Eventually they got out of the clinic, really behind schedule. Berel didn't seem that it was going to be a problem but now Joan had an agenda, he really wanted to be back for the celebration of the 250th anniversary, even if he didn't get nominated, it still was an important celebration and he hadn't missed one since he arrived in Margen. They went back to the site to see if the woman's body was still there but they found nothing more than an empty chamber with a bunch of ash and soot inside the sarcophagus. They left fast. A couple of days later they had left the region of Andorra and entered the great plains, only fields surrounded them, as far as they could see. Wheat and other cereal, some vineyard, a couple orchards and the buildings meant to process and store the harvest. They were in July now and the rain had stopped to be replaced with dry air and hot noon. The night were still fresh but sleeping on the ground meant feeling the radiating heat stored by the earth during the day and the evening were not cold enough to make that heat comfortable.

Due to their recent experience of betrayal they couldn't not help but be suspicious of their new member. Yet, Berel was hurt, badly, even if he wanted he couldn't attack them and much less best them in combat. So, they were less tense, no need to stress for someone that can't even walk on their own for more than half a dozen steps. Alessia and Joan still shared the guard at night, but considering Alessia's condition Joan felt bad to force her to hold a whole watch alone. Alessia knew about it but frankly she also recognized that Joan could not hold both guard plus driving the carriage, an observation more than sensible coming from the girl but the historian refused to hear it.

Berel spent most of his days sleeping. The memory of the fire and the attack on the campsite was still very clear in his mind and he would wake up drenched in sweat and suffocating as if he was still trapped inside the thick black smoke. His chest burning and his throat dry. Every time it happened he would find himself safely laying either inside the carriage or under a moonlit sky, with one of his companion looking over to make sure he was still okay. Even if he knew they didn't trust him he also realized that their own path had been littered with pains and horrors and that they would not turn a blind eye to his suffering. He could feel his heart tightens every time he met their worried gaze. It was his fault if they had to live through all that, his fault they had to survive this nightmare. If he had doubts before that his search was justified the recent event persuaded him that whatever secret they were now working to uncover was really worth it. No one would go to such length to not hide something big. Perhaps his understanding of his world would be deeply shaken and forever changed, more than it had already been.

They were still covered in bandages, in superficial burns and scratches. Their lungs were still coated in ash. Yet they went on. As if failing to arrive at San Vale would elicit a fate worse than death. Maybe it would, considering the current situation there was really only one way things could evolve into: more violence. Because here's the thing, violence only breeds violence, and no one was ready to forgive and forget. They would continue to fight, to defend themselves, to protect their knowledge, to ensure that the letter would end in the hands of it's rightful owner.

"The road is in great shape around here, and since the rain has stopped, we should go back to driving during the night and resting during the day, it should be safer." Said Alessia around noon.

"So we would eat during the night? It sounds weird" said Berel while Joan remade his bandage after having cleaned the wound.

"We used to do it, especially after beating the Lady of the Lake, we were afraid they would attack us at night again."

"Now that I think about it...They never appeared during the day with us either."

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

"That's also why we did it." Alessia was lazily watching over the pot of soup she had just made "How are you feeling today"

"I have been worse, I think I am starting to get used to it" Berel answered

"The pain?" Joan inquired, his task finished.

"Everything, but yes, the pain also." The archaeologist straightened his back and carefully, slowly, stretched his arms above his head. Yes, the pain was there, but it felt dull, he could live with it. "You guys must be incredibly resilient to have made it so far. How are you both feeling?"

"That's the thing, we're not, we are just incredibly cautious." Joan said after sitting at his usual place for meals, his back against a heavy bag, legs crossed . "I feel fine, afterall I am the one who suffered the least."

"That is not true, your burns were worse than mine"

"Burns heal much faster than lungs, you should worry about yourself Alessia."

"You are doing it again." She said with an accusing tone.

"Do what?" Joan was confused.

"Dismiss you pain because someone else is having it worse, that's not how it work...I would know" Joan was about to say something else but she handed him a bowl of soup as a way of shutting him up. "You will sleep until sun fall, I will hold first guard, I'll rest inside the carriage with Berel once we leave."

"Very well."

"May I ask a question?"

"You just did...Sorry...What is it?" Alessia calmed down a little, enough to not lash out on Berel, who was innocent and frankly did not deserve to experience her loss of patience.

"You are our navigator on this trip. Could you tell us how long we have until reaching San Vale?" Berel began eating after his question. He felt like a starved drifter.

"At this pace I'd say four or five more days, if we reduced the weight on the carriage then maybe we could make it faster. The advantage is now the road will get better each day and the region is really flat."

"At least there's that!"

They finished in silence and once the sun began to descend on the horizon Alessia woke Joan up. Soon after the carriage continued it's long and lonely course toward San Vale. After a while she came out of the carriage and asked him to stop, a few minutes later they continued their trip, Alessia was now sitting next to Joan. The man was silent for a while before Alessia spoke up.

"I am sorry for earlier, I shouldn't have reacted like that."

"Yet you were justified, I was acting stupid. You were right. There is no need to apologise to me now."

"Still, I feel like I shouldn't talk to you like that, it's..."

"I appreciate the honesty, sometimes I just need a good and loud wake up call." They fell back into silence.

The night was not especially clear, some clouds gathered behind them making the night darker as the moon struggled to rise above them. It was however filled with all sort of noises, crickets, owls, other critters,... It was lively, a good sign. Nature becomes silent just before the thunder strike, as they say, and their thunder would be the undead or another creature like the Lady of the lake. The loud songs of hundreds of crickets and birds accompanied them till morning. Around midnight Joan finally gave Alessia the commands and he then finally, without warning, he dozed off. Alessia let him have it, she knew how strained the professor was. She watched the morning come around in it's soft colours. The sky was between grey and light blue, the songbirds woke up and the owls went to sleep, the crickets calmed down a little, there was a slight mist rising from the fields around them.

"I am glad you are here Alessia." Joan had just opened his eyes, he spoke without realising, and before he could stop himself he continued,"I would have been so lost without you, and lonely too."

"Even if all of this hadn't happened I would have been sad to part ways with you Joan."

"hmm, I dreaded the road alone, I guess I shouldn't have."

"We'll stop there, Berel should be awake now, maybe we can convince him to keep an eye out while we take a nap."

Alessia said with a glint in her eye, she was not feeling really tired but she knew she was being deceived by her body, however talking with Joan had really lifted her spirit. The soft sound of the cereal bending and swaying in the breeze luled her to sleep faster than she thought it would. Joan took care of Berel's injuries before also laying down, his eyes almost closed but still opened enough to spy on the third member of their team. The ultimate test to know if he was trustworthy. Eventually Joan also fell back asleep. Berel look over them diligently.