There’s a certain charm to the open road that can be difficult to explain to those who haven’t had the opportunity to experience it. The ever changing scenery, the glimpses of relatively harmless wildlife, friendly banter with your companions…

“Volk I swear to the gods, if you flick one more stone at me I will throw you from this cart.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Friia.”

“Ugh.”

Yes, truly a magical experience. One would expect this level of communication after a few hours perhaps, yet here we were after about twenty minutes if I’m not mistaken. While I believe this to be some sort of record, Friia would probably turn her frustrations to me if I let show how entertained I was.

“It’s good to see everyone getting along. And to think, we only have two more weeks to go!”

To my credit, I feel I kept a decently straight face as she slowly turned to glare at me. “Don’t think I won’t throw you out either, Daniel.”

“...Don’t threaten me with a good time? That’s how you use that, right?”

From the back of the cart, Volk leaned forward and nodded happily. “Yes, absolutely. One of the most effective things I’ve found for responding to threats.”

“You’re ridiculous. And you, Daniel, should know better.”

“Come now Friia, fighting gets us nowhere. You have to admit, some mild irritation is far better than sitting in bored silence fretting over the future as you’re prone to do.”

“Hey! It’s not ‘fretting’, it’s planning. You know, strategies, conflict, communication? Something you could stand to do far more often, considering how often hell seems to break loose around us.”

Laughing, I gave her a sideways glance as I gestured to the road. “Ah, but that’s exactly why I don’t plan! If it’s destined to fall apart, then all creating a plan does is cause you to stress and panic. When it isn’t a trade deal and it’s not a business meeting, then most plans are effectively useless. Therefore, not having a plan is my plan.”

Friia placed a hand to her chin in thought while Volk sat back cackling. “I knew I liked you! You get how things work.”

Letting out a small chuckle of her own, Friia smiled at me. “Every time I learn from you, it’s the most unexpected of lessons. Seems I was right when I said you had much more to teach me.”

“What can I say, I’m a wellspring of wisdom and knowledge.”

“Don’t let it go to your head there ‘sage’. Your impulses are more than enough to counter it.”

“Heh, I can’t exactly deny that. And yet, there is still something to be learned, even in the most spectacular of mishaps.”

“Yes, and that lesson is usually ‘don’t let Daniel make his own decisions’. Something I’m sure Stephanie would have no trouble agreeing with.”

Clutching my chest in exaggerated pain, I threw my head back and placed a hand over my eyes. “Oh, Friia how you wound me so. We were having fun here, there’s no need to bring Steph into this.”

“Keep your eyes on the road, Daniel.”

Laughing, I returned my hands to the reins and centered our wagon on the road. The mood was considerably lighter than it was before; something I was rather glad for. It can make a trip mentally exhausting when everyone is at another’s throat. As the others fell into a contented silence, my mind began to wander towards the task ahead. It truly wasn’t like Stephanie to be secretive, and it had me concerned. And to ask me for an Elixir of Miracles was stranger still.

Despite its name, an Elixir of Miracles does not actually perform what one would consider a miracle. Instead, it dramatically boosts the effectiveness of a potion it gets mixed into. Say you had a standard health potion, which restores a small measure of health upon ingestion. Add this mixture to it, and it would become a potion of restoration, fully replenishing one’s health in addition to relieving any poisons or ill effects. The ‘miracle’ comes from the actual retrieval of ingredients, each of which are difficult to obtain. Bloodroot and thorned mushrooms both grow on the edges of demon territory, hence why I hired Volk to assist me in their retrieval. A dragon scale, as its name would suggest, has to be pulled from a dragon. Some dragons are reasonable, though unfortunately far and few in between. Most are selfish and greedy, and in all likelihood will require a fight. Getting a faerie lotus, however, would probably be the most difficult to obtain. Its habitat, the Obsian Forest, is commonly known as the Forest of Stone. Most would assume by the nickname that the trees themselves were made of stone, and I genuinely wish that were the case. Instead, the name comes from one of the creatures that call the forest home: the cockatrice. For those that are blissfully unaware, cockatrice are monsters that look like someone stuck a snake onto the rear end of a chicken. It could almost be funny, if not for the fact that they can turn you to stone with their gaze. Or their ridiculously poisonous breath. Not to mention the razor sharp talons, those are fairly unpleasant as well.

Shoving the inevitable encounter with demonic chickens into the back of my mind, I instead decided to focus on the flower itself. Faerie lotus is a rare, translucent flower with petals that hang majestically from the center where pollen gathers in what appears to be a crown. It looks like a fae had decided to rest on a plant stalk, hence the name. Thanks to the magic in my ring, I had no reason to believe we wouldn’t find any. Unfortunately, it only grows in areas of high magic concentration; areas teeming with monsters like cockatrice. Confident as I was in our ability to fight off one, maybe two, I doubted we’d be able to deter a flock. Not to mention I had no idea what Volk’s abilities actually were. I hired him on a whim and out of convenience, and though he was great company I was clueless as to his potential. I knew Friia could handle a spear, but she has a tendency to panic in crisis situations. As for me, I always preferred swords. I’m good, but if we were to be pressed with no way out I’d have to pull that damned cursed blade I picked up from that demon. If that were to happen...well, I shudder to think of it.

Distracted as I was, paying attention to the direction I was driving turned out to be a greater feat than I had imagined. Therefore I feel I was absolutely justified in not noticing the sharp, pointed eyes leering at us from within the forest’s gloom.