Two hours feels like a lot when you have to spend it staring into the flames of a fire.

If I were stoic enough to do a proper, professional job of keeping watch, it probably would’ve been best to face away from the fire so that my eyes could get accustomed to the darkness. As I was, my entire world shrank down to the small pile of burning branches and the globe of light that it gave off.

After I threw the last branch from the stockpile onto the dying fire, I gently woke up Penelope. At first, she wiggled like a worm in a sleeping bag, then her eyes opened, and she stretched.

“It’s dark.” There was a shake of fear in her voice.

“I know. We’re safe though, because we have the fire.”

She got to her feet and rubbed her eyes, swaying some.

“You’re burning cedar. I can smell the oil.”

“Oh, fancy that. Would you like to help me get some more?”

I got to my feet and she looked up at me with a stern look on her face.

“Claire-ee said I might have to help you. She said you’re weak and your biceps are wimpy. I don’t know what that means, but she made a funny face when she said it, and did this.”

She mimicked breaking a twig in half.

“I’m afraid Claire might be right. Would you be able to carry the heavy branches for me?”

Her face lit up. “Of course! I’m not wimpy like you.”

We spent the next twenty minutes pacing up and down in the area near the fire, picking up anything that was dry and flammable. I was worried about losing Penelope in the darkness, so she led the way and instructed me on which limbs to pick up. Her sleeves were rolled up, and a neat bundle of sticks rested under her arm.

She technically had more sticks than I did, so she won, of course.

The rest of the night went smoothly. My little companion went back to sleep, I stared into the abyss for two more hours, and nothing too sinister stared back at me. When Claire joined, the tiniest shred of sunlight was just peeking over the horizon.

“Morning. Sleep well?”

“Eh. Was kind of worried about things back here. I was wondering if Penny might need to pee, and if you’d be able to handle that.”

I didn’t immediately answer. I could handle that. Surely. Just…send her off into the darkness and wait a while.

“We would’ve worked it out. Penny and I are a good team. Check the wood pile.”

She looked over and nodded her approval.

“Nice. I think you were safe anyway — looking back, I don’t think I’ve seen a single bathroom in this world. Not even at Otto’s Pub, and there should definitely be one there if NPCs are capable of excretion.”

“Yeah, agreed. No toilets in B&B. I’m scared of where this conversation might lead, so I’m gonna leave and get my last two hours in before you go further rogue. I sacrificed too much of my first nap.”

“Ciao.”

After my second nap of the night, Claire snagged another hour and a bit of sleep. She came back early because she was worried that Penny might get bored hanging out with me.

I chose not to take offense from that.

“So, Penny, do you remember that statue we saw the other day? The one of Great King Gonar?”

She had her nose pinched shut while she proved to Claire that she could hold her breath for a ‘super-mega’ long time. She blinked furiously — her choice of communication for the time being.

“That’s like, a million blinks. I’m gonna put that down as a yes. Is that right?”

Another million blinks came my way.

“Great. And is there anything else you can tell me about him?”

Blank stare.

“He’s dead, right?”

Blinkblinkblinkblinkblink.

“Cool. Okay. Well at least he won’t be moving around too much. And do you know where he’s buried?”

Blink. Blink.

“That’s a maybe?”

Blinkblinkblinkblinkblink.

“Lovely. Claire, would you stop indulging the child for a moment? Her face is literally purple.”

Claire frowned at me and blew out the last of her breath. Penelope blew hers out, too.

“I win, Claire-ee! Ollie-ee is wimpy, and you’re…”

“Goopy?” I suggested.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Yes! Claire is goopy.”

I couldn’t hide my amusement. Claire mimicked whacking me — probably with a rolling pin.

Back to it. The faster we finish this quest, the faster we can get back to the Yard. And I’ll be one step closer to actually having armour.

“So Gonar was really important, right? If someone was looking for something he made, it would be in a really well guarded place?”

Penny nodded. I was struggling to make progress with my Yes or No strategy. I paused, hoping for some expansion.

“Great King Gonar was a terrible, terrible man,” she said. “But he made Asteroth’s military very powerful, and expanded west into Marintyl, so the commoners liked him. He was never directly mean to them, so they were just happy to have more land to farm.” She took a breath to sort through the monolithic amount of knowledge in her head.

“He also created a very strict inventory management system for weapons and armour that were used by the military. If you are looking for something he made, it will either be in Bounty Hall, or it’s being used by a member of the military in accordance with their power.”

I looked at Claire, who just shrugged and smiled at Penny. One second, the little girl was shouting ‘Jacket potatoes!’, and the next she was recounting a textbook on an obscure topic.

“Cool. Thank you, Penny. And Bounty Hall is…”

“North-west! It was built quite close to what used to be the Asterian-Marintyl border. It was easiest to recruit all the soldiers to the capital, then direct them out to Bounty Hall to be equipped.”

So now we have a target.

“And Bounty Hall is still quite well manned? Lots of defenses?”

“Lots. Not as wimpy as you.”

“Thanks, Penny.”

Claire pulled me aside while Penny was searching around for a walking stick. Her current candidate was about twice her height. She looked like a wizard who was overcompensating for something.

“I’m getting the sense that you haven’t thought this through,” she said.

“Uhhh, we only just found out where we’re going twenty seconds ago. I haven’t had the chance, what do you mean?”

She looked frustrated.

“Who’s we, huh? Are you forgetting someone? A small, very cute, probably fragile botanist who absolutely cannot come with us into any dangerous situations?”

“Oh, right. Shit. Completely forgot about…well, not about her, but I just assumed…”

“Ya. So let’s find mom and dad first, okay?”

“Sure.”

We set off in the general direction of Bounty Hall. Claire walked ahead with Penny, lightly poking at the topic of who her mom and dad might’ve been. I didn’t like our chances, considering she’d spent her childhood — the part that she wasn’t spending with us or as the Royal Botanist — with Lord Piliton.

She called him ‘Uncle Pilly’. Could a guy like that have a random brother that no one knows about? Maybe an older brother who was going to inherit the family fortune before Uncle Pilly stepped in and made a play for it himself?

We were searching for a needle in a haystack. In fact, a needle in a haystack was probably more generous odds than what we were doing.

Two people in an entire nation. Who might not even exist.

I checked my map and refreshed my krad balance. I’d been checking it periodically throughout the night, just in case Piliton somehow took the throne in the ten or so hours since we left his mansion and the system neglected to tell us of the quest completion.

He would’ve had to travel pretty fast to get there, but I had a suspicion that NPCs could teleport when no one was around to watch them. Or perhaps not teleport, but the effects of interacting with them could occasionally happen instantly, like when Bill knew exactly who I was and what I’d done for Otto, even though it was five minutes since I left the pub, and Otto hadn’t sprinted down the street between pouring drinks.

We turned right at a junction, still chasing the path to Bounty Hall. Penelope was chattering away, but Claire was looking increasingly worried. If anyone was able to get accurate information from the botanist, it was her. And being an NPC, if there was no information to give…

Claire and I might’ve adopted a child.

I’m too young for this. It’s rare for me to even fold my own washing. I skip at least one meal a day. I don’t even own house plants or drink coffee.

I was not ready for responsibility just yet.

Alternatively, if I was able to manage running around a hostile nation with a purple-robed lump on my back, Annette might consider me responsible enough to run a guild. With some help.

Claire interrupted my train of thought by nearly clotheslining me with an outstretched arm.

I came out of my daze. “Yo! What was that for!”

Penny mimicked me. “Yewww! Worwor dat fawww?”

“Nice one, kiddo— seriously though.”

“Look down, you drongo.”

I recovered from walking into the brick wall that was Claire’s arm, and peered over the edge of a drop that would’ve put the Great Plateau to shame.

“Oh. Thanks for stopping me.”

It looked like someone had created a traditional, normal-sized ravine, and then decided to duplicate it eight to twelve more times for comedic effect.

It just went down, not across. I couldn’t see the bottom, though a pallid grey steam wafted from its depths. A sulphurous smell carried over to us. Claire blocked Penelope’s nose.

“Penny, has that always been there?” I checked on my map to see if I could answer my own question. Sure enough, the map said that this should be a flat piece of land with basically no interesting landmarks. There wasn’t a contour line in sight.

“Nope. This is new.”

Claire backed her up. “I’m on my map — it was just plains and grassland before. The most interesting thing is apparently just a really old tree called The Alaminth.”

“How the dickens can you see details like that? All I have are frickin contour lines.”

“You’re in geographical view. Click the top right button three or four times.”

I reached up and tapped the perfectly camouflaged button. It was almost exactly the same colour as the sky, which made it ridiculously hard to find. My map switched to several different views before showing me exactly what I’d been looking for over the past few days.

“The Alaminth. Yeah. Thoughts on crossing?”

“How many points you got in Agility?”

“Not enough. And not willing to add any more just yet.”

We backed away from the edge. Standing too close made me wobbly, and Penelope was looking slightly green. It matched her former occupation.

The ravine narrowed the further east we walked. I couldn’t see the bottom still, but after a fifteen-minute detour, it was thin enough to jump over. Penelope clutched onto my back and I got a running jump that easily cleared the distance.

“You reckon it’s the work of a Stake?” Claire asked.

“Could be. Tabitha said that two of them voted no, so they might just be pissy about that. Seems a bit weird to randomly carve away a piece of the country in protest, though. I would’ve gone for something more subtle. Burning a sacred monument or something. Maybe upend a few apple carts.”

“Aren’t you sweet.”

We were only a short distance past the ravine when I felt some sixth sense calling me back. It was like a tingle deep in my spine — not quite a voice, but definitely some part of me that knew better.

I turned and immediately equipped {The Glass Cannon}.

“Claire, take Penny. Run.”

She spun around as I shoved Penny into her arms. They took off without question, something in my voice making them trust my judgement.

Once they were gone, I faced the ravine. Formations of pure darkness flowed from the depths, their forms wavering and shimmering as they caught sight of their prey.

I checked behind me, making sure Claire and Penny were far enough away. If these beasts were as formidable as they looked, I wouldn’t be able to hold them all back. Maybe if it was just Claire and I together…

No. You’ve spent more than a month in this game. You’ve studied with Esko, learning the ins and outs of your equipment. If you don’t win, it doesn’t hurt you, but it will hurt Penny.

I readied my spear and shield.

The monsters crashed into me.