Kasidy and I started to move down the road. It wasn’t what I had thought I was going to see as a road. I had thought that, at best, I would find dirt ruts or perhaps a well-maintained path. However, this road had clearly been made, not just used.

The road was paved with large stones that would have made the archaeologists on Earth freak out. Each stone was about ten feet long and wide. Where they met, there was a smoothing that made them almost look seamless. There was a slight rise in the middle of the road that would make it so rain would run off to the edges.

I wanted to ask Kasidy about the roads and how they were made, but I felt to do so would give away more. I figured that it was magic that made the road, but I wasn’t sure if that was what kept it looking good or not.

I thought for a moment and then asked. “So Kasidy, do you have any songs about the building of this road?”

I could tell she thought for a moment but then shook her head. “No, I have songs about some of the bridges built and about some broken. However, this road and other minor roads I don’t have. Might be something for me to look into, though.”

As we kept pushing forward, I realized that we were moving far faster than we should have now that we were on the road. It wasn’t just that the road was smooth. It was that we got a travel speed buff. I just hadn’t seen it show up, as it wasn’t right at the start. Yet another thing I would sound dumb for asking.

About two hours later, we stopped. The sun was starting to go down, so we needed to get our camp set up. If it wasn’t for the requirements that weren’t even a quest from the Sisters, we could have just bedded down in the middle of the grass. However, because I still had to make the stupid way for the dumb faithful, I had to work.

I pulled out the wands and got started building my underground room. I needed something that was like the thicket stakes but for underground. It would make my life so much easier. However, I was using the mass and magic of the living trees to make the thickets. Not trying to get the stone to vanish.

It took me a little over two hours to get our room for the night built and us underground. I didn’t even stop to think that what I was doing could be considered more amazing than the thicket. For me, this was harder and not as nice. Yet, once I started to work, I forgot what all I was hiding and how I did things.

It wasn’t till I started to key in the entrance for the Sisters that I even thought about what it looked like to Kasidy. I had been so engrossed in my normal routine that my coring the door just happened. When Kasidy gasped, however, it broke me out of my work.

Both to my surprise and dismay, it wasn’t my underground room that got Kasidy to gasp. Nope, that was the ground of 20 men riding horses that just came up the road. They weren’t dressed in uniform armor, nor did they seem to be moving in a military manner. Which meant that I wasn’t looking at a patrol.

The men quickly moved their mounts to surround us. The horses were some of the most run-down that I felt like I had ever seen. Two looked healthy enough; however, the rest looked like they had been ridden hard and not cared for well. Which while I knew little of how to care for a horse made me slightly angry.

The best dressed of them spoke. “We are the traveling toll collectors of this High road. As such you will need to pay a toll to keep using it.”

I focused on the one who spoke and pulled up his info.

Human male

Level 18

Armor rating 8

Weapons mace

I nodded as I looked at them. “So how much do we need to pay?”

One of the ones behind me laughed and asked. “How much do you have?”

I shrugged. “Not much. We just came in from a wild area. Trying to make it to a town to find work for a while and perhaps food. I think I have a few copper coins.”

Another chimed in. “Guess you will have to pay in other ways then!”

I smiled a little. “I can offer you some food. We don’t have much but we can share if you want it.”

The leader sneered at me. “How about you give us your weapons, your money and your woman.”

I sighed. “Okay so first she is not my woman. She is just traveling with me for a while because her god told her to.”

With that, they all started to laugh and jeer. It took a few moments for the leader to stop laughing and lean forward on his horse. I looked up at him and smiled. I checked the level and weapons on everyone I saw. None of them were above level 10.

I pulled out two copper coins and held them up in the air. “As for the money I am happy to pay the toll though I don’t know how much it is. Now for my weapons I know you were joking as there are monsters around these parts and you wouldn’t want people traveling unarmed would you?”

Kasidy, for her part, was standing slightly behind me. I could just faintly hear her fingers tapping on her leg. Which told me she knew as well as I did there was no such thing as a traveling toll collector.

The leader looked like he was trying to hold back anger as he looked at me. “So you don’t mind if we take the woman?”

I laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant laugh but rather something that came from deep inside of me. Then I cut it off and looked at the leader.

I gazed around at the men and spoke. “I don’t do well with the idea of slaves or rape. So while she is not my woman and I am still trying to figure out if she is a friend. You can’t take her.”

The leader looked at his men and nodded. I saw the ones in front start to dismount while the ones behind I heard. Then there was the distinct sound of a sword coming out of its scabbard behind me. The leader just unlooped his mace from his saddle as he stepped down.

He gave me an evil grin. “Looks like we will have to take everything then. We could have let you go but it seems like you are the type not to understand what is going on here.”

I sighed and pointed up. “No. You are.”

It wasn’t the leader that looked up but a couple of others who did. They were the only warning that was given as eight zombie wyverns plunged from the sky. Eight of the men were killed on impact then the screaming started.

I fired my stone sphere at the leader. Unlike orcs or other monsters that I fought, this guy didn’t seem to have a clue about what killing was all about. The sphere hit him on his chainmail, and he crumpled in. I didn’t know if he was dead, but he was at least down.

I turned to my right and activated my swordsman’s belt. A wave of force shot out and slammed into the man closest to me. That gave me the room I needed to snag my standard from the ground and activate it.

The dome was bigger than I would have liked as there were six of us in here. Which meant that I needed to deal with the four bandits. I fired off a stone sphere, but the guy I shot at blurred forward. My sphere went sailing out of my shield and slammed into one of the mounts.

The guy who blurred forward grabbed Kasidy and put a knife to her throat. “You surrender now and she lives. You don’t and I’ll kill her.”

I paused for a moment, then I laughed. “If you kill her you’re dead. Your best chance is to lay down your weapons and beg.”

As I said that, one of the other three lunged toward me with a spear. I slapped it to the side with an open hand and then grabbed the shaft. I started to understand what was going on. Their leader might have had training, but these guys didn’t.

I twisted my hand back and yanked hard. The spear came out of his hands. I spun it around and threw it back at the man who attacked. He turned just enough that the spear only sliced his arm and didn’t go all the way in.

Then I drew my sword and smiled. “You all seem to not understand something. The only way you are leaving alive is if you give up now. If you don’t you die.”

Outside the shield, things weren’t going well for the bandits. The wyverns outnumbered them, and that wasn’t even counting Blink. I could feel her frustration that she wasn’t getting all the kills.

The one holding a very still Kasidy laughed. “Drop this shield and we will leave. I’m taking the girl! I’ll let her go unharmed.”

I smiled. “You want the dome to come down? Okay.”

I touched the standard, and Blink jumped forward. Her mouth was around the hostage taker’s hand, and she chomped down. As she pulled, he tried to stab into Kasidy’s neck but couldn’t as the belt I had given her came to life, blocking it.

Then Blink was savaging the man. As she attacked, the others tried to run, only for my wyverns to catch them and kill them.

I turned to Kasidy. “You okay?”

She nodded and looked down at the man that Blink was still mauling. “I thought that he was going to kill me.”

I walked over to the leader. “They all were. That’s why we fought. If they would have been happy with the little food we had or the money I offered then we wouldn’t have fought. But they wanted to hurt you. You might not be my woman as they called you but you are turning into a friend. Even if you weren’t I still wouldn’t have let them do anything without a fight.”

I sent the wyverns back into the air. Well, six of them, the two I didn’t, had broken wings in the attack. A couple from the air broke their legs, but that was okay because they were flying. Without being able to heal them as they broke, they became less useful.

I sent those two out into the plains near our room. I wasn’t sure if I would keep them, but having them watch for attacks on the horses at night would be useful. Then I started to pull the horses over to the grass.

I looked at Kasidy, who once again was just looking at the bodies. “Kasidy! I have never taken care of horses. Do you know how to?”

That pulled her out of her stupor. She showed me how to hobble the horses once we found the gear in their bags. Once that was done, I started the grisly task of looting the bandits.

* * *