Chapter 2: The Neurotic Naxene Drathkala

  It was three in the afternoon by the time Armicon and I had planned out our route and packed our bags. The sun was still high in the sky and the light lit up the golden autumn leaves all over Goldenfields. It was a wonderful sight to behold; it was a bummer that we had to leave it all behind. I took a moment to appreciate the scenery and take in what we probably wouldn’t be able to see for quite some time. We set off down the road, not talking to each other for fear of breaking the calm setting. We were passing an old stone tower near the houses on the outskirts of Goldenfields when a voice whispered from a clump of bushes, making us almost jump out of our shoes.
 “Hey, you,” the bush whispered. “Come here, will you?”

 “What the hell!” exclaimed Armicon, showing me the full extent of his two-inch vertical. A woman popped out from behind the bush. She had long white hair that was as straight as a ruler and flowing red robes that piled up behind her. Her wizard’s staff looked quite intimidating in the afternoon light.
 “Um,” I muttered, quite confused indeed. “Who are you, what do you want, and why the heck were you in a bush?”
 “First of all, I am Naxene Drathkala, but you may call me Lady Drathkala. And what are you, a street hound?” she said, completely dodging the question of why she was in a bush. “Don’t talk to a lady like that! And scootch back like five feet, too! You’re breathing on me.” I shot Armicon a look. He rolled his eyes back at me.
 “Follow me inside the tower,” Naxene (there was no way in heck I would call her ‘Lady Drathkala’) said. “I have a proposal for you. And take your shoes off before you enter, if you please. I did not please, but Armicon and I did so nevertheless as she had the demeanor of someone who held a position of power. She also seemed as if she hadn’t just selected us randomly off the streets; she probably had something worth our time to say to us. We followed her in our socks up a long, winding staircase, making sure to stay at least five feet back as per her rules. We continued up two flights of stairs and into a small, stone room. It was nearly empty except for a wooden table and a large dresser. A five gallon jar of hand sanitizer was in one corner of the room while the opposite corner was occupied by the largest trash can I had ever seen. I could have easily stuffed her in there if I wanted to, which I did. Naxene grabbed a packet of coconut-scented hand wipes from the table and handed one to each of us. “Wipe your hands, will you? And do your face as well.” She handed us each a second towelette. We did as she told us, making sure to wipe ourselves as best as possible so as not to further displease her. She shrieked when she saw how much dust was on our wipes. “Go throw those away right now!” She said, visibly trembling. “There’s a trash can in the other room. They don’t deserve to go in my special trash can,” she said, gesturing to the oversized trash can that looked as if it hadn’t been used in at least thirty years for fear of making it dirty. Armicon and I left the room angrily and threw our wipes away. I had no idea why I was even doing what she was saying; I must have been under some kind of spell or something. When we came back into the room, we were surprised (not) to see the dresser opened and Naxene standing next to it. Inside was a row of hazmat suits. “You’ve got to be ****ing kidding me,” I muttered. Two minutes later Armicon and I stood next to each other, looking like complete and utter failures. This was not what I had signed up for by going in the tower, but yet again, I hadn’t been able to resist following her commands. While I was flustered and angry, Naxene, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm. She pulled up three chairs to the table and sat down, leaving the other two for Armicon and me.
 “Now that you’re in those lovely suits, we can talk face to face. I’m sure you’re both aware of the issue with the hill giants,” she started.
 “Well, duh,” I muttered, shaking my head.
 “They don’t normally act like this. Something is amiss and it is changing their behavior.” I nodded. She continued. “I saw you both in the battle last night and you seemed like the type of people that would step up to the challenge of getting to the root of this issue. The giant attacks are becoming increasingly common and you can help Goldenfields stop this problem before all of us are underneath one of those fat, stupid slobs.”
 “And what do you suggest a first step is?” Armicon asked. “We can’t just magically solve this problem. Do you have anything that can help us?”
 “Well, as highly intelligent individuals, you know what the biggest enemy of giants is, right?” she continued, yet again choosing to throw us for a loop instead of getting straight to the point. My eyes went wide in fear as this was something that was apparently quite obvious. Luckily she couldn’t notice as they were behind three layers of hazmat suit material.
  “Um,” I said, trying to give myself enough time to think, “Armicon, you know, right?”
 “Um,” he said, also trying to buy himself time. “Er, dwarves?” How could that even make sense? I had no idea, and I could tell he realized that as well. Naxene looked at him weirdly. “Dragons,” she said slowly.
 “Sorry, I misspoke. Got my ‘D’ creatures a bit mixed up there,” Armicon said, though it was obvious he hadn’t.
 “Anyways,” Naxene continued, “about something that can help you. You see, I have this friend in Waterdeep named Chazlauth. Chazlauth Yarghorn. He is a dragon expert and can provide vital information to us about the dragons, and maybe even help us recruit them. If we want to win this war against the hill giants, we must find the most worthy opponents for them. Tell Chazlauth that I sent you. You fought bravely enough in the battle last night that I believe both of you are highly capable of completing this for me.” I shifted a little in my seat, wondering why she had chosen us instead of doing the dirty work herself. I asked her this aloud.
 “Well, I am afraid that Waterdeep may be a bit too dirty and rough these days for someone as important as me. I am quite well reputed in Waterdeep as I worked some very high-up positions in the city. That’s why I am sending more, um, dispensable beings to complete the work for me.” I didn’t know whether to feel offended or not. Naxene was also quite apparently trying to hide the fact that she had some sort of extreme germaphobe disorder or something. Armicon also had a useful question of his own. “What do we get in return for all this?” Armicon asked, a greedy smile spreading across his face.
 “We’ll set that amount when you come back, but I’ll let you know now that it will be a handsome sum. Chazlauth may pay you in some of the potions he keeps at his place. They are worth a lot and could be useful on your journey. And of course, it will be a great service to Goldenfields.” I turned to Armicon. “Okay,” he said, nodding his head. “I believe it is our best option to complete this mission as Goldenfields needs us to help save the town. Also, we may need this, uh, handsome sum.” Armicon relayed this to Naxene. “We will accept your offer. Thank you for doing business with us.”
 “You're most welcome, now go do a good job and get your dirty selves out of my tower!”Naxene shouted.