"You'd think so. Apparently, my kind of light magic is too intense for healing stuff." Dala explained before she noticed Yavish's injuries, "Oh um sorry. We've got a healer in the village. He uses herbs and stuff." 

She'd explain more if she knew anything about medical practices. Wiping the blood off her sword in the grass, she looked towards the wolves Yavish destroyed. The young woman was impressed by the stranger's battle ability. Fighting off three wolves at once was still a challenge for even the greatest of warriors. Dala had an advantage of using magic but even she would be in trouble if a pack of wolves came at her. Sheathing her sword, she had a look at Yavish's wound, trying to see how bad it was. Dala was unable to tell for sure. 

"Nice to meet ya! The name's Dala Asher Balato." She said, "As for the villagers, I don't think they'll have an issue. Cardawen is mostly made up of outcasts so they don't really have the right to judge others."

She knew that wasn't the strongest comfort she could give Yavish but it was the honest one. Dala couldn't always predict how people would react and her new minotaur friend did look different. But if the village could be made up of orcs, humans, satyrs, and a goblin or two, then they shouldn't have a complaint with her wolf fighting friend. After seeing the slight wince, Dala knew that they needed to get to the village as fast as possible. Luckily, it wasn't too far away. 

"Are you able to walk?" Dala asked. 

It was unfortunate to learn that healing magic was not in the woman's roster of spells, but Yavish saw no reason to complain.  She checked her bite wound again upon hearing that the village had a healer.  It did not feel like the wolf's teeth penetrated too deeply, but nevertheless it was a good idea to get the injury patched up as soon as possible.  Yavish remained calm though, confident that a simple bite would not be enough to place her in dire straits.

"Well Dala, that is good to hear," Yavish said in response to Dala's answer regarding how the villagers would react to the arrival of a minotaur.

She looked toward where the horse had fled with the sheep and when asked by Dala if she could walk, Yavish was unable to hide a smirk as if she did not just stroll over to her after their recent bout with the wolves.  Yavish nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'll be fine.  It was only a bite, but it still hurts like hell though."

The pain still rang through her arm.  As of this moment, all Yavish was anticipating was getting her injury healed up and a nice hot meal.  She gestured in the direction of the village and said, "Let's head back to the village.  I'm sure those two that you were dealing with earlier will be delighted to see that their sheep has been returned to them safe and sound."

Her head hung low for a moment before she asked, "One thing though.  What do mean by your magic being too intense for healing applications.  Isn't healing magic usually associated with light?"

After receiving the okay from Yavish, Dala began to walk towards the village. The village itself was located on a large hill with a gentle slope and a river wrapping around the back end of the hill. The farms were built on the hill as well, choosing to create a terrace style and filled with a selection of potatoes and corn. There were a few houses for the residents, though most preferred to live above their stores on the second floor. Each building had a stone floor and bottom structure while the upper halves were made of a sturdy type of wood, dragged in from the nearby small forests. Despite the villages' small size, each building and farm were high quality buildings made with care and consideration to its placement. As they walked, Yavish asked her about what she said earlier, questioning the association between light and healing.

"Yeah, normally healing and light magic go together. I guess I can technically heal but its less gentle sunshine and warmth. Imagine the feeling of your blood boiling just underneath your skin or the heat of a desert running through your body." Dala explained then paused for a moment to collect her thoughts, "….My magic is light magic, but it's a different use of it…. Think of it this way. A water mage and an ice mage are very different types of magic, right? But ice is basically just cold water. It's the same element at the end of the day. And water mages have connections to healing as well but you wouldn't expect it from an ice mage."

Dala hoped her words made sense. The young woman had spent several years just researching light magic to understand how to use it, even then she still struggled.

"The difference is temperature. It's the same with my magic. Others use the light of a sunbeam, I use light closer to the sun itself." She said, "Its an uncommon form of magic cause if you aren't careful using it, you could end up burning yourself." 

They arrived at the small gates of the village and the two villagers from earlier approached them. Margie, an older woman wearing a simple summer dress with an apron and Velio, a younger man dressed in a simple tunic and shorts. Velio was a bit strange with his slightly purple skin and pointed ears, a clear sign of his inhuman nature. Nobody in the village wanted to ask, scared it would be rude to do so. Margie meanwhile was a simple looking human with a slightly annoyed expression. 

"Miss Dala thank you and your friend for getting that sheep. But did you really have to tie it on a HORSE?" Margie sighed, "It'll be a pain tryin' to get it back out in the field tomorrow. Even with the fence."

"Never mind that!" Dala exclaimed, trying to avoid a Margie lecture, "My friend Yavish is injured and needs immediate medical attention. I need to take her to Groth." 

The two nodded and went back to whatever work they were doing while Dala directed her minotaur friend towards a two-story building with a sign that read *Medicine and Potions*. As they walked a few children looked up and gasped excitedly at Yavish, impressed by her horns and size. They had seen tall people before but never a person like her! The father who was fussing over the children was careful to tell them that staring was rude. A few others looked towards Yavish, surprised by the new stranger but were quick to look away the second they caught her eye. Dala practically ran up to the door and slammed it open. 

"EMERGENCY GROTH!" She shouted. 

A tall extremely buff orc wearing an apron and a pair of small glasses let out a big sigh and looked in Dala's direction. 

"Morning Miss Dala." Groth greeted in a monotone voice, "What did you break this time?" 

"Ah, so it's like fire magic, but brighter," Yavish said, beginning to understand what Dala meant from her explanation of her magic.  She looked across the village at the houses and the stores.  Her eyes searched for an inn that she might be sleeping in for the night as they drew closer to it.  The two villagers who lost their sheep earlier were waiting for them, and after Margie's gratitude, Yavish defended Dala with, "We had to fend off wolves that would have no doubt made a meal out of it had it reached the forest."

After that exchange, Yavish followed Dala and looked around the village, still looking for something that resembled a possible sleeping quarter for weary travelers.  She saw the children who were excited to see her, and despite the father chiding them, she did not mind the attention.  They were kids, and curiosity was common among them after all.  Neither did she care for the stares she was receiving from some of the villagers, figuring that minotaurs like herself were an uncommon sight in this part of the world.  Yavish raised an eyebrow at Dala when she bashed through the door of the Medicine and Potions shop and just sighed before she entered after her.

An orc as a healer was the last thing Yavish expected to see, but she was not going to judge a being in the profession of the healing arts.  When Groth asked Dala what the issue was, Yavish stepped up to Groth and explained, "Nothing was broken by her…hopefully.  We went out to retrieve a runaway sheep and got into conflict with a pack of wolves.  We managed to fend them off, but one of them bit me during the fight."

She displayed the bite mark to Groth.  The pain was beginning to waver, which Yavish was thankful for as she hoped that healing the injury would be easy for Groth to take care of.

Groth gave out a grunt of recognition to Yavish's story and began to look over her wound. After giving her a careful inspection, he stood up and went over to a cabinet, taking out a small vial with a light pink liquid inside. He then walked to the nearby shelf and plucked some mint from the bushel. The orc walked back to Yavish, holding it out to her. Dala watched with a bit of pride. She remembered when Groth could barely talk to another person without feeling uncomfortable. Now he could serve up herbs and potions without any problems. 

"Drink this potion. It'll heal your wound. Then eat the mint. The potion gives you bad breath." Groth stated. 

After Yavish drank the potion, her injury would slowly seal up and vanish, as if it had never been there in the first place. The potion recipe required rare ingredients and wasn't readily available for everybody. However, Yavish had helped with the sheep and possibly defended the town from wolves. Although the orc didn't seem to say or express much, him giving the minotaur such a fast-working potion was his own form of thanks. 

"Awww Groth you big sweetheart." Dala said with a smirk. 

"You should eat mint too. Your breath stinks." He stated. 

"Never mind. I take it back." Dala huffed. 

She still took a bit of mint and chewed on it. Her gazed turned back to Yavish, realizing she barely knew the poor minotaur she dragged into the mess and had yet to give her the payment she promised. The young woman opened up her satchel and took out a large amount of silver and handed it to Yavish. There was only the food and room for the night left, which she would have to speak to the innkeeper about. 

"See! I promised you'd get paid." Dala said. 

Yavish accepted both the potion and the mint from Groth with a nod of gratitude.  She consumed the potion and watched her bite wound.  As Groth mentioned, the teeth marks left by the wolf sealed up and her arm looked like new again.  Yavish flexed with her fully healed arm and felt none of the pain from before whenever she moved it.  It was a relief to the minotaur that it was a quick magical fix and not a lengthy process.

The mint was then taken as per Groth's instructions to freshen her breath.  It was a refreshing flavor to say the least, and after the remains of the mint passed through her throat, Yavish said to Groth, "You have my thanks Groth."

A raised eyebrow was given to Dala after Groth made a remark on her breath.  Yavish never found Dala's breath to be awful, but that may have been because she had not been around Groth as long as her friend had.  Regardless, she had little interest in whatever discourse the two shared as she looked down at the silver held out to her by Dala and took it, dropping it into her own pack with a, "Thank you."

She glanced toward the door to Groth's shop and asked, "So there are the wolves that sometimes harass the sheep.  Dala, are there any other threats that this town deals with sometimes, such as bandits and bugs that could destroy crops?" 

"Oh you have no idea." Dala sighed in response to Yavish's question. 

She motioned for Yavish to follow, as she was still intent on getting her to the inn and following up on her promise. Her voice was lowered to avoid too loud of a conversation but there wasn't really an issue in stating the facts. Dala had a feeling the minotaur could be trusted, especially after her assistance with the wolves. The young woman knew that caution was important but she also understood the dangers of being paranoid that the world was out to get them. Besides, if Yavish turned out to be cruel or unkind, then Dala would simply have to handle the situation or call in a favor from one of her friends. 

"Bugs aren't really a problem since we put up the honeycomb vines. And we made some deals with the neighboring tribes so they wouldn't raid Cardawen." Dala explained, "But we do have to occasionally deal with bandits who got through the tribes. There's also the occasional beast or random mage. But the worst ones are the people who target specific villagers." 

Usually the villagers didn't like bringing up the past so she kept her voice lower so only Yavish could hear. 

"Many of the people here are outcasts or abuse victims. Some escaped from violent nobility, slavery, loan sharks, and some had to escape their own families." Dala said, glancing back at Groth's store for a moment, "Sometimes those people want to drag our villagers back. The guards are able to handle the small stuff like the occasional wolf or thief. But they aren't experienced or strong enough yet to take on the bigger stuff. I usually have to handle anything too big or strong." 

At times Dala didn't mind being the village's main defender but it wasn't sustainable. As their leader, she was sent out on trade missions or had to help with end of the world situations. That wasn't even including the times when her friends were in trouble and she'd have to stop what she was doing to help them out. Each building had a safe room and knew what to do when trouble arises but Dala knew it wouldn't be enough. 

Yavish listened with interest to the lore of how Cardawen dealt with bandits or monsters.  She was also rather impressed that this village was able to strike deals with nearby tribes to keep most of the trouble out of their border.  The bovine could feel the air darken when Dala discussed the pasts of most of the villagers that resided here.  It was amazing everyone was able to forge a society here with such vitriolic histories.  Yavish's eyes looked across anyone in view of them.

Who knew if someone might one day send a large army to attack the village for the petty purpose of settling a score with a resident.  Not every motivation to commit evil needed a deep, detailed reason behind it.  It reminded Yavish of when she helped defend her adoptive parents and the men and women of her home village from a raiding party that contained both of her actual parents.  This was a dark memory that Yavish disliked talking about, but knowing the troubles that Cardawen faced, Yavish figured that she could do more to help out.

She asked Dala, "What do the tribes get in return for keeping away most of the outlaws and monsters?  This surely can't be a one-sided relationship."

Yavish continued, hoping to perhaps show Dala that she could relate to some of the residents, "And, your story reminds me of when I was younger.  When I was a calf, I was found and raised by some farmers.  I helped around the farm and they gave me helpful advice that made me the person that I am today.  When they revealed that they adopted me, I realized that I had basically wandered away from my real parents who I was unaware of at the time were part of a group of raiders."

Her voice grew sorrowful, "As I mentioned before, I helped defend my village.  That day, my parents were among the raiders, and that was the first time I saw them in many years.  Intense fighting ensued, and I slew my father, but my adoptive father lost his life as well."

Yavish folded her arms and her voice became steel, "From that day forward, I vowed to become a defender of the innocent.  I appreciate the night you are giving me, but if you'd like, I can stay around a little more in case something more terrifying than mere wolves does come this way."

Dala sensed her new friend's readiness to learn about the village and possibly help with their troubles. Despite Dala's friendly and chaotic nature, she had an eye for talent. She could see the overwhelming potential from Yavish. The minotaur was strong and would only get stronger by the day if she kept up with training and learned how to face new type of foes. Such an ally would be greatly beneficial in the future. It was part of the reason she was so upfront with the town's history. Her words rang true but had a purpose behind them. 

"We act as a trading center for the tribes. Neighboring countries, mostly Adeluna, have a bad reputation with the tribes and refuse to recognize them as anything more than barbarians." Dala explained, "Few people want to trade with them or if they do, they wrack up the prices to an unreasonable degree. We made a pact with them to keep prices at a reasonable level and to continue trading with them, long as they keep their side of the bargain." 

She remembered when she first started opening negotiations with some of the tribes. Dala ended up having to earn their trust over and over then had to work tirelessly to get the villagers to open up to the neighboring tribes. Neither side ever became extremely friendly to one another but they had eased into a symbiotic relationship. Yavish began opening up about some of her past to which Dala eagerly listened to. Yavish's story was a tragic one, involving deaths of both her adoptive father and having to fight against her blood family. To have the strength to fight someone who could have been family… that type of pain wasn't something Dala could even begin to imagine. The resolve in Yavish's voice was clear and steady. She offered to stay around a little more, something Dala had been hoping she'd say. 

"If that's the case, I could arrange for one of the open homes to be given to you." She offered, "We have a policy of making two or so available homes for refugees or anybody who wants to buy a place. It's only got room for a kitchen and a bedroom so don't expect much. But it'll be a lot easier than takin up space in the inn all the time." 

Dala looked at Yavish with a clever little smile as she started to sweeten the deal. 

"And if you're ever low on coin, the tavern keeps track of job requests. Things like fightin monsters and helping out other places." She said, "What do you say?"

Although her offer appeared to be generous, she saw it more as an investment. Coin, power, security, food, everything relied on people. Choosing the right people with the right skills could make or break any beginning town. The value was not in how much coin the town was making but in what skills the townsfolk had. Even if Yavish chose to temporarily live here, it would still be more than worth one of the homes they set up. 

This village had been the center of plenty of activity concerning the tribes as Yavish had learned.  Bordering countries with little to no interest in working with the local tribes led her to surmise that these tribes may have been causing trouble for said countries.  Yavish had no true understanding of the situation unless she interacted with the tribes herself.  The previous mention of deals being made with the tribes to prevent them from attacking Cardawen made Yavish rather mistrustful of them.  She wanted to know more about the tribes and asked Dala, "What species are these tribes primarily?"

When given an offer of a temporary home was provided by Dala, Yavish took a moment to think it over.  A personal living space for herself after all of her days traveling was most certainly welcome.  On top of that an actual long night of rest to herself.  This offer grew even more appealing with the addition of a job board to deal with threats both to and beyond the village.  The growth in income would be useful as well.  The minotaur looked around at the villagers strolling about and working in their shops, understanding that building a reputation in Cardawen could go a long way to a good word being spread about her throughout other villages and perhaps even towns.

Yavish's eyes settled on Dala with her mind made up.  She motioned toward a random building and replied, "I accept your offer Dala.  Having a place to rest is helpful, and I'll be more than happy to aid the village and its residents."

A somber mood overtook Yavish for but a brief moment.  Eventually, she would have to continue in her travels, but not before she did what she could to ensure that those living in and around Cardawen had better lives than before.  She would especially be vigilant for those that sought to snatch away any innocent people from the village.  The first thing Yavish planned to do tomorrow was check out the tavern's job board.