~ Amber ~

The children, led by Mullein, managed to reach the Sage Mainway in around two hours. Since it was the middle of the night, they needed to be quiet, which slowed them down a little bit. Still, as Mullein had promised, he was able to find their way there without too much difficulty.

The exit was rather unimpressive. A basic wooden gate was set up on the outskirts of the city, with a road running through it. Several guards were stationed, but it was obvious to everyone that they were fast asleep, completely complacent in what was a peaceful time for this part of the Kingdom. The sign at the top was two-sided; on one it said, ‘Welcome to Sage Port!’ and on the other side, it read ‘Sage Mainway – to Clove City’.

“So, this is it?” Cloud asked, “Is this the last time we’ll see Sage Port?”

Mullein shrugged at this.

“Maybe, maybe not. I know I’m not planning on coming back, so say goodbye while you can.”

Amber and Ruby, along with the others, turned to the city they were leaving. Unlike the others in the group, they had barely lived here a month, and so they didn’t have any sort of special attachment. It wasn’t like they were allowed to stray far from the Sanctuary anyway. On that thought, Amber realized something.

“Hey, Mullein,” Amber asked, “How did you even know how to get here? We’re never allowed to go this far away.”

Mullein smirked a little but didn’t make eye contact.

“I may have snuck out a couple of times to explore.”

“Wow,” Ruby commented, “For a leader, that’s somewhat irresponsible.”

Mullein dropped the smirk. However, his mind seemed like it was still elsewhere.

“Ruby,” Mullein addressed, “Are you sure you’re feeling up to this? We can go back and wait a little longer if you’d like.”

Ruby shook her head.

“I’m feeling much better than I was this morning,” she affirmed, “I may not be one hundred percent yet, but I don’t want to hold up the group any longer.”

Mullein gave her a long look, before nodding in satisfaction.

“Okay then,” the boy said, “Let’s make our way out!”

He walked through the gates, with the other nine orphans behind him, ready to make the long journey toward Clove City.

While she didn’t say anything, Amber was sharing the same worries as Mullein. She wasn’t sure Ruby would be able to keep pace, and she knew her sister would feel extremely bad about slowing the group down. If Ruby ran out of steam before they could get very far, it could cause problems with the group as a whole.

“Hey, Mullein,” Amber called, “Shouldn’t we find a place to sleep for the night? It’s not like we’re going to get very far with it being this dark.”

Mullein stopped and turned to Amber.

“Once we get a little farther out of the city, we can look for a place to rest.”

Amber nodded and began to observe her surroundings. Now that they were farther inland, she could see what the general terrain of the Kingdom looked like.

In a word, it was stunning. Rolling green hills, tinted blue by the moonlight, stretched as far as the eye could see, and scattered bits of farmland could be barely seen in the scarce light. The road in front of her, which was lightly lit by torches on the roadside, seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon, zigzagging between hills until it disappeared in the distance.

“What are you looking at, Amber?” Lily walked up to her side.

Amber startled for a second, before looking down at her small friend.

“Oh, nothing,” she denied, “It’s just, I’ve never seen the countryside before.”

“Really?” Lily asked, “I saw it once, when I was really, really little. I don’t remember where it was, but it was even more beautiful than this.”

“What was it like?” Amber couldn’t help but ask.

“We ran away from my house. I lived in a city when I was little, but my brother and I made it all the way to the edge of the city. That’s where I saw it.”

“Wait,” Amber stopped, “You have a brother?”

Lily nodded, a big smile on her face.

“He was really nice!” Lily claimed, “I remember he would get into so much trouble with Mom and Dad whenever he would take me out of the house, but he was always good to me.”

“What was his name?” Amber asked.

Lily shook her head sadly.

“I don’t remember,” she claimed, “I always just called him ‘Birdy’, and then I was kidnapped and never saw him again.”

“Birdy?” Amber repeated.

“When we would run away, he would always point to the birds and say, ‘What’s that, Lily?’ and I would say, ‘Birdy! Birdy!’. I think I just associated him with the birds after long enough.”

Lily sniffed at this memory.

“I just wish I could see him again,” she murmured.

Feeling a wave of emotion, Amber grabbed Lily’s hand.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “If it makes you feel better, I lost my brother too.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lily replied, “Jasper, right? He sounded really nice.”

Amber nodded, her face somber.

“He really was.”

The group continued to walk as Amber tried to distract herself by looking back at the beautiful landscape. After another hour or so of walking, Mullein finally began to slow down. He stretched his arms in the air, let out a large yawn, and turned around.

“I think it’s time to get some sleep,” he offered, “Let’s get off the path for a bit.”

He began to lead the group off the Mainway and into the brush on the side of the road. After a little more walking, they found a spot where the grass was well-cut. It appeared to be on the edge of someone’s farm, but Amber figured that they probably wouldn’t mind if a group of children slept on it for one night. While she wasn’t looking forward to the itching she would have to do in the morning, it seemed like the only option since they didn’t have a tent.

“I’ll take first watch,” Mullein offered, “I’ll go for an hour or so.”

After Mullein, Cloud would take watch. After Cloud, Amber. After Amber, Prun. This would go until morning, with Ruby, Lily, and Ribes being the only ones who would not take shifts. While Ruby volunteered to take a shift, everyone objected on account of her needing more sleep to fight off her illness. The plan ready, Mullein got comfortable while the others tried to find a spot on the ground to lay down. After a little while, Amber drifted off to sleep, hoping that their watches were nothing more than an abundance of caution.

Unfortunately, the group was in for quite the rude awakening when Yarrow, who was on one of the later shifts, woke the rest of the group up in a panic.

“We’ve got trouble, everyone!” he hurriedly exclaimed.

Amber looked up at what he was pointing at and winced in fear.

On the wild edge of the farmland, three wolves had gathered, and were looking the children up and down, assessing what would likely become their next meal. It wasn’t particularly easy to see them, but Amber could make out a thick, dark grey fur coat.

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“Stay calm, everyone,” Mullein warned, “I think we can deal with these three.”

“How?” Cloud asked, “They’re going to eat us!”

“Get closer, firstly,” the older boy commanded, “Let’s look like a pack.”

The rest of the orphans, which had all woken up by this point, began to bunch together much more closely, to the point where Amber was honestly having trouble breathing.

“Prun, Cloud, get ready,” Mullein instructed, “We’re going to scare them off.”

The two in question shoved their way to the front, facing the wolves head on.

“Now, use your magic!”

A strong wind began to blow from behind the group into the wolves, causing a noticeable effect in their fur. Multiple balls of water formed around Prun, who tossed them into the pack. Mullein, who had the least control over his magic of the three, simply shocked one of Prun’s projectiles as she threw it.

Thankfully, the shocked water ball had the desired effect, and the wolf in question ran off the moment it hit him. Influenced by the fear of their comrade, the other two wolves followed, as they ran in the direction of the Mainway.

Once they were gone, the group began to disperse, and everyone collapsed in relief.

“That was too close,” Rubus gasped, “I thought we were food there.”

“That was scary,” Lily complained, holding onto Ruby.

“No kidding,” Ruby replied.

“Are we going to be okay?” Amber asked, “This seems more dangerous than we thought.”

Mullein nodded.

“We’re too deep in now. Oppie will skin us if we return, so we just have to go through with our plan. I’m confident we’ll all make it through somehow.”

The group decided, in the end, to try and continue to sleep until morning. Now that they were out here, there wasn’t an issue traveling during the day, so it would be easier to do it that way.

Unfortunately, Amber wasn’t able to sleep. The events of the encounter were weighing on her, and she was beginning to worry that this whole mission would end up in vain. After all, they could barely fight off three wolves, and there was no reason to believe this would be the only time they would confront danger between here and Clove City.

Morning came, and the entire group was beginning to wake up. Amber decided to use the opportunity to speak to her sister, which she hadn’t gotten a chance to do since they departed.

Just by looking at her, Amber could tell Ruby’s condition was improving. Color had largely returned to her face, and she was no longer breathing as heavily as she was before. Still, Amber could only glean so much with her eyes, so she decided to ask about it.

“How are you feeling?”

“Not too bad,” Ruby answered, “I’m feeling revitalized compared to yesterday. Seems like it was just a one-day thing.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Amber honestly replied.

Ready to go, the group made their way back to the Mainway, which was thankfully still visible from their resting place. According to Mullein, it would be best if they kept walking until they found a place where they could get fresh water. None of them had traveled the route before, but it was safe to assume there was some kind of traveler rest stop along the road that could provide services like food and water.

Unfortunately, while a rest stop like that existed, they had forgotten one important issue. None of them had any money.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise. They were all children, after all, and they had lived in the safety and security of Opuntia’s Sanctuary ever since they had arrived in Sage Port. However, since the vendors at the rest stop assumed they were all with parents, they needed money to purchase any food beyond the free water from the nearby well. Worse, the rest stop wouldn’t even be useful for overnight stays, as those also required money.

After this episode, the group assembled outside the rest stop, intent on figuring out what to do moving forward.

“So what does everyone think?” Mullein asked, “We’re completely out of food, and I’m not sure how long it will take to get all the way to Clove City.”

“We can just hunt animals, or find wild plants, right?” Amber asked, “Our magic should be able to help us get good food.”

“Unfortunately, there’s no kind of magic that can tell us which plants are poisonous, and none of us have fire magic to cook meat,” Mullein denied, “I’m not sure we should try that.”

“Should we speed up?” Cloud asked, “If we go faster, we might be able to get to Clove City before we get too hungry.”

“We can’t,” Amber declared, “Ruby’s still not feeling well enough to go fast.”

“Sorry, Amber,” Mullein interrupted, “But I think he’s right.”

“Are you serious?” Amber asked, incredulous, “There’s no way we can force Ruby to go any faster. She may be getting better, but…”

“Amber, it’s best if the group doesn’t starve to death,” Mullein insisted, “We have to do what we have to do. If Ruby can’t keep up, there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“You can’t be saying you’ll leave her behind?” Amber yelled, “I thought you wanted to get us all there!”

“Amber,” Ruby whispered, “Calm down.”

“I do,” Mullein affirmed, “But I won’t kill ten to save one. I’m the leader here, it’s my job to get as many of us there as possible.”

“Well, I’m not leaving Ruby behind,” Amber stated, “She’s my sister. I’d never leave her behind.”

“Suit yourself,” Mullein huffed, crossing his arms, “But our group is going ahead.”

“Wait,” Rubus interrupted, “I think she’s right. We shouldn’t leave anyone else behind.”

“Rubus, you can’t be serious,” Mullein gasped.

“No, no, listen here,” Rubus angrily continued, “This entire time, you’ve been pulling us around. You’ve claimed to be the ‘leader’ but in reality you’re just bossing us all around, and the moment someone stands up and challenges you, your first instinct is just to leave them for dead. This is ridiculous.”

“I’m just trying to keep us alive,” Mullein argued, “I won’t sacrifice the group needlessly.”

“You don’t know that we’ll die if we don’t leave her behind,” Rubus fired back, “I think you’re just refusing to accept that you might be wrong here.”

Mullein shut up for a moment, while Rubus turned to Amber.

“Ribes and I are going to stay with you two,” Rubus offered, “You two are like family to us, and we wouldn’t think of leaving our family behind.”

“Yeah,” Ribes sounded her agreement, “I want to stay with you two.”

“Think about this!” Prun protested, “Mullein is right, we can’t risk slowing down when only one of us is slowing the others down.”

At that, Amber snapped.

“What did you say?” Amber threatened, “Did you say that Ruby is slowing us down?”

“I hate to say it,” Prun claimed, “But it’s true. She’s the only reason we haven’t been able to go faster.”

“Take it back!” Amber yelled, before Ruby pulled her back.

“Amber,” Ruby scolded, “Calm down. You’re making a scene.”

Amber took a few deep breaths before pulling her arm out of Ruby’s hand.

“What does everyone else think?” Amber addressed the group, “Should we speed up or slow down?”

Ginger raised her hand timidly.

“I hate the idea of leaving anyone behind, honestly,” she admitted, “But I think Mullein is right. I don’t want to die.”

“You too?” Amber asked, defeated.

She turned to Cloud and Yarrow, who both shook their heads. It seemed like they agreed with Mullein and Prun.

Lily, however, ran up to Amber and gave her a hug.

“I’m staying with you!”

“Lily?!” Prun exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

“I’m not leaving Ruby behind!” Lily shouted, “I want to stay with them!”

“Lily, don’t be silly,” Prun chided, “Come with us.”

“Lily, don’t be a moron,” Yarrow insulted, “We have a place for you here.”

Lily shook her head strongly.

“Amber told me she would be my big sister,” Lily declared, “And sisters stay together!”

Prun’s jaw dropped at Lily’s statement.

“But I thought I was your big sister, Lily,” she insisted, “I’ve done so much for you!”

“No!” Lily shouted, “You just want me to be one of your dolls! You don’t care about me at all.”

“But,” Prun weakly interrupted, but Lily wasn’t finished.

“Even though we were going to leave Ruby, Amber didn’t want to. She stayed with her sister. That’s who I want as my sister, and that’s what I’m going to do!”

“Lily…”

Amber was incredibly moved by Lily’s display of passion. The younger girl was so devoted to the people around her. Even in the face of supposed death, Lily’s conviction didn’t waver one bit. It was reminiscent of Jasper, who for years had been the exact same way for them.

“Mullein,” Amber confronted, “Would you be willing to sacrifice half of us? Are you so confident that you’re right that you’d leave five people to die?”

Mullein remained silent for a good minute.

“I will save anyone willing to be saved,” he concluded, “And if that’s only half the group, then that’s all I can do.”

Amber’s eyes widened. He was really going to go through with this, even after his group split in half.

“Come on, everyone,” Mullein beckoned, “If you’re coming with me, we’re leaving. Amber, your group can stay here and rest. Good luck, you’re going to need it.”

With that, Mullein and his four companions began to walk down the road, with Amber, Ruby, Rubus, Ribes, and Lily all standing there looking after them.

“Will they really be okay?” Ribes asked.

Amber shrugged.

“They have Mullein with them,” she stated, “They’re in good hands, right?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Rubus speculated.

The group rested for another hour, or at least until the other group had already disappeared into the horizon. While watching the five children grow smaller in the distance, Ruby scooted closer to Amber, intent clear in her movements.

“It’s not your fault,” Ruby assured solemnly, “The entire group was on edge. After that rest stop situation, it was only a matter of time before this happened.”

“I’m one of the oldest, though,” Amber rebutted, “I’m supposed to be a leader. Instead, I threw a temper tantrum at the thought of changing our strategy.”

“You were thinking of me, right?” Ruby reminded, “Thank you.”

Ruby wrapped her arms around Amber, who returned a one-armed hug.

Once they could no longer see the others, Amber stood up, and brushed the dirt off her legs.

“I think it’s about time we get going,” Amber told the others, “They’re not wrong that we can’t stay here forever.”

Ruby nodded and stood up, and the others followed suit.

The next three hours were spent walking along the path at a noticeably slower pace than they had previously. While the group was smaller, it was clear that morale had fallen significantly after the big fight. Amber in particular was struggling to get herself into the mindset of a leader, since she was still mentally berating herself for her behavior in the exchange.

However, it was clear that they wouldn’t have long to wallow in their regret, as Amber spotted a strange group of animals making their way down the Mainway around two hundred meters in front of them.

They appeared to be overgrown lizards, with their elliptical head nearing the size of a watermelon. While their limbs were relatively short, the tail was quite long, reaching back almost half a meter. There was also a bizarre, greyish-green scale pattern that ran all the way from its head to its tail. They were incredibly ugly, Amber quickly decided, and the pack of a dozen or more did them no favors.

When she pointed it out, though, Rubus’ response was quite different than hers.

“Oh no,” Rubus muttered, his eyes widening in fear.

“What’s wrong?” Amber asked, quickly finding herself on edge.

“We’re in trouble,” he replied, “Those aren’t harmless animals right there.”

“What are they?!” Amber shouted, fear quickly becoming her primary thought.

“Those are dragons,” Rubus announced, “The most dangerous ground-dwelling beasts in all of Aurem.”