On the second day of following the tracks that had steadily grown in number they finally came across something different. The group found the source of the stream that they have crossed a few times over the last two days. The stream itself was rather small but would work in keeping the beasts hydrated as they traveled.

The pond they found wasn’t that large, but it did have a few small fish swimming around it. The group took the time to refill their water skins. One of the items they all had was a water pouch that would purify any water in it. Abigail tossed it too him before he left and told him he was going to need it. She was right, not having the luxury of starting fires to boil the water.

Looking around the area they noticed that it must have been a gathering point for all the missing beasts. There were some larger tracks that no one could tell what they were from. The ground itself was too churned to be able to distinguish specific prints.

The amount of tracks was starting to show that this beast horde was large. Large enough to be a true threat to all the towns past the fort. Unless there was enough beasts that could climb the walls of the fort then it wasn’t in much danger but still everyone had a grim look on their faces as they looked around.

Marshall spoke up saying, “It’s already getting late, we will camp here tonight.”

Everyone agreed with that suggestion. Setting up camp was a quick affair. All Thomas had to pull out the tarp that he laid on the ground. The nights have been comfortable, and he hadn’t wasted the time to set up the tent so far. Didn’t help that the last time he set up his tent Mila tried to climb in, and half laid on top of him all night. Instead, he slept under the stars and just enjoyed the weather it would also help if they got attacked. Everyone agreed with him and did the same besides Luise, she set up a tent for privacy.

Thomas offered to make dinner for everyone this time. Everyone pitched in ingredients, and he even used some of the higher-grade meat he had. Of course, against the protests of Mila until he promised to give her some. The meal was a nice mix of heavily seasoned meats and vegetables. Except for Mila’s portion that is her meat was only seasoned with a sprinkle of the herbs that she nodded too.

Everyone chuckled at the exchanged between him and his feline companion.

As they sat around and ate Luise asked a question that he assumed she had been wondering about since their first meeting asking, “Thomas, I know they said Inquisitors are important but how do you become one?”

The fact that everyone else stopped eating and listened in made it clear they all were curious even the knight. It wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed how distant everyone was with him. Inquisitors were mysterious group after all.

He cleared his throat and said, “I was recruited after a quest I was on that turned out to be bigger than the guild originally thought.”

The looks he got from the others clearly said that it wasn’t a satisfactory answer. The look on Luise face he couldn’t place right away but eventually he got it. She was clearly wondering what was so special about him was what she wanted to know.

He sighed again and said, “I was in the right place at the right time. She evaluated me in different ways and liked what I showed. I liked what she was offering so now we are here. I think that is how most Inquisitors are recruited.” He sighed even harder after he said that. He knew the other reasons why she offered it to him. He was skilled enough, with a unique mana type, and didn’t have family connections. He didn’t like the way that came across, so he kept it to himself.

He took the silence as an opportunity to change the topic as he looked at the knights and squires saying, “Actually, you three may have met my recruiter. She was at Lady Emelia’s castle the day before we left.”

Marshall and Jamie both said they hadn’t met anyone new at the castle before they left, but Shawn looked like he had seen a ghost asking, “A beautiful woman with long black hair and golden eyes?”

Thomas nodded and Shawn continued, “I saw her the evening before we left. She passed by the training grounds and the look she gave all of us that were training was terrifying. We were prey for her to hunt. It was clear to everyone that she was picking us apart from where she stood. At least that is how it felt.” He finished with a shiver. He muttered in a low voice, “It was the same way the arms instructor looked at me the first day of training.”

Thomas laughed, “I am surprised she didn’t join you all. She gets like that when she spars. Either way she was the one that recruited me and has been training me up.” In an attempt to change the topic away from Abigail and himself he asked, “How did all of you end up in your chosen profession?"

Marshall got a sly smile on his face and said, “Well if we are going to be recounting our life stories then how about we share this.” He pulled out a smaller water skin and after a swing he handed it to Jamie and continued speaking, “Now only a swing each it has enough kick to it to do the job!”

Thomas didn’t know how he felt about drinking in the field but the wide smiles on Daniels and Devins faces almost made him chuckle. Then he saw both of them reach into their armor and show the top of a small flask showing it to everyone when David said, “Well we were thinking along the same lines but if you are offering the good stuff Sir knight then please do!”

That comment caused Damian to groan and buried his face in is hands. Sir Marshall was technically a noble and everyone looked at him to see how he would take the comment.

Marshall had to stifle a loud laugh and said to his squires, “Boys that is exactly what you are supposed to do. If an old man, especially an old knight offers a whisky skin take it, it will normally be the good stuff!”

That got chuckles from everyone. The whisky skin was passed around even Luise took a small sip and started coughing which got chuckles from everyone except Thomas. He knew he would end up in the same spot. Sure enough, when he took a swig, the amber liquid burned down his throat. He tried to stop the coughing fit that came but failed. Which caused another round of laughing, he held up a hand and said, “This is why I don’t drink.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Marshall started off his tale by, “I became a knight following in my fathers’ footsteps. I grew up in Elaina squired to a friend of my father and was knighted when I was about twenty-two years old. That seems like ages ago but that’s my tale.”

After getting a look from his knight Jamie spoke up, “Sir Marshall offered me to squire for him after my father approached him. My father is one of the major blacksmiths that does most of the work for Lady Emelia. That was about two years ago.”

Shawn spoke up, “Sir Marshall found me training with the spear and after I passed a few tests he offered me a spot as a squire.” He turned to the knight, bowing his head and said, “I will always be grateful for this opportunity sir.”

Marshall got a fatherly smile on his face as he said, “Bah no need to thank me, you earned it kid.”

The group turned to the next in the circle, the triplets. They had a downcast look on their faces, before they could speak up Luise chimed in with her story clearly seeing the reluctance on their faces.

“My story is simple enough. I use dark mana and that caused me some problems back in my village. People were superstitious about it.” She made a ribbon of dark mana extend out of her finger and let it flap in the light breeze. “I got tired of the looks and comments, so I left. Joined the guild and am working my way up.”

The triplets still looked melancholy but when the group looked at them Damian got a sad smile on his face. Marshall spoke up before them and said, “Lads you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want too. Your party’s name gives us a clear enough hint.”

Damian waved the words away and said, “It is just painful for us to talk about. As everyone knows our party team is called Hopes Vengeance. Hope was our sister. The fourth to us. We were quadruplets.”

Everyone got a look of understanding on their faces. Loss is something all of them have experience.

He started taking deep breaths to control himself. David continued the tale in a controlled tone, “The four of us were inseparable as you would imagine. Being the brothers, we always felt like we had to protect her but in reality, she was the strongest of us.”

Daniel continued with a chuckle, “We were fourteen when all four of our cores awoken. We decided then to become adventurers. The four of us had different mana types and thought we could be the best team there ever was.”

The three of them raised their hands and in each a different mana type showed. Damian had a small clump of dirt, David a orb of water, and Daniel a green condensed ball of air. Damian took back over and said, “Her fire mana matched her personality. We were clearing quests faster than anyone else in our town. Until we took a quest we shouldn’t have. We were D-ranked ranked team at the time and the quest was C-ranked. Nothing out of the ordinary for us but the guild receptionist cautioned us from taking it.”

David picked up the story again, “The guild told us that it was the type of monster extermination quest that should be taken by more experienced guild members. The worst part is Hope agreed with them, but we pushed her to do it anyways. We were riding high on accomplishments.”

Daniel continued, “We were supposed to hunt down treants that have been harassing travelers on one of the roads through the woods. Hope was perfect for burning them, so we thought it was an easy quest. Little did we know the issue wasn’t killing the treants but finding them was the problem.”

Damian finished the story by saying, “Hope died because of our incompetence. We are here driving to be the best adventurers there is to honor her memory. To take vengeance on the monsters that took her life. To prevent others from losing their lives if we can help it.”

Everyone was silent after that. It was a sobering reminder of the loss some of them have experienced. Thomas felt like he should say something to comfort the still visibly upset trio, but nothing came to mind.

Marshall stood and walked over to pat the three on the shoulder and said, “Boys, losing people is always hard. Losing someone you were connected to like the four of you were has to be even harder. Just know what you are doing does help people. It prevents others from feeling that pain. You are honoring your sister in every action you are doing. Be proud of that.”

The gathering wound down after that. It was clear to him that everyone in there group had suffered loss before. Marshall did get to lighten the mood when he told the tale of how a common house cat managed to outsmart three of his fellow knights. After that story everyone drifted to their resting places to bed down for the night.

It was Thomas’s turn for first watch, and he used the time leading up to it to run some basic swordman drills. He moved his sword, following a few footwork moves he had learned. He did notice he got a few looks from the group, but it help recenter himself after the emotional talk. He knew loss but what they suffered had to dig in deeper than anything he had felt.

The next morning the banter came easier. The group melded after opening up and Thomas thought it was for the better. Trust was key for a group to work together and now that they had shared some of their stories it brought the group together.

As they traveled, they looked for anything that stood out. Hints that that they were getting close. The triplets agreed that the tracks they were following were at least a few days old. Still, they kept an alert in case if they were getting close. The hills could easily lead to an ambush or even stumbling upon the missing beast if they weren’t careful.

The end of the day led them to another small pond and Marshall said, “It is clear to me that whatever is gathering the beasts is leading them in a somewhat straight line going from pond to pond. Instead of following the creak itself. Wait a second.” Having a realization hit him.

Going to a saddle bag he pulled out a map of the area. When everyone gathered around, he pointed to small body of water and said, “Not too long ago one of the patrols found this small lake. Well, it’s more like an oversized pool but it is in the same direction we are heading. That is about a day and a half from here. My gut is telling me that’s where we will find them.”

Thomas furrowed his brows thinking about the map that was in Lady Emelia’s war room. He said, “I don’t think that was marked on Lady Emelia’s map. Any idea why it wasn’t?”

Marhsall sighed and said, “Honestly, if I had to guess piss poor communication and laziness. The knight and squires that found it passed the information to some of the knights, but no one updated the Lady’s map. It was found two maybe three months ago and Knight Warrington probably didn’t want to deal with reporting a normally minor thing.” I quick look of anger crossed his face before he mumbled, “Still one of us should have noticed.”

Looking back up to the group and said, “I will address this incompetent when we return.”

Thomas kept his face emotionless as he processed the information. If the knights did their jobs correctly then they could have used the previous report to build a more solid theory. Could have possibly built a better plan than just sending a handful of people to try and find the horde. He didn’t voice his now lowered opinion on the knights but did say, “Why do you think that’s where they will be besides the obvious.”

“They reported there was a decent amount of fish in it and other edible herbs around the water. That would make it easier to feed a large number of beasts without cannibalizing their numbers.”

Damian nodded and said, “Let’s build a tentative plan around the idea that we will find the monsters there.”

Everyone agreed with that statement.