The next day, with the sun still low on the horizon, the forest stopped, almost a straight line as miles of grasslands opened ahead of them. The path they had been following diverged, following along the treeline. Darius and Tristan instead walked into the grasslands, leaving a large swath of grass, and plants were trampled for the rest to follow.

Tobian followed, carefully watching his steps as the grass blocked his view of the ground.

“Just move, try to place your feet in Darius’s or Tristan’s footsteps.” A voice said to him from his right. There, mostly obscured by the grass that was taller than her, was Sirah. The darkly clad woman smiled, then disappeared as she rushed into the grass, barely leaving any trace of her passing.

Tobian stared where she had been, then quickly shifted his vision into the magical spectrum. Most of her gear didn’t register for some reason, but her boots did this time. Each of her footsteps leaving a small glowing footprint showing which direction she’d gone. As he followed the path he saw it looped around over to his right side. Turning he looked right at her smiling face.

“How’d you track me?” Sirah said.

“Your boots leave a slight magical trail.” Tobian said. He looked at where she had been, the magic had mostly faded and was barely visible now. “Very slight, in a few minutes I wouldn’t be able to see it.” He said as he turned back around, but she was gone.

“Don’t mind her, she is just used to being able to disappear whenver she wants.” The Professor said.

“How does she hide the magic items on her?” Tobian said.

“Ironically through magic. There are ways to enchant items to not give off an aura, but even the best efforts can forget a small detail.”

Tobian shifted his vision back into the magical to look at the Professor. The wizard glowed with energy as if every cell in his body was enchanted. His robes and clothing also gave off a decent glow, but a few rings underneath his clothing glowed even brighter, shining through even the fabric.

Blinking away his talent, Tobian followed the path before him. They trudged through the grass for miles, the woods getting further away as the trees huddled close to the mountains. Luckily the path Darius had tread was mostly smooth, the only times he had nearly tripped was due to a thick grass stalk, rather than any holes or dips in the ground.

Around midday, when the sun was past it’s zenith, the path of trodden grass stopped, opening to a small clearing that looked to be recently made. Tristan, Sirah, and Darius were sitting on the ground, with the latter chewing on a piece of jerky. The Professor only a dozen steps behind.

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

Tobian reached into his packback and pictured in his mind a footlong piece of cut wood he’d stored in it, when the log appeared he quickly set it down on the ground so he could use it as a chair. The Professor smiled and walked over to Tobian.

“You got another log in there?” The Professor said.

Tobian reached in and pulled out another piece of wood for the Professor and a third in case someone else wanted an actual seat. The Professor carefully drew a circle in the piece of wood, causing it to grow larger until it was five feet long and three feet wide. It thumped to the ground, and he sat on it, offering Tristan extra space.

“Could store a whole dining set in there,” Darius said.

“I probably have a full dish set; remember when we found the table with the enchanted plates?” Tobian said.

“Oh yeah, the plates that kept your food warm. I'm surprised those didn’t sell. My mom would have killed for those,” Darius said.

“You can give them to her as a present,” Tobian said.

“She would,” Darius’s face lit up at the idea, and then, like a storm cloud covering the sun, his face darkened. “No, no, she wouldn’t.”

Tobain opened his mouth to say more, but a shake of Tristan’s and the Professor’s head kept him silent. Even the wind and sounds around them seemed to quiet, as if the grasslands recognized the awkward moment. The group finished their food in silence.

Looking around as he packed up his log, he spotted the top of a mountain in the distance to the East. The peak was two spires of equal length jutting into the sky. The hills around it didn’t seem as familiar, but he only remembered seeing the Twin Spires poke out of the clouds.

“Is that Twin Spires peak?” Tobian said, pointing.

Darius didn’t look in that direction as he was still silent from the earlier conversation. Only Tristan looked in the direction Tobain pointed.

“Yes, we’re on the west side of the Spine,” Tristan said.

“We’re not too far from home,” Tobian said, looking East as if he could see through the mountains. Well, if we didn’t have to cross the mountains, that is.”

“We’ll be able to swing by there soon. There’s a rumor of a dragon hidden in the mountains. Sirah is looking for tracks and markings, and who knows, maybe there’s a mining town we could stop at and do some trading.” Tristan said. Maybe even one with a temple to the nameless god.” She stopped abruptly, looked away, and wiped her eyes.

Tobian looked around, hoping someone would offer a comforting word or suggestion; after a few seconds of nothing, he tried to deftly change the subject.

“What is a dragon like?”

Tristan looked up and smiled at Tobian, the lines around her eyes visibly wet. “Sweet child, you don’t have to change the subject from my dead god to spare my feelings. The tears are from more than just sadness; they are from love. The nameless one loved his followers so much that he chose to heal us at the expense of his own self. He spent the last of his strength to ensure we won the fight. Because of him, thousands lived that day, and because the prayers are still answered, thousands more are healed.”

“What was he like when you fought with him?” Tobian said. Mentally, he envisioned a massive giant of a man stomping across the battlefield, slaying hundreds of demons with each mace swing.

“He was,” Tristan closed her eyes as she remembered two decades prior.