Ascended

Max didn’t slow us down.

I was actually surprised that he was able to keep a brisk pace. I had been expecting him to drag his feet, but he fell in line behind me and didn’t show any signs of slowing down. If we kept up this pace, then we would reach Port Town in well under ten days.

I felt confident enough with our pace to angle us towards a well that was a little off-path. It would let us rest for a bit and refill our water bottles. To be honest, the faster pace was starting to wear on me and I wanted the break.

The well was in the middle of a deserted town. The town hadn’t been very big, just about a dozen buildings. There hadn’t been enough people there to build a wall or the people had all been killed before they could start. Nobody knew what really happened, but it was a place that the Bokor used to get water while traveling between towns.

Most people avoided the ghost towns, and for good reason. The old buildings were sometimes nests for Touched or zombies. The broken-down structures provided enough natural noise that only the most vigilant human would realize that they weren’t alone until it was too late.

I wasn’t very worried about this particular town. Master Bran and I had stopped here while on our last mission. A Touched might have taken up residence in the last few days, but that was unlikely. Plus, without a nearby food source, the odds of a zombie nest appearing in the last few days was almost impossible.

Max stopped at the first building, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

I didn’t feel like explaining everything. I just walked past the building, “It’s fine, come on.”

Max pulled out his sword and followed me into town. I wasn’t going to blame him for being cautious. I had my hand resting on my dagger and was scanning the corner of every building. Despite the low chance of there being any danger, it would be foolish not to be on guard.

The well was located in the middle of the town. A stone wall with a wooden lid on top. The lid looked very out of place compared to the rest of the town. Most of the buildings showed signs of age and wear, but the lid was fairly new. It had probably been replaced in the last year or two by one of the Bokor. I pulled the lid off and tugged on the rope attached to the well. It wasn’t long before I pulled up the metal bucket about half full of water.

I scooped up a handful and touched it to my lips. Wells had been poisoned in the past, but this water was sweet, not sour or bitter like poisoned water. Someone could have used a tasteless poison, but highly unlikely on this out of the way well.

“Is it okay?” Max asked, never lowering his sword or taking his eyes off the buildings.

“It’s good.” I took out my bottle and filled it up.

“Can you get mine?” Max held his bottle out with his left hand while keeping his right hand on his sword.

“Sure,” I dropped the bucket back into the well. It came back with enough water to fill up his bottle.

“Thanks.” He took the bottle and slipped it into the holster on his hip, “Can we leave now?”

“Once I seal this back,” I replaced my water bottle in my own holster before tossing the bucket back into the well.

“Why are you so nervous?” I asked, “If there were any zombies, we would’ve seen them by now.”

Max didn’t look at me, “Can you please hurry?”

I shrugged. If he didn’t want to talk about it, that was fine with me. I flipped the wooden lid back on top of the well. It would stay in place until the next group came through looking for water.

“We’re good,” I announced. That was all the information that Max needed. He took off at a brisk pace back the way we had come.