Wei turned to his sister as the breakfast campfire group split, Borgrim heading off to talk to Mira as Lio went to read some books.

  “Meimei. Did you like your breakfast? There’s more if you want. These people are going to help us.”

  His sister didn’t move. She just stared blankly into space.

  He tried asking how she felt, if she’d slept well, what she wanted to do for the day. There was no response.

  After a few minutes, the [Paladin], Kira, emerged from the house she’d gone into earlier. She headed straight for Wei and Xiaoling and took a seat opposite them.

  “I’ve been discussing your situation with my sister and although we can’t be sure how you came to be here, or even where you came from, we’re not about to abandon you. Mira will discuss it with you later - she is the group leader so I’ve deferred to her in this, but I wanted to check in on the two of you.”

  His gut twisted.

  “I’m not sure what’s wrong with Xiaoling. She won’t respond.”

  A look passed between Kira and Nyssara, who was clearing up the remains of the breakfast. It was Kira who spoke.

  “I can’t be sure, Wei - I’m not [Healer] - but I’ve seen similar looks on soldiers and survivors of tragedies. I think she might be in shock. There’s something I can try but I’m not sure if it’ll help her.”

  “The calming tonic?”

  The [Paladin] hesitated.

  “No, although it is worth trying a small dose. If you’ll allow me, I would like to try a Skill on her.”

  Wei looked up, a glimmer of hope in the unshed tears in his eyes.

  “Please. I don’t know how to help her. Anything you can do…”

  Kira nodded and shuffled round the campfire to lay her hands on Xiaoling’s shoulder. She closed her eyes and bowed her head and began muttering under her breath. It lasted a full minute, until a warm golden radiance began to emanate from her hands and Xiaoling’s shoulder began to glow too.

  But when Kira opened her eyes and removed her hands, Xiaoling didn’t move. The [Paladin]’s face wrinkled in apology.

  “I’m sorry Wei, it’s not something I can overcome.”

  “Should I try the tonic then?”

  “Yes, but only the smallest sip. There are risks to that type of magic, but a drop should not make it worse.”

  A flutter of uncertainty ran through him.

  What would be worse than this? It wouldn’t kill her, surely? She would have said…

  At Kira’s encouragement he held up the vial to Xiaoling’s lips and tilted it until the liquid inside barely wet them. Reflexively, his sister drew them in and took the tonic with it, much like how she’d eaten and drunk.

  “Meimei - can you hear me?”

  For long moments, nothing happened, but then, by a fraction of a degree, her head tilted in his direction and her pupils flickered.

  “She heard me!” Wei said, holding the vial up to her mouth again.

  “No - no more yet.” Nyssara’s hand plucked the vial from his grasp and he started to stand, an exclamation on his lips, when Kira held up a hand.

  “Wait, Wei. I told you - only a little. A calming tonic - it does not remove the cause, it merely…delays it. I heard you crying in the night - I know the feeling returned for you.” He stiffened at the memory. “You were functional, if hurting. The tonic buys you time and distance from the trauma. Your sister is not functional. If we stop the feeling before she is ready to process it, then it will only come back stronger. This is an aid - not a cure.”

  He looked on, frustrated, but stopped as Xiaoling made a motion. Her hand rested briefly on her stomach, then brushed towards the ground. There was a look of consternation on her face.

  “Ah - does that mean what I think it does?”

  Wei nodded at Nyssara’s question, face growing red.

  “I - uh - I think so. Yes. W…wo-”

  “Wait here and I will escort her somewhere more private and… assist if needed.”

  Wei felt a wave of relief and guilt at the same time at Nyssara’s offer. They’d already done so much for them - but he couldn’t do that for his sister…

  As the half-elf led Xiaoling to a secluded spot behind a building, Wei turned back to the human woman with golden eyes and silver hair.

  “Whatever it takes to heal her - I’ll do it. I was showing Borgrim and the others the things I picked up and they were interested in them. I’d gladly trade them all for help if you know someone - a [Doctor]? A [Psychiatrist]?”

  Kira’s brow wrinkled.

  “I’m not sure what those are, Wei, but rest assured we’ll find the best [Healer] we can when we get back to town. There’s one that owes us a favour, and we need to pick up some health potions now we’ve lost Dorric…”

  Wei didn’t have a response for that other than to bow his head in thanks.

  —

  When Nyssara and Xiaoling returned, the half-elf left the girl back to the campfire and took the remnants of the breakfast over to the house Mira had still not emerged from. Borgrim wandered out moments later and came back to join the cluster, and at the [Ironshield Anvilguard]’s urging, and Kira’s insistence that they’d keep an eye on Xiaoling, Wei took some time to explore the village.

  The buildings lay alongside a narrow but fast-flowing stream.

  At Kira’s advice he’d first taken a few minutes to himself and had sat on the bank in silence, reliving the horrors of the previous day. He’d cried, and shaken, and then when it had begun to feel too much he’d taken a drop of the calming tonic. But only a drop.

  Now he had a task to do though, so he let the feelings return and only took a tiny amount when they threatened to overcome him.

  We’ll need money. Supplies, lodging, healing bills. It will all be on me. The Vanguard might help but we’re not their responsibility and they won’t be around for long - not if they are travelling seeking adventure.

  He wasn’t entirely sure what an adventurer did - or why they weren’t [Adventurers], but from what he gathered they didn’t stay in one place overly long. They’d only been out here to pursue some quest about a group of missing people - adventurers like themselves.

  Well, it was no mystery what had happened to them now.

  Starting at the far side of the village to the house where Mira was staying, and where Lio was reading, he began to look through the buildings.

  In the light of day, there were more than he’d seen when they’d rolled in the previous night, but still barely more than a dozen, and a couple of burned husks.

  Borgrim had said the village had been abandoned in a hurry - raiders or some sort of monster attack as far as the Vanguard could tell. Either way the people were long gone and not coming back, and the dwarf seemed to think there would be something of value he could find if he looked hard enough.

  Scavenging. [Scavenger]. It doesn’t sound like a noble profession, but better not to waste.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Besides:” he muttered to himself in imitation of his grandfather, “a beggar can’t complain if there's more water and less rice.”

  Borgrim had agreed on seven hundred gold for the axe, but Wei wasn’t too sure that was set in stone after the dwarf had come out of Mira’s place and suggested he try scavenging. Even if he did honour the deal - which could set him and his sister up for a year if they lived frugally - the cost for a healer hadn’t been discussed, and if a mana potion was fifty gold…

  Picking through the first house, Wei wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. The room he entered wasn’t large, and the only objects within were a couple of splintered chairs and a wooden tub stained with different colours. Further in was a bedroom. The bed frame itself was sturdy enough - much the same as the one he’d been given to sleep on - but the moulding mattress showed how long it had been abandoned. He and Xiaoling had only been lying on straw covered by a large blanket, with another to cover them, but it was far better than the alternative in this house. A room at the back held only some broken shelves and jars, and a stack of baskets that were covered in mildew.

  The second and third houses were much the same, though in one he found a broken glass jar filled with some sort of powder. He debated putting in the satchel - the Vanguard had given him Dorric’s old one to use - but it would just spill.

  It wasn’t until he tried a larger house that he found anything interesting.

  In a cupboard, half-obstructed by a fallen beam, in a room just to the side of what looked to be the main living space of the house, a splash of colour caught Wei’s eye. Once he’d shifted the beam to the side and cracked the door open, he found a stack of bolts of cloth. He ran his hand over one.

  Cotton? Silk?

  Whatever they were, they were all different colours, and though the ones touching the floor were mouldy, there were a couple propped up higher on the pile that seemed clean and dry. Wei added them to the satchel, then pried open the rest of the door and found more jars with coloured powder in - only one of which had cracked - and a mortar and pestle. He added them to his growing pile and kept looking.

  As he continued through the village, avoiding only the houses the adventuring team had claimed for their sleeping quarters, he became so absorbed in the work that he almost forgot the events of the previous day. Only once did he take another sip from the vial, and by the time the sun started its downward path, he’d added another roll of cloth, a couple more jars, some folded linens and a handful of coins to his stash of scavenged items.

  In between houses he made sure to step into view of the campfire and keep an eye on his sister, hoping for a shift in her blank demeanour but disappointed every time.

  He noticed the lack of change in Xiaoling, but he didn’t notice the conversations the Vanguard of Valour members had as they came and went, particularly not the one between Lio and Kira as he explored a burnt-out ruin for anything of note.

  “How much did you drop?”

  The mage shot a glance Wei’s way to check he was out of earshot before he replied to the [Paladin].

  “About elven golds worth, overall. And a mana potion and a healing potion.”

  “Disguised well enough? It won’t help him if it’s too obvious.”

  “I know what I’m doing. Besides, if he doesn’t find it here I can grab it when we leave and try again at the next stop.”

  “Only if it’s somewhere abandoned - I don’t want us suggesting he scavenge around populated places. That’s how people get a reputation as a [Thief].”

  “Well we’ll just have to take the longer route if we need.”

  “Fine. By the way, Mira’s picked up the trail of a group of bandits and some wild creature she thinks might be dangerous. She and Duskclaw will handle the beast if you and Nyssara want to hunt down the others.”

  “You and Borgrim will look after the children and the camp?”

  “Of course. I know when to let the stealthy ones take the lead, Lio.”

  His eyebrow raised with a sardonic smile.

  “We’ll see. If there are too many we’ll report back and hit them as a group then?”

  Kira nodded and cut off the conversation as Wei wandered back to the camp with one hand on the satchel they’d lent him.

  The young Chinese student walked up to find all of the Vanguard besides Mira round the campfire, which had been built up again as night began to fall, but the leader of the group finally came out of her temporary accommodation as he sat down.

  At Lio’s prompting he emptied the satchel as Borgrim began to prepare a stew for dinner.

  “I found a few bits and pieces.” He said as he stacked up the more delicate items off the ground. “There are some powders and bolts of cloth - I think this place used to dye clothes. There are a lot of tubs and stained surfaces around.” As the last objects came out he divided them into piles. “We’ve got cloth and dyes and tools, some dried berries - I don’t know if they’re for dying or eating or something else. There’s also some coins, and this wooden toy,” he pushed a carved duck to one side, “and then these I think might be the most valuable.”

  A couple of potion bottles made their own pile, and Mira’s eyebrow rose as she gave Kira a meaningful look, but the [Monster Hunter] didn’t say anything. From the house behind her, a large shadow ambled out of the door and made its way over to lie down behind her.

  “That’s quite a haul, lad.” Borgrim said as he pushed some potatoes over to Nyssara who sighed and pulled out a razor-sharp knife to peel them with. “I don’ know what it’s worth, but with any luck ye’ll be set up for a while.”

  “Enough time to find employment, if that is your goal, or to work out how to return to where you came from perhaps.”

  Wei looked over at Mira. The tone wasn’t unkind, it was encouraging. When he nodded his head in response, she went on.

  “Kira was telling me you’re hoping to find a [Healer] to help your sister. As she mentioned to you we have a contact in Troston; we can put you in touch with her. The prices are steep but fair, and if she can’t help she’ll say so and suggest an alternative without taking your coin.”

  “I would be most grateful for any assistance, Lady Mira, although I know you have all been more than generous to my sister and I already.”

  Nyssara snorted from where she was peeling potatoes, and Mira gave him a frank look.

  “I’m no [Lady], boy. Just call me Mira.” She accepted his nod and continued, looking round the rest of the group as she did so. “I heard you were considering looking for work as a [Scavenger] or [Wagon Driver], but we’ve been talking about how you kept your head yesterday and went to help Lio and Nyssara and we wanted to offer the opportunity for you to stick with us for a while if you wanted.”

  Wei’s eyes opened wide. “As an adventurer?”

  “As a [Protector].” Mira nodded, before Lio chimed in.

  “There’s danger, but we’d keep to easier jobs for a while to train you up - you seemed to level fast - and we’d kit you out too.”

  Unbidden, a laugh burst from Wei’s mouth. It was startling enough to get a reaction from even Xiaoling.

  “I’m sorry. I mean no disrespect. I cannot thank you enough for getting Xiaoling and I out of that… nightmare. But what you do seems mad. I never want to go somewhere like that again. Even if I had a hundred potions and armour and an unbreakable sword.” His voice trailed off. “I don’t want to be killed…”

  He expected some backlash, but Borgrim and Lio both began chuckling, and Nyssara smiled as the mage gave a rueful sigh and flicked a gold coin her way. She caught it without pausing in her potato peeling.

  “I wouldnae worry about hurtin’ our feelin’s lad. All us adventurer types’re a bit loopy. But it pays well!”

  Mira shrugged.

  “No judgement here if you want to keep to the towns and cities. Fair warning though - even [Wagon Drivers] and [Scavengers] need to watch out for trouble. Nowhere’s truly safe. Towns and caravans get hit by bandits; [Shopkeepers] get attacked by [Muggers]; anyone who gets a bit of wealth is a target for a [Thief]. Even if you’re not planning on heading into danger, it’s worth picking up a few Skills to keep you safe and keeping an eye out at all times.”

  Wei nodded his thanks.

  “I will take any advice you are willing to offer. I don’t know this place; I’ll need to learn quick.”

  “Of course. We’re already set on escorting you back to Troston and setting you up there. I understand that you made a deal with Borgrim too.” The dwarf turned red, and not just from the heat of the fire he was leaning over to cook. “I’ll honour that deal, and if the cloak proves as useful as I think it might I’ll make you an offer for that too, and possibly the necklace: magical items are always of interest to us. Borgrim will pay for the axe from his own pocket though.” She said with a meaningful look at the [Ironshield Anvilguard] before turning back to Wei. “I hope you’ll be okay if we arrange all the payments after we return to the guild in town though; we tend not to bring large amounts of coin with us on quests like these…just in case.”

  “Of course.”

  “Excellent. For now though, let’s put those other items away - keep the satchel - and see if we can help you with the [Wagon Driver] Class. You’ll want to be level 10 by the time we reach Troston or no one will look to hire you seriously. We can give you some self-defence lessons on the way so you’re not just a glorified [Herder] too - [Caravan Masters] and [Merchant Traders] love workers who can keep themselves safe.”

  Mira took him herself to sort out the cart whilst Borgrim and Nyssara finished preparing the dinner. They were followed by the shadowy creature, which Wei finally managed to get a better look at, finding it to be some sort of anteater-like beast with a body that was only partially corporeal.

  By the time Mira was done showing him basic maintenance for the wagon, how to look after the two Ironback boars that pulled it, how to hitch them to the yoke and tips on steering them, a rich aroma was drifting over from the campfire as the sun began to set.

  And as they sat round to eat, gently encouraging Xiaoling with the tiniest drops of calming tonic to aid her functioning, Wei found it was his turn to do some teaching.

  Lio and Kira were the most inquisitive about earth - about where he’d come from - and the mage in particular listened with mouth and eyes wide open, so much so that Wei was surprised he didn’t dribble as he ate. The others were polite, and Mira paid attention, but he could sense Borgrim and Nyssara switching off from things they couldn’t understand or weren’t interested in as he talked about school and computers and sports and travel and television. The only time the dwarf even seemed vaguely interested was when Wei talked about the kinds of meals his father served at his restaurant, and promised to show the [Ironshield Anvilguard] how to make noodles and pork jiǎozi.

  When Mira finally announced it was time to sleep, the Vanguard of Valour began to clear up from the dinner, and Nyssara took Xiaoling off to attend to her necessities whilst Wei prepared for bed himself. As he was settling down next to his sister, Lio came in with a final dose of calming tonic.

  “We’re low, but you should take a double dose to help you sleep through the night. Time and sleep heal all things. Well, almost all. I’ve filled up a canteen with water if you or Xiaoling get thirsty in the night. Let me know how you’re feeling in the morning.”

  Lio left the two drifting off, and went back out into the village to prepare to hunt as Mira and Nyssara geared up and Kira and Borgrim settled in to keep watch over the two children.

  Wei mumbled his thanks as the [Elemental Mage] disappeared out of the door, and tumbled into a dreamless sleep.

  [Scavenger Level 9!]

  [Skill – Scavenger’s Eye gained!]

  [Skill – Scrap Harvester gained!]

  [Wagon Driver Level 6!]

  [Skill – Basic Maintenance (Wagons) gained!]

  [Trader Class Obtained!]

  [Trader Level 6!]

  [Skill – Rudimentary Market Valuation gained!]

  [Skill – Better Trading Through Friends gained!]

  [Skill – Sympathetic Negotiation gained!]

  Hi all! Welcome to my book, Miscast Heroes.

  I'm uploading a few chapters to start with and then will upload one a day after.

  The full first book is available on Patreon - and I greatly appreciate anyone who chooses to support me there.

  Hope you enjoy it - please leave comments below!