Danica awoke shortly after the morning had illuminated the night sky, bringing the promise of a new day. Stars had faded away to reveal the occasional small cloud, though none dared approach the rising sun it seemed. She wanted to lay there longer, but knew there was no more rest to be had.

  She handled her morning routines and checked the area, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Her companions still slept soundly, and she decided to leave them be for the moment. They did need to be on the way, but it was nice to have a moment to herself finally.

  She quickly donned her black leather armor and committed to a few stretches. It seemed like forever ago that she’d done any of her exercises or really had any practice put in. Ever since she had left Yeville it had been nothing but constant travelling and watch duty. Excuses wouldn’t save her life if it became necessary to fight though, and she knew that all too well.

  She pulled her sword and went into a routine, again and again, repeating the movements that honed her technique, until sweat dripped from her forehead in the humid air. She spotted a branch and began to expertly slice the individual leaves from it, slowly stripping it down bare.

  She took a moment to inspect her handiwork, seeing occasional clips of green attached here and there. Clean cuts all. She wiped her sword down and flipped it back into the scabbard, turning away from her latest victim.

  Danica had been so focused she didn’t notice the gathered audience by the edge of the small clearing. Zane stood there behind them and Sylvia was all smiles as usual. Even Darren, usually dour and depressed, seemed to be interested in watching her perform.

  “Wow, can you show me how to do that too!” Sylvia said.

  Danica wiped the sweat from her brow and shook her head. “Doubt we’d have time even if I did want to.”

  She put on a pouty look, but that faded as soon as Zane put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “We have our own lessons to learn.” He then looked at Danica. “We’re ready to go whenever you are.”

  Danica nodded. “Alright. I need to change and then we can go.”

  A few moments later the group was back on the road heading towards Swydale. The further they went, the more worn the road appeared, with side paths funneling travelers into the main thoroughfare. Soon, to Danica’s dismay, they were no longer the only ones visible on the road.

  With a disheartened sigh, she pulled the hood over her head and added a light covering to mask her face. It was stifling and unpleasant, but necessary to avoid unwanted attention. She began to worry sometimes that this may be her entire life from there on out, always hiding her face simply for being different.

  Soon thick forests gave way to large swathes of farmland with a multitude of workers attending to the fields. She watched the farmers laboring away in the sun, remembering the men and women of Yemen toiling away at their trade.

  Finally they crested a small hill and there in the shallow valley was a sprawling town with several buildings within. A thick wall of earth and stones, topped occasionally with wooden towers, surrounded the main part. Outside of that, people had been constructing wooden houses and businesses. It was nowhere near the size of Norport, but it dwarfed Ashvale easily.

  Danica pointed over to a small patch of land just off the road that had some boulders sticking up along with a sparse covering of trees. “I’ll wait there. Get what you need and be quick about it. I feel too exposed this close to so many people.”

  Zane turned to her. “Agreed. I’ll be back soon.”

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  “I want to go too!” Sylvia said, hopping towards him.

  He frowned for a moment and then shrugged. “I’ll take her, and you stay with Darren?”

  Danica nodded. “Fine. Just hurry.”

  She took the boy and went behind a large rock where she’d indicated they would be. No one was nearby so she took off the mask, enjoying the cool breeze that was blowing against her now exposed skin. She knew she'd have to keep an eye out for anyone that might be looking for a shady rest spot, but at least for the moment she could relax.

  She sat down in a shaded spot and grabbed her water skin. As soon as she started to take a drink, an unfamiliar voice spoke out from beside her.

  “Can I see your sword?”

  Danica turned her head quickly to the side and saw Darren standing nearby, looking at her expectantly, but with some amount of trepidation. It was the first time she’d heard the boy speak and it caught her off guard to finally hear his voice so unexpectedly.

  “Alright.” She undid the strap around her chest and handed it to him. “I don’t need to warn you how sharp it is. I’m sure you already know.”

  He nodded and accepted the weapon, studying the sheath for only a moment. He pulled it out and set the leather to the side, inspecting the metal blade. He gently ran a finger along the length below the edge along one side before flipping it over and going down the other way.

  She watched with some amount of curiosity as the boy focused on something that only he could see. He finally stopped his finger nearly a third of the way up from the guard.

  “There,” he said, pointing to a particular spot.

  Danica leaned in, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

  “Weak spot.” He tapped the spot a few more times, emphasizing his point. “If you look closely, you can see a hairline crack in the metal. When it breaks, it will most likely be because of that.”

  She looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “When?”

  He nodded and resheathed the weapon, handing it back to her. She put it to the side and indicated for him to have a seat beside her.

  “A,” she paused in consideration, “an old acquaintance gave me that sword years ago. Said that he told the smith ‘it was for a child’. I got so used to the way it felt, I never tried to change. It almost felt like an extension of who I was at times.

  The boy nodded along at her story.

  “Still, I couldn’t imagine it breaking. I’ve accomplished so much with that blade, I couldn’t tell you of all the things I’ve done with it. I believe you’re right though and when that day comes, I’ll have to deal with it the best I can.”

  Danica stopped for a moment, letting the words sit between them. A cool breeze picked up for a moment and then settled back down into comforting silence.

  “How did you know what to look for?” She asked, trying to get the boy to open up some more.

  “My father showed me.” He said, rummaging around in his pack. A moment later he pulled out a small knife, handing it to Danica. “I made nearly a dozen of those, each one before it was wrong. He’d wait until I had completely finished and polished it before showing me where I made a mistake. Every time I messed up I had to melt it down into nails, and then I had to start a new one.”

  She looked it over thoroughly before handing it back. “You got that one right?”

  He shook his head. “No. Overheated the steel and it’s on the brittle side. He just didn’t have the chance to make me scrap it.”

  Danica put the story with what Zane had told her and she knew why.

  He looked over to her with a tear in his eye. “Were your parents mean to you?”

  She looked at him and gave a lighthearted chuckle. “I’m not even sure I have real parents. I was abandoned as a baby to an orphanage. The matron mother there was the meanest old woman I ever met. She used to throw spiders on me for fun, and I’m still not over that.”

  “You're scared of spiders?” he asked.

  Danica nodded. “Terrified of them.”

  He gave a weak smile. “Sylvia is too. Don’t tell her I told you.”

  Danica returned that smile to him. “I won’t.”