Six hours had passed since the convoy from Engal town had set off for Ebonhearth city. A horn sounded, spreading throughout the convoy.

"All stop!" The butler shouted.

Hearing this, the convoy slowed down, starting with the wagons at the back. When they all came to a stop the butler once again stepped out of the Enrague carriage.

"We shall stop here for lunch," he said into his medallion, "I will announce when we will depart again."

The convoy had grown slightly since they departed Engal town, several wagons from villages and hamlets on the journey had joined the convoy as they passed them. The name of the coachman on each wagon was written down by the coachman as when they joined.

The coachmen from those wagons each went to the encampment the Enrague carriage was, bringing tributes to them in the form of money or provisions for the journey. This was common procedure when a person of high standing was travelling in a convoy. If they didn't make a tribute or it was insufficient, the wagons would have over half their supplies taken as 'payment' for the protection.

From when they set off from Engal town, Oliver, Darniss and Archie's wagons had remained in a triangle formation, with Archie's wagon being at the front. When they came to a stop, the three wagons lined up side by side.

"Stay in the wagon for now," Darniss said to the girls. He then got off the wagon and headed towards two wagons that stopped in front of them. "If you need anything, ask Oliver or Archie." he shouted back to them.

While Darniss was gone, Oliver started to make lunch. With no firewood available for cooking, he used dried bounce rabbit meat and bread with a crunchy leaf to make some simple sandwiches.

Louise, Flora and Rein headed to Oliver's wagon while they were waiting for lunch. The three of them had made friends with the other girls that were on Oliver’s wagon and wanted to talk about what Darniss had told them about the blessing.

While Oliver was making lunch, Archie was checking the wagons, feeding the horses and making sure they were well rested for travelling again. When he was done, Oliver finished making lunch. With nothing else to do Archie took a pile of the sandwiches back to the boys on his wagon while Oliver took sandwiches to the girls on His and Darniss' wagons.

"Oliver! Archie! Come over!" Darniss called.

He had three other adults with him, coachmen from different wagons. When Archie and Oliver joined them, the six coachmen started to discuss things out of earshot of the children. Ten minutes of talking, laughing and hand shaking later the six split apart and went back to their wagons.

"Mister Darniss?" Wendy called, as soon as Darniss returned, "What were you doing with the other adults over there?"

"I was expanding our group, just in case something happens," Darniss started.

"What? A-Are we not safe here?" Delia asked, slightly panicked.

"Not in the slightest, in such a big group we won't be attacked while travelling. Even if we are, we have more than enough strength to deal with them" Darniss said, calming Delia down. "Even at night there will be wards set up to keep anything from approaching. We only need a few extra hands for hunting and night watch."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A few seconds later, the horn sounded again, causing Darniss to stop talking.

"We shall be departing in ten minutes," The butler announced, again.

Louise, Rein and Flora all returned to the wagon quickly, then the convoy set off once again. With no incidents, they travelled for another eight hours before coming to a stop at the butlers signal, again.

Darniss, Oliver, Archie and the three coachmen that joined them stopped their wagons into two rows of three side by side wagons. The six gathered the children into a group and started to prepare camp. While they were setting up camp, the coachmen introduced themselves to the children. The three coachmen that joined were named Jack, Felix and Amelia.

Jack was a tall and portly man. He had short ginger hair and a long, curly beard and moustache. His eyes were hidden under his thick bushy eyebrows. Felix was a short, skinny man. He had long hair tied into a pony tail and a bit of stubble. He wore an eyepatch over his left eye, while his right eye was green. Amelia was slightly taller than Felix and had modest proportions. Her hair was long brown and tied into a French plait and her eyes were a deep blue.

Once introductions were over, Archie, Oliver and Jack went off to hunt and gather firewood while Darniss, Felix and Amelia started to prepare dinner.

Once Delia and Rein finished putting up their tent, they ran over to Darniss who was preparing vegetables for the stew they were going to make. When the two girls got there, Darniss immediately handed them the bag containing brushes and combs before they had a chance to ask.

Seeing this, Felix asked "What are you two doing?"

"We're caring for the horses," Rein replied happily, with Delia hidden slightly behind her.

"Would you like to care for my and Jack's ostricks, too?" Felix then asked, pointing towards the two animals that were pulling Felix and Jack's wagons.

The two animals Felix pointed to were large bird creatures. They had a long neck short wings and long, thick featherless legs. Their feathers were mostly brown, except the white feathers on their belly. They had large brown eyes and a short, thick beak.

When Delia saw the birds, she quickly shook her head before hiding behind Rein again. Rein also refused, though she did so in a calmer manner than Delia did. Seeing that, Felix sighed and went back to help prepare the stew.

"You can take care of my horse if you'd like," Amelia called to the girls as they were leaving. It's a fironare just like the ones that you were taking care of."

Hearing this Delia and Rein both nodded, still heading towards the horses. Fred joined them later, having just finished setting up his tent. Rein told him about the ostricks and Felix asking if they would take care of them. With much more enthusiasm than when he was looking after the horses, Fred darted over to Felix, asking if he could take care of the ostricks.

Felix then led Fred over to the ostricks. He taught Fred how to groom them, what to feed them and what certain attitudes indicated. Time passed and the three returned from their hunt with a few dozen small birds of some kind. The birds were then dismantled with the feathers being placed into a bag. Most of the meat was being roasted over the fire and the bones were put into the stew. Any of the waste was then buried in a small hole they made.

When dinner was made, the children gathered around the fire in groups of four and five. Delia, Fred and Rein were the only ones to look after the horses and ostricks in the end, as most of the other children showed no interest. Those that did asked them what they were doing, but left when they learned that it was just caring for them.

Over dinner, a few groups started to discuss things they overheard about the blessings. Some of the children laughed at them, saying that you shouldn't believe everything you hear, even if it does sound true. When some of them heard this they looked down, ashamed. In the end, most of the children ended up believing that it was a bunch of nonsense someone thought up as a prank.

As night fell, the children went to sleep in their tents. Meanwhile, the adults were deciding their rota for night watch that night. The night was peaceful for the children, not a single sound to be heard. However, as morning broke and the children were just starting to wake, a scream echoed through the whole convoy