There were multiple layers of bad news.
First was the search area. The group seemed to move between villages and trade roads by cutting through an area of wilderness that every village was situated around. It hadn’t seemed to be too bad initially, but that was only because Yaric had assumed it was even bigger. Still, it was almost forty kilometers at its widest and twenty-five kilometers long for much of that width. And that was just the section that sat between the villages, where a much larger uninhabited area formed a bulge, a salient that put the recently hit targets into easy striking range.
Worse, the terrain was very rugged. It would be far, far more complicated than simply searching the area. Yaric knew that these people could be camped less than two hundred meters away and he would pass them by without a clue. Steep hillsides and deep ravines made the region very difficult to traverse, and very easy to hide in, so much so that most traffic went all the way around instead of cutting through the region; the paths through were just too difficult for most.
And then there was their profession. As hunters they would be completely at home in the hills and alpine forests that made traversing the area so difficult. It may even be part of their hunting ground, which would mean that they were intimately familiar with the terrain. Not to mention the danger involved in searching for a group of hunters on their home turf – Yaric and his friends may just end up being the hunted.
He wasn’t foolish enough to think that he was even remotely as good as they would be, none of them were. They had firepower and magic on their side, but the hunters would likely see them coming in advance and would be able to choose whether they disappeared again or set up an ambush instead.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. The group of hunters had taken a lot of coins and items like jewelry, but they’d also taken things like clothing, expensive rugs, and small items of furniture. No one could easily carry items like these into those hills, and they would have to set up a camp somewhere to keep everything safe.
Moreover, the hunters had not hidden their faces during the raid. And yet, no one had any idea of their identities, which meant they were not likely to have had much contact with locals. The only reason anyone even knew they were hunters was due to their equipment and behavior. It’s still possible they hunted nearby, but none of them seemed overly concerned that they would be identified, and so far they had been correct.
If anything, some locals may even be in on it. While no one recognized them, they did seem to have good knowledge of which trade caravans to hit and where they would be.
They also always went for items that had the highest perceived value instead of utility, even if those items were heavy or bulky, making them difficult to carry when they retreated into the wilderness. It certainly wouldn’t be a long-term solution, and it would take time to get those same items back out.
“I think they’re planning to sell everything at some point,” Yaric said, breaking the silence in Sandy’s office while everyone went through the surprisingly dense appeal. Perhaps it shouldn’t be that surprising, since it was multiple separate appeals combined into one.
“They’re taking everything into these hills, but they aren’t items they could use. At the same time, none of the nearby villages or towns would be safe, and they can’t carry everything out of this pocket and into even rougher terrain. So they’re probably planning on making their own caravan at the edge somewhere and traveling further to make the sales.”
“It’s possible,” Lloyd acknowledged, “but how does that help?”
“At some point they’re going to have to start transferring the stolen goods to the edge of this area, instead of keeping it deep inside. They might have been storing everything a short way in right from the beginning. Who’s going to find it?”
“And they can’t sell anything anywhere nearby, everyone will know about the thefts,” Sven added. “They’re going to need transport that can move the goods over long distances.”
“So the four of you want to focus on the outskirts,” Sandy asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.
“We could walk right past them in the hills and never know it,” Sven said. “It would be easier to find their stash than the people themselves.”
“And we know they probably go into villages to get information,” Yaric added. “How else would they have hit so many caravans with valuable cargo?”
“Aren’t most caravans carrying valuable cargo?” Li Na asked, pointing out an obvious flaw in Yaric’s assumptions. “They just have to wait and hit anyone that comes past. We don’t know that the people they robbed had the most valuable cargo.”
“Uh… right.”
“Most of the attacks have been raids on nearby villages,” Lauren added.
“But they did start robbing caravans very recently,” Yaric said, pointing out how the three caravans hit were also the three most recent attacks. “They also aren’t many villages that they haven’t raided, not unless they want to hit small farmsteads. It can’t be long before they have more items than they can hope to transport. If we want to catch them it has to be soon.”
“We need to find out if anything like wagons have been stolen,” Lauren said.
Lloyd leaned over the table and scooped up all of the papers before handing them to Yaric. “There’s more here than you can hope to go through while talking with us. I suggest you spend the rest of the day learning about the appeal before you start making concrete plans. Trying to put things together after a few minutes of reading will lead to a lot of mistakes.”
“We will,” Lauren promised. They were clearly dismissed, so everyone said goodbye and started making their way back to the dorm building.
The four of them were just about to walk out the door when Jerrold called out behind them. “And stay safe!”
----------------------------------------
Thoughts and feelings about the situation changed as time went on. Yaric had been certain that stolen items wouldn’t be carried too far into the hills, as not only would it be very difficult, but they’d also need to bring it all out again. Then he realized that the different appeals had been sent from locations that practically ringed the entire area. If the goods were stored near the northern edge, then items stolen at the southern end would have to be carried from one end to the other. It would also be further from the east and west than a more central location would be.
Still, despite all their brainstorming, Yaric kept going back to one of the main lessons he learned about investigations. Something might be far more likely than something else, but that doesn’t mean it’s a certainty. There were all sorts of mitigating circumstances they might not know about, different personalities, people with different experiences, and people who simply make poor choices. Every possibility had to be taken into account, and assumptions were just that, assumptions.
They worked late into the evening before coming up with their plan. No one felt eager to head deep into the hills, but that was where the items were most likely stashed. On the other hand, there was also a limit to how much eight men could transport, no matter what method they used, and it wouldn’t be long before they were forced to start bringing things to more accessible parts of the region. As Sven pointed out, there were far more roads and much larger towns to the west and south of the territory being raided by the bandits, making that the most likely point of exit.
In the end, they decided to try a two-part strategy. They would be approaching from the southwest anyway and heading directly toward the roads that made the most sense as exit points. Instead of keeping to the roads, they would head slightly inside the forested hill slopes before following the road once again, all while keeping an eye out for any sign of the hunters. In a best-case scenario, they could even find items that have been moved closer to the road for extraction.
Once they had moved around to the north, they would try to head back down with other travelers, hoping to intercept an ambush. It was more likely that they would hear about another ambush, instead of running into one, but in that case they could head to the location and try to follow the hunters back to their camp. It wouldn’t be easy, and no one expected it to be. Fortunately, no one could travel through such rough terrain without leaving signs, not when they were also loaded down with heavy cargo.
“Don’t forget, they might have an advantage in the hills,” Sven said before pausing to yawn, “but they don’t have our experience with fighting other people.”
“Or fighting together,” Li Na said.
“I think the most dangerous part will be right at the start. If they see us coming they could ambush us. But if we can prevent an ambush or shield ourselves during the initial attack, then we would have a significant advantage over them.”
Other students had arrived hours earlier, having finished with their lessons, but the room was almost empty now with everyone going to bed. Yaric and the others planned out their logistics before going to bed as well.
It felt odd to wake up and go for breakfast with everyone else while knowing they wouldn’t be sharing any classes that day. They had been too tired to pack the night before, and too nervous that they might forget something, so all four of them packed their things after breakfast.
They were dressed in some of the traveling clothes their Sponsors had purchased, including the armored cloaks. Armor wouldn’t be out of place for travelers in an area that had seen bandit activity, and neither would weapons, so they openly stowed their armor by attaching everything to their bags.
Everyone left their polearms behind, including Lauren, but they all took swords and shields. Yaric also had his bow, and Li Na had her mace. Lauren wanted a bow for herself, while Yaric still had to go to the armory to book out a couple of quivers of arrows, so he went with Lauren while Sven and Li Na went to get the horses ready. It took almost three hours to prepare everything, but they were finally ready to go by midmorning.
Lekton was cold and dreary when they rode through. The early morning fog had lifted, but it sat just above their heads, swirling and shifting in the pale light that shone through. Yaric couldn’t help but shiver when a biting breeze blew down the main road.
There weren’t any major roads that went directly to Fools Forest, the small bulge they were heading toward, but they had made the unfortunate decision to head directly there regardless, instead of taking the longer, more circular route that would take them through major towns. That led them to spend several nights camping in their new tents, with large fires to try to keep them warm. It wasn’t a very pleasant journey, but they did finally make it to the outskirts of Fools Forest. Even if nine of the twelve days were spent camping out in the open.
Yaric, Sven, and Lauren dismounted once they arrived at the southern edge of the forest. There were still two small villages further east that had been raided, but most of the incidents were to the west and north. Almost everywhere would be covered if they turned left and followed the road around Fools Forests, which was exactly what they intended to do.
Yaric headed into the forest with his bow and his sword, followed by Lauren, and then Sven. They kept a wide gap between them, while Li Na pulled their horses along on the road. Lauren had the foresight to suggest that they put on their armor before leaving that morning, so it took them less than five minutes to get into position.
“Ready?!” Li Na shouted from the road.
“Go ahead!” Yaric shouted back.
The three of them slowly began picking their way forward, hoping to discover some hidden goods near the edge of the forest. It was slow going, and worse, the fog that had settled over everything during the night had left the undergrowth dripping. All three of them were soaked through before they even got into position. It was a very cold experience.
They continued on through what was left of the afternoon, calling out periodically so Li Na could stop or speed up when required. They didn’t want to get split up with a group of bandits on the loose.
“You didn’t see anything?” Li Na asked, sitting in front of the fire along with her friends. The others were trying to dry themselves. Yaric had the hardest time, as he was on lookout duty.
“Nothing, just same old game trails,” Lauren replied.
“So we’re just going to carry on like this?”
“That’s the plan,” Lauren said. "But hopefully we will find something soon.”
The next day was much the same, but this time it lasted from sunrise. Pushing through damp and dripping undergrowth never became easy, no matter how wet they got or how many times they did it. Not only that, but at this altitude the weather was even colder.
Day after day they searched, with Yaric always the furthest out as their top scout, Lauren in the middle as their second, and Sven closest to the road, his sword and shield in hand. Li Na had the advantage of her pendant, so she stayed with the horses. If there was an ambush she would be protected from any opening volley.
Small towns and villages were a welcome sight. Searching the forest forced them to slow down, so they only saw villages on the third and fifth days. Still, staying in a warm room with a proper fireplace was much appreciated by everyone.
They came to another small village on the eighth day, this one almost at the top of the western edge of Fools Forest. It was still midday, but everyone was cold and miserable, so they decided to stop where they were. Not much happened in the smaller towns in the middle of winter, so they all expected to have a warm, quiet evening.
Unfortunately there was a lot of excitement in the tavern.
“Heard there was a dozen of ‘em,” one man was shouting excitedly. “Took everything they could carry. Poor merchants are in ol’ Tim's place, stayin’ the night. Their wounded man will be holed up for at least a week or two. They say they lost so much they will make a loss this year.”
“Damn merchants, I doubt they lost much. They’re bigger thieves than these bandits,” another man complained.
“You try carrying your life’s work around with you an’ watch someone carry it away,” someone else countered.
“How bad was that guy wounded?” a loud voice at the end of the bar asked.
“Dunno. Took a quarrel in the leg.”
The speaker pointed at his thigh and several people winced.
“Got what he deserved then. I almost paid with my leg for that equipment I needed last year,” the complainer said.
“Yeah? And what will happen when no merchants want to come through here no more? You going to pay with both legs? And an arm? We’ll have to pay to make it worth the risk.”
“You told us what you paid last year, you got a good price. Expensive equipment is expensive, don’t go blaming the merchants.”
“Yeah, blame the smith what made it,” the man telling the story suggested.
“Hey!” came the same loud voice from the other end. “Come over here and say that again.”
“Sorry Frank, I don’t mean you of course!”
Yaric and the others stood in the doorway, looking between themselves as the argument went on. Sven usually handled questioning large groups, but he seemed to be hesitating. When they moved once again, it was Li Na who stepped forward.
“Merchants and other thieves robbing each other again?” she asked loudly.
Many people quieted down and turned to face the newcomers.
“Yep. Another merchant was robbed before he could rob us. Just two wagons and two guards when everyone knows there are bandits nearby. Don’t know what they were thinking.”
“Where did it happen?” Yaric asked.
“Just north of here. Close enough for them to get here just two hours after it happened. Saw them comin’ into Tim’s place not more than an hour ago.”
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“’Course, their wagons were lighter then,” the complainer laughed. “Faster.”
The horses were already unsaddled and settled into a warm barn, so there was no point in trying to move to the place owned by Tim, but there was nothing to stop them from going over after they settled in.
Lauren got rooms for everyone, and they all met for lunch after packing their things away.
“Do we go after them?” Li Na asked.
“We’d need to find out where they were attacked first,” Yaric replied.
“If it’s only two hours by wagon we can leave the horses here and run,” Lauren pointed out.
“Well, they will be carrying whatever they took, and we’re only three or four hours behind them,” Yaric said. “If we eat quickly, we can get our things and speak to these merchants on the way to the site.
Walking in with their bags had hidden their weaponry, but everyone went quiet when four teenagers marched back down the stairs, armed with swords, shields, bows, and quivers. And a mace.
Tim’s place was easy to find, as it wasn’t even an inn, but just a tavern whose owner the merchants knew. One look at their weapons was all it took for one of the merchants to give them a description of the location, but even his eager explanation wasn’t very clear. There just weren’t many distinguishable landmarks along the roads.
Still, it shouldn’t be too difficult to identify where heavy items had been dragged off carts, particularly since much of what had been taken was silverware. Even small cases were very heavy.
Long plumes trailed behind Yaric and his friends as they ran up the road, their eyes peeled for both the scene of the crime, and any further ambushes as well.
They almost missed it. There was no sign of the wagon being unloaded, but the route into the forest was clearly visible, though only if you were looking at it from slightly ahead. Once Yaric spotted it, however, it was hard to miss.
“Do we follow them in?” Li Na asked.
“It’s what we’re here for,” Sven replied.
Yaric untied a heavy pouch that he’d securely attached to his armor. “The real difficulty was always going to be finding them, I don’t think we can pass this up.”
He finally got the bag open and started pulling out smaller bags which he handed to everyone. They were surprisingly heavy.
“Are these the restraints you booked out?” Lauren asked while untying the drawstring. She pulled out a heavy set of iron manacles before Yaric could reply. It was heavier than most, with a solid bar between the cuffs. Each manacle was securely wrapped to prevent any noise, and each bag held three.
“I thought these would make it safer to transport them,” Yaric explained, looking to Sven and Li Na.
“If they surrender,” Sven pointed out.
“We’re arcanists, we don’t need them to surrender to capture them,” Lauren said, turning to smile at Yaric.
“Alright, well, we’ll try,” Sven said. He turned to look at the opening that led into the forest. “How are we going to do this?”
“I’ll go first,” Yaric said. “You three follow behind as backup in case I stumble into something.”
Yaric drew his sword and advanced. The dark forest quickly swallowed him, prompting the others to draw their weapons and quickly enter the forest themselves.
There were long sections without much sign of anyone passing, but the signs that were left behind were blindingly obvious. Some of the items must have been very heavy, because most of the tracks left behind were long skid marks in the soft ground. They had been following the trail for over an hour when Yaric suddenly realized something else he had overlooked.
‘They’re hunters, not scouts! Scouts need to hide their presence at all times so no one knows they’re there, hunters only need to hide from whatever they’re stalking. Or when they’re lying in wait. These guys aren’t going to be skilled at hiding their tracks.’
That still didn’t make it easy, particularly as the rough terrain caused the route the bandits had taken to meander through the forest. Interruptions were frequent, as more than once Yaric was forced to start sweeping to the sides in an attempt to pick up the trail again.
Still, they weren’t much slower than they would have been if they weren’t following a trail. The terrain was starting to become very rugged, forcing a slower pace either way.
Night started to fall with no sight or sound of their quarry.
“Should we wait until morning?” Yaric asked, whispering quietly after waiting for his friends to catch up.
“Can you keep following the trail in the dark?” Sven asked, answering Yaric’s question with a question of his own.
“Yes. There’s enough light while the moon is up. I thought they would probably stop for the night, and we could catch up and take them while most are unprepared,” Yaric whispered.
The expression on Lauren’s face made it obvious that she thought that was the better idea as well.
“Let’s go,” Li Na said, ending the discussion before a dozen what-ifs could be brought up. She pulled her cloak more tightly around herself and waited expectantly.
Yaric ranged ahead once again. The steeper hills had the unexpected benefit of thinning out the trees somewhat, making it easier for Yaric to find the signs the bandits had left behind. He moved quietly, knowing that they would have lookouts posted around their camp. The forest at this altitude seemed almost unnaturally quiet, though it was also the middle of winter.
They were following the trail utterly silently, moving horizontally across a steep hillside, when something broke the silence of the forest for the first time.
Schwang, schwang.
Thud! Thud!
Sven hissed his breath.
“Uphill!” Lauren shouted.
Schwang, schwang, thunk, schwang.
An arrow slammed into Yaric’s armor, driving the wind from him just as he sheathed his sword and making him cough.
Lauren was crouched behind her shield, as were Sven and Li Na, though Lauren's had three crossbow bolts embedded deeply within. It was hard to make out in the shadows cast by his shield, but it looked like Sven had a bolt in his leg.
Yaric had already started casting a spatial spell while still sheathing his sword, so by the time he had unclipped his bow and nocked an arrow, the spell was already anchored.
There were no targets.
Schwang, schwang.
The quiet sound of two crossbows whispered in the night air, forcing Yaric to leap sideways in case he was the target. A faint swoosh went past his ear, while another bolt embedded itself in Lauren’s shield.
‘Her bow! We’re considered a bigger threat!’
Yaric still hadn’t seen anything in the deeper shadows further up the hill, but he thought he saw a darker patch shift just before the louder thunk of a crossbow with metal limbs signaled another shot fired.
Reacting instinctively, Yaric loosed the arrow, watching it disappear near instantly as the spell took hold, shrinking the distance ahead of it.
Someone up the hill cried out.
Schwang, schwang, schwang.
Yaric dove for a tree while more bolts embedded themselves in shields, this time with Li Na’s metal shield clanging as well.
Their attackers had the high ground, were well hidden, and outnumbered them, particularly when counting ranged weapons.
They were pinned down.
“Fall back!” Yaric called.
“Falling back,” the other three repeated, signaling that they had heard and were following his directions. Yaric fired another arrow blindly and fumbled in his pockets. Things weren’t going well, and no spell was likely to help them turn this ambush into a victory, but one could help them escape. The only issue was that Yaric wasn’t comfortable letting these hunters know they were being pursued by arcanists. That was an advantage he wanted to keep hidden until it was too late.
“I’m using our magic rock!” he shouted, pulling his lighting stone from his pocket. Hopefully that would get the bandits’ attention, as he wanted them to watch intently. Even more importantly though, he hoped that it would sound like they weren’t able to cast spells themselves.
Brilliant light lanced out into the darkness, illuminating the hillside above them. Several grunts signaled that he had achieved his goal, so he swept the blinding beam across the brush once again and abruptly stopped channeling arcana.
Darkness descended and cloaked them once again as they retreated back the way they’d come. Not only had the hunters just been blinded, but they also knew that the people they had just ambushed were armed. It was unlikely that they would chase them into the dark forest, not with the risk of being ambushed in turn.
Yaric stayed behind everyone this time, acting as a rearguard, while Lauren went ahead with her own arrow nocked. The bolt that had struck Sven had hit the thinner leather that dropped over his upper legs, but it hadn’t penetrated fully. It would still need stitches, but only the tip had gone deep enough to penetrate his thigh. Sven followed Lauren under his own power, while Li Na shadowed him closely with her shield and mace ready.
Exiting the forest was much faster than when they had made their way in, but it still took them almost three hours in the dark. And when they finally found the road, they also had to make their way back to the village on foot.
The entire expedition was a disaster.
Sven was in some pain, but he kept brushing off any attempts to help him walk.
“The Battle Mage has done much worse than this to me, I’ll be fine,” he whispered.
They had all been talking very quietly ever since the ambush. It was stupid, but Yaric had genuinely expected to catch them unawares. Once they caught up to where the bandits had made camp for the night, they would have been the ones to set up an ambush.
Still, he didn’t forget a lesson he had learned in the last few days of the Competition they had won.
“I’m going to wait here for a bit,” Yaric said, pointing to the forest beside them just as they went around a bend in the road.
“You think they’re following us?” Lauren asked, her concern evident even in the darkness.
“The moon has set, but they could probably guess where we came from,” Yaric said, already breaking off to disappear into the inky black shadows along the forest’s edge.
Yaric waited for twenty minutes, but there wasn’t a sound. Nothing moved, and no one seemed to be following them. He waited another ten minutes just to be sure, then quickly took a peek around the corner to make sure there wasn’t anyone coming down the road just behind him, before taking off down the road to catch up with his friends.
They had too much of a head start, and Yaric didn’t see them again until he arrived at their inn.
Everyone was gathered around Sven in his room.
“What’s he doing?” Yaric asked. “Surely he’s not going to cauterize that wound!”
“No,” Lauren replied, looking at Sven with an annoyed glance. “He thinks he can learn one of his healing spells tonight.”
Sven held up the cube with his lesson plan and gave everyone a grin. “Why not? Look how important it could be.”
Yaric sighed and sat down on the floor, rubbing his face as he did. “Sorry. We shouldn’t have chased them in the dark.”
“Why not?” Lauren asked. “They were hampered just as much as we were.”
“Yeah, and we could have caught them while they slept.”
“But they caught us instead,” Yaric replied.
“So? Since when is any plan guaranteed to be a success? Those hunters were working just as hard to make sure they weren’t followed as we were working to follow them.”
“How did they know we were following them, anyway?” Sven asked distantly, distracted by the spell he was studying.
“I don’t think they did,” Yaric admitted. “That wasn’t all of them. Not enough crossbows. I think some of them were setting up camp while the others went back to make sure they weren’t followed. We walked right into them.”
“Not really,” Li Na said. “They wouldn’t have stayed there forever. If we’d been a bit slower we could have caught them at the camp.”
“That’s true,” Lauren added.
“Oh, and I think they were targeting us,” Yaric said, lifting his head sharply to look Lauren in the eyes.
“Why us?”
“I think it was because they could see we had bows. I got hit in the chest with a bolt, and at least one or two missed me. You got a several in your shield.”
“I only had one on my shield,” Li Na said. “And Sven only had one on his,” she added, pointing to where Sven’s shield lay with a single, large bolt embedded in the wood. “And his leg,” she said more quietly.
Sven demanded some quiet so he could focus on his spell and forced the others to leave his room. They all went to wash up, but they soon forced their way back inside with the excuse that they often learned spells together.
Besides Sven’s injury, everyone was handling things surprisingly well. Or maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise, as Yaric had been struck by arrows before. Sure, only one of them had something similar to the medallions that protected them the last time, but being shot at wasn’t exactly a new experience.
Lauren looked upset when he showed them the mark on his armor, but things backfired when he pointed out how this wasn’t new to them.
“That was an arrow, Yaric,” she replied, sounding exasperated.
“Yes, that’s what I said.” Lauren’s reaction had left him feeling very confused.
“The rest of us were hit by crossbows. Look at those bolts,” she said, pointing to the bolt still embedded in Sven’s shield. “Those things have far more penetrating power at that range, if anyone else had hit you, you could have had a wound like Sven’s. Except right here,” she added, placing her hand over his heart.
“My armor is pretty good, it still…” Yaric trailed off when he saw Lauren’s reaction, and he stepped forward to pull her into a hug instead. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen her cry, and he’d still have fingers left over.
“Why don’t you two try and get someone to serve drinks downstairs?” Li Na suggested. “I’ll help Sven with his spell, and we’ll join you when we’re done.”
Yaric only let go with one arm, but he led Lauren downstairs and into the tavern. There was no one there, and no doors beside the entrance and exit, and the kitchen door behind the counter.
Two quick spells lit the lanterns by the table closest to them. Lauren sat down, but Yaric made his way behind the bar and started searching for bottles. Some cupboards opened to reveal tankards and glasses, but the rest were locked, letting Yaric know exactly where the drinks were kept.
Crack!
“What was that?” Lauren asked, looking up in alarm.
“Door was stuck,” Yaric mumbled. He put the broken lock down on the table along with a handful of coins. It was far more than the repairs would cost, at least ten times more, but he didn’t know how he could explain that he simply pulled too hard.
‘You know how you can sometimes use simple spells without consciously meaning to?’
That wouldn’t go down well. He’d have to speak with the owner first thing in the morning.
Yaric settled down beside Lauren with an open bottle and two glasses. The room was cold without the fire, so Lauren shifted closer and leaned against him while they slowly drank almost half the bottle.
“We should go see what’s keeping them,” Yaric said gently, giving Lauren a nudge. She hadn’t spoken a word since Yaric had broken the lock, and even now she just nodded.
Yaric fetched a second bottle and slid the broken lock into the cupboard he’d opened, along with all the coins he’d added earlier. Then he added a few more, just to be sure, and closed the door.
Lauren walked beside him up to Sven’s room, where Sven was still trying to get his spell to work.
He’d had some success, however. It wasn’t bleeding anymore, and it didn’t look as deep.
“Getting there,” Sven grunted upon seeing them enter the room.
“Ooh! We need that! Might help him focus,” Li Na said, taking the bottle from Yaric and rushing back to Sven. Sven just stared at her like she had to be joking.
“What? It helps with nerves.”
“It thins the blood and makes you bleed more,” Sven replied.
“Well as long as it makes me bleed more,” Li Na said, pouring two large tankards full. This time Yaric had taken a bottle of honeyed mead, which Sven began heating in his tankard.
“What are you doing?”
“Killing off any bacteria. This should help disinfect it,” Sven said.
“Oh. Seems like a waste though. But warm mead sounds interesting,” Li Na said, already beginning to heat her own tankard.
It took another hour for Sven to get the spell right, or at least to get it working well enough that the wound didn’t need stitches anymore.
Yaric helped Lauren to her room, where she promptly fell asleep, not even noticing when Li Na slipped past Yaric and lay down next to Lauren. The faint light of false dawn lit the horizon through the window in Yaric’s room when he finally went to bed, but he was just too tired to care. The bandits could wait for another day.
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Sven’s leg wasn’t as well healed as they’d expected, so they waited to make sure it wouldn’t get infected. It wasn’t a major injury in any way, they just didn’t want it opening up again while deep inside Fools Forest. A few days spent practicing new spells wouldn’t hurt either.
The owner had also been very disgruntled when Yaric told him that he’d been the one who broke the lock on one of his cupboards, but the amount of money Yaric had left in compensation went a long way to appease him. That didn’t stop the owner from making Yaric swear he would knock on the door if he ever again felt he absolutely had to get a drink from the bar. Yaric also gave him a quick demonstration of magic, proving that he really was able to cast spells. Thankfully there were no appeals from this particular village, so they hadn’t had to report in. He could just imagine how that would go.
Their original plan to wait a full week was cut short, however. Just four days in there was another commotion at the inn. This time it was three merchants traveling together, and they looked scared. Apparently they were from Athia, the nation that Malvec shared a border with slightly further east, and they hadn’t heard anything about bandits until they were already traveling past Fools Forest.
They now had to decide if they risked going back, which could still see them robbed, or continue traveling south, which would be more days spent on the road and a greater overall danger, but would also give them a chance to turn a profit.
It was one of the locals who pointed out that the bandits always moved far away after each robbery or raid, and they had only just robbed another merchant a few hours up the road. The chances of them being nearby were very slim.
That settled it for the merchants, who were hoping to hear something that gave them a reason to earn a living. It was their preferred outcome, after all.
“We should follow them,” Li Na said, watching the merchants like a hawk.
“That guy was right though, the bandits are probably lying in wait on the far side of the forest,” Sven said.
“Yeah, but look how scared they are. What if they do get robbed?”
“Fine,” Sven sighed. “We can follow on horseback. Then we repeat the trip back here.”
They had to rush the next morning, as the merchants had decided to leave at first light. Yaric and the others rushed to get their horses saddled and their bill settled.
Thankfully mule-drawn wagons weren’t particularly fast, so they quickly caught up. They were too slow, in fact. The four of them had to carefully approach every bend to make sure they weren’t getting too close.
Their strategy worked until early afternoon, when they eased around yet another bend and found a sight they certainly hadn’t expected to see.
Another five wagons were on the side of the road, hopelessly entangled with each other. Not far ahead were the merchants they were originally following. Now they had to choose whether they would continue helping the foreign merchants, or help the larger group who were even more defenseless with the mess they had got themselves in. Five unarmed merchants wouldn't stand much chance against eight professional hunters. Five stranded merchants.
“One of them is injured,” Lauren said, pointing to a man with his arm in a sling.
Yaric sighed deeply. “Fine, let’s help them. I wish they had just traveled together though,” he said, watching the Athians disappear around a distant bend.
“Need some help?” Sven called, raising both hands as they approached.
“This is more complicated than it looks,” one of the merchants replied.
“We’ll do what we can, and you direct us from there,” Sven offered.
“Appreciate it.”
Li Na moved her horse to block Sven, then dismounted and handed him the reigns. “You shouldn’t be on your leg,” she said firmly. “Watch our horses. And keep a lookout.”
Sven opened his mouth to argue but closed it again quickly. In just seconds he was holding the reigns of two more horses and left to observe as his friends helped the stranded merchants with their wagons.
Two wagons were so tangled that it was faster to remove the harnesses, untangle everything, and re-harness the horses. The others just needed the wagons pulled back by hand so the horses and mules could back up.
“You worried about the bandits?” Yaric asked, noticing how the merchant whose wagon he was pushing kept glancing at the trees.
“Heard about them. Some of our original group left because of them.”
“Oh?”
“No big loss, I’m sure we’ll meet up soon.”
Yaric wasn’t sure if he’d want to meet up with friends who left him to possibly face bandits alone. The merchants were starting to relax as they made progress, however, and now that they were almost done everyone was being very friendly.
“That’s a beautiful dagger you got there,” one of the merchants said, pointing at Li Na’s waist. “Or sword. Not sure what that is,” he chuckled.
Li Na didn’t look up from the harness straps she was adjusting, but she still murmured a reply. “Thanks.”
Yaric, meanwhile, was just finishing up with the last wagon. “So where are you guys headed?”
“Everspire. They buy and sell everything down there,” the bandaged merchant replied gruffly.
“Everspire? That’s southwest of here.”
“Yep, that’s where we’re headed.”
Behind him, the merchant Li Na was helping was still going on about her weapon.
“Mind if I see it?” he asked.
“Sorry,” Li Na replied, adjusting the last strap. “It was a gift. And it’s not for sale.”
Yaric frowned, and not just because of the merchant’s incessant attempts to see Li Na’s weapon.
“How could you be traveling south?” Yaric asked. “We’ve just spent four days -.”
Yaric broke off when he heard the merchant speaking with Li Na continue his sales pitch. “Oh, I don’t want to buy it. Hand it over.”
Yaric looked over his shoulder just in time to see the man press a dagger against Li Na’s neck, while he grabbed the back of her top with his other.
“Hey!”
“Don’t, boy,” the once affable merchant next to Yaric growled.
Three men stepped from the trees; crossbows lowered. The remaining merchants were pulling additional crossbows from under the tarps that covered the goods in the wagon.
“Got to be more careful,” the injured man said. “There’s bandits in these parts.”