Converging Destinies: Part 1

Chapter 46

       The rest of the day passed, and they didn't have any food or water.

       "I didn't think it would be so difficult to find food." Cedric confessed.

       "Me neither." Ella admitted.

       "So, what do we do then?" Ara' Sei asked.

       "Tomorrow, if we find any sleep, I can regather my powers better than I did today." Cedric said. With that, the group decided to go to sleep early. Cedric took the time to fortify the natural walls that surrounded them, making it even harder for any outsider to detect their presence.

       Before the sun rose the next day, Cedric was already in meditation. He could feel hunger and thirst wearing him away, but he still hung on. The rest of the group felt exhaustion wearing away at them as they woke up, they had barely any energy, and even moving around was becoming difficult. As the sun rose, Cedric awakened from his meditation.

       Cedric took out his wooden wand and muttered a few words under his breath. Green shoots shout out of the wand, and on the tip of each were bright red berries. Cedric handed one out to each of the group. Then Cedric laid out the group's flasks, and as he muttered his incantation water began to pour forth from his hands, crisp and clean.

       The group had their first meal in more than a day. But it would take time for their exhaustion to wear off.

       "We're gonna have to wait for a long time, we need to recover. I'm so sorry I messed up like that." Cedric said.

       "It's fine." Eris replied.

       The next two days passed, with Cedric continuing to use his druidic magic in order to sustain the group in the wild. On the morning of the second day, Eris and Cedric continued to work on the forged letter. Finally, it was at a point where it looked convincing. Eris asked Zerai where to mail the letter to, and finally Eris was able to mail the letter to the slaver's guild. When they got back, they went up to Zerai and assembled everyone else.

       "So, now that we may have been able to stir up some animosity, what should we do now?" Eris asked.

       "Well, we need to wait one more day for it to mail, and for Cedric to prepare. Tomorrow night we're going to execute the most important step, not to mention the most difficult." Zerai answered.

       "Well, what is it?!" Ella asked.

       "We're going to free the slaves that they have captive there." Zerai declared. There was a silence that followed.

       "How?" Eris asked.

       "We're going to break them out of the jail that the slavers have as their base of operations. It will involve sneaking in, breaking the slaves out, helping them out sneakily, and fighting off any threats that get in our way. It's going to be far more exhausting than our first battle with the slaver's guild. If things go south, we may even have to fight their leader." Zerai explained.

       "Who's their leader?" Ara' Sei asked.

       "He's a man with black scales on the side of his face who wears armor, he seems to have some level of magical capability, although it's unclear what kind." Zerai answered.

       "And he has the full force of the slaver's guild with him?" Eris asked.

       "See, that's the thing, with the previous steps we've weakened them more and more. They won't have as much gear or money as they usually do. We might be able to fight them if the worst possible case comes to fruition, had we not taken these previous steps, we would have stood no chance." Zerai explained.

       "So, tomorrow night, we free the slaves." Ara' Sei said. Zerai nodded in response.

       "Alright, what should I be prepared for?" Cedric asked.

       "You should be ready to supply us tomorrow morning with food as well as stealth and combat for tomorrow night." Zerai said.

       "Alright, I think I could do that." Cedric replied.

       "Excellent, are we all in agreement on the plan?" Zerai asked. The whole group nodded in response to Zerai.

       "Alright, everyone, be ready for the biggest challenge we've faced yet."