"You see, things have not been so quiet in Fox Hollow lately," said Ken, pulling out a scroll from underneath his cloak. He opened it, spreading out all over the company's round table, revealing a large and detailed map of Decatar. He pointed a finger at the edge of the Amberwood, a huge forest that expanded many miles to the East.
"Children, peasants mostly, have been unexplainable disappearing around these parts," explained Ken. "It has been causing a great uproar from small folk, and they are demanding that there sons and daughters are returned. My employer can't send out a search party, for both finance and time hinder him. So, he has decided to look for a cheaper; and your party was chosen for this task."
"Basically," said John slowly, rising a little from his seat, "You want us to go look for a bunch of snot-nosed kids, right?"
Ken nodded. "You must find them and bring them back home safely."
"Alright, then," said Tabitha, "But how much are you paying us? That's the main question here."
"You will be rewarded handsomely, I'll see to that," replied Ken, rolling up the map and hiding it back inside his cloak.
"Do you have any idea what could have taken the children?" asked Cassy, who had been listening to the story and had been shaken by the news.
But Ken only shook his head. "Haven't the slightest clue," he said, "You know very well that the Amberwood has a sinister reputation. Stories of monsters and witches often come from there. But, gentlemen, I must leave you for now."
And with that said, he turned around and left the inn.
Marty watched the kangaroo leave with a suspicious look. "I don't trust that guy," he said.
"Neither do I," said John, draining the last ale from his tankard. "But if he says he going to pay, then he's going to pay us, or he'll never see another light of day again, I'll make sure of that."
"Besides," Tabitha suddenly said, "if he doesn't pay us, we can always use his money instead."
She produced a small pouch, shaking it, and the sound of coins could be audibly heard. The group stared at her with surprise.
"You didn't..." Cassy said flabbergasted.
The vixen only giggled, saying, "Old habits die hard, I guess."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The group left the inn the following morning when the sun was barely began poking its head above the hills. Amberwood was close to Fox Hollow, only ten miles as the crow flies, and the party arrived at the edges of the forest at midday.
The inhabitants, like Ken described, were all farmers who lived in small farmhouses, which lied scattered across the plains that were patched with crops of all sorts. But another thing that they noticed was that their were no children, and the residence looked sad and weary, even though they weren't overworked or starving. They were most likely grieving for their missing offspring.
They stopped at the area where most said the children were last seen: It was a large path, almost worthy of the title 'road', that went into the forest for quite a distance before it finally gave way to the fauna of the Amberwood. It was used by lumberjacks and hunters often, but now it lied abandoned due to the missing children incident.
The party was assembled for a while at the gates of the huge forest, for they debated if they should spend the night outside the Amberwood or if they should travel inside and camp there.
Cassy, supported by Tabatha, was the one who decided to stay outside, just to be safe, for the forest had a sinister reputation, while John, supported by Marty, was the one who ordered that they should camp inside the forest, for he wanted to get the quest done as quickly as possible.
After arguing for at least an hour, they finally decided to camp in the Amberwood. Night was falling when the group finally settled down on a small hill, after they traveled a long distance into the woods.
A fire was demanded if they wanted to spend the night there, and John saw to it with a flint and a few pieces of dry grass. Marty would have started the fire with a little magic, of course, but the dragon didn't want that, saying to his companion: "I don't want any of your fancy-ass sorcery to help me. Besides, the old way is always the best way."
"What ever you say," Marty said.
As the leader, John took the first watch for the night. He was halfway through it when Tabatha, apparently woken up for no reason, came and sat beside the dragon, listening to the eerie but beautiful night-life sing there songs.
"John" the vixen whispered, "Do you think we're ever going to find them - the children, I mean?"
John only shrugged, saying, "Don't know. This place is kinda big. Chances are good that we're not going to find them at all."
They lapsed back into silence. After a couple of minutes went by, John, with his keen night adapted eyes, saw something walking, or rather skipping, around between the trees.
"Do you see that?" he whispered to Tabatha, rising to his feet.
"See what?" she asked.
"There's something dancing over there."
"Perhaps it's a leprechaun," she joked.
"Sush!" John snapped, "Stay here. I'm going to check it out"
"Are you sure?" Tabatha asked, "It could be something very dangerous."
"Don't worry about me," John said, "I can take care of myself."
And with that said, he marched off into the forest, leaving the safety of the campsite behind. He drew his long sword and crept closer. The skipping figure became clearer and clearer, until John could identify it as one thing: it was a little girl, a human that looked about the age of six years. She was wearing a pearly-white dress that reached towards her ankles, her golden hair hung loose over her shoulders, and she was giggling merrily, like there was no danger in the forest this time of night.
She suddenly stopped, turned and noticed John staring at her. The dragon had to admit that he felt a little nervous for some reason. There was a voice in the back of his head telling him to run, but he ignored it.
"Hello, there," he said finally, trying his best to sound friendly, "You're one of the missing children, right?"
She didn't answer.
"Okay," John said, becoming a little bit annoyed, "Do you know where they are, then?"
She didn't answer, only stared.
John was beginning to lose his temper. "Listen, kid," he said impatiently, "Who are you and what are you doing here? Do you know about any missing children around here?"
The girl suddenly giggled, turned, and ran off.
"Hey, come back here!" he called, but that did little to stop her.
John sneered and ran after the girl, not knowing that he was being lured into a trap!
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