Someone in Need (Anjella)

Anjella slipped her vest on, letting the loose black silk billow behind her as she ran. She rounded the side of a building, the open gates straight ahead but the commotion coming from somewhere on the left. The first building in the town, a towering three stories, was a place called the White Deer Inn - she’d heard all about it already. The owner was Shoanti, and not a friend to the Sczarni family - he was also the brother of the Sheriff.

None of that mattered now. Her muscles were aching, her breath heavy in her chest. The wounds, small and scattered across her body, added into a scream of pain loud enough that she could shunt it to the back of her mind and still be aware of it. Her knuckles were bleeding under the wraps. Her left shin felt like she’d kicked a rock.

It was exhilarating.

The front of the White Deer Inn had a pair of life size deer carvings out front, a buck and a doe, and cowering in between them was the person who was screaming. A few paces ahead of the shrill screamer was a hunting hound of some sort, snarling as it protected it’s master from the small pack of goblins that were encircling the duo. The goblins were clearly wary of the big hunting dog, but they had their own beast. One of the goblins was on top of an equally large… dog? The thing looked like a cross between a big hunting dog and a hairless rodent, it’s skin blotchy and irritated, it’s snout more pointed like a rat, and it’s ears jagged and batlike just like it’s goblin masters.

Anjella didn’t have time to think. As she rounded the corner and sprinted forward, the goblin’s dog-thing lunged forward, snapping it’s teeth at the hound, and the rider swung down what looked like a butcher’s blade tied to a broomstick. The weapon clove into the hound’s neck and it yelped in horrified pain and shock, attempting to escape but now on the back foot. The goblin’s mount charged forward and blood splattered.

All this in the two moments of her wrapped feet pounding on the cobbles of the town street. She jumped, swinging a kick at the mounted goblin as she flew towards it, but the lunge of it’s mount took it out of her reach. She used the momentum of the kick to land rolling, springing back upright and careening into one of the other goblins. Her speed had surprised the lot of them, and Anjella yanked it’s knife hand to the side as she drove both of her knees into the short monsters’ chest, knocking it over and driving it into the ground heavily. She felt it’s body crunch, it’s ribs breaking under her knees, and she leaned forward to roll off of it and away from any particularly fast reacting goblins.

She was lucky, or just right, and found herself getting tackled even as she came upright a second time. The goblin managed to slash her across the arm before she could trap it’s wirey wrist between her forearms. She twisted and broke the arm, the goblin crying out in a raspy hiss as she tossed it away from her.

An explosion of noise accompanied a crossbow bolt impaling the goblin with the broken arm from ear to ear. It dropped, and Anjella pivoted to see the **** being enacted by Shaka Shale. The halfgiant had followed Anjella in, charging quietly but impacting with his ax and a roar. He had driven the goblin dog-beast back, and Anjella watched as he pivoted and turned a backhand swing into a clever slash at one of the unmounted goblins, carving it’s chest open and sending it spilling back to the ground. Shaka and the mounted Goblin became a flurry of movement, Shaka on the defensive against the teeth, claws and butcher’s blade.

Another shrill scream distracted Anjella from finding a way to help the big man. She took three steps and jumped up onto the back of the deer carving, looking down to find a goblin about to drive it’s jagged knife into a wide-eyed human man - the distinctly feminine, shrill scream he was letting loose didn’t match the fine blue coat and once-coiffed hair as he cowered away from the goblin, loosely holding up a walking stick to ward away a blow. If he had even made a single attempt to strike to goblin solidly, he would likely have been able to save himself.

Instead, he closed his eyes and screamed again, and it was up to Anjella to save the pitiful coward.

Anjella grabbed the pommel of the knife as she dropped to the ground behind the goblin, but instead of pulling it up or back or trying the wrench the blade away, she drove it down. Down and back, directly into the surprised goblins chest. It gave a single squeak of surprise, and went limp.

The nobleman, realizing that he had not been stabbed, cautiously opened one eye and looked up at Anjella, and his mouth dropped into a gape.

“You… you saved me…” he mumbled, wide eyed. “Are you an angel?”

“Yeah, sure,” Anjella said with a shrug, already feeling uncomfortable. She turned from the man in time to see Shaka bring his axe around in a strike like lightning, beheading the filthy dog-beast. It’s rider was already on the ground, a crossbow bolt in it’s side and it’s arm hacked clean off at the shoulder.

Shaka dropped to one knee, coughing and hacking, as the dwarf Grail rushed forward, swinging her crossbow over her shoulder. The boy - the wizard - lowered the fancy looking cup he seemed to cast magic from and looked like he was about to fall over from exhaustion.

“Please, beautiful amazon. Your name?” the nobleman said, scrambling to his feet. “Please, I must know your name.”

“Look, don’t worry about it,” Anjella said, shrugging off the man’s hand as he put it on her shoulder. “And don’t touch me.”

“Of course, of course,” he said, raising his hands as if to say he wouldn’t dream of it. “My name is Aldern Foxglove, of the Magnimarian Foxgloves. Please, I- They cornered me here. I thought I was going to die, until you saved my life. You must allow me to repay you, miss…?”

“You can call me Anjella,” she said. “Just Anjella.”

“Well, Miss Anjella, please,” he said, and unhooked a pouch from his belt. A heavy coin pouch. “Take this. It’s all I have on me at the moment, but take it! You deserve that and so much more.”

He thrust it at her, and Anjella was **** to accept the bulging bag or it might have gone airborne and struck her in the chest. “Alright, alright,” Anjella said, shaking her head. “Thank you for the reward.”

“That and more, Miss Anjella. For you and your brave friends!”

“Sure,” Anjella said. The man seemed so earnest in his desire to reward her it was difficult to put her finger on what was making her feel uneasy. He was looking at her hungrily, but strangely not in the way that most men did. It wasn’t lust, it was… awe? Hero worship?

If nothing else, it made her skin crawl thinking that this coward of a man wanted to keep interacting with her.

“Just breathe this in, boyo,” Grail was saying back with the others. Anjella turned again and saw that Shaka was down on one knee, and Grail was wafting some sort of an herb, lit and smoking in a bowl. Shaka’s pale grey skin was strangely flushed around his nose and throat, but as the smoke trickled into him he started to even out again.

So the dwarf is useful for more than her crossbow. It wasn’t the magical healing the half-giant had produced, but it was something. More direct use than she’d seen out of the wizard boy.

“All of you, please,” Aldern said, stepping forward with her as she joined the others in the open street in front of the inn. “I shall see you rewarded. Your bravery will not be forgotten, not by Aldren Foxglove!”

“Did someone say reward?” The wizard asked.

“Yes, yes. I have some ideas,” Aldern said. “Come find me here on the ‘morrow, or perhaps the next. I have a room in the White Deer, I shall organize a grand reward for you all. And especially you, my fair Miss Anjella.”

Anjella bit the inside of her cheek, feeling the weight of the coin purse in her hands. If this fop wants to rain money on us, who am I to deny him? “We’ll find you, Foxglove.”

“Wonderful. Good! Yes, indeed.”

“Perhaps you should head inside,” Shaka said, finally rising to his full height. Aldern’s neck, just like everyone else's, had to crane back to look the half giant in the eye.

Aldern had to shake himself for a moment from the shock of the sheer size of Shaka. “Ah, yes. Yes, that seems like a good idea.” He turned back to Anjella. “Until we meet again, fair Amazon.”

He bowed, full from the waist and arms to the sides, and backed away towards the front door of the inn.

“Dead lord,” Anjella muttered, rolling her eyes and turning to the others. “Get me out of here.”

The four of them quickly left, the sound of Aldern knocking on the locked front door of the White Deer Inn fading behind them.

“That was a risk, Anjella,” Shaka said when they were back on the main street. “Running ahead like that, you were alone for a long moment.”

“Don’t you treat me like a child, you slow fuck,” Anjella said. “I did what I needed to. I was fine. You need to keep up.”

“He’s not wrong,” Grail said. “It was a risk. But good on you for taking it.”

“What did that twit hand you, by the way?” the wizard, Colt, asked.

Anjella realized she was still carrying the money pouch, and she lifted it for the others to see. “Coin. Whatever he had on him. I’ll share it out once this is all over.”

“I think it might be,” Shaka said. He’d completely ignored her barb at him, and his lack of reaction just made her want to punch him. Instead he was looking out past the Cathedral walls, back into the town square as they kept walking towards it. “I don’t hear any more fighting.”

It was true. As the four of them entered the square, townsfolk were slowly leaving the Cathedral, the crowd dispersing down side streets and heading back to their homes, while others began to pick through the wreckage of carts and stalls. Standing on the steps of the Cathedral were the head priest who had run the ceremonies throughout the day, and a man Anjella had specifically wanted to wait as long as possible before meeting. The Sheriff.

Shaka, of course, headed straight for them. Fuck. Stupid, fucking do-gooder!

“Abstalar,” Shaka said. “Sheriff. Am I right in assuming things have settled down?”

“Shaka, welcome back to Sandpoint,” the Sheriff said, holding out his hand to let the half-giant’s engulf it in a firm grip. “You are. As far as we can tell, the last pockets of goblins were driven towards to Old Light and decided to try jumping off Junker's Edge and into the sea. My guard are still combing the streets, and we’ll be checking building to building once the militia have reported in, but for now it seems like this is over.”

“Not exactly the danger I was trying to tell you about earlier, Sheriff,” Grail piped in. “But a good point on my warning nonetheless. Y’all need to prepare!”

“What is she talking about, Sheriff?” the Priest asked.

The Sheriff shook his head. “Nothing to worry about right now, Father. And you, miss dwarf, I hope you understand if I might push back our meeting another day. It’s going to be a long night.”

“Do what you need to,” Grail shrugged.

“Master wizard,” the Sheriff said, blatantly changing the subject. “Good to see you were able to take charge up here. I’m glad you stepped forward. Sandpoint is safer because of you.”

“Ah, well,” Colt said, brushing off the front of his coat and looking somewhat sheepish. “It was a group effort really, Sheriff. I wouldn’t want to claim the credit like that. Miss Grail, Miss Anjella and big Shaka here were all quite independently heroic in their own rights.”

And you barely did anything, Anjella thought. Not that I saw, at least.

“Well, all of you,” the Priest said. “I would heap blessings upon you, if I had any energy left to give them. Exhaustion is setting in, and I am sure I will be working with the Sheriff into the night and comforting those who have been traumatized by these events.”

“Yes, thank you,” the Sheriff said. “All of you. The four of you are visitors to our town, but risked your lives to help those around you. I’ve had reports about all four of you from my guards, and other townsfolk. Sandpoint owes you a debt, heroes.”

“No, Sheriff,” Shaka said, raising a hand. “Please. It was only the right thing to do.”

Oh, fuck off! Anjella thought, gritting her teeth and trying not to say anything to draw the Sheriff’s attention.

“Not that we would turn down any, ah, gifts or boons the town might bestow on us,” Colt said, stepping forward. “Sheriff, we haven’t been properly introduced. Colt Caudex, arcanist and thespian.”

The Sheriff shook Colt’s hand firmly, with a look in his eye that gave more respect to the boy than Anjella could understand. “Well, Master Colt. For now I’m sure the least we can do is find you a place to rest - the danger seems to have passed, and your particular services are no longer required. If you head down to the Rusty Dragon Inn, I’m sure the town would be happy to cover your stay for the next week.”

“Excellent,” Grail said. “I need a fucking bath. And a bed wouldn’t be amiss.”

The Sheriff nodded and clapped the dwarf on the shoulder, and then he was in front of Anjella. “And you, miss…?”

Anjella bit the inside of her lips for a moment before forcing a smile. “Anjella Palliseri, Sheriff. And a week’s stay at a clean Inn is more than welcome.”

He nodded and clapped her on the shoulder as well and met her eyes. He was so stern faced she couldn’t tell if he was just naturally like that, or if he was trying to send her a signal like ‘I know who you are and who you’re connected to.’ It was an uncomfortable thought.

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