The group from Burch was late to the clearing. There had been a confrontation between Arthur and Fen. Fen had accused Arthur again of treason and running to avoid deserved punishment. Arthur had argued with the man about the real treason, betraying your friends to get in the mayor's good graces. The argument had lasted for almost an hour which had bought the others in the group time to slip away unnoticed.
A part of me had been slowly losing hope that the townspeople would change their minds about the mine and stay. I would have to find a new town to try to befriend and hope for a better reception. The mayor would certainly tell everyone about holding him hostage with a knife to his throat. I even considered running all the way to a new country to avoid the situation altogether but that was foolish. No one I knew had ever left Eter, I didn’t know any other cultures or languages to blend in.
Camile was the first to arrive and inform me of the delay. “Father is in a shouting match with Fen over who is treasonous. It’s a cover to allow everyone else to slip away in the dark.”
Impressed with Arthurs tactic, I wondered about his past. Everything about him seemed too much to be a blacksmith in a small town. Secrets had had power even before the framework, now it seemed that power was amplified. If Jerrel’s reaction to my interface was that severe, how much worse would it be for someone who was just meeting me? Or a city guard?
The Burch residents trickled in over the next hour carrying various loads of goods. Some brought nothing but themselves while others seemingly needed wagons. Understanding the rational but doubting the ability to carry so much through the forest I voiced my concern to Camile.
“All of these supplies will make the journey much harder. We have a lot of uneven terrain to cover. The trees farther in the forest almost completely block out the sun except during the middle of the day.” I told the young woman.
“I know.” She sighed. “Father asked people to only bring the essentials but what is essential to a group of different types of people and craftsmen can mean anything.”
“Syl!” Arthur said, surprising me with his booming voice and looking much better than the last time I saw him. “Thank you for helping us, that nasty business in the town square can remain in the past.” He reached out his arm to clasp, “new beginnings eh?”.
Reaching out to grasp his arm filled me with joy. Having spent so much time worrying about the reception of others it was great to feel the start of friendships again. “Yes. New beginnings.” I replied.
“The exact distance to the mine I’m not sure, we have several days of travel at a slow pace. It took me three days to make it here to the edge last time.” I said looking over the group resting in the clearing.
“Best we get started then,” Arthur answered, taking a torch from his side and lighting it. “Gather ‘round. We need to get some distance from Burch before stopping for the night. We have enough torches to spread out and provide enough light to walk. Try to keep up and stay focused, beasts are more active at night now.” He warned the crowd.
We walked slowly for a few hours as the total darkness settled in around us. Beasts roamed the forest solo or in groups, always remaining on the outer edges of my vision, gauging the group but not approaching. The rear of the group began to lag behind and Arthur called for a halt. It was humbling to see the residents of Burch struggling at this pace that felt like crawling to me. My map gave me easy directions back to the mine, zooming out let me know exactly where it was.
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Camping out in a clearing that was marked on my map from containing marten flowers, we settled in for the night. Arthur delegated watch to some of the younger or better fighters and established a schedule for relief. It was definitely not his first time doing this. Curiosity was burning in me as I watched him command with a presence that made you want to obey. Not even being close to tired, I took the first watch facing towards the deeper forest. Borrowing from my normal routine, I climbed up to a cozy looking branch and settled in.
Checking my bow and dagger were sheathed but ready if needed, I opened my pack and brought out the falcon egg. Doubt for the eggs survival was creeping in, I wish Burch had a beast master to ask about the egg. The town was too focused on the industry of the forest to have rarer classes like that according to what Arthur had told me during the days walk.
There was a rustling sound from behind the tree. Looking down to the ground I saw a struggling Camile trying to climb. “Don’t just sit there and laugh at me, help me up!” She demanded in a huff.
Smiling, I leaned over and offered her a hand. “I’m not tired yet, you don’t have to take my watch.” I let her know while hoping she didn’t take my offer.
“Thanks but I’m not tired either, my class improves my stamina so I don’t sleep much.” She answered. Settling in on the branch she turned to look at me and noticed the egg. “Oh! What is that?”
“This is the egg from a dusk falcon. I found the falcon injured in a glade after I fought the regional beast lord in this area. The falcon was trapped under a tree branch resulting from an explosion.” I started sadly. Deciding not to hold back I began to tell her the story. “She was my only friend out there.” I choked back a sob and turned my head to face away so she wouldn’t see the tears. “She lived up in a tree outside of the mine we are going to. She fought with me against the beast waves from the survival event. When...” Tears were streaming down my face now. Camile put her hand on my shoulder.
“She was injured again in an explosion that killed one of the waves. I had taken her back to the mine to heal, I have a bed there that increases regeneration rates. When the final beast wave leader survived my attacks, I ran back to the mine. He followed me and trapped me in one of the rooms. He was going to kill me. She distracted him just enough to allow me to land an eventually killing blow. He hit her with his arm and threw her against a wall.” I continued. Sobbing now loud enough to be heard I was sure. There was no embarrassment, it felt good to get it out and talk with someone.
“I tried....I tried to heal her..She wouldn't drink a health potion. She...I don’t know how to explain it, she sent me a picture in my mind. It was the egg in her nest, high above the forest floor in that tree. She died after and I buried her there at the base.” I looked down sadly at the egg cradled in my lap. “I retrieved the egg and tried to take care of it but I think I failed it. It’s been almost two weeks now and nothing has changed.” I took a deep breath and looked over at her, she was crying too.
“You didn’t fail it, Syl. You did what it asked, "If the eternal wills it to hatch it will you must have faith.” She said in a kind smile.
The eternal. The figurehead of the Eter faith, supposedly a powerful entity that had created the world and granted us all life. It was the dominant religion in Eter but my parents had never really been believers. What little faith my mother had was crushed when my father disappeared. I couldn’t really remember him ever speaking about the eternal, we never went to the temples in the city.
“Thank you Camile, those are kind words,” I responded with no desire to bring up my lack of faith.
We passed the rest of the night peacefully sitting side by side in the tree. Dawn came quickly and the group started back towards the mine. At this pace I guessed it would take around 5 days to make the full journey. Arthur assured me the group had brought enough food and supplies.
The journey was peaceful for the next two days. I was walking in the lead talking to Camile and Jerrel when we heard a loud roar. The group came to a halt and condensed, fighters creating a rough perimeter. No beast ever showed so we slowly began to creep forwards again. Based on my map we were about halfway to the mine. One more day and we would make the outer boundary for the mine.