I was awoken the next morning at dawn by one of Bekhi’s brothers. I was expecting to be taken to the barn for chores, but instead, Dak met me by the front door. “Good morning, Kvalinn. I’ve arranged for you to use the local forge today. So go grab whatever you were writing yesterday and get ready to fill all the requests we made. And remember Bekhi’s warning. No making anything that’s not a weapon! Humbart doesn’t need any more help in the kitchen of The Halfling’s Haven.” For a minute, I wondered how he had arranged to use the town smith when it was still pre-dawn, but then I remembered that he had sent one of his kids on an errand yesterday after dinner and that’s probably when he sent the message. I went back upstairs to get my notes of everyone’s requests. Each member of the family seemed to want a different weapon with a different rune so it was going to be a long day. Just as I was putting on the several coats that were being lent to me, the door burst open with a bang that

It wasn’t until the next morning that I woke up again. By that point, I was the only one who hadn’t recovered enough to be taken from the tavern, so I woke to see the dining room completely empty.“Hello?” I tried getting up from the table to see the room better, but was hit by several waves of pain from my back. Judging from the sensation, the burned and damaged skin around the rune of protection was still working on healing itself, and since the rune covered most of my back, there was a lot of skin to heal. “Kvalinn!” Bekhi scrambled up from the cot she had been sleeping in nearby. “Get back down or you’ll move the poultices!” I gladly followed her instructions, and let my head fall back onto the waiting pillow. I could feel Bekhi moving any of the