It was currently night time, and it was raining. They had just moved down the road a little ways from the battle and set up camp. Marcus was busy the whole day, he was exhausted. After the battle, he dug a grave for Ronan, then he had to gather all the soldier's bodies and burn them. They burned them to prevent disease, and there was a legend that some dead bodies would rise again if not properly taken care of. Although not many people believed it, why take a chance.
Marcus was currently laying on his bedroll underneath a wagon. It was somewhat dry under there, with only a little bit of moisture getting to him. It had started to rain just before sunset, right when they stopped to rest. They didn't even bother to build a fire, they just ate what preserved food they had and rested. He had to start his watch in about an hour, so he was just staring at the underside of the wagon, thinking.
He was thinking of the battle, how things could have been different. How if he had just leapt in front of the fireball instead of Ronan, he might have saved him. He thought that he probably would have survived, and would have been able to heal himself. Although it might take quite a bit of time. The chunk that the arrow had taken out of his ear had already healed, so did the wound from the arrow in his shoulder.
When they stopped to rest, he just closed his eyes and concentrated on absorbing the magical power around him. Before he knew it, an itchy feeling came from his ear and shoulder. They both were healing at a visible rate, but seeing this didn't make Marcus happy, it just made him bitter. He knew that he should have saved him, he just didn't react in time.
Letting out a heavy, solemn sigh, he accepted that he'd made a mistake. Instead of beating himself up over it, he just made a promise to himself that he'd do better in the future. That's all you could do if you've made a mistake, accept the outcome and strive to do better. There was no use feeling guilty forever. With that thought in his head, he closed his eyes, trying to catch a nap before his watch started.
........................
Finally, after two and a half weeks of travel, Jakarta was visible in the distance. They moved at a slower pace after the battle due to injuries, so that added a few days to their trip. Roger's leg had healed well enough so that he just had a barely noticeable limp. Nick and Dave had bandages on their faces and hands, that's where most of the heat had burned their skin. Ellen was doing fine, she had a few bandages, but no serious injuries. Richard's right arm was in a makeshift sling, but was expected to recover fully. Tim was fine, he suffered just some cuts during the battle, Derrick managed to avoid any injury at all.
After drinking the healing potion, Katy had made a full recovery about two days after the battle. Her mental status was a different story. She hadn't said a word after the burial they had for Ronan. She seemed like she was lost, just following Ellen's directions. Ellen said that she and Tim were going to take a break from missions and help Katy get through her loss. It looked like Katy would need a lot of support.
After the caravan passed the wetern gates, the head merchant, Travis, spoke "I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. Without you, and your sacrifice, me and my men would have all died. Nothing I can do can replace the man that you lost, all I can do is show my appreciation. With that said, I will give a bonus to you all, when you report back to the association, it will be there waiting for you."
After he finished his sentence, he gave a deep bow directed towards all the mercenaries. He didn't have to give a bonus out at all, any risk with the mission is known before you accept it. They were not expecting it, nor were they going to ask for one. This showed them that Travis was a good man, and recognized the sacrifice that was made.
Travis then walked back to the caravan, directing his people towards their warehouses. As the wagons disappeared down the street, Roger walked up to Marcus.
"So where are you heading to now?"
"I'm pretty tired, so I'll probably just find an inn and sleep until tomorrow." Marcus said with a slight chuckle. He was pretty tired so he was just going to rest for the day. Then head to the Association tomorrow to pick up his reward and bonus.
"Do you want to join me, Derrick, Nick, and Dave for a drink? I'm buying, I think I owe you one."
"Owe me? What for?"
"Without you I think we would have lost more than just one man. You took out three soldiers by yourself, and killed the commander then the mage. That reminds me, this is yours."
Roger held out his hand. Inside his palm was a necklace with a golden chain. The pendant was a blue stone, set in gold. The stone was about the size of a walnut, and the gold was flat with strange writing going around the stone.
"What's that?" Marcus asked, he'd never seen the necklace before.
"I got it off the dead magician. You didn't check his body very well." Roger said in an accusatory tone and a smile on his face.
Marcus took the necklace and inspected it, turning it over in his hand. Then he put it around his neck and hid it beneath his shirt. He didn't know what it did, but it looked expensive. If worse came to worse, he could sell it to make some good money.
"Thanks." Marcus said plainly.
"And yeah, I think I will join you guys for a drink. But be prepared, I can drink a lot!"
"Ha don't worry, we're all gonna make a nice profit off the arms and armor we looted from the soldiers. Just follow me and after we sell them we'll get to drinking." Roger said as he turned around to get the other three.
"Hey, what about Richard and the rest?" Marcus asked as he followed after Roger.
"I already talked to them. As you could guess, Tim and Ellen have Katy to deal with so they were just going to find an inn for now. Richard was going to go meditate or something. Said he got what he was looking for." Roger said, shrugging his shoulders, as he, Marcus, and the other three headed out into the city.
..........................
The room was spinning slightly, and he had the taste of ale in his mouth. Marcus had gotten very drunk. This was the first time that he had gotten drunk in this new world. He had drank before, but never this amount. Roger was true to his word and had paid for Marcus's drinks, although he was probably regretting that decision. Marcus was able to drink more than a dozen tankards of ale before getting drunk, more than three times everyone else present. Roger didn't seem to mind, they had made a lot of money from all their loot.
After taking the short swords, bows, and armor to a weapons merchant, they made a total of thirty-two gold pieces. This was a huge boon for them. The swords were all high quality steel, kept in good condition. Some of the armor had holes in them, but still sold for a good price. The bows were well made, with magical beast sinew for the strings. After splitting up the profit between them, and giving a little extra to Katy; she was probably going to retire, they all made out with three gold apiece.
They were currently sitting around a table, laughing and telling stories of past missions. Marcus was mainly listening, taking large gulps of his ale every once in a while. He had a pretty barmaid sitting on his lap. She had spotted Marcus when they walked in and took an interest in him. She had just gotten off of her shift and started a conversation with him. She was also enjoying some ale and the stories that were being told.
Her name was Samantha, she had worked at this bar for about two years. She had short blonde hair, kind of like a pixie cut. Like most women he'd seen, she had a slim waist. She had very large breasts, almost too big for Marcus's taste. Deep blue eyes were set below slim eyebrows, and she had long legs below a very plump butt. Marcus had his large hand wrapped around her waist at the moment.
Marcus and Clair weren't an exclusive item, so he didn't think that she would mind. Marcus didn't care if she wanted to see other men if she felt like it, though he doubted she would. She was rather busy with the apothecary, she barely had time for Marcus, when he was in the city. He had been gone for more than a month, so he was going to go see her tomorrow sometime.
"Why don't we go find a room somewhere?" Samantha said as she leaned back into Marcus, stroking the hand around her waist with hers.
"I think I'm going to retire for the night." Marcus said as he stood up and placed Samantha gently on the ground. He wasn't an idiot, he knew very well that Samantha might be a prostitute, but he wasn't going to ask her, and he didn't care either. He had a lot of pent up stress from the mission that he needed to let loose, and this was a good way to do it. After saying his goodbyes, and receiving knowing smiles in return, Marcus and Samantha left the bar to find an inn for the night.
It was well past sunset, there were lanterns every dozen feet or so lighting the road. Marcus wasn't sure if it was some sort of magic stone or a candle that produced the light. There was a cool breeze carrying a little bit of moisture with it. It had been raining, but at the moment it had stopped. Pools of water filled the potholes that pocked the road.
Marcus took a deep breath of the cool summer night's air, it felt good to be outside. In the bar the air was hot, humid, and stuffy. Outside it was the opposite, cool, refreshing. Marcus tried his best at walking a straight line. He had Samantha under his left arm, trying to help guide him down the road.
They were talking and laughing as they walked, gathering looks as they did so. They turned right on a dimly lit road, there was a cheap inn at the end of it. The lanterns must have been not working on this particular road. It was dark and sparsely populated. Marcus and Samantha didn't notice the darkness or lack of people, they were in their own little world, enjoying each other. Marcus had his big pack strapped to his back and carrying his warhammer how he usually did, slung over his shoulder.
There were light hurried steps coming from behind them. The steps went ignored as Marcus had just told Samantha a joke, eliciting a giggle from her. Suddenly, a painful heat came from Marcus's right side, just below his rib cage. The pain made him stagger a little, as he turned to look he saw a dagger jutting out of him. Still drunk, his reaction time wasn't the best. Marcus looked up and saw what looked like a street beggar quickly running away from him.
The beggar was only about fifteen feet from Marcus. Marcus took a few large steps and grabbed the beggar by the shoulder and spun him around. Marcus was drunk, and very pissed off. He was just stabbed for no reason by what looked like a homeless person. In his old world, many homeless people had mental illness that drove them to the streets and crime. It could have been the same here, but he didn't care.
Marcus quickly slapped the beggar with an open palm across his face. This was enough to knock some of his remaining teeth out, as well as give him severe brain damage. The beggar fell to the road, convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
Samantha was scared by the sudden violence. She had just seen Marcus get stabbed and subsequently kill a man. Marcus turned around to see her take a few steps back from him, scream, turn around, and ran back down the road the way they came. Marcus couldn't really blame her, they had just met that night and didn't know him well at all. Plus he was fairly certain she was just after his money, so she wouldn't stick around just for him.
He stood there and slowly pulled the knife out of his side. It was a long knife, maybe eight inches long. It looked plain, just made out of iron, nothing fancy. What concerned him was the thick purplish black tar like substance that was sticking to the blade. He didn't know much about poison, but knew it wasn't good.
He took a step forward and the world shifted. It was already spinning a little from the alcohol, but this was different. A nauseous feeling was growing in his stomach, and it was getting hard to breath. He was feeling hot and then cold and then hot again. His heart was pounding in his chest making it hurt. He was in a very bad spot.
He quickly pulled out the other high level healing potion that Clair had given him, and drank it. He was hoping that it would help somehow. His heart slowed down, just a little, but that was it. His shifting vision was worsening, and his breathing was a struggle. Marcus started to panic, he didn't want to die, not like this, not now. He had so much that he wanted to do, to discover about this new world. He could think of only one place that he could go.
Marcus willed himself forward. Every step and every breath taxed his willpower. He imagined himself swimming in a pool full of magical power, trying to absorb as much as possible in order to stimulate his body's healing ability. Slowly, he made his way to Clair.