Chapter 10

A dozen soldiers lay in wait just inside the tree line. They all stared in disbelief at the large tavern that stood in a well kept clearing, small herb and vegetable gardens growing all around it. The team was heading to the Northern Wastes to do some paid exploration, so naturally, they were all pretty good with magic and had a high mana capacity.

Despite that, ever since they left the frontier town of Jergen, they have been under constant pressure. Monsters attacked them every night and left them with little sleep and energy. In the day, the larger and faster monsters chased them through the woods. It had only been a month, but they had already suffered several casualties.

The sun had just barely gone down, but they had to abandon their campsite after they found out an entire tribe of goblins was nesting just a stone's throw away. Goblins were not strong creatures, but the expedition was already worn out and weary. That, and only a fool would try to fight a small army of goblins in the middle of the night. So in the end, they packed up and marched for another 2 hours.

Everyone was surprised when they came across this place. It had a water source, the building was in good shape, and most of all, they hadn’t run into any sort of monster in the last hour and a half.

The building looked like an inn you’d see in any village. There was soft candlelight pouring from the cracks in the shuttered windows and underneath the main door.

One of the more well equipped men, who the others named captain when they had first set off, said, “I don’t know about you all, but that, is a rather suspicious sight.” The others all stared at him, unimpressed with his attempt at humor. They were all far too tired for jokes.

“Hey captain, you’re the leader, you should go knock.” The captain suddenly found himself not really wanting the title anymore. No matter how you looked at it, this was definitely some elaborate magic trap.

“Fuck!” If he was going to die in this godforsaken land anyway, he might as well die with his pride intact. “Alright… I’ll go, everyone wait here.” The captain tried to mask his nervousness with a triumphant grin, “I’ll be right back.” He adorned himself with every single barrier, buff, and antimagic field he knew of before walking across the meadow, wincing at each step closer to his impending doom.

By some miracle of the merciful gods, he made it to the covered porch and silently came up to the door. He suddenly heard laughter from inside, but due to the atmosphere, it was all the more unsettling. The guard captain took a deep breath and, praying to any god that would listen, pounded against the door.

~~~~

The sound of the knocking sent a cold chill running over my back and brought the hair on my arms straight up. Isayah was only frozen for a split second before basically floating over to the shutters and peeking out ever so slightly.

He leaned away and came over, “Mortals… it is too late to run, that would look even more suspect.” I retrieved my sword belt from the rack above the hearth, but Isayah grabbed my arm. “We shouldn’t get into a fight when we don’t know how many there are.”

The visitor knocked once again and called, “Hello? Is anyone there?” I hurried upstairs to the drawer I had under my bed while Isayah stalled for time. Not only have my martial skills improved over time, but I have been honing my remedies and alchemy. I yanked the wooden box out and snatched up the vials labeled, “Emergency” and guzzled down one of them. I felt an instant headache, followed by a sharp pain to my ears. I reached up and felt the rounded tips to make sure it worked properly. It would only last for a few hours, but it would have to do. I jumped back up and made a dash back to Isayah.

I heard Isayah’s voice from the doorway, “No, I’m not going to just let you in, this isn’t a tavern, go away..” I came up behind Isayah and placed the vial in his hand. He downed the contents in one gulp.

The stranger responded from the other side of the door. “Sir, I can not take no for an answer. We will pay you and everything, my men and I are tired and need shelter, don’t you have a conscience?”

I asked Isayah in a low voice, “So who are they?

“Is there another person in there? Hey, please just let us in, don’t make me bust this door down!” I sent out some mana and felt several people just outside now, there were 12 of them in total.

I checked Isayah’s ears and nodded to him. He nodded and called back to the trespassers. “There is no need for that, why don’t you just tell us why your group is so close to the Wastes.”

“I could ask you people the same question, even for hermits, this area is no joke.”

Isayah gave me a final look before unlatching the door’s lock and swinging the door wide open. “Fine, you can stay for the night… but you use your own supplies. I’ll not have you eating all of our food.” Isayah gave them a hard look, and I couldn’t tell if this part was acting or not.

“Of course!” The man smiled brightly under his open face full helm. “Thank you very much for your hospitality.” The soldiers began filing in one by one, nodding to Isayah and I as they passed.

I winced when I realized that my fingernails were biting into my palm. I unclenched my fist as the last man walked through and tipped his head toward me. Isayah closed the door and we watched as the home invaders started dropping luggage and weapons all over the floor.

I could tell all of them were exhausted by the way they nearly stumbled to wherever there was an open spot in the room. The intruders seemed self aware enough to not steal our chairs at the table though.

Their spokesperson took a seat on a stool behind what was once a drinking bar. “Truly, thank you for allowing us to stay.”

Isayah’s unwelcoming expression remained on his face as everyone began to unpack food and water. A few of them helped themselves to the cooking fire. Isayah and I stood in the entryway, watching as these beasts started up their general rowdy behavior, I thought they were tired? I sighed and tiptoed my way toward the stairwell. If they were going to stay the night, then I needed to prepare more of my “emergency” potions.

One of the soldiers was eyeing me curiously as I had to lunge over some of the gear strewn across the ground. The man had several large warts growing around his mouth and it made me grimace a bit. I had never seen such a sight before. “Hey boy! Have you two got anything to drink?”

“What?”

“I can’t stand water any longer, go fetch me some moonshine or somethin.” Several of the soldiers started chuckling.

Their captain barked, “You little shit! These people are giving us shelter, don’t be so disrespectful!” He glanced over to Isayah, “They didn’t mean anything by that.”

The soldier to spoke earlier hollered back at the captain, “Shud up! That brat was sneering at me!” He pointed an accusing finger at me. Is this dude serious?

I raised my hands, “No I wasn’t.”

“Yeah you was! You got a problem with my face, is that it?”

Their captain just shook his head, “Yeah, your face is nasty, SO WHAT! Why are you picking a fight with a kid?

“He ain’t so young he shouldn't be responsible for his actions.” The soldier ground his fist into his palm.

“That’s enough…” Isayah was watching the room with a darkened expression. I knew from experience that when he uses that low of a voice, he is truly upset. “Why don’t you leave it there.” The soldiers must have felt his bloodlust because even the man who started it quickly went somber.

Isayah walked past everyone, “You guys came here to sleep, so do that.” He grabbed my arm as he came by and pulled me up the stairs. Once we reached the door to my room, he began to speak in a whisper. “How long does this last?” He gestured toward his ears.

“Probably around three hours, but I have what I need to make more.”

“Alright, you do that.” He went over to the second-floor hallway window, “I need to prepare a few things, stay vigilant okay. It’d be best if you didn’t go to sleep, and if any of them try anything, do whatever you can to escape and meet me at the mine we cleared out today.”

“Alright… Are we going to kill them?”

He glanced back from the now open window and looked me in the eyes, “Yes, we are.”

I took a deep breath and responded with a nod.