New Friends
And new troubles...
Hi friends! If you’re new here, I’m writing a book 200 words at a time, Monday through Friday. Each Monday (and sometimes Tuesdays if I forget) I post the last week’s progress, raw and largely unedited, along with some reflections on the past week’s writing.
If you’re here primarily to read the story, you can find the start of the project here. And if you wanted to support my work with a subscription, you also will get a link to the updated, edited, and latest draft of the digital ARC (advanced reader copy). 💙
“Unless Hal Gunderson is the most underwhelming dragon name known to animalkind, I don’t believe what you had in that crate belonged to them.”
Pavil nervously made hushing noises as he glanced around the tavern. Bria averted her gaze and pulled her cloak down further. It seemed he didn’t recognize her at quick glance, because Pavil continued. “Hal’s a Wyldwalker. High ranking one too, at that. Acquired the egg on one of his expeditions and brought it back to his home to study. But some enterprising thief must have caught wind of it . Managed to pull off a smash and grab job. Hal asked me and my crew to keep our ears out for it getting fenced, and sure enough, not a week later some lizard is trying to sell it as a curio in the open market down in Littlewater. We picked it up, paid the lizard extra to tell us who sold it to her, reported the name to the Investigator’s Guild in town, and set out back this way to meet up with Hal.”
Tavi nodded. “All according to plan. An easy bounty for you… until the snowstorm. And the ferals. And the crate going missing.” He sighed dramatically. “All that money invested in its retrieval, only for everything to turn into a broken nest egg.”
Pavil locked eyes with Tavi. “Don’t mess with me, otter. What happened to the egg? Was the crate really empty by the time you found it, or—”
“Whoa, whoa. ‘Otter?’ Pavil. Friend. I’ll remind you it was my colleague who freely offered to help you out while you and your crew were in a… bind.” Tavi nodded towards Pavil’s left talon, and though Bria couldn’t see it from her angle, she remembered seeing the fresh plaster cast on it when they met yesterday—an injury sustained from the scuffle with the cultists, Pavil had said.
Pavil sighed and took a step back. “And for that I’m grateful. But surely you can understand my stress. If the egg actually hatched, and there’s a dragonling wandering the woods, Hal—no, the village—needs to know.”
“Think Hal will still pay you if the egg is destroyed via hatching?”
“I’ve personally overseen the sale of many of the artifacts Hal has retrieved from his expeditions. I’m confident he’ll do right by me—and more importantly, he’d know what to do next.” Pavil leaned in towards Tavi. “Now. What happened out there? What did you see?” (370)
Tavi mopped up the rest of his runny egg with a particularly large wedge of potato and popped it in his mouth, licking yolk off his fingers. “Come now, Pavil,” he said. “Your altruistic angle about the village needs to know might work on my fellow Scurryer, but you and I know how… valuable it can be to know what you want. You can’t help the village if you’re left high and dry, can you?”
Pavil frowned. “I… I hope you don’t think so low of me to think I’d put personal wealth above the safety of an entire village.”
Tavi looked at Pavil for a long time. The crow held steady in his gaze back. Just when Bria was about to walk up to intervene, Tavi broke into a soft smile—warm, genuine—and put a hand on Pavil’s wing.
“Forgive me, friend, for I’ve unfortunately dealt with many an animal who would do just that.”
Pavil’s feathers around his neck ruffled at the touch, and he once again stammered incomprehensibly. But Tavi had already let go, returning to finish the last drops of his mead before letting out a small belch. “We indeed saw the dragonling hatch. And now, with thanks to you, I accept your encouragement for us to seek out Hal to help us figure out what to do next.”
Pavil started to say something—likely a protestation—but Tavi had already slipped off his seat at the bar, clapped Pavil jovially on the back, and strode with confidence towards the door. He stopped just in the door frame and looked back.
“I trust you will exercise discretion around our chat? Don’t want to panic the village before I can formulate next steps with Hal.”
“But—” Pavil began.
“I’ll be sure to remind Hal to take care of you and your expenses,” Tavi said.
“I—”
“I’m just glad you weren’t part of some unseemly scheme that acquired the egg through deceptive means,” Tavi said. “I would loathe you to be the target of a dragon’s wrath, especially now that its child is hatched and vulnerable.”
Pavil’s eyes went wide. “…surely, you don’t think that the dragon would think my merchants and I… I mean, we never touched the egg directly—”
“A dragon’s nose and senses truly eclipse that of us mundane animals,” Tavi said with a shrug. “And their vengeance knows no bounds.” He let that sink in for a moment before chiming in with a bouncy attitude. “But I’m sure Hal… how did you say it, “acquired it” through means that wouldn’t anger a dragon parent, and that you’re perfectly safe. See you soon!” And with that, Tavi scurried out the door.
Bria watched Pavil gesture after Tavi, then sink into a worried glower before slamming some coins on the bar and leaving back in the direction of the rooms. She quickly scooped up the now quite squirmy basket, threw it on her back, and scooted out of the inn. Watching Tavi do his thing raised more questions than provided answers, and only half of them had to do with Chiara. But she would have to ask them later. Right now, they had a Wyldwalker to find and question.
Another Week, Another Bit of Progress
Not much to report this week, friends. Thanks for reading, and see you for the next, when we get to meet Hal Gunderson, and learn what a Wyldwalker is. 🦝