Chapter 237: Why Us?
It was one thing to propose a trip to the destroyed village, but actually making the trip took a little bit more planning than Ollie realized. Nothing was difficult, and Commander Bassinger even agreed to send him two soldiers from the Clan of the Great Claw to help carry back anything they managed to salvage.
Still, by the time he’d given his instructions to the cooks running the kitchen for refugees, gathered supplies for his own trip, and taken care of all of the other little details, it was nearly mid-day when they left the Vale of Mists to return to Old Nan’s village.
At this point, it would be impossible to reach the village, search for surviving carvings, and return in a single day. Given that, Ollie decided that they could risk a single night in the wilderness, camping near the ruins of the village. They would begin their search the following morning and return to the Vale of Mists before night fell the next day. He wanted to promise Milo that they would stay as long as it took to recover as much as possible, but Commander Bassinger had put his foot down.
"I understand that you feel this is important," the bearish commander had told Ollie. "That’s why I’m willing to spare a few men for you. But whether Owain is still out there or not, he isn’t the only threat you need to be on guard against in the wilderness. Besides, even if this is important, there are hundreds of refugees waiting for you to organize this village. Don’t spend so much time on the first step that you fail in your larger mission."
The older man’s tone was firm, but there was a touch of friendly warmth to it that made it easier for Ollie to accept his advice. Bassinger was right, after all. There was too much to do, and he couldn’t spend days on this at the expense of other important tasks.
"Thank you," he told the bearish commander. "It’s already more help than I had any right to expect. We’ll be back by nightfall tomorrow, no matter what happens." Privately, he also promised himself that, if they discovered more things that could be salvaged than they could carry back, he would organize another trip in the future. Just because he couldn’t do something right now didn’t mean it couldn’t be done at all.
And so, with each man in their party carrying a personal pack for spending a night in the wilderness, they set out in the direction of what had once been a vibrant village. Ollie had no way of knowing how extensive the damage was, it was impossible to know before they arrived, but he hoped there was something to salvage, even if they were only small things, each carving they recovered could have great significance to the family it belonged to.
"Why are you doing this?" Milo asked as they made their way along narrow trails through the cedar forest that covered the hills outside the vale. He carried his bow at the ready and his eyes were alert, constantly scanning the wilderness for any sign of a threat. "Why risk anything to try to recover a few of our carvings from the ruins?"
"Because I need your help," Ollie said frankly. He never intended to hide things. It wasn’t his way to make the other party feel indebted before revealing what he needed from them. As far as Ollie was concerned, if he wanted to ask for help, he needed to show the other party that he would help them too.