Scrapes and knocks on stone created a pattern in the air between us as Theron set to work grinding down an herb in his mortar and pestle. The rest of us continued to eat, watching him.

The night sky twinkled overhead, and was brighter than it would have been just weeks ago, when only one moon hung over us. Now, a few weeks into our journey, the season of New Moon was slowly heating up and preparing to hand the reins over to the hot and dry season of High Star, so the second moon had made its appearance, as it did for a few weeks twice each year. Our planet of Arrayis only had two moons; the first, visible year round, was Eran. It was quite small and not very bright despite its white and grey coloring. It appeared smooth save for long, mostly straight lines across its face, as if one of the gods had reached up and scratched at it with uncut fingernails.

The second moon, Meir, only appeared over Chairel twice a year, and only for weeks at a time. It came to help the exchange of seasons from New Moon to High Star, and then from Red Moon to Dark Star. It was much larger than Eran, appearing almost like another planet. Some astronomers argued that it was, indeed, another planet, but arguments had ensued over that for years. For now, we considered it another moon, and many in Chairel celebrated its appearance in festivals and events twice a year. Meir would first appear low on the horizon in the east, and for the first fortnight, makes its way to the top of our sky. Over the next fortnight, it would slowly make its way to the west horizon, before disappearing for half a year. Meir was a soft cream in color, though its surface sways also toward reds and some browns in the imperfections of its land. The northern half of the moon was dotted in craters of various sizes, but the bottom half was mostly smooth. Those with clear enough vision even would claim to see waves on its surface, like it was a type of desert.

I stared at the celestial object for now. On the horizon, it seemed so bright and large, like it was ready to fall to our planet at any time. When I lived in Sera, Meir had only been slightly visible at select days of the year, as its course was mostly hidden behind the Seran Peaks that ended in my home city. Our group had kept the Seran Forest to our right over our journey thus far, since the edge of the forests would lead us straight to the Cel Mountains, where Whispermere was buried. Nothing but plains were to our left, and had we walked across those plains, the Servis Ocean would eventually come into view. Over this, Meir etched its path in the sky, allowing its full glory to be seen in a sky that had gone mostly unrivaled.

I found Meir beautiful. I also found myself grateful for it, because it was something that had always been there, but I had been unable to see it. There truly are no limits to the benefits of freedom.

“We'll let this sit for an hour or so, and it will congeal.” Theron's voice pulled me away from viewing the sights, for the moment. He had a wooden bowl in his hands, where he'd combined the powder from the herb earlier with water and oils. The result was a milky green looking liquid. Theron spoke to Nyx as he said, “Then you can try it, see how it feels.”

Nyx glanced over to me with a glimmer in her eye. I knew she was giving his words a double meaning, given her nature. I shook my head in humor at her.

“Thank you,” she said to him. Theron had made the lotion for her skin, since the warmer weather was causing it to dry out quicker than usual. She had already gone through most of the supply she'd brought with her. “Do you think there will be enough herbs like this the rest of the way to Whispermere?”

Theron shrugged. “In the forests? Yes. Once we get to the Cel Mountains? Not as much, but you won't have as many problems with your skin then. It gets pretty snowy and cold within a few hours of being on the mountain path. I can make you some extra lotions before we get there.”

“I have a better idea,” Nyx mused, leaning forward on her log. The campfire cast her face in light, though she was mostly hidden in her armor and hood, to avoid dryness from its heat. “Teach me how to make it and how to spot these plants in the forest.”

Theron nodded. “I can do that, too.”

Silas and I both stayed quiet for the moment, eating. I hoped Nyx's idea was more about her learning something useful than getting closer to our mercenary, but I could say nothing more on the subject that I hadn't already. She knew I didn't want her crossing the professional line with those in our group, but I couldn't keep her from becoming friends with anyone, and I wouldn't have wanted to. Silas and Theron had already developed a type of mutual understanding between the two, and it was possible it had started delving into friendship. I was happy for that. I wanted Silas to have more friends than just having me, and if Theron ended up liking being with us, it meant he would probably stay with us past Whispermere. He didn't talk much other than business, but he was useful to have around, despite the fact that we hadn't been in any trouble since fighting with the goblins and brownies at Amere.

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“Maybe now would be a good time to mention what we found today,” Silas said, seemingly out of the blue. I looked over to find him staring at Theron, who nodded.

“Ah, yes.” Theron's sharp brown eyes found mine. With no amount of emotion in his voice, he said, “We are being followed.”

A sharp pain sliced through my stomach. The new knowledge began to sink into my skull, immediately making me paranoid. My eyes darted to my right, as if they'd be able to see anything through the thick blackness of the forest. I was opening my mouth to reply when Nyx spoke first.

“Maybe your father sent his men.”

I glared over at her. I knew she hadn't meant to let the cat out of the bag in front of Theron, but her forgetfulness had gotten the best of her. Theron knew I was a Seran heir. He didn't know I was a Seran heir who was technically on the run.

Theron's facial expression didn't change. “These aren't men who are following us.”

“Then who is?” I asked, desperate for clarification.

“Orcs,” Silas replied, looking slightly more concerned than Theron. “When Theron and I were hunting this morning, we ran across a human tracker. He had an orcish-made slave collar around his neck and was sleeping at the base of a tree within distant view of our camp, but didn't wake up in time. We woke him and attempted to get him to answer our questions, but he wouldn't.”

“So...what happened to him?”

Theron shrugged. “I killed him. Some human slaves try to negotiate for freedom, but sometimes they have family that are enslaved, too. Sometimes they are the only ones in their family who are slaves and refuse to give information for fear the orcs will find out and then find their families. There are all sorts of reasons. The only thing that matters now is that he was following us and relaying information back to other trackers. Orcs sometimes use this method of tracking until they're able to get an army to a location.”

“An army?” My jaw went slack. “Just how many orcs do they think they need to send for four people?”

“I'm not sure. We found no evidence of any orcs yet, but they will be coming.” Theron reached into a satchel and pulled out a handful of nuts, which he held in a hand to snack on. “They might send a few, thinking they can overpower us. They may send more than a few if they have an inkling that you're as powerful as you are. Which they must have an idea of, or else I don't know that orcs would bother attacking us. None of us look rich, except for him—” Theron nodded at Silas, whose armor still had the emblem of Celdic royalty “—and we're not transporting much of anything, let alone goods that are expensive.”

“Maybe they see that we are capable,” Nyx suggested. “If they enslave humans, they could just be looking for more people to corral into their pens.”

“That's one idea,” Theron admitted, before eating another nut. Putting the rest back into his satchel, he leaned back on both forearms.

“You're not in the least bit worried about this?” I asked him, taking note of his relaxed body language.

The ranger returned my gaze thoughtfully. “I've dealt with orcs many times. Haven't lost yet. And besides, I've seen you fight. You shouldn't be worried, either. If anything, I've gone weeks without a fight and I'm itching for the bastards to give me a reason.”

“Surely, in the many years you've been a mercenary, you've seen people you like get killed?” I questioned. “Maybe even brutally?”

“Sure, I have,” Theron agreed.

“I'm sure you've seen someone make a mistake and get hurt or killed, or even be ambushed by the enemy and killed before they can defend themselves...?” I watched the mercenary carefully. “Any of that could happen to us.”

“It could. There would be no use in worrying about it now. Those kinds of things usually happen to the weak, so I wouldn't waste time thinking about it.”

I knew Theron was right. Worrying wouldn't do anything productive, let alone change the outcome of any potential fight. Perhaps it was my lack of experience that caused the anxiety to build in my gut. Perhaps it was the fact that I'd never faced an orc, but knew much about them due to the reputation of the race. Orcs were responsible for the eradication of many a town and city, and they weren't known for being fair in the game of war. I'd once heard that one orc was worth the strength of three battle conditioned men, and I had never really wanted to test that saying out by facing the brutal race myself.

“I'd like to know why Nyx here seems to think it's a possibility that we have the Seran Army chasing after us,” Theron went on, after the silence had befallen us for some time. I exhaled through gritted teeth when he brought it up again. I had figured he either hadn't heard us or hadn't much cared. “Unless you are not who you told me you were, I don't see why Sirius Sera would send an army after his own daughter.”