Tala took a long couple of minutes to completely come down from the adrenaline released by the butchery she’d just enacted.

Terry took that opportunity to devour the traditionally discarded parts of the corpses. He even went so far as to carefully splay open those that she hadn’t already bisected and remove the innards cleanly. To do this, he used a talon almost like a gut hook, the rounded top facing inward to glide across the underlayers as the sharper point and interior laid the creature open. He cracked the sternums with casual ease.

After severing the esophagus, he grabbed that and pulled, dragging all the guts free before devouring them in their entirety.

The whole sequence was carried out with disturbing familiarity, once again demonstrating his monstrous strength and incredible dexterity.

Wait… “Terry, if you can do that, why did you devour so many of the slain in the forest? When we went out to hunt.”

He regarded her for a long moment, then trilled, gave an avian shrug, and went on to the next fallen beast.

Tala felt her eye twitch. “You didn’t know I wanted the bodies…”

He didn’t look towards her but squawked in a way that conveyed that he’d thought that obvious.

Don’t think about it, Tala. That money’s gone and won’t be coming back. She again watched him devour an animal’s guts.

That doesn’t seem healthy… Tala would have guessed that at least the stomachs and intestines would be bad to eat. At least what was in them.

But what did she know? Terry seemed to regularly ingest animals whole. He probably just processes the entirety into power… somehow.

When he was done, and she was centered once more, Terry returned to stand before her, looking around at the six, massive carcasses laid out around them

He trilled questioningly.

“What am I going to do with them?”

He bobbed a nod.

She gave him a confused look. “Terry… don’t you know?”

He shook himself.

A grin stole over her face. “Jerky, Terry. I want to increase our dwindling supply of jerky.”

Terry froze in place, then looked around once more, taking time to stare at each downed thunder cow or bull. Finally, he trilled in happy triumph, almost seeming to dance in a circle.

Tala found herself laughing. “Come on, we need to find a way of transporting these.” She hesitated, then groaned. “I’m an idiot, again…”

Terry seemed quite pleased and continued to flit about, trilling and chirping.

“Any ideas?”

He stopped, looking between her and the carcasses. Finally, he flickered to her side and nuzzled Kit.

“I could probably make that work, but I’d have to cut them into basically long strips.” She looked between the bodies and finally sighed. “I can probably get them in fourths.” Kit can open wide enough for that.

With no time to waste, Tala used Flow to carve the already bisected cow down until it was roughly as big around as Kit’s opening, and much, much longer.

She wouldn’t have been able to do so, with a mundane tool, but Flow sliced through with little effort.

It took quite a bit of finagling to get the long quarters in, but she did it in the end.

Tala looked at the five other bodies in despair. All but one were larger than the cow she’d just dealt with.

Terry let out a musical squawk, looking up the hill from which they’d looked down on the thunder cattle.

Tala turned to see a couple of mounted guards looking down on them. She waved up and shouted a greeting. “Hello!”

One waved back and shouted in return. “Greetings, Mistress. Good hunting, I see.” They rode the couple hundred feet down to her.

She glanced around herself at her acquisitions. “Good hunting, indeed.” She tilted her head in consideration. “Is the caravan close?”

“Just a bit south, on the other side of this rise, Mistress.”

Good, they kept to the anticipated path. “Could you send for Master Rane? I need him, just briefly, to help transport these.”

The sergeant with whom she’d been speaking nodded and sent the other man to do just that.

“You were sent to check up on me, yes?”

“Nothing so brash, Mistress. We were meant to see if you needed assistance.”

“Uh-huh.” She cocked an eyebrow at the man.

“And it seems that you did.”

She let her eyebrow fall and forced a smile, stifling a grimace. “Fair enough, sergeant. Thank you.”

He gave a seated bow. “Our pleasure to assist, Mistress.”

* * *

They arrived at the outskirts of Bandfast just as the sun touched the far horizon, behind them. The light seemed to paint the walls a stunning red-ish orange.

The sight brought a smile to Tala’s lips, and she felt a bit of her tension slip away. We made it.

The trip through the farmlands was largely unremarkable. There was some work being done in the winter fields but not much. Most of what was being done was contained to the occasional greenhouse.

If Tala remembered correctly, there were a series of growing chambers under the city that operated year-round. I wonder if the entrances are out here, to keep the agriculture all linked, or in the city.

She could look into it, or ask, but she decided she didn’t actually care that much.

Their arrival seemed to fall near the end of the workday, as many workers were coming from their tasks, and walking the road back to the city proper.

The familiar crack of defensive magics took an arcanous bird from the sky on the far side of the city, and Tala felt her smile widen.

Terry, for his part, was contentedly curled on her shoulder, showing no concern for the death of so similar a creature. Not that Tala expected him to care. If he gave any thought, I bet it was just a desire to eat it.

His collar was topped off and clearly still fully functional.

They rolled through the western city gate and turned into the nearest work-yard.

Tala faced Mistress Odera, who was sitting in the center of the wagon top, and gave a bow. “Thank you, Mistress.”

Mistress Odera gave her an inquiring look. “Whatever for?”

“For not lording your authority over me, for allowing me to learn.” Tala shrugged.

The older woman smiled and nodded. “It was a pleasure. We should probably discuss our next venture soon.”

“Breakfast?”

She laughed. “I’ll see what I can do. Where would you like to meet?”

“I know of a place that has excellent breakfast sandwiches. They don’t really have a place to sit to eat, but we can find someplace nearby?”

Mistress Odera frowned. “I think I’d prefer to eat inside somewhere, this time of year.”

Tala looked at her again, more closely, and saw the heavy blankets wrapped around her, against the cool, winter-evening air. “Ahh, that’s fair. I’m sorry for not thinking of that.”

Mistress Odera waved her off. “That’s more than fine. How about we meet at the Caravan Guild office, and decide from there? My great granddaughter should be in town. It might be nice to introduce the two of you. She’s just a few years older than you, I believe.”

I’m the same age as her great granddaughter? Tala knew about how old Mistress Odera was, but she’d never really put it in that light. “Oh, sure.” She shrugged. “That would work.”

Mistress Odera smiled. “Alright, then. I’ll send a message if I’m unable to meet up tomorrow. Otherwise, I’ll see you just after sunrise?”

“I look forward to it.” Tala turned and crouched next to the ladder of the now stopped wagon. “Thank you, Tion, for getting us back.”

He glanced her way with a smile. “A pleasure to serve, Mistress.”

Tala patted his shoulder, stood, turned, and stepped off the top, Terry reflexively sinking his claws into her shoulder to stay in place as she dropped.

She absorbed her landing fairly well, only feeling a miniscule drop in ending-berry power. You know, I should keep that in my system, even in the city. It really feels like it reinforces my pathways enough to warrant the use of resources.

After a moment’s thought, she shrugged. After I visit Holly. She rubbed the right side of her chest in remembered pain. I wonder why it didn’t protect against that injury. Maybe Holly will know.

She’d also need to find more ending-trees to harvest. And a more efficient means of harvesting…

She was about to head to the pay-clerk, but realized that it would take a bit for her cut to be calculated. Instead, she turned and walked to the chuckwagon.

Amnin greeted her. “You know, Mistress, we cannot possibly be done, already.”

Tala grinned. “Of course not, Amnin. I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful meals this trip. I know you all had to work odd hours more than a time or two to keep us fed and awake.”

Amnin gave her a searching look, then smiled. “It was my pleasure, Mistress.” After a brief hesitation, she added. “Are you sure you would like all the meat jerked?”

Terry perked up at that, and Tala glanced his way with a grin. “Absolutely. Are you sure that the bones, alone, are sufficient payment?”

“Definitely. They are almost too much.” Amnin smiled. After a brief pause, she asked, “Was there something that I can do for you, Mistress?”

“No, I just came by to express my gratitude.”

“Well, you are welcome.”

Tala gave a bow of her head. “Thank you once again. I hope that we see each other again soon.”

Amnin waved farewell as Tala departed.

Tala then made a slow circuit of the work-yard, stretching her legs before walking over to the pay-clerk and waiting in the short line. Ostensibly Mistress Odera and the lead caravan Guard had submitted their reports with Archive tablets. Even so, it still took a bit for all the calculations to iterate through the system and tally. When they were complete, Tala walked away with an additional forty-five gold and fifty-three silver.

Her pay this time was a bit less than the last leg, but not by much. They hadn’t lost anyone, so there were no death benefits to be paid, and the healing costs were lower, stars be praised, but they’d also, ironically, defended the caravan from fewer creatures in total.

And we have more guards to split the payout with, given they all survived.

She frowned. Which would be more cost effective?

She shook her head. Nope!

She decided that she wasn’t a fan of that line of thought.

Moving on!

Rane came through the payment line a little while after her, but Tala didn’t mind waiting.

He smiled as he walked up to her. “What’s the plan?”

Huh, he immediately assumes I have something in mind. She almost prodded him about that, but then, she realized that she did, in fact, have some things in mind. So, she shrugged. “I’ll talk my potential next route through with Mistress Odera tomorrow, but I want to take a bit to round out some of my training.” She hesitated. “You interested in joining me on the next trip? This one wasn’t exactly the safest.”

Rane barked a laugh. “That’s true enough.” Still, he smiled. “If you’re not sick of me, yet, I think I’d like that.”

“Any preferences on where to?”

“Nothing specific.” He gave her a searching look. “You know, most routes from here will go through Marliweather.”

Tala grimaced. “Yeah.”

He glanced away, his voice dropping as if to not be overheard. “You don’t have to see them, even if you’re in the same city.”

A small, sad smile pulled at her features. “I know.”

“But you don’t want to risk it.”

“Yeah.” She sighed. “But before we leave for anything, I need to visit Mistress Holly for all sorts of reasons. After that, I think a couple of quick runs are in order.” She sighed. “I wish that the Alefast route wasn’t so coveted. But I think a circumnavigation of the mountains to Arconaven would be nice. After that? North, maybe? I’ve never seen a city being built. That might be pretty interesting.”

“Any plans for tonight?” He seemed a bit uncertain.

“Find Lyn. See what’s been happening. I haven’t seen her in a long time, and I think it would be good for the two of us to catch up.”

Rane nodded, glancing away. “Ahh, well, I should leave you to that. Care to meet up for training tomorrow?”

“Yeah!” Tala grinned. “We should definitely drop through and see Adam. We were gone longer than expected, but they might still be open for sparring and working together. I could use a different sparring partner.”

Rane’s face fell, but Tala smiled a bit brighter and patted him on the shoulder, having to reach up to do so.

“Don’t worry, we’ll still fight, but we know each other’s fighting styles so well these days that I feel like I’m more playing a guessing game than fighting. Does that make any sense?”

He shrugged, smiling a bit at that. “It makes some sense, but we’ve still a lot we can learn from each other.”

“Undoubtedly, but if we’re going on the next route together, we’ll have plenty of time for that on the road.”

“True.”

“Besides, they’ll train with you too, don’t forget. Mages who are willing to train with the Guard aren’t that common.”

He nodded. “True enough.”

“Well, then. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Midmorning? At the Guard’s compound we went to last time?”

“That sounds great.” Tala gave him a quick hug goodbye, which he returned on reflex, and set off into the city.

Behind her, Rane stared after her, seeming mildly confused.

Huh, why did I do that? She shrugged. Whatever. To Lyn!

* * *

Tala stood in the darkened street, illuminated by well-spaced streetlights, staring at the large building, which stood less than a block from Lyn’s house, on the opposite side of the street.

Wasn’t this whole block a park? She felt an odd pressure from the building, but that might have just been the mass of humanity crowded within and the light and noise spilling out onto the otherwise quiet, evening street. I suppose a tavern isn’t that odd to see here, but I would have sworn that it wasn’t…

She shook her head, continuing on. I’ll ask Lyn.

A couple of minutes later, and she was standing outside the familiar door. It was locked, but that was no barrier. Tala pulled out her key and opened the door, stepping inside. “Lyn?”

The lights were on, subtle magic flowing through the air along with the light. That’s a bit odd.

“Lyn, are you here?” She looked closer at the magical lights, and noticed that the light they emitted had a hint of magic lingering within. Like how magical fire carries a signature. She’d never really noticed it, before. Holly did say that my senses would continue to improve. I’ll have to ask her, I suppose.

A thump, reminiscent of a heavy book being set down on a side-table preceded that of bare feet, running through the house. “Tala?” Lyn pulled to a halt just out of arms' reach.

Tala frowned. “Are you okay?”

Lyn straightened a bit, cocking an eyebrow. “Am I okay?” She shook her head. “You don’t write. You don’t send word. I had to find out about your delay in Makinaven third hand, Tala.” She met Tala’s gaze, directly. Lyn’s eyes were filled with barely contained irritation. “I’m your guild contact, your landlord, and your friend.”

Tala opened her mouth but found herself speechless. She was completely on the back foot. She’s right. “I…I’m sorry, Lyn. You’re right. I should have let you know, somehow.”

The older woman looked marginally shocked but didn’t respond right away, so Tala continued.

“I’m planning on looking into Archive tablets, and that should let me communicate more effectively, going forwards. I truly am sorry. I didn’t even consider letting you know, and I should have.”

Lyn sighed and nodded, clearly still a bit frustrated, but not willing to press the issue.

Tala scratched the back of her head self-consciously. Then, an idea struck. “Oh! Let me make you some tea. I got some in Makinaven, and I think you’ll like it.”

The mention of tea seemed to lift Lyn’s mood. “Ha! Tala, that’s brilliant, and a cup sounds wonderful. Thank you.” She stepped forward and gave Tala a hug.

Tala returned it, hesitantly. What is with the hugs, this evening?

“I really did miss you, Tala.” Lyn still sounded a bit frustrated, but Tala didn’t doubt the sincerity of the sentiment.

“And I you.”

Lyn linked arms with Tala, drawing her into the sitting room.

Tala took a deep breath, reveling in the scent of the place. There wasn’t anything specific that stood out, but it just smelled right.

“So, will you need help selling the tea you brought back?”

Tala gave her an odd look. “What?”

“The tea. Do you already have a buyer, or will you need help?”

“I just bought tea for myself. Why would I have brought extra?”

Lyn turned to regard her. “Oh… Tea is one of Makinaven’s primary exports. This season? It’s easy to make a thirty to fifty percent profit, if you have the right buyers here. More if you sell it to end users yourself, but that takes time that I think you don’t want to spend. You can make more with specific types or producers, less if it’s growing season, here.”

Tala groaned. “I even bought more for myself, as I was leaving. And I even have some money…”

“I’m sorry, Tala. We never really discussed possible trade-goods on your routes.” Lyn patted her arm. “Come, now. It wasn’t something we were thinking of, because you were…less financially well off. It sounds like that’s changed?”

Tala shrugged. “You could say that.” She remembered recording her most recent payout.

Seventy gold, one-hundred and forty-eight silver, and fifty copper.

She shook her head in realization. “One moment.”

Tala pulled a small notebook from Kit and flipped to the furthest page with writing on it. I didn’t carry over the conversion. Seventy-one gold, forty-eight silver, and fifty copper.

“There. Sorry about that, I just realized that I neglected to do something.” She sighed. “I do have another payment due on my debts tomorrow, too.”

Lyn gave a small smile and cocked an eyebrow.

Tala grinned. “And I owe you twenty silver for this month’s rent.” She grimaced, then. “Do I owe any late fee, or anything?”

Lyn laughed, taking a seat in one of the chairs. “Let’s have some tea and call it even.” She hesitated. “I mean, if that’s alright. I don’t mean that you’re obligated to-”

Tala held up a hand, smiling. “That sounds wonderful. I want to hear what’s been going on with you.”

Lyn smiled in return, clearly relaxing a bit. “Only if you tell me of your adventure, after.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

The night wore on as the two friends spoke and spun tales. They laughed as the chamomile tea flowed, keeping throats wet and words flowing. After all, it took a long time to fully discuss their nearly two months apart.

In the end, they didn’t get to their respective beds until after midnight.

It is good to be home.