Chapter 3

 "Is it just me, or does it seem like there is no one here at all?" I said, as I looked around.

"Yes, you are right. I do not see anyone here at all," said Scáthach.

As the group looked around the ruins, a shadow jumped over them.

 "Did anyone see that?" asked Grey as he raised his spear in a ready-for-battle stance.

 "Did you see anything?" I asked, looking around, but saw nothing at all.

 "I saw nothing," said Scáthach.

 "OK then, let's keep walking," said Grey.

As we walked, noises around the area got louder and louder.

 "OK, what is that noise? It is like saws going back and forth," said Scáthach.

 "A saw? Are you sure about that?" I asked.

 "At least it is what I hear," said Scáthach.

 "Why would bandits need a saw?" asked Grey.

 "I do not know how bandits know how to saw wood," I said.

"Wren, you know that they could have a carpenter here as well," said Scáthach.

"True, that makes sense. Is it just me, or does it seem too quiet here?" I asked as I looked around the ruins.

"Now that you mention it, I agree with what you said," said Grey, looking around as well.

Just as he said that, arrows were shot at us.

 "Get down and take some cover," said Grey as he ran to some rubble to take cover.

 "You heard him. Let's take some cover." Scáthach said as she also took cover behind a wall.

 "I will see if I can get a better advantage," I said, seeking an advantage.

"Ma'am, the intruders are hiding somewhere. What are your orders?" asked one of the bandit squad leaders.

 "Flush them out and capture them. That is an order," said the Bandit Chief.

 "As you command." bowing to the bandit chief. "You heard the chief commanded to capture them right now," said one of the bandit squad leaders.

 "As you command," the rest of the bandits said in unison.

The rest of the bandits scattered around the ruins.

 "Does it be too quiet here?" asked Grey, as he looked around.

 "Your parents said that the bandits will be here," said Scáthach.

 "That is true, let's move on," said Grey as he moved.

 "Attack."

 "What the heck is going on?" Scáthach said as she looked around.

 "Look above us," I said as I dodged a net that was falling onto me.

 "Ahh!!" Yelled Scáthach as she got trapped by one net that was falling.

 "Scáthach, are you OK?" asked Grey as he moved towards Scáthach.

 "Yes, I am OK. Do you think you can see Wren and see if he is OK?" asked Scáthach.

Looking over wherever I was, "It looks to me he is OK, though he has a net over him," said Grey.

(Sighing to herself) "At least everyone is OK. I wonder where we're going to be taken to?" asked Scáthach as she looked around for answers.

"Boss, we caught the intruders. What are your orders?" asked one of the inner circles of the bandits' squad leaders. 

 "Then what are you waiting to take their weapons away and throw them into the cells with the other one?" said the bandit chief.

"Yes. Ma'am, as you command. You heard her get them into the cells right now," said one of the bandit squad leaders.

"Get off me, right now," said Scáthach. Laughter from the bandits.

"Scáthach, that would not be a good thing to struggle, at least for the moment," said Grey.

"OK, that makes sense," said Scáthach as she looked towards me.

"Get up and come with us," said one bandit.

The group got up. Then I was shackled.

"Where do you think they will take us?" asked Grey. 

"Some cells are like a prison," I said. 

Laughing to herself "If only they know." said Scáthach with a grin on her face.

"What was that? May I ask if you said something?" asked one bandit.

 "Nothing that you need to worry about," said Grey.

"OK then, get a move on." Said the bandit squad leader that was taking us to the prison cells.

"OK. OK, we are getting a move on," I said as we moved.

"OK then, follow you," said Scáthach as she followed me.

As the bandits bowed us up and moved us to the prison.

"Where do you think your sister is?" asked Scáthach.

"Quiet and walk," said one bandit.

The group quieted down. As the bandits led us into the prison, the prison had holes everywhere, and molded from rain getting in. Some bars of the cell were gone.

 "Why do you want us to be in a place like this?" Grey asked as he looked around.

 "Keep moving and keep your mouth shut. The boss doesn't like people that talk back to her," said one bandit, then quickly covered her mouth to not to say anything more than that.

"OK, that is OK then," I said as one bandit put me into one cell. The other two with me got put into cells that were right next to each other. Then they left us alone.

"Not smart to leave us here, right? We could break out of this place," said Scáthach as she looked around the area that we were in.

"Yes, that is true, and what are you doing?" Grey asked, looking at Scáthach.

"What does it seem like I am doing? I am looking for your sister," said Scáthach as she finally found Cipher. "There she is, Wren. Do you think you can use your summon here?"

Looking around the area,

 "Where is she located?" I asked, looking around the prison cells.

 "To the left of us and up," said Scáthach.

 "OK now, that we know where my sister is. How are we going to get to her?" asked Grey.

 "Wren, do you remember the thing you showed me at the battle we had?" asked Scáthach as she looked straight ahead.

 "You want me to use that?" I asked, looking at my left arm.

 "Yes, I want you to use that," said Scáthach.

 "OK, don't get angry at me if you get burnt," I said as I lifted my left arm where my summon was.

 "What are you doing?" Grey asked, looking worried.

"Please, watch and see what he does," said Scáthach as she moved further into the cell that she was in.

"Let's see, then," said Grey as he also stepped back from the cell doors.

I closed my eyes and summoned a salamander.

"OK, now that is done. Get Cipher and bring her back here." I said, the salamander ran off to get Cipher.

"OK, now that was cool. That said, we do what we do in the meantime," said Scáthach.

"We strategize and come up with a plan," said Grey.

"That makes sense to me," I said, as I thought.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Scáthach.

"What to do when we get out of here?" I said, still thinking.

"OK, I see. I am still confused though," said Grey. "I don't know what the plan is."

"Could you tell me why are you still confused? When we have not told you the plan yet," said Scáthach.

"OK, that makes sense why I would like to clarify," said Grey, looking toward where Cipher was. "Oh, it looks to me that your summon gets my sister out."

"Step one is done and I can't think about the next step," I said.

Shaking her head, "Wait here. I will get the keys for these cells," said Cipher as she walked off.

"What was that noise? It sounded like one of the cells is opening," said one of the bandit guards.

"Should one of us see what is going on?" asked the other bandit guard.

"You are right. Let us see what is going on," said the first bandit guard as she got up.

"That makes sense to me now. Let's move on." Said the second bandit as they left the guardroom.

"I will follow you then," said the first bandit. As they left the guardroom, "Good, now they are gone. Oh, there is the guardroom," said Cipher, crawling over to the guardroom.

"Oh, here are the keys to the gates to the cells," said Cipher, grabbing the keys and leaving the guardroom.

"We saw nothing out of the ordinary." Said the second bandit guard. 

"Yes, that is true. Still, should we tell the leader about this?" asked the girl bandit guard,

"I see your point. Yes, it is an idea," said the second bandit guard.

The guards left to report to the leader of the bandits.

"OK, looks to me that the guards are gone. It is time to get them out of the cells that they are in," said Cipher as she ran to the cells that kept the rest of the group.

"Good, you are here. Do you have the keys to the cells?" I asked as Cipher showed us the keys that were in her hands.

"Good, this is good. Now we can move on," said Scáthach, awaiting an entrance to her cell.

"Is this a part of the plan?" asked Grey.

"Yes, this is all a part of the plan. That said, it is like it is too easy. Keep your guards up everyone." I said. 

"Understood," said Scáthach, Grey, and Cipher.

"Let's get a move on before they get back here," I said. 

We ran out of the prison.

"OK, now that we are out of the prison. What do we do right now?" asked Cipher as she looked around.

"We get you out of here and back to our parents," said Grey.

"That said, remember when I said that was way too easy?" I asked.

"What about that?" asked Grey as he looked around the ruins. "Oh. That is not good at all. Wren, what do we do?"

"We run, that is what we do. It's not like we have anything else that we can do, right?" Scáthach asked around the group.

"You can't run now, you are surrounded," said the Bandit Chief.

"Successful, what do we do now?" said Scáthach.

"We fight, that is what we do," I said.

"With what? we don't have our weapons at all," said Cipher.

"Then we run and don't look back at all," said Grey as he ran towards the old gate.

"Following your lead, then. Since this is your plan." I said.

 "OK, then follow me and stay together," said Grey as he continued to run.

 "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's move on," said Scáthach.

As they ran, they heard someone say, "Close the gate."

"We need to hurry or we will have to battle them," said Grey.

"Yes, and that is why less talking means more running," I said as I picked up the pace.

As we ran out of the ruins of the old capital, we heard someone yelling after us.

"Get them back here, right now," yelled the bandit's leader.

"Let us hope we don't have to see them again," said Cipher as she continued to run. "That was like a living hell for me."

"Did she say that?" Scáthach asked, looking at Grey.

"Yes, she said that. Now we are going to see them again," said Grey as he shook his head.

"Was I not supposed to say that?" asked Cipher as she looked around at the group.

"Yes," said the other three in the group.

"Oh! Sorry, my bad," said Cipher.

"OK, now that we have Cipher back. Where do we go?" asked Scáthach. 

"The Evergreen Woods. I know it is a different nation, but for the moment there is no other choice in the matter," I said, looking toward the wood.

"Do you think that is an idea?" asked Scáthach as she looked at me.

"Well, I am all ears if anyone has any other ideas," I said, looking at the group.

"I do not have any other ideas and The Evergreen Woods are neutral, so we will be safe there," said Scáthach.

"OK then, to the Evergreen Woods then. At least for the moment." I said and went toward the woods.

Little did we know that we were being watched simultaneously.

"Ma'am, I see your daughter and son with the two others. I am waiting for your command," said the mysterious person.

"Keep following them at a distance and make sure that they do not catch you," said Elise over a communication device.

"As you command, ma'am," said the mysterious person as he bowed.

"Do you think we are being watched?" asked Scratch as she looked around the woods.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"A feeling that I have. It is like fight or flight," said Scáthach.

"OK then, everyone keeps your guards up," I said, raising my bow.

"Heard that, but why do you want to keep our guards up?" asked Scáthach.

"We don't know what will happen. That is why we need to keep our guard up." I said, turning away from the group.

"So, what do we do if we see elves in the area?" asked Cipher as she looked around. 

"Yes, there are elves, but if they don't want to interact with humans, that does not mean they will not see what is going on in this forest." I said. 

"OK, so what if we see them?" asked Grey as he looked around.

"As long as we don't kill any animals in the forest, we will be good to be here," I said.

"That makes sense. That said, what will we eat then?" asked Scáthach.

"Plants and barriers. Till we can leave the forest." I said just as that left my mouth.

"Wren, is that you?" asked an elf.

"Oh! Silen, is that you?" I asked as a woman elf walked towards the group of four humans.

"Wren, how do you know this elf?" asked Scáthach.

"Yes, I know her. She came for a coming-of-age ceremony for me." I said, looking at Silen.

"Yes, though I didn't aspire to be there though," I said, looking at Silen.

Silently looked at me, "So, what brings you here to these woods?" Silen asked.

 "We escaped from Bandits' prison who had captured Cipher --- one of our party members," said Scáthach.

 "Oh, I see. And what about the bandits?" asked Silen, looking at the group.

 "I don't know what the bandits will do, so we ran out of the ruins of the castle," I said.

 "I see why you did that. That said, why did you run into here?" asked Silen, as she looked at the group.

 "Why are you looking at us?" asked Grey.

 "I do not know what is going on. I am looking for the answers," said Silen.

 "Answers to what and why is that?" I asked Silen.

 "Well, if you answer my question, I could answer yours," said Silent as she looked at the group. (Sigh) 

"Here goes nothing. You know how I said, we met at the coming-of-age ceremony, right? I was there for two proposals. One was to see what a coming-of-age ceremony was, and the other was to get close to one family there." 

 "Did you use Wren to push your agenda, then?" Scáthach asked as she got angrier as she said.

 "I would not lie. That thought crossed my mind, but in the end, I did not need to do that at all," said Silen. 

 "She only completed the first part. They captured her after that." I said.

 "Then why is she here in these woods?" asked Scáthach.

 "Well, she is here because these are the forests that she grows up in. Also, technically, she is not free." I said.

 "Yes, for me to not be in the manor. I need to be the family's guide through the forest when they are around," said Silen.

 "So, what do we do now that she is helping us with why we are here?" asked Scáthach. 

"That is a significant question to ask. That I don't have the answer to, at the moment." I said.

"Do we move?" asked Grey.

"Yes, that would be an idea. Follow me and stay close," said Silen.

The group moves, following Silen.

 "Why are we hiding in this forest, to begin with?" Scáthach asked, looking at the group.

"That is a brilliant question. We still need to get the quest, that we are doing, done," said Grey.

"Yes, that is true what to do about the quest," I said.

 "So, what are we going to do now?" asked Scáthach.

 "Scáthach, were you not paying attention to what Wren was saying?" asked Cipher as she looked over at Scáthach.

 "Oh right, the quest, right?" asked Scáthach.

 "Yes, the quest, we can get the quest done as well," I said.

 "What was the quest again?" asked Scáthach.

 "Fire wolves was the quest name," I said.

"Fire wolves, why are you hunting them?" asked Silen, as she looked at me.

"Our guild master said that we will take a quest. Then we went to the head receptionist and got this quest." I said. 

"So, fire wolves." Silen thought. She laughs. "You know, fire wolves are not in the Evergreen Forest, right?" asked Silen.

"Oh right. They are in the Kingdom of Ash." I said as I looked up into the tree.

Still laughing. "So, what are you going to do?" asked Silen.

"We will head to the Kingdom of Ash then," said Grey as he looked at the others in the group.

"Will Silen be joining us?" Cipher asked.

"No, I need to stay here and not go out of the forest. Oh, I wonder why you are out adventuring? Also, what happened to the manor house?" asked Silen.

"My father kicked me out of the house, so I headed to the Adventures School where I met Scáthach, Grey and Cipher."

"I See, then best of luck to you as of right now. I can't help you at all," said Silen as she turned and left the group.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let us get a move on then," said Grey as he moved out of the forest. 

"Right, that makes sense to me," said Cipher.

We walked toward the kingdom of Ash.

 "Where do you think the Fire Wolves are?" asked Grey.

"That is a significant question that for the moment I don't have the answer to," I said.

"Well, all that we need to do is find it, right?" asked Scáthach, looking at the group of three other people.

"That makes sense to me," I said.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let us get a move on," said Cipher as she hastened.

"Do we follow her, so that we don't get separated?" said Scáthach. 

"Yes, we follow her. What else are we going to do?" asked Grey.

The group moved toward the Kingdom of Ash.

"Could you tell me why does the guild in the Aler Kingdom want monsters from the Kingdom of Ash? Does the request say dead or alive on it?" asked Cipher.

"Let me see. Ah, yes right here, it says alive." I said.

"That made this quest from fairly easy to hard in a few seconds," said Scáthach . 

"OK, what is the plan to get them back to the Aler Kingdom alive?" asked Grey. 

"That is a significant question that I don't have the answer to. At least at the moment." I said.

"OK, Will Wren think about what to do? It's getting late, so we will think about setting up camp for the night," said Scáthach.

"Ok, who will do what then?" asked Grey as he looked at the group.

"Let me see," said Scáthach as she thought. "Grey and Cipher, you go hunting. Wren and I will set up the camp," said Scáthach.

"OK, then Cipher, you with me then," said Grey as he goes out of where they put down their bags.

"Following you, brother," said Cipher.

"Now that they are gone, do you want to set up the camp?" asked Scáthach as she looked at me. 

"Yes, we do that, as Grey and Cipher are hunting for food," I said.

"OK, then what should we start with? Should we start with the tents or the cooking supplies?" asked Scáthach as she looked at me.

"The tents, it will be best if we start with," I said, looking at Scáthach.

"OK, that makes sense since the cooking supplies are easy to set up," said Scáthach as she brought out two tents that were made of a hide from a fire wolf and the underbelly of an azure dragon.

 "Scáthach, how did you get these? Aren't fire wolves and azure dragons powerful monsters?" I asked, looking over at Scáthach.

"Um, yes, they are expensive for tents. That said, the place where I bought them from highly recommended them," said Scáthach.

Shaking my head, "Do you know what swindlers or haggles are?" I asked Scáthach. 

"Yes, I know what that means. That said, why are you bringing this up?" asked Scáthach.

"Because that happened to you for buying these. Please use common sense next time. Normal adventures can't afford this. You may need to be a high-ranking adventurer to afford that." I said.

"You know, I am a high-ranking adventurer, right?" asked Scáthach.

"Yes, that is true now, but when did you buy these tents?" I asked.

"When I started adventuring, my memory serves me currently," said Scáthach. 

(Sigh) "Do you see the issue with what you said?" I asked.

Thinking to herself. "Oh, I see the point that you're making here," said Scáthach.

"OK, now that the tents are up. Let's see what else we need to set up before the other two get back here with their hunt." I said.

"We need to set up the fire pit, four pillars of wood, and then big to medium sticks. Two put the meat on," said Scáthach.

"Sounds labor intensive and I like it," I said, finding some wood that we could use for the fire pit.

"Following you then," said Scáthach as she walked. "That said, we shouldn't go too far from the tents just in case something happens again." Said Scáthach. 

"That makes sense to me. Don't want to go through that again." I said as I collected some wood that we could use for a fire pit.

"Wren, do you have the wood that we need for the fire pit?" asked Scáthach as she walked back into the camp carrying a bundle of wood that could be used for the fire pit.

"Yes, I have some of the wood right here," I said as I pointed to a pile of wood that reached my hip. "As you can see, I got a lot of wood for the fire pit."

"Yes, I can see that we will not be running out of wood for a while then," said Scáthach as she put down her bundle of wood. "Now that we have the wood of the fire pit, all that is left to do is to build the fire pit then."

"Yes, and then wait for Grey and Cipher to get back here with dinner. Then prepare the meat, cook it, and then finally we can eat it." I said as I looked at the fire pit that only had rocks encircling it. "Now it is making sure that the rest of the fire pit gets put together well."

"Yes, the rocks are the straightforward part. Now it's time to put the wood around the fire. Mind you, not simultaneously, as the fire is going," said Scáthach as she placed two big wood pieces around the circle of rocks.

"I will help as well so that you're not the only one putting this together," I said as I collected two more enormous pieces of wood.

"I appreciate you want to help me with this. Since this will take me a lot longer if you didn't help at all," said Scáthach, grabbing the last two big wood pieces and putting them into place. (Sighing) 

"Now that we put the gigantic pieces around the circle of rocks. Now it's time for the sticks that we put on top of the big wood pieces."

"OK, what are we waiting for? Let's get the sticks onto the big wood pieces." I said as I put a long stick onto one of the big wood pieces. 

"I love the fact that you want to put this together with me," said Scáthach as she put two big sticks into the sizable pieces of wood. One perpendicular to the other that I put down and the one more connecting the two perpendicular sticks.

"OK. Now that is done, it's time to put the smaller sticks onto the big sticks." I said.

"Yes, that is correct. Let's start by putting the smaller sticks onto the big sticks," said Scáthach as she put a medium stick onto one of the bigger sticks. "There we go, Wren. This will be a breeze to put together," said Scáthach as she smiled.

Looking over towards the woods, "Yes, and in perfect timing. I see Grey and Cipher coming toward us as we speak." I said.

"Oh wow, the two of you did an amazing job setting up the camp for the night. I see the two tents that we will use, and also the fire pit with fire going in it," said Grey as he looked around the campsite.

"This is going to be a breeze making dinner tonight," said Cipher, placing down on a mat made of fire wolf fur, a deer.

 "Looks like we are having deer tonight," I said, looking at the deer. "Where did you get this deer from?"

"The Evergreen Forest, why?" asked Grey as he looked at the group.

"Is the deer dead yet?" Scáthach asked, looking at the deer that Grey and Cipher had brought back.

"Yes, why is that wrong?" asked Cipher as she looked at the rest of the group.

Turning towards Grey and Cipher. "Put the deer back right now. The elves would not like it if we ate the deer." I said, as I looked at Grey and Cipher.

"We will put the deer back. That said, we still need to figure out what we are going to eat." I said. 

"OK. We will put the deer back. Do you want us to starve, though?" asked Grey, as he looked at the rest of the group. 

"Go scavenging for berries or something," I said, looking at Grey.

"That makes sense to me. That said, the next spot we set up camp we need to get meat. Expectantly after tonight," said Grey.

"Understood. Let's do that then," I said as I watched Grey and Cipher taking the deer back into the forest.

"OK, even more waiting to eat dinner. Luckily, there is still daylight, though not that much daylight left," said Scáthach.

"That is true. What do you want to do? Will we wait for them to come back to the camp?" I asked.

"Let me think about it," said Scáthach as she thought about what to do. "We could do some more training since it is not good to rest too much." She said as she looked at me.

"Then let's do that. It is not like we can do much by ourselves," I said as I got up from the ground.

"Then follow me and let's train on the right side of the camp," Scáthach said, turning into a meadow of rolling green hills.

"That is a radical idea then let's go," I said as I got my bow from my back. As I did that, the arrow in the quiver rattled around making some noise.

"OK, I want you to get ready to shoot some targets. That I need to set up, so give me a second or two," said Scáthach as she left to set the targets up.

"OK, I will wait here and see what you do for the targets," I said as I made sure that I had twenty arrows in the quiver.

"OK, all's done setting up the targets for you to shoot. Do you see them?" asked Scáthach.

"Yes, I see they look like one is ten feet in front of us, the second target is fifteen feet in front of us. Finally, there is one at twenty feet in front of us." I said, as I pulled one arrow from the quiver on my back.

"Yes, that now when you are ready to start with the closest target," said Scáthach as she went behind

"OK, then let's start the training," I said as I put an arrow into the bow and drew the string back so that I could teach it.