A Sword For Gold

Chapter 11 - That Day

The sun had disappeared into the horizon by the time Velenya managed to catch up with them.

Exiting her own shroud of invisibility, Velenya startled Baros and Hansel as she showed herself to the others, holding out the Infinite Arrow in her hand, flashing them a smirk, letting them know that her infiltration of the vault was a success, and she did so without getting caught.

"Cora, put that in your quiver," said Velenya, as she handed Cora the Unwieldable.

"Why?" asked Cora, as she received it with her two hands hesitantly, slightly intimidated by the power that the Unwieldable itself demanded.

"Although it's safe with us," replied Velenya, "We must maintain appearances. We can't just walk around looking like we have an Unwieldable in our possession."

"Speaking of which," Ralys chimed in, "Does the king know that it's no logner in the vaults of Goldhaven?"

"We won't have to worry about that for now," assured Velenya, "The king only entered the vaults to make sure that the Infinite Arrow was still safe. It seems like he'll come back for it, though. I don't know when, but he will."

As they began to walk the road going north, Hansel finally blurted out of the blue, still feeling out of place as he kept tagging along the group, saying, "Where are we going? Do I have to go with you?"

"Do you have anywhere else to be?" asked Velenya as they walked.

"No," answered Hansel, "But I don't even know what I'm going to do with all of you. I'm pretty sure I'm not going back to the hideout of that Alyria Desolas those eight sorcerers spoke of. I might lose my life, and right now, I just need to find a job so I can make a living."

"You're lucky, then," said Velenya, "Why don't you join us? We'll teach you sorcery along with these other three, and we hunt our own food. Sometimes, we are also hired to hunt down or capture or slay monsters, and we get paid handsomely."

"Really?!" exclaimed Hansel, "You have my thanks, Velenya! Finally, I have a place to settle in!"

"How long have you been traveling from place to place with no money?" asked Maraxus, "I'd hate to think that you've been going from city to city, begging for silver and gold."

"That's exactly what I've been doing," admitted Hansel embarrassedly, "And no one would even take me for a job because I'm too skinny."

"I see," responded Maraxus.

Suddenly, Velenya veered off the main road, and led the other five into a clearing in the middle of the woods towards the left of the road, much to their confusion.

"Let's set up camp here for the night," suggested Velenya, "I would summon Blaze again, but maintaining invisibility for a long time really drained my energies. First thing in the morning, I'll fly us to my hideout, where we can finally settle down. The hot volcanic spring there is amazing, too. Perhaps you can have a nice, soothing bath tomorrow."

A few minutes later, as soon as they had settled into the clearing, Ralys gathered up some firewood and had managed to capture a goat, one that they would have for dinner so that they could sleep on full stomachs.

"Are you sure we should be lighting a campfire?" asked Maraxus, "It'll be like announcing our location to the whole world."

"Don't you worry, Maraxus," assured Ralys, "Velenya may have been drained of her energies, but she is still one of the most powerful sorceresses I know. A Nightstalker is mere fodder to her, if that's what you're worried about."

"If you say so," relented Maraxus, as Ralys put down the firewood and organized it, before blasting it with his own fireball, starting the campfire successfully, and he began to clean the goat he had slain before he would start cooking it over the campfire.