Zeph slid the hospital door closed. This was the first time I could see the hospital from the outside and saw that it wasn't even that big. Just a medium-sized building with 2 floors.

"Well, that's that," Zeph said while walking over to me. "Time to visit the guard's house."

The hospital was situated on the main road that led to, and over, the bridge that the town was named after. The guard's house was about 15 minutes walking distance and was near the bridge to the west of the town's central plaza. It was relatively busy at the moment and as the morning sun was warming my skin, I looked at the people walking around.

The thing I noticed most, was that there seems to be a good balance on races. There were about as many elves as there were humans, which probably was the cause of the many half-elves. There were a few Ignisari as well, which surprised me a bit.

Those guys are far from home. I thought questioningly. Though that same would go for us, wouldn't it?

As we joined the people in the street I was reminded of my current wardrobe and got flustered a bit.

Come on! Get over yourself. I clapped my cheeks softly to get the thought out of my mind.

As we walked on, I felt some stares aimed my way and I had no idea how to deal with it. The new experience distracted me a bit. When we reached the central plaza Zeph stretched out his arm to stop me.

"Seems my individual control of both bodies is getting more instinctive," I said as I looked past Zeph.

We reached the central plaza with a small grass plane and a spire at the center. The spire had a square shape to it and was about 8 to 10 meters tall. It was made of some kind of limestone material as it seemed to be almost perfectly white. It had something inscribed on the 4 sides but I couldn't read what it said. When I walked closer I saw a plaque on the edge of the grass with something written on it.

"In honor of the founders and the protectors of this town. To the people that gave us a peaceful place and the valiant warriors that fought to protect it"

Well isn't that a cheesy text. I thought, pulling one eyebrow up.

Zeph started to walk around the plaza when he noticed the bridge. A bridge made out of Birch wood and was about 6 meters wide and 15 meters long. It still had a lot of the white bark on it that gave it a distinct look.

No wonder the town is called Birchbirdge. I started to chuckle when I saw a young man, I guessed he was not much older than myself, running along the riverbank. He wore scuffled old clothes and his hair was a bit of a mess. If you had told me he was homeless, I would believe you.

What is that guy doing there?

Then I noticed a small girl at the edge of the river, a little ahead of where the young man was running towards. She was sitting on a stone with 2 hands on her knees and ... is she crying?

The young man ran up to her and it looked like he was comforting her at first. After a minute he pulled back a little and held his hands out with the palms aimed towards the girl. A light blue glow started to swirl around her and became brighter with every second. Then a small flash of light made the glow disappear and he stood up and held out his hands.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The girl grabbed it and stood up wiping, what I could only imagine, the tears from her eyes.

"So there still are good young people out there," Zeph said with a little relief hidden in his voice.

"Sure looks like it. Seems the world is not yet lost" I said sarcastically. As if I would know the state of the world. Just a few weeks ago I left Silverdew Valley for the first time. Albeit not in the most ideal way. Nevertheless, it was good to see someone help the innocent.

"Come one!" Zeph said as he started walking towards the guard's house. "Time to visit that captain and tell him what happened."

As I turned to follow Zeph my eyes met the stare of the young man on the riverbank. That moment, for some reason, made me curious about who he was. The young man gave a soft smile when he suddenly looked back forward and started running away. I could not see where he was running towards nor could I see what scared him. I just hope it's nothing serious.

A few minutes later we arrived at the guard's house. On the top of the small stairs leading to the front door, was a man standing guard. We walked up to him and before the guard could say anything, Zeph came right to the point.

"Sir, we are the 2 that were brought into the hospital 2 weeks ago. The luminary said the captain would probably like to hear our account of what happened that day."

The guard looked at me with a puzzled look at first, then back to Zeph. Then he remembered what happened and his guard lowered.

"Ah, yes of course. Sorry that I didn't recognize you two. You look a lot better compared to when you were brought in. It is good to see you back on your feet." He said with a smile. "As your luck has it, the captain is inside, but he is getting ready for a patrol. He will be coming out here in just a minute so if you can wait a moment I will let him know you are here."

We nodded and the guard went inside. A minute later he came out again and said the captain would be with us in a minute. We just had to wait for a moment.

We decided to sit down on the stairs and wait in the warm morning sun. Closing my eyes I relaxed while Zeph kept looking around.

A sudden scream from a woman down the road towards the plaza pulled me from my almost meditative state. As Zeph and I tried to find the source of the commotion we saw a woman and a man on the ground with a group of...

My eyes grew large as Zeph and I stood up to run down towards where this was taking place. I didn't recognize those on the ground but the guys standing there, up in arms, were bandits with the same outfit as those that attacked us in the forest 2 weeks ago.

"What are these guys doing here?!" Zeph asked out loud running.

"Only one way to find out," I called out as we came closer.

"Move it woman!" one bandit shouted at the woman who was laying on the ground. "We are not here for you. We are here for that boy over there." He pointed at the young man who was laying there on the ground and out of breath.

He shoved the woman to the side while she was trying to stand up but fell over again and hit the ground face-first. The young man turned around with heavy breaths and an exhaustion on his face.

"Hold on!" I suddenly said to Zeph. "That is the guy from the riverbank."

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!" A bouldering voice suddenly shouted from behind.

Zeph and I looked back and saw a bear of a man standing there. He was about twice as wide as Zeph and his arms were full of muscle. No way that any of these bandits stood a chance. No wait, no one here stood a chance.

The guards he had with him surrounded the bandits immediately and arrested them in no time at all. Meanwhile, Zeph already turned around and ran to the guy on the ground while I ran to the woman who was shoved aside.

"Are you ok madam?" I grabbed her arm and helped her up.

"Thank you." She replied. "I think I'll be alright. Just a bit shaken up." A vibration in her voice confirmed that she had a good scare. I looked at her face and there was no sign of injury. When she finally stood up she was a bit shaky but overall she was alright

I walked over to Zeph when I was stopped halfway by the captain. This was the first time I noticed he was an Ignisari. Wait, not only that, he was my uncle.