We got far enough from the village and it’s haunted castle. We had to catch our breath after the hectic exchange and mindlessly running. The sun had risen, but we were luckily under the cover of trees. It didn’t seem like we were being chased. All I could hear were the sounds of the forest. Eidechse took out the amulet to check it out. The emerald glistened in the bits of light that filtered through the canopy. It was beautiful, that much was true. But to have risked my life and that of my brother for it pissed me off. I kept my mouth shut, though. Saying anything now wouldn’t help in any way. Our first priority was to get back home without any more trouble.

After a 10 minute break, we continued walking back home. We had to leave the cart earlier during the escape. I’m sure it’s been found by now. It might even be used to identify us. Maybe there’s a spell that can do that, or they could narrow it down to everyone who left town with a cart that day. At least no one living saw our faces and survived, but the ghost might still give us away. Eidechse and Thet seemed to be in a good mood despite everything. They seemed like professionals earlier, so perhaps I’m overthinking it.

After walking for hours, we arrived at a small river. It was shallow, only coming up to my knees. We took another break here. It was nice relaxing for once, but I didn’t remember seeing this river going to the village…

A bit worried, I decided to ask Eidechse: “Hey, how long before we arrive back home?”.

“Home?”, he asked, “We’re not going back for a few weeks. Best to lay low while they’re still looking for us.”

“Wait, what? Why? No one who saw us lived to tell anyone!”.

“There are many ways to find out it’s us. Spells, for one, can be a massive pain in the ass. And with our recent victims' clear show of talent for magic, I think it’s best to stay away from home for a while”.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right”, I said sombrely.

“What? Attached to it already? Didn’t take you long to get comfortable”, Eidechse remarked, followed by a hearty laugh.

“I prefer a roof above my head, rather than a canopy”.

“Good point. Well, I think it’s about time we get back to moving. We’re headed to a small village by the name of Trost village. I know some people there. We can lay low for a while until all of the ruckus about this fine thing has died down”.

We got back up and crossed the river. The forest only sparsely continued after it. With my hood torn and burnt to the point where it was only scraps of wool, I was left exposed to the sun. I had to keep my eyes closed while walking, or else they’d burn like hell. I held onto Eidechse’s armour to guide me.

I could hear something move behind us as we left the forest, but I wasn’t paying much attention at that point and choked it up to a squirrel or something. At any rate, it sounded somewhat far from us. We made our way through the landscape. From what I saw just before we left the comfort of the shadows, the landscape was a grass field. Though, we seemed to go over small hills after an hour or so of traveling. The whole time, Thet and Eidechse were talking to each other. It seemed light hearted at first, as they were laughing quite a bit. To pass the time, I tried to at least differentiate the words, I managed to hear the sentences: “Olhando para voces tres agora, acho que estava certo! Eles sao seus filhos perdidos!”, but couldn’t do much more than that. I was beginning to get really tired. This all seemed to have been to much for me.

After they shared some laughs, their voices got serious. I could only guess what they were talking about. It was pretty frustrating, but I guess Thet must feel the same each time we speak in our language. Though their conversation continued, we stopped moving after another hour. I could hear the sounds of birds chirping. We were in a forest, no doubt.

“You can open your eyes again”, Eidechse said before going back to talking with Thet.

The forest wasn’t that dense, but provided enough shadow. It was calming. They chose a good place to take a break. As I sat down, some of the birds in the distance suddenly all flew away in a panic. Maybe a predator scared them? Or perhaps a human? Pigeons in my old world would only fly away if you got really close, but birds here probably aren’t as used to humans as them. And there were no birds near us either. I just ignored it and tried to relax. The humans here are cunts, but I doubt they’ll cause any trouble or even cross us.

“Maybe we should get some sleep”, Eidechse suggested, “I’ve no strength left and this place is just calling me to doze off”.

We got some much needed rest. Thet stood guard for the first watch. Both her and Eidechse insisted that we keep a look out just in case. They had a point, I guess. The ones we robbed could still be tracking us. But, in the meantime I entered dreamland.

I was rudely taken away from dreamland, though, by someone shaking me. Vyth was kneeled beside me, whispering something.

“Wake up! I think there’s something out there”, He quietly said.

I turn to look in the direction he’s looking at, but see nothing. I go back to lying down and shutting my eyes, when a loud roar opens them wide.