Shortly after they lost view of the village, shock and blood loss carried Lefty into unconsciousness. When he awoke, the night was crisp and cool and everything around him was covered in a layer of thick fog. The spring current was carrying them so swiftly the oarsmen had little to do except steer the raft. Through the fog, Lefty could see the shadow of another boat floating some thirty yards ahead. However, except for the occasional shadow of a tree along the shore, all else was gray. There was no pursuit.
Lefty opened his H.U.D to discover that while he was hurt, his wound was far from mortal. And as an added bonus, he had a pretty woman tending to his wounds. The mother, whose name he had discovered was Elrys, had hardly left his side since their escape at the dock. So far, she had cleaned and bound his wound with strips of cloth from her dress, acquired herbs to ease his pain, and generally just looked very lovely in the moonlight.
So there he was, lying against the outer wall of the raft, watching the stars come out while Elrys worried over him. All around, the rest of the survivors were checking on one another, sharing what little food they had, and just being the kind of wonderful human beings that seem to come out in the immediate wake of a tragedy. The best part, of course, was that there were no goblins whatsoever.
“Did the blackroot help with the pain?” Elrys asked.
“Yes,” he nodded as his caretaker brushed back a curl of hair. He was beginning to wonder if being stuck in a game world was all that bad. He thought he remembered something about how in the real world there were men who paid female artificial intelligence bots to act as their virtual girlfriends. An hour with Elrys was beginning to sell him on this idea. After a moment, he asked, “Do you know where they’re taking us?”
“I heard one of the men say there was a fort somewhere down river. Yelden’s Stronghold, I believe.”
“Ah, I think I’ve heard that name before,” he said, “but I can’t say that I’m that familiar with this side of the Republic.”
“Where are you from?” she asked.
“Well …” he took a moment to bring up his H.U.D and open his backstory. “… I was trained as a wizard at the college in Sea Gate. Graduated with honors. Before that, I grew up in a small fishing village just south of Port Hollow. I had wanted to find a way to defend my village from pirates and, well, I guess that when I discovered I had an affinity for magic, I thought I’d learn how to use it.”
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Her eyes got big, “Oh, your magic is very impressive. I had never seen anyone actually kill a monster with magic before.”
“Well, you know …” He tried to look modest, failed, and finally just shrugged. “… I just did what I had to do.”
Elrys blushed and said, “Yeah, so … if you’re okay here, I should go check on my children.”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’ll just go do that now.”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
As he watched her go, he saw Feathers work his way into view. The duck had a very stern look on his face.
“What?” Lefty said. “Is there some noble code you ducks have about not getting women after you rescue them?”
Feathers rolled his eyes.
“Well what do you call it then? Killing a bunch of murderous goblins, escorting her through a burning village, and then taking a spear to the gut just so that she and her kids could make it safely to the raft?”
Feathers let out a sarcastic warble.
“Oh, jealous now, are we? I see how it is.” He shook his head as he looked out at the water. “You know, if the roles were reversed and you had a cute little …”
Then he looked up to see a fire shining high against the fog. Then another, and another. Torches, he realized as spotted the rampart they were mounted to. Further on, he spotted the shadows of men moving between the torches. We’ve reached the fort.
Fifty foot tall wooden walls peered down on them as the oarsmen slowed the raft. Then, as they followed a turn in the wall, a clanking sound greeted them as they came to a water gate. Through the wall now, their raft entered a small peer where soldiers in blue and white tabards were mooring the boats and ushering the surviving villagers off the docks and into a three story keep nestled between a pair of rocky cliffs.
He looked over at Elrys, “We made it!”
She smiled as she gently shook her children awake.
Soldiers with long poles guided their raft against the dock. Once the ship was moored, the soldiers began to escort the people off. Lefty grunted as he pulled himself to his feet. Feathers, yawning, waited patiently by his side.
The raft soon docked and the soldiers ushered its passengers onto the dock. Soon, Lefty, Feathers, Elrys, and the two children were navigating the crowd as it pushed its way into the lodge. Inside, Elrys pulled Lefty aside.
“Sir, I know this may be too much to ask, but if you ever find yourself headed after those goblins, please keep an eye out for my Cordelia. My heart is broken for her. If only my husband were here, I’m sure he would go after her himself.”
“What … what happened to your husband?” He asked.
“He went off to join the rebels about a year ago. I’ve been all alone every since and so now you’re my only hope.”
“Er … yeah, sure, I’ll definitely do what I can. I don’t know that I’m going anywhere any time soon though.”
The sad woman bowed her head. “I know. I don’t think any of us are.”
Elrys then took her children by the hand and led them into the crowd. As Lefty watched her walk away, he noticed a notification populate, so he accessed his H.U.D to see what it was.
[Quest accepted: Rescue Cordelia Evenheart]
Lefty’s mouth fell open as all he could think was, Oh shit.