Upon arriving in Wildrock they noticed it was a small village except for what appeared to be a large arena in the distance.

Maria: Well, I guess it's in our best interest to see what we can find out about where those weapons were supposed to be handed off. Also, can you try not to get hurt this time Zenkoh?

Zenkoh: What? You're acting like I get hurt all the time.

Maria just gives Zenkoh a blank look.

Zenkoh: Fine, I'll try my best to not get hurt.

Maria just sighs and shakes her head before pointing to a building across from them.

Maria: That's probably the best I'm going to get from you. Let's meet back up at the tavern there in a few hours and discuss what we know at that point.

Zenkoh looks to where she is pointing and sees the tavern sign that says The Bitter River.

Zenkoh: Sounds good to me. Oh, and before I forget, since I don't need it anymore you might as well hold onto it.

As she says this Zenkoh pulls out her old heater shield and gives it to Maria.

Zenkoh: Just in case.

Maria nods before taking it and heading into the crowd. Zenkoh looks around trying to determine which direction to search in first when she notices what looks to be a notice board near the tavern. Searching it over she sees the standard jobs one would expect until she comes across an announcement of a tournament that is going to be held today in the arena. Reading further she sees that anyone is allowed to sign up and it even shows a list of some of the current entrants. Seeing one name in particular causes her to smirk.

Zenkoh: I guess I should check the arena out.

After getting lost and startling a few people asking for directions Zenkoh manages to finally make it to the arena. It is a huge oval-shaped arena, which seems kind of weird for such a small village to have something like this, but after a few seconds of thought, she disregarded the oddness of it.

Making her way through the entrance she found what she assumed to be the sign-up table, standing behind it was a Ratfolk male with light brown fur. Upon making her way over she cleared her throat causing the Ratfolk to look at her, his eyes widened, and his body stiffened but after a minute of nothing happening, he realized the Gnoll in front of him wasn't attacking him.

Zenkoh: Zenkoh Deadfang, I'm here for the tournament. Sign-up is still available, right?

The Ratfolk slowly nodded his head before writing her name down. He then shakily pointed to a doorway.

Ratfolk: Go through there and into the last door on the right, you'll be notified when you're up.

Doing as instructed she made her way to the waiting area. While she was at the table, she saw that the prize for winning the tournament was a full set of plated chainmail armor, something she had no way of affording normally so this would be her best chance at getting some.

***

After what felt like hours the Ratfolk from earlier peeked his head in the doorway.

Ratfolk: You're up.

Zenkoh nodded and followed him out to where the fight was to be held. Once there she saw her opponent was a female seven foot five tan-furred Minotaur with a greatsword. Zenkoh readied her longsword and tower shield and locked eyes with her opponent.

At the sound of a bell, the Minotaur launched into a vertical swing while Zenkoh braced her shield to absorb the impact with a resounding clang that rang out before countering with a thrust that the Minotaur sidestepped before attempting a thrust of their own that Zenkoh deflected to the side before backing up to give herself some breathing room.

Not letting up, the Minotaur came in with a horizontal swing from the left, which Zenkoh blocked and retaliated with a shield slam forcing the Minotaur back before swinging her longsword aiming for the right side. The Minotaur managed to parry the swing, then made a horizontal swing coming in from the right, knocking Zenkoh's shield wide. Thinking quickly Zenkoh forced the two as close as possible giving them no room to swing again, and without thinking headbutt the Minotaur, forcing them both to back up out of pain.

Zenkoh: Shit that hurts, remind me to never do that again.

The Minotaur simply narrowed its eyes and snorted.

Having gotten enough space Zenkoh broke into a run before putting all her weight into a shield slam. The Minotaur, not being able to move fast enough to get out of the way, tried to block it, sending them flying and landing with a loud thud. After a minute the Minotaur still hadn't gotten up and the bell rang out for a second time, signaling the fight was over.

***

Zenkoh's next battle was against a Mousefolk, who upon seeing her immediately surrendered without any hesitation. She was mildly annoyed with that; didn't they sign up specifically to fight? Oh well, less effort on her end.

***

Upon being led out for her third fight Zenkoh could see a familiar Kobold. Said Kobold was facing away from her and hadn't seen her yet.

Zenkoh: Well would you look who it is, what are you doing here Tiny?

Upon hearing this Irya spins around to find who dared to call her that, before seeing Zenkoh and gritting her teeth.

Irya: What are you doing here?

Zenkoh: Just happened to be around, I was surprised to see you signed up for the arena. What would you need a set of plated chainmail for anyway?

Irya: That's none of your business. Guess getting stabbed once wasn't enough for you.

Zenkoh: Maybe you should do a better job at making sure someone is injured badly enough.

At the sound of the bell, the two started to slowly circle each other looking for an opening. In one swift motion, Irya came in with a thrust on the right, Zenkoh sidestepped it and made a vertical swing with her longsword aiming for Irya's arm holding the rapier, who managed to back off and avoid the swing.

Zenkoh: There isn't anywhere for you to run off to this time.

Irya: As if I need to run from you.

Zenkoh rushes in with a thrust that Irya dodges by side stepping to the right and performing a counter thrust that Zenkoh deflects with her shield and follows up with a horizontal swing. Irya quickly manages to duck under the swing before aiming her rapier upwards and thrusting as she rises back up. Zenkoh wasn't quite able to move out of the way fast enough and the rapier cut her across the left side of her face, just barely missing her eye. Irya smirked as she backed out of striking range. Zenkoh lightly touched where the rapier had cut her, before baring her teeth.

Zenkoh: I'll flatten you for that!

They started to slowly circle each other again waiting for an opening to strike. Zenkoh just needed to get in close long enough to hit her, maybe she could frustrate her long enough to cause her to make a mistake.

Irya: What's wrong? You were so confident you were going to beat me. Finally, realized you're in over your head?

Zenkoh: The only one in over their head here is you, Tiny.

At being insulted Irya grits her teeth and rushes in, aiming a thrust at Zenkoh's face. Zenkoh ducked behind her tower shield and in one swift motion heaved the shield upwards as hard as she could, hitting Irya's overextended wrist and forcing her to let go of her rapier. Then before Irya could react Zenkoh rushed forward and kicked her in the chest with enough force to throw her back several feet.

As Irya tried to get her breath back, Zenkoh slammed the bottom of her tower shield on her chest so that she couldn't get up. She looked down at Irya before smirking.

Zenkoh: Like I said, you were the one in over your head.

Irya simply huffed and looked away, not long after the bell signaling the end of the fight rang out.

***

Upon arriving at the tavern Zenkoh spotted Maria waiting for her outside, she looked worried.

Maria: Where have you been? I've been waiting forever. Is that armor new?

Zenkoh: Oh, uh yeah, I kind of won it in a tournament.

At the mention of a tournament, Maria gives an annoyed look before focusing on Zenkoh's face, before closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

Maria: You went and got hurt again, I can't believe this. Can you go five seconds without getting hurt?

Zenkoh: It's not that bad, I'm sure it will heal up just fine on its own.

Maria: Whatever, anyways I believe I may have found where Null is operating from in this village.

Zenkoh: Oh, and where would that be?

Maria: Someone in the tavern who had more drinks than they could handle had started saying something about having seen masked men and a black Kobold going in and out of the local shrine at odd hours of the night for the past several days.

Zenkoh: Well, that sounds like that's where we are going to need to start looking. Hopefully, we can find Lyron before they do anything too terrible to him.

With that, they set off towards the shrine to get set up to see if they could verify the information Maria had managed to get.

***

Zenkoh and Maria arrive at the shrine as it is starting to get dark. After some waiting out of sight and seeing no one go in or come out for over an hour Zenkoh decides to check if the door is locked. Upon trying to pull the door open, it refuses to budge. Zenkoh gives an annoyed grunt before getting ready to kick it down.

Maria: Stop! Zenkoh what do you think you're doing?

Zenkoh: Opening the door of course.

Maria: That is going to be way too loud, you'll draw attention to us.

Zenkoh looks around before giving Maria a confused look.

Zenkoh: What are you talking about, there's no one here.

Maria: Look, just let me try to get it open.

Zenkoh backs away from the door and watches as Maria pulls a lockpick out from her sleeve. Where did she get that and how long had she had it? Zenkoh gives Maria a confused look, expecting an explanation.

Maria: Oh right, I guess I didn't tell you that while I was searching in the village someone had bumped into me and dropped it. When I picked it up to try to return it all I saw was a black tail disappearing around a corner in a rush.

After a few minutes of waiting, there was eventually the sound of a click, and the door swung open. Maria, feeling proud of herself, gave a small bow before putting the lockpick away.

Zenkoh: I didn't know you knew how to pick locks.

Maria simply shrugged before giving a slightly amused look.

Maria: It never came up.

Turning back to the door Zenkoh pushes it open to reveal the inside of the shrine. There were statues lining the walls, pillars throughout, as well as what appeared to be wooden benches of some kind in the center of the building. Wondering how Null might have been using this shrine as some form of operating base, Zenkoh began searching along the walls and floors for anything out of place.

As Zenkoh was busy with her search Maria could have sworn she heard something, but she figured she must have been imagining it due to being nervous. That is until she heard it again, except closer. It sounded like distant talking, but it was slowly getting closer. Thinking quickly, Maria told Zenkoh to hide, someone was coming. After only a few seconds of thought, they both hid behind statues on the north side of the shrine.

As the voice got closer it eventually stopped, then the door creaked open to reveal who the voice belonged to. From their hiding spots, they couldn't quite make out who was in the doorway, until they walked into the middle of the room. It was a black Kobold with red eyes, it was Irya. She looked around several times, likely making sure no one could see what she was about to do. She was talking to herself as she made her way to the northwest corner of the shrine.

Irya: I can't believe I managed to lose my damn lockpick, just another thing to go wrong today, on top of being humiliated in the arena by that damn Gnoll.

As she made it to the corner, she looked at the ground for a second before starting to feel around for something. She eventually found it and pulled upwards to reveal a trap door leading down. Irya looked around one last time before entering the trap door and closing it behind her. After they were sure that Irya was far enough away, Zenkoh and Maria came out from behind their respective statues. Having seen where she pulled the trap door open, they now knew that Null was for sure using the shrine as some sort of hideout or base, but why here of all places?

Zenkoh: Looks like that drunk was telling the truth, color me surprised. I honestly half expected to be here all night just to find nothing.

Maria: Unfortunately, that means there could be anything down there. Are you sure you're ready, if we need to, we can go back into town to get supplies.

Zenkoh: I'm sure I'll be fine, it's you I'm worried about. It's been a while since you've had to do any kind of serious fighting, are you sure you'll be ok?

Maria: I may be a cleric but that does not mean the only thing I know how to do is heal. I'll be fine.

After locking eyes with Maria for a moment longer, Zenkoh turned to the trap door and slowly began to open it. She was careful to avoid making any noise; they didn't need anyone down there to know they were there. As they descended into the hideout, they could see a mostly barren room with some torches for light.

After looking around and seeing nothing of importance they make their way out into the hallway, where they see they have the choice of going north or west. After some thought they decide to go west, upon opening the door they see that it seems to be some sort of storage room.

Upon searching the room, they find that it is more of a pantry than anything. A barrel of salted fish, a bag of dried rations, and other similar things. There is a lot here, enough to feed a good-sized group.

Zenkoh: What could they be saving all this food for? There is enough here to feed a lot of people.

Maria: They could just be keeping it as a stockpile. You never know when something might happen and food could become difficult to get, it would mean they could stay down here a while to avoid being found.

At that thought they make their way back out to the hallway and make their way north. After moving through the empty hallway, they find themselves at another crossroads, this time either east or west.

Zenkoh: Which way do you think we should go?

Maria: I would say...east.

As she said this she pointed at the door on the right. Zenkoh looked at the door, then at Maria.

Zenkoh: Any reason?

Maria: Nope, you asked for a direction to go in, so I gave you one.

Zenkoh gave a sigh and a shrug before making her way to the eastern door. Upon opening the door, she saw that it was some kind of armory. Suits of armor were up near the wall, as well as a table with several different weapons on it. A Maul, a longsword, a dagger, and a shield were what was on the table.

Zenkoh: So, they have a room for food and other supplies, as well as an armory to keep weapons and armor. Seems to me like they were getting this place ready for something. But what could that be?

As Zenkoh mumbled to herself Maria had gone to look at the weapons on the table. She focused her attention on the dagger, picking it up and examining it. After looking at it for a moment she noticed its similarity to a thin sharp stake, which must have meant that it was a stiletto dagger. Maria decided to keep it, just in case. After some more searching around and not finding anything else of interest in the room they head back out into the previous room.

Zenkoh: Well, only one way to go now. Let's not waste any more time.

As Zenkoh got close to the door, she could hear voices on the other side of the door, two of them. Zenkoh stood still thinking of what to do, before smirking to herself. She gave Maria a mischievous smile, to which Maria responded with a concerned look, before turning back to the door lifting her right leg, and kicking the door as hard as she could, sending a resounding crash through the hideout.

Inside the room, she could see a surprised Irya as well as someone they had never seen before. It appeared to be a male Vulpine, standing at around five foot nine, with purple and black fur. Both had shocked faces.

Irya: What the hell! How did you get here?

Kenzo: It appears you were being followed here Irya.

The irritation was clear in his voice, and with the way Irya flinched when he said her name, he was likely someone above her. Zenkoh watched as he drew his weapon, a falchion. Maria made sure she was as close to Zenkoh as she could manage. Zenkoh leaned into where Maria could hear her whisper.

Zenkoh: Are you sure you can handle yourself?

Maria: Yes, trust me.

With a nod Zenkoh decided she was going to go ahead with her plan, she was going to separate Irya and the Vulpine by forcing Irya into the next room. After a moment she sheathed her longsword and broke into a run aimed directly at Irya. Irya, completely caught off guard, couldn't move out of the way in time, upon reaching her Zenkoh grabbed Irya in a one-armed bear hug.

Zenkoh: Let's go for a ride, Tiny!

After grabbing her Zenkoh continued to run full tilt until they had busted through the door and both ended up in the next room, and then let her go letting her bounce across the floor like a skipping stone.

***

Back in the previous room Maria and Kenzo were staring each other down until Maria took off her robe revealing she was wearing a set of half-plate armor. She hadn't had to do any kind of serious fighting for a long time now, a year in fact, more precisely since she had met Zenkoh as she did most of the dangerous fighting. She drew the dagger she took from the armory and the shield Zenkoh had given her.

Kenzo: Careful, you might hurt yourself with that-

Before he could finish his sentence, a throwing dagger had barely passed within an inch of his face.

Maria: Don't mock me, I won't miss the next time.

After a moment of silence, the two rushed each other, Kenzo going for a horizontal swing that Maria ducked under and returned with a stab of her dagger, Kenzo sidestepped before going for another swing that Maria parried with her shield and swept Kenzo's legs out from under him. Before Maria could land a stab to his chest he rolled away and got back to his feet.

Kenzo: Why would a cleric need to know how to fight like you do?

Maria: I have my reasons, and you don't need to know them.

As the last word left her mouth she threw another throwing dagger, getting Kenzo in the left foot, and rushing in and stopping her dagger just inches from his throat.

Maria: I told you I wouldn't miss the second time, now you're going to tell me what this place was being prepared for.

***

Back in the second room Zenkoh and Irya have been unsuccessfully trying to gain an edge over one another. Irya had learned her lesson regarding coming anywhere within arm’s reach of Zenkoh, and as such neither had managed to get a hit on the other.

Zenkoh: Quit running from me and fight, you can't keep running around like this forever.

As Irya weaved around the pillars, she knew that Zenkoh was right, but trying to land a hit was just going to get her knocked around. As Zenkoh watched Irya weave between the pillars she stopped and waited to see what she was going to do.

Irya: Aren't you worried about your cleric friend? They might get themselves hurt without you there to help them.

Zenkoh: I trust she can take care of herself; I would be more worried for you and your Vulpine friend.

Zenkoh hadn't bothered to draw her longsword since she didn't need it to beat Irya. All she needed was for her to stop running. Just as she thought that Irya had come around a pillar on her right and went for a thrust at her ribs. As Irya's rapier came within arm’s reach Zenkoh redirected the rapier into the ground by applying a downward force to Irya’s wrist, then proceeded to lift Irya by her wrist, spin around, and slam her onto the ground on her back, forcing the air from her lungs. Zenkoh then sat on her torso enough to pin her but not enough to crush her.

Zenkoh: Now, you're going to tell me where Lyron is and what you intend to do with all the supplies here. Don't think about doing anything stupid, I could crush you with my weight alone, you aren't going anywhere.

Irya: If you are talking about the elf, he's in the back room. Not that it matters, we got the information we wanted. You can have him back.

Zenkoh: That's great and all, but you still haven't answered the second question. Why do you need so many supplies, weapons, and armor?

Irya: I don't know that. I simply do my job; I have no reason to know why. Not that I would tell you if I did.

Zenkoh gives Irya a blank look, before starting to slowly apply pressure to her chest using her body weight. Zenkoh watched in amusement as Irya tried to breathe normally with around 300 pounds sitting on her chest, Zenkoh's weight without her armor or shield being 285 pounds, until eventually, Irya began desperately trying to get Zenkoh off her. Relieving the pressure on her chest Zenkoh gave her an expectant look.

Irya: Fine, fine, I'll tell you just don't crush my ribs. We were gathering supplies because the different factions seemed to be growing more aggressive and distrustful of each other. So, we thought it best to be ready for when one of the other factions does something drastic. That's all I know I swear, don't crush me.

Zenkoh gave a small smirk before getting off her.

Zenkoh: There, was that so hard?

Just then Maria comes through the door. Noticing that she is pushing Kenzo in front of her, Irya gives a shocked look while Kenzo is simply staring at the ground, staying silent.

Maria: So, I take it you got the information we needed? Hopefully, it's better than the non-committal answers he gave me. Even a dagger to his throat couldn't get him to tell me anything in any way useful.

Zenkoh: Yeah, making it so someone can't breathe makes them surprisingly cooperative. Lyron should be in the back. As for the supplies, it was disappointingly mundane as to why they had so much.

On hearing this Kenzo scowls at Irya, who flinches back. After a moment of silence, Zenkoh pushes Irya forward toward the door Maria and Kenzo had just come from.

Zenkoh: Get out of here. If I run into you causing trouble again, I may rethink my hesitancy to kill. Now go, before I change my mind.

A few seconds later both Irya and Kenzo made their way out of the room. Zenkoh sighed before starting to make her way to the back room. Upon reaching the door she waits a second before starting to lift her right leg.

Zenkoh: Stand clear of the door! I'm kicking it in!

Upon making that exclamation Zenkoh kicked the door in, shattering the lock and causing the door to slam into the inside wall. After a couple of seconds, Zenkoh entered the room to look around. She could see Lyron sitting in the corner looking relatively ok considering he had been kidnapped.

Lyron: Well now, isn't this a pleasant surprise? I had thought that maybe they had decided what I told them wasn't sufficient.

Zenkoh: What exactly did you tell them?

Lyron: Just the location of some old castle ruin, can't see why wanting to know where that ruin was would warrant kidnapping me rather than just asking me.

After a moment of silence, he pulls something from behind his back. It appears to be some leather-bound package. Zenkoh gives him a confused look wondering exactly what that is.

Lyron: I was expected to deliver a package to the Inn in the Town of Wolfvale. I was hoping, as I'm in no condition to make the trip now as I don't have any of my supplies for making such trips, that you might be willing to do it for me, I intend to pay you of course.

Zenkoh: Well, we could use the gold. Sure, we'll make your delivery for you. How far is it and in what direction?

Lyron: A few days travel to the east. You'll need to travel through the grasslands until you eventually reach a forest, not that deep into the forest is the town of Wolfvale. I'll be staying at the local inn until I can make my way back to Dawnrest.

At this Zenkoh takes the package from Lyron, placing it in her belt satchel. With that, he nods and makes his way out. After returning to the market of Wildrock Zenkoh and Maria stocked up on supplies to make the trip to Wolfvale, getting dried rations and similar things.

***

As they travel east through the grasslands, they don't encounter much of anything. There is the occasional deer or rabbit, but other than that not much else. As it starts to become late evening, they decide to make camp. Zenkoh began building a fire pit and looking for kindling and had to make do with the small trees nearby. Maria, not wanting to sit still, decides to go hunting with her throwing daggers.

As they are close to the edge of the forest that is where Maria decides to start her food search. After some searching with little luck, she decides that a vantage point in a tree might help and climbs a nearby tree using her claws. Swinging herself up onto one of the branches, Maria can get a much better view of the land. After jumping from tree to tree for a few minutes she finally spots a small deer. After positioning herself above it, Maria jumps down, pouncing on it and plunging her dagger into its heart, killing it instantly. After field dressing the deer and returning to camp Maria sees that Zenkoh has a pot of stew cooking.

Zenkoh: I see you managed to catch something. Should go well in the stew, would be better than just using our dried rations.

As Zenkoh is adding the deer to the stew she seems to have a contemplative, focused expression almost as if she was in another world when she was dealing with food.

***

After an undisturbed sleep, the next morning they wake up and break camp. They continue to travel east until they reach the spot where the grassland meets the forest that Lyron told them about. After a moment of thought as to what they might find in the forest, they push onwards to find the town. After a few hours of navigating the winding path through the forest, they finally stumble upon the town, all the buildings being made of wood, not a single stone building in sight.

From the entrance of the town, they could see a blacksmith, an inn, a tavern, and what appears to be some form of orchard. Another thing they notice is that everyone they see are Lupines! Lupines are a race of humanoid wolf-like creatures. Upon the guards spotting Zenkoh they begin to draw their weapons, Zenkoh puts her hands up trying to placate them.

Zenkoh: Whoa, whoa, calm down I'm not going to do anything. We're just here to deliver a package.

After some contemplation, the guards put their weapons away and go back to standing guard. Zenkoh sighs in relief while Maria just shakes her head. After making it to the center of town they begin to make their way to the inn. Once they arrive, they see the sign above the inn that reads: The Merciful Wolf Inn. Upon entering Maria makes her way up to the innkeeper, a black-furred five-foot-eight Lupine female. She greets Maria with a smile.

Fira: Hello, my name is Fira. How may I... help...you...

Fira's voice trails off as she finally notices Zenkoh, but before she can freak out, she gets ahold of herself.

Fira: h-h-how can I h-h-help y-you?

Zenkoh: We are here to deliver a package.

As she says this, she pulls the package from her belt satchel and puts it in Fira's shaking hands. After giving a nod and a slight smile Zenkoh heads back out front of the inn to look at the notice board she saw earlier. After looking through all the jobs on the board, she sees one that catches her eye, the innkeeper asking for help with a special problem and won't give more details on the board. Zenkoh decided to head back in and see what this was all about. Upon making it back up to the innkeeper, who was facing away from her, cleared her throat startling Fira.

Zenkoh: You have some special problem that you need help with?

Fira looks around to make sure no one is within earshot.

Fira: Y-y-yes, you see, we have been having a bandit problem, and no one, not even the guards can deal with them, the last time they tried we lost almost half the entire town guard.

Zenkoh: What kind of bandits are you talking about exactly?

Fira is silent for a few moments before she finally speaks.

Fira: The bandits are...Gnolls.

Chapter 2

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