Life Review Ch. 06

Shawn summoned his menu and looked at his status screen. There were no signs of the flashing red warnings from before. He had a litany of minor wounds, and the few major wounds he had that were listed in yellow were mainly from the massive hit that knocked him through a couple of buildings. He would have deep tissue bruising for a while and hairline fractures in his humerus. There was another yellow status that said he was poisoned, but it was not lethal. The scar section was updated to reflect the wounds he suffered in the battle. The scars that would develop from his wounds in his shoulder and stomach would take magical healing to remove.

"I was also told that you've already taken more than a few rejuvenation potions," Welcan frowned. "I can't give you anything because you've already stressed your metabolic state. You need food and rest before you can take anything more, do you understand?"

"Yes, Doc," Shawn sighed. Wherever the numbness left him, fatigue and aches quickly took its place. "I could sleep for a week."

"That would be a good idea," Welcan gave him a small smile. "You need to rest up to make a full recovery. Your team managed quite the feat, I'm sure you'll be the talk of the...well any town you go to. It's not everyday someone kills a giant and completes a raid with only five people."

Shawn craned his stiff neck to look around, "How is Denza? Is she okay?"

Welcan looked behind him and understanding sparkled in his eyes, "Ah, yes. Lady Gaellalen has been evacuated to Oculsa to receive emergency treatment. I have been quite curious as to why an Oculsan noblelady was on a battlefield such as this."

"Noble?" Shawn's head jerked around to stare at Welcan.

The Physician nodded, looking surprised, "Why, yes. Lady Denza is the youngest daughter of House Gaellalen. While the family has fallen in ranks after the tragedy that befell her sisters years ago, and the death of the youngest son before that. All that Lord and Lady Gaellalen have left are Lady Denza and her brother Lord Quin."

Shawn's shoulders sagged and he muttered under his breath, "Fuck me six ways from Sunday."

"Excuse me?" Welcan looked confused at his reaction.

Shawn shook his head and waved him off. He got up and pushed past the protesting Physician to where Cassidy was being looked over by another physician. She looked up and saw the look on his face. She quickly shooed away the Physician and motioned for Shawn to sit next to her.

"We have more problems," Shawn grunted, the pain returning to both of his injured sides.

"What happened?" Cassidy asked resignedly, the fatigue settling into her as much as it had into Shawn.

"Did you know that Denza is nobility?" Shawn asked bleakly.

"No shit? That's cool," Cassidy chuckled.

"No! Not cool!" Shawn rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Do you not see the shitstorm waiting for us when we get to Oculsa?"

"What are you talking about...oh," The lightbulb went off in Cassidy's head. "Oh boy. You are bound to a noble lady. They are not gonna like that when they find out, judging on how well her brother reacted. What was his name?"

"Quin," Shawn sighed. "And he is a lord."

Cassidy snorted, "What are the chances. Honestly, I'm not surprised."

Bishop jogged over to them with a broad grin on his face, "You'll both be pleased to know that the caravan has been recovered, it's members are safe and waiting to be escorted home."

"Our work is never finished," Cassidy theatrically fainted onto the ground.

"You'll be happy to know that the cargo has been recovered mostly intact," Bishop's grin grew wider.

Cassidy opened one eye, "What are we looking at?"

"You mean besides the 1.2 million you just raked in?" Bishop rubbed his thumb and forefinger together and winked at Cassidy.

"That's before you take your cut, pretty boy," Cassidy stuck her tongue out.

"You're pulling in an extra fifty with the other contract, which about covers the expenses for the operation," Bishop mimed an explosion.

"Great, sounds like we need an accountant," Shawn rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I'm great with numbers!" Cassidy protested.

"You failed algebra," Shawn said flatly. "Twice."

"Semantics," Cassidy flipped him the bird.

"And gaze upon our mighty Giantslayers," Bishop exclaimed dryly.

"Oh, go moon after Nessa, Casanova," Cassidy shot back.

"Don't mind if I do," Bishop winked at the two of them and sauntered off towards the exhausted looking Nessa, but the overall effect was ruined again by the slight wince and limp in his step.

Cassidy sprawled out and draped her legs across Shawns lap, "So. Upside, we're rich."

Shawn closed his eyes and rested his head back against the wall, "Downside, we are so fucked when we go see Denza."

"Upside, we are going to be well known Expeditionaries!" Cassidy beamed.

"Downside, we now have a reputation that precedes us," Shawn groaned. "We have to live up to the name 'Giantslayer' now."

Cassidy nudged Shawn with her heeled boot, "Seriously Shawn, you need to stop being so down in the dumps. We can go on about upside downside sidesides all day. Shit happens, we need to get better. We got our asses handed to us by Saoirse, but that didn't slow you down. Now that you're not the one who's on death's door and it's Denza's bacon that's in the fire, you have your tail between your legs?"

"That's a bit harsh, Cass," Shawn winced at her blunt observations.

"I love you, Shawn. You know that, but dude, how do you think me and Denza felt when you almost died? Twice, even?" Cassidy sat up and raised her eyebrows expectantly. "You are acting more like a woman than we did, and we're women!"

"I'm that bad, huh?" Shawn opened his eyes and stared at the carnage around them. "I don't know. Maybe all of this is starting to get to me. Killing shouldn't be this easy. Accepting that life and death situations are now the norm is a big pill to swallow."

"Ugh!" Cassidy grunted in frustration. "What happened to Shawn the badass? The one who force-fed a banshee and glassed Roark? The one who kicked Cadder's ass and was ready to pick a fight with the fort's Expeditionary Guild out of principle? I'm supposed to be the bitch in this relationship, not you my dude."

Shawn sputtered and broke into a fit of painful laughter. "Well," Shawn managed to say between fits, "if you put it like that."

Cassidy gave him a brilliant smile, "Atta boy, there he is. Now let's get going, stud. Daylights'a'burnin."

Shawn got up and pulled Cassidy to her feet. They walked through the ruins of the shantytown and noticed more than a few people were picking through the dilapidated and destroyed buildings.

"Did Bishop bring a clean up crew?" Shawn asked as he watched a pair of burly looking men pulling crates from what seemed to be a storehouse.

"Not really. There was a small regiment of guards hired by the merchants to help us escort everyone home. Most of the people you see are the people who were captured. They have been really greatful and wanted to help salvage anything they could," Cassidy lifted her arms over her head and mewled as she stretched.

One of the men looked up as they passed and waved at them, "Giantslayers! We should be ready to set out by tomorrow morning. The Caravan Master would also like to see you if you can spare the time."

Shawn waved back, "I think we can handle that. Thanks!"

The two of them took their time and walked the long way around. The sun had risen high enough to warm their skin and Shawn sighed as his muscles seemed to relax and the stress left him. He glanced at Cassidy who gave him a lazy smile, the two of them finally back in sync. The little things such as the warmth of the sun could easily be overlooked in the wake of hardship. Shawn was able to push away his fear for Denza's life for a few moments and enjoy being alive himself.

They found the Caravan Master across town. He was a short man with a thick frame. His graying hair was wild and unkept from the weeks spent in captivity. His yellow robes were dirty and torn, the faded black cylinder hat on his head looked like it had seen better days.

"Ah, Master Shawn and Mistress Cassidy, our resident Giantslayers!" The Caravan Master greeted them jubilantly. "I am so glad you could stop by, I wanted to give you my thanks in person for rescuing us and assisting us in our journey home."

"No problem!" Cassidy glowed at the deference the man gave them.

"We are glad we could help, Caravan Master," Shawn said agreeably.

"Please, let us dispense with titles! Call me by the name my mother gave me. Tanner, at your service!" Tanner bowed low before them.

"You can just use our names as well. Just call me Cass," Cassidy winked. Tanner's eyes widened momentarily and a flush crept up his neck. He cleared his throat and tugged at his collar.

"Ignore her," Shawn chuckled. "If you give her the attention it will all go to her head."

"Psh," Cassidy objected, bumping Shawn with her hip.

Tanner shook his head and smiled, "We've been doing some scavenging and we managed to find a bunch of gear that was stashed away. It looks like good quality stuff, might have been from that other group of expeditionaries that came before you."

"That's right!" Shawn smacked his forehead. "We need to see if we can't find them. We might be able to get to them in time to get them resurrected, right?"

"There was some sort of time limit or something, but I don't see why not," Cassidy looked intrigued at the prospect of seeing the resurrection system in action.

Tanner's expression fell, "I'm afraid not. I heard from one of the workers that their bodies were thrown into the river in the ravine. I don't think there is any coming back for them now."

"Oh," Cassidy looked taken aback. "That really sucks. Loren probably isn't going to take that news well."

"We need to go back and get him and our stuff," Shawn mentally added the task to his mental to-do-list.

"Nessa already gave two of the guards the location of our camp and a few of the Physicians are going to stay back with us to look after the injured," Cassidy dutifully informed him.

Shawn looked surprised, "How long was I out for? Did I miss anything else?"

Cassidy reached up and patted his cheek, "That was pretty much it. The recovery effort started, casualties taken into account. The most seriously wounded were taken to Oculsa alongside Denza. It turns out there were other captives taken. We will be escorting the humans back to Ft. Rolver and then take the others back to their homes on the way to Oculsa."

"I'm guessing there's a reason for how inefficient that is?" Shawn asked archly.

Cassidy grimaced, "Man power, and money. The merchant paid for guards for his own people going back to the Imperium, the Velesian government could send a squad but they would essentially meet up with us once we are already in their territory."

"So we get two weeks of guard duty," Shawn was not thrilled with the idea of being in the saddle for another fortnite.

"We are getting paid fat stacks man, I'm sure you'll survive" Cassidy teased. "Once we get to Oculsa, we can go rent a penthouse and hit the town."

Tanner opened his mouth to ask the inevitable question when Shawn raised his hand to stop him, "We'll go through everything before we set out."

Cassidy tugged at his arm, "Shawn, we still have to collect materials. There are hundreds of monster corpses and of course the giant and his goons. Tricha will kill me if I don't take detailed notes."

Tanner quickly spoke up, "I already have a few people out salvaging anything worth anything. You don't have to worry about anyone from my crew skimming crystals or trophies."

"Bishop mentioned that as a bonus, how exactly do we claim that?" Shawn tried to remember exactly what Bishop had told them about the trophy bonus. He made another mental note to pay more attention in the future when going over legal documents.

"That's easy. When part of a raid against hostile forces the guild will pay you a set amount per confirmed kill which is proven with a trophy. I told my guys to collect gnoll ears and kobold tails, each are easily recognizable," Tanner said, looking pleased with himself.

Shawn grimaced, "Won't that start to smell after a while?"

Tanner looked at him knowingly, "Ah, that is why I chose ears and tails. kobold tails can be shed, so there isn't much blood in them to drain. gnoll ears are mostly cartilage so no real rot to worry about."

Cassidy looked impressed and gave him an appreciative smile, "Thank you for all the thought you've put into this."

The Caravan Master straightened his robes and stood straighter, "It is the least I can do." A sly smile turned his lips, "And should you need my services in the future..."

Shawn and Cassidy shared an incredulous look and grinned at each other. Cassidy gave Tanner an appraising look, "Promoting yourself while being rescued, you are a true businessman at heart. I can dig it."

Shawn gave Tanner a speculative look. The Caravan Master's offer sparked a topic he had brought up with Cassidy previously in passing. With their main goal of rescuing Denza's sisters outstanding, their first main concern was money. Cassidy had received riches from Tricha, but could not access her wealth until she had progressed in her training.

The trio had come into a large sum of money with the success of the raid. Sure, they could live off of the odd three quarters of a million gold after Nessa took her cut and Bishop was paid. Shawn's instinct was to invest their money and to make it work for them. He would have to do some digging to figure out what his options were once they found a place to settle.

"We'll definitely keep you in mind," Shawn agreed. He reached out and shook Tanner hand before he and Cassidy left him to his work.

The rest of the day passed without any major events. Tanner's crew had salvaged roughly sixty percent of the cargo, only the food and raw materials had been used up. Out of the thirty wagons they had come with, only twenty two were still in working condition. Cassidy and Shawn met with the other survivors that had been captured before Tanner's crew. From the stories they heard the gnolls were the ones who were assaulting trade caravans that used the pass to travel from Velain to the Imperium, but those had been relatively small with only one or two wagons.

The smaller merchant outfits couldn't offer rewards worth the time to investigate, and apprentice expeditionaries would often think the worth beneath them. Had Tanner's caravan not been captured, there would have been no telling how long the giant and his army of monsters would have gone unnoticed.

Shawn and Cassidy met up with Nessa in the afternoon. Shawn's body was a mess so when the two witches immersed themselves in the study of the giant's body he sat on the sidelines and simply watched. By dusk their examination had been completed and they were fascinated to find the giant had a dense concentration of essence crystals inside his body. Cassidy and Nessa chattered excitedly about the discovery.

Cassidy teased Shawn when his eyes glossed over as they tried to explain to ramifications of their findings and promised to give him the sparknotes version when they presented their reports to Tricha.

When night had finally settled once more over the valley, Shawn found himself lying awake and staring at the unfamiliar stars. He worried about Denza's health. Their bond was still weak, but it was thankfully stable.

When he finally succumbed to exhaustion his dreams were filled with giants that towered over him. Monstrously sized humanoids that shook the earth with every step lumbered after him as he raced through an empty void. In the distance he heard a familiar shrieking cry of a banshee, the herald of death. An army of armor clad lizards marched in dizzying patterns while hyenas bayed and cackled hungrily out of sight.

Shawn felt panic begin to clutch at his chest as everything closed in around him. Suddenly, the monsters were gone and he was floating in what felt like water. He couldn't breathe. His lungs were beginning to burn. He swam desperately to try and reach the surface, any air that might be just beyond reach.

Icy abyssal water flooded his lungs as he desperately tried to breathe. His struggles were useless as the depths slowly crushed him under the weight of darkness. His body convulsed weakly as cold filled him and he felt his life beginning to fade.

Dong ---- dong

Two bells rang, the sound sending vibrations through the water.

Dong ---- dong

The sound seemed to shake him to his very core. The ringing of bells filled his very being.

Dong ---- dong

Shawn jerked awake and sat bolt upright. His body was shaking and he was covered in cold sweat. He quickly looked around and relaxed when no giants, gnolls, kobolds, or banshees were near. Cassidy and Nessa slept nearby, peaceful as could be.

There were sounds of movement around them as some members of Tanner's crew worked through the night to prepare for the journey back to their homes in the morning. Shawn lay back and closed his eyes once more. Once his body had fully relaxed he began to drift off into sleep listening to the sounds of crickets.

Chirp --- chirp

Chirp --- chirp

Dong -- dong.