My Second Life Is A Heroic Power Fantasy 139 Travelling To The Gnoll Camp

Jack's sleep was fitful and restless for the first couple of hours, until he was finally too tired to let his mind keep him awake any longer.
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At some point during the night, Rose returned to the cave room they were staying in, because she was fast asleep in her bedroll when he gave up on sleep sometime before sunrise. He looked down at her peaceful face as her breath rose and fell in gentle whispers. He was glad she was alright.

While the sun had not yet begun to rise, much of the camp was already awake and gathering their gear for the trip. The ones who weren't stood in the makeshift kitchen, tearing chunks of bread off of an oversized loaf on one of the tables, and grabbing bowlfuls of something steaming from the giant metal cauldron.

Keeping mostly to himself, he walked over and helped himself to some of food. The bread was a bit stale, and the soup thin and not particularly tasty this time, but the bread was filling and the soup was warm, and he was grateful for both.

When Rose finally awoke, she acted as if nothing had happened, and they quickly fell into their comfortable, playful routine. He wanted to know what she'd been dealing with, but he thought better of it. She would talk more about it with him if and when the right time came for her to do so.

The entire a.s.sembled team departed just as the sunlight began filtering in through the treeline to the east. Before departure, Jack and Rose made one final check-in with Madeleine in the hospital tent. She was fast asleep, her chest rising and falling gently in gentle snores. Jack gently tussled her hair, and Rose kissed her on the cheek, before the two of them bid her and the healer watching over her goodbye. Jack hated leaving her behind, but it was for the best. Out of all of them, she was the least capable fighter, and her health being poor only served to make her more of a liability. But she was in good hands with Farien and the rest. And he owed her. He had no idea what that was going to look like, but he was going to keep his promise.

The adventurers and Company members traveled quickly and in relative silence, leaving Jack largely alone in his own head, and forcing him to push himself to keep pace with the rest of them. By mid- morning the trees thinned, then filtered out completely into a wide, open expanse of swaying golden-green gra.s.s, trodden in a wandering line by a beaten dirt path perhaps five or six feet wide and a few feet deep. In the faint distance, he could see a flickering twinkle of light twisting and snaking across the horizon line. The Shimmerwind River, he suspected.

Once out of the woods, they took a short rest. Rose offered him some pemmican, which he ate, and they shared his waterskin. The water was still quite cold, and very sweet, having been pulled from one of the small brooks outside of the clearing the night before. After a short pause, the company resumed, keeping the same quick and steady pace. At intervals, scouts would run ahead and to the side of the party, presumably keepin an eye out for approaching enemies or unexpected pitfalls. As they drew closer to the river, and its broad, flowing shape was clearly defined, one particular scout, a young man that Jack thought was named Malthus, ran ahead to check the status of the ford, and investigate both banks, before reporting back. He was expected to only be gone a few minutes, so the company halted, and waited for him to return.

A few minutes pa.s.sed. Then a few more. Then a few more.

Then a dark shape fell from the sky, landing with a wet thump a couple dozen feet from the a.s.sembled ma.s.s. One of the other adventurers walked over to it, accompanied by some his peers. Jack saw the man bend down to investigate it, before he stumbled back in shock and fell over. One of the others whistled and motioned the rest to come.

Jack, not wanting to miss seeing what it was, got there the same time as Urien. But when he was what it was, he gagged, and immediately regretted his decision.