Brian didn't like the idea of traveling on foot back to Trostenwald. He knew damn well there were no other options, but the prospect sent shivers down his spine. Quite literally, in fact, as the wind that morning blew colder than usual. He could say it was the weather, or exhaustion from the day before, or reluctance to walk all that way. But, no. Despite how he managed to convince himself, Brian knew why he was so hesitant. Going back to Trostenwald meant passing through the same copse of trees they were ambushed in.

Sure, they'd killed the bandits that attacked them, but who's to say there wouldn't be more? It's a natural spot to camp for a night, which made it attractive to both travelers and brigands. He almost suggested to just go around it. The only problem that presented was the time it could add to their trip. Given how late they arrived in Ebenestadt, and how they'd left a bit later this time, going around ran the risk of putting them in Trostenwald at night. Brian didn't find this to be a better solution.

At the lack of a workable solution, the only thing left was hope. Brian hoped nothing bad happened. He hoped they were able to avoid the little copse of trees that spelled such a disaster for them previously. Failing that, he hoped to be of some use if the worst really did come to bear.

When the sun hung low in the sky and it was time to make camp, the party hadn't quite reached the trees. Brian figured this to be the case, anyway, since they hadn't seen them yet. They would have to, if walking down the same path as before. This set his mind at ease, but also presented a new problem. Wildemount was mostly plain land, made of open prairies and rolling hills. Like high fantasy Kansas, only with more inexplicable caves and ruins. This made it great for farming, not so much for camping.

"There are literally no good spots," Tiffany said, looking around as they walked. "My book says to never make a fire in the open. Well, everything's in the open."

"You wouldn't happen to have any tiny huts, would you, Hector?" Ylva asked.

"Not yet," the wizard shook his head.

"What are we supposed to do, then?" Despaired Calvin.

"The same thing we always do: Make camp and take watches, just without a fire this time," reasoned Hector.

"We won't be able to see. None of us have darkvision," Ylva countered.

"I don't think a fire really helps with that," Hector said. "We can't see past the radius of it, no matter how hard we try, so it doesn't matter. A little visibility won't help us see something come at us in these plains."

"That makes sense," Calvin shrugged.

"You wanna just camp here, then? I don't see how any one spot would be better than any other," said Ylva.

"You mean stop walking? Yes, please," Tiffany said.

And they did just that. Hector led them to a spot roughly a hundred feet from the road. There, they set down their packs, found spots, and took a load off. This whole sleeping under the stars thing was so weird to Brian. In the lights and hustle of his home, he rarely ever saw the stars at all. Now, with dusk setting to the night, and the little pinpricks of brilliant luminescence appearing in the sky, he let them take his breath away for a few seconds. It was strange to sleep outside, but he could get used to it.

"Alright," Hector said once they had all settled in. "Who's on the watches?'

"I didn't take any last time, so I'll go first," volunteered Ylva straight away.

"I'll go with the second, then," followed Hector.

"Third," Calvin said with a slight raise of his hand.

"And the last one. Tiffany? Brian?" Hector looked at each of them in turn.

Brian exchanged a glance with his blonde comrade. Terror gripped his heart. This was where he failed last time. He would take any chance at all to get out of it, to push that responsibility off on someone else. On the other hand, he didn't want to burden Tiffany with the same pressure he felt. He knew what was the right thing to do. Actually doing it, however, was another tale entirely. Indecision left him mute. But, the air would not be dead.

"Can I just say how unfair this is?" Tiffany said. "I was thinking about it the first time we camped, but—unless someone really needs to sleep—it really isn't fair to the rest of us that one person gets a full night's sleep without being interrupted."

"You could take your watch together, if it bothers you," suggested Ylva.

"I can also come up with a better schedule. Shorter watches overall to squeeze five into eight hours," Hector added.

Tiffany considered these for a moment. "Let's go with the first one for tonight."

"And we can talk about a schedule later. Great plan," Ylva said. "Is that okay with you, Brian?"

The cleric looked at each of his party members in a sweep of his gaze. Yes, it in fact did feel much better to take his watch with someone, as opposed to alone. Shouldering the burden of protection on his own was a daunting task, but to share the load made it seem far more manageable. Brian looked at Ylva and nodded.

"That settles it, then," she said. "We might as well turn in now, make the most of our time tomorrow."

"I'm good with that," Calvin said. He laid on his back. "Night, guys."

Brian found a spot a respectful distance away from everyone else and laid down on his right side, curling up into a little ball, as was his preferred way of sleeping. It surprised him just how easily rest came. Fighting two days in a row must have left him more tuckered out than one night could heal. He fell almost the same instant his eyes closed.

What followed was a dreamless slumber, as his nights mostly were. He couldn't remember the last truly coherent dream he'd had. Sometimes shapes, or colors, or a face came to mind, but they were just flashes of circumstance, like memories he wasn't sure actually happened. That sometimes made distinguishing fact from fantasy a bit difficult, but he got by just fine.

Usually, Brian didn't mind not dreaming. This time, he dreaded it. Dreams made the nights go by slower. The brain had to comprehend all the things it saw, and thus dragged out the time spent unconscious. Without dreaming, Brian's time on watch would come faster. This thought, unfortunately, was not strong enough to inspire a dream.

When a big hand jostled him awake, Brian gave a jolt, and then audibly groaned. He then felt rather embarrassed about having done both, and so remained turned away from the source.

"Time's up, buddy," said Calvin.

Brian sighed, because his barbarian friend could not have possibly phrased that worse. But, Calvin also had no way of knowing, so Brian just sat up and looked over at him. It was pitch black, of course. Even the moon provided little in the way of light. The only way Brian could tell he looked in the right direction was the large silhouette Calvin provided.

"Anything?" Brian asked.

"Nah," Calvin shook his head. "Think I saw a snake, but other than that, no."

"Alright. You wanna go wake Tiffany?"

"Already on it."

Brian stood and watched the shape of Calvin kneel down next to a person he couldn't see. Calvin shook them awake, and they turned around far quicker than Brian had. How Calvin actually knew this person was Tiffany—or saw them in the first place—was anyone's guess. It didn't really matter, though.

"Did I scare you?" Calvin asked.

"No." Tiffany sat up. "I was already half awake."

"OK. It's been quiet so far."

"That's good," Tiffany said, and then paused. "Go get some sleep, Cal. We can take it from here."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Calvin said. "Night, you two."

"Night," returned Tiffany. Brian didn't say anything at the risk of disturbing the others.

He heard a dew-moistened shuffling as a much smaller shape than the one he'd been dealing with before approached him. In the dark, when he could barley see her, Tiffany looked even shorter than usual. Brian knew better than to mention this, though.

"So," she said. "How do you wanna do this?"

Brian caught her immediately, quoting his favorite Dungeon Master as if she actually knew anything about the man who made their current world. She couldn't, of course, and that soured the moment. The completely unintentional reference was enough to almost make him smile. Almost.

"I was thinking we could split up. You watch over there," he pointed right, "and I'll watch over here," he pointed left.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Tiffany agreed.

"OK, then. Let me know if you need anything," Brian said.

Tiffany might have nodded. He couldn't tell in the darkness. All he knew was that she walked away. For a split second, he thought about going after her, saying he changes his mind. The last thing he wanted was to be alone in the dark, possibly surrounded by bad things. But, he didn't. Instead, Brian cut a wide berth around where he assumed the party was and sat down on the grass in a place he thought to be directly behind his fellow sentinel.

He couldn't stop his head from moving constantly in a desperate attempt to see what was out there. He'd assumed taking a watch in the rolling hills of Wildemount would be much better than a forest. In reality, the exact opposite was true. In the woods, while the trees did obscure lines of sight, they also provided points of reference. Their thick trunks could be made out enough to give a sense of perspective. Here, in the flat plains, there was nothing at all. An endless sea of pure blackness, it enveloped everything in impossible darkness. Brian couldn't tell which way was up, or even his location in space and time. He imagined drowning must've felt similar.

They really had to do something about their dark vision problem. There were spells that could give one the ability to see in the dark, but that didn't really help them when the party only had two casters. And, Brian didn't think he could concentrate on magic in his sleep. So, that left them with items. Something like Beauregard's goggles would work, a thing that required no attunement and could be passed off to each new person on watch. A nice idea, but difficult to find.

About an hour passed when he heard a pair of footsteps shuffle up from behind him. He turned around and propped up on one knee, hand about to draw his warhammer. The approaching figure stopped, and in the darkness Brian thought he saw one hand go up.

"It's just me," said the voice of Hector.

"Oh." Brian released his weapon. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I was," Hector said, sitting down next to Brian, "but I thought you could use some company."

"That's nice of you, but you should get some rest. We have a long day of travel tomorrow."

"I'll rest in a second," Hector said. There was silence between them for a few seconds. "So, what's wrong?"

"Wrong?" Brian echoed. "Nothing's wrong. I mean, I'd prefer if it wasn't so dark, but I'm fine otherwise."

"Come on. I can tell something's up," insisted Hector.

"No, not really. I'm fine."

"Brian," Hector said firmly. "You think we can't see it? You've been out of sorts for the past few days, now."

"I just... really want to go back to town, sleep on a bed for once." Brian deflected, but he knew it didn't sound particularly convincing. He wanted this conversation over with. The last thing he needed was for Hector to worry about him.

"That might be part of it," Hector shrugged, "but I think there's more. You were always cautious, yes, but you were also eager, excited even, at the thought of adventure. Now? It's like you're afraid of every little thing. So, what's wrong?"

Brian took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He was caught, and he knew it, but his first instinct was still to deflect. He could easily throw Hector off the trail, or make it clear he didn't want to talk about it. However, Hector was right. Brian had a problem. Sitting here worrying about it wouldn't make things any better. Here was the olive branch extended to him free of charge. It would be the height of idiocy to refuse it, no matter how difficult the topic was to speak of.

"I'm afraid," he said finally. "No, that's not it. More like... paranoid."

"And what has you feeling so uneasy?" Hector prodded.

"It's the bandits," answered Brian. "The ones that ambushed us."

"Is it because they were humans and elves?" Hector asked.

"No. That part was disturbingly easy to deal with, actually," Brian said. "No, it's just... why didn't I see them coming? That one with the axe wasn't even trying to be stealthy. But I didn't even see him, and all my friends got hurt. You got hurt."

"They got all of us," Hector said. "You can't blame yourself for—"

"But I do!" Brian yelled, then looked behind himself to see if anyone woke up. He continued at a more modest volume. "I do blame myself. It happened on my watch. It's my fault. I put everyone else in danger because I wasn't good enough."

"I remember Ylva having similar feelings not too long ago, though she seems to have gotten over it. You two are a lot alike," Hector said. "You can't take responsibility for everything on your own. It's not healthy."

"I can when it's my job and I fail," Brian countered.

"Those bandits would've attacked us no matter who was on watch, no matter if they were seen or not. You didn't make them attack us. They chose to do it. It's unfortunate that it happened on your watch, but it isn't your fault that they came."

"But it's still my fault they ambushed us. If I'd seen them, we would've been ready, but I didn't and the only people I know in this entire world paid for it."

"People get hurt in this line of work," Hector began. "I don't know any more about being a mercenary than you do, but I know that. It's been happening, and it will continue to happen. You can't stop it, but as a cleric, you're in a unique position to ease our suffering. You can't always stop things from going wrong, but you can stop us from hurting when they do. You should take pride in that."

Brian gave a long sigh. He thought about it for a moment. Try as he might, the cleric couldn't argue with his wizard companion. There were some harsh truths mixed in, but everything Hector said made perfect sense. No matter how much he hated to admit it.

"You're right," Brian said. "And I know you're right. Maybe I just needed to hear it from someone else. But I shouldn't even need that. You know, we all need to find our own inner strength, and all that."

"Everyone needs a little validation from time to time. There's nothing wrong with that," said Hector.

"Yeah. I know." Brian paused for a few seconds. "Thank you, Hector. It feels better to talk about these things."

"That's what friends do," Hector said. Brian couldn't see him, but he imagined the old man was smiling. "If you ever want to talk about anything else, don't hesitate."

"Sure," Brian said, in the way people did when they really had no plans of actually doing something.

"Okay. I'll leave you alone, now." Hector stood up.

"Okay. Good night," said Brian.

"Good night."

Hector traipsed on back to the group and laid down to get a little more sleep, leaving Brian to stew in his own thoughts. Maybe what he needed was to let go a little bit, not of control, but of responsibility. He'd been blaming himself for the ambush, but what Hector said about the bandits was right. Their plan to attack had already been set in motion. Brian's involvement in it wasn't a factor. He just happened to be caught up. When he thought about it that way, he could maybe come to terms with it. Maybe.

…

The night went by without a hitch. None of Brian's worst nightmares came true. There were no thieves in the dark, nor terrible creatures to feast upon their dreams. Once he got over the fear, it maybe wasn't so bad. It still sucked, of course, to sit alone in the dark with zero perspective of his surroundings. At least, after the talk with Hector, he could bear it. And, Tiffany's presence helped as well. To have someone to watch his back was a huge comfort.

A day of travel brought them to Trostenwald just after the onset of evening. The sun peeked up over the horizon. Within minutes, it would be down. In fact, it did fall by the time the party made it to the guild hall. The guard switch was underway. A pair of dwarves replaced the humans previously standing before the long bed chamber Brian and company had awoken in. This made sense, as the dwarves could see in the dark where the humans could not.

A trip to the armory found them Therdin. He doted about a fine arming sword, polishing its blade with an immaculate rag. Though, the somewhat slow plod of his movements indicated this may have been nearer the end of his day. He looked up at the new arrivals after they were a few steps in and regarded them with that big smile of his. The sword was returned to the wall it came from while he stood and waited for the five of them to approach.

"So glad you made it back," he said when they were within easy conversation distance.

"Glad to be back," Ylva returned. The two clasped forearms briefly.

"Is the contract complete, then?" Therdin swept his gaze across them.

"It is." Hector produced the contract from his back and handed it to the elf. "All signed and ready to go."

Therdin unrolled it to inspect the contents.

"Great work as always," he said. "Give me a second and I'll fetch your reward."

The quartermaster disappeared through a door behind him to the left. He only was gone a few seconds, though. When he returned, a small coin purse weighed down his right hand.

"Okay, here you are," he handed it to Hector. "I'm sorry, but the prize on this one is a bit smaller than the last. A cup is less important than a chicken farm. I hope you understand."

"How much is it?" Calvin asked, an eyebrow raised.

"900 gold."

"Works for me," the barbarian shrugged.

"It's a more than adequate sum." Hector nodded. "Thank you, Therdin."

"No, thank you for your hard work," returned the elf. "Now, by Erathis, you must be exhausted after so many days of travel. Please, find your rooms and have a good night's rest. You've earned it."

"Thanks, Therdin. I think we'll do just that," said Ylva.

No one argued with her as she turned toward the exit, bound for their rooms. They could count out the money later. All Brian wanted right now was to sleep in a place where he didn't have to worry about being murdered by some unseen assailant.