The Journey Home

Jien remained asleep during the remainder of the process of gathering the stolen goods. The guards had used the blankets from the cave to wrap their fallen companions and then secured them to their horses with rope to ease the travel. The trip back was going to be longer than the trip there, mainly because the bandits would be forced to walk beside the horses. Even more than that the bandits themselves had been weakened by the spell cast to subdue them and they were not being given time to rest and restore their strength.

The bandits had had a cart sitting with the stolen goods, likely used in transporting them in the first place. The guards had not hesitated to take the cart and use it to transport the goods back to Afrem. Once they were all back home, they would contact the nobles that had been robbed and provide back what they were able to recover, though it would likely be a long process to ensure that the items were identified properly and given back to their appropriate owners.

It was only once the team of guards had made it back to the main path of the Forest of Songs that Jien stirred from his sleep. He was currently being held in place while riding along with his father on his horse. The trip through the forest to the main path had been slow and exhausting, but they had made it back without any further troubles. Before they had taken off from the bandit's camp, they had been sure to wake up the living bandits and make sure that they were at least strong enough to travel.

When Jien first woke up from his slumber, it was with such a start that he nearly fell off his father's horse. Lord Losler held him firmly, ensuring that his sudden movement didn't dismount him. After a moment Jien realized that he was moving and then that he was on horseback being held in place by someone. He peered back to see his father's face. Though Lord Losler was smiling lightly to reassure Jien, his son could see that it didn't reach his eyes. He knew that something must have happened during the battle after he had passed out.

After a few minutes getting his bearings back he turned back to Earl. "What happened?" he asked, wanting to get the full picture of why everyone's mood was mixed. He could tell that there was still some tension in the group despite already being on the main trail of the forest and heading home. He could see some happiness, probably to a mission well done, but could also see some anger, sorrow and a mix of other emotions telling him that there was more to the story.

Earl looked Jien in the eyes before focusing back on the path in front of them. He gave a light sigh before starting to explain what had happened after Jien had fallen unconscious. The first part of the topic was as Jien would have predicted. He had been hurt and had passed out. After that his father and the guards had decided to increase the effort to try and subdue or kill their opponents as fast as possible so that they could attend to Jien and finish out the mission.

When the topic moved to what had occurred several minutes after with the vines that entangled the bandits his father was just as confused as the guards. They had discussed the topic as they were preparing to set off but none of the guards or Lord Losler knew the spell that was used. They also were fairly confident that the bandits did not have a defector so the whole topic left them more than a little baffled. Earl suggested that perhaps they had disrupted a magical plant, or plant that had evolved through the absorption of Aether. Though plants and animals couldn't use magic like humans because they lacked the ability to use mana, there were some that evolved through absorption of the ambient energy in the world becoming magic beasts or magic plants.

These evolved beasts and plants weren't necessarily rare, but they also weren't common. Lord Losler suggested that the battle may have disturbed a hibernating magic plant, but that didn't explain the reason that the plant only attacked the bandits.

Though this confused Lord Losler and the guards, something seemed to click for Jien after hearing what happened and how the plants seemed to act. It was difficult to describe, but he felt an understanding of those happenings though he wasn't awake to see it. He didn't remember anything about the time that he was unconscious but as he heard more details of the plant, he felt a slight familiarity with the description that he couldn't pinpoint.

After the topic of the plant was covered Earl described how they had handled the situation. He made sure that his description was thorough and covered any details he could think of that could help Jien better understand the reasoning behind each of their decisions. Though Jien had been asleep during the bulk of the mission after the fight, this was still intended to be a lesson in leading troops, and he wanted Jien to understand the reasoning in the choices made.

Ultimately it took them twice as long as it had on the way into the forest to reach the outer edge. As soon as they exited the last line of trees the melodic whispers seemed to cut off abruptly. Jien had gotten so used to it during the short mission that the silence was almost deafening. Still, it didn't take much for him to get used to the silence as well and after a few minutes he even felt a sense of relief in no longer hearing the strange sounds. After they were all a bit down the path from the forest, they decided to take a rest. The horses grazed and the guards ate while watching over their prisoners to ensure they didn't try anything fishy.

After the break they began the travel back to Afrem. The ride, much like the trip out of the forest took twice as long as the trip to their destination had taken. The bandits were still sluggish, though they were freed from the plants and the horses had to pull the cart full of stolen goods. Not only that, but there were also less members of the guards available to watch the prisoners and guard the goods as they moved.

Still, they didn't run into any issues, the travel itself being quiet and peaceful. Jien continued to ride with his father even after the break due to his horse being used to haul the cart, not that he minded much. He simply observed his surroundings silently as they continued to travel, making polite conversation with the remaining guards when addressed.

Soon they made it back to Afrem City and the guards took both the goods and the prisoners back to the prison in the city. There the bandits would await their judgement and the stolen goods would await to be returned to their owners. There of course would be paperwork and meetings that Lord Losler would need to attend to regarding the mission but that was for a later time. For now the Lord and his son were headed back home to rest after a successful mission.