Chương 79: Here Kitty, Kitty

When I walked into the inn I was immediately hit in the face with a wave of what felt like unstable magic. I looked around, and noticed the place was lit by purple floating orbs the size of oranges. The magic appeared to be coming from them. I'd never seen anything like it, and I wondered if Vasil had. Unfortunately, as always, I couldn't exactly ask him at the moment. Due to the purple lighting I couldn't really see what color anything was. Everything simply looked purplish.

A few people glanced at us when we entered, but they all decided we weren't worth a second look. Just the way I like it. I walked over to the bar where the barkeeper was keeping himself occupied by juggling three of the orbs. When he noticed me he caught them and they disappeared into his hands.

"What brings ya to The Tail End?" he asked. The name was not as ridiculous as I had anticipated. Fairly normal compared to The Lemon Fiddler even, though I suppose most names are.

"We heard there was a cat stuck in a tree," I said. I half-expected some snorts and chuckles, but no one seemed to think it was funny. The barkeep nodded.

"That's right. He's been up there for a while."

"No one has tried to get him to come down?"

"People have tried. A couple adventurers have come and tried as well." He summoned another orb, tossed it into the air and let it disappear into his hand again.

"But none have been successful. He's up there real good." I slowly nodded.

"So it's not that simple? Why not?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You were expecting simple? For a Vortex rune?"

"It's a cat in a tree… How hard can it be?"

"It's a big tree."

"Don't you have a ladder or something?" Kasia asked. The man's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, then he burst out laughing. I snapped my fingers.

"Hey! Hey! What's so funny?" The man shook his head, still laughing.

"Nothing. Nothing's funny." I stared at him for a couple more seconds.

"Can you at least tell us where we can find this tree?" He nodded, still grinning.

"Oh yeah. Take a left when you step outside. When you reach the statue take another left. Then keep walking and you'll see it. Can't miss it." I turned to Kasia, who was looking at me with a frown.

"Let's go find that tree." I could feel the eyes of everyone in the bar staring at us now. One of them whispered something I couldn't hear. I pretended not to notice, and I hoped Kasia didn't. When we stepped outside Vasil immediately spoke up.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah, no shit," I said.

"What was that all about?" Kasia grabbed my arm.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this." I put my hand on hers.

"We'll be fine. If something weird happens you can just run away."

"What about you?"

"Me? I'm grabbing that cat, of course. Even if I have to burn the whole tree down. I want that runestone!" Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Others have tried and failed," Vasil said.

"You saw how he reacted. Maybe Kasia is right. Maybe we should not do this."

"Others aren't me," I scoffed.

"I've done a lot of things others have tried and failed at. You think I'm going to quit just because some weird asshole is being cryptic? We haven't even seen the tree yet. Maybe he was just trying to scare us for whatever reason." Vasil sighed from within the satchel.

"Alright then. We will do it your way. We can check it out first."

"Good," I said. As we walked along the sandy path I noticed that the odd unstable magic sensation was back, only this time it appeared to be coming from the ground. I kicked at the sand a bit, to see if there was anything hiding underneath, but saw nothing.

"What are you doing?" Kasia asked.

"Just checking the sand."

"For what?"

"Not sure."

"Yeah… that doesn't make me feel better,' she said.

"It's probably nothing," I said. Deep inside I felt like it was probably something, though. It was definitely something. I just didn't see the need to scare her even more. After a short while we got to the statue. It was a statue of a man holding an orb in each hand, both reminiscent of the ones the barkeeper had been juggling.

"What's up with these orbs?" I asked. Vasil peeked out of the satchel.

"Not sure."

"Have you seen orbs like those in the inn before?"

"I have seen a lot of magical orbs before. Purple ones even. I have not seen anyone using purple orbs for lighting, though that doesn't mean much. Most people prefer white or orange colored orbs for lighting."

"I don't know," I said.

"The magic around here feels somewhat unstable. In the inn too."

"Unstable?"

"Yeah, you can't feel it?" He poked his head out.

"No. I do not feel it." I tapped my chin.

"Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just [Mēnē's Watchful Eye] making me hyper aware of everything around me. I probably just need to get used to it a bit more." I walked over to the statue and put my hand on it, trying to feel if the statue was perhaps causing the disturbance. It wasn't. It just felt like a piece of rock. The magic in the ground still felt unstable. I shrugged it off and started to walk down the path towards where the tree would be.

I glanced around and noticed a suspicious lack of Stvora eyes on the houses around me. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen his symbol anywhere at all in town.

"Hey, Vasil," I asked.

"Isn't everyone supposed to have Stvora's eye everywhere? Usually it's on practically every door."

"It is not required by the Church," he said.

"A lot of people simply do it. It is a public show of devotion. Some people also believe it brings luck. Some believe it wards off evil spirits. Others do it because they believe it will make them less likely to be targeted by the Church."

"Does it?"

"I do not think it does anything. And even if it wards off evil spirits, it certainly does not keep you safe from the Church."

"Yeah," I said.

"The only thing that keeps you safe from the Church is a big gun." I wanted to pat the revolver on my hip, but remembered they were part of me now, and I hadn't worn a holster in a while. I summoned a revolver, held it to my hip and patted it. Kasia frowned.

"What?" I asked.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just… patting my revolver?" She shook her head. Can't a girl just pat her pistol? I thought, but didn't dare say out loud. Those babies had kept us safe through everything, after all. They deserved some love. I flicked my eyes to Kasia to see if she was watching. She wasn't. I quickly planted a kiss on the barrel and retracted it back into my hand. Don't worry, mama still loves you. After another short walk we spotted what had to be the tree.

The path led straight to it, and the closer we got to the tree, the more unstable the magic felt. Now it even permeated the air. It was a big tree. Maybe three or four houses stacked on top of each other? I don't know. It was big and fat. I'm not the best at estimating distance in numerical values. I am good at estimating them in bullet shooting values, though. And in bullet shooting values I'd classify the tree as "definitely big".

"Um, Vasil?" I asked.

"What is it?"

"There is definitely something funky going on here. The closer we get to that tree, the more unstable the magic is becoming. It's even in the air now. It's like it's constantly tearing itself apart and rebuilding itself? I'm not sure how to describe it. Get out of that satchel and tell me you don't feel anything." Vasil hopped out of the satchel and immediately said, "I think we should get out of here. Put me back inside."

"Woah, woah! We haven't even investigated yet," I said.

"I don't even see the cat. You think they lied about the cat?" I walked a few steps closer to the tree.

"Do not get too close!" Vasil warned. I looked back at him.

"It's just a tree, Vasil. Sure, the magic is a little unstable. A lot unstable, actually. But it's still just a tree." I put my hand to my mouth.

"Psst! Psst! Here kitty, kitty! Here kitty, kitty!" As I got closer I noticed strange wrinkly fruits hanging from the branches. They were a mixture of black and purple, and they also gave off that unstable magical energy. I thumbed at the tree.

"I think the unstable magic is coming from this tree." Right as I said that, there was a suspicious rustle in the leaves. I summoned my revolvers.

"Kasia, prepare to run."