Chapter 4: Plans and cards.

I was already getting used to waking up early. It doesn't mean it was getting pleasant in any way, just bearable.

Thalia woke me up exactly at 5:00 of the morning. That's by how dark the sky still was. She banged on my door until I rolled out of bed to open it, then just urged me to get ready and left. Like those mobile alarms that run away to force you to get out of bed.

I changed to my hunting outfit as quickly as my sleeping brain allowed. Outside the Blue Wolf I found Thalia waiting for me in front of a simple covered wagon pulled by horses. The coachman tipped his hat to me as a greeting.

Thalia snapped her fingers to get my attention. Then offered me a warm bag with some apples, bread and jerky beef.

"Breakfast." She explained.

I nodded, still a bit sleepy. The apple tasted good. It tasted a little funky heated up, but still good. "I thought we were going by horse."

"The researcher guy sent a messenger yesterday. Asked us to bring the whole spiders, not just the fangs. I had to rent that last second. That bastard."

"Uhum." I nodded again. With nothing else to say, I just walked to the back of the wagon.

Sitting there, I found a girl in mage robes sleeping against the white cloth wall. Hazel brown hair pulled on a ponytail, with a ribbon sticking out the top of her head.The robes were simple brown and white attire with a black belt. Pinkish skin, already showing a slight tan from the life in the outbacks. She was holding a staff made of wood that ended with a metallic head holding an emerald.

Well, more hugging than holding actually. I took my place on the opposite bench. Eating the bread and jerky beef. Thalia joined us a few moments later.

I didn't realize when I slept, only that it was near mid-day when I came to be. A sea of orange dirt pointed by greenish bushes had replaced the gravel roads. Occasionally we would pass by some small groups of trees. Some small groups of animals and beasts. A river in the distance. And the sun, as expected, was trying its best to cook us alive.

Thalia was sleeping on her own corner. Jacket over her face and arms under her head. The mage girl was fiddling with something on her own menu that I couldn't see. Mumbling softly to herself in what I presumed was Russian. Based on the accent alone.

"Hey." I waved at her. Accidentally startling her in the process. "Sorry. I don't think I got your name."

"It's Anastasia. Nice to meet you." Said the girl. She was nervous. It was clear by her voice alone. Maybe that was the first time she went on a hunt?

"A pleasure to meet you too. Names Edward. First time as pest control?" I asked in a joking tone to, I hope, ease her up a little.

Anastasia answered with a slight nod. "I usually only work with potions. But Lady Thalia insisted that I come with her."

"Lady?" I looked at Thalia, then back at the Russian mage. "Where?"

"Fuck off, leprechaun." The archer retorted. Scaring both of us.

"Tell me wrong. I'm waiting. You were saying?" I turned back to Anastasia before Thalia could start talking.

"Don't ignore me, bastard!"

Anastasia was looking from me to Thalia. And for some reason, she seemed more relaxed. "Thalia insisted that I came along in case something went wrong with the explosive." She continued. "I'm no fighter, I'm afraid. So don't expect me to be on the battlefield."

"Nah." Thalia waved her hand dismissively. "Eddy and I will take care of everything. You are just our support."

"The bomb was your idea?" I inquired. A little curious as to why Thalia had called the girl. The way she talked gave me the impression her plan was to chuck a bag of chemical fire on a three and shoot it.

Anastasia shook her head. "It was her idea. A quick way to, and I quote, "Vanish with the fuckers"."

"Yeah, I can imagine her saying that." I heard Thalia mumble something to herself. Probably some one-liner.

"But I did project the device by myself. It's actually very simple. Here."

The mage (artificer?) raised her hands as if she was holding something big. A spark appeared between her hands. The shiny light grew bigger and bigger until finally dispersing. Giving place to a small wooden barrel with some tubes connecting a mechanism on top to the middle sections.

Thalia took just enough of the jacket off her face to look at us. "I still think it's too small."

The mage gave Thalia a dirty look. "Even diluted as it is, there's enough here to blow up a house." She turned to me. "Those tubes here connect to a chamber in the center of the bomb. The compartment has a smaller explosive. Once it's ignited, it will explode inside, igniting the alchemic fire. The two explosions combined will spread the solution over a wide area."

I nodded along. There was something strangely amusing about a girl with such a heavy accent explaining the inner workings of incendiary explosives like it was commonplace.

"And here I thought you were just going to chuck a bag of alchemic fire onto a three." I said.

"She wanted to light it with an arrow, right?" Asked Anastasia. "I took the chance to improve her idea a little. I also added a timer to the device. It explodes after a minute. Plenty of time for you two to get out of there."

I nodded again. Thalia mumbled something about "simple being better".

"That raises a quick question. Thalia, you said the nest was in some woods near farms. What if the fire spreads too far?" I turned to our scout. She did say she had inspected the área before.

"It's not a huge forest, if that's your concern. Just a bunch of trees. And not many bushes nearby either. It's unlikely to turn into a wildfire." Thalia clarified.

"I took the ambient in consideration. Don't worry. I'm only using about 100ml of explosive. The solution is still potent over small areas, but doesn't spread far. Nothing to worry about."

I nodded once more, deciding to drop the subject. They seemed to have everything figured out already. I was just the companion NPC helping out. Quite a strange realization, actually.

"Can we talk about something else? We already went over the plan like ten times." The archer grunted. "So we can at least kill some time."

An idea flashes in my head. I searched my backpack for the deck of cards I had chosen as my bonus item. "You two know how to play Twenty-One?"

Thalia peeked from under her jacket. Seeing the cards instantly picked her interest.

"Never heard of. Explain." Her and Anastásia moved closer. It took me by surprise that the Russian girl was also interested. She didn't peg me as a player.

"Ok, so: Ace to ten are worth their numbers. Queen, king and jack worth eleven and joker doesn't count. The goal is to get as close to twenty one as possible."

I started shuffling the cards as I explained. The motion was almost second nature to me, being the "card dealer" most of the times my friends and I had played.

"Each player gets two cards. And can risk up to two more cards to raise their score. Nailing twenty one or getting more than the opponent it's a win. Past it, it's auto-lose."

"We're betting?" Asked Thalia.

"I'd rather not. I don't want to sweep you two that hard."

Her smile widened. In a way that made me thankful for that decision.

"Really big talk for someone so short." She moved to sit on the floor. "Break the deck."

I moved to sit across Thalia and noticed Anastácia watching with some interest.

"Wanna join?" I took two more cards from the deck. "Just to pass the time."

She hesitated a moment before answering, then joined us. "One round. I'm not fond of cassino games."

"Oe. This is an art you're talking about. The art of bluffing." Thalia said as I handed her cards. "Just let mama here teach you one thing or two."

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Again the cards hit the wood floor. Thalia and I stared at the Russian mage in disbelief.

"What the fuck?" Thalia eloquently articulated.

I said nothing, just stared at Anastasia's perfect twenty one. Her second in a row. Fifth win in a row.

"I-I don't even know the odds..." I am SO glad we weren't betting. Would have probably lost my socks there.

The mage struggles to contain a smile. "I think I get the appeal now."

"Bullshit. This has to be cheating." Thalia turned to Anastasia. My blood ran cold as I noticed her Mark flashing over her eye.

"Excuse-me." The mage put her hand on her hips. "I am no cheater, Amaris. it's not my fault you have awful luck."

"It's just a friendly game. Calm the fuck down Thalia." I held her shoulder.

She didn't look any pleased, but the Mark did stop glowing. She swayed my arm away and sat back on the bench.

"Whatever. We're here anyway." She pointed out. I hadn't noticed the wagon had stopped until now.

We had finally arrived at our destination: A small hill of farms near a small forest. As the girls had said, it was just a small cluster. Outside these two locations our surroundings were mostly plain fields and farm crops spreading to the horizon.

We stepped out of the wagon just as the door of a nearby house opened.

A young woman in white shirt and overalls came running to us. In her twenties perhaps. Brown hair tied up in a bun. Tanned skin from the outbacks. I instantly knew something was wrong by the look on her face. Her expression was between distressed and royally pissed off.

"Good. You finally came. I want those fucking spiders exterminated!" The woman shouted at us. But more at Anastasia and Thalia.

"Woah, woah. Calm down. The hell happened?" The archer questioned. The fact she also looked concerned with this woman who just shouted at her confirmed my own concerns.

Anastasia stepped forward. "Audrey, please calm down. What's the problem?"

"Those cursed spiders-" The woman, Audrey, ran her trembling hands through her hair. "Sorry, I didn't want to yell…"

Tears started falling. Only then I noticed her bloodshot eyes. She had been crying. A lot.

Thalia shot me a glare begging for help. Ok, charisma. Don't fail me now.

"Miss Audrey, we are here to help. There's no need to panic anymore. Please, take a deep breath. What's the problem, exactly?" I calmly approached her. Using [Pacify] as I spoke.

The trick seemed to work. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's- it's my dad. The spiders got him a few days ago. We didn't know he was allergic…" The tears threatened to return. "Please, help us."