Chapter 3

Dawn came after an uneventful night. I packed my things, saddled Nepril, and headed towards the village. I reached the edge of the forest just as the sun's first true rays kissed the peak of the mountain behind me. "Good," I thought "I'm on schedule to be home late this afternoon." As I crossed into the field at the edge of the forest I pulled the hood of my cloak up, the fewer people who saw my face the better. After all, I didn't want anyone to potentially recognize me. If they did they would probably know I was a scholar because when I ran the Tribe Leader here posted flyers with my face all over his territory, and being recognized as a scholar is how bad things happen.

I crossed through the untilled field to the dirt road that leads to the village, which is now just a short ride away. I looked around as I arrived at the small village named Butreth. Butreth is small enough it has no walls or fortifications and has a very small force of guards. It's barely big enough to have a Scholar's Outpost, and those are in even some of the most remotely located villages. The larger villages would have larger marketplaces and access to more of a variety of supplies at their Scholar's Outposts, but anonymity would be harder to maintain. A lot of people think that a larger city would help maintain anonymity, however, there are more guards and more prying eyes to identify and capture a free scholar. This ignorance is why so many scholars are so easily captured, that and they don't know how to survive in the wild, at least that's the way I look at it. The training my father provided me is honestly the only reason I'm still free.

Seeing as how the Scholar's Outpost is the place I'm most worried about being discovered at, for obvious reasons, I always stop there on my way out of town. I headed to the marketplace and gathered my supplies. Thankfully the marketplace has everything that I need, with the exception of new research materials. I left the marketplace, having purchased all of my needed supplies, and headed to the Scholar's Outpost. The outpost is a sad representation of the Scholar's Brotherhood. It's a small two-story building that's in need of some, well, lets call it upkeep. I walked into the Outpost and went up to talk to the man behind the counter.

"What can I help you with today?" the man asked.

"I'm here to collect my salary."

"I'm going to need to see your sigil."

I presented my Novice Historian Scholar's Brotherhood sigil to the man.

"Ok, looks like that's in order, what's the name so I can check you off my list?"

"Acelith."

The man looked at his list, found my name, and started counting coins.

"Looks like you have two months of salary to collect, sound about right?"

I nodded in confirmation.

The man handed me my salary and I pulled out a stack of papers and handed them to him.

"I also need to send these in. These are my most recent notations on the 300 Year War."

"I'll get these sent out with the morning rider" the man replied. "It also says here that you have a letter waiting for you from the Elder Council of Scholars. Give me a minute to find it would you?"

I was mildly surprised, I've never received a letter from the Elder Council before. The man returned a couple of minutes later and handed me a letter sealed with a wax stamp. I looked at the stamp, it was from the Elder Council alright. It had ECS in big letters through the middle with a quill and inkpot above and a scroll below. I opened the letter to read it and was surprised again.

"Brother Acelith,

It is with great jubilation and respect that we have sent this letter to you. This letter is to inform you that due to your time in the Brotherhood, your study of the 300 Year War, and other major conflicts since The Breakdown that you have been promoted to the rank of Adept. Please find enclosed your new Adept Historian Scholar's Brotherhood sigil. Keep up the good work.

With faith and understanding,

The Elder Council of Scholars"

I notified the man behind the counter of my promotion and showed him my new sigil to confirm so he could update his list. A promotion comes with a higher salary and access to more secure research sources. I spent some time looking through the new sources available to me before I knew it two hours had passed. I paid for a couple of new research books on the 300 Year War, pulled my hood back over my head, and walked back out to Nepril. I loaded my bag back onto Nepril's back, climbed into the saddle, and headed out of town. I frowned at the sun cursing my self for allowing so much time to have passed in the Scholar's Outpost. There are more people milling about the street than I liked and now I won't be home until mid-evening. I paused at the edge of town, trying to look around without being obvious about it. It feels like someone's watching me but I didn't see anyone.

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid," I thought.

I headed down the road, crossed the field, and entered the forest to begin my journey home. I got to the stream Nepril and I took a break at yesterday and decided to stop for some lunch. It's mid-afternoon and I'm behind schedule, but the promotion was unexpected, and looking at the newly accessible research materials ate up some extra time. As Nepril grazed I ate an apple and half a loaf of bread. Before climbing back into the saddle I fed her a carrot and then we continued on our way. As we were leaving the stream I paused and listened. I thought I heard something in the woods, something subtle but out of place, like the cracking of a twig. More concerning was that the bird-song and animal chatter had stopped.

"Must just be a predator nearby," I thought "I'll have to keep an eye out and be careful but whatever it is probably isn't interested in me."

I started forward on Nepril and that's when an arrow came whistling through the trees, plunging into the meat of her shoulder.