9 A Vow

Russel continued to rifle through Henry Gordon's pockets, frustrated at his lack of findings.

"Does this guy even have it!" Russel grimaced as he started to part down the man's trousers.

"Hopefully, or else we just killed a guy we didn't need to." Oliver mused.

The two looked at each other and sighed. They had been looking for the ring all day, and not finding it was not only time consuming, but was also gaining quite the body count. Russel continued to pat the man down, until he eventually felt a hard spot around the man's pocket. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden box.

"Found it?" Oliver asked.

"Maybe…" Russel said.

He opened the box carefully to find three rings inside, they all resembled each other. They all had silver bands with diamonds on top. Russel inspected each and finally found which one was Kathleen's.

"Found it!" Russel cheered.

Oliver looked over his shoulder and saw the two rings in the lockbox and the one in his hand.

"How do you know?" Oliver asked.

"This has the smallest diamond…" Russel sighed.

"Oh… Well what now?" Oliver asked.

"We still have to loot these guys if I'm going to pay back Andre… These rings should be close to enough at market value, but they can't give us what they sell it for or else they'd go broke." Russel laughed.

He placed Kathleen's ring in a pouch on his belt and walked over to the other bodies, bending down and taking from the people's pockets.After a while he and Oliver had finished and came together to combine what they found.

"Ok, so in total we have about six hundred marks and a collection of small jewelry items. We would be able to sell a few of the items, sell too many and people will wonder where we got them from. We can probably get rid of the rest down the road at a fence or something." Russel mused.

"How much did we need again?" Oliver asked.

"Seven hundred. So we have enough." Russel smiled.

"Good. I guess it's time to take you back to the other then." Oliver stated, standing up.

"The others?" Russel asked naively.

"Yes, the other people you saw upon waking up. We have a favor to ask of you." Oliver informed him.

'Knew it.' Russel thought.

Russel stood up and followed Oliver through the camp until they arrived at a large tent, a few away from the one he woke up in. They walked into the tent and found the same group who Russel woke up to around it.

"We're back." Oliver greeted them.

"Welcome back." The brunette woman spoke.

"We are just finalizing plans for the migration." The merchant clothes man spoke.

"Good. We have our guard now as well." Oliver smiled looking over to Russel.

'A guard… And a migration… So that's what they want. It depends where they need to go, I need to get to that ruined city from my vision.' Russel thought as he took one of the empty seats at the table.

"So, Russel is it?" The brunette asked.

"Yes. My name is Russel." Russel confirmed.

"Do you not have the honor of a family name?" The elf said slyly.

"No. I'm an orphan." Russel told him.

"Well then Russel, we plan on taking all the Eastcliff survivors to the city of Southbeach, which unsurprisingly lays south of here." The brunette explained. "We need to go through a large forest with many confusing paths and is full of monsters. While these monsters aren't the most dangerous normally, there have been strange things going on recently. We have sent various scouting groups into the area over the past few days… But each time only one has come back, and been vastly wounded with horror tales to tell."

"Tales of horror… I understand why you would want another guard, but why me?" Russel asked.

"Well you are the vigilante that protected the slum according to Oliver, and after the reports of your combat ability today we are more sure than ever." The blonde spoke.

"Was someone following us?" Russel inquired.

"Yes. I, Navvare, was responsible for tracking you, and you didn't even detect me thanks to my cloaking spell." The elf bragged.

"Ah so you're a double taboo in this country. Elven and a mage. You must be dodging the scaffold every two steps." Russel chuckled.

The elf gritted his teeth and got closer to Russel before the brunette intervened.

"Enough you two. We don't need internal fighting." The brunette growled.

The elf calmed down and returned to his seat at the brunette's words.

'I guess she is the one in charge here.' Russel thought.

"Now then, will you help us?" The brunette asked.

"I'm not against it, but I do need some clarification on some things. First what exactly are these horror stories?" Russel asked.

The group looked at each other before the blonde woman nodded, the brunette sighed and began her explanation.

"The few who survived have said that as soon as one of them got injured in the forest, each night the forest would start to look different and everything would change into a different type of hellscape. Each night they would be faced with different horrors, and because of how unpredictable they were, the people had not idea what they would be fighting and were quickly killed." The brunette explained.

"So do you think that they are different monsters, or could there be some sort of illusion…" Russel pondered.

"We don't know. But whatever it is, it killed our people quickly. So we need extra guards." The woman explained.

"What makes you so sure it happens after the first injury? And why not take another route?" Russel asked.

"According to those who survived, each series of events started on a different day, the only thing each had in common is that there was an injury during the day. And after many years using the trade route that leads through the forest, it is the quickest way by over a month." The merchant clothed man explained.

"The trip should take three weeks, and we only have enough resources for the people here for about a month. We don't intend on losing anyone, so a different path is out of the question." The brunette sighed.

'So they have no choice but to go head first into the forest… And they are going to Southbeach, I don't know where that is in relevance to this ruined city of Dublios place…' Russel thought. 'As much as I hate to acknowledge it, I may have to put off my goals for a while and help them. Besides that, the elf seems to know quite a bit about magic, so he may know the location of that place…'

"I'll help you. But I do need to find out some things." Russel informed them.

"Of course. What information do you need?" The blonde asked.

"Just one thing. Do any of you know the location of the ruined city of Dublios?" Russel asked.

The group all looked at him in confusion, including the elf.

'Damn… It seems he knows nothing.' Russel sighed.

"Well we may not be able to answer your question, but still welcome to the team." The brunette spoke. "I'll let everyone introduce themselves. I'm Rachel."

"I'm Elizabeth, it's nice to meet you!" The blonde said cheerily.

"Navvare. Don't forget it." The elf scowled.

"My name is Frederick. I'm a merchant by trade." The merchant-clothed man smiled.

"When do we leave?" Russel asked.

"The plan is to inform everyone tomorrow and be ready to go the day after." Rachel told him.

"Ok then. Sounds good." Russel said.

"Oliver I believe we agreed that he would be staying in your tent." Rachel stated.

"Yes. He already has his own area set out for him." Oliver said.

"Goodnight then." Rachel dismissed them.

"One more question before we leave. How many people are left?" Russel asked.

"Fourhundred and fifty seven. That's all that's left of the roughly six thousand people who lived in Eastcliff. And ninety four of the survivors aren't expected to make it." Rachel informed him.

Russel stood up and let Oliver lead him through the night to yet another tent.

'My selfishness cost over five and a half thousand people their lives…" Russle thought.

He clenched his fist tightly, digging his hands hard enough into his skin to draw blood.

'I won't let anyone here die. Not even one more person.' Russel vowed.

"Here we are." Oliver said as they arrived outside a small tent.

They went inside to see that there were two beds with a chest at the foot of each.

"Your bed is the one on the right. There is a change of clothes in the chest, along with space for whatever you need to store." Oliver told him.

Russel opened his chest and grabbed the blue cloth shirt and pants before putting all of his stuff into the chest and changing. He hopped into the bed, which was much cozier then he was expecting.

"It's nice right?" Oliver asked.

"Yes. Thank you." Russel said sincerely.

"Something has been bothering me… When you said that all the people died because of you saving someone… What do you mean by that?" Oliver asked.

"That's something I really don't want to speak of. Maybe I'll tell you someday… But not now." Russel told him.

"That's fine. Goodnight then." Oliver said.

Russel laid silently in the dark thinking about what had happened over the past few weeks

'I never expected my life to change this much, this fast… Kathleen, if you're out there, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry that your father brought me into your life, which ended up getting him and so many others killed, all because of me. Truth is, I don't know if you are even alive anymore, all I can do is believe. Which is what I'm going to do. I promise you, I will protect these people with my life, and come and find you as soon as I can.' Russel thought.

He raised his hand into the air and clenched his fist.

'I have no choice but to help these people. I was the one who caused them all this pain, and I will be the one to guide them to a better life.' Russel vowed.