For the following days, I was rather busy with my newly made group. We lost Moplo and Goyar even after I did my best with the herbs I had gathered, their wounds were too many and infected, there was little I could do to save them.

Well, I still held on to a few drops of the potion I took from the champions I killed, after healing the holes that pair of bolts left in me I was lucky enough to keep a bit of it for later use. And I won't waste such a precious liquid on saving one of two men I barely know.

Gathering food became easier, and after killing a small group of bandits my group got a better suit of clothes and some rudimentary leather armor as well, with fall coming soon I couldn't have any of them getting sick.

With better clothes and a few more weapons, I also got to train. Jorr was a capable warrior, but the quick spar we had showed me just enough to know he could handle himself with a round shield and a sword, while I could tell he had much more to offer.

The rest were an embarrassment. To the point I felt ashamed of having had difficulties with them for a brief moment, even if I was tired, they were many and fueled by anger, and the poor display of skill made me wonder what type of village they were in.

When I tried to get information out of Jorr, he said they were hunters and gatherers, nomads as most hobgoblins are, so being a warrior was a luxury only few could get.

So without telling me, I already know he must have had some type of power in that village. If you don't have to hunt to eat, then someone must do it for you and you must hold some type of power to make that person hunt for you.

I also learned a bit more about the trance that I possess. After killing the bandits I did not feel it, every time I know that I can use the trance, I never really put too much thought into how I know, I simply do. Like when you know that you have to drink water, or that you need to defecate.

Something within me let me know it was there.

But since the bandits were hardly a problem to deal with, this time I did not feel it. So if I were to kill a hundred tied-up peasants I would not be able to access it...at least I suppose. But for now, I was certain it wasn't about quantity, but quality.

Also, I came to a worrying realization, that even if this group was only half a dozen strong, it was too much to sneak past the path I had planned. It was one thing to do it alone, but a handful of human-sized followers on my tail made it almost impossible without having to face a guard or a walking peasant.

And outright murder was out of the table, not only because I would rather avoid it, but because I noticed the patrols were increasing, and getting each passing day closer. The more people we killed, the easier it would be for them to find us.

All that has forced me to run in circles, never quite making it out of the space between the inner territories and the border, I also noticed that the closer we got to the border, the more guards appeared stationed on the roads, and even in the middle of the woods.

Bait, probably.

Whoever was in charge of finding me, was doing a great job. Almost two full weeks passed, and I already saw the discontent growing in Jorr.

I couldn't let him know that the patrols were looking for me, much less tell him that I couldn't get us out of the human lands. And even if I had a great sense of orientation and scouting, there was only so much I could do without proper knowledge of the land.

So one evening, even if I didn't trust these hobgoblins that much, I was left without options. I can't get us out of here without a map, so I have to get one, and the only way I can do it is by sneaking inside a city and trying my luck in the many houses.

I told Jorr to cover his face as much as possible and if caught, to not speak, if any guard thought of them as common thieves that would be best. He would stay near a drain on the wall of a nearby city and wait for me until dawn.

He agreed and once the moon shined high in the night sky I used my war picks and their help to force the iron bars of the grain to break off the wall, and I got in.

Luckily I was small and thin enough to pass through the bars on the other side and I was immediately greeted with a stench I had memorized, after all, how could I forget it?

Dream maker.

Vagabonds were dancing with each other, or fucking, as both men and women laughed. They didn't even notice I was there.

Once inside the city, I use a dirty cloak from one of the vagabonds and cover myself, I can't get to the center of the city where the largest houses are without going through the streets, and so long as I keep a low profile I should have no issue.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Still, my heart races, and I take a step out of the alley, seeing dozens, maybe even hundreds of people walking in the street, laughing, or shouting. Some alone, not too different to me, and others with guards to each side.

But they do not mind me, besides a few stay away or grunts as they pass by, I can walk through the streets without a problem, as with my stature and this cloak covering my entire body, I must look no different to a child wandering around.

So with a quick pace, I make my way to the center of the city. Many odors invade my nostrils, from food and sweets to ale and sex from the occasional blocked-off alley, guards or whores making sure no unwanted onlookers can glance at the action.

I also see shops, from clothes to blacksmiths, art, and even a place with large glass windows that with a glance showed me a decorated wall inside the shop, with several maps. I never even bothered keeping the spare coins of guards or bandits, since I know I cannot buy anything.

And as I get closer to the center I see the houses grow in size and rise to more than one floor, people dress with more care. But also, there are fewer people in the streets, and soon I stand out among a crowd of well-dressed people and armed guards.

I try to keep calm, but I know if I go on I will find only trouble, so I look around and begin taking different streets, some are more empty, others more fully, and I try to keep myself among the larger crowds and especially those with the least guards.

All while looking around for a house that seems important enough but that has anyway for me to sneak in too, and there aren't many choices. There are a few stony structures that surely possess one, but they are also full of guards.

Eventually, after wandering around for what feels like an eternity I realize there is just no way I can pull this off. So defeated, I sit down inside an empty alley.

Once I return empty-handed, I can't just lie my way out of it, the hobgoblins will know I can't keep my word, and that's if they are even waiting for me as I instructed instead of just abandoning me in here.

I must find a way, some way, I need to-

"Hey there"

I freeze, but only for a second, I cover myself as fast as I can and stand up from the ground. Keeping my face down, all while preparing to run at the moment I can.

"Calm down! I won't hurt you" the woman says as she kneels standing between the street and the alley, keeping me inside "Here"

She stretches her hand out, beneath my face, and shows me a loaf of bread, it is filled with meat and smells so good that I even forget for a moment that this could very well be a life or death situation.

"You can have it, I swear there is nothing funny in it. Look!" She takes the bread away and then presents it to me once again, a large bite in its side "It's vewy good!" she exclaims with her mouth full.

"No one is dumb enough to accept free food in this city, you should know that already" another voice. Yet another woman seems to crowd the exit of this alley.

"Oh, right...I forget how twisted can this place be for children" she replies, taking the bread away and finally stepping back and out from the alley, but the two figures are still keeping me locked inside.

Then, I hear the rustling of cloth and slowly move my hand to the handle of my war pick, hidden beneath the cloak they can't see my hands. But when at this point I'm ready to just strike first and try to lose them in the crowds.

A bag, heavy with the impossible-to-misplace sound of coins held within falls to the ground right in front of me.

"Take it and buy yourself something to eat," the second woman says "So, a thank you?"

"Anaid! You can't ask for a thank you if you try to do something nice!" the first woman exclaims, to which the other one just grunts "It defeats the purpose!"

"Let's just go, is not like there aren't a dozen other orphans in each alley"

"But it's good to occasionally try to help every once in a while, goodbye little one, don't do anything stupid with that and keep it well hidden!"

The pair then finally walk away. I quickly reach for the bag, may as well keep it. I sneak out of the alley and look at them go, they too are hidden beneath large black cloaks. But one of them turns to the other, they are talking but with the noise all around I can't make out their words.

But it's none of my business.

I'm just grateful that I made it out of that situation without risking my life, maybe getting confused with a child has both positives and negatives.

However, now that I can think clearly again I weigh the bag in my hand before opening it, it is quite heavy and filled with copper coins, and I still have no clue what are they worth. But I can also see a few silver ones.

This sparks a dangerous idea but may be the only one I have left. So trying to walk back from where I came from, after some searching I find the shop with the maps on its walls, and wait until it's completely empty, only the clerk behind the counter and I rush inside.

"Whoah! No vagrants in here! Get the fuck out!" The obese man behind shouts lifting a crossbow from behind his counter "I will shoot you, kid!"

I throw the bag on the floor, half open so the coins spill a bit and he can see how much is there, and I glance a bit without lifting my head much, it seems to have picked his interest.

"Well, what do you want then?" he says begrudgingly as he hides his crossbow back from where he took it. Still, hiding my hand inside the cloak I point at the map "A map?! Well, let me see first what we have here"

He walks up to me and I step back, he picks up the bag and chuckles.

"This is enough...for bothering me, get out now before I put a bolt between your eyes"

I am not leaving empty-handed, so once he turns around I look back for a split second, only to make sure no one else is entering and I jump at him, smacking him on the head with the blunt side of my war pick. He drops to the ground loudly and I waste no time, jumping at the wall and tearing the map from it, quickly rolling it and leaving the store as fast as I can.

I hear shouting soon after I leave, a passerby surely looking at his unconscious body on the ground but by that time I'm already far away.

So I make it back to the drain and see that, thankfully, the drug-induced orgy is over, and now they just lay there, like dead people.

Making it back out of the wall at first I think I have been abandoned, but after a few seconds, the hobgoblins appear from afar, waving their arms at me.

And I rush to them, we quickly make our way back into the woods.