Jane, Warrior of Decura Chapter 1

A New Journey Begins

A calm breeze flowed across the vast fields of the Lordless Lands, causing Nate's pointy reyn ears to prick up. “It's close” he whispered to his tall female companion while they slowly crawled through the tall grass together. “It should be right over this hill.”

“I can't see anything” Jane whispered back while trying to peek her head out from the top of the grass, only for Nate to pull her back down by her long black hair.

“Careful” he grumbled. “We don't want you scaring this boren off too.” Jane stuck her tongue out at Nate and started to explain in great detail how their last five failed attempts to catch a boren weren't entirely her fault. Nate quickly cut her off by placing his finger on her top lip. “There it is.” Nate crawled forward as slowly as possible and Jane did the same, making sure not to pass him.

“So is boren really tasty?” Jane asked.

“It must be” Nate answered. “We left Bhaldural three weeks ago and since then Patti hasn't shut up about it.”

When they finally reached the edge of the tall grass, Jane spotted the boren. The large furry ox-like beast was drinking from a river, while the many other animals in the surrounding area were keeping their distance. “That's the biggest one we've seen yet” Jane whispered while staring at the boren's six massive barbed horns that all curved forward from its face. “It's got to be bigger than a bus.”

“What's a bus?” Nate asked before chuckling quietly. “Must be an earth thing. You know Jane, sometimes I forget you're from another world.”

It seems Nate chuckled a little too loudly as the boren's ears twitched and the beast spun toward him and Jane.

“Do you think it sees us?” Jane asked, her question getting answered immediately by the boren letting out a thunderous bellow before stomping it's front hooves.

“Of course not” Nate jokingly assured as the beast began to rush forward, its horns pointing directly at him and Jane. After signaling Jane to stay down, Nate sprang to his feet and quickly drew an arrow. “Don't worry, I'll handle this.” After giving Jane a confident smirk, Nate loosed his arrow at the boren's head. Unfortunately, the boren swatted the arrow away with its horns and continued its charge. “You're a smart one” Nate gulped before brushing Jane's shoulder with his fluffy tail. “Alright Jane, I'll leave this one to you.”

As Nate quickly got out of the way, Jane nodded and stood up. “Right!” she cheered before cracking her knuckles. After bracing herself, Jane threw her arms forward, catching the boren's two largest horns. Despite Jane's immense physical strength, the boren's charge didn't come to a complete stop for several dozen yards. By the time it did, Jane's boots had dug an impressive pair of trenches in the dirt.

“You good?” Nate asked while aiming another arrow at the boren's head.

“Yeah, I've got this under control” Jane grunted while struggling to keep her grip tight. “I really should thank Patti again for these” she thought while looking at her black gauntlets, the boren's barbed horns seemingly unable to even scratch them.

Suddenly, the beast let out a loud snort, firing large chunks of green snot from its nostrils onto her face. As Jane let out a low disgusted groan, the boren roared, piling drool on top of the snot. “Can you just shoot it already” Jane grumbled.

Nate tried to aim his weapon at the boren's head but instead burst into laughter and nearly dropped his bow as he watched mucus ooze down past Jane's twitching eyes. “I can't...” he chuckled while wiping away his tears. “That's just too funny.”

Nate's laughter came to a halt when Jane roared back at the boren before lifting it up above her head. “Fine then!” she growled before slamming the beast down on its back behind her, knocking it out. After picking herself up off the ground, Jane gave Nate an intense glare, snapping him out of his hysterical cackling.

“Alright, alright” Nate snickered before loosing an arrow into the boren's forehead, killing it instantly. “There, now let's get it back to William and Patti. It's almost lunch time and I'm sure they're eager to eat.”

“As am I” Jane grumbled while wiping the snot and drool from her face. “But first, I need a bath.”

Jane was about to pick up the boren's corpse but stopped herself when Nate suddenly leaped on top of it. “Alright Jane, grab our lunch and get us back to camp!” he cheered after sitting down.

Unfortunately for Nate, the only thing Jane grabbed was his scruffy orange hair. “If I have to walk, you have to walk” Jane said after putting Nate down next to her.

“Fine...” Nate grumbled before smiling up at Jane. “Want me to help you carry it?”

Jane answered by picking up the huge boren, throwing it over her shoulder and giving Nate a smirk.

“Nobody likes a show off” Nate grumbled. “Just for that, no kiss until you clean yourself up.” Nate's green eyes suddenly met Jane's blue ones and the pair blushed. “Damn, that means I'm punishing myself too.”

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Ten minutes later, Jane dropped her catch in front of the extra large wooden spit Patti had spent the last thirty minutes setting up. Within seconds, the dwarf woman hurried over to the boren, her mouth watering like fountain. “You caught one!” she cheered. “Just in time too. We're ready to cook it!”

Jane used the water from a leather container to wash her face clean. “Where's Will?” she asked.

Patti rolled her eyes and pointed to Jane's massive backpack, easily the size of a car, sitting upright and the snoring knight with with long white hair and beard, the sun glistening off his silver and blue armor. “William!” she shouted. “It's lunch time!”

The old knight's eyes shot open and he sprang up. “Excellent miss Patti” he said before stretching his arms and yawning. “We'll need a good hearty meal if we want to get through the Lordless Lands by the end of the week.” William hung his head. “Which means we'll be parting ways soon...”

Jane sighed. “I'm sorry Will” she said.

“Don't be miss Jane” William replied while trying his best to appear happy. “You need to head to the heart of human civilization to find more answers. We can't have your quest to return home halted simply because of an old man's exile.”

“I know but I don't want to see you go” Jane mumbled as she tried to hold in a tear. “I never would have gotten this far without you Will.”

Nate grabbed Jane's hand, helping to return a smile to her face. “Don't worry Jane” he said. “I'm sure we'll see Will again.”

“Isn't there somewhere else you can go to find information on this portal home?” Patti asked while dragging the boren toward the spit.

Jane quickly darted over to help Patti prepare their lunch. “We looked through every book in Bhaldural's library and the only hint we got was to look for a 'hierophant' of the Divine Stranger in Etin city” she explained. “I wish there was another way...”

“What about you Patti?” Nate asked. “Are you still coming with us to Etin city?”

Patti's gaze fell to the ground. “Uncle Handaaf did ask me to visit his brother in Etin city” she said while averting her eyes from William. “But I don't want to leave William out here all alone...”

“How about we worry about all that later” William said with a smile. “For now, let's eat.”

Due to the size of the spit, none of Jane's companions could work it. Thankfully, Jane stood at an impressive seven and a half feet, making her just tall enough to turn the spit. While she did that, a drooling Patti kept the large campfire burning.

“I'm very impressed miss Jane” said William while chewing on an apple and pointing at the horseless carriage parked a few feet away. “You've been carting us around in that thing for the past three weeks and you don't even look tired.”

Jane blushed a little. “It seemed to get lighter every time” she mumbled as a smile appeared on her face. “It's because of your superb training Will.”

Jane's smile quickly vanished when she felt somebody pinch her abs. “Not superb enough to get rid of all this fat” Nate snickered. “I think you've been slacking off too much Jane.” Nate suddenly found himself laying face down in the dirt after Jane gave his head a quick thump. “Alright... I deserved that” he mumbled.

“She's got more muscle than you Nate” Patti chuckled while sitting on a rock beside William.

“She's got more muscle than all of us” William corrected.

“Can we please stop talking about my body?” Jane cried, her face now a bright red.

Suddenly Nate's ears twitched and he jumped to his feet. “We've got company” he said before picking up his bow and quickly surveying the surroundings. “All around us.”

Patti jumped behind William who quickly picked up his two-handed maul. “What is it?” she asked.

“Wolves...” Nate answered as Jane slammed her fists together. “Lots of them.”

A viscous howl echoed all around Jane and her friends, followed by several low growls as several dozen snarling gray wolves appeared from the tall grass surrounding them. “I think they want our lunch” William said while raising the maul. “We're probably the appetizer.”

Jane cracked her neck. “I'll take care of this” she said before taking a few steps forward. “Hello there wolves. Do you mind just turning around and leaving?” The wolves responded with ferocious barks and howls, causing Jane to sigh. “No? Alright then.”

The wolves charged forward, ready to tear this group of traveler's to shreds. However they came to a sudden screeching halt when Jane's body suddenly sprouted up, growing to a full forty feet in a few seconds. “Are you ready to leave now?” Jane asked after cracking her knuckles. Thanks to the enormous incentive standing before them, the wolves turned tail and scattered back into the tall grass.

“Good to see you've gotten better at controlling your powers miss Jane” said William as he watched Jane shrink herself back to her default height of seven and a half feet.

“It cost me a lot of sleep but it was well worth it” Jane cheered before returning to the spit. “I don't even accidentally grow myself while I sleep anymore, most of the time...”

“Be sure not to do that while we're in Etin city” Nate grumbled. “I don't feel like getting squashed while I'm trying to get some shut eye.” Suddenly, Nate found Jane's arms wrapped around his body and his feet soon left the ground.

“I washed my face off” Jane giggled while staring into Nate's eyes.

Nate smiled. “So you did” he said before placing a quick kiss on the girl's lips. “I guess you deserve at least that much.”

Jane smiled and kept her arms tightly wrapped around the reyn. “And you deserve this much” she whispered before giving Nate a full ten second kiss.

“Ah, young love” William said before nudging Patti's arm. “I hope you'll get to experience that someday soon miss Patti.” William's last comment caused Patti to grumble something not appropriate for small children under her breath.

TO BE CONTINUED....