Chuck pulled up as close as he could get to the church and a brown feathered avian in dirty robes came out to greet them. “Thank you otherworlder. Healer Obb has informed us about your mission. The medicinal potions are desperately needed. I will get some acolytes to help you unload your magical carriage.”

Chuck helped take the crates to the largest tent. On the way he glanced into a few of the other tents and saw cot upon cot of sickly avians. He also noticed a covered body being hauled behind the church. Chuck again pumped the helpers for information and the news wasn’t good. It sounded like half the avian population was dead or dying.

The only good news was that once healed, the avians didn’t seem to get sick again. He wasn’t a doctor but that sounded strange to Chuck. With his earthly knowledge, he would expect the sick to get healed and then contract the disease again. He knew next to nothing about magic or potions however.

At least they seemed to be disposing of the dead bodies properly. With the medieval setting, Chuck had half expected bodies to be piled up and left to rot. From what he could see, they were burning the bodies but he didn’t have any desire to check. When there was only one box left, the brown feathered avian spoke up again.

”Otherworlder, I’m sorry to ask this of you since you just arrived but I have another request. I would like you to deliver the remaining potions to two villages near Axete. The villages are made up of two avian families. We haven’t heard anything from them since the outbreak and lack the resources to check on them.”

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Chuck sighed as he was handed directions to the two villages. It was going to be another long day. He and Tess grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading out. A hero’s work was never done it seemed. Chuck asked Tess which village they should go to first. One village was farther east along the coast and one was north of Axete.

Tess thought they should go to the nearest one first which would be the village to the north. Chuck took her advice and they headed north after the guards opened the gate for them. It did take a little convincing and showing the guards the directions with the note from the brown feathered avian.

The first village was only a couple miles from town so it didn’t take them long to get there. The road was little more than a dirt track though so it was bumpy. Chuck hoped the potions wouldn’t get broken. Unfortunately there wasn’t any sign of life when they reached the village. He and Tess got out to do a door to door search to see if there was anyone left alive.

The houses were mostly wood shacks although a few were just sod. The largest one was a log cabin which he guessed was for the mayor or whatever they called it in this world. There were a few bodies on the ground outside so he wasn’t optimistic about finding anyone alive. They split up and started their search.

As he feared, every door he opened just revealed more dead bodies. The village wasn’t very big so it didn’t take them long to finish. Tess hadn’t found any survivors either and looked sad. Chuck decided they would report their findings once they got back and would hurry to the second village. The next village was farther along the coast so it would take longer to get there.

The road to the next avian village was in better shape so he was able to drive a little faster. He could tell Tess was nervous about what they would find. He too hoped to find some survivors that they could give the potions to. It would be terrible for them to be too late to save anyone from the villages. It was bad enough one of them had been completely wiped out by the outbreak.