As they Jien, Bernard and company continued to ride at a leisurely but not slow pace it took several minutes of conversation before the noble child of Lyaberon City noticed the silver feathered owl with eyes that resembled burning flames. At first, he was caught off guard by the abnormal animal, only relaxing when he remembered the grey skinned, crimson haired woman that Jien had summoned. The very memory caused a shudder to run down his spine, the pressure that she had put on them would forever be ingrained in his memory.
Even when he had been back in Lyaberon City he had not been able to find anything about humanoid demons. Of course, he didn't search further than his family's and the cities libraries. He had other priorities and if he started searching regarding such a topic, he didn't know what kind of attention he would pull to himself. After all, oddities always drew the interest of those who were nosy and rumors could grow like weeds if one wasn't careful.
The group of five traveled for the morning until the sun was high in the sky. The weather was warm and pleasant, so they chose to stop at a fairly open plain near a small river. They were about halfway between Afrem and Dunn, so they chose to rest for a short period, eat and hydrate before continuing on for the afternoon. Emily laid out a large blanket on the soft grass and Bernard and Lila to eat with them, which the pair quickly accepted.
They ate a simple lunch of bread, cheese, and smoked meat along with water from some of their waterskins. This meal was accounted for in the supplies that they carried so Jien was not concerned that he was using up his emergency rations. He would need to refill his waterskin but that would not be difficult in Dunn. They were bound to have a well or two that they could use to replenish their supply. In fact, it was likely that if they really needed it, they could buy last minute food supplies from the small farm town. The town was known for its happy and friendly citizens, which was why they would take travelers into their homes for a night if requested.
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After a short but pleasant meal along with letting their horses rest and drink from the river, they started back on their way. The rest of the trip went without any issues of disturbances, and they did not run into any further members of their group. It was likely that Olivia had headed north and met up with Lesley to travel since they had known each other for years. Lesley and Rosalind were the closest to Dunn and though they directly bordered the Warping Forest they had headed to Dunn to meet the others. Last was Barret and though his was roughly as far away as Jien had been in Afrem, there was a different road from Xoum City that he was most likely taking along with his mentor.
When the group of five finally arrived at the small farming town of Dunn they saw a number of fairly large houses made of wood, much like forest cabins, rough stone bases. The houses had rather large windows through which light could be seen as the sun began to fade behind the horizon. The streets were all well-trodden dirt paths and beyond the houses one could only see plains of wheat or pastures housing various farm animals.
As they drew closer to the center of the settlement, they noticed a total of eight other horses bearing the crests of the different noble families. They were all resting in a stable that had been built just passed a fair sized well in the middle of what could be considered the town square. Beyond the stable for visitor's horses and the well in the center it was a full circle with a rim of wildflowers in full bloom around it and several paths leading to the large houses off to various sides.
Luckily, the adults had long planned this part of the trip and had communicated with the farmers of Dunn. They headed to the large house to the northwest known to be owned by the Sherman family. They were a rather large family that owned the largest piece of this small town and was known for growing a large variety of fruits and vegetables to fill in where the others would focus on grain and livestock.
This was where they would be staying the night and heading out from in the morning to finish their journey. Both Jien and Bernard were glad to see the others when they made it to the front door and were let in by a middle-aged man with short dirty blonde hair and green eyes by the name Thomas. He was the son of the current head of the household and in charge of helping out guests with his wife Laurel.
They were quickly invited in and shown to a number of guest rooms on the second floor before settling in and preparing to meet up to discuss the trip to the town and their plans for the coming months of wilderness survival.