‘Well, umm, he, uhh, had a nightmare.’Millie said. ‘Ouch’

   Aria hit Millie with her stack of papers.

   Right as Millie had reached the front gates, a few of the guards had escorted her to a small room in the town hall. The room was very empty except for a few chairs and a very angry Aria.

   ‘That hurts, Ari’

   She was hit again.

   ‘First, its big sis Ari to you. Second, no, it doesn’t hurt. I have seen you fall off a cliff without as much as a scratch.’

   ‘But it still hurts when you do it.’

   ‘Why did you even go into the jungle with that guy.’

   ‘He said he was strong, like a hero.’

   ‘Millie.’ Aria said with pity in her voice.

   ‘What?’

   ‘Nothing. Well, since you don't have the decency to listen to my instructions, I am cutting your rations to half.’

   ‘What if I give you this.’ Millie said as she handed her the k pop bird from her bag.

   ‘The hell is this?’

   ‘Its a bird. You like birds don't you?’

   ‘I like live birds. This one looks like it was mauled to death by a feral rabbit! We can't even use it for any items.’

   ‘But it has a pretty face. Ouch’

   She got hit by the paper stack, again. 

   Aria said ‘Throw it out!’

   ‘Now, now. That would be a waste.’ chimed in another voice.

   ‘Old man Will! Didn't notice you there.’ Aria said as the old carriage driver welcomed himself into the room.

   ‘And good day to you as well, miss Alvana.’

   ‘Just call me Aria.’

   ‘Anyway, I heard what happened to that young man. I wish I were there to see him run into the town in that state.’ he said snickering to himself.

   ‘Weren’t you the one who brought him here? Shouldn't you care a bit more about this?’

   ‘I tried my best with that group. If he still fell for that then there was no helping it. I am sure he will look back fondly on this incident when he gets to my age.’

   ‘Again, he ran into the town hall covered in his own piss.’

   ‘That aside, as I was saying, it would be a waste to just throw that out. I know some people who would pay a pretty penny for a specimen like that.’

   ‘Have you looked at that thing? It's barely recognizable.’

   ‘All that means is that, I will have to spend the night at Mr. Wimbell’s place fixing and embalming it. I will still have to sell it at a discount to some low ranking noble.’

   ‘Well, If you think it's worth the hassle then go ahead.’

   ‘Oh, it definitely will be. I’d wager that I can bring something extra for you guys with this.’

   ‘Oh! Bring some dried fish for me then.’ Millie suddenly shot up.

   ‘Didn’t you bring this in as an apology gift?’Aria asked 

   Mr. Will laughed and said, ‘Well, well. Looks like the little miss witch has a hankering for some fish. I can bring you some to eat in about a month.’

   ‘Oh no. It isn't for me to eat.’ Millie said. ‘ It's to pay back Ari for the dried fish that I am going to steal from her over the following days.’

   Aria hit her with the stack of papers again.

   ‘Don’t talk about stealing from me right in front of me!’

   ‘But I need them.’

   ‘Why do you need them so urgently, young lady?’ Mr. Will asked curiously.

   ‘Well, umm, it's for a friend.’ Millie said.

   ‘Are you planning on feeding it to an animal in the jungle?’ Aria asked.

   ‘No, well umm, kinda?’

   ‘Yeah, we don't have the rations to waste on something like that.’

   ‘But it is important.’

   ‘Why is it important?’

   ‘Just trust me, Ar- big sis Ari.’

   Aria stared at Millie for sometime. She hadn't seen so much conviction in this girl since she had met her. With a sigh she said.

   ‘Fine, but it is coming out of your ration allowance. Are you ok with that?’

   ‘I am.’

   ‘Just to be clear, you will have to go hungry for as long as you do this.’

   ‘As I said, it's fine.’

   ‘Ok, you can leave now. Just avoid hurting or even talking to the newcomers from now on.’

   After Millie left, Aria said 

   ‘That girl. Even after so long, I haven't figured out what makes her click.’

   ‘Well, that’s fine.’ Mr. Will said. ‘We don't need to know everything about the people around us. So, an extra order of dried fish for the next shipment?’

   ‘Yes, please. Also, when is he coming back?’

   ‘You mean Halbart? Well, that is difficult to say. With the king back in Zaria, it has been hard to get all the necessary paperwork.’

   ‘But that isn't the only problem, is it?’

   ‘Yes, they are definitely hiding something from us. That new prince who just moved into Tallen is a shrewd one. He is plotting something.’

   ‘Don’t worry. We hold all the cards here. After all, we are the closest to the Eldorian dungeons.’

   ‘Just so that I am getting this correct, after that you ran into the town hall covered in your piss and they had to clean you up before they sent you here.’ Clara said.

   ‘Yes.’ An embarrassed Dylan replied.

   ‘And is that why you are wearing that?’ She said while pointing at the white fabric wrapped around his crotch like a diaper.

   In the silence of that small cottage, the three newcomers to the town processed what had happened. Right after Brian and Clara reached their lodgings, Dylan was escorted there by a group of men… in front of the whole town… in that state. And he just finished telling them everything that led up to that moment.

   ‘Is it too late for us to pretend that we don't know him?’ Clara asked Brian.

   ‘Sadly, yes.’ He replied.

   ‘Hey! I thought we were a party. We are supposed to face problems together.’

   ‘No part of this is the party’s problem.’ Clara and Brian said in unison.

   ‘Dammit! Just when I found a girl who actually liked me.’

   Clara and Brian shared a concerned glance with each other.

   ‘Ahem. You do realize that she was the witch of Novaria.’ Brian said.

   ‘You are just jealous, Brian.’

   ‘I mean, flowing white dress in a jungle, pretty face, dangerous animals avoiding her and luring you into the forest and straight to a dangerous situation, they all kinda sound like the stories Mr. Will told us.’ Clara said.

   ‘Those were just stories.’

   ‘I guess you weren’t this morning.’

   Clara told the conversation that they had in the town hall.

   ‘Wait, are you saying that Millie is the witch and the chief is protecting her? You have to be lying!’Dylan said.

   ‘No, she is not.’ Brian said.

   ‘Listen to me, that girl was the perfect delicate lady. And I had no choice but to leave her in that forsaken forest! Rest assured my love, I shall avenge your death.’

   ‘Not to intrude.’ Brian said, ‘But this delicate lady that you speak of. Is it the same woman that is walking down that road right now.’ He said while pointing at the dazzlingly beautiful girl who had just left the town hall.

   ‘MILLIE!!!’ Dylan yelled as he ran out of the house. ’Thank god you are still safe. I was so worried about you.’

   Millie looked at Dylan who was still in the makeshift diaper from town hall and said, ‘Please don’t talk to me.’

   She then continued walking towards her place. After today’s incident she had been completely disillusioned from Dylan so she had no desire to get in trouble with Aria over this man again.

   Dylan was left alone on that road now and the townspeople were starting to stare. He quickly walked back to his lodging before he embarrassed himself any further. 

   Inside Clara was hiding her face in shame while Brian looked off into space trying to keep his calm.

   ‘Umm.’ Dylan mumbled, ‘So,-’

   ‘PUT ON SOME DAMN PANTS!!’ Clara and Brian both yelled in unison.

   Back in Milie’s place, she collapsed on her bed from exhaustion. Today had been a long day for her. She lived in a small one person cottage close to the watch tower for the back gate. Aria had arranged this place for her so that she would be available quickly in case of any emergency. 

   But right now, she didn’t think about any of that as her thoughts were centered around that mysterious boy. Who was he? Why was he there? And most importantly, why did he look so scared?

   The next morning, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Mr. Will would be resting there for a few days and Aria wanted to gather as much material as she could to send with him when he left. The available adventurers were handed out several missions to go gather rare plants and animals.

   Millie normally didn’t care much for such missions but since she owed Aria for agreeing to her demand, she was more willing to go foraging for some herbs. It also helped that this was a great excuse to travel into the deep forest right where that boy was.

   Millie found her way back to where she had seen the boy last time. He wasn’t there but that's to be expected. She searched for hours around that spot until she noticed him in one of the trees.

   Gently she put down some dried fish on the ground like before and walked a distance away till that boy felt safe to come out and eat.

   Once she was sure that he had eaten it she went about completing her job before returning to Solstun.

   Everyday she repeated this cycle of going back to the meeting spot from the day before, spending hours looking for the new place where he had moved to, offering him her rations, completing her assigned job once she was sure that he had eaten it and then walking back to Solstun. She repeated this cycle whether it was sunny or rainy.

   Aria felt a little bad for Millie but she didn’t want to show her any favouritism so she kept her word by not increasing her rations. Millie didn’t mind however. True her stomach didn’t agree with her and she was forced to eat random things from the forest like the old days but this was what she had bargained for.

   She felt bad for hiding her reasons from Aria but she felt that she had no other option. It was unlikely that Aria would have any disagreements about helping this boy. No, the problem would be the approach. Almost anyone will think that trying to catch him would be the right approach. But the moment she had seen his eye she knew that wouldn’t work.

   He had the eyes of someone afraid of the whole world, someone who wouldn’t trust anyone easily, someone who would run away at the first hint of being watched.

   She had a feeling that his trust would have to be won. So she continued this routine of hers until the sixth day when she noticed that he had not moved from the spot where they had met the day before. That day she was a bit closer when he jumped from the tree to eat the food.

   ‘Why are we following after her, again?’ Clara asked. 

   ‘Because I need to talk to her and she keeps ignoring me in town.’ Dylan said as he tracked ahead.

   Their party was in the forest tracking Millie from a distance. They had spent the first few days getting used to living in the town and being sent on beginner missions for Mr. Will’s cargo. After he left, they were allowed to go explore the forest more freely.

   Dylan obviously thought that the best idea was to stalk Millie into the jungle. But every time he followed her, he ended up chickening out at the sight of snakes, insects, jaguar, wolf and just about anything that existed in the forest. It had been nearly a month since they had come to Solstun and Brian and Clara had finally agreed to help him in following Millie into the forest.

   ‘Why did you agree to help him?’ Clara asked Brian. ‘This is a lost cause.’

   ‘You don’t have to accompany us.’ Brian said dismissively.

   ‘Well, I clearly do. This is my party as well.’

   ‘Ah, gu-guys , could you gi-give me a hand.’ Dylan stammered

   In front of them there was an entire horde of baboons. But they were no average animal. They were bigger than any baboon anyone else had seen. And their bodies were more muscular than anything in nature should be. Their Abs and biceps were as big as any steroid fueled bodybuilder. And like most bodybuilders, they all seemed to hate leg day.

   ‘Gu-guys this is bad. Lo-look at how bi-big they are. We mi-might need to run.’ Dylan stammered as his whole body shook violently from fear.

   ‘Why did we agree to form a party with this guy?’ Clara said. ‘Let’s just take him and leave, Bri-BRIAN!’

   Brian had just casually started walking towards the buffest Baboon in the whole pack and said, ‘That’s a good idea. You should take him and go. I will handle this.’

   The big baboon started to aggressively flex at Brian. The others howled and cheered loudly at the scene of the challenge.

   ‘Dammit Brian!’ Clara cursed as she desperately searched her satchel for a potion to help Brian. But before Clara could find anything, Brian had grabbed the big baboon by its face and slammed him in the ground. The other monkeys became dead silent as he slammed the baboon’s face a few more times just to be safe.

   ‘Shoo.’ Brian said to the other monkeys causing them to run away.

   ‘How?’ Dylan asked, completely baffled by what he just saw.

    Brian said.’ Their muscles were built for show. No battle experience behind any of it. I could never lose to something that pathetic.’

   There was brief silence before Brian said,’Let’s continue forward.’

   ‘Ye-yeah right.’ Dylan said. ‘Charge ahead!’

   Brian helped overcome many other animals like this as they continued forward. This made Clara ask.

   ‘Why are you so serious about this stupid thing? It almost feels like you are the one who is searching for this girl Millie.’

   Clara’s mind wandered to the thing that Aria had said when they first came. What sort of past was Brian hiding? And did it have something to do with this mysterious witch?

   Brian just cryptically said, ‘I wonder.’