Azareth woke up on the hard ground, her eye was still sore. Though today she seems to be able to see more clearly out of it. Sitting up, she saw Jurah and Artibain were packing their horses up. She looked around the cave, the fire had been extinguished and it looked like they had eaten without her. She stood up, brushed herself off and began to roll up her sleeping mat. The air around her was a bit chilled, but it was warming up as the trio made their way back down the mountain. Azareth turned around and saw Jurah looking over at her.

“What?” she asked him. He shook his head and turned to go back outside. Azareth sighed. They were all still so tense and worried the other men were going to track them down. Worried that the orcs would send out hunting parties after them.

“Morning, sleep alright?” Artibain asked her. She felt her eyes widen at his question but nodded her head.

“I did, thank you. How about you?” she asked him.

“Alright, I guess,” Artibain said. “I felt like Jurah was glaring at me all night.”

“Get used to it, he’ll probably keep that up for the rest of the trip.”

“Do you know?” Artibain asked as he finished saddling up Dewdrop. Azareth looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a weak smile.

“I know nothing, Jurah said it wasn’t for him to tell me.”

“Hurry up,” Jurah called. He was on top of Foxtail and looking annoyed at the two of them.

“Great, I’m not the only one he gives that look to now,” Azareth said. She quickly tied her things to Stormlight’s saddle and climbed on. Azareth watched as Artibain climbed onto Dewdrop. They both started riding, seeing that Jurah was a bit ahead of them.

“How did you two end up travelling together?” Artibain asked Azareth. She looked over and saw he was looking nervous.

“It wasn’t like I chose him, King Halamar learned what I was and forced me to leave.”

“You were forced to leave?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Artibain asked. Azareth thought about the right words.

“Why? Traditionally I would have been kicked out when I was twelve.”

“Twelve?” Artibain looked at Azareth horror-struck. “Why so young?”

“Do you know anything about dragon lords?”

“Just how powerful and dangerous they are.”

“Oh, well how about a little history lesson,” Azareth said. She was smiling at Artibain as she began to explain the history of the dragon lords. His amazed expression warmed her heart, she thought it was so cute. He asked questions and listened intensely, hanging off everyone's words.

As the trio made their way down the mountainside, the air around them grew warmer. It was a welcomed feeling compared to the light snow they had only a few nights ago. The trees were taller and thicker around them, all the animals coming out to enjoy the warm sunlight. Small drops of sweat rolled off the riders. Jurah was leading them along the river again. Of course, Azareth was giving him a hard time about it again. Artibain was confused because he didn’t see anything wrong with it. Jurah groaned as Azareth began to complain about travelling along the river again.

“I’m just trying to say, we haven’t had much luck being near the river,” she said. Jurah stopped his horse and turned to glare at her.

“Well, what should we do then? Huh?” Jurah asked. Azareth dropped her jaw slightly, it had been a while since Jurah had gotten mad at her.

“I don’t know, but I still have the maps my father gave me.”

“Can I see them?” Artibain asked. Azareth nodded and began to pull them out of her saddlebag. She handed them to Artibain and gave Jurah a smug look. Jurah rolled his eyes at her and focused on Artibain.

“My father marked down areas that he felt we should avoid, like the drog territory. We didn’t avoid it and we were nearly drog food.”

“He did an excellent job, I’ve been in most of these areas. The ones he’s marked are areas we should avoid. This next circled area is the giants' territory, they don’t take kindly to my kind,” Artibain said. He handed the map back to Azareth.

“That’s a surprise,” Jurah said. Azareth turned to him, her eyes narrowed.

“Jurah,” she warned him. “When we get to the next fork in the road, if we take the left we should be able to avoid the giants.”

“That’ll take us away from the river,” Jurah said. Artibain and Azareth both raised an eyebrow at Jurah. Azareth knew how much Jurah wanted to stay near the river. Artibain looked at him confused, why did it matter? They would be near the river again shortly after passing the giant’s territory.

“Why does that matter?” Artibain asked. “If we keep on that trail, we’ll meet the river in a day’s time.”

“If nothing takes us off course again,” Jurah said. The two men glared at each other, Azareth groaned loudly and looked at the sky.

“Look, it’s the middle of the afternoon. Let’s just keep riding till dark, decide what to do when we actually come to the fork in the road,” Azareth said. The others nodded, then Artibain turned his horse and headed down the road.

“Why do you trust him?” Jurah asked Azareth when Artibain was out of hearing range. Azareth looked at him and then back at Artibain, she ran her hand over Stormlight’s mane.

“Jurah, he helped us escape that camp. He went against his own father when he could have just kept quiet. In my opinion, he deserves some trust.” Azareth tapped Stormlight and rode after Artibain. Jurah groaned as he turned Foxtail to follow after Azareth. She always knew how to get under his skin.

The sun was starting to set now creating a flawless sunset sky. Azareth stared up at the different colours feeling a sense of warmth was over her. A deep orange-gold stretched as far and wide as they could see. The colours of fire hearth and peaches. It was but the reflection of the dawn, a promise of the rising sun that would come after the velvety night had its say. Jurah turned to the river and stopped on the edge of the beach. The three of them climbed down from their horses. Azareth dropped Stormlight’s reins and let her wander to the edge of the water.

“We should fill up here, the fork isn’t much further and we still have about an hour of daylight,” Artibain said. Jurah scoffed and walked to the edge of the water.

“We should make camp here, the horses need to rest and we’re all exhausted,” Jurah said as he knelt by the water. He popped the top off his canteen and began to fill it with water.

“Are you sure? We don’t have much coverage here,” Artibain said. Azareth noticed that too, but with them being on the edge of the grasslands it made sense.

“This is the best we’re going to get,” Azareth said. “It’s not perfect, but we’re on the edge of the giants' territory and they tend to tear up trees.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Artibain said. He then walked over to Dewdrop and took off her saddle. “Alright, let’s get comfy.”

“Oh, sure. Agree with her,” Jurah murmured as he stood up. Azareth ignored him and took Stormlight’s saddle off. The three of them settled into their respective spots in silence. Once the horses were unpacked and settled, Jurah started a small fire for light. Artibain was muttering how he didn’t think it was a good idea, but Jurah of course ignored him. The last couple of days were often like that. The two men muttering to themselves and ignoring each other.

“So, any food?” Azareth asked. She felt her skin crawl as Jurah was mumbling something about how Artibain was a dirty human. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

“What?” Both men said. They turned to look at Azareth as she stood there, her arms crossed.

“What is our food situation like?” SHe asked them. Jurah looked through his bags and pulled out a loaf of bread. Artibain shook his head and pulled out a small bag of dried meat.

“How did we go through food this fast?” Artibain asked. The three of them looked at each other confused.

“Maybe if we didn’t take a five-day detour we would have more food,” Jurah said. Azareth bit her lip in thought, they were still quite aways away from Berlar.

“Are you seriously blaming me? After all, I did? I betrayed the only family I have ever known for the likes of you!”

“Yes, I am. If you and your filthy family hadn’t stopped us, Azareth would be in Berlar already.”

“I had no say in that and you know it. You saw what kind of man my father was.”

“I did, but what kind of man are you? You let it happen.”

“Enough!” Azareth roared. “I am extremely tired of listening to you two bitch at each other. We need to figure out where we are, how much food we need and how much longer it is to Berlar. Now if you two say one more cruel word to each other, I will personally beat your asses. Do we have an understanding?”

Jurah and Artibain stared at Azareth in shock. They nodded slowly and Azareth turned away from them, she walked over to the horses. They could hear her muttering about stupid boys and how no one listens.

“I would say we have another five, maybe, six days barring any complications,” Jurah said. Artibain was looking through his bags and pulled out some rope.

“We can set up snares tonight and hopefully catch something to eat before morning,” Artibain said. Azareth turned to face them again.

“Good, do that,” she said, brushing Stormlight’s mane. She could feel her anger slowly fading, but she was still intensely frustrated and exhausted with the fighting. The two men began to move about the camp doing what they could to avoid each other and Azareth. It was going to be a long night.

Azareth woke up before the boys, she was sweaty from the morning sun hitting her. She got up and walked down to the river. She walked down a little ways away from the camp, not wanting to be spotted by the men. When she felt like she was a good distance away, she stripped down and put her feet on the edge of the water. It felt cold on her toes, but it sent a wave through her. Waking up as she inched further into the water, it wasn’t long before she was up to her shoulders. It felt so good to rinse off and clean herself. She missed being able to bathe on a regular basis.

“Refreshing,” she said. Dipping her head under the water, she quickly popped back up. When Azareth finished rubbing herself clean, she began to walk back to the beach. She stood up out of the water, ringing out her.

“Oh, gods! I’m sorry!” Azareth heard from ahead of her. She looked up and saw Artibain was spinning around away from her.

“What the hell? Go away!” Azareth screamed as she dropped back down into the water.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” Artibain said. He turned and ran back to the camp, Azareth hid her face in her hands, completely embarrassed. She looked around hoping no one else was around, then she quickly got out of the water. After she was dressed, she went back to camp making sure not to make eye contact with anyone.

“Az, everything okay?” Jurah asked. Azareth nodded her head and sat down on her sleeping mat.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur. Everyone moved about in silence as they readied for the next day of travel. Once the horses were saddled and bags were packed, Artibain went out to check his snares. Which he was doing when he interrupted Azareth bathing. Jurah and Azareth stood near their horses in silence. Jurah was thinking of something to say, but nothing was coming to him. Azareth was pulling herself onto Stormlight when Artibain walked back into the clearing. Jurah sighed and pulled himself up onto Foxtail. Artibain tied the few small rabbits he caught to his saddle and then hoisted himself up onto Dewdrop. Then the three of them rode off in more uncomfortable silence.

It wasn’t until hours later that they were forced to speak to each other again. The fork in the road was getting nearer and they would eventually have to make a decision on which path to take. To the right would take them through the giant territory. It would be risking capture but it was the shortest road to their destination. Or to the left, a day’s journey out of the way. It was safer and less likely to be seen by the giants. The three of them stopped at the fork in the road. Azareth pulled the map out of her bag and scanned over it one last time before looking up ahead of her.

“Which way?” She asked. Jurah and Artibain looked around and ahead of themselves. They couldn’t agree before on which path to take, it was no different now.

“Right, it’s faster and we stay along the riverside,” Jurah said.

“No, the left. Yes, it is an extra day’s ride, but it is safer. The giants won’t see us,” Artibian said. Azareth groaned as she stared down at the map.

“If you can’t agree, I’ll decide then.” Azareth trailed her finger along the paths on the map and looked up at the roads. Her gut was saying to just keep going, get to Berlar as fast as she could. She was tired of travelling and was afraid if she didn’t get there soon something awful was going to happen.

“Az?” Jurah asked. Azareth folded the map back up and put it in her saddlebag.

“I think we should go to the right,” she said. “It’s faster and we can all be done with each other sooner.”

“Alright, let’s go then,” Artibain said. Azareth could hear the frustration in his voice. He was afraid of the giants and for good reason. Not a single kingdom in the realm liked humans. Everyone loathed them for centuries-old crimes.

“Okay then,” Jurah said to Azareth.

“Don’t start with me,” she said. “I know if this goes wrong, we’re dead.”