Hello, and Goodbye

As quietly as we came in we exited the cave and made a break for it towards the cart since Gala couldn't run, I carried her on my back. We made it to the campsite we set up a day and a half ago, we decided to camp there again and let Gala rest and have her wounds treated. As I stood watch, Kara came up behind me, "She wasn't too hurt, simple bruises and a couple of minor cuts, nothing major. I gave a bit of my healing potion, she'll be on her feet by early the next morning." "Thanks Kara." She patted my shoulder and went back to her tent to sleep. Though the job was done and we managed to rescue Gala, I was half tempted to go back and light one of the oil barrels to cave in the bastards. It was far too late now, besides, if we hurry, we might get her out of this place and get her a happy ending, one she's always wanted.

Back when I was still working with her and gathering enough coin to go back to Ulvenguard, she would often tell me why she left and never came back. She used to be a spy, she was tasked with bringing back any information of the sailing operations of the empire's warships, she did her job rather well. That is until one day, one of the empire's most well known, well-decorated warship captains came into the city, though exaggerated her description of him was that, he was a human as tall and as physically strong as a young orc, a thick grey beard covered the lower half of his face, while slicked back hair covered the top. He was incredibly brave, incredibly proud, and according to her, incredibly great in bed. They secretly met and made love in the hidden room I stayed in for a few short years before he had to sail off again, During their time together, however, she said that they would often lie in bed after their, "special times" so to speak, they would often talk for hours of leaving it all behind and starting a new life far from this place. Having a happy ending and all that. It wasn't until one day he had to sail into unknown waters where he was met with an untimely death in a watery grave. Many said it was a storm, others say it was a sea monster. Gala stayed in the empire since then, too emotional to go back to her old life, so she started a bar near the pier to be closer to her old lover. Now she gets her happy ending, she'll probably end up on a beach with the finest white sand, huge palm trees, cool gentle breezes, and the new love of her life.

As my watch came to a close I stared at the piece I ripped off the bandits that kidnapped Gala, I could have sworn I had seen it somewhere else before, "Shane?" I heard a voice say, Willow, placed a hand on my back, "You should get some rest now, we have a long road ahead of us, and we need to be as alert as possible." "Yeah, we should." I went over to my tent and looked over the cloth one last time before getting some sleep. A week came and went as we made our journey to Isolis, nothing was too eventful, we kept our eyes and ears in the trees and to the ground, in case those bandits came by again, they didn't but we didn't want to be too careful as we finally entered the coastal city of Isolis. Similar to Valchester, Isolis was a relatively bustling city full of humans and elves and such, however, since this was a coastal city, around the area where the ships dock there were more of a diverse kind of people. Especially Dragonborn, goliaths, and dwarves. It was starting to get dark so we made our way towards the docks where we would supposedly meet with the ship's captain who would take Gala and her new husband somewhere far from the reaches of the empire, as we did, however, we passed by another red-light district, unlike the others I've seen where the men and women working there would only give possible clients looks, these seemed more, "forward" to say the least.

Like the others, there were dwarven women, human women, elves, etc. and all of them tried to get our attention. There was a half-orc woman, the sides of her head shaved clean leaving a long braided mohawk that reached down to her wide hips. She yelled out, "Oi You! The one in black." I looked around just in case she was talking about someone else before pointing to myself, "Yeah you." She then grabbed the front of her dress, "What do you think of these?" she then revealed her very large breasts and moved around seductively, mine and Oloric's eyes widened as we watched her move, the other workers there began to cheer and laugh as it was obvious we were all staring, "How about you come over and give 'em a feel sugar?" She said, "Lad. I'm goin' up there, I'll see you in the mornin'" Oloric said, "Lassies! I hope you're all ready to have a night of Strongheart!" I rolled my eyes as we rode on, which wasn't too long as a messenger came running full speed towards us, "A letter from the young master Goldsinger. He asked me to wait until you arrived, sir."

I took the letter as it read, "My dearest Mr.Crowfeather, though hopefully at this point you have rescued the dwarven bride of my brother, I wish to inform you that the ship will likely arrive late, likely to be arriving at midday once you arrive. In any case, I wish you all the best of luck and I hope to see you all soon. P.S. I especially hope to give you a special reward specifically for you Mr.Crowfeather." "What does the letter say?" Willow asked, "Um...it says that the captain will likely arrive late, midday tomorrow I suppose." "Oh, well, there's an inn not too far from here. We can spend the night there." "Fair enough, let's get going." we made our way to the in called, "The Salty Sailor Inn" the outside sign was that of a sailor inside of a barrel of salt, inside the inn however there were small round tables and big long tables, all of which were filled or filling up with patrons of all kinds, from the bar we heard a voice.

"Come on in dearies, have a seat at the bar here, the first round of drinks is on the house." We took our seats at the bar, "What do you recommend after a long journey?" the woman behind the bar smiled, "Ah, not from here are ye? Well, the best I could recommend is something we'd like to call the good hearth's brew, a spiced rum served hot or warm, it's usually best during the long winters. Those who've had it usually describe a feelin' of warmth and calm like you're sitting at home, a cold snowfall is blowing against your walls or a long rain is tapping against your window but you're not worried, you have a fireplace, a good book in your hand, and perhaps someone you feel close to you at your side. I exaggerate but it's the best I can offer after a long journey like you said, young man." I looked at the others and nodded, "We'll have a pint of that thanks." She smiled and went into the kitchen to serve us all a pint of the mentioned brew. I raised my cup and as I took a sip of my drink, the warm brew hit my tongue, and a warm tingling sensation came over me, the noise from the tavern became quieter. A calm came over me, I no longer worried about anything. I let out a long breath, I didn't even feel drunk, "Would...would you happen to have…" Before I could finish asking my question, the woman handed me two bottles, "Take 'em, dearie, you look like you need 'em." I smiled, "Thank you. One other question." Before I even opened my mouth to ask again, she turned to me, "Rooms are upstairs, two-bed bedrooms are two gold each, and single bedrooms are one gold piece each." The others took two two-bedrooms, and I took a single. I paid her the five gold and headed up the stairs with the others. It was getting very late, the stars in the night sky were beginning to shine, though there were a small number of lanterns and candles in the room. The light of the moons illuminated the place much more. Like the night before I decided to take a look at the cloth I took before finally heading to bed, there was something familiar about that symbol yet I couldn't place my finger on it.

After breakfast, we decided to wait around the docks gathering a few supplies for our journey back home where we started. Now and again we'd stop by a shop to get supplies, take a few minutes to look at what other goods they offer, or simply browse jewelry at some of the areas where they had such things. Midday came by sooner than we realized as a very intricate and beautifully made ship came into port. There we watched as some of the crew was sent off for supplies and a half-elven man came walking down the plank, "Good afternoon to you all, I assume one of you is the fine lady accompanying us?" The captain said. Gala walked up, "That would be me, captain." "Call me Captain Kirkland. I believe I see our other guest on this voyage not too far from here, We'll be here another few hours, perhaps a day or so at most collecting supplies and such before we head back out again, so please take your time and maybe say your goodbyes to your friends here." Captain Kirkland walked back up onto the ship to give some orders while Gala approached us. "I suppose this will be the last time, for good it seems, that we'll see each other my boy." "I guess it is." Kara, Willow, Atlan, and a late-arriving Oloric left us to our privacy and quite possibly to get our belongings from the inn. "Gala, I simply want to say...Thank you." She chuckled, "What for boy? Ulfguardians always take care of their own." "Yeah I know but, you were pretty much the only person from home that made me feel...safe.

You helped me when others would have turned me away, or thrown me out into the streets. You kept me from that fate, risking your life and your business to do so. For that I thank you." She and I smiled, tears starting to form in our eyes, "Come here." She opened her arms and we came together for a warm hug, "You'll always be in my heart, my sweet little Shane." as we broke off from the hug a stern but kind voice came from behind me. "Am I to believe this is the same Shane Crowfeather you've kept safe my dear?" I turned to see a relatively handsome man standing behind me, "George, George Goldsinger." He bowed and shook my hand. George was relatively tall, he had a large curly mustache, and short salt and pepper hair, it was clear he was the oldest. "My father left the capital a day sooner than I did, he left me a letter saying that he will be returning home, hoping to meet my bride to be here," I said nothing as I motioned towards Gala, "Ah, hello my dearest love!" He bent down to meet one another's lips, "I'll talk to the captain for the arrangements, It was good to finally meet you Mr.Crowfeather." I waved at him as the others came back with the cart and other supplies, "Shane, Are we ready to go?" I looked back at Gala, She simply nodded, "Yeah, let's get going." I said getting on the back of the cart.

We all waved goodbye as Gala walked onto the deck of the ship with her new husband to live her new life. To this day I still hope she's doing alright, I honestly believe she's probably sitting by the sea with an exotic drink in her hand wearing nothing but swimsuits, or perhaps nothing at all if I know her well enough. Regardless it was time for us to leave and receive our reward.