To earn the right to wear a Mantis Mark blade is a great honor, given unto a very select few who have dedicated their lives to the path of carnage that is the way of the sword. Beware a man or woman who bears such a blade, for all of them possess a strength of skill that nears the realms of divinity.

- The Fanciful Travels by Beron de Laney 376 AC.

“So what are we going to do now, lads?” the Rogue repeated himself, looking each of us in the eyes.

The silence was only broken by the flitting sound of a bird alighting on a branch above us. Elwin sensed that we had no answers and decided to put forth his own ideas.

“Now, the way I see it is that we need to book it out of here as soon as possible. No good can come of it if one of those inquisitor-types gets a sniff of your trail, gods in heavens, I would know,” he said, hissing through his teeth and taking a moment to pause. “We can lie low, do a bit of camping out here with the beasts and birdies, and hope this all blows over, but even that porker was able to find us. I don’t know what you’ve done to rile them up, and I am not sure I even want to know,” he continued in a matter-of-fact tone.

I began to mount a defense of my actions, sensing an accusation, but he simply held up a hand, cutting me off, and plowed on, “It don’t matter now, though. That’s not the option I’d be going for anyways—living in the woods like a common bandit is not the life for me. There’s no way across the sea of grass unless you’re with a caravan with one of their Water Mages, so that is the best and only realistic option we’ve got. Going through the deep wilds is just another form of suicide, and besides, no one knows even what’s on the other side. Legions ‘ave been lost going through the wilds to chart out a shorter path for the Beacons. So like I said, joining up with the next caravan in Ansan that’s heading down west or south or wherever they’re going is still our best course. As guards if we can, or we just pay whatever fee they ask,” he finally finished, an edge of panic in his voice that he was doing well to hide.

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“We’ll need money, then,” I added simply, feeling I had been manipulated.

“Yes, and a fair bit too. I’ll head into the city with the old donkey, sell all of the gear and stuff, and negotiate a decent fee with a caravaneer. Then I’ll meet you outside the gates and we can join up with the caravan from there. Saves us a bit of time, and the quicker we get these chores done and dusted, the faster we are getting out of here—whatcha think?” he said, a forced smile on his face.

Maybe it was the effect of modern media on my psyche, or just plain paranoia or stubbornness which led me to begin to voice a denial, but Kidu beat me to the punch.

“No, little man. We go together. I have seen too much of warm-lander treachery. No, we go together. For your safety if nothing else,” the large man rumbled.

I found this reassuring. Before Kidu had espoused the safety of staying in the wilds, but maybe a little of civilization had rubbed off on him. Either way, I saw only disadvantages to splitting up our little team at this juncture.

“I am with Kidu on this, we can only get through this if we all work together as one,” I added, a little lamely.

“Bah, it was a good plan. But don’t you all be blaming me if things go downhill real quick. Was thinking since those Church people are looking for a group, it might be best if we split up. I do my best work alone,” muttered the lithe man, under his breath.

Soon enough, we broke through the trees and into the endless rolling plains. The vista that had once been beautiful and majestic now seemed ominous and foreboding. My eyes were drawn to the city of tents, where I saw smoke from hundreds of fires wafting up into the air as the late afternoon sun and wind made waves of the grass.

“Whatever happens, we will face it together. Our destinies are joined,” I said a little more firmly now, trying to regain my leader’s role. Worry was still worming its way through my mind, making me try to second-guess everything. How far did I even trust Elwin, anyway?