Once you started believing it was your duty to heed every call to action, it became easy to be distracted. You couldn't turn a corner without stumbling into malady and malaise - some easy to solve than others. Many adventurers and novice Rankers stretched themselves too thin, trying to fight every battle and save every day. Some things were just lost, and letting them go was a sign of strength rather than weakness - but often easier said than done.

I was briefly surprised that once we left the oppressive gloom of Fogvale, we did not receive a little fairer weather. Unfortunately, it seemed like the day intended to reflect the gloomy skies, and even past the borders of the area, we were greeted with darkened clouds and light drizzle. Our path cut partially through the forest this time before heading out to a clearer, fielded area. Apparently, Ratticus had set up a burrow of some sort a few miles off from the town and had generally been a nuisance to the smaller villages in the surrounding areas.

We had all been relatively quiet on the first leg of our journey, keen to just focus on the task ahead, with only occasional idle chit-chat breaking the silence. I kept an eye behind us, although I had not seen anything since leaving the town. It paid to be cautious, especially when our lives were potentially the cost on the line.

Late afternoon found us under the dark canopy of one of the forest roads, the route slightly more uneven and unkempt in this area. The vibrations of the wagon wheels caused me some discomfort. I much preferred the wagon to walking; however, in my previous life, I was much more accustomed to more luxurious travel. Hours of being vibrated against the hard wooden edges of our current mode of transport had left me slightly grouchy, to say the least. Not the worst thing that could happen to us, I reminded myself.

Jakob had mostly been sitting with his hood over his face. Occasionally, he would idly comb through the arrows on his magical quiver, the gift from Angelos. A Replenishing Quiver was one of the more common magical items any proficient Ranger or bow user would seek to acquire in the early stages of their careers. Certainly, you wouldn't want to fall prey to running out of ammunition in the midst of a battle. He also had a wrapped bundle of silver arrows, although we weren't flush enough to acquire any more of the exotic ammo that the shop could offer. It was, at least, something that was a bit more proficient in dealing damage to some of the other horrors in the night.

Angelos had spent most of his time reading through his book. At first, I thought it had just been a spellbook. He didn't have it back during our prior acquaintance, but it appeared to have quick extensive information in it - perhaps pertaining to his God. I didn't care to intrude on it or push him for more details. That sort of thing was often close to a person's heart. I wouldn't want to drive any sort of wedge between our fresh, burgeoning friendship - if you could call it that.

"There's a fallen tree up ahead," Florence broke the silence. She leveled a gloved finger ahead, which turned our eyes to see the road ahead of us.

Indeed, about sixty feet out, a large tree had fallen from the mud embankment and covered the whole road. "Be wary," I said. Any energy I had for the day was slowly draining away.

It might be another trap, although I didn't think it could be more bandits, considering the last ones had been paid by Basil to interrupt our proceedings. It was always a good idea to be open to any chance of it being the case, however. It would be rather a terrible plan to sit here on a road not often traveled, in the hopes that someone especially lootable came across the blockade.

Florence had Petal stop about thirty feet away from the tree and I hopped down out of the back of the wagon.

"Need a hand?" the Guardian asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm not offering; I'm just wondering."

I shook my head and gave him a smirk. "I'll be fine." I withdrew my sword as I approached the tree, my eyes scanning to the left and right, but nothing but shadows as the woods deepened further greeted my glare. There were, of course, much worse things than bandits, but I didn't want to entertain the possibility of that. I tilted my head as I stood before the tree. Good luck avoiding the inevitable draw of doom, I sighed. It had been freshly felled, as life still lingered in the branches and leaves. Following the trunk to the left, roots were raised in muddy death. They were splayed out, clumps of dirt stuck to them still as if they could have one last handhold on life before slipping away.

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Something else caught my eye, though. Beside the tree, the vegetation and grass had been churned and flattened as if something had powered through the area. I licked my lips and walked down the length of the tree towards where it had been uprooted. Kneeling down, I knew what this was. Blood. At the edge of the roadside, a trail of it - dark crimson, seemingly relatively fresh. Although the damp environment had kept it from drying out, it had congealed and looked to lead further across the path that had been trampled.

"Something's happened here," I said, turning back to the wagon with my eyebrows raised. "Could just be an animal about, perhaps. There's blood."

"What kind of blood is it?" Florence asked.

I wrinkled up my face. "I'm not about to test that. However, I don't think it'll be a problem we need to consider; we just need to move the tree-"

Just as I said this, a blood-curdling howl emanated from within the woods, deeper and more guttural than a wolf or a coyote. It echoed around us, filling the empty space with the terrible noise of a beast enraged.

"See," I scratched my stubbled head, "I'll just move the tree, and we'll be on our way."

"They'll probably track us," Jakob said.

"What do you mean, lad?" Angelos raised his eyebrow.

"There is a chance that the beast, whatever it is, will pick up our scent and follow us. I imagine we'll be camping in a couple of hours, right?"

"You're not suggesting we go find and kill it?" I sighed, looking into the depths of the woods. "We're not adventurers, you know. We don't have to follow every trail of intrigue that comes across our path."

"I know," he said, pulling down the hood back over his eyes. "I just thought we might sleep a bit easier tonight knowing that we won't be tracked by some large monster."

I exhaled through my nose. I wasn't too keen on the idea. It was time away from us heading towards our intended target, and ran the risk of one of us getting injured. However, what Jakob said was true. There was a possibility that whatever this beast was could be hunting for further prey, and a horse and four humans sounded like a nice meal should they track us.

It would want to attack us at night when we were unprepared. That would be a worse battleground for us, even if we kept watch. Fighting in the dark or by brief campfire light would put us at a disadvantage if approached by surprise. My vision in the dark wasn't too bad, but I couldn't rely on the others - especially if freshly awoken from sleep.

"I can see you're not too convinced," Florence added from the front of the wagon, "but what about that blood? Trails from a previous victim, or is there someone who's just injured and has been taken? I know we're not adventurers, but we're still Heroes, right?"

"Alright," I held my hand up to quieten them before I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I understand. Let's have a vote, then. Who wants to go track down and kill the unknown beast?" I watched them exchange brief glances before gradually, each of their hands raised into the air.

"It's not usually my sort of thing," Angelos shrugged with a smirk, "but if I don't get good kip, I'll be a right shitbag tomorrow."

"It's settled, then," I said, pointing my finger at him. "That's more justification than anything else you guys had offered." My comment was met with rolled eyes and smirks from the group, and I beamed as I came back over to lead the wagon over to be tied up by one of the trees.

"Feels bad having to leave her on her own so often," Florence stroked at the side of the horse's mane.

I nodded but said nothing. There was always a chance that the wagon could be stolen or something untoward could happen to the horse while we were away. It was a kind of risk that we needed to take. Once we got closer to the Rat Villain, we would stable Petal at one of the closest villages and walk the rest of the way on foot. But out here in the wilderness, we had to make do and take the chances that we could afford.

Smoothed mud didn't make much sense to me unless something had been dragged. "You're good at tracking, Jacob. You have a look."

The young man walked up and knelt down by the swath of flat mud and vegetation. "I don't see any of the prints that you might expect here, although it sounded like a wolf or perhaps a bear. There's no paw prints; this is just a smooth track that leads from the road up deeper into the forest."

"Well, let's hope whatever it is, it's ready to die then," I patted him on the back, and we set off into the darkness once more.