The Champion's Companion Ch. 21

Janis slipped back asleep as she waited for some food.

She was surprised to get a light slap after she had just closed her eyes.

"Eat up," she was ordered seeing Saliss hustle back to her stool.

Finding a bowl, and spoon just in front of her face she struggled at first then paused.

After a long struggle to get food in her mouth, the first taste brought her up, and awake. From the taste alone, her body seemed to become normal and the pain of starvation was put at bay. Her mouth watered until she drooled. Her hands became lighter and a bit shaky as she concentrated on eating more and more.

A heavy hand fell on her shoulder. Janis didn't care to look up. "Hey there little sister, you can't be doing all that. You must slow down."

Janis fought to keep the bowl in hand as she was pulled back to straighten up. The man then pulled her food away with ease then snatched her spoon up from her scrambling hands like she was just a petulant child.

"You're going to eat slowly," The man said as he knelt before her and got comfortable. "Your body needs a slow steady stream of food right now. You'll have slow down or you'll get sick."

He fed her a mouthful at a time, and waited till she was ready for more. Sitting close allowed her the chance to get a look at him. His face was mature, but youthful. He obviously knew his way around a cook fire, the food was delicious. In between spoonfuls, Janis studied his face more. He had black hair that was short, and shiny in the fire's light. His skin was tanned and almost leathery. Finally, her eyes fell upon his lips as though drawn.

All at once, a strong pain hit her stomach as she felt everything explode with sharp pains radiating out from her middle.

"Gahhh?!....Ohhhh," Janis fell over whimpering, and cradling her stomach as it cramped up.

"Hmm...That's what it would look like..." The man said quietly backing off.

Throughout the night, Janis moaned pitifully as her body was wracked with waves of searing pain. By daybreak, the pain was gone and she sensed the pair moving around her and packing up. Unable to follow, she lay in the grass and tried to sleep. Getting up around midday. Janis scavenged into Garec's pockets feeling stronger from the food. Around her, the sun-filled clearing was empty and still even Garec's body was untouched.

'North, they were arguing about going north' Janis suddenly remembered as she got to the road and tried to decide what to do. Looking at the north, she figured they had to be heading that way by following the west road up around and into the mountains. Back on the road, and plodding along Janis felt relaxed again being alone. A small part of her did however look forward anxiously for a town to rest in, and a haystack to sleep in.

Nearly a day later of travel, she found one.

As she got into the tiny nameless mining town in the early evening, she got odd stares at her appearance. Her usually pale fit Amazon body was a ruddy red from the dirt, the sun, and perhaps some bruises. She had to be the least intimidating Amazon these people had ever seen.

Walking through the darkening streets of the plaster, and timber buildings, she found a hanging sign for the town's only inn. Garec had made some coin selling furs he had robbed once, and since he was a fugitive in this area he had few places to spend it. Janis felt a cold smile creep across her face as she pushed open the door.

"Oi, you cheating bitch!" Came an angry man's shout as she stepped in. The tavern had three rows of long tables and a bar to the right along the wall with the innkeeper's book. Local men were all over but most were crowding to the back corner where a group of them stood in an agitated group.

"That's how the game is played!" A proud woman's voice exclaimed from in the corner as though she was referencing common knowledge.

Janis looked for the person who matched the distinctive familiar voice. A pretty blond with her face framed by the velvety purple hooded robe. Her sparkly blue eyes danced over their angry faces in open amusement. She stood completely relaxed with a smile on her lips as large rough looking men the local tavern, shook with fury around her.

Saliss quickly blushed and covered her mouth with the back of her hand as her eyes went wide in realization. "Oh, for shame! You men didn't know this was a counting game?"

"Saliss?" Janis whispered incredulously as the half forgotten name popped into her head.

"You cheated us!" A blustery man shouted impotently as Saliss reached for her winnings on the table.

"Don't be silly," She replied soothingly as she daintily collected coins from the table. About five men stood over her looking quite furious but she moved methodically as though she didn't see them.

"Perhaps a new game?" She offered just as it looked like the men were actually getting ready to attack her.

"You cheat! Every game you offer is rigged." A man growled.

"Oi! I wanna mine moneyzz back!" Shouted another drunken one.

The woman looked at them each in turn and held the collected money in her hand as though weighing it. "Well what kind of woman would I be if I just gave strange men money? Is that what your mothers and sisters have to do for strangers? Do strangers bully your wives?"

That thought broke a few peoples concentration and gave the men pause. Saliss continued and talked fast as her voice dropped lower, and lower. "I wouldn't be a decent one if I did that, and my mother raised me to be better. You men don't want to make a kind-hearted lucky girl starve do you? Any of you men just want to make a bet?" Her eyes lit up at the last word, "Since you won't play these games, perhaps your luck can redeem you just this one last time."

"I ain'tz lizten'n to you! Iz wantz back mine MONEYz!" The same drunk crazy-eyed man shouted slamming the table. The two men on either side of him half- restrained him and half-propped him up.

Saliss ignored them all and continued. "Well then, how about we bet on someone nobody knows? Look to the door, that scrappy girl there. I bet she ain't but had half a bowl of gravy stew in a day," She mused mimicking the men's accent. "How bout I bet that skinny thing can only get down two big bowls of that spicy beef tripe and vegetable bowl you all seem to like so much?"

"What? We ain't betting on that!" A man snarled.

The Blonde smirked as though expecting nothing less. "Well I am. In fact, I'm going to put everything on it."

Everyone started talking to each other at once suddenly.

"What who is she? I've never seen her. This is stupid." Voices from within the group rumbled aloud. "But you already took our money..." Another voice bemoaned.

"Now is your only chance to get it all back. I'm not just going to hand it too you. So win it fair and square, you still have a chance to make some money tonight." Saliss turned to a man who had been quietly eyeing her the whole time from the side of the table. "You, if the waitress comes back, make sure she puts in extra everything."

The man looked up at her startled and unsure what to say as the table's most sober accuser spoke up at her words. "Now you're cheating again! You don't want her to eat more!"

"Well, I guess I am being unfair...did you really think she could eat more?" She said slowly while she reached up to knuckle her chin thoughtfully.

"Oi! That waif could eat five." A blustery voice shouted. "No she is way too small. Four! Four I bet she gets down four!" Another added. Soon a shouting match was raised around the table as they made their bets.

Nodding thoughtfully in the middle of the noise, Saliss looked over at Janis and waved her over. "Well bring her here then. Let us just see."

With few words, Janis was seated on a bench squarely under the blue-eyed gaze of Saliss and the rest of the tavern patrons. With no words spoken, a waitress brought out a platter balancing four bowls.

"I suppose once a man loses everything he won't be able to cover the food." Saliss quipped as Janis took the first bite. "Let's have the winner make a gesture and pay for the girl's food...That is reasonable I'm sure." The woman said looking around. "And don't get angry if you lose. This girl seems to have been through enough, and I could have walked away with the money if my heart had been cold."

"I can agree to that..." Said a reasonable voice as the room quietly watched Janis already scraping the bottom of the first bowl.

Saliss turned to Janis with a knowing grin and winked. "Well then girl, enjoy this, and don't think it charity."

One hour later...

Janis put down the spoon, and sat back unfinished. If she went for anymore and emptied the bowl they would just bring another, but then the chef would have to cook up a whole new batch.

The men around her were amazed. "F-F-FFourteen...Fourteen bowls"

Saliss walked over counting the bowls herself. "Well that's the total. So I bet two, or was it three... Where did the man who bet seven go? There you are... I'd say you won." Saliss grinned merrily clapping a very stunned wide-eyed man on the back.

Janis got up, and moved to the tavern door but a surprisingly strong small hand grabbed her arm as she ambled past. Turning around she saw Saliss holding her back.

"Hey come over here, you shouldn't have to sleep out there. I hate for something to happen to a woman just because I've gotten her so out of balance playing a game."

Janis looked at the slender hand that held her fast. It was unimaginably soft but still unyielding. Either she was really quite weak still, or this Saliss had lots of hidden potential behind those blue eyes.

With ease, Saliss pointed her over to the stairs and followed behind as she strode from the room. As they made their exit, Janis noticed for the first time the man in black sitting by the door. He had been undetectable the whole time.

She didn't think too hard about it. After being brought to the room and dropping her pack, she fell into a lounge seat by the room's unused fireplace and fell asleep.

Waking up as the white morning light filled the room from the lace covered windows, Janis looked up at the noise that woke her. She felt out of place in the suite. She was very aware she still hadn't bathed properly and yet she was in a room filled with upholstered furniture, carved stonework, wood paneling, three fireplaces, and plush thick carpeting. On one side of her was the center fireplace with its elegant cover, and stone mantle. On the other side was the lace covered windows and a huge canopied bed oversized even for the luxury room.

Just out of arm's reach, the man stood naked next to the bed. His tan tall slim body was very muscular she noticed. She also could see he was well hung. Her face burned as she stared at the impossibly thick rope of meat that hung down over his large balls. Each orb was larger than a chicken's egg. She could smell a warm earthy scent coming from them. She was reminded of what she had done for food only a short while ago.

"Good morning girl." His voice called, breaking into her thoughts.

Looking up, she blushed harder at his knowing smug smile and laughing dark eyes. "...Good morning Sir Marcos..." She croaked as her voice cracked.

"Mmmph..." The man was pushed aside as a naked Saliss got out of bed behind him. Janis marveled at her body as she moved over the bed like a drunk spider. Her whole body was a clean pale pink. Her limbs were long and graceful. While she didn't quite come to the man's height, she was still taller than an average woman.

Her perfect tear-drop shaped breasts were capped with faint reddened nipples, and her womanly hips, and thighs surrounded a trimmed thatch of blonde muff. She was the most beautiful woman Janis had ever seen as she stretched and looked around distractedly.

"...mm paaaa," Saliss cleared her throat and pointed at Janis. "Chamber paa..."

"Huh?" Janis muttered.

"Get the chamber pot." The blonde repeated rubbing her face catching her eye.

Janis looked around and grabbed it for her.

The blonde nodded as she took it. "Good, now get some hot water for a bath. I should be ready in a moment." She said coming more and more awake. "This place should have pipes for it, and I bet the tub is back there." She gestured to a curtained section by the fireplace on Janis' other side before slinking towards the privacy screen.

An hour or so later, everyone was washed. After Saliss had washed herself, and emptied the tub, she had stared at Janis expectantly to refill it and clean herself. As she scrubbed months of hard living off her body, the pair looked over her clothes, pack, and sandals as they asked and answered questions.

"So Janis. Why is a lone Warrioress, who can't take care of herself, going around trying to fight things?" The woman asked repeating more or less the first question she had asked a little while ago.

"For honor." Janis replied simply. The two had a disturbing habit of taking apart her answers. It was best to give them very little to go on. Marcos mostly stayed non-verbal but he shrugged, or even giggled as Janis tried to explain herself.

"But since you lost your companions...what have you been doing for the last... two months was it? Before you met Garec. I guess I'm curious what you were trying to do alone. You seem painfully aware of your...limits."

"Ah, yes, that...well..."

There really wasn't much to say. Her companions had dwindled over the last year since they had set out. Janis hadn't lived because she was the best. She had survived because many of her betters had protected her with their lives. "It won't happen again if you teach me!" Janis pleaded to Marcos suddenly.

"...Hurmmph." He grunted non-comittally. "You could die learning from me are you okay with that?"

"Yes!" Janis shouted falling before him.

"Don't speak too soon." Marcos snapped. "Don't you love your life? My arts aren't for the weak, you really could die."

"I will be a Warrioress whether or not I get your help. I will fight for justice and die if I have too for it. I am weak now. I know it is only luck, and the sacrifices of others that I have lived this long. How I die doesn't matter as long I am helping..."

Marcos grunted but didn't say anything more.

As they went downstairs, Janis tried to remember what if anything they had told her about themselves. She drew a blank as she came out to the street with them. What she had been told was easy to pick up anyway. Saliss didn't want to be somewhere and so they were going somewhere else.

The sunlight felt pleasant. Janis was glad for the recent warm weather. People were out and walking around in the warmth of the sun. The air was clear, and the town was filled with the sounds of horses clopping past, carts creaking, blacksmiths pinging away, and axes chopping down morning firewood.

"So much for lack of civilization, right Marcos?" Saliss joked as she pointed out a restaurant setting up for breakfast. The smell of honeyberry muffin made everyone's stomach growl. "Let's stop here..."

Eating outside in good company was rejuvenating for Janis as she saw the simple purity, and good of common men all around.

In the gold midmorning light, she followed the pair up the street trying to figure out her next step. Not having a decent weapon was a huge draw back to her plans to regain her honor. If she couldn't get a sword, she would need a decent club, or knife, or even a staff.

As they walked up the streets into the sun, they found that up near the city square there was a gathering. A group of more than fifty people openly carrying weapons stood in the center, and a crowd of the townspeople surrounded them and listening to relatively well dressed man who seemed to be the town's leader.

"Adventurers! Adventurers! Come hear this!" The man shouted from the center of the square on a stone pedestal built into the lip of a fountain.

Janis followed the two over to a spot at the edge of the crowd.

"There is a dragon among us! It plagues the villages to the North. These men are going, but we need more! We must end this threat! We have a man to lead us! Who among you wants the fame, the honor, and even some of the dragon's treasure horde?" He said looking around at the faces before him.

"What do you think?" Saliss asked Marcos after hearing the announcement.

"It's a trick. When they find its lair, the leader is going to go off alone to 'get it to come out', or 'fight it'. When it does come out, he'll be long gone, and it'll eat everyone it finds. After getting its fill, it'll likely sleep for years, or decades depending on its size, age, and how many people they take up there. Humans can't kill dragons. It's a dream to say they can even hunt them."

"...So you don't want to go then is that it?" Saliss grinned and her eyes glittered, "You're not scared are you?"

"I think you just want to see a dragon. I won't stop you, and you know I'll follow. But, understand that if you do decide to go stand before it, I won't be able to protect you." Marcos said quickly. "Dragons, a least high dragons, are pretty close to gods on this plane. There are few things stronger I suppose, but none of them occur as frequently as even a rare dragon sighting."

Saliss straightened. "So it is stronger than you?" Marcos just shrugged.

"Who knows it's not my business to go and find out."

"Oh this sounds interesting. We'll have to see it then." Saliss said with finality.

Pushing off the wall, she parted the spectators and led the group into the center of the crowd.

The 'dragon hunter' leading the group sat on the edge of the speaker's pedestal. He wore battered bronze plate armor that was in need of repair. His helmet's face guard was down making it hard to see his face. The men around him bathed in his regal presence, sure he would get them back alive. Among the crowd, several hardened warriors were sprinkled in. Mostly however the group was full of young men from surrounding farm villages. They strutted around arrogantly sure of their fortunes.

"Greetings, and salutations," Saliss called as she came to stand before the leader. Janis got a creepy feeling wondering why this man would be covering her face. If Saliss had similar suspicions, she didn't show it. "We wish to travel with your party." Janis could feel the eyes in the crowd shift onto them at her words.

A young blonde haired man dressed in common clothes leaned next to the leader oozing impudence. After running his eyes over Saliss and Janis, he shifted the crotch of his pants and straightened from his slouch to speak up in his farmer's accent that stretched the a's and cut out the t's as he spoke. "What do we need you women for? Are you whores here to keep us ready to fight?"

The crowd around them mumbled and pressed in tighter. "We are here to kill a dragon," Saliss responded uncaring of the stirrings around her. "Hasn't this leader killed one before?"

"Oi! what do you know? He was the sole survivor of the last attack on a dragon's nest far to the east. Puzzlao knows how to kill a dragon."

"Sole survivor? Puzzulio," Saliss repeated slowly struggling with the man's rustic pronunciation. "Well that is interesting. We shall join your camp then." She said airily and turned to depart.

"Oi wait!" The blonde man called. "Where's your tent?"

Saliss beamed him a smile that got hoots from the crowd. "Never you mind boy, when I want your money I'll come for it." She stepped closer and cupped his face. "I hope you have enough for me." She turned and led her way out as the crowd gave a shout and went wild.

When Janis and Saliss got outside the mass of people clumped in the square, Marcos approached them. "Marcos, why were you not with me in that crowd?"

"They were only men..." He shrugged. "Besides working with people is your specialty. Nevertheless, can I ask how long did you wanted to travel? If I remember right, you were tired of camping. Do you really wish to continue with this group?"