Chapter 34: Sanctuary

Chapter 34: Sanctuary

As the sun began to set two humans, a spriggan and a pair of deer walked into a destroyed bar. There was no punch line, or an actual bar for that matter. The building had been split down the middle from a blast of condensed energy.

Fires lit up the night sky, weaving trails of smoke were blown away by the crisp evening wind. If Leif never went underground again in his life he could die happy. He stared down at the stump he had in place of an arm, the wound ached with a phantom pain.

Both deer nuzzled up next to him, both fast asleep. Leif drifted off, his hazy mind incapable of remaining awake for even a second longer.

===

A pack of goblins stalked the early morning. Their quiet footsteps and small frames made them quite unnoticeable in the twilight of dawn. They passed a block, then rounded a bend and came across an interesting sight.

Two forest creatures were drinking from a fountain that by some miracle hadn’t been destroyed in the chaotic events of the prior day. The monsters snickered greedily and scampered forward, both creatures, a local variety of deer, were completely clueless as to their imminent deaths.

“No.” Said a voice from behind. The small gathering of little green men slowly turned to see a human sized being made of ivory white wood and with red leaves sprouting intermittently from its body.

The goblins all gave each other the ‘Is this thing for real?’ look, then charged.

===

Leif, trailed by the two deer, returned to the ruined bar where he had left Sieg and Marcus. After that early morning snack he was feeling much better. Sieg up nodded slightly as the spriggan entered the building, then gestured to the pale sleeping form of his friend.

Marcus was in rough shape, but considering he had been disembowelled just over twelve hours ago, being alive at all was a good sign. Leif crouched down next to the mage and transferred his newly gained excess of vitality into the man.

He shifted slightly but didn’t wake. His breathing became stronger and after a few moments his pale complexion began to fade away.

Sieg let out the breath he had been holding. “He’ll live?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“I really thought I’d lost him back there.”

“That's right,” Sieg said, “But we need to go somewhere safe, somewhere without goblins and undead and enslavers. If we had known how crazy this part of the frontier was I doubt the expedition would have been funded at all. It really seems like a lost cause.”

Leif found the idea of the expedition fascinating. He knew they had been searching for dungeons, but he still wasn’t sure why. He understood the need for somewhere to rest and recover. “I have a place.” He said.

“You do?”

Leif nodded and stood. “Assuming the goblins didn’t reoccupy it. It's a nearby village. Oh, it's full of animals.”

“Anything’s better than here.” The man said.

One of the deer took a bite from his ration bar.

===

As it turned out, Leif didn’t need to be worried for the safety of his animals. The army of hogs had been... diligent in their territorial protection.

A sizable group of goblins had indeed made their way to the village, but judging by the current lack of living monsters and the flock of happily grunting, squeaking or chirping animals swarming him, Leif was sure things had been okay.

The spriggan had been worried for their safety, about what may have happened after he had left. He felt relieved that his worries had been for naught. A comforting warmth spread through his chest. It wasn’t much, but he was glad these creatures had followed him.

“Hey, I’m back.” He said and laughed as two squirrels ran up his legs and started playing. The crowd of animals reacted to his voice with excitement. Right. I couldn’t even talk when I last saw them.

He doubted they could understand him, despite acting strangely for wild animals they weren’t that different.

Leif led the thoroughly bemused Sieg into the village and to a building that still had most of a roof. He carefully placed the still unconscious Marcus down and turned to Sieg.

The tall man glanced over his shoulder at the dozen or so forest critters watching from the broken doorway. “I have no idea what is going on.” He said. “But I’m just going to accept it and pass out if that's okay?”