Chapter 236: CrossroadsAs Corvus prepared to leave, he left me his bow, quiver, and most of his gear. I tried to refuse, but he insisted, “You need it more than me. I know where there is a Hound cache about a hundred miles from here, Eryk, take it and stop complaining. I will be fine,” he said with an affable smile.“There are caches?” I asked, confused as they were not part of the training.He studied me for a moment and then nodded in confirmation. “Just in the Western Empire. My father set them up, and only a few Hounds have the maps.” He considered me and pulled off his leather Hound jacket. Under the light of a glowstone, a map of part of the Western empire was clearly inscribed inside.“The cache locations are only visible under the light of Neptune’s tear.” He covered the glowstone, and a dozen pricks lit up brightly on the map under the moon’s light. “I will see about getting you a map to the caches when I see you again. They are buried a foot deep, so goblins don’t find them. They are always located near a forking tree, and there is a marker stone over the cache. Each cache has two full sets of Hound gear and four weeks’ worth of ration bars.”He shouldered his jacket back on and nodded to me, “I will need all the artifacts you took from the First Citizen traitor.” He looked apologetic.“Do you want the gold she carried as well?” I asked without hesitation in a neutral tone.He considered for a long moment, “That is probably best.” I pulled the amulet over my head and the pack from my dimensional space and handed it to him. “The ring and dagger are in the pack.”He hefted the pack, appreciating the weight. He looked confused and disappointed, “Those were the only artifacts she was carrying?” I nodded, and he sighed, and the Hound moved away at a jog.At least not (...)