How to Make a Living

Green plains of grass and sparse forest passed everyone by as the cart rolled down the road. Aurora was in the front, directing the horned equine along the path. It seemed she had quite a lot of experience with such creatures. Meanwhile, JZ, Ronnie, and Bobbie were all sitting in the cart with their equipment. Ronnie and Bobbie weren’t much for conversation, especially after they got an earful from Bowen when they initially refused his order. Aurora on the other hand...

“So how much do you remember, anyway?” she asked. “From before the injury.”

My identity, huh? I think I got an idea, thought JZ.

“I was an orphan taken in by riders by the border. I never fought with them, but they taught me a little about fighting. Unfortunately there was an attack, and that’s how I got injured. The others... Didn’t survive. By the time I woke up there was fire, as well as beasts trying to eat the bodies.”

“Geez... I’m sorry. That has to be awful for you.”

“It is what it is... Loss like that is how it goes in these parts, right?”

“I just grew up on a farm and wanted to make more money...” Aurora said awkwardly.

“Everyone’s got their own sob story,” Ronnie shrugged. “People like Aurora are the lucky ones.”

“Hey! Farming is hard work!”

“Oh sure, it must be soooo hard planting vegetables and feeding animals all day. I nearly lost my hands pickpocketing as a kid!”

“That must have been rough,” said JZ.

“I don’t need your pity,” Ronnie scowled.

What a merry bunch these guys are, thought JZ.

“If it makes you feel any better, Aurora,” JZ changed the subject, “I’ve had to handle veggies before and I can vouch for you.”

“You have?” Aurora’s voice perked up. “Did the riders have their own farm?”

“Not exactly. They helped me get a job as a... Marketplace assistant. I used to move a lot of crates back then. Even with little stuff the weight can add up fast.”

“Exactly!” said Aurora. “See, he gets it!”

“Whatever,” Ronnie shrugged. His second half remained silent the whole trip, deciding to inspect his weapon and sharpen it while Ronnie did all the talking.

“So what should I expect to be doing?” asked JZ. “I’m sure we brought weapons for a good reason.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through step by step. It’s easy! Well... Not too easy. Don’t ever underestimate your enemy, even if they’re small. Small things can reach weak spots in your armor you don’t even know you have until it’s too late.” Not long after, Aurora brought the cart to a stop. “Whoa! Okay, this is where we get off. We can unload things and set up camp outside the cave from here.”

After Aurora secured the equine and JZ got out of the cart, Ronnie and Bobbie started handing things off and they made a chain, moving things along to a spot Aurora picked out, and soon enough, camp was made. Auroa laid out a map and went over the operation.

“This is a request from the sheriff. Goblins were spotted in the cave up the hill and have been filching crops and chickens from a local farmer, and all reports point to this spot being their hideout. First we’ll try smoking them out, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll all head in single file. I can take point, JZ can be in the middle, and Ronnie and Bobbie can take the back. With the four of us, we should be able to avoid any blind spots while we move forward.”

“Hold on, we’re just here for backup,” said Ronnie. “I’m not going in that cave.”

“You’re... Not?”

“No! Something like this should be easy for just the two of you. Me and Bobbie will guard the entrance and make sure none of those things escape, just in case you miss one.”

“But... Just the two of us...”

“I won’t hold you back,” said JZ. “We can retreat to the entrance if things get dicey, then we can take care of whatever follows us together.”

Aurora moved her head about, looking deep in thought. “Yeah... That should work. But we need to tread lightly. I can drag you out if you’re injured, but not if we’re getting chased. It’d be too easy to get overwhelmed if I had to carry you.”

“Do what you have to,” said JZ. “If I can’t handle this, I’d be no good to the company anyway.”

“Agreed,” Ronnie nodded. “Someone who can’t even sweep a cave is less than useless on the battlefield.”

JZ was losing his patience with Ronnie, but even so, he paid attention to what the man said. Every little word the people of this realm said told him something new. One of the first keys to overcoming this realm was to learn as much as he could about it... At least without raising suspicion. It’s not as if he could run around the city asking random questions about its “lore.” He’d probably get a drink thrown in his face.

I should see if there’s a library in Felstat...

With the plan put into place, Aurora led the way while JZ carried a crate up to the cave entrance. Once he set it down, he popped it open, realizing it was full of smelly sticks.

“Oh, so we’re just making a fire. I see,” said JZ.

“Not exactly. These are blight twigs. They’re something you can buy at a local alchemy shop. Just snap and toss and the twig will do the rest.”

Aurora picked up one of the sticks, snapped it in half, then threw it into the cave entrance. Soon enough, a small trail of foul-smelling smoke poured out. It was more intense than when JZ had cigar smoke blown in his face, and he wasn’t even close to the twig smoke.

“Alchemy shop, huh?” JZ held his nose shut.

“Yeah! They make all kinds of neat stuff! Since not everyone can use magic, people have always been trying to find ways to keep pace with mages. Even if you do use magic, it’s handy for getting things you can’t cast yourself.”

Aurora proceeded to blab about alchemy for a few minutes while she and JZ finished snapping and tossing in all the blight twigs. Eventually it grew too intense to be close to the cave, so they moved back... And waited.

Two hours passed, and nothing came out of the cave.

“Huh. That usually works,” said Aurora. “I wonder if they suffocated?”

“That’d be nice,” said Ronnie. “Then we could just wait out the twigs, clip a few ears, and be done with this.”

Ronnie and Bobbie were by a campfire cooking a small stew, clearly enjoying not having to work despite being part of the team. JZ just shook his head at them and returned his focus to the cave. Another hour passed, and there was still no activity.

“All right, that’s enough dawdling,” said Aurora, standing up. “Time to get our feet wet. Here.” Aurora pulled something out of a bag and passed it to JZ. It looked almost like goggles, but a bit thinner.

“What’s this?”

“It’s for your eyes. The lenses are made from shine crystals and help you see in the dark. It can be tricky holding a torch and keeping a weapon ready in a cave, especially if it gets cramped, so this is another alchemy tool we use. Of course the downside is if your enemy catches you with them on and lights their own torch, you can go blind. So... Be careful, all right?”

Alchemical night vision goggles? This world is more impressive than I thought.

JZ took off his helmet and slipped the goggles over his forehead so he’d be ready to pull them on later. Once his helmet was secure again, he followed Aurora back to the cave entrance. It still stunk to high heaven, but he could at least breathe.

“Have fun, you two! If anyone comes out, we’ll be sure to get them!” said Ronnie.

“Right... You do that,” JZ muttered, walking in.

Inside the cave was about what JZ expected. Rough rock gave way to damp, smoother surfaces, ensuring he had to watch where he stepped on top of everything else, lest he fall face-first into a stalagmite. The goggles worked like a charm, though the yellow coloring it put over everything annoyed him. Following Aurora’s instructions, they did what they could to watch opposite directions.

“Even if we can see in the dark, these aren’t perfect. Stay on your toes,” whispered Aurora.

“Fine by me,” JZ whispered back.

For the most part, the cave was empty. It went down further than JZ expected, and there were a few parts where they had to shimmy through a tight spot or slowly lower themselves down something akin to a natural pit. Aurora showed JZ how to place pitons and how to tie rope, and down they went.

“No wonder the blight twigs didn’t get them. This cave is huge!” whispered Aurora.

“Next time, we should try moving in first before we use them all,” whispered JZ.

“Hey, good idea!”

Down, down, down they went, climbing, shimmying, and crawling until they finally got to a part of the cave that seemed occupied. Aurora silently put a finger to her lips and gestured down. JZ noticed a thin line of rope that reminded him of a tripwire. It seemed connected to something inside the next cavern. Possibly an alarm or part of a trap, it was hard to tell. Before they could decide on how to proceed, however, one of the cave residents made themselves known.

“Kreeeeeee!!!” it screeched, leaping towards JZ. Out of instinct, he went for the throat, jamming his sword right through the creature’s neck. As it slid down the blade and tried scratching at him, it made a gurgling cry that alerted others further up ahead.

Wait... JZ thought as the creature came into view. Two eyes, a flat nose, a mouth, bipedal... These aren’t bugs at all! They’re people!!

“Hit the deck!” Aurora shouted, dodging away from the cavern tunnel. JZ did much the same, just in time to dodge a flurry of rocks and sling bullets. A dense volley of suppressing fire kept the pair with their backs to the walls bordering the tunnel.

“They don’t play around, do they?” said JZ. “What should we do?”

“We wait until they get tired. Even with our helmets, they could still crack our skulls if they hit the right spot,” said Aurora.

“Our helmets?”

“Yeah!” Aurora tapped a space near her head and JZ heard a metal sound.

Oh my god it’s invisible, thought JZ. I thought things were strange back in that duel.

“Die, cowards! Die, murderers! You all will perish!!” screeched a goblin up ahead.

“They’re talking...” said JZ.

“Their gibberish is weird, isn’t it? Don’t worry, that’s just noises they make.”

“You don’t understand them?”

“No??? Why, do you?!” By this point, the suppressing fire died down, to which Aurora said, “Now’s our chance! Use that body as a shield!!”

Confusion and panic set in as JZ followed along, hopping over the rope trap and diving headlong into combat. The space was more cramped than he imagined, so the dead body kept him safe in the first few seconds of battle. After it was tossed aside, JZ switched to his dagger to fight in the cave, dodging as best as he could and stabbing at the goblins. The creatures stood a little over three feet in height, wielding clubs, knives, sickles, and similar things. They fought with a ferocity and reckless abandon that seemed all too familiar to JZ.

They speak, they use tactics, and they’re doing everything they can to make it out alive. They’re not mindless at all! What am I doing here?!?

Even as JZ had that thought, he saw one roll across the ground and slice Aurora in the ankle. No matter how he felt about things in the moment, he couldn’t let Aurora die. He pounced on the goblin and jabbed his knife right through the back of their head, and after a few more bouts, the cave fell silent.

“Damn. I let my guard down,” said Aurora, splashing a fragrant liquid on her cut wound. “Gotta be careful about their knives. I’m lucky it wasn’t poisoned.”

“Aurora...”

“Yeah, Jabez?”

“This one... They’re clutching a doll.”

“Oh yeah? It must have stolen it from the farm.”

It was far too crude a thing to be made by human hands. And yet, even in its simplicity, JZ could feel the care that went into its construction.

“It was a keepsake I’ll bet... Must have been important if they were holding on to it in their final moments.”

“Jabez?”

“What?”

“Why are you talking about these things as if they’re people?”

JZ’s blood went cold. He stared Aurora down, eyes wide. “What... Do you mean?”

“They’re not people, for heaven’s sake. They’re just pests. No better than root beetles.”

JZ looked down at the dead body he was cradling. The body’s lifeless eyes stared back at him in mockery.

“You can’t be serious...”

“I don’t see what the big deal is. We kill these things all the time. What do you think cave sweeping is about? It’s pest control!”

“Pest... Control?”

A cold, numbing sensation coursed through JZ. It’s not as if he hadn’t killed countless scores of monsters in video games. But that was just fiction. The only time moral quandaries came up were if they were part of the plot. But this... He just killed people, presumably for not very much money at all. Sure, they lived in caves and had to steal to survive, but Ronnie had to pick pockets when he was a boy. How was this any different?

“Now that I think about it, where even is the food? I don’t seen any signs of bags or bones...” Aurora continued casually, checking the cave. “Oh well. At least we can assure the farmer the pests are dealt with.”

“... Right. Of course.”

As JZ struggled to stand in the cramped cavern, he felt his hand brush up against a tattered piece of parchment. It was a letter. He stuffed it in his pocket before Aurora had time to notice.

“Okay, now help me with the bodies. This cave might have useful minerals, so we don’t want these things attracting beasts.”

“Of course...” JZ nodded along.

As he watched Aurora cart a pair of goblin bodies out the cavern, he looked up and saw the rock sack the rope from earlier was connected to. Even with a helmet, a trap like that would do serious damage to the unprepared.

For just a moment... He considered...

“Finally!” said Ronnie. “What took you two so long?”

“Just had a few surprises is all. Come help us clean the cave out,” said Aurora.

“Fine,” said Bobbie, getting up and following JZ and Aurora back inside. As the last of the bodies was dragged out, JZ looked back at the doll once more. He decided to pocket it as well.

“Ew, why’d you take that?” asked Bobbie.

“Just curious...” said JZ.

Outside, JZ stared silently at the burn pile, and his face remained much the same later when everyone returned to the company lodge and was handed their pay.

“Nicely done you four,” Bowen tossed a coin sack.

“It was nothing!” said Ronnie. “Now let’s see... We’ll take this much... And here’s your share, Aurora.”

“Hey, what gives? You barely did anything!” Aurora yelled.

“We watched the entrance, kept the camp safe, and we helped with the bodies. Besides, we have seniority. You know the rules!” Ronnie then flicked a single copper coin at JZ. “Oh, and here’s a tip! We normally don’t pay for test jobs like this, but I think you deserve a little reward. Good doing business with you!”

“Those jerks!” said Aurora after the others walked off. “I can’t believe this! We got swindled!” She then turned her attention to JZ, who was staring at the single coin in his hand. “Huh? Jabez? What’s the matter?”

“This... For all that?”

“I know it’s not much, but once you get to doing your own jobs, you’ll get a lot more. So cheer up! Hey, why don’t I get you a drink at the tavern nearby? My treat!”

“I...” JZ suddenly felt queasy. “I need an outhouse.”

“Around the back!” Aurora pointed, to which JZ ran off. “Huh. I wonder what his problem was?”

JZ didn’t expect to have his face around the seat of an outhouse that day, or any day for that matter, but here he was, relieving his stomach of its contents. As he looked up from the seat and stared at the copper coin in his hand, he saw a faint glimmer of light in it. The light of life. Their lives.