by R. A. Mejia
The wagon begins to slow and comes to a stop. Allison, who’s driving the wagon, whispers to me through the boards that separate her and me, “We’re at the gate. We’re in line for inspection.”
I whisper back, “Ok. Remember the story, we’re just slaves being transferred to Restrian to help rebuild damaged buildings.”
I hear her chuckle before she responds, “Like I could forget. I came up with the cover story. You wanted me to tell the guards we were a team of Quidditch players, whatever those are.”
I pout slightly, “Ok, ok. Sorry.”
I still think pretending we are an international team of Quidditch player isn’t a bad idea. How was I supposed to know that it’s not a sport here? I mean, all the magic fantasy stuff sort of lends itself to the idea. Hmmm, maybe I could start a league? The only question would be where I’d get enough brooms and how to enchant them all to fly.
My thoughts about catching snitches are interrupted by a high pitched voice from outside the wagon, “Papers please.”
I hear Allison talk to the unknown voice, “Of course sir. Here you go.”
The other voice sounds bored as he asks, “Says here you’re transporting slaves? To Restrian?”
Allison answers quickly, “That’s correct. They’re supposed to work on some reconstruction there. We also have a few soldiers assigned to us for protection on the road.”
The other voice answers through a stifled yawn, “Hmm, Ok. Then we’ll just check the wagons against the paperwork, and you can be on your way.”
The sounds of footsteps approach the back of the wagon, and the door opens. I catch a glimpse of the outside and see that the sun it beginning to set. A middle aged man with salt and pepper hair and a clipboard looks over the group of people in our wagon. I make sure to quickly turn my gaze downward, affecting the attitude of someone that’s given up. I hear the guard counting and can only guess that he’s making sure there aren’t more, or fewer slaves than the paperwork says there should be. I wait patiently for him to finish while the slave collar around my neck chafes and the manacles on my wrists force me to hunch over. The tension is thick in the wagon. All the soldier counting has to do is ask a few questions of the people posing as soldiers in our wagon, and the jig is up.
Thankfully, he seems to be the incurious type and finishes his count and closes the wagon doors again.
I breathe a sigh of relief and hear the high pitched voice outside the wagon again, “Ok, here you go Miss. Your paperwork seems to be in order. My only question is where you got a giant from? Last I’d heard only one in the city was being held by Mr. Gerald, the auctioneer.”
I can hear Allison pause, likely thinking of some plausible story, before answering, “Oh, well, he’s the very same one,” she answers. Then in a conspiratorial tone, she continues, “Wasn’t there myself but the way I heard it, he was requisitioned by the higher ups to help with the heavy lifting and fortification of Restrian. Mr. Gerald wasn’t too pleased with the price he got for him though.”
The high pitched voice laughs lightly, “Oh, is that what happened? Mr. Gerald wouldn’t be too pleased after all the trouble he went through to get that brute in the first place. How’s that little lady keeping him from running off though? If I remember correctly, it took twelve men to bring in the city the first time he came through.”
In a worried tone, Allison responds, “Shhhh. Don’t mention her, please. She’s one of them blood mages. Don’t want to get her type annoyed.”
I can hear the man gulp. “No, no. Of course not. We don’t want any trouble from her sort. Does explain why the giant seems so docile though.”
Then as if remembering his duty to keep traffic flowing through the city gates he changes to a business like tone, “Ok, enough chatting. Move along, please. Thank you for your time. Have a safe trip.”
The wagon lurches as the horses move forward and we’re past the gates and on the open road.
Once we’re past the city gates, I get a notification.
You've completed the quest ‘Rescue the Restrians.' You receive 30XP.
Now that we’re out of the city I take off the manacles and collar around my neck and unlock everyone else. There are sighs of relief all around, and the people posing as guards change out of their armor into their regular clothes. I notice that they keep their weapons out. Good, they’re prepared for trouble.
I knock on the back of the wagon and yell to Allison, “Head north along the road for about three hours and pull over when we get to the forest. We have to pick up Mary.”
Allison responds with an ok, and we continue bouncing along the road. A few hours later the wagon pulls over and stops. The wagon door opens, and Allison greets us with a smile. “We’re here,” She says.
The other passengers and I are only too happy to get out of the wagon. This thing was not made with comfort in mind. While we stretch our legs, the other vehicles pull up behind us, and I see that the stretch of road Allison has pulled away from is a side path off the main road. There are no other travelers around, likely because of the approaching darkness.
I look back the way we’ve come and see the giant jogging figure of Gorbash. He’s not too far behind us, and his long legs almost match the pace of the horses. I laugh as he get closer because I see that he’s carrying Kitsune in the crook of his arm like she’s a baby.
When he slows down, I note that Kitsune’s pouting and has her arms crossed in front of her chest. The white hood of her cloak fell off sometime during Gorbash’s run, and I see her ears are stiff with embarrassment. When Gorbash arrives at the wagons, I hear her yell to him, “Put me down now Gorbash. We’re here with everyone.”
The young mountain giant complies and gently places Kitsune down on the ground. She dusts off her white cloak and the red kimono underneath. She looks around, then spotting me, walks over and asks, “Why haven’t you unlocked everyone yet?”
Oh, that’s right, I have the keys! Instead of answering her I jog to the other carts and open the wagon doors and unlock the chains and collars of each person that comes out. Many give me dirty looks at making them wait, but others are just glad to be free once and for all. Only once everyone is free can I take the time to look for Vrax. I find him standing next to Harold discussing what to do next.
“We get Mary and go find my tribesmen. They still need rescuing,” Vrax states while his tail whisks the ground agitatedly.
Harold argues back, “No, you can’t leave yet. How do you plan to find them? Where were they taken? You don’t know any of that. Come with us, and we can find a place for you to rest until you figure out where you’re going next.”
“Excuse me, have either one of you gone to get Mary yet?” I ask, interrupting their discussion.
From the blank looks on their faces, I can infer that they haven’t. I just shake my head and tell them, “Tell Allison that I’ve gone into the forest to get Mary and that I’ll be back soon.”
I leave the two to argue out the details of what the group of almost thirty people are going to do next. I follow a trail into the forest and up a hill. It’s starting to get dark and don’t want to lose my way, so I activate [Darkvision]. The special ability allows me to see in low light as if it were daytime, and even in full dark allows me to see in shades of grey.
The forest trees are much easier to navigate through, and I remember some of the landmarks near the last campsite we used. Walking through a group of trees I see the fire pit we dug and recognize our camp. I don’t see Mary anywhere and call out her name. I don’t get a response and hope that she hasn’t already left to infiltrate the city like we planned. There’s no way she’d know we were able to free the people taken prisoner this soon. I walk further up the hill to the bluff we used to check out the city. I call out to Mary again, but this time get a response.
“Shhh, I’m not deaf you know,” A familiar light voice says from the branches above me.
I look up to see Mary, lounging in the canopy of a tree, filing her nails. I wa
ve to her and say, “Hey, there you are. Aren’t you surprised to see me this soon?”
She blows some dust from her nails and answers, “Uh, no. I can see everyone that leaves the city from here. I knew you were on your way.”
I scratch my head in puzzlement, “Even if you could see people leaving the city, how could you have possibly known we were on our way? I was in the back of a wagon the whole time here.”
Mary looks down on me from her branch, narrows her eyes, and points at me with the file in her hand, “Hmmm, let’s start with all the damage and experience point notifications. They were my first clue. Then there was the notification that told me we’d completed the quest to rescue the Restrians. The final clue that you were on your way back? Gee, maybe that huge ass giant running in this direction? Only you could have made a friend like that.”
Oh. I hadn’t realized Mary would get all those group notifications this far out. I smile at the fairy in her black leather armor. “Oh, well then. I’m glad you didn’t try to sneak into the city at night like we’d planned.”
She nods once. “Yeah, that would have sucked if we’d missed each other and you had to go back to get me.”
Giving her a lopsided grin, I add, “Uh, yeah. I’d totally have gone back though.”
Mary rolls her eyes then points to the now dark landscape and city in the distance, “If I may ask one more question though? What are you planning on doing about all those soldiers riding this way?”
I turn around and look into the dark, my [Darkvision] allowing me to see rather well in the light provided by the stars above us. I see two rows of bobbing lights heading in this direction. My eyes widen when I realize that those lights are soldiers mounted on horses moving this way. They’re still at least an hour behind us, but they’ll catch up if we don’t get moving again. I turn to head back down the hill, and Mary flies out of the tree onto my shoulder. She conjures a globe of light that illuminates the path ahead of us as we race down the hill to warn the others.
Chapter 2.1
Mary and I make it down the hill in record time. Arriving at the bottom of the hill, I see people milling around a campfire and turn off my [Darkvision]. The faces of the people we’ve rescued are illuminated by firelight. They’re smiling and talking, completely unaware of the approaching danger.
I wave my hands to get everyone's attention; a few people look up from their conversations to see me approaching from the dark woods, illuminated by Mary’s magical light.
“Everyone to their feet!” I yell. “We have to get out of here.”
Allison and Kitsune get up from the log they’re sitting on and run to meet me.
“What’s the matter?” Kitsune asks with a note of alarm in her voice.
“Soldiers…coming from Valse. They’re on horseback and heading straight here.” I answer, panting slightly.
“So what? They could be out on patrol,” one of the citizens from Restrian says.
Allison turns and shushes the voice with a wave of her hands, “Don’t be silly. No sane commander would send a mounted patrol out at night. Too much risk of the horses breaking a leg in the dark. No, the only reason soldiers would be out at night is if they were hunting someone.”
“Like some slaves that freed themselves and killed a bunch of guards and soldiers on their way out?” Mary adds with a sarcastic tone.
“Oh, Mary. It’s a pleasure to see you again. I’ve missed your…wit.” Allison says to the fairy on my shoulder.
“Yes. Yes. Kitsune, everyone. This is Mary. Mary, this is everyone.” I say with exquisite politeness, then add with more urgency, “Can we please decide what we’re going to do now? Those soldiers aren’t that far behind us.”
“Well, that’s something Vrax and I have been talking about actually.” A voice says. I look around but don’t see the speaker.
“Down here, dammit!” The voice adds. I see a shuffle of bodies move as someone tries to clear a pathway through the crowd of people that have gathered around me and I hear the voice say, “Stupid tall people, always getting in the way.” I look down and see Harold and Vrax emerge through the crowd.
Harold looks annoyed at the taller people around him. He then straightens his tan vest, brushes off some dust from his trousers, and approaches. “As I was saying. Vrax and I have been discussing this exact question. What are we going to do? We’ve come up with three possible destinations for us to travel. The first destination is Secundum, a town north of Restrian where we can take refuge. It’s not under the control of the Imperare Empire. From there people can head farther north into the Aragorian Nation or anywhere else they’ll feel safe. The second destination is Monstrum. This destination is more of an option for the non-humans among us as that kingdom is made up of the races that have been displaced or exiled from their homelands. The third destination is south, through the Imperare Empire’s territory, to the plains of the beastmen. I believe that is where Princess Kitsune originates from.”
Vrax looks at me and says in a pleading voice, “We still need to find my tribesmen and the people who attacked us.”
I nod gravely at my friend, take Elder Xichion’s staff out of my [Inventory], and hand it to him, “I killed the man who ordered the attack on the tribe and I think I have the information we need to find the ones they took. However, I’ll need time and a place to sort through all the documents. I don’t know for sure where they were sent. It could be anywhere.”
The kobold looks down at the staff, tears in his eyes as he hugs the staff to his chest. He looks more hopeful than I’ve seen them since we found the ruins of his home. “Good brood brother. You have taken vengeance for the tribe. Now we will find the stolen ones.” He says this last part as if it’s a foregone conclusion.
I can only marvel at my friend’s tenacity. I don’t know if I’d be handling it so well if everyone I knew was either dead or enslaved somewhere. Yet my kobold brother seems to have a hundred percent faith that I’ll help him get everyone taken back.
I pat Vrax on the shoulder and tell him, “That’s right. I killed the bastard that hurt the tribe just like I promised, and I’ll get back our tribesmen too.”
“Well, it’s good to know what you’re going to do but what about the rest of us,” A voice from the crowd yells.
“Yeah, what about us?” another person shouts out.
I put my hands up to quiet the growing murmurs of discord. “Look, you’ve heard Harold’s ideas. I think they’re pretty good options. None of them guarantee safety, but at least they’re clear destinations.” I point to one of the now empty wagons, “Anyone that wants to head north to Secundum gets in that wagon and leave now. You might have to ditch the wagon and travel through the forest on foot at some point, but you should find safety there. I know that other refugees from Restrian have gone there.”
Pointing to another wagon I continue, “Anyone that plans to head to Monstrum, take that wagon. My group will be taking the third one.”
I hear a rumbling sound and look up to see Gorbash looking down at me with a questioning look. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, bud. Almost forgot about you.” I think for a moment before saying to him, “I’m afraid you’re just too big to travel with any of the wagons. You’d give everyone’s position away. I think you should head north to the mountains. There should be plenty of places for you to hide once you’re there. There might even be other mountain giants there.”
The giant looks sad at having to leave everyone, but I genuinely can’t think of anything else for him to do. The top of his head already clears most of the trees in the forest here. He’d be a beacon for any soldiers looking for us.
Gorbash’s shoulders sag, and he has a concerned look on his face. However, he turns north without another word and walks off into the dark, following the main road.
The rest of the people in the area start to separate themselves into the groups that will be traveling to different destinations. The women that Kitsune freed from the harem all seem to want to come with us. However, Kitsu
ne refuses them. Instead, noting the high possibility of being recaptured if they travel in such a large noticeable group through enemy territory. The women reluctantly move off to the other two wagons.
After a while, Allison approaches me and tells me that no one wants to go to Monstrum or south through the Imperare Empire. So two of the carts are heading north to Secundum. Harold goes with them, leaving just Kitsune, Vrax, and I to travel together. We say our goodbyes to our friends from Restrian, and two of the wagons pull onto the road and head north.
I climb onto the driver’s bench of the last of the wagons and take the reins in my hands. The feel of the leather reins feels strange. I’ve never driven a wagon before, and I’ll admit I’m worried. While I’m admitting things to myself, I also have some reservations about heading south. We’ll be driving directly into the path of the oncoming mounted soldiers, but I don’t really have a better idea. That’s the most direct path to…where? The kobolds? I’m not even sure they were sold to someone in the Empire.