She found Jetha already waking up in the tent. They exchanged goodmornings between Jetha's yawns. Niza tried not to yawn herself.

Jetha sat up and fumbled around until she found her notebook and pen. She set the inkpot carefully next to her, ready to begin. Niza told her about the dream, and she took her notes in the marginal light.

Jetha had always preferred having these talks in the tent, and not outside. Both of them acknowledged that the tent did not afford them actual privacy, but nobody was looking at them, which did make it more comfortable.

Jetha did have a small candle lantern, which she lit occasionally, but not this morning. Usually whenever Niza asked about it Jetha explained that she had just enough light to write by, although definitely not enough to read by.

After Jetha had taken all her notes she capped the ink and put everything away. They went outside to start working on breakfast. There was an iron skillet they did most of the breakfast cooking on, and it was already in the fire.

Kyla sat to off one side while they cooked. She was tending to her arrows. She had often seemed slightly disapproving of their cooking, but never actually complained about the food. Niza was curious what kind of foods her people ate, but she had never gathered the courage to ask.

Niza and Jetha tended to talk a bit while they cooked. They had developed a habit of taking turns asking the other a question, which they would both end up answering by the end of the conversation. She'd so far managed to avoid explaining that she'd stolen things to get by, but had sidestepped a few questions very carefully to do so. She found it interesting that Jetha managed to seem almost embarassed and often apologetic about her obviously priveledged upbringing. While she had seen and done things that Niza envied, she tended to minimize when talking about them. Niza had come to realize that the girl was afraid of being labeled as 'spoiled' and trying very hard to fit in. She found herself giving Jetha more and more benefit of the doubt, especially after the amount of times she seemed ready to faint after taxing herself too much by practicing the new magic she was trying to learn.

After breakfast, they broke camp and moved on. Niza was starting to feel comfortable on the horse, although she still wouldn't want to try and do anything fancy like jump over something. She found that she liked riding, and the open air of the countryside, far better than anything she had experienced in the city. While the city had always made her feel safe, since she knew there were many places one could get lost in and hide, the rolling hills and the rustle of the wind as it brushed across the trees seemed almost liberating to her. The air seemed cleaner, less laden with dust and smoke from the city chimneys and stovepipes. It was quieter, and yet there were so many different sounds to hear. She was accustomed to the pigeons and gulls of Riverport, but here there were many more types of birds, each with a different call. It seemed musical to her. There were no merchants hawking their wares either, the bustle of the city replaced by the sounds of the wind and animals scurrying about in the grasses and on the trees. She found herself thinking about what it might have been like to grow up away from the city, despite the fact that she knew there were many who had done exactly that and then gone to the city to find excitement and fortune.

Lunchtime came after they had finished leading the horses across a stream. Ullden allowed them to stop for a while, and she found herself sitting by the clear water, watching as fish darted by in small groups. She saw insects that seemed to be able to jump across the water's surface, and a bird that swooped down and caught a small fish in it's beak before flying off to a tree branch with it. The water made music of it's own as it ran splashed over the rocks and branches that were in it, especially at the edges where it was shallowest. A part of her wanted to stay there all day and spend some time bathing in the cool water. After they'd eaten, however, they pressed on again. Ullden and Marus seemed hopeful that they'd come across another town or village soon. Ullden had announced that morning that they would stop for a day when they found one, to take the opportunity to resupply, sell the extra horses, and hopefully find someone willing to take the prisoner off their hands, since Father Marus had insisted that the Elar not be killed. It was a matter of some tension between them, as Ullden had yet to get any real information out of the prisoner either, Marus having stopped him before he could hurt the Elar too seriously.

She had noticed that everyone seemed to react a little differently to the Elar prisoner. Ullden treated him coldly, Father Marus treated him with the gentle compassion he treated everyone.

Jetha looked uncertain what to think. She seemed both curious and repulsed as if she were staring at a strange but interesting bug she was afraid to get close to. Kyla looked at him as if she were only waiting for the right excuse to kill him.

Niza was worried about keeping him alive. She had seen enough of what kind of influence they could have. Could he try to convert people to his mind-changing religion? Or did it take large numbers and force to do that? Maybe only their priests could make people believe. She could only guess, but that did not make her any more comfortable.

So far the Elar had said very little, which only made her trust him less. The more Ullden had tried to get him to talk the more smug the Elar became. "The might of Eltharn is coming, in Darnen's name," was the Elar's answer to most questions.

When they stopped that night she heard Father Marus pull Ullden aside.

"Let me try tonight," he said. "Maybe soft words can get what threats cannot."

"Talking to him isn't going to work, Father, although you're welcome to try. But if it doesn't work as splendidly as you hope, perhaps you'd back off and let me do what needs to be done." Ullden's voice held a sharp edge to it, and Niza found herself stepping a little away from the two of them as a result. She kept brushing the same spot on the horse, listening to their conversation and hoping they would somehow resolve it and fix the tension that had been building.

"I can't just stand by and watch you slowly kill him, Ullden. I'm sorry, but my beliefs, my faith, cannot condone that kind of action."

"He would just as happily do the same to you, Marus," Ullden pointed out. "Or better yet, feed you to some demon as a tribute to his god. Does your faith condone that? How many people has he killed already on this damned Elar crusade of theirs? Try asking him that!" Ullden stormed off shaking his head, one of the rolled bundles of tent canvas in his arm and a fistfull of metal tent stakes in the opposite hand. She heard the stakes hit the ground with force a moment later and suspected he had thrown them down. She peered around the horse and saw that he was still shaking his head as he unrolled the tent. Father Marus still stood in the same spot, however, his eyes closed and hands clasped as if he was praying. She wondered if he was asking for guidance from Theran, as she would have done if it were her. After a moment, he opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and headed over towards the Elar.

Niza finished brushing the horse quickly, hoping to position herself close enough to hear Marus talking to the Elar. As she looked for a task she could occupy herself with near him, however, Jetha caught up to her instead.

"We still have some potatoes left," Jetha said cheerfully. "But I don't think they'll last much longer. We should wash and cut them to include tonight."

"Of course," Niza said, suppressing a sigh. "I'm sure they'll go well with what's left of the meat."

"I wish we still had some carrots. We're pretty much out of spices other than salt at this point too. I wonder if Kyla knows of any plants that might add some decent flavor to a stew?"

"Let's ask her," Niza said, giving a last look over at Marus and the Elar.

"I don't think she likes me very much," Jetha admitted quietly, as they headed to where Kyla was setting up the campfire. Alldeh sat nearby, sorting some sticks and rocks into what seemed like random piles on the ground.

"We only just met her, Jetha," Niza said, trying to sound comforting. "She's probably still leery of all of us for the moment. She'll like you just fine once she gets to know you."

"Do you think so?" Jetha asked, sounding genuinely worried.

"Sure," Niza answered. She resisted the urge to make a joke just then, having the feeling that Jetha might not be amused the way her friends in Riverport would have been. The two of them walked up to Kyla and there was an awkward silence when the young woman looked up and waited for one of them to speak. Suddenly Niza realized that Jetha was hoping for her to do all the talking.

Kyla had a faraway look about her as she set up the fire. She started it with a flint just like Ullden did, and she leaned in close, blowing the first little bit into a larger flame. It grew fairly quickly into a regular fire. Ullden's fires usually took longer to be ready to use.

"Um, hi," Niza said when Kyla looked up from being watched. She felt awkward and a little uncomfortable; more so than normally.

"Hello," Kyla replied.

"We were thinking about dinner," Niza started. "When we get to a town we can buy some spices and things, but for now the food's starting to seem a little dull, and we were wondering if you knew of anything to do a little differently."

"My people do not use prepared spices to create flavors. Each food has a flavor of its own. How you combine those flavors gives you new things. Take those berries over there," she said, gesturing off to a bush not far away. The bush had small blue berries with tiny seeds along the outside.

"Your people consider the berries sour, so you never try them. By themselves they are sour. Tonight, when you cook your meat, add a handful of them and some sliced apple."

She stood up and left them without another word and she went to tend the horses.

"See," Jetha said, "she doesn't like me."

"How do you figure that?" asked Niza, steering Jetha towards the wagon.

"She didn't even look at me," Jetha answered.

"Considering that I was the one doing all the talking," Niza said with a sigh, "I don't think that's really an indication. Besides, I don't think her people are as interested in casual conversation as we're used to here. So far she only seems to speak when spoken to really, or when she has something important to add. She's listening and watching all the time, I've noticed. But she doesn't just toss comments out there idly."

"Then how do you weed out the people telling the truth from the liars amongst her people?"

"What do you mean?" Niza grabbed up one of the bags of cooking supplies from the wagon and handed it over to Jetha before gathering the rest of what they'd need from the other boxes and bags.

"That was the one thing that my mother and Nordithet could actually agree on. They both said that you could tell whether someone was lying to you or not by what they said in between the facts. That 'idle conversation' can reveal a lot about a person if they aren't careful. To mother it was like a game, trying to figure out who was courting who and who was doing well financially. To Nordithet, it was a valuable source of information and a way to find the people who were more likely to give you an honest answer to the important questions." Jetha's brow creased as they started walking back towards the fire. "Mother always said you shouldn't trust anyone who seems to speak plainly all the time. She said that they had more secrets to keep."

"I don't think that's the case with Kyla," Niza said, shifting the pile in her arms so that she could put it down by the fire. "I don't think her people bother lying is all."

It was all Niza could do not to laugh at Jetha's expression. For a moment, she looked like a fish Niza had once seen that had just been plucked from a net in the river at the docks of Riverport. Her mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out, and the look in her eyes was one of complete astonishment. Niza managed to keep from laughing, and focused on not just dumping her burdens as she set things down on the ground. It took Jetha a couple moments to regain her composure, during which, she set the bag down on the ground and began emptying out the items they'd need from within it.

"Is that even possible?" she finally said. "I mean she's human. I guess I've just been raised that it's human nature to keep secrets and lie to one another."

"Me too," Niza said, thinking about her life in Riverport. "But think about it. If you'd been raised in an environment where nobody lied, you wouldn't think twice about speaking plainly, and you wouldn't say things that don't need to be said. Why talk about how nice the weather was today when we both were riding in it and saw that it was nice, for example? Try to see it from her perspective. We're wasting our breath on useless conversation. We may even be distracting ourselves from other things around us in the process. Things she considers more important, like nature." She grabbed up one of the bowls they'd brought out. "C'mon, let's go grab some of those berries."

The berries were difficult to pluck without breaking them open, and they were sticky inside. Sticky fingers made the whole process harder. From the taste on her fingers, they were certainly sour.

"Are you sure about her?" Jetha asked. "I'm starting to think she tricked us into picking these...things." There was a blue berry smear on Jetha's cheek. Niza didn't say anything about it.

"No, I think she was sincere. Come on, let's get cooking. We're holding everything up."

They finished gathering their bowl full and headed back. The two men were practicing with their swords. Niza grabbed a knife and sliced one of the dried apples they had in their supplies while Jetha tried to get her hands clean.

The apples, berries, and meat slices all went into their pan and she cooked it all together. She threw in some water to freshen up the apples. The berries all broke in the process, and she kept stirring to mix everything together. She also cooked some potatoes they had in the coals of the fire.

When it was all ready she called everyone over. The apples had just enough sweet to counter the sour in the berries. It was fairly flavorful, but she looked to the others for their opinions. Kyla nodded with something that didn't look exactly like approval, but also wasn't disapproval.

"Hm," Ullden said, "not bad. What's in it?"

"Some berries that Kyla pointed out," she answered.

"I kind of like it," Jetha added. "It's something different."

"Not enough red," Alldeh complained.

Niza noticed that Marus had nothing to say to Alldeh's comment, when usually he would jump in and try to ease the strangeness of it in some way. The priest seemed distracted, his brow furrowed as he picked at the food on his plate. She suspected his attempt at talking to the Elar had not gone well.

The meal was strangely quiet that evening, and Niza realized that it was usually Jetha who would keep the conversation going while they were sitting down to a meal. Jetha, too, seemed to be thinking, and Niza wondered if she was trying not to start any idle conversations due to talk they had been having before. Cleaning up the dishes went quietly too, except for the clang of metal on metal as Ullden and Marus practiced off to the side of the camp. Niza found herself watching them, trying to listen to the things Ullden was telling Marus. She still felt a bit useless amongst them all. Even Alldeh had managed to teach Jetha some thing about this new magic and pointed them in the right direction. The new girl, Kyla, obviously had the ability to fight, and Jetha's magic certainly didn't leave her defenseless. While Marus constantly downplayed his usefulness to the group, his prayers had been very helpful so far, and had been very impressive to Niza when they had fought the Elar. He had called upon the Gods to protect them, and the Gods had thought him worthy and listened. That didn't cease to amaze Niza.

She was starting to realize that she had nothing to contribute during battle except to be delegated to babysitting Alldeh. While she understood the importance of keeping the poor man safe, she doubted there would be much she could do to protect him if he were targeted during a battle. She knew that Ullden was still worried about there being a larger force of Elar coming, a few days to a week behind the scout party they had fought. Everyone had agreed that someone had summoned the demon that had been slain, and that they hadn't been with the scout party. Information on the summoner and other Elar forces was the main thing that Ullden had been trying to get out of their prisoner so far. Based on the expression the Elar always had when the questions were asked, Niza didn't doubt for a moment that there was another group of Elar. She knew Ullden was worried about how much time they had, and he was still having Marus cover their tracks as they traveled each day.

"Where are you?" Jetha asked suddenly, breaking Niza from her thoughts. "Maybe you could dry the rest of that pot?"

"What?" Niza looked down to realize that the dishes for her to dry had been piling up next to her and that she'd been rubbing at the bottom of the pot in her hands with the towel for a couple of minutes. "Oh, sorry." She hastily finished drying the pot and grabbed up the next dish in the pile.

"You're always watching them practice," Jetha said. "What do you find so fascinating about it?"

"I guess I just want to know how to defend myself," Niza answered. "I'd like to know how to use a sword too."

"Why?" Jetha asked, looking suprised. "Swords are for men. Women were not meant to fight in such a fashion."

Niza raised an eyebrow at Jetha as she saw Kyla's head turn towards their conversation. Jetha looked like she'd just swallowed something particularly unpleasant as she looked back at Kyla.

"What I meant was..." Jetha said quickly, trying to backstep out of the verbal quicksand. "Among our people, women don't usually take up swords. We leave that work for the men. Mostly, the men don't like women being put at risk, and so they insist upon it. I mean, since women can bear children and all... Oh, I don't know what I mean." She sighed, looking frustrated.

"Your kind and mine are very different indeed," Kyla said quietly. "If you truely do wish to learn to use a sword, Niza, I would show you. Ullden kept some of the blades from the Elar. You could use one of those."

"Really? I would like to learn. Yes." Niza felt a part of her swell with excitement at the prospect.

"We can start once you are done there," Kyla said, nodding at the pile of dishes waiting to be dried. Then Kyla turned back to the arrows she was making as if there was nothing more to be said on the matter. Niza found herself already grabbing the next dish and drying it as quickly as possible. Jetha remained silent while they finished, obviously thinking. Niza hoped she hadn't just damaged the fragile friendship she'd been working on with her.

She watched Kyla while finishing the dishes. Kyla was squatting in her usual fashion, staring off into the distance. Kyla never sat on the ground, she either stood or squatted. It looked like it should be hard on the knees, but it seemed natural to Kyla. She added it to the list of differences.

It also occurred to her that Kyla seemed to participate the least in camp activities, and she wondered at the reason for it. She sometimes helped with cooking, but it was more about preparing meats and such than cooking or preparing individual meals.

Kyla never helped with dishes or cleaning. She sometimes helped set up or take down tents, but she seemed to have taken over caring for the horses. Of all of them, she supposed Kyla was probably the most experienced in caring for horses. She seemed more knowledgeable about them than even Ullden. She didn't use a saddle or reins. She didn't use a bridle or any of that, yet her horse always did just what she wanted it to. Horses were clearly important to her people. She wondered if she could learn that, too.

When the dishes were done she stood up and went to gather up one of the captured Elar swords they had been carrying with them. Jetha took out one of her books and started to her studies, and lit a lamp to read with. The sky was getting dim, but it wasn't dark yet.

"Is it getting too dark to learn about swords?" she asked. The sword was heavy in her hands, and felt awkward. Kyla rose and walked over.

"A little dark is better," Kyla explained. "Learn not to rely on your eyes. The first things are grip and stance, and motions. You need to see your opponent to know what he will do, but your eyes are not all you see with."

"You mean, try to anticipate what they'll do?" Niza asked, trying to hold the sword in her hands and stand in the same manner that Kyla was.

"It is more than that," Kyla said. "You must know what your opponent will do, and what you will do in response. See it all occur before it happens and you will know where and how to place your blade." She said it all so matter-of-fact, as if there was no other way.

"Okay," Niza said. "How do I do that?"

"First you must stop just holding the sword in your hands. It is an extension of your self, of your body and intent. Right now, you are seeing it as an obstacle you must overcome, rather than a part of you."

Niza had to admit, it did feel more like an obstacle just then. It weighed more than she had anticipated when she'd picked it up. It was also uncomfortable standing the way she was, and she was suddenly understanding why Marus looked so worn out after his sessions with Ullden.

"You are standing incorrectly," Kyla said, as if reading her thoughts. "You must find your center of balance and allow your body to move around it." She came over and helped Niza adjust her stance, pivoting her hips and shoulders mostly. Niza did feel a little more comfortable afterwards, although it still felt strange to be standing that way.

"You must not hold the sword with merely your hand and wrist," Kyla instructed next. "If you do, you will not be allowed to hold it for very long." Suddenly, Kyla drew her own sword and attacked the blade Niza held with such force that Niza yelped as she dropped it, her wrist aching from the impact.

"Your strength comes from your center, not your arms, wrists, or hands," Kyla said, putting her sword away and picking up Niza's off the ground. She came over and placed it in Niza's hand again, adjusting the grip as she did.

They spent about an hour practicing. Much of it was moving the sword slowly to a specific spot and holding it there. Kyla told her that before she would be able to do much with the sword she would have to make it a part of her. To her it seemed a heavy and awkward part. Despite what Kyla had said, it was not her center that was tired at the end of it, it was her arms and wrists and hands.

Eventually they all stopped. Lamps were extinguished, leaving the fire and the crescent moon for light. Crickets chirped in the shadowed grass. One of the horses snorted and stomped a hoof. Another whinneyed in response.

Father Marus groaned a little, stretching his arms before stooping down to crawl into the men's tent. She knew how he felt. She saw Jetha's face in the moonlight just before Jetha crawled ahead of her into the tent. She looked worried.

"What's the matter?" Niza whispered.

"I don't feel like a wizard. I feel like a little girl pretending to be a wizard."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't feel like a hero. I feel like a little girl here to tote some stupid scepter around."

Jetha laughed. "No, it doesn't make me feel any better. But thanks, though. I just keep telling myself the gods chose us deliberately. I've got to think they have some idea what they're doing."

They both changed into night clothes and crawled into their bedrolls. She suspected that Jetha didn't feel any more reassured than she did.

The next day began quietly, and they seemed to be approaching areas where the clusters of trees were larger and more dense as they mostly followed the roads through them. Ullden spoke to Kyla on a few occasions, confirming their direction and it seemed that they were headed almost exactly on the path she'd just come from when she'd left her lands. Kyla seemed certain that they would arrive at one of the larger towns she had passed soon, likely near the end of the day. The farmhouses between the trees were growing more and more common again, and occasionally Niza could see people off in the distance, working their fields. She suspected that some of them were bringing in the harvest, and found herself looking forward to the fresh foods that would be available for purchase when they reached the town.

As they traveled, Father Marus struck up a conversation for a while. At first he seemed to be making idle conversation, something Marus was less prone to do overall. She wondered what he was getting at when he suddenly asked about the sword lesson with Kyla the night before. She felt her face grow hot as she stammered at him, suddenly worried if he was upset at her.

"I... I... s-should know how to d-defend myself," she tried, defensively. "Everyone e-else can! Well... except Alldeh, perhaps. Unless he was t-thinking c-clearly. Then he p-probably could too."

"What exactly is it you are looking to do with your life, Niza?" he asked her, looking somewhat surprised. "When this quest is finished, where do you see yourself going?"

"I don't really know," she admitted, with a sigh. "For one thing, I figure I probably owe you for healing me." She bit her lip, waiting to hear his response.

"Is that why you've been so eager to help me with Alldeh thus far?" he asked her bluntly.

"No!" she exclaimed, not wanting him to misunderstand. "It might have had something to do with it in the beginning, but really it's more that you've never judged me. Not to say the others have, but you've... " she trailed off, not wanting to talk about the lockpicks in her pack and how she'd gotten into the room where the scepter had been at the church. He'd never asked her about it, and she didn't know how to approach the subject herself.

"I've known a few people who've had difficult pasts and sought the church as a refuge, Niza. Some are merely hiding there until they can return to whatever it is they were doing before. They see the church as easily used for sanctuary when they need it. For them, we can only try to reach them while they are within our sphere of influence."

"But I'm not! I didn't -" she began to protest, tears springing unbidden to her eyes. Marus cut her off, raising a hand.

"I did not think you were one of those, Niza. From the moment you woke up and I began to get to know you, I could tell that, so don't worry yourself on that account. There are others that come to us in search of something more. Something that will change or even fill their lives. I think you are one of those, Niza. You have been given a second chance. A way to make a change in your life towards a new direction. What you do with that opportunity is up to you. I was just wondering if you had any ideas on where you might see yourself headed is all."

"Well, we have to survive this first, don't we?" she asked. She still was not sure if he was disappointed about her wanting to learn the sword, or if maybe he was concerned about her talking lessons from a woman he probably viewed as a savage.

"Don't you think you will?" he asked casually.

"I don't know, Father. Everyone else here has some clear purpose. Jetha has to cast the spell. Ullden's a warrior, and he can protect us. You can heal us and protect us in other ways. Kyla can guide us, she can hunt to provide for us, and she's already helped protect us. By the Gods, Alldeh has more purpose here than me," she said, nearly crying.

"I think you might be surprised at what the gods have in store for you, Niza."

"What? Have they told you?"

"Not like that, no. But I have already figured a few things out. Some of them are things you still need to figure out for yourself."

"So you have answers and you won't tell me?" she complained.

"It means the answers are there for you to find, Niza. As is your path. Try to learn what you can, for it will help you understand yourself. You won't see it happening at the time, but somewhere along the line you'll look back on your life and see your path stretching out behind you. Then you'll know you've been walking it all along, just that you didn't recognize it."

"Now you sound like a priest, that's for sure."

He chuckled. "Then I suppose that means I'm doing my job. I may not know where my path leads, Niza, but I know what the path is. You'll learn the same in time. It's not what you know or what you learn, Niza. It's what you are and what you do."

"But so far I don't do much."

"More than you think, actually. You'll see." They had fallen a bit behind the rest while talking, and Marus increased their pace to a trot to catch back up.

The wagon protested at the increase in pace, but Ullden and Marus had figured out a way to hitch two horses to it, instead of the one, while they had the Elar horses with them. It had made the overall pace slightly faster and even Niza could tell it was less wearing on the horses themselves.

They didn't talk more after that, and Niza found herself still unsure if he was unhappy about her learning sword or not.

Perhaps he thinks it's just some stage I'm going through, she thought to herself. She mulled that over, but realized that she was looking forward to another lesson that evening. Even if it is a stage, it's something I want to learn. she decided. She didn't see any harm in learning to at least defend herself.

Not long after they had stopped for lunch, they entered a long stretch of road that was shaded by a thick cluster of trees on either side. She found herself looking at the leaves, and the way the branches of the trees seemed to create an arch over the road, the sky and clouds above only visible in patches here and there through the golds, reds, and yellows of the changing leaves. There was still some green here and there, but the trees were changing in earnest, lighting up with color. It was something Niza hadn't seen much of in the city, except in a few parks that she was usually shooed out of if caught loitering there. She found herself gazing around her, caught up in the beauty of it.

Then something wizzed through the air next to her and there was a thud sound on the wood of the wagon rolling next to her. She looked over, surprised to see an arrow there, still quivering from the impact.

"Ullden?!" she said loudly in alarm, as several men dropped down from the trees on ropes, landing in group just ahead of them in the road. Two of them held crossbows, while three of them had swords. Niza could see another, still in the trees, with a bow. He had clearly been the one to shoot the arrow at the wagon. Two more men dropped down behind them on the road too, also pulling swords off their belts.

"That were a warnin' shot," one of the men ahead of them said, gesturing at the arrow with his sword. "The next one won't be so friendlylike." A couple of the others snickered, as if he's made some sort of joke. Niza shivered, reminded of the men at the ferry who'd taken her money.

She looked around her, uncertain what to do. Father Marus was praying something about the slings and arrows of the enemy. Ullden looked angry, with a hand on his sword. Kyla looked surprisingly calm, as if she felt she had nothing at all to be concerned about. Jetha looked confident, and was even smiling a little as the three men with swords moved closer together.

"That's right, pray, old man..." one of them said with a snicker.

"Oh, did you pick the wrong people to mess with," Jetha said. It all started abruptly as Jetha pulled something out of her bag and threw it towards the three swordsman. "A'shrati'i!" she yelled out and the thrown thing burst into flame. It got to the three men and exploded in a burst of fire that consumed all three.

The two men with crossbows fired in response. The bolts flew through the air and both stopped abruptly a few feet short. They bounced a little in mid air and fell to the ground. The crossbowmen's faces turned white.

"That's right, pray, old man," Marus echoed with a chuckle as Ullden and Kyla drew their swords. The two men at the back advanced, and she drew her own sword as Kyla wheeled around to face them.

The two men on foot suddenly looked afraid at facing the two of them on horseback. Kyla was not attacking yet, and Niza moved to stay alongside her, keeping her sword ready and trying to mimic Kyla. The men took slow steps backward, and she moved with Kyla in a gradual advance.

She realized the men were afraid. She knew it was not all her, but they could not know that she did not know what she was doing. It was the first time in her life anyone had acted afraid of her. She had to admit it felt good.

The one directly in front of her horse was big, far bigger than she was, and the sword he held was bigger than the one she was holding, such that he needed both hands to wield it. He took a tenative swing, seeming like he was trying more to keep her and the horse back away from him than trying to hit her. The horse instinctively reared back a bit from the sword, and she could feel it's nervousness underneath her. She turned the horse a bit so that she could try and meet the man's blade with her own the next time, and keep the horse more out of his reach.

Kyla made a sudden move on her horse, swinging around to one side of the other man in front of them and bringing her blade in an arc that cut down on his shoulder. In the process, she ended up behind them, with the two men now between Niza and Kyla and their horses. The man dropped his sword, howling in pain.

From the trees, there was a whistle, and then the men were running. The one with the wound in his shoulder stopped long enough to pick up his blade with his good arm before rushing off into the trees. The one in front of Niza didn't wait for his friend, but turned and ran as soon as the whistle sound came. Niza turned to see the crossbowmen running as well, and two of the swordsmen attempting to flee as best as they could, despite their burns. The third swordsmen lay motionless, having caught the bulk of the fireball when it landed directly in front of him. The bowman in the trees had also disappeared, when Niza turned to look for him as well.

Ullden had drawn his sword by that point, and almost looked disappointed that he had no one left to swing it at. He slid down off his horse and checked the man laying in the road before shaking his head.

"That one's dead," he announced with a shrug. "Nicely done everyone. I almost wish they'd been a little braver though."

"Perhaps their defeat will cause them to rethink their current course in life and take on a better path," Father Marus said.

"Always the optimist, eh Father?" Ullden commented. "I doubt it. We'll want to warn the people of this town we're headed towards, let them know this road is being preyed upon, if they don't know already. There may be a bounty on these men's heads."

"You're not going to... to bring his head with us? Are you?" Jetha asked, suddenly looking a little pale.

"No," Ullden said, sounding as though he was still considering the option. "But we should look around for signs of a camp. It's possible they've been in the area for a while, preying on passers-by. They may have supplies and plunder."

"And if they have been preying on locals," Father Marus added, "we might be able to return some of it to rightful owners."

Kyla hopped down off of her horse and moved to one of the trees they had lowered from. Their ropes were still dangling from the branches.

"They built little platforms in the trees to wait on," she pointed out. "I would say they spent some time here."

Kyla seemed to have no trouble finding a little trail running off into the woods. The path was a little bit too narrow for horses.

"Someone should stay here and watch the wagon and horses," Ullden said.

"I'll do it," Jetha said. "If they have heavy things to carry then I'm probably the least useful anyway."

"I will stay as well," Marus said. "They ran off, but there's nothing saying they can't return. I don't think they'll be wont to trifle with Jetha again, but a sword here would be good extra deterrence. It also means I can protect her from arrows again if their archer comes back for revenge."

"Good," Ullden said with a nod, gesturing for Kyla to lead the way.

Niza was glad to not be left out told to stay behind. She had worried that Ullden would have her stay with the wagon, and she did not want to be left out. She slid down off her horse and hurried after them.

It did not take them long to find the camp. The man that Kyla had wounded had returned and was rifling through a sack, pulling out bandages. When he saw them coming, however, he ran, taking the sack with him. Ullden made no move to follow him, but made his way around the camp, checking tents to see if there were any others there. Kyla made her way around the perimeter of the camp, looking to see if any others were hiding nearby. Niza found herself looking through some of the items strewn about the camp. The men had things piled haphazardly about, in only a vague assemblance of order. The logs in the fire ring at the center were still smoldering, and a couple of pans sat next to it on the ground, still uncleaned after they had cooked their breakfast.

Once Ullden and Kyla had confirmed that they had the camp to themselves, the three of them took stock of what was there. It became clear that the men had been there for some time already and had preyed on both merchants and travelers who'd passed this way on the road. One larger tent contained supplies, along with crates and barrels in various areas of the camp. They had obviously recently ambushed a merchant passing through, as there was an abundance of a few specific supplies, mostly wine, spices, and a variety of exotic tea leaves. One case of the wine was nearly empty, which accounted for the pile of broken glass near one of the larger trees, and the occasional empty and half-empty bottle lying about the camp.

Niza didn't spend too much time rifling through the tents they slept in, as they smelled terrible. She made her way in and out of each one quickly, locating the small sacks of items they each had and tossing them out into the main camp. After dumping the sacks out, they found an assortment of coin and jewelry, along with the occasional odd trinket each man had picked up from his plundering. The men hadn't always known which items were more valueable, she noticed, as some of the jewelry they had kept was actually worthless in value. Nonetheless they had acquired a small amount of wealth between them, at least in her eyes.

Authors' Note

[Story posts will be delayed a couple of days:

All are healthy.]

"So, we gather up the valuables, then?" she asked, not entirely sure what Ullden had in mind.

"That and any supplies we can use," Ullden replied. "We don't want so much that it burdens us. But let's face it. This was all stolen. Some of it maybe we could find rightful owners for, but that's not what we're out here for. So some of it we sell, some of it we trade. Maybe some of it we give back in exchange for little helps here and there. But we're not going to stop and set up shop for a day to ask around to find rightful owners, no matter that Marus will probably want to."

Kyla started looking through supplies wordlessly. Much of the food she discarded with a shake of the head. Ullden looked at some of what she discarded with a look of judgment, but he said nothing. He instead gathered up water skins and the like.

Niza started on gathering the valuables into a bag. There were also blankets and a nice treated canvas rain cloak. She snatched that up and held it up against her. It would be too small for either of the men to wear over armor, and Jetha already had one, although this one was actually a little bit nicer. She folded it neatly and carried it with her. She had never owned a proper rain cloak before.

There was one wooden trunk that had been filled with nice dresses. The bandits had dumped the dresses in a heap in the mud. She had always wanted a nice dress. She looked at them long and hard before moving on. Having a dress wasn't important, not really.

There were some spices they ended up collecting, along with some bolts of colored cloth. Everything was either something they could use or something that would be valuable in trade. The three of them were able to carry it all back to the wagon in one trip.

Niza put the rain cloak in with her belongings quickly, a small part of her worried that someone would say something about it. No one seemed to notice, however, as a bit of an arguement heated up between Marus and Ullden.

"Do I need to remind you, Father, that there may be a military detachment still following us?" Ullden protested. "Why do you think I'm still having you cover our tracks each day? If we take the time in town to stand around waiting for everyone who's ever lost something to brigands to come and see if their belongings are in this bag, not to mention that some people will lie and claim whatever they want to have instead of what is rightfully theirs - "

"We should at least try," Marus argued. "Perhaps we could leave the bag with a ranking member of the town and they could take care of it..."

"What's to say they won't just keep it for themselves? We aren't going to bother asking for a bounty on these men, Father, yet we've dealt them some serious damage."

"Which they will recover from and likely return to their endeavors."

"No, Father. They won't have time for that. When we reach the town we will tell their people where to find these men and they can come and deal with them as the local law applies. For all intensive purposes, we have stopped them. Consider this our reward for that task."

"Why must we require a physical reward, Ullden?" Marus said angrily. "Is not the knowledge that we have done a good thing reward enough in itself?"

Ullden sighed heavily, shaking his head in frustration.

"Marus," he said, quieting his tone a bit, "while it would be wonderful if the world worked like that, it doesn't. We are going to need supplies. We have no idea how long this journey may take us. Those supplies are going to cost us money. If these items buy us those supplies, then I say we use them to that end. I seem to recall that we are on a quest to save everyone from the Elar, correct? Should we not use all resources available to us to help in this quest? I'd hate to think we failed because we ran out of food and starved to death within a week of our goal, or were killed by the Elar catching up to us because we waited around for some farmer to come to town and claim his dead wife's necklace."

"And further more," he continued, looking more than a little irritated, "every day we delay, the farther the Elar get. Every day they advance. Every day they kill or enslave more people. Now I'm all in favor of being a nice guy, but not at that kind of cost."

"What we're doing matters more than returning some lost goods. We need things for this quest, and if trading some recovered trinkets for those things helps us beat the Elar, then I'm all for it. But we can stay as long as you like, Father. Just tell me how many lives it's worth, because that's what you're bartering for."

"No," Marus said, "you're right."

Ullden's jaw worked open and closed, but he said nothing. It reminded Niza of a freshly caught fish, and she had to stifle a giggle.

"There are people coming," Kyla said, breaking the moment.

Alldeh started giggling in the wagon, and Niza heard him say something about fish. Marus moved to the wagon, as if in response. Kyla lightly hopped up onto her horse. Niza moved to follow suit, and clambered on up onto hers.

Jetha, who had said nothing, watching without expression the entire exchange between the men, picked up a bundle and secured it to her saddle. There were more bags still at her feet.

It was a group of about a dozen men. They were of varying ages, dressed in basic farm garb, and carrying an odd mix of weapons, mostly improvised. There were axes and pitchforks mixed in with a couple of spears and a sword.

"Now what is this, I wonder," Ullden muttered, swinging himself up onto his horse. He moved his mount forward, a few steps ahead of the rest of the group, putting himself between the newcomers and the wagon. Kyla brought her horse around to one side of Ullden's, so Niza moved hers to the other side of him, thinking it seemed like the right place for her to be. Marus and Jetha began taking the rest of the bags and putting them into the wagon, after Marus had confirmed that Alldeh wasn't in any trouble.

The men came forward and stopped about fifty feet ahead of them in the road. One of the men, tall, skinny, and slightly balding at the crown of his head, stepped forward with an axe in his hands. It looked like the kind of axe one might use to chop wood, and it looked a bit heavy for him the way he was holding it.

"Halt right there!" the man yelled. "You've plagued this road enough, you... you brigands!" Despite the wavering in the leader's voice, the rest of the men took up a chorus of agreement, and waved their weapons in the air angrily. Niza heard Ullden sigh next to her.

"I'm starting to think I've been cursed," he muttered before edging his horse forward a few feet and putting up his hands towards the group of men.

"Gentlemen, please," Ullden said, loud enough for them all to hear. "We are not brigands, we are merely travelers on this road. We did, however, encounter the brigands ourselves. We can show you where their camp is if you like."

"Then what's in them bags?" one of the townsfolk demanded.

"How many bandits do you see traveling with a wagon?" Marus challenged. "We are travelers who were attacked by the very bandits you're looking for. We had gathered up what we could from their camp, intending to bring it with us to town. There is more there, and we'll be happy to lead you to them. Now, perhaps I could understand someone mistaking Ullden here for a bandit, but would he be working alone accompanied by a priest and young ladies?"

"You've got a savage," someone pointed out.

"You call her that," Jetha said, stepping forward a little, "and yet so far she is better mannered than you are. She is a refugee traveling with us in flight from the Elar, of whom we have a prisoner."

That seemed to have derailed the bulk of the villagers' arguments. Niza sat back in her saddle, both pleased and disappointed that there hadn't been a fight.

Marus offered to have Ullden show them the camp, and asked to be led to town. Ullden and half of the villagers went off down the trail. The rest stood around awkwardly. The one that had been acting as their leader went with Ullden, and the rest seemed uncertain what to do next.

They all stood around quietly for about ten minutes waiting. Horses shuffled on the road. The wind sighed through trees.

"So, you said you had a priest?" one villager asked.

"I am a priest," Marus nodded.

The one who had spoken exchanged a look with another one, who stepped forward.

"The local Bishop don't send priests out our way none too of'n," he said. "We done sent fer one a day ago, but ev'n if one gits sent it may not be in time. If'n you can do any healin', my niece could use yer help sir..." The man trailed off, suddenly looking nervous. He still held the handle of a pitchfork and his hands twisted around the wood over and over again.

"She just birthed a child," the other man said quickly. "The baby girl is fine, but Leta's got somethin' wrong with her. The midwife has been doin' what she can, but she's still slippin' away."

"I'd be glad to help," Marus said, nodding again. "Why don't we head directly there now?"

The six men looked at one another, nodding and shrugging, before the one who had the niece gestured down the road the way they had come.

"This way," he said, as if the direction they needed to head weren't obvious enough already. The men set off and Marus got the wagon moving, following them. Niza urged the horse into a gentle trot alongside the horses pulling the wagon, while Jetha swung up onto her horse and moved in along the other side. Kyla fell in behind the wagon, making sure the extra horses and the one with the prisoner tied to it kept in with the others. They were tethered in behind the wagon and occasionally one would attempt to resist following once the wagon started moving. Kyla seemed to have a way with the horses, and could get them moving easily, while everyone else seemed to have to gently swat their behinds to motivate them.

The town itself was not more than a couple miles down the road, and people came out of the houses and buildings to look at them as they arrived. The group of men led them nearly to the other end of the town along the main road before they turned off and went to a small wooden house with a sign suggesting that the owner was a shoemaker. The uncle gestured that Marus should follow him as he went up the three small steps to the door and pounded on it.

"Rhett, open up! We got a priest who kin help Leta!" he yelled at the door. A moment later the door opened and a young man looked out. He looked exhausted. His hair was dishevelled, his eyes had dark circles under them, and his clothes were untucked and rumpled. Niza could see what looked like some stains of blood on his half-rolled sleeves and other areas on his shirt and pants.

"Hurry," was all the man said, before disappearing from the door again.

"This way," the uncle said. Marus and the man followed Rhett inside, leaving the rest of them outside, standing in uncomfortable silence again.

A fat man came waddling up to them, followed by an entourage of men, women, and children. Several of the women held their children back nervously. The fat man huffed and puffed with a haughty expression on his face.

"Cormin!" the man bellowed. "What's the meaning of this. You were sent off to dispatch bandits and you return with a wagon. And not a one of you came to tell me in advance!"

"But Master Donnan--" one of the townsmen tried. Niza assumed he was Cormin.

"I'll not have more of your buts today, Cormin."

Donnan turned towards them next. Niza felt certain the man was probably the village's mayor, or whatever a little village called one.

"You don't look like bandits to me," Donnan said, pointing a chubby sausage finger. "Who's in charge among you?"

"Normally," Jetha said, stepping forward, "that would be either Ullden, who is back with the rest of your men at the bandits' camp, or Father Marus, who is inside this house here tending to Leta. In their absence, it would be me. I am Jetha Marget Hollden. This is Niza and Kyla. In the wagon is a man called Alldeh, who is not well. We also have an Elar prisoner which we would like to discuss with you after making arrangements for trade."

Niza was impressed by her friend's confidence. It was a good change from the nervous young lady that shared her tent each night. There was a strong but not arrogant sense of authority about her, and it definitely seemed to have caught the mayor off balance. The man's imperious expression softened some and he hesitated, still holding a wavering finger in the air.

"We would also be interested in accomodations for the night," Jetha said, not giving the man time to formulate a response. "Is there an inn here?"

"Well, yes..." the Donnan answered, seeming caught off guard.

"Perhaps you could show us to it then," Jetha smiled. "Then we can make arrangements with the innkeep and get settled, instead of standing around in the street.

"I'll show them, Master Donnan," Cormin said quickly.

"See that you do, Cormin," Donnan said sternly, turning a glare on the young man. "And report to me immediately once our... visitors have gotten settled." Donnan turned on his heel and strode away, which had a more comical appearance to Niza, with the way the man actually waddled. She did her best to keep her amusement concealed, however, as Cormin seemed decidedly unhappy.

"Please follow me," Cormin said, gesturing back towards the main road.

Jetha took the seat at the wagon, and Kyla guided Jetha's horse along with her own as they followed Cormin to one of the larger buildings in town. The lower level was made of stone, with a large wooden porch off the front. There was a second level, made entirely of wood, with a slate roof, and several buildings off the back, made of wood. One of those was larger and revealed itself to be the stables, as they were immediately led to it by a boy who had been sitting on the porch when they approached the building. Two more boys, slightly older than the first, came out of the stables and began helping move the wagon to one side and unhitch the horses from it.

"How long'll ye be stayin'?" the youngest boy asked them.

"We're not sure yet, but at least for tonight," Jetha answered.

"Right, I'll git pa," the boy said, running off into a door at the back of the inn. A few moments later, he was followed out by a middle-aged man with blonde hair, who looked as if he'd hastily attempted to make himself more presentable. The sleeves of his white shirt were rumpled, as if they'd recently been rolled up. He approached with a smile, however, seeming more welcoming to Niza than anyone they'd met from the town so far.

"Right, welcome," the man said. "I'm Gonnor, an' this here is my inn. It's been a bit since we've had strangers here. There's bandits on the road, I hope they didn't give ye trouble..."

"No," Jetha said, "not really. We travel prepared."

"Right, I see. How long will ye be stayin'?"

"We don't know yet, but as we were telling your boy here, at least tonight."

"Jetha," Kyla said, "do you plan to accommodate your prisoner?"

"Our prisoner," Jetha said, "and no."

"I was wonderin' about that. I don't want that in my inn anyways."

Just then Ullden came riding up to them.

"Ah, there you are," he said. "It wasn't hard to find out where you went. I take it you're the innkeep?"

"Yes, Gonnor, as I was telling your friends."

"I'm Ullden. These are Jetha, Kyla, and Niza. I think we're going to need four rooms total, if you have them. There's a man with us who's not right in the head, and he can be...disturbing in the night. Do you have rooms where he wouldn't bother anyone else?"

"Right, well it isn't as if I had other guests just now, so I don't think that's a great problem."

"Good, that will work out fine for us then," Ullden said, nodding. "If you can get them settled, I need to speak to your local magistrate, mayor, or whomever you've got in charge around here." Ullden moved over and started untying the ropes that held the Elar prisoner onto the horse. He then yanked the man down to the ground roughly.

"That'd be Master Donnan," Gonner said. "He owns most o' the land this town is on, and makes the decisions for it. Cormin here is his..." Gonner trailed off for a moment, looking at Cormin. "Just what does he call you these days Cormin?"

"Mostly he just calls me boy," Cormin said with a shrug. "If he were a knight I'd be his squire, or his apprentice if he were a tradesman. I think he once referred to me as his valet, though. That title would, at least, be more fitting, since he considers himself a lord."

Niza thought that Cormin ought to have been more upset at the prospect of being called "boy", considering he was at least a couple years older than she was, and not a boy at all. Cormin, however, just shrugged again with a half smile instead.

"I can show you there, sir," Cormin said to Ullden. "I need to report in anyway. Master Donnan will want to be informed of more details on your arrival."

"That would be appreciated Cormin, thank you," Ullden replied, hauling the Elar to his feet by some of the ropes binding him. He turned briefly towards Niza, Jetha, and Kyla. "If you could see that our belongings make it to our rooms and send Marus my way if he gets back here before I do, it would help a lot."

"We can handle it," Jetha replied, before Niza could say anything. She found herself just nodding in agreement instead.

"Thank you," he nodded in approval before turning back to Cormin. "Lead on young man."

Niza helped guide Alldeh out of the wagon and they followed Gonnor inside.

"Upstairs," Alldeh said.

"Ah, a bed at last," Jetha commented to her as they entered. What Niza was already looking forward to the most was a bath.

He led them through the kitchens to a narrow hallway. They stopped at a room with a white wooden tile hanging from a string tied to a nail in the door.

"'Ere's the bath. There's one tub, and I keep it warm all the time. It stays warm a nice long time by itself, and the fire gets it good and hot. If it's too hot, just add some fresh from the pump. If ye ever notice the fire getting low, let someone know. The tub takes forever to heat back up again from fresh."

"Right, now there's also a privy in there. If the water starts getting too dirty, take the bucket and empty some of it through the privy and add some fresh. The other thing is that I let anyone in town use that tub for a small fee. When ye go in, flip this 'ere sign over. White means the room's empty, brown means stay out, 'cause someone's in there."

"I wonder how dirty that water is," Jetha whispered as they followed him towards a set of stairs up.

"Not as much as it will be after any of us use it," Niza joked.

"So," Jetha asked, "are there any specific reasons why white and brown?"

"Right, they're the two colors of paint we had the most of..." Gonnor said with a shrug.

Niza noticed that Kyla said nothing and seemed to look at everything with a disapproving frown. Gonner led them down to the far end of the hallway and pointed out four open doors. She could see a young woman in one of them and an older one in another, both wore aprons and were hastily getting things ready in the rooms. The young woman was straightening sheets and fluffing pillows on a bed, while the older woman was busy laying out towels next to a pitcher and washbasin atop a small bureau. Gonner led them into one of the rooms that was ready, and pointed out the various amenities. By the time he had finished and led them back into the hallway, the two women had gone.

"The other rooms are 'bout the same, so's you kin decide who's sleepin' where. If ye need anythin', there's these signs," he pointed to bits of white-painted wood hanging on string on a hook next to each door. "Just hang it over the knob on yer door an one o' my boys'll come knockin' to help ye out. I send 'em up to check at least once an hour when we've got guests. If ye need somethin' sooner than that, just come ask me or any o' my boys an' we'll be glad ta help ya."

"Thank you, that will be fine," Jetha said, smiling.

"My boys'll have yer bags up here shortly, ladies. Just let them know where you want them," he added.

"Niza, why don't we put Alldeh in that one," Jetha said, pointing. "And Kyla, why don't you take that one. We'll have Ullden and Marus in that room there, and Niza, you and I can share the other one."

Niza nodded, wondering if Kyla might have wanted to have company for once. The tribal woman said nothing, merely nodding and disappearing into the room that had been indicated for her. Niza saw her through the door, peering skeptically at the bed, while Niza guided Alldeh to the room Jetha had suggested he stay in. Alldeh didn't resist, merely muttering something about dormitory rooms being bigger than they used to be, as she steered him to the chair and had him sit down.

"A good place to dream," Alldeh said suddenly, looking up at her. She had a shiver run down her back as she realized his eyes looked sharp and clear.

"What?" she asked quietly, wondering if she should call for Jetha. She was all but holding her breath, not wanting to do anything that would ruin the man's moment of clarity.

"Your dreams," he said, reaching out and squeezing her arm. He wasn't squeezing hard enough to hurt her, so she didn't resist.

"He sees you through your dreams. He talks to you, tells you much, even when he tries to scare you. He can only hurt you if you let him, though," Alldeh leaned forward, lowering his voice in a whisper. "You must trust your instincts."

"But," she stammered, "you mean the dreams are coming from, who, the demon?"

Jetha walked in, asking if everything was all right. A look of concentration came over Alldeh's face and he grunted before soiling himself loudly.

"Oh, that was nasty," Jetha remarked. Alldeh's eyes wandered around out of focus. The moment of clarity was gone. Niza sighed.

"Do you suppose Father Marus will be back soon?"

"Gods, I hope so," Jetha replied. "There