The going had been slower than they had hoped, but thankfully no pursuit had appeared. The party had stopped at the bend of a small creek to make camp for the night.

“Maybe your sister decided to let us go?”

“Or maybe she got distracted by something else.” Vincent said, his voice sounding low and depressed.

Elaina began to put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but hesitated, and instead just said “I'm sure Mira will be fine. She's tough and has plenty of experience defending your kingdom.”

Vincent just shrugged at this.

“Doesent mean I don't worry about her. She does not have any glaring weaknesses on the battlefield... but she does not have any surprises for the enemy either. If she get's surrounded or overwhelmed, she does not have any tricks to turn the tables.”

That statement left them both in silence, save for the moaning of the various undead milling around them and of Hans setting up the tents for the night.

“You know, one thing we might need to worry about... I mean the initial impression of the undead should be scary enough... but they look pretty ramshackle. Not really the honor guard of a prince of the realm.”

“Or a princess... You're right.” Vincent replied his face lost in thought.

“We need to get them armor and weapons, but... I don't think we can just walk into a shop and ask for, what, fifty sets of chainmail and sword?” Elaina added.

“Even if it weren't wartime that would be weird... and off the shelf stuff for a horde of undead...”

“I mean fifty zombies is hardly a horde Vincent.” Elaina checked Vincent's ego.

“They are zombies, there's more than one, it's a horde!” Vincent retorted, evoking a titter of laughter from Elaina.

“But, anyway... I have a thought. Long before I was born, when my mother was fighting her brothers, and eventually my grandfather, there were supply depots dotting the landscape all over here. Most were probably cleaned out but... We might be able to find some gear in one.”

“I suppose ancient, and possibly decrepit gear would look the best on your little horde. Your mini-horde. Your hordette.”

Vincent groaned as she gave his gaggle of zombies more and more cutesy names.

“Now I just need to look at a map and see if I can figure out where one of these old armories could possibly be, we could be in for days of searching... which we don't have” Vincent hung his head in defeat.

“I... could probably help with that.” Elaina posited, causing Vincent to look up.

“I may not look it, but I am AMAZING at divination. I don't have a crystal ball to focus it, but I should be able to search the nearby few miles for what you are talking about.”

“That's amazing! We don't have ANYONE capable of divination back home!”

Elaina blushed at this, then added “I should probably be able to find it, but... it would be easier if I had something from the armory, or a symbol that was painted on it, or... something for me to focus on. Just searching for... a hole in the ground? A house? With weapons in it is a little vague for my magic to grab ahold of.

Vincent thought for a moment, then reached back behind his back. His hand came out with a dagger with a rather ornate hilt and matching scabbard.

“This apparently belonged to my grandfather, so it would have been made back in those days. I'm not sure if that is good enough to help you hone in on the armory, but...”

“It certainly won't hurt. Well, I mean, it could hurt, it is a knife. And I suppose if I focused too hard on it and blocked everything else out it could pull me all the way back to watching your grandfather die, and if I focused even harder I would probably view it from his perspective and feel every...”

“Elaina, you are babbling.” Vincent said with a gentle grin and leaned in to nudge her shoulder with his own.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Elaina shut her mouth with a little giggle, and clasped the dagger and hilt in both hands. She let out her breath and closed her eyes, arranging herself more comfortably on the little camp chair Hans had set up for her next to the log Vincent was currently perched on.

Elaina let out a breathe, and held out the dagger before her.

She focused in, and could feel her view of the rest of the world view as her perception focused slowly on the old blade she held. The sensation she felt was strange, like she was slipping into the dagger itself.

Just before she felt as if she would plunge all the way into the blade, she forced herself to stop, and turned her perception outward, hunting for other objects like this.

Her vision lit up, outlines of shapes starring her eyes.

She let things slip out of her concentration, her picture of the dagger, in her mind.

'Weapon' she let slip and Vincent's bow and Hans' daggers... so so many daggers... slipped from her vision.

'Tool' she let slip, and the flint and steel they had used to start the fire, and numerous bits and bobs that were placed in and around the carriage winked out of sight.

She toyed with concepts for awhile, letting some slip from her vision, others she focused on and brought into stark relief, until her vision of the local area remained empty, but in the distance she could notice faint pinpricks of light. And one small region that looked like a closely packed nebulae of lights.

Elaina raised her hand in the direction of the clustered lights and said 'that direction!' before blinking and bringing herself back to reality. She found herself still pointing in the direction, and she left a piece of her consciousness still focusing on it, leaving a faint glimmering array of lights overlaod on her vision in the direction she had sensed them.

She blinked her eyes and looked at Vincent, but instead of his darkly handsome features she saw... mostly a blur, she could mostly make out where his face ended and his hair began but...

“Oh drat it.” She said, squinting. Hans, from where he sat, replied. “Would you like me to fetch your spectacles m'lady?”

She looked away from the both of them and muttered under her breath.

She heard Hans approach and hand something to Vincent, whispering in a voice that he obviously thought she couldn't hear. “The backlash from divination, it makes her vision go wonky. These spectacles help, but she thinks they make her look... well, not how she wants to look. But if she does not use them and goes around squinting at everything she'll give herself a headache. Maybe she'll listen to you if you suggest she uses them.”

Halfway through his whispered conversation Elaina had turned to look at him. A scowl on her face. She thought she saw the two of them turn to her and then look back at eachother, but since she could not make out their faces she was not sure.

Vincent scooted close to her, holding something in his hand.

“You know, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Anyone who uses magic has to deal with the side effects. Spatial magic messes with my blood pressure and lungs. I wind up getting clumsy and dropping stuff, and coughing up blood... Nothing to be ashamed of.”

Vincent held out a blurry object in his hand and Elaina sighed, then relented and took it from him, and put the glasses on. Almost immediately the world became far clearer, but the massive round lenses of the glasses dominated her face.

Elaina sighed, and Vincent tried to keep the smile off his face.

“I know, it makes me look awful. I hate it.”

“I think it makes you look kindof cute.” Vincent replied.

“As always I believe it makes my lady look quite dignified.” Hans added.

Elaina sulked where she sat in response.

“Why don't we get some sleep, and in the morning we'll head out for the cache you found. Sound good?” Vincent said.

Elaina nodded.

The rest of the night passed without incident, Vincent's horde of undead ensuring that nothing disturbed their rest.