Close Encounters

Initially we made good progress on the road to Alderheart but it did not take long for us to run into trouble. We came across an overturned cart beset by three Mapach and a Vulpin.

“I’ll just have a word with them,” said Crispin, trundling up to the bandits.

“This is going to take more than words,” I grumbled and slipped my pack to one shoulder, ready to drop it and fight.

“Good day, my brothers,” said Crispin amiably.

“Wot?” exclaimed one of the Mapach bandits with a kind of startled snort.

“You ain’t our brother,” growled another. Then, with a quizzical look at the Vulpin. “Is ’e?”

The Vulpin stood back from her lackeys, leaning nonchalantly against a tree. She picked at her teeth, her long fangs on display.

“You never know,” said Crispin. “I have quite a big family.”

“Help me,” said a small voice from beneath the cart. “They’ll take all of my merchandise.”

“Bandits,” I spat. “No sense of honour.”

The Mapach lackeys backed off a bit as I moved in closer to support Crispin. The Vulpin leader turned towards me and narrowed her eyes.

“Honour?” asked the Vulpin in a low throaty growl. “Honour won’t feed hungry mouths, my esteemed Birdfolk friend. How is it honourable for this merchant to hoard so much when so many must do without?”

“Who do you think you are?” I shouted. “You can’t just take what you want by force!”

“I am Fray Merridan,” said the Vulpin. “And, if I’m not mistaken, you are about to make us submit to your rules by force.” She grinned. “Yes, even you would make an excellent bandit, given the right circumstances.”

“That’s enough,” I squawked, raising my quarterstaff. Fray Merridan responded by drawing just enough of her rapier for me to see a shining glint of steel.

“Go on,” goaded the Vulpin. “You look like you might actually give me a proper fight!”

“Or,” said Olive, breaking the spell, “we could be smart about this.”

I blinked.

“Smart?” asked Merridan without taking her eyes off me.

“You had four against one before we arrived,” said Olive. “Now it’s a fair fight. Even if you win, you and your Mapach friends will be in no state to haul all these goods away.”

“Wot?”

Fray Merridan twitched her nose.

“The smart thing to do would be to leave now,” finished Olive.

“It wouldn’t be very clever to leave empty-handed,” said Fray, her paw still tight on the pommel of her rapier.

“True,” said Olive thoughtfully. “It also wouldn’t be very clever to take more than you could carry. Unless you want to get caught.”

Fray actually laughed at this. She sheathed her weapon and nodded to her lackeys.

“Done,” she said, licking her lips.

I seethed in silence as the bandits ransacked the cart. The Mapach thieves, true at least to their leader’s word, took food and camping supplies. Fray Merridan was more particular in her choices: she rifled through books and potions to make her selection.

I glared at her and, to my surprise, she met my gaze and winked.

“Don’t look at me like that, Gallus,” she grinned. “One book can become five meals with the right buyer.”

---

Eliza, the cart owner, emerged only once the four bandits had slunk away into the forest. She wriggled out from under the cart, and we saw her face to face for the first time.

“My goodness, that was close!” she said, and immediately turned to the contents of her cart.

Eliza was an Eluran, one of the cat-like people who travel to trade with us from lands outside the Wood. She had the usual long whiskers and pointed ears of her species and mismatched blue and green eyes. She rapidly took stock of her inventory, wincing as her paws passed over the missing books.

“Don’t worry,” said Crispin. “You’re safe with us now.”

“Well,” said Eliza with a not-quite-contented sigh. “That could have been a lot worse.”

“You must be careful,” I said. “The roads are going to get worse before they get better. Where are you headed?”

“To my shop in Alderheart.”

“That’s where we’re going!” said Crispin.

“You’re carrying valuables on the road,” I continued. “Consider hiring some guards next time. Bandits will be less likely to pick a fight.”

Eliza smiled widely.

“What?” I asked.

“Some guards,” said Eliza to herself as she looked me up and down. “What an excellent idea!”

“That’s not what I—”

“We accept,” said Olive quickly. “Safe passage in return for something from your cart.”

“‘Whatever you can carry’, eh?” Eliza laughed. “Let’s see you get me to the Winnowing Reach first, then we’ll talk about payment.”

It took another half an hour to repack Eliza’s cart and get it back on the road. I suppose it was crafty of Olive to make sure we’d get paid for a journey we were making anyway.

I thought we would arrive at the Reach before nightfall, but more sinister events awaited us on the road.

---

As we neared our destination, Crispin and I spotted lights heading towards us from the north. Tiny flames like leaves on the breeze. It was only when they got closer that we realised what they were.

“Ember bats!” I cried out.

“Are they dangerous?” asked Crispin.

“They spread the fires. We must stop them here before they get further into the Wood.”

I dropped Eliza’s pack and drew my staff while she scurried once more beneath her cart. The bats were upon us before we could do much else.

“Fire bats?” Olive’s voice rang out sharp and true. “More like schmire schmats!”

Magic crackled in her words and this childish insult seemed to have a physical effect on the ember bat swarm. I ran forward stretching my wings wide to block their passage. The fiery little creatures bit and scratched and I flailed wildly in their midst.

“Stand back, Plume,” said Crispin.

In his infinite wisdom, Crispin decided to fight fire with fire. Without waiting for me to follow his warning, he called on the power of his gods to strike the bats around me with holy flame, which was somewhat effective.

Olive did better, darting out from behind the cart, slicing left and right with her rapier and dispatching the majority that surrounded me.

But the swarm regrouped and flared brightly. I fought desperately for my life, aided by Olive’s inspiring presence, so when the chance came I called upon Nature’s power and imbued my staff with it. Emboldened and righteous I struck back.

Crispin had been hiding beneath his soup pot for most of the battle, calling upon flame after flame to strike the bats that surrounded him. Olive made a dramatic attempt to leap the cart and take out those remaining, but she showed a little too much flair and not enough form and tumbled to the ground.

“Is everything alright out there?” shouted Eliza.

“Give me— a minute—” I managed between swings of my staff.

I knocked the last of the ember bats near me to the floor and rushed to Olive’s side.

“Come on,” I said, helping Olive to her feet. “Got to make a good impression on our employer.” I turned to Crispin. “And we won’t do that from under a pot.”

Together we took out the last of them and the lands to the south were safe. Or so I thought. It was far too late by the time I saw flickering lights darting through the air behind us. I cursed the creatures as they flew on to spread their danger towards Meadowfen.

“Should we go after them?” asked Olive.

“No,” I said. “They’re too far gone. We’ll have to trust that Ardwyn can take care of this.”

By the time we arrived in the Winnowing Reach we were all but exhausted, and had time only to follow Eliza’s example: to curl up in the safety of the town and sleep.