Chapter 46: Dillard - The Wand

“Is this the weapon you were talking about?”

Himbo held the wand up to the sky as if to inspect it. It was a small, silver thing with a gold inlay along its handle. Dillard didn’t know if the wand did anything. She had only been looking for a bit of leverage in a tight spot and had decided to make due with what was at hand, but now that she could see the thing, she didn’t want Himbo to have it. She had to find a way to take it from him, lest he do something awful, like sell it and donate the proceeds to an orphanage or something.

“Yeah, it … shoots fireballs or something,” she said.

Himbo gave her a suspicious look. “But none of your party had been burned.”

“I meant blades. It shoots blades.”

“Ah,” Himbo nodded as his eyes turned in thought. “I could see that. Did you happen to hear the trigger word for it?”

Dillard shook her head, “No. There was a lot going on. I was sleeping when the attack happened.”

“Ah, I see,” Himbo replied as he lowered the wand. “I think I shall keep this for now. It’s far too dangerous to leave lying around.”

Dammit, think! She couldn’t hide her glare this time as she looked at the wand in Himbo’s hand. She could let it go, perhaps, for now, so long as the big oaf didn’t use any of its charges. I suppose I could steal it from him later. It’s probably no good anyway. Probably not even magical.

Himbo turned the wand over in his hands, “It seems to have some runes inscribed on it.”

“What do they say?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” the paladin replied. “They seem to be written in elvish.”

“Oh, how convenient,” Dillard cooed. “I just happen to speak elvish.”

Himbo hesitated. “You speak elvish?”

She held up two fingers, “Just a little.”

Dillard wasn’t lying this time as she had taken a number of languages for her character. She knew she would have to survive by her wits out here as she would be alone in this empty world.

“Wood elvish, dark elvish, high elvish, or sea elvish?”

“Uhm … a little bit of each,” she said. This was true, but she could see Himbo was looking at her suspiciously.

With some reluctance, Himbo handed her the wand. Dillard let out a happy sigh as she looked the pretty thing over. It was beautiful. Just slightly over half a foot long, it had silver runes written along its sides. It took her a moment to focus as she could feel the energy emanating off the thing. It took her a while to read the runes as they weren’t written in conventional elvish. It was like some were curved wrong. Others were too straight. Others yet were too crooked. Then she realized what they were. Dark elvish.

“It’s a wand of lightning,” she said. “And if I’m reading this right, it has about fifty-two charges left.”

“How can you tell all that?” Himbo asked.

“Because it’s written right here,” she said, holding out the wand.

“Well, it will be best if I keep it,” Himbo said. “That is, unless you know how to use it.”

Oh, I know how to use it alright, she thought, wondering which way she wanted turn this situation to her advantage. Should she give him back the wand as a gift? Or should she keep it? Maybe it’s cursed. She turned it over in her hands again. She wasn’t sure. Dark elves were tricky things. Maybe I should watch him use it first to see if it works or not. Looking at Himbo, she decided this was the best course of action.

“I think it’s best if you keep it too,” she said, handing the wand back to the paladin.

Himbo looked mildly surprised as he took the wand back from her. He inspected it for a moment, turned it over in his hands again, then took off his pack and tucked it inside. As he was fastening the pouch, he looked up at her and asked, “Okay, well where do we go now?”

“Yandmouth,” she replied. “We take the cart and make our way to Yandmouth.”

The paladin grimaced, “Yandmouth? What’s in Yandmouth?”

It’s only the biggest city in the zone. It’s only the biggest city with the most money and the most people and it’s the easiest place to hide and make my fortune. She tried to think on how to express this without giving away the game. She really didn’t have a plan, only a need, and that need was to travel there with the biggest, fastest, most dangerous thing she could find and that, so far, was this Himbo character. Oh, and she needed someone to drive the cart. That would be useful too.

“That’s just where we were going. You see, I’m a refugee who just happened to sign on to this little caravan. I was fleeing from … well, it’s a long story.”

Himbo slung the pack onto his back and gave her a look. “What do you mean, it’s a long story?”

She snapped, “I mean it’s a long story and I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

The paladin looked hurt, but nodded. “As you wish,” he said as he turned and trudged back the way they had come.