“For all that’s happened, I never did ask your name,” Danica said quietly as they walked down the dark road.

  Small flying insects of all manner bounced against the lantern the man held as they walked. Behind them, the town of Ashvale, and hopefully the people of it, faded from view as they rounded the corner into the dense forest. The sounds of a warm spring night were almost overwhelming with the number of frogs nearby.

  He grumbled something under his breath, then finally relented. “Marceus, if you must know.”

  Something was clearly bothering him, but he didn’t seem inclined to elaborate on what it was. She thought about asking, but then decided against it. If he had wanted her to know, he would have most likely already told her.

  She adjusted the strap of the backpack he’d given her, wholly unused to wearing such a thing. Marceus’s daughter had packed it ahead of time with all of Danica’s possessions and set out one of her outfits for Danica to wear. It was much easier than dealing with everything thrown into a ragged sack that she’d been carrying around. She wanted to thank the girl for her kindness, but she had already left the house. Marceus offered to pass on the message for her at least.

  They walked in silence for a time until they came upon some lights in the distance. Danica quickly recognized the lanterns ahead, but could tell no more about it. The light that Marceus was carrying was keeping her from her night vision. She assumed it was their group though, and that assumption soon proved to be correct.

  Zane leaned against a large rock by the road, upon which sat a lantern burning brightly against the darkness. He was trying his best to look unassuming, but it was easy to see he was nervous and jittery. Nearby a tired looking woman held the hands of two children close to her as she wept softly. Danica turned her head away from them, giving the grieving mother some semblance of privacy as she bid farewell to her children.

  Marceus approached Zane and nodded. “Go hard until you get across the border and into Aganossis. The kids might complain about the pace, but you need to push them. Might be you’ll find some decent horses along the way to make it easier.”

  “There’s none here?” Danica asked.

  Zane shook his head. “Mostly draft horses and mules better suited for hauling logs than long journeys.”

  Marceus nodded. “Couple of days will get you over to Swyndale. They’ll have what you need there.” He paused for a moment and looked at Danica. “Perhaps you’d best stay hidden and let Zane handle the business with humans. Can’t say those folks are any better than the ones here.”

  Danica bit her lip, letting a snide remark remain unsaid. It was getting harder and harder all the time though. Still, he wasn’t wrong. Zane, for all his apparent flaws, wouldn’t draw nearly as much attention as she would. Perhaps this might just all work out after all.

  She watched the two men approach the others. Marceus put a hand upon the woman's shoulder and told her it was time to go. Zane did likewise with the children, gently pulling them back away from their mother. She reluctantly released their hands and was led away towards town, the dim lantern illuminating her miserable form.

  Zane brought the children before Danica, a hint of a smile on his face. “This is Darren and Sylvia.”

  Darren sulked away to the rock, looking too forlorn to care much about anything. His sister, Sylvia, stared at Danica’s face with wonder. “Are you really an elf?” she asked with some amount of wonder.

  Danica sighed, remembering what it was like to be that age. “Mostly,” she said, not bothering to elaborate further. “We don’t need to waste anymore time. He sounded like we needed to go far and fast, and I got a suspicious feeling I know why.”

  They readied themselves and made their way down the road for a few hours, letting the lantern guide their way. Darren didn’t speak a word, unlike his sister who didn’t want to stop talking until Danica finally put a stop to it. She told the young girl about how she could see in the night, but was unable to because of the lanterns illumination. The best Danica could manage was to listen for any sign of danger before it was upon them. Reluctantly Sylvia agreed to stop talking, temporarily content with humming quietly to herself.

  Soon however even the young girl's enthusiastic energy ran out and she started showing signs of fatigue along with her brother. Danica knew all too well that they’d soon need to rest, if only but for a few hours. Even Zane was looking worn down, even if he wouldn’t admit it. She didn’t exactly understand how magic worked, but he’d looked tired since he cured her wounds earlier that day.

  “Cover the lantern,” she said suddenly. “I need to look around for a moment.”

  He didn’t hesitate to do as she said, allowing her night vision to come rushing back in. It disoriented her for a mere moment, but soon the world around them was a myriad of grey and black.

  Sylvia creeped up beside her and quietly whispered, “What’s out there?”

  “Trees thankfully,” Danica said offhandedly. “Looks like there’s a patch of clear space beside us. I’m going to check it out. Stay put.”

  She walked to the open patch and inspected it. Nothing stuck out as odd or unusual, and it was probably about as good as they could get, given the circumstances at hand. She’d let them rest until the morning sun rose and then they could be on the way again. Even with her night vision, she preferred the light to see danger from a distance.

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  They made camp and soon the children were sleeping quietly next to one another. Danica sat by the road, trying to occupy her by time absentmindedly polishing her sword. A moment later the world of grey gained a dull color and she knew Zane was next to her with the lantern.

  She only glanced at him for a moment before resuming her task. “Magic wears you out doesn’t it?”

  “It does,” he said with a small sigh. “Some spells take more effort than others. It also depends on the caster as well.”

  She thought back for a moment. “Why doesn’t your book fly around on its own?”

  “How,” he stammered, “how’d you know about that?”

  She simply looked at him and pointed to her face.

  He frowned and shook his head. “It’s rather complicated, but if a mage is good enough at what they do, they can sort of bond with the spells themselves. The pages in the book form a sort of gateway for them to pull power and they gain a strange sort of sentience in the process. Each user is attuned to a certain category of magic and they can only ever truly bond with one of those categories. I was always attuned to healing, though I still have much to learn.”

  “And what type of magic does one need to attune to rip someone’s soul apart?” she asked rather bitterly.

  “We called it devil magic, though, I don’t know the exact term for it. It was forbidden knowledge.”

  Danica thought about it for a moment and decided to let the matter drop. “You didn’t walk over here to give me a lesson on magical study. What’s on your mind?”

  “Do you think they’ll come?”

  She didn’t need to ask him who he meant. “I don’t know. If anyone comes after us, we'll handle it. You’d better rest up while you can. We’ve a long way to travel tomorrow.”

  He didn’t need much more prompting than that. He gave her a nod and returned to the small camp, and soon he too was quietly sleeping. The sounds of their rest were drowned out by the calls of the night.

  She looked down the road in the direction they’d come from. She was almost sure they’d come after her at least. She saw the hatred in that man’s eyes. For him, it wasn’t really the alcohol that had clouded his judgement, it was pure rage.

  “We’ll see…” she whispered quietly to herself.

  *****

  The sun arose to a new day, bathing all around them in a dim light. The morning dew clung heavily to everything, almost as if it had rained in the night. Danica had wished for a few more hours of peace and serenity, but she knew it wasn’t coming.

  She Awoke Zane first and let him attend to waking the children. Groggily and unsteadily they finally manage to wake themselves into a semblance of coherence. Soon they’d packed up and were back on the road, making their way to the town of Swyndale.

  She checked behind her every few steps, watching for a sign of approach. Hours later, she had no more reason to keep watching. Some people on horses were galloping steadily onward in their direction.

  She stopped and called out to her companions. “Riders.”

  “Who are they?” Sylvia asked with genuine curiosity.

  Danica watched them for a moment longer trying to make them out in the distance. There was no mistaking the lead rider. A large man on a horse appropriate for one as big as he. She knew it was the man Marceus called Raymond, and he was coming for Danica.

  Danica tossed her traveling gear to the side and pulled her rapier off her back, giving it a few swings into the air. “Only three of them. Get the kids off the road.”

  Zane ushered them over to the tree line and watched with trepidation as the group approached. By the time the men stopped them, the horses, unused to riders and long treks, were winded and looking miserable already. Danica could understand now why they’d be better off without them.

  “We got unfinished business, me and you,” Raymond said. He slid off the horse and grabbed his axe from off the saddle. “You killed a good man, and I ain’t about to let that go.”

  “That axe in your hand was the murder weapon, and you know it,” Danica said coolly.

  He took a couple of steps and then charged forward with a yell. She tensed up and at the last moment jumped aside, easily avoiding a swing that would have split her nearly in two. He was big, but slow. If he got ahold of her, there wouldn’t be any second chances.

  A quick slice across his arm, biting deep into muscled flesh, was all she had time for before backing up out of range. She’d give him a chance to back down rather than killing him outright. Her soul was already tainted with enough murder as it was and she didn’t want to keep adding to it unnecessarily.

  He yelled out from the pain, but didn’t stop his assault. A wide swing fell short of the mark as she took a quick step back, and then quickly lunged forward, slicing down against his forearm. The sharp blade did its job, easily cutting down to the bone and forcing him to back up finally. He could no longer hold that heavy axe with both hands and he knew it now.

  “Damn it, Henny! Shoot that bitch” he yelled, tucking his wounded forearm underneath his other arm.

  Danica watched as one of the men, still mounted, nocked an arrow into a bow. She quickly looked for cover, knowing she’d not be able to reach him in time to stop it, but was wholly exposed upon the open road. The moment he pulled the deadly missile back, the bow string flamed up and snapped in half.

  Raymond, seeing the whole thing, snapped his focus on his other companion. “Do something you damn coward!”

  The man simply shook his head fearfully and turned the horse around, fleeing away from the battle.

  The big man was about to yell out to the man when he felt the point of Danica’s blade against his neck. “Go on then. Do it. I ain’t about to beg you for a damn thing.” He spit on the ground to accentuate his point.

  “I didn’t want any of this. You came after me,” Danica said, her voice as cold as ice. “If you ever come after me again, I will kill you next time. If you send anyone after me, I will hunt you down after I kill them. Now, get on your horse and go before I change my mind.”

  Had Raymond been intimidated, he didn’t show it. He simply scowled at her as he got on his horse and rode away with his remaining companion. She watched them disappear off into the distance while wiping the bloodstains from her sword.

  “That was amazing,” Sylvia yelled, jumping into the road and imitating Danica’s sword skills.

  “Was that fire one of your spells?” Danica asked as Zane walked up to her.

  “Sort of,” he said with a shrug. “Lighting a candle with our willpower is a test that a mage has the ability for magic. A bowstring is just a big candle wick kind of.”

  Danica nodded her approval. “True, I suppose. Come on. Let’s get going.”