CHAPTER 3

Vomp Hill overturned for the party a few hundred feet of uphill travel, a few sunburns, and a few worms. Nothing was to be found, least of all a Galka soldier. As they descended the hill, they noticed a few Goblins patrolling at the foot of the hills. They stopped for a moment, wondering what course of action they should take. Gav stood before them, and held out his hand for everyone to halt, even though they already had.

"You know if we watch ourselves, we might not have to worry about anything to do with these Gobs…" Gav whispered.

"Man, I hate Goblins!" Sern fumed.

"Why hataru that which has done nothing to you?" said Lumomo.

"You're wrong, little one. The Goblins are notorious thieves and have been ferocious murderous tribes for the tenure that I've known of them," slighted Parragoh.

"Quiet!" Gav hushed.

He moved forward to see three Goblins moving about and motioning around the lower encampment of Vomp Hill. They all scampered about, sniffing around their environs and looking everywhere that they could see. One looked up and saw where Gav's head would have been if he had not already ducked behind the huge boulder behind him. The rest of them lowered their bodies behind as to not attract attention. One made a shouting grunt and they paced forward onto the bare rock before them. They headed away at a running pace towards a pack of their cohorts overlooking the area of Morhen Lighthouse.

Gav was perturbed at this, and did not know why the Goblins would have run off so quickly. As he looked down he saw no sight of anything at all, and he decided it was safe to descend the tiny hill. It was midday, and all of the party were exhausted, had not had an ounce of rest, food, or water. Sern stared at Gav questioningly as though he was exhausted, and as Gav's forehead glistened under the sweat of the Bastokan sun, he looked up and sighed heavily.

"We'll take a breather once we get downhill towards that campsite.

We'll be pretty safe there, I'm sure."

His tone breathed heavily, and all their eyes seemed too glazed over to allow their attentions to latch on his words. Aerwyn looked down at all the exhausted members of the party and wondered why they were so wearied. While she was indeed tired of all the walking, she was not yet ready to turn in. Most of her admiration went towards Gav, and as she looked upon his body and his face, she saw in him an unmatched determination that simply made her smile wide into his deep blue eyes. To this he looked up, breathing at a slow pace, and his face did not move once. He just stayed transfixed on her eyesight. Then after motioning his hands on the ground, he proceeded to rise from what was once a hiding spot for him and his team members and his gaze met the ground he arose from. He stood firmly and overlooked the edge of the end of the hill in order to purvey it once more with his eyes as a guide to what was ahead.

He set one foot in front of the other, right to left pace, and motioned for everyone to follow by waving his right arm forward a few times. Aerwyn followed behind Lumomo and Parragoh, allowing Sern and Lillian to bring up the rear of the party. She did not want Gav to get distracted by her presence behind him at this time, as she was certain that something lurked not too far ahead of them once they begun their descent. Uncertain of what it was, they all kept pressing downhill led by the blond-haired Bastoker.

He stopped once they reached the foot of the hill. His eyes once again gazed left to right. The silence around him unsettled his senses, and he did not enjoy the sensation that he began to feel as his spine lightly shivered in an uncontained fear of what was or was not present with him. All at once the fear led to an immeasurable moment of stillness and Gav nor his party would move. They all stopped to look and let their eyes absorb that which was around them. The first noise was made, and a rock fell onto the ground not even twenty feet to the right of Gav's position. The second noise was made, and a scraping sound led by a trail of upward dust began to make itself known. Gav recognized this as footsteps, but not just any ordinary footsteps.

A thick, tall, brownish figure emerged from the side of the mountain, armed with a sword and charging at the young man. Gav jumped back as the figure swung its possession towards him in a carving fashion. The figure then arose and let out a mighty cry. They recognized it as a Quadav. Gav noticed that this one was a young one, no captain, no severe rank or otherwise noticeable potency, but nonetheless still powerful to him. Sern jumped from behind so to flank the Quad from the back right and brought out his dagger, and Parragoh reached from his back to unleash his butterfly axe and moved to the left. Gav stood before the Quad now, drawing up his gloves and noticing all three of the men were in a triangle around this beast. All were equally frightened, but equally ready. Aerwyn backed away in horror at the sight of this beast she'd never seen, and stood aback unaware of her current course of action. Lumomo quickly paced her little feet towards her Galka friend's side, while Lillian remained fixed in her position.

"I never even heard it coming," Gav said out loud.

"It's alright, young one. We shall slay it together," rumbled Parragoh.

"You guys can slay what you want, I'm taking his sword!" cried Sern.

The three looked at each other and smiled. At this instant the Quad took advantage of the situation and begun to swing at Gav, to which he merely dodged yet again. Gav brought around his left arm to lend a body blow to the beast, and the beast stood unmoved by his blow. He then jumped and led into its jaw with his right fist, to which the beast staggered back. Parragoh let out a mighty growl and let his axe fly brightly in the air as if he were dancing with it in his hands, and then it descended onto the ground with fury. The cunning beast moved out of the way before it dropped on his spot. The axe blade buried itself into the hard Gustaberg ground, and the Galka looked on it with dismay.

"Curse you foul beast! It takes time to sharpen that blade!" he shouted.

The Galka angrily charged at it, bringing out his right arm in a clothesline fashion. The Quad held out his sword as to let his foe run himself through on it, and the Galka did not see clearly enough to stop himself. He looked down and saw what his demise right before him was as his body ran uncontrollably towards the dulled bronze blade of his enemy. Suddenly his body was jerked to the right by an untold motion. He fell to the ground in a daze and was unsure of exactly how. When he looked up, he saw that Aerwyn's eyes were closed and her hands focused on his location, and he saw a mighty gust of wind blow by him. He was thankful that someone was mindful enough to save him from his own foolish rage.

Gav was outraged that this Quad was such a bother to him and his party. He also charged from the side at this hideous brown beast, fists raised high at his side. As he ran forward, the Quad moved to the side and allowed its own arm to be the thing that stopped Gav's run. Gav flew back in frenzy and dropped to the ground without hesitation. His side was bleeding from a scrape, but he failed to notice this. He was too focused on the moment of the battle to care. At this time, the Quad began to approach Gav quickly. It then cried out in pain and stopped. Gav wondered as to why until Sern ran out from the right behind it, ducking under the mighty swipe of the Quad's blade. As the Quad turned around, Gav noticed a blade sticking in his back. He got up and ran towards that spot, leaning his right shoulder into his run for all he was worth.

The Quad once again let out a piercing screech as he received Gav's shoulder tackle on its very own backside. Gav began to pummel the beasts face on the ground until it could screech no more. Breathing heavily, Gav got up and looked over the rest of his party wearily. Parragoh drew up his axe from the ground and looked on the Quad in disgust. He again brought it high over his head, and let it make a fast descent onto the neck of the Quadav. This quickly separated his head from his body, and the purple blood flowed onto the ground with intensity and thickness as this action was performed. The Galka brought his axe back up to his side and wiped its blade off with a cloth.

"No beastman blood will stain this axe if I can help it. Their blood is not worth my metal," he slowly said.

Still shocked at what had taken place, Aerwyn came back to Gav's side and noticed his injuries. She was unsure of what to say or what to do first, because she had never seen a beastman killed, and had only seen one or two Orcs in her life. She was increasingly horrified at the fight that had occurred, but most of all she seemed intrigued that Gav was able to mount and defeat this incredibly enormous and seemingly more powerful foe with just his own hands. Her black magic training was meant to enfeeble only those who posed immediate danger and as well as a way to manipulate elements, but she did not know if she ever wanted to use this knowledge or this power offensively. Now more so than ever, she felt an attachment to Gav and the rest of the people she was around if not only for the sake of defending those she would call friend, but to defend herself as well. These questions she began to pose in her mind would have to wait until later. She was still concerned about this man whose stare she could not manage to forget.

"You're hurt," she said.

"It's nothing Aerwyn," Gav whispered as he clutched his bleeding side.

"It is something, Mr. Gavain. It is an injury. And it should be treated properly, and without your stubbornness to interrupt such procedure!" she said in an impatient way.

"I'll treat it," Lillian said.

Lillian was a well-practiced white mage, and she began to conjure a cure spell to Gav to close the wound and restore him to a sense of health. He had never seen any sort of magic in action and was not certain if any of it was real or ever worked at all. As Lillian performed her spell, it cured his body and he watched his wound close. He felt complete and energized, as though he had just begun the journey. Amazed at this, he leapt up and felt completely better.

"Thanks Lillian!" Gav exclaimed.

"'Tis my duty, sir," she said.

He stood happily and bowed slightly at Lillian, to which she saluted and walked back towards her companion Sern. He looked over at Aerwyn who turned her head at him and looked away. She was angered, but he was uncertain why and began to ask.

"What's wrong?" he began.

"Nothing," she started.

"Whatever," he stammered and began to walk away.

"What?"

"Huh? I thought you said nothing was wrong?" Gav said as he looked back at her.

"What's wrong is you refused to believe you were in pain, much less let anyone try to treat it. It took someone having to investigate and make a conscious decision as to whether or not you were going to be healed instead of you just admitting to it, and that is what is wrong."

"Whoa, you're reading way too much into this. I just didn't see it as that big of a deal. Just a side scrape."

"Not that big of a deal to YOU maybe, Gavain. But an injury is something we can't sustain in a party that is always supposed to remain at full capacity. How can we expect you to lead us if you won't lower some of that stupid pride of yours?"

"You sure you're worried about me leading you, or you sure you're not just worried about me?" he said.

She did not reply to this. She just stammered and looked away. While it was true that she was worried about him being able to lead the party and be healthy, more than anything she was simply concerned about his injury and concerned for his well-being. Upon seeing him bleed she felt as if she would give even her own skin to stop him from feeling any pain, and he did not seem to understand that fact. At hearing his observation of her worry, she just made a simple reply and hid her emotion from him.

"Let's just go," she said.

"No problem," Gavain replied. He huffed slightly and turned his eyes away from her in a slight fit of frustration. This angered and saddened Aerwyn all the same time, because she did not want to see him mad at her, and she did not want him to misunderstand her intention. She simply let the emotion go and allowed herself to proceed.

"That was a bit of a scary-wary thing, Mister Gavain!" Lumomo shouted as she jumped around a bit.

"I know. Let's hope we don't encounter way too many more Quad's along the way. I don't want anything else to happen that we can't control. I know I said we'd break here, but I think we should go a little further away from this encampment and the dead Quadav's body. If any other one of them sees us, they'll trail us and send packs to kill us. We should head for the Lighthouse."

The party simply nodded. Sern grabbed his knife from the Quad's body, and took the sword from his hand and placed it on his own belt buckle.

"This should be a few Gil," he laughed.

"Thieves…" Parragoh menaced.

"What? What's wrong with making a few extra bucks?"

"It is dishonorable."

"And what's honorable about slicing someone's head off with an axe, huh ya big galoot?"

"Do not tempt me to try the same thing to you, filthy Hume!"

"That's enough!" Gav shouted. "Let's go, and let's go in peace, please."

The party was tired. They had just had their entire day shaken up by slaying a Quad, almost having Parragoh killed, and having Gav injured. Their determination now was to get to another encampment not far from Morhen. There they would rest and drink some water and get a few foodstuffs out so that they could eat. Aerwyn looked upon all the arguing and sentiments of the party and felt that she was wrong now for calling Gav out on something trivial, but that she would not say another word of it. At this point, they would just walk on and stay silent. After all, they still had the rest of the midday and night to deal with before they got to the Lighthouse or the Fumaroles.

The Lighthouse unearthed nothing for the travelers. Now they stopped and drank some of Lumomo's distilled water, and Parragoh started afire in the camp area. He began to cook some Galkan sausages, and as they slowly crisped and sizzled in the fire, the aroma rose around it and snuck its way around everyone's nostrils. Gav and Sern loved the smell, and slowly began to salivate. Lillian brought her own meal and ate in peace. The only one who seemed to be left out of any eating was Aerwyn.

"Excuse me, Lumomo," asked the Elvaan.

"Yes, Miss Aerwyn?" the Taru replied.

"You wouldn't happen to have any cabbage or any vegetables would you? I don't tend to eat meat," she said, in a quiet dry way as to not offend anyone or garner a reaction.

"Yes I do!" she said. Lumomo arose and waddled near her sack, and pulled out a head of La Theine cabbage. She brought out a small dish, poured some distilled water into it, and boiled the water near the fire. She added small pieces of the cabbage one at a time, and Aerwyn mightily enjoyed this. The taru had plenty of seasonings for her to take advantage of, which she did.

"Thank you so much!" Aerwyn exclaimed happily.

"Welcome-welcome!" Lumomo smiled.

They all ate silently and saw the sun hide under the clouds for a few minutes, beginning to fade underneath the evening sky. Gav sat, resting his body against a smooth boulder. He looked into the sky and wondered about this and many things on his mind. How the warehouse was shut down, how Mack was doing, this whole party. He did not know why it all seemed so strange to him that this was occurring, much less why it was happening at all. It was almost as if this was in someone else's plan. But it was a plan that he was unaware of, and uncertainty of the future always makes him nervous. The sun broke the clouds in two, and most of the party were again talking and laughing about things that were going on. Aerwyn took this time to meditate on the events of the day, and to look Gavain over once again. She saw that he was in deep thought, and she rose to sit beside him.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"Howdy," Gav uttered.

"I am…" Aerwyn started.

"Don't worry about it. I was wrong to be prideful. Nothing to be sorry about," Gav said with a smile.

Aerwyn was confounded at this, yet happy. She wanted to say her words, but if he knew what the context of most of the words were, then why even say them? A smile crept across her face at the knowledge that Gavain might just have some reasonable thought in his head. She leaned back on the boulder next to him and continued to look at his body, specifically his side where he had been injured. Her left hand grazed over it, and rubbed it gently to see if there was any sign of wounding. She looked up at him and withdrew her hand after seeing him smile.

"I'm still mad at you," Aerwyn said.

"Well, if you must be I cannot stop you," he replied.

He looked into her eyes now, and she could not stop looking back. His smile was even more apparent now and she felt as if she could lose her entire world inside of the eyes glowing before her. This melting sensation urged her whole body closer to his own, and all at once she began to release what was once a rational control of herself. Then Gav broke the stare quietly and got up to stretch his arms. Aerwyn still was entranced for a moment, but then allowed herself to snap out of it and clear her throat promptly.

"Are we to set camp here for the night?" she asked Gav in a short manner.

"Yeah, I think that sounds like a darn good plan to me," he answered.

Everyone set up their tents and began to wind down on their inventories, dropping and sorting through all the things they collected and brought with them through their travels. Gavain finally finished setting up his tent and looked across to the rest of the parties tents. Aerwyn entered her tent after everyone else went inside theirs, stared at Gav and decided to crack a sort of smile his way.

"Goodnight, Gavain," she said wearily.

"'Night, Aerwyn," he replied as he waved gently, smiling back.

She felt comforted at his smile and closed her tent folds. Gav stayed outside of his tent and counted the stars, allowing his own thoughts to wander and his eyes to gaze over the landscape as the night brightly emerged with a full glowing moon to settle on Gustaberg. The Lighthouse's light dimmed out, and the open deserted wilderness became untiringly quiet. A quiet breeze blew over his shoulders and hair, and Gav simply let his eyes close after a few minutes.