Just as the night settled down, there was a camp not far from the Gold Stone River. The camp had about 50 Members, wearing clothes similar to the Frost Nations General Infantry Outfit. It could be seen that their White Shirt with Green Stripes had long faded and was tethered as if they had been wearing it for a long period of time and they had a gloomy atmosphere.
"Where is the bloody torch, why have you bastards still not lit it up, cant your eyes see that the sun is already down!" thundered a Muscular man who seemed to be around 6 feet.
Unlike the others, he was not wearing any shirt to protect him but had a horned helmet which looked menacing indicating he should be a powerful person within that group.
"Boss, but we have already lit up 20 of them."
"What only 20? What happened to the others, Did you eat them?, Light them all, you Idiots, or do you want to be Bitten to death by the Monstrous Mosquitoes?" shouted the Boss.
"But our Oil reserves are depleting fast and we only have stock that can last us for a week, and some of our brothers are already out hunting for the Green Oil Musk, once they get back we can light all the torch we want boss "said another person who had a scar across his whole face which made him look menacing, but replied humbly.
"What? Our boys are hunting stupid musk? We are the Blood Sucking Bandits, we don't hunt musks, we hunt Men!"Bellowed the Boss.
He turned around and walked towards a stage and shouted at the top of his lungs "Gather up Boys! It's about time for the Harvest Festival, and those pesky villagers will have whatever we want. Its time for us to take what is rightfully ours."
"Split into teams of ten by yourself and we start at Dawn tomorrow and you guys decide which village you want to raid, I will go to Rock Bed Village," said the Boss.
As he got down, if anyone was close to him, they would have heard him mumbling "I ain't sleeping with these monster mosquitoes." Shivered the boss, which showed he had quite a traumatic experience with them.
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Oliver knocked on Edmund's Door and after a couple of seconds, Old man Edmund opened the door while questioning "so how are now? Are you feeling alright? Do u feel pain somewhere?"
Oliver waited until Edmund finished asking and said with a straight face "I feel fine now and perfect without any problem, just a little hungry."
Edmund without waiting for any response checked Oliver's pulse by placing his fingers on Oliver's hand and said "Good, it seems I have worried for nothing." And gave him a bottle of Small Health Potion and said"Just in case" and went to the kitchen and brought some bread for Oliver.
Oliver suddenly felt warm in his heart as this was the first time someone helped him, fed him and said such nice words without expecting anything from him other than his parents.
Oliver had just said that he was hungry and the Old man had already brought him food, Oliver's eyes were filled with gratitude and were moved to tears.
"Now come in", said Edmund while grabbing Oliver by his hand and took him to a bed and made him lie on it while performing a detailed check on his body where it used to be severely injured when Oliver was found near the forest.
"It is certainly a Miracle as I have never heard a Small Healing Potion to have this much effect while even removing the scars!" exclaimed Edmund.
"Thank you so much for your care Edmund, I am really grateful" Oliver expressed his gratitude again.
"I have something to show you," said Edmund "come, follow me".
Oliver wondered where they were going to go.
While they were passing each house and their respective fields, they quickly arrived at a vast empty ground which was being decorated with candles all over the place and many members were preparing for something each wearing different attire.
"What is happening, is there a festival coming up sometime soon?" questioned Oliver.
"Yes, Exactly, the name of this festival is 'Pongal' which is dedicated to the Sun and Rain God of our World, without them we could not plant crops and harvest them thus providing food for our families and giving tax to the Frost Nation."
"On this day, there will be many different types of dances performed by the people of this village and some of the famous ones to look forward to is 'Karakattam' and 'Bharatanatyam' where the first one is performed by a group of men while Women perform the latter." Explained Edmund proudly while pointing towards the people who were practising fervently for the upcoming festival.
"So when is the festival happening?" asked Oliver also excitedly as he had never attended any festival quite like this. Although he didn't have much adventurous spirit, he had vowed that he will enjoy his life so he had much to look forward to in this life.
"Oh, there you are Mr Edmund!" excitedly shouted a voice from afar and one could see a big middle age man in his 40's coming towards Edmund and Oliver.
The person was maybe 6 feet and had a big belly which showed his avarice for food and less physical work, but had a big smile which made him look harmless. And there were dozen people surrounding him and Oliver quickly remembered that he saw them with Drake, meaning they we probably hunters of this village.
"Good day to you Village chief" bowed Edmund while respectfully said to the big round person
"No need to bow, how many times have I told not to bow to me Mr Edmund since you are a respected Apothecary, it makes me look bad" joked the Village Chief.
"So, is this the person whom the hunters found near the forest?" questioned the Village Chief who became stern suddenly, unlike his earlier smile.
"Yes this is that person and his name is Oliver!" replied Edmund.
"Have you checked out his background? Are you sure he is not related to the Blood Sucking Bandits as I have heard from the merchants that the Bandits have recently moved to this part of the state." The Village Chief Interrogated as he looked at Oliver with his suspicious gaze.
"Yes Chief, I assure you that he is not a member of the Blood Sucking Bandits as he did not have the Red Spider mark near his neck while treating him first. Otherwise, I would have first requested the Chief to make a decision before treating him" warmly replied Edmund.
Oliver quickly turned pale as he saw that he was investigated and searched and deemed not an enemy without him knowing.
The Village Chiefs face returned to his previous jovial mood and turned to Oliver and said "Since you are not from this village, attend this 'Pongal' Festival of ours and get to know the other villagers and you will quickly come to know that our villagers are all warm-hearted towards other people unlike the others from the city who look down on us." Said the Chief.
"Yes, Chief" answered Oliver respectfully.
"Wow I never expected you guys to assume me to be a member of the Blood Sucking Bandits "Oliver was feeling hurt as he said that to Edmund.
"Well we all have to be careful in times when the bandits come and harass everyone in hopes of getting food and women from the villages surrounding the river, so assuming the worst is the best case scenario "replied Edmund smilingly.
"You still did not tell me when is the Festival is going to happen? And where it is going to take place?" questioned Oliver.
"Oh yes I guess I forgot to mention, I am getting old as I keep forgetting many things" mumbled Edmund
"It will take place in 2 days during the Spring Season, which is when almost all of them are done with reaping their respective crops."
As the night crept over the Gold Stone Village, a light lit up near the outskirts of the village. It was Drake the Hunter's House.
They had just finished their dinner as Gloria cleaned the dishes, Elise curiously asked her mother "Mom, Clark told me that Oliver had bravely fought and managed to escaped from the Vicious Blood Sucking Bandits , Is that true?"
"I suppose so, since Old Master Edmund said that he had a very Athletic Body and did fend off some Bandits!" responded Gloria.
"Well since he hunted with father, then he should at least be capable of that much" exclaimed Elise "maybe if I have to travel outside the village, I will take Oliver with me as he is probably the bravest one among the young men in the village".
Drake who was outside building the fence ,didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he heard his daughters praise of Oliver.
Thinking back to the encounter with the tiger, Drake thought "Brave maybe!, But Fending off the Bandits, maybe Not!".