The  workshop of Hoffen was always rather loud; master and apprentice were  constantly at work creating construction materials for the expanding  town. It was quite a mess with wood shavings and bits of iron littering  the unimpressive wooden floor. The workshop’s master was a middle-aged man, his  height as equally impressive as his beard. His apron wasn’t light brown  when he bought it. The apprentice, however, was almost the exact  opposite of the master; she was soft and squishy where he was muscular;  had long, white hair while he had barely any and a feminine, almost cute  face instead of the master’s chiselled profile.

“Weiss,  how are the chair legs coming along?” the master asked, he himself  working the seat and backrest of what will presumably be the same chair.  Rhiara, or Weiss as she was sometimes called due to the colour of her hair, was  concentrating so hard on carving a leg that she didn’t hear her master’s  question. “Rhiara. The chairs?” he asked again, louder that time. 
“Oh!  Er, I’m carving the last one now.” She pointed in the general direction  of the carved legs. “They still need sanding though.” 
“Once  I’m done with this…” he grunted as he forced a joint together. “back –  I’ll be with you.” Rhiara nodded to her boss and they were both once  again hard at work.

Rhiara  found her job to be hard at first, but as the year went on she actually  began to enjoy it.  It helped her with the wood carving that she did  whenever she got some free time which, between working at the carpentry  workshop and going hunting with her dad, wasn’t very often. She began  thinking about what she would start to carve next; a deer? Maybe a  unicorn. Her line of thought was interrupted when the only door to the  outside opened.

She  and her master both looked up from their work to see a person clad in  the light armour of a town militiaman. Rhiara’s mind began racing to  conclusions even though she didn’t need to be worried about anything.  That was until she saw the militiaman’s face. The militiawoman’s face,  that is. Her name was Athaliah; she was a Foverósi, though her family  moved over to Illyrica when she was a child; she was also Rhiara’s best –  well really, only – friend in Hoffen. She gave Rhiara a little nod with  a smile, before eying the master. “Barclay, you don’t happen to have  five mirrors laying around, do you?”
“Whatever the hells for?” he replied, looking at Athaliah like she’d finally lost her mind.

“Someone  new in town asked. He doesn’t look like the kind of guy who wants to  decorate his house; he said he hunts magic creatures, so if I had to  guess, he’s after the bounty on that basilisk.”
Barclay  looked like he had even more questions and no answers following  Athaliah’s explanation. “Well, we have a few in the back room, but…”
“There’s  another thing. He said he’s looking for someone good with a bow.” Her  eyes fell on Rhiara, who immediately shook her head vigorously.
“I go hunting with my dad, once a week! I can’t take on a basilisk, if that’s what he’s even doing!” 
“Just talk to him, he’s in the town square last we spoke. Think of the bounty…” she added, a teasing undertone in her voice.

Rhiara  sighed and glared at her best friend. She didn’t want to go hunting  now, much less with a stranger who’s after a basilisk. Then again,  Rhiara had a habit of doing what other people wanted without much  persuasion; it was one of her bigger weaknesses. “Okay, fine - I’ll find  him when I finish work for the day; I’m not just leaving right now.  Tell him to be in the tavern for three.” 
“Will  do. I need to get going anyway; the Captain’s going to be pissed if he  finds out I’m not making myself useless today.”  After an exchange of  departing pleasantries, Athaliah left the room, leaving Rhiara and  Barclay on their own.
“You’re  not seriously thinking about doing this, are you?” Barclay muttered,  shaking his head in disappointment. While he didn’t always show it, he  cared about Rhiara in a purely platonic master-apprentice way. 
“I  guess I am…” she replied, though her voice clearly gave her doubts  away. With nothing more to be said, the two carpenters continued their work in silence.

[hr]

Rhiara made her way towards the tavern at the centre of the town; it was an old, ugly building with decaying wood, mossy stone and dusty windows which somehow still managed to let some light through to the outside world. Still, it was where people in town came after a day of work to socialise and get drunk, much like in any other town. Despite its rather ramshackle appearance, it had a certain charm to it; since it did what it was supposed to, nobody cared how it looked. Much like the people who lived there.

The heavy wooden door opened with a quiet creak and Rhiara found herself in a large, open room with tables on both sides of the room and a semi-circular bar in the middle. The bar was probably as old as the building itself, and obviously in the same state of disrepair. She slowly made her way to the woman behind the bar; she was young - like most bar maids, come to think of it – with long, flowing golden hair and not to mention, an impressive bust. Lysandra had been kind to this woman. Rhiara caught herself staring probably a little too long, causing a cute blush to appear on her face.

Rhiara slowly made her way to the woman, while looking around for the man she was supposed to be meeting. “Well, you’re new! I didn’t think Hoffen had any cuties left to find! What can I do for you?” Rhiara found herself blushing furiously; she wasn’t used to being called cute by, well, anyone. 
“I’m looking for someone who’s calling himself a magic creature hunter and I was supposed to meet him here, any idea where he is? And, uh, thank you, by the way.”
The barmaid smiled and pointed at a table in a dark corner of the tavern, where a lone man sat with his drink and a book. “I think that’s your man – he was nice enough, but I’d be careful if I were you. I can’t lose a customer as adorable as you are!”
“You are relentless… Thanks for the help!” Rhiara walked up to the table where the hunter was sat, though she kept the barmaid’s warning in her head.

As the young white-haired woman approached, the man closed his book and gave a respectful nod. He wore a hooded cloak over a leather cuirass. At at each of his sides was a scabbard holding a sword. His face likely would have been quite average if not for the four long scars across it.

Once the scarred man had put his weathered book away in a satchel, he extended a hand in greeting. "Herbert T. Leintke. I take it you're the one who asked to meet me here?" Despite his somewhat intimidating appearance, he seemed relatively friendly, or at the very least, polite.

“I am, correct.” She replied as she shook his hand. “I’m Rhiara Ludenburg. I heard you were looking for someone who could use a bow, so here I am. If you don’t mind my asking, what exactly are you going to hunt?” Rhiara knew the answer already, but she wanted to hear it from the man himself.

"I'm here to hunt the basilisk that has been causing trouble around these parts." Replied Herbert, rather predictably. "Seeing as basilisks can kill with a look, I have to ask, just how skilled are you with a bow? I need a completely honest answer on this." She seemed rather young to be hunting monsters, but then again, he himself had started rather young and he had been on his own for the most part. As long as she could follow instructions, she'd probably be fine. Still, there was a chance she'd be killed and that was what worried him.

Rhiara sighed deeply, knowing that her answer wouldn’t be one that Herbert would have hoped for. “I’m okay with a bow; I go out into the forests with my dad once a week, hunting small game like rabbits.” She could have mentioned her magic shapeshifting ability, but she didn’t know if she could trust a person who hunted magical creatures with that kind of information. “Have other people volunteered to help you, at all?”

Herbert grimaced. "You're the only one who has stepped forward. If you can follow instructions, then I suppose you'll have to do. At least hunting small game requires accuracy. If you're willing to come along, we'll split the bounty halfways, but I get to keep the basilisk. Fair enough?" He much preferred working with hirelings rather than volunteers as they tended to know the dangers a bit more, but a town like Hoffen had a distinct lack of mercenaries.

Rhiara nodded. “Of course. So, before we go I heard you wanted some mirrors as well? There are a few in the workshop I, well, work at, that should be big enough.” She hoped the tales of mirrors distracting basilisks were true, but as basilisks could kill people with a mere glance she had a tough time believing that tale.

[hr] After Rhiara and Herbert had collected five rather large mirrors from the workshop, they began heading through the forest near Hoffen towards the basilisk’s lair. Rhiara carried two mirrors on her back while Herbert carried the other three. The forest had been explored enough that it had its own dirt trails winding through wide enough gaps in the trees. The trees reached up to touch the sky and small animals ran along the forest floor, avoiding the two humans who were giants compared to them. Rhiara didn't like the silence that had fallen between her and Herbet, but she - as was common for her - remained quiet. The silence could help them locate the basilisk, so it had its advantages.

Once Herbert had managed to figure out the basilisk's location, the pair began placing mirrors nearby. With the mirrors ready, Herbert gestured for Rhiara to move behind some nearby trees before taking cover near one of the mirrors and pulling out a small metal flask. As soon as they were both in place, the scarred hunter bellowed a challenge to the sky. Within minutes, the basilisk arrived on the scene and began searching for the source of the noise.

Upon spying its reflection in the mirror, the beast advanced hissing loudly with its neck frills out. Herbert waited for it to move closer to its glassy rival and once its attention was fully focused, he attacked. The slayer inhaled the air above the opened container, concentrated and spoke a word of power while thrusting his gloved palm in the direction of the basilisk. A ball of blue fire raced from his hand and scorched the reptile's scaly hide, drawing its attention.

Rhiara saw her opportunity, as plain as day. With the basilisk’s attention focused on Herbert, she could get one of two arrows out before it knew where she was. Rhiara put her bow and a spare arrow in one hand, while her other hand nocked another arrow and drew the bow. She loosed her grip on the string, sending the arrow flying straight into the basilisk’s side. She took the arrow already in her hand and nocked that one, though before she could send it at the basilisk, it began turning around to face her. Rhiara’s eyes snapped shut involuntarily, and she dove behind the nearest tree to avoid the creature’s fatal gaze.

As the beast turned to face Rhiara, Herbert willed forth the flame once more. The fire scorched the basilisk’s side and it wheeled about, hissing angrily. The animal’s sizable burn seemed to slow it down somewhat but its eyes were no less deadly and Herbert dove back to cover. Unable to see its fiery adversary, the beast tasted the air with its tongue to try to locate the monster hunter.

Almost as soon as it had turned around, another arrow slammed into the beast, where its neck might be if it were an incredibly long person. Rhiara would have hoped to hit the basilisk in the head in order to shorten the fight, though that meant being able to see its head in the first place – and the beast’s gaze made that plan unbelievably risky. Rhiara sighed in frustration as she nocked another arrow. The arrow flew downrange into the basilisk’s neck frill. The beast hissed in pain for the first time, its head swivelling at an inhuman speed to look in Rhiara’s direction.

The moment it began turning towards Rhiara again, Herbert used up the last of the magic in the flask of blood to unleash another ball of fire that scorched the reptile's tail. As quickly as he could, he reached for another flask while the basilisk turned. The beast began slithering towards him rapidly, apparently now considering him to be the greater threat. Knowing that it's gaze would be upon him the moment it neared his hiding place, he used all of the magic in the second blood flask to hide his face with a small curtain of flame that he then [i]willed[/i] towards the basilisk. The monster tried to turn away but momentum carried it directly into the fire. It's eyes were burned out by the magical flames and it collapsed, dead. Herbert breathed a sigh of relief. Fighting something like a basilisk was always a major risk. He called out to where the arrows had come from. "Are you alright?"

“I’m fine!” Rhiara shouted back. She could feel her heart slamming against her chest at what felt like a million miles an hour. As she took in several deep, shaky breaths, the reality of the situation began to hit her; the basilisk was dead. She almost died a few times, but she and Herbert had succeeded. “Brilliant magic, by the way.”

Herbert smiled and stepped out into the open. "Thanks. Your shooting and timing were rather impressive as well." He walked over to the dead basilisk and picked up the end that had most of the arrow wounds. "Help me carry this to my wagon, will you? We've got to get it back to town to collect the bounty. Be careful of its blood, it's still quite dangerous."