Friedrich sat in the back of the wagon with Marina and Teleri, watching as the trees disappeared, making way for the tundra that made up the Great Flower Sea. The brownish-green grass was littered with large clusters of wildflowers in all colours imaginable and Pheston steered the horse straight down the road that cut between the flowers.

“Beautiful, ain’t she?” asked the smith softly and then sniffing a watery sniff. “Few things could make this old stone heart cry, but the splendour of the Great Flower Sea is one of them.”

“It’s really quite lovely,” said Marina, looking to the side while dangling her legs off the back of the wagon. “Oh, look at this little fellow.”

A small sparrow had landed on the edge of the wagon and was chirping merrily while jerking its head from side to side. Marina held out her hand and it hopped atop it. She brought her hand over to Friedrich and the sparrow looked him in the eyes.

“Lovely morning, isn’t it?” Friedrich asked the sparrow, who tweeted a sharp song in response.

It quickly beat its wings and flew up and into the air, disappearing from sight in moments.

“Perhaps the bird had the good sense to realise that you can become a fox,” said Teleri, letting out a rare laugh. Friedrich and Marina exchanged glances, not sure what her joke was. “Because foxes eat birds. You are aware of this, yes?”

“Ah,” said Marina, forcing a laugh.

“I thought they ate rabbits?” asked Friedrich. “I always feel like eating rabbits when I’m a fox.”

“They eat lots of things!” barked Teleri before folding her arms and turning up her nose to avoid eye contact with her companions.

“Play nice back there, children,” said Pheston.

“Are we far?” asked Marina, looking over her shoulder.

“A few days to go yet,” said Pheston. “And it’ll get colder as we climb higher, so make sure to use those blankets we bought if you get too cold, eh? I still can’t believe you bought a warmer cloak and you still wear a that light dress in this climate.”

“Fashion is very important to me!”

“Avoiding frostbite should be equally important. Although, I suppose if you lose your feet, that’s less of you to keep warm.”

Friedrich looked to the wildflowers which were rustling a few yards away. “What’s that?” he asked, tapping Teleri on the shoulder and nodding towards the source of the rustling.

Glad that her poorly received joke had been left behind, she looked towards the moving flowers. She squinted for a moment and her eyes suddenly jolted wide. “Imp!” she said, drawing her bow and nocking an arrow.

“Wait!” Friedrich said, pulling out the spider mask from underneath his armour. “It’s time to see what my eight-legged friend can do in combat.”

“Are you sure about this?” asked Marina.

“You two cover me while Pheston keeps driving.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” said the smith, giving a salute without looking back.

Friedrich brought the black mask to his face and held his breath. He felt the mask wrap around him and his form shift. The additional limbs springing from his body was an agonising sensation and it was surreal being able to see out of more than two eyes, but having tested the mask a couple of times, he was starting to adapt. Now, he just had to see if he could fight like its brethren could in this form.

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He shuddered as he stood on his eight legs. With a small squat, he leapt onto the grass and scuttled forward, making his way through the flowers and towards the imp lurking just out of sight. As long as the spiders in the crypt weren’t only deadly because of their large numbers, he’d be just fine.

Upon reaching a small clearing in the flowers, the two-foot-tall demon appeared, baring its sharp teeth. It was a hairy brown creature with large ears that jutted out from the side of its head and a ridged brow that was buried in a permanent scowl. Its dangling arms were tipped with sharp, bloodstained claws that had no doubt torn the guts from many local livestock.

As the imp looked at him, its hand started glowing orange and Friedrich suddenly remembered that imps could conjure fireballs. In a panic, he lunged forward and jabbed it in the stomach with his pincers. The imp let out a wailing screech and the fire vanished from its hand as it swung at Friedrich, who ran between the creature’s legs to avoid losing a limb.

He turned to jab his foe again and suddenly found an impish hand curling around four of his legs. He was flung through the air and into a large batch of blue and pink flowers. The imp ran spastically, flailing its arms, before leaping high and landing right in front of Friedrich.

An arrow sped past Friedrich as the imp bore down on him. It pierced the beast’s head and flew through the other side, bringing a splattering of blood and brains with it. The imp flopped on top of him, dead and he shoved it aside with his legs and skittered away, feeling rather inept.

He ran to the road and followed the slowly rattling wagon. Marina reached out with her staff and Friedrich clung to the edge of it, letting her pull him up. She set him down and then shimmied away, disgusted by his spider body.

“Did you forget about the fire?” Teleri asked, raising an eyebrow.

Friedrich leaned low to signal that he had. A couple of minutes later, he returned to human form and the mask fell from his face and dangled around his neck.

“Well, that was humiliating,” he said, tucking the mask away. “Fire or no fire, I can’t handle an imp in that form. I suppose I’ll need to find another use for it. I half wish the Spider Queen had been captured.

“I wonder if that would turn you female for the duration of the transformation?” asked Marina, putting a finger on her cheek and tapping it.

“You know what? On seconds thoughts, I’m content the smaller spider if it means maintaining my manhood.”

“Do not say another word, Friedrich,” said Teleri, “for I fear what those words will be.”

The young man shook his head. “Nothing about genitalia, I assure you. I’m annoyed that I forgot that imps were more deadly. I’m already getting flashbacks to that dead body in the cave near the vineyard in Mercia.”

“She asked you if you were sure about doing it,” said Teleri, nodding to Marina.

“Yes, and I should have listened,” said Friedrich. “Always start small, Friedrich. Always start small.”

Marina put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “I would say it’s a lesson learned, but you never seem to learn lessons.”

“I’ve learned plenty of lessons!”

“Such as?”

“I can haggle much better than I could before.”

“When did you last put that to the test? You were in Keldracht for months!”

“Ah! I learned how to hunt for food in demonic planes.”

“He’s got you there, Marina,” called Pheston.

“You just keep driving,” said the lightning mage. “How much longer until we’re there?”

“Well, when you last asked me, it was a few days away. Now it’s a few days away minus six or seven minutes. I’m not sure what you were expecting me to say here, lassie.”

The wagon continued rolling down the road and Pheston started whistling a tune that kept time with the swaying wildflowers. Everyone felt their spirits lift and the trio in the back felt more at ease than they had since before Friedrich’s disappearance. He looked to both of his companions and smiled, receiving smiles back.

The burden of his missing father was much easier to carry now that he had shared everything with his friends. One way or another, they would work together to free him from the Orion Tower. There was nothing he could do to bring his mother back, he knew that, but he would salvage what was left of his family and, perhaps, count his three travelling companions among them.

“You look happy,” Marina remarked.

“I am happy,” said Friedrich, turning and looking across the Flower Sea. “It’s not such a bad place, Corobath, is it?”

“I like the flowers,” said Marina and then finally picking up one of the, “but not so much the cold.”

“Pheston,” said Teleri.

“Hmm?” said the blacksmith.

“What’s that hill to the East?”

“Ah. That would be Frostpoint, the capital of this sprawling province. I’m sure you’d all love a good rest in a comfortable bed there, but we’ve got many a mile to cover if we’re to keep to schedule.”

Marina sighed and her shoulders dropped. “Ah, I would love nothing more than a warm bed.”

“Do not be silly,” said Teleri. “You were sleeping in one mere hours ago.”

“Yes, but two nights in a row is not enough!”

“Do not be such a prissy princess, Mercian, for we have slept in much worse conditions in our time together. Is that not the case?”

Friedrich sat back and watched the two bicker, enjoying how they were backdropped by the sprawling Flower Sea that slowly started to fade into brown grassy tundra by the time the two girls had stopped arguing.