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Chapter II

Travelling along a dirt and stone road, the young caravanners begand to feel the first sense of adventrue. It was early afternoon on a late-summer day. The foliage of the trees had already begun to transform into shades and hues of warm autumn colours; red, yellow, orange, and brown. They had just packed up from a picnic lunch of bannock, salted fish, fresh apples, and milk from back home. The air was a cool temperature; just enough so that you would not become hot and sweaty with exercise. The group was wholly enjoying the day when they came upon an old, rustic, broken-down wooden gate. They looked beyond the gate and saw beautiful green, rolling hills, with crude wooden battlements constructed by the few goblins that lived there. And in the center of it all was a small river of crystal clear, bubbling water, fed by an unseen spring.

"We had best equip and prepare ourselves," said Jehosaphat, breaking the tranquil silence with his metallic voice. The others nodded, and they each brought out their separate chests with their armor and weaponry. Jehosaphat tied the Papaomus and carriage to a nearby tree. Equipped and ready, the caravanners walked under the old gate and entered the River Belle Path.

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They had walked along for some time uncontested, peacefully enjoying the calm countryside, almost in a trace by the warm earthly air that came with the gentle breeze; it set heavily on them, but it did so comfortably. The serene sound of the water almost put them to sleep. The group walked along the path at a slow pace, caught completely off-guard by the unexpected surroundings of the myrrh.

"Ahh!" screamed Megan, as the others turned to look at her. They all saw her forehead bleeding from a deep cut in her forehead. Rafael quickly ripped off a piece of his shirt, wrapped it around his hand, and firmly pressed it against the cut.

"That was a sling shot! Go find the goblin!" he shouted in a strong voice.

Immediately Othello and Jehosaphat took off around the corner, with Kayla right behind. They saw a band of 4 goblins behind a poorly made wooden stockade. A slinger, a swordsman, a shaman, and a captain. Kayla pulled an arrow out of her quiver, and shot the slinger right in the chest, taking first blood. With a yell, Othello jumped towards the shaman, bringing his sword downwards in a stroke powered by both hands. He heard another scream when the air in front of him brightened, and exploded with a firey blast, knocking him sideways into the ground. He arose from the dust, the entire front side of his body singed, and looked at the burnt shaman, also noticing that the head of a spear was lying on the ground. Othello realized that if Jehosaphat had not knocked him away, he would have been impaled on the captain's spear. He got up and charged the captain, keeping a watchful eye, as Jehosaphat and Kayla coordinated a killng attack on the sword goblin. The captain pulled out a wicked looking blade and took a horizontal swipe at Othello. But Othello ducked, and rolled by the goblin captain, slashing at his knees on the way by. The lone goblin, burnt and crippled, let out a bloodcurling scream as Kayla, her aim true, shot the creature straight into the head, killing it instantly.

They all returned to Rafael who was now dressing Megan's wound. She was alright, despite the fairly large cut to her head, and was now blushing slightly at Rafael's gentle touch. Although that disappeared when she saw Othello, whose exposed skin was now bright red, and his clothes slightly burnt.

"What happened?!?" she shouted, a look of alarm on her face.

"Jehosaphat saved my life is all." he replied, looking towards the Yuke with an expression of deep gratitude. "I guess this was a wake up for us all, huh?"

They all nodded in approval, each making a promise to themselves to do better next time.

And thus they set off again, not falling sway to the River Belle's deceitful aura, and keeping an alert eye out for the next goblin band.

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After learning their lesson from the first monster encounter, the caravanners travelled swiftly through the rest of River Belle Path, slaying many goblins along the way. Othello grew smarter with each passing battle; Kayla's aim improved; Rafael and Megan actually began to fight, and Jehosaphat's magic casting improved. This first sidetrack for myrrh turned out to be more a training lesson then a struggle. Each of the teenagers were growing stronger by the minute, their adrenaline pumping from their first experiance of battle. They had fought their way up the river to the waterfall that powered it through the hills. As they approached the waterfall, the serene beauty again washed their worries away.

"Hey! There's the myrrh tree!" shouted Megan, gesturing towards the left side of the pool of the waterfall. She began to run towards it, when the ground started shaking.

"Wait!" called Rafael after her, running to catch up.

All in one moment, a giant crab burst out from behind the waterfall, and Megan was standing withing its shadow. But in one quick motion, Rafael dived and grabbed Megan, sliding under the giant crab when it landed, and standing up, ready to attack it from behind. Othello readied his sword and shield, right along side of Jehosaphat, already conjuring a spell, and Kayla, arrow already nocked and pulled back, ready to fire.

With a loud battle-cry, Othello ran towards the crab, his sword drawn back, ready to strike. As he got close, he began to bring down his sword, but the crab swung its heavy disformed claw, and batted Othello aside, landing in the water with a splash. The others took advantage of the crab's distraction and struck in full force. Jehosaphat cast a fire spell directly into the monster's face, and Kayla tried to shoot out its one good eye, but missed as it turned to attack Rafael, who had just cut deep into its back. The crab took a wide swing at Rafael, who dogded it with an amazing display of dexterity and speed, and lost its balance. Othello had since recovered, and now jumped onto the monster's back, plunging his sword deep into the flesh, and Megan took a swipe at the back of its leg with her club, making a direct hit, breaking its joint, causing it to fall to the ground.

It wasn't long before the immobilized monster was finished off by the band of now battle-hardened teenagers, and soon enough they were at the foot of the myrrh tree, mezmerized by the beauty of it, watching the drop fall into the chalice, filling it about a third of the way. They all returned to their caravan, left untouched since they had last seen it.

Their first drop of myrrh took them all day to acquire, not to mention all of their strength. The exhausted caravanners all settled in the small covered wagon, and quickly fell asleep.

The first part of their long journey was now complete.