They were leaving when Jairo asked, "what was that thing?" Ariel turned back to him. "It was one of the corrupted cave guardians. Sometimes they simply spawn here, born from the conditions of this cave. Other times a powerful monster stays too long and gets corrupted by the moss."
Jairo shivered. Imagine being knocked out one second and waking up basically infected by it, like a zombie. Then again, these guys probably didn't have to worry about anything like that. They were strong after all.
'I'm still not a fan of Harken, but I'm beginning to realize the reason why he called me a lightweight. I was hardly able to see what had just happened. These guys also seem to be young adults at most so they had much more to go through.'
After a long walk, they came back to the villiage.
once again the sights of men bringing back meat to be cooked and eaten, young cubs playing with their parents who tried to catch up, vendors selling trinkets and other things floated through his vision.
Jairo was shocked. "We're not splitting up?"
Ariel turned back. "No, even though you didn't do much we appreciated your incredible resilience."
She then looked to Harken. "Not to mention the simple truth, we brought you there when we thought it was safe. It was not."
Harken chimed in, turning around to look at him.
"She's right, for once it just may be me who was in the wrong. I'll help you and call in a favor for food. Anything else is beneath my grace."
He said all of this while placing an hand on his chest.
The fact that he genuinely looked as if he were a saint doing a great favor was pissing him off.
Nero looked to the side of him. "Damn you are long winded." just then, he seemed to bump into someone, or at least almost.
a man who was only a small bit taller than Nero had come close to the group. Gray fur and a scar covering one of his eyes, as well as being one of the few werewolves to hold a sword was already painting an unfamiliar figure.
Behind him were two other wolves who looked more regular but still a tad bigger than average. Lean muscles with a few scars on their figure told everyone around they were soldiers.
He spoke with a calm and confident voice, smooth even. "Greetings young master Nero. As well as everyone else, I didn't expect to see this much highborn company."
Maribel stepped forward. "Hello there. How can we be of help to you? surely you wouldn't intrude upon our lives without a proper reason."
She seemed eager to get to the point. It was one thing they could agree on. 'I'm starving. I can't wait for this bastard to move.'
just then, everyone began making way, as people were realizing the faces of the people standing still "Why is general caspien here?" "Is he having a disagreement with the Highborns?"
Already the gossip was spreading, Caspien saw this and began visibly getting annoyed by the moment. "You seem to have one of my men. Out effort against the kobolds requires all the men we can have."
Nero huffed. "Do you hear yourself?"
Harken whispered into Jairos ear "lean on her."
He said as he went to where Nero was standing.
Caspien was getting more angry by the moment.
"I do. I feel like requesting someone who was previously apart of my military is not an ask you can refuse, highborn." He began bearing his teeth without his knowledge.
Nero was bearing his as well, and both were becoming more and more offended by the audacity of the other.
That was until a voice chimed in from behind them. "Both of you quit bickering. The boy can barely stand, this isn't a debate we should be having."
Harken quickly walked into their line of sight, to which both were questioning him with annoyance. They didn't speak, any more words and a battle would ensue. But their eyes said everything.
he then turned around, extending his hand behind him, pointing to Jairo. "Look at the poor boy, he can barely take a few steps before tripping over himself."
Nero moved out of the way, wondering what he was talking about, before seeing Jairo falling limp, struggling to keep balance while Ariel was holding up his arm, having slung it over her shoulder.
Jairo was squinting aggressively, and looked to be mostly alright, it looked like something was going on bad in the mind.
"His body's fine but his brain's rattled. Leave him be, in these conditions he's dead weight." Harken said walking around Ariel and Jairo as he explained.
Eventually he came face to face with Caspien, tilting his head up and looking him in the eyes. "Is there any objections on your end?"
Caspien gave one final disapproving glance at Jairo, before clicking his tongue in frustration.
He glided past Harken and Nero despite his massive size. "No no, that will be all."
His men walked closely behind him, and soon, they were on their way.
Ariel looked back and came to her conclusion. "It seems we're good to continue. I know you've seen a lot today. You ready to eat?"
Jairo nodded weakly. Unfortunately he couldn't express the genuine happiness in his heart, as now every so often he would be checked on and monitored for when he could join the other soldiers. Just wonderful.
'How bad is it out there that they need me of all people?' He didn't wish to think about it much longer though. Better to prepare for the inevitable than to wonder why it is.
It just is, and he'd have to live with that if he wanted to live at all.