Chasing My Fiancée Across A Fantasy World - Chapter 3

John sat awkwardly in the corner of the main guild hall and nervously bounced his heels like he was back in high school.  This area was designated as the new recruit table and was appropriately painted with green paint.  People had carved their names into the table.  Many of them were crossed out with a single line and had date underneath it.  He shivered at the thought of so many people sitting at this table probably died horrible deaths trying to rid the world of monsters.

Two other men sat at the green table, but John thought they were more like older teenagers.  The kid to his left simply laughed when John tried talking to him.  The kid was hunched over and waiting patiently.  Someone had pinned a sign on his sleeve that simply said ‘Joel’.  

The kid in front of him was gleefully carving his name into the table in big bold crude letters.  The carving said “Buddy” and when he was done he blew the shavings across the table into John's lap.

“Hehehe, sorry. Look at what I did.  I can write my own name.”  Buddy stuck out his chest. “Momma said I can kill things and they will pay me if I work here. She said they’d take care of me.”

“I’m sure they will, Buddy. Your mother must be very proud of you.”  Was all John could muster in this unlucky afternoon.

“What?  Who’s Buddy?  I’m Sam.”

Joel started cackling.  

“Shut up.  No one asked you.”  Buddy/Sam cursed and walked off.

John flipped through the photos on his phone.  Luckily he was able to keep his phone charged with a small solar panel he packed in this backpack.  He was so happy he had splurged at the survival store at the mall a few months back.  He wanted to make sure that Tricia would have as many creature comforts as possible.  The lonely man looked at his family, his brothers going hunting, but most of all he flipped through the three months of photos he took while he was with Tricia.  As he flipped through he noticed how she had changed since she first met him.  In the beginning she wore skin tight jeans and revealing tank tops, which he liked.  Her smile was broad and you could see the wildness in her.  He flipped through and saw her start to dress more conservatively and have a more subdued smile.  He looked and smiled at how his relationship with her had made her more mature.

“One day I’ll find you.”  He whispered.

“Find who?”

John looked up from his phone and saw four tall young men.  They all had different levels of arms and armor.  A man with spiked red hair and yellow eyes looked down at him expecting an answer.

John slipped his phone in his jacket pocket and smiled.  He stood up and offered his hand. “Hello, I’m John Shea.  I’m looking for my betrothed Tricia Mazzo, she was kidnapped last night somewhere up on the mountains to the east of us last night.

The four men laughed. The spiky redhead took his wrist and gave a Roman handshake. “I’m Jethro Beacon, and these are my comrades Kit, Malton, and Gordon.”  He laughed a little more. “I’m really sorry to hear about your girlfriend.  Why did you sign up then?”

“I have no money and I need to find her.  I’m not a farmer so this seemed like my best option.”

Jethro smirked. “Tons of guys come in here looking for a way out of their problems.  Most end up dead.  We’re the Crimson Raiders and we’re in the area for the next couple of months.  If you join up with us you’re guaranteed to live.”

“Did you want me to be an archer?  I need a loan to buy a good bow.  The guild rated me…”

“Archer?!  No way, we want you to lug our shit around.”  He pointed at the backpack.  “I figured you were a porter from that large bag.”

“Would you help me find my girl? I’ll give up my share of booty to pay you for your time.”  John gave a weak smile.

“Porters only get a half-share anyway Jack.  If we were to risk our lives, even in a goblin mission, how would we benefit?  We’re an A-ranked party, and we would need a little more than your share of booty.  Perhaps if we got a little taste of your girlfriend when we found her.  She must be very hot if you’re willing to go to these lengths to get her back.”  The other three laughed sinisterly.

“Say that again?”  John put his hands in the pockets of his jacket.  One clenched into a fist, and the other popped the gun out of its plastic holster.

“We fuck.”  He pointed with two fingers into John’s face. “Your girl for one … whole…week.”  

“I don’t want to join your party Jethro.  Maybe Joel would fit in better with the likes of you people.”

Joel started to laugh and point at the Crimson Raiders. “Dead, dead, you’re all dead.  Muah hahahaha.”

“What the feck is wrong with him?”  Kit mumbled.

“Are you insulting me John?”  Jethro had an edge to his voice. “I don’t like clever cunts like you that think they can get one past me.”  He came in close and tried to stare him down.

John stared right back.  “I’m not afraid of you.”  He was ready to shoot through his jacket if he needed to.

“Alright you bastards knock it off.  Jethro, Malton - I don’t remember your mother teaching you to treat people like that.”  Ezmirelda shooed them off.

“Jethro was only joking with this little guy.  Needs to learn how to take a joke.  This place is dead right now, and it smells.  Raiders, we should go to the Tipped Brazier Pub and get drunk, I’m bored.  Be seeing ya around, greenhorn.”  Jethro sneered before yelling “Boo!” and laughing before walking out the front door. “

“Thanks Ezmirelda.”  John said, reholstering his pistol and sitting down putting his face in his hands.

“Someone will come soon, I promise.”  She hesitated for a moment. “You just can’t be too picky when it happens, John.  New recruits sometimes take days to get into a party.  Look at Joel.  He’s been here for a month.”

John slammed his head into the table. “Why me?”

“John, we close at five, but there’s blankets in the corner by the fire. If you need a place to crash for the night, it comes with the benefits of being a guild member.  Unfortunately food isn’t free.”

“Right.”  He waved her off. “I’ll see you later.”

Thirty minutes ticked by and the guild was still packed with people entering and exiting.  John was taking a nap when he felt a tap on the shoulder.

He looked up to see four stunningly beautiful women.  One was a tall voluptuous blond with blue eyes.  She wore a chain mail shirt that fitted her figure and a large claymore tied to her back.  An auburn haired green eyed cutie wore plate armor covered in runes, a mace was tied to her belt, and a shield covered her back.  A girl with long pointed ears who couldn’t have been taller than five feet,  she had robes that reminded him of a wizard.  Behind those three stood a thin shorter woman in black leather armor that was lined with throwing knives.  She was chewing on a toothpick.

“Hi.”  He got up and offered his hand. “I’m…”

“John Shea.”  The blonde said.  “The guild receptionist told us about you.  You’re the first S-ranked archer ever in Dolono.  I’m Brideen Tenson.  The cleric is Lori Sanwick,  the gnome is Netruna Greenleaf, and our designated thief  is Allonsa Bridemoore.”  Each one nodded and said hello.

Allonsa interrupted. “I’m not a thief, I’m a treasure hunter.”

The blonde rolled her eyes and continued.  “We were looking for a long range fighter to join us in our back rank with Netruna. Are you game?”

“Wow, you all look very adept.  Are you an A-ranked team?”

The four girls squirmed uncomfortably.  Brideen mumbled. “We’re actually E-rank.”

“That’s fine by me.”  He scratched his head. “I don’t have any real experience except for hunting.”  The response made them visibly relax.

“Wonderful, we could really use you.”  Brideen smiled.  

John couldn’t help but smile back.  The four of them were easily in the same league as Tricia.  The thought of Tricia socked him in the gut with anxiety. “Right, if I do join.  I’m going to need a small loan to get some minimum armor and a bow and arrows.

Lori piped up brightly her gentle red curls bounced with the cadence of her voice. “I have a spare buff coat you can wear and Allonsa has a bow and arrows.”  The thief nodded and shrugged.

“And one last thing. The woman I love has been kidnapped up in the mountains and I need help looking for her.  If you’re willing to help me find her, I’ll forgo my share of treasure until the debt is paid off.”

Lori shot back. “No problem!”  Netruna elbowed her. “Oof.”

Brideen winced. “We can take the mission for a few days, but past that, we’d run out of funds as well and would need to take real jobs.  We can hang out in the area for a while before moving on to the next frontier town.  Would you be willing to accept those terms?”

John looked over at the guild receptionist. Don’t be too picky. “Yes, I accept.  Three days of searching is better than none.  I can’t seem to find my way home anyway.”

The girls were overjoyed at his acceptance.

“Can we start looking this afternoon and evening?”  He put his hands together and pleaded.

“Hold up Jack.”  Brideen put her hand on his shoulder. “We need to see if you can do anything besides archery, and we need to kit you out for adventuring.  It’s too late to do any useful search.  We can start the hunt early tomorrow.”

…

“Again. This time really try to hit me.”  Brideen’s shapley silver armor was adorned with white cloth, she looked like purity made manifest.  Her claymore was raised and ready.  John was handed a simple spear after saying he didn’t know how to use any weapons besides the bow and arrow.

He had aced the archery test again, this time Allonsa tossed up used trenchers as targets and John hit every single one.  Quite a crowd had gathered to see the amazing rookie hit anything out of the sky.

Now with the spear in his hand, that crowd had dispersed as he had far less talent for wielding a spear.  In fact most adventurers used spears at least some of the time, but they were looked down on compared to the gleaming steel of a broadsword.

John was clearly a beginner, but was a fast learner.  Brideen was a sword maiden, but she was also fairly inexperienced.  The young man went through the pre-planned forms thrusting and parrying trying to get past the maiden’s defences.

The spear proved effective against the shorter claymore, but her higher experience made sure she always won.  The blade came within inches of his new buff coat.  Brideen grinned. “Not too bad for a first day John, I think you’ll definitely prove dangerous to a goblin or two, and we don’t expect you to do anything but archery out there tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”  He looked at the short spear. “I thought these were longer.”

“Can’t really have them longer than that in a dungeon.  It gets wedged in weird places.  Short’s the way to go, believe me.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Now practice your defence.”  She swapped her claymore for a wooden sword. “No thrusts, just parry and block.”

She attacked with the ferocity of a lioness.  After a moment’s panic he went through the movements she taught him.  He was doing pretty well for the first few minutes, so much so that he could see Brideen getting frustrated.”

“Kyah!”  She thrust the heavy wooden blade but stepped on a slippery spot of muddy ground on the piste.  She over extended herself and slammed into him.  The pair toppled over onto the dirt.  Brideen was on all fours over John.  Her knee was nestled between his crotch.  Her mouth was inches away from his and she was panting from the exertion.  For a brief moment John’s mind wandered to an imaginary bedroom with a nude Brideen, laying in silk sheets before snapping back and locking eyes with her.

“Heh.  I give up.”  John laughed nervously.  “You can get off me now.”

The blonde’s face turned deep pink and she scurried away in embarrassment.  “I am so sorry John.  I didn’t mean to do that.”

“No harm no foul.  I should have been looking for that anyway.”

“Why don’t we call it a day?” Lori looked down on them disapprovingly.  “Show some self control Bri.”

“What are you talking about, it was an accident.”

Allonsa pointed to the door. “Let's go back to the inn before it gets too crowded and they run out of the good stuff.”

….

The five adventurers strolled down market street to get to Greenly Square where the loggings for travelers were collocated.   John felt that someone was watching him. A barmaid, underneath the sign of a tipped over fire, gave John the goo-goo eyes and waved at him.  She had long silky brown hair and massive tits that defied gravity.  

She catcalled him.  “Hey, tall, dark, and handsome.  I’ve got some hot vanilla pudding you can sink your teeth into.”  Behind her, the bar keep in the pub could be seen muttering to himself and wiping his mug like he wanted to destroy it.  John was looking but was tugged away from the Tipped Brazzier by a quiet Brideen. “She’s a prostitute, John.  They say the barkeeper has a dozen holes drilled into every wall so he can see his wife get degraded.  You don’t want that do you?”

They walked on to the Broken Plough.  The Broken Plough was the more expensive of the two inns in Dolono, but to the girls John had met, it was worth it.  The Tipped Brazier was filled with Dolono’s biggest drinkers, gamblers, cheats, murderous adventurers, and swindlers.  The Broken Plough had nicer patrons, cleaner sheets, dinnerware, bigger rooms, just about everything.  It was also rumored that the number of holes in the walls was drastically fewer.

“I promise to pay you back once I start doing our jobs.  I promise.”  

Netruna looked up at him.  “Don’t worry about that now.  You need some rest and a hot bath.  Did you know that the Plough has the only hot spring in the area?”

“A hot bath?  That sounds awesome!”  He clapped his hands together. “I can’t wait.”

The five walked through the front door and past a kindly old lady.  Behind the lady was a massive magic staff that seemed to indicate that she was not a person to be fucked with.

“I see you’ve brought a boy.”

“Don’t worry granny, he’s part of the party now.”

Granny folded her arms and wheezed. “I suppose that’s alright then.  Just make sure you keep quiet or I will lay down the law.”

“We love you granny.”

The old lady waved them off.

They arrived at a large empty room with a small space to take off their boots.  At one end there was a huge ornate wooden elevated platform.  Cushions were rolled up at the top of it.

“So that’s how beds are around here?  One big bed?”

Brideen laughed. “That’s not how you do it in Pittsburgh?”

“Not really, two people will sleep together if they’re in a relationship.  Otherwise they sleep alone.”

Allonsa started to doff her armor.  “How do you expect to keep warm?”

“I suppose you’re right.  A long time ago each room would have a fireplace.”

Brideen shook her head. “Too smokey, no way.”  She set her breastplate against the wall and carefully arranged her gear.  The remaining clothing clung to her skin, revealing her bra and panties underneath.

“Oh boy.”  John started looking around.  “I don’t suppose there’s a small side room where I would be staying is there?”

The girls looked at each other and then started to laugh loudly.

Brideen bent over. “Side room.  Like we could afford that. Ha ha!”

Netruna sauntered to him and poked him in the solar plexus.  “You’re not one of those prudes are you? We’re going to be fighting together and seeing more of each other for a long time.  If you’re squeamish now, you’ll have to forget about adventuring.”

Don’t be picky.  Don’t be picky.  “Right my mistake.  It’s just that you’re all very pretty, and I’m engaged, so it’s a little distracting.”

“Stop it John, that’s embarrassing.”  Brideen blushed. “If we were pretty we’d be married.”

“Sorry.  I’m just using the beauty standard from where I come from.”

Lori took off her red metal armor and set it next to Brideen’s. While shorter than Brideen, she was no less attractive, or sweaty.  She skipped across the room to get ready for a bath and her breasts bounced as her feet hit the floor.

Brideen looked at John. “You should strip down to your shorts.  The men’s bath is the side with a penis symbol on it.  After your clean, granny should have brought us some food.”

He nodded and undressed.  The young man tried to hide his massive erection casually as he left and searched for the hot bath.

…

When John was in the large pool lined with stone he finally let his guard down.  The bath was outside and protected his privacy with tall brick walls topped with spikes.  The man did his best to resist his thoughts from going to Tricia and the hot water really helped.  The knots in his shoulders started to loosen.  He laid his head back and soaked.

A few minutes later he heard the giggling of the girls coming from somewhere but he couldn’t tell which direction.  He looked at the walls of the buildings around him and understood it was some effect of the sound bouncing off the walls.

“Shh, do you think he will hear us?”

“No I asked granny, the baths are separated and are on opposite sides of the grounds of the inn.”  Lori’s voice sounded.

“He’s so cute.  Can you believe how shy he was?”  That voice sounded like Netruna’s.

“He’ll be a valuable asset if he can be that accurate with the bow in real combat.”  Brideen noted thoughtfully.

“I like his assets too.” Allonsa laughed.

Brideen agreed. “Very pleasing on the eyes, and he’s not a complete pig.  Can you believe how the Crimson Raiders treated him?”

“They’re gross, even if they have muscles.”

“John looks like he was ripped too.  And we have him all to ourselves. Did you see his massive boner?”  The girls all giggled. “When I pushed him down I may have rubbed it with my knee a little too long.”  She sighed.

“And he has a quest to find his lost love.  How romantic!”  Netruna swooned. “I wonder if he’s still a virgin.”

What did I get myself into?  John submerged himself under the hot water and tried to drown himself from the embarrassment.