Chit-Chat Over Tea

The dust kicked up by the golems' destruction slowly settled around the group.

Eyeing Elenwen, Savina had her doubts, "So you're a 'friendly' witch, huh."

Smiling, Elenwen lightly shrugged. "Is that so hard to believe?"

Kicking a rock by her foot, Savina glanced at the golems' now destroyed core. "I've never met a friendly witch before. All the witches I've met have tried to kill me, in one form or another."

"Have you ever thought that could be because you think every witch is evil?" Elenwen countered.

Hearing this, Savina was about to speak before being cut off by Elenwen.

"Not that it matters, come on, you three. More golems will come here when their maker realizes I destroyed that device, but I'm sure we have time for some chit-chat over tea."

Watching Elenwen turn her back to the group and return to her home. Savina grabbed Rio's arm as he was about to follow her.

"Are you sure we can trust her, Rio? I know you say Elenwen is your friend, that she is one of the good ones, but what if she isn't."

Smiling, Rio glanced over to Elenwen as she opened the hut door, looking back to Savina he nodded. "She is Neia, I swear on my life.".

"I mean, that's easy for you to say." Savina snapped. "You don't know what witches are capable of."

Putting his hands on Savina's shoulders, Rio tried to assure her. "I can swear on Iseul's life if it helps reassure you. Elenwen, is a good friend of ours. She has helped me and Iseul a load of times over the past year. Not just counting recently when she helped me find Iseul after he got caught by the slavers."

"That's still something I want to know. How did Iseul get caught by slavers?"

Tapping Rio's shoulder, Iseul gestured to the hut. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Iseul's got a point. We'll settle this golem problem. Then I'm sure we'll find time to tell you, but for now. Let's see what tea Elenwen is making."

"Oh, right, that would probably be for the best."

As the trio approached Elenwen's hut, Savina noticed how small it was.

Having only two floors, Savina walked through the front door. Stepping into the home, Savina saw that there was a small kitchen area with an assortment of herbs and vegetables lying around the kitchen counter. In the middle of the room, a small fireplace sat, a steady stream of smoke slowly drifted upwards.

On the other side of the room, a wooden table had books precariously placed in large piles atop it, next to it a worn couch had books haphazardly thrown on top of it and a large bookcase sat next to the couch filled to the brim with even more books.

At the far end of the hut, a staircase leads upwards. Savina guessed Elenwen's bedroom could be found at the end of its steps.

"Sorry about the mess." Elenwen apologize as she picked out four teacups from a cupboard. "If I knew I was going to have guests, I would have cleared some room."

Walking over to the table, Savina picked up the first two books she saw.

Apull's guide to the different types of Golem - First edition.

Apull's guide to Golem anatomy - Second edition.

Holding up the books, Savina called to Elenwen. "Are all these books related to Golems? And who's this Apull guy?"

Picking a kettle off of the fireplace, Elenwen turned to Savina, hearing her question. "Apull's an inventor. He's fairly renowned for creating advanced golems."

"Renowned for making golems." Savina thought to herself as she turned the book over. "I'm surprised I've never heard of him."

Elenwen continued. "And not all of them are related to golems, just the ones on the table, the rest are either books I'm reading or have finished."

As everyone in the hut looked at the number of books Elenwen had piled in her hut, Elenwen cleared her throat.

"You get a lot of free time, living in the middle of nowhere." Elenwen walked back to the kitchen area of her home to finish making the tea.

As Savina dropped the books back onto the table, Rio looked at the fireplace, at the smoke rising into the chimney.

"Hey Elenwen, I have a quick question. When we got to the clearing, your house was nowhere to be seen, yet when you suddenly appeared. Your house also suddenly appeared. Why was that?"

Smiling to herself, Elenwen returned the kettle to its place over the fire.

"Come now, Rio, how do you think I did it. Magic. I've been drawing the majority of the free-roaming golems to this clearing so that they don't attack those who cannot defend themselves, but I also don't want them to destroy my home. So I use a little of my witch magic and seal my home outside normal space. Nothing too complicated really, nowhere."

Picking a tray up, Elenwen walked over to Rio, Savina and Iseul.

"It may be a bit hot." She smiled, holding the tray forward for them to take their drinks. "But it's nothing, just blowing on it won't fix."

As the three took their cups, Iseul adjusted his helmet so that he could blow on the cup.

Putting the tray to one side, Elenwen picked up her own drink. "So, with pleasantries finished. Let us move onto business."

With her free hand, Elenwen pulled a rolled-up map out from beneath some books. Unfurling it, she set it down on top of the books on the table.

"We are here." She commented, pointing at the clearing in the woods on the map. Running her finger northwest, she tapped on the location of the abandoned mine. "And this is where the golems are coming out of, the old mine, now turned golem infested dungeon. They leave in waves, the most that have come out in a day have been fifty-six."

"How do you know the most is fifty-six?" Rio queried.

"How do I know? Their remains are littering my lawn." Elenwen retorted.

"Ah." Rio nodded.

"Tell me Elenwen." Savina's mistrust of the witch was apparent from her tone. "If you can easily deal with fifty-six golems, why haven't you dealt with this before today?"

"I-" Elenwen hesitated. "I can't stay away from my home for long. I can make short trips to the village, for food and supplies, to do the odd job, but the amount of time it would take to clear out that dungeon. I can't do that."

As Savina was about to take another jab at the witch, Rio stepped in.

"Since I can see, this conversation will end with you asking us to go and explore the dungeon to find out what is creating all of these golems. Is there anything you can tell us about the dungeon? What to expect?"

As Savina took a step back, Elenwen shook her head.

"As I said, I don't have any knowledge of what's inside that dungeon. I only have theories."

"Them being?" Savina asked through gritted teeth.

"I believe the relic at the end of the dungeon to be A grade or higher, and if my theory is correct. As for where all of these golems are coming from, all the books I've gathered point to the relic being the cause. How or why I do not know."

Taking a sip from her tea, Savina slightly rolled her eyes. "I guess that's better than nothing."

As the four drank from their cups, Elenwen turned to Iseul. "So how are you, Iseul? Last I heard, you got yourself caught by some slavers. Are you still using those stupidly heavy swords?"

Ignoring Elenwen, Iseul sat on top of the book filled couch.

"Still not a talker, I see." Turning to Rio, Elenwen gestured to Iseul. "How is he?"

Finishing his cup of tea, Rio put it down on the tray. "Iseul's doing good, and yeah, he's still using those big swords. I keep trying to convince him to get something smaller, so he can use his high agility and fast reflexes properly, but you know him." Nudging Iseul's head, Rio laughed. "He never listens."

"Oh, you-" Suddenly stopping, Elenwen looked out the window.

Looking at Savina, Rio and Savina both shared a confused look. "What's wrong Elenwen?" Rio asked.

Staying quiet for a moment, Elenwen put her drink down. "I'm not sure. I've set runes up all over the forest to alert me if a golem passes by, but I just felt one disappear. It didn't activate, nor did I deactivate it. It feels like it just, stopped." Sighing, Elenwen rubbed her eyes. "I might just be tired, I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep since I have to keep getting up in the middle of the night to destroy the golems."

"Well then. I guess we've no time to waste." Looking over the map once more, Rio smiled. "Let's go and deal with that dungeon."

As Savina and Iseul put their cups down, Savina shrugged. "Although, the potential of it being an A-ranked dungeon or higher is troubling. I think us three will be able to deal with whatever troubles it contains."

"You three should be fine to approach the old mine's entrance, I just recently dispatched the latest wave of golems, but be careful. The mine's entrance could have golems standing guard."

"Thanks for the tips, Elenwen." Rio nodded, starting to walk over to the door. "We'll clean out this dungeon and be back soon."

Watching Elenwen, Savina couldn't help but still dislike the witch. Although she seemed like a good person, Savina still had questions, of Those Locked Outside, which eldritch abomination did she swear loyalty to, and why couldn't she leave her home for long. Shaking her head, Savina decided to leave these questions for a later date.

The party left Elenwen's home, standing in the doorway, Elenwen called to them.

"Just be careful you three, who knows what is in that dungeon."

~~

Two men stood on a hill overlooking the mine shaft. Both men wore dark cloaks which covered their bodies down to the knees. They silently observed the two golems roaming the area in front of it. One man wore a red fox mask, his grey hair was tied into a bun as some loose strands of hair were ruffled by the wind, he stood with his arms crossed. The other man was crouched next to him. He wore a blue fox mask, his black hair was cut short, a sword sheathed over the back of his waist poked through the cloak.

"What do you think, Blue? Do you want to take those golems on yourself? Or if you're not feeling up to it, I can deal with them if you want?" The man wearing the red fox mask had an old voice, weathered by age. Yet his jovial tone remained untarnished.

The man with the blue fox mask stood up. His voice was much younger than his companions.

"Sure, I can deal with them for you, old man." He snickered. "I'll need the practice if we're going to get paid."