Lyra is dying.

  Or… so it it sounds based off the exhausted noises she’s making. It’s late evening now, but the sun hasn’t quite set. She stumbles along behind me, growing further and further back with each passing hour. At a certain point, it gets to be too much and I finally stop.

  “You’re tired, right?” I say.

  She doesn’t respond. I don’t think she can with how heavy she’s breathing.

  I sigh as I take off my travel pack and set it on the floor. I then crouch down in front of her. I put my hands behind my back and look over my shoulder at her.

  She tilts her head, not sure of what to do.

  “C…C’mon, already,” I mutter. “We’re gonna try to get a little further before the sun sets.”

  She hesitates, burying her chin in her chest. But after a few moments, she nods slowly. She approaches me and crouches down, leaning her weight on me. Once she’s secure I grab the underside of her legs and lift us both up. She lets out a surprised yelp as I do.

  “Y-You alright?” I ask.

  I can feel her nodding.

  “Alright. Let’s keep going,” I say, slinging the travel pack over one shoulder. It’s all a bit heavy put together, but I know better than to say anything. I made the mistake of calling Sera heavy once. Won’t ever let that happen again.

  We continue onwards as the sun hangs low in the sky. According to Lyra, the direction we’re going is north. I’m still a little suspicious of that ‘the sun rises in the east’ crap, but it’s not like I’m really in much of a hurry. And if I am going north, then… I’d like to visit the capital at some point. Hopefully it’s coming up. Not sure how I’m gonna handle seeing so many people, but I’m fairly certain it’ll be worth the trip. Hopefully. Apparently, all their houses are made outta stone, and not crumbly old stucco and wood. It’ll be worth it even if that’s all I get to see.

  Less than an hour has passed. Lyra has her chin resting on the top of my head. Sometime in the past ten minutes or so, I’ve become overwhelmingly cognizant of the fact that her breasts are pressing into my back. I never realized because of the coat she’d been wearing… but damn, they’re huge. I mean, Sera’s aren’t nearly that big.

  “Marco.”

  “Huh?! Yes? What? N-Nothing—!” I sputter, snapping to.

  Lyra points forward. As I follow her direction, I notice something just beyond the nearest hill.

  It’s… rooftops.

  “The capital?!” I exclaim. I begin to pick up speed. Lyra wraps her arms around my neck to keep herself from falling off.

  As we get to the bottom of the hill, what I see are these massive stone walls, probably higher than two of me stacked on top of each other.

  “H-How many people do you think can live here?!” I glimmer. “A hundred? Two hundred?! It’s like… four times the size of the village!”

  “M…Maybe…” she mutters. Doesn’t sound excited, but I’m sure she’s a little giddy on the inside.

  “Hmm… But how do we get in…?” I ponder.

  “You have to climb,” Lyra says.

  “What?”

  “C…Clearly…”

  I get the feeling she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

  “A-Anyways, the entrance’s gotta be around here somewhere, right?” I say.

  I begin off again and start to circle the perimeter. Maybe a few hundred paces, and finally we come across this huge open gate connected to a path that leads further north.

  “Woah— here it is!” I exclaim. I round the corner and take my first glance into greater civilization.

  A walkway of cobblestone stretches down quite a while until forking off in two separate directions. Lining the path all the way on either side are real stone houses, decorated with flower beds out front. There’s signs hanging from a couple of the houses with various things pictured on them. And what’s more… people. There’s tons of people… people I’ve never seen in my life. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.

  “Oh? And who’s this?” comes a voice.

  I turn to the side. The closest structure to the gate seems to be a hut right beside a pig pen. Out in front of the pen is a plump old man with a white mustache. He wears a beige shirt and brown linen pants.

  “U—Uhh,” I mutter. I can’t seem to move.

  “Unusual amount of travelers lately,” he chuckles. “Well, if you have the coin then feel free to spend the night at the tavern. There is always an open room.”

  “U-Um,” I sputter.

  “Something the matter, boy? Cat got your tongue?” he says.

  “W…What the hell’s a coin…?” I mutter.

  The man seems almost bewildered for a moment. After a moment, he raises an eyebrow.

  “From a small village, are we?” he finally says. “Ameris, perhaps?”

  I nod. I can’t help but feel out of place now.

  “Well,” says the man, “we don’t see folk from those boundary villages very often. But in any case… welcome to Walden.”

  “Walden? That’s the name of the capital?” I ask.

  The man seems a bit confused.

  “Err… no, that would be Whiteridge, lad,” he says.

  “Wait… so…” I pause. I narrow my eyes. And the realization hits me like a wagon full of stones. “Y-You mean this isn’t the capital?!”

  “What—? This isn’t the capital?” comes Lyra.

  The man hesitates with a perplexed look on his face. But then all of a sudden he bursts out laughing. He leans over and puts his hands on his knees from laughing so hard. At first I feel embarrassed. And then the embarrassment turns into frustration.

  “A-Alright, what the hell’s so funny?!” I burst, feeling my cheeks grow red.

  “O-Oh, only… Only…” The man has to take a second to stop laughing. “A-Apologies. I suppose it’s refreshing to see those who don’t yet realize how large this world truly is.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean…?”

  “Of course. Walden here is the closest settlement to the village from which you came,” he says. “Do you have a map for me to show you?”

  “Uh… Y-Yeah. Whatever,” I say. “Lyra, mind fishing it out for me?”

  She hands it down to me and I pass it over to the man. He unfurls it and angles it towards us.

  “Walden is a small town, so small that it is omitted from most maps,” he says. “But if I were to place it, it would be about… here on the map.”

  He places his finger.

  “The hell…? Are you serious?” I say.

  Judging by where he has his finger, it looks almost like we hardly left the village at all.

  “Yes, Dresnia is a large country,” says the man. “On foot without roads it can take several weeks to travel between civilizations. Is Whiteridge your destination?”

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  “F-For now,” I say.

  “Well, luckily there is a road beginning about halfway between just before the mountain pass, but travel on foot is still nearly a month-long journey.”

  “A month?!” I exclaim.

  “Yes, and see here? These markings signify the mountains, so the northern mountain pass is the only way to Whiteridge from here.”

  “Those… Those squiggly lines there?” I say.

  The squiggly lines… What Lyra said were giant worms… Are actually the terrifyingly colossal mountains looming in the very, very far distance. Those are our real obstacle…?

  “W-We’re actually just trying to get to Gale, would it be quicker to just go east…?“

  “Afraid not. The Galan borders are sheer cliffs on this side. The only route is the road east from Whiteridge.”

  I sag a little in my stance. But after I’ve had enough of my sulking, I quickly shake my head and put on a grin.

  “Well… if it was easy, I guess it’d be a pretty shitty excuse of an adventure,” I laugh.

  “That is a very wise thing to—“ The man pauses as he glances up at me again, as if suddenly realizing something. He backs away a little.

  “Uh… What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “Oh my… Err, nothing, I… I h-hadn’t noticed but, your… your teeth…”

  “Eh…? My teeth?” I say.

  I freeze and slowly let my mouth close.

  I was always surrounded by people that were used to the way I look. But in all that time… I forgot that they aren’t normal. I’ve never met a new person since I came to the village. But now I’m reminded that I was right.

  “S…Sorry,” I say, lowering my head. “We just need a place to stay… We’ll be gone tomorrow.”

  “E-Err… W-Well, I…” the man sputters.

  On my shoulders, Lyra seems to grow restless.

  “You should choose your next words very carefully,” she comes from above. Though I can’t see her, I can tell she’s got on that off-putting look she used against me this morning.

  “H-Hey, shut it,” I say. “You’re not hel—“

  Lyra presses her hands over my mouth, preventing me from speaking. Since my arms are wrapped around her legs, I can’t reach up to take her hands off.

  “I don’t understand your logic,” she says. “Why change the way you treat someone upon realizing something so superficial? Such false humans deserve nothing but eternal damnation.”

  Her terrifying look is certainly offset by the fact that I’m basically giving her a piggyback ride.

  I manage to get her hands off of my mouth.

  “…We’ll just… camp somewhere in the field,” I say. “…Thanks for the directions.”

  I turn around without another word and slowly begin out the way we came.

  “—Err, s-stables have an open stall, outside the walls that-away,” comes the man from behind me. “S-Since you don’t have coin… Might be better if you stayed o—”

  “Nah, don’t mean to intrude,” I mutter.

  With that, we leave our first new settlement without having taken more than ten steps in.

  Night has fallen. I have my sword stuck in the ground since it gives off enough heat and light to substitute for a small fire. Lyra and I huddle around it, without really saying anything. At least, for the first few minutes. But I can tell she’s been eyeing me for a while.

  “Wh… What…?” I say.

  “You are upset,” she replies.

  “N… Not particularly,” I mutter, partially turning my head away.

  “Do you know why that man became weary as soon as he noticed your teeth?”

  “Don’t know and don’t care,” I say, resting my head in my hands. “…Do you know?”

  “I don’t know. And just like your true feelings, I care quite a bit,” she says. “But if there is perhaps some sort of stigma against -hic-“

  She had hiccuped, and stopped herself just short of a complete sentence. It was kinda adorable.

  I let out a long sigh and lay out backwards on the grass. But then I realize I’m too far from the sword and am getting cold, so I pop right back up.

  “I-In any case… looks like we’ve got a longer road ahead of us, huh?” I say. “Who would’ve known…?”

  Lyra eyes me for a moment. But once she realizes I’m done talking about it, she sighs and gets with the subject change.

  “I knew all along,” she so boldly says.

  “Yeah, bullshit,” I mutter. “You who confused mountains for giant worms.”

  She sinks into her shoulders just a bit.

  “W-Well… you can’t tell east from north,” she murmurs.

  “Y-Yeah? Well… um… Shut up.” I flop to the side this time and curl up, tucking my legs into my chest. “…Starting to feel like we’re the least qualified for this adventure. I just left cuz I didn’t want to see the one I love get married to someone else…”

  My bringing up Sera leaves us both in silence. I told myself that she didn’t matter to me anymore, but that’s starting to feel like a lie. Now it just feels like I’m running away. Just like I always have, running from anything I don’t like. I told Lyra I wasn’t running, but was that the truth?

  “…I don’t mind,” comes Lyra.

  “Huh…?”

  “The long road ahead… It just gives me more time to find a goal of my own,” she says. “Something I am dead serious about.”

  “Oh… right, I did say that,” I mutter. “Yeah… Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ve got a goal, too. Not worth dying over shit I can’t change.”

  “That too.”

  “What?”

  “N-Nothing, pay it no mind,” she says.

  “Was that… not what you were getting at?”

  She looks sheepishly to the side and refuses eye contact.

  “Well… whatever,” I continue. “We should get some sleep. It’ll take a while to get to the capital, and we aren’t exactly equipped for the road ahead. We’ll need food, water, and… uh…”

  “Coin?” she says.

  “S-Sure, whatever the hell that is,” I nod. “I’m not sure, but something tells me we won’t be finding any of that once we head up through the mountains. Maybe we should prepare before we set out.”

  “And… perhaps—”

  Lyra begins to grow a bit wobbly, and she lays herself down on the floor.

  “Tired?” I ask.

  She nods as she gradually closes her eyes.

  “Here…” I mutter.

  I lay out the bedroll beside her. She makes a vague attempt at sliding herself in, but seems to give up only partway through. I raise a brow at her. I end up getting my hands under her and pushing her the rest of the way in, then covering her with the upper flap. She curls up into it, tucking her head into her shoulders.

  I lean back with a sigh. I guess I’ll just sleep out in the—

  A breeze rustles the short grasses around me, sending a chill down my spine. I start to shiver, and bring in my arms for warmth.

  ‘Or… not,’ I think to myself. ‘The roll could fit two… right…?’