- 64 -

Their wagon was comfortable if cramped. It was a plain version of Cinderella’s carriage, and had padded canvas benches within.

The whole thing was covered in enchantments and mana charging arrays. It was made of sturdy wood that looked like it could stop a bullet. It had arrow slit windows for defending from within.

You could escort cash in these back on Earth. How often are we going to get attacked on this trip?

The carriage door was open and Damien stepped inside. His traveling trunk climbed up onto the back of the carriage where it cozied up against two other trunks.

Drew circled above the wagon train, he could see all three of the identical men named John working to strap things down in preparation for their departure.

How strange that they are triplets, I bet they really get along. Must be nice to have siblings to rely on in this dangerous world.

One brother was speaking with a large group of 6 mercenaries standing off to the side of the wagons, clearly hired to protect them on their trip.

The group was hard tacked and armored like experienced soldiers. Two of them had some mismatched armor but the majority had matching chain mail, metal caps, and carried large square shields and spears.

You can’t tell if they were all humans, elves or something else. Or a mix of genders under all that armor.

One mercenary had a large weighted net over his shoulder and another carried a tasseled banner of two spears crossed in an ‘X’ on a red background. The band of mercenaries had their own small cart with their supplies drawn by a Garnt.

An adventurer trotted by. He was of average height and wore a wide brimmed hat on his head. He had a thick woolen riding poncho that slit open on the side, revealing a long rapier and knife on a belt at his hip. His clothes were in the elven style but so road-worn and dusty that their fine details were worn off. He carried two overstuffed packs, tied together and hung off both sides of his garnt’s rump. He was also carrying a small crossbow, strapped to his saddle, and a blanket and pop shelter for spending nights on the road.

He rode past where Drew was perched on the wagon. He startled, nearly drawing his weapon before calming himself. He had a young handsome face, with watery eyes. His hair was light brown or auburn and his ears were the pointy ears of an elf.

“It’s just a Skurr, Marcus.” He said to himself. “I can’t let my nerves get to me before the trip gets underway.”

Marcus opened a pouch and brought out some dried leaves and berries and tossed them into his mouth. He chewed them for a few seconds and the tension visibly released from his shoulders. He tipped his hat to Drew then rode to the front of the wagons to speak with one of the Johns there.

Strange guy but I bet he is fast with that sword. Why does he have so much packed into his bags? Does he not have a storage ring?

A tall and slender elven woman in a gown swept out from the inn and walked gracefully to the third carriage. Her long flowing arms were pale as moonlight, and her snow white hair was braided into a simple crown to keep it out of her face while traveling.

She’s beautiful, is it some kind of spell? Elves seem to be all around gorgeous here! Maybe I should have started in the Elven kingdom.

She looked up to where Drew was perched on the wagon and made a sign to ward off bad fortune, a circle with her thumb and second and third fingers.

“Shoo, shoo! Vile Gallows Bird,” she hissed. “Take your dark luck with you!”

Drew flew away and she climbed into the other wagon. He landed on the open door of Damien’s wagon and looked inside. There were two people sitting across from Damien. One was an older Ressian woman with hair graying to a lavender or blue hue. The other was a young Ressian girl with blond hair in two braids on either side of her head.

Based on their similar faces, this girl is her granddaughter, or great grand daughter.

“Drew! Come meet our companions.” Damien waved him over to his side of the carriage. “This is Isabella Moorshadow and her granddaughter Alicia.”

They look so similar! As if one is a copy of the other and 100 years older.

Drew nodded his head to them both. “Nice to meet you.” He said.

“Wonderful!” Little Alice clapped her hands and laughed. “He truly does speak!”

She must be in her early teens, I wonder where her parents are. Is it just as common for parents to lose children as it is for children to lose their parents in this world?

“That’s a cruel trick sir, beasts cannot learn to speak. We aren’t paying for a side show performance.” Isabella growled.

“And we would prefer to ride in privacy and paid as much for the whole carriage. The Johns have been great to us over the last two weeks and we accepted their refund to share the carriage to Valoria, at the least it may be in silence.” She hurumphed.

Damien put his hands up in an apology.

“So sorry madam, worry not. For you are in fine company for this trip.” Damien said. “We aren’t looking for any copper from you. And in fact I feel ready to sleep or read a book silently the entire way.”

I will keep my jokes to myself around her. Alice seems nice tho, at least her first response wasn’t that I might be a demon.

She scowled at Drew and eyed Damien again. “We shall see.”

“Oh. Excuse me, sir?” A short man with a stack of scrolls in his hands stepped up into the carriage and turned to Damien. “I believe you are in my seat.”

Damien stood partially and reached out to steady the man’s stack of scrolls. “So sorry, are you looking for carriage 2? My name is Damien, I’m a retired enchanter. One of the Johns told me I was to ride in the second carriage.”

“We are over full as it is, you fool!” Isabella screeched.

“Oh, my apologies. I am Alphonse, Alphonse Glennfyurd, I’m a journeyman cartographer.” He reached out to shake Damien’s hand but dropped a few scrolls and reached down to pick them up instead.

“Oh! Pardon me. I am looking for the third coach. Yes. You see I’m joining the group today and moving on to map the west or Ressalia. I’ve spent the last 6 months traveling south from the frozen north and mapping out the lands between Rodokke and Eesayum. Oh, it’s really been a wonderfully rugged trip and I’ve nearly come to my end.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

The guy can really ramble on.

“Enough, you are disturbing our peace and quiet. Your carriage is elsewhere.” Isabella barked.

“Oh, my apologies madam.” He waited for her name but received only a glare.

“Have we met before?” Alphonse looked quickly from Damien to the old woman and her daughter for a moment. When nobody helped him out of the awkward situation he turned to leave.

“My apologies for my intrusion. I will be going.” He said and scampered away.

He rushed off towards the front of the wagon train with his scrolls.

“Quite an intriguing man. Cartography is not an easy trade, and the Northern regions are inhospitable and full of strange beasts. Traveling those regions alone is no meager feat.” Damien said.

Damien leaned out of the carriage door to look for the cartographer only to duck back in as Alphonse hurried past to the carriage behind them and climbed inside.

Can a cartographer have a bad sense of direction?

- 65 -

Their first day on the road was uneventful. Without any attacks they traveled for 6 hours without stopping. They managed to leave the highest peaks behind them.

Damien wrote in his book for a couple hours then leaned against the wall to nap. He made sure to keep his knees to himself.

Alice was reading a novel of some kind and would giggle to herself occasionally.

Drew read through one of the books Damien gave him on Alchemy. It was a mundane book, not a skill book, and it covered the basics of material identification and preparation. Occasionally a particularly large bump in the road would startle him and he had to stifle a squawk.

Isabella spent the morning glaring back at the mountains behind them as if they had offended her personally.

The merchant Dwarf and his driver chatted amicably and rolled along in the second wagon position.

Lunch was held in transit and their wagon ate in silence. A thick slab of meat and a fist of cheese wrapped in bread. And a mug of watered down Ale. Drew picked at the remnants of Damien’s meal. Isabella’s dour mood covered them heavily like a wet blanket.

That evening the wagon train was making its way down a steep set of switchbacks. Drew flew out of the wagon to glide along on the gentle breeze above the group. They were on an open cliff face with few trees and shrubbery holding the mountain together.

One of the moons is out, there’s a cool breeze and the sunlight isn’t so hot now that it’s nearing dusk. The perfect time to stretch my wings and get away from that stuffy old lady.

The wagon wheels crunched and rolled over the packed gravel of the road. The occasional stone came loose and flipped up onto the path.

All of this Alchemy study is really fascinating. Magically enhanced plants and animals retain mana in them in different ways. An alchemist is kinda like a chemist and a chef and a spiritualist all wrapped into one.

One of the mercenaries kicked a loose stone out of the road off to the side of the cliff.

There must have been frequent landslides here. Glad it’s not the rainy season. Are there magical engineers that reinforce these paths against landslides? Damien would know. I bet these roads are paved with magic in the first place.

Polite laughter burst from the third wagon as the John driving cracked a joke.

We really need to see about switching up wagons for tomorrow. The next leg of the trip will be unbearable.

A new sound wiggled its way into the mix and Drew couldn’t place it.

What’s that swishing noise? Is it paper? Or fabric?

He let the wind blow him back to the supply cart at the end of their procession but the sound grew fainter.

One of the mercenaries pointed towards Drew with a nod.

“Here’s the enchanters familiar. If you want an enchantment, could help to share some snacks with the bird. Get on the man’s good side, eh?”

Well, the sound is not from back here. But I will have to come back to see what snacks they have.

Drew pumped his wings to catch up to the first wagon and the swishing papery sound wasn’t any louder up there either.

How strange, where is it coming from?

He veered to the side and peeked over the cliff’s edge to see over a dozen flying snakes just beyond the sheer drop.

“Oh shit.” Drew said.

The snakes rode the updrafts past the edge of the cliff and swarmed through the wagon train. Each one was at least 2 meters long, with large dove like wings in gray or white. Their bodies were green, and each flying snake had two serpentine heads and two snake tails.

“Form a perimeter! Those of you with a net ready it. To arms men!” The mercenary Captain shouted as he hoisted his banner.

In moments, a few flying snakes were down, ensnared by nets or ropes, and efficiently finished off with spears.

Two snakes were trying to wiggle their way into a hole in the canvas of the supply wagon. Drew swooped down on them scoring a direct hit with his Slash.

Bane x1 (1:00)

He clawed one across the back, his attack skipped off their scales, until he hooked the joint where its wing connected and his momentum tore the wing off.

The other snake was too tangled in the canvas to attack so Drew had time to snap out and use his Peck ability to break one of the serpent’s necks. The second head reared back and bit him before he could dodge.

It bit Drew twice more in quick succession before he could release his claws and hop back. The dead half of the serpent fell away from the pissed off half as the wagon slid to a stop.

“Guiles!” A John shouted. “Stop everything! Shut your doors and windows! John, fetch the long nets!”

Damien jumped from his wagon and put up his spherical Mana Shield.

“Stay back ladies we are under attack!” He shouted to Alice and Isabella.

Thrain and Krag readied their weapons but stayed by their cart. Thrain favored two long handled war-axes, and Krag drew a massive broad sword from a slot in their cart. End to end it stood as tall as he did. Not a single one of the flying monsters dared come within 10 meters of them.

Drew squared off with the remaining half of the Guile, neither giving an opening as they circled each other on top of the cargo wagon.

What the heck? The two heads aren’t attached? Was it two flying snakes holding onto each other?

The other pair of entwined Guiles slithered up together and struck out at Drew from the side. He flapped his wings out at them and they sunk their fangs into feathers.

He turned around quickly and sliced them with a throwing dagger held in a Mage Hand. The attack did little damage against their scales. He did chip a fang off of one of them and it nearly knocked the knife from his grip. The two snakes unwrapped from each other to flank him.

Crap these things have tough scales! My knife barely leaves a scratch.

A bolt of freezing water flew past Drew and turned one of the serpents into an icicle.

The fair Elven woman shot twice more at the other serpents but couldn’t hit them. A pair of Guiles swooped down on her and she had to defend herself.

Two John’s ran past Damien’s shield waving nets on long poles with both hands chasing Guile’s left and right.

The mercenaries advanced from both ends of the wagon train steadily. They were calm and collected. Each pair of shields supported by a spearman in the back. They methodically cut down the flying snakes and met in the middle of the wagon train.

Drew was locked in a staring contest with the last two snakes. He watched, poised to dodge as the Guiles slowly flanked him.

It’s so weird that they would have one wing each, why does that make sense? And no feet? And these two are both right wings… could they still-

The snake on his right moved first and the one on his left was a second behind.

Drew hopped up and spun over in the air. He used Mage Hand to shove his knife down the throat of one serpent, and was trying to complete his aerial roll with a stone from his storage ring in one claw when a net on a pole swiped the remaining Guile out of the air.

“Hey John! I got another one!” A John shouted back to his brother. “That’s 3 halves for me, how many did you catch? Do you think we have enough to make matching belts?”

What? I had that one covered. I was about to smash its face in with my ninja moves.

A snake flopped messily in the ground choking on Drew’s dagger. A rapier struck out lightning fast from under the wagon. Killing the Guile in two perfectly placed strikes. Marcus cleaned his weapon and crouched down a little lower under the wagon.

A mercenary bent down to pick up the carcass of the serpent and removed the throwing knife. “You fought bravely young one. But that knife is for throwing not slashing.” He said. “It is a fine blade, take care of it.”

Drew nodded his head and took the knife from the man’s hand, storing it in his ring once the man looked away.

“Drew! Are you alright? Did any of the Guiles bite you? They are highly venomous and very dangerous.” Damien said as he rushed up.

HP: 35%

Debuff: Venom x3 -3 HP / second (0:34)

Oh shit, how long has that been there?

Drew activated his healing abilities and checked his combat logs. He had helped kill 4 Guiles earning 1,121 experience.

He stooped down to grab the carcass of a serpent and held it out to Damien with his talon.

“Are they safe to eat?” Drew asked.