Lora ran with all the speed she could afford; though she was tired, injured and weighed down by the armour and swords she was carrying, she wanted revenge. Her face was red with anger, and her rage gave her the strength to run faster than was usually possible with all the bulk she was carrying.
Twelve giant spiders could be seen ahead, but she did not stop. She kept running, and since she did not want to stop because of the usual wild creatures, her rage increased. She slammed down the armour and sword in her hands, and reached for her bow as she stopped for a few moments. She reached for an arrow, and reached further until she grasped her quiver. Putting it around her shoulder, she lifted her bow and put an arrow in place. She pulled, and let go. A giant spider was already dead with that.
The spiders advanced on her, and she fired three arrows at once. Only two of them hit, however. As they drew nearer, she threw down her bow and clutched her sword. She was cautious, knowing that the bite of a giant spider like those could be poisonous. The huge, black arachnoids advanced, as she lifted the sword on guard. Two lunged at her, as she killed one of them but the other one hit her from behind. Swinging the sword behind her and killing the spider behind her, she worried whether she was poisoned, until she found that the spider had only hit her armour.
Another spider attacked, and caught hold of Lora's sword by biting it. With her other hand, Lora grabbed the sword that lay on the floor and drove it into the spider's face. Three more advanced to attack, while the remaining three stayed behind to watch. With two swords in her hands, Lora ran towards the spiders and slashed madly, and the spiders were soon a heap of blood. One of the remaining three spiders fled, while the other two charged. Lora jumped and climbed onto a tree, and moved along a branch until she came over them. Jumping down with swords facing down, the spiders were soon dead as a doornail.
Picking up her things, she continued running. When she reached Yew, she ran to the west through the familiar forest and friendly trees until she came to the old herbalist's residence. She knocked on the door, sweating like a pig after the run, and exhausted. An old, bent figure opened the door. "Greetings Nuriel." Lora greeted her old friend, "I have brought thee the nightshade thou didst need." She put down her backpack, and fished out a bag full of the precious fungus. "Thank thee Lora. Please, come in and have some ale with me." the old man said.
"I am sorry, but I have to do something very important and I cannot stay."
This was very unusual for Lora, as everybody in town who knew her knew that she was not busy, and seeing her say that she is busy was most wierd.
"Pray tell me, Lora, what is the matter?" inquired the concerned old herbalist.
"I have no time to explain," she replied, "though I will once I do what I have to do."
"Very well then. If it is so important, I shall get thee the money for the nightshade immediately."
The old man vanished into his house for a few moments. He was worried that Lora no longer wanted to offer him company, being an old man who nobody seems to care about. Though a sensitive old man, he was also very reasonable and understanding. He knew that that might possibly not be the case, and something serious may be going on. He came back with a casket of money. Lora left in a hurry and went to her house on the east side of Yew.
Throwing down all she was carrying on the floor of her house to ease her aching back, she opened her wardrobe and dragged out a chest. She lifted the lamp on her bedside table and took a key from under it, and opened the old, rusty lock on the chest with it. The chest was empty. She barred her door and put the Mystics into the chest, all except one armour and one sword. Locking the chest, she hid the key in its original hiding place and put the chest in her wardrobe. She lay down to rest, as night was falling, and she was already tired from the run. Removing her tattered and ruined clothes, she helped herself into a small night dress for the time being, and went to sleep while she could; she knew that the following day would be a long day.
The next day, she did not want to wake up. She had not slept in her own bed for weeks, and did not want to follow the uncomfortable routine all over again. However, duty called. She leapt out of bed and removed her night dress, moving over to the wardrobe for some good enough clothes for adventuring. Unfortunately for her, she only had a dress left, and had no choice but to wear that. A dress was not actually the ideal for her and would limit her movements, but was better than nothing. Wearing the dress, that also seemed rather small, she put on her Mystic Armour and prepared to leave. Fastening a scabbard around her waist, she sheathed her Mystic Sword and put on her empty backpack. Her boots were also ruined, but she did not have any spare boots so she had to walk barefooted. She took the money the herbalist gave her with her, and some more from her own reserves. With that, she went out of her house and made sure to bar everywhere.
Lora went to the Slaughtered Lamb, as she needed rations to take with her. She bought some food and spoke to the tavern owner. "Say, dost thou know where I could find some boots?" she asked the woman behind the counter.
"Um... there probably are some in Britain..." the owner answered, trying to remember the last time she had visited any of the other towns.
"Wait! Some people came here telling me that there is a new man in town."
"A new man?"
"Aye!" a young bard sitting at the table interrupted, "I've met the man myself."
Lora walked over to the handsome young man to listen to more.
"He has a shop southeast of here. Says he's come from a distant land, though I don' really know how much that is true. But I did see something strange that appeared to be foreign."
"What didst thou see?" Lora asked out of curiosity.
"Honestly I have no idea. Looked like nothin' I've seen before. It was magical. 'Nyway, if thou hast need of boots, he might 'ave some."
Lora thanked the bard and went to visit this new inhabitant. Indeed, the young bard was right. There was a new house southeast of the tavern. Peeping in, she saw a strange-looking man, and it showed at once that he was not Britannian. "May Utomo help thee?" he asked kindly with a sincere smile.
"Utomo? Who's Utomo?" she asked.
"I be Utomo." he replied, "I come from land far away."
Lora and Utomo spent half an hour chatting, and Lora forgot about her need for boots, until the subject turned onto adventuring and she remembered she needed some. Asking Utomo for a good pair, he brought some pairs from his storeroom. Strangely enough, some of those pairs were green. "What are these?" she asked, pointing at the green boots.
"Those be swamp boots. They prevent swamp from poisoning person."
Lora, in awe, tried a pair. She soon found a good pair that fitted her perfectly, and paid Utomo. Thanking the cordial foreigner, she left his shop and thought of what to do next.