It took me less than an hour to realize I didn’t want to be the leader of the party so I graciously relinquished the power back to Alfar who then had a conversation with the small man with a moustache and decided that Alfar would be the one leading us all.

Our group had increased in numbers, now we were ten, and if you counted the two invisible messenger gods who apparently were still roaming around us, we were twelve. I was getting to know more people in the last few days than I’d met in my entire life.

The small man with a mustache was named Filio, he was the leader of a party that had lost four men before we’d arrived there.

“My sons died before we met you, other jealous adventurers trying to reach the mountain attacked us on our way here. We were making our way back to Azuma when you spotted us.”

Drógar was having a conversation with Filio and I overheard as I walked up the mountain we had previously descended.

My rogue companion asked the man “And who are the women?” Filio turned around and pointed at each one. “My blind daughter Lara you already know, the woman with the broken arm was my eldest son’s wife Maria and the woman carrying the bow is Dara my oldest daughter.”

I followed the mustachioed man’s finger and could see that his wife had been a beautiful woman because the women looked nothing like the father.

Tired of eavesdropping and tired of the walk that lay ahead I decided to drop back from the group where Fulmar and Usok were tailing the group.

I was looking for good soil to plant my olive before it lost properties, the soil in the mountain was cold but it was rich in minerals that would help the plant grow strong. My only regret was that I had no bowl to plant the seed in.

As if reading my mind Samuela and Lara appeared with a bowl in front of me.

“The gods tell us you are looking for this.” The blind woman told me as she handed me a bowl. I looked up at the empty air hating the fact that the gods could even read my mind. I shouted a mental fuck you to both of them hoping they could hear me, but I couldn’t verify they did.

I thanked both women for the bowl and began filling it with the best earth I’d seen on our hike up the mountain. I grabbed some organic material from the nearby trees and mixed it all on my makeshift pot.

I was lacking water and it would be essential for my little olive to grow, at times like these I wished to have my sister’s powers, she could manage water like I could fire.

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I covered the pot with a cloth and tied it to my waist hoping that the soil would not spill, once we were back at Fincas Nosu I would make a better home for the olive pit.

We made camp that night on top of the mountain again, and I called upon fire to heat my tired bones. The men began another game of Haven Stone and I could see Drógar happy at the prospect of swindling a new man.

The women gathered close to the fire and I fell asleep under a birch tree a little farther away from the group.

I was woken up by the rustling of the leaves next to my sleeping body, I opened my eyes and saw the big figure of Cora lie next to me.

“To whom do I owe the pleasure of your company?” I asked the blonde woman who was trying her best to be quite. “Shut up, farmer, the fire in the camp has gone low and I want to be warm.” She lowered herself next to me and nudged herself next to my body.

“Go on.” She looked directly at me “Call upon fire and get me warm.” I frowned.

“What? When did I become your own private heat source?” She lowered her hand under my covers and grabbed my groin and asked me again in a very soothing voice “Would you please call upon fire to keep me warm?”

At this point I had other ideas on how to keep her warm. I copied her movement and put my hand under the covers as well and started exploring Cora’s body under the blanket that covered us from the freezing mountain.

“Is this your way of calling upon fire?” she asked me as she enjoyed my touch on her body.

“It’s one of the ways.” I answered quickly enjoying the moment.

I could feel the heat of her breath next to my ear and I started kissing her neck, I saw the scar for a second time and I looked into her eyes, the scar only made her more beautiful.

“So are you going to get naked or just grope me all night?” I was tired of being ordered around but this order in particular made a lot of sense.

I got naked and got to know Cora a lot better, for once in a very long time I felt warmth without calling fire.

We woke up at the insistence of Drógar. “You two should know that everyone heard your little escaped yesterday night!”

We both gave him the finger and got up to greet the new day. I felt lighter than I had in years. And I let Cora know about it.

“If we keep getting warm this way, I won’t lose my hair that often!” I said with a big smile towards the blonde woman. She slapped me across the head and gave me a small kiss. She made her way towards the camp to start packing for our second leg of the journey back to Fincas Nosu.

“You should be careful.” Drógar appeared next to me out of nowhere.

“What do you mean?” I asked the rogue.

“Cora is unhappily married, and her husband is very jealous, if I have to guess we’ll be meeting him in Azuma when we reach the east.”

I was floored by this information. “What husband would let her woman out of his sight to follow a quest at the other end of the world?!”

Drógar shook his head “Who said anything about her being let go, she escaped.” He pointed at the back of the woman who had just spent the night with me. “Meet wife number four of King Salim, Kurana Salim”

I looked at Cora who was smiling my way oblivious to the conversation me and the rogue were having.

If I’ve ever said I liked blondes…. I take it back.