Ero Skill Tree

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six: Back to Town

When I joined Serin and Altria, they had both already dismounted and tied their horses against a nearby tree. One of the soldiers under Ontari had arrived to feed them, so we left to help set the camp.

It was just as Rosa had said, this place was a regularly used campsite at the side of the road. There was a fire pit surrounded by several large logs in the centre of the area. The three of us sat there while we decided what to do next.

Altria let out a sigh as she stretched out her arms. "Ah, am I glad to be out of the saddle."

Serin shuffled trying to get comfortable on the floor. "Me too! It's been a while since I've ridden that far without a break."

I was nodding in agreement, even if I'd had a seat on the driver's bench. "I'm glad I was on the carriage. I'm not sure I would have coped on a horse for that long."

Serin looked at me and gave an encouraging smile. "I'm sure you would have managed."

"Maybe... Shouldn't we set up the tents?"

"Not tonight. We'll sleep in the open. The weather looks as if it will stay fine and that way, we'll be able to leave at a moment's notice."

"We'll be more aware of our surroundings too." Added Altria.

"Sounds good to me. I like sleeping under the stars. I suppose we'll have extra watchers tonight?" I asked.

"Yes, we'll probably leave three people a time on watch. Let's see how Ontari wants to organise it though." Answered Altria.

"In the meantime, let's build up a fire and make some food." Serin said whilst reaching for the cooking gear in her bag.

"Sounds good to me, I'm starving!"

I went to gather some wood at the edge of the field with Altria, when we returned half of the soldiers were sat around the fire pit, the rest were tending to the horses and setting watch around the campsite.

The mood was still awful. This was nothing like any of the previous nights I had spent camping with the girls. The soldiers barely spoke, and we felt out of place trying to pass the time enjoyably.

Once we had eaten, we soon went to bed. It wasn't late, but none of us had any problem falling asleep. We had only gotten a few hours in the previous day.

Apart from taking our turns on watch, I think we all slept through the night. It was an uneventful night, and nothing approached our camp, we made it through to the morning without a single incident.

Most of the camp was awake shortly after dawn and despite the quiet night, everyone was in a hurry to set off again. We all wanted to reach Dunshelm as quickly as possible. Within an hour of waking, we were back on the road.

The mood on the road was slightly better. Serin and Altria rode alongside the carriage, while the solders rode some way up ahead or behind us. We were able to talk normally once again and the next couple of hours passed quickly.

As the time passed, I started to think that things were unusually busy on the road. Admittedly I didn't have much experience on this road, but we had seen several carriages pass hurriedly, what looked to be messengers on horseback passed us in either direction and a troop of solders had all passed. I started to think something was up.

I turned to Rosa. "Is this route normally this busy?"

She shook her head. "No, it isn't... Actually, I've never seen it like this before."

"I wonder why it's so busy then?"

"I have no idea."

Serin drew closer to the side of the carriage. "Something is definitely up."