Quoted By:
> Ambush the centipede
> Work at Babs (Get Advice)
Mel flipped through 'Student of Magic' and paused on the section labeled 'Ley Flows'. A subsection was labeled 'Health Potion', getting a steady supply of those was probably going to be important to her long term survival. But even a cursory glance and a shred of common sense dictated that for potions she would need more water than what gurgled out of the cliffside spring.
Which meant it was time to take out the giant centipede that lurked along the forest stream. And get clean for the first time in weeks! She giggled as she walked down the hillside, here she was dreaming of a bath, completely glossing over the six foot long bug lurking somewhere in the forest below. She packed a few choice potions and started carefully into the emerald tinted undergrowth. Predators were normally asleep in the morning? Right?
Mel paused. She knew basically nothing about the monster, except how it killed and where it lived. Maybe it was time to go ask the one person she knew had killed one of these things. A quick trip down the hill and through the northern woods later she ambled up to Bab’s cottage.
“Morning neighbor!” She called out.
Babs bobbed over the top of the rose hedge that surrounded her property and waved in return. Bruno, Bab’s massive black dog barked twiced before Babs shushed him. As the mage turned the corner it occurred to Mel that she looked younger than her, barely an adult, but the cottage, garden and everything else must have taken years to build and establish. A mystery for another time she supposed.
“Looking for work? I figured you’d be taking it easy for a day.” Babs grinned. “Not that I blame you.”
“Looking for a little advice actually. You said you’ve killed a few of those giant centipedes before, right?”
Babs nodded. “Used to be an entire warren of them, burned most of my potions and wands getting to the queen at the center, then spent the next summer cutting down stragglers. Looking for a good way to turn the tables on them?”
“You guessed it. I want to be able to fill my kettle without waiting half an hour for my spring to get the job done. And a bath would be nice.”
Babs laughed and wrinkled her nose. “You could use it too. Well, there’s lots of ways to do it, but live bait is the best approach. Bruno’s not fond of that approach of course -” The massive black dog whined and Mel stifled a laugh, it was easier to imagine Bruno ripping the centipede apart than the other way around. “But I could let you borrow Lucky.”
“Lucky?”
Babs let off a sharp whistle and turned toward her chicken coup. Something rattled inside, squawking and seemingly bouncing along, shaking the walls, before spilling out in a heap. A lean, bug eyed, black feathered chicken popped up, clutching a black leash in its beak. It tottered over to Babs and held up the leash expectantly.
