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Chapter 5

     Packed heavy with our supplies we set off. We walked far the first day to get away from the town. The whole time we were on the road I listened to Danny’s tales, about his grief over me, when he tried to run away, and his job working on the farms. He also told me the fate of many of the other children, who was adopted by who, if they were their parents and the disputes that arouse when they were not. I listened attentively but without caring. He begged for more of my stories but I taught him some songs instead. The day was bright and sunny, and the route we were taking was beautiful.
     When it became dark I finally filled him in on the finer details about my life in the woods. How the griffin attacked me was of great interest to him. I reminded him that we may end up facing worse, but he felt he was brave enough. I wasn’t all that sure.
     He wanted to know everything there was to know about magic and I told him what I could, slowly at first to make sure he understood. He caught on quickly so I went into more detail. I wondered if I made him jealous about my powers. He seemed to be in awe but almost pity. He was the kind of man who liked doing things for himself. He seemed to believe that magic was taking the easy way out of things, he may have been right. I was thankful for this, I had feared I might have had to do everything for him. But he was a strong able man and his skill with the dagger exceeded mine. But my shot on the bow flew straighter then his.
    
    
     We had found that the road that leads out of Renklan stopped after about 20 kilometers. A narrow path lead on through a forested area before coming out onto an even larger road then the one we had been on. This road continued north and south. Heading north, it led straight into the town of Tasana.
     As we walked through it I noticed many differences to Renklan. The town was made of stone as well, but it also had many beautiful trees growing along the roads and between the houses. The people were used to seeing many strangers passing through, as the town was on a much-used road. Everywhere we went we were greeted by large smiles and friendly faces. I liked it there; it felt much more alive to me.
     “Isn’t it beautiful here?” I asked Danny. He was looking around eagerly.
     “It is very beautiful. I can’t believe I’ve lived so near a place like this all my life, yet have never even heard of it until yesterday.”
     We passed through the market and bought supplies that we couldn’t get in Renklan. Danny was used to bartering in the markets of Renklan and got us things at good prices. With the money, Danny bought himself a much better dagger, the one he had before looked crude and childish next to it. We bought me some metal tipped arrows to add to my quiver. My bow was in good enough repair that we didn’t need to spend money to replace it. He got us enough food to last us two weeks. With most of the remaining money we bought two horses.
     There were no horses in Renklan. Donkeys and cows were sometimes used to plow and cart crops to market but we had no horses. Danny was amazed at the size and power of the beasts. Illiquith had one horse, an old mare named Shanka. I was used to riding her, but these horses were young and strong. They would be able to run much faster then Shanka ever could.
     After getting everything we needed and loading up our horses we walked along the main road until we were out of sight from the town before we mounted. We did this partly out of courtesy and partly because there were fewer people there to witness Danny’s first riding attempt. He did remarkably well and after a bit we picked up the pace and continued our journey.
     The next stage of the journey was the longest. We turned off the road, which was rounding to the west now and continued northeast across a plain. Riding at a reasonable speed we should have been across it in about three days. But things were not as uneventful as we might have hoped.
    
    
     As we rode I could feel my follower’s spell seeking me out. Illiquith was right, it did feel remarkably evil. It was enough to remind me that I shouldn’t use my magic and to cause me to pick up the pace little.
     We stopped for lunch and were glad. Ridding was not something either of us was used to, our legs and our backs were in pain.
     “Wow! The grass really isn’t blurry!” exclaimed Danny. I agreed with a laugh.
     We relaxed on the soft grass. It would have been a nice picnic under different circumstances. All of a sudden lightning flashed and colors swirled.
     A hole opened in the air few feet from us and out stepped some sort of creature. He looked almost human except for his tail and pointed ears. He wasn’t even five feet tall and his hair was messy. He looked about him in confusion. Then he saw us. He gave us a smile and said, “Sorry folks, wrong dimension.” And with that he stepped back into the hole and disappeared. A moment later the hole disappeared too.
     Danny looked at me, eyes wide with amazement.
     “What was that?” He asked. I looked back at him just as amazed. “I have no clue.” I answered and stared back towards the spot where the creature had been.
    
     Other then that incident the day went by without event. The land rolled on and on and we were sick of the sight after the first few hours. Hoping to cover as much ground as possible we rode a few hours after sunset and woke the next morning a few hours before sunrise.
     This day went by the same as the first up until noontime. It was getting on noon and we were about to stop to eat when I noticed magic. At first I thought it was our follower but it felt different, not as strong and not evil. It was coming from somewhere ahead.
     “Whoa, Danny, wait.” I called to him. He pulled back on his horse and came to a stop beside me.
     “What is it?” he asked when I did not dismount.
     “There are people ahead. They are using magic.” I told him as I gazed into the distance. I could just make out the forms of about four people ahead. I couldn’t see any more then that.
     Danny followed my gaze. “There are four of them” he said, “no horses. Think we should keep going and join them for lunch or stop here and pass them later?”
     I thought for a minute. They weren’t using evil magic but that didn’t mean that they were good people. I was excited about meeting others with magic but I decided to be cautious and wait.
     We dismounted and ate, allowing our horses to graze a little ways off. When we mounted again the people had passed out of sight.
    
    
     I glanced at them as we rode past. They were floating a foot off the ground and moving a bit faster then a run. Oh how I missed floating I thought as I gazed at their bare feet. I wished I were them.
     They were wearing cloaks with the hoods down and the capes trailing behind them in the wind. All four of them looked the same; tall, strong, badly cleaned and in need of a shave.
     One of them, the fatter one on the left, looked up as we approached. His hand strayed towards his side but stopped when he saw we made no move for our own weapons. I nodded politely and Danny tipped his hat, but that’s all that passed between us.
     I tried to sense what kind of mages they were but the spell they were using was so simple that I couldn’t tell without using my own magic. So I stopped wondering about it.
    
     It’s hard to tell what well offend someone outside of your own town. Somehow these mages were offended by our lack of interest. Thinking back, I can guess they had probably expected some different reaction to their floating then they got. I do remember the look of annoyance on their faces when I looked back. They had probably been traveling these parts, where no one knows of magic, and showing off their skills for money. I knew of magic already and Danny was following my lead, so they never got the reaction that they craved.
     Anyhow, they got mad at us but we didn’t know this at first as we were in too much of a hurry. We rode on making good time as our follower was increasing his spell to hunt me down. And soon we felt the mage’s wrath.