“So, the fighting is over? Are you sure it’s safe to come home?”

“That’s what Myre-bird showed me. Some mounted men attacked the raiders from behind, killing some and forcing the rest to flee with the aid of fighters from the village.” Myrelin answered Nenya.

The three of them had diverted from the path the girls had originally taken when fleeing from the village. Their new route instead approached their home from the side bordering the river which let them stay out of sight. Nenya had insisted on doing so saying that it would allow them to properly assess the situation. The mixture of hope and suspicion in her voice was obvious but Myrelin paid it no heed since it gave him time to make some preparations of his own.

As they approached the outskirts of the forest, Myrelin completed the project he had been working on. It was a quick and dirty solution to defending himself against physical attacks. While he was confident in avoiding or outfighting most forest predators, be they mundane of supernatural, given ample warning. Especially so with Mother’s protective blessings woven into his cloak. Nenya’s punch had awakened him to the fact that those protections were not without limitations.

So, on the way back to the village, Myrelin had devised a series of defences that he hoped would serve him well. First was a thin, invisible film of water and wind magic that was anchored to his form. It carried a set of passive enchantments inspired in part by the blessings on his cloak. They were designed to turn aside blows both physical and mystical in nature, hopefully causing attacks to slide off of his body without causing harm.

The enchantment also incorporated a spell designed to enhance his health and stamina allowing for a mild regenerative effect. That had caused the bruise along his jaw to rapidly fade away. Unfortunately, he could tell that in its current form, this defence would only last a couple blows before failing which is why he’d developed a second layer of protection.

The second defensive layer was an evocation tied to a modified spiritual warding. The modifications allowed the spell to hold secondary enchantments in addition to a conceptual protection against harm. Should it all work as intended any attack on his person would run into a conjured barrier formed from a hollow shell of iron two fingers thick and six paces in diameter. To his mystical senses it felt as an immaterial dome was suspended just above him. There was a curious feeling of metaphysical weight waiting to fall into place.

He could already see the problems with it though and resolved to put together something better for his protection. Sometime later, when he wasn’t tromping through the woods with company. For the moment however, he felt confident in having a deployable barrier that would definitely stop most mundane attacks short of anything possible by siege weaponry. The largest drawback though, was that he'd be trapped in place when the barrier materialized. As they drew closer to the river, he ceased his efforts to adapt the barrier into conjuring floating shields and focused on the task at hand.

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The river reeds rustled in the wind as they exited the trees. A feathery light susurration that intertwined with the sounds of life that carried from the village just across the water. The reeds and forest undergrowth gave the greatest amount of cover to mask their movements and the three youths took advantage of that fact, creeping forward until they stopped just before the slope leading down to the watercourse.

The area about them was covered in olive-green stalks topped by swaying tawny heads. The village of Afon’Ddu shared its name with the river that had helped fuel its growth as a trading outpost built on a river-crossing. The fording that was originally used by travellers passing through the area now hosted a sturdy stone bridge built a hundred paces from where the they were currently hiding.

The three crouched there among the bushes for a time and gazed across at a collection of houses built upon raised foundations, a feature necessitated due to the seasonal floods. The buildings had seen better days but Nenya could see that things were as Myrelin had stated, the battle appeared to be over. Better yet, she saw with her own eyes the familiar forms fellow villagers moving materials atop a roof, likely repairing damage done to it.

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The group moved slowly toward the bridge keeping an eye out for any sign of a trap. Myrelin, having already scouted his surrounding, paid more attention to the scenery. He could clearly see the palisade wall of the village from where they were walking. It was a high wooden wall with an abutment of earth at its base fixed in place against erosion by the elements using hedges of crimson spine that must have been planted by the villagers.

Myrelin internally noted that the poisonous plant’s presence was probably a measure meant to dissuade magic beasts seeking to enter the village. The toxin secreted by the thorns and the plant's distinctive red leaves was something that even a morbriosca would be wary of. In humans, it was capable of near instantly inducing crippling pain and hallucinations that lasted for days. Most forest predators preferred to simply avoid approaching such bushes altogether.

Looking further, he could see pasture and farmland downriver. They were sectioned by hedges of the same crimson hue as those at the base of the palisade. Dotting the landscape were a few watchtowers. They were more likely meant to serve as lookouts against magic beasts seeking an easy meal than as a defence against human raiders. Out in the distance, he could also see what looked like a sawmill with an attached waterwheel that turned slowly in the water current.

The three exited the swaying reeds and stepped into an area where the plant growth had been deliberately cut away. They were now in clear view of any watchers overseeing the approach from the bridge. A cry of challenge soon came from the village gates where two groups of armed warriors stood guard. One group wore leather armour over woolen clothing while the other had blue tabards on what looked like mail and padded tunics. Besides the two groups was a collection of horses that some of the latter were in the process of grooming.

The warriors tending to the horses had tensed at the shout but soon calmed as a man in leather armour said something to them. They continued their work as the man dressed in leather strode forth to greet them.

“Nenya, Myra! Thank the gods! Are you two alright?”

“We’re fine! Reece, Mother and Aunty Elen decided to bring the hunters back to help when we heard the alarm.” Nenya answered.

She clasped the older man’s arm in greeting as she asked hurriedly, “Are they safe?”

“Aye lass,” he replied.

“They came back in time to ambush the bastards from across the river, picked off the ones trying to climb the wall.” The man, Reece, said as he motioned behind him.

“Not that climbing it would have helped them.” He finished with a knowing grin.

Shifting his head to look behind the man, Myrelin could now see that beyond the gates was a wooden drawbridge set across a dry moat separating the palisade he had observed from a second inner wall. What he had assumed to be houses built close to the wall turned out to be covered walkways that ringed the inner defences, allowing archers to fight from the platforms.

His lips twitched as he noted that some enterprising soul had planted the same poisonous thorn bushes lining the base of the outer wall down in the ditch between the two structures. He raised his eyebrows when he realised that the drawbridge seemed to be built from two hinged sections. It was designed in such a way that cutting the ropes used to pull it up would instead cause the structure to collapse into the moat. The contraption looked strong enough to bear the weight of men and loaded wagons but he wouldn’t trust the ropes with a heavy load after the battle that had just occurred. That probably explained why the horses remained outside the gates.

In the meantime Reece’s grin had shifted into a thoughtful frown.

“Alwen and Elenwyd said that they’d sent you two on to the hunter’s camp.” He told them, “They had to wait while the chief met with our guests,” a hand motioned to the men tending to the horses, “But they were going to come get you right after. What are you doing back?” He questioned as his eyes settled on Myrelin.

“And who’s your friend?”

Myrelin smiled at what seemed to be his cue.

“I bid you greetings, my good sir. I am called Myrelin, a traveller of the wilds.” He bowed with a flourish, “I happened across these two fair maidens being chased by men of ill repute and sought to lend my aid.”

Rising and giving the bemused man a guileless smile, he continued. “Upon hearing of their plight I found myself moved by their most vigorous, passionate pleas-Mmph!“

Slapping a hand over the druid’s mouth, Nenya interrupted with a glare, saying. “Found a crazy druid in the woods, he fed the raiders chasing us to his pet morbriosca. We brought him back to help.”

Seeing Reece mutter ‘fair maidens’ under his breath while looking her way dubiously, she glared harder.

“The end!” She growled through gritted teeth.

At her side, Myra sighed in despair. "Let's just go in, we'll explain to Aunty Elen and Aunty Ally when they get done with their business Reece. He's a druid and here to help, where are the injured?" She asked as she walked past them gently leading Myrelin away.

"Oh, and tell anyone you send out to avoid the western part of the forest for a while, there's a morbriosca sleeping off a large meal."