The three of us crept quietly through the underbrush until the clearing that housed our camp came into view. Looking to Volk I made a few hand movements asking him to move around to the other side. Nodding he carefully drew his knife and started circling around the outer edge of the clearing. Peering through the shrubs I attempted to see what may have entered, but unfortunately wasn’t able to see anything. Friia pulled gently on my sleeve and pointed to Volk who was now in position. Pointing him off to the left I began circling right, each of us drawing closer to the center until we finally breached the trees. Friia came up the middle to meet us as we stood tensely waiting for something, anything to spring out. I don’t recall how long we stood there waiting, but it soon became clear we were alone.

“Volk, go check the talismans to make sure they’re all still planted. Friia and I are going to check the wagon to see if anything was taken.” And oddly enough nothing was. We sorted through every crate, sack, and barrel we had only to find our entire inventory accounted for. Nothing was stolen, yet that only served to worry me more. Nothing living in this forest was intelligent enough to check a campsite without taking or damaging something. In all likelihood whoever snuck in was searching for us.

Volk returned to the fire while shaking his head. “Everything is still in place. None of them have moved in the slightest.”

“It’s probably as I thought then. Someone is trying to find us.”

As I furrowed my brow in frustration I saw Volk perk up. “Well, we probably shouldn’t hang around here any longer then. Now I know you both wanted to rest for a while but that’s probably not a good idea. So here’s what we’ll do: we’ll pack up and ship out. And while you’re driving I’ll whip up something for us to eat; at least enough to tide us over until we get another opportunity.”

“Is it really wise to move so soon?” Friia asked. “If Daniel’s right and somebody is searching for us, they could very well be watching.”

“That’s actually why we should,” I interjected. “At the very least we need to get back to a road. All we’re doing while sitting here is inviting disaster. Friia, start gathering up the talismans. Volk and I will pack up camp and then we’ll get out of here.”

She hesitated before nodding and setting off to start collecting. As I picked up some of the utensils we set out Volk came up to me and whispered. “She’s naive, isn’t she? Sheltered as a child?”

I gave a brief glance to make sure she wasn’t listening to us before responding. “In a sense yes. I don’t know much about her life before traveling with me, but I do know the village she lived in rarely saw any troubles.” I smiled fondly as she gathered the last talisman and stopped to pet our horse. “She’s a good student though. She listens, but also doesn’t blindly follow everything I say.”

“Well that’s a good skill at least. Blind obedience often ends poorly after all. Maybe I can teach her a few tricks as well…”

I laughed as he stroked his beard. “You’d have to convince her of that first. She doesn’t feel she needs to learn anything unless she chooses to learn.”

She walked back over to us and handed the bag over to me. “Enjoying yourselves? Didn’t you just say we needed to hurry?”

“We do, we do.” I assured her. “I was just answering some questions Volk had.”

“Oh?” She turned to give him a look. “And what was so important it couldn’t wait until we were moving?”

Before I could come up with any sort of reply Volk chimed in. “I wanted to know what we were aiming for next. There’s danger ahead, you know?” He gave me a wink as I looked on in confusion. Maybe he just didn’t want Friia to think she was a hindrance? I made a mental note to ask him later.

“Right. In any case let’s get going. We’ve got everything packed back up right?” Both of them gave me a nod. “Good, everyone on the cart then. I’ll take the first-”

“No you won’t,” Friia interrupted. “I can tell you’re still exhausted from using that magic in the forest, and no matter how many elixirs you drink to hide it I’ll always know. I will be driving first, and you will be resting. No arguments.”

Before I could say anything to her Volk started to laugh. “Aww look, she really does care!”

A slight blush overtook her features as she turned and walked to the cart. “Of course I do! It’s normal to worry about my teacher’s health!”

He continued to snicker as she climbed into the front and we heaved ourselves into the back. “Yes, because he’s your teacher. That’s definitely why. Keep telling yourself that.”

I tilted my head as her face grew red. “Why else would she be worried? She always fusses like this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a wave of his hand. “After all I could be completely wrong, in which case it isn’t worth mentioning.”

“It isn’t,” she hissed at him. “I need to focus on getting us out of here so both of you shut up and relax.”

I wanted to argue, really I did. But the glare she gave me when I opened my mouth sent shivers down my spine. Deciding to ignore Volk’s whipping motion I laid back and closed my eyes. I would never admit it but Friia was right: I was exhausted. While my affinity for earth magic was strong my stamina wasn’t, so my mana depleted quickly whenever I used it. Fire magic thankfully didn’t have the same issue. Yet even though it was easier to use I found myself inexplicably drawn to earth magic with no idea why. Sighing in resignation I made myself comfortable and began tapping my foot. As I heard Volk rummaging around our food stores to make up that snack he promised I started to quietly sing a song I learned as a child; back when I first ate at what would eventually become a regular stop of mine.

“All the stories told

Of the bard of old

From hill to dale and yonder

Well you can bet we’ll never forget

The tale of the merry wanderer.

His clothes were worn,

And his boots were torn,

Yet his eyes still held their wonder

He danced in the rain, he laughed off pain

Our dear old merry wanderer.

Forever was he full of cheer

He’d gather crowds all for a beer

‘Twould be a better age if we took a page

From that grand old merry wanderer.”