"Who do you serve?" Farelen asked coldly.

  Harwin just stared — wide-eyed by this sudden question.

  Farelen impatiently placed his hand on the shoulder of the already shook caravan-master. Harwin now felt as if a large boulder had been placed on his being.

  "Human, I ask again: who do you serve?" Farelen repeated.

  Efrion did not try to stop his comrade as he was curious as well.

  "I—I have no master. I am a free-man...." Harwin's response made Farelen tighten his grip, but the former continued:

  "I as a free-man will serve the village chief, and the chief-commander till the day they deem me worthy of it."

  Farelen let him go, and made his way back to the caravan without further questions.

  Efrion on the other hand apologized to Harwin on behalf of his comrade. The caravan-master was not angry nor was he annoyed. He knew the nature of the battle-commander, and he was also aware that the elves would always be wary of him because of his race.

  They started to move again in the morrow. The road was bumpy, but not as troublesome as going through the forest. They were making good progress, but as there was no direct road connecting the forest and the city so it would take a day or two to get on the proper pathway.

  It was a perilous task as even a small detour from the original path could cost them a lot time to get back on the right track thus the captains were very vigilant. If all went well, it would take them a month to reach their destination.

  They made stops at various places to catch their breaths, but did not encounter a single person in the first week which was abit troublesome.

  It was in the middle of the night of the eighth day that a scout reported of having seen a small group of bandits near-by.

  Farelen took two younglings, Landel and even Harwin with him to get rid of them. From a safe distance they were able to determine the numbers. There were total five scoundrels, resting without a care in the world.

  Farelen ordered for the younglings to take down two of the bandits from a distance. He also commanded Harwin, and Landel to charge at whoever remained standing.

  The first phase went as planned, after two of them were shot dead the rest, being simpleton that they were, charged nonsensically to the attackers. Landel without even the slightest of doubt slayed one and then lunged at the other. Harwin just stood in-front of his target when he heard from behind:

  "LANDEL! DO NOT HELP THE CARAVAN-MASTER UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!" Farelen commanded.

  Without any choice and at the incoming strike from his enemy, Harwin striked as well but not to kill. He knocked the man unconscious in a single-strike. The short battle was over.

  Farelen made his way towards the him and ordered:

  "Execute him Gor, so you may prove to me where your loyalty lies."

  Harwin protested but to no avail — Landel tried to help his student and friend as well, but the battle-commander did not listen to anyone.

  Seeing that Farelen would not back off from his order, Harwin with shaky hands stepped towards the unconscious bandit. He looked one final time towards the battle-commander who still was stern in his decision.

  He lifted up his sword, and brought it down on the heathen — he killed a living person. The blood and grotesque sight made him thrown up.

  "I acknowledge you caravan-master, Gor." Farelen walked away after saying that.

  Landel tried to calm down Harwin up to the best of his abilities, but he was too shaken at what he had done.

  Harwin did not sleep for the rest of the night. He knew that the battle-commander meant to test him. The person executed was also not an innocent man, he was a bandit who would have not delayed a second if he got the chance to strike down Harwin, but none the less he had a killed a man. His hands were stained with blood, and he could no go back now.

  'I have become a murderer.' He thought to himself.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  The concept of morality was different for soldiers and civilians yet everyone in this world agreed that if someone tried to harm you or your loved ones, it was your given right to slay the person without any mercy or remorse afterwards. It was not a barbaric law in this world where the life of a person was as much worth as his deeds and position. If Harwin wants to return to his world, he will have to cross such boundaries on many occasions such as this.....

  Their journey continued for two weeks, yet they did not seem to reach their destination. They also did not come across any fellow travelers. The captains were a bit distressed.

  Harwin knew that they had to move north-east to reach the city once they had made their way out of the forest — there was no doubt in his mind. He had even brought a small map with him which was in one of the books that Alisa had let him borrow. He had already determined the poles from Iquaral who was well versed in the subject as well, so it was out-of-ordinary to not meet a single merchant, caravan or a traveller after being on the road for so long. None the less, they kept on moving

  It was in the middle of the fourth week that they finally saw a small caravan consisting of five carriages moving towards their direction. They slowed their pace, and finally came to a complete halt.

  The other party had members of mixed races — humans, elves and even a beast-man. They also stopped their movement, and wore worried expression.

  In Harwin's caravan, there were few who spoke the human tongue as well — the captains (even though they were men who loved bloodshed, they still were well-learned and could speak multiple languages, even write basic letters), Alisa and two of the craftsmen.

  Harwin jumped off from the carriage, and carefully approached the other party. Upon observing the worried expression of the other party, he stopped in his track to first introduce himself.

  “I am Gor, a fellow merchant as yourselves. I have come from the elfin village of the Great forest. We have not travelled on this road before, so can you kindly guide us for directions to the city of Neilwisk,” He spoke as warmly as he could.

  The beast man was the one who responded first — he appeared to be the caravan master of the group:

  “I am Raemon. We are coming from the city, and would be happy to assist you for directions, as it always brings great fortune to help a fellow man on the road. You are indeed following the correct path, and it will take you two days or so before you reach your destination. If you have anyother questions, feel free to ask.” He politely replied.

  “Thank you, I am grateful for such a warm response. We have some goods that we plan on selling in Neilwisk. I am sure you have already purchased your trading items, and are heading to the capital, but if you would like to inspect our goods as well, I am sure you will not be disappointed. We have the best wooden crafts in the whole continent, I can guarantee you that.” Gor proposed.

  “Very well, but do make haste as I am sure you as a merchant yourself are aware, time is valuable.” the beast-man replied.

  It was a familiar expression which made Harwin feel nostalgic of his old world, but he did not have time for such feelings or thoughts. He quickly asked the craftsmen who spoke the common tongue as well to bring the goods they planned on selling. The human from the other party was the one who made the appraisal.

  Farelen had also sauntered close to the other caravan and was observing carefully. Upon seeing such a giant presence near them, it made the other party a bit nervous — Efrion quickly noticed the tension, and asked him to return to the carriage as he stood in his stead.

  “Magnificent! This it the best piece of craftsmanship I have seen — truly a piece of art,” The appraiser, and even the other party members agreed.

  “So are you interested in purchasing these goods?” Harwin asked.

  “I can not even if I wanted to, as these goods are too well-made for a small merchant group like ours to purchase. I must say only a handful of the traders in the city would be willing to purchase it. I can offer you a very unfair amount, but it will not sit right with me. If you want to receive the true offer which is worthy for this craft, and any other similar ones, I suggest you to visit a store named 'Ashen Royalty'. It buys crafts of such quality, and later sells them to Royalty all across the continent. If you want to receive an even better offer, you will need to go to any Lord who are passionate about art, and they will offer you a price so ridiculously high that you will be able to feed a whole village for a year.” Raemon advised.

  “I thank you for your guidance, I am grateful. I would like to give you a piece of information as a way to try to compensate you for the time you have spent here. The Great forest now has a safe-passage through it, so you can save more than a month of travelling.”

  “Oh, but is it not infested by bandits on every corner? The elves have also closed off any path of entering it.” Raemon asked with concern.

  “That is not the case. The wood-elves, few of whom are present with me as well, got rid of all the bandits and destroyed their camp as well. They will offer you a safe passage from one end of the forest to the other. I can write you a small letter which you can show at the entrance of the forest, and they will not charge you anything this time.”

  “I will take you up on that offer. We are, but a small caravan so it will be very helpful if we can save even a day worth of supplies while travelling.”

  They waived each other off, and returned back to their respected caravans to start their journeys again. It was very reassuring to know that they were indeed on the right path, so everyone in the caravan was in a much better mood now especially the craftsmen — they were of-course already confident in their crafts, but to finally get the much needed recognition, and admiration put them in high spirits.

  It was a harsh journey for Landel, Alisa and the soldiers alike, they had never travelled before anywhere outside the village. It was blessing that neither of them had gotten sick during the whole journey.

  The city was now only a day or two away, and then their new tasks would begin. A new chapter will be added to the lives of all the caravan members in which they will all be able to contribute, no matter how small, to the eventual prosperity of their homeland. It was worth all the pain and suffering that they had endured.

  It was a journey that was worth taking, but only time will tell, what fate holds for them in-store.