They stopped for camp by the time the wave of tiredness had washed away. It was next to a small gathering of trees that helped provide some relief from the wind. Not thick enough to stop it entirely, but they didn’t want that anyway. Removing their ability to spot people from a distance wouldn’t do them any good.

“We’ve got a few different roads to choose from tomorrow afternoon if the map isn’t lying,” Elijah told the prince as the others put up the tents and started a fire. While they had rations to last them the whole trip, the light of flames at night never hurt anybody. “Weather conditions might change which we want to take, but which are we planning to use at the moment?”

Going by their briefing, Elijah and Fade both had the authority to veto whatever choice Louis made, but he personally saw no reason to do so. Roads were roads, and the dangers found so far away from the border to the Castillia border were minimal.

“We’ll be going through… here,” Louis said, pointing at the southernmost road on the map. Elijah was rather surprised by the choice. It would add about half a day to their trip, but with the way the wind seemed to have been picking up, it wouldn’t hurt to go through the thick forestry. Being in the open land while a storm was brewing was hardly a fun experience. “Yeah, that’s the one.”

… Elijah wondered if the prince’s reasoning for this road was the same as his own. The way Louis muttered a little, reciting the names of memorized road names, was rather strange.

“Very well,” Elijah replied, not forcing that subject for now. If the prince had done his research beforehand, who was he to judge? “Food will be ready in about half an hour. I think now’s around the time Vera expects the daily report from you.”

That got the prince on his feet, hurrying back to the wagon to find the sizable paper used for the main reports. It had to be that size, with the details Louis was supposed to be giving on the daily. Not that Elijah thought there was much to report on out here.

Vera probably didn’t either, as the one she’d given him was small enough to fit snugly in his breast pocket. Taking it out, he drew a quick circle. Within twenty seconds, Vera had replied back by drawing a cross inside it. He’d found nothing of note, and she hadn’t had any issues in Kulvik either.

A simple but effective code. Just how he liked it.

The food wasn’t terrible, the rations of higher standards since they were made specifically for this trip by the Royal Chefs. Elijah had personally never tried dried rations with any proper flavor before, but he couldn’t say he hated it. If not for the surplus of salt that covered the meat, he might’ve even enjoyed the experience.

I do have some fruit seeds… It wouldn’t hurt to try the assimilation of different species.

‘I can make you fruits!’ Dawn assured him, jumping on his knee while her main body began to grow a bump. Within just a minute, her back opened up to reveal a bright red apple. ‘See?’

Elijah accepted it when the duck grew vines that practically pushed the fruit into his face, biting into it when she refused to stop pestering him about it. Other than the apple having a strange Sundrop Flower after-taste, he had to admit it wasn’t a bad attempt.

Having a walking library of plants had its benefits, he supposed.

‘Do you want one more?’ Dawn asked.

…

‘What else do you have?’ Elijah countered, knowing that it would be some time before his body would force him into darkness. The stars might’ve already started appearing in the sky, the moon sitting firmly above them, but his mind wasn’t ready to sleep just yet. ‘I think I remember letting you taste white grapes a while ago.’

‘Yes!’

That got the time to pass easily, variations sampled and altered through the next hour or so. Elijah had to admit that Dawn had skill when it came to cross-blending different fruits and flavors, though her ability to have a complete understanding of his tasting experience must’ve also helped when it came to changing the variables.

It was fun regardless.

“Is making your creations fool around commonplace for you?” Fade asked, breaking the silence while Elijah was handing over some of the new golden grapes to the Aleksi. The giant needed some fluids to consume alongside his pills, and something containing the healing properties of the Sundrop Flowers wasn't a bad choice. “Don’t you fear that it might try to poison you?”

…

“No?” Elijah answered. The Dreamweaver frowned, her left hand going to her right forearm unconsciously. “Dawn here might have some trouble with controlling herself sometimes, but she would never intentionally hurt me.”

“Do you think so or do you know it?”

‘Hey, Dawn, am I food to you?’

‘Yes?’

‘But would you eat me?’

‘No? You make food for me. I would starve.’

The words could’ve been twisted into something gruesome and cold, but Elijah could feel the warmth behind them regardless. He and Dawn had nearly melted into one on previous occasions, their thoughts and desires known to the other without a shadow of a doubt. While she had attempted some finger-biting in her early days, she would never dream of such a thing anymore.

His life was more important to the duck than her own.

‘Just had to make sure.’

“I know it,” Elijah finally said. Fade frowned, her hands tightening around her arm. Though it didn’t reach into the physical world, his magical senses allowed him to see the black tendrils that tried to reach out of her flesh. “I take it your Affinity doesn’t allow you to have the same kind of trust?”

He could remember the fight against The White Fangs inside the Dungeon. When she’d been hurt, those nightmarish creatures had seemed more than happy to dig into Fade instead of Elijah.

There had been no loyalty amidst the screaming.

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

“I know what they will do,” Fade nearly growled. Not a fitting voice for a woman that matched his age. People like them were meant to have found peace already, and yet it seemed others didn’t get that option. “Your creature hungers as much as mine, but the plants can be satiated with Mana and soil. Mine want more than that.”

“Flesh isn’t enough for them?”

“No. They hardly care about meat,” she confirmed. “They feed on thoughts, on fears, on pain, on… they’re happiest when they extend the moment of a man’s death.”

Sitting quietly by the fire, Elijah understood that the old mercenaries hadn’t just taken jobs to pay for the old berserker's elixirs. They'd needed the position so they could meet opposition.

“So you’re the reason the slums have been quieter these past months,” Aleksi commented, the two others eyeing the giant as he chuckled. “‘The Black Mare,’ is what everybody had been muttering about, whenever I went out at night. Somebody was leaving a trail of petty criminals, with chunks ripped out of their bodies as if a mighty beast had been about. I can say you’ve caused more than a few bad dreams in the past.”

“My presence elicits them nowadays,” Fade dryly added, bringing out a flask from her pocket and taking a swig. “The direct approach ends them quickly. The Nightmares don’t leave any victim alive anymore. They just take everything and prepare for the next one.”

While one not to shy away from heavier topics, it suddenly made sense why Cas had refused to explain anything about the Dreamweaver. Hearing it from anybody else would’ve made the truth hard to believe.

“I take it Vera didn’t appreciate your Nightmares’ appetites?” Elijah asked, starting to understand why Fade specifically was being brought along for this journey. While she could more than defend the prince from attackers if needed, this wasn’t just for Louis's sake.

“She was very happy with it at first, actually,” Fade corrected, a grim smile growing on her face. Elijah frowned when her words made the black tendrils on the woman’s arm disappear. “I’m still a Dreamweaver, even if I’m down this cursed path. When the Nightmares feast, I’m given the story of the person’s life. I know their thoughts, their desires, their past. Not everything there is to find, but I can search for specific details. Our dear Queen had me using it to figure out where— Agh.”

Fade clutched at her chest, as if all air had been pulled out of her lungs. Her face was pale, her hands shook, and Elijah instinctively leaned back as the shadows around the woman began to come alive. The curses that left the Dreamweaver a moment later luckily brought the Nightmares back inside.

“That damned contract needed a moment to activate there,” Fade commented, clearing her throat. “Almost circumvented one of my orders.”

“One to stay silent about whatever Vera had you fishing out of their heads?”

“Something like that,” she said, waving away the questions. “There are only so many bodies that can disappear in one city, and the last Prince wanted me to protect him on this journey. It was a situation where we could both benefit.”

“Louis asked for you specifically?”

“I’m as surprised as you are,” Fade assured him. Elijah didn’t like that fact. “But… Who am I to judge? He wanted somebody that couldn't betray him, and the ability to do as much had been removed from me.”

The power of the Queen’s chains.

Yet again, Elijah felt disgust at the thought.

“Thank you for telling us about this,” Aleksi said, giving the Dreamweaver a soft clap on the shoulder. “Not all scars of the war can heal, but we can try to work around them.”

“I promise you, berserker, I’ve tried to do as much since the day I awakened.”

They could say little at that, providing some words of comfort before moving on from the topic. The night wasn’t as young anymore, but the old folk didn’t feel like closing their eyes just yet.

Time didn’t care about their reluctance, however, and they did need to concede after a while. One of them stayed awake at all times, of course, but the watch was switched out through the hours. It was the standard practice, and the consequences of lacking hours of sleep weren’t as hard felt anyway.

The wonders of enhanced Phoenix Drops. Just a single drop from the vial was enough for Elijah and Fade to lose the bleariness. Aleksi didn’t partake, though, not needing such things to be bright awake.

There was a fair amount of jealousy regarding that fact.

Nevertheless, the morning turned into midday, the hours spent on the road blending into one as Elijah continued to work on his projects. He still hadn’t taken the time to look inside his own book, continuing to work on improving the Blue Star variant in whatever ways he could think of.

It was a no-brainer to try out the standard of making more flowers grow, to make the stalk stronger, but after that came the more advanced shapes and properties. The blue coloring was altered into a mix of red and purples before being made to be responsive to the amount of light that was shined on it. Then came the sturdiness, Elijah emulating the structure of the Ironleaf bushes known for breaking most clippers. Even without a sample to copy from, it had worked perfectly.

And when the fabric on his right arm had gotten caught in a branch, getting a hole because of it, a new idea had formed.

Living cloth…

Making the surface texture of the plant imitate that of silk took an hour of work but it was possible. Even before being granted the insight of the Breathe Life Spell, he’d likewise figured out how to turn the normally stiff branches elastic, bending easily and sitting in any shape that was needed.

Adding a looseness wasn’t hard either, and, before Elijah knew it, he’d replaced the broken sleeve with the Blue star itself. The coloring and appearance were a little different from the rest of his outfit, but that could be fixed with time. The important fact was that his experiment had succeeded.

With but a thought, and a healthy dose of Mana, he could even have it grow fruits. While Elijah hadn’t previously been a person who snacked through the day, the ability to have an apple appear in his hand within ten seconds was more than a little enticing.

Now… How do I make you slowly replace the rest of the robes? Those stab-proof properties wouldn’t be bad to have, and letting you have a larger mass would give more leeway in passive capacity for when—

“Finally!”

Jack’s shouting brought him out of his thoughts. Looking over, he found the young man holding a small cube of what he guessed was platinum. Not an unusual sight, since Vera had convinced him it was a good material to transmute while practicing, but this wasn’t the usual reaction for completing one of the cubes.

“Is there a reason for causing a commotion or is it just one of those days?” he asked, noting the open book on the floor of the wagon. While it’d been hard for Alin to find anything regarding the Metamancer’s abilities, there had been one tome that explained spells for the first few Tiers. And while Jack needed help reading it, since the two otherworlders didn’t have that skill just yet, the man had been busy trying to learn.

“I turned it into platinum while not touching it,” Jack explained excitedly, throwing the cube to him for inspection. He hardly needed to do so, Elijah was already confident that the man wasn’t lying about the metal, but the weight made it clear regardless. “And, wait, yes! Guess who now has Ranged Transmutation on their Status.”

“... You?”

“Exactly! My first Tier 3 Spell as well,” Jack continued. “I gotta figure out how far I can push this.”

Elijah rolled his eyes, letting the man get back to his machinations while he did his best to adjust his robe so the Blue Star could passively assimilate with the rest of the fabric. It took the rest of the day and a bit of the next one as well, but at that point, he was rather confident it could work by itself without issues.

Good thing that it could, as the rest of the day wasn’t going to be as productive.

“There’s people,” Aleksi said in a low voice, getting the attention of the rest of the group. He didn’t look back at them, eyes forward and his body showing no signs of tensing. “I can hear eight heartbeats. Might be more.”

“Friendly or threats?” Elijah asked while bringing out vials from his other pockets. Nothing too directly lethal, but he could always play support. From the fact that Jack already had his gun out, and Sasha was putting on some fabric around her forearms, the others were ready.

“From the rusted steel from their weapons, and that they’re hiding in the bushes, I can only guess the latter.”

He turned his head back to the other wagon, where Fade and Louis were riding alone. The old woman locked eyes with him. She knew about the threats as well.

This wasn’t going to be fun.