Eliza stopped as she and her undead travelling companion came to a crossroads. A literal one, not metaphorical.

“Hmm. They really should have signs up here…” She murmured looking down both of the identical looking dirt roads. “Don’t suppose you know where we are, Buddy?”

The tall undead shook his head. He had carried her throughout most of the night as she slept fleetingly on his shoulder, though at her request set her down when morning came.

In hindsight, why did she ever ask to not be carried? Walking sucked, and the undead clearly didn’t feel fatigue.

It just felt… wrong, though. She hated treating people like they weren’t human. Her parents had berated and ignored the manor’s servants so often it was like they forgot that they were humans too. As a little girl she enjoyed their company greatly, the staff seemed to love her and were always willing to take a break from their duties to chat with her. They were still respectful and deferring, as their position required, but it was genuine kindness they showed to her. Because she treated them like humans with thoughts and emotions, not as automatons made to serve.

Of course, her companion wasn’t human and likely was an automaton made to serve a necromancer. But it’s the sentiment that counts.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, mo, catch an ogre by its toe…” She spoke quietly, glancing back and forth down both directions. Buddy gave her a skeptical look as if doubting her method, which she responded to with a shrug. If he had a better idea she’d let him lead.

Suddenly, the undead’s head shot up, arced downward as it was to look at her, and stared down the road they came. His gaunt face showed a look of concern as he either saw or heard something she certainly couldn’t.

“What’s the matter?”

The undead carefully placed a clawed hand on her shoulder and pulled her along with him into the treeline. She frowned confusedly as he crouched amidst the tall bushes, barely managing to hide amongst them. Trusting him, she crouched beside him, the foliage completely concealing her even as he struggled to fit behind it.

After several moments, the faint sound of clopping hooves and rolling wheels reached her ears. The undead’s ears must have been fantastic, they were so far away when he heard them.

Then again, she found him in a silent tomb. After however long he spent in there, his ears must have adjusted to listening for any tiny noises.

She peered through a gap in the dense foliage and saw a grey-bearded man riding in the carriage’s front. On the side of his vehicle was a guild emblem, two coins floating above an open palm.

“Oh good, it’s just a merchant.” She paused to consider for a moment then looked up to meet her companion’s black-eyed gaze. “Listen, Buddy, I’m gonna go talk to him, okay? To ask for directions. I’ll probably be back in a minute but if he offers me a ride, follow along but don’t be seen.”

The undead nodded with all the vigour of a corpse. She couldn’t decipher whatever expression he wore on his unnatural face. Concern, perhaps? Or frustration?

“Excuse me!” She called out to the vehicle as she stepped out from the treeline. The merchant glanced over his shoulder and saw her, bringing the carriage to a stop with a pull on the horse’s reins. She jogged to catch up to it and came to a stop beside the rider’s seat, giving the man her best smile.

“Ello miss. You lost?” He spoke with a thick accent, his bushy beard rustling with each movement of the man’s lips. He leaned back in his seat and looked down at her, raising a thick greyed eyebrow at the muddy state of her outfit. They’d never found a river to wash at.

“Hello sir, yes, I am very lost. I was travelling with friends but our carriage was attacked by trolls and we got separated in the chaos.” She lied with ease. Her easy expression became one of concern as the man suddenly burst out in throaty laughter.

“Carriage? Eh, what are ya, a noble or summin? Heh.”

She laughed nervously. Did the peasantry not call them that?

“Aye lass, it's a shame about yer friends though. Did they make it oot alright? Trolls are vicious creatures, to be captured by one is a fate worse than death.”

Was it? Her knowledge of trolls was clearly lacking, she assumed they were purely bestial in instinct, she didn’t know they were malicious.

“Yes, we all got away fine I think. But as I say, I’m very lost, I was hoping you could point me in the direction of the nearest city?”

“Ach, don’t be daft lassie. I’ll give ye a ride. I’m no gonna leave a wee thing like you out here in the woods with all the monsters and beasties!”

“That’s very kind of you sir.” She smiled brilliantly though wrestled with her inner confusion. What was this man’s dialect? He spoke Pangean but it sounded almost foreign to her ears, she didn’t recognise half of the words he said.

The man gestured for her to climb in beside him, which she gratefully did. Walking sucked.

As he whipped on the reins and they began to pull down the dirt road, she glanced back to see through the treeline Buddy’s pale emaciated figure as he followed them. Hopefully the undead didn’t mind trailing along like this.

Though she realised, why was she suddenly concerned if he did? Why did she care if he just left? Not long ago she had feared for her life around him, but now even after such a short time it just seemed natural that he would follow her. He had gone this far with her, and even saved her life from those psychos back in Rocksdale.

She couldn’t help but want him to follow. It was nice having a companion that wasn’t a stuffed bear.

Thinking about it, though, what would they do once they reached the nearest city? Were undead allowed in cities if they were with a necromancer? Which she wasn’t, of course, but they wouldn’t know that. It was a question which lingered in her mind, partly because she had never once considered it before. Necromancers weren’t exactly common, so the laws surrounding them weren’t common knowledge.

“Trevor. Trevor Pharrel.” The merchant beside her held out a hand to her. She went to place her own in it and was surprised when he suddenly grabbed it and began to shake it vigorously. Right, different customs.

She cleared her throat before replying. “Eliza.”

After a moment of waiting for more, the large man shrugged and released his strong grip on her. She idly rubbed her hand as he returned eyes to the road.

“Nice to meet ya, lass. I’m off for Steelhaven, that right with you?”

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“Yes, that’s perfect. I’m from there.”

“Aye? I only go there a few times a year, right when the snow starts to roll in and they’re biting for coal and oil in the winter. I’ve made the trip once already and I’ll do it a few more times before they get into winter proper and start getting sea shipments in. Bloody hard work though, shifting this shite from Mulloch to Steelhaven.”

“Not literal shit, I’d hope?”

The man laughed.

“Aye, black rocks but no that kind. Heh.”

After several minutes of travel and idle chatter, the merchant reached for a flask on his hip. He took a swig before coughing and pulling a face like he’d bit a lemon.

“Fuckin ell, how’s it this cold yet the dram’s still warm? Flask doesn’t do shite, the guy was a lying prick when he told me it’d keep it cold.”

After a moment to decipher his speech, Eliza reached out a hand placed it on his flask. The man recoiled slightly as a wave of cold washed over his own hand, his eyes widening when the flask he held was suddenly cold as ice. He turned to look at her with blatant surprise before taking a swig of the now cold liquor.

“Magic, eh? Frost?”

“Yes.”

“Hm. Well if it can keep a dram cold then yours might be the best magic I’ve ever witnessed!” They laughed together for a moment before he continued. “The Warden's Guild says magic is dangerous but I’ll be fucked if that isn’t a blessing. Get a cold drink whenever you want.”

He sighed wistfully. She turned her head to look at him with an amused quirk to her lips.

"But it's fine if you have a license, of course. The Warden's dont mind as long as you're a member of them, the Church or the Mage's Guild."

"Aye, but you dinnae strike me as a priest or policeman lassie. And you're nowhere near enough of a wee daftie acting all hoity-toity to be one of them bastardin mages."

He laughed. She decided to keep him talking, she realised that without knowing the peasant dialect well she might give herself away by saying too much. Though, she couldn’t help but ask what the thing actually was.

“Very nice… vehicle, you have here. Well made.”

“Aye, nice wee perk of being a member of the Merchant’s guild. Five years of membership and ye get a nice wagon all to yerself.”

Wagon, right.

“Right.”

They travelled for a while in relative quiet. Occasionally she would see a pale blur between the dense trees behind them, Buddy seemed to be keeping up fine.

Then again, she’d seen the undead run. This must have been a stroll to him.

Eventually, a thought crossed her mind, which she broke the comfortable silence with curiously.

“Earlier, you said my magic was the most impressive you’d ever witnessed. Does that mean you’ve witnessed other magic?”

“Aye, I’ve met the Grey Witch.”

“The Grey Witch?”

“Aye, the lass who would’ve taught you yer power.”

“Ah, yes, of course.”

The silence was suddenly awkward as her gap in knowledge presented itself. Who was the Grey Witch? She decided to try and play it off as momentary forgetfulness.

“So how did you meet her? Are you a mage yourself?”

He turned and gave her a raised eyebrow which made her cringe internally, though she maintained a careful expression. It was the eyebrow one gave when somebody said something incredibly ignorant.

“Mage? Lass, dinnae use that word. It's dirty, she should’ve taught you that.”

“A-ah right, yes, sorry, a slip of the tongue, just old habits.”

“Aye, well they die hard. Try no to let it happen again, lass, that word just pisses people right off nowadays.”

She thought for a moment then took a hopeful stab in the dark.

“Sorry, I meant to say witch.”

“Aye. Naw, I’m no a witch. The lady Grey told me I wasnae cut oot for it. Cannae blame her, the whole thing seems a bit mad to me, like.” He chuckled.

Lady? Was the Grey Witch nobilit-

Oh, right! She recalled a rumour that house Veneficus was responsible for the recent surge in magic’s commonality. The lord Antoine was still teaching nobles for a fee as leader of the Mage’s guild, but the lady Isabella had apparently been teaching commonfolk. Eliza wondered how she got the title of the Grey Witch. She supposed she could just ask, that probably wasn’t too common knowledge.

“How’d she get the name by the way? Grey Witch?”

“Auch, I dinnae know. No-one knows her real name, like, it’s just what everyone calls her.”

Oh, interesting. The peasantry didn’t know it was a noble teaching them. Why did she keep it a secret?

“What was it like to be taught by her? Some say she’s a saint but others say she’s a demon in the heat of a lesson.” He chuckled.

“Uh, yeah. She’s very intense in the lessons, really wants everyone to succeed.” She nodded along with him.

“Aye. When do ye think it’ll all kick off?”

Uh?

“What, specifically?” She asked sheepishly.

“Auch, ye know. When do ye think the war will start?”

“W-war?!” She stuttered with a shocked expression, before quickly reigning it in under the man’s bewildered expression. “I mean, well, I’m not sure. Hard to say, isn’t it?”

“Mmm. I reckon before spring it’ll kick off. Noble’s have gotta try and stop her at some point, she’s practically got a wee army of mages following her now.”

“Ah, yes, there’s quite a few of us.” She swallowed nervously. She wasn’t making an army, was she? She was just spreading knowledge, right?

“Aye. I reckon it’ll take something big to set it all off. If it's no the nobles trying to get the Witch, it’ll be something else. Hells, maybe she’ll strike first.”

Fuck. Why had she never heard about all this?

It must have been one of those rare things that the commonfolk knew but had kept from reaching the nobility. Thank the Goddess she hadn’t given the merchant her family name, she’d never have heard a peep about all this.

After a couple hours of travel and less-serious chatter, they came to a stop. The man needed to pee and give the horses a snack.

As he alighted from the wagon’s wooden steps and began to lumber off into the woods, her breath suddenly caught in her throat.

Buddy was standing right there. At the edge of the treeline, he simply stood and watched the merchant pace towards him.

She held her breath as the merchant entered the treeline, looking around for a good tree to relieve himself on. His eyes passed right over the undead’s legs, his pale flesh causing them to look like skinny silverbark trees, just like the rest. She was sure it was much to her undead companion’s relief that the merchant glanced back, saw her gaze, and decided to venture a little further into the trees before picking one to urinate on.

She let out a sigh of relief and glanced up through the foliage to see a monstrous face looking curiously back and forth between her and the merchant. Silently, she thrust her hands forwards and mouthed ‘stay still!’ frantically. The undead shifted his weight slightly and she drew arms in an X across her chest, trying to tell him to stop. Buddy’s expression shifted and he pointed at the merchant before repeating the X gesture. After a moment of her staring confusedly back at him, he once again pointed at the merchant then gestured across his throat with one long claw. Panickedly, she shook her head as the undead almost fatally misunderstood her.

After a few long moments, the snapping of dry twigs and rustling of foliage heralded Trevor’s reappearance. The merchant retrieved a few apples out of the wagon’s back and fed the horses, much to the beasts delight.

As one finished its snack, the creature glanced idly into the trees. Its eyes fell upon a certain pair of skinny trees before following them up to undead’s body. As the beast realised what it saw, it began to thrash and pull against the reins, straining to get away from the undead as it let out cries of panic. Its reins and the wooden beams of the wagon they were attached to creaked dangerously under the horse’s strength.

“Woah, woah! Calm down, ye daft thing, there’s nothing there.” He spoke soothingly to the horse even as it thrashed and eyed the unnatural creature not far from them.

As the merchant was distracted, Eliza waved her arms to get Buddy’s attention. When the tall undead shifted his curious gaze away from the horse to her, she swiped her hand to the side and gestured for him to go away. He looked vaguely offended for a moment before shrugging and striding off further into the woods.

When Trevor finally got the horse to calm down, he returned to his seat at the reins.

“Sorry aboot that lassie. I dinnae know what got into the daft beast.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. It was probably nothing.” She beamed at the man as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.