Theurgy: The Journey's Dawn (Book One)

Chapter 22 The Manticore

By the time he decided to join everyone else, the sun's disk had risen over the horizon and spread its sheets of light all around them. The coach's horse and the driver were rising to life down the road and preparing to ride on, everyone putting out their campfires. Their group took extra care to dismantle their camp, ensuring there was no sign of them being there. Everything was packed and ready to go, and the road was once again open to them.

The first few hours of the day were sometimes the most chilling. Because of the long shadows cast by the low hanging suns, many creatures still lurk along the road to capture passing herding deer or perhaps an early traveler. They kept an eye out and their senses sharp. At least everyone but Lyse. He could barely focus on his map, much less trying to sense anything beyond a few paces away. His mother suddenly ran ahead, and by the time they had caught up, she was stomping on the head of a basilisk, tossing its lizard-like corpse off the trail with a satisfied look on her face.

"We'll be seeing more basilisk as we enter the taller grass," Celia panted. She wiped her gauntlets with a rag, the green blood buddling on its surface as if trying to corrode it away. "Tallgrass is dangerous."

"We should reach the river by tomorrow night," Lyse yawned.

"Did you get any sleep?" Elena asked him.

"I'm fine," he told her. "I'll be okay, just a slow start to the morning, I guess. We can't stop because I am tired anyway."

A few hours into the day, the riding became smoother, and Lyse could concentrate more on smaller details of the map. The hilly area near the river was also full of small forests that blanketed both sides, which means they'll be entering into far more dangerous territory at that point. There should be outposts where Knights stood guard and helped travelers through, which should be more than enough to make it through without a scratch. If they met any larger creature, only then will things be a dice game. He wondered what plan the two guildsmen had in mind for dealing with such. He was pondering this until one of the two, Wendel, rode up beside him and Celia, that same annoying expression etched into his face.

"My Lady Mirthia would like to speak to you, Colt Mires" the words barely left his lips in a low ruble before he whipped his horse around to join his colleague. They all looked at each other, silent and confused as if waiting for something else to move for them.

"Why would they be asking for me?" Lyse asked.

"Perhaps they want to buy you away from me," Elena snorted.

"This is getting out of hand," Gray nearly groaned. "Maybe we should just tell them that we are just knights traveling?"

"And the moment we hit the next city, our descriptions will be told at every tavern and bar," Lyse told him. "No, I rather have it we are simply some guildsmen hired, not even worth a description."

"Good look with that mister fairy tale, cause they have their eyes on you now," Edlund laughed. "Don't worry; I'm sure that it is nothing. Just get out as soon as possible. The longer you stay, the harder it will be to leave."

Lyse frowned but ultimately took those warnings to heart. Celia didn't say anything as he dismounted his horse and handed the reins to Edlund. She couldn't sense any malicious intent behind these women's actions, but she felt the urge to be by his side to protect him. But he was a man, not a boy. She may help him in training, but in unimportant tasks such as this, he should be more than capable of protecting himself in any capacity. She watched him walked back to the coach, the coach stopping only momentarily to allow him in before his figure disappeared into the curtained doors. She had a faint whiff of perfume as the doors shut behind him.

The coach was bigger than Lyse had expected. He stood just outside of it as it stopped before him. Windel and Liam, with impatient glares at him, stood by a few paces away, seemingly prepared to unsheathe swords and attack if he posed even the slightest threat. He took a deep breath. He still had his sword at his side, if any of this turned out to be some elaborate trap, but nothing seemed to give off that suspicious tick he would have expected. He knocked on the cart's door, and only after the second knock did it openly. It wasn't by any woman in some fancy dress, as he expected, but a plate armored woman holding what looked like a hammer on her lap. Her green eyes slowly pierced him before stepping back and sitting back down. Choppy short hair clung to her head and not passing her ear, allowing a star along her scalp to be easily visible. Inside, sitting opposite to her, were two women in dresses, smiling patiently at him. Or, more like appraising him from what he could tell.