Chương 87: Chapter 67: Max - Calm Again

The lights of Brindleford appeared on the horizon long after the sun had vanished. The road had grown quiet by the time the party reached the last ridge before the city. The countryside behind them lay dark and silent, the farms and fields reduced to faint shapes beneath the darkening night. Ahead, lanterns burned along the outer streets of Brindleford like a scattered necklace of gold.

The gates were still open, with caravans moving through them even at this hour while watchmen atop the walls kept the road lit with hanging lamps to guide late travelers home. Max felt the tension in his shoulders loosen slightly as they descended the final slope toward the city. They had been on the road long enough. Behind him, Alex let out a slow breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"That's… bigger than I expected," he said quietly, taking in the spread of lights.

"It gets bigger when you're inside it," Elias replied.

"Stay close," Max added without looking back.

"It's easy to get lost in here if you don't know where you're going." He coughed awkwardly into his fist before adding, "Learned that the hard way." Cass grinned and elbowed him in the ribs. Alex nodded quickly and fell into step just behind him as they approached the gate. The gate guards recognized them immediately. One of them straightened from his post as the party approached, his expression brightening with curiosity.

"You're the lot that went west, aren't you?" he said. Max nodded.

"Yeah. Coming back from Stonebridge and Greenglade." The guard's eyebrows rose.

"You'll want to get inside then. Half the city's already talking about it." Max slowed slightly.

"Talking about what?" The guard leaned casually on his spear.

"Depends who you ask," he said with a faint grin.

"Some folks say the dead walked in Stonebridge. Others say a necromancer raised an army out there." Elias sighed softly behind Max.

"That escalated quickly." Alex blinked.

"An army?"

"Stories grow," Cass said dryly. The guard shrugged.

"You know how they go. Someone hears something from a wagon driver, then the next man adds a bit of spice. Soon enough there's more spice than story." Max groaned, eliciting a laugh from the guard, then nodded once.

"We'll report to the Guild."

"Good," the guard said.

"They've been waiting for word. Honest word, preferably." He grinned and gave them a shallow mock bow.

"Welcome home, heroes. I hear you've defeated an army of necromancers." Cass flipped him off as the party passed through the gate and into the city. The guards' laughter followed them in. Brindleford at night felt very different from the quiet farmland they had left behind. Lanterns hung from iron hooks along the streets, and the smell of cooking food drifted out of taverns that were still busy with late patrons. A few people glanced up as the party passed.

Their armor still carried the dust of the road and the stains of battle. Alex kept his eyes moving as they walked, taking in everything at once, the crowds, the lights, the noise, clearly trying not to look as out of place as he felt.

"Stick with us," Max said quietly as they turned down a broader street.

"At least until we're done at the Guild."

"I wasn't planning on wandering off," Alex replied, though there was a hint of relief in his voice. When they reached the Adventurer's Guild Hall, the common room inside was still lively despite the late hour. A handful of adventurers sat at scattered tables while Mara worked quietly behind the long front counter, tallying something in a ledger. She looked up when the door opened, her eyes moving across the six of them once, then flicking to Alex standing just behind Max and Borin.

Her eyebrows rose slightly in silent question, but she said nothing. Then she closed the ledger.

"Well," she said quietly as they approached the counter.

"That look usually means the job didn't go the way it was supposed to."

"You could say that, yeah. We need to report to the Guildmaster." Mara studied them for another moment.

"You just got back?"

"Yes." She glanced toward the stairwell behind the counter.

"Most parties would wait until morning." Max shook his head.

"This shouldn't wait." Something in his voice made the decision for her. Mara nodded once and stepped out from behind the counter.

"Wait for a moment. I'll go see if he's still here." She disappeared up the narrow staircase that led to the offices above the Hall. The room fell quiet around them. Several adventurers had watched the exchange with open curiosity, but no one approached. Alex shifted slightly, lowering his voice.

"Should I… just wait down here?" Max shook his head.

"No. You were there. You come with us." Alex straightened a little at that.

"Okay." A minute later Mara returned.

"He's still here," she said.

"You managed to catch him just before he left for the night. Come on. He's waiting." The party followed her upstairs. Guildmaster Halbrecht's office was lit by a single oil lamp when they entered. The man stood beside the wide desk near the window, his coat thrown over his shoulders as if he had been about to leave. Halbrecht's eyes moved over the party the same way Mara's had.

His eyes lingered on Alex for a moment before continuing on, taking in the dirt, the wear in their armor, and the weight in their expressions.

"Report." Max described their arrival at Stonebridge, the disturbed graves behind the chapel hill, and the discovery that bodies had been taken from the cemetery.

He summarized the two separate attacks that followed, first the smaller incident when several Animated Skeletons rose from the graveyard and were mostly handled by the town guard, then the larger assault the following night, when a larger group of Skeletons and Risen Corpses, alongside a Stitched Abomination made from the missing dead, attacked the village. Halbrecht's face remained still as he listened, though his jaw clenched slightly when Max described the constructed undead.

"And the village?" Halbrecht asked.

"Secure now," Max said.

"We accounted for all the missing bodies. The cemetery was consecrated." Halbrecht looked toward Borin.

"You performed the rite yourself?"

"Only a lesser consecration. Enough to keep the ground quiet for now. They've sent word to the Temple here for a full blessing." Halbrecht nodded once. Max moved on to Greenglade. He explained that the original report about the bodies missing from the battlefield had been accurate, but that the situation had worsened before they arrived.

Two more bodies had been taken from inside Greenglade itself, and when the party investigated the skirmish site west of town, they found signs that whoever had taken the dead there had moved with care, tools, planning, and a clear route away from the field.

"We worked with a Captain Rulon while we were there. With bodies taken from both places, we followed the trail from the battlefield," Max said.

"It led us into a hollow not far off, where we were ambushed." Halbrecht's attention settled more fully on him.

"By?"

"Goblins," Elias said.

"But not like the ones most people mean when they say goblins. There were two hobgoblins with them, and the group was far more coordinated than a normal raiding band. It was strange behavior, reminiscent of the incident at Crestwood Farm." He glanced at Alina, but she said nothing. Cass leaned forward slightly.

"They used the terrain, pressed where we were weakest, and didn't throw themselves away for nothing. It wasn't chaos. It felt directed." Borin gave a low grunt of agreement.

"The hobgoblins were the difference." Max nodded.

"We broke them and returned to Greenglade. By then, between Stonebridge and Greenglade, we were nearly certain the same group was behind both incidents." Halbrecht leaned back slightly.

"What happened next?"

"The next day, eight undead showed up outside the walls," Max said.

"Same number as the bodies that had gone missing around Greenglade. They didn't attack the town directly, though. It looked more like some kind of test. Maybe a demonstration. They were controlled, armored, and stronger than the ones in Stonebridge." He glanced briefly toward Alex.

"We engaged them alongside Captain Rulon and two guards. A man named Thomas, and him." Halbrecht's eyes shifted to Alex.

"You were present?" Alex straightened.

"Yes, sir."

"What did you see?"

"They moved together, sir. Headwoman Brenna sent half the guard out at first, but they pulled back before we could close on them. When we went back behind the walls, they came forward again. Like whoever was controlling them wanted us to fight on their terms." He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

"I wasn't at Stonebridge, so I can't compare them myself. But from what they've said, these were different. They adjusted to what we did. They weren't just set loose." Halbrecht held his eyes for a moment, then nodded once.

"There was something else," Max said.

"One of them Identified as an Undead Captain. Level fourteen, and it had Mana." Halbrecht's brow drew down.

"It used it?"

"Definitely," Elias said, stepping forward.

"The first time, it said something that sounded like 'Death March,' then fired a beam of violet light toward three of the other undead. It struck all three, and they became much faster almost immediately. Enough that they crossed the field before we could reposition properly." Alina shifted slightly beside him but said nothing.

"The second time, it said 'Death Surge,'" Max continued.

"That one affected the Captain itself. Violet light started moving beneath its skin, and it got faster and stronger. Enough to put Captain Rulon out of position and cut deep into his shoulder before we brought it down." Halbrecht looked between them.

"It spoke both phrases before the effects?"

"Yes," Elias said.

"Poorly, but clearly enough. Whether those were actually the names of the Spells or something else, I can't say. But the Captain seemed to choose when to use them." Halbrecht was silent for a moment.

"And that didn't happen in Stonebridge?"

"No," Max said.

"The Stitched Abomination had Mana too," Elias added.

"And it used some kind of enhanced charge and leap during the fight. But we never heard it speak, and nothing it did was as deliberate as this. The Captain chose when to use its magic and who to use it on." Halbrecht's fingers tapped once against the edge of the desk.

"Anything else?" Max nodded.

"After the fight, we checked the bodies. That's where the connection to Stonebridge got harder to ignore." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Elias reached into his satchel and placed a small pouch on the desk. He opened it and drew out one of the bone charms.

"We found one of these on every body," he said.

"Same kind we found at the skirmish site where the bodies were taken, and in the cemetery at Stonebridge." Halbrecht leaned slightly forward. The spiral carving caught the lamplight.

"Same material. Same markings. Same construction," Elias continued.

"Along with the same oil and preparation signs in both locations. Different sites, same methods." He set the charm down on Halbrecht's desk.

"At first, we thought that meant the same group was moving between Stonebridge and Greenglade. But the timing doesn't work." Max nodded.

"Someone was already taking bodies around Greenglade while we were still dealing with the undead in Stonebridge. Too much distance, too much work, and not enough time for one group to keep doing both and stay ahead of us." Cass leaned back slightly.

"So more than one group, using the same methods." Halbrecht didn't answer immediately. He turned the charm slightly where it rested on the desk, studying the spiral in the lamplight.

"I've had reports over the last few weeks," he said at last.

"Nothing solid enough to act on by itself. Missing wagons on outlying roads. Graves disturbed in smaller settlements that never escalated. Isolated enough that they looked unrelated." His attention drifted toward the charm.

"And scattered notes about goblin activity that didn't quite fit," he added.

"Small bands showing more coordination than they should. Strikes that were cleaner than usual. Then gone before anyone could pin them down." Elias's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Like what we saw in the hollow." Max gave a small nod.

"And Crestwood," he added.

"Different situation, but still off." Halbrecht tapped the charm lightly against the desk.

"Do you think the goblins are connected to this?" The question hung for a moment. Max shook his head.

"No proof." Elias folded his arms.

"None," he agreed.

"Two unusual incidents aren't enough to prove a connection." Cass tilted her head slightly.

"The hollow could've been a coincidence. We followed tracks into their territory and got hit for it. Happens." Borin gave a low grunt.

"And whoever we were tracking didn't." Max exhaled slowly.

"Yeah. Could be they got lucky. Could be something else." Halbrecht watched them for a moment longer, then nodded once.

"Then we treat it as unconfirmed." He set the charm back down on the desk, his fingers resting on it for a moment as he thought.

"Goblins acting outside their norm. Graves disturbed. Wagons disappearing," he said quietly.

"On their own, none of that is enough to act on." His fingers tapped lightly against the bone charm.

"But this is." He looked back up at them.

"What you've brought me is the first time any of this connects cleanly." A brief silence followed. Elias glanced down at the charm, then back to Halbrecht.

"You think those incidents you mentioned were connected?"

"I think," Halbrecht said carefully, "that someone has been working in this region for longer than we realized. Quietly. Testing methods. Gathering what they need." His eyes moved across the group.

"Stonebridge may have just been the first time we noticed it. Greenglade tells me it wasn't isolated." Borin gave a low grunt.

"And we managed to walk right into the middle of it."

"Yes." Max exhaled slowly.

"And whoever was behind it is still out there somewhere." Halbrecht gave a single, firm nod.

"And working." He fell quiet for a few seconds, looking from the charm to the five adventurers standing before his desk.

"When I sent you to Stonebridge, I expected disturbed graves and missing bodies. Maybe a few undead if things had already gotten worse." His mouth flattened slightly.

"What you found was well beyond that." Max gave a faint, humorless smile.

"Yeah. We figured that out pretty quickly." Halbrecht leaned back.

"If we'd known what this actually was, I wouldn't have sent your party." Max frowned.

"Because of our rank?"

"Yes." Halbrecht didn't soften the answer.

"Stonebridge was already beyond what I'd normally assign to Coppers by the time that Abomination appeared. After Greenglade, there's no question." He glanced toward the charm on his desk.

"With what I know now, I'd have sent a Bronze party. Possibly Iron." Max was quiet for a moment. Halbrecht looked back at him.

"You also could've come home after Stonebridge."

"We still had Greenglade."

"I know." Halbrecht's expression eased slightly.

"That's why I'm giving you credit for it. The job had already become something you weren't sent out to handle. You could've brought what you knew back to the Guild and let someone else take it from there, and nobody would've called that failure." His eyes moved across the rest of the party.

"But you didn't. You kept going, secured Greenglade, and brought back enough evidence for us to better understand what we're actually dealing with." Borin gave a low grunt.

"Would've preferred understanding it before the dead started casting magic."

"So would I." A faint smile passed around the room before Halbrecht's attention returned to the party.

"And to be clear, saying I should've sent a higher-ranked party wasn't criticism of how you handled yourselves. Quite the opposite." He glanced toward the charm on his desk.

"It's part of why I want you kept on this." Max frowned slightly.

"Us?"

"You've seen more of this firsthand than anyone else I could send after it now. You saw Stonebridge before we knew there was a pattern, then Greenglade once that pattern started becoming clear." Halbrecht tapped one finger lightly beside the charm.

"Another party can read your report. They won't have been there for either." He looked across the five of them.

"So I'd like your party to remain connected to the investigation." Max glanced toward the others.

"I'm not asking you to abandon ordinary Guild work and spend your days chasing rumors through the countryside," Halbrecht continued.

"But when another thread appears, and I expect one will, I want you available to follow it. Experience matters here, and you've already paid for yours." Elias gave a small nod. Cass did the same. Borin folded his arms without objection, and Alina remained quiet beside him. Max looked back to Halbrecht.

"We'll do it."

"Good." Elias's attention returned to the pouch containing the charms.

"In that case, I'd like to keep a few of those, if the Guild permits it." Halbrecht looked toward him.

"For study?"

"Yes." Elias picked one up carefully and turned it between his fingers.

"We know they're being used consistently, but we still don't know exactly what they do. They may be nothing more than markers, but if they're part of the control method, there could be something in the construction or enchantment worth finding."

"You think you can determine that?"

"Possibly." Elias set it down again.

"I'd rather have the chance to try." Halbrecht considered the request, then nodded toward the pouch.

"You may keep three. The rest stay with the Guild. If our own examinations turns up anything useful, you'll receive a copy of the findings." Elias inclined his head.

"Thank you." Halbrecht returned his attention to Max.

"Anything else of note?"

"There was a bit more. On the road back, we responded to a goblin raid on a farm." He paused.

"As far as we can tell, it was unrelated to the undead incidents. These were more the usual kind of goblins. Chaotic, destructive, unorganized." Alex nodded.

"They were just tearing the place apart. No structure at all." Cass gave a faint nod.

"The kind people expect when they hear 'goblins'."

"About ten of them," Max continued.

"Burning buildings, killing livestock, scattering supplies. No clear objective beyond destruction. We cleared them quickly." He paused before continuing.

"What was interesting about this incident was what happened afterward. One of the farmhands said goblin raids have been getting worse over the last couple months. Bigger groups. Bolder attacks." Halbrecht nodded.

"He also mentioned wagons disappearing along the north road," Max continued.

"Leaving the road and never turning up again. We found tracks that matched what he described."

"Wagon ruts," Cass said.

"Clean turn off the road. No signs of struggle, hardly any broken brush, and nothing suggesting the wagon was forced off. Deliberate movement."

"Possibly voluntary," Elias added. Max nodded.

"We couldn't follow the trail far enough to learn anything useful, and we don't have any evidence to connect it to the undead." Halbrecht looked down at the charm again.

"Missing wagons."

"You've heard about them?" Max asked.

"A few reports. Nothing consistent enough to make much of on its own." Halbrecht reached toward a loose sheet near the edge of his desk.

"I'll have everything we have on the north road pulled together and compared against what you found." Max nodded.

"That's everything." Halbrecht sat with that for a moment before his attention shifted to Alex, as if noticing his presence for the first time.

"You." Alex straightened almost reflexively.

"Sir?"

"You aren't part of this party."

"No, sir."

"Then why are you here?" Alex scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"I was a guard in Greenglade, sir. I fought with them outside the walls." He hesitated, then pushed through.

"Seeing what they did, what adventurers actually do… it made me want to come here. Register and find work. Become one myself." Halbrecht studied him.

"Are you joining their party?"

"No, sir. I'll register downstairs and find my own way."

"Class?"

"Skirmisher, sir. Changed from Guardsman after the fight." Halbrecht regarded him for another moment.

"And you decided nearly getting killed was an encouraging first experience?" Alex opened his mouth. Cass made a quiet sound suspiciously close to a laugh. Alex reconsidered whatever he had been about to say.

"Not exactly, sir."

"Good." A pause followed.

"Ambitious too." Alex held his ground.

"Yes, sir."

"Then register properly and learn before your ambition gets ahead of your ability."

"Yes, sir." Halbrecht had just turned back toward the others when Alina spoke.

"Guildmaster, what about Brookhollow?" Her voice was steady, but Max could hear the effort behind it. Halbrecht looked toward her. Alina stood straighter, hands folded too tightly before her.

"The goblins that burned Crestwood Farm. The ones that killed my father. Has there been any word? Any patrols sent? Any sign of where they went?" Halbrecht didn't answer immediately, and the hesitation said enough before he ever opened his mouth.

"We sent riders east after your report," he said.

"They've kept watch on the roads and nearby farms. A few small goblin bands have been spotted in the hedgerows and scrub, but nothing that confirms a den, and nothing we can tie directly to the group that attacked Crestwood." Alina's shoulders went rigid.

"So they're still out there."

"Yes," Halbrecht said.

"At least some of them." Borin shifted slightly beside her but didn't interrupt.

"I'll be honest with you. A raiding band like that can scatter quickly after a strike," Halbrecht continued.

"If they don't maintain a fixed position nearby, finding the exact survivors becomes difficult. I'm sorry I could not give you better news." Alina held his eyes for a long moment. Then she gave a single, controlled nod.

"I understand." Halbrecht let the silence remain for a few seconds before turning back to the rest of them.

"There's one other matter." His tone changed.

"What you found in Stonebridge and Greenglade stays controlled for now. You can discuss it with Guild officials and anyone specifically assigned to it. Beyond that, be careful." Cass leaned back slightly.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you won't start telling people there's a necromancer operating around Brindleford." Elias nodded.

"Because we don't know that there is."

"Exactly. We know someone is raising and altering bodies. We know they're operating in more than one place. We know they're testing and improving their methods. We don't know who they are, how many there are, what they ultimately want, or whether 'necromancer' is even the correct word."

"The gate guards are already using it," Max said. Cass snorted.

"One of them had promoted it to an army of necromancers before we even got inside." Halbrecht closed his eyes briefly and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

"Of course they had." A tired laugh moved through the room. He opened them again.

"That is precisely what I want to avoid. Rumor will outrun anything we can prove if we feed it. If Brindleford decides an army of necromancers is marching toward the walls, I'll spend more time controlling panic than finding whoever is actually responsible."

"We'll keep it to ourselves," Max said.

"Good." Halbrecht moved behind his desk and finally lowered himself into the chair.

"As for the assignment itself, I'm closing it." He opened one of the ledgers stacked before him.

"Stonebridge is secured. Greenglade has been warned, its defenses held, and Headwoman Brenna has already begun changing how the settlement handles its dead. Everything beyond that becomes part of the larger investigation." He pulled a narrow sheet of parchment from beneath the ledger and began writing.

"You'll be paid for both operations and reimbursed for provable expenses tied to field action, resupply, repairs, and emergency consumables." Mara, Max thought, was going to enjoy all that paperwork. Halbrecht sanded the parchment, shook it once, and set it aside before returning his gaze to the party.

"Get some rest. Replace whatever Greenglade couldn't repair, and don't go looking for this on your own." Max raised an eyebrow.

"Wasn't planning to." Cass looked at him. Max sighed.

"I wasn't." Halbrecht almost smiled.

"If another lead surfaces, I'll send for you. Until then, take ordinary work and stay within reasonable reach of Brindleford." He looked across them one last time.

"This isn't finished. But for tonight, you are." He closed the ledger.

"Dismissed." Downstairs, the Guild Hall had thinned somewhat with the hour, though enough people still remained that the party drew more than a few glances as they crossed toward the door. They didn't linger. The road had been long, and even Brindleford's noise couldn't quite cut through the weight of everything Halbrecht had told them. They found rooms at the Wayfarer's Rest, and after a quiet meal, the night ended quickly. Alex stayed with them.

He kept mostly to himself, listening more than speaking as the others talked in low voices, his attention moving between them as though he were trying to memorize everything before morning. When they finally turned in, he lingered for a moment at the foot of the stairs, looking around the crowded common room and toward the city beyond the windows. Then he gave them a quiet nod and followed. Tomorrow, he would have to start figuring out what came next. The next morning, Brindleford felt almost too normal.

Market stalls opened on schedule. Bakers sent warm bread scents into the streets. Teamsters shouted at one another in the square as if the world hadn't shifted at all. Back at the Guild Hall, Mara was already at work. She had three ledgers open at once by the time Max reached the counter, one for mission closure, one for reimbursements, and one for party expenses she clearly thought should have been organized better before they reached her desk.

"You people have become expensive," she muttered as she tallied the final line. Cass leaned one elbow on the counter.

"That sounds like success."

"It sounds like paperwork," Mara replied with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. The final count came out to a substantial sum, far more than the Crestwood Farm contract had offered. By the time everything was divided, each of them walked away with roughly one hundred and fifty silver. Alex stood off to the side at first, watching the exchange, until Mara looked up from her ledger and fixed him with a pointed look.

"And you? If you're going to stand in my Hall, you might as well be on record." Alex straightened slightly.

"Yes Ma'am. Sorry. I'd like to register as a new adventurer," he said. Mara studied him for a moment, then slid a fresh sheet of parchment across the counter.

"Name, Class, and Level. Background. Any relevant experience. Keep it brief unless you want me to start charging for ink." Alex huffed a quiet amused breath, then set to writing. Max and the others stepped aside to give him space. By the time Mara had taken his sheet and begun copying it into her ledger, the party had finished dividing their coin.

Max glanced at the others, then he reached to his belt, untied a small coin pouch, and counted out a small portion of his share before stepping back toward Alex and pressing the open pouch into his hand.

"To get you started." Alex blinked down at it.

"I can't—""You can," Borin said, already pulling a pouch of his own loose. He added his share with a few quiet clinks.

"And you will. Consider it an investment in you not dying." Cass added hers without ceremony, dropping the coins into the pouch with a soft jingle.

"Try not to spend it all on something stupid." Elias followed, more deliberately. He caught Alex's gaze, then said, "Equipment first. Lodging second. Everything else comes after." Alex nodded silently. Alina hesitated only a moment before adding her coins as well, her hand lingering briefly as she tightened the drawstring.

"Stay alive," she said quietly. By the time they were done, the pouch had a noticeable weight to it. Alex held it in both hands, clearly not used to carrying that much at once. He stared at it for a moment, then looked up at them, unsure what to say.

"Thank you," he said finally.

"I mean that." Max gave a small nod.

"You'll figure the rest out." Alex straightened, gripping the pouch a little tighter.

"I will." There was a brief pause, the kind that came at the edge of parting.

"Good luck," Elias said.

"Don't die," Cass added. Borin gave a low chuckle.

"Preferably not in your first week." Alex smiled at that, a little nervous, a little excited.

"I'll try to make it at least two." That earned a few quiet laughs. Then he stepped back, tucking the pouch securely at his belt before turning toward the far side of the hall where Mara was already waving him over to finalize his registration. The party watched him go for a moment. Then, without much ceremony, they turned back to their own work.