I reach my arm onto the back of the caravan, hoisting myself into it.

“Silia, you grab everything?” A voice speaks to me from behind. “Yep, everything’s back here.” I respond, looking back towards the person, who is a blonde, middle-aged man in chainmail armor, holding their sword and helmet. “Good, good.” He mutters, lost in thought again most likely. He does that so quickly, too.

“Axel, why are you already in your armor? We haven’t left yet.” I ask. “Huh? Oh, never know when you’ll be attacked, not here anyways.” Axel answers as he climbs up.

“Pffft, whatever. It’s your back that’ll end up hurting, not mine!” I retort as I sit down, leaning on the right wall. “This ain’t my first rodeo, Silia. You know that.” Axel says.

“You just slew a Wyrm, I could do that with one hand!” I jokingly say, Axel just gives me the stink eye and moves on, sitting down across from me.

A young woman in a brown, rough garb climbs into the coach, looking back at us two. “Don’t be like that, Silia. You know Axel doesn’t like that being brought up.” She says, focusing her eyes on me.

“Sorry Fia, I was just messing around.” I apologize, readjusting my skirt. A bigger man with red skin sits next to the young woman in the coach, grabbing a rein, “Don’t be too harsh on her now.” The man says, whispering something else to Fia.

“Shhh, Dumbass.” I just barely catch hearing Fia whispering. “What’re you whispering about Roth?” I ask, growing curious now. They’re obviously hiding something.

“Hm? Oh, nothing about you. Where’s Nave?” Roth brushes off my question. “Like I’d know.” I mutter, growing annoyed.

“Someone say my name?” A short, tan young woman walks around the side of the caravan, throwing a box up and jumping up into the back, sitting next to me.

“What’s the matter, Silia? You look down.” She asks me, “Roth and Fia are keeping something from me and it’s annoying me.” I respond as the caravan begins moving. “They wouldn’t hide something without reason, don’t worry about it.” She speaks softly.

I suppose that’s true.

I look out the back of the caravan while spacing out.

Axel grabs a newspaper out of his bag, flipping it open.

“The Amberhill and Aspenfall family are still going at it after all these years. Do they even remember what they were fighting over?” Axel says, reading the newspaper.

“The idiots are stubborn, they just don’t want to be the first to surrender, even at the cost of others' lives.” Axel adds with a look of disdain. “I knew an amberhill once. They didn’t even seem particularly interested in the fight.” Nave says, pulling out a waterskin and popping the cap and chugging some water.

“That alcohol?” Fia looks back, “Gimme some!” Fia demands. “It’s water, I thought you were sober!” Nave mocks, “I was sober, for a few days! We brought some alcohol, right?” Fia asks. “You can’t drink, we can’t have our only mage be drunk if anything happens.” Axel asserts, lightly chopping Fia in the back of the head. “Ouch! Stop that!” Fia complains.

“Don’t be a wuss.” He responds.

As time passes, I listen to their conversations, just watching without engaging much, feeling something off. “Where’d you say we were going again?” I ask Axel, he diverts his attention towards my question, “We’re hunting down this assassin named “Theodore Winslow” within the Dead man's Forest.” Axel responds.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Theodore Winslow, huh? Wait, the Dead Man’s Forest? Isn’t that…

My train of thought is interrupted, “How’s your studying going?” Nave asks me, “It’s going fine I guess.” I lie. I haven’t made any progress in my studies, my technique hasn’t progressed an inch in weeks.

“You know, Fire isn't the only thing your technique offers. It offers Earth-type techniques, too. Perhaps you could study that as well, it could help your fire-types progress further.” She suggests.

Never thought about it like that, I just like fire more. Maybe I should try it.

“I’ll see what I can find the next time we come across a bookstore or library.” I state. “Lucky you, I have this grimoire right here. It should have a thing or two about earth techniques, too.” Nave comments with a smug look, reaching into the bag next to her and pulling out an oversized book.

She definitely accounted for this, that’s just like her.

“Thanks,” I grab the grimoire, skimming over the title.

The Grimoire of Lefdask, huh?

“Are you sure?” I ask, grimoires are quite expensive which worries me, Nave is usually a cheapskate. “It’s nothing, I got it for you anyways.” She smiles, putting her hand before diverting her attention to Roth in the front seat.

“What’s the next destination?” Nave asks. “It’s a small, off-the-map village at the border of the Dead Man’s Forest, we’re going to stop there and see what the villagers know,” He responds, “We’re about twelves hours away from it if we don’t stop tonight, but we’ll probably reach it tomorrow afternoon if all goes well.” He finishes.

“How do you know this village exists?” I ask, curious. “I’ve been there before.” He answers.

How vague, is something bothering him?

I open the grimoire, skimming over the page of contents before flipping to the first page.

…

As the sun sets, I close the grimoire, yawning and rubbing my eyes, my eyes hurting from the strain of reading for so long.

I adjust my position, looking at the others. Axel is half-asleep with his sword in his arms, cuddling it as if it’s the love of his life. Fia and Roth are watching the road ahead, Fia occasionally chanting an incantation every few hours while Nave seems to be spaced out.

I look out the back of the caravan, watching the trees pass us by before noticing a strange stone we just passed with markings. “What was that slab?” I look back at Fia as she looks back at me.

“That was a mile marker, it marks how close we are to the Dead Man’s Forest. The closer we get, the more dense the population of Spirits, Demons and Magic Creatures is.” She responds, “If we hunt enough while we’re there, I’m gonna get a huge barrel of Furelian Maskar and I’m gonna get piss-drunk.” She says with an annoying smirk

“Your alcoholism is going to be the death of you.” Nave responds to Fia’s comment. “Now wouldn’t that be a nice way to go, dying to the thing you love!” Fia retorts as Nave grows silent.

Nave’s father died from his alcoholic tendencies, so it’s a bit of a sore spot for her.

“We should stop here, I’ll take care of the horses.” Roth says, pulling the horses off the path and jumping down off the caravan.

“Great, I need to go to the bathroom.” I say, getting up and stretching, my legs weak from being stationary for so long. I jump down out of the caravan, “I’ll go with you, it’s not safe to be alone in the woods so close to the Dead Man’s Forest.” Nave says. “Whatever you say, Nave.” I respond as Axel and Nave jump out beside me. “Be careful, I’m getting a bad feeling.” Fia warns, walking around the side of the Caravan, stopping next to Axel as Nave grabs some paper towels from the Caravan.

We heed her warning as we proceed into the bushes, making sure not to walk too far from where we stopped before I get ready to relieve myself before hearing something in the distance.

“What was that?” I ask Nave, who’s standing in behind a tree. “No clue, probably a magic creature or a demon. Hurry up.” She says.

I finish relieving myself, standing up straight and brushing myself off before hearing the same sound again.

What could that be? It sounds like a clicking, but it sounds raspy? It’s got to be coming from something living. It’s kind of scary just hearing it.

“Hurry up and let’s go.” Nave grows serious as I walk up to her, “I’m finished.” I respond.

We begin walking back, Nave growing more and more paranoid every time we hear the sound. Even though we should be moving away, the creature sounds like it’s constantly keeping the same distance. I’m beginning to grow worried myself.

We reach the caravan and Nave tell the others about the noises, while I sit down next to the fire Axel made.