“So how many?” Bran asked.
“Let me clean my brush and put my ink away.” I said. They were expensive and I didn’t want to ruin them. “Okay, at least the starlight is good and we got a half and a quarter moon. I had a vague estimate, but when I was finished counting the number was huge. “I have sixty eight, not counting the super settlement at this mountain.”
“Wow, that is a lot of money.” We carefully packed the map away and then rested that night. Escaping the next day wasn’t a problem either. I was surprised, but the goblins clearly weren’t the smartest monsters out there.
The only exciting thing was when we were about two days out from Jopel and heard fighting early in the morning. “Go?”
“Might as well take a look.” We hurried through the woods to the battle. I saw George and the rest of the group from before minus Falkerk plus three others. So they had seven and the goblins still had twenty standing but all the wargs were dead. The main issue was that a number of them had taken wounds and were clearly exhausted.
I looked over at Bran. “If you shrug I am punching you.” I told him.
“Fine, let’s help. After you.” He said.
“For Azalon!” I let out a cry and ran towards the rear of the goblins. I saw faces light up at our arrival. “Slow, slow, slow.” I cast and quickly struck out beheading three goblins. Bran slammed one with his shield sending it flying into a tree with a bone cracking sound at the end.
“Slow, slow.” I cast again and two more goblins fell. The other party rallied and it was soon over.
“Good to see you two.” George called out.
“You as well, a fine day for a stroll.” I replied.
“Everyone alive?” George called out. Everyone gave an affirmative. “Loot them and let’s get moving.”
“So you are in charge?” I asked.
“After Falkerk…well yeah. Things seem to be going well for both of you.” George said.
“See the world, kill new things. I did develop a strong dislike for snow.” Bran said.
“You will have to tell me all about it. We can discuss a split later for your help here if that is okay?” George asked.
“Don’t worry about it. We were returning from a mission and heard the battle. I honestly wasn’t expecting to run into you guys.” I said.
“I swear the goblins breed faster than we can kill them. At least we don’t have to walk that far to find some. Wanted to hit a settlement, but just too many. We missed you.” George said. We both embraced and I promised myself not to make it awkward.
He then embraced Bran. “Looks like everyone is done. Come on, we can talk and walk. Everyone this is Ed and Bran. They were with us before but decided to find adventure somewhere else.”
“Good to see you guys again.” Devon said.
“Come back to join the fun?” Sam asked.
“Don’t worry about that, it is good to see both of you.” Max added.
“The new guys are Pete, Galon, and Kek.” George said. We exchanged hellos. “We will actually get some real food this time, right guys!” A cheer went up. George certainly had a way about him.
“So just killing goblins?” I asked.
“Yeah, a great way to get some experience.” I did note that they were all rank two. “I am level fourteen now, which is great. Hard part is that my arrows are low. Devon is already using poor ones. Hard to make any money out here.”
“I am surprised you stuck around.” I said.
“Eh, I enjoy it. When the army comes I will probably relax for a while. Travel a bit. So what have you been up to?”
Bran proceeded to tell him of our adventures up to this point and going all the way to the mountain. “Wow, you really went all the way. I tell you guys, Ed is nuts but he somehow always pulls through. I am guessing you registered?”
“Yeah, that is all taken care of.”
“Well I won’t say that isn’t useful, but it is totally shit.”
“Yep.” Bran agreed.
“Hey, it is a mystical and mysterious skill.” I countered.
“Still shit.” Bran said and George agreed with that.
“So where are you headed now?” George asked.
“Azalon. Neither of us wants to stick around for the army and I wanted to learn more about runes.”
“I also need blackmail material from his family.” Bran added.
***
It was tempting to go to sleep, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I covered my pack with my cloak to make it look like me and lay down in the woods completely still after people settled down. It was incredibly boring lying there but I had seen the couple of glances Kek had shot my way and Bran’s.
They already had their watch rotation and George had offered for them to handle it as a thank you for our help. It was a bit suspicious but I wasn’t overly worried. The problem was they were incredibly poor and viewed themselves as strong. There was a key point I remembered from all my reading, caution is a trait that must be kept at all times in order to survive.
Pete and George finished the first watch and then Sam and Kek took the second watch. Unfortunately they went off into the woods to talk nowhere near my location. I sighed to myself, this was not looking good. I didn’t want to be right. They both returned quite a while later and quietly woke up Pete and Galon.
They all went off into the woods. I hoped they were all swallowing swords since the alternative meant there would be actual swords shoved into their necks. They came back and one went to where each person was sleeping except Max.
I had no idea how they planned to get away with this with the contract mana in place. Probably didn’t think that far ahead. I got up and stepped out of the woods. “You know trying to kill people in their sleep is never nice.” I spoke loudly and they all spun to look at me. “What was it, money? That won’t change weakness.”
“Shut up. You just dance on in here acting all high and mighty while we have bled and our friends died.” Pete said.
“I will give you one chance, you know I give all humans one chance. That should be my nick name. Anyways one chance. Throw away your weapons and I will spare you. Otherwise you each will be losing an arm. I decided to try not and kill everyone that crosses me. But crimes must be punished so I settled on an arm.” I thought that was a good compromise between safety and not killing everyone.
There was silence. “You move we kill Bran.” Kek said and moved his sword against Bran’s neck.
I rushed forward. “Stop.” I cast it on the weapon and Bran rolled out of the way. Pete tried to intercept me. “Stop.” Pete froze in place and the sword hit the blanket Bran had been on. I cut out and my de-arming attack turned into a gruesome chest slash as Kek tried to move out of the way. Kek collapsed to the ground.
“Nooooo!” Galon shouted out.
“Slow.” I then casually chopped off an arm and he collapsed to the ground screaming. Pete finally recovered his bearings after being stopped and rushed me. “Slow.” I then cut off his right arm. He collapsed to the ground screaming as well. I looked around and everyone was in a standoff.
Sam had Devon and had a dagger right up against his neck. “Any of you do anything he dies.” I ignored him and slowly walked forward. “Stop or else!”
“If you kill him, I will kill you. If you drop the dagger I will count to three before chasing you. I will start now. One.” I swung my sword, flicking blood off it. Sam looked worried. “Two.” He dropped the dagger and ran. “Slow.” I raced up behind him and cut off an arm.
“Ahhhhh, you liar, you cursed liar. Ahhhhh.” He clutched his stump, kneeling on the ground. I kicked him in the face knocking him out. I then wiped my blade off on his clothes and sheathed it. With that done I picked up his cut off arm.
“What…what are you doing?” Max asked.
“Feel free to heal them, but I am burning their arms.” I made my way around collecting arms. Kek was dead which was annoying. Idiot should have stood still instead of freaking out. I tossed all
the arms into the fire pit and put on some more wood.
“Bran, I am leaving. I don’t feel like sticking around this mess.” I said.
“Yeah.” He looked at George who seemed completely lost with over half his group either missing an arm or dead. “Sometimes you just got to leave the shit behind.” We grabbed up our stuff and left the camp. “Really surprised you didn’t kill them.”
“I wanted to make an example. You have your shield, I have my criers.”
“Well, they won’t be able to heal that unless they got a lot of gold.”
“Wait you can heal a missing limb?”
“No, you see they take a limb off a dead person and heal it to you.”
“What…What! How does that even work?” I had never even heard of this.
“I just heard it around the guild hall in the capital, but the alchemists can do it along with a rogue priest. Costs like ten gold but you can fix it.” So it wasn’t sanctioned by the Church or other groups.
“Oh, good. I was worried there. The way you were talking you make it sound like a common thing.”
“No, just got to talking after our mountain adventure. Wanted to know if I did lose an arm if that really was the end. Though I heard that if you have like a hundred gold they will give you a monster arm instead.”
“That should cost less, not more.”
“Think of the yeti, or any number of monsters. Wings, I would definitely pick wings.” Bran said.
“Flame breathe like a dragon. Just roast all enemies before me.” There wasn’t anything to talk about after that and we soon stopped, since it really was dark.
Thankfully I got some rest and the next day we made it back to Jopel. We went to the guild hall. “Hey.” Boron said.
“Trouble?” I asked.
“No, just dealing with all the mess you caused. Sword and the rest are yours.” He passed it over the counter. “Just try and not kill any more adventurers.”
“I actually made a resolution in that regard. If people come after me, I don’t plan on killing them.” I said.
“Good to know.” Bran started chatting with Boron and I went over to the mission board. I grabbed the request for mapping.
“Hey Boron you know where I can turn this in?” I asked.
“There is a supply camp set up about a day’s walk along the east road.” Boron said.
“Thanks, can I keep this?” I asked.
“Make a copy.” He said. I let out a sigh and pulled out a piece of parchment to make a copy. With that done we said our good byes and left. I didn’t want to be around when the other group got back to town. They could explain what happened and I wasn’t worried about getting in trouble.
We spent the rest of the day walking to the Royal Army camp. We got there at sun down and saw a large palisade with wooden towers off the side of the road. Men were in the wooden and at the gates. There was even the beginning of a trench being dug outside the wall. We went off the road to the gate.
“Halt and state your business.” All towns employed their own guards under the authority of the nobles who ruled the area, but the royal army was under the direct control of the king. I had seen some in the capital but I never learned their ranks based on their uniform, which was clearly an oversight. I looked at Bran and thankfully he stepped up.
“Sargent we are adventurers and have completed a mission on behalf of the Royal Amy in regards to mapping the forest and goblin settlements.” Bran said.
“Corporal, show these men to Major Hutch.”
“Follow me.” One of the men said and we followed him into the camp. There would wood buildings going up in neat rows. It was like a town, only a lot more organized with less shit covering everything. We were led to a large building in the center of the camp. The soldier stopped outside where another two soldiers looked at him and us. “Corporal Tern escorting two adventurers on mission completion for Major Hutch.”
“Let me check if he is free.” One of the soldiers at the door entered. Their uniforms were all leather and metal. Big sturdy leather boots, red grey kilts with leather with studded metal, and they also wore a light gray shirt with leather forearm guards and chest plate with the royal symbol stamped on it. They all had swords, shields, and spears. A leather cap finished off the uniform. The only difference I noted were small pins in various styles over their heart.
“The Major will see you now.” We entered the building, which was well lit with light runes. There were a number of tables with maps and parchment. We were led to one side with an older soldier looking for maps.
“Major, the adventurers.”
“Dismissed. So you have a map?” He asked. I pulled out the map and the mission request and set them down. He unrolled the map and was silent for a long moment. “How did you get all this.”
“Ed and I snuck to the mountain at the center of the forest. The goblins don’t go up since there are griffons up there which eat them. Ed here is a scribe and makes some very good maps. Anyways he drew up the features and what he could see during the day and when night came we could make out their settlements by the fires.
“What about the area around the mountain?” Major Hutch asked.
“Like a massive town that has engulfed the whole base. There are loads of tunnels leading in and out of the mountain which the goblins use. Also we noted that some of them had armor and spears closer to the mountain.” The Major was quite for a long while as he stared at the map.
“Probably the best we have gotten or will get. I am guessing you want to get paid. Wait here for a moment.” He left us and I took time to look over their maps. The quality was really good as I would expect.
The Major finally returned with a pouch. “A gold and twenty silver. Some of the settlements may not be settlements but large patrols.” I wasn’t inclined to argue about a couple of silver. Even if he was keeping the remainder it wasn’t worth it to make an enemy like this. It annoyed me but there was nothing I could do about it that was worth the couple of silver.
“Thank you sir.” Bran apparently agreed with me and took the money.
“I know you may not think it, but joining the Royal Army opens up a lot of doors and opportunities. If you are interested tell them Major Hutch recommends you.” He scribbled his signature on the mission request I had written and also wrote down the amount he paid to us. “We could use good people like you. There are a lot of things out there like these goblins we need to fight off.”
“Thank you, we will think on it.” Bran said.
“Dismissed, just head back to the gate you came in. No wandering about.” With that the Major turned back to his maps. We walked out of the building and out the gate. No one stopped us. We both stopped on the road and looked at the fort.
“To Azalon?” I asked.
“Azalon it is.” Bran said.
***
“My home town.” I said.
“Your mana is terrible. You should have teleported us here.” Bran complained.
“Uh huh. Anyways let’s turn in the mission and we can go see my home and if my parents try and kill me.” We went into the city and made our way to the guild hall.
We walked in and there was the same woman from when I registered. “Hello hag face.” Bran let out a snort.
“Who are you calling hag face brat?” The woman turned and looked at us. Some of the adventurers sitting around gave us a look. “Your back, causing quite a lot of trouble I hear. Who is your friend?”
“Bran, meet hag face.”
“Names, Emerald brat. Nice to meet you Bran.”
“Nice to meet you Emerald.” Bran said, traitor.
“Turning in a mission.” I put the parchment on the counter.
“Not bad, you really are earning your keep. I will send this on to the main hall and the fee?” She asked. Bran handed over a pouch with twenty four silver. “Perfect, so you staying or what?”
“Going to go visit my family. We might be back.” I said.
“Good luck with that.
” She went and began pouring a mug for someone else. We left the guild hall.
“Hag face?” Bran asked.
“She was rude when I went to register so things may have gotten a bit heated. So yeah, hag face.” I said.
“Well at least she looks nice. Might have a dream about her.”
“Come on. We got to go up the hill.” We began to climb.
“How rich are your parents?” Bran asked.
“Rich enough not to ask. My sister actually married into nobility.”
“Wow, now that is something.” We finally reached the Illumination and we entered.
“What can I do for you two today?” An older lady was behind the counter I didn’t recognize.
“I would like to speak with Galric Monteger, we have much to discuss. You can tell him Edward is here with a companion. We can wait outside if you desire.” She gave us a look.
“That is fine you both can stay.” She turned and left.
“Nice shop.” Bran said as he looked around at everything. Soon enough my father came out along with the store clerk.
“Edward, you are still alive and have all your limbs.” He looked me over and then grabbed me in a hug. I saw the look of shock on the clerk’s face for a moment. He let me go. “How are you? What has been happening?”
“I am well. This is Bran father. He has been with me for quite a while. Maybe we can sit down?” I asked.
“Of course, of course.” We followed him to the kitchen.
“Grenda has been such a help out front. I thought about a younger woman, but your mother stopped that right away. Said it attracted the wrong sort. Anyways sit. I know your mother will be starting dinner soon, so let me gather everyone.” He left and soon returned with Rothgar and mother. There were hugs and introductions all around.
“So tell what you have been up to.” Father asked. I started telling my story and soon Bran jumped in a couple of times. There were a lot of worried glances and looks exchanged at some of the more dangerous parts of my story.
Adventures of a Scribe Page 19
