As Ozlo fell into formation, he tried not to think about the various dangers he might face. Memories of the many clever ways that a goblin might trick a foolish adventurer into falling into an ambush. Steeling himself, Ozlo pushed forward only to find that the battle was already over.

By the time that his group had made it to the front the goblins were already long dead. In fact, a circle had started to form as those with the necessary skills started to butcher the poor beasts and remove their shards.

Boyd walked towards his squad and gave them a simple order in a tired voice. "Go on, get to the back. We're not needed here." And so they went, the excitement and adrenaline wearing off as the boys trudged back to the end of the line and started their weary march forward.

They walked for the better part of a day before another short horn rang out, followed by a loud announcement. "MAKE CAMP!" Seeing no reason to delay and frankly, quite ready for a long rest, everyone set to their various jobs in the camp.

Boyd directed the boys to gather firewood and left them with a few parting words. "Don't wander too far and keep within sight, if you get snatched up by some boogy-man then that's on you."

The boys laughed their captains warning off, but kept their wits about them, staring deeply into any shadow that looked like it might give them trouble. "Well, this sucks." Andrew, ever the eloquent orator spoke up while snatching at a dead twig. "We walk all day, we sleep all night, and then we walk again. And the dust, there's so much road dust up my-"

A torch came into sight around the corner, shutting the boy up promptly as a young woman revealed herself. "Uh. Hello." She said as she slowly backed away. "I didn't mean to interrupt or anything."

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"You weren't interrupting, we're just getting firewood and it looks like you're doing the same." John interjected. The young lady was wearing a simple set brown robes cut short so her legs would be free to move. She inspected the young group before sitting down.

"Well, that's a relief. I'm Elizabeth, and I'm a healer. Which you probably figured out because of the robes. Course my ma always said I was more of a "talker" than a healer. Says I could talk an elephants ear off, not that I've ever seen one. But I hear they have big ears you know. That and they have great memories. Like a hag, without the whole *grind your bones to bread* bit."

Elizabeth took a deep breathe and her cheeks grew flushed. "Ah, I did it again. Dad would say that I should think twice and speak once. Maybe if I had listened then uh. Ahem. I'll uh, I'll be grabbing some wood now."

After a few moments, Ozlo stepped forward and introduced himself. "I'm Ozlo. That's John, that's Andrew. Our captains Boyd, John Boyd. But John's not our captain, not this John at least... Uh, yeah. That's all of us."

Elizabeth gave the boys a polite wave and went about gathering firewood. The boys glanced towards each other, all tension sliding off of them. The gathering of firewood didn't take long and soon they found themselves laden with fuel.

The three boys and Elizabeth went back to their camp and said their farewells to their new acquaintance, sending her on their ways. As they began stacking the wood to the side Boyd gave them all a warm bowl of stew and a hard slab of bread. "Eat up. Oh and uh, remember. This is an expedition, not a date. Fraternizing with the fairer sex might just get you killed able to keep your head on straight. Course that's how I met my wife so maybe..." Boyd seemed to trail off before a hard look entered his eye and steel entered his voice. "No. Stay focused on the mission, and don't take any risks boys. Understood?"

The boys all gave their captain a firm nod, but deep down they had entirely different thoughts on the matter.