Barely in the morning he started packing up things into his knapsack, a small canteen, a dagger, his bow, and quiver with arrows. As he left the room his vision diverted to the bedside table for a moment.
There laid a small amber colored stone, slightly pulsating with a glow.
A warm stone that creates sparks, it might come in handy, besides it feels nice to hold. He shrugs as he places it in his pocket.
"Dad" he said, standing on the door of his father's bedroom.
"What's so early on the morning...?" Robert groggily replied.
"I will be working today, so I might come back late"
"Ah…I see. Take care son, wish you well."
Leaving his humble home once again he felt the rays of the sun, it was barely morning and the day was looking bright.
He stepped now on the littered cobble streets, many decorations which had been left out, food that was dropped.
Some people did start the clean up but it seemed like it was going to take a while.
While his mind drifted, a memory still clung to him, from the night before, after midnight.
He approached his father and The Captain, both looked inebriated but their expressions showed certain seriousness, he stood by them behind.
"So…tell me, Robert, why did you give me that?" said Holstein, inquiring.
Caelen stopped in that moment, be it curiosity or something else, he decided not to call out for his father, not yet at least.
"I needed him to have proof from me, I couldn't bear telling it to him myself."
"You're still the same coward who almost got killed the day he arrived."
"Heh…how was I supposed to know this town's laws didn't allow for some light mockery?"
"You insulted the monarchy in front of the mayor and his guards, I'm still unsure what did you exactly expect, friend." He let out a chuckle.
That's as far as the snooping had gone, seeing The Captain so relaxed just looked wrong, and the question he made to his dad definitely made him wonder, what did he give to him?
Something dragged him back to reality, a face he was acquainted with, a man whose power had once been directly below the crown.
It was Mash Grim, the old prophet.
He squinted toward the bench. The old man's posture had changed, less hunched, more upright than the last couple of years. Had he seen Caelen? Their eyes met briefly, and the man gave a nod.
Caelen reflected for a moment.
Seeing him reminds me of that vision he mentioned, I can't help but shake off the feeling… his magic is uncertain nowadays but there's still a speck of a chance.
Putting that aside, what is he doing over there, did he get lost again?
As he started walking towards him, a couple knights approached the old man in a blink, one lacked a helmet on himself.
Caelen stopped but decided to still watch, the knights seemed to stand with a firm manner and their hands holding into scabbards of their swords.
"Mash Grim, we are here to ask you one question" said the knight lacking a helmet.
"Sure, ask away, young man..." his voice, while still ragged and dry, carrying the sensation of a defenseless old man, had a sense of wariness towards the knights.
While Caelen was able to hear them out loud, he still had certain distance from them, they both spoke in a lower tone, their lips moving but no sound reached him.
Next he knew, one of the knights drew out their sword stopping just before meeting Mash's throat.
"We require no more questions, you are coming with us." the knight said, agitated, the one with a helmet on.
"I don't regret any of it." The old man replied, with certainty uncharacteristic of him.
Huh?
His mind barely grasped the situation as the knights had already vanished with the man.
As if he never was there, leaving as quickly as they appeared.
Caelen turned his head to the side, they weren't anywhere in sight, dumbfounded he decided to continue walking.
I really don't get it, could he have been a criminal in disguise?
It doesn't make sense, he's an old man with dementia, why would the knights be the ones directly taking him in.
He closed by a building, the smell of alcohol reeked, and loud chatter could be heard from outside.
This is the place.
He passed through the batwing doors, entering the pub, the smell and noise intensified further.
His eyes darted around, a couple of people sat silently enjoying their drinks, a table of people played poker with multiple coins on the table, a couple of drunkards were fighting in the middle of the building.
Don't they have any shame left…?
"Cael you're late!" Yelled someone, coming from a corner where a dark oak wooden booth was.
There were sitting three people, The Captain, Louis and Asha.
Caelen went and sat on the booth, in the middle of the table laid a large map, it was a rather extensive one of the entire province of Rabith, all towns and forests shown on it, including Ralbow.
Louis and Asha each waved to him.
"As Louis has pointed out, you're late."
"Sorry Captain, I overslept." replied Caelen, embarrassed. He sighed.
"I'll give you all a rundown of the assessment."
The Captain put his finger on a nearby forest, the pine forest to be exact.
"I want you three to investigate the right wing of the forest, the animal activity on this side thinned terribly, part of the reason we were forced to go on a more distant forest last hunt."
"A report of how many wildlife you manage to document will do." He continued
"Captain...?" Asha lifted her hand.
"Yes, Asha?"
"I think it wasn't really clear but…wasn't there a high suspicion of a Maltheon being there?"
"As long as you all avoid entering too deep it won't be a problem, the creature seems to be rather sedentary and avoids leaving its territory"
"rather" Isn't that kind of careless...? we are still rookies.
The Captain rolled the map and slid it across the table toward Louis.
They filed out of the pub and into the cold morning, heading toward the gates.
It's just a scouting task. Nothing we haven't done before. Caelen pulled his cloak tighter, watching his breath mist in the air. It'll be fine.
A line of carts sat sidelined along the road ahead, their drivers waiting in silence. The armor of the knights stationed nearby caught the morning sun, flashing in irregular bursts of light. Their heads turned slowly as the trio passed, not in a casual way but an unnervingly wary way.
Something isn't right with those knights.
I mean…they're behaving strangely but can I blame them? Kerger said they had just come from battling the necromancer, I can't imagine the things they saw.
They passed through without incident, though Caelen didn't fully exhale until the gates of Ralbow were behind them.
The pine forest stretched to the south, dark even in daylight.
Inside, strange plants coiled around mossy trunks. Every few seconds a sharp rustle cut through the stillness, then silence. All three kept a hand near their weapons without discussing it. Their eyes moved constantly.
They walked. And walked. Gradually, when nothing moved and nothing came, the tension began to loosen its grip. Their postures dropped. Their steps grew easier.
They crested a small hill and wordlessly dropped into the snow. Louis pulled out the map.
"So we're here" he pointed out to a minuscule line on the map, curved upwards, meaning a hill, it was just at the start of the right side of the forest.
"It'll take us more than a couple of hours to cover so much ground." Asha said.
They all sighed.
It's our job.
They squinted through the trees, they could see a couple of foxes toying around to the right, and a small herd of eight elks to the left.
Caelen definitely noticed a far distant howl, possibly a graywolf.
It doesn't seem that bad...?
Louis noted down in a journal all of the wildlife they saw. Asha walked slightly ahead, scanning the treeline with her arms crossed, saying little.
Hours passed.
They had covered most of the upper right side of the forest. The only other animal they found was a brown bear tucked inside a hollow log, hibernating. All three had frozen the moment they saw it, then collectively exhaled when it didn't move.
"My heart actually stopped," Asha muttered, hand still pressed to her chest.
"Mine too," Louis admitted.
Caelen said nothing. He had taken three full steps backward without realizing it.
I think I died a little on the inside when I saw it.
They moved toward the lower side of the forest. The light shifted here, the canopy thickening above them.
Then, snap.
A sound erupted just behind them. Caelen spun instantly, hand on his dagger, Asha did a half-turn, she extended her arm and a sharp whoosh came out, a green flying dart flew towards the sound, but it stopped a single inch.
It was a puny, white furred, long eared creature.
"A bunny," he said, letting out a shaky laugh.
"I almost used my magic on a bunny," Asha said flatly. Then, after a beat, "Let's not talk about it, please" as she held her temple
Caelen stood still for a moment.
This is the first time I see her use her magic, I didn't expect her to be so on edge.
Louis had already moved ahead, brushing aside a low bush. He blinked. Then broke into a wide, almost disbelieving grin.
Asha stepped beside him, and let out a small, quiet gasp.
He crouched carefully, fingers trembling slightly. "Guys… I think - these are… Custay mushrooms?"
Heart-shaped caps, speckled pink and purple, peeking through the snow.
Normally ground into powder for treating pain and infections, reducing sensitivity to wounds immensely.
"Are you sure?" Caelen asked, crouching beside him, skeptical.
"Look at the cap — the shape, the spots—"
"There are plenty of lookalikes, Louis."
"Then check it yourself."
Caelen plucked one carefully and made a small incision along the cap with his thumbnail.
Pink inside.
"Well would you look at that." His eyes widened slightly.
"Told you," Louis said, already scribbling in his journal with barely contained excitement.
Asha crouched beside them, examining the patch. "There's further in." She pointed through the brush, where the same flecks of pink and purple dotted the shadow between roots. "If one patch survived down here, there could be others."
"Exactly what I was thinking." Caelen looked at both of them.
They all stared back at each other.