The convoy rattled westbound along the dirt road. Warm stuffy air weighed down on the passengers even though the window flaps had been opened earlier that morning. The sun, visible through the open flaps, began its downward arc through the sky. Unfortunately, the trip brought back unpleasant memories for Liam, considering his last trip in the back of a wagon was spent as a prisoner of war several years earlier. At least he wasn’t bound by chains this time around.

While he was reminiscing, a horn blew; a low drone lasting for a few seconds. Most likely, someone from the front wagon sounded it.

“Someone probably had to piss,” Kael said.

“Yeah, I’m stepping out for a bit,” Conor replied while hopping down from the wagon.

Just before following his friend outside, Kael turned around and said, “Good opportunity to stretch your legs.”

Liam stood, though his head brushed against even the highest point of the rounded canvas roof. The wooden floorboards creaked beneath his weight with each step as he shuffled toward the exit flaps. When he pulled the flap open, Nora darted under his arm and jumped out, rolling past Kael upon landing. From what he could tell based on her fidgeting along the way, she was not fond of riding in wagons, not that he could blame her.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Liam stretched his arms toward the sky and grunted. All the jostling from riding in a wagon with wooden wheels left him wishing for more comfortable seating.

Studying his surroundings, he only saw their small convoy, the road, and an expansive forest to both sides of the road. A few members of the Blue Vultures wandered into the woods to piss.

Now that I think about it, I never told Gardenia or the wolves I’d be gone for a while… Liam realized. While scratching his beard, he searched for a place out of sight from everyone else. After a few seconds, he wandered away from the group in a different direction from the others and trudged through the brush until the wagons were out of sight.

“Scath.”

Responding to the call, the beast poked its head out of the shadow.

Liam crouched, looked him in the eye, and asked, “Can you return and let Gardenia know I’ll be gone for a few days? Actually, before that, can she understand you?”

Scath nodded and growled in affirmation.

“Alright, good. I assume you can find your way back to me?”

Another affirmative growl.

“Please let her know, then. Also, see if she can contact Doran somehow to help them while I’m away. Pretty sure he’d be up for it.”

Scath nodded slightly before retreating back into his shadow, splitting away, and darting into the distance.

“Now that that’s taken care of…” Liam muttered as he began retracing his steps back to the wagons. About halfway back, he heard a twig snap nearby. Immediately, he crouched into the nearest bush. Eyes darting around, he searched for the cause, all the while hoping it was simply an animal. Unfortunately, his outings with the Direwolves taught him to be wary of anything outside the city.

His gaze eventually landed on a small doe several meters away. It nibbled on the grass without a care in the world. Sighing, Liam exited his hiding place and resumed his return to the convoy, only to be surprised by hearing the horn sound three times in rapid succession. Although he did not know the meaning, he knew he needed to quicken his pace. Forgoing stealth, he ran back to the road.

Near the front wagon, Ekram, Cairnech, and a few others were fighting off little gray bipedal creatures. They practically flung themselves at the mercenaries. All of them lacked musculature and looked no more than skin and bones. Their heads looked like over-inflated rugby balls with large black eyes, wide mouths filled with needle-like teeth, and pointed ears.

Instinctively, Liam whipped Bloodeater from its sheath. Although he had never seen these creatures before, he assumed many more lurked in the vicinity. At least twenty of their grotesque bodies, cut down and maimed by the mercenaries’ blades, already littered the road. Strangely enough, black liquid oozed from the dead creatures, not unlike the undead soldier from the tomb.

“Behind you!” Nora exclaimed in warning.

Liam spun on his toes. A handful of the creatures appeared from the woods behind him. They charged toward him on all fours like bald crippled apes with disjointed limbs. Strange grunts gurgled from their throats.

In moments, the first one pounced through the air, clawed fingers reaching for Liam’s throat. One swift downward slice and the creature tumbled to the dirt at his feet in two halves.

You have slain Ghulin!

Earned 129 exp.

Ignoring the distracting notification, Liam plunged Bloodeater through the chest of a second creature, stabbing through its flaky skin like scissors through paper. Even its sternum practically shattered upon impact. However, it flailed wildly like an animal plagued by rabies as it struggled to bite or scratch him until he sliced it in half. Another notification verified its death as it slumped to the ground, black liquid oozing from its wounds.

“You only got two?” Nora asked while walking toward him with an ooze-covered dagger in each hand.

“Does it matter?” Liam retorted while crouching to wipe his sword on the grass. However, the blade soaked up the black ooze like a wet sponge. Within seconds, the darksteel blade looked good as new.

Nora held out her daggers and asked, “Wanna trade?”

Rolling his eyes, Liam firmly answered, “Absolutely not.”

Interrupting their banter, a sweaty Kael sprinted toward them from the treeline. Briefly, he stopped next to them and said, “You two stay here with Conor in case any more come around this way. I’m going to help the front group.”

With that, the man darted away, sword in hand. By the looks of it, he left behind several carcasses near the woods. Conor, who beat down several of the creatures on the opposite side of the wagon, approached them with lips curled downward in an ugly frown that made him look even more brutish than normal.

“How many did you get?” Nora asked him while sporting a proud grin.

“Dunno,” Conor replied, kicking the dirt, “maybe seven or something. Damn creatures.”

Nora’s smile vanished. Apparently he killed more than her.

“What are they, exactly?” Liam asked, though he wished he could read the bestiary he needlessly obtained several days earlier in order to avoid asking such questions.

“Ghulins,” Conor gruffly answered while leaning against the back of the wagon with arms crossed over his chest. “Basically undead goblins.”

“Is it normal to come across such things?” Liam asked. However, he continued to keep a wary eye on the woods while making conversation.

“Not ghulins, but we usually come across monsters at least once or twice.”

Before Liam could reply, movement from within the trees caught his attention. Tens of the gray creatures bounded from the woods behind the convoy.

“Hold them off for a second,” Conor said, climbing into the wagon.

“How the hell are we supposed to do that?” Liam muttered. Nora simply shrugged and lifted her daggers in front of her.

The small horde quickly fell upon them. Although his swings felt clunky, Liam planted his weight on his front foot and gutted the closest ghulin. Another creature throttled through the air toward him and he ducked out of the way but quickly stabbed it in the gut. It grunted in pain as it slammed against the wall of the wagon.

Unfortunately, the next ghulin got the better of Liam and clawed at his abdomen before he could drive his blade down just behind its collarbone. While pulling Bloodeater out, another two ghulins clawed at his back and left leg in quick succession. Grunting, he spun and dispatched both in one fell swoop, decapitating one and cutting the other in half from left shoulder to right hip.

Out of the corner of his eye, Liam saw Nora somersault over one of the creatures, stabbing both of its eyes in the process. Three ghulins clambered over each other to attack her at the same time, one biting and two swiping at her with sharp claws. For a moment, her body blurred and the next second she stood a meter away from them, stabbing another creature.

Claws slashing him caused Liam to refocus on the creatures surrounding him. Several of them clawed at him, lacerating the surface of his skin, though barely enough to draw blood. However, they crowded around him to the point that he could only lift his sword into the air and stab down at them one at a time. Each time he killed one, a window popped up in the corner of his vision before dissipating.

Suddenly, a yell from behind startled him, followed by something pounding into the dirt on his right. Before he knew it, a huge steel warhammer plowed through the creatures surrounding him, flinging several of them through the air in mangled states. Now free from their grasp to an extent, he stomped on the head of a ghulin lying between his legs nibbling at his shin. Then he hopped backward and righted his posture. Instantly, the creatures charged at him again. With all his strength, he swung Bloodeater through the closest ones.

Another smash caught his attention, but then several earthy spikes sprouted from the ground in a fan shaped pattern, carving through most of the remaining creatures. Nora finished off the last two with her daggers. In the wake of the battle, the road was littered with gray-skinned body parts, rotting organs, and thick black blood.

“That’s probably the last of them,” Conor muttered while lifting his huge warhammer over his shoulder. In Liam’s opinion, it made him look like the stereotypical construction worker after a long day’s work.

Skipping to Liam’s side, Nora grinned and said, “I bet I got more than you.”

“Mhm. Too bad I don’t keep count...” Liam replied.

“You got cut up a good bit there, Liam,” Conor muttered.

In response, Liam looked down at his shredded clothes and the blood dripping from the numerable lacerations covering his body. Sighing, he said, “At least I wore my least expensive clothing today.”

“Might want to invest in some armor when you get a chance,” Conor suggested. “Still, you’re pretty durable to not get cut to pieces by ‘em.”

“Armor would probably save me money on clothes, wouldn’t it…” Liam mumbled to himself while rubbing his scraggly chin.

Then, Kael returned, covered by black blood and staring disappointedly at his ooze-coated sword.

“That’s why you should use a hammer, Weasel,” Conor remarked.

“Say that again when you beat me in a duel, Shrimp,” Kael offhandedly retorted as he wiped ghulin blood off his face.

In response, Conor mumbled incoherently and climbed back into the wagon, face contorted in anger.

Confused by the exchange, Nora tilted her head and asked, “Are you two friends or no?”

“We practically grew up together,” Kael answered while using his right hand to wipe ghulin blood from his short brown hair. “May as well be brothers.”

“I don’t get it…” Nora mumbled just loud enough for Liam to hear.

“Anyway,” Kael said, giving them his full attention, “we’ll be heading out as soon as they finish clearing the road. If you want to change your clothes, now’s the time.”

Nodding, Liam climbed into the wagon and immediately went for his travel pack. Somehow Nora avoided getting much blood on her and simply sat down while waiting for him to change. Both he and Kael changed right there without worrying about propriety. However, when Liam removed his shirt, both mercenary’s eyes widened.

“Damn… those are some crazy scars…” Kael muttered.

“How’d ya get ‘em?” Conor asked, curiosity gleaming from his wide brown eyes.

“War,” Liam quickly answered. Then, moving on from the subject, he faced Nora and asked, “Mind spreading that ointment on the cuts I can’t reach?”

She nodded and crawled toward her own travel pack. From there, she pulled out a clay bottle filled with a tan-colored medicinal ointment. Although Liam doubted its effectiveness, Nora convinced him it would be a worthwhile investment a few days prior.

While she was spreading it over the lacerations on his back, the wagon driver pulled open the front flap and said, “We’re heading out now. Everyone alright?”

“Yes,” Kael answered. Then, he chuckled and added, “Although, Vernis nearly got his dick chomped off while he was taking a piss.”

“Oh, sounds like a lot of fun,” the driver replied in good humor. Afterward, he let the canvas flap fall back into the place and the wagon lurched forward, resuming their journey.