It took them six more days to arrive at Eagle point. The weather had been switching between clear and rainy but never too violent. They had not suffered from thunder or wind but as the altitude increased the temperature decreased, plus the rain, and the night were much fresher despite them being in June.

Eagle point was named like that because it was the highest, attainable by road, point in Suloo, also because the river was named Eagle river. It was a classical Egg or chicken situation. Despite the green grass and clear blue sky, the peaks around them were all covered in snow. It wouldn't melt even in the high of summer. It would stay. Eternal. Now that they were here they had to go through the river, or rather over it, and fortunately, here, the bridge was unscathed. When they were at not talking to each other the silence was only inhabited by the songs of crickets and the strong current of the river next to them. Not many birds at this altitude, and even the eagles and falcon would stay away, flying high above their head. Somewhere no one could reach them.

Alessia walked to the edge of the plateau and looked at the world bellow, she could see the sea on the horizon, but also San Timo down in the valley. In the fresh air she felt really light. 'This must be what it feels like to fly!'

"We'll set camp here for tonight and we'll cross the river tomorrow, the other side isn't safe if it rains and it going to freeze in the shadow of the peak." Said Alexis professionally.

"Good call" Joan was also taking in the scenery, he couldn't see Margen and it felt weird, he really realized how far they really were now. Yet, it felt like he was on top of the world, he chuckled quietly. 'This view, how much as it varied in the pas four centuries? What did it look like during the Great Floods?' He fixed his vest and took one last look at it and turned around. "I'll take the first watch again, there is no reason to change our habits now." He said confidently.

"Also a good idea!" Alessia added "I'll put up camp, can I trouble you to make food Alexis?"

"Of course, and it's no trouble at all!" Said Alexis radiant, "Joan will you help me ?"

"I'm coming!" Joan brought his hair into a tight bun with the help of a handful of clips, it was kind of heavy, but he was used to it.

They all got busy. The camp was set and the food was made ready on the portable stove. Alessia realized halfway through her task she had never felt more part of a group than right now. Back when she was often in the countryside; going on hikes for her class, or in Margen with her new friends, it had been a different kind of feeling, a different closeness. Because, yes, she was really close with her friends, they were there for each other when time were rough or just because they felt down. But what she felt toward Alexis and Joan was a different thing. They were friends, she wanted to believe it, she wanted to go to the end of the world with them. She smiled to herself and shared with no one else the feeling. It was only for herself.

Since it was early still, they used the remaining sunlight and then warm light from the fire the created to play some game of cards. Joan was terrible at this game, it only made it more difficult for the other two. Alexis had had to teach Alessia how to play but she soon got the hang of it and proved to be an excellent player. Joan already knew the rules, taught to him by Tesla on one very eventful evening, yet it did not save him from getting embarrassed by his poor skills. Yet, by some miracle Joan did win a round, the cartographer won four and Alexis the other six. Alessia convinced them to play again another evening, and although Joan wanted to spare himself the embarrassment he agreed, the young woman had exceptional skills when it came to convince him to do something, it probably had something to do with her bright personality. He found himself enjoying life with this polar opposite of his.

They stopped around ten and Joan sat an inch closer to the campfire. He wore his bedroll like a cloak and hid his hands inside the warm blanket, once the sun had set the temperature had plummeted to almost freezing degrees, he could se his breath in the air. He had maybe fixed one of his problem, namely his sleep habits, but he still had other, and more pressing problems, like the fact that he was thin. Without an ounce of fat in his body, the later had trouble keeping the warmth of the blanket inside, every move chilled him to the bone. He cursed under his breath when a breeze started to rise. Just his luck, he was going to catch a cold at this rate, in summer! Talk about having the worst timing in history!

After a while he noticed that the cold was making him really sleepy, he needed to move, but if he moved he was going to lose all the warmth he had managed to gather. He made a choice. To stay in place. The allure of sleep became impossible to ignore and he drifted off. Bored as he was it was a fast work, soon he was snoring in concert with Alessia. But he didn't really notice that he had fallen asleep until the girl tapped him on the shoulder in the nascent morning.

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"Wake up, the sun is rising" She said softly, she looked happy as ever, he had a terrible neck pain. Realization hit him and he jump upward, almost spraining his ankle in the process.

"I fell asleep! I am so sorry!" Ashamed his cheeks were a little red, Alessia believed they were this colour because of the cold and brushed over his apology with a smile.

"It's alright, we don't blame you, it was pretty cold last night, we all slept like the dead, I was out cold, Alexis had to slap me"

"I though she had died for a second!"

"Anyway, you need to revive the fire if you want a warm breakfast, and I want one so..."

"I'll be on it!" Alessia took his bedroll and helped Alexis tear the camp down. She really didn't hold a grudge, she found the whole situation rather funny instead. She merrily skipped to the food bags and took what they would need to make breakfast. The wood was humid and the breeze of last night had morphed into gale, challenging the historian in making the fire burn. But after a lot of effort, through sheer determination and a genuine desire to be helpful, Joan actually managed to start a descent flame. Alexis whistled with admiration.

"I couldn't have done better myself!" They ate the breakfast quickly with enthusiasm and soon, everything was ready for them to leave again.

"We shouldn't waste more time people!" said Alessia when she was done feeding apples to the horses.

"Everyone to their seat! We are about to leave!" shouted Alexis in a fashion that reminded Alessia of the train conductors in San Vale.

"Let's roll." Joan sat next to the driver and they left Eagle point.

The carriage slowly went down to the bridge and then crossed the stream. This river was the same they failed to cross at the waterfall, only, it was smaller here, but still really fierce. Down in the valley Eagle river would gain an additional affluent that would make it into the rioting and violent river know for its recuring floods. If Joan remembered correctly some farmers actually relied on these floods for some special crops. And if he was not mistaken, Eagle river flowed all the way to the sea. He had seen rivers flood, he had seen their terrible power, yet right now, this one looked peaceful and calm. Of course, in light of the comparison. No man could stand in a current like that. It felt surreal to think of the terror it might have once caused in the heart of the inhabitants of the region.

Alessia went over the maps once more, trying to recreate the timeline of their journey so far. They had left on the 6th of June, Tuesday, and arrived in San Timo on the 8th. The broken bridge was on the 10th, two days they were back in San Timo and then on the 19th of June they finally made it to Eagle point. 'We are now on the 20th of June, two weeks after we started that trip.' She sighed. 'So we are already late by a week and there is about as much time until we make it to the site in Andorra.' She felt the overwhelming urge to scream her frustration, instead she hit her head on the table on which she had laid down the map and grunted. 'They are going to believe we ignored them'.

"Do we know where exactly the site is, or...?" she shouted toward the professor.

"Technically, someone is waiting for us in Meriam to bring us there. Which now seems...unlikely to happen." He answered

"So what should we do?"

"Tesla gave me a rough position in case we couldn't make the link." Joan knew that the "rough position" was more or less a splash of ink on a map and therefore meant very little in terms of localisation.

"Very well..." Alessia had gotten the gist of it.

"We will stop in Meriam anyway and if we can't find the guy...well between my experience and you expertise miss Alessia, we should be able to find the spot!"

"Always happy to help!" She sat back comfortably and covered her knees with a blanket. Maybe it wasn't that cold but it was the morning and she wasn't moving so she still felt a bit cold.

Alexis was forced to opt for a slower pace as they went down the slope of the road, although light, it was still enough to pose a threat to the horses and the carriage. His two favorite horses from the stable, Maple and Brutus, two strong and beautiful bay horses. He helped raise and train them, he would rather be shot than see them get hurt.

*****

"It doesn't look like its going to stop any time soon!" Observed Joan, currently turned around, his eyes set in a staring contest with the wooden panel of the carriage. Alessia was changing right behind him. The professor had landed her a pair of trousers to replace her unpractical dresses and skirts earlier in the week, just after the first attack but now they were basically wearing whatever clean clothes they could find. "Maybe you should get some sleep...before they come out to attack us again"

"If they have any ounce of decency left in their desecrated bodies they'll wait until I'm finished changing. Or better yet, they never come back! That would be grand."

"Sure it would...You're done?"

"Nuh-uh, I have become stuck in a wet linen prison."

"Heavens above and the sea below have mercy on me...You want some help?" Alessia's cheeks immediately flushed a bright red.

"No! No, I can do it myself don't worry, ahah...ah." Both of them were equally embarrassed by what had transpired. Alessia couldn't accept because of her standing and also because it was a matter of pride, 'Dammit I have always dressed myself, even back home! I can't let anyone do it for me, not even this once!'. She didn't doubt Joan, he had always been extremely proper with her, it really was just a matter of pride...and also because he sounded like he dreaded the idea of actually having to help a woman get dressed.

Joan had a sigh of relief, and laughed. He had really been scared of it. Outside, the element still raged on like crazy. This was going to be a very long day.