Night had fallen fast upon the land. It has been more than 6 hours of non-stop riding since they left Poroiwi cave. No more than an hour ago the sky was painted with hues of red and orange, but all color had faded leaving only a black canvas with no stars to spot on. They needed to rest, their mounts were at the brink of dying because of exhaustion, and yet they haven't stopped. Not even for a fifteen minutes break.

The darkness was thick and the torches they carried in their hands hardly lit their path. The chilly wind blows through their cloaks. Licking every exposed skin, sipping into their blood and veins, and stinging every part of their bones.

"Jace," Amierra called out, "let's stop for 5 minutes. The mounts are going to collapse at any moment."

"No! We can't stop now!" Wenona shouted from the back of the group. She glared at the icy blue-haired princess' back, "I need to save my family in the orphanage!"

Jace who was leading the pack decreasing the speed of his Camelous, which quickly followed by the others. When he finally at a complete stop, he shifted his body towards his back. "Let's stop for now. If the mounts die before we reach Marama, we would have to walk there."

"No no no! are you crazy?! Didn't you hear me before?" Wenona kicked her Camelous forward to get closer to Jace, "we can't stop now, every second's count!"

Jace ignored the protesting girl, he mounted off and checked on his mount condition. Taking his water bottle, he poured it on his hand and offered it to his mount that quickly gulped every drop of it gingerly. He repeated his action a couple more times until the big bird's satiety fulfilled.

"Let's make that fifteen minutes. They barely able to stand anymore," he gently brushed the gentle earthy colored feather bird's head. It made a flute-like noise that showed it was happy and bent its head closer asking more affection. A smile peeped out at his corner lips but it only lasts for a few seconds before it faded.

"Hey! I am talking to you!" Wenona decided to mount off too and stomped toward Jace, "I said --"

"I heard you well enough, Alstairs," his blue eyes pierced through Wen's. They stabbed through like a dagger and made Wen almost wilted under it. "I also said that if they die before we reach Marama, it would mean we have to walk there. Is that not clear enough?"

"But!!"

"Honestly, I don't care if you decided to run off and ignored my order," Jace coldly added.

"Wen, we are just a few hours away from Marama," Zeke tried to calm her down, "if we lost the mounts before we reach Marama, that few hours could become more than another twelve hours to a day of walking. Neither of us wants that to happen."

Wen groaned loudly and rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything anymore. She strode back to her Camelous and pulled the reign toward the back of the pack. Distancing herself away from the others, she took time in caring for her mount. But after around five minutes grooming her Camelous, her facial expression changed and the scowl on it dissipated.

"Z!" Zeke's shoulder that was covered by fur cloak jolted when Wenona's telepathy unceremoniously entered his mind. He whirled his body to find her blue eyes were staring at him in deep expectant.

"We need to talk!" Wen spoke eagerly on his mind, "can we somehow find a place away from that turnip man?"

"What do you want, Wen? I thought you don't want to talk to me anymore?" He gazed at her suspiciously, "something about... you don't trust me? Remember?"

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A sheepish grin formed on her lips and she made an apologetic gesture, "Hey, sorry about that. I was very worried about Yurika at that time and you didn't tell me anything about her as the chosen one. Moreover, about you were training her for it. Can't I get a second chance?"

Zeke's right brow rose up. Something inside his mind warned him that Wen might have some hidden intention. However, he decided to attend to her request and listen to what she wanted to say. "Fine, let's talk."

"Jace, I am going to get some water. I run out mine," he called out the man in purple Gambeson, "I think we passed a stream just before."

"Oh, can you fill mine too?" Lyall quipped and without warning, he threw his flask at Zeke, which he caught it easily.

"Move faster Z, we will leave in less than ten minutes," Jace was leaning on one of the trees with his eyes closed.

"I will."

Zeke shifted his attention to Wen and gave her a signal to follow him. The girl pretended to fix her boots while making sure no one paying attention to her before she dashed behind Zeke. Less she knew, someone had been watching her movements from the corner of their eyes.

---

Down the path on the corner side of the road they had been passing, there was a stream. Slow-flowing, languid in pace and lax by nature. Boulders rose out of the water like the bows of a sunken fleet, the scent of moss and lichen be-fowls the air. Zeke crouched down and started to fill his flask.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"I'll cut the chase and tell you straight," Wenona was standing behind him. Her hands were inside her yellow medium length linen surcoat. "Lend me that thing."

"What thing?" Tightening the cap of his water bottle, Zeke continued on by filling Lyall's.

"Don't act dumb, you know what I mean," she puffed, "the thing you use to take Yurika to Ursa."

"The mount?"

Frustration radiating from Wenona's face. "No! The scroll! I know from Yurika that you use a teleport scroll. Don't you dare lie to me."

Zeke's back tensed at her words, but he acted calmly as he stood up and turned his body to face the agitated girl. An aloof smile played on his lips as he tilted his head, "sorry, I left it back at the Adventure guild. It wasn't mine from the start. It belonged to Lucia."

"Wait, what??!"

"You hear me, I don't have it anymore," he shrugged.

Cold air licked her reddening face, crept through her tunic, and spread across her skin. Her last hope had disappeared and she was speechless. She wrapped her hands over her own body trying to hold herself from exploding.

"You are not lying right?" Wenona hissed. Her eyes probing at Zeke's expression, trying to find any sign of deception. However, his visage was telling her nothing.

"We should go back now if we want to reach Marama as soon as we can," Zeke walked off. After a couple of steps away from her, he stopped and shifted his feet. "I am not lying. You could check my bag if you want," he added without looking back at the girl.

"I am going to fill my water bottle too," Wenona said as she opened her satchel bag and rummaged into it, "you should go first, I'll join you as soon as I filling it up."

Zeke side glanced her before he shrugged once more and strode away, "be quick, Jace is not someone you would expect to wait."

Wenona didn't response him, as she kept herself busy with her bag. The cold wintry wind ruffled the trees. The moon decided to show herself, its light touched lightly on the surface of the water, created a soft spark. The sound of wind and flowing water smoothly filled the air. Wenona raised her eyes carefully, she tilted her head trying to capture any sound that was not the nature from her surrounding. She wanted to make sure that she was alone and safe to do whatever she had planned in her mind.

'I guess, it should be okay now. Z is far away enough,' she thought to herself, 'let's do this.'

She moved toward the darkest area the place, raising her right arm with her palm opened, and then she whispered "foliga mai, vaai!"

The moment she finished chanting the words, lights started to gather. It moved, blinked like fireflies and formed a two-dimension diamond. The intensity of the light grew brighter as more light gathered until suddenly it dispersed. Leaving a giant kite that magically hovered slightly above the ground.

"Hello my baby, I've missed you sooo much," Wenona skipped happily and gave it a little kiss. She put her hand on its smooth surface, softly caressed it as if it was her beloved pet. Then she pulled herself onto it and directed it toward the open space just above the stream.

"I'll save you Riddele, even if that's mean I have to go alone," she said to herself. The kite started to hover higher when suddenly it shifted to the right slightly. Wen realized the change and whirled her head toward the back. There she saw someone she never would expect, smiling meaningfully at her.