"Oh good, looks like the kid is coming around" a familiar voice remarked.
Kyle couldn't believe it. When he had fallen down with wounds gushing blood, he had figured it was all over. Yet now that feeling had begun to return to his body, he didn't know what to think. How had he survived?
Opening his eyes for the first time in what felt like forever, he was treated to the sight of a pair of eyes right next to his face. "What the?" he shouted, startled by what he saw.
His reaction also startled the person who belonged to the pair of eyes. The loud noise made them jump back from him. "Well that was unexpected" the person who had been inspecting him said. "Now was that really necessary? Couldn't you have refrained from scaring me half-to-death?"
"Well excuse me! It's not like I expected to wake up and see someone an inch away from my face."
The person inspecting him let out an annoyed sigh. "How else did you expect me to patch you up? You didn't exactly make this easy for me, now did you? What kind of idiot gets himself shredded up so badly anyways? You looked like you wanted to be filed down into dust. Don't tell me you're into that sort of thing..."
"What do you think you're insinuating? I was just doing what needed to be done. Who the hell are you anyways?"
"Hey, kid, show some respect. Erik just saved your life. Would it kill you to say thank you?" Ash said.
"Sorry. Thanks, Erik. I thought I was a goner. I owe you one."
A glance at his body showed Kyle that he probably owed the unlikely healer more than a single favor. Before he had lost consciousness he had scarcely had an inch of his body that was unwounded. Yet now that he was awake once more, it was as if he had never been harmed at all. Had he dreamed that he had engaged the Red Adders? Could it have been just his imagination after all?
As if sensing what he was thinking, Erik broke out into a barrel chested laugh. "I have never seen such a messed up patient before. It was like you intentionally strove to hurt each and every part of your body. Honestly, I'm surprised that you didn't lose an arm or a leg."
"What were you thinking, kid? If not for Erik's quick work you would have died!" Ash scolded him. The hooded man's head shook in disappointment.
"To think I didn't almost make it back from handing in our report in time. If I had been a couple minutes later, you would have been dead. What possessed you to do that, anyways? It was almost the end of the line for you."
"I didn't do it because I had a choice. I had to do it. I had to try and get my bag back" Kyle tried to explain. Of course, as soon as he mentioned his bag, the trio gave him a set of weird looks. It was in that moment that he had realized he had messed up. If he hadn't mentioned it, then they wouldn't be curious of what was important about his bag.
"What could possibly be so important about that bag that you would risk your life to get it back?" Kitt asked the obvious question.
"Uh..." he said, trying to come up with a valid explanation that didn't expose his secret. Desperation started to well up within his stomach as he couldn't figure out a good way out of this predicament.
"Must have been awfully important reason if he was willing to die to get it back" Ash replied. "What was it, a letter from your beloved? Or perhaps something a bit more personal?"
"It's sort of personal." Upon saying that however, he realized that he had been tricked into saying something that could be easily misinterpreted. his cheeks grew crimson in embarrassment as that realization peaked in his mind. "That's not what I meant!" he protested.
"Sure, whatever you say kid" Ash snorted.
"Screw you guys! I'm getting my bag and leaving!" Kyle regained his feet in an instant. With all hope of retaining any sort of dignity or pride long since gone, he could only hope to find his bag quickly and leave before the embarrassment did what the Red Adders' weapons could not.
"Kid may be a bit wet behind the ears, but he does make a good point" the trio's leader said. "Kitt, you keep watch, Erik and I will help the kid and look for hints on where the main Adder base is located."
"Main base? I thought you said that this was their headquarters" Kyle was extremely confused by the sudden turn of events.
Ash glanced over at him. With a baffled look on his face, he replied, "Do you honestly think that six thieves ran the number one bandit guild in Cervine? This cave is just the location of a branch base for their organization. Of course even locating this place took months of hard work and sleepless nights. You know, I had hoped that observing their comings and goings would have led to the main base's location being revealed, but I guess killing them all before getting that out of them works too."
"Well, excuse me! I was just trying to-"
"Get your bag back, yes we've covered this" Ash said with a frustrated look on his face. "Just wish that you would think before you acted. Now I have to pray to all the heavens that the late owners of this base kept records of where their shipments of stolen goods went."
The search of the cave didn't take all that long in the end. Apart from the odd necklace and sack of gold coins, there was very little to indicate where the Red Adders could possibly be hiding. As they searched, Kyle started to get worried. At first he had thought that his bag would be easy to locate, yet the longer he looked the more a pit began to form in his stomach.
It was very possible that the Adders had already searched his bag and realized what the coup d'etat letters were. If they had realized that, then they would no doubt have taken the letters directly to their headquarters for safekeeping. With the signatures of the three most powerful and well respected members of the Order in their hands, the Red Adders would have ample leverage on North Watch Keep to prevent them from interfering in their actions. The entire knighthood was on the verge of being dishonored and there was nothing that he could do to stop it short of praying that he wasn't too late to stop it.
"Hey Ash, I think I found something" Erik's voice sounded from the other side of the cave.
"What is it?" the leader of the King's investigators asked. Ash set down the silver tea kettle that he had been inspecting and headed over towards his friend.
"Looks like a letter. It's written in the Adders' cipher. Must be important."
"Let me take a look" Ash replied. The hooded man stared at it for a moment or two before he let out a chuckle. "We've got them now."
"It tells where their main camp is?" Erik asked. The healer had a hopeful look in his eye.
"Not exactly. Apparently there's some sort of mission that they have planned for the Festival of Lights in a month's time. These bandits seem to have gotten a bit big for their britches. They're going to try and steal the Winter Rose."
The Festival of Lights was the biggest holiday of the year in the Kingdom of Cervine. Held near the end of the harvest season, villages and towns throughout the kingdom would be lit up all night long with light in order to stand defiant against the coming darkness of winter. Each year, the festival would last a whole week with the last night being the night that all the candles in the town would be lit one last time and everyone would spend the night reminiscing on what had happened that year. Remembering the good times and mourning for those that they had been lost to the ravages of time, the town would prepare itself for the coming cold.
"We cannot allow them to steal the Winter Rose. If we fail, the kingdom is lost!" Erik reminded his leader.
"Don't worry. We won't fail" Ash promised him.