Chapter 20: The Wounded Traveler
The decision to make contact sat in Leo's gut like a stone. For days, he watched the thin plume of smoke through Echo's sound-sight, a tiny scar on the vast canvas of the wilderness. It was a risk, a variable his carefully controlled life couldn't account for. But Zephyr's restless pacing at the cave mouth was a constant reminder: staying still was its own kind of danger.
"Today," he said, his voice firm despite the flutter in his chest. The guild gathered around him, their attention focused through the Heartstone's gentle hum. "Echo, you're on point. Stay hidden, map the path, and warn us of any other movement. Zephyr, you provide a watch from the high ridges. No engagement unless I call."
He received a pulse of understanding from Zephyr, a mix of predatory focus and a thread of concern. Echo simply vanished, his camouflage making him one with the rocks. With a deep breath, Leo began the descent into the valley, Tunnel shuffling faithfully at his heels and Anvil chittering nervously on his shoulder.
The journey was tense. Every rustle of leaves, every call of an unfamiliar bird, set his nerves on edge. Echo's reports flowed into his mind: Clear path ahead. A stream to the left. No signs of other humans. It was reassuring, but the closer they got, the heavier the stone in his gut felt.
They found the traveler in a small clearing by a stream. It was a woman, and she was in bad shape. Her clothes were travel-worn and torn, and a crude bandage was wrapped around her leg, stained a dark red. She had a small, sputtering fire going and was trying to heat water in a dented metal cup. She wasn't a soldier or a hunter. She looked exhausted and utterly defeated.
Echo's final report came: No weapons. No companions. Heartbeat is fast. In pain.
This changed everything. This wasn't a confrontation; it was a choice. He could slip away, leave her to her fate. It was the safest option. But the memory of his own desperation in the Aviary's cellar, the feeling of being broken and alone, rose up in him. He couldn't.
"Stay here," he whispered to Tunnel and Anvil, pushing a command for them to remain hidden in the treeline. He took a step into the clearing.
The woman's head snapped up, her eyes wide with terror. She scrambled backward, a small knife appearing in her hand with surprising speed. "Stay back!" she croaked, her voice raw.
Leo froze, raising his empty hands. He didn't look at the knife. He looked at her eyes, seeing the same animal fear he'd once seen in Zephyr. He pushed a gentle, steady wave of [Calming Aura] towards her, not to manipulate, but to soothe.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, keeping his voice low and even. "I saw your smoke. It looks like you need help."
She stared at him, her knife hand trembling. The [Calming Aura] was doing its work, taking the sharpest edge off her panic. Her eyes darted from his face to his simple, homespun clothes, so different from the uniform leathers of an Aviary tamer.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice steadier.
"My name is Leo. I live in these mountains." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. He gestured to her leg. "That looks bad. I have some knowledge of herbs. I can help."
Distrust warred with desperate hope on her face. The throbbing pain in her leg was a potent argument. After a long, tense moment, her shoulders slumped in defeat. The knife didn't drop, but it lowered. "Liana," she muttered. "My name is Liana."
That was the opening. Leo moved slowly, never making a sudden movement. He approached the fire and knelt a respectful distance away. He could see the wound now, a deep, ugly gash that was clearly infected. It was a miracle she'd made it this far.
"I need to clean this and apply a poultice," he said. "I have the supplies." He mentally called to Anvil, pushing a specific image. A moment later, the marmot scurried out of the trees, holding a leaf-wrapped packet of the [Minor Healing Poultice] Leo had crafted days before.
Liana flinched back, her knife coming up again. "What is that?"
"This is Anvil," Leo said, as if introducing a friend. "He's a helper." He took the poultice from the marmot, who then sat on his haunches, watching the woman with bright, curious eyes.
Liana looked from the obviously tamed beast to Leo's calm face. The sheer incongruity of it, a hermit in the wilds with a trained, non-combat marmot, seemed to break through her last defenses. The knife clattered to the ground.
Leo worked carefully, cleaning the wound with water from her cup and applying the poultice. As he worked, he asked gentle questions, his [Beast Insight] subtly reading her emotional state. She was terrified, but not of him. There was a deeper, more pervasive fear.
"Thank you," she whispered as the poultice's numbing warmth began to ease her pain. Her eyes, now clearer, studied him. "You're not with them, are you? The Enforcers?"
The word sent a chill down Leo's spine. Enforcers. It had to be the Council Fenrik had mentioned.
"No," Leo said, his voice firm. "I'm not with anyone."
Tears welled in Liana's eyes, a mixture of relief and fresh grief. "They burned my garden," she said, her voice cracking. "My apothecary. They called my remedies 'unlicensed alchemy.' They said I was... deviating from approved paths." She looked at him, her gaze sharpening with a dawning realization. "You... you understand, don't you? The way you are with that creature... it's not the official way."
Leo didn't answer. He just finished tying a clean strip of cloth around her leg. He had found his link to the outside world. And she was just as hunted as he was.
[Quest Complete: The World Beyond the Canyon.]
Reward: 500 System Points, Information, [New Ally: Liana]
[System Points: 885]
He had taken the risk. And in doing so, he hadn't just found information. He had found another lost soul, another piece of the puzzle. The safe isolation of the canyon was truly over. The real world, with all its dangers and its fellow refugees, had just walked in.
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