A Vinekin's Revenge (pt. 3): Bandits... Again

 

We need to act fast... we shouldn’t have trusted her…

Morgwen can hear the conversation between Micah and the group of bandits grow louder.

She overhears Micah complaining, "This is all you're paying me? Fine. Just go to the wagon; they're in there."

Footsteps steadily growing in intensity, her heart starts to race and her palms begin to sweat. She jumps to the front of the wagon grabbing the reins of Elise, Micah's horse. She turns back at Salo, "Quick, find anything in this wagon that you think could distract these bandits." The merchant acts quickly without any delay and starts rummaging through Micah's belongings. He pulls out books, bags of dried herbs, and ancient scrolls written in a strange language he can't seem to interpret.

He starts to panic, "There's literally nothing in here we can use! And she's supposed to be a wizard! I'd imagine we would find potions or something."

Morgwen commands Elise to jolt forward charging ahead, causing Salo to collide into the pile of books, "OUCH, the hell Morgwen!" She yells back at him, "What?! We can't just stay here!" As they are heading out of Thornmere's School of Magic, Salo leans over the edge of the wagon and looks behind them. Micah and the bandits slowly shrink into the distance. 

He laughs, "Haha! We are losing them! I knew we shouldn't have trusted Micah." Morgwen shakes her head, "Um, EXCUSE me? I was the one who said we shouldn't trust her." Salo gets up and sits next to her at the front of the wagon. He nudges her with his elbow and winks, "Ok, I guess you're right with that one." She laughs thinking, it feels nice to have a friend again. 

After a couple miles, they make it over the wooden bridge and Morgwen asks Elise to slow down. She hops off the wagon and looks around cautiously to see if there's anyone around. Just the sound of the running river. She says to herself, okay... I think we're way ahead of them now. An idea pops up and she looks at Salo, "Do you still have that extra torch in your bag? We can try to light the bridge on fire. I think that's the best way to just slow down those bandits." He nods in agreement and opens up his pack to grab his last torch. He walks over to the bridge and with a steady hand he lowers the lit torch, the flames igniting the wood. 

"Perfect," Morgwen says, "let's get back on the wagon and get going."

They continue on and finally, just up ahead of them is the rock wall of a steep rugged cliff. A landmark showing them that they're getting close to Thornmere. "Damn, this looks like a long way up...," comments Salo as he's looking at the narrow winding trail, snaking up along this wall of rock. Morgwen nods, "I don't even think Elise could go up the trail with us. Look at the terrain, it's too rough for Elise to manage." 

She hops off the wagon and pats Elise on the neck looking at her in the eyes, "We have to let you go. Just know, that the Spirit of the Forest will protect you. Go on now." She lets the horse go and thinks to herself, Kevin if you are the protector of the forest be kind to Elise, please. 

Just as Salo and Morgwen begin their hike up the trail, they notice a male half-orc in servant clothing standing in fear. Morgwen can hear the stranger whisper to himself, "Ugh, come on Felix... you can do it. Just think about Thornmere. Come on." 

Morgwen rolls her eyes and asks, "Um, excuse me? Felix, is it? Are you going to start walking now? My colleague and I need to make our way." Felix jumps, startled by her presence from behind him. "Oh my! So sorry madam. I'm just a tid bit scared of heights. I'll get going now." He smiles back at them and begins to walk... slowly.

About a third up the trail, Salo nudges at Morgwen whispering, "Can we just go around this guy? He's so slow..." Morgwen nods and then taps the stranger’s shoulder, "Look here pal, we need to get moving." Felix apologizes, "Right, yes. Yes. Of course. So sorry. Please go on ahead." God, we could’ve made it to the top by now, Morgwen thinks to herself. 

She can see the trail leveling out, we're close! She looks behind her and Salo is catching up gasping for breath. He sighs and takes out a handkerchief wiping off the sweat from his forehead and drops his pack on the ground. He looks up and waves his hand up at Morgwen, "Hold... hold on now. I... oh man. I need a bit of a break." She rolls her eyes at Salo. He defends himself with sarcasm, "What?! Well, sorry for not being as fit as YOU." Suddenly, they hear Felix shout, "Help, bandits!!!" Morgwen tries to look at what's going on, oh shit...

Morgwen and Salo look to each other and immediately start running up the rest of the trail to get to the top. Morgwen looks down the cliff and can see the bandits running up the narrow route. "Man, these guys just don't stop!" She looks ahead of her and sees the guard post is just about a mile away. I think we're too far from the post... She then recalls a conversation she overheard the bandit leader have with his men. That's right! He hates Everveil at night because Kevin and his vines give him the creeps!

She yells down at the bandits, "Stop chasing us or else, I will summon the evil Spirit of the Forest to haunt you for the rest of your life!!! You will feel his wrath in his vines as he ensnares you and chokes you while you sleep!!!" The bandit leader laughs at Morgwen, "Stupid, stupid girl. There are no trees or vines in sight! He can't to be summoned." Ugh, well that failed... she thought to herself. 

Felix catches up to them and asks, "What do we do? They're getting closer!!!" Salo turns to her looking for answers. She says, "We have to run. Let's head to the guard post they'll help."

The three of start sprinting as fast as they could toward the guard post. The head of the town guard post opens the wooden door of the tower and runs outside to meet them, "HALT! Stop travelers, what business do you have here with us?" Salo catches his breath, "Sir, we are being chased by bandits! We need your help!" The town guard waves to get more of his men to join him outside. "Come on men!" 

The 6 guards meet the group of bandits about 100 feet away from the guard post tower. The bandit leader takes out his sword, "Damn it. Leave us alone you stupid guards. We just want the girl." The head of the town guard post responds, "Clearly, you are outnumbered. We can simply arrest you, or you and your men can just leave." The bandit leader slowly walks up to the head of the town guard post. With a grunt, the bandit leader spits on his boots and shakes his head. He walks away retreating, "Come on boys. We’ll catch up to her soon enough." The group of bandits walk off giving up.

The guards walk back to the tower and invite the travelers inside. The head of the guard post looks at them, "Alright, it's getting dark now and you know how dangerous Everveil can be at night. So just rest and you can leave tomorrow. I can lead you to room where you all can rest. There’s some warm soup too." They follow him into a big room with a table and a few chairs and a warm hearth in the center. Another guard comes in to drop off a few wooden bowls and a pot of soup. Felix thanks the guard, “Wow. Thank you. I’m famished!” He immediately serves himself a bowl of soup, grabs a chair and sits by the fire trying to warm up and calm himself down. 

Salo smiles and says to the guards, "Thank you so much. We are truly so thankful for your help."

The head guard hesitates, "Yes, indeed. Well, there was a report of a bridge on fire and a stolen wagon and horse at the School of Magic. Have you seen anything odd on your travels? There's no way you could have missed something like that?" Morgwen turns to Salo, hoping he could come up with something. Salo responds, "Um, no we have not! We haven't seen anything weird like that. We did see a wagon near the entrance of the trail. But didn't think anything odd from it. We did come through from the south end, and that school is up north right? We would not have passed that area any way..." The guard nods, "Ah true. My mistake. Well, have a good night's rest."

Just as the travelers are about to sleep, Morgwen leans against the window and looks out toward Everveil Hollow. She notices the trees moving in the distance and her chest starts to tighten up in fear. Ok, I just have to get through Everveil Hollow... Ugh, Kevin... please just leave us alone... and then I can finally just start a new life in Thornmere.