Reunion

Chapter 173

It took a few hours and a great deal of repeating himself for Ban to get everyone in the camp on the same page. Ewen and Joss might have helped, but they were busy carrying goods from the cart. They’d expected things would be bad, but they’d underestimated how much worse they could get.

A tarp was suspended above and a fire lit before the rain started coming down properly. It was a bit of a risk, but they had injured and sick to be tended to. They needed the heat as much as anything so the light stone wasn’t enough. It did prove handy to check over everyone in detail though.

“Yours is a strange kind of luck, getting chased like that but finding magic rocks,” Gretch offered with a wet laugh. As the oldest of the elders she held a position of respect but her mind was a bit gone so she didn’t often weigh in on decisions. With the wet in her lungs and a turned ankle it was a small miracle she’d made it as far as she did and Ban was glad for it.

“We found more than that,” Ban said with a chuckle as he offered her a potion. It was another thing he’d been leary of accepting from Deux, but hadn’t been able to refuse. He’d accepted three for physical injuries and four for disease along with a barrel of a tonic that tasted like cider. The cider was being passed around freely while Ban figured out who needed the most urgent treatment.

Thankfully nobody else had been seriously ill. He couldn’t have justified prioritizing Gretch otherwise. What might have become a death sentence under other circumstances was now just a minor inconvenience. She could ride in the cart while her ankle mended along with a few others with similar injuries.

“Hari dead then?” Gretch asked. Her tone was conversational despite Hari being her own grandkit. She’d lost her own children and taken care of the clans orphans along with a few other elders. She’d seen too much of death for it to strike as hard as it should have. As it would have if it were a rare thing.

“No, she’s just waiting on us to bring you to her,” Ban said. Gretch relaxed a bit at that, giving away that she wasn’t as calm as she seemed. “She’s helping plan where we’ll live, or she’d have come with us.”

“Well, that's sensible. Bunch of bucks wouldn’t know the first thing about digging a proper warren,” Gretch said with a laugh. She paused then, looking confused and touching her chest as she took a deep breath.

“Not just rocks,” Gretch said, looking Ban dead in the eyes with a grin as she did.

Finished helping Gretch, Ban joined in on hauling the last of the supplies they’d brought. They’d been carrying cargo in the rain as they were the two most able bodies available.

Even with a tarp and fire, the majority of the band spent the night uncomfortably damp and cold. They weren’t hungry though, which made it better. In the morning they seemed almost cheerful.

With everything going on Ban realized he’d forgotten something. He took a moment to take Ewen and Joss aside.

“Either of you see Elim last night?” Ban asked.

“No, but we weren’t looking either,” Ewen said. Joss just shrugged.

Ban didn’t distrust Elim, but was a bit concerned that he might eventually wander over looking for them. He honestly should have taken a moment the prior night to make it clear that he needed to stay put.

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“Joss, go let him know we're alright and to stay where he is or go to the cart for now,” Ban said. Though not the best tracker, Joss would likely be able to find Elim without much trouble. Unless he’d gone wandering already, he’d be nearby which would make the rain less problematic.

Once Joss was on his way Ban and Ewen got going on preparing breakfast from the provisions they’d brought. A task that others stepped in to help with since they had fifty to feed and preferably quickly. The last of the tonic was passed around in the meantime.

Joss was back by the time the food was done with. The elders gathered, though everyone was sitting as close as they could to hear what had happened. They didn’t often carry on council behind closed doors often and the situation called for even less privacy than usual.

“So Hetcha wasn’t wrong?” Artem asked. He was the eldest of the bucks among elders, though not nearly so old as Gretch.

“No, if anything she didn’t do the place justice. It's a good valley surrounded by a natural stone maze and on the other side of the coral sands. Not a good place to attack and easy to hold,” Ban replied.

“Enough room for us all?” Jalla asked. The other doe’s looked to her, it had likely been the most pressing question on their minds.

“More than enough, and… I don’t exactly know what some of them are, but the human townsfolk there aren't fully human. The rest aren't even part. There are bouncy little folk with tails called halflings, and others,” Ban explained. The elves had been the more diverse group and a little hard to explain. The dwarves would just sound like short humans so he left off trying to describe them at all. One had to see them to properly appreciate that they were in fact different.

“Fine, but are they really going to just let us live there? Just invade their town?” Sellus asked. She was pinched looking and had a pragmatic streak that could make her seem bitter. Ban was rather glad she’d asked so soon. The quicker the serious questions were gotten out of the way, the better.

“We’ve been invited. And yes, before you ask, there is a catch,” Ban explained. He took out the copies of guild posting he’d brought with him and passed them around. “Behind the town itself is an old mine where a dungeon was discovered. Some people fled, others decided to take advantage and are forming a guild to gather resources from it.”

“That's a mad thing to do,” Artem said in shock.

“Perhaps, but I’ve taken the test they set for those who are interested. I made the lowest ranking, and only because I wasn’t outright disqualified. They’ve attracted people with heroic classes there and they are looking to recruit and train anyone interested,” Ban countered. He couldn’t say it wasn’t mad, but the guild was thorough. They were being as careful and organized as possible in their insanity.

“We’d have to join the guild then? Go in a dungeon?” Artem asked, looking ill.

“No, because it's not just the adventure guild that needs people. They’ve got lots of apprenticeships and work to go around thanks to people leaving. The Mayor has pledged to help us find opportunities that suit us best. The town needs people,” Ban explained.

“Well, let me know when you're all done dithering about it. You had me as soon as you described a natural fortress guarded by mountains and a desert,” Gretch chimed in. Subdued laughter followed that.

“You’ve given us a lot to think about,” Jalla said. That was normally the end of a matter, but Ban was feeling impatient and reached into the collar of his tunic to draw out a pendant on a piece of leather. His copper tag and the blue fighter's stone glittered as he tossed it to Artem.

“There's one other thing, I’ve seen the temple to Lorel myself,” Ban explained. Ewen and Joss looked at him in surprise.

“I took Hetcha aside when she came and asked after it. Then I went looking for it when I had a moment alone in the valley. I don’t know if the townsfolk know of it or not, but it is definitely there,” Ban explained. The pendant carried a small likeness of Lorel with her spear, the backside had the world eater's head on it. He’d found it in a bowl of them near the door as he was leaving. Possibly tokens for the faithful once upon a time.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” Ewen asked, sounding offended. That didn’t stop Artem from passing the pendant around.

“Because if they didn’t know about it, I didn’t want them to find it because the lot of us were sneaking around to visit it,” Ban replied honestly. He trusted Ewen, but it would have been a profound temptation.

“Also, if Joss had caught us everyone from there to the sea would have known about it,” Ban added.

“Fair,” Ewen replied, mollified.

“Hey!” Joss said in offense.