The journey was long, arduous, and exhausting. They had been walking through the wasteland for four weeks already, and Lucien felt like they might be there for longer than he had estimated

This was primarily because of the footsteps forcing them to have to take constant detours in order to remain safe, but that wasn’t the only reason.

They were attacked on more than one occasion by monsters similar to the one Lucien had previously killed.

Lucien handled most of them himself, but there was one time when two attacked them at the same time, and Lynn was forced to step in as well.

While Lucien was handling his one the same way he did all the others, Lynn was having a bit of trouble.

This was her first time taking on one of these creatures, so she didn’t have the timing down like Lucien did.

She had managed to find a suitable rock to use easily, but the monster had already reached her while she was still trying to lift it.

She was forced to roll back awkwardly as the creature’s razor sharp teeth almost shredded her leg to bits.

She made it chase her away from the rock, then wrapped back around and killed it on her second attempt.

Luckily, she managed to survive the encounter with only a few scratches here and there, nothing she hadn’t experienced before.

They cleaned the wounds to make sure nothing bad happened, then once again set off.

They could feel the air starting to cool down, turning from a mind-numbing heat to a sweltering one. They knew they were getting close to finally escaping this hellish landscape.

They had escaped the land of footprints, having returned to the outer ring where nothing living existed. There were no animals and no monsters, just rocks, dry ground, and heat.

At least they no longer had to worry about being crushed to death from out of nowhere by a falling rock monster.

This didn’t stop them from being on constant alert though. They didn’t want to slip up when they were this close.

It was exhausting, both mentally and physically, but they were almost out of there.

They were half way through the fifth week in the wasteland when they saw something that made both of them smile.

Grass.

It was dead, sparse, and droopy. But it was grass. It was the first sign of non-monstrous life they had seen in a very long time.

It stubbornly clung to the cracks in the arid earth, even after its death.

Without talking, they both picked up the pace at the same time, both wishing to get out of there as soon as possible.

They watched in real time as the grass shifted gradually from a dull yellow to a yellowish-green.

The air was getting more humid, and the heat was no longer beating down on them as harshly as it had been.

And by the end of the fifth week, they had spotted signs of civilisation.

There was an old wooden sign. Hastily made by tying two pieces of wood together with some rope. It was barely sitting in the ground at a slant, looking like it could be knocked over with a gentle push from a child.

Lucien was almost marvelled by the fact that something of such shoddy craftsmanship was still standing.

As they approached the sign, they felt like they stepped through an invisible barrier, as the temperature dropped back down to a mild level. Albeit, still hotter than what it was before they stepped foot inside.

But even the hottest days of the season of growth would feel cold when compared to what it was like in there.

They reached the sign, and were able to read what was etched into the other side of it:

‘Danger!

Do not go past this point.’

Doesn’t tell us much, but at least we know that someone has to live nearby. “Let’s keep going. We aren’t out of the woods yet.”

He took off the headwrap, feeling relieved as the wind brushed past his face. His entire body had been wrapped up for so long that he had almost forgotten what the wind felt like.

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Lynn did the same, but it wasn’t quite enough for her. She took out her water and liberally poured it on her face and through her hair. She kept pouring until every last drop of water was gone.

She looked like a wet dog, and smelled even worse, but in this moment she didn’t care. She was just so glad that it was finally over.

The wasteland had done a number on them. Ignoring the monsters and the heat, just the fact that they hadn’t been able to wash themselves that entire time had put a lot of strain on the young woman’s mind.

Lucien was older, and thus didn’t care about it as much as she did. But even he felt like they had seen better days.

His beard was unkempt. His hair was shaggy. And his face was cracked and dry.

He decided that once this was all over, he would take a different route back just so that he could avoid having to do this all over again.

Everyone, including the horses, were tired and ready to sleep, but they pushed on.

A few minutes after passing the sign, the grass was already covering the ground for as far as the eye could seem and Lucien could even spot animals frolicking in a nearby forest.

It was amazing just how different the environment could be in such a short distance.

They came across an overgrown dirt road which they followed all the way back to the village of Ashfield.

Different to the prior village of Ishtal, Ashfield was established long after the wasteland was already a thing.

Previously a lumber camp, it slowly grew into a village as the workers started having families of their own. It kept itself going by supplying lumber to the surrounding towns and villages instead of by profiting from adventurers.

However, like Ishtal, it was still a small village of around fifty to sixty people.

“Stop right there!” A harsh voice called out from the nearby forest. An old man stepped out with a long bow fully drawn and aimed at Lucien. He was ready to fire it through Lucien’s skull the second anything strange happened.

Despite his age, he seemed to have no trouble drawing the thing, and could even hold it there steadily for an extended period of time.

They both came to a stop, raising their hands slowly so as to not get shot at.

“What’s your business here?” the old man asked.

“Just passing through.”

“Nice try! The nearest village is over that way.” He pointed roughly eastward. “This path doesn’t lead anywhere. And what’s with the clothes you’re wearing? Are you bandits?”

The man didn’t let up at all, not believing them for a second. He was suspicious to the point of being paranoid.

“I assure you, we’re really just passing through,” Lucien said, trying to ease the man’s nerves so that he would lower the bow.

“Lower you’re weapon Dale.”

Another man appeared just as the situation was getting more tense. He came from the village entrance and stopped in between Dale and Lucien.

This man was a bit younger than Lucien, probably in his mid thirties. He had short, cropped brown hair, and a 5 o’clock shadow. He was 170cm tall with a bit of muscle, but was overall fairly lean.

Dale hesitated for a moment, as if contemplating whether to shoot this man in the head, but ultimately shifted his weapon to the side and fired the arrow into the ground past them.

“Consider yourself lucky,” he spat. “If they kill anyone this is on your head Jon, not mine,” he said to the other man as he walked back into the forest.

The man turned back to them with a somewhat sheepish and apologetic grin. “Sorry about him. He can be a bit of a handful, but he means well. I think.”

“It’s alright. Not the first time I've had a bow pointed at me.” Lucien chuckled, thinking nothing of it. He could tell from the way the guy was reacting that this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.

“Where did you two come from? Nobody really uses this path except for the villagers.”

“Down south, you guys are the first people we’ve seen in a while.”

“Down south...” he muttered quietly to himself. He looked at their clothes, then back the way they came as something dawned on him. “You came from the wasteland, didn’t you?”

Lucien nodded, feeling that there was no need to hide it.

“Why not just go around?”

“We’ve got an urgent message for Lord Whitmore, and I didn’t want to delay it by doing that.”

Jon shifted slightly upon the mention of Lord Whitmore. His back straightened to a more rigid stance while he put on an ingratiating smile. Either he guessed the seriousness of their situation, or he assumed that they were people of great importance.

Either way, he wanted to help. “Is there anything I can do to help? You both must be exhausted after what you just went through.”

Lucien, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, decided to accept his help. However, he made a mental note to make sure to repay Jon for the help. “If you don’t mind, we could probably just do with a bath. Do you have a tub we could borrow?”

“Of course. Follow me.”

While they were talking, the man brought them into the village. It was a quiet place, aside from the few children running around, as everyone was out working.

He brought them to a small house on the western side of the village. The place looked too small for a family to live in, meaning that Jon was probably living on his own.

“Tubs in the room on the left, you can wash up in there for some privacy. Bucket’s by the door and the nearest well is over on the main road. Feel free to make yourselves at home,” he said as he pushed open the door and walked inside.

Lucien and Lynn paused at the door to tie their horses up. They also took off their robes, not wanting to track all that dust and dirt into Jon’s house. After putting the robes away and making sure that everything was okay, they stepped inside.

Jon’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at Lucien, but he held his expression well. He didn’t realise that Lucien was missing an arm, he just thought that it was hidden in the folds of the robe.

“You can go first,” Lucien told Lynn as he looked around the house.

They were currently in the main room, which was an all-in-one kitchen, dining, and living room. The kitchen was on the right side, with the fireplace and cooking pot in the middle of the wall.

There was a small rectangular dining table in the middle of the room that could sit three or four people.

The left side of the room was where most of the storage was, as it was mostly taken up by shelves, cabinets, drawers, and a chest. But it did have a couple chairs for people to rest on and chat when they weren’t eating.

There wasn’t much in terms of decor, with the walls left barren aside from the shelves, which were mostly covered with things that Jon would use everyday and needed to keep close. But aside from that, the place was clean and looked presentable.

Two doors were on the far wall. The one on the left led to the washroom, while the other presumably led to the bedroom.

Lynn grabbed a bucket and went to go get water.

“You can use the fire to warm up the water if you need to. I’m not using it at the moment,” Jon offered.

“There’s no need for that. I think we’re both dying for a cold bath right now.”