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...and the travellers stopped, and made their camp beside the road, and though they were tired it was not yet late enough for sleep, and one said, "Someone tell us a tale, to make the evening pass more easily."
There was silence for a piece, as each looked aside and waited for another to begin, and then the Physician spoke.
The Physician's Tale.
"I have a tale of my own experience, a story of joy and sorrow and how I came to be here on this road, small in the night with you few others.
"Once I loved, a woman beautiful and kind, of decent status and respectable wealth. We planned to marry in the summer, but in the spring of that year she fell ill and died, for all my art and the art of all those that I knew.
"And I was left bitter, and looked for somewhere to place the blame. At first I simply blamed all those who survived where she did not, for I thought that she had died through some rare mischance. Then the Captain came and told me that she had fallen to an evil beyond our detection, and his call was to oppose those forces that caused harm without reason. So in her name I took service with him, to fight the evils that would pass unseen."
Some of the others had heard this story, and some not, but all nodded and agreed that it was a noble action on the Physician's part, to fight against deadly foes in the name of his lost love. The Physician made no answer to them, only tossed another piece of wood onto the fire and watched the sparks spiral upwards.
The Drifter spoke into the silence that settled even as the sparks did. "I also have a story of love, but my part in it is not as fine as yours. The strength of my love led me astray into betrayal and darkness."
The Drifter's Tale.
"I too loved a woman, young and fair, and I too was loved in return. Then our home was attacked, and she was terribly injured. I sought help as she worsened, and was told to accept her fate and let her go, but I could not.
"I fought fate, throwing aside all else in my efforts to save her. I had no self-respect, no ethics, lying, stealing, cheating my friends and betraying my sworn word to my lord.
"Fate was too strong to be denied. My lover died, and I reaped the reward of what I had sown, bitter words and blood and the loss of trust in fair return for my deeds. I sank to the bottom of what a man should be. All I could do to redeem myself was to pledge my service without restriction, accepting the most menial of tasks until I could be forgiven.
"It seems like that time was longer than it was, as I stumbled alone in the darkness, but now I am glad that I persisted and regained my place among you."
The others said little, not liking to remember the Drifter's betrayal of them all, but having to admit that he had done it only for the love of his lady. The Scientist in particular felt little able to judge, and spoke out. "I betrayed my oaths also, and again for love. Not love of a lover, but love of family led me into error."
The Scientist's Tale.
"Before I came to be with you, I was part of another company, with a high and trusted position among them. This became a curse, when enemies of my commanders saw my influence and my weakness.
"I loved my family most deeply, and my mother most of all. So they took her, and threatened harm unless I should use the trust placed in me to help them gain advantage. And I did as they wished, taking information that was the private concern of my commanders and handing it over to them.
"I was caught and imprisoned for my folly, and thought that I would spend the rest of my days without sunlight or air, wasting away in the dark. I could not even see the family for whom I had committed my crime.
"There I stayed until the Captain came and bought my service, placing a price of five years under his command in exchange for my release from prison. I accepted - who would not? - with no liking for him who had such power over me, but when the term of my service had passed, I had no desire to go elsewhere, so I have continued in his service."
This story was news to almost all who heard it, and they exclaimed at the evils such a fragile woman had endured. It was the mention of family that caused the Guard to stir uncomfortably and speak next.
The Guard's Tale.
"You speak of love of family. What is there to do when you are shown open doors to adventures beyond the hope of mortals, but love of family bars the way?
"I have family of my own, parents, a husband... Once all I wanted was a normal life, with husband and children and the most ordinary of households. Then the Captain showed me how much more I could be, but to reach for it I had to turn my back upon what I already loved.
"I tried to divide myself, but each role would not be satisfied by only a part of what I was. My husband grew angry, feeling I had broken my promises to him by devoting myself to the Captain's cause. But I could not reduce myself back to what I had been.
"Even now I am torn between wanting to be here with you and being at my husband's side. Those of you without family are the lucky ones."
The others were quiet under the weight of her bitterness. After a long pause the Captain himself stirred, and the others looked to him. He was not only the leader; he was the oldest and most travelled of them all, and had experience beyond the limits of human knowledge.
The Captain's Tale.
"I am come here by a longer road than any of you, yet there is one word that all our stories have in common. Love.
"I have loved many times, young and old, fair and dark, male and female, with lust and with the purest intentions. I have experienced love for comrades, for family, for lovers and for my own sake, but there is more.
"Not all love excludes, placing lover before family or family before liegeman's oath. There is love that includes, that puts all before the self and gives, regardless of reward or even recognition. You all have within the ability to give this kind of love, or you would not be here, fighting an evil without a name.
"No one outside this group will thank you for what you do, for our very success prevents them from knowing the danger in which they stand, but my love you have, now and always."
He stopped on that note, and then broke the solemn mood by grinning widely at them all. "And you never need worry that the well will ever run dry. Now bank the fire and rest, for tomorrow we fight again."
They rolled into their blankets on the ground, and slept while their Captain watched through the night, pondering on love.