Leili looked down from the hilltop at a welcome sight. The Burg looked peaceful in the large forest meadow bathed in moonlight. The warm glow of lights in windows beckoned weary travelers from the dangerous paths in the gigantic red and gold forest that stretched for miles in every direction. Fall was well underway and the nights were getting wickedly cold. Oddly, Leili was still dressed for her adventures in the warmer southern parts of the country. While her gauntlets, greaves, vambraces, armored thong and brassiere protected her from goblin rapes and troll advances, they would do nothing to stop the chill in the air. If Leili felt the cold she didn't show it through the beaming smile on her pretty face. Aside from her armor the young woman carried a longsword, a wand, a small duffel bag and a traveler's cloak that blew dramatically in the wind. Yes, had anyone been dumb enough to stand out in the cold staring at the forest trail, they would have thought they were witnessing the beginning of an epic tale. However, it was freaking cold outside and though they were humble uneducated peasants, not a one of them was that stupid.
Too bad though, since Leili certainly was made for looking at. Her short stature coupled with her athletic build and full figure made any pose she took a temptation. Her pinkish-red, shoulder length hair proclaimed that she was not native to this land or any of its neighbors. Though girded for war, the large swaths of skin uncovered by armor were unscarred, creamy white, and smooth as a baby's. Her face held the charm of a woman, but her large red eyes sparkled with the excitement of a youth experiencing everything for the first time.
Leili walked down the hill into the village. The townsfolk were packing up their stalls for the night and some hedge witch appealed to the crowd for one more fortune reading before sundown. Leili stopped to read the road sign outside the market. She needed to know where she was, and where she could get a room for the night. "Herger" was the name of this place.
"Herger Burg... hee hee!" Leili snorted.
"Fortune telling, brave traveler?" The hedge witch asked from her tiny stall. Leili turned and looked at the witch. The girl was young, petite and on her way to growing a figure that would rival Leili's. The most striking feature of the young witch had to be her face though. Leili could have sworn she was looking at a younger version of herself with purple hair and eyes. There must have been something to that notion since the young witch raised her eyebrows in surprise and recognition. "The prophecy..." The girl whispered reverently.
Leili immediately turned away and made to get as far away from destiny as possible. Her exotic features had made her the "chosen one" of several prophecies already. She had defeated the dragon of Eparass and saved the princess of that tiny island nation. Too bad she got there after the sodomy. Fleeing the queens ire she had been the prophesied doom of the marauding gangs of centaurs that had been stealing maidens from the village of Ogry . Not a single one of the maidens wanted to leave when she got to the centaur camp. Introducing the village chief to his new quadrupedal son-in-law had been another awkward exit from an adventure. The "incubus" she was foretold to destroy had turned out to just be a really persuasive drunk asshole. As far as Leili was concerned "chosen one" was another way to say "gullible chump." The small witch jumped over the table of her stand and grabbed hold of Leili's cloak before she could get far though.
"Wait the prophecy!" The girl said.
"No thanks, already got one. " Leili said, trying to loosen her cloak.
"It's your destiny!" The witch insisted.
"Been there, done that." Leili retorted.
"Glory and riches..." The witch said hopefully.
"Pull the other one!" Leili said as she finally freed herself from the girls grasp. "Nothing personal kid, but prophecy is a load of minotaur crap. The only way to know the future..."
"Is if you've been there?" The witch finished. Leili's eyes locked with the young witch's. Once again Leili couldn't shake the odd feeling of familiarity she got when looking into the girls eyes. Feeling more certain than ever that she didn't want any part of this, Leili began to step away.
"I've been waiting for you to come here, Leili." the witch said with a mischievous look in her eyes. Leili couldn't remember giving her name. She turned and was ready to run down the street if necessary to get away. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." she heard the girl pout. As Leili took her first three steps away from the young girl she was shocked to hear the witch start to yell in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Your first kiss was with another girl! You like it when pushy guys hit on you! You're angry that everyone else gets to have sex during all your adventures! When you play with yourself you like to finger your assho... mph!" Leili clamped her hand firmly around the other girls mouth and dragged her away from the staring crowd. Once in the alley Leili pushed the younger girl against the wall.
"How do you know these things?" Leili shouted at the witch. The witch, nonplussed, smiled her mischievous grin.
"Wow, he's right. Your face does get as red as your hair when you're embarrassed." The girl said. Leili drew her sword. "Now now. I'm sure you'll like what I have to say over a free meal?"
***
"So let me get this straight. I'm going to stop a continent-destroying disaster, end a war, and save a kingdom. All I have to do is go clear out a monster in the abandoned watchtower on the hill?" Leili summed up over her free meal. She hadn't hesitated to gorge herself, hoping too high of a bill might dissuade the other girl from her purpose. The amount of patrons in the tavern who came by to thank the witch for her accurate prophecies as the night wore on destroyed Leili's idea that a fortune teller couldn't make much.
"Well that's how you'll get started, at least." The witch said. "I promise, this one's the adventure you always wanted when you dropped out of wizard school to get your fighter's G.E.D."
"Ignoring how you know another personal detail that I never told anybody, I can't help but notice that nobody in town is freaking out about a monster bedding down within eyesight." Leili said gesturing out the window to the watchtower at the end of the meadow.