“Enron!” Volgan ran over from the carriage. “What happened?” He quickly caught Yamo as he collapsed.

“I think the arrows were coated with poison.” The summoned weapon turned into black smoke and dematerialized into thin air.

“Of course they would be.” Volgan hissed with a hint of annoyance and laid Yamo down on his back.

“We need to find a healer.” Tsugi spoke a little too soon. Volgan placed his hands on Yamo and a warm glow emitted from his hands. The black veins slowly retreated and oozed back out of the wound mixed with blood.

“Grab a waterskin and rinse it.” Volgan’s concentration didn’t break, he continued to push through and healed all the wounds on Yamo. Tsugi ran to Midnight and searched through the satchel on the saddle. He quickly returned and popped open the lid, pouring the cold water over the wound. The shock of the cold water caused a sharp inhale from Yamo. Upon seeing Yamo’s reaction, Tsugi and Volgan exhaled in relief.

“Damn, you gave us a good scare.” Volgan sighed and fell back onto his butt, using his sleeve to wipe off the perspiration from his forehead.

“That was bad ass.” Yamo smirked at Tsugi, inspiring a blush to form on Tsugi’s cheeks. “I knew you had it in you.” He made a fist and lightly pounded it against Tsugi’s chest.

“Alright. Stop talking. We need to get away from this place.” Volgan helped Yamo to his feet and assisted him over to the carriage.

“You’ve lost your mind if you think I’m getting in there with them.” Yamo leaned against the carriage.

“No, you are going to sit next to me. Come on.” Volgan grunted as he helped lift Yamo onto the seat.

Tsugi grabbed the reins on Yamo’s horse and mounted Midnight, urging him forward into a gallop, briskly leaving the entrance to the Elven Territory.

They traveled all through the night till they reached the next town the following day. Extremely exhausted, they rented two rooms and collapsed into their beds without even bathing. Bathing would come in second, only after a good night’s rest.

Once again, Tsugi slept on the couch. His energy was so drained, even lifting a finger was physically painful.

“Should we wake him?” Volgan said in a low voice.

“Nah. Let him sleep, he needs it.”

“But he hasn’t eaten anything all day. It’s already dinner.”

“It’s alright. Once he wakes, we can have them bring him something. Don’t wake him, let him sleep. I’ve never seen him this exhausted. Usually, he would mutter in his sleep and stir a lot, but he’s been sleeping in that position this whole time.”

“Are you sure he’s not dead?” Volgan’s voice sounded concerned and Tsugi could hear his bed creak as he left it.

“He’s fine!” Yamo whispered loudly. “You can see his chest rise and fall. He’s just exhausted, let him sleep.”

“Holy crap, Yamo. I’ve never seen you so worried for anyone before.” Volgan chuckles, sounding quite amused.

“Hey, I told him I’m adopting him. I intend to keep my word.”

Volgan let out a frustrated sigh. “Alright. That kid’s going to be the death of us. You know that right?”

“Eh, he’s worth it. I’m not going to let anything happen to him. Even if it costs me my life. And why are you saying, ‘us’? It’s just me.”

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“You know it won’t be just you. I’ve come pretty attached to the kid too.”

“You should’ve seen him in there. I was just…wow. I don’t even have words to explain it. You should’ve been there. The kid saved my life.”

The sound of chirping birds woke Tsugi. His body ached horribly, but he pushed himself up and leaned back on the couch, sighing exhaustively, and rubbing the crust from his eyes. He combed his fingers through his oily hair and stretched every inch of his body.

The sun peaked in through the window, but Yamo and Volgan weren’t there. Tsugi got up and walked around the room. There was food and drinks left on the table with a note.

-Enron,

We have gone into town to pick up a few more items.

Bathe and eat something.

-Yamo

Tsugi gulped down the accumulating saliva in his mouth after looking at the assortment of food on the table. His hands were dirty and he was covered in blood and dirt. He took a quick bath before sitting himself down to enjoy the meal. He quickly devoured everything and smiled joyfully now that he had a good night's rest and a full belly.

The door opened and Yamo entered the room. “Hey, you’re awake! Are you ready to go? If we leave now, and rush a bit, we’ll make it back by nightfall.”

“Yes, let’s go.” Tsugi quickly stood up and put on his armor. He put on this cloak and threw the bag over his shoulder before following Yamo out.

They took off in a gallop to close the distance between the towns a little faster. Feeling the breeze on Tsugi’s face and watching the trees and rocky hills pass by, brought a smile to him. He had really enjoyed his travels with them so far and he didn’t want it to end.

‘Maybe, I can push off my mission just a little bit, so I can stay with them longer.’ Convincing himself that he needed to do more investigation, he was content with his reasoning and settled his heart.

They finally slowed their horses and came to a stop allowing their horses to breathe and get some water.

“Thanks for saving me back there.” Yamo handed an apple to Midnight.

“No need to thank me. If I wasn’t there, you wouldn’t have been hurt and there would’ve been no need to have to save you. So, I’m sorry. It was my fault in the first place.”

“Eh, it’s alright. I’m just glad I saw your skills. You have to teach me how you did that. It was freaking amazing.”

“Uh…yeah, I don’t know if I can teach you, but I can tell you.”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. It’s your ability and it’s unique to you. Just like how I can’t teach you wind magic, unless you already have the affinity for it. Come on. Let’s hurry back.” Yamo patted Midnight on the shoulder and turned back to his horse.

They kept the horses at a nice and steady trot so they could travel for longer periods instead of having to stop so often.

“Watch out!” Yamo drew his sword and swung it through the air next to Tsugi. Dark purple blood splattered all over Tsugi. “Greer's!”

Volgan jumped off the carriage and drew his broadsword. They all dismounted and set a perimeter around the horses and carriages with their weapons drawn. The ten giant dog-like creatures circled them. They resembled hyenas with their giant shoulders and spiked spine. They whipped their tail back and forth, exposing the arrowhead on the tip of the tail. Their high pitch laughs even resembled that of hyenas.

“Watch out for their tail, it’s poisonous.” Volgan charged at one of them and sliced it in half. He swung his sword into a tornado-like fashion as the other’s jumped toward him, slicing them into bits.

“That was a close one!” Yamo yelled as he nearly dodged a strike of the tail across his stomach. He sliced off the tail of the greer and it took off in a loud yelp.

Tsugi flung the chain around in his dance and threw the kunai piercing right through the cervical spine of one of the greer's before pulling it back. The chain allowed him to attack from afar, and he didn’t have to worry about getting close enough for the greer's to use their tail.

The rest of the greer's glanced at each other, slowly backed up and took off into the forest, yelping loudly.

“Is everyone okay?” Yamo flung the blood off his sword before sheathing it.

“Yeah.” Tsugi and Volgan said at the same time, and put their weapons away.

“Well, no use in letting these go to waste.” Yamo took out a knife and tossed it at Tsugi. “Make yourself useful. You remember what I taught you right?” Tsugi nodded and walked over to one of the greer's. “Good.” Yamo smiled proudly and pulled out another knife.

They harvested: the skin; tail; heads; claws; teeth; bones; and the poison sac. They left the meat and the other items for scavengers.

“We’ll earn a bit if we sell these to the right person.” Volgan placed the items in a pouch and strapped it to the carriage with the other luggage.

Because of the delay with the greer's, they didn’t make it to their destination till well after nightfall.

Tsugi looked on and saw a huge wall lining the giant city. It was beautifully lit with torches all around the walls, with guards patrolling the tops of the walls. The land behind it was vast and giant mountain ranges that disappeared into the clouds that draped the background.

“Halt! Who goes there?” A guard called from atop the giant wall.

“I’m Yamo. I have with me the merchant Madam Maligun!”

“Open the gates!”

The drawbridge clanked and lowered down in front of them and the grinding gears raised the gate.

“Welcome to Thandeur, Enron.” Yamo led his horse across the drawbridge. “Welcome home.”