These plains sure are lengthy, we’ve been walking for some hour and a half, yet there are still no landmarks.

There are probably a few, otherwise, how would we be finding our way? But sadly I lack the vision necessary to spot them.

I’ve managed to spot our cavalry a few times, at least I hope they’re ours but the main bulk of the horsemen seem to still be preoccupied scouting out the area.

Hmmm, I wonder how many we have actually?

“Coralet?” I say, calling out to her.

“Yes, Phaeraxion?” She answers back with no uhs or hms this time.

I still couldn’t understand what that was all about since she only used those words sometimes, maybe I'll ask her after she answers my question about the horsemen.

“What’s up with the cavalry?”

“Umm, do you mean why we have them? How many we have or uh what purpose they serve?” She replies, this time with a helping of ums and uhs.

Those words were really starting to annoy me, I don’t know when or even if I’m supposed to say them, I know nothing about them despite her using them so often.

Oh well, at least I get to learn about cavalry now, still, what to ask first?

She’s staring at me so I can’t take my time to decide what to say I have, so in a panic, I say.“Yes.” A single word that should convey everything I want to say.

“Yes?” my Coralet hesitantly says, confusion and a slight trace of fatigue echoing through our link.

“Yes.” I respond, repeating my prior answer.

She’s a fountain of knowledge, or is it a spring of knowledge?

Regardless she knows a lot and I would like to follow in her footsteps, I was just wondering why the cavalry were all gone but now I could learn even more thanks to my creator, as expected of her.

“Sooo um well we have some cavalry to act as a sort of unspoken threat, if we get attacked by horse archers we have a chance to run them down, so there’s just less chance of us being attacked, which is the main thing. Um, they also get sent out to scout around that way even the most well concealed ambush should be spotted. We have twenty one, there’s some reason for that but I don’t know it and I think I already answered what purpose they serve. Is there anything else?”

There are actually quite a few other things I want to ask but I hold off on asking them since I didn’t want to be annoying, if I’ve got an invitation though…

“Why do these knights have enchanted armour and how do you enchant something?” I question her eagerly but I still make sure I’m polite, sending just general joy through the link so she knows I’m not intentionally being ignorant, these questions are rather basic after all.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Well uh, that’s because they’re knights. Wait hang on did you think that those squires we had back at the camp were actual knights?” She asks incredulously.

“Yes?” I cautiously reply, oh damm it had I missed something obvious?

She doesn’t say anything for a little while, she just shakes slightly and quietly laughs, I think I even hear a snort or two.

It would be humiliating if it was anyone else doing this but I’m just happy I’ve made her happy, so it evens out.

Once she's got her laughter under control she gets around to answering my foolish question.

“Those weren’t knights Phaeraxion, well I mean they kind of were but not really. Those were knight squires, they get given enchanted weapons but the armour they use is usually of poor quality and unenchanted. Whereas these fellows guarding this convoy are actual knights. Both their weapons and armour are enchanted to a pretty high degree, I mean the fact that they’re here is both incredibly comforting and also unreassuring, I mean people like this don’t just guard some random supply convey.” A great range of emotions crosses over to me alongside her enlightening words.

She’s scared, happy, tired and something else I can’t quite figure out.

“Are you okay?” I ask, trying to send positive emotions over like reassurance and my personal favourite, appreciation.

“Uh yeah, course I am. Just tired, rather than costing me my soul it looks like my energy is depleted instead to summon you. I kind of passed it off back during that whole cave in incident because I mean, I was pretty lightheaded from the whole almost dying to suffocation thing. Um still though, I’ll rather be lethargic for a few days than permanently lose a piece of my soul, no offence?”

“None taken.” I reply before asking another question that has been bothering me more or less since this all began.”I prefer it if there was no cost to this whole summoning process, is that possible?”

“Well, I suppos-” She begins before a yawn cuts her off.

I mean I guess it could be that she was simply tired but she is sitting on the wagon seat alongside the driver and a few of her mage colleagues, not walking like the less fortunate footmen.

Plus we had just talked about how I sap her of energy, which is a little depressing to be told but hey better than causing her soul to splinter each time I am summoned.

I really like existing and being able to exist in peace even more but if that meant her existence was less enjoyable then I ought to be going.

Gently I gather up a heaping of appreciation and say “I appreciate you and value our time together greatly but I think it would be best for you if you unsummoned me.”

“But would that be best for you?” She replies, guilt flooding through the link.

“Whatever's best for you is what’s best for me!” I answer, trying to alleviate this guilt she's feeling.

There’s no need for it, I’m perfectly happy with how things are, well maybe not perfectly happy but I am mostly content.

I can’t tell if she’s nodding her head in affirmation or because she's about to fall asleep, so I carefully extend one of my tendrils into the wagon seat, prodding her gently.

She barely reacts but her friends do, shuffling nervously to the side, pathetic mages.

It just helps affirm my assumption about how I can’t trust the basic troops nor even the more elite mages to keep her safe.

Both classes of soldier are just pathetic, well not really, I mean I still remember just how intensely the spearmen and pikemen fought during that whole camp battle but regardless they can’t protect her as well as I can.

Rousing her back to attentiveness she stares at me blankly for a few seconds before speaking out loud.

Before I can remind her that I can’t understand her if she does that, she unsummons me.