Getting Involved

...until that night when my sleep was disturbed by Ben. He'd knocked at my window and ushered me outside. I wasn't sure what was going on but I got myself together and quietly left the house. He told me that he hadn't had his letter from Gabriel yet and that something was up. He knew what the problem was, he was holding it back as if to make it a surprise, but he wasn't smiling this time. It almost seemed serious.

Bearing his best wooden spear, Ben led me up the northern hill outside of town where we would be able to look over towards the next settlement. On the way up I could smell burning, and I could see that this was no joke. Ben continued not to smile. We got to the top of the hill where we could look over the villages. I could see that the Leber Village rooftops were being illuminated by the flames of the burning Unique Village a few miles further North. It was quite a sight. Ben explained that his letter was not delivered because the messengers probably had more important things to be doing. He explained that this was the doing of the scaled demons. They had struck Unique Village and reduced it to flames. He was worried for Gabriel's safety, and was willing to take his spear to confront what lies over the hill to lend a hand and stop the demons getting as far as Leber or Llewthor.

I wasn't entirely sold but I was willing to join him on an adventure. There was too many arguments against it. Why had we never been told about demons by anyone else? Why did our town have no guardsmen? Why did we not get trained early as fighters, with such a threat so close to home? It simply made no sense, but either way I was happy to get involved for the sake of the peace and an adventure.

Ben told me that we didn't have long to get going, but we should get a good night's sleep and some good food in the morning. It was going to be a hard few days for us both. So we each went to our homes and settled down. I'll be honest though. That night I didn't sleep much. It was either excitement or fear, or a cocktail of them both, but I was ready to confront it whatever it was.