Return to main page
Chapter 1.00
Mentions
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
...
30673
Name | Text |
---|---|
Erin Solstice
|
She closed her eyes for a moment. Just a moment. She’d rest here to begin with, get her bearings, and then figure out what had happened and why. The adrenaline slowly drained out of her, and Erin Solstice leaned back, trying to get comfortable. |
Erin Solstice
|
After a few minutes, Erin Solstice sat back up. The traveller, the first guest of this inn in ages, looked around and rubbed at her eyes. |
Erin Solstice
|
Erin leapt to her feet, heart pounding. It hadn’t been a dream! She looked around and felt at her right arm. |
Erin Solstice
|
The burns flared up again, and Erin winced. |
Erin Solstice
|
The jet of violet flame had shot wide of her by a mile, but it had still broiled her right side. Her jeans had kept her right leg from burning as badly as her unprotected arm, but it still hurt. Erin had no idea how she’d dodged, but that had saved her life. She’d run out of that…cave…and then? |
Erin Solstice
|
Now that she looked around, it was clear that a lot of things were wrong. Erin had been in old-fashioned buildings, even to Renaissance faires, but this—this was the real thing. |
Erin Solstice
|
It should have been lively, Erin felt. She looked at the bar and imagined someone behind it, polishing a mug and serving a lovely cold drink of— |
Erin Solstice
|
Erin’s longing sigh was accompanied by a third fit of coughing so long that she actually stumbled over to the door where it was pouring rain to gulp for air. |
Erin Solstice
|
The dust! Her third assailant in this world was trying to kill her! Eyes streaming, Erin gulped for air. It was like she was breathing the stuff. She wiped at her face, coughed one more time, sneezed, then glared back at the inn. |
Erin Solstice
|
Her voice trailed off. Erin looked around and felt the unbelievable nature of what had happened building on her. |
Erin Solstice
|
She fought off a wave of panic threatening to engulf her. No—she couldn’t panic. She couldn’t—Erin glanced at the pouring rain. It was muffling anything from outside, but she clamped her mouth shut. |
Erin Solstice
|
And with that, she got up and began to explore the inn. The first thing Erin actually did, before even venturing into other rooms, was check her pockets. |
Erin Solstice
|
Most people went into their adventures well-equipped or with some nifty object that gave them an edge. Erin checked her pockets and found…nothing. If she’d known she was going to end up in this place, she would have brought along a backpack crammed full of essentials. And a gun. To fight off the little green men and the Dragon. |
Erin Solstice
|
Erin’s forehead wrinkled as she circumnavigated the common room first, checking the tables and chairs for something, anything. All she found was more dust. |
Erin Solstice
|
Erin hoped not. However, the Goblins and Dragon made her feel there was only one reasonable, unreasonable explanation. |
Erin Solstice
|
But it became clear to her that the first thing that Erin needed was…a dustrag. And that became her first mission in this world. Get a dustrag and clean yourself a spot to sit. |
Erin Solstice
|
It was proving to be a harder challenge than anticipated. There was nothing in the common room, even behind the bar, aside from a line of very dusty mugs. Erin hesitated before the door adjoining the bar and poked her head inside. |
Erin Solstice
|
Erin found a bucket. It was not a dustrag, but you needed water to clean things, right? And she happened to have a fresh supply coming down right outside. |
Erin Solstice
|
Encouraged, Erin went back to her dustrag hunt. She began opening cupboards in the kitchen, but just found plates, old utensils, what might have been more dust or disintegrated food— |
Erin Solstice
|
Erin gave up on her cupboard search and left the rest for later. Did you store dustrags in the kitchen? Maybe with towels, but she needed a pantry. She scoped out the rest of the ground floor but found nothing so handy. |
Erin Solstice
|
It was a very dark stairwell that looked down on Erin as she put her first foot on the stairs. The young woman looked up and gulped. Given the size of the ground floor, the staircase to the second floor was…ominous, to say the least. It looked like the bones of some gigantic monster in the darkness. |
Erin Solstice
|
Cautiously, Erin ascended. It seemed as though every second stair creaked or groaned loudly as she placed her weight upon it, and the sounds echoed in the dark inn. To Erin, it felt like she was stepping on landmines—each time she heard a loud creak, her heart sped up and caught in her throat. |
Erin Solstice
|
Cautiously, Erin ascended. It seemed as though every second stair creaked or groaned loudly as she placed her weight upon it, and the sounds echoed in the dark inn. To Erin, it felt like she was stepping on landmines—each time she heard a loud creak, her heart sped up and caught in her throat. |
Erin Solstice
|
Erin whispered to herself, keeping her voice low so as not to—to wake up anything that might be up there. At that thought, her heart skipped another beat, and she paused halfway up the stairwell, shaking slightly. |
Erin Solstice
|
Erin took a step back down. The stairs creaked. She scolded herself as her heart thumped painfully. |
Loading...