2 years earlier

Valum's eyes shot open. His throat ached as if it had not had a drop of water for a decade. Rolling over, he took a look around to see where he found himself. The last thing he remembered was entering the ruins and being attacked. After that, nothing.

The expedition had to leave by now and even if they did notice he was gone they probably thought he had deserted them. Lifting his body, he strained to carry his own weight himself. His muscles sore as if they hadn't been used in a long time.

Crawling on his hands and knees, he felt around for something to get his bearings. His hand touched a large pile of dust, causing his nose to scrunch in slight disgust. "Lovely" he thought to himself.

Reaching some sort of wall, he pushed his way to his feet using the wall as leverage. Feeling his way around, he grasped the door handle and pulled the door unlatched, and he found himself in the familiar corridor from before the night was early, and it looked as if the sun had just fallen below the horizon.

Taking a look at his clothes, which were completely covered in dust. "Great! Another thing I will need to wash."

The journey back to his hometown was no more than four days' ride by horse. Seven days by foot. The wildlands were dangerous, but if he stuck to the main road he doubted he would encounter anything too scary.

Valum still felt like he needed water desperately. His throat was so dry… he was so very thirsty.

Stumbling through the ruins, he didn't see his equipment or any signs of the expedition at all. Everything looked untouched for a good long while.

"How long was I out? Oh, Lord! will Senia think I am dead! Oh shit! I’m definitely going to get my ear chewed for this." Valum was deeply concerned about this and wasn't sure how to explain him coming back from the dead. On the brightside, his family would have been compensated with his pay if they had thought he had died.

Valum smiled a week and some change late wasn't going to break them, and they would officially have enough to move to the city.

The forest was creepy as ever, but the bright moonlight made it bearable to walk through. Likely, the worst creature he would have to scare off would be a ragged wolf which he could just climb a tree to escape, or a goblin which was the lowest of monsters. Their only danger was if they could swarm you with sheer numbers.

However, the chances were he would meet a single straggler, which even if it had a makeshift weapon, he had a good chance of scarring it off with his large size.

As he walked slowly down the winding path Valum continued to feel an itch in his throat. He really needed some water.

*beeerrrhheerrrppp*

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The sound of a squealing horse broke the silence of his journey. Snapping Valum to his senses.

"Help! Anyone please." A desperate cry for help came from not far up ahead of the road. Valum ran knowing if he helped this fellow out he had a good chance of hitching a ride or even getting some supplies.

Turning the corner on the path a small wagon pulled by a horse surrounded by five little goblins with makeshift spears was stuck in the road one of the wheels had seemed to be caught in a makeshift trap.

The man was on the top of his cart, his forearm bleeding enough for Valum to see from thirty meters away. The man couldn’t be more than his late twenties, roughly around Valum’s own age.

Charging in Valum reached, one of the goblins harassing the horse, sending a swift kick to the goblin's temple sending it crashing into the wheel of the cart. Its red almost purple, blood gushed out as it collapsed dead. Immediately he could smell a distinct sweet scent fill the air. Causing his head to lighten up.

By this time, the other two green-skinned ankle biters decided to address the new threat. Goblins were never terribly smart; they often wouldn’t retreat until it was too late to make an escape. They maxed out at the height of a grown man’s hip, but typically small hunting parties like this were no larger than halfway up a man’s hamstring. These were obvious runts of a goblin litter.

The only reason they got this man into his dangerous situation was due to likely spooking his horse and sending him tumbling to the ground where they got one good hit on his forearm. At least that is how Valum summarized what happened.

Valum had only fought off goblins a handful of times from stealing chickens from his farm, but the thrill of this fight he could feel in his bones. Perhaps he would join the city guard when he moved there?

One of the goblins tried jabbing at Valum with its sharpened stick, which he easily evaded grabbing it. He pulled the goblin to him and grabbed it by the neck tossing it with all his strength to the ground. He could hear the bone crunch from the impact. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the man lop off the head of one of the goblins who had attacked him. The last two quickly scurried away from fright.

The man took a deep breath and quickly began to wrap his shallow wound with a strip of linen he had in his cart.

“Thank you, much stranger. It would have been very difficult for me to fend off five of those little roaches by myself.” the man smiled gratefully as he tightened the linen binding his minor flesh wound.

Valum waved his hand as if to bat away the thanks. “No need for thanks, I was here, and I was in need of some help myself. I find myself stranded in these woods and need a lift to my home.”

“Oh, of course! I would be more than happy too. I happen to be heading in the same direction anyway, and I can save you a couple of days' ride to Marberg. By the way, my name is Gerrad. It is a pleasure to meet you” he smiled as he began to check the horse for any wounds.

“So you from around Marberg?” he asked once he determined the horse was fine. Turning to Valum the man was slightly younger than Valum, but overall had a pleasant demeanor.

“Aye! I’m a farmer from those parts. Nothing special, just chicken, pigs, and a couple of cows. Names' Valum.” Valum said absentmindedly as he gestured to the horse. The moon had not risen much; he had only been on the road for an hour, so it was still quite dark out.

Gerrad lit up another torch and slid it into place to give some light to the path and surroundings. He jumped up to the cart's seat and ushered the horse to move the wheel that had fallen into the pit and struggled for a moment before lurching free.

Valum smiled at his good fortune and in no time he would be back with his wife and daughter and the horrible chain of events would be over. “Hey Gerrad?” Valum looked to him as they continued down the path.

“Yeah?” Gerrad called back, not bothering to look at Valum.

Valum reached for a small leather pouch of water. “You mind if I drink some? I am thirsty as hell!”