image [https://i.imgur.com/BphGvlf.jpg]

We emerged from the ruins of Odum at sundown. The headless statues left an entirely different impression on us as we returned to the Savarah desert. It amused me to think we’d assumed them broken or worn away by sand.

Fabulosa shielded her eyes as she scanned the horizon for crepuscular danger. “Do you want to call it early today—get some food and a full night’s rest? We’ve earned a little shuteye.”

We’d spent our daily cooldowns, but something inside me felt like pressing on. It gladdened me to discover an experience-point farm in Odum’s tomb, but I itched for a fight with Winterbyte. I wanted to get to Darton Rock. If Winterbyte wasn’t around, we needed to return home and destroy the relic.

I sighed in agreement. We needed to rest up for tomorrow.

The lack of wood made campfires impossible, and the night temperature dropped so quickly we retired to the Dark Room. The map’s fog of war concealed what lay ahead, but we’d traveled more than halfway to Darton Rock.

I closed the map and switched my interface to the settlement’s build queue. When the town’s interface didn’t activate, chills went down my spine. What happened to Hawkhurst? Before making a fool of myself and raising the alarm to Fabulosa, I realized I wasn’t the governor anymore. I didn’t have access to settlement screens.

The construction crew would have finished the shrine when we left Arlington. I just wanted to ensure they hadn’t hit snags or faced morale issues. If things progressed without problems, they might finish the barracks before we returned, and everyone could organize defenses.

Being untethered to the government interface made me ill at ease. After having constant contact and control of Hawkhurst’s progress, being without it felt like I’d lost my link to home.

Fabulosa and I awoke early and hiked up and down the dunes before sunrise. After a day’s travel, the arid sand broke into scrubland. Desiccated bushes and dead trees covered the parched ground. After another eastward day, we reached green vegetation. Trees with leaves provided the first shade we’d seen in days. The terrain grew recognizable, similar to our old hunting grounds around Belden.

Having solid ground to walk upon improved my temperament. Using the interface map, we maintained our bearings until we hit a river. Belden awaited westward, but the long walk deterred us. Instead, we traveled east to Darton Rock.

Darton Rock had fewer people than Basilborough. I counted a few dozen buildings standing further apart than in other cities. Some houses nestled in the hillside, while others perched along the river.

We arrived in town in the late morning and paid a family to cook us a hot meal. Dressed in adventure gear, it surprised me that the children serving us didn’t brim with questions. Their mother wasn’t talkative either—she dished out generous food portions but held her tongue. These were poor, unhappy folk, and Fabulosa looked uncomfortable around them. She tried to make conversation or win them over with compliments, but our host limited her responses to one-word answers and curt nods.

I asked more direct questions. “What does Darton Rock mine?”

“Heartache mostly. Copper on occasion.”

I considered mentioning that Hawkhurst would soon be in business as a trade town, but then I thought better of it. We had no mines or industry and hadn’t proved ourselves to the world. Empty promises might have only irritated her.

We learned it featured a mailbox by the town hall, the largest structure in the settlement.

I thanked our chef and left a gold coin as a tip. She received it with suspicion as if the extravagant amount had to be a trick.

Stolen story; please report.

Fabulosa and I went into the heart of town and checked out the post. The mailbox reported no new messages, but one unopened letter from Winterbyte still awaited Fabulosa’s attention.

Fabulosa saw a woman who seemed to be waiting for someone else and approached her.

“Hello, ma’am. We don’t know anyone in town, and I wondered if you could tell me if you’ve seen any gnolls in the area.”

The woman glanced at Fabulosa’s weapons and armor and looked away before answering. “A few weeks back.”

Fabulosa pressed. “Can you tell me anything about them?”

The woman held her gaze, her lips tightly shut.

Fabulosa turned and gave me a look of disbelief. She probably grew up in a small town where everyone had plenty of time for good manners. No one in the suburbs paid for information. I stepped in and offered a couple of silvers.

The woman ignored Fabulosa’s cross-armed indignation and discussed the matter at hand. “More than a dozen showed up—this was a few weeks back, you understand. They only spent an hour then returned east.”

That made sense. Winterbyte would have written the letters and left. I wanted to see if my silver could buy more information. “They didn’t hitch a ride on the river?”

The woman snorted and rolled her eyes. “Flatboats won’t take their sort, not for any amount. Too risky. Dogs’ll cut your throat and make off with the cargo.”

I got headshakes for responses to questions about them doing anything else. The gnolls hadn’t bought or interacted with any of the townspeople. They hadn’t even tried to take the river.

I thanked the woman for her help, but she left without further pleasantries. The familiar behavior didn’t bother me. People in my neighborhood acted standoffish to tourists, and she didn’t want to encourage questions.

Fabulosa swung her arms angrily as we walked. “She ain’t the friendliest type.”

“Forget it. She’s probably telling the truth, and that’s all we wanted. If this is the closest mailbox, I wonder if Winterbyte saw I’d opened her letter in Arlington.”

“Well, let’s play it safe. I’m going to open up my letter here.” Fabulosa went to the mailbox, retrieved her letter, and read it while shaking her head. “She repeated the same threats to me. She’s going through kobold territory.”

“Why don’t you write a reply? Let’s try another ruse. Tell her I betrayed you and went to Grayton with the relic. Tell her she can have it if she helps you get revenge.”

Fabulosa wrinkled her nose. “You reckon she’ll swallow that? What if she ran into Fletcher and heard his mutiny story? Do both lies work together? A betrayal makes sense before arriving at Arlington.”

I didn’t have the energy to think it through. “I don’t know. If she went east, she might have crossed his path. If she finds another mailbox, maybe this lie will buy us time.”

“She didn’t believe us when we told her about not taking the relic. It’d be funny if she fell for a wild goose chase.”

“If she wastes time in Arlington, it gives us a better chance to train up people to help defend Hawkhurst.”

“Are the barracks done yet?”

I shrugged. “Without being an officer, I can’t tell anymore.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. We’re on the outs until we get back home. You want to hit the river again or try to find Winterbyte in kobold country?”

If we cut through the mountains, we’d wind up along the western shore of Otter Lake.

I shook my head. “The river route through Belden to Basilborough is longer but easier—and we know how much time it takes. If we go east, we gotta cross the Highwall Mountains. After our detour in the desert, I’m not so sure I want to do something so risky. Beyond the mountains are lots of kobolds and heavy bush. Yula and I paddled past it, and she mentioned venomous snakes.”

Fabulosa’s face fell when I mentioned the critters. “Let’s take the river. We might hear news of Fletcher along the way. If they ran into trouble, maybe we’ll see them.”

Fabulosa nodded eagerly. “Besides, our horses are in Basilborough. Come on, let’s see if we can get a ride.”

We went about securing passage out of town. Only a few boats moored on Darton’s docks that afternoon, but one planned to leave that day. We gave a captain a few gold coins to charter an off-hours trip and settled into a place on the deck where we’d be out of the crew’s way.

Darton Rock’s tributary moved faster than the deepwater between Grayton and Arlington, and we made good time. We crossed the 40 miles in less than 8 hours, but night fell when we passed through Belden. Since our vantage gave us nothing to see, we went to sleep.

I summoned Beaker to keep me company.

Beaker replaced his usual antics with a preoccupation with exercising his wings. He stretched them and held them aloft while watching the countryside lazily drift by.

I awoke to raised sails, and we made slow, uneventful progress upstream.

The boat dropped us off in Basilborough the following evening. Everyone had long since retired to their homes when we disembarked. Not even the lantern hanging outside Basilborough’s only inn glowed. With no one to question, we could not know if the Sternways had ushered the refugees through Basilborough.

Fabulosa and I crept into the livery stable and greeted our horses. Jasper recognized me. I petted him and gave him some treats before setting up the Dark Room for the night.