Chapter 5 [Weather Warning]

‘Where is old man Will?’ Aria wondered. She was sitting in her chair in the town hall. It had been nearly a month since he had left Solstun. He would normally be back by now but she hadn't even received a letter yet and their supplies were running thin.

   ‘Chief, uhh, there is something we wanted to report.’ A guard said to her.

   ‘What is it?’

   It was Bruce, the elder brother of the Torro brothers. They were the gatekeepers of the town who stood at the front gate and kept count of the adventurers that went into the forest. A report from them could be only one thing.

   ‘Three people still have not come back from the forest.’ Bruce said.

   This was an issue. Only one hour was left till sunset. All missions were assigned so that the adventurers could return by early afternoon.

   ‘Are the missing people from the same party?’ Aria asked in a serious tone.

   ‘Not really. Two of them are the newbies that came in last month. The tall strong looking fella and the girl. And the other missing person is Millie’

   Aria gave out a sigh. ‘That girl! She is probably fine but the other two. Where are they?’

   ‘Well, we don't know. Their party only had a small herb gathering mission today but I have searched all the common herb spots and they aren't there. My brother is still standing at the gates in case they return but that seems unlikely at this point.’

   ‘Party? But you said only two of them are missing.’

   ‘Yes. Dylan, the guy who pissed his pants on the first day, came back some two hours ago.’

   ‘Why did he come back alone? Did he seem distressed? Did he say anything about the rest of his party?’

   ‘Well….’

   A few hours ago, in the front gate.

   ‘Oh look! Is that piss pants Dylan? Did you run away at the sight of a frog this time or was it a caterpillar?’ The younger of the guards said.

   The man named Dylan slowly walked to the front gates. His demeanor was calm and his posture straight.

   ‘Shut up, Bill! Don't insult him like that. Just praise him for not soiling his pants.’ The elder brother said.

   Dylan didn't even seem to notice their comments. Instead he started laughing.

   ‘Hahaha. You think your petty insults can hurt me? NO! If words could kill, I would already be a Dead man. I have seen hell today!’

   ‘Uhh, are you okay, man?’ Bruce asked.

   ‘Okay? OKAY!? Would you be okay, if your dreams were crushed in front of you? Would you be okay, if your friends abandoned you when it really mattered? WOULD YOU!?’

   ‘Speaking of your friends. Where are they?’ Bill said, hoping to change the topic.

   ‘Who knows? Maybe they are frolicking in the jungle somewhere.’

   After saying that Dylan went straight to the lodging.

   ‘... And when his party still didn't return an hour after him, we started getting worried.’ The guard finished telling the story.

   ‘So, it is safe to assume something happened between them while they were in the forest. Probably some sort of falling out.’Aria said.

   ‘Most likely, yes. I wonder what could have angered him so severely.’

   The reality of the situation…. Well, it was nowhere as serious as these two thought. For some context let us look at this from Dylan’s perspective.

   After running away at his rejection like a child, Dylan gathered himself at a small clearing next to a large mushroom. He thought to himself that that didn't go well but there is still a way. He just needs to wait for Clara and Brian to come. With all of them putting their minds together they could easily come with another plan.

   But wait as he might, they didn't come. That was unusual. They had their differences but that doesn't mean they would abandon him.

   That was the rough thought process that Dylan went through before becoming angry at his own party and storming off. Now you might wonder, why didn't he consider that they might be in trouble? Why didn't he try to go back to them? The answer: well, it's Dylan so he didn't think of that.

   Back to Aria.

   ‘Well, whatever it was, doesn't matter. Their lives might be in danger. Where is he right now?’

   ‘He is in their party's assigned quarters right now. As far as I know, he hasn't left since he came back.’

   ‘Okay, I will go see him.’Aria said while standing up.

   She gave out a few orders telling people to get ready for a potential search. After that she headed straight to where Dylan was. While walking there she took note of the sky. It was cloudy.

   She knocked at the door after reaching there. No response. She knocked again to no avail.

   She took a deep breath. Elvin will have some choice words for me later, she thought as she broke the door open with one kick.

   She walked inside the small lodge. To call this place an abomination against architecture would be putting it lightly. The house was built in a hurry by men who had spent their whole lives swinging swords. The wood planks were misaligned and rusty nails were poking out of almost every spot.

   But that was true for almost all the houses outside of the town center. They didn't have enough spare resources to make tables or desks for the average adventurer. They were only given a couple of beds and in one of those beds there was a man sitting hunched over plucking petals from a flower.

   It was Dylan and he was muttering to himself, ‘She was joking. She was telling the truth. She was joking. She was telling the truth.’ 

   Dylan kept repeating those words as he plucked petals from the flower in his hand. This was a truly pathetic sight but Aria had no interest in that.

   ‘You are the one named Dylan, right?’ Aria asked. ‘Where is the rest of your party? Where did you last see them?’

   ‘I mean, she still loves me, right? She was so friendly to me before. She was shy, that's all.’ Dylan muttered ignoring Aria.

   ‘Are you listening to me? I asked you a question.’

   ‘Yeah, that's gotta be it. She was jus– HEY! WHAT THE HELL!!!’

   Aria had grabbed him by his hair and then dragged him to the wall until his face was two centimeters away from the sharp end of one of the rusty nails.

   ‘I am getting really tired of your nonsense.’ Aria said in a cold tone. ‘Answer my questions and you won't experience what it feels like to have a dirty nail in your eye.’

   ‘Okay, okay! Whatever you say lady. I will talk.’ Dylan then proceeded to tell everything that happened that day.

   ‘So you are telling me your group had an encounter with Millie and then you left.’ Aria said.

   ‘Yeah, yeah! That's the truth. I swear!’

   Aria let go of Dylan’s head. His face didn't meet the business end of a nail today. Dylan still looked very shaken from his impromptu interrogation but that wasn't Aria’s concern.

   She was busy piecing together what could have happened in the forest. From her previous conversation with Brian, she already suspected that he had some sort of military background. Had he come to Solstun on a mission? Did that mission involve Millie?

   ‘Damn! Looks like I should have been more worried about her after all.’ Aria said to herself. She then looked at Dylan and said. ‘You there! Get ready. We will be going out on a search.’

   After that she left his lodge and went straight towards the front gates. Looking at the weather her suspicions from before were getting confirmed. It will rain pretty heavily tonight. That would be a pain under normal circumstances but right now it will make a proper search completely impossible. They had to be found before the downpour came.

   After reaching the front gate she took out a small whistle and blew into it three times. She waited for a few seconds and then flying in came an iron beak Raven called Viti. He was smaller than Carry and not nearly as strong but when it came to keen vision in the sky, he was her go to.

   But he alone would not be enough, that's why she had called two others. And Aria soon noticed them running towards her from a distance. A pair of dire wolves the size of horses called Muku and Mika.

   She looked over at Bill. His expression made it obvious that the missing people were still nowhere to be seen. They would have to begin this search now.

   Soon the elder Torro brother came with a small crowd and they were carrying some items with them. Also a very confused Dylan was with them as well.

   ‘We are in a hurry so I will try to keep the explanation short.’ Aria said to the crowd. ‘Three of our people have still not come back and they might be in danger. We will go into the forest to search for them and hopefully retrieve them before it gets too dark.’

   With that she gave a signal to one of the men who quickly laid down some clothes in front of the dire wolves who started sniffing them.

   Aria continued, ‘This search will mostly rely on my tamed beasts. These are the clothes of the missing individuals. My wolves have a great sense of smell and they can scare off almost everything in the forest. I will have this bird looking through the skies for any signs. But I will still need some additional help. Ms. Sofia, you may only be an apprentice right now but if someone is critically injured then you are the only one who can help them. Milo, I see that you bought all the tools we will be needing for this search.’

   Dylan looked at the guy she had selected. He was wearing a practical looking outfit with a large bag on his hips. Even if his job was just to carry stuff looking at him Dylan could tell that he had a sort of strength that could only be built through years of experience.

   The girl named Sofia was trying to be calm but was clearly nervous. She worked as an apprentice under the town doctor and she had provided first aid for those who could not immediately return to Solstun.

   Dylan had not realized how serious this business was until now. If they were only picking people who were absolutely necessary then this search mission had to be very dangerous. He had no choice but to stay and pray for his friends’ safety. He would just get in the way if he joined too.

   ‘And Dylan, you are coming too.’ Aria said.

   ‘Wait, why me!’ Dylan cried 

   ‘How else are we supposed to find the spot where they were last in?’ Aria said.

   ‘Bu-but-’ Dylan stuttered.

   ‘I would suggest you stop there, mate.’ Milo said while hushing him. ‘You wouldn't wanna see the chief angry.’

   Dylan remembering his experience from a few minutes ago decided that this was sage advice. After all, it couldn't be that bad.

   Aria then said to the group. ‘Anyway, poisonous insects are especially active during this time. So, for your own safety use extra insect repellent on yourselves.’

   Nope, it was very bad. But Dylan had no choice but to obey as he took the vial full of the repellent made in town and poured it all on himself. For context, when adventurers normally go out they only use three drops.

   Aria turned to the rest of the town and said. ‘The rain is about to come down pretty soon so we won't have more than one search party. The rest of you stay inside the walls and guards keep a bright fire burning in front of the gates.’

   With that the newly formed rescue party went into the forest.