Well, here's a piece of work I've picked up and put down over and over again through the years... If you're brave enough to begin the reading, you'll notice right away by the names that I'm trying to invoke a bit of an anime feel, of the sword and sorcery type. If you keep that in mind, I think it might just be enjoyable. Not much happens in this first bit, it's mostly just setting the scene, but I'll try to keep putting up new segments on a weekly basis until we have something resembling a story. Any criticism at all will be enormously handy, but without further ado, we begin.

*************

Montoko walked the streets at night, a habit he fell into when he was restless. He'd been in town too long, and people were coming to know him; coming to rely on him. He didn't like that. The next time something happened, he'd be gone. So he walked the cobbled streets at the edge of town, looking at the nondescript houses when light caught his eye.
"Help!" A voice cried from a house aflame.
"Give me a break," Montoko muttered. It was nearly midnight, and he was probably the only one who could do a thing about the woman's predicament.
"Help me, please!" The woman called out again. It was an old voice; he knew she was a widow who lived alone and probably wouldn't be missed.
"Alright, alright!" He called out, shook his head and ran into the house. The ground floor was still mostly intact, but the second floor was a raging inferno. The old woman's room was just barely cool enough to approach.
"Oh, help me!" She called to him as he entered her room.
"Bloody hell," he muttered, grabbed her and added, "come on."
"Thank you," she said breathlessly as he hurried her down and out of the house.
"Let me guess, you want me to go back for your cat now," Montoko said, setting the old woman down. He stood tall over her; he was at least six foot five, though he'd never taken the time to measure.
"No, I don't have any pets... Or relatives," she said sadly.
"Saves me some trouble, then," Montoko muttered and started to walk away.
"My poor house," moaned the old woman.
"Call a mage; I can't save the house," Montoko called and kept walking.
"Thank you!" The old woman shouted after him.
"Whatever," he muttered and kept moving down the road. He was ready to move on and try life somewhere else.
* * *
"What do you mean I'll never be a mage?" Reyhora asked. He stood in the blue robes of an apprentice, facing his black robed instructor, an archmage.
"I mean you will never be a mage. You, the robed twit before me, will never be an accredited user of magic," the instructor replied. His voice reverberated in the cold gray stones of the barren room.
"B-but why?" The young man asked, his clear green eyes looking crushed from under his messy brown hair.
"Because you couldn't cast a spell to save your life," the instructor replied.
"I have cast spells, and I'm getting better!" Reyhora was on the verge of tears.
"Also because you get too emotional," the instructor said condescendingly.
"I'll show you," Reyhora muttered. "Fire Bird!" He called out, and a few sparks leapt from his fingers to light his instructors beard on fire.
"Waters Flow," the instructor intoned calmly, and his beard was doused. "Now, first of all the firebird spell should have destroyed this building, not just tossed some sparks. Secondly, you just attacked your instructor."
"You said I'd never cast a spell. I proved you wrong," Reyhora said.
"That kind of spell won't save your life," the instructor replied. "Now be gone."
"Alright, I'll leave," Reyhora said. He stood up to his full height, which wasn't much, and was surrounded by a puff of smoke. When he didn't vanish, he sighed and walked out of the room, leaving his instructor to deal with the smoke. "I'll learn magic and come back," he called without much conviction. "Just you wait."
"I look forward to it," the instructor called back waving away the billowing smoke. "I've always wanted to see pigs fly."
Reyhora sighed, unable to find a response as he made his way from the guild hall he'd lived in for three years. Maybe life would be better somewhere else, he thought as he wandered into the woods. "At least it's warm," he said to himself as he walked among trees with lush green leaves under the light of the sun.
* * *
"You mean I have to leave? But why? Why would I have to? You're joking, right? I mean, do I really have to leave?" Toriana asked. She was barely an adult, her long black hair framing youthful features and clear blue eyes.
"Yes, my child," the priest said. He was a tall, gaunt figure, towering over Toriana and the other temple maidens. His skin was pale, and with his white robe he was nearly part of the pristine marble temple. "You can be a priestess only if you've seen the world. You must learn of that which lies beyond the temple walls and bring glory to the gods."
"Don't they have enough glory? I mean... I'm sorry, it's just that I..."
"You must go if you wish to become a priestess and learn the highest holy magics," the priest cut her off.
"Oh please, please don't make me leave. Please, I won't be any trouble if I stay, I'll learn anything you need me to, just tell me..."
"You must," the priest cut her off, pointing at the door, a wrought iron portal that seemed to grow larger and more cruel the longer Toriana gazed at it.
"I don't wanna!" She cried out, grabbing onto him. He moved her arms and pushed her out the door, slamming it behind her.
"And don't come back until you learn something, my child!" He called out. She stood up and sulkily turned to walk away.
"What could there possibly be out here worth knowing?" She asked, sniffed, and walked off into the surrounding spring wilderness.
* * *
Quirks
* * *
"Well, this looks like as good a place as any," Montoko muttered to himself. His green shirt was dirty and his brown pants rumpled, but he was otherwise no worse for wear. He started a camp fire and set down the small deer he'd killed with his sling. He skinned and cleaned it, stretched the skin over a crude wooden frame and set the meat to cook.
He gazed around the small clearing he'd found, his mind wandering the places he'd been. He'd seen the world, although you couldn't tell by looking at him. He ran his hand through his steel grey hair, his brown eyes focusing on nothing in particular. His body was well maintained, but his face revealed him to be at least forty or fifty years of age. He turned back to the camp fire and started spicing the rabbit, turning when he heard someone walking through the woods.
"Um... Excuse me, good sir, but you wouldn't happen to be able to... Um... Share some of that delicious looking meal with a hungry young magus who could repay your kindness with... Uh... Services?" Reyhora asked as he entered the clearing, a little oasis of space in a dense forrest.
"I don't need a mage, kid," Montoko replied and returned to spicing the rabbit.
"But sir! I could do any number of things for you! Just let me have some of that," Reyhora pleaded, staring hungrily at the meat.
"What's your name, kid?"
"I'm Reyhora, and I'm not a kid," the young man replied.
"Sure, kid. Now, can you tell me why the hell I should want the services of a mage who can't conjure food?"
"Conjuring food, or anything else for that matter, is high level work!"
"Right, kid."
"What's your name, old man?" Reyhora asked.
"I'm not particularly old just yet, and it's Montoko."
"Why won't you share your food, Montoko?" Reyhora asked, staring intently at the sizzling venison.
"I didn't say I wouldn't, kid. I just said I didn't need a mage."
"But you..."
"Listen, I don't need some damn brat around to bother me, but it looks like you wouldn't survive a day in the woods without help. I'll save your sorry ass, just don't try to do anything, that way we might just make the next town."
"I can help, though!"
"Sure, kid. Here, the meat's done," Montoko said, pulled off the deer, and passed a haunch to Reyhora.
"Thanks," Reyhora muttered and ate what he was given. He then intoned, "Bed of Rest," and a large four poster bed came screaming out of the sky, smashing itself to pieces on the ground.
"What the hell was that?" Montoko asked, having jumped to his feat.
"It's a bed," Reyhora muttered, pushing the debris off the mattress, pillows, and bed clothes.
"I thought conjuring was high level work," Montoko said.
"I told you I was a magus," Reyhora said.
"Well, don't try to make another," Montoko said, unrolling a sleeping bag.
"I'll do better this time, though," Reyhora said. "Bed of Rest!" His call was answered by a pallet that appeared in the tree overhead and fell in a flurry of branches and leaves, hitting Reyhora on its way down.
"Lucky for you it wasn't as big as the last one," Montoko said, moving the pallet and putting his sleeping bag on top. "That'll be fine."
"Why didn't it work?" Reyhora asked himself forlornly.
"What, don't you know? I thought you were a bloody magus who provided such services," Montoko mocked.
"Alright, so I'm not very good at it. I'd like to see you do better."
"I don't have to; I'm not the magus."
"Right," Reyhora sighed and moved to his bed, lying under the white silk covers.
"Goodnight, kid. No more spells," Montoko said as he built up the fire and retired to his pallet in the circle of warmth and heat.
* * *
Reyhora found himself wandering the endless halls of some strange castle. He didn't know how he knew it was a castle, but it was, and he had to get to the centre to find something. It wasn't anything important, he was almost sure of that, but he was in the castle, so he ought to look. When he started hearing a voice, he wasn't sure what to make of it. It drifted down the halls seemingly from nowhere, but slowly growing louder: "...hello? Hello?..."
* * *
"Hello?" Toriana called as she saw the fire through the trees and walked towards it, her long white robe snagging on the trees and underbrush. When she finally entered the clearing, she saw the demolished four poster bed in the middle of the forest and that strange sign of civilization seemed wonderful to her. She then saw the two occupants of the clearing and smiled.
"Wow, there are really people here? Hi, I'm Toriana, a priestess in training wandering the world to seek wisdom and increase the glory of the three gods of all that is good, Eiloch, Terian, and Ailecarin, as you probably know. Who are you? How are you? Were you sleeping?" She spouted at Reyhora and Montoko as they slowly leaned up in their beds.
"What the hell was that?" Montoko asked groggily.
"I thought it was a beautiful woman, but then I figured I was dreaming," Reyhora mumbled a reply.
"Beautiful... Me? Oh, you're far too kind," Toriana blushed. "Now, really, why are you here? Who are you? And I'm sorry I woke you, but I'm not sure if you should be alone in the woods without a healer like myself around to help you, and really I'd like to be with someone because I'm not used to being alone... Is that food I smell?"
"I don't think you were dreaming, but I think she's noisy," Montoko grumbled, laying back down.
"Yeah, that's food over there," Reyhora gestured and a little dancing blue light flew over to the remains of the deer then burst into a puff of smoke.
"Oh, a magus! And you even smoked the meat so it would keep longer! What's your name?" She asked as she went to the remains of the meal and ate a good portion.
"I'm Reyhora," he replied.
"Oh, Ray, got it," she said brightly.
"I guess I can go by that," Reyhora mumbled.
"And you are?"
"Montoko," he said curtly.
"Monty, got it," she replied.
"Montoko. The whole thing," he growled.
"Oh, but Monty's so much better," she said and cuddled up to him. "Please let me call you Monty, please, please?"
"If I weren't sleeping, I'd beat you for that you damned fool. Now get off me."
"Alright, Monty," she said and got off the pallet.
"Well, I'm fine with Ray," Reyhora mumbled. "Bed of Rest," his words caused the ground to rise up and form a perfect bed with a mattress of moss and blankets of woven leaves.
"Why thank you," Toriana said, curled up in the bed, and fell asleep.
"Is she for real, kid?" Montoko asked.
"I think so," Reyhora replied.
"Damn. Let's get some sleep; tomorrow could be tiring."
"I'm not so sure about that," Reyhora said, and drifted off again to his strange castle.
* * *
"Montoko..." A voice drifted to him through the misty woods.
"Where are you?" Montoko called, looking around wildly. His face was dripping sweat and his chest heaved as if he'd been running for hours.
"Here..." The voice came from his right so he turned and ran, hardly bothering to dodge the branches that seemed to tear into him from every side.
"I'm not losing you again," he said, pushing himself to go even faster. Finally he made it to the edge of the woods and the fog parted, revealing a woman on the ground. She lay face up, her eyes half closed and her body broken and bleading.
"Here..." She said, blood trickling from her mouth.
* * *
"Reselika!" Montoko shouted and shot bolt upright, waking his companions.
"Who?" Reyhora asked.
"Oh, she must be the one Monty's saving, or avenging, or whatever it is he's doing in his quest," Toriana said.
"I'm not on a quest of any kind," Montoko said. "It's just... Look, just forget about it. It's ancient bloody history." He got up and looked at the sky. "The sun's about ten minutes from rising. I'll get us some breakfast, then we'll get going." With that, he left their little camp of ecclectic beds.
"Oh, thank you for this lovely bed you made me; it's great," Toriana said. "Although... Not to complain, but I really would have liked a four poster like yours, but beggars can't be choosers and this is a lovely bed, and then again your four poster is really sort of broken. Were you in a fight? But anyway, thanks."
"Um... You're welcome, and there wasn't a fight," Reyhora stood up, stretched, and looked around. "I wonder how long Montoko's going to be."
"I'm sure he won't be long, but you probably know better than I. I bet you two have known each other for a long time, right? You've probably been on all kinds of adventures and made the world a better place wherever you've gone," Toriana said.
"No, we just met last night," Reyhora replied.
"What? You just met? Then I came along on the very night of your meeting?"
"Yeah."
"Then it's fate, plain and simple. The gods have decreed that we shall wander the world together, a band of roving heroes who will right the wrongs and remove the people's woes!"
"Um... I'm not sure..."
"Now, now, you're a great mage and he's a great... Um... What does he do, again?"
"I think he grumbles," Reyhora said as Montoko returned.
"Oh, now there's some bloody gratitude. I go out to grab us some more food and when I come back I'm being badmouthed by a kid who can't even cast a damn spell right," Montoko snapped, hefting a large bag off his back.
"Oh, I'm sure Ray didn't really mean it; he was just teasing, is all. I mean, we were chosen by the gods to be together, so certainly they must know that we like each other and will work well together! And he can so cast a spell right, Monty; where else do you think I got my bed from?" Toriana asked.
"The same damn spell that gave me a pallet and him a four poster. I wouldn't stake my life on that kind of random crap," Montoko said, unloading some nuts, roots, and berries, which he passed to Reyhora.
"It still worked," Reyhora said sulkily as he accepted the food he was offered.
"And why the hell are we chosen by the gods?" Montoko asked.
"Why, I met you both the very night you met each other. The gods have decreed that we shall travel together and right the wrongs of the world as heroes!" Toriana exclaimed.
"I hate clerics," Montoko muttered.
"I know you don't mean that; you don't hate me," Toriana said.
"How do you know that? Did your damn gods tell you?" Montoko asked testily.
"No, I just know that you're a pure soul, or they wouldn't have brought us together," Toriana said.
"Right, pure as the fallen snow after a dog gets to it. Is this going somewhere?" Montoko asked.
"It's going wherever the gods decree," Toriana said.
"Um... Priestesses in training can ask things of the gods, right?" Reyhora asked before the conflict could go any further.
"Why of course I can, Ray, why wouldn't I be able to? Oh, you're just politely trying to say you want me to ask something, right? Well, ask away! You know I'll do anything you want; we're a team, after all, by the gods decree," Toriana looked at him, intently waiting for his question.
"Then ask them why the hell they chose us three," Montoko cut in.
"Well, that's obvious: we are to become the three avatars of the three gods of good! Ray, you're obviously Eiloch, the magus; Monty, you must be Ailecarin, the champion; that leaves me as Terian, the great goddess of love and peace and happiness... That's just wonderful, don't you think, that we could come together and be chosen by the gods themselves for whatever great fate they have planned for us; it's just remarkable!" Toriana gushed.
"You can't ask the bloody gods just to be sure?" Montoko asked.
"What, don't you believe me?" Toriana sounded crushed.
"Look, I don't go for this chosen by the gods crap," Montoko said simply.
"Oh, a crisis of faith! Fear not, good Monty, your faith shall be restored before the end of our holy quest, for that is the way of the gods!"
"Um..." Reyhora interjected.
"Oh, right, you wanted to ask something," Toriana said.
"Could... Could you ask them if it's my fate to become a mag... Could you ask them about our fate?" Reyhora stumbled over the words.
"Oh, an augury; you want me to be a prophet! I've never tried prophecy before, but here goes," she said, and sat down in her bed, closing her eyes and focusing her mind. The clearing fell silent as the wind stopped and the animals ceased their normal sounds. After a moment, the clearing darkened and Toriana began to glow, a powerful hum filling the air. Slowly patterns appeared in the dust, finally forming a map on the ground.
"What's that?" Reyhora asked.
"A map," Montoko replied.
"I-I know that," Reyhora said. "I mean, where is..."
"It's the hope pass, and the plains of the gods," Montoko said.
"That's where the gods want us to... I mean, they've never directly channelled through... I've never worked an augury before and... Wow!" Toriana was elated, and the light and hum stopped. A gentle breaze began to blow once more and the animals resumed their noise.
"Great. Just bloody perfect. We have a power tripping cleric," Montoko muttered.
"Isn't the hope pass guarded by powerful spirits?" Reyhora asked.
"I wouldn't buy into that superstitious bullshit if I were you," Montoko said.
"Why not?" Reyhora asked.
"What the hell does it matter now? We'll find out if I'm right when we reach the damn pass!" Montoko shouted.
"You mean you're going?" Toriana asked.
"I don't have much of a choice. But first I have to get something done," Montoko said.
"Let's head out now," Toriana said. "The gods want us to..."
"I don't give a damn what the gods want," Montoko said.
"But..."
"But since I know you're dumb enough to try it anyway, I guess I don't have a bloody choice, do I cleric?"
"Of course you have a choice! But it is by the will of the gods, so..."
"Don't give me that crap," Montoko cut her off.
"Then are, uh, we going?" Reyhora asked.
"Yeah, yeah," Montoko muttered and struck off into the woods. "But no more conjuring beds! Even if we survive the next casting, they'll be an obvious trail."
"Why would someone be following us?" Reyhora asked.
"Because the forces of evil lurk everywhere, and take every opportunity to try to stay the hand of good, but we'll outsmart and outfight them at every turn, proving the gods right for choosing..."
"I just don't like leaving a damn trail," Montoko growled. "Let's go! We'll just be making a little side trip, first. That is, if we want to survive the trip."
"If it's for the good of the quest, we'll do whatever you want us to," Toriana said, then tugged Reyhora's arm and added "right?"
"R-right," Reyhora said and walked after Montoko with Toriana, deeper into the woods.
* * *
"Why are we stopping here, Monty? It can't be late afternoon yet and you already want us to stop? I thought you said it was a long way to the Hope Pass; don't you want us to make it? I mean, it is our holy quest, after all, so shouldn't we..."
"If you'll wait a damn minute I can explain," Montoko snapped. They had traveled a fair distance and the trees had finally started to thin, leaving them in the midst of an idyllic pastoral meadow.
"Oh, sorry, go ahead, I shouldn't keep talking when you... Sorry," she said sheepishly.
"Alright, then. We're here because I need a weapon and this is the best damn blacksmith in the world," Montoko said, gesturing towards a large brick and mortar building that seemed entirely out of place in the countryside. "I told you about needing to make a little side trip, anyway, and this is it."
"Oh, right, okay," Toriana said with a quick nod.
"He doesn't have any magic supplies, does he?" Reyhora asked.
"None for you. I said he was good, not a bloody miracle worker," Montoko said. On seeing Reyhora's crushed look he muttered, "hell, it can't hurt to ask."
"Don't worry, Ray, he doesn't mean it when he says those things," Toriana consoled.
"Yeah, right," Reyhora sighed.
"Come on, kid. If you mope like that, you'll never get any better at anything," Montoko said and entered the store. The sign said 'Himoto's Shop,' adding underneath 'blacksmith supreme.'
"At least he's modest," Reyhora muttered and entered.
"You're both too cynical," Toriana chided as she entered the store.
"It beats being whiney," Montoko said. The inside walls were wooden, the planks well polished to bring out the grain. The walls were lined with shelves and pegs that held armour and weapons of a calibre not seen even in most courts. They all bore intricate symbols and patterns, some of them so complicated that it seemed a person could study one for a lifetime and still find new details.
While the others stared in awe at the contents of the store, Montoko shouted, "Himoto!"
"What is it?" A gruff voice came from the back room.
"Come on, you recognize my voice. I believe you pledged your undying gratitude, or some such crap," Montoko said.
"And I believe you told me to shut the hell up then left," Himoto laughed and stepped into the front room.
"Yeah, well I need to collect on it... I believe you mentioned something about your skills as an armourer and weapon smith," Montoko said.
"Montoko Dorioken... I'm glad you came back. A man hates to owe his life to someone indefinitely," Himoto laughed again. He stood behind a nondescript counter, much like any other storefront, with a half dozen cupboards and chests behind it. A door behind him led into a stone room that glowed a hot red.
"Well, what can you do for me?" Montoko asked.
"Walk on water, if you want," Himoto replied.
"Let's talk about something I can use," Montoko nearly laughed.
"You in the market for something in particular?" Himoto asked.
"Are you up to the project we discussed before?" Montoko's voice became deadly serious.
"As ready as anyone can be... Do they know?" Himoto asked.
"Not yet," Montoko said. "No need to discuss it until I know it's going to work."
"I can't make any promises," Himoto said.
"You couldn't fail if you tried; you're too damn stubborn," Montoko's voice softened.
"I guess that's one thing we have in common. Shall I take it?" Himoto asked.
"Here," Montoko pulled a cloth wrapped package out of his bag and passed it to Himoto.
"I'll start work on that as soon as you leave. If it's not done in a week, I can't do it," Himoto said, a hint of reverence in his voice as he held the rough woven cloth.
"Fair enough. I'm going to need a sword to get these two to the plains of the gods, and a wand for the kid here," Montoko said as if nothing had just happened.
"What was in the package?" Reyhora asked.
"Now now, that's his business, and I'm sure it's something that'll help us in our quest and the gods will reveal to us in due time," Toriana said, staring intently at the package as Himoto tucked it under the counter.
"For once I agree with the cleric. You'll know soon enough, if it works," Montoko said.
"Now, would you like to see everything, or just my special stock of weapons?" Himoto asked.
"The special stock," Montoko said. "The world's gone to hell, and I need one of your famous blades. You could cut the gods to ribbons with them."
As Toriana gasped, Himoto said, "they aren't as good as all that. But I do have some that might come close." He lifted a chest from beneath the counter and opened it, revealing a half dozen swords.
"Nice," Montoko drew one that glistened in the light like a diamond. He gave a few practiced swings and it screamed, as if the air itself were cut by the blade's passage. He then set it down and drew another; this one seemed to be made of wood. As he grasped it, the hilt moved to accommodate his hand and the blade grew longer, thorns bristling along its length. "Very nice," Montoko said to himself as he set down that blade and pulled one out that looked like a frozen piece of the night; a rift in the light of day. It dragged darkness behind it as it moved, seeming to rob the room of its vitality. "Which would you advise?" Montoko asked, looking at those he'd pulled out and those still left in the chest.
"Well, if you must know, none of these," Himoto smiled. "Did you forget the false bottom?"
"Of course not," Montoko smiled back and tapped the bottom of the chest in three places, sending a shelf sliding out of the bottom. "You finished it," Montoko said in awe, pulling out a glistening blade. The hilt was a golden dragon, the body as the handle with the wings as a cross guard and a curled up tale as the pomel. The dragon's mouth spread wide at the base of the blade, which looked like a gout of fire.
"That's my crowning work to date," Himoto said. "But you've given me a chance to better it," he added, gesturing to the package.
"It does everything you planned it to?" Montoko asked.
"Everything," Himoto said.
"Here," Montoko said, fishing out a bag of gold and tossing it onto the counter.
"That's far too much," Himoto said.
"Nothing's too much for this kind of weapon," Montoko said, sliding it into the sheath that had been next to it and strapping it to his belt.
"Err, excuse me," Reyhora said.
"Right. Do you have a wand or staff of some sort for the kid?" Montoko asked.
"What were you looking for?" Himoto asked, gently gathering the blades up into the chest and putting it back under the counter.
"Something for a beginner," Montoko said.
"Sure," Himoto said, opening a display case to show off countless charms, wands, and staves.
"Th-that staff," Reyhora stuttered, pointing to a plain length of wood.
"A common mage's staff," Himoto said. "You really are a beginner."
"It's that obvious, huh?" Reyhora sighed.
"I'm surprised, Montoko; you're touring the countryside with fledgling clerics and mages now?" Himoto asked.
"We've been charged by the gods on high to travel through the hope pass to their plains that we might know our fate and what we can do for the world," Toriana said elatedly.
"These damn fools would go with or without me," Montoko explained.
"Ah yes, and who the hell else would help them," Himoto imitated Montoko's voice.
"Something like that," Montoko smiled a bit and tossed another bag of coins onto the counter. "For the staff."
"You sure?" Himoto asked.
"What do you think?" Montoko asked.
"I think you're probably the most compassionate bastard on the planet," Himoto laughed. "Like I said, I'll be done in a week if I'm going to be done at all. But for that much money, I can't let you leave with that staff. Let me check the back room."
"Why does he have all these enchanted items? It takes a lot of magical aptitude to enchant things, not just being a good smithy," Reyhora said quietly.
"Don't look at me. I just know if you want something made, he's the one to do it," Montoko said. "Call it god damned blessing, or something."
"The gods don't damn people with their blessings," Toriana said.
"Ah, here we go," Himoto came out of the back room with a staff that looked much like the one Reyhora had pointed at, asside from a cloth strip near the top that held a single feather. "It'll do everything the one you wanted will, but the rest you'll have to figure out for yourself. If you're traveling with Montoko, I trust you're good enough to make it work."
"Th... Thank you," Reyhora said and took the staff.
"Now come on," Montoko said, neither confirming nor denying the praise. "We have a lot of ground to cover." With that, he led them out of the store, not even pausing to say goodbye.
"Are we going to go back to our quest, now? I mean, that took a while, couldn't you have just grabbed a sword so we could..."
"He's an old friend," Montoko said, adjusting the sheath on his belt.
"But the gods..."
"Can go fuck themselves. We'll get there soon enough," Montoko snapped.
"What was in the package?" Reyhora asked again.
"Like the cleric said, you'll find out soon enough," Montoko said.
"But why's it so important?" Reyhora asked.
"It doesn't matter. Let's get a bloody move on," Montoko growled and struck off into the woods.
"Yeah, we have to get to the hope pass as soon as possible! Then we'll be through that to the plains of the gods, and I'm sure we'll meet them and find out exactly what we have to do! Then we can save the world and be legendary heroes, so I can go back to the temple and..."
"Whatever," Montoko called back over his shoulder, and noticing how far ahead he'd gotten Toriana made a dash after him.

Well, you have an interesting beginning here, though I do have some suggestions...

It reads a lot like an RPG plays, you might want to try adding a bit more description. Also, your sentence structuring could use a little bit of work, though nothing glaringly horrible.

Moreover, when people speak, they don't just stand around, they have body language and mannerisms...nervous fidgeting, crossing arms, that sort of thing. It can really add characterization.

I'm going to read the second part, and move on to that, and give a bit more advice. It really is an interesting story.