"I don't think we're going to be able to get across this," I said as I frowned at the large river. "Not without getting wet, anyways."

Avril shook her head, "We're definitely not crossing it. Not here anyways. It's not safe."

Clara gestured to the left, "We don't need to cross it, we just need to follow it downstream. It'll lead us to Riverside."

We all started walking again, but after more than two weeks of heading north we were now going west. Or north-west anyways.

A little over a week had passed since our run-in with the gnarls, and happily we hadn't seen any other monsters along the way either. Which was good, because the last few days it was tough enough dealing with the mountainous terrain, the last thing we needed was having to battle random beasts too.

On the other hand Clara did have reason to use her bow a few times. Our supplies were running low so she'd resorted to doing some hunting, while Avril taught me about foraging. The druid showed me what plants were safe to eat and how to prepare them.

Which was all pretty interesting and kind of neat, but it did slow our progress somewhat.

This morning we finally came down into a big valley, but there was a fast-moving river running through the bottom of it. I couldn't tell how deep it was, but it was at least five or six meters wide and the current was quick enough to scare me.

"So what's Riverside?" I asked as we continued our walk downstream. "I'm guessing it's another village?"

Avril replied, "It's a town actually. It's at a junction where four rivers converge, the town is actually surrounded on three sides by rivers. Don't worry cutie, there's bridges and a couple ferries, so we'll be able to get across there."

Clara added, "It's a little oasis of civilization, surrounded by wildlands. A mix of humans and beastkin. There'll be actual inns there, with proper rooms and decent food."

That got my tail wagging. I asked, "Are we going to stay there for a bit? Or is this just another stop-over on our way further north?"

My companions exchanged a glance, then Avril replied "Unfortunately I don't think there's a temple there, so it's just a stop-over. But we can stay a few days I think? While we figure out our next move."

"Ok," I nodded slowly.

She was referring to the conversation we had about a week earlier. It was the day after we encountered those monsters, when we talked about where we were going, what our ultimate goal was.

The bottom line was we needed to get to a temple so we could pray to the gods and get our reward for defeating the queen. We didn't need to go all the way back to their homeland though, and they'd already explained why that wouldn't be a safe place for me. So we agreed to find the southern-most temple, and once we'd done that and got our reward we'd come up with some new plans.

"When you say we'll figure out our next move, what sort of options are you thinking of?" I asked after a few minutes.

Avril replied, "About a week's walk downstream from Riverside is a port, where we could get passage further north. Riverside is also the southern-most point on a main trade route, so the other option is we find some merchant caravan heading north and get ourselves hired as guards."

"Same two options we've been arguing about since the day we killed the queen," Clara added.

"We haven't been arguing," the druid argued with a smile, "We're debating. Weighing the pros and cons."

I smiled too, but suggested "Let's not keep debating right now, ok? How about we put that on hold until we actually need to make the decision. For now, why don't you tell me more about Riverside? What's it like?"

"Ok cutie," Avril replied.

Clara continued, "Like Avril said, it's bordered on three sides by rivers. The fourth side is protected by a wall. There's bridges, but they're all well-defended. And the town itself has a small force of guards to keep it safe."

"The reason it's the end of the trading route is Riverside acts like a sort of hub for the wildlands?" Avril added. "Merchants bring goods from the north down here to sell, either to residents of Riverside or to adventurers looking to carry stuff deeper into the wildlands to outposts like the ones we've already seen? And rare or exotic goods from the wildlands find their way back into Riverside, which merchants buy then haul back north to sell in the realms and kingdoms up there."

"What sort of exotic goods?" I asked.

Clara replied, "Rare spices, exotic plants and animals, gold and silver, gems, and there's a good trade in stuff adventurers harvest from monsters. Alchemists up north are always looking for griffin beaks or dragon scales or who knows what other bizarre or improbable stuff."

"Huh," I frowned.

I couldn't really think of any modern comparisons from my old life. The closest I could think of was from history, like back in the fifteen-hundreds when Europeans were travelling to the new world or the far east in search of spices and gold and stuff.

"Are there mines or something around here?" I asked after a minute or two. "You said gold and silver and gems, so I'm guessing they must be mining it?"

Clara nodded as she gestured broadly around us, "Yeah there's probably a hundred little mines in these mountains? Iron, copper, and tin are more common, and it's not worthwhile to ship that anywhere. It's still useful, but it'll be used locally. Now and then though, somebody finds gold or silver, and that's the big money."

"Gems are a lot rarer, but even more valuable when they turn up," she added.

Avril smiled, "There's a legend of a mountain around here someplace that's made of gold, with a core of diamond. I've heard of people who spend their entire lives out in the wildlands trying to find it. Personally I doubt such a thing even exists, but that's the kind of thing that drives people into the wildlands. It's dangerous, you've already seen there's deadly threats out here."

Clara nodded, "Some people come for the adventure. Some come for the freedom. And some come looking to strike it rich."

I thought about that for a bit, then finally asked "What about the people who live at Riverside? If that's an oasis of civilization, what do they do there?"

"There's basically two groups of people who live there," Avril replied. "Like any other town you've got your craftsmen like blacksmiths and carpenters, glassmakers and weaponsmiths. You've got brewmasters and bakers, coopers and cobblers, weavers and tailors. There's also farmers, but they tend to live outside the town. It's riskier, but a lot cheaper than land inside the protected town."

Clara took over, "The other group of people are the adventurers who live there. They're the ones who keep the surrounding lands safe for the farmers and the merchants. They're also the ones who're harvesting exotic monster parts and finding rare plants and spices and stuff. They live in the town, but they take day-trips out into the wilds. Or they go out for a few days at a time, to get further from the town. It's risky, it can be dangerous, but if they're good at it they can make good money."

"And at the end of the day they go back to town and eat good food, drink good ale or wine, and sleep in their own nice comfy bed," Avril finished.

That left me with a thoughtful look on my face. "That actually sounds like a good life? Just enough adventure and excitement to keep it from being boring, but with a good meal and a nice comfy bed afterwards."

I wasn't going to say it but it sounded a hell of a lot better than flipping burgers for a living. Plus I could guess that adventurers basically worked for themselves, so no bosses to yell at them for being late. Actually being late wouldn't even be a concept, adventurers make their own hours. And get to take days off when they want.

Clara smiled, "It's got its risks, but yeah. It can be a good life. Especially if you're sharing it with people you love."

"Agreed," Avril nodded. "It's a nice town too, and if I'm not mistaken that's it up ahead."

I looked up and sure enough I could see something man-made in the distance. That put a smile on my face, the thought of proper inns and comfy beds was already drawing me forwards.

On the other hand 'in the distance' was still pretty far away, and we had to follow the river through its twists and turns. It took us another forty-five minutes to reach a junction where the river we were following flowed into an even bigger one, but from there the town of Riverside was well in view. I saw a lot of whitewashed plaster structures and an assortment of thatched roofs and red clay tile roofs.

It actually reminded me of pictures I'd seen of towns in the Mediterranean. The climate was right too. I didn't actually know what season this was, or if this world even had seasons like I was used to before, but we'd had good dry warm weather the whole time I'd been here.

It took us another ten minutes to reach a large stone and wood bridge. The river was almost forty meters wide, but it was moving slowly here and it didn't look all that deep. I wouldn't try and swim it regardless, but I could see how people were able to build a bridge here with medieval-level skills and technology.

The bridge seemed sturdy and well-built. It was a good three meters wide, and in the middle of its span it sat a couple meters above the water. The lack of any railings made me nervous though, so I stayed pretty much right in the very centre as the three of us made our way across.

At the other end of the bridge was a sort of gatehouse that we had to pass through, with a couple of the town guards Clara mentioned posted there to check people coming into the town. I couldn't help feeling a little anxious, after the sort of reception we got at the last two villages. Especially when I noticed they were looking at me and my companions.

There was no trouble though, they didn't even stop us to talk. One of them just waved the three of us through, while he and the others kept staring. That's when I realized they weren't eyeing us suspiciously, they were just checking us out because we were hot.

Beyond the gatehouse was a sort of main road that seemed to go right through the middle of town. It was four or five meters wide, with plenty of those pretty white buildings on either side. Smaller streets led off to the left and right, but everything seemed bright and friendly.

Same with the people. Unlike the two outposts, the population here seemed to be an even mix of men and women, human and beastkin. I saw a few collars here and there, but they were rare. It was enough that I figured I wouldn't have to take mine off, and that made me happy.

My companions and I continued to attract some stares, although pretty young women definitely weren't rare here. Maybe the fact that we were obviously adventurers returned from the wildlands made a difference. I could imagine there weren't so many attractive girls who went out into the wilds like us.

"If I remember right there'll be a nice inn up ahead here," Clara commented. "You'll like it Fiona, it's nothing like that tiny room in the southern outpost."

Before I could respond Avril suddenly stopped as she looked to the left. "Do you see that? I didn't notice that last time we were here."

Clara and I turned to look at the large building set back a little ways from the street. Like all the other buildings it was white with red clay roof tiles, but there were some fancy markings on the walls to either side of the doorway.

"A temple," Clara smiled. "That's perfect. Why don't we head to the inn first like we planned, then maybe get something to eat? Then we can come back here and visit the temple."

"Good idea," Avril agreed.

I nodded, "Sounds good to me."

My companions and I continued along the street a ways further, until we reached a large town square. It was full of vendors and merchants, and plenty more people moving about or talking, haggling, debating, whatever. It was the most people I'd seen in any one place since I left my last life. They were a wide mix of men and women, human and beastkin, but they were all getting along.

It felt kind of vibrant and energetic, alive in a way the dangerous little outposts didn't. And I liked it.

After a little look around I followed Clara and Avril to a large two-story white building off to the right. It was the inn, and we got ourselves a room on the upper floor. There was even a key and everything, like a modern hotel from my previous life.

The room was spacious, with a big proper comfy bed in the middle. A window gave us a view to the west, we could see one of the rivers and the valley, the low mountains to either side, it was really picturesque. I'd have been happy to just flop onto the bed with my girlfriends and spend the rest of the day there, but we had a few other things to take care of first.

We left our packs in the room, but kept our weapons with us for now, just in case. Then we locked up and headed back out. A couple minutes later we were seated around a little table on a patio outside what felt like the medieval equivalent of a bistro. We had cups of wine and a platter of food to share. There was warm seasoned flatbread, some kind of meat-kabobs, and grilled vegetables. And it was all delicious.

In fact I could almost picture the setting like a dream vacation on some Greek island in the Aegean. The white buildings fit, the food seemed right, so did the climate. The biggest difference was instead of being surrounded by ocean we were surrounded by rivers and mountains. And I was a cute little foxgirl. And I had two girlfriends instead of being completely alone.

"You must really like the food Fiona," Avril teased. "Between the smile and the way your tail's wagging, you seem pretty happy."

I nodded, "I'm so happy I might cry. This is... It's perfect."

Clara commented, "Depending on how things go at the temple, perhaps we can make this place our new home? Or at the very least we could stay a while."

"Would you like that cutie?" Avril asked. "Make a home here, but set out on adventures into the wildlands to keep busy?"

"I think I'd like that a lot," I replied as I looked around again.

The thought that this could actually become my life was just enough to tip my emotions over the edge, and I wiped away a couple tears as I continued grinning happily.

All we had to do first was visit the temple and talk to some gods.

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