Maleki:

We decided to leave at sunrise the next day since we would have to walk for around three hours to get a cart to Quavoris. The upsides of being away from civilization are also the downsides. On one hand, you are far away from everything, and on the other, you are far away from everything.

Unfortunately, Miko can’t walk today, so I bring a cart for days like these and drag him behind me. Thankfully, he’s not too heavy, even with that big ugly brain of his weighing down the rest of his body.

“Can we go any faster?” Miko asked.

“If it wasn’t for your big head, yeah,” I muttered.

“D’you say something?” Miko said as he eyed me suspiciously. He had the packs placed up against his back so he could sit back comfortably and still be able to read a book on the road.

“Nope. What are you reading? I haven’t seen you with that one before.” I responded.

“You can’t tell the difference ‘cause you can’t read.”

“Can too!” I exclaimed loudly. “I just don’t need to. And I probably read better than you, little rat.”

Miko rolled his eyes. “We both know that’s not true. This is about the only thing I’ve got you beat at. Anyway, it’s just one of Grandpa’s books he had in the pack. It has a bunch of details about animals and foraging for food.”

“Good,” I said emphatically. “Read it well since apparently I can’t, so you can hold up your end of this when your legs free up.”

Miko was the smart one, which I didn’t openly admit around him — his ego was big enough as it was. I was better at the more physical tasks, mainly by default, though. This was the first time we had gotten to leave the farm in a long time besides seeing the healer, but we had never gone much farther than we already were.

I left Miko with his book. I didn’t mind the silence anyway; it was peaceful in Outer Korvast. The winds blow against the trees, and the birds sing in the distance, which gives me a sound to focus on as we walk. There are hardly any clouds this far into the continent, so the whole sky lights up perfectly. I could walk like this forever.

The walk went by quickly, and I brought the cart to a stop a hundred steps away from a group of carriages waiting to give rides to Inner Korvast. This little outer village wasn’t bustling by any means, and all it had going for it was that it was a decent central location for the farmers to trade and sell livestock.

We hadn’t ever been this far, much less by ourselves. All the other healers who assessed Miko traveled to our home, so we haven’t even been to the capital. We might’ve wandered into Inner Korvast once or twice technically, but it’s just connecting farmland and not the cities Miko reads about in his books.

I approached one of the carriage drivers, who wore a brown cloak that fell loosely over his tan shirt and trousers. He had leather braces over his arms that matched his boots and belt. His face was blocked by a cloth connected to his hood that blocked everything from the eyes down. All the carriage drivers wore these to block their faces from sun exposure.

“Where to?” The carriage driver muttered in a deeper voice after clearing their throat.

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I left Miko in the cart just a short distance away and pointed to him when answering the man. “Quavoris. Me and the kid over there.”

“Great.” He scoffed, “I always get the odd jobs….”

I walked over to Miko’s cart and pulled him closer to prepare for the trip.

The man climbed up on the front of the carriage, checked a rolled-up parchment that contained a detailed route to our destination, and then looked down at me. “I’ll need the entire payment upfront.”

Miko locked his dead eyes with the gentleman and began to speak before I got the chance, “You’ll get half now.”

The driver let out a contained laugh that left his nose with an exhale, “You’re quite the bargainer, you short little cretin. No passage if you don’t pay in full now.”

Miko searched with his eyes and then spoke slyly. “This cart is new. No scratches, no wear, tear, or age. So, this is either your first job or you just returned from an unsuccessful one. Half now, or we go talk to the other drivers.” Miko looked up and gave a broad, lifeless smile. I’ve only ever seen him act this sinister when he was planning some elaborate prank.

The carriage driver looked annoyed, as if Miko’s words struck a sore spot. “Damn brats…Get in and show me half.”

I picked up Miko and tossed him over my shoulder like a sack of feed we would give to the livestock. The cart wasn’t elaborately carved and painted, but it did have a top and a decent set of benches. I placed my foot on the first step and grabbed one of the side poles to hold us up as I placed him down on the bench to the back of the driver. I stepped back out and threw our bags up, Miko caught his, and mine landed on the bench across from him. I folded the lead to the cart and put it in the storage compartment on the back of the carriage. Two doors folded open with plenty of space for the cart and some existing firewood, tools, and gear to set up a camp for longer trips. I found my spot in the carriage and announced that we were ready to leave.

After ten hours in the cart, we were almost through Outer Korvast. The roads were flat, but the constant rolling in the cart made me sick. The driver said our first stop would be around this time when the road started to become less maintained, and weaved around a lake where we could stop for water and rest our legs.

This was many times over, the farthest we had both been from our home in our entire lives. Grandfather used to travel often when I was little, but when our parents left, he decided it would be better to stay near the house.

The lake came into view, and I could see the expanse of the forest ahead of us that we would need to travel through. The trees were tall and had dark brown trunks with light green and yellow tops that blocked most of the sun and moons’ light.

“Those are Moonglow Pines!” Miko snapped as he closed his book.

“You’re well-read for a brat,” The carriage driver responded.

“You got a big mouth for someone we’re paying. Middle-aged men ought to be nicer!”

“Just ‘cause I’m driving you two kids doesn’t mean I gotta be nice to you. You have to pay me either way!”

He repositioned his wide circular hat to sit further back on his head. Black hair fell behind his ears that would have been long enough to block his eyes but were tucked away.

“I’m not that much older than you all, anyways!” His face was discernible for the first time as he pulled down the cloth around his face, and he was right — he looked young, maybe thirteen. I wanted to ask him more questions, but the carriage came to a stop. We were positioned a couple hundred feet from the lake, and the driver himself even seemed happy to break away from the drive and cool off in the pond.

“Our ponds back at the house are nothing compared to this lake! I can barely see the other side.” Miko sounded happy for the first time in a while. He grabbed his hands to the top rails on the roof of the carriage and then swung himself over closer to me. I grabbed the back of his calves and locked my hands underneath his knees so that I could hold his weight on my back while he was free to point and move.

I thought about getting the cart out, but we wouldn’t need it for too long, and then I’d have to pack it back in. It’s only a short walk, anyway.

The driver never did say his name, so I decided to avoid calling out and find our own path down to the lake instead. Our water cans rattled against each other while hanging next to my leg, but otherwise, this place was peaceful, even more so than the farm.