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Ben Medinets / story2u

Chapter 21 - Soren’s Side Quest

It took several hours to travel from the GUILDHALL to Soren’s Abode. The Druid Master rode on Soren’s horse, as Soren flew beside him in his feathery form. The pace was quick, though not fast as to tire the horses out or hasten Benny’s illness back upon him.

They stopped only for a short period of time since the Abode wasn’t big enough to house the small detatchment of cavalry that rode with them as an escort, nor did it provide enough shelter for the horses. The break would indeed be quite brief, but time enough for a small but much needed meal.

Benny went to the garden at the back to grab some mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes. Lucky for them, there was still some left despite the periodic theivery of the nearby wild animals living nearby. Soren took the vegtables, and then cleaned them in a tub. He then put them in a soup pot, with some of his own stash of secret herbs and spices. This would suit them until they could properly settle down for a decent meal later on. There was enough soup for everyone, and everyone was given enough to eat.

Benny helped clean up the dishes, while the fire was put out, and Soren went into his library to fetch a couple books for their journey. He wouldn’t tell the others what they were about, just that they were extremely needed for the trip. He had a generous supply of holy water, and put it into a large unbreakable flask for the journey in case Benny started to need it badly. He also brought along some incense also, just in case Benny was really sick.

Just before they left, the Druid Master prayed with and over the travellers, and especially for Benny’s continued relatively improving health. It was time to continue to Wembly, to work on preparing for battle.

The travellers steered clear of the forest, even though they knew the rangers were still there. Didn’t want to disturb them as they worked on their own preparations. They rode down an alternate path that went around the woods. It would take them longer, but it would be much quicker time-wise, and also much easier on the horses.

As they rode down the path, they came across a small villiage. Actually it was just a small group of huts occupied by relatively poor and unarmed peasants. How they managed to stay this long without proper guards or weapons, was hard for Soren and the others to understand. They didn’t have a lot of time to dwell, but yet the group was compelled to stop momentarily.

Out of one of the huts, a very poor, widowed woman came out. She was in tears. She explained to them that her son was inside and was about to die of illness. Soren said they would try to help as best they could, but no guarantees. The woman was relieved that important strangers (well, they were escorted by a troop of Elite Cavalry) would stop and try and cure her son.

So Soren and Benny went inside. Seeing the boy in such a deathly ill state made Benny want to do all he could physically do. Soren said that he would take care of it, and that Benny was in no condition to perform any type of healings yet. Despite not using any of his energy on healing the boy, Benny’s energy was still being quickly drained as he hoped the boy would pull through.

Soren grew quite concerned as the sweat was pouring from Benny’s forehead. He told Benny to get the Druid Master and to fetch the holy water and the incense. Soren asked her how he had gotten sick.

She told him she didn’t know, that the boy just fell sick. He had been sick for a couple weeks now, and as time went by, he just got worse and worse. This whole thing was very odd, and yet it was entirely all too similar.

Soren lit the incense, and the child seemed to stir on the bed. When Soren dabbed the child’s lips with the holy water, the child began to vomit. After vomitting, the child began to cry. The sacred water isn’t supposed to do that, unless the child was particularly naughty.

He asked the woman about the behavior of her son. She replied, “before he got sick, he was a complete pain in my side, like a rose. A joy to behold but wild and thorny and difficult to tend after. He was bad already, and it only got worse as his father was called away for military service, and his brother left the house.“

Benny was still sympathetic and still wanted to help, so he poured a small amount of the holy water into the palm of his hand, and then sprinkled it onto the boy’s forehead. Within a few minutes, the paleness was soon gone, and whole demeanor of the child was drastically changed. The child felt much better, and he even began to smile. Though he would dare not start to misbehave, especially with the three strange men in the house.

“Your son is in no danger of dying, at least not here in the very near future, at least of illness, anyway,” Soren said, “keep well. We have to leave shortly. By the way, what is the child’s name?”

The boy’s mother answered, “his name is Clyde.“

Soren heard the name and was slightly perplexed, the Druid Master also. Benny didn’t have a clue, so he just stood to the rear, wanting to know of the significance. He thought the boy looked strangely familiar, however. Unfortunately, Soren refused to give out any usefull information. Soren called the boy forward for a close examination, and then asked for the boy’s age. The woman told him that Clyde’s age was nine.

Soren just mumbled as the new thoughts rolled through his brain. His perplexity was wearing down, but he still had slight doubts. After looking over the boy once more, he and the Druid Master went to the corner to talk about it. The boy was starting to become curious, so Benny was told to take the boy outside with some of his toys.

So Benny left with the boy, who was starting to act up, and to return to his once very bratty behavior. The soldiers who rode with them, found it very entertaining as they were watching the horses. They found it difficult to watch for danger, and watch the bratty behavior of the boy.

After a few moments in conference, Soren informed the woman that they had no choice but to take custody of the boy. At this she was very upset, even more distraught than when they had seen her earlier.

“If the boy and I are parted, it will be the death of me.” she wailed.

“But he’ll die if he stays. If he doesn’t die of illness, I’m sure they’ll come a time when evil men will come and murder everyone, and burn these huts down. At least he’ll be relatively safe if he comes with us.” Soren answered.

“If he is to go, can I go with him?” she asked, her tears subsiding as she heard the reasoning.

“It will not be safe for the boy alone if he is to be discovered by the wrong people. If you are to come along, then it will be even more unsafe both for him and for you. But I’ll see what we can do.” Soren answered.

Again, he discussed this with the Druid Master and with Princess Lisa who was with the soldiers. As far as the safety goes, the chances at this point of attack were slim, but still entirely possible. The chances of them leaving without the child’s mother would be next to impossible. So it was decided that the woman would go also. She would ride with the Druid Master on Soren’s horse. Soren would continue to fly.

As they were discussing the situation together, the woman packed everything she thought would be needed. She left the rest of her meager belongings there, and also packed along a pack for the child. She was hopefull that they would let her go. So she finished packing, and as she finished up, they came back to her and let her know that she would be coming also.

She was very happy at this, and they all went to get Benny and the child. She told him that they would be leaving, and that he would have to leave his toys behind. He wasn’t too sure about the whole situation, especially leaving behind the toys. With the others there, he would have no choice but to start behaving again.

During his play time with Benny, he had made a complete mess of his toys, got completely filthy, and was completely loud and obnoxious. Benny exercised great patience as he watched the child, and treated the child like a regular person instead of a bratty child. Clyde noticed, but he went back to acting like a brat again.

So the woman and her son grabbed their packs, and mounted on the horses along with the other travellers. Having 2 extra people slowed the journey down. The boy and his mother were dropped off at the boarding school in Wembly. The boy would be admitted as a late-arriving student, and his mother would be hired as a part-time cleaner, cook, and substitute house-mistress.

Then they went to the stables to put away their horses to their keeping. The soldiers were released to their quarters, but they were on notice to begin the preparations for war, and for travelling. Soren, the Druid Master, and Benny all went to the Castle to see how the war preparations were going.

The king looked very busy and tired despite putting most of the responsibility of preparation on his daughter, Princess Sara. Sir Cletus was proving that he was the right man for the job, as his efforts made it alot easier for Princess Sara and King Leon. King Leon, took time to heartily welcome his youngest daughter, Princess Lisa back, and also his future son-in-law, Benny. After that he went back to resume the preparations.

Princess Lisa then retired to her room in the castle to work on her own preparations and to catch up on some much needed sleep. Benny, Soren, and the Druid Master went to Benny’s house. Since Cletus was now staying at the barracks to make preparations easier, there was a spare place to sleep, much to the relief of all three of them.

Night fell, and Benny became ill again, so Soren and the Druid Master had to administer another dose of the holy water, and lit a bit of incense. Benny soon felt much better, and then proceeded to drift off to a deep and restfull sleep.

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