After my disastrous escape from the catacombs, I'm exhausted. I'm feeling very sleepy and want to rest. Unlikely though for the rainstorm made the hillside a muddy swamp. I trudge through it and trip on a rock, but save myself from falling with my walking stick. My cut hand makes me wince while holding myself up. Ow, that stings! I forgot the cut is there. I pick up my walking stick again and continue on. At the top of a hill I see sheep and goat grazing on wild onion. Is that a black sheep behind them? No, that's not right. There's something creeping around. It's fast, quiet and big. I hide from it behind tall grass. I peek through the grass to see what happens. A large black wolf is hunting. It runs and lunges for the sheep, but a sudden crack of lightning stops it instantly. The wolf howls in pain and runs away.

"It's alright, you can come out now," I hear a voice say.
I stand up to look, seeing a dwarf woman in dark green robes holding a crescent moon staff.
"Hello," I say, "I just escaped a cave-in and don't know where I am."
"Come dear come," The dwarf woman calls.
I trudge closer to her. She looks at me with worrisome eyes. "You poor dear, come with me," she smiles, taking my hand. I know I promised myself never to follow strangers again, but this time I need help.

We walk through deep mud up steep hills. My shoes get stuck. I lift my feet but the mud pulls them off and they sink, lost forever.
"Just my luck," I sigh.
The dwarf woman laughs, "Don't worry dear, we'll get you new proper shoes."
"How much further must we walk?" I ask.
"Just a little bit more...right up that ways,"she points to the top of high hill.
I gasp a little and follow her up the hill. At the very top lies a winding Wizard Hallow with a pointed hay roof, cobblestone walls and stained glass windows. It looks spooky but somehow feels safe. The door is made of old heavy wood and copper. We walk up the steps and enter.
Inside it looks just like a tavern. Except everywhere are magical objects, potions, tomes, familiars, witches, and wizards. I see small groups of wizards and witches conversing.

"Come sit dear," the dwarf woman directs me to a wood chair and table. I shyly sit and look around. I've never seen a Wizard's Hallow before. These people look like they're enjoying themselves, laughing, sharing war stories. "I hope this doesn't blow up! Bottoms up!" I hear a wizard joke while he drinks a strange liquid with his friends. They all laugh. A couple of witches place bets on whether or not he'll explode.

The dwarf woman comes back with a cup of coffee and a piece of meat pie. I take them greedily and stuff my face like I haven't eaten for days.
"Thunk juu," I say, drinking and chewing.
She nods her head, "It's quite alright. We welcome are kind to whatever they need," she says with a smile and walks away to get more things.
I have an epiphany that she thinks I'm a witch. I chuckle to myself. I have little to no abilities...if you count little repairing spells and magic objects. These are just clever tricks of mine I've picked up as an adventurer, not powerful magic like the people around here have.

The dwarf woman returns with a basin of soapy water, a towel, and sturdy buckle boots. "Here you are dear. Let's get you cleaned up." She takes out her staff to cast a spell on the towel. It starts to scrub my feet with water moving on its own. I wait for it to finish, then slip on the boots. With little surprise, she has found my size boot.
"Thank you again," I say.
She nods, "No problem."
"I have a question," I ask, "Where are we exactly?"
"Just a bit southwest, below the valley in the hillside Wizard Hallow."
"Southwest?" I groan. I've been walking in the wrong direction the whole time.
"I have to go. I have a long journey," I say.
"Well, I can help you,"she hands me a train pass. "This will get you as far as the base of the mountains, but not through. To get to the northern caves, you'll have to find other means."
"Oh, thank you!" I say, "Wait...how did you know I wanted to go north?"
"Magic," She winks.

I thank her again, regather myself, and take some food and drink for the road. The dwarf witch directs me where to find a train and says goodbye. I continue on foot, stomping through marshy hills towards the train station and notice something shiny in the mud. I come closer brushing it off, and see a silver handle. I tug at it slowly pulling up a small silver box carved with ancient symbols. It looks as though someone buried it long ago and forgot it.
I set it down, and take some tools from my satchel to pick the lock. In a few minutes I get it open. Inside it is a twisted white wand cased in red velvet. "Wow..." I mumble. I take the wand and wave it around for fun. I begin to wonder how much it's worth. Anyway I pocket the wand and box and continue on my journey to find the train station...

TO BE CONTINUED...