Lucas was the first to reach the gate of the eastern camp, with Axel following right behind. Yet, even as they closed in, no noise could be heard from inside.
When Lucas tried to open the gate, it wouldn’t budge.
Lucas called out:
"Hello? Anyone here?"
A small panic began to take hold.
’No reply...?’
For a moment, Axel wondered if everyone had mysteriously perished while they were out scouting. But that fear was unfounded.
"Lucas, is that you?"
Maks’s voice drifted from inside the camp, followed by the sound of wood scraping as the gate slowly swung open.
When the gate was fully open, Axel braced himself for Lucas’s condemnation, but most of those in front of them were asleep.
Maks added:
"We couldn’t stay awake any longer, so we decided to watch in shifts while the others slept."
Lucas scratched his cheek.
"Is that so...? Perhaps we should get some rest as well."
Truly exhausted, both mentally and physically, Axel nodded.
"I wholeheartedly agree."
***
Five hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Axel didn’t get the best sleep.
Nobody did.
How could they?
Not only were they sleeping on the grass, but each of them knew they were never truly safe.
’We could be slaughtered at any moment.’
Hell, their only refuge was this small camp, and they didn’t even know if it was safe. In just one night, some mysterious beast had swooped down and paid them a visit, and someone — not even outside the camp, but right beside the gateway — had been killed before their eyes.
So, to say the least, nobody was remotely relaxed.
When the last of the scouts awoke from their rest, Axel and the others prepared to defend Lucas’s leadership.
’Everyone except Lucas...’
He was willing to defend his position against someone incompetent, but when Axel had questioned him earlier, Lucas had replied:
"If someone capable comes along, I’d readily give up the position."
The look on his face, however, had made it clear that he believed no one among them qualified.
The six waited for accusations against Lucas, yet none ever came.
Eventually, Lucas abandoned the expectation of rebellion, gathered everyone around, and began recounting their experiences.
Everyone, even those who seemed to detest them, listened closely.
Some drew hope from the scouts’ safe return and the information they had gathered. Others remained too frightened to leave the camp, while a few still refused to hope at all.
When the group was done telling their tale, Lucas offered a fateful plea:
"Our rations won’t last much longer. Tomorrow, I plan to head to the camp to the south and claim it, stealing whatever they have. Still, I will not force any of you to join me."
Lucas’s words sparked a fierce debate that lasted all the way until nightfall.
Those who dared to hope berated those who dared to despair.
But in the end, the only thing that would ever convince anyone was results. Tomorrow’s expedition had to go well, or else...
’We’ll be screwed.’
As if a conductor had just given the signal, everyone grew silent when the sun fully disappeared from the sky.
Some tried to sleep.
Some prepared themselves.
Others sat in fetal positions and cried as they waited for midnight.
Exactly when they expected it, a thunderous bellow reverberated throughout the forest, followed by a few resounding bangs and tremors that shook the earth.
The wind picked up, and a metallic smell filled the air.
Axel steeled himself for whatever was to come.
He knew deep down that if the trees decided to attack them, they had no chance. Despite that, he was ready to fight to the death.
***
Eight hours passed, and once again, Lucas stood at the gate, declaring, "Come with me if you want." After waiting for a considerable amount of time, the group expanded from six members to eleven with the addition of Maks, Julia, Claire, Connor, and Ryon.
The new members weren’t the most confident, and they didn’t join because they wanted to.
’They joined because they knew they had to.’
Sitting around any longer was a death sentence.
The group of eleven said their goodbyes and set out for the southern camp, reaching it in about twenty minutes. They stopped a short distance away and began strategizing.
’The easiest plan would have been to set the extremely flammable wooden walls on fire.’
But that idea was quickly shot down due to the fear of either enraging the trees or burning the possible supplies inside.
They eventually decided to split into two groups and approach the gate from opposite sides. After observing the camp for an hour without seeing any movement, they put the plan into action.
One group, led by Axel, approached from the west, while the group led by Lucas approached from the east.
When they got close, the gate swung open on its own.
The goblins had heard them.
However, the goblins stood no chance, outnumbered more than two to one — if one didn’t count the four goblin children hiding in the back.
The group made quick and easy work of the five adult goblins.
Axel even claimed two kills himself.
[You have slain a Nascent Aberrant, Goblin]
[You have slain an Unseen, Goblin]
Oddly, one of the two goblins he killed didn’t have a stone inside it.
Still not knowing the stones’ true purpose, this wasn’t particularly significant. What mattered more than the stones was that they found a crude bow in the corner of the camp, which they gave to Claire.
It was with this victory that the dangerous bud germinating in their minds began to sprout in the truest sense...
Hope.