Alaric’s POV:
It has been thirty-eight days. Thirty eight days since my life had turned upside down and I have become the sole survivor of our encounter within the magical cavern. Even now, the images of that fateful day are burned into the back of my retinas whenever I close my eyes. However inadequacies they might have had, both my birth parents had died a gruesome death that day right along with my unborn sibling. I can still see the image of our guide Gunther, who stood in front of me protectively with thorny vines binding his legs to the ground and his intestines falling out through the cut that bisected him and ended his life.
However, in the whiplash of emotions I was experiencing, beyond all the sorrow and horror was the overwhelming guilt and self loathing I felt for the death of my closest friend and brother in all but name Wilbur. My mind still replays the exact moment scene by scene, the moment my knife plunged into his thigh, the scene of his lifeblood spurting across my face. My memories dredge up moments of Gunther stabbing him through the heart and me wishing Gunther dead, the exact same man who stood protectively over me even in his death. These days my nightmares primarily consisted of me stabbing Gunther and Wilbur, and their lifeless faces asking me why.
I still do not know how I found myself at the base of the hill that day in that cavern. In fact my memories are blurry after that. I just remember realizing I was alive and then the next moment I was running through the forest without any direction. And now it has been thirty eight days since then. Thirty eight days of nightmares every time I close my eyes and wandering lost in the woods of Pinecrest peaks when I am awake.
I had only stopped my outright sprint for survival when the embers of daylight had crested over the horizon that fateful day. I survived the next week only due to my water crystal embedded waterskin, and the weeklong worth of dry rations that somehow survived my doomed encounter. Out in the wild I tried to dredge up whatever knowledge of plants and wildlife I had. That is when I realized my only survival knowledge consisted of the chats I had with the deceased Gunther and the Dusty Wanderers during our short period of acquaintance.
By week three, I had started resorting to eating grasses, insects and whatever berries or recognizable herbs I could find just to survive. That was also when I realized that even water crystals could run dry and needed to be recharged with natural water sources at regular intervals. Which led me to week five, as my dirt packed body followed the only brook I could find, hoping for it to lead me out of these twice damned woods. At this point only sheer willpower at the knowledge that I am the sole survivor, and that I should not waste my blessing, when so many others did not have the chance of being alive kept me going. And today on day thirty eight I found myself at the edge of the woods with the first signs of civilization I could find in over a month.
With all my strength I ran over the fields, waving my hands at a man trudging towards the woods carrying an ax. “Help!!” I cried in a hoarse voice unused for over a month. “Help!! Help me!” I cried and saw the man turning towards me. With overwhelming relief that my current ordeal was probably over, blackness spread across my vision and my body slumped forward.
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The next four days consisted of me lying in the house of Logan, the Woodcutter who found me, and fighting against fever, while the village doctor made herb connotations for all the infected cuts and wounds I had accumulated over the course of my wildlife exploit. According to the doctor I was severely malnourished and under long term stress, which led me spending the two days after my rescue mostly unconscious. By day five I had enough strength and bearing to enquire information. That is how I found out that I was currently in Oakfell, a village at the border of Eckador around a three week carriage ride away from my hometown, Kurt.
Being a merchant’s son had its benefits, even when I was fighting for survival in the wild I still had a few pieces of silver tucked away amongst my clothes. After careful calculation I realized that they would get me at most three fourths of the way back home, I would have to hike for the rest of the way.
Thus after a few more days of rest and recuperation, I compensated Logan and his family with a broken piece of silver for all their help and care in this one week, and started preparations for my way back home. After purchasing all the supplies I could get my hands on, I got myself a ride in a donkey cart to Willowford, a bordertown in Eckador. According to Logan I should be able to get an affordable coach ride to Alderia from there. The ride would take me till the town of Briarstone, which should be a week's travel on foot away from Kurt.
The journey went mostly as planned if you exclude my supplies being stolen a few days to Briarstone as a normal occurrence. The last of my money was used to resupply myself with some meager rations. As I neared the end of my journey I ran out of food, and the last few days of my way to Kurt were intermittently spent begging for food now and then. It was funny for me to realize that actions thus, which I would have abhorred in the past, did not produce much of a psychological hindrance after my foray into the Wild. And if one thinks deeper on the subject, one will not find this realization a huge surprise, for when a person is desperate enough to eat even raw insects to survive in the wild, what is the use of a bit of dignity while begging others for food.
All in all, I found myself before my doorsteps sixty nine days after my bloody encounter in the magical cavern. Seeing the familiar surroundings of my home almost brought tears into my eyes. “Aaahhhhhhh!!!” I shouted releasing my pent up emotion from these two months. Meeting the eyes of the startled doorkeeper, I wanted to hug the grumpy grouch. Even the disapproving face of my legitimate mother who came out after the commotion I made, did not bring me down from my high. “Mother!! Mother, I am back, I am alive!” I shouted and tears started flowing down my face this time for real.
“What happened to you? Why do you look like this? And where is your father and the others?” Cassandra started her rapid fire questioning after giving me a searching look. Perceiving myself from her point of view, I looked at my dusty appearance, gaunt skinny frame which never fully recovered from my foray into the Woods and my haunted looks with tears streaming down my face, I could understand where her inquiries were stemming from.
“Come in.” she told me as she led me to the large marble foyer in our three story mansion. “Sit. And tell me what happened. Why did you come back in this condition?” Cassandra asked me as she pushed my skinny frame into the nearest chair. So I started to recount our experience a second time, the first being a curtailed description given to Logan. I told her about the difficulties Sarah faced, about finding Gunther and making our way into the Woods. About how the Dusty wanderers were held up by an Elemental Lynx, and how I haven't seen them since. I also told her about the magical cave we found, and started breaking down again while I recounted about the death of everybody. After crying for a period while Cassandra’s face took on a complicated expression, I finished up with my month long experience in the wild followed by my return journey. By the end of my narration Cassandra had become expressionless and I could not figure out what she was thinking about. “Go and ask the housekeeper and get yourself something to eat. Then wash up and rest.” Cassandra ordered as she stood up while flagging down her personal maid. She then made her way upstairs and vanished into her room.
I felt her reaction was a bit anticlimactic, in comparison to my built up feelings. However, I was too tired to bother too much about it and thus made my way upstairs to my room. I washed up quickly and fell head first into my comfortable bed promising myself to not get up the next twenty four hours at the very least.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
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I woke up to the loud rumbling of my own stomach. Looking out of the window, I could see that it should already be a few hours since sunset. Deciding to find myself some snacks in the kitchen I made my way downstairs. It was only when I saw that all the staff were no longer present, that I realized that it might have been even later than what I had initially imagined.
When I made my way back from the ground floor kitchen after having some cookies, I noticed that there was light shining from under the office door on the first floor. Confused, I made my way towards the door, as the office had always been a place where my father had not permitted anybody except himself entry. When I curiously made my way toward the Office door on silent steps, I started hearing two extremely muffled murmurs from behind the door. It seems my hearing has become more acute after my foray into the wild, I noted to myself even as I pressed my ear towards the door to hear more clearly.
“ ………. It like… Cass?” a Man’s voice was heard in a probing tone. “What ….do…. only child…” a woman’s voice I recognized as my Mother replied. “ …. So long…….nothing left…..kill him….” The man replied. I covered my mouth to stifle the gasp that almost left me and my heart started pounding. “ …..raised him ………ten years………..kill……” Cassandra’s voice continued, as I heard faint footsteps heading toward the door. My heart almost stopped beating, and I scrambled to make my way behind the curtain of a nearby window. I started counting the seconds for the door to slam open and them to find me. After counting till thirty and the door still not opening, I released the breath I was holding, and slowly relaxed my muscles. Cassandra must have been pacing behind the door leading to the suppressed steps towards it, I realized.
I silently calculated the risk of continuing to eavesdrop on them, and then gave up. I might not have heard much but I got the gist of the conversation and did not need to further risk myself to know. Everybody knew I was the only current child in the house, for some reason somebody was currently persuading my mother to kill me. Despite not being my birth mother nor being overly close to me, Cassandra had raised me for over ten years. I could not think what reason she would have to even entertain the notion of killing me, however the thing I did learn from my current experience was to grasp at any chance at survival. So I was not planning to wait to find out the how and why of the situation, I had to leave immediately.
Without knowing when they planned to take action, I did not have a lot of time to get away. However I knew how difficult it was to survive in the outside world without any shelter and guidance. After rushing to my room, I looked around for things that could be useful outside. Firstly, I grabbed all my pocketmoney which I had hidden underneath my bed. It amounted to seven pieces of silver, mostly as coppers. Next I rummaged through my clothes and stuffed them into a bag alongside my Identity document, as well as a brooch I received for my tenth birthday. I also had my trusty dagger which had accompanied me for this long, as well as my waterskin. Since I could not think of anything else off the top of my head except food, I utilized all the skills I had learned in the past few months to silently make my way downstairs and then towards the kitchen. After rummaging and finding a few loaves of bread and cheese, I used the servants door at the back to make my way out of the house. Once I climbed a tree leaning over the fence and jumped down the other side, I started running with all my might.
I kept jogging for the next few hours, till I was halfway across the city. It was only then that I decided to book a room in an inn for the day and make further plans after calming down. After deciding on my course of action, I changed it to immediate practice and entered the first inn that I saw. After paying three pieces of copper for a night I was led to my room. Since the adrenaline had left my system a while ago, I was already tired. Thus I crashed into my bed headfirst, leaving future worries for my future self.
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After my first night in an Inn, I decided not to risk it and decided to wander the streets and spend my night in whatever shelter I could find. Inns were a no go, since most of the inns in the city asked for Identity documents which left behind traces of my whereabouts. It was during one of these wanderings, while I was musing about whether I should leave the only familiar city I knew, that I met an acquaintance on the street.
“Kalim!” I called out subconsciously, when I saw the profile of the Human Rogue on the streets. I chided myself almost immediately for my blunder, as I saw him turning and waving towards me and joy overtaking his features.
“Hey Alaric my boy!” he exclaimed as he made his way towards me. “Good to see that you made your way out of those cursed woods. How are you doing? And what brings you to these parts of town ?” Seeing that he had already recognized me, and there was no getting out of it, I could only acknowledge him to not sound suspicious. “How are the others?” I asked back trying to lead the conversation away from my whereabouts. Sudden stillness overtook Kalim’s features followed by a brief silence. “ They… they did not make it, I was lucky.” That is when I really looked at Kalim, I suddenly noticed that his current chipper demeanor was a front and his face seemed to show traces of wariness. His thick dark hair seemed to sport patches of gray, and there were claw marks extending from his neck towards his collar. Looking down, I noticed that he was missing three of his fingers on his right hand.
“Oh…. None in my group either.” I blurted out as tears welled up in my eyes, which I tried desperately to suppress. Both of us spent a moment as we tried to process what the other had said. “Come my boy, let me buy you something to eat. Let us talk on a full stomach.” Kalim finally said as he led me towards a restaurant. After ordering our food, I asked him what had happened to him and the rest of the Dusty Wanderers. The story was as expected, they were not a match for an E-Rank Elemental Lynx, especially without prior preparation. After A desperate fight, Kalim was the only one that survived because of his special skill set. Kalim said that he had made his way towards Eckador in search of us afterwards, but could not find us, and thus came back.
When he asked me what had happened to us, I told him honestly about the magical cavern, and how I survived and finally made my way back home. I only hid the information that Cassandra wanted me dead, and instead just told him that some things happened and that I decided to split away from my family, not that all my blood relatives were dead. He seemed to not care too much about my family affair and was more interested in the information that his employer seemed to be dead and that we found a Magical Cavern.
“No wonder I could not find you all. So you are saying you were all killed by elemental beasts…Hmmm ... .This Caverns sounds interesting. A few hours away from where we separated? You should notify the Adventurer’s Guild. You will at least get a few pieces of Silver if there is something to your discovery, especially since you have left home and all. Though it might take them a while, since you do not seem to have a lot of details to go on and since winter is almost upon us. So what are your future plans?”
Talking about the Adventurer's guild made me think of an idea for my future. “I am willing to split the money in half. If you report it to the Guild, it is not like I know exactly where the location we separated from is.” I told him since I still wanted to keep my name off the records if possible but needed the money. “I want to become an Adventurer like you. What should I do?” I continued after a bit more thought.” Adventurer’s had many special privileges, such as being treated as half soldiers and having their own jurisdiction different from local government bodies. Crimes between and against Adventurers were treated differently from Crimes against Civilians.
“That my boy is not possible.” Kalim burst my bubble before it could even fully form. “One can not join the Adventurer’s Guild without meeting the two requirements of being sixteen and passing their test. Neither of which you currently are able to clear.”
“What should I do then? I am currently homeless and an orphan. I will probably die as a beggar before I turn sixteen.” Kalim turned pensive for a moment and then seemed to make up his mind. “I am telling you this only because I like you boy, and it seems better than living on the street. Though my advice to you is to go back home but if you are serious about adventuring and determined to continue this path I can recommend something to you. There are Guilds who take in people in your situation and help you earn money earlier. However you have to think seriously about it, some professions are easier to get into than to get out of.” “Which Guild are you talking about?” I asked impatiently. Kalim sighed as he looked at my face before coming close to my ear and whispering. “The Assassins Guild……. Many in the rogue profession are people who changed their class afterwards, since assassins are a bit stereotyped by Adventuring teams. However many of the skillset are transferred over. And many countries allow Assassins to join the Adventurer’s Guild directly. However, as I said it is a profession which is difficult to come back from, so you should not make this decision lightly.” “ The Assassin’s Guild…” I mumbled deep in thought.