Austin, Jean, Cody, and Clarissa continued their way deeper into the heart of Brightwood. After a hobbe attack, Jean had come to a very important conclusion. She looked at Austin and Cody. "You two need more weapons. Ranged weapons are fine, but they are nearly useless in a close quarter fight. And both of you only have ranged weapons." Her voice sounded mildly annoyed.
"But I like my pistol. And Austin made his crossbow. What's wrong with them?" Cody asked.
Jean shook her head and answered, "Have either of you notice that Reaver sometimes carries a sword with him?" Both men shook their heads. Jean sighed, "Reaver may be a Hero of Skill but he's not stupid. He'll shoot an enemy but if one breaks through, he'll flourish with the sword and kill the enemy in one blow. I've seen him train with a sword before. I think his sword is called the Inquisitor. He used it heavily in Bloodstone and his adventures as a pirate."
Austin nodded, "I understand your point. You can't be the only person here that's armed to the teeth."
"Almost literally, "Cody muttered.
Jean smiled, "Well I did pack for battle. I even forgot extra clothes so if I have to become balverine, I'm going to have to remove these first." She gestured to her Reaver inspired clothes. "I packed food and water. Plus spare arrows and gold."
"Spare arrows? Why do you need those?" Austin asked.
Jean blinked. "So I can shoot my bow," she answered. Her tone indicated that she thought that Austin was an idiot for asking such a question. "Did you pack extra crossbow bolts?"
"No. I usually seem to have an unlimited supply of bolts. It's strange. I fire one off and another one just appears. So I always assumed that everyone was like that."
Clarissa piped up, "That is strange. I wonder why that happens."
"Who cares? The point is that it works. And would you look at that. The old Brightwood farm. I'm surprised it's still standing." Cody pointed to a dilapidated old farm. Several barns dotted the overgrown landscape.
Austin looked disappointed. "I heard that it was once the home of a legendary guard from Bowerstone. That's been ages ago though. The man's probably dead."
"Well, yeah. Didn't your grandfather help that old guard with a bandit problem?" Cody asked. Austin nodded and Cody replied, "And that's been what…75 or so years ago? So, yeah, the old guard is long dead."
"Shhh! Get down and listen. I can hear something." Clarissa ducked into some bushes. The others followed her lead. They listened carefully and, sure enough, voices could be heard coming from the farm.
"So do you think there are people in this area with those old books?" One voice asked.
The other voice answered, "I heard that Brightwood is mostly empty of human life. The only things that can be seen here are those hobbes."
"We could go back to Lord Blain and tell him about the lack of human contact we've had in this area."
"Are you mad? Lord Blain would have us killed for failing him. He'd have that girl of his, Jordan, cut our guts out. Do you want that?"
The first voice paused. "No," he answered.
"Then we should stay in these forests a while longer. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a way to open that void for him. That would make him happy."
"Happy enough that he might promote us?"
"Sure. Why not?"
The two voices slowly began to fade away as the two men drifted further into the forest and away from Austin and the others. "Okay. That was too close," he sighed in relief.
Jean removed a stick from her hair. "Well Blain hasn't gotten any closer to opening that void. And we're getting closer to Wraithmarsh and the first sword of Avo. That's progress."
Cody helped Clarissa to her feet and looked around the forest. "So we now know that Blain's goons are here. That means that we need to be careful not to draw unwanted attention to ourselves." He continued to scan the forest.
"I think we should get to the Bandit Coast quickly. I'm not keen to find out how many more of Blain's allies he has here. And Jean's right. We are under armed. Jean can't be the only one that has a sword. What I wouldn't give for a blacksmith right now." Austin swore under his breath.
"We can find a blacksmith in Westcliff. Let's go," Jean nudged Austin's arm. The group advanced cautiously past the old farm and down the path. A short time later, the Demon Door could be spotted near a pond. Or at least what was left of the Demon Door, as it appeared to have been opened some time ago.
"I wonder what was inside…" Clarissa wondered, trying to peer through the haze that was inside the Demon Door's innards. The band walked past the old door, wondering what treasure used to lie within.
The road continued to wind through the forest, past several old ruins. "What's that?" Cody pointed to what appeared to have been an ancient gargoyle that had its face shot off.
"Vandals," Austin muttered.
The arches that indicated the starting point of the Bandit Coast appeared in the distance. Jean looked up at the darkening sky. "Night will be here soon. Maybe we should set up camp for the night?" She suggested.
"So did snooty Reaver ever teach you the ways of the camper?" Cody asked, grinning.
Jean shot Cody a dirty look. "I'm a balverine. Or have you forgotten what I can do to a smug little bastard like yourself?"
"Stop fighting. I swear you two are as bad as Page and Reaver. Grow up!" Austin grumbled. A raindrop hit his cheek. "Oh good. Rain. Wonderful."
Clouds slowly began to fill in the evening sky and rain began to fall. Jean spotted a cave that the band could use as a shelter until the rain stopped. It was a dank moist cave, but luckily for the group, there were no bats. Austin huddled against a stone wall and shivered against the rain cooled air. Cody was also shivering. "Fantastic. Rain and I'm starting to get hungry," he whined.
"We all are hungry," Austin muttered. He reached for his pack and removed a bit of dried beef. "We need to keep our energy up but we also need to use as little of our supplies as possible." He nibbled on the meat.
Jean and Clarissa looked at each other. "Boys. Do us a favor and turn your heads for a second." Jean said, looking serious.
"Why?" Cody asked.
"Just do it." Jean answered.
Austin and Cody turned their heads. They could hear the sounds of clothes being taken off. Then they heard the faint sound of bones being rearranged. Austin decided to peek. But the two girls had vanished. "Where did they go?" He wondered. The footprints of the girls had transformed greatly—from petite little human feet to the monstrous feet of balverines. "Ah. They went into their balverine forms. Good. I'm betting that they decided to go hunting."
"So we have to smell wet dog when they get back?" Cody asked.
Austin's nose crinkled, "I'm afraid so. Let's get a fire started. If they are out hunting, I want my meat to be cooked."
An hour passed. The rain started to let up and stars could be seen peeking through the clouds. Austin stood by the entrance of the cave, watching for any sign of life. Then he heard a howl in the distance. A short time later, two hairy creatures, both dripping with rain and blood, came back to the cave. They were carrying a rather large deer. Cody watched as the two balverines laid the deer on the floor of the cave. "You brought us a whole deer?" He asked, amazed at the sight.
The black balverine raised her shaggy head and answered in a growl, "Would you prefer a little bunny rabbit?"She and the blooded balverine began to chuckle with laughter.
"Do you even realize how long it took us to find and track this deer?" The blooded balverine asked. Her tail swished with slight amusement.
Austin nodded, "Good job. Cody and I started a fire. Let's eat." He started to reach from the deer carcass. Jean placed a giant foot on top of the deer and growled deeply. "What is it? Come on, Jean. We're hungry."
"Don't you understand proper etiquette? The hunters always eat first. That's how it works. If you went out and killed something, we would allow you to have first choice in meat." Jean explained, still standing on top of the deer.
Cody paused, then asked, "Is that the balverine way or man's way?"
"Both," the two balverines answered at once. With that, Clarissa took her long claws and slashed open the deer's stomach. Guts poured out from the gash. Blood stained the stone floor. Jean nodded to Clarissa, who stuck her face into the deer's innards and pulled out its liver. Her fur, normally a brick red, was dripping with blood. She swallowed the liver in one gulp.
Jean grabbed a leg with her mouth and, with a snap, tore it off. She carried it off to a corner and began to gnaw on it. Austin and Cody were disgusted with the sight. But they did like deer meat. "Oh what the hell," Austin mumbled. He approached the deer and asked, "Clarissa, would you mind slicing off a piece for me?"
She answered with a grunt and slashed the deer, creating strips of meat that the two men could cook. Cody and Austin grabbed the deer steaks and placed them in the fire. They used sticks to keep the meat from burning too badly. Finally, the meat was cooked and the two men ate. Jean and Clarissa removed the broken body of the deer and carried it away from the cave so that scavengers could not find where the band was sleeping.
When they returned, Austin was pleased to find that the blood was washed away. Apparently the two had found a stream and cleaned themselves off. Once again, Austin and Cody had to turn away so that the two girls could return to their human form and dress.
"Did you enjoy your meal?" Jean asked, once she was fully dressed. She tied her hair back into a ponytail. That was one of the few ways that someone could tell her and Reaver apart.
"Yeah. I just wish it wasn't so…." Austin tried to think of the word.
"Brutal?" Cody offered.
Jean laughed, "Well at least we won't starve. Sorry about the blood. I know you humans aren't used to seeing so much blood."
"Well we better get used to it. If we have to fight Blain, there will be a lot more bloodshed that we will have to see. It's getting late. How much longer until we get to Westcliff?" Austin asked.
Jean pulled out the map and examined it. "Okay. We're at the edge of Brightwood right now and the Bandit Coast is the next area. That makes sense. I can smell the sea water from the coast. After the Bandit Coast, which shouldn't take us very long to get through, and then we'll reach Westcliff. We'll need to go through the forest to get to the main town, though. And the forest is the territory to a rather large pack of balverines. We will need to be cautious. I am not keen on starting a war with these balverines."
Austin nodded, "Let's get some sleep. We'll tackle the Bandit Coast in the morning. Hopefully by noon, we'll be in Westcliff."