It is officially the first day of our journey to the Boss room, and I ride at the front of our cart, steering the thunderhoof bison along the forest trail. Our doctor, Ironvine, a large, purple-furred chim-chi, sits beside me. Glimmer, a three-foot-tall blue snargle musician, sits in the back with Whisperclaw, a female jackal. She has sandy brown fur with black spots and was locked up with me in Vertalara. I was sentenced to death for... several things, but I overheard Whisperclaw talking to Vesper, our Guildmaster. She was charged with attempted assassination.
A few groups of adventurers were traveling with us along the road earlier. However, now I notice that the trail is quiet, too quiet. Whisperclaw pokes her head out of the back of the cart. Two men, brandishing knives, step out of the shadows in the forest on either side of the cart. Whisperclaw is the quickest to react, throwing a dagger at the man on the left. He expertly dodges the blade.
"Bandits!" Whisperclaw yells, squeezing her way into the front seat between me and Ironvine.
A sudden melody from a flute comes from the cart, causing me to glance back momentarily. A giant blue Dire Wolf appears between the two men and the cart, one of Glimmer's illusions. We haven't stopped moving yet, so I flick the reins for the bison to start running, hoping we can outpace them. Instead, the bison slows down, almost stopping completely.
"Goddamn, not now!" I curse through clenched teeth. I am not drunk enough for this.
The bandit, at whom Whisperclaw had thrown her knife, rushes past the Dire Wolf. He leaps onto the back of the cart, barely missing and tripping himself up. His partner yells, horrified at the sight in front of him.
"It's a mo-mo-monster!" He screams, fleeing.
"Everybody just needs to calm down." Ironvine yawns in his usual monotone voice. He's the most dangerous pacifist I've ever met. He's too content with not getting his hands dirty.
Just as quickly as she climbed to the front, Whisperclaw disappears into the back again. I hear a dagger missing its target and thudding into another tree.
"Dammit all! Stop the cart!" She yells, pissed.
"Renald, please don't stop the cart!" I hear Glimmer cut in, stopping his tune momentarily to move closer to the front before adding another note. This note is sharp, and I hear many howls and the sounds of leaves rustling and twigs snapping all around us. They begin distant but quickly start to grow louder and inch closer. I know this is only Glimmer's illusion at work, but I don't understand the details of how it happens. I can only assume it's like my own gifts.
I snap the reins again, pleading with the bison to move faster. The leather whips against its backside, and the bison cries before breaking out into a full-on sprint.
"Grab the reins. I'll catch up with you." I say, passing Ironvine the reins. Then I climb to the back of the cart, preparing to jump.
The bandit closest to the cart attempts to grab the edge, but his fingers are too short to reach, causing him to slip and fall directly onto his face. I see his friend screaming his head off in the background as he sprints for the Tower's exit.
"They can summon monsters!" the bandit cries hysterically as he runs.
I finally hear Ironvine realize he's in control of the cart.
"Renald!" He roars.
Thankfully, the cart maintains its course along the winding trail. Whisperclaw places her paw on my chest.
"Don't worry about my knives," she says.
I see Glimmer's illusions fade away as the music stops.
"I'm not. I gotta see something." I jump out of the cart, doing a military roll upon landing, before swiftly standing up and drawing my old Knight's saber and shield from my back.
I slowly walk up to the bandit and stab his leg. He screams out in agony and tries to crawl away, but my saber pins him to the dirt.
"Arghhh, you monster!" He writhes in agony.
"You attacked us first. So in reality, you and your team are the monsters. Besides, you pissed me and my friends off while I was sober." I sneer at him, twisting the saber, "Now tell me who you work for."
"I work for a Sa-Sa-Saber named Blackthorn! That's all I know! Really! He told me that various parties would be coming through and that-that... they would be easy pickings!" Now he's telling the truth. Pain works best during interrogations, something Whitecoat never agreed with me on. I suck my teeth.
"Where is he? Tell me or I'll kill you, and by the Gods, I swear I'll do it!" I say sharply, but in a low enough tone that no one in the cart can hear me.
"Your shield, you're supposed to be a knight! I've never seen a knight act like this before!" The bandit pleads.
"I'm not a Knight. Now, tell me where to find this Blackthorn." I twist my saber.
"His party set up camp near the waterfall, closest to the Boss Room. Just, please don't kill me!" The bandit answers quickly, stopping the pain in his leg, tears rolling down his face.
I pull my saber out of his leg before aiming at his throat.
"Flee. Let this 'Blackthorn' know that Renald and the rest of the Black Raven Guild are coming for him. After that, I want you to stop adventuring forever. Do you understand?" I ask, trying to sound menacing.
The bandit is visibly terrified, and all he can do is nod his head in agreement before limping away into the forest. Both bandits had dropped daggers similar to Whisperclaw's, which were still embedded in different trees. I grab all four and stuff them in my bag.
I turn to begin heading down the trail towards the cart, and I can still see it, far off in the distance. Ironvine did a good job of keeping it moving. With no time to waste, I unfold my wings, which had been hidden beneath my cloak until now. I take off, soaring through the air and landing back on the front of the wagon. This allows my wings to fold back underneath my cloak again. The first person to speak is Glimmer.
"Woah, that was pretty cool! Renald, you've had wings all along?" He asks, peeking through the back.
"It still doesn't excuse you for suddenly handing me the reins and leaving. What if I couldn't keep control? We could've lost the cart and all of our supplies!" Ironvine bares his fangs at me.
"Did you get my dagger?" Whisperclaw chirps from behind Glimmer.
"I got your daggers, they're in here." I toss my bag to Whisperclaw, who catches it and rummages around looking for her weapons.
"I'm sorry I just handed you the reins suddenly, but it didn't look like you were doing much anyway, Ironvine."
"I can't believe you! You know I'm a pacifist, Renald." Ironvine snaps back, astonished at the accusation, "I was ready to step in at a moment's notice if any of us got injured."
"Sure, you were a big guy." Glimmer laughs, placing a hand on Ironvine's fur-covered shoulder. Whisperclaw and I laugh as well.
We travel for another couple of hours, silent the whole way. When the sun begins to set, we pull off the main trail and into a clearing in the forest. We attempt to set up camp, but as Ironvine and I look through our supplies, we realize we forgot to pack tents.
We eventually decided to take turns keeping watch while sleeping in the cart. I choose the first watch, Glimmer's next, then Whisperclaw, and finally Ironvine.
Nothing of interest happened during my watch. Soon, my mind wanders to what Whitecoat said to me right before I got arrested.
"Is this how you think you're supposed to act? Fine, if that's how you are, you are no longer a Knight of Ardent! On my authority as a Captain, I strip you of your rank and title…"
Trying to get rid of her voice, I shake my head. Not a day I want to remember right now. I get up and stretch before heading over to the cart and attempting to wake Glimmer up. He doesn't budge, no matter how hard I push him. Not tired, I sit back and relax, leaning against a tree. I could take his watch for him; he's probably exhausted from playing that flute anyway. I hear an unnatural-sounding screech that sends a chill down my spine.
Moon howler owlbears. Just great, I think. Fear bubbles up inside me. I slowly begin to rise and make my way over to the cart. I reach inside to shake everyone awake, but something heavy slams into me. It knocks me to the ground on my back and simultaneously knocks my breath out.
Under the moonlight, all I see is a large, bear-like creature with the wings and face of an owl. It tries to slam its beak down on top of me. I shift my chest out of the way as its beak connects with the dirt. It screeches, slashing its claws across my shoulder and tearing through my armor. I feel the warmth of blood pumping, but fear overrides every joint in my body. I try screaming for help, but the words don't come out. I will my hand to reach for my saber, but my body refuses to move.
The Owlbear hits me with its beak again, but I roll out of the way. I feel another slash cut across my back as I do so, sending me flying further away from the cart and into a nearby tree. I hear a flute playing in the background. I catch a glimpse of Glimmer climbing out of the back of the cart. A strange blue mist floats out of his flute as he plays, transforming into another Owlbear, this one with blue fur. It screeches before beating its chest at the real Owlbear. The Owlbear that attacked me turns its focus towards its counterpart.
Suddenly, from within the cart, I see a dagger fly out and through the blue Owlbear towards the real one. The real one smacks the dagger away and roars at something in the cart that I can only assume is Whisperclaw. The only thing standing between the Owlbear and Whisperclaw... is Glimmer.
I rush to my feet and dash as fast as I can towards Glimmer, sliding between him and the large creature.
"Hey, over here! Ugly!" I yell, spreading my arms wide.
The Owlbear and I lock eyes momentarily before it charges me, slashing wildly with its claws. I sidestep and pull my shield off my back as the Owlbear's beak slams into it. This throws me up against the cart. The cart jolts and pulls away from me. I see Glimmer try to hop back into it, only to trip over himself in the scramble. Before he hits the ground, Whisperclaw leans out of the cart and snatches Glimmer back in. The blue Owlbear screeches again, drawing the attention of the one attacking us. The real Owlbear lashes out furiously at its fake counterpart, to no avail. All of its attempts to peck and slash the illusion fade through, and I get just enough time to climb into the back of the cart.
"Is anybody hurt?" I ask, looking around. Nobody else is injured except me. Good.
"You look like you took the brunt of it." Glimmer says, stopping his tune temporarily, then changing it to a low pitch screech.
The air is filled with the rushing winds of a Wyvern's wings beating as it soars down upon us. The Owlbear looks up in fear before screeching loudly. When the Wyvern's sound grows louder, the Owlbear runs into the forest opposite us. I clasp Glimmer on the shoulders before heading to the front.
"Good man," I say to him, the music finally stopping along with the sounds of the Wyvern and the Blue Owlbear within.
"What's good? I thought I heard the sounds of a winged beast?" Whisperclaw asks Glimmer as I crawl into the front seat, next to Ironvine, who is manning the reins for once.
"Is the Owlbear gone?" He asks, snapping the reins. The bison begins to pick up the pace.
"For now, it seems so." I wheeze, the pain in my shoulder and back finally kicking in.
"You look terrible, my friend. Here, take these. You can chew on them if you need to." Ironvine hands me two small pills filled with a glowing green liquid. "You'll have to wait 6 hours to take more, so don't overdo it."
I nod and take the pills, popping them into my mouth and swallowing them whole. My whole body gets filled with warmth, which spreads to my back and arms. The Owlbear cuts glow green, and when the glow has finally faded, so has the pain and the wounds themselves.
"Thanks, Doc." I joke. He huffs and turns away from me, facing the approaching trail.
"We've got over 80 days left of traveling to do before we reach the Boss Room on this floor. If we beat it, we've got 99 more floors to climb." Ironvine murmurs. "Try and make it alive for me, please?"
A wave of guilt hits me in the gut as I listen. I need a drink so badly, but Vesper made me promise I would stop if she bailed me out.
"Alright, alright, stop with mushy mushy stuff, man. I've been through worse than this before, I can handle it." I try to appear confident.
"You were terrified back there when the Owlbear charged the wagon. You thought Glimmer would get hurt, didn't you?" Ironvine continues anyway.
To make matters more difficult, he saw through me. I clench my teeth.
"So what? I'm heading to bed." I spat the words like venom, climbing into the back of the wagon and heading to my sleeping bag.
I can feel Glimmer and Whisperclaw watching me. I lay down.
"What's wrong with him?" Glimmer asks.
"Just leave him alone for a little while…" Whisperclaw answers, "...he's probably just tired and sore."
The cart slips into silence after that, and as I drift off to sleep, I can hear the sound of rain beginning to fall onto the roof.