We were back above ground and just about ready to depart. Kaele was back in the saddle of her mount and looking a little uncomfortable. I could relate. So far she had only been riding at a rather leisure pace. That was about to change. I, in contrast, felt as good as I hadn't in a while. When had been the last time I had been so lively? When had been the last time I just wanted to run and jump as if I had no care in the world? When we left for our little wilderness trip? Maybe. It felt like it was a lifetime ago anyway. My sister's little familiar had made itself comfortable in the saddle in front of her. There was just enough room. It had wrapped its tail around the arm she kept on the saddle knob to stabilize herself as well. Somehow it must have figured out what lay ahead of it. The little creature really was quite smart.

We all were more than ready to get going again. I was worried as well though. Masses of water were rushing along through the gorge below the bridge. And every once in a while these water masses would smash trees or even rocks against the canyon walls or the bridge's foundations. These must have been the source of the tremors I had felt. One of the trolls standing guard up here must have noticed my worries. He just grinned. “No. Worries. The. Bridge. Stands. Firm.” I returned his smile but felt a little queasy anyway. It wasn't just the turbulent water below us after all. It wasn't raining right now, not here at least, but every once in a while the wind whipped my hair around. And the clouds above us were a roiling mass of madness as well. Lightning was arcing within the clouds and the thunder rolling across the land had me on edge.

Maybe I should have been more uneasy or even afraid but I wasn't. Was it due to the dream vision I had recently experienced? I had no clue. Maybe it was the reassuring weight of my new set of scale mail? I could believe that. My own people had started the work on it even before we left home but the troll craftsmen and women had finished it and they had outdone themselves. It was a true masterpiece and its well distributed weight was quite reassuring. There was my glaive as well. Armored and armed once again I felt as if I could take on the world. I tightened my grip on the weapon and turned towards the troll. “We will be on our way then. I'm deeply indebted towards you and your people. I hope I can pay you back for all you did for me one of these days.” He just bowed his head, emitting a grumbling noise I learned to interpret as unspoken agreement.

I flashed him a grin and looked back to my sister and her familiar on their giant ibex mount. “Ready to go?” She nodded but there still was some concern noticeable in her expression. “Don't worry, I'm good to go.” I grinned once more. “Actually, I hope you will be able to keep up.” I jumped in place once and got going. I didn't start running at a sprint. As a matter of fact I wouldn't run at a sprint at all. What lay ahead of us was a long distance run and we would not be following the road for a good part of it. The road followed the easiest way to accommodate heavily loaded carts and beasts of burden. We would be taking a shortcut through the hills instead. The shortcut was, as the name implied, much shorter but it was not as easy to traverse as well. There would be a path but no real road. We would have to camp in the wilds as well. Not that we would spend a whole lot of time resting.

Before long I fell into a trot I could maintain for any length of time. As far as I could tell Kaele's mount would not have trouble keeping up with me either. Kaele was a little white faced though. Of course. To match my pace the ibex had to use a different gait. One she wasn't used to yet. One that shook her up quite a bit more than the leisure walk she had experienced so far. The cat was clinging on tightly as well. It probably wasn't terribly thrilled by this development either. I could tell by the way it had tightened the grip of its tail around my sister's arm. I decided to share some of the wisdom mother had shared with me when she taught me to ride these magnificent creatures. “Look straight ahead. Don't cling to it too tight. Move a little with its movements instead.” I paused briefly. “You don't have to steer it. I'll take the lead. It'll follow me of its own accord. That way it'll find the best way without you having to worry about it.”

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She did her best to follow my advice but it would take some time for her to get used to it. I sped up a little, just long enough to get ahead of the large ibex. Then I slowed back down to a more manageable pace and it followed me just as I had said. Best to get it used to this while we were still on the road. Before long we would be going cross country. “You are enjoying this, aren't you?” Her voice sounded strained. I looked back over my shoulder. She looked like she was straining not to throw up. Motion sickness. The word came to me from the depth of my memories. A word I shouldn't know. A memory that was not part of this life. For some reason it didn't disturb me as much as it had not too long ago. Was I getting used to these strange memories? Well, whatever. The memory wasn't terribly detailed but as far as I could tell my advice should help Kaele deal with it. Time would do the rest. Hopefully.

I just grinned. I couldn't afford to laugh. I had to maintain a steady rhythm for my breathing after all. “Maybe I am.” I could only squeeze out short sentences like this. I waited a little before I continued, to steady my breathing again. “Whatever you do.” I kept going like this, pausing every few words to steady my breathing. “Do it with passion.” Kaele only replied with a strained grunt and we kept going in silence after that for quite some time until we reached the spot where we would have to leave the road. The shortcut we would take wasn't exactly a secret. No, far from it actually. Most travelers still stuck to the road instead though. It was just a lot more comfortable to follow it instead of going up and down the hills on what essentially was comparable to a game trail.

I slowed only marginally as I left the road. For the first time in a while I looked back to make sure the ibex really followed me. It did. I had been worried a little that it might try to stick to the road instead. Seems I had worried for nothing after all. Kaele's posture eased a little as we left the road as well. Understandable. After all the ibex's movement became a little smoother now that it was on comparably soft ground. “Hang on, sis.” I returned my gaze to the path ahead of us. “Another hour.” The wind was whipping the branches of the bushes and trees to either side about. “Another five teen leagues.” Thankfully the growth was getting more sparse the closer we got to Bleak Peak so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. “Then we stop for lunch.”

She grunted another affirmative. It sounded a little more cheerful though. Was it the mention of lunch that had lifted her spirits? Or was it just my imagination? Well, hopefully she would be able to keep her lunch down after the break. I was a little worried about that. If she was straining now, with an mostly empty stomach, it could get worse after having a meal. Maybe we should rest a little after our meal. We probably could afford to take the time and it would be for the better.