The cart was part of a small camp that had been set up at the very edge of a sandy beach, nestled between three large boulders. To the north sprawled rolling hills covered in brown grass and dotted with rocks of various sizes; to the south, several yards away, lay the open ocean. The morning waves lapped gently against the sand. Everything around the camp was covered in a fine white frost.

A loud hoot startled him. He looked to see a large owl with mottled-brown feathers perched on one of the nearby boulders. It glared at him with its big, orange eyes.

Shadow blinked on top of Xan’s shoulder and hissed at the owl. It hooted back, flapping its wings and puffing out its feathers. The young Verdan woman looked up from where she was kneeling by the campfire.

“Language!” she scolded the animals.

The pair flinched at the sound of her voice. Then the owl hopped a little ways away and started preening. Shadow let out a low growl like she was muttering a final insult. Then she scampered over to Xan’s other shoulder.

“Well, come. Sit,” the young woman said, indicating a folding canvas chair near the fire.

Xan made his way over to the chair, giving Shadow more pets as he did so. “You really don’t like that owl, do you?” he said to Shadow as he sat down.

“It’s understandable,” the young woman said, “He did try to eat her yesterday. But they’ve both agreed to be civil.” She shot an angry glance at the owl, who seemed to ignore her.

“Eat her?” Xan asked, confused.

“Don’t worry about it. Here, breakfast,” the young woman said. She shoved a wooden bowl into his hands. The delicious aroma of porridge wafted up with the steam coming off of it. Xan’s mouth watered – it had been so long since he had eaten a proper meal. He eagerly dug in, only to realize that in his haste he had burned his tongue.

“It tastes better if you let it cool, son,” said a deep, hoarse voice to his right. It belonged to an older Verdan man who looked to be in his late fifties. He was sitting in another canvas chair with another fur blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His hair was about shoulder-length, dark brown like the young woman’s, and his beard was streaked with gray. He was dressed in heavy leather clothes similar to the ones the young woman wore.

“Mmph…” Xan replied, trying to swallow the hot porridge. The man watched him for a long moment with a soft smile on his face.

“I guess this is the first meal you’ve had in a while, huh?” he asked Xan gently.

“You could say that,” Xan said between bites.

The man chuckled. That chuckle quickly turned into a deep, throaty cough. The young woman looked up from where she had been tending the fire.

“Father?” she asked concernedly.

The man held up a hand to try to signal he was fine, but the cough didn’t stop. The young woman quickly moved his side. She laid a hand on his chest and commanded, “Breathe. Be healed.”

Her hand glowed for a brief moment, and the coughing began to subside. The man gasped, then took some deep breaths.

“Thank you, sweetie,” he finally said, patting her hand.

Xan watched the whole exchange with interest. “That’s some trick,” he said.

The young woman frowned at him. “It’s not a trick,” she said huffily. Then she bent down to gather up the dirty dishes from around the campfire and hefted them towards the shore.

“Pardon my daughter, Xan. She’s been under a lot of stress as of late,” the man said, wrapping the fur blanket tighter around his shoulders.

“Mm…” Xan said thoughtfully as he watched the young woman storm off. Then he started. “Wait, how do you know my name?”

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The man gestured to Shadow. “Your animal companion there told my daughter, and my daughter told me.”

Xan looked up at the silver weasel perched on his shoulder. The stories he had heard about Verdans had also mentioned how some had incredible powers over nature, including the ability to talk to animals. He supposed it wasn’t so far-fetched to believe that the young woman had been able to learn his name from Shadow.

“Well, then you have the better of me, sir, since I don’t know yours,” Xan said.

The man touched a finger to his brow. “Katar Skala Ignas, at your service. And that’s my daughter, Taika Kinnunen Essos.”

They both looked down to the shoreline, where the young woman was angrily scrubbing the dirty dishes in the surf. Xan looked back at Katar.

“She’s your daughter, and yet you don’t have the same name?” he asked.

Katar smiled and chuckled. “Well, she takes after her mother, see. Her mother was of the line of Essos, and me, I’m of the line of Ignas. She could have taken after either one of us, but since she took after her mother, she also took her surname.”

“I see…” Xan said, still feeling a little confused.

“And what about you? Is it just Xan?”

“Oh—It’s Xan Rais.”

“Well met, Xan Rais,” Katar said, extending his hand.

“You as well, sir,” Xan said, taking Katar’s hand and shaking it. “And… well, thank you for saving my life.”

“Think nothing of it. A Verdan’s duty is to help those in need, wherever they may be.”

“Speaking of which…” Xan said, looking around to take in the scenery once more, “where exactly is here?”

Katar gave Xan a thoughtful look before responding:

“This here’s the south-eastern coast of Ibora. More particularly, we’re on the southern trade routes between the Lowlands—” he gestured to the east, “and the port city of Vaimea,” he gestured to the west.

“Oh…” Xan said, nodding his head. That explained the chill in the air and the frost on the ground. Ibora was the northern-most continent of Garadana, and as such was prone to cold weather and snow. He only knew this because he had actually been to Vaimea a couple of times before, and the last time had been in the middle of winter. It was a bit too cold for his liking, but the clothes he was currently wearing managed to stave off enough of the chill to make it bearable.

“I suppose you’ll be heading out, then?” Xan asked.

Katar nodded. “Just as soon as we break camp. You’re welcome to come with us, you know.”

“But, you’ve already done so much for me, I wouldn’t want to impose—”

“And where exactly are you going to go, son? The closest village is three days to the west, and we’re heading in that direction anyway. You might as well ride along.”

Xan held his hands up in a relenting gesture and smiled. “Alright, then. If you insist.”

Taika returned at that moment, grunting as she carried a large pot full of seawater. She carefully lowered it to the ground and tipped it over the small campfire. The dying flames hissed and sputtered loudly as a cloud of steam shot upward. Once the steam cleared, she took a long stick and began to parse through the ashes.

From deep within the ashes she pulled out a small, orange crystal ball that was about the size of an apple. In spite of the cold ocean water that had been dumped on it, it still glowed with a dull heat. Taika gingerly picked it up, wrapped it in small piece of soft leather, and went to put it in the cart.

Xan was familiar with Ember Sang. It was one kind of a type of crystals known as Sanguine crystals, or Sang crystals for short. Legend said that these crystals had formed from the blood that was spilled in the war between the gods and the Elementals, eons ago. Because of this, Sang crystals possessed remarkable magic that people had learned to harness over the years. Orange Sang crystals, he noted to himself, had the ability to generate heat, and if someone took the time to attune to it, they could also control fire. Considering how useful having an Ember Sang while on the road would be, it made sense to Xan that Katar and Taika would have one.

“I saved your stuff for you, by the way,” Taika said to Xan after putting the Ember Sang in the cart. She reached up onto the front seat and pulled down a small bundle of linens.

“Your clothes are dry, though I doubt they’ll do you much good in this weather. By the by, why were you even on the beach wearing these to begin with? You would have frozen to death if we hadn’t found you.”

Xan chuckled nervously. He reached up to pet Shadow. “That’s… a long story. Let’s just say I’m not from around here.”

“Well, that’s obvious,” Taika said.

“Taika…” Katar said, giving her a stern glance. Taika shrugged. Then she reached into the folds of the linen clothes.

“I also saved this,” she said, and she pulled out a gold pendant with a spherical, sparkling purple crystal. When he saw the pendant, Xan recoiled. That accursed thing was here? Taika gave him a confused look.

“This is yours, isn’t it? It was with you when I found you.”

“Uh…” Xan blinked, then shook his head. “Right… Yes. Yes, it is.”

“Alright, then. Here.” Taika held it out to him.

Xan stared at the pendant. With everything that had happened since he and Shadow had escaped from the island, he had completely forgotten about it. A sudden urge came over him to throw it into the ocean. He almost gave in to it, too, until he realized that Taika and Katar were watching him. It would seem strange for him to suddenly throw it away after he had already said it was his. Slowly, carefully, he reached out and took it. He held his breath and waited…

Nothing happened.

Xan released his pent-up breath. Then he realized Taika and Katar were still watching him. He smiled at them as he wound the gold chain around his wrist and tucked the pendant into his sleeve.

“Well, thank you,” he said, trying to sound sincere.