“Oh, how lovely!” Ash exclaimed.

Mary was about to slap him, thinking that the compliment was aimed at one of the ladies, but she put her hand down when she saw that Ash was admiring a red flower that Alice had put in her hair.

Smiling, he pulled a white magnolia from his bag and placed it next to the red flower.

“Now it’s perfect!”

Alice immediately pulled a small mirror from her bag and took a look. Blushing a deep red, she stuttered a “thank you” to the mage. In Mary’s opinion, he seemed to be enjoying the situation a bit too much. The rest of the group seemed to be having fun watching her struggle to control her temper.

“Ash!” she finally snapped. “What the hell were you doing there?!”

“What do you mean? I was hungry.”

“Are you blind or did you not see that we also have food on our table?!”

“I saw,” he said and smiled. “However,” he pointed his finger upward as if he were a teacher lecturing a student, “the food here costs coin, the food over there is free.”

“Neither of them cost your coin!” Mary protested. “It’s part of the campaign budget!”

Ash stroked his chin and pondered. “I didn’t think of that...”

“Do you think at all? Ever?” she snapped, absolutely appalled by his behavior.

“Of course, I do!” he said and put his finger to his temple as if he was contemplating something very deep and important.

“What are you doing?” Alice giggled.

“I’m showing you how I think,” he said, turning red from strain.

The group burst out laughing. Mervyn patted him on the shoulder, making Ash grin even wider and make faces that drove Alice to tears. A child in an adult’s body, that’s what he was sometimes.

“Good mage or not, at least he makes for a decent jester,” Mary pondered as she continued to hide her smile. “At least we won’t be bored on the road…

After they had eaten, the group went outside. A wagon, parked in a special spot, was waiting for them. When asked where his things were, Ash just pointed at the small bag tossed over his shoulder. He never did like carrying too many things with him as each item had a story to tell and they never stopped bugging you with it, constantly trying to attract your attention with this or that. One of the few disadvantages of knowing a lot of Words was that if you knew how to talk to something, chances were that it would talk back to you.

The rest of the group, of course, had no idea about this, so the lack of personal belongings made Ash seem even stranger in their eyes.

“Where’s your horse?” Tul asked as he climbed onto the back of the wagon. Inside were packed tents, coils of twine and hemp rope, sacks of food, skins of water, quivers full of arrows and boxes of ammunition, as well as wooden tubes filled with scrolls. There were also a lot of boxes full of small bottles and vials, a leather briefcase for maps of all sorts, an astrolabe, and many other items a group of Ternites could need on an adventure.

“In the woods.”

Ash, hands clasped behind his head, was sitting on the edge of the wagon, waving his legs and enjoying the weather and the fact that he’d get to eat for free. In his opinion, free food was second to free housing. Ash was about to ponder more about this when Mary interrupted him.

“In which woods?” she asked, riding alongside the cart. Her horse, who didn’t like Ash from the moment they met, was trying to get the mage’s sandals off his feet. Ash just yawned and moved out of the horse’s reach, not wishing to lose his only pair of footwear. Free footwear wasn’t on the list of things he could get, unlike free food.

He recalled Maverie telling him about a “Bootland,” where everyone could get a perfect pair of shoes for themselves. He, of course, didn’t believe in such nonsense, but this didn’t prevent him from asking travelers if they had ever been to this magical land.

Ash shrugged, basking in the sunlight and pushing the horse’s mouth away from his feet. “He’s a woodland creature. Besides, there’s more prey in the woods than in the city.”

The group exchanged a look. Tul, as if expressing everyone’s opinion, twirled his finger near his temple. Crazy as Ash seemed, he was still a better pick than some pompous schoolboy who never had to use his skills outside the school and never fought with a fiery toad.

The group had to stop at the gates as a huge line had formed in front of it. There were about a dozen other carts at the checkpoint, which was a little more than fifty people. It was the basilisk hunting season and every adventurer in the vicinity hurried to get their share. These beasts were very dangerous, which is why materials gathered by skinning and flaying them sold for quite a hefty sum at the market.

“After the basilisks, too, are ya?” asked the guard as he looked over the documents that Mary had given him. Written on the parchment with black ink was a list of cities they had passed through, outposts they had stayed in, the amount of coin they had spent and earned, and so on. If they managed to earn three gold before noon, then they had the right to enter or leave the city without paying a toll.

“That’s right,” Mary said. “Hopefully, we’ll manage to get some poison glands... Perhaps even some skin and some fangs.”

Mary firmly believed that the fewer people knew about the true purpose of their journey, the better. There was less risk of them being ambushed somewhere on the road, as bandits had the habit of hunting down adventurers, hiding in the forests like wolves stalking their prey, and jumping out at the most opportunistic moment to kill everyone. Many people had fallen victim to these “Opportunists,” as they called themselves.

The guard raised his gaze from the papers and looked at Ash. “A new guy?”

“Yeah,” Mary replied quietly as if just being connected to Ash was akin to committing a mortal sin.

“He’s weird,” the guard murmured, lifting his plumed hat to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

“Is everything all right with the papers?” Mary said and shot him a glance.

“Khm, yes, yes...” He stamped the papers and then returned them to her. “May Irmar...”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mary replied, not caring about hearing the traditional parting phrase. “And all the best to you.”

Fixing her saber that was attached to her saddle, Mary waved her hand and the group carried on.

As the cart passed by him, the guard caught the newcomer’s gaze and froze, sure that he was looking in the eyes of a demon. But the moment he blinked, all he saw was a smiling young man waving goodbye to him.

Ash watched as the poor guard nearly ran to the messengers, the travelers delivering messages to any known place in the world. Some considered them to be the most notorious of Ternites, because of no one faced as many dangers on the road as they did due to oftentimes carrying bags full of valuable items and documents to far off lands. Ash could only imagine how expensive their services could be.

“No wonder.”He chuckled to himself. “One must always take care of their skin first.”

The group soon reached the Mystra Road, which was lined with knights. The king, having learned of what Vane had done, decided to secure the roads. Ash looked away, unable to directly stare at the shine of the brilliant steel. He never liked it.

Going along the wide road, the travelers would often meet their friends and engage in conversation. Some boasted of a lucrative business, others how they managed to swindle someone for the coin, and some shared their future plans. Sometimes, you could see lonely riders with satchels and sacks of all sizes and content strapped to their saddles, as well as detachments of soldiers. If you’re lucky, you can even run into a Guild, a unit so huge that it could easily hold within itself around two hundred Ternites.

At any other time of the year, these people would be going to various lands on their business, but right now, they were all heading to the same place — the Blacksnake Hollow. It was here that these monsters, a cross between a chicken, snake, and a toad, had made their home.

“Birch!” someone called from behind her.

Ash almost fell off the cart in surprise. From around the corner came a whole cavalry, on the head of which was its gloomy-looking commander in heavy armor adorned with gold. To his right was his lieutenant, and to the left his adjutant, carrying a banner depicting a golden roaring lion devouring a star. There was hardly anyone who never saw this coat of arms, as it belonged to the strongest Guild on this side of the Continent — the Mad Lions. Or just Mad, for short.

“Eric!” Mary smiled at her old friend.