Chapter 075:

Anton tried his best to get comfortable in the back of the caravan cart. Dozens of differently shaped large wooden crates were not really conducive for them to sleep on. Kal was very tired as the budding glyph was taking its toll on her body. Anton and Verona started to move the crates so they could form a rough bed for her.

“It's not the best.” Anton admitted, looking at their work. “But it'll have to do.”

Kal, with her mask still on, looked at a gap between the crates in the middle of the cart. She grumbled, rubbed and massaged her back, and lay between the gap. It was only a little bit bigger than she was but she seemed fine with it.

“This is fine.” Kal said as she let out a deep sigh. “It's not too bad when you get used to it. Also lying down like this is making it a lot better.” Kal looked at him, her eyes and expression hidden by the mask. “I think it's kind of rude that you didn't have to go through this to get your powers.”

Anton smiled. He looked back and made sure the flaps of the caravan were tied tight to the bottom of the cart. When he was certain that nobody was going to peek in he moved down and gently removed Kal's mask. She tried to protest but quickly gave up. Her face was lightly flushed and covered by a thin sheen of sweat.

“Are you sure about that?” Kal asked.

“Well, if you do end up screaming, I don't want to have to try and hold your mouth closed with that on your face.”

Kal raised her hand and thumped against his leg. While he was liking the playful Kal, he wasn't liking that it was possibly a response to the pain and lethargy she was suffering. He held her hand tight which elicited a smile from her.

Verona chuckled and patted Kal's other hand. “While you may think that you're comfortable there, I'm sure that you don't actually want to sleep like that. And I don't want to sleep like that either. I'll go and get the softest blankets.”

Both nodded as she headed to the exit. Kal placed her mask on her face as Verona exited the caravan and into the night. She pushed it shut, a few attempts to push it flat before Verona grunted and walked off. Kal sighed and tried to raise herself up. Anton stopped her from rising, it wasn't that difficult.

“I'm sorry.” Kal mumbled. She raised her mask so she could look him in the eye, her horizontal cat slit eyes looked a little misty and very tired. “I'm just going to be an inconvenience until this thing is over with.”

Anton sighed, moved the crate back, and knelt next to Kal. She frowned as he removed her mask and kissed her, one that she returned with great enthusiasm. When they parted he knew that they were both red and a little embarrassed.

“You've never been an inconvenience for me.” Anton replied as he retook his seat, holding her hand. “Never.”

Kal chuckled and shook her head. She rested her mask loosely on her face as she pouted. “I guess the pain is making me a little grumpy and weird. At least once it's over I'll be fine...The next day.”

The caravan flap opened and Verona entered, carrying the sleeping gear underneath her arms and one of the horse packs over her shoulder. She smiled between them as she gave Anton the sleeping gear. “That was a bit heavier than I thought. I brought that special pen of yours so nobody gets a hold of it...Could you put one of those prayers on this pack so only the three of us could get into it? Like give them a big zap, or make their skin bright blue or something?”

Anton nodded. “I'll give it a go, once Kal is better. I don't have all my mana and I want to keep it all just in case.”

Kal groaned while Verona poked her with her boots. She looked at Verona through the side of her loosely fitted mask. “So, where's my kiss?”

Kal frowned. “How did you know?”

Verona smiled wildly as she looked between both of them. “I can tell. So, since I was left out of that fun, I'm going first once we rent a room in Porswea.”

There was no mistaking the look on Verona's face. Kal shrugged and closed her eyes, quickly drifting in and out of sleep. The sleeping gear was laid out on the carts and underneath Kal. Now there was just time to waste until Kal's power came through. He could have tried to force it, like he accidently did with Verona, but he didn't want to put Kal through that sort of pain on purpose.

Verona, lying on the blankets, bolted upright and looked down. “We've got another problem.”

“What?” Anton asked. Kal moved her mask to peer at Verona with one eye.

“When this happens, she's going to be screaming. No matter how much she tries to hold it in.” Verona started rummaging through the pack she brought for herself. “And I don't want to be trying to hold you down while you're screaming your head off. Your teeth can be really nasty, if you want them to be.”

Kal ran her tongue over her canine teeth. Verona knew about what she had done to the Orc leader, Zig.

“So what's your plan?” Anton asked.

Verona raised her hand to tell them to wait and continued to rummage through her pack. Both hands emerged a few moments later with a thick rolled wad of cloth. “See, we put this over your mouth and then you'll scream into this and not wake everyone up.”

Kal frowned even more deeply as she pushed the mask off her face and looked more closely at it. “This...These are my...”

Verona smiled. “Yeah. I couldn't just take it from someone else, could I?”

“I suppose not.” Kal replied, her eyes frowning as she placed it over her mouth. If she was wearing it properly it would stop her screams. “This looks a little...suggestive.”

“What's suggestive?” Anton asked.

“I haven't told you this, but there was one night when I was lurking around the back of a large building in a remote city in Graterious. And there was some...” Kal raised the cloth wad and spun it between her hands. “Stuff...Involving something like this.”

Verona raised a brow between them while Anton held back a smile. “Was...Was there a whole bunch of hands being bound, some leather and whips?”

Kal flushed. “Something like that.”

Verona still looked a confused but shrugged. “You're going to have to tell me what you're on about. I'm guessing that it's a sex thing?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“So, what now?” Kal asked.

Verona lent down. “You just try and get some rest. We'll be here if something happens.”

---[]---

Anton had been told to go to sleep first so that he could recover as much mana as possible. Lying on the crates was a little different to what he was used to, lately it had been on the ground with at least one of them for warmth and company. Still, he managed to get a bit of sleep before Verona woke him. Her face was worried as she looked down at Kal. Though the mask was obscuring most of her sleeping face it was clear that she was quite pained. As the seconds passed it began to get worse and worse, her brows started to furrow as she began to gasp for air.

“Here we go.” Verona said.

She lent down and removed the mask and quickly wrapped the cloth over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Kal was dipping in and out of conciousness as her hands began to try and reach around to scratch at her back. Anton moved the crates back and knelt beside her, holding both hands tight.

Kal began to calm for a moment before her body buckled and started to thrash about uncontrollably. Anton held her arms and chest down while Verona moved to her legs, though her strength was nothing like it was before. He could see the strain on Verona's face as she was nearly lifted into the air on both of Kal's legs before lying on top of them and crashing them back down onto the wooden cart floor. Muffled screams started to follow as Anton desperately held her arms still. He was using every ounce of his strength to stop her from clawing at her own back. With Beast-kin claws her back would be shredded by the time the glyph activation passed.

How did Jonathan feel when he saw both of his children go through this?

“Hold on Kal. Tethra, Goddess of Prayer, help Kal though this process and ease her pain.”

Some of his mana left him as Kal began to calm down. Verona didn't let go of Kal's legs as she looked up at him. “That was the first bit. Now it's just the really bad bit.”

Kal's face was drenched with sweat and clearly in a lot of pain. Her head flopped to one side as unconsciousness overtook her once again. He stroked her forehead in a vain attempt to calm her. It was terrifying to see someone he loved go through such pain.

“Do you want to swap?” Verona asked. “I almost hit the ceiling before.”

“I wasn't much better.” Anton replied. “If she was like this all the time-”

“Both our backs would be shredded.” Verona smiled wickedly.

Anton suppressed a smile as he remembered the nights with Kal. There were quite a few times when she could get lost in the moment and her claws would rake across their backs. It only ever stung lightly at the worst time, except their first night together. Kal always apologised profusely but they both said it was fine.

Kal started to groan and moan, much louder than before, as he body began to writhe uncontrollably again.

“Here we go.” they both said in unison.

Kal began to kick and scream. Her hands desperately tried to claw at her back. One managed to come free of Anton's hands and dove under her back, tearing free the cloth wrappings over her head and making a light cut on her cheek. The sounds of claws tearing at thick and hardened leather filled the air. He tried to get the arm back but only received a nasty scratch all along his arm. It was a shallow cut but stung like mad. Verona looked over as Anton let out a tiny cry of pain, her eyes stuck on the blood leaking out of his arm. The momentary distraction loosened her grip and sent her flying to the side and into the wooden crates. Kal's legs arched up, along with her body, and her feet's claws' dug and ground their way into the wood. Verona grunted as she shook her head and dove for Kal's legs and flattened her again.

A new noise began to fill the air, the sound of flesh tearing coming from Kal's back. She began to calm somewhat, her spasms weakening, so Anton gently turned and rested her on her side. Verona moved up and held Kal's hands while Anton unfastened the chest armour. Kal wasn't completely through with her transformation yet. Her body buckled and trashed about again, enough to throw off the piece of cloth in her mouth. She let out a single cry before Verona clasped her mouth shut. Anton glanced up, Verona was enjoying this as little as he was.

When he finally removed the armour piece Kal had calmed down. She was breathing very heavily, sweat pouring off her face as she gripped desperately onto Verona's hands. The sound of tearing flesh was continuing but her thrashing had stopped. If Shawn and Joclyn were anything to go by it would be over. He rolled up some of the cloth wrappings and exposed the top of her back. Along her mocha toned back white marks began to etch themselves onto her skin. Along her spine, just between her shoulder blades, a pair of white hands clasped in prayer emerged. Surrounding that wavy lines grew out, forming a stylised set of wings, that reached the tips of her shoulder. Anton ran his hand over the marks. Her body was very warm, especially on the marks. He chanted a prayer to heal her. It took quite a bit of mana but Kal began to breath easier. Verona unbound the cloth from Kal's mouth, the cloth had almost been torn through and was drenched with spit.

“Did...Is it over?” Kal asked weakly. “Did...”

Anton laid her on her back and slowly caressed her head. “I think it is. There's a mark on your back. You've got a glyph, just like us. I think that you've got the prayer power.” Anton showed her the white mark on his hand. “That's on your back now. That and some wings.”

Tears started to well in her eyes, ones that made Anton feel very odd and concerned. She began to cry, weak sniffles at most. “Finally.” she whispered as her eyes closed. A few breaths passed and she was out cold, her head slumped loudly onto the floor. Anton didn't reply and just slowly stroked her head.

“I'll stay up for the next couple of hours.” Anton said to Verona, both returning to their crates as Kal slept between them. “It might be a good chance to see if my powers can refresh myself. But I shouldn't-”

“You alright?” A voice came from the caravan tent flap. Anton turned and saw a black haired head, with a small tuft of blue, poking through a small gap in the caravan, a sword poking through to the side having cut a few of the strings. Cetina was looking through and at Anton. “Sorry. I was on patrol and I heard a scream that wasn't...”

Her voice trailed off as she looked down at Kal. Specifically her ears. The long Beast-kin ears were exposed to sight as her mask lay on the side and some of the cloth wrappings had been loosened. Anton glanced down, a feeling of cold washing over him now that she saw. He looked up and Cetina's face paled. She darted back without saying a word, her sword clanged lightly onto the ground.

“Shit!” Verona said, diving after her and out into the darkness. “Hey!” A few seconds passed and Anton heard a thump of metal against wood and then another. He readied himself for a fight but nothing came.

Fuck. I hope that Verona's not going to do something stupid.

---[]---

Verona's feet barely touched the ground before she reached out for the back of Cetina. The woman was a lot stronger than Verona first thought, throwing off her first grab at her armour. She ground her teeth and lunged at her, colliding with her chest and pushing them both into the side of a wooden cart on the outside of the defensive ring. Cetina raised her mailed hands to fight but Verona knew that she was the one at a disadvantage. Without fresh blood she was very weak, especially against someone that had always relied only on their body and their muscles. Verona dodged the first powerful swing as she darted inside her reach and only a few inches from her face. Verona reached up and clamped her mouth shut. The fear on Cetina's face was palpable.

“Don't move. Don't speak.” Verona growled. She felt that she might be overdoing it a little but she was the one at a disadvantage. Cetina looked down at her, stunned, before Verona flashed the blood power enough to make her eyes glow. Cetina nodded furiously.

“Okay. I'm going to remove my hand and you aren't going to scream.” Verona said, waiting for a nod before removing her hand. Her bluff worked as Cetina remained silent. “Whatever you think you saw in there. You didn't.” Verona began. “You won't speak of it unless you want to be killed. Understood?”

Cetina nodded furiously. “I won't.”

“That's good to hear.” Verona looked around. She wasn't too worried, at first, where she was or who saw them, but it would be hard to explain why she had pinned Cetina against a cart in the dead of night. She could only spy one of the Bandit Hunters, a few carts away and looking into the darkness. It seemed that the Ghlotsm bodies had been removed.

Anton poked his head out of the cart, searching desperately for her. When their eyes made contact his face softened. He threw him a wave, to let him know it was alright, and he retreated to the cart. Verona turned back to Cetina, still very close to her.

“I...um...need to get back onto patrol.” Cetina stammered out.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Verona frowned at the grey and purple eyed woman, annoyingly taller than she was, probably an inch or two taller than Kal. Dark edges lay underneath her eyes and they seemed to have difficulty staying open.

“Have you had any sleep yet?” Verona asked. She moved and picked up Cetina's discarded sword and handed it back to her. It took a moment before Cetina took the hint and reached for it. Did she think it was some sort of test?

“Not yet.” Cetina replied, sounding quite tired now that the excitement had worn off. “Nobody has come to relieve me.”

“No one from your family?”

Cetina sheathed her blade. “No. One of the Bandit Hunters offered to do it if I slept with him for the rest of the trip to Porswea.” Cetina frowned deeply, a strange smile on her face. “Either that or I get on my knees for him. I'm not doing that.”

Verona chuckled. “Some of them don't seem like they've ever washed themselves. I couldn't imagine what it would be like.”

Cetina smiled back at Verona.

Can't just leave this as some sort of friendly chat. She's seen something that she's not supposed to.

“Don't say anything.” Verona said. It was a little hard for her words to have the same sort of impact as before but she still needed to say it.

Cetina nodded, her face less terrified than before. “I won't. I'm not going to...upset people that don't treat me like crap.”

Verona looked her up and down. Cetina was a rather good looking young woman, so it wasn't related to that. If anything it should have made people, men especially, treat her a little better.

“That come from the family that you're travelling with?”

A dark look drew on Cetina's face. “Yep. I...It can be hard. Especially if there aren't other people with us.”

“To keep them from acting too badly?”

“Yeah.”

“So, I know we asked you this before, but why not just leave?”

Cetina's hands gripped hard on the pommel of her sword and the edge of her chest armour. “I don't care about any of them, apart from my father.”

Verona tried to smile as warmly as she could. “It's his choice who he's going to be with. And I'm sure that you've said something?”

“He asked them, but that just made it worse. When he's not looking.”

Verona hummed in agreement. “Well, I'm not going to tell you what to do but I think you should leave once you get to Porswea. If Anton treated me half as rudely as you are being treated...”

“You would leave him?”

“No. But I would beat the crap out of him until he came to his senses.”

Cetina smiled awkwardly. “That's...I would need money to survive and I don't have any. And I'm not selling these.”

Verona looked back to the cart she dived out from. “I need to get back soon. You know, you sound a little bit like Kal.”

Cetina lent more closely. “Is she a-”

“Don't say it or think it.” Verona growled, Cetina instantly remembered the predicament she was in. Verona ran her hand over a small coin pouch hidden in her clothes. They had brought dozens of gold coins with them, not to mention a few of the ruby and emerald gems. Loosing a few coins wouldn't harm their foray into Graterious and Seocuria.

Verona waved her finger at Cetina. “When...When we get moving in the morning...Do you ride a horse or are you on one of the carts?”

“I don't have a horse.” Cetina said.

“Well...Tomorrow, when we get moving, we'll come and find you and have a bit of a chat. See what we can do to help out. I'm sure Anton's already thought of something like that.” She looked back to the caravan. “He tends to do that with people that need help.”

Cetina only frowned. “Why would you help me? Surely it doesn't matter to you what happens to me?”

Verona smiled. “I've got a good feeling about you. I'd like to think that I've got that skill and it's worked out well so far. Besides, I don't think that you would actually tell someone what you saw.” Verona looked directly into her eyes until Cetina nodded. “So, we'll see you in the morning, yeah?”

“Um...Yes.” Cetina stumbled out her words. “I will, I will continued with my patrol.”

Verona nodded. “We'll see you then.”

Cetina, somewhat rigidly, walked off to continue her patrol. Verona sighed and ran her fingers through her hair as she walked back to the caravan.

Anton was right about this place being more complicated than Qaiviel, or even Atros. I wonder what he'll have to say about this.

---[]---

Anton waited in silence for Verona to return. While he waited he kept some mana bubbling away inside, just in case someone tried something threatening. After seeing what he was capable of he very much doubted it but wanted to play it safe. Especially when Kal was out cold and couldn't be moved easily.

Finally he heard movement from outside. A silver head poked its way through the tent flaps and into the caravan. Verona wore a big cheesy grin when she hauled herself in. She made doubly sure that the tent flaps were fastened tight before coming to his side.

“Don't worry about Cetina.” she said. She rested her head on his shoulder and entwined a hand with his. “We had a chat and she's going to keep quiet.”

“Did you hit her? I heard some thumping, of metal onto wood.”

Verona scratched nervously at her cheek. “We had a little tumble, let's just put it at that. But I've got her word that she's not going to say anything. I had to flash my power a little just to get the message across.”

“Well...” Anton wrapped his other arm around Verona gave her a quick kiss. “That's good to know. Kal's just been sleeping quietly. Hopefully she'll be able to ride in the morning.”

“What did that old woman call her?”

“An Orison Templar.” Anton replied. “I was dredging that up in my mind while I waited.”

“Any idea what that means?” Verona asked, continuing before he could answer. “Unless it's the same sort of thing with me being a Blood Berserker. Like the name of whoever has this power?”

“I think it is. The old woman, witch or whatever, called you two that.”

“But she called you a Grand Mage.” Verona frowned a little. “But that's probably because she could see your mana, like she could see ours. That's kind of creepy, like she can see though us.”

“There's a lot of questions that she needs to answer.” Anton nodded deeply. “But I think it might be a little while before we get to where she lives. Whatever that place was called.”

Verona nodded as well, looking down at Kal. “We've got something else we need to do first. Oh, also, it seemed that Cetina has been up all night. And by the looks of things she'll be up until dawn at the very least.”

“What?” Anton mumbled. “That's pretty shitty.”

“Well, not so fast.” Verona flashed him a playful smile. “One of the Bandit Hunters offered to take her place if she slept with him. Or at least got on her knees for him every night.”

“Oh, is that all.” Anton shook his head. “Sounds like she didn't take that deal.”

“No. No. But...I did manage to get out of her that she does want to leave but needs help.” Verona's playful smile vanished as she looked up at him completely seriously. “Should we help her? I'm seriously asking. We've got more than enough money for now. And a few gold coins could help her get her away.”

“I got the impression that she wouldn't leave without tearing Duran away from Eluria.”

Verona shrugged. “I did too, but she might change her mind when freedom and money is offered to her.”

“I...I don't know.” Anton replied. “I honestly thought about helping her. What she's going through is pretty crappy and I don't really want to have that thought niggling at the back of my head. Of course, there are people, and...beasties, going through a lot worse things but-”

“We should help out where we can?”

“Yeah...When we get to Porswea we could give her a few gold coins. We've got more than enough on us, for now.” Anton gently rubbed his beard. “I wonder how much a boat and crew would cost. That's not something that I can ask without attracting some really odd attention, especially since the story that we've going with is that we've been in the mountains for so long.”

Verona pulled him down and gently kissed him. When she parted her face contorted into a frown. “If...If Cetina can use a sword so well, and she felt pretty strong when we fought, why would they treat her so badly? She's got a sword and they don't.”

“Because she hasn't retaliated properly yet.” Anton replied. “I'm guessing. They'll just keep pushing and prodding until she snaps, which shouldn't be too far away. You didn't see her when we made camp and she got told off for failing to get the fire going. If the prods were a little bit harsher she would have exploded by now. And then there would have been quite a few dead people. It might be over inheritance for all I know. If Duran's still got some money in Bebbezar that would make Cetina the one to receive it, if inheritance follows the same sort of rules it does from my world. That might have something to do with it. Maybe”

“She's pretty good with a sword.” Something flashed over Verona's face, too quick for Anton to pick up. “I'm not going to be too happy if I find that she's been awake all night and expected to be awake tomorrow.”

Anton nodded. “I think that we would need to have a little chat with our new Bebbezarian friends.”

---[]---

Anton chanted a healing prayer onto Kal, who was sitting on his lap facing outwards. When she woke up she clearly wasn't that well. She needed help to be good enough to ride today.

“I still don't feel great.” Kal told Anton. “But it's getting better.”

“That's the third healing.” Anton frowned. “I think the glyph did some real damage to your body.”

Kal couldn't help but nod at Anton's words. He had spoken aloud very specific healing prayers, which had used up almost half of his reserve, but she still needed work. Thankfully she looked a little better each time. She flexed her hands and straightened out her legs. A tiny whimper escaped her lips.

“I've had it worse.” Kal smiled and lent into his chest. “I feel a little bit worse than when I arrived at Atros. I've forgotten what feeling like this does to you. I just want to curl up into a ball and go to sleep.”

“So do I.” Anton replied, kissing her head. “I'm sure we all do. But we've got a few more days before we can take a proper day to rest.”

“So what do I have now?” Kal asked. “I was sort of waking and passing out last night. How Shawn and Joclyn handled it, I don't know.”

“It should be the prayer power. So you'll be able to heal yourself, other people, enhance your already sharp senses...and make spoons.”

Kal smiled and shook her head. She reached down her shirt and pulled out her medallion, staring intently at the crudely fashioned hands clasped in prayer. “She's answered almost all my prayers.” she clasped the medallion tight and put it back under her shirt. “You told me before that you formed the mana, said the prayer aloud, and then it worked?”

Anton nodded. “Yes. But can you feel something different in your body. Like a heaviness that you didn't know of before? Just try and move your arms about first.”

Kal looked a little confused but did as she was told. She waved her arms about and a frown formed on her face. “I...I can feel something. Like I'm swimming through water, but I'm not being slowed by it. It's...”

“That's your mana.” Anton said. “It'll take a bit to get used to. Anyway, if you can use the prayer power like I can you'll need to try and push the mana to a point. And then you can recite a prayer.”

“How do I move it?”

“I...don't know how to explain it.” Anton replied, a tinge of regret in his voice. “I just sort of knew how to do it. But, with Tethra, it should be a bit easier since you should just be able to recite the prayer and that'll be enough. So why don't you try asking Tethra to heal your body with half your mana?”

Kal pursed her lips. “Okay...Here we go.” She cleared her throat and clasped her hands in prayer and closed her eyes and bowed her head. “Tethra, Goddess of Prayer, thank you for everything you have done for me.”

I haven't ever said actual thanks to my gods. I hope that they know that I am thankful. Ew...I guess that they're a bit like Cetina, getting a gift and that should do. I'm sure they understand, and don't want a sycophant praising them all the time but I'll do that next chance I get.

“I beseech you to heal my body, using half of my mana.”

Anton couldn't see anything but Kal gasped. She eyes became more focused and her breathing deepened. Kal started to cough, holding her side.

“Are you alright?” Verona asked, looking on in concern. “I thought it was meant to make you better.”

Kal shook her head. “No. It worked. I just wasn't ready for it. I feel a lot better. But I'm not...”

“It's very strong but uses a lot of mana.” Anton began. “I don't know what your mana reserves are like, compared to mine and Verona's, but even with my seemingly vast mana supply it still needed multiple prayers. I don't know if this is part of the activation or you've got a large supply of mana. Either way, we've got two healers in Atros.”

Kal smiled. “Now it means I can fight on the same level as you two.”

“You already were.” Verona chuckled. “I wouldn't want to fight you without my magic. I think I would end like that Orc that you tried to eat.”

“Please don't put it like that.” Kal grumbled. “But, what else can it do?”

“I don't know. That's one of the reasons I wanted to go to Porswea, so we might be able to find books on how to use these magics properly. None of us use a charm, like Zig and Duchess Belinda, and if they don't have any glyph users it might be a bit hard to get a hold of information on how it's supposed to work.”

“That's good, I suppose. Maybe I could make arrows with it...” Kal nodded deeply, a cloth wrapped hand holding onto her chin. She stopped and looked at up Verona. “I...I didn't hurt any of you last night, did I?”

Verona hummed, trying to look innocent. “You scratched Anton's arm and nearly threw me through the roof. Otherwise, no.”

Kal whimpered and shook her head, a smile growing on her face. “Sorry about that.”

“There is..ugh...another thing that happened.” Verona scratched at her head. “Cetina...Well, she saw you. That you're...”

Kal tensed, her fingers digging into Anton's arms and chest. She turned and looked at him in deep worry. She couldn't afford to have her secret found out so soon, and when they were finally moving towards rescuing her mother and her people.

“It's okay.” Verona continued as she moved next to Anton and held one of Kal's hands. “We had a chat. And, with a few goodies thrown in, has promised not to tell anyone.”

“You trust her?” Kal asked flatly.

Verona shrugged. “She said she wasn't going to say anything.” Verona flashed on her power just so her eyes glowed. “I gave her that, and she's got a few more reasons to keep quiet. She may escape her life just yet.”

“Whatever the decision though, it needs to be her own.” Anton said to Verona. “If she wants to make it. If she doesn't then we need to respect it. Regardless, we need to keep moving.”

“You can get used to your own hell.” Kal said quietly. “It can be hard to think you can actually escape, and it just becomes easier to accept it.”

Anton smiled and kissed her deeply. She let out a tiny whimper when his hands tried to caress her back. Evidently there was more work to be done.

“Alright. We'll see what we can do to help. But first we need to see if anyone else saw or heard anything.”

Verona gingerly poked her head out of the caravan. She returned and looked quite relieved. “Nobody's waiting for us, though quite a few people are up and about. Guess Cetina was the only one that listened in.”

Kal, with some help, refastened her cloth wrappings, armour and mask. Verona opened the caravan completely and jumped down the ground. Anton followed and both gently helped Kal down. She took a sharp breath as she flexed her legs. After a few seconds she was fine. Verona stayed right next to Kal while they entered the main camp. Their small camp was a buzz of activity. Bandit Hunters and Bebbezar merchants were preparing a hearty looking breakfast while everyone else was getting the animals and carts ready. Anton spied their horses being well looked after by some Bandit Hunters. Anton spied Virgil and Duran at the center of the camp. He couldn't see Eluria, Sancha or Cetina.

“Good morning our most gracious saviours.” Duran said loudly, reminding Anton immediately what sort of man he was. “After our scuffle last night are you three ready and rested?”

“Did you say scuffle or tumble?” Virgil asked, suppressing a deep yawn.

“For you, I think both are appropriate.” Anton replied.

Virgil and Verona chuckled, even Kal shook her head. Duran looked between them confused before Virgil waved him down. He wasn't going to explain that he slept with his step-daughter.

“But are you ready?”

“I think so.” Anton looked back at Kal. She nodded but it was obvious that she still needed some time and more prayers before she was fully healed. “Yes. Are we having breakfast before we get moving?”

“A quick one.” Duran replied. “We'll be riding hard for the rest of the day.”

Anton spied Virgil desperately trying to not make a face.

“Here you are.” A voice came from behind. Anton turned to see Eluria and Sancha coming towards them with enough small plates for all of them. They were filled with some warm food along with a pile of strange looking nuts and fruit. Sancha tried her best to avert her eyes from them.

Verona looked deeply at the meat. “This isn't Ghlotsm meat. Is it?”

Eluria chuckled lightly. “No. We've tried the meat, prepared by someone that said they knew what they were doing, and it wasn't good. Very stringy and chewy. No, this Razor-Pig and Mole-Rat meat.”

Virgil coughed loudly, finished the piece of meat in his mouth, and then started to pick at the fruit. She must have remembered Verona's blood disk cutting and crushing the fleeing Mole-Rats. And the twitching and dying red mass of flesh.

“Thanks.” Anton said. Kal politely refused. They would have to eat on the move.

“I'm going to get my men ready.” Virgil said. He quickly finished the fruit and nuts and left the meat, handing it back to Eluria. “Sorry. My stomach's not feeling the best right now.”

Virgil gave them a nod before walking away to the largest collection of the Bandit Hunters. To their side Anton spied Cetina, preparing an Ix to pull a cart. Judging by her expression, and the way she carried herself, she had been awake the whole night.

“How long has she been awake?” Anton asked.

“Who?” Eluria asked, a light flutter to her voice. Verona flashed him a questioning look.

“Cetina. She was patrol last night. And by the looks of things she hasn't had a wink of sleep all night.”

“She's a very tough girl.” Eluria replied, Sancha nodding in response.

Anton saw their smiles, somewhat plastic. “That may be true, but Duran, as her father, you should have a talk with her. A proper talk.”

“About what?” Duran seemed genuinely interested and a little concerned.

Anton shrugged. “About everything. About how she actually feels and what she would like to do with her life. She's not doing so well right now and I'm sure she would appreciate it.”

“Just talking things through can make everything better.” Verona added quietly.

“I-”

“I'll talk to her.” Eluria cut Duran off.

Anton raised his hand before she could take a step. “I don't think that's a good idea.” Eluria frowned but said nothing. “I don't really know what's happening in your little family here, and I know that it really doesn't affect me or that it's really any of my business, but I don't want to just let it keep happening around us for the next couple of days. So, Duran, if you actually care about me being your saviour you'll go and talk with your daughter right now. And let her speak her mind.”

Duran's eyes darted around before he sighed and walked towards the carts. Eluria raised out her hand to stop him but he ignored it. The man walking away wasn't the confident and bombastic man that had just been speaking, now he dawdled and scratched nervously at his head while he shuffled his feet. Did he really know and was just avoiding it?

“Who are you glaring at?” Verona asked. Eluria and Sancha were glaring angrily at the three of them. “Aww, did we interrupt whatever stupid little thing you two had going on?” Verona spoke with a silly and teasing voice.

Both women huffed and walked away, not towards Duran or Cetina. Duran had reached his daughter, much to Cetina's obvious surprise. She looked guarded and on alert but started to soften as Duran shuffled while he spoke to her. An awkward smile began to grace her face as she to speak.

“That's nice to see.” Verona said quietly, Kal nodded.

“It is.” Anton replied. “But I think we annoyed some people to do it.”

“Who cares?” Verona asked. “But it looks like it won't be long before we're all going.”

Anton nodded and moved to their horses. Verona snapped her fingers, ran back to their caravan and return with their packs. “Didn't want to give them this. Did you end up talking with Atros?”

Anton pursed his lips. “No. I was a little distracted by Kal's...awakening. I'll have to do it tonight.”

Verona chuckled as she helped Kal mount her horse. Unlike before she couldn't just bounce onto the horse. Verona mounted her own along with Anton.

“Well we've already gone through a giant fissure, crazy cultists, giant Mole-Rats, these Bebbezarians and a Ghlotsm attack.” Verona lamented, her face quickly turning into a smile. “We've still got a few days before we're meant to reach Porswea. What else could happen?”