Matriarch of Monsters

Alright, Alix had to admit it to herself. She was completely lost. She had been wandering around the rainforest in awe and lost track of where she was going and where she had been. Now she didn't even know where she was.

"Have we seen that tree before?" Mo asked. "Yes right there. And there. And even over there." Alix gestured in all directions. "This is a rainforest. All of the trees look exactly the same."

"Geez, I'm just tryin to help."

"Oh like you helped me fight that vicious plant the other day? Because if your help is anything like that then I would rather not have it." Mo lowed his gaze guiltily.

"Alright! I'm sorry about that. It just happened so fast that I didn't even know how to get in there. Then next thing I knew ya ripped yer way out of its mouth and saved yerself. Like ya always do." Alix sighed.

"I get it. I always save myself before you get a chance to help. We just need to start getting better at coordinating. We should try to find a place to set up camp for the night. At least, I think it should be around night time? This place is making me lose my sense of time."

"Why not just go into that cabin over there?" Mo gestured toward a random direction. Alix looked where Mo had gestured and did see the cabin. "Why is there a cabin in this dangerous rainforest?" Mo shrugged.

"Serves as a pretty good deterrent for thieves and trespassers if ya ask me." Alix nodded. "I guess that makes sense." Alix walked over to the cabin getting a better look as she got closer. It looked as though the cabin had been freshly built. Maybe there was someone actively living in and maintaining it?

Alix walked over to the door of the cabin and knocked. "Anyone in there?" She waited a moment but received no response. She pushed the door open.

"Woah! What are ya doin?" Mo had been alarmed by the girl's sudden action. "No one answered so I opened the door. Nothing special." Alix was completely unfazed. She seemed to not care that she could very well be trespassing.

"Alright. I hope ya know what yer doin." Alix entered the cabin. It was rather empty to no ones surprise. There was a bed, a fireplace and a little desk against the wall but that was pretty much it. "The life of a hermit is simple. I like it."

"Of course ya would." Alix closed the door behind her and suddenly a crystal hanging from the roof lit up the room. Alix paid the automatic lights no mind as most hermits were known to be skilled spellcasters that wanted to work uninhibited.

With the cabin now lit Alix noticed that there was a piece of paper on the desk. She moved over and took a look at it. It seemed to be some note left by the original resident.

"Greeting traveler! I am the Grand Enchanter Alcove Eminary and you have just stumbled across my lovely vacation home!" Alix glanced at her surroundings. 'Some vacation.'

"if you are reading this note then I have likely retreated from this place due to unforeseen circumstances or death. No worries, however as this cabin of mine has been fully reinforced by materials that I have enchanted myself making it virtually impenetrable."

"Unless you walk through the door." Mo commented as Alix continued reading.

"You are free to stay in this cabin for as long as you like. As someone that stayed here for as long as I have I understand just how dangerous the rainforest can be. Oh, and in the off chance that you are lost do note that this desk has a drawer that should be of great help to you!" Alix frowned.

"Seems like he's callin' ya out Lexi."

"Like your sense of direction is any better." Alix snapped back. She reached into the drawer that the note mentioned and found two things. The first seemed to be some sort of compass and the other a pair of black fingerless gloves. Alix went back to the note searching for an explanation.

"Within that drawer should be a compass and a pair of gloves. Both enchanted by yours truly."

"Is it just me or does this enchanter have a big head?" Alix nodded agreeing with him.

"The compass should be pointing in the direction of the nearest town which should be Pesinwok but it does have the ability to instead point to a nearby monster den if that's what you're after. You just need to tap the glass twice and it should switch." Alix followed the instructions double tapping the glass. She watched the pointer slowly shift directions and a letter shift from "S" to "D".

"The S stands for safe haven and the D stands for danger! Now, the gloves are something quite special as I made them for an idol of mine from history long past. In the most bone works explanation they have the ability to absorb any sort of mana that you wish. Once absorbed you can imbue the mana into the gloves letting them sparkle with magical energy." Alix's eyes widened as she stared at the plain looking gloves in her hands.

"These are perfect for me!" Mo looked at Alix perplexed. "What makes em so perfect?" Alix shook her head. "Don't worry about it for now." She quickly put the gloves on her hands. She would make sure to get the maximum use out of them.

"I wish you the best on any and all of your endeavors my temporary resident. Alcove Eminary, signing off!" With that Alix reached the end of the letter. She looked at her surroundings with new found interest. "So some grand enchanter lived here, huh?"

"Self-proclaimed grand enchanter. I think they were a bit full of themself. I mean have you heard of some Alcove Eminary?" Alix didn't even need to think before shaking her head. "Never had much interest in the world of enchantment. I much rather using my fists than any weapon." Mo nodded. "I can tell by how happy ya look when beating the crap out of things."

"Thank you for noticing." Alix yawned. "Alright, we should get some sleep tonight. We have a big day tomorrow." Mo's eyes squinted knowingly. "We're going to that monster den ain't we" Alix nodded. "Glad you understand." Alix removed her spellcaster's robe and lay in the bed. It was perfectly comfortable likely due to some enchantments from Alcove.

"I'll have to thank that enchanter if we ever meet them." Alix placed Mo's fish bowl on the floor next to the bed and lay down. Despite all of her poor encounters with monsters recently she was quite excited to go into a monster den.

"I may find something more useful than a fish!"

"I heard that!"