David woke up for the third time as morning dew fell on his face. He was huddled between Aura, Sophie and Bert, as they lay together under a layer of fur.

  The rays of the sun shyly peeked through the canopy.

  A phantom scent of burning flesh stung David’s nostrils…

  No. That was just a hallucination. He kept having the same nightmares and they kept waking him up through the night. The predator’s scythes. Its laughter. Its soul… His claws.

  He clenched his fists and his slightly protruding nails dug into his skin. Barely a night and they already grew back this much? David winced.

  He suspected the tension wouldn’t leave him until they regained at least a semblance of safety. So, a week, more or less.

  That was how far they were from Vennevar, the barrier city.

  The second to get up was Aura. David stared at her – Her golden hair was gone. Her blistered skin shone in the sun as she stretched. He suppressed a shudder. He still couldn’t get used to her wounds.

  “Good morning, Marco!” She smiled, “Did my strong boy sleep well?”

  “Yes, mom.” He just couldn’t bear to tell her about his nightmares. To ruin that smile. “What’s for breakfast?”

  She pondered for a while, putting a finger to her lips. “I think I’ll enjoy some flatbread and jerky, and you?”

  Aura flinched softly when touching her own skin.

  He smiled nonetheless. “Then I will too!” Was there anything to smile about?

  Well, they were alive, for one. He would never take that for granted again.

  He got up, the quick movement piercing his leg with pain. He could see the bone knife sticking out of his thigh clear as day.

  He could feel the goblin latched onto his back, biting him. He suppressed the flinch.

  It wouldn’t help to worry Aura, and he was already applying as much healing tincture as his body could handle.

  Just. Keep. Going. He started unpacking food from the cart. A light breakfast to keep them sated until lunch.

  Soon, Bert and Sophie joined them too and their grief was much more in the open.

  Bert kept mostly silent as he packed up their camp, chewing jerky as he worked.

  And Sophie… David’s heart threatened to break in half as she looked at her. Her eyes never left the ground. Even her breathing was almost silent. She was just going through the motions.

  “Only a week longer, dear.” Aura addressed her. “We’ll all be safe before you know it.”

  A somber nod was all the response she got. She tried such reassurances a few more times.

  But she soon stopped.

  Faced with Sophie's sorrow and Bert’s calm regret, even Aura’s indomitable spirit had to fall a bit.

  They finished eating in silence.

  Soon, they were back on the road.

  With Aura alternating between walking slowly and sitting in the cart, they were making good time.

  That was, until a larger, horse-drawn cart appeared from beyond the horizon.

  Bert pulled the cart off the road and stopped. A welcome rest.

  As the traveler approached closer, Bert was first to recognize him. He called out to the trader in the driver’s seat. “Morning Ivert, on your way to Grainwick?”

  The trader looked around, surprised, and only then seemed to recognize his clients.

  “Bert? Aura? Goddess, what has happened to you?” He paused. “The rumors were true.”

  “Rumors?” Bert and Aura replied simultaneously.

  “Vennevar had plenty of refugees lately, including from Grainwick.” Ivert said, his brows knitted together. “I hope you’re not headed there.”

  The man’s words filled David’s family with dread.

  “We are, why?” Bert snapped a bit. “Speak plainly, would you?”

  “You are familiar with House Kira, right?” Ivert said. David’s heart dropped. Not those people again. His heart was torn between guilt and disdain. The latter won out.

  The house of the rapist knight, Calland.

  Even dead, he just had to keep causing problems.

  The merchant didn’t even wait for a response. “They are subduing anyone who comes from Grainwick. Forced servitude on charges of insurrection.”

  Sophie lifted her eyes, looking at Aura, tears welling from her eyes.

  She had undoubtedly connected the dots between her tragedy and the general accusations against the village. David hoped she didn’t blame herself for what had happened.

  “Well, we’re not headed there anymore.” Bert said. “Thanks.” He tipped his head to the trader.

  “You’re welcome.” He paused, as if pondering something. “ I wish Lovandels never left, but what can you do?” he said with a smirk.

  Bert knitted his brows and nodded, acknowledging something. But what? Another phrase he couldn’t understand. Was it some kind of passcode? An inside joke of theirs?

  The trader nodded back. “Well, good fortune to you.” He snapped his reins and the horses slowly trotted forward. “I think I'll skip Grainwick, though. Not a fan of getting clobbered for my food.” And with that sarcastic remark, he was gone.

  David pitied the forlorn souls left behind in the burnt village, but ultimately understood the trader. Dealing with desperate people was risky.

  Bert stared after Ivert for a while, but said nothing. It seemed he and the trader came to some unspoken agreement.

  Not even Aura noticed it, though. David shook his head. They had more important issues right now. Not becoming slaves, for one.

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  He looked between his companions. His new family.

  Sophie was sobbing, while Aura was trying hard not to. Bert was thinking hard. They felt a bit stuck. Maybe he could push them forward.

  “What do we do, then?” David asked.

  “Aura, you were always better with maps. What options do we have?”

  “How long can we manage to walk?”

  “If we hunt along the way? About two more weeks.”

  “Not many places we can reach.” She paused, her teeth clenched. “Vennevar is out. Kraveno is also under Kiras’ rule, so it’s just as risky. Ki-Elico, maybe?”

  Isn’t that the city where Aura studied magic? David’s heart sped up.

  “What? But that’s so far! Shouldn’t we just try to move into another village, then?”

  “No. I can’t live like this. We can’t live like this.” She looked at David and Sophie. “It has to be a city.”

  Hard agree. The harsh life on the frontier didn’t suit David one bit.

  And the academy…

  Being able to learn magic properly could turn his whole new life around. Just like his studies of engineering did for his old one.

  “You’re right.” Bert sighed deeply. “But what about your old friends there? Won’t they recognize you?”

  Aura’s face twitched. “With how I look now?” There were tears welling up in her eyes. “Even you wouldn’t recognize me.”

  “I would. Nothing could change that.” Bert embraced her delicately, hanging his head. “I’m sorry.”

  David really didn’t want to interrupt their moment, but he was too anxious to wait for them. “So, we change direction?”

  Bert wiped a tear from Aura’s face. “Yeah. You and Sophie will help me with food gathering first thing tomorrow.” He stood up and grabbed the cart’s handles. “Let's move it.”

  David stared after him for a short while with respect. Bert had his temper, but ultimately he could depend on him.

  Everyone around him gave so much, lost so much. He lowered his head. His chest tightened. Lately, it often did that.

  David walked next to Sophie, silently. I don’t deserve them, do I?

  “We’ll have to walk a bit longer” Aura stepped in between them, grabbing their hands. “but at least we’re all fine.” She smiled.

  To think she was the one who almost died. Such was the difference between them. Even when she was hurt this badly, her smile was genuine. Her words sincere.

  Their life on the road just got two weeks longer, but here she was - already finding strength to cheer them up.

  Soon, day turned into night and David was sitting by a campfire, trying to decipher Aura’s notes from the academy - a mix of magical notation and ancient tongue.

  The alchemist herself was teaching Sophie to read common language. Bert, burdened day-by-day with the cart, was already fast asleep.

  It was pleasant. Peaceful.

  He could almost close his eyes and imagine this was all just a camping trip with Marie. But they had no car to get back to. No home either. And there could be monsters.

  David shook his head, dispelling the gloom. How long am I going to wallow in self-pity?

  He clenched his hands around the notebook. A little too hard.

  I messed up with Calland. Big time. But I saved Sophie, didn't I?

  He looked at the girl with green hair. Her usual chirpiness was heavily subdued, but her resilience shone all the brighter. She kept moving on, even if slowly.

  She deserved nothing of what happened to her - and if not for him, her story would be over. But it was not enough.

  David lifted one of his hands over the fire. He clenched it, but slowly this time. The sharp points of his claws delicately dug into his skin.

  One day I'll be strong. Enough to prevent such evil.

  David smiled as Sophie’s stuttering attempts at reading filled the night, genuinely. A rare sight in recent times.

  Shit, I got distracted again. He pulled himself together and returned to reading, annoyed at himself. Random thinking will not make things better.

  They stayed up a bit longer, until the firelight grew too dim for reading.

  As Aura took first watch upon herself, Sophie and David joined Bert under the covers of fur.

  David woke up to splattering droplets of rain. The sun wasn’t out yet, but Bert was already awake.

  Bert turned to him as he sat up. “You’re up, Marco.” He scratched his neck. “Did you sleep well?”

  David’s mind was filled with scattered fragments of nightmares he had just awoken from. “Yeah.”

  “Good.” Oblivious to the tense undertone of his voice, Bert nodded. “We can’t move the cart while it rains, so we’ll go hunt as soon as Aura and Sophie wake up.”

  Hunting. Right. “I don’t know how to.” He responded. His last attempt at hunting ended up in almost getting traumatized to death by an ancient fox.

  There’s so much to life in this world I simply have no clue about.

  A warm, calloused hand clasped his shoulder, interrupting his thoughts. “It’s alright. Papa’s here to teach you.”

  David looked up into Bert’s caring eyes. A blacksmith. Almost a stranger. And yet, a father.

  David felt inadequate, yet strongly compelled to reciprocate. “Thanks… Dad.” The word tore at his throat like knives.

  Bert’s face lit up as they kept looking at one another. Was he, too, uncertain of their bond?

  The tightness in David’s chest slowly started to let up. A spark of something pleasant started to fill him instead.

  Aura rolled over, and both the man and the child turned to her instantly. The moment was over.

  David’s eyes flicked to Bert from under his brows. He felt just a bit more approachable than before.

  Soon, Aura woke up for good. Bert grabbed a satchel, a bow and a bunch of arrows from the cart and they embarked into the forest.

  David suppressed a shudder as he stepped over protruding roots. The forest was sparse around him - seemingly nothing out of the ordinary.

  But when focused, David’s eyes revealed much more ever since he killed Calland.

  For better or for worse.

  Everywhere he looked, there were overlapping sources of mana all through the forest.

  Each of the smaller ones could be a valuable herb or a source of food.

  Each of the larger ones could be a monster poised to strike.

  And yet, in front of him, Bert was briskly making his way forward, unconcerned.

  “What are we looking for?” David whispered to him.

  “Anything that’s small and easy. Stay quiet.”

  But David couldn’t. This was finally something he could help with. Aside from alchemy, at least. He ran to catch up with Bert and tugged at his shirt.

  “What is it?” Bert snapped around, but kept his voice quiet.

  David pointed deeper into the forest. “I can see a lot of mana clumps that way. Bigger than normal plants, smaller than goblins.”

  Bert’s eyes widened for a moment before he touched a hand to his temple. “Right, your eyes. Let’s check it out.”

  David led the way over to a dense grouping of strange trees. As they grew closer, the ground was getting softer, grass being gradually replaced with moss

  Soon, David had to weave between tall, aerial roots. Finally, he arrived at the cluster of mana sources. He lifted his hand and Bert stopped just behind him.

  “What am I looking at?” Bert’s face was tense, but his eyes shone with excitement.

  “Some of the moss is shining with mana.” David crept closer, pointing to a slight bump in the greenery.

  An arrow suddenly whistled past him and stabbed into the mossy mound with a dull thump. A shriek erupted as all the other shining moss clumps started dashing away at great speed.

  David couldn’t believe his eyes for a moment. He turned around, to see Bert’s hand still on the bowstring.

  “Good job, Marco!” The man was energised. “So many mossers!”

  Bert approached the clump of moss he shot at and kicked it over.

  It was an animal! A hare-like creature with a thick coat of moss growing out of its backside. The mossers hid themselves using the uneven terrain and their natural camouflage.

  It would have taken a lot of time to find them without his mana sight.

  David was proud of himself. Finally something he could make a real difference for. But the hunt wasn’t over yet.

  “Can you keep tracking them?” Bert asked

  A simple request. The animals barely ran out of sight before stopping to camouflage again.

  He nodded, and immediately moved to the nearest bump. He had tried to be sneaky about it, but the animal was agitated and promptly ran away - farther this time.

  With a few more attempts, he was able to sneak close enough to point the target out to Bert.

  It wasn’t all that easy, all things considered, but their hunting trip felt so… normal. No monsters attacked them. No mythical creatures broke their minds. Just a ‘father’ and a ‘son’ hunting ‘hares’.

  An hour later, with bright smiles on their faces, they were returning to their cart, carrying four mossers between them.