Yomini, Zola’s fiery and often quiet summon, lit the sticks of incense. Ghost handed one to each of them and told Alistair to give them instructions.

“This is how we will navigate the winds: as soon as the smoke changes directions, we will turn that way,” Alistair told them as the smoke from his instant stick started to curl to the east. “And we’ll keep doing that until we reach the border. There will be someone waiting for us.”

“Wait, really?” Juno asked.

“I’ll explain as we go,” Alistair said as they started in the direction of the smoke.

The lie that followed wasn’t too complicated, and there were hints of truth in it. Alistair’s former master has an acquaintance that lives at the other side of the border, conveniently enough. Alistair knew a way to get in touch with her using a raven. He didn’t detail how this would work exactly, and they didn’t ask as the wind changed directions.

“And you think she’ll actually be there?” Zola asked.

“I’m nearly certain of it.”

“And if not?” Juno asked.

“Let’s focus on the positive, Wraith,” Ghost told the boy.

“You’ve got it,” Juno said in his Ghost voice. “Haunt?”

“I can’t believe I’m going along with all this,” Zola told them, also with an assassin voice.

Ghost: Admit that it’s funny.

Alistair: I can’t believe you have them talking that way!

Ghost: It’s great. Zola’s is especially ridiculous..

Alistair bit his lip. The last thing he wanted to do right now was argue with the assassin as they navigated an alpine valley, one with enough tree coverage that it was difficult to see the mountain peaks that surrounded them.

“We may never make it there,” Juno said after they had walked for over an hour. Ghost recommended they get a certain type of incense made of sandalwood, which had a lasting power that seemed to hold true. They still hadn’t replaced their sticks. Even so, even if they had enough supplies to get them through a few days, Alistair was starting to have his doubts.

He was nearly certain now that they passed the same tree several times, one with knots on it that made it look like it would be easy to climb. On the fourth pass, Juno took notice.

“Are we going in a circle?” he asked.

“No,” Ghost told him. “Actually, more than likely, yes.”

“Which is it?” Juno as Wraith asked. “Are we lost, or what?”

“This is the pattern that we must follow. My master did it before, and he said that even if it didn’t seem like it made any sense, it would work. It will work. Do you trust me?” Ghost asked.

“I trust you!”

“Haunt?”

“Alistair, just use your regular voice,” she told him.

Alistair took over. “Sorry. And yes, trust me. We’re almost there.”

This was a lie. Alistair truly had no way of knowing how long it would take them, but they quieted down anyway, and he returned to the task of watching smoke drift on the end of a stick of incense. The smoke would lead the way, even if it didn’t seem possible.

As he continued to follow the incense, Alistair started to feel there was something meditative about it, something that actually calmed him even if what they were doing could get them in a lot of trouble.

So much trouble.

If they were discovered here, Juno would be considering his deep kingdom-wide connections. Alistair remembered how the battledeck mages had greeted him back at the mineshaft, when Ghost had first revealed himself to Alistair and Juno with his now legendary fatal funnel statement. But those connections may not extend to Alistair or Zola in the way that he hoped, or the way that Juno promised.

He picked this up in the conversation from earlier, the way Zola had tried to impart on Juno that he didn’t know how things would turn out for them if they spoke to the Provost. Because he truly didn’t. Their lives are much different than his, and as easy as Juno was to get along with, there were some things that he was too naïve to see.

Later, they came to a stream, one that they hadn’t passed before.

“This is new,” Juno said as he crouched near the water. He placed his hand in and a fish came and actually examined his fingers. “Heh. it tried to bite me!” He pulled his hand out. “Hey, do you guys think we’re going to actually get to see, I don’t know, a Dracolich village or city or something?”

“Hopefully not,” Alistair said, repeating Ghost’s words. They now had the hooded scarves they bought in Marrowstone, which would be helpful if they needed to disguise themselves, but according to the assassin, they weren’t really ready to do that kind of espionage.

Zola went ahead and put her scarf on. She brought the hood over her head. “It could work as a disguise. Even so, I’m with Alistair. It’s best we stay as far as we can from actual Dracolich villages or whatever. I don’t even know what kind of cities they have there,” she said as she turned to them, her scarf obscuring her face.

“You look badass, Zola.” Juno flicked some water at her and laughed.

“You are supposed to be watching your incense stick.”

“I’m still watching it,” he told her as he showed the girl that it was still in his hand. “The smoke is still heading in the same direction. Or…”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“It just shifted,” Alistair said.

“I believe you’re right. But how are we supposed to wade up the stream?” Zola asked. “I didn’t bring the right kind of shoes for this.”

“We can walk along the banks. If you get muddy, that’s just something we will have to deal with,” Alistair said. For once, these weren’t Ghost’s words, they were his, but they sounded like they had come from the assassin so he went with them and soon, his friends followed him, Alistair with his arm outstretched, holding the incense stick.

“I hope we’re almost there,” Juno said. “It will be dark in a few hours…”

****

Nightfall would have made things worse had it not been for the power that all three of them picked up in the abandoned fortress in Ruminara.

The power that came with Moonlight Eyes of the Assassin made it so they didn’t need torches, the three easily able to follow the smoke of the incense. But there were other things that made the experience trying, including the constant howl of wolves that seemed mere seconds away from pouncing.

“Why do they sound so close?” Juno finally asked. “And did we pass this tree already?”

“No,” Ghost told him. “And the wolves sound close due to both the wind and the way things are amplified here. This is why people don’t normally come this way to cross the border.”

“Do you think we’ve actually made it over the border?” Zola asked.

“What were you expecting, a big red line or something?” Juno grinned at her. “Borders are invisible, you know.”

“I’m aware of how a border works!” Zola didn’t quite storm ahead—it was too dangerous for them to get lost due to the nature in which the wind changed—but she did take a few steps in front of the group and remained there for a spell.

“Anyone else hungry?” Juno asked. His stomach responded with a growl. “Heh. Just in time, buddy.”

“It would be good to eat, especially if we plan to travel overnight,” Alistair said, repeating Ghost’s words. “Let’s pause here.”

He stopped beside a small grove and saw that there were stones that they would be able to sit on. Alistair summoned Ziggy, who jumped up to his shoulder. Squish!

Juno snickered. “He’s mad that we don’t have bread for him. Sorry, little guy.”

Squish…

The three Fledglings sat and shared some of the dried meat, Ziggy also eating a piece. After taking sips from their waterskins, they moved on, deeper into the woods.

Alistair knew by now that he needed to trust Ghost. The assassin generally knew what he was doing in a situation like this, and it did feel like they were making some progress, but he couldn’t fully shake this feeling that they were lost, especially as the mist thickened around them.

“Of course, there’s a fog,” Zola said. “I should have known it would come to this. At least the card is helping us see.”

“Yeah, it’s cool as shit,” Juno told her. “It’s not exactly like daylight, but it’s sort of like that. Definite hell yeah. Yo, Ghost, are we planning to really walk all night, or are we going to make a camp somewhere? It’s getting cold. I’m guessing Zola might be freezing.”

“I’m fine. You’re the one who is shivering, Juno.”

He looked down at his hand. “Huh. I guess I am!”

There was movement ahead of them. The three readied their wands as Caidan stepped out onto the path, the woman in her flowing dancer robes cast over a bone armor. “Ghost,” she said to Alistair as she swept a short cloak aside to reveal her bone-hilted sword.

Squish! Ziggy prepared to lunge at the woman, only to be calmed by Alistair as he placed a hand on the slime.

“She knows your nickname too?” Juno asked, his wand drawn, pointed at the woman.

“Yes,” Ghost said for Alistair. “It was the nickname of my former master. That’s why I use it. Caidan, this is Juno and Zola. They will be accompanying us. You may call me Alistair. Ghost is dead.”

“I don’t remember anything about you bringing children, Alistair,” she told him coldly.

“You didn’t ask. I have your trophies.”

Lionel, who had been with them all along as back-up, appeared from a pool of shadows and produced the evidence of Renez’s brutal murder back at Felix’s mansion.

“Holy shit,” Juno said once he saw Renez’s severed hands and her twin blades.

Zola placed her hands over her mouth as Caidan crouched to examine the objects. “Good,” the Dracolich witch finally said. “You have lived up to your end of the bargain, and I will now live up to mine. We are not far from where they plan to breach the border. Perhaps a four hour journey. But I don’t think you want to do this during the day.”

“Who all is there, exactly?” Ghost asked her.

“The ones you mentioned, a red-haired man—”

“Kang—”

“And a child.”

“A child?” Ghost asked.

“Yes, younger than you all. He seems to be in charge.”

“Dreadwell reincarnated into the body of a child?” Zola asked.

“I have no way of knowing that,” Caidan said, “but he was the leader, and while he looked like a child, he moved and commanded like an adult.”

“What about their forces?” Ghost asked.

“Yes, their forces. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. There are thousands of them.”

“Them?” asked Juno. “Dracolich soldiers?”

“No, the undead. They are not very intelligent, but they are numerous. Some were soldiers, some seem to be civilians, and a few are from your kingdom.”

“How are they controlling so many?” Zola asked Caidan.

“That, I do not know, but there seems to be a source of power coming from one of their tents. It’s the one this child is usually around.”

“And its location?”

“At the center of it all, on a natural ridge that overlooks the rest of the forces.”

“What do you think?” Ghost asked her.

“What do I think about what?”

“You saw their forces and their current installations. Sneaking around there to deal with the targets we need to deal with: is it possible, can we do it? How should we do it?”

Caidan considered this as she brought a delicate, pale hand to her chin, one that matched the color of the bone hilt at her waist. “It is possible, but I don’t know if you can do it. I’m not fully aware of your powers. and you seem to have left the strongest one of you, the Bancroft girl, behind.”

Zola scoffed at this remark but didn’t say anything else.

“There were reasons for that,” Ghost said. “In that case, we move closer now and rest through the day. We move tomorrow night, but not before I have my summons to do some scouting. The targets, in order, are Kang followed by Professor Dreadwell. Zola, you will be in charge of activating the Dungeon Core Card. Wraith?”

“Yes, Ghost?” Juno asked.

“You will be my right hand man. Caidan?”

“I will operate with your summons from the shadows,” the witch said. “But let’s be clear, let’s be very clear. I’m not doing this for you.”

“I know.”

“I’m doing this for Senka.”

“Who?” Zola asked.

“A mutual acquaintance of Caidan and my master,” Ghost said. He wanted to tell Caidan that he was also doing it for Senka, but he was already too close to blowing Alistair’s cover. It was honestly a wonder that he’d been to continually conceal who he was, especially with his name constantly referenced by the people they met. If anyone of them could connect the dots, it would be Zola, but she hadn’t figured it out.

Not yet, anyway.

Caidan sized them all up one last time. “Follow me.”