Brian did a quick check to make sure he had everything. Hammer, coin pouch, holy symbol, phone... Hammer, coin pouch, holy symbol, phone... Where was his phone? Panic overtook him. He patted himself down, checking all of his pockets multiple times, and even places the device could never possibly be, like his tunic or his hair. Despite his best efforts, no sign of the thing.

Soon as the panic came, it vanished. Brian let out a long sigh. Of course he didn't have his phone. He hadn't for a few weeks now, and he never would long as he remained in Exandria. This wasn't the first time he'd done this, either. Having had a cell phone of some form since high school, it was so weird for him to go any amount of time without one. Even trapped in a fantasy world, he still instinctively went for it almost every time before leaving the boys' room in the Guild Hall. Old habits died hard.

With a mostly successful attempt to rest this embarrassment from his mind, Brian exited the room. As the last to leave, he found his friends waiting in the hallway. Ylva was the only one in full armor, but they all toted weapons. They'd been summoned, not by Edgar, but by Therdin. None of them communicated about this specifically, but they clearly all had the same thought. If the quartermaster wanted to see them, it probably had something to do with weapons.

Hector took his normal spot in front to lead the group to the armory. There they found Therdin hanging a poleaxe up on an empty hook where the rest of the polearms were. He had is long red hair back in a ponytail, which made him look even more handsome than normal. The party members fanned out as they approached.

"Therdin!" Ylva called out.

The elf turned at the sound of his name. He transfixed Ylva with his signature gigantic smile and approached. They clasped forearms.

"Good to see you, Ylva," Thredin said before releasing.

"And you," she agreed. "Sorry I haven't been down to visit you for a while."

"Ah, thing nothing of it," Therdin batted the notion away. "I know you adventurers are a busy lot."

"You summoned us, Therdin?' Hector kept the conversation moving.

"Yes, I did." Therdin spoke as he fiddled around with a pouch at his waist. "I have a contract for you." He extracted a rolled up bit of paper obviously too long for the pouch which contained it.

"You have a contract for us?" Calvin asked.

"I thought Edgar managed assignments," echoed Brian.

"He does most of them, yes, but he's only one man, and we get a lot of requests. So, I step in and help him out, mostly with lower level stuff so he can focus on the bigger jobs," explained Therdin.

"Let's see it, then," Hector prompted. Therdin handed him the contract. Hector unrolled it while the others gathered around to read over his shoulder.

"You're headed to Ebenestadt, a little town south of here," Therdin said. "One of the residents has hired us to obtain an heirloom chalice which was recently stolen from them."

"Anything you can tell us about the chalice?" Ylva asked.

"I'm afraid not. They didn't provide any details. The contract was given by an Alice Dullon. You could probably ask her for further information."

"And where can we find Ebenestadt?" Brian asked.

"It's a little ways south of here. Follow the Amber Road down until you see a an old square sign you can't read anymore surrounded by three flagstones. Take the trail west through a small copse of trees and Ebenestadt is on the other side. If you leave now and travel through the night, you can get there before this time tomorrow. I don't suggest doing that, though."

"Yeah, that sounds like a bad idea," agreed Ylva. She recieved nods from Brian, Hector, and Calvin.

"Do you accept the contract, then?" Therdin asked. Five sets of eyes locked on him in confusion.

"You mean we have a choice?" Calvin was the first to say what was on everyone's mind.

"Well, no, not really. You have to accept a contract when summoned, but I like to give people options. I have others, if you'd rather take a look at them," Therdin said.

"I don't think any one contract will be too different from any other," Ylva said.

"I agree," added Hector. "We might as well go with this one." His proposal received no complaints. Even Tiffany seemed to accept it. "Alright, then, we'll take it."

"Wonderful!" Therdin gave Hector a hearty clap on the bicep. "I really do suggest you leave as soon as possible. Completion of the contract relies on recovery of the chalice. The longer you wait, the greater the risk of it going missing entirely."

"Give us some time to gather our things, and we'll be on our way," Hector said.

"Excellent. Thank you so much for your help."

"Of course, Therdin," Ylva nodded. "See you when we get back."

"You'd better."

With that, the two groups parted ways.

At Therdin's suggestion, they prepared to leave right away. Brian put on his armor with a little help from Hector, who then put on his robe and gathered his spell book. Calvin wore that leather outfit he had when they first met. It made him feel more like a warrior, and Brian had to admit it suited him. They met up with the girls, who were also armed and armored.

Before departing, they stocked up on supplies. Bread, water, fruit, dried meat, hard cheese, that sort of thing. By Ylva's reasoning, they didn't know where they were going, and their destination might not have an inn, so they needed to overstock a bit, just to be safe. As the only ones with proper packs, Brian, Ylva, and Hector toted all of the supplies with them. That out of the way, they together set out through Trostenwald's southern gate, their first time doing so.

What followed was an uneventful day of travel. Brian was quickly finding this to be the worst part about being an adventurer. Back on Earth, he'd always hated driving. To him, it was a waste of time between points A and B. He had to do something at point B, but he couldn't actually do anything until he arrived, which required driving. He accomplished nothing in that time. No, none of this made any sense, but it didn't have to. He hated driving, and that was that. Walking the Amber Road gave him the exact same sensation.

When the sun started to go down, it was time to consider making camp for the night. The road snaked through a little forest area, which they all agreed would make the perfect shelter. Ylva found them a clearing to build a small fire pit in. They had a supper of bread, dried meat, and fruit before bedding down.

They left the fire at a glowing ember so they had a least some light with which to see in the pitch darkness. Ylva took the first watch. Brian thought it would be difficult to find rest on the cold hard ground, but exhaustion from the day's travel saw him out like a log in just a few minutes.

Unfortunately for him, he'd volunteered for second watch. So, this rest was short lived. He awoke to Ylva jostling him awake by the shoulder. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, turning them to meet his companion's glorious green.

"Anything?" He asked.

"Nothing." Ylva shook her head. "Seems quiet out there."

"Good, that makes me feel better," Brian said, turning to face the road south.

"I'm sure we'll be fine," insisted Ylva. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Get some sleep," said Brian.

"Okay, then. See you in the morning," Ylva said with an adorable yawn.

"Yeah, see ya."

Tiffany had left a little spot between herself and the fire. Ylva wriggled into the gap and laid on her side, all but cuddling with the smaller girl. Brian smiled at them before returning his attentions to the forest.

And so, his watch began. The first hour or so went by without a hitch. He couldn't' see a damned thing much past the fire, of course, but his ears had always been pretty good. His best bet was probably to rely more on sound and sight. To that end, he tuned in his ears and listened. As time stretched on, he began to believe what Ylva said. Nothing seemed likely to happen. That is, until a sound caught his attention.

A rustling in the woods, somewhere to his left. Brian looked just in time to not only hear, but also see and feel a crossbow bolt embed in his abdomen. A loud ping came from about the same direction, followed by a muffled curse.

Brian looked down at the projectile sticking out from his stomach. Pain radiated from it to encapsulate his entire being. Red ran down the wooden shaft, dripping the whole way, while more trickled from the wound. He wanted to scream, to cry out in the agony which took him, but there was more rustling. In his pain-addled mind, he knew they were under attack.

"Everyone—" he croaked, a disturbing metallic taste in his mouth. He swallowed it and took a deep breath. "Everyone up! We're under attack!"

His shout raised the sleepers. Calvin and Tiffany both propped themselves up on an elbow, looking around confusedly. Hector sat up, staff in both hands. He looked over at Brian and a panic seeped into his eyes.

"Get up, now! Brian's been shot!" He shouted.

Ylva, who was already in the process of standing, leapt to her feet, drawing her sword and shield in the same motion. Her eyes darted around the treeline in search of anything similar to a threat. However, if her eyesight suffered the same as Brian's, she likely saw nothing at all.

Tiffany and Calvin also stood, but with nowhere near the same urgency. It wasn't until enemies appeared from the trees that they understood the full gravity of the situation.

A man clad in hide armor ran from the forest on the right hand side, waving a battered looking sword over his head. He stood before Brian, likely sensing an easy kill. He swung. Brian wasn't able to put his shield up, but his armor deflected the blow.

A similarly caparisoned woman ran up to Tiffany. She swung over her head. Tiffany closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her head. Her bracers stopped the blow from ringing true. The woman drew back her weapon with a scowl.

A half-orc sprinted from the trees to square up with Hector. He brought down his massive great axe. It's sickining blade dug deep into the wizard's shoulder. Hector let out a cry as the bandit removed his axe in preparation for a second strike.

A man in light armor with a thick metal gorget approached Calvin. He swung his spiked mace wildly at the barbarian. Twice did his weapon fall. The first attack thumped into Calvin's chest, drawing pinpricks of blood where the spikes cut holes through the leather. The pain seemed to flip a switch in Calvin's brain. He brought his kanabo around just barely in time to block the second strike.

"Think you can run up on a homie in his sleep? Fuck that!" Calvin shouted.

Rage overtook him. The surprise was over. It was time to attack. He shoved his attacker back, and retaliated with a strike of his own. He caught the thug in his gorget. Even striking armor, the strike caused the man's knees to buckle and his head to whip to one side.

Hector starred down the half-orc assailing him. His brain still hadn't fully comprehended the situation, but he knew things were bad. He ordered Noche to land on the half-orc's head. In the moment where the enemy was distracted by the animal, Hector curled all the fingers on his right hand individually into a fist, pinky first. Blue lighting arced around his hand. With the fury of a man protecting his friends, he lashed out. His wild haymaker caught the bandit on the cheek.

Electricity coursed through the man's veins. He temporarily was stunned by the attack, but it wore off after a second. He locked Hector with a renewed vigor. The bandit hefted his weapon to swing again. This one caught Hector right in the midsection. All of the air escaped from the old man's lungs. His eyes closed. He fell back, unmoving upon the ground.

The bandit woman attacking Tiffany lashed out again. This time the blonde dodged. In the same motion, both daggers came from their scabbards. Tiffany stabbed with one, and then the other, the Gift of Knowledge a welcome guidance to her hands. Both found homes in the woman's chest. She spluttered, blood in the spittle which caught Tiffany's face. The rogue tried to ignore that and focus on the fight. She was mostly successful.

The man up against Brian took another swing. By this time, the cleric had been able to draw his shield, though he'd only managed to take a knee on his way upright. Every movement shot pain through his joints. Standing was difficult. Despite this, he managed to raise his shield and deflect the blow. He'd have to catch his breath in the few second's reprieve before launching his own counter.

The thug swung at Calvin, but was blocked. His second attack met a similar fate. He drew back a few inches, looking at the foaming barbarian with a bit of caution in his blue eyes. This one was far more skilled than expected.

Another bolt sailed from the trees, this one aimed at Tiffany. It caught the blonde in the shoulder. She cried out and took a step back, a hand over where the projectile now sprouted.

"Alright, I fixed it!" Shouted a heavily accented voice from the trees.

"Are you daft? Shut up!" Another tree voice—this one a woman—reprimanded him.

Ylva took a survey around the battlefield. All of her companions were wounded, one of them was down. Things looked very bad indeed.

"Are you okay?" She asked of Tiffany.

"I can handle this, help Hector!" The blonde screamed.

Ylva sprinted off to do just that. She jumped over the fire pit to stand over the fallen wizard's form. A desperate cry on her lips, she lashed out at the half-orc. Her blade dug deep into his chest. With the adrenaline that pumped through her, she attacked again. This time, the half-orc blocked her overhead swing.

The Norse woman wanted to attack again, but she needed to help Hector. She stowed her weapon in favor of a health potion. Kneeling down, she shoved the bottle in Hector's mouth. The half-orc took advantage of this to levy a strike. Ylva battened down and raised her shield, deflecting the blow.

The red liquid drained from the bottle and down Hector's throat. His wounds partially closed. His eyes flew open. A momentary look around at Ylva standing over him while a behemoth of a man rained blows down told him what had happened. He'd have to thank her later.

Brian had been intending to heal Hector, but since Ylva took care of that, he instead focused on the enemy before him. He reached up with his free hand to grab the bandit's lower chest. Thick black energy seeped from his palm into the man, who's flesh began to wither and die in a pattern radiating out from the touch. The bandit let out a wail that slowly petered out into a dull rasp until it faded entirely. He crumpled to the ground, dead.

Calvin put a big swing toward his enemy. The thug dodged. Unable to arrest the momentum of his own weapon, it caught him in the knee. Calvin winced at he pain, and damned his own stupidity. The thug retaliated with a pair of swings, each one over a different shoulder. Calvin dodged the first, then knocked away the second. The thug sneered in pure frustration.

Hector weasled his way out from underneath Ylva. He stood over the embers of the dying fire, straddling it with his feet. From his pouch he removed a trio of pecan tarts. He crushed them in his fist and then waved a feather at the half-orc. Pink mist flowed from his staff over to the enemy. The half-orc's expression went slack before he fell into a fit of hideous laughter. So great was his jolly, he could no longer remain standing. He toppled onto his back, rolling around in absolute glee at Ylva's feet.

The bandit woman swung diagonally at Tiffany. The blonde crossed her daggers to catch the enemy blade, and then throw off to one side. The woman barely kept it in her grasp. Tiffany thrust forward twice more. One dagger caught the woman's kidney. The other, her throat. She wheezed and choked on the blood which poured from her neck before slumping to the ground. Tiffany wasted zero time drawing her crossbow.

Her celebration was short-lived. A bolt sang from the trees to catch her in the ribs. She took a short breath. Looking down at the wound made her eyes roll back in her head. She fell to the ground in a heap.

Another bolt caught Ylva in the back. She gasped at the sudden pain and spun around to see where it could have come from. In the dark, she caught a glimpse of movement, and a secondary glint from something metallic in the moonlight.

"They're in the trees, two of them!" She called out.

Yet, she did not go after them. The seasoned player in her knew how Hector's spell worked. The half-orc could recover at any moment. He had to be dealt with first, lest he bring her friend down yet again. She drew her blade and stabbed down at the laughing berserker. Her blade caught it in the chest. The orc's own merriment caused him to roll against the sword, cutting a deep channel through his own skin. Despite this, he remained enraptured.

Free from threats, Brian stood up and hobbled over to Tiffany. Strange, with one of his friends in danger, the pain in his chest wasn't quite as bad. He knelt down, shield hand on his holy symbol of the Platinum Dragon, with his other gently on Tiffany's shoulder. Brilliant light flowed from the symbol, through his arm, and into the girl. Her wounds tightened around the bolts in her chest. The one at her shoulder was pushed out completely. She sat up, gazing at her savior. Brian gave her a little smile, which she did not return. Instead, her eyes scanned the treeline in search of whoever shot her.

Calvin had just about had it with these assholes. He let out a warcry and brought his club straight down upon the thug's head. Bone cracked. Blood dripped from the man's nose. But he remained. The bandit swung low, underneath Calvin's attack. Finally, he made contact. Calvin stepped to one side, wincing. The thug swung in the opposite direction. This time the force of it uprooted the much bigger man. He landed on his back, motionless.

"Son of a bitch!" Ylva shouted in frustration.

Hector, following Ylva's previous callout, removed a dried up old lightning bug from his pouch. He spoke the arcane words, then pointed the lightning bug to a rock in the direction the crossbow bolts had been coming from. The rock burst into a dazzling white light. While it did not immediately illuminate the forest, in the fading edges of the effect stood an elven woman, and a human male.

Tiffany weighed her options. There was the half-orc still laughing his head off on the ground. The way he rolled around, she wasn't confident in her ability to hit him. There was the thug who took down Calvin, but he was already hurt. The two crossbowmen, however, had escaped relatively unscathed to this point. And, at least one of them had shot her. That in mind, her choice of target was obvious. She shouldered her own weapon and fired. She hit the elf woman in the left thigh. The elf grunted, then sneered at Tiffany.

The firefight was on. The elf fired at Tiffany to score a hit through her right arm. The human crossbow wielder, uncomfortable with the light washing over him, aimed at the wizard. It scored a good hit right in the center of the old man's chest. Hector fell to one knee, his staff the only thing keeping him upright. His vision faded, but he pushed it down. He couldn't go out now. Not again. Not when his friends needed him.

Ylva sliced again at the half-orc. This time he managed to roll randomly out of the way. Her blade cut a pretty river in the dirt.

Brian gave Tiffany a pat on the shoulder. She nodded at him. He made his way over to where the thug menaced over Calvin, careful to stay out of engagement range. A repetition of his last move saw a hand each on his holy symbol and his friend.

The moment Calvin awoke, he rose to his feet, swinging at the same time. Brian had to fall back on his rump to avoid getting hit. The thug's left arm snapped. He screamed in pure agony, clutching his now limp appendage. He attacked Calvin, but pain slowed his movements. The teenager easily blocked. Again the thug swiped, but he simply couldn't think straight. This one missed its target completely.

Hector directed Noche to flap around the elf woman's head. She flailed a the bat in a useless attempt to shoo it away. From where he crouched, Hector choked up on his staff. He dropped some water atop it. A lazy arc of it trailed blue in the air. With what little might he had left, the wizard thrust forward. The force of this dragged him down onto all fours.

Still, a frigid spike sailed toward the woman. It impacted square in her chest. It stuck there for a moment, long enough for her to stare at it, before shattering into a hundred pieces. Both she and her human companion were showered with shards. They pierced her many times in the face and neck. She gasped and fell, the perforations in her throat too great for drawing breath. The man fared slightly better. He, too, took many little wounds, but remained standing.

The half-orc rolled onto his stomach, a move which forced gravel into his various wounds. The pain shocked him out of whatever magical effect took his mind. The laughter ceased, replaced with pure rage. He would barrel through this shieldmaiden and kill that wizard, just as soon as he got to his feet.

Tiffany reloaded her weapon and fired at the remaining man in the trees. Instead of her bolt firing like it should have, the string instead snapped with a tink sound identical to the one from the very beginning of this fight. She starred down at the failed weapon, flabbergasted for a second at what just happened. She then threw it to the ground with an annoyed growl. Returning to her daggers, she ran up to the man.

The man, alarmed by the little blonde girl suddenly right up in his face, dropped his own crossbow and pulled a sword. He slashed at Tiffany, but clearly didn't know how to use the thing. She blocked it with almost zero effort.

The sight of the half-orc's recovery was a disturbing one indeed. Ylva quickly took a swipe at him while he remained on the ground. Her blade cut deep into his skull. His body jolted for a second before falling limp. Ylva gave a satisfied grunt. Good riddance. She moved over to the thug attacking Calvin.

Brian moved around to the other side of the thug so he was in a straight line between himself and Ylva. He drew his hammer and struck. The holy symbol on his chest flared. He felt warmth and light enter his body. Confidence surged as his blow fell. The head of his hammer bashed a hole clean through the thug's head and into his brain. There came a sickening squish, the meaning of which Brian could only guess. The thug slurped off the weapon and crumpled, the light gone from his eyes.

With his immediate threat dealt with, Calvin took off sprinting toward the last remaining enemy. He could get next to Tiffany, but didn't' have the time to aid her offensively.

Hector could feel the strength leaving his bones in tandem with the growing pool of blood beneath him. But he was not out of this yet. So long as he drew breath, this old man could fight. He looked up at the last remaining bandit, magic words on his lips. He thrust out his staff. It tumbled from his weakened grasp, but not before an icy jet shot from it. Frost encompassed the bandit. His body went rigid. Ice crystals sprouted from his skin. He fell backward, body frozen solid as he hit the ground.

Quick as it began, the forest went quiet. Brian looked around at the blood and bodies around him. Part of him still didn't know what happened. The logical part of his brain knew, of course, but the majority filled with adrenaline grasped at straws to comprehend the scenario. All he knew was the enemy were dead, and his friends were not. That's all that mattered, in the end.

"What the fuck!?" Calvin shouted.

"Oh my God, Hector!" Ylva cried and ran over to him. She stowed her weapons and knelt down next to the old man, both hands to steady him.

"What the fuck was that?" Calvin asked again.

"They ambushed us," Brian said between unsteady breaths. "Sorry, I didn't see them."

"It's okay, Brian," Hector gasped.

"Hector, shut up. Save your strength, fuck," implored Ylva.

"We can't stay here," Tiffany warned. "We have to go somewhere else."

"Hector isn't going anywhere," insisted Ylva.

"I'm fine, I can walk." Hector tried to stand, but only made it a few inches before falling back to hands and knees.

"No, you can't. Just stay still," ordered Ylva.

"We might not have to move," Brian said. "Ylva, you're not badly hurt, right?"

"No."

"Then use some of your rope to hang a few of the dead bodies from the trees. That should deter any would-be attackers," Brian said.

"Dude, that's fucked up," Calvin said.

"Do you have any better ideas? Hector can't walk, and I'm not feeling too great, either." Brian pointed to the bolt in this abdomen for emphasis.

"What if the smell attracts some animals," Tiffany argued.

"We'll have to hope it doesn't," reasoned Brian.

"I don't like it," denied the blonde.

"Neither do I, but it's our best plan." Ylva gave Hector one last sympathetic look before she stood and began dragging the half-orc into the trees behind him.

"I can help with that, I guess. I can still lift shit." He gathered up the elf woman and began the process of tying her by the neck around a tree branch.

While those two got about their duty, Brian used the last of his healing supplies to remove the bolts from the party members who had been shot and bandaged up the wounds. He hoped there was a place in town to stock up.

When that was done, Ylva—to great protest—offered to take the rest of the night's watches. As the least injured party member, it fell on her shoulders to keep everyone else safe. Once she got the others to agree, she sat down right in the middle of where they all laid down and kept her head on a swivel. Nothing would get the better of them again, not this night.

When morning came, she kept her promise. The sun rose without any further incident. Brian checked himself just to make sure he was okay. As with every other injury he'd sustained while in Exandria, a night's rest healed him completely. Be it wild magic, divine intervention, or whatever, he had never been more thankful for it.

After a quick breakfast of bread, meat, and apples, the party continued their trek. To say Brian's confidence took a hit would be an understatement. After their last two victories, he thought he might actually be getting the hang of this whole adventurer thing. Last night proved him oh so very wrong. Even with the Gift of Knowledge, even with the great power they'd been granted, the five of them were still green. They were novices, through and through. He and his friends still had a lot to learn.