Missteps V.2

Chapter 52 – Caravans are for Safety

"It is way too early for this." Kerri grumbled as she thumped her forehead against the table. Her head throbbed as a result of the partying the night before.

Lia set down a steaming mug of tea in front of her and lightly stroked the half-elf's head. "I'm sorry, but the caravan is heading out in a few hours, and we need to be ready."

"Why didn't you tell us about this caravan before we all drank so much?" Carric's voice was low as he nursed a cup of coffee. Outside, the sky had only just begun to lighten when Jun had made the rounds to wake everyone up. "How are you even awake?"

Lia smiled. "I haven't gone to sleep yet. I figured I'd sleep once we're on the road."

Elaine grinned as she sipped at her drink. "I don't think you'll be alone. What all still needs to be done?"

Lia tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Jun and Ander are already out on a grocery run for the tower. Could you go and get the cart and horse? The rest of us here can get everything downstairs and ready to load."

Kerri yawned. "What about the extra horses? The ones we took off those bandits, they coming with us?"

The elf shook her head. "I used two of them to buy us into the caravan. I offered us up as security, but the caravan leader said that they already had it taken care of." Lia shrugged. "See if the stablemaster will buy the excess off of you while you're there, we really only need one to pull the cart."

"Will do." Kerri drained her cup and stood up. "Well, you heard her Elaine; we have a date in the stables."

Elaine stood and followed her friend towards the door. "Do you even know anything about horse trading?"

Kerri shook her head. "How hard could it be?" They left.

Two hours later, everyone waited outside in the cold for Kerri and Elaine.

Ander frowned as he shoved his hands under his armpits. "How long could it possibly take to sell a few horses?"

"Should we go look for them?" Carric asked as he leaned on the building. A few feet away, Shomma played in the snow.

Jun turned to look over at Lia. "How much time do we have before the caravan leaves?"

Lia didn't answer. She sat on a small bench next to Iados, her head on his shoulder, fast asleep. Iados jostled his shoulder in an attempt to wake her up, but she only crinkled her nose and rolled deeper into her boyfriend.

"Should I try more aggressive tactics?" Iados asked with a grin.

Carric answered before Jun could. "Not needed, they're here." He pointed up the road. The boys gathered the various bags and headed to meet them. Iados hooked an arm under Lia's legs and carried her. The sleeping woman didn't even notice.

"Sorry we took so long." Elaine tugged back on the reins to the single horse. "Kerri's not as skilled a horse trader as she thought she'd be."

"I still got us over two hundred gold." Kerri crossed her arms. "While we were there, we ran into a runner from the caravan. He'd been sent to pick up his horses."

"Did he tell you where we're meeting them?" Carric picked up Shomma and passed her over to Kerri. The boys climbed into the back of the cart. They laid Lia down near the front with her head on Iados's lap.

Elaine slapped the reins and the cart began to move. "The caravan is just outside the main gate, under an orange and green flag."

Kerri twisted around and faced them. "Dig into my bag and pull out my cloak. You can use it as a blanket for Lia. I was going to ask if she wanted it anyways, since I've got my nice new coat." Kerri popped the hood up and sent a smile towards Carric.

"I figured you'd do that." Ander rolled his eyes. "You do remember that the cloak is magic, right?"

Kerri shrugged. "So? This coat is warmer and prettier."

Jun put a hand on Ander's shoulder. "Just give up, it's a lost cause."

As the group traveled through the streets, there was more activity than some of them expected as merchants and hired hands worked to quickly break down booths and load their own carts.

"Leaving so soon?" One of the merchants called out as they passed.

Elaine came to a halt in front of Chaxelle's booth. The dark-skinned man hustled forward, a book in his hand.

"We've got a spot in a caravan." Carric explained.

Chaxelle pouted. "Wish I'd known that last night, would have tried to get more than a just a drink from you."

The ranger shrugged. "Live and learn."

The bookseller laughed. He handed the book to Carric. "Here, I meant to give it to you last night."

The book had a flexible leather cover, and was tied around with a leather strap. Carric quickly undid the knot and turned to the first page.

"Manual of Training for Battle Beasts," Carric read with wide eyes. He looked at Chaxelle. "Where did you get this?"

"Picked it up the last time I went through Winter Horn." Chaxelle's eyes twinkled. "Does this entitle me to a good-bye kiss?"

Carric grinned. "You already got one last night." Carric turned to Elaine and gave a motion. The cart jerked forward. "I will look at revising my 'third time's a habit' the next time we meet."

"You're such a tease!" Chaxelle laughed and watched the cart disappear around a bend.

Soon enough the group had exited the main gates. Theirs wasn't the only caravan gathering out front, and it took them a few minutes to spot the green and orange flag.

"Hail!" A bubbly rotund man shouted as M.A.'s cart approached.

"Hail!" Jun jumped over the side of the cart and met him. "Good to see you again, glad to see you survived the night."

The man laughed. "Just barely, that halfling did not make it easy." Both men shared a laugh as they thought back to the drinking contest the night before. "You lot are the last to arrive."

"Sorry about that, we had some last minute baggage to unload." Jun looked around. "Where do you want us?"

"Well, since you're the last ones here, you get last in line." The man pointed to a spot after a white patch-worked covered wagon. "Follow me and we'll get you signed in with the trail master."

"Sounds good," Jun turned back to his group, and motioned for them to get into line, before he followed the rotund man.

Carric and Kerri also jumped out to help Elaine get the cart in position. There were about seven other carts and wagons in the small caravan. Two of the wagons had their businesses proudly proclaimed on the sides (textiles and iron-working), while another was just a cart heavily laden with tarp-covered boxes.

"We have an audience," Carric stage-whispered to everyone, as he inclined his head towards the wagon in front of them. Inside, three small halfling faces peeked out from beneath a large quilt.

Kerri waved. "Hi, I'm Kerri."

One of the kids threw back the quilt and waved back. "I'm Hayden." The little boy pointed to the two girls on either side of him. "This is Erica and Julie."

Julie smiled big and pointed behind them. "There's Nester, but he's just a baby."

Kerri popped up on her toes, and saw a swaddled form in a makeshift crib. "We should probably be quiet and let him sleep then."

"Are you going to Silverbank?" Hayden asked as he sat back down.

Kerri nodded. "We're only passing through for a day or two. Is that where you're headed?"

"Daddy and mommy are going to sell the pretty people there soap." Julie said proudly. "Mommy's soap smells good."

Kerri leaned into the wagon as she spoke to the children. Behind her, Elaine and Carric had gotten the cart in position. "Where are you guys from?"

"Sageburrow!" Julie said excitedly. "Mommy says we'll be going back as soon as daddy sells all of his soap."

A small halfling woman came around the back of the wagon, her hair tucked up under a handkerchief. "Are you guys bothering them?"

"Not at all," Kerri reassured the woman. "They were just telling me about your soaps."

The woman smiled. "If they do get to bothering you, just let me know." She turned to the kids. "You lot are supposed to be asleep still. You either sleep, or get started on your chores." All three children immediately ducked under the blankets.

Kerri suppressed a laugh as she and the halfling woman backed away from the wagon. "You seem to have your hands full."

The woman cracked a grin. "They're not that bad, just bored from the journey. Usually we'd leave them with my in-laws when we go out on sales calls, but my mother-in-law broke her hip and couldn't take them."

There was a snort from behind them. The woman looked up and saw Ander watching them from the cart. She put her hands on her hips and turned to him. "Something amuse you?"

"I just find it very hard to believe that you couldn't find a single person in Sageburrow besides your mother-in-law to watch your kids." Ander yawned.

The halfling woman narrowed her eyes. "What would you know of it?"

Ander side-eyed the woman. "I'm from Sageburrow."

The woman didn't look convinced. "Which clan?"

"Tealeaf."

She scratched her chin. "Tealeaf, huh. Not one of the larger ones. Don't they run a store or something?"

"Sure do," Ander seemed bored with the conversation, but he didn't move from his spot. "Which clan are you from?"

"Blowbottle."

The corner of Ander's mouth twitched. He turned to look at the woman fully. "You wouldn't happen to be Wilda, would you? Married to Jetrod?"

The halfling woman's eyes opened wide as her mouth dropped. "Have we met before?"

Ander shook his head. "No, but I've heard about you." Ander turned his back on the woman. "You know, you shouldn't lie to your kids about going back to Sageburrow."

The woman sputtered and got very red in the face, before she abruptly turned on her heel and stalked away.

Kerri leaned on the cart next to Ander and tapped him on the shoulder. "Ok, what was that?"

Ander sighed. "Something you need to understand is that the halfling population of Sageburrow is good at two things: celebrations and gossip." Ander nodded towards the direction of the woman. "Last time I got a letter from home, my sister Vani told me that Wilda and Jetrod Blowbottle had fled with their kids. They got caught stealing from members of the community, and then trying to sell the stolen items across town. Those kids are never going back to Sageburrow."

Kerri turned back to look at the cart where the kids were huddled. "Do you think we can open up the tower? I want to get some of the toys out for them."

Ander shook his head. "Not a good idea to open up the tower in the middle of a crowd like this. I don't want to announce that we've got a powerful magic item. That's like inviting someone to try to steal it from us."

"Hold up." Iados interrupted from his place in the cart. Lia still slept like a log on his lap. "Does that mean that while we're with the caravan we won't be sleeping in the tower?"

Ander nodded. "That's right, unless we want to separate from the caravan at night."

Iados groaned and hung his head. "Man, I was looking forward to not sleeping in a tent."

Kerri skipped around the cart and patted Iados's shoulder. "You'll be fine, just think of those twins in Silverbank."

"Which twins?" Jun asked as he arrived back.

Iados waved him off. "Not important, we good to go?"

"Yep." Jun jumped up front with Elaine. "Trail master says we're looking at a good four or five day journey depending on weather."

Kerri climbed into the cart. "Even with horses?"

Carric leaned over the side next to her. "You join caravans for safety, not speed. Besides, with the road conditions now, it'd take twice as long to walk."

"What about that road they were building?" Iados's mind flashed back to the team of dwarves he and Lia had met while in Rocklyn.

"Last I heard was that they'd prioritized the journey to Osthom first, and then they'd double-back down this way." Ander stated as he flipped through his spell book.

Kerri sighed. "Alright, not like we're in any kind of hurry."

The journey was cold, but steady. The members of M.A. got to know some of the other travelers, mostly merchants of some sort off to sell their wares in the next town. The security team wasn't a real talkative bunch as they stayed in formation around the caravan. At night the wagons and cart would circle around and everyone would pitch their tents in the middle. A large fire would be erected in the center that was enough to keep everyone warm.

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Besides the halfling children, there were two other children in the caravan. An akudaem merchant's wife had given birth the day before the festival, and they'd been forced to bring their twin newborns on the road.

Kerri and Iados became unofficial babysitters for the halfling children, while Jun helped out with the newborns. Ander kept as far from the kids as he could.

"Kai's mother had to go back to work around the brothel rather quickly, so I took some time away from the army and helped out." Jun explained one night around the fire when Ander asked why he'd been helping so much. "I got pretty good at the diaper changing and feedings. Since she's got two of them, figured they could use my experience."

On the fifth day, the caravan stopped for one final night before reaching Silverbank. If they pushed it they could have gotten in by midnight, but no one was in that much of a rush.

The members of M.A. sat huddled in their own group a few feet away from the fire.

Carric shoveled some stew into his mouth. "Ok, so what's the plan for Silverbank? Are we staying for a day or two, or heading out right away?"

"We definitely need to stay at least a day; I've got business in town." Iados said around a large piece of mushroom.

Ander sighed. "That's right, your twin hookers."

Lia grinned. "If we don't let him go see them, we're not going to hear the end of it."

"Aren't you the least put out by it?" Ander asked with a raised eyebrow. "Your boyfriend is literally excited to go sleep with other women."

The elf shrugged. "It's his decision on how to spend his tickets, that's the deal."

Iados nodded in agreement. "Besides, she's got her own tickets to spend too." He turned to look at Lia. "Want to come to the brothel with me? They cater to anyone from what I've heard."

Lia stood up. "No, but thanks for thinking of me." She kissed the top of his head and walked off with her empty bowl.

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." Iados missed Kerri's eye roll.

The bard stretched her legs out in front of her. "So, are we going to find another caravan to Rocklyn, or head out on our own?"

Jun shrugged. "Lia and I hadn't planned that far. This caravan is staying in Silverbank for a couple of weeks before it heads to Winter Horn. We could either wait around for it, and then tag along till Rocklyn, or find something else. We figured we'd see what all is available in Silverbank first."

"Sounds like I'll at least have time to check in with Koe." Carric gave a small meat cube to Shomma in his lap. He turned to Kerri. "You want to head down to Lorbridge and check in with your bard Master?"

Kerri shook her head. "I don't have anything to say to her. I personally think we should stay no more than a day or two in Silverbank. I want to hurry up and get these toys dropped off, so we can get started on an actual Recovery mission."

Ander raised his spoon in agreement. "I've been giving that some thought, and there are two missions I've narrowed it down to."

"What'cha got?" Jun set his empty bowl to the side.

"One is from the recovery department. They need a team to finish a previous mission. There's an artifact hidden in an old noble estate house. The first team wasn't able to complete it after a near-party wipe." Ander explained.

"Ok and what's the second one?" Elaine asked.

Ander's eyes lit up. "This one is from a story I heard with the Tribe. It's a grove that's said to restore someone to life. I figure it's got to be an artifact of some sort."

Kerri leaned forward. "Where's the story from?"

"The original story is out of Acadym, and according to the tale the grove is located within the elven woods." Ander said.

Carric huffed. "The Acadymian elves aren't going to just let us go in and explore. They're very protective of their woods, and hate outsiders. I vote we go search for the noble house."

Lia showed back up and sat down. "What are we voting on?" Iados quickly explained the situation. "I agree with Carric. The Acadymian elves barely tolerate elves from Stonepine, I doubt they'd be more forthcoming with this group."

Jun clapped. "Sounds like we don't even need to vote then, any objections to the noble house? Any other ideas?"

"Sounds as good as anything." Iados slurped up the last of his stew.

Elaine nodded. "It's probably a good move to take a job directly from the recovery department after being mostly inactive for the past few months."

"When we get into Silverbank I'll check with the Chapter House and get the full details of the mission." Ander nodded and stretched. "Now that we've got that figured out, I'm going to bed."

Within an hour or so, the majority of the camp was asleep either in their tents or wagons. The members of M.A. still kept their own watch, but not as strictly as they normally would due to the in-caravan security.

About three in the morning, Jun and Carric were on watch near their cart. Suddenly, shouting came from across the camp. Both fighters ran over.

"What's going on?" Jun shouted as they got closer.

The captain of the security team turned to look at them. Behind her, two members of her team rushed into the brush and trees.

"My men saw a figure dash into the trees." The captain's voice was curt. "Figure came from one of the wagons, and they heard the baby it carried."

Another guard ran up. "Captain, one of the newborns is missing." He gasped out.

The captain's eyes narrowed. "Wake everyone in the camp and gather them in the center. See if anyone's missing." She turned to Jun. "Do you want to stay here, or track the culprit?"

"Not so much a matter of tracking, as it is catching it." Carric was knelt near the tree line. He pointed off towards the south.

Jun looked at the Captain. "Tell our party where we've gone. Also, tell Lia to use Bitey to follow after. In the dark, her sense of smell might come in handy." He and Carric set off into the woods. They weren't a hundred yards into the woods before the fighters in front of them started yelling to look up.

Above them, a large humanoid form was silhouetted against the darkness as it flew through the air on thin membrane wings.

As Carric readied an arrow, he focused on the target, and formed a magical link between hunter and prey. He released it, and the arrow pierced the creature's leg with a howl of pain. For a moment the creature, but quickly recovered.

In response, the creature dipped down closer to them, and brandished their hand in the general direction where the arrow had come from. In their palm, a small cyclone of ice and snow burst forth.

The cold whipped around the two fighters. Jun planted his feet and brought his hands up to shield his face. He grimaced as he felt the ice tear into his skin, and his body be buffeted by winds that seemed to come from a boxer. The spell only lasted mere moments, but to Jun, it felt like forever.

It took a Herculean effort to pry his eyes open from their icy covering. His teeth chattered against his will, and his breath came in frosty gasps. Somehow he'd managed to curl into a ball on the ground. His whole body ached, and he wanted nothing more than to just lie down and sleep.

"Carric," Jun rasped out. He strained to turn his head. Lying a few feet away from him, was the red-headed ranger. The tip of Carric's nose was very dark, almost black, as was the one ear Jun could see. Carric's skin had a very shiny pallor to it as the moonlight bounced off the ice crystals.

However, Carric wasn't breathing.

Jun reached out and tried to shake Carric, but his body was so heavy, and he was very, very tired.

A dire wolf bounded next to Jun, and within the span it took to kneel next to him had shifted back into Lia.

"Jun! What happened?" Lia grunted as she turned Jun over on his back.

Jun groaned. "Carric, heal him."

Lia's eyes widened, and she turned her attention to the fallen half-elf. She put two fingers to his throat, and gasped when the skin began to crackle under her digits. "He needs Elaine; we need to get him to Elaine." Her voice wavered as she looked around the frozen landscape.

"Will he make it to Elaine?" Jun asked as he worked to climb into a sitting position. He was so weak, and there was not a doubt that he needed to see Elaine just as badly. "Can you heal him?"

"I don't have any healing spells!" Lia's eyes were ringed with tears as she tried to rub some warmth back into his face. "I don't have any potions on me! They're back at camp." She screwed up her eyes as she tried to think over what she did have, over what she could do. With shaking hands, she conjured up a small handful of bright red berries. She mashed one between her fingers, and forced it into Carric's frozen mouth and down his throat.

A couple of seconds later, Carric took a foggy, ragged breath. His eyes were still closed, and his skin was still icy, but he took a breath.

Lia let out her own shaky breath. She handed a berry over to Jun, with an apologetic look. "I should have been more prepared."

Jun didn't answer as he took the berry. He wasn't sure if he actually chewed it, or if the chattering of his teeth just mashed it.

Lia looked around them. The whole area sparkled under the moonlight. Icicles hung off trees limbs, ice droplets frozen on the spot on trunks. Only a few feet away, a small bird lay half-buried in the snow.

The elf bit her lip. "Can you move at all? Think you can walk back to camp?"

"If you give me an hour, maybe." With a grunt, Jun finally made it to a sitting position. "Help me get closer to him, and I'll shove another berry down his throat. You run and get help."

Lia nodded. She got Jun a bit closer to Carric, gave him the rest of the berries, and headed off on a run.

Jun jammed another berry down Carric's throat. The ranger sputtered, but kept the berry down.

Jun was angry. This wasn't the verta-kochen, but normal human anger. Anger at the creature, anger at himself, and anger at Lia. They didn't save the baby. They didn't even see what the huge shadow was. Carric nearly died, and he still wasn't out of the woods.

Jun gasped out another icy breath. It hurt to breathe so much that he wouldn't be surprised if his lungs were full of ice. He hadn't even had a chance to fight back.

"What about this Zhonnic? Is this the kind of example you want your Champion to set?" Jun whispered so softly, that he wasn't sure any words actually came out.

There was a chuckle. "You didn't die, so that's a plus."

Jun looked up. A man sat cross-legged in front of him, on the other side of Carric.

"Zhonnic?" Jun asked.

The man laughed and slapped his knee. "Sorry to disappoint. The Big Guy hates the cold. Now, check out some of the summer games that happen up near Winter Horn and you might catch him there."

"Then, who are you?" Jun noticed that the man wore only a pair of loose trousers and a vest. No shirt, no cloak, and yet he didn't even seem to notice the cold.

The man grinned. "Neolemus, you might have heard of me."

Jun felt his jaw drop. "Am I hallucinating?" He must have, because there was no way he was actually talking with the dead former Champion of Zhonnic.

"Possibly, but who cares." Neolemus nodded down to Carric. "Go ahead and give him another berry. He might have some diarrhea later on, but he needs the healing."

Without taking his eyes off Neolemus, Jun obeyed. "Why are you here?"

"To keep you company." The former Champion's eyes shined. "As much as the Tribe and Dirann like their traditions, they never tell you everything. To even become a Candidate, means that you are a part of something larger than the Tribe. The magic of the tattoo marks you as one of Zhonnic's Chosen."

Jun's brow furrowed. "Zhonnic's Chosen? What does that mean?"

"It's akin to joining a club, but don't worry there aren't any kind of dues. Anyone, not just members of the Tribe, can join. Even if you lose the Candidate tattoo, you're still a Chosen. Even after you die, you're still a Chosen; you just get a little closer to Zhonnic." Neolemus reached out and patted Jun on the arm. "Listen, just focus on the task at hand. Don't worry about impressing Zhonnic or winning the competition. It wasn't just who you were then that made Zhonnic choose you; it's who he saw you could be."

"I thought Dirann and the other clerics chose me?"

Neolemus gave a hearty laugh. "They presented their picks, but the final decision was all Zhonnic. Dirann knows what Zhonnic likes; she's been at this gig for a long time." The former Champion looked up over Jun's shoulder. "Looks like back-ups almost here." He turned his attention back to Jun. "Piece of advice? Don't dwell on this failure. You walked away from it, and now you know to do a better job of dodging next time."

Jun blinked, and Neolemus was gone.

A moment later the other members of M.A. barreled out of the brush, followed by two more guards. Blankets were thrown onto him. The only reason he knew Elaine had touched him, was the point of warmth that quickly spread to his extremities.

Elaine rushed over to Carric and cast her spell on him as well. The blackness around his nose and ears faded. Iados draped another blanket around him.

"We carrying them back to camp?" The akudaem asked as he tucked the blanket under Carric's torso.

Ander snorted. "As if we could carry Jun that far." He pulled the cube out of his pocket and set up the tower. "I'll get a fire going in the stove." He disappeared inside.

"He's right about us not being able to carry you." Kerri muttered as she threw Jun's arm over her shoulder. Lia did the same with the other arm. "You're gonna need to help us."

Jun nodded, and together they rose and shambled slowly to the Tower.

Behind them, Iados and Elaine did the same with a groggy Carric.

Jun was barely aware of hitting the tower floor before he passed out.

When he awoke, Jun found himself virtually swaddled in blankets, bed rolls, and even cloaks. He turned his head and saw a still-asleep Carric in a similar position.

Elaine's face drifted over his. "How are you feeling?" She reached out and placed her hand on his forehead.

"Warmer," Jun's voice was scratchy, and he winced as his throat felt like sandpaper.

Elaine helped him drink some water from a cup next to her. "That's good. Magical healing is good and all, but it does have its limits. You and Carric are going to need to sit tight for a few days. Recover your strength." She stood up and headed towards the stove. "When you feel like it, we can move you upstairs to your bed."

"Where are the others?" Jun rasped out as he sat up.

"Iados is up on the roof, keeping an eye out for that thing that attacked you." Elaine ladled some soup into a bowl. "Ander, Kerri, and Lia continued on to Silverbank with the caravan."

"Why?"

"Ander wanted to report the creature to the Circle, and go ahead and put in the request for the mission information." Elaine walked back over and sat down. "Lia and Kerri went along to protect him, or so they say. Lia was pretty upset with herself over not being able to heal you two herself."

Jun frowned. "How could she not have any healing spells?"

Elaine held out a spoonful of broth for the berserker. "She doesn't put herself in a position to heal that often. When she's in animal form, she's more a frontline fighter like you and Iados. She's used to getting healed more than giving."

Jun gulped down the flavorful broth. "Still, she should have at least had a vial on her."

The cleric stared down Jun. "Where was your vial?"

Jun looked down sheepishly. "In my pack." He mumbled.

Elaine leaned in and cupped her ear. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you, could you repeat that?"

"In my pack, back at camp." Jun said louder.

She nodded and held out another spoonful. "That's what I thought. Also, remember that Lia still had a way to heal, just not the way you were expecting."

Jun silently ate a few more spoonfuls before sleep started to overtake him again. Elaine left him to sleep.

The next time he woke up, he was being nudged by Iados to go upstairs. It took more out of him than he was willing to admit to climb the ladder to the second floor. Eventually he did get up and settled into the bed.

Truth be told, the bed wasn't any comfier than the floor, as it didn't have any form of padding besides the blankets and bed rolls. He heard Carric make the same climb, and watched him be put to bed as well before he closed his eyes and slept.

It was late afternoon the next day before Jun fully woke up and didn't feel like the living dead. He looked over and saw that Carric's bed was empty. The berserker gingerly made his way downstairs, and found everyone gathered around the kitchen table.

"How are you feeling?" Elaine bustled over and helped steady him as he descended the ladder.

"More like myself."

"Glad to hear that." Ander patted the table. "Come and sit, and I'll heat up some soup for you."

Jun's stomach rumbled. "Is there anything a bit heartier?"

Ander smiled as he lit the stove. "I've added some potatoes, carrots, and venison that we picked up in Silverbank."

Jun sat heavily at the table. "That sounds delightful."

"It tastes delightful." Carric sat across from him, his own bowl half empty. Looking around, Jun noticed that everyone else had empty bowls in front of them. That wasn't the only thing he noticed.

"What's going on with your hair?" Jun asked the ranger. On the left-hand side, Carric now had a pure white streak running the length of his hair.

Carric grimaced. "A reminder from that creature."

"To be more exact, it's an imprint of the magic that your body was slammed with." Ander called out over his shoulder. He stood on a stool in front of the stove so that he could see into the large stew pot.

"I'd take white hair over what happened to those other two." Iados took a large drag out of his cup.

"What other two?" Jun asked.

"The two guards that we followed." Carric supplied. Jun nodded as he remembered. He turned his attention back to Iados. "What happened to them?"

"They got hit with the same icy blast the two of you did. However, they were killed and froze into blocks of ice." Iados shook his head. "Oh, and it looks like one of the merchants, the one who sold the textiles, was the creature."

"He was the only one missing from the group." Lia elaborated. "His wagon got raided after the whole thing, and they found something very disturbing."

Ander put a bowl in front of Jun.

Kerri shivered. "They found a cookbook. With notes in the margins. Notes on how to properly prepare children for the recipes."

Jun dropped his spoon in the bowl and pushed it away. He wiped his hands down his face, and rested his elbows on the table. "He took the baby, to eat it?" He said slowly.

Everyone nodded.

"That's the prevailing theory." Lia sighed. "I suggested that we not show the cookbook to the parents, but they found out. The look on their faces is one I never want to see again." Lia gave a heavy sigh as she remembered the way the color had bleached out of the akudaem mother's face.

Jun lowered his hands. "Any idea of what kind of creature he was? That thing we saw in the sky did not look like the same skinny merchant."

Iados shook his head. "Besides the cookbook, the rest of the wagon was business-related. Clothes, fabric bolts, money ledger. The money went to the family, and everyone took what they wanted of the merchandise." Iados pointed over to the wardrobe. "We managed to nab a good amount of patterned fabric, and a few satin dresses."

Jun looked over to Ander. "I seem to remember that you went into town to speak to the Circle, did they have anything to say?"

Ander shrugged. "They said they'd look into it, but I got the feeling they wouldn't put a lot of manpower into it." The halfling pushed the bowl of stew back towards Jun.

Jun gave a heavy sigh and took a bite. "Do we still need to go into Silverbank?"

Iados nodded enthusiastically.

Ander rolled his eyes. "The Chapter House said I'd need to go back in a couple of days to pick up the info I requested."

"I figured out some shopping I want to do." Elaine said. "It occurred to me after we put you two to bed, that we need some padding on those beds." No one disagreed. Elaine grinned and continued. "I want to shop around and see if I can find some low priced mattresses or something. If this is going to be our home, then we need to make it comfy."

Iados raised his hand. "On the note of comfy, how about some seating for upstairs? It's ridiculous that these hard benches are the only place besides the floor for someone to sit."

Elaine rolled her eyes amidst the scattered giggles. "We'll just have to see what there is."

"You know," Kerri said. "I once met someone who'd been part of a team that cleared out a cultist nest. Afterwards, she said that she took home a king-size silk duvet and velvet curtains. Perhaps we should look to decorate like that?"

Carric nodded. "We are headed to a noble house, sounds like a great place to loot."