Once G had the stone armor on, they picked up on of the trunks of armor and put the silver leg in the trunk. Walking to the exit where Alex stood ready, they exited through the still open door to the hallway. Looking behind them at the ornamented door, G hesitated.
"Are you sure we should leave the crest there? We could probably bust it off if we tried."
Looking back to them, Alex glanced at the door, then continued walking.
"I'm sure. We can come back in a few days with a cart to get the rest. Besides, I doubt we could get the crest off the door without damaging it. I'd rather us get as much as possible since this stuff should be worth enough to cover anything we need at the moment."
Letting out a sigh, G followed behind Alex, making their way back to the surface. The trek took about the same amount of time as coming down since while they were weighed down by the spoils of adventure, they didn't have to worry about anything unexpected and could walk at full speed.
When the duo finally made their way back up to the final stairway leading to the surface, Alex and G both let out a sigh of relief. While they could technically see in the darkness, whether by torch or innate ability, the light shining through the canopy high above made for a welcome sight.
The clearing around the no longer recognizable statue was much easier to parse now that it was sunny out. The ground with a thin layer of dirt and thinner roots was much easier to navigate, and Alex could look above to see the bright blue sky unobscured by the massive canopy that marred the rest of the forest's view.
Unlike the road that ran from Mosshaven, this clearing was wide enough that the massive treetops were not quite large enough to fully obscure the center of this space measuring about 100 meters in diameter.
Setting down the box, Alex sat down and leaned his back against it, taking a rest after the long walk out of the tunnel. G doing the same, except they instead came over to look inside the box Alex had arranged.
"I never got the chance to look at what all you shoved in here. I know you said it wasn't anything interesting, but you never know for sure…"
Digging through the box, they took stock of the loot. The metal parts of 3 swords, 2 spears, 2 maces, and 3 knives were tucked under the ornamented shield bearing an insignia.
'Neither of us use a shield, but Alex could probably use a knife for cooking and skinning, so we should keep one of those. I'll take one of the spearheads to fix my spear, and the rest should probably just be sold.'
"Man, I can't wait to get back to town and get a room. A nice, soft bed…how long do you think we'll take? 2 hours?"
"Something like that. I'm pretty parched; luckily we were walking at night or in that tunnel, so I'm not too dried up yet, but next time, remind me to bring a water skin or something."
Taking a few minutes to just look at the sunny environment around them and figuring out which direction to go to get back to the city, the 2 got up and walked to the northeast. The road should be to the east from the ruins, and Mosshaven was somewhere north of them. As for remembering where this clearing was, they left scratches in the trees as they walked; just a simple vertical cut, something that could be mistaken for a pattern in the bark of the trees.
Discussing the events of their first adventure in the Dream as they walked, Alex wondered about what force kept the 'Silver Cage' animated despite clearly not being alive in the normal sense.
"So, what do you think the Silver Cage was, G? Personally, I'm leaning towards something like a gargoyle, made to protect someone's tomb, but being called "cage" wouldn't make sense then, as it wasn't a cage for the skeleton."
Making another mark in the trees as they walked, G thought for a moment, then turned to Alex.
"You remember how there were 3 sets of armor aside from this one being worn by the skeleton on the altar? Those 3 silver figures might have been retainers or squires of the person entombed, and they were made to guard the tomb from intruders."
"That would make sense, but it doesn't explain what kept the statue animated. I guess it doesn't really matter, it just got me thinking…"
"We can look into that later, when we eventually go back to that tomb. Hey, you can see the road from here…that means we shouldn't be too far from Mosshaven."
Looking in the direction that G had pointed to, Alex saw the road stretching south from Mosshaven all the way to the further settlement to the north. Turning so that the 2 could reach the road earlier, they continued down the road to Mosshaven.
It took about 30 minutes to come within eyeshot of the ancient, overgrown walls around Mosshaven and the fields of grain surrounding them. The small line of people trying to enter the city extended out of the enormous gate, acting as a lure for the duo.
Approaching the lines leading into the city with the trunks in hand, Alex and G joined the others in the queue. Around them were people of various professions; merchants, discernible by their carts filled with various wares, other hunters or adventurers, equipped with different types of armor and weapons, and simple farmers who are in charge of maintaining the fields surrounding the city.
Making sure the boxes were closed so as to not show off what they found, Alex and G waited their way through the bustling line of arrivals until they were at the front of the line. Alex didn't recognize any of the guards on duty at the line, so he assumed that they rotated position every day.
The guards, once the 3 in front finished up with the group of merchants traveling in front of Alex, looked to him as Alex was standing in front.
"Halt, citizen. What is contained within the trunks you're holding? The law deems it necessary that we make sure all cargo carried by unidentified peoples are safe to be brought into the city."
A bit surprised at the difference of rules for entering the city versus exiting, Alex responded to the guards.
"These trunks are holding some old equipment we scavenged from the forest south of here. Here."
Setting the trunk he held onto the ground and motioning for G to do the same, he opened them up and displayed the contents to them.
'Thankfully we flipped the tabard on the stone armor, otherwise we might've been pinned for impersonating a former noble or something. Hopefully they don't make a fuss over the stuff in the trunks. The silver leg might be dangerous, but the metal itself is probably worth a lot, so hopefully it's not taken.'
The guards rustled through the contents of the trunk, scrutinizing it thoroughly. When one of the guards saw the insignia on the metal round shield, they adopted a stern look on their brow, then called over one of the other 2 guards talking closer to the central building.
The one who came over was much older looking, possessing short grey hair visible from under his helmet and a scraggly beard obscuring his facial features. Having a small medal pinned on the top of his tabard, they looked to be of a higher rank than the others.
Kneeling down to closely look at the trunk, his brow furrowed in thought. Rubbing his beard for a moment, they suddenly paused, then looked up to Alex.
"You're lucky, boy. This shield looks to be in good condition, and it used to belong to the leading clan of Mosshaven; or at least, someone related to them. But this…leg. It's a dangerous item. The city will compensate you for it, but you'll have to pick up the money from the exchange office in the South Gate district. We'll write a memo so they know who you are."
'So the leg was dangerous…I guess maybe whatever animated it could be magic that spreads?'
Standing up, the older guard said something quietly to another guard holding parchment, then went back to the guard he was conversing with before.
The original one looking through the trunks stood up after using a cloth to wrap the silver leg and addressed Alex.
"Alright citizen, you're free to go inside the city. Make sure to visit the exchange office before tomorrow, or that memo will be void. Enjoy your day."
Once he finished speaking, the guard gestured for the one with parchment to come over and moved aside himself. The guard holding parchment ripped a bit of the bottom piece off after writing a quick memo in script Alex didn't recognize, then gave the piece to Alex.
"Thank you. Let's go, G."
Walking forward past the guards, they had finally made it back to Mosshaven proper.