‘Humans?’ I asked, shocked. The entire time I've been on my journey I had seen carriages pass by, yes, but since I’ve been in the forest, which was about a week now, I hadn't seen one other person. Due to the beasts and other animals inhabiting the forest I had assumed people with goods and carriages avoid this place and go around.
Well, that was my assumption anyway.
‘Yes, their carriage was attacked by a beast, but they slayed them. It looks like they're trying to fix their carriage as we speak.’
‘I see, just stayed hidden until I make it to you.’ I said as I continued to go forward, feeling our connection grow stronger. ‘How many are there?’
‘Three, all male. Two of them looked pretty skilled as well.’
I had Rye keep feeding me information and I made sure he stayed hidden. I didn't want them to mistake him for a beast and attack. Rye was strong no doubt, but against three humans of unknown strength, it was hard to tell how he would fare.
When I finally made it near, I could hear the humans chattering about something. Rye was hiding in the coverage of bushes and trees and I had him hop back inside my body so we would take up minimal room, and just in case I and the humans happen to have an altercation.
As Rye had said, there were three humans. One of them had a sword resting on his back, the other had a bow in the same position, and the last one didn't have a weapon at all. Instead, he was wearing a rather luxurious cloak, I could see the good quality of it even from this distance.
“What should we do, my lord? The carriage isn’t able to be fixed.” The one with the bow asked.
The man in the cloak rubbed his mustache, “There's not much we can do. I’ll have to put the merchandise in my spatial ring and we will have to travel by foot.”
The man with the bow simply nodded his head. “I’ll get started straightening up the goods that got messed up during the beast attack.”
As the bowmen headed to the broken-down carriage the man with the cloak turned to the quiet swordsmen. “How far out are we from the village, Garrick?”
“About another day or two's travel, my lord.” The swordsmen answered.
“Good, good. These beasts are nothing but a nuisance.”
The swordsmen had said something back, but their voices weren't audible any longer.
Then, out of nowhere, the swordsmen upped a palm and shot two fireballs toward where I was hiding. “Come out. I know you're there.”
The bushes around me ignited into flames. I put the flames out with a water ball and stood up, putting both hands over my head, to show them I wasn't a threat.
The swordsmen stepped in front of the cloaked man as if he was protecting him and reached for the sword resting on his back. The bowmen on the other hand, noticed what's going on and held his bow at the ready, and arrow loaded and already aiming at me.
“Who are you?” He asked, sliding his sword from its sheath.
I used wind magic to manipulate the sound of my voice, making it sound deeper and more serious, “I was just passing through here and noticed you people. I wasn't going to attack, I was just making sure you aren't a threat.” I said calmly.
His eyes narrowed “What's the cloak for?”
“If anything, you look like a bandit!” The bowmen yelled from the carriage, pulling his arrow back further.
“We all have secrets, and I’d rather not say. But I’m no fool, If I wanted to take something from you people, I would've done it while the beasts were attacking.”
It took a moment, but finally, the swordsman said, “Stand down, Ryan.”
“But Garrick,” He rebutted, “are you really going to believe this masked bastard’s word?”
His voice raised in tone, much more commanding than before, “I said, stand down.”
The bowmen, or Ryan, scoffed and rested his firing arm, putting the arrow away.
“You never answered my question. Who are you?”
“I'm a traveling adventurer. I'm heading through this forest to reach the town over.”
“Adventurer?” The cloaked man asked.
“Yes, I’m an adventurer.”
The cloaked man stepped forward as he looked down at me.
“My lord?” The swordsmen asked, surprised.
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But the cloaked man just ignored him, “If you don’t mind me asking, what is your rank?”
“Bronze tier 1.”
He turned to the swordsman, “If I'm not mistaken, that's the same rank as you, Garrick.”
“There's no way this dwarf is a bronze tier 1.” Ryan scoffed, joining in on the conversation.
I heard Rye giggle, ‘Hah, they think you're a dwarf!”
Letting out a sigh, I took out my adventurer's card.
Ryan’s eyes widened, “H-he really is the same rank as you, Garrick.”
The cloaked man gazed at the car and his eyes seemed to twinkle, “Are you headed to the village on any sort of contract?”
I tilted my head, “No, why?”
“Because I have a job offer.” The cloaked man said with a smile.
“My lord, are you planning to-” Ryan was cut off at the raise of a hand by Garrick.
“As you can see our carriage is out of commission and we'll have to travel by foot. The beasts in these parts aren't a problem, but I'm just worried my two guards here won’t be able to get enough rest with just the two of them fighting them all off. If you would join us on our journey I can surely compensate you, all I need is your protection.”
I smirked behind my veil of darkness, Perfect.
“How much?”
“One silver for the entire job.”
One silver wasn't bad for a few-day job. I was already headed the same way as them anyway, so why not get paid for fighting the beasts along the way? “I accept.”
“My lord, are you sure about this?” Garrick asked as the sized me up once more, “How do you know we can trust this man?”
“Business is business, Garrick.” The cloaks man to a small pouch out of his spatial ring and tossed it to me, “This is twenty-five copper. The other seventy-five will be paid at the end of the job.”
Catching the sack and placing it in my own spatial ring I shook my head.
“Oh, and I almost forgot, my name is Foxx Grant, from the Grant merchant family. You can just call me Foxx. ”
“Will do, Foxx.”
“You don’t have to tell me your name if you don't want to. I know some of you adventurers are with your secrecy, so just give me a name to call you by.”
I thought for a moment and said the first alias that came to mind, “Call me Walker.”
He smiled, “Will do, Walker.” then turned to Ryan, “Go continue gathering the merchandise, I want to continue our journey in the next half hour.”
Ryan shook his head and made his way to the carriage and Foxx went to go sit down on a rock to rest.
Garrick, though, looked at me once more and spoke as he sheathed his sword, “Don’t try anything funny, dwarf.”
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The rest of the day went by with ease. We had run into more beasts, of course, but they were dealt with easily.
I didn't show all my skills just in case this little deal of ours went south, only using water magic. I hadn't even pulled out my dagger once.
As the trip went on, though, I got to see some of Garrick and Ryan’s skills. Even though Ryan seemed like an easy book to read, wearing his emotions on his sleeve and such, he still was a bullseye with a bow. To the point where I couldn't help being impressed.
Garrick on the other hand, well, I only saw him use his sword skills, which seemed up to par with my mother's, or from what I had seen for her the years I lived with my parents. I hadn't seen him use magic since he'd found me in the bushes, so I assumed he was holding back as well.
We were now setting up camp for the night as the moon was already in mid-sky. Forest still surrounded us, but Garrick had mentioned we would be exiting it tomorrow. How he knew these things, I couldn't know. I just assumed he’s been through this place before.
As Garrick and Ryan were busy setting up tents and getting a fire started, Foxx walked up to me and pulled two large cloths and a few stilts from his spatial ring and handed them to me. “I can’t have someone working for me sleeping unsheltered, now can?”
I accepted the supplies, “Thank you, Foxx.”
“It's no problem, meet us by the fire for dinner when you're all finished setting up.”
“Will do,” I said, as I turned to find a good place to set up.
After setting up my tent which took no longer than a few minutes I made my way to the fire. Garrick, Ryan, and Foxx were already gathered around it, cooking some sort of mouthwatering meat over the fire, along with a much smaller fire housing a pot of soup over it.
“Smells good,” I complimented as I sat down on one of the logs they set around the fire.
“I had to learn a thing or two from this cleric I met a while back, she taught me everything I know about cooking food in the wilderness,” Ryan said, his face turning a little red at the memory.
“I’d say. I’ll have to meet this cleric one of these days.” Foxx said, obviously satisfied with the smell as well.
A few minutes went by of me just gazing at the food, luckily Rye had been asleep or he would’ve begged me for some long ago.
Finally, Ryan spoke, “It’s done.”
At his words, Foxx took out four wooden bowls from his spatial and handed one to each of us. Ryan filled each of our bowls with the soup and added a very generous amount of meat to each.
“Thank you, Ryan,” I said.
Foxx a sip of the soup and his eyes lit up, “Yes, Thank you, Ryan.”
Ryan glanced at Garrick, to see if he was satisfied with the taste, but Garrick said nothing and just ate.
I took a bite of my food, tasting the meal for the first time. The steaming soup paired with the hot meat burnt my tongue a little, but the amazing taste allowed me to bear through it.
“Do you always wear that cloak?” Garrick finally spoke.
Everyone looked my way.
“Yes, If I took it off I'm afraid you wouldn't take me seriously, and that would be a problem,” I said, my voice deadpan.
The atmosphere of the fire went stale from there, staying quiet.
“Awkward…” Ryan whispered, but everyone heard him.
Garrick finished his bowl and went back to his ten alone. And when I finished, I did the same, leaving Foxx and Ryan alone as they chatted.
From the position I had set up my tent, I was able to see only the luminescence of the campfire. This allowed the small crack of my tent flap to let in a reddish-orange light, giving the inside a very comfortable vibe.
And before I knew it my eyes shut.
I was captured by darkness. Each step I took echoed throughout the infinite void.
Looking around I could see nothing as I kept walking. My steps though, the echoes just kept getting louder and louder, almost bloodcurdling so.
I looked down and was shocked at the sight. It was me.
Not Falyn, but old me. The reflection looked so surreal, peering at me with unrelenting hatred.
“Stay back!” The refection said. But as it spoke the image of me rippled, like a rock hitting the water, until it disappeared.
But the saying continued.
“Stay back!”
“Stay back!”
My eyes slowly opened, back to reality, but I still heard the voice coming from outside.
“Stay back!” It was Ryan's voice.
I opened my tent flap to see what was going on, and to my horror, there was a giant beast, looking down and straight at Ryan and Foxx.