Chapter Eighteen - Merchants and Monsters

CHAPTER 18

I was thrust out of the dream when Drew returned a kick to my boots, which oddly reminded me of Rose. The whisper stilled echoed in my ears, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had heard that voice before.

“Time to go, sleepy head.” Grace and Drew had already packed up their things from their rest and were waiting on me. Grace laughed at me while I rummaged around frantically attempting to gather my stuff up to leave. I took one last look at the stone statues and followed closely behind the group back onto the dirt road.

“I’m really starting to not like walking.” I joked, while I jogged up next to Grace. She brushed her hair out of her fiery eyes and gave me a side-eye.

“It would be a lot faster if we didn’t have to fight these small fry every thirty minutes.” She retorted. It’s true, there seemed to always be a small dog monster, or a man eating worm that would jump at us from the woods. It was like we had a “Free Lunch!” note stuck to our backs. Usually, Drew or I could take it out with our simple swords.

“Yeah the road welcome committee’s been a bit hyperactive,” I said while sending a rock into the trees. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a break from all the ‘fun’” I bumped Grace playfully.

“You have an odd definition of fun, Leo.”

I shrugged, matching her pace. “Maybe I just like the company.” I teased.

Grace huffed, turning her gaze back to the road. “You are impossible,” she turned back towards Drew who was picking his nose while lost in thought. “There is your company,” she giggled.

Nice one Drew, way to clutch up for the team.

The rhythm of our feet hitting the ground was getting way to familiar. Drew seemed to be just as bored as I was, we kicked the occasional rock back and forth as we walked. Grace searched the tree line on edge as she always did.

That’s when I heard it.

The gentle creak of wooden wheels and a sweet laugh carried towards us by the breeze. As they rounded the bend and spotted us, the wagon came to a halt. It was brightly decorated with colourful cloths. Beside the wagon was a tall, middle-aged man with a huge hat and a thick brown beard that I am sure could hide mountains of food. Beside the man on the bench of the wagon, was a girl, no older than ten in a checkered sun dress, she chatted excitedly about something as she waved her hands around. A younger boy, perched on the back of the wagon, was watching behind them.

The man hushed the girl, and waved his hands at us, giving a friendly wave. “Ho, there, adventurers!” he called out, his voice rich and loud. “Hope the road treats you well.” He boomed as they moved closer.

Grace raised an eyebrow at him “It’s been… crowded,” she replied, her hand hovered over the small dagger she kept strapped to her waist. “We are peaceful, if you are.” she continued.

“Peaceful is good!” the man chuckled. “Especially on these roads. Not everyone’s so lucky with all these monsters roaming around lately!” He tapped the axe on his hip.

“Tell me about it,” I joined in.

The man picked up his pace and the wagon and horse followed in stride. His grin was infectious. “Name’s Bronn,” he smiled, offering a handshake to Grace. She obliged, it was a shot to my ego that he instantly knew she was the leader of our traveling group. “I’m a merchant, on my way to the capital. And these,” he motioned to the two kids, “are my children, Echo and Finn.”

Echo, the girl, gave us a ecstatic wave, she had curly brown hair that bounced as she talked. “Dad’s exaggerating. We have only seen a couple of monsters here and there, but nothing that could scare me.” She puffed out her chest like she was showing us just how brave she was. We all gave a little chuckle at her antics. Finn on the other hand, had taken the hiding spot behind his father’s leg.

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“I’m Leo,” I said, waving at Finn. “This is Grace and Drew.” I pointed to Drew, “He may look scary, but he’s a big softy.”

“Hey!” Drew said while he searched for something to presumably throw at me. That earned a laugh from Finn, and he seemed to relax a little.

“You heading to the capital as well?” Drew asked.

Bronn nodded, adjusting his hat to block out the rays of sun that found their ways through the trees. “Aye, we are. Gotta make a living somehow. The capital always has the best customers, they also have the type of people that buy what I sell!” He winked.

Grace, the self-appointed leader of our group butted in, “Rare finds? What do you sell?”

Bronn had already prepared himself for the question and took a stance of showmanship as he prepped his customer service speech. “Ah, you got a sharp mind. Well, nothing illegal, if that’s what you are worried about. Just a few enchanted trinkets and rare herbs I pick up from dungeon goers who lose to me in gambling games.”

Echo grinned, obviously proud of her dad. “Dads got a special nose, specifically for treasure! He can spot a rare plant from miles away.” She beamed, opening her arms as wide as possible in an attempt to show us.

“Mind if we join you?” Bronn asked, “You guys look like quite the strong adventurers.” Grace shared a solid look with us and nodded. The atmosphere seemed a little tense, so I chimed in.

“We would appreciate the company.” I said, smiling.

We continued down the road together, Echo had Drew in a whirlwind of a one-sided conversation, but he seemed content, occasionally smiling when she made sound effects of battles or trades her dad had been in. She switched topics fast to the lifestyle of us adventurers. Her eyes sparkled as she asked Drew about the monsters we had fought, the spells we could cast, and if we had ever fought a dragon. Not great news to hear that dragons exist here. Drew was loving it, Bronn chatted with Grace about the types of plants and their effects. After walking for awhile, he veered the conversation. “Speaking of adventure, you might be a little interested in something I picked up a few weeks ago,” he said, reaching into his pack. “It’s a plant called Astrivis, named after the Goddess Astrith.”

Grace gave a small skip of excitement. He pulled out a small cloth pouch and carefully opened it, revealing a small bundle of blue roots. “This little beauty here is a healer’s best friend. You grind it up into a paste and put it over wounds. Stops the bleeding right away and quickens healing by days, maybe even a week. Hard to find though, only grows in monster-infested forests. But if you have a good eye,” he pointed to his own, “you can spot it.”

Grace leaned in and inspected the roots closely. “Only seen these once, they must cost a fortune.” she said, her voice now carried some respect. “How’d you get your hands on that?”

“Like I said, sharp eyes and a lot of luck,” he chuckled, “won fifteen bundles of them off some famous adventurer in a game of dice.” He added with a smirk, clearly proud of his winnings.

“Can I see it?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. Bronn handed me the bundle and I felt the moisture coming off the roots. They still held the faint presence of Aether, I just couldn’t tell which kind.

“Keep it,” Bronn said, surprising me. “It’s good to have someone out here who knows the value of it, plus I have a bunch more in the wagon.”

I stuttered out a thank you as I carefully tucked them into my pack, those could definitely come in handy especially with how often I seemed to get hurt.

“Here is the real masterpiece of my haul this year,” Bronn continued. “I’ve also got something… a little more impressive.” He rummaged through his pack again, turning away to provide some excitement. This time, he pulled out a small flat jagged grey stone engraved with runes that glowed faintly purple in the setting sunlight. I heard Grace audibly gasp.

“This here,” he said, holding up the stone for us to look at, “is a teleportation rune. Won it off that same adventurer in a card game. He wasn’t even sure what he had, good thing it found its way to a knowledgeable owner.”

That caught Drew’s attention, and he basically jumped over the wagon in order to join the conversation. “No way. That thing can actually teleport someone?”

Bronn grinned, Finn and Echo puffed their chests proudly as well. “Aye, it can. I unfortunately do not possess the Aether to be able to use it, but its incredibly valuable, you need some crazy Aether control for it, and it’s a three-time thing. You think of where you want to go, and poof,” he made a disappearing gesture with his hands, “you’re there. The only downside is if you are not careful you could end up stuck in the ground or halfway in a wall of some sort.” He chuckled darkly.

Graces jaw couldn’t fall any lower. “I’ve never seen rune stones before.” She quickly closed her mouth and averted her eyes to make it look like she wasn’t that impressed. “Not bad.”

We continued walking as the sun dipped lower, casting the path ahead in deep orange hues. We finally agreed to stop to make camp before it got too dark. We found a small clearing by the side of the road and set up. Bronn pulled the wagon to the side, Finn and Echo hopped down to help their dad look for firewood.

We all settled in, the crackling fire throwing shadows against the trees, I would watch as embers rose up and disappeared into the night sky. We agreed Drew would have the first watch and I laid there wondering about the usual things. Home, Rose, Magic, and Claire. I would start to drift off, but the occasional crack of twigs would wake me up.

I didn’t realize I fully drifted off until I woke up to a harsh whisper.

“Leo. Leo, wake up.”

My eyes snapped open to find Grace crouched next to me, her face tense. I sat up, rubbing my eyes against the dim light of a dying fire. Drew was clutching his sword.

“What is it?” I whispered, keeping my voice low.

“There are many eyes on us.” Grace jerked her chin towards the woods, my eyes still couldn’t make out what was there.

I stared into the dark, that’s when I saw them. Three figures, cloaked and hooded, standing just beyond the trees. I could feel Aether being used.

“Who…” I gulped,” who are they?”

Grace’s tone was serious and unwavering. “Mages. And Bad Ones.”

Bronn and his family were still asleep, they were huddled together between us and the Mages. My heart was pounding in my chest, I slowly put on my pack and clutched my sword. My fingers had barely brushed its handle when one of the cloaked mages broke the tree line.

“Hand it over,” he smiled behind his hood. I still couldn’t make out his face, “or things will get…unpleasant.”