It looks like we only have about an hour of daylight left, Dawn thought looking at the sun starting to set on the horizon. Burr it’s starting to get cold. Dawn took a moment to take in all the sights. To their right there was a fence with a guard leaning on it and to their left was the edge of a lake. Further down on the left there was a start to a forest and to the right, there looked to be a meadow.

  Leo spoke, “we should head into the forest and make camp for the night. The forest can provide much more cover than just sleeping on the side of the road.”

  Dawn cusped her hands and created a small ball of flame and held it near her face. “I would like it stated that I would rather not sleep on the ground…” Dawn said and sighed,” but lead the way.”

  Leo started walking to the forest and said, “It must be nice being your own heater. Watch out where you point those flames. Last thing we want is to burn down the forest.”

  “Oh, come on, that would warm us up so much though.” Dawn said with a laugh, “I will be careful.” Who would have guessed fire is better suited in the desert. I do not have to worry about pesky trees there.

  “Watch out!” Leo yelled as half a dozen demons sprinted out of the forest towards them.

  Dawn and Leo both drew their weapons and braced themselves as the demons charged. As they got closer Dawn could see that it looked like a mixed group. The front was two goblins with spears, two kobolds who had a hand ax and two mage goblins in the back.

  Kobolds are similar in size as goblins both being a little over three feet tall. Unlike goblins who have green skin, kobolds have scales and come in a multitude of colors. Another thing that sets them apart is that goblins have round almost childlike faces with tusks and pointy ears. Kobolds have lizard-like faces with narrow crocodile mouths. They also could come in many colors and unlike goblins who can only use fire, kobolds can use most elements but still only one at a time. Their skin color matches the element they can use. The Kobolds coming at them were dark green.

  Dawn started building up a big ball of flame. I should probably not launch a huge flame into the forest. Dawn took the flame and slammed it into her sword, channeling the flame around her blade. Making it look like the blade itself was on fire.

  The goblins were almost upon them now. Leo gathered air around himself and charged into the first goblin in the lineup. Dawn still circulating the flame around her blade charged forward as well. The goblin Dawn charged at, thrust his spear at her. She dodged to the left and without slowing down ran forward cutting deep into the goblins' side.

  The goblin had a huge chunk taken out of it and burn marks all across the cut. The first two goblins fell to the ground. The Goblins in the back started to gather fire. Before they could launch the fires, Leo sent a huge gust of wind hurling towards them knocking back all four of the remaining enemies. Dawn took the opportunity to dash forward and slash deep into one of the kobolds as it was trying to get up. As she was cutting into the kobold the flames on the blade exploded instantly killing the kobold.

  Dawn gathered flame in her left hand and charged the fallen goblin mage who was almost on his feet now. She saw Leo's spear out of the corner of her eye impale the other goblin mage. The Goblin mage started to gather flame, but she was already upon him. She aimed flame at the goblins chest and exploded the flame point blank trying to make sure it did not spread. The goblin burnt to a crisp and fell to the ground.

  Dawn took a deep breath in, trying to catch her breath and looked behind her. Gathering and using your element was like using any muscle, the more you used it the more tired you got. Leo was taking his spear out of the other goblin mage.

  Dawn put her sword away and said, “sweet. So now that that’s done can you go around and collect the tusks. I wonder how much kobolds are worth?”

  Leo pulled out his knife and responded, “I doubt much more than goblins. Sure, they can use a few different elements depending on the type… but they are not too difficult.”

  Dawn shrugged and said, “you are probably right. That was not too hard at all and there were 6 of those demons in total.”

  “I agree goblin hunting is pretty easy at our level of training. I have a feeling though we are gonna fight far worse in the forest though. You never know what could ambush us in there. Keep your guard up.” He said as he ripped out the last goblin’s tusk.

  Dawn yawned. It was starting to get dark outside now, “we should start trying to find a place to sleep.”

  Leo stood up and looked around, “I agree. We will probably want to go a little in the forest. It will give us way better coverage then out here. Who is taking the first watch?”

  Dawn looked up with a questioning look, “first what?”

  Leo sighed and said, “first watch. We are out in the elements now Princess. One of us is gonna have to stay awake and watch to make sure demons or animals do not attack in the night.”

  Dawn put her finger to her nose, “not it. I need my beauty sleep.”

  Leo started walking to the forest, “I will let you sleep first then. I have to sleep as well though. If we can manage to get more people, it won't be so bad but with only two we do not have many options. I recommend flipping every 2 hours. That will give us both 4 hours of sleep.”

  “Is it too late to get a room in town? This sounds terrible. Are demons even awake during the night?”

  “It's getting late, and we do not have the money for a room. We will try to stay in town when we can. Most demons do sleep but others are more active at night. Like animals, some demons are nocturnal.”

  “Well, that sucks, I guess if that’s what we have to do for now. Until we can build up some money, then I am never sleeping on the ground again.”

  They reached the forest and started to look around. After just a little bit Dawn’s stomach growled.

  Leo laughed into his hand, “that spot looks good.” He pointed to a spot with lots of trees and bushes all over. “We should be able to find a spot with enough room to put the tent down and we can start a fire. You find the perfect spot and I will pick up some firewood. Then we can set up camp and cook up our fish.”

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  “Sounds like a plan to me.” Then she started looking around. She found a spot with about 8 feet of flat ground. Perfect to set up camp. She held her arm up above her head and produced a small flame in her hand.

  After a few moments Leo came out of the bushes holding a bunch of smaller twigs and branches. He set them down at the edge of the clearing, “good spot. We don’t have an ax, so we are gonna have to make do with smaller sticks for now. If you get the fire started, I can go grab more wood and then we can set up camp.”

  “Leave it to me, I am a pro at lighting things on fire!” Dawn said as she grabbed a few sticks and threw them into the center of the clearing.

  Leo walked out of her view grabbing sticks as he walked. Dawn blasted the sticks with way too much fire and the sticks lit aflame.

  “Yes, it's so warm!” She said as she sat down next to the fire proud of herself.

  Leo came and threw some more wood on the fire. “Good job, I will get started cooking then.”

  He sat the backpack down and grabbed the fish from the backpack. They were wrapped in some big leaves to keep them fresh. He then speared two fish and held them over the fire.

  Leo then said, “wish we were able to get a frying pan. Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose.”

  Dawn looked a little mad and said, “I am no beggar. I am a princess and we paid for that food.”

  “It’s just an expression, I was not calling us beggars.”

  “Oh… So, are you going to season those fish or take the bones out of them?” Dawn asked with disgust in her voice.

  Leo kept rotating his spear and said, “nope can’t afford seasonings. We would also need something to mix them in, like a frying pan.”

  Dawn looked around for a moment. It was now pitch-black outside. With sadness in her voice she said, “nope no going back to town now.” Her stomach growled again, “I guess I will have to eat it.”

  Leo said with a smile, “do not worry it won't be that bad.” Then he took a bite of one of the fishes on his spear. “See it's so yummy.” He said with a smile that Dawn could tell was fake.

  “I appreciate it, but I can tell you are lying to me. Pass it over.” Leo passed the spear, and she took a bite. She stuck her tongue out and gagged a bit. “I mean it could be worse I suppose.” Then took another bite.

  They ate the fish and relaxed in silence. Dawn was still a bit hungry but it's not like she could just eat a tree. Leo then cleaned off his spear with a cloth and grabbed the backpack. He began setting up the tent. He took out a tarp and rolled it on the ground. He began to put it together and Dawn just enjoyed the fire.

  Leo proclaimed, “boom a tent!” He threw both bed sheets in and said, “go ahead I will guard from out here so get some rest.”

  Dawn yawned, “you do not have to tell me twice.” She then took off her cloak, rolled out the bed roll and fell asleep instantly.

  Next she knew she woke up to Leo tapping on her shoulder. “Sorry Dawn I need to get some sleep as well.”

  Dawn started moving really slowly, getting out of bed without a word and sat right outside of the tent. Leo got into his bedroll and closed his eyes. It was still pitch black outside and there was a lot of animal noises in the trees. Dawn tried her best to keep her eyes open and after what she thought was about two hours she tapped Leo on the shoulder.

  “Your turn.” She said as plopped on top of her bed roll.

  Next time she opened her eyes there was sunlight coming into the tent. She let out a big yawn and got out of the tent.

  Leo was sitting by the fire, cooking up two more fish. Leo noticed her and said, “good morning! I hope you slept well!”

  “I did thank you.” She let out another yawn and said, “did you not get any sleep?”

  Leo yawned and said, “I got a bit while you watched. I am more used to sleeping less, I think.”

  Dawn sniffed herself and said to herself, “that bath is no longer optional.” She sat by the fire and Leo handed her the spear and she ate one of the fish and handed it back.

  Leo said after he took a bite, “we are going to have to hunt for the rest of our food here. We could also buy a fishing rod from town next time we are in town.”

  Dawn shrugged and said, “maybe Marina will have all these things and coffee when she joins us.”

  “That’s if she does join us, you never know.” Leo said and stood up.

  “Oh, she will join us, trust me it's hard to say no to this face.” She said as she put both her pointer finger on her cheeks and smiled wide.

  “I wish you the best luck with that princess.” Leo then started to pack up the bed rolls and tent. He grabbed their cloaks, put his own on and then handed Dawn hers. “Here you go princess let's get moving.”

  Dawn threw her cloak on and patted herself down trying to get as much dirt as possible, “okay let's go.”

  They walked around a bit trying to find the lake they were told about. Dawn spoke first to break the silence, “We are lost, aren't we?”

  Leo scratched his head and said, “I would say so. He made it seem like that lake would be easy to spot.”

  They kept walking aimlessly. They encountered a few small groups of goblins but dispatched them quickly with almost no effort. After a few more hours of walking, they encountered a lake. There was a beaver at the edge of the lake.

  Oh, so cute Dawn thought as a spear went right through its head.

  “Hey look, I caught lunch!” Leo proclaimed as he ran for his kill.

  With a bit of sarcasm and sadness Dawn said, “good job.”

  As they got closer to the lake, they noticed just how big it was. They could not even see the other side of the lake. Dawn looked around but only saw trees around it, as it was a dense forest.

  Dawn asked, “So do we try to go left or right?”

  Leo looked around, “I do not see any building, so I guess right?” He said as if it was a question.

  “Right it is, let’s stop here for a quick snack then.”

  Leo nodded and got on his knees and started to gut the beaver.

  Dawn said with disgust, “I will go get the firewood then.” Then she went around and got some sticks.

  Leo spoke up as he was cutting into the beaver, “before I clean my knife and spear off in the lake do you want to take a bath?”

  Dawn shook her head and said, “no thank you I am hoping Marina has a bath I can use before we leave.”

  “Oh, so not only are you hoping she will join us but also let you use her bath? Very umm presumptuous of you.”

  Dawn ignored the comment and threw a bunch of sticks in a pill next to where Leo was sitting. She launched a smaller ball of flame at it, and it lit right up.

  Leo smiled as he put some meat on his spear. “Shish Kabob it is, thank you for starting the fire.”

  “You are welcome, I will go get more wood.”

  She then walked away grabbing some more fuel to the fire. After a bit Leo finished cooking and then cleaned off his spear and knife in the water. It was a few hours past midday now and there was a nice breeze coming from the lake. Dawn ate the unseasoned beaver with disgust on her face. I hope I never get used to unseasoned food.

  Leo finished cleaning off his knife and stood up. “Ready to go?”

  “Yeah let's get moving, I would like to make it back to town today.” Dawn said not wanting to sleep on the ground again.

  Leo looked up in the sky, “we still have plenty of daylight. We should be able to make it there and back to town. Next time we gotta ask for better directions.”

  Dawn started to walk right on the lakefront, “I agree. This lake took us quite a bit of time to find.”

  Leo walked next to her, and they walked around the lake a bit. As they were walking, they noticed a few goblins and kobolds in the distance. Leo put his hand out to stop Dawn from getting closer.

  In a whisper Leo said, “it looks like there are over ten of them over there. It may be easier to just sneak around them.”

  “If we do that we could get lost again, we could circle around the other side of the lake… or we could just go right through them.” She said as she had a smile on her face and held a flame in her hands.

  “I guess we are going through.” He took off his backpack and set it next to a tree. He pulled out his spear. “This is not gonna be easy, what's the plan?”

  “Attack. Look around, it almost looks like a raid party. If we do not stop them here, they will kill a lot of people in that town.”

  Leo looked over towards the goblins they saw. He noticed there were a few tents around and goblins where to talk amongst themselves. He could see at least 10 goblins and 10 kobolds just from this distance.

  Leo spoke with resolve, “I will follow you my princess, but it does seem like a big risk. I would rather not put you in harm's way.”

  “I know it's going to be risky. It will be worth it though, a raid party of this size could do serious damage to that town.”

  “Okay I think I got a good plan of attack,” Leo said.