The rattling of a caravan fills the air, the bumpy road making a mess of the people. The front driver, sitting on a padded seat, looking out into the horizon of the pins that surround the road he travels. A rge rock in the road causes the cart to bounce, making him wince in pain. A slight cry from his cart squeaks out, making him elbow the wall of it.

  "I would have thought that buying this seat would have helped, turns out it was a waste." He says with a groan.

  A rge forest comes into view, alongside it, many of its residents. Wolves, growling and sneering, running after a few rabbits, coming directly at the lead cart.

  The driver screams out, "You fuckers better do what I paid good money for!" Stopping the cart.

  The second cart of a trail of three has its doors swing open, 3 people jump out in a line. The first, a tall women with a bandage over their chest and a cloak wrapped around their waist, a rge highnd sword strapped over their back. The second, a man in robes with holy markings and gold lining, holding a rge staff. The third, a man in full silver armor, a longsword sheathed around their waist.

  The woman stretches out her back, popping it in the process while raising her arms up in the air. She lets out a strained voice, "Finally, my ass has gone numb from sitting on those shitty seats." Reaching back and massaging her butt, trying to get feeling back into it.

  The man in armor speaks, his deep voice echoing in his helmet, "How do you think I feel? I have been wearing this heavy armor the past 5 hours, I am starting to get raw spots on the raw spots..."

  The man in robes speaks sternly, "Could you guys stop compining? We have a job to do and I think he was a little panicked when he called us out."

  They all start to jog to the front, catching a glimpse of the fight to come through the fog.

  The man in robs speaks up, "Seems like its just wolves, we'll take care of this quickly so you can get back to snoozing."

  The man in armor snaps his head over to him, "Hey! You sleep just as much as the rest of us on these types of jobs!"

  The woman speaks up, "Ladies, you both can get your beauty rest once we are done."

  They rush up ahead of the lead cart, the man in robes falling behind the other 2 as they ready their weapons for a fight. The rabbits run by their feet, seemingly unafraid of them. The man in armor shouts in a foreign tongue as his armor starts to glow, causing all of the wolves to turn their attention to the threat that has made itself known. They all stop a few meters away from him in an arc as he raises his sword in defense. Revealing 6 of them showing their fangs in anger at the man.

  The one on the left is cleaved in half as the woman's sword decides to make its insides, outside. She ughs maniacally as she turns to the others, skewering another and lifting it above her head in triumph. She throws it away as the others rush the man in armor. Fire takes over one of them and they whimper in pain while jumping and rolling on the ground. The closest wolf reaches the man, he dodges to the side and cleaves its head from its body, the blood barely even coating his sword. Another one jumps at him from his right, he turns and pommel strikes it in the side of the head, knocking it out of the way.

  The woman rushes over, using her sword to pin it to the ground, stabbing right through its heart. The final uninjured wolf starts to back away, clearly scared from losing its pack. Its retreat is ended by a wall of fmes sprouting up from behind it. Seeing no where to flee, it rushes the man in robes, only to be stopped midway by the woman, she punches it in the side of the head and it goes tumbling across the grass. The man in armor walks over and finishes off the one that was on fire while the woman puts her sword through the heart of the one she just sent flying like a ragdoll.

  They all start to walk back over to the cart they had come out of. "Can't wait to be out of this damn sun, I am cooking in this armor." He says with a huff.

  "Raul, you always compin about the heat. Why don't you just not wear the armor?" The woman says.

  "Because, Ina, I don't like having no protection at all, unlike you." He says, with mocking tilt of his head.

  "We have Marcus's healing to back us up, I don't know why you are so worried." She says, with a shrug.

  "Because he doesn't have infinite mana!" Raul says, putting his arms out to his sides.

  "Why the fuck do I always need to be brought into your bickering?" Marcus says, putting his hand on his forehead.

  They reach their cart, still arguing, "Look, you are just mad because you take more damage then I do." Ina says mockingly, stepping up and opening the doors.

  "I don't even take that much damage!" Raul yells, with his arms up in the air.

  "My mana would like to say otherwise..." Marcus says ftly, stepping into the cart.

  "Alright... Fuck you both..." He says, following Marcus in, Ina hops in after and the caravan starts to move again.

  Another few minutes of rattling around and the caravan has entered the forest, the sound of birds peaking through the creaking and rattling of the carts. Another 15 minutes go by, and the trio are unable to get any of their beauty rest before they are called on again. They all get out and come to the front, they don't see anything as they make their way.

  They come up to the caravan leader, "What's going on?" Raul asks.

  "Thank you for escorting us this far." He says.

  "No problem, but wasn't the job to escort you to Kingstead?" Raul replies.

  "It was, but your journey ends here." He whistles loudly, the forest seems to come alive as bandits come out from behind the trees. The far rear carts doors open loudly, and even more hop out, surrounding them.

  "You all have been a great help, but also a great pain to my business..." He says, while a bandit walks in-between them and the leader. "You have given greatly to our cause, but you flew too close to the sun this time I'm afraid."

  "Those weren't just rumors... You actually are a sve trader..." Marcus says, his face twisting in anger.

  "I'm sorry to tell you that rumors are just rumors... Right boys?" The leader says, the rge group of bandits yells out in confirmation. "So would you all kindly disappear so I can continue my business in peace? Time is money, you all should understand that."

  As the bandits creep in on the three, they draw their weapons ready to retaliate. Their whole bodies shaking, but not due to fear. There was a rumbling in the ground, felt by everyone around the caravan.

  "The fuck is it now? Ruining my fun..." The leader says, before turning with wide eyes at the giant hobgoblin racing at them, skin green with long, patchy, dirt crusted bck hair. Shoddy clothing and a giant cleaver was is it has for equipment, white eyes fixed on them as it barreled through the trees.

  "Shit!" He yells. He jumps from his cart to dodge the hobgoblins charge. It smashes into the side of the cart, causing the leader to go flying, nding with a loud crack. The cart starts to flip over, the wood creaking inward as screams from inside fill the air. The cart falls on a few bandits, killing them instantly as they are crushed by the weight. The top, rust covered hinge of the door on the back snapping, falling slightly off, the second one following suit shortly after, and the door falls ft on the ground.

  "Run!" Raul yells, turning to the other two.

  "But what about the ones inside the cart!?" Ina yells back.

  "Fuck! You're right! We got to get them to safety!" Raul turns back, seeing the hobgoblin ying waste to a bunch of the bandits, cleaving most of them in half at the waist. He runs over while it is distracted, checking the inside. There are 7 sves inside, with their hands shackled together, all curled over and hurt, some bleeding, others with broken limbs.

  "We need to get you guys out of here!" He yells, "Who all can walk?!"

  5 of them raise their hands, "Alright, start getting out of here, follow the road back to Evensflow!"

  He passes them as they leave, guided by the other two. He makes his way inside past the splintered wood, to the two unable to walk. He picks up one of them, a small boy, probably 6 or 7 years old, but hard to tell due to how thin they are. He carries him back to the opening, handing him off to Ina, before going back in for the second. A girl, probably about the same age, just as thin as the boy, with long bck hair and green eyes, crawls a little closer to him. He picks her up, carrying her out. Marcus has finished healing up the boys leg as he makes it out, he then rushes over and starts healing the girl while Ina directs the boy out.

  The fight with the hobgoblin comes to an end, with heavy losses from the bandits they manage to take it down. They then start chasing after the runners, a few staying behind to fight the 3 adventurers. Ina, in a fit of anger, heaves her sword at the closest one, snapping his bde and sending him flying into one of the others, both going down hard. She turns and brings her sword down on one of the others shoulders, almost splitting him in 2.

  Marcus finishes healing the girl's legs, and steps in-between her and the bandits. The second he takes his eyes off of her, he hears footsteps rushing into the forest, he turns to see her running into the forest from where the hobgoblin came from. "No! Don't go into the forest!" He yells, but is unable to get her to come back. "Fuck!" He yells, turning back to the fight at hand.

  Run! Is her only thought, rushing through the forest, over the roots and fallen tree branches. The shackles and chains binding her arms clinking and chattering. She hears the screaming of people behind her telling her to stop, her lungs burning, her legs failing, her mind racing. They are catching up on her, she can tell, but she has to keep going. "Stop running, you can't escape!" She hears through the trees.

  She trips over a rge root while she is in her panic. Falling to the ground, she tries to brace herself with her arm, but in turn breaks it, causing her to scream out in pain.

  "They are over here!" She hears them yell out. "We can't let them get away, they are worth too much!"

  She tries to get up, wincing in pain with her eyes watering, as her arm falls to her side. She limps forward, barely able to keep her bance. The footsteps and yelling closer then ever. She falls once more, unable to keep up with the exhaustion.

  I don't want to go back!

  She turns and sees one of them spot her through the trees, he points and yells to his friends, "Over there!" Her eyes widen in fear as she tries to crawl away, crying in pain as tears start to stream down her cheeks. She looks in front of her to see a huge beast sitting in the grass. A wolf as big as the hobgoblin, fur as white as snow, soft blue eyes looking down at her with a light glow. She blinks a few times and wipes the tears from her eyes, she looks back to where it was, only to see nothing.

  She starts crying again as she turns back to the bandits, them now creeping up on her through the trees. "Thought you would actually escape?" One of the men say, getting a chuckle out of the crowd. They walk to her, and one of them crouches down in front of her.

  "The only thing that's good about you is the money you are worth alive, otherwise you would be long dead." He says with a ugh you could only hear from an insane person. He starts to reach forward to grab her, only to have his hand ying on the forest floor. "Huh?" Is the only thing he is able to mutter before screaming in pain. He stands up, grabbing his wrist. The screaming stops as his head slowly falls from his body as he colpses. The others quickly burst into a panic, looking around and drawing their bdes. One of them rushes over and grabs the girl, holding her up in front of him like a meat shield, pointing his sword in every direction that he can think of. His companions slowly dropping in number as their limbs are removed one by one.

  His sword drops to his side and he releases the girl. She stumbles forward, then turns around and looks up to see his head gone, with his body still standing. It falls backwards ft and she looks around in panic, finding only dead bodies, the screams of the bandits has come to an end. She starts to panic even more, her mind racing as it attempts to process what just happened. She hears a footstep to her right and quickly looks over, taking a few steps back. She sees the same wolf, it takes one more step into the open before sitting down.

  [Do not be afraid, I will not hurt you.] She hears a females voice, echoing through her mind. [I can heal your arm, if you wish?]

  She takes a small step towards the wolf, still hesitant to get closer.

  [You do not need to come closer for me to do so if you do not want to. You only need to let me know that you would like me to.]

  She nods, a few moments ter, a warm feeling has engulfed her entire being, she starts to back away in panic.

  [This is only my healing magic, there is no need to panic.] She hears, as she looks down to see all of he scratches heal up and her arm heal back to normal. After a few more moments the warmth fades and she looks back up to the wolf, [Do you have a name?] she hears.

  She hesitates for a moment, "Myra..." she says, in a whisper almost to low to hear. The wolf ys down, its eyes becoming softer.

  [That's a nice name, Myra.] The voice says softly.