Chapter Twenty-six

 

They spent the next few days training their combat skills, both armed and unarmed. Besides that, they restocked their supplies and got ready to head off to Whitewater. Stern found the Walkers in the city were starting to treat him with respect, having heard about the double rebirth the crew had pulled off.

 

Cyra was smiling broadly as she got her bag in order. She hadn’t been able to go any further than she had previously, but she’d managed to reach the same level of intimacy with her lovers repeatedly. Trish and Stern encouraged and celebrated every time, making it easier for her to keep doing so.

 

“Another couple of weeks off road to get to Whitewater,” Trish said. “Probably more dark willow shoots and maybe another kill quest.”

 

“Sounds about right,” Stern said as he got his pack on. “I’m thinking of trying to expand on Vulk’s willingness to be part of the crew.”

 

“Oh?” Trish asked as she hefted her own backpack.

 

“He drinks when we reach a new town,” Stern said. “I think I’ll accompany him.”

 

Trish’s eyebrows went up. “Really? You’re not that big of a drinker.”

 

“I’m not, but I can nurse a few and hang out with him.”

 

“Ah. Maybe get him home before he gets too drunk?” Trish said.

 

“Maybe once he starts, he’ll open up some, too,” Stern said.

 

“I can heal his hangover the morning after,” Cyra said.

 

“That’s not ideal,” Trish said. “We wouldn’t want to go into the dungeon down one of your spells. Also, it doesn’t help teach him if there are no repercussions to him getting that drunk.”

 

“Oh... right,” Cyra said, deflating a little.

 

“It was a good thought,” Stern said.

 

“Thanks,” Cyra said as she shifted her pack onto her shoulders. “Trish is right, and I like your idea. It might help him more if he can unburden himself.”

 

“We ready to get breakfast and head out?” Trish asked.

 

“I am,” Stern said.

 

“Yes,” Cyra smiled.

 

When they left their room, they found Cammie and Pawly on the sofa. “Good morning,” Cammie smiled. “Vulk went down to get breakfast.”

 

“Has she been okay for you?” Stern asked.

 

“Pawly? She’s a sweetheart… normally. She either puts all of her weight on a single paw before she gets off me in the morning, or she’ll flex her murder mittens and prick me.”

 

Pawly chuffed and rubbed against Cammie’s stomach, since she was draped over the dwarf’s lap.

 

“And then she does this and acts all cute,” Cammie said.

 

“Cat,” Stern chuckled. “Murder mittens… I like it.”

 

“She does kill a lot of things with them,” Trish laughed.

 

Pawly purred and rubbed harder.

 

The front door opened, admitting Vulk and a maid. “Breakfast,” Vulk said.

 

“Thank you,” Cyra smiled.

 

“Thank you for staying with us,” the maid said as she set the table for them. “Have a safe trip, Walkers.”

 

“We will. Thank you,” Trish replied for all of them. “Have a good day.”

 

~*~*~

 

The Dungeon Walkers’ guildhall was mostly empty when the crew entered it. The handful of people there greeted them amiably enough, but Stern still caught undercurrents of worry from a couple of them.

 

The crew went to the quest board and gave it a good look. After a few minutes, Trish tapped a single quest. “Just as I thought: dark willows needed.”

 

“No kill quest,” Vulk sighed. “Guess the swarm we killed on the way here really took out a chunk of the problem.”

 

“Or we missed another one by an hour or two,” Stern said. “Do we want to take the quest and take our time collecting, or head straight there?”

 

“Quest,” Cammie said. “It might not be the best, but money is money.”

 

“Yeah,” Vulk agreed with his sister, clearly disappointed there was no kill quest.

 

Stern touched the page and accepted the quest. “Turn it in to the Walkers, hmm? Must be waiting for a stockpile to approach a crafter to sell them.”

 

“Which nets the guild a nice little bit of change, and the crafter gets the supplies for a good price,” Trish nodded. “Supply and demand.”

 

“And it keeps the shoots from sprouting,” Cyra smiled.

 

“There is that,” Cammie agreed.

 

“Well, we have the one quest we can take that’s worth anything and that goes all the way to Whitewater,” Stern said. “Time to hit the road.”

 

They were almost to the door when a pair of people entered the hall. Stern stopped, giving them a bow of his head. “Officially retiring?”

 

“Yeah,” Louis said. “Mel decided it was time, too.”

 

Amelia sighed. “I just can’t find the heart to try getting a new group. Besides, I think I want to go see my sister.”

 

“Family is good,” Cammie said.

 

“We fought before I left to be a Walker,” Amelia said. “I’m not sure she’ll be happy to see me, but… well… she’s still family, and I missed her.”

 

“Where does she live?” Cyra asked.

 

“Waterrock, so it’s not too far,” Amelia said. “You’re heading out?”

 

“Whitewater bound,” Vulk replied.

 

“Safe runs,” Louis said, extending his hand.

 

Vulk shook it. “Safe runs… err…”

 

“Live well,” Stern said, taking Louis’ hand when Vulk faltered.

 

“I will,” Louis said.

 

They went through a round of goodbyes before they separated.

 

As they walked down the street, Vulk glanced at Stern. “Live well?”

 

“It’s one I heard a lot for retiring Walkers,” Stern said, “since they no longer run.”

 

Vulk grunted. “Got it. I hadn’t heard that one before, but you’ve heard it a lot?”

 

“Family,” Stern said. “My parents are all Walkers.”

 

Vulk lapsed into silence again, and Stern felt the surge of sorrow.

 

~*~*~

 

The days went by with nothing of note happening as they traveled. They collected dark willow shoots, killed the few monsters that attacked them, and walked. The conversation was light, not touching on any sensitive topics.

 

On their sixth day out of Springwater, Pawly yowled from ahead of them. A second after that, a second yowl came floating back to them. Trish sprinted forward, as two yowls was Pawly’s signal for help. Stern was on Trish’s heels, with the others trailing them.

 

Trish caught sight of a flash of light ahead of her. She managed to get her shield onto her left arm just before she saw what Pawly was fighting. A dark-barked willow tree lashed at Pawly as she flew above it. The tips of the short tree had a handful of leaves on them.

 

“Shit!” Trish hissed as she gripped her hammer tight.

 

Stern came to a skidding stop when he saw the willow. “Fire! We need fire!” He saw the others coming his way and shouted at Cyra, “Get my quick starter out and the flask of oil!”

 

Cammie came to a stop beside Stern, knowing her hammer and crossbow would be useless against this monster. “Fire... fire…? Wait, I can help.” Dropping her pack, she began to dig into it.

 

Vulk went racing past Stern, just behind Trish, closing on the plant monster. His axes gleamed as he closed on the mob.

 

Pawly hissed and flew past the dark willow as quickly as she could, her electrical discharge not seeming to do a lot to it. In return, she got hit and yowled again before floating higher out of its reach.

 

Trish’s hammer came down on its trunk, a small flash of blackness emanating from it. “Shit, forgot I put a dark rune on it.”

 

The monster spun on her, its branches sweeping down to hit her. Trish grunted as she took the sweep on her shield, but was pushed back a few feet in return. That let Vulk dart in, his axes gleaming as he struck. One of the axes flashed white when it impacted the trunk of the tree, and a patch of ice appeared as he drew back.

 

The tree shook, then spun to swipe at Vulk, who had hurt it more than the others. It didn’t make any sounds, not having a mouth, beyond the rustling from its movements.

 

Cyra thrust Stern’s striker, tinder box, and a flask of oil at him. “Is it a good idea to burn it in a forest?”

 

“Only way to keep it down,” Stern said as he knelt and started to get a spark to catch in his tinder box.

 

“Stern, give me the oil,” Cammie said from beside him. “I can whip up a quick trap they can lead it onto. It’ll be better than an improvised fire flask.”

 

Stern looked at her, then handed the flask over. “Okay. Cyra, grab a torch from my bag. They hate fire, and we can use it to scare it off one of us if needed.”

 

Cyra fumbled at the torches strapped to Stern’s bag as she watched the fight.

 

Trish used her Protector perk to switch places with Vulk. Her shield was up again, deflecting the multiple branch attack. “Ready when you are!” she shouted back to the others.

 

Vulk struck again and again as the dark willow tried to reorient on him. He tore frozen chunks of wood from the monster. There was a manic grin on his face the entire time he attacked.

 

“Twenty seconds!” Cammie yelled to Trish as she fiddled with some wire, the bottle, and other parts to make a quick trap.

 

Stern got the torch lit and pulled the hand axe from his belt. He wasn’t going to rush in, as he wanted Cammie’s trap to be set before he scared it with the torch. He did see the chunks Vulk had taken out of the monster, though. “Vulk, can you gash it a couple more times?”

 

Vulk grunted as he dove to the side to avoid the branches. “Trying!” One of them clipped his foot, and he screamed, as it felt like his foot was torn off.

 

Trish bull-rushed the short tree, using her shield to knock it off Vulk. “Best hurry!”

 

Vulk hissed as he scrambled away. He looked down to see his foot intact, but from the ankle down, it was numb. “I can’t stand up.”

 

“Trap!” Cammie shouted as she rushed toward her brother.

 

Trish backed away from the dark willow, angling it away so she could see Cammie. The device Cammie had in her hand looked flimsy as hell to her.

 

Cammie set it on the ground, then went to help her brother. “Lead it over, Trish.”

 

“My back will be to it!” Trish shouted. “I won’t know where it is.”

 

“I’ll guide you,” Cyra yelled. “Just listen when I tell you the direction.”

 

A yowl came from above as Pawly glared down at the monster.

 

“Run. Pawly will guide it,” Stern told Trish.

 

Trish knocked the branches aside, then sprinted away. Stern advanced, waving the torch to discourage it from chasing Trish.

 

Pawly yowled louder and dove at the monster. The large, flying, electrical tiger was eye-catching. Unfortunately, the dark willow didn’t have eyes, but it could feel the static charge Pawly gave off.

 

Pawly swiped it as she flew by, just dodging the return swing from its branches. Between her attack and the heat from the torch, the monster lumbered after Pawly, away from Stern.

 

Cammie got her brother onto his feet and hobbling away. “Come on! I’m not sure how big that will get.”

 

Vulk hissed. The pins and needles from his foot waking up was more painful than anything he’d ever experienced before. “I’m coming.”

 

A few seconds later, the willow stepped onto the improvised trap. Nothing happened for a long second, but then a whoomph sounded and a geyser of flame engulfed it. It panicked, flailing wildly and trying to put out the flames that were coating it. The wounds Vulk had cut into it started to burn brightly as the ice melted and the flammable sap of the tree ignited.

 

“Back off! We might have to go in when the fire dies,” Stern shouted. “Let it wind down first.”

 

Everyone backed away, including Pawly, who hissed at it from above. After a handful of minutes, the creature fell over and stopped moving, still burning. It took nearly twenty minutes before the flames died down enough for Stern to advance on it. When he did, the others went with him. The dark willow was a blacked husk, the interior having been gutted by the fire.

 

Stern exhaled as he snuffed the torch out on the ground. “Well, that was exciting. Vulk, how are you?”

 

“Foot’s still waking up,” Vulk grumbled. “That was unpleasant.”

 

“It sucked the life from it when it hit you,” Trish said. “That’s why they’re dangerous. Imagine that being your weapon arm or your head.”

 

Vulk blanched. “Damn...”

 

“Good work, Cammie,” Cyra said, patting the dwarf on the shoulder.

 

“Thanks,” Cammie shuddered. “My perk works well. That was mostly Rigging and Trap Smith.”

 

“Damned good perks,” Stern said. “If you get the chance at the range deployment option again, get it.”

 

“I will,” Cammie said. “It was a bit frightening to have to run in closer to it.”

 

“Is any of this worth our time?” Vulk asked, kicking the smoldering trunk.

 

“Maybe. We’ll need to crack it all the way open and see if anything is still viable inside,” Stern said. “On the plus side, this part of the woods is safe. It would have killed everything dangerous in the area.”

 

“Set camp early?” Trish asked.

 

“It would give us time to do a thorough job on the husk,” Stern said.

 

“Anyone object?” Trish asked, and no one spoke up. “Okay, let’s do it.”