Guardian Angel

Reden steps into the hot, inviting water of the bathtub, feeling the tension in his muscles slowly melt away. He sinks down into the comforting embrace of the water, letting out a contented sigh. The feeling of relaxation washes over him, and he closes his eyes, savoring this moment of tranquility.

The water soothes his aching muscles from the day's hunt and he feels the weariness of his body and mind begin to fade. The scent of the warm steam in the air create a serene atmosphere, allowing him to forget the worries and challenges he faced earlier.

He leans back, resting his head against the edge of the bathtub, as he lets the soothing water envelop him. The stress and tension he carried seem to evaporate, replaced by a sense of calm and contentment. The warmth of the water against his skin reminds him of the feeling of safety and comfort he experienced as a child, surrounded by the care and love of his resting peacefully parents.

Lost in his thoughts, Reden spends some time soaking in the bath, relishing the simple pleasure of being able to take a moment for himself. In the midst of all the challenges and uncertainties, this peaceful time in the bathtub feels like a small sanctuary.

As he leaves the bathtub he feels like he was reborn. Feeling of light and new body reminds him of the time when he and his wife were all alone in their bedroom doing the common marriage thing.

Reden then takes his all clean clothes which are now dried thanks to the air draft from the hole in the wall which looks like it was made intentionally after second thought. Once he makes sure the clothes are dry, he wears them and leaves the baths.

When he leaves he right away turns to his room to see his little guy who is probably once again looking up with unamused face. When he enters the room he lays his bag on the chair, approaches Gah-Hal and looks at him over the crib.

Gah-Hal seems to be asleep. Guess Reden was a bit off with his guess. Anyways he checks the bottle for and sees that it's empty. It seems he still has to do some shopping before he can rest.

"Man... Fine. I will take another walk and look for juice again here." Reden thinks to himself discouraged.

Reden takes the bottle and leaves the room leaving Gah-Hal and bag behind. He leaves inn and takes a walk around town looking for general store. He quickly found one by looking at the signs and headed there.

As Reden enters the general store, he sees few customers and a pretty young woman behind the counter, busy organizing some items on the shelves. She looks like she is in her mid twenties. He approaches her with a friendly smile.

"Hi there! I'm looking for some infant juice for my little guy. Do you happen to have any?" Reden asks politely.

The woman glances up from her work and smiles warmly at Reden.

"Why, of course, we do! We have a variety of baby juices right over there on the shelf. Feel free to take one." She replies cheerfully, pointing towards a section filled with medium bottles.

Reden walks over to the shelf and takes the first better drink available. He picks up a bottle and inspects it, reading the label carefully.

"Yea. This one. I will stay with the one I've been always buying." He mumbles to himself, nodding in approval.

Just as he is about to head back to the counter to make his purchase, a young boy, no older than 9 or 10, suddenly appears beside him. The boy looks up at Reden with wide, curious eyes.

"Are you a hunter?" the boy asks, his voice filled with excitement.

Reden chuckles and crouches down to be at eye level with the boy and hides his daggers a bit more.

"Yes, I am! How did you guess?" Reden replies, amused by the boy's enthusiasm.

"I saw you with the rabbits and boar earlier! It was so cool! I wish I could be a hunter too." The boy exclaims, bouncing on his feet.

The woman behind the counter watches the interaction with a smile, appreciating the camaraderie between Reden and the young boy.

"Alright then, little hunter, it's impressive you aren't scared of that in such age. What's your name?" Reden asks with a grin.

"Arthur!" The boy says, beaming.

"Nice to meet you, Arthur. I'm Reden. Now, why don't you go on an adventure of your own and pick out a sweets from that shelf over there?" Reden suggests, pointing to a section filled with treats and sweets.

Arthur's eyes light up, and he eagerly rushes over to the shelf, looking at all the colorful sweets with excitement. He carefully selects a small jar of nuts and brings it to Reden.

"Thank you, Mister! Can I be a hunter like you when I grow up?" Timmy asks, holding his treat close.

"Absolutely! With enough passion and determination, you can be anything you want to be." Reden replies, giving the young boy an encouraging smile.

With a wave and a big grin, Arthur runs off to show his treat to his friends, leaving Reden to make his purchase.

He returns to the counter, baby juice in hand and smiles at the woman.

"I'll take this, please. I will also pay for what the boy took with him." He says, placing the bottle on the counter.

"Sure thing! That'll be 9 copper." She replies.

Reden hands over the copper coins, happy to have found the drink he needed and glad to have made a young boy's day a little brighter.

As he leaves the general store, Reden thinks about the day he would be able to see Gah-Hal and his peers to grow and become whoever they want. Reden just hopes he and his son survive until this day. He hopes the next generation will do much better in such times and such world.

With a light heart, Reden heads back to the Lily's Boarding House, eager to see his little guy and feed him the juice. When he enters the Boarding House, Lily isn't at counter. She wasn't there when he left too. Anyways. Maybe she is just doing her other things.

Reden then heads to his room and sees that the door is open. Maybe Lily is in there? Then he slowly opens the door...

Thankfully there is nobody in the room except of his son who is in crib.

"Did I forget to close the door when I left?" Reden thinks to himself.

As Reden enters the room he makes sure that there was nothing stolen when he was out with door left open just in case. He notices that everything seems to be in order. Nothing seems to be stolen including things in his bag. Gah-Hal is awake and lying in his crib, looking up at the ceiling with his normal, unamused face. Reden smiles and approaches his son, feeling relieved that nothing seems to be missing or out of place.

As he thinks everything is alright and he has everything that was needed like his food and juice for his son, he relaxes. He takes his son on his arms and bounces him a little. He approaches the window and looks at the less lively side of the Castledale due to position of Lily's Boarding House. Reden smiles once again thinking enjoying his free time today and thinking about next day.

Next Day, Early Afternoon

Reden leaves his room and this time closes the door. He goes to the counter to let Lily know that he's away. He approaches and sees Lily sitting and drinking something while also reading some papers. She looks at Reden and nods her head to him while taking a sip of her drink. Reden lays the keys on the counter and leaves the building.

It's time to get some more copper, but this time Reden needs something that will help him carry the dead animals. Some kind of cart or big horse or whatever. He could ask a butcher if he has one for spare but he doubts he would have it or even borrow it.

He starts his search for a suitable cart or horse by asking around town and visiting various shops that might sell such items. As he walks through the streets of Castledale, he comes across a stable in the corner of town that catches his attention. It seems to be a well-maintained establishment, and there are several horses tied up outside.

First look at the horses and Reden already turned back as he is sure he can't afford any of the horses. He has 30 copper and the cheapest horse which costs 45 copper. He took few steps but stopped and once again turned to stable and looks for the guy who sells these horses.

He leans on the pole and sees the teen filling troughs with wheat and rye. Teen turns his head and sees Reden leaning on the pole so he comes closer.

"Good afternoon. In need of a horse?" Teen asks.

"Im thinking about renting a horse instead. I dont really have anywhere to keep it anyway, but I need some horse that will carry a cart for me temporarily." Reden answers.

Reden and the teen engage in negotiations, each trying to find a suitable agreement for the temporary use of a horse. The teen is firm on the pricing, as he knows the value of their horses, but Reden is equally persistent in expressing his budget constraints.

"I understand the value of your horses, but I'm afraid I can't afford the full price for a rental. Is there any way we can come to a more reasonable arrangement?" Reden asks, trying to find a compromise.

The teen scratches his head, considering the proposition.

"I can see you're in a bit of a tight spot. Tell you what, I can lend you one of our older horses for a day and you can pay 1/4 the price upfront for each day you want to borrow him. 12 copper daily that is." Teen gives such offer to Reden.

"Alright fine." Reden takes his pouch and hands seller 12 copper.

Seller takes the money and goes to the horse he rented.

"One more thing. If horse dies, flees or gets stolen, you will pay the whole price for it. So dont abuse it and dont let your guard down on it." Teen says while he unties the horse.

"Got it." Reden replies as he hides his pouch back.

Seller hands Reden the tether. Reden then walks away from the stable.

"I've got idea with which I might safe some cash. Size of this horse might help with it." Reden thinks to himself leading horse to the gates of Castledale.

Once he leaves the Castledale through gates he checks if he has both of the daggers on him. He made sure he has everything and jumped on the back of the horse, took the bridle in his hand and moved with horse towards the same forest he hunted in before.

15 Minutes Later

Reden and the horse are now next to the forest. After some time of riding, Reden dismounts the horse, ties him to a tree and gets into the forest. He walks carefully and fully focused looking for something to hunt. He walks slowly almost crawling.

He sees some grass slimes but he ignores them not only because they have no worth but also because he would feel bad killing such creatures who are like cats or dogs, harmless, cute and most importantly likes humans. He keeps looking until he eventually sees rabbit.

"I rather something bigger but not too big to not tire the horse too much. Thankfully it's big enough to carry... At least a deer for example." Reden thinks to himself.

He looks at the rabbit for a while.

"But I will take the rabbit too I guess. There will be space." He thinks to himself again and takes the dagger out.

He is ready to throw the dagger at the rabbit once it turns around a bit more. One throw will be enough to pierce the rabbit through. He is ready to throw but then...

THOCK

Reden drops dagger and falls on ground.

"Ughhh." Reden groans.

He places his hand on his back and feels something long stuck to his back.

"Arrow..?" Reden pants and groans while thinking it.

Reden slowly picks himself up with a lot of pain but he manages to sit.

Panting

Groaning

Reden hides behind the tree to get out of the way he was shot from.

"Who the fuck..?" Reden takes the second dagger in his hand. He still pants from pain.

Reden's adrenaline elevated. He feels less pain but he is scared as hell. He waits behind the tree for the shooter's next move and listens to his surroundings.

Reden hears the danger approaching through the bushes. He has his dagger ready to throw or stab.

"Deer probably fled. You missed the head." This voice gets louder with each closer step.

"But it should lay here at least. I would've seen it running away." Another voice gets louder with each step.

When the voices are now close enough, Reden risks and rushes at the shooter at the back. He quickly wraps his arm around his neck and puts his dagger to his throat.

"UAH!" Yells the person that Reden caught.

The second person turns around and quickly aims a bow at Reden who is hiding behind second hunter.

"WHO ARE YOU? WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME? WHY DID YOU SHOT ME?" Reden screams showing the signs of pain.

The second person with the bow looks at Reden with surprise and fear in their eyes. They lower the bow slightly, trying to gauge the situation.

"Wait! We didn't mean to shoot you! It was an accident! We were hunting deer, not people!" The person says nervously, their hands shaking.

Reden tightens his grip on the person he's holding, keeping the dagger close to their throat.

"Accident? You shot me in the back! Who the hell hunts deer by randomly shooting arrows in the forest without proper aim?" Reden retorts, his voice filled with anger and pain.

The person Reden is holding starts to panic, realizing the gravity of the situation they're in. They stammer out an explanation, trying to justify their actions.

"We...we're new to hunting, and we heard there were deer in this forest. Your clothes have the same color as deer's fur so we thought you were one! We didn't think anyone else would be here and we got excited when we saw the "deer". I'm really sorry! Please don't hurt me!" The person pleads in panic, tears forming in their eyes.

The hunter with bow has his weapon aimed at Reden's leg but his shaking hands make it hard for him to keep the bow in place.

"Drop the bow or else!" Reden screams to the aiming person and tightening the grip.

Archer in panic drops the weapon and stands ready in case Reden tried something.

Reden loosens his grip and pushes the second person to the ground. Reden has the higher ground. He slowly takes few small steps to the right and picks the dagger he dropped when he was shot.

Reden still showing the sign of anger and aggression then back down while still looking at novice hunters. When he is now 30 feet away from them he turns around and jogs out of the forest.

He removes the arrow from his back while jogging. It's very painful but he succeeds. Right when he is next to his horse, he immediately mounts his horse and runs with it towards the Castledale.

"Fuckers... I need to go back to town! *heavy breathing* Someone wants me dead..? For what? What the hell did I do?" Reden keeps running on his horse to Castledale overthinking that someone wants him dead. In reality these hunters just did a mistake thinking that his jacket is a deer.

As Reden rides back to Castledale with adrenaline still pumping through his veins, he tries to process the events that just unfolded. He's more scared than angry. He doesn't remember the time where he was as close to death.

As he enters the town, Reden doesn't slow down mindlessly running on the road. He doesn't seem to care much about who stands on the way. He continues riding straight to the Lily's Boarding House, where he knows he can find a shelter.

When he arrived, fortunately without running over someone on the way, he quickly dismounts the horse and ties it securely to a nearby post. Reden enters the inn and immediately spots Lily at the counter, who looks up in surprise at his rushed entrance.

"Woah, what happened? You just rushed here so quickly!" Lily exclaims, concerned.

"I was in forest and I got shot by some fucking archer. They said they mistook me for a deer." Reden explains, trying to catch his breath.

Lily's eyes widen in shock and worry.

"That's terrible! Should I call for a healer?" she asks, moving to help him.

"No healer! I will stay here for some time. I need to clean my wound and dress it properly." Reden replies, wincing as he touches the wound.

Lily guides Reden to her room and helps him remove his jacket and shirt so she can clean and dress the wound. She does so with a gentle touch, expressing her concern for his well-being.

"I can't believe someone would be so reckless in their hunting. They could have killed you!" Lily says angrily as she tends to the wound.

"I hope I overreacted and it was actually a mistake. Whatever it is Im staying in room for a while. I wont leave until my food runs out." Reden replies.

Once the wound is cleaned and dressed, Reden sits on the bed, feeling a mix of emotions. He's relieved to be back in the safety of the inn but also frustrated with the hunters' careless actions.

"I need to be more cautious. It's not just the creatures in the forest that can be dangerous. I dont remember last time when human caused so much harm to me so far." Reden says, reflecting on the encounter.

"Lie down for a moment. Let the wound regenerate. I will do whatever you ask for until you get better." Lily says calmly.

"Yea. Thank you Lily. Can you please bring my son here?" Reden asks.

"Of course. I will be right back." Lily responds with smile and goes to Reden's room.

After few minutes Lily brings Gah-Hal and lays him near Reden. Bed is big enough for two adults so both of them will have enough space.

"I will let you sleep in my room for now. Once your adrenaline wears off you will feel pain again and you might be just a little dizzy from the blood loss. Im asking you to relax and recover." Lily says to Reden while leaning over him.

"Thank you Lily." Reden replies.

"If you need anything then yell or throw something loud. I will be right next to this room." Lily says to Reden as she leaves the room and closes the door with a little gap.

Reden look at Gah-Hal lying next to him. Infant is awake and looks at Reden.

"Im so glad at least you are safe. I literally almost gave my life away for you." Reden whispers with smile.

Reden places his hand on Gah-Hal's cheek for a while then takes it away. As Reden has nothing better to do than just lying down and recovering he closes his eyes and tries to think of calming things.

When he closed his eyes he started to feel relief. The pain on his back disappeared and he felt pleasure. He opened his eyes and sees the lights flying around in circles. This feels like a dream.

Suddenly Reden opens his eyes again... and he sees normally now. He feels... very good. He feels rested. He casually just sits on the bed and looks around. He sees Gah-Hal lying next to him looking straight at him.

Reden touches his back to the place where the wound is.

"Huh?" Reden thinks confused.

He pokes the place a bit harder and harder.

"It doesn't hurt?" Reden thinks confused again.

"Lily! Can you come here for a moment?" Reden yells.

Lily came into the room and looks at Reden.

"Do you need something?" Lily asks.

"How long was I asleep?" Reden asks Lily.

"Uh. I don't know. You were asleep? You were awake few minutes ago." Lily replies confused.

Reden opens his eyes wider clearly confused.

"Lie down again. You shouldn't move." Lily comes closer to Reden and puts her hand on back of his head.

When she helped him lie his head down on the bed she realized that the wound is gone.

"Huh? Your wound is already gone? What did you do?" Lily asks very confused.

"It really is? I thought I... I... I really wasn't in slumber?" Reden asks very confused again.

"I've never seen something like that before. Your regeneration is incredible. Aren't you a sorcerer by any case?" Lily asks still confused but a little intrigued.

Reden remembers the times he used his special abilities few times in past but it's not something that should help him regenerate that quickly. He doesn't know any healing spells nor he has any healing ability.

"I only know few spellsm but none of them is supposed to heal. I dont even think that Im blessed or cursed because I would feel it." Reden says confused and intrigued.

Lily looks at Reden with a mix of wonder and concern.

"It's truly remarkable." She says, still examining his back in disbelief.

Reden furrows his brow, trying to make sense of what just happened.

"I don't understand it either. It's like the wound never happened." He says, still feeling a bit disoriented.

"Wait. What if it has something to do with my running back before I reached Boullegarde?" Reden thinks to himself with thousands of thoughts flying through his mind.

Lily pulls herself together and sits down next to Reden on the bed.

"Well, regardless of how it happened, I'm just glad you're alright. But you should be careful, Reden. Whatever caused this rapid healing might not last forever, and you don't want to push yourself too hard." She advises, placing a caring hand on his shoulder.

"I know, Lily. I need to figure out what happened, though. This "thing" could be incredibly useful if I actually have this as my ability, but Im not too sure with it so I will count it as warning for me being too reckless." Reden responds, deep in thought.

Lily nods in agreement.

"Yes, you're right. It's best to understand such thing rather than relying on them blindly. Maybe it's time to seek some answers. There might be someone in Castledale who can shed some light on this. I sadly don't know anything about magic so I can't really help you with that." she suggests.

Reden considers her words.

"I guess. I'll talk to some people in town, see if anyone knows anything about this kind of healing ability. But for now, I think I should rest and take it easy." He says, feeling excited about the thought that it could be his hidden power.

"Oh right. I will leave you both alone now. Since you are fine you don't have to yell anymore right? You can just stand up and do things by yourself. But anyways I will be in reception if you need me." Lily stands from the bed and heads to the door.

Reden nods and Lily leaves the room closing the door behind her. He looks at Gah-Hal who looks into the ceiling now. He picks infant up and looks into his face.

"It's almost like you are my guardian angel." Reden says to his son and lays him on his arms.

Reden stands up from the bed and leaves Lily's room with Gah-Hal on his hands. He looks around for a while and heads to his room. He enters the room and lays his son in the crib. Reden turns around and takes his bag while leaving the room and closing it after.

He goes to Lily's counter.

"I've calmed down a little. I have to go do something. Take care of baby for me." Reden asks Lily as he goes to the exit.

Lily nods.

"Just be careful please." Lily says.

"I will now." Reden replies and exits the inn.

Reden decided to look for the answer about the mysterious things that have been happening to him recently. He will look everywhere in the town and in it's surroundings to find at least hint. It doesn't have to be the lecture about it. He just wants to find the source and reason of it. This way his adventure continues.