The dawn came quickly enough, and despite Jack's protests to sleep just a bit longer, they both roused themselves and set upon difficult tasks. They cleared their camp, packed all their new supplies, and even buried the kobolds they had slain. When all was accounted for, and after a very brief breakfast, they traveled west. Robert reasoned that if the mountains to their east were a natural border it would be smarter to move away from it, than potentially get there and face an impossible climb or passage.
"What if we're the only humans left around?" Jack started, traipsing just a few feet behind his travel partner as they headed toward a dense patch of trees.
"What?" Robert sighed in his response. It was far too early in their trip for the day for these kinds of questions.
"What if we're the only ones around? What if all the other humans are gone or went extinct or something?"
"There's an old guy on the coins you found."
"Yeah but the coins look old too. What if there are just like, half-human people around at best. Like half humans half lizards. Ooh, what if all the humans were turned INTO those little lizard guys?" If Jack was a dog, his tail would be wagging.
"You know I can't tell if you don't think before you speak, or if you think too much before you speak. It really is amazing, how you do that."
"Thanks, I think I'm amazing too."
"Oh good, we're staying humble." Robert rolled his eyes and pointed at the forest they were approaching. The trees were tall and wide, untouched and unfelled by any hand save God's.
"Look. I don't know what we're gonna find in here, so let's try and keep our heads on a swivel, and stay alert alright? Besides something horrible jumping out at us, keep an eye for a source of clean water, ok?"
"I think you worry too much. We're in storybook land, things always just work out in those."
"Yeah Hansel and Gretel had a wonderful walk through the woods, you're right."
"Yeah but that was in Germany, all their stories are fucked up. This place doesn't look anything like that, it looks more like…" Jack took a long moment to glance around at the tall pines, painted on sky, distant mountain peaks and verdant fields of grass across rolling hills, parsing it in his mind against all the media he had consumed in his previous life. "...looks like Switzerland actually."
"Woah man, got me!" Robert threw up his hands as they walked in mock surrender. "It does kind of look like it though." He had to admit.
The forest envelopes them completely as they break through the thick foliage and plum into the canopy covered woodland. They fantasize about what dark and terrible creatures that might lurk in the many shadows made beneath the haze of pine needles and thick branches. What fey being has called this place home for a thousand thousand years? What enchanting beauty would lull them into a false sense of security? Would some many-jointed appendage grasp one of them from the darkness, to be pulled into a web suspended fifty feet above the ground? Would silvery beams and flashing teeth stalk them on their walk about?
They came to know an uneasy silence in this place. Fear of the unknown held their tongues, and the idle crunching or skittering of some animal froze them periodically in their tracks. They walked for many hours this way, as it was a slow and thorough pace into and through the uncharted.
Fortune does eventually find them, as they crest into a clearing to a small pond of still water, fed by some unseen tributary. Light poked through the clearing above them and gave the pond an ethereal spotlight; it glittered there before them invitingly, promising fresh, and cool nourishment.
Our duo knelt at the edge of that clearing for a moment, shoulder to shoulder, and whispered quietly to each other.
"Ok I'm starting to see it your way, this is definitely a trap." Jack mused.
"I don't think the kraken is gonna spring from the pond, stop making me seem paranoid. We're just gonna watch for a minute to make sure it's…safe. We need the water either way." Robert nodded, more to himself than his compatriot.
The clearing wasn't terribly large in comparison with the surrounding forest; twenty yards in diameter at most. Many moments passed between the boys as they watched nothing happen, and listened only to that soft silence. Another moment passed and that soft silence carried an edge in the distance, and then it grew into the sound of leaves crunching, and the sound grew heavier as it approached them from across the glade.
Heavy steps turned into stomps and then near frantic trudging as a bloodied creature burst through the edge of the wood across from them, stumbled and then crawled on hand and knee to the water to drink.
It was easily seven foot tall, and vaguely shaped like a man, but covered in gray-green hair and sported a long snout, like a dog's or a wolf, filled with gnashing misshapen fangs and teeth. It was all corded muscle and long limbs; hands ending in five furry clawed fingers and moving about on digitigrade legs, bending backwards in a cruel simulacrum of both man and beast.
Unlike the kobolds they encountered earlier, it was significantly more armed and armored. It wore a rusted set of chainmail for a shirt, and sported padded gambeson legs. A huge two handed club with a bulbous spiked head had been tossed to the ground next to the edge of the pond. It bent its long snout down and lapped up water into its mouth. Blood drained out of several small wounds in its side and as it turned to collapse and lay on its side, the boys could see it was missing its left eye. A hollow opening, now filled with blood and puss was all that was left, and the creature palmed the wound to stymie the bleeding, panting harder and harder as time went on.
The boys shared hushed whispers, and drew their swords as quietly as they could from their concealment.
"What the fuck is that?" Robert rasped out.
"It's a gnoll. I've seen these before in games." Jack whispered his reply.
"It's injured. If we're quiet, we could get the drop on it." Robert had started to move from their hiding spot when Jack grabbed him by the arm.
"Wait wait wait. This thing didn't do anything to us, we shouldn't kill it."
Robert paused for a moment and considered the options, before asking. "If this thing saw us first, and wasn't bleeding out everywhere, would it have the same opinion?"
"Probably not. Gnolls are like, asshole ambush hyena berserker guys." Jack admitted.
Robert leveled a look at his friend, as if to say 'well that's that then' and starts to move from concealment again, leaves rustling slightly as he's snatched once more.
"Well still, wait hold on. He's dying, why don't we just wait and not risk it? He's got what, an hour, tops?" Jack pleaded.
"What if he's got friends? What if whatever did that to him is way worse and finds this spot? We take him out, quietly, quickly, get whatever supplies this thing has, get our water, and get out of here." Robert responded tersely, raising his voice ever so slightly to end the conversation.
In the midst of their hushed argument, the large gnoll had caught a scent on the wind. He rose and collected his greatclub, raised his nose to the air and sniffed about for what was undoubtedly his next victim. He checked behind him; old blood and sweat. He checked the pond; sweet flowers and cool water. He checked passed the pond, his nostrils flaring as he sucked in air. Ah there it was, the familiar smell of human meat and fear. He bounded toward the smell and mid stride he could see them, two blurry figures just inside the treeline. Blood streamed down his face, and his depth perception was shot, but he had enough to go on, enough sight to swing his club and tear and bite with tooth and claw.
The gnoll fell upon our duo with a crazed and maddened speed, dropping the weight of its greatclub into the dirt just left of Robert's head. Dazed momentarily by the suddenness and ferocity of the attack, Robert fell backwards and scrambled away from the inevitable back handed swing that whizzed past him.
Jack rose and thrust his sword out at the beast, catching it in the shoulder and forcing out a pained howl, but not slowing it much at all. In its crazed state the beast-man was blood drunk and delirious. It thrust out a kick to catch Jack in the side with its powerful legs, snapping a floating rib and forcing the boy to double over.
The club came up and overhead again, and threatened to flatten the young blonde swordsman, but a slice at the back of the gnoll's ankles from Robert's sword forced it to an awkward knee and the club clattered uselessly to the ground. Jack saw his moment and thrust his blade roughly in the gap of the armor at the neck; tearing into tough muscle and drowning the creature in blood and iron.
Robert grasped the beast by the tuft of mane at the back of its neck and yanked it, tossing the thing to the ground away from the both of them. It gurgled as the blood pooled in its mouth and still vainly tried to crawl toward them. Its eye missing, its side pierced, its throat all but torn away, the thing peered at them with hate, opened its jaw and let out a gurgled, piercing laugh, and then collapsed dead.
The entire conflict was over in a flash; a brief glimpse into the violent lives of such creatures. Our duo took a moment to catch their breath, and in doing Jack fell flat on his back, clutching at his right side.
"Goddam that hurt!" Jack moaned and pressed his lips together to stifle a louder grimace of pain.
Robert slid to his friend's side. "Shit man, did he get you? Move your hands, lift your shirt." He examined the wound closely; there were a few shallow cuts where the beast's claws had cut through fabric and skin, but nothing major. When Robert gingerly touched his friend's side with his fingers, Jack recoiled and groaned in pain again.
"You fractured a rib, one of the small ones probably. I don't see anything else though." Robert informed him.
"Damn doc.." Jack groaned as he talked, but powered through to finish his joke. "...you gonna have to amputate it?" He chuckled softly at himself, which just made him wince more.
"Smart ass. You'll be fine. I'd say wrap it and get some bedrest but.." The brunette glanced around at the formerly peaceful glade. "But you're just gonna have to soldier on."
Jack starts to rise but a palm stops him and Robert pats his chest for a moment. "Not yet. Take a rest for a minute. I'll check out the loot, get us some water." He holds up a single finger. "Now I only owe you one."
Jack mumbled something vaguely rude under his breath, which just caused Robert to smile as he set himself to the new tasks. First he double checked to make sure the gnoll was truely dead, and not just dying. When he was satisfied with the answer, he rolled the beast onto its back and started to go through its effects.
The gnoll, wherever it came from, was kitted out for battle. Other than the chain shirt, padded armor, and the greatclub it didn't carry anything. Robert itched at the side of his chin.
No rations. No water. It either stashed its supplies or it lives close to here.
The young swordsman looked back at his blonde friend, with eyes shut and hand gripping his side, and then glanced toward the direction the gnoll came from. He could leave him be for just a minute.
Following the snapped branches, footprints, and blood trail into the woods to the gnoll's supply drop was easy enough. Buried too quickly under a small pile of twigs and leaves was a sack made of gray-green fur, twine, and robe, near full to bursting. Robert pulled the single draw string to reveal its contents and made a rather satisfied "ooh" at what he saw inside.
Returning to his friend, he patted him with his foot to get his attention and turned the bag inside out, dumping the contents onto the ground between the two of them.
"You were right, don't gloat." Robert cut off that avenue of verbal jousting before it could even begin.
Laying there on the ground was a crude bottle, a small velvet bag bursting with bright silver coins, and a crude map of the area.
"Oh shit, more money." Of course, this was the first thing Jack noticed, reaching out from his reclining position to snatch one of the coins and inspect it.
Unlike the others he found, this one still had some luster to it. It was a similar design but had a different face on the side; not an old man but a more refined and regal like man. The back held the same lion but with more detail and embellishment.
Robert sat down next to him and held the crude map out for them both to examine. It roughly detailed some camp in the hills north of the woods they were in, and marked a road and what appeared to be a city to their south, with a section of the road circled closest to the forest edge.
"Whatever little group this fella was in ambushed somebody from the trees, but I'm guessing it didn't go to plan." Robert explained, dragging a finger around the map to illustrate. "We've gotta be getting close to this road, maybe we can find whatever poor soul got jumped and then move south to get to this town. How you feeling?" He looked to Jack, who gave a thumbs up and came all the way to a sitting position, twirling the little coin between his fingers.
"I'll be fine. I'm like a man in the desert that's just been told fried chicken is over the next dune."
"I want to ask but I'm not going to."
"Well if you're dying in the desert and then you find out there's foo-" Jack gets interrupted by Robert standing.
"Oh darn, I've gotta fill up this bottle with water, shucks what a shame." He snatched the crude thing and made his way to the pond, found the running source of it and filled the bottle from there. Jack collected himself, then the rest of the coins, and got ready to set out.
"Hey what about the chainmail?" Jack called out, pointing at their defeated foe.
"Too big! Too heavy too!" Robert called back, and the duo nodded their agreement.
Properly hydrated, laden with hard earned loot, and now with some guidance, the boys find their way out of the dense forest and to the marked road as the sun begins to set. It was wide enough to have six men walk abreast, and seemingly well traveled. Not cobbled, but certainly paved down by many travelers over a long period of time.
Following their makeshift guide, our duo find the grizzly scene left behind by the gnolls as they move further south. A canvas covered wagon pulled by a pair of horses it tipped over, its wooden boxes and barrels filled with fine silks and spilled wines scattered all over the road. A trio of human guards, armored in half-plate, lay motionless alongside a pair of gnolls; their guts spilled out across the dirt below. The merchant, a middle aged balding fellow in fine clothes and finer jewelry, sits against the tipped wagon missing his throat entirely. Even the horses didn't get far; one lay in the grass just off the road with an arrow in its heart and the other was caught in its harness, legs mangled and side crushed in by some giant unknown bludgeon.
"Jesus.." Jack mutters as they step closer, slow and delicately, over and around the blood and bodies.
Robert turned over a few of the bodies, to check for survivors and insure that the gnolls were all dead. Meanwhile Jack made his way around the side of the wagon, torn open and tipped over to peer inside. He heard ruffling inside and drew his sword, prepared for the worst.
He flipped the canvas out of the way and was shocked not to see a horrible dying hyena-man, but a frightened girl roughly his age. She cowered behind one of the overturned boxes, her eyes shut tight, trying to make herself as small as possible.
"Woah, hey, easy there, you're alright." Jack sheathed his sword and held out both his hands to show he wasn't a threat. Robert heard the commotion and made his way toward that side of the wagon, but was stopped in his tracks by his companion holding out a hand in his direction.
Slowly the girl opened her eyes and eased her way out from her hiding spot. "Who…who are you?" Her voice was soft and mousy. Her long blue dress had been slightly torn from the scuffle of it all, and her curly blonde hair had been thrown into a wild dishevel.
Jack slowly lowered his hands. "I'm Jack. My…" He glanced briefly out of her view at Robert, unsure what to call him, or how much to tell her. "..my partner and I tracked a gnoll back to your wagon. Are you hurt? Can you tell me your name?"
A few harried breaths escaped the young woman as she tried to calm herself, but the effort was futile. Tears began to well in her eyes and then fell down her face as she started. "My..my name is Lisa Haussegger. My father and I were…" She took a ragged breath and fought her way through it. "My father and I were co-coming back to town when the wagon tipped over, and then there were all these…these terrible sounds and he told me to hide and then I didn't hear…"
She broke into full blown sobbing then, and covered her face in her hands and doubled over into her own lap. Jack and Robert shared a sympathetic, pained, look. No one this young should be put into this kind of situation. Jack crawled into the small little opening of the wagon and patted the girl on her shoulder, offering her soft coos and gentle shushes.
"You'll be alright.." he assured her. Instinctively she clung to him, and through all her frantic tears and short breaths did not let him go. Unsure of what else to do, Jack wrapped his arms around her and continued his soft platitudes. "It'll be ok. I'll make sure nothing happens to you. You'll be ok…"
Robert looked at their embraced silhouettes through the thin canvas, and ever the pragmatist, started moving bodies around and clearing the area. He had never been good at comforting others, or offering condolences, and had a bad habit of keeping himself busy despite what was going on around him.
After Lisa had calmed down and come out of the wagon, the duo led her away from the carnage. They would not let her see the state of her father, and told her it was better that way. They promised her they would come back and collect his body, and were unsure if that was a white lie or not. Still, with the grim business now literally behind them, they had burning questions for her.
Showing her the map, Robert pointed at the only marked city on it. "Where is this?"
"Moonveil?" She pushed what tears remained out of the corners of her eyes and considered the question. "It's down the road, that's where we were going. You've never been?" She gave them both a curious expression. She was fairly short, barely cresting over five foot tall, but had already come fully into her figure; with the full bosom and hips of a comely young woman.
The duo shared a glance. They hadn't discussed what they would tell people. Jack started first. "We're from-" Robert finished the thought for him. "-from very far away."
"I assume you must be, if you were to get this lost from whence you came."
The three of them began to make their way down the road, and then just off of it to make a camp as the darkness crept in.
"What kind of place is it?" Jack had asked, building a small fire for them and locking eyes with Lisa. Gray eyes, he noticed, and thought that odd.
She had spent a lot of the time since they stopped hugging her knees and trying to not to picture what she hadn't truly seen. The conversation was a nice distraction, and she was happy to be distracted by it.
"Moonveil? I thought you two were burgeoning adventurers?" She cocked her head at him; Robert away at the moment to gather more firewood.
"Uhh, we are. We've just never been there, I mean."
Nice save Jack. He chided himself.
"Oh! It's a lovely town, and while I wasn't born there I do consider it home. I'm sure you know this but it's famous for producing many famous heroes and legendary figures. Naturally this draws people like you and…Robert?"
"Robert, yes." Jack nodded at her and motioned for her to continue, stoking the little embers into a small flame again.
She smiled at herself and sat up a little straighter. "It draws young adventurers like you and Robert from all around to try and make their fortunes. It's full of little guild halls and quaint shops, and sports a mighty keep in the middle! Quite a few retired adventurers return to the town in their twilight years to teach the next generation or to hold some office."
Jack smiled wistfully as he listened. This was exactly the kind of thing he hoped for from this place; fantastical locations with even grander histories. "It sounds incredible. Oh! I almost forgot." He produced from the large back the small sack of silver coins and tossed it to her.
Lisa caught it with a bit of a jump. "What is this?"
"They're yours. We found it on one of the first gnoll we encountered in the forest." He explained.
There was a well of emotion that played out across her face. First confusion, and then sadness, and then appreciation that turned almost to awe.
"You could have kept this, sir, and I would have never known." She held up the small bag for emphasis and jingled it.
"That wouldn't have been right. Besides, we don't know how to get there, would be kind of messed up to have you guide us and then still keep all your money."
She looked at him as though he had single handedly defeated the beasts, like one might look at some statue of a great knight. "Thank you, sir."
"Jack is fine. I'm not a sir, m'am."
"Then I insist you call me Lisa, and not m'am."
They shared another smile and began to settle in for the night. "Deal."
Robert returned later, long after the two blondes had drifted to sleep, an arm full not of firewood but of what provisions he could strip from the caravan guards and other gnolls. He quietly packed and secreted it into their other things and drifted to sleep himself, prepared for whatever this 'city' might throw at them.