Chapter 2 What's a Malgenor

They entered a small wooden shack barely visible with all the snow. The inside was almost just as cold as the outside even with a small fire going in the corner.

"Nice place you have here. Did you make it your self?"

"Yah."

"Now it's just a guess but I don't think you're human, do you mind telling me what you are?"

"Do you really, not know?" Reeya said with the fear burning up from her voice turning into hope. "Well, that explains why you're actually being nice. Would you, tell me your name first?"

"I am The Traveler." He exclaimed with a cheerful tone.

"Is that really your name?"

"Why what's the problem with it?"

"Ohhh nothing but when you make up a fake name try to be a little more creative."

"Okay okay, But my name is unimportant, what is important is who you are and why were those guys going to kill you?"  

"It's because I'm a Malgenor."

She expected some kind of reaction, but what she received was an inquisitive stare of someone who clearly had no idea what she was talking about.

{Probably like most of you. Now just to make some dramatic irony, here is a brief description. The Malgenor are a humanoid species that live in volcanic regions and have a smooth rock-like skin that matches the color of volcanic rock. Their hair is flame resistant and feels like raw noodles. They are disliked almost everywhere because of their dealings with demons. }

"You still have no idea what I'm talking about do you?"

"My guess is your race isn't liked for some reason?"

"You could say that, but I left.  I'm not one of them."

"But that's not all of it, is it?"

The room was silent for a long moment.

The Traveler shivers "Is it always this cold here because I might just be better outside if I want to get warm."

"Well, this is my house so you're going to have to deal with it or you can go back to town."

The Traveler laughs a little. "Okay your house, your rules. So where am I sleeping or is that not something you do."

"I only have one bed, and to be honest I wasn't expecting any guest so how do you feel about sleeping on the floor."

"That will be fine just let me get my blanket," he says as he reaches into his coat and pulls out a rather big, warm-looking blanket and settles down on the floor near the door.

"How did you... you just... I'll just go to bed. I can worry about this in the morning."

She lays down on the bed, but she couldn't fall asleep with all that had happened. The Village knows I'm here I still have no food and now there's some stranger living in my house. Who in the right mind could sleep under the conditions, well he apparently can. I don't know what to do anymore. Did I make the right choice? She thought.

In the morning, when she awoke, The Traveler was gone. At first, she didn't remember that he was even there until she saw the huge blanket on the floor. Then, The Traveler walked in and closed the door behind him. She quickly tries to stand up and get out of bed, but a wave of nausea hits and she falls to the floor. The Traveler sets down the food he was carrying and helps her up.

"I thought I was the one to sleep on the floor, not you." He said trying to keep the mood light.

While helping her up, he noticed that the fire had gone out while he was gone.

"Are you ok I think you have a fever?"

Her world swayed and waved, she felt like a rock was placed on her head

"Yeah I'm fine," she said as she got up but would have fallen back down if it weren't for The Traveler being right there to catch her.

"You may be fine but you're not going anywhere, you're going to need plenty of rest before you can do anything."

"No I can..." she began but was cut short by the grip of sleep. The Traveler set her down gently on her bed and began to make breakfast with the food he gathered while she was asleep. When Reeya awoke the smell of freshly made stew filled the air.

"Good you're awake I hope you're an omnivore because I made rabbit cabbage stew."

"I can eat meat but what is Cabbage?"

"Well, cabbage is one of the best vegetables ever. One should always carry enough for any food emergency and I think this counts as an emergency, seeing how you have no food or at least no food that I know of. Are you hiding a secret stash that I don't know about?"

He brought her a bowl of the soup and set it on a table next to her

"If you don't like the flavor I have some spices that might help."

He sat down at the other end of the table and happily ate his bowl of soup. The fire was relit, and the room was finally warmer than the outside. Reeya didn't seem to notice the change in the temperature, but The Traveler put it under her being sick. A few days passed with Reeya barely conscious for most of it. Her condition did not improve, it only seemed to get worse. She barely ate, barely moved. The Traveler started to worry, he never aided a Malgenor before. He didn't even know if he was helping or just making it worse. He was beginning to lose hope.

"Are you feeling any better today?" The Traveler asked fearful that he might be losing a friend he didn't even have.

"No." she ached. "not too good. How long was I out this time?" she asked barely able to muster a sound.

"Too long. There must be something I can do to help more; you're not getting better. Tell me is there anything no matter how impossible that will help"

"If you... no, never mind."

"What? Tell me. It doesn't help anyone if you don't tell"

"If you can get me to a volcano it might save me" She whispered as she fell back to sleep.

The Traveler needed to know no more. He was already packing up the necessities and anything else he could whilst leaving enough room for Reeya. Before the day was out, The Traveler was pulling her in a small cart with all of the food from the house, as well as any supplies that might be helpful. In his eagerness to help he completely neglected to ask for any directions. After days of traveling in silence, they came across a group of hunters ripe with a catch, probably heading back to a town or camp. The Traveler waved his hand which is barely visible due to the thick layers of snow blocking their view.

"Greetings, I'm looking for a volcano can you help me."

"Why on Earth would you look for a volcano? The only thing you'll find there are demons and hellspawn." The apparent leader scoffed.

"Well since you know what you find there that must mean you know where one is right?"

"Of course I know... Wait, that's not the point. The only people that go looking for volcanoes are loons, paladins, and those demon-worshiping Malgenor, so which one are you?"

"Oooo! I love multiple choices.  Let's see. Well, I like how the first one sounds, but I believe two is the right answer."

The group of men looks skeptically at The Traveler.

"Really? You're a paladin? If you are, what you say you are, then you'll know this. Who was the first Queen of the Germideain palace?"

"Well, you see, I'm new here I don't even know what the German palace is, and names escape..."

"Wait if you don't know what the Germideain palace is then which kingdom were you taught in?"

"Umm, you see I wasn't taught in a kingdom.  I taught myself, mostly." The Traveler says.

The men gather in a group and converse. When they return to The Traveler, they agreed not to tell him where a volcano is, but they don't want to deal with some loon. So they tell him that the Queen will know where a volcano is and that he should go to the Germideain palace to see her. They gave him a general direction on where to go. Just as they turn to leave, Reeya shifts under the blanket stirring their attention.

"What was that!" one of them exclaims.

"It's my friend Reeya she's really sick that's why I need to find a volcano." The Traveler explains not knowing he unwittingly confirmed that it was the third option. All the men were visible on edge. One of the men reaches over to remove the covers.

"Do you really want to do that? You can still walk away. We both know what will happen if you move that cover."

He hesitated, he believed his group could take out the two, but at what cost? He stopped and turned around.

"We don't want to see you or whatever you have in that wagon in this area again!" He said as he walked away with his group.

That was too close, The Traveler thought, I need to be more careful if this incident was repeated but with loyal guards, the result would be gravely different.