

“Then how did you even know that the demon broke loose?” someone asked accusingly.

“I felt the earthquake just as you did-”

“Oh, Squeak!”

Everyone turned towards the overjoyed voice.

At the back of the crowd, Mr. Anuji held up the gathering mouse, “Oh, I never thought I’d see you again!”

Kirin looked stunned. The mouse must have grabbed onto him when he left his house in a hurry. 

Beep!

Freya jumped and looked at the screen in front of her.

[Water by the Ocean Story Dungeon cleared!]

[Reward: +200 exp]

“What stupid system is this?” Infamous Biscuit muttered, then raised his voice. “Hold on, Mr. Anuji.”

He approached the old man, “Now that you have Squeak again, are you still planning to use him? He looks worn out enough as it is.”

Mr. Anuji put the mouse into his shirt pocket.

“Ah, we both look rather old don’t we. But I think he still has many years left.”

Infamous Biscuit eye’s bulged, “You-”

“But I only have a few. To tell you the truth, that’s why I was so desperate to find him.”

Mr. Anuji rubbed Squeak’s ear with his finger, “I thought it would be best to ask people who didn’t know the value of gathering mice to find him. So many try to break the contract on them so they can form their own contracts, or at least they’ll try to sell them to someone else who will try the same thing.”

He shook his head, “It’s impossible to break without permission of the contract holder. Even if the contract holder dies, it won’t break the contract. The mouse will just die along with the contract holder.

That’s why I came to town. I want to break the contract before I die. But I need a shaman or wizard to help me. I don’t understand a lot of the contract break ritual. Hopefully, one will stop by Tharvan soon.”

Infamous Biscuit and Freya exchanged glances. 

“Thank you for the explanation Mr. Anuji,” Heilong said. “We were just concerned about Squeak’s well being. Hopefully, a shaman will come to town soon.”

Kirin looked like he wanted to say more, but the crowd of townspeople who had started to piece together what happened didn’t look happy. He disappeared into the fading light with burning looks at his back. Mr. Anuji seemed oblivious to the matter.

“I hope one comes soon too. I don’t know how much longer I have.”

“Mr. Anuji,” Freya said. “If you need a shaman, I might be able to help you.”