Chapter 22

(Argthanaw 26th Year 672 of the 4th Age)

Merrick and Jemeir's shift goes off without any complications. They wake up Kaera and Arven for their shift and go to sleep. Few clouds are in the sky, and the full moon shines its light on the ground below. Various nocturnal insects and animals are out, and noises like crickets chirping permeate the environment. Lightning bugs flicker their bioluminescence in sundry colors around them: orange, blue, red, and yellow. Arven is inspecting his military sword, deciding to sharpen it.

Kaera gets Arven's attention. "Now that we're alone, I have a question I've meant to ask you."

"Shoot."

"What's the reason why you aren't getting along with Sylfinas?"

"I guess you still don't know. I'll give you a brief summary. My older brother died while serving Adoran on a secret mission. Sylfinas came along not soon after, and I view him as the complete opposite of the person I admired so much. All items that have associated memories with my brother are gone except for this picture." Arven reveals the photo to Kaera before hiding it. "I intend to carry on his legacy, and Sylfinas is a threat."

"A threat?"

"He's one of the examples of my parents getting rid of any traces of him in the house before the mob burnt it down."

"Just so you are aware, he's trying to get you to accept him."

"I'm aware, and he's going to have a difficult time unless he breaks his code of pacifism. That talk he had with Sariel got him to budge somewhat, but he's not fully committed. He needs to go farther."

"He'll find a way somehow."

Arven snorts in dismissal, changing the subject. "I've meant to ask you something as well. Where did you learn how to fight? You've got some skills."

"It is expected of the citizens of Canir to take up some form of combat, either melee or ranged, since the surrounding nations, besides Aeyis, view us with hostility. Some soldiers taught me, my twin brother, and other individuals from a nearby town at school. My stepfather was a prominent member of the military, and he taught my brother and me also."

"You never wear any armor, but all the hits don't affect you much. How do you do it?"

"Anger, when done correctly, can be a powerful tool." Kaera stokes the fire. "You go into a rage, and the vast majority of hits you never notice. The soldiers taught me to control my anger to allow me to do just that."

"You must've been prone to violent outbursts."

"Oh yeah. Direfenri are more aggressive compared to other Fenri, and I'm a pureblood. My brother and I would get into fights all the time, either against each other when we were younger or against other people when they picked on one or both of us. Our belligerence evolved in destructiveness as we matured, but it was mainly directed at the crowd. Our father decided to train us personally, mostly to tame it, and the school primarily taught us the skills. I was supposed to finish Canir's equivalent of boot camp to complete my training after I graduated school, and I did finish part of the course, but the Phantom Brotherhood kidnapped me." Kaera hears something call her name. "You hear that?"

"Hear what?" Arven looks around, tensing his grip on the hilt.

Kaera lowers her guard, shaking her head. "Never mind. Must be my imagination." That voice is familiar, though. Can it be? Nah. That's impossible.

Arven listens very intently to the noise of the forest. "I do not hear anything dangerous." He shrugs, resuming sharpening his sword. "Must've decided we weren't worth it."When their shift is over, the two sentries wake up Radclyff and Sylfinas and sleep. 

After their transition, Radclyff inspects Blazefury before getting up to relieve himself, and Sylfinas looks up at the sky, mainly to avoid beholding the Fenri's sheath and balls. When he returns, Sylfinas asks him a question. "So Radclyff, how did you and dad meet?"

Radclyff rubs his chin and thinks for a moment. "We met for the first time back in Canir. How it happened was he was found washed up on the northern coastline close to the village I lived in. Jemeir sustained injuries, but it was the bitterly gelid water that was killing him. Miraculously the shaman in the village was able to bring him back to life, but he was too frail to leave his bed. He and I chatted as I tended to him while he regained his vitality. One day, a group of frost giants from the mountains raided the village and took several people. The remaining Fenri who could fight and I formed a party with other nearby settlements to get the rest of the villagers back. Your dad insisted on going along as well, but he wasn't fully recovered. He still went as a way of saying thanks to the village despite its insistence on resting, and he refused any weapons we offered to him. 'My staff and fists are the only things I need,' he said, a bizarre thing anyone in Canir to have heard."

"No armor?"

Radclyff nods in affirmation. "No armor, which Jemeir would've been right at home in Canir. Anyway, we set out and found where the giants were staying and came up with a plan. We executed the plan. Your dad amazed us with his combat skills. Even I was astonished at how flexible he was as he weaved himself during combat. It was a sight to behold." He shakes off a thought about Jemeir, and Sylfinas observes his actual penis emerge partway. "I and another Fenri from a different village, Kellam, found where the captives were and attempted to break them out. The leader of the giants, Nezsag the Bonechiller, caught us and began to fight. He was about to finish us off, but Jemeir intervened. The three of us, mainly Jemeir, continued to fight, and we won. Jemeir finished Nezsag and beheaded him. He threw his head at the other frost giants, and they fled. A celebration was held in Jemeir's honor, and he was given the title of Beta, one of few outsiders and the only weaponless person to receive it in Canir's history. After the ceremony, Kellam and I pledged our lives to him- much like you and the others with Kaera- and agreed to go off adventuring together. He, too, was hesitant about the contract at first. Then-" He decides to not finish it. His mostly erect cock communicates one message about reminiscing about Jemeir; his visage conveys another that is more melancholic.

"Why did you decide to live in Adoran, and the other Fenri decided to be back in Canir?"

"Personal preferences and I lost everything in my old home. Eventually, Kellam and I fulfilled our promises, and we were able to do whatever we desired. Kellam went back. I liked Adoran better, and so did my wife, so we decided to build our family here with Jemeir and his spouse living close to us. Jemeir and I have been in touch with Kellam, so it's not like we stopped seeing him after we separated."

"When did you and dad become the Gatekeepers, and how?"

"It started…." Radclyff's ears twitch. He sniffs the air and growls, erecting his fur. "Wake up the others."

"What is it?"

"We got company."

Sylfinas goes over to Kaera's tent and sees she's already up and cognizant. He goes to the other tent and wakes up Arven, Jemeir, and Merrick. "Wake up."

"Huh? Why the urgency?" Arven groggily asks, sounding a tad peeved.

"We have company, Arven. Radclyff told me to get everyone up."

Arven becomes more serious. "Are they friends or foes?"

"Don't know for sure but probably adversary since Radclyff growled."

Everyone gets out with their weapon in hand. "What do you sense, Radclyff?" Jemeir inquires.

"We're surrounded, Jemeir. Don't know what, but they're in the brush just outside our camp. They haven't made a move yet."

Jemeir reiterates the rules of his companionship to the four tenderfoots at adventuring. "Ok, you four, remember what Radclyff and I said earlier? You'll be dealing with this to gain experience. We'll intervene if any of them attack him and me directly, or they are too strong for you to take on." They nod, recalling the conditions.

"Ok, Sariel, I need you to come out now," Sylfinas suggests.

"I'll stay inside. I need to recharge."

"What? You haven't done anything. Why do you need to recharge?"

"I blasted Usse and Firmis a little bit ago. Going to be tomorrow when I can come out."

"So much for help then."

"Grr. I can at least give you a bit of a barrier to boost your defense without issue, but clearly, you look like you can handle this, so I'll hold off."

"Wait. I'm sorry. You're helpful."

"That's better." Sariel gives Sylfinas a minor boost in defense. "By the way, you have my approval to attack."

"They haven't done anything."

"Oh, really? I suggest you move a couple steps back from where you're standing right now."

"What?"

An arrow flies from the brush and barely misses him, taking off a few strands of his hair. Sariel speaks, "Told you."

"You ok, Sylfinas?" Kaera questions in solicitude.

"I'm fine, Kaera." 

An order shouts from the woods, "Attack!"

Bandits come charging out. Arven and Kaera are in the front, with Sylfinas and Merrick in the back. Arven and Kaera quickly dispose of a few bandits. Their threat level makes them think about the grunts from the Phantom Brotherhood in retrospect, perhaps slightly more dangerous than them.

Sylfinas injures a couple before they perish by Arven. He notices one of the bandits is not fully committed to the fight, staying back behind a person he presumes to be the leader because the individual has an oversized greatsword and spears on his back. In addition, he can discern more muscles.

Merrick charges lightning in his hands and casts Witch Bolt, jumping jubilantly that it maintains its trajectory and successfully lands on a ranged criminal rather than randomly diverting itself alone. The joy of believing he can discharge lightning to hit targets at a distance without fear abruptly fizzles as he realizes the victim is more resilient, and he rolls away from an arrow. 

The remaining bandits launch their attacks, and Kaera and Sylfinas suffer a minor cut. Some bandits that don't partake in the first wave decide to attack Jemeir and Radclyff instead, believing they're easier prey.

"Wrong move," Jemeir utters when one of the enemies gets near him.

The bandit leader is unhappy that this group of travelers are not pushovers, observing his henchman having an arduous task with the four newbies. He loses more grunts from Radclyff cleaving them in half or Jemeir rapidly punching them to death. He sees one of his men isn't doing any fighting, causing a vein to bulge in his head.

"What the hell you're doing?! Go out there and fight!" The chief directs the reluctant recruit.

"I don't want to."

"Listen here. You go out there and fight, or I'll rip your head off right now." The leader shoves him towards Sylfinas. "Kill him."

Sylfinas sees the hesitation in the bandit's visage. Despite him having a tan complexion, he can behold features that aren't Human. What's a Certh doing here? "You obviously don't want to do this. Surrender, and you will be spared."

On the other hand, Jemeir and Radclyff conjecture that they need to intervene again against the Certh. The visible scars on him and his blue eyes give off an aura of a veteran fighter. So far, his hesitancy is the sole reason why they wait.

The unwilling bandit looks at Sylfinas and mouths, 'Help me.' He turns towards the leader. "I refuse."

"Why, you little." The leader gets closer and is about to strike the man. Sylfinas intervenes and blocks it.

"You are outmatched. Stop this, so no more of you men die. This is your last warning."

"You obviously don't know who you're dealing with. It is you and your group that are outmatched. Didn't want to waste one of these, but I have no choice." The leader takes out a potion, opens it, and proceeds to down the entire liquid. His body grows huge and more muscular. He takes out a greatsword that is a bitch to wield for any other standard humanoid. Sylfinas hits him with Hell's Bane. The leader speaks with a more resonant sounding voice, chuckling. "That tickles." He slams Sylfinas and the other bandit with one swing and sends them flying back a few feet. He goes in for the kill and receives a surge of lightning as Merrick hits him with a Witch Bolt, glancing over at him enraged and observing him jumping for joy at being two-for-two between casting and hits. Arven and Kaera stand between him and Sylfinas and the bandit with Merrick at the farthest back.

"Did that tickle you?" Merrick inquires.

"You'll pay for that." 

The leader makes four swings, two colliding against Kaera while the final attack causes a bruised rib on Arven. She barely feels them in her rage, quickly recovering from the stagger as she narrows the gap. She and Arven charge and hit him three times combined. Merrick lands another Witch Bolt on him, the only move that has more of an effect on him.

"You're getting better with that spell," Arven comments in admiration.

Merrick grins at the praise. "Kind of hard to miss when a target's that big, Arven, but I'll take my victories where I can. I may be able to do it one more time, though."

Sylfinas gets up and sees the other Certhian bandit bleeding out beside him, whipping out a healing potion and pouring the liquid down his mouth. The Certh wakes up and gags. "Gah! What just entered my mouth? The worst flavor I ever tasted."

"That was a healing potion, and you're welcome. Play dead."

"Why?"

Sylfinas points over to the leader. "That's why. If he thinks you're dead, he'll leave you alone, and you can survive. Your right leg is broken, so you're a sitting duck."

"Why bring me back?"

"Because you're not one of them. I believe that you can be brought back on the path of righteousness. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to convince your leader."

"That won't work. Once Thalzur drinks that special potion, he's not playing around anymore; it's serious."

"You're most likely right, but I still gotta make an honest effort."

"If you somehow make it beyond one minute, he has to drink another potion. Destroy the satchel on his left side. That's where he keeps them. Otherwise, you'll have to survive two more rounds."

"I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the advice."

"Better do it fast. Your two friends look like they've taken quite the beating." In the midst of them talking, the bandit leader lands another major hit on Arven and two more on Kaera, and they are just as serious as Arven's. They make contact several times combined, but the leader looks hardly fazed by them. Merrick exerts all the mana he could muster in his last attack, cursing as the Witch Bolt diverts from nowhere and obliterates a tree.

"Gods be damned. I thought it was done having a mind of its own. Fuck."

Jemeir and Radclyff look on while keeping the other bandits from ganging up on the group. None of them appear ready to launch a sneak attack. "Should we help them?" Radclyff asks with concern about Arven, Kaera, Merrick, and Sylfinas.

"Wait a little bit longer. If things don't improve for them, then we will. Right now, focus on making sure these bastards don't help their commander."

"Ok."

Sylfinas reaches Arven and Kaera. "How you're holding up?"

"Fine. If this keeps up, though, we won't be for long." Arven replies, feeling a sharp pain in his chest.

"Well, well, I have some…." Sylfinas pauses as he beholds the leader downing another potion, "good news."

"What is it?"

"Well, the bandit I saved told me that the potions last a minute, and they're in that satchel right there." The Half-Elf indicates where it's at. "If we destroy that, then we just got to survive for one more minute. Then we'll have a much easier time."

"Watch out!" Kaera warns. All three barely dodge the downward motion of the greatsword as it smashes the ground and causes several cracks to materialize on the surface.

Merrick rushes towards them. "What's the plan?"

"Destroy the satchel on his left and survive for around one more minute," Sylfinas replies.

"Well, I can't do much with getting up close and personal. You two look like you've been through hell. Sylfinas has some damage but doesn't have combat experience. I do not like our odds so far."

"I do have one healing potion left. Who wants it?"

All three refuse. Arven responds, "Save it in case if one of us goes down. Now let's get some free hits in while he's struggling to get his sword free."

All but Merrick rush forward, and each land one hit. Kaera's is a critical hit, and so is Arven's, both leaving a massive laceration on the main adversary's back.

The bandit leader is not happy. "You're starting to piss me off. I'll make sure your deaths are long and painful instead!" He gets his greatsword back, swinging it and sending Arven flying. His other attack kicks up dirt as he misses Sylfinas.

"How are we going to get close to the satchel so we can destroy it?"

"Distraction, Merrick," Sylfinas answers. "Kaera, Arven, and I will be bait, and you'll sneak up and destroy it."

"You're crazy, Sylfinas!"

"Well, do we want to face additional minutes against him looking like that?" A crossbow whizzes by and embeds itself in the satchel, darkening the material's color as the liquid within leaks out and drips to the ground. Arven, Kaera, Merrick, and Sylfinas turn around and behold the friendly bandit wielding a crossbow from a dead criminal. "You were supposed to play dead!"

"And miss my chance to repay the favor. No way," the Certh replies.

The leader looks at the perfidious henchman with a furious look on his face. "You traitor! I'll have your head mounted on a spike as decoration."

"I actually intended to capture you from the beginning, so I'm betraying you. Be glad that I wasn't in the mood for my other option." The bandit leader throws a massive spear at the traitor. Sylfinas runs to push him out of the way. Kaera positions herself, so she's the first in line to get hit. She catches it, her feet digging into the dirt as the momentum slides her backward.

"I believe this is yours." She throws it back. The leader reverts back to his actual size, and the spear impacts against his head, beheading him and continues on its trajectory until everyone hears the sound of impact on a tree. Arven gets up from the ground and regroups with the others around the other bandit. Sylfinas offers the last remaining health potion to anyone, but they refuse.

"So, what should we do with him?" Merrick inquires, gesturing to the Certh.

"Kill him," Arven answers in a serious tone.

"What? Why Arven?" Sylfinas questions abhorrently at the proposal.

"Because, Sylfinas, he's part of the group."

"He saved us. He got rid of the potions, and he said he wasn't with them from the beginning." Kaera and Merrick back up a portion of Sylfinas's claim.

"Very well. He may have useful information. Who are you?" To motivate Heilim, Arven raises the tip of his weapon near the Certh's throat

"My name's Heilim," the Certh replies, unfazed at the intimidation.

"An odd name for a Farlander. Why are you a bandit?"

Heilim glares at Arven, appearing indignant. "I'm not. I was hunting Thalzur, the leader, because I'm a bounty hunter. I infiltrated their base and was caught. After much bullshitting, I convinced them that I wanted to join. I've done a couple of things I'm not proud of to maintain cover, waiting for my chance to strike but couldn't. You were the first group that I was supposed to raid, steal, and kill, and it was just my luck that you weren't just an average traveler."

"What makes us believe that you aren't bullshitting right now?"

"Because I've kept this wanted poster very well hidden. Thalzur actually caught the attention of the king." Heilim pulls out the wanted poster, and they look at it.

Merrick whistles in astonishment. "3,000 gold? That's a lot."

"Ok, so he has a bounty on him with the royal seal on it," Arven speaks. "Where's your stuff that bounty hunters are supposed to carry?"

"Back at their base. I had to ditch them to convince Thalzur."

"Where is their base?"

"At the Carlelin Range, there's a cave. That's where the base is." It will divert the party off course.

"Any future plans?"

"Just the usual stuff bandits do. No complicated heists, attacks, or anything else like that."

"How many members?"

"Before tonight, fifty. Now, I say around thirty-three."

Jemeir and Radclyff show up. "You did well just now." Jemeir comments.

"Who's he?" Radclyff points at Heilim. 

Sylfinas responds, "He's Heilim, and he's a bounty hunter. Arven just finished interrogating him. Thalzur, the leader, was his target. He became one of them to get close enough for the kill. What were you two doing, by the way?"

"Not interfering like we said we would," Radclyff answers. "Jemeir and I were making sure the other bandits didn't join in. They left as soon as their leader lost his head from the giant spear."

"So I was wrong on my guess," Heilim utters. "It's actually higher."

"What will you do once you're back up to full health, and we leave you by yourself?" Arven inquires, still keeping Heilim at a much lower threat level.

"Collect that massive greatsword of his and collect the reward. Then get another bounty and repeat once I fully recover. If you can take me to Acrine Village, I'll be fine there."

"Anyone here thinks he's good?"

Jemeir, Kaera, Merrick, Radclyff, and Sylfinas nod their head, 'yes.'

"Well, you're in luck. We are heading to Acrine Village. Get some rest, and we'll take you there. If you backstab us, I'll rip your balls off and replace your eyes with them."

"I promise you that it will not come to that."

Everyone cleans up the campsite and loot the bandits. They choose to keep the massive greatsword and divide the coin. Everyone got fifty-four copper, ten silver, and four gold. Then they go back to sleep. Before they do, Heilim asks a question. "Why are the wolf people naked?"

"You'll get used to it," Arven, Jemeir, Merrick, and Sylfinas respond at once.

"And we're not wolves!" Kaera and Radclyff reply at the same time right after, exasperatedly.