“You weren’t kidding,” Andreas said, keeping his eyes aimed to the side and away from the glimmering tree in the center of the town.

“Not sure what else you expected when I said ‘golden tree’,” Joan said, a hand over her eyes. The journey had been slow, tedious and a little boring. But they were finally here. The village of Goldleaf. The namesake tree towered over the rest of the village, catching the light of the sun to make itself a beacon that shimmered over the town. Only a single flowery seed was on the tree, dangling from one of its many branches. At least it wasn’t raining anymore.

“How has nobody cut this down?” Andreas asked before walking closer to it. “It’s not solid gold, is it?” He reached out to put a hand on it.

“Wait, Andreas, don’t--” Joan called out, but it was too late. He put a hand against the bark and the tree went entirely still for a moment, its branches no longer even rustling in the wind. Then a few of the branches suddenly shifted position and crashed down on him, the tree itself bending and sending him hurtling backwards across the ground. “And that’s why.”

Andreas laid there and gave a soft, gentle groan, his eyes staring at the heavens. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“I thought it was pretty obvious,” Joan said before gesturing to the golden tree. “Giant golden tree, no guards, no fences. Of course it protects itself!”

“The little missy does have a point,” Thalgren said with a light chuckle. “At least now you know why nobody has tried to cut it down. You okay?”

“It doesn’t even really hurt,” Andreas said. “It’s mostly just shame at this point. I’ve never lost a fight to a tree before.”

“Don’t worry, you’re still the most awesome person I know who’s lost a fight to a tree,” Joan said.

Andreas gave another sigh and crawled to his feet. Thalgren gave a light snort and glanced towards her. “Know a lot of people who lose to trees, do you?”

“Well, two now,” Joan said. “But it’s kind of weird that it happened twice. I’m sure Andreas could win if he tried again. We should probably go find whoever’s in charge of this festival and let them know we’re here.”

Joan glanced around at the village, unable to help feeling a tiny bit annoyed. Aside from a few chuckles at Andreas getting walloped by the tree, their arrival was barely garnering more than a few glances.

Granted, that was likely because everyone was so busy. Decorations were being setup across the village, small stands were being made, there were even a long row of tents just outside the village proper. Odd, she didn’t remember this festival being so popular when she was here as the Hero.

“Would you please not tamper with the Goldleaf Tree?” a voice called out, making them turn to see an annoyed looking man walking towards them. He held a thin, brown book in his hands.

He, at least, Joan recognized. Lukas, one of the farmers. Before when she’d been here, he’d been helping Edward manage the festival. Though he looked far older now, with deeper wrinkles across his face, some gray in his once brown hair, and just all around looking more run-down than she remembered.

“Where’s Edward?” Joan asked. “Isn’t he supposed to be preparing the festival? We need to meet with him.”

Lukas froze, the look of annoyance on his face almost instantly melting to one of regret. “Oh. I see. You’re here to meet with Edward? I’m so sorry. I thought everyone knew.”

“Everyone knew?” Joan asked. “Everyone knew what? Is there something wrong?”

“Errr, well, you see,” Lukas said before glancing behind her towards Andreas, Thalgren and Zorn. “Were you three friends of his? I take it this is your little girl?”

Joan blinked a few times before giving a sigh. That solemn look, the way he was looking between them. Though that last comment made her feel a little annoyed. “Edward is dead, isn’t he?”

“Err…” Lukas said.

“Joan,” Andreas said before placing a hand on her shoulder. “My apologies. No, she’s not my daughter. She’s more an…” He stopped, struggling to come up with the correct answer.

“It’s okay for me to hear about death. I’m a mercenary. Was a mercenary,” Joan said. “I may look young, but I assure you I am far older than I look. It’s a curse.”

“A curse?” Lukas asked.

“A curse,” Joan said. “Placed on me by an angry warlock. Moving on, Edward was someone I had done a bit of work for in the past, but I was unaware that he passed on. If you don’t mind me asking, how…?”

“A few years back,” Lukas said before giving a light shudder. “He went to help on the front lines and never returned.”

‘A curse, now?’ Andreas’ voice echoed in her head.

‘I’m trying,’ Joan said back to him over the bond.

‘Seer, curse, daughter of a chosen, what’s next?’ Andreas asked.

‘Hey, the daughter thing was all Hardwin. I would have probably told him it was a bad idea,’ Joan said quickly. ‘Not like I can just tell him the truth. Unless you’d rather I did? I guess we keep telling everyone else now. Might as well.’

“I know this must come as quite a shock to all of you,” Lukas said.

“Uhhhh, yes,” Joan said quickly. She supposed it likely seemed off, the way she and Andreas just kind of stopped and started having a conversation he couldn’t hear. “So are you the one in charge here?”

“About as much as anyone can be in charge right now,” Lukas said, his voice dripping with distaste.

“Right, well,” Joan said before reaching out and grabbing Andreas’ arm with one hand and Thalgren’s arm with the other to pull them in front of her. Neither of them budged. “Well?” she asked.

“What?” Thalgren asked.

“Did you want something?” Andreas asked.

“Can you two work with me just a little bit, please?” Joan asked, barely managing to keep the whine out of her voice. The two let her, grudgingly, pull them in front of her. “This is Andreas and Thalgren. The Chosen of the Spear and Chosen of the Hammer.”

“Uh huh,” Lukas said. “Andre-- did you just say Chosen? As in THE Chosen?”

“Yes,” Joan said.

“Impossible,” Lukas said. “There’s no way that--”

“You could punch Andreas if you like,” Joan said. “He’s pretty much invulnerable.”

“Joan!” Andreas said. “Don’t tell people they can just attack me.”

“Was any of that a lie?” Joan asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” Andreas said. “Thalgren, stop laughing.”

“I will when it stops being funny,” Thalgren said, his arms crossed over his chest now while he looked between the two. “Have you considered becoming a jester, little missy?”

“No, can’t stand them,” Joan said. “And I’m a terrible singer. Well, how else would you like to prove it?”

Andreas sighed and put a hand to his forehead. “I do not have the patience for this. She is correct, however. I am the Chosen of the Spear. That’s not really relevant at this point. We’re here for the festival.”

“You’re here? Truly?” Lukas asked, his eyes narrowing on them before suddenly they went wide. Finally, he gave a grin. “Ah. I see. You’re with Onas and his crew, aren’t you? Of course. A ‘cursed’ girl, you’re an elf, aren’t you?” he asked before giving a light laugh. “And Chosen? Here? Oh, you really had me going for a moment there. ‘Can punch him’, ha! That’s quite an act you’ve got going on here. Well, considering the way I saw you get laid out by the Goldleaf tree, I’ll say you can certainly take a hit. But just be careful. The tree can be quite vicious and if you try to actually damage it, a lot of people around here will be even more vicious. We take our duty as its protector quite seriously.”

“Onas?” Joan asked.

“Right, right,” Lukas said. “He did say that more of his group would be arriving. They’re currently setting up in the field down that way. You can’t miss it, it’s the only one with a stage.” Then, with another light chuckle, he turned and walked off. “’Just punch him’, heh.”

Joan stared at the man for a few moments before looking up at Andreas. “That went differently in my head.”

“I noticed,” Andreas said. “There’s not much need for me to be here, I’m going to head up to the pass.”

“Wait, what?” Joan asked. “Why?”

“I’m going to keep an eye out for these demons,” Andreas said. “Besides, I’m not really one for celebrations.”

“Fine,” Joan said. “But let’s at least look around a bit before we go up there, okay? It’s—”

“I’m going alone,” Andreas said.

“What?” Joan asked.

“If there are demons coming through that pass, I’ll be able to stop them if need be. Thalgren, can you keep an eye on Joan and make sure she stays out of trouble?” Andreas asked.

“Out of trouble? That might be a bit impossible,” Thalgren said. “She does seem the sort to chase it down and punch it on the nose.”

“Just make sure she stays out of too much trouble, then,” Andreas said before he started to walk away.

Joan glared at him. Yes, she knew he hated gatherings like this, but she couldn’t imagine why he’d want to leave immediately. Why go up to some pass to just be alone and-- “Wait,” Joan said. “Andreas?”

“What?” Andreas asked before stopping to look at them.

“Are you going up to the pass to keep an eye on it, or is it because you want to be alone so you can send messages to Isla without distractions?” Joan asked.

“What?” Andreas asked and, to her surprise, red began to creep into his cheeks. “I have no idea what you could mean. Of course not.”

Joan frowned, her eyes narrowing. “That’s it, isn’t it? Korgron gave you the Eye of the Night, right? So your spell should easily be able to reach her, even from here.”

“Joan,” Andreas said. Joan almost couldn’t believe it. He was actually squirming. “I just don’t like celebrations. Leave it alone.”

Joan couldn’t help it, she started to snicker. “Oh my goodness. You are, aren’t you? I can’t believe it. Fine, fine. Just remember to keep an eye out for any threats. And let us know if you DO discover any issues. Okay?”

“Of course,” Andreas said. “Stop looking at me like that. Knock that smirk off.”

“Never,” Joan said.

Andreas shook his head and turned back around to keep walking.

Joan couldn’t believe it. Him leaving to avoid a celebration was certainly nothing new, he hated parties and the like. But so he could go talk to his love? Oh, that was perfect. It was wonderful. Another sign that, at least here, things were going better for him.

Joan glanced over to Thalgren and Zorn, unable to keep the smile off her face. “So when, what would you two like to do?”

“Why not have a look around?” Thalgren said. “It’s going to be a few days before everything happens, we might as well get a lay of the land before then.”

“I’m curious about this ‘Onas’,” Zorn said. “Why don’t we go check out what he and his ‘crew’ are?”

“Probably entertainers of some kind,” Joan said with a shrug.

“You don’t know?” Zorn asked.

“Not really,” Joan said. “When we traveled together there were always entertainers of some kind gathered everywhere. They tend to crop up all over the place. Like rats. Or weeds. At least they won’t be fawning over us this time. Well, me. They probably will over you, Thalgren, once they realize who you are.”

“I noticed that, actually,” Thalgren said. “Didn’t you say we were invited before? Yet this time he didn’t even seem to believe us.”

“We were in the demon lands,” Joan said. “Well, most of us were. You were in the dwarven lands at the time, fighting off the Devouring King. They probably sent an invitation to Hardwin, but there were probably hundreds of them since he left and…” She trailed off before giving a soft sigh. “Actually, if it was a formal invite we probably could have tried to find it and brought it with us. Would have at least ensured us a place to rest tonight.”

Thalgren gave a light chuckle before shaking his head. “At least we were able to get board for our horses.”

Joan gave a nod. Even if they would be sleeping in tents for the next few nights, it really wouldn’t be so bad. Their mounts would be taken care of and there were so many people that it really did feel like a celebration.

More like a celebration than the last time she was here, actually. There was almost an aura of excitement in the air this time, as if everyone expected really good things to happen. Even if things seemed less organized than last time, they somehow felt more alive.

She could almost forget the reason they were here, stopping the Demon Lord from attacking and taking the fruit from the tree. Between Thalgren and Andreas, though, she was certain that they’d be able to stop any disaster this time.

“Let’s go check out these entertainers,” Joan said with a smile. “Who knows? Maybe it’ll be fun.”

MelodyAvant

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