XVII - Dangerous Roads

Haku and Pan made their way down to the common room, where Elda was already waiting for them at a table.

“There you are,” he remarked, sounding mildly annoyed as they took their seats.

“My apologies. It took us a little longer than expected,” Haku replied, casting an apologetic glance at Pan.

By now, Pan had managed to get her fur mostly back under control, though one particularly stubborn tuft still stuck out from the side of her head.

“We’re here now, aren’t we, mm?” she grumbled, smoothing it down for what had to be the tenth time.

The moment she took her hand away, it sprang right back up.

Elda blinked.

“Anyway.” He jerked a thumb toward the counter. “I already asked the innkeeper if those two had stayed here. It’s the only tavern in town, after all.”

Haku and Pan both leaned forward.

“And?” Pan asked.

“He actually remembers a young minstrel traveling with a man. The descriptions match.”

Pan’s ears perked up.

“Really?! Where are they?”

“Gone.”

Both women blinked.

“Gone?” Haku repeated.

“They left a few days ago.”

The hope that had appeared on their faces quickly gave way to disappointment.

Pan sank back in her chair.

“So we just missed them, mm...”

“Looks that way. But the innkeeper told me something else.”

Haku immediately noticed the change in his tone.

“Something else?”

Elda leaned back.

“Apparently, when the two of them first arrived here a few weeks ago, they were over the moon. Miri would sometimes sing down here in the evenings, while Radler took on small jobs around the area.”

A faint smile touched Haku’s lips.

“So they were happy.”

“At first.”

Elda folded his arms.

“According to the innkeeper, that changed after a while. They started arguing. More than once, and loudly enough that people could sometimes hear them all the way down here from their room.”

Pan and Haku exchanged a glance.

“What about?” Pan asked.

“He couldn’t say for certain. Only caught bits and pieces.”

Elda thought for a moment.

“Apparently Radler kept saying that something was too dangerous. And Miri insisted that he couldn’t leave her behind.”

Pan drummed her fingers impatiently against the tabletop.

“And where did they go?”

“There’s only one road out of here that doesn’t lead back toward Boramgar.”

Pan frowned.

“And how far is it to the next town, mm?”

“About two days on foot. But after that, the road branches off in half a dozen directions. If they’re not there, finding out where they went next is going to be almost impossible.”

Pan’s ears drooped.

“Wonderful... We were so close, mm.”

Haku regarded her thoughtfully.

“But at least we know now that Miri left of her own free will.”

Elda leaned back in his chair.

“Exactly. And if you ask me, that’s more than enough.”

Pan looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve spent several days on this already, and all you stand to get for it is the gratitude of an old man who can’t even afford to pay you.”

He shrugged.

“You could head back to Boramgar and tell her father what we found out. His daughter wasn’t abducted. She ran off with a man. He may not be happy about it, but at least he’ll know what happened.”

Pan lowered her gaze.

Maybe... he has a point.

We could just tell Miri’s father that she’s probably all right.

Probably...

Slowly, Pan raised her head.

“No.”

She looked at Elda.

“We don’t actually know that she’s all right. Not unless we see her for ourselves.”

Elda stared at Pan’s determined face in mild surprise, then glanced toward Haku, who was smiling softly.

At last, one corner of his mouth curled upward as well.

He rose from his chair.

“In that case I suppose we’ll be traveling together a little longer. Because I’m certainly not letting that bastard squander the money he owes me on his new sweetheart.”

Haku and Pan nodded resolutely.

“Then let’s find them!”

***

Shortly after daybreak, they were already back on the road.

During a rest, Haku pulled out her map and studied it for a while. Eventually, she let out a long sigh and folded it away.

“Something wrong, mm?” Pan asked around a slice of dried apple.

“The map we bought in Garend only goes as far as Easthardtshire. Which means I know nothing about the region beyond here...”

Elda glanced over at her.

“There isn’t much to know. This part of Vadonia is mostly forest, with only a few settlements scattered throughout.”

At the questioning looks from the two women, he made a broad gesture toward the surrounding woods.

“This whole region is crawling with monsters. When the Great War devastated much of Vadonia’s outskirts, many of them multiplied unchecked. Since then, all manner of beasts and other nasties have spread farther and farther, and traveling through these parts has only become more dangerous.”

Haku nodded.

“Angulf, the coachman who brought us to Boramgar, said something similar.”

Pan stopped chewing.

But if it’s really that dangerous around here, then...

“This Radler...” she began uneasily. “Is he... strong, mm?”

“Strong? Let me put it this way.”

Elda met her gaze without blinking.

“I hope there’s more to him than I ever gave him credit for.”

The words hung heavily in the air.

After that, Pan found it considerably harder to enjoy her dried apples.

***

The deeper they traveled into the forest, the fewer travelers they encountered.

Occasionally something rustled beyond the trees, or a distant cry echoed through the woods, but nothing came close enough to be seen.

Until, sometime in the afternoon, Pan’s ears suddenly twitched.

Steel rang against steel somewhere ahead.

“A battle?”

Haku snapped down her visor and drew her sword.

“Let’s hurry.”

Pan followed close behind, while Elda lingered for another moment.

He slipped the cigarette he had just pulled out back into his pocket and jogged after them.

By the time he caught up, the road ahead was already stained red.

A carriage lay overturned at the roadside, its horses dead in the ditch.

Not far from it, a man and a woman stood surrounded by a dozen creatures.

Several armored bodies lay scattered across the road, their breastplates covered by tabards bearing a white key on a black field.

Both survivors were smeared with blood. Gasping for breath, they struggled to keep their swords raised.

“Suidids,” Elda said grimly as several of the creatures turned toward the newcomers.

They had squat, bloated faces with thick lips and small eyes. Pointed teeth jutted from their mouths, and their red, lumpy bodies bristled with dark spikes and were clad in little more than loincloths.

“Anything we should know about them?” Haku asked.

Elda drew two knives.

“They’re among the nastier woodland monsters around here. Tough, too. Their skin’s thicker than some armor.”

He flipped one knife into a reverse grip.

“Aim for the throat.”

Haku raised her shield.

“Understood.”

Only Pan hesitated.

Even as her feet slid apart and her body settled instinctively into a loose fighting stance, her heart pounded.

They look a lot more dangerous than the Mustels...

The first Suidid charged.

Its club came crashing down.

Haku caught the blow against her shield, twisted it aside, and drove her sword straight through the creature’s throat.

Before its body had even hit the ground, she was already facing the next.

Another Suidid lumbered toward Pan.

How am I supposed to fight something that big?!

She instinctively backed away.

A knife hissed past her, burying itself in the Suidid’s throat.

The creature stumbled another step before collapsing at Pan’s feet.

“I thought you were the Great Heroine?” Elda called.

He ducked beneath a club, then drove a knife into the attacker’s eye.

“I expected a little more from you!”

Pan flinched.

“How many times do I have to say it? I’m not a...”

A cry cut through the battle.

Pan spun toward the two survivors.

A Suidid knocked the man’s sword from his hand, sending it clattering across the road.

Another seized the woman by the throat and hurled her to the ground.

Her head struck the earth, blood welling from the corner of her mouth.

They need help!

Pan stopped thinking.

She ran.

A Suidid stepped into her path and swung its club, but Pan ducked beneath the blow and slipped past its lumbering body without breaking stride.

Ahead, the creature looming over the fallen woman tightened its fingers around her throat.

Pan raced toward it.

She drove her foot into the back of its knee. It buckled with a startled grunt and released its victim.

The other Suidid had already raised its club above the defenseless man.

Pan darted between them.

The club came down as she slipped aside.

She caught the monster’s wrist with one hand, the other struck hard beneath its elbow.

Pan turned with the movement, using the creature’s own momentum against it.

The Suidid pitched forward and crashed face-first into the road.

But the Suidid she had kicked was already back on its feet and turning toward her.

Her breathing came fast and shallow, but her fists rose on their own.

I can't back down now.

The Suidid lumbered toward her, raising its club.

Suddenly, something silver flashed past Pan.

Haku’s shield slammed into the Suidid with enough force to stagger it backward.

Before the creature could recover, her sword swept across its throat.

The Suidid froze.

Its club slipped from its fingers and struck the road with a dull thud, the creature collapsing beside it.

Pan blinked.

“H-Haku...”

The Sword Saint immediately turned toward her.

“Are you okay?”

Pan nodded.

“I’m fine, mm.”

Behind them came another heavy crash.

Pan spun around.

The last Suidid lay motionless on the road, one of Elda’s knives protruding from its throat.

Elda walked over, planted a boot against the creature’s shoulder, and pulled the blade free.

For several seconds, the only sound was Pan’s ragged breathing.

It’s over...

Only then did she remember the two people behind her.

She quickly turned back to them.

“A-are you hurt?”

The man had crawled over to his companion and was supporting her against his chest.

“We’re alive, thanks to you…”

His exhausted gaze wandered past Pan.

To Haku, standing behind her with her bloodied sword.

To Elda, wiping his knife against a scrap of cloth.

Then back to Pan.

“Who are you…?”

She hesitated for a moment.

“We’re... adventurers, mm.”