Chapter 35 – No One Knew

  Morning in front of the Guild began with the slow roll of wagon wheels over stone roads. Horseshoes struck the hard surface, dry and repetitive. The air was still cold, not yet warm enough to lift the mist of breath.

  Rask stood near one of the pillars. His shield was propped against his left side, its lower edge touching the ground. His right hand rested on the hilt.

  A few steps away, an elven woman stood apart. A bow hung across her back. She faced the same road. Her eyes followed the morning traffic without turning her head.

  Leon yawned wide. He stretched as he walked and glanced toward the guild door.

  “Rask, you’re not going in?” he asked.

  Rask did not turn.

  “I’ll wait out here,” he replied shortly.

  “You too, Elyn?” Leon looked her way.

  Elyn did not answer.

  Teodor moved first toward the door. Leon followed.

  The guild door’s hinges sounded heavy as it opened, echoing briefly before being swallowed by the noise inside. The smell of paper, ink, and old wood mixed together.

  A female staff member’s desk was piled high. Sheets of paper were stacked messily. Some jutted over the edge.

  “Morning,” she said without lifting her head.

  Leon grinned and leaned closer to the staff desk. “Morning, Selene.”

  “If you step any closer,” Selene replied, still writing, “I’ll add a fine to your disciplinary record.”

  Leon chuckled and stepped back half a pace. “If you keep that up, you’ll never find a boyfriend.”

  Teodor walked toward the mission board in the corner.

  “Requests from outside parties seem lighter lately,” he said.

  “Yeah. Most of them only need one or two adventurers.”

  Selene pulled a sheet from the middle of the stack and read a few lines.

  “There’s a new assignment,” she said. “Guild investigation team.”

  “Western mine district,” she continued.

  “Beasts invasion?” Teodor asked.

  “According to miner reports,” Selene replied.

  Her finger pressed against a folded section of the map at the corner of the desk. “Officially, it’s still under investigation.”

  Leon straightened as he took the mission sheet.

  Outside, Elyn continued watching the busy street until her gaze caught on a young man walking calmly through the crowd. She kept him in sight from a distance.

  Elyn’s brow lifted. Her body tensed. Her hand clenched as the young man briefly turned toward her.

  “What is it?” Rask asked beside her.

  Elyn did not answer at once. The man turned a corner and disappeared from view.

  “Did you see him?”

  “No. Is there a problem?” Rask replied.

  “He glanced back,” Elyn murmured. “Like he knew he was being watched.”

  “Probably coincidence.” Rask turned to her. “You’re overthinking it.”

  Rask lingered for a moment.

  “I’ll check on them inside," he said, stepping toward the guild entrance.

  Inside, Selene said, “If anything changes, file a full report.”

  Teodor nodded once.

  “The investigation teams are busy lately,” Selene added.

  She returned to writing. The pen moved again, quick and steady. Nothing more was said.

  Teodor turned. Leon followed him toward the door.

  “Where to?” Rask asked as they stopped in front of him.

  “West,” Teodor answered.

  Morning light felt harsher as they exited the guild.

  Cold air bounced off the stone road. Footsteps sounded clearer than they had inside.

  Elyn moved immediately when she saw them. She fell in behind without asking anything.

  They left almost at the same time, stepping away from the guild doors without looking back.

  The road toward the livery was slightly crowded. A vegetable vendor pushed a cart from the opposite direction. Its wooden wheels screeched, nearly brushing Leon’s shoulder. Leon shifted half a step without stopping.

  A messenger ran along the side of the road, a roll of paper in hand. He slowed when he saw their gear, then moved aside.

  The party did not change pace.

  Horseshoes rang as they entered the livery. The smell of hay and wet leather filled the air.

  Rask grabbed his horse’s reins with a quick motion. Elyn was already beside her mount, patting its neck once before climbing up. Leon checked his belt as he walked. Teodor opened his stall door wide.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The warehouse door hung half open. Light entered at an angle, cutting through dust hanging in the air. The smell of dry grain and vinegar mixed with old wood.

  A draft carried the scent of earth from the corner of the warehouse, where piles of turnips were stacked.

  Thomas and Zio stood before rows of sacks and crates.

  Albert stood beside them.

  “Move this one over there too,” he said.

  Thomas shifted several small crates one by one.

  Meanwhile, Zio’s steps remained steady as he carried a large crate.

  He walked through a narrow aisle between stacked boxes. The hard floor echoed beneath his feet.

  From time to time, Thomas and Albert glanced in Zio’s direction.

  Sacks changed places. Crates were rearranged. The sound of fabric, wood, and floor repeated.

  Thomas returned to his chair at the cashier’s desk. His hand only moved to pull the ledger closer.

  Albert went back to his office.

  The western mines opened up before them. Rusted cart rails stretched inward, some buried under wet soil. Cold air clung to the skin. The smell of damp earth mixed with old metal.

  Rough gouges ran across the stone walls. Parts of the surface had peeled away, leaving small fragments scattered on the floor. Teodor crouched and touched one of them.

  A few steps deeper, small bones lay scattered. Cracked. Dark stains marked the ground. Not fresh. Already dried.

  Elyn pointed at the tracks.

  One cart wheel lay overturned. Its axle bent. Drag marks cut through the dirt, straight at first, then veering off.

  Teodor stood.

  He looked toward the mouth of the cave. Light reached only a few meters inside before disappearing.

  “Let’s go in. Stay alert,” Teodor said.

  Wind pushed in from outside, carrying the smell of wet soil deeper inside.

  Their first steps into the dark were met by nothing. No sound. No movement.

  Teodor set their spacing. Rask in front. Leon in the middle. Elyn covering the rear.

  One step past the light, the air thickened.

  A dull impact echoed before they saw anything.

  Not close. The sound crawled through stone, bounced, then broke apart. Irregular. Heavy. As if something struck the inner walls of the mine and shifted behind them.

  Teodor raised his hand.

  They stopped.

  Rask moved half a step forward, shield already up. Elyn kept her distance. Leon held his breath.

  Movement came from beside the tracks.

  Six low shapes slid out from gaps in the rock. Thin bodies, pale skin stretched tight over bone. Fast. Silent.

  Rask moved first.

  His shield slammed forward. One body flew into the stone wall. Stone cracked loudly.

  Elyn released an arrow. One dropped without a sound.

  Leon stepped in, his strikes neat and controlled. Fire flared briefly. Two bodies fell almost at the same time.

  Teodor struck the ground.

  Cracks spread outward. One creature stumbled, then was crushed by Rask’s shield.

  The last one pulled back.

  Fast.

  It slipped into a narrow passage and vanished into the dark.

  Silence returned.

  Five bodies lay still.

  Teodor stared at the dark corridor where the last creature had disappeared.

  “Go in,” he said shortly.

  They lit their torches.

  Firelight pushed forward, slowly eating away the darkness. The stone walls narrowed. The air felt denser, heavy, as if trapped.

  Their steps stayed measured.

  Then the smell changed.

  Sharper. Warm. Wet metal.

  Something moved.

  Not from the front.

  Two large shapes burst out almost at once, bodies layered in rough scales, moving far faster than their size suggested.

  Rask raised his shield just in time.

  The impact hit hard. Vibration shot up his arm, numbing his shoulder.

  Elyn fired. The arrow struck the side of a head. It didn’t pierce.

  Teodor struck the ground.

  Stone rose to chest height, slowing one of the creatures.

  The other leapt toward Leon.

  Leon tried to shift position.

  Too close.

  Teodor shoved Leon aside.

  Claws sank into Teodor’s leg.

  He went down.

  Blood ran down his leg. His knee struck stone.

  His breath broke.

  The creature let out a short roar.

  Rask slammed into its side. Elyn fired again. Leon drove fire into its throat.

  The large body collapsed.

  The last one still struggled.

  Caught in hardened earth, thrashing, then struck again and again.

  Finally, it fell.

  Silence returned.

  Torchlight wavered.

  Breathing grew rough.

  Teodor tried to stand.

  His right leg didn’t respond.

  Numbness crept from the knee downward.

  Elyn rushed over.

  She pulled a bottle from her small pack.

  She knelt and poured it over Teodor’s leg.

  The wound was clear.

  Deep. The edges blackened.

  Elyn wrapped it tightly with cloth.

  Zio walked with a bundle of fabric tied across his shoulders.

  He moved through narrow alleys in Ravenhold, stopping in front of a clothing shop.

  A man stepped out of the building and took the bundle. “Thank you.”

  Zio nodded, then turned and walked back toward the warehouse.

  “Thomas, come here.”

  Albert’s voice came from his room.

  “Grain… potatoes,” Thomas read from a scrap of paper as he walked.

  Soft footsteps sounded from outside the warehouse.

  Thomas glanced over. “Back already?”

  Zio stepped inside.

  “Here.” Thomas handed him a bottle of water and some bread.

  “Thanks.”

  Zio sat on a bench. Water spilled from his lips, dripping onto the floor, leaving dark spots before drying.

  “Later, take these to this location,” Thomas said, pointing at a spot on the map spread across the table.

  “Alright,” Zio said, looking it over.

  “Two sacks of grain. Two crates of potatoes,” Thomas said. “The other carriers aren’t back yet. You can take part of it first.”

  “Why not all at once?” Zio asked flatly.

  Thomas sighed, glancing at him.

  “Fine, if you don’t mind.”

  Zio bent forward. His hands gripped a crate. He lifted it without a sound.

  Thomas shifted his foot half a step. Watching again.

  Zio carried the crate to the grain pile and set it on top. He climbed down without looking back.

  He grabbed the mouth of a sack, pulled it onto his shoulder, then lifted another. The rough fabric scraped his arm.

  Thomas shook his head a few times.

  Zio walked out of the warehouse again.

  Albert stepped out of his room.

  “Thomas, check the stock of medicinal ingredients.”

  The air inside the medical post was thick with the sharp smell of medicine soaked into walls and cloth.

  Teodor sat on a small bed as the bindings on his leg were pulled tighter.

  Warm cloth pressed against the wound. Pain flared briefly, then dulled into a heavy ache below the knee.

  Someone stood beside him. A pair of hands paused.

  “Good thing you made it in time,” the person said.

  “The poison was strong. A little later and the leg could’ve been permanently crippled.”

  A hand patted the white bandage wrapped around Teodor’s leg.

  “The bone’s slightly cracked. A few weeks and it should heal.”

  “Heh… annoying,” Teodor let out a small laugh.

  “Let’s head back to the city.”

  Leon reached for his arm without a word.

  They walked slowly outside.

  Outdoor air rushed in with the low afternoon light. Wind from the west carried road dust and the smell of dry grass.

  They moved away from the medical post, following the dirt path back toward the city.

  The sky over Ravenhold hadn’t gone dark yet, but the light had lost its edge. Building shadows stretched across the stone roads, following the sun’s tilt toward the west.

  At the western gate, Rask led the horse with one hand. The reins were held shorter than usual.

  Teodor walked beside the horse, his steps uneven.

  Rask adjusted his pace without speaking. Sometimes he glanced down, making sure Teodor was still keeping up. Sometimes he slowed the horse slightly.

  At an intersection, Leon and Elyn turned toward the guild. Leon walked faster than usual, spear slung low. Elyn followed behind, her steps light but tense.

  City sounds filled the gaps between them. Cart wheels. Merchants closing their stalls.

  Rask led Teodor toward the inn. The stone steps felt higher than they had earlier that day. Teodor gripped the iron railing as he climbed.

  On the other side of the city, Zio walked out of the warehouse with Thomas.

  The warehouse stood empty. The wooden doors were shut. The smell of grain still clung to their clothes. Thomas yawned and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “Coming along again tomorrow,” he said casually, “or going to wander the city on your own?”

  “I already wandered today,” Zio replied.

  Thomas gave him a sideways look. “That was work.”

  “I meant walking around.”

  Zio nodded slightly.

  They walked side by side. Their steps aligned, slow, following the flow of people heading home.

  Ravenhold kept moving.

  Teodor paused for a moment before stepping forward again.

  On another road, Zio shifted his shoulder, adjusting to the lingering soreness.

  The evening crowd swallowed both of them the same way.

  No one asked.

  No one knew.

  Thank you for reading.

  sharing it with your friends or on social media. Every share helps me reach more readers and keep the story going!

  more chapters ahead of schedule, feel free to check out my Patreon link on my profile. Your support means the world to me.