I sighed as I set the Queen’s skull on the ground in front of me, then sat on its brow as a makeshift chair. Sierra and Drace were busy showing Donovan the remains of the camp, each poking through the fallen brush as they pulled free the remains of a scorched tent or a torn pack.
Amaranth replied.
The Puma sniffed the air in front of it.
Without a word the cat stood up and began to prowl around the camp, sniffing the air and pawing at the ground. Donovan looked at the familiar with a bit of nervousness, but Amaranth quickly circled the camp and left the clearing towards the east.
“Are we done here?” I called out tiredly to the group, though my attention was focused on Donovan. “We’re burning light and still have a long way to go.”
Donovan shook his head in despair. “There’s nothing here for me…”
“Yeah, let’s go home, Lyr,” Sierra breathed, echoing my exhaustion. “I think I’m done with this day.”
Home. Sierra’s comment echoed through my mind as we set off to Aldford.
Yeah, this is home now.
***
We returned to Aldford like heroes. Tired, dirty, grumpy heroes.
When we had left the village this morning, our armor was new, clean, with the pleasing scent of worked leather. Now it was tattered, covered in dirt, sweat, and bile. Each of us smelling like a charnel house.
Our journey back to Aldford was uneventful, if long. We took the dogleg path once again, traveling southward to the western side of Crater Lake and skirting the shoreline as we made our way back east. Burnt out from a day of nervous aggression, the majority of the Spiderlings nesting along the forest line were content to leave us be as we passed, the few that didn’t, we mechanically slew with barely a second thought.
As we climbed out of Crater Lake, we emerged into the final rays of the day as the sun began to set in the distant horizon. The sight of Aldford in the evening light warmed our hearts, giving us an extra spring in our step. Even from far away, we could still see villagers hard at work, intent on using every last second of light to finish digging the ditches around the village.
From what I could see at this distance, they had made great progress since we left. The first ditch was now filled with Tribuli, a formidable obstacle that no invader would be able to cross without paying a steep price in blood. The second ditch was well on its way to being completed, with perhaps another fifty or sixty feet left to be dug out.
I let out a sigh of relief that I didn’t realize I’d been holding. The village is safe.
“Halt! Identify yourselves!” An alert voice belonging to Ioun shouted from the distance.
“Ioun!” Drace shouted, a smile on his face. “It’s us!”
“Sir, you’re back!” Ioun’s voice exclaimed happily, then shouted something towards the village.
Immediately, we saw all the villagers laboring in the distance perk up, then speed towards the northern side of Aldford to greet us. Before long the entire village had turned out, excitedly waiting for our arrival.
We were greeted with exuberant cheers as we crossed the fortified northern entrance and entered Aldford proper. The militia greeted us with a formal salute, standing at attention in their fine new armor. I saw the Bann standing just off to the side, clapping along with the crowd, relief at our safe return evident on his face.
“The Webwood Queen has been slain!” I shouted, tossing the massive skull to the ground in front of the roaring crowd with a thump, sending up a small spray of dust. “The spiders of the Webwood will no longer threaten Aldford!”
The villagers cheered even louder, the good news causing them to temporarily glaze over the fact that our group had grown by two members, one of them being a giant azure furred puma.
“Sir, your guests!” Loren exclaimed after allowing the crowd to cheer for a moment, clearing eying my familiar as he shouted above the noise of the crowd.
“Ah! You’re right!” I knocked a knuckle to my forehead and indicated both Donovan and Amaranth to the crowd, enjoying the theater I was putting on. The cheers quickly faded as they spotted the wild cat, filling the air with a pregnant silence as some in the crowd took half a step back.
“Allow me to introduce a pair of new guests to the village!” I called out loudly to the village, making a point to speak clearly. “First we have Donovan Kaine, of the Eberian Mage’s Guild. He is of the same expedition as Natasha and was instrumental in the death of the Webwood Queen.”
I heard a few faint grumbles from the crowd with their attention still focused on Amaranth.
“Next we have Amaranth.” I indicated the puma, who flicked an ear at the crowd. “He is a creature of this land, and I have bonded him as my familiar. On my word, he will not harm anyone, save in self-defense.”
More whispers emerged from the crowd as they watched the azure furred cat intently.
“Furthermore, an item I feel that is important to point out. Amaranth is an intelligent creature and can understand every word we say. I ask that you treat him as any other member of our group.”
There was a pause of silence as the villagers absorbed that last bit of information.
“May I be the first to welcome you both to Alford!” Aldwin exclaimed as he stepped forward from the crowd before the silence could get awkward. I noticed a flare of recognition cross Donovan’s face as he shook the Bann’s hand, but the Bann didn’t seem to notice or respond in any way I could see.
Well… I wonder what that’s all about.
Aldwin then walked over to Amaranth, who had since sat down to regard the crowd around us. For a heartbeat, Aldwin seemed confused how to properly greet the cat but then held out a hand anyway.
To all of our amazement, Amaranth’s ears flicked twice in amusement, then he lifted a massive paw that enveloped the Bann’s hand.
I could not help but smile slightly at my familiar’s question.
I soothed.
Aldwin stepped back after shaking Amaranth’s paw and addressed everyone. “I suppose we can all turn in for the night now that our faithful adventurers have returned! I’m sure they’re more than looking forward to a hot meal, and rest for the night…”
The crowd let out another cheer, happy to be finished digging for the day.
“…along with a bath!” Aldwin coughed, close enough for me to hear. “Gods!”
***
After a quick dip in the river at Aldwin’s polite insistence, we soon found ourselves crammed into the Bann’s private study above the Town Hall to fill him in on our day. It had taken a bit of jos
tling to get the entire party, plus Donovan, Natasha, and Jenkins into the small room at first. Once we all sat down and stopped moving we each had enough space not to feel overly crowded.
I had explained our portion of the day first, giving the Bann the major highlights of our adventure along with the events surrounding Amaranth and the Spider Queen, leaving out the business about House Denarius for the time being, in addition to my suspicions of the ruin being a translocation hub. Those matters I planned to bring up without Donovan being present.
“…then the next thing I knew I was surrounded by spiders…” Donovan shook his head tiredly as he explained his half of the story. “…and lost five days in the blink of an eye. After that… well, all passed as Lyrian explained.”
“Were there no other clues at the camp, telling us what happened to the rest of our people?” Natasha asked plaintively.
“Nothing we could find,” I answered shaking my head, slowly stroking Amaranth’s fur. “Amaranth could smell goblins in the area, but there was no trace that anyone was killed at the clearing.”
“They may still be alive then…” Natasha said softly as she shook her head “…but why would the goblins take prisoners?”
“We don’t know,” Jenkins replied. “When they attacked here, they tried to do the same. They even had an enclosed wagon and horses to whisk everyone away.”
“Hang on, Goblins use horses?” Caius asked aloud with confusion. “Isn’t that… strange in itself?”
“Not particularly,” Aldwin explained with a shrug. “…during The War, it wasn’t uncommon to see a handful of Goblin archers on horseback supporting the Orcs. Truthfully speaking, we feared a dozen goblin skirmishers on horseback more than an equal number of Orcs on foot.”
“That is true.” Jenkins nodded in agreement. “There were a handful of goblin tribes that realized horses had more practical uses aside from food and glue. Hell, even some Orcs figured it out… when they could find horses large enough at least.”
“Well… uh.” Caius coughed at Jenkin’s explanation. “I didn’t think they were that smart.”
“They may appear to be primitive, savage even,” Aldwin spoke, his eyes recalling something from his past. “But they are far from stupid.”
“I suppose…” Caius conceded.
“Hang on a minute,” Sierra began, seeing an opportunity to jump into the conversation. “If they brought a wagon, that means they had an overland route to get it here. A wagon wouldn’t be convenient to pull over rocky or broken ground.”
“Hmm…” Jenkins grunted thoughtfully. “That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought of that.”
“That would discount Crater Lake and the surrounding forest to the northwest in the lower elevation,” I added, recalling the layout of the area. “Unless they cut a path through the forest we haven’t managed to come across.”
“Perhaps, but aside from the forest, the rest of the land is reasonably smooth, if hilly, in all directions,” Aldwin replied with a sigh. “The only real exception being much further to the west, where it eventually becomes a network of ridges and cliffs that make the land unpassable, at least by convenient means.”
“What direction did the goblins attack from again?” I asked Jenkins and the Bann. My mind was weary and it was difficult to recall the details of the last few days.
“They attacked through the gate with the bridge that leads over the river,” Jenkins replied slowly. “That would be the southeast corner of the village.”
“Then it would make the most sense that they came from somewhere from that direction,” I reasoned. “If their plan was to abduct everyone, they would have come the most direct way.”
“True,” Aldwin agreed after a moment of thought. “I would have done the same against an unsuspecting enemy. Speed would be essential.”
“Sure happened fucking fast…” Jenkins muttered under his breath.
“With the Adventurers a few days away and knowing nothing about the Goblins…” Sierra spoke up, nodding her head towards Constantine and Natasha. “We should set up some roving patrols covering everything from the southeast to the northeast.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said in full agreement. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and trip over one of the two groups early.”
“Great!” Sierra said happily. “The three of us will head out first thing in the morning.”
“Amaranth has volunteered to help as well,” I told the scouts. “You can arrange between one another how best to cover your ground tomorrow.”
Sierra looked at Amaranth with surprise, then nodded. “We’ll be happy to have him along!”
“How was the day here?” I turned to ask the knight. “I saw great progress on the defenses.”
“Indeed.” Aldwin nodded happily. “Everyone was quite motivated today, and a bit more experienced at the task, so we made exceptional progress. That’s even after Jenkins conscripted a pair of villagers to assist in his crafting of the Tribuli, and help repair the damage from the attack this morning.”
“Wait, there was an attack?” Donovan asked with confusion.
“Yeah…” Drace sighed, recalling this morning’s events. “An Ætherwarped spider invaded the village this morning…”
“…and two of us died in order to keep it from destroying the village,” Constantine finished tersely while looking at Donovan.
“Ah.” I could tell that new bit of information added to the weight Donovan was carrying. “I see…”
“You did what you had to, in the heat of the moment,” I told the mage, realizing it was time to put this issue to rest, then looked around the room as I spoke. “We sit here now with the luxury of hindsight, and we can’t truly say that we would have done it differently if we were in your shoes.”
“What is important is that we survived.”
“Indeed,” the Bann spoke with a nod.
“Thank you,” Donovan breathed with a sigh of relief as he stood out of his chair. “I appreciate your… understanding in this.”
Donovan swayed slightly on his feet as he turned to look back at the door.
“If I may beg permission to excuse myself for the night, I really must retire. I am no longer sure how long I’ve been awake and I feel like I may collapse at any moment.”
“Oh, certainly!” The Bann rose with his arm outstretched indicating the door as he attempted to walk around his desk, to find that any path out of the room was blocked by at least three adventurers. “Erm.”
“We could all probably use a bite to eat then some sleep,” Halcyon said hopefully. “We can all shuffle out if there is nothing else?”
“Nothing that can’t wait until morning!” Aldwin replied graciously. “After the day you’ve all had, I certainly won’t begrudge you some rest!”
As everyone rose and began to extract themselves from the room, I quickly signaled the Bann that I wished to speak with him privately.
“I’ll be down in a bit,” I told Constantine as he closed the door behind him, leaving only Aldwin, Amaranth and myself in the room. With everyone having left the room, Amaranth had chosen to curl up near the center of the study, no longe
r pressed against me.
“Is everything alright, Lyrian?” Aldwin asked while smiling at Amaranth then myself. “I didn’t expect for you to return with a… puma of all things! Nor the leader of the missing expedition!”
“It’s been an interesting day…” I replied with a sigh, looking at Amaranth settle into his new spot. “Do you know anything of Donovan? Or met him before?”
“Him?” The Bann shook his head. “Not at all. To be honest, he doesn’t seem to be the type that should have been assigned to lead such an expedition.”
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