18: Ambush
The travel along the road was much the same as the day before. I noticed there were more forested areas along the path as we moved forward—the trees growing thicker and more densely packed.
Once again, Jen and Liane broke off from the caravan, presumably to go hunting.
It turned out the purification worked perfectly—Milo showed none of the effects of the poison, which I have learned can cause intense gut pain, vomiting, and diarrhea; all things you absolutely want to avoid on the road.
I was trying to work out a good way to use the purified berries; I had little sugar to create a jam, but maybe Troy did? Or we'd pass a village or town that sold some?
During my musings on what to do, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my left arm. Looking down, I saw the sleeve of my tunic turning red—blood. I was bleeding?
At that moment, it felt like time slowed to a crawl.
“Attack!” Cee yelled out, and before I knew it, stone walls rose on both sides of the wagon, forming almost a tunnel of stone.
It was then that I noticed the arrow sticking out of the wagon just behind me—I had been hit!
I scrambled to draw my dagger, ready to defend myself, trying to recall all the training from the academy. But I couldn’t get a good grip; the blood running down my arm had made the handle slick.
I heard what sounded like a gust of wind—or even a mini tornado—outside the stone walls. This was followed by the clash of steel. Someone was fighting.
Wiping the dagger on my shirt and holding it in my right hand, I got down from the wagon, which had now come to a halt inside the stone tunnel. I approached the opening, squeezing past the distressed horses that Cee was struggling to keep calm. Troy was leaning out the front of the wagon, worry etched on his face as he spoke to Cee, though I couldn’t make out what was being said.
As I reached the edge of the stone walls, my hand was shaking. This was a real fight happening right before me.
Peering around the corner, the scene made me sick to my stomach. At least six people lay dead on the ground.
Some were missing arms; two were missing their heads. I couldn’t hold it back—I threw up.
A firm grip landed on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw Hari, his armour splattered with blood. He pushed me back inside the safety of the stone walls.
“Stay in there until we’re sure it’s safe. Tell Troy we’ve got it under control.”
There was no jovial tone or warmth in his voice—only cold seriousness.
Following the instructions, I slid past the horses again, which were much calmer now that the sound of fighting had subsided.
"Hari said they have it under control and are making sure it’s safe," I said, my voice trembling. I was shaken. I had never seen death like that before.
"Are you okay, Trevor?" Troy asked, concern clear on his face. "You’re white as a ghost, and you’ve been hit. Take a seat. I’ll have a look at the wound in a moment."
Still in a state of shock, with the image of what I had just seen vivid in my mind, I sank down against the wheel of the wagon. I hadn’t even registered the wound on my arm—the sleeve of my tunic was soaked completely red.
A short moment later, I realised Troy was already kneeling beside me. I hadn’t even noticed him approaching.
“The arrow got you good. Lucky you’re immune to poison—bandits often coat their arrows—but hold tight, I need to wrap this up and apply some pressure. You’re bleeding a lot,” Troy said calmly.
How was the merchant even calmer than I was? I was supposed to be trained for this.
I felt the sleeve of my shirt being torn off, then the cloth tightly wrapped around my arm. It wasn’t until then that the pain really set in, and as Troy bound it, a sharp sting made me cry out.
“You’ll be fine, Trevor. You’ve lost a lot of blood and look very pale. Don’t move—I’m going to check on Saddie.”
With that, he stood and went to the rear wagon, disappearing from sight. Everything was rushing back to me, but the terrible scene stayed vivid in my mind.
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but slowly the stone walls receded back into the ground. Mentally, I braced myself to see the aftermath again—but when the walls fully disappeared, there was no trace of the battle. All the bodies were gone.
If not for the blood splattered on Hari’s armour, you wouldn’t even know anything had happened.
“Where did they go?” I asked, bewildered. There was nothing. No blood, no bodies—nothing.
“Ah, they’re all underground,” Milo said, walking up beside me. He glanced at my arm but didn’t remove the tunic sleeve wrapped tightly around it.
He didn’t have a drop of blood on him. “They got you good,” he remarked before getting up and heading toward Troy. This time, I could at least overhear the conversation.
“Looks like a group of eight bandits. None of them were very strong,” Milo explained to Troy.
“Did any get away?” Troy asked.
“An archer tried to run, but he ran into Liane. Jen and she are out looking for the camp now, just to make sure no stragglers survive.”
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They talked as if this were an everyday occurrence. Well, I guess maybe it is for them? I wasn’t so sure.
I tuned out as the pain in my arm took over my thoughts.
For the second time, I didn’t know how much time had passed before Hari was helping me to my feet.
“Come on, lad, let’s get you into the wagon. We’ll need to keep moving. Jen will see to your wound soon,” he said, his voice patient now, warm.
I let him guide me to the back of the wagon. He practically lifted me inside. Troy was nowhere to be seen—probably still with Saddie.
I barely had time to sit down before the wagon started moving again. With only Cee on board and a wave of exhaustion washing over me, I drifted off to sleep.
My dreams replayed vividly—the blood and gore scattered across the ground, death everywhere.
I woke up drenched in sweat and was surprised to see Jen sitting across from me.
“It’s about time you woke up,” she said cheerily. “Let’s take a look at that arm of yours.”
Gathering my senses, the throb in my arm returned sharply. I nodded and turned so she could easily reach it.
“You got lucky, but they still took a decent chunk out of your arm here. Sit still—I’m going to apply this salve. It won’t heal it instantly, and it’s going to hurt like hell, but grit through it, okay?”
I just nodded, focusing all my attention on not screaming when the pain hit.
When the cloth came off the wound, it felt like it was being ripped open all over again, and blood started running down my arm. Then the pain came—an intense, searing pain shot through my arm as she pressed something into the wound. I fought hard not to scream, and I think I did a pretty good job.
Turns out I had just passed out.
A little cold water splashed on my face.
“Trevor, wake up,” I heard Jen’s voice.
“Sorry, I’m ready,” I replied groggily, still trying to make sense of what was happening.
She let out a small laugh. “It’s all done. Keep that bandage on your arm, and don’t remove the salve until tomorrow.”
I nodded, looking down at my arm wrapped in white cloth. It was already a little stained with blood, but the wound was clean—no longer covered in dried, caked-on blood and dirt.
“What happened?” was all I could manage to say.
“Well, I don’t know everything,” Jen began, “but it seems a group of bandits thought we’d be an easy target after Liane and I left to go hunting.” She laughed softly. “Honestly, we didn’t even need to come back. They were already taken care of by the time we reached the wagons after hearing the battle.”
“What... what happened to the bodies? I saw them… in pieces,” my voice trembled as the memory flooded back, sending a cold sweat down my spine.
Jen’s expression softened, a knowing look crossing her face. “Ah, you saw that, did you? First time seeing death up close, I presume?”
I just nodded, unable to trust my voice to speak.
“As for where they went,” she continued, “Milo simply sunk them into the earth—essentially buried them where they fell. And seeing death like that... well, I’ll be honest, Trevor, it’s pretty common on the road. Bandits and opportunists often try their luck. Some succeed; others, like today, meet their end. But don’t mourn them—those men would have killed you given the chance, just for the copper in your pouch.”
She paused and smiled gently. “Alright, I’m going back outside to get on my horse. We’re not far from stopping for the night, so just hang in there.”
With that, she climbed up to the front next to Cee, then presumably dismounted and mounted her horse.
I was left alone with my thoughts, my mind racing through the events, circling back to what Jordan had told me earlier that day. If I froze up this badly in my first real fight, despite all my training, what would happen if I ever faced a demonic force—if I saw people dying all around me?
He said his father had seen hundreds, maybe thousands, die.
Was life really so cheap?
I felt like my mind was in crisis as I tried to grapple with everything. Deciding I needed to do anything other than sit alone in the back of the wagon, I climbed up to the front and took the seat next to Cee. He gave me a nod but didn’t say anything.
"He lives!" Milo called out cheerfully as he rode up alongside the wagon. "Heard you took a nasty shot to the arm. How is it?" He glanced at the bandages wrapped around it.
"It's not too bad, just a bit of pain now," I admitted. The pain had dulled considerably as the day went on.
"Well, good to see you’re fine. I wouldn't want to go back to terrible rations so soon in the journey!" Milo said with a laugh.
How could he be so calm about it all—and even joke about it?
My mind just couldn't accept that this was normal.
"How does it not bother you?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Ah, Jen mentioned you saw the aftermath," Milo replied, his tone softening. "I'll be honest with you, Trevor; it bothered me when I started too. But I've been doing this for years now, and unfortunately, this isn’t an uncommon experience. To put it bluntly, the more you see it, the more you become… desensitised."
I didn’t have anything to say about that. The mood turned heavy.
Did you really become so used to death that it stopped bothering you?
Deciding I shouldn't dwell on it any longer, I asked the other thing that had been nagging at me.
"You made them disappear at the end, into the ground. Can't you do that while they're alive?"
Milo looked a little surprised at the question. "Yes, and no. If they couldn't move and were still alive, then I suppose I could—but that would be a very cruel way to kill someone, forcing them to slowly suffocate rather than giving them a quick end. For anyone able-bodied, though, they'd just get out of the way before the dirt opened up enough to trap them."
"Ah, I didn’t think of it like that," I admitted, realising I hadn't even considered how horrific that would actually be.
"Can't you eat some of your own food and recover your health, by the way?" Milo asked thoughtfully.
"It doesn't work on myself—or at least not yet," I laughed. "It would certainly be nice if it did."
We travelled for a couple more hours. I made some small talk with Milo, but I was mostly lost in my own thoughts. At least the pleasant breeze on my face was a welcome distraction.
I still couldn't wrap my head around how death had become so normal. It just felt like such a tragic waste of life.
We pulled into a clearing where Milo began setting up a structure, just like the night before, with the sleeping alcoves and the central opening for smoke to escape. I didn't have enough stew left for everyone, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to cook or even help much at all with my arm in this state.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when Hari lightly clapped me on the shoulder.
"Come on, lad, let’s go get some wood."
I nodded, unsure if I could carry any with my arm, but I was determined to at least try.
We were only a short walk from the camp, heading into the trees.
"How are you doing?" Hari asked as he came alongside me.
I hesitated, not really sure how to answer. "I'm alright, I think; the arm still hurts a little."
"Hmm, I mean up here," he said, tapping the side of his head. "That was your first time seeing something like that, right? First time getting hit in combat?"
I nodded. "Yeah; yeah, it was. I don't know. I feel like life shouldn't be traded so easily, but Jen said they'd kill me in a heartbeat if they could. I just, I don't know what to think."
"Understandable," Hari said with a small nod. "We don't enjoy killing people. Monsters, sure, but people? No. Still, it's part of the job." He grabbed a massive dead tree that had fallen and started dragging it back toward camp. "Don't worry about the wood. I just wanted to have a chat with you."
I followed beside him, glancing around for something smaller I could carry myself.
"I won't tell you it'll get easy," Hari continued. "It probably won't. Some folks spend their whole lives in the city just to avoid this kind of thing. But if you travel between towns, you'll see it happen. Honestly… it probably won't even be the last time before we reach Boltron." He sighed quietly, then gave me a reassuring look. "But if you need to talk about it, any of us will listen. Now, come on—let’s head back."
We headed back to camp, and as we came through the treeline, I spotted Liane with a massive grin on her face. Draped across her shoulders was the largest wolf I had ever seen.
"What better way to celebrate us all being alive than Skywolf steaks!" she declared, grinning ear to ear.