The next day it rained again, though instead of a mist it was fat drops of water that turned the ground into mud. I was wondering what the frequency of rain was like on the mainland, and when I asked Koyl about it he said that it would rain once every fifteen days on average, more during the cold seasons and less during the hotter ones. I hadn’t thought to ask the time of year, but he also said that it would be raining more since we were leaving the warm season soon. As we trudged uphill through the muck of the dirt road, I modulated my heat magic to keep myself cool using the rainwater.

“How can you keep walking like that?” Koyl complained. “My legs feel like they’re going to fall off, and I’ve damned near fallen on my face five times. At least the rain isn’t completely frigid today.”

“With how frequently your legs feel like falling off, you would think they would have done it by now,” I replied snidely, eliciting a chuckle from Zhervaol. “Are you using any force magic?” I asked, being more serious.

“No, why?” Koyl asked back.

“You can grip the ground around your feet with force magic to get better traction,” I explained. “Since you managed to use a similar technique when we sparred, you should try it.” I held up my fingers and snapped a small bolt of static electricity between them, feeling only a tiny pinch. Insulation technique is working, at least a little bit, I thought, definitely wouldn’t protect me against a powerful shock, but it’s a start. I had long since figured out how to manifest bolts midair to save myself from the aftershock, but the pathways of electricity were difficult to predict so I was working on a way to mitigate that. Hypothetically, it would also allow me to avoid electrocution once I worked out how to create steady current.

“Geniuses,” Koyl muttered. As we kept walking, I looked down and saw his feet leaving bigger imprints than before, in the shape of large hands.

“Gods be damned, how am I supposed to light this?” Koyl hissed. When we finally set down for the night basically everything was damp including the firewood that we had kept in the wagons. The first rain wasn’t as bad because we still had a half day of sun to dry everything, but this one only stopped before sunset.

“Maybe you’re out of energy,” I suggested, reaching over and applying a wide-range heat magic over part of the log. It took a few seconds to dry out, then I tightened the area into a line for ignition, spewing out thick white smoke into the darkening night sky. Koyl reached over and grabbed a small stick, poked his finger deliberately with it to draw blood, then frowned.

“It does look like I’m healing slower than usual,” he grumbled. “Maybe that’s why I feel so strange.” Wiping the blood from his hand, he moved closer to the fire for warmth. “I don’t like it,” he continued quietly, “makes focusing difficult.” I hadn’t ever noticed any mental effects of low magical energy, but it was possible that it was yet another manifestation of Koyl’s psychological issues. The fire began to sputter, and I had to reach in again to re-heat it and keep it lit.

“Why don’t you come to our fire?” Yaeteyv called out. Somehow, he had managed to get the only few dry pieces of firewood, and had a roaring campfire in front of him and Zhervaol. I glanced at Koyl, and then we both got up and walked over to his fire, bringing our as-of-yet uncooked food with us.

“Thanks,” Koyl said, grabbing a skewer from the pile nearby and holding it over the fire to cook. I stood beside him, doing the same. This doesn’t feel right, I thought as I looked around, noticing tension that wasn't there the night before. The only people who appeared oblivious to it were Zhervaol and Koyl. Glancing around, I saw Aeday and Yaayowjh standing by the wagon, watching me. Vaozey was sitting further away as she tended to, also observing from behind Yaeteyv.

“You told an interesting story last night,” Yaeteyv said, looking to me. “Would you like to hear another one from me?” I was suspicious, both from the tone he took and the content of what he said, but I knew I couldn’t show it outwardly.

“I won’t stop you,” I replied.

“This is a story about a village,” Yaeteyv began. “This village was small, and situated in the backwater of its province. Very few people lived there, but they were happy. One day, the village found an injured man in the wilderness and took him in. They gave him a place to live and food to eat, even a home, and all they asked in return was his loyalty to them for a time. An righteous man would have returned their generosity, but the man they rescued was anything but.”

“Yaeteyv…” Zhervaol said quietly, realizing what was going on and trying to stop him.

“This man was possessed by a powerful malevolent spirit, and had likely been dumped in the wilderness to die,” Yaeteyv continued, “The villagers, not knowing this, saved him. The man blended in at first, preying upon them, and was then caught after committing a murder. Once revealed, he slew a dozen people in a rage, including a visiting merchant and a team of mercenaries, and fled into the wilderness, never to be seen again.” As he finished, there was silence, except for the crackling of the fire. I could hear Koyl breathing beside me, but I didn’t dare look in his direction. Vaozey looked confused, which I took to mean she wasn't in on Yaeteyv's ambush.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“It is,” Yaeteyv replied. “What did you think?” I think you must be an idiot to make this accusation so openly, and in the wilderness, I wanted to reply.

“Not much of a story,” I shrugged. “It doesn’t really make sense. It seems like a summary of events rather than a proper tale. Not nearly as good as the ones you told last night.” I really don’t want to have to kill all these people two days before we’re set to arrive, I thought, it would be much easier to get into the city with a normal caravan. Besides, if there are bandits, it would be better to have the guards for support. Why do humans have to make everything more difficult? During the whole discussion, Yaayowjh and Aeday didn’t look away once, gripping the handles of their swords. Vaozey showed no outward reaction besides standing up.

“I also know a story about a man who burned a whole building of people alive,” Yaeteyv said, and I saw Vaozey twitch in the distance. “Locked them inside and just lit the place up like it was nothing. Listened to their screams, then left without a word.” Her exposed eyes went through confusion, then caution, looking at me suspiciously. Just how many people around here have heard about that? I wondered.

“That sounds awful,” I lied, making my tone severe and serious. “I can't imagine what motivates a person to do something like that.” Yaeteyv watched my face closely during my entire response, looking for any hint of deception. Of course, he found none, and seemed puzzled by it. Even Zhervaol, who was also watching, was confused by the reactions on display. Koyl, by some miracle, managed to also hold a straight face.

“Is that so?” Yaeteyv asked, though not as a question. He let the words hang in the air for a while, and I pulled my meal out of the fire. Acting casual, I began to eat it, and took a moment to crack my neck to relieve some pressure in it. “That second story is about a criminal actually,” he continued. “It’s not even a story so much as a report. A man about your size and description with a strange foreign name, in fact I think it was ‘Yuwniht’, killed a lot of people back in Vehrehr, assaulted a Steelheart Company employee, and stole a pretty respectable sum of money for the region. There were even rumors that he was involved in the deaths of some nobles.”

“Please, say what you mean, no need to mince words,” I prompted. Yaeteyv smirked, thinking he had trapped me. As he wallowed in his self-satisfaction, I was figuring out a battle plan. Yaeteyv himself was armed only with a knife, and didn’t appear to be a fighter. Zhervaol was similar, and looked even less willing to attack. Aeday and Yaayowjh were ready, but I could easily take both at once. The real objective will be to stop anyone from running away, I concluded.

“You fit the description,” Yaeteyv said, finally sounding properly accusatory.

“Yuwniht is an exceedingly common name where I am from,” I explained. “There are thousands of people with my name, that is not an exaggeration. Being tall, tanned, and having dark hair and eyes isn’t exactly uncommon either, especially in a port like Vehrehr. I must have seen a hundred people with that description while I was there. Whoever you’re looking for, it's not me.”

“I think-” Yaeteyv began.

“Yaeteyv,” Zhervaol spoke in an ominous tone. “This is not a Steelheart Company caravan. Stop harassing my guard.” I hadn’t expected Zhervaol to jump to my aid, and it threw me off for a moment.

“But Zher,” he protested.

“Does he have a scar on his eye like that?” Koyl asked, gesturing to my face. “Yuwniht’s had that scar since I’ve known him. It’s pretty distinctive, don’t you think? That would be on his description, they wouldn’t miss it.” I had to suppress a smirk. Good job Koyl, I thought, I had forgotten about that. If we can defuse this now, I can handle it with a lot less mess later.

“I don’t-” Yaeteyv began.

“Listen to me,” I ordered, feigning a deep breath to calm myself. “I’m not going to stop you from reporting your suspicions to your company, but I’m also not going to be accused of doing something I never did and stand by silently. I understand your frustration, but I can assure you that I had nothing to do with those events. You have the wrong man.”

“What about Suwlahtk then?” Yaeteyv asked. He wanted to make the question pointed, but held back to avoid angering Zhervaol.

“What's Suwlahtk?” I asked, feigning genuine confusion. “I’m sorry, I know your language fairly well, but I don’t recognize that word.”

“The village,” Zhervaol said. “That ‘story’ was what Yaeteyv suspects happened to a village on Awsriyah island. His nephew lives there.”

“Oh,” I replied, “I’m sorry to hear about your nephew.” That’s what they say when someone dies, right? I asked myself, perhaps a bit too late.

“He didn’t die,” Yaeteyv growled. “He just won’t tell me anything, even in his letters. It’s like the whole village wants to pretend nothing happened, but we know people died because bodies were found when a team was sent to look for our people that never came back.”

“Still, I understand,” I lied, mimicking Zhervaol’s empathetic tone. “I won’t hold it against you.” Aeday and Yaayowjh, still half-alert, walked over to the fire. Aeday appeared relaxed, but Yaayowjh wasn’t fully convinced by my act. Yaeteyv hadn’t budged a centimeter, mentally speaking, but I could see him backing down for now. He’s definitely going to try to report this when we get to Kahvahrniydah, I knew, I’ll have to kill him just after we arrive, or arrange for him to die before arrival. Aeday and Yaayowjh will also have to go, possibly even Zhervaol.

“Let’s just agree to stop talking about this,” Zhervaol said. “How about we place another dice game? Yuwniht, are you familiar with the rules of ngaatwaayeyl?”

I was not, in fact, familiar with the rules of ngaatwaayeyl, but I learned them quickly enough. The game was similar to blackjack, but played with dice and with numerous special rules surrounding certain patterns of numbered rolls. My only experience with blackjack was during virtual logic tests involving the game, and most of those were focused on analyzing probability, so almost none of my skills transferred. As a result, I lost around three ngoywngeyt to Koyl and Zhervaol across a series of games before going to sleep. Even though they won, neither they nor anyone else appeared happy about it.

The next day passed quickly, and nobody said much of anything. Unlike previous quiet days, the silence was due to tension instead of fatigue. Yaayowjh kept watching me when he thought I wasn’t looking, and Yaeteyv never took his eyes off me once. Vaozey watched me as well, though her stare was the least hostile. Koyl made a little bit of small talk in an effort to raise the mood, but stopped in the afternoon when it was clear it wasn’t working.

Later that night, Vaozey lit a fire. With little ceremony she grabbed a piece of firewood from the caravan, dragged it over to her far-off resting location, and put her hand against it. I was the only one watching, so only I saw her strain and squeeze her eyes shut, then immolate her own hand. A few minutes later Koyl noticed the fire, but didn’t say anything about it. I decided to lay down to sleep early, but found that I couldn’t rest.

“Yuwniht,” Koyl whispered at some point during the night.

“What?” I whispered back.

“Don’t kill him,” Koyl whispered. I am not awake enough to have this debate right now, I grumbled. “I’ll talk to my father once we’re back in Kahvahrniydah. He’s… influential. He can keep Yaeteyv quiet, I’m sure of it. It’s the least I can do after all the help you’ve given me.”

“And the others?” I asked. “What about them?” There was silence for a moment, and I knew it was because Koyl hadn't realized I was planning to kill the entire caravan.

“Them too,” he replied finally. “He can make it go away, and if he can’t, he can hide you until it blows over.”

“What makes you think he’ll do me a favor?” I asked.

“Because he's a man who repays debts,” Koyl answered, “and if that isn't enough, he'll do it for me.” I didn’t say anything more, and neither did Koyl. In a few minutes, both of us were asleep.

As the sun was setting the next day, and as we ascended a small hill, we saw a city in the distance. Zhervaol and the caravan guards couldn't help but let out some cheers, and the rest of the caravan displayed emotions ranging from relief to elation. Vaozey in particular displayed the first signs of exhaustion she had shown during the whole trip, sighing in relief and putting her hands on her knees. I, in contrast to the others, looked at the city more rationally and made some analyses.

Kahvahrniydah appeared to be a fortress town, built around a large citadel situated atop a hill. Like all other Uwrish cities I had seen, it had a stone outer wall that surrounded it. The layer just beyond the wall but before the citadel appeared to be of mixed wood and stone construction, or perhaps made using some brown stone, and the layer inside the citadel was entirely stone. Smoke rose from many places in the city, clearly coming out of chimneys. Just outside the outer wall, to the east, was a river with a number of water wheels built along it. Surrounding the water wheels were plots of farmland, and upon closer inspection I saw that most of the land around the city was also tilled and maintained. Probably doesn't import food by necessity then, I thought, Might even be a net exporter.

It still took another three hours to get to the gate. As we passed by the fields, I noted the crops being grown. Similar to the ones outside Frahmtehn and Vehrehr, I thought, but there are a few I don’t recognize. That one looks almost like corn, just green and with less kernels per cob. The few farmers who spotted us waved in a gesture of almost unnerving friendliness, and we were prompted to wave back. Once at the gate, Zhervaol hopped off her wagon for a moment and ran up to the guards, bypassing the small line we had entered. Minutes later, she came back, hopped back onto her wagon, and declared that we should move forward.

The people in the line grumbled when we passed by them, but didn’t make any aggressive actions. Since Koyl was on the opposite side of the caravan I couldn’t see his reactions, but I figured the line’s annoyance was likely normal since we were bypassing normal entry procedure. To my surprise, the guards didn’t even search us or interview us, instead just waving us through the gate. That’s a lot of trust, I thought, I guess this caravan is associated with a temple, maybe that affords it some special privileges. The immediate interior of the city reminded me of Frahmntehn, chaotic but not overly stuffed, with pedestrians following no clear pattern of movement.

“Okay, we’re here,” Zhervaol declared, calling all the caravan guards up to the front of her wagon. “Vaozey, you're coming with me to the temple so stick around. Yuwniht, Koyl, as we discussed you were working for free so you may go-”

“As we discussed the payment was actually twenty ngoywngeyt each,” Koyl interjected.

“Oh right, I forgot,” Zhervaol said with a charming smile, pulling out two prepared bags and handing them to us. “Please, give my regards to the Zae’ey’yaob family. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we weren’t able to see much of your combat prowess. Your friend’s, however, was exactly as advertised.”

“Of course, we aim to please,” Koyl replied, and he gave a light but ceremonial bow.

“Now Yaayowjh-” Zhervaol began as Koyl and I were walking away, quickly getting out of earshot. Since it was night, Kahvahrniydah wasn’t particularly active, but there were still a fair few people on the streets. Light guard presence, especially compared to Owsahlk, I noted.

“Over there,” Koyl gestured, pointing to a spot between two buildings that wasn’t so much an alley as a crevice. I squeezed inside, then followed Koyl for a few meters as the path opened up into a larger area between buildings.

“Interesting,” I thought aloud.

“You’re in my hometown now,” Koyl smirked. “I know all the good places around here, so let's go find a tavern. It’s been far too long since I’ve had any fun.”