It took some urging, as Livia was still woozy from both her wound and Emilie’s treatment, but Krey and Emilie managed to get her to summon Danu. They lay Livia on her back, along with the bodies of the razorwolves they’d vanquished, and walked on either side of her. It was only after a few hours that the wounded adventurer finally sat up, her flesh having successfully knitted back together. She even managed to drop off Danu’s back and stick the landing, even if she did wobble a bit.

“Well, well,” Krey toned. “Didn’t expect you up so soon.”

“Nor did I,” Emilie hummed.

“Well,” Livia crowed, “you’re not the only one with white magic, milady. I guess, in response to the shock, some part of me started instinctively trying to fix my injury as well.”

“That would explain it,” Emilie nodded. “I noticed your regeneration far exceeded what I and your body’s efforts should’ve been accomplishing. We were working in conjunction to heal your wound.”

Livia shrugged. “Looks that way.”

“Good timing,” Krey said, “as the sun’s going down and we still need to find dinner.”

“What about the razorwolves? Can’t we eat them?”

“I’m not sure about your world, Livia, but here, predators don’t make for good eating.”

“They do in Aubade. I remember, on one hunt, we brought down a myrewyrm; we fed the entire village for over a week with it.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not the same here. No… what we need is a pexur.”

“Seeing as you two have the experience,” Emilie piped up, “you can do the hunting, and I will do the cooking. I don’t think I’d particularly enjoy seeing you kill one of them, but I do know how to prepare them well.”

“Sounds good to me,” Livia nodded. “I can’t cook to save my life— literally.”

“I can,” Krey said, “but if our fair lady can make them taste better than merely edible, then I’m all for it.”

Livia pointed. “Say… what about that?” the other two followed with their eyes. They saw a deer-like creature with horns seemingly made of jade, and with green rippling stripes in its brown fur. Livia saw the others practically gawking at it. “Hello? Are you two okay?”

“We don’t kill those,” Krey said solemnly. “That’s an arietes stag; a jade arietes, to be exact. They roam all over Berodyl. You see my surcoat? And my shield?” he raised his heater shield from his side, holding out facing Livia and Emilie. “It’s an arietes stag. They’re the emblem of our order.

“They’re sacred,” Emilie added. “They helped the peoples of Berodyl during a dark part of our history. Oh, and don’t use magic around them; they’re… somewhat averse to the civilised races using magic, probably because of what happened in the dark age. They may just be beasts… but, without them, we would not be here now.”

“Uh… okay.” Livia decided not to question what she was hearing, at least not for now. After a few more moments of staring in reverence, the party moved on.

Soon, it was dusk, the sun gone below the horizon and the sky turned to a gradient of shade and hue. When they came across a good-looking spot to make camp, they diverted from the road a short distance. A good thing, too, as the party discovered that Danu had a limit to how long she could sustain being summoned, and she dispersed into particles of light just as she had earlier in the day, dropping the razorwolf carcases. “Well then…” Livia mused. “Good thing we know that now.”

“Strange,” Krey hummed. “Phyrn made no mention of that particular limitation.”

“Perhaps,” Emilie suggested, “while bound to a god, there was no such limit.”

Livia’s posture perked up. “Y’know, now that you mention it, when Danu dismissed herself, it felt… it felt like taking off a jacket on a warm day— like a little burst of refreshment.”

“Summoning has always been somewhat dependent on the summoner,” Emilie pondered. “I suppose, even with a divine steed, it would be no different.”

Krey reached into a pouch on his hip, and produced a marble that hummed with a purple glow. “Ready to see a traveller in action, Livia?” he threw it, and it smashed on the ground. In a puff of purple, the area in front of them was transformed in an instant into a campsite, consisting of two one-man tents, a small campfire, and a spit stood over it. “Perfect.”

“Perfect?” Emilie furrowed her brow. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but three people do not fit inside two tents.”

“You two can share a tent, can’t you? Unless one of you really want to sleep alone; I don’t mind sharing.”

Livia smirked. “I’m sure we’ll make do sharing a tent; right, milady?”

“I am not accustomed to it… but yes, I think I would prefer to sleep next to my fellow lady if I must sleep next to someone at all.

Krey shrugged with a pouty smile. “Suit yourselves, but don’t get too comfortable just yet; we’ve got some hunting to do.”

“And while you two are hunting,” Emilie announced, “I will be foraging for the herbs and plants I need to complete my family’s recipe.”

Krey wagged a finger. “Uh uh. No way. We’re not splitting up.”

“Why not? I will not be far— just by those trees over there. I will still be in view of the camp. I’ll be fine.”

“Not if a strixanth decides to attack you you won’t.”

“Okay,” Livia sighed,” I’ll ask: what’s a strixanth?”

“To put a fine point on it,” Krey toned, “bird people. Owl people, more specifically. They’re nocturnal predators that’ll make off with anything they can kill by swooping down and landing on them hard, even hauling people into the air by digging their talons in and flapping their mighty arm-wings to fly.”

“Aubade did not have so many monsters,” Livia muttered.

“What? Just myrewyrms in Aubade, is it?"

"Hey, we had our share of beasties, but most creatures in Aubade weren't as... explicitly hostile."

Krey patted Livia on the back. "You’ll get used to it.”

“Just don’t forget to tell me about the nasty ones, okay?”

And so they waited for a pexur to wander close enough to be visible from the camp; they dared not venture into the oily black, for fear of the strixanths. When Krey pointed one out that was getting close to them, Livia took the lead. “Okay… my turn to show off a cool trick.”

“Oh?” Krey raised an eyebrow. “I’m looking forward to this.”

Emilie watched on in silence.

Livia focused all her attention on the one pexur that had strayed from its flock, reaching out to it with her mind. The sheep-like creature seemed to feel her, taking a step towards her. “That’s it… come here… come to me.” She whispered, as if the animal could comprehend her. It seemed to be doing exactly that, as it continued to move toward her; it was cautious, but its thick, abrasive wool did not yet crackle with lightning.

“How…? What are you doing to it?” Emilie whisper-shouted, hunched down a short distance from Livia.

“Beastwhispering. It was… a tradition in my home village.” She put a finger to her lips. “Please, milady… I need to concentrate.”

Emilie nodded, taking a step back. “Apologies.”

When it was finally near enough to reach out and touch, Livia cradled its blank, gormless face in her hands, kneeling down on both knees now. She slowly raised one of her hands, giving Krey the signal, and the knight answered by plunging his sword into the creature’s neck. With a final death rattle, Livia and Krey were blown away by a burst of lightning magic, and the pexur was dead. The two of them were a tad singed, but ultimately unharmed.

Emilie had averted her eyes in that moment, but didn’t hesitate to rush over and tend to their burns, even though the damage they’d sustained was only superficial. When they were back on their feet, and had dragged the carcase back to camp, the hierophant voiced her desires once again. “Now then… preparing the pexur is going to take a bit of time. Since it is not far from camp at all, I should go to those trees I pointed out earlier, where I suspect the herbs I need may be growing among the thicker grass. I wouldn’t be going alone like before— I’d have one of you as an escort.”

Krey started mulling this over silently, stroking his chin, but Livia stepped to Emilie’s side. “I’ll go with her, Krey; I’ll make sure nothing terrible happens.”

He looked up at them… and nodded. “Alright. But be quick! I don’t like having to get up from a task once I’m in the middle of it.”