Stanton is dangling over a tree branch near the edge of the clearing. Did that gemtree mange to throw him over here? I spot his bow and a crumpled piece of iron a small ways away. I alert the rest of the group to his presence, as I go to pick them up. Looks like this used to be a helmet, and whatever crushed it also tore the chin strap.
Lady Isabella uses a spell to pick him off of the branch and gently lay him down on the ground. Lord Carlmon and Lady Celano examine him, he's still breathing. Large gashes on his forehead and cheek indicate he must have struck his head at some point, and his hardened leather jerkin is heavily scraped along his midsection. Both nobles channel healing magic, no scar is left behind. Stanton opens his eyes with a start.
“Look out for the thorns!”
He looks around a bit, rubs his head. “Where's my helmet? How long have I been out?”
“If you left yesterday, you've been out for a night. You'll need a new helmet, because this one is more of a plate now.”
I hold up the helmet that could still be used if your head was a sheet of paper.
“You managed not to land on your bow this time. Looks like it's learned how to get out of the way better than you have.”
I toss him his bow.
“Nivar, did they send you to look for me?”
“No, spent a while investigating. The Lords and Ladies showed up and let me know that leaving a piece of that thing in a tree was a bad move.”
“I dunno, looks like it made for a great fertilizer.”
“We came here, but had to rest for the night, we thought the thing would emit darkness like all of the other ones.”
“I had it covered, no need to hurry, huh?”
He looks around at the group, and must recognize them. He salutes as he slowly gets to his feet. He sees past the Lords and Ladies and looks somewhat confused.
“Why are all the trees knocked down?”
Lord Hawkins fills him in on the battle.
“Guess this standard issue stuff doesn't measure up to your armor at all.” Stanton looks down at his damaged jerkin. “For us it wasn't as big as when you got here. We took a look at it, I saw it start to move. It tossed Watchman Andrew into a tree nearby, I saw thorns forming above us. That's all I remember.” Sudden concern hits his face. “Did you find Watchmen Andrew or Gerald? They came here with me.”
“Guess we should go look for them.” Lord McGee is also skilled at tracking, and coordinates a search of the area for signs of the other two watchmen.
We find tracks of someone dragging something leading northward. Following them to the road, we find an activated light rod stuck into a tree. It's a watchman's signal, we're supposed to jam a light rod into the corner of a building if we go into an alleyway alone to follow someone suspicious. This lets other watchmen follow or report on the signal.
It's been here for hours, so it's almost gone out entirely. If he was heading to the city to get reinforcements, a watchman would have left this here to mark where to turn south off of the road. I remove it, we'll run into anyone sent looking for it on the way back to the city.
We find a large contingent of the castle's soldiery halfway back. They were deployed to deal with the threat. Lord Hawkins explains the situation to them, and we learn that both Watchmen Andrew and Gerald made it back alive. They weren't doing very well though. Andrew was unconscious and Gerald was stubbornly dragging him along even though his leg was broken. I'm sure that mobilization scared all of the bandits back into their holes for the day.
The lot of us make it back, The men and I take our leave of the Lords and Ladies and head back to the guard house to file our reports. I find myself glad that, if there aren't charges being placed, and no one gets killed, reports only need to be a list of items lost or spent. I unfortunately remember the bandits we had to kill yesterday, and end up writing out a full report.
I turn in the account of what happened over the last two days to Assistant Commander Staghorn, who gives me the rest of the day off for my effort and overtime. I thank him, and leave the guard house. Just as I'm leaving, I hear Stanton.
“Hold up, Nivar!” He runs out the door to catch up with me. “I'd like you to have this, as thanks for saving me out there, and finding me someone that could fix this old bow up good as new.”
He presses a long dagger in a finely made sheath into my hands. The pommel has a small emerald embedded in it.
“It's grade two enchanted, and further enchanted against plants. I'd been using it to clear paths for myself through brush. That bow is really important to me, so take it.”
“You don't...”
“I'm not taking it back!”
He runs back into the guard house with a wave before I can protest further. Something even grade one enchanted is very expensive. I draw the blade, finely honed and engraved with a vine pattern. I guess I'll replace my belt knife with this when I get home. It's such a nice gift, I should at least use it.
The trip home is peaceful, I pick up a fresh loaf of bread and some honey.
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