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Kieran lit up and perked up his ears. “That’s the name Kidemonas said on the train!” he exclaimed, shifting his gaze to the outlaw beside him.

“Indeed, indeed,” Riven said, not making eye contact with Kieran, then creased his lips in a smile. “I wonder; if Tessa saw this, would she finally believe in her destiny, or would she keep running away from it?”

“Wait, you believe in all that?” Kieran asked, apprehensive and surprised.

“Of course,” Riven answered. “Earlier it was just a show.”

“Why?”

A chill wind blew against their bodies, the red wildflowers in the meadow dancing to and fro.

“She needs folk to do that,” he reasoned.

“Tessa has been running for a long time, and she believes in everything her family taught her, but she’s scared.”

Kieran wanted to ask so many different questions such as how Riven knew all of this, but held his tongue. “What could she be scared of?” he asked.

Riven’s eyes widened for a moment and he took in a deep breath, then laughed. “Imagine you have to commune with the God Iesu and go to war with literal demons to save your home,” he explained. “That’s what Tessa had to grow up with, knowing full well that she could lose her life in the process. It was likely terrifying for her, and a hard load to bear.”

“I did not know that,” Kieran commented in a low voice. “So, then, if you believe in all this, why did you come after her?”

Riven glared the minty-furred fox dead in the face, serious as could be, the scars covering his body evident in the angle and lighting. “Let me make this clear; I won’t say it again,” he grumbled. “I have known about her for many years and wished she’d chosen a different path for the sake of all. When I saw her with you at the train station, I hopped aboard because I did not want her with another ambitious fox. I waited for the right moment, then struck so that I could take her for myself, to keep her safe and maybe change her mind. Then when her drake attacked me, I knew that I had been mistaken; you are her savior, not I.”

Kieran took a deep breath. “A pleasant thing to hear, though not something I had expected.”

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The level of trust that the bounty hunter had in the outlaw was ever-so-slowly growing, and gaining traction.

There was always the possibility that he was telling a very elaborate lie, but based on his tone and mannerisms, as well as how this answered his question from earlier on the road, he chose to put some faith in it.

He would not fully trust Riven until their relationship had been well-weathered, and that would take time, but this was a fine starting point.

“That is fine,” Riven began to trail his fingers along the jade stones of the Astrika Propheta.

Kieran watched in silence.

The brown fox looked back at him. “What about you?” he asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Why do you have her if you’re not one of the shady ones?”

Kieran answered quickly. “She’s with me because it’s part of my job. I’m a bounty hunter, and right now my job is to keep her away from the corrupt men in Dawnbreak.”

Riven grinned mischievously, lashing his tail. “Ah, yes! However, there’s a hole in your story.”

Kieran flattened his ears.

“You don’t believe in Tessa’s powers, do you? You’re an atheist.”

“I never said that.”

“By your very nature, you deny everything she is,” the outlaw challenged him. “If you thought it was just a rumor, then why not let her succumb to the forces that be? Their expectations of her would be shot dead like a sick horse, and they’d simply find another use for her or kill her then and there for knowing too much about their little cult. Cult! Cult activity!”

Kieran narrowed his golden eyes, remaining still. “What are you getting at?”

Riven laughed crazily, his signature at this point. Kieran had begun to get used to it. “Dravenholm, you’ve either begun to believe in the Lord above,” he said, pointing upward to the sky, “or you care for the girl.”

“I do care for her, she’s an innocent bystander, and I rescued her from a weaved web of power struggles,” he responded, not hesitating one bit.

Riven rolled his eyes and snorted. “Not that kind of care, ya’ northerner. I mean the kind you feel in your pants.”

“No.”

“You risked your life for her.”

“I risked it for my job.”

Riven sighed heavily and turned away. “Alright. Then you’re the first man I’ve ever met who’s gotten a hard-on for his job. Congratulations.”

Kieran grumbled in annoyance and protested. “It’s not like that. I could care less about her, I-”

“You don’t need to explain it to me,” the brown-furred fox stated with a light-hearted tone. “I received all the answers I needed. Have you received all of yours?”

“I could say I’m satisfied,” the minty fox dipped his head curtly. “For now.”

Riven cracked a smile and walked on past the bounty hunter, toward the forest they’d come out from. “I’m tired. You coming?”

He watched the outlaw for a moment, thunder roaring above. Riven wasn’t half-bad, but he sure was aggravating; a strong comrade, no doubt useful in the future to his quest.

Hopefully, all Kieran had to deal with going forward was the outlaw’s blaring tomfoolery.

“Yeah,” the conflicted bounty hunter responded, trotting ahead to catch up. “Let’s get back to camp.”