The sun was slowly setting on the horizon, and the two of them had yet to have arrived at their destination. They had reached a fork in the road that split off to a few of the other nearby villages. There was an old, but well maintained, wooden sign that pointed off in one of three directions, following the roads. One pointed back the way they came. One pointed to the east, with the names of two villages etched onto it.
The final one pointed roughly northeast, also with two names on it. Chepstow, the village they were going to, and Whaeldrake, the first town on their route. Once they reached there, things would be a bit easier for them, and they would have a chance to restock on some much-needed supplies.
The area also happened to be a suitable place to make camp, so Lucien decided to get everything sorted out before it was completely dark out. He went to find some wood for a campfire, while she set up their bedrolls and tended to the horses.
There was a small forest on the other side of the northeast road. One of countless small forests in the region that was sequestered between the two roads and petered out before it even left their line of sight.
Maybe it was once a wonderful and sprawling forest, but now it was a tiny thing that could be fully explored in a couple hours.
It would take a while for him to gather enough wood for a fire, given his current condition, but he still insisted on doing it. Lynn would be able to help him out when she was done with her tasks anyway.
Having gathered everything, the two set up camp and sat down on their beds. They decided to hold off on setting the fire for now. It hadn’t gotten that cold. They could handle it. And Lucien didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention.
Lucien kept an eye out on his surroundings, especially on the forested area. It was the only area he couldn’t clearly see, and even though it was small, there was still a chance that something dangerous was in there.
With one eye on the forest, he looked over at Lynn, who was currently resting on her bedroll, looking blankly at the sky, clearly lost in thought. “What’s caught your mind?” he asked.
“My parents, will they be okay?” she muttered.
“Getting cold feet already?” he laughed, then looked at her caringly. “They’ll be fine. They won’t face something like I did, I’m almost certain of it. And you’ll be able to do more here than you will back there.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked.
He too looked up at the sky, as if searching for his family. “They attacked because of me.”
“What?” She looked at him in shock, unable to process his words. Lucien hadn’t mentioned why the attack happened during the meeting with her father and the mayor, and nobody had really bothered to ask why. They just needed to know that it happened.
Paul knew everything because Lucien had needed to vent. They both had a discussion afterwards, and knew it was for the best to keep this a secret. It was a good idea to prepare everyone for the worst possible outcome.
“Well, because of my ancestors at least. Have you heard the legend of the Morningstar?” he asked wistfully, seemingly lost in a daze now.
“Yes.” She was a bit confused, unsure why Lucien had changed topics like this.
“My great great great grandfather was Matron Stellara’s chosen one. The legendary weilder of the Morningstar. The greatest hero during the kingdom’s darkest days,” he said through thinly veiled sarcasm. As someone who had more knowledge about it than most, he was heavily biased against Earnest.
He respected what Earnest had done for the kingdom, and how he saved the lives of so many people. But he couldn’t accept the pain and punishment that had been placed on his family because of it. Especially after all that had happened. Knowledge tainted his opinion of the past.
His faith in Matron Stellara had never wavered though, even after everything that happened. He knew there would always be a downside when humans wielded power greater than they should. He didn’t, and couldn’t, lay the blame on the goddess that protected so many people for so long.
Lynn stared at him, wide-eyed, as he told her the same story that he had told his daughter. And the same story that she, and many others, grew up listening to. But when the story reached the end she was familiar with, Lucien continued on. He told her about what happened to the hero after he hung up his weapon.
About how the legendary hero became a simple family man. About how Earnest Rowe faded into the background of history. Tucked away in a little village isolated from the rest of the kingdom.
Unknowingly to both of them, the sun had already set by the time he finished speaking. Life came back to his eyes as he finished telling her the full, ugly, truth. He shook himself out of it and looked at her with a smile that was clearly strained. “Your people will be okay. The bandits got what they wanted.”
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She didn’t answer. She was still taking in everything that he had said. She had no idea there was so much darkness hidden behind the stories she was told as a kid. “I-I’m sorry... Thank you for telling me that.”
“What are you sorry for?” He chuckled, locking everything back up and burying it back where it belonged. His eyes darted to the forest as he heard the rustling of the underbrush. “Looks like we have company.”
Lynn jumped to her feet and spun around, her hand already on the sword at her waist as she followed his gaze. She was a little shaken up, both from his story, and from the possibility of an attack.
The leaves of the underbrush rustled as a sickly green creature stepped out. It was tiny and scrawny, about half the height of the average person and light enough for Lucien to be able to lift even with one arm.
It stood on two legs, that much like the rest of its body, seemed to have little fat or muscle mass to speak of. It had long pointed ears that stretched outwards, nearly doubling the width of its head. It’s face was grotesque and ugly, with gnarled yellow teeth and sunken eyes.
A small scrap of animal hide wrapped around its waist, protecting its nether region from the elements, and protecting everyone else from the sight of it. It held a thick widen club in both hands and stared at them with a fiendish and sloppy grin.
Lynn unsheathed her sword, her eyes darting around in search of any other attackers before locking back onto the creature. She stepped between Lucien and the goblin, then waited. She waited for it to break the tension first and charge.
Lucien smiled, pleased both with her action of stepping between them, and for checking if there was anything else. A protective instinct was a great thing for a guard to have. And something that some people lacked.
A goblin wouldn’t be able to hurt him, even a larger tribe wouldn’t be much of a problem for him right now. But it could be a safe way to let her get some practice in.
He could see that she was too wound up. “Ease your shoulders. Take a deep breath and remember what your father taught you.”
Her body relaxed as she stared at the goblin with renewed focus. She was no longer nervous, comforted by Lucien’s calming guidance.
The goblin snarled as it drew closer, ready to pounce on her. Goblin’s weren’t known for their intelligence. Outside of the few primitive tribal behaviours they exhibited, they typically weren’t that much different from animals.
They also aren’t the most patient individuals, and this one was no different. It charged at her, swinging its thick club wildly with surprising strength, aiming at her hip.
She stepped back, easily avoiding it. While she was lacking in experience, she at least had some semblance of skill thanks to the years of training her father put her through.
The goblin had no technique or skill to speak of. Just a surprising amount of strength that it used to crush whatever was in its wake. However, it didn’t realise that its usual strategy wouldn’t work here. Its strength wouldn’t be helpful at all if it wasn’t able to hit her.
She was surprised by how easy it was to avoid the goblin’s attacks, but didn’t let her guard down. This was still one of the first fights she had that wasn’t a sparring match or roughhousing with friends. She really didn’t want to mess up and do something stupid.
Lucien watched on from the sidelines, glad that she was able to handle herself. It was taking a bit longer than he would have liked for her to attack the thing, but it was still acceptable. She’ll learn, given enough time.
To him, the fight was fairly boring, nothing was really happening. It was like a fight between two children. Goblins were a good start for young guards and adventurers, but it was very rare for them to have any magic, so there was a limit to their strength.
If it was a hobgoblin however, then Lucien would have had to step in. Not only were they far bigger and stronger than regular goblins, they were also as intelligent as humans and were skilled at ritualistic magic.
Hobgoblins had the same rights as other sapient creatures, at least, they did in the Kingdom of Roddarus. He wasn’t sure how they faired elsewhere. Other than their appearance and name, they didn’t share much in common with goblins at all.
Then again, a hobgoblin wasn’t likely to attack them for no reason either, just like any other person they came across. Since it was just a goblin, he would leave her to it.
For Lynn, it was one of the most exciting and thrilling moments of her life so far. She didn’t get to fight like this in the village, and there was something about the chance of death that excited her.
At this moment, she felt like she was right where she was meant to be. In the thick of battle, with her life on the line.
The goblin was angry, swinging its club with reckless abandon. It lifted it high above its head and swung down, hoping to cave in her chest.
Her eyes lit up as she sidestepped the strike, her sword tilted down as she sunk it into the goblin’s chest. She remembered her father’s teachings, and knew that things weren’t over yet. Enemies would always try one last desperate attack before they died.
She stepped back, letting go of her sword just in time as the goblin put the last of its strength into one last brutal swing. The goblin lost its strength, collapsing forward and pushing the sword deeper through its body.
Lynn waited for a moment to make sure it was dead before retrieving her sword. She pulled out a rag to wipe the blade clean and turned to look at Lucien, a bright smile on her face.
Lucien chuckled as he moved over to the goblin, studying it carefully. Lynn was looking at him with glittering eyes, waiting for him to praise her. “How are you feeling?” He grabbed the disgusting hand of the goblin and started dragging it back to the woods it came from.
“Did you see how cool I was when I took that out? I feel so alive right now!” It was clear she was still excited and hopped up on adrenaline.
Lucien chuckled, thinking back to his first time killing a goblin. I was probably just like her, right? That was so long ago.
“What are you doing?” she asked curiously.
“Returning the goblin to the forest, there’s no need to keep a corpse on the road. If it was from a tribe, they will want its corpse back. If not, it’s still better to leave it in the forest.”