We left early, before the sun was up. Julie is not part of the group, since we do need a healer back in the Village, in case of an emergency. We did get a good supply of bandages and a few mixtures. Julie said they would help with any bleeding. Meuko used a new set of armor. Nothing too restrictive… Gauntlets with rope wrapped around it. Blago thought it would help deflect the blows. She also equipped greaves and a coat.
We decided to put most of the equipment in a bag that Meuko carried, since she would be the least bothered. We put backup arrows for Sylvar, three backup knives for me, almost all the healing supplies and some dried fruit. I kept my weapons, bandages and rope for emergency.
Sylvar had his usual setup… Bow and arrows, findal armor, rope, bandages and a short sword… The short sword was new. Usually he had a knife, only this time he wanted to be… More prepared. He kept the knife as backup.
The sun was barely up when we reached the cart. At least… What was left of it. I thought it took us a few hours to reach this place, but it was mostly the stress. This place is way closer than I thought. I guess that the extra pain in my legs did not help when we had to run to reach Hollis in time. There are no arrows here, no bodies.
Only a few pieces of wood, scraps that the goblins were probably too tired or bored to pick up. Sylvar thought we should go to the place where Hollis was found. Hollis… Even cured, she was still too weak to leave the care house for a few days.
After much needed recuperation, she visited my home, thanked us and explained that she had Travlon use that magic called “teleportation” to bring help… He is unable to bring anyone else with him, so she thought she could buy as much time as possible.
The weird part was that they only left because Travlon thought it would be easy to just go and collect a few bags of berries that they had left in a secure place for future use… I asked if that was common practice for the two of them and she said it was a new system they used. They started it about a month ago.
I think I know what happened that day. The important thing is that everyone is safe. I will keep it that way. As soon as we reach the clearing that we found Hollis in, Sylvar starts looking for any indication goblins had been through here recently.
“Volt, will you finally tell us what you promised you would?” Meuko says while sitting on a rock.
“I was going to. I am just a little… worried.” I say, with clear fear in my posture.
“Worried?” Meuko asks.
“You might not believe me… It is pretty far fetched. I do not want to cause any troubles… Especially after that whole stabbing thing… I am sure Sylvar told you.” I say.
Meuko looks… confused.
“I would never betray the trust of my dear friend… I am quite insulted at this moment.” Sylvar says, while looking at the edge of the clearing for any marks on trees.
He looks calm here, like nature is where he is supposed to be. He is a good friend.
“Well then… When I left the care house, someone stabbed me right before I reached home… My parents bandaged me to make sure that Julie would not burden herself. She saw the wound the next day and apparently kept it a secret as well… Sorry about not telling you. The last week was pretty troubling on its own.” I say, feeling ashamed.
I forgot about telling her. My dear friend that saved my life more than once recently. The woman that ran behind me and Julie as we caused trouble everywhere when we were kids. I should pay more attention to the things I have to do. I cannot use what happened as an excu-
“It is okay, Volt.” Meuko says, while putting her hand on my shoulder. “I do not expect you to tell me everything. Only to trust me enough to help you. That is what a big sister does.”
“Sister? Damn you, Meuko… You are gonna make me cry. You know how important family is to me.”
“I know… That is why I appreciate your worries when it comes to Julie’s rest. Anyone else would have tried to use her powers as fast as possible. Thank you.” Meuko says, clearly showing that empathy has nothing to do with power.
Empathy is apparently some ability to care about others… I think. Sylvar explained that word to me once… He taught me a lot of words in the years he has been here… Anyway… I need to tell them my theory.
“So… Sylvar, I need you to focus on me for a bit. Now that you both have my attention… I think everything was Travlon’s plan. He-”
“My friend Volter, you cannot pos-”
“Outsider, let him speak. He knows he sounds crazy, but he trusts us nonetheless. Keep going.”
“Okay.” I say. “You could have skipped the whole crazy thing but whatever… I asked Hollis about that day. They recently started this weird system where they store some amount of food in the woods, meant to be brought in the next day. That is very suspicious to me.”
“Why?” Sylvar asks, this time showing he is curious more than dismissive.
“Look, there was one cursed arrow. One… I think the target was you, my friend Sylvar. I think Travlon wanted you and ONLY you to go and help Hollis. I cannot really explain all of it. Travlon came running to you. Why you? Why not Thando? The person that trains everyone else, the person that Travlon knows for a very long time, longer than he does you. This is his wife we are talking about. He specifically asked for you. The goblins used that arrow when they knew they had a good chance of it finding its target. You stood extremely still for a prolonged time because you were the one that helped Hollis up. The goblins simply… Missed. That is why they did not have the cure. You do not want the cure when you want a curse to kill someone. But when they got the wrong target...”
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“I understand, my friend Volter. But we left as soon as we heard about that cure. You think Travlon could have warned the goblins so soon… Even if he had a way to communicate with them?”
“Actually…” Meuko intervenes. “I called for you after an hour of me and Julie trying to help Hollis. Julie mentioned that she needed the cure as soon as you left and Travlon was there. He was clearly shook… He left for a while before coming back.”
“Still...” Sylvar says, clearly shook.
“As soon as Travlon realized what actually happened, he had the goblins get the egg. He was probably too worried to even think about what was best to do. Modesta and Travlon are good friends as I recall, right, Meuko?”
“I think so… Why?”
“If Travlon knew about the Hunters leaving for an entire day, that would be the day he would send Sylvar to the woods. Otherwise, he would just call them. Since he cannot teleport Hollis, he brought himself over to Sylvar specifically.”
“Wait a minute…” Sylvar interjects. “What are you talking about? Everything I have read about teleportation says that you are more than able to take other people with you. So… why did he not help his wife? Oh… No… No, it cannot be...” Sylvar has a look of dread.
“He also...” I say, a bit slower, realizing that all this weighs heavily on Sylvar’s mind. “He also probably stabbed me. He was in the room right next to us. He heard I had a theory. He must have used some magic that makes him invisible… The fact that he has failed on two murders means that he is not really good at it. Murder is killing someone with the intention that they somehow deserve it, right? Or the intention to harm them? I am not sure, I think you taught me that one.”
“Yes, my friend… I taught you that one. You were asking me about the difference between attacking and defending…” Sylvar is rather distraught.
Makes sense… Someone did try to kill him. Someone close.
“Travlon… Why would he do it?” Meuko asks.
“I do not know, not really. I have no idea what I could have done to cause this man to hate me as such.” Sylvar says.
“We have more important things to do. We need to find those goblins, see if they have a leader and communicate. He must have given them something, right? Why would they just do everything he says?” I say.
I do not know what is more insane. My theory about Travlon trying to murder Sylvar, or the theory about the goblins having a bigger plan? Need to focus, one thing at a time.
“Travlon had the system with the ready berries. That is why there would be reason enough for him and his wife to be out, but they would not spend time gathering berries or fruit or whatever. That probably happened so that he would not have to worry about the Hunters coming back a bit sooner than expected. He called for you, not knowing that I am… Well, me.” I take another big breath, knowing it is not very easy to stop talking once I got my theory started. “Meuko joined us, thank Julie for that. The only reason we got to Hollis in time was probably because the goblins were waiting for us, so they made it seem like they were going to kill her while waiting for Sylvar. The goblins had a powerful arrow in case Sylvar tried to run. Hollis got shot with a cursed arrow. Travlon then asked for help from the goblins, so he did not want us to go get the cure, the goblins then try to reach the griffin egg, the same one we got. When we were talking about theories and me having a crazy one, he got scared. He messily stabbed me but has not made a move since then… All right, saying that out loud… Definitely not something we can bring the Hunters’ attention to. So...”
“So, we track the next best thing… The goblins.” Meuko says.
“I will get right on it… Need something to focus on, anyway.” Sylvar says, going deeper inside the forest, following the eastern natural paths.
After a while, he picked up the goblins’ tracks. They led further east… The deeper into their territory we went, the more warning signs we found… Dead animal skulls, hanged animal skin. At some point, we started seeing rope with bits of broken bones running through it, hanged between trees.
“This is creepy, creepier than getting stabbed.” I say, trying to find my courage somewhere deep inside the fear that had taken hold of my body.
“That is only because you survived the stabbing my friend.” Sylvar says, chuckling. He used humor.
That is good. The usual Sylvar is back.
“You better make sure you survive this, Volt… I am not explaining your death to Julie. Survived a surprise attack, died when he was ready. Imagine that.” Meuko says.
We are both laughing as hard as possible, without making too much noise of course, given that we are trying to be stealthy.
“I hate this.” I say.
We are all gently pushing each other’s shoulders while laughing… Silently. If we were back at the Village, we would be on the ground, laughing hysterically… This is not the Village, however, and we are just trying to make the most of it while being aware of our surroundings.
“Silence. Now.” Sylvar whispers. “Look… Over there.”
He gestures towards two goblins. Now, I can pay closer attention to them. These are green ones, like the ones that shot Hollis. I wonder what the gray ones are doing right now. What I thought to be monstrous snarling the first time I saw them seems to be a language they use to communicate.
It consists of a weird clicking sound they make, along with snarls and gestures. They appear to be checking their equipment.
“Why are there only two of them?” Meuko asks. “Where are the rest of them?”
I assume she is asking Sylvar. He is the dependable one.
“They are guarding the entrance to the cave” Sylvar responds.
What cave? Is he blind?
“What cave?” I ask, squinting my eyes to make sure I see as far as possible.
Sometimes… that works.
“Behind them, they use a camouflage of leaves and branches… Focus at the gaps these branches have.”
He was right. As soon as he explained it, it was clear as day. It is a weird thing, this… Camouflage. At first, I could not see the cave, but as soon as Sylvar pointed that out… I cannot believe I did not notice it before.
“So… Sylvar takes the left one, I take the right one?” Meuko says, picking rocks from the ground.
I imagine she will use it to break the goblin’s skull apart from afar.
“On one then, my friend Meuko… Three… Two… One.”
Sylvar hits the left goblin in the lungs, while Meuko hits the right goblin in the head. The left goblin tries to escape, but it cannot stand or breathe properly so it cannot even ask for help… All it can do was gurgle in its own blood, trying to move. The right one has passed out.
I quickly… But stealthily… Run over to the goblins and finish them off with the knife of their own making. Imagining they were trying to kill Sylvar makes it easier for me to finish them off. Sylvar inspects their weapons. One of them had small spears, meant to be thrown.
“Here, Volter, you should use them.” He suggests, passing the pouch they were stored at to me.
It cannot hurt to try them out. The knife worked well. These might as well. I tie them over to my left side, expecting to use them with my off-hand. I give one to Meuko, in case of an emergency… Rocks will only get her so far.
The cave has a weird formation. While there is a large rocky area around the opening, the cave only has a small gap to get through… Which causes a problem for a certain individual…
“We got a problem.” Meuko says.
“Yup.”
“That we have, my friends.”