Whiskey laughed. She said, “Thank you for welcoming me, but this is a straight-cut transaction. You guys help me with rescuing my family. I help you with your defenses. Simple and nothing more; we walk away from each other. Maybe we’ll meet again as comrades-in-arms, but I doubt it.”

The words did not seem to faze Jiehong who said, “Perhaps. But if you were allowed into the command center, I have a funny feeling we’ll be seeing each other more.”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see. You seem pretty confident we won’t be killed on the mission. I like that, confidence,” she said, bordering filtrations.

“Well. How could we? Do you think Death would really claim us when we have with us such a powerful force of nature?” Jiehong said with definite vibes.

Man, there’re really going at it, Zan told himself, not caring because it took Jie’s mind off him and into something which might make him happy.

Although the filtrations had been, for a time, a welcome diversion, it did not last. Walking made sure of that; many miles later, the trio came upon the dark of the world, and finally out of the hot sun, an affect boost came over them all.

“How much further to the border?” Zan asked.

In terms of travel, they had come to the road where Jiehong and Zan had originally gone when trying to locate Thundervale for the first time. It felt weird to be back here, at the site of their social ostentation, when now they had reason to be here. Not, of course, as though they lingered. With Whiskey leading the way, they came and went quickly.

Responding to Zan, Whiskey said, “A ways, but we’re making good progress.”

“Good,” Zan said. “Small talk while we walk? We shouldn’t have to be so on guard with night falling, we can risk letting our guard down, some.”

Zan didn’t actually like small talk, but he knew enough about interacting with people to understand ‘small talk’ was the lynchpin of how normal people related to one another.

“I guess…” Whiskey said, her eyes still on the road. “Tell me something about yourselves.”

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Zan went first: “I don’t have parents. Or there gone, I guess I mean.”

“Bummer,” Whiskey replied. “So, are they, like, dead?”

“I have no idea.”

“So, there is hope? You want to go after them?”

Zan considered Whiskey’s response. Did he want to go after them? No one had ever asked him that before. The question caught him off guard, so he said, “I don’t know…”

Picking up the beat, Jiehong told Whiskey his factoid: “My family comes from the Sunstar Principality. We live here as a goodwill gesture.”

“Neat,” Whiskey said. “I’ve never met a ‘Gift Family’ before. What does that entail?”

“Oh, about what you would expect, really. We help rural villages and small towns with problems. Irrigation, mostly. Sometimes we repair or build wells. Help them set up homes.

Anything that is the most pressing need of the village.”

“Sounds like a worthwhile endeavor. Thank you for your aid,” Whiskey replied.

Jiehong smiled. He said, “Thank you for thanking me. We get a lot of thanks in our line of work, but a ‘thanks’ from a cute girl is worth twice as much.”

Whiskey muttered a laugh but kept her eyes on the road.

“So, what about you?” Zan asked.

“You mean my personal detail?” Whiskey said. “Uh, well… I guess I am the opposite of you, Zan. I have too many family members. My community is a more extended family. I love them and obviously am rescuing them, but sometimes it is a bit much. I enjoy being by myself. For abnormal periods of time.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Jiehong said. “Everyone needs personal time. Just a fact of life. You must have a lot of friends which jockey for your attention?”

“Hey! I gave my one fact. Let’s conserve our breath.”

Zan agreed with Whiskey on ending the factoid convention. Some of the responses generated for Zan an unwelcome feeling in his bones. He only brought the idea up as an icebreaker, anyway.

With the cover of darkness enveloping the group, their focus drifted naturally back to the road. Zan didn’t know how long they walked in silence, but it had to be for hours.

Funny, he thought, how the mood could change so rapidly.

Noticing an unusual light in the distance, Zan thought he saw the far-away flicker of a bonfire but was not sure.

He said, “What’s that? Am I imagining it?”

“No, you aren’t,” Whiskey said. “It’s a torch. Well, bonfire, technically. The golems use them while traveling at night. It helps them stay active. Otherwise, they become like you’ve already seen — lump, motionless, and not able to even so much as take a step without falling over.”

“How do you know that?” Zan queried.

“I’m a huntress,” Whiskey said. “I was right on the border when the invasion happened. I was so scared. I could only hunker down and hide while they enslaved my people. At nightfall, I ran to Thundervale. While running, I saw some groups create the bonfires.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Jiehong said.

“Thanks, but honestly, I’m not giving myself too much of a time about it. It was an entire invasion force. What could I have done? I’m here now, fighting, and have you two strong men with me. What could go wrong?”

As if by providence, a bonfire then came into existence mere paces ahead of them.