Bleak Peak was visible from almost everywhere within the lands of the king that had made it his seat of power. Even from our domain, at the very edge of this territory I could see it and every once in a while its ash would rain down upon our lands at least in moderate amounts. A good runner, one knowing all the paths and all the shortcuts, unburdened by heavy luggage could have probably gotten there in three days without any problems. A rider would only have been marginally faster. I was neither though. My wounds were healing, even some of my older scars had diminished considerably, thanks to the regular attention of Umara'tide, Eld'tide's mother, but I still felt terribly tired most of the time. I didn't really look forward to the trip that lay ahead of my sister and me either. Still we had to make it. There was no way around it.

We wouldn't make this trip alone either. The people of Caer'zoth, just about everyone who could use a weapon and who wasn't busy with reconstruction, had scoured the land all around. They had scoured it for hidden stragglers as well as the gear of all those human raiders that had found their end, both at our hands as well as in the fire. They had gathered quite a bit. All the steel was now gathered in numerous large cargo nets. Some would be carried by the men and women that would accompany us. Others would be slung unto the backs of various beasts of burden. Helmets, shield buckles, chain mail and swords as well as spear heads and arrow tips, the spoils of war where quite diverse. They weren't the only things we would be bringing either. Kaele held onto our mother's circlet. And then of course there was the wooden casket that contained that thrice cursed ghoul's head.

No matter which way one looked at it, we weren't traveling with light luggage. We would be very fortunate if we would manage the trip in less than ten days. Honestly, twelve were a more realistic estimation. If nothing unforeseen happened along the way. Thinking along these lines I walked along the lines of gathered men, women and bests that would make up this little caravan until I reached its end near the gates of Caer'zoth. My sister and our friends waited there. Neither Khuzan nor Eld'tide would accompany us on this trip. I hugged them. “Take care of our home for us while we are gone.” They nodded and Khuzan handed me my new weapon. Another glaive. It was fashioned of the wyvern's remains. We had tried to incinerate it, but apparently the fire had burned neither long nor hot enough to truly get rid of it.

Others would have to deal with that now. And maybe it was for the better. Otherwise I would not have this intimidating new weapon. Its long leather wrapped shaft was one of the wyvern's long finger bones from its wings, while the blade was carefully carved from its stinger. It was both, surprisingly light as well as sturdy. Even while still suffering the aftereffects of an injury I could swing it easily and the blade held up just nicely both against bronze and steel weapons. Not to forget, it looked menacing. And best of all, I could use it as a walking stick. That thought brought a little smile to my face. I turned towards Kaele and stopped, a frown spreading across my face, as I noticed some kind of movement in the bag she had slung over her shoulder.

“Kaele?” She must have realized what roused my interest, but before she could say or do anything I was at her side, lifting the flap of her bag to peer inside. I pulled my head away again just as fast, to evade the paw that had swiped at me, with claws extended. Only to get smacked square in the face by the much longer tail of the slightly annoyed feline that had made itself comfortable within my sisters bag. I stared at it, from what I deemed a safe distance and it stared right back at me with narrowed eyes and its teeth bared ever so slightly. It was Kaele who diffused the tense situation by simply closing the flap of her bag again. “Hush, you two! Be nice.” No getting into each others face again. We already know how that would end anyway.

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I could only groan while our friends snickered. A sound from within the bag sounded curiously like a bird chirping. And somehow, I was not quite sure how exactly, the cat managed to make it sound smug. I could just sigh and shake my head. My sister in turn simply shrugged. “She was still poking around our abandoned campsite and the mess we left behind there.” She looked a bit guilty about that but perked up right away again anyway. “I think we really made a splendid mess out of her territory. And I wanted to find a familiar for the longest time anyway so I decided to give the Bind Familiar Spell a try. You know, since we already knew each other anyway. I couldn't just leave her back there.” She looked at me with big eyes and even the little killer cat seemed to agree with her as it purred up a storm.

I on the other hand wanted to facepalm. It took a great deal of self restraint not to give in to that urge. That didn't sound like she had really thought this through. Not that I begrudged her a familiar. I didn't even mind that she had picked one that had entirely too much fun using my face as a scratching post. Well, maybe I did mind, at least a little but not to the point where I would protest. “Kaele, sister, you kept in mind that these cats tend to spend most of their lives in tree tops, yes? And that you are tearing it from its natural habitat by making it your magical companion? It should be napping up in a treetop, not in your bag.” I grimaced a little. “This might not be good for your ferocious, little bundle of claws, teeth and tail in the long run.”

She had the good grace to look a little embarrassed at that. Obviously she hadn't spent a whole lot of time on thoughts like that. But she wouldn't be the sister I knew if she would let that get her down for too long. She perked right up again. “Oh, we can plant some trees around mother's … around the mansion.” I grimaced together with her as that touched upon a very fresh scar but she kept going anyway. “I'm pretty certain that there are some spells that can accelerate the growth of plants.” She looked at me with bright eyes. “You know some of the old stories about forests that sprung up almost overnight as well, right?” I nodded. Sure I knew some of these. I just didn't know how much of them was just storytelling and how much was based upon actual practicable magic.

If Kaele even noticed my doubts she didn't let them stop her. “We really could use a spell like that anyway. We have to regrow plenty of forest after all, since we pretty much burned down a scary lot of forest.” She nodded happily. Really, she shouldn't be that happy about having set a forest ablaze but I couldn't bring myself to protest so she just kept on going. “I'm pretty sure we should be able to find a good spell for that within the libraries of the capital.” I just looked at Khuzan and Eld'tide helplessly but they could only shrug their shoulders as well. My sister was probably right after all. This trip just got a whole lot more expensive. I just couldn't imagine that anyone who had a spell like that, would part with it without a handsome compensation.

I waved goodbye to our friends and they returned to their own tasks after returning the gesture. At the same time I put my free hand on my sister's shoulder, gently guiding her towards the only real mount we would have along for the trip. It was the only real mount left in the village after the siege. The giant ibex, a creature from the not so distant Ringwall Mountains had been mother's mount. She had had a thing for mounted combat. I never quite shared her sentiment in that regard. To a degree maybe because even although the creature with the marvelous horns was big, it wasn't quite big enough for someone of my stature. I was just too tall to ride one of these. Thus Kaele would get to ride on it instead of me. Mounted combat had never been something she had been interested in either, but she at least knew how to ride. Better than me anyway.

I helped her up into the saddle, where she promptly adjusted her bag a little. Either so that her new feline companion could join her in the saddle or so that she could reach for one of the scrolls she had brought along. Maybe both. How she could read while riding was beyond me. The thought alone made my stomach turn. No, I didn't even want to think about it. I patted the neck of the ibex and it rubbed its face against my horns briefly in a show of affection. Well, I might never have shared mothers penchant for mounted combat but I certainly had always had a soft spot for these majestic creatures. “Take good care of my sister, yes?” I scratched it under its chin once more before heading to the front of the column. I raised my voice. “Get ready everyone! On your feet! We move out!”