The morning mist was a thick silver shroud that clung to the cobblestones of Dustford, muting the sounds of the waking city. I stood near the southern gate shifting the weight of my pack from one shoulder to the other. Beside me, Tess suppressed a yawn, her staff leaning against her shoulder. Even in the dim grey light she looked sharp, though the way she kept checking her spell component pouch told me she was just as restless as I was.
Hidden beneath my tunic, Sui was unusually still. She liked early mornings—the "quiet time" as she called it—but I could feel curiosity rippling faintly through our link. She knew we were going somewhere new. Somewhere past the familiar forests where we normally hunted.
"There they are," Tess whispered, pointing toward three wagons slowly appearing through the fog.
It wasn't a huge caravan. Just three heavy wagons stacked high with grain sacks, salted meat barrels, and crates of iron tools. The lead merchant, a round man named Silas whose belly seemed permanently at war with his waistcoat, tugged the reins of two thick-necked draft horses.
His eyes moved over us.
They paused on my charcoal sword.
Then on Tess's polished staff.
"You the two the Guild mentioned?" he asked loudly. "Bit young, aren't ya?"
I puffed my chest a little trying to deepen my voice.
"We're the ones. We keep the road clear, you give us space on the hay. That's the deal right?"
Silas laughed, a big booming sound that shook his jowls.
"Fair enough! If you've got the guts to ride the southern pass at your age you either got talent or you're too thick to feel fear. Hop on. We leave in five!"
We climbed onto the second wagon and settled into the dry sweet-smelling hay. When the caravan finally started moving the wheels began their slow rhythm—creak… thump… creak… thump.
For a few hours the road was peaceful.
Rolling hills stretched on either side of the road, dotted with sheep and little patches of trees that looked like drifting green smoke against the horizon.
It felt… nice.
For a little while I wasn't a powerful soul hiding inside a kid's body.
And Tess wasn't a runaway noble.
We were just two kids riding a wagon watching the world go by.
"Rio," Tess said quietly, leaning her head back against a grain sack. "Do you think the village is really as bad as Aror said?"
I watched a hawk circling high above the fields.
"Aror doesn't seem like someone who exaggerates," I said. "If he says they're starving then they're starving. Poverty makes people desperate Tess. Makes the world feel small."
She nodded slowly.
"I hope we're enough. A King… that's a lot of responsibility."
"We're enough," I said firmly.
Inside my pocket Sui gave a small squishy poke of agreement.
'See? Sui agrees.'
The peace didn't last.
By noon the road narrowed sharply, twisting through a rocky gorge where the sunlight bounced harshly off the stone walls. Heat shimmered in the air.
Silas had stopped talking. His eyes kept flicking nervously to the ridgeline.
Then a shrill whistle cut through the gorge.
"Bandits!" Silas shouted, jerking the reins so hard he nearly fell off the seat.
The wagons screeched to a halt. Horses whinnied loudly.
From the rocks above, about twelve men scrambled down onto the road blocking both ends of the path. They were a rough looking group wearing battered leather armor that probably hadn't been replaced in years.
Rusty swords. Cudgels. Old axes.
Not soldiers.
Hungry men.
"Stay back Silas!" I shouted, jumping off the wagon before it even fully stopped. My boots hit the dirt hard.
Tess landed beside me, her staff already glowing faint amber.
The bandit leader—a thin man with a scarred lip and desperate eyes—looked us over and sneered.
Two kids.
"Hand over the grain and coin," he barked, raising his sword. "Maybe we won't clip your ears brats."
I leaned closer to Tess.
"Don't kill them," I whispered. "They're desperate. Just break their will."
"Got it."
The leader charged first, swinging his cudgel in a heavy clumsy arc.
I didn't draw my sword.
Didn't need to.
I stepped left letting the strike whistle past my ear, caught his wrist and twisted. Using his own weight I flipped him over my shoulder.
He hit the dirt with a loud oomph, all the air rushing from his lungs.
To my left Tess tapped her staff against the ground.
The earth beneath three charging bandits suddenly turned into thick sucking mud. They crashed into each other cursing loudly as their legs sank knee-deep.
Another bandit rushed Tess from the side.
She spun smoothly and drove the butt of her staff straight into his ribs.
The crack echoed.
He stumbled away wheezing.
"Get them!" Scar-lip yelled scrambling up.
Two more rushed me.
One with a rusted dagger.
The other swinging a length of chain.
I ducked under the chain and drove my palm into the dagger-man's chin snapping his head back. Then I swept the legs out from under the chain wielder.
As he fell I jabbed a pressure point in his neck.
His arms instantly went numb.
The chain clattered uselessly onto the stones.
Adrenaline surged through me.
The simple joy of movement.
I wasn't using the monstrous power coiled deep inside me.
I was just faster.
Just better.
One bandit saw Tess distracted and tried sneaking around Silas's wagon.
Hostage attempt.
I grabbed a sharp pebble from the road and flicked it with my wrist.
It whistled through the air.
The stone struck the back of his knee.
He screamed and collapsed instantly.
"Is that everyone?" Tess asked, breathing a little harder as her magic faded.
Eleven men were sprawled across the road groaning or stuck in mud.
Only Scar-lip remained standing.
His dagger trembled in his hand.
"Drop it," I said quietly.
He looked at his crew. Then at us.
Two kids.
The dagger fell with a dull clink.
"We… we were just hungry," he muttered.
"Then find work in the city," I said. "The Guild doesn't like people robbing caravans."
"And neither do I."
They dragged their wounded away into the brush without another word.
Silas slowly lifted his head from behind the wagon seat.
"Bless my soul," he whispered. "Thought I was dead for sure."
He stared at us wide-eyed.
"You two… are something else."
We climbed back into the hay as the caravan started moving again.
The adrenaline slowly faded leaving behind a warm buzzing feeling.
Tess brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Her fingers were shaking.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said with a crooked smile. "Just… first time fighting people. Goblins are one thing. Humans feel different."
"They made their choice," I said softly. "And we gave them a chance to make a better one tomorrow."
The journey continued another day and a half.
By the time we reached Oakhaven the sun was setting on the second evening. The sky had turned a deep bruised purple and the air felt colder.
Silas dropped us near the village square and pressed a small bag of dried fruit into my hands.
"Good luck with the King kids," he said quietly. "This place could use some."
Oakhaven looked like a dying town.
Fences leaned sideways. Roof thatch was thin and rotting. The few villagers wandering the road looked hollow—thin faces and tired eyes that had stopped expecting good things.
We found the only inn.
The Wilted Rose.
The sign hung from a single rusted hinge creaking slowly in the wind.
Inside smelled like cheap tallow and old stew.
"Welcome," the innkeeper said flatly. He looked ancient, his back bent nearly double. "You must be the ones Aror sent."
"We are," I said. "We need a room."
He scratched his head and checked a mostly empty ledger.
"Well… with farmers fleeing goblins we're packed tighter than a barrel of herrings."
Pause.
"Only got one room left."
My heart skipped.
I glanced at Tess.
Her face instantly turned bright red and she started studying the dirt under her fingernails like it was extremely interesting.
"Two beds though," the innkeeper added. "Just a small room."
"One room?" I squeaked.
I coughed quickly trying to sound mature.
"I mean… that's fine. We're teammates. Right Tess?"
"Right," she whispered. "Teammates. It's fine."
The room upstairs was tiny.
Two narrow beds. A crooked table. One small drafty window looking out at the dark forest.
I dropped my pack.
The awkward silence in the room felt almost physical.
Tess stood near her bed unfastening her cloak.
"So…" I said.
"Long day."
"Very long," she agreed.
She turned toward me.
For a moment we just looked at each other.
The candlelight made her golden eyes look huge. She looked tired… but stronger somehow. The road had changed her.
She wasn't a noble girl anymore.
She looked like an adventurer.
My teammate.
"Rio," she said softly stepping closer.
The space between our beds was barely six inches.
"Do you think… I mean once this is over… do you ever think about—"
Suddenly my coat exploded into movement.
["MASTER! EMERGENCY! THE BLUE ONE DETECTS EXTREME DRYNESS! MOISTURE AND NIBBLES REQUIRED!"]
Sui burst out of the pocket like a flying blob of indigo jelly and landed on the floor between us.
The moment shattered.
Tess burst into laughter covering her mouth.
"I think Sui ended that conversation," she giggled.
"Sui your timing is legendary," I groaned grabbing the waterskin.
We fed the very dramatic blue slime, the awkward tension melting into the familiar routine of caring for our secret companion.
Eventually the candle burned low.
We climbed into our separate beds.
The room was quiet except for wind brushing the roof and the soft rhythm of Tess's breathing just a few feet away.
Then in the dark—
A hand reached out.
Her fingers brushed mine.
For a moment they laced together.
Warm.
Soft.
Terrifyingly real.
"Goodnight, Rio," she whispered.
"Goodnight, Tess."
My heart kept pounding long after the room fell silent.
Eventually sleep came.