While our journey was still supposed to last three to four days, things had changed. With the help of Caron and his caravan, we would only need two days. And we were not going to spend those two days walking around. Instead, we only needed a few hours to reach the outpost that Caron ntioned. It was a large, oasis-like structure created by the Old World. Apparently, before the Eaters and before everything else, there was a group of people who managed to dig a very deep well in a nearby area. Then, the people pulled the water from the underground river to the surface, creating a small lake.
Caron's grandfather was alive back then and helped construct the entire thing. It was a project that lasted several years. As they kept pumping water from the underground river, they managed to transform that barren land into a small oasis with a lake and so vegetation in the surrounding area.
Apparently, this was supposed to be a project that would last a few generations. They were supposed to maintain that lake using the water from the underground river until it managed to create an entire ecosystem that was able to sustain itself without human interference. Things were going well until the Eaters started to attack everything. That was when what was supposed to be just an attempt to reshape the desert beca a small settlent for refugees.
By the ti they lost the ability to make electricity due to the lack of fuel for their generators, the lake sohow managed to survive on its own. According to Caron, that happened a good ten years after humanity lost the war. To , this ant that the particles were likely present in the area enough to help life slowly survive these harsh conditions. Just as the caravan leader described, we truly were able to find this lake. It was maybe 100 ters [328.1 ft] wide and surrounded by greenery, with even a couple of trees that I couldn't quite identify.
In all likelihood, they were a new breed that existed thanks to the help of the System and the decades that it stayed here under the influence of particles. I was positive this wasn't a fruit of human ingenuity alone. Pops used to tell about many places that attempted to do similar things. But none of them was successful. In order to truly change the environnt, you needed sothing on a massive scale that didn't fit this small lake in the middle of the desert.
Almost to prove my assumption, the mont we got closer to the area, the System sent a notification.
[You have entered a dungeon - The Desert Oasis.]
It was pretty obvious that a place like this would be filled with particles. 'System, any idea where the core of this place would be?'
[System is unable to locate the core of this dungeon as user does not have any relevant skills to assist with the task. However, considering Caron's explanation about the location's history, it is safe to assu that the core would be located underground. It is likely in an area near where the pump or the generators would be located]
'So even the cores need a high amount of Energy to co into being?'
[That is correct.]
I quickly shared my discovery with the rest of the group. It took us just a mont to agree not to go after the dungeon core. Even if it could help our levels, having a source of water in the middle of the desert was much more beneficial than the possible levels we were going to get. Furthermore, having a place like this out in the open had the potential of helping the wildlife grow into more powerful monsters.
Those could beco fuel for people who were reaching a high level. Specifically, Rex's village could benefit a lot from any creature who spent so ti here. We even debated if we could sohow go back and send a ssage to his father to let them know about this place. That way, they could organize so hunting parties every so often to co here and kill so of the animals that managed to grow with the help of this open-air dungeon.
The group filled up their water skins. So people went to the other side of the lake to wash themselves. All the while, Caron kept singing praises to the Rodenti he t, and he could only imagine that Rex would be equally as accomplished. When our companion said that we were much stronger than him, the man seed to laugh it off as a joke. He did not really believe that a human would be as powerful as a Rodenti with the System. Not that he knew about the System.
After a while, the people who went to wash themselves returned. The children, together with Astrid, were still on the other side of the lake. The kids wanted to play around, and Astrid offered to stay behind to keep an eye on things just to be sure they wouldn't get hurt. Despite being a new temporary mber of this caravan, the won had really ward up to the Huskcarver.
According to one of them, it was hard to find such a strong woman around. Having soone like that would always keep their minds at ease. If it was a man, there was always going to be a lingering fear that he would try to use his position and power to gain more than he was supposed to. But with a woman, that fear was gone. I couldn't help but understand them, although I still felt they were a bit too trusting.
There was absolutely no reason why Astrid couldn't try to abuse her power. Not that she would in any case. I knew her, and I was completely confident that she would never try to harm anyone unless they tried to harm her first. However, I had heard and even seen situations where won were the ones causing pain to those who were beneath them. Still, I wasn't going to berate them for being trusting. Even if it was sothing that could get them killed, it wasn't my place to say anything about it.
We spent another hour or so talking while waiting for Astrid to return with the children. Then, one of the mothers let out a scream and pointed to the opposite end of the lake. We could see a group of four n on horses grabbing the children. One of them was holding a large knife to the neck of a little girl. Astrid was going along with them, having her arms tied by so rope. Once they heard the screams, the n simply started galloping away. They dragged Astrid behind them, who ran to keep their pace.
I glanced at Michael and Riley and cursed under my breath. It seed that Astrid was either distracted, or the n were able to get the children first. They were now threatening to kill them, which stopped the Huskcarver from being able to fight back. There was also a chance that she just didn't want to scare the children. That was why she was going along with things until a better opportunity to rip those n to shreds appeared.
Turning back to Caron, I quickly asked, "Do you know where they're going?"
The man was still shell-shocked, staring into the distance where the trail of dust caused by the horses was rising into the sky. "Caron, do you know where they're going?"
He shook his head. "No, I don't. I heard about a bandit camp to the East, but I have no idea where it is."
"Okay, can we let us borrow those weird horses you have?" I asked, pointing at the two horses with large humps that were dragging the caravan.
Caron stared at and shook his head. "No, those are cals, not horses."
"Whatever! Can we borrow them?" I pressed.
One of the won whose children were stolen interrupted our conversation with a scream. "No! You ca out of nowhere and now my children are gone! You're the reason for this! You're working with them!"
I let out a very annoyed groan and turned to Caron. "Wait for us until tomorrow. We're going to get the children back. If you leave, we won't be able to find you."
With those words, the rest of my companions started running in the direction that the horses were going. Since they were not being stealthy anymore, it wasn't hard to track them. Rex quickly used {Rock Fly} and had Riley climb on top of his giant boulder while Michael and I continued to run. We were unable to catch up to a group of horses that seed to be at a full sprint, yet they were also struggling to lose us.
It was wild to think that a person was able to move this quickly, even if we were a Tier 2. Astrid was probably having an even better experience since she had the highest value in body between all of us. I wouldn't be surprised if she was able to even overtake the horses as they ran.
We continued moving for roughly two hours until we found a group of three brick houses. This seed to be the bandit camp that Caron was talking about. It was in an area in the desert that had a bit more foliage and so rocky outcrops that made it very easy to hide in the surroundings. However, it seed the passage towards the settlent was very narrow, making it even easier for the bandits to defend themselves.
Michael quickly climbed up a small part of the mountain on our side and took a look at things from a different angle. He only got up maybe 20 ters [65.6 ft] or so, but thanks to his skills, his eyesight was much better than any of ours. Once he ca back to the ground, the man explained what he saw.
"Okay, so they are using one of the houses to keep the prisoners, and there seem to be more people there. I saw one of them pushing Astrid inside. She was sowhere else before, but she looks fine. I couldn't see any bruises or anything."
"Honestly, if they could hurt her, I would be even more surprised," Riley said. It was one thing we were all thinking about.
"Yeah, but they don't seem to be doing anything absolutely terrible, at least not out in the open. I have no idea what's happening inside," Michael continued.
"And how many are there?" I asked.
"I saw five tending the horses. There were another three walking about and two keeping a watch on the valley, which seems to be the only way to get closer. There's also a window in the house where they're keeping the prisoners, and I think Astrid was by it."
Riley stopped to think for a mont. "Okay, how good a shot do you think you are?" The Witch turned to Michael.
"I'm the best shot you've ever seen. Why?" The man puffed his chest.
"Because it's one thing if we are attacking, but another thing if we tell Astrid our plans. Having her cause so mayhem while we are attacking would be even better."
"So you're thinking about sending a ssage?" I asked.
"Good plan," Rex smiled.
I nodded. "It's also a good idea so we can tell her not to do anything stupid until we go in. I don't know what would happen if she tried to take them all by herself."
"You think she can handle that?" Michael asked with a confused voice.
"No, she can. I'm worried about the prisoners. She let herself be captured because she was protecting the kids, but what if they try to use them as hostages again? Then she might just let them beat her up or worse."
"Okay, but to send a ssage we would need so paper. Riley, could I get so?" I turned to the Silken Witch.
They nodded and quickly produced a small pencil and a piece of paper. "Michael, you're going to attach this to an arrow and fire it into the jail so Astrid can see what's going on. Try to do so in a way that the bandits won't see the arrow. If they do, then well, we're speeding up the plan."
"And what is the plan?" the Archer asked with a frown.
"I'll let you know as soon as you get back." It took him a few minutes to climb the mountain. The man nodded, but before I even put the first letter on the paper, he asked, "Do you mind if I write it?"
"You want to write the ssage?"
"Yeah. I an, you've been teaching the alphabet every night."
It would be a nice way for him to practice, so I saw no harm in letting him do the letter. I started planning our attack. Rex's best idea was to dig a tunnel through the mountain and co out on the other side. It would take a little effort and so ti, but we would be able to catch the bandits on the back foot. Not to ntion that by arriving closer to the prison first, we had a better chance of protecting the people inside. We were discussing the ideas when Michael returned to our side. He had already gone back up and fired the arrow into the prison.
"I just realized," Riley said. "How are we going to make sure that Astrid knows it's for her?"
"Oh, I wrote down her na on top of the letter."
"Oh, that was a good id—"
A loud crash interrupted Riley's thought. We started to hear screaming and angry shouts. Without wasting ti, everybody just bolted towards the bandit camp. Even if we were going to be peppered by their attacks, we needed to see what was going on to help Astrid. We were still a good half a kiloter [0.3 miles] away, but as we made the turn that allowed us to see the settlent in full, we saw how large chunks of ice were covering the place. There was a small watchtower right at the mouth of the valley, and suddenly an axe went spinning through the air and landed directly at the base of the watchtower. Countless large ice spiders appeared and started climbing over the two n on top, who scread until they fell backwards to their deaths.
We continued running, but by the ti we got to the settlent, the noise had stopped. Astrid was near the prison, covered in blood with a dozen bodies around her. Behind her were the children and a few other people who seed to have been captured by those bandits who knows how long ago.
"Astrid!" I gasped and rushed towards my companion. "Are you okay?"
She looked at with a face of genuine confusion and shock. "Yes."
"Why are you here?"
"What do you an, why? We ca to save you! Did you get the ssage?"
She nodded. "I did. Said for to break out alone."
I turned to Michael. "What did you write?"
"I swear that's not what's in the letter! I told her help was coming! Do not break out on your own! I wrote that in the letter!" The Silkbound Marksman defended himself.
I turned back to Astrid with a confused expression, and she quickly produced the letter from one of the pockets in her coat.
"Michael... what did you want to write on that first line?" I turned to the Archer.
"Know help is coming," he replied.
"How do you spell 'know'?"
"N-O."
I let out a sigh. "No. That is just 'no.' As in 'not' or 'none'. Know is K - N - O - W."
"Oh..." he lowered his eyes.
"Then... why did you write 'noi'?" Riley asked.
"That's a 't'... I forgot to cross it," he mumbled.
Understanding what he wanted to say, I looked at the letter again.
No help is coming.
Do noi break out on you own.
"You also had to put an 'r' after the 'you' on the last line," I added before turning to Astrid. "And why did you believe we were not coming to help?"
"Thought Eater appeared. No ti to co," the Huskcarver replied.
I just rubbed my temples. "Okay... let's grab the prisoners and go back to the caravan."
Focusing on a task was better than feeling my blood pressure rising. How the fuck did the fate of the planet ended up in our hands?
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