Morcster Chef Book 3- Chapter 34 (Patreon)

“Ah. Nightmares,” Timberly explained. “None of you woke me for a watch. Isn’t it almost morning already?”

“Few hours left,” Arek replied in a low voice, not wanting to mistakenly wake anyone else in the camp.

“I see. I suppose it makes sense. I wouldn’t trust a random person to take watch either,” Timberly said, clambering out of his sleeping bag. He tapped it and the bag vanished. The bard glanced at Arek, grinning at the expression on the orc’s face. “Curious about my magic, eh?”

“Mildly,” Arek replied. Timberly walked over and sat down across from Arek, resting his chin in his palms.

“It’s not actually my magic,” Timberly said. “It’s an item, akin to the one that you’ve got.”

“My garden?” Arek asked, pulling the medallion out.

“That’s what that is? I assumed it was a storage. I suppose they serve a similar function, though. I travel a lot, so getting an improved extradimensional space was a must for me. Being able to take things in and out at will is very useful in my line of work.”

“Thievery?”

Timberly grinned. “Forcible reallocation of goods. Don’t worry, I won’t bother your group. Especially not after that dinner you treated me to yesterday. It’s been a while since I’ve had anything home cooked.”

“Everyone should have some home cooked food every once and a while,” Arek said.

“There’s a lot of passion in that,” Timberly observed. “That your dream?”

“It is. When this is all over, I’ll be starting a restaurant. I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time, but circumstances have always gotten in the way. Once this Howler business is finally dealt with, I think I’ll be able to finally get around to it.”

“That’s a noble goal. I didn’t have many plans before I got cursed. Now that I have, I just wish that I did. Even if we make it through this, I have no idea where to go. What a curious situation.”

“Only way to find out is to make it there,” Arek said with a shrug. “But you don’t have to push yourself too hard. I don’t know you, but I’m sure you’ll get where you’re going eventually. Just… maybe avoid the thievery. Getting a lot of bad karma isn’t a good idea.”

“Spoken like someone who has experience.”

“Perhaps,” Arek said with a shrug. “You aren’t the only one that made poor decisions.”

Their conversation petered off and the two looked off at Dortusk, looming over them in the distance within the snowy mountains. An hour passed in silence.

“You think anyone will live through this?” Timberly asked. “My days as an adventurer showed me a lot about the guilds, and the Howlers are among the stronger ones. We’re in over our heads.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Arek replied. “We have to. Too many people are depending on us to succeed, and now you’ve got the temporary to the cure to the curse as well. If you can get your blood on other cursed people, you can save them.”

“So our chances of success go up exponentially with everyone we essentially counter-infect,” Timberly mused. “Fascinating. That’s a powerful piece of magic. Did you do it yourself?”

“No,” Arek replied. “An old… friend, I suppose.”

Malissa’s tent rustled and she stepped out of it, raising a hand in greeting and walking over to join Arek and Timberly.

“Nothing happened during your watch?” Malissa asked.

“Nothing,” Arek confirmed.”

“Good. I can take over your watch for a little if you want to take a run,” Malissa offered.

Arek nodded and rose to his feet. “I’ll take you up on that.”

He stretched for a few minutes to warm up before heading off and going through his normal routine. Once he’d finished, Arek returned to the camp and swapped spots with Malissa, who did the same.

By the time Malissa’s workout was done, Belmont and Ming had both emerged from their own tents. Everyone packed their belongings up and, after a light breakfast of jerky, they headed off.

“You have to wonder what that monster of yours is doing,” Arek mused as they passed by another dying field. “If it wanted to attack, striking in the cover of night while only one person on watch feels like it would have been the best way to go about things.”

“I would have thought the same,” Timberly said, sticking his hands in his pockets to try and protect them from the growing chill. “I truly don’t understand what’s going on. This just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, we can’t waste too much time hunting for it,” Belmont said. He nodded at the mountains, which were now only a day or two away if they traveled at a hard pace. “We need to breach Dortusk. This might have to lay at rest for now. Do you know of any other monsters in the area? What about a dungeon?”

Timberly shook his head. “There are dungeons, but the Howlers control all of them. I don’t think it would be wise to try to enter one, especially in our current state. And as for monsters roaming around, I haven’t seen many of any worth. Some weaker ones, of course, but aside from the creature I was trying to track when I met you, nothing.”

“We might have to give up on it and just enter Dortusk,” Malissa said, pursing her lips. “Unless we want to spend a lot of time hunting for this thing.”

The wind started to pick up and shadows passed over the party as the bank of clouds moved in front of the sun, blocking out the already dim light. Arek sighed.

“I hate this place. Who would ever want to live in such a miserable environment?”

“Well, I’m sure the taxes are low,” Timberly said with a half-hearted laugh.

“Wouldn’t you know? You live here,” Ming said. “Or at least close, right?”

Timberly cleared his throat. “Yeah. But that doesn’t mean I paid my taxes. Come on. If I’m going to steal from people, then I’m certainly going to steal from anyone else. Particularly guilds. They’ve got more than enough money.”

Belmont just shook his head. “You’re lucky the Adventurer’s Guild had better things to worry about. They’re dangerous if you get caught up on their wrong side.”

Timberly shrugged in response. “Everyone is. I’ll pick my fights.”

They fell silent, continuing their trek toward the city looming in the mountains. As the Happy Sunflowers grew closer to the base of the snowy peaks, the weather dropped even sharper. Malissa pulled on an extra layer of clothes and Ming swapped from Belmont’s shoulders to hers, wrapping herself around the taller woman’s back like a monkey.

Timberly procured a heavy winter coat, bundling himself up within it. Even Arek started to feel the nip of the cold, although it was still far from enough to cause him serious trouble. The winds at the base of the mountain temporarily let up in intensity, but quickly started to pick up once more when they started to climb.

“Do we have any plan once we actually get to the city?” Malissa asked, holding a hand in front of her face to try to keep the snow and wind out of her eyes. Her teeth chattered as she spoke. “Maybe Timberly could ferry us in, one at a time?”

“That’s a possibility,” Timberly said from within the confines of his heavy hood. “It’s certainly a lot more likely than me cloaking everyone at once. That just wouldn’t happen.”

“Well, whatever we do, we’ve still got at least a day before we get to the city,” Belmont said. “That does mean we’re getting close enough to be spotted, though. I’m hoping that all the snow around us helps conceal our approach, but if the winds let up, we’ll be sitting ducks.”

“They’re expecting people to be coming because of the curse,” Malissa said. “That should help cover for us if we have no choice. Let’s just try to sneak up, though. That’s probably the safest.”

Unbidden, the Happy Sunflowers all looked at Ming.

“What?”

“Don’t blow anything up,” Arek said. “And keep a low profile. No running around tasting food.”

“I know, I know,” Ming grumbled. “That’s why I brought all those emergency snacks. It’s not my fault you’ve eaten half of them, but it’s okay. I have emergency-ier snacks, just in case you hungry mongrels at all my normal ones.”

“Of course you do,” Belmont said, laughing. It faded, and his face grew serious once more. “We should start acting as if we’re in their territory, though. No more fires. Keep talking to a minimum. You know the works.”

“Agreed,” Arek said. “We need to get serious.”

“I’ll follow your leads,” Timberly said. “And, I think I should let you know that something feels… off. I think my curse is starting to activate and pull me toward Dortusk. I have a growing urge to run toward the city.”

“How strong is it?” Belmont asked, stopping to look back at the older man.

“Not too bad,” Timberly mused. “But if it keeps getting stronger, I don’t know how long I’ll be able to resist it. Maybe a few more days?”

“That should be enough,” Malissa said. “Let’s go.”

And so they did. The Happy Sunflowers hunkered down and pressed onward through the snow, making their way up the mountain toward Dortusk.

The winds howled around them and snow came down in sheets. It rose up to their hips in powdery white mounds, slowing their movement considerably.  Malissa stumbled and Arek caught her, taking Ming off her back and putting the mage on his.

“Thanks,” Malissa said, barely audible over the screaming wind in Arek’s ears.

“No problem.”

“Sorry,” Ming said in Arek’s ear. “I think I’d get buried if I walked on my own.”

“It’s fine,” Arek replied. “You can’t do anything about it, and a little extra weight isn’t going to pose much of a problem for me.”

Out of all of them, Timberly seemed to be having the most trouble. Belmont moved to walk directly in front of the older man, paving a path to make the way easier for him. He didn’t say anything, and Arek didn’t address it. Belmont wouldn’t have wanted him to.

The sun set and the night rose to meet them. Faint lights along the edges of Dortusk’s walls acted like stars, guiding the groups path as they marched. It didn’t ever get completely dark, but rather settled in an odd mix of twilight and evening.

“Should we settle in for the night?” Malissa asked over the wind.

“There’s still some light. We should keep going and try to get there in the night,” Belmont said. “It’s too dangerous out here. We could get buried. Or there could be an avalanche. Or… ah, I could go on. Let’s just be quiet.”

They all nodded and set back to focusing on their march. Several hours later, well into the night, the walls of Dortusk rose above them. The group stopped behind a large snowbank and squinted up at the city.

Arek’s Shakshuka

Ingredients:

1 diced onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 diced red bell pepper

6 cloves of diced garlic

2 teaspoons of paprika

1 teaspoon of cumin

Pinch of Chili powder

28-ounce can of whole, peeled tomatoes.

6 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped and stemmed

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Sautee garlic and onion for around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and other spices in, stirring and cooking until fragrant.

2. Pour tomatoes into the pan and continue mixing everything together, making sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan and burns. Season with salt and pepper to taste and make sure the flavoring is proper. (You can taste this safely, everything is cooked.)

3. Make 6 small dimples in the sauce once it starts to thicken. Crack eggs into the dimples and cover the pan, cooking until eggs are done. (This ranges based on if you want over easy or over medium. Around 6 minutes average)

4. Garnish with chopped greens. Enjoy hot.