A Failed Raid

“Careful,” Dila stated as he climbed down the rope into the darkness of the Phoenix Cave. The trio agreed to train up on fighting before going into even more dangerous situations. Plus, the Phoenix Cave was told to hold lots of gold and coins from the Phoenixmen and their exploits. Chatative warned of the many young adventurers who went out to train and never return, but Dila was certain that this was the best place to hone in their skills.
“Sure is a long drop,” Chatative mentioned, sliding down behind Dila on the rope. “I mean, I’m not complaining; especially with what’s inside, but it’s still quite a climb ahead of us.”
Dila released his grip from the rope once his feet felt solid and rolled his shoulders, calling up to Crescent Moon at the mouth of the hole. “It’s good. I’m at the bottom.”
“Alright, I’m coming down,” Crescent Moon yelled down. He nervously eyed up the rope that hung against a nearby tree. Several other severed ropes also hung against the tree, their ends frayed by a smooth cut or charred from a flame. If theirs were to undo itself or be severed, they’d most-likely be stuck down there until either someone else comes down or they succumbed to starvation. He gave it a couple of tugs to ensure its durability before crawling to the edge of the pit. With controlled breaths, he lowered himself into the darkness below.
Dila removed a bundle of sticks he collected up top and lit the tip to illuminate the area. Nothing but cold dirt walls in an area around the size of a medium room with several blackened tunnels snaking away. Dila unsheathed his worn short sword and took several cautious steps towards one of the corridors. He could hear the sounds of flickering flames and groans coming from deep within, but something was illuminated in the darkness.
A hand placed itself on his shoulder, startling the man. Crescent Moon stood over Dila, carefully listening as well. “You ever see one of these things?” Crescent Moon whispered into Dila’s ear.
Dila scowled at the chiroptera. “The Phoenixmen? No.” His heart was racing from the jump, but with calming breaths, he steadied himself. “But we’re going to find out.”
The trio crept through the darkness, barely illuminated by the torch as a noticeable light glimmered up ahead. It seemed like a vertical fire against the black backdrop, lighting the rock corridor around it. Dila snuck closer until bits of armor became noticeably attached to the flames. The stench of ash and burnt flesh grew stronger in his nose. His heart raced faster as he tightly gripped his sword, watching the figure begin to take form.
An errant step sent a small stone skittering across the floor, alerting of their presence. The flames began to shift and turn around, revealing a human skull amidst the fire. It moaned and raised its long sword to the adventurers.
Dila prepared himself for combat. He tossed aside the branches and raised his own blade. The burning zombie struck, but Dila easily deflected it. He swung in against the neck, but the long sword swished through the air and locked against Dila’s. Now in close contact, Dila could feel the flames of the zombie burn against his clothes and skin. Dila pushed himself away from the creature and watched it carefully through the darkness. Thanks to its burning appearance, Dila could easily tell what it was doing. The zombie struck overhead again, but Dila dove away from it, getting behind the zombie. It turned to him in large lumbering steps.
Dila and the zombie crouched before each other, waiting for a moment to strike. Dila dove in at it, but it swung its long sword and disarmed the adventurer, shattering his short sword along the stony ground. Dila fell back as it slowly approached.
With a cry, Crescent Moon penetrated the zombie’s neck with his own short sword, causing the beast to shriek out and stumble away from the chiroptera. As it cowered from the group, the flames surrounding its boney disposition dimmed until they faded away to darkness. With the torch’s light, Dila could see the bones and armor turn to black ash, leaving only a pile on the ground.
Dila and Crescent Moon were breathing heavily from their battle. “What was that?” Dila asked as he tried to catch his breath.
“The Phoenixmen burn from the hell they chose,” Chatative sang as she strummed her lyre, sending her music to float ominously through the tunnels. “Forever to burn the flesh of their foes.”
“THAT was a Phoenixman?” Dila gasped in disbelief. “But we barely beat him.”
“And he looks like he wasn’t too experienced neither,” Crescent Moon stated. “We’d probably be best to leave.”
Dila bit his lip in debate. They did win, but he’d broken his short sword, leaving him only with a dagger. Unless he was to sneak up on them, they could easily overpower him in a fight. However, Dila knew there was more to this cavern than just the Phoenixmen and his desire for profit and glory overwhelmed all else. “We’ll go further until we find another one of these things, then we’ll escape without fighting it.” Dila picked up the torch. “I don’t want to make this all for nothing.”
“Our heroes perturbed by a dangerous fight, did wander still deeper until it seemed right to take flight,” Chatative sang.
Dila rolled his eyes and inspected the ashes. Nothing left- not the bones, the armor, or even the sword. What a shame and a waste. He could’ve used the burning sword for any future battles.
From the flicker of his torch, Dila noticed a corpse resting against the wall just past the ashes. The body looked burnt- nearly to a crisp, and had the scent of a roasted spit. Dila felt a sick gurgle in his stomach from the aroma. The skin was charred black, coated with a set of chainmail armor. The fighter knelt down beside the unfortunate soul. The body’s purse was very thin with only a couple gold coins to show. The armor however was in fine enough condition and almost looked like his size, so Dila began to undress the body. The metal chains were hot to the touch, but nothing that Dila couldn’t handle and he quickly doffed the armor from the body while Crescent Moon and Chatative stood guard.
When he held it next to his chest, it looked like he could easily wear the armor, though it would be foolish to spend even more time putting it on while still in the dangerous caverns. He tossed the suit to Chatative, who caught it awkwardly. “Hold on to that for me, since you’re not doing anything to help otherwise.”
The trio descended into the darkness, barely lit by the makeshift torch. A series of small lights ahead gave Dila pause. He gripped his dagger and crouched to sneak forward.
“Stay back,” Chatative warned with a sharp whisper, standing just behind him. “There’s a lot of them in there.”
“How many?”
“Ten, I’d say.” Way too many for you to handle as you are.”
Dila wanted to find some gold, but the risk of taking on a large group of Phoenixmen overtook his desire for more. “Alright, let’s head back.”
As they retreated through the hallways and passed the corpse, a whistling of wind and the scent of ash filled the area. The group gave pause as a small light grew larger behind them. They turned to see the pile of the Phoenixman begin to grow and swirl as a fire glowed in the center until bits of bone and flesh began to materialize. Soon, the tattered armor began to take shape and the long end of the sword made its way through the ashes. The newly-formed Phoenixman groaned at Dila before advancing slowly towards them.
“Run!” Dila shouted to the group, taking off into a sprint away from the resurrected zombie. Since all it could do was shamble weakly, they easily outran it and made their way to the rope to escape. The trio quickly climbed back out of the cavern.
Dila felt rather disappointed in their haul. He’d heard stories of great treasures on such escapades, but all they had to show for their troubles was a suit of chainmail and a couple coins. Although he was frustrated with his lack of loot, he still felt slightly happy that he had a bit of armor to protect himself in his upcoming fights.
As soon as he climbed from the pit, Crescent Moon looked over the trees to see the sun still high in the sky. “We’ve still plenty of daylight left. Maybe we should try to practice somewhere else.”
Dila pulled himself out next. “Do you have anywhere easier to train?"
“There’s always the forest,” Crescent Moon suggested as he helped Chatative out of the pit. “There’re plenty of wild animals out there.”
Dila debated on it. He knew there were lots of creatures living out in the wilderness, but could he deal with them with only a dagger? They were pretty ferocious and most of them kept themselves hidden when hunting. At the same time, fighting off animals could give them some furs and meats for trade. “So long as it isn’t all we ever do.”
Crescent Moon wrapped up his rope, but was surprised when he pulled the rest up short with a charred end. Chatative began strumming her lyre, singing her next verse. Dila sighed as the trio descended deeper into the woods.



At the Hero’s Pint, Roseland and Gaum were resting at a table in the corner, celebrating with a pint. Roseland raised her mug high above the table, cheerfully exclaiming, “To our future adventures!”
Gaum didn’t repay the enthusiasm but took a drink from the ale as well. She gagged at the flavor and inspected into the brown liquid. The foul taste churned Gaum’s stomach. She watched as Roseland downed her mug with a satisfied sigh. Gaum slid it at Roseland. “Bad.”
Roseland sniffed the ale and gave a test sip. “Seems fine to me.” She chugged it back and downed Gaum’s quickly as well.
As Roseland was drinking, a woman came running through the door and went straight for Cardigar who was organizing several piles of papers. The woman looked exhausted and pretty muddied up. “You gotta help me! I think my son got lost out in the Rengue Forest. He went out yesterday, but he hasn’t come back yet.” Cardigar tried to calm her down and get more information, but the mother was near hysterics.
Roseland’s ears perked up. “Our first mission!” Her eyes glimmered at Gaum as she picked up her helmet and charged towards the woman. Roseland bowed and spoke quickly. “Ma’am, if you would give us the information, my companion Gaum and I will search for your son.”
“Gaum-Ha-Ra!” Gaum shouted from the corner of the bar.
The mother glanced back to Cardigar. She smiled warmly and reassured the worried woman. “I’m sure they’ll find your child before sunset.”
The mother sighed in slight relief and told them where her son and his friends usually played. Roseland accepted the job before being told the pay and ran out the door as fast as her legs could carry her with Gaum dragging behind.
They entered the forest as the sun started its descent in the sky, though the trees overhead shrouded most of the light. Roseland wandered around for nearly an hour, completely unsure on how to track the missing child. A pit welled in her stomach. Roseland wasn’t a tracker nor had she ever needed to search for something or someone in the woods before. She felt more certain back at the bar, but being out in the forest and actually having to search for the child was much harder than she thought. She wasn’t sure she would ever find the boy in the wilderness.
A spark of inspiration struck Roseland’s head. “Gaum, can you-”
“Gaum-Ha-Ra.”
“Can you use your knowledge of nature to help us track the boy?”
“Why?”
“What do you mean ‘why'?” Roseland stated in an irritated tone. She put her hands on her hips. “Because there’s a child out there! Because he needs our help! Because we’re adventurers, that’s ‘why’.” Roseland was seething at the Brush.
Gaum continued to glare at Roseland despite her points. She didn’t care about some human boy that went running off on his own. She only agreed to the job because she needed to stop the tragedies that were about to befall upon the realm in order to be deemed an adult.
Roseland took a few breaths to calm herself down. “Now, can you please help me?”
Gaum sighed through her nose and looked away from Roseland. If they were going to get strong enough to fight the Am-Ba-Ra, they needed to hone their skills. She stepped towards a tree and felt the bark gently. The air was silent save for the occasional chirp or caw. She took a few careful sniffs and listened. After a short while, she stepped away and started to lead. “Way,” she stated.
Roseland smiled. She was thankful that she could get through to Gaum. The woman quickly followed the Brush deeper into the forest.



Dila had grown bored of their hike- that’s all it had become. Besides stumbling upon a torn-apart body, the trip was seemingly all for naught. It was getting later into the day and none of the creatures wanted to fight. If this kept up, they would’ve wasted the rest of the day. He could’ve made more coins if he stayed in town and begged.
An animalistic roar bellowed through the trees, startling Dila from his internal anguish. Crescent Moon removed his dagger. “What was that?”
Dila did likewise. “Sounded like a bear.” He took off running through the thick undergrowth when Dila saw a large, brown bear baring its fangs at what appeared to be a young boy. The boy had a sling aimed directly at the bear, but was backing up defensively. He looked frightened, but continued to glare as if to intimidate the bear. The bear itself was large and bulky with its back facing one of the largest trees Dila had ever seen.
Dila sprinted as fast as he could and dove at the beast, plunging his blade into the bear’s right arm. It howled in agony and swatted Dila away, throwing him sprawling out on the ground. Dila felt up his chest. Everything seemed fine. If it weren’t for his chainmail vest, he could’ve been torn open. Thank the gods for that.
The bear licked at the weapon still imbedded in its arm and growled at the downed Dila. Crescent Moon and Chatative ran up next to him to help him to his feet as the bear towered over them on its hind legs. Crescent Moon tightened his grip on his dagger. “We should probably get the boy and back off,” he stated quietly.”
“Leave alone!” A voice shouted from behind the bear as a Brush came sprinting towards them. It passed the bear without giving much of a glance to the animal and threw its arms outwards, facing the adventurers and blocking them from the bear. “Leave alone!”
Gaum turned away from the other adventurers and slowly advanced towards the bear. She spoke in her native tongue of Ra to soothe the beast. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” The bear continued to growl and showed off its size once again. Gaum was undeterred. “It’s okay. Let me help you.”
With a mighty swipe of its uninjured paw, the bear slashed at Gaum’s wooden chest plate, creating a deep gash. Gaum tumbled to the ground, but the bear pounced on her, teeth ripping onto the barky exoskeleton.
Roseland screamed at the bear’s assault and sprinted in awkwardly in her over-sized armor. “Gaum!” She raised her weapon high and drove it into the bear’s left paw, coming into contact with the bone.
The bear roared louder than it had before and backed away, still balancing on its hind legs. It wanted to run, but with the three creatures to its right, this shiny human on its left, and the tree keeping it in place, it didn’t have much of a choice. It dove its face forwards to bite at Roseland’s head.
The bear’s movements were slower than usual, so Roseland could easily watch the bear’s attack. She jabbed her sword through the bear’s head from underneath the throat, instantly killing the animal. Its body slumped into the ground before her.
Roseland knelt beside Gaum’s side. She wasn’t moving and her eyes were closed. “Gaum! Gaum, wake up!”
Crescent Moon hurried over by Roseland. “Let me look at him,” he stated and carefully inspected Gaum’s pulse. After a couple seconds, he sighed with relief. “It looks like he’s just unconscious. I don’t think he’s been injured beyond his chest plate.”
Roseland sighed with a smile. “Thank the gods.” She turned to the others. “I see you found the boy.”
The child looked around in a bit of a panic. Dila took his blade out of the bear and approached Roseland. “I didn’t know we were looking for a boy.” He punched at the air and cursed. “I knew we should’ve gone back to the center.”
Roseland put a hand out to him. “I take it you’re also an adventurer. Is this your guild?”
Dila was a bit taken back, but accepted the handshake. “Yeah. We just started, so we went out to train.”
“What’s your guild’s name?”
Chatative strummed her lyre up next to Dila’s side. “They are the avengers of the injured and decrepit, the weak and the poor; their love for the realm is massive, and they’ll always give more.”
Roseland gave a glance to Dila, who was busy rolling his eyes. “Um, yeah; we’re the Avengers of the Injured and Decrepit.” He glanced at the rescued boy. “So anyway, what’s the reward?”
Roseland shrugged. “I didn’t ask. Do you need any other members?” She quickly changed the subject.
Dila bit his lip in frustration. He put in the effort to save the boy, so he should get the pay, but this newcomer was sure to accept it in place of him- especially if she was a part of the guild. It didn’t matter how much he’d get, so long as he’d get something- ANYTHING to make this day a bit productive. A thought popped into his head, however. If she were to join them, they’d have a second blade to help fight off enemies. Maybe they could go back to the Phoenixman Cave again and find the riches inside. “Um, yeah. Yes, we could use some help. Were you planning on joining us?”
Roseland’s body twitched in excitement. “I would love to! It would make things easier when fighting to have others with us.” She grabbed Dila’s arm and shook his hand rapidly. “You won’t be sorry we joined! I promise! Gaum and I will be a great addition.” Remembering her partner, she let go and knelt beside Gaum and Crescent Moon. “You sure she’s going to be okay?”
Crescent Moon stood up with a grunt. “She? She’s still breathing and her pulse is stable. She should wake up anytime.”
Roseland sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
Dila inspected the corpse of the bear. He scratched his chin as he thought about it. It was quite a kill with quite a bit of meat on it. If they were to take it back to town, they could sell the meat and fur. The man crouched down next to it and called out to Crescent Moon. “You wanna get the other end? We’ll try to haul it back to town.”
Crescent Moon was rather taken aback. “Take it back? It’s huge.”
Dila inspected the bear. “I guess you’re right, but I don’t want to just leave it- what if someone else takes it?” Crescent Moon nodded in understanding. Dila played with several ideas in his head as he paced back and forth. “Alright,” he called out to everyone nearby. “Here’s what we’re gonna do: Roseland and Crescent Moon, you two watch over the bear so that it doesn’t get stolen. Chatative and I will escort the boy back to town to collect the reward and return with a wagon to carry the body back. All good?”
Roseland raised a hand. “What about Gaum? Shouldn’t we get her some attention?”
Dila nodded. “Fine. How about this: Crescent Moon and I will bring the Brush and boy with us while you and Chatative watch over the body. We’ll see a doctor and get a cart to carry the bear.”
Roseland shifted her weight on her legs. “I really don’t want to leave Gaum.”
Dila rolled his eyes. “Fine. You come with us. Chatative, you stay behind and we’ll return before dark.”
Chatative shrugged. “Fine. I’ll engage in my practice.” She strummed her lyre. “A monstrous bear stood large in their way, they struck the beast down and returned for the day.”
Roseland lifted Gaum over her shoulder and carried the Brush back to town while Dila and Crescent Moon watched over the boy.
The rest of the day passed rather quickly, leaving the sky with a pinkish hue when they finally got to town. Roseland split away from the others to see the doctor while Dila, Crescent Moon, and the boy went to the Hero’s Pint. At the Recruitment center, the mother instantly jumped on the boy, hugging him tightly. The boy tried to escape her grip, but she held on. “Thank you people so much for finding him! I was so worried!”
She dragged the boy outside of the center, scolding him as she went. Cardigar smiled at the adventurers. “Well done. How did you know he was missing?”
Dila proudly smirked and approached the desk. “We met up with a girl in steel armor and a Brush who were looking for him.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t hard except for fighting off the bear.”
“You fought a bear?” Cardigar went through her pages. “We’ve had reports of a dangerous animal killing pets and cattle, and some reports of missing people recently. If you can track it down and kill it, you may have saved many of the inhabitants of the realm.”
Dila straightened his back in pride. “We did kill it! We’ll be bringing it back to town shortly.”
Cardigar found the page she was looking for. “Yeah, the reports sound like it was a bear, so if you could bring it in, we’ll pay you for it.”
Dila licked his lips. That was exactly what he was waiting for. He nodded, unable to get his words out. “We… we should go and get a cart before it gets too late.” Cardigar wished them well as the two adventurers hustled out of the bar. They ran to the local stables, rented a horse and cart, and headed back into the forest.
On their way back, they bumped into Roseland and Gaum. “Hey, were you just heading back to the woods?” Roseland asked, rather confused why they didn’t stop to check on Gaum. Gaum was walking with Roseland just fine, though she seemed rather irritated and her chest plate was still scarred by the claws.
Dila stammered as he tried to figure out a way to talk himself out of forgetting about them. “We were just getting ready to go pick you up. We thought it would be easier on you if you rode in the back.” Crescent Moon was about to contradict him, but Dila elbowed the chrioptera sharply in the ribs.
Gaum noticed the rough connection and figured Dila was lying, but Roseland smiled at the thoughtfulness. “Thanks guys.” She helped Gaum into the back and sat down beside her as Dila marched the horses into the woods.
The light above them was nearly dissolved into black when they finally found the dead body of the bear. Dila hopped off the cart and searched around. “Where’s Chatative?” He stomped around the body to see if she was hiding on the other side. “She was supposed to be watching the body.” He glared back at the other adventurers, his back facing deeper into the forest.
A darkened figure crept up behind him in the darkness until it stood tall over the man. Dila felt a chill creep down his spine as he slowly turned around. The violet-skinned Chatative cried, “Boo!” at Dila’s face. Dila stumbled to the ground in horror and crab walked backwards to get away from her. Chatative giggled loudly, having to adjust the pile of sticks and leaves in her arms in order to keep from dropping it on the ground. Everyone else started laughing at Dila’s surprise as well. “I’m sorry,” Chatative apologized, barely able to control her laughter. “I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.” She walked over towards the cart and set the sticks onto a pile where she had collected several large stones.
Dila bit his lip in anger. He wanted to say something in retaliation, but nothing clever came to mind. All he could do was grunt and pick himself off of the dirt. “What are you doing, Chatative?”
The Tiefling set up a medium-sized circle with the stones and arranged the sticks and leaves inside it. “Making a campfire. It would be unwise to travel in the dark- even for me.” She took out a tinderbox and began making a fire.
Dila tried to take control of the situation again. “Alright, while you do that, the rest of us should get the bear on the cart so we can go straight away in the morning.” Everyone agreed and helped lift the giant animal onto the wooden wagon as Chatative got the fire roaring nice and strong. They cut off several chunks of the bear’s belly and put them on a spit for dinner.
“So what made you want to become an adventurer?” Crescent Moon asked to Roseland as he watched the meat cook.
Roseland had doffed her armor, revealing slightly-tanned skin and flowing golden hair. Her face was youthful and always seemed to want to shine with positivity. “I guess after I was saved by some adventurers from raiders.” She thought about it for a little longer. “Maybe it was when I was with Wisseler Undercheek where I met all of these adventurers when they came by his shop.” Roseland shrugged. “I dunno, I guess I just wanted to help those in need.”
Dila sat down beside Crescent Moon after reassuring that the bear was safe on the cart. “What about your servant?”
Gaum didn’t seem to understand that he was talking about her. Roseland smirked and placed an arm around Gaum’s shoulder. “Gaum’s not my servant. We met at the Hero’s Pint and grouped up to help protect the realm and its people.”
Gaum rolled her shoulder to unlatch Roseland’s grip. “Gaum-Ha-Ra.”
Dila raised an eyebrow at their relationship. “Then Gaum, why did you want to be an adventurer?”
Gaum glared at Dila. “Gaum-Ha-Ra. Want guild no. Request by Ba-Fu-Gon-Ra. Want adult. Like humans no.” She pushed herself away from Roseland and turned away from the group and the fire.
Dila, Crescent Moon, and Chatative gave each other a glance. “She doesn’t seem very friendly,” Dila stated quietly to Roseland.
Roseland beamed. “You just have to give her some time to warm up to you.”
Dila leaned back and mumbled to himself. “Looks like she’s ice-cold to you too.” Roseland cleared her throat and asked about their story. The others of the group began to tell their lives beforehand as the fire roared warmly in front of them.
As Gaum held her back to the fire, she got herself lost in thought. They probably had enough heroes to help with defeating the Am-Ba-Ra; at least, once they were strong enough to face it. Being stuck with humans was humiliating. She was now protecting the very people who defeated and belittled her people. It was an insult to her ancestors that she even spend time with this Roseland character and here she was, supposed to protect her. And now she had to deal with this Dila guy and the other two as well. It was like her god had betrayed her.
Gaum folded her arms over her chest in frustration. In doing so, she felt something scrape against her wooden arm plates. Slowly, she felt her chest plate with her fingers. The scars from the bear were still present. They were a constant reminder that Roseland had saved her life. It didn’t make sense to Gaum. Why would a human save her, a Brush? They were two races that should be in an eternal battle to the death, so why would Roseland save her?
A slight bit of sickness got caught in her chest at the thought of Roseland protecting her. Gaum quickly overlooked it and returned to her scowl and folded arms as the others took the meat off of the spit. She was stuck with these people for now- or until she had enough and left the guild. She was going to help the realm, so dealing with these other races was a necessary evil she had to face- maybe even her biggest challenge.
So far.