Marcus borrowed a cooking station and a portable oven from the Johns. Following Marcus’s lead Drew made a batch of what people would call biscuits back on earth.

New Item: Course Biscuit (x10): 250 exp.

They had worked quickly and were able to have a batch ready before William was thrown through the air for the third time. His Garnt had jumped and landed poorly, twisting its leg in a hole.

“Whoa! Drew! We need some healing!” John called.

William groaned on the ground, gripping his head.

Ouch! That’s not good!

Drew flew over quickly to heal the blacksmith on the ground while the Johns tried to calm down the Garnts.

“Stay calm man, I’ve got to touch you to use my healing spells.” Drew said.

William groaned and his eyes rolled up.

Guess that’s getting more serious.

Drew gripped the William’s thigh and activated his healing abilities.

Debuff: Concussion (1/1)

The Johns held down the injured Garnt. They were trying to keep it from getting up and hurting itself more.

He’s lucky that he didn’t break his neck.

Marcus hurried over to the injured Garnt to fed it one of his desserts. It resisted at first, wailing terribly, but as the Johns held it down it calmed enough to give the biscuit a sniff.

“Go on darling, try it.” Marcus said.

They can’t taste good. Can they? They are just made from common grasses, mint, and hopper grass, and some milk? Maybe I should try one.

Pegg and the leader of the ranchers hustled over with a couple splints and bandages.

“John!” The leader called out. His voice was warm and amicable. “Seems like a bad break! Was that one of your brothers that got thrown?”

“Boss. Thank you.” John said, waiving off the man’s offered splints and bandages. “William should recover soon enough. He has a blacksmith’s constitution.”

“All the better. And how about the beast? Splinting a beast is tricky work. It’s a fine steed, shame to let it go lame in the wrong hands.” He said.

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Debuff Removed: Concussion: 175 exp.

William rested easy once the debuff was removed.

You aren’t supposed to sleep with a concussion but I guess it’s okay since it’s been removed?

“I’d be willing to offer you 5 gold for it. Take it off your hands.” Boss said.

Drew flew over to the injured beast. With the Garnt calm in Marcus’s care, munching away on another treat, Drew was able to grip its flank and activate both his healing spells.

Debuff: Minor Fracture: (1/1)

“Thank you for the offer, but we should be able to get it back on its feet. Well hooves, as it seems.” John said.

“Now, now, if I was you I wouldn’t be over confident. A lame Garnt is worthless, if that debuff sets in then you may as well put the beast down.” Boss said.

Debuff Removed: Minor Fracture: 250 exp.

Skill Upgrade: [Basic Heal 5]

The flash of light caused the Johns to cheer.

“What’s that Gallows Bird doing? Did it take a bite out of the Garnt?” Boss asked.

He unsheathed his short dagger and made a step towards Drew.

“Wait, the bird has a healing skill.” John said. “He’s likely just fixed the broken bone.”

Damien put down his book quickly and hurried over.

John! That’s a secret! Now Damien’s going to get all riled up.

“Caw.” Drew said and bobbed his head.

Play it cool John!

“He’s a smart bird.” John said, trying to recover quickly. “So thank you for the offer but we are doing alright.”

Damien arrived then, he was ready to interject. But Boss shouted.

“That’s amazing! I’ve never heard of a Gallows Bird using magic. How much would you sell him for? We’d save a fortune on bandages alone.” He was using his fingers to count out the financing.

“He’s not for sale.” Damien said. “Absolutely not.”

Boss turned to the old enchanter and looked him up and down. He correctly assessed that the old man wouldn’t budge on this.

“Well that I can understand. How about we rent him? We will all likely be here a day or two, if we have an injury, beast or man, would a copper each be a good rate for healing?” Boss asked.

“Silver!” Drew squawked.

This could work out great! I wonder how much adventurer’s can charge for healing? Might be able to sweeten the deal…

“You heard him. A silver each. Two for something complex.” Damien said.

“Biscuits?” Drew said.

“And you feed him.” Damien said.

“You drive a hard bargain old man.” Boss said scratching his chin. “And I can respect that. Shake on it and we have a deal.”

Damien shook on it.

Drew hopped up onto the fence and held out his claw to shake on it too.

“Ha! Smart bird indeed!” Boss said and shook Drew’s claw. It fit easily into his large palm.

With the deal set, Boss returned to his men and they started taming Garnt in earnest.

It will be a good shock when I heal their first injury. What if someone shouts “That’s impossible!”

Damien picked out a book and his chair from the trunk. He set up off to the side away from the corral. Two Johns carried the unconscious William over to rest next to the enchanter.

Drew sat on a fencepost watching both groups. Jeff and Scarlett, joined the activity to speed things along.

None of the ranchers seem like adventurers. Most of them are archers like the Johns. Vaylari could be their striker, an upfront fighter with those two short swords. Boss could be their tank. And the rest are archers? Where are the mages? The healers? Can they really survive with bandages and splints?

A mercenary patrol returned from the box canyon. They jogged past the corrals and made a bee line for their captain.

“Status report.” He said.

They saluted him and relayed their discovery.

“Discovered a small cave with a spring of drinkable water. Back of the box canyon, Captain.”

That sounds like Monroe. I still can’t spot who’s who under their heavy armor. And most of the time they never take their helmets off or speak much anyways.I’m lucky to know 4 of their names.

“Refill our water there. With a few days to sit idle we may as well run some cleaning in blankets.” Maggie said.