Chapter 45: Silent Forest
There were twelve bandits in total, and after collecting the blood, I was at a full tank. I went over and pulled each arrow out and used the spell Heal. Both thanked me, and Kevin promised more good food along the trip. Gastbo was of two minds on the matter of me and our party, but there was no denying that we saved his life. He was thankful, but scared of me and the girls now, which was fine.
We just had to keep our end of the deal up until we got to Dyster, and then he would be on his way back. For now, I just wanted sleep, the transfer of Mana when I healed had exhausted me, and I would have to be careful about how I used it in the future. Ideally, testing it would be the best route, but I would have to cut myself to heal something without asking another.
Unless ambushes like this were a normal thing, and if that was the cause I might get more practice than I wanted. We moved the wagons close to the cabin and Mark and Kevin had already checked the cabin and it was deserted. I got everyone inside and Corbit offered to get the wood, then he came in to get the fire started.
"Sorry I didn't do anything. Tim told me just to stay hidden," Corbit explained as he struck some flint, getting the fire going the first time.
"He was right, they had bows, and these ribbons only work in the dungeons. If you die out here, there is no coming back. We are still all learning so you should play to your strengths and it's best if you don't try to fight ranged combat head-on unless I have their attention."
Corbit didn't say anything, but he had a smile on his face as he walked away. Lesha came over and stood behind me putting hands on my arms, and I leaned back into her arms. I was starting to feel drowsy, and that was the third time I had used the spell since learning it.
Lesha guided me to a couch, and I sat down with her help. Now I knew how Mei had felt after using her magic so much the other day, the feeling was like a grow tired that was slowly trying to claim me. I wasn't able to stay awake for the food, instead, I drifted into sleep tucked into Lesha's arms. Together we let the night gently drift away.
The next morning it was Lesha in my arms, and I woke her up with a passionate kiss and some playful hip and breast grabbing. Soon, we could hear the sounds of men and the two of us sat up from the couch and straightened our clothes out. Corbit and Mark walked in from outside and smiled at us.
"Did you two have a good sleep? You two make a good couple, nice to see, but Gastbo is ready to go, and everyone else is packed up," Mark said with a smile while scratching the back of his head.
Both of us jumped up and headed out with the men, I didn't think we had slept that long or I would have got up right away. It was almost embarrassing being the last ones up, but no one, not even Gastbo was complaining about our slow start. The girls were waiting for us in the carriage, both had small but knowing smiles as we got in and started to travel down the hill.
"Did you two have a good sleep?" Gloria asked me, raising an eyebrow at me, but I could see how Mei was lying against her, smiling.
"Did you two have a good sleep? Didn't you have the bedroom alone?" I asked, stretching to wrap my arms around Lesha and kissing her cheek.
That made the two of them separate and look away from each other, and I raised my eyebrow, but my attention was drawn to the fog-covered forest that stretched out below us. I almost climbed over Lesha until she switched places, swatting my backside as I passed, but I was glued to the scenery that we were descending into.
"Pretty amazing, even from up here there is no end in sight for the sea of forest, but only because of the fog."
I looked up to the front where Tim was looking out into the forest.
"We will need to start paying attention now, there are things far worse than men in this forest. Keep everyone on alert, I am going to go upfront, maybe you should come and sit up here. We should make it through the Silent Forest today, but we need to expect trouble from large green panthers that blend into the environment. I have already seen some, and that means that they have seen us," Tim explained while getting the driver to stop.
We were halfway down the mountain, and when we stopped Tim went upfront. I sent Corbit in, and Lesha joined me with our driver, Gerald. I was starting to feel tension building, and I was looking almost frantically for some sign of movement, but our driver's voice calmed me down.
"Don't try to find them, just keep your eyes out. Your job is to stop them before they get to us, but we aren't at the bottom yet. Let your mind get used to the dark greens, they are a lighter color," Gerald explained.
"You know a lot about these things?" I asked, while still looking around.
"Oh, you could say this isn't my first trip down the mountain," Gerald said, pulling back one of his sleeves to reveal his forearm that had a large chunk of it missing, healed over, and scar tissue now.
The part missing was massive, meaning the head would be three to four times the size of my own. My nerves were starting to come back, but I had to stay strong.
"Okay, girls, and Corbit, let us know if you see movement, the more people watching, the more warning we will have!"