Aveyond: Rhen's Quest

Chapter 19: Highlands

All the party members, except for Te'ijal, were back to the village square on time.

"I can't run, it'll cause indigestion," that was her lamest excuse that they had ever heard. All of them traded their stories on what they've found so far.

"Let's report this matter to the town hall," suggested Dameon after hearing about the squirrels' hideout. "So that they have a clue to investigate further."

"You and Elini go to the Town Hall," Rhen bossed around by ordering Lars, who rolled his eyes. "While Dameon, Te'ijal and I will take care of the locusts. We'll see you there soon."

~~~

"We know who has been stealing the farmers' corn, ma'am," Lars reported the matter to who supposed to be the chief investigator.

"Speak, child! Who is it? The Brawdy boys?"

"It's militant squirrels," answered Elini. The people burst out laughing, including the chief investigator.

"Oh dear, you must be joking! Militant squirrels?" she laughed much louder now.

"It's the truth!" said Lars. "They have a military base of north the village."

"Well, I might as well send some men to check out your claim. I'm sure they can handle squirrels," she giggled. If only she knew... "Anyway, take this for your help. A farmer gave it to me when he found it in his garden."

Lars received a transparent orb with a sitting gnome engraved inside. He replaced his flood orb with the gnome orb onto his orb staff. No soon after Rhen and the others came in and reported to the chief investigator.

"Here, take this rune as a reward. It might come in handy," she handed Rhen an aquamarine hexagon rune with strange symbols written on it.

~~~

"I sense a strong demonic scent from the east," said Dameon as the party was back to the crossroad. They followed the trail and it led them to a fancy house. From the look of it, most would think that it belonged to that of a well off merchant as peasants usually wouldn't be able to afford a double-storey house.

Elini snooped around the house and found a cave behind, but a locked gate prevented her from moving on.

"The scent comes from the cave," she presumed. "The demon must have been lurking in there."

"Let's see if we can ask the one who lived in this house to open the gate for us," Rhen rang the doorbell and entered after a raspy voice asked them in.

"Welcome, how can I help you?" an eldery man in the age of the 50s welcomed them with a smile. Rhen greeted him and inquired about the locked gate behind his house.

"Oh. I locked the gate behind my house because a confounded demon kept coming up from the caves to terrorize my little Zini," he said with a sad face.

"Who's Zini?" Lars looked around but no one lived in the fancy house besides the old man.

"My precious cat," a white kitten purring under the old man's feet.

"Can you unlock the gate for us? We can rid you of the demon," offered Rhen.

"Find my eye and I'll open the gate for you."

"What's wrong with your eye?"

"My bother, Dorvan, stole it from me. The wretched man dragged it away to his room upstairs."

"That's disgusting," commented Lars. "Why would your brother steal your eye?"

"Not my real eye you fool!" snapped the old man. "I had a magical glass eye that I used to see. Without the glass eye, I'm blind."