He met up with Abigail that evening and discussed the goal of their quests again. She explained that she would be taking a team to investigate a few oddities around the fort itself. She didn’t seem too pleased with the fact that they would be separating. When he asked her about it, she explained that she would have him learn more about the investigation of the fort but going to see if the missing horde was connected to demons was also important.

Unlike the norm where she pulls him out to go spar, this time he dragged her out for a spar. He had a buildup of anxiety he needed to work off. She seemed amused that he was taking her into a closed off courtyard asking for spar.

She smirked at him and said, “Oh how bold Thomas. Pulling me into a secluded courtyard.”

He sighed at her teasing and completely ignored it saying, “Let’s have a nice spar. I have some stress I would like to burn off.”

She pouted at him before she smiled and said, “Of course you know I like a good fight.”

Unlike there normal sparring matching this one was more of a fight than him actually learning or trying to improve anything. She had also switched up her weapon again. Instead of using a sword, daggers, or even the mace she used one time, this time she used a staff. It was infuriating, every attack he sent her way was blocked. It didn’t matter what angle or way he attacked she always got her staff in the way. She would use the block to counter with the butt of the staff, a fist, elbow, or kick. It took him a while to get use to the defensive style of fighting she was using and to expect a counter after every strike. Luckily, she would always pull the strike right before it landed, only giving him a light tap it gave him time to improve.

Still the spar was exactly what he needed, they weren’t sparring for long before he felt the stress and nervousness melt away. He almost hated to admit it, but Abigail was right. A good spar or fight can truly brighten your mood. Plus, the laugh that escaped her when he caught her off guard with a feint that he turned into a kick made him start smiling.

As he laid on the ground with a smirk on his face, he looked over to the now sweating Abigail and said, “Looks like I made you have to actually try this time. No matter what you say I am counting that as a win.”

Abigail chuckled and said, “You have improved faster than I thought possible. You moved and attacked with confidence that was lacking before. And no, you lost you didn’t even land a single hit on me.”

He nodded at her and said, “Thanks for that. But no, I won. You had to actually try some.”

She laughed as she pulled him up and patted his shoulder saying, “I will say that was a harder spar than normal I haven’t used a staff in a long time.” She paused before fixing him with a serious look, “Be safe out there tomorrow it is going to be dangerous.”

“Don’t worry about me. I will be as safe as I can.” He meant it too, he felt confident and better off than he did after his meeting. Adventurers’ jobs were dangerous no matter what, but he would do what he needed to survive and bring everyone back in one piece.

The next morning, he was waiting at the southern gate early for his temporary team to arrive. As he waited, he gave Mila the scratches she was owed. He hadn’t given her the love she deserved recently. Aiming the scratches to the spots he found that she loved. He turned the massive cat into a lump of clay under his fingers.

He was distracted enough that he didn’t hear the footsteps or the sound of horses approaching from behind.

He was in the middle of telling her how she is the best girl there is when a cough interrupted him. He stood and turned to find three men on horseback. He quickly inspected the group without a shred of embarrassment of his previous actions. The older one was wearing colors so he could tell he was the knight. The other two were wearing plain armor and looked around his age.

The knight cleared his throat and asked, “Are you Inquisitor Thomas?”

Thomas nodded and said, “Yes I am. Are you the knight that Lady Emelia sent to join us?”

“I am Sir Marshall William. Behind me are my two squires. The blonde is Jamie Fin, and the black-haired one is Shawn. Lady Emelia filled us in on the mission. We are going to scout the beast horde and verifying if it is a threat or not.”

Thomas nodded again and said, “That is the goal of this expedition. We need to see what is actually going on.”

Sir Marshall nodded and with a hardness in his voice said, “I will be blunt Inquisitor Thomas. I may not like the fact that I am under the command of someone as inexperienced as you. Yes, I did look into you, but I will respect your position and will act accordingly. Just to be clear I will not do something that risks my or my men’s lives just because you order me too.”

Matching the hard tone, “Sir Marshall, I know where I am lacking. While I am overall in charge of this expedition I will be relying on the B-ranked team Hopes Vengeance for the day-to-day practical parts of this quest. Your expertise would be greatly appreciated and valued as well. As I told them, I am over all in command, but I will respect and truly value your inputs.” Softening his own tone and face he said, “But please call me Thomas we will be working with each other for a while.”

They stared at each other for a long moment before a smile broke out across the knight’s face. He barked out a laugh and said, “I like you kid. You can call me Marshall then. Now tell me more about these other adventurers that are joining us. I know of them but never met them before.”

Thomas smiled and chuckled, “Before that, this is Mila my companion.” He said motioning to the now annoyed looking cat. She was clearly not pleased that her scratches were interrupted.

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Marshall got a glint in his eyes as he looked at the cat and with a soft smile said, “Lady Mila I look forward to working with you and Thomas.”

The annoyed look on her feline face turned into one of delight, she always loved her ego being stroked. She gave a polite nod to the knight before she eyed the other two. When they dipped their heads, she nodded back looking almost smug.

Marshall turned to him and shook his hand they started chatting waiting for everyone else to arrive. As they talked it became clear that Marshall was a long-standing knight for the Lane family. He wore a purple sash that had the snake emblem stitched into it.

When he asked Marshall about being a knight of the lane family, he got a reminiscing look on his face when he said, “My father was close friends to the old Lord Lane. When the Count gave him the land that elevated him from a landless knight to a lord my father followed him. I was a young man back then and decided to dedicate myself to the family as well.”

Thomas took the time chatting to study the three newcomers. Marshall was a silver haired man that had clearly seen his fair share of action over the years. His armor was well worn but clearly well maintained. He carried a large sword and shield moving with a grace that spoke of his martial prowess. It was something he started noticing from people who have trained to fight. They moved differently, always balanced and ready for action at any moment.

They squires stayed mostly silent, but he still took the time to shake their hands. They were completely contrasting to each other. Jamie Fin was a shorter thick muscled man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a sword and shield combination with him. His counterpart Shawn was tall and lanky, with dark hair and eyes. He also only had a spear with him compared to the other two who both had a shield to complement their weapons.

Thomas also didn’t miss the fact that Shawn didn’t have a last name like him either. He wondered if that’s why he didn’t feel any judgement from Marshall.

They didn’t talk for long before the triplet’s road up and met with them. After quick introductions Thomas was amused by the professional way Daniel and Devin were trying to act. It was the most serious he had seen them, but he didn’t miss them trying to mess with each other behind everyone’s back. Damian took the lead with the conversation and started discussing the quest with knight. Thomas also joined the conversation but really didn’t have much to add. They had more experience than him by a large margin.

Luise arrived and after another round of introductions they prepared to go out of the southern gates. He took note of her weapons, she had two long daggers or maybe short swords on her hips. He took note of a few other hilts of smaller blades across her body. The other thing was Daniel, David, and Luise all had bows with them. He didn’t see that during the meeting, but it would be helpful during the expedition.

They had a report from the previous team that went out and knew where the tacks started to converge. It should only take them a day to get to that point. From there they would follow the tracks until they found wherever the monsters went.

They rode in a formation with Marshall in the lead with Thomas and Damian on either side. Devin and Daniel were on the flanks. Luise volunteered to be in the middle to provide support if needed with her bow. The squires were in the rear making sure nothing snuck up on them and ready to assist if there was a problem. They ended up looking like an arrow as they traveled.

They were to far apart to hold actual conversation as they rode. Occasionally one of the triplets would ride out farther and come back signaling everything was fine. Everyone seemed relaxed for the most part but kept an eye out for anything that stood out.

When it was time to set up camp, they came together to discuss the plan going forward. Sir Marshall and Damian looked at each other seeing who should speak first before throwing Thomas a questioning look. He shrugged leaving it to them to decide, at most he would throw his opinion when needed.

Marshall cleared his throat and said, “We are close to where the previous team turned back. Going forward we need to be alert. We don’t have concrete information on what we will be facing. I would normally recommend a scout but with the hills it could easily lead to them getting ambushed.”

Damian nodded and said, “I agree, closing the ranks some may actually be the right choice. The hills are getting larger and that could lead to an easy ambush.”

There wasn’t much more to discuss after that. Only making a watch rotation, with how many people there was it wouldn’t be that difficult. The only thing that caught his attention was when the B-ranked team unwrapped a flat stone with a few runes on them. It was a heating plate to cook on. Thomas decided on the spot that was high on his list of things to buy. He was surprised that Abigail didn’t have one it would make things easier than having to find wood to burn.

As they sat around and talked, he kept noticing that Luise and Daniel kept looking at Mila. Who was currently resting her massive head on his legs as he petted her. Maybe it was because of her almost ground shaking purring. Either way he was waiting for one of them to comment on it.

Luise eventually asked in a tentative voice, “What’s her name?”

“This beautiful girl is Mila. She is the best girl there is!” He answered as he found one of her sweet spots behind her ear.

Luise asked, “Can I pet her?”

“You would have to ask her not me.”

“Mila, can I pet you?” Luise asked.

Mila cracked open her blue green eyes and peered at her. In response she huffed at her and caused a small gust of wind to ruffle Luise’s red hair. Mila then closed her eyes pushing her head back into his hand. It was a clear rejection from his feline friend.

Thomas stifled a laugh at the dejected look on her and Daniels face. To make her feel a bit better he said, “If it makes you feel better, she barely lets our other companion pet her either.”

The next day as they traveled the tracks started to grow in number. Looking at them it was clear that they were from all different types of beasts. He couldn’t recognize many of the tracks, but he did see a few that looked like wolf and what he thought was some sort of large cat tracks. As the day dragged on, he started to notice a pattern with the tracks. On each side of the thick trail of disturbed ground was another set of tracks. It was nagging at him.

Throwing a hand up everyone stopped and became more alert. Marshall came up to him and asked, “What did you see?”

“Something is bothering me.” After saying that he hopped off Mila and walked up to the tracks on the outside. Marshall followed behind him curiously seeing what he was looking at.

After he got a good look at them, he headed towards the other side and sure enough it was a matching set of tracks. Marshall hummed and said, “I see what you mean. A saw them too but thought they were just outliers who didn’t follow close to the pack.”

Marshall stood and waved everyone over to the top of the hill they were on. After everyone gathered, he pointed out the footprints and said, “There is a matching set on the other side. It almost looks like they were herding the missing beasts.”

David spoke up saying, “I noticed them but didn’t see matching pair on the other side. Notice how they don’t weave through the hills but walk on top of them.”

Daniel nodded in agreement saying, “I think you are right. It reminds me of a sheep dog herding its flock.”

“Could be what has been herding the beasts and gathering them.” He mentioned.

David mentioned, “It has to be a six-legged beast. Look at the tracks closer and you can tell it has more than just a pair of legs.”

After that remark they mounted back up and at least now knew there was at least two beasts behind the erratic movements of the monsters. He wondered how long it would take to find the missing beasts.