Solvi makes a new fire at her camp and starts cooking the meat the Viking gave her. Knowing that it will take a while for the meat to be ready, she collects some berries and herbs nearby. A tall plant with pointed leaves and round red petals catches her eye.

‘You know I think it’s time for them to learn about my medicine instead.’ She picks the flower carefully and makes her way back to camp. Once there she gets a small water sack out of her bag and places the petals inside, making sure that none of the leaves or stem get mixed in, after mashing them up. Putting the stopper back on she makes sure that it’s secure and shakes it with vigor. Sloshing water tells her that the petals are getting mixed up nicely. She opens it up and smells inside to see if it’s been mixed well enough. The sweet aroma followed by a sharp bite is exactly what she was looking for.

‘I can always count on Solanthvi flowers to be there when I need them.’ Refitting the stopper on the water sack, she makes her way over to the Viking camp. Creeping closer to the edge, she waits for the guard to walk past then runs up and places it on the ground then returns to the underbrush for cover.

The guard returns and finds the water sack sitting on the ground. “What is this? ‘For your injured crewman, it will help to ease any pain.’ Hmm, wonder where it came from.” Reading the note on the side of the bottle he heads back inside camp.

Solvi hides her smile and goes back to her camp where her food is waiting.

She eats all she can and falls asleep next to the fire.

In the morning when she wakes up her fire has turned to embers and the meat that was left on the fire is now burnt. She sighs and gets up reluctantly.

‘My arm doesn’t hurt as much today, the meat and herbs must have helped. Best to change the bandages though. I wonder if the Viking can put on a new one… What am I saying? I don't need his help, I can do this myself.’

Refusing to accept any more help, she removes the bandages and cleans her arm in the river. The wound that was swollen and red last night, is now a more normal color and close to being back to the normal size again.

‘At least I’ll have a nice new scar with a story behind it.’

Solvi rewraps her arm, and she can’t get the bandaging to sit as well as the Vikings’. Looking toward the Vikings camp, she doesn't see any sort of movement or hear anyone talking either.

‘Are they still asleep? That's surprising. Maybe I can get a better look at them without them seeing me.’ She moves toward the Viking camp, ready to hide at a moment's notice.

Peeking over the hill, there's nothing to be seen, no tents, no fires, and no Vikings anywhere. It’s like they were never there, to begin with.

‘What is going on? I just saw them last night, how could they leave so fast?’ Solvi's mind races. She questions herself for a minute, then decides that it's dumb. ‘they had to be here, it can't just be my mind playing tricks on me.’ She shakes the thought from her head and walks to the now empty field.

Around her are flattened patches of grass where the tents and bedrolls used to be. A ring of stones is all that's left of the fire they had just the night before. A few papers are left forgotten on the ground scattered by the wind.

She picks up one of the papers with some writing on it, and reads it. ‘Thank you for the medicine, it saved his life.’

“So he left a note saying thank you instead of just telling me in person. Coward.” Solvi says to herself crumpling the paper in her hand and throwing it to the ground again.

“That bastard ran off before we could finally fight again!” Solvi shouts to the empty forest. “Time to continue the hunt for him, and I won’t let him get away this time.”

Back at camp, she packs up the rest of her things and gets on the traders road again.

Walking along the path, shouts echo from around a bend. Creeping through the bushes she investigates what’s going on and finds three bandits attacking some traveling merchants. She readies her bow and moves closer.