I woke up before the others. The guest room in Nia and Tamara’s house wasn’t fully done—it needed new flooring—but it was still comfortable. It was nice sleeping in a bed, a comfort I knew I would miss in the coming weeks. Beth snored next to me, her curly brown hair covering her face. Gently, I brushed it to the side. She looked so peaceful.

  Groaning, I rolled out of bed and stretched my legs. I had that dream again, the one about the first time I met Zadona. What I couldn’t understand was why I was having that dream now. All those years without seeing her, always keeping her in my thoughts, and only now I was dreaming about her. Was she dreaming of me?

  Beth stirred but didn’t wake up as I left the room. I sat down in the kitchen, watching the sunrise through the windows. Tamara joined me, having woken up sometime after I had. She poured me a cup of tea then sat down across from me. We didn’t talk, nor did we look at each other. All we did was watch the sun.

  Tamara broke the silence first. “Watch her for me, okay?”

  “You don’t have to ask me that.”

  A hint of a smile formed on her face as she shook her head. “If I don’t I won’t be able to sleep.” A grave expression overtook the smile as she looked at me. “If it gets too dangerous up there, if you feel like your lives are in too much danger, give up and bring her home.”

  I wanted to argue, but I could see where she was coming from. If Beth went off alone on a dangerous journey, I would want someone to bring her home if things got crazy. Still, Zadona was my friend, but so was Nia. My head hurt. Instead of promising Tamara anything, I just nodded.

  She seemed to accept that. “You should leave soon. The roads are always a mess in the morning.”

  Beth and I were already packed, so all we had to do was wait for Nia. Thankfully, we wouldn’t have to walk the entire trip to Adelbern. Tamara had a cart big enough to fit everyone comfortably. After buying two mules, we were ready to go. The mules were cheap, so it wasn’t too much of a drain on our wallets. We stood outside Tamara’s house, impatiently waiting for Nia. Even the mules seemed excited to leave. They stomped their hooves on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

  Nia and Tamara stepped out of the house, hand in hand. I smiled as Tamara gave Nia a quick peck on the cheek, causing the large warrior to blush. “Write to me when you get to Adelbern,” said Tamara, handing Nia her bag.

  “I’ll be back soon,” replied Nia, glancing at us before returning Tamara’s kiss.

  Tamara gave her a resigned smile. “I know.”

  As we drove the cart down the road, I took one last look at Tamara. Even from a distance, I could tell she was crying. Nia was too. Was it right to ask her to come with us? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I was glad to bring her along. Memories of leaving Kent’s Crossing with her and Greenspring flashed through my head.

  I flicked the reins, driving the mules forward. The cart groaned as it began moving, the wheels squeaking from lack of care. I was a bit nervous that the cart would break before we left town, but it never did. As the wind picked up, I held onto my straw hat and stared at the Emerald Mountains looming in the distance.

  Over the next few days, we traveled through heavy rains and freezing temperatures. While Nia seemed unfazed by the cold, Beth and I were suffering. My straw hat helped a little, but it wasn’t enough. Thank the gods, I was able to keep us out of the rain thanks to a spell my old bardic master, Piopus, taught me.

  “Summer rain, winter hail, let the wind become our veil.”

  Raindrops slid down an invisible bubble surrounding the cart. I was glad to be dry, but the spell couldn’t do anything against the cold. Beth sat down next to me and threw a blanket over the two of us. It was nice, but I had to keep my hands on the reins so I couldn’t get too comfortable.

  Using her bag as a pillow, Nia laid down and held her otter pendant up to the sky. Now that I got a better look at it, something about it reminded me of Greenspring’s wolf pendant. Was it made of the same type of wood? Her hands were shaking, but I didn’t think it was from the cold. This wasn’t the first time I’d caught her focused on her pendant, and I doubted it would be the last. I wondered if it had been a gift from Tamara.

  “Did you make that?” asked Beth, looking back at Nia.

  Nia tucked the pendant into her bag. “No.”

  “A gift from Tamara?” I asked.

  She turned away from us. “No,” Nia answered, her voice cracking. Shrugging to myself, I decided to let the matter rest.

  Once the rain faltered, Nia and Beth began knitting. Beth had brought yarn with us so she could make some new clothes for Charlie. I was surprised to see that not only did Nia want to knit, but that she knew how to knit at all. She either ignored my confusion or didn’t notice. Either way, she was pretty good at it. Not as good as Beth though.

  The closer we got to the Emerald Mountains, the more merchants we saw on the road. I kept my eyes open for David, the kind merchant who had taken me to Kent’s Crossing so many years ago, but I didn’t see him. Nia seemed to recognize a few, she waved at them as we passed.

  At the base of the mountain, the road was surrounded by dense foliage on both sides. They looked big enough to hide a person or two. Looking behind me, it seemed Nia had the same idea I had. Her eyes scanned the bushes while she continued to knit. All the merchants around us avoided eye contact.

  We rounded a corner, taking us off the main road. That way we would avoid all the traffic and reach Adelbern quicker. It was still a long trek through the mountains, but we would make it there with little trouble. Hopefully.

  Kent’s Crossing was miles behind us. The road was empty. Merchants didn’t like taking this road as it was too steep. The more valuable the cargo, the less chances you want to take. It wasn’t a dangerous road, nothing life-threatening, just bad for fragile things. Of course, I was going off of information we gathered in Kent’s Crossing. They hadn’t mentioned the strange lack of birds, or the lack of breeze. It was quiet.

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  As soon as we were out of view from the main road, four bandits stepped out from the bushes. Their clothing was disheveled and their skin was pockmarked from disease. There were two men and two women, each looking as dangerous as the last. They were armed with curved swords covered with rust. Based on how the bandits looked, they probably pulled them out of the trash.

  “Pass ya weapons and valuables to the front, ifen you please,” said the largest woman, her teeth yellowed and crooked.

  I stopped the cart, the mules instantly relaxing. “Is there another way we can settle this?” I asked, hoping they couldn’t hear my heart beating rapidly in my chest. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  One of the men laughed. “Hurt? This pipsqueak thinks he can hurt us? What a joke!”

  Beth looked up from the shirt she was knitting, noticing the bandits for the first time. “Who are they?” she asked.

  “We’re just simple travelers making our way through the world,” said one of the men. He was the shortest out of the group. “All we’re looking for is your cooperation.”

  Sighing, I stood up. “I don’t want to do this, but you’ve forced my hand. However, I am a kind man. Walk away and I won’t hurt you that much.”

  The four bandits glared at me. “Is that a threat?” asked the short man.

  I grinned. “Of course! After all, you know who we are, right?”

  They shook their heads. “I ain’t ever heard of you,” said the taller man.

  I pretended to look shocked. “You don’t! You must travel more. I am Norman Benson, and this is my traveling band of mercenaries. Perhaps you’ve heard of my master, the great Piopus?” Had I ever traveled with mercenaries? No, but I was sure they would know of Piopus.

  The blank expressions on their faces told me otherwise. Irritated, I gestured to my mandolin. “Piopus? The greatest bard to ever live? He plays the mandolin, like me.”

  Again, they seemed unfazed. “I never heard of him,” said the short man.

  “Then allow me to demonstrate what he has taught me,” I said, reaching for my mandolin.

  Faster than I could react, a knife flung through the air toward me. Nia sprung from her seat, double-bladed axe in hand, and sliced the knife in two. The pieces fell at my feet. As I readied my hands on the strings of my mandolin, Nia leapt from the cart.

  “We warned ya,” she said, her posture relaxed.

  One of the men lunged at her, his dagger in hand. The blade appeared to pierce through Nia’s skin before the bandit found himself passing through her body and falling flat on his face. I laughed as I watched him scramble to his feet. Three years of practicing illusion magic had paid off.

  Beth hid as best she could, only her eyes peeking over the cart’s edge. I couldn’t spare more than a passing glance to reassure her. While my illusion magic had gotten better, I still needed to keep an eye on the real Nia. She crashed through the bandits, fully invisible to them except for the damage she caused.

  Her attacks were precise, only doing enough damage to the bandits to force them to flee. I was impressed with her skill and was glad that she was on my side. With a mighty roar, Nia slammed the side of her axe into one of the bandits, knocking the wind out of the poor brigand. Those that were still uninjured ran once their bodies caught up to their minds.

  Strumming the strings on my mandolin, I sent a few more phantom Nias to chase them away. They panicked, screaming for help as they dove back into the bushes. Nodding my head, I sat back down. Once Nia realized the battle was over, she took deep breaths to calm herself and returned to the cart as well. We both stared at a terrified Beth.

  “What was that?” she asked, her eyes switching rapidly between the two of us.

  I shrugged. “Just some muggers looking for an easy catch. Don’t think we’ll see more of them for the rest of the trip.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not what—”

  “Since leaving the Sapphire Mountains, Norman and I have been training,” interrupted Nia. She placed her hand on Beth’s shoulder to reassure her. Beth flinched but didn’t pull back. “We wanted to be sure something like that never happened again.”

  “I think we did pretty good,” I said, grinning from ear to ear.

  “For bandits,” replied Nia, frowning. “You could scare them off with a loud yell.”

  “Which we did. Relax, Nia, our training has paid off in spades.”

  Nia sighed, folding her arms as she laid back. “For now.”

  I didn’t reply. With a flick of the reins, I commanded the mules forward. It took a few more tries for it to stick, they were a bit frightened, but soon we were back on our journey toward Adelbern. It was still cold and wet, but my spirits had never been higher. We had shown our power, and now all we had to do was stay focused.

  The further into the Emerald Mountains we went, the colder it became. I was thankful Beth and Nia had been knitting as I pulled on my new sweater. It was a bit itchy, but I didn’t complain. Well, okay, I didn’t complain out loud. Beth was still a bit shaken by our encounter with the bandits.

  Before we reached Adelbern, we had to pass the town of Kareth. I had never been, but Nia told me it was a small hunting village located a few miles off the road to Adelbern. After a brief discussion, we decided to check it out. We weren’t running low on any supplies, but we didn’t want to take any chances. Running out of supplies in the cold mountains was a death sentence.

  The trees grew taller the higher we climbed. Small animals ran from tree to tree, foraging for food around the base. I thought about Scraps and how much fun she would have chasing those creatures. It pained me to leave her behind for another journey, but I knew she was better suited for the farm.

  “Those are pine cones,” said Nia, pointing to a strange-looking object hanging from one of the trees.

  “How do you know?” asked Beth.

  Nia smiled. “My brother and I used to go hunting in woods not too dissimilar to these. He told me those become trees if you bury them.”

  “I didn’t know you had a brother,” I said.

  Her smile faltered, her eyes falling onto her bag. “I did.”

  Clearing my throat, I asked, “So they’re like seeds?”

  “I guess.”

  Pine cones, huh? What a strange new world we were traveling through. I wondered if Greenspring had ever heard of pine cones. He seemed like the type of person who would know all about them, but you could never be too sure with him. Greenspring was odd, very odd. Everything from his clothing to his personality marked him as different. Still, he was a good friend to me.

  The mules stopped. Confused, I clicked my tongue, commanding them to continue forward, but they refused. They stomped the ground, their ears pulled back. I stood up, trying to see if something was blocking the path. Seeing nothing but trees and dirt, I turned around to ask Nia what we should do. All the color in her face was gone. She stared at a cluster of trees near us, a horrified look on her face. I followed her gaze, my heart nearly stopping when I saw what lay there.

  Hidden amongst the undergrowth was a human body lying face down. Were it not for the pale color of their skin, I would’ve never seen them. They wore clothes made of leaves and moss, held together by twigs. Three broken arrows stuck out of their back, blood dripping from the wounds. A wooden pendant depicting a wolf’s face lay a few feet away from them.

  Greenspring, our druid friend, was dying a few feet away from us.