“True, however, how will you know when you have found what you are looking for?”
“We will simply know when we find it,” Philbert replied. A brief silence fell, only to be disturbed by another question from Max, who was staving to drive off sleep for the time.
“Can I as you question?” Max asked.
“Yes,” Philbert responded simply.
“What do you think of Doug?”
A brief moment passed before Philbert replied. He seemed to be trying to gather his thoughts and give a decent answer. “He is my son, although he can be stubborn sometimes, I still care for him deeply. He still has much to learn before he can become the next priest of the Park tribe,” he diplomatically responded. Max was not going to be able to get any more of a reply from him. The question seemed to irritate Philbert as well, which did not surprise Max from the previous conversation with Doug.
A long silence passed before it was time for Carl and Mark to take the next watch.
Mark and Carl took their place in the front room for their shift at watch. Mark was still bitter at having his idea of not staying at this apartment shot down without much discussion. Carl could care less.
“I still think this place isn’t safe,” Mark commented.
“We should be fine as long as we leave quickly in the morning,” Carl said. “It also has been quite some time since raiders attacked.”
“So then another attack might be coming any day now,” Mark coldly said.
“Not very likely, although it is a possibility. The raiders never made it back to their dwellings deep in this world, so I would imagine that anyone they left behind would be afraid to go looking for them,” he replied.
“What do you mean they never made it back?” Mark questioned.
“All the raiders were killed the last time they attacked.”
“Didn’t they flee when they realized they were losing the battle?”
“They tried, but our warriors ran them down and slaughtered them all.”
“Why?”
“So they could not tell their people our weaknesses, and to show that raids on our village will not be tolerated.”
“I would think that their friends would come looking for them,” Mark claimed.
“Perhaps before the chaos, that might have been the case,” Carl replied. “But since then, those who have remained deep within the world have gone insane. They do not reason, what remains are creatures that look like you or I but are wild and not governed by reason and faith in the House Gods.”
A quite shuffling should be heard on the opposite side of the door in the corridor.
“Shhh!” Mark quietly uttered.