Taloc, who had been scouting the area as they walked, appeared from behind a tree that they had just walked past. “I found a small river to the south flowing from west to east, so it’ll take us in the general direction that we need to go if we follow it upstream. I also saw some tracks headed in that direction on our side of the river.”

“I don’t suppose tracks look friendly,” Maroftis mused.

“How can tracks be friendly?” Isla asked.

Maroftis glanced her way, but this time she didn’t retreat from his look. “I mean, did tracks look like frog feet? Maybe crazy monster type?”

Isla nodded at the logic, but it was Taloc who replied. “They were made from boots. Four sets of tracks looked like normal size, and two were smaller, like a child... or like Vult.”

Vultressant sighed, but he didn’t sound irritated when he said. “So, four medium humanoids and two small humanoids. Any idea as to how old the tracks are?” Vanya put a hand on his upper arm in a comforting gesture, and Vultressant thought that she had shot Taloc a dirty look.

“Two days,” Taloc replied confidently.

“That’s a pretty specific answer,” Vultressant said. “How do you know?”

Taloc shrugged. “No idea; I just do. My track skill went up two points while I was following them, so I think that’s a good sign that I’m right.”

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Vanya nodded knowingly. “I have the track skill too, and I’ve seen things that I somehow knew were disturbances caused by rabbits, and sometimes the tracks begin to glow. My skill is just level one, probably because I don’t actively use it, but I still have knowledge that I didn’t in real life. Sorry, I should probably help with that more.”

Taloc shook his head. “I don’t want to take that risk. We need to protect you.”

Vanya crossed her arms and said huffily, “Um, thanks for the concern. I’m for chivalry and all, but I can pull my weight in this group. I don’t need coddling.”

Vanya was clearly annoyed, and Taloc held up both hands in a placating gesture. “You can heal now, so you need to be protected. If I get injured, you can take care of it. If you go down, we won’t be able to help with healing much.” He gestured to the rest of the group.

“I see your point. Sorry for... well, I wish that the spell was more useful; I won’t be able to really use it in battle. I have to be touching you, and it takes a long time.”

“That’s still awesome!” Isla exclaimed. “Our recovery time will be a fraction of what it was before you learned the spell, and you can always do a little healing to get one of us up or stabilize us if you can get to us in combat.” She motioned to Maroftis. “He just gets up, but the rest of us may need extra help if we get knocked out.”

“Thank you for bringing up that painful memory,” Ewtain said.

Ignoring Ewtain, Vultressant said, “I agree. Protecting you should be a priority. I mean, protecting the healer is really the first rule of gaming.”

“I thought ‘don’t die’ was first rule,” Maroftis said with a grin.

Vultressant gave his friend a withering look. “You know what I mean. How many games have we played that when the healer goes down, it’s a wipe?” Maroftis just waved a dismissive claw at Vultressant and started walking.

“Where are you going?” Vanya asked.

“To the river. I feel like a swim.”