The Northern Forest was a very different place once the sun had set.
Trees that had once looked peaceful by day now loomed like silent sentinels, branches clawing at the sky. The night air was cooler here, damp and still, and every rustle or snap of twig felt louder than it should. But the four adventurers were calm, collected, and focused.
They had set up camp in a small hollow near an old, fallen tree. A fire crackled in the center, warm and bright, pushing back the darkness just enough. The smell of pine and moss hung in the air, along with faint traces of smoke.
Garth sat with his back to a rock, arms folded as he stared into the fire. Nellie lounged nearby, dagger still in hand, rolling it between her fingers. Liora and Tessa sat together, sharing a thin woolen blanket as they dried out their cloaks.
After a long silence, Garth cleared his throat and spoke first, his voice low and steady.
"I'm Garth. Been with the guild nearly twenty-five years now. A-rank. Forty-seven years old." He glanced around the circle briefly, then added, "And still not too old to crack skulls, in case you're wondering." I'm also the party leader of Godwins Bane.
Nellie smirked. "Noted, grandpa."
Without missing a beat, she followed up, flipping her dagger once more before sheathing it.
"I'm Nellie. I'm a wolf demi-human. Despite how I look, I'm twenty-two. Also A-rank. Spent most of my early years in the western provinces hunting wyverns and babysitting overconfident rookies. Present company excluded… for now." and I'm a member of Godwins Bane.
Tessa blinked at her. "You really don't look twenty-two."
"I get that a lot," Nellie said with a wink.
Then all eyes turned to Liora.
Sitting upright, her expression calm and clear in the firelight, Liora spoke with a quiet strength that settled over the group like a second blanket.
"I'm Liora," she began. "Nineteen years old. B-rank. I started as a solo adventurer when I was fifteen, and moved to this village a little over a year ago."
She placed a hand gently on Tessa's back.
"This is Tessa," she continued, "my daughter. She's fourteen. D-rank adventurer, and still training. But she's sharp, and she's braver than most grown men I've met."
Tessa blushed faintly but didn't argue. Garth raised a bushy brow at the word "daughter" but didn't ask, just gave a quiet nod of understanding. Nellie's expression softened too, her usual sharp smile replaced by something more thoughtful.
"Well," Nellie said, breaking the quiet, "I wasn't expecting a mother-daughter duo out here. That's… kind of amazing."
"It wasn't the plan," Liora said softly, looking at the fire. "But life doesn't always follow plans."
The fire crackled. A gust of wind rustled the trees above. Somewhere in the far distance, a howl echoed through the woods, too far to be a threat, but close enough to remind them why they were here.
"Rest in shifts," Garth muttered, standing slowly and reaching for his bedroll. "We move deeper at first light."
As everyone settled in for the night, the glow of the fire danced across their faces, four adventurers from four different walks of life, brought together not by fate, but by necessity.
And tomorrow, the forest would test them all.