It didn’t take them long to make it back to the alcove of trees, but by the time they arrived darkness had taken the forest. Eric noticed a pale blue light growing from Clarke’s hand and discovered he was holding a stone emitting the glow.

“I always keep a few glowing stones on hand in case of emergencies,” Clarke said with a shrug before slipping into the clustered trees.

Eric followed him into the temporary sanctuary. They spotted Erwin sitting against a tree and holding the dagger Eric gave him defiantly toward Clarke. Erwin glanced at Eric and visibly relaxed after recognizing his face.

“It’s alright. You are safe now. This is Clarke, he helped me take care of those bandits,” Eric said peacefully while raising his hands slightly to indicate non-aggression.

Erwin slowly lowered the dagger to the ground and released an abated breath. Eric made his way over to the ground beside Erwin and Clarke sat across from him to Eric’s left. Clarke placed the glowing stone between the three of them and pulled out some rations to share with the trio.

As Eric passed Erwin a small piece of dried boar meat he said, “We need to know what happened to you out there. How did you end up alone on the road being chased by those bandits?”

Erwin nibbled on the edge of the meat and looked hesitant to respond. “I…I ran away. I was scared, and I didn’t know what else to do. The bandits attacked us without warning and…and… they were ki...killing everyone,” he stuttered with a somber expression.

Eric didn’t speak for a long moment trying to contain his anger. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry for what happened to you. No one should have to go through that.”

“I know it is tough to talk about, but it will help us if we know why were you traveling on the road and where you were headed. Do you think you can tell us a little more?” Eric said in a soft tone.

Erwin with glistening eyes nodded slowly in response. “We… we were heading to Drail. My fam…family and I left our village to get away from the monster attacks. My uncle… he… he lives in the city and was going to find us a place to st…stay.” he said choking on his words.

Eric realized Erwin’s immediate family was most likely killed by the bandit attack, and he regretted not being able to help sooner. He gently placed his hand on Erwin’s shoulder and said, “I can’t begin to imagine your pain, but I will do whatever I can to help you find your uncle. Try to get some rest, it has been a long day.”

Eric removed his hand from Erwin’s shoulder, and he rested his head back against the tree before closing his eyes. He shared a look with Clarke, and he saw the same look of compassion in his eyes that he felt in his own.

Clarke stood quietly and whispered, “I am going to go gather the loot from those bandits and confirm the area is clear. You should get some rest as well. We should be relativity hidden in this grove of trees, but I’ll alert you to any trouble.”

Clarke lifted the glowing stone from the ground between them and slipped back outside of the tightly packed trees leaving only trace slivers of light behind before it became completely dark. Eric took a deep breath and leaned back before falling into a deep sleep after a mentally and physically taxing evening.

Eric woke up the next morning to a bright light on his eyelids from the sun sneaking through the gaps in the group’s adopted shelter. He looked to his left and saw Clarke next to him breathing rhythmically. He glanced to his right next and was alarmed to find Erwin missing.

Eric stood up quickly startling Clarke and found the gap between the trees. He made his way out into the forest beyond. He stepped out and saw Erwin a few meters away with his back facing Eric. Eric sighed in relief that Erwin hadn’t disappeared or been taken mysteriously in the night after all the boy had already been through.

Erwin’s body was motionless, and Eric approached slowly trying not to disturb him but making enough noise as to not surprise him. Eric stepped up to Erwin’s side and saw he was wearing a blank stare with no emotion. Eric decided to remain silent and take in the crisp morning with him. Eric looked out across the dew-covered ground of the forest with a sullen expression.

Clarke joined them after a few minutes, standing on the opposite side of Erwin. “How about we get moving? I think a little physical exertion will be good for all of us,” Clarke said after a couple silent minutes.

Eric nodded and looked down to Erwin. The boy’s stare was haunting, and his feeling of loss was painfully obvious. “Good idea. We can have a bite to eat on the road,” Eric said evenly.

Erwin blinked several times before breaking his gaze, and they made their way toward the direction of the road and out of the forest. The morning was serene, but the mood of the group as they began their march was heavy. They continued in silence, quietly chewing on their rations slow and methodically.

After finishing their breakfast and building up a steady walking pace, Clarke slid next to Eric and passed him a small item. “I found this on one of the mages and thought you might have a use for it. The other loot was pretty low-level gear, but we can add it to our sell list when we get back to the city,” he said.

Eric examined the item and was surprised to see he recognized the name and description.

Relic of the Wanderer – Grade: Unique, Requirements: Bound to Structure; Durability: 653/1000, Effect: +5% Increase in Satiety when consuming food and +5% Increase in Stamina regeneration while resting

Eric was immediately alarmed remembering where he had seen the item before and began speculating how a bandit would have gotten possession of it. He brushed aside his fleeting thoughts after deciding it must be a coincidence, and the item had to more common item than he originally suspected. He buried his thoughts, and they group continued on with steady progress but were soon greeted with an unfortunate sight.

At the edge of his vision, Eric saw the remains of a destroyed caravan of wagons and carts. Some were smoking husks of burnt wood and others were flipped over with goods scattered along the road. Erwin raced off toward the scene without a word. Eric tightened his jaw at the sight of a corpse face down in the dirt not far from the road.

Erwin slid to a stop a few paces from the first destroyed wagon and a shuddering silence passed over the scene. Erwin fell to his knees and began to silently sob with his back rising and falling and his hands buried in his face. Eric felt completely helpless, but continued his approach and soon spotted several dead bodies in various positions spread out across the road.

He motioned to Clarke, and they immediately got to work clearing the debris and gathering any of the supplies onto a spare cart that had been overturned, but undamaged. They would be able to sell many of the supplies and give Erwin some coin to help support him. The cart expanded the available inventory significantly, and they were able to load it to the brim with the various supplies scattered about. Most were simple household items, but some small arms and a few tomes were also recovered.

Erwin’s sobbing slowly ended as the emotional drain exhausted his body. He kneeled motionless for long minutes while Clarke and Eric finished gathering the supplies. Fortunately, Eric located a couple small wooden shovels in the scattered supplies and passed one to Clarke nodding toward a clearing in the forest not far from the tragic scene.

Eric counted fourteen bodies total, and they got to work digging a grave for each. Eric knew it would be best to take the bodies back to the city for a proper funeral, but with no animals to pull the cart, it would be a difficult task to even carry a couple of the bodies. Eric saw Erwin approaching with a shovel in his hand after they had completed digging the second grave. Erwin joined them in their silent task, shoveling one pile of soft dirt at a time.

It took them a couple hours to finish the digging and Erwin was panting heavily by the time they were finished. Tear streaks were visible on his dust-covered face. They carefully wrapped each body with spare cloth and lowered them into the graves. They filled the holes with the upturned dirt, and Eric said a few words over each even though he never knew the faces he had helped bury. Erwin stood silently over the graves staring at the last two they buried with soft eyes. It was a man and women that Eric noticed shared many of Erwin’s features, and he knew it was likely Erwin’s parents he had just helped bury.

Eric blinked and whispered a few more thoughtful words over the lost and approached Erwin. The boy’s soft face had hardened, and Eric saw a hunger in the boy’s eyes making him appear years older.

“I am thankful for all your help. I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay your kindness to me, but I will do everything I can to grow and learn how to prevent this pain from happening to anyone else. I will aid you however I can when you request,” Erwin said with resolve. He continued with a softer tone, “I am ready to leave this place. I need to find my uncle.”

Ting!

Erwin Pryde has made an oath to repay his debt to you.

You may ask Erwin to assist you in the future, and he will do so loyally.

+15 Fame

+2 Leadership

+2,000 Experience

Eric nodded slowly, reading the prompt in slight surprise. “Very well. We have everything ready to go.”

The trio stepped back out onto the road and with a slight grunt Eric was able to pull the cart of supplies into a slow roll. The new supplies would slow them down significantly, but the monetary gain would be worth the extra time. They continued east toward Drail, and Eric was surprised at the lack of traffic and other travelers on the road. They eventually spotted a small group on the road ahead in the afternoon. As they approached, Eric noticed the group consisted of a mix of race. He was relieved when he saw their friendly player status appear and relaxed knowing they weren’t in for another battle.

Eric pulled the cart to a stop when they got twenty meters away from the group, moving to the edge of the road to make room for them to easily pass. Clarke stepped next to him and said, “It is strange this is the first group of adventurers we have seen leaving to the west. I wonder if the monster attacks have escalated more since we left.”

“Yea, I know the military and guard were stretched thin already. I fear the constant attacks are starting to show real damage on the kingdom’s resources. We should try and gather some intel,” Eric replied.

Eric turned back toward the group of travelers as they strode closer. A man with a thick brown mustache and a set of matching leather armor with deep red arm guards was leading the band and spoke out to Eric’s group in a gruff voice, “Hi fellas. What brings you all the way out here?”

Eric noticed the rest of his party was looking at them questioningly, and he was thankful they were not aggressive. Eric responded in kind, “We are making our way back to the city after hunting some of the Valix army that invaded from the frontier.”

A smaller man with a round metal helmet and stiff spear piped up after his statement, “Wow, I heard the king was offering rewards to those who pursued that invasion force but didn’t know anyone was crazy enough to chase after them after what happened to the Legion.”

Eric nodded and continued, “Yea, we only managed to catch a small detachment from the rear guard. We are trying to make it back to Drail to offload supplies and receive our contribution rewards.”

The original man that spoke out responded, “Well done. I had friends that got killed by those lizards, I’m glad someone could get a little payback. If you can handle yourself against the Valix, you should join us on our quest. We are tracking down a pack of Howlers and could use all the help we can get. The monster attacks have only been increasing and without the help of everyone the battle could soon be brought to the capital’s walls.”

Unfortunately, the man’s words confirmed their fears about the escalating conflict with invading monsters, and Eric realized the Faceless Shadow creature had to be rapidly growing in power. Howlers were a deadly monster that traveled in large packs. They were similar to wolves from the few pictures Eric had seen, but were much more skilled in stealth and coordinated in their attacks. Eric took a moment to consider the man’s offer but knew making it back to Drail was a priority especially now that Erwin had joined their group.

“Thanks for the offer, Howlers will be a tough adversary, and I wouldn’t mind taking the fight back to the enemy, but I am already overdue for obligations in the city,” Eric replied calmly.

“Suit yourself. I wouldn’t stay in the capital any longer then you have to though. With all the refugees flooding in, the guards are having trouble keeping the peace, and I’ve heard criminals are rampant,” the mustached man said before motioning his group to form back up.

“Thanks for the tip. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out,” Eric said as they departed to continue their hunt.

Eric sighed in resignation as they continued their own journey. He was able to make more sense out of the bandit attach on Erwin’s party, but it was not good news. If the guards were struggling to maintain control of the population, there would be plenty of thugs willing to take advantage of the situation to steal and kill for profit.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and the companions camped off the road for the evening with a small fire keeping them warm. Eric hoped to make it back into the city by the end of the next day. As he tried to fall asleep, the problems of the kingdom weighed heavily on his mind and he feared there would be many more orphans before there was peace. Finally, exhaustion overtook him, and he eased into unconsciousness.