Chapter Forty
Glinda, the Herb Witch, somehow knew they were coming before they’d taken even a few steps into town. She wasn’t a tall goblin—in fact, Glib was taller than she was—but she carried a presence that made Vester think she wouldn’t hesitate to take a shot at them if she needed to.
Technically it worked, because Vester and his Party had no intention of starting any problems to begin with. They’d just passed Glib over to his mother and begun explaining that the boy had gotten overexcited and passed out after learning a Great Dungeon portal had opened nearby.
The War Guardian probably wouldn’t have believed them if he hadn’t recognized Reve almost immediately.
The poor ogre was sweating bullets from the moment she introduced herself, and he just nodded repeatedly to everything Reve said.
The relief he gave off was palpable when Kora stepped in to make some suggestions on how to keep Misthaven safe from the new dungeon.
The entire group walked through the small town toward the tavern, and while Kora and Reve filled Crondo in, Vester took in the sights.
Misthaven was a very pretty little village.
The hill it was positioned on had three springs, and each carved its own small stream to join the other wetlands below.
This moisture resulted in a thick growth of plants, but the villages had cultivated a unique type of purple clover that didn’t grow very tall; it even smelled like cinnamon when stepped on.
They’d built walls at the base of the hill, with a gate and small bridge over each stream.
The walls were made from heavy, rounded boulders and mortared in place with some kind of dark brown cement.
Then the builders had used flat stones to form a path up from each gate to the actual village itself.
The houses were made of much smaller stones and the same mortar. They were almost all wide domes covered in the same purple clover, which left the top of the hill looking surprisingly empty. Despite the lack of tall structures, the whole place gave off a cozy atmosphere Vester found relaxing.
While he’d expected round doors, the buildings actually seemed to feature thick leather curtains over the entrances. He was noticing a distinct lack of wood in most of the architecture, which made sense since he hadn’t seen many trees among these hills.
Misthaven also lacked the vapor lanterns that had lit the streets of Porter’s Walk at night, and instead had large hanging baskets formed into wicker globes. Vester heard a faint buzzing and realized those spheres were filled with some kind of insects.
The inn was the only structure within the town that appeared to rise above a single story.
It was a rounded tower of about three floors, far wider than it was tall, and had thick vines growing up and over it instead of the clover.
It also possessed the first wooden door Vester had seen beyond the town gates.
When he stepped inside, he realized that the people of this town had likely built down a lot more than they’d built upward.
The entrance to the inn featured stairs leading into the ground, and the only reason Reve’s horns didn’t scrape on the ceiling was because they’d descended three feet below the surface.
The beams supporting the second floor were carved stone, and Crondo had to duck each time they passed one.
The ogre led them to the bar and helped them get booked to stay. He also promised to return with maps of the local area so they could plan their trip to the nearest town with a branch of the Courier Guild. Crondo informed them it was a six-day trip by horse for most people.
Vester wasn’t worried about that just yet—no, his focus was on arranging for a long, hot bath for everyone in his Party and a real, fresh-cooked meal.
Krysta did amazing things with the stuff in her inventory, but spices were always one of the first things to get booted when storage space got tight.
Once they were all safely ensconced in the hot, bubbling water of the inn’s communal baths, Vester felt a tightness in his chest fade.
There were plenty of obstacles they needed to sort, and likely far too much conflict in their futures, but for the moment they were safe and getting clean, and that was good enough for him.