I lay on my back, looking up at the canopy, and wondered where I was and how I got here. Forest? Why should I be in a forest now? Then everything the last slivers of sleep slowly released their grip on my mind, and everything came back bit by bit.

On the 2. of September, a dragon flew over our caravan, so the merchants’ council decided we should go into the Káed forest so that we could disperse into the woods if the dragon would pursue and attack us.

The dragon never came back. Squirrels came instead, on the morning of the 3. of September. The beasts massacred the caravan. Trueanvil took us into the forest to kill the squirrels’ masters. We set their spirit-tree on fire, and then we fled. I still live; the Sun shines, so it must be the 4. of September, and we did not burn the forest down after all.

Now that I have worked this all out oh-so-cleverly, it was time to reward myself with a breakfast. Jim and Beldrak were still snoring, but when I started to munch on hardtack, they woke up too.

We ate in silence, immersed in our thoughts. After eating, we shared the contents of our last full waterskin. Then I asked the question that was bothering us all.

“What do we do about that one remaining druid?” I asked. “The one that our prisoner mentioned yesterday?”

“I suppose there is little point in deluding ourselves,” said Beldrak, stroking his beard. “That druid, in all probability, killed the survivors of our caravan and still roams free.”

“I agree,” I nodded. “Now the question is, do we hunt her down? Will she hunt us?”

“We torched her fucking god. Of course, she will hunt us,” answered Jim.

“Maybe, maybe not,” I mused. “She could be also grateful that we freed her. If Trueanvil is correct, the tree kept the druids as thralls, bending them to its will by magic.”

“We should be prepared for the worst case,” opinioned Beldrak. “If I would be the druid, I would set a trap on the way to the clearing. We will have to return either way because most of our baggage is there.”

“Speaking of which, how do you plan to continue our journey?” I asked. “Surely, if the druid has massacred our comrades, she did not spare the horses either. I hope you do not expect us to pull your wagon?”

“We will cross that bridge once we are there,” wawed Beldrak dismissively. “The important thing, for now, is that we do not go blundering into the surviving druid’s trap. I think we should make a detour. Our enemy expects us to return to the clearing from the northern direction. We should go on a roundabout way and enter the clearing from east or west.”

“That way, we only delay the fight, but once she becomes aware of our presence, she can prepare a new ambush for us,” I interjected.

“Not if we move fast enough once we are in her back.”

“We better not waste our time then,” Jim said. “If we follow this plan, we have to march faster and further than yesterday.”

Beldrak nodded. “I led you in, but I can’t lead you out. I rarely see the future as clear as yesterday, and right now, I see nothing.”

“I could probably follow the trail we left yesterday,” said Jim. “And Arnold always knows which way cardinal directions lie. We can rely on that if I lose track.”

“And we will have to rely on that when we make our detour,” I sighed. I didn’t like Beldrak’s plan, but I couldn’t think of a better one. “But before we go, we should find a stream first. See the sky? The weather will be even warmer than yesterday. If I have to cook all day in my mail, I want to have at least enough water for the long march.”

Trueanvil and Jim agreed with that sentiment, so we searched for a creek. Once we were there, the temptation of the clear, cold water proved too strong, so we also took some time to bathe. Trueanvil stood guard as first while Jim and I took off our mails to wash away the sweat, blood, grime of yesterday, then we watched the forest as Beldrak cleaned himself. No blood-squirrels or other monsters appeared to take advantage of our unpreparedness, and we could continue our way refreshed in mind and body.

Our march was a miserable one. The heat was oppressive, worse than the hottest day of Sextilis, despite the shadow the trees provided. It was as if the emerald canopy – dotted with crimson and gold - let through all the rays of the Sun to heat up our armour but then closed behind the sunbeams and trapped all the heat.

We have been walking for hours on end. Only short pauses gave us some respite. Every hour we stopped, raised a waterskin greedily to our lips and gulped down the refreshing liquids. Then Jim used a small part of his magic to give us strength, and we continued.

Midday came and went, and we were still marching. The Sun slowly descended towards the horizon. We were out of water. We ate our scarce dinner on foot. Finally, the air started to be chillier, and even a creek crossed our path, where we could refill our waterskins.

It was a more leisurely march after that, but still very tiring. I was already dizzy, and my soles hurt. I was used to long marches, but we have walked more than fifty miles without roads in the last two days if my sense of distance did not deceive me. The spirit tree grew in the heart of Káed forest, but its druids liked to hunt far away from home, it seemed.

Just like yesterday, the stars and the moon were long up when we made our final stop. If I had judged our position rightly, we were a mere few hundred paces away from the eastern fringe of the great clearing.

While the plan called on us to advance, we didn’t want to go into a fight tired to the bone. We were reeling from fatigue and were it not for Jim’s magic, our feet would have been a bloody mess. We sat down to catch our breath.

“We have met no blood-squirrels nor any other dangerous beast,” I said to Beldrak. “It seems that despite the tales you heard, this forest is remarkably devoid of monsters.”

“Or they just didn’t think we would taste good,” chuckled Jim.

“This forest is devoid of monsters because all those bloody squirrels probably lie in wait for us,” said Beldrak. “Are those not monstrous enough for you?!”

We sat almost for half an hour, resting our limbs. Then we continued. If there were so many blood-squirrels nearby as Trueanvil suspected, their scouts would have discovered us soon enough if we hadn’t moved out.

As we got nearer to the clearing, Jim and Beldrak stopped and stared in wonderment.

“What is that?” I asked. As always, I was annoyed that they saw in the dark just as well as I did by daylight.

“A fire,” answered the wizard. “I think a campfire burns on the clearing.”

“It might be part of the trap,” said Jim. “But still… We should take a look.”

“We will send my little spider ahead,” said Beldrak.

Carefully, we entered the clearing. As we closed in, even I could discern the fire – and the human shapes that moved around it.

“Maybe the druid spared them?” I mused.

“Be as it may, but that fellow there is definitely Mordred. That other one is a driver too. I know him.”

We looked at each other. I was the first one to say out loud our shared thought.

“They have dealt with the druid. They have killed her and her squirrels!”

There was only one way to find out. I walked directly to the campfire while Jim and Beldrak stayed behind, ready to barge in and save me, should things assume a pear-shaped form.

Mordred saw me first. The driver’s face lit up; he cheered and ran to meet me.

“Arnold, you are alive!” he shouted.

I kept my hand on Shatterpike’s handle, ready to cut the man down if he turned out a puppet of our enemies.

“Of course I am,” I answered cockily. “The rodent that will put me under hasn’t been born yet.”

Mordred laughed. It was full, happy laughter. Others around the fire perked up and started to walk towards us.

“Believe it or not, but Rhodarr used the exact same words when he found his way back to us,” Mordred chuckled.

“Rhodarr is alive?” I asked, taken aback. The actor was at the head of the column, and we assumed he died there with the rest of our comrades.

“Yes, he survived. Though I don’t know how he is rather mysterious about the details. He also organised us after that. Without him, the druid and her squirrels would have killed us. But he bested her.”

“Rhodarr did? You mean Rhodarr Vinhorn, the good-for-nothing drunken fool?”

“Young Arnold, it is not a nice thing to speak like that about your esteemed teacher,” came a very familiar voice. One of the nearing people was indeed the actor himself. “Well, did you kill your share of druids as well?” he asked.

I whistled to signal my comrades that everything was all right. Then I turned towards the dragonborn.

“Ten,” I answered. “Big, burly bastards with muscles like an ox and beards like a dwarf. I hear you also took care of a woman this time? Well, I guess that’s not that bad for an amateur.”

“There were wolves and squirrels too,” said Mordred defensively. “Though the wolves cleared away once Rhodarr killed their master.”

“This sounds fascinating,” said Beldrak’s voice behind me. “And I will want to hear the whole story. Right after, I drank some tea and ate some proper food. I am starving!”

Our comrades laughed, led us to the fire, and provided everything the dwarf asked for.

It seemed the last battle of this adventure has been won without our help, after all.