After a few days, I was finally ready to leave. That guy had almost three weeks on me here. I needed to find him and Maddison before he found this so-called key. It wasn’t like I wanted to be a hero, but if I didn’t save Maddison, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Taylor took my hand, then looked at me, smiling.

            “It will be nice to be able to do something with you again,” Taylor said. I had to agree. I could only imagine what she had felt when I was in that coma. I would have to be more careful this time. Clayton had given us a rough map of where we were. He said that the best way to figure out where that guy went, we should ask around. This wasn’t the grandest way to go about things, but this was the best chance we had with their lack of technology.

            As Taylor and I made our way to the village, I noted just how beautiful this place was. If I weren’t on a rescue mission, I would probably have wanted to stay here longer. It was peaceful. There was no sound of rushing cars, cop sirens, or other city sounds. As we passed by people’s houses, they waved. We started asking people that we met about the man and Maddison. Most of them answered no. This was already beginning to feel like a lost cause.

            We had already been going around for about an hour when we decided to stop and take a break. We found ourselves at a tavern. We didn’t have any currency here for anything to eat or drink, but we could rest a bit and get a sense of the people.

            As we entered the tavern, there were only a few people in it. They were sitting at various tables, talking amongst themselves. A couple of them turned their attention to Taylor and me when we entered, but other than that, no one seemed to notice. Walking to the bar, the barkeep smiled and walked towards us.

            “And what can I get you, ladies?” the barkeep asked. He kept looking between both of us with lust in his eyes. I wondered if this was normal behavior around here.

            “We don’t have any money, sir. We just came to rest,” I said, getting annoyed as it seemed that he was staring at our breast. Even in this world, men appeared to be pigs. It took everything in me not to reach across the bar and slap him. When he heard the words no money, he stopped staring and looked up at us.

            “Well, this is unfortunate. If you don’t have any money, I am going to have to ask you to leave.” He said as he became angry. We were about to leave when someone put their hands on both mine and Taylors shoulders.

            “Now, Farner is that any way to treat our guests. Just look at them. They look like they have been walking all day and only want to rest. If this is how you’re are going to treat my customers, perhaps I should find another barkeep,” came a woman’s voice. Looking behind me, I saw a woman who looked to be in her thirties. She had red hair and green eyes. There was something about the way she was standing that shouted that she was in charge.

            “I am sorry, Tilda, I didn’t think that you would want non-paying customers here. After all,…” he started to say before she cut him off. He seemed to shrink away from her stare.

            “It is not your job to say who can be here and who cannot. That is mine and mine alone,” Tilda said. Then she removed her hands and walked towards the gate to the bar. Stepping behind the bar, she shooed Farner away. “Now, what would you girls like. This will be on the house to apologize for the way that Farner treated you.”

            “It’s really no trouble. We aren’t from around here, so we didn’t know the rules. And do you have any milk?” I said. Tilda gave me a funny look then laughed.

            “If you wanted milk, you should have gone to a farm. We only sell ale here. Tell you what, why don’t you try some of my ale. I make it myself,” Tilda said as she grabbed two mugs from below the bar and went to a keg. She filled the mugs until the foam was just starting to crown, then walked back over to us and sat the mugs in front of us.

            “Thank you,” Taylor and I both said. I had never drunk before. You had to be twenty-one to drink back in our world, but it seemed to be different here. Even when Erin dragged me to that party, I stayed away from alcohol. Now that I thought about her, I began missing her. Sighing to myself, I picked up the mug and took a sip. It didn’t taste awful, but it wasn’t something I would choose to drink again, given a choice.

            “Well, what do you think?” Tilda asked. As much as I wanted to be honest, I didn’t see that ending well, so instead, I smiled.

            “It tastes great,” I said, trying to sound convincing. Tilda seemed to accept that and smiled.

            “It is different than anything I’ve ever tasted!” Taylor said, and she was rewarded with another smile. This woman was cool. In some ways, she reminded me of my aunt. If we ever got to go home, I would have to tell my aunt about her, not that she would believe me. No, it was probably best if I kept it to myself.

            “So, the word is that you have been asking around about some guy and a girl. I think I may know who you are talking about and which way they went,” Tilda said as she began cleaning the bar. This was the best news that I had heard since we started asking around.

            “I hope it is. I really need to get the girl back. You see, the guy who has her is looking for a ‘key.’ For some reason, he seems to think that it is somewhere around here,” I said. I couldn’t tell her that we were from a different world. I didn’t know how to explain that to her when I didn’t even know it myself. She stopped cleaning the bar for a moment and scratched her head.

            “I don’t know anything about a key, but I heard a story a few years back about a girl who was born with some weird symbol on her hand. Mind you, it could just be a rumor. You can only believe half of what you hear in a tavern. Half of the people are drunk out of their minds,” Tilda said. It sounded like whoever this girl was, she was important. Or maybe Tilda was right, and it was just the crazy ramblings of a drunk. Even if it was, it was a possible lead.

            “Do you know where this girl lives?” I asked. She looked at the ceiling for a moment. I guess she was trying to remember. Then she looked down and smiled.

            “If I remember right, she supposedly lives in Dalrod. But that is quite a way away. I have no idea how long it would take to get there,” Tilda said. This was starting to sound hopeless. That man already had a long time ahead of us, and it is quite possible that he already had the girl. If that were the case, there was a chance Taylor and I could be stuck here for the rest of our lives.

            “And what about the man with the girl?” I asked, as my concern started boiling over.

            “Well, there was something about that man that I didn’t like, so I threw him out. He didn’t make a lot of friends here either. I don’t think anyone told him about the girl, but it is possible,” she said. There were a lot of possibilities, and I didn’t like any of them. Taylor and I just had to save Maddison and get back home. I could not live with someone else, possibly dying, because I was too weak to protect them.

            After we finished our Ale, Taylor and I thanked Tilda for the drinks and the information before heading out. She told us that if we were ever back in the village, to stop by. I promised that we would keep it in mind but knew that that probably wouldn’t happen. With a destination and a possibility of finding this key, Taylor and I set out on what was sure to be the craziest adventure in our lives.