Side Quest - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

The spring morning rose above the innocent hills of the small village where a sole tavern stood in the center square. The scent of baked goods slowly rose through the air as the village began to stir to life with the eventual local commerce that would take place. The darkness of evening was beginning to melt away like a water color painting in a vague dream, the darkness slowly pushed back by the rays of light from the starusn. It was a truly beautiful starsunrise that peeked from the mountains that acted as a barrier that kept this unassuming village safe from the outside world. Only a single road that trailed through the center of the cozy settlement offered passage towards those mountains.

Edward was wide awake. It may have been nerves or that he was the first to head to bed after the feast last night, in either case he was simply counting the moments until the rest of the group would wake. His hand carefully gliding a stone across the blade with his eyes gazing over the hamlet. The solitude was almost calming his mind until he felt a presence behind him. The footsteps creaking the wood underneath caused his head to turn, with a hand gripping onto the hilt of the blade. 

The bearded man who had hired him stood proudly in the morning starsun that bathed along his body and soaked into the dark hairs of his face. “Ya really are a greenhorn eh?” The man smirked as he held a pip to his lips with a tinderbox carefully placed towards the bowl. The scent of sweet smoke filled the air as he puffed calmly to ignite the flames and then breathed in the herbs that soothed his soul. A calming inhale stirred from his swelling chest as he held the smoke then breathed forth a heavy puff. “Aye, there’s no debating that. I can tell instantly.” 

The young man sat quietly with only the scraping sounds of his sharpening stone to respond for him. There was nothing to say, but a one sided conversation didn’t seem to stop Larrick. “The only people that watch the starsun rise before riding out are greenhorns that imagine the terrors to come, and old men like me who’ve already seen ‘em.” 

Edward was silent and Larrick took another puff of from his pipe as he stared towards the direction Edward seemed to be gazing at. “Yer aunt is just lookin’ out for ya,” Larrick spoke again. “I know what wanderlust ya have. Sick of being at home, in yer comfortable bed, it was too easy. Ya wanted something real, an adventure to make your life worth living. Ya craved the thrill, eager to find purpose and maybe become one of them heroes of old.” 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Edward finally spoke with agitation and Larrick turned towards him with a slight chuckle.

“Ya, maybe yer right. Maybe I don’t know a damn thing about ya.” The old man took another puff. “But I do know this. If ya stay here and maybe find a cute gal, have some kids of yer own, run a trade or a farm, in the end yer gonna die.” Edward glanced over. “Tis true. Maybe in the comfort of yer bed as an old man surrounded by loved ones but more than likely someone’s gonna want what ye got, and they’ll gonna kill ya for it. Because the truth is at that moment they’ll want ya dead more than ya want to be alive and it don’t matter if ya at home safe, or if ya out on the thrill of adventure looking fer fame and glory.” A smile cracked through his beard knowing that he had Edward’s full attention. “All that matters is if it was yer choice to do it, yer choice to live the life ya wanted, cause in yer final moments the last thing ya want is to have regret in yer eyes.”

It was something for the young man to ponder as he looked down at the reflection in his blade wondering if he had that look, did he have regret in his eyes? He had hated every step of this journey and only longed for the comforts of home where the only concern was maybe getting one of the easy girls at home knocked up and having to get tied down at the behest of an angry farmer father’s pitchfork. “I’ll be fine.” Edward stated solemnly, as if reassuring himself at the same time as presenting his confidence. He stood up and sheathed his blade at the side. 

“Ahaha!” Larrick chuckled. “That’s what I like ta hear!” The older man clapped his hand against Edward’s shoulder that almost knocked the wind out of the poor boy. “All ya gotta do is keep us protected and it’ll be an easy trip.” Edward nodded and Larrick placed his other hand upon his shoulder holding their gazes together. “And don’t concern yerself with us, ya’ll never have to worry about us throwin’ ya to the wolves to save our own skins.” Edward started a small smile. “Cause we’ll do it, we’ll toss ya to ‘em without a moment’s hesitation.” 

In a split second Edward almost felt fear, fight or flight adrenaline rushing through him as he felt the squeezing grasp of the older man holding upon his shoulders pinching him in place, seizing his body in a way that made him wonder if behind him was a skewer that he’d be tossed upon. Edward could see the darkness that lay in Larrick’s eyes, the seriousness of his statement, the stern lines on his face as he spoke. His heart raced and he considered his own mortality and a halfmoment after Edward wondered what the abyss and the afterlife could be like Larrick let out a mad cackle. 

“Good lad!” Larrick’s laughter continued as he released the boy from his grasp and clutched the pipe between his teeth. “We set out in an hour, get somethin’ in yer belly, even if it’s a nibble. Ya may not be hungry now but ya’ll be starvin’ later and we don’t stop ‘til the second moon is north of the horizon.” 

Edward was still in the moment of catching his breath as he watched Larrick stuff out his pipe and shove his way back into the Inn where the scents of breakfast caught the air. He wondered silently if the look in the old man’s eyes was real, if he had killed before, if he had truly done such a thing as left his own companion to die..

The sounds of the forest were mostly drowned out by the creaking wooden wheels that rolled along the dirt floor, cracking twigs and branches underneath and causing any wildlife to skitter away in its wake. It was almost distracting enough that Edward was able to ignore the inevitable consequences that came from Larrick’s warning. Hunger was overwhelming to the point that Edward would have gladly eaten the grainy chunk bread and bacon fat that was served up as the evening meal when he was guarding the farmstead from wolves. He tried not to recall the feast from that morning, a whole hog had been served up with various breads, cornbread, fluffy grain bread, toasted rye bread, beans, cheeses. He regret judging his travelling companions for eating like livestock at a troth that morning as he made do with a slice of rye and a small batch of eggs. 

A pang of hunger reminded Edward that evening was close at least. Night had come and he welcomed the cooling lack of the starsun’s rays upon his body as he trudged at the head of the caravan. He found it strange how many of the cartel had gotten separated and without proper escort. Six covered wagons with two horses each all loaded with cargo from their ventures and crawling through the forest was hardly inconspicuous but it was at least a shortcut to catch up to the main caravan. Edward wondered if this was a small group, how much larger was the entire convoy? 

Out of instinct Edward’s hand lifted, bent at the elbow and clenched with a fist. The entire caravan stopped, something was bothering Edward. It was a clicking noise that he couldn’t attribute to anything in the expedition, it wasn’t the horseshoes touching against the odd stone. It couldn’t be an animal, they would flee and it wouldn’t repeat like it had been. In the back of his mind he’d counted the seconds between each time the sound was heard. It was infrequent and lacked pattern but it was the same beat of a click every time without change in tune or echo. 

Part of him wondered if maybe it was a crewmate that was slicing at vegetables for the evening meal or maybe carving into wood with a spare knife but Larrick was hardly the type to let a non-injured member of the convoy lay in one of the wagon beds when it could be used for cargo. There was a grumbling of discontent after a minute and Edward conceded that maybe it was simply his own imagination. But through the muttering and in the still position of the crew he heard the click again. 

“Lad,” A voice startled Edward and he turned to see Larrick, “Whot is it? Ya hear somethin’?”

Edward nodded, his eyes focused towards the caravan that spanned down the forest with torchlights lining the carts. “I think we’re being followed. Tracked.. Something.” He muttered and stepped along the path searching for the sound that so concerned his senses. He could feel the gaze of judgmental crewmates upon him, partially grateful for a moment of respite in their trek through the forest and partially infuriated that he stopped them from their destination to enjoy what they could of a meal and a nights rest before waking up at the slightest crack of light in the morning. Then another click but it was different this time.

His head turned towards the object with his hand gripped on the hilt of his blade halfdrawn, his eyes seeing the surprised look of a crewmate that didn’t realize they could fall prey to a greenhorn merc’s sword. “AY!?” His voice rang out in the mostly silent forest revealing his mouth that more than lacked a competent set of teeth. Gaps in the side, the upper right, the top two, and an entire section of his lower right jaw. 

“What is it?!” Larrick quickly stormed down the path with his torch held high and eyes focusing on what could possibly be a moment of conflict.

Edward quickly sheathed his blade and let out a grunt of frustration. “I keep hearing something clicking, I think we’re being tracked or followed by something. Nothing on this caravan makes sense that would be making that sound.” 

“Harhar, makin’ fun o’ me cause I got missin’ teefths?” His mouth closed and made a clicking sound by popping air through one of the gaps and out his lips. “My gums itsch sthomtimes. Jackassth.” 

It wasn’t the clicking sound Edward was sure he heard but at the same time he felt eyes focusing on him and he felt a little flush with embarrassment. 

“HEY!” A voice called out. “Maybe we could call ‘em ‘Edward! Crusader of the Toothless!’” A roll of laughter rang out and Edward quickly turned back towards the front of the caravan, his boots storming along the ground as Larrick pat against his shoulder when they came to the front.

“Hay,” Larrick glanced to the side and then back to Edward. “It’s fine, ya got them jitters. Everythin’ seems scary, new, and potentially horrible. Jus’ relax.”

He should his head towards the ground then looked up. “It wasn’t that sound though, it was something else, it sounded like metal maybe. Couldn’t you hear it?” 

The older man shrugged his shoulders, “I got me own problems, but we can’t be stoppin’ every time ya get a twinge in yer gullet. Ya gotta be ready for whateveh happens. Now lead on. I’ll get ‘em to shat up.” He offered a smile and lifted his head towards the crew that was coming up with new knightly names, “OI! Ya gits wanna get yer eye sockets harvested by fuggin’ gobbos? Ya done walkin’ fer today? Cause I’ll tie yer ass to the fockin’ tree and ya can be a decoy while the rest of us leave!” The laughter shushed faster than Edward was comfortable with. Voices silenced and only the wicker of torches could be heard. “Tha’s what I thought! Ya know the rules, quiet ‘til we’re out of this hell and back on the main road. Anyone that break ‘em gonna be on the tree.”

He wished that their silence had relieved the tension, and as they began to trek on he felt a moment of relief that the clicking sound had gone away. Maybe it was only his imagination. He tried to convince himself it was simply the tension, the anxiety made manifest inside his own mind. He felt a twisting knot in his stomach that reminded him of his youth as he glanced upwards for a brief moment at the sky, the darkness it held almost pure in color. The first moon was full, completed and perfect in shape while the second moon was a little more stretched at the edges and was slowly rising to meet its brother. Their starsun, was one of many, it was said that all the gods had agreed that each should take turns guarding the denizens of the homeworld and each would pass their reign to the next by the signal of their starsun. 

Their starsun, one of many, like their moons, also had a brother. An older and much larger brother that would eclipse the younger and bath their world in sunlight for three days straight. A celebration that happened once every three hundred years, or it was supposed to. When Edward was a boy the rare moment was meant to happen, cities, villages, kingdoms came together with the noble of each small segment of their population to welcome the changing of the guard. A glorious festival that made every soul a lucky member to exist in such a blessed time had created a fervor of excitement. 

Of the races of the world to each there was a pantheon of gods, goddesses, and deities, all corresponding to each other in the expansive universe above or so the priests and clerics advised. On this festival it was to be celebrated that the Goddess of the serpentine priestesses would step down and the youngest god of the Dwarven pantheon, Honsaex, was to be anointed. Yet the moment came and went, what would start the day by two rising suns, an eclipse, and a falling sun into an illuminated night, never came to pass. 

The rage, fear, anxiety and clamor that had shocked the world was now a lingering memory of a new reality. Still, Edward was reminded of that same tension from when he was a child. Everyone was living on edge waiting for something horrible to happen, something that must happen. Such a calamity surely was only the harbinger for what horrors must come next, pestilence and plague, the gods wrath made manifest by rupturing chasms of lava that would swallow kingdoms whole into the molten death below. But nothing, life went on as usual slowly but surely. Days passed and weeks followed, the endless prayers and gifts to the god dwindled some believed that the gods had been appeased by the offerings. Others said that the serpentine goddess, Ssshahem, simply ate the possible usurper. Bards chanted of the day and it turned into just another story of the world’s canon as the mystics and brightest of minds searched for the truth. But nothing horrible happened after, nothing terrible came of that moment in time.

Edward took a deep exhale as he looked forwards, maybe this was the same moment in time. Maybe there was nothing to worry about and it was all in his mind. But that damn click. It wouldn’t go away.

TWHHP!

He was a half step ahead of the person to his right when he felt the brush of wind graze at the back of his neck, like a cool breeze. He felt something wet splash against him as he instinctively turned to the side where the sensation came from, his eyes met with crimson and an open maw of teeth. Teeth that had been unnaturally sharpened, filed to a lethal point and aimed towards him. Everything happened in an instant, by reflex and years of training. His blade practically ejected from the sheath and wielded in his hands held at a point.

The monstrous creature that towered over him with a crude metal dagger in its grasp would never reach him alive. Edwards blade jut forth at the target that was presented to him, the open mouth of the yellow leather skinned creature promptly puncture half from Edward’s own force and the other half from the descending leap of the ill fated assault. He would never forget those eyes that held fury and murder in them and how his sharpened blade was drenched with blood as the soft fleshy neck was pierced. In a split second it had gone from living to lifeless gurgling corpse that slid down the length of the blade. 

Like a puppet with strings snipped in mid-air it collapsed and Edward panted for air with a rush of adrenaline pouring through him as he gave a vigorous roar of triumph to the starlit sky. His blade pulled free and the dead humanoid lay limp, yet his victory was ignored by bodies pushing past him. Edward glanced to the side and saw one of his crewmates laying upon the ground their hands desperately grasping towards their throat. A single crossbow bolt lay punctured in their throat, piercing one side and coming out the other, their eyes wide with the horror of pain and shock as they continued to live through such a horrible experience.

Edward stared with his own moment of horror, the features of the man’s face etched into his memory like a scar born of knife into flesh, carving out a rune into the skin of his mind. He saw every freckle on his face, the way his yellow teeth were staining with crimson as he gurgled begging for air. His eyes bright and blue with curled muddied blonde hair stained with dirt and blood bounced with his shivering and shaking form. His dirty fingernails drenched with blood at the tips as he stared at his friends gawking faces eager for advice or assurance that this pain was only temporary. 

“Healer!” A voice called out from the crowd that circled the injured, Edward standing at the cusp with his heart sinking. That must have been the breeze that rushed along the back of his neck, that bolt had been meant for him. “We need a healer!”

“Oh yeah? We ain’t got one!” Larrick shoved through the crowd and looked at the mess before letting out a disgruntled sigh. “Nothin’ we can do.” He said plainly with a stern tone meant to mask the twinge of sorrow he might have felt. “Sashuk,” The largest member of the crew looked up and towards Larrick’s outstretched hand. Begrudgingly the gentle giant of a man placed a smoothed wooden hilt in Larrick’s grasp as the eyes that were already wide even grew wider than before. “Sorry mate.” 

KSTHUHNK!

It took Edward a moment to realize what happened, above the bolt lay a gap that quickly filled with blood and Larrick pulled what turned out to be an elongated hatchet from the soaked dirt while his other hand dragged the eyelids closed. Larrick stood upright, “Awright, ya know what to do, tie ‘em to the tree and we start back out on my call.” It was business as always for him it seemed and the two others leaned over to begin their ‘burial’ for the deceased while Larrick disappeared from the circle as voices muttered and expressed remorse.

“Edward!” Larrick’s voice called out harsh and serrated, cutting his ears inside out but gaining the young man’s attention as he quickly followed to the source. Larrick was squatting over the corpse of the beast that Edward finally got a moment to view in its entirety. “Did you kill this?” Edward nodded and so to did Larrick. “Good lad, killed an ogre.”

“Huh.” Edward suddenly felt a lot more impressed with himself, “I thought they’d be a lot bigger.”

“They are.” Larrick said, Edward paused as Larrick used the hatchet to roll the ogre from its belly onto its back revealing crimson tribal markings. The ogre only had three fingers on its massive palm, two index and a thumb, perched atop of them were thick bulging clawtips that alone could render a fleshy human paralyzed from losing heaping chunks of flesh. “This is a younglin’, they start off yellow, turn gray when they mature.” Edward felt a moment of fear push through him, the beast was over seven feet tall and had the musculature of a knight in their prime. “Their youngest. They’re scouts.” His eyes searched the corpse and seemed to find what he was looking for.

Larrick fetched a wood hilted item and pulled it free, it was now mostly debris given that it had been crushed under the weight of the ogre youth but the frame was still recognizable. “A crossbow.” Larrick’s eyes furrowed cautiously at the item and inspected it, the mechanism that loaded the bolt made a clicking sound that alerted Edward. “This is what ya heard?”

“Yeah..” Edward nodded as he glared at the item. “But, I couldn’t have guessed-“

“Exactly, why would an ogre, that is maybe one.. two summers old at the latest? No signs of gray splotching. Be runnin’ around with a crossbow?” Larrick tapped at the creature’s side where it wore scraps of clothing but below the sarong was extra bolts that spilled out from the punctured fabric that held them. “No one comes through these forests except bandits, and bandits ain’t gonna use crossbows neither.” 

“Really? Why not? I mean, they’re effective.” Edward was genuinely curious and found himself squatting opposite Larrick’s position. 

He shook his bearded face. “Ain’t no good, crossbolts required finesse to construct, ya need proper blacksmithin’ to put ‘em together. They use ol’ bows. Ya can make an arrow from that with nothin’ but a thin twig and a sharp rock. Ya can pick up extras from yer kill and they don’t require measurements. It just kills.” Larrick held up one of the crossbow bolts and examined it. “I don’t like it.”

“What do you think it means?” Edward stood up as Larrick did, following beside him. “Maybe the ogres just traded for it or something?”

“Ogres are too stupid to understand money, they don’t trade with humans and barely even trade in their own tribe. They want. They kill. That’s the gist.” Larrick held at his mouth for a moment. “Nah, I think they got another caravan. I just hope it ain’t one of ours.” 

Larrick stood at the front of the caravan as some of the party finished tying up the corpse to a tree with some recycled rope and the head laying flat by the trunk. “Awirght, got news. We gonna keep on until daybreak. We ain’t stoppin’ fer nothin. Yaw anna sit and take a nap? Thems yer call and let us know if ya catch up.” The caravan was eerily silent as he announced the change of plans. “But we got ogres and they gonna be piss, lil’ Edward here done killed one of their guppies and the mums and pops are gonna want our heads for a little bit of aphrodisiac to help ‘em make more. So finish up with Teeg there and start getting ready to move out.”

Teeg. Edward glanced to the bloodied corpse that was once named ‘Teeg’ and wondered what his life had been like and what had drawn him to join this caravan. For years Edward had written off the life of adventure as a fool’s game no one could really win and that those who were killed doing it simply met an end that they deserved for rolling the dice too many times. But that crossbow bolt was aimed for his head and missed by a millisecond, and Edward had only rolled the dice once. His eyes caught Larrick setting up the caravan to move out again, and he quickly caught up to him. “Hey, Larrick. I’m sorry about what happened.”

Larrick gave a confused turn of his head. “What? Ya killed an ogre, ya did good- Oi!” He barked. “Tie them belts tighter,” His hand shook at the sides of the wagon that held torches and watched it jiggle. “If we lose any cargo it’s coming out of your pay.” Down the line he kept walking as Edward sped to catch up once more. 

“No, I mean.. cause Teeg died.” Edward frowned, using a name that he’d never spoken before a life he’d never known, a person he barely met, a soul gone forever. It weighed upon him.

“Aye. Yeah, Teeg died.” Larrick nodded as if remembering and old memory from years gone by. 

He was still confused and Larrick still seemed distracted, tugging at leather belts and examining wheels in brief moments. “Yeah but, I.. I couldn’t protect him and something killed him.”

“Uh huh.” Larrick said absent mindedly. “And if that keeps happenin’ I guess I’ll have ta fire ya.” Edward stood frozen in place stunned by how little Larrick seemed to notice, or even care and before he could question it the large older man pointed towards one of the crewmembers. “Get the horses a drop each of our reserve waters, that’ll keep ‘em healthy ‘til we get on the main road.”

“What about us?” An exhausted man huffed. 

“What about you? I’m twice yer age and I’m goin, you want a drop? Ya pay for it!” Larrick clapped his hands as he looked to the crew. “Ogres comin’ to rip yer skin off should be all the motivation ya need.” Eyes continued to glare at him and he rolled his own. “Okay, half off a drop.” A mutter of agreement made him shake his head as he glanced at the tail end of the caravan and started to make his way back as the crew who sluggish moments ago seemed to renew their energy and vigor as Larrick and Edward stepped along the trek towards the front of the convoy. 

Out of nowhere Larrick grabbed at Edward’s shoulder, turning him around and looking to the side to make sure that their business was their own. Larrick tucked a hand in his vest and pulled out a crystal vial that looked completely empty. “This is drop,” He said quietly above a grumbled whisper and shook the vial, it shimmered with a slight splashing that moments later looked empty once more. “It’s a clear water, Fairy’s use it. Keeps ‘em chipper.” Edward stared blankly at the old man who got bored of trying to explain himself. “Here, hold out your hand.” Edward began to raise his palm and Larrick rubbed at his face. “Without your glove boy.” 

It made absolutely no sense to him but Edward peeled the glove off his hand revealing his calloused palm to Larrick who tipped the vial so carefully towards his fingertip. Edward felt something moist drip onto it but the light refracted against it for a brief moment and he saw what appeared to be a globule of water resting upon his finger. “Now put it in yer mouth.” As dubious as it sounded Edward began to lift his hand as Larrick went wide eyed. “Caaaarefully!”

Edward heaved a sigh and made a show of gently lifting his hand to his mouth, fingertip sliding in and suddenly he felt invigorated as the droplet seemed to instantly catch onto one of the strands of saliva that connected to his mouth. Falling asleep, spending eight hours recuperating all for that bright moment of perfection that came with a good night’s rest, it was that same feeling he had in that moment. Goosebumps trailed through his skin as he felt the effects rush through, his eyes that had felt like they were starting to become weary before the event now lit up awake and alert. “..Wow.” Was all he could muster and Larrick cracked a grin.

“Aye lad, wow indeed. Now get back at the front we’re goin’ at it again.” Larrick instructed.

He sheathed his blade and breathed deep as the rumble of carts began once more, it felt like an entire day had passed but as he glanced up to the sky the younger brother moon had only moved a smidge from where it rest before. Edward stepped along the forest floor as the crunching sounds of wheel grinding twigs and branches to snap in twain underneath could be heard behind. The wicker of torches, the sounds of metal hooves stepping along the unpaved dirt, Edward led the caravan forwards into the darkness as they passed by Teeg’s tied up corpse that reminded him of the fact he still wore Teeg’s crusted blood upon the side of his face. 

But at least the damn clicking sound had stopped.