“Ugghh…What…happened?” Eric said in a rough cough with a pounding feeling in his head and a weak feeling crawling across his skin.

“We kicked some Valix ass, that’s what happened!” he heard Jax say with his usual enthusiasm for battle. Eric blinked open tired eyes and saw Jax’s toothy grin looking down at him.

“Calm down Jax, there will be time for war stories later. Eric, you got pretty banged up, I haven’t learned any advanced healing spells so it will take some time to close all these wounds,” Liam said in a calming voice. Eric noticed Liam kneeling near his wounded leg and a dim light glowing from his friend’s hands that provided soothing warmth.

Eric gently reached up and felt the still aching wound on his face. He winced slightly as his fingers grazed the torn flesh.

“Are we in any danger staying here?” Eric asked in a ragged breath.

“We sent Kaden and Finley out to scout the rest of the area nearby, but we don’t think the rest of the forces were close enough to hear the battle so we should have some time to rest and recover,” Cattie replied in a calm voice from nearby.

“Thanks…I have some bandages and some Health potions. Wrap me up and help me drink one of the potions and I should be able to get back on my feet. Then we can find a safer place to hide out in case more enemies show up,” Eric said in a low voice trying to ignore the renewed pain in his side as he shifted and unsuccessfully tried to sit up.

“Slow down Eric. If there is danger, we will know with plenty of warning. There is no reason to use an expensive potion with no threats around,” Cattie said in a more forceful tone.

Eric bit his tongue and settled back down relieving some of the burning pain in his side.

“Yea and if those scaly lizards do come back I’ve got an axe thirsty for more action!” Jax said lifting his weapon confidently.

“You are such a show-off. If Eric wouldn’t have drawn the enemies away when he did we would all have been lunch for those disgusting things,” Ella said shaking her head at Jax’s exuberance.

“Just get some rest Eric, we will let you know when we need to start moving again. Thanks for saving us back there. I don’t know how you got to them so quickly, but we would have been outnumbered if you hadn’t shown up when you did,” she said quietly leaning down to Eric and giving a light pat on his shoulder.

Eric nodded slightly and let his body slip back into unconsciousness as he felt Liam moving up to the wound on his side and the warmth spreading across his mid-section.

Eric woke up much more alert and composed the second time. He took a moment to look around the small clearing where he fought against the three Valix troops. He noticed someone placed his head on the edge of a bedroll saving it from the hard ground.

Giving a quick glance down his body, he saw hi wounds had been bandaged, and a light touch to his face confirmed the wound had been sealed but was still slightly sensitive. He also noticed his Health was almost back up to 100%, and his stamina was almost completely recovered as well. The sun was low on the horizon, and he spotted the rest of his comrades resting against a couple boulders nearby and talking quietly amongst themselves.

“Did I miss anything exciting?” Eric said lightheartedly while looking over with a smirk and slowly lifting his body up from the ground.

“You could say that. I’m glad you are awake, feeling better?” Liam responded with a tight smile as he walked over.

“Good as new!” Eric said as he got to his feet. He found Shadowspark on the ground next to him and used it to steady himself as he found his bearings and tested his weight on his patched up leg. It still felt a little stiff, but the pain was gone and Eric was confident in a couple more hours he would be back to 100%.

“Now you sound like Jax, acting like the tough guy,” Ella said before poking Jax in the side and giggling.

Jax stood tall and said in a self-confident tone, “What do you mean ‘Act’ like a tough guy?”

“I’m just happy to be back on my feet, tough guy or not. So fill me in on what’s going on?” Eric questioned, turning the conversation more serious.

Clarke stepped up and said, “Kaden and Finley captured a Valix scout. We have it tied up on the other side of the hill, and Finely is questioning it now. It only speaks a limited amount of common language, but the information we have gleaned so far is disturbing, to say the least.”

Cattie chimed in, “Now that Eric is mobile we should meet up and discuss our next move. We need to decide how to act on the information provided by the scout.”

The group nodded together, and Eric decided to wait until they met back up with Kaden and Finely to figure out what could be so pressing. As they made our way up the hillside between the scattered boulders, Cattie slipped in beside Eric and softly whispered, “I’m glad to see you back on your feet. You had us all worried there for a while.”

“It takes more than a few lizards to kill me,” Eric replied with a smile.

“Yea like one of me,” she said with a slight punch to his arm before quickly walking ahead to talk with Ella.

Eric chuckled lightly remembering he still owed Cattie a duel sometime. The group made it over the rise, and Eric noticed Kaden and Finley wearing serious looks and standing next to a squat Valix tied tightly around a tree with a thick rope. As they approached, the two rangers walked to meet them and gave Eric a reassuring nod.

“So did you learn anything else from the prisoner?” Clarke asked.

“Unfortunately not. It doesn’t seem like he knows any more than what he already told us,” Kaden stated flatly.

Clarke frowned and turned toward Eric before continuing, “There is some good news, and there is some bad news. The good news is the Valix army aren’t going to come back and seek revenge on us for attacking their rear guard. The bad news is the Valix aren’t the real enemy.”

Eric’s face softened as he digested the information Clarke provided. “If the Valix aren’t our enemy then why did they attack innocent villages and the Legion?” Eric asked with a confused look.

“We only have a small piece of the whole picture, but from what we have learned there is a powerful creature at play gathering groups of monsters, in some cases relatively non-aggressive ones and using them to strike out at the kingdom. The Valix are one of the less aggressive species that live in the frontier. They don’t naturally leave the frontier’s swamps where they live and were forced to attack the Legion because of this mysterious creature. The creature is called the Faceless Shadow according to the scout we captured. Apparently, this creature attacked the Valix settlements and captured their women and children, forcing the Valix warriors to attack our lands to ensure their safety,” Clarke responded with a solemn expression.

Ting!

Quest Alert – Faceless Shadow I

You have discovered the name of a powerful nemesis to the civilized kingdoms and a threat to the peace of Teurilia. Discover more information about this threat and warn the royal court to prevent death and suffering from spreading.

Reward: Unknown

Eric read over the prompt and looked back to Clarke.

“Did you receive the quest as well?” Clarke asked.

Eric nodded and said, “Yea, this is crazy though! How does the kingdom not know about this creature already? If we learned all of this information from a random scout?”.

“We were wondering the same thing initially. We think it’s possible the king as well as others already know, but have about as much information as that scout over there. Which is next to nothing other than a name,” Finley said with a thumb pointing back to the scowling prisoner.

“I guess that makes sense. It would cause a panic if the public found out about a mysterious creature provoking the monsters in the frontier into attacking peaceful villages,” Eric stated thoughtfully

“That was our conclusion as well,” Finley replied.

“So, what are we going to do?” Eric questioned with a furrowed brow.

“We don’t have a lot of options, the Valix are just trying to make it back to their homeland so we think it’s best to release the scout. We will split the loot we acquired from the others, but I don’t wish to spill any more blood after learning the circumstances. At this point, without better equipment and higher levels, we wouldn’t stand a chance in the frontier to find out more about this new threat. I think we need to train hard and keep an ear to the ground to try and find out more about what might be coming,” Clarke said.

The group looked solemn but nodded in agreement to confirm Clarke’s decision. The hunt for the Valix was over, but the hunt for the Faceless Shadow had begun.

“Finley and I plan to head south to meet up with a band of rangers to continue training. Feel free to join us. We can always use another bow, even grand ones,” Kaden said coolly.

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I need to head back to Drail to continue my training. What about everyone else?” Eric asked.

“I’ve got business to tie up in Drail as well,” Clarke replied.

“I think we are going to spend some time exploring more of the mountains to the north,” Ella added softly, motioning toward the rest of her guildmates before continuing, “There are supposed to be some lower level monster dungeons toward the bottom of the range. We will likely head back to the capital for supplies in a few days once we satisfy our curiosity.”

The remaining daylight started to dim over the range and after releasing the scout the group made camp not far away from the hillside. It didn’t take long for everyone to get settled and they all gathered around a small fire to divide up the loot dropped by the defeated Valix warriors. Eric was unconscious when the battle ended so he didn’t initially get to see what type of gear was dropped, but his jaw slackened a bit when Jax dropped all of the loot into a pile at their feet.

Eric flipped through dozens of item identification screens while looking through the pile, pulling aside a few of interest. He looked up to see the rest of the group staring at him holding back their snickering and chuckling. He must have looked like a kid in a candy store digging through the loose pile of assorted armor, weapons, and items. He quickly stood up and brushed himself off not meeting anyone’s eyes for several moments.

“Find anything interesting?” Jax said jokingly with a satisfied grin.

“Maybe a couple things…I got a little over excited with our haul. Did you already sort through all of this stuff and get some for yourself?” Eric asked pleadingly.

“Not yet. We all agreed you should get first pick since you saved all of us back there,” Clarke said with a reassuring look.

Eric was suddenly at a loss for words. The caring nature of the group of people surrounding him was a completely foreign idea to him, yet it felt like it was filling a hole that had grown through his being over his many years of solitude. Everyone looked at Eric with soft eyes. “We all played a role… We should split it up between everyone evenly,” Eric said, mentally kicking himself with each word, but he knew trustworthy friends were worth more than any loot.

“We already all received our share of the coin and there is plenty of gear to go around. You deserve the first pick, keep what you’ve picked out, and we will all take what we can use from the rest. The proceeds from everything else we can split evenly once it gets sold back in the city. Speaking of which I think you and Clarke should handle that since you are heading that direction,” Cattie said encouragingly.

Eric confirmed he had an extra 6 Gold, 47 Silver, and 10 copper in his coin purse. “Well… if you insist. And we can handle a trip to the shops when we return to Drail to sell the rest,” he responded humbly.

Eric lifted up each of the items he picked out from the pile and gave them a closer inspection, checking the information available for each.

Honed Steel Dagger - Damage:18-20; Durability:32/40; Grade: Uncommon; Requirements: Strength:18, Agility:20; Effect: +10% Armor Penetration

Unidentified Tome – Grade: Rare; Durability: Unknown; Requirements: Unknown; Effect: Unknown

Ring of Prosperity - Damage: N/A; Durability: 99/100; Grade: Unique; Requirements: Wisdom:11, Intellect:15; Effect: +5% Bonus Currency Drop Rate, +5% Chance of Enchanted Item Drop

Eric immediately equipped the new dagger and slipped the ring and tome into his inventory. He would have to get the magic tome identified when he returned to the city but was hopeful it would be a skill book or potentially unlock a quest.

The rest of the group took a few minutes to rummage through the loot pile and pulled out any items of interest. The Valix were not high-level or rare monsters and didn’t carry many high-value items, only the single ring Eric grabbed was of Unique grade, but a handful of Uncommon grade items were also found among the corpses. The plate armor worn by most of the warriors weren’t useful to any of the party members, but they would sell well for the raw materials according to Ella.

Clarke and Eric gathered the remaining items and filled their inventory to the seams with plans to sell the loot at the market in Drail. The local banks would be able to hold the funds they gained from selling the loot for the other party members until they returned to the city.

The party shared stories from the day’s battle, and Eric was able to relax after a tense day, feeling safe among friends. They agreed to depart the next morning for their various destinations. Eric looked forward to returning to Drail and continuing his training with Flynn. He was hopeful to start making progress toward unlocking another Grand Bow skill after realizing how valuable new skills could be to improve his combat potential.