The Village
The sun was heavy in the sky but it had not yet begun to set, the air was thick with moisture from the humidity and even though it was beginning to cool down thanks to the midafternoon breeze the heat of battles still weighed on the town and made everything move much slower than normal. Wylsen had been able to talk the inn keeper into feeding those that had fought for the town and put them up for another night, the town owed these adventures and he hoped that it would in small way repay them. It was all they had to offer.
Looking out at the street, Wylsen crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the town folk finally coming out of hiding. The women of the village were busy shuffling food from their own kitchens and the kitchen of the inn into the main room of the inn. The men had gathered up what remained of those that had been slaughtered and drug them to the south end of town where Hanzo and Mortosh had burned the bodies of those that had fallen during the previous battle. The blood still stained the street but Wylsen figured it was nothing that the next rain wouldn’t wash away. Standing there he wondered what had happened to the rest of the group that had headed out hours before to the slavers camp. They should have been back by now and he was beginning to worry that something horrible had happened.
The Journey Back
The now former prisoners were more than grateful for the food they had received from the efforts of Lob and Vaeri. For most of them it had been the first thing they had eaten in weeks and while it was not a feast it was more than enough to sustain them the rest of the journey. They began to open up, not talking about their life since capture but instead looking to what their lives had been before. Some spoke of looking forward to returning to their own villages and cities, to see their friends and their families again. Others spoke of how they planned to build a new life and start over siting that they had nothing to return to. Either way there were smiling gracing the lips of the weary bunch as the wagon pulled out of the forest and made its way back towards the village.
It took several hours to get the entire group back to the village but thankfully it was a peaceful journey and as the sun began to set in the west they could see the small town. Sister Agnes had given last rights to those that had fallen during battle. Such cruel lives were now over and it was time to move on. Taking a deep breath, she leaned on her walking stick she had had Wylsen retrieve from the shop for her and slowly wandered from the south end of town back towards the inn. Stopping as she saw the rest of the group coming back with what appeared to be a large wagon full of people that had seen better days she quickened her pace.
“Wylsen!” she called out and he came out of the inn, wondering just what could be happening now. As his eyes fell on the group of adventurers returning he let out a sigh of relief. They were back, they were safe and they had managed, from what he could tell, bring more back that had been captured. He smiled as he walked over to Sister Agnes and called for the rest.
“They’re back!” Wylsen yelled out to the group that had defended the town during the second attack. Sister Agnes grabbed his arm as she began to count the number of people that had returned and noticed that one was missing.
“The archer isn’t with them,” she said quickly as she looked over him.
“Sana? Wasn’t that her name?” Wylsen said as he returned her glance and then swallowed hard as the nun nodded in confirmation. They day had been long, both parts of the adventuring party seemed to have had more to deal with than they should have had to handle and Wylsen feared the worst. One was missing.