Tom woke some time before dawn on Oneday. He lay there in the dark, feeling Diavla cuddled up to him and hearing her gentle snoring. He felt…amazing.

I knew it would be good. I didn't know it would be that good. Tom shook his head, still a bit shocked.

I can see why some guys like Julio arrange their lives around bedding women. I have to do other things with my life, too, but now I understand a little the road he took through the world. Still, I suspect there is more to it than Julio realized. He smiled tenderly in the direction of his elven lover, feeling her warmth against him. It's not just our bodies—somehow, our souls fit well together, too.

Julio never talked about feeling like this, afterwards. He never talked about wanting to go back to the same woman again and again.

Tom heaved a great sigh of satisfaction. What an amazing… He stopped and thought back, counting up the days. Two weeks? That can't be right.

But it was.

It's been just two weeks since I left Middleton with Sir Kurt and the others. I was already traveling with the elves then, just unawares. How many times did I walk past Diavla and the others without knowing it?

For a moment, Tom imagined the bandit attack failing, Sir Kurt and his new friends alive…and the slavers, carting Diavla and Varga, Orvan and Kervan, Sheema, Arven, Brallik and Rillik off to the gods only knew where. I would never have known what I had lost. The thought made him shiver.

Shaking off the gloomy image, he quietly extracted himself from Diavla's embrace to go do his necessary, and got back into bed without waking her—or so he thought.

“Good morning, my (something) Tom,” she murmured in his ear.

“Good morning, my fiery Diavla.”

“ ‘Fiery’?”

“You are like fire.”

“I am?”

“You are.”

“Good.” Her hands started sliding over his body. Tom returned the favor, and soon getting more sleep was set aside for later.

∘ ⛥ ⛯ ⛥ ∘

Tom woke again, and faint daylight was making its way into the room. He wanted more sex, but Diavla said no. “It is very, very good, but more is pain now,” she explained.

Was I too rough? was his first thought. Tom almost apologized, but caught himself. She wasn't saying that he had done anything wrong. He kissed the elf on her forehead. “Then we stop,” he agreed. Reluctantly, he left the warm bed and began to feel around for the water buckets and wash cloth.

“Light,” Diavla warned, then turned on his rock light. She got a distant look for a moment, then smiled at him and tilted her head at the door. “They wait.”

“Ah.” Tom cleaned up and got dressed without wasting any time—well, without wasting much time. In his soul, he couldn't call it ‘wasting’ either. Diavla moved briskly, and after one last look at each other, one last caress, and one last kiss, Tom opened the door.

“Good morning!” Varga sang with a huge grin. Tom felt his face heat. She proceeded to unleash a torrent of fast Elvish at Diavla, who responded, “Shut up,” at least three times before finally muffling the redhead with a kiss. Um. Right. He looked around at the others, all dressed and waiting.

“Breakfast?” Tom asked in the momentary silence. They all nodded. He stuck his head in Eubexa's doorway. She was sitting up, her legs hanging off of the bed, and fidgeting as if testing what her body could do. “We'll be back soon with breakfast for you,” he told her.

“Thank you, Master.”

It didn't take long to find the same food stall they had used before, set up in almost the same place. Tom bought plenty of breakfast, and this time paid outright for a metal bucket that carried several portions. They returned to their rooms and Eubexa gratefully started in on her own breakfast. Tom discussed with the others the list of tasks left to do, and in what order to do them, while they waited for Eubexa to eat.

“May I have more, Master?” she asked tentatively after finishing her first bowl of porridge.

“Yes, but can you wait an hour or so? We're taking it with us, and I need you for a few things before we leave town.”

“Of course, Master!” Eubexa dropped her spoon at once. Tom suppressed a wince.

“Thank you. Next stop is the Temple.”

“There's no need—”

“We need to have them purify the book before you return it,” Tom cut her off. He'd thought of that excuse to forestall argument about another round of healing.

Again, Tom lifted Eubexa in a princess carry. Diavla and Varga opted to come along. Kervan declined an offer of more healing; he was already looking much better, and Tom could easily believe his claim that he'd be completely fine without further magical assistance. Orvan stuck with the plan of “nobody goes anywhere alone”, and stayed with Kervan in their rooms.

As usual, they drew curious looks as they made their way up to the wealthy district. They headed right to the Temple, first. Once he had told the healers to do their best for Eubexa over her protests, he excused himself for a few minutes and withdrew the last of the gold from the Treasury. He left the clerk ten silver in thanks, chatted with the guard briefly, and was back at the Temple before they were finished working their magic. He even had time for a few prayers before he went to hear the report.

“Your elf is doing remarkably well,” the healer reported. He was called Wiley Goodfellow, and he seemed to take significant delight in his name. Tom hadn't seen him on prior visits; Goodfellow was a short man with a large beak of a nose and a cheerful disposition.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

“For three sessions, this is good progress. So long as she avoids any flexing or strenuous activity, she should be able to walk a few steps on that foot, now. More rest will help, of course.”

“Thank you, Healer,” Eubexa replied. Tom could hear the capital letter when an elf used the word.

“Were you able to help with her disease?” Tom asked quietly.

Goodfellow hesitated. “It's a very advanced case, you understand.”

Tom nodded. “They told us that she had a few months to live, last time.”

The devout looked surprised, then thoughtful. “It's true that we can't stop her decline, but the healing has slowed it some. I would say she has six or eight months to live, at this rate.” He shook his head. “She needs extra food for that, though.”

“She'll get it,” Tom promised. “Thank you, sir.”

Eubexa's things and the borrowed book had been cleansed by a spell, so Tom had Diavla carry the book while he scooped up the invalid elf. It wasn't very far to the Library, and soon they were in the book room again. Diavla received the two gold in exchange for the book.

Eubexa was disappointed to learn that Sage Booker was not working at the Library that day. She chatted with another worker for a couple of minutes, then sighed. “I believe I have done all I can here, Master.”

“All right.” Tom scooped her up again, and paused for a few moments in the map room to stare wistfully at the huge mural some more. I would that there were a whole city with walls painted as pages of books.

After the Library, they passed close by Sally's Sweets and Tom sent Diavla and Varga in. He gave them specific instructions to spend enough coin to give everyone multiple treats for the first few days on the road. When the women made some small protest, Tom explained, “You have all suffered enough. I think that the gods owe you some joy. Let me do this for you.”

The elves took him at his word and emerged with multiple boxes full of sweets. The woman at the counter actually came to the door for a moment, too. “Sir, I want to thank you for your custom. It is nice to be valued and appreciated. The elves clearly enjoy our creations.”

“I will be sure to tell people about how wonderful Sally's Sweets in Rivermarch is,” Tom promised.

“Thank you, sir! And thank you, ladies.”

“Thank you!” Varga replied cheerfully. Thus loaded down, they headed for their next stop.

At the wagon lot, Varga surprised Tom by breaking into a rapid string of Elvish aimed at the guard on duty. He doesn't know Elvish, does he? Tom looked a question at the man, who shrugged.

“She does this every time,” the guard reported.

Every time? Tom wondered. He meant to think about that more but got distracted with the process of preparing the wagons for departure. He settled Eubexa in the back of the less-full wagon along with the sweets, saw that Varga approved of the condition of the animals, and paid the last two silver owed for storage, plus a bit extra for the guard himself.

Varga and Diavla took the wagon that was nearly full of salt, and Tom drove the other with Eubexa. He led the way slowly down the busy streets. He was extra alert, trying to burn the sights of the city into his memory before they left it behind. Finally, they arrived back at their rooms.

Tom left the women with the wagons while he headed upstairs to help Orvan and Kervan. They moved their packs, weapons, and a surprising number of forgotten items downstairs. Tom made a final check to make sure the rooms were empty and clean, gathered the keys, and went to see Vinder Hall.

The little person answered the knock on his door with a grumpy expression that smoothed out when he recognized Tom. Tom knelt and paid the man the remainder of what he owed, plus a bit extra. “Thank you, sir, for your hospitality. A lot of places around here refused to rent to elves.”

“Well, we weirdos have to stick together,” Hall answered with a snort. “You seem a decent sort, Tom Walker. Take good care of those people.”

“I will.”

Tom rejoined the others, to find that they were getting into their new armor in preparation for leaving the city. Tom followed suit, then looked them all over. They made a respectable picture, and hopefully an intimidating one to potential thieves and bandits.

Now that they were loaded up, Tom led them to the marketplace, where he drove one wagon up as close as he could get to Hakeem's shop. He made the purchase he had agreed to on Eightday, spending most of the remaining gold. Kervan and Orvan helped him to take the fifteen bags of salt out to the wagons.

Before they left the market, Orvan made the rounds shopping, moving quickly with Tom along as guard. The group had already bought provisions, but Orvan was getting fresh bread and greens and a few other things that would not keep for long on the road. I guess we'll be eating very well for the first few days of the trip, Tom mused. I'm not about to object to Orvan's good cooking.

They finally had everything they needed to take with them out of the city. Tom thought hard, trying to remember errands. It was still a bit early in the day for a second goodbye with Miranda, which was about what Tom had expected. I guess all that's left is to report in.

They drove downhill and pulled up both wagons across the street from the Guardhouse. Tom looked around, but few people would be foolish enough to cause trouble here. He left the elves behind and asked to speak to Captain Hayward briefly. Fortunately, he wasn't kept waiting for long.

Once he was escorted to the office and the door closed, Tom stepped up to the desk and braced himself. “Thomas Walker, reporting in before departure to Oak Mill.”

“Yes, Mr. Walker. Anything new to report?”

“We're all packed up and ready to roll out the South Gate, sir.”

“I'm told you collected eight Amulets of Demon Warding from here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are you expecting to need that many?”

“I'd feel better with a couple more, to be frank. I want to be ready for anything.”

“Well, my men are supposedly digging more out of storage, but they haven't found them yet. You'll have to make do with two extras.” Hayward eyed him a moment, then nodded. “I was considering demanding two of them back, but you'll be in the thick of things and more likely to have urgent need.” He scowled. “Don't waste my trust.”

“No, sir. I'll find out what I can, and I'll have the Keep in Oak Mill signal Rivermarch when I have anything to report.” Tom tried not to fidget under the Captain's glare. Finally, the guardsman seemed to rein himself in.

“I'm not mad at you, son, I'm mad at this world that forces me to send children to hunt demons, when I would rather be doing it myself and keeping you safe at home.”

“Understood, sir. I've got people to protect now. I won't take any crazy risks.”

“I'll hold you to that.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Captain offered his hand. “Good hunting, Tom Walker.”

Tom shook firmly. “Thank you, sir.”

∘ ⛥ ⛯ ⛥ ∘

It was time. Tom had run out of things to double-check, and got them moving. Tom, Diavla, and Eubexa were in the front wagon. Varga, Kervan, and Orvan were in the salt wagon behind them. They rolled out to South Gate. There wasn't any line for people leaving the city, only entering. Tom recognized the two guards on duty.

“Hello, Finch! Hello, Gwen!”

“Hello, Tom! Where are you bound?”

“Oak Mill next. It's been a pleasure.”

“Safe travels to you, Tom Walker.”

“Thanks. You take care.”

They continued out through South Gate and onto the main road that would become Forest Road. We're retracing the path of our adventure together, Tom observed. And then exploring from there.

He worried about the other elves, and wondered what troubles they had encountered in the forest. Sheema's a powerful healer, Tom reminded himself. Hopefully, that means she can defend them from demons. And Arven's a good scout. With a bit of luck, he'll be able to keep them away from humans. There's a good chance they're fine. Really.

Tom frowned, thinking about the possibilities, until he felt Diavla's hand on his knee. “Tom?” Her soft voice brought him back from his dark imaginings. He gave her a smile, which she returned with some relief.

“We are good, Diavla.” He nodded. “I am…very happy that…I help you, and you help me. I am with you, so, I am happy.”

He looked ahead with firmer resolve. Separately, we would have great troubles. But we're not separate. We're together. He clasped Diavla's left hand, feeling his ring on her finger.

We are better together.

END OF BOOK ONE