Chapter 75: Random Encounter

POV Eliza

Once the heroes had returned to the camp in front of the darkness dungeon, I had no choice but to abandon further exploration. So I left straight away. Fortunately, I had enough food for a few days and I could survive in the wild. I turned south-east and headed towards Lightburgh.

After a day of travelling through the forest, it thinned out. From here on I made much faster progress, even though I no longer had a horse. After two more days of not meeting another person, I approached a large, busy road. I had been travelling mainly at night for the last few days to avoid being spotted. That's why I could see the lights of a campfire from afar. I wondered how best to proceed and whether I should join them. In the end, however, I decided against it and looked for a quiet spot. The next morning, I would pretend that I had spent the night on the road myself. I set up camp in the chosen spot and waited for the next morning. Then I dismantled my camp again and joined the travellers heading towards the capital. I turned into Eliza, the adventurer. Liss the scout was burnt after the story with the heroes.

In the last few days, when I was travelling alone, I was in my natural form as a dark elf. I had been too busy to think about anything in particular beforehand. I was approaching my 17th birthday, and in the meantime I realised that my body was developing from a child into a young adult. Two features stood out to me in particular, as they were very different from my old form, which now served as a model for Eliza and Liss. Firstly, I was significantly taller than before, almost 180 cm. I was certainly taller than most human men. I also had an athletic and slim figure. While as a human I had good feminine curves without being fat, as a dark elf I was thin. As a result, I only had a small bust and my hips were narrow too. I was curious to see if I would get any bigger in the future. The problem was that I had to wear clothes that worked on both bodies. So I wore tight fabric trousers and a shirt in the shape of my human form, which I tightened with ribbons when I changed shape. Fortunately, my shoe size was unaffected.

The journey took just under another day, then the first outskirts of the city appeared. Most of the city was on the other side of the big river, while this side was mainly inhabited by farmers and fishermen. It was still about 3 hours until sunset when I made my way to the big bridge. I could see from a distance that a long queue had formed. Obviously there were strict controls and only a few people were allowed into the city. The number of guards also seemed to be very high. I could see the guard from a long way off.

‘Entry only for those who have a good reason and can prove it. Everyone else stays on this side of town.’ <Guard>

I wonder if anything was happened. I noticed that everyone who wanted to leave the city was also checked. A few of the guards were also holding notes. Were they mugshots?

Many travellers in the queue left at the sight of this. They were probably discouraged to get into the city. Most of them looked like adventurers and no adventurers seemed to be allowed into the city. Then I probably also had no chance of getting into the city and left the queue too. I wondered whether I should spend the night here or continue travel directly south. I assumed that all the accommodation in this part of the city would be overcrowded, given the number of people being turned away. So I travelled directly downstream to the south.

I had about two hours of daylight left and used another hour of it to move around. I set up camp near the riverbank. I hadn't slept the previous night and only dozed a little during the day. I was correspondingly tired. Tonight there was another beautiful full moon in the sky, which reminded me of the community. I wondered how Mama and the others were doing.

It had been dark for a long time and instead of sleeping, I sat dreamily on the riverbank and gazed at the moon. All my worries had become unimportant and only the glowing sight was important to me. Then I heard a noise, like a soft call, approaching from the north. Irritated by the disturbance to my peace, I then saw a person in the river, apparently desperately trying to reach the shore. Despite the bright moon, it was only recognisable as a shadow in the river. The memory of how I was fighting for my survival in the river, close to death, stirred in me and without thinking too much I grabbed a long branch that was lying on the riverbank as flotsam. Then I waded into the river as far as I dared as a non-swimmer and tried to reach the person with the branch. He or she seemed to have noticed me because the person tried to get closer to the branch. At the speed she was travelling down the river, she only had one attempt to grab the branch. Otherwise she would have been swept past me by the current. I prayed inwardly to Luna that the rescue operation would work and indeed the person was able to grab the branch. The sudden jolt almost knocked me off my feet and I was almost thrown into the river myself, but I managed to resist the pressure with my boots on the ground. Slowly and with the help of the person in the water, I was able to pull her to the bank.

As soon as we were close enough to the bank that the current had slowed considerably, the person picked themselves up and staggered onto the beach. There she fell to her knees and breathed heavily. I helped her and smelled the metallic odour of blood. She seemed to be injured and when I looked at her more closely, I saw two arrows sticking in her right leg. Then she toppled to the side. She seemed to have lost consciousness.

POV Unknown Person

I only remembered how I had escaped from the town. Two arrows had hit me in the leg during the escape, which is why I had fallen into the river. I would never have escaped my chaser on foot. The water in the river was cold, even though it was late summer. Because of that and the two arrows, I had a lot of trouble, even though I was a good swimmer. I couldn't remember how long I had been in the river trying to get to the other side, but when my strength ran out, I still hadn't managed it. Then, out of the blue, a person stood on the bank holding a branch out to me. My rescue was within my grasp. It must have been a gift from the goddess, so I gathered the last of my strength to grab the branch. Somehow I made it and was on the bank. I must have collapsed there from pain and exhaustion.

When I opened my eyes again, I was almost blinded. It was broad daylight and I was in a forest. Above me was a homemade shelter and I was lying on grass and moss under a blanket. All around me were the sounds of small animals and the rustling of leaves. There was a smell of plants and roasted meat in the air. Wait, roasted meat? My mouth watered at the thought and my stomach began to growl loudly.

‘Hahaha, someone's hungry. It'll be ready soon, then we can eat.’ <Eliza>

An unfamiliar female voice spoke to me, but I couldn't see her. I straightened up and looked around. Outside the shelter, about 15 metres away, I saw a small fire with a cauldron and three small birds roasting impaled on the edge of the fire. The smell in the air was pretty good.

‘Please move carefully. The wounds in your leg haven't healed completely. My magic wasn't enough for that.’ <Eliza>

In front of the fire sat a human woman around 16. She seemed average looking, but I sensed an aura that felt somehow familiar. I couldn't place it, but the aura reassured me. Then I grabbed my right leg where I had taken the arrows. The arrows were gone and I had been bandaged with pieces of cloth. I realised that I was lying under the blanket almost naked. Startled, I grabbed my ears.

‘Don't worry, you don't need to be afraid. I have nothing against Beastfolk. You're a cat person, right?’ <Eliza>

I was amazed and relieved. There were very few people who accepted our kind. How slim was the chance that I would be rescued by one of those few humans, of all people? Thank you, my goddess, it must have been her doing. I had to make an offering to her at the next opportunity.