It had been a few days since the funeral concluded. Two weeks since that fateful day. Now I found myself walking on a muddy road, flanked by thick forest on each side.
I don't even think you could even call this a road. It was more like a rough trail, a somewhat clear path through an otherwise dense forest.
Insects buzzed and crawled around. Mosquitos were abundant as well. Fortunately the protection barriers I cast on the adventurers and myself kept those little demons from sucking on our blood.
Speaking of the adventurers, they insisted that I rode with them on their wagon. I declined, thinking that walking would be a better, healthier experience.
It wasn't. I don't even know why I used health as a reason either. From what I could deduce, I was healthier than any of them combined.
And two of them were elves. Still, I didn't want to ride with them.
Tov held the reins of the mules while Redtail, Dalinah, and Gred sat on the cart.
I walked alongside the adventurers and their wagon, occasionally pulling the wagon out of the mud whenever it got stuck.
That happened a lot.
Before we left, I insisted on replacing their wagon. I couldn't replace their horses, I had none, but at least the wagon could be better.
Especially since my Sentinels stumbled upon it at one of the cave entrances. It had turned over its side due to the storm, spilling out most of the supplies they stored and tearing the cover off. There were also signs of looting, probably from the goblins.
It was supposed to be a covered-wagon. Now it was just a rickety wagon. Fortunately the mules were found not too far away, huddled behind some bushes. The fact they survived the storm and somehow didn't run away was fortunate for the adventurers indeed.
Gred, the party leader, was adamant in his refusal, saying that it would be suspicious if they went back with a different, better wagon.
I found it absurd, but I pressed the issue no further.
"You know, I'm starting to regret not taking you up on your offer, Mr. Viduri." Gred said. He was leaning on the edge of the cart, looking bored.
"I'm glad that brain of yours is finally working." Tov said from the front.
"I told you, with Mr. Viduri as our witness, we don't need to look as if we went through hell." Redtail added.
Gred rolled his eyes. "We did go through hell, remember?" He was a formal, impressionable man just a few days ago. It seemed like the struggles of adventuring often made you... childish.
I could see it in the way these adventurers acted. The constant fidget, sometimes too minor to notice at a glance. The constant teasing and jokes.
A proven and tested method of coping with stress. Yet again, could I blame them? As far as they were concerned, they went through hell.
Even if they just stood by and watched.
"Mr. Hermit offers gifts. You don't deny those gifts." Tov said before sipping on a jug of beer that he had sitting to his side. I could already smell the alcohol from his mouth. Gred didn't want any beer on the cart, but as soon as I offered a barrel there wasn't anything he could do against an enthusiastic and seasoned dwarf.
"First of all, you insulted him like a week ago," Gred said before holding two fingers up, "And two, you're a drunkard. The way to your heart is through beer."
"He's a dwarf," Redtail chimed in, "They're all drunkards. It's in their blood."
Tov laughed, "When a dwarf bleeds, he bleeds beer. If he doesn't, then he hasn't drunk enough!"
Gred made a face, "Every single time you say that, you worry me."
As the three continued their banter, my gaze settled on Dalinah. She was tucked in the corner of the wagon, wrapped in the wooly blanket I gave her. She had healed from her burns, but her eyes had remained distant ever since the funeral.
She blamed herself. I could tell as much. But even if I reassured her that it wasn't her fault, she wouldn't believe me. I was not her friend. If her friends insisted that she be left alone for now, then so be it.
The world was a dark place. If what I saw was true, then it would only get darker.
"Is visiting this village really necessary?" I asked, causing the adventurers to fall silent.
"Yeah," Gred said after a moment, "We need to inform them that the goblins are gone. And that we weren't able to rescue any survivors." The last part made the elf frown.
"A shame really, if we had known that they were waiting for us, maybe we could've done something different." Redtail said, adding to the growing gloom.
"There's nothing we can do about it now. What matters is, with the help of Mr. Hermit over here, we were able to wipe them out." The dwarf said, attempting to lift the mood.
"I thought we agreed to stop calling him, Mr. Hermit?" Gred asked with a brow raised.
"Eh, it fits him better. Isn't that right Mr. Hermit?"
I nodded at the dwarf, ignoring the tease, and retreated back to silence.
The repeated mention of these survivors often poked my mind. Did my sentinels stumble upon any? Or were they already dead when they found them? Dalinah mentioned that they found survivors back in the cottage, but they were killed right after. Not to mention the spell I used to clear everything out.
How did I not know of the goblins in the first place? They were basically on my doorstep.
Only Barleyon and Wheatley cared enough to inform me. Didn't I have wards in place? What were my sentinels doing all this time?
All of this was pointing to one single conclusion.
I was getting careless. That had to change.
The trek through the forest wasn't a bad experience. A part of me longed for it. I had spent countless years behind those mountains, cultivating and taming a land shielded from the outside world.
For what reason? I thought there was none. None that mattered at least.
It was my first time leaving my lands behind. I wasn't leaving them unattended or undefended, however. My sentinels had grown eager, constantly patrolling the misty heights and setting up positions all over the city. Some even took it upon themselves to observe groups of helpers. That never happened before. The Sentinels mostly kept to themselves in the past, standing by at predetermined positions.
Maybe that was part of the reason why our defenses were so... blind. None had initiative.
But ever since losing Wheatley and the other helpers, a significant number of them had changed.
The helpers, meanwhile, were as enthusiastic as the Sentinels, if not more so. Led by Barleyon, they had begun construction of a taller, stronger wall in the valley that was created in the aftermath of my battle with the abomination.
At first I was unsure what to do with it. It opened my home to the world. I could've used my magic to build the mountain up again, but I decided that, with what I saw back in the breach, that may not be the best decision.
If the world was to survive what was to come, if it ever came to that, then my lands must not be sealed.
However, the question still remained. Did this world deserve it?
I would find out, sooner or later. I had to deal with these Shards first. If these continued to exist, then the world would surely end.
When? I didn't know. But it was coming. They were coming. That abomination wasn't lying.
Things weren't going to be easy. Thousands of years had passed. A new world had dawned. A world without gods. A world without mankind. A world without me.
A new world meant new dangers. New unknowns for me to consider.
As the hours went by, the forest began to thin. A small settlement surrounded by rotting palisades soon came into view, settled atop a small hill. There were a few fields around it, rotting and destroyed. It seemed like only one watchtower remained standing after the storm.
"There she is, the furthest village to the east." Tov said before slapping the reins.
"Seems like the storm hit them pretty hard." Gred said as he looked on.
I activated my keen senses, gazing past the walls to see whether anyone was alive.
Fortunately, they were. There were about a hundred of them, a modest number for a village, especially one this far east.
As we drew nearer, two people on the lone watchtower saw us. They gestured at the village and soon enough, the gates were opened.
It was a village of beastkin.