After a decem had passed, everything was ready for the trip back to Riverhold. The return trip would consist of myself, Maddie, Conner, and Diana, who was staying in Riverhold as she said, "Troy's got it covered here. I need to head back and help Riverhold grow a bit more."
However, the morning of the trip, just as we were preparing breakfast, it started to rain. What started as a light drizzle quickly turned into a full downpour. We went inside and discussed what we should do about the trip.
"I think we should delay the excursion until the rain stops. " Diana said, "It'll be terrible pulling a cart in the rain, and if the ground's become muddy, it'll get stuck and take forever."
"That sounds good," Conner said, "especially since the rain could make it harder to see where we're going, and harder to hear any wild animals creeping up on us."
"We should wait one additional day after the rain stops." I suggested. At first everyone else seemed confused, but I quickly explained, "If the ground is muddy, it'll still be muddy for a bit after the rain stops, so if we want to avoid getting stuck in the mud, we should wait a bit."
Maddie nodded in agreement, and the four of us decided to postpone the trip until one day after the rain stops.
The rain didn't stop for the next four days, and during that time I spent two days primarily furnishing my house using the amber and making sure the place was water resistant. By the third day I had run out of things to do, and on the fourth day I spent a lot of the time by myself, thinking.
'Let's see, today's the 39th of Straat, so I've been gone for...6 decems and 3 days. It feels like much longer than that. I wonder how much has changed since I've been gone.'
I sat alone with my thoughts, listening to the rain when I thought out loud, "Should I stay in Riverhold too?" 'No, no, no. They'd need me to get back. But I could always go there by myself. It'd put me closer to exploring to the west like I wanted to.' I shook my head a few times, 'No, I've already said I'd stay here a while longer. I'm still young, I have time to explore around before I'd get old. I'll spend two more years here. That seems like a good amount of time. While I'm here I may as well explore east of the Holden River anyways. There was so much we found on the way here, and we barely got a taste of what there is.'
I took and released a deep breath. Now I had a plan, something certain where I can both be a part of the town and explore. I spent the rest of the day relaxing in my house, and the day after, when the rain stopped, double checking everything I needed to bring.
We set out early in the morning. The sun wasn't visible from behind the mountains, but its light shone brightly on the sea nearby. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jack and Troy were up early enough to see us off.
"Really making us get up early to see y'all off, aren't ya?" Mr. Smith said with a yawn.
"Well we didn't ask you to get up this early," Diana snapped back.
"It's really not that big a deal." I said, "We would've been fine if you didn't."
"Yeah but," Mr. Smith stopped, "let me complain like the old fart I am."
"You're only 40 something!" Diana retaliated.
"Anyway," Jack said, rubbing his eyes, "keep safe kiddos. Make sure you get Diana back in one piece."
"They don't need to worry about her," Troy whispered under his breath, "she's tougher than stone."
"I heard that Troy," Diana said with a smile, "and you better believe it."
"I would say that each person leaving is more capable than most," Mrs. Smith said, "they should be fine."
After a few more exchanges, the four of us set off. Since I knew where I was going this time, I could avoid taking any long, roundabout paths and take the most direct route, which should cut our travel time almost in half.
As proof of this, on the third day of travel, we encountered a familiar area, which before I thought to be a five day trip.
"Hey Prez," Maddie said, "isnt that--"
"Yeah it is." I responded.
"It's what?" Conner asked.
"It's an abandoned Royal Spidder nest." Maddie said, "Prez and I looked around inside a bit when we passed by after we first left Riverhold."
"Oh yeah, I think you mentioned it a while back at dinner." Conner said, gripping the sword at his waist, "You sure it's abandoned?"
"Yes I'm sure." I said as he began to relax his grip, "There's no reason to worry."
"Wait why didn't you kids tell me about it?" Diana asked.
"Well," Madeline began, "we only mentioned it once, and we got scolded my Mrs. Smith for doing something that dangerous, so unless you were asleep I doubt you would miss it "
Diana turned her back and said, "Anywho, let's set up here tonight," and then mumbled something under her breath as she walked to a flat patch of dirt a few yards from the tree.
While Maddie and Bravo set up a fire for dinner, I used the amber to grow some nearby vines into an eating area. While I was doing this, I sensed something in the direction of the abandoned nest. I turned to see what it was, but its presence quickly faded the moment I turned my head. I continued finishing the eating area, adding a rain cover just in case, but stayed on guard just in case it wasn't a random animal I sensed.
After everyone had finished dinner, and Maddie and Diana were asleep, I went to Conner told him about what I sensed.
"Hey Conner, you might want to be on guard tonight."
"Why what's wrong? Is it about the nest?"
"Yeah, I sensed something over there earlier, but it ran off when I turned to get a better look. I hope its nothing, but I'm gonna go check it out."
Conner nodded, "Alright then. I'll stay here in case anything comes running out, but if you're gone too long I'm coming to get you."
"Okay," I paused, "If I'm not back in four hours--"
"One" Conner said holding up his finger, "If you're not back in an hour I'm going to look for you."
"Are you sure? There could be a lot in there."
"If I wasn't ready to jump into danger, I couldn't call myself a member of the guard."
I smiled and nodded, "See you in an hour then."
"Be careful in there." I heard from Conner as I headed to the tree.
By the time I had gotten to the tree, I could sense a large number of creatures inside, at least two dozen. One of which was much more potent than the others, so much so it sent chills down my spine. I couldn't see inside, and didn't want to be attacked immediately, so I shaped my staff into a spear, about three yards long and I thrust the tip into the entrance. It hit nothing but empty air, even when I traced it along the edges of the entrance. I shrunk it back down to a usable size and took a deep breath. 'Okay, so I won't get jumped by anything. Guess there's only one thing left to do,' I thought as I stepped into the darkness of the no-longer-abandoned nest.