Run Like Hell (Wandering Monsters Book 1)

by Elliott Kay

stench of burnt flesh filled his nose. Nothing made a sound other than the sharp rush of his own breath. His body ached from head to toe. Getting paid today seemed unlikely.

“Oh gods, it’s a scam, alright?” Scars groaned. “Every adventuring party has some idiot who thinks everything in a gear shop has some vital use. Then they buy all that stupid shit and carry it around just waiting for the moment they can engineer some use for it so they can look smart to their friends. Until then, the shopkeeper makes an extra couple silvers for nothing and the clowns who buy it are lugging around ten-foot poles like idiots.”

The only good war is one of protection for the home and hearth. Family and friends. You protect your own, or others under threat. Everything else is shit.”

“Have you known men who go to war for glory? Who come back claiming to have found it, and who show no regret?” “A few.” “And were those good men? Or were they bullies and braggarts not worth the dirt under your feet?”

“The world is full of such people of every race. That is why there are so many good reasons to fight. Someone’s hearth is always threatened by those who would loot, or find glory, or who serve the power of some lord. The question is: which side of that hearth are you on?”

“Tighten down your packs,” she said. “Mail armor, too. If anything rattles or bumps, leave it here. If your weapon bounces on your belt, take the belt off and carry it. If your waterskin sloshes, drink it all down now. Half of being quiet is in minding what you carry.”

“Because getting hung up on a complicated mystery in the face of certain doom just for the random chance of fortune isn’t what smart people do. It’s what adventurers do.”