For Neidr, what was said by the guards in their conversation was enough to go off of. If they stubbornly stayed here, he would stubbornly go back to where they left those other bracelets. He waited until the guards started to make camp and used the noise they made as a cover. He signaled towards Arrieta and the duo stealthily made their way down the other side of the mountain. Neidr didn't remember exactly where he left the bracelets in their haste, but he was sure they could find them. After sneaking away, they gradually turned around at the base of the mountain and made their way in the direction from which they originally came.

It was only when the mountain was far away in the distance did the duo cut a ninety-degree angle in front of the mountain, looking for the river they snuck through. That river would be a good basis from which to base their search, as they hid the devices as they made their way along its path. Unfortunately, their searching was going to have to wait, the sun had nearly set. After finding the stream, Neidr and Arrieta made their distance and climbed high up into a tall tree.

A fall from which would certainly kill them, although compared to the sheer drop at Rotham was nothing much. At their height, even if someone was scanning the treetops for them, it would be hard to see them through the branches. They found a couple of sturdy branches and tied themselves down to them. They laid down and closed their eyes.

The duo awoke to the sounds of chirping and clicking on the third day of the expedition. Seeing that nothing had disturbed their rest, they let out happy smiles. Neidr looked down at the great drop, ever since that encounter with the Paksi, he hated heights. Fortunately, he was forced to get more or less used to them by his Teacher.

Neidr untied his makeshift harness and lead the way down. Reaching the forest floor, Neidr looked around for some time before making his way back towards the stream. Neidr and Arrieta searched for the hiding spots of the bracelets, high and low, up and down the river. They had placed them farther away from the banks, but they were hoping to recognize some sort of landmarks. Fortunately enough, they did.

As the bracelets were all located in different spots, the duo had no choice, but to move one. Neither Neidr nor Arrieta were willing to take the chance to remain separated until the time to leave came. Neither were they willing to wait next to a bracelet with a goofy look on their face in an open area.

Thus, they could only take the chance that the guards would remain camped where they were. Plus, if two 'dead' bracelets started to move together, wouldn't that confirm the guard's assumptions? Arrieta and Neidr moved down the mountain and caught the scent of a Life-preserving fruit. The duo slowed down and walked over to the scene quietly, the area smelled not only of the fruit but iron too afterall.

The area was awash in blood and corpses. Bodies were strewn across the ground, Neidr took a look at their wrists and found red gems hanging there loosely. It could be assumed that peasants didn't do this. By Neidr's guess, these were all low-ranking nobles. Only counts and barons would really care about the life-preserving fruit. Despite its name, it only made you look younger when applied to your skin.

This sounds unimportant enough for no one to fight for it, but wealthy aristocrats of much higher rankings would pay a pretty penny for it. For families like Neidr's this plant could settle their finances for at least a decade. For wealthier nobles, the plant just wasn't worth their lives or fighting efforts.

"Did I?"[Arrieta]

"No, it was their greed, it was just given an opportunity to shine through."[Neidr]

"Do you think it's bad to be greedy, Neidr?"[Arrieta]

"No, but I think you can't blame anyone if shit turns sidewise because of it, besides yourself."[Neidr]

Remembering they had marked this location, Arrieta and Neidr made their way back to the cave. The guards assumed the boys were still alive, now that they had time, Neidr wouldn't let anyone discover otherwise. Both Arrieta and Neidr gave out a sigh of relief seeing the cave. If all went well, this would be where they spent the rest of their trip. Neidr approached the cave and stopped dead in his tracks, he could hear a faint, wet, crunching, noise within the cave.

'shit' Neidr scorned the Gods in his heart! All he wanted to do was dispose of the bodies, not fight some fucking mystery creature. Neidr started to think. Should he draw it out and let Arrieta wait at the entrance with a crossbow? No, what if it was quick and caught him before he left the cave? Should he smoke it out? No, if he couldn't fight it, and he did that, he'd be lucky if he didn't just piss it off. Even if it was mild-mannered about the whole thing, after one meal, wouldn't it just use them as the next?

'fuck' Neidr couldn't help but curse internally. Then it hit him, it was so obvious. He smacked the back of his head and said,

"I'm just not going to fuck with it. Too much stress has been getting to me. Why don't I just let whatever the hell that damn thing is eat them?"[Neidr] Neidr made a gesture of washing his hands from all this nonsense and turned around.

"Problem solved."[Neidr] Arrieta skipped after him and said,

"Sounds good to me."[Arrieta]