Luckborn

They left at dawn the following morning.

Otter had expected a formal send-off—someone from the Guild waving them through the gate, maybe even Greaves with a last-minute warning—but there was none of that. Just a clerk handing over a rolled map and a writ declaring their connection to the guild. She didn't even tell them "good luck."

Preparations had taken no time. They already had all their gear on their backs, and no one had any money to buy more. They'd taken one look at the greasy, smelly bunk room in the guild hall and decided to find lodging elsewhere. Fortunately, Otter still had some alms left in his pocket. Unfortunately, it would only pay for one room in a nearby inn.

So they were bleary-eyed when the gates opened, and they walked into the rising sun—all but Jasper, who claimed to have had a great night's sleep.

"Of course you slept great," Milo muttered. "Your snoring was what kept the rest of us awake all night."

The road southward wound through open fields and weathered stone fences, slowly giving way to wider stretches of scrub and tangled brush. The paved stones of the city thinned into packed earth, rutted from wagon wheels and damp from the morning dew.

Erin led for the first leg, setting a steady pace. Sage kept an eye on the horizon. Milo shuffled through a book Otter had seen him with on many occasions—his spell book, maybe—occasionally tripping but somehow never falling. Jasper made a game of kicking pebbles into a line.

Otter took the rear, watching the others.

This was real now. No instructors. No safety nets. Just five people with gear and grit, headed into the unknown. It felt different in his chest—like something inside him had sat up straighter.

For the first few hours, the group chatted easily. Jasper wondered aloud at what the Kaosling might look like. Otter described the least dangerous ones he'd learned about in his Monster ID class. Milo pointed out every mildly interesting rock they passed and spouted off its likely mineral composition and rarity. Sage listened more than she spoke, but laughed at every joke.

By late morning, the laughter had softened. The novelty of walking wore off. While both Otter and Erin were used to walking for miles on end, it became clear that the others were not. They stopped at a shaded clearing for a break.

"I still don't get why they didn't send a proper scout team," Jasper said between drinks.

"Because they didn't want to waste one," Erin replied. "Why send a level 4 or 5 team to scout a level 1 threat?"

"Right," Milo said. "Because there's only ever one Kaosborn lurking in the dark."

"It's just a report," Otter said. "We don't even know if it's a real threat. If we determine that it is real, then they'll send a different team. I'm sure of that."

They walked again through the heat of midday. The sun climbed higher. Sweat dampened everyone's brow and clung to the clothing beneath their packs.

Otter was the first to comment on it as he adjusted his backpack for the hundredth time. "There has to be a way to vent this swamp in between my shoulder blades."

Erin chuckled, but Milo took that as his cue to start complaining.

Otter kicked himself for opening his mouth, but given the volume and veracity of Milo's complaints about everything from the heat to his shoes to the weight of his pack, Otter decided the young Spell Lord couldn't have held it in much longer anyway.

Jasper laughed at Milo's discomfort at first, but his amusement quickly gave way to irritation. "Milo, if you don't shut up and suffer in silence like the rest of us, I'm going to stuff my handkerchief in your mouth and tie it in place."

Milo shot him an angry look and stopped complaining. For about five minutes.

Jasper growled and charged after him. Milo let out a shriek, dropped his pack, and ran. But Jasper, even carrying all his gear, was faster. He caught up to Milo and tackled him, both going to the ground. Jasper wrestled him around until he lay on top of Milo, who was pinned helplessly beneath. Jasper had his handkerchief out and was attempting to stuff it in Milo's mouth.

Sage stepped up and laid a hand on Jasper's back. "That's enough," she said. "You've made your point."

Jasper stilled, then got to his feet. His face was red. "I…I'm sorry, Milo. I shouldn'ta done that." Then he offered his hand to Milo.

Milo glared at him, but finally took the offered hand, and Jasper helped him to his feet.

"None of us is used to this," Sage said. "It's hot, we're tired, and likely nervous about what lies ahead. But this is what we signed up for. Complaining and fighting amongst ourselves will only make things worse. I suggest we take more frequent breaks until we become accustomed to this type of travel."

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Otter picked up Milo's pack and brought it to him.

"Thanks," he mumbled. Then he turned to Jasper. "Sorry I'm being annoying."

"Yeah, well. Sorry I'm so irritable."

Before long, the road narrowed into long stretches bordered by low hills and tall grass. Every now and then, they watched as birds soared overhead.

They stopped more frequently, drinking plenty of water. Milo kept his complaints muted, though not entirely silent. Otter started telling stories to keep their minds off their discomfort. Most were old stories he'd read in primary school, though some were even older. He wasn't a great storyteller and often left out big chunks of narrative, but it had the desired effect. Soon, the others were offering to fill in the gaps in his memory with their own versions of the stories.

By the time the sun dipped low, the golden light slanting across the hills cast long shadows over the road. Due to so many rest breaks, they hadn't covered as much ground as they should have. By Otter's reckoning, they were still five or six miles from their destination.

"We should start thinking about where to make camp," Erin said, shielding her eyes and scanning the horizon. "I think we should wait until morning to make our final arrival, and setting up camp in the dark is no fun."

"I think I saw a stand of trees from the last rise," Otter said. "Might give us some cover."

They continued onward for another ten minutes before cresting a hill and saw a ring of tall, narrow trees standing in near-perfect formation. A dozen of them, evenly spaced, their trunks pale and straight. The branches were sparse, but the shape—circular, deliberate—was unmistakable.

"Now that's not normal," Erin said quietly.

Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Could be planted like that. By, I don't know, a farmer with an aesthetic streak."

Otter felt the back of his neck prickle. "We're not going to sleep in there, are we?"

Jasper tilted his head. "We should at least look."

"I vote no," Milo said immediately. "That place gives me the creeps."

"Then stay here," Erin replied. "But I'm going to check it out."

No one stayed there. They all followed her down the incline and through the tall grass, which gave way suddenly at the edge of the circle. The air grew still, cooler somehow.

Inside the ring, the grass was replaced by a bed of moss and wild clover. In the center of that patch, untouched, lay a shield.

Otter took a slow step forward to get a better look.

It was metal, with signs of rust lining the edges. No emblem marked its face. No sigil, no crest, no border etching. It looked both old and oddly preserved—like it had been left there deliberately.

Erin came to stand beside him. "What are you thinking?"

"I don't know. It's kind of weird. Don't you think?"

Erin nodded.

Jasper stepped closer. "Well, it looks like a perfectly good shield. I say we take it."

"Wait," Sage said, holding up a hand. "We don't know what this is yet."

"It's a circle of trees with a piece of metal in it," Jasper said. "What's there to know?"

"Even if it's not magical," Erin said, "this was placed here. That means someone thought it mattered."

Otter knelt beside it and ran his thumb over a thin crack in the rim. "I don't feel anything. Milo? Can you tell if it's magical?"

"I can. It'll take some time, but yeah. Do you guys want to set up camp while I get to work?"

"That sounds like a good idea," said Erin. "Though I think we should set up outside the trees, just to be on the safe side."

As Erin, Jasper, and Sage moved to the outer perimeter of the trees, Otter hung back for a moment to watch Milo. He'd seen him cast spells before, but this was something different.

Milo took out his spellbook, opened it, and scanned a page before rummaging through his pack for a candle. Then he found a stick lying on the ground and started using it to scratch lines in the moss around the shield. He referred back to his book several times, then continued his work. After ten minutes or so, he stood back, appraising the crudely drawn design, then shrugged. He lit the candle, placed it on some part of the sketch, and said an incantation. The lines began to glow with a soft white radiance, and Milo walked a circle around the shield, studying it without touching it.

When he was finished, he broke the magic circuit and turned to Otter, who still stood there watching. "It's not magical." Then he left the trees and joined the others.

Shortly, Erin had a fire going, and the five of them sat around it looking at each other.

"Milo says it's not magical."

"So what's it doing there?" asked Erin, tossing another stick on the flames.

"It feels like it was placed there for a reason," said Sage. "Like an offering."

"Or maybe someone dropped it," offered Jasper.

"Smack in the middle of a suspicious and perfectly arranged circle of trees? That seems unlikely."

"There aren't even any remains," said Otter. "No body, no bones. Just the shield. It's really weird."

"I'm picking it up," Jasper said. "If it's nothing, we'll know. If it's not—"

Otter interrupted him. "I think the smart thing to do would be to wait until morning. We all need to get a good night's sleep. And we shouldn't do anything rash before that happens. Agreed?"

After a moment, Jasper nodded.

"Okay, we need to set a watch schedule," Erin suggested. "That's Adventuring 101."

With five of them, they were able to set a schedule where no one would lose too much sleep, and they settled in for the night.

At first light, Jasper was up and standing next to the shield. Otter quickly joined him. One by one, so did the others. When they were all assembled, Jasper knelt and slid his fingers beneath the rim.

Nothing happened.

He lifted it slowly.

Nothing stirred. There was no shift in the air. No sound. No fireballs exploded up from beneath.

But under the shield, pressed into the moss, was a piece of parchment sealed in cracked wax.

After a quick glance at Erin, he bent and gently lifted the paper. The wax had long since split, and the ink had faded to near illegibility. But two words remained:

Forgive me.

No one spoke for a long moment.

Finally, Jasper said, "Okay, now I vote for leaving it."

Otter folded the paper carefully, tucking it into his satchel.

Milo looked around the circle. "Anyone else feel like we just walked into a story we weren't invited to?"

"Yes," Sage said. "And I don't like it."

Otter looked back at the road. The trees felt taller now. The wind had stilled.

But there was no danger. No curse. No trap.

Just a shield. And a mysterious message.

He took a breath. "Let's keep moving."