William and his friends rushed through Everglade, drawing the attention of onlookers to their haste. The group’s various bonds flew above them and despite circumstances, William felt a flicker of joy seeing Echo in the lead. His attention was turned back to his surroundings just in time to sidestep a couple that hadn’t noticed his group. The pair startled at the sudden blur of motion passing by them. William waved his apology back and noticed that the uncertainty on Maya’s face had gone, grim determination taking its place. Around five minutes later, they were at the entrance and exit of Everglade. William smiled having noticed that the two constructs guarding it had already opened the way. He mentally thanked Wylton, intending to do so in person when he saw the Druid again.
They zipped out of Everglade and thanks to William’s [Cartographer] skill, were able to beeline to Greenwell. William mentally commanded Echo to scout on ahead and inform William if there were any men in yellow. William hoped beyond hope that they were able to avoid any unnecessary conflict and could be home soon. They would need to stop and regain their energy and breath multiple times along the way and unfortunately would need at least one night to set up camp and rest. Fortunately, the same restrictions should apply to the enemy too. No one would want to travel at night where ambushes could come from anywhere. Every moment counted, and William could be wrong and Stonegate might march at night, but that seemed extremely unlikely.
As the group traversed the brush, trees, and small trails that crossed their way, William wondered how they would go about protecting Greenwell from the soldiers of Stonegate. They wouldn’t have a hope in hell of winning a straight fight. The only feasible thing he could consider was evacuating everyone and leading them elsewhere. The glaring issue with that was where to lead his people. They had no working relations with Haven and if what they heard was true, then they wouldn’t be able to get to safety that way. Everglade wasn’t an option for the very same reason. If troops were on the way to Everglade, then they would be besieging the town soon. William anticipated it would start before they even managed to return to Greenwell.
The only place he could think to take his people was to the cave next to the Arcane Sword Dungeon he had stumbled on weeks past. That wasn’t great and not really defensible by any stretch of the imagination. If they were found and attacked by Stonegate troops, then they would be forced back into the dungeon entrance, which would be another disaster. What other options did they have though?
The group stopped after another twenty minutes of running. John and Jane were panting heavily, having pushed themselves harder to keep pace with William, Stacey, and Maya. Stacey had a bit more Dexterity than John or Jane simply due to having a higher level. The reward was a fast breathing, but not winded state. Maya and William were breathing faster, but were still visibly good to carry on. The party were able to find a small divot in the terrain nearby to take cover while they recovered their energy. William was reminded then that he hadn’t invited Maya to the party with his skill. He sent the request and a confused Maya accepted it, her eyes going wide with surprise and a shake of her head as the information presented itself. William smiled seeing that both he and Maya both had over eighty percent of their SP remaining. He gave a mental cheer for higher Dexterity, trying to keep his mind calm. It was tough. He didn’t know if his mother, Wallace, and the rest were still alive or if Stonegate had torched and slaughtered their home and people. Distracting himself, he focused on the bond with Echo and found that the little guy was constantly using his Echo location to try and spot anyone approaching. The other bonds of his companions were perched on a branch nearby, lazing atop it. His momentary peace was broken as Jane spoke, having managed to recover some energy.
“William. Mum, what’re we gonna do? What if she’s hurt… or worse?” Jane said, her voice dripping with worry.
William focused on his panicked sister and put a hand on her shoulder.
“Mum will be fine. Greenwell will be fine. We’re gonna make sure of that, okay? I need you to stay as calm as possible for me. We all need to be as calm and focused as we can,” William replied, keeping his eyes locked on those of his sister’s.
“W-what if she’s not though? William, she could be dead?”
“No. She’s alive. We’re gonna recover our energy for a few more minutes, then we’ll move onward. That’s all we can do right now. It’ll be alright, Jane.”
He then did something he hadn’t done in over a decade. William wrapped his arms around his sister and hugged her tightly. She froze in surprise for a moment, but sagged ever so slightly and returned the embrace. They spent the rest of the recovery time in that position, and once they were ready to continue, William pulled away, rising to his feet and commanding Echo to scout further ahead. He started to climb out of the divot, but heard Jane give her thanks in a subdued, but calm tone. Following William, they continued on their way.
The air was warm as they ran, the heat of summer beating down every so often through gaps in the canopy. William had to make them change course three times and rested four more times to avoid bands of Stonegate troops that Echo had spotted. As such, the changes in direction slowed the overall progress of the group. They hid amidst a cluster of brush to regain their energy once more, on edge due to the noise they would make if they moved. No enemies approached their area for the duration and the group continued forward. They only had to avoid two more groups of soldiers until Echo couldn’t find any more troops of soldiers. They were back on familiar, hilly terrain. The evening sky loomed in its warm array of colors. As they ran over hill after hill, the sky dimmed further, until twilight blanketed the sky. A fresh nightly wind washed over the hilly land, the few clusters of trees and brush rustling its verdant chorus. With darkness looming, only he would be able to see enough to navigate. They had lost a significant amount of time circumventing the enemy troops.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
The group stopped the group at the foot of a larger hill. They would be harder to spot from afar that way. Several minutes passed by as the group recovered their energy.
“What’s the plan?” John asked, holding hands with Jane after regaining enough air to speak.
William had been thinking about that exact question for a couple hours at this point. He decided to go with what he thought would be best.
“We should continue on. I can see in the dark, and the land should be somewhat illuminated by the moon.”
It was a crescent moon so was not impacting visibility much, but every little bit helped. Everything would be a dark silhouette and with the flora moving in the wind, a distant onlooker would struggle to see a group sneaking over the hills.
“We can’t see in the dark, William, if we continue running blind, we’ll end up hurting ourselves.” Jane said, skepticism plainly visible.
William resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and replied, “We won’t run, we’ll walk. It will be slow, but still better than stopping. If we get hurt somehow, we have you to heal us so its a none issue.”
“True, but what about my MP? I might need it if we get into a fight.”
William wasn’t worried about that, he had Echo to keep scouting anyway so they could flee with the cover of night if they ran into a big host of soldiers.
“We won’t. We need to at least reach the Sylvar Woodlands by daybreak. That should be within a few hours of walking distance from here. Trust me. We’ll be fine, but we need to make up lost time. Mum needs us.”
William felt a little guilty using his mother as a point for his argument, but he wasn’t lying; she would need them.
“We can put it to a vote if you want? I vote to keep going.”
Stacey chose to keep going.
John said that he would vote however Jane did.
Jane was deep in consideration, so William turned to look at Maya. She was part of the party and had as much input in this decision as any of them.
“What about you, Maya? You have the most scouting experience here, what’s your choice?” William asked, genuinely curious at the Scout’s thoughts.
Maya looked surprised to be addressed, maybe also to be given a vote, but she composed herself quick enough and replied, “Well, I would advise making camp without a fire as we are trying to hide and have no real cover for any light or smoke we produce. Your idea isn’t bad William, you make very reasonable points. The issue with night time travel is that plenty of beasts thrive in the night, and just because you can see, William, doesn’t mean others can. I highly doubt the Stonegate troops are moving around at night, especially as to them this region will be unknown land. I choose to rest.”
William nodded and looked back at Jane. He was tempted to change his vote as Maya provided solid insight, but if Jane chose to carry on, they would. He now partially wanted her to vote for resting.
It took a few more moments, but Jane came to a decision.
“We stay here. Maya is the expert here, so we do as she suggests. I want to help mum, but if the enemy are also resting, then our positions will stay the same.”
“Then we stay,” William said, sitting down, followed by a still standing Stacey and the two cuddled up together, pulling out some dried meat to snack on.
No one spoke for over an hour, each person lost in their own thoughts and fears. Night had begun in earnest and William’s group got some sleep, William willing Echo to warn them if he saw another creature approaching as the little guy had bundles of energy still.
Daylight began to brighten the land and the shift in brightness stirred William and his friends into motion. Light shone in through the open door to the tent. William was able to spot Maya doing some morning exercises. William assumed that she had opened the door and left it open. That was fine. They could set off after eating a ration of meat. With food in their bellies and adequate rest, they would make decent time on their return. A half hour later, the group were running through the hilly terrain, and having to stop quite often for John and Jane. They had a literal uphill struggle at the light running pace that Maya and William had set. It was late afternoon by the time they saw a large body of trees peaking over the top of the next hill. Several minutes after that, they were recovering under a thickly shaded part of the treeline. If they kept a good pace, they would be near their logging area within a few hours.
As they rested, a warning came from Echo.
“Everyone, get down. Four soldiers near us to the west,” William said, his voice a whisper as he pointed in the direction.
Echo was able to tell William that two had bows and two more held spears. Two Fighters, two Archers. He could take them. Having help would be grand too. He could target the Archers first, getting his friends to use ranged spells to attack the Fighters as Maya got up close to the fighters.
“Maya, when I attack, sneak attack the fighters. John, Stacey, use [Fire-Bolt] on the fighters. Jane, be ready to heal. I’ll attack as the signal,” William whispered further, summoning Sharpie to hand.
The presence of these soldiers reduced his hope for Greenwell’s well being, but he could persuade the sole survivor he would make to spill the beans.