“Do you think he’s going to be okay?” The first thing Mirgia heard when his consciousness returned to him was the voice of what seemed to be a young child. He felt his body shake as the cart he found himself in traversed the rough road. He squinted in the harsh sunlight of the midday and could barely make out two figures in the front of the cart. Both looked to be small children.
“Well now little Birdie, these tallfolk are tough customers, don’t you worry. We’ll get him to Yessep and he’ll fix ‘im up right proper.” The second figure chuckled. “Just keep an eye on the road and tell me if there’s anything in our way, you know my eyes ain’t what they used to.”
“Yes uncle Teddy.”
Another bump in the road jostled him around and the back of his head hit the side of the cart. There wasn’t enough room for him to properly lay there so he slowly sat up and took a look at his surroundings. He indeed found himself in a small cart, being transported down a dusty road. He had no bindings on him and the cut across his face that the bastard cultist gave him was dressed. There was no sign of the dark and wooded island that he was just on. The last thing he remembered before his mind went blank was a fight. During their flanking assignment on the island they ran into an ambush. Some of the cultists were lying in wait and then chased them around for a bit. In their attempt to get a better position in the fight, they ran straight into the trap that was already set there, and then Mirgia woke up here. While still getting his eyes adjusted to the bright light, one of the figures turned around. “Uncle Teddy, he woke up.”
The cart stopped and the other figure turned around as well. “Howdy stranger, be careful not to stand up too quickly.” The man grinned and it was just now that Mirgia realized why he’d thought they were children. The man mentioning ‘tallfolk’ and their small stature gave it away. These were smallfolk. Smallfolk went by different names. The common name for them is smallfolk, but they’re sometimes called halflings. Old elven writing refers to them as Fesirim, but it seems like that name is rarely used in modern times. Smallfolk and tallfolk has a nice ring to it after all, even if tallfolk basically refers to almost everyone that’s taller than them, and that’s a lot of people. The fact that he was in a dusty place with smallfolk made him think he was in the northwestern region of Severanti, but that hardly made any sense.
“Where are we?”
“On the road to Redsan,” the young girl answered excitedly.
Mirgia wasn’t someone who spent much of his days studying, but he had heard of Redsan before. Originally named Redsand after the reddish sand and clay that filled the region, the village was a rather small one, but it was an outpost on the edge of the Feral Wildlands, which launched several expeditions throughout the last century, which is where he’d heard the name before. Travelers would sometimes come through Milinia to head to Redsan. The ‘d’ at the end of the name was dropped eventually as the local folk didn’t seem to be bothered to pronounce it anyway.
“That’s peculiar, I was off the coast of Jasodar just a few moments ago.”
“Well all I know is that you were unconscious on the road near my house, so me and Birdie here picked you up and we’re bringing you to doctor Yessep in town.” The man reached out his hand, which felt small but firm in Mirgia’s own hand. “The name’s Theodore, but folks call me Teddy.”
“I’m Mirgia, a pleasure to meet you.”
“You said you’re from Jasodar?” Teddy asked.
Mirgia shook his head. “That’s where I was until recently, but I’m originally from Milinia” He closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness came over him. “I don’t quite understand exactly what has happened to me, if I’m honest with you.”
“Well, it looked like you took a tumble and cut yourself pretty badly on the face, so that’s why we’ll have Yessep look at you.”
Mirgia nodded. “I won’t argue with having a doctor take a look at me, I appreciate the kindness, Teddy.”
Teddy smiled. “Well now, I wouldn’t be a very nice guy if I left people unconscious on the road, now would I.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Mirgia smiled back.
It wasn’t long before the trio slowly trotted into the village of Redsan. Sleepy, dusty and small were the words that sprung to mind. Mirgia still felt like his head was only partially attached to the rest of his body. Perhaps being flung across the continent did some serious harm to your body.
Teddy pointed at a building off in the distance that was significantly larger than the rest of the buildings here. “You see that green building over there?”
Mirgia nodded.
“That’s the green house for tallfolk.”
“The what?”
“The green house for tallfolk,” Birdie took over, “is the local inn that’s used by travelers, since everyone’s homes are too small for them to comfortably stay in.”
Teddy nodded. “I’d be more than happy to let you stay in our barn if you want to, but I reckon you’d be looking for a more respectable place to stay, and that would be your best bet.”
Mirgia nodded. “I think that’d be nice, as much as I appreciate your hospitality so far, I think after whatever weirdness I just experienced, a barn isn’t going to make me feel much better.”
Teddy chuckled. “I figured as much. I’d love to have you over for dinner though. The wife loves travelers and tales of far off lands, so if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course, if you’ll have me.” Mirgia felt a sudden pang of guilt, agreeing to a dinner while Cobal, Mana, Kimi and the others could be in serious danger. He considered his options for a moment. He was several weeks of travel away from his friends. Even if he decided to rush over to them as fast as possible, there was nothing he could do by the time he arrived. He had no way of teleporting back, presuming there wasn’t some way to undo the magic. If there was such a way, he had no idea how, so there was no point thinking about it. No, he’d best rest up a little bit before returning to Milinia and figure out the rest from there. Right, he would write a letter to Karnisal after visiting the doctor. Perhaps he could request a courier at the green house for tallfolk, as Teddy called.
“We’re here,” Teddy said, taking Mirgia out of his own thoughts. “Yessep come on out,” Teddy yelled.
Hobbling out of the small doctor’s office was a crotchety looking old man with a white beard that reached all the way down to below his knees. Beady eyes looked at Teddy before switching over to Mirgia. “Did you bring me more work?” Yessep asked.
“I found Mirgia here passed out on the road near my house, so I figured if anyone would know what to do about him, it would be Yessep.”
Yessep squinted. “Drank too much?”
Mirgia smiled. “I’m afraid it’s a bit more complex than that.”
He explained his situation to the old doctor, who nodded along.
“So you were on the other side of the continent, stepped into some sort of magical trap, and then woke up in the back of Teddy’s cart?”
“That sums it up.”
“Well, not the strangest thing I’ve heard this week.”
“Have similar things happened here recently?” Maybe some of the others were also here.
Yessep shook his head. “Not really, but there’ve been strange wounds and attacks in the area lately and I’ve even had to treat some of the Sahilad the other day.”
“Sahilad?”
“The emperor’s people,” Teddy explained, “they’re like an army that is also tasked with exploring the edges of our empire and any odd news that reaches the capital.”
“And they’re here?” Mirgia asked.
“At least a few of them are,” Yessep shrugged. “They don’t appear around here often, so it has me a bit worried if I’m honest.”
“Good to know,” Mirgia replied. Relationships between Milinia and Severanti were neutral, but he’d heard stories about the emperor’s peculiarities. Good to keep in mind but a problem for another day.
“Let me have a look at you then lad, why don’t you have a seat over here.” Yessep pointed at a comfortable looking chair that was on his lawn, under an awning.
After Yessep looked him over more thoroughly than Mirgia would have given him credit for when he first saw the man, the conclusion was that he was pretty much in perfect health. Putting aside the cut on his face and the fact that he claimed to have just jumped from one end of the continent to another in mere minutes, there was no sign of any damage to him on the inside or outside. After asking Yessep what time of year it was Mirgia was able to establish that although he had no perfect timeline, he knew that the margin of error on the time that he was with Cobal and the moment he woke up here was so small that he could not have realistically traveled here without any magic involved. He had to accept that teleportation magic was afoot which made him wonder if the people responsible for this magic were the same ones that kidnapped the crown prince of Blueyerd and if this place was planned as the destination for the teleportation. Mana could probably tell him a bit more since she was slowly starting to piece together how this magic worked.
“Well, kid,” Yessep concluded, “I reckon a bit of rest won’t hurt since at the very least you seem a bit woozy from being so out of place, but I don’t think you have to worry about anything else for now. If the pain comes back or if you start to lose memory or feel particularly dizzy, you should come see me immediately and we’ll do some more testing, but I’ll tell you ahead of time that any serious head injuries are well above my capabilities. Not that I think you have to worry about those, but it’s important to set expectations early on in a doctor-patient relationship.” He grinned and slapped Mirgia on the back.
“Thank you for the once-over, doctor,” Mirgia replied. “How much do I owe you?”
“Bah, no need for that, I’ll put it on Teddy’s tab.”
“I never pay my tab,” Teddy said from off to the side, chuckling to himself.
“Well, I appreciate your assistance.” Mirgia got up and stretched his shoulders and legs. Everything felt fine, and the headache was slowly subsiding. The cut on his face would leave a mark, but nothing too serious either. He was fine. But he wasn’t where he had to be. Overhead a bird flew off into the distance. It looked like an owl, but it was hard to be certain. Strange, those shouldn’t be common in this region. Mirgia ignored the bird and looked at the green building in the distance that Teddy told him about earlier. “I think I’d better go and check in with the local inn then, to see if they have a room for me.”
Teddy nodded. “I gotta return to the missus, but I must insist that you join us for supper tomorrow and tell us all about the adventures that led to you to be flung across a continent.”
Mirgia smiled. “I suppose that’s the least I can do to thank you for all your help.” He looked at Birdie who was grinning at him. “I can’t wait to hear your stories,” the little girl said.
Mirgia nodded and with a wave headed off to the local inn.
Opal Kaharis 