“The results were obvious, and the conclusion could not be ignored. Mana craved conflict. Meditation, exercise, even travel could all help the body control Mana and increase its rank, but conflict is what it hungered after. Each battle agitated the body’s Mana, its quality refined by the experience of combat.”

“Training Doctrine, Illyrian Imperial Academy.” Rev. 3, 50 IC.

Chapter 9

Wil left the Inn early the next morning, fully armored, sword strapped to his hip and his satchel containing his spell book fastened securely over one shoulder and across his chest. His components were in a pouch on his belt, within easy reach. He was carrying a bag with his supplies, including rations from the inn, mostly cheese, bread and apples.

Wil walked down the main city street towards the southern gate, noticing that in the early morning’s blue light, that other Auxiliaries were also leaving the Inns surrounding the square, making a line towards the same gate. All were similarly prepared as Wil, to scout the surrounding area and possibly come into conflict with Goblin Raiders.

Reaching the open city gates, guarded by House Herrington, Wil exited the city. Looking around, Wil spotted his companions a short distance down the path. Making his way over to them, Wil nodded to them in greeting.

“Alright, everyone’s here.” Hale greeted them. Fully armored, wearing a breastplate and her helm on, she was also carrying a sword on her hip and shield strapped over her back.

“We’ll be heading to the Northern Forest, we’re scouting the western edge of it.” She explained, pointing towards the woods in the distance. Farmlands stretched out in both direction towards the trees, with a path dividing it and entering the forest.

“It’s about 5 miles walk to get to our assigned area, those trees you see there? That’s the southern tree line. We’ll take the main road, then skirt west until we reach a trail that the hunters use.” She finished. Gathering her things, she set out North. The rest of the group picked up their bags and followed behind her.

As they walked, the group fell into a casual formation, Erinn and Hale were in the front together, talking quietly. The Rogue, Anise, walked a short distance away from the group on the right, clearly more comfortable being by herself. Victor walked in the center, which left Wil and Gunther to bring up the rear.

Casually chatting as they walked behind the group, Wil found himself enjoying Gunther’s company, the man was easy going and earnest, a rarity amongst the other Nobles he had met.

“You’re a Brookmoor, right?” Gunther asking. Wil was surprised, he hadn’t told anyone his last name while he was here, preferring to stay low profile.

“I recognized the two stags on your horse yesterday when we were traveling here.” Gunter explained. “And I met your brother once, just in passing, a few years ago. You look alike.”

“Yeah.” Wil responded, nodding his head and the question. “Although I’m better looking.” Wil said, both laughing at the joke.

As their conversation continued, Wil felt himself growing more comfortable around the other young man. They were both here under similar circumstances, Wil for experience and Gunther for the money his family needed.

The rumors were unfortunately true, Gunther’s Father had squandered much of the family’s fortune, and Gunther was tasked with providing for them. His grandfather, who had been a knight, gifted Gunther his armor before his father could sell it.

After around 20 minutes of walking, they were pulled out of their conversation by Anise asking a question.

“Hale, why are we even here anyway?”

“I told you, we need to scout the forest.” Hale said, turning towards Anise.

“No, I meant, why hasn’t the Legion dealt with this already? You’ve been here for months, what have you been doing, drinking and sitting on your asses?” Anise asked, scowling at Hale.

“I was wondering that as well.” Victor chimed in. “why have the goblins suddenly become a problem, and so close to a Legion Fort?”

Stopping, Hale turned to the group. “Any of you ever fought against Goblin Raiders before?” Seeing that no one spoke up, she continued.

“Goblins are sly, they breed like rabbits and burrow deep underground during the day. Unless you kill them all before they settle in too deep, then it’s hard to dig them out. They’ve only been here a few months, but there’s probably miles of Goblin Warrens under the Northern Forest.”

“They take whatever food they can find during their Night raids, then head underground and breed until the next Night.” Hale finished, turning back towards the forest, she started walking again.

“So why didn’t the legion go down and root them out?” Anise asked.

“They seal the entrances during the day, and if we dig them out, we don’t know how many are down there. It might be fine for a small group, but leading an army down there is suicide. The tunnels are small, we’d have to crawl in spots, and they could just drop the ceiling on us.”

“If they seal the entrances, then what are we looking for?” Wil asked.

“They’ll have scouting parties out, with Night so close. It’s the best time to find the entrances, and we can kill their scouts too. Once we find the entrances, we mark them for the Legion, then they ambush the raiders as soon as they come to the surface.” Hale explained.

“Still doesn’t stop the goblins from coming back.” Anise reasoned.

“That’s why you’re here.” Hale said, smiling at the group. “We kill all the raiders during the Night, then we finish off any of the stragglers left underground.”

Reaching the forest’s edge, the group turned towards the west and skirted the tree line. Through the sparse trees, the group could spot traces of the lingering winter snow through the few shafts of light to break through the coverage.

The group walked for another half an hour, before reaching a trail that had been worn through the flat land and continued into the trees. The path was wide enough that they could walk two abreast, with Erin and Hale leading. Wil and Gunther would bring up the rear, while Victor was wedged in between them all at the center of the group. Anise disappeared silently into the gloomy forest, which was a surprise to Wil since the woman had obviously grown up in a city.

Erinn led the group into the forest, ears alert to any noise, since Hale had warned them that the Goblins would be scouting the area. Goblins, while hating the light, would be more comfortable in the gloom of the forest.

Hale had explained that any scouts they encountered would likely be the weakest of the bunch, as they would be the easiest for the Goblin Chieftain to force onto the surface during daytime. No goblins would want to volunteer to travel in the sunlight, even with the forest cover.

They walked for another hour, pausing frequently to allow Erinn to listen and examine the tracks on the trail, before she raised her hand, informing them all to stop.

“Tracks, leading to the east.” Erinn said, pointing to some scuff marks that cut across the trail. “I’ll head through first and mark the trail like this.” She said, drawing an arrow on the ground. “Give me a head start then follow, try to keep the noise down.” She left the group, silently entering the forest, heading east.

The company could see her through the trees, before she disappeared behind a small ridge. After waiting, the group headed into the forest, trying to avoid making noise. They soon discovered an arrow on the ground, directing the group around a boulder, up over a ridge and across a small stream.

After walking for another few hours, the group was tired, sweaty and disorientated. They were completely reliant on the markings Erinn left to find their way. Without her assistance, they would have been stumbling around the forest, lost. Just as they were becoming disgruntled by the journey, Erinn appeared through the trees next to them.

“There’s 5 of them, just over the next ridge. They’re in a clearing, with a dirt mound. Is that the tunnel we’re looking for?” Erinn asked, turning to Hale.

“That’s it.” She said, pulling out her map of the forest and handing it to Erinn. “Mark it on the map.”

Erinn took the map, looking at it briefly before she marked the map with the piece of charcoal that Hale handed her. Putting the map back in her pack, Hale turned to the group.

“We’ll need to deal with the scouts and check the tunnel, make sure it’s not sealed.” Hale said.

“Do we need to worry about more company from the tunnel? We’ll be making a lot of noise.” Wil asked Hale.

“No, we should be fine. It’s still day, so it shouldn’t be an issue. Let’s go.” Hale ordered.